Chapter 50.2 – Interlude 8
NOW
Koriand’r sneaked her way past the guards, the invisible mode on her costume making the feat laughably easy, her feet did not touch the ground as she floated from cover to cover, using all she had learned from the Batman and The Green Arrow about sneaking into locations.
It was not that she did not trust Kara’s technology but, from what she understood, Bialya had dealings with Apokolips and it was not impossible they could see through the simple visual contrivance.
The military complex was large, with several armored vehicles parked all around the perimeter, at least six anti-aircraft artillery pieces and several temporary tents all around the outer perimeter.
In the center of the most protected area there was a large camouflaged building, from the air, the reddish yellow color making it hard to distinguish the constructions from the sands of the desert.
The place where they had already detected the New Genesphere, her current target.
Moving faster than she could manage while being careful, Robin quickly found his way inside his own target building, extending a cable from his wrist into a computer port.
“Miss Martian, can you confirm Psimon’s location?” Robin asked through the link. “It would be totally not whelming to sneak through this security only to find I’m in the wrong place.”
“You’re in the right place,” Aqualad answered instead, sending them a mental image of the holographic map in front of him with three red targets.
“Great, cutting off the alarms… now.”
“I’m in!” Kid Flash warned after running full speed towards the side of the building and managing to climb through an open window. “Should I disable everyone or try to sneak through?”
“I managed to get Sphere’s location when I tried to reach for it,” Miss Martian said, her mental voice still a little shaky. “The central building has four underground floors and she’s on the last one.”
“Crap,” Robin said with a grunt. “Disabling it is.
”Koriand’r nodded to herself, it seems they would have to execute plan B. It was unlikely she could rescue Sphere fast enough to go unnoticed.
Since their presence would inevitably be discovered soon and they couldn’t accomplish all their goals fast enough, they had to give up on going completely undetected and would instead pay more attention to making their exit easier.
“Miss Martian, Superboy, deploy and disable their air capabilities,” Aqualad ordered from the Bioship, causing Koriand’r to redouble her speed. “Robin, will you be able to complete the third objective?”
“No way. The security is too much for such a small country, it will take too long.”
“I’ll do it!” Miss Martian spoke again, having finally recovered from her encounter with Psimon.
“Dropping now,” Superboy said.
Up in the air, a small hole opened up along the underside of the Bioship, less than a second later, both heroes dropped feet first through the air. Eyes closed, Superboy tried to slow his fall, but he barely managed to change his direction, full-on flight still beyond him.
With a sigh, he felt Miss Martian’s telekinesis grabbing him and, together, they dropped invisibly on top of the outer buildings. The Martian gave him a smile and he managed to get over his irritation, giving her a nod before they dashed in opposite directions.
Flexing his legs, Superboy leaped towards his own targets, he couldn’t fly yet, but he could already use his power to soften his fall enough he wouldn’t cause a ruckus.
Flying into the building, Koriand’r ignored the scientists on the first floor. Quickly, she found an elevator guarded by two soldiers wielding Earth-tech rifles.
Making sure nobody was looking, she flew closer, grabbing both men by the throat and squeezing just enough to cut the blood flow to their brain. They struggled for a second or two, but the Tamaranean’s vastly superior strength and technique meant they were hopeless.
Opening the doors, she dragged both men inside by their necks and dropped holograms in their place. Gently, she laid them down on the floor, making sure to adjust their clothes back into place while checking they were fine.
Koriand’r had more than enough skill to not hurt them, but it was always best to be certain.
In all honesty, normal soldiers did not present a challenge for her, much less when she was shielded from their ability to see. In less than fifteen minutes, she had disabled a third of the building and found her way towards the fourth floor.
It looked… very intimidating. Gray concrete walls filled every hallway and Koriand’r could smell a large amount of cleaning products, with just a hint of the blood they had removed.
The temperature was higher than on the surface, with a constant noise from the ventilation system echoing through the entire facility, only a dim light illuminating the path filled with dark cells. Thankfully, she did not find any prisoners.
Finally, she found the door to the test chamber. Peeking through a translucent window, she saw a wide, white room with two other entrances, the lights were much better there and it was filled with wall sized computers.
Poor New Genesphere was suspended by several chains with an equal number of cables connected to her frame. At several spots, the Genesphere had been pried open, her inside circuitry pulled out. More than that, two sharp clamps kept her locked in place tight enough Koriand’r knew she would not be able to disconnect the beleaguered prisoner without raising the alarm.
All around it, almost a dozen scientists were studying the Sphere, using several devices to move its cables or staring intently at computers, there was also four armed guards
“Robin, do you have any…” She started to ask.
“ACK!” Came the immediate mental answer. “Busy now!”
From all around her, Koriand’r heard the alarm going off, the sound almost deafening in the quiet bunker.
“Starfire, what do you need?” Aqualad asked.
“It is no longer important,” she answered, watching a giant stepping away from the wall where it had been guarding the sphere beyond her vision.
Staring at the giant, she recognized the bulging muscles and the missing patches of skin on its frame, a Cobra Venom user. From one of the doors, another two giants burst through, starting to yell.
The first giant came towards the entryway in front of Koriand'r, his lumbering gait gaining speed. Flying back, Koriand’r took a deep breath. The time for stealth was over.
Bursting into movement, she flew feet first into the reinforced door, breaking it off its hinges and smashing into the giant’s face right as he was about to pull it open.
The Cobra Venom user was driven back for two steps, then he lost his balance and fell on his back, Koriand’r rode the door on top of him into the center for the room, her flaming hair flowing behind her as her invisibility was deactivated.
For a second, everyone in the room froze. Eyes glowing green, she shot a starbolt at a second giant, hitting him in the chest with a wave of power and driving him back through the door he had just walked out of.
Stomping on the metal door, she heard a grunt of pain from below her as she flew straight at the last giant, hands enveloped in green light.
The four regular guards recovered first, raising their weapons and opening fire at her, but they were still shaken and most of their bullets missed. Moving with grace, Koriand’r lifted her arms, using her teacher’s gifts to deflect the ones that did not.
The metal bracelets reflected the bullets with ease, allowing Koriand’r to fire weak starbolts towards all four guards, sending them flying into the wall and knocking them out.
The scientists screamed in fear, rushing out of the room as fast as they could while grabbing everything they could.
The last Venom user roared and punched out, but Kori weaved under the blow, grabbing at his wrist and letting her momentum pull his arm back, dragging the giant out of balance.
Still holding his arm, she reversed her direction and smashed a knee into his back, causing him to collapse to his knees with a presumably rare grunt of pain. Grabbing the back of his head, she smashed his face into the ground, breaking through the concrete and causing the entire room to shake.
Acting under a strong dose of Cobra Venom, the first giant jumped up from the ground even as copious amounts of blood fell from his broken nose. With a roar, he lifted the broken door and hurled it like a disk at Koriand’r.
Still holding her enemy’s arm and head, Koriand’r manhandled his body, lifting it up and using it as a shield to block the projectile, the door hit him in the chest and drove the both of them back a few feet.
Miraculously, the giant remained awake, the drugs in his system making him act far beyond what his body should be able to, his free arm desperately grasping towards Koriand’r at his back.
“You little bitch,” the third giant growled as it walked back to the room, a massive hand massaging his scorched chest where Koriand’r had hit him with the starbolt.
“I am sorry to disappoint you, but I have no relationship with canids,” Koriand’r said with a frown. She had nothing against the creatures, but her people were quite proud of their felid origins.
“Crap, crap! A little help here people!” Kid Flash shouted over the mental link. “Watch it, you maniac!”
Glancing up, Koriand’r thought about retreating, but she trusted her team, still… “Apologizes, but it seems I will not be able to be gentle.”
With a scream of triumph, the Venom giant she was still holding managed to get his hands on her clothes, his large fingers finding purchase on her outfit before attempting to dislodge her from his back. Seeing that, both of the free giants rushed her.
With a swift movement, Koriand’r released his head and grabbed the offending hand. Putting both feet right in the middle of his back, she pulled, dislocating both his arms.
If her enemies were too resistant to blunter forms of incapacitation, she would just have to fully disable them in a more deliberate fashion.
Kicking her disjointed enemy into the path of the first giant, she rushed the second, both her eyes and hand glowing with green energy. She had to finish this fracas quickly.