Index Casualty (BL)

1. artifact

Soundless shockwaves rose from his coffin and up towards the air, scattering panicked fish as they disturbed the surface of the sea above...

—

On the Svell Sea, northeast sector of Planet Glaciem.

Two lifeboats crammed full of people rocked on the waves littered with pieces of debris. Nearby, the hulk of what once used to be a cargo ship smoldered in the afternoon sun, burning down to cinders.

A tall man dressed in a black, skin-tight diving suit perched at the bow of one boat, peering down into the depths of the ocean. Although his expression was blank, a faint crease in his brows belied his displeasure at the course of events. The rest of the lifeboat's occupants kept a careful distance from their obvious leader—with the exception of one tousled-haired, eye-patch wearing youth who was also scanning the waters.

A few seconds later, Eyepatch threw up his hands with a groan. "It's over, Boss! I can't see a speck into that water and the radiation's too strong to send anyone down. We've as good as lost it."

The crease on his leader's forehead intensified, but the man didn't move. Seeing this, Eyepatch sighed and added, "Isn't it just some ancient artifact? Who knows if it's even compatible with our systems after all these years!"

"Argent." A voice like liquid mercury, smooth but utterly expressionless, interrupted Eyepatch's spiel. It was his one and only warning.

"Aye, aye Boss," the silver-haired man named Argent gave in and settled back to sit in the boat. "I'll wait for your orders to contact the ship."

The other man didn't reply, but stared deeper into the ocean's depths. He had been ordered to investigate rumors in this sector of the planet by imperial command about a treasure from Earthbound days. There was neither any description about the item or its intended use and purpose, but that was the usual when it came to relics from the mother planet. After humanity fled its surface over 20,000 years ago, most of its legends and stories were reduced to myths.

His group had tracked the energy signal of the artifact as far as this ship before it had suddenly exploded, injuring a portion of his men. Apparently, a freak warm spell had caused ice to melt into a segment of exposed machinery and caused the computer mainframe to malfunction. No living staff, human or otherwise, had been onboard at the time since the freighter was completely automatic.

By the time they found the energy signal of the artifact, it had already fallen into the ocean with countless other items. What's worse, the native radiation on this planet was too potent in the water for them to dive safely, even with the protection of their imperial-issued diving gear.

"This whole thing smells like a setup," Argent complained after a lull. "An item with no description, then a ship that explodes for no reason? Boss, we should just write off the whole mission as a clerical glitch. It's not like they have evidence to use against us."

His "Boss" ignored him, eyes still intent on the water. Moments ago, he'd been ready to abandon the cause, but the radiation particles in the water had suddenly started converging towards a fixed point. That place happened to be the location where the energy signal from the artifact was strongest.

Had it awakened somehow and caused this reaction? Artifacts from Earth were powerful relics with unpredictable effects. Some were capable of mass destruction, others of defense, and the rarest of all possessed healing and purification qualities. All of them were coveted treasures for the various factions in the galaxy. He narrowed his eyes again and held his palm over the water. Instantly, his fingertips glimmered before a tiny stream of dust flowed into the sea. The microscopic sensors contained within the particles measured the radiation levels and reported that they were decreasing at a rapid rate.