In the year 2259 the greatest power ever to threaten the civilised galaxy finally revealed
itself, in the eldritch black, arachnid form of the Shadow Battlecruiser.
Known to have driven humans to insanity simply by looking upon it, the primary warship of
the ancient and mysterious shadows was every bit as terrifying as its enigmatic masters.
Like all of the First Ones starships, the Shadow Battlecruiser was far and away more
advanced and more powerful than any one ship in service to any of the younger races, being
more than capable of destroying entire squadrons of ships its size singlehandedly.
Like all Shadow vessels, the Battlecruiser was composed of a mysterious bio-organic material,
making the ship extremely difficult to study or probe for weaknesses, as it lacked any
real internal components or circuitry.
The Length and Width of the Shadow Battlecruiser were variable, with the strange, animalistic
nature of the ship causing its hull to expand and contract slightly at all times.
Its surface was jet black and known to reflect most kinds of sensor analysis, several pilots
involved in engagements with or near the vessels reported hearing distorted and alien screaming
sounds, perhaps associated with the vessel’s advanced jamming abilities.
The general shape of most Shadow Battlecruisers was that of an enormous translucent spider,
earning the ship the nicknames “Ghost” and “Battlecrab” among the ranks of Earthforce.
The Battlecruiser carried only two weapons, an advanced destabilization device capable
of warping and ultimately sealing jumppoints, and a massive high energy beam weapon, often
used not as a directed blast, but as a cutting tool, swept across the surface of hostile
ships and tearing near-effortlessly through their hull plating.
In addition to its armament, the Shadow Battlecruiser was capable of carrying 40 Fighter Craft,
literally separating from the biomass of the larger ship and reabsorbing themselves into
its surface when their purpose was served.
The method by which the vessel propels itself through normal space is unknown, the ship
bears no visible engines or manoeuvring thrusters and simply seems to will itself through vacuum
at terrifying speeds.
At FTL speeds the Shadow vessels have no need for the primitive Jumpgates and Hyperspace
Apertures of the Younger Races, instead gracefully and near-silently phasing in and out of hyperspace
as both a method of interstellar travel, and as an extremely effective combat manoeuvre.
Being totally organic in nature, the Battlecruiser required no internal compartments and no crew,
but instead required a single organic being, willing or otherwise, to be implanted into
the ship to serve as the vessel’s central processing unit.
Though the use of a separate organic mind to serve as the vessel’s brain afforded
enormous tactical advantages, it did provide the Shadow Battlecruiser with its only exploitable
weakness, telepathy.
During an experiment on Syria Planum on Mars, a telepath attempted to directly scan a Shadow
Battlecruiser and was driven to insanity, but it was later discovered that telepathic
attacks on the organics serving as the vessel’s mind proved more effective, with telepaths
of great strength being able to briefly jam the systems of the Shadow vessel, leaving
it vulnerable to attack from conventional energy weapons.
This exploit would be used to great effect in the closing days of the Shadow War when
Minbari Telepaths in service to the Army of Light succeeded in neutralising several Shadow
Battlecruisers in the Battle of Coriana VI.
Undoubtedly one of the most dangerous vessels ever encountered by the younger races, the
Shadow Battlecruiser represents a dark era in galactic history, and only the combined
might of a unified galactic community, has ever been able to overcome them.