Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1358 Take Your Positions (Second Update)

With her own agenda, Maria Hill landed her Quinjet on the outskirts of a small town near Lake Ontario.

Defense intelligence had already prepared a safe house, a fake identity, fake documents, online accounts, cash, a vehicle, and weapons for her. Even if she were stopped and checked by patrol officers, there would be no trouble; the fake identity and documents would be enough for her to escape. Even if she insisted on driving away, this American muscle car would be enough for her to shake off most of her pursuers until the police patrol helicopter ran out of fuel.

However, she wouldn't do something so foolish.

She knew she was now a wanted criminal. She hadn't reported to Congress every Friday in a long time, and the FBI and Homeland Security couldn't find her at her residence. It was only natural that they would put her on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wanted list. The new S.H.I.E.L.D. was largely a front for luring former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, using an inventory of past assets to re-examine the secrets left behind by Nick Fury when he controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. Now that Coulson's team was back under the watchful eyes of the US government, Maria Hill knew she was likely to return to the Pentagon's surveillance list, but she wouldn't let Phil Coulson go down such a path and allow the last S.H.I.E.L.D. team to be destroyed.

Even knowing that Victoria Hand was using her, she had to stop Agent Coulson from doing something foolish.

"Did you just see that?! How fast that car was going!" The Highway 62 patrol officer nearly spat out his lunch sandwich. "Did you get the license plate?"

"About 150 miles per hour (approximately 240 km/h)." The veteran officer in the driver's seat expertly pressed the accelerator, the sudden surge of power almost causing his partner in the passenger seat to spill his Diet Coke. However, the veteran ignored the rookie's complaints, gripping the steering wheel tightly, intending to catch up with the car that was about to disappear from sight. They caught a ton of speeding drivers on this highway every day, but someone driving this fast was quite rare. The veteran felt his professional passion reignited, eager to follow and see who was so reckless. "If we're lucky, we might catch up."

"Perhaps." The rookie cop called for backup. "Route 62, black Dodge Demon SRT, heading towards Eden. Need backup, need backup!"

"215 received."

"214 received."

"Helen is in position."

Constantine, still aboard the Pegasus Heavy Assault Transport, received a message from the Defense Intelligence Agency. It's unclear who came up with the codename, but it cleverly used the Trojan War as a reference, referring to Maria Hill as Helen of the Trojan War.

By this time, their aircraft had approached the target area and planned to land and rest near a safe house several dozen kilometers away. This aircraft, specifically designed for infiltration operations, was using the registration of a cargo flight, but any conscientious air traffic controller would have been alerted by the flight's unusual altitude and flight path, and would have reported it to the U.S. Air Force. After unloading armed personnel and equipment near the safe house, the Pegasus Heavy Assault Transport had to fly to suborbital space as quickly as possible to minimize information leaks. The real cargo flight was already following behind, piloted by a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent from the Defense Intelligence Agency, ready to take over the flight registration and continue flying, erasing all suspicion.

Constantine planned to lead his armed men to wait in the safe house for over ten hours until Dr. Horton Radcliffe returned to his residence. The first squad of the First Secret Group and the Martian Mechanical Soldiers would intercept him on his route, while the second squad would simultaneously attack Dr. Horton Radcliffe's residence to find the products of the Life-Model Decoy project and all information related to the mental space known as "Frames".

Dr. Horton Radcliffe also lived near the Great Lakes.

This area boasts numerous high-speed freight highways between the United States and Canada, with countless heavy trucks passing through daily, continuously transporting agricultural products and industrial goods to Canada. Constantine's squad could use pre-modified heavy trucks to cram all armed personnel into the cargo beds and conduct pursuit and interception operations on the roads. The Commander of the Guard had reviewed the Martian mechanical soldiers' combat plans; the automated combat robot transferred from the Royal Castle could be used against helicopters and National Guard armored vehicles, and could also block all traffic on the southbound highway for a short period, buying time for the operation and evacuation.

This is a very comprehensive operational plan, with several contingency plans and two command systems.

The command chain used by the First Class Regiment soldiers is completely different from that used by the Martian mechanical soldiers. The latter is more efficient but requires a mental network connection via mechanical implants. Martian sages and mechanical soldier captains, equipped with command centers and thought-amplifying implants, act as command issuers and information relay stations, distributing different commands to the thought processors of each mechanical soldier. The First Class Regiment soldiers still use the old method; the communication system within their Void Combat Suit represents the limit of information technology capabilities for human soldiers lacking large-scale mechanical implants. The conventional command chains used by the Knights and the Royal Guard are merely faster in terms of information processing speed and more comprehensive in terms of database.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. team is likely to get involved in the battle, but Constantine is prepared to deal with Daisy Jensen.

Daisy Jensen, formerly known as Skye, is a high school graduate and a former hacker for the Rising Tide organization. Her relationship with Agent Rainbow, a member of the Phil Coulson organization, is akin to that of a father and daughter. After exposure to the Terrigen compound mist, she demonstrated a considerable ability to manipulate shockwaves, manifesting outwardly as an extremely piercing, inhuman scream. Judging from Daisy Jensen's experience, she hasn't been able to fully utilize this power. She can emit shockwaves that cause matter to vibrate, rather than manipulating it. Even so, she is a dangerous target for ordinary people. However, no matter how powerful the Inhuman superhuman is, she is still alone. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special equipment is already registered and sent to the Martian Sage's database, making a surprise attack unlikely.

The area was sparsely populated, and the safe house arranged by the Defense Intelligence Agency was more than enough to accommodate the combat team that had departed from the Balkans. It even had a helipad and an underground garage. After the heavy assault transport ship landed on the helipad, Constantine opened the disguised entrance to the underground garage according to established procedure, guiding the First Classified Regiment and the robotic soldiers inside. The style here was quite simple and austere, with the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle emblem on the gray concrete walls. This was a S.H.I.E.L.D. transit base. Besides the town of Govanda, where Dr. Horton Radcliffe lived, there was only one Indian reservation nearby. White people wouldn't use this route to reach the reservation, and Native Americans wouldn't use it to reach the town; mutual dislike between the two made this a truly no-man's-land, ideal for concealing tracks and arranging large-scale supply movements.

"Skate Ray 2 has begun its evacuation and is entering suborbital space."

"Imperial Guards received. Please begin preparations for withdrawal."

Constantine heard the pilot's voice through his communicator. Time was of the essence. The heavy assault transport's engines were still running; after clearing out the armed personnel, the thrust vectoring engines were immediately activated, allowing the aircraft to regain its grip and take off again. This heavy assault transport would arrive upon mission completion; otherwise, there would be no external support, and everything would depend on this armed squad deep inside American territory.

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(End of this chapter)