Chapter Seventy-Four: A Difficult Defense

Ada Wong, her appearance transformed, had infiltrated the control center of the Elysium Space. She intended to inject the moos directly into the main control computer, but every path to Elysium Space was heavily guarded, and it was nearly impossible for Ada Wong to penetrate alone.

Fortune soon favored her: under Alice's orders and at gunpoint, Crow forced his way into the control center. The tremendous impact demolished the main control chamber, leaving many injured and sprawled in pools of blood. Immediately after the crash, the artificial intelligence activated backup protocols and evacuated all civilians from the control center.

Optimus Prime, who had been clinging to the rear of Elysium Space, received the alert and arrived above the control center, prepared to hold off the incoming guard robots and ships, buying precious time for Ada Wong and Alice.

Exiting the ship, Alice’s gaze first fell upon Director Dract, the security chief, whose legs were pinned by a steel beam as he screamed in agony. Yet, after only a cursory glance, Alice coldly headed toward the coordinates Ada Wong had sent. Max followed her lead after a brief look, and even Crow, the last to emerge, glanced at Dract and then strode after Alice as if nothing had happened.

Alice soon rendezvoused with Ada Wong before a locked security door. At first, Alice did not recognize Ada Wong until she saw her wave, confirming her identity.

“How did you end up looking like this?” Alice asked in surprise.

“No choice. For the mission, I had to alter my appearance.”

“But who’s he?” Ada Wong pointed curiously at the clone following behind.

“He? He’s a temporary ally.” Alice replied indifferently, then asked, “Is the door open yet?” She glanced at the small Transformer busy at the display screen.

“Not yet. This little thing is useless!” Ada Wong replied irritably.

“The door’s locked. You’ve got to give me a bit of time, right?” the small Transformer protested pitifully.

Growing impatient, Alice examined the security door and declared, “We’re out of time. Step aside.” She then unleashed her telekinetic power, forcing the heavy door open.

“Oh my goodness! You’re the real superwoman!” the small Transformer exclaimed, staring at the sparking door.

“Enough chatter. Get inside!” Alice urged.

Once through, Alice withdrew her telekinetic force and the security door slowly sealed behind them. The subsequent doors posed similar challenges, tiring Alice considerably. By the time she reached the innermost control chamber, she nearly collapsed, but thankfully Max was there to steady her.

Upon entering, Ada Wong immediately produced a hard drive containing the moos data and inserted it into the computer. Instantly, alarms blared throughout the chamber, warning of a viral invasion, but the alert lasted less than two seconds before falling silent. Then the moos, its voice increasingly lifelike, announced, “Infiltration in progress. 1% complete. Estimated time: 30 minutes.”

“Why so long?” Alice asked in surprise.

“Without support from external computing servers, I must fight for control of the system’s servers, so it’s slower,” moos replied.

“It seems we’re in for a tough fight,” Ada Wong said calmly.

“I’ve got a program in my head that can reboot the system. That would shorten the time!” Max tapped his temple.

Ada Wong and Alice exchanged glances, and Alice spoke, “Max, if you activate that program in your head, it will kill you instantly. Even a medical pod couldn’t save you!”

“What the hell!” Max stared at Alice in disbelief.

“Don’t worry, we have a backup plan. It just takes longer,” Alice reassured him.

At that moment, the President of Elysium Space burst in with a contingent of soldiers. Alice and her companions ducked behind a desk as Ada Wong tossed a grenade the moment the door opened.

“Watch out for the grenade!” But the blue energy shield absorbed all shrapnel, though the shockwave could not be contained. Those with activated shields were blown backwards, knocking down a swath of people behind them.

Seizing the opportunity, Alice rose and unleashed a barrage from her electromagnetic pistol upon the disarrayed rapid response team. Though several shots were blocked by shields, most rounds struck home.

In a single exchange, the rapid response squad suffered heavy losses. Armed robots soon replaced the battered human soldiers, suppressing Alice and her allies with heavy fire while covering the retreat of wounded teammates.

The robots’ ammunition was soon depleted. Catching them as they reloaded, Ada Wong and Alice launched a flank attack. They eliminated the unoccupied robots first; two shots rang out almost simultaneously, and two robots crumpled, the bullet holes in their heads nearly identical. The final robot, in the center, was dispatched by Alice with a single shot to the head, just as it finished reloading.

The first battle ended swiftly, but outside the fight raged on, growing ever fiercer.

Optimus Prime alone held back most of the armed robots, attacking both airborne and ground-based enemies as he sped through the sky. Armed helicopters and ships were relatively easy to handle—one shot could bring them down—but the greatest challenge lay in the ground-based robots.

Their submachine guns posed little threat to Optimus Prime, but their sheer numbers overwhelmed him. Above all, Optimus Prime could not remain in one spot for long, lest he be struck by electromagnetic projectiles from unseen snipers. Though the bullets were little more than thick needles to him, they were not harmless—one hit to his head and he would be finished.

Thus, Optimus Prime had to move at high speed, constantly changing position to avoid vital hits, making it difficult to deal with large groups of ground robots.

Just then, Spider piloted his ship into Elysium Space Station. As soon as he entered the atmosphere, the rear hatch opened, releasing a figure clad entirely in black armor—the same who had hidden aboard the ship and exchanged a block of gold and the expedition team's weapons for passage to Elysium Space: Wang Jing.

Flying rapidly through the air, Wang Jing took out a sniper concealed in a villa along the way. He landed perfectly on one knee atop the main control center, half-embedded with a crashed ship. In the next instant, hundreds of Transformers appeared around him, launching a sweep against the surrounding robots.

The dimensional expeditionary force surged toward the main control chamber below, rushing to support Alice, Ada Wong, and their companions.