The "Phoney War" was a distant memory; the real war ground on with relentless brutality across multiple fronts. By late 1940 and into early 1941, Elias Thorne's multifaceted operations were maturing. His Canadian industrial base, under Dr. Finch's astute (and System-informed) guidance, was thriving, funneling resources and influence into Elias's coffers and providing a respectable veneer for his clandestine activities. "Mr. Blanchard's" reputation within certain circles of Allied intelligence in London, curated by Anya Petrova, grew with each successful, deniable operation attributed to his "associates." His Feral Strikers, Dubois and Macgregor, had reached a formidable level of proficiency under Thomas MacIntyre's brutal tutelage at the northern compound, their combat prowess and pack cohesion making them a terrifyingly effective unit, ready for their first real deployment.
Logan, along with Miller and O'Malley, continued their shadow war against Hydra cells in neutral and occupied territories. They dismantled a Hydra listening post in Lisbon attempting to monitor Allied shipping, neutralized a team of Hydra assassins targeting a prominent (and pro-Allied) Swedish industrialist who was secretly supplying critical ball-bearings to the British war effort, and even recovered an ancient Norse artifact (rumored to have minor empathic properties) that Hydra agents were trying to smuggle out of occupied Denmark. Each success brought Elias more intel, more combat data, and tantalizingly small Prime Essence Shard fragments – his total now stood at [2.5/5.0]. Logan's loyalty, though still volatile, had climbed to [62% ( grudging Respect for Host's Intel/Effectiveness; Purpose-Driven Aggression Fulfilled)]. The System also finally unlocked one of the promised Sub-Routines:
[Conduit Integration (Wolverine) Threshold Met: System Sub-Routine "Combat Pattern Analysis (Wolverine)" Activated for Host Unit. Host may now instinctively predict/counter opponent attack patterns based on Logan's assimilated combat experience and feral instincts during high-stress encounters.]
This was a significant personal upgrade for Elias. In any potential physical confrontation, his ability to read and react to opponents would be almost precognitive.
It was during one of these European operations that the landscape shifted dramatically. Logan's team was tracking a high-ranking Hydra scientist, Professor Arnim Zola, a diminutive, bespectacled man whose unremarkable appearance belied a monstrous intellect and a key role in Hydra's "Wunderwaffe Programm." Zola was reportedly en route via a heavily guarded train to a secret underground facility in the Black Forest, supposedly to oversee a new phase of "Subjekt" development.
Elias saw an opportunity too great to ignore: capture Zola, extract his knowledge, and potentially acquire a wealth of information about Hydra's inner workings and Johann Schmidt's current status or whereabouts. This was beyond Logan's usual smash-and-grab tactics. It required a more complex, coordinated effort. For the first time, Elias decided to deploy his Feral Strikers overseas.
Dubois and Macgregor, along with Thomas MacIntyre (Elias needed his most trusted lieutenant on site for such a critical mission), were smuggled into occupied France via a perilous night crossing of the Channel in a modified fishing trawler, joining Logan, Miller, and O'Malley at a Resistance safe house near the German border.
The meeting between Logan and the Feral Strikers was tense. Logan, with his hyper-acute senses, immediately recognized them as something… other, something kin to himself, yet different. He smelled their enhanced physiology, the faint, primal musk of their Feral Striker nature.
"Who the hell are these two, kid?" Logan had growled at Elias (who was coordinating remotely via Anya in London, using their anachronistic secure comms relayed to a discreet radio Miller operated). "They reek like wet dogs who've been rolling in something dead."
Dubois and Macgregor, in turn, regarded Logan with a mixture of wary respect and instinctual aggression. They sensed his power, his alpha status. Thomas, a silent mountain, simply observed, his presence a calming influence.
Elias, through Anya, explained: "They are… specialized assets, Logan. Like you, but of my own making. They're here to assist. This target, Zola, is too important for a solo run."
The plan was audacious. They would intercept Zola's train at a remote, heavily forested section of track where it would be forced to slow. Logan, with his sheer power, would derail the locomotive. Dubois and Macgregor, with their pack tactics and ferocity, would handle Zola's SS escort, while Miller provided covering fire and O'Malley dealt with any technical issues or escape vehicles. Thomas would be the overall tactical coordinator on the ground.
The ambush was a brutal, chaotic success. Logan, in a spectacular display of raw strength, tore up a section of track moments before the train arrived, sending the locomotive and its front cars careening into the forest. The SS escort, emerging dazed from the wreckage, found themselves set upon by Dubois and Macgregor, who fought with a coordinated savagery that stunned the seasoned German troops. Bone claws met MP40s in a whirlwind of blood and snow.
Zola, however, proved elusive. Amidst the chaos, a small, heavily armored personnel carrier, seemingly designed for just such an emergency, detached from one of the overturned carriages and attempted to flee.
It was here that something unexpected happened. Logan, focused on tearing apart the SS guards threatening Miller, was momentarily pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire. But then, Elias, miles away in London but experiencing the battle through a strange, amplified empathic link with his empowered agents (another newly developing System perk), felt a new presence enter the fray.
A figure, clad in dark, almost anachronistically advanced tactical gear, moved with impossible speed and precision, intercepting Zola's escaping APC. This individual dispatched the APC's drivers with two silenced shots that even Anya, had she been present, would have struggled to track, then incapacitated Zola with a non-lethal nerve agent deployed from a wrist-mounted device. The entire takedown took less than ten seconds.
This new operative then calmly collected Zola and his research briefcase, gave a curt, almost imperceptible nod towards Logan's general direction, and then vanished into the Black Forest as silently and quickly as they had appeared. Miller, who caught a fleeting glimpse, described the operative as having a "red star" emblem on their arm.
Logan, Dubois, and Macgregor, having dispatched the remaining SS, were left standing amidst the wreckage, confused and furious. Their primary target had been snatched from under their noses by an unknown, incredibly proficient third party.
The System flared with urgent notifications for Elias:
[UNKNOWN ENHANCED OPERATIVE DETECTED (Designation: WINTER SOLDIER – Suspected Soviet Black Ops/Prime Conduit Hybrid – EXTREME THREAT). Affiliation: Presumed Red Room/Department X (USSR). Objective: Arnim Zola (Secured). Secondary Objective: Observation/Assessment of Host's Assets (Probable).]
[NEW FACTION DETECTED: SOVIET UNION (Special Projects Division). Current Host Relations: UNKNOWN/POTENTIALLY HOSTILE. Long-Term Strategic Implications: SIGNIFICANT.]
The Winter Soldier. Soviet. Another enhanced individual, clearly operating at a level far beyond ordinary soldiers, perhaps even rivaling Logan in sheer combat efficiency, if not raw power. And they had Zola. This was a catastrophic intelligence failure for Elias, but also a chilling revelation. The global stage wasn't just Hydra and the conventional Allies. The Soviet Union had its own "dogs of war," and they were clearly aware of, and perhaps even targeting, other enhanced assets.
The immediate aftermath was tense. Logan was livid, feeling he'd been outmaneuvered. Dubois and Macgregor were blooded but frustrated. Thomas reported the incident to Elias with grim professionalism.
Elias, however, saw beyond the immediate loss of Zola. The Winter Soldier's appearance, while a setback, confirmed the existence of other state-sponsored super-soldier programs. The game was indeed far wider, far more dangerous than he had imagined. Hydra, the Allies, and now the Soviets… each possessed, or were cultivating, their own enhanced champions.
But the most unsettling part was the Winter Soldier's almost casual observation of his team. Were they now on Moscow's radar? Was Elias Thorne, the architect of shadows, himself being shadowed by an even more ruthless, more clandestine power?
The quiet anonymity he had so carefully cultivated was beginning to fray at the edges. The first whispers of mutiny weren't coming from his own ranks, but from the chilling silence of a Soviet ghost who had just proven they could operate with impunity in the heart of Hydra's territory, and perhaps, wherever else they chose. The board was becoming crowded with terrifying new pieces.