May 2012
It had been about a year since Kagura began strengthening the global defense system.
Over that time, the first phase of the project—Project Argos—had reached near completion thanks to the full-scale efforts of Rhodes Island Industries.
A vast surveillance and rapid-response network now covered the entire planet.
Massive amounts of data streamed into Rhodes Island's supercomputers, monitoring security incidents in real-time and continuously scanning deep space, particularly the Oort Cloud, for any anomalies.
Of course, a project of this scale required an astronomical amount of resources and funding.
Even for Rhodes Island Industries—the world's largest arms and security technology company—sustaining an operation without any immediate financial return was a daunting challenge.
Luckily, a global network of this magnitude had immense commercial potential.
Low Earth Orbit – "Halo-7" Orbital Equipment Station
This was one of the 32 orbital stations supporting Project Argos.
These stations patrolled Earth's orbit, ready to provide rapid heavy-weapon and equipment support to Kagura Hitomi and other superheroes whenever needed.
But today, these stations had another mission:
To light a beacon for all of humanity.
Inside the control center of Halo-7, Kagura was busy linking an experimental long-range microwave energy transmission device to the station's main systems.
She also activated an additional data processing module for the new equipment.
Although these orbital stations were fully automated, each one had a manually accessible control center about the size of a space capsule.
"All systems connected, Mr. Stark."
Through the comms channel, Kagura reported, "Orbital altitude: 400 kilometers. Transmission window: 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Preparing for long-range microwave energy transmission test."
"Confirmed. Stark Tower's energy systems are stable. Target transmission site: Rhodes Island Energy Research Center, Los Angeles. Transmission will commence in 1 minute and 13 seconds."
Tony Stark's voice came through from New York.
"Hitomi, be careful up there. You're in space, after all."
"Relax," Kagura chuckled. "Rhodes Island's tech is solid. Besides, we're about to make history here, Mr. Stark. Focus on the data."
"Hah! Now you're lecturing me?" Stark quipped. "Tell me, does Bruce Wayne give you a raise for personally handling near-orbit missions?"
"Of course." Kagura grinned. "As many months' salary as I want."
"Looks like Wayne's got a soft spot for you," Stark mused. "Just be careful of corporate exploitation."
This was no ordinary test.
Kagura Hitomi and Tony Stark were about to conduct an experiment that could change the world forever:
The first-ever global wireless microwave energy transmission test.
Thanks to years of research and upgrades, Tony Stark had refined the Arc Reactor to the point where it could power an entire city.
Stark had effectively become the leading figure in clean energy.
But there was more to be done.
Lighting a few buildings with Arc Reactor energy wasn't enough.
And so, Stark Industries and Rhodes Island Industries collaborated, using Project Argos as a foundation to develop long-range microwave energy transmission—a technology capable of wirelessly transmitting electricity across the globe.
This was a dream many had pursued for generations.
This was Nikola Tesla's vision of a perfect world.
If the Arc Reactor's energy could be transmitted via targeted microwave beams—routed through Rhodes Island's orbital stations and relayed worldwide—human civilization would enter an entirely new era.
An era where power plants, electrical grids, and energy scarcity were obsolete.
An era where humanity was finally free from the grip of the energy crisis, ready to embark on its journey to the stars.
"Hitomi, keep an eye on the systems. Transmission begins in 10 seconds," Stark's voice came through.
"Understood. Time calibration complete. Microwave relay system is stable."
"This is basically just TV broadcasting on a massive scale, right?" Kagura mused.
"Exactly."Stark laughed. "Except this is billions of times more powerful."
"Transmission countdown: 3… 2… 1… Begin!"
High above New York, an invisible high-energy microwave beam shot out from the top of Stark Tower, carrying power from the Arc Reactor toward low Earth orbit.
This advanced microwave transmission tech bypassed atmospheric interference, directing power to a designated orbital station, which then relayed it across thousands of kilometers to its final destination.
"Relay confirmed. Target locked. Transmission stable," Kagura reported, her fingers flying across the holographic controls.
A transmission came in from Los Angeles.
"The Rhodes Island Energy Research Center confirms successful power reception. Transmission efficiency at 73.97%."
Kagura looked up at the vast blue planet outside the window.
"Mr. Stark, we did it."
"We really did it?" Stark's voice was jubilant over the comms.
"Hell yeah! Hitomi, get back down here—we're having barbecue tonight!"
Lighting a beacon for all of humanity.
Kagura smiled. "This is amazing, Mr. Stark. Even more fulfilling than setting up a global defense system."
"Superheroes aren't just about fighting battles, Hitomi." Tony Stark's voice softened. "There's so much we can do to make the world a better place."
"Yeah," Kagura murmured, switching off her comms. She whispered to herself:
"If only… things could stay like this forever." But the world was never that simple.
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Western United States – S.H.I.E.L.D. Accelerator Test Center, NASA Radiation Research Facility, Pegasus Project West Division, Joint Dark Energy Task Force Headquarters.
Evacuation orders blared through the speakers.
Inside the massive research facility, scientists and staff scrambled to pack their belongings and leave.
A black helicopter touched down on a helipad emblazoned with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.
Nick Fury stepped off the aircraft, his face grim.
"What's the situation with the Tesseract?"
Agent Phil Coulson removed his sunglasses and responded:
"That's just it, sir. We don't know."