Book 3: Chimera [Thor]

Chapter 10

It didn't take long for them to assemble and board a quinjet. Dressed in uniform, Clint and Natasha took the pilot seats, Anya working at the computers behind them. She logged their course and once they were on their way, she checked in with Maria back at headquarters.

"Keep me informed of the outcome," the woman stated. "And try to keep a low profile."

"Of course," Anya answered, "we'll be in touch."

Powering down the screen, the young woman swiped an image of the map into place on the hologram projector in the center of the ship. It followed their route with their destination located at the other end. Agent Hill managed to do some digging in the limited time, James assisting to determine their target's whereabouts. Thankfully the destination appeared to be in a remote area outside the main hub of Wakanda, but that didn't mean this was going to be easy. Those who dealt in the Black Market were never straightforward missions.

"Have either of you done a mission in Wakanda?" the Captain asked the agents. "Any information on what we're about to walk into would be much appreciated."

Clint was an immediate no, but the females were a bit hesitant. Anya spoke up, "Never been inside, but I've overheard conversations around headquarters from those that have dealt with them in the past. The situation with that country is a bit... odd."

"Odd? How?"

"While S.H.I.E.L.D.'s jurisdiction is global, when dealing with issues involving Wakanda there has to be permission to cross the border. We can't just walk in and go undercover."

"But Wakanda is a Third World country," Bruce pointed out. "Why the secrecy?"

"It's only on lock down when involving diplomatic matters and S.H.I.E.L.D. missions. People come and go as travelers and businessmen. The country primarily deals in agriculture and a few business trades, vibranium having been one of them. Still... you're right that there's something about it that doesn't quite seem to add up in the grand scheme of things."

"You've also read through the files, didn't you?" Natasha asked.

It was the only explanation as to why the young woman knew so much about a nation she'd never been to.

"Well, you know me." But the others weren't exactly following, so she further explained, "Before the Avengers initiative I kept to myself and needed some interesting reading during my downtime. It was never anything classified. Just the files that were public to the agents. But for a country that does not seem to contribute a lot to the global economy... Why the need to go through so many steps before entering? I've never known a country, besides those under dictatorships, to have so many restrictions."

"Wait, so how are we getting in so quickly?" Clint suddenly asked.

"That's why Agent Hill asked for us to keep a low profile. We'll be landing outside the city hub. It would be different if we needed to mingle among locals. Still, shields and jammers up. And coms private when we infiltrate Ulysses' compound. Nothing can get out to show we were here."

After a few hours the East African coastline finally came into view. They descended through the clouds to an abandoned shipping yard far ahead. There were many grounded vessels that hadn't seen the sea for quite some time. Rusting and wasting away buried into the ground. And the few that were being kept after weren't in the best shape. But that meant they were being used for something. And the largest sported the name, Churchill, on the side. There was movement along the outside as the radar picked up the number of guards surveying the exterior.

"How many are we tracking, Anya?" Clint called back.

He landed the quinjet out of sight among some of the debris for them to formulate a plan of action.