[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/nck50RJ.png[/img][/center]

Jim sat at the workbench, before him was one of the Patriots disassembled gauntlet. In his last deployment the delay between the triggers and the first shot was 0.5 seconds more than it should have been. On his head he wore some of Tonys 'special' sunglasses. Increasing the magnification as he reached the tip of the screwdriver deep within the structure of the gauntlet. During his career he had maintianed weapons and vehicles, but in comparison this felt more like open heart surgery. The smallest error, the smallest wobble as he tightened the screw and he could ruin the entire gauntlet. Then that required getting Tony to take a look at it, which would result in a bruised ego and a headache after his friend reminded him how much [i]smarter[/i] he was. 

Pulling the screwdriver out of the inner workings, very carefully. He lifted the glasses off his face, resting them on the top of his head as he looked over to Tony who was sat in the corner of the room in what looked like a high-tech dentist chair. He wore a metal cap, fitted with blue lights and wires that ran to a nearby computer. His eyes were closed, though Jim could see them twisting and turning beneath his eyelids. It was almost as if Tony was dreaming, a terrible dream.

Jim hadn't asked what he was doing, merely grunted in acceptance when Tony had told him not to disturb him. So he just sat away quietely working, occasionally looking over at his friend with a look of concern. Jim had his own issues with the current administration, and had noticed an increase in his being deployed domestically [i]especially[/i] in the last couple of months. The truth of the matter was that people were elected to make the right decisions, and whether he liked it or not he was an officer in the military sworn to uphold the values of the United States of America and follow the orders of his Commander in Chief. What he found himself wondering more these days, not that he'd ever admit it, was where he was supposed to draw the line? 

[sub][color=coral]"You can't go in there, he asked not to be disturbed-"[/color][/sub] 

The sound of a door opening at the top of the stairs leading down to the workshop. The [i]thud[/i] of heavy steps ahead of the soft [i]clack[/i] of high heels. Jim turned his attention to the bottom of the stairs as the unmistakable gait of Obadiah Stane came storming down the stairs, followed quickly by a very flustered Pepper Potts. Tony Starks long term assistant, and possibly the closest thing he had ever had to a committed life partner. Obadiah placed his palm on the scanner, and Jim heard the angry buzzer of denial. Before poor Pepper could get a word in edgeways Obadiah slammed his fist on the glass door. 

The lights surrounding Tony flashed red and orange as he shot up with a sudden start. The look of anger visible on his face, before he ripped the technological crown off his head and tossed it atop a nearby workbench. Managing to get his facial expressions back under control, entering what he had told Jim he liked to call [i]businessman mode[/i]. The man even processed thoughts as if he was just another piece of technology in the workshop. [color=darkorange]"Let him in Jarvis."[/color] A light ping in acknolwedgement from the houses VI, and the door clicked open. 

[color=Dimgray][b]"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"[/b][/color] Barked Obadiah, as he cast one of his fat accusing fingers directly in Tonys direction. Not forgetting to throw a disdainful look Jims way. As if whatever crime Tony had committed, at been at his friends behest. 

[color=darkorange]"Well I [i]was[/i] having a little assisted nap before you came storming in-"[/color] Tony walked over to what had used to be the bar, before he managed to curb old habits. Pouring himself some kind of orange/red juice. [color=darkorange]"-drink?"[/color]

[color=dimgray][b]"No I damn well don't want a drink-"[/b][/color] He pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocked the screen and then threw it down infront of Tony. Jim couldn't see what was on the screen from where he was, though he could only guess it was Tonys statement about the shutting down of the Patriot Program, as well as all other arms manufacturing at Stark Industries. As quietly as possible, he picked up the gauntlet and began shuffling back over to his suit. Hoping he could re-assemble it and get out of the room before he was somehow dragged into this. [color=dimgray][b]"-I want you to explain this!"[/b][/color]

[color=darkorange]"Ah. That."[/color] Tony turned to Jim and made a gesture offering him a glass. 

[i]Damn[/i] That meant Jim was involved in this now. He shook his head politely, Pepper stood at the door looking like she wasn't entirely sure what to do now. She had failed to keep Obadiah from breaching the peace, so did that mean she was supposed to stay and try and remove him, or did she move on with her life. She caught Jims eyes and he just nodded. He'd try and keep what possible peace there could be kept between the two mountains of ego and ambition. Being caught in the middle likely wasn't going to end very well, it never did. There was no point both of them suffering. She mouthed a thankyou, and made her hasty retreat.

[color=dimgray][b]"Yes. [i]That.[/i]-"[/b][/color] Obadiah picked up the phone, reading directly from the document. [color=dimgray][b]"[i]From the 1st of the Month the Iron Patriot Program will be discontinued, all existing prototypes will be retired and decomissioned. By the thirtieth all active weapon programs and development will end with future roll backs and decomissioning to be expected.[/i] - What the hell is that all about? We're a [i]Weapons manufacturer[/i] Tony."[/b][/color] He turned his accusing glare towards Jim as he accidentally made a large [i]clank[/i] noise reattaching the gauntlet. Turning back to Tony he cast an accusing thumb over his shoulder in Jims general direction. [color=dimgray][b]"Did [i]he[/i] know about this?"[/b][/color] 

Tony took a sip of his juice, as he sat back down. [color=darkorange]"He had about a ten minute headstart on you, so there's no point you trying the [i]make the world a better place[/i] arguement, we've already done that one-"[/color]

[color=dimgray][b]"Oh good."[/b][/color] Obadiah retorted, lacking any sense of glee.

Jim saw the time to strike, speak up now. Make his position known, back away out of the conversation quietely and let the two goliaths duke it out. No point poor David getting stuck in the middle. [color=skyblue]"I pointed out with the shift towards threat detection, and neutralisation rather than [i]extermination[/i] that the Patriot and all other technologies are the best balance of serving the people, without leaving them open to risk."[/color]

Obadiah laughed. [color=dimgray][b]"You're both missing the point. The greater good and serving the people [i]doesn't matter[/i]. What matters is that we keep ourselves wealthy, and help the shareholders along the way-"[/b][/color] He raised a silencing finger to Jim. [color=dimgray][b]"-it's up to people like [i]you[/i] in the military, and your superiors to decide what the greater good is and how to use these systems.[/b][/color] He turned himself back to Tony. Almost looking sad. Had Jim not known the man, he would have even believed it. If you looked up the definition of [i]War Monger[/i], [i]Power Hungry[/i] and [i]Business Monster[/i] in the dictionary, right beside Maxwell Lord and Norman Osborne you would see a picture of Obadiah Stane. He had fought Tony at every juncture as he had tried to make the company more peaceful, more world friendly.

It looked like he wasn't about to stop now.

[color=darkorange]"I won't have another Gulmira on my hands."[/color] Obadiah went to walk forward, shaking his head. Tony cut him off however before he could respond. [color=darkorange]"It doesn't matter how many times you tell me that their blood is not on my hands. Weapons and systems [i]I[/i] designed were used to kill innocent people-"[/color] He pointed over to the patriot armour. [color=darkorange]"-that is the most sophisticated weapons system on the face of this planet. I will not have it, or systems like it falling into the hands who would harm innocent people. Not again."[/color] 

[color=dimgray][b]"You're going to destroy everything me and your father built together-"[/b][/color]

[color=darkorange]"Please. You needed Dad more than he needed you."[/color]

[color=dimgray][b]"Now Son-"[/b][/color] Ire creeping into his voice. [color=dimgray][b]"-we both know that's not true. Just [i]think[/i] of what you're doing. Reed Richards wanted to go off and do his own thing, ignore the word of the government, heard from him lately?"[/b][/color]

Tony flinched. [color=darkorange]"Maybe if I had half the spine Reed had, we could have done something together to repair the world, rather than making bigger weapons to tear it apart."[/color] 

[color=dimgray][b]"You think someone else isn't going to fill in the gap you leave behind? Kord, Hammer, Trask. They're all looking to be the next big thing, if you open the door they're just going to-"[/b][/color]

Sighing, Tony raised a hand. [color=darkorange]"What other people do, is not my problem. Though I'll have a team of lawyers [i]ready[/i] to pour over anything they make that resembles my work."[/color]

[color=dimgray][b]"So that's it then, you've made up your mind? Just going to let the [i]muties[/i] and [i]aliens[/i] walk all over us?[/b][/color] 

Jim walked over, joining the conversation [i]properly[/i] rather than just hanging back awkwardly. [color=skyblue]"If they do, we'll be ready for them-"[/color] Tony threw a scowl in his direction, behind Obadiahs back and Jim winced. He had just revealed more than he was supposed to. [color=skyblue]"-afterall we know the technology works, Tony can always build a new suit if he needs too."[/color] With any luck Obadiah wouldn't think too much into it.

[color=darkorange]"The end of the matter is, more and more people are attempting to recreate my technology and we can't let it get into the wrong hands. I'm sure by now you've heard about the security breach at Stark Tower. Someone managed to hack into one of my old subdirectories, download old War Machine specs and smuggle it out of the building."[/color] Now it was Jims turn to be surprised. He hadn't been told about a breach, but then this was the kind of information that could destroy a company and as much as he was Tonys friend and confidant he wasn't [i]technically[/i] on the payroll, and had to answer to his own superiors. 

[color=dimgray][b]"So this is about cleaning house?"[/b][/color]

[color=darkorange]"Sure."[/color]

[color=dimgray][b]"It's not a complete end to everything?"[/b][/color]

[color=darkorange]"Nope."[/color]

Obadiah gave a somewhat satisifed [i]hm[/i] in the back of his throat. [color=dimgray][b]"So no statement yet?"[/b][/color]

[color=darkorange]"I don't see why we would, I'm meant to have a meeting in the White House later in the week. I'll let them know I'm taking the Patriot offline for maintenance, service and upgrades. We've already recalled some ZAT weapons under the pretense of a faulty batch. We'll get our house in order, then we'll see where we lie."[/color]

[color=dimgray][b]"Okay then, but you lie low. Let me take the lead on this, everyones going to come for us."[/b][/color] He reached over and put a hand on Tonys shoulder. [color=dimgray][b]"I'm just trying to look out for you, we need to stick together."[/b][/color] He turned and looked at Jim with a smile that didn't reach entirely all the way to his eyes. [color=dimgray][b]"The three of us are all in this together."[/b][/color]

[hr]

It didn't sit right in his stomach. [i][color=darkorange]'Just refuse to do it, refuse to go. We can say the suit is down for maintenance'[/color][/i] Jim had pointed out that part of the agreement with the Government was that they had access to tracking and diagnostic data on the suit, they had to be able to assess how it was doing in a combat situation afterall. Thus without [i]making[/i] something wrong with it that wasn't going to work. Even if he had claimed to be ill, the raid would still have gone ahead as scheduled. He couldn't turn it down, not since learning that somehow Taggert was still on active duty. He had claimed that the unconcious mutant was actually about to kill him, that he had acted in self defence. All charges dropped, accusations cleared. 

Jim was told to just deal with it, he might have been the ranking officer however it wasn't [i]his[/i] team. Infact he wasn't entirely sure what branch of the military they were from. He recieved his orders, was sent in and then the SpecOps team was sent in to clean up and contain. For all he knew they were CIA. No, until Tony had spoken to the President and withdrew his support for the Patriot and the various other weapons programs the best place for himw as on the frontlines. Tony had smiled at that. [color=darkorange][i]I don't deserve a friend like you Rhodey.[/i][/color] [color=skyblue][i]That's for damn sure.[/i][/color] The two had laughed before the faceplate closed over his face, sealing him in and he had taken to the skies. 

Before Lord took office, Ellis had sent Jim all over the globe. Quite often he was attached to foreign militaries, did anti-piracy operations, helped bring peace to destablised regions after the Reach War. Occasionally, though very rarely, he would be deployed to deal with a meta-human threat within the confines of the US. Since Lord had taken office he was deployed to a variety of camps, some would call them refugee camps. Initially they had been in other countries, then they started finding others within the United States such as the one within Yellowstone. More recently he had found himself deployed to homeless camps and derelict buildings on the outskirts of various cities. At what point, he asked himself, did this protection infringe on their freedoms? Had they already gone over that line.

[quote]
[center][color=skyblue]“I James Rupert Rhodes,
having been appointed
a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States
Air Force, do solemnly swear
that I will support
and defend the Constitution of
the United States against all
enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith
and allegiance to the same;
that I take this obligation
freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of
evasion; and that I will well
and faithfully discharge the
duties of the office upon
which I am about to enter. So
help me God.[/color][/center][/quote]

He saw the building ahead, didn't even wait for the all clear from the ground team. All he saw was that they weren't in position yet. He saw the heat signatures in the abandoned warehouse, and he dropped in through the roof. People screamed and shouted, some instantly ran. He raised his hands, with moving his eyes over the hud the helmet tracked his movements. A twitch of his pinky brought the combat systems online, changing the ammo from lethal rounds to non-lethal. A status appeared at the top of the HUD, the mutant/meta gene tracking system coming online. Not that Jim trusted it, he wasn't sure if it was paraoia or just his complete and utter faith in Tony and his expertise. Flicking over to the external comms, he raised his voice as it echoed throughout the warehouse. [color=skyblue][b]"Nobody move!"[/b][/color] The status bar in the upper right hand side of his screen continued to load up.

Jim ignored it looking around the room, as once again everybody froze. [i]Kids[/i]. They were all a bunch of kids, there couldn't have been anyone here older than nineteen. Some had visible mutations, others didn't. [color=skyblue]"I don't want to hurt anyone, the military is coming. I need you all to stand down now-"[/color]

A blonde man stepped forward, freckles addorning his face. [color=FFEFD5]"You are Colonel Rhodes."[/color] He spoke with a thick Irish accent. His suit scanned his face, but struggled to identify him. Whoever he was, he was either here illegaly or had his identity removed from the system.

[color=skyblue]"That's correct. Look I don't mean to rush thing, but the military is on their way, I need you to stand down now, and I promise you you won't be harmed."[/color]

[color=FFEFD5]"Why should we believe you? The last camp you raided, everyone disappeared?"[/color]

The status bar continued to load. [color=skyblue]"What do you mean, everybody disappeared?"[/color]

The boy shook his head. [color=FFEFD5]"Perhaps you and Stark ain't as clever as you think yous are. They're all gone, no trace of them anywhere-"[/color]

[color=skyblue]"That can't be, perhaps you just haven't-"[/color]

[color=FFEFD5]"You aren't listening are ya? We have connections. They're [i]gone[/i]. They're not in a hospital, they're not being tested, they're not in a holding facility. [i][b]Gone.[/b][/i] Probably dead."[/color]

That cold sinking feeling was creeping back into his stomach, stretching up into his chest. Filling him up from the inside. Jim had heard the conspiracies, seen the data but he hadn't known. Perhaps he hadn't wanted to know.

[quote]
[color=skyblue][center]do solemnly swear
that I will support
and defend the Constitution of
the United States against all
enemies, foreign and domestic;[/center][/color][/quote] 

The status bar at the top of his HUD finished loading, and his screen went red. Circles highlighted dozens of the kids, the minigun on his back popped up into the firing position. The Irish boy backed up slightly, fists clenched. [color=FFEFD5]"What the hell ya doing man?"[/color]

[color=skyblue]"It's not me."[/color] The gun began to spool up as the words [color=red][MUTANTS DETECTED][/color] appeared on the screen. 

[color=FFEFD5]"Stop it man-"[/color]

[color=skyblue]"-Get out of here!"[/color] A bunch of the kids screamed, and started to run. As the gun fired.