Accompanied by the absolutely horrifying sound of wet flesh and shattered bone hitting solid metal, a sound that turned stomachs and set teeth on edge, something emerged from the unstable portal.
A familiar figure dragged its bloody, severely mutilated body forward using only its single remaining arm. The limb shook with effort, muscles straining beyond their limits as it clawed at the deck plating for purchase.
The form quickly squeezed itself out of the small, violently fluctuating portal with desperate urgency. The gateway wasn't meant for passage, far too small, and the transit clearly caused additional damage as the body scraped through.
At this moment, Nolan, whose eyes had gone cold and tactical the instant the portal appeared, recognized Wong's distinctive features almost immediately despite the catastrophic damage.
But when he fully processed what he was seeing, when he noticed the other man's face that was missing half its flesh and the body that had been reduced to a barely functional wreck, immediate action overrode shock.
Nolan stepped forward without hesitation, closing the distance in three long strides.
Without even turning his head, he shouted orders to Jessica, who was still floating combat-ready in the air above.
"Jessica! Go to the laboratory immediately and find Connors! Get the Panacea! The All Souls Resurrection Potion as well if he's completed any batches! Move!"
Hearing Nolan's urgent command delivered in that tone that brooked absolutely no delay or questioning, Jessica, who had been hovering in attack position, pivoted instantly.
She turned around without the slightest hesitation, abandoning her combat stance. Her agile figure accelerated rapidly, flying with impressive speed toward the location of the base passage that would take her to Connors's lab.
The next moment, the automatic servo robots under David's direct control responded with mechanical efficiency. They moved forward quickly in coordinated formation, mechanical precision allowing them to avoid colliding despite the confined space.
The constructs kept waving their mechanical tentacles, and several units carefully grasped Wong's bloody, mutilated form. They dragged the wounded sorcerer a safe distance away from the portal, removing him from immediate danger.
Simultaneously, other servo robots moved to tightly surround the portal itself, which was slowly shrinking and clearly about to disappear completely. They formed a defensive perimeter, ready to respond to any further intrusion.
At this precise moment, before the gateway could fully close, something new forced its way through.
A massive black claw as thick as a grown man's thigh suddenly penetrated from outside the portal, reaching through the dimensional barrier with violent intent. The appendage was distinctly inhuman, covered in scales or chitinous plating that gleamed with oily iridescence.
When several terrifying fingers, each tipped with claws like curved daggers, pulled and grasped randomly at anything within reach, they also left several deep, gouged scratches in the reinforced metal floor. The deck plating tore like paper under those talons.
However, before the mechanical tentacles of the surrounding automatic servo robots could properly coordinate a counterattack or attempt to sever the intrusion, physics intervened.
Accompanied by a sharp, cutting sound like a blade through silk, the portal suddenly contracted and dissipated entirely. The dimensional gateway simply collapsed, its energy exhausted or its caster's concentration lost.
The closing portal actually severed the huge black claw completely, the dimensional boundary cutting through alien flesh and bone as cleanly as a surgical laser.
In an instant, black blood as thick and viscous as motor oil sprayed from the severed appendage. The limb fell heavily to the metal deck with a wet, meaty thud. The corrupted ichor that pumped from the wound in gouts splattered across the floor in an expanding pool.
The corrosive black blood immediately began eating into the smooth metal surface, hissing and bubbling as chemical reactions degraded the alloy. Wisps of acrid smoke rose from multiple points where the fluid had splashed.
At this moment, Nolan, gripping the plasma pistol tightly in his palm with his finger resting on the trigger guard, stared at the remains of whatever unknown monster had tried to follow Wong. His tactical mind was already analyzing, categorizing, assessing threat levels.
Demonic. Extradimensional. Extremely dangerous. Possibly regenerative. Note: the blood is a hazard.
He quickly moved to Wong's side, dropping to one knee beside the wounded sorcerer. The plasma pistol remained in one hand, still ready, while he reached out with the other.
"Wong? Wong, can you hear me? Wake up!" Nolan's voice was sharp, commanding, designed to cut through shock and pain. "What happened to you? Has an enemy force invaded Kamar-Taj itself?"
"Kamar-Taj..." Wong's response was barely audible, his voice a rattling whisper that bubbled slightly with blood. The sorcerer seemed to have almost no meaningful reaction to external stimuli, his eyes unfocused and glassy. "I have to... get to Kamar-Taj..."
At this moment, Wong appeared to be in a genuinely dying state, his body shutting down from massive trauma and blood loss. Only the absolute most stubborn will kept him conscious at all.
But still, despite hovering at death's threshold, he somehow tried to force open his bloodshot eyes. The effort was visible, trembling with the strain.
He also attempted with every remaining scrap of strength to form words, to deliver his warning. The sounds came intermittently, weak, fragmenting as his body failed.
"Invasion... demon god worshipper invaded the... the New York Sanctum cannot... cannot be lost... the magical defense system... must warn... must warn Master Ancient One..."
The words trailed off into incoherent mumbling, consciousness slipping away.
"Jessica! The Panacea, now!" Nolan turned his head sharply, watching Wong's voice fade toward nothing, seeing life draining from the man before his eyes.
His face set in grim lines as he shouted in the direction of the base passage with volume that was almost a full-throated roar, projecting from his enhanced lungs with desperate intensity.
Even David, standing nearby in watchful readiness, suddenly shifted. The Man of Iron drove his metal body forward as though preparing to intercept Jessica and speed her return.
"Boss, I'm here! Incoming!"
The very next second, Jessica's figure flashed through the air like lightning made flesh, a blur of motion that covered the distance from the lab in seconds. She burst out of the base passage at maximum velocity.
She quickly raised one arm and threw a crystal-clear ice-blue gem in Nolan's direction with practiced accuracy, the projectile arcing through the air in a perfect trajectory.
Nolan, his expression still set in grim determination, quickly stood from his crouch. He raised his hand with enhanced reflexes and snatched the ice-blue Panacea from the air, his fingers closing around it smoothly.
Then he immediately dropped back to his knee and leaned over Wong's failing body. Without ceremony or hesitation, he forcibly stuffed the Panacea directly into Wong's mouth, pushing it past unresponsive lips.
In an instant, Wong, who had seemed to have no pulse, no breath remaining, whose body had gone entirely still, began to react.
His form started trembling slightly, subtle vibrations running through damaged tissues. The wounds covering every visible surface of his body seemed to ripple, to shift, as the Panacea's genetic repair mechanisms activated at the molecular level.
Even his face, which had been missing most of its flesh and blood on one side, exposing bone and ruined musculature, gradually began regenerating. New tissue formed in layers, building from the skull outward. Fresh skin grew and spread, knitting together seamlessly.
The transformation was rapid, almost violent in its speed. Flesh reconstructed itself, bones realigned and fused, organs regenerated damaged sections.
Soon after, Wong, with his eyes still closed as his body completed its miraculous healing, vaguely exhaled a large breath from his newly reformed mouth. The air released carried a sound of profound relief, of a system rebooting after catastrophic failure.
Then, without warning, he suddenly opened both eyes wide while still lying on the metal floor. The eyes were clear now, focused, fully aware and functional.
"Huh?" Wong's voice carried genuine confusion as consciousness returned and he processed his surroundings. "Mr. Nolan? Why am I here in your base? How did I..."
At this moment, Wong, who had just recovered from what should have been a definitively fatal near-death state, found himself utterly disoriented by the transition.
He stared blankly at Nolan, who was still crouched close at hand, and at David, who had walked forward to stand nearby in case assistance was needed.
"Wong, I was rather counting on you to explain exactly that to me." Nolan's frown deepened as he took a long, controlled breath. He stared directly into Wong's now-clear eyes and spoke with absolute seriousness. "You opened an unstable portal and arrived here alone, badly wounded. Also, is that severed alien appendage over there from the enemy you encountered?"
He gestured toward where servo robots were carefully containing the corrosive blood with absorbent materials.
The very next moment, Wong's confusion completely vanished, burned away by returning memory. He sat up abruptly from the metal floor with sudden, jerky urgency.
He reached out and grabbed Nolan's forearm with surprising strength, his grip desperate. The words tumbled out in a rushed explanation.
"A follower of the Great Shadow Demon attacked the Supreme Sanctum in New York! The guardian sorcerers and all the apprentices stationed there were slaughtered, massacred without mercy!" Wong's voice cracked with horror and grief at the memory. "Although we don't yet know precisely what this enemy's ultimate objective is, the Sanctum as a critical magical defense node absolutely must not be destroyed! The consequences would be catastrophic!"
He tightened his grip, willing Nolan to understand the stakes.
"If all three Sanctums are completely destroyed, demons from outside our dimension will be able to invade the mortal world at will! The barriers will fail entirely! Even if only one Sanctum loses its function, if just one node goes dark, the drastically weakened defense capability will trigger a series of dangerous chain reactions throughout the protective network!"
Wong's eyes were wild, urgent, filled with the knowledge of approaching disaster.
"Even if the greater demons from outside dimensions cannot physically manifest immediately, their lesser minions will be able to sneak through the weakened barriers onto Earth. The harm those creatures cause is not much less than the demons themselves! Not to mention that demon worshippers who have been hiding and suppressed for centuries will become active again, emboldened by their masters' increased influence!"
He drew a shaking breath, then continued with obvious difficulty, as though the admission cost him pride.
"Mr. Nolan, I know you are one of the human masters of the mortal realm, one of earth's protectors in your own right. I know this is not technically your responsibility, not your duty or obligation." Wong's voice dropped, becoming more personal, more desperate. "But there are no more people available to provide support from Kamar-Taj at present. All our forces are committed elsewhere. Even Master Ancient One herself cannot be contacted, she's completely unreachable..."
The proud sorcerer's voice carried naked pleading now.
"Please, I'm begging you, help us. Consider it a debt owed for the fact that the mages of Kamar-Taj have faithfully protected Earth from supernatural threats for thousands of years! We've earned this aid, surely!"
At this moment, Wong's earnest, desperate words echoed through the brightly lit hall of the base. The plea hung in the air, demanding response.
Nolan, his expression deliberately kept blank and emotionless, stared straight into Wong's eyes. He could see the genuine fear there, the knowledge of stakes beyond calculation, the weight of failed duty.
He remained silent for a long moment, processing implications and calculating costs. Then he took a deep breath, coming to his decision.
His tall body, which had been crouching on the ground beside the wounded sorcerer, slowly stood to full height. He seemed to grow larger as he rose, presence expanding.
"David!" His voice rang out with command authority, carrying to every corner of the base. "Notify Raditus immediately to activate one-third of the Intelligent Control Corps! Deploy them to the rally point! Combat protocols!"
He continued without pause, the orders coming rapid-fire.
"Jessica, go and mobilize the Gang Dogs currently in the base! Prepare them for potential combat deployment! If there is no explicit support order transmitted from me, they are to remain at the base in defensive positions! Understood?"
"Servo robots!" His gaze swept across the constructs surrounding them. "Prepare to equip me for combat! Move!"
The dressing platform in the base hall became a hive of focused activity.
Dozens of automatic servo robots surrounded Nolan's position, working with practiced coordination. Their mechanical tentacles moved in precise patterns, each construct knowing its role in the complex procedure.
The metal components of Terminator power armor were being installed piece by piece in careful, orderly sequence. Legs first, providing stable foundation. Torso sections connecting to the underlying framework. Arms locking into position with solid mechanical clicks.
Not long after the process began, when the final piece of equipment was ready, a massive black shoulder pauldron bearing a distinctive white fist logo spray-painted on its surface was lifted by multiple servo robots working in unison.
The heavy armor plate was positioned precisely above the Uru metal skeleton that was already covered with electro-fiber bundles. Then it was lowered and locked into place, embedding itself with a solid, satisfying clunk that resonated through the entire suit.
The purity seals hanging from the armor, inscribed with protective prayers and blessings, began swaying gently despite the complete absence of wind. The motion was supernatural, responding to the wearer's presence rather than physical forces.
Thoom. Thoom. Thoom.
Nolan, now fully encased in the Terminator armor, stepped down from the dressing platform. Each footfall was tremendously heavy, the weight of the powered plate making itself known. The deck plating rang like a bell with every step.
At this moment, four servo-mechanical arms that had already been heavily modified from their original specifications, now considerably more robust and powerful in their overall construction, suddenly deployed.
The additional limbs stretched out smoothly from their housing within the power pack, extending on articulated joints. Each arm moved independently, finding its position in the combat configuration.
A layer of dark, heavy ceramite steel shell covered each mechanical appendage, the armor plating reflecting slightly under the base hall's bright lights. The coating was matte black, designed to absorb light rather than reflect it on actual battlefields.
And at the front end of each servo-mechanical arm, where human hands would normally be, devastating weaponry had been mounted instead.
The first arm bore a Necron Gauss blaster that crackled with terrifying green energy.
The second wielded a multi-barrel meltagun, the weapon already primed and ready to discharge. Heat shimmer rose from the business end, the air around it distorting from thermal radiation.
The third arm controlled a double-barreled grenade launcher, the tubes loaded with high-explosive rounds ready to fire in rapid succession.
The fourth mechanical limb operated a triple-barreled lasgun of the Terra I pattern, the weapon's power cells fully charged and indicators showing green status.
Together with Nolan's own two arms, which would wield additional weapons as needed, the effect was absolutely intimidating.
Now, the extensively re-modified Terminator power armor worn by Nolan had completely transformed him into a terrifying existence that could only be described as a mobile firepower fortress. A walking artillery platform. A one-man army.
Any hostile forces that dared to appear within his targeting visor's range, whether they were monsters, demons, or anything else foolish enough to stand against him, would be systematically blasted into powder and ash.