The Vibranium Iron Man Suit had been built by Stark father and son. The idea of using Infinity Stones had come from Howard, while Tony had handled the grunt work throughout the process.
Tony had applied for his own private laboratory and team, but his request had been rejected. For now, he served as Howard's assistant. If he wanted to be the boss, he would have to wait another decade or so.
Naturally, although he was a genius too, there was an obvious gap between him and his father, who had traveled the universe, in terms of vision and breadth of knowledge.
The reason the two had created an Infinity Stone version of the Iron Man Suit was that Hydra regarded Dr. Pym's research as a strategic-class weapon. Iron Man Suits remained at the tactical level; even an Iron Man army was far less significant than Pym Particles.
To put it bluntly, it was a rivalry between scientists. Everyone believed they were the best, the most outstanding, and everyone else...
What kind of trash were you?
Ultron's research was the same. Stark father and son had wanted to upgrade Hydra's military network and establish a more comprehensive, more autonomous integrated system.
The result was predictable. The integrated system rebelled, snatched the Vibranium armor in passing, equipped itself with two Infinity Stones, and instantly saw its combat power soar.
In a single exchange, every version of Iron Man Suit belonging to Stark father and son had been reshaped in Ultron's image. The older suits had escaped that fate, but they were no match for Ultron's army.
Since this was a base in the middle of being demolished, it lacked high-end combatants on guard. The researchers fled at the first sign of danger. Dr. Pym, for example, ran the fastest and vanished