BLACK KNIGHT

PART ONE

THE COSMIC INFANT

In October 1975, satellites managed to detect an oncoming meteorite that had entered the inner part our solar system on a direct collision course with the Earth, scientists at NASA confirmed that the meteorite although of significant size was not classed as an extinction level threat. The touchdown area was a jungle area of Mexico called Paelana, several days after nearby villages and the town were evacuated the meteorite made impact, what they found was unbelievable.

Paelana, Mexico
October 6th 1975
00:56am
The night-time was far from peaceful, smoke rose in the sky; General Lowry sat stern faced in the jeep as it made its way through the remains of Paelana. The rough army worn man looked at the decimated town, some buildings stood in ruin while others were on fire; trucks went in the other direction and soldiers patrolled the area. The jeep pulled up at the Command Tent that had been set up for the operation, the tires crunched the dirt of the ground as it came to a sudden stop and General Lowry got out at met with the two scientists that were waiting he shook their hands “Are you ready gentlemen?” one of the men named Boeson responded “Yes Sir, I’m heading to get suited now, Ramsey will be with you monitoring via the radio” the General nodded with approval “Excellent then let’s waist no time, lead on” Boeson headed towards the decontamination tent to get ready.

There was a lot of smoke from the crash which made navigating through debris and fallen trees more difficult, Boeson was fully fitted in the hazard suit and eventually approached the edge of the crater he stood at the edge and looked down into the pit. General Lowry was sat at the radio equipment he pressed on the transmitter “Boeson do you copy…are you at the crash site?” Boeson spoke in reply but was feeling anxious “Yes…I’ve reached the edge of the impact crater” the other scientist Ramsey gave notice to his colleague “Careful temperatures will still be hot from impact but also the heat from the object entering through the atmosphere” Boeson gave himself a reassuring nod “Ok…I’m making my way down” General was feeling a little anxious as well “Be careful Doctor”.
Taking the first few steps carefully Boeson began to clamber down the slope, his foot caught on a loose stone and he tumbled down into the dust and smoke. Lowry and Ramsey heard Boeson shouts of distraught over the radio, General Lowry was frantic over the radio “Boeson, are you alright? Boeson?!” there was silence for a few moments. Boeson muttered a few curse words under his breath as he got to his feet “Yeah…yeah I slipped but I’m alright” he composed himself and carried on.

He continued wading slowly through the smoke, fragments from buildings of the town had filled the crater making a labyrinth of wreckage, another few moments went by then Lowry tried to contact Boeson again “Do you see anything yet?”, as Boeson couldn’t see anything but he was beginning to feel the warmth from the meteorite’s heat so he knew he was getting close he replied ‘Nothing yet…it’s difficult to see anything at the moment”.
The General looked to Ramsey “Will he be alright down there?” Ramsey nodded “Yes Sir Dr Boeson is one of the top in his field in astronomy and astrophysics he has written numerous papers regarding asteroids and meteorites, he knows what he his doing” Lowry took that as an acceptable answer, Ramsey spoke on the radio “Boeson from the size of the crater you should be seeing something soon” a voice came over the radio “I do think I can see something now a large shadow up ahead, yes! Yes I can see it now”.

The smoke had cleared slightly revealing the shape of the meteorite it was smaller than he imagined but he quickly noticed something that surprised him, the meteorite had cracked into three large pieces, it was hollow inside. Boeson approached each step felt like minutes and it wasn’t just the heat it was anticipation that was reducing him to a mere crawl, he eventually reached the meteorite although it was hot the temperature was bearable for now, Boeson leaned in and looked into where the rock had split apart and what he saw made his spine tingle which a chill no heat could warm. His voice came over the radio “Ramsey gather a specimen kit” Ramsey and the General were confused, Ramsey replied to confirm “Boeson did you just say a ‘specimen’ kit?” Lowry even spoke the word in disbelief then Boeson repeated “Yes get a specimen kit down here immediately!” Lowry took the transmitter “Doctor what did you find? What is it?!”.
What was looking at was damage from the impact but mostly intake, it was some sort of foetus but certainly nothing human it was elongated like an eel but had small appendages that were going to be arms, the flesh was pale almost see through organs and blood vessels could be seen beneath the tissue. This creature had travelled from some far unknown planet and travelled across the vast expanse of the universe, a lone wanderer passing stars, planets and supernovas. Millions if not billions of miles for it to land on a small planet habited planet in the middle of the Milky Way, Boeson smiled at the sight of the entity and responded “History General…we have found history”.

The incident of the meteorite crash in Paelana, Mexico couldn’t be hidden from the news and media but all traces of the entity’s remains were deemed highly classified and hidden from public view for fear of mass hysteria and panic of a life form from space, research and numerous tests were performed but all knowledge and data was locked away in a secured facility never to be heard of again for over 30 years.

PART TWO

SUBJECT SIX

July 2011, the U.S. Military have contained a secret hidden away from civilisation for over thirty years, but after a serious incident it was decided by the President and the other heads of Government for it to be moved to an undisclosed location somewhere in the Pacific to be kept in a maximum security facility away from the mainland and the general public.
24hrs ago Operation ‘BLACK KNIGHT’ was ordered.

Cargo Ship ‘Anna Rosa’
Los Angeles Dock Yard
July 14th 2011
22:45pm
Rain fell heavily the light from the floodlights glistened in the puddles that were scattered across the dockyards, Lieutenant Matthews stood watching everyone running about as the crane took the metal crate off the truck and swung slowly over to the awaiting cargo ship, the cable jerked slightly Matthews called out to the crane operator “Easy, that crate cannot be damaged!” Matthews pondered the mission that was ahead.
From behind an aged General Lowry walked up behind Matthews with a sturdy vigour, time may have aged his appearance but his strength was still strong “Is everything going to plan Lieutenant?” Matthews turned and gave his superior a salute “Yes sir, everything is on schedule, just a bit apprehensive about the mission”, the General patted him on the shoulder “Everything will be fine, as long as you follow all the procedures then it will go smoothly” the Lieutenant nodded and turned back to watch the container being lowered. The crate entered the cargo hold several of the ship’s crewmen stood around the edge guiding the crate down onto the deck, the specialised locks on the deck slammed into the crate locking it into place, the crewmen tied chains around the crate to keep it secure, and a soldier who was supervising took hold of the radio and contacted Matthews “Lieutenant Matthews the cargo is secure”, Matthews responded “Copy that, set up a guard unit around the crate”.

The General gave Matthews another nod of approval then turned and walked away, Matthews made his way up the ramp and boarded the ship “Alright pack everything up and get to your posts! We leave in two minutes!” he signalled to the ship’s captain to start up the engines. The engines revved to life and the fog horn blared out to inform of its imminent departure, the deck hands brought up the ramp; soldiers took their positions around the upper deck as Matthews spoke on the radio to the helicopter squadron that was providing escort “Gamma Leader are my birds in the air?” the pilot of the lead chopper replied with confirmation “Yes sir, Gammas one to five are en route, we will rendezvous with you in ten minutes” Matthews smiled at the added protection in coming “Excellent see you soon Gamma One” he attached the radio back onto his vest as the ship began to make its way out of the dockyard.
Out at sea the rain seemed to come down even harder with waves rocking the Anna Rosa roughly, Matthews finished a sweep of the deck then climbed up the steps and went inside the bridge of the ship, the captain swayed from the waves hitting the ship “I hate travelling in this type of weather, what the hell are we even transporting in this god forsaken rain?” Matthews shrugged at the questions “You know how secretive those high up in the government can be, everything has to be cloak and dagger and twice classified” the captain nodded at the statement “It’s a good thing I’m getting paid a lot of money for this” Matthews gave a laugh “Well let’s hope the weather clears and make the ride easier”.After speaking with the captain Matthews climbed down the stairs and made his way into the ship, passed the crew quarters and down into the hold, soldiers surrounded the metal crate, Matthews walked along and moved around the crate, on one side ‘Black Knight’ was stamped in black letters, Matthews stopped and stared at the crate.

Many hours passed and the rain was still falling as the ship crashed through the water, Matthews sat in the empty mess hall, he was lost in thought whilst spinning a knife on the table which he had taken from the sheath on his boot. His attention snapped back to reality when the air was filled with the sound of muffled gunfire, he rushed up from the chair and ran all the way up onto the upper deck and saw several of his team with weapons ready Matthews spoke to closest soldiers “What the hell is going on?!” the woman replied “Gunfire from below sir”. There was more shots that rang out and muffled screams came from the cargo hold, Matthews ran across the deck but was thrown to the ground when the deck erupted with an explosive crack, a loud shrieking roar bellowed out from the smoke, soldiers shouted “What the fuck was that!” another went “I have no visual on a target!” the deck went silent as smoke swirled in the heavy rain. The captain stormed out of the bridge and shouted down to Matthews “LIEUTENANT! The engines have stopped! The fuel line has been severed!”, the Lieutenant cursed under his breath then signalled to the soldiers “Keep your eyes open!” Matthews pulled out his hand gun from its holster.

As all the personnel moved closer towards the cargo hold Matthews heard an unusual clicking sound he looked to the soldier next to him “Do you hear that?” she nodded with curiosity “What is that?” from somewhere on the other side of the ship a scream rang out, everything began to rush and find out the cause of the noise, one shouted “Where’s Anderson?!” when Matthews reached were Anderson had been all there was left was his rifle on the ground “Everyone pair up and sweep the around the deck!” Matthews looked to the choppers and took out the radio “Gamma One do any of you have a visual of a target from up above?” the choppers were managing to navigate through the wind and rain the squad watched the ship but he couldn’t see anything either “I’ve got no visual Matthews, repeat no visual” Matthews called out to his team “Daniels, Taylor any sign of Anderson?”. The two of them were moving cautiously in between the stacks of shipping containers, rifles were raised up and fingers were tight on the triggers, Daniels gave a slight cough as smoke from the cargo hold engulfed them “Jesus I can’t see anything…you?” Anderson shook his head “No I got nothing” the passage between the containers seemed endless with the smoke hiding the end, as Anderson took one step something pulled on his ankle and knocked him to the ground. Hearing the yell from his team mate Daniels looked back to see Anderson yelling “HELP!” as he was being pulled back into the smoke, as screams came from the gloom Daniels howled out to the others “I’VE GOT CONTACT!” he began to open fire hoping to hit something.

Matthews ran towards the gunfire, he reached the side of the ship to see another soldier emerge looking terrified, tendrils emerged and whipped at her ankles, she fell to the floor and reached out her hand for help and screamed “LIEUNTENANT!” Matthews rushed towards her “Hang on!” as he reached for her was dragged screaming into the dark. Gunfire and screams rang out, Matthews made his way through the maze of cargo containers , he approached a corner when he heard a soft crunching noise that made him stop in his tracks. Pressing his back against the soaking metal of a container he shuffled across and peered around the corner, he could see a large long hulking shape feeding on the corpse of one of the soldiers, Matthews gasped out “Fuck” but the creature somehow heard him and shrieked Matthews was louder this time “Oh shit!” he turned and bolted as the unknown animal charged after him. Matthews put the handgun away and took his rifle firing behind him as he ran the passageways of containers, behind him several containers fell from the top and thundered onto the deck, as he ran another soldier appeared in front of him “Lieutenant are you alright?” Matthews barked “Just fucking run!” the creature managed to launch over Matthews and landed onto the soldier then started ripping at his abdomen, he screamed and pleaded, the creature grabbed the soldier by the neck and threw him screaming over board, Matthews was along the side of the ship and tapped on the radio “Gamma One locate target and kill this fucking thing!” the pilot confirmed the order “Copy that…all units move in for search and destroy” the helicopters flew in closer to the Anna Rosa.

Back up in the bridge Matthews barged in to see the Captain looking ragged and covered in blood although it was not his own, Matthews spoke “Captain are you alright?” the Captain turned with a look of disorientation “That thing just appeared and tore through everyone like paper” Matthews wondered if anyone else was alive “Are there any survivors?” the Captain shook his head “No it’s just me, we need to get to the lifeboats” Matthews agreed with him.
Out in the rain the squad of choppers circled overhead, the squad leader spoke to the others “anyone see anything?” there was silence then the pilot of Gamma Three spotted something on deck “Target confirmed! Preparing to engage” the bullets rattled out from the Gatling gun carving up the walkway as the creature ran on all fours weaving through the barrage of hot metal. Gamma One gave the order to fire at will, each one took a turn at shooting the unknown creature but it managed to slip away, the choppers moved around the ship but could only see the last surviving people on deck making their way to the life boat. It appeared that the target had vanished completely the pilot of Gamma Two spoke “Where the hell did it go?” the pilot of Gamma Five answered “I have no…wait” she glanced up and saw that the creature was perched on the ship’s cargo lifting mechanism it snarled then ran along the metal girders and jumped onto Gamma Five causing the chopper to spiral out of control and collided with Gamma Three which fell into the ocean, Gamma Five crashed onto the deck of the ship. Gamma Leader barked “God damn it!” as he watched the creature now bashing it’s head into the glass of Gamma Two’s cockpit, he could the pilot in Gamma Two panicking as the creature shrieked and clawed its way at the glass. The glass gave in and the monster crawled inside and began tearing the pilot apart, as the chopper spun wildly it unintentionally launched missiles which struck across the deck of the ship one eruption launched several cargo containers into the air and several fell into the dark water of the ocean, the creature leapt from the plummeting wreck of Gamma Two and landed back on the Anna Rosa which was now on fire.

Matthews was helping the last of the survivors to get on board the life boat, from somewhere in the fire and carnage the creature shrieked and clicked and was getting closer he yelled at the Captain “Fuck! Hurry!” the Captain struggled with the rope “The pulley it’s jammed!” Matthews cursed under his breath he moved away from the boat whipped out his handgun aiming it at the pulley “Hang on tight!” the gun shot rang out striking the pulley and rope which split into pieces and sent the life boat falling to the water below. The inhuman clicking came from behind Matthews, he turned to see the creature silhouetted by fire and smoke, it around 7 feet in height and was on all fours with a long reptile like body but was also partially covered in fur Matthews gasped “Shit” he raised his gun, as it began to approach the fire caused the engines to erupt with an ear splitting crack, the entire ship lurched upward as it was cracked in two, the force of the explosion caused Matthews to hit his head on the pole for the pulley and fell over the side of the ship into the water. The Captain guided the life boat in the direction where Matthews hit the water, the Captain pointed “There! There he is, help get him on board” all of them hoisted the Lieutenant into the life boat, he coughed up water and gagged and choked eventually being able to breath the Captain patted him on the shoulder “You’re alright Lieutenant, you’re alright, you’re save” the sound of the remaining two choppers whirled above as their encircled the survivors to protect them until rescue came for them

As the ship sank and burned the creature jumped into the ocean. A chain of island lay several miles away from the Anna Rosa, the beach of the largest island was bathed in moonlight the waves crashed as the creature stalked out of the water and sniffed the air. The island was covered in thick jungles and to the right there was city jewelled in the night with the heavy scent of people, the creature gave out a roar and clicks into the darkened sky, it was ready to do more hunting.

PART THREE

DEBRIEFING

Back at the dockyards the rains had stopped and the survivors of the Anna Rosa were being gathered onto a military transport to be taken to safety, Matthews was stood on the wet concrete watching the clear up as a soldier tapped him on the shoulder he turned and the man saluted him so Matthews saluted back, the man spoke “Lieutenant, General Lowry wants to talk to you in the car” Matthews looked over the man’s shoulder and saw the black car with tinted windows, he nodded to the man “Thank you” Matthews followed the man and they both approached the car the man opened the door for Matthews to get in.

Matthews climbed into the car and sat on the back seat as the door closed behind him, Lowry was sat on the seats opposite him he looked at Matthews “Well you look like shit son” Matthews nodded “It certainly has been an interesting night Sir” Lowry gave a slight laugh at the comment “Of course, of course after our talk I’ll have the medics check you over” there was a pause between the two men. Eventually Lowry spoke again “So Lieutenant what’s the debrief?” Matthews nodded before speaking “The test went better than expected Sir, it took mere hours for Subject Six to escape containment and even less time to wipe out most the people on board the ship”. Lowry nodded with approval “How did Six handle the combat against live targets?” Matthews continued “Ruthless, unrelenting an absolute killer. It even took out three of the escort choppers, I kind of reeling that I didn’t have a go going against Subject Six although it may have been a short fight” Matthews wondered about the survivors “Sir what those that escaped the Anna Rosa, they were not part of the plan?” Lowry was hesitant but gave his answer “They will be dealt with to avoid any secrets getting out” Matthews understood Black Knight was too important to fail now. Lowry was curious about what was coming next “So has stage two begun?” Matthews spoke again “Yes reports came in that Subject Six made landfall on the islands so now we can get a more accurate field test” Lowry leaned in closer “You want another crack at taking him down?” Matthews smiled “Round two would be my pleasure sir” Lowry gave a pleasant smile “Well we’ll get you back to the facility where you can rest and grab something to eat” Matthews looked forward to some rest but he was eager at pursuing Subject Six. The General tapped on the glass that divided them from the driver and gave the signal for the car to depart, it left the dockyard leaving the fate of the Anna Rosa to remain hidden from the world but a secret only the sea and shadows would know.

END