From Baron Strucker's perspective, the situation had become dire.
Sokovia's HYDRA base was armed with the organization's most advanced equipment—its so-called final stronghold. But even with all that firepower and "elite" strength, it wasn't enough to hold back the Avengers.
Air superiority had been lost within moments of the battle's start.
HYDRA's elite aerial troops, once a source of pride for Strucker, were swatted down like flies by waves of Iron Legion drones and VF fighters.
Even Hawkeye—yes, the one they mocked in intelligence briefings as "the guy who just shoots arrows" and supposedly the weakest Avenger—was holding his own.
His precision archery, combined with his advanced combat suit, allowed him to wipe out HYDRA's elite units effortlessly.
As for the scientist who once swore vengeance against Tony Stark and had poured all his efforts into designing a force to crush Iron Man... well, he ran off the moment the fighting started.
All the black-tech reverse-engineered from Chitauri weapons? Useless. Against these Avengers, it might as well be a box of outdated toys.
Seriously!
Just what kind of monsters are behind Rhodes Island Industries, the ones supplying gear to the Avengers?
Are you sure this stuff is even human-made?
Why are our cutting-edge Chitauri-based weapons getting steamrolled!?
Luckily, Baron Strucker still had a few trump cards up his sleeve.
If it weren't for these last-resort technologies—genuine "black-tech" born from years of hidden research—he would've surrendered already.
After all, the Avengers had dismantled HYDRA branches all over the world. These weren't enemies to take lightly.
Among those trump cards, the most reliable and powerful was a high-energy shield system developed using the Mind Scepter—powered by one of the six Infinity Stones.
Yes, the Mind Stone itself.
After years of study, Strucker's team had successfully harnessed its near-infinite energy to create a never-before-seen energy shield.
This theoretically indestructible shield was controlled by a deep underground energy converter directly linked to the scepter itself.
In other words, the Mind Stone was the literal power source.
The shield encompassed the entire HYDRA base—from the above-ground fortress to the subterranean bunkers and secret labs.
It offered seamless, layered defense, impenetrable from top to bottom.
According to Strucker's scientists, it could withstand over twenty direct hits from the world's strongest nuclear weapons.
As for Rhodes Island's orbital strike system, "Heaven's Hammer"?
Pfft. Might as well be tickling the shield.
In short, Baron Strucker had acquired a defensive system on par with Wakanda's legendary dome.
Safe.
Incredibly safe.
Let the Avengers throw their tantrums, if they can't break through, then Strucker was untouchable.
And the longer the standoff dragged on, the better HYDRA's chances would become.
That was Strucker's thinking—nervous, yes, but also oddly calm.
He knew he held the unbeatable hand, and he even considered deploying an unfinished AI drone army to counterattack.
———————————————————————
"JARVIS, any luck finding a weakness in that energy shield?" Tony Stark asked.
"Sir, the shield's energy output is incalculable. None of our current weapons can penetrate it," JARVIS replied.
"However, deep scans indicate a critical node located 200 meters underground. It appears to be the control unit for the shield."
"But since it's inside the shield, we can't reach it unless we break through first."
Tony frowned. "So let me get this straight: to destroy the shield, we have to hit the control node."
"But to reach the control node, we have to first destroy the shield—which we can't. Sound about right?"
"Precisely summarized, Mr. Stark. As of now, we have no way of breaching it."
"Well, that's just wonderful." Tony clicked his tongue. "Hitomi, any ideas?"
"An impenetrable energy shield, huh? Sounds like a real pain," Kagura replied.
Snowflakes swirled in the mountain wind.
A white figure streaked through the trees, light wings of energy propelling her through a web of anti-air fire.
Enemies fell around her, cleaved apart by her vibranium blades as if dancing through a storm.
"I can think of two possible strategies," she said, spinning mid-air and slicing the turret off an armored vehicle.
"One, we brute-force it. Two, we find a way to sneak inside the shield and disable the control node from within."
Tony winced. "Based on what we know, brute-forcing would require twenty times the yield of Tsar Bomba."
"That's a hard no—we'd destroy all of Sokovia in the process. So… can you get inside without punching through it?"
"Excellent question, Mr. Stark."
Landing atop a HYDRA watchtower, Kagura unsheathed her blade with lightning speed.
[Pseudo-Mystic Art: Frigid Rave!]
A flash of steel slashing the air around them and the Chitauri-powered turret, along with four fully-armed HYDRA soldiers, was shredded to pieces before they could even scream.
"Stark, let me ask you who do you think knows the most about energy shields in the world?"
Kagura turned and grinned.
"When HYDRA was still stuck debating who should replace Winter Soldier and Obadiah, who was already building prototype energy shield generators?"
"…Rhodes Island Industries?"
"Exactly." Kagura nodded proudly. "Strucker's shield might be strong, but the tech behind it is ancient compared to ours."
With that, she launched into the air and soared toward the fortress wall.
"Give me thirty seconds. That's all I need to analyze the shield's frequency pattern and phase myself inside."
"That sounds like sci-fi nonsense"
Tony raised an eyebrow. "You're saying you can hack into a high-level energy field in thirty seconds?"
"Hehe, wanna bet ten cheeseburgers on it?"
Tony chuckled. "You little rascal. If you pull this off, I'll buy you all the cheeseburgers you want. Until you're sick of them!"
"You better remember that promise!" Kagura winked. "I want tons of cheeseburgers!"
"You got it."
As Iron Man soared overhead in the Mark 43 armor, blasting down HYDRA flyers trying to close in, Kagura touched down in front of the shimmering blue shield.
"Alright, Cortana, you're up. Begin shield analysis."
"Command received, Master."
"Cloud server linked. Beginning reverse decryption of energy shield protocols. Estimated time to completion: 28 seconds."