Reality twisted.
A slight tremor rippled through the air itself, space warping like heat shimmer over hot pavement. Purple energy halos materialized, appearing in mid-air like code written in light. Geometric patterns pulsed, mathematical impossibilities made visible.
Then something pushed through.
An automatic servo robot equipped with a heavy logging gun gradually emerged, its shiny metal body materializing from nothing. First translucent. Then solid. Teleportation completing.
The machine reacted instantly to its new environment. Its dark muzzle, located above the metal carapace, rotated with mechanical precision. Servos whirred. Sensors activated.
It conducted a series of analyses and warnings regarding the extremely unfamiliar environment surrounding it. Threat assessment. Atmospheric composition. Structural integrity. All processed in microseconds.
After several seconds of intensive scanning, the servo robot confirmed no immediate trace of enemy presence. No heat signatures. No movement. No energy weapons charging.
It immediately began necessary exploration of the surrounding area, moving with careful efficiency.
The location gradually became clear through accumulated sensor data: a large metal hall. Dimensions approximately thirty meters square. Ceiling height fifteen meters. Construction materials unknown but reading as extremely dense alloys.
Click, click, click!
The automatic servo robot rotated the sensor array located at the front of its body. Optics adjusted, tracking across the space in systematic sweeps.
Then it moved toward the hall's exit without hesitation, following programmed protocols.
After the servo robot carefully entered a long and narrow corridor, it found more of the same. The walls were covered with purple metal that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. The material was unsettling, wrong somehow.
Still, no attack came from any enemy. No ambush triggered. No defenses activated.
The emptiness was almost more disturbing than combat would have been.
As a result, the automatic servo robot waved its mechanical tentacles in what might have been confusion. It let out a low hum that ripped through the air, sound echoing off purple walls.
Then, processing probabilities, it seemed to hesitate. The machine turned its body back toward the entry point.
It retreated into the dimly lit metal hall, returning to secure the landing zone.
About a minute later, the teleportation activated again.
Purple halos formed. Space twisted. And something massive pushed through.
Standing up to three meters tall, the six-armed Terminator armor looked like a metal hill given purpose. The bulk was tremendous, dwarfing standard power armor.
It quickly revealed its very eye-catching metal body as materialization completed. Adamantium. Ceramite. Weapons systems bristling from every surface.
At this moment, Nolan gripped the Blood Scythe with both hands, the weapon's edge surrounded by green light that pulsed hungrily.
He quickly adopted an offensive stance suitable for immediate combat. Weight balanced. Scythe ready. Enhanced reflexes primed.
However, even his sudden arrival triggered nothing. No counterattack materialized. No warning alarms sounded. No enemies appeared to contest his presence.
The silence was absolute. Unnatural.
"David, can you pick up my signal?"
Nolan, wearing the distinctive diamond-shaped helmet of Terminator armor, spoke calmly to the communication channel. His voice carried clearly despite the helmet's extensive filtering.
He looked down at the mechanical tentacles of the servo robot, which shook constantly as if communicating. The machine processed data, running calculations.
"My Lord, your signal is clearly visible, and you won't believe it." David's mechanical voice came through with perfect clarity. "The straight-line distance between me and you have not exceed one hundred kilometers. According to comprehensive analysis of the map information, your location should be deep in the Black Sea."
The Man of Iron paused, then added, "Furthermore, judging from advance detection by the servo robot, there seems to be no sign of life within a few hundred meters."
David, who had already assumed direct control of the automatic servo robot, delivered his report quickly and thoroughly.
After hearing the reply, Nolan subconsciously shook his diamond-shaped helmet. The motion was small but carried weight.
He murmured in a low voice, words barely audible, "No wonder Leviathan worked so hard to retain control of Latveria. It turns out they've been hiding nearby all along."
The pieces clicked into place. Geography. Control. The desperate defense of a small nation that seemed to have no strategic value.
"I know, David. Let's get started too!"
As soon as Nolan finished speaking, the automatic servo robot controlled by David rushed out of the dimly lit metal hall once more. Its logging gun tracked constantly, covering angles.
Nolan grasped the Blood Scythe, both hands closed around the haft. Green light painted his armor in eerie radiance.
He slowly moved the Terminator armor forward with heavy steps. Each footfall created dull thuds that echoed through alien corridors. The weight of the armor was tremendous, but servo assistance made it manageable.
Soon after, with the autonomous servo robot pioneering pathfinding, they began moving along the long, narrow corridor covered in purple metal.
Nolan, on high alert, followed the machine unhurriedly. His senses strained for any indication of enemies that might appear. Ambush points. Hidden compartments. Anything.
But the ship remained silent. Empty. Dead.
Unfortunately, the pattern continued. Until Nolan and David's autonomous servo robot approached the end of the entire corridor, still no trace of enemy presence was found.
The emptiness felt intentional. Staged.
"My Lord, there are weak signs of life right in front of us." David's reminder reached Nolan's ears, breaking the oppressive quiet. "And according to standard design of a spacecraft, that should be the bridge of this alien vessel."
At this moment, information crystallized into understanding. One life sign. The command center. Gemini waiting.
Nolan, wearing his diamond-shaped helmet, nodded slightly in acknowledgment. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with recycled air.
Then drove the Terminator armor toward the bridge, heavy steps carrying him forward with mechanical inevitability.
Tens of seconds later, Nolan and the automatic servo robot slowly entered another metal hall. This space was also dimly lit, illumination barely sufficient for human eyes.
Looking around, the environmental shape and spatial scale here were exactly the same as the previous metal hall where they'd first materialized. Same dimensions. Same construction. Mirror images.
But one critical difference existed.
A tall chair stood in the center of the hall. Not a throne. Something functional. Command seating. It was slowly turning toward Nolan, rotation smooth despite no visible mechanism.
The motion made Nolan extremely vigilant. His combat instincts screamed warning.
He activated the Terminator armor's refractor field without hesitation. The defensive system engaged, generating a shimmer around his form that would bend incoming attacks.
The four servo robotic arms located above his power backpack also started with loud bangs. Servos engaging. Weapons powering up.
The glowing green Necron gauss blaster hummed with barely contained annihilation. The multi-melta buzzed, thermal coils heating. Along with two storm bolters, all weapons were ready to fire.
"I knew that they cannot stop you from coming, guests from The Guardians of Terra."
At this moment, a cold-toned voice slowly emerged from inside the tall chair. The words vaguely echoed in the wide metal hall, carried by speakers hidden throughout the space.
At the same time, Nolan's enhanced vision resolved what sat in that chair.
A humanoid skeleton. The entire body was tightly bound by countless purple metal pipes that ran into and through the tall seat. Cables. Conduits. Neural interfaces. All fused with flesh and bone.
The figure was clearly visible within the scope of Nolan's eyepiece. No longer human. No longer free. A fusion of meat and machine that had gone terribly wrong.
"Are you the leader of Leviathan, Gemini?"
Nolan looked through his eyepiece with forced calm, though his weapons remained locked on target.
He asked the question while staring at the humanoid skeleton in the hall's center. Confirmation before execution.
However, neither the automatic servo robot's heavy logging gun nor the powerful firepower arrays on the Terminator armor moved to fire.
Not yet. Let the condemned speak first.
"I've been called Gemini for so long that I almost forgot my name..." The humanoid skeleton, who seemed incapable of physical movement, let out a cold sigh without any emotional inflection. "But that doesn't matter anymore."
A pause. Then a shift in tone. "Let's talk about terms."
The proposal emerged calculated, desperate. "I admit that it was a reckless decision to send the Zodiac to contact you. If you need any compensation, I can do my best to make up for this wrong decision."
Gemini's voice took on the cadence of negotiation. Offering. Bargaining. "I can give up control of Latveria, and most of the low-level Leviathan agents can be handed over to you to deal with. Whether to subdue or disband, or to terminate them, whatever you want..."
The offers escalated. "If you are still not satisfied, I can also share with you some unknown technology from alien spacecraft... Believe me, this is much more advanced than the technology on Earth."
Everything was on the table. Power. Personnel. Knowledge. Gemini was offering his entire organization as payment.
However, before the humanoid skeleton could finish speaking, before he could sweeten the deal further, another sound emerged.
Faint sarcasm from Nolan gradually resonated throughout the metal hall. The laughter was cold, carrying contempt.
"Advance technology? So advanced that you were slowly merged and swallowed by an alien spacecraft?" Nolan's voice dripped with derision. "You don't think I can't see that you were completely forced to sit on it?"
His tone hardened. "If the Cancer guy's desperate act of seeking death made me feel confused and surprised, then the first time I saw you, I instantly understood the cause and effect..."
The assessment was brutal. Final. "You are nothing more than an ignorant man who caused lot of harm because of greed!"
Then Nolan remembered. The message. The dying man's last request.
"By the way, the man named Uvalov asked me to tell you..."
He let the pause stretch. Let anticipation build.
"You and his debt are settled!"
As soon as Nolan finished speaking, as the final word left his lips, violence erupted.
The muzzle of the Necron gauss blaster quickly burst out a series of green beams that annihilated all matter!
No negotiation. No mercy. No hesitation.
Just execution.