Attack on Hive

The Attack on Hive was Lincoln Campbell's attempt to eliminate the dark Inhuman Hive by pretending to betray S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to reunite with Daisy Johnson; expecting Hive to meet him in place of Johnson with the intention of brainwashing him, Campbell sent a Quinjet with Lash on board, believing the monstrous Inhuman's purpose was to kill Hive.

The dark Inhuman fell for the trap and was almost killed by Lash, but Johnson attempted to intervene, failing due to extreme blood loss. This caused what remained of Andrew Garner's personality to resurface, prompting the monstrous Inhuman to pause his mission in order to destroy the parasites controlling Johnson, freeing her from Hive's control. Unfortunately, this allowed Hellfire to intervene and kill Lash, rendering the actual mission a failure, but Johnson managed to return to the Playground and provide valuable Intel on the dark Inhuman's plans.

Background[]

It was taught among the Inhumans that there is an "Intelligent Design" and that their powers are not random; they all have their specific powers for a reason.^[1]

Andrew Garner discovered that he could transform into a lethal killer dubbed "Lash" who, with a blue energy blast, killed other Inhumans by burning holes into their chests.^[3]

Since its beginning, HYDRA sought to return to Earth the original Inhuman Hive from his exile on Maveth;^[4] the organization was successful.^[5]

Daisy Johnson became not only a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but was viewed by Director Phil Coulson as a surrogate daughter.^[6] However, during a mission, she was brainwashed by Hive and forced to betray her teammates, destroying the Playground in the process.^[7] Coulson was determined to facilitate her return, though she sent clear messages that she did not want their help.^[6]

Johnson loved her boyfriend Lincoln Campbell, and, no matter their distance, would find ways to communicate with him;^[8] Johnson and Campbell used Campbell's Containment Module to talk despite his being an agent and her being a fugitive. Johnson believed that she talked Campbell in joining her at Hive's side. In reality, however, Campbell's Quinjet was still at the Playground. Despite his irrational behavior since Hive brainwashed Johnson, Campbell knew that he could not trust his girlfriend in her current state and that Hive would greet him on the platform, and so he had sent a Quinjet with Lash on board instead, exploiting his previous irrationality to make the "betrayal" more convincing.^[9]

Attack[]

Expecting Lincoln Campbell, Hive waited on the platform where the Quinjet arrived, only realizing he had been tricked when it was Lash who showed up instead. Initially, Hive backed up, but then attempted to fight, only to be knocked off the platform. Lash quickly jumped down and continued the attack. Hive attempted to sway Lash, but the monstrous Inhuman shielded himself with an energy blast, causing the dark Inhuman's parasites to disintegrate.

Realizing his parasites were useless on Lash, Hive attempted to fight, only for the monstrous Inhuman to blow a hole in his chest, incapacitating him. As Lash went in for the kill, the Primitives, sensing their leader was in danger, escaped from the shipping container and attacked him. The Primitives stood no chance against Lash, and two were killed, but they managed to act as a distraction long enough for Holden Radcliffe and Daisy Johnson to notice they were under attack.

Radcliffe attempted to convince Johnson to flee, but she was compelled to protect Hive. However, she was weak from blood loss, and was only able to muster a feeble shockwave before collapsing, leaving her defenseless against Lash. However, the monstrous Inhuman chose to spare her, instead drawing Hive's parasites from her chest with his blue energy blast, freeing her from the dark Inhuman's control. Lash carried Johnson to the Quinjet, set her down, and prepared to continue the attack, but Hellfire, who had just returned from a beer run, stabbed the monstrous Inhuman in the back with his chain. Johnson knocked Hellfire and the surviving Primitives back with the strongest shockwave she could muster before comforting Lash in his final moments.^[9]

Aftermath[]

Daisy Johnson quickly took the controls of the Quinjet that Lash had arrived on and announced that she was coming home. Despite being weakened from severe blood loss, Johnson arrived at the Playground safely and was welcomed back. Jemma Simmons performed a test that confirmed that she was no longer under Hive's control. S.H.I.E.L.D. realized that Lash's actions were Andrew Garner's personality surfacing one last time.^[9]

Johnson was some time recovering in a containment room, where she provided intel to S.H.I.E.L.D., including the nature of the Primitives and a word Hive repeatedly used, "absolution", whose meaning was not clear to her. Although every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent forgave Johnson for her actions under Hive's control, Johnson refused to forgive herself, seeing herself as a criminal, even comparing herself to Grant Ward, despite the wildly different circumstances.

During this time, Johnson suffered withdrawal symptoms which produced at least one fever dream of her in a Containment Module with Phil Coulson with Earth having suffered a fate similar to Maveth. Although she tried to resist the urge, these symptoms eventually drove her to attempt to rejoin Hive's army^[10], which proved fruitless since Lash had immunized her against the dark Inhuman's parasites.^[11]

References[]