6kv Chapter 30: The Dominion Joins, The Wolverine Stirs
Chapter 30: The Dominion Joins, The Wolverine Stirs
Chapter 30 - 30: The Dominion Joins, The Wolverine StirsThe declaration of war by Britain and France, followed swiftly by Canada's own entry into the conflict on September 10th, 1939, sent a ripple of grim determination and anxious fervor through Montreal. The city, already bearing the scars of the Great Depression, now girded itself for a new, more profound struggle. Recruitment posters blossomed on walls, patriotic rallies filled the squares, and industry began the slow, inexorable pivot towards wartime production.
For Elias Thorne, this was not a surprise, but an anticipated shift in the global chessboard. His preparations, both local and nascently international, were designed for precisely this eventuality. The war would act as a crucible, accelerating technological development, exposing societal weaknesses, and, crucially for his purposes, bringing individuals of unique capability – potential Prime Conduits or those with specific latent talents – to the forefront.
His immediate concern was securing his Canadian assets and laying the groundwork for influencing, and benefiting from, Canada's wartime mobilization. His investments in key industries, managed through layers of shell corporations overseen by Dr. Finch (whose analytical prowess was now applied to navigating wartime economic controls and opportunities), began to pay dividends. He wasn't just accumulating wealth; he was embedding himself within the sinews of the nation's war effort.
Anya Petrova was recalled from her latest European assignment just before hostilities made travel too perilous. Her reports from Germany had been invaluable, painting a picture of a nation technologically advanced, ruthlessly efficient, and utterly convinced of its destiny. She spoke of hushed whispers among émigré circles about "Wunderwaffen" (wonder weapons) and the SS's obsessive pursuit of ancient relics and esoteric knowledge, supposedly to unlock forgotten powers – themes that resonated disturbingly with Finch's Ahnenerbe re
The Dominion of Canada was mobilizing for war. Its industries were retooling, its young men enlisting. And in a quiet apartment in Montreal, its most terrifying, most secret weapon was beginning to stir, prodded by a young, unnervingly powerful landlord with ambitions that stretched far beyond the city limits, towards the blood-soaked fields of a world at war.