—Over the North Atlantic—
Amid the clouds, a massive airborne battleship cruised steadily through the sky.
Say what you will about S.H.I.E.L.D., but they certainly had some serious resources.
Not only did they produce all sorts of bizarre gadgets, but they even managed to build a flying warship that far surpassed any aircraft carrier in the world.
Looking out through the window of the Quinjet, Kagura Hitomi observed the colossal fortress suspended in the sky.
The sheer magnificence of human industrial civilization was on full display before her eyes.
'Mmm… It's one thing to see it on a screen, but seeing this thing up close is actually pretty impressive!'
"Nick Fury's got quite the toy," Tony Stark commented from beside her. "A bit outdated in terms of technology, but still… not bad."
His critique wasn't entirely unfair.
For the world's current level of technology, a high-altitude aircraft carrier with full transport capability was ridiculously cool.
But from the perspective of Tony Stark or Rhodes Island Industries?
Heh. Just a toy.
Weak self-defense systems, an inefficient mechanical lift system, and a Quinjet squadron with questionable combat effectiveness…
This so-called "airborne battleship" was more of an experimental prototype, or perhaps just a compromise forced by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own limitations.
Kagura agreed with Stark's assessment.
Compared to the projects currently under development at Rhodes Island's Aegean Sea facility, this thing was hardly exciting.
"Mr. Stark, you've got high standards," she teased. "I think it's pretty impressive!"
"Sure, but it could be so much better," Tony smirked. "Hitomi, if Rhodes Island were to build something like this, how would you design it?"
"Hm, that's a tricky question," she replied with a grin. 'Oh? So we're thinking along the same lines, huh?'
"Well, for starters, I wouldn't put the lift engines on the outside. And I definitely wouldn't bother with an angled flight deck or a runway. Those are just bad design choices."
As someone once said: 'Any flying vehicle with a flight deck is inherently a dumb design.'
"Oh? Now you've got my attention, Hitomi. So, does Rhodes Island have a project like this in the works?"
Kagura gave Tony a sly smile. "No, no, we wouldn't waste time building aircraft carriers."
Or so you think.
—S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier—
After the Quinjet landed, Loki was escorted to his special "guest suite" by Thor and a squad of armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Following Kagura's suggestion, to avoid agitating Dr. Banner, Loki was locked up in a reinforced cargo hold beneath the bridge, under 24/7 surveillance from a network of cameras.
She even installed an anti-illusion system around his cell to prevent him from pulling any tricks.
Additionally, considering the unexpected power of the Casket of Ancient Winters, the chamber was equipped with temperature sensors to alert them of any potential ice-related incidents.
With all that in place, and the Avengers gathered on board, Loki—now without his trump card—wasn't likely to try anything reckless.
With everything secured, Agent Coulson gathered everyone in the bridge's conference room for a debriefing with Nick Fury to determine their next move.
But honestly?
Kagura didn't care.
She wasn't interested in how long it would take Banner's gamma-ray tracking to locate the Tesseract.
She didn't care about how Steve Rogers and the others would react to Fury's secret "Tesseract Weaponization Program."
She had already neutralized the biggest threat to the Avengers' unity—so if they wanted to argue or bicker, that was their business.
What Kagura cared about was retrieving the Tesseract.
Three minutes ago, Cortana had sent a transmission—Project "Argos" had successfully pinpointed the Tesseract's exact location.
Natasha Romanoff and Bucky Barnes were standing by, and Griffin Security was fully mobilized.
Now, Kagura had a decision to make:
Should she inform the Avengers and use their help to retrieve the Tesseract?
After some thought, she decided not to tell them and let Griffin handle the mission alone.
Her reasoning was two:
First, with Hawkeye under Loki's control and Loki himself captured, the enemy was already crippled.
If they had any powerful reinforcements, they would've attacked Rhodes Island's Aegean facility for the iridium by now.
For a mission of this scale, deploying the full Avengers team felt like overkill.
Besides, with an impending alien invasion, keeping the Avengers stationed on the Helicarrier seemed like a smarter move.
Second, and more importantly—Loki was still an unpredictable variable.
Even in captivity, he was a master manipulator.
If he caught wind of the Tesseract's location, he might still have a hidden card to play.
And if the Avengers left, he could easily escape using the Casket of Ancient Winters.
As long as the Avengers remained on the Helicarrier, they served as a deterrent against any tricks Loki might attempt.
With that in mind, Kagura decided it was better to silently recover the Tesseract with Griffin's forces and crush Loki's plans before he even realized what was happening.
—Time to Sneak Out—
To quietly leave the Helicarrier and join the operation, Kagura planned to use her core ability: [Puppet Clone].
By creating a duplicate to stay on the ship, she could make it seem like she never left.
In theory, her clone had unlimited duration, making it a perfect decoy.
But thanks to Loki's little stunt with the Casket of Ancient Winters, her last clone had been destroyed—which was seriously annoying.
The problem?
Her [Puppet Clone] skill required 100% of her sub-core's energy, meaning she couldn't create another one until she recharged.
And to do that… she needed power.
Sure, she could replenish her energy by eating, but there was a faster way: Direct electrical recharge.
Her "White Moon" battle suit could convert external electricity into core energy—she just wasn't sure if it worked on her sub-core.
Well, there was only one way to find out.
Kagura wandered into the hangar, found a thick power cable, and plugged it into the Helicarrier's electrical grid.
"…This kinda feels like I'm about to electrocute myself," she muttered, eyeing the massive plug.
"Oh well, no one's watching anyway."
Taking a deep breath, she pressed the live plug against the chest of her White Moon suit.
"Three… two… one—"
ZAP—!
A surge of electricity rushed through her body.
Blue energy lines flared across her suit as raw power coursed through her circuits, funneling directly into her core.
"Ahhh—!"
Her body trembled as the system readouts blinked to life:
[External Energy Source Detected]
[Core Charging…]
[Core Energy: 99.99%]
[Core Energy Full]
[Transferring Power…]
[Sub-Core Charging…]
…
[Sub-Core Energy: 100%]
[Sub-Core Fully Charged]
With a sharp gasp, Kagura yanked the plug away, collapsing to her knees as the intense sensation faded.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Her whole body ached from the rapid energy influx.
"Damn… that only took 30 seconds? That was… kinda exhilarating…" she muttered between breaths.
"But yeah… probably shouldn't do that too often…"
'Mmm… food is still the best way to recharge…'
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