Long ago, the Humans of Earth were visited by an aggressive, warlike civilization known
as the Kree of Hala.
Many of humanities tribal ancestors named these beings Blue Angels in the stories they
passed down through the generations.
Although Earth was too primitive to be of much consideration to advanced galactic powers,
this particular Kree faction found value in using humans for their scientific experiments,
in the hopes of developing a powerful biological weapon they might use against their enemies.
Their efforts to manipulate human DNA resulted in the creation of a sub race with unique
abilities, who came to be known as Inhumans.
These genes would remain dormant inside host bodies until exposed to Terrigen mist, which
emanated from Terrigen Crystals also created by the Kree and stored inside devices known
as Diviners.
The Kree then captured a Mayan hunter gatherer and transformed him into the inhuman Alveus,
also known as the Hive, a powerful creature able to manipulate the minds of other inhumans
and possess the bodies of dead humans.
Originally, the aliens intended for Alveus to lead their inhuman army, but their plans
were scrapped when the Kree government learned of their illegal experiments and shut the
project down.
Alveus then betrayed his masters and led an inhuman rebellion against them, ultimately
banishing their creators from Earth.
However Alveus had become so powerful that his own followers came to fear him, seeing
a human-inhuman alliance turn against their former leader, sending him through a device
known as the Monolith.
A teleporter created by the Kree which exiled Alveus to the planet Maveth.
Yet not all were prepared to abandon the man who freed Earth from the Kree, and so a cult
formed with the intention of bringing Alveus back to rule the world.
This secret society would go by many names and were represented by various symbols over
the centuries, but were revealed to the world as Hydra, with a symbol modeled after the
appearance of their exiled leader.
Though their initial efforts did not succeed in returning Alveus to Earth, Hydra cultists
would pass down their beliefs through the generations, with the leadership of the organization
meeting together every few years to hold a lottery, where one of them one be selected
as a sacrifice to be sent through the monolith to serve their leader on the other side.
Although many faithful Hydra worshippers were transported away, none had ever returned.
In the early 20th century, an ambitious member of the ancient cult named Johann Schmidt joined
the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler and rose to prominence eventually taking over the Special
Weapons Division, and creating his own research program he named Hydra.
The success and unrelenting grand ambition of Hydra’s new leader caused the ancient
secret society to pivot from their original purpose of returning the Hive to Earth, towards
a more authoritarian and militaristic organization, using global politics and advanced technologies
to eliminate their enemies and conquer the world.
Although this led to less emphasis on the worship of their deity, the more religious
members of the Hydra leadership went along with the new direction, in the hopes of presenting
the Hive with a united and subjugated world to lead upon his eventual return.
Johann Schmidt went on to experiment with a super soldier serum created by Abraham Erskine,
but his impatience led him to ingest the liquid before it was ready, giving him the desired
super human strength and speed, but also disfiguring his face and turning his skin red.
Abraham Erskine, who was being held against his will, was then rescued by the Allies and
began working for them, later perfecting the serum and using it to turn Steve Rogers into
Captain America.
Red Skull as he became known, continued with his ambitions for global domination, focusing
his attention on finding an ancient artifact known as the Tesseract, locating it in Norway
and attempting to weaponize the technology with the help of the Hydra Scientist Arnim
Zola.
But his work was disrupted and destroyed by Captain America and the Howling Commandos
as they eliminated Hydra facilities across Europe.
Arnim Zola would be arrested for his illegal medical experiments, while Red Skull would
disappear during the final confrontation with Captain America aboard the Valkyrie, when
he attempted to hold the powerful Tesseract in his hand, which unknowingly activated a
portal, transporting him across the galaxy.* Realizing that the Valkyrie was on its way
to launch a devastating attack against the United States, Captain America chose to sacrifice
himself, crashing the plane off the coast of Greenland and was presumed dead.
*The Tesseract then burned through the plane to land in the ocean where it was hidden for
a time.
Yet even with Red Skull and Hydra’s main facilities gone, the ancient society continued
to operate in the shadows, once again rising to prominence under the Arnim Zola, former
ally of Red Skull, who was freed from prison during Operation Paperclip, when former Nazi
Scientists were brought in to work for the American Government.
Under the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division or SHIELD,
Arnim Zola and other former Hydra operatives rebuilt the organization, staying true to
the goals of Red Skull, by seeking global domination through political and military
manipulation, yet altering the mission slightly by remaining a secret organization within
SHIELD.
Using their resources and government connections to slowly destabilize the world so they might
rise to power in the chaos created.
For years Hydra thrived, covertly ordering assassinations, revolutions and the fomentation
of war throughout the world.
They also continued to focus of the study of advanced and alien technologies, able to
find Captain America’s best friend Bucky Barnes, who was believed to have perished
during a mission in Europe years earlier, and treated his injuries while also brainwashing
him so he might serve their cause as an expert assassin.
They also then kept him cryogenically frozen when he was not on active duty, so he could
be utilized many times throughout the decades without aging to any significant degree.
Among the many crimes committed by the Winter Soldier, was the Assassination of American
president John F. Kennedy as well as the murder of Howard Stark and his wife.