Earth-717: Iron Maiden Vol 2
Chapter 10: Full Frontal Assault
Flying through the night sky and over the frosted mountains of Colorado, Rhodes was at the front of a large, aerial convoy. The SHIELD helicarrier was hovering at the edge of the mountain range, and the convoy was flying away from it, towards the geographical marker that Janice had placed at Tasha's location.
Rhodes had since gotten used to flying the armour, and was leading the way. He had an Iron Maiden Mark Three suit, which was packed up into a transportable cube form, strapped to his back. Behind him were three SHIELD Quinjets, and behind them were six United States Armed Forces attack helicopters, all carrying a squad of soldiers.
Fury was standing in the helicarrier's command centre, watching the convoy head off towards the AIM base. Standing next to him was an older man with greying hair, a meticulously square jaw, and a general's uniform.
"How long?" asked Fury.
"Colonel Rhodes and the convoy will reach the base within three minutes at current speed, Director," said Janice. "The base's defenses are unknown, but the force that we have managed to put together is quite formidable."
The man behind Fury grumbled.
"You don't even know what you're sending my men in to, Fury!" yelled Ryker.
"General . . . ."
"We should be searching for the Hulk, not wasting our time rescuing pampered party girls. What would the Council say about this?"
"They wouldn't say anything, General, because this isn't just about Stark. You think the Council would want to hear back from Ellis saying they didn't bother going after the woman who tried to kill him earlier today?"
Ryker growled under his breath, knowing that Fury had a point he could not refute.
"We take care of this," said Fury, "and we get back to business."
"We better."
The AIM base was built into the side of one of the larger mountains in the area, overlooking a pristine, frozen lake, a large blanket of frosted trees, and fellow mountains in all directions. The frontal segment consisted of a mostly flat wall, with multiple transparent glass sections. The only major entrance point was a rectangular docking bay, from which the shuttles entered and departed.
Rhodes saw an incoming call come in on his heads-up display.
"Rhodey?"
"I hear you, Pepper."
"Bring her home."
"I will."
As the convoy flew within range of the base, two defense towers emerged from the rock of the mountain that the base was implanted within. The towers were equipped with anti-air cannons, which unleashed a barrage of weapon fire towards the approaching force. Rhodes' heads-up display scanned the cannons as the convoy drew closer.
"Anti-air defenses confirmed," said Janice. "Priority targets marked."
Rhodes boosted forward, flying under the cannon fire. The SHIELD Quinjets broke off their approach, flying in different directions to avoid being shot down. The helicopters followed suit, but not before one of them was shredded by the cannons. Natalia, who was flying one of the Quinjets, scowled as she was forced to break off her flight path.
"We can't get any closer with those cannons online, Colonel!"
"Leave it to me," answered Rhodes. "Janice . . . . let's see if this armour lives up to the name."
Flying between the visual range of the two cannons, Rhodes then hovered in place. He reached out with both arms, each one aimed at one of the cannons. Equipping a wrist rocket with both hands, he then fired them off simultaneously. Both cannons were destroyed in the same instant, reduced to heaps of smouldering metal.
"Priority targets confirmed destroyed," said Janice. "Convoy may proceed with attack formation."
Ryker's voice was then heard over the com channel.
"All convoy forces. This is General Ryker. You are authorized to use any and all means necessary to destroy that base and capture Sunset Bain. She has been declared United States public enemy number one, and our orders come straight from the oval office. She is to be taken alive. No exceptions. Aside from her . . . . destroy that base. I want nothing left but a smoking hole."
The convoy reformed, and continued the approach. Rhodes flew towards the hangar, swapping wrist modules on both arms from the rocket launchers to the chain guns. As he burst inside, he heard the alarm sound. He also saw that dozens of Risk Control troopers of all varieties were waiting from him, already setting up defensive positions within the hangar.
Two Risk Control engineers were setting down automated turrets, with a whole squad of snipers taking perched positions on a high balcony. Many of the standard assault troops were taking cover behind crates and parked shuttles. Steeling himself, Rhodes then aimed both of his wrist cannons forward and opened fire into the crowd.
He was only able to sustain his attack for a few seconds before he started dodging side to side to avoid the targeting lasers of the snipers and the streams of bullets from the turrets. Punching out a trooper near one of the shuttles, Rhodes then activated his shoulder cannon, which targeted and blasted three more troopers in quick succession, scoring successful headshots on all of them.
"Move forward!" yelled one of the Risk Control troops.
Reloading his weapons, Rhodes then burst up and over the shuttle as he continued to battle the legions of Risk Control soldiers. By this time, the SHIELD Quinjets had arrived, and they fired a synchronized salvo of missiles into the hangar. The resulting explosion annihilated ten Risk Control troopers and two of the parked shuttles.
One of the automated turrets targeted the closest Quinjet as it entered the hangar, and fired a missile in return. The missile struck the right wing of the Quinjet, which then crashed against the floor of the hangar. Natalia kicked open the cockpit latch of her jet and leaped out of it as more bullets and rockets collided with the downed craft. The two remaining Quinjets backed off as the attack helicopters started to arrive and unload, deploying squads of military troops.
The next few minutes were utter chaos, as Rhodes, Natalia and the armed forces fought a gruelling ground war with the Risk Control troopers. Rhodes used his shoulder cannon to destroy the remaining automated turrets. He also suppressed the snipers with a sheet of bullets from his chain guns, allowing the armed forces to press forward.
As the battle continued, the voice of a woman was heard over the loudspeaker.
"Attention! Attention! This facility is under attack. All science personnel, follow emergency evacuation procedures. Extract backups of all major project files before destroying local copies. All Risk Control operatives, delay the intruders at all costs. Casualty counts are not a concern."
Rhodes blasted away another Risk Control trooper as Natalia and a handful of soldiers made their way to him. The soldiers easily dispatched a squad of Risk Control troops who were entering the hangar from one of the nearby doors. The troopers continued to attack in a brazen, suicidal manner, seeking only to delay the invaders.
Once the hangar was clear, Rhodes looked at Natalia.
"I've got Tasha's location! You all head that way and take as much of the base as you can!"
Natalia nodded and led the soldiers down the right path as Rhodes flew towards the left.
Brandt hurriedly dashed into the laboratory chamber, shoving both of the double doors open as she entered. Sallis was there in his lab coat and full uniform, frantically typing on his computer. A couple of aides were packing up their belongings, ready to rush out of the room at a moment's notice. Brandt approached Sallis as a handful of Risk Control troopers entered the room behind her.
"Ted!" Brandt yelled, grabbing at Sallis' shoulder. "We've got to go!"
Sallis kept typing as a loading bar on his screen continued to fill up.
"Ted! Now!"
"Just one more moment to extract my data!" yelled Sallis. "Can't afford to lose it now! This is years of research, Ellie!"
The loading bar finished. Brandt looked at the screen and noted the data files that had been moved.
-ADVANCED IDEA MECHANICS-
-SENIOR RESEARCHER: DOCTOR THEODORE SALLIS-
-MAJOR PROJECT RESEARCH DATA: BIOLOGY & CHEMISTRY DIVISION-
-EXTREMIS PROJECT-
-TECHNOVORE PROJECT-
-PROJECT SULFUR-
-LOCAL COPIES DELETED-
Sallis then pulled the data drive out of the computer and placed it inside of a protective briefcase before turning to Brandt and the Risk Control troopers.
"Doctor Sallis," said one of the troops. "We are to escort you, Miss Brandt and your aides to the emergency evacuation area. A shuttle will be waiting for you there."
"Lead the way."
Sunset peered through the window on the control room, overlooking the Risk Control production floor. The fighting had spilled into that area, with the armed forces slowly but steadily exerting pressure on her Risk Control troops. Fuming to herself, she then turned around to see two troopers loading her fish tank from the wall onto a gurney.
"Get that tank to the evac area, now!"
"Yes, ma'am!" shouted the troopers in unison.
The two troopers started moving the gurney to the meeting room. Another trooper was standing next to Sunset as a personal guard. Sunset logged in to the central command terminal, which then displayed DeWitt.
"What's the evac status?"
"Burchill, Forson and I are all on board," answered DeWitt. "Still waiting on Sallis, Brandt and Hayward, but I've got confirmation they've extracted all major research data."
"Get word to UK headquarters. We need them ready for us when we arrive."
"Understood, ma'am."
Sunset groaned to herself as the video call ended. Watching the raging battle below her for a few seconds, she then turned to the trooper standing with her.
"Come with me. We need to get Stane before we leave."
The trooper nodded in understanding.
Wielding her beige, metallic wrist gauntlets, Natalia fired several shots at an incoming squad of Risk Control troopers, hitting three of them in the chest. She then performed a sideways cartwheel to get out of the line of sight of an automated turret that had just been placed by an engineer. The engineer then took out his shotgun and fired two shots at the conveyor belt she had taken cover behind.
The battle inside the Risk Control production floor was quickly getting out of hand. Both the military and the Risk Control forces had started to use copious amounts of explosives, with several of the squad leaders trading in their assault rifles for rocket launchers. Natalia cringed as two soldiers were blown into fleshy chunks by one of the rockets.
Peering over the conveyor belt, she saw two Risk Control snipers in position on a balcony overlooking the production floor. The first sniper fired a shot from her rifle, right through the heart of a soldier. The second sniper followed suit with a shot to the throat of another. Ducking back down, Natalia unfurled her sniper rifle from her back.
Readying herself, she then bounded up and took quick aim at the first sniper, firing a shot that blew apart the woman's skull. Natalia speedily swapped her aim to the second trooper, but was interrupted by a sword swinging down and slicing the rifle in half in her hands.
"Agh!"
Natalia was barely able to avoid being seriously injured by the sword strike, backflipping out of range. She then scowled upon seeing Yelena standing across from her, in her full tactical gear. Three Wraiths were standing behind her, all crouched with their swords drawn in battle ready poses. Yelena smirked at Natalia from behind her triple-optic stealth goggles.
"Yelena."
"Little Black Widow," said Yelena, breaking out a large smile. "Still slumming for SHIELD?"
"As if you do any less for AIM."
Yelena held up her sword and aimed it at Natalia.
"This ends, here and now," claimed Yelena. "By the end of today, there will be only one Widow left."
"You're right . . . . but it won't be you."
Natalia and Yelena both yelled as they charged at each other, with Yelena's Wraith squad ready to back up their leader. Feigning a high attack, Natalia then ducked under Yelena's overhead sword swing, rolling on the floor. Coming out of the roll, she pulled out her twin pistols, and jammed one of them against the chin of a Wraith before pulling the trigger.
A loud squeal of feedback from the Wraith's Protocol chip was heard as her head exploded.
"Urgh!"
Yelena twisted around and tried to kick at Natalia, who parried the blow. Natalia jumped backwards and fired off several shots from both pistols, but Yelena blocked them all with her sword. The two Wraiths moved forward and tried to slash at Natalia next, but she was too quick for their attacks.
Using her right leg to perform a high kick, she launched one of the Wraiths into the air. The second Wraith reached out to grapple Natalia, grabbing her by the shoulder. She tried to run Natalia through with her sword, but the spy moved so that the sword harmlessly cut through the air under her arm, before lowering her elbow down, cracking the bone in the Wraith's wrist.
Tossing the incapacitated Wraith behind her, Natalia was then forced to roll to the side to dodge multiple shots from Yelena's customized pistol. The final Wraith, having recovered from Natalia's kick, was then shot at by a soldier. She turned around responded with a horizontal slash, decapitating him completely.
Natalia fired a twin set of shots from her wrist gauntlets, gunning down the Wraith from behind. Yelena tried to shoot at her again with her pistol, but Natalia responded by launching her grappling hook, which dug into Yelena's shoulder, spilling blood on her white suit.
"Agh!"
Retracting the cable, Natalia was pulled towards Yelena, and she landed a double kick on her chest, whacking her away. Yelena rolled backwards with the attack as the hook was pulled out of her shoulder. Natalia landed on her feet, and made a beckoning gesture at Yelena, who had dropped her sword and was picking herself off the floor.
Infuriated, Yelena pulled out her combat knife and pounced towards her enemy.
Tasha grunted and continued to uselessly struggle against her chains as the sounds of shouting, explosions and gunfire seemed to draw closer to her. She had no idea who was attacking the base, or what they had to do with her, but she was still determined to use the opportunity to escape. She had been left alone by Sunset for almost ten minutes now, and no one else had entered or approached the medical room she was in.
Then the door exploded.
Knocking over the body of the dead Risk Control trooper that Sunset had shot, the fragmented pieces of the door scattered to the ground. Breathing in and out, Tasha felt both anticipation and trepidation as she waited for someone to enter through the smoke.
She then gasped upon seeing a grey, metallic armoured figure hovering into the room. The figure landed, before retracting the face plate.
"Well," started Rhodes, "look who it is. My favourite damsel in distress."
"I didn't built that," stated Tasha, seemingly unaware of what Rhodes had said.
"Really? I was hoping for a 'hardy har har', or maybe a 'wow, never heard that one before'."
"Of course you didn't build that suit, ma'am," said Janice, her voice filtering both through Tasha's sensor link and Rhodes' armour. "I did."
"You WHAT?!"
"Tasha, we really don't have the time," said Rhodes, as he reached forward and broke off the shackles on Tasha's wrists and ankles. "Short version: Janice built me a suit, called War Machine. SHIELD, the Army and I are here to break you out and get Sunset."
Rhodes grabbed the spare suit off of his back and handed it to Tasha.
"Now suit up and get moving."
Tasha raised an eyebrow at him, still stunned by seeing him in armour.
"We've got a villain to catch."