The anarchists have made a daring move; they have gone for Horizon's Edge Power Station. Horizon's Edge, a space station built around a black hole. It feeds on the ergosphere, turning raw rotational energy from the void itself, turning the entire ring into a colossal generator coil. The beating heart of a nation. If this station fell, so would everything we powered. I stared into the abyss, that impossible black sphere eating the stars. Their light shimmered across the glass, pulsing like distant disco balls. Only a few inches of reinforced crystal separated me from that void. Hard to believe I used to be an accountant, just another part, yet now I command the will of this machine. With a single command, I could plunge billions into darkness. I try not to think about that part too much. The pay’s good. The view’s better. All you have to do is live beside an insatiable celestial body and pretend it doesn’t whisper to you at night. I turned from the window and sank into my chair. My to-do list blinked on: engine recalibration, coolant leak repairs, anti-theft reprogramming. Routine. Predictable. I reached for my book, something ancient, printed on paper, when a subtle tremor crawled through the floor. "Will," I said The AI’s voice responded immediately, low and smooth. “Yes, Director?” “Show me external feeds. Motion alerts only.” Holographic screens shimmered to life, casting blue light across the walls. I scrolled through each view until there. A breach pod, spinning toward the outer hull. The logo was unreadable, but not ours. Not the Blacksmith seal. A cold weight settled in my gut. Brexus all over again. “Trigger breach alarms,” I said quietly. “Open the SOS switch.” A panel slid open beside the desk. I grabbed the heavy lever and yanked it down. The station bathed in crimson as sirens howled through the corridors. Outside the window, a dreadnought loomed, close enough that its hull filled my vision. On its side, the anarchist insignia: a single, jagged A. One cannon turret pivoted slowly until it pointed directly at me. I ran. Behind me, a flash of light, the sound of glass shattering, the deafening roar of atmosphere escaping into the void. My feet lifted from the floor, papers and debris spiraling past me toward the black. The cold hit first. The silence after. Then nothing. Horizons Edge was not taken by the anarchists thanks to an SOS being triggered before proper breaching pods could be sent out.
