act17d0

I see unwelcome friends will always invite themselves in.

(Target in sight. Hold your fire. )

(Give me a sitrep. )

(Looks like we're the only ones here.)

(No other hostiles detected.)

Put your hands up, Dr. Levi. Move away from the terminal.

And here I was wondering how much longer it would take you to show up.

Did you take out my security detail? What a shame.

I cut them their last paycheck just yesterday.

Well, I ask you to be careful with the things here. They can be delicate.

Don't even try to do anything funny. This charade is over.

Over? My new experiment has just started.

Stop what you're doing... This is your last warning.

Hahahahaha, and what if I refuse?

What's the matter? Are you afraid of a senile, defenseless ordinary citizen?

You're hardly defenseless or ordinary.

You are the chief scientist of the Magnethill No. 2 laboratory, Levi Klitschko.

Stay away from the equipment. I know exactly what you're trying to do.

Blitz, cuff him.

Understood.

I've got to hand it to you. Your team works fast.

But not fast enough.

The reactor's activated! !

The black rocks are glowing!

Get it to stop.

I'm sorry, I'm afraid not.

Get it stopped! Right now!

Hahaha...

Hahahaha... Hahahahaha!

There's nothing you can do to stop it, but do feel free to fire your weapons.

This is my life's work.

If it wasn't for those shortsighted, useless morons getting in my way again and again...

I would've finished all of this twenty years ago.

You have no idea what you are doing.

The equipment in this lab is in disrepair, and you are creating a nuclear contamination disaster!

Of course I know what I am doing.

The road of exploratory science is a treacherous one.

Yet it's a road worth taking. Roads that lead to the truth are always worth taking.

All I am doing now is getting the results I should've had twenty years ago, and no one has the right to stop me.

Darn mercenaries...

You doing okay?

Uh, just complaining a little bit about the close miss just now.

We could've regrouped with the rest of the team at the main lab!

It's not too late.

The checkpoint's right ahead.

What's that sound?

An earthquake?

No, it's coming from the lab!

Get your Replicator ready. They might be in trouble.

Wh-What the hell's this? ! Where's everyone?

Wh-What happened?

No, where's the lab?

Where's the map? What's with this huge hole?

There's no problem with the map. The main lab should be behind this door.

The lab's... gone?

...up... Wake... up.

Cohen, you okay?

Cohen?

Let me do it.

Erm...

Well, I'm impressed.

I'm just giving her pressure points a few presses to help patch her up.

That should do it.

Wh-What happened...?

Alexsandr, she's awake!

Well done.

You doing okay, Cohen?

Where are we? ...What happened?

That's a good question.

...After that madman activated his equipment, the whole lab was swept by a huge shockwave.

Where... are we?

Just where are we? !

No idea.

The target activated that weird device of his, and we all got knocked out by the blast.

And after we came around, well, this is it.

We don't have any signal, so we can't contact Ela and Iana.

The compass isn't working either.

The only thing I am sure about is we definitely aren't anywhere near the mission area.

It's hardly the most precise way to put it, but it's like we were... teleported... somewhere with the whole lab.

What?

She's right. It's like we were suddenly launched by a rocket to the moon and that's not a joke.

Through a huge crack in the wall, all one can see outside the house is a desolate desert. As if the house had fallen from the sky to the desert.

Should I go on recon?

No, don't be hasty.

Understood.

If Levi Klitschko was swept by the shockwave too, he'd probably be in a similar situation.

We'll rest up first. I'll plan our next steps.

Good news first. The supplies for those mercenaries have been thrown in with us, so at least for a short time ammo won't be an issue.

What about the bad news?

The bad news is...

...... And what is this sound?

Eyes open! There's something outside coming toward us!

It sounds like some sort of heavy machinery... but it's way too fast!

Let me have a look.

...... I can't believe my eyes.

*Profanity* We're in big trouble! Prepare for battle!

What exactly did you see?

Have you ever seen an arthropod as big as a small car?

What did you say?

Oh, screw it!