I piled up bookshelves, lockers, and racks in front of the shutter to form a barricade. It was an incredibly sturdy fire shutter, but I wasn't taking any chances. I made the barrier thick, even tossing in some equipment I didn't recognize... Wait, was that a centrifuge? Whatever. I doubt anyone was going to bill me for it now. Humanoid Fighters were a godsend in situations like this. The only downside was that since they weren't exactly human-sized, I ended up smashing through every door and window meant for people. I couldn't afford to get out every single time. The research facility seemed to have been designed with Humanoid Fighters in mind, as we were able to navigate the halls without getting out. It appeared that if you wanted to enter a room meant for humans, you were supposed to disembark. Were they constantly transporting heavy loads? If so, why not just use a forklift? Just as the thought crossed my mind, I spotted a turret truck—the kind you’d see in a wholesale market. So that's what they used. Specialized vehicles really were more practical. "Hmm, I see," I nodded to myself. "What did you figure out, Captain?" Melissa asked, so I explained. "Look, if Humanoid Fighters can maneuver inside, it’s a military facility. Commercial logistics hubs use Humanoid Heavy Machinery, so their corridors are much narrower. Plus, we've got a centrifuge here, and those look like old X-ray machines. Those rooms over there are for CT scans and MRIs. It's definitely a military research lab." "With it being full of those dangerous creatures?" "Right...?" I no longer had any idea what was going on. We continued deeper inside. "Leo. I’m deploying a turret." "Do it." We set up an automated turret. These things were developed after our first run-in with the Zorks, but they had one fatal flaw: they were useless against swarms of Crabs. When you factored in reload times, it was far more efficient to just gather a group of people and have them fire. Ultimately, human lives were the cheapest resource available. It was a grim realization. Still, I figured using them as traps in an enclosed space would be effective. We set up the turret and pushed further in. "What’s at the end of this?" Eddie asked. "No idea," I replied. There was no way I could know. We just kept going, completely ignoring the direction the enemy had tried to herd us. "Our Idiot Lord’s 'hunch' is tingling, so there must be something ahead," Isono remarked with his trademark detachment. Straitjackets, what looked like electrodes, blades... The further we went, the more unsettling the contents of the rooms became. "Just looking at this makes me feel sick." We reached the back sector. There was an electronic lock, but I didn't care. "Doryaaaaaaaaagh!!!" I kicked the door down. "Goodness, our Idiot Lord is such a savage." "Isono, forget that... what the hell is that...?" Nakajima swallowed his words. I saw it too. The girls let out small screams. Humans. They were being kept there like livestock. There was no other way to describe their state. They were wearing hospital gowns, sitting on the floor with their heads bowed. "Are you citizens of the Republic?" When I called out, a man raised his head. His beard was overgrown, he was emaciated, and his limbs were thin. "If you're here to kill me, just get it over with." Wow, he'd completely given up. "I'm Major Leo Kamishiro of the Galactic Empire Space Marines. We're here to get you out." A spark of life returned to the man's eyes. "The Galactic Empire! N-No way! A fellow human!? Are you really human!?" "Yeah, although we're currently stuck waiting for rescue ourselves." I still had to figure out what to do about the bugs outside. "I see... We've finally been able to return..." "What happened here? I heard you were exiled after a war with the Empire..." "Yeah... My ancestors chose to adapt to deep space. We were the moderate faction. We chose to colonize habitable planets. For centuries, it worked... then the military found ruins of some intelligent life form on a certain planet. That's when everything went to hell." They managed to maintain their society for several hundred years? That sounded like a success to me. And they threw it all away? "The Republic Supreme Council decided to use that tech to modify humans. Those of us who opposed it were phased out. Eventually, they started treating us like experimental subjects." "Experimental subjects? Wouldn't the others be more willing? If it’s the Crabs, they can increase their numbers however they want through cloning, right?" "We're the last unmodified humans left. The 'plain' models. They want to use us as templates. At least, that's what I heard from the generations before me." It was the same old hell. Nobody on the Zork side benefits from this. "Didn't you resist?" "There were those who rebelled... but they all ended up as Crab food." I mean, seriously! Why does the Republic have to be such a grimdark dystopia? The Empire is a corrupt piece of trash, sure, but the Republic is on a whole other level of awful! "What was the council doing during all this?" "They became Crab food a long time ago." "Oh..." "Now, we're born as Mother's slaves. If we ever leave her influence, our hearts just stop. It’s almost funny, isn't it?" It wasn't funny at all. Their sense of ethics had completely evaporated. They'd gone beyond mere corruption. I was glad to be an Imperial citizen. Even an incompetent person could survive there. Wait... was the Empire actually a well-oiled machine because it could function even if the leadership was incompetent? If I’d been born in the Republic, I would’ve been purged on day one. "Ah—for now, let's just wait for rescue. Right, everyone?" "I suppose so." Just as I let my guard down, I got a bad feeling. It was instinctive, with no clear reason. I tensed up immediately. A split second later, a Massacre Night lookalike smashed through the wall. It far exceeded my expectations. I took the tackle full-on, getting launched into the corridor of the adjacent sector. But I wasn't just a passenger. I’d clung to the thing as I flew back, delivering an elbow strike as we separated. It was shallow, but it connected. I thought it was a Zork, but the texture was off. "Gishaaaaaaaaah!" As the fake screamed, I saw spider-like legs sprouting from its back. So that's how it was. They’d replicated it biologically! "Leo! More fakes are coming from this side too!" Isono shouted. "I'll leave that side to you!" Come and get some! You're a hell of a lot better than those creepy-crawlies outside!