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Colonel Helmut Zemo is sitting at his desk reading through the recon reports on the two Hydra bases SHIELD had provided to him. It is obvious that both bases are going to need to be taken out. However, EKO Scorpion can't take out both at the same time. so he must prioritize one over the other. After thoroughly reading both reports several times and looking at location along with other considerations, he decides the base in the mountains 200km north of the Sokovian border will be the base he leads EKO Scorpion into. The other base will be dealt with by a different Sokovian military group. He had this mission pre authorized when he sent his people to recon the two Hydra bases. He then calls his boss to schedule a quick meeting with them later in the afternoon. Next he schedules a meeting for his team for the following afternoon. Finally he calls Adriana Lensherr. Adriana hears the phone ring. She recognizes the number calling and answers in German, "Hello."
Col Zemo reponds in German, "Hello", then switches to Sokovian, "Adriana, I need you in Novi Grad as soon as you can get here."
Adriana respond in Sokovian, "I'll be on the first flight I can get to Novi Grad."
Col Zemo, "See you soon. Thank you."
Adriana, "Always. See you soon."
After they hang up Adriana pull up a flight booking webpage to find a flight with an open seat from Berlin to Novi Grad. She is able to book one for first thing the following morning.
Col Zemo walks into the conference room where his team had assembled for this meeting. Zemo lays a briefcase on the table then sits down. "We have our next mission." He then opens the brief case. "This is a satellite image of the Hydra base which is our next target." he passes the image out to the entire team. "Take a good look at it and study it. As you can all see, the majority of the base is built into the side of a mountain making it a very difficult target."
There is a knock at the door. As Lieutenant Skala was closest to the door, he gets up and opens it. On the other side is a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes. She is wearing black slacks, black boots, a royal blue shirt, and black leather jacket, and is carrying a duffel bag. She acknowledges the team, "Hello. Hope I didn't miss much."
Col Zemo responds, "we just started." He then address the team, "For my newer members, this is Miss Adriana Lensherr. She works with us on certain types of missions."
As Adriana finds a seat she looks at one of the photos of the base and rolls her eyes. Captain Wagner responds to her reaction, "Any observations you'd like to share?"
Adriana comments, "Just the obvious. We have our work cut out for us."
Zemo responds, "Yes we do and in several ways. Our mission is half of the overall mission. There is a second Hydra base a largest unit is going to attack at the same time we attack this base. We are being provided with a helicopter to get us in at one locations where we will hijack the vehicle that will get us into the base and be extracted at a different location much closer to the base. The main goal is to blow up the base. Sergeant Kominski, this is your department. Let us know if you need anything from the rest of us."
Kominski responds, "Sir, I'd like to speak with you after this meeting. I have an idea, but would like your opinion first."
Zemo, "Of course. Tomorrow R oh nine hundred we are meeting at hanger six. We have been granted tow hours to practice drop off and extraction with the helicopter. We have this week and part of next week to be prepared as possible. Once inside the base we need to break into teams. I'm giving those assignments now. First group, Major Lehmann, Corporal Mayer, and Staff Sergeant Romanko. Second group, Captain Wagner and Sergeant Gorski. Third group, Lieutenant Kuhn, Staff Sergeant Kominski, and Sergeant First Class Novak. Fourth group, Lt Skala, Sergeant Klein, and Master Sergeant Slusarski. Adriana and I will make up the final group. Sergeant Köhler will be dropped off outside the base to provide what cover she can for us. Any questions?"
Master Sergeant Slusarski asks, "Do we have any idea how outnumbered we will be this time?"
Col Zemo responds, "Although we can't get accurate numbers, we believe it's at least three to one."
Major Lehmann sighs, "Sounds typical."
Col Zemo nods, "If there aren't any other questions, the meeting is adjourned. Study the photos and notes. Sergeant Kominski, come back to my office and we can speak there."
Once they arrive at Col Zemo's office Adriana states, "I can wait out here if you need a private meeting."
Sergeant Kominski responds, "You don't need to do that. I'm fine with you hering. I just want his opinion as he's also an explosives expert."
Zemo sits in his chair behind his desk while Kominski and Adriana sit in chairs on the other side of the desk. Kominski addresses Zemo, "Colonel, I'm thinking there should be at least two generators in that base. Maybe three. If that is correct they should be our main targets for the explosives."
Zemo responds, "I think that is a fair assessment. Blowing the generators will cause larger explosions."
Kominski, "That's what I was thinking they would be a good target. we don't know the size of the base, so I'm going to have to take some educated guesses to determine what we need to blow it up. I'll have that information within 72 hours."
The following morning the team spends two hours practicing boarding and getting off the transport helicopter. After a break for lunch, they have a short meeting to go over weapons. Staff Sergeant Romanko explains, "Everyone on the team will be issued one rifle and one handgun, along with two magazines for each. Sergeant Köhler will be issued an additional riffle magazine. Each group will also be issued two grenades."
Col Zemo, "Hopefully we don't need the grenades, but better to have them. Starting tomorrow we start practicing entering the base and what we may run into once inside. We are going to prepare for as many scenarios as possible and expect something to happen that we didn't prepare for."
Throughout the rest of the week and a half they continue to prepare. They run through multiple scenarios then get in shooting practice with both hand guns and rifles on multiple types of shooting ranges. They also get in hand to hand combat training.
The morning of the mission has finally arrived. Each member is issued a hand gun and an AK-103 collapsible rifle, except for Sergeant Köhler as she is issued a SAKO TRG 42 sniper rifle. Two grenades are issued to each group and each group is issued 6 charges. The team is all dressed in unmarked camo, with weapons secured on their person, and their purple masks in a pocket. As they get close to the drop off location Zemo addresses the team, "We have 8 hours after droff off to when we get pulled out." The team nods and everyone pulls out the masks and put them on.
After the team is dropped off, they make their way to the road in which a large delivery truck should be making it's way through within fifteen minutes. This is a weekly delivery of supplies to the Hydra base. As Sergeant Klein and Master Sergeant Slusarski get in position, Adriana turns the engine of the truck off. The truck stops a few meters in front of Klein and Slusarski. The driver, whom is Hydra, is shot and the body is dumped in the back of the truck. Slusarski gets into the drivers seat and puts on the Hydra jacket. The rest of the team climbs into the back of the truck. The team checks their weapons and waits while they drive towards the base. About three kilometers from the base the truck stops briefly so Sergeant Köhler can get out and take up her first position to cover the team. The truck then continues to the gate of the base. The guard comes out and checks the paperwork. The guard is satisfied and allows the truck through the gate. Col Zemo quietly says, "Be ready for anything." Halfway between the gate and entrance to the cave four armed guards approach the truck ordering it to stop. As one of the armed guards approach, Slusarski asks, "May I help you?"
The armed guard responds, "Just a routine check before allowing you to continue to the doors."
Slusarski nods, "Ok."
Three of the four guards walk to the back of the truck. Inside the truck the members of EKO Scorpion are ready to fight. When the armed guards open the door to the truck gun fire erupts dropping the two of the guards. Slusarski takes that as a cue to floor the gas pedal. As he heads for the door to the cave he hits the armed guard who is still in front of the truck. At the same time Sergeant Köhler shoots the last of the guards who were near the truck, Then the one at the gate, before moving to another location. After stopping the truck in a position partly guarded by the mountain, Slusarski removed the Hydra hat and put his purple EKO Scorpion mask on to match the rest of the team. He discards the Hydra jacket one outside the truck. The team has a brief firefight with a few members of Hydra while making their way to the cave entrance. At the same time Köhler is sniping other guards. Once the team is inside Köhler moves to a new secure location were she can still see the Hydra compound. After making it inside the team slowly walks down the hall until it splits three ways. Major Lehman takes his team down the right hand hallway. Captain Wager's team and Lt Skala's teams take the left hallway. Col Zemo, Adriana, and Lt Kuhn's team continue down the center hallway. The group comes to another hallway that goes to the right. Lt Kuhn's team continues in the main hallway, while Col Zemo and Adriana take that branches off.
As Zemo and Adriana walk down the hallway they check rooms. Several rooms they walk by are mostly empty and they haven't seen any Hydra members since they first entered the facility. They come across a room with electronics in it. Col Zemo silently signals Adriana to stop. They walk into the room to check it out. Five steps into the room a door from overhead slams shut. Adriana and Zemo look at each other with full knowledge they just walked into a Hydra trap again. Adriana whispers, "This is getting old". Zemo shrugs, "How many do you think we are fighting this time?" Adriana allows her senses to reach out, "there are definitely six coming our way." Zemo smirks under his mask, "This should be fun." As if on cue six members of Hydra walk in all looking very over confident. This over confidence is confirmed when one opens his mouth, "It appears we've isolated two members of the mighty EKO Scorpion. Even they should be worried when it's six on two."
Zemo retorts, "You really think we haven't fought and won against these kinds of odds before? There is a reason we have the reputation we have."
A different member of Hydra says, "Someone shut him up." With that the members of Hydra attack. Instead of allowing the Hydra members to get to them, Adriana and Zemo choose to attack. By going on the attack and not playing defense they are able to get several good kicks and punches in before any Hydra member can land a punch. The members of Hydra are only fighting with their arms and hands, while Adriana and Zemo are using kicks as well as punches. As they continue to hold their own in a six on two situation the Hydra members are getting frustrated to the point that one of them picks up a composite pipe and hits Adriana in the side first as she is closer. Then tosses it to another person who hits Zemo with it twice before tossing it back to the first guy who hits Adriana again. He then tosses it to one of the other guys. When he tries to hit Zemo again, Zemo sees it coming and is able to grab the pipe and pull it from the Hydra member, who ends up being thrown into a wall. As Zemo starts to gain the upper hand, another member of Hydra walks in holding a gun. He fires the gun which shoots a bolt of blue energy. The energy bolt hits Adriana in the back. Zemo yells thinking they killed Adriana. After freezing for a moment, Adriana starts laughing because the bolt of energy increased her natural power. She then says to Zemo in Romani, "Get down." As soon as he dives to the floor, Adriana unleashes a large portion of the extra energy she was given directing it at the Hydra members killing them instantly. Next she takes more of that energy and destroys the electronic equipment in the room. Still slightly annoyed she turns to the door that had cut them off from the hallway and ripped it down and threw it across the room. She finds Zemo sitting on the floor watching her. She sees no fear in his eyes. Adriana asks, "You still don't fear me?"
Zemo responds, "You told me to get down so you didn't hurt me. Why should I fear you?"
Adriana considers his response as she walks over to him and offers her hand to help him up, "Because that was only a small glimpse of the power I have."
Once back on his feet, Zemo asks, "Couldn't you have done that sooner?"
Adriana, "You wanted me to fight without using my powers, so I did."
Zemo, Ï told you when I was training you that I wanted you to learn to fight without your powers so my team doesn't fear you."
Adriana retorts, "I don't want you to fear me."
As they walk down the hallway keeping their eyes open for Hydra, Zemo shakes his head, "You really need to stop expecting me to fear you."
Adriana sighs, "Maybe someday, for now......" She stops next to a locked door. "There are weapons in this room," Zemo nods. They both pull their guns and stand on either side of the door. Adriana uses her power to unlock and open the door. As the door opens there is the sound of fun fire from normal weapons. Adriana stops the bullets and returns them to where they came from. his results in the bullets hitting the hands of the two men who had fired the weapons. Zemo peaks around the door and sees four Hydra personnel. He then nods at Adriana, whom is ready to stop any more bullets fired from inside the room, while Zemo quickly fires one shot each at the heads of the four Hydra members, killing each of them instantly. They walk into the weapons room. Adriana grabs a few knives she can easily place in her camo outfit, while Zemo grabs two rifles and a handful of magazines. Zemo then sees an unusual rifle, :Is this one of the energy rifles?"
Adriana joins him in inspecting it. She lifts her left hand and reaches out with her power which starts to charge the rifle. "Yes, it's one of the energy rifles and it appears my mutation can charge it."
Zemo hands it to her, "Take it. It may be useful."
When they leave the weapons room, Adriana locks the door. Several meters down the hall, it rejoins the main hallway and they have to walk over several dead Hydra bodies. The trail of dead bodies ends at an unlocked door with a light on and low whispers. Zemo very slowly opens the door just enough to see inside. He sees three members of his team inside. He taps on the door with his hand gun. Sergeant Novak slowly walks to the door with his gun drawn. He peaks through the door and see Col Zemo. He pushes the door open enough that Zemo and Adriana can walk in.
"It appears you've found some useful information," Zemo observes.
Novak responds, "Yes Sir. Staff Sergent Komiski found a map of the base. He checking it to see if it has anything we didn't already know about."
Zemo, "Very good."
Novak adds, "Lt Kuhn has found what may be useful, but that's to be determined later. She's copying what may be of use."
Zemo, "We don't have much time left to stay here."
Lt Kuhn continuing to copy files, "Almost done, Colonel. If I can have two minutes that would be very helpful."
Zemo, "Yes you have two minutes. Sergeant Kominaski, have you found anything?"
Kominski," Yes Colonel. I believe I've found a control room not far from this location. I don't believe it's the main one."
Zemo, "It's worth checking on. Lt Kuhn, time's up."
Kuhn responds, "Yes Sir." As she pulls the USB out of the computer.
The team gathers at the door as Col Zemo leads them back into the hallway. They continue down the hallway looking for another hall that leads to the right where what appears to be a control center is should be located. When they come to the hallway to the right they stop and take a quick peak around the corner. There are several Hydra members in the hall, but not close to the end of the hall they are at. Zemo whispers to Adriana, "Let's find out how good theses rifles are." They take the confiscated Hydra rifles off their backs, and brace the but of the rifle against their left shoulders. They nod at each other, turn the corner, aim and fire. They do this two more times taking out the six Hydra members who were in the hallway. The group slowly begins walking down the hallway. When they get to where the dead bodies are there is a room with a locked door. This room should be the control room. Adriana pulls the Hydra energy weapon off her back. She checks the settings and sees it's currently on the lowest setting. "Let's see what this does." She aims it at the lock and fires. The entire lock disintegrates and the door opens slightly. Sergeant Novak and Sergeant Kominski fire. One Hydra member is killed the other is badly wounded as the team walks in. The Hydra soldier lifts his fun in a futile attempt to try to kill on of the members of EKO Scorpion. Before he can fire, Sergeant Novak fires killing him.
The room appears to be a secondary control room. The wall opposite the door has multiple monitors showing different parts of the base with several switches. The wall on the right side has two computers and a couple of panels. Lt Kuhn sits down and starts looking through the camera angles to see if they can find helpful information. While checking the cameras, she finds one of the power generators. "Colonel, I found one of the power generators. There are six guards I can see around it."
Zemo, trying to get his radio working again, "Then there are at least four more guards in that area. We can guess the other generators are as heavily guarded."
Lt Kuhn, still looking through camera angles finds Captain Wagner's group. Then see several Hydra soldiers waiting for them. Using her radio, "Captain Wagner, there are four possible more Hydra soldiers waiting for you about ten meters down the hall you are in. There is a bend and that is where they are waiting."
Wagner's quick response, "Got it."
Sergeant Komiski and Adriana haven't found any other useful information. Sergeant Novak has been guarding the door. Col Zemo does get his radio partially working again. He can now receive messages, but can't send out messages. "Well at least I can hear you now. Lt Kuhn, anything else you can find here, otherwise we need to leave."
Lt Kuhn, "I'm ready. Should we destroy this?"
Adriana pulls the energy rifle off her back, "that's what this is for."
They all quickly and quietly walk into the hall. Adriana stands in the doorway and changes the settings on the rifle for wide disbursement. She fires and the discharge from the weapon disintegrates much of the electronics. The group walks down the hallway until they get to a point where the hall splits and team splits again to get where each group needs to get to.
Meanwhile, Captain Wagner and Sergeant Gorski come to the bend in the hallway Lt Kuhn warned them about. They ready themselves for an exchange of gunfire. They do get the surprise and kill three Hydra members and wound a fourth before there return fire. In the exchange of gunfire they do kill all the remaining Hydra members, however Sergeant Gorski is grazed by a bullet in the process. A quick bandage job allows for containing the bleeding, so Gorski is able to continue the mission. They are the first team to reach their target. They set the charges for time they had time they had decided on earlier and let the other groups knows. Captain Wagner speaks into the radio, "Charges set, on way out." Two minutes later comes word from the second team to find their target, get charges and head out. Lt Kuhn's team finds the generator they were looking for. Turns out there are six guards and three maintenance personnel at the generator. They start in a fire fight, but end up in hand to hand combat when two more Hydra members enter the room from behind the team. One grabs Lt Kuhn from behind with one arm around her neck and the other around her waist. She is able to free her right arm and reach a hidden knife which she is able to use to stab her attacker in the side. He immediately loosens his grip and she is able to throw him off her. Still holding the knife she attacks, slashing her attacker's arm. He grabs her with his other hand and she slashes his leg, then immediately goes after his neck. She stand up and looks around and sees all the Hydra members are dead and she has blood all over her. Sergeant Kominski asks, "Are you alright?"
Lt Kuhn responds, "Yes, the blood isn't mine."
Sergeant Novak teases, "Nice badge of honor."
Lt Kuhn laughs, "Thanks. Let's set the charges and get out of here."
Lt Kuhn then retrieves her gun and stands guard while Kominski and Novak set the charges. Lt Kuhn reports, "Charges set, on way out."
Moments later one more team reports the same. This leaves only Zemo and Adriana who don't have a way to report.
As Zemo and Adriana approach the generator, they are to set their charges at, they see six guards and two maintenance personnel, along with two other Hydra members. They pull out their hand guns. They are able to quickly shoot and kill the guards, however the other personnel have scattered. Adriana uses her powers and is able to tell where the Hydra members are hiding. They all are carrying knives, but the maintenance people don't have guns, while the other two do. She signals to Zemo that she will take care of the Hydra personnel while he sets the charges. She goes after the two with guns first. She casually walks around the corner where they are hiding. One does fire at her. She raises her right hand, stops the bullet and returns it to the person who fired it, killing him instantly. She looks at the second person holding his gun. He's frozen in fear of what she just did. She pulls the gun out of his hand and uses it to kill him. With doing this, one of the maintenance personnel tries to jump Adriana from behind. He grabs her around the shoulders and tries to stab her. Using her power she directs the knife to miss her and stab her attacker in the side. He gasps and loosens his grip enough that she can easily escape. She then pulls one of her knives she has and slits his throat with it. The other two maintenance personnel have left the area. Zemo is setting the final charge when she walks back towards the generator.
Zemo jumps down, "Done, let's get out of here."
Adriana nods, "Good idea."
As they make their way out of the maze of the base, they are keeping watch for Hydra members. Unlike when they entered the base, they aren't checking rooms as they are trying to make their way out as quickly as possible. As they make their way out, they see dead bodies of Hydra members, both ones killed earlier and a few new ones that their team killed on their way out. Still they are surprised they don't come across any living Hydra personnel on the way out. Once outside they run to the tree line for cover, then get their bearings so they can get to the rendezvous point. Within moments of getting to the tree line the first of several explosions goes off. As they make their way to the rendezvous point they hear more of the explosions go off. Once close enough to the rendezvous point they are able to see the rest of the team already there waiting for them.
Major Lehmann sees them approach, "Colonel, the rest of us would appreciate it if you would stop cutting it so close when getting out."
Col Zemo responds, "It wasn't that close. We had plenty of time to spare. We have several kilometers to walk to the extraction point and don't have much time to spare." The team nods and follows the Colonel as they begin to pick their way through the forest. Keeping eyes and ears open for any danger on the way. As they walk Adriana has her senses open as well. Upon feeling doesn't like she steps in front of Col Zemo and signals the team to stop and get down. She whispers, "There's something I don't like a few meters in front of us and to the right."
Col Zemo nods, "Sergeant Klein, go with Adriana. Do exactly what she says."
Sergeant Klein, "Yes Sir."
Adriana looks at Sergeant Klein, "This way."
When they get to where Adriana felt something off, they discover three Hydra members and a bunch of weapons including some sort of rapid fire weapon they hadn't seen before. Adriana signals Sergeant Klein to stay down. She then sneaks up behind the first enemy who is a little away from the other two, draws her knife, wraps her arm around the enemy's face covering his mouth, then with her other hand slits the guy's throat with her knife. He silently falls to the ground. Adriana wipes the blood off her knife on the guy's jacket then rejoins Sergeant Klein. "Which of the two that are left are you most comfortable dropping with one shot?"
Sergeant Klein takes a peak, "The closer one, who is on the right."
Adriana nods, "Ready?"
Sergeant Klein responds, "Yes ma'am."
They both pull their hand guns, step away from where they were taking cover, aim, and fire. Both shots are kill shots. They then check the weapons. The normal weapons they leave. The more advanced Hydra weapons they check over and take with them. This includes the rapid fire looking weapon. They then make their way back to the team. Upon reunited with the team, they continue their walk to the extraction zone. As they walk the new weapons are handed out to several team members to spread the extra weight among more people.
The rest of the walk to the extraction zone is uneventful. They only wait a few minutes before they hear the sounds of the helicopters which are there to get them out and take them home. Lt Skala receives the extraction signal and send the clear message back. As the troop helicopter descends to pick the team up, the attack helicopter remains above the tree line for defense. Once the troop helicopter touches down, the team runs to it and climbs on board. As soon as the team is seated the helicopter lifts off. After the helicopters are back into Sokovian air space the team is informed and they start to relax. They also take their masks off and enjoy the rest of the flight back to their base. After the helicopter lands on one of the helipads near the main runway, the team is met by a bus to take them to the hospital to be check out and any injuries attended to. The entire team was given X-rays along with pain medications for contusions they are all suffering from. Gorski's wound from a bullet was fully cleaned and dressed. Several team members had minor cuts that were cleaned and dressed. Col Zemo and Adriana were informed they both have cracked ribs. After all wounds and injuries were addressed the team was released to go home and take a few days off.
Staff Sergeant Romanko collects all the issued weapons to take to the armory before heading home, while Col Zemo collects all the Hydra weapons.
As they leave the hospital Zemo says to Adriana, "We aren't leaving yet. I need to go do a quick check in with my boss. We need to take these to a specific classified storage unit."
Adriana, "Do you want me to wait in your office?"
Zemo, "No, I'm just giving them a brief summary and checking if they have any word on the other mission. They'll get my full report in a few days."
Staff Sergeant Romanko takes the weapons back to the armory and checks in each of the weapons. Once this is finished he heads home for a few days to rest. Meanwhile, Col Zemo and Adriana take the Hydra weapons ot a classified weapons storage facility. They along with the two soldiers on duty catalog each of the new weapons. After all the weapons are logged they go to Col Zemo's boss's office. They were glad to hear the other mission appeared to be going well, although that much larger group was on their way back and not yet back. Even though Zemo was told he didn't need to file a report, he was still going to. At the very least he wants to ensure that his team has the reports in their folders when it comes time for promotions.
As they are walking to Zemo's car he says, "Now we can home and rest."
Adriana laughs, "Ass long as your son allows us to. I'll see about getting a flight home tomorrow."
Zemo turns and looks at her, "Absolutely not. You're staying with us for a few weeks while your ribs heal."
Once they arrive at Zemo's home and walk in the back door, Zemo's son, Carl, runs to greet them. The excited four year old exclaims, "Daddy, I'm so happy you're home."
Zemo bends down and hugs the boy, I'm happy to be home."
By this point Zemo's wife, Heike, has walked into the kitchen, "Glad to see both of you back."
Adriana and Heike hug and Adriana says, "Glad to be back."
Zemo stands up and hugs and kisses his wife, "It's always great to be home. Adriana is going to stay here for a little while and I have some time off."
Heiki looks at Helmut, "What aren't you telling me?"
Helmut shrugs, "We both have a few minor injuries which require a little time to heal."
Heiki responds, "Well then we need to make sure you both have what you need to heal."
Adriana asks, "Are you sure? I can easily book a flight home. I don't want to be any trouble."
Heike, "Nonsense. You'll be alone and I'm having none of that. You're staying here at least until you're well on the way to being healed. Now what are these injuries?"
Helmut responds, "We both have cracked ribs."
Adriana, "Nothing too serious."
Heike, "It may not be what you consider not too serious, but you also shouldn't be lifting too much."
Carl asks, "Aunt Adriana, are you staying for awhile?"
Adriana, "It appears that way."
Carl, "Yay." Then hugs Adriana who returns the hug.
Zemo gives Adriana a smirk, "I told you you're staying here while you heal."
Heike, "Why don't both of you change. Dinner will be ready in about an hour. I'm guessing you're both hungry."
Helmut, "Yes we are."
They both go to change into more comfortable clothes, which Heike starts to prepare dinner.