The day began like any other for Captain Maria Hill, United States Marine Corps. She woke up to PT before dawn, came home to her apartment in Alexandria, Virginia to shower and change, and then made her way to her post as a member of the White House Military Office. She'd taken the posting as a way to meet people in government and, hopefully, get a recommendation to SHIELD. So far, she'd made a number of contacts in the White House Military Office, FBI, and CIA, but had been a bit shy to court some of the folks from the NSA that she'd seen around, especially as it seemed increasingly likely that SHIELD would be stepping in to shut down the NSA's current Operation should a Congressional Inquiry materialize. There was no sense making friends with people who the agency you wanted to join might be at odds with in the near future, after all.
Not that she couldn't see Director Gyrich's point about a whole group of unregistered superpowered people living among the general population being potentially dangerous, mind you. Captain Hill knew a thing or two about security arrangements after her posting at the US Embassy in Genosha, especially where Mutants were concerned. However, if the situation on Genosha proved anything, it was that active pogroms would only force guerilla movements to spring up and you'd be facing a full-blown civil war against opponents that have a wide array of unpredictable powers soon after. Mutates and Magistrates going at it in the streets while the countryside burns down around them. No, Captain Hill was convinced that Gyrich's Pogrom would backfire on him spectacularly, though thankfully, it was looking like Congress and SHIELD would step in before that backfire hit the American People. Plus she just didn't like the man.
Gyrich had a way of getting under your skin with snide comments and arrogant remarks. It didn't help that he seemed to attract just the worst sorts of people on top of that. Captain Hill had only met Senator Robert Kelly once, while she was presenting a briefing to President Clinton and a few others about the recent military situation in the former Yugoslavia, but just from that one meeting, she could already tell the man had no convictions besides advancing his own interests. The less she said about the late Graydon Creed, the better. That man had been a walking constitutional crisis waiting to happen, given how openly he was advocating for a dictatorship if he won the presidency. Commander Ghilberti wasn't any better from what she'd heard, either, the Cyborg being unpleasant to work for and downright sadistic in temperament if what she'd heard was at all correct.
With personnel like that, the sooner the NSA's little Operation was scrapped the better. As Captain Hill swiped her ID Card through the security scanners in the White House, she reflected that Congressional inquiry and SHIELD intervention couldn't happen quickly enough. The Secret Service Guards manning the security station waved her through, and she straightened her dress blues as she made her way to the Office of Colonel Simon Savage, her superior officer and the Marine Corps Military Aide to President Clinton. As she entered, however, she found the Skipper, as he liked to be called, wasn't alone. Sure, he was at his desk, as usual, but the older, bearded, man had company. The eye-patch-sporting, salt-and-pepper-haired, face of Director Nick Fury of SHIELD was taking a drag on a cigar as he spoke to the Skipper.
"Sorry, sir. I didn't know you had company." Spoke up Captain Hill.
"Nonsense, Maria. We're just two old War Buddies catching up. Have you met Colonel Fury? Nick and I go back to the War." Nodded the Skipper.
"Yeah, back t' th' time when reports were filled out usin' stone tablets." Chuckled Nick Fury.
"Director Fury, it's an honor, sir. I've heard all about your missions during the war. The Raid on Dortsdadt is still taught at Camp Lejeune as part of the Commando Tactics unit for Marine Corps Raiders." Remarked Captain Hill.
"So yer a Leatherneck like th' Skip, here, Hill?" Questioned Nick Fury.
"Maria's been my main aide for the last nine months, Nick. I can personally attest to her capabilities." Praised the Skipper.
"Well, if yer good enough fer th' Skipper, yer good enough fer me. Tell me, Hill, what side do ya take on th' whole Mutant thing?" Queried Nick Fury.
"Well, on the one hand, I can see the NSA's point. Mutants are dangerous, their powers are unpredictable, and there's a vocal subset that seems to be determined to cause problems. On the other hand, you only need to look at what's going on in Genosha to see how this glorified pogrom is going to backfire horribly. Respectfully, sir, but you can only poke the dragon so many times, so hard, before it burns you." Answered Captain Hill.
"So what'd you suggest instead o' whatever Gyrich's bunch is doin'?" Pressed Nick Fury.
"A softer approach. If we can get Mutants to assimilate instead of forcing them into what are essentially ghettos, we might even get a few of them willing to join up. I'm a Marine, Sir, so I'm not saying we should coddle them, but trying to get the folks who can melt a tank with lasers from their eyes on our side is better than having them decide they have to fight us. That's just off the top of my head, though." Offered Captain Hill.
"Right, brief her, Skip." Gestured Nick Fury at the Skipper.
"All right, Maria what you're about to hear is highly classified, so it goes without saying not to repeat it to anyone who doesn't have clearance. Nick showed me these, and now you're the third person in the White House to know. We'll be showing the President this afternoon. The Congressional Intelligence Oversight Committee already knows some of it, but this is the full story." Nodded the Skipper, pulling out a Manilla Envelope.
Inside the envelope was a printout of scan data from a tech scanner that looked at least two generations ahead of anything the Marines had. There was also an assortment of notes made in sloppy handwriting that looked like they'd been written down by someone in a perpetual hurry. The notes were just this side of legible but were accompanied by a second set of typewritten notes on SHIELD stationery with a tactical and intelligence analysis, likely compiled either by Colonel Fury or one of his top-level agents, judging by thoroughness. As Maria read the packet, a frown crept over her face that deepened into a scowl by the time she finished.
"So these Frankenstein's Monsters are what the NSA have cooked up? Forcibly converting regular humans into Cyborg Enforcers with nanites and just calling them Prime Sentinels to fool the Oversight Committee? And this Omega Sentinel has a bunch of alien technology that even SHIELD isn't equipped to deal with if deployed en masse?" Demanded Captain Hill.
"That ain't th' worst part. Look closely at th' analysis." Intoned Nick Fury.
"Skrull, Kree, and Technarch Technology? Weren't those banned for import a few years ago?" Blinked Captain Hill.
"Plus a few others we ain't banned yet, like th' Shi'ar stuff." Confirmed Nick Fury.
"Makes you wonder how Gyrich got a hold of such technology, doesn't it?" Grinned the Skipper.
"What's more, Gyrich's boys went beyond their remit. They ain't supposed to use alien tech at all in any o' their designs, much less alien tech from embargoed nations like th' Technarchy, Kree, an' Skrulls. Somebody's been gettin' a hand from dangerous friends." Added Nick Fury.
"Alien technology has the potential to slip any leash placed on it. If this Omega Sentinel does, well, with the Avengers no longer a going concern, we're not entirely certain that we'll be able to put together a team to stop it before it topples the government." Cautioned the Skipper.
"Where did you get this intel?" Asked Captain Hill.
"Tony Stark by way o' his bodyguard." Informed Nick Fury.
"That explains the chicken scratch the technical notes are written in. So, we're briefing the president on this today?" Questioned Captain Hill.
"We are. Colonel Fury will be coming with us to lend credence to the report." Affirmed the Skipper.
"And with the President and the Congressional Intelligence Oversight Committee on the same page, it isn't like the NSA's congressional backers will be in a position to stop an Inquiry." Nodded Captain Hill.
"This ain't gonna end with an inquiry, Hill. SHIELD's preppin' to step in, just in case. This ain't s'posed to be allowed in th' first place. Th' fact it slipped by Congress means we oughtta intervene." Rumbled Nick Fury.
The rest of Maria's morning went by in a blur of small talk and chitchat. The Skipper and Director Fury were reminiscing about old war stories, but Maria couldn't really give them her full focus. Instead, she immersed herself in the dossier of scan data, technical notes, and SHIELD Analysis. It was apparently turning out that she'd been wrong about the direction a potential civil war would be coming from. It wasn't coming from the Mutants being pushed to the edge too fast, but from within the damned government itself. There was no way that Gyrich's NSA could have gotten their hands on all this stuff. Sure, the Prime Sentinels weren't too far removed from the sort of cutting-edge technology various agencies and scientists were putting out these days. Even the nanotechnology that converted flesh and blood people to Cyborg Soldiers wasn't outside the bounds of earthly tech.
No, it was the Omega Sentinel's tech that couldn't have come from Earth. Skrull Cloaking Devices, Kree EMP Weaponry, Shi'ar anti-psionic tech, and more, all suped up with a combination of Technarchy-derived components and Adamantium materials. Not only was the technology literally alien, but the materials would be astronomically expensive. More so than Gyrich's little Cabal in Congress and the NSA could account for. No, he had to have some third-party backers, which was a troubling thought given the sheer number of people who might have an interest in destabilizing the US Government. She offered that insight to Colonel Fury who just nodded and said he was looking into it. Ultimately, though, they wouldn't be able to figure it out till after the NSA was stood down and SHIELD had a chance to go over everything.
By the time the briefing rolled around, Captain Maria Hill was convinced that SHIELD absolutely had to step in and forcibly stand down the NSA, if necessary, and confiscate all sentinels and sentinel technology. Henry Gyrich would definitely need to be removed from his position as NSA Chairman, and investigations should be launched to look into Senator Kelly. That was at a minimum, but this sort of thing could utterly destroy an agency if the rot ran too deep. The NSA might have to be taken apart and gone over with a fine-toothed comb so it could be rebuilt without the corruption of Gyrich's Cabal.
Captain Hill was so caught up in the implications that she almost missed the out-of-place Native American Twenty-Something that muscled her way to the front of the tour group that she, the Skipper, and Director Fury were passing on the way into the Oval Office. A movement of hands in a threatening manner had Captain Hill calling out for Director Fury to duck, even as she tackled him to the floor. A Sizzling Arrow of purple light passed right through the air where Director Fury's chest had been and embedded in the concrete wall with a cracking noise before fizzling out.
Maria pulled her service pistol and fired three rounds back at the Native American Girl, who now had a glowing bow in her hands, only for a hand to reach up from out of the solid floor and pull the Native Girl down underground, avoiding the shots. In response, a ball of orange light was rolled her way courtesy of a Blonde, before exploding with the force of a grenade. Maria, Director Fury, and the Skipper were only saved at the last minute by Director Fury spraying a thick plume of bluish mist at the incoming bomb in the five-second delay between it rolling to a stop and exploding.
"Neutro-Mist, always carry some on me 'case somethin' like this happens." Grunted Director Fury as he stood up. Captain Hill and the Skipper followed suit, clambering to their feet just in time for the Native American Woman to phase out of the floor again, this time accompanied by a Brunette Woman.
"Death to the Oppressors! Liberation for Mutants!" Shouted the Native American Woman.
"Darlin' somethin' about you's different from th' last time I saw you." Grumbled Nick Fury.
"You know these whackjobs, Director?" Queried Captain Hill.
"Yeah, that's Dani Moonstar, AKA Mirage, Tabitha Smith, AKA Meltdown, and Kitty Pryde, AKA Shadowcat. Problem is, I know fer a fact that Shadowcat's off in England right now, an' last I saw Mirage, she was off bein' a guest o' Thor's Folk. Somethin' about this's screwy." Grunted Nick Fury.
"Screwy or not, Nick, it looks like they're getting ready to attack again!" Warned the Skipper.
"Death to the Fascist President! Mutant freedom now!" Exclaimed the Native American Woman, Mirage.
Then a pair of secret service agents arrived and started firing their weapons at the supposed Mutant Freedom Fighters and the battle was rejoined in earnest. . .
XXXX
AN: All right, here's an interlude featuring Nick Fury, a younger, Pre-SHIELD Maria Hill, and an older legacy Character in Simon Savage. Fury and Savage actually crossed over back in the era when they were in their World War Two Comics, with Savage modeling his Leatherneck Raiders after Fury's Howling Commandos, only with a bigger emphasis on amphibious operations since they were in the Pacific Theater while Fury was in Europe. Meanwhile, Maria Hill has part of her backstory being that she joined the Marine Corps for a number of years before being able to join SHIELD.
Here, it just so happens that Tony getting the scan data to Fury and SHIELD puts Nick Fury in the right position to stop the attempted assassination of the President by the Skrull Synthezoids that Bastion put into play last chapter. You can expect the fallout from this to be the tipping point for Gyrich, Bastion, and Senator Robert Kelly, though they aren't going to go down without a fight. Bastion, at the very least, will send everything he has left at anyone trying to take him down, which is why it's going to take Jan's current group, Thor, Cap, Iron Man, and Nick Fury working together to deal with him.
That's a few chapters down the line, though. First, we have to actually finish the stopping of the Synthezoid Assassination Scheme. That will be coming up next.
Stay tuned. . .