A/N: Whaaaat?! A Scarlet chapter? Never!

Drop Zone

The first thing that struck Raven about Blades, when seen close up, was the sheer and stupid size of the man. While he was not particularly tall, (he was shorter than Cat by a long shot, and Electron just reached above his head) he was probably the most muscle-bound and heavy-set person on the planet.

The titanium skeletal structure probably didn't help his weight, as he sat in a seat made from his own titanium, arm-wrestling with Beast Boy over a table (physically standing up and pushing with every ounce of might in his body) using a total of half a percent of his total strength, while directing his full attention to a Bernard Cornwell novel, Silhouette shamelessly reading over his shoulder.

Flareup sat at the same table, idly snapping her fingers and creating a small burst of flame, which she teasingly moved steadily closer to Blades' book, until a long strand of titanium spun itself out from Blades' shoulder and snuffed out the flame. Flareup sighed. "Ugh, you're so boring!"

"Hm." Blades replied.

"See! This is what I'm talking about!"

"Hm..." Blades commented shortly.

"I know you don't mean to do it, but you could be less of a complete recluse. You're actually quite nice, when you try to be."

"Hm?" Blades asked mellowly, turning a page.

"Yeah, you are. Not, like, Electron nice, but still, not a complete jerk."

"Hm." Blades shot back indignantly.

"Oh, come on. Just admit it, and Kim's brought someone over, we should probably talk to her."

"Hm." Blades agreed, marking his page and putting the book down.

"Hi Jules. Hi Dami. Hi Becky." Reverb greeted.

"Hello, Raven." Blades said, blanking Reverb and holding his hand out for Raven to shake. "Damian Black."

Raven shook his hand timidly.

"Aww, Dami, she's scared of you." Flareup teased. "Relax, girl. Dami here's really a giant, titanium, cuddly toy. I'm Juliet, nice to meet ya on normal terms."

"You too. I don't really like being held hostage by a bonfire impersonator." Raven replied.

Flareup laughed. "Tellin' it like it is. I'm Juliet Collins, or Julie. I'm guessing you already met Becky, since she didn't show up on the plane last night."

Raven nodded. "We already did the secret identities talk."

"That was probably the best amount of no sleep I've ever gotten." Silhouette agreed. "Actually, no, that overnight job in Paris was the best amount of no sleep I've ever gotten."

Every Scarlet Striker in the plane winced and shuffled their feet awkwardly.

Robin broke the silence by appearing from the floor or something. "Damian Black? Owner of Black Security Consulting, right?"

Blades nodded. "I deal with security cameras, laser grids, alarm systems. I think WayneTech's building has my alarm system installed."

"It does. I've broken in there once before, and it wasn't fun." Robin replied.

Cat's voice snapped over the plane's loudspeakers, drowning out the soft music (which was actually Rick Astley now, Raven noticed). "All personnel to the central area for drop brief. No skiving, Alexander."

Electron and Cyborg trudged in, looking a little singed but otherwise okay. T.O.M's holographic image sparkled into life next to the table.

Cat appeared from the cockpit. "Oh, you're all already here. Excellent." He pulled up a holographic cross-section of the dome-shaped Greenfields Initiative.

"So, here's the target. Security on all the doors, cameras everywhere. Therefore," he began, spinning the hologram around and tapping on it, "we will all be infiltrating the complex differently to avert suspicion. Blades will be making a visit as Damian Black, because Greenfields recently had a break-in and need upgraded security. He will be accompanied by his secretary Flareup and I think that Dick Grayson will be there as well, on business from WayneTech, so don't endanger the civvie." He looked to Robin. "Robin, you already have an access plan, follow it."

Robin nodded mysteriously.

"Electron and Reverb will be going in through the front door, disguised as workers. There's a security van that goes every half hour from the complex. Hijack it and get the guards' uniforms." Cat continued. "Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg, you're all going to have to get a bit wet. There's a jetty on the west side; you need to approach underwater and then overpower the guards stealthily. You hold that jetty until everyone else arrives. Raven, Silhouette and myself will all be posing as NSA agents and conducting an inspection of the facilty. Aquatwins, you two are guarding the plane a while offshore. Stay on the sensors and alert us if anything starts going south. Everyone good on infill? Okay."

Silhouette took over. "Right, upon entry we make our way to the command room, quietly as possible. Then, we set the reactor to blow, trigger the evacuation alarms, and then move as a unit to the jetty secured by Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Blades cracked his shoulders. "ROE?" he asked.

"Incapacitation only. No slicing innocents in half, Blades. ROE on Joker are simpler, though; if you even think you have contact, you are cleared hot. Take him down." Silhouette answered.

Raven raised a hand. "What about us? Our uniforms give us away as Titans, and I think this is what you call a black op. We don't want to be recognised."

Cat clapped his hands. "Right, right. We thought of this, and took the liberty of designing some alternate attire for you lot. Onwards!"

He led them to a panel in the wall and pressed a button. Five outfits slid out on rails.

"Firstly, Robin." Cat said, holding up the first outfit, a jet-black suit with grey accents. Black body armour covered the chest and arms while leaving the rest free to move. "All-over stealth coating, bulletproof up to point blank range. Utility belt compatible, magnetic boots, water-wind-fire-shock proof, grapnel gun in the gauntlets, and machine washable, darling; that's a new feature." he rattled off, throwing the suit at Robin, followed by a pair of tall, slimline boots.

"Next, Raven." Cat held up another black bodysuit, this one with much less armour, only having the plates on the arms and shoulders. It also had a hood with a face mask, which would leave the mouth visible. "Much the same as Robin's in that it is completely indestructible, yet it breathes like Egyptian silk; but we had one of our magic-users make it a little special – runes on the shoulderpads increase your concentration, plus we ported all your depressing goth music into the headset."

"Thanks." Raven replied flatly, taking the suit, although she was genuinely impressed about the concentration runes.

Cat moved on to Starfire, revealing a greyish suit with no armour at all and an M-shaped crown. "Stealth coating, bulletproof, blah blah blah. Makes you fly faster, and Electron put some amplifiers in the gloves that should increase the power of your Starbolts."

"Beast Boy, I have here a completely black and grey version of your original Doom Patrol outfit, complete with mask. Same as the rest equipment-wise, but yours has an advanced echolocation system in the goggles."

"Cyborg, yours took ages, but Electron came up with this little number here."

Cat put a small black disc on Cyborg's chest, and his body instantly shifted, covering his human parts with grey metal and switching the blue light piping in his cybernetics to black.

"Woah, this is really weird." Cyborg exclaimed, his voice coming out very metallic. "Kinda like wearing a mask over half your body."

"And now that we're all ready, let's go and blow up a greenhouse!" Flareup cheered.

Fight scenes abound next chapter. If I ever get around to uploading it.