Ultimate Iron Man
Ch: 114 [Project: KSF]

AN: Didn't get time to edit it. So, it might be little rough. Let me know if you find any mistakes.

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The Skrulls just stood in silence, staring at him.

Tony didn't waste any more time talking to them. He decided to use the power of the Mind Stone. A soft hum built in his skull as he reached inward, past muscle and bone, into the light buried in his forehead. The Mind Stone pulsed once. Then again. He opened his eyes.

They glowed gold.

He raised a hand and focused.

The first Skrull trembled. His breathing hitched. His limbs twitched against the restraints. Then his head jerked back. A flash of light cracked behind his eyes. Then nothing.

His skull split open. Blood and green matter hit the inside of the pod. He slumped forward, smoke rising from the seam.

Tony didn't flinch and thought, 'Tsk. Too much energy. Gotta control it.'

He stepped to the next.

Another flicker. Another scream that never left the throat. Another body gone.

Then another.

And another.

Seven pods. Seven corpses. Each time, Tony attempted to reduce the power and fine-tune the influence, but the feedback was always chaotic and violent. When he reached the eighth pod, the energy around his eyes softened. His hand hovered just inches from the glass. He calmed his breathing, slowed his heart, and focused the stream.

The Skrull inside was female, and her form hadn't flickered even once. The energy coursed into her mind. She twitched and convulsed before finally going still. 

Tony focused the energy, narrowing its flow as he slid it through her memories, extracting pieces like threads from tangled wire. He whispered softly, his lips moving without sound, exerting his will.

Her head jerked once, then again, and her eyes locked with his. 

She revealed everything.

After Tony started the global energy war and revealed his creations, the Skrulls marked him as their potential enemy who must be destroyed and replaced at any cost for their invasion to be successful.

To kill him, they needed to get close. So, they began to replace the Widows and took their places when they went out on errands or just to have some fun time. But it wasn't easy because they were always wearing their suits. So, they deployed the Super Skrulls, who used mind control on them and made them willingly do everything they wanted.

That's how the Skrulls got their nanite bracelets. After that, infiltrating the Starfire base was too easy. But before they could get to him, he went into space. So, they tried to kill him in space, but Tony annihilated their entire fleet in a few minutes.

Tony knew about the abilities of the Super Skrulls, so he didn't waste time asking about them.

Next, she revealed the Widow's location. They were kept in a warehouse in NY. North Avenue 232. 

Other than that, Tony discovered some other important information, like how the Skrulls have replaced the President, NASA scientists, important government figures, and some Shield Agents. Although there are some Skrulls who work for Fury, even they have no idea that the other faction has infiltrated their ranks.

And right now, things aren't looking that good. Too many Skrulls are running around, hiding among the humans in key positions. All it needs is a little spark to start a global war, which may go nuclear.

Tony tried to find out more about their leader, and it turned out to be Veranke. She is the central figure behind the Skrull's infiltration and invasion of Earth. Her actions stem from Skrull religious texts that designate Earth as their rightful property. Then there was Gravik, who was leading his own team separate from Veranke.

Tony knew most of the information, so he simply memorized the important info.

As for the Horizon base. They never knew about that place.

Tony sighed in relief after knowing that.

...

[A few hrs later]

The wind whipped through the narrow alleys of North Avenue 232 as Tony landed hard, the impact cracking the pavement beneath his boots. The Model 50 suit clung to his body like liquid metal.

Two Widows flanked him, moving like ghosts through the shadows.

Tony raised his hand and snapped once.

A pulse shot out, and all the lights inside the warehouse shorted. The building went dark.

The moment the door opened, it turned into war.

Green flashes streaked through the interior as Skrulls scrambled, caught mid-shift. Some were disguised as workers. Others had assumed the form of civilians. One leapt toward Tony with a scream, claws extended. He didn't make it three feet. Tony turned him to ash with a beam straight through the skull.

The Widows moved fast, disabling and stunning. One of them slid under a low-hanging pipe, fired a shock dart into a Skrull's neck, and caught another with a spinning blade to the shoulder. The second Widow launched upward and blew through the ceiling, clearing the catwalk in seconds.

Tony stormed forward, eyes scanning. His HUD painted targets in red.

Three Skrulls stood guard over a chamber near the back. They didn't have time to react. Tony flicked his fingers. Three micro-bots flew out and pierced their skulls mid-sentence. They collapsed like puppets with cut strings.

He reached the door.

The nanites formed a drill and sliced the lock apart in seconds. The reinforced door hissed open.

Inside were the containment pods holding the replaced Widows. They were all alive. 

While he pulled them up one by one, the other Widows were slaughtering the Skrulls. 

It was over within 10 minutes. 

They captured a few Skrulls for interrogation and killed the rest, and then disappeared, leaving behind a gory warehouse for the other Skrulls to find. 

...

[Back at the Base]

While the rescued girls were resting, and the base was still on high alert, Tony sat in his private room. He locked the door. Too many things are happening at the same time. He has certain plans, but now, it's a mess. 

He was careless. Too careless. The enemy replaced his people and entered his home. But Tony Stark learns from his mistakes. 

"I'll show you motherfucking alien bastards what true terror looks like."

He activated the holographic computer and started his counterattack plan.

A few minutes later...

Tony leaned back in the chair, eyes fixed on the projection in front of him. A slow spiral of red and blue schematics hovered above his desk. His fingers drummed against the metal armrest, calculating.

Hermes broke the silence. "Your vitals are elevated. Recommendation: rest."

Tony snorted. "Rest is for people not being replaced by green-skinned freaks."

He flicked his fingers. The schematics expanded, separating into different modules: cloaking field generators, directed energy arrays, orbital thrusters, sensor clusters tuned to Skrull biology. His mind moved faster than the system could keep up.

"We are gonna kill them all at once," He mumbled to himself.

Hermes replied, "Parameters?"

"Let's build a net around Earth. Low orbit. Mobile. Undetectable by current global systems. Use adaptive cloaking. Can't risk Fury or the UN spotting them too early."

Tony zoomed in on one segment. A long, spear-like arm extended from a rotating core.

"Weapon pods here and here. We'll equip them with giant disruptors. As soon as they are out in their real form, we'll fry their nervous system through concentrated radiation. Sounds pretty impossible, but..."

He tapped his forehead.

"Not for me."

He began to work on it, and it was too fast. He was drawing knowledge from the Mind Stone without any drawback and was surprised to see the vast ocean of information that he was able to process easily.

"I want it remote-controlled through my neural interface only," He said while setting up the failsafe measures. 

Hermes pulsed blue. "Authorization: secured."

Another hour passed, and he was done.

"Dang! I'm a freaking genius. And thank you, Mind Stone, for the quick solution."

Tony stood and started pacing.

"We need a name for this project. Something fancy. Call it Project KSF. Kill Skrull Fuckers. Yup! Let's go with that. Alright, Hermes. Start Horizon lab. I want you to create 1000 units as fast as possible and deploy them according to the marked point. Use the stored adamantium if necessary. Shift the Transformer Mecha creation to Elena."

"Will do, Boss," Hermes replied. "Timer: 24hrs. 20 minutes."

Tony checked his watch. 4:30 AM.

He sighed and threw himself onto the bed, letting out a long breath. 

Everything hurt, but not physically. It was the kind of ache that came from overworking, messing up, carelessness, and realization. They'd wormed their way in. Replaced his people. Set up shop under his nose. That couldn't happen again.

'I'm gonna expose them before the world and then kill them.'

The world would cheer. People would finally understand the threat. When the dust settled, there wouldn't be questions, just gratitude. Some might fear and raise questions, but the majority will be on his side. He could end this war before it ever truly began. With the right moves, with Project KSF, the path was wide open.

'Time to build the future. The Ultimates.'

He turned his head toward the holo-projector on the nightstand. With a flick of his fingers, the blueprints rose again in silence. Cloaked orbital weapons. Adaptive targeting. Distributed AI coordination. Fully automated. The weapons will kill all the exposed Skrulls at the same time.

There was no satellite network yet. No station. Not a single Stark-made object up there. That was about to change.

"Well, wake me up in 4 hours. Early if it's an emergency."

He closed his eyes.

"Have a rest, boss. I'll wake you up in time," Hermes replied.

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