Date Played: 27 April 2002
Game Date: Wednesday, 03 April 2001
The team feared that the sudden exposure of our alien past in a high Seepage area would drive humanity into a new Dark Age. People, ignorant of their ancestry, would take on the roles of slave, overseer or rebel that they filled 12,000 years ago. Given the seriousness of the situation, the team spent four days arguing how best to handle it and talking Charles out of planning the assassination of Ted Turner.
Eventually, they loaded up the helicopter with satchel charges and armament and flew low out of Canada, back to the United States. They made a brief stop over at the deserted military base where Daniels interrogated Emma Coloris. It had been heavily assaulted by an armed group of at least company strength but had been cleaned up thoroughly afterwards.
Circling Hopkinsville, they see the alien craft half exposed by a cutting made into the hillside. The site is cordoned off by the National Guard, who order the team to land immediately.
They are met by Colonel David Moncrief who invites them to join him to watch the proceedings. The craft is to be fully exposed and opened on CNN to a worldwide audience of 1.2 billion people. The team are not too sure how to react to this. They were certainly not expecting such open - handed generosity from a Black Book agent. Perhaps he doesn't know that they are what's left of Aegis.
The team splits. Maria and Decklan go to the pit to look over the craft. The Colonel invites Charles and Daniels to take a walk with him away from the gathering crowd. Taylor stays with the helicopter to guard the explosives.
In the pit, Maria overhears workmen teasing another about seeing aliens wandering the site last night. The description matches that of the Brownies seen by the townsfolk and reported by the Washington, DC, cell on HERMES.
The craft itself has the appearance of flat, dull metal and is shaped like the craft recovered from Vickersburg. No door or defect in the hull is visible. It's cool to the touch.
Maria and Decklan help the workman digging around the bottom of the craft. Instead of attempting to remove the craft from the ground in which it has lain for 12,000 years, Maria and Decklan are preparing for the explosives that they hope will destroy the craft.
The Colonel asks Charles for Aegis' opinion on the upcoming broadcast. Charles says that Aegis reckons it's a bad idea. Moncrief offers Charles and the Aegis team a front row seat at the event. The war with Aegis is over, Moncrief says. The Black Book, or Department Six, as they call themselves, has won.
Moncrief slumps forward moments before Charles and Daniels hear a shot ring out across the hillside. Moncrief's life drains away in a pool of blood while they run for cover. Talyor loads up and readies for the assault she believes is coming. Maria uses the confusion to place the explosives while Decklan runs for the helicopter.
In the air, the team searches for the shooter. Daniels has a hunch that the shooter is part of a rogue Aegis cell, possibly even Elizabeth "Flex" Beaumont. Using Infra-red, they quickly locate the shooter and two companions. Taylor rappels to the grounds and waits for the Aegis cell to contact her while Decklan miss directs the National Guard search teams.
Noticing a red laser spot on her chest, Taylor gives an Aegis call sign and identifies herself. Flex, Malachi and Sparkes emerge from the woods and planning begins. They decide that the remains of the Washington, DC, cell will make a large diversion to draw the national Guard and Black Book agent away from the pit while the New York cell blows up the buried craft.
Within half an hour, a fire fight breaks out at the far edge of the condoned off area. Charles and Daniels use this time to set the times and run for the helicopter. As the New York cell lifts off, a huge explosion flings bits of alien craft over a wide area. They fly off over the fire fight, machine gunning the National Guard and Black Book troopers as the Washington, DC, cell retreats in to the woods.
The chaos has been adverted but for how long? There still lies buried in the human mind a race memory of slavery at the hands of aliens. Surely, it cannot stay hidden forever.