5770/Leviathan/Falling Frost: Righting Wrongs

Leviathan/Falling Frost: Righting Wrongs
Date of Scene:	13 November 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Skye takes on mission command, sending Buck Barnes and Cap off to Siberia to gather intel on a formerly abandoned Hydra base. It's just a portent of things to come.
Cast of Characters:	Quake, Winter Soldier, Captain America, Hawkeye (Barton)
Tinyplot:	Leviathan
Tinyplot2:	Falling Frost

---

Quake has posed:
In typical Fury fashion, the Director has dropped an assignment into Skye's lap with one hand while promoting her with another, and in this case, it was another doozy. Though, to be fair, it was kind of an extension of her intitial mission at SHIELD, when she'd started the rewrite of the mainframe and its systems. Which had led to Hammerfall. Which led to Rising Tide. Which led to, well, this. This being a clean up operation as the mistakes they'd made in Rising Tide were poked at, and, if at all possible, righted.

To that end, she'd summoned Bucky Barnes to one of the meeting rooms for a little chat. And, for good measure, knowing they could be a decent working team, she'd put out a call to Cap as well.

Not that any of this was helping her feel settled. She wasn't quite pacing the room, but it was likely obvious to Clint that the young woman wass aware she'd stepped up in the organization and was now putting other people's money where her mouth was in a much more pertinant fashion.

"One of these days, this is going to backfire on him," Skye repeats the words she'd given Fury laughingly when he'd promoted her this last time as he'd dropped Karl and all his issues into her lap. "I'm ready for this, right?" Her question to Clint before the others arrive.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck, being Buck, stands on no ceremony. HE's in black and white SHIELD agent gear, no unique insignia, nothing special - utterly unlike *someone's* spangly outfit. Just another one among those here, save for the gleaming metal hand at the end of one sleeve, and the hair bound into a long tail at his nape.

His expression is only blandly neutral, as he enters, pale blue eyes thoughtful. If he's curious about Fury's promotion of Quake, well.....it doesn't show. Something of the old NCO's pokerface - give nothing away to officers until you're sure how the land lies.

Captain America has posed:
Today, someone has decided to spare the room from the spangly outfit. Steve's in civilian garb, bomber jacket and all, as he enters the room. It's not to say that aforementioned star-emblazoned suit and shield aren't within ease of reach -- a quick jog down the hallway.

He scans the crowd, finds Bucky, and smiles to himself even as he meanders his way over to the man's side. He's got no smart comment aimed at Barnes right off the bat, respectful as he is in regards to the proceedings, but there's one lingering about his mouth even as he looks to Skye, so recently promoted. Now a small frown of interest about his features as he stands there, hands in his pockets, awaiting the reveal as to 'why' they've been called in.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint grins, "Of course you are," he says of Skye being ready. "Not like our illustrious leader would trust you with something you couldn't handle," he says with a laugh. Not that he doesn't trust Fury, but it's fun to tease, mostly because he suspects the Director's watching.

When the others arrive, Bucky is greeted with a nod and Cap a smile, "Hey, Steve, how's it going?" he asks leaning up against one of the tables in the room.

Quake has posed:
Skye makes a face at Clint. "Clearly you haven't met the man." Which wasn't true. But it was also true that Skye enjoyed a fairly unique relationship with Fury.

When the other two arrive, she contemplates bidding them to sit, but they hover, which does seem to be their fashion after all. She offers a wry, "Don't stand on ceremony. You can sit," to them, but ultimately, it's up to the others if they stand or sit.

In front of her is her laptop - hers, not SHIELD's, which also seems to be a Skye thing, as well as some document folders. All with clearance more pertinant to Barton's level than her own. "So, you're probably all wondering why I called you in today. I have some information to pass along, plus a few other things, but we'll start with the information."

She shoves folders across the table, one for each (and, indeed, they'll be holding the same files within each folder) and gets down to the nitty and the gritty of it all. "Within you'll see some background materials on our Hammerfall and Rising Tide operations. The gist of which pretty much comes down to Hydra managed first, to infiltrate our mainframe, as well as SHIELD itself, and secondly, we went out on an all out offensive against Rising Tide on the tip that they were taking monies from a presumed Hydra operative known as the Benefactor."

She continues, "It was, in fact, true, and at the end of that operation, Karl - better known as the Benefactor - escaped with a handful of hackers and presumably joined forces with Hydra. We have recent proof of this fact, as well as some other matters that are also in your folders."

Skye pauses to let them catch up, and to see if there are any questions.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier does sit down, settling out of that that unthinking parade rest - it's been a long, long time since he was really Sergeant Barnes, after all. Still fairly unreadable, that expression....though it cracks into a little sidelong grin for Steve. Then he's going through the files with careful deliberation, lips pursed. "Hopefully we managed to at least freeze some of their assets?" he asks, finally, looking up. "And what do you need us to do?" Because of course it's an 'us', where he and Steve are concerned.

Captain America has posed:
The man across the way receives a nod and a small smile from the Captain. "Hey, Clint. I can't complain. Didn't have to boil my coffee this morning," Steve replies in his usual light humor. The blond remains standing despite the offer by Skye, though not as insult. The man's generally a busy-body as is and sitting for a long time is a difficult thing for him.

Taking up the second folder, he opens it. He too takes his time flicking through the pages within, frowning down at it, and glancing up from time to time at the young woman as he listens. His eyes shift to Bucky and from on high, another small smile, this one containing a touch more energy. "I thought I heard something about successfully stopping the flow of money," he comments before adding, "But Buck sums up my main thoughts on things. Something must need to be done. What is it?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"And it just gets weirder from there," Clint tags onto the end of Skye's explanation of recent events.

It was true too, so very true, but how much of that story was going to be told here wasn't his call to make. So he sits back and watches.

As for the money, "Yeah, to the Rising Tide at least, the Benefactor is still out there though."

Quake has posed:
Skye nods in agreement with Clint's assessment.

"We took Rising Tide down, as you know." And they had. "But Cli-- Uh Agent Barton has the right of it. The Benefactor is still out there. In fact, he's largely behind my recent kidnapping. I'm sure you're not unaware."

And they shouldn't be. Not only is the young woman restricted to the Triskelion, with orders at all known ports of egress to the building, but there'd been a large rescue mission, as well as a post-rescue mishap in medical that there wasn't any good inforamtion about, other than it wasn't on any official reports that anyone could find, and some rumours had it pinned down to she was responsible. It hadn't stopped Fury from promoting her, though.

"This is where things get a bit sticky and I need to backtrack a tiny bit. So, you'll remember, Barnes? When you and Agent Romanoff went up north and put that defunct Hdyra base back online and hooked it up to the satellite network? So. We miscalculated. I did, actually."

She gives a small shrug. "I advised that we keep the computer systems on line and use them against Hydra. We pretended like we didn't know they weren't dismantled and that we didn't know they essentially work as a separate internet for Hydra, that they use to backdoor into a lot of our existing systems. And by our, I mean the world's." Another of those shrugs. "We're using the same back doors, so it was convenient. It gave us a lot if insight into what they were doing, and we've been able to monitor them fairly effectively. More so now that we have.. well, we have an operative on our side who is helping us pull all of that apart."

"Short version, we messed up. Longer version of that, I have intel that suggests that we've been compromised a lot further than we realized. It turns out that The Benefactor isn't some generic person bent on revenge, but actually, if I'm not mistaken, he's very likely a sentient program bent on revenge."

A nod to Barnes. "And that's where you come in. But first, any questions? Because I know that's a lot to take in."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"See, this is what I meant about weirder," Clint says when it comes to sentient programs bent on revenge. "Sort of makes you wish for the old days, huh?" he asks the pair of technical senior citizens in front of him.

Then as Skye gets to the impact of it all, he asks, "The room's clean right? He's not listening?" he asks. He may just be a bit paranoid.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier gives Clint a look, from under his brows. As in 'do you really need to ask that question?' As Skye's gone on, his lips have pursed. "Happens I do remember that mission," he agrees, voice a little gravelly. They still make unfiltered Luckies, and he still indulges in them, now and again, despite the expression on Steve's face when he realizes Buck's been smoking. He fought that war as a half-pack a day smoker, and old habits die hard. "So, it's an AI that's got its virtual jockeys in a knot and is bent on screwing over SHIELD? What does that need a couple of old relics like us for? When we were around, computer was a job description for humans, not a thing. And I know programs are diffuse enough now that you can't just find the right physical site and blow it up, to stop something like that."

Captain America has posed:
"I prefer being threatened by a physical human being, yes," agrees the Captain in his quiet, droll way, looking between Clint and Bucky before becoming solemn once more. He glances down at his oldest friend in passing, noting that rasp in his voice. Later on, there will be the usual mild reprimand in terms of those cigarettes and maybe even the 'accidental misplacement' of the newest pack of them in an unknown location.

"Agent Barnes is right. Isn't there a counter-virus that can be sent back along the lines, if this Benefactor is nothing but a large batch of code?" he asks, looking to Skye for an answer. "Agent Romanoff seems the better answer for - cyber warfare." He stumbles just slightly on the terminology, but brushes it off well enough.

Quake has posed:
"As clean as I can make it," Skye tells Clint offhandedly. Which is to say, pretty damned clean.

"The problem," she tells Buck and Cap, "Is that I'm fairly certain he isn't an AI, and it's not so simple as a program we can front with a virus. I've been up against him head to head in that kind of game, and he doesn't respond the way a regular computer program would. That's not to say that he doesn't have weaknesses, it's just to say that it's not that simple. Besides, that part of this is my job. Your job, is to investigate that facility. It would really help us if we had a copy of their mainframe, and as much information on what's actually going on there as possible."

She gives Buck a weak grin. "And, since you were part of the team that turned it on, it makes a lot of sense for this part of the mission to fall back in your lap."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint nods, though still looks wary, hard to be entirely at ease when you're being hunted by a real live Lawnmower Man.

There's a smile for Cap's quip. "Me too. Hard to shoot a program."

As for the mission. "Should be simple enough, from the report last time the computer systems were not all that complex, and that's me saying that, so, that's saying something." Clint could hack when he needed to, but he was more of the con or beat the code out of a guy type of hacker.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck's smile at that revelation is far less pleasant. A little feral, in fact. Did the construct that is the Soldier enjoy things? Is he still in there, pleased at the prospect of bloodshed? Though Buck was the Commandos' sniper, and a cheerful killer in his own right before anyone dreamed of Winter himself.

Steve gets an amused little glance. Look at the old fossil there, using fancy new words. But then, even the oldest dogs do learn new tricks. "That makes more sense," he approves, with an upnod. "Just gonna be me and Steve, or is Romanoff coming along on this little picnic expedition, too?"

Captain America has posed:
Another shift in focus from the page he holds up before himself to the man sitting beside him. The ghost of a smile this time, knowing of the propensity to finish what he started -- just like when they were both young -- come hell or high water. He misses the side-glance from Buck, but does look up at Skye and Clint again after closing the manila folder in one hand.

"I wouldn't mind Romanoff being present. She's got a way with a keyboard." Understatement of the century, that. "But if it's just us, so be it. We'll pause for a sandwich break between cracking firewalls." A smirk down at Bucky. "No peanut butter and jelly, that got old in the thirties," he says to the man.

Quake has posed:
"Nat's /damn/ good with a keyboard." And coming from Skye, that says a lot. "But as to who is comign with, you'll have a team. Na.. fine. protocol isn't my strong suit. But I'd like it if she went with. You can be muscle, and she can do the dump. You'll have pretty much anything you need at your disposal, within reason. We want this covert as possible. And anything you can get us while out there is the goal. I'll have further instructions closer to the leave, but this is the basics, really."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Hey, PB&J is awesome," Clint complains. "But, real hackers eat ramen, or so I'm told," he says with a smirk for Skye.

"As for the tactical part of your team, take your pick from STRIKE, or I can throw a roster together for you guys. I'd come with, but my long underwear are in the dryer." Also he has other mission priorities, like a certain super-strong mad scientist... no, not the green one.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"You didn't have to eat it for days on end 'cause that's all you had the money and cooking skills for," Buck sighs. "Steve's right. No peanut butter sandwiches. Roast beef, maybe." The mention of 'covert' has him leaning back in his chair. "I can do covert," he says, confidently. "And ....that's good. Fewer goons the better." Apparently his confidence in the stealth of the average SHIELD redshirt is not great. "We've still got the maps of the base to review, right?"

Captain America has posed:
Steve nods, his expression solemn once more. "Roast beef," he agrees. "We'll have no time for ramen. Never understood the need to put Sriracha in it." Clint is given a questioning side glance; maybe he can explain this to the Captain.

He then places the folder down on the table and settles into a stance half at parade rest, his arms folded across his chest. "We'll look at the maps, sketch out a plan of attack. I agree -- the fewer of us, the better. This doesn't require more than a handful of people at most. I expect to see little of you, Buck, given how covert you can be." A grin over at him -- this comment coming from the guy normally smashing through walls with his shield like a rampaging bull.

Quake has posed:
"What he said," Skye nods towards Clint. "You'll have the most recent intel we've got, but part of the reason for sending you in is that you're the ones who went there the first time. You know what it looks like first hand, and that sometimes reports lie. The thing is, we think the Benefactor has a particular and personal beef with SHIELD, and well, to be frank, I don't think he'll pull any punches to get back at us. if we don't get ahead of him, we're vulnerable."

She doens't go into details of what her ordeal was like, or her suspicions about a few things - they don't play into the mission, but the mission report may play into them. They need those reports, though. If she can't find an edge in how to tackle Karl on the computing front, then he very well may win. And she'd rather he didn't.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Can't go wrong with spice," he says. Well he almost said 'cock sauce' because of the rooster on the label, but it was Cap and that felt all sorts of wrong. The though though registers as a momentary opening of his mouth then closing then saying what he decided upon instead.

Probably for the best.

"And take the goons, they can make your sandwiches if nothing else," he says. There's a glance back to Skye when she mention's the Benefactor's beef with SHIELD. He turns back to the others, nodding, "Yeah, he hates all of us, and he's not going to hesitate if he has a chance to take us down. So, hopefully this will put us ahead of the game."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Ooh, catering," Buck deadpans. Then he looks down at the files. "You want these back now, or can we take 'em and study 'em some?" he wonders. A grin for Barton. "I agree. I like spicy food. Food in general's so much better'n it was when we were kids." These two grew up in the Depression - what did they eat? Lumps of coal? "We know why this guy is gunning for us? YOu say it's personal - not just ideological?"

Captain America has posed:
A snort from Steve at catering. He shifts in place as he eyes the closed file folder on the table once in his hands. His memory's fairly good, but there's nothing wrong with further review -- thus, he glances to Skye, hoping to curry that favor.

"Food these days sure beats boiling soup," is his thoughts on things. "Though chicken nuggets. That's not chicken anymore." A wrinkle of his nose and then a wry little smile. "Off topic, I know, back to business. Why //is// this guy so interested? It sounds a little like revenge, but not entirely."

Quake has posed:
"Those folders are yours. There's nothing in there that's above your paygrade. Just keep them need to know." Not that she thinks they'll be flinging them about willy-nilly. And really, they're the abridged versions, with copies of the bits and pieces they'll need for the mission, not the entire files. "Going forth, this is Leviathan, and yeah. We have a decent idea of why he's upset with us."

She flicks her gaze to Clint, then back to the men, knowing this one was really her call. "The Benefactor, or Karl as I know him, used to work for us. Back in our infancy. SHIELD, that is. He believes we're responsible, for one, for the death of a loved one. He believes his association with our agency not only led to that, but that we were more than careless and crass about using him while allowing this person to die. I don't know how much of that is true, but you need to know going in that he doesn't care if you die. In fact, that might be a bonus as far as he's concerned."

Or, just as likely, turning agents to Hydra. He'd already tried that with her, and failed. It was only one of the reasons he hated her in particular.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"We also blew up his bases, and made him look like a fool with an undercover agent, so, yeah, he's got a lot of beef going back over a long time. Which is impressive since we don't really have a name for the guy except for the one he chose. All the people we captured off that Deep Star One base just knew him as 'Karl'."

Clint gives a shrug, "And yeah, wouldn't expect this guy is going to be too interested in using kid gloves with us."

Winter Soldier has posed:
".....if he's that old, if he's been around that long....maybe Steve and I knew him back when," Buck says, slowly, giving Steve a look. Does Karl ring a bell? Hard to tell. "Karl with a K? German, maybe? I mean, what with Paperclip and all, there were a lot of those guys in US hands after the war. God only knows what kind of seeds they planted here...." He scrubs at his face with his human hand, sighs. "What goes around, comes around, right?"

Captain America has posed:
Steve shakes his head slowly, brows knitted. "Can't say that I know a specific Karl off the top of my head. As Buck said," and he lifts a hand in a shrug. "There were many scientists brought over. It might warrant a look into the archives, see if there's anyone of note," he adds, glancing over at the Winter Soldier briefly before back to Clint and Skye.

"We won't use kid gloves if it means keeping others safe. This guy sounds like he's got enough firepower to reach beyond SHIELD without much trouble." The Captain's jaw sets. "We'll make sure he doesn't cause any futher trouble." And how certain he sounds of success.

Quake has posed:
"Karl is a moniker. He's given it to himself. I don't know who he was. I believe he was working with our first computers. So maybe you'd know of him? Not sure you hung around that area that much in your past." In truth, she'd forgotten the pair were at least that old, and might be a source of information.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint nods, "Yeah, doubt Karl is his real name," he says, before looking to Skye. "What was his wife's name? Alicia or Iris?" he asks, not quite sure of the name.

"And whoever he is," he gives a nod to Cap and Bucky. "I'm sure you guys can handle it."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Another of those upnods from Bucky. "No, it wasn't our field.....and we were gone by the very end of the war." Both of them were frozen by V-E Day, after all. "But you never know. Mr. Stark had a lotta guys working for him, and there were even more...." He trails off, rolls his shoulders. There's the faint rasp of plate on plate from the metal arm. "We'll handle it," he agrees with Clint, a ghost of the old arrogance in his face.

Captain America has posed:
"Should be a walk in the park," Steve opines, very certain as well given the subtle lift of his chin and roll-back of broad shoulders. "We'll check the archives just in case, see if anything jumps out at us. Who knows -- I might read a name and suddenly remember something." Weird how that works. "How much time do we get to prep? This a matter of leaving in a few hours or a few days?" He looks to Skye again, clearly ready and raring to get cracking.

Quake has posed:
"Ilsa," Skye supplies. "Her name was Ilsa. I think she was his wife. I don't know, though." But she might after she gets her hands on the SHIELD personelle files from back then. Including the ones that only existed in paper form. She has no doubt those exist too.

"Three days enough?" That to how much time. She could give themm more, but the longer they take, the more chances there are things could go wrong. "Seven tops. Three preferable. Bucky's call, though." She looks to the man. "Work with Clint on the roster. The three of you, I guess? It'll be your mission out in the field."

Nat wouldn't like that, she imagined.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint snaps, "That's it, Ilsa," he says. "That might help with the archive search, apparently we let her die?" he says, again glancing to Skye for confirmation.

"And yeah, hit me up for the roster, though sadly our personnel profiles lack details on sandwich making skills, so, we may have to vet that personally. I am sure nobody will mind," he jokes.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"We're not picky. We lived on army rations for years, after all," says Buck, airily. "Roast beef, turkey, any of that's fine," Like that really is a criterion.

Speaking of old habits, his gaze flicks to Steve again, for an instant's mute consultation, before he nods. "Yeah. Three days we can do." Truth be told, the way he rolls, three hours might be more than enough notice. He may have a girl, but does that mean that he's been tamed enough to lose the habit of keeping no more than he can pack in thirty seconds?

Captain America has posed:
"I don't consider sandwich-making ability useful in the roster," says Steve, ever somewhat the fuddy duddy. He shakes his head in almost fatherly exasperation at the antics, but there's still a smile, so...still complicit, in his way. "Anyone could make it into SHIELD if it were part of the requirements."

A curt nod and the Captain unfolds his arms as to take up his manila folder once more. "Three days it is. Clint, we'll discuss roster further soon. Anything else we need to know?" This he asks of Skye. "Doesn't matter if it's a little detail, it could make the difference between success and failure."

Quake has posed:
"Three days it is, then. If there aren't any other questions?" Skye has things she needs to prepare, too. Especially if she's heading off to those woods. She's not only got Karl to track down and nuetralize, but her own powers to get a grip on. Totally living an ancient Chinese proverb she is.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Relax, just joking," Clint says with a grin for Steve. "We'll check out their mixology skills as well."

Yeah, he can't not make a joke.

"Anyhow you guys know where to find me for the roster stuff," he says, before shifting to a more serious tone, "And watch yourselves, okay?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's no flippancy when it comes to this. Not after what he's been through. Buck nods at Clint, gravely. "We'll be careful," he agrees. And then pauses, and amends, "I'll be careful. And I'll keep an eye on this guy here, too." Steve gets a stern look.....but there's distinctly resignation there, too. Steven Rogers, jumping out without a parachute since the Roosevelt administration.