"The rocket is landing, please fasten your seatbelt and prepare to enter the facility. Secure your carry-on luggage with straps to prevent injury from vibrations during the landing."
"Please wait for the external staff to perform pressure balance operations and open the safety hatch for you after the rocket comes to a complete stop. Do not attempt to open the hatch or the pressure valve on your own..."
The voice in her ear made Lark's breathing somewhat heavy.
But when she turned her head, Mercer and V, already donned in their armor and wearing their oxygen backpacks, sat calmly beside her.
She took a deep breath, reached out, and touched her helmet—she had never worn similar single soldier armor before, and at this moment, she herself didn't know what kind of power she possessed.
As the rocket gradually came to a halt, the sound of machinery came in waves. After the passenger cabin experienced a sensation similar to riding an elevator, there was the sound of the cabin door being opened from the outside.
When the sound subsided, a man in an Orbital Aviation white uniform strained to open the cabin door. Once he saw the three figures inside, clad entirely in steel armor, he instinctively took two steps back in tension.
"Welcome to the Orbital Aviation's Moon Base...Is it Miss Lark?"
Lark unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up slowly; she was still not accustomed to the feeling of mechanical augmentation: "I am Lark."
The man in the uniform breathed a sigh of relief, then stepped aside. What appeared before them was a corridor with a white, tiled floor.
The corridor was intriguing, with a tiled floor of white, while the walls and ceiling comprised an arched glass structure, allowing a full view of the scenery beyond the glass.
The grey-white soil of the Moon, and the distinct, seemingly perpetually dark sky—or rather, a boundless black universe, as the concept of 'sky' did not apply here.
Turning her head, she could see the familiar yet distant Earth, precisely landed behind the rocket's recovery apparatus.
Standing on the ground, one could faintly feel that the body was much lighter than when on Earth. It was certainly no illusion; gravity had genuinely changed.
Despite the installation of large gravity balance instruments inside the Moon Base, the overall gravity was still considerably lighter than that of Earth.
Even V was walking with some caution, feeling as if his feet were floating.
"Welcome, Miss Lark. Frankly, we don't usually have guests here, so we don't have any formal welcoming procedures...
But we have prepared rooms, food, and water for you and your friends. Once your meeting with the higher-ups is concluded, you can rest."
The man seemed friendly and polite, but as they passed through the corridor and stood before a very solid hatch, opening the door caused their expressions under their masks to become considerably more serious.
They entered a massive white space; the floor, ceiling, and walls were all white. According to Mercer's sharp assessment, this didn't look like any kind of human-scale interior design, as the pervasive whiteness was dazzling.
Next, they saw a large gathering of Orbital Aviation employees in white uniforms, with nearly half of them armed and standing on standby, subtly observing them.
Additionally, a multitude of robots, drones, and surveillance cameras were present...
"Welcome to Orbital Aviation, I am Wade, the person in charge of the Moon Base." A black man emerged from the crowd.
The black man appeared to be in his fifties, with hair and mustache touched with a bit of grey, possessing a rare refined elegance among African features.
Mercer studied him for a moment without speaking. Lark knew her mission and stepped forward: "I want to meet Lilith."
"Of course, our goal aligns with that—Miss Lilith has been waiting for some time." Wade offered a faint smile but, after scrutinizing their equipment, added:
"But before that, I must ask you to disarm, including those suitcases. Please have them sent to your rooms first."
"No, I will not disarm until I have met Lilith." Mercer suddenly spoke up. As soon as he uttered those words, the eyes of the Orbital Aviation staff, who appeared to be merely standing around, sharpened collectively.
Numerous gun muzzles were subtly trained on Mercer, but Mercer simply stood his ground and turned to Lark: "What do you think?"
Lark remained silent for a moment before turning to the man: "We will not disarm for now."
"If you are not genuinely cooperating with us, then why come here at all?" Wade looked at Lark questioningly, then only shook his head, his expression growing cold: "Please adhere to the regulations, Miss Lark."
"Listen, we are not here seeking asylum; this is a collaboration—a collaboration on equal terms!"
Lark spoke firmly, stepping forward and saying to Wade: "We took a significant risk to bring what Lilith wanted and came to the Moon, which already demonstrates our sincerity."
"You don't believe that merely with your steel armor, you can threaten us here on the Moon, do you?" Wade found her notion somewhat amusing. Merely three individuals, even in seemingly sophisticated suits, how could they pose a threat?