Advanced Threat Containment Unit

"By executive order, I have created a special task force to neutralize these alien threats on our soil. The Advanced Threat Containment Unit, or ATCU, will be given full license to act with whatever authority is necessary. The laws of nature have changed. And until the laws of man change to reflect that, we must do what we feel is right."

- Matthew Ellis

The Advanced Threat Containment Unit, also known by its acronym ATCU, is a new United States Government organization created to deal with the emergence of new Inhumans following the accidental release of the Terrigen Mist at the bottom of the ocean. However, since its foundation, the ATCU was manipulated by Gideon Malick's HYDRA cell to do HYDRA's bidding. After the death of its first director Rosalind Price, the ATCU was cleaned of HYDRA infiltrators and re-purposed to serve as the public face of the officially outlawed agency S.H.I.E.L.D. with the ATCU's new director Glenn Talbot being subordinate to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director Phil Coulson.

Presidential Approval
"It's getting harder for this to go unnoticed."

- Rosalind Price

Rosalind Price created a covert black ops group called Advanced Threat Containment Unit to deal with threats due to the general unrest following the Battle of Sokovia. The dispersion of Terrigen chemicals into Earth's ecosystems, made the unit's primary mission to hunt down new Inhumans. Several times, some other party would get to an Inhuman first and kill them. At a later incident, when ATCU was close to capturing Joey Gutierrez, he was rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. Price later set a trap for S.H.I.E.L.D., capturing Phil Coulson and Lance Hunter. Both parties exchanged words and learned that neither side was responsible for the deceased Inhumans. Shortly afterwards, Price received a call of an Inhuman attacking a hospital, in which Coulson and Hunter took their chance to escape.

Following Lash's attack, ATCU was publicly revealed by President Matthew Ellis to handle extra-terrestrial incidents.

Reactions
Fearing the ATCU caused Elliot Randolph to find comfort in a prison in Norway. When Phil Coulson went to Randolph requesting his assistance, Coulson had to threaten Randolph with turning him in to the ATCU before he would cooperate.

Meanwhile, Daisy Johnson saw the ATCU as enough of a threat that she wanted Andrew Garner to rush the approval of Joey Gutierrez to her Caterpillars program so she could have a team to go against the organization. Garner was not persuaded.

Chase of Lincoln Campbell
The attack that occurred at the hospital brought Lincoln Campbell and Daisy Johnson to the attention of the ATCU. Agent Luther Banks led a manhunt for Campbell, which evetually took him to Chicago, Illinois when John Donnelly called, stating that Campbell was with him after he saw a national broadcast announcing that Campbell was an alien fugitive associated with multiple murders. When Banks and his team arrived, they found the body of Donnelly in his apartment, but Campbell had fled. Meanwhile, Phil Coulson, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., accessed the direct line Rosalind Price had to the President of the United States in order to request a meeting. During the meeting, Coulson advised that having national broadcasts and manhunts were not a good idea. Price revealed that she knew that Johnson had powers and sought her arrest, but did not broadcast it because she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Coulson, realizing that Price was under pressure from the President to show results, gave Price a compromise.

When Banks found Campbell, he was in an apartment with Johnson; Coulson told the ATCU Campbell's location and had Alphonso Mackenzie accompany them there. As Banks' team attempted to apprehend him, Campbell escaped. Banks turned his attention to Johnson; he had her surrounded and snipers on roofs outside her sight for her capture. Orders then came to Banks to relinquish Johnson; Coulson and Price came to the compromise that he would work for the ATCU as an advisor and the two organizations would pursue Inhumans together.

Endotex Labs
"The ATCU is close to a cure."

- Phil Coulson

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Public Face
"Then why is this meeting happening if S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't exist?" "Because I need you to keep doing what you're doing. Privately. Publicly, the ATCU will still be the face of my administration's response to advanced threats. I'll appoint a new head to the agency, one who understands they answer to you."

- Phil Coulson and Matthew Ellis

Some time after the death of Rosalind Price, the ATCU was cleaned of HYDRA infiltrators. Trusting Price's judgement, President Ellis met with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director Phil Coulson in Price's apartment. Even though the President decided not to reauthorize S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson and his agents would semi-legally act as the black ops unit against the advanced threats. At the same time, the ATCU would publicly remain the Government's only task force to battle HYDRA and deal with the Inhumans, but the agency's new director, Glenn Talbot, would secretly be Coulson's subordinate.

Facilities

 * Endotex Labs

Weapons

 * Tokyo Marui Strike Warrior: A handgun designed and customized by DARPA, used by ATCU operatives as their main sidearm.
 * Kel-Tec PLR-16: A carbine used as an assault weapon by ATCU operatives.

Trivia

 * According to Rosalind Price, there are nineteen operatives in the ATCU whom she calls "Agent Johnson".