All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.

I know somebody recommended it a while back, but since it just came out on Xbox I've spent time playing Project Wingman and have been thoroughly enjoying it so I will recommend it to all of you. If you have 25 bucks and want to kick ass and go fast, it's well worth your time. If you don't know what the game is, it's an indie arcade flight action game that is inspired by Ace Combat. Great gameplay and soundtrack, and it's even on Gamepass so for those of you with that, it's certainly worth trying out at least.

Providing you can pry yourselves away from Halo Infinite.

This chapter is a little bit different, a sort of prelude to the next sort of mini arc. I'm mixing it up and trying something different, trying to make a stealth section that isn't garbage, so leave a review an let me know what you think.

Power Without Question – Chapter 103: Saboteurs

Dropped down to a world of ice

A platoe of frozen lakes

A Nazi place of doom in their sights

Training camps on Scottish Heights

To commando saboteurs

A mission of their lives lies ahead

Called in to serve

And they knew what to do

They were the heroes of the cold

"Romanov," greeted Director Fury, a bag under his good eye. Nobody had a perfect read on the man, but Natasha liked to think that she had him figured out enough to tell he had been unnerved, if not totally taken off guard, by the findings of Detachment 101 just three days prior. Since then, the threat had been dealt with by Sable and her forces, but it was a close call, far too close for comfort. "What's the status of your team?"

"We're still in Studzianki, using the last couple days to rest and recuperate," replied Natasha, arms crossed. Even she could admit that it was nice to have a hot shower, cold drink, and fresh bed every once in a while. Even something so small as having a few days to let her guard down and decompress had been a boon, not just for her, but for the entire group. However, they all knew that the job wasn't done yet. "But everyone's getting antsy and wants to get back out there."

The head of SHIELD nodded and cracked a small smile, "Well you're in luck, I've got actionable intel and I need you on this Romanov. Sending it to you," Fury informed her, and sure enough, the Black Widow pulled out her PDA to see that the Director had sent her a few different files. As she opened the first one, Fury spoke again, "The biggest unknown I have is how the Loyalists are producing Titans that are far beyond what anyone else can come up with. General Dynamics is telling me they're still a decade from something like what the Loyalists have. Finding and stopping Titan production in the country is now our top priority, and, as of this morning, I have a lead for you."

He nodded down towards the PDA in her hand. The redheaded Russian raised an eyebrow before responding, "Director, what am I supposed to be seeing?"

The satellite photo he's sent her wasn't of a factory, or even a military installation, it was a small, quaint village set alongside a canal. The streets weren't even wide enough for automobiles and the buildings were nothing bigger than a few small storefronts, likely selling the crops cultivated in the fields that surrounded the village on three sides, with a major highway on the fourth. "A ruse Agent Romanov. While we didn't have satellites in a position to track the Totenkopf Division as they retreated, when we picked them up, their Titans were gone. This is where we believe they are."

Swiping to the next picture, Romanov was met with a topographical map dated 2002, "Is this… a mine?"

"Close," replied Fury. "It's a natural cavern. But it does ensure that the ground isn't much good for farming, which leads us to think the village is cover. We have satellite passes from when the coup took place, until about four years ago. Four years ago, it was an empty steppe, but since then? I've got nothing."

"That sounds rather suspicious Director," responded the Black Widow, "I mean… four years sir?"

The veteran intelligence officer grimaced, "Between our satellites being out of position to miss all of their Titan movements and now this? I've already begun looking for a mole inside SHIELD, but haven't made any progress yet."

Natasha's mind flashed to two things immediately. The first was what Castle had said; that they had been watching that pass because the Director had smelt a rat, and the fact that he'd already begun looking is confirmation he already had suspicions. The second is more pressing, and one of the most important questions in field operations. "Are we compromised?"

Much to her relief, the Director shook his head, "No. It seems that the mole has only been hiding whatever is going on and not trying to interfere with Detachment 101. I need you to get over there and confirm that this is where Titan production is taking place. The latest assessment of the terrain is in that briefing, as well as insertion and exfiltration options."

"Understood," affirmed Romanov as she quickly glanced through the information before pocketing the PDA. "What happens if we confirm that this is it?"

"I already have presidential approval and AFGSC standing by to launch a strike," began Fury, "But Sablinova wants to capture the facility intact, and so do I. She's preparing a ground force as we speak. And they get the first crack at this place. Your job will be to gather intelligence for both a ground and air assault. Any questions?"

"No sir," returned the Black Widow, "I just need to ensure that whoever Sable sends is up to the job."

A knocking on her door caused Sable to look up from her work, "Enter," she ordered simply, setting aside the file Fury had sent her.

The door opened to reveal Major Cooper in casual clothes, his favored leather jacket, jeans, and a pair of aviator sunglasses that he removed and slid into his jacket pocket. The Marauder, like everyone else who had been at Prokhorvka, had benefited from the two days back at MOB Anastasia, looking refreshed and relaxed. Though, Sable supposed, the SRS Pilot had never suffered from being too highly strung. "Hey Silver, you're looking better. How d'ya feel?"

"I am well," she responded truthfully. Even if she mourned the men and women that had died in the battle, it was still a great victory. Better than that, her logistical situation was finally where she wanted it to be and the offensive that had been in the works for over two months was finally ready. Something told the Symkarian that this would be it, this would be what finally ensured that she would reclaim her country and return home.

None of that would make the task any easier, however.

"Sit down Major," instructed Sablinova as she stood and made her way to a small, rarely used cabinet in the corner of her office, retrieving a bottle and two glasses before returning to her desk. Opening the bottle of Symkarian Vodka that she preferred, Sablinova poured two glasses before setting the bottle aside. Picking up one of the glasses, she set it down in front of the Pilot, "It has occurred to me that I never thanked you for what you did," began the Mercenary as she resumed her seat, picking up her own glass. "I know you prefer whisky but hopefully this will suffice as my thanks," said Sable with a small smile as she raised her glass. Cooper cracked a smirk and returned the gesture before both downed their drinks. As soon as the glasses were set down, Sable turned serious again, "Now Major, to business. I must know if you still wish to aid in the destruction of the Loyalist Titans."

"You're damn right I do," replied the Pilot before leaning forwards in his chair. "I know it's not what we agreed to, but with all due respect, I'm not content to just sit on the sidelines and watch. Especially not if what Romanov told me turns out to be true."

Sablinova raised an eyebrow as she reached over and grabbed one of the G-2 reports regarding the Battle of Prokhorvka. Flipping it open, she asked, "And what did Agent Romanov tell you Major?" Once she reached the page she had in mind, she looked up to see that Cooper had a 'deer in the headlights' expression, as the Americans said.

"You mean they didn't tell you?" asked the Marauder, and Silver shook her head. "Damn."

"Do not worry, I believe I know what you were told. Tell me if what I say is incorrect," instructed Sablinova. The Pilot across the desk from her nodded while Sable removed a page from the report and slid it across to him. "Analysis of wreckage and enemy equipment from Prokhorvka revealed a prevalence of these insignia."

Matthew picked up the page and looked at the pictures that Silver knew were on it. Pins, patches, banners, and personal effects all bore two familiar symbols. The more common was a pair of silver lightning bolts against a black background, the bolts were both shaped to resemble an 'S.' The other symbol was a take on a skull and crossbones motif, but with a very specific set of proportions that made it remembered as the 'Death's Head.'

Scrutinizing the Marauder's face as he looked at the images, Silver saw the man's expression harden, but he didn't look too surprised. That was enough to tell her that she was on the right path, so she pressed on. "There was more; we found documents and encrypted files referring to the unit we engaged as Totenkopf or, to be more precise, the 3rd SS Panzer Division." That got the Pilots attention, which was not a surprise, but there was not a look of being caught off guard. To back up her claim, Sable passed over another page of the report, which the Marauder quickly picked up and skimmed through while the Mercenary continued. "When I learned this, I reached out to contacts in Germany, both historians and in BND. Both said same thing, they believe that the SS leaders who escaped after World War 2 fell in with surviving elements of Hydra, and that both survive today. Now I have proof of this."

"Hydra was responsible for the coup all those years ago, Hydra killed my parents, and Hydra has run the country since. It is why Fury has provided so much aid to me, it is why he would send his own operatives against a foreign government," asserted the Symkarian. She looked at the Pilot as he finished reading the document and looked up to meet her gaze. "This is what Agent Romanov told you, yes?"

"Got it in one," confirmed Cooper with a nod. "Don't ask me about anything more, all Romanov told me was SHIELD intel said Hydra was behind Titan production." He smiled faintly, "She was manipulating me, she wanted to piss me off to get me to go after them. It worked," said the Pilot matter of factly. "I don't like the idea of Nazi Titans, so yeah, I want to go kill them."

Sablinova respected how straightforward and blunt Cooper could be when the situation needed it, and she was of the opinion that this was one of those situations. G-2 believed that Hydra backed Loyalists had more than made up for the Titans they had lost before she had departed for New York, and Sable knew that rate of replacement was one she could not match, prompting her to push Fury for his help. The Director had needed little convincing to aid her in finding the source of Titan production, and both had made this a top priority.

"In that Major, we are agreed, which is why I have a proposal for you," revealed Silver as she took back the intelligence report. "The 7th is currently undergoing a replacement and resupply period but still lack CO. In light of how well you led them at Prokhorvka, I am willing to assign you command of the 7th Armored Assault Battalion for the mission of eliminating Titan production, effective immediately."

"Hell, I won't say no to some backup," drawled Cooper. "Should make for a nice change of pace. The last time I did something like this, it was just BT and me."

"Then I will give the order," she replied, "Do you have any other questions?"

"Just two. When and where?" asked Cooper.

"The 7th is scheduled to be ready to deploy in one week. I will grant you more time to prepare if you need it, but I trust you understand the urgency of your objective Major," replied the Symkarian. Getting a confirming nod, Sablinova continued, "As to where, that is up to Agent Romanov. I will let you know more as soon as I do."

"Approaching IP, thirty seconds," alerted Luchenko from the pilot's seat of the stolen twin rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopter. When Detachment 101 had arrived at the suspected Titan factory, they found that a Loyalist force of at least two reinforced companies had set up camp in the target village. They had a solid perimeter established all around the small village and Natasha's attempt to slip past on the ground had proven unsuccessful.

Which was why the Russian born superspy was more than 11,000 feet up in the back of a hijacked helicopter, staring out into the pitch-black moonless night. With the ground a no go, the Avenger had decided to make her infiltration from the air. Romanov was wearing her skintight infiltration suit, Widows Bite gauntlets, and utility belt, which had pistol mags, flashbangs, smoke grenades, and hacking drives. Around each thigh was a holster in the old western gunslinger style, and in each holster was a Glock 19 customized by Taran Tactical Innovations to Combat Master spec. Both guns had stippled grips, custom slides that were lighter than factory standard and serrated to make them easier to grip and operate, brand new ultra-crisp 2.2-pound pull weight competition triggers, new beveled flared mag wells, and extended 21 magazines. The most striking visual differences were dull grey colored DLC coated threaded barrel fitted with a SilencerCo Osprey 9 polygonal sound suppressor. The sights were fiberoptic equipped irons, one dot at the top of the front post and two at the top of the rear square notch, all had the slightest glow for night ops like this one. All of the work was custom and done to her exacting specifications, Luchenko had only been able to have the guns brought in through Sable supply chains, and Romanov was happy to have her babies back.

If something went really wrong and those weren't enough, she had a backup Glock 26 Taran Tactical Carry Master in the small of her back and a Microtech Cypher OTF knife strapped to her right holster. In the center of her back was a personalized low-profile pack made to contain a pair of shock batons, both of which barely poked up over her shoulders. While she hoped to be able to sneak through the village without having to use any of her weapons, Natasha was still dropping into the middle of 200 enemy troops with no backup, and she wanted the option to try and shoot her way out if she absolutely had to.

Covering everything was a specialized Ripstop Nylon suit, with flaps of fabric hanging beneath her arms and between her legs, with a larger, bulkier pack on top of the one that had her batons. The Wingsuit meant that the stolen helicopter did not have to get close enough to risk raising suspicion from those on the ground. After using the wingsuit to cover the distance, she had a parachute that would allow her to slow to a stop, hopefully inside the Loyalist defensive perimeter, where she could shed her wingsuit and snoop around.

"Ten seconds! Popping the hatch!" called back the Georgian pilot as Natasha stood up. The Black Widow then donned what looked like a pair of sunglasses, but was actually a Cross Com 3.0 set, integrating HUD, IR, night vision, and magnetic vision, as well as a secured and encrypted comm link. The glasses were about to begin limited trials with D Co. 1st BN, 5th SFG in a month's time, but Fury had gotten a pair shipped to her along with her Glocks and this would be their first field test.

Stepping towards the open hatch at the back of the chopper, Natasha could feel the air rushing in as the Head Up Display on the Cross Com came online, showing, among other things, an altimeter. Taking one glance at it, Nat saw that they were just below 12,000 feet as she stepped right up to the edge of the ramp, staring out into the darkness and knowing that, somewhere in the distance, under the waypoint marker on her HUD, was her objective. The system automatically engaged the night vision capability, casting the world around her in a grey-green glow as she closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. "Green light, clear to jump!"

Without hesitation, the Black Widow opened her eyes and jumped out, letting gravity pull her earthward, arms at her sides and legs together in an eighty-degree headfirst dive. She punched clean past the 220 mile per hour mark after 10 seconds of falling, at which point her altimeter told her she was below 11,000 feet. Knowing she still had more than three miles horizontally, Natasha fought to extend her arms and spread her legs against the onrushing torrent of air, but as soon as the wings had deployed, she could feel her whole body bucked upwards by the force of lift. Using that to pull out of her screaming power dive, the Avenger turned her raw speed into distance covering lift as she soared through the night air towards her target. She couldn't go straight in, since she didn't want to silhouette herself against the large mountain to the east, fly through the low hanging clouds to the south, or potentially be picked up by any defense radars pointed west. That meant she had to work her way around to the north, even if Luchenko couldn't fly the helicopter there because of a Loyalist SAM battery that the group had spotted earlier.

While she still had altitude, Romanov followed the flight path displayed on her HUDs Enhanced Reality System, using her whole body to steer herself through the night until she worked her way around to the northeast corner over more than four excruciating minutes. Once there, she'd need to make her final approach, and turned back in before lifting her legs and forcing her head down to go into another dive and pick up more speed.

Sweeping her arms back and legs together, Natasha shot down like a meteor with nothing to slow her. Now below 7,000 feet, it became substantially easier to breathe as the ground rushed up at Romanov, her speed once again exceeding 200 miles an hour as she traded her altitude for velocity. Her speed continued to climb, but at a slower pace, and when she was at 4,000 feet, she had only been able to reach 235 mph, near as made no difference to terminal velocity. But still she dove, less than a mile from the village and wanting to wait until the last second before pulling out and making her approach, lessening how long she would be vulnerable.

This would be the last second to abort, if anything didn't look right, Natasha could turn away and rejoin the rest of Detachment 101, but if she held her course, she was committed to going in.

One quick check showed no signs of increased activity, and there were no frantic calls for her to break off, so Romanov once again went spread eagle and suddenly slowed down, now flying almost horizontally as she covered the distance very quickly. In less than 10 seconds, she was right at the edge of the defensive perimeter around the town and reached to pull the ripcord that would deploy her parachute. The Ram Air Chutes sudden deployment slowed Romanov down instantly, knocking the wind out of her as she reached for the controls and began to steer the chute, and herself, into the village.

Gently weaving left to right and back again, both to bleed off speed and get a better look at the terrain below, the Black Widow was now less than 500 feet above ground. This was the most dangerous part of the drop, with her hanging, defenseless, beneath a slow and obvious target, but the moonless night, high clouds, and her approach had prevented her from being spotted, yet. Silently, the SHIELD agent coasted over the Loyalist positions, holding her breath for a reason she didn't quite know as she looked down. Below her boots the array of vehicles, foxholes, and tents turned into quaint rooftops, and Natasha felt a profound sense of relief as focus turned towards looking for a landing zone. Steering the chute into a lazy circle, the Black Widow saw a suitable flat roofed building, a shop near the center of town.

It was a small landing point, but the Black Widow had landed on smaller before, and it only took three steps before she was able to let the air out of her chute and come to a stop. Listening for any sign of an alarm being raised, Natasha hurriedly pulled her parachute down with a rustle, but other than that there was nothing amiss, which was a good sign. Moving quickly and quietly, Romanov stripped off the harness and bundled up the parachute before dragging the whole ensemble over to a trap door and throwing it all down into the building. Quickly following suit, Natasha dropped down onto the ladder and closed the hatch, finding herself in a pitch-black shell of a building with plywood floors and only studs for walls.

Finding a dusty corner, Romanov dumped her chute before stripping out of her wingsuit to reveal the Tactical Suit beneath. "Widow, this is Grim, how do you read?" asked the tech specialist.

"Widow's got you loud and clear, Grim. Go ahead," replied the Avenger quietly, the throat mic she wore able to pick up a low whisper. Staying away from the windows, Natasha crouched down and crept through the shadows, looking for a way down to the ground floor of the three-story structure.

"I'm reading that you're inside the village, but until you isolate the security systems, you'll have to be careful. Tempest is in an overwatch position and Castle is on standby, they have your back if it comes to it," relayed Grimsdottir.

Finding a staircase, Natasha drew one of her Combat Masters and began to descend. "Understood, but I'm hoping it doesn't." Making down the three flights without worry, Romanov made her way through the building until she reached a set of windows and looked out to see that all was quiet, without a single patrolling guard in sight. Thinking that this was to good to be true, the Black Widow switched on the 'Magnetic Vision' feature in the Cross Com to look for any metallic sensors or defenses lying in wait.

Incredibly, there was nothing, at least not within the admittedly short effective range of the gadget. Taking just a short second to think through her options, the veteran agent knew that the longer remained here, the greater the chance she was discovered. She switched back to night vision and slipped out of the building, creeping along the wall of the building as she kept her head on the swivel. "Widow this is Grimm. Tempest is reporting a lot of activity around a barn like structure on the northwest side. I advise you check it out, sending its location to you now."

"Widow copies all," replied the Avenger as she turned north, noting the marker on the Cross Com HUD. Working her way around the building from which she'd emerged; Natasha scanned the next street before darting across and pressing herself against another plywood façade. Moving along it with her pistol at the ready, the Black Widow saw the distinct beams of flashlights up the road betraying the two patrolling guards that were heading her way. Instantly, the superspy ducked down into an alleyway and slipped away from the street, weaving through painted plywood structures towards the waypoint.

Again, the Agent was struck by how few guards there seemed to be, but filed the thought for later consideration as she pushed forwards, her movement nearly silent as she approached her objective. Through night vision her objective seemed about 30 yards away in the middle of a suspiciously empty square. Immediately, Natasha realized that this barn was placed in such a way that it would be very easy to defend and keep secure. It was also an unusually well lit space, with streetlamps placed at even intervals, making an undetected approach impossible. Switching back to magnetic vision, Natasha followed the wires that came down from the nearest lamppost to where they bundled together with those from a few others and then snaked towards another building, though the spy couldn't see exactly which one.

Backstepping into the shadows, Natasha used the magnetic vision to see the metal of the cables through the thin plywood of the structures as she moved in parallel from the other side of the row of buildings. The third building she came across was the one the cables finally snaked into, and so Romanov followed, taking a look around before slipping through the open window only to find that this building was distinct from the rest. It wasn't made of plywood, but hexagonally patterned rigid metal, the grey and yellow color scheme as much of a giveaway of its origin as the logo that read 'A.I.M' plastered across it. "Okay, hopefully there's a power source in here somewhere," murmured the Widow.

The metal construction rendered the magnetic vision useless, so Romanov disabled it and tracked the cables manually, following them into the next room where she was met with her power source. A large battery bank filled the room, which seemed to feed the streetlamps for the whole area. Quickly finding the one cable she had been following, Natasha quickly decided against plunging the whole area into blackness, since that would draw too much attention. Similarly, doing something that was obviously sabotage was out of the question. Holstering her gun, the Black Widow drew one of her batons as she crouched down and quickly disconnected the cable, causing some of the lights outside to dim. Then, taking her shock baton, the superspy plunged the end into the connectors and triggered the shock function. The vastly different electrical current sparked and cracked, turning some of the wiring inside to useless slag since it wasn't rated to handle the abuse. To the naked eye however, the cable would look exactly the same.

Confirming this, Natasha set the baton down and reconnected the cable, but the lights were still out. Securing it just as she saw a shadow move across the floor around her, Romanov knew she had seconds to move, and promptly did. Scoping up her baton, the Black Widow vanished into the shadows, slipping out into a hallway as she saw the silhouettes of the two men move outside a window and felt too exposed. Turning, Natasha took a risk and sprinted away, heading out the opposite side of the building just before the two guards entered.

Pausing a moment to make sure she hadn't been noticed, Natasha then moved wither greater care, staying on the opposite side of the buildings from the open square as she made her way back to the open approach she made. Switching off the night vision, Romanov was satisfied that the darkness would cover her approach, and when thermals showed there was nobody in sight, she sprinted to the barn. Covering the distance in silence at a pace not that far off an Olympic sprinter despite the gear she was wearing, Romanov found that the 'barn' was a similarly constructed and likely equally high-tech prefabricated building as the one that managed the external lights.

Moving cautiously along the wall, Natasha came up to an open window and could see white tiling, cabinets, and what looked like a fridge against the wall. She could also hear voices and, knowing that with the darkness at her back she would be invisible to those inside the well-lit room, Romanov looked inside. It was defiantly a canteen, with tables and chairs laid out haphazardly and one uniformed guard was at a laptop, back to the window. Unlike the first man, who had a full head of hair, the other guard was nearly bald and sipping on the contents of a mug. Crouching down, the SHIELD Agent kept going, rounding the corner of the building and taking a few more steps when she saw a flash of movement right next to her and instantly spun, bringing up her Widow's bite to see that a hidden door had slid open to reveal a clean, well-lit interior. Stepping inside, Natasha followed the hallway down past two doors, one with a sign for bathroom and the other with a steaming coffee cup, likely a canteen of some sort. But once she reached a corner and turned it, she was met with a much thicker and heavily secured door. "Grim, Widow. I'm inside the barn. It's an AIM prefab with some kind of retinal scanner on a door."

"Can you hack it? Or is there a place to patch me in?" asked the Tech Officer.

"Negative," replied the Avenger after giving the scanner a once over, "But maybe I can get a friend to open it for me." Turning around, Natasha heard a door open and, critically, only one set of footsteps. Waiting out of sight around the bend in the hallways, the Agent only peeked out when she heard the faint 'hiss' of the door opening and saw that the man exiting was bald. Smirking, the Black Widow followed suit, waiting exactly fifteen seconds before triggering the door. A quick scan showed that the guard was long gone, and so Romanov retraced her steps, staying low until she came back to the open window. A quick look inside confirmed that the man was still there on his laptop, and so Natasha drew one of her Combat Masters and mantled through without being noticed. Not even breathing, the Black Widow stepped as lightly as her namesake as she crept up on the man before reaching out and pressing a hand to his mouth and the muzzle of her gun to the back of his head, cutting off any struggling the guard might have done. "Easy friend," she whispered in her native Russian. It seemed that the guard understood because he instantly relaxed in his seat. "We're just going for a little walk. Stand up," she instructed.

Holding his hands up in a natural gesture of surrender, the man stood, slowly, and Natasha shifted her hand from his mouth to the back of his collar. "Please miss, I don't want to die," whispered the guard, stuttering over his own words.

"Then do as I say. Walk to the door," she ordered, pressing the gun into his head for emphasis. Nodding once, the man complied, taking shaky steps to the entrance to the canteen. "Open it, turn left." Once again, the man did as he was told, with Natasha stealing a glance towards the hidden door to the outside of the barn to make sure nobody stumbled across them. Using the hand on his collar, the Avenger steered her hostage around the corner and to the retinal scanner. "Use it, open the door."

Giving the man a little shove, Natasha lined his eyes up with the scanner and heard a tone before the locked door slid open. Pulling the man back and using him as a shield, Romanov pushed the man through the door before it closed and found herself in a continuation of the same hallway, only there were no more guards waiting for her.

And while she was relieved by this, the shaking of the man in front of her said that he did not feel the same way. "You're not a bad guy, you follow orders. I don't wanna kill you for that," she whispered reassuringly before leaning closer and speaking directly into his ear, "Tomorrow, when you wake up, you're gonna know you did the right thing."

With that, Romanov engaged her gauntlets, sending stunning electricity out from her Widows Bite without firing any projectiles, the surge coursing through the man's nervous system until he relaxed. The SHIELD agent eased the unconscious guard into a corner without a sound. Raising her Combat Master, Romanov stalked forwards, straight for a doorway, and glided inside, sweeping the room with her gun until its sights rested on a man who was facing her, eyes wide in alarm. She put a bullet in the center of his forehead, turned fifteen degrees to the man still seated at the massive computer console lining the far wall, and sent another 9mm Luger round through the back of his skull. Re-holstering the handgun for the moment, the Black Widow got to work, inserting a drive that automatically uploaded a program allowing Grim access to the system. "I'm in, transmitting now," alerted Natasha over the comm.

"Copy, Grimm is receiving. It looks like this is the exterior security node for the facility," informed the technician. "I can disable most of the security systems both above and below ground as well as guide you to the entrance to the underground facility, but there's no information on what exactly is underground."

"Understood, send me the location of the nearest entrance, then lock this security room down tight," ordered Romanov as she pulled the drive and left the room. Instead of turning left and heading back to the door with the retinal scanner, the marker on her HUD directed her right, deeper into the barn. Heading down a flight of stairs, the Avenger found herself met with the upper assembly of a freight elevator, though the lift itself wasn't there. A look down revealed a mere 20 foot drop and no thermal signatures; Natasha jumped onto one of the guide poles and slid down. As she did, she noted that the floor she had been on was at least six feet thick, and judging by the feel of the floor beneath her feet once she hit the bottom, the next layer was just as solid. "There's no way a bunker buster could destroy this place," murmured the Black Widow.

Knowing she could be working blind, the superspy saw a door labeled 'maintenance' and slipped inside, hoping the less traveled corridor would allow her to slip through the facility undetected. Passing by wiring, pipes, and control panels, Natasha soon arrived at a ladder that only led deeper underground. Faced with no choice, she descended further, 20 more feet, the walls around her yet more reinforced concrete. Looking to either side to see that it was clear, Romanov stepped out into a hallway that was solid on one side and lined with grates on the other. Curious, the SHIELD Agent took a look and saw that they provided ventilation for a truly massive room. Feeling her heart rate spike for a second at what that might mean, the Black Widow quickly set to work pulling the grate off. With that done, she only had to crouch down to fit inside, pulling the thick grating back into place.

Pulling out her knife, Natasha sliced through the exposed wires hooked up to the two ventilation fans, allowing her to slip past them without issue. Once on the other side, Natasha saw a space at least the size of a football field. It was what she had expected: the main assembly space for Titan production. Several units were laid on their backs in various stages of completion, with some complete units suspended in racks lining the walls. She couldn't help but utter "My God," at the sight.

But she quickly pulled herself back from that train of thought, and began looking for a new route as the Cross Com recorded everything she saw. Scanning from left to right, she noticed that the wall to her right was lined with windows, one of which revealed that the room on the other side was full of computers.

Now with a firm goal in mind, the Black Widow set her mind to how to reach it, and it didn't take long for her to notice the catwalks suspended from the ceiling. Planting one foot on the edge of the vent, Romanov launched herself towards the nearest one, grabbing hold of the handrail before pulling herself up. She froze in place, listening for any motions her keen peripheral vision might've missed. Only once Natasha felt sure that she was alone did she keep moving, proceeding along the catwalk until she got as close to her destination as she could. Sadly, the catwalks didn't take her all the way, and she was forced to take a more hazardous route, climbing up and over the railings, holding onto one of the cables suspending the platform before jumping to a pipe that ran along the wall above the windows. Shimmying along it for a few feet, the Avenger then undid the latch on an air vent just above the pipe, allowing her to reach up, fingers snagging the edge, and pull herself inside.

Crawling through the vent, Natasha arrived at a grate that led downwards, and looking through it could see what looked like computer servers. Using the night vision of the Cross Com to see what she was doing, Romanov used her knife to pry the hinges apart, causing the grating to fall open, hanging there only by the pin that usually kept it secure in place. In a set of familiar moves, the Black Widow smoothly dropped down, hitting the ground in a low three point stance as she snapped her head up and swept the room ahead of her with her pistol.

Standing, but keeping her gun up, the Avenger cleared the room before finally arriving at a computer that was still powered on and even logged in, much to her good fortune. Weary, Romanov whipped around, eyes narrowing behind the Cross Com as she double checked her surroundings before setting the Combat Master on the desk, pulling out another drive, and setting to work. "Grim, Widow. I've got a terminal here," informed the superspy as she inserted the drive and set to work, "Starting the download now."

But she got nothing back, and Romanov assumed that it was because she was so deep underground, which wasn't surprising, but it was still unsettling. Despite that, a pop up appeared on screen, showing the file transfer was taking place, even though it was moving at a good clip, it was far too slow for Natasha's taste. After all, the longer she was here, the more likely she was to get caught.

"What's a fine piece of ass like that doing sneaking around?" asked a filtered voice behind the Avenger. Grabbing her Glock and spinning around, Romanovs first thought was that it was the Marauder, but the differences between Cooper and the man before her were as striking as the similarities. Their gear was both delof the same general form, albeit with different chest pieces and helmets. Where the Marauder had a blue x shaped visor, this man had one that was more ovular in shape and colored a dark red. And where the Marauder's suit was green, this one was red and black digital camouflage. That change was fitting since, on the crown of his head above the visor was white lettering that read 'CRIMSON.' He was holding a handgun on her and was seemingly unfazed as Widow kept her pistol on him as he spoke again. "I have to kill you, bad for business if I don't. Unless you'd rather I pay you? I can think of much better ways to put a body like yours to work sweetheart."

"That so?" returned Natasha, taking a step back to allow her to see the progress bar out of the corner. It was only at 25%, so she would have to play for time. "I'm not interested in that, not from you," she spat, eyes narrowing behind her sunglasses. "But you can tell me what you are 'Crimson.' A member of the Marauder's fan club?"

Before Crimson could answer, Natasha stole a glance back at the monitor, only that had been a mistake. One she only recognized when she heard a 'whoosh' noised and saw movement in the corner of her eye. From her angled viewpoint, it took her mind a second to register that the armored man's leap across the room. She tried to sidestep and bring track him with her gun, but her hesitation had cost her a second and that second was all it took for him to be upon her. She felt a hand grasp her gun and yank at it as she pulled the trigger, sending one errant round flying into the glass before the gun was ripped from her grasp and sent across the floor. But the Avenger didn't take that one lying down, her left hand grabbing the baton off her back and bringing it down on Crimson's own gun hand with a satisfying 'crack.' His weapon clattered to the floor and Black Widow followed up, swinging her baton at his head, only for the weapon to glance ineffectually off the man's helmet.

Romanov rolled away from Crimson's follow-up punch before jumping up and grabbing hold of his arm, using it as a leverage point to swing her whole body around and deliver a roundhouse kick to his head. As soon as she landed however, she found out the hard way that the kick had been as effective as her baton, because Crimson tackled her, throwing his bodyweight onto her as he activated his 'jump kit' and launched both of them towards the server bank in the room. Even as Natasha had her breath knocked out by being slammed into the floor, she threw a punch into the man's leg before activating her Widow's bite. Jamming it into his leg as electricity arced across the gadget and hearing a satisfying growl of pain, Romanov felt Crimsons grip loosen just enough for her to wrench herself free and roll away, throwing a smoke bomb onto the floor as she scampered into the servers.

"I'm not an imitation babe," Crimson's filtered voice called out. Black Widow began to creep around, trying to spot a glimpse of the man through the gaps in the servers. "I'm the real deal, one of Kubin Blisks Apex Predators," the man's boast turned into a dark chuckle. "And now I am the Apex Predator."

Natasha's eyes widened at the mention of 'Apex Predators,' remembering the brief they had gotten on the group of Frontier Mercenary Pilots. "That means you came with the IMC to New York, right? So how'd you end up here?" called out Romanov before relocating, keeping her head on the swivel for any sign of Crimson.

"Unlike the Marauder, I don't work for free. The people here? They're just the ones who recognized who I was and compensated me for my time," answered the Apex Predator from somewhere across the room. Looking out, Natasha saw that the file transfer was nearly finished when she heard Crimson again. "Maybe they'll let me be your watchdog, unless you wanna flip sides? I like a woman with some fire, wonder if you're as feisty as the other redhead in my collection. Maybe you can do a team-up, you Capes love to do team-ups, right?"

Whipping her head around as something flew past, Romanov spotted what looked like a knife jammed into a nearby server. Before she could figure out what that object was, she heard loud footsteps rushing from the right. She turned just as Crimson slid around the corner, taking her legs out from under her and sending her stumbling into the servers. Romanov was forced to roll away from the follow-up kick the Mercenary delivered at her head.

Settling into a low three-point stance, the Avenger fired off one of her Widow's Bite projectiles, sticking the man right above his chest piece. Seizing the opening, the superspy stepped forwards to avoid the convulsing Pilots haphazard punch and was able to twist underneath Crimsons extended limb, grabbing and twisting his arm. Leaning down and placing her other hand on the ground, she kicked both her legs up and around, wrapping them around his head before pulling her hand up from the ground. In one single, smooth motion, her momentum and bodyweight pulled the Pilot from his feet, causing him to tumble ass over elbow into the floor.

Knowing she only had a few precious seconds, Natasha hit him with another sting from her gauntlets before sprinting away, picking up her baton and pistol as she went before arriving back at the computer. Seeing the download was complete, Romanov ripped out the drive and secured it before seeing movement in the reflection from the screen. The SHIELD Agent ducked just before Crimson threw a punch that spiderwebbed the monitor. Backflipping away between rows of servers, Natasha drew both her pistols and opened fire. Subsonic 9mm rounds slammed into the Pilot, drawing blood as Crimson slid out of her line of fire. Instead of pressuring the Pilot, the Black Widow kept firing, putting four rounds into the window beside the desk where the wrecked computer was.

With the glass looking like it was on its last legs, Romanov sprinted forwards just Crimson caught onto her plan and appeared, blocking her path. Not breaking her momentum, Natasha planted one leg, jumped up and pressed the sole of her other boot into the server shelf and jumped at Crimson. He juked to his right, but Natasha wasn't looking for a knockout blow, so she simply slammed her knee into his chest and knocked him back as he threw a punch that she deftly dodged before grabbing his arm and spinning, using his weight and momentum to whip him around and send him slamming into the glass, which was all it took for the window to finally shatter.

But Crimson did not fall, instead firing his jump kit to launch himself back at the SHIELD Agent. Romanov who was running towards the opening, slid under him before jumping down to one of the Titan racks and hastily dropping down to the arm of the machine, then the hip, then finally the floor. Not wasting another moment, the Black Widow sprinted through the darkened production floor, ducking into the mass of machinery at the center of the room.

Taking a second to catch her breath and swap the mags on her Combat Masters, Romanov's reprieve was interrupted by the shrill sound of an alarm and the accompanying red flashing lights filled the space. Throwing caution to the wind, the Black Widow displaced, legs pumping in a dead sprint to get her away from where she was last seen. Veering off to her left, she spotted a sign above a door that read 'Power Generation' and 'Surface Access' and dashed down the hallway beneath it.

Following it as it turned right, she saw a serious security checkpoint ahead, what looked like generators on the other side of floor to ceiling gates. Critically, one of those gates was open as five guards in black uniforms emerged, all with face coverings and long guns in hand, clearly different than the soldiers on the surface. They saw the Black Widow and began to react, but not faster than the Avenger as she bought her pistols up and opened fire, bullets slamming into the nearest guard to put him on the floor.

The other three dove for cover as Romanov pushed forward, knowing she didn't have time to waste as she kept firing, trying to keep the other three pinned down. The one manning the gate controls must have recognized what she was doing, because he emerged to try and close the gate only for Natasha to direct all her fire at him, four 147-grain subsonic 9x19mm hollow points causing his body to spasm with each hit.

Killing him allowed the other three to stand up, and now Natasha could tell that one was a woman approximately her stature. Seizing on that detail, the Avenger slid into action, throwing a kick at one of the woman's knees that knocked her off balance. When the similar sized guard attempted to bring her rifle to bear on Romanov, the Black Widow knocked it aside with her hand as she brought one of her knees up, ramming it into the back of the guard's other knee and causing it to buckle. The woman fell down with a startled yelp that turned to a pained curse when Natasha pistol whipped the guard across the face, breaking her nose as the SHIELD Agent flipped them over and pinned the woman on her stomach under Natasha. The Widow brought one gun up, unloading into the nearest remaining guard until pulling the trigger did nothing, the slide locked open and magazine empty.

Just then the last guard stood, spraying automatic fire towards Romanov as she took advantage of the crate the female guard had been hiding behind. Beneath the Black Widow, the woman struggled, thrashing about as the superspy holstered her empty pistol and use her freed hand to grab the woman's ponytail and yank her head back while keeping her pinned down with her knee, drawing an agonized howl from the guard. Natasha only heard that howl when the gunfire ceased, giving her the opening she needed to peek out and see the guard who had been shooting duck back into cover as she snapped off a hasty shot that chipped the pillar he cowered behind. Shifting her aim down, Romanov sighted the man's foot sticking out and rested the illuminated dot of her front sight on it before squeezing the trigger. The bullet blasted half the man's foot off as he screamed loudly and stumbled out into the open where another suppressed shot went to his head, killing him. With the last guard still struggling, Natasha slammed her head forwards, breaking the guards nose in the other direction when her face hit the concrete as the superspy holstered her gun and grabbed the woman's chin. Then, in one swift, savage motion, the Black Widow broke the woman's neck.

Moving quickly, Romanov holstered the handgun and dragged the dead woman though the gate, closing it on her way towards a security room. Once inside, Natasha closed and locked the door before stripping the dead woman of her uniform and pulling it on over her tactical suit, not able to help but notice the patch with the tentacle adorned HYDRA skull on the sleeve. Undoing her holsters, the pants went on next, with Natasha reloading her Glocks and strapping the holsters back on. The bulk of the guard's uniform, as well as the hood and face mask the woman wore, kept Natasha's features completely hidden. She did remove her Cross Com, since wearing sunglasses at night would be sure to attract unwanted attention.

Satisfied with her new look, the Avenger slipped out of the room, but with the alarm still going, knew she had to create a distraction. So, grabbing an incendiary grenade from the arms locker in the security room, Natasha went back to the power generators and found the electrical transformers. Pulling the pin and tossing the thermite grenade into one group of them, the Black Widow watched the flames begin to spread and take root in the equipment. The heat melted insulation and caused smaller electrical fires to break out, contributing to the growing inferno.

As thick smoke began to fill the room, Romanov heard the sound of several people approaching from where the signs said 'Surface Access' and turned towards them to see that it was a full platoon of the camouflaged uniformed soldiers from the surface. "What's going on?" asked the leader in Russian, "There were bodies found in the surface security center and we were sent to secure this facility."

"There was a group of them, at least eight, just here. We found them trying to sabotage the power station and couldn't stop them. The Saboteurs killed the others and got away," replied Romanov in the same language, making sure to sound out of breath and have a slight German accent in her tones. "They went towards the assembly line."

"We will go after them," returned the guard.

"And I will go to the surface. We must secure the other exits and ensure they cannot escape," finished Romanov, waiting until the man giving her a curt nod and paused for a beat before the whole group rushed off in the direction from which she'd come.

Striding briskly, but not hurriedly, the Black Widow found the elevator the group had just come down and entered it. Natasha closed the door behind her before pulling the lever that took her towards the surface. While she might have had the appearance of being only slightly harried, inwardly Romanov was totally calm, focused on blending into the role she had adopted in the time it took for the elevator to reach the surface.

When the doors opened, she was met with a group of very jumpy camouflaged soldiers, all of whom were shakily pointing their guns at her. Instead of reaching for her own weapons, Romanov merely shouted at them. "What have you inept shits been doing up here this whole time?" roared Romanov in her harshest Russian. She selected the man who was shaking the most and stepped up to him, slapping him across the face. "How could you let a force this large break into the compound? Have you just been jerking each other off?"

"N…No…." began to reply one, only for Natasha to cut him off.

"I don't give a fuck about your excuses!" shouted the spy, even louder. "If these bastards are allowed to escape then it will be you who pays for it!" None of the men moved, frozen at the outburst.

A passing armored car came to a stop and the passenger door opened as an officer emerged. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked, clearly confused.

"What is the meaning of this?" parroted Romanov in a demeaning tone, "Unknown saboteurs have infiltrated the base and are wrecking it! Detain on duty guards until we found out who let them in!" she barked with the authoritative air of an order.

The officer then turned to the group of soldiers getting out of the armored car, "Detain these men for questioning, and then guard the door, nobody goes in or out." The officer's order was carried out despite the protest of the hapless guards that were stripped of their weapons and forced onto their knees at gunpoint.

"We must inform your commanding officer of the situation," spoke Natasha, not losing control of the situation. "This must be done across the base to ensure our security, and have patrols sent out to run down any saboteurs who might have already fled!"

"Right away!" returned the officer as he went back to his vehicle and grabbed a radio while Romanov turned and strode away, trying to find her bearings and decide on how she was going to exfiltrate the village.

Once she was away from the scene she had created, the Black Widow put the Cross Com back on, the HUD showing her the nearest exfiltration option, the canal. "Grimm, Widow. Intel secured, moving to extraction," informed Romanov.

"Grimm copies. Be advised, they found the bodies just a few minutes ago, they're still locked out of the security system, but the base is slowly becoming more alert. I suggest you pick up the pace," replied Grimm as Natasha watched another group of camouflage uniformed soldiers get detained by black uniformed Hydra guards.

Seeing that Hydra was starting to round up their own guys of their own accord, Natasha did as the Comms Tech suggested, slowly starting to jog towards her destination. As she got closer, the Black Widow passed the barn she had used to enter, and saw more men arriving, starting to sweep through the barn and surrounding buildings.

But nobody questioned her, letting her pass by without a word or even a second look as she neared her destination. Finally arriving at one of the docks for the barges and boats that brought in supplies, the Avenger found them swarming with guards. Two camouflaged soldiers approached her, one holding a hand out to stop her. "I am sorry, but the base is on lockdown," he informed.

"I know, we have been infiltrated, but Crimson thinks that those responsible might escape using the canal," she answered.

"We are already searching," replied the second soldier, "Our orders are to ensure that nobody leaves."

"I am not leaving, I am searching," shot back the spy. "You must forgive me if I do not trust you after how well you have performed so far tonight. I understand that you have your orders, but I have mine. And mine are to find those responsible for this and to not let anyone get in my way. Do you understand that tovarich?"

A few tense, silent seconds passed until the two soldiers shared a look, and then a nod before stepping away and letting the Black Widow pass by. Striding down the docks to one of the small Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats that was moored there, Natasha got in, undid the line, started the motor, and began to head upstream.

"Grimm, Widow. I'm approaching the extraction point now. No pursuers," reported Romanov.

"Copy that Widow. Pickup will be waiting for you."

Natasha couldn't help but let out an ironic chuckle as she pulled down her face mask. After shooting it out with an Apex Predator and Hydra guards underground, the Black Widow had merely bluffed her way out of the base.

Cooper's Logbook – Pistol: Glock 19

It takes balls to have your company slogan be 'Perfection.'

Gaston Glock had balls, he decided to make his own pistol in response to an upcoming contract to supply his native Austria with a modern design. His Glock 17 was a rank outsider that bested proven designs from heavyweights like Sig Sauer and Baretta. Simple, reliable, and effective, the Glock 17 still is a perfectly serviceable weapon, able to take anything thrown at it and keep working, and when its life or death, that is the most important thing.

However, the Glock 17 wasn't the end, it was the beginning, and there have been dozens of variations and improvements to this original, proven design. Different calibers, barrel lengths, ergonomic improvements, and more tweaks mean that there is something in the Glock range to suit every need.

Yet still men feel the need to use Glocks like Barbie dolls, modifying and customizing them even further. If its part of, or can be attached to, a Glock, then there's a version of it available aftermarket. Sights, magazines, lasers, slides, grips, triggers, and much more, there are even more extensive upgrades to the basic weapons to push them to the very limits of their capabilities.

One of the more comprehensive and capable packages is offered by California based Taran Tactical Innovations, their 'Combat Master' series of upgrades is available for a variety of Glock handguns. Apparently if it's good enough for John Wick then it's good enough for the Black Widow, because it's what she carries, though they don't advertise that fact on their website.

But underneath all the custom triggers, serrated slides, and stippled grips, there's a Glock, just like the one carried by thousands of cops around the world and just like the ones referenced in gangster rap. No matter who's carrying it, there's no mistaking the boxy, hammerless profile of a Glock handgun, even if telling precisely which model it is takes the work of a scholar to discern. It's the gun for everyone, and nearly any role, soldier, terrorist, cop, criminal, superspy or competition shooter, all can count on this weapon.

It might not be the best, but Glock is Perfection.

I admit, I had this idea walking out of the theater after seeing the Black Widow movie, which I still hold to be utter garbage. I really wanted a sort of infiltration sequence like this to be in the movie, and since there wasn't one I decided to do my own, and this was the result. Lots of varied inspiration obviously, the wingsuit came from Black Ops 2, the Cross Com from Ghost Recon (as did the above ground sequence), and her pistols are from John Wick 2, because why would the Black Widow carry some basic bitch subcompact Glock 26s? Still, I think the whole thing turned out okay, and I liked not ending in a massive shootout for once, it felt more 'Black Widow' to have her do her best Agent 47 impression to escape.

I have plans to do some more with Black Widow and the rest of Detatchment 101 later down the line, so I'd like some feedback from you all, should you have any.

If you thought this chapter was too slow, the next one should pick up the pace because as fast as the wind, the invasion has begun, led by the Ghost Division.

Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.