Arthur rose to his feet and approached the two. Dust and grime coated him, and he moved carefully behind Adrian and Clark, his eyes fixed on General Zod's lifeless body. Shock and disbelief shadowed his face.
After a brief pause, he shifted his gaze to Clark, half-kneeling on the ground, and then to Adrian, who was holding Rachel protectively. He opened his mouth to speak but found the weight of the moment silencing him. The battle was over. General Zod was dead, and the Kryptonian invasion had come to an end.
Adrian levitated Zod's body and transported it inside the Kryptonian ship, ensuring the remaining two survivors—the bald Kryptonian scientist and Fiora—were imprisoned safely. With complete control of the ship, Adrian prepared it to leave Metropolis, intending to hide it in the uninhabited Arctic. Clark, meanwhile, was en route to the Seychelles to intercept another isolated Kryptonian vessel.
Back at the Department of Defense's top combat command center, the electronic virus had been neutralized. Every screen now displayed clear feeds from the battle site. General Swanwick exhaled a long, relieved breath when he saw Zod's body collapse.
"General Zod is dead," he said, his voice heavy with relief. He turned to the staff who had been monitoring the situation through the night, shaking his head. "But our work isn't finished. Immediately deploy electronic reconnaissance planes to the scene, particularly around that ship. It may hold vital information."
Orders given, the electronic reconnaissance planes lifted off. Simultaneously, the Kryptonian ship, under Adrian's control, vanished into the sky toward the Arctic.
As the reconnaissance planes approached Metropolis, disaster struck. Before they could fully identify the threat, they were hit by an unknown projectile. Engines flamed, alarms blared, and the planes plummeted from the sky.
General Swanwick watched the destruction unfold on the command room screens, disbelief etched on his face.
"Twelve million-dollar reconnaissance planes… just like that, gone," he muttered, shaking his head.
He turned toward the staff, frustration and caution in his voice. "What is this? A warning from those two superhumans?"
"Perhaps," replied one of the female technicians, her eyes still glued to the screen. "Maybe they don't want us interfering." She couldn't hide a hint of admiration. Even from a distance, she felt impressed by Adrian and Clark's display of power.
Swanwick allowed a faint smile despite the tension. "At least for now, they've protected us. Send a recovery team for the downed planes, and report it as a 'flight malfunction.'"
The technician smiled, nodding, but Swanwick noticed immediately. "Captain, what are you smiling at?"
"Nothing," she replied lightly, "I just think they're very impressive." Her eyes returned to the large screen, watching Adrian and Clark standing amid the wreckage.
"One is Homelander," she said quietly, "and the other… he has an 'S' on his chest. Why don't we call him Superman?"
A quiet determination settled over the command center. Though the battle was over, the world had just glimpsed the arrival of something far greater than itself. Adrian held Rachel gently.
Clark straightened, brushing debris from his suit, his gaze meeting Adrian's.
===
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