The chaos at Adlerhorst had far-reaching, though largely unseen, repercussions. For the Allies, it was a perplexing enigma: a major, heavily fortified Nazi mountain fortress had simply… vanished in a series of violent explosions and localized seismic events, leaving behind a smoking, inaccessible ruin. SOE, under Major Davies, attributed it to a "highly successful, if unorthodox, commando raid," with details deliberately obscured to protect sources and methods – namely, "Mr. Blanchard" and his "specialist." The Howling Commandos, those who survived (Sawyer, Dugan, and a few others managed to fight their way out during the fortress's collapse, their reports speaking of inexplicable energy vortexes and foes beyond human comprehension), were hailed as heroes but also quietly debriefed by Penny Worthington's more esoteric department, their wilder claims largely dismissed as battlefield hysteria.
Gabe Jones and Logan emerged from the sewer tunnel days later, miles from the epicenter, caked in filth, frostbitten, and half-starved, but alive. Logan's healing factor had worked overtime, mending burns, contusions, and the sheer exhaustion of battling super-soldiers and reality-warping energies. Gabe was suffering from severe shock and exposure, babbling about "blue fire" and "the screaming man in the stone," but he had survived, thanks to Logan dragging his unconscious form through the frozen wilderness. Their reunion with the remnants of the Commandos was grim, the shared trauma forging a strange, unspoken bond, particularly between Sawyer and the taciturn "Sergeant Logan," who had undeniably saved several of his men. Logan's reputation within the unit ascended from feared anomaly to begrudging legend. His loyalty, tested in the crucible of Adlerhorst, now sat at [48% (Mutual Survival Pact; Respect for Commandos' Tenacity; Continued Wariness of Host)].
For Elias Thorne, the aftermath was a whirlwind of information consolidation and strategic recalibration. Johann Schmidt's fate remained a critical unknown. Was he destroyed with Adlerhorst? Displaced by the Tesseract? The System offered no immediate answers, merely [Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) Status: Undetermined. HYDRA Operational Command: Disrupted but not Decapitated. Secondary Command Nodes Likely Active.] Hydra was wounded, significantly, but not dead. The loss of the Tesseract, however, was a monumental blow to their advanced weapons programs.
The [4.8/5.0 Prime Essence Shards] burned a hole in Elias's metaphorical pocket. He was tantalizingly close to being able to prototype his "Feral Striker" troops. He needed that final 0.2 Shard fragment. His thoughts immediately turned to the other surviving Hydra super-soldier who had flanked Schmidt in the Tesseract chamber. If that individual was still alive, and if Logan could be directed to him…
But that was a future hunt. For now, Elias had to manage the immediate fallout and leverage his newfound advantage. He "shared" heavily redacted intelligence on Hydra's leadership disarray with Major Davies and Miss Worthington, further solidifying his position as an invaluable, if enigmatic, Allied asset. His influence with them grew: [Influence (Allied Intelligence – Combined Operations): 25% (High-Value Strategic Partner – Deep Cover Operations Increasingly Relied Upon)].
Back in Montreal, far from the battlefields, Elias made a critical decision. With his System Energy reserves at a peak ([Energy: 210.00/???] – significantly boosted by the macro-scale profits from his wartime industries and a general uptick in "global instability" which the System seemed to passively draw from) and the "Feral Striker" template tantalizingly close, he initiated the process.
System, he commanded, drawing upon the deep well of his power, the mirrored adamantium in his bones thrumming in resonance, begin preliminary genetic sequencing and energetic matrix alignment for "Feral Striker" (Tier 2) Troop Template based on assimilated Wolverine combat data. Dedicate 0.8 Prime Essence Shards and necessary energy for initial blueprint creation and stability testing. Project priority: Alpha.
The System responded with a surge of internal activity that Elias felt as a faint, tingling vibration throughout his being.
[Feral Striker (Tier 2) Template – Prototyping Initiated. Consuming 0.8 Prime Essence Shards. Current Shard Reserve: 4.0/5.0 (Estimate for first viable unit). Energy Cost: 50 Units (Initial Blueprinting). Remaining Energy: 160.00/???]
[Blueprint Analysis: Core attributes will include enhanced strength/speed/agility (lower Tier 2), accelerated healing (significantly inferior to Wolverine's Omega Tier but superior to baseline human), retractable bone claws (non-metallic, psychosomatic manifestation), heightened senses (predator-lite), and a controllable 'battle fury' instinct. Mental stability: Projected moderate to high, dependent on recipient baseline. Loyalty imprint potential: High.]
[Estimated Prototyping Time for Viable Template (allowing for single unit bestowal): 72 Standard Hours. Full Scalability and Refinement will require further Shard investment and field data.]
Three days. He had three days before he could potentially create his first Feral Striker. He already had candidates in mind. Thomas MacIntyre's small, elite security force – "Thorne's Guard" – was composed of men chosen for their loyalty, combat experience, and resilience. They were the perfect raw material. He wouldn't empower all of them, not initially. He'd select the best, the most adaptable.
Thomas himself, already a Barbarian Lv.1, was a different matter. The System had previously indicated that empowered individuals could potentially receive further empowerments, or have their existing ones "upgraded" or "overwritten" if the new template was significantly different or superior. Could Thomas become a Feral Striker and retain his Barbarian base? Or would one supersede the other? This was uncharted territory.
While the System worked on the Feral Striker blueprint, Elias focused on managing his growing empire. Dr. Finch's role expanded; he was now not just an analyst but also the discreet administrator of Elias's legitimate front companies, his cognitively-enhanced mind adept at navigating the labyrinthine wartime bureaucracy and maximizing profits while maintaining an impeccable veneer of patriotic contribution. Anya Petrova, from London, continued to feed him a steady stream of high-grade intelligence, her network of émigré informants proving surprisingly effective at picking up whispers that official agencies missed. Mickey O'Halloran kept the Montreal black market ticking, a useful, if morally grey, source of untraceable funds and street-level information.
The news from Europe remained grim. The Battle of Britain was raging in the skies over England. U-boats choked the Atlantic lifelines. But amidst the chaos, Elias Thorne was building. He was acquiring power, not just for himself, but for the organization he was creating. The destruction of Adlerhorst was a victory, but it was also a beginning. Hydra was still out there, a wounded serpent, likely already plotting its revenge and rebuilding its strength. Other powers, other "unconventional assets," were undoubtedly in play on the global stage.
Elias needed his own specialized forces, his own loyal "super-soldiers," if he was to not only survive the coming storms but also shape them. The Feral Striker template was the first step towards that. He thought of his team: Thomas the Barbarian, Anya the Archer, Finch the Cognitive Archer, Mickey the Goblin, and Logan the Wolverine – a bizarre collection of individuals bound by loyalty, circumstance, and the strange power emanating from their enigmatic young leader. Soon, their ranks might swell with something new, something born from the echo of a mutant's rage and the cold calculations of a System-guided mind.
The ashes of Adlerhorst were still cooling, but in a quiet room in Montreal, a new kind of fire was being kindled – the genesis of Elias Thorne's very own troop of superhuman operatives. The world was at war, and Elias was preparing to unleash his own, unique brand of devastation upon it, all under the guise of a patriotic Canadian businessman and an enigmatic Swiss neutral.