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Being able to withstand the siege of more than a dozen nimble light fighters without being blown apart was due partly to the shield field the Skrulls had installed on the Quinjet, and partly to Maria Rambeau's exceptional piloting skills.
One had to remember that the Quinjet was originally designed for atmospheric flight. In the vacuum of space—where aerodynamics were meaningless—for Maria Rambeau to achieve this level of performance using only the Skrulls' hastily installed attitude-adjustment thrusters could only be described as sheer talent.
Even so, shields had their limits. No matter how skilled the pilot, being mobbed from all sides inevitably led to mistakes. The Quinjet's situation was hanging by a thread.
As for Captain Marvel in her Binary form, things unfolded much as they had in the movie. She was tied down by former comrades from the Kree Starforce. Even though the burly Bronn-Char was still embedded in the bulkhead where Black Super had wedged him—unconscious and unmoving—the strongest combatant on the field was effectively neutralized.
Which meant that, despite being the powerhouse, Captain Marvel was unable to help.
Black Super had no choice but to step in himself—if only to make sure Nick Fury didn't end up as a spectacular firework in the vacuum of space.
After all, he was still counting on Fury to clean up the mess the Skrulls had left behind inside S.H.I.E.L.D. If Fury died here, Black Super would have to spend far more effort—and owe far more favors—to deal with the shapeshifters' fallout.
Even though this went completely against his laid-back, "salted fish" philosophy of life, Black Super reluctantly activated his super-speed, rapidly disengaging from the Kree cruiser and entering open space.
He secured his loot at his lower back and crouched briefly against the outer hull of the Kree cruiser.
The Kree's experience in space combat was on an entirely different level from that of a pilot who'd only ever done test flights. Worse still, among the Kree fighters was one clearly distinct command craft, flown by a far more seasoned operator.
It was precisely the arrival of that command fighter that turned the Kree assault into layered waves, attacking from all directions like surging tides. The fact that the Quinjet hadn't already exploded into a fireball was nothing short of a miracle.
It was clear that a one-versus-seventeen scenario was beyond the scope of any pilot. Under these conditions, Maria Rambeau had no chance of recreating some cinematic canyon dogfight miracle and turning the tables on the Kree fighters.
And the problem she faced wasn't just numerical disadvantage—excessive baggage was her greatest burden.
Because inside that Quinjet, it wasn't just Maria Rambeau, Nick Fury, Goose the Flerken, and Talos' family of three.
In addition to the dozen-plus Skrull soldiers who had accompanied them earlier, nearly twenty Skrull refugees once sheltered by Dr. Mar-Vell were also crammed inside.
Imagine a craft that was supposed to rely on agility, its cabin packed like a rush-hour bus.
Goose lay sprawled atop the cockpit console. Did it never occur to them to make use of the little creature's pocket universe and temporarily swallow some of the excess passengers?
Unfortunately, now was clearly not the time for such reminders—the Quinjet was on the verge of being blown apart.
Spaceflight differed fundamentally from atmospheric combat. With no air, many maneuvers familiar to atmospheric fighters simply didn't exist. There was no concept of turning radius or turn rate, nothing like what was depicted in Star Wars.
A spacecraft's direction and speed depended entirely on propellant usage. Any fuel spent accelerating had to be matched by an equal amount spent decelerating.
Apply force in a different direction, and the craft's trajectory changes accordingly. Every movement followed the mathematical result of vector addition—unless captured by a celestial body's gravity, adding another force into the equation.
In other words, with proper control, spacecraft could execute right-angle turns—or even sharper maneuvers—without issue. The only real limit was whether the pilot could endure the G-forces involved.
Thus, the Kree fighters' wave-based attacks were nothing more than sequences of acceleration, deceleration, reorientation, and renewed acceleration. Simple actions—but under coordinated command, the resulting time-differentiated strikes were still lethal.
The instant Black Super made up his mind, he locked onto the main engines of every Kree fighter.
Unlike the attitude-control nozzles—which altered direction through propellant exhaust—the main engines not only provided primary thrust but also supplied energy to power the entire craft. They were, quite literally, the heart of the system.
Using a Kryptonian ability that appeared to be flight but was actually gravitational manipulation, Black Super struck with maximum speed and minimal distance, crippling the engines of every Kree fighter and leaving them drifting on inertia alone.
The attitude thrusters remained intact, and the remaining propellant could still adjust orientation—but without main engine power, their energy weapons were effectively dead as well.
The extent of damage varied from craft to craft due to differing angles of attack, but none of them exploded.
For some reason, dressed all in black, Black Super found it hard to summon killing intent.
There was only one miscalculation—the uniquely shaped command fighter launched from Mar-Vell's Kree cruiser, piloted by a female member of Starforce.
This larger craft possessed a shield field far stronger than that of the smaller fighters. And because it wasn't his first target, the pilot had precious fractions of a second to react once she realized they were under attack.
Her response was immediate—she diverted maximum shield output to the aft section, concentrating energy around the engine.
As a result, Black Super's strike merely sent the craft tumbling through space, failing to destroy its main engine.
By then, however, Black Super was already plunging back through the atmosphere toward the surface. He didn't bother turning back to deal with the survivor.
Leaving a single enemy behind would at least give Nick Fury something to do. Otherwise, Fury and Maria Rambeau might get it into their heads to chase down the mysterious figure who'd helped them, just to see who he was.
That cursed curiosity was worse than a cat's.
The one fighter that had escaped Black Super's grasp proved equally pragmatic. Rather than staying behind to rescue her comrades, she continued the pursuit. After all, a smaller support vessel remained behind to conduct recovery operations.
Perhaps her original mission had always been to pursue the fleeing Skrulls and the natives of C53, which was why she hadn't chased after the far more threatening Black Super.
Partly because he was already retreating at tremendous speed toward the planet's surface—and partly because completing the mission mattered more than chasing an elusive enemy.
From reports sent by Bronn-Char and other soldiers, she knew there was an unknown hostile infiltrator aboard the cruiser. But his behavior suggested a scavenger stirring chaos to steal something—though the extent of the loss was still unclear.
Per Commander Yon-Rogg's orders, this individual was classified as a secondary target. Only after eliminating the primary objective would they deal with him.
And the primary objective, of course, was the Kree Empire's sworn enemy—
the Skrulls.
Thus, Minerva piloted her fighter in relentless pursuit of the lagging craft packed with Skrulls, firing first to cut off any chance of regrouping, then chasing down the lumbering, overloaded target like a predator closing in on a wounded beast.
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