The Mercenary Grind

[weapons_mistress]

"Adri, I have a new list of prospective jobs," Millicent called to her best friend, who was currently in the kitchen. "Do you want me to read through them?"

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[weapons_mistress]

Millicent dodged the pulse-wave. She gritted her teeth and charged. She knew it took a little bit for those to recharge. She had time for another strike...

When Adrienne took a couple down, their attention turned slightly, causing the German agents to come at them from the rear to take advantage of Adrienne's opening.

But then..the ice cracked..then exploded.

[ze_leaper]

Adrienne winced.

"Oh, merde."

[ngm_foes]

He shook his head to clear the fog from his mind and try to get a decent picture before his eyes. He knew he'd been asleep, but the sounds of the battlefield stirred his groggy brain. He did not recognize the strange uniforms of any of those who stood before.

"Identify yourselves! Names and ranks! Speak quickly!" He spoke in a dialect of German, though not one immediately noticeable to non-Germans.

[weapons_mistress]

"Adri..I don't know what he's saying," Millicent admitted tensely.

A Hydra soldier attempted to speak, though Agent Rossel beat him to it.

"I am Agent Rossel of German Intelligence, sir," she said quickly, speaking an accented version of the man's dialect. "these men are criminals against Germany-"

"Lies!" The Hydra officer spoke in the general German language, though it wasn't very refined. "We are patriots who wish to see Germany take its rightful place!" He points at Millicent and Adrienne. "These people are traitors that consort with the British and the French against the Empire!"

[ze_leaper]

Adrienne's German was passable... but also very much filtered through her everyday (as opposed to her showmanship) French accent.

"He lies," she said, pointing at the Hydra officer. "We are contracted agents, working with the German government, and they are terrorists."

[ngm_foes]

He was getting irritated. He had no idea which side to believe. He glared at Agent Rossel, then Adrienne and Millicent.

"Women in military service to Germany? This..how long..?"

"Do not let them deceive you, Major Eis!" The Hydra officer chimed in.

"You know me?" the major asked.

"Yes, our leader, Baron Strucker served under you as a young man!"

"Strucker.." He knew that name.

[weapons_mistress]

Millicent had no idea how powerful this man was. if they could avoid somehow having to fight him, they needed to try.

"I may be a woman, but please listen," Millicent began, it wasn't the man's dialect of German, but he seemed to understand them all well enough. "When you fought in the Great War honor still meant something in warfare. Strucker became a monster complicit in the deaths of uncounted men, women, and children in service to a Reich that became a wretched mockery of the German Empire. These men are remnants of that dark time and know nothing of dignity, honor, or basic humanity!"

[ze_leaper]

Adrienne nodded. "Strucker dreams of personal enrichment and world conquest. He cares nothing for the ideals you once served. And they carry on that dream."

[ngm_foes]

"They exagerate things grossly, major! Strucker did what he could to resurrect the Empire! The whole of the world conspired to keep Germany down!"

"Then..we lost." The realization struck him just from the things they were saying.

"Yes, but-"

"Then..these things..killing civilians..."

"Enemies of the state, major! Those that crippled Germany-"

AGent Rossel yelled out. "Millions killed because of their religion and race! The Third Reich was a supremacist monstrosity!"

"No..that..that can't be true. We..we couldn't have fallen that far..."

[weapons_mistress]

"Major, let us take you to baron Strucker. He can explain how all this is cruel propaganda against him and to Germany," the Hydra solider countered.

"We can prove what we say is true. We can show you video footage-!" Rossel insisted.

"Just a bunch of Jews, Slavs, and other useless people, muttered one of the other Hydra soldiers.

"You son of a bitch!" One of the German agents lifted his gun, pointing it at the Hydra officer.

"Stop! Don't fire!" Millicent demanded.

[ze_leaper]

In one smooth motion, Adrienne disarmed the agent. With only minimal harm. She was nothing if not a delicate touch.

"The last thing we need is more violence right now," she said.

[ngm_foes]

"Try that again and-ugk!" The offending soldier was suddenly interrupted as the moisture in his mouth suddenly froze, creating a hard chunk of ice holding his mouth open in an uncomfortable manner.

"You have confirmed enough for me, boy," the major said in a menacing tone. He stared at the Hydra soldiers, the air around him growing colder by the second.

"The Empire's been dead for decades!" The leading Hydra officer said in a panic! Germany is a shell that kowtows to the rest of Europe! It's barely a nation, let alone a power!"

The major stopped. "How do I know you are not lying to me?"

[weapons_mistress]

"Shit," Millicent heard Agent Rossel mutter. The Holocaust was an easy means of slandering Hydra, but discussing Germany's modern state with an old-school German imperialist. This was taking a bad turn.

[ze_leaper]

Adrienne was worried now, more so than before. There was precious little she or Millicent could do against the arctic-powered German.

"Politics are complicated," she tried, cautiously. "But that does not change what Strucker has become. Or that under people like them," and she gestured to the HYDRA agents, "Germany would become just one more conquered land amongst many."

[ngm_foes]

"That's-" The officer began.

"Enough!" The major demanded.

Everyone fell silent as he eyed all of them.

"I will discover the truth for myself. You will all leave me be."

"We can't-!" The officer protested once more, that is until an icicle was flung into his neck, dropping him to the floor. That had the rest of the Hydra soldiers backing off.

[weapons_mistress]

"I apologize, Agent Rossel, but I do not think we are equipped to make him stay," Millicent said quietly to the agent beside her.

"I don't think anyone here is. My superiors won't be happy, but..this could have gone worse."

[ze_leaper]

The major was going out into a world that had advanced rapidly without him. Not the best of circumstances for a powerful individual like that. But something they could live with.

"At least you have some Hydra captives."