Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8

#8
Early March 2001

United Nation
by Toby Kernan

"Hello viewers, this is CNN correspondent Hailey Wane, live from Las Vegas, where the United World Economic Conference has just begun. Centered here at the Golden Eagle Conference Center, delegates from countries all over the world; including Wakanda, China, and much of Europe, have descended on the glitz and glamour capital of the world. The primary topic of discussion here will be the International Free Trade Alliance, a movement to globalize economies. Now, I am sure many of you will remember the series of talks last year about the Alliance, held by the UWEC, which sparked controversy worldwide. In London, Seattle, and Hong Kong, protesters showed up by the thousands, maybe self-proclaimed patriots of their countries, who see the globalization of economies as a threat to their own way of life. In Seattle, protestors turned over cars, bashed in storefront windows, and held all night rallies outside the convention hall and hotels of delegates. Clashes with police occurred, and eventually the National Guard was called in. All told, over thirteen million dollars in damages occurred, and nearly two hundred people were arrested.

"This year's Conference seems to be shaping up to similar proportions. Hundreds of delegates have come to the city, but it appears that thousands of protestors and activists have swelled the city as well. Hotel rooms here have been full and reserved for nearly six months, many full just days after the sight of this first meeting of the year was announced. Untrusting of the ability of local police and military to hold the situation in check, the United nations, a primary sponsor of the conference, has brought in Strategic Hazardous Intervention Enforcement Law Directorate, SHIELD, in to curb an activities that get out of hand. In truth, this seems to have only fueled the fire with activist, who see SHIELD as an Agency with little to no jurisdiction in the United States, despite the co-operation of President Kelley and the glowing appreciation of Las Vegas mayor, Morris Daniels.

"Already, despite the fact that the actual Conference hasn't even begun yet, we have seen clusters of protest groups begin to form. Several city blocks have been quartered off, which are the allotted spaces for protestors and activists to congregate and hold peaceful marches and demonstrations. I, having personally spoken with leaders of the protestors and various activists, do not believe that these people intend to stay within their designated areas, an act which could bring swift repercussions from a SHIELD force that is eager to maintain peace and a aura of stability and order.

"This is Hailey Wane, reporting live for CNN, and we will keep you abreast of situation here in Las Vegas as it develops…"

Oliver Queen stared out from the third story windows of the Golden Eagle Conference Center into the chaos beginning to ensue on the streets below. He didn't like it one bit. An American every day of his life, he hated having to use SHIELD to police people and maintain order. They were suppose to be the most civilized enlightened nation in the world. Unfortunately, he had been witness to the destruction of his native Seattle after the Conference and ensuing riots last year. He had walked the devastated streets, filled with rubbish and charred from fires. He had witnessed the shops with their windows smashed, and their contents looted, simple because they were perceived as "global economy" businesses.

"You seem edgy, Ollie, worried about all those people exercising their personal freedoms and rights down there?"

Oliver didn't have to turn to recognize the voice of his adopted son, SHIELD Agent Roy Harper, standing behind him. Oliver was sure that Roy had a glib grin on his face, because this was his kind of job, with plenty of people, high emotions, and plenty of chance for action.

Oliver didn't turn as he thought of his response, and watched as limos began to usher the delegates into the building. "It has been a vary trying year, Roy. I'm not sure I'm cut out for this Field Director stuff. I think I am better as a fighter than I am as a leader. Actually, I am thinking about getting out for a while, maybe taking a vacation…"

"Uh, Ollie," interrupted Roy as he stared out into the crowds, "were you expecting any ‘superhero' types showing up for this shindig?"

"No?" replied Oliver honestly as he attempted to pull his thoughts together and follow the line of sight that Roy had.

"Well," said Roy as he began to pull his pistol from his holster, "we have a guy dressed in red, white, and blue flying in at high speeds…"

As Oliver narrowed his line of sight to pick up the incoming costumed flyer, his earpiece crackled with static and newly promoted Alpha Agent Elizabeth Lockhart's voice sounded in his ear….

"Director Queen, we seem to have a situation here…"

Starting months ago, thanks to his connections, and the internet, he had begun to set this plan in motion. Thousands of activists, not wanting this Conference or its delegates to help ‘corrupt' their American Way were here to disrupt this convention in every way possible. These were the people who didn't want their plants shut down, so their jobs could be moved to Mexico or Taiwan. These were the people who were tired of illegal aliens crossing the border and overflowing their cities. These are the people who see their way of life slipping away, and refuse to let the world overwhelm them.

"The time is now!" he speaks into his earpiece, and throws off his raincoat and disguise. All the protestors standing around him turn to view him as the spectacle that he is. A tall man, standing there, with snow white moustache and goatee, and wearing a suit of all red, white, and blue. He looks virtual identical to the poster from which his code name is derived. He is Uncle Sam, and he is here as a beginning to bringing his country back to the greatest it seems to have lost.

Uncle Sam stands on a nearby podium, and his garish, if patriotic, outfit easily grabs the attention of all the nearby protestors, and soon his rhetoric has the crowd of hundreds roused and ready to wreck havoc. As a matter of unfortunate timing, the Mercedes of a foreign delegate is passing by at that very moment, as the crowds surge forward and attempt to overtake the car, smashing at the windows and yelling obscenities at the obviously frightened passengers.

Soon, the entire area is swarming with SHIELD Agents. Dressed in riot gear, they issue warnings on bullhorns, giving the outraged protestors one chance to ‘cease and desist', before they are forced to take action and put down the unlawful demonstration with force. The crowd seems to be deaf to their cries, as the leaders within the protestors seem to aggressively push the crowd into a frenzied state.

Just as SHIELD appears to be ready to hurl tear gas into the crowd and begin using force, Uncle Sam's Team America appears from different points within the crowd. To onlooking SHIELD Agents, there appears to be six of them, including Uncle Sam himself. One, dressed in red, white, and blue, flies from the pack and heads straight for the Convention Center. Two others, one a young white woman dressed as the statue of liberty, and another a black woman dressed in gold and green, emerge from the crowd. The ‘liberty' girl fires a blast from her ‘torch' into the SHIELD Agents, while the other seems to simply touch the steel pole and absorb its property, trashing a nearby car. Another emerges from the crowd, this one a young man, dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses. He suddenly in the blink of an eye, he ‘splits' into two exact replicas of himself, and rouses the crowd more. The final member, a tall and broad man dressed in purple and gold, moves close to Uncle Sam, and seems to place himself in a bodyguard style position.

Oliver Queen, with Roy Harper at his side, races down towards the buildings entrance. Unholstering his pistols, he begins issuing orders into his SHIELD communicator.

"Okay, so here is the plan…."

After her blast rips through the delegate's car, and several SHIELD Agents, the Team American member known as Lady Liberty prepares for contact as a barrage of SHIELD firepower blast her way. Fortunately for her, her suit is protected by an energy force field, and none of the pistol blasts are able to penetrate.

Enter SHIELD Agent Elizabeth Lockhart. Newly recruited from Delta Level, she stands back, analyzing her situation. This is her first mission with the "big boys", and she is bound and determined to prove her worth as a member of the Alpha Squad. Noticing that her opponent's force field seems energy-based, she quickly attempts to make a move towards an unmarked van, containing SHIELD equipment, located on a perimeter location. Evidently, her movement does not go unnoticed, because quickly she is forced to dodge blast from Liberty, who spots the Agent quickly moving through the street. As a blast lands just a feet from her, pavement burning and smoldering from the intense heat, Elizabeth quickly leaps into the van and finds the weapon she is looking for. As she leaps back out of the van, seeking it's rear side for protection, she hears and audible crash as a blast fires into the van's side, probably ripping a hole into the vehicle's interior. Elizabeth hopes her hunch is right as she leaps from her hiding spot and fires the weapon at her target, Lady Liberty. The projectile flies through the air, landing in the energy of Liberty's protective field. Instead of simple sliding off, as bullets might, the projectile instead stays firm on the energy, and releases a powerful burst of it's own energy. As the overload of energy turns back on its host, Elizabeth watches as the belt around Liberty's waist explodes, and the girl falls to the ground unconscious.

SHIELD Agent Elizabeth Lockhart makes a mental note to thank Technology Director Ben Foster for the use of his experimental energy feedback gun when she returns to base.

The other newly promoted SHIELD Agent, Chase Lawler, stares in wonder at the man dressed in black, and multiplying into multiple selves before him. Not wanting to take on twenty copies of this criminal, he quickly analyzes the situation, and determines the best course of action, and begins to make his way towards the swarm of identical men.

Lawler smiles as he remembers the advantage he has over his opponent. Agent Lawler had been placed among the crowd in civilian clothing, disguised as just another protester. He knew who his enemy was, but unfortunately for his enemy, the "man in black" was distracted overturning a car and trying to use it as a shield against SHIELD Agents.

Lawler watched the 'men' as he surged forward. He noticed that there seemed to be one of them that all the multiples came out of. He assumed that he was the "primary", and made a course of action. Picking and weaving through the crowd. As he neared the surge of identical duplicates, he smiled and pretended to be another protester, and screamed obscenities at the SHIELD Agents. Then, hoping he was right in his assumption, he quickly pulled his Narcojet pistol from the holster, firing several needles into the "primary", and noted with glee that the man fell to the ground unconscious. As he fell, the duplicates all faded away.

Agent Lawler smiled with satisfaction, wondering if all opponents in costumes were this easy to defeat…

Uncle Sam looked around in annoyance. Things appeared to be going bad for his Team America. They simply had not been ready yet for actual combat. Lady Liberty and Silent Majority were already down, and a large, fierce looking woman appeared to be going punch to punch with Amazing Grace, no matter what elemental form she took, and was wearing her down. The crowds themselves were not fairing much better, as SHIELD Agents, so highly trained and ready for such a riot, were not only containing the crowd, but succeeding in pushing them back.

"You are under arrest Mr. Carlyle…"

Uncle Sam, aka Abraham Lincoln Carlyle, turned as he recognized the voice of Oliver Queen. So did his bodyguard, Stonewall. Unfortunately for both men, Oliver Queen was well aquatinted with both men, having met both in the late seventies as Uncle Sam and Stonewall were members of Freedom Force, and had clashed with Oliver's Champions on several occasions. The trio had met again in the late eighties, when Oliver had been working with Taskforce X, and they had been sent to stop the radical right-hand agenda of the Carlyle led American Rebellion Movement.

Carlyle watched as Oliver and his partner, Roy Harper, made their way forward. Stonewall, also moved forward, then stood his ground as a shield, using his mutant ability to be unmovable. This attempt didn't seemed to faze the SHIELD Agents little, as Agent Harper pulled up his pistol and fired at Stonewall. With uncanny accuracy, the projectile flew into Stonewall's mouth. Carlyle noted to smoke puff out of his bodyguard's nose and mouth, then watched the man fall to the ground, gagging and choking.

Abraham, noticed the gush of wind, as his only other teammate left unharmed, Major Victory, came flying down to stand beside him.

"We have got to retreat NOW…" said the Major in a half-annoyed, half angered voice.

Agreeing totally, Carlyle quickly grabbed the star-shaped medallion on his chest, and whispered an incantation, and suddenly he, and all of his teammates began to fade from existence

"Sorry, Oliver," he said as he faded away, "You may have won the battle, but I will win the war. My country needs me and…"

They were gone.

Later, after the events of another exasperating day, Oliver Queen made his way to his hotel room, intent on getting at least a couple of good hours of sleep. For once, he didn't have all that much to complain about. All his Agents had made it out alive, and his two newest Alpha Agents had handled themselves superbly. He hadn't sustained any damage, and none of the delegated had received more than minor scrapes and bruises. After the riot had been quelled, only a SHIELD van and several light poles had been destroyed.

Oliver smiled as he absentmindedly opened his hotel room door, then dropped his keycard, as he saw, sitting in the chairs in the room, his old friends and allies Henry Pym and Forge.

"Oliver," said Pym in a quiet, calm voice, "We've been waiting for you. It seems we have a situation…"

Next issue, it all begins. Issue 9 is the prelude to the Manhunter Agenda, and SHIELD will never be the same! All this action coming in only two weeks!