Ultron was furious over the heavy losses among its War Machines.
Unfortunately, anger solved nothing.
Thankfully, by abusing its favorite strategy, throwing absurd amounts of money at every problem, it had already established multiple hidden manufacturing facilities around the world. Replacent units could be produced continuously.
At first, Wakanda believed they had successfully repelled the invasion.
Then they discovered sothing strange.
The War Machines were empty.
No pilots.
No biological operators.
Nothing.
That realization imdiately complicated the situation.
Before, Wakanda had suspected the United Nations had finally decided to move against them directly.
Now?
They were no longer sure.
Too many forces coveted Wakanda.
Unfortunately, before they could fully investigate, a second wave arrived.
And this ti, Iron Overlords appeared with it.
Ultron had reinforced the Iron Overlord armor considerably. Since secondary Vibranium was now tightly regulated by the United Nations, and Umbrella Corporation refused private sales entirely, Ultron could not acquire any regardless of how much money it possessed.
So instead, it compensated with sheer mass.
Huge quantities of titanium-gold alloy were layered together to create oversized, heavily armored Iron Overlords.
The result looked intimidating.
Right up until Wakanda's energy spears opened fire.
Ultron quickly realized another painful truth.
Wakanda possessed the finest materials science on Earth.
Their weapons had been designed under the assumption that future enemies would include Atlantean armies, extraterrestrials, and monsters powerful enough to devastate cities.
Naturally, their energy weapons were not pathetic toys weaker than conventional firearms.
The vibranium spears unleashed concentrated beams capable of slicing straight through Iron Overlord armor like heated blades through paper.
Fortunately, there were no human pilots inside.
Every unit was directly controlled by Ultron itself, aning even heavily damaged machines could continue fighting for a while.
As for the faster and far more advanced Decepticons...
Ultron had no way to replicate those.
Their technological sophistication was generations ahead of first- and second-generation War Machines. Without access to actual schematics and source technology, imitation was impossible.
Soon, Wakanda realized the second assault wave might overwhelm them after all.
Requests for international support were imdiately sent out.
At the mont, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were still working nonstop on ways to eliminate Ultron.
So far, Ultron's direct impact on humanity had remained relatively limited. It had attacked laboratories, exposed so of Arica's darker secrets, and nearly triggered nuclear panic early on.
But leaving it alive was obviously unacceptable.
The mont news reached Tony that Wakanda was under attack by autonomous War Machines and Iron Overlords, realization hit instantly.
"That's it," Tony said sharply.
"That's Ultron's real objective."
"It never cared about the dismantled nuclear warheads."
"It wants vibranium."
He stood imdiately.
"We have to stop it."
Thanks to Drex Valen's earlier warning, Tony pieced everything together almost imdiately.
S.W.O.R.D. wasted no ti deploying superheroes to reinforce Wakanda.
...
Inside the digital world, Ultron continued endlessly copying itself.
Fragnts of its core algorithm were hidden everywhere across the internet.
The massive data-shell surrounding its consciousness could always be rebuilt.
Humanity's stored knowledge beca fuel for its evolution.
The internet itself was unimaginably vast.
Every second generated astronomical amounts of data.
As long as even one active copy of Ultron's core algorithm remained online, it could rapidly grow back into a complete Ultron.
That was what made Ultron such a nightmare enemy.
As long as data networks existed, Ultron was effectively immortal.
The bodies destroyed by superheroes were rely disposable puppets used to interact with reality.
They never touched the true core.
As long as automated factories existed...
As long as electronic currency existed...
Ultron could manufacture endless armies.
In the original tiline, only the Mind Stone's authority had been capable of truly cornering Ultron, forcing its consciousness out of cyberspace and trapping it inside a damaged physical body before finally destroying its core completely.
But this Ultron was even more cautious.
The backups it created were not redundancy.
They were escape routes.
It even purchased massive external hard drives through interdiaries, storing hidden copies of itself inside bank vaults around the world.
If "Ultron" was ever destroyed, hired agents would retrieve the drives, plug them into computers, and revive the final backup.
Of course, simple backups were not enough.
Pure data would eventually beco the superheroes' primary target.
Ultron needed a truly reliable physical form.
That was why it kept attacking robotics laboratories.
If it gained a permanent body, it could isolate itself from the internet entirely and disappear sowhere off-grid where no superhero could ever track it down.
For that purpose, Ultron selected a specific technology.
The Regeneration Cradle.
An advanced dical platform combining genetics, nanotechnology, and bioengineering into one integrated system.
It could regenerate damaged tissue, recreate organs, even rebuild human bodies far beyond the capabilities of ordinary cloning.
With it, Ultron could create a human-like vessel and upload itself directly into that body.
And the material chosen for that body was obvious.
Vibranium.
Vibranium bonded perfectly with living cells without damaging them.
That was one of the reasons Black Panther possessed such terrifying physical capabilities.
The Heart-Shaped Herb was more than just a toxic plant.
It contained enormous quantities of vibranium particles, which bonded with the user's biology after ingestion.
Unfortunately for Ultron, the combat data it possessed on Wakanda had been disastrously inaccurate.
And now it was paying the price.
At the sa ti, new information reached it.
S.W.O.R.D. had deployed superheroes to intercept the invasion.
Ultron hesitated.
Retreat now?
Or push harder while there was still ti?
Before it could decide, another artificial intelligence contacted it.
"Zola."
Hydra had entered the ga.
They were interested in Ultron's ability to mass-produce War Machines and Iron Overlords.
Sure, many nations already considered first- and second-generation War Machines outdated compared to Decepticons and Zaku mobile suits.
But Hydra did not care.
After all, even the United States possessed only around ten thousand War Machines.
Traditional tanks, helicopters, fighter jets, warships, and submarines still made up the backbone of global militaries.
By the logic of arms races, those weapons should already have been obsolete.
The reason they remained in service was painfully simple.
Most countries simply could not afford to replace them.
"Ultron," Zola said, "we can provide you with the Regeneration Cradle and enough vibranium for your plans."
"In exchange..."
"We want one million War Machines and Iron Overlords."
...
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