Alexander Pierce lightly tapped the screen in front of him, then gestured for Steve to take a look. He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and quietly surveyed the smoke rising below the Triskelion.
The Washington security forces had surrounded the Triskelion by the time Steve and the others began their attack.
Their goal, however, was to seal off the building. This was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, and in theory, it was where the largest number of Hydra agents could be found.
Every agent inside had to remain there and undergo Alvin's so-called "screening" before being allowed to leave.
Alexander Pierce didn't know what the Washington security forces were thinking, but he knew that the Hydras inside the Triskelion were finished.
Not far from the building, a huge hole had been blasted into the ground from below. Several Hydra agents' bodies flew in all directions along with the chunks of shattered rock, like so much garbage.
From the top of the building, he could just make out a huge green figure below, roaring furiously.
Alexander Pierce gave a helpless, bitter smile. Perhaps the worst moment in a person's life was being dragged into hell on the eve of success.
He'd thought he had long since gained a clear understanding of success and failure. Anyone who could reach the position of chairman of the World Security Council had, by any measure, climbed to the pinnacle of life.
But now that the moment had come, Alexander Pierce found himself feeling utterly hollow. It was hard to describe the sense of loss that came from working toward something for a lifetime, only to end up with nothing.
Hydra's brainwashing from his childhood had made him believe he ought to have a greater ideal. That belief had become a knot he could never untie.
In fact,