"Aaaaahhhhhhh—!!!"
Loki's scream echoed across the sky as Kagura weaved through the intense crossfire of the aerial battlefield.
"Stop yelling already! Can you calm down for a second?! Aren't you supposed to be the God of Mischief or something? At least try to act like a dignified deity!"
Kagura snapped at him, clearly annoyed. "We're in the middle of the enemy's kill zone!"
"My VF squadron is helping draw some of the fire, but if you keep screaming like that, you're going to mess up my evasive maneuvers!"
"Am I really that loud?" Loki blinked innocently. "It's not like I'm Thor—I can't fly!"
"You don't say?! Ugh, you roasted pork bun!"
Kagura groaned. "Alright, get ready to jump!"
"Jump? What do you mean jump?! The Dark Elves' mothership is way up there! Jump where?!"
Loki stared at the rapidly receding ground below, looking completely baffled. "Don't you dare pull a fast one on me, Kagura! Falling from this height'll kill even an Asgardian and I'm not even fully Asgardian!"
"Quit whining already! See that Dark Elf frigate to the right? Jump there! I'll catch you!"
She pointed toward a ship quickly closing in on their side, one that Kagura had previously hijacked using her core ability, Deep Dive.
"My VF squadron can't suppress all enemy fire."
"If we try flying straight at the mothership, we'll be turned into swiss cheese by their point-defense weapons. That's why we need something tougher."
She explained calmly, "Using one of their own ships amidst the chaos gives us a better shot at punching straight into their main vessel."
There was one little problem with the next-gen VF series fighter jets—they weren't reaching full potential.
Since Cortana hadn't been fitted with a specialized AI command module, the drones couldn't perform at full capacity or execute in-air transformations.
The VF series was designed with transformation capabilities from the start.
While they hadn't yet added features like singing and dancing stages (thankfully), they could switch between humanoid mecha and fighter jet forms on the fly.
With energy shields handling defense, humanoid mechs held a clear advantage in combat.
They could ignore terrain, swap out weapons quickly, and maneuver at insane speeds.
In the future, these VF models could even serve as power armor for YoRHa units, allowing them to evolve from infantry into full-blown air-ground armored divisions.
But that was a conversation for another time.
As they say no plan survives contact with the enemy.
Who could've guessed the Dark Elves would launch a sudden assault on Earth, dead set on flattening New York just to reclaim the Aether?
So, to prevent New York from getting wiped off the map, Kagura had no choice but to deploy the freshly developed VF squadron.
Under cover of the VF fighters, Kagura and Loki leapt through the air and landed perfectly onto the passing Dark Elf frigate, immediately taking control of it.
"Ow—dammit!"
Inside the frigate's cockpit, Loki got to his feet, rubbing his bruised rear. "Kagura, since when can you fly this thing?"
"Hmm?" Kagura hummed, effortlessly maneuvering the alien vessel like she'd built it herself. "My Deep Dive skill lets me project my consciousness into a target device and fully analyze its internal structure."
"I basically understand how it works the moment I touch it. Kinda like the Herrscher of Reason."
"The Herr-what now?" Loki blinked. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
"Just think of it as something super OP," she waved him off. "Anyway, sit tight. We're going in hot!"
"In?! Are you insane?! We'll crash and die!"
Loki clutched a nearby support beam like his life depended on it. "You're even crazier than Thor!"
"Aw, thanks for the compliment!"
Kagura grinned. "By the way, this ship's hull is made of dark matter alloy, super tough stuff."
"The enemy battleship's armor is the same, but since we're smaller and have less surface area, we've actually got the edge in a collision."
"That's your justification for a suicide run?!"
Loki screamed helplessly.
"Relax. The VF squad will blast us a hole—we'll make it. Trust me!"
"I'm seriously starting to regret coming to Earth…" Loki muttered. "I must've lost my mind to come all this way, worrying about some crazy girl and now joining her on a suicide mission…"
"Save the monologue for later! We're going in! Hold tight!"
Kagura pushed the throttle to max, aiming the frigate straight at the massive black crucifix-shaped battleship ahead.
"Don't worry, big bro Loki! I've got everything under control!"
"I don't believe you at all!!"
———————————————————————
As Kagura's stolen frigate hurtled toward Malekith's flagship, the VF drone squad focused their firepower on a single point.
Dozens of bright energy beams rained down in unison, burning a hole into the near-invincible dark matter hull of the enemy warship.
A true testament to the peak of human technology, the absolute limit of mortal ingenuity.
Even Tony Stark's Iron Legion might not match this level of instantaneous firepower.
"Hitomi! What the hell are you doing?! Hitomi!"
The massive explosion and scattered debris caught Tony Stark's attention immediately.
"Don't tell me you're inside that frigate ramming the enemy flagship?!"
"Bingo! Wow, you guessed that fast, Mr. Stark! You're as sharp as ever!"
Kagura replied casually over comms. "Oh, and you might want to sit down for this—Loki's with me. Yep, that Loki. Thor's brother. The one from the Battle of New York!"
"Don't do anything reckless, Hitomi!"
Tony quickly redirected his Iron Legion to assist the VF drones in covering Kagura's assault run.
"Mr. Stark, this mission could determine the fate of human civilization or even the universe. Please allow me this one act of recklessness."
Kagura's voice was calm and resolute.
"The Dark Elves have the power to destroy us... to turn the entire universe into dark matter and plunge it into eternal darkness."
"But I won't let that happen. So—"
"Here I go!!"
BOOOOM!!!
A fiery explosion lit up the sky as Kagura's hijacked frigate rammed straight into Malekith's colossal battleship with pinpoint precision.
"Ta-da~! Perfect landing!"