Sigma Altaris VI, Code-named "Zhandria",
Earth Calendar July 25th, 2499, 1800 Hours Standard Time;
New Eden City, Zhandria.
The transit doors opened, and Archer and a group of people, including a shadowy figure in a brown cloak, entered the empty metro. A smooth female voice resounded, and the doors to the metro closed. Archer grabbed a handhold as the metro sped off for its destination to downtown New Eden City.
As the transit came to a gear grinding halt at its first destination, practically everyone on the metro got off, except Archer, and the cloaked figure. The doors closed again, and the transit moved on. Archer, while relatively tired from the day's work, and his thoughts clouded from his drink, still had his keen military senses alert.
As he thought he heard movement, Archer noticed the cloaked figure moving out of his peripheral vision. Whoosh! The cloaked figure had a switchblade attached to its right hand and had lashed out at Archer's head, but Archer had ducked before the figure could get him in the back of the head. The blade stuck to the wall, and the would-be assassin struggled to pull the blade out.
Archer kicked the figure squarely in the chest, and kicked again in the groin. The figure made no sound, or appeared to be even remotely harmed. Archer punched the person in the temple, and blood poured from the figure's ear, but they made no sound. Archer's assailant managed to get his blade out, and swung downward at Archer.
Archer dodged the blow, but the assassin nicked Archer's side. Archer dropped to his side for a second, groaned as blood leaked from his wound and dodged another of the assassins strikes. As the assassin prepared to strike again, Archer kicked the figure in the groin again, and charged right at the assassin.
The assassin flailed, blade in hand as Archer had caught the assassin by the knees, and flipped them. Archer ran to the back of the transit, and took a defensive stance. The assassin got up, and charged at Archer, screaming madly. Archer hit the emergency stop on the metro, and took a handhold on the sides as the assassin lost their balance and fell.
Archer reached for a weapon, and found his sidearm in its holster, fully loaded. Archer drew the weapon as the assassin got up, and fired three shots in his attacker's chest. Bang! Bang! Bang! Rang throughout the small transit. The assassin recoiled from the shots, and fell backs slightly on their feet, but still stood up.
The assassin prepared to strike again as he recovered from the shots. Archer cursed. His attacker must have been wearing body armor. Archer raised his pistol and promptly shot his attacker in the face. Blood and brain matter splattered the window of the transit, and the assassin fell. Archer reloaded his sidearm, holstered it. And inspected the assassin's body. Archer took off the person's cloak, and discovered, that his assassin was a female. She was not wearing body armor, and all of Archers shots hit her in the stomach. Archer got up, wiped the blood from his hands and hit the intercom.
"Archer to New Eden Security. You're going to want to take a look at this."
---
Archer went to bed after the assassination attempt, and was called to the local police station to help in analyzing what was left of the body. Archer was standing in a low-lit room, with the chief of police and Doctor Malkine next to him. The body of his assassin was on a table in the center of the room, her body prostrate.
"So," said Archer. "What do we know of our killer?"
Malkine pulled out an official report. A picture of a young, attractive blonde haired woman with blue eyes was on the report. Information and statistics were below it. "Name's Elanor Kine. Age 24, single. Lives around ten miles away from here. Her record's clean, not even a traffic violation. She's a pacifist, she has strong anti-war sentiment."
"If she's a pacifist, then why would she attack Captain Archer?" asked the chief of police.
"Unknown, but neighbors have noticed her acting a little strangely a few days ago. She disappeared and wasn't seen since she attacked Captain Archer," replied Malkine.
Archer said nothing. He was simply stunned by all of it. A peaceful, young, attractive woman attacking him for no apparent reason? Yet her strange behavior seemed to correlate with the finding of the mysterious artifact that Archer and his team discovered. Malkine said something, but Archer didn't hear it.
Malkine put his arm on Archer's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Hey, Archer, you ok? You seem a little dazed." Archer waved him off, heard the police chief say something about giving an escort if needed and he left the building. Archer stopped in his tracks as he left the building. Newly painted graffiti was on the building across from Archer, and it read "The Key of Light has fallen. May his killer burn in the depths of Hell."
Archer had no clue what it meant by the Key of the Light, but he had a bad feeling in his gut as he read it, and Archer learned to trust his instincts. An old newspaper dated July 25th was at Archers feet. Archer's eyes widened, and he felt a rush of adrenaline. The headline read "Doctor Halsey Assassinated". Archer picked up the newspaper and read the article.
"Doctor Halsey, chief of the excavation team that recently discovered an alien artifact here on Sigma Altaris VI was killed by a cloaked person who subsequently escaped after killing Halsey. No one knows why Halsey was murdered, but it's believed to have to do with the artifact."
That was it. Archer had had enough. He picked the newspaper up and ran, right towards the metro, with his sidearm in his right hand. He stormed into a private military transit, and punched in the coordinates for downtown New Eden City. After a few minutes, Archer arrived in downtown, and ran right towards the Grand New Eden Hotel.
He ran through the door, and knocked over someone, but he didn't pause to help him up. A wide-eyed female clerk was at the desk.
"I need to talk to Rachael McDaniel. Now. Tell her it's quite urgent," said Archer, gun still in his hand. The wide-eyed clerk nodded quickly, and dialed up a number and rapidly spoke into the phone.
"She said for you to simply come to her room. It's on the third floor. Room 3019. She said she was expecting you." And with that, Archer walked up the staircase, and arrived at Room 3019. He knocked three times, and waited. Rachael McDaniel opened the door, with her hair messed up. She was wearing red pajamas.
Rachael rubbed her eyes. "Archer? What are you doing here?" Archer grabbed Rachael's arm, and closed the door. He put the paper in Rachael's hand and let her go.
"Read it," Archer said. Rachael read the paper, her eyes widened and she looked up. "Also, last night I was attacked, at around the same time Doctor Halsey was killed. I survived by killing my attacker. But before I killed her, I had shot her three times in the chest, and she didn't look dazed by it at all. She simply raised her knife at me and charged before I shot her in the face. Both these attacks happened the same day we activated the artifact, and I think they have something to do with both ONI and that artifact we found."
Rachael nodded. "Anything else you want to tell me?"
"Yes. I want to join the Resistance. But I'll stay in the Consortium. I'm still loyal to Earth. I'll give you any information, and nothing more. Is that clear?" Rachael nodded again. Archer's cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket.
"Archer? Understood." He turned to Rachael. "I have to go. Admiral Hanley has ordered me and the Zephranteyes to the Ceti Alpha system to deal with renegades. I'll keep you informed," and with that Archer opened the door, and left.
---
Three hours later, Archer arrived onboard Zephranteyes and gave the order to make way. The Zephranteyes activated the main Ion engines and headed for the edge of the Sigma Altaris System, where they jumped. After two weeks of uneventful travel, Zephranteyes arrived at Ceti Alpha Prime.
Lieutenant Kylie Cunningham, the Zephranteyes communications officer, spoke up.
"Captain, sensors indicate four ships in orbit of Ceti Alpha Prime; a frigate and two corvettes, and a ship of unknown configuration, sir."
"On screen," said Archer. And the rebel ships appeared in front of Archer.
"Sir, they are powering weapons and launching light fighters. What are your orders, sir?" asked Cunningham.
Archer stared at the view screen and thought. "Launch Achilles fighters, arm all point defense blasters, and Chiron Missile Bays A and B. Target the Corvettes." The officers on the bridge typed away rapidly on their console and barking orders over the comm. The forward launch bay doors opened, and a dozen Chiron Heavy Missiles streaked away from the Zephranteyes to the oncoming rebel ships.
At the same time, smaller doors opened on the side of the Zephranteyes, and two squadrons of Achilles class interceptors fired their engines and swooped away from the destroyer, and engaged their rebel counterparts. Ten seconds after the Chiron missiles were launched, twelve pinpricks of light erupted near the Corvettes.
One Corvette fired their emergency thrusters and managed to escape the deadly fireballs around them. The other wasn't so lucky. Ten of the missiles exploded near her engines, and the explosions ripped through the tiny amounts of armor that the Corvette had. The engines shut down, and exploded, destroying the tiny ship.
The rebel Frigate responded by firing their main rail guns at the Zephranteyes. Two large streaks fired from the frigate and impacted on the side of the Zephranteyes. The ship shook.
"Return fire! Target that ship with Bays C and D, and fire rail guns!" Shouted Archer. Twelve more missiles launched from the weapons bays of the Zephranteyes, and two bolts of death plunged straight at the enemy frigate. The frigate fired their autoguns at the oncoming missiles, and two exploded. Six of the missiles missed the frigate completely, but the other four missiles hit aft of the frigate. Both railgun shoots made their mark and hit the frigate straight at her bridge.
The frigate drifted dead in space. The other surviving rebel corvette exploded as the Achilles fighters destroyed the last rebel fighters, and fired their machine guns and missiles at it.
The bridge crew let out a triumphant shout. "Enemy ship destroyed. Only one more to go." The Achilles fighters swooped away from the wreckage of the rebel corvette and made their run at the large, black starship that was the last of the attacking fleet. The ship responded by firing a pink, continuous energy beam at the fighters. The smaller craft exploded instantly.
The shouts of the bridge crew died down. The beam swept over the wreckage of the fighters one more time, and then struck the Zephranteyes at her stern. Panels on the bridge exploded, and oxygen leaked from overhead vents. Some members of the crew flew to the sides and hit the bulkheads.
"Damage report!" shouted Archer over the din of chaos.
"Engines have been hit! We're leaking coolant from the reactor!" shouted back one of the bridge crew.
"Reactor status?!?"
"Reactor at 50 power!"
"Fire all remaining Chiron missiles at that ship! Target railguns as well! Let's kill this bastard!"
Weapons bays opened, and dozens of missiles streaked toward the black ship. The Zephranteyes fired her railguns angrily at the rebel vessel. The missiles exploded, and the railguns hit the broadside of the ship. The attacking ship took no apparent damage.
"Damn!" cursed Archer. "Weapons officer, prepare the Ion Cannon!" The bridge crew all paused and looked up at Archer. Out of all weapons onboard the Zephranteyes, the Ion Cannon was the strongest weapon in the entire Consortium arsenal. It was also, a very power-draining weapon.
The weapons officer paused for a second, and nodded. "Aye, sir. Powering Ion Cannon." The bridge lights dimmed for a second, and then died. The red emergency lights activated. Motes of bright blue energy collected at the front of the Zephranteyes. The black ship fired again, and hit the Consortium destroyer in the engine.
"Minor damage to engines. Charge at 90."
"Fire all guns!" shouted Archer. And with that, the collection of energy hurled away and hit the enemy vessel dead on. The ship crackled with energy for a moment, and the ship continued to move towards the Zephranteyes.
"We're doomed…" said Archer, putting his hands in his face.
One of the officers gasped. "Wait, sir. Look." And Archer looked up. A secondary explosion went off inside the vessel, and it exploded. The crew let out a cheer. Archer sighed, and murmured for the crew to settle down.
"Damage report."
"Sir. Chiron missile bays are all empty. All Achilles fighters vaporized, hull integrity at 45, reactor at 40. Sir. We're being hailed."
"Put them onscreen." And with that, a short man who appeared to be in his 50s appeared.
"Captain Archer! So good of you to take care of these rebels. They've been blackmailing us for days now. Saying if we hadn't turned over all information on our alien artifact, they'd respond with extreme forces."
Archer held up a hand. "Wait, wait, wait. What artifacts? Last I checked, Ceti Alpha Prime had no alien artifacts on it whatsoever."
The man shrugged. "That's what we thought to, until the rebels showed us the coordinates of one. A temple about a hundred miles north of where I am."
Archer paused. "Mind if I come down to investigate?"
The man grinned. "Not at all. I'd be happy to have you see it. I'll meet you at the spaceport in an hour." And the screen went dead.
Archer got up. "Lieutenant Cunningham, I want a platoon of marines to accompany me down to the surface. Just because we destroyed the rebel ships, doesn't mean there are additional rebels on the planet."
Cunningham nodded, and hit the intercom. As Archer strolled off the bridge and took the turbolift, he had a very bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.
End of Chapter 3.