It wasn't just Tony's side facing trouble—Blake was in the same situation. Out of the corner of his eye, Blake saw over a dozen suits of armor flying into the sky, clutching unidentified metal components.
Meanwhile, all the suits of armor around Blake, whether they'd run out of bullets or were still firing at him, had their chest reactors flashing frantically with red light.
"Tony! Get out of here!" Blake shouted frantically into his earpiece.
Tony wanted nothing more than to leave, but at least seven or eight suits of armor had completely surrounded him. He was frantically using his thrusters to try to break free from their grip.
"I want to leave too, but it seems like too many of these suits are fans of mine. How about you go first?"
"I promise you, I'm in way more trouble than you!"
Blake said softly, looking at the twenty or so suits of armor that had encircled him.
...
When Tony first saw Ivan Vanko, he had Jarvis immediately notify Rhodey. Rhodey, usually a straightforward guy, had decided to bide his time. He waited until Justin Hammer had fully modified the armor systems and completed the weapon upgrades before making his move and arresting Hammer.
Along with the message, Jarvis also sent Rhodey a full video recording of Tony descending via the elevator in Hammer Industries, all the way to his confrontation with Ivan Vanko. The evidence was overwhelming. Even if Justin Hammer implicated Senator Stern and Frances in a larger conspiracy, there was no escaping the charge of colluding with terrorists.
The massive explosion at the Monaco hospital had already been classified by the international community as a terrorist act, regardless of the motives behind it.
Unfortunately, just as Justin Hammer was being escorted out of the base, a sniper's bullet ended his life. The shooter, dressed in the base's military uniform, casually climbed into a fighter jet and flew away after taking the shot. Within a minute, the jet had vanished from the base's radar.
In the office of Alexander Pierce, at the World Security Council:
Senator Stern, once so arrogant and confident in front of Justin Hammer, was now standing before Alexander Pierce's desk, trembling.
Buzz-buzz~~
The phone on Pierce's desk began vibrating.
Stern abruptly lifted his head, staring intently at the phone on the desk.
Alexander Pierce quickly picked up the phone, responding with a simple
"Yes."
Then, raising his head, he said to Stern, "Hammer is dead. I've cleaned up your mess. If it weren't for the fact that your position in the Senate is still somewhat useful to us, the next head to explode would've been yours."
Despite Pierce's menacing tone, Stern let out a deep breath of relief, almost collapsing on the spot.
"I have no idea what was going through your stupid head when you decided to collaborate with Frances. Did you really think that you two alone could manipulate Project Insight? Did you seriously believe that if I were gone, you'd take over as the leader of North America? Foolish!"
Pierce picked up a folder from his desk and viciously threw it at Stern's forehead.
Stern didn't dare to flinch.
"Get out! And remember, expedite the push for Project Insight in the Senate, or else..."
Pierce left the threat unfinished.
Stern quickly nodded in agreement and hurried out of the room.
...
In a secluded estate on the outskirts of New York, three super soldiers who narrowly survived because of Blake sat blankly in their chairs. Nearby, medics used small knives to cut open their wounds and tweezers to extract bullets lodged deep in their muscles and bones. Despite this, their faces remained expressionless, as if the knives were cutting through someone else's flesh.
Francis sat on an antique sofa, watching the three emotionless super soldiers. His mind replayed the story they had just told about their encounter with Blake and Tony Stark.
"It seems that Blake is more interesting than the armor. Such incredible combat power and defense—could this really be the result of the super-soldier serum? You've piqued my interest!"
...
Just before the explosion at Hammer Tower, Tony had managed to pull Blake out of the building. Using his new weapon, an ultra-powerful laser, Tony had cut through all the enemy suits of armor in the hallway. They escaped just in time to see Blake break through the encirclement, wielding a suit of armor as a weapon. The two managed to flee the tower before it exploded.
Unfortunately, their main target, Ivan Vanko, still got away—along with a significant number of Justin Hammer's suits of armor. From the metal components some of the suits were carrying, Blake quickly realized that Vanko had likely built a specialized suit of armor for himself.
Tony recognized the pattern—it was similar to what he had done in the caves of Afghanistan, piecing together seemingly unrelated components to create a complete suit of armor.
Based on the super soldiers they encountered, it seemed clear that Vanko had been coerced into building reactors and suits of armor for someone else. Ironically, Blake and Tony's intrusion had given him the perfect opportunity to escape.
"It's just too bad Hammer was assassinated before we could extract more information from him. Otherwise, we might've learned who's really behind this. Justin Hammer didn't have the capability to create five super soldiers on his own."
Black Widow had already reported the situation to Nick Fury. Only Blake knew the real culprit was Hydra, though he suspected it wasn't Alexander Pierce. In the movies, Pierce was always portrayed as very cautious and patient.
With Zola's Insight Project, Pierce wouldn't risk revealing himself so early. However, the assassination of Hammer did resemble Pierce's style—only someone with his influence could kill a man inside a U.S. military base and leave undetected.
If it weren't for the fact that Vanko was still hiding and secretly building more suits of armor, and with Loki lurking in the shadows watching Thor, Blake might have already sought out the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director. It seemed that once these two situations were resolved, it would be time to bring Captain America out of the shadows and confront their old enemy, Hydra.
"There's nothing unfortunate about it. Ivan Vanko's target is me. He can't simply leave with all those suits of armor without killing me first. As long as I make myself known, he'll come out of hiding. I'll contact Rhodey—we can use the Stark Expo to give them a platform to showcase the military's strength."
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