The moment that the smell of smoke reached Werner he knew that they were too late. It had been three days ago when the haze of black soot had begun to drift over them, carrying with it the all too familiar scent of burning oil. By that time he had already been ordered to leave the main force behind and to advance into Romania. Once the smoke had appeared that advance had turned into a mad dash to reach Ploesti.
Taking the oilfields had been easy. The few remaining Soviets had been there to finish the sabotage, not to guard them. All of the railway stations and most of the refineries had been blasted apart with explosives. Nearly all of the holding tanks had been set fire to, with the flames still so intense at a few that Werner was the only one able to safely approach. He could put out the fires but repairing the damage was a much more difficult proposition. These were only the most obvious signs of the Soviet efforts and Werner was certain that there was more waiting to be discovered. Prior experience made him suspect that many of the remaining buildings had been trapped in some fashion to extract more casualties later on.
One of the technicians that had been brought along to check the wells came ambling up to Werner. The man was covered near head to toe with grime. Even though Werner was not officially in charge most of the civilian and military personnel liked to keep him appraised of the situation. As much as he appreciated it there were times where he would have preferred to be left in the dark. Too much knowledge was a depressing thing.
"Just wanted to let you know that the wells we just checked were like the others. Fucking Russians dumped concrete down every single one. It will take months to clear out all that mess," Looking around the man corrected himself. "Clean up all this mess. Once the rest of the army gets here to keep the partisans from slitting our throats at night."
Much as Werner had expected the attack into Hungary had become bogged down. Breaking up the main Soviet formations had just caused a flood of men and weapons fleeing into the hills. He hated to admit it but Werner knew that the average Soviet soldier was not so stupid as the propaganda made them out to be. It did not take a genius to realize that Germany did not have enough soldiers, enhanced or otherwise, to fully pacify the countryside. Even at the height of the original invasion of the East years before there had never been enough men. So the enemy had taken to breaking up into smaller groups, hoping that they would be able to bleed Germany with a thousand cuts. For now it would be enough to keep many of them alive though eventually they all would be hunted down.
"That's not the worst either," The technician added. "I imagine you'll be getting the official report soon. When we went into town to get the refinery workers to come out and repair this shit we got some bad news. There aren't any. Before they left the Soviets rounded up near every man who worked with anything to do with the oilfield and forced them to retreat with them. We'll have to bring in replacements from home."
So now there were no facilities to drill for oil or to refine it, no safe route to get it back to Germany and no one to work on fixing it. This was all shaping up exactly as Werner had feared. Still, it was a poor time to be a pessimist.
"Any chance that I could at least clear out those wells for you? They go straight down don't they, I am sure I could keep a distortion on course for that long." Werner asked. Any bit he could do to help would save a lot of man hours down the line. Fuel might not be as critical now that masses of tanks were no longer needed but an air force and navy would be needed to deal with Britain and America. Both of those things sucked up oil like nothing else.
"Maybe," The technician worked the idea over in his mind. "The big thing is that you would have to do it without nicking any of the pipe casing. It's a son of a bitch to replace. Plus if anything caught fire that deep I don't know if we could put it out."
It had been worth a try. Werner knew little about how they got oil out of the ground so he would wait until someone with the proper expertise could be consulted. No point in rushing in to action if it just made more of a mess to clean up.
"Well, I'll go do another patrol around then. Might as well make myself useful." Werner bid the man farewell before starting a lap around the area.
It should have been different, with how much he had changed, but the battlefield seemed the same as ever. His powers helped the war move quicker than before but the very foundations of conflict remained unchanged. Werner could not help but wonder if they would be able to forge something better once this was all done. He still hoped to see Hitler dead for the things that the dictator had done but there was a large distance between the two. So long as he did a good job Werner suspected that he would have his opportunity eventually. Once Hitler was removed then saner elements might prevail.
A world without the looming threat of communism. One with Germany at the helm rather than the overbearing British, haughty French or hedonistic Americans. If he kept his wits about him Werner might have a strong hand in shaping how that world turned out. So long as he could focus on what he was doing right now.
As a car raced towards him Werner stopped his patrol. He recognized the man in the passenger seat.
"What do you have for me Uwe?" Werner asked as his communications officer hopped out of the vehicle. If they were rushing after him like this it must have been important.
"New orders came in. We won't be able to act on this until the panzermensch reinforcements arrive in a few days to secure things but I thought you would want to know." Uwe's face told Werner that he would not like what he was about to read. Taking the paper he read the short instructions on it.
"Proceed to Bucharest at the earliest opportunity. The Leader has commanded that the city be razed- for fuck's sake. Is this really the best they can come up with? It'll turn the country even more against us and give the Soviets time to lick their wounds." Werner cursed Hitler's stupidity. He could understand some measured reprisals to punish the Romanians for turning their coats but this just seemed counterproductive. Not to mention a waste of time.
"If it's any consolation the High Command agrees with you. Sounds like they are arguing for something less dramatic. Maybe they'll be able to convince the Leader to reign in his temper by the time the reinforcements arrive."
"Is the King even in the country anymore?" Werner asked in frustration. That was really who should be punished for this debacle.
"No one seems to know. The Soviets have been broadcasting support for his government so he might have gone along with them when they retreated." Uwe looked a bit amused by that. It was a strange thing, a monarch in bed with the communists who would have seen him overthrown in any other circumstances. War was funny that way.
"Well here's hoping that Guderian and the generals can get us back on course to the actual enemy." Somehow Werner doubted that it would happen but he could hope.
He was certain that Markus would have been overjoyed to receive such an order but the little sadist was busy murdering prisoners in Poland. Werner was the one who would have to deal with this in the end. Maybe if he put on a good show, destroyed a palace or two and the military headquarters, then Hitler's blood lust might be appeased. It would be a much better way to cow the populace than burning the whole city down. There had to be a way to pull it off and Werner had enough time to think up a proper plan.
Lighting a fresh cigarette with the last embers of the old one Stephanie let out a long stream of smoke before giving the order. Weathersby's orders against smoking in the labs be damned, she needed this.
"Begin Modified Catalyst Preparation Twenty-Seven."
It had taken weeks to get to this point and now that success was so close Stephanie found herself more anxious than ever. Getting here with the modified Catalyst had required a fair amount of trial and error though it had progressed far more smoothly than the original German efforts. All that remained was putting the finishing touches on and then figuring out what exactly this modification would produce. A physical isolation still seemed to be the most likely but what that would entail was a mystery. Not that the final stages were proving simple to produce either.
From what the cryptographers had managed to decipher in order to complete the fermentation process the Catalyst had to be subjected to a very specific series of physical blows. Already the modified process had required far more extreme heat and pressure during that fermentation than for the normal Catalyst. The sticking point was that there were several ways in which the final sequence could be interpreted. For now all they could do was run through each possible sequence until they found the right one. Provided that they found it in time. There were more possibilities than there were samples of the Catalyst at this point. If they did not find the right one then it would be another week of waiting before the next batch was ready.
As Stephanie looked on the hydraulic press that had been modified to carry out the procedure sprang into action. The first blow fell on the piece of waiting Catalyst, producing a small burst of red light. Then the second blow caused a brighter flash. With each drop of the upper plate Stephanie made a tick mark to track how many had passed. Finally it dropped and there was no corresponding flash. When it lifted this time the crystal had been reduced to powder.
"Clean it up and prepare the next trial." Stephanie instructed as she resisted the urge to burst out cursing.
Time was not a resource that the Allies had much of. Already Stephanie considered it a miracle that the Germans had not figured out that she had stolen their trump card. The veil of secrecy that she was working under could not last for much longer and she needed to have something impressive ready for once it came down. Though it might not be the Germans who managed that in the end.
By Stephanie's rough estimate the American tankmen would be finished their maturation soon and the American Battleship might already have been fully activated. Freshly produced Catalyst had been shipped to the American forces in France to assist in that, considering that most of her original stolen batch had gone into the tankmen themselves. Once that force was operational Stephanie could not see the military holding it back for long. After all she had warned them herself that the window of opportunity would be narrow. Germany would not have been idle all this time.
Taking her cigarette Stephanie rolled up her sleeve and extinguished it against her forearm. A little bit of pain to remind herself that she was still in control, no matter how much it felt like she was not. Everything that she had done was to ensure an Allied victory. This was no time to lose her head. Seeing that the men had readied the next trial Stephanie lit another cigarette and gave the order.
"Begin Modified Catalyst Preparation Twenty-Eight."
Hit, flash. Hit, flash. Stephanie counted every strike. Passing the point where the last trial had failed, then passing the furthest point that they had achieved so far. Her heart fluttered a little as the number of strikes approached the theoretical end point. The plate fell once more and there was a terrific burst of red. Leaping up from her seat Stephanie watched intently as the press pulled up. There on the lower tray sat the Catalyst. It glowed a much deeper red than the usual samples did. That could mean only one thing.
"Finally," Stephanie said as she let out a victorious stream of smoke. "Someone inform Captain Weathersby."
Now all they needed to do was make a few more successful pieces and there would be enough to start activations. Then it was just hoping that it did not kill the poor fools chosen as the lab rats.
A few short hours later Stephanie found herself standing in the entry hall of the manor, waiting for those first subjects to arrive. There had been a few additional failures but the rest of the modified Catalyst had been successfully completed. This was the closest to feeling giddy that Stephanie had been since she was a child. She had not had a chance to work directly on the breakthrough of the original Catalyst. In some ways it felt like this discovery was legitimately her own.
The door opened to admit Nathaniel and two soldiers. One was a blocky looking enlisted man with hands like hams, the other a much more debonair lieutenant. Stephanie could understand activating the first man though the second looked a touch out of place.
"Here we are, this is Stephanie. She'll be overseeing your activation," Nathaniel said as he brought the men over. "Stephanie, this is Private Morrison and Lieutenant Archibald Smythe-Jones. I've already given them the basics of what will be happening today."
"Ma'am," Morrison nodded. As tough of a man as he appeared Stephanie could see the nervousness in his eyes. An understandable response to what Nathaniel would have told him.
"Delightful to meet you, though do please call me Archie. As Nathaniel should know by now." Smythe-Jones added as he reached out to shake her hand, winking to Nathaniel as he did. "No last name though Miss Stephanie?"
"I'm afraid I misplaced it. If you two would head into the next room we will begin shortly." Stephanie instructed. Once the men had disappeared through the door Stephanie arched an eyebrow at Nathaniel.
"I know what you're thinking but even if he doesn't look it Archie is a damn fine officer and an even better fighter. Was head of the boxing club at Cambridge. I've never lost money on him," Nathaniel lowered his voice. "Besides we need more enhanced officers. The ratio to the enlisted is getting a bit out of hand."
Stephanie was well aware that Nathaniel did not just mean any officers. No doubt this Archie was from the same blue-blooded background as Nathaniel himself. For all that she loved her country it did have its own quirks. Though none so bad as those she had witnessed in Germany.
"Then I would assume that I should activate Private Morrison first? Just to ensure that there are no complications?"
"Good girl. I knew I could count on you. Let me know once they've made it through the activation." Nathaniel was giving her the benefit of the doubt that both men would survive.
Rolling her eyes as soon as the Captain's back was turned Stephanie followed after the two soldiers. So long as she got the credit for pulling this off she had no qualms about going along with whatever would make the upper crust more comfortable. It was hardly the first time she had been given ridiculous orders.
This was it. Having endured the hellish pain of the Catalyst twenty-five times Patrick was finally complete. If only they had found a better way to celebrate the occasion.
"They've got you in their sights, just stay still!" General Morton shouted from where he and his fellow observers were standing. Lupin was there as were an assortment of American, British and French dignitaries. This demonstration was as much to prove that Patrick was fully activated as it was to improve morale among the Allies.
Across the field from where Patrick was standing was a fully operational heavy tank. In fact with his improved vision Patrick could almost see right up the bore of the gun as it was levelled at him. Earlier there had been some similar tests with regular guns and Lupin had assured him that this would be no different. Strong as he might have become Patrick still had well-attuned survival instincts. Staring down the business end of a tank just felt wrong.
Someone started shouting out a countdown and Patrick braced himself. Five, four, three, two, one...
There was the boom of the cannon firing, the slightest whistle of the shell in the air and then Patrick found himself stumbling backwards as the explosion engulfed him. A direct hit and the worst thing that had happened was that his uniform had disintegrated. Which was a little traumatizing while in front of a group of foreign dignitaries. Once the smoke began to clear Lupin ran over with a new uniform while General Morton distracted the observers.
"Congratulations." Lupin said as he passed the bundle to Patrick.
"You know I would have accepted a cake too. Or a couple of beers. You guys really didn't have to spring for a tank shell to the face." Dressing as quickly as he could without destroying the fabric Patrick mused about just how far he had come over the last few weeks. It was rather amazing.
"If it is any consolation once the crew clears out you'll be destroying the tank. Though we do still need to do the halo resilience test on you so you can look forward to that."
"You're all heart Lupin." Patrick replied as he clapped the German on the back.
To pass the time Patrick had taken it upon himself to help Lupin loosen up a bit. There were a lot of differences between both men, Patrick having come from a poor working class family while Lupin's folks were well off business owners, but in the end they got along well. It gave Patrick hope for the world after the war. Even with as screwed up as everything was maybe everyone would be able to come back together and find common ground once the dust settled.
"There's the signal. Just don't do anything too showy. No need to let the whole countryside know what we are doing." Lupin instructed before taking off to rejoin the observers.
This was not the first time that Patrick had used his halo. Over the past week he had slowly been introduced to using the strange energy field. He may, quite unintentionally, have gotten a little carried away at one of the previous trials. It was probably going to be one of those things that he never head the end of, especially once his mother and sisters got wind of it.
Unleashing the halo Patrick made a small distortion at first, placing it right at the tip of the tank's cannon. Then he slowly moved it back, much like fire moving along a cigarette. That would show them that he had plenty of control. Once the distortion reached the front armour Patrick increased its size drastically until the entire tank was consumed. All that was left was a twisted mound of slag on the ground.
Applause went up from the watchers as Patrick released the halo and turned to give the crowd a bow. Walking over he could see that champagne was being broken out.
"You're quite the showman." General Morton congratulated him, passing along a glass of champagne as well.
"I figured it would make everyone feel a bit better." Patrick admitted. Taking a sip out of the glass he winced at the taste of it. He had never had champagne before and it apparently was not for him.
"Well anything to lift morale is a good thing right now. So I hate to say that they still haven't found your brother."
"He'll show up eventually. I know he will. Thanks for keeping me informed though." As much as Patrick tried to project that he was not worried about his younger brother's whereabouts it was one of the things that continued to eat him up inside. Looking around the celebrating group Patrick made sure to keep a smile on his face. If he was supposed to be the hero of this operation then he needed to make sure that he looked the part.
It would not be long now. Already the First Enhanced Army had nearly finished its field training in preparation for deployment. The only question was where could they hit the Krauts the hardest. Patrick trusted that Stanley and the other generals would come up with something good. All he had to do was be ready when they said go. Lupin approached and tugged on Patrick's sleeve.
"If you're ready we can go take care of the Halo resilience trial. We'll do it where there is a bit more privacy."
This was one thing that Patrick had not been looking forward to. Every tankman so far had been hit by a small distortion so that they would know what it felt like. Everyone agreed that it hurt like hell. Draining his glass Patrick fell in behind Lupin.
"Lead the way buddy. I'm ready for anything."
Striding towards Hagen's office Anita was confident that the folio she held was the key to her continued safety. This should provide the Wehrmacht with enough ammunition to knock Himmler from Hitler's good graces. That the man had been foolish enough to put himself in such a situation spoke volumes about his arrogance. Once the military felt more in control of the continuing ubermensch efforts then they might finally leave Anita alone to focus on more important matters.
It had been Project Lightning that had provided this opportunity. Anita had been able to track one of the researchers from the original project, Wilhelm Metzger, there. Metzger was capable but was also a serial philanderer. During the period that the camp had been cut off from the outside world he had propositioned every single woman there. Even Klaudia before her transformation, which had led to the worst explosion of the young woman's temper anyone had seen up to that point. The lech had deserved every bit of it. While Metzger's infidelity might have been overlooked by the SS given the vital nature of the project that he was working on the fact remained that his wife was an unforgiving and well connected woman. Threatening to inform her of his activities had caused Metzger to be very forthcoming with details about the project.
Contrary to what Himmler had informed everyone else the first panzermensch had already been activated using the new form of Catalyst. It was just that they were deeply flawed as Himmler saw it. From Anita's investigation of the project notes it seemed less of a flaw and more of a consequence of the transformation. These new ubermensch had far greater halo abilities than a regular panzermensch but no increase to strength. The preliminary medical examinations seemed to suggest that they actually had worse endurance and resilience than they had before the activation. So Himmler had decided to cover it up while trying to figure out what had gone wrong. He had promoted the possibilities of the project too much to present anything other than a distinct improvement on the panzermensch to Hitler.
Entering the outer offices Anita noted that they were a flurry of activity. She wondered if the Allies had managed to pull something off. Given how spread out German forces were at the moment it would not surprise Anita if something had slipped through. Though any Allied attack would only last as long as it took to move one of the Battleships into position to counter it.
Spotting Hagen hunched over his desk Anita triumphantly presented him with the folio.
"A little gift for you. It should help with that problem we discussed."
Hagen did not even bother looking at the folio before dropping it onto his desk. "It will have to wait. We finally found Bergen and Schultz."
"Is that what all this is about?" Anita asked as she motioned to the men scurrying about around them. After all the effort she had put into getting that information seeing it brushed aside without even a cursory examination smarted. "Just what have they gotten up to that warrants all this?"
"They defected. Actually it seems that Bergen was a double agent the whole time. Schultz we aren't so sure about," At first Anita thought it was a poorly timed joke but from his expression she could see that Hagen was dead serious. "The Allies know everything Anita. Everything."
With those few words it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Anita stood there speechless, her mind racing to consider a possible solution. It seemed to her that nothing short of the most extreme measures would be able to save them now.