Red Skull's Hydra Base, Swiss Alps
A literal army of Hydra engineers were hard at work, diligently putting everything in their being into the final plan for the Red Skull. Despite the location of their base, they were all aware of the progress of the war and the constant delays/setbacks Hydra was faced with because of the efforts of Captain America and the Superman. Still, they powered through all of that and were nearing the completion of their efforts that would allow Hydra to achieve dominance over the world. All over the massive hangar, Hydra men were hard at work but they were joined by some reinforcements in the form of an SS battalion, Die-Wahrheit, and moving larger equipment or tools for construction were several Maschinensoldaten. Normally, the SS and Hydra were on opposing sides with this war ever since the Red Skull broke off from Nazi Germany and Hitler's leadership further solidified when Hydra wiped out a German garrison in Italy a year ago. Ever since, Hydra has been labeled as an extremist terrorist organization by Nazi Germany which means that Von List and Dr. Vogel's sudden partnership with the Red Skull was signing their own death warrant. With the way the war was going jumping sides wasn't out of the realm of possibility. It seemed that loyalty would only go so far when your leader was a nutcase who was months away from losing his war. So, Von List and Dr. Vogel jumped ship and were welcomed with open arms thanks to the assistance of a mutual friend they shared with the Red Skull.
High up in an office overlooking the hangar, Oberführer Wolfram Von List watched his Maschinensoldaten assist in building the tools necessary for the Red Skull's final plan for world domination. If this were one thing Von List could say about Red Skull is that the man definitely dreamed big and in any other situation he would have called the man delusional but after seeing what Hydra was working with then he realized that it wasn't a matter of if his plan would work but when. And with his SS battalion and his Maschinensoldaten now helping then they would be able to succeed where Hitler's hubris failed him.
"I must say, Herr Schmidt, your work is truly a spectacle to see." Von List said as Red Skull walked up beside him. "If only Hitler and the men working with him realized the forces you had at your disposal then perhaps this war wouldn't have gone the way it did."
"There was nothing to stop Hitler and the idiots who shamelessly followed him in his path. Fortunately for us, they will not be around much longer to realize their mistake." Red Skull replied when his gaze caught one of the Maschinensoldaten working down below. "Your Maschinensoldaten are an impressive feat of engineering."
"As are your weapons but it would seem that neither of our projects alone were able to take down the Superman or Captain America." Von List told him. "Those two are the only ones who can stop us."
"So perhaps it is time we put the two projects of yours together." They heard and turned around to see Vandal Savage walk into the room. "Doctor Vogel and Doctor Zola are ready to begin."
The two nodded and followed Savage out of the observation room and down the hall. "I must admit, Herr Savage, that when you first spoke about the partnership with your allies I was apprehensive but the results speak for themselves. Despite the delays caused by Captain America, the influx of resources you were able to get me and with the assistance from Von List's Maschinensoldaten, my schedule has actually been accelerated." Red Skull spoke.
"And I'm grateful for your word of warning as well, Herr Savage. With the Superman and Allies pushing into Austria and then heading east they would have been in Poland sooner than the Soviets. Your warning gave me the time to evacuate my base and save my research but I'm a little apprehensive about what you're suggesting." Von List said as they entered another observation room for a medical suite a floor below. "What you're suggesting has never been done before. Suits of armor are one thing but this…do you think it will really work?"
Savage just smirked as they looked down at the operating room where Doctor Ulrich Vogel and Doctor Arnim Zola were adorned in surgical gowns and masks while a group of assistances were helping get everything ready. This operating room was unique for the operation that was about to take place. On one wall there was the medical information for the patient. X-rays, blood tests, and everything else current medical science had to run, even Hydra's advanced science under Doctor Zola and what they had to show painted a not-so pretty picture. The picture of a man whose body underwent significant stress and trauma that had a lasting effect. Significant stress fractures throughout his entire skeleton but his more severe broken left leg and right arm had healed, albeit not the best. Internal X-rays showed several internal organ damage specifically to his liver and kidneys with nine out of ten doctors agreeing that in a year or two the organs would be dead without significant treatment but what kind of treatment was still up for debate. There was significant damage in the major muscle groups as well as on the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue all over his body all a result of his body undergoing significant stress and trauma. That was the medical science part of this operation.
On the adjacent wall, there were designs and schematics of an engineering nature that was on the cusp of something truly revolutionary or barbaric depending on how you look at it. Schematics for advanced mechanical prosthetics and interconnected systems to combine a mechanical system with a biological one. It was highly advanced work as assistants brought in mechanical prosthetics that bared a design resemblance to Doctor Vogel's work on the Maschinensoldaten project combined with the refined procedure and material curtsey of Doctor Zola's work and off to the side were two separate cases. Inside one of them was a piece of Kryptonite used to power the Maschinensoldaten armor and in the other there was the signature blue glow from the Red Skull's Cosmic Cube. Not it's actual name but something that many Hydra soldiers called it.
"I have it on good authority it will work. My associate, Herr Thawne, told me of a similar instance where this kind of procedure ended up created a worthy adversary to the Superman. While our manner of materials and methods may differ slightly, it should work." Savage informed him.
"And you trust this Thawne?" Von List asked.
"Much like us, gentlemen, he was someone who saw things in ways that others didn't and was gifted with a unique insight that proved to be very useful. He was the one who aided in my endeavors which included gathering the resources and wealth to help each and every one of the special projects that Hitler was too stupid to see would work. Unfortunately, it seems as though he is no longer able to help us because if he were then my work in Wakanda wouldn't have gone the way it did and Dr. Vought would be here with us including his serum." Savage said when the door to the operating room opened. An assistant wheeled in the patient via a wheelchair and judging by his condition it was needed. Said patient was in bad condition. There were numerous suture marks and stitches from bad cuts in the skin likely a result of said skin being stretched to its limits. The discoloration of the skin in various spots were indicative of severe trauma and adding on the IV line inserted into the patients left arm and the oxygen mask on his mouth, the patient looked more dead than alive. The wheelchair was stopped next to the operating table allowing the patient to stand up though shakily so the attendants aided him. The man removed the oxygen mask from his mouth and looked at the operating table before looking up at the observation room above. Said man with the sickly pale skin and body that looked like it was driven over by a bulldozer used to a proud member of the Waffen-SS. Hauptsturmführer Otto Skorzeny, the SS team leader who led the retrieval team for Benito Mussolini only to encounter the Superman and Taskforce Vanguard. He was the first man to use Projekt Kassenschalger AKA Project Blockbluster in the field, a gift from Von List in the hopes it might tip the odds in his favor if they ever ran into the Superman. It didn't as despite the power the serum gifted Skorzeny, the Superman was still able to defeat him. His body was recovered off the coast of Yugoslavia having reverted back from its mutated state but suffering from tremendous damage that would have normally meant death but Skorzeny defied that to stay in the land of the living with only one thought that was palpable to see in his eyes.
Skorzeny's gaze shifted down as he looked at the walls adorned in medical and mechanical information that flew over his head. He didn't have the intelligence to completely comprehend the medical science or mechanical engineering for what was going to happen but Doctor Vogel and Zola told him what the purpose of the procedure was and its ultimate goal…and he couldn't be more ready. There was a burning gleam in his eyes, a burning for revenge that even if this operation destroyed him, even if it ruined him or turned him into something monstrous, it would be worth it. Why? For one simple reason. It could give him what he needs to avenge what he lost. Skorzeny remembered what it felt like when he injected the serum into his body and changed that day when he fought the Superman. He remembered the blistering pain and the horrendous sounds his body made as it underwent the transformation, feeling his body move and adjust in ways he never thought possible as his strength grew second by second and when it was over…he…felt…godlike.
In that moment he achieved a level of strength and clarity that brought him to a state of nirvana spiritualists from every faith in the world could only ever hope to achieve. Bullets bounced off his skin, he ripped metal with his bare hands and he made the Superman bleed. He became a god with the strength of an army and despite the passage of time he remembered everything like it was yesterday. Like it was burned into his memory forever. The feeling of his fists breaking the skin of the Superman and causing blood to spill out, the cries of pain and the look of genuine fear when the Superman and his team first saw him with their own eyes. It was his own moment of triumph as his thoughts drifted into what his life would be like if things had gone differently. If he had succeeded. If Fate hasn't been cruel. He would have returned to Berlin a hero. Benito Mussolini safely in custody and the Superman dead by his hands. Hitler himself thanking him for his service, a parade thrown in celebration and nothing but his name honored for generations to come. But like the shattering of glass, those thoughts faded away like smoke. Somehow the Superman managed to get stronger and faster, using some kind of cheat or trick typical of the Americans. Skorzeny remembered the pain he dealt out but also remembered the pain he felt before he was punched with enough force that he was launched from the Italian mountain. His next memory after that was waking up in a Croatian hospital and his body had reverted from its godlike state back into his weak human shell but battered, bruised, and barely clinging to life. The Superman returned to Britain a hero, Mussolini was captured and his mission was a failure. As he laid in that hospital bed there was one thought running through his mind and that was the burning hatred he had for the Superman. He wanted revenge for the person who beat him and stole his glory. If there was even an infinitesimal chance he could take on the Superman again, he would take it no matter what, even if he died.
Luckily, the answer to his prayers came in the form of Vandal Savage who had him transported back into German territory and put him in the care of the best doctors for this exact moment. Skorzeny looked at operating table and slowly traced his hand over where his body would be for the next several days. Doctor Vogel and Doctor Zola finished their prep work and walked over to Skorzeny.
"Are you ready, Skorzeny?" Dr. Zola asked and Skorzeny nodded before some assistants helped him onto the operating table. His limbs were strapped into place while Dr. Zola and Vogel took their positions with aids at the ready for all the equipment they could need. "We'll put you under now. When you wake up, you will be reborn."
Dr. Vogel nodded to an aid who put oxygen mask on Skorzeny's mouth before another inserted an IV line into his arm to keep him replenished with fluids. Once the needle was inserted he then pumped in a syringe filled with a sedative. "Do one thing, Doctors…" Skorzeny said and the two doctors looked at him. "…make me a god."
The sedative took affect and Skorzeny's eyes closed allowing the doctors to get to work. The doors to the operating room opened once again and the aids pushed in something on a gurney covered by a white cloth. It's shape was distinctly human in
size but it wasn't. Up in the observation room Savage, Von List and Red Skull watched as a truly horrific operation took place that wouldn't birth a god…but a monster.
Late April
Poland
When Germany invaded Poland they erected a similar work/prison camp akin to the one found in Dachau, Germany but the camp in Auschwitz, Poland was on another level. A complex of 40 different smaller camps that initially started off as army barracks and a POW camp which quickly filled with political detainees, mainly captured Polish citizens. Things in the camp were brutal to say the least. Over the following years in 1939 it became the place where Jews from all over German-occupied Europe were sent to its gas chambers or to be put to work. Like in Dachau, the camp was also used for twisted medical experiments that were authorized with no problem from Camp Commandant Rudolf Höss and headed by Nazi Officer Klaus Schmidt. Earlier in 1944, on a rainy day like any other a new batch of arrivals from Germany came in and they were promptly sorted between those deemed worthy enough to be put to work and those immediately to be sent to be disposed of. Schmidt was in his office watching everything from above while he sipped his tea and saw a young boy separated from his parents trying to get back to them. Desperately reaching out to them in a vain attempt to be with them was quite amusing until Schmidt witnessed something incredible. The boy reached his hand out and the thick steel gates that separated the camps began to bend and twist. The boy fought with all he had in the grasp of two soldiers but he would not be pulled away, like his pull on the steel gates kept him from moving. In fact, he was drawn to them and would have flown forward if not for the two soldiers holding him in place but it soon took a total of four to hold him in place until one soldier struck the boy across the face with his rifle. Schmidt was intrigued and knew right then and there that the boy was something special.
Schmidt walked over to his record player and put on La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf to put the room into a relaxing atmosphere, part of his technique as two soldiers dropped off the young boy. Erik Lehnsherr. The boy was obviously frightened and worried but Schmidt put on his best and most charming face.
"Understand this, Erik…these Nazis…I'm not like them." Schmidt said as he sat at his desk. In front of him was a small bell, a German Silver coin, and a German chocolate bar. "Genes are the key, yes? But their goals? Blue eyes? Blonde hair? Pathetic. The Superman is none of these things and yet they think they are still superior." Schmidt unwrapped the chocolate bar and took a bite before sliding it forward. "Eat the chocolate. It's good. Want some?"
Erik licked his lips but declined the sweet. "I want to see my mother."
Schmidt pulled the Chocolate bar away and took another bite himself. "Genes are the key that unlocks the door to a new age, Erik. A new future for mankind. Evolution. You know what I'm talking about? It's a simple thing I ask of you. A little coin is nothing compared to a big gate. Is it?"
Erik concentrated, his face squinting and scrunching while he raised his hands toward the coin in an effort to do to it like he did the gate. Make it move, lift it into the air, crush it, anything. Concentrate as he did it was all in vain since nothing happened. "I tried, Herr Doctor. I can't…I don't…it's impossible."
Schmidt sighed and sat back in his chair. "The one thing I can say for the Nazis is their methods seems to produce results. [Clicking tongue] I'm sorry, Erik." Schmidt rang the bell and a few seconds later the door to his office opened. Two soldiers walked in, escorting a woman with them. She was dressed in a prison uniform, her hair shaved so she had a shawl wrapped around what remained and she looked like she hadn't properly eaten in a while as well as been put through strenuous activity. Despite all that, when she saw Erik she lit up in happiness.
"Mama!"
"My darling boy! You're ok!"
The mother-son reunion was heartwarming but unfortunately the soldiers and Schmidt didn't care. Schmidt signaled to the two soldiers and they pulled Erik's mother away from him and had her in their grasp. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to count to three…" Schmidt opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a Luger PO8 pistol. "…and you're going to move the coin. You don't move the coin, I pull the trigger." Schmidt then moved the gun slightly to the left so it was aimed at Erik's mother. "Understand." Seeing what could happen, Erik tried again but the coin wouldn't move. He moved his hands, he concentrated and tried but nothing. Schmidt didn't care and just watched. "One…"
"Mama."
"You can do it." Erik's mother urged him on so he kept trying but nothing happened.
"Two…"
Erik kept trying but nothing was working. The two soldiers stepped away from Erik's mother who just kept repeating that everything would be all right.
"Three…"
Schmidt's index finger tightened on the trigger of the pistol and all it would take was just a little more pressure.
[Roar of plane engines]
[Blaring Alarm]
Schmidt averted his gaze to the window of his office before putting the pistol down and walking over to see what was wrong. He saw the guards and soldiers scrambling to their fortified positions while prisoners were ushered back to their lodgings. The spotlights in the camp lit up while the snipers in watchtowers began opening fire aimed at the southern part of the camp. Schmidt thought they had more time as the Allies were still near the southern border of the country but clearly something must be going on.
"To the shelter. Quickly. Bring them both!" Schmidt pointed to Erik and his mother and the two soldiers nodded. Schmidt grabbed his pistol and he exited his office with Erik and his mother following behind with two soldiers as his guards. Erik was frightened by the alarms but his mother held him close and assured him that everything would be ok. This one moment was their saving grace as they got more time together, something Schmidt wasn't exactly happy with since it ruined his experiment but getting himself and Erik to safety was important. He would handle the mother soon enough. Fortunately for Erik, Schmidt wouldn't get that chance when a blast of red light destroyed a watchtower causing it to collapse onto a building. Erik and his mother dove for safety while Schmidt and the two soldiers were buried in the rubble…or were they?
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