The Siberia ice fields are a vast expanse of white.
The cold wind whipped up snowflakes that pelted against the fighter jet's exterior.
Coulson's team landed behind a ridge buried in snow.
Their movements were swift and efficient, without a single wasted word.
"Target located, recovery complete."
Coulson gave his final instructions into the communicator, his voice distorted by the cold wind.
Barbara Minerva followed in the middle of the group.
She was wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D.. tactical winter suit, and her intellectual face looked out of place in the harsh environment.
According to intelligence, the base's entrance is hidden deep inside an abandoned mine.
Blast, break in.
Everything proceeded according to the most perfect textbook procedure.
The first two levels had only a few guards, who were quickly dealt with by the squad.
The other side of the Earth.
Office of the World Security Council.
Alexander Pierce was enjoying the peace and quiet before his victory.
Fury's downfall and the rebuilding of S.H.I.E.L.D.. are all just around the corner.
As he was lost in his pleasant fantasy, his personal secretary rushed in, looking flustered, without even knocking.
"Sir! The Hive base in Siberia is under attack!"
Pierce suddenly stood up.
Where did you say?
The question was uttered with a slight crack in the voice.
" Siberia! The Hive!"
"OMG Fuck! Nick Fury!"
Pierce's forehead veins bulged.
He flipped the desk over, scattering documents and decorations all over the floor.
The image of the ever-elegant and composed council official has vanished.
He rushed to a hidden control panel by the wall and typed in a series of complex commands with trembling fingers.
"You want my assets?" Pierce grinned at the air. "Then I'll rip up your entire doghouse! I'll make sure you don't even take a bone with you!"
He pressed the last red confirmation button hard.
"Activate the Winter Legion Protocol! Eliminate all invaders!"
Upon receiving the order, alarms blared throughout the underground base in Siberia.
Red emergency lights replaced the stark white illumination.
"Damn it! We've been exposed!"
"Sarah from the Wild Dogs shouted."
Coulson, who was well aware of the secret intelligence, was contemplating whether to retreat when the door directly in front of them suddenly hissed as if pressure was being released.
As the smoke cleared, the scene before him sent a chill down Coulson's spine.
Behind the door were figures with empty eyes and expressionless faces.
The leader had a left arm that gleamed with a cold metallic sheen.
Winter Soldier.
More than one.
Some of them even underwent physical mutations, with their skin turning an abnormal color and their muscles bulging abnormally.
Those are products that Professor Pyg has "optimized".
"Fire!"
Coulson made a decisive decision.
Bullets swept through the passageway.
But the Winter Soldiers seemed oblivious to the pain; they charged forward despite the hail of bullets.
Coulson's team immediately found themselves in a tough fight.
These modified soldiers worked in perfect unison, each move deadly.
S.H.I.E.L.D..'s elite agents were like lambs to the slaughter in front of them.
A Winter Soldier punched an agent so hard that his sternum caved in.
The other one simply tore open a tactical shield.
"We can't hold on, sir! We're surrounded!"
Coulson kicked away the Winter Soldier who lunged at him with all his might, but was then knocked away by another one from the side.
He felt like he had several broken ribs.
Just as Coulson was in despair, a roaring sound pierced through the thick rock and reached underground.
The entire base was shaking slightly.
Both sides involuntarily stopped fighting.
Suddenly, a scorching red beam of light burned through the alloy layer of the ceiling at the top of the base, and then a gap was violently broken open.
Gravel and metal debris rained down.
A sleek, silver-gray aircraft hovered above the cave entrance, its Stark Industries logo standing out prominently against the snowstorm.
The belly hatch opened, and a figure in a suit stood in front of it.
Tony Stark.
Coulson stared at the familiar figure, speechless with shock.
How did he get here?
Tony ignored everyone.
His eyes were filled with nothing but hatred.
Several silent figures stood behind him.
They weren't Stark Industries ' bodyguards; these were Superman mercenaries Tony hired from the black market using his financial power.
"Kill them all, except the one with the metal arm."
As soon as he finished speaking, three figures leaped out from in front of him and joined the battle through the gap.
One of the burly men landed first, and the concrete ground beneath his feet immediately caved in and cracked.
He was over 2.5 meters tall, with Rock- like grayish-brown skin.
He roared and charged at a Winter Soldiers.
The other figure moved with ghostly speed, leaving afterimages in its wake on the ground.
Every time he appeared, it was accompanied by the shrill sound of his claws slicing through the air.
The third was a woman, who hovered in mid-air with her arms outstretched, and countless ice spikes materialized out of thin air, raining down on the enemy.
Barbara reacted faster than anyone else.
Before the mercenaries could jump down, she rolled to the side and hid behind a thick pipe, completely breaking away from Coulson's squad's formation.
Her eyes were frighteningly calm.
The company's orders were vague, but Barbara knew very well that her job was to ensure Vought's interests were maximized when plans changed.
Tony Stark.
This ignited Gunpowder keg of revenge is Vought's greatest interest.
We absolutely cannot let him shut down so quickly.
The battlefield turned into a meat grinder.
The Superman Stark hired were all highly capable and incredibly destructive.
However, they fought individually, and their fighting style was wild and chaotic.
Winter Soldiers are killing machines.
Three to five Winter Soldier form a combat team, facing mercenaries whose abilities far surpass their own, yet they manage to inflict wounds on their opponents through precise teamwork.
The Rock- like giant could smash a wall with a single punch, but he was stopped by a Winter Soldier with his metal arm. At the same time, two other Winter Soldier cut in from a blind spot and stabbed his kneecap with a high-frequency vibrating dagger.
The burly man let out a painful roar and knelt on one knee.
Strength, speed, and superpowers appear crude and full of flaws in the face of their impeccable teamwork.
The mercenary, known for his speed, was stopped by a third Winter Soldier who used his body to block the attack after piercing the throats of two other Winter Soldier.
As his claws pierced the opponent's chest, two daggers simultaneously pierced his ribs from both sides.
The Winter Soldier, whose chest he had pierced, used his last strength to hold onto him tightly.
"BOOM!"
The miniature bomb in the Winter Soldier's chest exploded, engulfing both of them.
Suicide attack.
The soldiers' program didn't have a "survival" option at all.
The woman, suspended in mid-air, turned pale and tried to rise.
These fearless madmen, at the cost of their own lives, charged beneath her and dragged her down with grappling hooks.
At the airplane hatch, Tony watched as the Superman he had hired at great expense were Carnage, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
These people were once feared figures in the underworld, so how did they become a pack of bison being attacked by wolves here?
He suddenly realized that his money couldn't buy victory.
Coulson's team was in an even worse situation.
Even with their increased size, the Wild Dogs squad was no match for the Winter Soldier.
Within minutes, half of the men he brought had fallen.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" Coulson roared, enduring the pain. "This is not a situation we can handle!"
Tony's gaze pierced through the flames and smoke, locking onto that figure.
He is the source of the tragedy!
" JARVIS, activate Requiem."
"Sir, the Requiem prototype has not yet completed stability testing. Using it in the current environment carries an extremely high risk."
I don't care!
Tony angrily dragged a silver briefcase from a hidden compartment in the cabin wall.
He opened the box, revealing a strangely shaped shoulder-mounted weapon.
He didn't even want to waste time putting on any protective gear, so he just picked up his weapon, rushed to the hatch, and aimed at the Winter Soldier.
The trigger was pulled.
A Soundwave spread out.
Everyone present felt as if their brains were being pricked with needles.
They covered their ears in anguish and knelt on the ground.
The Winter Soldier with the metal arm was affected much less severely than the others.
He looked up, his eyes, as if wearing smoky eye makeup, locking onto the source of the Soundwave.
The man standing at the airplane cabin door.
He identified Tony Stark as his highest threat target.
The Winter Soldier moved.
He launched himself up by stepping on the back of a kneeling Winter Soldier, then fired his grappling hook, hurtling straight at the plane ten meters above.
Tony, clutching his weapon, watched helplessly as the figure rapidly enlarged in his pupils.
Barbara, behind the pipe, was speechless. Was this playboy mentally challenged?
Isn't it suicide for an ordinary person to provoke these cyborgs?
Tony Stark cannot die.
Not at least not now.
With a light flick of her toe, she kicked a chunk of cement, sending it tumbling and crashing into the boom of an old, suspended crane.
"Creak!"
The rusty boom snapped in two, crashing down with its hooks and cables into the Winter Soldier's path.
The Winter Soldier twisted his body mid-air to avoid the deadly falling object.
But his momentum was interrupted, and he fell back to the ground.
Tony escaped unharmed.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but the fear was quickly replaced by a more surging hatred.
But once again, he did something that no one could understand.
Tony put on the jetpack he had developed, then grabbed a dagger and jumped out of the plane.
An ordinary person, wielding a dagger, leaps from a height of over ten meters onto the battlefield, attempting to engage in close combat with a modified soldier.
Barbara was speechless.
A typical case of being blinded by hatred and unable to distinguish between kings and queens.
Despite the jetpack providing some cushioning, Tony's ankle still ached.
But he ignored it all and limped toward the Winter Soldier.
December 17, 1991!
Tony roared and thrust the dagger in his hand with all his might.
Long Island Highway! You killed them!
The Winter Soldier didn't even bother to dodge, and reached out to grab Tony's wrist.
"Click."
Tony's wrist was easily crushed, but the pain didn't elicit a scream.
Those bloodshot eyes remained fixed on the other person.