[h2][b][center]Two Weeks Later, A Different OSS Base, Near RAF Ashford Bomber Base[/center][/b][/h2]
“Hello ladies and gentlemen. As you know, my name is Maria Bianco, and I am currently the head of this wonderful organisation, which, as you may not be aware, is named the Westminster League Of Extraordinary Individuals.” She smiled, and turned, a cigarette dangling from her fingers. “To let you all know the plan, once we’re done getting ready, I am informed a retrofitted Lancaster Bomber has been made available for our paradrop into France. It should take around one and a half hours to reach our DZ near Orleans. From there, we will make our way North to Paris, and then subsequently we shall enter the belly of the beast. I suppose it would be more fit to call it the Eagle’s Nest as a matter of fact.”

She turned a thin smile and looked around. Snipers, hardened men and women, and, of course, a few more calmer individuals. The chinawoman, she would be interesting to talk to, particularly to see how their experiences at the hands of the OSS had differed. She took a long drag on the cigarette and let it out, before adding a few last words. “Ladies and gentlemen, this will not be easy. Many of you have seen what the Nazis are capable of, and know that we in particular are at a higher level of risk than others. If any of you wish to turn back, I shall not hold it against you, you have that on my honour.”

As she finished, a soldier walked through the door and saluted, before saying “Ma’am? The trucks are here for you. The Lancaster is fuelled and ready, and the equipment you requested is stowed. Shall we escort you?” The soldier was young, perhaps only 19 or 20 years old, but had the badges of a lieutenant, and he looked at the group warily, his hands not leaving his rifle.

“Perfect timing lieutenant. We’ll all be right behind you.” She smiled and stepped down from the overturned crate that she had been using to raise her above the level of anyone else. All the equipment would be within the plane, she had asked for it that way, and so as they walked out they were holding nothing, just the clothes on their back. She was currently wearing a simple white shirt and men’s work trousers; not exactly the height of fashion, but when you were jumping into occupied France, the height of fashion would be more suspicious. She had asked for a black dress to be placed into her bag, she had learned that for some places in society, a nice dress and some makeup was essential, but that might not happen for a long time.

The trucks were troop carriers, that was for sure. Khaki canvas and the insignia of the army splashed onto them, and inside the back were wooden benches. Nothing stylish or comfortable she saw, but large enough to carry the lot of them quite comfortably. The drive would only take around fifteen minutes, most likely a little more due to all the twists and turns, so they would be in the air within the hour, and the drop would be just as night set. It was a bomber’s moon tonight, so they would have plenty of light, but so would the anti-aircraft guns, so there was that worry before they were even down on the ground. She sighed, and nursed a growing headache with her hand. This was going to be a [i]long[/i] day, no matter what.

[center]~~~[/center]

The scientist nervously shoved his glasses up his forehead, sighing. Two years and they had only made this one, tiny breakthrough. Not everyone had the potential to become superpowered, but there were people who had latent powers, which could be unlocked with enough adrenaline… So here they were. With a team of ten superpowered individuals, each devoted to the Reich, or broken and beaten until they would show no resistance. Hydra was ready, named for their leader, the only natural supernatural they had on the team, SS Officer Alfred Dassler. No matter what damage you did to him, he seemed to bounce right back from it. He had extreme regenerative abilities, making him unable to age and close to immortal. The only way to kill him would be to destroy his cells to such an extent that nothing could come back.