The Raft — S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most secure high-risk detention facility — floated silently beneath the waters off Riker's Island, New York. Built to contain the world's most dangerous individuals, it was a fortress of cutting-edge technology and black-budget innovation, a perfect embodiment of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s obsession with control.
Within a half-mile radius around the prison, the surrounding ocean teemed with genetically modified jellyfish engineered to release a lethal neurotoxin upon contact. Inside, the prison courtyard was protected by a powerful energy field, reinforced by thirty automated laser turrets controlled by a central AI system. Guards wore lightweight power armor designed by Mach-V, their faces concealed by opaque visors, and carried shock batons that could only be activated by encrypted authorization.
Even the infamous Thunderbolt Initiative applied here — a program that offered inmates the chance to reduce their sentences by serving in state-sponsored missions to combat evil. That also meant Marcus's upcoming operation to free certain inmates wouldn't just face S.H.I.E.L.D. guards — it could face supervillains turned state operatives as well.
But first, there was the matter of getting the Raft to surface.
Normally submerged deep beneath the Atlantic, the prison would need to be brought up to sea level before the Hydra transport ships Marcus had borrowed could engage.
---
New York Time: 9:40 A.M., Riker's Island
Switching to his darkside body, Marcus stood alongside Thunder and Killian, watching as two matte-black military transport vessels approached through the stormy waves. From them disembarked squads of Hydra special forces, each bearing the iconic serpent emblem. Leading the troops were two familiar faces — Crossbones and the Winter Soldier.
They were to serve as both allies… and scapegoats.
Killian, acting as the operation's liaison, stepped forward with a cordial smile and extended his hand. "Welcome, friends from Hydra. Here's hoping our cooperation runs smoothly."
"It should," Crossbones replied gruffly, shaking his hand. "AIM and Hydra have been apart for far too long. Still…" His eyes narrowed, shifting toward Marcus. "Only three of you? And that man — have we met before?"
Marcus met his gaze calmly, saying nothing. During the Hydra raid, he had kept his face hidden beneath a hood and mask; still, Crossbones couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity.
Killian interjected smoothly, drawing Crossbones's attention back. "You needn't worry about numbers. Quality matters more than quantity. Each of us brings a… unique specialty to the table."
That explanation satisfied Crossbones. The mere fact that Killian — AIM's leader — was present in person proved the seriousness of this alliance. Anyone trusted enough to accompany him surely wasn't ordinary.
"Very well," Crossbones said at last. "Let's discuss the plan."
---
Phase One: Infiltrate the Raft and override its central control system to force the prison to surface.
The infiltration key — a specialized hacking program — had already been implanted into the cybernetic systems of the Winter Soldier's left arm. That made him the centerpiece of the mission's first stage. Marcus, of course, would accompany him as AIM's designated "technical support."
The two of them would silently infiltrate the underwater fortress, seize the control room, and raise the entire prison to sea level.
Outside, the storm raged. The gray sky pressed low, the wind howling across the waves as sheets of rain blurred the horizon. Two camouflaged military vessels, disguised as fishing boats, rocked violently two kilometers from the Raft's hidden position. Anchors dropped, their hulls rising and falling in the churning sea.
From one of them, a small lifeboat was released, bobbing toward the stormy depths. Only two figures sat aboard — Marcus and the Winter Soldier — both clad in reinforced mechanical diving suits designed for deep-sea operations.
Crossbones stood on deck, watching the lifeboat drift into the storm. "You ever consider what happens if they fail?" he asked coldly.
Officially, this was a joint Hydra–AIM operation. In reality, every part of the plan had been proposed by Killian. Hydra had agreed almost too readily, pressed for time and with little room for argument. Crossbones had been placed in charge of field command — but in truth, he understood very little of the mission's finer details.
Killian didn't bother to answer. He simply smiled, the kind of confident, unnerving smile that revealed nothing and promised everything. "Failure," he said, "is only a concern when something meaningful is at stake."
A distant splash broke through the storm's roar. Crossbones turned in time to see the lifeboat bobbing empty on the waves — both men had already vanished beneath the surface.
---
The instant Marcus submerged, his helmet lights cut through the murky blackness. Ahead, hundreds of meters away, a shimmering veil of movement filled the water — an enormous cluster of translucent jellyfish, their tendrils pulsing with ghostly blue light. They spiraled in hypnotic circles around something hidden deeper below.
This was it — the Raft's outermost line of defense.
The artificial swarm had been bred and trained to recognize and attack anything entering its domain. Each one carried enough neurotoxin to kill a whale, and collectively they formed a living barrier that few living creatures could cross.
But Marcus and the Winter Soldier weren't "living" in the conventional sense — and their reinforced combat diving suits weren't ordinary either. Constructed from advanced military composites and lined with electromagnetic shielding, they were impervious to both toxins and sonar.
The jellyfish struck anyway, their glowing tendrils wrapping around the divers like a nest of luminous serpents, discharging pulses of venom and static energy in futile waves.
The assault continued for several long minutes, but the suits held firm. Marcus and the Winter Soldier pushed forward, forcing their way through the thrashing cloud until the light of their headlamps illuminated something vast and angular beneath them — a massive, black structure rising from the seafloor, so dark it was nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding rock.
The Raft Prison.
A submerged citadel. A fortress of steel and secrecy.
And within its depths lay the most dangerous beings the Marvel world had ever known.
Marcus felt the faintest smirk tug at his lips beneath his helmet.
It was time to set them free.
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T/N:
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