Chapter 301 — Falling Star
Inside his helm, streams of data flowed continuously across the display.
Distance to Cascade.
Velocity.
Trajectory.
Shield integrity.
Power consumption.
The numbers refreshed every fraction of a second as Gaius accelerated through the void.
Far behind him, the remains of the Covenant flagship drifted in orbit, moments away from destruction. Ahead of him, Cascade hung against the darkness like a vast blue-green sphere.
It was still distant. Very distant.
The battle on the surface continued far below while Gaius remained suspended in vacuum, wrapped in the shimmering golden barrier of the Iron Halo.
The shield held steady.
For now.
In space there was no atmosphere to tear at him, no friction to ignite the air around his armor. The cold of the void meant little; without air, there was nothing to carry heat away except the slow loss of radiation against the Halo itself.
Only the constant energy expenditure required to sustain the shield mattered.
His armor's reactor network operated without strain.
Unlike conventional Space Marine power armor, there was no bulky power pack mounted on his back. Instead, countless micro-reactors were woven directly into the auramite torso armor beneath layers of reinforced plating.
The technology was far beyond standard Astartes equipment.
Its output exceeded conventional power armor many times over.
More than enough to sustain the Iron Halo.
More than enough to power every system within the armor.
The Iron Jetpack was separate.
Tony Stark had designed it with twin Arc Reactors independent from the armor itself. Propulsion and defense did not compete for the same energy supply.
The micro-reactors sustained the armor.
The Arc Reactors sustained flight.
Two independent systems.
Gaius observed the information without concern. His heartbeat remained unchanged. His breathing stayed steady.
He had already accounted for everything.
The shield did not need to endure a prolonged battle.
Only the journey back to Cascade.
Blue-white exhaust flared behind him as the Iron Jetpack burned continuously.
Each burst pushed him faster.
Faster still.
The stars themselves seemed to stretch around him as the distance steadily closed.
At these speeds, a normal human would have died instantly. The acceleration alone would have liquefied organs and shattered bones even inside protective equipment.
Gaius ignored it.
His body was no longer remotely comparable to that of a normal human. Nor even an ordinary Space Marine.
The Regenerative Core had fundamentally altered his physiology.
His durability exceeded that of both Astartes and Custodians.
His recovery speed exceeded them as well.
Combined with his Primarch-level physique, the strain imposed by the acceleration was effectively meaningless.
He simply endured it.
As he always had.
Minutes passed.
Cascade slowly grew larger within his vision.
Soon he would reach the upper atmosphere.
And that was when the true challenge would begin.
Not now.
Not in the void.
The Iron Halo functioned efficiently in space.
Atmospheric entry would be different.
Once he struck the atmosphere, the shield would be forced to absorb enormous thermal and kinetic stress. Friction generated by orbital reentry would place a burden upon the Halo that vacuum never could.
Only then would power consumption increase dramatically.
Only then would the shield begin collapsing.
Gaius already knew the exact projections.
And he had already accepted them.
Even if the shield failed entirely, he was not concerned.
Still, there was no reason to test those limits unnecessarily.
The Iron Jetpack adjusted course automatically, making tiny corrections to refine his descent vector.
Then he struck the atmosphere.
The transition was immediate.
One moment he was flying through the void.
The next, the upper atmosphere slammed into him.
The Iron Halo flared brilliantly.
Golden light expanded around the giant as the shield absorbed the first wave of thermal and kinetic stress.
Temperatures climbed rapidly.
New calculations flooded the display.
Heat accumulation
Rising
Shield degradation
Rising
Energy consumption
Rising
All of them increased.
Fast.
Very fast.
Gaius became a falling star.
A blazing meteor crossing the heavens above Cascade.
A trail of fire stretched behind him as the atmosphere itself seemed to ignite around the Iron Halo.
The shield held.
For several seconds.
Then the consumption rate accelerated beyond anything it had experienced in space.
Warning runes filled the display.
Shield Failure Predicted: 6 Seconds.
5 Seconds.
4 Seconds.
3 Seconds.
2 Seconds.
1 Second.
Gaius simply watched the countdown.
Unmoved.
His heartbeat remained perfectly steady.
The armor shook as the surrounding fire intensified.
The shield flickered.
Then the Iron Halo collapsed.
Golden light shattered away from him.
The protective barrier vanished entirely.
Immediately the atmosphere struck his armor directly.
But Gaius had already prepared.
Armament Haki surged through his entire body.
Invisible power flowed beneath the auramite plating, reinforcing every limb, every joint, every surface.
The Haki protected him.
The violent friction continued.
The armor glowed.
The surrounding air screamed.
And his Armament Haki reserves began draining at a frightening rate.
Not because the protection was failing.
Because the atmosphere was relentless.
Every second consumed more.
And more.
And more.
Fortunately, Gaius possessed reserves far beyond what most Haki users could imagine.
Still, even those reserves were not infinite.
His calculations showed the truth.
The Haki could not protect him all the way to the ground if he maintained his current velocity.
Adjustments would eventually be necessary.
Before that happened, another event occurred.
Gaius turned his helm slightly, already knowing the exact moment it would happen.
Far beyond the atmosphere, beyond Cascade itself, the Covenant flagship erupted in a violent explosion.
For a brief moment, the vessel became a miniature sun.
Light erupted from within the warship.
The reactor detonated.
The Melta Bombs had completed their task.
A massive bloom of fire expanded through the darkness. Sections of the flagship disintegrated. Armor plating separated. Entire portions vanished beneath the blast.
The shockwave spread outward.
Debris scattered across orbit.
What had once been the command vessel of the Covenant force became nothing more than burning fragments in space.
Gaius watched silently.
No celebration.
No satisfaction.
Only confirmation.
The flagship was destroyed.
The Fleetmaster was dead.
The battle had changed.
Far below, on Cascade…
Tony Stark stood atop the primary Planetary Defense Laser installation.
The battlefield around the facility had already fallen silent.
Burning Covenant dropships littered the landscape while Iron Legion units maintained security around the installation.
Above them, the remaining Covenant warships still hung in orbit.
Tony was preparing for the third volley against the ships when JARVIS spoke inside his helmet.
"Sir."
"What is it?"
"I am detecting an object entering the atmosphere."
Tony immediately assumed the obvious.
"Was it Gaius?"
A brief pause followed.
"It does not appear to be the launch pod."
Tony blinked.
"What?"
The launch pod was supposed to be Gaius' return method.
If it wasn't the pod…
Then what exactly was entering the atmosphere?
"Get me a visual."
"Yes, sir."
A holographic window appeared inside his visor.
The image zoomed in.
Then zoomed further.
The object was still surrounded by fire.
A blazing streak crossing the sky.
For a moment, even the sensors struggled to resolve it.
Then the image sharpened.
Tony froze.
The burning object wasn't a pod.
It wasn't debris.
It wasn't a ship.
It was Gaius.
Just Gaius.
Falling from orbit.
Without a pod.
Without a spacecraft.
Without anything remotely resembling a sane method of reentry.
Tony stared at the display.
"Visual confirmation complete."
"I can see that, Jarvis."
The AI remained silent.
Tony continued staring.
Gaius was literally falling from orbit wrapped in atmospheric fire as if that were a perfectly normal thing to do.
Then Jarvis spoke again.
"Sir."
"What now?"
"I am detecting a major energy event near the Covenant flagship."
Tony immediately turned.
"What?"
Warning markers appeared across his display.
"Energy spike confirmed."
"Give me visual."
The camera shifted toward orbit.
For a brief moment, the Covenant flagship remained intact.
Then it exploded.
Light erupted outward.
A massive bloom of fire expanded through space.
Armor plating fragmented.
Entire sections vanished.
Secondary detonations followed.
Then another.
And another.
The flagship was dying.
Tony watched the destruction for several seconds before looking back toward the burning object descending through the atmosphere.
"...Yeah."
"Gaius did that."
"Probability exceeds ninety-nine percent."
"Thought so."
The timing was too perfect.
Gaius boarded the flagship.
A few minutes later, the flagship exploded.
Not exactly difficult detective work.
Tony opened the Multiversal Chat.
Tony Stark: "Gaius."
A response appeared moments later.
Gaius: "Tony."
Tony Stark: "Don't tell me you're the object currently falling out of orbit."
A brief pause.
Gaius: "I am."
Tony closed his eyes.
Of course.
Tony Stark: "And why exactly are you not inside the launch pod?"
The conversation immediately attracted attention from the others.
Mindy: "Wait."
Mindy: "Gaius is coming down from space without the pod?"
Saeko: "Does that mean he is physically falling from orbit?"
Naruto: "WOAH!"
Tony ignored Naruto's excitement and waited.
Gaius: "The flagship's shields recovered."
Gaius: "The launch pod would not have been able to leave the vessel."
Tony immediately understood.
The Covenant shields had recovered. Gaius either knew or anticipated the coming explosion. The launch pod would never have pierced the restored barrier.
So he had forced his way through it himself.
Tony Stark: "I see."
Tony Stark: "You ran out of time."
Tony Stark: "The flagship was about to explode, so instead of trying the pod that would not pierce through the shield, you forced your way through the shield yourself."
A brief pause.
Gaius: "Yes."
For several seconds nobody replied.
Mostly because everyone was processing the fact that Gaius had solved the problem of escaping an exploding starship by punching through a Covenant capital ship's shield and jumping into space.
Finally, Saeko asked the obvious question.
Saeko: "Will you be fine falling from orbit?"
The answer came immediately.
Gaius: "Yes.".
~~~
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