Tony found himself completely stumped by the technical impossibility of their situation. Based on current Earth technology, nothing should be capable of generating electromagnetic interference powerful enough to affect their advanced battleship. The Chitauri vessel had been extensively modified with hardened systems designed to resist exactly this kind of disruption.
If the magnetic field anomaly was originating from somewhere in space, the first systems to be affected should have been the satellite networks orbiting Earth. But Jarvis was still receiving intermittent signals from orbital platforms, which meant the interference was localized to their immediate area.
"This doesn't make sense," Tony muttered, running diagnostic after diagnostic on his tablet as he tried to isolate the source of the problem. "The interference pattern is too focused, too precise. It's like something is specifically targeting our ship's systems."
As he worked through the logical possibilities and systematically ruled each one out, Tony's confusion only deepened. Earth didn't possess this level of electromagnetic manipulation technology, and if it was an alien attack, it would be affecting a much wider area.
"Speaking of which," Steve said, looking around at the assembled team members who had gathered in response to the ship's malfunction, "where's Marcus?"
The question hit Tony like a lightning bolt. Of course! He'd been so focused on analyzing the technical aspects of the problem that he'd completely overlooked the most obvious explanation.
"That's it!" Tony exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with sudden understanding. "It has to be Marcus. I've never seen him do anything quite like this before, but after watching him tear apart dimensional battlefields and absorb cosmic-level energies..."
The memory of Marcus's recent power displays was still fresh in Tony's mind. He'd witnessed the man casually disintegrating dark elf warships and draining the divine power from the Goddess of Death herself. Creating localized electromagnetic interference was probably child's play by comparison.
Without another word, Tony took off toward the rear section of the ship where Marcus had sequestered himself, with Steve and several other team members following close behind.
Knock knock knock
Tony rapped on the door to Marcus's improvised workshop, the sound echoing through the corridor as the team waited for a response. But there was only silence from within.
Marcus was completely absorbed in the final stages of his Warframe creation process. The extracted power from multiple dimensional artifacts was reaching the critical fusion point within Vauban, and he couldn't afford to be distracted now.
The energy sphere that had been building around him suddenly collapsed inward with a sound like controlled thunder, transforming into pure technological force that merged seamlessly with the Engineering Commander's systems. One by one, the armor's various components came online, each subsystem lighting up with its own distinctive energy signature.
When the last power fusion completed, Marcus found himself encased in what could only be described as a walking fortress. Vauban was unlike any of his other Warframes—where Ember was sleek and aggressive, and Nekros was ominous and ethereal, this new armor was purely functional. Every surface was covered with technological interfaces, sensor arrays, and weapon deployment systems.
"Hmm," Marcus said to himself, flexing his armored hands and feeling the weight of the frame's capabilities. "After absorbing power from so many dimensional fragments, I expected something more dramatic."
While Vauban was undeniably powerful, it lacked the raw transformative potential he'd experienced with Ember or the overwhelming presence of Nekros. The Engineering Commander felt more like a sophisticated tool than a force of nature.
"I suppose not every enhancement can be a cosmic breakthrough," Marcus mused, then decided to test one of the frame's signature abilities.
He activated Tesla Nervos, one of Vauban's tactical deployment options. Instantly, the metal fixtures and electronic devices throughout the room began responding to his electromagnetic manipulation. Tablets, light fixtures, and even decorative elements started flying toward him, their material composition being analyzed and restructured in real-time.
Within seconds, Marcus held a sphere that looked like a high-tech grenade but was actually something far more sophisticated—a deployable electromagnetic pulse device created from the raw materials in his immediate environment.
"Now that's interesting," Marcus observed with genuine surprise. "I was expecting purely energy-based constructs, but this thing is actually solid matter. Vauban can create real equipment rather than just projecting force fields."
The implications were fascinating. Instead of simply manipulating existing technology, this Warframe could actually fabricate new devices from available materials, essentially turning any environment into a potential weapons factory.
The persistent knocking at his door finally broke through his concentration, and Marcus realized he'd probably been ignoring his teammates for quite some time.
"Sorry about that," he said as he opened the door, finding Tony, Steve, and several others waiting in the corridor. "What's the emergency?"
"What were you doing in there?" Tony asked immediately, gesturing toward the ship's still-malfunctioning systems. "The entire battleship has been dead in the water for the past twenty minutes. Every electronic system is going haywire."
Marcus raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised that his Warframe creation had affected the ship so dramatically. He'd been focused entirely on the fusion process and hadn't considered the electromagnetic side effects.
"I was creating some new equipment," Marcus explained, then demonstrated by beckoning to the Tesla grenade he'd left on the workbench. The spherical device flew smoothly through the air to land in his palm. "I suppose the process might have generated some interference."
"You created... what exactly?" Steve asked, staring at the metallic sphere with obvious confusion. "It looks like a baseball."
"How can a metal ball affect an entire spaceship?" Tony added skeptically. "Our electromagnetic shielding should be able to handle anything short of a solar flare."
Marcus smiled at their doubt, then raised his hand toward Tony's tablet. His arm transformed into the sleek technological interface of Vauban, and immediately the tablet began to respond to his electromagnetic manipulation.
The device twisted and reshaped itself before their eyes, its plastic and metal components flowing like liquid as they were restructured according to Marcus's will. Within moments, what had been a sophisticated computer was now a perfect sphere identical to the one he was holding.
But unlike the static original, this new creation immediately began orbiting around Marcus like a faithful pet, its surface crackling with barely contained energy.
"Tesla Nervos," Marcus explained casually. "Electromagnetic manipulation combined with matter restructuring. Watch this."
He pointed toward Tony, who was fortunately wearing his Iron Man armor as a precaution. The orbiting sphere shot forward like a guided missile, but instead of impacting the armor, it suddenly sprouted what looked like metallic tentacles that wrapped around Tony's suit.
"What the—" Tony began, then cut off as electrical current began arcing across his armor's surface. The Tesla Nervos device was channeling electromagnetic energy directly into his suit's systems, causing every LED and display to flicker wildly.
"Fascinating!" Tony exclaimed, his engineer's mind immediately grasping the implications despite being on the receiving end of the demonstration. "You're using controlled electromagnetic fields to interface directly with electronic systems. That's why the ship was malfunctioning—your creation process was inadvertently sending control signals to every piece of technology within range."
"Exactly," Marcus confirmed. "Vauban specializes in technological warfare. The electromagnetic interference was just a side effect of the frame's passive systems coming online."
"But what about the one you're holding?" Tony asked, his curiosity overriding any concern about the electrical assault his armor was enduring. "What does the stationary version do?"
"This one?" Marcus looked down at the original Tesla grenade with an amused expression. "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Before Tony could object, Marcus lobbed the sphere across the room. The moment it hit the floor, the device unfolded like a metallic flower, transforming into what looked like a sophisticated landmine with glowing energy nodes around its perimeter.
"Bounce Pad," Marcus explained. "It's designed to control battlefield positioning by—"
"Wait, let me guess," Tony said, moving closer to examine the deployment. "Some kind of repulsion field that—WHOA!"
The moment Tony stepped within range of the device, he was launched backward through the air with tremendous force. If he hadn't been wearing his armor, the impact could have been seriously harmful. As it was, he managed to stabilize his flight and land more or less gracefully several feet away.
"—launches anything that gets too close," Marcus finished with obvious amusement. "Area denial technology. Useful for controlling chokepoints or protecting objectives."
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