The space station emergency lights spun and bathed the cold metal walls in a red light. Everywhere was dark, the main power having given out under the strain of the transport that slammed into its hull, piercing the shield and cracking on through to the inside. The space platform was not devoid of people as they quickly scurried and moved to evacuation stations or to alternate ships. Life support and the gravity wells were holding, but that was about it and it would unknown for how long it would hold out. A few had tried to contact the ship that had caused this mess, trying to figure out if anyone alive was still on board and if they needed help but the communication channel would not open and due to the power shortage they couldn’t even be sure that they were even broadcasting. The station itself was part of the A.D.D forward observation points and a critical one at that. With the damage it had sustained and even though it had lost a great deal of power, an emergency beacon was sent back to central command. The details were sketchy and the cause unknown, they determined they would call the closest agent to the site in to investigate.

The message didn’t say much, merely an outpost was reading status critical, investigate before forwarding the coordinates to the Agent.

Inside the ship that had caused the mess, the entirely male crew laying dead weapons clutched in their hands. The malicious being merely sat idly upon the Captains chair as he had when he rammed the ship into the A.D.D space station. The creature was the size of a man, but looked to be made of an ever shifting shadowy mass. His eyes were a flat gray with little to no detail, save being narrowed as if perhaps in thought. The Nightbringer as he had come to be called was merely making a point…even though he doubted A.D.D realized it yet and that point was that he would not be intimidated by the supposed Task Force called Daybreak they had created to capture him. He could have left the ship and looked for sport, someone to play with…or maybe multiple “someone’s” but the whole idea just bored him. If there had been anyone of worth they wouldn’t have turned tail and ran for the evacuation pods or other spaceships right away. The creature was not stupid, he knew this was a priority site…and he knew they’d be sending someone “fun” his way.

Disengaging the Calypso's main engines and returning to sub light speed, I was greeted by a grizzly sight: an A.D.D. outpost skewered by a transport while dozens of escape pods rocketed away from all angles. I had to take a moment to collect myself, unable to believe someone would just ram an outpost like this, sacrificing themselves and whoever was on the station. There would be no profit in doing this, no way for them to recover agents to sell on the market, or even keep for their own. This was a message.

...A message I would be glad to return.

Requesting the shuttle to dock with the station, I turned away from the console to ready my equipment. I had already been dressed in my battle armor from when I was dispatched; thin, skin tight, re-enforced, black bodysuit, and denser alloy armor protecting critical parts of my body. Each piece was silver in colour and intimidating, suggesting that neither a stray bullet, plasma bolt, or even a tentacle could find their way through. I collected my stun grenades, plasma grenades, and my trusted pulse rifle before returning my attention to the cockpit window.

Dozens of pods were streaking past my shuttle, fleeing the brutalized station. I could only guess how many injured, terrified, or dying girls were huddled inside each cramped pod as they started their emergency jumps to rendezvous with a capital ship waiting a safe distance away. Streaks of blue and white rocket exhaust light filled the cabin as I drew closer and closer to the station, and more and more fled.

After docking with the compromised station and boarding, I was greeted by three girls, one seriously wounded and the other two supporting her. They didn't even need to ask; the sight of the injured girl's face and hair matted by blood was all I needed to see, handing them my remote computer interface device, I gave them my shuttle to escape the burning station. Hearing a brief "Thank you" before the airlock closed, I watched my only escape route detach from the station and join the last escape pods as they jumped away to safety.

"Well, hopefully that's everyone." I spoke to myself. "At least I won't have to worry about checking my fire, and for the one person I detected on that ship it means it's going to have to dodge a lot of it."

I ran down the crumpled hallways and sparking wreckage, shielding myself from some of the exposed conduits and other hazards created by the impact, and eventually reached a section of the transport. Setting my rifle down I took a plasma grenade and set it to breaching charge mode. Attaching the grenade to the hull and hurrying to find cover, an explosion tore the the hull of the ship and cleared some of the debris from the ship's impact. With a serrated hole tore into the ship, I readied my pulse rifle and charged into the transport, intending to do far more damage to the pilot of this ship than what was done to the station.

The being sat upon the Captains chair like some sort of ruler watching over his subjects with a cruel benevolence as they scurried about to the safety of their escape pods and transports. The ship turned ram still had some power and altered The Nightbringer as a ship entered into range of its sensor arrays. He couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed at the sight, one ship, one ship…is all they sent in response to the stations critical emergency. Of course it was an A.D.D agent, this was one of their holdings and he was quite sure they’d send their own Agents to deal with it.

Another alert. A single shuttle heading towards the damaged station. The Nightbringer figured at this point it was likely a scout vessel, an Agent whom was close by and able to investigate the situation. It would explain the quick response time. The Nightbringer merely watched the scanner, watching as the shuttle’s dot got ever closer, waiting for the game to begin. It wasn’t long before the shuttle had landed that it took off once again, now heading out to join with the rest of the departing ships. Was there someone they had come to ensure would be rescued? Was this not a scout, but a security force? His finger tips brushed over the touch screen, as the damaged transport sent out a sweep.

One life form detected.

Perhaps they were cutting off what they believed as the only way off the doomed station, not wishing to let the one who caused the damage escape to wreak havoc elsewhere. The Nightbringer with a push of two final buttons killed the generator on the transport, bringing the inside of the ship into the darkness. The creatures grey eyes turned to a blood red as he slowly turned his chair about, towards the door leading to the bridge. It wouldn’t be much longer until his guest had arrived, and then he would be able to give them a proper welcome. His unseen mouth turned upward into an inhumane grin at the dark thoughts that floated through his head.

A proper welcome, indeed, he mused once more as he heard the explosion breaching the ship from outside the bridge.

"What the hell?" I breathed in fear, the momentum brought about by the rage I felt all but gone after entering the transport.

There were bodies of aliens scattered about the corridor, in different positions, different places, it looked like a battle had taken place...and everyone lost. It was too dark for me to see what wounds the crew displayed, as it would give me some clue as to what I was dealing with. Although the sight was disturbing to say the least, it didn't nearly effect me as much as the sight of that agent, her hair matted with blood and her legs barely functioning, and that was what I was here for. Collecting myself, I once again tore off down the corridor to make my way up to the bridge.

I would occasionally pause at an intersection to retrieve my hand-held scanner and verify which way to take in order to get to the bridge, always detecting only one lifeform, unmoving. It was still difficult to navigate the ship as there were no lights, no signs, nothing to indicate where I was or even where I was going. I could only manage my way through by keeping my rifle pointed ahead of me and using it's barrel lamp to guide me through the endlessly similar corridors.

Eventually I had arrived at the bridge. Leaning against the wall clear of the door frame, I preformed one final bio-scan still picking up only one lifeform inside. I contemplated simply opening the door and demanding it's surrender; taking it into custody to answer for it's crime and to lead us to anyone it may know. However, that sight of the broken agent being dragged to my shuttle returned, and with it a new plan arose.

Taking my final plasma grenade, I set it to breaching mode and attached it to the bridge doors. Hoping that it would not only clear an entrance for me, but kill anything that may happen to be on the other side. Standing clear of the door and setting the timer, I shielded my eyes, prepared my rifle, and waited for the explosion, prepared to finish off the body I find on the other side.

The Nightbringer just waited, he knew it was only a matter of time before the Agent made their way to the bridge. While there were things he could have done, or would have considered doing he wanted to see exactly what sort of Agent they had sent him. Agents were tricky and dangerous, and if they had sent this one alone it would mean capable as well. He doubted anyone from the Task Force would have shown up here, he had been leading them in circles for a while now and they shouldn’t be anywhere near this sector. The obsidian living shadow merely continued to sit on the darkened bridge, almost invisible say the two twin grey eyes that pierced through the veil of shadows in the room.

This was not to say The Nightbringer had not prepared. He was not a fool and had no intention of falling victim to his own arrogance and ego. His shadowy design was already long since in place, throughout the entire ship his darkness had spread, turning the station into his own personal fortress. One thing was true about The Nightbringer, he viewed everything as some sort of little game for his own entertainment, reveling and delighting in his own pleasures.

A flash of plasma burned and exploded onto the bridge, the bright light of which forced the darkness of the bridge to dissipate for a moment as the shadows flickering around the lone figure disappeared as well, seeming to mold into the Captains chair as it began like that of regular shadow and forced back into the shadowy void from where it lived. The creatures grey eyes flared red and narrowed in hatred at the cursed light as it watched from between the worlds before the darkness finally reasserted itself. Like that of a shadow now, the creatures vital signs disappeared from the scanner…though from the breach as the smoke cleared two twin eyes of angry red could be seen on the Captains chair.

Once the dust and the heat had dissipated enough for me to move, I turned back to the hole that was once a door. The edges still glowed neon orange from the searing hot metal still coated with remnants of the plasma grenade. It afforded me a little more of an advantage as the smoke gave me cover and the light would help me target. With opportunity fading, I needed to make my assault on the bridge.

I suddenly darted around the corner, rifle raised, surveying the room to search for the body of it's sole occupant. My eyes and the lamplight from my rifle soon caught sight of the two enraged eyes staring back at me. I was momentarily shocked that something could survive that kind of blast in such a confined space as the bridge, however, I couldn't hesitate. This was the thing that ruthlessly attacked this station, crippled it, and had more than likely killed many of my fellow agents.

It was not going to escape, or even gloat about it's victory.

I showered the captain's chair in pulse-fire. Streams of brilliant blue orbs charged towards the shadowy mass as I ran towards the nearest cover, should my second attack fail.

The malicious dark beings eyes narrowed as the Agent came forth from the portal the explosion had created. The blue energy pulses pieced the darkness, illuminating the room slightly under the hail of fire unleashed towards him. The projectiles being miniature balls of light, slam home into the Captains chair, punching holes of red hot metal through it and into the command console behind as the eyes dissipate from within, seemingly scattered or destroyed by the onslaught brought down upon him. The truth, however, was far different and far more unpleasant for the Agent whom had come to investigate. The rounds themselves had never even struck the creature, but the light they had given off did force him to move from his current position. Her movements were precise and quick, her fire accurate and direct, The Nightbringer could see that his efforts were not wasted. He had wanted some proper entertainment, and proper entertainment had been delivered.

Between worlds, the creature grabbed the Captain’s body and wrapped him in a veil of shadow. The dark being had even gone so far as to create a nice little mask for him, making the Captain’s corpse look as he had, red eyes and all.

The “shadowy form” emerged from the wall, tearing free from the shadows and charged towards the Agent as she finished blasting the Captains chair and the pair of red eyes from existence. The creature was humanoid, looking to be made of living shadow as it moved and only stood a bit over 6’. Like a shadow, there we no details, no features…simply a moving human mass of liquid night moving quickly towards the athletic Agent.
From the safety of the shadows the real creature merely watched, his eyes having faded back to the blending grey color and his vital signs having disappeared. The game had begun, the dark being thoughts swirled with the endless possibilities that awaited…

THUD!!

Striking the creature directly between it's glowing red eyes, readying my rifle as it's body crumpled to the ground. I took no chances; silencing my mercy once more and aiming the barrel at it's head. Then the room once again was sparked with multiple blue pulses.

I waited for a few moments as it's now lifeless body stared up at the ceiling; glowing flesh from the plasma burns beginning to fade. I finally could let my guard down, it was dead. Releasing a long held breath in a deep sigh, I stepped away from the body and turned around to look at the remains of the bridge. It was still almost impossible to see without the gunlamp, but the bridge didn't seem as if it had taken too much damage. However, there were still bodies strewn about the floor, some even limply sat at their posts. As I surveyed the room, I felt satisfaction flow over my body. The menace that caused so much senseless destruction, violence and death, was gone.

Reaching for my communicator, I checked in with the ship.

"Apollo?" I asked, my free hand reaching up to activate the small black communicator buttoned to my left shoulder. "Come in Apollo. This is Natasha."

Soon afterward a young, panic-stricken, female voice burst out of the speaker, causing me to crane my neck away from her shouting. "TASH?!! TASH ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?! We've been collecting escape pods and shuttles and even your shuttle! They were all filled with injured agents! Some were dying and some were terrified! They said...they said something just smashed into the station without warning! I thought something happened to you! I thought tha-"

"Alex!" I yelled back to interrupt her. "I'm alright, don't worry."

She was always concerned about me whenever I went off on a mission alone. There were a lot of soldiers aboard the Apollo and a lot of other agents, yet Alex was always focused on me. Captain Nguyen didn't like how attached Alex was to me as she was worried the rest of the crew would feel unimportant when a bridge officer attached herself to one crew member. She was right, however. Yet it made the Apollo feel like home to me, and the crew like family.

"...Sorry Tash. ...What happened?" Alex asked, her tone now sounding like five year old discovering her friend's scraped knee.

I softly chuckled for a moment from Alex's almost childlike behaviour. "I think I need to talk to the Captain, Alex. Could you put me on speaker, please?"

"Sure Tash." She responded, a weak laugh intermixed with her own voice as her initial panic seemed to be dissipating.

"Well now that you two are finished, could you give me your report, Tasha?" An older, stern, and slightly annoyed voice followed soon after Alex.

"Sorry Captain." I responded, clearing the laugh from my voice as gravity of the moment returned. "Umm...I've secured the ship and the station. Both are severely damaged and the ship itself is filled with bodies. I've killed the thing that's caused all of this. It was some sort of shadow creature."

"I'm glad to hear that, Tasha." Captain Nguyen responded with a sigh of relief, relaxing her tone as she continued. "I have a lot of terrified agents on board and they'll be relieved to know that it's dead. Once we've collected all of the pods and shuttles we'll rendezvous with the station to retrieve you. Apollo out."

"See you soon Tash." Alex whispered just as the communication ended.

I laughed again as I knew Alex was going to get reprimanded for that if the Captain heard her. Shaking my head, I turned towards the improvised doorway, walking casually out of the bridge.

The hallway outside the bridge was darker than it first seemed, noise seemed muffled and dulled. Had she truly thought it was that easy? Had she not checked the database to try to discern the creature’s identity or did she just not care thinking it dispatched? The dark entity didn’t honestly care about any of that, what he did care about was continuing the game. Leaving his “corpse” in place, the shadow monster grabbed another of the already dead crew and wrapped him very much in the same shadowy blanket, disguising all of his features and making him look like a simple shadow monster. The beast then grabbed another, and another and yet another, preparing them all. The living shadow’s mind worked differently than that of humans, able to fragment his thoughts and focus on multiple aspects all at once. It was in this that a small creature of shadow had moved about the ship, siphoning a bit of power from the damaged systems that had failed from the impact and pooling them into the emergency shields of the station itself.

With a small shake, the station seems to hum briefly as the little shadowy imps work had completed. With the emergency shields activated her personal communicator would be unable to reach her ship and no vessel would be able to leave or enter until they had been lowered. Granted, an attack on the shields would eventually weaken them and overload the system, but The Nightbringer didn’t believe the ship he had seen on the scanners to have the firepower required…he could be wrong, but it didn’t matter. A.D.D wouldn’t want this station destroyed, or wish to risk it.
With the Agents communications and reinforcements cut off, he began his game.

The corridors of the cruiser stretch on as the deafening silence is only broken by that of the Agents breathing and movement. Then it happens, a similar creature to before drops from the ceiling above the Agent, trying to land upon her as its hands reach out with a inhumane strength, its red eyes flaring and mouth open as it roars. The mouth looks like a breach in the fabric of space, an endless void as a large shadowy tendril escapes from inside.

From behind the Agent, the Captain’s “corpse” raises once more, rushing forward and roaring loudly.

Fighting with all of my strength to hold back the thing clinging to my rifle. barely having enough time to raise it and block it's assault. I struggled with it as it attempted to force me to the ground, or just grab me, I wasn't sure what it wanted. I screamed in my face, saliva splashing against my skin forcing me to turn away as the stench was almost overpowering. I fought vainly against the living corpse, knowing I couldn't push it free of my rifle and with the second blood curdling roar from behind me, I knew I had no chance against two of them.

I suddenly jerked the rifle upward and pulled my legs together, sliding onto my heels. Keeping my legs together I used it's pushing force to give me the momentum to slide in between it's legs. Once I was mostly underneath it, I reluctantly released the rifle and slid out completely under it. Desperately pulling myself to my feet and scrambling away, I tore off down the corridor behind the creature now holding my rifle.

I needed to separate myself from them, quickly I dropped my hands to take one of my stun grenades. Arming the hand sized bomb; I dropped the oval device behind me, running as fast as I could and covering my ears. The concussive force caused me to stumble for a moment but I knew that expanding ball of electricity should overwhelm their nervous systems and paralyze them long enough for me to get some distance from the two creatures...assuming they were within range when it exploded.

As I ran I fumbled for the communicator at my shoulder finally finding the button to activate the transmitter.

"Tasha to Apollo!" I called out through my panting. "I need immediate assistance! The area is NOT secure! Repeat! The crew is still alive!"

I waited for a response...receiving none.

"Apollo, do you hear me?!!" I yelled into the device, yet once again only responded with silence. "Captain Mai?!....ALEX?!...CAN ANYONE READ ME?!!"

It was obvious at that time my transmissions were blocked, and someone was blocking them. I felt panic clawing at me as I realized I was piratically defenseless against a ship full of re-animating corpses, aside from my last stun grenade. Then I remembered that the ship was connected to an A.D.D. supply post. There was a good chance that it should store a number of rifles, grenades, and possible a portable force fields, the only problem was the horde of corpses between me and the hole leading to the station. So with a goal in mind, I desperately ran, retracing my steps, back to the station.

The two shadow wrapped corpses quickly moved to pursue the fleeing Agent as she darted down the hallway, discarding her plasma assault rifle behind them as they moved. They were stopped however at the electrical explosion that ignited around them. The sudden burst of light torn the shadowy veil trapped the two from their bodies, revealing them for who they were as they dropped to the ground, obviously dead. The Nightbringer watched as the Agent continued to run back down the hallway, desperately trying to find the hole she had entered the transport from. Moving along the shadows as one of them, the creature followed her undetected as he pondered at her next move.

Her communications were down, she had no way off the station and she was desperately low on gear. If she made it off the transport, she’d probably be looking for the Armory and then try to get communications re-established. Bringing his terrible will to bare once more, The Nightbringer pulls more of his new puppets from the shadows, he didn’t have to use the crew…but it certainly would add to the atmosphere as she would eventually learn, if she hadn’t already, that these shadowy beings were not only the crew but members from the station that had died as well. The newest batch of shadow zombies pulled themselves from the walls and floors as the Agent rounded the corner, her path blocked from the front and could hear the roaring screams of more coming from back that way she had come. These mindless shadow puppets clamored and shambled quickly as they moved after the Agent, they weren’t under the direct control of the malicious shadowy entity which had spawned them, instead it was just part of the evolving game and part of his own little testing.

His mind drifted towards the shadowy imp that continued to run about the interior of the station’s control and maintenance bays. The station still had power enough for its life support, gravity wells and some security functions, though the majority had been knocked offline from the impact. One function that had remained, and perhaps the only reason the evacuation had been as successful as it had been was Hatch / Portal Control was still operational. That wouldn’t do any good, or at least it wouldn’t if she managed to get off the transport and back onto the station…and he certainly didn’t plan on making it easy for the Agent whom had wandered into his trap. The Shadowy Imp nodded once as if hearing a voice that wasn’t spoken as it locked the station down, securing the doors that had remained operational and dropping the blast doors.

Ever unseen, the dark being smiled at what was yet to come as his horde of shadowy puppets closed in on the athletic Agent.

Ground to a halt as the wall of screaming, savage corpses charged down the hall. I turned quickly to retreat, only hearing the exact same sound from behind, seeing dozens of glowing eyes amidst the darkness. I felt my heart leap into my throat, finding my escape routes both cut off.

I had only one stun grenade left and it wouldn't even come close to rendering all of them unconscious. I had to do something to escape or at least bottleneck them if I was going to be able fight them. Searching desperately as they closed in on me, I found what could possibly be my salvation: a door. I didn't know where it lead, if it would open, or even if there were more of them on the other side, but it's not like I had another choice.

With all the strength a fear induced act of desperation could give, I forced the unpowered door open. Holding the heavy metal door open, I reached for my final weapon, arming the stun grenade and dropping it just outside the door. I could see hands reach out to me, see their destroyed corpses in full sight as they did, this was my only hope. Sealing the door and diving away, I quietly pleaded that the grenade would at least give me the time I needed to find another way out of this room.