2864/The South American Operation

The South American Operation
Date of Scene:	10 August 2020
Location:	Maria Hill's Office
Synopsis:	The mission was a tough one and Morse is ordered to take three days off.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Maria Hill

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi submitted her after action report as per usual. But it was not as usual a report, not with the casualties, not with the mess they walked in to. The memorial for the fallen agents, Hogsberry, McKensey, and Graves were emotional. They were all well liked and certainly didn't deserve to be murdered by a psychopath in the middle of the amazon rainforest.

Bobbi knocks on Maria's door, she was summoned. She waits quietly to be let in, then stands at attention before her desk. There's protocol to observe. She's wearing her SHIELD uniform, sans the Mockingbird flight suit. Black and armored, ICER at her side, staves on her thighs. Today is just another day of being ready for anything.

Maria Hill has posed:
"Come in," Hill calls just loudly enough to be heard through the door, clicking the button under her desk to allow the door to be opened. Paranoia is standard issue once you hit level nine. Once Morse has entered, she gestures to the chair opposite the desk. Maria is in SHIELD uniform as well, but that's to be expected. There's an empty coffee mug on her desk, and three tablets besides the desktop computer itself. "Morse."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi takes a seat and nods her head, "Deputy Director Hill." She presses her lips together slightly, noting the usual state of what seems like disarray but is the product of a highly organised mind. Where Bobbi excels at being a spy, Hill excels at managing a vast multinational spy network.

"You asked to see me?," she enquires, after their brief run in at the shooting range. The mystery of the drones persists, but she'll get to the bottom of it eventually.

Maria Hill has posed:
"I need a more complete report on the South American op that went sideways, Agent Morse." Hill isn't exactly implying the AAR was insufficient. But sometimes, especially with operations with undesirable results, the Deputy Director likes hearing the explanation in actual words from the agents involved, personally. There are some who flinch at being called on the carpet this way. Others take it in stride.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
You don't get to level 7 if you can't clearly explain your actions to the directors. It's just not possible. Though, she does know quite a few level 6s who struggle with it. "Half a year ago Agent Harry Franks under the alias Faux classified working SHIELD technology as defective to secret it away from the Triskelion and then sell it on the black market. While we are still working on creating a complete inventory, the higher priority gear was identified quickly, including three advanced drones. One of those drones emitted a tiny emergency signal from magical triangle in South America. The border between Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. This was an area that used to be dominated by cartels and the drug trade."

Bobbi takes out her tablet and opens it up on her lap, bringing up her after action report so as not to miss any pertinent details, "The area was flushed a decade ago by SHIELD but something worse moved in. Because of the thick canopy and foliage and heat of the area, it's next to impossible to get any reconnaissance without putting boots on the ground."

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill leans forward slightly in her chair, tablet set aside. Her attention is fully on Bobbi's report. "Mm. I wish I could say that is the first or the last time such things happened. Continue." She gestures lightly. She isn't taking notes, but odds are there is something recording the conversation for Hill to go back over at her leisure later, anyway, and besides, she wouldn't have gotten this far without being able to take mental notes as needed.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Yes ma'am," Bobbi responds smartly. Her eyes glancing off in to the distance a little as she recalls the events of the mission. "As per directive 87-3 I took a team in to deprive an unknown enemy force of intelligence about SHIELD technology and operations. Recovery or destruction of the drone and any other SHIELD technology that made have ended up there. I took two quinjets worth of agents. Barton, Fitz, Johnson, Wilson, Urokovitch, Reed, Nemski, Hogsberry, McKensey, and Graves; as well as two pilots for the quinjets."

"Since it's difficult to get a good entry point, I had our entry a short walks distance from the destination point. We encountered scrap metal with decals for numerous high tech organisations from SHIELD, to Stark Industries, even MIT. This operation was some sort of scrapping. Mining for intelligence and getting the expensive parts out of tech to resell on or duplicate."

"The jungle felt a little eerie," a detail one doesn't put on paper, "like we were being watched. Several of us felt it. It turned out to be true, but - first, we encountered the base of operation with a smeltery and large piles of technology scrap. There was a cave and in it it seemed they were conducting some sort of experiment. There was a mouldy old AIM banner hanging on the cave wall."

Maria Hill has posed:
"AIM's involvement in anything always leads to problems," Hill says dryly. "This is when you encountered the enemy?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi shakes her head, "Almost. The place seemed recently abandoned. Given the plethora of stolen technology here, I sent Agent Johnson to break in to their computer systems and download all their data, while I sent the team to spread out and plant C4. Blowing the whole place up seemed the most expedient way. I'd seen someone try to shoot missiles in to a jungle before and it didn't work well."

She frowns, "Things happened fast. We figured out what they were doing there - they had created an iron man like suit, but this one had active camouflage technology. At roughly the same time Agent Johnson found their server room - filled with the dead bodies of all the people AIM workers. It was then that two of my agents were attacked by a man in the stealth armor."

"Reed, stabbed through the chest from behind - recovering in the medical ward; and Ramsheart, shot with some kind of miniature plasma mounted on the attackers shoulder, through the heart. It was at this point that all the members of the team became aware that we were under attack and that our attacker was invisible. Agent Fitz began trying to counter-act the stealth. The plasma cannon shot at me next, but I blocked it with a piece of scrap metal. It melted the metal right in front of my eyes and almost burnt me, but I dropped it in time."

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill's eyebrows practically climb into her scalp. "The AAR mentioned a mininuke, Morse. But that's jumping ahead." She pulls the document up now, though, looking concerned. "This is troubling. Continue report." A stylus makes its way into Hill's hand, and she starts doodling slightly in the margins of the AAR... which isn't boredom like it might be perceived by some. Hill's doodles are both notoriously terrible and only done under stress.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi lifts up her hands, letting her tablet balance on her thigh. She makes wavy motions through the air and says, "When you see it, if it's moving, it's like a sort of subtle heat shimmer from a fire place. It's very hard to perceive but something in the back of your head warns you something isn't quite right."

She frowns, "Next the attacker shot at both Agents Barton and Wilson. Wilson first, who took it in the leg, but not dead on luckily and Barton having seen all this dived out of the way in time." Slightly agitated by the memories of the attack her knee bounces and she drops her tablet. She leans down to scoop it up as she contineus, "It was about then that Fitz informed me that he was picking up the radiological signature of a low kiloton yield."

Her hands form fists briefly and she then untenses them. "Agent Hogsberry took the attack in stride and spun up her minigun. She casually informed me not to worry and went on the hunt. It is unclear to me if the stealth armor would work in cooler places on the planet, but that rain forest was hot, making our UV and heat signature equipment useless against the armor."

She presses her lips in to a thin line, "Hogsberry opened fire suddenly, I guess she saw him. But he moved quickly, it is powered armor after all. He picked up and slammed Hosberry to the ground, then snapped her neck. Mikhail opened fire immediately and he was load to bare.. bear.. heh.. uh, with armor piercing rounds. This made a dent in the attacker, who then fled in to the forest itself."

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill's lips flatten in a straight line. It's never pleasant to hear about the deaths of agents under her command. Worse so when it's something like this. She takes in a deep breath. "This is where Fitz made his magic egghead tech work for you, and you turned the tide?" she clarifies, tilting her head.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi nods her head slowly, taking a moment to be quiet as she relaxes her face. "Yeah. There was a sort of feedback loop he could create with his drones, narrowed in by sound created from the guys actions. It was at this point that I knew we were out matched. I've never encountered a personalised armor capable of camouflage like that. At least our retreat would be safe. We gathered and began our exit. I set off the C4 destroying what remained of the operation."

She shakes her head slowly, "It was then that he began to taunt us in Spanish, his accent clearly Colombian. He was hunting us. That was unacceptable, so given we could see him and he didn't know we could see him, we turned the tide. I ordered an ambush and an ambush is what we gave him. We literally killed him where he stood. I ... was a little unorthodox, I used Agent Johnson's quake powers, and Agent Johnson herself as the bait. Having trained her to stop bullets these past few weeks I knew she could handle it."

She smirks a touch, pleased with the next part, "And so when a wild boar set off one of our claymore traps, he thought he had his advantage and attacked Johnson, who shielded the plasma canon from herself and we all opened fire. Barton stuck him in place with one of his weird arrows and the rest of us unleashed hell on the arsehole. Excuse my language Director."

She takes a long breath. "He was done, but Fitz informed me the radiological warning had followed us. In his last few moments of life he laughed and told us we were all dead in Spanish and he set off a countdown for his nuclear device. We were near the quinjets at this stage. I radioed ahead for them to prepare for a nuclear strike. We all got aboard and the ramps shut just in time for the fire works show. The quinjets lost power briefly after the flash and then we made our exit from that location as the mushroom cloud grew in the air behind us..."

She takes a long breath and lets it out slowly, rainbow colours spreading across her tablet screen where she is gripping it too tightly. That too she relaxes.

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill is silent for a moment. Then she stands up from her desk and comes around to the other side, placing a hand lightly on Bobbi's shoulder. "From the reports," plural, she likely has gotten more information elsewhere as well... it's Hill, and this is SHIELD, "You did everything you could. Losing agents is an unhappy but often sad reality in this business." It's the closest the woman gets to soft, and, well, it isn't very. "Take a few days. That's an order, Mockingbird. Being in field command of a mission with one loss is hard, three? Don't blame yourself, but take the time off." She lets go of Morse's shoulder and moves over to the coffee pot, pouring two cups. Black. She places one back in front of Bobbi as she moves back to her seat.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi's eyes are a little glass, but through will power she refuses to let a tear drop. She likes Hill but this isn't the place. Usually that place is Swordfish bar in the women's bathrooms after a few whiskys. She accepts the coffee though and takes a sip. Hill really does have the best coffee machine in the Triskelion, that's no lie.

"Yes ma'am. I have a few mundane life things to do," though what those could be are a bit of a mystery, Bobbi doesn't have much of a life outside of SHIELD. It comes from her years of doing undercover work, she has too many identities and being spotted in public by the wrong person in the wrong context just makes life difficult.

"Also I need to have a strong talking to Nadia Pym. She has no sense of secrecy to her and every time she gets near Romanoff I can feel her hackles raising. I need Romanoff on her game more than I need Nadia bouncing around excitedly." She rolls her eyes but smiles a touch. It's a good topic to switch to after discussing how the mission went so wrong. "She wants to be a consultant to SHIELD. She's got a brilliant mind I'll give her that, but is lacking in the maturity we expect. May be Dr. Fairchild can set her on the right path for her to get what she wants."

Maria Hill has posed:
"She's a child, and children can't be relied on to do anything but be children," Maria replies dryly. "But yes, bringing her in hand would be... wise." She frowns. "Even if it means clipping her wings, so to speak." She takes a drink of the coffee. "How that child could have been raised in the Red Room and come out..." she shakes her head. "Mm. AFTER your days off, put together a small team to... handle her."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi cups the coffee in both hands and sips it slowly. "I just hope recovering our other stolen technology isn't as costly as this mission was. I try not to second guess myself post-mission too much. I'm not sure what I could have done better. Sometimes.. sometimes we just come across the bizarre and the unknown and some make it, some don't. No matter how well we train people, the x-factor is only forged in the crucible of combat."

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill nods slowly at that. "Just keep that in mind." She slides another tablet in front of herself. "Dismissed, Morse. If I see you log in to work in the next three days, I'll personally take your ass to the training rooms for a boot up it." It's half-threat, half-joking.