Chapter 3 – Out of Time
Director Fury stared blankly at the object before him. It shared similarities to a coffin, although it was cylinder shaped. On end side of it, there were blue, luminescent lights in the shape of two circles, and there were fin-like flaps jutting from the sides. The rest was black in color, and some ice was still being thawed from the surface. Aside from that, it appeared to be completely intact. Fury turned to Coulson, who looked as dumbstruck as he did.
"What is this, Coulson?"
Coulson took a deep breath. "We don't know for sure, boss. We inspected it twice, and we believe it's some kind of containment unit. Like a pod. However, the metal it's made of doesn't correspond with any known element on the periodic table. My guess is that this thing is of extraterrestrial design."
Fury's took a step back. I have a feeling you may discover something… more in your search.
Fury's face remained stoic for a few moments. Coulson turned to him, waiting for some kind of response.
"This is big, Coulson. I mean really big." Fury walked up to the pod, his hands folded behind his back. "Are you dead serious on in this?"
"Sir, I am aware of how unrealistic it sounds, but I am confident in my conclusion. This thing is not of this world."
"How long was it buried?" Fury inquired.
"We're not sure. The object was in a perfect form of suspended animation, making the exact age impossible to determine. But given our data concerning the recent glacial formations, it could be thousands of years old." Coulson said.
Fury rested a hand on the pod. The metal was icy cold, no doubt from the amount of time it spent buried in the ice. Next to the Tesseract, this was probably the biggest discovery S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever made. Whatever this pod contained could be quite valuable to humanity. If the Council got word of this…
"Open it." Fury commanded.
Coulson blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"You heard me. I want this thing opened up as soon as possible."
"Sir, is that wise? We don't know what's inside, or if it's dangerous or not. For we know it could…"
"I am aware of the risks, Agent Coulson," Fury said, his tone dangerous. "and I'm willing to take them. Get that thing opened."
ooooo
The next few hours were agonizing at best. Fury remained in his quarters, seated at his desk, chin resting on his folded hands, a look of contemplation on his face. The world was changing fast. Too fast for him to handle. Stark, Banner, White… Voyant. Now this. It was all happening so fast. He was supposed to have left an hour ago for New York to await the Council's call. But Fury never was one to follow orders. Especially from his "superiors." This was just too big for him to miss. He just hoped whatever was in tat pod was worth all the trouble.
A few moments later, Fury heard te door open. He didn't even have to turn to know that it was Coulson. "Well?"
"I think we've got it, sir."
ooooo
Fury and Coulson were marching towards the lab where the pod was held. Fury kept asking Coulson questions on the object's status, and Coulson was answering as best as he could.
"We had some difficulty getting it open at first. We feared that just breaking it open would damage whatever is inside." Coulson rubbed some sweat from his brow. "Fortunately, we were able to carefully pry open the hatch."
"And? What did you find?" The pair walked into the lab.
"I don't know. I left right before they…" They stopped, and stared at the now open pod. The scientists that opened it were equally as shocked.
"My God…" Fury murmured.
Laying inside the pod was a creature. It was unconscious, and was almost humanoid in appearance, but its primary features were far from human. It appeared anthropoidal, with two pairs of eyes, all closed. Its head was covered in a thick, layered carapace that gave it a distinctive shape. The creature's hands both had three fingers, and its feet both had two widely-spaced toes. It was wearing an armor that was a bright ruby-red, and was almost shell-like in appearance. All in all, it was the most bizarre thing Fury had ever laid his eyes on.
"What in God's name is that?" Fury asked, bewildered beyond all comprehension.
One of the scientists stepped forward. "Some kind of humanoid, sir. The life signs are green. It's alive, but it may take some time to regain consciousness."
Fury looked at the two guards positioned at the door. "Put it under quarantine. I don't want anyone getting hurt if it…"
"Boss." Fury turned to Coulson, who was looking at the pod with a pale expression. Fury looked at the pod, and saw that the creature was stirring.
"Damn…"
The creature flexed its fingers, and its eyes opened, a bright light blinding its vision. Blinking a few times, the creature stared at the ceiling for a few moments, and slowly started to sit up. The scientists backed away, and Fury and Coulson drew their guns just in case. The creature turned its head toward them, and its eyes widened alarmingly.
To the surprise of the humans, a green aura surrounded the creature, and with a grunt, it stretched its hand out toward them. A blazing wave of green energy pushed them all back, sending them hurtling into the wall. Once they were all scattered across the floor, te creature leapt out of the pod, and made a run for the door. The two guards aimed their guns at the alien, but another wave of energy, stronger than the last, blasted them right through the wall and into the hallway. The alien continued to run, stumbling somewhat on te way out.
Fury slowly stood up, sore from the attack. Coulson and one scientist who didn't get knocked out by the attack stood up as well.
"You okay?" Fury asked
"I'm alive, if that's what you mean." Coulson remarked
"I need you to put this place on red alert. I want the specimen detained right now." Fury commanded, rubbing a bruise that was forming on his head.
ooooo
The alien continued to run, still struggling to keep his footing after being in stasis for so long. He didn't even bother to observe his surroundings. All he could think about was getting away from those bipedal beings. Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and the alien stopped. He looked around wildly, and the next thing he knew, more of those beings were surrounding him, each of them armed.
A look of concentration appeared on the alien's face, and the same green aura enveloped its body. Then, he ran forward with amazing speed, plowing through all of te agents. Some who managed to move out of the way fire at him, but the bullets seemed to vaporize into thin air the moment they made contact with the energy field.
With amazing strength, the alien broke through several walls, knocking away some unfortunate humans along the way. In a few moments, he was outside.
The creature stopped dead in his tracks, the aura disappearing. He looked at his surroundings. Everything around him was a frozen wasteland, nothing like he had expected. There were supposed to be great cities, advanced civilizations. This wasn't right. How long ad he really been asleep?
"Excuse me?" A voice called out.
The alien turned to see a small group of humans. All were armed, except for the one who spoke. A human male, dark skin, and a black patch covering his left eye.
"My name is Director Nick Fury. Can you understand what I am saying?" Fury inquired. The alien said nothing. He just stared back at the human. Eventually, the creature walked towards him slowly, and the other humans pointed their guns. The alien reached out towards Fury, who backed away slightly.
"What…" The creature's hand touched Fury's forehead and Fury froze as several visions were driven into his mind. It didn't take long for him to realize he was seeing the creature's memories.
The alien was standing in some kind of ship, surrounded by two more of his kind. They were all starring out of the viewport, and could see Earth in the distance. One of the other creatures, who was wearing yellow armor, spoke.
"The Reapers have pushed us back, Xegh Hikesh. Our empire has fallen, and we must await the emergence of the next cycle."
The other one, clad in blue armor, spoke. "Several of our brothers and sisters have been transported to other planets across the galaxy. They will awaken once the primitives of those worlds have reached the peak of their evolution. Then we can prepare for the Reapers again. You will be sent to this world. It is a small, hospitable planet with simple natives. In their presence, you will be the voice of our people."
"Once they have listened, seek out the others. Bring the Porthean Empire back to full glory." The yellow alien said.
The red Prothean, Xegh Hikesh, nodded to his brothers. "I will. I promise you."
Without a word, Xegh Hikesh stepped into the open life pod, and laid inside as the hatc closed. An electronic voice filled his senses. "Stasis active." A hissing sound was heard, and soon the entire pod was filled with some type of gas. Xegh could feel his consciousness fading, and soon, sleep overtook him. A long, long sleep…
Xegh moved his and from Fury's face, and Fury was in shock over the experience. He stumbled slightly, falling to his knees. The Prothean stood above him, his four eyes blinking.
"You woke me up to early, human." The oter humans present were shocked to hear perfectly spoken English from an alien life form. Breathing eavily, Fury regained his composure and looked up at Xegh.
"You can understand me?"
"I've read enough of your physiology to understand you dialect, human."
"So you were scanning my mind while I…"
"Saw what my people were reduced to in their final moments. Castaways. I was supposed to await the day your cycle reached its limit. The day the Reapers returned." Xegh's tone grew spiteful at the word Reapers.
"Reapers?" Fury asked, visibly confused.
"They are a race of synthetic abominations that reside in the space between stars. I do not know where they come from originally. Just that they are as old as the galaxy itself. They emerge from the dark domain to eradicate all advanced life in the galaxy. Our empire was destroyed, and the Reapers left."
Fury was shocked at this news. "So you were sent here so you could prepare us for them. To stop them once and for all."
Xegh nodded, but he appeared angry. "You have jeopardized by mission, human. You disrupted by stasis. Your people are still far from the peak of your cycle. The rest of my people still have at least a millennium left until the Reapers should reemerge, and I doubt you possess the necessary resources needed to power my life pod again."
"I'm sorry. I can't say that we would." Fury said, clearly uneasy at having pissed off an alien being.
The Prothean scoffed. "Typical. Then I am stranded here."
"It appears so." Fury said. For a while, everyone just stood in the freezing could, unsure of what to do next.
"Very well then. I am called Xegh Hikesh, human."
Fury stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Director Nick Fury. I represent the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. But we prefer to go by S.H.I.E.L.D."
Xegh just stared at Fury's hand with a blank expression. Fury looked at the Protean awkwardly. He suddenly realized that Xegh was likely clueless on human customs.
"Er… it's called a handshake. You're supposed to shake it."
"Why?" Xegh asked.
"You're asking the wrong human, sir. It's just what we do when people meet." Fury confessed.
"I see." Xegh grabbed Fury's hand, and Fury winced at the Prothean's strength, and shook.
"Welcome to Earth."
And that is chapter 3. FWI, the protheans are an alien race from the Mass Effect games, which belongs to BioWare. Xegh Hikesh is an OC, and belongs to me (sort of). And to answer one Outlawson 413, I plan on only adding four new characters to the story at this moment. I haven't yet decided on who the fourth will be, but I do plan on adding more much later in the story. I will update whenever I can. See ya.