YJC Chapter 12: Recon Mission
By the time the Team had emerged from the inky blackness, their course was set. Split up, record evidence with the darkwear lenses, obtain samples when appropriate, and retreat. Avoid detection and combat. Also be weary of the presence of a powered individual. With Miss Martian unable to detect anyone even at close range, the presence of a powerful metahuman seemed likely.
After taking a few moments to shake off the sudden chill of her powers, Raven watched as all three of her teammates stalked off in different directions. Keeping herself low to the ground, Raven mentally braced herself for a long wait.
While everyone else was given their marching orders, Raven was told, in simple terms, to stay put. She was to be their mode of untraceable transport as soon as alpha squad wanted to leave. If something went wrong and a fight broke out, Raven was to track down all team members and transport them to the bio-ship while Miss Martian covered their escape.
Raven couldn't say she was especially fond of the idea, but she was nothing if not a patient person. Especially when she had so many screens to watch. Bringing them out of their minimized state, Raven used both her hands to arrange the three video feeds in front of her face.
As part of mission control, she was expected to watch all three of their feeds to evaluate the situation. Arrowette had taken the high ground, navigating through the tree branches in an attempt to get an overview of the camp. It was relatively small, the buildings looked somewhat crude, but they were all sturdy looking. Her position was perfect for an archer.
Several men were walking through the camp, the majority of them wearing casual clothing as they transported boxes and barrels filled with an unknown liquid. His darkwear had identified several figures, their persons outlined in a red highlight as files were brought up almost instantly for some of them. It had Raven honing in on the text, the information reminding her of what could be found on certain databases. It only gave out basic information for now, but she was willing to bet that it would be more than enough to initiate a thorough investigation later.
Alejando Martinez, Jesus Morano, and Salone Cujo were all identified. All were members of the Medellin cartel*. There was a slight shift in the feed, possibly as a result of Robin getting a telepathic message. She half expected it to go down when they entered the barrier.
Arrowette sent her a text. "Raven. You seeing this?"
She typed her messages this time around, preferring to remain absolutely silent while so close to an enemy encampment. "Yes. Is the mental link still in operation?"
"Looks like it. How are Spoiler and Robin doing?"
Her eyes shifted slightly, taking in the small screens that showed continual movement. Spoiler had opted to go inside what looked like a storehouse, passing several stacked shelves as she did so. Robin was heading towards a smaller building, following some sort of wave reader on his screen that she wasn't familiar with. Was it a voice identifier? Or was it some sort of radiotracer? "Spoiler has entered a building that may hold physical evidence. Robin is approaching another building while following... I don't know. What is that on his screen?"
There was a moment of silence as the archer brought up her own set of feeds, honing in on Robin's fairly quickly. "Looks like something from the identifier tab. He's probably trying to figure out where the illusion dome is coming from."
Maintaining her position, they silently watched as more people filtered across her screen, the system easily highlighting and identifying several.
"I honestly think I'll just stay here.", Arrowette noted, sounding somewhat relieved. "Get a record on several people moving through the camp."
Raven minimized the archer's screen at her words, turning her attention back to the two teammates who were still on the move. Spoiler was currently trying to locate all of the guards in the area, likely trying to understand any patrol patterns before she investigated the location in earnest.
Robin had entered a tent and found, much to her surprise, a metallic door. Not just any rusted door either, but one that gleamed in cleanness while accompanied by what looked like an advanced hand scanner. It looked entirely out of place in this otherwise rugged camp, and the seams on the ground told them that this door was only installed later. Likely installed relatively recently.
Given its size, the door either led to a portable room or some sort of underground entrance. Either of which seemed possible at this point. It had Robin bringing up his arm as he accessed some form of a portable computer, one that had Raven zooming in on the unknown tech as he evaluated what was in front of him.
He sent out a message to all squadmates. "I've found a possible entryway and cracked its security measures. There is no guarantee I will be able to maintain contact once I go inside. If I don't return or communicate with you in three minutes, assume something went wrong."
Without further ado, the door swished open to reveal a set of steps leading down into an unknown location. It had Raven schooling her features as the young man skulked his way inside. The feed didn't cut out, thankfully, but Raven still found herself studying the camera religiously as she placed a hand on the ground in front of her. She only felt the presence of one person down there, the person in question feeling rather calm and even a bit bored as they went about their business. Was he a supervisor, perhaps?
It would be unusual for the place to be mostly devoid of human personnel, but it wasn't unheard of. With the advent of advanced robotics, an automated work force wasn't entirely out of the question. But the mere fact this advanced underground base existed at all had her concerned. "Isn't the entire reason why we're out here because the watchtower was having trouble finding this place? How can they have a fully operational base without becoming detectable?"
"They probably have their own power generator down there.", Arrowette quipped. "And if they can manage an illusion dome, shielding the emission of power shouldn't be too difficult."
"It also raises the possibility that they are creating the meta-triggering compound themselves as opposed to having it delivered to them.", Spoiler noted, looking at an opened box stacked to the brim with white-filled bricks. "I have opened several boxes and none of this product is incomplete. It's all fully-prepared numb dust." Poking a small incision in the plastic, she scooped up some of said material inside a small vial.
Arrowette's screen shifted, the young archer readjusting her position. "Do you think we should follow Robin? Help him out since it looks like that is where most of the good stuff is at?"
"No. Most of that stuff is probably locked inside computer systems and databases, something Robin is perfectly capable of obtaining on his own without help. Unless he's fighting someone, we're better off getting information from up here." Raven saw her place the lid back on, using a grappling hook to maneuver her way to another section of the building. "I'm going to check out their weapons. I find it unlikely that they are completely self-sufficient. They have to be trading with allies."
Raven internally agreed with the idea. If the goal of the mission was obtaining information, then concentrating their talent around a single area of the base would have been counterintuitive since only one of them was capable of breaking through advanced firewalls. A base of this size had information in a variety of places. Arrowette's screen feed alone was a veritable bouquet of information on who was present, and it also doubled as a form of physical evidence if the video was ever taken to court. A defendant having to deal with documents alone was one thing, but a defendant having to content with documents and a video? That was much harder to fight against. The more types of evidence they found, the better.
Robin, from what she was able to see, had somehow gotten a map of the facility and was currently making his way to the deeper portion of the base. It looked like he was heading to the generator room before he made an unexpected turn, heading toward a set of rooms labeled with a set of acronyms and numbers. It didn't look like he encountered any resistance.
"Is there anyone or anything else down there?", she queried, trying to sense out the presence she felt earlier.
"Not from what I can tell.", Robin said, sounding slightly anxious as he looked at the darker lighting around him. "It's actually kind of weird. A lot of this architecture looks familiar somehow."
"Maybe because it is? You've been in a lot of bases, Robin.", Arrowette quipped, sounding a little tired.
Robin hummed in agreement, but it didn't escape Raven's notice that he felt uneasy. The type of uneasy that is usually accompanied by a niggling feeling in the back of their head that they have forgotten something.
"How do people even make these without someone noticing?", she asked, knowing full well that she already knew the answer. But maybe Robin would tell her something new? With the amount of tech and information they had on hand, she wouldn't be surprised.
Robin answered the query like a living encyclopedia. "Well, the finances are usually handled by shell companies who document their work in the area as a "survey project" or something like that. But the material and construction itself tend to come from groups and societies who chartered the construction to begin with by using a liaison or a set of code words. International trade regulations have always been messy, and when combined with the leniency in certain countries in exchange for financial gain, it is easy for things to get lost or overlooked. And that's not even counting the advent of sonar-dig technology, Luthor's changes to global trade law, extraterrestrial artifacts, alien incursions, an —"
His voice stopped suddenly, his screen showing a massive machine that was a couple of stories tall in height alone. Glowing with white lines that ran across the surface like languid snakes, it was the slate of peculiar text that had them both staring.
It wasn't a language Raven recognized, but the constant curvature and apostrophes had her staring at it for a solid few seconds before Robin's screen isolated it and provided a rough translation: Illusotron.
Raven felt Robin's concern grow significantly as he walked around the massive construct, and she couldn't help but internally compare it to one of those old-timey computers. The really old kind that were the size of small buildings. Robin was taking in every detail, his screen panning over massive portions of the machine.
It was as he was searching for the machine's interface that a new text box came up, the pastel blue and pink coloring easily identifying it as coming from the bio-ship. "I'm coming down. I should be able to access its central programming. It shouldn't be too difficult since its usual defenses were likely stripped down."
The text had Raven tilting her head as she looked at the abrupt message. She didn't expect Miss Martian to come down so quickly. Especially for something that looked like Robin could handle himself. "Did I miss something?"
She heard Arrowette give a small cough on her screen. "Ah right, no link. Miss M basically said the device is martian and that it is typically reserved for their military forces to conceal bases."
Raven mulled over the information mutely, tramping the rising sense of befuddlement as she digested the information. Was this… was this really normal? Just coming across stuff from another planet's military and dealing with it as though it was a normal occurrence. It sounded like stuff closer to what Nightshade would deal with.
'I guess this really is the big leagues…'
She didn't even know how a discovery like this would be handled. Earth's relation to Mars was…complicated. Even if it was mostly amicable. They acknowledged each other's existence and sovereignty over their respective planets, but public communication that wasn't in the form of delayed radio waves was stunted at best. Although the U.N and Justice League had assured people that they could get in quick contact if they really needed to, people still tended to view the martian race as a whole as either a lingering threat or an irrelevant neighbor. But it wouldn't take much for that viewpoint to change.
Things could get dicey depending on how and why this martian device was located here.
Raven felt Miss Martian's oncoming approach before she felt a gentle hand placed on her shoulder, the sudden contact causing Raven to visibly look at the appendage in distaste as the martian's feelings of concern began to seep through. It had the martian instantly retracting her hand, looking entirely like she was pricked with a needle. It didn't last long though, and it was soon replaced with a small, albeit slightly forced, smile as she regarded her young charge with an air of motherly encouragement. "I just wanted to check in on how things were going. You seem to be doing well though, all things considered."
Raven's face didn't reveal any additional information as she turned her gaze forward. "So it seems."
The curt response had the martian fidgeting, her brows furrowing for a second before she focused on the task at hand. Placing a hand on the side of her head, Miss Martian found herself speaking her telepathic message out loud so everyone could be on the same page. "We have officially gathered enough information on the drug operation here. Everyone except Robin is to meet back up with Raven and remain on standby. I will head down into the base to assist Robin in evaluating the illusotron."
With that she began levitating above the ground, the air giving a small shimmer as she initiated her camouflage. Looking like what appeared to be a passing mirage as she moved, Miss Martian saw Raven blinking confusedly as she followed her form. It had her looking over her shoulder for a moment, wondering if she should further explain her abilities before she went to help Robin. But the thought was dismissed as she made her way towards the underground entrance.
Phasing through was easy, as was making her way through the tunnels. But as she did so she couldn't help but agree with Robin's earlier statement. Something about this base did seem familiar the more she went into it. The metal was turning into a dark shade of green-gray, and the design was exceptionally sleek even for Earth standards…
She found Robin taking scans of the machine and its surroundings, his eyes scanning over the entire room as though he was putting together a case file. He was standing by what looked like a control panel, the contraption hosting design details that made it obvious that it was an external addition meant for human operators.
She mentally grasped the metal attachments that kept it latched to the machine, the metal making a crunching sound as she forcefully wrenched it away from the pale section of bio-material that served as the actual control panel. It had tendrils reaching out to grasp at the wires and hardware, assimilating into it much in the same way her bio-ship was capable of doing.
She pursed her lips as she approached, a hand reaching out to mentally command it to retract. She was equal parts surprised and relieved when it did so, the organic machine eagerly responding to her instruction despite its unfamiliarity with her. Martian military constructs were typically programmed to be suspicious and hardheaded by nature, typically only responding to mental commands only when a martian of proper status gave it a telepathic command. Someone of insufficient rank even attempting to give it a command would be met with resistance and a telepathic mental alert being sent out, which was why when one was forced to be altered the martians usually had to send in a specialist…
The fact that this one was reacting to her at all meant that the illusotron was either already deprogrammed by someone with that skillset or that it had somehow been acquired before it was fully configured.
She tried to go through its mental imprints, trying to sift through telepathic preprogramming to see who had given it its directives and who deposited it here in the first place. She knew it was transported on a ship many years ago, and it was produced in… Xan'Xie*? She saw flashes of workers putting the ship together, white limbs raising with mental commands as they pushed and weaved the organic material together. She saw a green martian approach, his mental imprint laced with a calculative edge as he gestured toward the newly forged product. Going further along she knew it was locked in a room for some time, bid to remain at rest until a certain someone came to pick it up. But who was —?
"Miss Martian, wake up!"
She was brought out of her psychic trance, the white tendrils of the illusotron hastily retracting themselves as it sensed her apprehension, and the young martian found her head reorienting itself to look at Robin's guarded form.
He was in his battle stance, his staff raised at the ready as he kept his attention on a familiar machine that crawled forward like an overgrown arachnid.
The giant mech had lowered itself to the ground, its laser cannons extending from one of its shoulder compartments before it began to glow a bright yellow. It took them both a few moments, but eventually both were able to pinpoint the robot's origin: It was Krolotean.
They had left behind some of their tech in one of their old bases, it seemed. Likely because of their rushed evacuation a few years ago.
A bright beam of light shot toward them, with Robin just barely managing to get out of the way before it could make contact. Miss Martian went upward, trying her best to push the mech into the nearest wall. But all she did was make it hover in the air, the dense metal of the advanced machine easily outweighing most vehicles.
Whatever movement she had imparted into it was quickly dropped when it shot another laser, the bright beam easily homing in on her with what she assumed was heat vision or something similar. It was only thanks to years of practice that she was able to see it coming, quickly moving herself to the side as the projectile bounced off the metal walls.
It hit the thick shell of the illusotron, and Miss Martian felt the slight pain emanating from it as it began willing itself into a smaller form. It shrank considerably, condensing itself into a more oblong shape that was both harder to hit and more likely to absorb damage.
She looked around for Robin only to see that he was nowhere to be found. Eyes darting around the room, it looked like he had performed one of his vanishing acts, the young man having apparently inherited Dick's old proclivity for darting out of sight when the opportunity presented itself.
She even started looking toward the ceiling, partially expecting to find Robin crowding himself on the ceiling with the help of a grappling hook. But a small sense of vertigo overtook her when she saw nothing but a gaping blackness above her.
The darkness swallowed her vision whole, somehow pulling her attention into its abyss that was devoid of color or limited depth until she shook her head to clear her head. Looking again, she realized that the blackness had belonged to a portal, the gaping space abruptly stopping at the ceiling's edge. Laced in a thin white trim of unknown power, it appeared as though a halo was the only thing keeping the darkness from devouring the entire room.
She heard a shrill sound as another laser beam was shot, the alien mech apparently thinking the portal could be disrupted if it was shot at. It shot repeatedly again and again, the blackness taking in each shot as though it was nothing.
Her mental link sprung to life with a message.
'Hey, Miss Martian? Raven says to hurry it up if you really want to keep fighting to a minimum.'
Robin's voice was enough to have her steeling herself for an unusual method of retreat, the martian only feeling a little nervous as she took a reverse dive into oblivion. The space inside the darkness was chilling and devoid of all feeling — including the psychic sense inherent in all life — but it seemed like only a moment passed before she was left standing in the full light of day.
It had her exhaling a shaky breath, the sudden sensation of total disconnection disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. She had never felt like that before, and even though she knew it was temporary, only a mere blip of time, there was an uneasy feeling at her core at being so… removed. From everything.
Is that why her mental link had gone dark for a second when team alpha was transported inside the dome?
If the other members of the team seemed concerned about the teleportation method, they didn't voice it. Actually, now that her link was back up, it appeared whatever unease they felt regarding the transport was only temporary. More of a result of not knowing what to expect rather than anything else.
Looking at the scenery around her, she realized they were just outside the dome, her team looking at her expectantly since it appeared she had been deep in thought.
"Has there been a change in plans?", Arrowette asked, clearly expecting a change of mission parameters since the martian was so silent.
"Maybe. We certainly didn't expect this place to have martian and krolotean tech on in it.", Robin voiced, looking ready to sneak back in. "But we should probably leave now. Between the illusotron and the mech, people should already be aware someone was in the base."
"There's actually a chance that's not the case.", Miss Martian stated, the comment drawing the curiosity of everyone around her. "The illusotron isn't trained like the rest of its kind. And given the tendency of martian biomatter to view all martians as friendlies, it may not report my presence unless directly prompted by an advanced telepath. The same goes for my allies. But seeing as how they were using an artificial interface to interact with it, they may not have that sort of telepath on hand."
"And the mech?"
"I am not certain but…" She thought over the brief encounter, her psychic abilities giving her an unusual but somewhat familiar read on the robot's cockpit. "I think the mech was also being commanded by martian biomatter. It didn't feel like it was being piloted by a krolotean or any other sentient race. I know what those feel like. But it still had a…" She tried to find the right word. "Feel of semi-consciousness. So, it wasn't dictated by an entirely mechanical process either. It almost reminded me of the bioship."
"But it attacked you.", Raven noted, her dry response putting the girl's presence in the martian's stark awareness. She really needed to get used to her unusual psychic presence, or lack thereof. "If it's willing to do that of its own volition, wouldn't it stand to reason that it was trained to report incidents?"
Miss Martian thought it over. "It would depend on who did the initial programming and who is giving it orders. Depending on the actual programming, a construct of biomatter may try to work around or slightly deviate from its intended purpose. They are incredibly adaptive like that." It bothered her that the enemy had access to such material. Martian technology that used biomatter were not just tools to be used, they were living things. Living things that were semi-sentient and were expected to be given a certain amount of special care when in their formative state. But based on what she'd seen, they were only given the bare minimum amount of psychic input. The illusotron she interacted with almost seemed desperate for attention, craving a psychic touch that it clearly was not getting anywhere else. Or at least not at the intervals in which it should.
When combined with her ease at navigating its memory banks, she was convinced that an illusotron of that quality would never be allowed to be put into active military service on Mars. Did the kroloteans steal it years ago when it was still in its developmental stage? Or was the biomatter somehow delivered to earth where it was haphazardly put together by a residential psychic who only knew the technicalities of the substance?
It was something they had to investigate. However, …
She gave a small glance at Raven, and Miss Martian heaved a mental sigh as she made her decision. "Head back to the bio-ship.", she concluded. With a new member on the team, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks. Not when they had sufficient information to begin an investigation with what they had already gathered. "Once we get back to the watchtower safe and sound, we can consider this mission a success."
She gave what she hoped was her best reassuring smile, the corners of her mouth tilting upwards as she sent pulses of reassurance through the link. There was a series of proud smiles and smirks as she began lifting them all up to the camouflaged ship. The discoveries made today unnerved her. Deeply. But that was not something she needed to burden her team with when the mission was technically a success.
The moment of triumph was slightly shattered when Miss Martian felt a sudden lurch against her invisible psychic grasp, the group looking on in mild surprise as Raven began levitating on her own terms, a bit of debris falling off her as she got rid of anything on her cloak. She looked like she had just shaken off an unwanted nuisance, exerting her own mental force to untangle herself from the martian's grip.
It was a firm push against her psychic senses, the girl's repulsion of her shared levitation coming out as neither a furious burst of mental energy nor as a flimsy unpracticed attempt to brush off a new psychic sensation.
It felt more like deliberate rebuff against an unwanted advance. The ease with which she disentangled herself from the martian's communal reach feeling like a stern reminder that she wanted to maintain a safe mental boundary and to remember what they talked about.
There was an instinctive part of her that wanted to reach out more, to exude her mental power just a bit more to coax her into the proverbial family hold. But she refrained. The young girl clearly wanted her space, after all. Both physically and mentally.
She gave what appeared to be an understanding nod, despite her lingering concern. But the girl's impassive face only gave her a raised eyebrow as she increased her speed to reach the bioship faster, the vehicle eagerly making an opening as soon it saw she was within reach.
It seemed no matter how content the martian face seemed or how reassuring she tried to make her speech, the girl was unresponsive to her attempts. If anything, she looked unconvinced at her display. As though she was somehow aware of the martian's inner sense of unease.
Her discomfort only increased at the thought. The girl's mental shields hadn't wavered even once this entire mission, and her presence was just as invisible to her psychic senses now as it was when she first entered the Watchtower.
How she was able to exude her abilities without letting those shields drop was a mystery. That small rebuff of her levitational assistance was the first time she really felt her, and it was as brief as it was uninformative. There was no emotional wavelength in it and barely any impression of thought at all. It was just perceived as a mental force tempered into a specific shape and effect.
Even Psimon couldn't help but show his emotions when he went for a mental attack, his presence practically exuding his malicious intent with every flex of his power. Same went for all other humanoid psychics she encountered.
As far as mental expression was concerned, Raven's mode of psychic expression was one she was unfamiliar with. But the concept of such a mental "dialect" was not unheard of. Both the Manhunters* and the sorcerer priests of Mars practiced something similar when they attempted to reach a better understanding of the self and other philosophical concepts. It required a deliberate detachment from any sense of community, shared experiences, and shared emotions that practically defined the martian people. And then it required a stability of the individual self through meditation or, in some cases, medication in order to subdue any excess emotions or distractions as they dedicated themselves to their mental exercise.
These sort of practices were always temporary even if they were a bit lengthy, and its end was often commemorated by an open return to the martian community with a newfound appreciation. Sometimes the practitioners in question were so happy to be back that they cried in joy, the sensation of being truly alone making them wise and appreciative of life in a way that even other martians could not fully understand.
But in a place like Earth, where such mental communication was scarce, it was entirely possible this form of psychic expression had been formed in her early formative years.
Raven didn't seem like a social creature even without her powers. If she had been a social outcast when young and began practicing a "spiritual" practice in early childhood, that could definitely account for her powers' peculiar development. Especially if her powers manifested really early on in life like Canary said to her in passing.
The development of powers alone would have encouraged a feeling of social alienation, and if she had been like the metahumans who had her powers acting erratically due to a lack of control, that sense of alienation would have been compounded by a sense of anxiety that her powers would go haywire without a continuous mental grasp.
So, when her particular practice of maintaining a stable sense of self resulted in power stability did she just… never stop? Was her display of control in fact dictated by an artificial routine at home? It made her wonder just how familiar she really was with her powers, if she indeed relegated herself to only interact with them through a specific emotionally controlled lens…
She resolved to ask Nightwing and Arsenal questions later. Or perhaps she would be better off asking Raven to talk to her in a session? Given Raven's sense of privacy, she might take offense if she found out she was asking around about her.
Asking Uncle John about the practices of the manhunters could also be helpful though. If her theories were correct, understanding that unorthodox method of mental training might be key to connecting with the seemingly unemotive girl.
As her group finally levitated into the bio-ship, allowing the team's feelings of relief and triumph after a job well done to go through her mental link, she regained her small smile.
Understanding required effort, she reasoned. What was important was that despite Raven's behavior, she wasn't disruptive to the team dynamic. If anything, the girl proved herself open to team cooperation and direction in addition to being fairly competent with powers. And that was a good enough sign for a first mission, wasn't it?
It was still a bit too early to tell, but there were signs that Raven could become an ideal Team member. Even if she did have a few communication issues, there was no reason they couldn't work on it later.
| Watchtower
| 2019 March 9, 15:31 EST
Immediately upon returning from the recon mission, the Team was given 10 minutes to freshen up in a nearby locker room. For most, that translated to taking a quick shower and changing into a new suit. It turned out the watchtower had some basic living facilities including some showers and a storage area where extra suits were held.
Not that that mattered much to Raven. As someone who primarily staid in the bio-ship alongside Miss Martian, the amount of sweat and strain she had experienced was minimal. Not to mention she had no extra clothes to speak of up here.
So, when she reported in alongside everyone for a mission review in the observation deck, Raven was the one left standing out due to the small stains of forest grime that still stubbornly clung to her cloak. But no one commented on it by the time Miss Martian and Tigress approached, a giant holoscreen appearing in front of them displaying their previous location in the Amazon.
"Good work Team Alpha.", she greeted, sounding a bit chipper now that she was back at home base. "We had a few hiccups, but the mission was a resounding success." She even took on a joking tone. "To think our first mission was all about recon and we didn't cause a single explosion."
Raven heard Arrowette snort beside her. "That's gotta be some kind of record. Covert recon missions with newbies usually ends up with the mission changing halfway though."
Spoiler shrugged. "Yeah, but this mission was more the easy side anyway. It was more about gauging Raven's powers, right? I'd say that while it took her a while, she did a good job."
"Excellent, actually.", Miss Martian carefully amended. "Seeing as how the main reason we found the base was due to her empathic heading. Given what we know about the base now, it is considered highly beneficial that Raven can track down targets that cannot be detected conventionally. Even if certain population parameters have to be met."
They still wanted to test out those abilities in other settings like a small town or a city at night time. But the general consensus was that they would learn about her powers' limitation on future recon missions. This mission was helpful in giving them a general idea about how her powers worked and how well she could handle them, even if the combat was kept to a minimum in her case.
"The most I can critique Raven on is her relatively slow response time with the darkwear contacts, but I am sure this will improve with time. New tech is always hard to become acclimated to." Miss Martian paused, her tone taking on a lower pitch. "But we do have to address your unwillingness to form a mental link. It didn't amount to an issue this time around, but there are missions where we will be forced to go radio silent to avoid detection. Even darkwear communication has its limitations, and untraceable communication among the Team is absolutely vital." She gave the girl a small smile, hoping she wasn't remiss by putting her on the spot. "But I'm sure we can work through it. It was foolish of me to assume your abilities worked similarly to mine, despite the classification. With some work and a little bit of research, I am sure we can come up with a training regimen to develop your unique talents."
Raven fidgeted in her spot, something that everyone else interpreted as a sign of muted embarrassment. But it was more a sense of worry, really. What part of the phrase "my mind is no place for outsiders" did she not get? Her inner mind was a potential hazard to outsiders, even at the best of times. Having a mental connection for an extended period of time was just asking for trouble.
Those words of encouragement were the last thing the martian needed to say to her though, as she quickly turned her attention to the archer beside her, the holoscreen bringing up an earlier version of her feed. "Now, Arrowette, we need to talk about your attention span. On shorter missions this is typically a non-issue, but there were several instances where your head was simply going through the motions without actually observing anything. This lack of awareness can be dangerous, especially if someone caught you off guard. And to add onto that, we have footage that showed you missed a few pieces of evidence that could have contributed to our search. You should try to train your mind to be continuously aware, and if need be, we can try some mental exercises to improve your concentration on missions where you may be mentally fatigued."
The meeting went on like that for a while, the martian leaving no one out as she made a carefully worded critique for every member. Whether these were genuine points of concern or whether she was looking for an excuse to not let Raven stand out among the Team's veterans was something she couldn't safely determine. But at the very least Raven was certain Robin's mission review was mostly for show, even if the stern boy beside her treated it like a serious flaw that needed to be immediately corrected.
Tigress was silent throughout the whole thing, seemingly content to just watch the proceedings as everyone reacted to Miss Martian's words. Unsurprisingly though, Raven was the one she was watching the most, and Raven wondered not for the first time what the older woman thought of her.
Their interactions at the quarry had left them a bit wary of each other, and Raven was worried if she somehow set herself up to be seen as a liability that needed to be accounted for. What did she look like to her, Raven wondered, when she spotted Raven standing in front of the boom tube? Like a startled animal that couldn't take those final steps into an unknown portal, she imagined. Or perhaps she thought she was overly cautious? Even with Raven's insistence that she was waiting for her, she was not certain she left that great of an impression.
When Miss Martian had said all she needed to, Tigress immediately took her spot as she pointedly addressed everyone. "Alright Team. It's promising that the four of you were able to work together to complete a mission, but now it's time for training. Given that our last attempt to do so was almost immediately interrupted, the League has given us permission to use the training facilities here on the watchtower for the time being. After that, everyone except Raven will be sent on the second mission of the day."
Raven's jaw tightened at the information. She was hoping the HUB would be where she would be spending her time, but it seems the Team primarily operated from the Watchtower directly. In addition, it appeared that Raven was expected to go through some sort of special session immediately after training. She hoped it didn't have to do with Miss Martian.
One of the zeta tubes began glowing, the feminine voice of the computer ringing throughout the room. Recognized: 25, Zatanna and B29, Thirteen
Raven was immediately on edge, though her face was as impassive as ever. She was hoping to avoid the magician as much as possible, even though both her and Nightshade knew it was likely inevitable. But that didn't mean she wanted to go through the moment of truth so early.
Tigress gave the newcomers a nod, oblivious to the Leaguer's powerful magic aura. They seemed familiar with each other, the two women exchanging small smiles before Tigress gestured toward the girl she encountered earlier. "This time around we will be training with every Team member. The next mission will also potentially involve magic, so it is important for everyone to be on their best cooperative behavior and expect the unexpected. Magic has a tendency to throw everything into chaos."
Raven noticed Thirteen giving her a look that was somewhere between curiosity and apprehension. "Do you believe in magic, Raven?"
'Well at least I have her fooled.', she thought. Her magical skill was lackluster, after all. The energetic girl had only just arrived and Raven could already feel the skirting of excess energy that refused to be contained.
She went with an enigmatic response. "I believe in the existence of magic, yes."
Traci's cackling sparkler of mystic energy was nothing compared to Zatanna's aura. The woman never attempted to conceal her nature, and it showed in how her immense power pulsated throughout the room. It rang of wonder and possibility, fueled by a mindset that purged negative thoughts in favor of the more uplifting sort, and her magic almost seemed content to roar around her. Knowing full well that sometime soon, the magician would say the right words and the energy could come out as almost anything. But it didn't even need her words to exert itself upon the world. Not truly. With the way her magic was interacting with the world around her, as invisible and ethereal as it was, it was apparent that Zatanna's very presence invited the mystical.
Pure magic… and Raven couldn't help the small feeling of pity and disgust that ran through her being at the thought.
Pure magic thrived on expression; it was true. It was an abstract cosmic concept that wanted to encourage wonder, awe, a sense of mystery, and so much. But just because that sort of magic could express itself that didn't necessarily mean that it always should.
That sort of overbearing magic could push and pull at natural ley lines, impose itself on magical fonts, and generally become an unfortunate cancer to any area that became too reliant on it. Just look at San Francisco*.
Zatanna couldn't even leave the city without every residential mystic knowing about it. The city's energies had become too reliant on having it around. Too dependent. So much so that it would take years, if not a decade or two, for the city to regenerate its natural fields should Zatanna ever fail to return. But that alone would not stop the negative ripple effect of disrupted magic that that hole had already caused over the years.
Pure magic was addictive. Like ambrosia or heroin. But for some reason it seemed most humans were content to let that sort of addiction fester until they saw the detrimental results with their own eyes. This was mostly the result of sheer ignorance. Most magic-using humans did not develop a sensitivity to the natural ebb and flow of arcane energies, it was considered too archaic a practice. It wasn't fun to them.
But Raven had seen even supposed experts demonstrate their lack of knowledge when it came to such matters. Why would they? Learning to look for the subtle flow to a magic they could not use or manipulate was hardly interesting to them. Not when everything seemed to be fine on the surface.
Was Zatanna one of those blind practitioners, she wondered, simply relying on faith that her magic would never harm anything? Or was she in fact aware of the effects, and simply did not care? Or worse, was she in fact proud her very presence could invoke such a disastrous longing in the world around her?
One thing that always disturbed her about earth's magic culture was how practitioners viewed their magical aura. It was never tempered, never tapped down or disciplined into restraint, save for those rare occasions when they tried to hide from one of their own. If anything, everyone seemed to view it as a badge of honor when their essence reached the point where it could affect stuff simply by being.
Like gods among men. Or spirits among the mundane.
The monotone voice of her response elicited a nod of relief from Thirteen, the girl practically exuding glee that her female teammate was not a magical skeptic. Her peculiar tone also attracted Zatanna's attention, and despite everything, Raven could not stop herself from inwardly tensing.
But all she got was a brief glance as she looked the pale girl over. Raven felt the barest strings of curiosity as the older woman looked at the new team member, but it was more of a cursory look. Barely a moment passed before the woman turned her attention toward Tigress again, the two idly talking about the details of the upcoming mission.
Raven exhaled a small sigh. It was as she had long suspected. In a magical community that openly always presented their ethereal presence, she was practically invisible…
Provided she didn't mess up or have any unexpected magic outburst, she should be able to keep herself hidden from the League's residential magic users.
Author's Notes:
In DC comics, Xavier Cujo is a major leader of the Medellin Cartel, which primarily operates out of Colombia.
The illusotron concept is taken from the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. More specifically from the episode where the Manhunters frame Green Lantern for "destroying" a planet. It was compared to a ramped-up version of a martian toy that creates small illusions.
Xan'Xie Peaks was a location briefly mentioned by Martian Manhunter. Can't find out much about it though. But it sounded martian-y, so I decided to use it.
The concept of martians deliberately detaching themselves from their people is taken directly from one of Martian Manhunter's origins. He underwent a rite of passage so that he could understand what it was like to be "truly alone", something the martians were unfamiliar with.
Also, for anyone wondering what's up with the timestamps, I am beginning to transition to the 24-hour military clock and relative time zones used in the show. Before I was using the standard AM/PM clock because it was easier for me to understand and make time conversions between time zones.
San Francisco being affected by Zatanna's magic is ripped straight from the comics. To quote Tannarak: "When Zatanna's out of town, it's like a hole in this city's heart".