"Secretary of Defense?" Tony Stark was startled by the term. Later, he thought that if he could pull up the surveillance footage and see what he looked like, his astonished expression and exaggerated movements would surely be hilarious. Unfortunately, accessing the surveillance footage was no longer possible. "Tell me, which genius wants me to be the Pentagon's boss?"
"Not anyone you can think of, Stark. Certainly not God." The general pointed at the sky, barely squeezing out a trace of humor, like a teenager squeezing oil from the pores on his nose. "The Pentagon is about to undergo a reshuffle. Many generals are facing investigations over projects they once led. We need one of our own. Stark Industries Group has bid on many Pentagon projects before. Supervising those projects can sometimes make someone a brigadier general, sometimes a full general. Take me, for example. I once supervised Stark Industries' development of the air-launched version of a multi-warhead cluster bomb—the Jericho-3—and with that on my record, plus General Ross's help, I went from a senior officer hunting the Hulk to a brigadier general."
"We need one of our own to keep control away from this president's campaign team and the financiers behind them. Too much hot money has recently flooded into the military-industrial sector. There are some things those Silicon Valley people should not know. As it happens, the new president likes you very much, especially after you became a so-called superhero." The general spoke calmly. "Now you understand why we need you, right? Don't worry, we'll make some concessions. For example, pardoning certain Avengers members for their crimes and stopping the... excessive arrests targeting them. You didn't really think that after fighting at a German airport—although General Ross has gone missing, I still hope he's alive—destroying several aircraft, terminal buildings,