Salt water and the smell of flowers blew through the air as they approached the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. For hours, they had been crossing mass expanses of emerald green and blue waters. It was something new and beautiful to Firebrand as he gazed down out the window, now a bit more used to the height from the plane as long as he didn't think about it too much. The rattling of the propellers outside and the rumbling of the engine at the front of the plane seemed to be dulled out as he focused on the clear early morning skies. It was dawn and the horizon had bands of pink, purple, and gold slowly growing larger and larger. The gold began to outshine the other colors as dull blues signified the day was waking up.
Steve and Falsworth were watching the colt enjoying himself, despite the mission that was sure to come. It couldn't be helped but they were all glad that they had a brief respite from the chilling colds of the Northern countries. Unfortunately, they would have little time if any for rest in this paradise of a region. With the capture of Arnim Zola, they had been receiving reports from all over the world of outlying Hydra outposts scrubbing everything and massing back towards Central Europe for a last final invasion. Meanwhile, Schmitt was clearly up to something in the Mediterranean Sea. The holy monastery isle of Patmos was turned into a heavily guarded island fortress. The fortress was so large it engulfed half the island and spread out onto the water. Aerial surveillance had taken photos of more anti aircraft cannons like the ones back at Castle Zemo.
"So where is our stopping point again?" Gabe asked.
"We can't arrive by air, night or day. Their surveillance will spot us a mile away." Steve explained. "The only reason we were able to do that in Spain is they had minimal defenses. We can't go by boat the normal way either. Zola must have known we were on to them cause five of our transport vessels were vaporized by their energy cannons. We'll have to go by sub halfway and deploy diving gear the rest of the way. Colonel Phillips is having a team of Navy Frogmen assist us with the infiltration from the southern side of the island. While they thin out the patrols and defenses in the village, we will be dealing with the monastery."
"One of their boys owes me a bourbon." Dugan grumbled. "I had it freshly shipped from Kentucky too..."
"Frogmen?" Firebrand asked curiously.
"Specialized combat divers old boy." Falsworth replied. "The best in the business of war. Now there is a type of soldier that will go far. No disrespect to my country's divers but America's are quite impressive."
"Their balls are bigger than their brains, that's for sure." Dugan added.
"Language in front of the boy fellas," Steve lightly scolded.
Firebrand looked down at the rippling expanse of water below with slight apprehension. He had never come into close contact with such a big body of water before and wasn't sure how he was going to handle it.
Before long, they had reached the drop off point where they were to meet their target and everyone was hoisting parachutes onto traced as he was strapped to Steve's chest as he slipped on his own parachute.
"How deep is the ocean here?" Firebrand asked reluctantly.
"Over 14,000 feet deep mon ami petit," Jacques explained. "The Calypso Deep in the Hellenic Trench is 17,000 feet deep the last I checked."
Firebrand felt himself audibly gulping as he looked down into the emerald green waters, not able to fully comprehend how deep that was, but still feeling a bit of apprehension.
"Just focus on the water in front of you and you should be fine." Steve reassured. "Maybe in the near future I'll see if we can't do something about learning how to swim."
Firebrand nodded but was still a little flustered as he gazed out at the open sea, how far the water went in every direction. It was a little daunting to see for the first time, but still beautiful.
Their Jump Master counted down as the bay doors at the back slowly opened, with a satisfying whir and a gush of salty warm air slowly creeped into their Skytrain. Pale light from the Mediterranean dawn in the east illuminated the water in golden bands that slithered down from the horizon.
"Three, Two, One! GO! GO! GO!" the Jump Master barked as he led the others into a dive out into the open sky.
Steve and Firebrand were side by side with the man as the others followed closely behind. The colt was a bit more used to the open sky, even enjoying feeling the wind in his mane a lot more. He watched the sun slowly begin to glow brighter and brighter over the horizon as it rose in the distance.
As they reached the 2,000 foot level, everyone deployed their parachutes and slowly descended into the water below. Firebrand expected it to be hard, but surprisingly, their splash was somewhat soft as they landed in warm, salty water. Steve quickly detached his parachute and kept himself and Firebrand above water to keep breathing. The foal didn't know what was happening as he felt himself being lifted up and down by the rising and falling waves. The rest of the squad touched down seconds later and gathered together to discuss what was next. Steve warned Firebrand to keep his massive eyes closed and keep breathing normally.
"So what now?" Dugan asked annoyedly as he spat out a mouthful of saltwater. "Gotta get the kid out of the water Cap."
"The sub should rendezvous with us any second now. We're on a tight schedule. If they miss our entry window we'll be sitting ducks for the patrol boats." their jump master said grimly.
"Well, then we'll work through it."
"Its tastes salty...and sweet," Firebrand said as he let a small amount of the sea water on his tongue.
"The best ouzo is always made with a little bit of good ol' Mediterranean sea water." Dugan said cheerfully.
"Timothy! I'm impressed." Falsworth exclaimed. "I didn't know you partook in such a delicacy."
"I knew a couple of ladies in Athens before the war," the man winked to the others. "Man, the parties there were wild and hairy."
"You give any more "hairy" details in front of the kid and I'll shoot you upside the bowler," Gabe retorted humorously.
The others laughed loudly.
All of a sudden, they felt a rumbling a hundred feet away and a massive strip of water began to bubble and sputter as something massive and metal arose from the deep. A central part towered out of the water first and soon, half of the metallic behemoth was visible.
"Can I open my eyes now?" Firebrand asked nervously.
Steve and the others swam up to the side as the top popped off and an officer greeted them. Everyone clambered in from the ladder on the side. Seeing Firebrand with Steve shocked the crew as they bombarded them with questions. The trip took three hours thousands of feet below the surface as Steve helped the colt deal with the claustrophobia. The intense pressure for the first time was beginning to give the foal a headache.
Within ten miles of their destination, everyone was given the latest in military diving gear, courtesy of Howard Stark himself. The commander gave Steve a box after shaking his hand firmly and thanking him for his accomplishments. Inside was pony shaped pair of goggles and what looked seven peculiar mouth pieces. The flippers and hand fins were strange, but seemed useful enough.
"Stark says just strap these to your faces and breathe naturally. Be quick though, they'll last only for 24 hours and then you're toast." the commander warned.
"No tubes or snorkels?" Steve asked apprehensively.
"No idea myself, but if Stark made it for us, we should be okay," Dugan affirmed as he and the others each took one out of the box.
"We're gonna have to go out there aren't we?" Firebrand asked dejectedly.
"Yeah, but we'll be okay. Just try not to move too much okay? I still don't even know if you can swim."
Steve grabbed his mouth piece and looped the strap around his head so that it was tightly fitted to his face. He was unsure of the mechanism, but trusted Howard's ingenuity and tried taking a deep breath. The sound felt a little strange coming out the other end of the mask, but he had no trouble inhaling or exhaling. Firebrand levitated his in front of his face with his magic and inspected it for a minute before slipping it over his head and over his mouth.
"You gonna be okay with that?"
"Et feews weed," the colt mumbled through the mouthpiece. "Ah ca beeb ok do."
Steve helped put the mask on Firebrand first before sliding on his own over his cowl. They were escorted to the main airlock port of the sub which was then locked off from the rest, closing them into a dark metal chamber. Firebrand could feel Steve's heart beating fast into his back, wondering if this whole experience was scarier for the human than it was for him. A conversation for another time perhaps.
The hatch above opened with a chunk and a bang, slowly letting in thousands of gallons of sea water. When it was opened everyone swam out with their gear into the open water.
It was a natural feeling for Steve being out in water. The Hudson River was plenty treacherous swimming in growing up. Many hidden dangers were hidden in its murky depths. Pieces of trash, metal debris, fish that had wandered in from the ocean, boats, ships, toxic chemicals. Here though, it was night and day. The water was much more clear and open for miles, especially in daylight. Many local fish were scurrying about close to the surface, but still gave their human visitors a wide berth. Some fish curiously came up to inspect them. Firebrand was in a trance of wonder as he witnessed all of the colorful marine life that they passed by.
Some cleaner fish that swam along spotted Firebrand as the group continued quickly making their way through ten miles of dark waters. Firebrand reached out and to his surprise, the bold little fish came up to his large golden mane and began pecking at it. They were looking around through his hair, cleaning out any bugs or pieces of algae that had gotten stuck there. Steve laughed internally as he saw it out of the corner of his eye.
The hours passed by with sporadic bits of levity with amusement from the local marine life. They clustered together in a tight group whenever a shark would pass by to dissuade the predator from approaching.
When it reached close to noon, Steve signaled to the others to surface and quickly check their position. Steve patted Firebrand on the shoulder and did as he was instructed to do back in the sub. Everyone exhaled out of their "rebreathers" and safely came to the surface. Everyone momentarily took off their mouthpieces to examine their surroundings. Just off in the distance the island of Patmos towered out of the water in the beautiful Greecian sun. Unfortunately for them, the island had become a mish mash of black metal and watchtowers. The medieval monastery dedicated to the Saint John was built over and looked more like a palace of wrought iron rather than a humble place of worship.
Steve felt anger rise in him, seeing such a holy place being defiled in such a manner. It only strengthened his resolve to annihilate Hydra once and for all.
Suddenly, a group of divers arose out of the water fifty feet to their right and they swam over to greet them.
"Good to see you boys could catch up with us," Dugan jeered playfully.
"It isnt a race, but we would win if you didn't have Dugan slowing you down," one of them snapped back with a jovial demeanor.
"Good to see you too Soap," Dugan said drawling.
"Captain Price. Glad to finally meet you." Steve said addressing the main diver at the front.
The diver pulled off his mask revealing his blonde bearded face.
"The pleasure mine sir, we've arrived to assist you boys." Price replied.
"Well, we're glad for the help I assure you," Falsworth politely retorted.
"Word is the entire village is on lockdown. Nothing goes in or out. Four guard towers on the south beaches alone, so we'll have to go up through the small river leading into town. Its clogged up with enough seaweed to conceal us. I hope Stark gave you something to scale that sheer cliff cause we couldn't find any safe ways up on aerial surveillance."
"We'll wing it if we have to, we always do." Morita said as he miserably treaded water.
"I have...an idea if it comes to it," Steve said thoughtfully.
"Are you the Frogmen? Do you eat flies and croak?" Firebrand asked innocently.
Two in the back snickered while Price swam up and ruffled Firebrand on the head.
"We sure are little man. And no...well, Soap has."
The others had a laugh while the one called Soap slapped the back of their heads.
"That was one time! Dugan here gave me a bad bottle!"
"Hey, that was on you, don't blame the bourbon. You stole it from me. I just happened to show you the way to the garbage chute."
"What did he tell you it was again?" another in the back asked with stifled giggling.
"A portal to the women's restroom," Soap deadpanned.
The laughing got even harder for a moment before they swam away and quickly reviewed the plan.
"Get in fast, but silent and get out quickly," Steve urged. "Colonel Phillips has a strafing run on standby the moment. The moment we blow the factory, the shore is gonna get hit with a barrage of gunfire to keep them from following us."
"Copy that Captain," Price replied as he put his gear back on and dove back in the water.
It took another three hours to accomplish keeping the unit together, but they managed to make it to the cliffs on the northward side of the island where there was little to no security at the bottom. A short rocky beach covered in slippery. jagged boulders met them, making it a chore just trying to climb out of the water.
As Steve pulled himself up to solid ground, he looked up at the monastery and looked around at their surroundings. The sound of the crashing waves against the rocks, pebbles shifting in the winds every so often, seagulls gliding around and shrieking their call above.
"What was this place exactly daddy?" Firebrand asked curiously.
"A leper colony in ancient times," Steve replied. "The Romans often exiled...dissidents to this place."
"St. John was the most prevalent dissident." Falsworth added.
"Leper?"
"Leperosy. Nasty disease from what I hear," Steve replied with a shrug.
"I'm glad it died off a while ago or else I'd have to start cancelling dates," Gabe said.
"Speaking of dates gentlemen, we're on a tight schedule." Falsworth scolded. "How are we going to get up there? All we brought was our rifles."
"Just remember gentlemen, this has to be a stealth mission. I won't be responsible for the destruction of an ancient landmark." Steve reminded them all sternly. "So no funny business with explosives. Make clean shots and pick up any Hydra tech you can find. Their energy seems to do more harm to people than buildings in short bursts."
"Which means we can use this again!" Firebrand exclaimed excitedly.
He pulled a familiar item out of his harness that he had not seen since Castle Zemo. The Hydra stun baton they had picked up from one of Baron Strucker's grunts. However, it seemed different. More components, cleaner, and more streamlined than before.
"I thought we lost that thing?"
"I held on to it thinking it might be important and Uncle Howard gave it an upgrade! He said its now...ellastible?"
"Collapsible." Steve corrected with a chuckle.
Firebrand offered it to him and he took it, liking how light it felt in his hands. He activated it by the button near the pommel and it sparked to life. He swung it a couple of times in the air and then turned it off. Collapsing the baton into a six-inch metal canister, Steve stuffed it back into one of his pouches until he needed it.
Dugan looked around and found what looked like an old drainage pipe leading up to the monastery above just a hundred feet away.
"That could work!" he exclaimed.
"Hm?"
Steve looked over as Dugan ran excitedly to the pipe and with a bit of elbow grease, he opened the grate leading into it. It was a massive opening, big enough for a human sure, but whatever was above was anyone's guess.
"I know what you're thinking Cap," Dugan started. "You're thinking if we can't pull this off, who knows what might happen to Greece."
"Actually we were thinking there must be a better way in than that pipe," Morita said apprehensively.
"Well there isn't." he replied matter of factly. "I've analyzed it from every possible angle, and this is the best opening."
Firebrand felt himself giggling from the way Dugan had said that.
"I'll try climbing up first and if its clear for us, I'll call down," Dugan stated.
"Well, you found it. Good luck." Steve said encouragingly.
Dugan pulled out his pistol and turned to go into the pipe before hitting his head against the opened grate. They chuckled as they watched the bowler wearing man scuttle off into the grimy darkness and bang around as he climbed up.
Jacques saw something just a short distance away and called everyone over. To there surprise, they found a stable looking maintenance ladder leading up the cliffside.
"Oops," Firebrand and Steve said simultaneously.
Meanwhile in the pipe, conditions were slowly getting worse as a foul smell permeated throughout the whole thing. Dugan coughed in disgust, wondering what was in there. Five minutes later as he was almost to the top, he could see a light at the other end of the pipe steadily shining. It was likely the inside of the facility. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a metal rope being pulled down, followed by murky colored water falling from above.
At the top of the ladder, Steve found a maintenance hatch leading right into the bowels of the monastery. It was older than the Hydra base but newer than the monastery itself. The townsfolk must have done relatively recent renovations of the historical site. Inside, they came to a hallway with a dozen Hydra guards which they took down relatively quickly.
At the end of the hallway, a door off to the left side opened and Dugan came out covered in a copius amount of fecal matter. The smell permeated through the whole hallway and burnt their noses.
"Got held up did we?" Falsworth quipped.
"Whooo! That's ripe man jeez." Gabe whined fanning the air.
"Oh get a grip, its only a little bit of Hydra turd." Dugan growled. "Shoved the jerk down the john myself before killing the other two."
Firebrand holding a hoof to his nose jumped down and shoved him back into the bathroom and found a shower which he closed him into and turned the hot water on high.
"AH! AH! AH! HOT! HOT! HOT!"
Heading down the first hallway, they came into one of the many cavernous areas of the monastery. Arches and raised platforms filled the room. Signs of artifacts and mosaics still shone through cracks in the plates of metal that covered the room.
"Why are they just covering up everything daddy? It looks like there's something under the metal walls." Firebrand said thoughtfully.
"The original walls of the monastery. Oui, mon petit ami. A shame. Such a beautiful place being covered up by scum like Hydra," Jacques replied in sorrow.
"Are they superstitious?" Gabe asked reaching for an answer.
"If Schmitt fills his troops heads with crazy stuff every day, I would say yes," Steve replied.
Four Hydra guards entered the room from a narrow hallway off to the right, forcing everyone to duck behind cover. Steve pulled out his baton and flicked it open waiting until their backs were turned. He swung his shield and knocked out the first two guards before stunning the other two with swift strikes to the neck with his baton. They convulsed and twitched madly before going quiet as they pulled the grunts behind their hiding spots and moved on.
The entire top portion of the monastery was heavily guarded. It went on like this, silently killing their opponents and hiding their bodies as they made their way down. In a side room, they found monitors showing live footage of places all over town.
"Its more of those crazy tiny cameras Zola was watching us with back in Austria," Dugan said with discomfort.
"Its a wonder how he got them so small..." Steve agreed.
There was a beep on one of the consoles in the room followed by a red light. A familiar voice that made Firebrand and Steve nervous yelled through the intercom.
"THIS IS MADAME HYDRA! WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING UP THERE? YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED IN HOURS AGO!"
Uncomfortable silence filled the room, each of them looking at each other at the edge of panic, wondering what to do. Gabe tried remedying the situation by jumping onto the console and responding with as much of a modified voice as he could muster.
"Äh, alles ist unter Kontrolle Frau Kommandant ." Gabe said. "Situation Normal."
"WHAT HAPPENED YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS?"
Seeing his luck was still with him, he tried probing.
"Äh, wir hatten eine leichte Fehlfunktion der Waffen, aber äh... alles ist im Moment perfekt. Uns geht es gut. Wir sind jetzt alle in Ordnung hier, danke. Wie geht es dir?"
"I'LL SEND A NEW SQUAD UP TO SEE THAT YOU FOOLS STILL HAVE THE PERIMETER UNDER CONTROL! WE HAVE A TIGHT SCHEDULE AND I MUST SEND OUR SHIPMENT TO HERR TOJO IMMEDIATELY!"
'Tojo is a supporter of Hydra...' everyone realized simultaneously as they realized how bad their situation was becoming.
"Äh, äh... negativ, negativ. Wir hatten hier oben einen Patronenbruch. Geben Sie uns ein paar Minuten, um es zu sperren. Großes Leck, sehr gefährlich." Gabe said.
"DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH? WHO IS THIS? WHAT IS YOUR OPERATING NUMBER?"
After a moment of hesitation, Gabe fired into the console and shut it down.
"Boring conversation anyway. Guys! We better get a move on! We're gonna have company!"
They searched around until they found a staircase and started rushing downwards into the mountain, wondering what they would find when they arrived.
At the bottom of the mountain, Madame Hydra was frothing at the mouth with rage.
"Its the Captain and his little friends, I just know it!" she growled in her makeshift office.
She picked up a nearby filing cabinet and through it out her observation window, shattering it and sending all the contents spilling out below. Pressing a button by the door, she announced to the area to be ready for combat.
"THIS IS MADAME HYDRA! THE CAPTAIN IS HERE! INITIATE THE LAUNCH SEQUENCES IMMEDIATELY! I WILL NOT ALLOW THE AMERICANS TO OBTAIN OUR NEW WEAPON!"
Looking out the window into the cavernous cove below, she watched as Hydra soldiers and technicians rushed about and began entering the titanic super submarines her dear Zola had constructed for her. She pressed a button on her desk, sending a signal to her personal guard nearby.
"Mankiller mark 2 prototype unit activated," a robotic voice in the intercom said.
Stairs used to be a big problem for Steve, especially back home living in a city filled with massive skyscrapers. Now, they felt like no problem at all. He was running at a brisk pace, but allowing the others to keep close to him as they descended further.
A light at the bottom signaled that they were close to their objective as they stepped onto a catwalk. They found what looked like a massive cove hollowed out at the base of the mountain. Floating platforms and metallic scaffolding stretched out over the sea water below. What caught his attention the most though were massive silver submarines of unknown make and design lighting up and sending roaring sounds through the whole place.
"Zola must have just completed them not long ago," Falsworth said.
"Impressed boys?" a familiar voice cackled. "I must say, I am too. You arrived here much quickly than I anticipated."
Down to the left, Madame Hydra was waving around her energy pistol and strutting down the catwalk like she was a fashion show diva. Her face had a new large scar going down the left side of her face, adding to her intimidation factor.
"That must have hurt," Firebrand said bluntly.
"This child? I told you. I consider this a trophy. An honor bestowed upon me in the service of my darling Red Skull."
"Looks like she slapped bacon on her face," Dugan jeered at the woman.
Madame Hydra snarled back at him.
"What are you doing here Ophelia? How is Hideki Tojo involved with any of this?" Steve asked sternly.
"Oh, my dear Captain. I thought you would have figured that out by now. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Herr Tojo is one of us. He knew Hitler couldn't last for much longer, so we are handing him the key to win the war in the Pacific. Uber Submarines powered by the Tesseract itself. Within a week, these can reach the Pacific and begin causing devastating mayhem to your pathetic fleets."
Heavy footsteps bounded from somewhere nearby, metal against metal clacking and thumping. The catwalk underneath them felt like it was beginning to shake and vibrate with such intensity that it would give at any moment. A familiar whirring and warbling told Steve all he needed to know about what was coming.
"I'll leave you to my little pet. Try not to die gentlemen. I would love to have you for another "play session". Especially you Dugan dear," Ophelia said in a sultry way.
When Steve tried chasing after her, an explosive object came flying at him from nowhere and pushed him 8 feet back.
A green robot covered in spikes came out of the shadows and started shooting missiles from its chest cavity, forcing everyone to scatter.
The fight was on as everyone exchanged gunfire with the robot while Steve and Firebrand faced it head on. For every strike Steve could dish out, the Mankiller was ready for it, blocking his every punch and dealing with the same force or more. Every quick blow and haymaker he was forced to use his shield to deflect. Every bullet the Howling Commandos fired at the Mankiller's body barely made any noticeable damage.
Firebrand jumped out and tried tripping the robot with a strike to the back of the legs but the robot saw it coming and tried cooking Firebrand with a blast of its flamethrower. Gabe and Falsworth panicked thinking their little friend was roasted alive only to breathe sighs of relief when he jumped out unscathed.
"You could have mentioned he was fireproof Cap!" Morita snapped.
"Must have slipped my mind," Steve said wryly.
When the Mankiller charged up for a barrage of missiles from his chest cavity, Firebrand came up with an idea.
"Everyone, keep up the pressure until it fires again!" the colt exclaimed.
"Does the little guy have something in mind?" Dugan asked the others.
"Just listen to the boy and do it!" Steve barked.
He jumped back in and everyone started firing away at its head to damage its optics. After a few seconds, a well aimed bullet cracked the glass and hindered the robot's vision. When Steve and Firebrand went in for another barrage of punches, the Mankiller opened its chest cavity to fire.
Firebrand launched his shoes into the holes while Steve leaped forward and covered up the rest with his Shield. The resulting blast blew out the back of the robot and sent it flying. It flew off of the catwalk and into the cool blue water below. One of its power cells ruptured and exploded in a viscous rage, sending sea water into the air and soaking the team once more.
"That took too long," Steve lamented.
They looked down over the catwalk and into the cove and saw the subs were starting their engines and about to disembark out to sea.
"They're gonna escape!" Gabe yelled.
Steve looked around and saw a duo of Scorchers with rocket launchers guarding the other submarines. Then he gazed over at the wall surrounding the exit into the cove.
"I have an idea. If we can't stop them, we'll trap them in place." Steve said.
He lead Dugan, Gabe, and Falsworth off the railing and into the water below while the others sniped the soldiers from the top. When they splashed down, already they were met with intense gunfire from all around. Bullets whizzing by them in the water barely missing by a fraction of an inch. Firebrand gulped internally as the bullets were followed by energy blasts that were electrifying the surface of the water. Steve and the others noticed this as they dove back down, desperately trying to not get hit. A couple of bullets grazed Gabe, as blood dispersed into the clear waters.
'We'll drown if I don't think of something fast!' Firebrand mentally panicked.
In the moment, he once again thought back to the castle and how his horse shoes could absorb energy. As Steve was jerking around trying not to get shot, Firebrand concentrated and stuck out his foreleg as he focused on the electricity and imagined it coursing through his hoof. The shoe obeyed his mental command and absorbed the energy into itself, thus gaining another ounce of power.
Steve seeing the opportunity swam up and leaped out of the water like a fish and nimbly landed on the catwalk. The Hydra soldiers there trying to escape into the subs focused their fire on him, not paying any attention to the others as they swiftly swam towards the mouth of the cave and up onto the protruding docks.
"DISEMBARK NOW!" one of the grunts screamed .
The submarines began to move slowly, forcing the others into overdrive. Jacques and Morita sniped any shock troopers trying to get in their way while Steve and Firebrand went for the Scorchers. The first one sent a volley of blasts his way, rocketing past him every time and impacting into the granite walls of the cove. Bits and shards of wet rock sprayed everyone, giving them new scratches they didn't have before. The first Scorcher tried batting Steve away with his massive rocket launcher but Firebrand caught it in his shoes, giving Steve the opportunity to smash the soldier in the face with it. Stunned, the Scorcher waved its arms wildly, but Steve dove in and used a Judo throw to finish the job.
"Cap! We're out of time!" Dugan cried as he shot another technician.
Two of the subs had already made it out while the others weren't far behind. Suddenly, a loud roaring bang echoed into the cave and the entire place shook violently as if it was going through a major earthquake.
"That's our signal!" Falsworth yelled back. "We have finish this and swim out or we'll be blown to bits."
Steve picked up the rocket launcher while Firebrand took out the other Scorchers with a Cherry Bomb from his horn. The red ball of magic bounced and tinged off of the metal of the catwalk and exploded within a few seconds. The remaining Scorchers were blown off of their feet and injured. Firebrand took his electric baton andd finished the job with a jab to the neck.
"Firebrand! Double whammy!" Steve said.
The colt understood as he jumped onto the rocket launcher and wrapped himself around the barrel. Steve aimed at the roof of the entrance to the cave and pulled the trigger. The blast from the barrel was held in place by Firebrand's shoes as they began to glow a bright red and searing hot. He held the energy in as long as he could as a screeching buzz grew louder and louder until he finally let loose and released a beam of energy that obliterated the walls of the cave and sent massive boulders from the cave down onto the super subs. The weight of the boulders sunk the subs to the bottom as the cave began to collapse on top of them.
Steve was dumbfounded by the colt's abilities as he turned to him with a goofy smile.
"What do you call that one?"
"The Spartan Laser!"
"Holy shi--cow" Dugan corrected himself as Steve gave him a raised eyebrow. "That was spectacular!"
"Brilliant my boy!" Falsworth applauded. "Absolutely brilliant."
The cave once again started to shake as more rocks came raining down everywhere.
"Looks like we won't be able to get out that way," Steve said referring to the collapsed entrance. "We have to get back up to the monastery and off the island before this coast is bombarded with bombs and missiles!"
They dashed back up the stairs and back up into the monastery as rocks were falling behind them. Even the passageway into the cove was collapsing on top of them, as if it was chasing them away.
They made it back into the monastery and ran outside as they could see a small fleet of ships and planes just on the horizon. On the southside beach, they saw Price's squad waiting for them in a small boat at the edge of a dock and sprinted across the island as fast as they could.
Steve could tell his new friends busy as buildings were blown apart, hydra bodies lied everywhere and citizens of the island were dashing about in a panic. Firebrand smelled various baked goods, saltwater, herbs, meats, and flowers. Pleasant smells he wish he could have remained to experience a bit longer in the Greecian isles.
The Howling Commandoes used every bit of energy they had left just trying to keep up with the super soldier sprinting at full blast.
Soon the docks were finally in sight as Price and Soap were rushing them to climb aboard quickly so they could all make their escape together. Turning a few corners and jumping a few steep stairways, Steve jumped onto the aging wood and into the commandeered boat with the others jumping in only a few seconds later.
"Punch it!" Price barked to his subordinate.
They revved the motor as far as it would go and blasted out to open water. A few minutes later, the entire area was under what Steve could only describe as a bullet hurricane. Planes and naval ships bombarded the waters around the island in a huge ring, devastating anything except the island itself. Which they had barely missed. Explosions fired off into the air on the north side of the island, telling Steve that the last of the super subs had been obliterated.
"Cut it close didn't ya?" Soap jeered at the others.
"I thought you boys were supposed to escape from the North end?" Price asked.
"Madame Hydra had a cave filled with more of Zola's toys," Dugan explained. "So Cap and the little sucker here had to send it to kingdom come."
"That's quite impressive," the grizzled commander said to the duo. "Looks like the stories about the two of you were true after all."
"I hope most of them are good things." Steve said tiredly shaking his hand.
"Oh of course, we'll be working with you on the last assault of Schmitt's hidey hole in Bavaria so we'll see more of you in action I hope,"
"If we can get through that alive."
Firebrand suddenly felt a familiar chill in the air and a haunting whisper creep down his spine as they approached an English naval vessel.
"Shut up," the colt hissed. "Get out."
"Did you say something pal?" Steve asked.
Firebrand shook his head and jumped down to look at the water.
"No. Sorry daddy."
Steve was unconvinced but leaved him alone, certain that they would deal with whatever was troubling the young foal soon enough. Zola would have the answers that they needed, he was certain of it. If he didn't he would beat the answer out of the Skull.
Firebrand gazed down at his reflection in the ocean water and didn't like what he saw. A silver mane, blue fur, sharp white teeth, and empty, dead eyes sadistically staring back at him.
Next Time: Return and Final Plan