In Marvel With Unique Skill Great Sage (MCU) [108]

As the first faint light of dawn began to streak the sky, Colonel Rhodey slowly blinked his eyes open, finding himself lying on a comfortable sofa.

Tony Stark walked past, casually munching on a chocolate bar. He paused and lightly patted Rhodey's confused face.

"Hey, you're awake?"

"Wha... How did I get here?" Rhodey mumbled, his voice thick with sleep and confusion. "Wasn't I... Wasn't I just...?"

He looked around the familiar living room dazedly, his eyes still unfocused. Everything felt incredibly unreal, dreamlike. He clearly remembered sneaking out, putting on the Mark II armor, taking off into the night sky... and then being relentlessly hunted by those terrifying red lasers.

How did I end up back inside the villa? On the couch?

He let out a heavy sigh, relief washing over him. Damn it, he thought, that was one hell of a nightmare! Thank god.

"Oh, by the way," Stark continued casually, shattering Rhodey's relief, "you were joyriding up there for quite a while last night. Used up a fair bit of the Mark II's power cells. Plus, you triggered Lemu's fancy laser defense system next door. That thing eats up a ton of electricity, you know."

Stark grinned. "I'll send you the bill for the energy costs later. Make sure you pay up."

!!!

It wasn't a dream?!

Rhodey groaned loudly and smacked himself hard on the forehead with the palm of his hand. He flopped back dramatically onto the sofa cushions, staring blankly at the ceiling.

I'm such an idiot! A complete idiot! he thought miserably. All I knew was that I could pilot the Mark II... I never stopped to think about how many hidden controls or secret backdoors Lemu probably built into everything he touches!

….

Meanwhile, at Lemu's luxurious seaside villa:

Standing on the huge 'H' landing platform in front of his house, Lemu surveyed his newest acquisitions with a satisfied smile. Lined up before him were the thirty-two captured Hammer Drones, arranged neatly in four rows of eight.

Okay, sure, Hammer's tech was pretty garbage compared to his own standards. But hey, free stuff is free stuff, right? And altogether, these things were probably worth close to a billion dollars on the open market. Can't complain about that.

The thirty-two machines were divided into the four military branches they were designed for:

• Army: Equipped with auto-targeting cannons.

• Navy: Armed with anti-aircraft missiles.

• Air Force & Marines: Primarily equipped with heavy machine guns.

A faint, distinct smell of fresh machine oil still hung in the air around them.

Even though the technology wasn't great and the materials used were likely subpar, Lemu figured with a few... modifications, they might actually turn out to be surprisingly useful.

He frowned slightly, circling the rows of drones...

The names were boring, though. And the designs... well, they were functional, maybe, but they lacked a certain... spark. A cool factor. That special pika feeling.

Lemu paced back and forth, circling the silent machines, tapping his chin thoughtfully. A few interesting ideas started bubbling up.

"Great Sage," he instructed mentally, "take notes for me."

<Affirmative. Recording.>

He pointed to the first group of eight, the former Air Force models. "Okay, these eight... Rename them 'Super-1'. Redesign their appearance to look more like menacing, giant, red-eyed flies. Rip out the machine guns. Focus on reinforcing their arm armor and boosting their flight speed significantly. Turn them into high-altitude close-combat specialists."

He moved to the next group, the Marine drones. "These ones... rename them 'Tiga'. Give them a cool red and blue paint job. Stick a prominent red warning light right on the chest. And make sure they have that pointy fin thing on the head... Oh, wait! Even better idea: replace the red light with a compact tactical nuclear device. And install a full row of high-energy laser emitters along each forearm."

He gestured to the third group, the Army models. "This set... rename them 'Titan Pilots'. Paint them in jungle camouflage patterns. Add grappling hooks..." He paused, thinking. "For weapons, give them standard MP5 submachine guns and combat knives. They'll be special operations models, good for missions in dense jungle environments."

Can't really fly freely in a thick forest, too easy to crash into trees, he reasoned. Sometimes swinging around with grappling hooks is more practical, and quieter too, no bright engine flares giving away their position. As for why the original Army drones could fly in the first place... who knows what Ivan Vanko was thinking?

Finally, Lemu turned his attention to the last group, the Navy models, easily identifiable by the bulky honeycomb missile launchers mounted on their shoulders.

He tapped his chin with his index finger, lost in thought for a moment. Missiles... big... clunky... Hmm... Got it!

"This last group... let's change them into 'Ruin Guards'!"

He elaborated, "Lengthen their arms and seriously boost their carrying capacity. They can handle engineering and rescue tasks. Move the missile launchers inside the main body for better protection, allowing them to still provide long-range fire support. As for flight... yeah, keep the flight capability."

"For the appearance," he continued, getting excited now, "give them a rugged brown paint scheme. Make them cyclops-style one big central eye. Put a high-powered laser emitter inside that single eye. And use 3D metal printing to create structures resembling tree branches on their shoulders... give it that kind of ancient, overgrown... no, wait, sprouting look! Yeah, symbolizing rescue and new life!"

He stepped back, mentally picturing the redesigned drones. A wide grin spread across his face.

Now that's more like it! Way cooler, right?! Much more pika!

….

Meanwhile, back at Stark Industries headquarters, a major press conference was underway.

Pepper Potts sat elegantly at the main position on the stage, holding prepared notes. Her smile was poised, her demeanor graceful and professional. She faced the large crowd of media reporters with complete calm, radiating the confident air of a capable CEO.

The main reason for the press conference was to answer the flood of questions about the military's aggressive actions and the shocking terrorist incident involving Hammer Industries.

"...Yes, that's correct," Pepper stated clearly into the microphone. "All armor based on the Mark technology is the exclusive property of Stark Industries. The military forcibly seized one of our prototypes."

"Should any accidents occur due to the military's use of this technology, Stark Industries will not accept any responsibility. Furthermore," she added firmly, "any benefits or advantages the military gains from using our proprietary technology rightfully belong to Stark Industries..."