Chapter 32

"So…this is the fabled Taskforce Vanguard I've heard so much about." Schmidt walked over and inspected the trio with a closer look. Padma just sneered at him, Logan glared at him, and Clark was as calm as could be. "A weak-willed former member of the Indian National Army and a hairy Canadian. I expected more. Don't worry. My men are currently searching the woods for your compatriots and handling the bombs you placed around my perimeter. Did you really think I would be so easily fooled?"

"We were hoping so." Clark said as Schmidt signaled his men to lift him up onto his feet so the two could speak face to face.

"So, you are the one the Allies have dubbed the Superman. I've seen your pictures. Very impressive. I am very curious to hear how different you turned out to be." Schmidt wondered as he took Clark's pistol from one of his soldiers and quickly raised it to his face, pulling the trigger multiple times until the magazine was empty. The broken bullets fell to the floor in front of him and Clark's face was unharmed. "It would seem the rumors are true."

"Oh, buddy you have no idea." Logan remarked only for one of the soldiers to hit him in the back with his gun. Clark moved to stop him, but the Hydra soldiers raised their guns at him and at the others.

"It is very rude to speak unless spoken too." Schmidt warned him.

"Stop. Leave them alone. You want me." Clark told him and Schmidt chuckled.

"How very noble, Lieutenant Elbert." Schmidt said, surprising Clark and the others that he knew his name. "Yes, my spies kept me well informed of you and the Captain. I must admit I rather enjoy his films. He is a symbol of America's deluded belief that they will win this war while you…are nothing more than a blunt instrument. I wonder what lies Erskine said to entice you. What things he did to your body to make you to get to this…transformation. But rest assured I was his true perfection and soon I will discover what he did to you."

"I highly doubt that, Schmidt." Clark said to him.

"Good. You have heard of me. I would have been disappointed otherwise." Schmidt pointed out. "I wonder how good your intelligence was. What did you learn about me?"

"Enough to know that you're insane." Clark told him.

"Ingenuity and genius is often seen as madness by the weak-willed, I'm afraid." Schmidt quipped.

"I'm not seeing a lot of genius. I've heard a lot about how Hydra is the Third Reich's brilliant science division but so far all I've seen are the same. Bullets and tanks. Nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"Delusion does not become of you, Lieutenant. These weapons are but a mere footnote compared to what destruction awaits the world. They will cause fear as Hydra spreads its influence and control over the entire planet and with our rule humanity will finally be brought to its fullest potential." Schmidt declared.

"HAIL HYDRA! HAIL HYDRA!" Schmidt's soldiers shouted.

"I truly wished things could be different Lieutenant. It's a shame to see you think of yourself as nothing more than a simple soldier when in reality the two of us have left humanity behind. Unlike you I embrace my new fate without fear." Schmidt said with pride.

"Then how come I can hear your heart beating rapidly. Sounds like fear to me." Clark quipped and Schmidt growled in anger before punching him in the face multiple times and then in the stomach. Clark turned with the punches, but they didn't hurt him and instead Schmidt turned around and rubbed his hand in pain. He had punched fist prints into steel, but Clark's skin was something else. "I'm pretty sure that hurt."

Schmidt sneered in anger and quickly pulled out his pistol which had the same blue energy core as some of the rifles the Hydra soldiers had before placing it on Clark's forehead. "It's unfortunate that this will be quick and painless, but rest assured the deaths of the rest of your team will be horrendous." Schmidt promised as he tightened his finger on the trigger.

"Not gonna happen." Clark acted, grabbing Schmidt's hand and twisting his wrist, breaking it and pressing the trigger of the pistol. It fired a blue energy blast towards the pile of blue energy cores which ruptured and set off a massive explosion that tore through the factory. The walkways up above were blasted apart so hard that they collapsed while super tanks were blown up and dozens of Hydra soldiers, scientists, and engineers were enveloped by the giant fireballs and killed by the force of the explosions. Clark then punched Schmidt in the jaw and sent him flying back into his men before turning and shoving several Hydra soldiers back.

Logan pulled out his knife and stabbed two Hydra soldiers in the knees before taking one of their machine guns and shooting four dead. Padma kicked out the legs of one soldier, knifed another in the back and snagged a grenade from his belt before tossing it into the factory. She picked up her shotgun and began rapid-firing chasing after chasing, making mincemeat of Hydra soldiers while Logan took back his Thompson and fired the entire magazine at Hydra soldiers who were too busy dealing with the factory being blown up.

Clark super sped around the immediate area, sending Hydra soldiers flying around before he picked up his pistol. The explosions in the factory began to spread, setting off more and more as the entire factory was engulfed in flames. With all the other flammables in the place it was gonna burn down. Clark punched a Hydra soldier back when he saw Schmidt get back up cradling his broken wrist. The man's face seemed disfigured as Clark saw his eyelids and jaw weren't in the same place as before like his face was a mask. Schmidt snapped his dislocated jaw back into place before grabbing his pistol with his other hand and aiming it. Clark saw it was aimed at Logan, so he super sped into the path as Schmidt fired a blue energy bolt. Clark stood in front of Logan, taking the hit but unlike bullets that bounced or broke against his skin the impact of the energy beam hit Clark like a freight train and sent him flying back into some supply crates.

Logan saw Clark take the energy blast for him, so he fired a burst from his Thompson at Schmidt who was being scurried away by his men to safety. Logan would have gone after him, but another explosion caused the ceiling to come down and blocked their way. "Logan! We need to go!" Padma shouted as she reloaded her shotgun, and she was right so the two rushed over to Clark.

Clark gasped in pain as that energy blast felt like getting punched by that super soldier SS-officer. Clark looked down and Schmidt had hit the S on his suit with the energy burning through the material and showing the skin underneath. Clark's chest was badly burnt and bleeding a bit. "Kal, you ok?" Logan asked as he and Padma saw the damage that laser gun did.

"I'm fine." Clark groaned in pain and got up to his feet when another explosion ripped through the factory. "We need to find the others."

They headed out of the factory with Padma picking up one of the energy rifles from the ground as the trio made their exit. The rest of the team were waiting in the forest by the perimeter when they saw the factory explode which thankfully stopped the perimeter search for them. They kept a watch on the perimeter when Daniel saw Clark and the others exit. "They're they are." Daniel shouted, shooting a Hydra soldier with his rifle.

"Give them cover fire!" Arthur shouted and the team opened fire on the Hydra soldiers as Clark, Logan, and Padma rushed to them. Thankfully their escape happened to coincide with the explosives placed around the perimeter going off which gave them some extra cover.

"Let's go!" Clark shouted as he regrouped with his team, and they kept moving to the extraction point.

"What happened inside?" Arthur asked, seeing the shape Clark was in as troubling.

"We'll explain later." Clark told him.

"Hate to add on the bad news, sir but I've picked up chatter. Hydra Forces are heading down to engage the 107th and 5th army." Webb told him.

"We've got to get to them fast." Clark told him and the team hurried. Despite the pain Clark was in, the 107th and 5th Army weren't prepared for what Hydra had for them.

10 miles away…

A blitzkrieg-like German counter attack pushed elements of the 107th and US 5th army back into pre-determined defensive positions. The soldiers moves back quickly into dugouts as German mortars dropped around them. One of them was Sergeant Bucky Barnes as he jumped into a dugout with his sniper rifle. Next to him was Dum-Dum Dugan and Gabriel Jones. Bucky hid in the dugout and took a breath.

"There's got to be a least three more companies out there!" Dugan told him.

"A and B company! Tell them we need cover!" Barnes said to Gabriel only for him to hold up the smoking radio transceiver.

"That might be tough!"

"Bucky, behind you!" Dugan shouted as the trio fired at some advancing Germans.

"HERE THEY COME!" Bucky shouted as the trio engaging the advancing Germans along with other soldiers nearby. They quickly established a firing line while calling in artillery of their own. Bucky looked through his sniper scope to take a shot at a German Lieutenant when he saw said Lieutenant along with his entire squad get vaporized by blue energy blasts. "What the hell?"

Several continuous volleys of blue energy blasts came from the eastern flank on the Germans, killing dozens of them at once. Whatever was going on and whoever was attacking wasn't American or British as they didn't have those kinds of weapons. "What the hell is that?" Dugan asked as he, Barnes, and Gabriel saw an advancing force from the east flank the Germans and send them scurrying away. Bucky looked through his scope and managed to get a visual of the new element that arrived. They were wearing black uniforms in similar style to the German army, but they had different add-ons. Some kind of metal bracers, weird airplane pilot-like helmets with goggles on their heads and weird looking guns that had glowing blue lights coming from them.

Then to their horror they saw a large four-story tall super tank cress over the hill. It had two massive front lights, massive treads, multiple machine gun emplacements, several tank cannons on the front and even a larger mega-cannon on top.

"GET DOWN!" Bucky shouted as the super tank opened fire.

The giant cannon shell blew a massive hole into the ground and surrounding tree line, killing many soldiers and causing the rest to flee. Try as they could, they were then outflanked by their new enemies and many were taken captive, being taken as POWs.

Elements of the 5th Army were still defending but being pushed back against Hydra forces. The Hydra soldiers were armed with their new portable machine guns or the blue energy rifles which were vaporizing soldiers. Thankfully, the Hydra soldiers only had new firepower and not defenses so they were still vulnerable to bullets. The 5th army fired back as best they could and managed to take out some Hydra soldiers before the giant super tanks arrived and pushed everyone into a retreat. Using bullets against the super tank was pointless and even their mortars barely scratched it. Some radio men called in artillery strikes but were quickly routed out by Hydra soldiers and were falling back.

Things seemed dower when a barrage of blue energy blasts came from the side and vaporized some Hydra soldiers. Several grenade-like explosions went off around the Hydra soldiers taking out groups of them followed up by more blue energy blasts and regular gunfire. The Hydra soldiers were caught unaware as Taskforce Vanguard had surprised them on their flank and before they could regroup to mount a counteroffensive, Superman came barreling from the sides at super speed. Now knowing how dangerous those energy weapons were, Clark used his super speed to give him the edge as they wouldn't be able to hit what they couldn't see. Combined with his super strength he was essentially a wrecking ball and sent Hydra soldiers flying around and taking them out quickly. By now, the super tank was made aware they had a new threat to deal with. The machine gun emplacements on it opened fire but Clark was moving too fast, and the bullets bounced off his body. It began to slowly turn so that it could use its twin energy blasters and its massive cannon, but it wouldn't get the chance.

Clark jumped up onto the tank, landing up on top of it while his team finished off the Hydra soldiers. He punched his right fist into the steel armor, making a large dent about the size of his hand. This steel armor was incredibly thick and hardened so it took longer compared to regular Panzer tanks or even a Tiger Tank but not impossible. After five more powerful punches he managed to break through the super tanks thick armor housing and ripped the metal to create an even larger opening before jumping in. Inside said tank was like a mini-fortress with over two dozen engineers and crew members ensuring that it was operational. Once they saw Clark, they had sprung into action, but it didn't do them much good as Clark just barreled through the inside of tank like a bowling ball. He took them out one by one before heading down to the engine room and shooting the blue energy core with a bullet.

Clark jumped out of the tank just as it exploded from the inside and landed on the ground. The 5th army cheered in adulation that they were saved and any Hydra forces in the area were killed with the super tank taken out of commission. They managed to stop Hydra now and destroyed their factory, but it was a hallow victory. While their mission was a strategic success, Clark called it a failure because they suffered a lot of casualties and part of the 107th was now MIA, having been taken captive. Not only that but the mission also showed just what Hydra had been up to since they sent assassins to kill Dr. Erskine and whatever they had done since then managed to give them a powerful new weapon.

The initial lightning campaign for the end of the war was stalling as the Allies, especially Clark, would have new threats to deal with. One thing was for certain, they needed to get intel on Hydra's operation and stop them before it was too late.

One week later…

Secret Hydra Facility, Austria Late October 1943

Johann Schmidt was in his personal quarters, tending to his injuries sustained against Superman. A broken wrist, some fractured ribs, and a dislocated/broken jaw that were just about healed. His super soldier endurance and healing was tending to his injuries, but he had never felt pain like that ever. Clearly whatever Dr. Erskine did differently for the Superman made him something else entirely. The man shrugged off his punches and even survived an energy blast from his Tesseract-powered weapon when it should have killed him. Other men were vaporized into nothing, yet he managed to survive a shot dead center to the chest and remained among the living. Schmidt had harnessed the power of the gods yet one man managed to stay alive. A crack had appeared in Schmidt's feeling of superiority and invincibility. Superman was now the biggest threat to Hydra and needed to be stopped.

Some knocks were heard on his door and the door slightly opened so Arnim Zola could peak his head in. "Forgive me for the disturbance but you have a visitor Herr Schmidt. It's Savage."

"Let him in."

Zola nodded and Savage walked into the room as the door was closed behind him. Schmidt never got up from his spot behind his desk and the lighting in the room made it so that his head was obscured by the shadows. "You've seen better days, Schmidt." Savage remarked.

"I'm in no mood for your games, Savage. The only reason I am letting you in here is because of our previous deals. What do you want?" Schmidt asked him. The two had history as both were prominent members of the SS party before Schmidt founded Hydra and when he did, Savage assisted him with gaining resources, capital, and the locations for some of his secret factories. Savage often worked with other members of the SS or Nazi party in developing weapons or new technology. He was someone who could get you what you need and while Savage wasn't a member of Hydra, Schmidt was aware he didn't have the highest perspective of Hitler and wasn't just a simple fool.

"To help you, Schmidt. I'm aware of the factory you lost in Azzano and of your encounter with the Superman that has left you in such a state. Your weapons are impressive, but you will need more if you desire vengeance and to see him dead." Savage told him.

"And I suppose you can provide aid. What could you possibly have that would make me think you can even be of assistance? I have contained the very power of the gods for my weapons against my enemies. The power of the gods is at the tips of my fingers so what could you possibly have to offer?" Schmidt asked so Savage reached into his pocket and removed a small case.

"The item you found may contain the power of the gods of this earth but this…" Savage opened the case to reveal a glowing green rock. Schmidt stood up and was enamored with the glow of the stone. "…the power of this rock comes from beyond our world. And it's the only true chink in the Man of Steel's armor."

"You boast a great deal but how did you come by this?" Schmidt questioned as Savage closed the case and put it away.

"A gift from a friend. One with many more gifts to aid our endeavors, none of which we will see come to fruition if the Superman isn't dealt with. Our current means may not be enough on our own but together we can break him." Savage then held his hand forward. "Do we have an accord?"

Schmidt pondered the deal and while a part of him would have liked to disregard it, kill Savage, and just take the stone he decided against it. Savage has proven to be resourceful which could prove useful now that he had turned against Hitler and Germany. Savage had his hands in many pockets but wasn't a blind follower to Hitler or the others as he knew the man had his own agenda. Savage was playing his own game, but they had a common goal and a common enemy. Schmidt was smart enough to admit that going up against the Superman would require additional help. If Savage was right and he usually was then this could be the thing that Hydra needs.

He stepped out into the light to reveal his new face which was actually his true face. A red and horrifically deformed face that showed his inner darkness and true-self. Red skinned with no nose, cheeks, or any semblance of actual skin. A deformity that truly earned him the moniker of the Red Skull.

"Very well, Herr Savage. We have an accord." Schmidt said as he shook Savage's hand.

Two of history's worst people had just struck a deal to work together against a common threat.

Things were going to get worse before they got better.

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