Siege of the Playground

For Hive's attack on the Playground, see Battle of the Playground

For Robert Gonzalez's attack on the Playground, see Attack on the Playground

Siege of the Playground
Previous	Kidnapping of Jeffrey Mace
Next	Chronological: Attack on Pryce Cheng Narratively: Chase of Jemma Simmons
Date	April 2017
Location	Playground
Result (Outcome)	Melinda May LMD destroys herself along with all Life-Model Decoys and the part of the Playground. Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons infiltrate the Framework.
Combatants
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Life-Model Decoys
Commanders
Quake Jemma Simmons
Aida Holden Radcliffe Phil Coulson LMD Jeffrey Mace LMD
Casualties
Fisher Melinda May LMD Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents
Phil Coulson LMD Alphonso Mackenzie LMD Jeffrey Mace LMD Leo Fitz LMD

"So, we fight our way through the trained military personnel, then the ultra-powerful android doubles of our friends, somehow make it to the Zephyr, which we can't fly, to escape the base and try to plug our minds into an alternate reality."

―Jemma Simmons to Daisy Johnson^[src]

The Siege of the Playground was an attempt made by Aida to take control of S.H.I.E.L.D. by abducting and replacing all key agents with Life-Model Decoys.

Background

"So much could go wrong."
"Ultron. Yes, I know. But this is not AI. AI is banned and that's good. This is mimicry of human behavior."
"But still, this can be used as a weapon. Is that the idea?"
"No. Absolutely not!"

―Leo Fitz and Holden Radcliffe^[src]

Inspired by Leo Fitz's work on Phil Coulson's Prosthetic Hand, Holden Radcliffe reactivated the Life-Model Decoy Program and created Aida, his android assistant. While trying to save Fitz and Phil Coulson from Hell, Radcliffe had a glimpse of the infinite knowledge contained in the Darkhold and became obsessed with the idea of getting the book for himself since that moment. To that end, after kidnapping Melinda May and connecting her to the Framework, he and Aida successfully used a LMD of May, which was later deactivated by S.H.I.E.L.D.. Radcliffe and Aida did not stop there and planned on taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. by kidnapping and replacing its most prominent members. During a battle at Krasnoyarsk Krai, Coulson, Fitz, Jeffrey Mace, and Alphonso Mackenzie were trapped inside the Framework while their android counterparts returned to the Playground, leaving only Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons unharmed.

Attack

Fitz's LMD Discovered

"You have Fitz's mind. Why are you doing this?"
"I'm doing it for you. For us. What we've always suspected I now know to be true. Consciousness is separate from the physical self."

―Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz LMD^[src]

Jemma Simmons was the first to discover that Life-Model Decoys had infiltrated the Playground. However, she believed that Daisy Johnson had also been replaced along with Phil Coulson, Alphonso Mackenzie and Jeffrey Mace, unaware that Leo Fitz had been replaced and it was Fitz's LMD whom she shared her discovery with. While she was struggling to find a way to react, the other LMDs came to her and Fitz's LMD and informed them that they were gathering Inhumans to the Playground for their protection, while they actually intended to kill them. Simmons chose to remain with Fitz's LMD but after they found themselves in a storage room, Simmons received another alarm indicating that her boyfriend had been kidnapped and replaced as well.

Jemma Simmons destroys Leo Fitz's LMD

Panicking, Simmons ordered Fitz's LMD to stay away from her. The android faked a complete astonishment, telling Simmons that he was human and that she could be an android as well. When Simmons told the LMD to cut his wrist to prove that he was human, Fitz's LMD did so, but seemingly fainted due to blood loss. When Simmons came near him, he overpowered her and revealed his true nature. The android started to prepare the equipment in order to map Simmons' brain and upload the data into an LMD, but Simmons played for time, by discussing the perspective of marrying Fitz that the android mentioned, before knocking Fitz's LMD and stabbing him multiple times, destroying him. After that, Simmons ran away and hid in another storage room.

The Daisy Fleet

Daisy Johnson discovers the Daisy Fleet

"Are you a robot? Because I just saw a truckload of myself, and Mack is in on it. And Coulson just bashed an agent's head in!"

―Daisy Johnson to Jemma Simmons^[src]

Meanwhile, Daisy Johnson, ignorant of the fact that she was surrounded by LMDs, organized the arrival of the Inhumans at the Playground. Before departing, she decided to check the Containment Chambers and, in one of them, she discovered a whole fleet of LMDs of herself. Shocked but quickly reacting upon hearing someone coming her way, she took her clothes off and hid amongst her android clones. When Alphonso Mackenzie's LMD came to the Containment Chamber to capture her, she knocked him out and escaped after taking his Shotgun-Axe.

Johnson went into hiding in the Playground and accessed security footage, in which she saw agents discovering Leo Fitz's LMD, including Phil Coulson's and Jeffrey Mace's LMDs. The Coulson and Mace LMDs told the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that they suspected Jemma Simmons of having been replaced by an LMD, but agent Fisher realized that Fitz was actually an android. Before he could react, he was killed by the LMDs as well as two other agents.

Jemma Simmons and Quake are reunited

Johnson then discovered that she was not alone in her hiding place. Simmons was present as well. They each suspected the other of being a LMD. Fortunately, by using her Inhuman powers, Johnson managed to prove that she was not a LMD and to check that Simmons was not either. Considerably relieved, the two friends hugged and began planning their escape.

Two Agents against S.H.I.E.L.D.

"The one thing I've known without a doubt the whole time... is that you and Fitz belong together. This is not how your story ends. Okay? So I'm gonna beat the screws out of those junkers, and the two of us are gonna get the hell out of Dodge."

―Daisy Johnson to Jemma Simmons^[src]

Phil Coulson's and Jeffrey Mace's LMDs locked down the Playground and gathered all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, ordering them to capture and kill Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons. They told them the two had been replaced by Life-Model Decoys and that their living counterparts had been kidnapped.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Simmons struggled to find a way out of the Playground. Simmons was especially distressed, not believing they had any chance of surviving. Johnson, on the other hand, figured out that their friends had been kidnapped by Holden Radcliffe and were probably still alive, though trapped in the Framework, meaning they had to enter the alternate reality as well. When Simmons stated that they could not defeat the LMDs, Johnson replied that she would, because she wanted Simmons and her boyfriend to be reunited. They spread sleeping gas through the Playground, leaving only the LMDs awake, before getting out of the storage room.

Mace and Coulson's LMDs in the gas attack

While Johnson went to fight the LMDs, Simmons found agents Piper, James Davis and Prince and woke them up, telling them that she and Johnson were not LMDs. Although they did not believe her, Simmons forced them to come with her to Zephyr One. Meanwhile, Johnson encountered the LMDs. She fiercely fought and destroyed Mace's LMD before having to deal with the Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie LMDs. Though she was wounded, Johnson managed to knock Coulson's LMD out and destroy Mackenzie's LMD, whose body crashed through the window and landed right in front of Simmons, who was on the verge of being attacked by Piper. When they saw the android's remnants, the other agents finally believed Simmons' story.

The Playground is destroyed by Melinda May's LMD

Johnson and Simmons made their way to the exit while Fitz's LMD, who had been repaired, went to activate the Daisy Fleet. They encountered Melinda may's LMD, who had been reactivated and was ready to blow the whole base up to prevent their escape. Fortunately, Johnson and Simmons convinced May's LMD to let them go by telling her that the real Phil Coulson, whom Melinda May had feelings for, would never want to kill them. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escaped and boarded Zephyr One right on time. Shortly after, May's LMD triggered the explosives, destroying herself as well as the other LMDs to ensure Johnson's and Simmons's escape.

Aftermath

"Flesh melting off of robot bodies; twelve S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in critical with burns or broken bones; three dead, double hits to the heart and crushed frickin' skulls! Can you explain that?"

―Glenn Talbot to Phil Coulson^[src]

Following the destruction of the Playground, the United States Air Force sent a team, led by General Glenn Talbot, to investigate the base. They discovered a facility in flames, the bodies of the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents killed by the Life-Model Decoys, twelve other agents seriously wounded as well as the remnants of several LMDs revealing their android nature. This, combined with the absence of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest-ranking officers, brought suspicion on S.H.I.E.L.D. activities. The suspicion was increased when Jeffrey Mace's body was found on a beach with the bones damaged in a way that made it appear to have been desecrated by Quake, obscuring the true circumstances behind Mace's death. Therefore, S.H.I.E.L.D. was once again labeled as an illegal and dangerous organization whose members had to be arrested.

The "Daisy Fleet" survived the massive explosion, allowing Aida to retaliate for events within the Framework by using one to frame Quake for the attempted murder of Talbot.