Chapter 1
How much changes in a little bit of time, 2nd Lieutenant James Montgomery Falsworth mused as he walked alongside his new teammates, assault rifle tucked into his hip. A week ago, he and almost 500 men had been enslaved by Nazi scientists, Hydra. The endless days of hunger and working the fingers to the bone were over. Falsworth never thought army rations could taste so good and the watered down tea he had gotten was heavenly.
The six men rescued from the facility now became the SSR Assault team. Charged with the physical destruction of Hydra facilities and capture of its leader, Johann Schmitt. The Brit didn’t know where it had originated from, but the team was quickly being referred to as the Howling Commandos. Dugan probably had a hand in that. Him and his big mouth.
Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan was to Falsworth’s right and next to him walked Cpl. Gabe Jones, and Specialist Jacques Dernier. They and Falsworth were caged together in the prison. Over those hellish weeks, any differences between race, rank, and nationality faded swiftly. The Allied soldiers needed to work together to survive and that familiarity helped them when it came to escaping.
Cooperation did not come easily though. There was a lot of hardship and hunger, but even working together seemed better than death.
Slightly.
There was a soft cough to the lieutenant’s left, drawing his attention to Private First Class James “Jim” Morita. The Japanese-American from some place called Fresno (The Englishman did not know American cities too well) had been held in a separate cage from the four, but still folded in easily with the group so far, not much seemed to faze the short man. Even after clashing with the thick-skulled Dugan within 10 seconds of being freed, Morita did not dwell on it. He and Dernier worked well together during the escape, covering each other’s back according to the excitable French man.
The last member of their merry band of misfits strode in front of the rest, whispering softly to the Captain. Sgt. James Buchannan Barnes. He was also housed in a separate cage for their imprisonment and the others did not officially meet until after their escape. Though Falsworth had not recognized the younger man’s name, he remembered his face when the Captain had met up with them in the forest. The rest of the Commandos learned on the march back to the American camp, that the two were old friends separated by the war. Falsworth could only guess how deep that friendship went if one dived into the enemies’ hornet’s nest for the other.
Barnes had been one of the prisoners chosen by the Hydra doctor. The soldier had not made it easy for the guards when it came to escorting him away. He was also the only one to come back from the doctor’s office. Neither he nor the Captain knew what had happened to the others that had been taken. Falsworth could only pray for their souls.
The Commandos were recruited and led by Captain America in taking down Hydra. Falsworth couldn’t help but smirk as he though their leader’s nickname. It was a tad misleading as two of the men were not even American, including himself. Despite the somewhat obnoxious moniker, Captain Steve Rogers seemed to genuinely care for everyone around him.
Steve Rogers was a young man and it was fairly obvious to Falsworth that the man was new to being a soldier and new to war. He was green to command. At first it made him wary as Rogers had been promoted from private to Captain in one step. The boy just seemed so innocent of the world. Outside the battlefield, Steve was awkward, kind, and open hearted. Shyness was evident when many sung his praises. Steve would choose to sit in a war meeting than be awarded for his valor, saying a piece of medal on his chest doesn’t mean much to those that have one resting in theirs. Falsworth had known others with similar personalities in the beginning of the fighting, but last saw them hard and bitter to the world. Already Falsworth had begun to see the young Captain harden under the strain of command. But Steve’s faith in people and ideals made Falsworth want to follow him, but he feared that breaking as well.
Suddenly Barnes trotted off ahead and Captain Rogers turned to the rest of them. The broad man was surprisingly soft spoken when addressing them, “Alright men, we are coming up close to the outer guard of the Hydra base. Bucky is going to scope it out. In the meantime, what we know is this is the smallest facility. It is not more than a couple of buildings and not more than a platoon defending it.”
“Doesn’t seem worth it,” Dugan muttered. “Why not just beat up the place?” An airstrike would be fairly effective in a localized area and not overly difficult to achieve for once.
“Every base is important if we can get knowledge of Hydra’s workings and infrastructure,” Rogers answered.
“What are we looking for?” Gabe asked.
“The scientists, the commanders, anyone who can tell us what their next move will be.”
A sharp whistle sounded in the air, the Commandos all put their hands to their weapons. Bucky appeared a few seconds later.
“It’s less than what we thought,” He began, slightly out of breath. “There is just an old barn and not much more than a platoon. Smoke is everywhere.”
Falsworth spoke for the first time, “They are leaving.”
“And destroying what they can’t take,” Morita grunted
Captain Rogers nodded in response. To Falsworth, he ordered, “send two-thirds of the men from our company out wide, and try to cut off those that have already left. We will take the rest into the camp. Head on assault.”
Dugan, always ready for a fight, was grinning under his bushy moustache. Final orders were given and weapons checked.
The attack itself was quick, the infantry men were split into groups. Two parties went to cut off the retreating soldiers circling the buildings. The last joined the Assault team in raiding the factory. The wire gates were wide open in letting vehicles out so the Allies had no hindrance for the charge. The soldiers rolled in like a wave, easily gaining ground. The courtyard was empty and muddy any resistance protecting the doorway either fled or died. The barn was a stone base with old, entrance way. In the lead, Captain America and Commandos broke down the front door, gunning blazing.
Rogers was on point, shooting his pistol and the Commandos flanked him on either side in a pyramid formation. The building was old, but spacious and more occupied that outside. Hydra guards rounded on the opening and unprotected to the attack. The guards fell like ragdolls and blood splattered on the gargantuan machines that rose to the ceiling.
The last man collapsed and there was a moment reprieve. Falsworth held up and reloaded his magazine. He watched as Rogers wordlessly scanned each of his men, checking their wellbeing. Gabe had a couple scratches to his face, probably from debris chalked up by bullets and Dugan was coated with dust. But everyone was otherwise unharmed. Falsworth noticed Bucky walk up to the Captain, but stopped shouting, “Steve, look out!” as two more guards came around the corner. One guard had his weapon charged, firing at the brightly colored captain. Falsworth grunted as Bucky collided with him, having been thrown by Rogers out of the way, pushing him into the machine behind him. The Brit thought this was the end at the beginning. Nothing has stopped a Hydra blast before, vaporizing anything in its path and Steve had sacrificed his chance to move to save his friend. The Captain could do nothing, but raise his large, round shield that was as decorative as he was.
There was a flash, then nothing. Nothing happened, Steve still stood, protecting himself from the blast, surprised at his lack of death. The Hydra guards were dumbfounded as well and the hesitation caused them. Steve whipped around swinging, bouncing Hydra soldiers off his shield like they were toys. Both hit the ground and lay motionless and no more guards appear.
It was the Commandos to look over their Captain. He was unharmed, and tapped his shield in appreciation. “Well, that’s a nifty thing to have,” Dugan said. Falsworth agreed, the shield’s ability to stop Hydra blasts gave them an edge.
The men spread out, looking for information. Bucky was glued to Steve’s side, Falsworth tried to ignore the heated whisper between the two. Barnes was completely overstepping as a sergeant to a captain, but their personal relationship and the uniqueness of the team made allowed for leniency in formality. Dugan and Morita were both ones to take advantage once they realized the slackness. Acting extremely casual between ranks, though they would fall in if orders came.
“Much like Azzano, lads.” Falsworth said, eyeing the machines. The mechanics were similar to the ones in Italy, though the production size was much smaller. Hydra would not need as much manpower to run this facility, but it would still need workers. “Prisoners?” he said, just as Morita called out.
Morita leaned over peering into a lower level, but the grimace on his face was an unpleasant foreshadowing to the contents. In a single row of cells were piles of bodies, prisoners that worked the factory shot in their cages. From the clothes it is easy to see the corpses were soldiers. POWs captured in battle and enslaved. When Hydra decided to cut their losses at this location, they couldn’t move quickly dealing with prisoners and were not able to let their captives go free or be freed.
Steve gazed at the bodies with an icy mask. He began to step forward, toward the cells say, “Search for survivors,” when Falsworth called him.
Flies had already begun to circle and the blood was congealed and sticky on the floor. The victims had been dead for hours, probably longer. “There aren’t going to be survivors, Captain.” He broke gently. Steve was stubborn beyond anything and his face darkened at the statement.
“We won’t know until we look!”
Bucky stepped in, “We can’t help them, Steve. We don’t have a lot of time and we still have to complete the mission.” That got through to Steve. The good soldier won out and he stalked away, shield grips clenched tightly in his hands. Falsworth knew Bucky had manipulated his friend. Steve probably knew it too, but it was for the best.
Falsworth swallowed the bile that burned the back of his throat as he stepped back. He could hear Gabe mutter a prayer and Dugan growl under his breath. This could easily had been the Howling Commandos had Colonel Phillips managed to build an attack in Italy. Hell, undoubtedly the only reason they were alive was because Steve had mounted a covert operation with the prisoners as his first priority. At the first whiff of compromise, Hydra had blown their own facility taking everything and everyone with it.
Falsworth paused, watching as Dugan uncovered an armored motorcycle. “Blas-“ he started as boots clanged above them, but the guards didn’t bother to shoot them. Instead headed to the door, more on the ground were not so inclined shooting as they appeared. Falsworth watch as Morita leaped over a support beam for cover, pulling the tarp that was draped over it. Reveling what Falsworth feared.
Dernier’s French accent carried over the din of battle, shouting, “Bombe, Sa va exploser!” Bomb, It’s going to explode. The others did not need to speak French to know what that meant.
Their time was up, Steve had his shield up and pistol smoking, holding the guards back. At the Captain’s order, the Commandos retreated out the way they came. Falsworth gave covering fire as the others hoofed. Bucky was the last out.
The soldiers made about 50 yards, when the old barn blew. Morita was knocked to one knee, dragged to his feet by Jones as the other ran past.
“Le Capitaine!”
But they needn’t worry, as their new lead drove up next to them on hefty motorcycle. Glass littered his clothes and the bike. Steve had a couple scratches to his face, but was otherwise unharmed.
“Nice ride,” Barnes shouted, over the roar of the engine. Falsworth smiled as the Captain barely contained his grin. The rest joined in the relieved laughter. The barn was destroyed and in flames as was their evidence.
XX
In the end, the mission was not more fruitful than closing the factory. The infantrymen manage to capture a single scientist hiding in a small shelter. Held up between Dugan and Morita. The man was dressed in white coat and was of average build, his hair was askew and he had a bloody lip. The man attempted a brave front, but the constant worrying of his split lip proved that he was not as confident as he pretended.
Rogers was to the point questioning, but the scientist just sneered. Falsworth suppressed a shiver and glancing to his comrades he could see the others felt the same way. The man was captive, yet seemed to have no fear for himself. Dernier had a tight grasp on his pistol. Bucky stood off to the side, his arm crossed over his chest and jaw clenched. Gabe repeated the question in German, but the captive spat at the soldier.
Steve grabbed the man by his collar and hauled him into the air. “You’ve disrespected enough men. Him and your captives.” He growled.
The man gave an indignant smirk, speaking in an accented English, “No big loss. Inferior. Those that do not follow the Führer or Hydra are inferior.” Steve dropped the man in disgust. The scientist said nothing as he was hauled up again, trying to regain his breath. But still on his knees the man smile, “Hail Hydra,” he sneered. Before anyone could move the man crunched his teeth. Rogers warning came too late and the Hydra scientist was dead in seconds.
“Well, that could have gone better,” Dugan said nonchalantly, brushing the dust off his hat before replacing back on his head. Captain Rogers was silent as he stared at the fresh corpse, his lips pursed in a tight line. “A spy in New York committed suicide after he failed to kill me and escape.” If he noticed Bucky gazing at him intensely at those words, he didn’t show it.
“It appears that all involved with Hydra are faithful to the job,” Falsworth summarized.
“We need to keep an eye out for that next time,” Gabe added.
But this was only the beginning, Hydra had at least six factories that were known as just as many outstations. Captain America and the Howling Commandos had a long way to go in defeating Hydra and the Red Skull. They had a long way to go with each other as well.
But Falsworth just smiled, this was going to be fun