Chapter Thirty-Six: Tit for Tat

“I’m telling you, this matter falls under our jurisdiction. You’d better go back to wherever you came from, right now!”
“Sorry, we’re here on assignment, and you have no authority to order us around.”

In the conference room of the Elm Street Police Station, the Captain of the Paranormal Rapid Response Force was glaring furiously at the military officers before him.
“What mission could possibly bring you to this place?” Guda ground his teeth as he spoke. The swagger of this group infuriated him—wasn’t this just bullying? His division had only just been established and lacked any solid backing!
“Apologies, that’s classified,” Des replied, disdainfully placing his cup back on the table, clearly bothered by the spittle his counterpart had sprayed. “If you really want to know, have your superior send a formal request to General Ross. Once you’ve secured proper clearance and made an appointment with my team, I’ll be happy to brief you on the details.”

Des then stood, set his cap on his head, and, pausing at the door, glanced back at Guda. “Oh, forgive me, I nearly forgot. At this point, you probably don’t even know who your superior is, do you? Tsk, tsk—how amusing.”

Guda clenched his fists, unable to retort. The man spoke the truth, and Guda had no grounds to argue.
Outside the station, Des looked back at the second floor, as if he could see through the walls to where Guda’s eyes burned with unwillingness.

Ah, youth—just because he’s been named acting commander, he thinks he’s untouchable. Once the political games conclude, his time as captain will be over, unless he miraculously achieves something extraordinary in this brief window. But how likely is that?

Des glanced at his elite soldiers, then at the local police surrounded by his men. He’d already scooped up all the seasoned officers; the rest were either sly veterans or green recruits. Even the police chief was on their side.

Investigate? Guda wouldn’t find a thing.

Upstairs, Guda took a moment to collect himself before pushing open the conference room door. Outside, his subordinates leaned in.
“Captain, there’s only one officer left with any real experience—Kadar,” a team member whispered.
“They even left us someone?” Guda sneered.
“Well... not exactly. Kadar is notorious for slacking off and is in cahoots with the deputy chief here. That’s the only reason he’s still around,” the team member explained.
Guda took a deep breath. “At least the records are intact, right?”
“They are, but the original files were all taken by those guys.”
Guda was left speechless. He shot his subordinate a glare and strode outside, unwilling to stay another moment in that suffocating place. What a mess.

Still, as he reached the door, Guda dutifully brought Kadar along.

Kadar sat quietly in the back seat, barely daring to move.
Investigate? He was the most suspect person here!

He recalled the warning from his brother-in-law, the deputy chief:
“You know who these people are. Your little secrets are bound to come out. If it comes to it, just confess. So you’re involved in smuggling—at worst, you’ll serve a few years. As long as you don’t implicate me, I’ll pull some strings and get you out on bail before long.”
Oh, my dear brother-in-law, I am smuggling, but what I’m smuggling can’t be revealed!

Kadar anxiously ran a hand through his hair.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Kadar snapped out of his thoughts to see Guda scrutinizing him.
“Nothing, nothing,” Kadar mumbled, offering a half-hearted reply.
“If nothing’s wrong, get out! We start here!” Guda hauled Kadar out of the car.

The moment he stepped out, Kadar’s heart tightened—their secret underground room was not far from here!
“This sector is your responsibility, right? You should know it well. Any suspicious characters?” Guda asked. Right now, all he wanted was to get to the bottom of things before the military did.
“Uh... there are a few junkies nearby...” Kadar instantly regretted his words. After so many runs, his mind was a jumble of smuggling-related thoughts.
“Good. We’ll start with them! Take me there!” Guda clapped Kadar on the shoulder. “If this goes well, I’ll see to it you’re commended and promoted!”
Kadar nodded helplessly. His expectations were simple now: just to survive.

Guda walked with purpose. His team was smaller, less equipped, and less capable than the military, so luck was his only ally.

On the way, he’d pondered the situation. Three people suddenly becoming wealthy yet remaining in this remote town—that alone was suspicious. However they’d gotten rich, it couldn’t have been legal, and given the speed, Guda’s first guess was drug trafficking.

Kadar’s mention of addicts fit perfectly with his theory—pushing drugs to feed their own habits was common enough.

While the military and Guda’s team conducted their investigations in plain sight, they were unaware that a squad of special agents had already arrived near Elm Street.
“Report: Ross’s people and the newly formed unit are on the scene. They’ve divided up the police force and are investigating,” an agent reported to his captain.
“Are our surveillance teams in position?” the Hydra captain asked, lowering his binoculars.
“They’re in place, all seasoned operatives—unlikely to be detected. But, Captain, we’re only collecting secondary, leaked information. Isn’t that a bit passive?”
“Passive?” The Hydra captain glanced at his subordinate. “You think we’re here to investigate?” He turned to address the rest of his waiting agents. “Take your teams and cover all the main exits. The rest of you, break into groups of three and stake out the exit routes.”
“There is only one rule: no one gets away! If anyone tries to leave, even just for a stroll, detain them. If you can’t, kill them, and dispose of the bodies and all their belongings.”
“Yes, sir!” The agents immediately moved out in their usual formations.

That was leadership—eliminate everyone, and whatever the others find will be ours. Brilliant strategy.
The sniper team leader, thinking this over, led his group to the critical junctions.

They weren’t bound by the tacit agreements between the military and politicians, and their numbers were more than sufficient this time.
In truth, they could have easily wiped out the others and locked down the entire Elm Street, conducting a full investigation by force.

Unfortunately, Hydra was not yet ready to operate in the open, but that day was not far off. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. had fully transformed, their return would be all but assured.