Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Arms Race

Chapter 5: Presentations

The warehouse was massive. Hired hands scrambled around, sorting pieces of alien and human tech. Technology that ranged from a variety of sources. Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D., even those alien freaks that attacked New York.

Above on the catwalk stood a man in a black trench coat. Brown eyes and black hair that was combed back added to his ominous look. A woman with dark skin in a silk, white and blue flower dress stood behind him.

"Impressed?" the man inquired.

The woman in the flower dress crossed her arms. "Very. But I believe our deal was that we supply you with the alien technology you need, and you make the equipment we requested for our project."

"And it will," he defended, "but I have to fund the rest of my operation somehow. And I'm sure that your people could use an upgrade in weapons."

"That's not my decision to make, Mr. Slade." Her voice was firm yet smooth.

Slade turned away from the railing. There was an arrogant look in his eyes. "Please, call me Alexander."

She did not seem amused by Slade's warm demeanor. Her voice went cold. "Mr. Slade, I'd prefer to keep this strictly professional."

Slade leaned against the catwalk railing. "Can I at least get a name to go with such a lovely face?"

"Raina."

"Well, Raina, allow me to show you what we have anyway." Slade motioned for one of his men to grab something. The man looked back and waved his hand. Two troops in tactical gear dragged a bruised man in front of them. His face was puffed up from beatings he had very recently received.

"This guy thought that he could steal from me." Slade followed his statement by slamming his fist into the man's face. "I'm sure you understand that that type of behavior has to be handled with a strong message."

He drew an odd looking device resembling a handgun from a holster on his shoulder. He pulled the trigger releasing a burst of a purple energy that slammed into the thief's chest. The blast created a large, charred hole in his chest. The man fell to the ground with a last exhale.

Raina looked impressed. Slade looked back at her with a questioning glance. She took a deep breath in. "Maybe there is something we can do. I will talk with my superiors. See what they say."

Slade threw up his hands. "That's all I ask."

"I'll let you know when I need more from you." She returned.

Two of Slade's men came and escorted her to her vehicle. Things were beginning to look up.

***

The team stood around the table in front of the large monitor. Agent North stood on the opposite side of the table with a remote in his hand, the same messed up suit with the top two buttons undone. "Alright, let's get started," North declared in a charismatic tone. "As you all know, the bomb that was set off was a hybrid of earth and alien technology. And we have an idea on who it is."

The screen changed to the image of a man with a narrow face. His black hair was combed back, and his brown eyes staring at the camera with a sharp stare. Those eyes were calm on the outside, but behind them was an insatiable lust for power.

North continued. "This lovable death dealer is Alexander Slade. He's been in play for some time now." Skye quickly raised her hand. "Yes, the pretty computer nerd in the back."

"If S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about this guy, why haven't they taken them down yet?"

Before North could answer, Coulson stepped in. "Before now everything had just been rumors. Our intel led us to believe that they were nowhere near this close to making weapons like that. All we've had are concepts." Images of blueprints flooded the screen. Weapons, gadgets, bombs, and several other devices were depicted in the designs.

"Weapons like that in the wrong hands could do a lot of damage." Ward chimed in.

Fitz stared at them with a mix of fear and awe. "This is insane! To think that someone would imagine using an energy source like that! Even if they did manage to make it work, they have no idea how unstable alien technology could be. They could cause doomsday with this kind of firepower."

The next slide was of an abandoned warehouse. The red brick looked worn and crumbling. Broken windows were scattered at random around the building. Overgrown grass added to the sketchy surroundings.

North pointed to the garage door in the front. "This doesn't look like much, but this is the meeting of a sort of gala of some pretty big arms dealers. Not the place just any random guy with a gun collection can get an invitation to. They'll be meeting here in eastern Germany in just a couple days. If the guys that made these weapons were going to make a demonstration, it'd be here. Fortunately, Nathan Turner was going to make his 'debut' there."

Agent Ward interrupted. "How is that fortunate? If I'm not mistaken, you put three bullets in his chest."

North crossed his arms. His carefree expression lost its glow. "Because no one there has seen Turner's face. I will be going undercover as Nathan Turner with Skye here as my plus one."

"Why you and Skye?" Ward argued. Why was he being so difficult?

Coulson thankfully stepped in. "It's because Agent North is already familiar with that kind of situation, and Skye has the technical skills to hack any electronic security that they need to get through if needed."

That seemed to quiet Ward enough. The team split off to their own tasks. North grabbed a fresh change of clothes and closed the door to his bed. The mission was going to be difficult if Ward was going to keep being belligerent over every call he made. He was going to have to get through to them somehow. Until then, the show must go on.