Steve Rogers went back to the past to reconnect with his true love, Peggy Carter. That's what everyone in 2023 thought. The truth is he went back to right a wrong, several of them in fact. He went back to save his friend, James Buchanan "Bucky" B...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Sergeant Howlett moved down the row of men sitting on either side of the aircraft. Checking their camouflaged painted faces with his battery-operated torch he looked for signs of anxiety about the night drop they were about to perform. As an experienced paratrooper he knew all it took was one man to change his mind about dropping into the dark abyss without hesitation. One man's refusal could be the difference between a successful mission and all of them ending up in a German PoW camp. At the end of the row the light hit Major Falsworth's face who grinned up at the sergeant. The man had as many jumps as he did and gave the impression he was just out for an evening stroll.
"How are they looking, Sergeant?" asked Falsworth, impressed at the attention to duty the Canadian paratrooper gave to the jump training of their combined force, a task they both took on given their extensive experience.
"Nervous, but it should go off like clockwork," said Howlett. "Just have to hope no one gets tangled in a tree. How many jumps is this for you, Major?"
"About 40 I think," said the British officer. "With our combined experience we prepared them as best we could, Sergeant. They're good soldiers."
"Yes sir, they are," replied the soldier, then he straightened up and returned to the front where Grant and Rogers were going over the maps of the drop zone to report on their readiness. "The men are ready for the drop."
Grant nodded then stepped towards the cockpit, checking their location with the pilots. Coming back, he gave the order to get ready. Rogers stepped between the two rows and took his place next to Falsworth. Howlett stood at the front, in the centre of the aisle, instructing everyone to check the rigging of the man in front of him, then to turn around and do it again. Falsworth and Rogers were leading the drop, out of the rear opening door beside the two men. The next two men would shove the supplies out before they jumped, followed by the rest of the men with Howlett and Grant bringing up the rear. They verified the rendezvous time and place, and waited for the green light to come on indicating they had reached the drop zone. As soon as it did the first two men dropped, and the rest followed with no hesitation. As Howlett and Grant dropped they turned their chutes towards the rendezvous point, landing cleanly in an open field. Removing their harnesses and gathering up their chutes they ran towards the spot where holes were already being dug to bury the large piles of silk cloth.
Falsworth ran up to them in the dark. "Everyone accounted for," he said. "One of the equipment chutes ended up in the trees. Barnes is cutting it free as we speak."
Together they ran towards where the others were and waited while the evidence of their landing was covered up before taking to the gravel road, stealthily keeping to the cover of the trees and bushes on either side. Ahead they could see the glow in the sky from the floodlights surrounding the camp, their target. Rogers and Grant looked at Jones and Raines.
"Make contact," they ordered.
Jones took the radio unit off his back while Raines picked up the microphone. Tuning it to the frequency of the German anti-Nazi resistance group he spoke the code words that identified their arrival, then waited for the code words that confirmed the identification of the resistance. Wearing the headphones, he listened patiently, then he nodded his head.
