In 1930, the brilliant German scientist Abraham Erskine began researching the formula for
a Super Soldier Serum that would turn an ordinary man into an extraordinary warrior.
In 1934, the german physicist Johann Schmidt, an ambitious member of the ancient cult of
Hydra, met the leader of Germany Adolf Hitler and Ernst Kaufmann, head of their Special
Weapons Division, at a Wagner Opera in Berlin.
Schmidt appealed to Hitler’s sensibilities for Norse mythology, revealing his theory
that the legends of old might be real.
And while Hitler was intrigued wanting to set up a meeting to discuss it further, Kaufmann
was outraged, and once the furer departed, rejected Schmidt warning him to stay away.
Heinrich Himmler however overheard their conversation and took Schmidt into his service, assigning
him to the SS.
Schmidt then went on to arrange the death of Ernst Kaufmann during the knight of the
long knives, taking over the Special Weapons Division, and creating his own research program
he named Hydra.
Schmidt, went about bringing together the brightest scientific minds available to aid
him in his research, recruiting Arnim Zola to continue his work developing exo skeleton
battle suits
The following year, as Hitler’s Germany became increasingly oppressive, Abraham Erskine
attempted to flee to Switzerland but was captured and forced to continue his work on the Super
Soldier Serum for Johann Schmidt, while his family was sent to a concentration camp to
ensure his loyalty.
In 1936, Sarah Rogers died of Teberculosis, leaving 18 year old Steve Rogers on his own.
However his best friend Bucky Barnes consoled him during this time, telling him that they
would be friends till the end, a sentiment which deeply touched young Steve and would
help to create a deep bond of loyalty between them.
By 1937 a 10 year old girl by the name of Dottie Underwood trained in the Red Room,
a Soviet espionage school where young girls grew into deadly assassins and spies.
In this same year, Hydra used the research of Arnim Zola to test a new tank and exo skeleton
battle suit in Spain as the nation fought a Civil War.
In 1939, Howard Stark founded Stark Enterprises serving as a vital weapons contractor for
the allies during the Second World War.
In 1940, Howard Stark led a presentation to introduce the incredible strength and resilience
of Vibranium, a new type of metal discovered deep within Africa.
After Stark then survived a Hydra assassination attempt, he agreed to help serve his country
by joining the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
In Germany, an impatient Johann Schmidt, consumed Erskine’s latest version of the Super Soldier
Syrum, and while it made him stronger and faster than ever before, it also turned turned
his skin red and disfigured his face, coming to be known by the nickname Red Skull.
Erskine was imprisoned for his failure, though he soon revealed to Arnim Zola that the serum
worked perfectly, and did exactly what he intended.
Yet because of his treachery, Zola told him Schmidt would almost certainly have his family
executed.
In this same year, a woman named Peggy Carter broke off her engagement to join a new British
espionage agency called Special Operations Executive, after the death of her brother
in the war.
As an Agent of the SOE working in partnership with the American Strategic Scientific Reserves,
she infiltrated the Hydra facility where Abraham Erskine was being held, and rescued him so
he might come to work for the allies.
In 1941, Steve Rogers was rejected from serving in the armed forces due to various health
concerns while his best friend Bucky Barnes was accepted and shipped off to war.
Howard Stark, already working in various capacities for the government, joined the Manhattan project
to help develop atomic weapons.
1942 In 1942, Red Skull led Hydra soldiers into
Tonsberg Norway, with his studies of Norse mythology leading him to discover the powerful
Tesseract hidden away within a church.
As Hydra’s search for ancient artefacts continued, the german general Werner Reinhardt
discovered the body of a kree alien in Northern Africa.
In 1943, while working for the American government, Abraham Erskine at last completed his Super
Soldier Syrum, using the first dose on Steve Rogers, a small and sickly young man who volunteered
because he so badly wanted to serve his country but was rejected from regular military service.
Yet while his body was weak, he was brave and selfless, once throwing himself on a grenade
to save his fellow recruits, only to find out it was not active.
The serum caused him a great deal of physical pain, but when the process completed, he was
transformed into a tall, well-built super soldier, with strength and speed far beyond
normal human capabilities.
And while his invention was a success, Araham Erskine was soon killed by a Hydra spy who
was present to witness the transformation.
After the assassination, the agent stole the last of the serum and attempted to escape,
but ultamitely killed himself rather than be captured by Steve Rogers.
Unfortunately the last of the syrum was destroying during the chase, and with its creator dead,
no other super soldiers could be produced.
Captain America as he became known, was then used as a propaganda tool for the allies to
help raise funds to fight the war.
However he eventually saw combat when he learned his old friend Bucky was trapped behind enemy
lines.
With the help of Peggy Carter and Howard Stark he then invaded a Hydra facility in Italy,
rescuing Bucky and a number of allied soldiers, some of whom became the Howling Commandos,
a special unit serving with Captain America in his mission to destroy all Hydra facilities
in Europe.
However it would be during one of these missions in 1945, that Bucky Barnes fell from a train,
high in the mountains and was presumed dead, though he was later found by Hydra and kept
alive as their prisoner.
As the war came to a close, Captain America confronted Red Skull aboard the Valkyrie,
prompting the Hydra leader to attempt holding the powerful Tesseract in his hand, only for
it to activate a portal which transported him to the planet of Vormir, where he spent
decades as a guide for those seeking the soul stone.
The Space Stone then burned through the floor of the plane, landing in the ocean where it
remained hidden for a time.
Realizing that the Valkyrie was on its way to launch a devastating attack against the
United States, Captain America chose to sacrifice himself to prevent it, crashing the plane
off the coast of Greenland.
And while Howard Stark led an extensive search to find him, he instead found the tesseract,
while Steve Rogers was presumed dead.
In the final days of the Second World War, as Nazi and Hydra officers were being arrested
across Europe, a group of American soldiers recovered a substance known as Zero Matter,
a transdimensional element which then came into the possession of Isodyne Energy, an
American research lab developing new fuel sources.
Soon Werner Reinhardt, another high level Hydra operative was captured, along with a
number of his collected artefacts and discoveries such as a Diviner used to house terrigen crystals
and the alien body of a Kree.