Don't.
Especially when you're unarmed and only trying to poke around to figure out that secret event in there.
I bumped into one of his friends, foolishly thinking that they'd...move, not go "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
Zhirov has a stasis beam. It holds you still regardless of what you do, and his friends will happily whale on you. I was forced to use the alien artifact to make it to the stairs. Whereupon, following in the tradition of what happens when I find plot areas like the Warlord or Zion, I find a swarm and die.
Great run otherwise though! It's been a few days since I've managed to make it up to -04, let alone deep into the caves. It was mostly combat up until they knocked my guns off and I fled into the caves and played hide and seek with the natives in there.
