Cairo was the capital of Egypt. At this point, the country's economy hadn't yet completely collapsed. But the atmosphere in Cairo had grown quite tense lately, and armed soldiers could often be seen patrolling the streets.
These soldiers didn't seem to belong to the government forces. They weren't even wearing any identifiable insignia, so there was no way to tell where they came from. In fact, they were Hydra agents, members of Whitehall's personal forces and his last trump card.
Ever since the Enlightened Legion had attacked him and wiped out a third of his bases, and he had then gone to war with Alexander Pierce, Whitehall's life had become increasingly difficult.
Hydra had many branches, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. faction controlled by Alexander Pierce was clearly the strongest. Whitehall had thought that possessing conclusive evidence of Pierce betraying him would earn him the Council's support. He could then call on the other Hydra branches to help stabilize the situation and even deal Pierce a serious blow.
However, Whitehall had underestimated Pierce's influence.
Even with clear evidence that he had betrayed a fellow member, Pierce had managed to keep the Council neutral in their dispute.
In this situation, neutrality effectively meant siding with Pierce. Once his secret identity had been exposed, Whitehall had no chance of opposing S.H.I.E.L.D. without support. So he had decisively pulled all his forces back and moved to Egypt.
Whitehall had chosen Cairo because he had recently made a major discovery. A tremendously powerful Mutant, according to legend, lay dormant beneath the ancient city. In the old stories, this Mutant seemed capable of reshaping the earth. Even such miraculous structures as the pyramids were supposedly built by him alone.
It sounded like complete nonsense, but after making a bold conjecture and carefully investigating it, Whitehall had found