Chapter -57: The Wounded Eye

Outer Sector Outpost 7, Imperial Periphery

The sudden plunge into darkness and silence within Auxiliary Control Bravo was absolute, a stark contrast to the high-tech hum of moments before. Emergency lights flickered on, casting long, erratic shadows that danced with the afterimages of the blinding static flash. The air crackled with residual energy and the sharp scent of ozone.

Valerius fought through the disorienting wave of psionic interference that had crippled his System. His head throbbed, his Wargod senses felt bruised and raw, but he forced himself to remain outwardly composed. He was effectively blind without the System's constant data stream, relying solely on his own intellect and the blunted edge of his nanite-impaired Spatial Sense.

"Status report! Now!" Investigator Thorne's voice, sharp as shrapnel, cut through the initial stunned silence. She was already moving, her sidearm methodically sweeping the darkened room, her M4+ energy signature a beacon of controlled power amidst the chaos.

"All primary systems offline, Investigator!" a technician stammered from a nearby console, his voice shaky in the gloom. "Scanner Unit Two is completely dead – no telemetry, no power readings. It was a direct energy feedback loop from the anomaly."

"The anomaly attacked it," Lieutenant Kaelen breathed, his earlier vindication replaced by a stark awe. He was helping another technician who was groaning, clutching his head. "It reacted to the focused scan."

Lieutenant Commander Jian, already on his emergency handheld comm, relayed the situation to the main outpost command and, presumably, to Captain Rostova aboard the Vigilant. "Confirming hostile reaction from subsurface anomaly. Scanner Unit Two disabled. Requesting immediate engineering and security support to Auxiliary Control Bravo and Scanner Hangar Bay."

Valerius focused on his internal state. The System interface was a garbled mess of error codes. He could feel the nanite network struggling, attempting to reboot, to purge the overwhelming interference. It was like having a vital sense ripped away. He was still a Wargod, his core energy intact, but the sophisticated analytical and sensory enhancements were gone or severely diminished.

'System, damage assessment. Core functions,' he projected mentally, a desperate, internal command.

A flicker of corrupted text. <<…Critical Interference… Nanite Network Disruption… Sensory Acuity Reduced -70%... Analytical Subroutines Offline… Attempting Localized Reboot… Prognosis: Uncertain…>>

Uncertain. That was not reassuring.

Navy security personnel, alerted by the commotion and Jian's call, began arriving, their helmet lights cutting through the darkness, weapons ready. Engineers followed, carrying diagnostic kits and emergency power cells.

Thorne was already directing them. "Get auxiliary power to these consoles! I want a damage report on Unit Two, and I want to know what that energy surge did to our local grid. Jian, any word from the Vigilant? Did their orbital sensors pick up the discharge?"

"Stand by, Investigator," Jian replied, listening intently to his comm. "The Vigilant confirms a massive, localized subspace energy discharge originating from beneath Outpost 7. They are re-tasking orbital sensors for detailed analysis of the anomaly's current state. They also report minor sympathetic energy fluctuations from the resonance-linked signal on Moon 7C – the Omega signal pulsed in sync with the attack."

The Omega signal pulsed in sync. Valerius filed that away. The connection was active, responsive.

Kaelen approached Thorne, his earlier theories now lent terrifying credence. "Investigator, the energy signature of that pulse… did it share characteristics with the 'sensor ghost' I logged during the battle? The one with the spatial distortion harmonics?"

Thorne gave him a sharp look. "We have no detailed telemetry from the pulse itself, Lieutenant. Our primary instrument for gathering such data is currently a heap of fused circuits. But your observation is noted." Her gaze swept the room, lingering for a fraction of a second longer on Valerius than on anyone else. Had she noticed his momentary stillness when the pulse hit? Or was it just his heightened paranoia?

Valerius forced himself to contribute, to appear engaged. "Investigator," he said, his voice steady, "the anomaly's reaction was targeted, precise. It didn't just emit a broad energy wave; it focused a beam directly at the scanner unit. That implies a level of… awareness."

"Awareness, Lieutenant Valerius? Or a pre-programmed defensive response?" Thorne countered, though her eyes acknowledged the distinction. "Either way, it possesses capabilities far exceeding anything we anticipated."

Engineers managed to restore partial power to a few key consoles using portable generators. The main holographic display remained dark, but secondary screens flickered to life, showing diagnostic errors and system failures. The initial assessment of Scanner Unit Two was grim: primary energy conduits fused, sensor arrays overloaded, control systems catastrophically damaged. The unblinking eye was well and truly blinded, perhaps permanently.

The immediate crisis in Auxiliary Control began to subside, replaced by the methodical process of damage assessment and investigation. But a new, more profound sense of unease settled over everyone present. The anomaly wasn't just a passive mystery to be poked and prodded; it was an active, powerful, and potentially hostile entity residing deep beneath their feet, capable of defending itself with devastating force.

For Valerius, the situation was dire. His System was crippled, his primary advantage blunted. The Navy's investigation, far from being concluded, had just become infinitely more dangerous and unpredictable. And Kaelen, armed with this dramatic new evidence, would undoubtedly redouble his efforts to connect all the strange energy events, potentially leading him ever closer to Valerius's own carefully guarded secrets. The wounded eye of the scanner might be blind, but the investigation was far from over.