Infiltrating the helicarriers sounded simple.
But including Nick Fury himself, they had only four operatives available for action.
Four people trying to infiltrate a world-class military facility—it was practically a joke.
However, neither Hawkeye, Coulson, nor Hill hesitated for a second.
They truly believed that the mission to save humanity rested on their shoulders, and they spent the entire night carefully studying their strategy.
"We must break into the command center at all costs. I believe there are agents inside who are still on the good side. We need to prioritize bringing them to our side," Hill analyzed.
"This plan is aggressive, but it's the only option we have at the moment. We have no choice but to go all in," Hawkeye agreed.
"Let me try contacting Tony Stark again. He'll come through at the critical moment," Coulson promised confidently.
Once the group dispersed, Nick Fury's previously inscrutable expression turned heavy.
Everything had happened too fast.
He had thought he could take things slowly, reclaiming S.H.I.E.L.D. quietly with his own efforts.
But overnight, somehow, the entire global leadership had learned about Hydra's existence.
A war was on the verge of breaking out.
Nick Fury no longer had the luxury of waiting.
After standing in silence for a long time, he dialed a number.
"Talos, I need your help…"
Talos, the leader of the Skrulls, a key member of S.W.O.R.D., and a close friend of Fury.
That's right—Fury's trump card was his alien allies, the Skrulls.
He planned to rely on this unexpected force to turn the tide in his favor!
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Lyon, who had been using his super hearing to monitor events, overheard Fury's conversation and nearly burst out laughing.
"This stubborn Nick Fury... he really doesn't know when to be cautious and when not to be naive. It's kind of adorable."
The Skrulls weren't exactly a friendly alien race.
In the Marvel movies, they were depicted as galactic refugees, but in the comics, they were cosmic bullies with ambitions of conquering star systems.
This species had been created by the Celestials.
The Skrulls had the ability to concentrate and mimic others' appearances, and even replicate their memories.
Among them, the most exceptional were known as "Super Skrulls."
These individuals could not only mimic appearances but also replicate the extraordinary abilities of their targets, reaching about 60-70% of the original power level.
However, this ability was somewhat weakened in the cinematic universe.
In the films, replicating superhuman abilities required the target's blood and special equipment, making them far less threatening.
This explains why, unlike in the comics, the Skrulls weren't evenly matched against the Kree Empire in their battles.
The reason these Skrulls were hiding on Earth traces back more than a decade.
In the cinematic universe, these galactic refugees were initially hunted by the Kree Empire.
Their leader, Talos, through a series of events, managed to awaken parts of Captain Marvel's memory, who had been under the control of the Kree.
Seizing the opportunity, they fled to Earth.
When they later encountered Captain Marvel and others, Talos acted completely harmless, almost pitiful.
The Skrulls showed kindness and offered help, acting so innocent and well-meaning that they almost seemed ready to bare their hearts.
After Captain Marvel and Nick Fury successfully repelled the Kree forces, they promised to help these Skrull refugees find a suitable planet to relocate to.
But that search had already stretched over more than a decade.
During this time, Talos had been sending out messages to his wandering fellow Skrulls across the galaxy, saying, "Earth is safe, come quickly."
As a result, the number of Skrulls on Earth had steadily grown, now numbering in the millions....
As time passed, the Skrulls began to realize that Earth was the most suitable planet for their survival and started to develop hostility toward humanity.
Yet Nick Fury, who saw these aliens as his friends and allies, remained completely unaware of this shift.
Perhaps it was because he was unwilling to think ill of these "friends" of his.
After all, much of his rapid rise to the position of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director was due to the help of these Skrulls, who could replicate both appearance and memory.
Thinking of this, Lyon shook his head, saying to himself, "A million shapeshifters like Mystique... even if they didn't have ambitions at first, they certainly do now."
Compared to these Skrulls, even his newly formed Men in Black seemed underpowered.
"After we deal with Hydra, I'll find a chance to drive away these Skrull Bastards."
...
When the Helicarrier took off, Nick Fury and his team indeed managed to infiltrate successfully.
The entire infiltration process followed the exact plan Hawkeye and the others had meticulously worked out overnight.
Not a single unexpected incident occurred.
Hawkeye and Coulson marveled at how fortune seemed to favor humanity, feeling as though even God was on their side.
Only Nick Fury, casually walking behind the group, was secretly chuckling to himself.
He knew that his old Skrull allies had long since replaced the key guards at critical positions. All of this success was because of his behind-the-scenes efforts.
Not only that, but Fury had also strategically placed several Skrulls within various global government positions.
It was only by doing so that he could turn the tide in such a short time.
"This way," he said, "we head straight to the command room, take control of everyone, and use this Helicarrier to take down the other two!"
The best combat agent among the four, Hawkeye, led the way. "Quick, Fury, we don't have much time, keep up!"
The intel from Tony only contained information on Hydra's key personnel.
The Skrulls hadn't yet passed on the information they'd copied from memories to Fury.
Unable to distinguish between regular agents and Hydra members, the four-man team had to incapacitate any agents they encountered along the way.
They quickly reached the command room.
The four of them squeezed into an air duct, all peering through the same ventilation grate.
The vent was only 50 centimeters wide, so their heads were pressed together like four seeds in a peanut shell, compressed and distorted.
"Rumlow, he's here too!" Fury's one eye widened as he spotted the figure below, a fierce glint in his gaze. "He's Hydra!"
"Crossbones is Hydra?" Hawkeye was shocked. "No wonder you said we can only trust ourselves. Are we even S.H.I.E.L.D. agents or just Hydra's outside hires?"
"Now's not the time for this!" Fury snapped. "Hawkeye, you distract Rumlow! Coulson, cover Hill and help her seize control of the ship!"
"And what about you, Fury?" Hill asked.
"Me? I'm going to…"
"Who's there? Come out!" a voice barked, cutting off Nick Fury.
Sharon Carter, dressed in combat gear, aimed her gun at the vent.
She saw four squished heads peeking through the small opening.
With S.H.I.E.L.D. on high alert, her first instinct was to suspect a Hydra infiltration. The fact that she didn't shoot immediately showed her caution.
As the niece of S.H.I.E.L.D. founder Peggy Carter, Sharon carried herself with the same poise and sharpness.
"Motherf—" Fury cursed under his breath, while the three heads next to him all rolled their eyes in unison.
A few minutes later...
The four, one after the other, climbed out of the vent, only to be surrounded by dozens of people in the command room.
"Nick Fury? How can it be you? Weren't you killed by Hydra two days ago?"
___________
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