Earth-717: Captain America Vol 1
Chapter 11: Snowfall
The immediate moments following the team's crash landing inside of the Hydra fortress were utter chaos. Some of the team members had landed in different locations or on different floors. Explosions and gunfire filled the air with a harsh cacophony of stifling sound, relaying through the continuous drone of the station's siren alarm. A fury of brutal fighting took over, and only when it was over did Steve finally stop to breathe and get his bearings.
He crouched on the floor near the bodies of a half dozen Hydra security officers inside of a large library, with several tall bookshelves lined with numerous volumes. The decor was a mashing of Gothic-German high art sensibilities mixed with Nazi fashionings, with Hydra logos rather than swastikas. Steve pulled his radio transceiver from his belt as Falsworth and Gabe stood around him.
"This is Steve. Where is everyone? Bucky? Peggy?"
"I read you," said Peggy. "Landed near the lower decks with Nat. Good for us; explosives will do more good near the foundations."
"Morita here. I'm with Buck. He got kinda bruised, but nothing we can't handle. Looks like we're on the floor above you."
"Okay, good. Peggy, Nat, stay on course and plant those explosives. Morita, take Bucky and work your way down to us."
"You sure?" asked Peggy. "We could find a way to . . . ."
"No. Stay with Nat. Keep her safe."
Peggy hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Got it."
"See you soon."
Just as Steve placed his transceiver back on his belt, the double door at the other end of the hall burst open. Several Hydra soldiers ran into the room, followed by a metallic form. It was humanoid, but somewhat askew. Faded, grey steel composed most of the body, with a torso section that was abnormally large. The head was a small, rectangular box with a laser light at the centre. The torso then opened to reveal a green-tinted television screen that displayed a face.
"What the hell . . . .?" said Falsworth.
"Zola," said Steve.
"You did not heed my warning, Captain. I told you before that I would become immortal, and that Hydra would inherit this Earth."
"Not as long as I'm alive!" shouted Steve.
"An easily remedied situation."
Zola pointed one of his mechanical hands directly at Steve.
"Open fire!"
"Sir!"
Whitehall turned to look at one of his technicians, who was watching the video screens. They were in the security office, near the lower levels of the complex.
"What is it?" asked Whitehall.
"The Allied forces have breached the facility on three different levels. Look at this feed."
The technician turned a dial on his console, and the screen switched to a video showing Peggy and Natalie fighting against Hydra soldiers in a storage room. Natalie had a large satchel pack around her waist.
"That's an explosives pack!" exclaimed the technician. "If she plants military grade munitions on the lower levels, she could destroy the entire complex!"
Whitehall sneered and furrowed his brow behind his small fit glasses.
"Most of the security force is dealing with the exterior damage and the Captain," said Whitehall. "Send the Scorcher to deal with them."
"Yes, sir."
"And prepare Proteus."
The technician widened his eyes.
"You're certain?"
"If we are required to retreat, we shall meet with the Mistress. She is recovering at Mister Sinister's outpost in Greece. We cannot afford to take any chances. Is that understood?"
"But sir, Herr Skull, he would not . . . ."
"Is that understood?!"
Whitehall stared down at the technician, who was quivering in his seat. After a few moments, the technician nodded. He then turned back to his console and began typing in commands.
Peggy gritted her teeth as she emptied her pistol magazine, firing off the last few shots. Another Hydra soldier fell to the ground before she got back behind cover to reload. Natalie was crouched beside her, planting a C3 explosive charge on the concrete column they were hiding behind.
"Any chance you'll be done soon?" asked Peggy, as bullets flew over her head.
"Give me two goddamn seconds, you nutty Brit!"
"Nutty? Really? That's the best you got?"
Natalie lowered her head as a bullet struck the side of the column next to her head.
"Could you fuckin' focus?!" she shouted.
Peggy was then startled by a grenade landing next to her.
"Shit."
Without hesitation, Peggy reached out and yanked the grenade off the floor. With the same motion, she stood up and tossed it back towards the Hydra soldiers.
"Look out!"
The grenade exploded, ripping apart the two soldiers and painting the walls with their entrails. Natalie finished planting the explosive and then pulled out her radio transceiver.
"Half the charges have been planted. How you doin' out there?"
"Lots of bad guys, Nat," responded Bucky. "Don't know how long we can hold out up here!"
"Hold the line, killer. For me."
"For you? Anything."
Natalie turned off the transceiver and put it back in her satchel. She stood up and turned to Peggy before widening her eyes in shock.
"What is it?" asked Peggy, before turning around.
Peggy and Natalie gasped simultaneously as they saw a lumbering, humanoid figure approaching them. It was a man in a large, black suit that seemed to be a fusion of rubber and metal. He stood two metres tall, with a red face mask. Each step was slow and laboured, just like his breathing, which was audible through air filters in his mask. He was wielding a gargantuan cannon with both hands.
"My weapon comes courtesy of your Professor Horton, you democratic filth!"
"Get back!" shouted Peggy.
The Scorcher's cannon lit up, firing a sustained beam of orange, superheated plasma.
Ducking under Zola's arm swing, Steve smashed his shield against Zola's pelvis before shoving him away. Zola stumbled backwards, grinning the whole time.
"Such feeble displays of physicality, Captain!"
Zola held up both of his arms before slamming them down. Steve rolled backwards just in time to dodge the attack. The box atop Zola's head lit up before firing a thin laser, which Steve deflected with his shield. Zola fired another laser blast at the wall behind Steve, knocking him to the floor.
After shoving a Hydra soldier against a wall and knocking him out, Falsworth looked over at Zola approaching Steve.
"Steve!"
Falsworth held up his rifle and fired several shots at Zola, but they merely deflected off. He then charged and smashed the butt of his rifle against Zola's body, but the mechanical being merely shrugged off the attack and seized Falsworth by the throat. Steve tried to get up, but collapsed back on the ground.
Falsworth desperately clawed at Zola's hand as he held him into the air.
"Ah yes," said Zola. "I remember you. You were the one who called me . . . . crazy. Yes."
Falsworth could only gag in response.
"I do not take kindly to insults."
Zola then squeezed in his fist, snapping Falsworth's neck and crushing a large part of his skull. He then tossed Falsworth's corpse to the ground as Steve shouted in anger. He pushed himself off the ground as Zola charged his laser again. Before he could fire, the box atop his head exploded from a sniper round.
"What?!" exclaimed Zola.
Steve looked up to see Bucky aiming his rifle from an overhead balcony.
"Got you covered, Cap!"
Bucky fired two more sniper rounds at Zola's back, piercing his metal armour. Steve took the opportunity to slam his shield directly into the video screen, shattering it. The green image of Zola's face flickered on and off as the body slumped to its knees.
"Y-You . . . . hav . . . . have n-n-n-n-n-ot . . . . won, Cap . . . . tain. Ca-Ca-I shhhhhhh . . . . all r-rise ag-ag-ain-ain-ain. You b-break . . . . one b-body . . . . I ah-ah-have . . . . more."
Steve fumed.
"I'll break them too."
Steve yanked his shield out of Zola's body, which fell over onto its side, depowered. Gabe rushed up to him. Before either one could speak, Bucky fired another sniper shot to the door to the library, taking down another Hydra soldier.
"Morita's up ahead! I'll cover you! Move!"
Morita stepped into the laboratory area, scanning the room with his tommy gun. He was barely inside the door when he heard screaming and gunfire headed in his direction. Two Hydra soldiers were on the far end of the lab, shooting at him. Morita ducked behind one of the desks before wildly spraying in their direction.
"No! Stop!"
The spray of bullets cut down the soldiers, but also shattered several pieces of lab equipment. Morita looked up to see that a circular glass vial of red liquid had been destroyed, with the liquid turning to gas. The small, red gas cloud surrounded the man who had shouted, and he violently coughed and stumbled forward.
It was Horton.
"No . . . . no . . . ."
Morita watched in horror as steam started to emanate from Horton's body. He then stared down at his hands and screamed as the skin of his palms peeled off. Within seconds, cooked bits of flesh flayed off of Horton as bones in his arms and legs started to protrude through his muscles. His clothes were ripped apart by the various jagged pieces of cartilage tearing through what was left of his skin. His glasses fell to the floor as the mandibles on his jaw took shape, completing his transformation.
Horton then opened his eyes. The glowing red pupils at the centre of the black voids stared right at Morita, who was frozen in place by what he had seen.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyaaaaaaaaagh."
Horton took a step towards Morita, blood dripping down his legs and claws. The bones in his fingers had outgrown the muscle, turning all of the digits on his hands into thin blades. Horton took another step, with hunger in his eyes. He then roared and leaped forward.
Morita tried to shoot at Horton, but the transformed professor slashed the gun out of his hands before plunging its right arm through his chest. As Horton pulled Morita closer to him, with blood gushing out of his front and back, Steve and Gabe ran through the door.
"MORITA!" yelled Gabe.
Horton growled at Morita, his tongue licking his bloodied, serrated teeth. Morita then pulled a grenade off his belt and flicked off the pin.
"Chew on this, you traitor."
Horton looked at the grenade and hissed before it exploded, consuming both him and Morita. Gabe fell to his knees.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
"Come on out, little girls."
The Scorcher's plasma beam seared the wall as he lumbered about the room, looking for his two targets. Peggy and Natalie were on opposite sides of the room, with Natalie planting the last explosive charge as quietly as she could. The Scorcher's heavy breathing kept her skin crawling entire time. Just as she was finished, she slipped up by moving one hand too fast, knocking it against the column.
Natalie gasped, covering her mouth.
The Scorcher immediately turned towards the direction the noise came from. He began charging his plasma cannon when Peggy stood up behind him.
"Hey!"
The Scorcher turned around surprisingly quickly, firing his laser as he did so, carving a melted path through the room. Peggy fired several pistol shots at him, stunning him. Natalie took the moment of reprieve to run to a different hiding place.
The Scorcher quickly recovered from the shots, seemingly undamaged. Peggy lowered her pistol. The Scorcher heartily chuckled, his laugh throaty and intimidating.
"That it?"
"No."
Peggy then quickly whipped her pistol out of her hand. The unexpected attack took the Scorcher off guard; the pistol cracked against his helmet, hitting with enough force to cause him to drop his cannon. Peggy then jumped over the desk between her and him before pulling out her blade.
Stabbing him in the throat, Peggy then quickly circled around to his back as he fell to one knee. She then jammed her knife into the leather around his fuel pack, carving out a small hole. Taking a grenade off her belt, she stuffed it inside the newly formed orifice before turning around and sprinting away.
Natalie was near the door.
"Run!"
The Scorcher yelled out as he exploded, setting a large fire as he did so. Peggy and Natalie both ran up the stairs that led away from the storage floor. Once they reached a grand hall, Natalie pulled out her detonator and pressed the button, without breaking her sprint. She was a couple metres ahead of Peggy. She looked back at her friend with a wide smile.
"Hahaha! We did it! Thirty seconds and this place is . . . ."
Before Natalie could finish speaking, a sniper round entered through one of her temples and exited out the other. She fell to the floor without a sound, landing with her face to the side. Peggy quickly spotted the sniper and shot her down before looking at Natalie's corpse. A single trail of blood ran from her temple and down her cheek.
She was still smiling.
Gabe ran down the hallway, wildly firing his shotgun as the terrified Hydra soldiers fled. Steve and Bucky were far behind him.
"Gabe! Stop!" yelled Bucky.
Gabe was too consumed by rage and hysteria to hear the pleas of his friends. Quickly reloading his shotgun, he chased the Hydra troops around a corner, only to be met with a squad of ten soldiers all pointing their weapons at him.
Gabe unloaded his shotgun into the crowd, and they returned fire. Within seconds, both he and nine of the Hydra soldiers had been riddled with bullets. Finally coming around the corner, Steve and Bucky looked at the scene of carnage with dismay. Bucky was holding a pistol in his left hand.
Suddenly, the tenth Hydra soldier stood up and aimed her gun at Steve. Bucky returned aim and pulled the trigger on his pistol, but it only clicked, revealing an empty magazine. Immediately reacting, Steve grabbed the pistol out of Bucky's hand and threw it at the soldier. The force of the throw caused the gun to pierce her ribcage and rip through her torso, exiting through her back and landing on the floor behind her, covered in blood.
The soldier coughed blood onto the inside of her face mask before slumping to the floor. Steve and Bucky then silently took a moment to look at Gabe's body. They were then jostled by several large explosions coming from the floors below them.
"Oh no."
"What the hell?! Someone, report! Now!"
Schmidt was standing next to his desk, holding the edge with both hands as his room shook. The bloodhound in the transparent cage roared into the air. Schmidt then heard a voice coming through the intercom on his desk.
"Herr Skull! Catastrophic damage to the lower levels! The foundations of the building are no longer stable!"
"How did you let them do this?!"
"I'm sorry, Herr Skull, we tried . . . ."
"Fire the missiles, now! All of them!"
"They're not ready yet, and they might be thrown off by . . . . no!"
An explosion was heard through the intercom before it went to static.
"Hello? Hello!"
"You!"
Schmidt turned around to see Steve and Bucky standing in his doorway. Steve then threw his shield directly at Schmidt, who barely dodged to the side. The shield soared past him, smashing through the panoramic window. He then pulled out his Walther pistol from his belt as both Steve and Bucky charged at him. Bucky reached Schmidt first, knocking away his hand as he fired. The stray shot shattered the transparent cage containing the bloodhound.
Schmidt punched Bucky away with the back of his fist. Steve then reached for Schmidt, grabbing him around the throat with both hands. The Nazi yelled and fired a shot directly into Steve's stomach, but he shrugged it off and threw Schmidt over the desk. Steve vaulted over the furniture as Schmidt picked himself up.
Bucky, having recovered, then looked as the bloodhound leaped into the room. They stared at each other for a few moments before they began circle strafing, maintaining the same distance between them. The bloodhound then pounced, with Bucky pulling back before winding up and crushing the bloodhound's jaw with an uppercut.
Steve watched as Schmidt got to his feet again.
"Come on, get up!"
Steve punched Schmidt in the face once he was up. Schmidt staggered backwards, and Steve punched him with the opposite hand.
"How many of my friends have died today? How many good people died during this war?!"
Steve threw several more punches at Schmidt, who just stood there and took them.
"All . . . . because . . . . of you!"
Steve landed a final haymaker of Schmidt's face, knocking him against the wall. The bruised and bloodied Nazi then wiped his mouth and looked into Steve's eyes before breaking out into a hysterical laugh.
In that moment, Steve and Schmidt both understood something about each other that no one else ever would.
Bucky continued to fend off the bloodhound, dodging the wild slashes and landing several tough blows. Still, the creature seemed relatively unfazed by Bucky's attacks, when suddenly it lashed out with its claws. Bucky was too slow, and the bloodhound severed his left arm at the shoulder.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Steve turned to look at Bucky, shouting in surprise. Schmidt took the opportunity to tackle Steve, sending them both careening out of the shattered window. They landed on a balcony platform several metres below the window.
Whitehall watched as dozens of Hydra personnel stormed the docks, rushing to board the Proteus, which was a gigantic submarine that could act as a mobile, underwater command centre. Scientists, technicians, security officers and soldiers made up the bulk of the people getting on board. Whitehall even noticed that one of Zola's robots was entering the sub. After the crowd had finished boarding, the pilot looked at Whitehall.
"Sir?"
"Let's go."
"But what about . . . ."
"If they're not here now, they're not coming."
"Yes sir."
Peggy ran into the Skull's office to see a bloodhound standing over Bucky, whose left arm had been completely severed. She gasped and fired at the bloodhound, killing it with four direct shots. Her pistol empty, she tossed it to the floor before crouching next to Bucky.
"Barnes."
"S-S-Steve . . . ."
"What?"
"W-win . . . . dow . . . ."
Peggy looked at the shattered window before turning back to Bucky.
"Go . . . ."
Peggy nodded and ran towards the window. Looking down, she saw Steve and Schmidt locked in a bitter struggle. She leaped down and landed on the balcony as the entire fortress lurched. More explosions were heard in the distance.
"Peggy!"
Schmidt kicked Steve in the knee, causing him to shout in pain. He then threw one last uppercut, knocking Schmidt out and leaving him sprawled on the floor. Steve then fell to his chest. Peggy rushed over to him.
"Peg . . . ."
Peggy reached out and held his hands as he breathed heavily. She saw that he was bleeding from multiple locations.
"Steve . . . ."
"We . . . . we did it."
"Yeah . . . . we did."
Steve paused.
"Buck . . . ."
Peggy shook her head. Steve cringed and sighed. More explosions could be heard as the fortress started collapsing.
"It's over," said Steve.
"No. Not yet."
Peggy reached down and kissed Steve on the lips. She held the kiss as the platform beneath them gave away. She then felt the force of gravity take over, causing her to tumble into the air. She drifted into unconsciousness as the entirety of the Hydra fortress sank beneath the waves.