2620 CE
Hey, Petra, you're looking dashing today.
It's been a while, Luke.
I see your tongue is as sharp as ever.
And you as flattering.
Instead of attending this menial secret meeting,
I would've preferred inviting you to a ball.
If it's dancing we're talking about, I hear President Goodman is quite the monster.
Compared to the photos, he seems a lot scarier in person.
And yet he's more popular with the citizens than you.
Also, even though it's not public knowledge, he...
Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
He's one of the survivors
from that incident 21 years ago.
Yes.
The BUGS 2 incident.
2599 CE
Analysis of the atmospheric composition is complete.
No abnormalities found.
The pesticide spray will finish in 10 minutes.
No activity found within a kilometer radius of our position.
The analysis squad is to investigate the soil composition.
Once the pesticide has finished spraying,
the extermination squad is to commence the cleanup operation.
Combat squad, we move out in an hour.
Don't forget to perform final checks.
In the event that the containment box is broken...
Come on, Shokichi! Pull yourself together!
That's all.
Begin.
Aki, can you do all the work for me?
You were eager up until yesterday. What happened?
Now that we're out in the field... It's a bit different, you know.
You underwent surgery just for this mission, didn't you?
Yeah, but still...
What else can we do?
We didn't have any other choice.
No one else would hire people like us.
W-Well!
At least we can live like normal people once this is over!
Let's do our best, Shokichi!
You're right.
Let's do this!
Aki?
What's wrong?
What's that?
An alien?
He's noticed us, it seems.
Aki,
get back a bit.
We'll be fine.
It'll understand if we talk to it, right?
What? Feels like a déjà vu.
Remember when you chased the moth out of my room?
You're the one that said it.
"It'll understand if we talk to it." To a moth.
A nice, friendly guy like yourself should be more than capable of handling an alien.
Come on, say something.
Okay...
Hello, nice to meet you!
Can you speak?
Where are you from? Mars?
00-01 An Encounter With A Known Entity
500 years ago, a certain project was initiated to deal with Earth's increasing population.
The plan was to make Mars habitable.
In other words, terraforming.
For that sake, a special moss and an overabundant insect was sent to Mars.
It was the cockroach.
Aki!
Hey, Aki!
Stay with me!
Aki!
Hey, Aki!
Aki!
I told you to not go out without tellin' me!
You better be ready. I'mma fuck you up.
Aki!
Kill...
I'm going to fucking kill you!
No...
Don't... Shokichi...
Please...
Don't...
That side of you...
I don't want to see it again.
I'm sure...
...we can talk it out...
Wait.
It's best if we wait to use it.
See?
Those antennae...
And that form...
Without a doubt, they're cockroaches.
I heard they grew larger, but this is...
They can't be... The ones that...
I can't believe... Akita... was so easily...
I can't continue further.
We should return to Earth, Captain!
You just reported to HQ, right, Captain?
What did they say?
You're to continue the mission.
The crew members of BUGS 1 were all elites.
However, all members of BUGS 2, including yourself, are pitiful excuses of human beings.
You know there is a reason behind this, correct?
You all threw away your humanity for money.
Please, let's go home, Captain!
We can't, can we?
After all, we haven't even completed a tenth of our mission.
You look so distraught.
Is it that rare to see a person's neck snapped like that, Jap?
Is it really that sad that a woman who was swamped in debt and lived like a maggot,
who got surgery and became a maggot, to then die like a maggot?
Well?
That's how those guys in the government think about this.
Our lives are worth nothing.
If we don't do as we're told, we won't get our money or go home.
I guess that's always been the case, though.
Leave it to me.
Those cockroaches won't be able to handle this heat.
I'll drag their corpses back to Earth,
and shove them into the lockers at U-NASA.
Wait.
You can't do this on your own.
I'm coming too!
A samurai and a muay thai boxer would only slow me down.
Are you okay with this, Captain?
Lee's got the most experience out of all of us.
He's been a guerrilla fighter in Israel for 26 years.
Also, his ability is well-suited for this.
Doctor Newton, you can't be serious!
I heard what happened to BUGS 2.
You're making them fight?
Their mission was just—
"Those without money have no rights."
Wasn't it you who said that?
I did say that, but still.
That's why I've given them the power of insects.
Insects?
You don't think we had them undergo an operation
with a success rate of 30% to just walk around on Mars, did you?
Through BUGS surgery, we spliced DNA from insects into their own.
In other words, they're the same as the cockroaches that we sent to Mars.
That may be true, but...
BUGS 1 was a complete failure.
If a human can't do it, we just have to get Spider-Man.
All right, then.
Asian Bombardier Beetle.
This insect, which was the base for Lee's surgery, can fire bursts of high-temperature benzoquinone.
When Lee performs this on a human scale
a flamethrower-like explosion occurs.
However, cockroaches quickly adapt to any environment.
In 2009, there were discovered cockroaches in Korea that would not die even after being baked in an oven.
The king of insects will not die!
This is...
Captain!
Something is approaching!
Impossible!
It's almost here!
Captain!
A swarm!
It's coming for us!
Why?!
Why is this?!
Captain!
Guys,
get back.
I should've handled this.
I'm going to use my ability and fly off.
Hold on tight, guys!
It's all up to you, Tejas!
Let's go!
The Steninae water skater's gas emission!
A bite from this insect is comparable to being shot.
The Bullet Ant, also known as the Paraponera.
It's the strongest of all ants.
And the strongest insect.
Ichiro!
The car escaped successfully.
Oxygen will be running out shortly as well.
I see.
I should've stayed behind and fought alongside the captain.
That's what you're thinking, right?
The captain's plan was to lure the cockroaches into the ship and turn it into a vacuum.
The one with the best ability to help was Ichiro.
I'm...
...going to kill those cockroaches.
You just want to avenge Akita and then die.
Like when you were about to inject the serum.
You were fighting to die, not to survive.
Living this shitty life...
And what happens next?
Do you think she'll be happy to see you in the afterlife?
What do... you know...
You think I don't understand?
Don't, Shokichi.
We come from different countries and different creeds,
but we're similar in certain aspects.
You have to make it back alive and bury Akita properly.
Shokichi, you have to.
Aki...
I'm...
What's that?
Of all places...
Could this be?
BUGS 1...
Hey!
The chances the crew is alive are low,
but they may have left some information behind.
It's a lot cleaner than I had imagined.
What do you think this means?
Looks like they sent something back to Earth.
22 years ago,
right after they lost contact with Earth.
Wh-What was that?!
From outside?
John!
Redon!
They've been shot.
Who could've...
Thien!
Yeah...
Ichiro...
Thank you, everyone,
for calling me captain!
Come at me,
you insects!
The cockroaches surrounded them in great numbers,
and in their hands, stolen from BUGS 1 most likely,
were modern weapons.
While most thought of defense and escape,
No!
Jaina!
the ones that thought to hunt were these two.
The desert locus.
Among all the insects, it has the best...
...ability to kick!
A hazardous organism—
its remarkable predatory abilities puts it above all the rest.
It is neither the bear nor the shark.
The hornet!
An endemic in Japan.
The Asian Giant Hornet!
It strikes once!
Twice!
Thrice!
Four!
Five!
Six times!
This insect keeps stinging for as long as its venom lasts!
And it doesn't stop until its black foe
is dead.
Shokichi...
Yeah.
Thien, Lieutenant!
We're
gonna fight
and win!