The Man of T.O.Morrow
Two A.I.M operatives, garbed in yellow body armour, stood at the window upon the fifth floor of the S.T.A.R labs building, tasked with observing and reporting on the actions of the police blockade. They didn't even bother trying to conceal their position, for while they were aware that there was no doubt dozens of NYPD sharpshooters on the surrounding buildings training high-powered rifles upon their forms, they were contemptuous of the threat they proved. A.I.M held all the cards here, and the police knew it. After the initial, disastrous push the two burnt out cruisers had made, it had been made very clear that if the law so much as took one more step towards the lab then hostages would start to die.
The sudden arrival of Iron Man had given the two lookouts pause for thought, though not been enough to worry them unduly. The appearance of 'super-heroes' was becoming more and more of a regular occurrence, and it would have been exceedingly remiss of the Imperial Council, A.I.M's ruling hierarchy, if they hadn't made provisions for at least one costumed avenger. What those provisions were, well the two look-outs weren't exactly sure, but they had certainly been told that they were in place.
One lookout contacted their leader to inform him of Iron Man's appearance, but the Golden Avenger left just as quickly as he arrived, flying into the distance. More communications were passed up the chain of command to appraise them of the bizarre development, while the second lookout gawked in the direction that Stark had left in.
“I don't believe it, he's actually leaving!”
So busy where they watching the skies that they didn't see the police cordon retreat.
“Then you're right not to believe it, because he wont be. He'll just be finding somewhere to settle in for a long haul, hoping to hold us at siege. Mark me, we'll get a call from Stark soon enough, telling us that our situation is hopeless and we'd be better served by surrendering.”
“Heh. You think?”
“I know. He wont risk us harming the hostages if he tries to storm the place, but he'll be afraid of losing his 'media darling' reputation if he just runs. He'll hang back, trying to make it look like he's in control of the situation. But he's not. We are.”
THOOOOORRRMM-CRASH!!
"What the hell was that!? Did you hear that!?"
"Of course I head it! I think that crash was a window breaking down a level. Stay here and radio the captain, I'll go and check out downstairs." The two A.I.M operatives split up, one hurrying down the corridor towards a well-signed stairwell, the other frantically radioing his superiors. After several failed attempts that achieved nothing more than static he came to the realization that their signals were being blocked.
Suddenly it didn't feel like A.I.M was quite as in control of the situation as they had thought.
Tony burst through the doors of the wide, circular meeting room in the center of S.T.A.R labs that A.I.M was using to hold it's forty-seven hostages, clocking in at over two hundred kilometers an hour, dragging all sorts of debris in his wake, but he still managed to come to a complete and total stop in less than five meters, right in the midst of the hostages and hostage-takers.
Thank God for inertia dampers.
A.I.M hadn't even had time to properly process his sudden appearance before he'd laid out two of their number, firing quick-fire consequtive repulsor blasts that hit them both dead center.
"What th--" A third operative managed to blurt out before he too ate his share of repulsor. A half dozen more fell to the smart-flechette's that fired from his shoulder launchers, each one a blunt projectile powered by a miniature rocket and guided by Stark-micromunition technology, perfect for non-lethal anti-personel deployments.
To become a member Advanced Idea Mechanics a potential applicant must have, at the very least, a master's degree in some area of science, mathematics, or business, though a Ph.D would hold one in better steading. It meant that every member of A.I.M was a thinking man. And what does a thinking man do?
He thinks, of course. And every moment that a man spends thinking is a moment that he doesn't spend acting. It's why A.I.M made imperfect soldiers, as the hair-trigger reactions so revered in the likes of Deathstroke or Captain America just couldn't be found among their numbers, so absorbed with the cause and effect of all their actions. This kind of attack would never have worked on Hydra agents, mercenaries, or even regular old bank robbers. As soon as Tony had burst into the room one of them would have panicked and shot a hostage. Not so with A.I.M. In A.I.M it was drilled into them from day one, their own personal golden rule; always use your head. Well that golden rule was working agains them today.
Still, it only afforded Iron Man seconds, and already there was some A.I.M levelling their weapons towards the hostages, who were just now realizing what was happening, all of them beginning to scream or cry for help.
"J.A.R.V.I.S, now!" An oval panel upon the Iron Man's right thigh popped open, and with it came an ungodly high, ear piercing shriek. Yellow garbed operatives and hostages alike fell to the floor writhing in agony. Stark Technologies had long since utilized sonic based weaponary, though the rest of the worlds militarys were still way behind on that particular curve. Apparently A.I.M was too, seeing as they hadn't insulated their suits to such an attack. Tony took the time to knock out the final hostiles before turning the sonic generator off. There was a few cries of relief from the hostages.
That was the problem with AOE attacks, they didn't discern between friend and foe. Still, if they were asked Tony was willing to bet most would rather a ringing in their ears for a few weeks rather than a bullet to the head. And no one could argue with the results. Fourteen A.I.M operatives downed in about five seconds.
Hurray for superior firepower!
"Alright folks, funs not over yet. You all need to stay here while I clear the rest of the building." He could see from the confused expressions that no one was quite clear on what he'd said. Probably something to do with them all nearly being deafened less than a minute before. Maybe sonic weaponary wasn't the most useful tool in the kit after all. With a sigh he made a second attempt, gesticulating wildly to help hammer home his point.
"You all stay here! Still not safe!" That didn't work much better. With a frustrated groan he flipped open the visor of his mask. Surely someone here could lip read. They were supposed to be geniuses, after all!
"STAY. HERE." One woman, slightly overweight, mid thirties, mousy brown hair and wearing a pristine white lab coat, stood forwards before shouting a query at him.
"Are you going after Professor Morrow?"
"Wait, what. . . Professor Thomas Morrow? Where is he?" It didn't look like the woman really heard the question, but she was aware enough to piece together what Tony's response was in context.
"Two of those guys took him about two minutes ago. Looked like they were heading upstairs." It suddenly felt like Tony's stomach was trying to fall through the floor. His visor flipped back into position.
"J.A.R.V.I.S scan the building again." J.A.R.V.I.S was potentially the most advanced A.I. computer system on the planet, able to run hundreds of thousands of processes simultaneously without even the barest drop in efficiency. Scanning a building like this would take it micro-seconds, and yet it still seemed to take to damn long for Tony. Much as he hated to admit it, he'd been duped. Of course A.I.M had an end game here, they wouldn't have just marched into S.T.A.R and starting taking hostages for the thrill of it. Professor Morrow had always been their target, while the other hostages had just been a diversion.
And he'd been too eager to play the hero to even realize it. Guess there was something to be said about thinking about your actions before actually taking them after all.
"Sir," came the measured, immeasurably calm, and unmistakably British tones of J.A.R.V.I.S.
"There is still another nine individuals in the building, three of which are nearing the roof. One of the three isn't armed or armoured in any A.I.M gear.Tony cursed. If they were going to the roof that could only mean one thing. No one ran to the roof unless they had a plan to get
off the roof.
"One more thing sir. It appears that an A.I.M VTOL gunship has just arrived upon the scene. Engines are hot and chances are good that it is here for extraction. Typical.
He hated being right.
Member
Roman
