The Strike of Kadius (comic)

**The Strike of Kadius** is the third comic in Season 1 of EOTU.

## Overview

Times are rough for the Earth Union. One of their main colony planets has rebelled and refused to help the rest of the empire. Not only are communications cut, but Zach Archer's entire existence is put on the line when he discovers an ancestor of his is at risk.

## Plot

On the human colony planet of Kadius in 2158, a man named Stanley Trevorkis is called to Office 14b by a grey humanoid called Alpha. He asks Alpha why he called him there. Alpha explains that the facilities on Kadius are running at 'maximum efficiency' and that he is planning changes at Techor Inc., and that all the human staff are being replaced by the superior Techor. He informs Trevorkis that the seat he is on has sent a shock into him that paralysed his lower body, and that soon a neural jolt will be sent into his brain to kill him. Trevorkis protests but is shortly killed. Alpha gets up and leaves the office, saying he has some humans to eliminate.

On the Jet at an unspecified time, Zach presents Ankh with the planet Aycarda 37, the "planet of the living sky" which she had requested. Ankh asks whether the sky is really alive, and Zach says they'll go find out, and is about to land the Jet when a speaker drops from the ceiling and presents a recorded message for Than Yttar, from a man called Cadar Hamish. He asks 'Yttar' to help him, and come to Earth in 2158. He says that he's linked the time-space coordinates to the Jet. Ankh asks who Than Yttar is, and Zach explains. She then asks if Zach's going to help them, to which he replies that the living sky will have to wait.

On Earth in 2158, the Jet materializes next to a wall. A man in a suit accusingly asks Zach who he is and what happened to Yttar. Zach tries to explain but the man interrupts him. A second man, who introduces himself as Cadar Hamish, asks the first man, Suce, to go back to his office. As Suce walks off Hamish apologizes for him, and asks Zach who he is. Zach says he 'inherited' the Jet from Yttar, and Hamish asks Zach to follow him to his office.

At the ColonyControl main headquarters, Hamish welcomes Zach and Ankh. He explains that ColonyControl was set up to manage the many different human colony planets in the Earth Union. He shows them an image of the colony Kadius, and tells them that two weeks earlier, Kadius seceded from the Union and blocked all communications. He says he suspects the government of Kadius has been taken over. He asks Zach if they can use the Jet. Zach is hesitant to agree. Hamish adds that a full military team will accompany them, along with Hamish himself and Suce. After a brief hesitation, Zach reluctantly agrees.

Arriving on Kadius, the team steps out of the Jet. Hamish speaks to General Harking, asking him if he knows the plan. Zach asks Hamish if the team will be useful. Hamish introduces the members to him: John Harking, one of the most experienced generals on Earth; Chris Ryans, special weapons operative; Aden Sior and Escha Cadence, infantry units; the mechanic, Liva Rell; computer programmer Hector Adams, and Suce. Harking then gets everyone's attention, explaining that they will infiltrate the main factory unit, with Ryans entering first to check if it is safe.

In the factory, Ryans slowly walks in with his gun ready. His foot catches on a tripwire, which alerts a mechanism in the roof. Ryans looks up and is then shot and killed by a laser from the trap. Outside, Zach questions Hamish's statement about Ryans being well trained.

Aden Sior enters the room and inspects the trap. Harking then leads the group into a section of offices. Adams then notices a dead body on a chair and yells. Zach walks up to it and reads his ID, learning he is Michael Cart, an accountant at a company called "Techor Inc.". Rell sees a statue of a humanoid nearby and admires it, and Zach turns around. Suddenly the 'statue' jumps up into the air and kicks Rell, sending her flying into the wall and killing her. The statue, which is actually a robotic humanoid, lands between Zach and the rest of the group. Ankh calls out for him, but he tells her to run. Everyone else runs, and the humanoid snaps its head around and scans Zach. Thinking Zach is his ancestor, Radian Archer, it becomes determined to kill him. It chases Zach onto a rooftop, where it begins to fly up, but Zach kicks it and causes it to fall off the roof to its death.

In another room, Ankh comes across more dead bodies. Harking tells the group to continue. They reach a corridor. In an air duct above, another metal humanoid, which calls itself Vsuyt F-261, jumps down and kills both Sior and Cadence, sending their bodies flying. Suce and Adams both run away, followed by Hamish shortly after.

Zach, elsewhere, sees the body of Sior fall down. Zach looks up, and runs off, trying to locate the others. Somewhere else, Suce sits down on the edge of a walkway, saying that he thinks he got away. Vsuyt then appears behind him, and pushes him off into a vat of molten metal.

Zach runs up to Ankh, asking what happened. Ankh explains that they were attacked and that Hamish and Adams ran away. Harking says nobody else will die and that they must fight back.

The team regroups in a large room, filled with pods creating the metal humanoids. Suddenly, they notice one beside them, however it is different from the other two, and not attacking them. It says it is there to help. Ankh asks it what its name is, and it replies that it is Ekanz R-868. Hamish tells her to be careful, and Harking says that they can't know for sure if it really is there to help. Another one of the humanoids appear behind them, introducing himself as Alpha A-000, the orginal Techor. Alpha tells how the entirety of his species died during a supernova, and he survived, managing to found Techor Inc. and create a new race of Techor. Zach realizes the Techor are kept alive by Alpha, and runs off, followed by Ankh and Ekanz. Arriving at a door, Ekanz tells them to follow him, and that Alpha has a failsafe to deactivate all the Techor. They enter the office and find a computer screen with a red button on it. Ekanz prepares to press it.

Alpha angrily realizes they have gone to the failsafe, but then remembers that since Ekanz doesn't count as a real Techor, the button won't work for him.

Ekanz presses the button but nothing happens. Before he can wonder why, Vsuyt appears behind them, ready to attack. As Zach moves out the way, Vsuyt floats up, about to kick Ekanz. Ekanz then runs behind him and pushes him into the desk, his hand hitting the button and activating it. An electronic voice in the factory says that the failsafe is activated, angering Alpha even more. In the office, Vsuyt yells out in pain and collapses, deactivated. Ekanz wonders why he hasn't died, too. Zach theorizes that since the button didn't work for him, Ekanz isn't a true controlled clone - he's becoming real. Ekanz's robotic eyes then become more humanlike.

Back outside the Jet, Hamish thanks Zach for his help. Harking salutes him and they walk into the Jet with Adams. Ekanz asks what happens to him. Zach invites him to travel with him and Ankh. After a moment of thought, Ekanz accepts and walks into the Jet. Zach is about to follow him when he remembers Radian. Realizing if Radian has died, he will cease to exist, he runs off to look for him. Hours later, he still hasn't found him. He hears a voice and walks around a corner. A man is crouching there, hiding from the Techor. He asks Zach if the Techor are gone. After saying they are, Zach asks him if he is Radian Archer. The man says he is, and that he is thinking of leaving Kadius and going elsewhere, such as Valkyrie. Zach agrees that moving to Valkyrie is a good idea.

Zach returns to the Jet, and apologizes to Ankh for running away suddenly. He asks her where to go next, and she replies "Anywhere". Zach says he's heard of a planet named Anywhere, and that he might take them there.

## Characters

* Zach Archer
* Ankhtenak
* Ekanz R-868
* Alpha A-000
* Vsuyt F-261
* Stanley Trevorkis
* Cadar Hamish
* Pátron Suce
* John Harking
* Chris Ryans
* Aden Sior
* Escha Cadence
* Liva Rell
* Hector Adams
* Michael Cart
* Xecho N-442
* Radian Archer

## References

* The Techor originally came from the planet Techoriad.
* Alpha mentions Station Echorax.
* Techor Inc. was founded by Carter Trevorkis.
* Alpha was taken to be imprisoned on Exile.
* Zach mentions the planet Anywhere.