You push through the crowd of panicked crew members, dodging a maintenance bot that zips across your path. The nearest viewport is just around the bend in the corridor, its reinforced glass already reflecting the pulsing red emergency lights. As you press your palms against the cool transparisteel, the swirling blues of hyperspace suddenly distort as something massive emerges into real space.

The unidentified vessel is like nothing in the Federation database - a jagged obsidian construct resembling a fractured crystal more than a starship. Purple energy crackles along its uneven surfaces as it rotates slowly, revealing deep fissures that glow with unnatural light. Your breath fogs the viewport as it draws closer, close enough now that you can see smaller detachments breaking away like shards from a broken mirror.

Behind you, the ship's AI updates its warning: 'Shield penetration in T-minus 90 seconds. All non-essential personnel evacuate deck seven immediately.' The deck shudders violently, nearly knocking you off your feet. Through the viewport, one of the crystalline shards suddenly flares bright violet and detaches, hurtling straight toward your section of the ship.

A hand grabs your shoulder - it's Ensign Ryn from the xenobiology lab, his usually cheerful face drawn tight with fear. 'That's a harvesting vessel,' he gasps. 'The Myrkkari. They strip ships down to the bulkheads and take the crews...' His words are cut off by another shudder, more violent this time. The lights flicker as distant explosions rumble through the hull.