Alright, well I've decided to do something a bit different. I'm making an aftermath chapter for a previous chapter, specifically for the Agents of SHIELD chapter. This follows directly after that episode, as SHIELD tries to discover what happens here, mainly because the previous one didn't really have much to do with Agents of SHIELD...

I know I said that I was thinking about showing the ending of the Great Flood War, but honestly, I'm not so sure whether or not I should write it. I think it could be better left as more of a background event.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or anything in the MCU.

It was briskly cold in the Antarctic. Of course, that was hardly a surprise to any of the SHIELD agents stationed there, but it didn't mean that they enjoyed it. Eric Koenig sighed as he looked around the campsite. He knew exactly why they were here and what they needed to do, but it was still annoying. Couldn't HYDRA have built their super secret base somewhere warmer?

It had been several months since Sokovia had fallen from the sky. Sometime before that, SHIELD had detected massive energy spikes coming from a known HYDRA base in Antarctica, but with the Theta Protocol and the threat of the Inhumans, investigating the signatures had to take a back seat.

Only now, after all these major events, was SHIELD finally investigating. When they first arrived, they found several massive craters in the ground, no doubt whatever remained of the HYDRA base.

Anything useful that might've been salvaged was already gone, no doubt taken by HYDRA retrieval teams. While this was a disappointment for SHIELD, they still needed to figure what exactly happened here, and to that end, Eric had been given a team of scientists and technicians to aid in the process.

They were good, but they were no Fitzsimmons. It had been nearly two weeks now, and finally they were getting results. Eric gathered them here to report their findings, and listened to the report. What they had to say hadn't been what he'd been expecting.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Sir, it appears that the smaller craters were caused by some form of orbital bombardment from an energy weapon." One scientist said. "We're still unsure as to what provoked this attack."

"Alright, we'll deal with what caused that later." Eric said. "What about the larger crater?"

"It appears that it was from the base's reactor going critical." Another scientist explained.

"So, I'm guessing the damage from the bombardment sent the reactor into meltdown?"

"That's what we thought at first as well." Was the reply. "But it appears that the bombardment came afterwards."

"That's odd." Koenig muttered. "I guess someone really wanted to be thorough in destroying this place."

Just then, Eric's watch beeped, indicating it as time for the scheduled report to Coulson. He thanked the scientists and asked them to leave, so he could give Coulson the report in private.

As soon as everyone left the prefabricated building, Eric set up the communication system and requested a direct link to Coulson. It took a few moments; the signal needing to cut through all the interference around the continent, but eventually it made it to the Playground.

"Director."

"Eric, good to see you." Coulson greeted. "I trust things are going well?"

"Well, we've been unable to recover anything from the labs." Koenig replied. "If there was anything, then HYDRA got to it first."

"That's no surprise." The Director sighed. "I wish we could've gotten there earlier, but with everything that happened... Still, any progress in understanding what happened there?"

"Yes sir, we have some evidence." Eric hesitantly said. Coulson immediately picked up on that.

"So, bad news then." He guessed. Eric nodded. "Well, let's hear it."

"Well sir, we've found evidence to suggest that the area was bombed from orbit." He explained, sending over pictures and analysis charts of the craters. "All the blast marks seem to indicate that the attack came from straight up, and the explosive and heat damage indicate it was some form of energy weapon."

"So whatever HYDRA was working on, it drew the attention of aliens?" Coulson asked.

"So it would seem." Eric responded. "But there's another curious detail about all this." He sent another file, showing their findings on the base crater itself. "From what we can tell, the base self-destructed first, and the bombardment came later."

"Hm." Coulson took it all in, carefully looking over the evidence, keeping his face stoic. "So, someone really wanted to make sure HYDRA's work there stayed buried. Any idea as to why?"

"There are theories." Eric admitted. "But without any evidence, all we really have to go on is unsourced speculation."

"What about backup data?" Coulson asked. "Anything offsite that could help you?"

"We did find a small shed where the facility's black box was likely kept." He said. "But when we found it, the entire place had been gutted and any information is gone. Whether it was taken by HYDRA or the aliens, we can't say for sure."

"So do you think you can find anything else?"

"Well, we'll do our best." Eric said. "But considering how late we are to the party, I think we're probably wasting our time."

"Alright." Coulson nodded, trusting his assessment. "Gather any remaining evidence and return to base. I'm not keeping one of my best agents on a wild goose chase."

"Yes sir."

As soon as the feed cut out, Coulson sat back in his chair and sighed, clasping his real and mechanical hand together. It had been a fairly tough time for SHIELD: with the events of Sokovia and the drama with the Theta Protocol, the conflict with the Inhumans that cost Phil his hand, Simmons going missing inside the Monolith, and now this?

It had been a long exhausting period, and now with May gone, he didn't have anyone he could really talk to about this. Now he knew how Fury must've felt for all these years. This job wasn't easy. He turned back to the door just as it opened, allowing his two requested agents to step through.

"Mack, Skye-"

"Daisy." She corrected, while Mack suppressed a snort.

"Daisy, sorry." Coulson grinned sheepishly. "Still getting used to that."

"You wanted to see us, sir?"

"Yes, I wanted to brief you on what was found at the Antarctic HYDRA base."

"And?" Daisy asked. "What did they find?"

"Well the evidence is inconclusive, but it seems that aliens were involved."

"You think they were studying Inhumans?" Mack said.

"It's a possibility, but I don't think that was the cause." The Director replied. "From what we can tell, orbital bombardment was involved."

"Shit." Mack murmured, putting his hands to his head. Daisy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, are we looking at another Chitauri-level scenario?" She asked. Coulson shook his head.

"I don't think so. At least not yet." He replied. "It seems that their only target was the HYDRA base. It seems whatever they were working on pissed these aliens off."

"But we don't know if they won't be back." Mack pointed out. Coulson nodded.

"You're right, we don't. Which is why we need the Caterpillar project ready sooner than later."

"We'll keep on that then." Daisy said.

"Good. In the meantime, everything we just discussed stays in this room." Coulson pointed to his desk as he said that. "Are we clear?"

"Yes sir."

Alright, I know that ending was rather abrupt, but I wasn't sure where else to go with it. So keep in mind, this takes place after Avengers: Age of Ultron and the Season 2 finale of AoS, but it's still a while before the start of Season 3. Just in case anyone was wondering about the timeline.

Also, I was thinking of making at least one more of these aftermath chapters, but I'm wondering if I should make more after that. I'm still undecided about that, so I'd love to hear what you think.

With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.