6576/The Framework: The Silo Extraction

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The Framework: The Silo Extraction
Date of Scene: 15 June 2021
Location: The Silo HYDRA Re-Education Facility, Woolwich, NJ
Synopsis: Jemma and Daisy confront May in an effort to make her believe her life in HYDRA is a lie. The result is an impulsive rescue attempt of young Melinda Sousa which goes horribly wrong... because AIDA is a total cheating bitch.
Cast of Characters: Melinda May, Peggy Carter, Jemma Simmons, Dottie Underwood, Daisy Johnson, Daniel Sousa
Tinyplot: The Framework


Melinda May has posed:
The cloaked quinjet cruises low over the forest canopy, heading towards Woolwich, NJ, and the site of an old Nike Missile Silo that was shut down sometime in the 70's. Once abandoned, the site was picked up by a shell company financed by Echidna Capital Management -- then secretly a major front for HYDRA. Thus, the old missile complex has become a secret base for HYDRA. Or, in this case... a unique re-education facility.

A tall, electrified fence with a barbed wire top surrounds the perimeter. There are a couple of out buildings -- guard towers and what looks to be a barracks as well as a garage and small hangar for a VTOL craft. But the main complex is a squat building that's no more than a couple of storeys tall, constructed out of concrete. If it looks like a bunker from the 50's, that's because it is.

May circles the site, trying to see some sort of tactical advantage. She can't, after all, just light it up with missiles. There are captives inside. But she doubts those two visible storeys are all that's there. Missile bases generally have a lot of subterranean infrastructure associated with them. She's sure this place will be no different.

"Take a look." She calls to Dottie and Daniel specifically -- simply because she actually *knows* they have tactical skill. Skye and Jemma are still very much unknowns. And Peggy... well, there are still the kids to consider. "I can drop us right at the front door, but that will leave the quin exposed. I'm thinking that clearing about half a mile down the embankment is a better choice, but we'll have to deal with the perimeter fencing, then."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Once upon a time, Margaret Carter was one of the sharpest tactical minds in the world. But that was five years ago and two more children. She knows she's off her game, and she knows someone needs to stay back with the young ones. Still, she watches. She's settled towards the back of the quinjet's seating area, listening to everything with tired, slightly too-wide eyes.

Michael is still thankfully asleep strapped into a bassinett that's been jury rigged into the chair next to her. Lily's in her lap, far too excited about all the things around her to be able to go down for a nap. She's staring with huge brown eyes at everything around the Quinjet, but has fortunately stopped asking questions or trying to touch things. The first part of the journey was very much trying to keep the little girl out of everything. This is some grand adventure to her.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
One of those two unknowns, in this case the supposed school teacher Jemma Simmons, pauses as she glances over towards the other unknown. That being Daisy. "She still has my phone." The voice is low, but someone could still probably hear her. If they really wanted to. "You might want to see if the operator could get schematics of here. So we are not going in blindly." It is a long shot, especially considering the lag time that there is between servers, but it is a shot. Otherwise, Jemma glances down to the ICER that she liberated from the flight officer. It isn't *her* ICER, per se. But, it will do in a pinch.

A soft sigh escapes from the other British national here. Still, with her black denim jacket, turtleneck, jeans, and (fortunately) sensible shoes, Jemma almost looks the part of tactical ops.

Almost.

"Well, let's hope our little tricks are going to work." Again, said to Daisy. Yes, this is just virtual to Jemma. But...still doesn't mean she wishes she was a little more prepared.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Peering out the window, Dottie has to agree. "I always find it's better not to announce your arrival, unless, of course, you can waltz right in. There must be tools here to deal the fence. Has anyone taken inventory?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Now that they are on-route to the base and with May on the quinjet controls again it means it gives Daisy time to fiddle with her phone like spoiled pop stars are wont to do.

*taptaptap*

Jemma's words make her look up with a nod. "On it." about the operator, she sending on a message requesting maps of the facility to McLaren.. And to start uploading their 'tricks' up to the phone. They most likely will come handy soon enough..

"They are anything but little, my dear friend." A reassuring smile given by the hackerette towards Jemma, eyes then on the rest of the group. "And you know, if we get another phone we get upload the program to it." she suggests to Jemma.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel moves to the front of the jet when called looking over the facility. "Guessing the fences have all sort of tech crap these days to make them harder to bypass, but got to figure between the group of us we can manage it, the clearing sounds like our best bet, we don't want to lose our ride home."

As for inventory, Daniel shakes his head before saying, "Checking what we've got now," as he goes back to check on what they had for weapons and equipment.

Melinda May has posed:
May circles around toward the clearing to settle the plane down. "Look beneath the aisle," she tells Daniel. "Additional weaponry is stored there." Equipment, of course, is the overhead compartments. Altogether, there are likely several options for weapons and a scant amount of extra body armour -- tactical vests, mostly. May has her tacsuit on, so she's fine. But the others?

Well, they'll have to make do.

This isn't a school they're waltzing into. It's very clearly a base. Worse, it definitely had soldiers patrolling when they did their flyover. Not a lot of them. But without thermal imaging, there's no way to be sure. It's not like either Daisy or May can just turn on their powers and take a guess. So, they prep the best they can.

She passes a loaded pistol to Peggy. It's a holdout, to be sure. She hopes the woman won't need to use it. "Don't get captured," she tells her. "Take the kids and run, if you have to." It's too bad Peggy can't fly.

For a moment, May considers just who should stay behind to guard them. She glances to Skye. "You want to stay here -- so your sugar daddy doesn't realize you're up to your neck in this, too?" Another glance to Jemma. She's not sure what to make of the teacher.

No, it's Daniel and Dottie she's relying on.

Peggy Carter has posed:
As Daisy is playing with that phone, the ever-inquisitive Lily wriggle scrambles out of her mother's arms to scramble over to attempt and see. Chubby toddler fingers are reaching for the screen but she hasn't gone as far as to attempt to crawl into Daisy's lap. "Pretty." She murmurs, clearly not totally comprehending what the screen means, but she likes to watch and look. To learn.

Peggy sighs, just catching the edge of her daughter's dress but not really in time, "Lily. Leave the nice lady alone, she's working. Come on, I have your tablet here. They're getting Melly, so you have to let them work now. You want to see Melly, right?" Peggy's got the patience of a saint behind her voice, as she steps back over to Daisy and Jemma, scooping up the squirming toddler, "I'm sorry, Ms. Simmons. You know her. Never sits still. Melly was the same way."

She stares heavily at the more put together group, especially as May hands her the pistol. She nods quietly to the gun. "Someone has to stay back with these two. I'll do it, I won't get captured, but... you all come back too. You promise?" Her eyes weigh heavily towards Dottie, May, and Daniel, "You *come back*. Don't abandon me here. I can handle it alone. The rest of you go get Melly." Peggy mutters firmly. Even Lily has gotten a bit quiet. Then she retires towards the back, tucking Lily into her lap and waiting to keep guard.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Jemma offers a soft smile to Lily...and then another towards Peggy. "I could imagine." Of course, Jemma would actually have to imagine. She never has actually seen the children before, at least with her own eyes, until now. But...now is not the time to mention that. As far as armor and protection....well, Jemma has her ICER. And, judging from the way she has inspected it, she knows exactly how to use it. Though, again, it isn't something Jemma just announces out of the blue. One surprise at a time. Telling May that this is all a simulation and exactly where the kids are, or where they were keeping Daniel. That was all a lot. Telling them that the mild-mannered school teacher also invented ICERs in the real world, or that she was a genius biochemist and SHIELD agent?

Yeah, that might be a little too far-fetched.

"If there are limited amount of tactical vests, then everyone else should take one first. If the modifications that Daisy and I implemented work, then we wouldn't necessarily need them." Yes...crazy talk. And this is a school teacher? Those brown eyes shift towards May. "If you would be so kind, I could use my phone back. However, we can install that application onto your own, if you wish." Yes, maybe having a way to speak to the real world would make Jemma a little more at ease. Maybe...

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Following May's instructions and Daniel's lead, Dottie liberates several weapons from the aisle locker and distributes them about her person. While she doesn't need them to be deadly, with so many unknowns to consider, she prefers range. She considers a tactical vest, but it decides it would hinder her movement, and so sets it aside.

"Where is the girl being kept?" she asks. "Do we have a layout of the compound?"

Devastatingly sharp as always, Dottie's focused on the mission. She prefers the long game, but this will obviously be a surgical strike. In and out with as little fuss as possible. So insuring that no one raises an alarm will be of the utmost importance.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
As Lily moves over to peek at her work Daisy lets out a big wide grin at the young girl. If there's any tension on Daisy about what they are to do? That isn't seen in her face at all, "We will find her." she murmurs in an attempt of assurance to Peggy, "And quite fine, I can always use an assistant." a thumbs up at Lily before she is scooped up by Mama Bear.

"Can you really afford to not bring every available body for this rescue?" she asks, even if she does understand the merit about staying back. She casts another look at her phone, still looking for info from McLaren about the compound before her attention shifts to Jemma and May, dipping her head in agreement. "We can upload the tracking component to your phone, yes." she assures May.

Then getting up to her feet she offers, "I can stay and overwatch things from here as needed if that's what you prefer though. It's your op, Agent May." she not one to force herself into the mission if it will make things easier.

A look is then given over to Daniel and she asks him, "Hey, how have things been down here? We have established delayed communication with Collingwood and McLaren. They should be able to feed us some info about what's going on inside the sphere. But there's always a delay, though it should give us a bit of an upper hand while we are in."

Like Jemma she doesn't really take a tactical vest but does accept a weapon from Dottie, bit of a forced smile towards her.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Down here? Oh just peachy," he glances around at the group they've assembled. "But at least we're making progress, anyhow, glad you guys figured out comms with the outside world and the tracking system," he says giving Daisy and Jemma a nod.

Taking a vest and a couple of pistols, Daniel slots the weapons into a shoulder rig once the vest is in place. One ICER one with conventional rounds to give him options when things get hairy.

Peg's words are met with a look back as he meets her eyes, "I'll be back, I promise," he says before he leans in and kisses her. His attention turns to Lily next, he crouches down to be on her level and gives her a hug, "You and mum need to take care of each other and Michael alright, you think you can handle that?" he asks her as he releases her from the hug.

Dottie's questions though do get Daniel looking up, he'd been wondering about those details himself.

Melinda May has posed:
May knows she needs every able body. She just doesn't want Peg and the kids left defenseless. She can't promise to come back, though. None of them can. "We'll do our best," is all she can tell her.

Still the way those three talk about things -- Daniel, Skye, and Jemma. It's not hard to tell they've worked together before.

Her lips press together into a thin line. She eyes Jemma and, slowly, extends the phone to her. Then, she fishes out her own. "Update it," she tells her, using a fingerprint to unlock it. "But make it quick."

She resists the urge to sigh, but tells them, "If I were planning this mission as a STRIKE operation, I'd have someone in the jet, flying escort and prepared to provide air support. For a facility I have no layout for, I'd have a ground team go in, secure the nearest security station and lock down the exits. I'd use the security station to locate my target and deploy accordingly once I had a sense of the layout, securing as I went."

She shakes her head. "We don't have the personnel for that level of deployment. And, unless one of you are holding out on me, I'm our only pilot." Her eyes settle on Daniel. "If you want to take point, try to secure the security station and go from there, I *will* stay with the jet and provide air cover." She doesn't want to, but she'll do it. "You'll be going in blind." Because she doesn't know how they'll get those schematics. She looks between Skye and Jemma and then over to Dottie. "Your only advantage will be that you, apparently, know your team. Otherwise, we go in together and make sure we don't fail."

Of course, the delay she provides with her words gives McLaren enough time to hunt down some ground plans. They're old. And his attached notes warns them they may be out of date; he couldn't pull them directly from the matrix itself. AIDA is actively fighting him, now.

Peggy Carter has posed:
As Daniel comes back for her, she leans up into that kiss fiercely deep, but for just a moment. "I love you. I'll see you soon." She affirms to him softly, before giving him the chance to say goodbye to Lily. The little girl is crying, but not loudly, just big tears welling up in her eyes as she squeezes him hard and then buries herself against her mum.

"I'll watch M-Michael good." She promises into her mother's hip, both of them half hunkered over the bassinett now. Peggy swallows back tightly, trying not to let the impatience enter her eyes. "All of you *go*. I...used to be able to fly one of these things. How much has changed in five years? Go. I'll give air deployment and keep them safe. But Melinda Sousa doesn't deserve whatever the hell they are doing to her. So. Go."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Both phones are accepted from May, with a bright smile that Daisy would know to be pure Jemma. "Certainly." And, honestly, the update doesn't take that long anyways. There was the possibility that this needed to be shared, so the app was built around that. Jemma just places the two phones together and presses an icon on her tracker app. It could have been easily explained as a NFC transfer (near field communication), but the reality is that, essentially, it is just a copy and paste macro. It takes no time at all before Jemma hands back May's phone, the app up and signaling the eldest Sousa child's location.

Of course, the fact that Jemma has her phone back means that she got the notice, too. With a glance towards Daisy, she offers to let the hackerette have the honours in presenting what information that they have. Though, she does give away a little. Her voice is a little sing-song, the words drawn out as she offers a little ray of hope.

"That's nooooot quite accurate. We *may* have some information." Dated or not, it should still be useful. Even if it is just a basic layout of the underground levels.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Since joining the resistance, Dottie's learned a thing or two about working with a team. And while she doesn't know *this* team, aside from Daniel -- who has been acting strangely according May, so she can't rely on him to be predictable -- she hopes that they will gel enough to get the job done.

Her head snaps up when the intel is mentioned. Any information is better than none.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
A click of her tongue shows Daisy doesn't have great news to share, but it's at least something. She nods at Jemma and walks to one of the Quinjet's computers, taptapping on the keyboard with practiced efficiency, clearly used to using the Quinjet's tech. Sure, there's a little octopus on the corner instead of the shield logo but that's fine. Everything is fine. "Plans of the area." she says, but frowns a little, "Though that little b-.." a pause, a look to the kids, clearing her throat and then she resumes, "... AIDA is probably running interference." she puts the map up on screen of what they have so the team can all look at it and take their conclusions from it.

"But with this, along with the tracker it means we should have what we need." a grin to Jemma and the others as she says with an hopeful tone, "We have ran with less." a lot less! SHIELD ops are never what one expects.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Love you too, Peg," Daniel says. "And see you both real soon," he says leaning over to give Lily one more hug before it's time to get down to business. "We'll take whatever intel we can get," he says to Jemma echoing Dottie's interest in what Jemma and Daisy might have to offer. "As for the team, I don't mind taking point, but really pretty much comfortable with Dottie or Daisy doing it either, or you May if Peggy's flying. As for the tracking thing, he digs out his phone too, "Can we get it on all of our phones? If we get separated we'll all need to be able to find Melly in case the others can't get there."

Melinda May has posed:
May looks at Peggy and then at the others. "Get the bassinette," she tells the elder Englishwoman. "We can brace it in between the seats." Then she points to Skye in that cockpit, "You. Move. Gear up." She crouches and takes Lily's hands. "You want to sit here in the big chair? Come on." She picks her up and puts her the co-pilot seat, making sure she switches the controls to pilot-only as she does. "Take the stick, Peggy," she tells her friend, strapping Lily in. "As soon as we're off that ramp, you lift off. Stay cloaked. You'll be fine."

To the rest, nodding as Daniel asks for the tracking app to be shared -- 'cause that's a good idea, she says, "There's five of us. We go in quick and quiet. Take out any resistance. We find Melly and we get her out." Of course, she's totally going to spring any kid she finds in there, but... well, that's how it goes.

She glances to Daisy and Jemma. "Can you commandeer the jet in the hangar? There's going to be one there. Because we need it for evac." A beat. "Especially if Melly isn't alone."

No child left behind.

Then, however, she kisses Lily lightly on the forehead. "Be good for your Mother, pretty girl. We'll be back soon." She looks at her team... such as it is.

"Let's move."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Out of practice or not, Peggy's still able to put together in a crisis. She lets Lily out into May's arms, the sniffling girl a little more steady at the fact she gets to ride in the big chair. Some things override daddy going away again. She kicks little legs, not even squirming too much as she's strapped in. May's changed to pilot only just in time because little hands are VERY curious about those controls. "It's like my car." She chirps happily. She's going to be well distracted for a little bit.

Meantime, Peggy grabs the bassinette, carrying it quickly forward and doing the best bracing job with seat belt straps and emergency cords she can. It means she's going without, but she's held on for dear life before. It takes her a moment to look over the controls, to remember quite where things were again, but then it's like riding a bike. "Got it. If you can stay in touch, do. Otherwise, I'll be keeping eyes on the ground and I'll be back for you all as soon as you get back out. Safe hunting." Peggy calls. Somewhere, deep down in this soft retiree is the Director most of them know well. She flickers through in moments like this.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
When Daniel makes the request, Jemma just offers a nod. "Of course." The addition does not take long at all, and Jemma is more than ready to update whichever phone people want her to.

And now that phones were updated, Jemma slides her own phone into a pocket. Already she feels a little more confident than before, but that could also be because it is actually time to go be a hero. And Jemma has always been willing to step up. The fact that there are children involved only serve to steel her resolve. "Right." The question from May is answered with a glance towards Daisy. "between the two of us, we should be able to handle that." Daisy does the flying and Jemma handles the tech? Sure. No problem.

The schematics of the old missile silo is safe on Jemma's phone. Tracking app is up, with the glowing dot that represents Melly a bright yellow against the dull background of the environs. Perhaps, with a little finesse, the two could be overlaid to provide a more general idea on how deep Melly is...but that is something that can (and will have to be) done on the fly. A hand moves to the ICER, drawing it out.

Jemma is as ready as she is ever going to be. And she is sure Mark is on the edge of his seat, popcorn at hand, about to watch the fireworks.

Might as well give him a great show.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Dottie hands Jemma her phone to update while she studies the map. She commits the layout to memory by the time the app is installed and her phone is returned. A 'thanks' and a genuine smile are the only acknowledgement of Jemma's quick work.

She ruffles Lily's hair gently. "Have fun flying, kiddo."

Then with a nod to the adults in the plane, she follows May.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Stepping out of the cockpit Daisy gives a little smile over at the kids before moving to get geared up. Just the gun though, and a mask for her face so they don't see her face! "Yes, we can secure it." she assures May, strapping an ICER on and getting the mask in position. She reaches over to give a little fist bump to the Brit, "We are ready."

A look to Daniel and she tells him, "You have led SHIELD in the past, Chief Sousa. Might as well start doing so." and the stakes *are* high.

Then a farewell to Peggy, "Stay safe, Director." a sharp nod, followed by a feeling of being reassured. She starts to move out as well. Dottie does get *another* look, but this isn't the time to ask more details about this one. Pity!

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Be safe you two," Daniel calls over his shoulder to Peggy and Lily before he nods to Daisy. "Alright, I'll take point," he says pulling out one of his pistols and his phone as they make their way towards that fence. He keeps low and moves quickly like his days as an army scout, hoping things go a hell of a lot better than they did his last mission in that role.

Melinda May has posed:
May would be happier to have a copy of those schematics on her phone, too. At this point, the plans are walking away with the B team. Still, she knows how to handle a blind situation.

She lets Daniel take point, though she's not far behind. When they reach the fence, she passes him a small taser disk she scooped out of supplies. "This will short the fence," she tells him. She knows it's electrified. "It will also alert the security station." Which means they'll be on a time limit after that.

She strips off her leather jacket. It will act as padding over the razor wire at the top. "When you're ready."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As Dottie ruffles her hair, Lily's little nose screws up a bit but she's smiling, "Have fun getting Melly! I'll fly *real* good." She promises Dottie proudly. While she can sense a bit of the tension in the air, all she really knows is people she trusts are bringing her sister back and dad promised to return. That's what matters. A little, chubby hand waves after the team as they go.

Peggy gives the group one last look, a bittersweet, tired smile on her lips. She knows Daniel promised to return, but she also knows this might be the last time she sees them. Daisy gets a blink of confusion and a bitter laugh, "Oh, I haven't been Director in a... very long time. But I'll keep them safe. I promise." And then there is a little salute from Peggy and she's letting them all out the ramp. The moment they are off, she's pulling up and recloaking. Now, she waits.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Off the quinjet onto the group. What is Jemma getting herself into now? That might have been a thought at one point, but not anymore. Instead she stands at the ready, ICER in hand, ready to go. The other hand, the free hand, reaches back to grab the smart phone, as Jemma uses it much like a HUD, rotating herself to get situated. "From what i am seeing, our target is at least two to three levels underground. If this is like any other facility, there are going to be checkpoints all along the way. I...doubt we will be able to get through all of them without a little force."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"That won't be a problem," Dottie assures Jemma. Then she joins Daniel and May at the fence.

"Gimme a boost? I'll see what I can do about the security station," she tells them, looking to May.

Using the woman's cupped hands as a springboard, she launches herself over the menacing stretch of electrified metal, just clearing the razor wire. She rolls as she hits the ground and is up and running without sparing a glance over her shoulder. Hopefully she can buy them some time.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"No problem about using a little force when it's Hydra scum we are talking about ..." A brief glance to May, "... present company excluded." a little smile, then she working on her phone again, making sure to set-up some communication between the two groups. "Turn to frequency 5-3-2 and we will be able to talk." she says, then another taptap. "And I will send you the layout of the underground." You have got mail! Or message..., or something..

Then it's time to go along with the rest, staying close to Jemma, hand resting on her holstered ICER and moving silently.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel gives one more look over his shoulder at the quinjet holding his real wife and fake kids, before heading to the fence adjusting his radio to the channel Daisy specified. Crouched at the base of the fence he shakes his head when Dottie with a little help from May just leaps the thing. Smiling he remarks, "Show off," then puts the disk May provides him to the fence sending a few sparks flying from the metal as the thing shorts out. He touches the fence and not being fried to a crisp he rises to climb over it, using May's jacket to safely cross the razor wire before dropping down on the far side.

Melinda May has posed:
"How the hell did you manage not to make Radcliffe suspicious?" May says to Skye as she mouths off about HYDRA. How the hell did no one realize the popstar was a plant and a spy? Popstar is, apparently, one helluva good cover. In any case, it's not as if May has any problem at all killing the opposition. Whomever they may. Present company included, if they get in the way.

She's not surprised by Jemma's report of the depth of the facility. Nor that the girl is being kept there. "I know you all prefer ICERs," she says to the SHIELD agents, "but these men *won't*. As long as there are no children in the way, shoot to kill." Yes. She's that cold. She's been a key leader in HYDRA. Do you really expect anything else?

She glances to Dottie and nods when she realizes what the woman has planned. May knows all about the Red Room training in this world. How similar it is to the real world, who knows? But she knows what Dottie can do. Without hesitation, she turns and cups her hand, throwing her weight up to add to Dottie's thrust as she makes to leap over that fence. Once Dottie's on her way, May sets up the com frequency she's given.

She waits until everyone is over the fence before she follows, flipping her jacket off at the last moment and sliding it back over her arms. Then, gun in hand, she's following Dottie toward the main entrance.

Alarms begin to sound.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The Quinjet's ramp only shimmered for a few moments, but Peggy wouldn't be surprised if that helped set off alarms. She tunes into the comms frequency that the popstar gave her, 5-3-2, but doesn't speak yet. She's mainly listening and waiting, keeping herself hovered as close as possible, running what scans she can remember. Even if they are only surface scans, she might catch something to give them a warning about. Otherwise, she listens and waits.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Perhaps surprisingly to some, Ms. Simmons seemed rather able to clear the fence. Not necessarily the most graceful as some, but not without a little bit of finesse. And, of course, as everyone gets over to the other side, the alarm sounds. It just cannot be an easy foray, can it?

The ICER is drawn. Yes, that was a pretty speech that May gave, about shooting to kill. But, Jemma just doesn't do that. She values life...and, with the ICER, whatever stands in her way will fall. She does not comment. But, she does shift to stand closer to Daisy. After all, they are a team.

But...so is May. and Daniel. And even Dottie, at least for now. "I will do what I see is right." With that, she turns to Daisy, then to Daniel. "Let's get them out. All of them." And...it doesn't seem as if Jemma is just talking about children. She wants everyone out. Out of this infernal simulation.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Making a quick detour to the guard booth, Dottie dispatches the security officer as he's stepping across the threshold to investigate the cause of the alarms. She catches the door before it closes behind him and drags him -- unconscious or dead, she wasn't too particular -- inside. No sense in leaving bodies around for people to stumble over. After disabling every active alarm she can find, and a few more that might cause trouble along the way, she slips out. She had considered activating some alarms to direct the guards away from their point of entry. But there will be more security check points along the way, and if the guards think the sirens were triggered accidentally, they might not have become suspicious yet. Plenty of time to implement that plan later; once you can't go unobserved, cause chaos."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"I used my feminine wiles!" Is the answer Daisy gives May. But she does appear to get surprisingly defensive about it for a touch too. She can be subtle like a normal spy! ... Most of the times. Of course it may also be a bit of a TMI on how she kept the man in the dark about her. Details!

She climbs after the rest of the gang as they go over the fence, appearing to have no problem with doing these more athletic works that the pop star would most likely topple over and ask for more no-no drugs.

A sharp nod is given at the instructions. But shooting to kill? She'd most likely refrain from it, some reluctance felt on the young agent as they start approaching that main entrance...

And then the alarm.

ICER comes out and she moves along, grim expression under the mask, eyes on Jemms. "Lets do this." she starts angling towards their point of attack, that quinjet they are to secure to provide a secondary way out of there, ready for any danger in their way. Yes, it indeed does seem she is quite used to working with them as a team, making sure to cover both Daniel's and Jemma's back, then moving in when it's safe.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel is between the fence and the silo when the alarms sound and when they do he puts on some extra speed to cross to the silo and flatten against the wall, Dottie taking down the guard clearing the way for him. Despite the dire situation, it felt good to run again, though he shakes that quickly and glances around for more trouble, before checking the door, and beckoning the other agents closer.

Melinda May has posed:
May doesn't bother with an ICER. She doesn't want these guys waking up and coming after her. So, if that means she's going behind the others and cleaning up... so be it. She will do that.

The alrms silence as Dottie disables them, but the base is still on alert. Worse than that, at the outer edge of the quinjet's radar, a squadron of HYDRA single-man fighers are screaming in from the northeast. There's a trio of quinjets trailing in behind. Company's coming.

May trusts Daisy and Jemma to grab that second quin. She doesn't know that they can, mind. She's hoping. They seem... much more competent than she'd first imagined. Thus, she sticks with Daniel.

Soon, they're in the complex proper. The main floor is partitioned by heavy ciderblock walls and lighter sheetrock additions. There's a main control room, which they bypass, and a couple of stairway access points to the lower levels, in addition to a fairly sizable lift at the far end of a long corridor.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Oh hell." Peggy breathes out, much to the amusement of the child beside her who dissolves into a fit of giggles, "Bad word, mum..." She sing songs, entirely happy to have heard it and even more proud that she recognizes she's not supposed to use it. Peggy does not have the time to teach her child discipline as she pulls the cloaked jet up and farther away from the ground, starting to plot a course that will take her flying directly towards the little single man fighters.

"I really hope I remember how to do this." Peggy mutters. She knows she can't be as agile in flight as the single man fighters are, so she needs to ram them and pull attention from the bigger quinjets. IF, and only if, they've all detected her yet. That's what she's trying to test. As she moves, are they changing their focus or keeping just on the base?

Jemma Simmons has posed:
With a nod, Jemma steps back...and joins up with Daisy. "Come along, Daisy. We have a plane to catch." There is a slight tidbit of jest in that phrasing of hers. The cadence, the tone...even down to the British accent used. In about five minutes, McLaren is going to be besides himself, if he picks up Jemma's feed and catches the reference.

And, knowing McLaren, he is going to catch it just fine. Since Jemma just spoke in the exact same manner as the 11th Doctor. All Jemma would have to do was change 'Daisy' for 'Pond' and it would have been perfect.

Not that anyone in the simulation with her is going to catch that at all.

A tilt of the head, then Jemma picks up her phone, holding up the old schematics. "I propose we go here." A tap of the screen and a building is enhanced, a proper hangar if ever Jemma saw one. "It is located over westward from the silo entrance." A fingertip slides from the entrance that Daniel is securing to a square building. "We might need to provide support sooner than we wish, so speed is of the essence."

The phone is returned, but not before Jemma sends a quick text to the Operator, the aforementioned McLaren. <Let us know the moment there are HYDRA air support. Use Peggy's monitor to watch the radar. Any advanced warning would help.> Yes, Jemma is aware of the lagtime, too. And...she might have an idea on that. <Only monitor three. One in each group. Turn off visuals on the rest. That should improve latency.>

Jemma, taking charge. It seems that leadership training she had been going through up to now is starting to pay off.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Dottie circles back to follow May and Daniel. But the guard she meets along the way convinces her to stop in the control room and trigger some of those *other* alarms she'd noticed in the security booth. Chaos it is, then.

Thanks to the app Jemma installed on her phone, Dottie knows where her team is headed. And so, with a little extra exertion, she catches up and joins them before they make their way down.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Already with the references? Nice.. I will have to up my game." A smirk as Daisy moves along with Jemma towards the side. Is she light-hearted about this? Not really, but it's a way to cope and be relaxed with the tension of a mission. Specially when she is fighting alongside someone she has known for so long. As they start to separate she nods at Dot, May and Daniel. "Everyone comes back alive." firmness in her tone. So they better do it!

She casts a look at the enhanced image with an agreeing nod, turning off the safety on her ICER and advancing towards that indicated hangar. Back against a wall. A peek. All good!

She slides away and starts on that last stretch towards the hangar when contact occurs. Guards! Great...

She starts shooting, using cover.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Stairs," Daniel decides heading in that direction. "The lift can turn into a killbox real quick if they catch us in it." He tucks his phone away as they reach the door to the stairs, taking his gun in both hands before he kicks the door open. He sweeps left, right, up and down to clear the landing before beckoning the others on, switching to a one handed grip and producing his phone again to follow it's directions. "Good luck," he calls to those going on to the hanger. Then down the stairs he goes.

Melinda May has posed:
So, in about five minutes or so -- which is an eternity in the midst of an op like this -- the Operator will probably be wiping a spray of Red Bull off his laptop and keyboard, thanks to Agent Jemma Simmons. He's tech. She's bio. They're both sci-fi nerds.

However, he'll also be texting with the heads up: <<5 bogies and 3 quinjets inbound. Carter has engaged.>> Because, if by five minutes from now, Peggy hasn't engaged, there'll be holy hell raining down on them.

It's not like AIDA cares if she kills a few digital children, after all.

All of which means that, somehow, as Peggy speeds toward the five-man fighter squadron, the HYDRA pilots have detected the quinjet. But that quinjet has cloaked. So, they shouldn't be. Peggy *should* be able to scream straight at them and shoot a handful of missles right down their throats before they react. Which begs the question: Has AIDA entered the game herself? Or is she just cheating?

Regardless, following Jemma's instructions, McLaren selects May, Peggy, and Jemma herself to follow on the cams, while Collingwood tries one more time to see if there's some way to introduce sensory variables that might help them all.

May agrees with Daniel's choice of the stairwell, rather than the lift. Way more options that way. The trio makes their way down. May keeps her phone in one hand, the tracking dot visible, and her gun in the other. "Melly's on the move," she says. "They may be trying to evacuate." It would make sense, given the extra chaos Dottie's brief foray into the control room caused. (How many bodies did she leave in her wake there? May likely doesn't care.)

Peggy Carter has posed:
Muscle memory is a strange thing, and that's the ONLY reason that Peggy can attribute to how well she commands these controls. "Lily, hold on tight. One hand on your belt, one on your brother. It's your JOB as co-pilot. This is going to be FAST, so hold on TIGHT." Peggy commands the child at her side. Something aches in her heart, to have had to pull her kid into a fight and give her actual responsibility -- even if it's just giving extra stability to that bassinette, no three year old should be in war. And this is war. But there's no going back now.

Realizing they are detecting her, she gives a little curse but keeps the cloak in place. It still should conceal some outline. She's suddenly playing chicken with two of the little single-man fighters, coming straight at them and getting as close as possible while she waits for one of the quinjets to fire. Then she's pulling stick dramatically upwards. She's probably still clipping those little fighters with her belly but, if not, the plan is for the other quinjets fire to hit them instead. It's risky, but Peggy feels like this jet is an extension of her limbs.

<<"I've got three quin jets and some single man bogeys on me. They can detect through the cloak, for some reason. Engaging. I'll keep you updated.">> Peggy's voice clips sternly over the comm unit.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
5 minutes is an awful long time. Especially when in a firefight where the opposition is shooting live rounds and you are shooting essentially enhanced horse tranquilizers.

Yet, Jemma wouldn't have it any other way. Nevermind the fact that these are just digital NPCs and not real. In Jemma's mind, they still deserve mercy. And that is how Jemma operates. As Daisy draws the fire of the guards, Jemma's ICER snaps into place, firing off three shots. One of them hits a guard, as he drops like a stone. The other two? They miss, though just barely. And Jemma...her thoughts briefly tangent, in the heat of the moment.

< That's what Ward meant about the extra ounce. Good to know. >

Apparently, HYDRA's version of the ICER is inferior to the original. Which figures.

Jemma ducks down for cover. Peggy's voice is heard over the comm channel, while a quick vibrate signals that McLaren is back with more info. Jemma's voice cuts in on the comm.

<<5 single person fighters, to be precise. Do be careful.>>

Well well. AIDA wants to cheat, hmm? Jemma calls out over to Daisy, while still behind cover. "I do think it is time that we level the playing field. Wouldn't you agree?" Well...if the game wants to cheat, then two or three, in this case, can play that.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Dottie doesn't break ranks, not yet. No reason to. The stairs are the safer option. Instead she tracks the little moving dot that represents Melinda Carter. Trying to predict where they are taking her - and presumably the other children.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy skids across the ground just in time to avoid being shot by eager Hydra officers, bullets wheezing above her head. She peeks from cover, ICER aimed firmly and she lets loose on one of those Hydra that was still up, another shot to the second but it just brushes past the man's leg. It numbs it enough to turn him into the one-leg Hydra soldier. But he's still shooting, even if now he is on the ground.

But then. "That cheating little bitch..." no kids around anymore, she can say it! A nod to Jemma, lips starting to curl up into a dangerous smile. "You have read my mind." it was time to level the playing field indeed. She reaches for her smartphone, tapping on it a few times. "Just like we trained, Jemms." she reaching to give a light touch with her knuckles to the other woman's shoulder.

But then? Time to show them the kind of planning the duo of Jemma and Daisy can come up with!

Bullet time? Very much so. As a few more Hydra soldiers pour out so does Daisy, hopefully along with Jemma, running at a speed to another cover while another hail of shots is fired from her ICER. And it's just like watching it in slow motion, giving them that little edge to not get shot to death, jumping ahead of the bullets flying around!

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Hearing Peggy is engaging in an air battle out there slows Daniel's steps a moment, he glances up the stairs before making himself turn and carry on downwards checking his phone and seeing May was right, Melly was on the move. "Let's hurry," he says already picking up the pace, "If we can get to the junction they're heading for first we can cut them off," he says before bursting through the door at the foot of the stairs at a run.

Melinda May has posed:
The tracking app isn't necessarily the best at pinpointing which floor Melly's on. This, thus, requires a floor by floor search. However, since the child is on the move, and smart money says she's probably being evacuated, that suggests that they'll encounter her sooner, rather than later. Because she'll have to come up, while they're going down.

As Daniel slides through the door, May crouches beside the jamb and starts firing. Her eyes scan over the number of bodies emerging into the hallway -- particularly those in the dark green and black of HYDRA stormtroopers. She swears softly. "They've been waiting for us," she says, her voice suggesting calm annoyance, rather than the shiver of dread that runs through her. It doesn't stop her from doing her job, of course. She fires efficiently, clearing the shooters most likely to hit Daniel first. Then, she moves into the hallway to secure further along that stretch of corridor.

She glances back over her shoulder, directing Dottie forward with a nod. The three can leapfrog one another down the hallway, rearmost making sure they're not boxed in from behind.

Meanwhile, in the hangar, shouts go up from the HYDRA personnel Daisy and Jemma confront. "Metas!" one of them yells, right before an ICER round takes him in the forehead and throws him back. "Damned Inhumans!" another cries. It's a logical conclusion, given the tricks the women start to pull. "Grab the disruptors!" Because the Doctor likes metas captured alive.

Up in the air, the outer two planes of the five peel off as Peggy pulls straight up. Missiles from the incoming quinjets do, indeed, mistake the center fighter for the cloaked jet, taking out two of the three middle planes in an instant. The third ends up in a brief spin as one of Peggy's wings clips its leading edge. The quinjets split up and begin climbing to match her, strafing guns live. It's the Battle of Britain in microcosm, over the forests of rural New Jersey.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy can't entirely explain why she's managing to fly this well, all she knows is that her children are in this QuinJet with her and she has no choice but to make the most perfect god damn run of her life or she'll lose everything in the world. She climbs hard as she can before abruptly doing the sharpest turn she possibly can, giving a strafing run as she goes to spray the front of those other quin jets with repeated, slightly unexpected fire as she passes them and dives into the clouds again. Lily cries next to her, definitely going to be sick, but Peggy has no time to look over as she dives hard. All she can do is keep moving and hope to out play them. Never give them a chance to get a lock.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
There was a reason that Jemma asked for her phone back from May earlier. And, it wasn't just to perform app shares.

As Daisy's thoughts mirror Jemma's own, it was the reminder from Daisy to do this just as they had practiced. And...the phones were integral. For Daisy and Jemma's phones didn't just have the tracking app to locate the children. They also were key to unlocking those cheat codes that the two of them were working on.

And just how does one unlock cheat codes for a virtual simulation? By entering a cheat code on the phone, of course. Jemma quickly tilts her phone, tapping a corner which causes a control pad to appear. And then, Jemma's fingers start flying across the screen.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, then Start.

The phone disappears back into a pocket as Jemma leaps up almost simultaneously with Daisy. And...what a combination they make. The synchronicity of the two, with the way that they bob and weave through the hail of bullets, it is almost as if they can see the gaps between the trace routes and move to occupy the dead space in between.

Which, is exactly what they are doing. Rather easy when time perception is slowed down just for them.

"Quick, while they are switching weapons. We should be able to take them." Jemma herself isn't exactly confident of that statement. But, the two are still standing, taking on what seems to be an unlimited supply of guards. But, there is that break. It is time to take advantage of it.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
<< This is a lot more than I expected their armed presence to be. >> Daisy tells them through comms while they are dancing past the guards. A shoot here, a dodge there. Those cheat codes are indeed good. When they talk about metas though...

"Damn right." Then an ironic smile under her mask when they call them Inhumans. Oh, how she wished she had her powers now to show them a thing or two about Inhumans. Because she saw what they did in this reality to her people. And she is burning with vengeful purpose.

Ground is gained, Hydra soldiers dropping in their wake from ICER shots, often times back to back with Jemma-Trinity to cover blind spots. "Time to speed it up." she agrees, moving with Jemms towards that gaggle of guards that is hoping to do the change to the disruptors.

She runs forward, through a corridor, one foot on the wall and flipping over an hail of bullets before shooting down a couple of Hydra at close range, then moving further ahead. The aim? Stop those disruptors from coming online. They sound like they will be painful.

"If she is just making endless soldiers appear we may have to go nasty with her." She tells Jemma. Noone likes endless Agent Smiths... But at least they were all normal mooks for now.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Dottie almost chassé's smoothly past May, and then past Daniel when he pauses to return fire. She fires with deadly precision and takes lead down the hallway, stopping to hold ground when the soldiers start to bottleneck. She trusts that either May or Daniel will overtake her position soon. Otherwise she'll have to get...creative.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Looks like," Daniel says calmly, there was no crying over it now, they just had to dig in and keep fighting. He ducks low letting the others shoot over him while he drops a couple of the green and black clad guards himself before joining May and Dottie in their little game of combat leapfrog, taking up the rear as they move up ahead, helping himself to one of the HYDRA guard's M4's and sliding his pistol away for now.

Melinda May has posed:
May slides past Dottie when she clears out that bottleneck, freeing the Widow to act as creatively as she wants. The Asian agent still has a whole lot of reputation to play on against the HYDRA agents facing them. Sure, they know they were deployed here specifically to thwart this attack, but they're facing the Cavalry. And, somehow, she looks *pissed*.

Indeed, what follows, from their perspective, is a nightmare of kung-fu-meets-gun-fu. May doesn't need bullet time to do what she does. Sure, up in the hangar, Jemma and Daisy are outdoing her by far, but the guys at the junction she's working to clear don't know that. All they know is that the Cavalry has opened a can of whup-ass on their heads... and she brought friends who are apparently equally capable.

The people escorting the children, Melly among them, stop in shock as they come around the corner and watch the last of their immediate protection drop with a bullet through the eye. May, speckled in a fine spray of blood, some of it her own where one or two got a lucky strike, looks up. Immediately, the escorts start trying to herd the children away, May leaps forward to engage the nearest of them, letting Daniel move to find his child and Dottie deal with the incoming reinforcements behind them.

Indeed, it's not so much that AIDA is conjuring reinforcements out of thin air as it is that she's decided to use the same cheat the SHIELD agents first used: Namely, resurrection. If Daniel Sousa can come back from the dead, so can HYDRA Stormtrooper FN-2187... 88... 89... Yeah. The AI is incredibly heuristic that way. She learns damned quick.

But it does take time for them to reanimate. Time to heal their wounds or shake off the dendrotoxin. That leaves gaps in their lines and gives the suped-up cyberpunk agents a fighting chance to get to that plane and get up in the air to give Peggy a hand.

Because the air battle is definitely heating up. "<<QuinJet 2-1-8, you are ordered to cease fire and land, or face the consequences. You won't win this fight, May. You know that.>>" Of course, they assume the pilot is May. Who else could it be? The two remaining fighters and three quinjets are doing their best to drive Peggy's quinjet back down into the ground. They aren't reserving their fire, at all. One of the quins is smoking a little on one side, where she hit something semi-vital, but that just means it's hanging back to be the final killshot if it's brethren fail.

Peggy Carter has posed:
There is just a single moment where Peggy looks over to her daughter as the little girl whines, "Mooommmy, too scary!" She cries over the comm system, just in time for Peggy to have openws the channels to banter back to the poor assumption that is being made. So, hilariously, the other QuinJet pilots get responded to by a nauseated, whining toddler before Peggy's voice chirps over the unit, "I suggest YOU stand down or I WILL put you down, as I should have five years ago." Peggy's voice is angry and fiercely British. If anyone knows their SHIELD history, it's impossible to mistake who she is.

Meanwhile, she isn't all talk. She's used the comms time to buy herself a bit more cloud cover and moments to reorient. The one QuinJet that is hanging back, that's her target. Take out the easy one first. She then, with no more warning, comes in a violent strafing run in their direction before abruptly cutting to the left to hunt down that outlier. It means she might take a hit or two, but hopefully they are glancing blows at her speed and still with the cloaks on.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
There is a frown from the biochemist and (supposedly) meta gun-fu user, at least to hear the HYDRA goons hear it. "Disrupters. Why those?" There is only a moment of thought before Jemma shakes her head clear. "Doesn't matter. We need to get that quinjet. I doubt whatever these disrupters are will pierce through that armor." Two birds, one stone. Need to complete the objective first. That's what May taught her, even if she doesn't realize it here.

As Jemma shifts to claim the quinjet, moving across the empty space to get to the jet, movement catches her eye. With that bullet time perception still in place, it doesn't seem like a lot of time...but Jemma catches it. "Terrific. Resurrection. She's bringing them back after we take them out. We need to go..." Jemma knows she doesn't have to repeat herself. She knows that Daisy has her back.

Besides, it's zombie HYDRA. The only thing worse than a HYDRA agent is one that will not stay down. It is time to get some bigger firepower.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"That AIDA can't see anything that she goes and copies it ..." Daisy says in complaint as she finishes knocking out one final Hydra trooper by the doors of the quinnjet. A look back behind them, a small little 'army' of fallen Hydrates left on their wake. Some for the second or third time ... Talk about deja vu.

"I am with you." Daisy assures Jemma, making way inside the jet and dashing towards the cockpit, hitting the button to close the hatch so they don't get some crashers trying to spoil their little gun-fu party.

She slips into the pilot's seat, getting the engines heating up. < We have secured the quinnjet > she tells on comms to the rest of the team.

< Taking off in a moment.. > She looks over to Jemma. "Buckle up. This is going to get rough.." she can only hope her training will pay off. But she also has those enhanced reflexes and perception. Those will *certainly* come in handy. So AIDA wants to play? Now she will get Maverick ...

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Attention momentarily captured by the appearance of the children, Dottie turns at the sounds of footsteps behind them. HYDRA soldiers, marching almost in platoon formation start to flood the hallway. Their purposeful stride starts to falter as bullets strike their numbers down. The bodies of fallen soldiers start to litter the hallway floor, ruining the the beat of their drumming steps. She moves toward them them with an easy grace, closing ground, buying more space for Daniel and May to maneuver.

The clips of her pistols empty as she reaches the first man still standing. So she drops the weapons. They're useless at this distance. Instead, she grabs the wrist of the man holding the gun pointing in her face and, dodging around the weapon to get even closer, she maneuvers him and his weapon to take down even more soldiers, all the while using him as a human shield. When his clip empties, she snaps his neck.

They don't flee before her, but she makes steady progress back the way they came, leaving only bodies in her wake.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Melly is the child Daniel has had the least interaction with in the Framework but he studied the pictures in his home long enough to recognize her, and he imagines she recognizes him. Dropping one of the guards who got far enough from May and the children for a clean shot, Daniel moves to Melly's side and pulls her into a brief hug. "Hey we're here to get you and your friends out of here, I need all of you guys to get down on the floor until we clear the way back to where our ride is waiting, okay?" he asks them keeping an eye on the situation to their rear, ready to fire if he needs to to help Dottie deal with that platoon of guards.

Melinda May has posed:
"<<We've found Melly,>>" May says over coms, only moments after Daisy announces they've secured the second quinjet. "<<Repeat. We've secured Melly.>>>" Her eyes scan quickly over the kids the remaining escorts are still trying to evacuate. "<<And her friends. We're coming out.>>" Somehow.

She moves to intecept the last of the escorts, while Daniel tries to collect his daughter and her friends, and Dottie starts clearing their way. May has to give credit where it's due. The Red Room training might be exceptionally unethical, but it's also exceptionally effective. She reloads her guns and starts following the Russian back the way they came, taking up the rear. "We need to move," she calls. "Before more of these guys wake back up." Maybe there *is* something to this video game concept...

The battle rages overhead, that smoking quinjet disolving in fire as Peggy hammers home her point. The two fighters scream along behind her, straffing fire barely missing her cloaked form. She's holding her own. She'll probably appreciate the assist from QJ-2, of course, if Jemma and Daisy get it launched. But not at the expense of Melly's escape...

Peggy Carter has posed:
The girl can't be more than 12 or 13 who looks up as she sees her father coming down the chaos. She gives a little cry of relief, wrapping gangly arms around Daniel and hugging him so tightly. She held it together until this moment, but now some scared hiccups on the edge of tears threaten at her breath. "Dad!" She breathes out in relief. She absolutely is Daniel and Peggy's child -- long brown hair with that more Portuguese wave to it, dirty and slightly matted now. Dark eyes, pale skin, she's on that age where she hasn't grown into her arms or legs yet. She has Peggy's eyes and Daniel's nose. She's holding onto him for dear life, "I kept telling them you'd *come*, you wouldn't let HYDRA *do* this." Then she goes quiet, giving a fierce nod at his commands. "Listen to him. He's SHIELD. He'll get us out." She tells the other kids and starts leading the way, dropping down to the floor. She has her mum's commanding voice too.

Peggy's been managing to restrain her cursing, but the most recent straffing fire is too close for comfort and she growls out, "Bloody HELL HOLD ON!" As she pulls them in another tight swing, trying to turn as fast and hard as possible as she opens fire at one of the other Quin Jets. This time it catches her, several things blowing up in the back the jet jerks hard. She curses again, over the sounds of both her children crying now, but pulls up hard to try and escape fire and catch breath, <<"Bring her home! But I could use some back up here... took out one of their's. Two to go...">> Her voice sounds strained but on top of things.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
<<Back up is on the way...>>

Jemma's voice cuts in through the comms. It sounds rather calming over the channel, no doubt a result of that British mentality that Peggy and Jemma share. Yet, it is anything but calm. For one, Jemma is quickly buckling herself into the co-pilot seat, which is odd for her. And, for another, she is watching agents that should be out for at least an hour start to shake off the effects of the dendrotoxin. "That...shouldn't happen."

This...is going to get interesting. And...in a split decision, Jemma takes the controls. But, not for flight. If AIDA wants to play zombies, then Jemma will deal with zombies in the traditional manner. And dendrotoxin is not strong enough.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
So this is what it comes to. The hard decisions. Sure, Hydra May has her priorities. Simulation-Peggy has hers too. But them? They are here to rescue the captive agents. The rest? Is it important? Isn't this all just one big sim?

Daisy pulls on the lever slowly to start getting the quinnjet airborne.. Putting her priority on saving one of the captive agents? The Director herself? As the Quinjet starts lifting off she can still feel it though. The girl's touch felt way too real. Lily. She can't let them be taken down, she'd never forgive herself.

< Hod on for a little while longer, Director >, she tells on comms.

She turns the quinjet around towards the amalgam of Hydra Troopers still on the ground. A look to Jemma.

"You know what to do, we need to clean a pathway for their escape.."

She can only hope it's the right decision.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
The Beta Widow clears a path back to the stairs. Daniel, May, and the children will have to wade through piles of bodies to follow her, but at least they are all still. Dottie waits at the door to the stairs, ready to push it open and usher the group through.

But she hears a faint sound. More footsteps echoing in the stairwell. She cracks the door and is greeted by a gun to the face. More HYRDA soldiers. She slams the door shut, relieving the woman on the other side of her weapon. But they're going to have to fight their way to the surface.

And then, behind her, a *ding* as the elevator doors open...

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Swept up in the moment Daniel returns the hug just as fircely. "You know Mum and I weren't going to leave you," he says taking a moment to look at Melly, he smiles faintly at her expression proud at the fierce nod and what she tells her friends. "We definitely gave you the right name," he remarks as much to himself as Melly. "Anyhow, can you make sure your friends keep their heads down it's going to get hairy on the way back upstairs," he lets his M4 hang by its strap as he pulls the ICER out of his shoulder holster and hands it to the girl. "My head's a little messed up right now but going to guess, your mum, me or Aunt Melinda showed you how to shoot? This is an ICER, it's non lethal but don't use it unless someone gets past Dottie, May or I, alright?"

Though whatever her answer they've got to move and Daniel taps comms << Melly's secure we're moving out now >>

That's when the elevator doors ding and begin to open. "Down," Daniel hisses to Melly and the other kids as he raises his M4 and flicks the selector switch to autofire.

Melinda May has posed:
*DING*

That elevator has another eight or so troopers in it. On the stairs? At least a dozen. There's no mistaking that the SHIELD agents (and May) facing them are formidable. But there are eight children, including Melly, to watch over as well. And these troopers have come surprisingly more heavily armed than the last.

Worse? The troopers Dottie took out are already starting to shake off their injuries and get back to their feet. Daniel, uniquely among them, will understand what the slight digitizing around those wounds means, as the textures shift and the bullet holes simply disappear. May doesn't know what to make of it at all. "What the hell?" She pushes a child behind her, raising her gun, trying to keep herself between the reanimating hordes and the kids they're trying to rescule. And Dottie? Well... she's as much a construct as the stormtroopers.

That makes her rewritable.

Of course, on the outside, seeing all this through May's eyes (albeit on delay) means McLaren is already working to *fix* that little loophole. Hell, he's working to try and keep the dead troopers down. It's a lot for the poor guy, even as fueled on Red Bull as he is. He's losing ground. He's good. But, he's not Daisy. It's a fight. And it's going to take TIME to win it. Precious time the agents inside the matrix simply don't have.

It's easy for Jemma and Daisy to mow down the troopers outside. But that doesn't help May and the team down on the sublevel, trying to get a bunch of frightened teenagers out of a box trap. It also doesn't help Peggy, jinking her way across the sky, narrowly avoiding yet more fire. She's just lucky the destroyed planes haven't respawned...

Peggy Carter has posed:
Melly's eyes go wide as she's handed an ICER. She doesn't look terrified of it, but she holds it awkwardly for a few moments before fixing her grip and giving a brief nod, "Understood. I can do it. Did you hear them? Keep your heads DOWN!" The pre-teen orders the gaggle of children, carefully making certain the safety is off like she was taught. She's not good at guns, but she's been taught... Or she wasn't good. Yet.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
"I know, Daisy. It's just a video game, right? Shoot the bad guys, save the good guys. Just pixels on a screen." Jemma swallows hard as she nods, the words she just spoken becoming a mantra to her. "Just a video game. Just a video game."

And, as the quinjet clears the hangar, the guns open fire. It sounds like a barrage, to all those within, albeit faint through the reinforced walls, but it is anything but a random spray. It is as if Jemma Simmons has become the world's greatest sharpshooter, with each shot landing, another HYDRA foe dropping, no wasted ammunition.

A perfectly reasonable feat if given all the time in the world.

"I don't know what shenanigans that AI has for us with this airstrike, but we should be prepared for anything." A pause, then a quick decision. "I have an idea. but, you won't like it."

"If we are caught, I want you to pretend I forced you to cooperate."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
With a deeply unsettling emotionless grin, Dottie opens the door to let the dozen troopers flood the hallway. While there's no digital shimmer to indicate that someone has been meddling with her code, her entire expression changes in an instant. Any empathy the team has been adjusting to has vanished. Instead she is cold, driven, almost mechanical. Whatever AIDA did to her has snuffed the gleeful spark.

She turns to face Daniel, May, and the children, weapons drawn. And fires.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"It is." Daisy states with a rather firm, reassuring nod to Jemma. Yes, it might be real to them inside but they had been out there for days, watching. Pixels and data. It still felt so damn real though... She is probably thinking on the many ways she will frag AIDA when Jemma goes on abou being captured.

"We got this." She tells her friend, "Neo and Trinity, right?" she smiling faintly. Though maybe she should remember Trinity does die in those movies!

Yet she also knows this will be tight. And with the corridor and most of the way to those stairs clean up she hopes it will at least give the others a good way out.

< We cleared the corridors up here the best we could, going for the Director. Let us know when you get up here and we will swipe past again. >

And with that she starts going up to help Peggy in the dogfight. It was time for some pew pew.. But she was unaware of the nefarious things AIDA was preparing..

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Giving Melly an approving nod, he says, "You've got this," he tells her, before he hears footsteps and looks up to see Dottie letting in the HYDRA goons.

"What in the hell Dot?!" he shouts lifting his weapon. But she's already moving to fire so he dives towards Melly, trying to drag her down out of the way of the shots. Returning fire would have to wait.

Melinda May has posed:
May's shout of pain, as Dottie's bullets shred her right shoulder, is clear across the coms. She staggers backward, dropping the gun in her hand as her nerves go dead. At the same moment she's struck, Melly's eyes change, her determination and admiration for her father fade, the coldness that fills them matching Dottie's expression almost perfectly. She looks at her father and raises her ICER, pressing it against his chest as he shelters her. A twitch of her finger, and she fires. Twice.

---

On the outside, in the Sphere, in real time, an alarm begins to sound. "Oh, shit," Collingwood swears, sprinting over to the matrix pods. "It's May! Her vitals are all over the place. What's going on in there?" She's been monitoring them since the fight began. All their stress hormones are elevated. But May's body is now reacting to trauma. That much is clear.

"I don't know!" McLaren replies. "I mean, they're hitting the facility where the kid is. There's a lot of fighting. She must've taken a hit." But he can't see exactly what's happened... yet. "I need five minutes to see!" He's frustrated. As far as he can tell, they're still on the main floor, working their way towards the stairs.

"Aw, hell..." Collingwood replies. She swings into action, grabbing a multipurpose cocktail and injecting it into May's feed, hoping it will help stablize her. She glances back to where Jemma lays in a VR rig. "Damn it, doc..." Nothing she can do about it. She takes a deep breath and pushes her emotions away, responding with her field training to do the best she possibly can.

"Sonuvabitch," Mark swears. "AIDA's rewriting code. She's reactivating dead constructs."

"You mean she's cheating?" Somehow, Sarah doesn't sound as surprised as she could. "Gee, go figure."

"AI's shouldn't be able to cheat!"

"Maybe you're teaching her how!"

Mark blinks. "Oh. Shit..." He starts typing furiously, trying to reverse the damage. Trying to at least protect Dottie... their ally.

---

As both May and Sousa go down, and Jemma and Daisy scream towards the sky, a smooth, feminine voice comes over the comms. Daisy will recognize that voice. She's met the owner of that voice. Nevertheless, it interrupts Peggy as she fights for her life and the lives of her wailing children above the clouds. "<<You should land, Mrs. Sousa,>>" the voice says. "<<If you do not, your husband and your daughter will be executed. Melinda May is already dying. Do not waste this opportunity. It will not be given to you again.>>"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The moment Peggy hears that in the comm unit, her blood freezes. Lily, sick at her side, begins to well up in tears again. Peggy's head turns to her, one hand coming over to smooth through her hair as she hovers, cloaked. <<"Prove it, or I destroy your last jets NOW. I'm a better flyer than anyone you have, you know I will do it. Prove it.">> And, over the video monitor of her comm unit, there come the flashes of a scene. Things on a camera she never wanted to see. Dottie turning to shoot Melinda and, worse over, Melly shooting Daniel. A stifled cry escapes her lips and now Lily has melted into complete tears. Peggy is silent for several long moments.

<<"...we're landing now. Keep them alive. We're landing.">> Very rarely has Peggy sound beaten in her life, but seeing her eldest shoot her husband? The fight is gone from her.

She shakily begins to take the wounded craft down, half numb to the crying of her children at her side. It takes about five minutes for her to land and the ramp to open. When it does, three red eyed Carter-Sousa's come slowly down the ramp. Peggy still in her clothes from the night, uninjuried other than some g-force bruising. She has a sobbing Lily on one hip, chubby toddler arms wrapped around her neck and face buried in her hair. Michael is still in his bassinette.

The moment she steps onto the tarmac behind the base, HYDRA soldiers reach out to rip them away from each other. Lily beings a piercing scream, kicking and fighting as she begs, "MUM!! I WANT MY MUUUM!!" She continues screaming to the wall that is the two HYDRA soldiers carrying her. Another rips Michael's carrier from her hand and she hisses in his direction, "He's an INFANT for gods sake. How the FUCK are you going to FEED HIM?" But no one seems to care. She's backhanded across the face into the dirt.

"Shut up, deviant." As she tries to mouth off once more, she's hit again, blood spraying onto the ground. Eventually, she's drug back up to her feet, separated from her children, soon to be thrown in a jail cell.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
As both Jemma and Daisy join the dogfight up on the skies they hear that cry of pain. It makes Daisy grit her teeth, looking at Jemma. "Damn it.." then the images being broadcast. She remains silent for a time, punching once the controls of the Quinnjet in quiet fury before finally acknowledging Jemma's plan.. To be an hostage? It will have to do if they want to have a chance of not just being all tossed in jail.

"Let's do it." Setting the quinnjet to descend and land she then goes to take out her mask, then jacket. ICER tossed to the side. A quick sweep on her phone and a few taps delete the gun-fu code so as to hide evidence. Tough sell on having her be a victim in all this but sometimes one needs to go for those hail marys ...

They step out of the quinnjet, Skye in front with a wide-eyed look. "Don't shoot, I am innocent!" arms up in the air, Jemma in toe, keeping her under gunpoint. All part of the ruse...

But eventually they do get them to disarm and be taken into custody, Skye along with them. AIDA would sort out the truth later, if Holden doesn't interfere.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Five minutes can be forever. McLaren quick work sends the most recent backup of the Dottie Underwood code to reassert itself in the framework. But the damage is already done. May and Daniel are both wounded. And they have lost the day.

Dottie blinks. It's as if the last five minutes never happened. Only everything has changed. So Dottie does what she does best. Assess the situation. Blend in. Wait to see what comes next.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel's attention is fully on putting himself between Melly and Dottie he doesn't think for a moment that Melly could be a threat until the first ICER round hits. Soldier's instincts have him raising his weapon but he moves the barrel aside before the second round hits him and he collapses to the floor, to be dragged away by the soldiers, out of things on this side of the Framework until his construct re-awakens.

Melinda May has posed:
The round up of the rogue operatives takes little time, after that. The Carter-Sousa children are taken away in one of the pair of quinjets left when Peggy surrenders. She's yanked roughly to her feet and bound. Jemma and Daisy are likewise bound, though there's some debate about whether or not the popstar is actually culpable or not. But that's something that can be sorted out at base.

Finally, the unconscious Daniel is dragged out of the bunker, his feet scraping over the asphalt as a pair of burley troopers manhandle him towards the quinjet that has become the prisoner transport. Dottie will feel the barrel of a gun in her back before her hands are wrenched behind her and bound. She's led out with Daniel, though, perhaps unsurprisingly, there are more guards on her than him. There are more guards on her than there are Melinda May... who emerges from the bunker covered in blood. Her right arm is useless, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been bound to the left. She's clearly bleeding and having difficulty staying on her feet. When she's finally tossed in the back of the plane, her knees buckle.

A trooper kicks her savagely in the ribs before he hauls her up and secures her into a seat along with the others. "Don't bleed out too fast," he says, leaning over her. "The *director* wants to speak with you..." She doesn't even respond, her eyes gone glassy.

Regardless, there's no question about where they're going... or what they'll face when they get there. Re-education would be a pleasant alternative in comparison. Too bad that's no longer an option.

Their days in this world are numbered.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Please, please... Don't do this." Peggy begs once more, as she sees her children being loaded onto that craft. There's tears in her eyes and the last glimpse of the trio is when that moisture cuts free, running down her cheeks. Then she's silent, being led numb and slow towards her own cell. It seems, finally, HYDRA has officially broken Margaret Carter.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
"Just what the hell do you think you are doing?!"

It is another British voice that speaks...but not Peggy. It is Jemma Simmons, the supposed school teacher. And, there is little of that purported calm and collected demeanor. No, this voice is fire, thinly veiled in a sheet of ice. It is not a tone that most people hear except for extreme situations.

Jemma Simmons is mad. Extremely so. And, it is because of how May is being treated.

"Do you really think that the directors are going to want to interrogate a corpse? You had best let me tend to Commander May right now, or you can explain to the directors why you let their new plaything die before they got a chance to break her in." Those brown eyes level right at her captors, not flinching in the least. "I am sure they will understand. They do seem to be the rather forgiving type."

The last lines are delivered in a deadpan, serious tone. No hint of sarcasm in the tone, though the words themselves might as well be drenched in them. Because everyone knows just how forgiving the directors truly are.

Perhaps it is the comment about the directors. Or, maybe it is the sheer power of will that Jemma extrudes. Or, most likely, it is the fact that there really isn't anywhere Jemma could run off to. Whatever the case, the guards see fit to release Jemma from her bonds, though guns are trained on her at all times. A first aid kit is tossed to the medical doctor, with a curt little comment as well.

"Alright. Fix her..."

And, the medical doctor starts on her task. Jemma may not be able to tend to the physical body, but she can certainly work on the virtual. Given what she can, she works to stabilize May. She didn't jump into a virtual deathtrap blindly to let her friends die within it now.

Once she is done, Jemma will have words for those directors. And, at this moment, it is unsure who should be more worried. Jemma...or the Doctor.

Melinda May has posed:
The results of Jemma's actions are two-fold. First, May actually manages to remain conscious. Though, had this happened in the real world, it's quite possible she'd lose the use of that arm entirely. Certainly, for the foreseeable future, in this world her prognosis for recovery isn't great. Especially given what's in store for all of them.

She gives Jemma a wan smile, eyes slitted with pain and the fatigue that comes from too much bloodloss. "You needn't bother," she tells her softly. "I didn't expect to survive this, anyway." And really... they're beaten. She knows they are.

Peggy may never see her children again. Daniel is destined for the Doctor's experiment table. Dottie... well, May well knows what HYDRA does to traitors. The others? They'll fare little better.

"Would've been kinder to let me die."

---

Secondly, however, in the real world, Sarah finds May's vitals evening out, making it a helluva lot easier for her to aid in the stabilization efforts. "I've got nerve blockers showing up in her chemistry," she tells McLaren. "Something's inhibiting her recovery."

"AIDA," Mark replies darkly. "Fucking bitch is rewriting the rules all over."

"I've got her stabilized, but we need to fix this."

"Working on it."

Sarah looks at her partner, his hair dissheveled and his expression intense. She cants her head. "Hey," she says, coming over to look over his shoulder at what he's doing. "I got an idea."

"Yeah?"

She smiles slowly. "Yeah... You remember how Maelstrom screwed May with that viral shit?"

"Sure..."

"I think it's time we control the horizontal and the vertical, not AIDA."

Mark blinks again. "Outer Limits... Control the broadcast..." He flashes a grin and cracks his knuckles. "I always wanted to take over the airwaves."

Sarah squeezes his shoulder lightly and goes to fetch him a can of Red Bull. "Fuck HYDRA. We're SHIELD."