The Infiltration into King George VII Private Hospital was a mission undertaken by Nick Fury and Sonya Falsworth to prevent James Ritson from launching a nuclear strike on New Skrullos, which would kill dozens of Skrulls and their prisoners as well as start a cataclysmic war with Russia.
Background[]
- "Change of plans. Keep Ritson alive. Make sure he knows it wasn't just the Russians who did this. It was the Russians with the help of Skrulls."
"What?"
"Show him satellite footage of New Skrullos. Prove to him there are Skrulls living here in Russia, and that they must all be eliminated." - ―Gravik and Raava[src]
Frustrated with Nick Fury and Carol Danvers not making good of their promise to find a new home for Skrulls, Gravik founded the Skrull Resistance, intending to secretly take over the Earth and make it a Skrull homeworld. Under Gravik's orders, the Resistance members started to kidnap and replace various key figures in world governments, mass media and military structures, orchestrating conflicts and political tensions around the globe. Gravik's actions drew attention of Talos and Maria Hill who informed Nick Fury of the covert Skrull invasion, so he would return to Earth from S.A.B.E.R. Space Station and take on Gravik as well.
With G'iah providing them with intel, Fury, Hill and Talos found out that Gravik was planning a bombing in Moscow and stage it so Americans Against Russia would be responsible, which would drive Russia to a war with the United States. However, they failed their mission and Gravik detonated the bombs, causing massive destructions and heavy civilian casualties, and leading to Russia viewing the attack as a declaration of war.[2] The attack was swiftly condemned by the international community, with the Resistance operatives manipulating the situation, and James Ritson was demanded to address the incident. Raava, who was replacing James Rhodes and posing as Ritson's advisor, dismissed any accusations, making the situation more heated and ensuring that the tensions would not go away.[3]
Nick Fury evacuates James Ritson
Eventually, Ritson arrived to London for emergency peace talks with Russia, while the Resistance was planning to attack his convoy and kill him, making it look like Russia was behind the attack. However, Fury and Talos intervened in time and helped the United States Secret Service keep Ritson safe until the Special Air Service reinforcements arrived to combat the Resistance. Talos was able to get an unconscious Ritson out of the car and helped Fury with evacuation, however, he ended up being killed by Gravik.[4] Fury brought Ritson to King George VII Private Hospital where he confronted Raava, but she warned him that if he would not stay away, the footage of Gravik in Fury's likeness killing Hill would be sent to the mass media.
Raava informs James Ritson about the Skrull threat
At that time, Gravik contacted Raava and informed her that the plan had changed, ordering her to tell Ritson about the Skrulls and convince him that they were a threat to not just his safety but humanity as a whole. Raava was unsure about his orders, but Gravik was certain that Fury would do anything to prevent it, as if Ritson orders a strike on New Skrullos on Russian territory, it would lead to a full-scale war. Raava carries out an order and shows Ritson the satellite images of New Skrullos provided by MI6 and urging him to neutralize the Skrull threat before it is too late. Ritson was concerned that a nuclear strike on a Russian soil would mean war but Raava convinced him that it would be better than extinction.
Gravik reached out to Fury and informed him that he is manipulating Ritson into launching a nuclear strike on New Skrullos, which would lead to dozens of innocent Skrull perishing, and then a war between Russia and the United States. He offered Fury to come to him personally and give him the Harvest to power up their Super Skrull Machine, otherwise, Gravik would not call off his plan. Being wanted by Interpol, Fury made his way to Finland with Sonya Falsworth and recovered the Harvest from one of his fake graves, which contained DNA of the Avengers and other enhanced individuals that Skrulls were collecting on his orders.[5]
Infiltration[]
Raava orders to move James Ritson out
- "For Christ's sake, Ritson, what have you got to lose?"
"She's right. Just delay the strike. If I'm wrong, you can send me to prison and flatten Russia." - ―Sonya Falsworth and Nick Fury[src]
Joining forces with G'iah and Sonya Falsworth, Nick Fury came up with the plan to stop Gravik and prevent James Ritson from greenlighting a nuclear strike. While G'iah assumed Fury's likeness and went to deal with Gravik, Falsworth contacted Raava, pretending that she does not know anything and still thinks that she talks to James Rhodes. Falsworth told Raava that Fury was coming after Ritson to prevent a nuclear strike by any means necessary, so Ritson needed to be evacuated immediately. Raava then ordered the United States Secret Service agents to move Ritson out of his hospital bed before sweeping each floor at King George VII Private Hospital and find Fury.
Nick Fury tries to reason with James Ritson
As his plan worked, Fury quietly neutralized numerous Secret Service agents, while staying unnoticed, and Raava saw them lying on the floor while moving Ritson out of the hospital. While Ritson demanded one of the agents to give him a gun, Raava looked through the rooms where they could put Ritson in, but was suddenly confronted by Falsworth who held her at a gunpoint. Ritson pointed his gun at Falsworth, confused by what was happening, before Fury neutralized remaining Secret Service agents and made his appearance. Fury tried to tell Ritson that the true enemy was actually "Rhodes" who stood beside him, while Raava kept telling Ritson to shoot Fury down. Fury informed Ritson that the true Rhodes was replacing by a Skrull who had been manipulating him all along and if he does not call off the strike, Rhodes and all of Skrull Resistance's captives will die, as they were kept in New Skrullos.
Ritson was troubled by Fury's statements but Raava assured him that Fury was lying and all he needed to do was to stay the course and eliminate their enemies. Fury kept insisting that Ritson was being played and asked him to at least delay the strike to figure out what was actually happening, and if Fury was wrong, Ritson could send him to prison and proceed with the strike on Russia. Raava then disarmed Falsworth and attempted to shoot Fury herself, but it was a grave mistake, as Fury was able to grab Ritson's gun and kill her. As Ritson witnessed the dead Raava turning back into her Skrull form, he realized that Fury and Falsworth were telling the truth and rushed to cancel the nuclear strike.[1]
Aftermath[]
James Ritson speaks out against Skrulls
- "There's only one way this ends. The old Nick Fury would have known that. And if you truly care about the Skrulls, get 'em off my planet."
- ―James Ritson to Nick Fury[src]
While Nick Fury and Sonya Falsworth succeeded, G'iah managed to take Gravik down and liberated the Skrull Resistance's captives, including James Rhodes and Everett Ross. Following the incident, James Ritson addressed the nation and exposed the existence of Skrulls on Earth to the public, revealing that they tried to take over the planet and attempted to kill him. In response, Ritson announced his intention to present the Anti-Alien Act to United States Congress, designating each off-world species and enemy combatant. Ritson's declaration resulted in a wave of violence across the globe as vigilantes started to hunt down the Skrull infiltrators, although it also led to human deaths as well.
Fury contacted Ritson and criticized his hateful rhetoric that inspired people to go after Skrulls, no matter if they were innocent or not, saying that it would not end well for Ritson's political career. He told Ritson that he needed to call off his statements and stop the war brewing between humans and Skrulls, but Ritson refused to budge and told Fury that if he wanted to keep Skrulls safe, he needed to get them off the planet. Soon after, Fury received news from S.A.B.E.R. that the Kree Empire approached Dro'ge on Tarnax IV to start peace talks between Skrulls and the Kree, so he asked Varra to provide diplomatic assistance.[1] However, Fury was not aware at the time that Dar-Benn's actual reasoning behind the peace talks was to forcefully subjugate Skrulls and steal Tarnax's atmosphere to restore Hala.[6]