The transport didn't look like anything the squad recognized.
It wasn't quite a truck, not quite a tank—sleek armored plating, glowing lines running along its sides, and a low hum that felt more like a heartbeat than an engine.
Carter tapped the metal as they climbed in. "Yeah, this is definitely not standard-issue."
"Stop touching things," Mei said. "We don't know what half of this does."
"Relax. If it explodes, we'll just resp—" Carter stopped himself.
No one laughed this time.
---
Inside, the squad sat across from their escorts. The soldiers watched them carefully, hands never far from their weapons.
Alex leaned forward. "You said this area isn't safe. Because of… that thing?"
The squad leader nodded. "A roaming Catastrophe beast. Likely drawn by Originium concentration."
"Originium," Reyes repeated. "That sounds… bad."
"It is," Mei said quietly. "It's the core of everything here—energy, technology… and disease."
"Infected," Jin added, remembering. "You said something about that."
The leader studied them again. "You truly aren't from Terra, are you?"
"Nope," Carter said. "We're from a place where things try to kill you constantly… but for very different reasons."
"That doesn't narrow it down," Reyes muttered.
---
The vehicle suddenly jolted.
A deep, thunderous impact echoed outside.
Everyone froze.
"Contact!" one of the soldiers shouted.
The vehicle screeched to a halt.
Another удар—closer. The metal walls groaned under the force.
"Defensive positions!" the leader barked.
The rear hatch burst open.
"Out! Now!"
---
The moment they stepped outside, the scale of the threat hit them.
The creature towered over the cliffs—a massive, jagged form pulsing with glowing veins of energy. Its body looked like crystal fused with flesh, constantly shifting, reforming.
"Okay," Carter said. "Yeah. That's worse than anything in the facility."
"No containment team for this one," Jin added.
The creature let out a deafening roar and slammed a limb into the ground. The shockwave knocked several soldiers off their feet.
"Spread out!" Alex shouted instinctively. "Don't bunch up!"
The others moved without hesitation. Old habits kicked in—callouts, positioning, covering angles.
Even here… they were still a team.
---
Reyes ducked behind a rock formation as shards of glowing debris rained down.
"We need a plan!" he yelled.
Mei scanned the creature. "Its body structure is unstable—those glowing veins are likely weak points!"
"Great!" Carter shouted from behind cover. "How do we hit something that big?!"
Jin checked his weapon—still unfamiliar, but functional. "Same way we deal with anything else."
He peeked out, firing a controlled burst at one of the glowing sections.
The shot connected.
The creature recoiled—just slightly, but enough.
"It works!" Jin called out.
"Focus fire!" Alex ordered.
---
The battlefield erupted.
The Terra soldiers unleashed coordinated attacks—energy blasts, projectiles, abilities the MTF squad couldn't fully understand.
But the SCP players adapted quickly.
"Left side, it's charging!" Mei warned.
"I see it!" Carter responded, sprinting across open ground. "Drawing aggro—uh, I mean attention!"
"You're going to get yourself killed!" Reyes shouted.
"Working on it!"
The creature turned toward Carter, its massive limb rising—
"Now!" Alex yelled.
Jin and Reyes opened fire on the exposed vein.
The impact caused a violent reaction. The glowing energy surged, then cracked—
The creature roared in pain.
---
"Keep going!" the squad leader shouted. "You're destabilizing it!"
"Yeah, well, it's still trying to kill us!" Carter yelled, diving as the limb slammed down where he'd been standing.
Mei clenched her fists, thinking fast. "Alex! The energy spikes when it prepares to attack—if we time it—"
"Chain the hits," Alex finished. "Overload it."
"Exactly!"
Alex nodded. "Alright! On my mark—bait it again!"
Carter groaned. "Why is it always me?!"
"Because you're loud," Jin said.
"Fair."
---
Moments later—
"NOW!"
Carter sprinted forward, shouting incoherently to grab the creature's attention. It worked.
The glowing veins intensified.
"Fire!"
All at once, the squad unleashed everything they had.
The combined impact hit the creature at its most unstable point.
For a second—
Everything went silent.
Then—
A blinding flash.
---
The shockwave knocked everyone to the ground.
Dust and debris filled the air.
Carter coughed, pushing himself up. "Please tell me that worked…"
The dust slowly settled.
Where the creature had stood… there was nothing but shattered crystal and scorched earth.
Silence.
Then—
Cheers from the Terra soldiers.
---
The squad regrouped, battered but alive.
Reyes let out a breath. "Okay… that was insane."
Jin grinned. "Not gonna lie—that was kinda awesome."
Mei shook her head, though a small smile slipped through. "We just took down a Catastrophe-level entity with zero preparation."
Carter stretched. "Yeah, we're built different."
Alex looked toward the soldiers approaching them.
The leader stopped in front of them, eyes filled with a mix of surprise—and respect.
"…You fight like veterans," he said. "But not like anyone I've seen."
Alex shrugged. "We've had… unusual training."
The leader nodded slowly. "Then perhaps it's fate we found you."
He gestured toward the transport.
"You should come with us. There's someone who will want to meet you."
Mei raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
The leader paused.
"…The Doctor."
---
As they climbed back into the vehicle, Carter leaned toward the others.
"Alright," he whispered. "New world, new rules… but same squad."
Jin smirked. "And no respawns."
Reyes crossed his arms. "We'll manage."
Mei looked out at the distant horizon again.
"This world is in constant conflict," she said softly. "If we're really here… we're part of that now."
Alex nodded.
"Then we do what we always do."
The vehicle doors sealed shut.
"We adapt."
The engine hummed to life.
"We survive."
And somewhere ahead—
Their next mission was already waiting.