Earth-717: Iron Maiden Vol 1
Chapter 7: New Directions
Tasha's muscles ached as she sat down on the chair. It had fine, purple cushions, which matched the contours of her body as she placed herself on it. While the cushions attempted to relax and soothe her bruised body, she found herself unable to fully accept the comforts of the chair. She winced as she adjusted her position, trying to find a comfortable way to sit. After a few seconds of struggle, she found a slightly more amicable position and kept it.
Looking forward, she saw the large press group in front of her. Around two hundred individuals were in the crowd, all staring intently at the stage. Behind Tasha was a podium, but no one was standing at it. She looked to her left to see Happy standing there. He had his hands behind his back, but he took a moment to look at Tasha and smile. She nodded and looked forward as she saw Stane in the back of the room, speaking to Pepper and Rhodes. After a few seconds, he broke off from the group and walked around the crowd towards her. Arriving on the stage, Stane stood up to the podium and turned on the microphone.
"Members of the press. I would like to thank all of you for coming this morning. My name is Obadiah Stane, and I am here to officially announce the wonderful news that Tasha Stark has indeed been recovered from captivity."
The press group applauded for a few seconds. Tasha looked at the front row to see Christian there, with an unimpressed look on his face. As the clapping died, down, Stane nodded.
"As you can probably imagine, Ms. Stark has not recovered enough to stand at the podium, but she does want to address the public and make a statement."
Stane stood down from the podium and pulled up a chair to sit down next to Tasha. He hunched over and put his elbows on his knees, holding his hands together. He looked at her and smiled.
"Whenever you're ready."
Tasha nodded at Stane, returning his smile. She then looked over at Happy and beckoned him with a head gesture. Happy nodded and walked over to her. He pulled his hands to his front, revealing that he was holding a McDonald's cup. Holding the straw to her mouth, Happy held the cup steady as she grabbed the straw with her lips and sipped. After she was done, Happy took the cup back and returned to his post.
Allowing the Coke to gestate in her mouth for a few seconds, she felt the cold, nourishing liquid providing refreshment to her aching throat. Gulping it down, she closed her eyes for a moment. As she reopened them, she felt the gaze of everyone in the room on her at once.
"I, uh . . . ."
Pepper's cheeks quivered. Rhodes breathed in.
"Um . . . . I'm not . . . ."
Tasha sighed.
"You know . . . . if you asked me, three weeks ago, if I had . . . . if I had everything figured out, I'd have said yes."
Stane looked at Tasha and narrowed his eyes.
"I . . . . I thought that . . . . my whole life was done. Set. I was in a specific spot, you know . . . . and I was comfortable there . . . . I had it all set. All set."
The breathing in the room slowed.
"Then, something like this . . . . this . . . . it changes things, you know? When I was . . . . my father, he, uh . . . . he always focused on, what people thought of him . . . . his company . . . . and, when you experience things, and then they're over . . . . it makes you think."
Tasha felt moisture fill up her eyes.
"Makes you think about . . . . what you've done, what you're going to do . . . . where you're going. What kind of mark you're leaving on the world. I saw . . . . I saw my work, my technology . . . . be used as weapons in the hands of terrorists. I saw what I'd created . . . . be twisted and turned into a force for evil . . . . evil that I manufactured."
Tasha wiped her mouth.
"And I . . . . I've decided that I want to leave the world with something . . . . something more. More than just rockets and bullets."
One of the reporters put up his hand. Tasha nodded at him.
"Yeah."
"Ms. Stark, you were gone for three weeks. What happened in China?"
"I was pushed to the brink. I . . . . I was cornered, and I seriously had to consider . . . . if my life was over. I barely escaped alive, and I realized that I can no longer be part of a system of war and death that takes no responsibility for its actions."
Christian raised an eyebrow.
"So, with that said . . . . I am effectively shutting down the weapons division of Stark Enterprises."
The crowd erupted into conversation and shouting as Stane jerked his head to look at Tasha, his eyes widened. Pepper gasped as Rhodes frowned.
"Absolutely not."
Tasha walked down the hallway, cutting through the air with each step. Happy was following her, as Stane and Pepper followed him.
"I'm not talking about this, Obadiah," said Tasha. "I've made my decision."
"Hey!"
Stane reached out and grabbed Tasha's arm, turning her around. Happy glared at him, but didn't move. Pepper stood next to Stane.
"You're not thinking straight," said Stane.
"Yes, I am."
"The hell you are!"
Stane exhaled and took a step back as he closed his eyes for a moment. He then looked directly at Tasha.
"Tasha, look, I know you went through a lot over there . . . ."
"Oby, I saw people . . . . good people . . . . murdered by the very weapons I designed. We're not helping people by building these things. I'm not going to be a part of that cycle of violence anymore."
"Well what happens to the thousands of people who have their lives riding on the success of this company? Weapons manufacturing is what we do."
"Not anymore."
Tasha turned around, tears in her eyes as she closed them. Happy folded his arms and sighed. Stane stood back, frowning. Pepper walked forward and put her hand on Tasha's shoulders.
"Tasha . . . ."
Tasha didn't respond.
"I know you don't want to hurt people . . . . but Obadiah has a fair point," said Pepper. "If we don't make weapons, what will we do? Obadiah is your partner, and you're just cutting him out of the decision completely."
Tasha clenched her fists, her eyes still closed.
"Happy . . . . Pepper . . . . give us a minute."
Pepper sighed as she beckoned Happy. The two of them opened a nearby door and entered. As Happy was closing the door, he looked at Tasha.
"Come get us when you're ready," said Happy.
Tasha waited a few seconds, her eyes still closed. She then turned around and opened them, looking at Stane. Her eyes were murky with tears.
"Tasha . . . ."
"Obadiah . . . . I can't do this anymore. I can't build things that hurt people. I need to do something better than this."
"Tasha . . . . without weapons, Stark Enterprises is going to fall apart. This whole company that we built together . . . . sure, you inherited it from your dad, but . . . . I mean, look at all we've accomplished! We built the greatest technology company in history . . . . and you're going to throw it all away!"
Tasha felt the tears fall down her face.
"You said that we were going to be okay . . . . you said we were going to take care of each other. But Tasha . . . . Stark Enterprises is all I have."
Stane looked down at the floor, his hands in his pockets. Tasha walked up to him and pulled him in for a hug.
"You have me."
Stane relented and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Tasha's shoulders. After embracing for a minute, Tasha let go and turned to knock on the door where Happy and Pepper were. As she spoke to them, Stane said something under his breath that only he could hear.
"Do I?"
The glow of the large arc reactor filled the room with light, meaning that the internal ceiling lights didn't have to be turned on. Tasha looked at the prototype, which was the size of a small room. Several scientists in laboratory gear were walking around it, interacting with various computer terminals. Stane was behind her, along with Happy and Pepper. One of the scientists broke off from the group and walked up to her.
"Ms. Stark. Welcome to Project Pegasus."
The man held out his hand. Tasha shook it.
"My name is Doctor Franklin Hall. I'm the head of this facility."
"I noticed," said Tasha. "Canadian, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I can tell. You're too polite for San Francisco."
Hall and Tasha chuckled. Some of the other scientists glared at them.
"I want you to tell me about your recent developments," said Tasha. "I understand you've been able to stabilize the energy syphoning procedure."
"Indeed we have," replied Hall.
Hall pointed up at the arc reactor.
"Previous models of the arc reactor were able to create their own energy, but their syphoning was inactive due to being unable to properly channel and store the collected energy. We needed some sort of catalyst . . . . a material agent within the reactor that could store the syphoned energy for use."
"And you found one?"
"Yes. Come with me."
Hall walked into a nearby office, followed by Tasha, Happy, Pepper and Stane. The office was suitably messy, with papers strewn about, multiple empty soda cans on the table, and various fast food bags in the waste bin. Hall activated the computer and beckoned the others to look at the screen.
"This looks . . . . cozy," said Pepper.
"While we were searching for materials to aid in our geothermal extraction project, we managed to come across this."
Tasha and the others looked at the screen to see an image of a small piece of glowing, violet ore. Tasha and Stane's eyes widened.
"That's vibranium!" they said in unison.
Tasha and Stane looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Hall, who was grinning. Happy and Pepper looked at each other and shrugged.
"Indeed it is," said Hall. "We managed to get a hold of a small amount of raw vibranium. It's never been processed. Using the vibranium, we were able to craft a syphon engine within the arc reactor. Vibranium's unique ability to absorb any kind of impact, energy or radiation meant that it was the perfect way to properly channel and store the syphoned energy."
"Incredible," said Tasha. "Did you use all of it?"
"No," replied Hall. "We still have some raw vibranium left."
Tasha smirked.
"I want to show you something, Doctor Hall."
Tasha undid the top two buttons of her shirt, and opened it to reveal the arc reactor. Hall stood back as his jaw dropped.
"That's . . . . a miniaturized arc reactor! How did you . . . ."
"It's amazing what you can come up with in the direst of situations," said Tasha. "It's keeping me alive. I want your vibranium to upgrade it for a special project of mine."
"Of course, of course," said Hall. "Your money made all of this possible."
Stane narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Tasha and then back at Hall. Tasha buttoned her shirt back up.
"Also . . . . I'm moving your arc reactor to Stark Tower."
"What?"
"I'm airlifting it back to LA. I want to personally head the next phase of its development."
"But what about us?" asked Hall.
"You're still in the loop, Doctor," said Tasha. "You're just going to be temporarily relocated to my tower. After this phase, I'll move the arc reactor back to Project Pegasus. Trust me, I won't be interrupting you for more than a month."
Hall was silent for a moment before shrugging.
"Alright, I can work with that."
"Excellent," said Tasha. "The choppers will be here soon, along with transportation for you and your team. I'll let Ms. Potts here talk to you about the logistics."
Tasha turned and smiled at Stane. He nodded, but did not return the smile. Pepper began talking to Hall. As Tasha walked out of the room with Happy, Stane checked his phone.
Killian walked into the laboratory, followed by Ellen Brandt. She was a younger woman, with short, brown hair and a demure face. As the laboratory doors automatically opened to allow them in, they saw a man in a red hazmat suit typing at a terminal, with his back to them. The hazmat suit had a large crimson canister on the back, with two valves that glowed vibrant green.
"Doctor," said Killian.
The man stood up from his terminal and turned around. The hazmat suit had a domed, plastic facial section, with a faint hexagonal pattern cut into it. Behind the plastic was a face which glowed with the same green energy as the valves on his back. His thin eyes had no pupils, and his bones glowed through his skin. An internal gas mask was placed on his mouth. His breathing was heavy and laboured.
"Killian," said the man, his voice muffled by the gas mask.
"It's time, doctor," said Killian. "We've received word from our green asset that the arc reactor is being moved to Stark Tower. We can't afford to lose any more time. I want you to lead the strike team and obtain the prototype."
The man narrowed his eyes and did not respond for a few seconds.
"Will Ms. Brandt be accompanying me?"
"Yes," said Brandt. "I'll be your lieutenant for this operation."
The man sneered.
"Good," he said. "I'll be ready."
"We're counting on you, Chen Lu," said Killian. "Get it done."
Killian turned and walked out of the room, followed by Brandt. Chen turned back to his terminal and continued typing.