Chapter 8 – War Machine Part 2, 2011
Rhodey walked through the reception lobby of the Triskelion, smiling kindly at the freckle-y girl behind the desk and continuing down towards the lifts. He whistled a tune while the lift rose to the correct floor. He was resigned to his plan; steal the War Machine armour and kill Tony Stark so he couldn't shut down the system or build another.
The doors slid open and a man Rhodey recognised vaguely stepped inside.
"Colonel, isn't today your day off?" he asked, faking an interest.
"I came in to see Bethany Cabe, Agent...Coulson," Rhodey replied.
Coulson hesitated before nodding in understanding, either remembering who she was, or Rhodey's history with her, not that he could know that, it was pre-S.H.I.E.L.D. history. The doors slid open again on the next floor up, and Rhodey saluted Coulson before stepping out.
Coulson just waved the salute off as the doors slid shut.
Rhodey stood there for a moment, unsure of what could have been on Coulson's mind, bit realised he didn't care, and turned to walk down the corridor, looking at the pictures on the wall as he walked, hands behind his back.
He stopped when he saw his father's face smiling back at him and sighed, suddenly having doubts about his plan. But then he saw his own face, grinning from the helmet of the War Machine armour and he felt that same surge of want, the undeniable need for that power. He wanted it, and now it was well within his grasp.
He turned and continued walking down the corridor until he reached a sealed door that required a key-code to enter.
He knew what was on the other side well, for he'd spent a lot of his time in there. Just inside the door was another door, just to the left, where Rhodey would change from his uniform into the skin-tight, rather uncomfortable suit which helped relay his neural functions to the suit, to fire the guns at his own will rather than sending a command through Y.A.R.V.I.S., which infuriated him to the point where only frustrated cries could convey his emotions. In the centre of the large circular room was the podium where the armour assembly arms stood. Computers lined one quarter of the large circular wall, giving various readouts from the machinery, the armour, and Rhodey. There was a lift in the centre that, once Rhodey was suited up, would lift the armour, also turning it 180 degrees around, into the next floor, which would outfit the armour with whatever weapons had been deemed necessary for the mission.
Rhodey's favourite setup was the minigun on his shoulder and blasters on his gauntlets. He didn't mind what was on his other shoulder, either the missiles or another minigun.
He typed in his personal code, and stepped into the room. "Greetings, Colonel James Rhodes." Said the robotic voice of Y.A.R.V.I.S., wired into the room. He stepped inside and waited for the door to close, and locked it from the inside, then disabled communication to the outside world while drawing the weapon Widow had given him. He stepped into the main chamber, and saw Cabe at the computers, of all things, checking her Facebook page.
With a clear of his throat, she turned and smiled at him, "Hey Rhodey," she said and stood up. But she stopped when she saw the look on his face. The blank look. "Rhodey?" she asked.
Almost in slow motion, Rhodey brought the weapon up and fired off two shots at Bethany. They hit her in the stomach and she went down instantly, her arms wrapped over her stomach as she bled out. Her colleague jumped up and leapt towards Rhodey, who brought the gun around and fired two more shots at him, catching him on the shoulder and in the chest, killing him instantly.
Rhodey laughed. He didn't say anything, he just laughed. "Y.A.R.V.I.S.?" he asked.
"Good evening, Colonel Rhodes."
"Activate."
With that command the arms began to mobilise, and Rhodey disrobed, quickly putting on the skin-tight suit, and got onto the podium and stepped into the big metal boots. The arms lowered and built the legs up from his heels. While the suit was assembled around him, he just grinned wider and wider. He looked over and the computer readouts updated as the suit was enabled, his vital signs came up on the readers. Once the faceplate had dropped over his eyes, he lifted his left gauntlet and fired a charged repulsor ray at the computers, blowing them up.
"Y.A.R.V.I.S? Enabled weapons layout E-1." He said, this was his favourite setup.
The podium rose to the next floor, and a second set of arms came out of the walls to place the weapons on his shoulders and gauntlets.
The podium came back down and Rhodey stepped off it, turning to the wall, which was supposed to have slid open, and then the lights went out. He looked around in confusion. "Y.A.R.V.I.S. what happened?"
"The power has been cut." Y.A.R.V.I.S. informed him.
"Damnit," Rhodey muttered and turned back to the unopened door. He winked and a crosshair appeared on the HUD, he aimed at the door and activated the missiles, then promptly blew the door out of the wall and took off with a powerful kick of the thrusters, turning to head out over the North Atlantic Ocean.
