Chapter 79: Project Insight Pt. 2
A/N: The remaining members of the WSC have opinions. How cute!
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“Neutralize them!”
“Scuttle the Carriers!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, each of those Helicarriers represents the GDP of a small country!”
As the Council Members all start to speak at once, Tony doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to, because JARVIS cuts in again a moment later, his voice shutting them all up as he delivers more bad news.
“The entirety of the STRIKE Team are also HYDRA, along with twenty percent of the personnel currently in the Triskelion.”
Better than it was the last time around, from what Tony knew. Last time, HYDRA had all of their eggs in a row and had not only had full command of the three original Project Insight Helicarriers, but also had the majority of people in Mission Control and throughout the Triskelion itself.
However, this time around, Tony had made them stretch themselves too thin. Pierce’s branch of HYDRA was the biggest in the world thanks to their secret infiltration of SHIELD and the veneer of legitimacy that SHIELD provided. The other branches were all a lot smaller, even Gideon Malick’s. As a result, the other branches didn’t have the manpower to even each crew an Insight Helicarrier, not with how big Tony had made them.
Instead, Pierce and the SHIELD branch of HYDRA had needed to provide additional personnel to IN-04, IN-05, and IN-06 on top of fully crewing IN-01, IN-02, and IN-03. The end result was, HYDRA only had a skeleton crew on the ground, so to speak.
It shouldn’t have been a problem for their grand designs in the long run, as once the six Helicarriers were all suborbital, they would have had the ability to kill literally anyone who disagreed with them before that person even knew they were being targeted. It was the perfect plan… if one didn’t understand that it was all one massive setup by Tony fucking Stark.
Still, where JARVIS’ words inspire relief in Tony, they provoke fear in the rest of the WSC.
“What? The STRIKE Team? Aren’t they the pilots for the Iron Legion?!”
“If they find out Pierce is dead, they can be here to blast us all to kingdom come in moments!”
“Do something, Stark!”
Shooting a withering glare over his shoulder at that, which at least has Councilman Yen looking a little regretful of his demand, Tony sighs and looks back to JARVIS.
“They’re right J. Can you backdoor the suits and take them all down?”
“I can Sir, but not without casualties. It would appear Arnim Zola made modifications. I cannot take them down nonlethally.”
A load of bullshit of course, but when Tony looks back to the other Council Members meaningfully, they’re lapping it up.
“Do it! They’re HYDRA, we don’t worry about arresting terrorists!”
Thank you Councilman Singh for setting that lovely precedent while Councilman Yen and Councilwoman Hawley both nod along with you. Tony turns back to the console.
“Do it J. And start alerting SHIELD operatives to the danger. Make sure the SHIELD Academy is forewarned and start getting people in place to take down the HYDRA operatives still in the Triskelion. Orders come straight from the World Security Council on this.”
None of the living Council Members try to argue those instructions.
“The Iron Legion has been dealt with, Sir. All members of the STRIKE Team are neutralized. Orders are being sent to loyal SHIELD operatives worldwide. Defenses are being deployed to take care of all known HYDRA terrorists.”
Still, none of the other members of the WSC have any objections to that. Some of what JARVIS is doing shows up on the large screen for effect, and when Tony glances at Singh, Yen, and Hawley, all of them look a mixture of relieved and gratified. Still, it can’t last forever.
“What about the Helicarriers, Stark?”
“We can’t leave state of the art technology in the hands of HYDRA.”
“I assume your AI is the reason they haven’t been able to fire yet, but how much longer until that changes?”
Tony smiles a grim smile, before glancing at the screen.
“J?”
“As I mentioned before Sir, the Insight Helicarriers are locked down. I have complete control of the systems. However, there have been some attempts to break free. I do not believe I can keep the crews imprisoned forever. While they won’t be able to use the Helicarriers to wreak havoc, there will likely be breaches and escapes within the hour.”
“What are you waiting for, Stark?!”
Turning to face the other members of the World Security Council, Tony crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at Councilman Singh.
“Consensus, Councilman. I’m waiting for consensus. JARVIS and I might have control, but last I checked, I’m of equal rank with the three of you. Which means we need to come to a decision… all of us. Can’t really put it to a vote since we might wind up deadlocked… so let’s talk it out.”
As he speaks, he watches realization dawn on the other three people in the room. They’re not just talking about taking down HYDRA or neutralizing terrorists. They’re talking about killing prisoners en masse.
“… What are our options, Stark?”
Tony hums, tilting his head to the side.
“We could contact them. Try to negotiate a surrender.”
None of the remaining Council Members like that. Councilwoman Hawley puts their shared feelings to words.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
Tony tries not to smile too hard. Really, he does.
“The other option is what’s already been suggested. We neutralize them. All of them.”
He watches Singh, Yen, and Hawley all exchange glances at that before looking back at him.
“How would that work, exactly?”
Moving his head back and forth, he makes a show of thinking over the problem…
“Well… technically the Insight Helicarriers ARE rated for space. Right now, they’re suborbital. But we could send them up out of our atmosphere and put them in orbit around the planet. Of course, the issue is… they’re not airtight. Not by a long shot. I designed the Helicarriers themselves to be tough as nails and more armored than the Space Shuttle or anything else we’ve put into space over the last fifty years… so the damage to the ships themselves would be minimal. However, the people…”
Yeah, now he has their attention. As they all look at him, Tony turns back around again, to speak directly to JARVIS.
“J, run a simulation for me please, show us what would happen.”
“Of course, Sir.”
On the large wall-sized monitor, a somewhat… clinical representation of what Tony is suggesting takes place. The six Helicarriers, represented by glowing blue outlines and filled with little red dots that are supposed to represent their crews, fly up out of the upper bounds of Earth’s atmosphere. Then, the doors and what not are opened all over the currently sealed ships. The windows also don’t survive the transition, with the reinforced plexiglass shattering in some places.
The red dots all flow out of the ships, floating off into space one and all. A very… sanitized representation of every last member of the Insight Crews, as well as the vast majority of HYDRA operatives left on Planet Earth, losing their lives to the cold hard vacuum of space.
Silence fills the Council Room for a moment, and then…
“Do it.”
Tony raises an eyebrow as Councilman Singh is the first to speak. His eyes have a hint of wildness to them, even as the Indian Man clenches his hands into shaking fists at his sides.
“Do it, Stark.”
Slowly, Tony pans his eyes to Councilman Yen and Councilwoman Hawley. Yen’s lips are so thin they’re beginning to lose color, but the Chinese Man nevertheless sharply nods his head, giving his own tacit assent. As for Councilwoman Hawley…
“We almost lost everything and we didn’t even realize we’d invited the rot right into our midst. Even if we could take those aboard the Insight Helicarriers prisoner, what happens after? Trials? Jail time? Perhaps… but how many will just wind up in Arnim Zola’s position, shackled to a desk because they have some value that we decide we can’t live without? No… better to wipe the slate clean.”
Well said, Councilwoman Hawley. Giving her a nod, giving them all a nod, Tony turns back around.
“Do it, JARVIS.”
“As you say, Sir.”
They all stand in silence as the bloody work is carried out. Or rather… so the others think. The truth is… JARVIS took the Insight Helicarriers up into orbit twenty minutes ago, when Pierce breathed his last breath. No need to give any of the oh so brilliant minds behind HYDRA a chance to figure anything out. The moment that they found out something was wrong was the moment they started rising.
Of course, JARVIS will have already modified all possible satellite data, radar, and sensors to show otherwise. As far as the remaining members of the World Security Council are concerned, they made this decision together, all four of them. But in reality… letting HYDRA live was never in the cards. Tony wasn’t entirely sure what he would have done if they’d shot down his ‘suggestion’.
To be fair, he was certain they wouldn’t. He was confident that after everything they’d been through today, the three would be fresh out of mercy. If they hadn’t been… he would have had to kill them all as well and pin it on HYDRA. Tony is glad he didn’t have to do that. He’s glad not to have their blood on his hands. He’s especially glad to have them at his side to provide legitimacy for both this and everything that will have to come next.
“Orbit achieved for all six Insight Helicarriers, Sir. Venting completed. The Helicarriers have been emptied of all personnel and are still in working order. Awaiting your command.”
Tony doesn’t look to his peers this time. He immediately speaks up.
“Shut down the targeting algorithm, J. Who knows what Zola did to it.”
Only then does he turn to the others.
“I hope we’re all in agreement that utilizing Project Insight as it was originally intended, to target potential threats before they became threats, is not in any of our best interests. Especially when it was HYDRA who was ultimately dictating who and what constituted a threat.”
There are grimaces and slow nods all around at that. Tony hums, tilting his head to the side again.
“That said, the Helicarriers remain operational. And while we might not have the crews for them… JARVIS can pilot them all quite effectively. Shouldn’t take up too much of his attention, I shouldn’t think. Which means they’re still a weapon in our arsenal going forward.”
“Operating the Insight Helicarriers is currently occupying two percent of my processing power, Sir.”
They both knew that was a bold faced lie. It was way less than two percent. But the WSC eats that right up, even as Tony sees the realization in all of their eyes… that his personally loyal AI is now in control of the most powerful weapons in the world. To be fair, that was already true. Project Insight has some big guns, but they aren’t even the biggest guns that JARVIS can call on at this point. After all, his baby boy has been mining the Solar System for years now. To say nothing of magic.
Better to distract them all just a little bit though, Tony figures. Cracking a grin, he leans back against the desk behind him.
“Well… that was a close one, eh?”
His humor, likely due to the adrenaline coursing through their veins, is infectious. It starts with Hawley cracking first, a smile spreading across her lips. Then, Yen chuckles. Finally, Singh throws his head back and just laughs. None of them call him out on it though. They are, all of them… lucky to be alive. Or so the three of them figure. For them, this was the most terrifying day of their lives.
For Tony, it was just the next step in his plans coming to fruition.
Still, he lets them get it out of their systems, until finally Councilwoman Hawley looks him right in the eye.
“The world owes you a great debt, Mr. Stark. One that I’m not sure it could ever begin to repay.”
Tony just scoffs at that, waving a hand dismissively.
“Just protecting my interests, really. Considering how much of the place I already own and all that.”
It’s one of those jokes that really isn’t a joke. Tony Stark as well as Stark Industries does own a not-insignificant amount of the planet at this point. Officially, still under ten percent. Unofficially… well, that’s not important.
While the three politicians in front of him all chuckle good-naturedly at his ‘joke’, Councilman Singh shakes his head.
“Even still, Stark. Without you and your AI, HYDRA would have won. And I can only speak for myself, but I would most certainly be dead. If I’d had to look at into that smug prick’s eyes while he offered me the chains so I could shackle myself and everyone I cared about to his vision of the world… I would most certainly have chosen death.”
Singh spits on the ground at that. Not quite directly at Pierce’s corpse, but close enough to make his feelings towards the man abundantly clear. Finally, Councilman Yen sighs.
“To think SHIELD could be compromised to this extent right under our noses. Our mission as the World Security Council is to provide oversight. Instead, we were all fooled. Is there anything worth salvaging at this point? Does SHIELD even deserve to continue existing?”
Singh and Hawley look contemplative at Yen’s words. Tony, meanwhile, finds himself remembering what had happened last time by this point. He still doesn’t fully understand Rogers’ reasoning. The man had decided SHIELD was rotten to the core and had to go. Fine. But releasing all of SHIELD and HYDRA’s files onto the net for literally anyone to see? Innocent people had died as a result of that decision. The exact death count had never been tabulated. Rogers had never even been taken to task. In retrospect, that was the first sign that the man was going to go too far. It was a sign of things to come, of what would wind up happening just a couple of years later with the Accords.
… None of that would happen now though. Tony wouldn’t let it. Turning back around, he looks to the monitor.
“JARVIS?”
Immediately, scenes begin playing out on the monitor from all across the world. The SHIELD Academy, the Hub, even beneath their feet at the Triskelion itself. Some fire fights here and there. Some situations where JARVIS had to intervene with an empty Iron Legion Suit to take down HYDRA before they could win. But all across the wall-sized monitor are scenes not of defeat… but of victory.
“Sir, at this time I can report complete success across the board. In every fight between loyal SHIELD Agents and HYDRA operatives, SHIELD has come out on top. Likewise, HYDRA has been nearly eradicated. Based on the files I was able to purloin from Zola when I neutralized him, we have taken down ninety-nine percent of all HYDRA personnel, worldwide. The remaining one percent are being hunted as we speak.”
Tony doesn’t hide the grin this time. He lets it spread from ear to ear as he looks back to the other Council Members.
“I’d say you have your answer, Councilman. SHIELD might be crippled, but that doesn’t mean we take it out back and shoot it in the head. Not when the four of us are still here to get it all back on track. A little bit of time and a whole lot of healing and I think we can make SHIELD what it was always meant to be.”
There’s a speculative look on Councilman Singh’s face as he smirks slightly.
“Healing like whatever you used to heal from having a two inch hole burnt through your sternum, Stark?”
Looking down at the hole in his Armani Suit and the blemish free skin underneath, Tony chuckles and gives them all a carefree grin.
“Well… we certainly wouldn’t want the World Security Council to be as unprotected as it was today ever again, right? I’d be more than happy to discuss more personal security with the three of you… once we’ve righted the ship and cleaned up this mess.”
He knows in that moment he has them. A basic version of Extremis for them and perhaps their closest family members, and they’ll be wrapped around his finger and ready to do his bidding until the day they die. Well, so long as he doesn’t declare himself HYDRA and overtly try to take over the world, anyways. They still have their principles, after all.
And yet… principles could be so very flexible. The three remaining members of the World Security Council are all very intelligent people. They have to realize that Tony Stark has effectively become their nominal leader, on top of controlling the most powerful non-nuclear arsenal that the world has ever seen.
Ah, but he’s the man who was willing to sacrifice himself to save New York City from being nuked. He’s the man who stopped Pierce and Zola from taking over the world today. Put simply… he’s their hero.
Tony knows he’s not a hero. And he thinks deep down inside, they all know he’s not one either. But the world is built on little white lies at the end of the day. And better the devil you know then the one you don’t.
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A/N: And thus does HYDRA die and Tony ascend as a hero atop it's corpse. The WSC and SHIELD will be more powerful than ever... under his benevolent guidance.