- "I have orders not to let you escape by any means. I'm simply doing my job."
"Is it your job to cut the arms off one of my agents?"
"For that, I do apologize. One of my subordinates got a bit... overzealous." - ―Hale and Phil Coulson[src]
The Infiltration into St. Louis Aerospace Facility was an attempt by a unit of Sleeper Mechs, acting on orders from HYDRA agent Hale, to execute Phil Coulson and his allies.
Background[]
- "The beacon wasn't meant to call aliens. It was meant to call you."
- ―Piper to Phil Coulson[src]
Agent Piper was captured by General Hale once most of her allies were abducted, who forced Piper to make a deal to betray her friends and have them arrested, with Hale promising their safety. Using the Kree Beacon, Piper tricked the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into investigating as she claimed to be there to investigate the Kree Beacon herself.
When the team returned from the future, they learned about beams of light coming from space onto Earth, similar to what Samuel Voss mentioned to Phil Coulson. They decided to investigate the place. The team arrived at the River's End and found the Zephyr One. Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons discovered that the light beams are not what they look like and identified their origin as the Kree Beacon.[2]
Infiltration[]
- "You got played. We have to take this thing and get out of here before we're all killed. Are you gonna help? Piper, pick a side, but we're going."
- ―Phil Coulson to Piper[src]
The team infiltrated the St. Louis Aerospace Facility, where they found Piper, who told them that she was also here to investigate and try to deactivate the Kree Beacon. Piper told them that she had looked for them, but to no avail, while eluding the authorities. Fitz and Simmons discover that the Kree Beacon was rigged with a timer to regularly activate it.
At this moment, a group of Sleeper Mechs led by Ruby Hale appeared in the facility and confronted them. While Piper held her gun to some of the agents, Ruby and her soldiers stepped into the room and held their guns to them, while Piper insisted that Hale had guaranteed the agents' survival. However, Ruby quickly realized that Quake was not present in the room and therefore ordered her soldiers to kill all of the agents. Before the mechs could open fire, Yo-Yo Rodriguez used her power to disarm the soldiers before she and the other agents charged into battle against them. Ruby took a step back as she watched her soldiers fighting against the agents, with Alphonso Mackenzie eventually shooting one of them in the face and discovered that they are machines. Upon seeing Ruby's betrayal of her trust, Piper changed side and assisted the agents with getting the Orb out of the facility while the other agents continued fighting the remaining robots.
Ruby waited for the ideal moment as she watched Mackenzie and Rodriguez both getting held back by the soldiers, knowing that they would run to each other's aid in a moment. Once Rodriguez freed herself, Ruby then drew one of her Chakram and waited for Rodriguez to use her power to save Mack. Ruby threw her blade and successfully sliced through Rodriguez's arms. The agents escaped from the facility on to Zephyr One, while Ruby let them go.[2]
Aftermath[]
- "You promised me Daisy Johnson. She didn't show up tonight. Well, I think if I keep cutting her friends' arms off, she will."
"Your work is sloppy and incomplete, and you've been trained to do better, which is why you don't skip class." - ―Ruby Hale and Hale[src]
Agents brought the Orb to the Lighthouse and contained it in the room with the Monoliths. Leo Fitz and Noah were checking on the Orb. When Johnson entered the room, Noah noticed that the circuitry was heating, so he covered the Orb with his body to defend the two from the explosion. The explosion destroyed the Time Di'Alla, Creation Di'Alla, and Space Di'Alla and created a Rift to the Fear Dimension.[2][1]