TAU CETI
In the vast, ancient silence of the cosmos, the greatest threat isn't conquest—it's understanding.

The Intellects, a vast collective consciousness spanning 1156 populated solar systems, have spread across the galaxy not by force, but by quiet observation. Their existence is a harmonious whisper, until a chilling discovery shatters their tranquility: a massive, inscrutable energy signature emanating from the most distant reaches of space. It's a cosmic anomaly, a whisper of incomprehensible industrial intent, reshaping worlds for an alien purpose beyond all known physics.

Driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge, yet fractured by debate, the Intellects dispatch three of their most advanced Guardian Cruisers to investigate. Designed for subtle presence, not brutal conflict, these vessels plunge into the void, seeking answers about this encroaching cosmic industrialist. But what they find is not an enemy to be fought, but a force that can unravel existence itself.

The entity's perception transcends light and conventional physics, rendering their most potent stealth obsolete. Its counter-attack isn't a blast of energy, but an insidious, quantum assault that unmakes their defenses, corrupts their systems, and threatens to rewrite their very consciousness. As their ships are slowly, agonizingly dissolved, the Intellects are forced into a desperate, suicidal final, devastating act that costs them everything, yet entombs the monstrous threat.

But victory, they discover, can be a profound trauma. TAU CETI is a gripping tale of first contact, existential horror, and the devastating cost of survival. It explores the limits of comprehension when facing the truly alien, and the enduring scars left on a civilization that peered into the abyss and, against all odds, survived—forever changed by the agonizing echo of what it endured.