Intelligence
"Marvel's Magnetic Field Rotation"
After shutting down the communicator, Ivan Vanko focused all his attention on Tony Stark. The aerial chase was reaching its climax, resembling an aerial contest between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, with their best pilots flying the most advanced fighter jets.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., calculate the airflow trajectory and its comparison with the opponent's flight path."
Dodging the dense barrage of energy bullets that resembled anti-aircraft guns, Tony Stark devised a counter-attack tactic. His palm cannons alone wouldn't be able to effectively damage the opponent's armor, but simply taking hits without retaliating wasn't his style.
By subtly reducing the output power of the anti-gravity engine, Tony Stark allowed Ivan Vanko to close the distance. He continuously adjusted his flight path, inducing the other to fly in the direction he envisioned, which almost resulted in him being directly hit by an energy blast.
"Sir, we have been identified as a target and a high-energy reaction has been detected. Please take evasive action."
"Quiet, J.A.R.V.I.S.... and activate the two Iron Man suit at home, have them converge towards me." Tony Stark stared at the trajectory of the Whip Lock Armor on the monitor. Before the opponent could activate the high-energy convergence weapon, he opened the back armor of the Iron Man suit and launched a device the size of a matchbox.
Combining parameters such as airflow, Coriolis force, and air resistance, the device flew towards the Whip Lock armor along a predetermined trajectory. When it was a dozen meters away from the opponent, it suddenly unfolded into a large cloth the size of half a basketball court—a parachute.
Unable to dodge in time, Ivan Vanko crashed into it. Aerodynamics is a very advanced discipline. Iron Man suit are not designed to be in harmony with airflow; they rely entirely on powerful thrust to fly. Even the slightest movements during high-speed flight, such as turning one's head or raising one's arms, are amplified by the strong air resistance, resulting in all sorts of unexpected consequences.
Even a bird, with its relative speed, is no less powerful than a large-caliber machine gun.
The Whip Lock Armor was like that; enveloped by a parachute, it lost its direction and tumbled aimlessly. Without the assistance of a J.A.R.V.I.S.- level artificial intelligence, the Rocket boosters only increased the chaos.
"Indeed, adding parachutes to the Iron Man suit was a very correct decision; enhancing mobility and flight capabilities is the right direction for the development of Iron Man suit."
Having achieved his objective, Tony Stark didn't linger. Instead, he flew towards his villa. Two other Iron Man suit equipped with full weaponry were approaching him. He didn't know how many more waves of enemies would come, so arming himself was the best course of action. As for the Stark Expo, he had provided both the venue and the funding himself. As the big spender, what did it matter if he was a little late?
On the other side, Ivan Vanko struggled to break free from the parachute's restraints. The parachute was made of a material Stark specially designed for the Iron Man suit; it was extremely tough. NASA's new spacecraft projects all ordered parachutes made of this material from Stark Industries. He was only able to free himself with the help of energy weapons.
But after all that trouble, Tony Stark had long since disappeared from sight, and the probe had also lost sight of him. This operation ended in failure.
Donning his new, heavily armored suit, Tony Stark approached the Stark Expo venue while keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings, fearing another Whip Lock attack.
After making a breakthrough in his research on the New Element, his confidence swelled again. He thought that no Worms or Abomination were a problem for him; the only one who could defeat him was himself.
But the appearance of Whip Lock today was a bucket of cold water for him. Although he was not carrying any weapons, the fact that the opponent forced him to retreat by using the outdated Arc Reactor made him only slightly better off than running away. After much painful reflection, he realized that upgrading his Iron Man suit was urgent.
Incidentally, he made a phone call to Nick Fury and gave a brief account of what he had just said—the development of the Arc Reactor was a joint effort between his father and Anton Vanko. At that time, there was no S.H.I.E.L.D.., only its predecessor, the Strategic Scientific Corps.
As an organization formed from the reorganization of SSR, S.H.I.E.L.D.. must have retained relevant data from that time. Since you can't access their database yourself, you should just ask the S.H.I.E.L.D..
"If I'm not mistaken, that man is called Ivan Vanko, and he's Anton Vanko's son," Nick Fury said calmly.
"So you knew about this all along, why didn't you say so sooner?"
Tony Stark's words were full of sarcasm towards Nick Fury, calling his behavior a betrayal of his teammates. He said that Fury's failure to disclose such important information earlier was tantamount to deliberately betraying him.
Nick Fury, unfazed by Tony Stark's sarcasm, continued calmly, "After finding Howard Stark's belongings in S.H.I.E.L.D..'s database, we launched an investigation into Anton Vanko, thoroughly investigating all intelligence from the time your father banished him until a year ago, until the trail went cold."
"A year ago? What happened to them?"
The Iron Man suit's flight speed is unmatched by cars. Tony Stark has now arrived above the Stark Expo, but he is not in a hurry to descend. Instead, he remains in the air, continuing to exchange intelligence with Nick Fury.
"A year ago, Anton Vanko father and son were kidnapped by a group of mysterious people and disappeared without a trace," Nick Fury said. "Now it seems they were used by someone with ulterior motives to develop the Arc Reactor and the Iron Man suit. Judging from what you just said, they succeeded."
The fireworks extravaganza at the Stark Expo began, with fireworks exploding across the sky. Tony Stark hung up the phone with Nick Fury, then quickly descended to the center of the stage. Dressed in a sharp suit, he stepped out of his open suit, smiling and greeting the audience below, showing no sign of the life-or-death threat he had just faced.
On the other side, in the passenger seat of a large truck, Nick Fury hung up the phone and started watching surveillance footage on a small tablet computer. The surveillance camera was pointing at the trailer behind them.
He is now not Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.., but Deathstroke Slade Wilson, an executive of Conglomerate B, and is carrying out an attack mission against Iron Man Tony Stark.
The mission ended in failure, and they are now returning to base carrying the Whip Lock armor and related accessories.
On the tablet screen, Ivan Vanko sat in a chair, staring silently at the Whip Lock Armor opposite him.