The fall of France in June 1940 fundamentally altered the calculus for Elias Thorne. Britain stood alone, battered but defiant, against the seemingly invincible Nazi war machine. Canada, though geographically distant, was now a critical lifeline, its industries, resources, and manpower more vital than ever. For Elias, this global crisis was the ultimate proving ground, a crucible in which to forge his influence and test the limits of his power.
His immediate priority became Project Chimera – the code name he assigned to the covert deployment of James "Logan" Howlett into Nazi-occupied Europe. This wasn't about official military enlistment; Logan would never tolerate it, and his existence was a secret Elias guarded jealously. Instead, Logan would operate as a deniable asset, a ghost in the war machine, targeting specific high-value objectives that conventional forces couldn't reach or wouldn't risk.
"You won't be wearing a uniform, Logan," Elias explained in their Westmount apartment, the radio muttering grim updates from across the Atlantic. "You won't be taking orders from colonels. You'll be taking them from me. Your targets will be specific: disrupting critical enemy infrastructure, eliminating key Nazi personnel involved in... unconventional research, perhaps even some 'search and rescue' for individuals of interest who find themselves on the wrong side of the swastika."
He was carefully framing it as surgical strikes, appealing to Logan's nascent desire for purpose and his deep-seated hatred of bullies and oppressors, a trait Elias had begun to discern beneath the layers of rage and trauma.
Logan listened, his expression unreadable, polishing one of his adamantium claws with a whetstone he'd inexplicably produced, the rasping sound a counterpoint to Elias's calm voice. "Sounds like you want a one-man wrecking crew, kid. Just point me at the jackboots." His loyalty had ticked up to [33% (Directed Violence as Purpose – Trust Still Minimal)] after the successful "problem-solving" assignments.
"Precisely," Elias affirmed. "But a smart wrecking crew. Your strength and healing are assets, Logan, but your senses, your tracking ability, your capacity for stealth when you choose... those are what will make you invaluable."
Getting Logan into Europe was the first challenge. Commercial travel was out. Military transport was too restrictive. Elias turned to his growing network of black market contacts, now refined and expanded by Mickey O'Halloran's increasingly sophisticated operations and funded by Elias's burgeoning industrial wealth. He needed a submarine. Not a military one, but one of the rogue U-boats or independent blockade runners that occasionally operated for exorbitant prices, ferrying high-value goods or wanted individuals across the U-boat-infested Atlantic. It was incredibly risky, phenomenally expensive, but it offered the best chance of a discreet, untraceable insertion.
Dr. Finch, applying his formidable intellect to logistical puzzles, helped identify potential contacts through neutral ports like Lisbon and Tangier. After weeks of delicate, high-stakes negotiations conducted through encrypted channels and trusted intermediaries, a deal was struck. An aging, privately owned ex-German U-boat, captained by a mercenary with no allegiances beyond gold, would transport a "specialist consultant" (Logan) and his "liaison" (Elias, under a new, heavily protected alias – Mr. Andre Blanchard, a wealthy Swiss neutral with an interest in "unusual antiquities") to a remote cove on the coast of occupied France.
The journey itself was a tense, claustrophobic ordeal. Logan, cooped up in the damp, reeking confines of the submarine, was a coiled spring of barely suppressed aggression. The constant thrum of the diesel engines, the creak of the hull under pressure, the ever-present threat of depth charges from British destroyers – it wore on even his iron nerves. Elias, sharing the cramped, illicit passage, maintained his outward calm, but inwardly, the experience was a stark reminder of the dangers they were courting. He could feel Logan's internal storm, the psychic residue of his berserker rage pressing against the confines of the steel tube. Elias's own Wolverine-enhanced senses were a curse in the submarine, picking up every foul odor, every groaning metal plate, every subtle shift in the underwater currents, heightening his awareness of their vulnerability.
He used the enforced proximity to subtly attempt further integration with Logan, not through direct conversation, which Logan still largely rebuffed, but by simply existing in the same charged space, letting their mirrored powers resonate. He found he could, with concentration, partially filter some of Logan's more aggressive psionic emanations, bringing a momentary, almost imperceptible calm to the mutant's turbulent mind. It was a delicate dance, a psychic diplomacy conducted in the crushing depths.
The System logged these interactions as [Conduit Integration (Wolverine): Ambient Proximity Attunement – Minor Increase in Psionic Compatibility. Loyalty +0.5%]. Every fraction counted.
While Logan and Elias were braving the Atlantic, Anya Petrova, back in Montreal, was working with Dr. Finch on another critical aspect of Project Chimera: intelligence and targeting. Using the information Elias had already gathered and their own unique skills, they began to compile a list of potential initial objectives for Logan in occupied France. These weren't military strongpoints or obvious targets. Elias was thinking more strategically.
"We need to focus on disrupting their 'unconventional' programs, Anya," Elias had instructed before departing. "The Ahnenerbe. Any research facilities dabbling in eugenics, exotic energies, or reported 'super-soldier' projects. If the Nazis are trying to create their own empowered individuals, we need to know about it, and if possible, dismantle it before it bears fruit."
Anya, using her exceptional visual memory and Finch's historical and geographical data, began cross-referencing captured German documents (some already filtering through Allied intelligence channels, which Finch had a knack for tapping into) with rumors from émigré networks and pre-war academic papers. She identified several remote chateaus and fortified laboratories in rural France that seemed to be requisitioned for purposes beyond standard military use, their supply lines and personnel movements carefully obscured.
These became Logan's first potential hunting grounds.
Thomas MacIntyre, meanwhile, was Elias's rock in Montreal. He not only maintained the security of Elias's rapidly expanding business empire but also oversaw the training and equipping of their small, private security force. These men, now numbering around twenty, were being discreetly trained in unconventional warfare, intelligence gathering, and counter-surveillance, becoming a highly capable, utterly loyal unit that Elias could deploy as needed. Thomas's Barbarian strength and presence were a constant inspiration and a clear message: Mr. Thorne's organization was not to be trifled with. The System even recognized this, logging [Asset Development: Tier 0 Human Force – "Thorne's Guard" (Basic Combat/Security Proficiency Achieved via MacIntyre Training Protocols). Potential for Future Troop Bestowal.]
After what felt like an eternity, the U-boat, under the cover of a moonless night and a raging storm, surfaced in a secluded, rocky cove on the Brittany coast. Elias and Logan, clad in dark, nondescript civilian clothes, were put ashore in a small inflatable raft. The U-boat vanished back into the depths without a word, its mercenary captain already counting his gold.
They were in enemy territory.
The air tasted of salt, rain, and the faint, metallic tang of fear that seemed to hang over occupied Europe. Logan took a deep breath, his head tilted, senses drinking in the environment. A flicker of something that might have been anticipation, or perhaps just the stirring of his deeply ingrained hunting instincts, lit his eyes.
"Smells like trouble," he grunted, his first words since leaving the sub.
Elias Thorne, standing on the hostile shore, his own enhanced senses mapping the terrain, felt a similar, albeit colder, anticipation. Project Chimera was now active. His most dangerous asset was deployed. The game had escalated from the back alleys of Montreal to the heart of a continent at war. The unseen architect was about to make his presence felt in ways the Nazi regime could not yet imagine.