The prototype for Project Pegasus was a Wolf Fang III supersonic fighter that had been modified.
Compared with the American military's Eagle-series fighters and the Soviet Union's MiG fighters, the Howlett Group's aircraft, the Flying Shuttle, had a tremendous performance advantage over the weapons and equipment of the ordinary human world, thanks to its superior energy source and unique construction materials.
More than twenty meters long, its flattened, dark blue-black fuselage had the shape of a short-winged F-117 stealth fighter. Near the rear, its cylindrical engines bulged slightly.
Unlike aircraft powered by ordinary Tesseract energy, which produced only a simple icy-blue exhaust, the Light-Speed Engine's exhaust trail shone with a brilliant rainbow of colors.
As the prototype powered up, its engines spewed out a series of dazzling trails of light, and it shot into the sky with barely a sound.
The pilot, Carol Danvers, first circled repeatedly at the standard supersonic fighter speed of Mach 2, roaring freely over California. She steadily increased her speed, as if warming up the engine.
Even though Carol had flown the Howlett Group's supersonic aircraft many times over the past two months, she still couldn't resist falling in love with its smooth acceleration.
The advent of Anti-gravity Overload technology was especially significant. It allowed pilots to push far beyond the limits of their bodies and minds, raising their fighters' speeds closer to the levels theorized in research.
Hiss.
"Control base, the initial stratospheric tests at Mach 2 through Mach 5 for Pegasus are complete. Should I proceed with the next phase of testing?"
"Captain Danvers, please proceed with the near-Earth orbital flight test."
At the Project Pegasus ground control center at Edwards Air Force Base, Howard Stark watched the fighter's flight path and data on the monitors and calmly issued his orders to the