Initiative 2030

Chapter 34: All New Invaders!

"Why INVADERS?" Free Spirit II asked, the redhead looking at him curiously.

"We're effectively 'invading' Val Richards' controlled USA. And honestly I always liked the name," Bucky Barnes, often called the Winter Soldier, replied.

"Ok, fair enough..." Free Spirit conceded.

The group was based out of the officially abandoned 'Utopia' island that had been built by the X-Men. Off the US west coast, but out in international waters, it was out of the reach of the US. Well, unless the government decided to blow it up illegally...

"Is it TRUE you shot JFK?" Moonstone asked.

"Why do people always ask that?" Bucky wondered aloud.

"You have to admit, it's a major thing," Citizen V offered, the patriotic masked hero in a blue bodysuit, red boots and white gloves.

"No, I didn't," Bucky said flatly before adding, "I shot a Skrull posing as him."

"WHAT." several members blurted.

"He was replaced sometime in '62, we think," Bucky noted. "Supposedly, the Skrulls wanted to try triggering a nuclear war, in preperation for invading us."

"But I thought you were still a Russian agent at the time," Namorita, the blonde cousin of Namor asked.

"The various US intelligence agencies all had their hands tied. The Skrull knew anything they were up to," Bucky explained. Grimly he added, "On the other hand, he didn't know what the Russians were up to."

"So they sent you in," Citizen V realized.

"I was the guy on the grassy knoll," Bucky admitted. "We didn't count on so many cameras running... they got some OK data there."

"And I think SHIELD knew," Free Spirit mused.

"Yeah. That's also why there's been issues around what happened to his corpse," Bucky added. "Couldn't let doctors examine an alien..."

"Damn...," Moonstone muttered.

"Language," Citizen V chided.

"I did feel bad a little for Lee Harvey Oswald, but we needed a patsy while I got out of the country," Bucky added.

"What about Jack Ruby?" Namorita asked.

"No idea," Bucky admitted. "He might have been CIA, but I wasn't told."

Before the conversation could continue, Prodigy called, "Communication from the secure network."

"Right, put it through," Bucky said as he walked to the main computer.

Iron Man's image appeared, "Winter Soldier."

"Mr Stark," Bucky smiled wryly.

"We've got a new target, we're going to need to hit them together." Iron Man said briskly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"DAMN them!"

Heavy Mettle were a US run superteam mostly made up of AI. They were guarding a data core of the Vision... right until a mix of Avengers teams hit them.

"How bad is it?" Bombshell asked, the explosive heroine leading the response team from SHIELD and the US.

The synthezoid Antigone replied, "They escaped with the Vision. They lack a functional casing for him, however."

Machine Thing, the former body of Machine Man with a Ultron core installed, noted, "They'll need very high tech to revive him."

"They have Stark Tech," Sentinel, a humanoid sized Prime Sentinel noted. It had been purged of the hunter/killer programs, but the human host also died.

Virginia Vision, the android that Vision had built that went insane and killed several people, just smiled placidly.

Bombshell kept a wary eye on her. "Did anyone track them?" she asked.

"They apparently teleported out." Machine Thing noted. "Or however Stark is transporting them around the country."

Bombshell cursed, again.

"Language," Virginia chided gently.

(The OTHER thing Heavy Mettle was doing was guarding Virginia. She had been rebuilt, but the synthezoid suffered a profound disconect from reality. There was serious concerns she could go nuts and kill again. On the other hand, she was potentially a powerful weapon, so...)

"All right, keep up the good work," Bombshell sighed. She and the SHIELD team headed back to their transport.

"Are all of them slightly off?" the one SHIELD agent noted.

"Yes. Shut up and keep moving," Bombshell ordered.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You were contacted by the Russians," Henry Gyrich said flatly. The two were in his office, the day after she returned to Washington DC.

Barbara Monroe blinked, "You bugged my house?"

"The Russians," Gyrich repeated firmly.

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Alexi Shostakov dropped in to see me. There's apparently a new Black Widow, and she's after me."

Gyrich scowled, "The Red Room, again?"

"Apparently," Barbara agreed.

"We really need to get the UN to sanction Russia for breaking the Super Soldier ban," Gyrish muttered to himself.

"Considering how often we break it," Barbara shrugged.

Gyrich scowled at her, but Barbara just drank her coffee.

"Do you have a plan to handle this?" Gyrich asked.

"Go about my business, wait until she jumps me, beat her down," Barbara said

"That's it?" Gyrich blinked.

"We don't know their name or what they look like," Barbara pointed out, "and they could have had surgery done before coming here." She shrugged again, "Not much we can do."

Gyrich frowned, but he couldn't really argue that. "Keep Daken nearby, he can act as a human shield," he suggested.

"You really hate his guts," Barbara noted.

"He's expendable," Gyrich said dryly.

"I'm sure Daken loves that idea," Barbara muttered.

Gyrich paused, "A question: is she after you as Miss America, or as US Agent?"

"I don't know," Barbara conceded, "We've kept US Agent covert. Mostly."

"Inform me if you learn more," Gyrich added, dismissing her.

"Yes sir," Barbara saluted and left.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"And the Russians are denying everything?" Val asked after Gyrich briefed her.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Gyrich admitted. "The Russian Government no longer has control over the Red Room."

"What?" Ezekiel blinked.

"Whomever is running the Room will take requests, but that's it. They no longer obey orders, and have openly defied their former handlers," Gyrich said.

"Why hasn't this come up sooner?" Val asked.

"Because it generally doesn't bump up against American interests," Gyrich said defensively. "They're only active in Russia and the former USSR states."

"And occassionally trying to assassinate our agents," Val noted dryly.

"Point," Gyrich sighed.

"We'll call in the Ambassador," Val mused aloud.

"Uhm... they don't officially agree that the Red Room even exists," Gyrich said.

"Seriously?" Val scowled.

"Well, we've disavowed the Weapon Project, and Weapon Plus," Ezekiel noted, referring to the superhuman projects that built Captain America and later Wolverine.

"Yeah, yeah," Val sighed. "So short of putting Barbara under guard, there's nothing we can do?"

"Pretty much. We don't even know where the Red Room is, much less anything else," Gyrich conceded.

To be continued...

Notes: It's hinted at in the story that introduced Winter Soldier that HE is the guy who actually shot JFK in the Marvel Universe. Which, yes, establishes his villain cred, but is still a hell of a thing to have done. So... why not make it a Skrull?

Heavy Mettle being a robot team seemed interesting.