The Destruction of the Shrike Tower was an attempt by Sarge and his crew to destroy the Shrike Tower with an Atom Bomb.
Background[]
- "That's why I was killing the Shrike. To keep them from making that tower. If we don't destroy it before the monster arrives, it'll grow ten times that size. Then it's too late."
"How does it work?"
"They're drawing their power from the Earth. When it's done, it will erupt into a swarm of those things, spreading across the planet, swallowing everything. Then the planet dies." - ―Sarge and Melinda May[src]
Sarge was able to convince director Alphonso Mackenzie to partner with him to kill the Shrike. However, Mackenzie guessed that Sarge would be able to sacrifice his team in order to fulfill his goal of killing Izel, so he decided that only one member of Sarge's own squad would join them, and the rest would be his men, much to Sarge's anger.
Eventually, Sarge agreed and they set out in search of the Shrike, doing research that they should meet at the Ley lines to await the arrival of their creator and then, to protect themselves, they must activate an anti-Shrike shield, to avoid being taken as guests, that Deke Shaw would fix it for him instead of Pax, since he was more experienced at fixing it.
Upon arriving at the Ley lines, they saw a tower made of crystals from afar, which is why Sarge killed them to prevent them from building it. The latter explained that the Shrikes fed on life, drawing their power from the Earth and then they burst into huge swarms of Shrike, spreading across the globe ultimately killing the planet. May and Daisy Johnson notified Mackenzie that the tower was growing. Johnson told Mackenzie that Izel could be killed by using Sarge's magic sword.
At the same time, Davis spotted a spaceship headed for the meeting point, which they thought was Izel. While May notified Sarge, Mackenzie tried to establish contact with the spaceship.[3]
Destruction[]
- "How are you gonna get close enough to kill her?"
"We plow straight into her tower. That will weaken her." - ―Melinda May and Sarge[src]
Daisy Johnson asked him how he would kill the being and Sarge replied that they would break through the tower, to weaken it and when he came down to Earth he would aim at her heart, to which Melinda May said that this was too simple a plan. Sarge assured her that he had an ace up his sleeve. Unknown to everyone else bu Snowflake, Sarge activated an Atomic Bomb bomb that could detonate Izel and her Shrikes, as he knew deep down that his sword would not hurt her.
Unfortunately for him, Pax confessed Sarge's plan to Yo-Yo Rodriguez, who informed Alphonso Mackenzie, who in turn alerted Johnson and May, who pointed their guns at him, asking where the bomb was. Sarge asked how they knew and Johnson threw the satellite phone at Sarge, saying that Mackenzie wants to talk to him, as Pax confessed. When S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team confronted him about how he was going to kill thousands of innocents in the process, Sarge said he already knew of the consequences, and that he was not going to help them defuse it.
May asked where the bomb was, and Sarge said it was made to explode on impact and advised Johnson not to use her powers, as it was sensitive. Then, Sarge escaped leaving Snowflake behind. Sarge used the portal his Jaco and Pax had build on the Zephyr One to enter the ship. Deke Shaw untied Snowflake and asked her where the bomb was, to which she said she did not know. They also realized that they could not stop the truck with Quake's powers since they could activate the bomb, since it was senstivie. Eventually, Shaw managed to find the bomb and get it out. But he was unable to defuse it.
Meanwhile, Sarge, Pax and Jaco managed to take control of the Zephyr. On the ground, the truck crashed into the Shrike Tower, while the tower was destroyed, the bomb did not explode, as Johnson used her powers to contain the explosion, much to Shaw and Snowflake's delight. Hwoever, May reminded them that they were not safe yet as they were still stuck with a bomb and Shrikes out there. Sarge noticed that the bomb did not go off much to his anger. Jaco asked if he had calibrated the telemetry trigger point but Sarge replied it was not the first warhead he made.[3]
Aftermath[]
- "It's been destroyed. We're in danger. And now you are, too. Were you aware that my tower would be attacked?"
- ―Izel to Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons[src]
Seeing that the tower had been destroyed, Izel sensed that they would be in danger. Izel asked them if they knew that someone would attack her tower, to which they two told the truth that they did not know what was going on on Earth. Izel did not believe them, saying that perhaps she had overestimated their intelligence. Simmons said they did not know what was going on there, but promised that their friends would give them a hand and Izel said that if they did not help them immediately, the consequences would be disastrous. Simmons told her that they could use the communicators to reach them, and Izel allowed them to. Izel wondered if the man who was chasing her had already arrived before her.
At the same time, Daisy Johnson, Melinda May, Snowflake and Deke Shaw prepared to take a stand against the Shrike so the Atomic Bomb would not activate.
Fitz and Simmons managed to contact S.H.I.E.L.D.. James Davis answered the call on Zephyr One and Simmons confirmed their identities. Simmons made sure to let Davis know she was acting under coercion. Sarge increased the call frequency and told Izel that if she was listening, he had managed to destroy her Shrike Tower and that he was going to kill her. Shocked to hear Sarge's voice, Fitz and Simmons wondered how he sounded exactly like Phil Coulson, who had been dead for a year. Izel hung up and questioned Fitz and Simmons about how they recognized Sarge's voice, suspecting they had conspired against her all the time. Fitz told her that they knew a man who had a voice like that of the man they had heard, but that the man they knew was dead. Izel did not believe them and demanded her crew to take them into custody. The couple then proceeded to run in order to prevent their capture at the hands of Izel's men.
Inside the Quinjet, Mackenzie, Rodriguez and Davis, with the help of Jaco, managed to retake the Zephyr One's control from Sarge, who was placed inside the Containment Module. Mackenzie then made a plan to infiltrate the Lazy Comet in order to rescue Fitz and Simmons, and finish off Izel.[4]