Marvel: Summoning Xandar.

~~~Palermo, Italy~~~

~~~February 6, 1943~~~

With the capture of Algeria and Morocco by the Allies, a new front could be employed in Africa, and the outlook looked splendid for the Allies, since even on the European continent, battles were being won one after the other, the biggest and most recent being the defeat of the German 6th Army forces, and the 4th Panzer Army, which caused Germany to go on the defensive and withdraw from the Caucasus.

This further motivated the Allies to put pressure on the Axis forces, as morale was very high at this stage, which no doubt was also passed on to the Howling Commandos.

The same men and women were now sailing in a small fishing boat through the Strait of Gibraltar, as Spain had been left in ruins due to its civil war, and although the Fascists managed to win, many men were killed, which forced Spain to be neutral in the conflict, so there was no problem at sea.

Throughout the trip, Steve and Isaiah were vigilant with their MG-42 machine guns strapped and ready to rain down fire if needed. While they were confident in Alexander's knowledge to enter the city undetected, they were still tense.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Isaiah spoke, noticing the lights of the city in the distance, as colonel, he was the highest ranking member of the group, so he acted as the leader, with Steve as his second in command. "Our objective is to secure the south coast of Palermo for as long as we can, at least until reinforcements arrive, intelligence said there are at least two German armored divisions, so the enemy fire that will attack us once we attack first, will be overwhelming."

That caused a tense atmosphere to fall over everyone, while they had some security being with two supersoldiers in their group, the idea of falling directly into the lion's den didn't sit well with anyone. "Captain Rogers and I will be in charge of holding off the armored division and the German reinforcements, you have another task."

"There are at least seventy prisoners in Palermo, your task will be to free them to help us in the war effort," seeing the unsure look on the group's faces, Isaiah was quick to stress something important, "you will enter the prison where they are holding the soldiers prisoner once Rogers and I hog all the attention we can, hopefully, it will provide a clear path for you to free them."

"But Colonel, no doubt there will be Panzers in the city, how will they get through those things?" Wilson asked in confusion. To which Isaiah simply smiled, "That's left to us, the important thing now is to free the prisoners and safeguard the coast until reinforcements arrive, the allies will take care of that when they get there."

This did not make the group relax, indeed, they became even more tense, knowing that the landing in Sicily depended on them and that with this, depended on their arrival of reinforcements to get out alive.

However, none of them objected, they were soldiers, and none of them had families to mourn if they died in combat, so they chose to stick to the plan and return home with honors.

After an hour and a half, the fishing boat reached the shores of Palermo, and without wasting any time, they all quickly disembarked and took cover, however, upon touching land, both Isaiah and Steve, stood still, as their eyes darted from side to side. "Get down!" Steve shouted, ducking and thus avoiding the hail of bullets that rained down on them.

The group followed suit, taking cover behind a dirt dune as the rain of fire seemed to go on and on, "How the fuck do they know we're here!" Louis shouted what they all thought, so far, the trip had been safe, they had encountered no patrols on the road, and while that was a good initiative to know it was a trap.

The idea that the Italians or the Germans knew about the operation was ridiculous, especially since the whole effort had been conducted in secret, even if the Allied forces were preparing to land in Sicily, the common knowledge was that it was weeks away. So the conclusion everyone came to was that there was a mole in the timing of the logistics of the mission.

"Hail Hydra" amidst the roar of bullets and the screams of the German soldiers, Isaiah could hear the mythical phrase that made his blood boil, and turning back, he saw how Alexander, the one who would be their guide and who would help them sympathize with the Parisians, took off his bulletproof vest and revealed a compression shirt, with several bombs strapped to his body.

Isaiah's face was filled with pure anger, and using the power he was given, he moved with tremendous speed, even using the armor Howard gave them, which weighed several kilos, did not prevent Isaiah from reaching where Alexander was standing, and seeing that Alexander had already flipped the bombs switch, he did what he thought was the best thing to do.

What was it? He picked up Alexander, a man who easily weighed about ninety kilos, and as if he were a rag doll, threw him hard towards where the Italians were shooting.

The act took only two seconds, something that spoke volumes about the power both Steve and Isaiah had under their skin, a power they were willing to use for the sake of stopping the war and bringing peace.

"BOOOM!" The thunderous explosion that followed, and Steve looked at Isaiah. One look was all it took for them to understand what the other was about to do. Holding their machine guns tightly, they both flexed their knees and then made a movie scene.

Both jumped at least eleven meters high, rising above the Italian soldiers and the German tanks, being in the air, both took their machine guns and opened fire. Releasing a string of bullets that took the Germans by surprise, since it was the Germans who controlled the machine guns of the tanks that they were firing at.

However, neither of them was flying, and gravity did its job, bringing them back to the ground, but that was already expected, Isaiah adjusted his fall and landed on top of a troop transport truck, destroying the cab and killing the two soldiers inside.

Steve fell in the middle of the field, and quickly took cover behind a truck, shooting at anyone who moved.

The Howling Commandos did not miss the opportunity, and taking advantage of the gap that Steve and Isaiah made, rushed into combat, firing at every enemy soldier within range. In the midst of all this, a Panzer fired, and for reasons of fate, was about to hit Isaiah, who managed to move at the last moment.

"Steve, bolido effect!" Isaiah shouted to his serum partner, urging him to do a move they had practiced earlier on Xandar. Steve nodded, and stepping out of the cover offered by the truck, started running towards the Panzer that nearly killed Isaiah, with Isaiah doing the latter doing the latter.

Their bodies after the serum had not only become bulletproof but turned into bowling balls once they gained momentum, something Isaiah had noticed when he ran through two walls when Dr. Erskine died.

And now, they used that to their advantage, their speed only increased as they ran further, and it didn't take them long to get to where the big tank was, they both bumped their shoulders against the armored metal of the tank, and it lurched like a log on the beach being moved by a big wave.

"Now!" Isaiah said, then bent down and grabbed the bottom of the tank hard, with Steve copying his effort, at first nothing happened, but then, the magic was done, the tank began to rise, to the point where with a shout from Steve and Isaiah, the tank rose and fell over on its side. And once this happened. Steve and Isaiah braced their fists.

The veins in their arms bulged, and pure power peeked out from under their skins until it was released...

"BOOM!" The two slammed their bare fist into the lower, exposed part of the tank, which caused the large steel machine to be moved a distance of over ten meters.

The tank slammed hard into another, leaving it hovering over the gun and rendering it unusable. Two of the five tanks that were there were knocked out, which provided cover and a good start to clearing the area of enemy forces.