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Luke's first priority was getting the Nanosuit to Vanko.
"Reverse-engineer this," he said, presenting the armor to the Russian physicist. "Figure out how to make the attachment and removal process less... traumatic. If we can solve that problem, we can sell these."
Forget the Zaku. Powered exoskeletons were impressive, but the Nanosuit was on another level entirely.
Vanko stared at the armor with an expression that shifted from curiosity to disbelief to something approaching religious awe.
"Where did you get this?"
Even with his expertise in energy systems and mechanical engineering, Vanko could recognize technology that shouldn't exist. This wasn't decades ahead of current science—it was centuries ahead. The material science alone defied everything humanity understood about synthetic biology.
"The concepts... there's no research pathway that leads to this," Vanko muttered, examining the nanofiber structure. "Earth couldn't develop this technology in a thousand years of normal progress."
He was right, of course. In the Crysis games, the Nanosuit had been created using alien technology recovered from archaeological sites. Without that foundation, human scientists would never have conceived of the approach.
"Can you work with it?" Luke asked.
Vanko's eyes hardened with determination. "Give me time."
"Speaking of which—how's the Stark Industries situation progressing?"
That was Vanko's real motivation. Everything he did for Umbrella was ultimately aimed at destroying Tony Stark's legacy.
"We're making contact with military procurement," Luke said smoothly. "Once we start selling products, Stark Industries will feel the pressure. Their weapons division is already dead. Now we go after their technology sector."
Vanko studied Luke's face, searching for deception. Finding none—because Luke was telling the truth, just not the whole truth—he nodded and turned back to the Nanosuit.
"Don't play games with me," Vanko warned. "You won't like the consequences."
"Understood."
Luke left the physicist to his work and began considering recruitment options.
Umbrella needed more scientific talent. Vanko was brilliant, but one genius wasn't enough for the empire Luke was building.
Dr. Connors? No—the lizard researcher was too specialized in herpetology and genetics. Years of work with minimal results. Not actually a genius.
Otto Octavius? Now that was interesting. Nuclear physics, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics. The man who would become Doctor Octopus was genuinely brilliant across multiple fields.
Reed Richards? Too unpredictable. "Fantastic Four" levels of unreliable. And Luke had no idea where to find him anyway.
He'd keep thinking.
Tony Stark was having a bad week.
He'd built an impossible suit of armor. He'd defeated Obadiah Stane—well, he'd helped defeat Obadiah Stane. He should have been the hero of the hour, the center of attention, the man who'd created the future.
Instead, everyone was talking about someone else.
The footage had gone viral within hours. A two-meter robot with a single eye and a massive battle-axe, methodically dismantling Iron Monger while the Mark II struggled to stay airborne. The public had watched Tony Stark get knocked around like a pinball while the mystery machine delivered the killing blow.
Umbrella Corporation hadn't even tried to hide their involvement. They'd claimed it. Posted promotional material. Announced that the "Zaku Combat Platform" was their proprietary technology.
The company that had discovered Fosterium now had powered armor too.
Tony's moment of triumph had been stolen by some startup he'd never heard of until a month ago.
"JARVIS, what do we know about Umbrella Corporation?"
"Limited public information, sir. Founded by Luke Foster, age twenty-six. Initial capitalization of sixty billion dollars, source unclear. Subsidiaries in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and energy research. Their founder recently patented a new stable element and is apparently a major shareholder in Stark Industries."
"Wait, what?"
"Luke Foster currently holds approximately ten percent of Stark Industries stock, making him the third-largest individual shareholder after yourself and the late Mr. Stane."
Tony's headache intensified.
One month later, Vanko delivered.
The modified Nanosuit exceeded Luke's expectations in every measurable way.
Vanko had solved the attachment problem entirely. The original suit required specialized equipment to bond with and separate from the wearer—a process that was painful, time-consuming, and logistically impossible for field operations.
The new version responded to neural commands. Think "disengage," and the suit released. Think "activate," and it bonded seamlessly. No machinery required.
But that was just the beginning.
The baseline stats—the suit's default performance in strength, speed, and protection—now matched what the original could only achieve in specialized modes. The "normal" state of Vanko's design was equivalent to the old suit running at maximum output.
And the modes still worked on top of that.
Armor Mode: Could now shrug off tank shells. The impact energy was absorbed and converted to power rather than transmitted to the wearer.
Strength Mode: The user could lift a main battle tank overhead.
Speed Mode: Hundred-meter sprint in five seconds. Sustained indefinitely as long as power remained. Neural acceleration meant reaction times that approached superhuman.
The power source made all of this possible. Vanko had integrated a palladium arc reactor directly into the chest assembly, protected by the suit's own regenerating tissue. The reactor's radiation was absorbed as additional energy rather than harming the wearer.
"Why palladium?" Luke asked, examining the glowing chest piece. "We have Fosterium."
"The good stuff is for your people," Vanko replied with a thin smile. "This version is for selling."
Luke appreciated the pragmatism.
One modification he'd specifically requested: the stealth mode was removed from the commercial version. Invisibility was too powerful to hand to foreign militaries.
Three tiers of Nanosuit emerged from Vanko's workshop.
Gray Wolf — The export model. Commercial-grade components, palladium reactor, all standard modes except cloaking. Paint scheme: dark gray. Price: five hundred million dollars per unit.
This was what would be sold to the U.S. military—and to anyone else willing to pay.
Russian Wolf — Identical specifications to the Gray Wolf, different paint scheme (dark charcoal). Luke wasn't above selling to multiple buyers.
Wolfpack — The premium version. Fosterium reactor, full cloaking capability, enhanced everything. This was reserved exclusively for Umbrella's elite forces. Not for sale at any price.
The naming convention was deliberately themed. Luke found traditional military designations boring.
Emil Garrett handled the sales pitch.
The Pentagon had been expecting Iron Man knockoffs—bulky powered armor, obvious weapons systems, something that looked like a tank on legs.
What Emil showed them was a skintight bodysuit that could make a soldier bulletproof, superhumanly strong, and fast enough to outrun vehicles.
"Five hundred million," the procurement officer said flatly. "Per unit. You're joking."
"The Apache attack helicopter costs approximately fifty million dollars," Emil replied, unruffled. "This suit gives a single soldier the combat effectiveness of ten helicopters, with perfect terrain mobility and zero maintenance overhead."
"It's not a helicopter. It's a suit."
"It's the future of warfare, General. The question isn't whether you can afford it. The question is whether you can afford to let someone else have it first."
The military complained about the price. They complained about the design—they'd wanted mechanical power armor, not biological enhancement. They complained about the lack of heavy weapons integration.
Then they saw the demonstration footage.
A single test subject in a Gray Wolf suit ran through an urban combat course. They dodged live fire. They punched through reinforced concrete. They took direct hits from anti-materiel rifles and kept moving. They lifted a decommissioned APC and threw it thirty meters.
The complaints stopped.
Umbrella Corporation secured its first major military contract.
Luke watched the news coverage with quiet satisfaction. Stark Industries had dominated the defense sector for decades. That era was ending.
Step by step, he thought. We're getting there.