"Why are we looking for information about the Hoover Dam?" Tony's brow furrowed, a skeptical edge to his voice after hearing Coulson's question. Then, a flicker of realization crossed his face, and his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Agent Coulson," he said, his tone sharp, "do you know something?"
Coulson glanced nervously at the giant Autobots flanking him, their glowing optics fixed on him. He swallowed hard, forcing a tight, professional smile. "Perhaps," he suggested, his voice strained, "you could speak directly with my Director?"
At that very moment, deep within the Hoover Dam, Nick Fury was overseeing the ongoing study of the cryo-frozen Megatron when his secure line buzzed. It was Coulson. Stepping into a deserted corridor, Fury answered with his typical gruffness. "Phil, this had better be important, or you're on permanent latrine duty."
Coulson's slightly embarrassed voice came from the other end of the phone. "Sir, I've made significant progress regarding the alien robots, but the situation has grown complicated. I may need you here to discuss it in person."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Fury demanded, suspicion tightening his expression.
"Hey, you're the guy from the Strategic Homeland... whatever, Logistics and... stuff," Tony's unmistakable, cocky voice crackled through the phone. "That name sounds like a White House work report. Your department isn't just responsible for stamping documents, is it?"
Nick Fury's single eye narrowed. "Tony Stark? Why are you on this line? What do you want?"
The unruly voice came again. "Listen up, 'National Security Courier,' you're in deep trouble. According to my sources, you're about to have some very angry alien robots knocking on your door. I hope you can at least try to be prepared. Don't let them get what they want before I get there. I'll be along shortly to take care of everything."
Fury's frown deepened. "Stark, where did you get this information? This is all top secret!"
Tony, on the other end, nodded to Optimus Prime before continuing his taunt. "Mr. Courier, you're about to have a very bad day."
Beep, beep. The call was hung up.
"Fuck!" Fury cursed, throwing his phone to the ground. He walked quickly towards the main command post. "Rumlow, strengthen the base's defenses now! The aliens that attacked our forces in Afghanistan are about to attack us."
Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, who had been slacking off, was momentarily stunned by the sudden order. However, with his strong military character, he quickly reacted and began organizing his people to fortify their defenses.
Seeing Rumlow go to arrange the defense, Nick Fury stood in front of the huge reinforced glass, looking out at the massive base below. He sighed, took an old pager from his pocket, and fumbled with it for a few moments before putting it away. After that, he went to oversee the other preparations. He wanted to be fully prepared for what was coming.
What Nick Fury didn't know was that just as Rumlow was arranging the defense, he stopped a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in a quiet corner and whispered, "Long live Hydra."
The agent whispered back, "Long live Hydra." These were the hidden tendrils of HYDRA, coiling deep within S.H.I.E.L.D. In truth, S.H.I.E.L.D. was HYDRA.
Rumlow gave his instructions in a low, urgent tone. "Organize our forces. There will be a major conflict at this base very soon. Find the right opportunity during the chaos and secure the two 084s. And make sure you take the alien robot with you."
"Yes, sir," the HYDRA agent replied and left to carry out the order. Rumlow then followed Nick Fury's arrangement, carefully selecting S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were not loyal to HYDRA to defend the base. They had always operated this way. Every time they carried out a dangerous mission, they would deliberately select true S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for the front lines, preserving HYDRA's own vitality. This was one of the primary reasons why HYDRA had been able to occupy the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long.
Tony tossed the phone back to Coulson, who felt utterly cursed. Ever since investigating that strange missionary doctor a few days ago, his luck had taken a nosedive. Simple tasks had become herculean efforts.
He had asked Nick Fury for two days of leave. Seeing how unlucky he seemed, Fury had approved it. Coulson had planned to leave New York and travel for a while to try and get rid of his bad luck, but he had been stuck in traffic for an entire day. When he was finally about to leave the city, his car had broken down. The next day, after the car was repaired, Coulson planned to set off again, but was informed by the Director that his vacation was over. He was given a new task: contact Stark to investigate the recent intelligence. A UFO had reportedly appeared over Manhattan last night, damaging a street, and Stark had paid for all the repairs. The Director suspected that it was caused by Stark and his new alien friends.
Unexpectedly, due to his persistently bad luck, he had gotten lost near Stark's laboratory, been found by two giant robots, and was tied up and brought directly to Tony Stark.
Coulson admired the agent who was supposed to be his partner on this mission. When Coulson had received the task, he was asked to go on the mission with another agent, but he never expected the other agent to be so brazen as to directly refuse the order. He still vividly remembered what had happened that day. His supposed partner, a young man with a penchant for monocles, had arrogantly dismissed the Director. "I simply love saying no to self-righteous people," the man had said coolly into the phone. "Come back to me after my vacation is over... you black-brined egg." Then he had casually hung up on the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and advised Coulson, "Don't listen too much to that guy. He'll only exploit you until you're a dried-up husk." In this way, the two-person task had become a single-person task.
At this time, Tony, who was studying the data on the Hoover Dam, turned to look at Coulson and asked, "Coulson, your secret service organization should have fighter jets, right? Send us one. We need to get to the Hoover Dam, and we need to get there quickly."
"Mr. Stark, this is against regulations!"
Tony Stark stepped forward, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Coulson, no rule in your little book is more important than the safety of this planet. Or do you want the Earth to be destroyed?"
Coulson wanted to reply that the two situations were completely unrelated, but seeing the massive Autobots staring at him from behind, he quickly changed his tune. "The safety of the Earth is of the utmost importance. I'll arrange for fighter jets right away!"
There was a branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. in New York. Under Coulson's arrangement, a Quinjet soon arrived at Stark's laboratory. The interior of the Quinjet was very spacious, and even the largest of them, Optimus Prime, could fit inside after curling up his body.
Tony Stark suited up in his latest creation: the Mark III armor. The previous night had been a flurry of activity. Not only had he been busy reverse-engineering and modifying the alien positioning device, but he had also taken the time to improve the Mark II design based on its disastrous test flight, handing off the final specs to JARVIS to fabricate the new components. He did not ride in the Quinjet with Optimus Prime and the others, but instead relied on the speed of his armor to fly to the Hoover Dam ahead of them.
Inside the Quinjet, the smallest of the Autobots, Bumblebee, was curiously watching Coulson and Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, operate the jet. Coulson felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at so intently by Bumblebee, so he turned to the pilot. "Natasha, thank you so much for coming. I know you risked a lot flying the Quinjet out here to help me."
"It was Fury's call," Natasha replied, her eyes never leaving the controls. "He anticipated you might need backup and had me on standby. But Coulson, you need to tell me what's going on with these giant robots."
__________________________
Throw some stones this way fellas.
"Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider donating Power Stones and joining our patreon
[patreon.com /coolperry]
for early access to future chapters.(+30 chapters)