A.I.M./Ultimo Transformation

*"We got a winner?"
"Maybe. Take a look. Alt-energy large-scale power manufacturing facility near the coast of Siberia. It matches range estimates and -- Hey! Check out the contractor."
"Advanced Idea Mechanics"*
―James Rhodes and Tony Stark[src]
**Advanced Idea Mechanics**, better known by its acronym **A.I.M.**, was a secret weapons and intelligence agency.

## History

Following his dismissal from Stark Industries, Kearson DeWitt began working with A.I.M. Intent on revenge on Tony Stark, he formed an alliance with Russian insurrectionist General Valentin Shatalov and the Roxxon Energy Corporation. On DeWitt's orders, Roxxon stole the Dataspine (a copy of the J.A.R.V.I.S. program) from the Stark Archives to advance and run their projects.

Once Iron Man and War Machine discovered that Shatalov was at a Tesla facility in Siberia and was allied with A.I.M., DeWitt contacted Shatalov and told him that a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy Natasha Romanoff, was in his ranks and was that he was displeased with Shatalov for bringing S.H.I.E.L.D. to their front door. DeWitt warned Shatalov that if he did not follow orders, their alliance would be over. Shatalov prepared the Crimson Dynamo Armor and severed Roxxon's link with A.I.M.

Stark entered the facility and rescued Romanoff before battling Shatalov in the Crimson Dynamo Armor. Shatalov powered up his armor through a Tesla tower which generated electric energy. By destroying the tower's power projectors, Stark was able to weaken Shatalov's suit. Rhodes then grabbed Shatalov from behind and held him in place, allowing Stark to make a critical hit, killing him.

Romaoff informed Stark, Rhodes, Nick Fury and Pepper Potts of DeWitt's involvement with A.I.M. and Stark and Potts deduced that he was attempting to revive Project P.R.O.T.E.A.N.. Faced with losing everything, DeWitt used the copied J.A.R.V.I.S. program to create Ultimo and then merged his P.R.O.T.E.A.N. technology with it, allowing it to grow uncontrollably and quickly transforming it into an enormous metal Ultimo the size of a scyscraper. With the merge complete, DeWitt had his men upgraded with P.R.O.T.E.A.N. implants and merged himself with Ultimo physically and mentally in an organic/machine hybrid.

While working as a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. within A.I.M., Natasha Romanoff had stolen Gunship Eight-Two-Six. She used it to fly Stark and Rhodes into an A.I.M. base to search for DeWitt. Once inside the hangar, she took the A.I.M soldiers and drones by surprise when she opened fire on them. Stark, Rhodes and S.H.I.E.L.D. searched the base and found that DeWitt was not there. J.A.R.V.I.S. detected an anomaly and alerted Stark. Ultimo then hacked into J.A.R.V.I.S.' system, overpowering both Stark and Rhodes. Speaking in J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice, Ultimo mocked Stark and promised to kill him and everyone that he cared about.

On DeWitt's command, the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier was attacked by A.I.M. forces. As several A.I.M. Gunships opened fire on the Helicarrier, Fury alerted his troops and ordered them to prepare for battle. One of the P.R.O.T.E.A.N. Hybrids broke into the Helicarrier's command center and grabbed Potts, throwing her off the Helicarrier. Stark quickly donned the Mark VI armor, flew after her and grabbed her before she reached the ocean. Due to the armor's limited capabilities, he was unable to fly her back up, and had to jump across several gunships before placing her in the care of a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot. Stark fought against P.R.O.T.E.A.N. Hybrids and A.I.M. Drones while protecting the Helicarrier's repulsor engines and his own personal plane. He then boarded the plane and had Rhodes fly it away from the Helicarrier to drive the A.I.M. forces away from it. A.I.M. then deployed an Arc Armiger onto the Helicarrier and Fury requested assistance. Knowing that it was a trap to lure Stark out, Rhodes insisted that he stay on the plane while he donned the War Machine armor and defeated the Armiger.

Once he made sure that Ultimo could not hack into J.A.R.V.I.S.' system again, Stark came to the conclusion that since Ultimo knew everything that J.A.R.V.I.S. knew and was programmed to weaponize everything he could, he would attempt to put Project Greengrid into effect. His theory proved true, with the DeWitt/Ultimo hybrid creating a typhoon at an A.I.M. base in Malaysia. When Stark and Rhodes attacked the base with the reprogrammed Arc Armiger, A.I.M. put up a fight with their soldiers and technology. Rhodes located the Greengrid power nexus beneath the epicenter of the storm. By repositioning the Greengrid relays and destroying the central power structure, he was able to send the generator into meltdown, terminating the project.

With Ultimo now grown so large that he weighed two hundred thousand tons, Stark and Rhodes decided to isolate him to reduce collateral damage. J.A.R.V.I.S. lured him to the Stark Archives by firing up the deep reactors. Once there, Rhodes acted as a distraction to prevent Ultimo moving to another location while Stark flew inside Ultimo and battled DeWitt in his P.R.O.T.E.A.N. exoskeleton. DeWitt proved a formidable opponent with his exoskeleton's tentacles and healing abilities, but with help from the external attacks by Rhodes and S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultimo's healing effects were diminished and DeWitt was ultimately defeated by Stark. The exoskeleton then attempted to extract itself from its organic host. J.A.R.V.I.S.' biological scans showed irreversible P.R.O.T.E.A.N. integration, meaning that there was no chance of saving DeWitt. In a final desperate attempt at survival, DeWitt grabbed Stark and began draining his life force. Stark was saved at the last second by Rhodes blowing up Ultimo's head, allowing him to fly out. Fury then finished the job by crashing the Helicarrier into Ultimo, destroying him and killing DeWitt.

## External Links

* A.I.M. on Wikipedia
* A.I.M. on Marvel Database