File 1.3 - Intruder at the Door

An abandoned chair lazily waited for its owner. It had been a long time since the office chair felt occupied. Resting in a large darkened room, the room came filled with computers and displays all quietly humming away an even content tune. There was only enough lighting to make out silhouettes marking it for its disuse. However, annoyed with disuse for so long it seemed a sole monitor screen was on with a pinging noise coming out of it that barely reached to the half ajar door of the room.

This was the secondary military command center for H.O.P.E. meant for use as a back-up if the main ever took damage or in need of maintenance. However, in the time of peaceful calm that the Earth had known for centuries neither received use. The worst that they had to combat was terrorist attacks as infrequent as they were. Of course, the rooms received regular maintenance and cleaning, but the need for them never arose.

It was the task of the officer of the watch to make visits to either room to check, but most ignored the room only making a single visit a day and not the hourly expected of them. There had never been a need for them, so most soldiers didn’t even know about the place. No one expected that they would be needed, however today proved them wrong as a day that everything changed forever. The station with the noise playing in discordant tune against the constant electrical melody was the monitoring station. It alerted the operator to unknown objects entering the atmosphere, an act that it had been repeating without end for an hour.

Peace came from an unlikely source. Passing through the hall were three soldiers with plans for lunch. The soldier on the right raised up his arm, having thought that he heard something. Confused and a little bothered they kept talking until he stopped them once more no longer uncertain. “There’s a sound, can’t you hear it?”

“No, I can’t hear anything,” the man replied quickly before even listening. “There’s nothing down here.”

“It’s probably just some tech doing work,” the third soldier piped in.

The first soldier didn’t let their doubt get to him as he walked forward hearing it a little more clearly than before. Once he reached the ajar door there was no question left as he motioned the others over. “It’s coming from here.”

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” said the soldier. He turned to look at the panel on the wall that titled the room. “We aren’t allowed in this room. Only officers, cleaning crew and messengers.”

He pushed the door open completely, getting a full effect from the alert and the single lit monitor in the darkened room. “There’s something wrong. If we don’t find out what it is and report it. We’ll be in trouble for negligence. There’s cameras everywhere.”

“But it’s probably just a malfunction in the system.”

The soldier pressed on into the room ignoring his comrades’ excuses. He stumbled slowly through the maze of chairs left unattended to reach the monitor that was flashing. It required a trained person to understand it, but there was something on screen that stood out. “Get the CO on the line now! There’s an unknown transport that entered through the atmosphere!”

“How’s that possible? Nothing’s been through the atmosphere in centuries!”

Across the base, a loud alarm blared through the large hanger bay causing dozens of mechanics to scramble around the floor. Such activity came as unfamiliar since the last emergency practice drills. However, the alarm that sounded currently was no drill. It was the real thing and it had left a thick air of panic for everyone to take in. Accompanying the alarm was an announcement by the commanding officer currently scheduled during this lax period.

“Prepare transport for immediate launch with surveillance equipment! Load AESIR Unit 3 Skadi onto the transport! I repeat!” The man’s voice came over with a poorly disguised frantic and nervous nature. None of the regular command staff was present leaving the facility severely unprepared.

The work crews ran about prepping the plane and moving it to the bay doors as drivers hauled Skadi on a large truck lining it up. “E-Type equipment!” shouted the foreman directing men. There were different names for the equipment depending on the request, but the order from the officer had thrown everyone off leaving some of the new people taking the wrong gear to the plane. They lost time from so many mistakes.

Walking up quietly with an empty expression that seemed almost inhuman was a young girl wearing a pilot suit. She held her helmet at her side by the lower face guard. The suit and helmet held the same green motif of medium green for a base with a darker green along the shoulders and sleeves with the top of the helmet down the back also dark green. She stepped out onto the moving platform that slid the plane into place.

“Air!” a man’s voice shouted over the noise out to the girl. Aerona, or Air, tilted her head over shoulder while pausing in step. “Keep your line open! I’ll be in the com monitoring the situation. So don’t go out until I give you the word!”

“Understood,” Air said before continuing towards the plane’s side door. She saw through the opening the truck drawing up into the cargo bay of the plane. Inside the transport she took a seat along the side waiting until clearance to launch.

“Launch gate opening!” informed the commanding officer over the communication speakers. “Track 013 has been aligned!”

The engines on the plane roared to life creating a wash of thunder through the hangar as everyone watched from the side. Soon the transport began to move, locked on a metal plate. Using the force of the engines to propel forward the metal plate slid along the wheels underneath pushing the plane into the track. It quickly began to pick up speed through the track building lift as it reached the end bursting out at an angle that met with the surface above. Out of visible sight of Antarctica City the plane left from its underground runway with its target in South Asia.