Sentinel of Liberty – Rat Lines Pt 3/4
TITLE: Rat Lines Pt. 3/4
RATING: NC-17
SUMMARY: Prior to Dr. Heinrich Zemo’s plan to turn the tide of the war Steve Rogers and James Barnes witness the atrocities the Nazi party has perpetrated against humanity.
WORDS: 1464
NOTES: Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America finds himself face to face with a heinous war criminal of W.W. II in current times. This is the story of the Sentinel of Liberty dealing out much earned justice.
Adolf Hitler does not trust men. He uses them. The National Socialist party and his allies are resources on a chess board. Each piece performs their assigned move. No one knows his master plan, or the final solution.
Hitler embraces Aryan supremacy. They are the white skinned, cold eyed, dominant, supreme fighting men of earth. German archeologist Rosenburg calls them nordisch atlantic, the descendants of Atlantis. They call themselves the Master Race.
It is rare when he allows someone into his inner circle. Johann Schmidt is such a confidant. He is unique among Hitler’s tools, and no mere pawn. He is the embodiment of Nazi intimidation. Personally indoctrinated by Hitler his sole purpose is to create terror. In his wake, he leaves destruction and mayhem.
He is the Red Skull. When he dons his skeletal mask he is born again. He is not hiding. He is revealed and transformed.
His black leather overcoat reaches down to his polished boots. Cloaked in darkness his visage is a crimson exclamation mark. All men cower before him and he relishes it.
Before him are Dr. Heinrich Zemo’s plans for an android army. They are brilliant. The Baron’s blue line illustrations depict a technological leap. One the Red Skull cannot wait to unleash upon America.
He plans to eliminate his rival Baron Zemo, and ensure the 4th Reich genesis. It is a simple but brilliant plan. But not before he has Zemo perform a few more simple tasks.
The Red Skull raises his Bakelite cigarette holder up to his grisly face, taking a long drag. The knock on the door interrupts his revelry. Smoke leaks around his teeth as he smiles. He stops smiling and the smoke exits through his nose.
He rolls the plans up as Father Kurt Warren enters the laboratory. The Red Skull’s cigarette holder points menacingly as the scrawny specimen of humanity crosses the floor. His steps are tentative and fearful.
The Red Skull became aware of Warren when he joined the Hitler Youth as a child. Now he is the perfect pawn as Dresden’s pastor. His ties to the Catholic Church will allow him to smuggle the gold from Dresden to America and fund The Red Skull’s plans.
“Heir Skull, you asked for me?” Father Warren said timidly. He smoothed his black robes, and pulled at his white collar nervously.
“Yes”, said the Red Skull.
“I did indeed.”
Nick Fury and Alpha Team’s reconnaissance of the area had determined the threat minimal. The structures exit is guarded by two soldiers stationed at the front door. The smoke from their cigarettes trailed into the night while they stood laughing and joking with each other. There is no light coming from inside the building.
They neutralized the soldiers securing Bravo Team’s exit strategy. Across from the target sat a suspicious warehouse. There are worn paths in the snow circling the structure. The flood lights illuminate the darkness closest to the building. It also provides ample cover for Fury and his men to move in close without being seen.
He could see how aerial photos would have been misleading. Nick knew the moment he saw it they had received bad intelligence. He signals for his men to change objectives. They sit in the shadows waiting.
Fury observed the insignia on the soldiers. These were no normal soldiers, they were elite guard. Whatever they were guarding they meant to keep. Several intervals later they had a pattern for the soldier’s circuit.
Alpha Team was flanking the entrance to the warehouse as the patrol passed by. They waited patiently for the next interval to converge on the entrance. Fury pulls the pin and tosses the N.F.D.D. grenade around the corner.
Father Warren opens the door and exits the warehouse. He looks down as an object rolls up to his feet. The grenade explodes with a loud flash and bang. He drops everything and rolls around on the ground in agony.
The soldiers fire blindly into the night. Team Alpha turns the corner and opens fire in short controlled bursts with their M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles. Amidst the screams of the dying Father Warren ran.
Pinkerton takes aim at the fleeing lone survivor. Nick reaches out knocking the weapon down. The rifle fires wide of its target. The bullet plunges into the snow feet from the father.
“No civilian casualties”, Nick says into the night. He motions for Alpha Team to enter the building. He follows close behind until he sees the Father’s discarded debris. He kneels down and picks up the papers the preacher had dropped. His jaw drops as the intent of the papers registers.
Small gun fire rips him back into reality. He storms into the warehouse behind his Howler’s and returns fire. They work in tandem maneuvering their way through the warehouse. It is littered with small machinery.
Several minutes and hundreds of rounds later the warehouse is secure. Men lay dead or dying. Fury looks into the eyes of one as he rambles.
“We are the superior race”, he said as his face contorted in a bloody mess.
“Mmmo” His last gasp was barely a vowel, a death rattle.
“We all die the same, calling out for our mothers and wondering how I am not the hero.” Fury says as he chews on his cigar.
“Welcome to the war” he says angrily.
“That’s the problem with ideologies, you polarize and people die. Two world wars back to back you would think people would realize.” Fury mumbles under his breath.
Fury opens the door to the holding room. In the room huddled together on the floor lay their mission’s objective. They were a little worse for wear. He motions for Pinkerton to release them from their restraints while he secures their exit.
When they left less than a minute later Bravo Team was ready and waiting for them. With their four French resistance fighters in tow they stole out into the surrounding night. Dresden fades into darkness and the past.
Two hours later they were well hidden in the cedar line. Fury pulls Captain America off to the side. He motions for quiet before speaking.
“We have a problem”, Fury says in a hushed tone. He hands him Father Warren’s papers. The papers contain directions to meet up with Dr. Heinrich Zemo in London. Dates, times, and places for stealing a top secret mechanized drone rocket and its use against Allied forces.
“I need you and Bucky to go to London and stop Baron Zemo.” Fury says as Captain America reads the documents.
Steve couldn’t believe a Catholic priest would conspire with the Nazis. Let alone plot with them to perform a terrorist act. His world is turning upside down.
Today, Now.
The Cardinal walks briskly down the steps into Saint Peter’s Basilica. Crossing the courtyard is the man Captain America and Bucky had pursued from Dresden all the way to London. Justice has taken decades.
They had plowed headlong into that fateful day with Baron Zemo. Steve could see the Baron punching his fist into the air with glee. He had launched the rocket. Steve stopped himself from thinking. He blocked out the images by sheer force of will.
His right hand shook involuntarily. He gritted his teeth as rage welled up in his chest. He walked determinedly towards the conspirator.
Steve steadied himself and held his hand up making the priest stop abruptly in his tracks. The Cardinal’s eyes cast about. He knew he was caught. Agents were flanking their position.
Here stood the man complicit in Bucky’s death. He had escaped while Steve had lain frozen in the arctic waters. Steve stood as the man’s accuser seventy years later.
Steve had read many facts in the Cardinal’s dossier. After his return to Italy, the man had facilitated in smuggling millions seized by the German government to Vatican City. He had conspired with Bishop Giovanni Battista Montini who orchestrated the escape of dozens on Nazi war criminals from civilian internment camps in Italy to Argentina.
The German’s had fled Vatican City using underground passageways, with all the money they had seized. These rat lines had allowed dozens of Nazis disguised as clergy to escape justice. They had made large financial gains for services rendered.
Warren had hidden in the Vatican City sanctuary. The sanctuary included new identity papers, blood money, and a safe haven. He had escaped.
Steve looked at the man who stood before him. He looked into the man’s eyes and saw a heinous war criminal. He clenched his hands into fists and stymied his urge to beat the man senseless. It was not a just thought, he chided himself.
“My son you have vengeance in your eyes.” The Cardinal said crisply.
“And you have death on your hands” Steve said coldly.
Did you ever write part 4/4?