Chapter Five:

The Abandoned Belgian HYDRA Base


Even after the war, HYDRA still left quite the mark on Europe.

As the SHIELD jet touched down in the Belgian countryside outside the old town of Jrussle, after countless minutes of flying, I finished polishing my shield, which still had some dust on it from the battle in the Afghan desert, and adjusted my mask a little.

It was quite funny, a HYDRA base still in Belgium; lots of people seemed to have missed it in the following decades. And I recalled the last time we were there, taking out German soldiers and HYDRA goons in the Belgian forests with the Howling Commandos. We'd blown up tons of HYDRA facilities during the war, but it was a wonder we missed that one.

Now, it may as well be a Ten Rings base. I could see their symbol plastered on the walls, replacing the skull-snake symbol, which HYDRA was known to have, along with the swastika itself.

I disembarked from the plane, and strolled across the field of green grass, walking by the trees full of yellow leaves. A wind blew past, generated by the flowing of engines as more SHIELD transports landed.

A squad of SHIELD agents were soon with me, all armed, ready for battle.

SHIELD may not have been the United States Military; but the organization was well-equipped and prepared for any trouble in the world.

We marched through the grassland, keeping alert for signs of danger, and we walked into the streets of the old town. After being untouched for years, the windows were cracked and broken, and much of the houses had crumbled into ruined disarray. The streets were dusty, and filthy, empty too.

I couldn't recall if I'd been through here during the war, especially as I must have missed this. Whatever else had happened here, the town used to be peaceful, filled with life.

Now, it was nothing but a memorial.

The agents' hands firmly grasped their guns in a cautious and steady manner, our eyes were moving, keeping watch for anything within the landscape that may as well be a ghost town. Jrussle had a very haunting feel, after being abandoned for a very long time, but you couldn't shake the feeling that there was something that hid within the remnants of such an old place.

At least it wasn't occupied by German soldiers, at least it didn't have to see the Red Skull ride through here in a car, while people saluted him. A chilling breeze swept over my group, and a leaf blew by. Then, an old piece of paper floated across the street in the wind.

My hand grasped the handle of my shield, my shoulders tensed. Chances were, I likely expected an ambush.

Perhaps the Ten Rings had agents here, hiding in plain sight.

In a heartbeat, I threw my shield, throwing it towards the window of an old house. Someone grunted, and, as the shield returned to me, we saw the shape of somebody falling out, followed by the noise of a gun clattering to the ground.

We hurried over, taking a look at my shield's victim. He was wearing black with a hint of dark-green on his uniform. And then, we saw the band on his sleeve, red with black circles and black swords;

The symbol of the Ten Rings.

Within minutes, the agents began spreading out, checking the abandoned homes for more Ten Rings operatives, just in case we were walking into an ambush. I walked further, with a handful of SHIELD troops to back me up. If there were Ten Rings agents here, then the old HYDRA base had to be very close by.

'Pull yourself together, Steve.' My instinct said, 'You can't be on edge like this.'

We walked down another avenue, leaving the main village street. And then, we saw it, the tall metal structure standing beyond the neighborhood we were walking through. It could have been built anywhere, but it was there, just inches from the town. From a distance, it looked abandoned with very little activity taking place there.

The world was full of surprises, you couldn't be fooled. I nodded to the team of agents, all knowing what to do. My arm instinctively raised the shield, and we walked through the streets, approaching the base.

If it had been during the war, there would have been a massive battle; with my group contending with countless troops and guards.

Now, there was no major war.

And a terror group was laying a trap, wanting us to walk on in; just so they could get the drop on us. The Rings were here, and our intel was not lying. We were set for battle, we had the strength, brought up to max by the serum in my veins.

Honestly, if anyone were to call the rest of the Avengers; then it would be wise to do so before approaching the abandoned facility. At this point; it was no good to do so, it was no use.

Closer and closer, we moved in through the last stretch of the neighborhood until we were within a stone's throw from the facility. We'd moved through the gates, and the welcoming committee was hiding somewhere. There was no fooling Captain America or SHIELD, we had their number; and that number was not going to be in their favor for much longer.

We heard chatter, and guns clicked. A pair of men stepped out from behind a pile of old crates, all in uniform. Another man popped out of a broken window, and shouted in a foreign language. The militants' eyes were on me, their weapons raised.

I threw my shield, knocking out the first group of Ten Rings operatives, and then I knocked out the guard in the window. I nodded to the SHIELD team, and we moved closer. The door opened, and we stepped into the base, looking around the hall packed with old military equipment and boxes. A couple HYDRA banners were strewn along the wall; all old, and looking worn out.

Our group moved forward, keeping on guard for the enemy. And gunfire rang out, the Ten Rings made themselves known, shooting at us with pistols and machine guns. SHIELD agents took cover, and my shield came up, defending a couple of my allies.

A masked militant popped up from behind a tank and shot at me, my arm moved, and the shield flew from my hand, knocking out the militant while I rolled behind a crate for protection from the bullets.

"TAKE 'EM OUT!" A SHIELD captain shouted.

In seconds, the agents fired back, shooting down a pack of militants based on the upper floor. I ran through the hall, knocking out Ten Rings agents on the go. I bashed one with my shield, blocked a stream of bullets, and rammed a militant into the wall.

We cornered a pair of the Ten Rings, taking out a good many of them, even while some of our guys were wounded. Our team moved deeper into the base, heading through the halls, and knocking down enemies on the way. My shield protected us from the worst, and the Rings didn't see it coming when justice came knocking.

Energy blasts streaked down an adjacent hall, and I threw myself against the wall. The Rings had to have gotten their hands on some abandoned HYDRA weaponry, even without the Tesseract in their use.

A man in a Ten Rings uniform stepped forward, aiming a glowing gun at my head. A gunshot rang out, and the man dropped, shot down by Ozfer, a young recruit from Brooklyn.

I saluted him, and we carried on, making our way up to an observation room above the main hall of the base. We knocked out the guards, then we apprehended the last, and began exploring the place in search for clues. I found a log underneath a table, the unmistakable sight of the Ten Rings symbol laid upon it, and I looked through the log.

The log contained a list of Ten Rings operations, and various contacts. There was one that got my eye, just what I had been looking for; The Ten Rings had been in contact with their leader, The Mandarin, who had come to the base a few hours ago.

Now, we were getting somewhere. I shared the log with the agents, and we began looking through it, looking for clues to where The Mandarin was now...