Boom. Boom. Boom.
The low, guttural roar of the Valkyrie's vector turbine engines was a physical force, a vibration that thrummed up from the floor, through the soles of Nolan's armored boots, and into his bones. Thin, wispy clouds, invisible in the night, scraped quickly across the metal surface of the armed transport aircraft, their moisture instantly vaporizing against the hot fuselage.
Just inside the dimly lit cabin, the air was cold and smelled of ozone and recycled air.
Nolan, already encased in his black and red Hunting Lord Armor, was methodically sorting the weapons and equipment he carried. He moved with an unhurried, practiced economy. For this operation, he had only brought a chunky, reliable plasma pistol and the unsettlingly Gauss blaster. He clipped them both to his armored waist.
Coupled with the dual bolt guns built into the Hunting Lord's armored gauntlets, and the large amount of ammunition he'd packed, he had enough firepower to deal with any enemy.
The next moment, Nolan, his unhelmeted, fluffy gray hair swaying with the craft's slight tremor, raised his chin. His cyan wolf pupils, adapted to the low light, reflected a faint green light from the instrument panel.
He looked at the figure in the white-and-gold void combat armor sitting rigidly on the cabin seat.
"Jessica, check your weapon status," he shouted over the engine noise. "Activate the refractor field now. There are still weak spots on that combat armor. Don't give them a target."
"Understood! Boss!"
Jessica's dull, amplified voice came from under the heavy, enclosed helmet. Her movements were stiff, not just from the new armor, but from nerves. She stiffly put down her hellgun, the weapon thudding on the seat beside her.
Her hands moved, a little clumsily, to the Refractor Field Generator hanging on her chest. With a high-pitched, electric buzzing sound, an invisible refraction force field enveloped her entire figure, making her edges blur and shimmer, as if she were a mirage.
"Oh, new recruits," Nolan muttered, but he wasn't looking at her.
Not far away, he couldn't help but smile, a quick, sharp expression that exposed the fangs in his mouth. He turned back to his own gear, casually hanging five Photon Flash on the waist of his Hunting Lord.
Finally, Nolan, now fully armed, picked up his heavy Grav-Chute pack. He turned his head and shouted toward the cockpit.
"David! How far are we from the target location?"
A few seconds later, David's voice came over the internal comms. Its synthesized mechanical voice was, as always, full of unwavering confidence.
"My Lord, there are still three hundred nautical miles. You can take a break for a while. At the same time, you may not have a chance to airborne. I am still confident in my missile plan."
Hearing David's words, Nolan raised his eyebrows. He temporarily put down his Grav-Chute.
With heavy, metallic thuds, he got up and walked to the cockpit.
He stared at David's polished metal back, a smile playing on his lips.
"David, changes on the battlefield aren't a simple data calculation. Let's wait and see."
David had no words. His metal-skull head remained facing forward. He simply raised a metal palm off the controls and gave a thumbs-up.
Nolan, baring his fangs in a silent chuckle, shook his head.
He walked back to his original spot, his armor making the heavy steps seem easy. He sat back down on the cold, vibrating floor of the cabin.
A huge red gauntlet rested slowly on top of the carapace helmet at his feet. Because the Hunting Lord didn't come with a helmet, Nolan could only improvise and mix and match helmets from other equipment.
He closed his eyes slightly. He closed his eyes and rested before the battle began.
For a moment, the only sounds in the entire cabin were the low, thundering roar from the engines and the subtle, nervous click-click-click as Jessica, despite her orders, endlessly double-checked the charge on her hellgun.
About half an hour later, an eternity in the tense, vibrating dark, David's voice came over the comms again.
"My lord, we are still thirty nautical miles from the target location. Although it is night, the weather conditions in the sea area are good. Continuing to approach may lead to the risk of early exposure. Do you want to come and watch my missile show?"
Nolan, who had his eyes tightly closed, suddenly opened them.
In the dim cabin, his cyan wolf eyes flashed with a hunter's light.
He stood up in one smooth, powerful motion and walked behind David.
Through the wide cockpit viewport, Nolan saw the dark, endless sea at a glance.
And on it, a garish, impossible island of light, the large, brightly lit cruise ship: the Minotaur.
Nolan narrowed his eyes and said to David, his voice a low growl.
"David, start your fireworks show?"
Before he finished speaking, David brought the Valkyrie to a dead, silent hover using the control stick, the engines whining as they shifted vectors. He said without looking back:
"My Lord, Stark Industries' Jericho missiles were launched ten minutes ago. The little guys with a lot of fuel are on their way... Oh, and they have arrived."
David hadn't even finished speaking.
Five bright lights suddenly flashed through the dark night sky, arcing down from the heavens.
As the engine lights at their rears extinguished, the metal carapace at the front of the missiles burst open.
In an instant, countless tiny warheads split off, falling quickly toward the large cruise ship below like a deadly, metallic rain, a goddess scattering flowers of death.
At this moment, David's eyes flashed with blue light. A metal finger waved slightly in the air, as if he were a conductor directing the arrival of the countless warheads.
However, just as the large number of tiny warheads were about to hit the target, they slowed.
In Nolan's and David's field of vision, they stopped.
Finally, they were frozen in mid-air by an unknown force, a silent, impossible tableau of war.
Immediately afterward, the tiny warheads began to explode, one after another, in mid-air, triggering a chain reaction.
Crump-crump-crump-crump!
Waves of horrific explosions and bright, beautiful flames lit up the sky, illuminating the cruise ship's lights like a real, and completely harmless, fireworks show.
Inside the Valkyrie's cockpit.
The expressionless Nolan raised a huge red gauntlet and placed it on David's metal shoulder.
He suppressed a smile and consoled him, his voice laced with dark humor.
"Maybe it's a person with superpowers who can control magnetic fields or the air..."
"This is unscientific!"
As if in a daze, David shook his metal head slightly. The blue light in his eye sockets flickered violently, betraying his agitation.
His mechanical voice was, for the first time, full of emotional fluctuations.
"My Lord! Please rest assured. The 'Ex-wife Type II' cruise missiles from Hammer Industries were launched five minutes ago. The sheer number alone will be enough!"
Nolan, grinning, was silent. He could only smile helplessly. He did not say anything more to damage David's confidence.
Three minutes later, ten more bright, much larger lights crossed the dark night sky.
They fell in a steep, terminal dive toward the location of the large cruise ship.
The next second, a very short, tiny human figure quickly took off from the cruise ship's deck.
Its speed was so fast that it created sonic booms that cracked across the water, even audible in the Valkyrie's cockpit. It was a red-and-blue blur.
At the same time, two scorching, continuous energy rays shot out from the figure's eyes.
The beams, bright red, lanced out and intercepted the cruise missiles that were about to hit, sweeping across them with perfect, impossible accuracy.
In an instant, ten huge explosions of fire once again illuminated the entire night sky, turning night into day for a split second.
The next second, Nolan, on the Valkyrie, couldn't help but widen his cyan wolf eyes.
He subconsciously murmured, his voice tight:
"Is that fucking... Superman?"
His demeanor snapped. The time for games was over.
"David! Prepare to airdrop!"
Nolan, his expression solemn, immediately issued an order. He was about to turn around when he heard David's mechanical voice again, this time edged with alarm.
"My Lord, the other party seems to have found the transport plane!"
Before the words finished, Nolan looked through the cockpit viewport.
The short figure, still breaking the sound barrier, was done with the missiles and was rushing directly toward the hovering Valkyrie.
Nolan took a deep breath and rushed back into the cabin.
He quickly put on the Grav-Chute and his helmet, the world becoming a filtered, data-rich display.
He said to David through the internal channel, his voice now a cold, clear command. "David, are the Valkyrie's weapon systems working properly?"
"My Lord... Needless to say. I understand what you mean! I will make good use of these weapons to make up for my mistakes!"
Hearing David's answer, Nolan entered a combat state and twisted his neck, the seals of the helmet hissing.
He walked quickly to Jessica, who had stood up, her hellgun raised and her whole body trembling.
His huge red gauntlet grabbed the gap between the Hellgun's energy backpack and her combat armor, a solid, immovable grip.
Accompanied by the sound of the valve turning as the rear hatch opened, a scream of humid, salty sea breeze poured into the cabin.
"Jessica, close your eyes if you are afraid of heights!"
Nolan's calm voice transmitted to the inside of her helmet through the channel.
However, before he could finish his words, the Valkyrie transport suddenly dropped, ending its hover and shooting forward.
At the same time, the quadruple laser cannon on its wing made a fierce, high-pitched whining sound.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In an instant, Nolan thought he could smell the air burning as the lasers fired.
Then, David's voice transmitted to his ears, all business.
"My Lord, I will create a suitable opportunity. Prepare to airdrop. There is other good news. The flying superpowered individual does not dare to touch the lasers. Their defense capabilities may not be enough."
The silent Nolan started the Grav-Chute behind him without hesitation.
Its two engines suddenly erupted with hot, white flames.
A few dozen seconds later, following a sharp lurch and David's "NOW!" prompt, Nolan, who was already prepared, grabbed Jessica's combat armor and jumped out into the night sky.
The biting sea breeze poured into the gap at his neck, a shocking, icy blast.
Nolan, falling rapidly, raised his head slightly.
Through his helmet, he saw the Valkyrie fighting the "fake Superman" in the night sky.
Under David's flexible, inhuman control, the Valkyrie transport plane was like a dancing, predatory bird, performing functions far beyond its normal parameters. It constantly executed tricky, physics-defying maneuvers that no human could control.
The scorching laser cannons almost locked onto the superpowered individual's flight trajectory, forcing the flying man to juke and dodge, unable to land a solid blow.
Nolan, completely relieved, retracted his gaze.
His attention focused completely on controlling the Grav-Chute, and the screaming, dark void below.
Because the parachute was carrying the extra weight of both him and Jessica, far beyond that of a single person, the speed of their descent was much, much faster than expected.
Three thousand meters!
One thousand meters!
Five hundred meters!
With the target, the brightly lit deck, rapidly approaching, Nolan had to lift Jessica up with one arm, a feat of pure, armored strength, to ensure the safety of his landing.
He aimed for the large, blue swimming pool on the main deck of the cruise ship.
"Jessica! Are you ready! Remember, anyone who attacks you is an enemy!"
"Understood! Boss!"
Hearing Jessica's tight, terrified reply, Nolan took a deep breath.
At the right moment, he let go of Jessica's combat armor.
Jessica, wearing her heavy combat armor, fell over 100 meters, a white-and-gold meteor.
KR-AAAASSSSHHHH!
She crashed heavily into the swimming pool, sending a huge, twenty-foot splash of water into the air.
A few seconds later, a nimble, armor-plated figure jumped out from the pool, water streaming from its joints.
BUZZ-ZZZ-ZZZZ!
The distinctive, terrifying roar of the hellgun suddenly sounded as she fired, not at the deck, but at the enemies, the guards, who were beginning to surge onto the deck.
For a moment, broken limbs and arms flew everywhere.
The fierce gunshots and human wailing were like a continuous, brutal symphony, resounding throughout the deck of the large cruise ship.
A few seconds later, the heavier Hunting Lord armor fell, CRUNCH.
Nolan landed heavily on the deck, making a terrifyingly loud noise as the metal bent under his boots.
The next moment, the protective force field, which had already activated, lit up with a sizzle as it stopped a hail of rapidly rotating metal bullets.
Illuminated by the sparks, Nolan quickly straightened his back.
He suddenly raised his two huge red gauntlets.
KA-CHUNK.
The dark, wide-bore muzzles of the grenade launchers were exposed.
Countless metal bullets striking the protective force field kept clanging to the ground, making a crisp, ringing sound.
He stared at the human enemies who surrounded him, still firing, their faces masks of panic.
A low, amplified voice slowly came from inside his helmet, audible even over the gunfire and screaming.
"It's my turn."