A New Brand of Freedom

by Spettro138

Super Soldier: The Big Red One

Stepping up to the line, Steve examined it and pulled out his shield as he got into a running start. Leaping off of the ledge, he wrapped his shield around the line as he used his indestructible shield as a zip line. Firebrand held on for dear life as he tried not to look down. He distracted himself by watching flocks of local birds fly by, scared off by the loud noises created by the machinery. Steve took his time to examine the building before him as he begun to create a strategy and a solid plan to assist his friends on their way to the Zemo castle.

"If we can wreck that dish, the gun'll be firing blind." Steve thought aloud. "At least then, the Invaders will have a fighting chance out here.

Sliding down the make shift zip line, Steve saw a window at the end of the line which he intended to use to his advantage.

"Duck Firebrand!" Steve barked.

The foal yelped but obeyed as he retreated into the comforting safety of his armored harness while Steve dove shield first through the glass, landed on an upper floor and then flipped to the floor below where he knocked out three soldiers with a well placed ground pound shockwave from his shield.

"ITS THE AMERICAN!"

Over a dozen heavily armored soldiers came out of a security door as they tried to overwhelm the super soldier. Flipping and dodging, Steve moved his way through the growing crowd of soldiers. Thankfully, most of them appeared to be unarmed low level grunts.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM! OR STRUCKER WILL HAVE OUR HEADS!" one of the soldiers roared.

"Strucker is the least of your worries right now." Steve retorted.

He took care of most of them as best as he could, but more soldiers than he was able to handle entered the room, forcing Steve to think of a plan. Noticing all of the explosive barrels in the room and all of the scientific instruments, he thought of an interesting idea to try out.

"Firebrand, place your hooves on the ground and keep your eyes closed," Steve commanded.

The foal gently hopped out of his harness and obeyed as he placed his horse shoe wearing hooves out in front of him.

Steve reared his shield back as he carefully aimed for the horse shoes and slammed the edge of the shield downwards. A powerful vibration reverberated through the horseshoes and was spread to every corner of the room as soldiers were knocked on to their backs. The vibrations caused disruptions in the machines as they began to combust, causing the nearby barrels to explode.

When he looked up, Firebrand was comedically vibrating and making giggling noises from the impact of the shield. Thankfully his horse shoes have proven to be resilient enough to withstand the shock, but not enough to absorb the vibrations. Steve struggled to not laugh as Firebrand vibrated across the floor as if he was going through an earthquake.

"S-S-S-S-Sta-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-p-p th-th-th-th-the sh-sh-sh-shaky-y-y-y d-d-d-d-addy," Firebrand chortled.

"Okay, okay, just give me a second," Steve chuckled.

Picking up the foal, he concentrated as he held Firebrand still, eliminating the vibrating.

"That was fun! Can I do that again? The shaky felt kinda nice!"

"Later buddy, right now we gotta blow this place sky high. That racket we made is gonna bring reinforcements. We need to set Uncle Howard's explosives where it will do the most good."

"Are we gonna make more boom boom?" the foal chattered excitedly.

"Ohhh yes," he replied.

Looking around, he found a column in the center of the building that appeared to be the most load bearing. He quickly set the first explosive on and made his way up the stairs to place the rest.

"I got to work my way up and place the rest of these explosives fast...the invaders are gonna be here any minute."

As the duo flipped their way across the metal scaffolding in the building, they heard a familiar voice up at the top that made the blood in their veins turn to ice.

"He's breached the dome! Dispatch the service lift. I will deal with the two of them personally." the voice declared confidently.

On the next platform up, Steve found the same pillar as he placed another amount of explosive putty and set it to go off in a few minutes. Unfortunately, before he could finish, a metal security door at the end of the platform opened up, revealing the man they had been hearing over the loud speaker for hours now. He was a tall balding man with angry calculated eyes and a small monocle on his right eye that suggested be was a man of distinction. Firebrand just glared at him with fiery resolve.

"Ah, Captain. So good to meet you in person," he greeted. "You have caused a lot of trouble for us."

He caught Steve's attention as he walked to the center of the walkway and stood in an unyielding pose, but the man just laughed.

"Hmph. Look at you. So gaudy and common, like your country." he sneered.

"And you look like just every other goose-stepper I've had to put down tonight." Steve retorted.

"Hardly. I am Baron Von Strucker. I am nobility. I am your death...and the death of all you hold dear..."

"FEUER!" the Baron shouted.

The duo watched as the radar dish began to activate and rise up higher. The cannon on the other side of the mountain began to aim at the first Allied fighter to come in range, but Firebrand acted quickly as he used his magic to push the cannon away. It took all the energy and effort he had to push the massive and heavy radar dish even just a little bit. Thankfully, he succeeded as the radar dish creaked and groaned as it was forced into a different direction. It missed the fighter entirely causing Strucker to erupt in a fury.

"WITLESS PEASANTS! FOOLS! INCOMPETENT WHELPS! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN OPERATE THE CANNON?"

"I'm counting on that..." Steve said menacingly.

Strucker noticed Steve starting to approach him, giving him a target to take out his new frustrations on.

"You small-minded fool! You have no concept of what you are facing!"

At first, Steve proved to be the better combatant than the Baron. Vaulting over his back and getting in a few solid punches every time he tried to use his super powered mechanical arm on the duo. However, the Baron was rather resilient against his punches, despite seemingly being an ordinary human without the arm. The fist fight went on for a few minutes, until Steve smashed the Baron up against a steel beam, forcing him to call for extra reinforcements.

"Comrades! To arms! This mongrel is beneath me! Show him how to beg. But don't harm the prize he is carrying on his back! Herr Skull is to greatly reward any who returns his research subject. "

Steve used this to his advantage though as he manipulated one of the grunts to get beside him as the Baron went in for a power strike to the face with his sparking arm. Quickly dodging out of the way, the Baron hit one of his grunts instead, sending him flying off of the platform and down to the ground floor below. Another grunt tried striking Steve from behind, but Firebrand just used his magic to yank the baton out of his hands and cripple him with a strike to the neck. The grunt went down as Firebrand snaked the baton around Strucker's line of sight and forced it into his back while Steve was distracting him. The shock from the baton made Strucker scream in agony for a few seconds. He whipped around and ripped the baton out of Firebrand's magical grasp as he snapped it clean in half with his beastly robotic arm.

"I'LL KILL YOU AND THEN I WILL SHOW HERR SKULL'S PET SOME PAINFUL DISCIPLINE!"

The Baron charged up his arm as he went in for his most powerful strike yet, but Steve ducked and went in for a powerful strike of his own. Hitting Strucker directly in the chest, he flew back into the railing dazed, as Steve picked him up, smashed his nose into the railing, and threw him off the platform. The man screamed as he plummeted down to the bottom floor.

The last of the Barons guards tried to finish him off, but were quickly knocked out as Steve moved on with his primary objective.

"Are you alright back there buddy?"

"Uh-huh," Firebrand confirmed. "Stucker tried to hurt my daddy, so I hurt him instead."

"Well try not to make a habit of that alright? I love ya and I don't want to see you hardened by violence like this. Especially at your age. You should be worrying about what toy you want for Christmas or what's the best bubble gum. Not about surviving without getting shot or seriously hurt. There's a time and a place for violence, and there's a time and a place for mercy."

Firebrand looked ashamed as he buried his head in his hooves, but Steve just raised his chin with a finger and looked comfortingly into his eyes.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not glad you tried to help me. Cause I am. Things would have been a lot harder for me if you hadnt snuck into my bag back in London."

The foal wrapped his arms around his new papa, as the man stroked his mane. A few seconds later though, Firebrand tilted his head, thinking about one of the things that Steve had mentioned.

"What's Christmas daddy?" Firebrand asked quizzically.

"Oh, you are going to love it buddy. Snow, Singing, Presents, Thick warm clothes, A lot of good food, gathering together with family and friends, and celebrating something that's incredibly important."

"What?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we've already got the supports handled. We've just got to head on to the radar dish itself so we can make this place go boom."

Steve continued his way up to the top platform of the dome, looping through the scaffolding and bouncing off of beams. He landed on a walkway leading up to the top as the radar dish finally came within their range. They heard a group of eight guards walking around above, trying to protect the dish as it began realigning with the cannon. Two other footsteps closer to the dish could also be heard. No doubt technicians who were calibrating the direction of the cannon.

"I have to plant some explosives directly inside the radar dish," Steve thought aloud. "I can't risk that thing surviving and starting back up again."

Suddenly, above the sounds of the machinery whirring around him, Steve could hear the growling of an incoming plane as he looked out of the opening of the dome and saw the first invading Allied plane. He realized that he had even less time than before to stop the cannon.

"Gotta finish with the explosives or the drop ship is a sitting duck!"

Sprinting to the dish, the guards noticed the super soldier and his companion as they proceeded to engage him.

"He's trying to sabotage the dish! Stop him!" one of the grunts shouted.

He mowed through each of the officers, one by one, either knocking them out, throwing them off of the railing or killing them with a well placed shield bash to the cranium. As soon as he had finished the last of them, he went on to figure out how to properly blow up the radar dish.

Scanning the exterior of the machine, he found a panel in a place that could prove beneficial to his purposes.

"There's a good spot to place those explosives. Unfortunately its armored little buddy. So we are just going to have to find a way to expose the internal circuitry." Steve mused.

He found two separate panels on either side of the radar dish, but in order for them to escape, Steve would need to act with haste. So he instructed Firebrand to go to the other side and fool around with the wires while he would simultaneously short circuit the panel on his end. The foal didnt understand at all any of the technology around him, buy he was smart enough to make the assumption that when he did something bad to the shiny objects and they sparked, he knew he was on the right track. They concluded that they had done something correctly as the sparkling led to a green light turning on and the door to an operating panel opened, giving Steve the opportunity to place the last bomb. Firebrand came back around to watch him.

Unfortunately, before they could attach the bomb, a security door at the other end of the platform opened up, revealing an enraged Strucker being supported by two of his men.

"ARROGANT SWINES! VON STRUCKER DOES NOT DIE SO EASILY. THAT CANNON WILL REMAIN INTACT...PITY I CANT SAY THE SAME FOR YOU AND YOUR RED RAT. GET THEM!"

"We don't have time for this! Neither fo the invaders" Steve muttered.

Firebrand did his best to avoid the soldiers grabbing on to him or getting in a strike by mimicking Steve's techniques. All the while trying to assist him however he is able to. One soldier that tried to hit Steve, Firebrand tripped as he accidentally bashes his face and knocks himself out. Another, Firebrand hits right square center in the privates, causing him to collapse in agony, giving the colt an ample opportunity to buck him in the face. His horse shoes once again psychically respond to his intentions as they meld to his back hooves again and double the power of his strike. The impact whips the soldier's torso to the ground with a crack, critically injuring him.

Steve proceeds by taking out the other three officers Strucker had brought with him. Avoiding his strikes, Steve closed in for a brutal close quarters counterattack. Knocking the man up against the wall, he beats Strucker with a volley of powerful roundhouse kicks and sidekicks to his solar plexus. Each time, the strikes stun him before he could even respond. Three more soldiers charge out to come to their commander's aid, forcing Steve to momentarily back off of his assault.

"You had better hurry up American!" Strucker taunted. "You are almost out of time."

When the soldiers seemingly distract Steve and Firebrand's attention, Strucker holds out his mechanical arm in front of him and releases a shockwave of crackling red energy. The attack was meant for the duo, but it is accidentally absorbed by the officers instead, short circuiting their equipment and sending fatal shocks to their hearts. They give a small pained groan and collapse dead against the platform.

Steve stares at the man in anger seeing him needlessly kill his own men just to get to him. He leaps into Strucker before he could get out another shockwave as he stuns him once again and goes for a rapid fire volley of punches. Strucker tries blocking a few times and getting in a single punch, but Steve grabs ahold of his arm and shoves it into his neck. Strucker screams in pain and finally collapses, seemingly dead. Steve and Firebrand take out the last of the officers before finally going on to placing the last of their bombs.

"Last charge... I just hope I'm not too late..."

Placing the last of the bombs, Steve picks up Firebrand and slings him into his harness as he sprints out of a nearby window and away from the radar dish as it starts to explode.They make it out to the observation platform outside just in time to see the cannon start to go haywire. Unfortunately this causes complications for the dropship as it starts firing in random directions and clips the wing of the plane. The five occupants of the drop ship are forced to bail out as they parachute down to the treacherous castle below.

"Well, crisis averted for the moment. Now all we have to do is join back up with Bucky and--"

"DADDY LOOK OUT!" Firebrand wailed.

But it was too late as Strucker survived the explosion of the dish and tackled Steve off of the platform sending them all plummeting over a hundred feet. The last thing Steve saw was the plane crashing into what was left of the radar dish dome before everything exploded in a hellish blaze.

---

Steve started to regain consciousness in what looked like a lavish courtyard with an ornate fountain right in the center. Strucker was flat on his stomach the same way he was. Firebrand was right next to him, crying and desperately trying his best to lift his daddy off of the ground. For a moment, he saw Strucker tried to lift himself up off the ground, but he collapsed back down. Whether he was finally dead, or unconscious again, Steve did not know at the time. All that mattered is that he got himself and Firebrand to safety. Suddenly, he heard thunderous footsteps followed by the whirring and clicking of mechanical parts getting closer and closer. Turning his head to the right, he saw a pair of armored mechanical legs attached to a monstrous machine.

"Run...Firebrand...get away and find Bucky quickly. Please!" Steve begged the foal as the monstrosity got closer and closer.

"NO! I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" he wailed. GET UP DADDY!"

"Er Ist Bewusstlos." the machine said in a booming metallic voice. "Wie Du Esgleich Bist
Jetzt möchte ich zurücknehmen, was zum Schädel gehört".

Suddenly, a mechanical hand whipped around Firebrand and grasped him tightly, not allowing him to escape as he wailed for his papa.

"Let him go or I'll turn you into a dented soup can you big lumbering piece of shit!" Steve growled.

"Sie sind nicht in der Lage, Drohungen abzugeben" the machine replied coldly. "Wenn ich Gefühle hätte, würde ich es genießen, dich zu brechen."

Steve felt himself being picked up as well as he was forcefully tossed to the ground fifty feet away. Before he slipped into unconsciousness, he could hear the sound of his boy's desperate cries for him.

"DADDY!"

Author's Note:

Here's another one out. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I have making it cause its really fun to write.

Comments

[Lunar eclipse airsoft]

[Well Geboren]

...Allied plane. He realized that he "has" even less time...

Had

He found two separate panels on either side of the radar dish, but in order for them to escape, Steve would need to act with haste. So he instructed Firebrand to go to the other side and fool around with the "wites" while he would simultaneously short circuit the panel on his end. The foal didn""t understand at all any of the technology around him, "buy" he was smart enough to make the assumption that when he did something bad to the shiny objects and they sparked, he knew he was on the right track. They concluded that they had done something correctly as the sparkling led to a green light turning on and the "dootlr" to an "ooerating" panel opened, giving Steve the opportunity to place the last bomb. Firebrand came back around to watch him.

Wires=n't=but=door=operating

Firebrand "does" his best to avoid the soldiers grabbing on to him or getting in a strike by mimicking Steve's techniques. All the while trying to assist him however he is able to. One soldier that "tries" to hit Steve, Firebrand "trips" as he accidentally bashes his face and knocks him out. ...

Did=tried=tripped

Steve proceeds by taking out the other three officers Strucker had brought with him. Avoiding his "sttikes", Steve closed in...

Needs the 'R'

... Strucker was flat on his stomach the same "was" he was. ...

Way

"Let him go or I'll turn you into a dented soup "cap" you big lumbering piece of shit!" Steve growled.

Can