So when the General said Alex would be working at the recruitment station as his cover for being in the city he literally meant he'd be working. Alex had just finished checking into the recruitment sub-station and was given time to change out of his service alphas before he spent the rest of the day sitting behind a desk figuring out how to be a recruiter. General Anderson made one mistake when making these orders by neglecting to send him to recruiting school beforehand so Alex would be winging this whole thing. Thankfully there was only one representative per branch of service at this RSS and the Lieutenant in charge of him worked from home most of the time, so at least he wouldn't have anyone breathing down his neck the whole time. It was a slow day at the office, Alex only had two people come in and ask him questions about enlisting the whole day.
Once he locked up the office Alex drove back to his apartment in Old Gotham, hung up his uniform, changed into civilian clothes, and turned on the TV in the loft before ordering some pizza. The news was rather boring tonight so he switched over to one of the cartoon channels. What because he's a Sergeant he can't watch cartoons? Anyways Alex retrieved ammo and Magazines from the armory for his IAR and loaded mags while he waited, finishing around thirty full magazines when dinner finally arrived. Alex took the elevator down to meet the driver and payed him before finally getting back up and enjoying a few slices while cartoons played in the background.
He was halfway through his third slice when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out revealed the General was calling and he quickly answered it. "Evening Sir, how can I help you?"
"Westbrook I know you've just got settled in but I have a mission for you." He quickly says.
"I'm all ears Sir." Alex tells him as he quickly grab a notepad and pencil to take down notes.
"Police chatter says Riddler, AKA Edward Nygma, is out causing trouble in the city, bombs planted in several locations armed with anti-tampering devices. Only way to stop them from going off is to solve riddles at each site. I've gotten word that Batman and his crew are on the scene as well but frankly we don't have time to wait on them. I've had some people tap into Riddler's network and traced him to a warehouse by the docks."
Riddler, anti-tamper bombs, multiple sites, Bat's on scene, warehouse docks, #guards? Hejotted down as he listened to the General. "Sir you want me to take him alive?" Alex asks.
"This is your mission Sergeant, prosecute the target as you see fit, but he is wanted for multiple acts of terrorism, murder, and theft."
"Right, got it Sir, and what if the Bat's decide to interfere?" That was the real question. Alex knew what they could do, and he respected the work they did, but he didn't think they'd take too kindly to him killing their enemies even if it was lawfully ordered.
"I don't have a problem with them like the GCPD does, however you can't allow them to get between you and your mission. I'll advise you to avoid contact if at all possible but the mission takes priority."
"Understood Sir, I'm on my way to the coordinates now." He says before hanging up. Sure enough the General sends me the building number Riddler's hiding out in. Warehouse 1731. Alex ran into his room and changed into a black camouflage uniform and threw on his load bearing vest, or LBV for short. It didn't offer the protection of a plate carrier but it would hold the same amount of gear. He ran back out to the loft and loaded the LBV's mag pouches and grabbed his IAR from the table before running down the fire escape and into his waiting vehicle. Alex started the Challenger and quickly sped through the streets towards the docks.
Alex parked a block away from the docks and made his way on foot to the warehouse, stopping at the adjacent warehouse and climbing a ladder onto the roof. Once on the roof he laid in the prone and propped his IAR on its bipod before pulled back the charging handle and loading a round into the chamber. Weapon loaded Alex looked through the sight and scouted out the warehouse Riddler was hiding in. At least eight guards with AK's were milling about outside and no doubt there'd by more waiting inside. No way he was sneaking in it seemed but at least he'd catch them off guard.
Flicking his weapons safety over too semi-automatic and sighting in on the thug closest to the door. Breathe, exhale, breathe, exhale, BANG! The thug collapses into the wall, a gunshot wound through his chest. The remaining thugs jump in surprise before, BANG!, another one goes down clutching his throat. At this point the others start firing in random directions completely unaware that Alex is on a rooftop. Alex switched over to automatic and fired several short bursts down at them, finishing them off.
The perimeter guards dealt with Alex got up and slid down the ladder he came up on. Back on docks he approached the warehouse, weapon up, and ready to breach the door. A kick from his boot breaks the door off the rusty hinges and he rushed inside shooting two more thugs on his way to cover. Suddenly gunfire lights up the building as the thugs inside fire at his cover. Luckily for him they had no concept of talking guns and they all had to stop to reload at the same time leaving Alex a precious few seconds to break cover and take down a few of them. Three more down, leaving two more between Alex and what looked like an old access tunnel. Deciding that time was of the essence he ducked back behind cover and primed a frag grenade.
Safety's removed, Alex tossed the grenade over his cover. "Catch bitches!" He shouts at the thugs as the grenade sails through the air, clattering on the ground before exploding, killing one thug and crippling the other. Alex vaulted over his cover and walked over to the thug that was left alive and noticed he only had a few shrapnel wounds. He contemplated shooting him for a second but couldn't bring himself to do it; there was a deference between combat and murder, and he wasn't going to cross that line so instead he delivered a quick butt stroke to his forehead rendering the thug unconscious.
Finally, the way was clear and Alex made his way to the access tunnel, opening the old door and pointing his muzzle down the tunnel. When nothing presented itself he lowered his weapon and began to make his way down the tunnel, noticing that multiple power lines ran across the walls. Eventually Alex wound up on a catwalk overlooking an underground storage room. Various computers and monitors lined the walls and the room itself was lit in an eerily green light. Yeah, definitely the place. Must've been further than he thought as Riddler and his escorts looked calm, unaware of the firefight that had taken place not less than five minutes ago.
BANG BANG! BANG BANG! The Riddler's last two guards went down from the hammer pairs sent into their chests and he turned around in surprise as Alex hopped the rail and landed in front of him.
"Well, you're not who I was expecting." He said to me once he regained his composure.
"What a shame, cause I've been looking for you."
"Yes, I can see you've gone to great lengths to get here and now that you've found me I have to wonder what you intend to do?"
"Your guards are dead, that should be answer enough."
"Indeed, but your no mercenary. No no, you're too well equipped, too well trained for that. You can't be law enforcement either, they're too stuck up with protocol to go in guns blazing like you did. If I had to guess you're working for the government, but why would they send an agent after me?"
"You tell me why I'm here and I'll let you know if your right."
"Of course, they're tired of just throwing us in Arkham only to be on the streets again. Oh dear, you intend to kill me don't you?"
Alex smirked at the look of horror that comes over his face as he raise his rifle towards his chest. Remember how he said there was a difference between combat and murder? Well there's also a difference between murder and killing a known terrorist. "Edward Nygma, by order of the Department of Defense I hear by sentence you to death by execution for multiple charges of domestic terrorism, murder, and theft."
"No no, wait! I can change I swear, just send me back to Arkham I'll stay this time! I'll…"
BANG! Alex cut off his pleading with a single shot to the chest.
"Yeah well you should've thought about that earlier." He tells him as he slumps against a computer clutching his chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but Alex had made sure to hit his heart insuring that he'd bleed out quickly. He removed a portable camera from his cargo pocket and snapped a picture of him to send back as confirmation of the kill.
His job done Alex looked for a way out, spotting another access tunnel on his floor leading out to docks. He glanced back to make sure Riddler was well and truly dead before taking his leave.
...
This was the last bomb. Riddler had gotten smarter, using anti-tampering devices but it still wasn't smart enough for Batman it seemed. Speaking of him he was busy working on figuring out the last riddle while Tim and Barbara kept watch in case any of Riddler's thugs happened to be lurking nearby. Suddenly they got a call from Alfred back at the Batcave.
"Sorry to interrupt but it seems there's a shootout happening at the docks. Police reports say that Riddler's men are engaged with an unknown aggressor. They've cordoned off the area and are waiting for reinforcements before going in."
"Got it, thanks Alfred." Batman said while he continued to work on the bomb. "Batgirl, go on ahead and find out what's going on." He orders.
"What about you two?" She asks.
"We'll be fine here. Once this bombs offline we'll meet up with you now go."
"I'm on it!" She replies happily. Riddler's gang and an unknown assailant? Sounded like fun to her. Barbara ran outside, hopped on her motorcycle, and sped off towards the docks. Once at the docks she bypassed the police barricade via the rooftops and made her way to the warehouses. It wasn't hard to tell which one it was, eight thugs lay dead around the entrance, shell casings scattered about, and the door had been forcibly opened. Inside looked much worse, an explosion had gone off and more dead thugs were scattered around the room with bits of what used to look like a leg. One thug looked to be alive, but he had a nasty bruise on his forehead which looked exactly like a rifle stock. Scanning the room, Barbara found an access tunnel, already open and waiting.
As she made her way down the tunnel Barbara could start to make out voices.
"…Order of the Department of Defense I hear by sentence you to death by execution for multiple charges of domestic terrorism, murder, and theft." Barbara didn't recognize that voice but the next one was definitely Riddler and he sounded terrified.
"No no, wait! I can change I swear, just send me back to Arkham I'll stay this time! I'll…"
BANG! "NO!" Barbara didn't have any love for Riddler, but that didn't mean she wanted him dead! I sprinted down the tunnel and came out above the Riddler's lair where she spotted him slumped against one of the computers. Barbara quickly jumped the rail and ran to him, med kit in hand, and started to check him over but she needn't have bothered. A single bullet had pierced his heart and he had bled out before she could get to him. "Damn."
Barbara called up Batman on the radio after replacing her med kit. "Batman, I'm at the warehouse but I was too late. Riddler and his men are dead and there's no sign of the shooter." She told him
"Hmm, that's a shame. Any idea on who the shooter was?" He asked.
"Umm, I didn't see them but from what I'm seeing here they're obviously not your average gun for hire. Shots are too precise and this looks like military grade munitions." She informed him, picking up the single shell casing lying on the floor in front of her and studying it. "I think I also heard them say something about the DOD, but I'm not sure."
"Alright, collect what you can and get back to the Batcave. Looks like a SWAT teams moving in now so better make it quick." He told me before hanging up.
Barbara pocketed the shell casing and collected the Riddler's cane before making her exit through another open access tunnel. The police barricade was still up once she got out of the tunnels so she snuck by on the roofs once again and made her way back to my bike. As Barbara rode back to Wayne Manor she couldn't help but think that this was just the beginning of another dark time for Gotham.
…Mission Complete…