Chapter 45

Zambesi

The small country of Zambesi had a tumultuous history much like the rest of the continent going through various chieftains and expanding or shrinking throughout the centuries, but it also had a special history that made it unique in Africa. Ancient Legends speak of a mighty warrior who was granted power of the elements, and his resting place became known as Zambesi. Rich with fertile land and large plains for a cornucopia of might animals, it was a great place to call home for those who did. As a Belgian colony, it has known strife but due to its size it was often ignored. It was much, much smaller than the other countries surrounding it but one thing made it unique and unfortunately that also made it a target.

In the capital of Zambesi known as Tantu City, which wasn't a city in the normal sense and more a very large African Village, the people went about their business as normal. Crops were tended to along with the livestock, food was prepared, clothes were made or repaired and life was good. There was one person who was of particular importance to Tantu City, sort of their leader/protector but it wasn't man but a woman. A lovely looking woman in her 20s wearing traditional Zambesi garb was helping some children prepare food. She was showing them what to do and had a kind and gentle nature to her, but she was of grave importance to Zambesi and the reason for that was because of the necklace she wore. A golden feline head flanked by six golden fangs, three on each side.

"Amaya! Amaya!" A young girl ran through the village shouting her name.

"What's wrong, Foyinsola?" Amaya asked, speaking the local language of Xhosa.

"Men with guns are coming to the village from the east."

Hearing that, Amaya's soft visage of peace and happiness gave way to a fierce battle and protective spirit. "Children, go back to your homes. Quickly, now. Foyinsola, sound the alarm."

The children did as they were told, and the young girl ran over to nearby horn and blew into it three times. When everyone in the village heard the horn, they dropped what they were doing and quickly rushed to their homes, barricading themselves inside. Amaya readied herself as she ran through the village in the direction Foyinsola said the men with guns would be coming. She figured it was likely another group of Belgian soldiers, so she was prepared to deal with them but not in Tantu city. She ran about 200 yards away from the village and saw the men with guns arriving, but she didn't recognize their uniforms, so they weren't Belgian.

50 soldiers of the König or King SS-Battalion were driving up to the village in trucks or four-door cars. The König SS-Battalion was specially trained and under the command of Vandal Savage, so they were not to be underestimated. They were all the way in Zambesi following orders they were given to recover something of importance while the main force was still heading to their primary destination, but they had backup on standby. They'd regroup with them when they were done.

The lead vehicle saw their target village in the distance but also saw a woman standing in their path, so he slowed down. The driver and his three passengers, which included this groups commander stepped out with their rifles or submachine guns.

"Move her." The leader told one of his men, so he walked forward.

"Get out of our way, woman." He said to her in English, hoping she understood that as she likely didn't know German.

"Actually, that's what I was gonna tell you." Amaya said, surprising them that she spoke English so well. "Zambesi is under my protection, and you are trespassing so leave at once."

That's when the leader recognized the necklace around Amaya's neck as the item, they were assigned to retrieve so he stepped forward to her and unholstered his pistol. "Remove your necklace and hand it over. This is your only warning." He aimed his pistol at her and the three men with him followed his lead, aiming their two bolt-action rifles and one submachine gun at her.

"And this is yours." Amaya touched her necklace and was shrouded by the spirit projection of a cheetah which roared before it seeped into her body. The SS commander and his men were startled but stood there ground as Amaya raced forward with the speed of a cheetah and punched the commander in the face. He was sent flying back into the car and she followed that up by grabbing one soldier and throwing him into another before taking out the fourth with a leg sweep and then ax kick to the face.

As she was fighting those four men the other SS soldiers had quickly gotten out of their vehicles and took up a defensive position. One posted up on a truck with an MG-4, pulled back the cocking hammer to chamber a round and opened fire at Amaya. She looked up and saw the bullets closing in on her which is when to her surprise she saw a man suddenly appear.

Clark had super sped all the way to Zambesi from the border and got there just in time. When he saw the bullets heading to the woman, he super sped to her and covered her body with his. The bullets bounced or broke against his back as Clark extended his arms out to make sure she was covered. "Are you ok?" He asked her and she managed a nod through her astonishment at seeing a man not getting shredded to pieces by bullets and how he appeared out of nowhere. "When I give you the chance, get out of here."

"No, this is my village, and I will protect it." Amaya touched her amulet, and the spirit of an eagle surrounded her before she jumped and flew into the air.

Clark would have liked to go wide-eyed in astonishment, but they had a fight, so he quickly turned around and slammed his hands together making a loud thunder clap. His super strength clap caused a huge shockwave which knocked the SS soldiers back before he jumped forward and tossed the gunner on the truck away before destroying the MG-42. One soldier got up and aimed a Panzerschreck anti-tank rocket launcher at him and was about to pull the trigger.

[Eagle cry]

Amaya swooped down like an eagle and kicked the soldier across the face before she threw him to the side. She touched her necklace, and the spirit of a rhino surrounded her before she charged forward. Her feet stomped on the ground, making loud thuds like a rhino would and she hit like one two as she punched, and shoulder shoved some SS soldiers in her way, and they were knocked around like they were if they were hit by a rhino. One soldier fired a burst from his submachine gun at her only for Clark to get in the way and catch the bullets which he then through back at the shooter. Several grenades were thrown at him, but he grabbed them out of the air and hurled them into the sky where they went off with.

Seeing they were outnumbered, the radioman quickly called in for backup. No sooner than he said that did three Hydra Armored Personnel Carriers drive into the valley from the jungle followed by a Hydra Mini Tank, all of them armed with heavy caliber machine guns and energy guns that immediately opened fire. The SS soldiers quickly moved back into cover behind their vehicles or out of the line of fire of the Hydra vehicles. Clark quickly rushed over to Amaya and pulled her down behind the lead SS car for cover as bullets and energy blasts rain down all around them. The car they were hiding behind protected them from getting hit but it wouldn't last long as it was getting riddled with bullets and one energy blast would make it explode.

"Who are they?" Amaya asked Clark.

"Bad news. Much worse than the SS soldiers and with better weapons. Those energy weapons are powerful." Clark said as the two peaked out from behind the car. There they saw the commander that Amaya punched out scramble to his feet, likely concussed but before he could run or scramble for cover, one of the energy blasts hit him and he disintegrated. To say that Amaya was shocked was an understatement. "Stay behind cover!"

Clark quickly super sped to the Hydra Mini Tank which tried to shoot him. The main gun glowed blue and fired several shots which missed because Clark was moving too fast to get a lock on. The energy blasts may be powerful and fast, but the gunner was still human and that allowed Clark to close the distance and slam into the side of the tank. He bashed into the reinforced armor and made a huge dent before jumping up top and punching the main gun in two. He ripped open the top hatch and quickly threw in a grenade from his pack when a gunner on one of the Hydra Armored Personnel carriers turned his energy gun and fired a shot. It hit Clark dead center in the chest and knocked him off just as the grenade took out the mini tank from the inside. Clark landed on his back and hit the ground hard, getting the wind knocked out of him as the energy blast hurt. But he was glad to not be disintegrated. He sat up and saw the Hydra carriers focus on him, driving around the wreckage and opening fire. He was about to move when a figure landed in front of him, and a large shield surrounded them. The shield was glowing blue as it protected Clark from being hit by bullets or Hydra's energy weapons and in that second realization that he was being protected by someone, Clark saw that the shield was really two giant blue glowing bug wings that were connected to make a dome.

His savior was a person wearing a blue formfitting suit, blue boots, blue gloves, and a black belt with a scarab on the buckle. On his back was a giant protrusion that looked like a giant bug wrapping around him like a pack with six glowing lights. It was the bug protrusion on his back where the giant wings were coming from and to top it off there was a blue cowl that covered the person's hair with a small fin in the middle and a yellow visor to protect his eyes.

"Are you ok?" The man asked and Clark nodded. The Hydra soldiers got out of the armored personnel carriers and used their handheld energy rifles to establish a firing line. "Khaji, knock them back."

The shield glowed before emitting a shockwave that knocked all the Hydra soldiers away and sent the Armored vehicles skidding back. The man deactivated his shield with the wings returning into his suit. One of the gunners managed to get back onto one of the guns on the armored personnel carrier but before he could squeeze the trigger someone swooped down and bashed into him, sending him flying through the air and destroying the gun. Clark thought it might have been Amaya, but it was someone else. A man wearing red and gold armor. Red boots with gold kneecaps on red colored pants, a golden cuirass of armor was on his chest with golden shoulder pads connected to his chest armor via belts to a red buckle with a hawk symbol placed over his heart. Gold and red armored gauntlets adorned his hands, and he was holding a large two-handed double headed golden axe. The helmet on the man's head was gold and had two long wings like a bird with the nose designed after a beak and it covered everything except for the eye area, the ears, the mouth, and the front of the neck. But the most striking thing about the man were the two giant wings he had sprouting out from his back.

The winged warrior sliced through the armored carrier with his axe and a Hydra soldier was about to blast him when Clark super sped forward and sent him flying away before jumping onto the second armored personnel carrier and ripping the guns off. He was about to deal with the third and final armored carrier when another winged warrior flew down and smashed it with a golden mace. Ordained in armor similar to the hawk man but this was a hawk girl. Red boots and gold kneepads on top of green pants with a red belt that had a hawk symbol on the buckle. A gold and green colored armor cuirass protected her chest with matching shoulder pads and armored gauntlets covering her forearms and hands which was holding up a spiked golden mace. She had a winged and beaked helmet like the hawk man but more subtle and had a similar pair of golden wings on her back.

She kicked two Hydra soldiers in the face and then bashed a third with her mace but when a fourth tried to shoot her, the hawk man sliced his gun and punched him in the face. The beetle man formed some kind of antenna-like device from his right hand, and it fired a shockwave that send the Hydra and SS men flying back. They heard the roar of a lion and Amaya soon joined the fray, taking out the SS and Hydra goons and she was quickly joined by the hawk girl. An SS soldier picked up an MG-42 and fired a barrage at them so Clark super sped in front and protected him before the hawk man sliced him across the chest. The beetle man fired another shockwave blast and took out the last of the soldiers.

"Is that all of them?" Amaya asked and they looked around. All they saw were dead SS or Hydra soldiers.

"Looks like it." The hawk man picked up one of the energy guns. "These aren't like ordinary guns."

"Hydra isn't ordinary. The things they've made for this war defy explanation but they're definitely dangerous." Clark told him as he looked at the three people who helped him. They may have been wearing armor and helmets/cowls to cover their faces, but he recognized them from the border.

"So, what are they doing here in Africa? Shouldn't they be fighting in Europe?" Dan Garrett point out.

"They have an objective, but I don't know why they sent a small group to this vill— [Buzzing of energy buildup]" Clark froze when he heard this new sound and recognized it instantly. "GET DOWN!"

He pushed Amaya, the two hawks and the beetle guy to the side out of the way of a powerful green energy beam that hit him. He was sent flying through the air and crashed down in the middle of Tantu city.

"[Groans] Oh…that hurt." Clark groaned as he pushed himself up to his feet and looked around at the simple huts in the village when he saw a Maschinensoldaten up in the air heading towards him. Likely jumping after him and knowing that their battle would decimate the village, Clark had to keep him out, so he super jumped and tackled the Maschinensoldaten out of the air and they crashed into the ground. Being close to the Kryptonite core, Clark felt like he was dying and having crashed into the ground didn't help which is when he was punched in the face. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the dirt, spitting out some blood from his mouth as the Maschinensoldaten got back up, giving Clark his first good look at it. It was like the one he faced in Tehran with the same design and Kryptonite powered energy beam on the left arm but on the right arm seemed to be a modified mortar launcher that fired rockets from a Panzerschreck with a large drum of extra rounds attached to the arm for faster reload. He then raised said launcher at Clark.

[Cry of an elephant]

Amaya charged at it with the spirit of an elephant, so the Maschinensoldaten turned and aimed it rocket, but she jumped and kicked it in the chest which made him stumble back. It quickly reobtained its footing and punched Amaya back before blasting her with said rocket only for Clark to super speed over and protect her. He covered her body with his own, so the rocket exploded against him. The two tumbled on the ground as it fired its Kryptonite beam only for Carter to drop down in front of them and summon a circular shield to protect them. The shield didn't break or melt but the force of the energy beam sent him skidding back until Clark grabbed and braced him from behind.

"Garrett! Shayara!" He called out. Dan Garrett flew forward with his bug wings and turned his right hand into a large mace while Shayara used her spike mace and they both hit the Maschinensoldaten, sending it into some trees. They flew after it to keep up the pressure, hitting it all over but the Maschinensoldaten would not go down and began fighting back.

Carter retracted his shield as he looked over at Clark who helped Amaya up. "Are you ok?" Clark asked her and she nodded.

"What is that thing?" Carter asked.

"That's what tore through the border crossing defenses. One of Hitler's super weapons. The toughest armor with a serum enhanced super soldier underneath and a power source that doubles as an energy weapon." Clark answered.

[Wham]

Garrett flew past them, having been punched by the Maschinensoldaten and Shayara wasn't fairing any better. She hit it in the side with her mace before ducking its grab and wound up her mace but when she went to swing, it caught her weapon and punched her in the face. She flew back and crashed into the ground.

"Shayara!" Carter flew forward and punched it in the chest which knocked it back, showing off some enhanced strength. His wings flapped as he hovered to the ground and brandished his axe. "I'm gonna cut your head off for that."

He jumped up into the air, aided by his wings and came in with a big overhand chop only for the Maschinensoldaten to catch his weapon mid-swing. He then headbutted Carter several times and slammed him into the ground before throwing him to the side. It was about to blast him with its Kryptonite energy beam only for Clark to slam into it from behind at super speed, sending it crashing through several trees.

"Like I said that armor's not for show and the person wearing it has enhanced strength and durability." Clark told him while Amaya helped Shayara up and Dan Garrett joined them.

"So, do you have a suggestion?" Garrett asked him.

"There's only one of him and five of us. Hit from all sides and disable the green energy core on its chest. That's powering the energy weapon on its left arm." Clark told them and everyone nodded.

The Maschinensoldaten got to his feet with some dents and scratches on the armor but otherwise it was fine. Despite him being outnumbered, his wasn't going to run away so he fired another rocket from his right arm and while it reloaded, he fired quick Kryptonite energy bursts instead of a singular energy beam. That way he could get multiple shots.

Clark and the others separated to avoid being hit with Carter and Shayara taking to the sky. Amaya summoned the spirit of a kangaroo and jumped around with incredible agility to avoid getting hit. Dan Garrett ran at it from the left while Clark did so from the right. Clark had to keep a distance from the Kryptonite, so he used his pistol and fired a few shots to get its attention, which it did. It was more focused on him than the others, so it fired several Kryptonite energy bursts at him. Clark used his super speed to dodge while Dan Garrett transformed his hands into the antenna-like energy ray guns and fired two beams of blue energy at the Maschinensoldaten who fired his Kryptonite energy beam and the two battled for dominance against one another but were fairly even. Clark ran by the Maschinensoldaten at super speed and punched it across the face before running away which allowed Dan Garrett to blast it back. It tumbled onto the ground and got back to its feet, quickly firing a blast at Dan Garrett who used his wings to shield himself.

[Hippopotamus roar]

Amaya jumped down onto the Maschinensoldaten with the power of a Hippo in her ax kick which he blocked but it was with the arm that had the modified mortar launcher, so it was crushed. He pushed her back, so she used the momentum to move into a backflip and it was about to blast her when Carter and Shayara swooped down and hit him from opposite directions. She bashed it with her mace, and he sliced it across the chest with his axe which made a cut into the protective cover over the Kryptonite. Amaya touched her necklace to channel the spirit of the rhino and she drop kicked it in the chest, hitting it in the same spot where Carter slashed it, making a larger crack in the protective cover. Amaya ducked to the side to avoid being grabbed when Clark super sped by and punched it in the back, sending it crashing into the dirt. It picked itself up off the ground and turned to fire its Kryptonite energy beam which Dan Garrett countered with his own allowing Shayara to swoop in from the side and bash it across the face, knocking its helmet and mask off so they could see the red-skinned monster of the Blockbuster serum. Carter then came down and slashed it down the chest, but it managed to grab his wing so he headbutted Carter and threw him to the side only for Amaya to rush forward. She summoned the spirit of a snake and swerved around its punch before climbing up its arm and kicking it across the face. She then backflipped off its shoulder to get some distance.

He raised his energy beam at her, but nothing happened. He tried again and got nothing but empty clicks like a gun without any bullets. That's when he noticed that Amaya had the piece of Kryptonite in her hand from his chest piece. Carter's last slash finally broke open the protective cover allowing Amaya to grab it. With it, the suit wouldn't have the extra power for movement or its energy weapon. Before the depowered Blockbuster serum soldier could contemplate his next move, he was struck in the chest and sent skidding across the ground. He picked himself up and saw Clark walking towards him.

"Without that piece of Kryptonite powering your suit you're without your best weapon which means I have nothing to worry about." Clark cracked his neck and super sped forward where he landed a powerful punch across his face and that send him tumbling across the ground only to super speed around and punch him back in the opposite direction before super speeding around him and landing a powerful uppercut that send him up into the sky. He kept going up and up to the point where he was nothing more than a blip and even then, he began to disappear, so Clark wondered if he punched him into space.

"Oh my god…" He heard and saw Dan Garrett, Amaya, Carter and Shayara Hall looking at him in awe. "How did you do that?" Shayara asked.

"Forget how? If you could have done that now, why didn't you do that from the beginning?" Carter asked him.

"That rock in her hand." Clark said and everyone looked at the small seemingly insignificant glowing green rock currently in Amaya's hand. "That emits a special kind of energy that weakens me and powered that armor's energy weapon. This isn't the first time I've had to deal with that thing. I've encountered one of them before. They're Hitler's latest super weapons but are expensive, have complex components and need an incredibly powerful source of energy to power it. That rock may not look like much but it's dangerous."

Amaya touched her necklace and summoned the spirit of the gorilla before crushing it into dust which blew away with the breeze. "It won't harm anyone anymore." She said. "Thank you for your help, all of you. Zambesi is safe once again."

"We were happy to help but, in all honesty, we were following him." Dan Garrett pointed at Clark.

"And it was my pleasure." Clark told her. "Apologies, I haven't even introduced myself. Captain Kalvin Elbert of the Strategic Scientific Reserve."

"Daniel Garrett, Archaeologist." Dan Garrett introduced himself as his cowl came down to his neck, so his head wasn't covered while Carter and Shayara removed their helmets.

"Carter Hall and this is my wife, Shayara." Carter introduced the two of them.

"It's nice to meet you all. I am Amaya Jiwe, protector of Zambesi. Thank you all for what you've done to help protect my village. Zambesi is in your debt." Amaya said to them.

"It was my pleasure and since it did cause some of this mess, I'd be happy to help clean things up as well." Clark told her and she smiled, thankful for that.

"Me too." Daniel Garrett volunteered and so Shayara and Carter did the same.

"It'll go faster with all of us helping." Shayara said and they helped Amaya fix things up. Unbeknownst to them now, the five of them meeting was something of historical importance that would matter in the years to come.

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