Gail Barnes, pregnant wife of James Buchanan Barnes was thrown back into 1944, pre-D Day England after being too close to a mysterious portal. Finding herself in the same camp as the Howling Commandos she had no choice but to adapt until she could...
For the next two weeks the team trained for the mission. With Meyer's help a model of the Siberian facility was built, that showed the layout of the labs, offices and the best places to set charges. Although the main mission was to destroy the facility, there was a secondary plan to locate any supplies of the HYDRA serum, and their related files then bring them back to the SSR. Devereaux and Farrell practiced landing and taking off from a short runway as they wanted to be able to take off as quickly as possible once the team returned with the cargo. Opposition was expected at both the landing strip and facility so both pilots practiced their shooting skills at the gun range.
The on ground transport would be by specialized Jeep type vehicles modified for use on the summer tundra. They were fast, durable and could carry several passengers and cargo at a time. The team loaded them with their equipment including the explosives. Just before takeoff they would be driven onto the aircraft, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster, commonly called a DC 4, ready to be driven off the back ramp without delay. With a range of over 7300 km the DC4 would fly to Fairbanks, refuel then fly another 1500 km to the Siberian target. The DC 4 was unpressurized, so much of the flight would be at lower altitude over Canada. They would have to breathe from the air supply once they reached the Rocky Mountains. It was a long, tough and very dangerous flight but it would allow them to land in Siberia without discovery.
On the morning of July 31, 1946 Lieutenant George Farrell kissed his wife, Mary, and sons Martin and Michael goodbye, picked up Captain Steve Rogers who kissed his very pregnant wife Peggy goodbye, then finally picked up Lieutenant Bucky Barnes, who kissed his wife Kate, son John and daughter Rebecca goodbye. Each wife watched their husband leave for this dangerous mission wondering if they would see them again.
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If all went well the flight would take 12 hours maximum. All good plans need a few wrenches thrown as they found when they flew over the Canadian prairies during the summer thunderstorm season. A very large storm system grounded them at Blatchford Field in Edmonton, Alberta for a day but they made good time once they were back in the air. At least this far north they had sunlight for the entire flight so the visibility was excellent. When they landed in Fairbanks for refueling Rogers ordered a 12 hour mandatory rest for everyone, including Ernst Meyer who had demanded to be included on the mission in order to fulfill his dream of seeing HYDRA destroyed. The others on the team took the time to relax, recheck their weapons and make sure everything was packed securely. Meyer was like a caged animal, pacing back and forth angrily, demanding they go immediately but Rogers was adamant, as he still had to receive final authorization from General Phillips himself to continue. When the authorization was received they boarded and began the 3 ½ hour flight to their target.
An hour before landing the team prepared by changing into their fighting gear. Bucky now had a similar uniform to Steve except all blue. The Howling Commandos gave him a hard time but he didn't mind as it was a made of a new material developed by Howard Stark after Kate told him of bulletproof vests in the future. Although not perfected both Steve and Bucky had been impressed enough to have the material sewn into the chest and back areas of their uniforms.
