Destruction of Project Insight

The Destruction of Project Insight was a mission undertaken by S.H.I.E.L.D. in an attempt to infiltrate the Lighthouse and stop HYDRA from launching Project Insight after the Chronicom Hunters helped them acquire the required technology four decades in advance. Although the mission was successful, it also led to the arrest of Phil Coulson and Melinda May, and forced S.H.I.E.L.D. to reveal the position of their aircraft, Zephyr One.
==Background==
In an attempt to take over Earth and turn it into their home planet, the Chronicoms began a crusade against S.H.I.E.L.D., traveling into the past to prevent the formation of the organization.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.01: The New Deal However, their assaults were systematically countered by a S.H.I.E.L.D. team who followed them through time. S.H.I.E.L.D. notably protected a young Wilfred Malick, whose survival was essential to the rise of HYDRA, and therefore the need to create S.H.I.E.L.D.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.02: Know Your Onions; and later stopped the hijacking of Project Helius, which could have been used to eliminate many of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.03: Alien Commies from the Future!
Therefore, the Chronicom Hunters led by Luke decided to switch strategies, and forged an alliance with Malick, even though they had attempted to take him out years before.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.04: Out of the Past Indeed, since HYDRA was already active, the Chronicom Hunters decided to help the nefarious organization by granting them access to a technology that enabled them, through their already begun infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., to develop Project Insight four decades before their counterpart in the original timeline, thus giving them early access to a method to eliminate their enemies, S.H.I.E.L.D. being chief among them.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.05: A Trout in the Milk
==Destruction==
In 1976, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team decided to infiltrate into the Lighthouse, which had been turned into the launch base for the Project Insight rocket under supervision from Rick Stoner, a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. high-ranking officer who was unaware of the HYDRA infiltration. Daisy Johnson and Daniel Sousa were sent to hack into the Lighthouse's security systems in order to enable Phil Coulson and Melinda May to plant bombs that would flood the base upon being detonated. Accessing the surveillance camera was also meant for S.H.I.E.L.D. to assess the presence of prisoners at the Lighthouse who could be drowned in the base's flooding.
Using her advanced computer equipment, Johnson had no trouble accessing the security systems of the Lighthouse, thus allowing Coulson and May to enter the base and to pose as regular S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives after they knocked unconscious two agents to steal their suits. Coulson and May were able to go through the first checkpoint without any problem, but before Johnson could unlock the second checkpoint for them, she and Sousa were abducted by Nathaniel Malick, as Wilfred Malick had been alerted by his Chronicom Hunters allies that S.H.I.E.L.D. would attempt to prevent the launch.
Since they could no longer open the checkpoint, Coulson and May were instructed by Alphonso Mackenzie to reach out to Stoner in an attempt to convince him to cancel the launch, mentioning the Chronicoms' interference. However, Stoner did not believe Coulson's story, which May sensed thanks to her newfound powers, causing her to knock Stoner unconscious before he could order their arrest. May and Coulson then stole Stoner's access card, enabling them to reach the point where they planted the bombs.
Nevertheless, upon reviewing the footage of the surveillance cameras, Mackenzie recognized two people that were held in a cell at the Lighthouse: his parents. Unaware that they actually were Chroncicom impersonators, Mackenzie feared that his parents would die if the base was flooded as planned, and ordered the whole operation to be aborted seconds before Project Insight was launched. Instead, Mackenzie ordered Enoch and Jemma Simmons to ready the Zephyr One in order to intercept the rocket.
Arriving in time at Lake Ontario, the Zephyr One was able to fire a missile that directly stroke the rocket, thus destroying it and putting an end to Project Insight. However, it also caused S.H.I.E.L.D. to reveal the location of their aircraft, enabling the Chronicom Hunters, who had taken control of the Lighthouse's defense systems, to fire missiles at the plane. Still, the Zephyr One was able to sustain enough damage to keep flying. Meanwhile, at the Lighthouse, May and Coulson were arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.06: Adapt or Die
==Aftermath==
Since Project Insight had been destroyed, Alphonso Mackenzie feared for his parents' life, as the Chronicom Hunters no longer needed hostages to be used as leverage against S.H.I.E.L.D. Therefore, he and Yo-Yo Rodriguez mounted a rescue mission to save them from the Lighthouse. It was only after they were safely boarded into a Quinjet that Mackenzie realized that his parents had been killed for a long time and that the people he had saved actually were Chronicom impersonators.
Phil Coulson and Melinda May were interrogated by Rick Stoner, who still refused to believe their story about the Chronicom Hunters having influenced S.H.I.E.L.D. and facilitated HYDRA's infiltration to complete Project Insight. Nevertheless, May was able to sense that Stoner was actually surrounded by Chronicom impostors, putting him in grave danger as he was nearly replaced himself. Coulson and May were later able to free themselves and to save Stoner, thus convincing him of the truth in their version of the development of Project Insight.
==References==
Category:Events