David Archer

Captain David Archer was a character in Call of Duty: Ghosts and one of the primary characters and the secondary antagonist of the Extinction saga. He is the leader of the Nightfall Program, and thus, the main antagonist of Nightfall. He is also a supporting character in Mayday and Awakening. He is mentioned through intel in Exodus. He had sent out a message to "Godfather" Castle about their plan, but they were unsure if it was really Archer, since the audio message was deemed as a negative match.
==Biography==
David Archer was a top shooter in the Special Air Service until he washed out on a Section 8, being deemed mentally unfit to return to duty. He was initially known as someone who wouldn't crack under pressure, but his psychiatric record says otherwise; stating that he is "extremely paranoid" and exhibits "violent/erratic behavior". During a psychiatric evaluation, he talks about an incident where he and a six-man kill team were assigned to a black ops in Swat Valley, Pakistan. After the op, they were denied extraction, having to hide out in caves for six weeks. He claims that he made contact with "Aliens" in the cave, but when the doctor apparently smiled, Archer, believing that the doctor thought he was crazy, assaulted him. After learning that there were Cryptids in Colorado, he went to the quarantine zone and smuggled Cryptid specimens out while the U.S. Military fought against the outbreak. Then, he created the Nightfall Program, which involves the research of the Cryptids, and recruited Samantha Cross to help with the research.
===Striking a Deal===
While being the shot caller for the Nightfall Program, Archer calls an unknown man, intending to sell his research to him. The contact questions Archer's trust when he is a traitor, but Archer shows him data of Scorpions, Rhinos, and the Venom-X, to make him "act on your own self-interest" and gives him 24 hours to comply or he would turn to another competitor. After a few hours, the contact called back, offering $400 million for the live specimens, and another $200 million for the Nightfall research data. Archer says, however that he does not need money, but a ship and a crew that can follow his orders, and needs the contact's answer immediately. Dr. Cross made an unauthorized call to the outside of the facility, and it is likely compromised. He requests extraction within 18 hours until the facility becomes overrun with Cryptids. 
Some time later, Archer desperately calls his contact to hurry, since the Hatchery in the building was sabotaged and Cryptids were running amok, killing everyone in sight. When Archer demanded an extraction team, the contact believed that Archer had too many problems and wouldn't be able to hold his end of the deal, and cut the deal, telling him to either allow himself to fall victim to the Cryptids, or hold out until the U.S. Military got there. Archer cursed him, and the contact cut off the transmission.
===Renegotiation===
After losing his deal, Archer reviewed a security camera's footage from the Hatchery to find out who was responsible — he sees someone call a Hunter on a doctor, then proceeds to release the other Cryptids from the Hatchery; that someone is revealed to be Dr. Samantha Cross. Archer tries to call his contact, sending him pictures of "The Ark", to make him reconsider breaking the deal, and tells him that he believes Cross is the key to finding another Ark. Archer, now having persuaded his contact into helping him again, decides to go after Cross.
===Extraction===
The U.S. Military's Rapid Reaction Force, codenamed CIF Team One, were tasked to investigate the Nightfall Facility, rescue Dr. Cross, destroy the Cryptids that they come across, and secure Archer, either "in handcuffs, or a body bag". CIF Team One first heard from him in what looked like a security outpost near the entrance of the facility. Archer contacted the team's commander, thanking him for having "cleaned up" his mess in Colorado, and hoped that he wasn't planning to set off another nuclear bomb. The commander told him to stop, continuing by saying that "too many people have died already", but Archer refused, saying that if he were to stop, their deaths would have been in vain.
CIF Team One found Dr. Cross in a weapons testing room behind bulletproof glass, attempting to commit suicide to stop Archer from learning what she knew about "The Obelisk" — an obsidian stone carved with Cryptid glyphs that Archer tasked Cross to decode before the outbreak. Before she could succeed, Archer broke into the room she was hiding in, shot her in the shoulder to make her drop the weapon she was holding, then hit her in the face to knock her out. He then shifted his focus to the team, telling them that he couldn't let them leave since they've seen too much. Archer pushed a button that sounded an alarm and attempts to leave while carrying an unconscious Cross atop his shoulders, but two Hunters ambushed him.
After CIF Team One destroyed the last hive at the top of the facility, they go after Archer. When the team left the facility through a hole in a wall, they saw Archer boarding the back of a vehicle and escape into the Alaskan frontier. Before they can even try to go after Archer, the Breeder appeared and blocked their path, allowing Archer to escape with Dr. Cross. By the time CIF Team One killed the Breeder, Archer had already made it onto the Stormbreaker, a Chinese ship filled with Alien specimens, and his research.
===Mayday===
After testing on Cross, things started to go awry as Samantha had managed to use an unknown power to contact the cryptids to destroy the ship. At this time, Godfather, the man who sent CIF Team One to the sub, had asked the President of the United States to recruit Archer so that they can locate the Ark and to stop the Cryptid War. However, the President was displeased by Godfather's plans, as he wanted Archer dead. Godfather then reminds the President that Archer is very intelligent in the field, and that they need his expertise in order to progress.
===Search for the Ark & Death===
After Archer's team reached the bottom of Ball's Pyramid, they ran into an ambush setup by the Cryptids, near an ark. One of his men had been decapitated by a Gargoyle, unwillingly dropping a live grenade. Archer then dragged his other soldier in front of him as a human shield, killing the soldier, and Archer was blown back several feet. Archer's right arm collided with a peculiar plant, allowing a lethal toxin to enter his body. This prompted Cross to appear and cut off his right arm, saving him from the lethal infection. Cross told Archer that she'd lead Archer's men to the Ark in return of a safe trip home; however, Archer had suspicions about the voyage, and instead was interested in killing Cross, and using her head as a potential weapon against the cryptids, akin to how Perseus did the same to Medusa. As Archer's group obtained the Cortex in the heart of the Ark, Archer pointed a handgun at Cross in an attempt to kill her, but Cross seized control of Archer's remaining arm, and used the handgun to kill his own men and shoot Archer's left leg, forcing Archer to lay down in front of the Obelisk that was situated there. Cross then left Archer to die, but not before Rapid Reaction Force - CIF Team 1 arrived shortly later. Archer attempted to warn them about what they were doing, but they activated the Cortex and started the meltdown. As the group escaped from the Ark, Archer tried to get them to help him, but they left him behind, prompting him to say "I'll see you all in hell" as he then dies from the meltdown.
===Exodus===
In a piece of Intel, a message was received that potentially came from David Archer warning about Samantha Cross' eventual betrayal of the humans. However, since the voice in the message stopped matching Archer, and the signal was coming from multiple different sources of origin, it was determined to not be from Archer, and instead a message from the Ancestors trying to mimic him. Godfather was contacted about the message afterwards.
After the fourth and fifth generators are powered on during a match on Exodus, the Ancestors will interrupt Godfather's commands to try to deceive CIF Team 1 and Godfather by relaying a messsage under the guise of Archer, but Godfather tells CIF Team 1 to ignore them after the second message.
==Intel==
===Nightfall ===
====Sabotage====
"If I'm going to die in this frozen shithole, I want to see the face of the man who killed me. There you are. You know what you're about. You understand what makes them tick. You're just like one of them. A cold-blooded killer. It's time you and I have a little chat Dr. Cross."
=== Mayday ===
====Terra Incognita====
"The investors who bankrolled the Nightfall program believe my comrades and I were in a bio weapons business. To them, the cryptids were the end products. But to those of us who are aware of Nightfall's true objective, the cryptids were means to an another end. We knew there'd be other colonies like one we found in Colorado. We believe that cryptids could lead us to them. I never guessed the key we've been searching for would turn out to be a human. Now I have new patrons, a ship, and a crew. Our journey is almost at an end. Dr. Cross is the beacon that lights our course. The closer we get, the brighter she shines."
====Beasts of War====
"500 years ago, Aztec scouts reported contact with an army of fierce four-legged demons. The demons wore iron shoes and leather masks and are attended by strange pale-skin slaves. You see, the Aztecs have never seen a horse before. They were so mesmerized by the sight of Spanish Stallions that they hardly spared a glance at cold-eyed killers riding on their backs. The cryptids are like those Spanish Stallions: Beasts of war, bred for battle, trained to obey. I studied the after-action report of the first cryptid contact in Colorado. I sensed an intelligence beyond mere animal instinct. I saw a coordination, communication, control. Something was giving the cryptids commands, right up until the nuke went off that brought a mountain down. The Aztecs failed to recognize the true face of the enemy and it cost them everything. I won't make the same mistake." 
====Medusa====
"In another lifetime, I saw Taliban tribesman bring down a 30 million dollar NATO drone by overriding a GPS guide signal with a 300 dollar ham radio. If the arks are awakened, we'll be the ones hiding in caves. We won't stand a chance in head-on fire, but we could take a lesson from those mountain tribesman. 70 enemy commanders from their cryptid warriors turned the dogs of war against their own masters. We've learned a great deal by watching Dr. Cross with our cryptid lab rats. The cryptid's brain is designed to receive orders. All we need is the brain that can broadcast them. In his stories, Perseus cut off Medusa's head to create an ultimate weapon. Soon we'll find out if an old trick still works."
====Desperate Allies====
"I've been branded a traitor. A terrorist, some kind of crackpot Captain Ahab. I suppose they got it right, but I'll always be one thing more than the others. And that's a soldier. And right now, every human on this planet has one thing in common: we're all at war. You see me as your enemy. But only because you're blind to the larger truth; The human race is now an endangered species. Our best chance is to join forces and strike first. I can show you where they are and how to defeat them." 
===Awakening===
==== Guardian Angel====
"The bastards were waiting for us. They knew where we'd be and when. Barely out of the tunnel and we walked straight into an ambush. That would've wiped us all out, if our guardian angel hadn't come to the rescue which she did. There we were, 600 meters below the sea level, surrounded by the cryptids and who should happen by... Samantha Cross. What are the chances... Our angel says she wants to make a deal. A guided tour of the Ark, in exchange for the safe passage off the island. Some would call it a happy coincidence. But angels and coincidences have an another thing in common, I don't believe in either one."
====The Cortex====
"It seems I owe you an apology general. Turns out Dr. Cross was telling the truth after all. We've located the ancestors' hibernation chamber. Killing one of them was surprisingly simple. I suspect it's only because the old beast was half-asleep at the time. Once the creature was dead, we cut open its head and removed an organ similar to human pineal gland. This is the source of creature's telepathy. The military and scientific value of the specimen is incalculable. It will enable us to complete development of the Medusa device. it gives these bastards a taste of their own medicine. Regrettably, Dr. Cross was killed during the attack. We can all take comfort in the knowledge that she died serving her country and her species." 
===Exodus===
====Caller ID Unknown ====
"This is David Archer. I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. You've got it wrong about a lot of things... like Samantha Cross. She's a sleeper, a double-agent. Everything that's happened, everything that's about to happen aboard your space station... it's all part of their plan. Their plan general, not yours." 
==Gallery==
DavidArcher Nightfall Opening CODG.png|David in the Nightfall intro
David Archer 3 Extinction CoDG.png
David Archer Looking through window Extinction CoDG.png|Archer looking out the window of the main platform of Stormbreaker
David Archer 2 Extinction CoDG.png
David Archer Young 2 Extinction CoDG.png
David Archer Young Extinction CoDG.png
Archer without Right Arm.png|Archer with his arm cut off
David Archer Kidnapping Cross 2 CoDG.png
David Archer Kidnapping Cross 1 CoDG.png
Category:Call of Duty: Ghosts Extinction Characters
Category:Antagonists