A/N: Well here's another update for you guys, because I'm so nice. OK so I'm actually a jerk and the only reason I posted is because I'm bored, but what else I got to do with my time?
In this farewell, there's no blood, there's no alibi
Cause I've drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies. – Linkin Park
They had been on the move since Raziel came to an hour ago. The twelve other men were dead set on going after the lone man they saw running from the scene where they'd found their leader, but Raziel ordered them to go in the other direction. There were grumblings of discontent but a stern glare from Raziel silenced them and spurred them into motion.
They continued for the remainder of the night before finding a thick stand of pine trees to conceal themselves in for the duration of the short springtime day. When the men woke just before dark they were surprised when Raziel told them they would be sticking close to this location for the night and playing a game.
"Predator and Prey," Raziel's voice carried over the small group of camouflaged men. "Every man for himself, you will be attempting to find and capture each other. It goes without saying that you are to avoid being found and captured." Within moments the men had split off and faded into the darkness. When everyone had moved out of sight Raziel turned and stalked silently for nearly half of a mile, easily avoiding his hunting men, before making his way into a thick stand of trees to examine the mask Slade had given him.
It was a beautiful piece of technological engineering; almost impossibly lightweight and on the outside it was smooth and flawless; a flat black in color, at night it became almost too black and the contours were vaguely humanoid with sinister looking ridges around the eyes and mouth making the featureless mask look intimidating all on its own. The only release for the mask was on the inside, meaning that once it was on he was the only one capable of taking it off. When he set his bag down on the ground he heard an odd clunking sound, opening the bag he pulled out what looked like an iPod touch, only bigger. It had a note attached to it.
Apprentice,
You are to adapt this into your training.
Deathstroke.
He activated the device and in moments it sprung to life.
"Memory, concentration, creativity, intelligence..." he read down the list of various aspects of mental discipline before choosing the one that said 'cognitive training'. The screen took the appearance of the old Pong game, except that there was only one paddle. He launched the ball and followed it back and forth until it was going so fast that he couldn't keep up with it and ended up losing that challenge, he was given a score based on how long he was able to keep the ball going and then selected a different category. He tried three or four categories before deciding that, it nothing else, it would be a good way to pass time when he was on watch or something.
After growing bored with the various mental exercises he turned off the touch pad and opted to investigate his new mask. Reaching inside he found a small button near the chin and with a click the mask popped loose and he slid it over his head. At first it was uncomfortably tight but it seemed to adjust to the contours of his face at about the same time as the display in front of his eyes came up and began asking him questions so that it could verify his identity and adjust the settings to play off of his preferences and abilities. After a great deal longer than he thought it could possibly take to adjust to a mask, he was stalking the darkness looking for his men. Up until now had been a warm up for them but it was time for them to face Raziel in the darkness. Only by escaping, defeating, or successfully hiding from their superior would result in them passing his training.
He stalked quietly still musing over the HUD in the mask and how it made everything seem almost like a video game when a small sort of distortion appeared seemingly behind a tree. After racking his brain for a few moments, Raziel remembered that it meant there was noise emanating from that location he checked the straps on his bag to ensure they wouldn't make any noise if he moved quickly or resorted to acrobatics. Another distortion approached the first one, informing him that one his men was about to be discovered as he attempted to remain undetected.
He waited until the battle was joined before approaching through the trees. Lesage and Camil were locked in a wrestling match, both trying to gain the upper hand long enough to capture or escape the other one. It was hard to tell who had gained the advantage but both parties split apart and began chasing each other quietly through the forest.
They only got about ten yards when Lesage heard Camil gasp loudly and face plant the ground. Turing, he saw Camil attempting to right himself while someone else approached slowly with steel pipe gleaming in the darkness.
"Hey, the Lieutenant never said anything about weapons," he complained in a loud whisper.
Raziel quickened his pace, seemingly gliding over the crunchy loamy earth, and swung his staff in an upward sweep, just missing Lesage. The other man struck out with a quick palm thrust and connected with Raziel's shoulder, turning him slightly. Before he could escape, Raziel's staff swung behind his back in a graceful arc and swept his feet out from under him. Lesage hit the ground and rolled away, narrowly avoiding the end of Raziel's staff as it sunk into the ground.
Lesage came up with a knife and threw it hard and to his surprise, his squad mate, he wasn't sure which one, caught the knife and before he could react the pommel at the bottom of the handle smacked hard against his forehead, sending him into the realm of unconsciousness.
A shuffle sounded from behind him and Raziel turned and swung his staff with moderate force, connecting with Camil's head and sending the man for a long nap. Lesage had proven to be the most difficult for Raziel to dispatch into the realm of unconsciousness, meaning that after only a few hours of searching through the darkness Raziel was the last man left standing. True they didn't know he would be attacking them but that didn't matter; they may not have bested him but he hadn't really expected them to, not one on one at least.
Now they sat almost three months removed from that final test, Raziel guessed it to be about mid spring now, because the snow had come and gone, but the night chill remained. Raziel took his knife out of its camouflaged sheath and began hacking limbs from trees and in short order he had a pine branch lean-to to stay in for the night. He then set about gathering branches and dry wood to burn. Normally he wouldn't light a fire, especially in enemy territory but tonight they would be waiting until just before sunrise when they could ambush an enemy patrol and infiltrate the encampment to set charges and blow a hole in the Russian war effort.
With a small fire casting its warmth and light throughout the small shelter Raziel settled against one of the trees that his lean-to was constructed around and waited for the men to find their way back from their various patrols. He quickly grew bored with simply tending the small fire so he pulled out the touch pad from Slade and decided to try beat his score, but unlike last time he didn't try a multitude of games. This time he picked the cognitive test and stuck with it.
He was kneeling on the ground as Chu-Hui, the True Master, paced back and forth, lecturing about proper breathing to focus the mind during meditation, and how to clear the mind and simply react during combat.
Raziel shook the memory out of his mind and he recalled the bruises that he had been given as he tried to spar without thinking. But still, it was worth a shot. He placed the pad down and meditated for several moments, clearing his mind of unnecessary thought before he picked up the tablet and did his best to react without allowing logic or conscious though to direct his actions.
There was a rustling sound outside the shelter and he slipped the touch pad into his bag as the rustling grew closer to the entrance. Noticing the fire had died into red coals he threw on a few more sticks and blew on the coals to spark the small blaze to life. Lesage came in with Camil, both men looking a little worse for wear, and they exchanged pleasantries briefly before both men opted to retire for the night with Raziel claiming that he would keep watch and tend the fire for a few hours while the others returned from gathering intelligence.
He stoked the fire nice and high before setting out to gather more wood for the night. By the time Raziel returned the rest of the men had filtered in and set up a watch so he simply wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and hunkered down in his spot next to the tree.
He wasn't sure how long he had slept for but he felt rested enough to function when he was roused by the sound of shouting. When the fog lifted from his brain he heard a heart wrenching wail followed by rumbles and explosions coming from far off. He was just rising from his sleep when someone burst into the small shelter shouting.
"The base is under attack!"
There were murmurs of confusion as the sentry breathlessly told what he had seen; namely, explosions. Less than ten minutes later the entire camp was packed up, the fire was stomped out and all thirteen men were sitting or standing on branches on the top of the tallest trees on a nearby hill top so they could see for themselves.
Checking to make sure no one was watching him, Raziel fished his new mask out of his bag and placed it over his head listening to the soft click of the locking mechanism before the HUD came to life and began feeding him real-time images of his surroundings. After taking a few seconds to gain his bearings he navigated the odd functions screen overlay that was presented to him and zoomed in on the far-off carnage until the mask could offer no more.
He could make out the forms of fighting Mordozan's as Russians attempted to flood through a gaping, crumbling hole in the wall. He could see the tanks belching plumes of smoke and fire and explosions rocking the base and shattering the men and women inside. He scanned the area closely, his tactical sense telling him to gain as much information as he could about the situation, then he saw something curious; purple streaks of light began raining down on the base from a fixed point in the sky, littering the ground with small explosions. Shifting his mask to thermal vision he saw that the purple energy was coming from a humanoid figure floating hundreds of feet above the ground.
"Slade," he said after activating the communications system in his mask.
"Yes, Apprentice?" the man sounded calm as ever.
"I don't suppose you're near enough to lend a hand are you?"
"How so, Apprentice?" Slade sounded oddly curious, clearly seeing the video feed from Raziel's mask and wondering what his plan was.
"I need some good armour and equipment, for fighting a Tamaranean."
"Very well, Apprentice. I will contact you with coordinates when I have it in place."
"Good, put it near the edge of the forest between my current location and the town of Bastoq. Raziel out." He took the mask off and placed it in his bag, gratefully breathing great draughts of fresh air. He would have to fix the helmet so that he could breathe regular air, that filtered stuff was disgusting.
It wasn't so much a march back to the base as it was an all out panicked sprint. The men were all in good shape but Raziel made sure to stay in the middle of the pack because he didn't want to dishearten his men, effectively telling them that for all of their effort they were still second class to what they thought was just a regular kid. He hoped it wouldn't happen but he had a feeling that they were going to find out he was far from ordinary.
It had taken them two days to march out to their training ground but only a little over a day to get back within a few miles of the base, close enough that they could see clearly with just their binoculars. He knew the men were itching to get in there and help out their brothers but they couldn't for a few reasons; first was that they were extremely fatigued, both from the run and from not sleeping in almost thirty hours, second was that the Tamaranean, probably Blackfire, was raining down purple death.
After some logical reasoning and a few threats and orders from Raziel the men had fallen asleep, and stayed that way for almost nine hours while the battle for their home raged just a mile away.
Raziel was the first one to wake up and he set about adjusting the settings on his mask so they would save power; he still wasn't sure how to recharge the battery. By the time he opened the slits over the mouth and adjusted the settings so they would operate in the background, the other men were beginning to stir, signalling that they would be awake soon.
"Master?" he asked into his transmitter, no longer bothered by acknowledging his subjugation to Slade. He had referred to the True Master as 'Master' and in his mind Slade wasn't much different. He had a different philosophy and skill set that he was passing on to his apprentice but that didn't change things.
"Yes, Apprentice?" Slade's voice purred over the earpiece.
"What's the ETA on my stuff?"
"Early evening." A long time from the early predawn hour that it currently was, "I expect Starfire will be shaken by your appearance when she sees your armour. Out." The line went dead.
Starfire? So far as he knew Starfire was in Jump with the other traitors, presumably joking about how they've abandoned him. And this Tamaranean was firing purple starbolts, meaning it was most likely Blackfire, Kori's sister. How could Slade not know about Blackfire?
He heard a groan from one of the men and tore the helmet off of his head and stuffed it in his bag.
Sometime over the course of their slumber the base had grown quiet, brief recon indicated that they had been overtaken. The enemy had a foot hold in Mordoza and most of the men, having been born here, were dead set on barging in there and taking the base back. So much so that Raziel had to physically stop some of them and force them to listen to reason. They were only thirteen men; their greatest advantage, and greatest hope of victory, lied in attacking at night and having support from inside.
"Now we have things to do." Raziel threw Camil to the ground, he had been growling his logic into the man's face with enough volume that everyone else could hear him.
"Fucking outlander. What do you care for our homeland?" Camil muttered under his breath. Before anyone could react Raziel's staff sprung to life and found itself buried in the older man's side, just below his ribs. He crumpled to the ground gasping in pain but Raziel knew there was no internal damage, he hadn't hit the man hard enough.
"I swore and oath, just like you." he growled, "And I swore one before that to protect anyone who needed it. Now you will fall in or I will kill you myself and storm the base without you." Normally Jon, the joker of the group, would have pointed out that one man storming the base was suicide, but in that moment they didn't doubt that not only would he keep his promise, but he would succeed to.
"Go find a shallow spot in the stream and wash up, no sense sneaking into the base only for the enemy to smell you and ruin the surprise." The men fell back into the forest and went to the stream so they wouldn't risk being seen by any sentries or lookouts at the base.
Thirteen rows of clothing lay discarded from the edge of the woods to the edge of the stream and thirteen men stood waist deep in the near frigid water washing themselves. The men stayed away from Raziel out of fear. Looking around, he found it amusing that these men collectively feared him, each one of them was taller and broader than he was, and each had the muscle definition and moved with the grace of seasoned warriors, but they still feared him. But he suspected that what he had done earlier was only adding to the budding legend that started with the tattoo that graced his right arm just below the shoulder. It was two small circles, drawn side-by-side, so that they looked like a sideways figure eight, or the symbol for 'infinity'. This mark was to commemorate his pivotal role during the battle of the 'Infinite Infantry' as the event had come to be known.
The frigid bath over with the men were sitting around a fire, both to warm their frozen bodies and cook some rabbits that they had set traps for. They ate well and then went to sleep to pass the time until darkness fell.
They woke as the sun was casting long shadows across the ground so they stomped out the few coals that remained in their little fire pit and made their way to the edge of the forest where they were positioned earlier. They waited for darkness to fall before he sent Lesage, by far the best of his men, into the base to do recon and tell the prisoners to be ready for a rescue attempt. Lesage had returned several hours later, and not long after a thick cloud bank rolled over the sky, blotting out the moonlight and rumbling thunder softly in the distance. The wind picked up around midnight and lightning could be seen on the horizon, the distant rumble of thunder was more insistent and for reasons he couldn't fathom Blackfire was still raining the odd starbolt from on high, the sounds of explosions mingling with the far off thunder.
He was about to call Slade when a twig cracked nearby and the men turned as one, pulling out side arms, throwing knives and close combat weapons.
"Apprentice, call off your men." Slade purred from the darkness, the men were looking around for where he was but Raziel could see him clear as day, even though he had yet to break through the screen of trees, almost like he was sensing his location.
"Stand down." The men looked at him like he was crazy. Why were they letting their guard down against someone who was good enough to sneak up on them? Slade stepped out of from between two broad pine trees and the men gasped in shock before bowing their head in reverence. It appears Slade has a slightly different reputation in this part of the world.
"Master." Raziel nodded in acknowledgment, from the corner of his eyes he could see the men glancing around nervously.
"Here are the items you asked for." He threw a medium size duffel bag on the ground with a weighty thunk.
"Thank you." he said before zipping the bag opened and drawing the crimson and forest green Kevlar armour out. He arched his eyebrow in question when he saw a more fortified version of his Robin suit, it had an 'S' in place of the old 'R'.
"I told you. Starfire wouldn't know what hit her." He went against the urge to bring up Blackfire, not wanting to have to explain anymore about his past than he had to to the men.
He pulled the robes over his head and then stripped down his to underwear before pulling the form fitting armour onto his body.
"A little bulkier than I remember." he commented as he attached the cape to his shoulders. For emphasis he held up his arm, which had a bulky but streamlined protrusion from the underside of the wrist.
"Grapple gun," the assassin said simply. "I'm testing some prototype systems."
"Is it reliable?" he asked, his voice falling into his old crime-fighters growl. He didn't like the word 'prototype'.
"The gun itself is reliable, so long as you can use it properly." Slade jabbed, completely ignoring the twelve men who were still in shock that their commanding officer was acquainted, and on speaking terms, with the infamous Deathstroke.
"Good enough for me." he said as he adjusted the utility belt around his waist and finished scanning it's compartments for inventory before turning to the men. "Let's go, we move out now."
He threw his robe and pants back over his armour and turned away from Slade.
"Not wearing the rest of your armour Apprentice?" No one else would have noticed Slade's eye narrow but to Raziel he might as well have been begging him to make him 'lay down the law', so to speak. He reached into his bag and pulled his helmet over his head before drawing the hood up.
"That's better." the man purred through the slits in his own mask. "Have fun Apprentice."
The men shivered as Raziel spoke, the slightest hint of excitment coloring his voice, "Yes Master."
A/N2: Like? Hate? Feel completely indifferent? Let me Know. Seriously, I'm dying to know what yout guys think of the story.
And once again, a big thank you to TheDarkPrinceOfSaiyans for his efforts as Beta. And a thank you to everyone who keeps reading and to those who review, you guys are what keep this story going.