8549/Black Sun Rising: Echoes of the Future

Black Sun Rising: Echoes of the Future
Date of Scene:	28 July 2019
Location:	An Allied forward base in one of the last pockets of Nazi-controlled Germany
Synopsis:	Cap and Bucky meet Max, an intense young prisoner rescued from the work camp who has valuable information about the castle, and a very strange future ahead of him. The Shadow brings news of another small crisis and helps them head it off before it gets bloody.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Captain America, Winter Soldier, Magneto, Shadow
Tinyplot:	Black Sun Rising

---

Stardust has posed:
    The camp is just about beginning to settle down after the return of the rescue mission, and thoughts are turning to grabbing a few hours sleep before the main mission begins. Nobody has asked Steve or Bucky any questions for at least several minutes, and Colonel Thornley has finally persuaded the Australian team to stop loudly celebrating, mainly by discovering and confiscating their crate of 'photographic plates'. Roberts has quietly confided that one of the ammo crates is half full of beer too, and has promised Steve and Bucky access tomorrow when the main mission is done.

    Life, however, does not always allow for sleep when sleep is needed. Shortly after they had returned to their tent, the flap is pushed open with not even a by-your-leave, and Colonel Phillips marches in, accompanied by a couple of rifle weilding grunts - and one of the rescued prisoners.

    "ROGERS!" he bellows. "I'm not even going to bother givin' you a dressing down for your unauthorized mission. Given your present company, somehow I feel explaining the importance of not going on unauthorized rescue missions is lost on you. I'm gonna put it down as a personality quirk. Never let it be said that I look a gift horse in the mouth though. We have been debriefing your new friends." He jerks his head towards the rescued prisoner. "Tell 'im what you told me."

    The rescuee steps forwards nervously. A tall man, thin with hunger but with a solidity to him that suggests he was a probably an ox of a man a few years ago. In rather broken English, he speaks. "We build in the tall tower. North. They make us build big room."

    Impatiently, Phillips interrupts him. "They say there's some kind of fancy room in the north tower. Said it was like a temple. That's probably where they are keeping the artifacts."

    "The boy," the escapee continues. "Max. He know more. They put the boys in to build tunnels."

    Phillips continues, "There may be a way directly in. Apparently one of the kids speaks some English. I've got someone fetching him."

Captain America has posed:
So much for sleep. Steve, having been sitting on his cot with his jaw on his hand and staring at nothing even as his eyelids slowly began to droop more...and more...until the scuffed dirt beneath his boots, not even removed, had begun to eclipse out -- is very abruptly awake. So very awake.

The cot's frame jounces and almost breaks as he launches to his feet and comes to at-attention in his uniform half-unbuttoned down its side. With a silent rolling, the vibranium shield ends up teetering like an inverted turtle off to the left. Unable to interject his own thoughts on matters, Steve simply looks towards the escorted rescuee, blinking a few more times to clear the cobwebs from his frontal lobe.

"Affirmative, sir," replies the Captain to the missive of the younger lad and his imminent arrival. "Figuring this needs to be addressed right sharp, sir?" Steve dares a glance over at Barnes.

Winter Soldier has posed:
I was about to lie down for a while. Buck even had his jacket and one boot off, and was sort of slumped sideways in preparation for bed. IT's the kind of tired where a worn canvas army cot and a smelly wool blanket seem a voluptuous as a featherbed with silk sheets.

He gets up with a dreamlike slowness, settles into some approximation of attention. "Sir, I speak Yiddish," he says, thickly. "I think at least some of them speak it. I can help translate." Time is wasting....and maybe he'll be able to dig up more bennies from the camp's doc. Nothing like a meth-fueled bender of violence to cap off this war.

Stardust has posed:
    "I see that look on your face, Barnes," Phillips says with narrowed eyes. Maybe you should have thought about the lack of sleep before you agreed to go runnin' off into the wilds to hunt jerries. Yes soldier, some of them speak Yiddish, and some Polish, and some Russian. We have interpreters for that. Perhaps you could focus on the mission..." he smiles dangerously. "Or is that asking too much, soldier?"

    Phillips turns his attention on Steve. "We have five hours until go, Captain. I'm sure you'd prefer to be tucked up in your cot. Maybe if you make puppy eyes at her, Miss Carter will come and tuck you in to beddy-byes when we're done. Yes, soldier. This needs to be addressed right sharp. Because there's a castle full of Nazis waiting for us, and if you can find a back way in, things are going to get a whole lot easier, and I like an easy life!"

    The pair are spared any more of Colonel Phillips sarcasm, which is no doubt sharpened by his own lack of sleep, when a guard appears at the tent flap escorting a boy of perhaps twelve years old. He's barefoot and wearing thin cotton pants, and over the top a GI's jacket for warmth, which is so big on him he's almost lost under it. The other ex-prisoner steps forwards and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Speaking in Yiddish, Bucky can understand the words, but the meaning is fairly obvious even to those who don't. "It's okay Max. We're safe now. They need to know about the castle. Tell them about the tunnels into the underground chamber."

    Keeping his hand on Max's shoulder, he glances at Steve and Bucky, then looks back to the Colonel. Phillips gives him a nod. "This Max. Max digs tunnels, he tell you more."

Captain America has posed:
Bucky will see the dangerous flicker of Brooklyn attitude through his friend's face, but Steve still schools himself to militaristic professionalism and simply thins his lips rather than sassing back at the Colonel. Not worth it; his hide has already been spared a tanning and the spangled suit only allows so much leeway as is.

The arrival of the young man has Steve's heart clenching. Ah, yes -- god, that's right, the gulags know no age limit -- only the physical capabilities and removal of those who burn-out under the whip. He glances over at Bucky again and then back to Max and his fellow young escapee.

His posture relaxes despite being in front of Colonel Phillips and his hands rise to rest at his belt buckle. Nobody's paying attention to the half-unbuttoned suit-top anyways, pfft...right? "Nice to meet you, Max. You were quick and brave tonight. Thank you for trusting us." He gives Max a small smile, melancholy about its edges. "You said you were digging tunnels?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
Steve knows that look on Barnes' face- the way his lids droop, his lids twist, when he's working up to a particularly epic fit of sarcasm. But sense or weariness restrains him, and he only smiles, lazily. "No, sir. I just mean now if the kid can't speak English....."

Then there's Max himself, and the smile fades. In his careful Brooklyn Yiddish, he says, "Hello, Max. I'm James. That's Steve, he's smarter than he looks, and he's brave as a lion."

Then he's reaching down into his rucksack, and comes out with a bar of ration chocolate, which he offers out. Kid's probably starving. "But yeah, tell us about these tunnels."

Magneto has posed:
     The black heaired boy was spared the emaciated look like most of the released prisoners. He was more than a tunnel digger, he was one of the young chosen to be a Sonderkommando, working to stoke the fires of crematoria and assist in the handling of bodies from gas chambers.

  Ice blue eyes look up at Captain America and Bucky, then back to the adult who brought him in. The offered chocolate is accepted, but not eaten right then and there. Plenty of time in the cmap had taught the boy to hoarde what little food they were given, even if he and his fellow Sonderkommando had been given sparce more than the others.

  The years of hard work had taken a toll on the boy, who looked at the ground while he explained. "We...dig, three rooms. Der Turm...two big rooms, top room ist empty, under it has many chairs, and big symbol on ground." The boy manages to look up at Captain Rogers after a while, still adjusting to trusting strangers it seems.

Stardust has posed:
"And the tunnels?" Phillips prompts Max. "Your buddy here said you dug some kind of tunnels to let light into a cryp? Did you see what was in the rooms when they were finished? We're looking for some small precious objects. Any ideas?"

Magneto has posed:
     Max nods as he's asked some more questions by Phillips. "The last room, we dig tunnels around it to let in light, and to get in. There were twelve Alkoven with little...how you say...treasures in them, like museum, but under ground, not really like museum." It was clear he could speak English well, ffor his age, but still every now and again, he still spoke like a German.

Shadow has posed:
    "The tunnels will have to wait," a voice interjects as a familiar dark-dressed figure seems to materialize out of the shadows, startling one of the MPs. "I apologize for the intrusion, Colonels, but this is urgent."

    The Shadow strides over to the map table as he continues. "About five minutes ago some of our recent rescuees snuck out of the camp after stealing a number of weapons. I tailed them in case they were double agents intending to rendezvous with the enemy, but unfortunately that isn't the case. As near as I've been able to determine, they're headed here--" a gloved finger indicates the small village about a mile away, well within the 'secured' zone "-- and the only thing on their minds is revenge against anyone and anything German."

Captain America has posed:
Even if Barnes doesn't catch it, the blond super-soldier nods in approval. The chocolate bar is not only sweet, but highly valued and sure to at least put Bucky himself in the light of a kind, caregiver -- something he hasn't shaken even after being ensconced regularly behind a scope and turning Nazi skulls to red mist.

He listens carefully to what Max has to say, giving no indication of discomfort or impatience in the delivery of partial-English. His eyes, beginning to show the darkenings of weariness beneath, slide from Max and pan across the others before returning to the young man.

Once Max is finished replying to Phillips, the Captain asks, "Do you think you can draw us the symbol, Max?" Even as Steve asks this, he reaches to his belt. At it, a small trench-knife. "Here, draw it for us in the dirt if you can. We have people who may recognize it." The weapon is offered out to Max --

-- before being redacted as the Shadow appears out of blooming nowhere. Resonating as if struck steel, Steve lets out the silent gasp he sucked in with equal lack of sound. His eyes flick to Colonel Phillips...and then over to Barnes, given he's nearly perpetually in awe of the mysterious man.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Barnes listens, nodding, as Max explains, taking a pack of Luckies out of a pocket, and a Zippo out of another: if he can't nap and he hasn't time for a meal, he can at least have a cigarette.

And then there's the Shadow. Buck's startled, startled enough to go for his pistol....but then who it is sinks in, and he grins, enormously. It never fails to tickle him that this particular boogeyman has proven to be real, and on their side.

I told you, Charlie Brown, the Great Pumpkin is real.

Stardust has posed:
Phillips pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath. Keeping his fingers there, he tilts his head sideways to look at The Shadow, doing his best to not start yelling, which is very much his instinct. "Don't tell me. Six of them. Russians. They've been demanding we arm them and let them shoot Nazis since they arrived at the camp. They're soldiers, not civilians. They know how to kill."

    Phillips lifts his fingers from his face and starts pacing back and forwards. "Great. Just great. We want to keep that village friendly. We do not want six angry Russkies shooting the place up. We also don't want to shoot down six allied soldiers we've only just rescued. My hopes of getting some shut-eye tonight before going into possibly the most important mission of my life get slimmer and slimmer every moment."

    He stops pacing, and looks up at Cap, Bucky and the Shadow with a haggard expression. "They can't have got far yet. Think you three could stop them, without actually injuring them? Perhaps... NOW?"

Magneto has posed:
     His right hand reached for the left armsleeve of his oversized jacket, showing a number on his forearm: 24005, and reaching out to the offered knife. The Shadow appears and has Max drop both arms and go back to looking mostly to the ground. "Killing Nazis, yes? Not all Germans?" Obviously, even going through all of this, he still thought himself as a German.

  He starts to slowly move back, trying to make himself blend in with the background of the tent. All survival instincts, it was how he kept himself from getting too much attention in the camps where it was a treasured skill.

Captain America has posed:
"Not all Germans." Despite the low volume of his voice, Steve is in earnest. "What people forget many times is that the Nazis invaded their own country first. We'll deal with 'em, sir." This, he says to Colonel Phillips in particular with a known set of his jaw. "They won't get far."

Even before the Captain makes to retrieve his shield and button up his suit once more, he sets the small trench-knife in its sheath near to Max on a nearby table. "If you can show the Colonel what the symbol looks like, Max, you would be helping us out more than you think. We'll probably be able to better defend ourselves against whatever we find tomorrow," he explains quietly. Then, he goes about readying himself, his eyes already gone distant and calculating. Trouble: here's another kind of trouble coming for you.

Shadow has posed:
    The Shadow looks down at Max and shakes his head. "At the moment, they are entirely too angry to care about the difference. As far as they are concerned, every German they encounter is a Nazi, or at least is guilty of not stopping the Nazis. They've let their suffering fester into hate, and then let that hate consume them."

    The Shadow's eyes bore into Max' with an almost burning intensity. "Remember this. Hate can not defeat hate - it can only create more of itself."

    After that moment of seemingly random solemnity the Shadow straightens once again and nods to Cap. "We should have enough time to catch up with them, but I recommend we don't waste any of it."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck's already got his other boot back on, and he's shrugging impatiently into his jacket. He doesn't look angry or afraid or anything other than somehow both exhausted and pleased by the Shadow. It's like he's somehow personally responsible for the Knight of Darkness being there. There's a jaw-cracking yawn, and then he's hefting his rifle. "All we gotta do is tell 'em if they wait a few hours, they can kill all the Nazis they want. It's not like there's a shortage. Let's go get 'em to come back and eat and drink and take a nap. I, for one, am A-OK with them slaughtering some SS tomorrow. Anyone speak enough Russian to tell 'em we've got booze and cigarettes and blankets and soap? 'cause me, I'd murder for a bath."

Captain America has posed:
Having gathered his resources and a handful of grunts from around the camp, Steve as well as Barnes and the Shadow himself exit the camp in a relatively stealthy manner. They are lucky in that their rescued guests take up much attention from not only the nurses and aides, but their fellow soldiers as well who gawk. New horrors of the war are only just unfolding now, insidiously as the petals of the nightshade plant.

Poor Russians -- they don't get far, not with this particular unit hot on their heels. Steve waits until the signal from his fellow agent, the Shadow, and then steps forth. "I'll make this easy, gents. We accept your unconditional surrender and you turn about before he -- " No indicator if he means Barnes or the Shadow. " -- gets twitchy."

Still...there were supposed to be six? Steve's cohorts get a concerned look form the Captain.

Winter Soldier has posed:
To the Russian-speaker with them, Buck adds, "Tell 'em they can kill all the Nazis they want pretty soon - we'll supply weapons and opportunity and help. And in the meanwhile, they can go right back and have something to eat, get a rest and a bath. It'll let 'em be ready to fight...."

He's noticed they're missing one of the six pack, and he adds, ".....ask 'em where their buddy went?"

Shadow has posed:
    Russia is an old, old country, and it has never quite let go of its legends as readily as Western Europe did under the influence of Christianity. So when the Shadow materializes in front of them out of fog and darkness, hardened men blanch and flinch under his gaze and those with sharper hearing can just about make out a muttered 'Czernobog...'

    The Shadow, perhaps feeding into the perception deliberately, harangues them in what sounds like fairly fluent Russian to good effect, ending with "{And where did your last companion go? Six of you left the camp, but only five are here.}"

Stardust has posed:
    Stopping the Russians turns out to be a fairly easy task for the three of them (and grunts). The forest is dark - they are already jumping at shadows before The Shadow looms out of them. It is little effort for him to herd them this way and that, and by the time they are lead into the trap and Bucky and Steve have them surrounded they are shivering more with fear than the cold.

    And then Captain America. Even in Russia, he's well known, and five scared Russians are not going to pick a fight with him, especially as he's on their side.

    "Please, we do not know," Cranston's question is answered. They are a little more forthcoming to the interpreter Bucky sets on them, who is a lot less scary. "He slipped away as soon as we left the camp. Petrovich wasn't part of our unit, we don't know him. Maybe he tried to get home. He always talked of going home."

    Still, it's only one man, and there are a dozen grunts out there in the woods. The trio escort the five Russians back to camp while the grunts keep up the search. The Russians are soon back in their tent, with an extra guard to watch over them.

    It can't be more than quarter of an hour before the three return to the tent, where Max has been drawing pictures for Phillips, showing the symbol in the floor of the big room, a circle with twelve radiating S characters, styled like the SS logo, like the rays of a sun. A black sun. He has also draw a rough diagram of the tunnel shafts that let light into the crypt below, iron-barred entrances disguised by small mounds at the base of the tower.

    However the pen has been put down and Max, the remaining guard, and Colonel Phillips are backed into a corner of the tent. Standing there in the middle is the missing Russian. His rifle is raised, pointed towards the three. The point wavers as he sees Cap, Bucky and The Shadow enter. "Stop there!" he calls out - he can speak English. "Don't come closer. Or I will shoot the boy! I need a vehicle. I have to get out of here. Do not deny me!"

Magneto has posed:
     Max had been holding his hands up, looking scared as it was, but he had been much more scared than this before. The Russian pointing the gun at the boy now, given his ultimatum. He stares down that barrel with anger, but he doesn't move.

  Even with the three heroes now in the tent, the trigger happy Russian pulls the trigger and the click of the firing pin never strikes the bullet. The jammed gun is relatively useless now.

Captain America has posed:
"Petrovich...? Just don't."

Luckily, the verbal warning, low and carefully enunciated from the Captain upon entering the tent, isn't followed up by anything like the huck of the shield or the draw of the sidearm at his belt. Instead, after he hears the minute 'click' of a failed firing pin, Steve goes deathly still and silent.

Barnes knows how angry the man is now.

In a blur, the Captain makes a grab for the rifle before bringing his leather-gloved fist around. POP -- square in the jaw with sub-lethal force, but man, cue the cartoon birds a-swirling. Against impulse, Steve refrains from breaking the gun across his thigh given it can be used by their own troops.

"Permission to detain this man for insubordination, attempted desertion, and threatening superior officers, sir?" This he asks of Colonel Phillips out of procedure and an attempt to regain normalcy. His eyes flick to Max and linger. That was some iron-spine bravery on display, looking down the barrel of the gun.

Winter Soldier has posed:
As Steve's moving, so is Buck....not to attack, but to all but pounce and roll Max out of the way, just in case the next time isn't a misfire. Protecting the kid with his own body. Not that it's necessary there, but....well, the Americans have no idea what a nascent power is there with them, in that army tent.

"Jesus Christ," he hisses. "Where're you so hot to get to that you'd threaten a little boy?"

Shadow has posed:
    "Home," the Shadow replies to Bucky's question. "Inasmuch as he was /thinking/ at all. Terror, exhaustion, hatred for everything German... It isn't a surprise he snapped. Although I do wonder about the timing..."

    Max gets another piercing glance, but if the Shadow suspects anything, he refrains from comment.

Stardust has posed:
    One punch from Captain Rogers is all it takes. Petrovich is down but not entirely out - he's obviously pretty tough, though any fight is knocked out of him. He pushes himself up to a kneeling position and slumps there, head bowed. He is silent for a moment before letting out a heat-breaking howl. Finally he looks up at Max, teards running down his eyes. "I am sorry," he whispers. "For a moment all I could see was a German. I should have seen a child."

    "The guard rushes to the table to pick up his rifle - he'll no doubt be hearing a lot about having put it down later from Phillips - and covers the Russian. Phillips nods his head at Steve. "Permission granted. Get this man out of my sight, Rogers." He turns his back and marches out of the tent.

    As Petrovich is lead away, he looks sorrowfully at Bucky, and turns again to Max. "There is... I have a child of my own. In Moscow. I swore... I swore I would protect her. I am sorry." He glances across at Cramont with a look of fear, and turns again to Steve. "Please... all I ask is a car. To get home. I must, surely you can understand. Please..."

Magneto has posed:
     Max rolls with Bucky as he protects the boy from further harm. Max gets up once Petrovich is subdued and those once ice cold eyes started to look away. "Sie haben meine Familie mitgenommen. Filled their lungs with Giftgas, then made me dig their tunnel, stoke their fires, shovel ash." His weakened hand balled into a fist. It was clear he almost wished the nazis just finished off the Eisenhardt line. But this whole series of events had his resolve steeled. Soon, after Petrovich explained himself, Max looked to Steve and Bucky. "Lion-Man, James..." He gave what was most likely the first semblance of a smile he had in years. He nodded to both, a thanks for what they did, now and before.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck, at least, has the privilege of actually being able to murder anyone dumb enough to threaten the person he loves most in the world. So there is some sympathy in his eyes, even as he releases Max, gets up, helps the kid to his feet. He brushes Max off with brusque care. "Kid can sleep in my cot. Gonna be too busy to need it, the next while," he says, gruffly. "Better feed him first." He remembers what it's like to go hungry. To the departing Petrovich, he notes, "No dice, buddy. Your own guys would shoot you as a deserter. Stay and help us fight - the only way home is forward and through."