The arrival of Thomas MacIntyre and the Feral Striker pack – Jean-Paul Dubois, Angus Macgregor, and Antoine "Tony" Beaulieu – in Honolulu in late November 1941 was like stepping into a different world. Compared to war-torn Europe or even austerity-gripped Canada, Hawaii was a paradise of sunshine, lush greenery, and an almost surreal, peacetime complacency. The naval base at Pearl Harbor itself, while bustling with activity, exuded an air of confident invincibility rather than imminent threat. Sailors strolled along Ford Island, enjoying the tropical warmth, naval vessels lay at anchor in neat rows, and the prevailing mood was one of routine drills and weekend liberties.
Thomas, under the guise of a senior merchant marine engineer overseeing "critical repairs," established a discreet base of operations for his team in a small, rented warehouse near the docks, far from the main naval installations but close enough for observation. Dubois, Macgregor, and Beaulieu, with their forged papers and Elias's carefully crafted backstories as rugged Canadian seamen looking for temporary work, quickly blended into the transient population of laborers and dockhands that serviced the massive base. Their enhanced senses, however, were anything but complacent.
Macgregor's olfactory acuity picked up the subtle chemical signatures of different naval fuels, munitions, even the distinct scent profiles of various ships' crews. Dubois's more predatory instincts noted the flow of personnel, the guard routines (or lack thereof in some areas), and the general level of alertness, which he reported to Thomas as "dangerously relaxed." Beaulieu, with his Metis endurance and quiet observational skills, became adept at navigating the fringes of the base, picking up scuttlebutt in dockside bars and noting the comings and goings of high-ranking officers.
Elias, receiving their coded reports via a complex relay system involving merchant ship radio operators loyal to his "Blackwood Shipping" interests (who believed they were merely transmitting routine commercial updates), began to build a detailed picture of Pearl Harbor's strengths and, more importantly, its vulnerabilities. The primary focus was on the [Anomalous Energy Signature – Type Unknown] the System had flagged.
Guided by Elias, the Feral Strikers, particularly Macgregor with his superior tracking senses, began to triangulate this faint energy. It was intermittent, difficult to pin down, but seemed to emanate from a restricted, heavily wooded area on the Ewa Plain, west of the main harbor, an area officially designated as a "Naval Ammunition Depot and Experimental Proving Ground." Civilians were strictly forbidden.
This immediately became their priority investigation. Getting inside a secure US naval munitions depot was incredibly risky, but the potential reward – identifying the source of an unknown energy, perhaps even another Prime Conduit or alien technology – was too great to ignore.
While his Pacific team probed, Elias managed his other fronts. Logan, with Miller and O'Malley, continued his grim work in Europe, disrupting Hydra's rebuilding efforts and eliminating their "enhanced asset" development programs wherever they surfaced. His latest operation involved a raid on a hidden laboratory in the Swiss Alps where rogue German scientists, formerly of Adlerhorst and now operating with even more autonomy after Schmidt's disappearance, were attempting to stabilize and weaponize the "Subjekt Gamma" research. The ensuing confrontation was brutal, netting Elias another [+0.7 Prime Essence Shard Fragments] (his total now [4.5/5.0] – agonizingly close to being able to empower another Feral Striker or significantly upgrade his existing template) and more crucial data on Hydra's methods. Logan's loyalty, strengthened by these continuous, successful applications of his unique "talents," solidified further at [70% (Grim Satisfaction in Anti-Hydra Crusade; Acknowledgment of Host's Competence/Intel Support)].
In London, Anya Petrova fed Elias a stream of high-level intelligence regarding the increasingly tense US-Japan negotiations. Diplomatic channels were failing. American sanctions, particularly the oil embargo, were crippling Japan's war machine in China. All indicators pointed towards imminent Japanese military action, though the precise target remained a fiercely debated topic within Allied intelligence. Anya, using her unique position within "Mr. Blanchard's" network, managed to acquire (through a carefully cultivated, indebted source within the British codebreaking establishment at Bletchley Park) fragmented, heavily encrypted Japanese naval intercepts. Dr. Finch, back in Montreal, with his System-enhanced cognitive abilities, worked tirelessly to decipher them.
"The patterns are undeniable, Mr. Thorne," Finch reported via secure comms, his voice tight with urgency. "Massive Japanese fleet movements. A Kido Butai – their primary carrier strike force – has sortied under complete radio silence. Their last known heading, before vanishing from conventional tracking, was eastward, into the Central Pacific. While their feints suggest Southeast Asia, the power concentrated in that carrier group is sufficient for a far more audacious target. Hawaii is within their operational radius."
This confirmed Elias's suspicions. The noose was tightening. He immediately relayed this critical, specific intelligence to Thomas in Pearl Harbor. "Heightened alert. Expect hostile action against the naval base within days, possibly hours. Primary objective: survival and observation. Secondary: identify and assess the anomalous energy signature during any ensuing chaos. Engage only if compromised or to protect yourselves. This is not your fight to win, but to witness."
He also, through a deeply insulated cutout, attempted to pass a highly sanitized, non-attributable warning to Penny Worthington's MI department in London, hoping it might filter through to American intelligence: "High probability of imminent Japanese naval air attack against US Pacific Fleet assets. Pearl Harbor considered primary target." He knew it was unlikely to be believed, or acted upon, given the prevailing skepticism and the source's deniability, but it was a calculated move to enhance his credibility after the event.
Back in Pearl Harbor, Thomas MacIntyre received Elias's warning with grim stoicism. He briefed his Feral Striker pack. The peacetime languor of Hawaii suddenly felt like a suffocating shroud.
"So, the little yellow bastards are finally coming, eh?" Dubois grunted, flexing his bone-clawed hands.
"Our orders are to observe, Jean-Paul," Thomas reminded him, his Barbarian core sensing the shift in the atmosphere, the pre-battle tension. "Not to start our own war. But if they bring the war to us…" His eyes held a dangerous glint.
Macgregor, sniffing the humid night air, nodded. "The wind carries something new. Steel. And… fear. From the big ships."
Tony Beaulieu, quiet as ever, simply checked the edges of his own claws, his dark eyes watchful.
Under the cover of darkness on the night of December 6th, 1941, Macgregor and Beaulieu, using their enhanced senses and stealth, made a final reconnaissance of the Ewa Plain ammunition depot. They managed to bypass the outer perimeter fence, their movements like smoke in the tropical undergrowth.
They found the source of the energy signature. It wasn't a piece of technology or a hidden facility. Deep within a restricted bunker, ostensibly used for storing experimental depth charges, was a man. Or rather, what had been a man. He was floating in a large, cylindrical tank filled with a shimmering, viscous fluid, wires and tubes connecting him to complex machinery. His body was… wrong. Distorted. Parts of him seemed almost translucent, shot through with faint, pulsing veins of light. His eyes were closed, his form still, but the energy radiating from him, even damped by the tank and the bunker walls, was potent, alien, and deeply unsettling.
The System flared for Elias, even across the thousands of miles, relaying the Feral Strikers' sensory data: [PRIME CONDUIT DETECTED (CRITICAL CONDITION – ARTIFICIALLY SUSTAINED/CONTAINED). Energy Signature: Unique – Unstable Bio-Archaic/Exotic Particle Hybrid. Probable Origin: Extra-Normal Event (Non-System Generated). US NAVY DESIGNATION: "SUBJECT X" (PROJECT RIPTIDE – CLASSIFIED). THREAT/OPPORTUNITY: EXTREME.]
Before Macgregor and Beaulieu could investigate further, a Klaxon horn blared from a nearby guard tower – a routine security sweep perhaps, or had their incredibly subtle intrusion been detected? They were forced to withdraw, but not before Macgregor, with his photographic olfactory memory, had fixed the unique scent signature of "Subject X" and its containment fluid in his mind.
They reported back to Thomas and Elias. A Prime Conduit. Held by the US Navy. In a secret experimental program. This changed everything. Pearl Harbor wasn't just a naval base; it was a clandestine superhuman research facility. The impending Japanese attack was about to fall upon a powder keg far more volatile than anyone imagined.
The sun began to rise on December 7th, 1941, over a seemingly peaceful Pacific paradise. But Elias Thorne knew. His Feral Strikers knew. The storm was no longer a whisper. It was here. And it was about to unleash hell, potentially unmasking secrets that would shake the world far more than any conventional bombs or torpedoes.