A week later…
Innsbruck, Austria
Clark and Taskforce Vanguard returned to Innsbruck which had become the Allied headquarters for the advancement into Austria. All advancements east into the country were staged from Innsbruck with its location and access to roads and trams being key to moving Allied gear. The 6th Army Group had been moving east at a blitzkrieg-like pace thanks to Superman and were now nearing Vienna, the capital. Once secured then they would pretty much have the country and then could begin going north from Vienna into Czechoslovakia and then Poland. From there they'd have Germany surrounded once the army groups in France liberated the country and then moved into Belgium and the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, the Blitzkrieg pace would slow down as Superman would not be helping the 6th Army group take Vienna. Instead, Superman and Taskforce Vanguard returned to Innsbruck because they had a new mission which would be to mount a surgical strike 130Km into Germany to take out a special secret soldier lab the Germans had in a workcamp. Clark had gathered Taskforce Vanguard and Polina Petrova in a command room to go over their plan for their mission with a large map on a table with various files, reports, and air recon photographs taken to help them plan.
"Ok, this is it. Apologies for the wait but I needed to confirm some details with command but we've been given the go ahead for the mission. Thanks to Ms. Petrova, we know that the Germans have a secret super soldier lab at a workcamp in Germany and after confirming with intel from the SSR and SOE, we were able to corroborate the rest of the intel. With what we were able to get from the Hydra Officer Polina intercepted in the Austrian woods, the Dr. Vought in the letter is most likely Dr. Frederick Vought." Clark placed the photo of him onto the table for all to see as he was one of their primary targets. He looked unassuming with short brown hair and glasses but the devil was in the details. "One of the premiere scientists for Nazi Germany with numerous PhDs in genetics from Munich. Apparently, his talent was so great that he was appointed as chief physician for the Nazi party before being given control over the workcamp we're heading to."
"Hitler really must be a sick fuck to put a genetic scientist in charge of a workcamp." Lucas remarked.
"He's a Nazi. It's what they are." Polina said in disgust.
"Well, it means we're going to be running into a nightmare but we have to. If that camp is where they're making their super soldiers then we need to take it and Dr. Vought out. He's gonna have a lot of blood on his hands so he's not getting away." Clark swore and everyone agreed with that. "Now according to the letter from the Hydra officer, the camp is located north of Munich in the city of Dachau. Thanks to the British they were able to get us aerial photos taken at about 12,000 feet."
Clark put them on the table for everyone to see. "That place is massive." Arthur said.
"About 25 acres. It used to be an old munitions factory but it's turned into a prison camp. From the aerial photos, everything to the east is mainly the secure command camp and living quarters for the guards and SS stationed there. There are even barracks there so this place is going to have a lot of soldiers. Lucky for us, they're separated from the prisoners and detainees which the SOE suspects to be located here to the west. The river here by these watchtowers acts as a natural separation between the Germans and the prisoners. These two columns of narrow buildings are the barracks where they keep the prisoners so that does part of our job for us in keeping them out of harms way. Our best bet to get into the camp with the greatest chance of success is to the use the railway tracks." Clark pointed to the railway cars seen on the eastern part of the camp. "We can use the train as a trojan horse to sneak into the camp. Once we're in then we can begin making our way through the facilities where we can locate their lab and destroy and find Dr. Vought."
"While the Germans are focused on us we could have our backup move in from the west and secure the prisoner barracks. If this camp has been around for years then odds are there are going to be a lot of prisoners there. How are we going to get them out?" Arthur wondered.
"That train seems like our best bet. We use that to get in but keep it in tact so we can use it to get out. It's the only way to evacuate with all the prisoners especially since we'll be going so far behind enemy lines without a lot of backup." Solange pointed out.
"And it needs to be that way. We don't have the time to bring in all the forces of the 6th Army with us when they're busy pushing into Vienna and we'd be seen from miles away which could give Dr. Vought or the SS the chance to slip away and we'd be back to square one. The Germans think we're pushing east so let's not make them think otherwise. The best chance at us taking out this camp and the lab is a sneak attack which means it'll be just us and a company of soldiers for backup. We'll be deep behind enemy lines on this on but I'm not gonna force anyone to do something they don't want to do so if anyone wants to sit this one out then you're more than welcome to." Clark said but no one looked like they would.
"I'm here to kill Nazis with or without you." Polina told him.
"Then you're doing it with us, Lady Nightingale. We're in." Arthur stated and everyone nodded. Clark gave them a nod in return when an office aid walked in.
"Apologies for the interruption, Captain Elbert but Colonel Phillips is on the radio for you."
"Thanks, I'll be there in a bit." Clark said and the aid nodded before leaving. "All right, police your gear. Get everything you need and pack a little extra. We have no idea what we could be facing. Lucas, get some extra explosives. Diggle, double-check with medical for the company coming us and pack extra gear. We have no idea the kind of shape the prisoners could be in so bring everything you can."
"You got it, boss." Lucas replied.
"On it." Diggle replied and the team filed out. Clark then headed to the radio room where the aid motioned him over to a radio set and handed him the headphones and speaker.
"This is Captain Kalvin Elbert, come in SSR. Colonel Phillips, are you reading me?"
"I read you loud and clear, Captain. How's your team looking?"
"We just finished the briefing, sir and they're determined. We're heading out to the border at 0300." Clark informed him.
"Good, Captain. I hate to tell you this on the eve of the mission but unfortunately I've been given my orders. Allied Command is aware of your mission and agree that it is of the utmost importance that it is successful and the camp is evacuated and destroyed…but…some new information has recently come to light."
Clark could tell from Colonel Phillips one that whatever new information he had it wasn't pleasant. "What's wrong, sir?"
"I've just been told that Allied Command recently got in touch with people possibly connected to Dr. Frederick Vought. The details were kept from me but the general idea is that he was negotiating a possible surrender deal."
"What?!" Clark's outburst was a first and made everyone around him jerk back in fright. "Colonel, please tell me you're joking."
"I'm afraid not. I wasn't given the details but I'm guessing that Dr. Vought is willing surrender to us and will hand over his supposed super soldier serum in exchange for immunity and protection. Your mission is now no longer a search and destroy but a recovery as well. Allied Command wants Dr. Frederick Vought brought back alive."
"Sir…"
"I'm sorry, Captain. I hate this too but this is an order directly from command. This is still your team and your mission but Dr. Vought needs to be captured and brought back into Allied custody. Colonel Phillips out."
The transmission ended there and there was a moment of silence before Clark grabbed his chair and threw it into a wall. It shattered into pieces and made everyone jump in fright. "Apologies for that." Clark cleared his throat and walked away. Suffice it to say he was angry.
Dachau, Germany
On the grounds of an old, abandoned munitions factory about ten miles from Munich in Southern German was Dachau, a Nazi POW/labor camp and the first one built by the Nazi Party in 1933. What begin as a camp to house Hitler's political opponents turned into a massive, forced-labor camp that soon came to hold imprisoned Jews, Romani, German, and Austrian criminals and eventually foreign prisoners of war from the countries that Germany invaded. A large barb-wired fence enclosed the perimeter of the camp with multiple watchtowers set up with snipers/sentries and some artillery pieces and machine gun nests set up. There were SS residential housing on site along with armories for the guards, garages for their vehicles, with barracks for the SS troops and Gestapo officers, a heating and gas plant, and the Administrative building which was primarily all grouped together on the eastern section of the camp while the prisoners were kept to the barracks to the west and the factories in the middle. The camp was large at 25 acres with the roads and railway being their main entry points. It was secure and isolated with a sizable battalion of troops for protection with some recent inclusions being the arrival of additional troops and armored vehicles curtsey of an agreement between the camp's commander Dr. Vought and a liaison to Hydra. Despite the fact that Hitler ordered Hydra to be treated like an enemy no different than the Allied Forces, Dr. Vought instructed the camp guards that the Hydra forces were a means to an end for their plans and no one was willing to argue with him.
One of the sentries on a watchtower set up over the river that ran up through the camp acting as a natural demarcation line between the POW barracks and the rest of the camp kept a close watch. He saw prisoners moving about their work in the factories or moving supplies to the various trucks or all the way over to the railway yard to be put onto a train for later delivery. Business as usual and while in the beginning there would be a few escape attempts, now there were none because they knew better. Even the possibility of attacks by the Allied didn't worry them as the guards knew that their camp had deterrents. The work of Dr. Vought had finally bore fruit and it would soon give them the chance to push back against the Allies.
[Hum of engines]
The sentry turned his head to the west because he heard a weird sound in the air. It wasn't a gunshot or artillery but sounded like a weird hum. He looked around and took a peak through his binoculars but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Unbeknownst to him if he had looked up he'd see the shimmering image of a large vessel flying above the camp and landing nearby but no one noticed anything.
[Train whistle]
The sound of a chugging train engine got louder as a ten-car train pulled up the tracks into the camp's train station. It slowed down as prison guards and soldiers fell into position for new arrivals. The sentries on the watchtower stood ready and one of the Hydra armored vehicles moved in with the gunner aiming the energy cannon at the train. The officer in charge of new arrivals walked over to the engine of the train after he double-checked his schedule.
"Hey! What's this? We don't have any new arrivals scheduled for today and pickup isn't until tomorrow." He shouted at the driver who had his cap down a bit to cover his face as he turned the engine off and engaged the brakes. "Hey! What's going on?!"
The train conductor then picked his head up revealing it wasn't the usual guy. In fact, it was Lucas Riggs of Taskforce Vanguard who had the biggest smirk on his face. "Sorry, Fritz. Change of plans."
Lucas pulled out a pistol and shot the officer in the head before quickly throwing two grenades out into the yard.
"GRAN—" [BOOM!]
The grenades went off, killing a few SS soldiers and guards but before the tank and other soldiers could open fire something crashed down onto the armored Hydra vehicle which made it explode. The explosion killed the crew and the soldiers standing near it while the shockwave knocked the people around it on their backs. From the smoldering, fiery wreck a beam of red energy took out one of the watchtowers before said wreck was thrown into the air where it landed on a machinegun nest perched up on the roof of a building.
Clark stepped forward with parts of his suit on fire as the front four train cars opened and out poured Taskforce Vanguard and their backup which were elements of Dog and Fox company of the 92nd Infantry Division AKA the Buffalo Soldiers, an all Black combat unit. They jumped out of the train guns blazing and shot down the SS and prison guards before they could recover.
"Let move! Form a perimeter! Dog Company, secure this train and the yard. Fox Company with us!" Arthur Kingsley shouted as they led the offensive into the camp towards the factories with Solange, Webb, and Diggle. The soldiers of Fox Company pushed forward following their officers and Taskforce Vanguard while three bazooka teams took aim and fired at two watchtowers and the roof of a building that had another machinegun nest. They quickly reloaded as another detachment of Fox Company headed in the opposite direction, east, towards the SS hospital and armory led by Logan, Halima, Lucas, Padmavati, and Anna. The Fox Company soldiers used PIAT Anti-tank launchers against an anti-air platform while the other bazooka teams took out the mobile artillery platforms and machinegun nests. The SS soldiers scrambled for cover and put up defensive firing lines against the Allied attackers with many heading into the armory to get heavier weapons.
Logan and the others took cover behind a storage shed and quickly reloaded their weapons. He peaked out and saw the hospital where Dr. Vought would likely be and about 100 yards to the right near some old train cars was a large building he recognized as a weapons/ammunition depot. "Fire team! Weapons depot!" Logan shouted and the soldiers nodded. "Covering fire!"
All the soldiers laid down suppressive fire while the fire team of two bazookas and a PIAT Anti-tank weapon reloaded before firing at the weapons depot. Their shots took out some parts of the building and killed plenty of SS soldiers but one hit from the PIAT set off some mortal shells stocked inside which caused the entire building to go up in flames.
"Fuck! That was bloody beautiful!" Lucas shouted as he and the others reloaded their guns.
"Halima, Anna, stay out here with half the men and keep us covered! Mop up the rest. Everyone else, move on the hospital! Let's go!" Logan shouted, leading the charge as he fired a few bursts from his Thompson and took out some SS soldiers.
Back with Clark, Arthur and the others they had taken out the SS soldiers and guards who surrounded the train along with a few watchtowers and machinegun nests and the armored Hydra vehicle so now they were pushing further into the camp. The guards and soldiers scrambled for cover and shot back against their attackers who proceeded to storm the camp in mass. While they moved through the camp from the train, a series of boats moved along the river up to the camp led by Daniel Take-Yatsu and Polina Petrova. With all the attention focused on the trainyard, the two plus squads of the 92nd Infantry division were able to take the river using boats supplied from the local partisans/Soteria group.
Daniel and Polina took aim with their rifles at the last remaining watchtower where a sniper and machine gunner were perched up. They compensated for their shots with the rocking boat and fired, taking out the two soldiers perched up there before they steered their boats to shore. Four men quickly got to work on the fence using a pair of bolt cutters to cut out a hole big enough for them to get through.
"Sergeant, take your team and secure the prisoner barracks. We'll cover you from the tower. Move." Daniel told the men and they quickly moved with purpose while he and Polina headed to the watchtower. Polina was quicker and proceeded to climb the watchtower with adept agility, forgoing the ladder as she moved faster without it. "Damn, she's fast."
Polina quickly pulled herself up into the watchtower and rested her rifle on the railing before taking shots. Daniel finished climbing up the ladder and activated his walkie-talkie watch. "Kal, Arthur we're up on the western watchtower. Our team is moving to secure the prisoners. Polina and I will keep you covered from up here."
"Roger that." Clark and Arthur replied as the two snipers took shots on the German soldiers in the camp. Daniel focused his attention towards the prisoner barracks while Polina kept her gaze towards the rest of the camp.
"Squads head into the buildings and clear them out!" Arthur Kingsley shouted as the elements of Fox Company split into small teams and proceeded to clear the buildings one by one. Arthur and Webb led their team through the SS troops barracks where the fight got intense and close quarters. The two passed by a building when a body fell to the ground in front of them with a hole in his back. An SS soldier turned the corner of a building ten yards away with a grenade in his hand when he was shot through the head and he dropped dead causing the grenade to blow him to pieces. Arthur and Webb looked to their left and saw the watchtower Polina and Daniel were perched up in. She was the one who just saved them from the grenade.
"She is good." Webb said and Arthur agreed before the two ducked back behind cover.
Solange and Diggle led their team north through the came by the gas station and administrative building when they saw some Hydra soldiers exit a building. Solange and Diggle took a few down but the Hydra soldiers had those energy weapons and killed a few of their assault team before Clark super sped and sent them flying through the air. He continued moving through the camp taking out or disarming the SS and Hydra soldiers of their weapons to make them easy pickings for Fox company.
Their surprise trojan horse attack had worked and things were going well. They hit hard, fast, and with Superman on their side they weren't giving the SS or the prison guards any chance to mount a serious defense as the main attack force kept pushing further into the camp while the rescue team secured the prisoner barracks. Daniel reloaded his M1 rifle and sniped a few more prison guards when he saw a big explosion from a large building near the factory. Daniel looked through the scope of his rifle and saw that the explosion wasn't one of theirs. The loading doors to the factory were blown open and out walked two of those metal machine soldiers with the glowing green rock hearts.
"Shit…" Daniel cursed.
"что за фигня! (chto za fignya/What the F! #) What is that thing?" Polina asked Daniel.
"Nothing good." Daniel flipped open his walkie-talkie watch. "Kal, we've got a problem. Two of those machine soldiers are here. They're by the factory next to the river."
"Got it. I'll handle them. Just focus on the camp and the prisoners. Leave them to me." Clark replied but also meant that for his entire team. He super sped through the camp, taking out and disarming a few more soldiers before he ran through the camp. He picked up a truck along the way and carried it over his head when he saw the Maschinensoldaten so he threw the truck at them. Both were hit before he used his heat vision and blew it to pieces, engulfing them in the fire before he sucked in some air and used his freeze breath. In a manner of seconds, the two Maschinensoldaten were completely incased in ice making Clark glad that Howard helped him learn this new ability though he would never tell it to his face.
He blitzed forward in super speed to knock them out of the camp and reduce the risk of his team or any prisoners getting caught in the crossfire and with them frozen they wouldn't be able to move. Just as he neared them he saw a streak of blue lightning come from the side and hit him. This was another rare moment of pain he has experienced during the war. First the Blockbuster super soldier he fought when extracting Mussolini, then the Hydra energy weapon Red Skull hit him with, the Kryptonite and Savage's beating, the Kryptonite beam from the Maschinensoldaten, his attack from the Reverse-Flash, and most recently his cold but now this strange lightning could be added to the list of things that have hurt him.
He had never experienced being shocked by lightning before and he could now say definitively it wasn't pleasant. His body seized up as the electricity attacked his muscles and nerves so he could feel them firing like crazy which his body and brain just interpreted as pain and while he wasn't burning alive, the lightning was trying its best to do so. All he could think about was the pain as the lightning made it difficult to think about anything else or even contemplate a counterattack. The lightning stopped him dead in his tracks from his super speed before he was thrown back, slamming through part of a building before he hit the ground hard.
"Gah…" Clark gasped out in pain as it felt like he got the wind knocked out of him and his skin was tingling from the lightning that felt like a burn but thankfully his skin was fine. He quickly picked himself up to his knees where he saw his attacker hover to the ground using his blue lightning. He was a tall man, about the same height as Clark with dark brown hair and a black and red suit that emphasized his exaggerated muscular physique in which he was built like a circus strong man. He had black boots and dark red pants that led to a gold-plated purple belt around his waist with the Nazi symbol on the buckle. To match the purple belt, he had purple gloves and a purple cape draped on his shoulders tied around his neck with a gold eagle clasp that blended nicely with the red uniform top he had on. Proudly displayed on the chest was a golden eagle which was the same iconography for the Nazi Party Logo. Given his manner of dress and the lightning coming from his hands then he must have been one of the super soldiers Polina mentioned.
"So, you're the so-called Superman." Stormfront chuckled in disbelief. "I expected you to be bigger."
Clark got back to his feet and his eyes glowed red but before he could fire a burst of his heat vision he was blasted from behind by purple lightning. His body seized up and the red glow faded from his eyes as he managed to turn his head and saw his second attacker. She was a woman around 5ft6 with brown eyes and dark brown hair that was cut short to her shoulders. She was garbed similarly to her male counterpart but her colors were more purple and instead of gold coloring she had silver. She had a silver belt around her waist and she didn't have the Nazi Party symbol eagle on her chest but it was carved onto two silver bands she had around her biceps. Purple lightning was erupting from both of her hands and her eyes flickered with it a little as she gave him an equally delightful and devious smirk. "I will say that you are handsome…" She said before her male counterpart joined her and blasted him with lightning as well.
"GAH!" Clark's scream echoed out into the camp as the two used their lightning to lift him into the air. His suit began to get slightly scorched, he lightly smelt like burnt bacon, and he couldn't move his body to fight.
"…but I will agree with my brother that I was expecting more. Quite frankly…I'm disappointed."
They used their lightning to slam Superman in the ground and dragged his body across the dirt before throwing him into some nearby gas cannisters which exploded. Clark tumbled on the ground as his mind was frazzled from being deep fried and it felt like he was burnt to a crisp but his body was actually fine. The lightning just really stung and it had the unfortunate secondary effect of seizing his muscles and monetarily scrambling his brain. He laid on the ground for a few seconds to catch his breath and looked through the fire of the burning gasoline cannisters to see the male Stormfront walk towards him while the female one used her lightning on the frozen Maschinensoldaten to free them. Clark knew he had to act quickly and seeing the gasoline on fire gave him an idea so he took a few sharp exhales before sucking in some air.
Klaus walked towards Superman as he made his hands spark with blue lightning in order to beat him into submission when a huge gust of wind hit him which in turn blew the gasoline fire at him. Klaus ceased his lightning and covered his face from the burning gasoline fire allowing Clark to race at him. Clark shoulder tackled him in the stomach and then tossed him into the air before grabbing his cape and slamming him back down into the dirt. Klaus picked his head up from the ground only for Clark to kick him in the face and he was sent through the air, involuntarily flipping backwards until he crashed through the walls of the factory. Klara saw her brother get sent flying so she adjusted her aim and unleashed her lightning at Superman who in turn fired his heat vision. Klara's expression of anger soon gave way to shock as she saw Superman's heat vision collide with her lightning and quickly overwhelmed it before hitting her. She was sent flying back and crashed into a truck, crumbling it in half when Klaus flew out of the warehouse toward Superman. The two collided and Superman was pushed back, his boots digging through the ground until he dropped his right leg back and anchored his position, grinding to a halt. Klaus's perfect hair was scuffed up with a few scrapes and cuts on his suit and he had a big bruise on his forehead with some dirt on his face but his expression of pure anger belied his physical appearance. The two super beings grabbed each other's hands vying for dominance with Stormfront using his flight and speed on top of his strength to try and get the edge but Superman pushed back proving he had the greater strength. Despite this, Klaus didn't that let deter him and unleased a current of lightning that shocked Superman before he headbutted him and delivered several lightning-infused punches to Superman's face and body.
While not as painful as the full brunt of the lightning, the lightning-infused punches still hurt like hell and where they struck caused his muscles to tense and constrict but thankfully they didn't scramble his brain and reflexes like usual. After the sixth consecutive punch, Clark blocked the seventh.
"Consider me disappointed too. I've felt more pain from my cold than from you." Clark shot back before landed a vicious punch to Stormfront's gut and then a straight right punch, a straight left punch, and a vicious uppercut to his face. Blood spurted from Stormfront's mouth as Superman grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed him into ground twice before putting him in a rear-naked choke which was a mistake. As Stormfront struggled in Superman's grasp, he lifted up his right hand and zapped him with lighting, causing his body to seize up. Superman's grasp weakened allowing Stormfront to break free and then grab him by the neck. He attempted to snap Superman's neck but Superman pulled Stormfront's arms away from his neck with his superior strength and threw his head back, hitting him in the face before elbowing him in the side. Stormfront's grasp weakened and Superman turned around to throw a punch only for Klara to grab his arm and punch him in the kidneys and then face. Her brother followed up with a punch to the face and then they both punched him in the gut before zapping him with lightning and throwing him back until his crashed into the frozen Maschinensoldaten.
He hit the ground and groaned in pain as he picked himself up and saw the two Stormfronts walk to him. Klaus had some more bruises on his face and blood at the corner of his mouth which he wiped away while Klara had some scorch marks on her suit and some burn marks on her face. Clark stood up and prepared a quick burst of his heat vision when he was hit from behind and sent forward to the Stormfronts who then blasted him with lightning. They lifted him high up into the air where Clark was able to see his team continue into the camp but then to his shock he saw German reinforcements coming from the north. One massive Hydra super tank careened over the nearby hill accompanied by smaller Hydra tanks and more armored vehicles along with trucks containing more Hydra soldiers. There were enough reinforcements to tip the odds in their favor.
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