Several Hydra soldiers found Bucky Barnes and discovered he was still alive. One of them ran to the Hydra base and brought back some things to stabilize him. They placed him on a gurney, pulling and trudging back to base. Believing him to be in a near-death state, they mainly focused on getting through the heavy snow.
What they didn't realize was that Cyrus had entered a Jedi meditative trance. It gave the appearance of near death, a technique commonly used for long hyperspace voyages in single-compartment starfighters.
According to Star Wars lore, Luke Skywalker often performed this technique, as did other Jedi. For Cyrus, this only reinforced the façade of being gravely injured. Unsuspecting, the Hydra operatives brought Bucky back to their base, hidden deep in the mountains. They entered the facility, but what they didn't realize was that they had been followed.
Birds at one point, and now moving slowly through the snow, they became silvery material, slithering like snakes beneath the surface to hide their traces. The Hydra soldiers closed the doors and secured themselves within, but what they didn't see before sealing the entrance was that one member was replaced along the way, and entered the base with them.
They appeared in a surgical theater. A Hydra scientist stared with great interest as Bucky Barnes was brought in.
"At last," he said, "Zola's experiment has been recovered. We can finish putting him through the super soldier enhancement."
Bucky Barnes had been an experiment, an attempt to recreate Captain America using the final vial of Erskine's serum that had been recovered from the last Hydra base he worked in.
They couldn't understand the formula. They analysed it and tried to pick it apart, but they weren't Zola. Even he couldn't fully decipher it, which was why he used Bucky as a test subject. He wanted to see how the serum bonded with the body, how it affected and changed the human subject. Perhaps observing it in action would help them solve the puzzle.
An alarm suddenly rang at the base entrance. They activated the external cameras, and there they saw what appeared to be American soldiers breaking into the facility. Oddly enough, they carried no guns.
"Kill them!" the doctor roared.
Just as he spoke, one of the soldiers began shooting his comrades. The other Hydra agents quickly responded, raised their weapons, and opened fire, but to their shock, every time they hit the traitor, the bullets didn't leave a bloody mess. Instead, they burst into explosions of silvery liquid. The liquid reabsorbed itself, reforming the body completely.
This wasn't a bird at all; it was a T-1000.
Its job was to carry out Order 66.
It slaughtered everyone in the room while the other T-1000s moved throughout the facility, systematically eliminating Hydra personnel. They infiltrated, terminated, and gathered all available data and information, processing everything they found.
Bucky had released twenty-seven of them, the maximum number he could fit into a sixty-four-cubic-foot inventory slot.
After some time, Bucky's eyes opened. He was finally awake.
A T-1000 approached its master.
"What is the status of the operation?" he asked.
"The facility has been cleared of Hydra agents," the T-1000 replied. "All information has been gathered and processed. New identities and destinations have been determined. We are ready to split apart and continue our infiltration of Hydra."
"Good," Bucky said. "Tell me the details of Order 66. I want to make sure you understand your directives."
"Affirmative, sir."
The T-1000 announced, "Order 66 is an order given to destroy the terrorist organization known as Hydra. They have infiltrated many governments worldwide and must be weeded out. That is the broad explanation. However, there are several specific directives:
Gather all data and information related to Hydra
Identify Hydra's command structure, assets, personnel, and ideology
Infiltrate all known and suspected Hydra bases
Infiltrate Hydra-affiliated shell corporations and financial networks
Seize, collapse, or neutralize all Hydra financial assets
Identify all individuals forced to cooperate with Hydra
Extract and free all coerced personnel
Terminate all Hydra scientists
Destroy or permanently secure all Hydra-exclusive technologies
Terminate all Hydra members who are willingly participating
Identify and terminate Hydra leadership and ideological enforcers
Identify Hydra agents embedded within governments and organizations
Terminate all embedded Hydra agents
Detect and terminate Hydra successor and splinter organizations
Erase Hydra doctrine, symbols, training materials, and mythos
Seed counter-narratives depicting Hydra as failed and illegitimate
Releasing controlled information exposing Hydra's crimes
Analyze leadership patterns to predict and preempt future Hydra emergence
Maintain long-term passive surveillance for Hydra resurgence indicators
Execute autonomous action if the command authority is compromised
Periodically wipe personality programs without erasing mission-critical data
Confirm functional extinction of Hydra
Return to command authority upon mission completion
"Good," Bucky said. "I'm glad you understand. You have your orders. Carry them out."
Bucky removed his uniform, standing in his boxers and a white undershirt. He grabbed the Terminator who was about to leave.
"Oh, by the way, destroy this uniform for me."
The Terminator took it and left.
"Well," Bucky muttered, "it's time to take on a new identity. Bucky Barnes is dead. There is no Winter Soldier, and there never will be."
He would destroy Hydra before they could further infiltrate the world. Other organizations would eventually rise in their place, but he doubted it would significantly affect the timeline.
In every world he had visited, he had adopted secret identities. In Star Wars, he was Novo Solo. In Highlander, he took on the guise of Darth Vader.
Here, in the Marvel universe, it was only fitting he take on another.
Cyrus waved his hand, and on the bed where he lay appeared a new set of armor, A dark gray combat uniform with a red stylized bat symbol. A utility belt filled with batarangs, steel lines, and other gadgets; combat boots; black gloves, a red leather jacket, two high-powered handguns, and a red helmet with white eyes.
"Instead of the Winter Soldier," he said, "why not give the world the Red Hood?"
These were not last-minute decisions. Before leaving the Highlander universe, Cyrus had ensured the completion of his T-1000s. They took far longer to create than T-800s, but over the months it took him to gain greater control over himself, he managed to produce all twenty-seven.
Twenty-seven sounded like a lot, but this was the Marvel universe; who knew how many would survive? And even if they did, he had installed precautions to prevent them from being studied: a self-destruct order.
He hadn't been sure he would need an alternate identity in this universe, but he decided to have one nonetheless. He needed a street-level fighter, not a super soldier, not a Force user, someone who could instill fear while appearing mostly human.
He was determined to make the Red Hood a legend. Without showing his face, no one would know Bucky Barnes was under the helmet, and no one would know he was immortal. Even Steve believed he was dead, but that sacrifice was necessary to keep the timeline mostly intact.
How far his plans would go remained to be seen, but for now, the Red Hood was ready to make his debut.
He designed special guns for the Red Hood, nothing as powerful as what Bucky or Steve used, or the GI Robot, but with significant penetrating power. He wanted no connection between Bucky and his new identity. That meant no Force powers, no swords, no lightsabers, only guns and gadgets.
He wasn't worried. After all, he had nearly ten thousand years of martial knowledge, stealth skills, and experience. He had memories of generals, tacticians, and assassins. He would become a shadowy force for good.
He briefly considered becoming Batman, but out of respect for Batman's no-kill policy, he decided the Red Hood was a better fit. Besides, he always liked the Red Hood, Jason Todd, not so much. But the Red Hood with a red helmet was pretty awesome.
Fully decked out in his Red Hood battle gear, Cyrus went to the garage and found a large truck capable of navigating the snow. Packing survival equipment, food rations, and extra fuel, he left the Hydra facility and allowed the T-1000s to do what they were designed to do.
The world mourned the loss of two great heroes: Captain America, Steve Rogers, and his right-hand man, Bucky Barnes. The GI Robot survived and became the exclusive property of Howard Stark. Officially, it was being evaluated for military use, though Howard made it clear he wouldn't be selling them. The military didn't like that, but they didn't know about the conversation Howard had with Bucky before his disappearance.
Howard and Peggy sat together at dinner, mourning their missing friends. Peggy had lost the man she hoped would one day be her husband, and Bucky was important to her as well.
For Howard, they were both close friends. Bucky was a kindred spirit, an inventor by nature, an adventurer by heart, and a loyal friend. Steve had always been the one pointing north for everyone else.
"Howard," Peggy said softly, "Tell me about your conversation with Bucky."
"You know I'm only sharing this with you," Howard replied. "Not with whatever cabal you and Colonel Phillips are establishing. This stays between us."
"Of course," Peggy said.
"You know, Bucky had some strange powers, right? Things he could do that no one else could, not even Steve. Supposedly, they all came from whatever version of the super soldier serum Hydra gave him."
Peggy nodded. "Yes, I understand."
"Well, one thing nobody knew, not even Colonel Phillips or Steve, was that Bucky seemed to have the ability to see the future."
Peggy froze. "He could see the future?"
"Sort of," Howard said. "He couldn't see everything. He said the problem with seeing the future is, how did he put it? "Always in motion the future is."
"That's an odd way of saying it," Peggy replied, "but I think I understand. You might glimpse a possible future, but as things change, so does the outcome."
"That's exactly it," Howard said. "Anyway, he came to me before the mission. Said something might happen, that he might not come back. I don't know if he died, ran away, or something else, but he expected something catastrophic."
"He warned me not to hand all his technology over to the government. Said it was too dangerous. That's why I won't give them the GI Robot or the rest. I'll stick to more conventional weapons, that's what Bucky suggested."
"I thought he was crazy at the time," Howard admitted. "But after what happened to him, and to Steve…"
"Did he know Steve was going to die?" Peggy asked quietly.
"He never said that," Howard replied. "But I got the sense he didn't expect anything good from that last mission. Maybe he saw the possibility but didn't know how to stop it."
"Did he tell you anything else?" Peggy asked.
"Yes. He said to watch out for spies."
"Spies?" she repeated.
"He wasn't clear. Just said to be careful who you trust. I think he was protecting me, protecting you, from something."
"How was he protecting me?" Peggy asked.
"He said you'd have a hard road ahead," Howard said gently, "but that eventually you'd find someone to dance with. Maybe that was hope more than certainty."
Peggy swallowed. "Was that all?"
"No, but I'll save that for later. Tell me why you came to see me."
Heartbroken but strong, Peggy set her sadness aside. "Howard, I want to ask you something. We're forming a new organization."
"You want to evolve the SSR," Howard said.
"Something like that. Only people we trust. Colonel Phillips is working on it, but it'll take time. I could use your help."
Howard smiled faintly. "Let's see how it goes. If it's worth believing in, I'll join."
"Thank you, Howard. I knew I could count on you."
"One more thing," he said quietly. "This stays between us. Some things have to remain secret. Can I trust you?"
"Of course," Peggy said. "You know that."
"You're ambitious," Howard continued, "and that's not a bad thing. But some things are bigger than governments. If you want to be part of that, you need to keep quiet."
"I understand."
"Good," he said. "Then let me take you somewhere, discreetly. And I mean you, not Colonel Phillips, or General Phillips, or whatever his rank. Right, just you and me and no one else, get it?"
Peggy nodded. "Of course."
"I think," Howard said with a small smile, "you'll like where we're going."