In the heart of the subterranean workshop, the metallic hum of machinery filled the air like an endless, patient drumbeat. Above the central platform, a reinforced glass cube glimmered softly under the lights. Inside it, no bigger than a shoebox, rested the Harbinger of Ashes.
Anton Vanko stared at it in absolute silence.
"It's… small," he muttered at last, the words strangled with disbelief.
"Small for you," Lily chirped, leaning on her maintenance drone as it hovered in lazy circles. "Big for literally everyone else."
Ivan circled the cube, peering at the intricate miniature cityscape of cathedral spires and weapon emplacements. "That's a ship. A whole damn ship. A city with engines. And he… he just…" He gestured vaguely at the cube. "…Put it in a fish tank."
"It's not a fish tank," Lily corrected primly. "It's a containment cradle with quantum-stability fields. Totally different. If we put fish inside it would die."
Anton ignored her, his gaze drifting toward the floating holo-screens nearby. They showed a collage of the Earth's reaction:
A panicked newscaster shouting about "the sudden appearance and disappearance of an unidentified megastructure near Mars."
Internet conspiracy forums are exploding with theories—aliens, gods, secret human megastructures, and one very popular meme of Luthar edited as a "Space Pope" raising a cathedral ship with divine light.
Anton actually snorted. "How did the people figure out it was Luthar?"
Ivan scrolled through the feed on the drone's display, his voice dry. " Who knows if not for every news channel shouting about a spaceship around mass, I wouldn't even believe this is a spaceship."
Lily dangled a sandwich from the drone's robotic arm toward Anton. "Food, before you faint from awe."
He took it absently. His attention was still fixed on the cube.
"This is…" Anton shook his head. "This is beyond any nation. Beyond anything on this planet. Even in the Cold War, the Americans and Soviets only dreamed of controlling orbit." He gestured to the cube."… with this spaceship we would be able to go to other galaxies and collect the material instead of just rotting on Earth."
Ivan, looking at the small spaceship, completely lost his arrogance. He finally tore his eyes away from the cube and muttered, "I don't get it. Even if he can shrink it, how does he plan to use this thing? You can't just park a flying city in space and… what, hope it runs itself?"
Anton nodded slowly, arms crossed. "A ship that size takes thousands to operate. Engineers, gunners, captains… It's not a horse, Ivan.No one can automate everything."
Lily spun in lazy circles on her hovering drone, ponytail swaying with each turn. "Oh, he's got that part covered. He's making the crew."
Ivan froze. "…Making. New robots?"
"Not exactly." Lily hopped off her drone and padded toward the cube, tapping the glass affectionately. "Robots can only do so much. A ship like this needs real people… or at least, real enough."
Anton's brow furrowed. "Real… enough?"
"Vat-grown," Lily said cheerfully, as if announcing a lunch special. "Engineered humans. Loyal, durable, and pre-trained. They'll live on the ship, maintain it, and do whatever the boss wants without asking questions and thinking about rebellion all day."
Ivan stared at her. "…You mean clones."
"Well…" She tilted her head, thinking. "Clones, but upgraded. More resistant to radiation, faster learners, and don't get bored easily. Oh, and some of them might have a few extra implants to make them better gunners or engineers. They'll sleep most of the time in stasis pods anyway."
Anton rubbed his temples. "So he's building a fleet, an army… and now a population?"
Lily grinned. "Mhm! It's not just a ship anymore. It's the beginning of his Forge. The boss says Mars without a tech priest is like a cathedral without priests. And he likes cathedrals."
Ivan leaned against the railing, staring at the miniature ship like it might start talking. "He's not just planning for a fight. He's… planning to live up there. To rule from up there."
"Of course," Lily said, spinning back toward her drone. " Plus, we have teleportation technology, so living on Mars is easy."
The two Vankos exchanged a long look, the weight of Luthar's plan settling in their chests. It wasn't just technology anymore. It wasn't even about power.
It was about dominion.
As all three of them admire the future on Mars, while in Shield headquarters, Maria Hill's voice was cutting Nick Fury like a knife.
Maria Hill's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"The object disappeared from all orbital sensors. No heat signature. No debris. But…" She hesitated, swallowing hard. "…we detected a single, smaller craft leaving the area. Luthar's ship."
Nick Fury stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, his single eye narrowing at the hologram of the cathedral-like warship. Even frozen in a still image, the thing radiated menace.
"So," Fury said, voice low, "what happens if that thing shows up over Earth and decides to start shooting?"
A nervous technician spoke up. "Sir… according to the military, the only option would be… nuclear engagement."
Hill glanced at him sharply but said nothing.
Fury's jaw tightened, his tone flat.
"Nukes." He let the word hang in the air. "You think the guy who built a flying city with guns didn't consider someone might throw a few bombs at it?"
The room fell silent. No one had an answer.
Fury sighed and reached into his coat pocket, fingers closing around something smooth and familiar: a faded pager, old but carefully maintained. For a moment, he turned it over in his hand, the weight of a last-resort decision pressing down on him.
He could call her, the one person who might be able to face something like this.
But after a long moment, he slipped the pager back into his pocket. He wasn't ready to admit he could no longer protect the Earth.
Instead, he pulled out his phone and scrolled to a number few people knew existed. After a single ring, someone picked up.
"We need to talk," Fury said quietly. "Meet me at my place. Tonight."
He ended the call without waiting for an answer.
Around him, the crisis room buzzed with activity, but Fury's thoughts were elsewhere. Luthar flying around with a city-sized warship next to Mars, then made it vanish like a magic trick. He knew he had to be careful with every step before coming to the second concentration against Luthar.