The explosion blasts the door towards us, and Albert, who stands directly in front of the door, gets concussed with arguably tens of kilogram of lead and platinum (to block off heat and radiation). He collapses onto the ground.
- Don't even know if I should call it a blessing in disguise... Mirai, can you perform first aid and drag him to a safe corner? - I talk to Mirai.
- Can.
Mirai checks his vitals, then takes out a sleeping bag. She places his passed out body inside it, and drags the sleeping bag to a corner that looks protected even if the station collapses. Then, we inspect the door.
- This bomb is definitely newly placed here. Just look at the remnants. - I point at the open end contact point of the door with the wall.
- Agree. This bomb is just a typical type that does not do enough damage to destroy a structure, but can do something like killing a person in close range.
Realising that the bomb does not give off any valuable information, we enter the staircase, towards the first floor. We take out two photon shotguns from the arsenal, fully locked and loaded, and hold them tightly in our hands.
The first floor is structured similarly with the first floor of the sight-seeing station, but they play a more vital role as they control the electric works of the whole underground facility. We head to inspect the room closest to us, which is also a control room.
- Did you take Albert's card with you? - I ask.
- Yep. Right here.
Mirai scans the card and presses the power button. The holographic screen shows the underground facility, but in a more detailed manner. As predicted, the fault is due to the generators associated with the stations and railways, but the generators that keep the factories working are completely kept intact.
Understanding the source of fault, we head to the station generators at the end of the hallway. The air reeks of the Intruders' stench, and this heavy saturation feels as if an Intruder can materialise right in front of us. Every step I take, I can feel my limbs trembling, like they are telling me to retreat and just wait for help. But this is the only way.
Suddenly, I feel a familiar feeling. The one like when we were discussing our strategy in a certain snowy area, and someone interrupts with a bullet that slid off my skin.
- Yuusha, dodge! - Mirai pushes me aside, right when my instinct correctly tells me that a bullet just fly between us, barely making a burn. It hits the end of the hallway.
And an Intruder of overall fifty-five appears with a pistol.
Although covered in a shirt, a pair of trousers and a full head helmet like a technician, the aura that this individual gives out cannot come from a human. This one-point-eight metres tall individual slowly walks towards us, pointing his pistol in our direction.
- Haizz, I blow up the generator to lure you two here, but seems like you arrve before I even expect. I must display my admiration for you two for such a feat. Now, enjoy the feat in hell! - He speaks and ends with a hysterical laugh.
What a cliched expression. I should have made a counter to count the numebr of times an Intruder we encounter end his introduction with that "see you in hell" kind of vibe.
The laugh then leads to a turn of bullets flying chaotically towards our direction. They hit the walls and bounce off a few times, then attach themselves into a random wall and explode. We quickly kick the door of the room closest to us and run inside.
The tablet is still working. Our fleet of toys are ready to attack. We wait for the Intruder to come close to the door.
The long, long shadow from the dim light of the hallway slowly appears outside the door. Not before long, the one-point-eight metres figure appears in front of the door, with the pistol in his hand, steady.
- Come out, wherever you go. How about I give you five seconds...
- Now! - I shout.
Immediately, a fleet of suicide drones emerges out of thin air, charging towards the Intruder. He manages to shoot down some of them, but then the impact of the explosions that these drones make after getting shot down blows him backwards, also covering his sight with a cloud of smoke.
We jump out of the hiding spot and charge forward at the Intruder. Two laser shells, packed with millions of photon with powerful electromagnetic energy, hit the Intruder's upper chest, tearing his shirt off, revealing his slightly damaged armor inside and cornering him onto the wall.
I lock the forend to load another photon shell into the barrel and pin the barrel onto his head. Right when I am going to threaten him with another afternoon snack...
... my instincts sharpen again, signalling that something dangerous is very imminent. I just do not know what the danger specifically is.
I jump away from the Intruder like a frog, with my hands still holding tightly on the trigger. Just before that, a bouncing bullet comes from the second floor, across the stairs and fly in a straight line across the hall, passing the spot where my head was just at.
- I do not expect that you actually dodge that. Very impressive. Tch! You ruined my calculations with some gut feeling... - The Intruder stands up, dusting his outfit and reloading his pistol.
Now, that is a scary ability. A fifty-five overall rating for you.
The hallway is very narrow, and it is a straight line that we need to run to escape to the second floor. There is no way that we would make it out alive without a few holes on our bodies like a golf course. We must fight.
- Come on, just surrender. You are cornered in this small room already. At least I can send you to hell quickly if you do so. Otherwise, your death will not be, how to say it, so painless. - He just says that with a straight face.
- How about you go to hell first? - As if her existence is forgotten, Mirai approaches him from the back and blasts a shell at his head.
The helmet breaks into pieces and falls off, exposing his head inside that looks halfway like a human head, with only a few signature characteristics of an Intruder, but is still hard to notice the difference.
- That is a slug shot for you. - The shot that Mirai just deals is a projectile shell, deliberately to break his helmet.
The Intruder's face suddenly turned red, probably with rage. He changes the cartridge in his pistol into another one with red rounds of ammunition.
- My boss did tell me about you two, but it's my fault for underestimating you two. Now, let's play.
The Intruder shoots a few bullets up to the ceiling. The red bullets bounce off the walls, but then they change direction and fly towards us like a swarm of mayfly attracted to fire and light sources.
- Force Field! - Mirai places a sphere onto the ground, which emerges into an invisible hemispherical barrier that slows down any high speed projectiles.
We embrace the opportunity to escape to the second floor, with the few seconds we bought. Some of the bullets manage to penetrate the force field, but we have our drones to intervene.
- Huff, huff. Why does every single Intruder out there have a hard shell? The photon series is barely working against the fifty rating or above. - I lament as we run for our lives.
- That's why I set the package destination as fifty years ago. You cannot imagine how much they actually develop in a mere fifty years being unnoticed.
At this point, it is just mere hopelessness in my eyes. What kind of mine field have I accidentally stepped on to be dragged into this domino chain of life-threatening events like this? I make a loud sigh, then coming back to the battle mode.
- Mirai, the railgun. I will buy you five minutes down there. We cannot let this one escape.
- Now that's what I'm talking about! - Mirai looks like she is cheering me on as I dig my own grave own there, as she takes out the Railgun.
I stuff my backpack with every kind of tactical grenades and things, then walk down the path as if it is my last battle. Maybe, it can literally be my last one.
The foggy atmosphere thanks to all of the shooting starts dispersing, unveiling the hallway with the Intruder standing inside, looking at me with the eyes that give out a murderous aura.
- My, my. After all those tiny underhanded tactics, I even spare your life and do not chase you, and now, you want to come back and fight me? Well then, let's make you regret this. - The Intruder points the pistol at me.
- That's a big, big red flag you just accidentally triggered. It's my turn. - I return the gaze and the lifeless pistol barrel starvingly staring at me with my shotgun also pointing at him.
It is showtime.