With this special purpose in mind, Agent Blake threw himself wholeheartedly into the mission.
No matter what secrets this mission concealed, at least on the surface, this was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first attempt to capture the Clairvoyant—a true face-to-face confrontation. And if he was right, if Coulson was the real mastermind and the true Clairvoyant...
Then this mission had to be an elaborate trap laid by him. The best way to break a trap was to flip the table outright. But this time, the table legs were welded too firmly to the floor, and he could not flip it. So he had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and step into the trap first.
Besides, no matter who did what, they would always leave traces behind. As long as he investigated carefully, he would surely find clues and uncover the truth.
Next came the mission assignments. Since Sitwell had suddenly received transfer orders and Victoria Hand had returned to headquarters, there were now only three operational teams. And in order to break from convention and keep the Clairvoyant from detecting a pattern, they did not work with their current partners. Instead, they switched around and formed random teams.
In the end, Coulson and John Garrett formed one powerhouse pair. They had been old partners before, and although they had not worked together for years, their rapport should still be there.
Then Ward teamed up with Trip, John Garrett's tagalong. Though Ward's rank was currently low, all he lacked was seniority. His abilities in every other respect were excellent.
Trip, that young Black man, was also quite a good person—cheerful and talkative. Most importantly, he came from an excellent family. His grandfather had been a member of the Howling Commandos and had followed Captain America and Peggy Carter, earning