The Raid


January 3, 2019, somewhere in Canada's Northwestern Territories…

Above the cloudy skies that covered the immense snowy pine forests, a squadron of aircraft apparated into view. With their cloaking mechanisms unparallel to any modern-day technology, S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) and its sub-militarized forces began their descent upon the targeted base.

The flagship heli-carrier, an immense airborne aircraft carrier, Black Hawk, hovered ahead of a Quinjet squadron that had departed from its flight deck. With air superiority under their control, they launched the first phase of their operation.

At the helm of the Black Hawk, stood Director Nick Fury, flanked by both his most trusted agents, Maria Hill and Phil Coulson.

The bald, dark-skinned, one-eyed veteran of war focused his attention on the secret H.Y.D.R.A. facility nestled in the valley below. He knew the importance of this operation to the safety and security of both the region and the organization.

He turned to face Hill and Coulson, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Let's see that this raid goes smoothly," he firmly stated to both them and the specialists at the bridge.

"Don't worry, boss. Every angle is covered," Coulson assured him, "We have ground teams closing in on the facility and Talon Squadron is waiting for your order to begin its attack run."

"Good. Let's put a stop to their operations once and for all in this region. This secret facility has remained hidden for far too long. Give the squadron commander the go-ahead."

Like a well-oiled machine, the order went down and the Quinjets began attacking vital points of security across the fenced-in facility, including their Surface-to-Air Missile stations. The ground teams eliminated the preliminary H.Y.D.R.A. defense forces and began rounding up surrendering troops.

They blasted through the front gates and moved in, with transport Quinjets delivering reinforcements to the main deck of the facility. H.Y.D.R.A. attack helicopters were swiftly disabled before any type of serious counterattack could incur.

With the bulk of the facility's defenses down, ground troops began moving into the buildings, starting with the smaller ones before moving into the main building connecting all of them together.

"Tell them to keep their guard up," Fury ordered, "Get a Quinjet ready. Let's go see who and what we're up against down there."

"Right away, sir," Hill answered, following their esteemed director out of the bridge and towards the flight deck.


Inside the H.Y.D.R.A. facility…

Alarms rang throughout. Troops rushed towards the entrances to provide as much time as possible for their masters against the S.H.I.E.L.D. raid. Inside a large control-room, a holographic map of the region was sprawled out, pinpointing several areas of danger throughout the region.

Staring at it all was a white-hooded, skull-masked figure. Geared up in his black-and-white armor with a yellowish "T" embroidered on a Velcro patch, he studied the strategy that S.H.I.E.L.D. was utilizing and directed orders to the H.Y.D.R.A. troops accordingly.

"An outdated tactic, eh, Fury?" he chuckled to himself, his voice deep and condescending.

"They cannot acquire the files of the experiments we have in this base!" a male voice panicked over the radio.

"Relax, Baron Strucker. I'm transmitting the files to our secure satellite as we speak. They won't get ahold of them."

"They better not! Failure is not what we paid you for!"

"Let me remind you that I was not given enough time to accomplish this contract. What you're asking for takes time."

"No excuses, Taskmaster! Get it done or the consequences will be severe!"

The mercenary sighed.

"Just sip your mimosa in whatever tropical hideout you're finding yourself in. It'll get done."

"Good. Just make sure every piece of evidence that can lead to our other sites is destroyed as well."

As the unamused Taskmaster did so, he glanced over to the main elevator, leading to the lower levels.

"What about the basement?" he then asked the baron.

"What about it?"

"I heard you've got something down there?"

"Ah… yes. Don't worry yourself about it. He's probably dead by now."

"Uh-huh… Okay."

Suddenly, one of the troops shouted that they were retreating over the radio. S.H.I.E.L.D. troops were advancing towards the main corridor to the control room. Without a moment longer to hesitate, Taskmaster finished the upload and destroyed the server. This eliminated all evidence that led to other H.Y.D.R.A. sites that had been hidden for decades.

"Hate to cut this short, baron. But our conversation is over."

Operating on his own accord, the mercenary abandoned the H.Y.D.R.A. troops by escaping through a secret closet inside the control room. There was a hidden trapdoor there that opened into a large underground tunnel, formerly used to transport vehicles in.

It led to an abandoned post several miles away from the base, where he was certain S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't be.

He made his escape while the rest of the H.Y.D.R.A. troops were either eliminated or captured.


Thirty minutes later…

After securing the base, Director Fury and his entourage of agents arrived on-scene. Marching into the control room, Fury quickly eyeballed the holographic map. Next to it was the apprehended troop commander for the H.Y.D.R.A. soldiers. He was handcuffed and standing in front of two S.H.I.E.L.D. troops.

"Smart of you to tell your men to stand down there, commander," Fury greeted, "We would hate further bloodshed."

The commander remained silent.

The director leaned back against the holographic table, keeping his eye on the commander.

"Mind telling us what a fairly large force is doing all the way out here in Canada? What has H.Y.D.R.A. been doing out here for more than thirty years?"

"I will not say a word. I have my rights as do my men," the commander sharply answered in accent remarking that of a Slavic tone, "Imprison us if you must. You will have no information from me."

Fury merely shrugged.

"Okay, keep your 'secrets' then. I already know."

He turned to face the holographic map.

"Decades of human experimentation gone wrong, huh? This is where people go to disappear. So, that's… what… human trafficking? Mixed with human rights violations, illegal weapons possession, and lord knows what else. Am I in the right mind to say these guys are facing some serious backlash, Coulson?"

"I'd say so, boss."

Fury just sarcastically chuckled and turned to face the blue-eyed commander.

"You do not scare me, Director Fury."

"I don't have to. Under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D., operation sanctioned by the Canadian government and the United Nations, I place you under arrest for crimes against humanity. You and your apprehended men."

Without another word, the agents took the commander away, leaving Fury, Hill, Coulson, and a handful of other agents in the room.

"Alright. Start scraping this room bit by bit. See if we can't salvage anything from those hard drives in that server. You all know the drill. Get forensics here to see if we can't lift prints off this hologram table," the director loudly ordered.

He then spotted the elevator door on the far side of the room.

"Hill, Coulson, on me. I want to see where that elevator leads to."