Centipede Project

"The Clairvoyant gives us guidance, formulas." "For what?" "The changing world, the world your organization brought upon us. We're new to the business of what you've been doing for decades."

- Raina and Phil Coulson

The "Centipede Project" is the name of a science group behind the Centipede process. The group was organized, funded and led from the shadows by the HYDRA agent John Garrett, aka "The Clairvoyant". Garrett used his high security clearance and access to classified S.H.I.E.L.D. information and psyche profiles to aid in his act as the "Clairvoyant".

History
"What kind of organization are we dealing with?" "International, well-financed and interested in creating a Super-Soldier."

- Grant Ward and Phil Coulson

The Centipede Project is a HYDRA funded science program with the stated purpose of creating an army of super-powered soldiers for their cause and finding the means to bring them back from the dead when necessary. However, the project's leader, John Garrett, saw it as a means of restoring his own failing health.

In 2010, they acquired captive S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Akela Amador from the international criminal Vanchat, who was holding her captive after she led a botched raid on one of Vanchat's gulags.

Amadore's captors installed a bionic eye in Amador through which they controlled her. They would give her assignments through the eye and insured her loyalty by way of a kill switch that they would activate at the first sign of treachery or capture.

These eye-devices are how they ensure the loyalty of all of their operatives. Akela Amador's handler (a former MI-6 officer), and Centipede's enhanced soldiers are known to have had these eyes installed.

The project's scientists created the Centipede Serum, derived from a variation of the Super Soldier Serum, mixed with Gamma Radiation and the newly-discovered Extremis formula, as a means of granting powers to their subjects, but their initial results were highly unstable with explosive results.

When Garrett's old friend within S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Phil Coulson, was slain before the Battle of New York and restored to life days later through means unknown, Garrett felt discovering the truth about Coulson's return was the key to both the Centipede Project and to restoring his increasingly failing health.



Los Angeles
"You exposed me! You exposed the program. The people who gave me this technology are very serious, and they do not want to be revealed."

- Debbie to Michael Peterson

The Project first came to the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Los Angeles, where Phil Coulson and his team were investigating the case of Michael Peterson, a man who had received super-powers from a doctor and agent named Debbie. Debbie had administered the Centipede serum through a Centipede-styled device to Peterson and another test-subject.

When that other test subject exploded due to Centipede's use of the unstable Extremis process, Peterson saved Debbie from the destruction of the lab in a public display of his powers. Debbie was furious with him told him to disappear or else he would compromise the secrecy of the project.

When Peterson seemed also on the verge of destabilizing, Debbie dispatched an assassin to ensure his silence. The assassin was stopped by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Melinda May and Peterson taken off the grid by Agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, who managed to stabilize the Extremis reaction.

Stockholm and Belarus
"Who were they?" "Don't know. Even to this day. But they were organized."

- Phil Coulson and Akela Amador

Soon after, Centipede sent Akela Amador on a series of diamond thefts in order to reach the $30 million asking price for a prox card that would allow access to a research facility in Zloda, Belarus. Amador was an old protégé of Phil Coulson, and when Coulson heard about the crimes, he suspected Amador and requested the assignment. Coulson and his team tracked Amador from Sweden to Belarus and was able to take her into custody without her handler realizing.

Coulson's Team managed to isolate the signal to the eye, which allowed agent Grant Ward to carry out Amador's mission, while Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz performed occular surgery on Amador to remove the prosthetic eye.

Ward successfully completed Amador's mission by infiltrating the research facility and observing and transmitting an equation written on a chalk board back to Centipede. The higher-ups at S.H.I.E.L.D. have been unable to determine the exact meaning of the equation, but some believe it to be alien in nature. It is unknown what Centipede's interest in this equation is.

Coulson and his team were unaware of the connection to Centipede at this time.

Hong Kong
"We didn't cut off the head of the Centipede. Whoever sponsored that little experiment is still out there."

- Phil Coulson to Skye.

They again came to the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Index-registered pyrokinetic Chan Ho Yin was kidnapped from his Hong Kong apartment by a woman named Raina, who worked for the Project. Chan was brought to a nearby lab where Debbie managed to harvest the fire-resistant platelets in Chan's blood. The platelets allowed the Extremis element of the Centipede process to be stabilized without the explosive after-effects. Having gotten what they needed from him, Debbie ordered Chan be drained, killing him.

But before that could happen, Chan was released by a S.H.I.E.L.D. extraction team led by Phil Coulson and agent Kwan Chen. Unfortunately, Chan (Now going by the name "Scorch"), was tired of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interference in his life, and killed Kwan. Chan then confronted Debbie and Raina. Raina abandoned Debbie, leaving her to be incinerated by Chan. Raina escaped, but the lab was destroyed when Chan detonated from an Extremis over-dose.

Before the destruction of the lab, S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant Skye managed to extract a few files from the building's mainframe, hopefully enough to give S.H.I.E.L.D some new leads on their activities.



Havenworth
"We would like you to touch base with The Clairvoyant. See if any insights can given... on Stage Three" "The Clairvoyant doesn't like to be touched." "We all have to do things that make us uncomfortable, if we are ever to get our toy soldiers off the shelf."

- Raina and Edison Po

Raina was next seen at the Havenworth Federal Penitentiary speaking to a prisoner named Edison Po. Raina informed Po that with the stabilization of the Centipede serum, "Stage One" of the project (the stabilization of the formula) had been completed, and that they were moving into "Stage Two" (the creation of super-soldiers). She also passed along the request of the Project's leaders that Po contact Garrett, known to those within Centipede as "The Clairvoyant", for any insights he might have as to "Stage Three" of the project.

Oakland and Long Beach
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure." "Lucky for you."

- Raina and Phil Coulson

Po was soon broken out of the facility by a squadron of Centipede powered soldiers. They took him to the new Centipede lab in Oakland, California, where Raina updated him on the project's status.

Po determined that Coulson's team presented a threat that needed to be taken care of. To this end, he set a trap for Coulson and his team with three Centipede-powered soldiers laying in wait.

However, unknown to Po, Coulson had recruited the Centipede-powered Michael Peterson to join his team. Peterson's presence turned the tide against the Centipede soldiers, but it also gave Po and Raina the inspiration for a plan of action.

Po had previously contacted the Clairvoyant, who claimed that he had trouble seeing the man that Centipede needed, the man who held the key to "Stage Three", and his weaknesses. After seeing Coulson and Peterson, Po realized that the man that the Clairvoyant couldn't see, the man who held the key to "Stage Three", was actually S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson. Raina kidnapped Michael's son Ace and threatened to have him killed if Peterson didn't obey her instructions. Believing that Centipede wanted to exchange Peterson for his son, Coulson accompanied Peterson to the exchange site in Long Beach, California. Seeing no other way to save his son, Peterson betrayed Coulson to Raina. After seeing to his son's safety, Peterson tried to make up for his actions by returning to rescue Coulson, but he was seemingly killed in an explosion.

Raina escaped the scene with Coulson by way of helicopter. Upon leaving the scene, Raina explained to Coulson that their true interest was in the nature of Coulson's mysterious revival after his "death" before the battle of New York, as this is seemingly the key to "Stage Three" of the Project's unknown plans.

Mojave
"The Clairvoyant can see within any agency, any government. He knows what the President dreams about at night."

- Raina

Raina and Po took Coulson to an abandoned nuclear testing grounds in the Mojave desert, where Po attempted to gain the secret of Coulson's survival while Raina saw to the recovery of Michael Peterson who, unknown to S.H.I.E.L.D., survived the explosion in Long Beach, albeit with severe injuries. When Po's interrogation techniques proved ineffective, the Clairvoyant expressed his dissatisfaction by executing Po and giving the job of discovering Coulson's secrets to Raina. Raina managed to convince Coulson not to resist the process and let the machine do its work.

Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. was leaving no stone unturned in their search for Coulson. A sting operation performed by Coulson's Team under the direction of Agent Victoria Hand netted the international criminal Vanchat, who had had dealings with Centipede in the past. Between the intel gained from Vanchat, as well as an independent study of Vanchat's finances by S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant Skye, S.H.I.E.L.D. determined the locations of several Centipede operations around the globe, as well as the Mojave location.

While S.H.I.E.L.D. teams struck simultaneously at multiple Centipede locations across the globe, Coulson's team headed to Mojave to rescue Coulson. After subduing a cadre of Centipede-powered soldiers, Coulson was rescued without giving Raina any important information about his resurrection, and Raina was taken into custody.



Aftermath
"Good morning, Mr. Peterson. Stand by for further instructions"

- Michael Peterson's handler, through his Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant.

With a severe blow dealt to Centipede operations, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s efforts began to focus on finding the mysterious "Clairvoyant".

Unknown to S.H.I.E.L.D., Michael Peterson survived and had been outfitted with a Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant under Garrett's orders, who had started to give him assignments.

Soon after, Coulson learned that Ian Quinn was in league with the "Clairvoyant".

The Search For The Clairvoyant
In an attempt to locate the Clairvoyant through his association with Ian Quinn, Coulson and his team tracked down a $10 million dollar purchase between Quinn and Cybertek Industries. Coulson believed that Quinn would take possession of the purchase himself in Italy, and planned an under-cover op for himself and his team on the train making the delivery.

Despite being sold out by Luca Russo, an agent of the Italian authorities also in the employ of Cybertek, Coulson and his team tracked Quinn down at a private estate. However, Garrett had been tipped off on the team's arrival. After allowing her to learn of the survival of Mike Peterson, now known as the assassin "Deathlok", Garrett ordered Quinn to shoot S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant Skye twice in the stomach. Quinn then surrendered himself to Coulson.

The Guest House
When Skye's condition deteriorated, Coulson decided to actively seek out the secrets behind his resurrection that had been denied him in order to save Skye. Still hoping to gain the secret of Phil Coulson's resurrection for himself, John Garrett, secretly the self-proclaimed "Clairvoyant" himself, chose to join in the hunt with Coulson for the secret personally. Playing on their long friendship and years serving together in S.H.I.E.L.D., Garrett arrived on the Bus on the pretense of having orders to take Quinn into custody, and soon had Coulson's full confidence in the investigation.

Garrett joined Coulson and his team on a raid on the Guest House, the facility where Coulson was treated for his fatal wounds, in hopes of finding the drug that regenerated him. Before the facility was destroyed, Garrett managed to procure many of the exotic drugs and compounds stored there, but Coulson only found one sample of the GH.325 drug that he sought, which Coulson used to save Skye.

False Leads
Hoping to end Coulson's investigations into "The Clairvoyant" once and for all, Garrett arranged a number of false leads generated from the rejects from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Index of gifted individuals. Garrett used Deathlok to lead Coulson's team to a man from the Index seemingly in a vegetative state and speaking through a computer named Thomas Nash. The computer's voice claimed to Nash, and "Nash" then "confessed" to being the Clairvoyant. But before Coulson could take Nash into custody, Nash was killed by Agent Grant Ward, Garrett's protégé and a sleeper agent for Garrett on Coulson's team, effectively ending the Clairvoyant investigation. In order to maintain his cover with Coulson, Ward claimed that he did it to protect his team.

Into the Light
With the onset of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War, Garrett's identity as the Clairvoyant was revealed and Centipede's ties to HYDRA exposed. Garrett was taked into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D., but was freed by Grant Ward, who killed Victoria Hand and released his mentor.

Resurgence
Now operating openly, Garrett arranged for the release of Raina from her imprisonment, and put her in charge of the reborn Centipede Project. Garrett supplied Raina with all of the money, equipment and resources necessary for the completion of "Phase Three" of the Centipede project-- healing the mortally wounded and bringing the dead back to life.

Garrett supplied Raina with cadavers and the various drugs that he confiscated from the Guest House, but without the specific GH.325 drug used on Coulson and Skye, her initial efforts were unsuccessful.

However, after receiving the information on Skye's encrypted hard-drive, she managed to synthesize one, and only one, vial of GH.325 using the various alien compounds that she did have on hand.

While in the process of moving the Centipede Project from Cuba to the United States on the captured Bus, Grant Ward captured Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, who were tracking the Bus on behalf of Phil Coulson. Once inside the plane, Fitz activated a localized EMP, which shut down Garrett's mechanical systems. On the verge of death, Garrett instructed Raina to administer the synthesized GH.325 to him.

In the meantime, Ian Quinn travelled to Washington, D.C. with intent of selling an army of Centipede-powered, cybernetically enhanced Deathlok Soldiers to the United States Armed Forces.

While Quinn was giving a tour of the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility in New Mexico, Coulson's Team began the Battle at Cybertek to capture John Garrett and Grant Ward. It was discovered that Cybertek, in cooperation with HYDRA, had created an incentive program in which people worked as handlers because their relatives were hostages. Ultimately, thanks the efforts of Coulson's Team and Nick Fury, the hostages were freed, Garrett was killed, Ward was arrested, and Quinn, with Raina, abandoned the Centipede Project.

With Agent Coulson's new status as S.H.I.E.L.D. director and the U.S. Marines confiscation of the facility, the status of the Centipede Project is presently unknown.

Technologies
"Who has tech like this?" "We don't. Not like this. Not this small and internal. That's at least a decade ahead of anything I've seen."

- Grant Ward and Leo Fitz

Thanks to its ties to HYDRA and Cybertek, the Centipede Project has access to several advanced technologies.


 * Centipede Serum/Device-- Delivered with a Centipede-styled blood filter made of alien metals, the Centipede serum combines elements of the Super Soldier Serum, Extremis and Gamma Radiation. The serum bestows super-strength, durability and regenerative powers to the user. The device cannot be removed without killing the user.


 * Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant-- Installed into all Centipede assets, the Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant grants the user the ability to see through solid objects. The eye is also a means of communication and control. Orders and instructions are sent directly to the user through the eye. Everything the user sees is seen by their handler, who can throw a kill-switch at an instant's notice if the user is captured or goes rogue.


 * Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine-- A device that utilizes Theta brain-wave frequencies to uncover memories buried in the subject's subconscious memory.


 * Cybertek Prosthetic Leg-- A cybernetic prosthetic designed by Cybertek Industries under orders of Centipede Group's operative Ian Quinn. The first known unit was attached to Michael Peterson's right limb, and were later mass-produced to outfit Deathlok Soldiers.


 * Forearm Rocket Launcher-- Installed on to Deathlok's left forearm, this piece of equipment allows him to fire guided mini-rockets at his targets.


 * Heart Stopper-- Deathlok used this on Grant Ward to make Skye unlock her hard drive, stopping his heart from beating and duplicating a heart attack. When Skye acquiesced, Deathlok tapped the device once to make Ward's heart beat, twice to accelerate the pulse.

Known Members

 * John Garrett/Clairvoyant † - Leader
 * Grant Ward
 * Ian Quinn - Funding and Research
 * Edison Po †
 * Raina - Recruiter and Research Overseer
 * Debbie † - Scientist
 * Brian Hayward † - Centipede Device Soldier
 * Ernesto
 * Chan Ho Yin/Scorch † (test subject)
 * Michael Peterson/Deathlok (Participated under coercion)
 * Akela Amador (Participated under coercion)
 * The Englishman † (Participated under coercion)
 * Kyle Zeller - Deathlok's Handler (Participated under coercion)