Strucker had recently felt that his luck had turned, as though he had suddenly lifted Lady Luck's skirt. The enhanced human experiment, which had been stalled for a long time, had achieved several breakthroughs in succession, sending the Baron into a frenzy of delight.
Since Viper, far away in Tokyo, Japan, had gone missing, Hydra had drawn in its forces and maintained its usual secretive, low-profile approach. Alexander Pierce had originally intended to help Loki bring in the Chitauri, create greater chaos, and leave S.H.I.E.L.D. overwhelmed and weakened. If they could use a borrowed knife to kill and take the opportunity to eliminate the Avengers, that would have been even better.
Unfortunately, Loki had failed to live up to expectations. Not only had he lost the Tesseract, but he had ultimately drawn Thanos into acting personally, leaving Asgard badly weakened and suffering enormous losses. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Earth had instead become bystanders.
This left Hydra, which had been eager to make a major move, with complicated feelings. They had not known before just how terrifying the Cosmic Overlord behind Loki was. If the Chitauri army had truly descended upon Earth, these Nazi remnants plotting to rule the world likely would not have fared well either.
Strucker had chosen Central and Eastern Europe as his base precisely to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D.'s notice. Since the Red Empire had collapsed, Hydra had split into several factions. Alexander Pierce had infiltrated the enemy ranks early on, lying low and enduring as he waited for an opportunity, even rising to a high-ranking position for a time. Meanwhile, the Baron had taken root in this chaotic land of upheaval amid the drastic changes in Eastern Europe.
Others, such as Whitehall, who was devoted to seeking the miraculous power of extraterrestrial life, and Viper, who researched viruses, each belonged