Coordinated Sabotage – External POV
The attacks came at dawn. Not one, but many.
In northern Jordan, a refugee settlement powered entirely by Aegis Hydronets and BloomPods found its generator array disabled by a precision drone strike. The devices weren't military-grade, but they were fast and surgically targeted.
In Poland, a logistics convoy carrying BloomPod shipments was hijacked on the outskirts of Kraków. The attackers wore uniforms of a private security company registered in the Bahamas—funded, Victor's analysts later confirmed, by a Roxxon subsidiary.
And in Kenya, a regional storage hub was bombed. Two primary filtration silos collapsed, cutting off clean water access to three villages.
The worst came from Jordan. A Hydronet was hit directly. Shrapnel injured three—including a child. One elderly man died.
But none of the attackers escaped undetected.
Aegis' non-lethal countermeasures evolved. Drones tagged their transport signatures. Signal triangulation tracked hidden extraction zones. Within hours, several operatives were captured alive.
The footage spread before Aegis even issued a statement.
The world saw the violence first.
And it remembered.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Victor stood at the center of a projection chamber, surrounded by looping footage: smoke trails, scorched soil, villagers fleeing.
Behind him, his leadership team waited. The silence was heavy.
He turned.
"Status of the countermeasure upgrades?"
"Near completion," said Liora. "We can reroute resources and have full coverage in three days."
Victor nodded. "Decentralize everything. If they cut our head, the body moves on its own."
The strategist spoke. "We recommend retaliation. Low-scale. Surgical. We have their sponsor list."
"No," Victor said flatly. "They want war. We will not give them one. We will give them fear."
He authorized the release of select footage:
Saboteurs receiving medical treatment.
Attackers captured and released, intact but humiliated.
Aegis drones shielding civilians with zero collateral.
"We won't fight fire with fire. We will fight it with restraint that leaves them terrified."
Behind his calm tone, the message was clear:
This was not a retreat.
It was a warning.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Berlin – Civilian POV
Lina Mahlberg watched the footage of the child injured in Jordan and thought of her own daughter.
She'd worked at Germany's second-largest energy contractor for six years.
That night, she wrote two emails: a resignation letter and a classified leak to a local journalist.
She slept better than she had in months.
Buenos Aires – Protest POV
At the Obelisco, students marched beneath hacked projection drones displaying Aegis footage. Camila Ortega, engineering student, shouted through a bullhorn.
"They burned the future. And Aegis still chose mercy!"
The crowd roared. An elderly man held a sign:
"They fired on children. And Aegis saved them."
Roxxon Boardroom – Corporate POV
Executives stared at stock drop projections and leaked internal memos.
"Pull the teams," one muttered.
"No," said the chairman. "We find someone to take the fall. Then we make this disappear."
But for the first time, no one seemed confident that it would.
SHIELD Analyst POV
Kaede Watanabe stared at mission records and drone footage from Jordan.
"Did we authorize this?"
Her handler said nothing.
Later, she opened an anonymous leak channel.
And sent everything.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Victor stood in the Forge's meditation chamber.
He reached for the Force—not for power, but for clarity.
And it responded. Not with vision.
But with purpose.
He opened a sealed file: PROJECT: ASCENT
Blueprints shimmered to life:
Electromagnetic propulsion coils.
Atmospheric-lift platforms.
Modular space-capable vessels.
No hyperspace. No fantasy.
Only practical revolution.
A list of collaborators hovered beside him:
Disillusioned engineers.
Wakandan liaisons.
ESA veterans.
Former Stark contractors.
A message from Shuri blinked on screen:
"No vibranium. But we'll give you minds. Brilliant ones."
Victor smiled slightly.
He keyed the command:
Phase One: Initiate