Hydra withdrew smoothly, not even leaving behind a single corpse. In and out quickly—still the same blitzkrieg routine.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had not brought heavy weapons this time. After all, they were supposed to be posing as bodyguards; they could hardly go out carrying Rocket Launchers, could they?
So when facing Hydra's strange troop transport, their armed helicopters were damaged the moment the ambush began. After that, they had no way to fight Hydra and could only watch the enemy leave.
Howard let go of Tony, dusted off his pants, and stood up. He and his son had both been lucky. Neither had been hit by stray bullets in the chaos, and the explosion's shrapnel had not killed them either.
This shield would have to be upgraded when they got back. After miniaturization, energy really had become a major problem.
A bodyguard wearing a bowler hat and sporting a large mustache walked over. "Howard, casualties are still being counted. We took significant losses. So far, one person has been confirmed dead, and more than thirty were injured to varying degrees."
Howard sighed and shifted his thoughts away from research and back to reality. Looking at the agents treating the wounded and putting out fires, he slowly closed his eyes.
Then he pulled out his checkbook, wrote a check for three million dollars, and handed it to The Big Mustache. "Dugan, take this and distribute it among the boys. You know how much the wounded and the dead should receive. If it isn't enough, come find me again."
Dugan glanced at Tony, who was kneeling nearby in a daze, but said nothing. He accepted the check, pinched the brim of his hat, and left.
He had not brought the Howling Commandos this time. The members of that squad were rather difficult for ordinary