The abrupt severance of his System links to Logan and Miller was a brutal, visceral shock to Elias Thorne, a psychic amputation that left him reeling, despite the vast physical distance. He felt the loss not just as a strategic setback, but as a profound, aching void. These were more than assets; Logan, for all his volatility, had become a strange, mirrored reflection of Elias's own feral power, a reluctant kindred spirit. Miller, reborn in fire and loyalty, had been a testament to Elias's ability to shape and save. Now, they were consumed by the collapse of Festung Niemals, lost in the fiery maw of the Red Skull's ambition.
O'Malley's final, corrupted data burst offered no solace, only confirmation of their final, desperate engagement. [HOST ASSETS (LOGAN/MILLER) – SIGNAL LOST. PRESUMED KIA/MIA (FORTRESS NIEMALS CATASTROPHIC COLLAPSE). RED SKULL (JOHANN SCHMIDT) STATUS: ALSO PRESUMED KIA/MIA (LAST KNOWN LOCATION: EPICENTER OF COLLAPSE). FENRIS TWINS (ANDREA/ANDREAS VON STRUCKER) STATUS: UNKNOWN/LIKELY KIA/MIA.]
The System also registered a grim tally: [PRIME ESSENCE SHARDS RECOVERED (FROM DEFEATED HYDRA UBERSOLDATEN MK II - PRE-COLLAPSE): +1.2. Current Shard Reserve: 1.3/5.0 (Loss of potential Shards from Schmidt/Fenris Twins due to event horizon severance).] The Shard count had barely budged. The potential haul from Schmidt and the Fenris Twins was now buried under a mountain of Austrian rock and geothermal flame.
The cost was staggering. Two of his most formidable field operatives, one a Prime Conduit whose mirrored powers formed the very bedrock of Elias's own superhumanity, the other a fiercely loyal Feral Striker forged in desperation. O'Malley's fate was also unknown; the engineer had likely perished trying to send that final transmission.
Elias sat in his Montreal command center, the news a cold weight in his chest. The usual thrum of the System felt muted, the connections to his remaining agents – Anya in London, Thomas and his Feral Strikers in the Pacific, Finch in Montreal – suddenly seeming more fragile. He had gambled, pushed his assets to the absolute limit against an enemy of immense power, and the house, this time, had collected a terrible price.
He forced down the uncharacteristic surge of raw, burning grief – a side effect, perhaps, of the Wolverine synergy, the empathic bleed Logan's psyche sometimes imparted. Control. He needed control. Sentiment was a weakness he could not afford. Logan and Miller were casualties of a necessary war, a war against an existential threat. Their sacrifice, however profound, had to be leveraged, not mourned beyond its strategic implication.
Dr. Finch, when Elias informed him via their most secure channel of the Festung Niemals outcome (omitting the more esoteric details of Logan's true nature or the System), was deeply shaken. "Lost… all of them?" the old scholar whispered, his voice hoarse. "Mr. Blanchard's European team… gone?"
"Presumed so, Doctor," Elias confirmed, his voice a chilling monotone. "The Red Skull's fortress appears to have self-destructed with catastrophic force. We've dealt Hydra a blow from which they may never recover their previous operational strength. But the cost… was significant."
Finch, though unaware of the superhuman aspects, understood the strategic loss of a highly effective intelligence and disruption unit. "A pyrrhic victory, perhaps, Mr. Thorne."
Elias spent the next few days in deep analysis, the System working overtime to process the fragmented data from O'Malley's burst and the psychic echoes from Logan and Miller before their links severed.
[ANALYSIS – LOGAN (WOLVERINE): Final moments indicate extreme physical trauma, exposure to unknown high-energy signatures (possibly from Red Skull's personal abilities or failing geothermal core), and a terminal velocity impact. Probability of survival via innate healing factor: <0.1% given complete structural collapse of subterranean fortress. Connection Severance: Absolute.]
[ANALYSIS – MILLER, SAMUEL (FERAL STRIKER – TRAUMA VARIANT): Similar catastrophic trauma. Feral Striker healing, even trauma-variant, insufficient against sustained multi-ton rockfall and extreme temperatures. Connection Severance: Absolute.]
[ANALYSIS – SCHMIDT, JOHANN (RED SKULL): Engaged in direct energy manipulation prior to collapse. Potential for unknown escape method or energetic transference cannot be entirely ruled out, but physical survival probability is extremely low (<1%). HYDRA Command Structure: Decapitated at Primary Level. Secondary/Fragmented Cells Remain Active but Disoriented.]
The loss of Logan was the most profound for Elias personally, not just strategically. The mirrored powers still resided within him – the adamantium-laced skeleton (the System had confirmed its mirrored variant was just as real and durable), the Omega-tier healing, the claws, the senses, the rage – but the source of that constant, subtle energetic feedback was gone. The [Feral Empathy Link (Minor)] was now a silent, aching void. He felt… lessened, somehow, despite retaining the abilities. The System noted a new status: [PRIME CONDUIT SYNERGY (WOLVERINE): OFFLINE – MIRRORED ATTRIBUTES RETAINED (PERMANENT INTEGRATION) BUT AMBIENT ENERGY/DATA FEED TERMINATED. Further evolution of Wolverine-derived sub-routines: STALLED pending re-acquisition of source conduit or alternative compatible Prime Essence.]
He could no longer draw upon Logan's ongoing combat experience or psychic resilience to further evolve those specific skills within himself or the Feral Striker template. It was a permanent, irreplaceable loss in that regard.
The situation in the Pacific, however, offered a sliver of grim solace. Namor, guided by Elias's intel on Hydra's oceanic pollution and Japanese desecration of sacred sites, had unleashed his fury upon the "Oceanic Purity" cultists and their Kairyu-Shin project near the Marianas. The System relayed Thomas MacIntyre's awestruck reports:
[PRIME CONDUIT (NAMOR) ACTION REPORT: KAIRYU-SHIN (CLASS-5 KAIJU – CEPHALOPOD) ENGAGED AND NEUTRALIZED BY SUSTAINED HYDROKINETIC ASSAULT AND DIRECT PHYSICAL COMBAT. JAPANESE CULTIST FLEET/ISLAND STRONGHOLD: DECIMATED BY STRATEGIC TIDAL WAVE. SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION IN PROGRESS BY NAMOR.]
[HOST FEEDBACK (NAMOR): LOYALTY +10% (Total 32% – Host Facilitated Vengeance/Protection of Oceanic Realm; Demonstration of Host's Strategic Value). Unlockable System Sub-Routines: "Elemental Hydrokinesis Principles (Intermediate)" – 95% Unlocked. "Atlantean Physiology Data (Partial)" – 45% Unlocked. Potential for limited, Host-directed hydrokinetic feats developing.]
[PRIME ESSENCE SHARD FRAGMENT ACQUIRED (VIA NAMOR PROXY – FROM KAIRYU-SHIN'S ANOMALOUS BIO-ENERGY & CULTIST RITUAL ECHOES): +1.5. Current Shard Reserve: 1.8/5.0.]
Namor, in his rage, had not only crippled a dangerous Japanese esoteric project but had also inadvertently provided Elias with more Shards. The irony of the System benefiting from such chaotic, elemental destruction was not lost on him. His Feral Striker pack, witnessing Namor's battle from a "safe" distance aboard the Sea Serpent (Thomas had described it as watching gods wrestle in a hurricane), were profoundly affected. Their combat data now included exposure to [Kaiju-Scale Conflict Observation], broadening their understanding of true power.
Elias made a crucial decision. With Logan gone and Hydra's primary leadership presumed neutralized, the immediate European theatre, while still important, became less of a personal focus for his "superhuman" assets. The emerging Soviet threat and the vast, unexplored potential of the Pacific (especially with Namor now a more willing, if still volatile, ally) required a strategic pivot.
He recalled his Feral Striker team from the North Atlantic convoys. Dubois and Macgregor, now seasoned veterans of shipboard combat and U-boat hunting, were needed for different tasks. Their Shard acquisition in the Atlantic had been minimal. He needed quality, not just quantity.
His remaining Prime Essence Shards (now at 1.8) were insufficient for another Feral Striker of the same caliber without further accumulation. He needed to be more judicious.
The loss of Logan meant the "Feral Striker" template was now his only source of directly controlled, biologically enhanced ground troops. Their value had just skyrocketed. Their training, their deployment, their very survival, became paramount.
He began to formulate new plans. Anya in Washington, with "Project Rebirth" on her radar, became even more critical. Dr. Finch would continue to manage the burgeoning industrial empire and sift global intelligence for new threats and opportunities. Thomas MacIntyre and his now three Feral Strikers (Beaulieu had also performed admirably in the Pacific, his quiet resilience proving invaluable in supporting Dubois and Macgregor during their shipboard actions) would become Elias's elite, mobile strike force, ready for deployment anywhere in the world where his unique brand of intervention was required.
The war had claimed kings and pawns alike from his chessboard. Logan and Miller's absence was a scar. But Elias Thorne was nothing if not adaptable. The game continued. The shadows of the future were long, and he still had many pieces to move, many battles yet to fight. The cost had been high, but the ultimate price of failure, he knew, would be infinitely higher.