Out of Time | Sergeant James 'Bucky' Barnes / The Winter Soldier

Chapter 4

A couple of rows of HYDRA troops marched through a rounded hall lit with fluorescents. In the adjacent hall an accented male voice rang out. "The Führer is not accustomed to being ignored, Herr Schmidt. He funds your research because you promised him weapons." Hutter said.

"You serve at his pleasure. He gave you this facility as a reward for your injuries." Schneider added.

Schmidt strode with three German officers behind. "Reward? Call it what it is. Exile." One slowed in front of the HYDRA logo emblazoned in crimson on a black banner hung on the wall. "I no longer reflect his image of Aryan perfection." Schmidt added. The same man turned to an agent standing guard by the wall, observing him from head to toe before his armed head looked down to him and he moved on.

"You think this is about appearances? Your HYDRA division has failed to deliver so much as a rifle in over a year." Roeder disputed. "And we had learned through local intelligence you had mounted a full-scale incursion into Norway."

"The Führer feels... How does he put it?" Schneider asked himself before imitating the Führer. "'The Red Skull has been indulged long enough!'"

Schmidt paused in his walk to face the elder whose chin was raised in confidence, then moved his stare to the one beside who had nodded, and then back again. "Gentlemen, you have come to see the results of our work, hm?" He exhaled and began to explain. The three met his gaze with their own superior countenances. "Let me show you." He pushed open a pair of double doors to march into a space of cylindrical containers and workers at tables. "Hitler speaks of a thousand-year Reich but he cannot feed his armies for a month." He declared. The doors are shut behind, and he waved in gesture of the Germans fighting. "His troops spill their blood across every field in Europe," he jerked a sheet from its covering of a long-barreled weapon and dropped it to the floor. "but still he is no closer to achieving his goals."

"And I suppose you still aim to end this war through magic?" Roeder retorted, smiling as he raised his palms in mockery.

"Science," Schmidt corrected in condescension by a control board, "but I understand your confusion." Zola looked on in apprehension as Schmidt pressed buttons and turned dials to manipulate the power of the armament. "Great power has always baffled primitive men. HYDRA is assembling an arsenal to destroy my enemies in one stroke. Where ever they are, regardless of how many forces they possess." He snapped his fingers. "All in a matter of hours."

"Your enemies?" Roeder questioned.

"My weapons contain enough destructive power to decimate every hostile capital on earth." Schmidt announced, still occupied with preparing the weapon as the young man in the background stepped over to the table displaying pinned targets on the world. "Quite simply, gentlemen," Schmidt swiftly raised two fingers to point at each soldier, counting the three before turning back to recalibrate the machine. "I have harnessed the power of the Gods."

The two cleared their throats and coughed in discomfiture. "Thank you, Schmidt." Schneider enunciated.

"For what?" Schmidt questioned.

"For making it clear how obviously mad you are." Schneider replied.

The soldier leaning over the table traced the cities marked before finding the capital of Germany. "Berlin is on this map!" Hutter shouted, darting to the two others.

"So it is," Schmidt responded without care, the gun shining along the side as its mechanics whirred, the nozzle swiveling to aim at the three men.

"You will be punished for your insolence!" Hutter proclaimed, gesticulating angrily with his peaked cap. "You will be brought before the Führer himself!" Azure brightened as the machine fired, the young male vaporized instantly in a swirl of blue and black.