Chapter 31

"You're late, Mr. Thawne." Savage turned around to face him and saw the smirk he had on his face. Yes, This was Eobard Thawne who was also known as Reverse Flash, Professor Zoom and he is from the 25th century.

"By a few minutes to you but to me, I'm right on time. I trust that things went exactly as I told you they would?" Thawne remarked.

"Indeed. Hitler is spinning out of control. The spinless oaf." Savage spat out. "If you hadn't come to me years ago to begin the start on those special weapons projects, we'd be caught well unaware now."

"Helps that I have some…historic knowledge about events. I'm afraid I don't have much time before my presence here is known so let's make this quick." Thawne reached into his pocket and pulled out a lead-lined case before giving it to Savage. "This is for you. Can't have my partner going up against Superman without an edge."

Savage opened the case and saw a fist sized chunk of green kryptonite. "Just like how I saw in Vogel's lab. Only one?"

"I'm afraid even from where I'm from Kryptonite is in short supply. But I come bearing other gifts." Thawne reached into his jacket and removed a short spear. Savage was quick to discard it without a second glance when noticed some peculiar things about it. For one, the unique glow, carvings, and work of the spearhead were unlike any he had seen, and Savage had seen many. The other thing was the small speck of blood at the bottom of the spear shaft where it showed signs of being broken so Thawne must have broken his part off from a larger weapon. Along with the spear Thawne had a small metal ore sample that was unlike any he had seen before because it had a blue glow to it.

"What are these?" Savage looked over the spear and moved it around but Thawne stopped him, more out of caution then anything else.

"This may not look like much but from where I come from, this is one of the most advanced weapons on the planet. A handheld sonic cannon, capable of stopping a tank. The former owner of this spear didn't give this up willingly and made it with one of the rarest metals on earth. I've given you a sample with which your scientists can work with, but should you require more, I would suggest a travel deep into Africa. There is a special place where there is a literal mountain of this metal for you to take though the trip will be dangerous." Savage warned him.

"Intriguing." Savage looked over the metal ore with interest. "You've brought me many great gifts, Thawne. It makes me what I'm contributing to his relationship?"

"Succeed in killing Superman. That's reward enough." Thawne told him. "But to do so you'll need help from Schmidt."

"Ugh, that man is an unsufferable zealot obsessed with his folklore and ancient world stories." Savage spat out.

"Stories that tend to be true in my experience and his work will aid you in your goal. Neither one of you can take on Superman alone and Hydra can assist you in taking the development of these weapons even further in a shorter time frame. I would suggest seeing him in his Austrian facility in two weeks' time. Once he sees that he cannot win against Superman by himself, then he will work with you." Thawne told him when his watch beeped. "I need to go. I'll send a message if we need to meet again."

"Until next time, Thawne." Savage bid him farewell, and the man super sped out of there with his trail of red lightning surging through Berlin until it vanished. Savage looked at the new gifts he was given and made his way home. He had work to do.

Azzano, Italy Late October 1943

The progress into Northern Italy was going like clockwork as the British, American, and Canadian forces kept pushing north at a steady pace. With the efforts of Superman and Taskforce Vanguard they had taken Rome and were now pushing up further north past Florence in the Tuscany region along with the Veneto region of Northern Italy. British Naval forces were moving to secure Venice and the east coast while America forces were securing the western coast up past the Emilia-Romagna region. The German defenses got more intense as did the fighting but coordinated artillery strikes called in by Taskforce vanguard softened up hard targets, their recon gave the main army the intel on what areas to avoid and where the enemies were, and when that failed Superman just came barreling through and smashed their defenses. At this rate, they were only another month or so out from advancing into Southern France, Switzerland, Austria, and Yugoslavia. Many thought the war would be over in a year but there was still a lot of fighting to be done.

Elements of the 107th Infantry Regiment and the US 5th Army were engaged in a defensive battle against German forces in Azzano. Clark and Taskforce Vanguard had snuck into the city to deal with a special weapons lab while the main force attacked the city from the south as a distraction. Their intelligence network informed them that there were some special projects being developed there that were looking to turn the tide of the push north so Taskforce Vanguard went in at night where they had a better chance of sneaking in.

What was once an automobile factory before the war had been turned into some kind of special weapon's lab under heavy guard. There were adjoining soldier barracks, lookout towers along a barbwire fence around the perimeter, machine gun nests, and artillery cannons. Whatever they were doing in the factory was important if it was this well protected and the soldiers protecting it were on high alert and well trained. So much so even hearing the slightest crack of a broken branch near the perimeter made them send out a squad of 6 soldiers to check it out.

The squad of six German soldiers moved through the forest in a tight coordinate with their weapons ready. Their movements showed clear signs of dedicated training as they kept a look out for any sign of enemy movements.

[Whoosh]

They turned to the side hearing a whoosh of air coming from there but saw nothing except for some leaves floating to the ground. The soldiers held their guns up and the leader signaled two men to move forward to check out the area. They nodded and moved in.

[Whoosh]

They heard another whoosh of air behind them causing them to turn around but again saw nothing.

[Squish]

Arthur Kingsley and Lucas Riggs crept up behind two of the German soldiers and killed them with knives to the neck while Diggle and Logan did the same to two others. Halima tackled the 5th one to the ground and killed him with a knife to the neck but before the 6th could raise his gun Clark super sped behind him and grabbed him from behind in a rear naked choke until he lost consciousness.

Clark dropped the body to the ground as did the others and the rest of the team came out of the woods. "Everyone ok?" Clark asked and got nods.

"Boss, take a look at this." Lucas called him over and showed him a patch the soldier had on his shoulder. It was a red circle with a black skull and six black tentacles.

"Hydra." Clark said as he checked the other bodies, and they all had the same patch. "These are Hydra soldiers."

"What is Hydra doing out here? We never got any intel they were in the area." Webb pointed out.

"Well, they're definitely here now." Arthur pointed out, looking at the soldiers unique uniforms and their weapons. Arthur picked up what looked like a submachine gun, but it wasn't a German MP-40. It was made out of better material to begin with, had an added stock and foregrip for stability but when he took out the magazine, he didn't see a pistol bullet but looked like a rifle ones only smaller. "They're definitely better equipped. Check this out. A handheld machine gun that doesn't use pistol ammunition."

"Let me see." Solange took the gun and looked it over. The bullets were larger then pistol caliber but smaller than the ones used in bolt-actions or even the M1 Garand. The gun was sturdy yet light enough to be carried into battle. "This is a good weapon."

"Hydra was the German army's leading weapons designer so they've got things we may not have seen. Hang on." Clark used his super and x-ray vision to get a better look at the factory. He scanned the perimeter, taking note of enemy positions and defenses and they were all Hydra soldiers like the squad they just stopped but what was odd was the factory. "Something's wrong?"

"What is it?" Padma asked.

"I can see it. The factory's lined with lead and it's blocking my vision. I have no idea what's inside." Clark told them.

"That's a first. What do they have in there that they need to protect like that?" Halima questioned.

"If it's lead then it has to be something powerful." Solange answered.

"Well, whatever it is we need to find out what and stop it. They don't know we're here yet so that still gives us the advantage." Clark knelt and began drawing the factory and perimeter layout in the ground using a stick. "Ok. The plan is still the same. Daniel, take up a post outside the perimeter with your sniper. Webb will be with you with the radio. The rest of us will move in with two teams to secure the perimeter. There's a spot here on the fence that we can cut through and then take out the two guards on the lookout towers. After that, we'll move in and place some explosives here by the truck bay. Lucas, you still have the explosives?"

"Got them ready." Lucas patted the bag he was carrying.

"All right. I'll take half and head inside the factory with Logan and Padma, see if we can get a look at what they're doing here and what they're building. Place the rest of the bombs around the perimeter and then regroup at this point. We'll join you once we're finished. Webb, call in a bombing run on this location. It'll make sure that this place goes up in smoke." Clark told them and everyone nodded.

"You sure about the bombing run, boss? We'll get caught in it." Lucas pointed out.

"With how far the airfields are it'll take them ten minutes to get bombers in this position. By that time, we'll be long gone. Let's go." Clark told them and the team headed in.

They cut a small gap through the fence and moved in. Daniel Take-Yatsu lined up shots on the lookouts perched up in the lookout towers with his silenced M1 rifle and took them out. Webb called in the airstrike and kept an eye on his watch to monitor the time. Arthur led Lucas, Halima, Solange, and Diggle around the perimeter while Clark took Logan and Padma into the factory. Arthur and his team moved quickly and quietly around the perimeter, using their knives to take out the Hydra soldiers standing guard around the perimeter while placing their explosive charges in key places like on armored vehicles, near the barracks, and near the fuel depot. The team was well trained and from their position, Webb and Daniel were able to advise them on what paths to take to keep them out of sight of incoming patrols. Once all their explosives were placed, they began making their way back.

Clark led Logan and Padma around the perimeter to the factory. Logan took out a Hydra soldier with a knife to the neck and placed his body in the bushes before they snuck in through a side door. Once they were in, the trio were speechless.

"Unbelievable…" Padma muttered.

"Holy shit…" Logan added.

"I was not expecting this…" Clark added.

What they saw was a giant war factory making giant four-story tall super tanks. Easily the side of a small building and just a wide with massive treads that could roll over normal sized tanks, massive gun emplacements and a giant cannon that could sink a battleship with one shot. The factory was making these tanks like an assembly line with 5 tanks currently being built. Clark, Logan, and Padma quickly hid behind some supply crates as two Hydra guards walked by for a perimeter check.

"Safe to say that our intel was off about this place." Clark whispered to them.

"Oh, you think?" Logan remarked.

"Those things are massive. How the hell did they build something like that?" Padma asked.

"My guess is POWs or forcefully using the civilian population. Plenty of people will work if there's a gun pressed to their heads." Logan suggested when he saw Clark had a look of concentration on his face. "What do you got?"

Clark was using his super hearing to try and pick up conversations being had by the scientists and engineers working on the tanks and he was getting some solid intel. "These things are army crushers. A range of a thousand miles with enough ordinance and firepower to rip through a city like it's nothing. It's reactive armor is powerful enough to shrug off heavy artillery ordinance and even B-29 bombers." Clark whispered.

"Then how do we stop them?" Padma asked and Clark pointed to the far corner where they saw a stack of glowing blue energy cores.

"The power source. From what I can hear it's highly volatile. Stick to the plan. Plant the bombs then we get the hell out of here." Clark took out some bombs and handed Padma and Logan some. "Let's go."

They moved quietly, staying to the sides or hiding behind supply crates as they placed bombs around the factory. Clark, using his super speed, managed to plant one of the bombs by the fuel source pile so if it went off it could take out the factory.

Padma finished securing her last bomb as Clark and Logan kept watch. Clark kept his ears open, listening to conversations going on between the engineers to pick up any useful intel. Apparently, this factory had been set up in the last year by Hydra and they were using it as one of many facilities to construct their weapons. The odd thing from what Clark was able to pick up was that these tanks currently being built were the last of the production line, yet they hadn't heard a word from their allies about these kinds of tanks being seen. Thankfully the engineers kept talking and said how these tanks weren't being sent to the German army or Panzer divisions but instead being sent to other Hydra Facilities.

"Last bomb secure." Padma said and Clark nodded before activating his communication watch.

"Arthur, what's your status?" Clark whispered.

"We made it back to the rendezvous point but you better hurry up, Kal. Things are picking up outside. It looks like Hydra is moving its forces into deployment, so it won't be long before they catch onto us."

"Roger that. We're on our way." Clark whispered as they began making their way back to the door, they made their entry.

Logan was in front, keeping his Thompson submachine gun ready when his ears picked up and his nose caught a new scent. He passed some supply crates and quickly grabbed the rifle of a Hydra soldier, headbutting him and throwing him to the ground where he stomped on his neck. Another came at Logan from the side with a knife, but Clark came up, knocked it aside and knocked him on the helmet, sending him straight to the ground. A third came at Padma but she slammed him in the stomach with the butt of her shotgun and slashed him across the neck with her knife.

"Intruders!"

Some Hydra soldiers saw them from a walkway up above and began firing at them with their advanced machine guns forcing Clark, Logan, and Padma to take cover. Logan shot at them with his submachine gun while Clark used his pistol. Some Hydra agents tried to flank them, so Padma blasted them with her shotgun.

"Move!" Clark shouted, reloading his pistol and giving them cover fire so Logan and Padma could keep moving. The Hydra Soldiers who managed to get a shot at Clark hit him but even their new machine guns didn't do much as their bullets bounced or broke against his body.

The trio headed to the door when a volley of blue energy blasts bombarded the door they were trying to exit, forcing them to stop and take cover behind supply crates. Clark peaked out and saw the energy blasts coming from up on the walkway and on the ground floor by Hydra soldiers using new advanced rifles with the same blue energy cores he saw being put into the super tanks. Clark, Logan, and Padma popped up out of cover to shoot at the Hydra soldiers, killing a few of them before ducking back down to reload and for cover.

"Put your weapons down and come out with your hands up. You are surrounded. It is over." They heard someone say. Clark peaked his head out and saw a man step forward. He was wearing a black cloak, a soldiers hat with the Hydra symbol with a pistol holstered to his thigh and judging by how the soldiers cleared a path for him when he walked up, he was clearly in charge. Logan and Padma had no idea who he was, but Clark recognized him almost instantly from the SSR files from before he was put through Project Rebirth. It was Hydra's leader Johann Schmidt, the person who kidnapped Dr. Erskine and used the early version of the super soldier serum on himself. "Deadly force will be used unless you do as I say. It means no difference to me, but should you wish to see another day then I would suggest you step out and comply. You have ten seconds."

Logan and Padma looked at Clark who sent them military hand signals. They read his message and got ready, hiding their knives in their belts as Clark took a deep breath and readied himself.

"Ok. We're coming out!" Clark put his pistol down and raised his hands up before stepping out from behind the crates. Logan and Padma followed behind him and they were immediately grabbed by Hydra soldiers and brought forward. Their weapons were taken, and they were pushed onto their knees in front of Johann Schmidt Hydra's leader.

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