[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210909/67468955201bcdff05d2cc7f1ae9f791.png[/img] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210908/b804f984adc17708886b90d207c73c84.png[/img][/center] [indent][indent][indent] [color=gray][sub][right][color=white][b]Location:[/b][/color] Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska -- [i]Several Weeks Ago[/i][/right][/sub][/color] [hr] “It’s nothing like what we’ve seen.” Professor James Takuya had been the leading expert in North American archaeology and anthropology in the Pacific Northwest for the last decade. Nothing could’ve prepared him for this. A shift in the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate had incidentally unearthed something that had gone unnoticed for centuries. Underneath the frost and earth, a ruin of some kind. His instincts had told him it was nothing manmade, nothing that the Eyak, Haida, or Tlingit could’ve conceived. Unearthing the surface of the structure made his gut turn. They had unearthed something that was not of this world. It was a strange thought, even in 2067, given all of the advancements and bewilderment toward the stars. But, still. Alien technology? On Earth? It all felt like a science fiction fixture. A weary smile formed on his face thinking so, realizing that it would be known as [i]his[/i] discovery. His name would never be forgotten. “The energy levels are off the charts.” The older man looked over to the young woman beside him, her hands holding a particular tablet. Energy levels meant living, working technology. They would have to dig further. Before the night came upon them, a chamber would be found and with it a variety of strange crystals. Crystals that would change everything. [color=2E2C2C]- -[/color] [color=gray][sub][right][color=white][b]Location:[/b][/color] Angel Grove University, Angel Grove, CA -- [i]Present Day[/i][/right][/sub][/color] [hr] It had been two weeks since Takuya’s discovery and it appeared there was more-and-more questions. To his left was a [color=FFFF00]tech guru[/color] who had signed a confidentiality agreement regarding any studies involving the archaeology professor’s findings. To his right was his [color=D22B2B]protégé[/color] as well as one of the [color=ff8da1]security officers[/color] Takuya had personally commissioned for anything revolving around the project. [color=FFFF00]“Whatever you dug up in Alaska has energy readings like we have never seen.”[/color] “Unfortunately we haven’t been able to translate… the instruction manual.” Takuya remarked as the younger archaeologist tried to make heads or tails of the meaning behind the symbols they had unearthed from the site. Some of them looked like strange hieroglyphics while others looked like symbols. Symbols without any context for what they meant. [color=FFFF00]“Alien languages sure are hard, huh?”[/color] “I, uh, didn’t… is it [i]that[/i] obvious?” [color=FFFF00]“I study things. As a hobby.”[/color] The dark-haired woman remarked as she typed away on the computer in front of her. [color=FFFF00]“Not to mention, this is so on the DL you had me sign a non-disclosure agreement. For a handful of rocks.”[/color] The older archaeologist nearly sighed as he straightened the collar of his labcoat. He knew the tech guru was right. If he was so scared of his research being stolen and some big corporation moving in he probably would have just been open about it. It was why he had contracted people from smaller, independent circles and been very careful about keeping it all hush-hush. Deliveries from the archaeology site went through a private airport and independent parcel drivers. Security was three-times vetted. Takuya’s inner circle was so small that nobody in it could be possibly be compromised. He was worried, though. The discovery of more rocks had happened a day ago and the delivery driver from the airport was supposed to arrive thirty minutes ago. He had convinced himself the delivery was just late. Driving from the private airport outside the city to the city and then the university would have taken some time. For the time being he had to focus on the readings and what the dark-haired woman could tell him. There was also the hieroglyphics worrying him immensely, the hieroglyphics that Scott Young had been going over since they left the digsite. It was pretty cut and dry, even with the alien speak. A horde of monsters facing down six guardians, protecting what Takuya suspected was what they had dug up in Alaska. A greedier man would’ve made the announcement of the century already even if it seemed so absurd to be true. A sweltering anxiety had filled his stomach and he had no idea why. Little did he know, his gut feeling was right. [color=FFFF00]“All I can tell you is whatever these alien rocks are, they have more energy in them than five nuclear power plants. And I don’t mean small ones.”[/color] That’s when the security officer would notice that the gems themselves had begun to react to something. In fact, the rocks the archaeologists had unearthed and tried to study had begun to glow in hues of red, yellow, and pink as the rocky surfaces began to crack. It was also when the electrical systems in the room began to go haywire as sparks exploded from the overhead lights. The ‘alien rocks’ were beginning to overheat or react to something before they began to glow even more before outright shaking--before the room started shaking like Takuya was back in Los Angeles during a mild earthquake tremor. One of the servers directly behind Professor Takuya began to emit smoke. It was about to explode. [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM1nXm4e3oM[/youtube][/center] On the other side of Angel Grove, a [color=228b22]delivery driver[/color] and a [color=4169E1]new resident[/color] would soon realize what was soon to happen, but not before Earth would have a new [color=8076AA]visitor[/color]. A dangerous one. [color=2E2C2C]- -[/color] [color=gray][sub][right][color=white][b]Location:[/b][/color] IdoTech Construction Site, Angel Grove, CA[/right][/sub][/color] [hr] Xala had waited a long time for the energems to finally be dug up by some half-developed civilization in the middle of nowhere, but how fortunate was she that those who finally found them and activated them would be from a civilization practically in the stone age. Such was the irony. The Eltarians were foolish and their greatest treasure would now be hers to control. How fortunate was it that it was her ship that was the closest to the Milky Way Galaxy when the readings went across darkspace. How very fortunate. For her. Since the Eltarians did their final stand every faction from every galaxy in the universe had salivated over the idea of being the ones to find the key to the grid and with it the key to complete, total power. In the years since Xala’s faction, the Xalantian Imperium, stood as one of the key powers in the Andromeda Galaxy, the neighboring stretch of space from the one the Eltarians had decided to hide out the keys to the grid upon. The energems. None of them, not even Xala knew how the energems work. She just knew they were what they were and with them she could be the ruler of [i]everything[/i] in darkspace and with other factions threatening her imperium this was a sign from the gods that they ordained her right to rule. She was delighted. [color=8076AA]“It only took [i]fifteen million years[/i], Zoltar, but finally you lose.”[/color] The alien humanoid grinned veraciously as she cracked her neck, [color=8076AA]“And now I am the first one to arrive and collect the grand prize.”[/color] [center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/90bf356bfde223ae234742ad8974d4a3/8d037a73033f7ee1-91/s500x750/debef07c9235a59634356f6498f1a6853560e9ae.gif[/img][/center] [color=8076AA]“The Grid belongs to the Imperium! [i]My[/i] Imperium!”[/color] She exclaimed in the empty construction site before retrieving a circular object from her waist. Energy soon began to course through it and in moments two of her commanders appeared beside her, warping down from where they came from. [color=8076AA]“You two. You know what were here for. Do not fail me.”[/color] She barked as she looked around the construction site. A viable outpost for the time being, she supposed. Not that she'd need one for long. This Earth would be an interesting target range when she was done with it. [color=teal]“Yes, mistress empress, of course!”[/color] The smaller commander said, nodding their head before being smacked by the [color=808000]other one[/color] as the two creatures began wandering out of the construction site. With the energems in their reach, it would only be a matter of time before they arrived to their locations and succeeded with their ruler's plan. Fortunately for Angel Grove and Earth itself, the Grid had other plans... [/indent][/indent][/indent]