The tunnel led them deeper into the heart of Mini Milta's underground maze, where the flicker of red warning lights painted the walls like an alarm that never ended. Every few meters, the air hissed with static, and the faint cluck of distant machinery echoed behind them.
"Remind me why we're still walking toward the ominous sounds," Roxy muttered, scanning the shadows with her plasma rifle.
"Because," Boltan said confidently, "heroes walk toward danger. And also because I accidentally dropped our only map three corridors back."
"Fantastic," Roxy sighed.
LagMan blinked in and out of sync again, appearing five steps ahead. "I think I saw a lab door up here. The sign said Project SkyBeak."
Chiku gasped. "Sounds like a fast-food combo meal. Maybe it's… edible tech?"
Roxy rolled her eyes. "Or maybe it's another death trap with wings."
The corridor opened into a massive hangar—half laboratory, half battlefield. In the center stood a colossal metallic egg suspended in energy clamps, wires snaking across the floor. Around it were rows of control panels, holographic schematics, and the unmistakable scorch marks of previous "experiments."
Boltan's grin widened. "That's it. The boss spawn."
Before anyone could stop him, he marched straight toward the console and slammed the biggest glowing button.
The clamps unlocked with a hydraulic hiss.
The egg began to crack.
"Boltan!" Roxy shouted. "Do you ever read warnings?"
"Warnings are just side quests," Boltan declared.
The shell split open, revealing a towering fusion of bird and machine—a cybernetic eagle with thruster wings, laser eyes, and a combat AI core pulsing inside its chest. It stretched its wings, scattering debris with hurricane force.
Its targeting sensors locked onto the squad.
"IDENTIFY: THREATS DETECTED. INITIATING PURGE PROTOCOL."
Chiku screamed. "Bro! The fried chicken's evolving!"
Roxy dove behind a crate as SkyBeak unleashed a barrage of plasma feathers. Boltan fired back uselessly. LagMan tried to hack the console but glitched halfway through, his avatar frozen in a heroic pose.
"Okay!" Boltan shouted over the chaos. "New plan! We improvise!"
"You always improvise!" Roxy yelled.
"I know! It's my strategy!"
Chiku chucked a frying pan—it bounced off SkyBeak's armor and ricocheted into a generator, causing a massive electrical surge. Sparks flew, and the beast shrieked, one of its wings shorting out.
"Nice shot, Chiku!" Boltan cheered. "Totally meant for that to happen!"
"Yeah," Chiku said, eyes wide. "Totally…"
The room shook violently as SkyBeak roared, launching into the air through a broken ceiling panel. Dust and feathers rained down.
"It's escaping!" Roxy shouted.
Boltan reloaded dramatically. "Then we take the fight to the skies."
LagMan flickered back to life, eyes glowing from the console interface. "I've found jetpacks. Four of them. But they're marked 'unstable experimental models.'"
Boltan grinned. "Perfect."
Roxy pinched the bridge of her nose. "We're all going to die."
"Not today," Boltan said, strapping his on. "Today… we fly."
The squad equipped the unstable jetpacks as the alarms blared louder, and the roof opened to the stormy sky above. Lightning cracked, revealing the silhouette of SkyBeak soaring toward the mountains.
Boltan pointed upward. "Team, this is our destiny!"
Roxy muttered, "Our destiny smells like burnt circuits and bad decisions."
With a deafening roar of engines, the four launched into the night sky—after the mechanical monster that threatened to turn Mini Milta into its next disaster zone.
The Drop Zone just went airborne.