Marvel: Empire of Power-Chapter 78: A New Breed, An Old Foe, and a World on Fire

The successful extraction from Krankenhaus X, albeit a brutal and costly affair in terms of energy expenditure for Elias and sheer wear and tear on his assets, was a significant strategic victory. Miller was back, his loyalty absolute, his trauma-forged Feral Striker abilities now battle-tested and rapidly evolving under the System's [Adaptive Regeneration Protocol]. Logan, rejuvenated and seething with a cold fury after his own resurrection and the horrors he'd witnessed (and perpetrated) in Poland, was once again Elias's prime instrument of vengeance against Hydra. Namor's alliance, while still steeped in royal hauteur, had been significantly strengthened by their joint success and Elias's demonstrable commitment to "cleansing" threats to the oceanic realm. And, most crucially for Elias's long-term plans, his [Prime Essence Shard Reserve] now stood at [4.7/5.0]. He was a hair's breadth away from the 5.0 Shards needed for his next major evolutionary leap.

He decided not to immediately create another Legionnaire. While his Praetorian Guard template was potent, the energy cost was immense, and he needed that final Shard fragment to unlock something even more significant: the System was now hinting at [TIER 3 TEMPLATE ENHANCEMENT/SPECIALIZATION: FERAL LEGIONNAIRE HYBRID PROTOCOL]. This suggested the possibility of upgrading his existing Feral Strikers – Dubois, Macgregor, Lemaire, Beaulieu, and now Miller – into something that combined their primal savagery and resilience with the disciplined power and advanced capabilities of a Legionnaire. A true hybrid, a perfect synthesis of beast and demigod. The prospect was exhilarating. This would require 5.0 Shards and a significant portion of the Feral Strikers' combat data, which they now possessed in abundance.

While his "Adamantium Guard" (as Thomas now officially referred to his Feral Striker pack) recuperated and underwent System-guided evolutionary conditioning based on their Polish and Pacific experiences, Elias focused on consolidating his gains and probing his enemies' weaknesses.

Anya Petrova, in Washington D.C., continued her delicate dance within the OSS. The official story of Captain America's "loss" in the Ardennes was holding, though whispers and conspiracy theories abounded. Peggy Carter, heartbroken but relentlessly driven, had become a key figure in the search for any surviving members of Rogers' team and in analyzing the strange energy signatures reported around Schloss Adler's collapse. Anya subtly fed Carter's investigation just enough credible, untraceable intel (via "Mr. Blanchard's" network) about "anomalous Nazi research into dimensional energies" to keep her looking in directions that wouldn't accidentally uncover Elias's own operations, while also deepening Blanchard's reputation as an indispensable, if mysterious, ally.

Anya also reported that Senator Brandt's faction within the US government, frustrated by the loss of Erskine's complete research and Captain America, was aggressively pushing for more radical "human enhancement" programs, even if it meant ethically dubious shortcuts or collaboration with... less savory scientific minds. Brandt was becoming a significant power player, his ambitions a potential threat to Elias's own plans for American influence.

Dr. Finch, meanwhile, analyzed the vast trove of data recovered from Krankenhaus X. Dr. Haupman's notes, while chilling, provided invaluable insights into Hydra's attempts at accelerated regeneration, psionic dampening, and bio-mechanical interfaces. This knowledge was immediately fed into Elias's System, refining his own understanding of these fields and providing countermeasures for his assets. Finch also continued to expand Elias's legitimate business empire, "Blackwood Conglomerated," which was now a major (though still largely unseen) player in Allied wartime production, its profits fueling Elias's shadow war. Its R&D division, "Blackwood Skunkworks," headed by the resourceful O'Malley (now officially on Elias's payroll and utterly devoted after Logan and Miller's rescue), was producing an increasing array of anachronistically advanced, deniable equipment for Elias's operatives – from specialized amphibious gear and silent insertion aircraft to encrypted communication systems that baffled even Allied codebreakers.

Logan, his mental link with Elias now a constant, low hum of shared feral instincts and strategic purpose, became Elias's premier Hydra hunter in Europe. No longer needing Miller for constant backup (though they still operated together when the target was significant), Logan, often working solo, became a veritable ghost of vengeance. He hunted down surviving SS Ahnenerbe occultists, Hydra scientists who had escaped the purges of Adlerhorst and Krankenhaus X, and financiers who were attempting to funnel funds to Baron Strucker's rebuilding efforts. His methods were brutal, his efficiency absolute. Each kill, if the target was suitably "enhanced" or possessed unique esoteric knowledge the System could absorb as a Shard echo, brought Elias closer to his goal.

One such mission, targeting a reclusive Swiss banker who was secretly channeling vast sums to Strucker, yielded the final, critical fragment. The banker, it turned out, was not just a financier; he was a low-level psionic, subtly influencing his clients, a minor but persistent Hydra asset. Logan's encounter with him was brief and definitive.

[HYDRA FINANCIAL CONDUIT (MINOR PSIONIC – ERNST BLOCHER) NEUTRALIZED. Prime Essence Shard Echo Acquired: +0.3 (Low-Tier Psionic Energy Signature). Total Shards: 5.0/5.0. TEMPLATE EVOLUTION/HOST AUGMENTATION THRESHOLD ACHIEVED!]

Five full Shards. Elias felt a surge of immense power course through his System. The time had come.

He wouldn't augment himself further, not yet. His personal power was already immense, and the last infusion had required significant recovery time. No, these five Shards were earmarked for his Feral Strikers, for Project "Feral Legionnaire."

System, he commanded, from his Montreal vault, his mind linked to Thomas MacIntyre and his five Feral Strikers (Dubois, Macgregor, Lemaire, Beaulieu, and now the fully recovered, icily resolute Miller) assembled in a specially prepared chamber within their remote Canadian training compound. Initiate Feral Striker Hybrid Evolution Protocol. Target: Adamantium Guard Alpha Squad (5 Units). Utilize 5.0 Prime Essence Shards and integrated combat data. Objective: Evolve existing Feral Striker templates to Tier 3 "Feral Legionnaire" Hybrid status, retaining primal strengths while incorporating Legionnaire-class discipline, enhanced regeneration, tactical acuity, and nascent energy channeling. PRIORITIZE STABILITY AND LOYALTY INTEGRITY. ƒreewebɳovel.com

The System responded with a monumental surge of energy, not originating from Elias this time, but drawn from the Prime Essence Shards themselves and catalyzed by Elias's will through the System's core.

[FERAL LEGIONNAIRE HYBRID EVOLUTION PROTOCOL INITIATED. 5.0 PRIME ESSENCE SHARDS CONSUMED. HOST SYSTEM ENERGY STABLE (DRAWING ON EXTERNAL SHARD POWER). TARGETS (5 UNITS) UNDERGOING SIMULTANEOUS, SYNCHRONIZED METAMORPHOSIS. WARNING: MULTI-UNIT TIER 3 EVOLUTION IS UNPRECEDENTED. POTENTIAL FOR UNSTABLE RESONANCE OR PSYCHIC CASCADE. THOMAS MACINTYRE (BARBARIAN LV.1 – HOST PROXY) ON SITE FOR IMMEDIATE STABILIZATION/CONTAINMENT IF REQUIRED.]

In the Canadian wilderness, the five Feral Strikers cried out as one, their bodies enveloped in a blinding, multi-hued aura – Dubois's raw crimson, Macgregor's earthy brown, Lemaire's shadowy grey, Beaulieu's oceanic blue, and Miller's stark, silver-shot ivory. Their forms convulsed, their bone claws retracting and then re-emerging, longer now, denser, with a faint, almost metallic sheen. Their musculature became more defined, yet leaner, their eyes burning with an intelligence that was both primal and keenly tactical. The raw, uncontrolled battle fury of their earlier state was now being tempered, channeled, refined by an influx of disciplined, Legionnaire-like psionic architecture.

Thomas MacIntyre watched, his own Barbarian core thrumming in response to the immense power being unleashed, his hand resting on the hilt of a massive, custom-forged claymore Elias had gifted him – a symbolic weapon for the commander of his enhanced legions. He could feel their pain, their transformation, but also their emerging, terrifying strength.

The process took hours. When it was over, five new beings stood where the Feral Strikers had been. They were taller, more powerfully built, yet moved with a silent, fluid grace. Their bone claws, while still organic, were now as hard as tempered steel, capable of shearing through armor plate. Their senses were incredibly acute, but controlled. Their eyes, still holding their unique feral glows, now also possessed a chilling, unwavering focus, a perfect synthesis of primal instinct and disciplined purpose. And faintly, around their hands and sometimes their entire bodies, Elias could sense, through the System, a nascent ability to channel and project subtle fields of bio-energetic force.

[FERAL LEGIONNAIRE HYBRID EVOLUTION: SUCCESSFUL. ADAMANTIUM GUARD ALPHA SQUAD (5 UNITS) EVOLVED TO TIER 3 (MID-LOW) STATUS. ALL ABILITIES ENHANCED. NEW ABILITIES INTEGRATED: LEGIONNAIRE COMBAT MATRIX, PSIONIC FORTITUDE, MINOR ENERGY PROJECTION/DEFLECTION. LOYALTY TO HOST (VIA MACINTYRE HIERARCHY): 100% (PRAETORIAN PROTOCOL INTEGRATED WITH FERAL PACK BOND – UNBREAKABLE). Prime Essence Shard Reserve: 0.0/5.0.]

Elias now possessed a small, elite unit of true super-soldiers, arguably superior to a lone Captain America, and utterly loyal to him. They were his Feral Legion, his Adamantium Guard, ready to be unleashed upon a world that was utterly unprepared for their existence.

As if on cue, Anya's most urgent communication channel flared to life. "Mr. Thorne... I have critical intelligence. Project Rebirth... it's not as dead as the OSS believes. Senator Brandt's faction, working with rogue military elements and industrialists... they've acquired partial notes, perhaps even a corrupted serum sample, from the Camp Lehigh disaster. They're attempting their own clandestine replication effort at a black site... location suspected to be in the Nevada desert. And... there are whispers... that a certain HYDRA scientist, presumed captured by the Soviets, may have 'defected' to assist them. Arnim Zola."

Zola. With the Americans. Elias felt a cold premonition. The superhuman arms race was accelerating far faster than he had anticipated, its tendrils reaching into the very heart of the Allied war effort, potentially creating a new, unpredictable domestic threat. His newly forged Feral Legionnaires might be facing their first true test much sooner, and much closer to home, than he had planned. The world was indeed on fire, and new, even more dangerous, shadows were rising from the flames.