Driving the black Reditus-Pattern Terminator Armor, Nolan strode deliberately through the silent underground passage, heading straight for the Valkyrie lift platform. His diamond-shaped helmet was completely sealed, the integrated sensors humming softly.
One huge, metal-clad hand carried a heavy, utilitarian box filled with explosive bombs. The formidable masterwork bolter was securely holstered at the power armor's massive waist, swaying slightly but rhythmically with his powerful, measured steps. In his other palm, he gripped the hilt of the C'tan Phase Sword, the gigantic blade—currently a terrifying green, ethereal light—resting casually on his shoulder armor. Thirteen purity marks, carefully written in his own hand on aged parchment, fluttered from the thick edge of the pauldron, rustling faintly with every movement.
At that moment, the subtle, high-pitched whine of an anti-gravity engine rapidly approached. A servo-skull, zipping with the chaotic, erratic trajectory of a panicked insect, rushed over. Red light flashed incessantly in Reditus's optical sensor as it shook its two short mechanical pincers. It immediately began circling Nolan's helmet, its mechanical voice sounding cautious, yet pleading.
"Lord Primarch, where exactly are you going? Can you take me, your timid and humble Tech-Priest, with you?"
Nolan did not slow his pace or bother to answer the bothersome servo-skull. He continued walking for several hundred meters, but Reditus showed no sign of leaving, buzzing insistently alongside him.
Just as Reditus was winding up to voice another annoying, technical question, Nolan's voice, clear and firm, broadcast over the external speakers of his helmet.
"Reditus, even given your bad relationship with David, it's impossible that you haven't read the mission briefing. Don't pretend to be stupid. Your only duty is to guard the base. If you're truly bored, go put together a functional production line for laser weapons."
As soon as the words were spoken, Servo-Skull Reditus seemed genuinely caught out. It suddenly ceased its hectic flying, hovering shamefacedly in mid-air, and emitted a mournful, mechanical sigh.
"Lord Primarch, I just wanted to tag along and observe! What if those damned heretics still possess technological knowledge that I, Reditus, don't know about? And why does that hateful Man of Iron get to serve you anytime and anywhere?"
"David needs to go to control the Valkyrie. If you go too, what happens to our base security? Should we just let those basic automated servo robots look after the house?" Nolan shook his diamond-shaped helmet slowly. His voice, laced with a genuine touch of exasperation and helplessness, shifted to an earnestly persuasive tone. "Reditus, let's do this next time. When I learn the proper piloting skills myself, I promise I will take you with me on the next mission."
"Ah, very well! As you command, Lord Primarch!" Servo-Skull Reditus seemed to accept Nolan's assurance immediately. It engaged its anti-gravity engine and began to float slowly backward down the passage.
However, just as Nolan was about to step onto the lift platform, he seemed to recall a critical precaution. He quickly maneuvered the massive Terminator Armor to turn around, facing the retreating servo-skull.
"Reditus! Do not mess with the remaining alien weapons in the equipment room! Those are technologies that cannot be copied! Also, you are absolutely not allowed to move the hoverbike covered by the dustproof cloth! That is an order, do you understand?"
"Uh... I understand, Lord Primarch! The most I can do is perhaps mess with the automatic servo robots..." Reditus replied without looking back, the power of its anti-gravity engine increasing significantly. It sped away from the underground passage very quickly, clearly eager to be alone with its plans.
Speechless, Nolan stood there for a beat, hesitating. In the end, he shook his head, choosing to turn and enter the lift.
"Emperor's blessing," he muttered to himself, "I hope Reditus won't cause irreparable damage."
A few hours later, the urban sprawl of Manhattan Island, gradually transitioning into the deep night, was passed over by a huge, fast-moving black shadow.
Boom, boom, boom...
A Valkyrie transport, its vector engines howling, skimmed low over the rolling whitecaps of the river before swiftly banking out toward the rough, open sea. Once clear of the coast, the heavy aircraft climbed rapidly, ascending to a cruising altitude difficult for ordinary, commercial air traffic to reach.
Inside the dimly lit, rattling cabin, large fuel tanks filled with promethium were secured with heavy-duty straps.
Bucky, now wearing his newly acquired camouflage carapace armor and an external energy battery backpack, sat focused. He was meticulously familiarizing himself with the structure and operational properties of a hellgun. A pair of brand-new, standard assault rifles and a box of full magazines were placed neatly at his feet. Five frag grenades and two blinding flash-bangs were clipped to the webbing around his carapace armor's waist.
The cabin shook slightly, a routine adjustment from the straining vector engines.
Nolan had temporarily given Bucky Jessica's spare weapons, but he had also ordered Madam Gao to dispatch a batch of ordinary firearms. This transaction had successfully replenished Nolan's cooldown reduction time, regaining two thousand hours just before departure.
At this time, Nolan glanced at Bucky through the eyepiece of his diamond-shaped helmet. He saw the other man's attention was completely absorbed by the intricacies of the hellgun. Satisfied, Nolan calmly activated his simulator interface. He casually flipped to the salvage page and initiated a ten-shot salvage action.
[Salvage countdown: nine hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds]
Nolan then closed the simulator display. He leaned back in the reinforced seat and closed his eyes to rest.
The reason he had prioritized replenishing the resource time before setting off was purely to offset the massive material consumption required by the Valkyrie's use of promethium fuel.
To fly directly from the Americas to Asia, they had to cross the entire breadth of the Pacific Ocean. The Valkyrie, with a single voyage range of only about 2,000 kilometers, would have to temporarily land on remote, desert islands deep in the ocean. It would require five complete fuel refills to barely complete the entire journey.
This logistical headache immediately sparked a thought in Nolan's mind about replacing the Valkyrie transport. There were multiple ways to accomplish this: he could obtain a superior ship through repeated salvage simulations, or he could simply push Tech-Priest Reditus to work harder on reverse-engineering an upgrade.
"My lord, Mr. Bucky, we have entered cruising altitude and are heading directly to Japan in Asia."
The calm, mechanical voice of David interrupted Nolan's wandering tactical thoughts.
Nolan immediately raised his armored hand, a silent signal to Bucky. Bucky, who had a solemn expression, was briefly startled by the gesture but understood immediately. He quickly secured the metal helmet of his carapace armor and patched into the communication channel.
"According to the information I collected from open internet sources, the Hydra operative known as 'Madam Hydra,' or Viper, who controls the Asian region, is currently disguised as the wife of the leader of the Japanese chaebol, the Yashida family."
David continued the briefing. "Furthermore, Shingen Yashida, the nominal leader of the family chaebol, has been gravely ill and bedridden for many years. Today's Yashida family can effectively be considered a crucial operational branch of Madam Hydra's faction."
David's mechanical voice came through the communication devices inside both men's helmets. Nolan and Bucky, one large and one small in their respective armor, sat rigidly in the cabin seats, listening quietly.
"Of course, it is not something we need to consider whether there is deep, deliberate cooperation between the two parties or whether the all-pervasive characteristics of Hydra have simply taken advantage of a power vacuum."
"I have analyzed and determined the signal locations where Hydra personnel show the most concentrated activity, and I have selected two key bases worthy of our invasion and cleansing. One is located in Hiroshima, and the other is located deep inside Mount Fuji, near Shizuoka Prefecture."
"The secret base located inside Mount Fuji appears to be a medium-sized outpost, which can be regarded as one of the transit points for Hydra to carry out various missions across Asia. The large base in Hiroshima, however, combines many years of the Yashida family's legitimate operations and is the most important position, guarded by the largest concentration of Hydra forces."
After introducing the basic situation, David's words stopped abruptly, waiting for a response.