>>6061916“Did you see that?” Kiro exclaims in nervous wonder. “That looked nothing like any voidcraft I’ve ever seen!”
“Hmm yes, but it launched from that asteroid faster than even a modern mass manipulation drive should be able to safely accelerate.” Coen adds slowly.
“Whatever it is, it’s coming down to meet us.” Cleo replies with alarm. “Holy Ancestors, it’s—”
Gliding down from above, its barely moving wings aglow, is a creature out of myth. Long and sinuous, with six limbs and black, scaly hide is well… a dragon. Well, not exactly like those you’ve seen in some of the old Earth stories left in historical archives, but fairly close. The creature's scales are perfectly hexagonal and its eyes seem to glow from within along with its translucent grey wings and frills bracketing its elongated head. Not to mention it appears to be perfectly at home in the vacuum of space.
Two large arms end in massive hands which could easily reach out and pluck one of your Foxbats from the void and crush it in a single fist. It holds its two stockier legs close to its long, thick tail which drifts behind it lazily — completely at odds with the direction it seems to be flying. Was this what was responsible for vaporising Commander Cooper’s fighter? That was no mere fire.
Your fighter wing holds its course steady, too shocked to make any changes to the flight path, and yet the beast drifts almost effortlessly backwards whilst maintaining distance. It shifts its pose slightly and a complex pattern of light ripples through its membranes, colouring them orange.
“Cleo, please tell me you’re seeing what I’m seeing.” You almost whisper.
“If this is some sort of prank, it's in very poor taste.” She growls.
“Dal, why is there some sort of dragon thing out there? Is this part of the competition?” Kiro squeaks, stunned. “It kind looks like a—”
“Like a wyrm-damned… well, Void Wyrm.” Cleo spits out. “Though it doesn’t match any depiction I’ve ever seen.”
“No true depictions survived long after the Cataclysm.” Coen muses, “The subspace network collapse and ensuing data encryption destroyed all records and the Cult of Lost Star’s hunters purged what was left in their religious zeal. Only stories remain, and superstitions make even those taboo.”
“Of course it’s taboo, there’s like a ninety-nine percent chance that the Void Wyrms were collectively responsible for wiping out most of the known galaxy!” Cleo barks angrily.
“Perhaps, to the uninformed.” Coen remarks idly, “It's closer to seventy-thirty according to more reputable sources.”
“Still… we know they were big, reptilian and survive and travel through the void. If it looks like a fuckin’ space dragon then its clearly meant to be a Void Wyrm.” Cleo continues her tirade. “Oh, I'm gonna wring that scrawny commander’s neck when I get a hold of him. How dare they!”
