Liberty - Legend of World War II
August 2002 - Issue #4 of 5 - "Enter Combat"

Written by James Pedrick
Created by and property of James Pedrick

Continued from Liberty - Legend of World War II #3

Characters:

Scott Phillips/Liberty – He was once an agent for Military Intelligence and engaged to be married to fellow agent Carla Stephens. When Military Intelligence recruited him to be transformed into the world’s first ultra Liberty, Phillips thought he would only see his fiancé and friends for a short six months. But after more than a year, Scott Phillips was surprised to find his best friend, Walter Peterson, had married his former fiancé. What he did not know was that the government has told his friends he had died to keep the identity of their new ultra soldier a secret.

Carla Stephens – She was to marry fellow Military Intelligence agent Scott Phillips until she was told he died. Now, Carla is married to Scott’s best friend, Walter Peterson, and has given birth to a young son. Tragedy hit Carla’s life again when her husband was kidnapped by Nazi sympathizers in the U.S. But Walter was rescued by the new ultra soldier Liberty. Now, her life has been turned upside down as her husband believes Scott may still be alive as none other than Liberty. And before she can get to the bottom of the mystery, both Walter and Liberty have been sent off to the Second World War.

Walter Peterson – Military Intelligence agent Walter Peterson has always felt like the third wheel to his best friend Scott Phillips and his fiancé Carla Stephens. After they were told Scott died, Walter fell in love with Carla and the two married. They had a child, but not before Walter Peterson was kidnapped by Nazi sympathizers. He was saved by the ultra soldier Liberty, who Walter believes is none other than Liberty. Now, he may learn if Liberty really is Scott Phillips as both are given an assignment on the same team in the middle of World War II.

The Liberty Project – The Military Intelligence’s goal was to create the perfect soldier. They did so when they created Scott Phillips into Liberty, thanks to the creative genius of Doctor Lowell and General Cunnings. The project almost suffered a set back when Nurse Teresa Nelson turned out to be a spy and attempted to assassinate Scott Phillips. Fortunately, Colonel Jim Medison managed to kill the spy before she was successful. After the success of Scott Phillips, the project has been unsuccessful on further attempts to create an ultra. What finally destroyed the project was when foreign spied attacked the Liberty Compound. But they were unsuccessful in stealing government secrets, when Doctor Lowell ordered the self-destruction of the compound, killing the facilities and creators in the process to save national security.

Liberty: Legend of World War II - Issue #4 of 5 - "Enter Combat"

Washington, DC

Lt. Williams walked down the hall with a thin folder tightly held under his arm.

He knocked on a door and waited for the general to call him in.

As he walked in, he saw Major General Craig Lamar talking with Colonel Jim Medison. Lamar was in a wheel chair, a war injury that led him to having this office job. Medison now headed the Military Intelligence division in Washington, DC, though he wished he saw the action on the other side of the globe.

The two were in the middle of discussing the Liberty Project. They commented on how well Liberty was received among the U.S. public. However, Lamar was very disappointed that the continuation of the project was not going as well. It was evident Medison did not share his disappointment. He never did like the project, felt it was a very dangerous concept.

“This was sent for you, sir.”

“Thank you, Williams. You’re dismissed.”

As the lieutenant departed, General Lamar brushed through the small report and then slapped it down in front of Colonel Medison. “You will find this especially interesting to you, Medison.”

Medison picked up the report and was clearly quite distressed.

“Our Philadelphia headquarters has been destroyed. The Liberty Project is through.”

“Perhaps this is for the best, sir. My concern has always been that the Axis may emulate our project.”

“Yes. Well, we have not even had success with that, Medison. We have not had a successful Liberty soldier since Phillips.”

“True, sir, but if Phillips were captured.”

Over Austria

Liberty and his five member crew are being flown over Austria. Soon, they will be parachuting down and then marching to their ordered destination.

Three of the soldiers are whispering about the new comrade. Liberty has been active as America’s premiere ultra soldier for a year now. Different men had different opinions of him.

“I think he’s a freak,” Adam Finley blurted out loud. “The government just dresses him up and sends him out to boost morale among the troops.”

“I don’t know. I’ve heard he has the strength and speed they boost about.” Simon Burch commented.

“My bro says most people back home don’t even believe he exists. He’s just some sort of myth, a rumor spoken about every once and a while in magazines,” added Patrick Jones.

Meanwhile, Liberty is doing his best to avoid Walter Peterson, the man who was his best friend in a different time, when he was better known as Scott Phillips. But now, Phillips was supposed to be dead. Peterson had married his fiancé, Carla, and Liberty was a top-secret American ultra soldier. And Liberty and Peterson were now on the same team, over Austria.

Liberty told himself he did not want to talk with Peterson to keep his identity secret. In reality, he had felt betrayed. In his mind, Carla did not want to wait for him to come home and Walter had stolen her from him. He did not know that both Carla and Walter were told Scott Phillips was dead.

Liberty tried to start a conversation with one of his teammates. “What are you reading?”

“The Bible, sir. It comforts me, gives me strength.”

The soldier’s name was John Shepard. The Bible he was reading looked very worn and well used. Scott never found time for religion. He always scoffed at it. All he ever needed was himself. Of course, that was before all his friends and loved ones were taken from him so he could turn into an ultra soldier. Before his best friend took his fiancé. Before he began dating a woman who turned out to be a spy and tried to kill him. If anything, Scott felt he should be more sure of himself. His new body made him stronger, quicker, more agile than any other person on the planet. And yet, he felt lonely.

“Do you know the Lord, sir?”

Liberty got up and moved to the other side of the plane. “Shepard, I am my own lord.” What was he thinking? He did not need anything else. He was invulnerable. He could accomplish anything.

Walter sat beside him. “Scott, you can’t continue to avoid me. I know it’s you in there.”

Liberty continued to look forward. “Soldier, I am not sure who you have me confused with but –”

“Scott, don’t do this to me!”

Finally, Liberty looked at him. “How’s Carl?”

Chicago, IL

“Carla, you look wonderful.”

“Please, come in.” She responded, as Major Samuels stepped into the house.

They sat down in the living room.

“Roger, I need your help… before Walt left, he said he thought Scott was alive.”

‘Carl, you need to stop beating yourself up. Scott is dead.”

She continued, as if she never heard him. “Do you know that Liberty soldier?”

“Yes, Carl, but what does that have to-”

“It’s Scott! I know it. Walter saw him.”

Roger wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t believe Scott was Liberty, but he wouldn’t put that pass Military Intelligence. And who better to take such an assignment than Scott.

“What does Walter think about this, Carl?”

Carla began to cry slowly. “When Scott died, I thought my life was over. Walt saved me. Then I thought I lost him, all I could think about was seeing him again. And then when I did, he told me he thought Scott was alive too! I love Walter, I really do… but I can’t stop thinking about Scott. If he’s alive, I have to find him.”

Roger wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll help you, Carla. But you have to think about what’s best for you and your son. If Scott is Liberty, he chose to give up his life as Scott… his life with you. But Walter has always been there for you. Walter always will be there for you.”

Austria

The six soldiers slowly walked through the wooded areas of Austria toward the compound they were ordered to raid.

“Okay, soldiers. You know the plan. We break up and surround the back of that compound in sniper positions. Take out all the guards posted outside, then we storm the place. I’ll locate the general and retrieve the documents.”

As the six separated, both Liberty and Walter couldn’t stop thinking about their broken friendship with one another. Earlier, Walter explained that both he and Carla had no idea what happened. They both thought he was dead. But Scott was silent, unsure of what he thought about the whole situation. Could the three of them really mend their relationships after all that had happened? Could he accept his best friend and former fiancé being married to one another?

Walter had other thoughts going through his mind. He thought he wanted to reestablish his friendship with Scott. He could still hardly believe Scott was alive after all these years. But then he remembered how things once were, when he was the third wheel. What if Scott’s return into their lives meant losing his wife? He was ashamed to admit it, but his life changed for the better when they thought Scott had died. He felt even more guilty when the thought slipped in his head, if even for a second, that things might be best if Scott didn’t return from this war.

Each of the six soldiers got in position. They targeted the Nazi soldiers outside and quickly eliminated them. As more soldiers came out of the compound, the Americans began their charge and quickly killed enemy soldiers as they appeared.

But the Americans did not realize they were not the only ones with a surprise attack.

Hiding in the forest around them were several Nazi soldiers, positions for just such an attack. As the Americans ran down the hill toward the compound, the Nazis emerged from behind and shot at the Americans.

Patrick Jones and Simon Burch were soon shot down. The three others ducked down, shooting at their attackers from both directions, as Liberty continued to fight his way forward. His speed and quick reactions allowed him to get pass bullets headed toward him, while he shot down Nazis attacking him from each direction. The few bullets that did catch him bounced off his golden armor.

Finally, Liberty secured the back of the compound with a grenade. Three more German soldiers ran out of the compound and toward him. Liberty swiftly caught them off guard, grabbing one of them and throwing him against the wall, while crashing the other two’s heads together. His fellow Americans quickly saw that the speed and strength boasted of Liberty were quite true.

Once he reached the compound, he assisted the others in killing the Germans firing from behind them. Once all three of the other soldiers made their way to the compound, they separated. Each of the four took different hallways, trying to find the general they were after while careful to takeout soldiers confronting them along the way.

Adam Finley and Liberty went down one hallway while John Shepard and Walt Peterson went down the other. The end of both hallways separated into two hallways to the left and right.

Adam and Liberty separated, going down each hallway. They both kicked open doors and shot whatever enemy soldiers they came in contact with. As Liberty found that there was nothing of use, he heard gunfire in the opposite direction.

He ran toward the sound only to find Adam Finley dead and three German soldiers firing at him.

He quickly ducked down and shot the three with a round of bullets.

Elsewhere, Walter and John were checking the other two hallways.

Finally, Walter came upon a heavily armed room. As he kicked the door open, he was bombarded with bullets. It was obvious the Germans were trying real hard to secure that area. He ducked behind a large steel desk and called for assistance.

“I think I found it!” he yelled.

John Shepard ran toward the area and fired at the German soldiers, slowly taking down one after another as they tried to storm into the room, behind Walter.

By the time Liberty arrived at the scene, John Shepard was already in the room. He was sitting next to Walter behind the desk.

Liberty crept his head through the doorway and saw the positions of all the soldiers that were attacking. There were four of them as well as one older man was keeping low on the floor.

Liberty took out a pistol with his left hand. Liberty ran forward. As he fired upon the soldiers with the machine gun in his right arm, he took one out at a time with his pistol.

Soon, they were all down. The lone German left stood up and surrendered.

“You know what we’re looking for, General,” Liberty said in German.

“Yes, you must be the infamous Liberty Soldier.”

“Hand them over, and you’ll be spared death.”

The German general raised a folder over his head.

Liberty then looked over to John and Walter. “Are you two okay?”

John Shepard looked at Liberty with very sympathetic eyes. “Liberty… Walt’s dead.”

Liberty looked over and saw his best bud on the floor with a bullet in his forehead.

Without flinching and eye, Liberty looked back over at the Nazi general and shot him in the forehead. He walked over and picked up the documents.

“Let’s go.”

As the two soldiers quietly made their way to the pickup destination, Liberty flipped through the files. They were evidently documents stolen from the American government with battle plans and other sensitive information. Then he got to documents concerning the Liberty Project. “Oh my God! They know more about this than I ever feared.”

Chicago, IL

Major Samuels knocked on the front door of Walter and Carla Peterson’s house.

Carla answered the door. She could tell Major Samuels did not look very assuring.

“Carla… I’m afraid… I have some – ”

Carla quickly fell to her knees, screaming out loud in agony. Major Samuels kneeled down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Now, he had hoped Liberty was Scott Phillips. Carla had been through so much. He couldn’t imagine how she would make it through this once again.

Britain

General Thompson walked in with a very somber look on his face.

Both Liberty and John Shepard were playing cards with some of the other men. It took their thoughts away from the recent events.

“Liberty,” Thompson called.

The ultra solider quickly came to attention, getting up and standing before the general.

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ve got orders to ship back.” The general then looked over to John Shepard. “You’re going with him, as a personal escort.”

“Yes, sir,” Shepard responded, though feeling awkward about such an assignment. After all, he was one of the government’s better Special Forces soldiers. Why was he needed to escort someone back?

“You two ship out tomorrow.” The general then left the room.

Liberty sat down, trying to figure out why he would be sent back in the middle of a war. But his thoughts shifted back to Walter. There’s so much he wished he could have told him.

Washington, DC

“I think it’s the only thing we can do, Medison. As much as I wish things could end differently, it is the only way to secure this project from being emulated by our enemies.”

Colonel Medison nodded his head as General Lamar spoke to him.

“It’s unfortunate. But the Germans have made a lot of progress in trying to duplicate the Liberty Project. They have even made some improvements! Still, there is something missing. Something that both Lowell could not find, before he died, and the Nazis could not determine. Phillips’ body holds to secret to that question. Somehow, his body stabilized while others died. If the Nazis were to get a hold of him and figure it out before we did, it could mean trouble.”

Then Colonel Medison let his own views known. “I’m afraid the project was a mistake all along. Even in our hands, these ultra soldiers would only mean trouble for the whole world.”

The general sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Either way it is clear. We’ll have to let Phillips go.”

TO BE CONCLUDED

The story concludes in Liberty - Legend of World War II #5!

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