Ultimate Iron Man

The lab was eerily silent again, save for the hum of the Arc Reactor sitting on its pedestal. Tony stood with his arms crossed, staring at the suit's final diagnostics on the holographic display. Everything had functioned perfectly during the tests, but he wasn't ready to take it out into the field just yet.

"Never hurts to double-check," he muttered, rubbing his chin.

His mind was already racing with ideas for further improvements. The neural link was solid, but he could refine the reaction times. The weapons? Deadly, but there was always room for efficiency. His instinct told him not to rush.

He needed more control. More precision. If he was going to do this, he had to do it right without a mistake.

"Alright, Hermes," Tony said, turning back to his workstation. "Let's optimize the neural link first."

The AI responded immediately. "Understood, sir. Running additional simulations to refine response times."

A new series of holograms popped up, showing real-time data on Tony's brain-to-suit reaction speed. The neural uplink already functioned at a near-instantaneous level, but he wanted instant—no lag, no delay, just thought and action. He tweaked the connection between his brain and the suit's Legion AI, streamlining the nanite processing to cut down response time by another 8 milliseconds.

"Better," Tony murmured. "Not perfect, but better."

Next, he focused on the weapons. Though they'd performed well during the test, he added a few tweaks:

Repulsor Variability: A modular charge system that could instantly shift between precision shots, area blasts, and EMP pulses.

Cloaking Mode: By redistributing nanites across the surface, the suit could temporarily bend light around it, rendering Tony nearly invisible.

Enhanced Drones: The nanite swarm could now create autonomous micro-drones capable of reconnaissance, sabotage, or serving as decoys.

Silent Mode: Thrusters and internal mechanisms could operate at ultra-low noise levels for stealth missions.

Next came the defense part. Tony double-checked and triple-checked everything and found tiny loopholes which he fixed. He made countermeasures for any unexpected disruptions, like EMPs or cyberattacks, and put Elena in charge of the countermeasure part. With Legion in charge of the nanites, Hermes taking care of the main hub and Elena in charge of defense countermeasures, nothing can hack or mess with his suit anymore.

By the time he was satisfied, three days had passed in a blur of coding, engineering, and testing. Tony barely left the lab, running on coffee and sandwiches, and his usual stubborn refusal to sleep.

Then, finally, it was time.

He leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. The suit was ready.

"Alright, Legion," he said, addressing the AI within the suit. "Everything checks out?"

"Diagnostics confirm all systems are fully operational," Legion responded in its calm, synthesized voice.

"Good. Hermes, search for current war zones or active terrorist organizations. Something… messy."

"Searching," Hermes replied. The room dimmed slightly as multiple holographic displays popped up, showcasing various conflict zones around the globe. Red markers indicated terrorist hotspots, and one caught Tony's eye.

"Afghanistan," The AI said, zooming in on the map.

A region rife with insurgent activity. Recent intelligence reports detailed a terrorist organization who were dealing with illegal weapons and drugs, some reports claimed that they were also dealing with illegal organ trade and child slaves. At the present, they had taken over a small town and were using it as a base of operations. Civilians were being held hostage. The local authorities were powerless, and the military had no interest in intervening. And it's only a matter of time before they kill the civilians, cut out their organs, and sell them and the kids will be forced to do things that will scar their minds and souls.

Tony clenched his jaw.

"These bastards..."

He tapped the display, pulling up satellite footage of the base. Thirty-three armed combatants were spread across a fortified compound. They had armored vehicles, heavy weapons, and security systems monitoring the area.

"Alright," Tony said, standing up. "Tonight will be their last night in the world."

[Night]

Tony activated the suit. The nanites swarmed over him, forming the stealth black armor in an instant. He flexed his fingers, feeling the power humming beneath his skin.

"Hermes, scramble all networks in a 50-mile radius around Malibu," Tony commanded. "I don't want anyone tracking this."

"Scrambling now, sir," Hermes confirmed. "All systems temporarily disabled."

With a pulse of energy, Tony shot into the night sky, his thrusters silent as he accelerated. He followed the map on his HUD. It was his first mission and a big one at that. Plus, flying this high in the sky versus flying inside the training room was totally different. He didn't feel fear but rather the thrill of excitement.

He flew high above the clouds. The stars gleamed overhead, and the moon cast a soft glow on the ocean. Tony glanced back once at his city, then he turned forward and rocketed into the darkness.

The flight lasted less than two hours. He slowed his speed and descended from the clouds, cloaking the suit with invisibility mode.

He looked down at the town. Legion brought up the targets on his HUD, marking each individual target with a red outline in real-time. They were scattered, patrolling the perimeter, guarding the buildings, and sitting in watchtowers. There were also some jammers around the area, but low level tech like that was useless against Tony's suit.

"Where are the hostages?" He asked.

Legion immediately responded. "In the center of the town, sir. Seventy civilians, all in a single building."

"Copy that, let's get started then. Time to take these assholes out."

He deployed the micro-drones from his back. The small, nearly invisible machines spread out, scanning the compound and relaying their data to him.

Thirty enemies marked.

"Showtime," Tony whispered as he took the shots.

In a single thought, the drones fired in perfect synchronization.

Thirty kills, instant execution.

Tony scanned the area. Three targets remained... high-value individuals who were coordinating operations.

He landed silently in the middle of the compound.

The remaining three had no idea death was already breathing down their necks.

Tony went into the room where they were sleeping. "Sweet dreams," He muttered. He lifted his hand, and in an instant, zapped all three with a high-voltage, non-lethal electric shock. Their bodies twitched before going completely limp.

He activated the nanites, forming reinforced restraints around the unconscious terrorists.

With the remaining threats neutralized, Tony turned his attention to the hostages. He activated the suit's thermal imaging, scanning the building where they were being held. Seventy civilians—men, women, and children, huddled together in fear. The room was dimly lit, and from what he could tell, they were bound with zip ties, some of them gagged.

He walked to the building and saw the locked door. He extended his hand as the nanites shifted forming a plasma cutter that burned through the metal doors like a hot knife through butter. As the doors opened, he saw the terrified faces of the civilians staring at the door.

He deactivated his cloaking mode and his armor became visible.

"Legion, cut their restrains," Tony ordered. The drones flew into the building, cutting their restraints. The hostages were surprised... Well, more like scared and just stayed there. Some of the older ones crawled before the kids. Even when they were afraid of the man in the armor, they still covered the young ones, thinking that the man in the armor would kill the kids.

"Who are you?" One of the older men asked, and he was using his own body to shield his daughter, who was still scared but brave enough to look at the man in the armor.

"Ironman." The armored man responded.

And after that, there was silence. Everyone was looking at him like he was the most craziest man they'd ever seen in their entire life.

"What are you waiting for? Go on, get out of here before more of them arrive," Ironman said. "There are trucks and cars, go."

The civilians hesitated. They were looking at each other, not knowing if what they heard was really true or not. After a few seconds, one of them got up. It was a woman holding her child. She walked towards Ironman, and after looking at the man in the armor with a face filled with gratitude and hope, she spoke to the man in the armor.

"Thank you, Ironman," she whispered as she passed him by, bowing her head slightly before going to where her husband was.

After that, one by one, the rest of the hostages stood up. They followed the woman, expressing their thanks. The younger ones even tried to hug him, but the older ones stopped them. He didn't mind it though. But for him, seeing that he saved these people made him feel warm and complete. He activated two drones and put them in charge of taking them out of the area.

"I'm sending two drones with you. They'll lead you out of the area," Tony told the group.

Soon, the civilians were gone. Tony made his way to the center of the compound, scanning the area. He found a computer room and entered. Legion accessed the networks, downloading files and hacking into their systems. The AI began its search, combing through the information and analyzing it.

Tony frowned beneath his mask. There were names, locations, and transactions. Enough information to put these bastards behind bars.

He copied all of it onto his suit's memory and then sent the data back to his private network.

"Hermes, upload these files to SHIELD," Tony said. "Let them clean up this mess."

"Acknowledged," Hermes responded.

With that done, Tony tied up those terrorists together, put oxygen masks on them thanks to his Bio-Nanites, and flew back to the base with them dangling in the air.

By the time he reached Malibu, Hermes had finished scrambling the security systems. No cameras, no radar, no satellites—nothing to detect his arrival.

Tony landed smoothly, releasing the restrained terrorists in a secured holding cell beneath his lab.

"Not bad for a test run," he mused, looking over his handiwork.

The black suit deconstructed, retreating into the Arc Reactor, leaving Tony standing in his workshop. He stretched, letting out a tired sigh.

"One problem solved. A million more to go."

---

[Leave some reviews & Power stones as usual]

If you like my work, you can support me on>: www.patr eon.com/XcaliburXc

[Read over 15 advance chapters] [No double billing]

-----