Marvel: Empire of Power-Chapter 90: The Devil’s Due, a Witch’s Gambit, and Echoes of HYDRA’s Heart

The successful, if brutal, neutralization of the Winter Soldier at Los Alamos and the acquisition of his severed bionic arm and the Manhattan Project data was a coup of monumental proportions for Elias Thorne. It had not only prevented a catastrophic acceleration of Soviet nuclear capability but had also delivered invaluable technological and biological assets into his hands. His [Prime Essence Shard Reserve] now stood at a formidable [5.6/???], offering him unprecedented options for further empowering himself or his forces.

The unconscious James Buchanan Barnes was transported with utmost secrecy to Elias's most secure Canadian research compound, the same facility where Logan had been resurrected and Miller transformed. He was placed in a psionically shielded, medically advanced containment cell, his severed bionic arm already undergoing meticulous reverse-engineering by a joint team led by O'Malley (for the mechanics and advanced robotics) and Dr. Finch (for the neural interface and any residual bio-enhancements). The data briefcase from Los Alamos was a treasure trove of atomic secrets that Finch, with his Cognitive Witch intellect, began to painstakingly analyze, providing Elias with a terrifyingly intimate understanding of nuclear fission and fusion – knowledge that could either safeguard the world or provide him with the ultimate deterrent.

Elias himself now faced a critical decision regarding Barnes. The System designated him a [PRIME CONDUIT (MODIFIED ERSKINE/CYBERNETIC HYBRID) – HIGH POTENTIAL FOR SYSTEM INTEGRATION/REPROGRAMMING]. His current state of unconsciousness and psychological fragmentation offered a unique window. Elias could attempt a full System "re-imprinting," essentially overwriting the Red Room's brainwashing with absolute loyalty to himself, transforming the Winter Soldier into another of his Praetorian assets. The risk was immense – Barnes's fractured psyche could shatter completely, or the deeply embedded Soviet conditioning might resist, creating an even more dangerous, unpredictable enemy. The alternative was to... "decommission" him permanently, harvesting his Prime Essence (which the System estimated would yield at least [+2.0 Shards] given his unique enhancements) and eliminating a global threat.

The alchemist of power in Elias was tempted by the Shards and the elimination of a rival. But the strategic mind, the architect of empires, saw the potential in a reprogrammed Winter Soldier. Such an asset, with his skills and experience, would be unparalleled. He decided on the riskier, higher-reward path.

System, Elias commanded, initiate feasibility study for "Project White Wolf" – full psionic re-imprinting and System integration of asset James Buchanan Barnes. Focus: loyalty inculcation, memory restoration (controlled), skill retention, cybernetic interface stabilization. Identify necessary resources and probability of success.

The System responded: [PROJECT WHITE WOLF – FEASIBILITY: MODERATE (60%). REQUIREMENTS: SUSTAINED HOST PSIONIC FOCUS (72 HOURS), 1.5 PRIME ESSENCE SHARDS (FOR PSYCHIC MATRIX RECONSTRUCTION), ADVANCED BIO-STABILIZATION (VIA FINCH/MEDICAL TEAM), VOLUNTARY HOST ACCEPTANCE OF SIGNIFICANT MENTAL/EMPATHIC FEEDBACK FROM TARGET'S TRAUMA. RISKS: SUBJECT PSYCHIC COLLAPSE, IRREVERSIBLE MEMORY CORRUPTION, HOST PSIONIC STRAIN. REWARD: POTENTIAL FOR TIER 3+ LOYAL PRIME ASSET.]

Sixty percent. Better odds than Miller's resurrection. He would need to wait until his own psionic reserves were fully restored after the Los Alamos intervention, but the path was clear. The Winter Soldier would, Elias decided, serve a new master.

While preparations for "Project White Wolf" began, global events continued their relentless march. With Zola permanently eliminated and Strucker grievously wounded and in hiding, Hydra's European operations were in severe disarray. Logan, whose healing factor had finally purged the last vestiges of radiation poisoning from Festung Niemals and whose bond with Elias was now unshakeable, became an almost mythical figure, the "Ghost of the Alps," systematically hunting down surviving Hydra leaders and dismantling their networks with a cold, relentless fury that even unnerved hardened Allied intelligence operatives. Each successful neutralization funneled more [Prime Essence Shard Fragments] to Elias, bringing his total to [6.1/???]. He now had enough for "Project White Wolf" and still a healthy surplus.

In the Pacific, Thomas MacIntyre and his "Adamantium Guard Alpha Squad" (Dubois, Macgregor, Lemaire, Beaulieu) were making significant inroads against Japan's esoteric weapons programs. Their victories against Project Raijin and the Shinkai no Me abyssal horrors had crippled two of Japan's most dangerous unconventional initiatives. Namor, now seeing Elias as a surprisingly effective (if utterly ruthless) guardian of oceanic balance against surface-world depravity, was providing them with increasingly detailed intelligence and even occasional, decisive, direct combat support from his Atlantean Royal Guard. Their combined operations systematically dismantled Japanese facilities attempting to weaponize everything from volcanic energies to ancient Pacific leviathans. The [Adamantium Guard] Feral Legionnaires were evolving rapidly, their combat skills and energy manipulation abilities reaching new heights with each engagement. Their loyalty to Elias was absolute, viewing him as a god-like creator who had gifted them power beyond imagining and pointed them at enemies deserving of their primal wrath.

Anya Petrova, from her Washington D.C. nerve center, faced a new challenge. Senator Brandt, though publicly disgraced after the Project Sandman fiasco, had not simply vanished. He had retreated into the shadows, leveraging his remaining illicit wealth and an increasingly fanatical private army of mercenaries and disillusioned ex-military to continue his quest for a personal super-soldier legion. His methods were now even more desperate, more brutal, involving abductions of individuals with "promising genetic markers" and horrific, unregulated experimentation. He was becoming a domestic terrorist, a rogue element operating on American soil with an impunity that deeply troubled the already strained OSS.

Anya, with Elias's authorization, began to subtly feed information about Brandt's operations to Peggy Carter and her fledgling SSR. Carter, still haunted by Captain America's disappearance and Erskine's murder, had a zero-tolerance policy for illicit human experimentation. She launched a clandestine SSR campaign to hunt down Brandt, unknowingly aided by Anya's superior intelligence and "Mr. Blanchard's" discreet logistical support (which included "Blackwood Skunkworks" providing the SSR with untraceable transportation and specialized surveillance gear). It was another intricate manipulation by Elias, using one Allied faction to neutralize a domestic threat while further indebting another to his enigmatic persona.

But the most audacious gambit was yet to come, orchestrated by Dr. Alistair Finch, Elias's [Arch-Necromancer Witch]. Finch's "Psionic Echo Retrieval" ability had evolved. He could now not only retrieve fragmented memories from the recently deceased but could, with sufficient necrotic energy and a powerful psychic fulcrum, temporarily create a "Mnemonic Ghost" – a semi-corporeal echo of a powerful mind, capable of limited interaction and revealing deeply buried secrets. The Red Skull's true fate, and the secrets of Hydra's deepest heart, still eluded them. Conventional intelligence had failed. Elias decided it was time for a more... esoteric approach.

Finch identified their target: the Chantry of the Black Order, a hidden Hydra sanctum in the Bavarian Alps, not far from the ruins of Adlerhorst. This was rumored to be a place where Hydra's most fanatical occultists, devotees of Schmidt's "transcended" ideal, still gathered, perhaps even attempting to commune with his spirit or access his lost Tesseract research. It was also said to be built upon a site of immense, ancient necrotic power, a natural wellspring that would amplify Finch's abilities.

Elias dispatched Finch, under the protection of Olaf Svensson and "Moose" Garneau (his two Tier 1 [Giants], whose immense strength and simple loyalty made them perfect bodyguards for such a perilous undertaking), and a small squad of Thorne's Guard regulars. Their mission: infiltrate the Chantry, use its necrotic energies and any retrieved Schmidt-related artifacts as a fulcrum, and have Finch attempt to summon a Mnemonic Ghost of the Red Skull himself, or at least, of one of his closest, most powerful deceased lieutenants. It was a descent into madness, a gamble with forces beyond mortal comprehension.

The System flagged it with extreme warnings: [OPERATION CHARON'S GAMBIT – TARGET: HYDRA OCCULT NEXUS (CHANTRY OF THE BLACK ORDER). OBJECTIVE: PSIONIC ECHO RETRIEVAL (RED SKULL/HIGH COMMAND). THREAT LEVEL: ESOTERIC/CATASTROPHIC (POTENTIAL FOR UNCONTROLLED NECROTIC/DIMENSIONAL ENTITIES, HYDRA ELITE OCCULTISTS, RESIDUAL TESSERACT ENERGIES). SUCCESS PROBABILITY: LOW (25% - Highly Dependent on Finch's Control & Host Psionic Support via System Link).]

Elias Thorne, despite the risks, authorized it. He needed to know what happened to Schmidt, what Hydra truly sought. He needed to understand the "Nexus of Worlds" Volmer had babbled about. The Shard reserve, now healthy again thanks to Logan, would fuel Finch's ritual and Elias's long-range psionic support. He had unleashed his prime combat assets across the globe. Now, he was sending his necromantic scholar into the very heart of Hydra's darkest spiritual sanctum. The echoes of World War Two were giving way to a new, even more terrifying war of unseen powers, and Elias was determined to hear every whisper, every secret, from both the living and the dead. The devil, as they say, was in the details, and Elias was prepared to pay his due.