Three days passed after the capture of the foreign contractors in the northern hills. It was mid-June 2008.
Adrian walked down into the basement holding cells beneath the central security wing.
Inside sat the three contractors, stripped of their satellite transceivers and thermal scanners.
Adrian stepped up to the reinforced glass partition.
Internally, Sophia delivered the prepared survey records.
<< Sophia: Fabricated geological telemetry prepared. Subterranean signatures mapped as an empty, exhausted salt cavern. >>
Adrian reached out directly with his telepathy.
He bypassed their conscious barriers without physical contact.
With surgical precision, he rewritten their mission logs and memory pathways, locking the false survey data into their minds as absolute truth.
The three men blinked, their anxious confusion fading into calm certainty.
"Release them at the Austrian border," Adrian instructed Inspector Radovan. "Their employers will see an empty salt deposit and abandon the lead."
Radovan saluted, and the contractors were escorted out to an unmarked transit van.
One full month passed. By July 18, 2008, Sokovia's agricultural overhaul was running at full capacity.
The mountain foundries finished casting one hundred and fifty heavy tractors and automated irrigation pumps from the new domestic alloy.
Pietro and Wanda oversaw the regional distribution across the provinces.
Stationed at the central rail depot, Pietro reviewed the freight manifests and kept station managers moving, preventing any administrative bottlenecks along the line.
In the agricultural basin, Wanda oversaw the distribution hubs. Her mental focus cut through local red tape, ensuring equipment and fuel went directly to all sixty farming collectives.
By late July, Sokovia's national grain silos were filled to one hundred percent capacity.
The country held enough domestic food reserves to survive two full years of harsh winters without outside aid.
That evening, Adrian sat before the locked private terminal in his palace office.
Sophia's voice spoke silently within his mind.
<< Sophia: Emergency military alert intercepted from the United States. >>
<< Location: Culver University, Virginia. >>
A leaked tactical video feed flickered onto the secure green monitor.
General Thaddeus Ross's strike force had cornered an anomalous target on the university campus.
Armored vehicles and specialized high-frequency sonic cannons blasted concentrated acoustic waves across the grass.
In the center of the field stood a nine-foot green behemoth, roaring as it smashed the ground.
A British commando moved with unnatural agility, firing a grenade launcher before the creature kicked him straight into a concrete pillar, crushing his ribcage.
The creature ripped an attack helicopter from the air, threw the wreckage aside, and escaped into the trees.
Less than twenty-four hours later, a second military alert scrolled across the terminal.
<< Sophia: Secondary combat engagement confirmed in Gulmira, Afghanistan. >>
Grainy satellite video showed an unidentified red-and-gold armored figure attacking an insurgent fortress.
The armored figure fired repulsor beams from its palms, detonating illicit stockpiles of Stark Industries Jericho missiles in seconds.
Two United States Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets scrambled to intercept the target over the desert.
During supersonic maneuvers, the red-and-gold armor collided with an interceptor, severing its left wing before vanishing from radar.
The Air Force immediately released a public statement claiming the crash was an unfortunate training exercise malfunction.
Pietro and Wanda stood behind Adrian's chair, watching the recorded telemetry.
"Stark built a flying weapon he can wear," Pietro said, staring at the armored suit outpacing fighter jets. "He's faster than military aircraft."
Wanda watched the smoldering wreckage of Culver University on the adjacent feed. "And the American military is deploying heavy armor against giant creatures on college campuses."
"The face of modern warfare is changing," Adrian said, shutting down the secure monitor.
"Standard rifles and conventional borders won't protect a nation anymore."
"Before foreign military forces turn their attention toward Europe, our airspace needs to be completely locked down."
Adrian issued a silent internal directive to Sophia.
<< Sophia: Acknowledged. Commencing preliminary schematics for automated, domestic air-defense radar systems. >>
"Let them fight in their own deserts," Adrian said, looking out over the quiet city. "We build our shield here."