"Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game."
~Paul Rodriguez

5 degrees 42' 21" S, 46 degrees 32' 54"
SHIELD Shark 005: The Mako
Thresher

"Adjust course, thirty degrees to port."

"Adjusting course, thirty degrees port!" A voice resounds in response.

The already busy bridge flies into motion, carefully correcting the motion of the giant battleship.

"Jamming hostile communications!"

"Forward guns in range!"

"Torpedoes primed!"

"EMP pulse charged"

"Fire EMP." I order.

"Fire EMP." The Chief Petty Officer repeats into his headset, the pauses for a second before speaking, "The enemy is dark. I repeat, the enemy is dark."

"Admiral!" A woman's voice calls up from the right side of the bridge, "Director Fury is trying to get in touch with you."

I nod slightly, "Pull him up on the main screen."

Seconds later, a scowling face appears on the large video screen. Director Fury glares down at the bridge with his one good eye, the other hidden behind his ever-present eyepatch.

"Director Fury." I salute the leader of SHIELD, my hand whirring as metal mimicked the motion of a real hand.

"Admiral Jackson." Fury nods at me, "What is your current situation?"

"We are one minute south of The Absentee." I reply, "I was just about to deploy my skimmers."

"Belay that order." Fury commands, "New details have arrived at the Triskelion."

"Sir?"

"It appears that the insurgent group holding this ship is of a...special kind, if you get my drift."

I groan internally. They just cannot leave me alone for six weeks.

"I understand sir." I reply, "Am I to assume that my overall goal is the same?"

"Secure the hostages." Fury says, "That is still your primary objective. The second is to eliminate all hostiles."

"Yes sir." I reply and cut the connection then, turning to the bridge, "This one requires my personal attention. Captain Blackbeard is in command until I return."

In truth, his name is not actually Blackbeard, it's Howard Tallows, but his beard is jet black and massive, so we call him Blackbeard.

"Aye sir." The Captain replies and stands next to me.

I nod at him and he salutes in return. I turn quickly and begin to move towards the launch bay. I tune my wrist-mounted communicator to channel three, the channel that only my elite squadron can connect to.

"Alright team," I start as I begin running, "We've got a special mission. Suit up and be in the launching bay in two."

A chorus of "Yes sirs" are the only reply I get.

Before I head down to the launch bay, I stop in my personal quarters. It's a fairly Spartan room. I don't carry much from ship to ship. Mostly a few weapons, and two personal affections. The first is a family picture of me; my wife, Annabeth; and our daughter, Zoe. Most people mistake my other one for an old powder horn. Oh, how wrong they are. I look at the picture longingly for a second before turning to my little arsenal. I grab a specially modified Glock handgun and a few spare magazines, holstering the gun and strapping the mags to my bandolier. After that, I take a harpoon with a strange bronze coating from the weapons rack and strap it to my back. Finally, I open a special case and remove a bronze sword from its stand inside the glass case. It seems to glow with energy.

I roll the sword in my grip and it seems to disappear as I sheathe it. Satisfied with the walking arsenal I'd just become, I leave my quarters and race to the launch bay.

By the time I arrive there, the rest of my team is already assembled. Each of the members has a set, determined face. Mentally, I go through each of them. They're all special agents, so there are no ranks, except my second in command. That's Gordon "Reef" Delane. There are seven others besides us two: Cassidy "Angel" Matthews, Kyle "Blue" Patros, Reilly "Saw" Huenis, Tanya "Hammerhead" Lexicanos, Henry "Goblin" Ortega, Tyler "Lemon" Boliv, and Francesco "Megalodon" Texiera. Together, the nine of us form a formidable team, able to deal with any special situation which may arise.

"Alright team." I start, "This operation just got very delicate, so you've been called in."

"What's the situation Thresher?" Megalodon questions.

"Standard hostages and hostiles situation." I reply, "Eliminate the hostiles and secure the hostages."

My team does not know of the special nature of their enemies. Their weapons have been modified by SHIELD tech specialist Valdez especially for these situations.

"Grab a skimmer and follow me." I command, stepping into the water.

Yes, there is water inside The Mako. It's there so that I can deploy small scouting ships from inside the larger battleship. The team is already prepared for the swim, and thus grab their skimmers and step in the water next to me.

"You know the drill." I say, "Goblin and Blue are with Reef, bow. Lemon and Angel with Megalodon, stern. Hammerhead and Saw are with me, center."

Everyone nods, and I radio the bridge, "Open the hatch."

"Ten-four Admiral." Blackbeard's voice come back over and the hatch begins to open.

"Go! Go! Go!" I'm already ordering, before the hatch is even fully opened.

I race forward in front of my team and dive into the ocean. Seawater fills my lungs as I take a deep breath. Grinning, I command the currents to direct me towards The Absentee, our target. My team is not far behind. Thirty seconds later, the nine of us safely arrive at the side of the ship. The skimmers magnetically attach to the side of The Absentee and the team all take out their air hoses.

"No matter how many times I see you do that, Thresher, it scares the seafood out of me." Angel shakes her head.

"You still haven't told us how you do all this crazy stuff with water." Saw ponders.

"Another time." I brush the thinly veiled hint aside, "Focus on the mission."

Carefully, I take the harpoon from my back and aim it up the ship. Taking a deep breath, I fire off the hunting weapon. The barbed prong easily penetrates the side of the ship and latches on.

"Alright team. Let's go." I press a button on the side of the harpoon. Gears whir as the winch inside begins to reel me up the side of the ship. The rest of my team follows suit.

When I reach the barb, I carefully peer over the edge and onto the deck. One guard, and it's one of those sea dogs, not completely unexpected. What does surprise me is the use of technology. The monster has two colt .45s bolstered t his waist. It also has an AK 47 cradled in it's arms. Quickly, I make a series of hand signals to my team, then silently flip myself onto the deck of the ship. The gears in my right hand whir as I take a bladed finger and run it through the sea dog's throat. The sea dog collapses, leaving nothing more than a pile of golden dust. Three seconds later, the rest of my team clamber over the side. I hurry over to the side of the ship and collect my own harpoon.

My team cooperates with measured precision, immediately separating into the three groups I assigned. Hammerhead and Saw draw their weapons, both were standard issue SHIELD assault rifles, until tech officer Valdez got his hands on them, much to my pleasure. The three of us operate like a well-oiled machine. Saw begins moving east, assault rifle at the ready. I begin to move throughout the transverse hallway as Hammerhead moves west. I see two sea dogs in the hallway directly ahead of me. I fire off the harpoon with my left hand, piercing the sea dog through and causing it to collapse.

Without breaking my stride, I leap over the dissolving sea dog and in one smooth motion, draw my sword. My mechanical hand whirs as the sword seems to leap into my hand from out of nowhere and I cleave down on the sea dog's neck, decapitating it. I catch the body before it hits the floor, then it dissolves.

"Bow clear." I hear Reef call over the communicator.

"Move to the bridge." I order as I pull out my Glock and double tap a sea dog before it could even sight me.

"Yes sir." Reef's voices crackles over the communicator as I shoot another sea dog.

"We've found the hostages." Megalodon announces over the communicator.

"Very good." I reply, "Saw, go to Megalodon's position. Hammerhead, assist Reef with securing the bridge. I'll handle clean-up."

"Yes sir." Both Saw and Hammerhead reply.

I don't notice the next sea dog until after it had fired it's gun. The world seems to slow down around me, and I sense the bullet' s path of motion. Faster than thought, I bring my sword up and deflect the bullet up and over my left shoulder, then charge and run the sea dog through with said sword.

After ensuring that the surrounding area is clear, I close my eyes and begin to focus on the sea around me. The Absentee begins to rock uncontrollably as waves four times their normal size begin to crash against the cruise ship. I hear hisses and cries of fear as sea dogs are flung over the side of the boat. My men are good. They're used to this happening and have the adequate means to counteract it.

"Bridge secure." Reef calls over the communicator.

"Hostages secure." Megalodon echoes.

"Lower levels clear." Angel replies.

"Alright, everyone sound off." I order.

"Hammerhead."

"Saw."

"Reef."

"Lemon."

"Blue."

"Angel."

"Goblin."

"Megalodon."

"Alright, sounds good. Megalodon, bring the ex-hostages updeck."

"Ten-four Admiral." He replies and I hear shuffling in the background.

I quickly change the frequency, "Captain Blackbeard."

"Aye Admiral." He replies.

"Prepare the transport quinjets. We need to get them off this ship." I reply.

"What is a cruise ship doing in this part of the world anyway?" I wonder out loud. I get no response.

The rest of my team converges just as the quinjet lands. Hammerhead and Blue help the hostages board the jet. Once they finish, the two of the walk over to where the rest of the team is standing.

Saw looks around, "This is the first time I've ever been on a cruise ship." He comments deadpanned.

"We'll worry about your vacation time later." I brush that aside, "Right now, I'm more worried about going home."

"Agreed sir." Saw replies and the rest of the them chorus in agreement.

I vault over the side of the ship and plummet into the ocean. The rest of the team follows suit and together, the nine of us skimmer back to the edge of the water.