Chapter 46: Interlude 15

Interlude 15

Back in Jean’s home universe...

The world wasn’t ready for the news of Iceland seceding from the European Union and the United Nation after they changed the country's name to the Silver Isles, following its example was the newly born nation of the technocratic Republic of Goryeo. Then those two countries created great upheaval by creating together an analog to the United Nations called the Unified Earth Government (UEG).

Their intentions couldn't have been more transparent. They intend to take over the world, but would it be through force? Though at this point, no one was taking them seriously. Not even when thousands of Icelandic politicians migrated to Europe, the US or Canada and were speaking about how a new party leader just simply took over the island nation.

Those Silver Isles immediately closed their borders after the forced emigration, what wasn't circulated was that the men and women who left were easily compensated with sums varying from 10 million to 30 million dollars and have renounced their citizenship.

SHIELD and some other people from the alphabet agencies around the world were still worried but no one could enter the country somehow. That's when the upheaval in Egypt started. Terrorist attacks and insurrection started, refocusing the attention of everyone from Iceland and Goryeo to the small nation.

For over two months, all the news channels all over the world rehashed the secession from the UN and their so called political science or military experts crowed about those countries decision. The main objectives of the United Nations are the maintenance of international peace and security, the promotion of the well-being of the peoples of the world, and international cooperation to these ends.

However there were those who have started doubting that the coup in North Korea and the declaration of secession from the UN by the newly christened Silver Isles was unrelated. Even more so when on June 12th, 1997 the just created companies Grey International moved to the Silver Isles with its subsidiaries such as Anvil Space Industries and Grey Pharmaceutical. 

It was while the world witnessed the coronation of Empress Siljia Silfur that she made the incredible gift of Citizenship to some people, notably Jean Grey, and other people who helped free the country from the corrupt businessmen and bankers leading it from the shadows.

The world was taken by the beauty of the tall blue eyed platinum haired Empress. And the reform and advantages she introduced in her constitutional monarchy, she wasn't destined to be a public figure like the King of England and other royalties of Europe.

Empress Siljia was more hands on in her style of ruling, the parliament was controlled by her and her parties represented by the militant, the workers and moderates. 

In an interview, Jean Grey showed to the world what she was working on. A prototype fusion reactor which would distribute wireless energy, a water purifying installation, and showed her goal to make pollution something of the past, but what she had immediately available was going to be game changing: Medi-gel, an all-purpose medicinal salve combining an anesthetic and clotting agent destined to be used by paramedics, EMTs, and military personnel.

It was currently produced by Grey Pharmaceutical. The FDA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health organizations were invited to test the product and were astounded by its applications. 

It healed various wounds and ailments, instantly sealing injuries against infection and allowing for rapid healing by having the gel grip tight to flesh until subjected to a frequency of ultrasound. It is sealable against liquids - most notably blood - as well as contaminants and gasses. 

On July 2nd 1997

The US, blinded by greed, attempted to force Grey International to only sell their star product in the USA. But… international backlash forced them to rescind their actions as Jean Grey had decided to outsource the fabrication of Medi-Gel to Europe, South America and other countries that sorely needed it. Many Medical Corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc, Gilead Science Inc, who were behind this plan to restrain Grey International, lost a great amount of stock and money. But they lost something that a merchant needs the most: Trust. 

With the introduction of Medi-Gel the world realized that it was about to change and that due to the location of Grey International in the Silver Isles, they needed to take the ramp up in technology and the political landscape very seriously. It was on such a thought that a certain spymaster was making links between what was happening on the global scale and the current crisis.

Nick Fury realized that he'd lost the initiative and that the bane of his existence, Jean Grey, had already made her move and was about to reap the fruits of her gambit.

 

# # #

(Nicholas Fury )

 

New York
SHIELD HQ
July 12th, 1997 

 

He motherfucking knew it! Grey was up to no good once more, that period of silence was just her consolidating her assets and power. She struck a masterful blow to him by sidestepping all the red tape he was about to unleash on the creation of her company. The Silver Isles, previously known as Iceland; they were a puppet country for her, Fury was sure of it.

His new assistant, agent 13, brought him files about everything that had been happening lately. The body of who is supposed to be madam Gao, all the upper members of Rand Industry’s board, the return and Wendell Rand and the lawsuit against his previous associates, the attack in Japan and North Korea.

There was a certain timeline to everything, as Grey possessed teleportation to cut down on travel time, it was easy to add this variable to his own search. He was  pretty much convinced that the girl was out to conquer the world, but there's something not fitting in the psychological profile that he has of Jean Grey. She would not work under anyone, so how did this *snort* Empress get Jean to move the HQ of her company to her country?

What sort of dirt did she have on the girl to force her? And could he please have some? Because he wanted to show her-her place. Unless that country had something she wanted.

"Sir." 

The voice of Agent 13 interrupted him as he pinned the picture of Gao's dead body on his white board. "Yes Agent 13?"

The white garbed brunette walked up to her boss and took a tablet with a video paused on the screen. "There is a broadcast from the Silver Isles that you should see…"

Fury snatched the tablet from her hand and then played the video. 

"Greetings, Lords, Ladies and Freemen.

Today is a special day, we're here to show off to you the power of the Silver Empire and its naval might. A lot of you were discontented about my unilateral decision to secede from the United Nations; however, due to how restrictive this organism and its laws are put together by greedy and nearsighted individuals, I decided to break ties with them and whatever they employ may it be force, economic pressures and embargoes; we won't be going back.

But all my detractors were like: We are a small island nation, we can’t defend against powers like China or Russia.

I always thought that it is better to be feared and respected; that is why, people, with that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of the Empire's new weapon maker: Tyr Industries’ Guardian line.”

The ground shook and gigantic doors opened and a large ship emerged from the hole in the ground. Fury’s eyes were completely wide as he recognized that the ship the Empress was introducing looked just like a helicarrier but without propeller fans and more with hundreds of weapon mounts and at least three catapult systems. What happened next was the start of a weapon test that gave Fury chills. Rail weapons, fusion bombs without radioactive fallout and energy weapons and remotely operated drone fighters? Just one bomb wiped out an entire island the size of Long Island.

"Where did they get Hovercraft technology?! And since when can a small island Nation even fund projects such as this?”

It was at this point that Jean Grey appeared on screen, she was in a red pantsuit with a layered bob hairstyle. She was shaking the Empress’ hands and introducing the civilian lines of her personal jet. And then Fury understood, it was what Jean had been working toward. She had promised him that she wouldn’t have anything to do with him anymore and she meant it, and that was why she’s not selling her product to her own homeland. So it has started, a new weapon race, 

“Agent 13.”  Fury threw the tablet on the table.

Sharon Carter asked from behind him, “Yes, sir?” 

“Find a way to contact Miss Grey for me.” Fury turned toward Sharon and he looked… furious.

 

# # #

(Tony Stark)

 

New York
Stark Estate

 

He took a swig of the glass of fruit juice in his hand, looking at the recording of the earlier broadcast. Sometimes he regretted the time his mother forced him to go to an AA meeting and now he couldn't drink a drop of alcohol as he forbade himself to be under the influence.

Tony looked as the people cheered and called their ruler's name, they had literally deified their "Empress", he could see it in the way she appeared on screen and the music they employed in their opening anthem.

Tony didn't know what to think, he felt intimidated by this newcomer on the global scene. On Wall Street, he discovered that Grey International was privately owned and not on the market. That move was… smooth and dangerous at the same time. It stops them from being nationalized. However the danger with unlisted shares of a company like this is that unlisted stocks are riskier because information regarding them is not widespread; and exiting from these shares is through IPO or selling your shares in the secondary market later.

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Investing in the stock exchange comes with a safety net offered through constant monitoring and regulations by SEBI. But unlisted stocks come with more significant risks since they are not monitored.

Tony looked at the screen; two hover carriers able to deploy a fleet of high spec fighters with railguns and energy weapons and similar explosive devices like he experienced in Hawaii? 

He rewound the video and looked attentively while mumbling, "Huh, that can't be Ion propulsion." Tony absently took a notebook in his breast pocket with his pen and started to do some math to compare the calculations he was seeing in his head to the working example on the screen.

*Wait, is that a convex or concentric ring of stabilization?* He asked himself as he watched the carriers smoothly slide from the vertical shaft of the underground hangar. However, something struck Tony as he realized that there was no photon emission from whatever the carriers used as propulsion. 

"Jarvis, rewind and zoom." Tony ordered as he continued to scribble in his notebook.

"Yes, sir." The British accented voice of his Artificial Intelligence replied and did as he ordered.

There was a visible distortion which warped the ground under the large and small thrusters. "Jarvis, zoom in again." 

"I'm sorry sir, I cannot do that." Jarvis sounded rather embarrassed by this failure.

"Why?" Tony stopped scribbling and looked at one of the computer screens to his left, inside the wall. A digital and circuit-like eye showed that Jarvis was on this particular terminal.

"Sir, the feed is provided by Hammer satellites, with their sub-par components, you'll not get sufficient video quality to zoom further." Jarvis said with a disgusted sniff.

Tony chuckled, he knew how shit and sub-par Hammer tech was. "Ah, never mind then. I will make do with what I have already."

He started to write: g = GM/r2, Where M is the mass of the Earth, r the radius of the Earth (or distance between the center of the Earth and you, standing on its surface), and G is the gravitational constant.

Then it struck him, and he began to edit the equation he just wrote. 

(a) = -G(M+m)|r| / r^3 

"Ohhh, that's neither, I get it now! Sheer warp of localized sight means some type of gravity systems."

Then he realized what he just said and his pen fell out of his hand as he looked in shock at the floating carriers on the paused video. "Ohh shit, they cracked antigravity."

The world should have taken those people seriously; the Ascendancy was it? Tony wanted to join them, just for the technological advance that he could enjoy and coming up with new systems… with what they already came up with.

He was certain that this Jean Grey woman was behind this. He took his cellphone from his breast pocket and called his assistant on speed dial and said, "Hello, yes, Pepper. Could you get me a meeting with the CEO and Owner of Grey International?"

There was silence on the line for a moment, then he heard her typing on the keyboard. "I will try, Mister Stark…"

 

# # #

(General Overview)

USA
Colorado
Creek Mountain
Military base with Old Silo

 

The base was silent, but not for long as the door of the interior of the Silo opened and the technicians and engineers started filtering in with heavy equipment. They started building the electrical network, the platform and ramp, until two vehicles came and transported a huge yellow crate.

The personnel started going to work…

 

# # #

(Catherine Langford )

 

Control room

 

Catherine looked through the window showing the military engineers and personnel opening the crate in the Silo. This project was her lifework; it had taken many years to even have the funding necessary to attempt to reopen the project. This was her last try, as she was at the end of her life. The crate was opened and a huge ring made of an unknown metal appeared inside.

The personnel started hooking the ring to a crane and started positioning it on the ramp. They secured it with clamps and then started to work on it by connecting the ring to the computer in the control room.

Catherine Langford was the daughter of the archaeologist Professor Paul Langford. She dedicated her life to unraveling the mystery of that ring, a device she witnessed her father discover in Giza in 1928. This project was something of a white whale for her, it took her father from her, and her fiancée, Ernest Littlefield, who she didn't believe was dead at all, but somewhere.

This time, she wouldn't fail, Catherine would open the gate and look for Ernest. The phone next to her started to ring and she took the call. "Hello?"

The phone’s line seemed to switch on another and then Catherine heard the familiar voice of the General in Charge’s secretary. "There's a Director Carter wishing to speak to you, Ma'am."

"Oh! Pass me that call, Jolene." Catherine said swiftly.

The secretary acquiesced verbally to her demand. "Yes ma'am."

There was a small beep that signaled that the call was switched to another line and then Catherine said out loud, "Peggy, how did you get this number?"

The young voice of one of her best friends rang in the receiver. "I always keep tabs on my friends."

This was one of the miracles and oddities that seemed to have happened recently, Margaret Carter was back to her prime due to some kind of experiment performed on her by HYDRA who injected her with some kind of Super Soldier Serum. Her friend then reconnected with her two months ago after the controversy and downturn the economy had taken following the downfall of the organization.

Catherine was proud of the fact that Margaret… no, Peggy, succeeded in taking down her own white whale. She said with affection, "Always the spy. Okay, Why are you calling?"

Peggy might be one of her friends, but her calling Catherine was always the foreboding to something else going on into the background. Peggy said, "You're invited to my wedding with Steve!"

Catherine slapped the desk’s surface before her and she swore, "He finally got the balls to ask, I will be there…"  

The archeologist had met Peggy’s beau two months ago, and Steve Rogers was a sweet and strong man; however, he was completely afraid to ask the question he should have asked Peggy before the war. He had known the woman for years before he disappeared at sea; seeing her friend being lost and unable to move on had been hard for Catherine as this tragedy had reminded her of what happened to her own Fiancée.

“When is the date of the wedding?” The women continued to speak and catch up.

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A/N: Hehe, this is a build up for the new arc after the MCU fun.

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