Fiction:Genesis of Nightmares

Raid in the Void
In the darkest space between galaxies, where no stars glow nor planets wander, secrets are kept, for there is information too dangerous to be seen by the people of the universe, but too vital to be erased lest the day come when it is needed. This is not forbidden knowledge - not the instructions to enact arcane rituals and not the unholy texts of ancient cults - but forbidden data. Information about locations, formations, abilities. Where to find things that are not wanted but cannot be destroyed.

These secrets are kept by the within three-dimensional mazes that are colossal in size, yet insignificantly small compared to the space in which they sit. The labyrinths serve two purposes: firstly, they spread both the flow of heat and the harvest of hypermatter out across millions of square kilometres, making all traces of their existence so weak as to be indistinguishable from the background noise of the universe itself. Secondly, aided by having no gravity and no air, they make it all but impossible for even the most dedicated of individuals to seek what they are looking for inside its endless, twisting, spindly passages.

Not that it would matter, you might think. One would need supernatural powers to so much as find the place, let alone locate the secrets buried within. A shame, then, that in this universe, such powers do exist.

With impeccable accuracy, the demons arrived at their quarry. Once they had bored through the ultradiamonoid hull and entered the tunnel, it was obvious that they had chosen the right spot, for just a few dozen metres away a spherical deflector shield could be seen glimmering as particles of dust crashed into its outermost plasma. Inside it, within a bubble of warped spacetime, would be the data cube which would lead them to everything they wanted.

Of course, the Apalos would not leave such an important object so poorly defended. The outer hull of the maze may have been rigid and nigh-impenetrable, but inside it was a very different story. The first demons to enter were the, sword-wielding reptilian creatures with hide the colour of dull flame, scurrying through the hole that they had created and crawling over the walls. Their job was to utterly annihilate any defences that sprang up, to make way for the demon who would be able to take the cube from its bubble. At first they saw nothing, but for dust in the air settling over their skin. There was, of course, no air; the dust was technology capable of its own movement.

As soon as a light coating had covered the intruders, each piece of dust flattened its form and extended several arms out to its neighbouring motes, restricting the Malcaeum's movements. The trick would not hold them for long, but it was enough of a distraction for the walls themselves to spring to life, forming turrets that opened fire on the demons and blades that shot upwards and aimed for their corrupted hearts.

Although their own weapons were sharp and strong enough to slice through those of the Apalos, the Malcaeum were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, but they were not alone. Insectoid Eleiethae and Kikra zombies flooded in to distract the defences and draw their fire. Finally came the Gargrethek, the draconic Nightmare Lampreys, whose Essence-enhanced roars rippled through the walls and temporarily reduced whole clusters of guns and blades back into metallic gloop.

The chaos continued for almost twenty minutes until every demon had been slain and their bodies vaporised. In the process, many more holes had been cut through to the outside of the maze, and most of the walls that had survived had been melted and were still glowing red with the remnants of demonic heat. Only a few turrets were still able to function, and they all kept a watchful eye in case of a second wave. They would never have guessed that what arrived next was far worse than a second wave.

A machine, a little under two metres in height and shaped somewhat like a pepper pot, floated gracefully into the maze. Its polycarbide shell looked as though it had been charred with some unnatural fire, while purple Entropic flames seeped out through the armour despite there being no gaps from which it could do so. The turrets instantly recognised it as a Dalek and opened fire, but their shots fizzled out harmlessly before even reaching it. A pair of curved horns on the top of the Dalek's dome pulsed a deep blood red with every syllable of its telepathic cries.

''WEAKLINGS. FAILED EVEN THE MOST MENIAL OF TASKS. HENCE WHY I MUST DO THIS MYSELF.'' It spoke in a high pitched and electronic voice, so grating it would have hurt the ears of any living being in the vicinity, if there were any.

The turrets continued to shoot, and little by little the volume of fire began to cut away at the Dalek's shields. This did not last long. With abnormal speed, the machine's middle section span around and out of its gunstick came a flurry of bluish bolts of hyperplasma sheathed inside crackling pulses of Entropy. Several more holes appeared in the walls where once there had been guns. ''YOU ARE THE FIRST TO EXPERIENCE THE TRUE EXTENT OF MY GIFT. BE EX-TER-MIN-ATED.''

There was now one last piece of resistance: the deflector shield. The Dalek did not even try to break it; it did not need to. Instead, it simply glided through and clutched the warp bubble inside with the hemispherical end of its manipulator arm. The data inside instantly became part of the Dalek's warped mind.

''AND NOW I MUST SPREAD THE GIFT TO ALL DALEK KIND. IT SHALL BE GLORIOUS.''