A New Brand of Freedom

by Spettro138

Super Soldier: France

Location: France
Time: 3:23 AM

From ash grey clouds, the rain was coming down hard in the trenches as it continuously battered every plank of wood and every inch of ground soaking everything in its path. Thunder and lightning ringed across the sky like distant church bells roaring throughout the night. The only other thing that could be heard echoing in the night was the sound of gunfire cracking and bursting all around in the distance as it tried to outroar the thunder. The hillside was a constant environment of tension and paranoia as every single solitary sound put the soldiers there in a perpetual state of tension. Even the trees seemed to be tensing up as they were battered by the heavy nighttime rain showers. The only comfort they seemed to bring was how the rain seemed to wash away almost all of the foul smells that came over the air and invigorated the land.

Two soldiers at this time were on their routine nightly patrol of the trenches, keeping watch for Nazi threats or others that dare to come too close to their territory. They were rather tired and quite disappointed that a beautiful country like France was not as good as they had been led to believe in the past. One was a younger private, just starting out and the other was a more seasoned soldier. The two had been speaking to each other for quite a while now through the sleepless hours of the night as the only way to keep themselves awake and alert to their surroundings.

"I tell you, this ain't how I pictured France at all," the younger one lamented.

"You said it. Not one day of nice, warm sun in two weeks. The only girls I've seen out here have four legs and moo." the older one replied. "And I don't think these ones are dating worthy either."

They then moved off to another branching path of the trenches and found a solid place for them to sit down and take a small respite. They placed their rifles down and shook off excess rainwater from their helmets before continuing their conversation.

"You hear who just showed up with D Company?" the younger one asked.

"Who?"

"The Captain" the younger one replied.

"He's here?" the older one replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"The Captain." the other one scoffed in a mocking manner.

"What?"

"He's nothing but a glorified poster boy. Poses for pictures and disappears when the action starts."

The younger soldier shook his head and looked off into the distance as if he was trying to remember something.

"I dunno...I heard he saved a bunch of guys in D Company who got captured."

"Wise up kid, it was staged for the newsreels. All that's for the folks back home. Nobody's coming to pull our butts out of this mess kid." he replied firmly.

"What about the raid on--"

Then out of the blue, something long and metallic shot out of the dark, down from the top of the trench and began dragging the younger soldier away. The other soldier jumped and instinctively went for his gun and tried aiming at his target, but froze in fear from what he saw.

A menacing, metal man with long yellow eyes that seemed to be piercing into his soul as he continued dragging his young friend away. Off to the right, he heard footsteps when he looked over and saw three Hydra foot soldiers wearing unusual plated armor and holding strange shields. He tried shooting at them, but his bullets just bounced off of their armor like they did absolutely nothing.

He dropped his rifle and started running down the trench as fast as he could. The sound of gunfire and mortar explosions gave him all he needed to know. They were under attack. He ran down another branching path of the trench until he accidentally tripped on a board and fell. He rolled over onto his back as he saw the Hydra soldiers start to approach him with cold, cruel eyes. His heart began beating faster and faster as he heard one thing come out of their voice changers.

"Hail Hydra!"

His entire life flashed before his eyes as the soldiers lifted their rifles and prepared to fire when all of a sudden.....

CLONG-CLANK!

A giant red, white, and blue disc jetted from the top of the trench and knocked the soldiers off of their feet and onto the ground unconscious. Then it bounced back towards whoever had thrown it as if it was made of rubber. Before the soldier could register what had happened, a man in a blue suit and a cowl with white wings flipped over the wall and down into the trenches.

"Fall back, soldier! I'll take it from here!" the man barked.

The man quickly nodded and then ran away towards cover, not noticing the red colt that had been hanging from a harness on the man's back.

"Wheee! That was fun! Can we do dat again?" Firebrand giggled.

"Maybe when we aren't in danger, which is what I was trying to keep you out of young man," Steve retorted sternly.

Firebrand could tell Steve was still disappointed with him and it made the little colt feel awful.

"Am I in twouble?" he asked sadly.

"Yeah...you are, but that doesn't matter right now," he replied. "Just stay close to me, and stay out of danger until we can get out of here."

As if to verify his concerns, mortar blasts coming from Hydra forces nearby sounded through the night. Followed by multiple red flares being shot off into the night sky.

"Alright, daddy."

Steve ran up to the two downed soldiers and quickly tied them up with pieces of scrap rope nearby for capture later. While he was studying them, he noticed how strange their uniforms and armor were from the Hydra soldiers they had fought back in Austria. For one thing, they were carrying around heavy armor that hung from their arms and legs. They also had voice modulators that covered their faces for anonymity and intimidation on the battlefield.

"Who the heck are these guys?" Steve asked himself.

"Bad guys?" Firebrand asked simply.

"Yeah, but not normal bad guys that's for sure."

Steve with Firebrand in tow, made his way down the trenches until machine gun fire halted their advancement, forcing him to somersault through it and into two enemy soldiers who were knocked out by the impact. Further down the trench, they found themselves in a larger area where a group of Hydra soldiers carrying stun batons was waiting for them. They were currently beating American soldiers to death, which gave Steve all the reason to take them out as quickly as possible.

"Pathetic American!" one of them cried.

"On your knees dog!" another exclaimed evilly.

When one of the soldiers who was beating an American soldier had their back turned, Steve took him out instantly with a few sucker punches to the back of the head which knocked his helmet off followed by an upwards bash with his new shield, knocking him out instantly. Unfortunately, four others had come at him now with stun batons on that they knew he was there.

Blocking one of their attacks with his shield, and taking another's with his arm, he pushed through the pain of the shock from their weapons to keep Firebrand from being hit by their weapons. As soon as he had them pushed apart, he took out another with a downwards bash, which launched the soldier skyward ten feet into the air, followed by a butterfly kick to another in the face. When one tried to pull out a pistol, Steve tossed his shield at him which bashed his head into the wall. It seemed though that he had missed one when Firebrand gave him a signal, causing Steve to whip around and knock the last one out with a solid punch to the face.

"Dat was fun! Can we beat up mowe bad guys?" Firebrand asked him.

"Don't worry, I think I'll be getting plenty of opportunities for that tonight," Steve chuckled.

After seeing the American soldier and made sure that he was well enough to make his way to the nearest medical officer, Steve made his way into a tunnel. It was being clouded by dust thanks to enemy bombardment on the surface. He told Firebrand to hold his breath so that he wouldn't breathe in anything hazardous, to which the little colt obeyed. Steve kept up a steady pace as they went through, keeping his shield up and an ear to the ceiling to listen for signs of the makeshift bunker collapsing. He crouched low to the floor to stay under the dust and smoke, feeling more of the dry cracked dirt under his feet. He could feel Firebrand wiggling around nervously as they proceeded forward.

Like clockwork, he came to a part of the bunker that was on fire and falling apart. Wooden beams and smoldering equipment fell into their path, forcing Cap to duck and dodge through the rubble.

They went down another path and into a sleeping quarters room where Bucky came out from another path.

"Unca Bucky!" Firebrand exclaimed.

"Hey pal," Bucky greeted awkwardly

"What's the situation?" Steve asked.

"I've got it covered here Cap, but we've got some guys pinned down just up ahead. You need to hurry!"

Steve noticed that Bucky was bleeding in quite a few spots and decided to take a moment to check him out. He carefully checked out the rest of his friend in case there were any injuries that needed immediate attention.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm a big boy, I can take a few scrapes and bruises. You need to get on ahead and keep the little guy safe. I'll stay here for a minute and...catch my breath." he said.

Trying to be helpful Firebrand hopped out of Steve's harness as he looked around the room and found a cloth that he ripped up with his magic and wrapped up Bucky in makeshift tourniquets and bandages in an effort to patch him up. Steve was rather impressed with how skillfully the colt worked with supplies around the camp in order to heal somebody's wounds.

"Wow, the kid must have been a Medic in another life or something," Bucky chuckled as he looked at his bandages.

"Yeah...no kidding" Steve mused as he saw Firebrand hug Bucky's leg and then hop back into his harness.

Going down another corridor, Steve came into another room where more bunk beds were along with a table covered in maps, and battle plans. The walls, however, were covered with risque pictures that made Steve use his shield to cover the young colt's eyes.

"You're a good sixteen years too young to be seeing stuff like this buddy," he said in reply to the foal's questioning mewing.

"Hold the line!" he heard somebody cry outside. "Show them what we're made of!"

Going down the tunnel and out of the bunker, he made it back to the trenches where more and more Hydra soldiers were coming down and meeting them head-on than he could count.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to take a hands-on approach little buddy," he informed the colt.

Going for the first soldier, Steve took him out quickly and then reacted by pulling out his shield when another tried to use his pistol. Blocking a third one's blows, he took him out with a toss of his shield as he ground pounded the second one unconscious and then bashed the second one in the head with a savage sidekick. Steve didn't notice it, but Firebrand began to mimic his movements as if he was trying to learn how to fight like he was.

Going past a squad of Allied troops who were doing their best to hold back Hydra's advances, Steve made his way into another underground room where his new teammate Dugan was busy working on a map to work out a strategy against their enemy. Firebrand was ecstatic seeing the mustached man again, to say the least.

"Unca Dummy!" Firebrand exclaimed as he leaped out of his harness and started nuzzling Dugan's legs

"Only you are allowed to call me that little buddy," he chuckled as he kneeled down and began stroking Firebrand's withers. "Anyone else would get a punch in the face."

Steve did his best trying to not laugh as he attempted to compose himself and give out orders after hearing Firebrand call Dugan "Dummy."

"Dugan, I need you to.....rally some men and secure this room.....I need a working radio ASAP."

"You got it, Cap!"

Steve gathered Firebrand back up as he made his way once again back out into the trenches as he noticed they were making their way through a forested area. Thousands of dead trees losing their limbs surrounded their immediate vicinity as Steve ducked and dodged gunfire coming from enemy airplanes. Up ahead, he noticed that their entire way had been blocked off by an intense inferno that engulfed an entire part of the trenches. Looking around, the only thing Steve could find was a big pile of rubble that provided a decent height for an idea that popped into Steve's head.

'It's risky, but I've got no other choice,' he thought nervously.

"Hold on tight little buddy, I'm gonna try to jump this gap," he informed the foal who responded by gripping his back even tighter.

Stepping back a good twenty steps, Steve steeled himself as he ran at a full sprint and launched himself over the fire, and made it safely onto the moist ground on the other side.

Just ahead, four Hydra grunts ran out from behind a burning tank and started charging straight at Steve trying to overwhelm him. Steve took them out without much issue with a few punches and a long toss from his shield.

Coming from over the next hill, three Allied troops came running as fast as they could with absolute terror in their eyes. Calling over to them, he had the soldiers come and duck behind the burning tank which provided them with decent cover from whatever they were running from.

"What is it, soldier? What's going on?" Steve barked out. "And why are you retreating?"

"There's something huge up there sir! I don't think it's human!" one of them exclaimed frightfully.

"We can't stay here! We gotta get out of here before we get killed too!" another cried.

"Shut up! Nobody else is going to die on my watch," Steve assured them. Now stay here, stay low, and shoot anything that tries to get close. Let me deal with your ghoul."

"Sir yes Sir!"

Over the hill, Steve witnessed a man wearing thick pitch-black armor and a crimson red helmet blast away two Allied tanks with only a few blasts from some kind of energy weapon that he was carrying. After he was finished blowing them up, he turned his attention on Steve who tensed himself up for a tough fight.

Steve started up with a toss to the face which seemed to stun him for a second and went for another toss to finish him off.
Unfortunately, the armored soldier anticipated this as he held up his heavy weapon to block it, followed by him launching a grenade at Steve who barely had enough time to flip out of the way.

"This guy is a big one," Steve mumbled. "It's probably gonna take everything I've got."

After a few grenade launches and Steve repeatedly trying to dodge the small explosions, Firebrand saw how hard of a time Steve was having with this armored soldier and it made him mad at the soldier. Little did he know that something he carried was reacting to his thoughts and was about to help him out in an unexpected way.

Just as Steve thought he was going to get hit by a point-blank shot from the soldier's heavy weapon, something loud and black shot out from the side of his head and collide with the soldier's helmet, causing him to fall flat on his back with a clank. He approached the downed form of the soldier and went for a ground pound, but the soldier tried to fight him off with a mechanized arm. They struggled for a few seconds before Steve got the better of him and knocked him out cold with a solid kick to the face.

When he knew he was out of danger for the moment, he looked over his shoulder to see Firebrand playing with his black horseshoes. At that moment, it had hit him hard what had just happened.

"Firebrand....was that you who saved me?" Steve asked bewildered.

Firebrand gave him a big smile as he nodded rapidly and gave Steve a salute.

"I wanted to help," he replied.

"Well you sure did that and then some. Was that your horseshoes that did that?"

"I..think so," Firebrand said as he stared at his horseshoes thoughtfully

'Maybe I should let Stark know about this,' he thought. 'Something like that could come in handy.'

Steve turned his attention to the heavy weapon that was being carried by the armored soldier. Three Allied troops approached Steve and stared in confusion at Firebrand hanging off of his back for a few seconds. Though it seemed that the giant energy weapon drew their attention more than he did.

"What the hell is going on?" one of them asked. "Since when does the enemy have an ordinance like this?"

"They don't. At least not yet." Steve reassured. "This is a different enemy."

He pushed his way through the other Allied troops that had rallied at his position and requested to make a call from a communications officer's phone pack.

"Get me Howard Stark," Steve ordered to the operator as his gaze was frozen on the chilling white Hydra emblem that was emblazoned across the underbelly of the ominous gun.

Author's Note:

Another chapter out of the way and the beginning of the Super Soldier arc. I hope I am not disappointing you guys. Comment below, like and tell me what you all think.

Comments

[The Fiery Joker]

Yeah FB would be in biiig trouble

[Rogue Shadow]

9746192
sorry if i don't understand the reference but what does FB stands for??

[Spettro138]

9988733
Firebrand XD

[Well Geboren]

quite disappointed that a beautiful country like France was not as good as they had been lead to "believed" in the past.

The 'D' is unneeded

..knocked the soldiers off of their feet and on to the ground unconscious.""Then it bounced back towards whoever had thrown it, as if it was mad"d" of rubber. ..

A space here and replace the d with an e.

Steve noticed that Bucky was bleeding in quite a few spots and decided to take a moment to check him out. He

Cut the He out

"What is "is" soldier? What's going on?" Steve barked out.

Needs an it