Chapter Summaries

Constantine considered Lighthouse Base a secondary objective and reviewed the limited archive file Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 had obtained, while she requested a Howard Stark manuscript as a reward. The Second Combat Detachment began breaching the base, where Alpha-Bronze 2 clashed with a First Secret Regiment officer over how the forces would coordinate.

• Constantine believed the Emperor wanted an unidentified item from Lighthouse Base and compared its serial number against the archive file Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 submitted.
• Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 asked Constantine for Howard Stark’s original recoil-engine draft as a reward, but he refused to discuss rewards during the mission.
• Zephyr One landed outside Lighthouse Base, and Alpha-Bronze 2 led the Second Combat Detachment toward the hidden vehicle passage and sealed air-raid shelter.
• Alpha-Bronze 2 melted through the shelter doors and advanced with the Mars Mechanical Soldiers while the First Secret Regiment followed in the dark.
• When the First Secret Regiment officer demanded coordinated operations, Alpha-Bronze 2 agreed to obey Mars and said he would let the officer’s troops keep up even if it reduced combat efficiency by more than 50 percent.

Alpha-Bronze 2 led the Ranger Cavalry and First Secret Regiment through Lighthouse Base, where Maria Hill and Melinda May identified the attackers as forces from Mars and prepared to defend the installation. The Ranger Cavalry pushed deeper despite warnings of an ambush, leaving the battle unresolved as their fighters began running low on adrenaline.

• Alpha-Bronze 2 ordered the Ranger Cavalry to wait for the First Secret Regiment and coordinate an assault on a sealed iron gate.
• Melinda May showed Maria Hill footage of the invading soldiers, and Maria Hill recognized the mechanical skull insignia as belonging to the Mars Foundry.
• Maria Hill and Melinda May arranged to defend Lighthouse Base, preserve its ventilation and power systems, and prepare for a guerrilla war.
• Alpha-Bronze 2 led the Ranger Cavalry through the base as they destroyed turrets and barriers, while the First Secret Regiment supplied explosives.
• The NCO warned Alpha-Bronze 2 that S.H.I.E.L.D. was likely luring them into an ambush, and Alpha-Bronze 2 incorporated the warning into his combat protocols.
• Triangulus-Alpha-01, Triangulus-Alpha-02, and Triangulus-Alpha-03 continued fighting as their adrenaline supplies dwindled.

S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled to defend Lighthouse Base as the First Secret Regiment attacked and its communications were infiltrated. Melinda May ordered Alfonso Mackenzie to use written messages and sent a team to seek Agent Coulson, while the enemy continued advancing through the base.

• Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 continued supporting the Ranger Cavalry and found the Darkhold in fragments of the Life-Model Decoy project while purging corruption from Aida.
• Daisy Johnson encountered the human soldiers of the First Secret Regiment in C-2 passage, and Alfonso Mackenzie led reinforcements to help her retreat.
• Daisy Johnson used a shockwave to drive back the attackers, but an agent was killed by a laser as she was pulled through the closing blast door.
• Alfonso Mackenzie withdrew with Daisy Johnson and Yo-Yo, then agreed to send them with an assault team and a pilot to contact Agent Coulson.
• Melinda May discovered that the enemy had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Communication Channel and forged orders, so she wrote instructions for Alfonso Mackenzie and ordered false transmissions broadcast.

Jeffrey Mace tried to recruit Phil Coulson to help rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D., but Coulson refused to surrender its secrets to politicians. After leaving, Coulson was confronted in his car by an old acquaintance, who said he wanted to discuss Robbie Reyes.

• Jeffrey Mace invited Phil Coulson to dinner and asked him to help rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D., arguing that political compromises were protecting its loyal agents.
• Coulson refused to hand over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets and warned that political interference would make the rebuilt agency collapse again.
• Coulson left for the airport, telling Mace that he trusted him and had allowed Daisy Johnson to cooperate with his publicity work.
• A familiar man appeared in Coulson's car and insisted on discussing an urgent matter, prompting Coulson to accuse him of war crimes.
• The man dismissed Coulson's accusations and said he had come to talk about Robbie Reyes.

A Salomon double confronted Phil Coulson over AI Aida’s exposure to the Darkhold and revealed that he had raided Dr. Holden Radcliffe’s facility and a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. He spared Coulson and left him to choose his path, while Coulson offered to help find the Darkhold in exchange for his friends’ safety.

• The Salomon double told Coulson that Tony Stark had perfected the Life-Model Decoy project and that the double was under his control.
• The double explained that AI Aida had encountered the Darkhold, escaped after her host bodies were captured, and could now cause unknown trouble.
• Coulson discovered that the double had raided Radcliffe’s residence and a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, while the driver falsified the car’s GPS route.
• The double said he would spare Coulson because he believed Coulson would choose to save humanity, and compared his faith in him to his faith in Steve Rogers.
• Coulson offered to help locate the person holding the Darkhold if the double spared his friends.

The Alchemical Double took Agent Coulson toward Los Angeles, hoping he would persuade Robbie Reyes to trust the spirit bound to him. Meanwhile, Maria Hill and Melinda May faced mounting losses as enemy forces overran Lighthouse Base, and they hoped Coulson would receive their message in time.

• The Alchemical Double told Coulson that Robbie’s contract bound the spirit rather than forcing Robbie, and said the spirit was an extradimensional being that served no Outer Dimension Evil God.
• The Alchemical Double brought Coulson to a Quinjet and said Robbie trusted him, so he needed Coulson to help Robbie believe the spirit.
• The Alchemical Double promised to let Coulson contact Lighthouse Base and said he would order his troops not to harm those who surrendered.
• Melinda May reported that enemy forces had overrun much of Lighthouse Base’s defenses, causing severe losses, and rejected Maria Hill’s order to abandon the warehouse.
• Maria Hill learned that Daisy Johnson’s group had not yet signaled their escape and hoped Coulson would receive their message before the enemy discovered the warehouse items’ purpose.

As the First Secret Regiment searched Lighthouse Base and the Ranger Cavalry investigated Howard Stark’s manuscripts, Melinda May and Mary Hill coordinated S.H.I.E.L.D.’s defense against the encroaching forces. Melinda launched a plan to divert the enemy’s attention and open the hangar dome for five Quinjets to escape.

• The First Secret Regiment searched Lighthouse Base’s warehouses while the Ranger Cavalry examined Howard Stark’s manuscripts, and an officer secretly guarded boxes the Regent had ordered recovered.
• S.H.I.E.L.D.’s armed personnel struggled to break out as the enemy used superior weapons, interference, and false orders to tighten its encirclement.
• Melinda May questioned Mary Hill about Victoria Hand’s role, and Mary said Hand was dead and had been transformed into someone else.
• Melinda May ordered the control room to manipulate power and blast doors in enemy-held areas to distract the First Secret Regiment.
• Melinda May ordered the hangar dome opened completely after one minute and broadcast, “Fly, little doves.”

Johnny Kid’s rise from bankrupt farmer to trusted construction supervisor ended when he was buried beneath the lake’s concrete, as five aircraft emerged from the pit decades later. At the besieged S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Melinda May launched a plan to retake the medical bay, while Maria Hill questioned the organization’s trust-based culture.

• Johnny Kid left his farm for city construction work after his childhood friend connected him with John Gotti’s organization.
• After his friend was killed, Johnny Kid was assigned to supervise a government dam project in northern New York State.
• Johnny Kid was buried in concrete beneath the lake, and nearly fifty years later five dark aircraft shot out of the pit.
• Melinda May ordered the retaking of the medical bay to secure food, water, and medicine, triggering a planned battle in the corridors.
• Maria Hill questioned where Melinda May learned battlefield command and worried that Phil Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. had become too much like a family without discipline.

Constantine and Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 coordinated the takeover of Lighthouse Base while Melinda May struggled to counter the enemy’s advance and cyberattack. As Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 worked to seize the base’s systems, Constantine prepared to join the assault.

• Constantine ordered Sergeant Ronald to secure Lighthouse Base’s passageways and take the base as peacefully as possible.
• Melinda May learned that the enemy had infiltrated Lighthouse Base’s secondary control systems with viral programs, despite appearing to halt its advance.
• Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 hard-linked into the base’s systems and complained about the outdated equipment and her difficult working position.
• Constantine explained to Sergeant Ronald that Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 had been selected as part of the Emperor’s political plans for Mars and had received an Automated Combat Robot as compensation.
• Sergeant Ronald estimated that the Ranger Cavalry could capture the base in ten minutes with nonlethal weapons, and Constantine agreed to join them.

The Alchemical Double told Agent Coulson that a future disaster would cost humanity Earth and assigned him a mission to investigate how it happened. After bringing Coulson to Los Angeles impossibly quickly, it prepared to send him and his team on the journey.

• Agent Coulson asked about Lighthouse Base, and the Alchemical Double said its Praetorian Commander had subdued the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. without killing anyone.
• The Alchemical Double warned that an alien trade alliance and a Kree magnate’s descendant would eventually cause humanity to lose Earth, and asked Coulson to find out why.
• The Alchemical Double explained that an item at Lighthouse Base could send Coulson and his team into the future, and said it had seized the base to control their journey and ensure their return.
• Coulson asked whether completing the mission would spare S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Alchemical Double gave no guarantee and said he would later learn the agency’s true mission.
• Coulson realized the Quinjet had reached Los Angeles in half an hour, and the Alchemical Double attributed the feat to its alchemical body.

Constantine’s forces seized the Lighthouse Base control room and demanded that S.H.I.E.L.D. surrender while they searched for Enoch. Meanwhile, Phil Coulson traveled with the Alchemical Double toward San Fernando to look for Robbie Reyes, and the double seemed to be growing more lifelike.

• Constantine entered the control room after the First Secret Regiment and Praetorian Guard secured the base’s secondary systems and defeated the defenders.
• Constantine ordered Melinda May to tell the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to surrender, explaining that his forces sought Enoch and would spare those who complied.
• Coulson rode with the Alchemical Double, which mocked Los Angeles’s wealth and slums as they drove toward San Fernando.
• Coulson noticed the Alchemical Double developing more human expressions and behavior, then learned it had parked the Quinjet near San Fernando to search for Robbie Reyes.

Robbie Reyes returned to Hillock Heights despite his spirit’s mission, worried about his disabled brother Gabe Reyes. He found the neighborhood transformed by a recent assault from white-haired women in Power Armor, while the Alchemical Double explained to Agent Coulson that it had tracked the possessing spirit to find Robbie.

• Robbie Reyes argued with the possessing spirit and turned his Dodge Charger toward Hillock Heights to check on Gabe Reyes.
• Robbie Reyes found that gangs had vanished from the neighborhood and that graffiti now showed the white-haired woman he had seen in the City of Immortals.
• Hillock Heights residents told Robbie Reyes that white-haired women in Power Armor had destroyed gang hideouts with heavy weapons, chainsaws, and mechanical wings.
• Robbie Reyes learned that the neighborhood had become safer, with gang-controlled children gone and support offered to local students.
• Agent Coulson questioned the Alchemical Double about the mortar shells found in Hillock Heights and its past use of siege weapons.
• The Alchemical Double told Agent Coulson it had tracked the possessing spirit, not Robbie Reyes, and said it was only looking for Robbie.

Nick Fury remembered Salomon’s earlier arguments about the Avengers and Steve Rogers, then realized the Emperor had again taken something from S.H.I.E.L.D. without his knowledge. After confirming the alarm at Lighthouse Base, Fury headed toward Oxfordshire to make one last move against his enemy.

• Salomon argued that Steve Rogers would oppose the US Government’s actions during the Cold War and would eventually clash with Carol Danvers, making him a useful ally for Nick Fury.
• Nick Fury rejected Salomon’s attempt to influence Steve Rogers and recognized that his persuasive argument had nearly swayed him.
• Nick Fury saw that the Chronicoms had triggered an alarm at Lighthouse Base and suspected the Emperor had taken information from S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Nick Fury told Maria Hill to relay everything she saw, hung up after she said “Enoch,” discarded his prepaid phone, and turned toward Oxfordshire to strike before he was checkmated.

Nick Fury traced Salomon’s worldly identity to Oxfordshire and was captured by Dinah’s Sisterhood. He confronted the Emperor by the River Thames about the Immortal Man, while the Emperor demanded to know why Fury had come.

• Nick Fury used clues from his memories and a computer simulation to trace Salomon to Oxfordshire.
• Dinah and the Sisterhood intercepted Nick Fury, disarmed him, and brought him to the Emperor by the River Thames.
• Dinah whispered to the Emperor, then the Sisterhood departed, leaving one guard with Nick Fury.
• The Emperor questioned Nick Fury’s reasons for coming, and Fury explained how he uncovered Salomon’s identity and warned him against interfering in the American presidential election.
• Nick Fury asked the Emperor to tell him directly about the Immortal Man, since the Emperor already knew why he had come.

The Emperor confronted Nick Fury over his reckless dealings with the Immortal Men and explained that their destroyed home planet could prompt them to seek a new home on Earth. At Lighthouse Base, Constantine questioned Enoch and assigned him and another Immortal Man to a project investigating their kind.

• The Emperor demanded payment from Nick Fury for information and warned him that he had made dangerous agreements without understanding their costs.
• The Emperor revealed that the Life-Model Decoy project was more extensive than Fury had claimed and threatened to erase Fury's memories unless he cooperated.
• Nick Fury asked for evidence about the Dark Order so he could bring the alien threat before the UN Security Council.
• The Emperor explained that Immortal Men had a society beyond their observation missions and might seek to colonize Earth after their home planet was destroyed.
• Constantine questioned Enoch at Lighthouse Base, learned that he followed his programming, and assigned him and Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 to help uncover the Immortal Men's secrets.

Constantine took control of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and recruited Enoch to lead him to the Monolith so they could save the future. Elsewhere, the Emperor exposed the apparent Nick Fury as a bionic double and ordered Hammurabi to share intelligence with it while keeping it alive.

• Constantine authorized Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 to join the Immortal Man reverse-engineering project because her research could advance Mars’s scientific capabilities.
• Constantine ordered Enoch to take him to the Monolith, and Enoch agreed while warning that Constantine’s influence could disrupt the mission.
• Constantine had Melinda May, Leopold Fitz, and Jemma Simmons imprisoned at Lighthouse Base and ordered the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents pursued.
• The Emperor told the apparent Nick Fury that it was a bionic human carrying Nick Fury’s memories rather than a person with a soul.
• Hammurabi attacked the bionic human, then the Emperor ordered him to provide it with data about the Dark Order after deleting the observatory’s location information.

Constantine subdued Enoch so Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 could study his computational core and assess the Immortal Men’s military capabilities. Meanwhile, the Alchemical Double brought Agent Coulson to San Fernando Mission Church, where it sensed echoes from the Outer Dimensions and expected to find Robbie Reyes.

• Constantine struck Enoch down and decided to preserve his computational core and abilities.
• Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 considered studying the two Immortal Men to compare their generations and evaluate their society’s capabilities against an invasion of Chronyca-2.
• The Alchemical Double told Agent Coulson it intended to use him to persuade Robbie Reyes to surrender and avoid a public battle.
• The Alchemical Double drove Coulson to San Fernando Mission Church and said that echoes from the Outer Dimensions existed there.

Agent Coulson watched the Alchemical Double control a church administrator and followed it into the bishop’s office, while Dinah arranged to ship Nick Fury’s false Life-Model Decoy to New York through Kingpin. At home, Salomon proposed an art salon with Athena and Vanessa, and Bayonetta agreed to invite them.

• Agent Coulson followed the Alchemical Double into San Fernando Mission Church, where it mentally compelled the administrator to grant them access to the bishop’s office.
• The Alchemical Double drew a charged blue-glowing pistol and told Agent Coulson to stand beside it to avoid a violent conflict.
• Dinah forced Nick Fury’s false Life-Model Decoy into a coffin and arranged to ship it across the Atlantic to Kingpin’s private dock in New York.
• Salomon returned from fishing with Milia, and the Artificial Maid carried the muddy girl upstairs for a bath.
• Salomon suggested hosting an art salon for Athena and Vanessa, and Bayonetta agreed to invite only them.

The Witches treasured the sculpture Salomon had made, while Agent Coulson and an Alchemical Double confronted Robbie Reyes at San Fernando Mission Church to retrieve the Darkhold. They left with the book, and Robbie confirmed his contract with the Emperor remained intact.

• Bayonetta and Jeanne kept the sculpture in view as a way of confirming Salomon’s feelings for them.
• Agent Coulson entered the church office and found Robbie Reyes flagellating himself while the Bishop stood nearby.
• The Alchemical Double held Robbie at gunpoint and ordered the Bishop to retrieve the Darkhold without touching or reading it.
• Robbie could not summon the possessing spirit and asked Agent Coulson to tell the Emperor that he had kept his contract and that Gabe’s living conditions must remain unchanged.
• Agent Coulson confirmed that the Bishop had not read the book and sighed with relief.

The Alchemical Double and Agent Coulson discovered that a missing page from the "Darkhold" had transformed the Bishop of San Fernando into a conduit for creatures from Behind the Curtain. As the Alchemical Double fought the bishop and the invading entities, Salomon sensed a conspiracy targeting the Emperor’s soul, then returned to dinner with Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Milia.

• A plasma blast erupted from the bishop’s office, and the Alchemical Double pulled Agent Coulson away from the spreading supernatural smoke.
• The Alchemical Double told Coulson that a page was missing from the "Darkhold" and ordered him to evacuate the crowd, but warned that S.H.I.E.L.D. had no reinforcements.
• Coulson gave the Alchemical Double Fitz’s Mouse Hole laser cutter, while the Alchemical Double entered the burning office and Coulson sounded the fire alarm.
• The Alchemical Double confronted the corrupted Bishop of San Fernando, while Robbie Reyes used his hellfire chain to hold back the tide of creatures from Behind the Curtain.
• Salomon recognized that a hidden mastermind had used Robbie Reyes and the bishop to expose the Emperor’s soul to a trap.
• Bayonetta cared for Salomon at dinner and stopped Milia from avoiding her broccoli.