Steve and Firebrand fell safely onto the ground outside as the last sections of the tower crumbled away, turning into large piles of rubble. Smoke rose over the smoldering ruins that used to be a great structure. Aged, cracked bricks and pieces of white mortar were strewn about all over the place as the entire area of the castle seemed to be in a state of complete disrepair. Even the next castle structure over was completely leveled as only pieces of its wooden rafters were barely standing. Cap scanned the little colt for any injuries he might have sustained in the fall. Thankfully, the only thing that seemed to be affected was Firebrand's mane which was now just a little bit scorched. He made sure Firebrand was safely tightened down in his harness before assessing his current situation.
"That explosion ought to bring them running. We had better not be here when they show up," Steve said to the colt. "That last cannon is probably going to be heavily guarded. I can't leave you here and risk you getting captured, so I'm gonna have to watch you even more carefully this time. If we can't disable that last cannon, the Allied invaders are gonna be sitting ducks up there."
He ran up and leaped off of a small pile of crates as he flipped, turned, wall ran, and pole vaulted across the ruins onto a safer patch of ground. They landed in what appeared to be what had been left of an old alleyway going through the village by the castle. On a collapsed table, Steve found another tattered dossier which he quickly pocketed before moving on.
Firebrand's ears folded against his head nervously as Steve and he heard the Baron's booming voice come up once again on the intercom.
"This is Baron Von Strucker! All unassigned security forces proceed to the West Ward! Our American rat problem has worsened! I want this vermin exterminated immediately!"
Down the alleyway, Steve peeked off to the left and saw a large plaza 200 feet away with over a dozen hydra soldiers patrolling it. At least five of them were heavily armed as he tried to come up with a suitable plan to either sneak by or handle them quickly. Staying low, he made his way towards the overlook where he could get a better look at the plaza and the patrol routes of each of the troops.
Firebrand peeked over as he saw two different colored barrels that caught his interest.
"Dada, what's dat?" Firebrand chattered as he pointed with his hoof.
Steve looked over and saw two munition barrels by one of Hydra's transport vehicles as they were depositing more soldiers into the plaza.
"Good eyes little buddy. Those will give us a great distraction," Steve said.
"Will it kaboom?" he asked cheerfully. "I want another kaboom!
"Oh yeah, I'd say it would do that and then some,"
Coming up with an idea, the little colt got up onto the balcony railing as he laid down on his stomach and aimed for the barrels with both of his hooves. The horseshoes seemed to respond to his thoughts as they flew off and blasted right towards the barrels. Unfortunately, the horseshoes were a little too powerful as they launched Firebrand into Steve. The man in question barely had time to react as he caught Firebrand by his back legs. The resulting explosion sent the nearby jeep flying as several soldiers were seriously injured in the process. Firebrand was confused for a moment when he heard someone behind him shout "my leg!" His black horseshoes flew back as they re magnetized to his front hooves. He pranced around with joy as the jeep's gas tank blew, sending it flying over a wall.
Quickly grabbing Firebrand and placing him back in his harness, Steve vaulted over the stone railing and landed in the plaza below where he quickly took to dispatching the five remaining soldiers that weren't injured by Firebrand's blast. The first soldier he leaped at had a rifle which he ripped away and used as a club as he bashed his chin with the butt of the rifle, knocking him out. The second and third soldiers were taken out with a few well-placed hits from his shield as they went down pretty quickly. The last two on the ground were taken out with leaping round kicks to the back of the head, which sent them flying ten feet away into the ground.
A bullet grazed his shoulder, causing Steve to wince in pain as he looked in the direction the bullet had come from. He quickly ducked behind a large piece of rubble to avoid getting hit as he attempted to find out where his unseen shooter was hiding. Gazing up at the roof of the adjacent building where the sun was high overhead. A sniper was reloading and aiming at them, forcing Steve to flip and weave his way around the courtyard in an attempt to avoid the sniper's fire. Taking out his shield, he waited for the exact moment and when he heard the crack of the rifle going off, he swung his shield and ricocheted the bullet back at the sniper, sending the hydra sniper tumbling off of the roof and crashing down into an old gardening shed.
A few seconds passed as Firebrand peeked back over Steve's shoulder and whimpered in sympathy when he saw Steve's injury. A small amount of blood oozed from the spot on his upper arm that had been hit by the bullet. Firebrand nuzzled him in an attempt to make him feel better.
"I'm alright little buddy, I just got scratched by it that's all," Steve assured him. "I'll patch it up later when I've got time. Right now, we need to get into that house. Where there's a radio, there's an antenna. Peggy is probably gonna need an update on our little situation."
The two went in through the front doors as they found what appeared to be a rather spacey and stylish ale and beer hall. The walls were adorned in ornate tapestries and the floors were covered in colorful rugs that seemed to be made of expensive materials. Straight ahead in the main room of the beer hall, Steve and Firebrand were able to clearly make out the conversation of two Hydra soldiers who were talking about their fear of their resident scientist and sub commander, Arnim Zola.
"We must keep our eyes open. If we fail, Dr. Zola is talking about releasing his monsters, and they would soon kill us as the American."
Angling his shield, Steve launched his shield at the two soldiers in the center of the room who slammed into each other with the impact of the shield. The shield bounced off to the left, dazing two more soldiers who tripped and smashed their faces into the table. It then bounced for a third time off to the right as a soldier tried bringing up his rifle to protect himself, but only ended up bashing himself in the face. The shield finally lodged itself into one of the hall's pillars, as if it was waiting for Steve to retrieve it. Steve ran in and pulled the shield out as he advanced upon the four remaining soldiers in the room.
One soldier tried coming at Steve with a long bayonet, but he ducked out of the way and broke the soldier's faceplate with a strong heel palm strike. Another tried to get up, but Steve leaped onto him and ground-pounded his face with a solid punch, knocking him out. Three more came at him, one with a stun baton of some kind as Steve had a hard time avoiding his strikes. Making a duck in the wrong direction, Steve got shocked pretty badly by the stun baton, which in turn shocked Firebrand for a moment. The soldier took the opportunity to shock Steve a few more times with a bunch of strikes to the torso. Steve heard the colt yelp in pain when another soldier had gotten a lucky hit in on him. Looking behind for a moment, he saw the colt's hooves up in a defensive posture as if he was trying to protect the human. Steve responded by grabbing the soldier by the arm in a fit of rage and breaking it back into an unnatural angle. He screamed in utter agony as Steve finished him off by grabbing his baton and knocking him out with a solid hit to the chin. Steve took the advantage of a new weapon as he quickly took out the others. One soldier, was close enough to bash in the face with one of the doors of the entryway.
Suddenly, Steve found himself again getting shot as a bullet from a soldier on the second level pierced through his left bicep. Gritting his teeth as he heard Firebrand start to cry, Steve picked up his shield as he held it up and ran towards the staircase off to the left side of the room. He went up to the next floor and quickly ran down a hallway that leads to the place where the sniper was shooting from. He looked back at the colt with concern as he turned around the corner and rushed the sniper in anger that was watching the ground floor. Before the sniper could react, Steve kicked him, launching the soldier over the railing and down to the ground below.
He watched coldly as the soldier landed on the bottom floor with a thump and broke every bone in his body.
'Damn, I got careless. And I let Firebrand get hurt,' he thought angrily. 'I need to get him patched up quickly before somebody else decides they want a piece of me.'
When he was sure there were no more soldiers in the immediate vicinity, he took Firebrand out of his harness and examined the wailing foal. Besides being shocked, Steve found that the foal had a few bruises and cuts along his tiny body as well.
"It's alright little buddy, it's alright. Daddy is here," he said comfortingly as he stroked the colt's golden mane. "I know it hurts, but I need you to be strong for me just a little bit alright?"
Firebrand continued crying for a few more seconds but soon tried to calm down for Steve as he rapidly nodded with red watery eyes.
Steve went into his pouch and pulled out a small bag of medicinal herbs that he had picked up back in Tarvisio. He was told by the store owner that it works as a powerful pain reliever for children. He walked over to a small table and picked up a mostly empty beer stein and cleaned it out. He filled it a quarter of the way with water from his canteen and mixed in the herbs along with a tiny splash of ale from a nearby barrel. He then brought the stein over to Firebrand and encouraged the foal.
'I've heard of very small amounts of alcohol being used as pain relievers and relaxants for kids.' he thought. 'Now is as good a time as any to see if it works I guess.'
"Drink this little buddy. It will help the pain go away. It might smell bad, but it will heal you pretty well." Steve explained as he handed the stein over to Firebrand.
Firebrand wiped his eyes with his forelegs as he approached the stein and sniffed it. He reared back in disgust and looked at Steve with a pleading look that screamed, "please don't make me drink this." but a stern look from Steve changed his mind. When Firebrand was having problems, Steve helped Firebrand steady the stein as he carefully tipped it into the colt's mouth, allowing the mixture to flow inside. He slowly began to drink it, a disgusted look plastered across his face as he soon downed the whole thing. Firebrand threw the stein across the room with a loud "BLEGH!" when he finished off the mixture.
Steve gave a small chuckle as he stroked the foal's withers.
"There we go. The medicine might take a few minutes to kick in, but once it does, I think you will be feeling a lot better."
He then rummaged through his bags as he pulled out a few rolls of gauze and cotton and wrapped up the spots on Firebrand's legs that were hit. The foal winced for a moment while Steve was patching him up before calming back down.
'Maybe I should see if Hydra has any kind of extra body armor I can snag from somewhere around here and apply to my own suit. Firebrand is gonna need it if he's gonna stick with me and there's gonna be times where I won't be able to protect him and myself.' Steve desperately pondered.
He carefully picked the foal back up and placed him into his harness as he looked around the room for anything of importance. He immediately came across another intel dossier on the long dining table and pocketed it. Over off to the side of the room, he found another mechanically sealed door that required a unique combination to open.
"Damn! I need the security code for this one. Maybe I'll find it if I listen to their internal communications. I gotta look around here to see if I can find a radio," he thought aloud.
Steve went into the next room which was an old bedroom for somebody. He looked through two of the dressers but found nothing but old shirts and tattered pants.
Going down another set of stairs, Steve found a posh-looking kitchen filled with many kinds of pleasant smells. It was clear that the kitchen had been used fairly recently as some of the cooking appliances were still somewhat warm and bits of food stuck to the stoves. Even on a prepping roller in the middle of the kitchen, there was a fresh loaf of bread still leftover that had barely been touched. He pocketed it and a small bratwurst for a small snack later for Firebrand and himself. There was a separate room that branched off of the kitchen, but it was mainly just a room for storage and didn't carry much in the way of anything important to their operation.
Off to the side of the Kitchen, he spotted something glistening behind another one of the rollers on the counter. It was an ornate ivory beer stein painted with leaves and vines from the local flora and fauna of the mountainside. The rims of the stein were gilded with gold leafing that made it glisten and glitter in the light. He carefully examined it and soon found a piece of the stein that screwed off of the main body. Inside the piece, he found another journal entry from the mysterious man that keeps popping up around the castle.
He unfolded the aged journal page and began to quietly read it aloud to himself to not to wake the slumbering Firebrand. The colt's breathing had become slower and more relaxed as his head rested against Steve's back. The medicine was starting to take effect as the colt fell fast asleep.
"Harbin Zemo began excavating beneath his castle even as it was being constructed. Simultaneously, he oversaw the architectural innovations that, even then, reflected the brilliance of our family line. But unfortunately, he would not live to see his quest reach fruition. That honor fell to the third Baron. Heller Zemo. It was he who found the Sleeper...but the journey had not ended....it had only just begun."
As he finished reading the journal entry, he took another minute to scan over the page to more properly process what he had learned so far.
'Something bigger is happening here. There's a reason why Schmitt built a base here. I bet this Sleeper is connected to it. Maybe I ought to relay all of this to Peggy when I get the chance.' he thought.
He pocketed the journal entry as he continued searching all of the surrounding rooms for anything of importance before moving on towards the last remaining cannon. In the ale storeroom, Steve found a pile of documents and folders spilled all over the floor. No doubtedly dropped by somebody who had left the building in a hurry. Off to the right, he found the bar which was connected to the main room of the ale hall. Sitting off to the left side of the bar was another giant ornate beer stein identical in size and design to the one that he had found in the kitchen. He unscrewed the bottom out and found another journal entry which he quickly unfolded and scanned.
'Maybe if I keep finding these, I'll get a bigger picture of what is going on in this place.' Steve thought to himself.
"It appears, that the massive size of the Sleeper, along with its highly advanced technology, confounded Heller Zemo. He could not determine how to fully excavate The Sleeper without undermining and collapsing the mountain beneath the castle itself. But like all of our line, he would not accept defeat. He began analyzing the Sleeper's makeup in search of a solution to its own confinement."
Pocketing the journal entry, Steve kept looking around, until he found another staircase that led upstairs to a separate room on the second floor. Inside was a radio built into the wall which Steve quickly tapped into. Once he turned the device on, he could hear a voice that was somewhat garbled, but still fairly coherent enough to listen to.
"The security codes....for access doors have been updated. Stand by and take note. Access to the service lift is now as follows: Alpha, Delta, Four, Four, Delta."
"Home run. That was a lot better than I had hoped for." Steve said pleased.
Outside the room, Steve made his way to the other side as he inputted the code into the security door and gained entry into the next stairway up. On the top floor, Steve finally found the radio room where all communications in the building go in and out. Four remaining Hydra officers were working the machines. Steve was confused as to why they had not heard the commotion below, but when he saw the headphones over their ears, he had put two and two together.
Throwing his shield at one of the pillars which it bounces off of and pierces into one of their communication boards. The impact of the shield ignites a small explosion which knocks out all four of the Hydra technicians that were stationed there. He made short work of the other soldiers that tried to gang up on him from behind, but a table thrown at their heads put a quick stop to them as they were smashed into the wall.
After he was certain that he was safe once again for the moment, he scanned the room for a radio that he could use to contact Peggy and give her a suitable update on his current situation. Half a dozen of the comm boards unfortunately was destroyed in the fights, but he continued looking anyway for anything that was still operable. On one of the tables was another film reel that he pocketed for later when he or one of the SSR's technicians were able to look at it.
Out of the corner of his eye, hidden behind one of the consoles was a flash of gold. Peeking around the console, he discovered what appeared to be a small solid gold figurine of a falcon. Upon further inspection, just like the two beer steins and the other previous relics before, the statue seemed to be two separate pieces that opened up to once again reveal another journal entry. It didn't say anything different, except in the way of the author proclaiming himself to be the Twelfth and the greatest of all of the Zemo's and that he would be the one to finally awaken The Sleeper after so many generations.
After pocketing the third journal page he had found in the ale hall, Steve finally found what appeared to be a radio that was still working. much to Steve's delight. He quickly turned it on as he got a message through to a tired-sounding Peggy.
"This is Captain Rogers to HQ! Do you read?"
"We read you loud and clear Captain! What's your status?"
"I took out a second gun. Now I've entered one of those European alehouses that looks like it was converted into a barracks for these guys. Be advised, I still have one more cannon to neutralize."
"Long-range cannons like that need open vistas to be effective," he heard Stark's voice chime in. "They've probably got it installed on something tall. Based on what we know of the layout, I'd put my money on the roof of the Estate building."
"Copy. I'll head over in that direction and see if I can't make some distractions along the way." Steve replied.
"Good thinking. If we can distract them, and damage their supply chain at the same time, we will definitely be better for it. Be careful. Over and out."
Just as Steve turned off the radio, a smoke bomb was thrown from the floor below that completely obscured all vision within a thirty-foot field of view.
"He's up there somewhere!" a voice from below said. "FIND HIM!"
"All safeties off! Fire on sight!"
Steve could barely make out what appeared to be at least eight ballistic soldiers carrying small shields and shotguns as he quickly ducked into the shadows. The smoke provided the perfect cover for him as he swiftly circled the group towards the staircase and got in position for a sneak attack on each of them. The closest soldier to the staircase he grabbed from behind and put into a chokehold as he passed out. The next two he took out by smashing their heads together as he advanced on the remaining five. Picking up another table, he rushed a group of three soldiers who were close to each other as he smashed them into the busted comm consoles.
The last two were somewhat harder to deal with, now that they were fully aware of his presence in the room. Both tried pulling out their shotguns to make quick work of him, but Steve countered with a ground pound with his shield. The impact created a small shockwave that blasted the two soldiers off of their feet. Leaping from one to the other, Steve knocked them out cold with two solid punches as the smoke finally dispersed, allowing him to see the full extent of the damage that he had done on the group of Hydra troops.
The entire room was a mess as pieces of broken furniture and machinery lied all over the floor. Even pieces of the floor boarding were broken during the scuffle. The Hydra soldiers were all unconscious on the floor as Steve grabbed each of them and threw them into a pile.
"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to start heading on out of here' Steve concluded to himself as he started making his way down the stairs and out of the building.
Next Time: Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 2)