After EMIYA's demonstration, the mercenaries fell in line completely.
Not that they'd been particularly rebellious before—professionals knew better than to cause trouble with employers who paid well. But there was a difference between grudging compliance and genuine respect. After watching their entire unit get dismantled in under six minutes, respect came easily.
These mercenaries were just the beginning. Luke had no idea how many he'd ultimately need, so he prepared for the worst. Better to have too many soldiers than too few when the next crisis hit.
Umbrella Corporation's manufacturing subsidiary spun up operations, producing custom equipment for the newly-formed security force. Protective suits. Weapons. Gear designed for threats that conventional military hardware couldn't handle.
Luke had to hire weapons designers for this—specialists in small arms development and tactical equipment. Hammer Industries was useless for custom work; they just manufactured and sold standard military contracts. And Stark Industries didn't bother with anything smaller than missiles.
The mercenary unit received its official designation: Wolfpack.
Their aesthetic was deliberately intimidating—inspired by the Kerberos Panzer Corps from Jin-Roh. Heavy respirator masks that made them look more machine than human. Matte black armor plating. Large-caliber automatic rifles and squad support weapons.
Their insignia combined Umbrella's classic red-and-white logo with a stylized wolf's head. Subtle, it was not.
The equipment was heavy. Training focused on load-bearing exercises first—building the strength and endurance needed to operate effectively in full kit.
"Eventually, we'll need to enhance them," Luke mused, watching a training session from the observation deck. "But only if I can control the results."
He had the G-Virus in storage. But using that to create super-soldiers was asking for disaster. Maybe after he awakened his Devil Trigger and had the power to personally contain any failures...
No. Too risky. There had to be better options in his drop pool.
The Blackwatch soldiers from Prototype came to mind—enhanced operatives developed specifically to combat Blacklight infected. They were dangerous, sure, but controllable. Even Alex Mercer at his peak had struggled against their elite units. Compared to the unpredictable mutations of T-Virus Tyrants or G-mutants, Blackwatch-style enhancement was almost elegant.
He'd keep farming. Eventually, something useful would drop.
Then the news broke.
TONY STARK ALIVE—RETURNS FROM AFGHANISTAN
The headline dominated every channel, every newspaper, every social media feed. The missing billionaire had been found, rescued from wherever he'd been held for the past three months. Details were sparse, but the footage of Stark stepping off a military transport—haggard, arm in a sling, but very much alive—was everywhere.
Luke watched the coverage with mixed feelings.
A few months ago, he'd been desperate to connect with Stark. The genius inventor represented resources, connections, potential alliance against future threats. Saving him from captivity had been high on Luke's priority list.
Now?
Now Luke had sixty billion dollars in vampire money. A private army. An underground facility that rivaled anything Stark Industries owned. Connections to HYDRA's intelligence network. Two game characters who could solo most of the MCU's early threats.
He didn't need Tony Stark anymore.
Plans really don't survive contact with reality, Luke thought wryly. Who knew vampires were so generous?
Still, Stark's return meant other opportunities.
"Iron Man is about to be born," Luke murmured, running through the movie timeline in his head. "Mark I was destroyed in the escape. Mark II is a prototype. But Iron Monger..."
Obadiah Stane's knockoff suit was crude compared to Tony's designs, but it had one advantage: it didn't require an AI system like JARVIS to operate. The pilot controlled everything directly.
More importantly, Iron Monger ran on arc reactor technology. That miniaturized power source was worth more than the armor itself.
If Luke could acquire Iron Monger after Tony defeated Stane—and he would defeat Stane, that was certain—he'd have a working example of arc reactor engineering. Combined with the right technical expertise...
Ivan Vanko.
The name surfaced from Luke's memories of Iron Man 2. Vanko's father had co-developed the arc reactor with Howard Stark before being deported. The son inherited the knowledge, eventually building his own reactor and weaponizing it.
Control Vanko, get Iron Monger, mass-produce arc reactor technology.
The possibilities were tantalizing. An army of arc-powered drones. Enhanced suits for his elite operatives. Unlimited clean energy for Umbrella's facilities.
"First step: find Vanko."
The Russian physicist was probably still in his homeland, celebrating Tony Stark's apparent death. News of the billionaire's survival would take time to reach remote areas. Then Vanko would need to prepare his equipment, arrange travel, figure out how to get close enough to his target...
Based on movie chronology, he wouldn't show up until the events of Iron Man 2—months away at minimum.
Luke couldn't wait that long.
"Perfect training opportunity," he decided. "Send Wolfpack to Russia. Cold weather operations. Find Ivan Vanko and bring him in."
The mercenaries needed field experience anyway. Hunting a genius engineer across frozen tundra would build character.
Meanwhile, a more immediate problem demanded attention.
People were disappearing in New York.
Not just vampires—though those were vanishing too. Ordinary humans were going missing. Dozens of them. Families, workers, people with no connection to the supernatural underworld.
The pattern was wrong.
Gitano Dragonetti was careful. The pureblood elder understood the importance of maintaining the masquerade. When vampires fed, they targeted society's margins—criminals, addicts, people who wouldn't be missed. Drawing attention was bad for business.
But these disappearances were random. Innocent victims. The kind of casualties that made headlines and triggered investigations.
Luke had warned Gitano about Damaskinos and the Reaper project. The pureblood had seemed receptive, even grateful for the intelligence.
Had something gone wrong?
"The Reapers," Luke said quietly, pieces clicking into place. "Damaskinos's new breed. They've gotten loose."
It made sense. The Reapers from Blade 2 were barely controllable even under ideal conditions. Driven by an insatiable hunger that made regular vampires look restrained, they fed constantly and spread their infection through every bite.
If even a handful had escaped Damaskinos's control...
Nomak. Jared Nomak, Damaskinos's son, the first and most powerful of the Reapers. In the movie, he'd eventually turned against his father. Maybe that rebellion had started early here, in this altered timeline.
"Gitano and Damaskinos working together, and now it's blowing up in their faces." Luke smiled grimly. "Couldn't happen to nicer people."
He'd planned to let the vampire factions tear each other apart. But Reapers spreading through New York's population changed the calculus. Left unchecked, they'd create an epidemic that made the Blacklight outbreak look minor.
Time to clean house.
And hey—Reapers counted as enemies. Which meant drops.
Silver linings, Luke thought, reaching for his weapons. Always look for the silver linings.