Disclaimer: I do not own any movies set up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars movies, cartoons, games, books, or comics. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with a commercial aim. It is not for sale or rent.

Phase 17:Unintended consequences

=SI=

Part 1

=SI=

SHIELD facility X

a former Canadian military research site
Northern Canada

After more than a week of brainstorming and tests with all available sensors, everyone concluded that vibranium was bullshit and that Wakanda's cloak broke physics as we knew them. Well, it at least twisted thermodynamics into a Gordian knot, then cut through it without a care in the world.

The Talon's heat sinks were bullshit as well. They took advantage of vibranium's insane properties to absorb a ridiculous amount of heat while sheathed in vibranium alloy casings to keep the crew compartment from turning into an oven. Second, they were designed so that through vibration, the damn things would dump parts of the built-up thermal energy into capacitors as electricity, significantly increasing their endurance. The heat sinks could handle the heat buildup from a flight, the cloaking system itself, and intense periods of combat for over a day before needing a few hours to cool down properly. Otherwise, components of the alloy might begin to break down, as well as the support systems that make the whole system.

Without the strain of the cloaking system, their endurance was even more ridiculous.

"My bet is on alien technology or assistance. It's the shields and cloaks and how the damn things work!" Victor waved his hands in agitation, and sparks danced over his fingers. "They are so far ahead from everything else in that ship; it's not even funny. The engines? We can have a cruder model without vibranium operational within years with moderate effort and investments! We are already working on multiple ways to get an Ion engine working!" Doom nodded at me.

"Navigation and sensors? They're excellent but nothing groundbreaking," Another voice joined us. It had a light unusual French accent, making sure you couldn't mistake its owner. Dr. Julius Montague was one of Dassault Aviation's best engineers and designers, who did a lot of work on upgrading their Rafales.

At a nearby table in the cafeteria, we had a bunch of people working on the F-35, which was supposed to enter limited mass production finally. Now, despite by all accounts being the best fighter outside Wakanda, it was still hilariously outclassed. Instead of the workhorse for NATO's air forces, the F-35 would be a stopgap until new technologies allowed for something much tougher, deadlier, and, ideally, literally invisible.

That is different from saying that many of the systems designed for the air force's love child were now useless. It was the development of the F-35 that put us close to many of the systems the Wakandan Talons, and Dragons took for granted, and we would keep refining and using them going forward.

"That's a big weakness of the cloak! You can't detect anything beyond visual range when it's engaged!" One of the people working on the F-35 pointed out. "It literally requires you to come into visual range of your target!"

"Those things are stealthy enough that they don't have to! As we saw, their sensors are also good enough that if they had integrated long-range missiles, they could have struck beyond the range we could effectively detect, much less engage them anyway!" That was one of the pilots here to evaluate and fly the Talon for our tests.

Needless to say, keeping the Princess as our only pilot was out of the question for all kinds of reasons. We needed her with us anyway, explaining things about Wakanda's science, not flying around, and having fun.

=SI=

After lunch, it was time for a regular brainstorming and debriefing session so we could all get our heads together and be on the same page regarding new developments. We were also to report to the powers that be what we learned and hammer the point why nuking Wakanda, unless necessary, would be inadvisable.

One of our regular contacts was Pamela Hawley, due to her official job as a British diplomat, which opened all kinds of doors for her. The rest of them rotated, depending on who was busy with what during our routine debriefing. The only constant was which countries had virtual representatives, not the individual people doing the representing.

We had US, Canada, and NATO officers from Europe, followed up by interested diplomats with high enough clearance to make sure their governments were informed on what was what. It smelled of paranoia, yet that was to be expected.

Due to my experience wrangling trained attack cats, as some put it, or well, crazy or not-so-crazy Sith, I ended up being the unofficial leader of the gathered scientists and engineers. My fame and uplift efforts earned me many green points with this crowd, which helped a lot in keeping them in line. Sadly, I had to spend nearly a third of my time playing manager of everyone in the facility. Not to mention what was needed to keep SI running smoothly in my absence. Only when all that was done could I dedicate time to glorious science properly.

That wasn't exactly a bad thing. Otherwise, slipping into some bad old habits would have been too easy.

Screens around the large conference room came to life, showing Generals, a few Colonels, and six diplomats led by Hawley.

"Mr. Stark, are you ready to begin?" Pamela asked.

I stood up and looked over the arguing people.

"We are," I nodded aloud. Most people had the courtesy to lower their voices. Expecting them to shut up before they heard something interesting was too much for this particular crowd. "We have been able to examine virtually all systems of the Talon, as well as take it mostly apart and then back together in a working order." That last point was necessary and not exactly easy, considering its vibranium armor. "Everything we've learned in the process backs our earlier conclusions. Vibranium is a game changer, yet there is not enough to base uplifting or protecting Earth on it. We can use it as a power multiplier, giving us limited access to technologies that would otherwise be out of reach for decades, if not longer. Through building, observing, and refining these technologies, we should be able to create inferior alternatives that do not rely on vibranium. We will then continue to improve said technologies as we advance in various scientific and engineering fields. I can't stress this enough if we are to put vibranium and vibranium-based technology to good use, we need intact production lines and, more importantly, the know-how of Wakanda's scientists and engineers. I am happy to say that most of their active military is useless to us. You can blow it up to your heart's content."

"That's good to know, Mr. Stark. There's the little problem of practically getting what we need," One of the Generals I wasn't familiar with pointed out.

"You can read the technical details in the briefing we will have ready for distribution later today," I agreed. "Now, practically speaking. We all agree that Wakanda's stealth and, to a lesser degree, shields are breaking our understanding of physics in various ways. We can not promise a viable way to target cloaked fighters in the short to medium term. After experimenting with the Talon's cloak, the best way to track them and prepare for possible attacks is to use souped-up weather radars with customized software to try and track the atmospheric disturbance created by their passage," I pointed at a cluster of radar development specialists.

"Most older weather radars, and many of the smaller ones, aren't going to be sensitive enough for the task at hand, and we will need custom-built software to try and track cloaked craft. Sensor fusion will be key there. Practically speaking, we might need an actual AI running calculations for real-time tracking," The leader of that clique explained and nodded at me.

"I don't have the time to build another AI. However, Jarvis will be eager to help if he is trusted with access to the relevant systems once they're in place. To actively defeat the Wakandan cloak, we might have to develop new types of sensors. We are still in the brainstorming stage on that point," I continued. "My recommendation is to try and neutralize the enemy fighters on the ground, don't attempt to meet them in the air or in a defensive posture. In that regard, we will soon finish our most critical work with the Talon. After that, having it at our disposal will be nice but not critical. I suggest using it to insert a commando team in one of Wakanda's airfields and steal as many fighters as possible before leveling the place with cruise missiles."

=SI=

Part 2

=SI=

Research station Alert/SHIELD facility Theta

Northern Canada

To the world at large, this place was supposed to be a mundane research facility interested in the weather and the effect of global climate change near the North Pole. For SHIELD, the Canadian and US military, the area was an excellent place for covert research facilities working on and testing cold weather equipment. As a bonus, due to all the state-of-the-art weather radars at Alert, it was a place where one could try tracking stealth aircraft by their passage through the atmosphere without outside factors interfering. The sheer remoteness of the site ensured the only people who went to it were researchers, support staff, and the logistics needed to keep them alive and reasonably comfortable in extreme weather conditions.

Those factors made the station an ideal location for testing advanced weather radars against Wakandan stealth and a good enough remote site to get a few operatives trained on how to fly a Talon or a Dragon.

Even in SHIELD, there were only so many operatives who were both trained and experienced in direct action and, at the same time, were already passable pilots. The numbers were even lower across the regular special forces outfits. They tended to rely on air force support for transportation, after all.

However, between SHIELD's reach and the number of countries Wakanda managed to infuriate, finding the people with the necessary skills was more than possible. Narrowing them down to be trustworthy enough for the operation suggested by Stark was harder.

Five of SHIELD's best, a handful of the US Army's Delta detachment, two SAS operatives, and a member of the French Foreign Legion arrived within hours of each other. On the way there, many of them wondered how they fucked up by the numbers sufficiently to be deployed on the North Pole.

Their first guess that Station Alert was more than the first appearance suggested was seeing a well-concealed hangar practically invisible from the sky and, more importantly, its contents – an F-22 and F-35 surrounded by maintenance personnel. The second clue materialized shortly after the ten of them settled up and gathered in a small cafeteria for a briefing and a cup of hot coffee or tea.

For Natasha Romanoff, the place felt too much like certain training facilities in Siberia for comfort. That she would have to work with personnel she knew nothing about didn't fill her with confidence either. At least, there were a few other SHIELD operatives, and she knew their capabilities.

John Garrett and his protegee Ward were legends in SHIELD. The only issue was that since a mission went to hell in Bosnia, Garrett had become one of SHIELD's spymasters instead of a more active field agent. In contrast, Rumlow and Ward were rising stars among the organization's direct action units. From what Natasha could see of the other people that joined them, they were experienced special forces operatives, making Garrett stand out even more.

"Welcome to the middle of nowhere, or at least the next best place," a rough voice rasped, announcing the arrival of another person. He was a tall, pale-skinned man whose face looked like he lost a meeting with a blender. At a closer look, an experienced eye could notice traces of a recent massive facial reconstruction that was still healing.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" One of the American operatives asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I am Lieutenant Schloss from SWORD and will be handling briefing and logistics for our little exercise."

"Schloss? Really, LT?" The same man asked.

"Certain people have an odd sense of humor, like our troubled kid over here who can't keep his mouth shut," The Lieutenant shook his head in mock disappointment.

A glance around confirmed Natasha wasn't the only one out of the loop. Yet the other Americans apparently had an idea who this 'Schloss' character was supposed to be.

"Keeping mum unless ordered is not in my job description, sir." The Delta Force soldier shrugged with a wide smile.

Now, two odd people were standing out among them, great.

"I am painfully aware of that. It's a good thing no one expects you to keep your mouth shut. We expect you to fly and, if necessary, neutralize a few threats, which is why we are here," Schloss pulled out a small remote from one of the pockets on his heavy winter clothes and switched a projector built into the ceiling on, before getting out of his jacket. "Congratulations, you've all been volunteered for a potentially suicidal mission because of your credentials. You are all veteran direct action specialists who, for one reason or another, can pilot modern fighters, which is the important part."

The gathered people looked at each other. That was not what any one of them expected to hear.

"First, the reason why we're here is simple; you will participate in a brief training program on how to fly a Wakandan fighter. Second, you will participate in the planning of an asset recovery operation. The target will be one of several Wakandan secondary air force facilities, holding no more than a squadron of aircraft and a limited number of personnel. The purpose of the exercise is to get in, using one of their stealth craft, and steal any fighters present at the facility at the time of the raid…."

Needless to say, the Lieutenant had everyone's undivided attention.

=SI=

Kyumvi
Kenya

N'Jeru Basa, a Warrior of the Border Tribe, didn't enjoy his latest visit to Kenya. The last time he was in the country, he pretended to be the bodyguard of a supposed wealthy businessman working with the Commander of the Kenyan military unit stationed at Eldored. While Kenya and Wakanda didn't share a ground border, they were across each other, with only Lake Victoria separating them. That was a good enough reason for the Border Tribe and the War Dogs to be interested in the region long before Kenya became a thing. Thus, parts of the country's military were subverted back in the day of their original formation, ensuring those closest to Wakanda's border would not be loyal to Nairobi.

As of late, those underhanded actions proved to be extremely helpful. Otherwise, Wakanda would have found itself surrounded by enemies. Instead, it had a buffer of foreign forces ready to fight for it. They had already proved themselves in the fight to take over Kenya's and Tanzania's capitals.

That was all very good, yet it didn't explain why N'Jeru and his unit were beyond Nairobi, getting shot at in the small town of Kyumvi. Spirits, the place was little more than a village! If it weren't the main road to Mobassa passing through it, the area would be of no interest.

Unfortunately, for N'Jeru, the Mobassa road did pass through this place. More importantly, many Kenyan military units that refused to back their African brothers either returned to that port city to recover or moved deeper into the country to contest it. The War Dogs were supposed to do something about the General in charge of the traitors still loyal to the old regime, yet that was cold comfort. The young warrior was beginning to learn that many locals didn't see him and his comrades as liberators who came to help them remove the shackles of colonial oppression.

Case in point – a large group of armed civilians rallied around members of the local police, and a handful of soldiers holed in the hotel across the street.

N'Jeru took cover at the corner of the most significant building of the local market and used his shield to protect himself from stray bullets further.

"Ungrateful bastards!" Basa shouted in the general direction of the hotel.

The enemy answered with more gunfire.

"Youth and stupidity. It's such a charming combination," An old, tired voice grumbled behind the warrior.

N'Jeru stepped away from the corner and rapidly turned around, using his cloak and shield to protect himself. The vibranium tip of his energy spear pointed at the armored chest of a large, broad man with graying eyebrows.

"Commander!" N'Jeru stumbled to salute. Doing so was easier said than done when you held a spear and energy shield in your hands.

Distant shots and explosions made the young Warrior twitch and feel even more exposed, even if now he had a few walls behind the closest enemies and himself. Bright lights lit up the sky. Vibranium weapons cracked from above, and explosions shook the ground.

"We are in the process of bringing the war to their homes to protect Wakanda. That is not a reason for the average local to embrace us with open hands," The veteran warrior explained.

A group of warriors in stealth suits materialized from the shadows behind the Commander.

"Your unit will feint a direct assault on that hotel, focusing the enemy's attention on the front. Meanwhile, we will flank them and breach into the building to clean it the hard way."

"What about air support?" N'Jeru asked. Their fighters were supposed to reduce such strong points, so the warriors wouldn't have to storm them.

"Our air force is tasked to capacity tonight."

More figures emerged from the shadows, revealing the rest of Basa's unit, gathered together by the Commander's people.

"We are moving in flanking positions now. Attack in five minutes."

=SI=

Wakanda strikes again! As of last night, cargo ships off Africa's coasts announced they were under attack before being silenced or failed to respond to desperate attempts to contact them. The current estimate is that over thirty cargo vessels of all types are currently out of contact and suspected to be crippled or destroyed by Wakandan fighters.

Associated Press