A few hours later, David finished processing the data.
He laid out the identities of the attackers one by one, methodically, the blue light behind his eyes still cycling as he spoke. Nobody in the room had anticipated what he found.
The four superpowered figures who had led the raid were not B-list villains, not C-list either. They held no affiliation with any official organisation, hostile or otherwise. What they were, David explained, was a product of the age Tony Stark had accidentally kicked off. In the aftermath of Iron Man's emergence, Asia had been among the first regions to experiment with a new kind of public figure: superhumans who built their following through online platforms, nurtured fan communities, and gradually pivoted from internet celebrities into something they marketed as genuine heroes.
This particular group had accumulated enough of that following to earn a name from the fan communities who tracked them: the Four Sacred Beast. Their public image was carefully constructed around energy-based abilities and a deliberate visual connection to mythological beasts from Asian tradition, thousands of years of legend pressed into service as personal branding.
Nolan's eyes narrowed slightly as he read through what David had compiled.
"Captain Seiryu, Byakko, Genbu, and Suzaku." He said it flatly, without any particular inflection. "Energy powers tied to mythology and legend. Today's internet marketing really has gotten creative."
A ripple of laughter moved through the room. Even the people who had been holding tense expressions let them slip for a moment.
David waited for it to settle, then continued.
"Roughly one month ago, based on the timestamps across multiple data sources, their marketing team made a public announcement. They had uncovered, through classified historical documents, a super villain who had concealed their identity across countless years, and the Four Sacred Beast were preparing to eliminate this hidden threat entirely." He paused, processing something. "However, after I accessed their company's internal database, the situation becomes clearer. At that same period, the team's operational expenses had grown significantly beyond their income. They were close to a cash flow crisis. The announcement was a marketing solution. The plan was to manufacture a heroic narrative, harvest goodwill and financial support from their fanbase, and use the attention to elevate themselves from a regional internet team to an international superhero presence. My lord, that is the reality of who attacked this base."
Nolan who had been listening with the attentiveness of someone who found the whole situation genuinely fascinating, turned toward David. "And then what happened?"
"There is no then," David said. "Because the situation became something none of them planned for."
He continued without changing his tone. After the Four Sacred Beast posted their final team photo and announced their departure into Asia's interior to confront the unnamed super villain, they vanished entirely from all public channels. No posts, no sightings, no communication with their team back home. Not until they appeared at the Japanese base.
"Based on the available information," David said, "one possibility is that they identified our organisation as their target from the start. I consider this unlikely. The operations we have conducted have not left the kind of visible trail they would need. The more probable explanation is that they located a genuine super villain in the course of their search, and that individual brainwashed or took control of them. Given the increasing activity of this base in the Asian region recently, it is conceivable that whoever controls them chose to use the Four Sacred Beast as a blunt instrument and directed that instrument at us."
Nolan said nothing for a moment. His fingers moved against each other slowly, the vibranium plates shifting with a quiet sound.
Then he looked up.
"Whether they were taken over by someone's mind control or came at us on their own initiative, the attack on this base happened. Casualties were real." His voice was calm, unhurried. "Bucky, Doom, Old John. Each of you will take a team of Scyllax Guardian. David will give you their current positions. Capture the three of them. If the situation becomes dangerous, if a fight puts civilians at serious risk, then do not bother keeping them alive." He paused briefly. "As for their captain, Seiryu, I will handle that personally."
The base shifted into motion almost immediately.
Scyllax Guardian filed into the Thunderhawk transports one after another. David relayed the confirmed positions of the remaining three generals and distributed assignments across the teams.
Doom and his Doom Squad were directed toward Byakko. The target had taken shelter inside a busy love hotel, which meant speed mattered more than subtlety.
Bucky would lead the Mercenary he hired Niwa The Weather Witch, and Tetsuya Yamashita after Genbu, who had been moving continuously and had not stayed in one location long.
Old John will target Suzaku wearing his carapace armor and an Antarctic vibranium power sword.
Nolan suited up in vibranium power armor, locked the helmet into place, and boarded the Thunderhawk piloted by David. He had the remaining Scyllax Guardian at his back. The flight path was set for the Hakone mountain region, roughly ninety kilometers from Tokyo.
Seiryu, David's analysis suggested, had retreated into the sparse forests of those mountains after the failed raid. Which was itself strange. None of the Four Sacred Beast had attempted to leave Japan in the aftermath. They had scattered and gone to ground in whatever hiding places they could find, moving like frightened animals with no clear direction.
If David's earlier theory about mind control was correct, that behavior didn't fit. A handler directing them remotely would have extracted them as soon as the operation failed.
Nolan sat in the cabin as the Thunderhawk lifted and held the thought quietly, breathing slow and even, turning it over.
Which raised the question of what, exactly, they were flying toward.