The Dark

## The Dark Advance

The Dark - named for the unsettling and impenetrable blackness that it comprises - is a sector of space just outside the Three Spirals. Completely devoid of light, the Dark is assumed by many to be an anomalous section of the galaxy, where the creation process of stars and planets simply failed to happen. Nevertheless, generations of scholars and astronomers have attempted to peer through the veil, only to be disappointed when their instruments showed them nothing but darkness.

Only in recent years has The Dark become of particular interest to the various factions of Solonae, after a So'Vas scientist noticed an unusual reading from the edge of the void. Comparing the most recent examination to one taken before the unusual reading, the scientist was shocked to realise that several small systems on the edge of The Dark had vanished.

Immediately rifling back through the various decades of 'failed' scan attempts, the scientist made a horrifying discovery; in the span of a few hundred years, The Dark had expanded into over three dozen outlying systems. She immediately alerted the So'Vas government, who in turn handed the information over to the Republic.

Although the secret of The Dark expanding is kept at the highest levels of government, the reason behind the inexorable advance is still in question, with all four major factions conducting separate investigations into the cause.

## The Dark Ones

Unknown to the inhabitants of Solonae, The Dark is not simply a failed section of the galaxy, nor is it a supermassive black hole, as the Empire suspects, nor is it the entrance to the underworld, as many of the more superstitious members of galactic society believe.

The Dark is, in fact, the domain of a species of planet-eating parasites known colloquially as the Dark Ones.

The Dark Ones survive in the darkness of space by consuming entire solar systems, swallowing everything from stars to asteroids in an attempt to ease their endless hunger. They exist mostly on the outskirts of The Dark, leaving literally nothing in their wake as they travel from system to system, using the raw materials of their meals to give them the energy necessary to survive the decades-long trip through space.

Although no real record of The Dark exists, and nobody is quite sure when it began, the fact that it is so vast suggests that the Dark Ones have been consuming their section of the galaxy for thousands of years, and are likely responsible for the extinction of millions of species, as well as the destruction of the Kratoan Homeworld.

Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the Dark Ones is that they grow with each meal. The youngest and smallest of their species are also likely the fastest, and would be responsible for pushing the edge of The Dark outwards as they move incessantly towards the more heavily inhabited Spirals.

If this is true, then the real Dark Ones - the earliest, oldest and strongest members of the species - are likely found deeper in The Dark, digesting their meals and wandering slowly through their domain towards the edge. These monstrosities would be responsible for the creation of The Dark, and may or may not be essentially unkillable due to their vast size.

Dark Ones have displayed no evidence of sentience, and appear to consume systems through instinct rather than design. However, their lack of intelligence is unproven, and in no way makes the Dark Ones less dangerous.

The only species currently aware of the existence of the Dark Ones is the Scourge - who regularly send hundreds of thousands of ships into The Dark in an attempt to locate and harvest the Dark Ones' unique genetic codes. If they ever succeeded in integrating a fully formed Dark One, they would be able to create the first and only Scourge Flagship: a mobile super-weapon capable of unimaginable destructive power, able to drop out into a system and instantly annihilate every living thing it found.

There would be no escape, no defence, no chance of survival.