It was a lazy spring at the Avengers Compound in upstate New York. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and new recruits were being trained by the world's finest heroes. There were squads of first and second year trainees running along the trails of the property, their footfalls echoing across the fields. Steve and Bucky were sitting on a balcony, enjoying the sun and the cool breeze as they ate their lunch. Maria Hill approached their table with a tablet and took a seat with them. Pleasantries were exchanged and then she passed the tablet to Steve.
"We have a distress beacon coming from a base that doesn't exist. The site was deemed classified over 10 years ago. We need you to go check it out."
Steve scrolled through the information on the screen and noticed the location. "The Mariana Islands? Isn't that a Godzilla territory?"
Maria chuckled and said, "Only in theory. They used to test bombs out there but there was also rumors of a secret base and a super weapon for the Navy. It's a lot of stuff from before my time but the beacon was activated two days ago. We thought it might be an anomaly but it hasn't turned off."
Steve scrolled some more and zoomed in on the map. Bucky was looking over his shoulder and said, "Well, that's one place I haven't been before. When do we leave?"
Since the distance was so great, the team had to do a bit of island hopping before landing at an Air Force base in Japan. From there they were able to use a quinjet to fly to a borrowed Navy ship to use as their home base for the investigation. This was a joint effort by the Air Force, the Navy, and SHIELD. Even though the base was technically the Navy's it wasn't supposed to exist. There were hushed conversations behind closed doors of high ranking Admirals and White House staff. If a base wasn't supposed to exist how could an agency take claim of any evidence that was found there?
Steve was used to secrets coming out into the open. When Nick Fury first asked him to join the Avengers Initiative he discovered there were deplorable secrets in a seemingly wholesome organization. He had that feeling once again. As the team traveled closer to their destination he couldn't shake the foreboding feeling of betrayal.
Steve, Clint, and Bucky were taking an eight man Strike team to an underwater base. The ship they were on didn't have any accurate readings since there was so much sea life in the area.
Steve was looking over a computer screen with Clint by his side. "It looks pretty simple to me. Once we get past the airlock the bridge is just down this hallway. We should try to get any hard drives that might be intact and then try to locate the beacon."
Clint shook his head in agreement. "Whatever you say, you're the boss, Cap." He clapped him on the shoulder and then headed down the narrow hallway.
The mini submarine they were on was cramped to say the least. The air was humid with everyone breathing and tensions were high. "What was so special about this place again?" Bucky asked Steve as he wiped a bead of sweat from his face.
"It was classified and not supposed to exist. I don't like it," he said gravely.
Clint just watched the two of them talk as the submarine began the docking sequence.
"Airlock secure. You're good to go, Captain," the pilot said.
The men were all down to business. The small space was filled with clicks of weapons and squeaks of leather being gripped.
"Open the hatch."
A loud grinding and squealing could be heard as one of the Strike team battled with the wheel on the hatch. Soon it was opened and water was streaming onto the floor.
"Opening next hatch."
The Strike team member banged on the hatch three times and then turned the next wheel. The door opened surprisingly easy as he pushed it open and then stepped back to retrieve his weapon. There was a collective hush as the group fell silent. There was no lighting except for the beams off the flashlights of the Strike team. One soldier would move forward and then signal for the next to go as they cleared the small alcoves in the tunnel. Soon they came into an ante room which led to three tunnels. The lights flickered on once they stepped foot into the small room. The men looked around wary, and listening for any sounds of movement. There were signs labeling the areas. One said Bridge/Control Room, Laboratory, and the third said Engineering. There was also an elevator shaft that would take them to the lower levels of the base. The Captain and Bucky looked at each other and said, "Let's split up. Barton, take a man and go to the bridge and engineering section. Barnes, take three and go to the labs. The rest of you are with me."
The men all split up walking casually with their guns pointed down. Barton went to the bridge and control room. There was a secure door but it was unlocked. He stepped over the threshold and looked around. There wasn't anything unusual to notice. All the monitors were blank, no blinking lights on the control panels. Everything was silent except for the hum of machinery deeper in the base. "Control room clear, Cap," Clint spoke into his comms. "Let's grab those hard drives." As Clint walked to each work station and the captain or commander's seat, he didn't know why there would be one since he wasn't a Navy man, he noticed how clean the area seemed. He didn't think much of it and continued with his work.
Bucky and his three men walked towards the laboratory area. There was a glass sliding door with a control panel that wasn't functional any more. He grabbed the side of the door and slid it open easily, with the men following after. They came upon the usual: steel tables, covered microscopes, glass cabinets- nothing out of the ordinary. The stools were neatly placed under the counters, trays of instruments and test tubes neatly lined up. Everything seemed to be in place. There were a few computers and monitors but they were all turned off. "Nothing in here, Cap," Bucky said in his comms. The men all walked further into the lab and noticed one door that was slightly blackened around the edges and closed. Bucky motioned to one of the soldiers and they counted "One, two..." in a whisper and then kicked the door open. The room was small and cramped compared to the rest of the lab area. There were body sized pods made of glass. They were broken and stained with soot, like there had been a fire in just that room.
"Cap, we found something."
The Strike team had body cameras mounted on their shoulders. "You getting this?" Bucky turned to the one on his left. "Yes, sir."
They looked around the room and couldn't find anything useful or that had any intelligible writing. "This looks bad," Bucky said in a whisper. Despite the chill in the air a sheen of sweat formed on his brow. "Let's keep moving."
As they moved farther into the lab there seemed to be more secure places. There were individual rooms, but they seemed to be more like cells. Each had a narrow door and a small circular window in the center at eye height. "This looks really bad," Bucky said again. "Stay sharp," he said to his team. He couldn't help but be reminded of his time at Hydra, locked in a cell, locked in a cryo tube, strapped in a chair. It made his stomach twist in knots and he gripped his gun tighter.
