Peter POV:
The system chimed in my head as the hangar lights blinked awake.
[Reward Package Granted: AV-49 Wasp (Halo). Spartan IV Augmentation Package (Halo).]
The sleek VTOL gunship materialized first, its olive green hull lined with Titanium A armour plating and tilt-rotor wing mounted turbofans capable of vertical landing and takeoffs with a top speed of 310 mph. I walked around it slowly, fingers brushing the cold alloy. It looked like a predator forged from steel and innovation.
The second gift was less visible but far more dangerous. A full schematics package of genetic enhancements, cybernetic implants and biochemical grafts. The Spartan-IV program.
My lips curved into something between awe and calculation. " Considering how things are going this is perfect."
The Offer
Later that night, I stood in the training facility where Frank Castle and his men gathered, arms crossed, waiting for my words.
I spoke plainly. "The world is accelerating. You've all seen what's coming. I'm offering you the chance to be better."
Frank's war-hardened eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"
"No catch. You'll volunteer. You'll suffer. You'll become more than human. Spartans. Bones reinforced with carbide ceramics. Muscles lined with polymers that make you stronger without tearing yourselves apart. Lungs that can process poison and survive underwater for an hour. Reflexes wired to move before your brain even finishes the thought."
One by one, the men nodded. They didn't need to be convinced. For soldiers like them, this wasn't temptation. It was inevitability.
"Where do we sign?" Frank asked without hesitation.
The Wasp Upgrade
While the soldiers were prepared for the procedures, I spent hours over the AV-49 Wasp schematics. I stripped out the Titanium A battleplates and replaced it with Lithium triteride battleplates, upgraded energy shield harmonics and the turbofans replaced with Gravitational propulsion engines. Machine guns replaced with experimental molecular destabilization weapons made using by mimicking the properties of Arctic Vibranium which I read about in my past life. Missile pods are the same but now have Hydro metal tipped warheads.
By the time I was done, the Wasp was no longer just an UNSC creation. It was a predator reborn, able to cloak, jam and deploy with surgical precision. The technological zenith of UNSC mixed with my ingenuity and technological mastery creating something amazing.
I took a step back, admiring the work.
Transformation
The month that followed was hell.
The Spartan process began with carbide-ceramic ossification. Bones screaming as they hardened beyond steel. Muscular reinforcement tore through fibers before reforming stronger. Lungs burned as polymers rewrote their tissue.
Frank staggered through it all, his body swelling with new density and strength. When he finally emerged, sweat-soaked and trembling, his frame was taller, broader. His silhouette wrong by human standards.
"Feels like I could punch through a tank." Frank muttered, flexing.
"You probably can." I replied.
Soon after came the MJOLNIR Mark VII G armor. Micro-grav units hummed as Frank and his squad moved for the first time in their suits. Fluid, impossibly fast, like gods clothed in steel.
Fury's Visit
When Fury and Maria Hill arrived, their eyes swept across the training field. Spartans sparred in synchronized drills, fists denting steel plates, armored boots cracking reinforced concrete.
But it was Frank who drew Fury's gaze. Bigger than before. Faster. Felt as if his reflexes were sharp enough to catch incoming rounds with his bare hands.
Fury's single eye narrowed, mind turning gears. Rogers vs Castle. Hand to hand. Rogers has instinct, finesse, experience. But Castle? Castle has brutality, speed, durability. All dialed to eleven. That fight… would be ugly.
Fury said nothing. But the thought lingered.
The Deal
In the briefing room, Fury laid it out. "We want StarHawks. Energy rifles. And three cold-fusion reactors."
My face stayed neutral. "You'll have them. But you should know fusion cores aren't exactly easily handled."
"They will be in SHIELD's hands." Maria added, though even she sounded as if she were convincing herself.
I agreed with a nod, though my watch blinked faintly. My Trojan horse already crawling through the SHIELD systems. When Project Insight finally activates, HYDRA's infiltrators would be the ones in its crosshairs, not the innocent.
Fury's Calculation
As Fury and Hill left the facility, Hill broke the silence. "Something about Castle feels… off. His posture. His eyes. He looks less like a man, more like a weapon."
Fury adjusted his coat, his gaze lingering on Frank's towering silhouette across the training yard. "That's because he isn't a man anymore. Rogers had serum. Parker's given Castle something worse. He doesn't just look unnatural. He is."
Hill frowned. "You think he could take Rogers?"
Fury didn't answer immediately. Finally, he muttered, "Let's just say Rogers better hope they stay on the same side."
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