31: The correct use of Armor

When the two armored suits entered the airspace, the soldiers in charge of monitoring initially thought it was Superman arriving, and they immediately pressed the emergency button to report to their superiors.

This led to the deployment of the elite fighter squadron now in action, with more than a dozen aircraft.

"But where did these things come from? Rhodey, did you just use the word 'only'?" A lieutenant colonel in the Air Force slammed his hand on the table. "These two things are holding off an entire squadron, and you still think they're not strong, calling them 'just' exoskeleton armor?"

Rhodey rubbed his face. "I'm comparing them to Superman! I work in the weapons research department, so I know exactly what these things mean!"

"But they do deserve to be described as 'only'?!"

"Look at the technology they're using."

"Unknown high-powered stable energy sources, extremely high-strength and precision metal materials, incredible anti-gravity systems, and energy transmission systems..."

"These technologies are at least ten years ahead of us!"

"If we had these technologies in our hands, the Pentagon could start planning world domination tomorrow!"

"What I don't understand is, why would the other side use such technology to build armor? It's like someone being protected by a bunch of tanks, yet going to the battlefield for hand-to-hand combat..."

"And haven't you noticed that the other side hasn't made any offensive moves? Is it possible that they are actually on our side?"

Rhodey suggested, "So why don't we try to communicate with them first?"

General Ross, the highest-ranking Air Force officer present, decisively ordered, "It doesn't matter whether they're on our side or not—just shoot them down first!"

"Wait, what's that? It looks like another exoskeleton armor!" Suddenly, a colonel pointed at the screen and exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look.

At some point, another silver-white armor appeared between the red and gold one and the blue and gold one.

"Damn it, they're organized! Shoot them all down!" Ross's mustache quivered as he barked the order.

...

From a distance, Lyon could see two suits of armor weaving through a hail of bullets.

With a burst of speed, he flew over to the embattled Tony.

"Tony, it's only been half a day, and you look like you've been dunked in an oil field."

"Ah!" A startled cry came from within the red and gold armor as Tony twisted his head around to see Lyon, almost triggering an attack.

"Lyon! Maybe next time you could show up a bit more like a human, instead of a ghost!" Tony was genuinely shaken.

He nearly lost his balance in mid-air. "And why are you wearing my armor?"

Lyon tilted his head slightly. "Because you took mine like a remote control toy."

He glanced back, noticing that the dozen or so fighter jets were still hot on their trail, their relentless barrage of bullets leaving very few escape routes.

"I mean, why aren't you wearing your tight suit?" Tony narrowly dodged another chain of bullets.

"You forgot that when I'm in my Superman suit, I can't be seen with you for now?" Lyon effortlessly dodged the incoming fire, in stark contrast to Tony's struggles.

"But mainly, I wanted to show you the proper way to use this hunk of metal!"

"What? Are you saying you brought me the Mark armor manual? That's fantastic, I was just missing that." Tony scoffed.

"There's nothing like what's next in the manual. Watch closely—I'll do it all without using any of my strength!"

Lyon quickly memorized the positions of all the fighter jets behind him, then suddenly shouted.

"Jarvis, deploy the flaps!"

With a hiss, the silver-white Mark II armor deployed its flaps, drastically reducing speed.

Jarvis was always so considerate, executing commands instantly without hesitation in these kind of situations. Even if Lyon's order put the Mark armor directly in the midst of the fighter jet formation.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Tony was stunned, watching Lyon zip past him.

The fighter pilots behind them were equally shocked.

Turning their heads, they saw the silver-white armor flying right next to their cockpits, with Lyon cheerfully waving at them.

"Calling command! Target three suddenly reduced speed and entered our formation. Requesting permission to switch targets!" The squadron leader urgently shouted into the radio.

"Permission granted! You must take it down!" The command came through immediately.

"Attack! Attack! Attack!"

The fighter jets quickly dispersed into formation.

Some accelerated forward, while others slowed down, forming a tight encirclement around the Mark II armor, as if they had rehearsed this maneuver hundreds of times.

Though initially thrown off, once the formation was set, the pilots' confidence returned, and they couldn't help but grin.

An enemy willingly entering their encirclement seemed no different from an easy target.

"Target locked on by aircraft one!"

"Aircraft two locked on..."

"..."

The continuous reports filled the channel, and the squadron leader quickly gave the order to attack.

"Attack! Fire the missiles!"

Fire! All missiles away!

fhew! fhew! fhew!

Every jet unleashed its missiles, simultaneously using onboard machine guns to seal off any possible escape routes.

Lyon found himself surrounded by firepower from all directions.

Dozens of missiles launched at high speed, rapidly closing in on the Mark II armor within seconds.

Lyon, however, was not one to sit idly by.

He completely shut down the propulsion system, letting himself fall in a parabolic arc as if he were a water droplet.

This unexpected move caught the enemy completely off guard.

The incoming missiles all overshot, landing just ahead of the Mark II.

Though the tracking systems quickly adjusted, reversing the missile's direction, the maneuver drastically slowed them down, reducing their speed to less than a third of what it had been.

"Pursue downward!" The fighter jets began to turn around.

"Jarvis, activate the intelligent targeting system," Lyon instructed, relying solely on the Mark II's built-in functions for the counterattack, without using his supervision or super strength.

Jarvis moved swiftly, displaying the trajectories of each missile along with their current speeds on the helmet's projection.

"Excellent," Lyon said as he started to accelerate backward, leading the missiles in front of him.

By now, their trajectory was completely opposite to the direction Tony had taken earlier.

"Lyon!" Tony's voice suddenly came into Lyon's helmet, "What are you trying to do? Calm down, and avoid engaging if possible. Right now, we're the 'invaders'—don't escalate the situation!"

Their mechs weren't registered with the Eagle forces.

Moreover, the mechs were equipped with lethal weapons, making them, strictly speaking, unwelcome intruders.

It was entirely reasonable for those fighter jets to try to shoot them down.

"Yeah, yeah~ I've got this. Don't worry. Just watch how I handle them," Lyon replied briefly.

He maneuvered the Mark II armor to accelerate, but carefully controlled his speed to remain just slower than the missiles chasing him.

As the missiles drew dangerously close, Lyon suddenly shifted position. In a split second, he decelerated before quickly accelerating again.

With the speed change, he made contact with the side of one of the missiles with a metallic clang!

"Jarvis, use electric currents to attach to the missile's outer shell, but be careful not to overload it and cause a premature detonation!" Lyon commanded.

After giving the order, he controlled the Mark II's propulsion system, causing the thrusters to flare up with high power.

He began to accelerate rapidly, taking the missile with him!

__________

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