"So, you think you know Captain America?" A narrator said over footage of the Captain America stage-show. The footage cut to a montage of Captain America and the Howling Commandos' many great deeds. "Meet the real Captain America in never-before-seen declassified footage and to-the-letter reenactments of true events. Get to know the kid from Brooklyn, his team, and their gear in this explosive, action-packed true story!"
"Steven Grant Rogers was born in Metropolis on the fourth of July, Nineteen-Eighteen, to Irish immigrants Sarah and Joseph Rogers. Joe Rogers was an American hero, who gave his life in the first World War to make a better future for his wife and son. Back home, in the neighborhood of Clinton, the young Steve would run into many bullies who picked on him for his small stature. Here, he met someone who would prove to be a lifelong friend, James Buchanan Barnes, also known as 'Bucky.'" Bucky helped Steve fight off the bullies, and taught him a great many techniques to leverage the smaller boy's speed against much larger attackers. When Steve's mother, a nurse, died of Tuberculosis soon after, the Barnes family took the young boy into their home in Brooklyn. There, Steve would attend George Washington High School and Auburndale Art School, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in the arts, with a double minor in geometry and physics. From there, Steve became an artist for newspaper comics with The Daily Planet, but the young man dreamed much bigger. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Steve was one of many to line up for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. But there were many barriers between him and service. He suffered from asthma, high blood pressure, and despite his strong fighting spirit, a physically weak heart. Undeterred, Steve trained with Bucky to overcome his frailties at Goldie's Boxing Gym, and several weeks later, attempted to enlist for the first time. But despite all his efforts, the doctors considered him too weak to be a good soldier."
"As the war drew on, Steve continued to push his limits, and attempted to enlist again, and again. Then, a chance encounter with Doctor Abraham Erskine changed his life forever. The doctor had fled Nazi Germany with a secret. A secret that would turn the tide of the war and change history. The doctor had developed a serum that could enhance even the weakest physical subjects. Inspired by Steve's undying determination, the doctor chose him to be the first subject of a government experiment that could reinvent him. With the aid of America's very own Howard Stark, Doctor Erskine helped a small young man into a golden pod, and out stepped Captain America. No different in mind or spirit, but completely changed in body, the young man had reached the pinnacle of human ability, a claim which was immediately put to the test when a Nazi spy killed the good doctor and stole the last vial of the serum. Without even a thought, Steve took off after the man, and avenged the good doctor's death. The apprehension of German submarine technology put the US Army on the trail of Captain America's greatest enemy thus far, Germany's very own Red Skull. A nickname for General Johann Schmidt, The Red Skull gained his moniker from the side-effects of an untested prototype superhuman enhancement formula similar to the one used on Steve.
"But, despite Steve's many protests, his first assignment was not hunting down The Red Skull and bringing him to justice. He was first assigned to the USO tour, where his promotional shows, films, comics and trading cards broke every record in the books, and sold a great many War Bonds to support the war effort. But, on the first leg of his international tour, Steve found himself face to face with the unit his best friend had joined, the One-Hundred and Seventh. Unfortunately for him, Bucky was nowhere to be found."
"When faced with the possibility of his friend and others being captured or killed by Axis forces, Steve led his first official field mission as Captain America. With the help of Howard Stark and America's longest-serving soldier, James Logan, Steve rescued Bucky and the other captives from Nazi hands, and led them safely back to Allied territory.
"After this mission, Steve would adopt his patented Stark Industries Super-Suit. Made of classified materials, the suit is bulletproof, slash-proof, fire and electrical-proof, and provides protection from numerous harsh conditions if necessary. The captain carries a standard American Colt M1911A1 sidearm, and has shown to be stunningly accurate with his aim. His close-quarters weapon of choice is the M1921A1 Thompson Submachine Gun, the first of its kind, and made in American! And of course, the Captain's most famous piece of equipment, his indestructible shield! Made from pure Vibranium, the rarest metal on Earth, this shield has withstood hits from the main cannons of the largest of Germany's tanks, both standard and augmented. Despite its seeming simplicity, the shield is the Captain's most versatile weapon. Utilizing his advanced knowledge of physics and enhanced strength and reflexes, Captain America can throw his shield with lightning speed and laser precision, and it always returns to his arm. Captain America is, by far, one of the most versatile soldiers in the entire armed forces, and his men, his superiors, and his enemies all agree that he is one of our most capable leaders. Most importantly, Captain America isn't done yet!" The scene concluded with an illustrated shot of Steve and the Howling Commandos, all ready for battle, facing off with a line of German leaders. At the front of which, was Adolf Hitler.
"James Howard Loga-"
"Shut it off." A loud voice commanded. The projectionist powered down the projector, and the lights came up in the conference room, revealing a great many red flags with white dots in the center, and a spiral-armed symbol in the center.
The Fuhrer drummed his fingers on a photograph of Captain America. "Zo... Zey present him as if he ver invincible." He steepled his fingers in front of his face. "von Braun!" He exclaimed. "How far along is ze project?"
Werner von Braun flipped through his notes hesitantly. "All but complete, mine Fuhrer." He said. "All zat is left is ze servos in ze arms und a long-term power supply."
Hitler waved a hand dismissively. "Zat can come later. Do ve have enough siphoned Tesseract energy to power ze machine?"
Von Braun nodded, reluctantly. "Yes, mine Fuhrer."
The dictator's mouth spread into a wicked grin. "Good. Zen ve need only to finish it und ze var vill be von. Hermann?" Hitler addressed Hermann Goering, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, the German Air-Force.
"Yes, mine Fuhrer." Goering responded.
"Leak ze plan to recover ze device to ze allies via channels zey have access to." Hitler said as he sifted through papers, until he found a photo of an ornate silver box. "Vons zey do not know ve know zey have. Make it plausible enough for zem to send ze captain und his men after it. Assign a larger number of greatly skilled men to ze plane zat vill transfer it to Berlin zen you report in ze communications. Zeir orders are to kill his men, but capture Captain Rogers... I vish to have a vord vith him... Von artist to anozer."
Steve knocked on Fury's door.
"Enter." The Colonel commanded.
Steve turned the knob on the door, and pulled it open. He came to an abrupt halt when he kicked a large tub of water that blocked the way into Fury's office. It had been carefully placed as to leave no passage around the contents, and the tub itself was too wide to step around.
Steve looked up at Fury, confused. Fury met his eyes, and motioned for Steve to enter. The Captain took a cautious step into the tub, and sank to his ankles. He looked down at his boots, then back up at the Colonel.
Fury immediately cracked up. "I'm sorry, Cap." He said with a cackle. "I heard tell of you healing the sick and raising the dead, I had to know if you could walk on water, too."
Steve stepped out of the tub, onto a thick towel that had been placed beyond the tub. He stamped his feet on it, and rubbed the leather with the cloth. "Most of the healing was Diana's doing." Steve said, sheepishly.
"That girl's the prettiest mystery I've ever been confronted with, I tell you." Fury said, shaking his head. "All that aside, we've got another situation." Fury passed Steve a sketch of a strange cube. "Our men on the inside tell us the Germans found a box of some sort."
Steve examined the sketch intently. It was of a plain cube, apparently made of some type of metal. All six sides shared the same pattern. A circle, divided by twelve lines. Each section had a dot in the center, and the dividing lines converged on another circle in the middle. His thoughts went back to the box on Themyscira. It was slightly different, but similar enough in design that they might be related.
"Look familiar?" Fury asked.
Steve shrugged as best he could in response.
"It's something the Allies picked up in the last war." Fury said. "The one-oh-seventh found it on the west Belgian front. Somewhere along the line, it ended up in Italy, and Hitler's having it shipped via plane to him personally."
"Now I don't know what the hell this thing is," Fury said with a shrug. "But we've got orders to keep it from reaching Berlin."
To hell with it. Steve thought. "I don't know a lot about it, but I think I've seen something like it, and I'm pretty sure it'd be bad news if they got ahold of it."
Fury nodded. "I figured." He handed Steve a thick folder. "The brass want you to run point on this operation. See what you come up with."
Steve took the folder and perused the information. The plan was already starting to come together in his head.
Steve pushed a button on the slide projector.
"Our next mission is as follows. Last year, after the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Italians recovered an artifact from the ruined monastery. They didn't know what it was, but a few days ago, Hitler found out about it, and insisted they send it to him. In two days, they'll put it on a truck and send it here." Steve pushed the button again, and the slide changed to an overhead map of Italy, with an airfield marked on the western shore.
Steve pushed the button again, and it switched to a picture of a stealth craft. "Once there, they'll load it onto this, an experimental stealth plane developed from the same platform as The Valkyrie. It's completely untraceable once it's in the air. Our plan is to board the plane covertly, and hijack it during takeoff. We're expecting a complement of five guards, pilot, co-pilot, and navigator, for a total of eight men. We'll approach from the water, sneak onto the plane, neutralize the crew, steal the aircraft, and fly it into Allied territory undetected. Any questions?" Steve asked.
Bucky raised his hand. "What kind of artifact are we talking about?"
Steve pushed the button again, and the projector switched to a picture of an ornate silver box.
"It's called a Mother Box. An artifact of untold power." Steve said, looking Diana right in the eyes. "If the Germans get ahold of it, we're in for a bad time."
Logan scoffed. "How many of these fucking things are there?"
"Too many." Diana replied with a shake of her head.
"Come on." Dugan said with a chuckle. "There can't be that many."
"There are two more." Diana said. "Both are far better-guarded than this one was. No army of men could even lay eyes on them."
The Commandos' eyes went wide at that statement.
Steve looked around the room critically, took a deep breath, and continued. "Any more questions?"
Morita raised his hand. "Yeah," he said. "How the hell are we coming in by the water?"
Steve smiled. "I'm glad you asked."