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“Where are we?”
“We’re in the drainage tunnel connected to the power plant,” Shifty’s voice chimed in over the comm.
Before they knew it, Ethan and the Counters had reached the infiltration route Shifty mentioned. What met their eyes was a drainage tunnel connected to the power plant.
“Ah—so we have to crawl through here?” Neon asked.
“…We can squeeze in if we go by shape, so let’s use this route,” Ethan said.
“But it’s blocked, isn’t it?” Neon pointed out.
Neon indicated that the entrance was completely sealed by collapsed building debris.
“It looks like part of the building collapsed and sealed the entrance. Hold on, I’ll look for another route,” Shifty announced over the comm.
“No need for that. We’ll just break through,” Ethan replied.
“That seems like a lot of debris, though, doesn’t it?” Neon said.
“We’ll clear a path,” Ethan said.
There was no need to take a long detour. As Ethan said, if the route was blocked, they would simply break through it.
“Um… how do we break through?” Neon asked.
“What do you mean how? Obviously, we’ll use this,” he said, tapping Neon’s firearm to indicate their weapons.
“No Rapture signatures nearby. It’s safe,” Shifty reported.
“Then let’s begin,” Ethan said.
With their weapons loaded and ready to clear the tunnel, Neon stepped forward with a determined look on her face.
“Wait a moment. I’ll take care of this,” Neon declared.
“Huh? No, if we all help, it would go faster…” Ethan began.
“Please let me do it,” Neon insisted.
Refusing her teammates’ assistance, Neon revealed her unwavering resolve. Though taken aback by her sudden stance, Ethan decided to humor her request.
“All right, let’s leave this to Neon. Neon, wipe it all away,” he instructed.
“Yes, Commander!” Neon replied energetically.
A moment later, the debris blocking the passage was shattered to pieces by Neon’s overwhelming firepower.
“Debris eliminated. We can proceed into the tunnel,” Shifty reported.
“Her firepower is truly incredible,” Anis remarked.
While Anis was still marveling at the display, Neon approached Ethan.
“Commander, I’ve realized that no matter who the opponent is, everything can be solved with firepower. The answer is firepower! Nothing but firepower! Thank you for giving me such a great lesson in that moment of hesitation. As someone who walks the path of firepower, it feels like I’ve reached its ultimate truth.”
“So there was such a path, huh,” Ethan muttered.
Anis, who stood behind them, looked at Neon with a bewildered expression.
“From now on, I will honor you as my master. Please continue to guide me, Master!” Neon added without missing a beat.
“All right, all right. Work hard from now on,” Ethan said.
“Yes! Master!” Neon cheered.
“…Don’t change what you call me on a whim,” he warned.
Thanks to Neon, they cleared the blocked drainage tunnel and were able to enter. Without hesitation, Ethan and the Counters moved into the tunnel.
“This smell is intense,” Anis murmured.
“Even with no one living here, it stinks,” Neon commented.
“It’s a drainage tunnel. There must have been a lot of buildup,” Ethan noted.
Infiltrating through the drainage tunnel, they realized it was narrower than expected, barely wide enough to crawl through.
“Ah, I have something to say,” Neon spoke up.
“What is it?” Ethan asked.
“…I feel like I’m going to vomit,” Neon admitted.
“…I recommend disabling your olfactory sensors,” Ethan suggested.
At a loss for words, Rapi offered the most straightforward solution to Neon.
“I don’t know… If I do that, I’ll feel too detached from being human,” Neon said.
“Ha, that’s a strange thing to say,” Ethan chuckled.
“My heart’s still that of a girl, after all,” Neon said with a pout.
“I don’t want the girl routine. Turn it off,” Ethan replied.
As the hallway of odor-related banter settled, Rapi, who was at the front, called out to Ethan.
“Commander. Are you all right?” Rapi asked.
“Yeah. Apart from the smell, I’m fine,” he replied.
“Don’t say that standing behind someone’s butt,” Rapi scolded.
Anis glared at Ethan, muttering in complaint. He hadn’t meant the comment for her, but it seemed to hit a nerve.
“It’s surprising that we’re infiltrating through a drain. Usually, Commanders see Nikke as tools and prefer to blast everything away,” Neon commented.
“Hmph. It’s not preference—they just can’t think for themselves. They fuss over a little mud on their bodies as if it's the end of the world…” Ethan growled.
“Stop,” Rapi ordered.
Rapi suddenly stopped in her tracks, and Neon and Anis, caught off guard, stumbled into her.
Thud
Oof
Ugh
Ethan, who was right behind, crashed into Anis and came to a halt. He couldn’t help but notice the unexpected softness at the moment of impact.
“Kyaa! W-Wait! Commander?! Your face just hit my butt!” Anis shrieked.
“…I’m fine, so don’t worry about it,” he said casually.
“Not fine! Back, back off!” Anis yelled, her face bright red.
Anis shot Rapi a glare full of accusation.
“Hey! Why did you suddenly stop and cause all that chaos?!” Anis demanded.
“Light. We must have made it inside,” Rapi observed.
“Good. Let’s get out of here immediately,” Anis said.
“…Right. Let’s move quickly,” Rapi agreed.
Leaving Anis’s many unspoken words behind, they finally reached the power plant’s interior.
They thought the mission would go smoothly, but as always, life had other plans.
“Damn…,” Ethan muttered as his expression darkened at the sight of something unmistakably visible even from afar.
“…Rapture detected ahead,” Ethan announced.
“As expected, they’ve taken over the inside too. What the hell are they up to this deep underground?” Anis wondered.
“But what are those Raptures doing?” Neon asked.
“They’re plastered up against the machines,” Anis observed.
Speculation ran rampant over the odd behavior of the Raptures. Meanwhile, Ethan, quietly watching them, formulated a hypothesis.
“…No way… They’re manipulating the power plant controls?” Ethan asked himself.
“Come on, Raptures using human machinery…” Anis scoffed.
“…Anis, look closely. They’re operating them,” Ethan said firmly.
“…Seriously?” Anis echoed, stunned.
The Counters were rendered speechless at the bizarre sight of Raptures actually operating human machinery.
'It’s like a monster movie… How can these heaps of scrap manipulate these machines?' Ethan thought in disbelief.
Even Ethan was momentarily at a loss for words at the utterly illogical scene.
“Has anything like this ever happened before?” Ethan asked.
“So far… no,” Shifty responded over the comm.
“Commander. I suggest we return to The Ark. We’ve fulfilled the 'investigate' directive,” Anis recommended.
“Right. Let’s make a hasty return,” he agreed.
“Roger,” Anis confirmed.
They had achieved the minimum objective. Since they were dispatched under the 'investigate' order, retreating now was the right call.
“Shifty. Secure the route to the rear…” Ethan instructed over the comm.
Whoosh! A beam streaked past toward the Counters.
“Damn! They’ve spotted us!” he shouted.
“Encounter! Commander! Get behind me!” Shifty yelled.
“Rapi! Watch out!” Anis warned.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a beam from somewhere sliced Rapi’s neck, and her head rolled limply to Ethan’s feet.
“R-Rapi!” Anis screamed.
“You… you damn bastards!!” Neon cried out in rage.
Anis’s cry of anger reverberated through the plant. Rapi, who just moments ago had been conversing, now looked at Ethan with vacant eyes.
Even battle-hardened Ethan was unable to hide his shock at the horrifying scene before him.
“Rapi…?” he whispered.
“Hey! Commander! Snap out of it! They’re coming!” Shifty shouted.
Kugugugu…! A massive vibration, like an earthquake, shook everything around them.
“What… what is this vibration?” Ethan stammered.
“Front! Tyrant-grade Rapture detected! Identification confirmed: Grave Digger!” Shifty reported.
“That tunnel-boring thing…! Fighting here is suicide! And Rapi’s gone too! Shifty! Retreat route!” Anis shouted.
“Copy that! The minecart here is still operational. We can exit via the tracks!” Shifty confirmed.
“Good! Let’s go, Neon!” Ethan ordered.
“Yes!” Neon responded.
“Commander! Don’t hesitate—run!” Anis urged.
Despite Anis’s urgent shout, Ethan seemed paralyzed by panic.
ZZZZ—! A kind of noise stirred Ethan’s mind. The image of Rapi’s severed head even began to overlap with his teammates.
Thump—!
“Ugh…!” Ethan clutched his mouth and sank to the ground. Since seeing Rapi’s body, he had been overcome with nausea and dizziness.
“Commander, what’s wrong?! Snap out of it!” Anis cried.
“Master! Are you okay?!” Neon called out in concern.
But neither voice reached Ethan. His panic was too overwhelming for him to hear anything.
With no time to waste in this life-or-death scenario, Anis made a drastic decision.
SLAP!
Anis’s devastating slap landed on Ethan’s cheek. It might have been harsh, but it worked.
The shock of the slap pulled Ethan’s mind back to reality in an instant.
“Anis…?” Ethan muttered, regaining focus.
“Snap out of it! If you just stand there, you’ll get us all killed! Rapi’s not dead yet! If we can get her head back on, she can still survive! Move—now!” Anis urged with all her strength.
Stirred by Anis’s passionate plea, Ethan immediately issued his next order.
“…Right. Let’s escape, now!” Ethan said.
“Okay!” Anis confirmed.
Cradling Rapi’s severed head, Ethan sprinted toward the minecart with all his strength.
'No matter what, I’ll save you…!' Ethan thought, his sole focus on that goal.
As he focused on that, Ethan glimpsed the minecart—the one Shifty had mentioned over comms.
Clang!
One by one, Ethan and the Counters boarded the minecart and hurriedly activated it, speeding out of the power plant.
Some distance along the tracks, they felt that massive vibration thrum through the minecart once more.
“Damn! They’re relentless!” Anis cursed as she reloaded her grenade launcher.
Neon braced herself, preparing for the next confrontation.
“Master, please hold Rapi’s head,” Anis asked.
“All right, here.” Ethan replied as Neon carefully handed him Rapi’s head.
Ka-boom! A deafening explosion shook the tunnel as the Grave Digger burst through the wall.
“Anis! Neon! From here on, engage the enemy!” Ethan commanded.
“All right! If that’s how it is, it’s do or die!” Anis declared.
“Yes!” Neon replied.
Thus, in a fight for their lives, they entered combat against the Tyrant-grade Rapture, Grave Digger.
Despite the adverse conditions, Ethan’s timely orders and Anis and Neon’s synchronized fire barely gave them a precarious advantage.
“Missile incoming! Intercept it, everyone!” Ethan shouted.
“On it!” Anis responded.
“Open fire!” they roared as they intercepted the drill-shaped missile fired by the Grave Digger.
Ka-BOOM! A huge explosion from the interception filled the tunnel with thick black smoke, instantly obscuring the Grave Digger.
'Damn. Our vision…!' Ethan thought, alarmed.
At this rate, they couldn’t track the Grave Digger’s next attack. In the worst case, they wouldn’t even be able to react.
'There’s no way to clear this smoke. What can I do…?!' Ethan thought urgently.
Whirr…! As Ethan scrambled for a countermeasure, he heard a menacing whirring sound ahead. A bad feeling crawled over him.
“Neon! Can you push the speed further?!” Ethan yelled.
“I can’t! This is the maximum speed!” Neon replied breathlessly.
“Nothing’s working…! Anis! Neon! Provide suppressing fire to keep it at bay…!” Ethan ordered.
At that moment, the Grave Digger burst through the smoke, its massive drill spinning fiercely as it charged at the Counters.
“Ah,” Anis murmured.
Watching the drill bore in at blinding speed, Ethan muttered a single word. One small variable could end everything.
'No defense, no evasion possible. I can’t angle for a core shot… Is this really the end?' Ethan thought.
Time seemed to slow for Ethan as if he were reliving a nightmare he’d never known.
'I don’t want it to end like this. I still… haven’t accomplished my mission,' he thought.
He vowed to one day return to the Great Federation and destroy Supreme Commander Howard—the one who ordered their execution—and the Predaking that butchered his squad.
He also reminded himself that his continued life here was all thanks to Marian. It was only because of her that he kept breathing.
He couldn’t squander the second chance Marian had given him. To die here would be to betray his squad and to never see Marian’s face again.
'So….'
Rattle…! Just before the Grave Digger’s massive drill smashed into the minecart, Ethan clenched his fist until it bled and shouted with every ounce of his being.
“I won’t die here!!” Ethan cried.
His desperate plea seemed to pierce the heavens.
Kraaaaaaaaah!!! A blue-tinged shockwave erupted from Ethan, radiating outward. The blast forcefully repelled the Grave Digger and shook the tunnel’s rails.
Crack. Cracks zigzagged along the tunnel’s walls as debris began to fall.
Moments later, the tunnel’s outer wall collapsed entirely, sending a cascade of rubble showering down like a waterfall.
Kuuugugugugong!!! With the underground of the power plant collapsing, the pursuing Grave Digger was buried under the falling debris.
At the same time, the minecart carrying Ethan and the Counters barely escaped the collapsing plant.
“What, what was that?!” Anis exclaimed.
“T-This… feels like something out of a manga! At that critical moment, I unconsciously… I discovered the true essence of firepower!” Neon exclaimed.
“Seriously! This isn’t the time for jokes!” Anis snapped at Neon.
Having barely escaped, the Counters heaved sighs of relief. Neon threw out a half-joke, and Anis scolded her in turn.
'That was….'
Ethan, who had remained silent, stared at the collapsed tunnel beneath them, recalling the scene that had just unfolded.
'No doubt about it. That was the basic [Release] technique of [Astral Energy],' Ethan thought.
Unable to believe it, Ethan was momentarily speechless. He had no grasp on what had occurred.
'…Wait a minute. That means….' he thought.
Suddenly seeing something, Ethan quietly moved his hand out of sight of Anis and Neon.
'—!! Got it…!' he thought.
Concentrating deeply, a faint but unmistakeable glow of [Astral Energy] flickered in his palm.
'To think… my power has truly returned,' he thought.
It felt like a miracle, and a secret thrill welled up in him, but the energy flowing through his body was still far too weak.
'Well, at least I can be satisfied that my energy has manifested again,' he thought.
With each passing moment, more [Astral Energy] would accumulate inside him. The more it gathered, the greater the potential for growth.
'They say if you wish with all your heart, you’ll get an answer. It’s true. Indeed, it’s deserving to be called the Grace of the Stars,' he thought, smiling softly as he looked up.
Renewed with purpose, Ethan clenched his fist that glowed with energy, but the light faded almost immediately.
“Commander! Let’s return to The Ark quickly!” Anis called out.
“Yeah, yeah. We need to save Rapi too,” he replied.
Just as they were about to make their way back, something halted their steps.
Kugugugu…
Another massive vibration shook the area around the power plant. At first, they thought the Grave Digger had reactivated, but it was something else.
“M-Master, look…,” Neon stammered, pointing at something.
Her finger pointed straight at the power plant.
BOOOOM! A series of small explosions rocked the plant, followed by a series of consecutive blasts that sent thick black smoke billowing from inside.
…
…
“…Shit. We screwed up big time,” Anis muttered.
From the very first mission, Ethan and the Counters had bungled it spectacularly.
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