Star, Nitro, and Hope blast the field sequentially, and it gets weaker each time. meanwhile, Optic struggles to hold back the lasers.
After a few rounds, the field fails, and after a few more blasts, so does the armored door behind it. Nitro's shockwave finally blows it down. Looking out through the hole, you see a massive factory. You are about a floor above the ground floor of the factory, and there are stairs down. There are four boiling vats of molten metal, one in each corner, and a set of mini-vats on tracks suspended above them that can pour the metal into molds. Mostly, the molds are located on individual assembly lines that wrap around the vats, where the molds are apparently loaded in adjacent rooms, and with a crane that moves filled molds into cooling pools next to the vats, then again to the central assembly lines. The cranes are on the same tracks as the mini-vats. In the center is a tangle of welding bots and similar machines attached to a central computer, and the central assembly line wraps around that. Four additional lines worked by human technicians connect to the center loop.
There are a number of doors, mostly on the ground level, but also on scaffolds you, by the tracks. One is labeled Research, and on that side there is a window about three floors up looking down on the factory. Another is labeled Warehouse, and the tracks go there too. Another is labeled Reactor, another is unlabled, and another is labeled Living Quarters.
Scylla says "Excellent progress. I suppose this will be as good a time as any to try out my new prototype Black Knights."
Suddenly, two humanoids in heavy black armor with black longswords appear in the hallway. Optic can detect that they are surrounded by a powerful force field, including their blades.
Nitro turns around in time to see the knight behind him, and the knight swings his sword with both hands, striking him hard and shocking him with energy damage, throwing him to the far side of the factory (1 bruise, staggered, stunned). The sword crackles with orangish energy much like the force filed on the door. The other hits Hope from behind, blasting her into the close part of the factory in a similar fashion (hp spent to void knockout, bruised and stunned instead)
The knights blink out of existence suddenly.