218 One Shot, One Resolution! 

Hydra was making its final, most desperate stand.

In the vast expanse of space, 70,000 kilometers away from Earth, a massive Hydra warship loomed menacingly.

It was a reborn behemoth, reconstructed from the remnants of a Chitauri mothership.

Meanwhile, the skies above Washington, D.C., were thick with smoke and chaos.

At great cost, the Iron Legion had managed to shoot down three Hydra aerial carriers that had launched into the atmosphere after the destruction of the "Halo" orbital stations.

However, more of these carriers were beginning to take off across the globe.

The remaining orbital defense stations were retaliating, intercepting them with their "Hammer of Heaven" electromagnetic rail cannons.

But things weren't going to be that simple.

Hydra wasn't about to let Kagura and Rhodes Island Industries destroy their grand plan for world domination.

They relentlessly attacked the orbital defense stations with their warships.

The battlefield had turned into a chaotic chain reaction, Hydra's warships attacked the orbital stations, the stations targeted the aerial carriers, and the carriers, in turn, locked onto any threats to Hydra's dominion.

A deadly game of cat and mouse was unfolding.

But this wasn't sustainable.

Each "Halo" station was immensely expensive. Kagura wasn't about to stand by and watch them be picked off like balloons at a carnival.

More importantly, that Hydra warship lingering in deep space had to be destroyed.

As long as it remained, Earth would never see peace. Hydra would always have a foothold to rebuild and restart their plans.

Fortunately, there was a solution.

Hydra had no idea that Kagura still had a weapon capable of striking back.

In their minds, their massive warship, built from Chitauri technology, was invincible.

No weapon on Earth could possibly reach a target 70,000 kilometers away.

With the Avengers' known space-faring members currently off-world, Hydra saw this as a golden opportunity.

If they could destroy Rhodes Island Industries' orbital stations, Kagura's global defense network would crumble, and their world domination would be inevitable.

That was exactly the misunderstanding Kagura planned to exploit.

She ordered the surviving "Halo" stations to alter their orbits, guiding them directly over Rhodes Island.

Rhodes Island, located in the Aegean Sea, was on the opposite side of the Earth from the United States.

To pursue the fleeing stations, Hydra would have no choice but to move their warship into a vulnerable position.

The "Halo" stations' retreat was nothing more than a carefully laid trap for Hydra's warship.

The moment it crossed paths with the Rhodes Island base, the planetary-class main cannon buried 1,600 meters underground would fire a single shot, enough to turn Hydra into history.

And now, the opportunity had arrived.

In the depths of space, the "Halo" stations' blue ion engines flared as they shifted trajectories, fleeing toward the Aegean.

Trying to run? Not a chance.

That must have been what Pierce was thinking.

The cunning Hydra leader wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away. He immediately ordered his warship to pursue, its massive form bearing down like a mountain.

The Hydra warship was a technological marvel, vastly superior to anything humanity had developed.

It was as if a medieval army had stumbled upon a fully operational modern battle tank—a weapon of overwhelming power.

But that advantage was built on flawed intelligence.

As the Hydra warship confidently pursued the fleeing orbital stations, its massive hull drifting into position over the Aegean, Kagura's lips curled into a smirk.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Final safety lock disengaged. Superconducting capacitor transmission array online. Main cannon power at 47%. Firing calculations complete."

"Third, second, and first energy conduits open. Capacitor charge complete. Weapon primed."

In Kagura's holographic UI, the yellow "Main Cannon Loading" indicator flickered, turning green.

It was ready.

"Unidentified interstellar defense fortress, flagship designated Macross, main cannon ready. Target locked. Single-shot mode. Manual operation. FIRE!"

'BOOM—!'

The ground beneath Rhodes Island trembled as an earth-shattering force erupted from underground.

A blinding inferno surged into the sky, followed by a shockwave that rippled outward, tearing through the mountainous terrain.

The sheer energy unleashed caused minor tsunamis along the coastline, giving the few surfers in the area a thrill they'd never forget.

A beam of brilliant white light tore through the heavens, parting the clouds as if slicing the sky itself in two.

A bridge between heaven and earth.

The dark energy blast generated a high-energy particle stream, cutting a devastating swath through everything in its path.

Anything caught in that line was instantly vaporized.

This wasn't just a cannon blast. It was a celestial blade, cleaving through the void.

And in the depths of space, the true nightmare unfolded.

The Hydra warship never had a chance to react.

The beam struck dead-on, piercing through its hull.

The Chitauri energy shields flickered and collapsed, unable to withstand the raw power of the attack.

The reinforced armor, state-of-the-art by alien standards, failed in an instant, as the overwhelming energy carved straight through the warship.

And this was just the beginning.

The Hydra warship, caught in Earth's orbit, was still moving at high velocity.

With only a 2.5-second firing window, the ship had no time for evasive maneuvers.

Momentum carried it forward, dragging its burning, sundered husk across the deadly beam.

The rift in its hull widened, like a blade slicing through from bow to stern. There was no escape. No survivors.

'BOOM!'

A final explosion engulfed the warship.

In the cold void of space, it became a blazing fireball, a fleeting supernova against the backdrop of the stars.

Even from Earth, the explosion was visible as a brief, radiant flash in the sky.

"Direct hit confirmed. Target destroyed."

Cortana's calm report marked the decisive end of Kagura's battle against Hydra.

———————————————————————

[Mission: Eliminate Hydra's influence within S.H.I.E.L.D. – COMPLETED]

[Rewards: +20 QP]

[Current QP: 35]

[Core upgrade progress increased]

[Automaton Core Level: Lv.3]

[Upgrade Progress: 200/300]

[New Mission: Acquire an Infinity Stone – Reward: 20 QP]