Chapter 94 The Foundation Recalled Its Space Army? Director Fury’s Decision

“Take a seat, Coulson.”

Inside the director’s office at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Coulson sat down with unusual nervousness.

He had returned to deliver his report and could barely wait to hear his superior’s conclusion.

“Director Fury, did you read my report?”

Seeing Coulson lose his composure over such a bold theory, Fury coughed and raised the coffee on his desk for a sip.

Realizing that he was behaving impatiently, Coulson straightened his posture.

However, he continued staring expectantly at his superior.

“I don’t believe your theory is wrong,” Fury said solemnly. “Our conclusions are the same, Coulson.”

Ever since the Foundation began its orbital-drop operation, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence department had closely monitored every broadcast from the battlefield.

As a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Coulson and the operatives under his command possessed knowledge of numerous classified subjects.

That was especially true regarding extraterrestrial life.

As Fury reviewed Coulson’s military report and the intelligence gathered on the Death Korps’ combat methods, memories he had sealed away for years gradually resurfaced.

The blind eye beneath his eyepatch seemed to ache again.

It had happened when Fury was still a low-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

His encounter with Carol Danvers—Captain Marvel, whose existence was now among S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most highly classified files and greatest trump cards—had changed his life forever.

He had lost his eye during that same period.

The culprit had appeared to be an ordinary orange cat but was actually a terrifying extraterrestrial creature known as a Flerken.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was no stranger to extraterrestrial life.

Even Area 51 had made contact with numerous aliens, and some of its deepest secrets involved wreckage and technology left behind by extraterrestrial visitors.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had originally been established, in part, to confront threats originating from beyond Earth.

The organization had been preparing for that possibility ever since.

Yet when the Foundation’s space fleet assembled in low Earth orbit, Nick Fury felt as if his entire worldview had shattered.

The fleet’s appearance also created a growing division within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Alexander Pierce, Fury’s longtime friend and adviser, believed they needed to restrict the Foundation more aggressively and prevent it from continuing to expand.

Otherwise, given the Foundation’s terrifying strength, no power on Earth would eventually be able to restrain it.

When that happened, the Foundation could rule the entire planet.

The faction represented by Coulson believed the opposite.

They wanted deeper cooperation with the Foundation.

The Foundation existed to ensure humanity’s survival. If it had truly desired world domination, it could have seized control long ago.

Nick Fury personally leaned toward Coulson’s position.

However, as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had to appear impartial.

Only by maintaining that neutrality could he stabilize the organization and prevent it from splitting apart.

“Director, if you agree with my theory, then you also support my proposal for closer contact and cooperation with the Foundation, right?”

Nick Fury sighed.

He knew he needed to give Coulson a clear answer.

“Yes, Coulson. You’re right.”

“But many things are not as simple as you believe.”

“It’s entirely possible that the Foundation’s true battlefield is not Earth, but outer space—the galaxy itself.”

“They may be protecting humanity in places we cannot observe.”

“One glance at those interstellar soldiers was enough for me to understand that their weapons were never designed to fight humans.”

“That equipment was created to confront enemies we can barely imagine.”

“Perhaps they fight alien insects or something even worse. Only enemies like that would explain why their weapons were designed in such an extreme manner.”

“And now, to protect humanity, the Foundation has recalled some of its finest interstellar soldiers to Earth to contain the damned SCP-008.”

Fury drew a deep breath.

His expression became helpless.

“Honestly, Coulson, I admire the Foundation.”

“I admire those heroes who genuinely fight for humanity and have protected us in silence.”

“But S.H.I.E.L.D. must maintain its current position.”

“That is what best serves the interests of the United States—and perhaps humanity itself.”

“Pierce and the others are not entirely wrong to be concerned.”

“We still know too little about the Foundation.”

“Human beings fear the unknown more than anything else.”

“Precisely because the Foundation is so powerful, S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot simply align itself with them.”

“That would destroy the balance of power and could create consequences no one can predict.”

Coulson inhaled deeply.

Even the normally mild-tempered agent could not stop himself from cursing.

“Damn this House of Cards political bullshit.”

“I understand. Checks and balances, right?”

“Motherfucker.”

Coulson’s face was filled with frustration.

After a moment, he asked in a low voice, “Then can I at least allow S.H.I.E.L.D.’s anomalous-response unit to establish reasonable contact with the Foundation and pursue limited cooperation regarding anomalies?”

“Of course.”

Fury nodded.

“That flexibility is also part of maintaining the balance.”

“Then I’ll take my leave, Director.”

Coulson turned and walked toward the door.

Before leaving, he stopped and quietly spoke without looking back.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Do your best, Coulson.”

Fury watched him go.

“Perhaps you’re the one who’s right.”

The office door closed.

Fury walked to the window and looked toward the White House and the Washington Monument in the distance.

He released a long sigh and lit a cigar.

“If I were still young, I would be willing to become one of you.”

“But I can no longer allow ideals alone to dictate my decisions.”

“Secure. Contain. Protect”

“We walk in darkness so that others may live in the light.”

“Damn it. What a beautiful creed.”

Fury stared at his reflection in the window.

“Motherfucker… Nick, you’re becoming the kind of person you always hated.”

Smoke filled the office.

In his imagination, Fury saw the Krieg soldiers fighting outside an East Coast city.

Amid snow and freezing winds, silent figures gripped their weapons and charged toward an endless tide of biochemical horrors.

He saw the MTF operators who willingly sacrificed themselves to contain anomalies.

The office fell silent.

“What would you choose if you were here?”

Nick Fury looked toward the pager Captain Marvel had left behind, resting on a shelf.

For a moment, he hated himself for no longer being able to make such a simple choice.

The Foundation’s orbital-drop operation had planted the seeds of division within S.H.I.E.L.D.

The genuine S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel under Fury might possess their own ambitions, but most were idealists at heart.

They were like many Americans during the Cold War who genuinely believed their country was a beacon capable of leading humanity toward progress.

When some of those people saw that ideal collapse, they defected to the Soviet Union and willingly became spies without demanding payment.

They had acted for the sake of their beliefs.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was similar.

Excluding those recruited or corrupted by HYDRA, most genuine S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel had joined because they believed in the organization’s ideals.

They wanted to protect humanity and become its shield.

It was therefore unsurprising that the Foundation’s orbital operation produced such a powerful reaction inside S.H.I.E.L.D.

After the Death Korps achieved its astonishing victory and became famous worldwide, its most enthusiastic admirers were not civilians.

They were S.H.I.E.L.D. employees.

Many of them believed the Death Korps was part of the Foundation’s interstellar military.

In their minds, an elite army had been recalled from deep space and deployed into a battle of life and death to ensure humanity’s survival.

The Foundation possessed a space army.

Why, then, had S.H.I.E.L.D. never detected the slightest trace of it?

Many intelligence analysts reached the same conclusion.

The Foundation’s interstellar forces must have been fighting beyond S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ability to observe them.

They were engaged in a secret war somewhere in the depths of space.

Why else would the Death Korps be so practiced at slaughtering biochemical horrors?

Why was its equipment so abnormal and clearly unsuited for warfare against modern human armies?

Because its entire military system had been designed to fight inhuman enemies.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s personnel and agents had always worked to preserve peace on Earth.

Their organization had been created partly to confront hostile extraterrestrial civilizations.

Now they had discovered another organization silently performing that very mission.

No one knew how long the Foundation had fought or how much it had sacrificed.

Its members were genuine unsung heroes, completely different from ordinary superheroes.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s personnel viewed the Foundation much as they viewed the Strategic Homeland Division.

So many people were performing humanity’s greatest work without recognition, leaving once their duty was complete and concealing every achievement.

S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel could easily see themselves in that image.

To the HYDRA-corrupted members of the organization, however, the situation looked entirely different.

The Foundation had secretly constructed a space army.

It possessed an elite and terrifying military force.

Surely that army had been created to conquer the world.

Such an offense was unforgivable.

First came the Chaos Insurgency, a traitorous offshoot that obstructed HYDRA.

Now the Foundation had appeared.

Both organizations stood in the way of HYDRA’s world domination.

They deserved destruction.

For the time being, Nick Fury could only pretend not to notice the growing conflict and act as the man holding S.H.I.E.L.D. together.

Otherwise, the organization might fracture at any moment.

Then Fury noticed the final recommendation in Coulson’s report.

Capitol Hill was urgently debating whether to allow expeditionary forces from other countries to enter American territory and help eliminate the biochemical abominations.

Nick Fury finally made his decision.

On this issue, he would set aside his personal interests.

For a moment, Fury felt as though he had returned to the passionate young man he had once been.

He picked up the phone.

“Connect me to President Adam Benford.”