Surface.
It was the early morning hours on the East Coast of the United States, in Pennsylvania.
A large psychiatric hospital was situated in a secluded area surrounded by dense woods, far from any human activity. The facility was fully equipped, perhaps too well-equipped.
Around the perimeter of the hospital, electrified fences were set up, along with numerous guard towers, surveillance cameras, and even searchlights and armed patrols.
If judged by military standards, the level of security for a psychiatric facility seemed excessive, almost as if they were preparing for much more than just mentally unstable patients.
At the entrance of the hospital, a stone sign read "Sagewood Psychiatric Center."
At this moment, in the guard tower just behind the main gate:
"Man, I hate the night shift."
"I kinda like it. No one cares if I slack off. It's so chill."
Two security guards, dressed in dark gray tactical uniforms, complete with bulletproof vests and helmets, were holding 5.56 caliber firearms as they casually chatted while keeping an eye on the dark forest beyond the electrified fence.
The patches on their arms, emblazoned with the "V" symbol and "Vought International," revealed that these guards, as well as the Sagewood Center itself, were assets of Vought International.
The militarized security indicated that this wasn't just a hospital but rather a research facility for human experimentation.
One of the guards, looking drowsy, rubbed his eyes before pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his tactical pouch and offering one to his partner.
"Want one?"
"Sure."
They each lit a cigarette, and the drowsy guard took a few deep drags to wake himself up.
"Man, you look like you didn't sleep at all today," the other guard joked, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"I was gambling a bit and lost track of time."
"You're still gambling? Dude, you better watch out, or you'll lose this job."
"Relax, I know what I'm doing... Whoa... Is that a shooting star?"
?
Hearing his colleague mention a shooting star, the other guard looked up and indeed saw a bright "point of light" rapidly moving across the night sky.
But before they could fully enjoy this rare sight, the "shooting star" suddenly seemed to explode, scattering hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller lights.
In an instant, the night sky became even more dazzling.
But the two guards had no time to admire the unusual spectacle above. Instead, they tossed away their half-smoked cigarettes and instinctively gripped their weapons.
Whoosh—whoosh—
They then saw a large number of missiles, trailing fiery tails, ascend into the sky, heading straight for the thousands of "shooting stars." The missiles collided with the outermost "stars," causing explosions that lit up the entire night sky.
Boom—boom—
It took nearly two minutes for the sound of the explosions to reach the guards.
But two minutes earlier, they had already realized that this was no meteor shower; it was some kind of unknown weapon. Otherwise, it wouldn't have triggered the U.S. Ground-Based Missile Defense System.
However, there were simply too many "shooting stars" for the defense system to intercept them all. Even though many of the "stars" were decoys, the system couldn't effectively distinguish between them, as all the "stars" had similar trajectories and emitted comparable heat signatures.
The two guards didn't spend much time worrying about why the defense system failed because they noticed that the "shooting stars" that had breached the interception net began to self-destruct—except for one, which remained intact, its flames extinguished, and it seemed... possibly... to be heading straight for the Sagewood Research Center?
!!
Realizing this possibility, one of the guards immediately grabbed his radio to report the situation, while the other rushed back inside to sound the alarm, trying to warn their colleagues about the incoming "meteor."
Whizz!!!!
Just as the alarm began to blare, the "meteor" streaked past the guard tower and headed directly for the lawn inside the research center.
But before it hit the ground, the "meteor" performed several decelerations.
Boom!
Accompanied by a strong shockwave, the "meteor" successfully landed, sending dirt and grass flying into the air.
Boom! Thud!
Before the dust could settle, the two guards heard the sound of heavy doors opening.
Circling around to the other side of the guard tower to get a better view of the crash site, they finally saw the "culprit" that had turned the entire East Coast upside down…
It was a metallic, conical pod about six meters tall, with sides measuring around seven or eight meters. The pod was painted light gray and bore the "V" symbol of Vought International.
Thud! Thud!
Then, two giants, each about 4.2 to 4.3 meters tall, emerged from the pod. They were wearing gray, specially designed combat suits and protective armor, and their helmets obscured their faces.
What shocked the guards even more was that these giants were carrying ammo boxes on their backs and wielding three-barreled rotary guns…
But the more the guards looked, the more it seemed like those "guns" were actually 20mm rotary cannons, not machine guns.
What was going on? Was the company in some kind of internal conflict?
But as one of the giants, or rather, Tyrant 001, aimed the rotary cannon at the guard tower, the two guards instantly sobered up and turned to flee without a second thought.
Although they were both ex-military, and Vought was paying them a hefty salary of $5,000 a month—an exceptionally high-paying job in 1995 America—taking on a 20mm rotary cannon with a 5.56mm rifle?
No thanks. Running away was the best option.
It wasn't about abandoning their duty; $5,000 a month wasn't enough to make two ex-soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives.
.
Seeing that the guards made the right decision, Tyrant 001 lowered the cannon and, maintaining a distance of over ten meters from his "teammate," Tyrant 002, began advancing toward the Sagewood research facility.
Sizzle!
As the two Tyrants prepared to launch their attack, the pod that had brought them down suddenly self-ignited. The flames were incredibly bright, suggesting the use of something like an aluminum-based accelerant.
The metal melted and splattered, and only when nothing combustible remained did the flames finally die down.
Meanwhile, the two Tyrants moved forward unimpeded.
More than half of the armed guards chose to surrender and flee, while the remaining half decided to trust that their firearms could harm the two Tyrants.
Unfortunately for them, 5.56mm rounds could at most scratch the paint on the armor or cause superficial damage.
Even if they were lucky enough to hit the combat suit, they would only leave a noticeable dent, without penetrating or inflicting any real harm on the Tyrants.
After witnessing the armor's durability, which was akin to an armored vehicle, and seeing several of their colleagues blown apart by the 20mm rotary cannons, the remaining guards scattered like birds, vanishing without a trace.
With the area now secure, Tyrant 001 stayed outside on guard, while Tyrant 002 prepared to enter the research facility. However, due to his height and massive frame, his movements were somewhat restricted.
Fortunately, the Tyrant's strength was more than sufficient to carry out some "forceful" demolition, allowing 001 to reach his objective: the local database of Sagewood.
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