The New Weapons

Time passed on, back in the mansion, Zack closed the wall box containing a reactor and turned his attention to Ego. "Hey, did you have a flying car blueprint?.."

"Yes, Sir," Ego replied.

"Good. If the materials are available, add one to the production list. I want my own flying car," Zack said casually.

"Understood. The flying car has been added to the production queue," Ego confirmed.

Zack waved it off with a nod. Vehicles like this were just toys to him—amusing but not essential. "Oh, by the way," he continued, "what's the status of the Avalon we sent to the Eastern Hemisphere? Has it been shot down yet?" He had sent the Avalon to test the Vanguard Organization's satellite capabilities, suspecting it might be equipped with space-based weapons. So far, there had been no reports of it being destroyed.

"Sir, I believe you've overestimated the Vanguard Organization's capabilities," Ego replied.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked, narrowing his eyes.

"While constructing and launching a space-based satellite is challenging, the real difficulty lies in achieving precise strikes from such satellites. It's a far more advanced task."

Hearing this, Zack immediately understood what Ego was implying. "Oh, I get it now," Zack said with a grin. "It's not that they don't want to hit the Avalon—it's that they can't."

Hitting stationary ground targets or other satellites in orbit was one thing. But striking a moving target like a Avalon, which could fly irregularly at Mach speeds, from a geostationary orbit 35,000 kilometers above Earth? That was almost impossible. Even Zack's own advanced satellites couldn't pull off such a feat. "Alright, that's my mistake," Zack admitted. "Have the Avalon land in a conspicuous spot and deploy some spiders to scavenge materials nearby. Let's make it look like we're setting up a base."

"Understood. The Avalon is preparing to land," Ego replied. Far away in the Eastern Hemisphere, the Avalon began its descent, touching down in the middle of a desolate Gobi Desert. As dawn broke in that part of the world, the Avalon's sudden presence did not go unnoticed.

Several local forces had been monitoring the Avalon's movements for some time, but none dared to make the first move. Among them was one of the Base responsible for the failed satellite launch that had been shot down earlier. "Sir, should we scramble F-35s to destroy it?" one of Chaslik's subordinates asked.

Chaslik shook his head. "No. We've already taken one misstep. We won't make another." He stared westward, his expression icy.

Chaslik knew the last satellite's failure wasn't just due to their own arrogance in targeting the northern hemisphere. The Vanguard Organization had clearly used Gotham and its allies as bait, deliberately drawing fire from Zack's forces. He wasn't about to fall into another trap.

But not everyone shared Chaslik's caution. At Eden Base, another major power in the region, the Avalon's landing had also been noted. The base's leader, Kara, received the report almost immediately. "It landed?" Kara asked, surprised.

"Yes," her subordinate confirmed. Kara dismissed everyone from the room, then activated a holographic communicator. A glowing projection of a blurry figure appeared before her.

"Prophet," she said with reverence, bowing slightly.

"Immortal Fox," the figure responded in a deep, deliberate tone. "You're contacting me because of that plane, aren't you?"

"Yes, Prophet," Kara replied respectfully. "I suspect the landing was intentional."

The holographic figure nodded. "It was. That plane is a decoy. The pilot wants to confirm whether our satellite is a space-based weapon."

Kara's eyes widened slightly. "Should I send fighters or missiles to destroy it?"

"No," the Prophet said firmly, shaking his head. A faint smile seemed to cross the blurred face. "Use the Eye of Arbitration. If he wants to know, let's give him an answer. Show him that we, too, possess space-based weapons. Make it clear that his plans to enter the Western Hemisphere will come at a cost."

Kara nodded. "Yes, Prophet." As Kara lifted her head, the holographic projection in the room disappeared, leaving only the communicator on the table.

"Notify the team—execute an arbitration strike on the aircraft," Kara said into the empty air. Moments later, the Octopus satellite, stationed in geostationary orbit 35,000 kilometers above the Earth, began to activate. The Octopus satellite unfolded slowly, its mechanical components coming to life. One section lit up with an ominous red glow, revealing a tungsten warhead weighing several hundred kilograms.

At the end of the launch track, a mysterious black liquid began to shimmer, transitioning from dark to bright. The liquid emitted an unsettling black-red energy that rippled outward in visible waves, propelling the tungsten rod into motion. With a metallic clink, the warhead left the satellite, hurtling down the launch track at a speed close to Mach 1.

Although slower than the Mach 6 exit velocity of the Anne satellite's weaponry, the projectile gained speed as it descended under the pull of Earth's gravity. When the tungsten rod entered the atmosphere, it ignited into a brilliant streak of light, falling toward its target below. By the time it impacted the ground, it had reached a staggering speed of Mach 33.

Boom! The tungsten projectile struck the northwest side where the decoy Avalon was stationed. In an instant, the entire area collapsed as though struck by a giant's fist. Buildings, streets, trees, the Avalon, and a dozen poisonous spider drones were obliterated. In their place was a massive crater, its edges glowing faintly from the impact's heat.

The ground trembled violently, though the noise quickly subsided after about ten seconds. Roughly ten seconds later, Zack, sitting far across the globe, received the last few frames of footage transmitted by the Avalon just before it was destroyed. "So, it really is a space-based weapon," Zack muttered, leaning back in his chair. "But it's a bit underwhelming."

Despite only having a few frames to analyze, Zack could tell the weapon was far less powerful than the Anne satellite's tungsten rods. "Looks like it only weighs a few hundred kilograms," Zack estimated. For comparison, the tungsten rods launched by the Anne satellite weighed over 8 tons and measured 6 meters in length. "Still, we've confirmed it—the Vanguard Organization has space-based weapons," Zack said, stretching casually. He didn't seem worried in the slightest.

"Ego, how's everything coming along?" he asked.

"Sir, both Aegis and the Apex Mk-2 armor are in their final stages and are expected to be completed by tomorrow morning," Ego replied. "Would you like to check on the production progress?"

"No need," Zack said with a yawn, gazing out of the light well toward the starry night sky.

"Are we working on new weapons next?" Ego inquired.

"No, I'm going to sleep," Zack said with a laugh.

"Understood, Sir. Sweet dreams," Ego responded, switching to standby mode, leaving only essential scanning and alert functions active.

"Sweet dreams to you too, Ego," Zack said, heading upstairs.