[Location: Sahara Desert – Stark Base]
[Time: 9:00 AM]
Hot sun, a little heatwave, and the usual sand... At the center of the massive base stood the Starfire ship, finally complete.
It looked like a giant blade pointed toward the sky. The front was curved and sharp, with panels across the body that seemed to pulse with energy. The extra coating of nanites' shielding was shimmering under the sun. Inside, the giant arc reactor was glowing with a soft blue hue. Thick anchor clamps held it in place on the launch platform.
Everyone stood at a safe distance behind the barriers.
Tony was in full gear, watching the launch screen. He wore a simple black jacket over his casual shirt and his usual jeans. Beside him stood Howard, holding a tab, looking proud. He wore a white suit and sunglasses, calm as always.
Behind them stood Susan, Johnny, and Ben. Sue was holding a tablet. Johnny had his arms crossed and kept checking the sky like he was waiting for fireworks. Ben didn't say much. He just stared at the ship, impressed.
Natasha stood next to Yelena and a small group of Widows, around Tony and Howard. They were alert as usual. Beside them were a few NASA reps and engineers, mostly quiet. Some looked nervous. Others looked amazed.
Howard looked at Tony. "All clear. We have launch permission. Took a few calls, but it's done."
Tony gave a small nod. "Alright, let's make history."
He turned to the nearby console and tapped the control.
"Hermes," Tony said. "Start final system checks."
"System checks initiated," the AI replied. "Arc Reactor stable. Power distribution at 100 percent. Navigation locked to lunar coordinates."
Tony looked back at the group.
"No one panic if it wobbles. It's the first launch. If it crashes, we just pretend this never happened."
Johnny laughed. "Please let it fly. I put my name in the engine housing."
Sue shook her head. "Of course you did."
"Remote pilots ready?" Tony asked.
Howard nodded, looking at the tab. "Online. All bots in position."
Inside the ship, several humanoid robots stood at their stations. All of them were controlled remotely.
"Launch sequence starting," Hermes said.
The clamps on the ship unlocked with a loud click. The ground rumbled.
Arc energy surged along the bottom of the ship. A deep hum filled the air.
"Ten seconds to liftoff," Hermes counted.
Everyone watched. Nobody spoke.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
A massive beam of light burst from under the ship. The Starfire began to rise, slow at first, then faster as the arc thrusters kicked in.
The ground shook lightly. Dust swirled around them.
The ship climbed higher, leaving a glowing trail behind. Everyone tilted their heads back as it rose above the base, above the clouds, and into the sky.
Cheers broke out across the base.
One of the NASA engineers clapped. "It's holding course."
Tony checked the display. "Speed climbing. Stabilizers good. Pressure normal."
Howard grinned. "Look at that. She's flying like a dream."
Sue watched the ship vanish into the sky. "Unreal. It's actually working. And look at the speed."
One of the NASA guys mumbled with a shocked expression, "Impossible."
The rest just stood there in awe.
Johnny raised his hand. "High five, anyone?"
Ben gave him a look but slapped his hand anyway.
The display showed the ship leaving Earth's upper atmosphere. Arc Reactor output held steady. The bots were all reporting stable status. No faults.
Hermes spoke again. "Starfire has entered orbit. Preparing for moon trajectory jump."
Tony turned to the group. "Next stop, the Moon. Now the question is, how fast can it go?" He then turned toward Johnny.
"We are doing this? Tell me we are doing this?" Johnny said in excitement.
Tony reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black box. It fit in one hand and had a single big red button in the center.
Everyone noticed.
Sue narrowed her eyes. "What is that?"
Johnny grinned while rubbing his hands. "Oh boy, here we go."
Ben crossed his arms and smiled quietly. Even Natasha raised an eyebrow, while Yelena just smirked. Tony held the box up, looked at it for a second, then turned and handed it to Howard.
"Want to do the honors?" he asked.
Howard took the box, confused. "What is this?"
Tony gave a small shrug. "You'll find out after you push it."
Howard looked at the button, then back at Tony. "You're giving me a mystery box. On a rocket launch day. With a red button."
Tony nodded. "Exactly. The big red button."
Howard sighed and gave the group a glance. They all looked curious, but no one said anything. Finally, he pressed the button.
The moment he did, the launch screen changed.
A new window popped up on the main screen.
FTL Drive: Engaged
Jump Sequence Initiated
Destination: Lunar Orbit > Experimental Warp Test Zone Alpha
The display zoomed in on the ship. Energy lines lit up along its sides. Panels shifted and retracted. A bright pulse grew at the core.
The ship stopped moving for half a second.
Then it vanished.
One second, it was there.
The next, gone. No noise. No flash. Just empty sky.
The NASA engineers gasped.
"What the hell was that?" one said.
Howard stared at the now-empty screen. "What did I just activate?"
Tony smirked. "FTL drive. Faster than light. First test run. If it works, they'll hit the Moon in under six seconds. Yeah, I know 6 seconds is too long, but you can call it work in progerss."
"Six seconds?" Sue said, blinking.
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, we didn't want to spoil the surprise."
Ben added, "He bought our silence by allowing us to work on it. And I gotta say. It was an honor to work on such a sophisticated device."
Yelena looked impressed. "I thought it was just a theory."
Tony looked at the data feed. "Nope. Real. And it's working."
On the screen, the ship reappeared in lunar orbit. Just like that.
Telemetry data poured in. Systems normal. Bots are still active.
The ship was stable.
FTL worked.
Everyone stared at the screen. No one said anything for a few seconds.
Then Howard let out a low whistle. "Damn."
Tony folded his arms. "Welcome to the future."
Johnny laughed. "Okay, now we high-five again."
Ben didn't argue. He raised his hand. They slapped hands.
Sue still stared at the screen. "You built an FTL drive without telling anyone?"
Tony shrugged. "If I had told people, they would have tried to sabotage it. Didn't want to risk it."
Natasha looked at him. "You're lucky it worked."
"Luck had nothing to do with it," Tony said. "That's science."
The Starfire had reached lunar orbit.
Now came the hard part: landing.
Everyone stood around the command screen, watching closely. The bots aboard the ship had already started prepping for descent. The trajectory was tight, calculated down to the meter.
"Hermes," Tony said. "Begin lunar landing protocol. Keep it slow."
"Executing protocol," the AI replied.
On the screen, the ship adjusted its position, thrusters pulsing in short bursts. It began to drop toward the Moon's surface.
Altitude indicators dropped steadily.
Ten thousand feet.
Five thousand.
One thousand.
Fifty.
Soft dust kicked up as the ship lowered into the landing zone—a flat patch of grey terrain near the Moon's southern edge.
"Landing complete," Hermes confirmed. "No damage. Surface stable."
Cheers erupted again from the NASA engineers. Even the quiet ones looked impressed now.
Tony gave a small nod. "Alright. Time for the fun part."
He tapped a few buttons on the console. On the Moon, the cargo bay of the Starfire opened. A ramp extended. Dozens of drones flew out first, scanning the area, taking high-resolution photos, checking radiation levels, and mapping terrain data.
Behind them, four humanoid bots rolled out with a case. They walked across the surface like it was Earth, stabilizers keeping them balanced.
They reached a spot near the ship and stopped.
The largest one opened the case.
Inside was a metal flagpole and a folded flag.
The bots planted it firmly into the Moon's surface. A white flag with the Stark Industries logo.
One of the drones hovered in front of the flag and took a photo.
The image flashed on the command screen:
STARK INDUSTRIES – FIRST PRIVATE LUNAR LANDING
Timestamp: 1991.
Beneath it: a perfect view of the ship, the flag, and Earth in the distant background.
"Send that to every major news outlet," Tony said, grinning.
"Already done," Hermes replied. "Viral within seconds."
Next came the sample drones. Smaller, round-bodied, and fast. They scattered across the terrain, drilling small cores, collecting soil, and scanning for hidden materials.
Inside the ship, the mech bay came alive.
TITAN-1 powered up. So did TITAN-2 and TITAN-3.
The ramp widened, and the first mech stepped out slowly.
Then came the suits.
Five Type-Zero space suits rolled down on a trolley. Built-in systems activated automatically. Their visors glowed faintly as they stood upright, powered and synced to base control. (He did more customization on the suits)
Sue stepped closer to the screen. "They're moving like humans."
Tony nodded. "Yeah. That's the point. The nanties + AI. We'll get perfect data."
The mechs began walking the perimeter. Each of them deployed sensors, stress pads, and energy probes.
They checked the ship's landing gear, anchor points, and ground tension.
"Integrity stable," Hermes said. "No fractures. No shifts."
Tony crossed his arms. "Good. Let the suits run a full systems test. Atmosphere cycling. Propulsion. Comms. I want every bug flushed before we set for the real mission."
Tony watched the screen for another moment. The ship was fine. The bots were working. The systems were running.
He slumped down on the chair with a heavy sigh. After years of endless planning and working, he has finally reached his goal. Now, just another step to take.
...
[Location: NASA Mission Control – Houston, Texas]
The main room at NASA was pure chaos.
Dozens of technicians stood frozen at their stations. Engineers stared at their screens. The mission director sat slack-jawed in his chair. The overhead projector still displayed "MISSION: ARES", a government-funded lunar initiative that had been in development for nearly eleven years, after six past failures. Neil Armstrong was the first to land on the Moon, but the ship and the entire crew just vanished. Since then, NASA launched six space missions, and each of them failed for some reason. (SKRULL INVASION)
Now?
They were watching Stark's livestream.
Every detail streamed in real-time:
The ship's touchdown.
The drones mapping the Moon's surface.
The bots collecting samples.
The mechs walking casually across lunar regolith like it was a training field.
A voice finally broke the silence.
"Is that... is that a giant robot walking on the Moon?"
"Uh, yes, sir," one of the analysts said, eyes wide. "And it just deployed seismic anchors around the ship's perimeter."
Another voice chimed in from the corner: "Sir... the telemetry is public. He's uploading all the data through open StarkTech servers."
"Wait! What?"
The analyst tapped a key. A holographic overlay bloomed across the command table.
Moon Surface Map: LIVE
Radiation Levels: Nominal
Soil Composition: Updated
Lunar Ice Presence: Confirmed Pockets (Sector 9)
Energy Field: Contained
Autonomous Control Sync: 99.98%
Someone swore under their breath. Another just whispered: "Holy hell…"
The Director stood slowly, eyes fixed on the Stark Industries flag.
"Put me through to the White House," he said.
"Line's busy, sir."
"Then get me the Pentagon."
"They're watching it too, sir."
[Global News Outlets – Twenty Minutes Later]
📰 STARK INDUSTRIES CLAIMS FIRST FULLY AUTONOMOUS MOON LANDING
📰 NO CREW. NO ROCKET FUEL. NO MISTAKES.
📰 NASA STUNNED AS STARK OUTPACES ENTIRE GLOBAL SPACE PROGRAM
📰 HUMANITY'S NEXT FRONTIER RUNS ON ARC REACTORS
🛰 Live Feed Viewers: 792 Million
🌍 Global Trend #1: "HE DID IT"
📷 First Private Flag on the Moon – Image Shared 81 Million Times
...
[Location: Kremlin – Russia]
The Russian space agency quietly paused their lunar project.
"Should we proceed with the Baikal launch?" someone asked.
The Director of Operations rubbed his temples. "No. Nobody remembers second place."
[Location: CNSA Headquarters – Beijing, China]
A high-ranking official stared at the feed.
He watched the drones lay a reinforced supply depot on the Moon's surface. One of the mechs knelt to install a reactor anchor point.
His aide whispered, "Sir... What's our plan? The Arc Reactor is better than we first imagined."
The man turned toward the room, his voice quiet and sharp.
"Forget the mini reactors. I want the real deal. Begin negotiations. We need access to his energy systems. Immediately."
..
The remaining countries were also in shock and well, the demand for Arc Reactor increased.
..
[Back with the Tony]
Tony didn't react right away. He just watched the numbers climb.
Stream views.
Telemetry pings.
Scientific validation requests.
Hermes projected a new screen. Direct Messages: 2,341,191
Government requests. University partnerships. UN statements. Even one from the Vatican.
Natasha handed him a fresh cup of coffee.
He looked at her. "Think I broke the planet?"
She raised a brow. "You just gave it a spine."
Howard whistled as he scrolled through the headlines. "You're officially the first man to land on the Moon remotely, using a machine you designed, with a fleet you built, and no casualties."
"Not alone. I've had help," Tony looked at Howard and then back at his team.
Ben and Sue gave a slight nod.
Johnny leaned over the console. "Yeah, but when do we get to go?"
Tony looked at him, then the others. "Soon. One more round of tests. Then the real mission."
Sue asked, "You mean...?"
Tony turned toward the screen.
"Yeah. 1 more test and we'll officially start our real mission. The Sun."
---
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[Read 15 advance chapters]
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Quick info dump for some who'll comment on Sun part: In Marvel comics, cosmic rays are indeed often depicted as being more concentrated or intense around the sun, particularly during solar flares or other periods of increased solar activity. This heightened cosmic radiation near the sun is sometimes a catalyst for transformations, mutations, or the acquisition of superpowers by characters in the Marvel universe.