supersuits and a single supersoldier in the colors of the Russian flag right in the center of Red Square went virtually unnoticed. Because no one was paying attention.
In the administration building where the main work was taking place, smoke could be seen in the windows and occasional gunshots could be heard. This indicated that fighting was still ongoing there.
- "How long has it been since I was here?"
These were the thoughts that were going through the head of the former Red Guard and Hero of the Soviet Union as he began to run as fast as he could to reach his goal while being guided through an earpiece.
Everyone who was with him kept up with the super soldier in speed, which greatly surprised Alexey.
Several explosions that occurred earlier scared away the entire civilian population.
The radio reported that a small army assembled by the city authorities was approaching. It was unknown who was leading them or what their goals were, so they had to hurry and rescue the president from the hands of unknown terrorists.
Rushing into the building with the squad he'd been transported to by his unknown friend, the Red Guardian noticed numerous corpses of both civilians and armed guards. After examining everything, Shestakov concluded that they were killing everyone indiscriminately.
Following orders from headquarters, the detachment advanced, occasionally encountering unknown armed individuals who were no match for the force sent against them.
The rare survivors the squad found hid wherever they could and asked for help. Unfortunately, there was no time for them now; they had their own goal.
The closer Shestakov got to his destination, the more terrorists he encountered and the more aggressive the resistance became. Whoever planned this attack carried it out professionally, but they weren't prepared for a swift counterattack.
The rare bullets that hit the super soldier's new suit bounced off it in different directions, and the shield in the super soldier's hands allowed him to simply rush forward holding it in front of his face and not be afraid of being hit by bullets.
Already a few dozen meters from the target, Alexey encountered for the first time a truly serious threat , which he was unable to knock down while running past, for which he received a strong blow to the chest, flying back several meters.
The mercenary , wearing fully enclosed armor, received several shots to the head immediately after the Guardian found himself on the floor from Ledov's soldiers, but the helmet easily withstood the damage.
Realizing something was wrong, the terrorist was about to grab a few grenades to make a graceful exit. He was quickly surrounded and pinned down by the men Alexei had arrived with.
Having removed the terrorist's helmet, Ledov's men fired several shots into his head, and then a few more just in case.
Having overcome the last obstacle, the rescue team burst into the room where their target was now.
Shestakov expected serious resistance in the large hall, where there was a huge conference table.
The president's first assistant, Dymov, sat at one of the chairs with a pistol in his hands, looking somewhere beyond the table and not moving.
Coming closer, Alexey noticed that the pistol in Dymov's hands was unloaded, and in front of him lay the body of President Vologin, on which numerous bullet wounds were visible.
- Damn. We're late.
Dymov seemed to awaken from some sort of trance and tried to resist. But one of the stormtroopers subdued the first officer with a taser while Alexei rushed to the president's body and began examining it.
The former Soviet hero examined the body and something didn't add up.
Vologin's body was in a suit with multiple bullet holes visible, but he was still breathing.
Having ripped open the suit to see for himself, Shestakov noticed a good bulletproof vest underneath, but the president was still alive for another reason.
The remnants of the familiar blue glow that the Guardian had noticed made it clear to him why Dymov was sitting with an unloaded pistol and most likely wondering what to do next.
- "I've seen this somewhere before." It took him a few seconds to understand. "You son of a bitch, Ledov."
The super soldier was not given the chance to ponder his thoughts, as an order came into his ear to ensure the evacuation of the country's top official.
*****
Natasha couldn't calm down. Now, in the center of Shield headquarters, she was disguised as a member of the Security Council using a disguise mask and listening to Alexander Pierce's speech.
"Today the world will change. There will be no more wars, everything will be as we want it."
Her eyes kept glancing at the countdown clock on the wall, which showed that there was less than a minute left before the helicarriers would be brought into combat readiness.
Taking a sip of the champagne Pierce had poured for everyone himself, he , like everyone else, began to gaze out the window with anticipation at the new weapon.
With each passing second, the former Russian spy's thoughts grew darker. She couldn't fully trust the information Yumiko had passed on to everyone .
So she already had a small disk in her palm that could deliver a powerful shock that would have knocked Pierce out cold, at least immediately. This would have given her a valuable hostage.
And now the timer has reached zero.
The spy noticed how Pierce's smile became predatory at that moment.
Fortunately or unfortunately, nothing happened at that moment.
There were no mass shootings like Zola had spoken of, which made Natasha breathe a sigh of relief.
While the other advisors began drinking from their glasses, rejoicing at the successful launch, the Shield Chairman's expression turned deeply dissatisfied, and he went to check on them.
After contacting the ship captains, he learned that the ships' systems were preventing him from doing anything except returning them to the hangar.
Upon hearing this information, the members who had been celebrating until then began to get nervous.
After all, it was they who insisted on launching the aircraft carriers after Director Fury's death . If the ships turn out to be faulty or even completely broken, they could be held accountable for that, too.
"Everything alright?" the Indian adviser watched Pierce's actions closely.
- Everything is fine, just some minor problems. They'll fix it soon.
Natasha really wanted to start smiling contentedly, but she had to feign concern.
Pierce gave his men ten minutes to sort out the problem, during which time he tried to distract everyone present with conversation, but even after the time had passed, no one informed him of a solution to the problems.
Three of the most advanced weapons were now flying over the city and had begun to attract public attention. News began to leak. The president himself had already called the American adviser, asking how things were going and if everything was alright.
Pierce grew increasingly gloomy. Natasha rejoiced inwardly.
Pierce's moment of greatness was simply destroyed. And his weapons of mass destruction simply didn't work.
Now was the perfect moment to strike. So, with a decisive move, she knocked out one of the Hydra leaders with her stun disk.
"What are you doing?" the other advisor was already reaching for his weapon when a voice stopped him.
- What I ordered her to do.
Fury , who unexpectedly appeared in his signature black cloak and, most importantly, was completely healthy , told them a wonderful story about Hydra inside Shield. This story left the Shield council members apprehensive and a little hesitant to accept.
Natasha , using a terminal in the room, provided them with evidence that their organization was secretly controlled by Hydra. Recordings of various cases, conversations about the imminent destruction of Shield. But what made them believe the threat was real was a recording of conversations between Pierce and Zola, where they discussed how many millions of people could die.
Yumiko for all this information in the future .
"Then give the order for them to be imprisoned immediately." One of the advisors was clearly worried when he heard the plans for their newest weapon.
And of course, I wasn't happy to hear that they were now just flying scrap metal and that the shield director had no way to control them.
On the one hand, Natasha was glad that everything was going according to plan. On the other, she had a feeling that something was about to happen.
At one point, an alarm sounded throughout the entire complex, and along with the siren, Steve's voice was heard from all the speakers.
"This is Steve Rogers speaking," the gunshots could be heard in the background. "A lot has happened in the last few days. They've been hunting me, and while tracking me, I learned there's a traitor within Shield. Alexander Pierce is the leader of Hydra , who's been secretly hiding. He planned to use his helicarriers to wipe out anyone who disagreed with him. Fortunately, that won't happen."
At these words, the advisers looked again at the weapons that were supposed to protect them.
"Besides Pierce himself, there are hundreds of people who support his ideas and work as sleeper agents whose goal is to wait for the right moment and strike in the back. We have lists and evidence. Therefore, I ask them all to surrender, otherwise many people will die."
The signal suddenly stopped, and all the advisors looked at Fury as if hoping that he alone would resolve this conflict.
, the sounds of gunfire could be heard throughout headquarters .
- What should we do now?
"Sit and wait!" the advisors looked at the shield director with great displeasure. "Well then, you can take up arms and go into battle against people who don't know who's their enemy and who's their friend."
This formulation didn't exactly please the Shield overseers. Luckily for them, Fury decided to calm them down a bit.
"A few hours ago, we leaked all available information about Hydra online. We also notified all other intelligence agencies. Therefore, the FBI and others are now cordoning off the building and will shoot at anyone who tries to leave."
Approaching the terminal, he took out a microphone.
"This is Nick Fury, Director of Shield. The building is surrounded, and anyone attempting to leave will be killed. I request that Shield agents secure their positions until reinforcements arrive. Unless you're a Hydra agent , you have nothing to fear. I order you to take up defensive positions and avoid unnecessary combat. Your primary objective now is to survive."
After this message, Natasha noticed that the intensity of the fire began to gradually decrease, but several shootouts could be seen on the cameras in different places of the complex.
While also monitoring the complex's exits, Natasha actually saw vehicles begin to pull up to various entrances and exits, forming a cordon for security. They even brought in the army to ensure greater security.
At that moment, several vehicles attempted to exit through the main entrance. Of course, they weren't able to get through, as the people had arrived prepared. But the flying quinjets had a real chance of escaping the area.
The only thing she could do was watch as several planes took off and flew away.
Having risen almost a kilometer into the air, one of them suddenly exploded.
The remaining pilots attempted to disperse, but a minute later they too ended their flight. Debris from the expensive equipment fell into the water near the complex.
But that was just the first group. Nearly two dozen quinjets were on each carrier, and considering that most of the personnel there were Hydra employees, it's not surprising that some of their pilots, after hearing what they'd heard, decided to leave what had suddenly become an inhospitable place.
But they weren't allowed to fly away. Because the cause of the first trio's death had appeared.
A sleek ship, with incredible maneuverability that Natasha had never seen, entered into battle with those who were trying to fly away.
The fugitives' missile salvo had no effect due to the force field they struck. However, a return salvo of energy weapons destroyed four targets at once.
Trying to overwhelm with his numbers, one of the pilots did not notice how a giant water head of a monster attacked him from below and simply tore the quinjet apart with its jaws.
Natasha and everyone who was with her watched in real time as the water that was near the headquarters began to form a giant snake-like dragon that began chasing the pilots as if they were rodents.
One. Two. Three. The dragon managed to consume three targets before the enemies ran out. To prevent any more from appearing, the dragon landed right on the runway of one of the helicarriers .
-RAAAARRRRRHHHH
The enormous monster's loud roar attracted everyone's attention. While many began to panic, the spy herself felt only relief, something unusual for her during a combat operation.
She knew only one who could control water, so Alex was back.