S3, 01 Metal Retrieval (GC) (April 7, 2016)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**24th March 2096: Present Day**

Somewhere in the pitch black of night, the cold air was torn apart by the gunfire that rang through it. Gunfire, accompanied by the screams of the terrified and the traumatised.

In a tiny village on Zarus, defenceless natives, mostly women and children, were dragged from their beds, from their homes, kicking and screaming, by a small band of intruders. Working from house to house, they were clearly searching for something. They checked every individual before roughly discarding them and moving on.

Searching for some*one*.

A human male, sticking out from the native Zaruns, was already on his knees in the middle of the street, hands behind his head. Clearly terrified, he shook all over as one of the gang, pacing, kept an eye on him while the rest of the terrorists were off checking the nearby buildings.

Another gunshot and another scream from one of the houses close by.

Suddenly, one of the roofs went up in flames, lighting up the whole area in an eerie, flickering, orange glow.

The prisoner sobbed as another of the gang members, laughing, strode over from the burning building.

Wolfhide: “Boom!” he smirked.

Ranger: “Was that necessary?”

Wolfhide: “Hey, I do what I want, yeah?” he growled.

There was a commotion as two more members of Beta Squad, Jaws and Hammerstrike, emerged from another nearby house, dragging a third man between them. They dumped him unceremoniously on the floor next to the first.

Hammerstrike: “We got the second.” He announced to his squad members. “Yeah?” he shouted at the second prisoner. “You thought you could get away with it, huh?” he kicked out and pushed the helpless prisoner over into the dirt.

There was a small explosion from the burning building, enough to make everybody turn to look at it. As they did so, the first prisoner, panicking, took the opportunity and bolted. Leaping to his feet, he scrabbled away and started to run.

A gunshot rang out and he crashed forcefully back to the ground in front of the second prisoner, dead.

The second prisoner sobbed silently as he looked up from the body in front of him to the new figure, the one who’d fired the gun, emerging out of the darkness.

Darkblade: “Tell us; *Where is Frank Foster?”*

**Elsewhere...**

My eyes flew open, as did my mouth, as bubbles leapt forth through the water. I’d been under water for a long time now and just couldn’t hold it any longer.

Pushing upwards, I broke the surface and gasped for air, blinking the remaining water from my eyes.

A couple of seconds passed in which I simply breathed and allowed myself to float in the clear water. Then, I gripped the side of the bath and pushed myself into a sitting position.

Okay, so maybe I hadn’t been under water *that* long, but it had certainly felt like it!

Life had been quiet recently, I reflected as I climbed out of the tub, pulled the plug and grabbed a towel.

That wasn’t to say that things haven’t happened, but it certainly hasn’t been as high-octane as it was towards the end of last year! The festive period and the start of 2096, so far, has been rather quiet! Of course, I spent Christmas with Eris, Jay and co’. Then of course there was the hoo-haa with Jay’s stag party, but let’s just gloss over that. Then, of course, there was the wedding. After that, I returned to Qoter and, if I’m honest, haven’t done much since!

I’ve spent the majority of my time looking into Zeth Stripe.

After Mr. Grey told me that name, I felt a surge of hope an excitement at the prospect that I could finally get some justice for my parents. However, in reality, that was proving to be a lot harder than I originally thought. It turns out that Zeth Stripe was a small time crook and was arrested for an armed robbery about a week after my parent’s deaths. Of course, the police didn’t even think to question him about that because, firstly, why would there be any connection and secondly, they already had me in custody and so thought they had the culprit. He then escaped during The Shift.

Now that was all great. You might think that I’d found out quite a lot! However. I found all of that out on my first day of searching. I asked Judas if I could use the police database to search for records, not giving him any specifics, and that’s where I got that info from. After that the trail went dead and I haven’t found anything since! There seem to be no records of him anywhere!

I’ve spent the past few months searching whatever databases I can think of, any old newspapers and… anything, to try and find mention of him, but *nothing*!

It’s infuriating!

However, the frustration that that’s been giving me has been cancelled out, well, maybe not quite cancelled out, but it has certainly been alleviated by my social life!

Yes, you heard me correctly. My social life. *I* have a social life! And in fact, it’s a pretty darn great one! Well, I don’t know that much about social lives, having spent most of mine so far in prison, however, the past few months have certainly been the most enjoyable I’ve ever had.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent time with Eris’ lot over the holidays, which was lovely as it’s always great to see them and it was really sweet of Eris to ask me to walk her down the aisle at her wedding to Jay. I felt very privileged, walking arm in arm with the Archmage of the Collective, escorting her to her soon to be husband. She could have chosen anybody in the universe, after all, she has access to it all! And yet she chose me. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought back over it.

As well as that gang, I’d also met up with Judas on several occasions. The first of which had been when I’d asked for access to the police database, but since then I’d seen him several more times. Last month the two of us, along with Riley, went out for dinner. It was a great evening! We ate, we drank, we laughed. I think we’d all been a bit stressed out and so it had been a great way for the three of us, who, I felt at least, have grown to be quite close recently, to relax.

Riley and I had also met up on several other occasions, nearly always at the coffee shop where I’d bumped into her back in December, the only exception being when she’d taken me clothes shopping after telling me my current outfit looked ridiculous! She also forced me into getting a haircut! Although, as much as I protested, I didn’t much, really. I would do anything to spend more time with her. We got on really well now so she had obviously gotten over her initial doubts about me. However, I still hadn’t told her that I am really Frank Foster and I remember her from when we were kids back on Earth. I just can’t. Not yet, at least.

I sighed with some sort of mixture of contentedness and sadness as I stared blankly at the TV. I’d turned it on but not really bothered to see what was on, I just left it on the channel it was on. As I realised this, I began watching properly.

Voice-Over: “…if you can do that, then the Galactic Imperium wants *you*! Join the Space Engineering Program today and help develop the technology of the future! From research and logistics through to physical engineering and flight testing, there is a role for everyone! We’ve reached the stars, now let’s reach for the cosmos!”

The advert played out, showing footage of people in offices, discussing blueprints and then people in workshops using power tools to join engine components together. It continued on, showing a CGI-created version of what warp-speed travel might look like, but I’d switched my brain off again.

Speaking of The Brain, I’d not heard anything from Mr. Grey for the past few months either. Not since he’d finally given me Zeth’s name. His absence may have also contributed to my overall raised spirits!

However, of course, it wasn’t to last.

My comlink began bleeping from over on the table, so I pushed myself up and walked over to it. I flicked it on and Mr. Grey appeared.

Mr. Grey: “Good morning, Chain. How are you?”

Tank: “I’m good thanks. Yourself?”

Mr. Grey: “Not too bad. Not too bad at all, thank you. I trust you’ve had a pleasant few months?”

Tank: “I won’t lie and say they were awful.” I smirked slightly and to my surprise, Grey returned the smile. He *was* in a good mood!

Mr. Grey: “Good. How far have you gotten with tracking down Mr. Stripe?”

Tank: “Not too far, annoyingly.” I told him and then proceeded to tell him the little that I’d discovered so far, as I walked back over to the sofa, sat down and muted the TV.

Mr. Grey: “Hmm.. it seems he’s going to be a slippery one to track down. I did warn you though, did I not?” he said once I’d finished.
I thought back and he had indeed told me that Stripe had been missing for several years when he first gave me the name.

I ‘Mmmm’ed in agreement.

Mr. Grey: “Well, let me know if you do discover anything new.”

Tank: “Will do.”

Mr. Grey: “However, in the meantime, the Brain has a task for you. A rescue mission, in fact.”

Tank: “Who am I rescuing?”

Mr. Grey: “His name is Aeron Brass. He’s a Captain in Pax Aurelia.”

Tank: “Okay, so who am I recusing him from?”

Mr. Grey: “Take a guess.”

I thought back over all the news about the ongoing Aurelian Civil War. Recently, the half that had called themselves “True Aurelia” had begun a bombing campaign against the other half, who at the start of this month announced that from then on they were to be known as “Pax Aurelia”, so it made it a little easier for people to tell them apart, and the GI.

Tank: “True Aurelia?” I guessed.

Mr. Grey: “Indeed. The Brain has received some intel’ that suggests True Aurelia’s next target in their bombing campaign is the base that Captain Brass is currently stationed at.”

Tank: “Okay. But why does the Brain need this guy alive so badly? What about the other people at the base? Why can’t you just warn the base that they’re going to be bombed and they can evacuate? Why do I have to go in and rescue this guy?”

Mr. Grey: “Do you not think that we tried that first? We tried sending a warning, however, our message was returned to us. It seems that they are having their communications blocked. We need somebody we can trust to go and tell them in person.”

I nodded in understanding and waited for Grey to say more, but he didn’t. Instead he just looked at me expectantly.

The pause turned awkward and stretched on for several more seconds before I realised.

Tank: “Oh, what, *now*?”

Mr. Grey: “No, next Thursday. YES! *NOW*, Tank!”

Tank: “Oh, right! TRACKS!” I shouted as I leapt to my feet.

**Several Hours Later…**

Tracks had prepped the Viper and I’d grabbed my gear and then we’d set straight off. Mr. Grey had sent the co-ordinates of the base over to my datapad (it was only on the other side of the planet), and now, several hours later, we were nearing our destination.

We skimmed low over the city. Here, the buildings were a lot shorter and fatter. More squat, rather than the towering skyscrapers of the capital. There, buildings gleamed in the sunlight, all steel and glass and modern-looking. Here the buildings looked a lot more solid. They were less grand and were clearly more build for purpose instead of to look good.

Therefore, when I spotted the military base in the distance, it fitted into its surroundings perfectly. It was an Imperial base but with their recent partnership with Aurelia… sorry, Pax Aurelia, lots of Imperium bases now housed Pax Aurelia soldiers too.

The Viper’s comlink light started flashing and I activated it.

Controller: “Unidentified aircraft, you are approaching restricted airspace. Please change course immediately.”

Tank: “Listen to me!” I started, suddenly aware that I hadn’t got a clue what I was going to say to them. “You’re being targeted by True Aurelia. They’re planning on bombing you! I need to land and speak to whoever is in charge.”

Controller: “Where have you gotten this information from? Do you have security clearance?”

Tank: “No, I don’t. But it comes from a reliable source. Please!” I urged.

Controller: “I’m afraid not. Without proper clearance codes, I can’t allow you to land. Please divert course. Good day.”

Tank: “No! Wait! You have to let me in! I need to speak to Captain Brass!”

The Controller froze, confusion on his face.

Controller: “How…?” he began, but didn’t finish. Instead he vanished from view.

Tank: “Great…” I muttered sarcastically and Tracks grunted in agreement.

A couple of seconds passed in which I wondered what was going on and then a new figure appeared. A middle aged male. Clean-shaven with a buzzcut.

Thane: “My name is Commander Tane. Who are you and how do you know that Captain Brass is here?”

Tank: “Uh… I was told he was here by my employer. Why?”

Tane: “I think we need to have a little discussion. Please land at the designated landing point and prepare to be escorted inside.”

Tank: “Um, will do.” I confirmed, a little confused as to why there was so much fuss about this Brass guy.

The Commander ended the transmission and a landing pad number flashed up on the control screen. I took us in and settled the Viper down at the designated location, but no sooner had we touched down than a set of doors, a short way off, that led into the base, opened up and a small squad of Imperial Soldiers emerged, in rank, and headed towards us.

Tracks whirred something that sounded suspiciously like “Uhhh…..?”

Tank: “You said it.” I replied, equally as concerned.

However, there wasn’t much we could do, so I just popped the canopy and we climbed out. We stood for a few seconds next to the Viper and then the soldiers reached us.

Captain: “Come with us. You are to be escorted inside. Commander Thane wants to speak with you. Please cooperate.”

Tank: “It doesn’t look like I have much choice.” I retorted. The Captain turned and began walking away, so Tracks and I followed and as we did, the other soldiers fell into guard positions around us, marching us towards the base like prisoners.

Five minutes later, after being escorted through the base as though we were some kind of galaxy-threatening criminals, the Captain finally brought us to a halt by a closed door.

Captain: “Wait here.” He instructed and then opened the door.

Inside was a control centre of some kind and the Captain walked inside, out of sight and then a minute later returned.

Captain: “Follow me.”

He led us inside, into the control room and over to a pair of men, one Imperial and one Aurelian, standing, discussing over at one side, one of whom I recognised from the comlink as Commander Tane.

Captain: “Here they are, sirs.”

Tane: “Thank you, Captain.”

The Captain saluted and then he and the soldiers left, leaving Tracks and I alone with Tane and the second man, whom I assumed was Captain Brass.

Tane: “So, care to tell me who you are and how you knew that the good captain here was at this base?”

Tank: “My name is Chain Rockwell… or Tank… whichever you prefer.” I began. “I was told about Captain Brass by my employer.”

Tane: “Who happens to be…?”

Tank: “Very knowledgeable.” I replied, not able to pass up on that opportunity.

Tane: “Sarcasm will get you nowhere.” The Commander warned. “Now, let’s try again. Who is your employer and how did he know Captain Brass was here?”

Tank: “Look, my employer goes by the name of The Brain, I honestly have no idea what his real name is. If he even has one.” I added. “But he told me that the Captain was here. I don’t know how he knew. In fact, I wasn’t even aware it was a secret. Is it a secret?” I asked as an afterthought.

Tane and Brass exchanged frowns before replying.

Tane: “Yes. It is.”

Cap. Brass: “I’m being hunted by True Aurelia. I don’t know why, but we received reliable intelligence that suggested it were true. Shortly after that, my base, on Rerador, came under attack and the majority of my men were killed. Thankfully, I managed to escape and fled here to Qoter. I was posted here temporarily – the plan being that I would be moved to a new permanent base in a few days’ time. However, we seem to be experiencing a communications blackout at the moment. We’re not sure what is causing it, but we fear it may be True Aurelia again.” He explained.

Tank: “It is.” I interjected. “That’s why I’m here.”

Tane: “What do you mean?”

Tank: “The Brain has received intelligence of his own that suggested this base was about to come under attack. And you’re right; it is True Aurelia and they are targeting you, Captain.”

Cap. Brass: “I don’t suppose you know why?”

Tank: “Sorry, no.”

At that moment, our conversation was interrupted by a loud siren and red warning lights on the walls began to flash.

Technician: “We’ve got incoming! Aurelian bombers! From the East!” A technician across the room shouted.

Tane: “Battle stations!” he cried in response. “We should be safe in here.” He told both the Captain and myself.

Tane: “Wait here and don’t touch anything.” He added to myself and Tracks, before dashing off to take command of the defence.

Cap. Brass: “Well, it seems your boss’s intel’ was correct.”

Tank: “Yeah, it usually is.”

Cap. Brass: “So why are you here? Why were you sent to warn us?”

Tank: “If I’m honest, I don’t know. The Brain must want to make sure you’re safe for some reason. He actually told me I was here to rescue you.”

Cap. Brass: “Rescue me?!” he laughed. “We’re in the command centre of an Imperial military base. I’m fairly sure I don’t need rescuing.”

But no sooner had he finished speaking, Tracks squealed in warning.

Officer: “For True Aurelia!” one of the officers yelled, leaping up from his station and brandishing a pistol at the Captain.

Without hesitation, my own pistol was in my hand and I shot him square in the chest. He crashed backwards into the desk behind him, clearly lifeless, a smoldering patch on his uniform where I’d shot him.

Tank: “You sure?” I asked Brass sarcastically as we all visually scanned the room for more threats, but everyone who remained was either busy at their stations, or in shock at what had just happened.

Cap. Brass: “Thank you.” He said, clearly in shock.

Just then, the ground shook and in the distance I heard several dull *boom*s. The bombs had begun to fall.

Tank: “We need to evacuate.” I called to Commander Tane.

Tane: “We’ll do no such thing. We’re secure enough down here.” He shouted back. “Besides, our transports wouldn’t be able to get past their bombers. They’d be shot down before they even took off.”

I silently cursed both Tane’s stubbornness and also the truth he had told. There wasn’t any way that the big transport ships would get past the more nimble True Aurelian fighters and bombers.

But that wasn’t to say that smaller ships wouldn’t be able to get away….

Tank: “Sir, please. Let me get you to safety.” I begged the Captain. “I was sent here to ensure you don’t die. Please, let me do my job.”

Captain Brass appeared to think about it for a few seconds.

Cap. Brass: “How? You heard what the Commander said. There’s no way that transports can leave.”

Tank: “I have my own ship. A fighter.” I explained. “Tracks here is a purpose-built pilot droid. One of the best in the system.” I lied, trying to sell it to him. It worked though, as Brass raised his eyebrows at Tracks, who stayed silent and went along with it.

After a few seconds of thinking, weighing up his options, the Captain swallowed hard.

Cap. Brass: “Get me out of here.”

**BONUS PICTURES**

The set for the first scene with Beta Squad.

The landing pad set.

The command room set.

Credit for Commander Thane goes to Werewolff.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE