32 Chapter 30: SSS Formula

Disclaimer- before you read, do note that the some places, people and facts here are based on true events and are purely for entertainment and historical accuracy purposes only.

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[Rohan Pov] [Afghanistan] [ Bagram Air Base]

It had only been a few minutes since we left the Pentagon. Now, we stood in Afghanistan, about 40 kilometers outside of Kabul, atop a hill overlooking a military base.

Wong glanced at me. "So this is where Ross is at?"

"No, the file doesn't pinpoint the exact location of the secret facility. It seems the location was never recorded. The only clue I found refers to the base as Al-Haquid."

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Wong inquired.

"Luckily, No matter how secret a base is, they will always need supplies. I discovered that every three days, a supply truck comes to this base. We just need to follow the truck, and it will lead us to our secret base. Simple."

We proceeded towards the Bagram Air Base. Getting in was surprisingly easy; we strolled past the guards and defenses effortlessly. As we walked, I reviewed the documents I stole while Wong kept a lookout.

Soon, we found ourselves in front of a heavily guarded tent. Peeking inside, we saw people held captive, their heads covered with bags, and their hands and legs bound behind their backs.

"Why are there so many people here?" Wong asked, concerned.

"They're suspected Taliban members captured by the US," I explained.

"Why aren't they in prison?"

"They're being transported to a detention camp in Cuba," I replied.

"Cuba? Why there?"

"It's a place where neither US nor international law applies. They can do whatever they want with them there. "

"That's horrible." Even if they're guilty, they shouldn't be treated like this," Wong remarked.

"well, they didnt receive any trial so some of these men may actually be innocent." I said inspecting the documents

"This is quite clever actually," I said with a hint of admiration.

"What do you mean?" Wong questioned.

"I believe these men are the 'supplies' mentioned in the document. This base is used to transport captured Taliban forces to Cuba. It seems General Ross is also secretly using them as test subjects for Project Rebirth."

"Wait, so Ross is using these prisoners for his experiments?" Wong exclaimed.

"Yes, and this is how he keeps his base a secret. No one will notice if a few terrorists go missing in transit. It's the perfect cover. he is treating them as cattle"I looked around for any trucks and said "We should wait here, a truck is supposed to arrive anytime"

We didn't have to wait long. Some Soldiers came in the tent , inspected the prisoners before selecting some to take with them.

"We'll go with this group," I decided.

The prisoners were loaded onto a truck, and we followed in our own car, which remained hidden in the mirror dimension.

We followed them through narrow roads, there were vallies all around us. It took about an hour until the truck stopped. The reason being the road was blocked because of boulders. Normally this would be a deadend but just then, i saw that the boulders suddentlys started to move and make a path. After the truck passed through, we quickly passed as well. When i was near the bolder i saw the boulders were on a platform that could move sideways. This scene made me once again realise that i was in a fictional world with more advanced tech then my own.

After a few more minutes, i saw the facility, it was a set buildings surrounded by tall vallies.

The truck went in and we followed it. After we were inside we got out of the car and looked around.

This place could not be build for more then 3 months but this place looked fully furnished, there were lights on the ceiling as well as paint on the walls, there was even a central cooling here.

"This is it Wong, Lets go find the Formula "

"wait , what about them?"

"Them? What do you want me to do?"

"You said they will be experimneted on, we should help them or they all will horribly die"

"I know Wong, but what can we do? If you free them, the truely bad ones will attack again and kill more people and lets not forget this facility will just get a new batch of supply"

"but" Wong fell in deep thought looking at the prisoners

I sighed "lets me get the formula first, then i will help you in shuting this facility down, now lets go"

There were three building in this base, An outer space that housed soldiers, a inner building that had offices and an innermost building that was most probably the research lab. 

As we made our way in, i saw the stark contrast of how advanced the marvel universe was. The building materials, camera and other things looked way too advanced for 2002. Even 2020s if i had to guess.

We made our way to the inner building without any issues, Now we needed to get in the research lab and also find out where all the information on Project rebirth was kept.

I was so near to the formula now that my heart was racing, the past week flashed infront of my eyes. All the work i had done was for this moment. Thinking about what i was about to do, my body would not stop shaking.

I finally calmed myself down and looked at Wong and said " we need to find the lead Scientist first. Look out for ID Tags with scientists on it "

We started to look for IDs with scientist on it. It was lunch time and Wong suggested we wait outside the canteen/cafeteria. It was a common place where everyone from all departments came. 

After looking around we finally saw two men walking out, The older one had Lead scientist on his ID and other one was a scientist as well.

They went into the washroom seeing this i said to Wong "this is a great opportunity, lets get them"

Once inside, we waited for both of them to be alone, in the mean time, we wore a hood hiding our faces. just when the time was right, Wong pulled them in the mirror dimension. In an instent, they disappeared from the washroom.

"What ?"

"Ahhhhh!"

Both of them screamed when they were being brought to the mirror dimension, The young scientist was scared the most fainted, Now we only had the lead scientist with us.

Wong tied both of them up. The lead scientist was ofcourse scared and not as calm and collected as the Secretery of Defence, I quickly gave a dose of Varatiserum to him.

"Okey, Drrrr" i inspected his ID and continued " Harper tell me, where is everything related to Project Rebirth kept ?"

"They have been distributed between 4 teams."

"so it there a central source?"

"Shit" this was a problem, there was no central source so stealing it like before was not possible and going to each team one by one was also risky as that would alert others.

Wong looked at me and asked "what now, do we go and find each of them? "

"That will take a very long time, and remember, we dont have much time left, Once the secretary of defence wakes up and informs General Ross, this place will go into lockdown. We need to get them quickly"

I thought for a moment and said "This leaves me no other choice" I walked up to the unconscious scientist on the side and took a strand of hair and put it in a vile

Wong asked me "what are doing over there ?" I turned to face him and he gasped looking at me. My face had started to change, my height also started to change. Slowly, my appearance changed to match the unconscious scientist.

"First you aged yourself and now you changed your appearance, you are full of surprises"

"Wong, i will need you to protect me from the mirror dimension, i will go with Dr Harper." I said as i changed my clothes with the unconcious scientist

"No you cant, its dangerous, and why do you think he will help you anyway "

"About that, i think i have something that might help with that " I showed a pink bottle to Wong

"Whats that ?"

I pored the pink liquid in Dr Harper's mouth and he swallowed it all. Then something odd started to happen, Dr Harper stopped struggling. His eyes became dreamy as he looked at me and said "Caleb you look so beautiful today "

"What did you do to him?"

"A Love potion, it induces a very strong sense of obsession in people."

"Why do you need it here ?"

Then i faces Dr Harper and said "Dr. Harper, i really REALLY want the Project rebirth, can you give it to me? " 

"Your wish is my command my love. I will give it to you, lets go to each lab and get it"

I directed Wong and he sent us to the real world. I as Dr Caleb and Dr Harper walked out of the washroom and made our way to the research Lab. Wong followed us from the mirror dimension and we communicated with whispers.

The research facility was really sequre. Guards were in every corner. The biggest problem was Dr Harper himself, He was under the effects of both Varatiserum as well as love potion. He was dased and not walking straight. And he also wanted to touch me which was a huge problem, on the otherhand i had to sweet talk with him constantly.

There were 4 blocks with 4 different Teams of scientists working on a different part for Project rebirth, luckly it was lunch time and so not many scientists were around. We went to the first Lab the Chemical Enhancement Research and collected a copy of Dr Erskine's notes related to the chemical components as well as years of research the army had already done on the chemical composition of the serum.

Then we made our way to the second lab where i saw all the Test subjects being kept. They were looking horrible, Seeing them, i could tell they were given a unstable serum that was slowly breaking down their bodies.

Dr Harper did not mind at all. he even bragged saying they were terrorists anyway. Maybe multiple serums was making him more direct. I was getting pissed off as well. The second block was the Metabolic Stability lab. This lab was involved in finding ways to mitigate potential side effects, increase the serum's compatibility with various genetic structures, and develop countermeasures against potential drawbacks. I got all the data as well as Isaiah Bradley's blood. This was huge as he was the only successful Super Soldier created by the army till now after Steve Rogers. There was a lot of viles of blood here maybe hundreds, This made me realise just how much he must have suffered in their hands, I could barely let myself imagine as this was making me sick to the stomach. 

"Wong, take everything, dont leave anything behind"

With that all the viles disappeared. We then made our way to the 3nd block, Wong whispered in my ear "Hey the guy is not looking to good"

I looked over at Dr Harper and saw he was pale and seemed like dehydrated. It seems the potions are taking a tol on him. Normally he should have already faulted but it seems the love potion was pushing him through.

"you look hungry, Why dont you have a bite " I hand him a energy bar 

"Why dont you feed it to me my love" Dr Harper said.

I sighed and fed him the bar. It seemed like it helped. When we entered the 3nd Lab someone stopped us "Dr Harper Dr Caleb what brings you here ?"

We turned and saw it was a scientist who worked in this block. Dr. Harper still under the effects of Varatiserum said "My partner here wants the Project Rebirth"

"Excuse me?"

"Haha what Dr Harper means is that i want to study the Project rebirth data stored here. So he brought me here to show it " i said pushing Dr Harper to the side.

"Is that so? Do you need help? i am happy to-"

"No that wount be necessary" I quickly walked away

"Oh okey" the scientist was confused.

We then went on and the scientist looked at us weirdly before leaving.

This 3nd block was the Integration lab. This lab was studying the method of delivery of the super soldier serum. There was a lot of document regarding the VITA Rays used in the original. They were also researching other methods such as nanotech and Viral. There wasnt much documents here but there were plenty to be useful.

After that we needed to go to the final 4th block. When entering, i saw that It was not like a normal research lab at all. it was a lab dedicated to studying the original Dr Abraham Erskine's works. This place had it all. From his original diaries to a random napkin he doodled in a restaurant somewhere. All original documents were here. I took pictures of all of them. But they were all secondery, the most important item here was a vial kept at the end of the hall in a safe. It was Steve Roger's blood. From what seemed like it. This was the last blood sample left. 

"Dr Harper Dr Caleb, what business do you have here?" someone said from behind, i turned around thinking what i should say but it was not a scientist, but General Ross along with 4 fully armed soldiers. 

Seeing this i knew there was something wrong, had my cover already blown ?. I pretended as Dr. Caleb and asked. "General what a surprise to see you here"

"Oh it should be me who is surprised, Can you tell me why both of you have visited all 3 Labs before coming here"

"Well you se-"

"Stop right there, i believe Dr Harper should be the one to expalion himself"

I looked at Harper and he looked tired, he was stumbling like a drunk, before i could say anything, he looked at General Ross and yelled "Dont waste my time General, Cant you see i am busy collecting all parts of Project Rebirth for my beloved Caleb"

"..."

"Should we bring you guys in?" Wong whispered in my ear

"No, not yet."

General Ross held his hand high to signal and many soldiers quickly ran into the room. I looked behind and saw heavily armed men blocking the way to the blood sample.

"I think we should stop the act already Dr. Caleb or whatever you real name is"

I sighed and answered, "Let me guess, the Secretary of Defence gave you a call ?"

General Ross smiled and said "Yes, Now, I don't know who you are but you have some balls to walk in my base and try to steal from me. I hope you are ready for what is about to happen."

I whispered "Wong take Dr Harper in"

"What about you?"

"I will make a distraction and lure them away from here, you need to collect all the original documents scattered around here quickly before they are destroyed. Leave the Blood to me"

"Destroyed? no never mind. Good luck" Wong didnt push ferther as there was no more time.

As soon as Dr Harper disappeared everyone was stunned this gave me a small window of Apportunity, and I used this moment to drink 2 potions; one was called Edurus Potion and the other was Fire-Breathing Potion. Soon a stone like film started to form all over my body, seeing this, General Ross commanded all the soldiers to fire. 

In an instant, the hall echoed loud with gunfire, I was being fired from all sides.Luckily, I was bulletproof, for a while atleast. I took a deep breadth and blew air out on all sides. The Fire-Breathing Potion was very expensive and also pretty useless as even beginner wizards could just use their wand but this potion was invaluable to me as this was the most powerful offensive potion in my arsenal. It is said that it has been known to melt flesh to the bone, lets see if this is true.

When I breadth out a raging fire I could here everyone yelling 'Fallback!' 'Take cover !' My 'dragon's breadth' just now was enough to put the trained soldiers in disarray. But no one died. It is because my goal was to burn the surroundings, not them. This would give them no choice but to run either towards me or away. The walls melted as well as the cases where the documents were kept. Of course, they were empty right before my attack hit all thanks to Wong.

I turned and kept running to the blood sample and the soldiers started running after me just as planned. Just then something hit me from the back and I flew and crashed into the wall, I looked back and saw it was a soldier holding a goddamn rocket launcher. 

I did not feel pain however I did feel nauseous. But I kept making my way to the blood sample. It was a good thing that i flew towards the blood, i just bredth more fire and blocked the passage for them and continued running.

There was not much time left before the potions ware off but i kept going. The blood sample was locked behind a metal safe. Normally i would use a password but i don't have Dr Harper here anymore.

I breadth fire on the metal box to melt it. Each time I breadth fire, I felt my throat was burning. Soon I had melted the safe and I saw a metal ball inside. Dr Harper did say the blood was in a cryo-storage designed by Haward Stark himself. I picked up the metal ball and felt all the chaos around me just fade away, I felt very emotional. I finally had the blood of the actual Steve Rogers. It was unthinkable that a normal guy like me was able to get it in my hands after all the hard work. But just then, something unexpected happened.

The ball in my hand shattered spilling the blood inside it everywhere. "NOOOOOO!" I yelled, then I noticed a sharp pain in my chest. I looked down and saw blood oozing out of my rocy skin and I was now bleeding. I looked up and saw General Ross behind his soldiers looking at me with a smerk aiming a silver revolver.

I yelled in pain causing a huge jet of fire to come out of my mouth. The last thing I remember was falling into the ground and seeing Wong's worried face.

=== 

I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was lying in a bed. I looked around and saw the room I was in. From the surroundings, I could see I was in Kamar-Taj. The calm and tranquil environment felt very unsettling as I could still hear all the gunfire. I looked around and saw I could barely move so I did not try.

"Is anyone there ?" I said litely as i could barely speak

An eldrich ring opened up and out came the ancient one " the treatment seems to be working." She said looking at me.

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself lying in a bed. Glancing around, I recognized the room as Kamar-Taj. Despite the calm surroundings, the ongoing gunfire outside made the tranquility feel eerie. I attempted to move but found myself restrained, so I remained still.

"Is anyone there?" I managed to utter softly, my voice barely audible.

An eldritch ring materialized, and out stepped the Ancient One. "The treatment seems to be working," she remarked, observing me.

Though my chest was bandaged, I turned my head to face her. "How long was I out?" I inquired.

"About a day. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"No pain, so that's good," I replied, pausing before adding, "Did Wong bring me here? Did he retrieve everything?" I asked anxiously.

At that moment, Wong emerged from the side. I jokingly quipped, "Did you just hide behind her until I mentioned your name to make a dramatic entrance?"

"N-no, there's simply not enough space to make a portal big enough to enter side by side," Wong explained.

"Now, you two behave," the Ancient One interjected.

"Rohan, I warned you to be careful. That bullet nearly hit your heart—you could have died," the Ancient One scolded me.

"It's not my fault! I was completely invulnerable back there. I don't know how I got shot," I protested.

Just then the ancient one brought forth a silver bullet that floated in mid-air and said "I believe you will recognize this metal as Adamantium. It looks like your protection took most of the blunt force, that's the only reason you are still alive."

looking at the bullet a lot of thought came to my mind. this metal ment a lot of plot but how was it possible? i already know Tony Stark exists here so how does that work? nevermind.

What matters now is that she was right, if I didn't have the stone skin, half of my chest would have been blown away, speaking of, I suddenly remembered about the blood sample

"Wong what happened to the blood ?"

Wong looked disappointed as he responded, "Unfortunately, the bullet destroyed the blood vial. Even if it had fallen, your fire breath would have incinerated it."

Feeling defeated, I rested my head on the bed. The loss of Steve Rogers' blood—the last remaining original Super Soldier formula—weighed heavily on me.

"W-well, we still collected many documents from the labs, and there's still the blood sample from the other guy," Wong attempted to console me.

"Yes, Isaiah Bradley's blood. It could work, but would it be as effective as the original?" I wondered aloud.

"Well, I believe you'll fully recover in a few days, so rest well," Wong advised.

"You too, Wong. And don't worry—I remember my promise. Once I'm well, we'll help them," I assured him.

As Wong and the Ancient One stepped into the portal, I called out, "And Wong." He turned, and I smiled, saying, "Thank you for everything."

I saw Wong smile for the first time before the portal closed.

[Al-Haquid Secret Base] [Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project]

Soldiers roamed the now blackened and charred lab, the sprinklers having ceased. General Ross surveyed the destruction, his expression grim.

A soldier approached him. "Find anything?" General Ross inquired.

"No, sir. It appears everything in the room was destroyed in the fire."

"And the other labs?"

"Sir, it seems everything has been wiped clean."

"Keep looking," General Ross ordered as he left for his office,he had to make some calls which he disliked very much.

Once inside his office, he vented his anger, slamming his fist on the table. "GOD DAMN IT !!!" He exclamed in fustration, then he took out the the silver revolver issued to him and briefly inspected it.

This was a special weapon devoloped by some another division in the army that was designed to be used specifically against superpowered individuals. He thought of carrying it after hearing about what happened to the secretery. 

And by the looks of it, Ross was very much satisfied. Where even an anti Tank rocket felt short, this simple looking revolver was able to do real damage.

He was not so sure if the gun would work on the man, so he didnt use it at first, But when he saw that the man had gotten the blood sample, he didnot hesitate to sacrifice it, But as luck would have it, the bullet was able to injure him after all. Ross of very proud of the shot and was sure that the man's chance of survival was slim to none.

He'd heard rumors of threats, but now, witnessing the devastation firsthand, he realized the gravity of the situation. His work at this base was more crucial than ever before. Determined, he resolved to see it through no matter the cost.

A knock interrupted his thoughts. "What is it?" General Ross snapped.

"Sir, we found Dr. Harper and Dr. Caleb. They're in the infirmary," a soldier reported.

"What?" General Ross exclaimed, swiftly making his way to the infirmary. There was a chance they held valuable information about the assailants. Upon arrival, he found Dr. Caleb crying and pushing away Dr. Harper, who seemed to be attempting to cuddle and kiss him.

Confused, General Ross turned to the soldier beside him. "As you can see, we believe he's still under some kind of mind control," the soldier explained.