(Present)
We were all in our full uniforms, with the standard army packs. I had my two long knives on a sheath strapped to my back and many throwing knives lining the inside of my jacket and other parts of my body. The anger had cooled off at least , to which I was thankful for. This would be my first fight and I didn't want to be distracted. Even after learning all I had during the 3 months I had been here, I was still afraid that I would freeze up. The good news was that I was more than prepared to counter anything Hydra would throw at me.
I remembered there weren't any major casualties on the Howling commandos' side up untill the train attack where Bucky falls. ' I can do this,' I pumped myself up. The others were talking in a subdued manner with the occasional joke but I could see, they were more alert than anything. That just reminded me that all of them were war veterans and I was the only rookie around. Falsworth noticed my discomfort and tried to ease my worries.
"What's wrong boy, ready to shit your pants even before the bullets start flying?"
He said while the others laughed.
Dugan hit him on the back of his head lightly.
"Don't mind the man-child rookie, you're rolling with us now. The Howling commandos got each other's back." The rest, even Falsworth shouted in agreement.
The Captain cleared his throat and we all turned to him. Gone was the easy-going guy I'd met the day before, the one standing before me was a soldier.
"Cannes is different from the other bases we have hit before. If we bring it down, it's going to be a big blow to Hydra and we can ride that wave, to hit them even harder. That said, I can't help but feel that something is wrong, being careful about any traps goes double for everyone. Gabe stick with Wentworth and show him the ropes."
Gabe Jones nodded and the Captain turned to me.
"Private, I know this is your first fight with us. I won't send you to direct combat before you get your feet wet. This does not mean, I don't believe in your skills but combat needs a certain frame of mind. Stick with Gabe he knows what to do. Gentlemen, war brings out the worst in humanity but it also brings out the best in some. What we are doing right now, what we are aiming to accomplish, might not net us recognition or rewards but just know, because of you, a mother will not have to send her son to die, a daughter will not have wake up without her father and millions will not face Hydra's cruelty on their mission to rule the world. Watch each others back."
He finished and we were all left with our souls shining with the light of determination. This man...this man cannot be a fictional character. He feels...so strongly, his will is as unbreakable as his shield and all these...men, would follow him to death and beyond. I could see it. This was the reason why Captain America was the co-leader of the Avengers. His ability to inspire good in others was astounding. I took a deep breath and looked around at all of them. I couldn't help but feel that I was right where I was meant to be.
General P.O.V
The howling commandos were dropped off 500 meters from the perimeter of a textile processing factory. This was of course a cover for Hydra. The textile making was on the first floor of the building while the secret Hydra facilities were located underneath the structure. The Intelligence the Howling commandos had gotten showed that the underground facilities opened up in a tunnel that lead to a cavern which opened up to a river. This was an emergency exit for when the base was attacked.
Captain America separated the crew into 3 teams. One team, would do a frontal attack to pull attention to the front of the building while another would use the river to access the facility's emergency exit in search of prisoners. The final team was composed of Gabe, Morita and Chris. They were to plant bombs all over the building by following the two main teams. After finalizing the plan, they moved out.
Falsworth being the sniper, took out the sentrys patrolling the perimeter, while the second group led by Dugan broke off and proceeded to the river. Fortunately, Stark had outfitted them with top of the line uniform which has highly resistant to cold. Luckily for them, the water wasn't deep near the banks of the river. There were 2 Hydra guards patrolling the cavern but, the both of them were too busy smoking. Dugan and the other two attacked them while Morita set the bombs. The bombs were detonater reliant and not timers.
On the other front, Bucky had cut the wires on the fence surrounding the area and they all made it inside. Having taken the patrol out, they proceeded to the gate and took out another Hydra agent. Bucky and Falsworth got to the top of the gate keeper's room. They quickly set up a bulky and futuristic gun that Stark had built from the samples of Hydra's weapons they had previously acquired.
The weapon glowed an ominous blue color and they aimed it at the front doors of the building, where Hydra agents were now pouring out.
"Let it rip Bucky."
The Captain said while Falsworth smiled.
"Aye aye, Captain."
A beam of blue light shot out and completely decimated the entrance door, taking many Hydra agents with it. The weapon died down and the blue glow dimmed considerably. Chris who was with Gabe, setting bombs on a few Hydra trucks was astonished at the destructive capabilities of the weapon.
"Gabe, why do we need to set bombs when we have something like that!" He inquired while gaping.
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"That weapon needs to recharge by changing its cell and we have a limited amount of that. That's why we need to bring back more weapons to Stark. Now pay attention."
The others proceeded to attack the Hydra agents with the Captain leading the charge. He threw his shield which hit one guy and bounced off to hit another on the head who released the grenade he was trying to throw on the ground. The grenade went off and blasted three more people back. Falsworth and Bucky were now following the Captain while shooting at the enemy. Gabe and Chris began following while still planting the charges. The building inside was full of machinery, which provided the enemy with cover.
This was where Chris finally saw the Captain shine. He was using the environment to weave in out while dispatching the enemy off in an impressive feat of speed and agility. Chris felt his battle appetite ignite as he stroked the knives strapped to his back. Gabe hit him on the back and shook his head.
"We have our job. Set these charges to the left and I'll take the right."
Chris nooded and begun doing it. A few minutes later they cleared the whole building and the Captain and others took the lift down to the underground section. By now, Hydra had already had enough time to mount an attack, so the resistance was much higher as compared to before. The whole structure was composed of 3 levels, excluding the main building. Dugan and his team were in the third level already, they had met up with a few scientists trying to escape and had promptly taken them down.
The battle was heated at the first level but the Captain and the others managed to get the upper hand and defeat all of them. They moved on to the 2nd level which was when things got bad. Chris and Gabe who were now finished with the 1st level were just about to continue on when Chris raised his hand to stop him.
"Wait, Gabe. There's something in the air....we need to stop the others now!"
Just as they begun to make their way down, a loud bang was heard from underneath them. When the lift opened up. Gabe stumbled off and fell down. There was a drug in the air messing with their senses. Chris had a stronger body as compared to baseline humans so he was still standing though he felt a little sluggish. He looked around and his eyes widened. Bucky and the others were sprawled out on the floor, with many Hydra agents dead from a grenade thrown at them. Only the Captain was still standing and he was in a fierce battle with a man dressed in a trenchcoat.
Chris' eyes widened further when he saw the sideburns on the man's face as well as the claws on his hand.
Chris P.O.V
This was not supposed to happen! What was Victor Creed doing here! I'd thought that this world was purely MCU, but Victor Creed's appearance showed that I had been wrong. Mutants existed in this world. I should have seen it. Captain America's looks had been slightly different from the actor who played him in the MCU. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts and the disorientation I was feeling. I weakly got down to one knee and looked deep within myself.
I strengthened my white-bloodcells to combat the toxins in my body. I also slowed down my blood circulation and tweaked things in my airsacs to let only oxygen in my blood stream and leave out another substance. Luckily the toxin in the air was much thicker in composition as compared to oxygen. I still didn't know where it was coming from. I increased my blood flow and took in deep breaths with my mind finally clearing enough. I saw the Captain on his knees too, with his shield on the floor next to him. Though he was a super soldier, the toxins had affected him too.
Victor was just about to slash open his throat. However, I wasn't going to let it happen.
"NOO!"
I shouted as I drew one of my throwing knives and accurately nailed it on the fucker's shoulder. He jerked his hand back and grunted, looking at me with furious eyes.
"Why you little bastard. I'm going to gut you."
He said with a feral snarl. He dug out the knife and dropped it. His wound healed up in seconds flat and I knew then, that this was going to be a difficult fight.
I steeled my eyes and stretched a little. Grabbing hold of the knives on my back, I unsheathed them and readied myself.
"Let's see you try."
Victor snarled again and jumped at me, thankfully leaving the Captain alone. He started of with a slash which I blocked with my blade. His strength was enormous. At least enough to leave me stumbling backwards. He slashed at me again to which I evaded and attempted to break his knee by kicking it. It didn't work. I almost lost my leg to his claws again. We tangled for a little while longer before I jumped back to take a breath. This guy was a monster.
I was good at CQC but Victor had experience from years of fighting and if it wasn't for his emphasis on fighting like an animal, I was sure he would slash me up to ribbons. Luckily, I was a cheater. I hadn't wanted to use this technique but I had perfected it for when things got dire. I straightened up and faced him. He must have seen the change in my demeanor because a serious look appeared on his face. I breathed in and...increased my blood flow while reinforcing my muscles by tensing them.
I took a deep breath and breathed out steam. This was a skill I'd seen in one of my favorite anime, One Piece. Luffy's gear 2 worked on the same principle mine did. There were however some big differences. His version utilised his body's energy and oxygen with the added risk of reduced lifespan. Mine on the other hand didn't use my energy but the Omnitrix's. How? I'd found out that with the Omnitrix intergrated within me, I could tap in into it's nigh-infinite power and use it. However, I could only use it on a very limited scope. So far it was only when using this skill.
I had also found out that the Omnitrix in conjunction with my Bio-kinesis(body control powers) had been the one responsible in getting rid of my Cancer. I now had even more reason to destroy ROD.
The skill had it's bad points as well as it's good. I couldn't use the Omnitrix to transform for the exact duration I'd kept the skill running. So if I used it for 5 minutes, the Omntrix would be locked for 5 minutes after the skill ended. The other disadvantage was that I couldn't use it for more than 4 minutes. I could push it to 5 but my body couldn't handle it, even with my Bio-kinesis.
In my normal form I could lift only 500 pounds and run at 30mph. With this skill, I estimated I could lift 2 tons and my speed was 200 to 300 mph. It increased my power by ten times. The name of this skill was, Overdrive. I looked at Sabertooth and smiled.
"Let's get this show on the road."