During her eighteenth expedition the Titan Phoebe entered the system of PLW-833267R. Under sub-light propulsion she passed a dozen gas giants and their natural satellites. Humanity's prize was almost in sight and many of the crew wished to lay eyes upon their potential new home for themselves.

The youngest officer onboard, Lieutenant 2nd Class Leopold Castillo was a third generation officer within Gaia Station's military. He was immensely proud of his duties and to be serving on a Titan expedition was his greatest wish fulfilled. On his way to the Bridge Leo stopped by the Officer's Mess to rouse his peers and superiors alike. As aide de camp to the Phoebe's second in command, Leo was elated to inform all he could that they had nearly arrived at their destination.

Finding limited enthusiasm within the Officer's Mess, Leo left bumping into the Colonel's ADC at the next junction. Lieutenant 1st Class Verity Ballantyne had been so wonderful to Leo during their expedition. They had worked together closely for months in service of their commanding officers. Her sweet smile had been something for Leo to look forward to each shift. He caught her scent and his mind began to wander. Whatever she had used smelled of jasmine and it was intoxicating. Leo's focus drifted further and slowly it traced the few strands of dark hair that escaped her on-duty braid down to her shoulder.

"Leo?" Verity asked cautiously. "Is everything alright?"

His stomach dropped instantly and his gaze shot back up.

"Yes, Sir! All shipshape!" He answered knocking his boot heels together.

Verity giggled and rolled her gorgeous green eyes.

"No, silly," she smiled. "I'm not asking for an update or status report. I'm asking how you are?"

Hearing her call him silly for what was easily the umpteenth time, an innocent smile crept across Leo's face. Noticing his overwhelming approval, Verity, it seemed couldn't help but respond in kind. The pair stood motionless, staring into each other's eyes as the universe carried on around them.

Finally, Leo puffed out his chest and cleared his throat.

"Lieutenant Ballantyne, could we, um, maybe, meet up tonight after shifts end? I'd very much like to talk with you about, well, anything. Anything but work stuff," he chuckled as he scratched at a phantom itch on the back of his head.

Verity's eyes widened as her chest rose from a deep breath. She then averted her gaze slightly as if terribly embarrassed by his offer.

"I'd like that too," she purred softly. "And, you can call me Verity when no one else is around, remember?"

Leo's heart was racing, his breathing heavy. He clenched his right fist tightly trying to overcome the trembling that plagued it. Just as he was about to respond both he and Verity were summoned by their superiors.

Leo and Verity arrived at the Bridge in unison. The atmosphere that awaited them was unsettling. Leo noticed instantly that all three Captains were in attendance with both the Colonel and Major. Something was wrong, the Bridge shift crew looked completely unnerved at having the entire Senior Staff watching over their shoulders.

"Ah, Lieutenants," called out the Colonel from the command chair. "Captain Finley will bring you up to speed," he advised gesturing behind him somewhere.

Captain Abigail Finley was another of Gaia's finest, she smiled stepping forward then directed Leo and Verity over to the console behind her.

The Phoebe had established a geosynchronous orbit around PLW-833267R and probe data was arriving thick and fast. Enhanced images of the planet's surface weren't encouraging in the least. Everything was gone. The entire world was nothing but a barren wasteland, a lifeless ball of dust and rock. It appeared as though some kind of cataclysm had befallen this world. Perhaps a violent solar storm had overwhelmed the magnetosphere, igniting the atmosphere, evaporating oceans and scorching away all life in the process.

Their attention was seized by Captain Yuri Maldonado addressing the Colonel from his station.

"Sir, the probe should be making the last bend in a few seconds."

The eyes of the Bridge were fixed on the main view-screen which was playing a live feed from the probe. There was complete silence as the image slowly etched itself within their minds. There was something up ahead of the probe, something colossal. As the probe closed in, the image became clear. An enormous spherical mass was sitting in low orbit, tethered to the planet.

The entire Bridge gasped collectively but it was Captain Finley that spoke first.

"Sir, I advise we halt the probe there until we know what we're dealing with."

"Agreed," replied Colonel Heathcliff.

The Bridge shift crew were relieved of duty and the senior staff took to the vacated consoles.

Finley nodded and began to input commands into her console. The probe maintained its position, observing the mysterious object.

The gargantuan object was almost twice the size of Gaia Station and worse still, it appeared to be expanding. Leo watched Captain Maldonado take measurements from the probe scans. The mass was over 300km in diameter and still expanding. The Captain panned the view from the probe toward the planet's surface. The tether was approximately 28km in diameter but was thinning. Maldonado displayed his findings on the main view-screen and turned to look to the Colonel. They were all looking to him, his next orders were long overdue.

The Colonel leaned forward in his chair and narrowed his gaze. He looked unsettled and rightly so, they had no frame of reference for such an event.

"Petra?" Heathcliff sang out. She turned to look her Colonel in the eye as he continued, "Call the Main Lab to weigh in on this."

"Yes, Sir!" she nodded then tapped away in front of her.

A smaller screen came to life broadcasting the feed from the laboratory. Dr Madeline Shah received the call and waved over Doctors Geraldton and Quellette. The three Exobiologists sat shoulder to shoulder on their chairs looking like a mythological three-headed creature to all fit within view. The probe data was forwarded to the lab and there was hushed murmuring over the feed for a moment.

"Doctors, what do you make of this?" asked Heathcliff finally.

Dr Shah cleared her voice then spoke calmly and clearly.

"Yes, Sir. We're discussing a few possible scenarios. Do we know what it's comprised of?"

Colonel Heathcliff turned his attention back to Captain Maldonado without a word.

"Doctors, it appears to be organic. Could it be a life-form?" asked Maldonado.

"I see," hummed Dr Shah. "Yes, Captain, it is entirely possible, but we will need more data. Colonel, could we request a sample be taken by probe for analysis?"

At that moment all eyes shot back to the Colonel. He mulled over his thoughts for all of five seconds before rendering his verdict.

"Approved," he announced almost boastfully.

Major Rasmussen shot the Colonel a look of disbelief. It didn't go unnoticed and Heathcliff tilted his head slightly whilst staring back at her. No additional words were exchanged. The Major appeared to have understood the message.

The probe was instructed to close within 500m from the object. The probe remained at its new position for ten minutes with no visible reaction from the object. The mass did however, continue to expand. The overall diameter was now almost 350km and the tether had reduced to only 11km in width. Next, the probe closed the gap and sat just 5m away. Up close, the surface was rough but still maintained a uniform pattern of small ridges and bumps. It looked to be nothing more than a gigantic boulder. After another ten minute lapse, there was still no reaction from the object. The probe inched closer using the most minute of output from its manoeuvring thrusters. It steadied itself then prepared to collect the sample. A small robotic arm appeared from an open panel at its side and reached out to contact the mass. As the clawed hand dragged along the surface, no marks were left in its wake. The object was unscathed.

In what could only be interpreted as a reaction to the stimuli, the surface of the mass above the probe began to change. A protrusion formed and it continued to reach out far past the probe like a large tentacle. In an instant it swung down like the hand of a clock smacking the probe away as if it were merely a pesky fly.

The entire Bridge jumped and gasped loudly. Then the appendage slowly retracted back from whence it came, leaving no trace of its existence.

"Well, it definitely seems alive!" called out Dr Quellette sounding rather amused.

The Colonel was furious. He shot up from his chair red-faced.

"Cut that feed!" Heathcliff roared pointing toward to monitor from the Main lab without addressing anyone in particular.

The Major ended the call then approached the Colonel cautiously.

"Sir, I don't like this. I think we've overstayed our welcome."

Colonel Heathcliff looked around at the other faces in their presence, they all looked just as unnerved. He sat back down letting out a slow breath in the process.

"Captain Kumara, get us out of this system!" Heathcliff ordered.

"With pleasure, Sir," he uttered back from the helm.

As the Phoebe started to pivot, Leo's attention was drawn to the monitors.

"Look! Something's happening!" called out Leo.

The tether had disconnected from the planet and the length of it was being drawn up into the object. It was now over 400km in diameter and a large fissure appeared across its equator. Within seconds, two more appeared, seemingly to divide the halves, then again dividing them further. Leo watched on both mystified and mortified. If he wasn't so terrified, the process may have even seemed beautiful.

The mass had divided itself into eight equal and separate portions. As the Titan began to pull away the individual pieces continued to morph until they had formed into elongated cylindrical pods. As the Phoebe made her escape, the eight pods began to pivot their own alignments until they were each pointing toward the fleeing Titan. Leo watched on as small flashes of light were coming from the rear of the pods.

The Bridge changed to red emergency lighting indicating a collision was imminent. The pods were propelling themselves forward to give chase.

"Activate the shroud!" roared Heathcliff as if their lives depended on it.

"Activating now, Sir," replied Captain Kumara instantly.

The dark matter field stabilised around the Phoebe, and the ship began to accelerate tenfold. There were a few brief cheers on the Bridge as they started to pull away from the threat. It was a rather short-lived victory. The elongated pods changed in appearance again, this time large wing-like limbs began to sprout and extend out as a massive membrane unfurled between the frames. Aided by their new sails, the pods surged forward closing the new gap instantly. Unable to outrun them, the shroud dissipated and the Phoebe returned to normal space, there was only one other option.

"Major, bring all weapons online!" barked the Colonel. As Petra followed her order, external panels all over the Titan opened producing Heavy Rail Cannons and Point Defence Cannons. "Arm warheads in all Silos!" He continued.

"Done, Sir!" Petra replied.

The pods were closing to 500km when Heathcliff gave the order to fire. The two rear HRC's fired a single round each. Both made contact with the nearest pod, leaving 10m deep craters at the impact sites. Within seconds, the craters began to refill themselves and soon enough the pod appeared completely unscathed.

"Major, two standard Halberds now!" Heathcliff roared.

Petra was already preparing to do so. She hit the last confirmation key and silos 1 and 3 opened, launching a pair of Halberd missiles.

The missiles detonated in a brief blinding flash. The forward pod appeared heavily damaged at its front end and the blast had flung it off course considerably. But it soon righted itself and continued to give chase as the damage began to heal. The others were now less than 300km away and still gaining.

"Sir, what about nukes?" asked Verity.

Leo's face brightened, he had overlooked their most powerful weapons.

"They're too close now, the entire ship would be irradiated in the process," snapped Captain Maldonado halting Leo's enthusiasm. "Not to mention the EMP!"

His eye still fixed on the screen before him the Colonel agreed with Maldonado.

"No nukes. Target the closest with another pair of Halberds and all rail weapons concentrate fire!"

All rear-facing Rail weapons fired mercilessly as the second salvo struck the next in line. But this time much less damage was caused and its speed was hardly affected. The Major continued to fire as fast as the silo loading mechanisms could keep up, but the pods were still closing.

"Sir," called out Major Rasmussen, "20 seconds on next salvo, but, the last one, it's, it's almost on us!"

Leo scanned the faces of his superiors, they were all looking like the end had come. He had to think of something, standing around wasn't going to save them. He took a deep breath and groaned in frustration inadvertently drawing all eyes onto himself.

"Now is not the time Lieutenant, get a hold of yourself," huffed the Colonel arrogantly.

"5 seconds!" roared the Major, but the pod was now less than 100km away.

Leo started to tremble at the horrific sight before him. The front of the pod had opened into a large gaping mouth. Before the Major could fire, a dozen tendrils came flying out from the pod's opening. Three of them connected with the Titan's hull. The entire ship rocked and eerie sounds filled the corridors as the Pheobe began to buckle under the strain of being harpooned.

There was mass panic all over the ship as calls to the Bridge came flooding in only to go ignored.

Major Rasmussen targeted the grappling lines with PDC's but they did little damage and were unable to free the snared Titan.

"Wait!" yelled Leo. "I know what to do!" His Major looked to him with terror plastered all over her face, she could all but nod. "The Shroud! It's our only hope!" he declared.

"We can't outrun them, lad, you saw that," sneered the Colonel.

"Yes, Sir! But it may just get those things off us!" he called back.

Colonel Heathcliff smiled at the brilliance of his crewman. The order was given and the shroud activated again. As the field stabilised it instantly cut all three of the harpoon lines tethered to them.

"Yes!" cheered Verity as Leo smiled toward her. They were free, but still not out of the woods.

The portions of the harpoons within the shroud began to bore their way inside. As if knowing the occupant's required atmosphere, the breaches were sealed by a thin membrane remaining in place while the bulk flowed into the exposed cavities of the Titan. They watched from the bridge as the viscous clumps began to separate and take individual forms. Rising from the floor they each began to form limbs of varying proportions with a single, centred opening. There was four of them at each hull breach. Unsightly apparitions of unknown origins that could only be described as walking mouths.

“What in Gaia's name?” mumbled Leo utterly mortified.

Verity leaned closer to Finely. “Sir, I advise we seal all the bulkheads in those areas.”

Major Rasmussen overheard her and agreed, nodding to Finley. As Finley complied, the Colonel's voice sang out loudly through the Titan as he made a ship wide announcement.

“Attention all military crew, this is your Colonel speaking. We have been boarded by an unknown hostile force. Suit up and report to Captain Maldonado at Armoury 2C on the double. All other crew return to your quarters immediately and barricade the doors!”

Without a word Captain Maldonado took off from the Bridge. Moments later a video feed from the armoury showed troopers in full combat armour lining up for weapons as they were being divided into three fire teams. Only sidearms were issued, any heavier calibres would only risk punching more holes in the hull.

It quickly became apparent that further hull breaches were the least of their concerns. The first squad to make contact was wiped out within seconds, their weapons fire appearing to have little to no effect. The creatures weren't fast but were relentless in their advance. Their limbs were covered in notched ridges that slashed and tore through combat armour with ease. Each sealed bulkhead bought only a few precious minutes as the creatures would cut and force their way through each obstacle.

As more squads arrived at each scene they found the creatures devouring the bodies of the fallen. The creatures then began to fire back, launching jagged barb-like projectiles from their own hides. Once close enough they would lunge at the troopers grasping and removing limbs with their gaping mouths. The bodies quickly began to pile. Half of the trooper regiment was lost within the first fifteen minutes. The Bridge watched on powerless to do anything else as each squad fell silent. The odd helmet camera remained streaming after its wearer went down only to cut out once consumed.

The wails of the dying were haunting to Leo, he felt cold and couldn't stop shaking. Leo turned away unable to watch on. He found the Colonel had risen from his chair, staring off into the cosmos while everyone else watched the monitors. Then Leo noticed the Colonel had lifted his sidearm and pressed it against his head.

"No!" screamed Leo, but it was too late.

The Colonel squeezed the trigger, spraying everything above his ears all over Captain Finley and her console.

Finley erupted from her seat with a bloodcurdling shriek throwing her arms up as the Colonel's lifeless body collapsed to the floor.

"Fuck!" roared Major Rasmussen as the others remained silent. There was no time to even drag the body away.

"I think it's time to call it, Major," uttered Captain Kumara shakily. "Maybe we can take them out with us," he snickered as if already coming to terms with it.

The Major's face was bleak, she lifted her head slowly. "We cannot Captain, for the Colonel can no longer input his half of the code."

At that moment, Verity moved quickly and approached one of the consoles. "Please, allow me," she said as her fingers blurred before her.

Not ten seconds later the main view-screen and an automated announcement alerted them and the entire ship that the self-destruct sequence had been initiated. A three-minute countdown had begun and all Nuclear Halberds were armed instantly.

“Outstanding, Lieutenant!” cheered Major Rasmussen. “Tell me in the afterlife how you got those codes,” she sneered as she headed for the door drawing her sidearm. “You comin', Sammi?”

Captain Kumara jumped up already armed. “Right behind you, Sir!”

Captain Finley was clearly in shock just sitting on the floor in silence. Leo also found he was completely lost for words. He wanted to console her but was still struggling to fill in the gaps himself. His eyes darted between the countdown and back to Verity.

She turned back around to face him and Leo stepped forward, his face begging for an answer.

"But, but how? I-I had so much I wanted to tell you," he whimpered.

Verity's face glowed in the red emergency lighting, tears ran down her cheeks as she took Leo's hands into her own.