NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: Project: Dark Star.
September 2184 - Surface. Communication Hub Server Bunker.
The hum of generators echoed through the bunker as two SEAF soldiers wrestled the heavy equipment into place, using the APC's winch to lower them down the stairwell. They worked quickly, plugging power cords into the server systems, but faced complications along the way. Sparks flew as overloaded circuits struggled with the sudden influx of power. Jason could tell from the smell of burnt components that the servers wouldn't last long. Whatever data they could extract, they had to do it now.
As the SEAF soldiers continued their task, Jason stood in front of a monitor, fingers flying across a flickering keyboard. The screen barely held on, jittering as if it too had been entombed here for far too long. He scrolled through files with a grim efficiency.
"First things first," he muttered to himself.
A file caught his eye—Ministry of Science—the exact one he had been searching for. Opening it revealed a list of facilities, each tagged with its name, function, and last known status. There were twelve in total, covering everything from weapons testing to agricultural experiments. But the twelfth entry stood out like a beacon.
Facility 12: Classified by order of the Super Earth President. Status: Unknown.
His gut twisted. Anything directly overseen by the Super Earth President was not just classified but critical. The thought of what could be hidden in this facility, and what they might have been doing, filled him with unease. The other facilities ranged from "offline" to "destroyed," except for those working on weapons research, which was their primary target.
"Now, where's the mapping data?" Jason mumbled. Locating this facility and figuring out a path was going to be a logistical nightmare, especially with everything that had happened in this world.
He sifted through more files until he hit something unusual: the last transmission ever received by the server.
Unknown User?
Jason clicked on the link. A video file loaded, its playback shaky with static. Gradually, the image cleared, revealing a man in a bloodstained lab coat. His face was gaunt, eyes bloodshot, and it was obvious that sleep had eluded him for days. He gulped water before speaking into the camera.
"I've got the system working. My name isn't important. What's important is the message. Someone, anyone, must hear this. I've been stuck down here for… maybe a week? Who knows anymore? It doesn't matter." His voice was strained, barely holding itself together.
He paused, wincing in pain, taking a deep breath. "The Super Earth Government… no… we made a mistake. A colossal one. It's not just about lives—this could cost entire worlds. We discovered something on an Illuminate planet. Heavily guarded, more than anything we've ever encountered. We lost over a thousand ships taking it. Their desperation should have warned us. But we only cared about the tech, the weapons…"
The man's voice cracked as he grabbed a bottle and drained it. He looked back at the camera, his eyes hollow.
"We couldn't understand what we found. And now it's tearing this place apart. If it escapes... if it leaves this planet…" His words faltered, and he buried his face in his hands.
"If only we knew what we were dealing with," he said quietly, before looking up again. "But none of that matters now. You—whoever you are—you must find Project Dark Star and stop it before it's too late. It may already be too late, but for the love of Super Earth, it must be ended."
The man reached off-screen, pulling a paper into view. He held it up to the camera, revealing a symbol: three arrows, one pointing upwards, and two others fanning outward from the corners. He let the paper drop and fixed the lens with a final, haunted stare.
"Find the symbol. Find those who bear it. Stop them at any cost because if it's not stopped…"
The screen went black. Sparks erupted from the nearby server, forcing Jason to step back.
"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath.
"You okay, sir?" one of the SEAF soldiers asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jason replied, irritation lacing his voice. "But I think we've gotten all we can out of this place. Any luck finding hard copies upstairs?"
The soldier shook his head. "Nothing up there was preserved like the bunker. Just dust and debris."
Jason sighed. It wasn't a total waste, but they needed to get a message to Super Earth and figure out the next steps.
"Do one last sweep, then start packing up. Once I get new orders, we'll move out."
Jason headed up the stairs, his mind racing with what they had just uncovered. As he emerged from the bunker, he saw the rest of the SEAF team clearing snow around the APC.
"Any luck, sir?" one of them asked.
Jason shrugged. "Found a few things, but nothing groundbreaking. Keep at it. I need to make a call to the Super Destroyer and link up with the Ministry of Defense."
He climbed into the APC, sealing the hatch behind him. A screen to the right flickered to life, showing the Super Earth logo before switching to the face of a Destroyer officer.
"Ah! Sir, you had us worried. We lost contact after the orbital strike."
"We're fine. I need you to patch me through to the Ministry of Defense."
The officer nodded, and the screen shifted. Moments later, a man sitting behind a desk appeared, reviewing holographic reports. His expression was sharp, his voice professional.
"Do you have a report for me?" he asked, cutting straight to the point.
Jason straightened. "Yes, sir. Everything so far has been a bust. We're at the communication hub, but the data we've pulled isn't directly relevant to our mission. However…" Jason hesitated. "We encountered something... unexpected. There's still life on this planet, but not human. Something new."
The man's eyes narrowed. "New? Elaborate."
"They're machines, sir. Not automatons, more advanced. They claim we humans made them, but I've never seen anything like this before."
The Ministry of Defense official leaned forward, intrigued. "Anything else?"
"No, sir. Just the machines. I didn't consider it important with our current objectives."
The official's expression hardened. "This is your new objective. Find them. Establish contact. Report back immediately."
The screen went black, cutting off the transmission. Jason stood frozen for a moment. He had lied—skirting the truth about the lab, the video, and Project Dark Star. Telling the whole story could have repercussions far beyond their mission, and they weren't ready for that level of exposure.
Stepping out of the APC, Jason looked over his team.
"Well, everyone, once we finish here, we've got new orders," he said.
The soldiers stopped shoveling, eyes on him.
"We're to make contact with our new friends."
The team exchanged uncertain glances.
"So... not a bot-smashing op?" one of them asked.
Jason shook his head. "No. We're making first contact."
As the snow continued to fall around them, Jason couldn't shake the growing sense of dread. This mission had already spiraled far out of control, and it was clear that the worst was yet to come.
Edited thanks to ELE73CH.