The words just fell.
Nolan, inside the Terminator power armor, immediately activated the communication device. A soft click-hiss sounded inside the helmet.
He asked David, "David, is the control authority broken? Casualties in the main venue are heavy. Change the attack target. Change it to me."
"My lord, access is complete," David's mechanical, synthetic voice replied. "Are you certain? All active Hammer units targeted on your armor?"
A low, distorted laugh rumbled from Nolan's external speaker.
"Haha, these new toys are a good test for the MK 0 Terminator upgrades. By the way, where are the coordinates for Ivan Vanko?"
"He is en route to the expo. Expected arrival, three minutes. If you wish to capture him alive, you must wait. Your other target, Tony Stark, is currently engaged in an aerial entanglement with a hostile mecha of the same model. Do you require assistance for Stark? I can sever Vanko's control."
"Make your own judgment, David. The goods have arrived."
Nolan tilted his diamond-shaped helmet up slightly as the channel closed with a soft hiss.
Through his eyepiece, he registered Pepper Potts scrambling to her feet from the pavement and disappearing into the shadows of the damaged buildings. He ignored her.
The targeting reticle in his eyepiece flashed, quickly locking onto dozens of steel soldiers. Their slaughter of the crowd ceased abruptly. Servos whined as they turned in unison, weapons pivoting. They began to rush his position.
At this moment, the three servo-arms on his power pack whirred, rising up over his shoulders like scorpion tails. The clack-clack-clack of ammunition feeding into the three bolters confirmed they were ready.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Nolan forced the massive metal body of the Terminator armor into a lumbering charge. Each step was a seismic impact, his magnetic boots shattering the concrete plaza, leaving deep, spider-webbed craters in the ground.
Army-type and Marine-type steel soldiers crashed through decorative trees and smashed through the glass walls of vendor stalls, quickly forming a chaotic firing line. Their miniature cannons, located on the shoulder armor, instantly raised.
Aiming at the huge, charging Terminator armor, they launched a deafening, covering fire.
Boom, boom, boom...
Nolan, maintaining his charge, did not deploy his shield. He relied on the thick, layered shell of ceramite and plasteel. The impacts felt like a violent hailstorm against a tank, a constant, concussive drumming that would have shredded Iron Man's Mark-type armor in seconds.
A minute later, the firing trickled to a stop as the dozens of soldiers exhausted their ammunition. The Terminator's powered armor, shrouded in smoke and flickering flames, stepped out of the haze. The only damage was patches of scorched and missing black paint, wiped away by the high-temperature blasts. Even the surface layer of the ceramic armor showed no signs of damage.
Inside the helmet, Nolan's eyes tracked the targeting data flashing across his display, locking on countless enemies one by one. The servo-arms, slaved to his thoughts, locked onto the Iron Soldiers who were now trying to launch a melee attack, almost simultaneously.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Accompanied by the deafening, explosive roar, the powerful firepower array burst into brilliant flames. Each rocket-propelled, mass-reactive bolt accurately hit the vulnerable joints and power cores of the Iron Soldiers. The resulting detonations were catastrophic, turning the drones into expanding fireballs, a private fireworks show blooming in Nolan's eyepiece.
"Fire coverage and reaction speed improved. Hit rate near perfect," Nolan noted internally.
He deliberately slowed his progress, letting the armor's systems record the combat data. He triggered the reload, and the servo-arms mechanically ejected spent magazines and slammed new ones home.
At the same time, Nolan's two metal palms quickly clenched into massive fists with a squeal of hydraulics. The huge metal body began to move toward the naval steel soldiers, who were falling heavily from the night sky, and the air force steel soldiers, who were roaring in for a dive bombing run, resuming their charge.
Thud, thud, thud...
The Terminator armor, its charge speed significantly dropped, resisted the fresh baptism of firepower and rushed directly into the battle array just formed by the Iron Soldiers.
A metal fist, powered by roaring servos, swept across the metal body of a steel soldier. The ferocious force split the drone in two, sending torn metal parts and flying fragments everywhere. Immediately afterwards, the thick magnetic boot of the Terminator armor lifted high and completely crushed a red-gleaming steel head.
"Melee strength from plasteel and ceramite composites is high. Charging speed is dangerously low. Vulnerable to speed-type enemies."
Nolan, who kept recording information, backhanded another naval steel soldier that came forward, sending it flying. The fire array controlled by the servo-arm quickly changed its direction. He planned to shoot down those air force steel soldiers who were as annoying as flies.
Accompanied by the violent roar of a heavy object flying across the night sky, and the constant whine of repulsor blasts, a tall figure covered in gold and red armor suddenly landed on the ground. It struck a three-point pose that cracked the pavement, then slowly stood up.
Immediately afterwards, more than twenty air force type steel soldiers that were still flying back and forth exploded into piles of burning metal debris, falling heavily to the ground around him like scattered, flaming flowers.
"Hey! Man! Thank you for saving Pepper's life!"
The teasing voice from Tony Stark, broadcast externally, easily penetrated Nolan's helmet.
"I owe you a huge favor! When this crap is over, you interested in stopping by Stark Tower? Lab on the top floor is full of... well, my tech. And honestly, that armor is... something. Very unique. Got a whole, uh, wasteland-chic, garbage-industrial-aesthetic going on. Friend, you interested in letting me help you redesign it?"
Nolan remained silent, perfectly still for a beat. He turned his heavy helmet slightly, staring at Iron Man through his eyepiece. He suddenly lifted up his heavy magnetic boots and crushed an air force iron soldier that was still twitching and leaking fluids on the pavement.
Then, a deep, metallic voice came out from the inside of the diamond-shaped helmet.
"Tony, if my tech officer heard your evaluation, he would tear your mouth apart with mechanical pliers at all costs."
"Haha, stranger, just a little joke to ease the awkward... atmosphere..." Stark's laugh was a bit forced. The next second, his tone became nervous; he seemed to sense the complete lack of humor in Nolan's words.
He subconsciously turned his wrist, wrapped in red armor. The repulsor in his palm began to glow, and the high-pitched whine of it charging was audible to all.
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
At this moment, accompanied by jets of fire that cut through the night sky and a fierce whistling sound, a metal figure about two and a half meters tall fell heavily to the ground. The heavy metal soles smashed a huge pit in the concrete, raising countless gravel and dust.
Stark, already extremely vigilant, snapped his arm up instantly. The fully charged palm repulsor was firmly aimed at the new person who had suddenly attacked.
Nolan, piloting the Terminator armor, also turned his diamond-shaped helmet. His eyepiece firmly locked the opponent's position. The servo-arms that controlled the firepower array also subconsciously aimed their bolters at Ivan Vanko's metal armor.
After a burst of blue electric light cackled and flashed, two thick electric whips emitting plasma energy swung out from under the opponent's mechanical arms, constantly burning molten scars into the hard ground.
"Stark! Our second battle has begun again! This time, I will not only destroy your reputation, but also use your blood to commemorate the death of my father!"
Before the voice fell, the metal armor covering the opponent's face quickly shrank back with a hiss. Ivan Vanko's hideous, fleshy face was completely exposed.
"Even if you bring helpers! You can't stop me!"
However, just as Stark understood the identity of the other party, and as he was about to say a few words to refute and buy some time to think about strategy...
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Accompanied by a deafening, triple-roar of explosive bolts, the head of the metal armor, including Ivan Vanko's head, was completely shattered by the terrifying firepower. It simply ceased to exist.
At this moment, Stark, wearing his visor, stared in stunned amazement at Ivan Vanko's headless heavy body. It stood motionless for a second as a fountain of burning, dark red blood spurted from the ruined neck, before toppling forward with a heavy crash.
"Sorry, Tony," Nolan's metallic voice was flat. "It's mainly because he posed so well, and he was very considerate to take off his visor. I couldn't help it..."
Nolan, piloting the Terminator armor, turned around and spread out two huge metal palms to the silent Iron Man.
However, the opponent's palm repulsor, which was still glowing and about to erupt, quickly turned around.
It was aimed at Nolan's Terminator armor without hesitation.