Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1372 Opening the Dome (Second Update)

In Maria Hill's eyes, the First Secret Regiment was the main force invading the Beacon Base, with the Rangers merely an auxiliary force. This wasn't surprising, as her information from the Guardian Order's intelligence department primarily focused on the first batch of genetically modified warriors—knights whose height far exceeded that of ordinary people—who occasionally participated in the First Secret Regiment's duties and deployments. Therefore, she had a clear understanding of the capabilities and responsibilities of this experimental army. Conversely, having never seen the Rangers, due to their bizarre appearance and her own knowledge of the barrenness of the Martian Foundry, Maria assumed those half-human soldiers were merely aids to the First Secret Regiment.

Her thinking wasn't entirely wrong, because although the First Secret Service and the Rangers had different mission objectives, their main goals were almost identical. The First Secret Service searched the warehouse following instructions from the rear, trying to find what the Commander of the Guard needed, while the Rangers focused their attention on Howard Stark's manuscripts, which, despite being limited by the technology of the time, still shone with the brilliance of wisdom.

Faced with mountains of paper documents, the Rangers' information processing capabilities played a significant role. Even the sergeant of the First Secret Regiment had to have Alpha-Bronze 2 assign personnel to investigate, while the sergeant himself took over some of the Rangers' command to continue the siege of the armed personnel at the Lighthouse Base in cooperation with the First Secret Regiment.

This didn't mean First Class had relinquished control to Mars. Some items didn't require identification or organization and had clear serial numbers. They could simply reach out and take them; nobody would know. It was that simple. Even the swarm of drones released by the Rangers couldn't detect the missing few inconspicuous items from the cabinet. The sergeant didn't know why the Regent needed the contents of these small boxes, nor their purpose, but an order was an order. If they couldn't evacuate successfully, these items had to be destroyed.

Each crate was assigned a guard and a plasma grenade by the sergeant, whose bulletproof armor bore a small, inconspicuous marking. Almost every soldier in the First Secret Regiment had their own unique marking, indicating their identity, rank, and duty. The soldiers selected by the sergeant were perfectly suited for the task in terms of personality, skills, and battlefield experience. This was a completely new, experimental command structure designed to allow the First Secret Regiment to flexibly respond to all battlefield situations. The First Secret Regiment would refine this command system until it was mature, and then the Emperor would apply it to other armies—but not just any army. The combined arms brigade structure of conventional armies was sufficient for many battlefield environments; this command structure would only create unnecessary complications. Only the most powerful armies could use this chain of command, and the sergeant's role was to identify any shortcomings in the chain of command during this operation.

Only through real-world experience can problems be discovered and solved.

In the eyes of the S.H.I.E.L.D. armed personnel, every breakout attempt they made was met with resistance.

Even though the control room realized the enemy's forces were insufficient to capture all the facilities at the Lighthouse base, key elevators and outer generators were guarded by soldiers in prefabricated bunkers. Additionally, patrols of an unknown number of armed personnel were conducting raids on S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempting to escape the encirclement. With a limited number of heavy weapons, their use in the confined space was highly likely to cause collateral damage, so the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel were unwilling to use anti-tank weapons for the assault.

Judging from all indications, the other side was not entirely ignorant of the Lighthouse base; in fact, they might even know routes unknown to the agents and possess access to outdated circuits that the agents had never used and that had been solidified by time and dust. When Melinda May raised this question with Maria Hill in the control room, she did not receive a satisfactory answer.

It's still Nick Fury, that damn Nick Fury.

No one knows whether he offered the Lighthouse base as a bargaining chip when he made a deal with the devil.

Perhaps it exists, perhaps it doesn't; nobody knows. But now, that information is irrelevant, because the enemy is slowly tightening the noose, methodically enjoying the beautiful process of SHIELD's gradual demise. The astonishing casualty ratio means that unless they use anti-tank weapons or 20mm cannons, they can't inflict acceptable damage on the enemy. Those lasers can penetrate the best individual armor, while their light weapons are ineffective. Those weapons that SHIELD doesn't understand how operate can even allow the enemy to pass through any room to get to them. Their communications are being eavesdropped on and tampered with; a barrage of false orders is being passed to every armed squad leader, sending everyone running around like headless chickens, ultimately ending up under enemy fire. Even after control room orders radio silence, combat communications become difficult; enemy radio jamming can even interfere with communication between two squads.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was not defeated by Hydra, but instead died at the hands of former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Victoria Hand. Melinda May harbors deep resentment towards her former colleague, whom, according to Maria Hill, is now one of the Emperor's intelligence chiefs. Melinda May isn't certain that she leaked information about the Beacon Base, but she's convinced that Victoria Hand is involved.

"Don't presume to know the mind of someone who has come back from the dead," Maria Hill warned. "She is no longer the Victoria Hand you knew. Her blood is forced to flow, and her brain remains supernaturally active after being shot—all of this indicates that the real Victoria Hand is dead."

"So where did you see this information, colleague?"

"In the intelligence department of the Guardian Order."

Maria Hill wasn't angered by Melinda May's sarcastic remarks; anyone in that situation would be furious. Moreover, being S.H.I.E.L.D. agents didn't necessarily mean they shared the same stance. Melinda May's recruitment into S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't due to the so-called diversity movement, but because her family were immigrants from Hong Kong. Her political vetting had been conducted by the Pentagon and the then-Security Council. She was the least opposed to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founding manifesto and its subsequent heavy reliance on the Pentagon. She firmly believed that S.H.I.E.L.D. represented justice, but Maria Hill, as a congressional representative, had her doubts.

"All officials' medical examination information is kept strictly confidential, but Victoria Hand's medical examination information has an even higher level of confidentiality than all of them. I only briefly glimpsed some information using someone else's access privileges, and there was no time for me to continue looking. Victoria Hand is dead. She died at the hands of Grant Ward, and apart from her past ruthless methods, there is no trace of Victoria Hand left in this world."

"This is hardly good news."

Melinda May muttered as she turned her gaze to the dozens of monitor screens in the control room.

Alfonso McKenzie's team wasn't displayed on the main screen, but rather shown as dots and a map in the corner of a monitor. Since the enemy had likely already infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cybersecurity department and obtained deployment information for all armed teams, Melinda May didn't intend to show the full footage of Alfonso McKenzie's team. Instead, she treated it as dispensable information from the battlefield, lest the enemy discover the control room's high level of attention towards this team.

It takes at least thirty seconds for the tarmac dome to fully open, but if only five Quinjet fighters need to take off, then ten seconds is enough to open a passageway that can be fully accessed.

"Begin taking control of the power supply in the enemy-occupied area," Melinda May ordered. "Not completely, just enough to make the enemy feel we're regaining control of the generators. Also, frequently try opening and closing the blast doors in the enemy-occupied area to force their attention to them." She then directed the other generator unit, "Connect the power to the enemy-occupied area. Close all undamaged blast doors in the enemy-occupied area. One minute after the plan is activated, open the dome completely. Do not close it."

Maria Hill nodded. She hadn't quite understood why Melinda May had ordered the power to be cut off immediately after opening most of the blast doors in enemy-occupied territory. Now, the First Class Regiment would inevitably attempt demolition to ensure the safety of their evacuation route. This effectively shifted the time it would take for the enemy to break into the defensive area to a later stage, using it at a crucial moment.

"Fly!" Melinda May raised the walkie-talkie and issued the command to all channels, "Fly, little pigeon."

Eight in the morning

(End of this chapter)