"I don't understand. Why are we going to sign the contract now, even though the product has been in use for a long time? Aren't you afraid they'll decide…" Lyuda hesitated, trying to find the right word. "Dump you?"
A blonde in a white suit sat in a limousine driving through the city and answered questions from her "subordinate."
"The problem is that this isn't Asgard , where most issues can be resolved through the king's personal power. Here, everyone is equal."
Anna thought for a moment and added.
- Plus or minus.
Loki only smirked at the stated equality.
- Alex conveyed what he considered necessary, simply a verbal agreement with the Kremlin, both to help them and to check whether there was any point in working seriously with the state.
- And you seem to know quite well how everything is arranged here, although you don't move in their circles very much.
- When your father is a high-ranking member of the Hydra, who tries to impose his beliefs from childhood, something is postponed on its own.
- Hydra is... - Loki tried to remember the organization he had read about somewhere in the materials he had been provided.
"Don't worry about it," Anna took a few sips from the glass that stood nearby, "it's a relic of the past that will soon disappear into the abyss of the unknown."
- So we're just going to solidify the agreements?
Anna nodded to him like a teacher.
"Why bother so much? With the power your boss displays, he can ask for whatever he wants. And he can do whatever he wants."
"Of course he can. And then they'll shoot him in the back at the first opportunity . " The blonde's displeased look didn't upset the Asgardian god much . "So just because you can fool everyone doesn't mean you should. I'm sure if you were taken more seriously, no one would have gone against you while you were on the throne."
" Oh, you," Loki was about to rush into attack, but calmed down at the last moment. He understood that if anything happened to her, he would have to answer for his actions, and even his brother wouldn't be able to help him—it wasn't like that.
"Of course, of course, you can convince yourself that. After all, a thirst for power coupled with idiocy always produces good results."
Loki was clearly starting to get more and more angry.
- But don't worry, Aunt Anna will teach you everything.
Their conversation continued until the car came to a smooth stop. At first, no one seemed distracted by it—traffic jams are common in Russia's capital—but glancing out the window, Anna noticed there was practically no one around.
"What's going on there?" she asked the driver, pressing the button.
- The patrol is checking the cars, they will be approaching us soon.
Realizing that nothing terrible was happening yet, the head of one of the fastest growing companies in the world texted the number and began to wait for the movement to continue.
the police officer who was talking to the driver started shooting .
- Lock the car - a quick voice command locked all doors and windows so no one could get inside.
The police officer who shot the driver barely managed to get his hand out before the glass could damage it.
At one point, a large number of people in police uniforms with guns immediately gathered around the car and, without warning, began shooting, but the custom-made armored car easily withstood all the bullets.
- What are we going to do?
Loki wasn't worried about his life, since his strength and vitality remained, but it was strange to see the calm of an ordinary person in such a situation.
- It's okay, of course. Security will be here in a minute, and let them sort it out themselves.
Of course, no one gave them that minute.
A masked woman, clutching brass knuckles, approached the armored vehicle and struck it so hard the entire vehicle shook. The glass, which had held up well to the machine gun fire, quickly began to crack.
-But that's the problem.
People trying to reach the passengers tried to break not just one window, but all at once. Other means included battering rams or a targeted explosion.
- It looks like they need me alive.
Considering that the alternative was to simply blow up the car with a bunch of explosives, the conclusion was obvious.
The superhuman force used to strike the glass bore fruit on the fourth attempt. Having broken the glass, the attacker tried to throw a grenade, but Loki, expecting something similar, was prepared and immediately tossed it back. He also launched one of the knives, which hit the girl directly in the head, causing her to fall to the ground, knife and all, motionless. The grenade, however, began releasing gas, obscuring the vision of both attackers and defenders.
minibuses to pull up near the battle and people to run out of them and take up positions to guard one target.
Most notable was the presence among the guards of three men in super exoskeletons. They began moving toward the limousine at speeds faster than human speed, simultaneously firing at the attackers. The bullets that struck the suits caused no damage, allowing them to advance. The rest of the guards provided cover from a distance.
The attackers were forced to be distracted by security. Some gas from a grenade got into the car, but the small masks the blonde pulled out for them both from a hidden compartment temporarily solved the problem for both of them.
The soldiers in super armor, firing back, had almost reached the limousine when several people ran out to meet them, clearly to attract their attention.
Several men and women, realizing that bullets wouldn't do any good, rushed into close combat and immediately began pushing back the special guards. After all, these were supersoldiers.
Gunfire erupted everywhere, and people in nearby cars decided to flee quickly, causing even more accidents. Meanwhile, people on the streets tried to hide in nearby houses. In the crossfire, many people were struck by stray bullets, which only fueled the panic.
The car in which Anna and Loki were sitting , who was standing guard near the open door, suddenly began to move and rise, alarming them both. The car slowly began to rise into the air.
The super soldiers with their guards and the attackers who were close to the limousine stopped fighting for a second and noticed a man standing with his arms outstretched, looking at the car, and there were several dozen people next to him.
A third party has joined this battle.
Some of them had grenade launchers, which they decided to use as soon as the car rose higher and left the missile range.
Loki watched as everyone scattered to avoid damage from the explosions.
A literal hellish clash between three sides erupted on a Moscow street. After a few minutes of watching people fight for life and death,
Under different circumstances, the God of Deception would have stayed to see how it all played out. Unfortunately, something had to be done. The car they were in began moving toward the last attacking group. So, making a decision, Loki grabbed his struggling "boss" and jumped out of the car , which was five meters above the ground, holding her in his arms.
"What are you...?!" she began, but her indignation was cut short when Loki, barely touching the ground, pulled her head down.
Quickly assessing the situation, Loki began to slowly lead her out of the combat zone.
Explosions erupted everywhere. Gunfire in all directions did not spare the god of deception, but did not harm him due to his origin.
While everyone was engaged in a three-way shootout, his plan to get Anna out might have succeeded. If an unknown person hadn't appeared right in front of him and tried to grab his businesswoman.
He had nothing but the brunette's knife. So, having driven off the attacker, he was about to rush into battle.
- Stop! Anna's scream stopped the possible fight and he watched in surprise as she threw herself into the stranger's arms and then grabbed his hand. - Get us out of here.
And in the chaos that was happening around, three people simply disappeared.
Only to find themselves in a medical room a second later, where all three of them were immediately examined by doctors prepared for their arrival.
"Not now!" the woman's furious roar frightened the medical workers, and the limping blonde, who had barely been touched by the bullet, no longer in clean clothes, headed into the corridor. Looking at each other, the god of deception and the teleporter followed her.
After walking through several corridors, they found themselves in the headquarters, where operations were currently being coordinated. Dozens of screens showed the chaos unfolding around them.
Under the command of one person, actions were quickly coordinated. Anna stood aside while another employee briefed her. In such disarray, she didn't distract the qualified people from their work, but simply monitored what was happening.
The constant turmoil made it difficult for Loki to understand who had the advantage.
The police cordoned off the streets and ensured that the fighting did not spread beyond the cordon. Therefore, the police were very pleased with the arrival of special forces and equipment.
Once law enforcement intervened, it became even more difficult to understand what was happening. Some of the attackers simply fled.
One short female super soldier who was fighting with the Ledov fighters was hit by several bullets, causing her to fall and remove her mask from the blood flowing out of it.
The cameras showed how the fighter was about to finish off the ash-haired girl, but the system singled her out.
"Fuck." Anna had to intervene urgently – she can't be killed, she needs to be brought here immediately.
"We have a problem," the person behind the other monitor showed on the screen how several women were trying to storm the building that housed the headquarters where they were all located.
"Inform all posts that there is a black widow invasion ," the duty officer, who was unlucky with his duty, commanded.
An alarm was sounded throughout the entire complex.
Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. Ten seconds later, a female figure was seen on camera firing back at the guards.
"Activate the Widow Protocol," the staff officer ordered over his comm.
And after the order, ten seconds later, the security guards who were nearby ran into the headquarters and began shooting tranquilizer darts at all the women.
The guards turned off all the women. Seeing Loki in disguise, the guard fired a shot and was about to look for another target when he noticed Lyuda was awake.
- found a target - and at that moment a massive fire of sleeping pills was fired at Lyuda, which still had an effect and the body of Anna's assistant , who did not have time to react, fell to the floor with dozens of darts in her body.
A minute later, only Anna was conscious and standing in the headquarters, watching on the security cameras as the entire complex began to be neutralized of all female personnel. They did this indiscriminately: scientists, doctors, accountants, and cleaners. Wherever the guards saw them, they were shot with tranquilizer darts.
Two guards stood near Annv and were ready to put her to sleep if she seemed hostile to them.
"This all looks so strange," she commented, looking at the many sleeping women in the cameras.
"The widow's protocol was drawn up in case General Dreykov 's spies were discovered ," the officer commented. "As soon as we deal with the immediate threat, we'll begin a thorough investigation to determine if there are any more spies here."
As unpleasant as it was for Anna to admit, it was better this way than to have a trained killer running around with an unknown mission somewhere nearby.
-We still have a problem.
The worker switched the screen to breaking news that the Kremlin had been attacked by unknown assailants.
"Fuck!" the officer said, "check who's nearby."
- Jose, the businesswoman decided to make her move, find the Red Guardian and go there.
the officer continued , realizing how to quickly send reinforcements there. "Take him away."
Realizing that no one was asking him now, Jose went with the guards to get the guard.
Now the blonde director could only watch what was happening on the cameras.
Having lost their target, the surviving attackers attempted to escape, but were unsuccessful. The corporation's well-equipped and professional security team and the arriving law enforcement forces were able to restore order.
Anna watched on camera as her security guards in Moscow surrendered to law enforcement. That was normal. They could be safely picked up later. Another camera showed security guards capturing one of the widows who was trying to break into the complex. It remained unclear what was happening in the Kremlin right now.
*****
Escaping the shield pursuers wasn't particularly difficult for Yumiko . After checking, the Avengers had left their range. She, unafraid, began firing back with tranquilizer darts and disabling equipment with small EMP missiles.
Ledov managed to persuade Stark to give her the suit for her personal use if she would carry out various missions. Which wasn't difficult, since it would at least allow her to interact with the real world.
But just in case, Stark upgraded the suit, removing all its weapons and replacing them with various methods of incapacitating enemies without killing them. Tranquilizer darts, nets, EMP missiles, gas grenades—all of these were enough to ensure victory over virtually any enemy. Having evaluated this option, he produced several more suits of this armor specifically for combat with large numbers of civilians located near the battlefield.
So it happened that one of these suits of armor was issued to his friend specifically for work within the city limits. This allowed him to simply shoot the squad with the Shield without killing anyone.
At first, the now former colonel was indignant that he wasn't being given a proper weapon, but then he even came to appreciate the opportunity to let go and use the suit to its full potential, while reducing the number of future corpses in battle to practically nothing.
After turning off all the hostile technology that was following them, she hid in stealth mode and followed the others, but Rhodey decided to change the meeting place to another one, which was not according to the plan.
That's how Yumiko ended up on a small dam near the city. Officially, the "dead man" was hiding there. Fury , who clearly wasn't looking his best after being shot several times, was nearby, along with all the others who had recently escaped pursuit. Along with his loyal subordinate, Maria Hill.
"And here's the hero of the day!" Fury said, suspicious of the pink paint job. "They were chasing you for almost half a year and couldn't catch you, and now you're here. So Stark did know where and how to find you after all."
- Not only did he know, but he also told me where it would be best to appear in order to cause more headaches for everyone.
While everyone calmly listened to the squabble, only Rhodey looked with hostility at the ghost in the shell, because it was because of him that he lost his job and position.
"Anyway, I'm glad you and Rhodes showed up in time. You can help stop what's coming..."
For the next few minutes, Yumiko listened to what she already knew; now she was simply curious to know what the officially dead shield director's plan was. Their plan was simply to seize control of the Helicarriers .
"Nothing needs to be done!" Fury and Maria tensed at what they heard. "Everything is already ready."
And she recounted the plan Stark and Ledov had devised to seize control of the aircraft carriers. A small smile could even be seen on Fury's face, and Steve looked at Fury with a look that clearly read, "This is what your fragmentation of information leads to."
"Thanks to these people," she pointed at the avengers, "I met an interesting person. Someone who knows a lot. His name is Zola, and he knows a lot."
Next, Yumiko decided to show off a little in front of the heroes and told them about her great online battle with the old fart and how he lost to her in an information duel when she connected with him. Unfortunately, few people could appreciate it because they didn't understand what she was saying, and their blank expressions forced Yumiko to stop showing off.
- Thanks to this, I now have a wealth of data on all Hydra operations in which Zola was at least somehow involved.
This information has already interested everyone.
"So now we can calmly figure out who's friend and foe," Natasha said, glancing between Fury and Yumiko .
- Partially. And to do that, we need an army to keep an eye on everything.
"Why isn't Stark here at all?" Maria turned to Rhodey , trying to figure out where the main instigator of this plan was.
"He's somewhere in space. I don't know for sure. Ledov came to him and they seemed to disappear."
for Fury . Of course, he knew about the constant alien abductions, but he couldn't imagine Stark and Ledov going off to find them together.
"And yet, I propose to destroy them," the captain put in his two cents. " Helicarriers are dangerous weapons and they pose a huge danger."
"The same as you." Many people made disgruntled expressions at Yumiko's words , clearly trying to defend their country's symbol, but no one said anything. "Besides, it's not your decision anymore, Captain Boring."
At that moment, Fury tensed, realizing that the weapon that was supposed to protect the world had been snatched from under his nose, first by Hydra, and now by some Avengers. This made his head ache even more.
"Can you inject him with the same thing you did to Natasha?" Clint wanted to somehow help the man he respected and who had hidden his family.
"No problem," the girl in armor calmly approached and injected another syringe of liquid into the slightly resisting director of the Shield.
Everyone watched intently as his wounds began to gnash, causing Fury's teeth to grind. A few minutes later, the patient of the unknown drug was able to breathe freely, as if the several holes hadn't been there just a short time ago.
- What was that?
"Saline solution, just a minute!" the girl's voice sounded like something out of a commercial. "Just a couple of minutes and you'll be back on your feet. That'll be three million dollars."
Having heard the price, everyone was a little shocked by this amount.
"Do I owe three million too?" Natasha decided to ask if she was already in debt.
"Don't worry!" Yumiko continued, like a robotic negotiator . "I'll pass this information on to the main investor, so I don't think you'll have a problem working off this debt."
The end of the sentence was delivered in such a way that no one in the room had any doubts about how exactly she would have to work off this debt. This drew close attention to her, and if not for her training, the professional spy would now be sitting there like a blushing schoolgirl.
What struck everyone most was how she relaxed a little after hearing this. Many had questions about this, but of course no one asked.
"So, what did you inject me with anyway?" This whole situation was certainly interesting, but Fury wouldn't rest until he found out.
Yumiko didn't particularly hide this information from them and said that it was a modified Extremis serum , which was intended for emergency aid to people.
It works for a few minutes and a person who was wounded in battle can fight again calmly, or it will prevent him from dying.
to Rhodey that one such thing was installed for emergency assistance to the suit pilot, and his face literally showed his reluctance to receive any injuries now, otherwise he might be presented with a bill for it.
There were still questions about the plan, but unfortunately for the Hydra resistance group, Yumiko didn't know everything. Which left the group a bit in limbo.
- The Security Council will soon gather for the ceremonial presentation of the helicarriers . We don't have much time if we want to do anything .
Fury's assistant informed everyone while checking the information.
"Are you sure your plan will work?" Steve stared at the suit's mask.
- Exactly.
- If Tony and Alex don't get there in time, then we have to do something to stop Hydra from revolting as soon as they realize something has gone wrong.
Everyone was unanimous on this.