Crushing the Hydra | Event Kick-Off
Cut off the Hydra’s head, and two more will take it’s place.
In the time of the ancient Greeks, it was written that one of Hercules twelve labors was slaying the Hydra. When Steve Rogers killed Johann Schmidt back in the 40′s people thought he had destroyed Hydra. He imagined back then people thought he was just as mighty as the great Hercules, but he only cut off one head. People lived in blissful ignorance, thinking that their reign of terror was over - but in reality, it had only just begun.
Grant Ward stepped into the World Security Council chambers, where the four members were on screen. Alexander Pierce wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and the Secretary of Defense was standing waiting with armed guards.
“Are you Agent Grant Ward? The that called in the terrorist threat?” The General asked, walking forward to meet him.
Earlier that day, Grant called the Secretary of Defense and said he had information about a potential terrorist threat that was ready to strike soon. Getting up to that point wasn’t easy, he waited on the phone for most of the previous day. His connections at Shield only got him so far. Once he got ahold of him, he stated he could only give more information in person at Shield Headquarters, the safest place he knew. Also where he anticipated all of the action being.
“Threat?” Said one of the Council members - Singh, he thought. “What sort of threat would there be here?”
“Ladies and Gentleman, if you would allow me to start, I am Agent Grant Ward. Level 7 Clearance, Shield Special Ops. I called the Secretary of Defense yesterday with information on a terrorist threat that is happening soon inside this very building.”
“You called us here so they can strike? What’s the matter with you!”
“No!” Grant shouted - he certainly underestimated their anger. “No, nothing is happening today. But I can no longer sit around knowing this information without bringing it foward. Something has to be done to stop Hydra.”
The anger in the room subsided, and the Secretary of Defense actually started laughing. “Hydra? Hydra’s been extinct since 1944.”
“Calm yourself, General,” Councilwoman Hawley sternly said. “But Agent Ward, he is right. You would need some extreme evidence to prove Hydra is still a threat.”
Grant nodded towards the councilwoman on screen. He pulled out a flash drive and plugged it into the computer before him, and within seconds dozens of files appeared on screen. Every major project from the beginning of Shield to Project Insight popped up on the screen, as well as a few other recent missions. Buildings, such as the base in Sokovia, the Triskelion, and the Fridge were on the page as well.
“Welcome to Hydra,” Grant said, as he proceeded to spread out the files so the council members could get a better look.
“Explain yourself, Agent Ward,” the Secretary demanded.
“Gladly,” He smiled. He pulled up the first file, one on Arnim Zola. “May 1945, Operation Paperclip was put in place. Over a thousand German Scientists were recruited by the United States to give any an all information about the Soviet Union and what was left of Nazi Germany. Arnim Zola, Hydra’s head scientist, was one of these scientists. He, and many others, were recruited by Shield to complete various tasks. Zola took it upon himself to create something greater - he thought he had the best scientific mind in the world, and he downloaded his brain into a series of data banks which are all located at the bottom of one of the original Shield bases. From there, he has become the face and brain behind Hydra.”
Grant poked around a few files and he brought up another one, this one an article from the 1980′s. “Zola was not the only member of Hydra to sneak into Shield’s ranks early on. Rumor has it, Peggy Carter was a spy from the moment she joined the SSR. But with her and a few other Hydra members, they managed to use Shield to bend the world to it’s whim. The Cold War? Hydra’s fault. The 80′s recession, cuban missile crisis, and all the problems in Libya and Iran were all started by Hydra. And that’s just the beginning.”
He could feel tension in the room rising and when he turned around he saw shock and fear on the council members faces.
Councilman Rockwell spoke next, “Are you saying that we’re Hydra? All of us? That’s completely ubsurd!”
“Not all of you,” He replied quickly, “Not everyone. I believe there are plenty of people who joined Shield for the morally right reasons.”
Councilman Sighn spoke up again, “I don’t believe any of this. This is all stuff from 30 years ago, how do we know Hydra hasn’t been eradicated from our ranks since then?”
Their doubts were completely expected. He figured they wouldn’t understand without proof. From his pocket, he pulled out a tape recorder and pressed the play button. It was from the conversation he had with Alexander Pierce.
“I like you, Agent Ward. Keep this up, and you’ll find a high place among our ranks when the time comes.”
Shock and anger swept the room, and all five of the leaders began demanding answers all at once.
“Is that Pierce speaking?”
“Arrest him, he’s Hydra!”
“Wait!” Grant shouted as he ran backwards from the soldiers. “Yes. I am Hydra. Pierce is Hydra. Every Agent level 8 and above is Hydra. But I have something you need to know about before you go storming in.”
The soldiers backed away so he could slide through back to the screen. He pulled up the file on Project Insight - the real file, on what they were actually doing. He began paraphrasing aloud:
“With the help of Arnim Zola, we have created a targetting system that will predict who among the population is a threat. We built three Helicarriers to carry out the task of taking out all of the threats to create a New World in complete peace. A preliminary list was made up,” He scrolled down the page to a three column list with over a hundred people, “All of the Avengers, government leaders, and several high ranking members of Shield all popped up.”
The room was quiet again, and the Secretary sent a hopeful gaze towards the Council members. He turned back to Grant and asked, “What do you want? Surely you can’t be giving us this information without some kind of agenda.”
Grant’s lips curled into a devilish grin. “I want full immunity. I can give you a complete list of everyone I know who is Hydra outside of the level 8 through 10 agents, everyone else would need interrogating in exchange for immunity, plus all of the collected files I have are all on this harddrive and can be used as evidence. Full, original documents. And please, don’t use my name as the informant.”
“Shield has a couple dozen lie detector rooms in the Science wing. We can use those. We need to pull everyone back to base,” Councilmen Yen added finally.
“I’ll get my men on that. Grant Ward, you’ve got yourself a deal. I just hope you get what’s comin’ to you.”
Within hours, he made his escape from Shield. Everything he wanted to keep with him was assembled in a box and stored away to retrieve later. Grant got a safe distance from the Triskelion and watched as chaos began overtaking the building. Gunshots could be heard from over a mile away, and there were helicopters coming in from all directions and they dropped people down on the building. The military was busy blocking off roads and trying to let everyone know that the entire city was being shut down until further notice. He assumed that there would be heightened security surrounding the white house and the pentagon, and all the other important places. He didn’t actually know what Hydra was hiding within Shield, other than the helicarriers. He wouldn’t put it past them to try and get into the disbanded phase 2 vaults.
Cutting off the heads of a Hydra would only make it grow back stronger. Every single member was currently being brought in for questioning. Strong government leaders were even part of his list, and he had no doubt in his mind they’d be out for his blood. He sat back and relaxed, realising how for the time being he was completely safe. Not to mention, Karla would be so proud he followed through with everything. But the last few months weren’t even about her, or whatever her plans were - Hydra caused him so much pain, and it was finally over.
Grant Ward had defeated Hydra.
