John Lay is recruiting a new member for Phoenix crew. In order to educate her, he recounts the story regarding his first mission with The Bureau. It was then that he met with an exceptional group of people, and it was then that he first learned of aliens, and closed door political ties to piracy.
In joining The Bureau, Lay and crew infiltrate the Illuminati’s base of operations, witness the destructive properties of alien tech, and uncover the truth about Montrose’s involvement in alien pacts.
The mission takes a bad turn when the undercover crew is discovered, and worse, pirates start overtaking Apollo.
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Chapter 1- When we got there
“This was quite a few years ago,” Admiral Lay said. “I was just a Lieutenant then. No one turns down commissions, so when I got the green light, I didn’t waste any time. When we got there, everything was in disarray. A band of space pirates, who called themselves The Illuminati, had some nasty weaponry. It was something we’d never seen before…then things got out of hand.”
Sergeant Cheng sat across from the admiral. With the new coalition of united races only a year away, several service members had applied for Earth forces’ new position, Phoenix Crew, a special operations team no longer under the direct command of Earth, but under the command of a council of aliens. The new base was erected on planet Eon, the planet surveyed by Lay’s former protégé’, Riley O’Hara, and Cheng had been lucky enough, tough enough, smart enough, to have earned herself a position among Phoenix Crew.
“I can’t believe aliens have been involved in Human affairs for so long. I thought we’d just made first contact like a few years ago or something,” she said, fidgeting in her seat.
Lay shook his head; a frown worked over his aged and scarred face. “Not at all. I won’t lie to you, Cheng, there’s a great deal even I don’t know, but your record of service is impeccable, and your prowess on Earth during the invasion stands on its own,” Lay took a long inhalation before continuing. “At any rate, the people you really need to know about are members of a secret organization referred to as The Bureau. They specialize in this sort of thing—extraterrestrials—and you’ll be dealing with them quite a bit. I’m telling you this story because you have to understand how things work, not in the real world, mind you, but in the real galaxy.”
Cheng nodded enthusiastically. Though a bit nervous from sitting across a war hero, who was an extremely decorated individual, she was all ears, eager to listen, and even more eager to learn.
“You must have felt like I do now, when you first received the commission. I mean, I’m bursting out of my skin here,” Cheng grinned.
Lay gave a subtle smile. Remembering what life was like before knowledge of aliens was surreal.