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We were about to descend into the depths of the secret research conducted by ASD chief scientist Dr. Jorrit. After the reconnaissance mission, we knew that the Onyx facility had been abandoned, but not deserted. Something was still active in the depths of the research facility. Not just irradiated Valakaare and Scavengers, there was something else. On behalf of the Hockrow Agency, we were tasked with investigating and gathering as much data as possible.

However, our group was missing its calming influence. Friedrich had been arrested under questionable circumstances and taken to Terra to be charged with infiltrating the ASD facilities in Pyro. There was only one way to help him: expose the ASD’s machinations and make them public.

Brubacker had brought Husky along for support. However, he kept complaining that he would rather be biking. I wasn’t sure if he was really helping us. Brubacker and Alaska weren’t exactly a source of confidence either. Only Pike seemed calm.

Unsure whether our mission would succeed, I stood in the hangar of the Onyx facility and stared at the triangular ASD logo on the wall. It looked like a crosshair to me. Like a threatening symbol of our impending doom. A cold shiver ran down my spine.

The crackling on the radio snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Risa to Zero. We have secured the area. You can move in.”

Fortunately, we had escort protection from TYR again. However, Kjeld and Raff were not available. I was already worried that I would have to take command, a role I did not like at all. I was not a leader and I had absolutely no idea about military tactics. To my relief, Risa took command right away. She formed the security team together with Batou and Jennifer. My job was to communicate between our group and the TYR people. A task that would prove challenging for me.

Thanks to the escort team, we were able to examine terminals, servers, and industrial facilities at our leisure. The gigantic underground facility with its dark corridors, large machines, and eerie noises still seemed threatening, but we felt safe. Perhaps too safe. Brubacker, Alaska, and Husky wandered around like tourists on a viewing platform in the cloud city of Orison. They walked right into the line of fire of the security team and entered areas that had not yet been secured. Risa kept radioing me to call Husky or Brubacker back. I couldn’t keep the group together. Jennifer was right when she said we were worse than a sack of fleas.

And then I lost my focus too. A hole in the wall caught my attention. The hole led into a red-lit shaft. Curious, I followed it. I heard Risa on the radio.

“Zero, you’re leaving the secure area.”

Behind me, Brubacker warned me.

“Don’t you want to let the security team go first?”

But I was in a trance. Something was literally pulling me into the shaft. Crawling, I followed it around a corner and suddenly found myself in a storage room. Boxes of armor parts lay on the shelves. Next to them were weapon cabinets with large, unfamiliar long guns. It was a looter’s paradise.

“What are those things?” I asked. “Powerful.”

“Volt sniper rifles,” said Pike, who crawled out of the shaft behind me.

Without thinking twice, we took the rifles. Then Alaska showed up and started packing the contents of the boxes. I had noticed earlier that he had taken things from scavengers who had been shot. “For science,” he had said. Extreme situations seemed to change even people of integrity like Alaska.

After we had collected enough data and material, we flew into orbit to transmit the collected data to the Hockrow Agency via directional beam message. It didn’t take long for a reply to arrive. According to the data, Dr. Jorrit had recently been in the Onyx facility. We were to go back in, much deeper, to find more data.

A short time later, we were standing in the reception area of the research wing by the collapsed elevator shaft.

“We’re supposed to go down there?” Brubacker asked, irritated.

“It’s the only way,” said Risa. “We’ll go ahead and secure the area. Wait for my signal.”

No sooner had the security team climbed down the shaft than Husky followed.

“Where is he going now?” I asked desperately, shaking my head as I climbed into the shaft myself.

The others followed me. We climbed down over broken concrete slabs and bent metal grates. Suddenly, I heard Risa on the radio.

“Husky is wandering around here. Zero, whistle him back. The area isn’t safe yet.”

“Husky! Come back. We’re staying in the elevator shaft until Risa gives the go-ahead,” I whispered.

Then Brubacker also set off and calmly looked around. The careless behavior of the two began to annoy me. Why did they keep straying from the group?

Finally, Risa gave the go-ahead and we searched the floor. We wandered aimlessly through dimly lit corridors and devastated rooms. It looked chaotic. Rummaged-through boxes, bloodstains, weapons lying on the floor. In between, dead scavengers and dead employees in ASD overalls. In one room, we found a hospital bed behind partition walls, with a black body bag containing a corpse on top of it. There was blood everywhere. What on earth had happened here?

“Hey Zero. Look, there are servers here and some of them have flashing lights,” Pike called out.

I immediately started downloading data from the servers.

“I’ve got something. Jorrit was two levels below. We’re sure to find valuable data there.”

“I’ve only found one safe way down,” said Risa. “We have to jump down a shaft.”

Shortly thereafter, we stood at a shaft several meters wide that went down through all the floors and was open on all four sides. You could look straight down into the other levels. Stunned, we stood at the precipice and wondered how we could get down there without breaking all our bones.

“Take a running start and jump off the edge,” Risa explained. ” That way you’ll land one level below, right on the opposite side. I’ll show you.”

Risa jumped precisely one floor below. Pike and I followed her. Then Brubacker tried. He made it through the first level. Then he jumped too short, crashed his chest against the edge of the floor, desperately tried to hold on, lost his grip, and fell. Only seconds later, Alaska hit the ground next to him.

“Are you hurt?” Risa called. “We’re coming.”

Moments later, everyone except Pike and me reached the two. Then I jumped from level to level and hesitated on the floor where Dr. Jorrit must have been. Suddenly, bullets whistled past my head. With one leap, I fled behind a crate. The bullets pelted against my cover. I was stuck, unable to do anything. Then shots came from another direction. Before I could even realize what was happening, Pike was standing next to me.

“Got him.”

Relieved, I looked at him. Then I heard Risa on the radio.

“Everything okay up there? Come down, there’s no way for us to get up there.”

Damn, we were separated from the backup team. If we wanted to find out what Dr. Jorrit had been doing on this level, Pike and I would have to search alone. Was it too risky to search without backup? I looked at Pike again. For a moment, I wondered—alone with Pike—was that a good idea? I weighed the pros and cons, then replied to Risa.

“We’ll take a look around here first. Wait for us.”

Pike nodded to me and went over to the guy who had shot at me.

“There’s a door here. Through the glass pane, I can see lockers and a terminal.”

Pike rattled the door.

“Damn, it’s locked.”

An inner voice told me that the door was locked for a reason. I looked around and found a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. With great effort, I pulled myself up in my heavy armor. Clambering noisily through the narrow shaft, I reached a junction. To the right was an opening in the floor that led into a room. I cautiously looked down. Then I heard Pike behind me.

“Straight ahead is a dead end.”

“Then to the right.”

Feet first, I dropped through the opening into the room and landed hard. I looked around and couldn’t believe my eyes. I was standing on the other side of the locked door in a security area. Next to the lockers were gun cabinets with Volt sniper rifles and ammunition. I immediately grabbed some and stuffed them into my large backpack. Pike also came through the opening into the room and grabbed what he could. We almost forgot why we were here. We hurriedly searched everything and finally found Dr. Jorrit’s records.

“Let’s get out of here before we get into more trouble.”

Seconds later, we were with the others, searching for a way out in a stairwell. It looked apocalyptic. There was blood everywhere, and on one step lay a skeleton still wearing a jumpsuit. Suddenly, a door opened and green glowing Kopions stormed in. Without exception, they all opened fire. We retreated from the stairwell in chaos, shooting wildly. Unlike the security team, we didn’t have silenced weapons. The shots echoed like thunder through the large auditorium adjacent to the stairwell. By now, everyone in the Onyx facility knew we were there. Suddenly, we were being fired at from all sides. We were trapped. Panic broke out.

“Go! To the elevator in the auditorium!” Risa shouted.

I looked into the auditorium in horror. Between us and the elevator was a large open space with almost no cover. The TYR mercenaries had already taken up positions in front of the elevator and opened barrage fire. I ran blindly, without a plan, straight into Brubacker, who was standing rooted to the spot in front of the elevator.

“Get in there!” I yelled at him in panic as bullets hit the floor and walls around us.

Somehow we stumbled into the elevator amid the hail of bullets. I had completely lost track of what was going on. I just wanted to get away—no more dying and regenerating.

“Go up, we’ll cover you,” Risa ordered.

Someone pressed the button, the door closed, and the elevator started moving. The shots were now only a dull thud and slowly faded away. After a long ride up, we rushed out of the elevator, breathing heavily.

“Where’s Alaska?” Pike suddenly asked.

“Shit!” I replied and called into the radio. “Risa, Alaska is missing.”

It took a few seconds, then I heard Risa’s voice.

“He’s with us. He lost his bearings. We’re bringing him up.”

Once the security team was also upstairs, we left the Onyx facility, transmitted the data to the Hockrow Agency, and flew, completely exhausted, to the Bajini Point orbital station. After landing, I saw Husky lying on the ground. He had overdosed.

Desperate, I buried my head in my hands. I had just seen the response from the Hockrow Agency. The data was valuable, but not enough. I thought anxiously about going back into the Onyx facility. The careless behavior of Brubacker, Alaska, and Husky was not only a danger to themselves, but to the entire group. I needed to be more focused, too. A deep sigh escaped my lips. Then I thought about the highly professional operation with TYR at the Farro Data Center and wondered if it wouldn’t be better to return to the Onyx facility with just Pike and TYR. On the other hand, Brubacker needed to see the research being done there with his own eyes in order to publish a credible article. And Alaska’s scientific expertise was also helpful. The most important thing was to bring down Dr. Jorrit and the ASD, no matter what. They couldn’t be allowed to get away with their dark machinations. It wasn’t over yet.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)