October 2nd, 1939, just outside the great forests, northwest of Kock, Poland.
Axl Müller leaned casually on the tree trunk, eyes fixed on Kristoff Klein, who was currently talking to a small robin that was perched on a bush. The avian-zoolingualist was frowning in concentration, the robin bouncing on its branch as it twittered at him.
Adeline sat next to Marcus Meyer, the only one in the Squad she felt even remotely comfortable with. She shivered slightly in the freezing air. Immediately, Axl picked up on it, turning to look at Adeline. The red-headed man smiled jeeringly at her.
"Sie kalt, Kinderlein?" You cold, Babe? She sent him a glare as he started towards her. "Ich konnte wärmen Sie sich, wenn man wollte." I could warm you up if you wanted. His hands burst into flames. She shied away from him involuntarily, and Marcus slung an arm around her shoulders.
"Verpiss dich!" Fuck off! The male-telepath snapped. Marcus was clearly picking up less than savoury thoughts from the pyrokinetic. She was lucky that he couldn't read her mind. She was currently formulating all of the various ways she could rip him apart.
Axl laughed and turned away from them, and kicked at Kristoff. "Beeilen sie sich, Vogel Junge. Wir müssen bald wieder zu kommen." Hurry up, Bird Boy. We need to be back soon.
Kristoff didn't respond, just chirped a few more words to the robin before bowing his head. The robin bowed its own little head to him, then flittered away. He turned to Marcus; who's eyes went glazed as he dipped into Kristoff's head.
Marcus raised his eyebrows. "So sind sie versteckt in den Wald." So they are hiding out in the forest.
Kristoff nodded at Marcus. "Ja. Lassen Sie uns gehen lassen General Otto kennen." Yeah. Let's go let General Otto know. Marcus got up and held out a hand to Adeline. She took it, forcing a smile to her face. He kept her fingers clasped in his, as they made their way back to the German encampment further back from the forest border, a possessiveness in the gesture that made her stomach churn.
As they approached, Ernst Fischer and Edsel Weber came to meet them. Edsel had superhuman hearing - and had obviously heard them approaching, and Ernst could turn invisible at will, gauzy looking even when visible. Marcus and Kristoff explained their findings, and the other two nodded seriously. Axl grinned suddenly.
"Glauben Sie, wir in der Lage sein werde zu gehen?" Do you think we'll be able to go in? he asked eagerly. Adeline scowled at the ground, disgusted with his bloodlust. Of the whole squad, Axl, and a man named Garin Meier – who absorbed strength, and life force from a person by touch – were the worst. Always itching for conflict, to spill the blood of others.
Unfortunately, it was decided that they were to spearhead the attack. General Otto had read their previous reports, and decided that sending them in to do away with as much of the force as possible before sunrise would be a good idea. They would retreat at exactly 6:00 am, and Otto's forces would move in at around 8:30.
That was all Adeline cared to listen to. She sat at the back of the command tent, arms tightly folded, and face blank.
Just behind her, in shadow, as usual – the hulking form of her teammate. He had never supplied a name, and honestly, she'd never seen anymore but the quickest glimpse of his twisted face. They all called him 'Ex' because the rumour was that he was a failed experiment. He – unlike the rest of her teammates – also seemed reluctant to join the fighting.
She liked him for that – if nothing else.
"Sich vorbereiten." Get ready.
Adeline looked up at Marcus' rough voice. He was smiling at her with that odd smile he always wore right before an attack. It seemed innocent enough, but there was a strange sheen to his eyes that betrayed his thirst.
She stood, ignoring his proffered hand, and stalked from the tent, shivering as she hit the air outside. She looked up at the sky, watching as the heavy grey clouds began to break, and snow fell. The air deadened with the weight of the cold flakes – muffling feet, breath and the cock of the guns from her other teammates.
She herself carried only a knife.
Any excuse to not be able to deal out minimal death was snapped up by her, so when they were given the chance to choose their weapons, she had picked up the small knife.
Their uniform was simple, a black and grey camouflage print, with a shirt and pants combo. Underneath were the latest advancements in body armour – but Adeline didn't wear it. She didn't need any particular protection.
Pain served to keep her mind focused – and it was her own private punishment.
They ran silently, the only evidence of their passing their footprints in the snow.
Fritz Hoffmann sprinted ahead, by far the fastest, but closely followed Dedrick Wagner – a telekinetic. Hoffmann had a subtler, but far more terrifying ability; he could transform himself into a person's worst fear.
Adeline shivered at the mere thought. He'd never done his little performance on her, but Hans Lange had been on the receiving end once. He'd cried himself to sleep for a week afterwards. Hans could make himself bigger or smaller, depending on what the situation required.
Adeline began to drop back, exaggerating her breathing to make it seem like she was struggling. Eventually, it was just her, alone in the dark forest, whilst the rest surged forwards like sharks at the scent of blood.
Adeline could hear the chaos and yelling before she even reached the camp. The now familiar scent of burning flesh hit her as a gust of wind hit her. She clenched her jaw, and stepped out of the tree line.
Already, bodies of soldiers and pools of blood darkened the snow to a point where everything was faintly red and brown. Slush and mud were beginning to get stirred up, as Axl's heat melted everything near him.
As she took another few steps forward, a crazed scream made her whip her head around. A soldier with half of his clothing burnt away, raw flesh still smoking slightly, ran towards her. He raised his machine pistol and began firing wildly.
She stood still, letting him empty his clip into her body. The force of the bullets sent her back a few paces, and soon there was a small pool of red around as well. The soldier didn't seem to register that she wasn't affected, and continued his stumbling sprint. Adeline took careful stock of his injuries. She could see a freely bleeding cut on his left side, and his right was completely destroyed by burns. He wouldn't survive the night. He'd die painfully, slowly.
Making her decision, she whipped out her knife, and in one smooth slashing motion, threw it at his throat. Blood sprayed out further than she'd estimated, and she flinched as the warm splatter hit her face. She walked slowly towards his downed body, and crouched beside him. He was already dead.
She closed her eyes, resting a palm on his still warm chest. "Ruhig schlafen." Rest easy. She whispered, voice lost in the chaos. She stood slowly, walking dazedly towards the centre of it all, where rows of tents were burning. Men were burning…