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[b]Location[/b] Helicarrier 2
[b]Postion[/b] 15,000ft, Exact Coordinates Classified
[b]Time Index[/b] 1010 hrs March 4th 2012

Masters took the soft, red apple in his hand and bit a large chunk from the side of the oversized fruit. All around him, other agents and personnel scurried about the mess hall, meeting friends and work colleagues for their quick lunch breaks. Tony sat alone as usual. He figured most of his fellow agents had gotten sick of having to introduce themselves for the 1st time every time they met. Tony didn’t blame them. He knew how frustrating it was to have to basically relearn most of his work schedule, the layout of the hellicarrier and even the Heads of the Departments. 

His wrist buzzed. The tiny screen clamped to his arm lit up and displayed a small message. 
(Please make your way to Director Fury’s office ASAP. Please follow the map and audio instructions through the earpiece.)

A small bud appeared at the top of the wrist screen. Tony gripped it between his middle and forefinger and slipped it into his ear.

“Agent Masters, please make your way to Director Fury’ office. Follow the audio directions as given.”

The feminine, monotone voice began relaying instructions to him, directing him to exit the mess hall and proceed along the path she laid out. Finishing off his hasty lunch, Masters rose from his seat and made his way out of the mess. 

As Tony made his way down the halls of the floating sky fortress, he found himself idly toying with his organo-drive’s wrist display. The little device wrapped around his arm (and the one jammed in his brain) had become his lifeline. It stored all his own personal information, information about the hierarchy of SHIELD, all his fighting techniques and empty space for mission details. Problem was that the drives memory was extremely limited so Tony was forced to forgo certain memories. Names and places he’d visited on missions, large chunks of his own past and even the names of fellow agents and partners. That’s when the photo and the name popped back into his head. Jubilee. He’d have to look her up after the briefing.

Masters followed the audio directions to Fury’s office, stepping toward the steel doors as they pulled apart automatically and Masters stepping inside the room. The Directors office on Helicarrier 2 was small, dark and bare except for the desk, the contents upon it and 2 chairs. Behind said desk stood the Director himself, his back to the door, a black leather trench coat reaching the floor, the collar turned up, brushing the underside of his rough blackened hair, tinges of grey filtering through.

“Sit down, Agent Masters.”

Fury’s gravelly voice rasped from the shadows, bringing a disconnected image of another dark room, shadows and…restraints. Masters shook the image from his head and settled into his seat. As he did, three 6 inch holograms of costumed individuals appeared on Fury’s desk, each costume more extravagant than the last.

“Do you know these men, Tony?”

Masters stared at the slowly rotating images, taking in the details. One was dressed in a black jumpsuit with a mangled US flag on the chest and a single star on the mask covering his face. In his right hand was a large shield, with red, white and black stripes circling to the centre. The second was a smaller man, black skin, clothed in white pants, a blue tactical jacket and a red mask covering his eyes and part of his face. He also had a shield in his hand, this one, however, was triangular in shape, looking almost like a badge. The final looked very different to the others. He was covered entirely in a black tactical jumpsuit, a ski mask style covering his face. On the chest was a large, red X and cross reaching both shoulders. Around his waist was an old style belt holster, with 2 weapons on either side, each holding an classic 6 shooter revolver.

“I don’t recognise them Sir. Although I expect you knew that?” 

He heard Fury chuckle and turn to face him. The large scar on the left side of his face was slightly obstructed by the patch covering that eye. The scar reached the corner of his mouth which was curled in a permanent “smirk”. Nothing on his face indicated that he was actually impressed with Masters dry humour. He raised his hand and held it over each hologram.

“John Walker. Codename: USAgent.” The man with mangled flag enlarged slightly.
“Eli Bradley. Codename: Patriot.” The smallest image grew to match USAgent.
“Joseph Chapman. Codename: Union Jack.” The red cross image grew and tipped under Fury’s hand.

Masters raised his brow, “Codenames? You mean they’re SHIELD assets?”

Fury nodded, “They’re all assets like you, Masters. Meta-humans borne from experiments in our Science Division. These three were created after your incident with the SHIELD iteration of the Super Soldier Serum. A newer, less powerful formula was developed and administered to these 3 volunteers, Patriot and USAgent are both American agents and Union Jack is a part of the British contingent S.T.R.I.K.E. They’ve been on active duty for the last year as a team to help deal with the surge of meta-human and mutant activity. The team has been codenamed the Invaders.”

Fury paused his briefing, waving his hand, making the holograms vanish. He pulled his chair back and sat heavily into it, rubbing his temple in slow, concentric circles, his one visible eye closed as he continued the brief.

“Last week, the team was debriefed in the Triskelion after a classified incident, after which they were relieved for refreshment. It was discovered some time later that they had fled the facility and taken with them several pieces of sensitive SHIELD tech and…”

Fury paused once more, opening his vivid blue eye, fixing it straight at Masters.

“…and a copy of the newest iteration of the Serum formula.”

“Wait, the [i]newest[/i]? What’s new about this one?”

“This version is similar to the one that you were dosed with Masters, only with none of the harmful side effects and produces augmented strength as well. It’s administered through a patch and is temporary without constant replacement, lasting approximately 1 week. The project was designated ‘AVX’ and had Level 7 clearance only. It’s unclear as how the Invaders knew of the project or why they took it. That, however, is not your concern.”

 Masters’ wrist screen beeped and a small loading bar appeared. Masters could almost feel his head filling with the information about the three targets. Logistics, mission background history, preferred fighting styles. One bit of the dossier drew Masters attention.

“I trained Walker in his hand-to-hand? You don’t think that personal history might compromise the mission? ”

Fury waved his hand dismissively.

“Do you remember him? Recollect your time together? Personal history is irrelevant when one party doesn’t remember any of said history. In fact, it may give you a psychological edge.”

The screen indicated the finalisation of the upload, the drive synchronising the new information with his regular brain functions, allowing him to access and sort through it with ease.

“Your mission, Taskmaster?”

“Locate Patriot, Union Jack and/or USAgent, ascertain the location of the AVX patches and, if necessary, eliminate rogue agents and accomplices.”

Fury nodded solemnly, standing back up and turning his back once more on the asset known as Taskmaster.

“That’ll be all.”

Fury and the desk disappeared, just another hologram, leaving Masters in the darkened room, alone. Just another hologram. Just another ruse. Just another illusion. Masters began to wonder what in SHIELD was even real anymore. He got up and began to leave. What did it matter, he’d probably forget by the end of the day.