Chapter 10: The Stealth Response Recovery Jet Prototype

AN: again sorry about that cut off, but it was getting long. This chapter is more about other stuff. I did change things a smidge from the outline, but not a lot. You'll see what I mean.

On to the fic

"Barnes? BARNES?!" Howard shouted into the phone. He looked frantic and a look at everyone else in the room stated that those that were awake were the same. "Just hold on, Sarge, we'll be there as fast as we can." Howard hung up the phone and after a minute of deep breathing, he stood up and squared his shoulders. "We're leaving, now!" Howard's tone brooks no argument as he gathered up his bag and grabbed an emergency med kit from inside his safe.

Steven quickly went about rousing the sleeping Commandoes and explaining the situation. Waking Dugan was an experience that he did not think he would ever do again, for the old soldier still woke up swinging, just like in the war. Steven had to duck back as Dum Dum threw out his arm in a wild haymaker.

"What? What is it," he exclaimed groggily as he pulled himself up off the lounge. Steven sent the man a sour look as he hauled the man to his feet. Once Dugan finally whipped the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes, he realized it was Steven that woke him. "Kid, what's up? Is it Bucky?" Steven turned and started waking the others.

"We're leaving," he said once they were sufficiently roused.

"What happened, kid?" Gabe asked, and Steven simply waked over to his father and helped Nelyo get him up from the floor.

"Ada's waters broke," Steven said, "we're leaving, now!" he turned to Stark and saw the man gathering up some sort of keys. "Where are we going, Stark?" he asked, as the inventor marched out of the office.

"Meet me in the launch bay," Howard said as he headed toward medical, "I need to grab something first." And with that Steven watched Howard's retreating form disappear from view. Steven looked back at the others and gave them his best 'get moving' glare.

"Well, what are you waitin' for, and invitation," Dugan said, "You heard the man. We head for the launch bays." Steven smirked and made his way toward the elevators.

The trip down to the flight launch bays was short, thankfully, and before they knew it they found Stark opening the bay doors above them in the control room on the second level.

The launch bay was massive, and was what you would expect of a secret organization run by Howard Stark. The launch bays consisted of a two level system of walk ways and cat walks all totaling up to over one hundred feet in height. It looked like what a ten story building would look like gutted from the inside. The main level was filled with SHIELD planes and aircraft of all types, and their support vehicles. The second level was above that and consisted of hanging catwalks and control panels all leading to various doors and control rooms. The main launch control was the one Howard was in, and it consisted of a large set of triple paned picture windows with heat and blast resistant glass; not to mention it was bullet proof as well. In the room were several control panels with dials and levers that controlled most of the bay doors and systems. Howard was currently opening the main bay doors on the ceiling.

Steven looked about at the launch bay and realized this was also a testing and development bay for new aircraft. It explained the absolutely massive size and also the need for the bay doors. He did a light sweep of the bay with his eyes before settling on Howard as he took an elevator back down. Steven put his hands on his hips and waited for Howard to explain why they were in the launch bay and not heading for a helicopter on the roof.

"Alright, Howard," Steven said, "explain; Now!" Stark simply smirked, and not answering pulled them towards the suspiciously empty area in the middle of the bay. He pulled out the device that Steven had thought was initially a set of keys but was in fact a type of remote. Howard held out the remote and pressed a button on it.

"Behold," he said, "the latest development in SHIELD's tech, the Stealth Response and Recovery jet." As he spoke the empty space before them shimmered and Steven saw a series of small squares outlined by blue light before the illusion dissolved away leaving him with the finished product of his designs and hard work. "The QuinJet," Howard said proudly. Steven grinned as he examined the finished prototype.

"Howard," he said, all the while grinning like a fool, "it's perfect!" Steven admired the smooth clean lines that imitated the form of a hawk in flight, with its broad wings that were not quite delta wings and its unique engine and cockpit placement. Steven approached the jet and ducked under the wings to examine them, and sure enough found the sliding panels for the rotor engines. "How long has it been finished?" he asked after he moved to admire the cockpit. He quickly found the pivot point where the cockpit tilted down for vertical landing.

"A few weeks," Howard said. "I've been waiting for a good time to test it."

"What is it," Gabe asked.

"It's a prototype, next generation stealth jet," Steven answered for Howard, "capable of Mach 5 speeds, fixed with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities as well as Retro Reflection panels. Her small size in comparison to her speed makes her the perfect stealth response vehicle. She also been affixed with traditional stealth tech skin, making her all but invisible to radar, and with the paneling she's nigh undetectable by visible means. The rotor engines make her incredibly maneuverable and quiet, whereas the traditional jet engines are what give her the raw speed. She's the only small jet in existence that can carry a large payload of troops as well as armaments in her cargo hold. The expanded hull," Steven explained as he placed his hand on the wings, "extends into the wing, giving extra space for cargo, and the shape of the wing makes her very nimble for her large size. The only jet that can move like she can is the SR 71 Blackbird, and it's far bigger." Steven smiled proudly before he continued.

"It's fixed with advanced hardware and computers, making flight easy and less hands on. The computers monitor the systems and the stealth and can even preform advanced autopilot functions. This plane is also equipped with an AI, capable of learning and strategizing as well as handling the flight systems in autopilot. She has an infirmary and armory, fully stocked with the latest in arms and medical technology." Steven looked up proudly and backed away to get the full view. "She's the latest and most advanced jet in existence, and fifty years ahead of her time." Howard pouted at the fact that Steven got to show off but then added to Steven's specs.

"It's also capable of flight at full blackout conditions and, in our case, whiteout as well," he added. "The advanced radar and visual scanning combined with infrared night vision built into the windscreen on the cockpit, make it perfect for low visibility flight." Howard preened as the others oohed and ahhed over his latest invention.

"That's really cool," Dugan said, "hey, Steven?" Steven turned around and tilted his head in question.

"Yeah," he asked.

"How'd you know all that stuff about it," Dugan asked. Steven smiled wide and proudly.

"I designed it," he said. Eyebrows rose up to hairlines at that statement, and Steven laughed. "I'd been working on it for a few years, and when I came back to give Howard those files about a year ago, I gave him the designs and specks. I didn't think you'd be finished this quickly, though." Howard flushed and pulled at his tie.

"I may have compartmentalized some of the research and development to the SHIELD R&D department. I didn't give them everything," he added quickly when he saw Steven's murderous face. "I just gave them the shape of the plane and the engines. I had my own company work on the rotors and electrical, while I did the computer work personally. Well, mostly," he added, remembering Tony's delight at working on such and advanced computer and AI development. Steven's glare became halfhearted when he saw Tony's jubilance at working with his dad on something he enjoyed.

"Why are you showing it to us now," Gabe asked. Howard smirked and turned at knowing smile on Steven.

"Because I need a good test pilot to give it a trial run," Howard said. "Then I remembered how good you were with tech, and I thought that since it was your design and your tech that developed it, I thought you might like to be the first test pilot."

Steven slowly began to smile a crooked smirk that pulled wide on his face. He looked back over his shoulder at the jet with a thoughtful smirk and a twinkle in his eyes. When he looked back at Howard the look on his face was akin to that of that cat that had gotten the cream.

"Stark," he said with fondness, "you know me so well. Come on." He motioned for them to follow. Stark pressed another button on the remote and the back hatch opened with a light mechanical whir, as the hydraulics slowly lowered the ramp.

When they entered the jet it had the feel of a small troop transport, with all the seats lined up along the walls. There was also a table that lit up when Steven touched it, and turned out to be a holographic-imager and computer interface. There were more seats that swiveled around and a pair of cockpit chairs that could turn a full 360 for maneuverability, and ease of egress. There was a row of parachutes on the rack behind the row of chairs, and several see-through computer screens on mechanical arms that could be moved up or down at will. The screens were so thin that they were practically just glass.

As jets go it was comfortable looking and clean, as well as something that might have stepped out of a science fiction movie. Steven smirked and placed a hand on the control panel. Within seconds the cockpit controls and systems all lit up as everything began to boot up. Steven smiled like a giddy school boy and strapped himself into the pilot harness.

"You'd better all strap in," he said, while turning around and pressing some buttons and flipping switches. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride. I don't care how advanced this system is, snow and wind do not like planes." Steven turned around and just as he was about to flip the switch to close the ramp he heard the distinctive sound of heels on concrete. Steven smiled and turns his chair just in time to see Peggy come running towards the jet.

"If you think you're going up in this without me," she said once she was inside. She huffed and straightened her jacket and brushed her skirt, then fixed Howard with a scathing glare. "You've got another thing coming, Howard. You're crazy, you know that." Howard crossed his arms smugly and shrugged, all the while a gloating smile on his face. Steven chuckled and turned the chair around, hitting the cargo hatch switch on the way.

"Maybe," he said, "but I'm not flying this thing, now, am I?" Peggy fixed him with a confused look before Howard turned to show Steven in the pilot seat. She fixed Howard with a glare before reluctantly strapping in beside Howard in the front seats near the computer panel.

Steven did quick work turning on the systems before charging the engines, and turning the rotors on for a vertical takeoff. With one last switch flipped, Steven took the yoke in his hands and slowly pulled up. The jet responded perfectly as he rose off the concrete with all the grace of a bird of prey. The front section tilted just as designed so that he could see what he was doing before he leveled out and finally lifted out of the launch bay. Steven grinned and pressed a button on the controls to close the bay doors, and the system responded; closing the massive doors just as Steven wanted. Steven then turned on the in cockpit voice command system and booted up the AI.

"Hello, Suzie," Steven said and Howard raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Hello, sir," a perfectly human sounding female voice answered in an Irish accent. "How may I be of service?" Steven grinned before switching over commands to her.

"If you could turn on the infrared filter on the screen and imager," he asked, "that would be nice." Suzie did as asked and the cockpit screen, which had once been white, was now showing a composite image of infrared and radar images. All in all it looked incredibly detailed and very real.

"Infrared, and radar composite complete," she answered. "There appears to be extremely low visibility due to weather. Do you wish for me to monitor the weather system as well?" Steven looked up at the camera and smiled.

"That would be lovely, Suzie," he answered, "And keep an eye on the local radar. We don't want anyone knowing you're out here tonight. No hacking, just monitor. This is just a test run, Suzie, no need to go overboard."

"Very well, sir," Suzie replied. Steven smiled even wider as he opened the throttle and pushed the jet into normal flight.

"Thank you, Suzie," Steven said, "you're a lifesaver."

"I endeavor to do so, sir," Suzie said. She sounded prim and proper but Steven could detect a pleased note to the tone of her voice and knew that she just had to be preening at the praise. Suzie quickly took control of the stealth systems just as she was designed and monitored the radar and radio traffic as well. All in all, she was working flawlessly for her first time out, and wondered if Tony had been working with her on her personality subroutines. Steven turned to Stark with a grin and chuckled.

"Stark," he said, "you and that kid of yours did a bang up job. Her coding is perfect, and the jet," Steven sighed, a twinkle of joy in his eyes for the first time today. "Howard, you just might lose your prototype. I love it." Steven turned his attention back to the controls and steered the jet toward Brooklyn. No matter how much he wanted to go out and really test the plane, they needed to get to his Ada. Steven let out the engines as much as he dared, and prayed they were not too late.

TBC…

End notes: again sorry, but it was getting long. Next chapter the big event happens, and we have a guest appearance from a special person. I am not telling. So guess.