News of that not-so-secret brawl still reached Lynn's ears.
Motoko Kusanagi merely mentioned it in the daily briefing.
Her wording was objective, devoid of any emotional color.
Lynn didn't express any stance after hearing it.
It was just like hearing that a part had been replaced on an assembly line.
Steve Rogers also didn't try to "correct" Soldier Boy again.
That punch, which had landed solidly on Soldier Boy's face only to be met with the latter's contemptuous smile, had taught him many lessons.
Captain chose to fight in his own way.
The torrent of war would not stop its advance because of the conflict between two chess pieces.
April 1944.
German-occupied Denmark Strait.
A raging blizzard swept across the sea like a sharp blade.
A HYDRA fleet was struggling to cross this route of death.
What they were escorting was something thousands of times more precious than gold or munitions.
Research data on the Tesseract.
A HYDRA naval officer was staring intently at the churning dark clouds in the distance with binoculars.
Suddenly, he saw a black dot falling rapidly through the wind and snow.
"A meteorite?"
The next second, the black dot slammed heavily onto the Bismarck-class battleship at the very front of the fleet.
"Boom!"
The steel deck was smashed into a terrifying dent, and the Impact blew away the surrounding anti-aircraft guns.
In the officer's binoculars.
A man in a dark green uniform slowly stood up from the Impact crater.
He brushed the ice shards off his body and flashed a smile at the terrified German sailors that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Soldier Boy.
Despair was the only language.
He stood on the burning wreckage of the battleship, letting the bone-chilling seawater lash against his body, and let out a roar of victory toward the sky.
His divine might struck fear into the hearts of the entire German Navy in the Atlantic Ocean.
June 6, 1944.
Normandy.
The largest amphibious landing operation in human history began.
"My God..."
A young soldier from Ohio lay in the sand on Omaha Beach.
He watched the crossfire network formed by the German Army's MG42 machine guns ahead and prayed in despair.
Bullets were like the scythe of the God of Death, harvesting the lives of his comrades beside him.
Just then, a "meteorite" fell from the sky.
Soldier Boy slammed onto the beach, kicking up sand more dramatically than a shell explosion.
He ignored the bullets that could easily tear through steel and charged toward a sturdy bunker, striding through the crossfire.
Then, under the stunned gaze of countless Allied Forces soldiers, he tore that concrete bunker in half with his bare hands.
"I... I didn't see that wrong, did I?"
The veteran next to the young soldier rubbed his eyes hard.
"Shut up! Keep up!"
In the sky, another "Sun" rose.
Human TorchJim Hammond incinerated every enemy aircraft that dared to take off.
Clearing the obstacles for the Allied Forces' air power.
"Hey, John, do you think we should buy some Vought International stock when we get home?"
"You motherfucker, just survive until you get home first!"
Steve Rogers, leading the Howling Commandos, charged through the mud and blood with the main force.
He had no godlike powers to fly or burrow, only a shield and brute strength.
He would fall, but he could always be the first to stand up and the first to charge.
Three "heroes" wrote the prelude to this victory in three completely different ways.
From then on, the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt.
June 11, 1944.
Faced with absolute power and the iron torrent of the Allied Forces, the German Army command submitted their surrender.
The flames of war in Europe were dying out.
But everyone knew the war was not over yet.
That red skull still lurked in the heart of Europe.
HYDRA was the final enemy.
February 1, 1945.
Intelligence from the Strategic Scientific Reserve was delivered to the Allied Forces front line.
They had locked onto the trail of the HYDRA chief scientist, Dr.Arnim Zola.
At the operational meeting, Soldier Boy only glanced at the mission briefing before tossing it aside with disdain.
"This kind of petty squabble again."
He sat with his legs crossed, trimming his nails with a small knife, not even bothering to lift his eyelids.
"Does catching a rat hiding in a laboratory require such a big fuss? Captain, your guts are getting smaller and smaller."
Steve's fists clenched under the table, but he didn't retort.
Bucky Barnes patted his shoulder and mouthed the words "Don't mind him."
A reassuring smile, as always, hung on his face.
"Let's go, Steve, let's go catch that son of a bitch scientist, and then go back to Brooklyn for a drink together!"
The Howling Commandos assembled in full force.
They were Steve's most trusted comrades-in-arms and his only warmth on this battlefield.
They had destroyed three of HYDRA's disguised strongholds in succession.
The Howling Commandos intercepted an armed train speeding at a mountain pass.
Zola was on it!
The battle broke out.
The members of the Howling Commandos successfully boarded the train using grappling hooks.
They engaged in a fierce firefight with HYDRA soldiers inside the narrow carriages.
Captain America took the lead.
His Vibranium shield deflected the flying blue energy beams, unstoppable.
He and Bucky stood back-to-back.
One attacking, one covering.
They soon broke through to the middle carriage of the train.
"Boom!"
A loud bang.
The side wall of the carriage was suddenly blasted open by an energy cannon.
A gale, accompanied by ice and snow, roared in like the sharp claws of a demon.
Captain and Bucky were both blown away by the Impact force.
Captain's back slammed heavily against the opposite carriage wall, while Bucky...
Bucky's body hit the hole uncontrollably, with half of his body hanging outside the train.
Only one hand was gripping the broken metal railing tightly!
"Bucky!"
Steve's eyes were splitting with rage.
He wanted to rush over, but was held back tightly by HYDRA elite soldiers wielding energy weapons.
"Steve!"
Bucky shouted with difficulty in the gale, his face turned bright red by the wind and snow.
His hand was slipping off bit by bit.
"Grab my hand!"
Steve roared and threw his shield with all his might.
After knocking the enemies in front of him unconscious, he reached out to his childhood friend without a second thought.
Their hands crossed in the air.
Their fingertips almost touched.
Just a little bit more!
Just that little bit!
Bucky Barnes's hand finally slipped from the metal railing.
He looked at Steve and smiled with relief.
His body fell into the bottomless abyss.
The wind and snow swallowed his figure.
"No—!!!"
Captain America let out a heartbreaking roar, the sound filled with despair and endless regret.
He watched helplessly as his best friend disappeared from his life completely.
Arnim Zola was captured.
He was hiding in the last carriage of the train.
When the Howling Commandos kicked the door open, he immediately raised his hands and walked out, trembling.
Fearing that if he were a second too slow, he would be riddled with bullets.
The Howling Commandos achieved victory.
But no one cheered.
The surviving members silently packed up their weapons, avoiding Captain's gaze.
Vought Tower.
Motoko Kusanagi handed a casualty report to Lynn.
"Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, confirmed killed in action."
He looked at it quietly for a long time.
"Very good."
"A perfect hero needs a perfect tragedy to be fulfilled."
"Now, my good Captain... you are finally complete."
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