Rescue the Hostages

Chapter 25: Rescue the Hostages

Kyle came out of the shower room and only then realized that the weather outside had changed.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and a light rain fell steadily, washing the Training Base pathways into a pitted, muddy mess.

This setting, combined with the current point in the timeline, felt somewhat familiar.

As Kyle stood under shelter from the rain, pondering, he saw a woman hurrying through the curtain of rain with an umbrella. She looked around anxiously, as if searching for someone.

When he recognized her cool, beautiful face, he called out in surprise, "Carter?"

"Kyle!" When Carter saw Kyle standing beneath the shower room eaves, she ignored the puddles on the ground and rushed over in a few quick strides.

"Why aren't you with Steve? What are you doing over at the men's shower room?" Kyle asked in surprise. Then, seemingly guessing something, he teased, "Don't tell me you really like looking at men's perfect bodies."

After all, back when they had been soldiers at the Training Base, Carter had barged into the dormitory once while Kyle had happened to be coming out of the shower.

But this time, Carter did not even refute his teasing. She said urgently, "Kyle, I came specifically to find you. Please go talk Steve out of this! You're the only one who can persuade him now!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kyle scratched his head, completely baffled.

"I'll explain on the way. If we don't go now, it'll be too late!"

With decisive efficiency, Carter grabbed Kyle's hand and pulled him out into the rain.

Near the military camp's tent area.

"So you're saying that soldiers from the 107th Regiment in the Austrian front-line combat zone were ambushed by the German army, and only a small number escaped back here. Among the missing soldiers was a sergeant named Bucky Barnes?"

After hearing Carter's brief report, Kyle immediately understood why she was so anxious.

Bucky Barnes.

Steve's closest friend before he enlisted, and the future Winter Soldier controlled by Hydra. For Bucky's sake, Steve would later completely fall out with Iron Man and come to blows with him.

Now that he knew Bucky was in trouble, and that the location was not far away, Steve would definitely risk his life to save him.

"So... Carter, you want me to stop Steve and tell him not to go?" Kyle asked.

Carter answered firmly, "Of course! Never mind whether those ambushed soldiers are even still alive. There aren't any large forces here that can launch a rescue operation. For him alone to cross Europe's most dangerous war zone and infiltrate a factory behind enemy lines is far too dangerous!"

"I understand." Kyle smiled but said nothing more, making Carter frown slightly with a bad feeling in her heart.

But at the moment, the only person who might be able to stop Steve from acting on his determination was Kyle.

The two arrived at the camp area, outside the tents reserved for propaganda personnel.

Steve was still wearing his blue-and-white striped, star-emblazoned American Hero uniform. He had thrown on a rainproof jacket and was loading replacement spare tires into the back of a military jeep.

He clearly looked ready to set off alone.

When Carter returned, Steve hurriedly tried to say something. But when he saw Kyle behind her, his expression immediately became awkward. "Kyle, are you here to talk me out of it too? I know it's risky, but if I have the ability to do this and choose not to, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

"You guy, I haven't even said anything yet. How do you know I came to persuade you?" Kyle shrugged irritably, helping Steve toss the second spare tire into the jeep's rear compartment.

Steve patted Kyle's shoulder in surprise, and the two exchanged a smile. Men did not need to say much; a single gesture was enough for them to understand each other's thoughts.

"Kyle, you?" Carter stared at him in disbelief. Wasn't this making things worse?

"I'll go with him. Then there won't be a problem, right? Two people are much safer." Kyle spoke confidently.

Carter looked at Steve, then at Kyle, and said bitterly, "Don't you understand? This isn't something one person, or even two people, can do."

What happened when a hotheaded fool with a clear goal met another madman who clapped in encouragement?

In less than half a minute, Carter's attempt to stop them had been declared a complete failure. For the two men's sake, she even had to secretly use the resources at her disposal.

Ten minutes later, a plane took off amid the thunderstorm, flying through the rain under cover of darkness toward the occupied war zone in Europe.

Inside the plane's cabin.

Steve and Kyle sat on one side while Carter sat opposite them, briefing them on the situation. "The Hydra camp is in Klausburg, between two mountain ranges. It looks like a factory. I'll have the plane get as close to the entrance as possible."

"Stark is the best pilot I've ever seen. He's also the only one who would dare take off in this kind of thunderstorm."

As Carter said this, a casually dressed gentleman in his thirties sitting in the cockpit casually waved a hand behind him.

Howard Stark? The founder of Stark Industries, and Iron Man's father.

Kyle's eyes brightened slightly. He had wanted to meet this legendary figure from the Marvel world for a long time.

He greeted him, "Are you Howard from the Strategic Scientific Reserve? I saw your scientific inventions at a museum exhibition. Every one of them was a work of genius."

"Second Lieutenant Kyle." Howard responded politely. "I've heard about you for quite some time as well. You turned down the Super Soldier project experiment, you're a one-man war maniac, and you bear the title of American Hero. If we get the chance, I can treat you to cheese fondue after we get back. Of course, it would be even better if Agent Carter came too."

"Then it's settled." Kyle smiled, showing no concern for the danger ahead, as though he were certain he would return safely in triumph.

With some of the cards he had on hand, he truly wanted to get to know Howard properly.

"Watch out, we've entered enemy-occupied territory!"

Howard gave a rare serious warning. He rapidly operated the controls to dodge gunfire, and the plane immediately began to shake and jolt violently.

Through the windows, they could clearly see lightning flashing in the sky above. Below, muzzle flashes kept lighting up the dark wilderness, with attacks from both nature and man severely affecting the plane's flight.

"This is too dangerous. Steve and I will get off here. You should return immediately."

Kyle made his decision and opened the cabin door. Night wind from a hundred meters up instantly poured in, flinging open the coat draped over him.

"We're already close enough to the enemy factory." Steve nodded, rising to stand beside Kyle at the open door.

"Steve." Carter called out to him and slowly said, "Please, you have to come back alive."

"Don't worry." Steve offered a reassuring word before jumping first.

"With me here, Steve will be fine. When we get back, I'll treat you to a real feast." Kyle waved, then leaped after Steve toward the ground below.

Within seconds, the two rapidly falling figures vanished into the rainy night.

"Not just Steve. You absolutely have to come back too, Kyle."

Watching the two disappear, Carter murmured softly to herself aboard the plane, her thoughts unknown.