Star Calendar 497 · Black Hole Edge Sector Outside the viewport, a dark matter crystal larger than three kilometers in diameter rotated slowly under gravitational pull. Its anomalous refractive index triggered constant alarms on the navigation system of the Federation frigate. Captain Elin Kays gripped her tactical tablet, watching flickering data points on the holographic screen. The energy shield fluctuation curve of the Prometheus research vessel had breached Federation security protocols—an ominous pattern matching the long-banned “reverse-phase technology” developed by Rockside Corporation. In zero gravity, dark matter debris swirled like Weird vortex under the ship’s lights. Elin observed the “living asteroids” drifting past—glowing neural networks crisscrossed their icy surfaces, colliding every twelve seconds. Federal scientists theorized quantum lifeforms inhabited these celestial bodies, yet now they served as natural camouflage. Bloodhound pirates’ “Eagle Eye” reconnaissance drones couldn’t penetrate the gravitational lens distortions created by these collisions. “Course correction complete. Warp engine at 47% efficiency,” AI Lieutenant said with mechanical precision. “Unknown fleet massing around K7-B3 stargate. Recommend activating Level Three combat readiness.” Elin loosened her neural jack, feeling the familiar pinch behind her neck. The red alert blazed across the hologram—a Prometheus-level crisis. She zoomed into the spectral analysis, confirming the energy spikes matched Rockside’s classified schematics. Her fingers danced across the touchpad, invoking the Klein Bottle Formation—a spatial manipulation tactic that generated eleven phantom positions for their fleet. The first enemy ship materialized through folded space—a heavily modified Caldari Osprey scout. Its nanoscale obsidian plating warped light in bizarre angles, revealing weapons upgrades: a “Shatterstar” pulse cannon capable of delivering 300% ordinance damage to medium-sized vessels. “Lock target. Quantum torpedo charging sequence initiated,” Elin ordered, her gaze never leaving the enemy’s thermal signature. The tactical display exploded with real-time schematics—a critical 0.3-second delay in the target’s shield coolant loop, a vulnerability exposed during the disastrous Iceberg Incident three years ago. Helm’s four railguns hummed as supercooled liquid helium met plasma conduits. Blue arcs A deadly web in vacuum, generating electromagnetic pulses that harmonized with the enemy’s shield frequency. “Secondary shields online!” the destroyer’s exec officer Scream ed through the intercom. “They’re compensating!” Elin smirked as predicted. The Nightjar stealth cruiser had feigned a breach in their formation, luring the pirates into a trap. Plasma beams from its hidden armaments pierced the enemy flagship’s hull, triggering the Null Core Overload—a device that could fracture a ship’s warp core into eleven-dimensional fragments. “Energy levels critical!” the pilot’s voice echoed desperation. But Elin knew the Causal Engine aboard the Federation’s enigmatic Valkyrie-class battleship had already rewritten spacetime itself, channeling the explosion’s fury into parallel dimensions. The smell of burning neural circuits filled her nostrils—a scent reminiscent of the Glacier-class flagship destroyed in the Ice Belt campaign. Seventeen blue blips flashed across the screen—distress signals from Federation destroyers trapped in Distorted space . Beyond the gravitational lens, the Bloodhound fleet’s Death Scythe formation loomed, its silhouette warped by the same spacetime anomalies.