Operation T.I.T.A.N.
Chapter One
-
A man in a white lab coat that contrasts his darker skin pigment checks his clipboard and smiles; nods. He approves. He moves on, his shined black dress shoes clicking on the tile as he goes. It is not the feminine sound of high heels, but rather the rhythmic slap of a smart businessman with a purpose.
Eyes watch him from a tank as he passes.
Suddenly, the man stops.
The owner of the eyes freezes.
The man pauses, then sneezes and shakes his head to clear the cobwebs. He moves on.
The being relaxes, then focuses with a quiet snarl.
Glass shatters.
There is a frightened shout; a feral growl; the eerie ripping of claws on flesh.
More glass shatters.
An alarm blares.
A dead man lies on the tiles.
-
There was much carnage flashing across the screen. Though Kori had seen much of it before, she still winced ever so slightly when her gaze settled on the screen.
Instead, she focused her vision on her boss and field instructor. He turned back to her, feeling her eyes on him, and smiled grimly; thinly.
"I'd say this mess is a step up in blood levels from situations you've handled before, Miss Anders," he drawled in his low, rolling voice. She held his gaze as he paced before her after turning off the television set. "However, you are my best agent, and I feel you are capable of handling this—naturally, with some assistance. I have prepared a list of my recommendations for you—you are, mind, allowed to recruit others for the tasks, but I would prefer that you stick to these—the ones in our organization."
Kori took the clipboard he offered her. She scanned down the list as he spoke aloud, going more in depth with the agents' capabilities.
"First up: Abir Stam. He's an expert strategist, and averagely skilled on all levels of training. He would be your… second in command, if it were. He is not a specialist." The screen flipped from the first picture to a second. "Second. Baran Flinders. Weapons expert. His role should be obvious." Flip. "Third. Yes, there's more; you'll need at least five others on your team if you wish to succeed. In any case. Third up is Mikron O'Jeneus. Tech whiz." Flip. "Fourth. Adie Samuels. Terrain expert." Flip. "Fifth. Sarah Enos. She's in charge of vehicles here, at HQ."
The screen switched off.
"I can help you contact these people, or you may choose your own recruits. You have one week to decide; Sunday at eight-hundred hours is our meeting. As always, good luck."
Kori nodded, a bit bemused, and departed. She knew where she was going by the time she left the building.
To visit… family.
-
"Help you assemble a 'team.'"
Kori nodded.
The dark-headed girl looked at her, irritated but curious. "What, is goody-goody Kori trying to pull off a job or something?"
Kori sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, sis. I need some help for a mission; work. I know you work undercover and have got a good foothold in the criminal underworld—"
"More than just a foot, I think."
"—and that you might know some better people. All the people my boss knows haven't done much field work in years, except me and the basic foot-soldiers, who we haven't needed for a long while. I want a fresh team, with fresh people. If there's anyone you know that can handle the type of situation that I require, that would be perfect."
Kora's lips curled into a smile. "Well, I guess I could get you some info to help you find who you need… provided you fill me in on everything.
Kori nodded in agreement. "Their appearance will be the only way my boss could know they're criminals. I sure ain't gonna tell him."
"Hah! Maybe you have grown up some. C'mon." Kora got up and grabbed a leather jacket from an off-center peg. "Let's go."
Kori nodded and followed her. "The sooner the better…"
-
Kori had, of course, planned ahead for such an occasion. Before stopping at her sister's, she'd gone to her own apartment and changed into street clothes. She'd had a feeling that business casual wasn't so casual where they were going.
Too right she was.
Kora's knowledge of the darker side of Jump City was both dangerous but wondrous. Her people sent the government's people running. That was part of the reason she and Kori got on so well. While they worked the law differently, Kori had always been interested in heinous activities; criminals.
Jump City Maximum Security Prison was a large place, located just outside of the city. It's large concrete walls surrounded the prison, making all who viewed it feel intimidated. Kora, however, didn't mind it at all as she and Kori walked past them and inside to the human hell inside.
Thousands of prisoners wandered around, entering periodically placed cells. They walked through the halls, followed by obscene gestures, verbal comments, and various animal sounds as they passed the inmates who were watching them. As the entered the end of the hall, they turned a corner and walked up a flight of stairs to see several guards in an office surrounded by computer equipment.
Without hesitation or discomfort, Kora strode straight to one of the security guards and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Yo, Clive."
He turned. "Yeah? Oh, Kora. What'cha want?"
Not bothering to whisper, Kora asked, "I need some...info."
"What kind of...info?"
Kora continued to elaborate all of the requirements that she needed to Clive as he nodded while listening. "Okay."
Kori counted off . "I need a statistics-slash-overall guy… A weapons guy… A tech kid… Terrain statistics person… and…… oh, a car guy."
Kora glanced back at her sister. "That it?"
"Yeah." Kori nodded as she walked over the the window to observe several prisoners involved in a fight.
"I think we have one of your requirements here." Clive said before leaving the control room.
Several minutes later, Clive returned while escorting a young man in along-side him. He was wearing all orange, just like every other inmate and shackles so he couldn't escape. Clive sat him down and walked over to a filing cabinet, then began rumaging through the other various possibilities. Without hesitation, Kora made her way over to the young man who held his head down, but blinked and looked up at Kori with a pair of ice-blue eyes.
"Kori, Richard Grayson. He calls himself Robin. I'm sure you've heard the name before."
"Yeah. The imfamous Robin is wanted all over the country for stealing priceless jewels, paintings, artifacts, etc. How did they catch you?" She asked him, only getting a scoff in response. "No matter. I bet you're wondering why you're here aren't you?"
He just looked up at her with unwavering eyes.
"Let's just say that I have the power to set the Robin free." Kori said making Richard raise an eyebrow.
"What's the job?" he asked.
"My aren't we the impatient type." Kora said.
"Call it intergalactic," Kori said casually. "The job's dealing with some Martian revolts. Seeing that you were able to outmanuever every single law enforcement agency all over the US, I'd say that you're the perfect man for the job."
"Just how handsomely, would you guess?"
"If you help us with our problem, we'll help you with yours." Kori answered. Neither missed a beat.
"Hmm." He leaned back; stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I scratch your back, you scratch my back right?" He thought about it for a minute. "You got a deal. Is this going to be just me and you or--"
Kora spoke up. "You're going to have a team."
"If you think I'm going to work with more of you guys you got another thing coming--"
"I had a feeling you would say that, so I asked my sister here to help me out in that department."
Kora nodded and looked over at Clive, who had just finished pulling out the last file. "Here ya go."
-
On the other side of the country in a military prison, a young man was sitting on his bed in his cell.
"You shouldn't have done that Victor." One of the security guards said outside of his cell.
"Whatever Jerry. He had no right to say that and you know it."
"Well you were the only one who heard him say that, and if he did, you know he wouldn't own up to it. Sucks to see you go like this. Being dishonorably discharged is not something you want man and even worse having it happen to one of my friends."
"Yeah, well--"
"Stone. You're outta here." One of the commanding officers said as he walked up to his cell.
Victor got up and walked out of his cell with a questionable look on his face; as did his friend Jerry. "What's going on sir?" Jerry asked.
"Your friend here has gotten a reprieve." The sergeant, who coiencidentally was hit by Victor grumbled. "Are you coming or not?"
"Sir!" Victor saluted him, then followed.
They arrived to see Kori and Kora standing outside of the prison. "You must be Victor Stone."
"Who wants to know?"
"My name is Kori. I'm sure you're wondering what I want right?"
"That thought did cross my mind."
"Here." Kori said as she handed him a folder.
He looked through the pages. Kori watched him, and she got mixed reactions as he flipped the pages. "So you want me to go to outerspace and risk my neck for the country that put me away for standing up for myself?"
"You can always go back." Kora said.
"Fine. I'll do it." He grumbled
-
"So who's next on the list?" Kori asked conversationally as they waiting in the Detroit Police Department interrogation room. "Eh, a Raven Roth. She got hung up a few times for hacking into business websites, but her biggest mess up was when she made the Nevermore virus."
Kori raised her eyebrows, impressed. "The Nevermore virus?"
Kora nodded as they neared their destination. "Yeah. She's got skills, but she's not excessively friendly. Watch your back for her little snippets; they hurt sometimes, and there are no known comebacks for them as of yet," she winked over her shoulder as they entered.
"You wouldn't be talking about me, would you?" a voice came from behind them.
They saw a young woman standing in handcuffs, who was followed by a policeman.
"We might've been." Kora teased as she walked over and sat down in front of them.
The girl was shorter than Kori by a half-foot or so. Her garb was reminiscent of Kora's; black cargo pants, a black tank top, and a dark, bullet-proof vest with pockets—many with disks peeking out the tops. Her hair must've been dyed, Kori decided; its lavender hue was strange, along with the matching contacts.
"Uh huh. Did you guys need something, or were you just coming here to waste my time?" She asked
"My sis here needs your assistance." Kora said, leaning on the desk with one hand.
"You don't say. Now, that's a shocker," She drawled, mimicking Kora's actions. "What in it for me.
"Your freedom and a clean record." Kori said as she handed her the folder to see if she would take the job.
Raven looked through the pages, then quickly shoved the folder back at them. "You're joking right?"
Kori took a deep breath, then pulled a small video camera from her suitcase and played the footage from the laboratory to Raven. The whole time she watched, Raven's expression didn't change.
"It ain't worth it." Raven said after the video was over.
"Fine, then you can go back to jail where the other females can 'clip' your wings." Kora said with a smile. "Let's go sis."
They both got up, with Kora having a smile on her face. "Too bad, I hear that you had an even bigger virus you called Trigon somewhere. If you accepted this mission, you might've been able to see it in all of it's glory."
Raven looked at them as they left, then stood up. "You drive a hard bargain."
-
Kori and Kora waited in an Arizona police department.
"Here you go ladies. Terra Markov." The captain said before placing her in a chair and walking over to a corner in the office.
"What can I do for you?" Terra asked.
"She gets right to the point. I like that." Kora said.
"This is what." Kori said and handed her the folder containing the information.
Terra hummed as she strummed through the pages.
"Now I know I'm not crazy. I knew the government was up to this stuff!" Terra said before laughing.
"I hear that you're trying to protect this land and every animal on it. I also heard that you've gone to jail several times because of it too." Kora said angrily.
Terra stopped laughing and looked at them seriously. "Now you got my attention."
"I thought so."
After talking to Terra for about and hour, she agreed to help them out.
"Before we go. I know the perfect person to help with the driving."
After hearing that, Kori and Kora took Terra to the nearest racetrack where they saw a stadium filled with spectators as the racecars raced around the track. Terra pointed to a green racecar with the number 88 on the hood as it finished in 1st place. They walked over to see a young man get out wearing a jumpsuit in the same color, with a matching helmet, but what surprised Kori and Kora was when the helmet was pulled off, the young man had the same color hair!
"I'd like you to meet Garfield Logan. He's the best driver I know. If you're looking for someone to drive, he's your man." Terra said while walking over to him.
"What's going on?" Garfield asked as he overheard them talking.
They filled him in on everything and eventually he agreed. Kori and Kora had completed their assignment and now were heading back to Jump City.
-
"Good luck Kori, and if you need help, you know who to call." Kora said over the phone to her sister.
"Thanks. I gotta go." Kori hung up her cell phone as her boss entered the meeting room.
"Where are your choices?" He asked impatiently.
"They should be here any--"
"Sir. They're here." A woman over the intercom said.
End Of Chapter 1.