Moments later, Hydra's final trump card — the mutant siblings Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch — arrived before Baron Strucker. The instant they entered the chamber, Quicksilver spoke up, his voice sharp with anger.
"Baron, our home — Sokovia — is under attack by the vile American forces! Civilians are dying, people haven't even evacuated yet. We must send troops to defend them!"
Their fury was genuine. The Maximoff twins had joined Hydra not out of loyalty, but vengeance. When they were only ten, their parents were killed in a U.S. bombing raid on Sokovia. Left orphaned and broken, they had volunteered for Hydra's human enhancement experiments, swearing one day to destroy those responsible.
If Strucker refused to send help, the two were prepared to disobey him and act on their own.
The Baron met Quicksilver's burning gaze, immediately understanding the young man's intent. Instead of denying him outright, Strucker lifted a communicator and said solemnly,
"All non-guard divisions of Hydra, deploy immediately to the residential districts below the mountain. Aid in the evacuation of Sokovia's civilians — they need our protection!"
His tone was righteous, but the move was pure manipulation. In truth, nearly every Hydra unit outside his personal guard had already been annihilated or routed by Marcus's relentless campaign. The few that remained were terrified, broken remnants — soldiers who could barely hold their weapons, let alone fight.
But the twins didn't know that. To them, Strucker's words sounded like a selfless order to protect their people.
Scarlet Witch gave a graceful nod, her voice soft but filled with conviction. "Thank you for your compassion, Baron. We'll fight for Hydra with everything we have."
"Excellent," Strucker replied, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes. "Hydra has never needed you more. Take my guard battalion and unleash your power. Leave no American soldier alive — and if you find that accursed black-haired demon, destroy him. For the future of Sokovia… Hail Hydra!"
"Hail Hydra!" the twins echoed in unison.
---
When the S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force finally reached the base of the mountain — the narrow railway tunnel that served as the Hydra fortress's only entrance — they found the enemy already waiting.
Heavy laser turrets lined the mouth of the tunnel, their barrels glowing faintly. Strucker's personal guard — his last surviving elite — stood in disciplined rows behind cover, weapons aimed at the shadows ahead.
This was Hydra's final stand.
Through his binoculars, Captain America surveyed the defensive line and exhaled. "Hydra's nearly out of troops," he murmured. "How many people has Marcus taken down on his own?"
He shook his head, half in disbelief, half in admiration. Turning to his soldiers, he raised his voice. "All right, people — this is it. One last push! Let's finish this fight!"
The men and women of S.H.I.E.L.D. straightened with renewed determination. They'd gone from being nearly wiped out to watching a single man — Marcus — turn the tide of an entire war. They admired him, but they also burned with pride.
No soldier wanted to be remembered as dead weight.
And now, with Hydra's numbers dwindling, this final charge looked like a guaranteed victory.
Captain America stepped forward and hurled his iconic vibranium shield. The star-spangled disc spun through the air, gleaming under the dim mountain light — a symbol of courage and freedom, the call to charge.
"FORWARD!" he shouted.
The shield arced toward the enemy line —
CLANG!
A sudden flash of crimson light rippled through the air, and the shield slammed against an invisible barrier. A pulse of energy burst outward, sending the weapon spinning back and embedding it deep into the rocky ground at Steve's feet.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers froze in shock. Their gunfire followed moments later — and was immediately halted midair, every bullet striking the same shimmering scarlet wall and vanishing in a burst of sparks.
Even those who rushed forward with grenades or melee weapons were thrown backward by a surge of unseen power, the impact strong enough to crack stone and dent steel.
Yet the Hydra troops behind the barrier could fire freely, their lasers cutting through the air without resistance. It was a slaughter.
Pinned down and outmatched, the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers scrambled for cover. The battlefield that had seemed so one-sided a moment ago had suddenly turned into a nightmare.
"What the hell is this?" Captain America growled, grabbing his shield and using it to block incoming fire. The barrier was like something out of a dream — or a nightmare — too unnatural, too powerful.
Then, amidst the chaos, a figure rose above the Hydra ranks.
A young woman — pale, graceful, and terrifyingly beautiful — floated into the air, her crimson coat flowing behind her like a banner of blood. Long blonde hair framed a face of haunting calm, and her eyes glowed with otherworldly light. Energy crackled around her fingers, painting the air in deep red hues.
There was no mistaking her identity.
Wanda Maximoff — the Scarlet Witch.
Her voice, soft yet commanding, carried easily across the battlefield.
"You will go no further."
The crimson energy swirling around her hands expanded outward, solidifying into a massive dome that encompassed the tunnel entrance — a perfect half-sphere of crackling scarlet light. Every Hydra soldier within its bounds was shielded, while any attempt to breach it from outside was instantly repelled.
The barrier stretched far beyond the tunnel, covering the cliffs and the forest below. It was vast — far too vast. Wanda's control was still unstable; she was wasting enormous amounts of power keeping it this large.
Captain America saw it immediately. That flaw was their only hope.
"She can't control the size!" he shouted through the comms. "Focus your fire on one point — all units, concentrate everything you've got on a single spot! Break through before she stabilizes it!"
"Understood!" Thor called back, lightning crackling around him as he raised Mjolnir high into the stormy air.
At his command, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. line unleashed its combined firepower — plasma rifles, grenades, and divine thunder all hammering down on one shimmering point of the Scarlet Witch's barrier.
The dome pulsed under the onslaught, red energy rippling like waves in a storm.
And as the earth shook and the skies burned, the war for Hydra's fortress entered its final stage.
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T/N:
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