Soldier Part 6: Playing Games
Raven was fuming. She couldn't believe her friends had gone off to tackle Slade on their own without her. All they had to do was call her and she'd have been there. She noticed on a side screen that there was an image of the medical centre; it was of her and Soldier together on the bed.
That's why they hadn't called her, but she couldn't think for a good reason why. So what if she'd slept beside him; she'd have thought Robin would be mature enough to ignore it. No something else was at play and she didn't know what. But that could wait until later because now she had to save her friends and the city from Slade; at least she wasn't alone. She had Soldier to help and two brains were better than one.
'What are we going to do Soldier?' Raven pleaded.
'We have a choice. We could try and find the bomb; he's not stupid enough to be within its blast radios but he'll have it monitored so if we try to disarm it he'll blow it. But if we do succeed in disarming the bomb there might be a chance we'll lose the others. Or if we try to rescue the others he could detonate the bomb and lose the city and kill us all.
'We have to play this right; or we could be majorly fucked over several times over and lose everything. He's been taking tactical lessons from Xana. Same sort of thing he pulls, multiple options with several ways to lose and not many ways to win.' Soldier replied.
'Bastards. There has to be a way to improve our odds, find a way of remotely disarming the bomb or creating a counter Chronoton field or something.' Raven was beginning to get frustrated.
'Does such a thing exist?' Soldier asked.
'I don't know, but I know someone who might.' She said coldly and stormed out. Soldier followed her, grabbing what kit he could; mostly ammunition.
She directed him out of the city and up into the mountains and towards a dilapidated observatory. 'Who are we looking for?'
'Professor Chang. An old acquaintance of ours and he might be pissed off that Slade is buying tech from someone else not him.' Raven said coldly, 'If there's such a thing as a Chronoton reversal device or field he'll know about it.'
'Will he talk freely?' Soldier asked; Raven shook her head 'I might have to encourage him a little bit.'
Soldier parked up out of sight of the observatory and they walked the rest of the way. Soldier led the way walking through the freezing cold office rooms. It really was freezing in there, frost had formed on the walls and icicles hung from the air conditioning vents, Raven wrapped her cloak around to fight off the cold. The lights had long since cracked from the cold; the place was dark and eerie. Soldier's UMP was tight into his shoulder, it's silencer extended barrel pointing out into the darkness.
Through his night infra-red night vision optics the IR torch and laser lit their path. They worked their way through the old office spaces. Raven spotted a light source growing a head of them; they headed towards it and soon started to here the scratchy, hissy voice of Professor Chang chuntering away to himself.
Soldier took out a flash bang grenade and gave it to Raven to toss through the wall, instead of through the door like he normally. She pulled the pin and tossed the grenade through the portal she created. The flash bang went off and Chang was stunned. He couldn't hear or see properly, he felt himself dragged out of his chair and thrown to the floor. A cold cylindrical object was pressed against his forehead and something heavy was pressed onto his chest. As his hearing came back he could hear someone shouting at him; 'If you make one wrong move I will blow your brains out all over this frozen floor you piece of scum. Nod if you understand me.' Chang slowly nodded. 'Good, now time for a quick nap.' And he was knocked out cold.
Soldier threw a bucket of ice water at Chang's face, he was startled awake and almost tipped the chair over he was now tied to. 'Wakey, wakey. We need to talk bitch.' He growled.
'Who are you?' Chang asked, his head pounding.
'That doesn't matter, but you'll know who my friend is.' Soldier sneered and let Raven take over.
'Hello Chang, your head hurting?' she spoke sarcastically.
'Raven what do you want? If you want something you don't have to treat me like this, I'm always happy to talk to the Titans.' Chang lied weakly.
'Now we all know that is total bull shit Chang. You don't talk to anyone unless they pay you or they beat you up; and I'm fresh out of Ben Franklins so guess what option it is?'
'Look I'll talk, your friend doesn't seem too friendly.' Chang glanced at Soldier who leaning against the table, Chang could feel his eye's piercing into him through the visor of Soldier's helmet.
'That's good. Now; Chronoton Bomb. Anyway to contain the field it creates or reverse it.' Raven demanded.
'No. Not by a long shot. Impossible, only way to stop it is to disarm it.' Chang replied.
'We can't get close enough to disarm it smart arse. Is there any way to disable it then before it goes off?' Soldier said.
'No there isn't, guess your screwed Titans!' he sneered.
'Are you sure, Chang? You know I can tell when you're lying.' Raven said coldly.
'I am telling you the truth; there is nothing you can do to stop it.'
'You're lying. Soldier can you show me what a field interrogation is?' Raven asked tilting her head towards him.
'A field interrogation? Well it's what us Special Forces types use to get information out of somebody in a hurry and because officially we're never there we can use any methods we want. Depending on where we are we use the techniques of the locals to make people think it was them not us. But standard techniques include giving someone a good old punch to the guts. Never the face, don't want to risk breaking their jaw and being unable to talk.' Soldier stepped forward and punched Chang in the gut; he coughed and wheezed fiercely as he had all the air forced out of his chest. 'How was that?'
Chang did nothing but cough. 'Guess it was a good hit. You see the point is to cause extreme pain, physical or mental, without making them lose consciousness or die. Because that's all types of bad. So we'd never shoot them until we'd done with them. Personally I prefer water boarding, very effective but brilliantly simple. That's the Russian's for you' ruthlessly efficient in their simplicity.'
'I'd like to see this water boarding Soldier, sounds intriguing.' Raven replied.
'Ok, I'll talk! Just don't let him lose on me; I know what the Russians are like.' Chang swallowed hard, 'if it is the Chronoton Bomb I made then there is no way to stop it once its set off, the only way to stop it is to prevent it from detonating in the first place; either disarming it the old fashioned way or by jamming the signal.'
'Good boy. See it wasn't so hard was it? Is there anything else you want to tell us?' Raven asked. Chang shook his head rapidly. Chang was then punched in the face again and his vision went black. When he awoke sometime later Raven and Soldier had gone but he was still tied to his chair.
'Ok so we know how to stop it from going off until we can get in to disarm it. I'm going to place jamming devices around the bomb, so if either of them escape they won't move out of the jamming field.' Soldier stated, 'Once I'm done I'll sneak into their base and we'll free the others. I need you buy me time though, flatter their ego's get them to monologue, all villains love to do it just before their ultimate victory and lose it all when the good guys come back and kick arse.'
'I'll do what I can,' Raven said and kissed him softly, 'for luck.' Soldier did the same to her and they parted ways for a short time, Raven flew off to fight her way into Slade's lair and Soldier drove off to set up the jamming devices. He soon arrived near the city centre and started placing the jamming devices. They looked like mini satellite dishes but they were small enough to fit in Soldier's webbing gear or day sack (small back pack). He moved across the rooftops and the alley ways to place them in a triangle shape over the city centre. There were hundreds perhaps thousands of people around; it was close to Christmas so innocent civilians were finishing off the last of the Christmas shopping unaware of how close they were to being stopped forever.
He left as silently as he arrived and radioed Raven to tell her he was on his way. She began her attack and was not holding back; 'Azarath metrium cynthos!' shy cried as she tore the not so hidden entrance apart a storm of laser fire came her way.
'We have a guest.' Said Slade.
'Yes it seems so. We have another one entering the sewer tunnels now. He should be soon enough for the final party. For the mean time we'll let our early arrivals watch how their friend is doing out front.' Xana replied and tapped on the keyboard. The Titans got a real time feed of Raven coming to rescue them. She was working hard; the fight was taking its toll on her body.
Soldier snuck through the sewer system, trying not to think what he might be wading through. He pushed on for 300meters looking for the steel grate that would give him his back door into ambush Slade and Xana from behind. It appeared in his night vision gear as a darker patch on the wall from a distance away. He got closer and saw it would come away from its fittings as easy as he would of liked. No matter, he had some acid spray that would chew through it in seconds. He sprayed the metal grate and yanked hard after a few seconds and it came away like it was made of jelly. He climbed through the gap and jumped down. Soldier followed the route he'd memorised.
It's all coming together; all the pieces are assembling for the final game. He thought as he crept slowly though the darkness.
Raven was exhausted; she was taking more hits than she was dodging. She wish she'd tried to get Soldier to come with her instead of his own route. Slade seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply Slade-bots. They just kept coming, she fought as hard as she could; but it still wasn't enough. She screamed as a laser shot hit her square in the chest. Raven collapsed to the floor.
She woke up, whilst being dragged along by 2 Slade-bots. Her feet were scrapping the floor, making a terrible racket as the sound echoed off the walls. It made them almost silent; from the pitch black of the shadows to silver flashes shot out and landed firmly in the necks of the Slade-bots. They sank to the floor taking Raven with them; she stopped before hitting the floor and was pulled into the shadows. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a familiar, comforting visor. 'Soldier' she mumbled.
'The one and only. Can you stand?' he whispered.
'I think I can. Thankfully they must have set the weapons to stun.' She replied getting to her feet. 'How did you know where to find me?'
'I've tapped into their radios. They've let their guard down thinking your captured and don't know I'm here. Let's go finish this game to our own rules.' He said leading Raven through the corridors. They arrived at a big set of double blast doors. 'Ladies first' he gestured.
'With pleasure,' Raven smiled and used her magic to rip the doors open, they charged in trashing anybody that got in their way, Soldier shredding them with bullets, Raven throwing them about like rag dolls. The thing had Speed (S), Aggression (A) and Surprise (S), their enemies where down before they knew what had happened. They were left with two; Slade and Xana.
Xana slowly applauded the panting pair. 'Bravo, very good. You two work together very well, it's rare you see such team work these days isn't Slade?'
'Yes quite right. They aren't too bad, shame we have to kill them and destroy the city.' He mused.
'Step away from the detonator Slade; you've lost let our friends go, you'd it's 2vs2 and we'd drop you before you had a chance to think about regretting moving.' Raven demanded.
'Oh poor Raven, naive to the last. You see you have been involved in a little game with me and Slade. It's not 2vs2; it's 3vs1.' Xana sneered.
Raven was confused, she didn't know what he meant, she glanced at soldier as he spoke to her; 'It's over Raven.' He had his pistol pointed at her head.
The other Titans looked on in shock; they couldn't believe what had just happened. Soldier had double crossed them. 'You lying bastard Soldier! When I get out of here I'll kill you!' Beast Boy bellowed punching at his cell walls.
'Yes I will cause you much pain and harm when I am also released.' Starfire screeched.
Soldier ignored them and walked to join Slade and Xana, his pistol still drawn and pointed at Raven. 'You see this whole thing of XVII (17) trying to kill me was a huge plot to lure you all here so my friend Slade could get rid of you all in one easy swoop.' Xana explained.
Raven couldn't believe it; she'd been inside his head and knew he wasn't lying. She was so sure he was on their side, she'd let him get close to her and he was lying the whole time. Her blood was beginning to boil.
'Soldier you betrayed us all. How could you do that?' Raven shouted, her eyes filling with tears.
'Simple. I told you I have a goal and I'll do anything to reach it,' Soldier smiled under his helmet. Time for the play the last part of this game of mine. 'Even if it means I have to double cross people.'
'Exactly, well said XVII. The Titans are one small part of a bigger game.' Xana chuckled.
'So are Xana and Slade.' Soldier added, and pulled the trigger. Slade had no time to react. The .50cal round tore through the back of his head and blew the front of his mask off, taking most of his face with it; splattering across the floor and Raven. He swivelled and turned to fire at Xana, but he was just as fast; he blocked Soldier's turn by grabbing his arm and punched him in the face. The pistol fell from Soldier's grip and clattered onto the floor. Xana sprinted away. 'XVII you prick! I had a feeling you might fuck me over so he's a parting gift!' Xana pressed a button and the rafters started to explode.
'Shit, he's bringing the place down on top of us. We need to get the others out of here now!' Soldier shouted scrabbling at the cell release controls.
Epilogue
'So your leaving then?' Raven asked. She and Soldier where standing on the roof of the Titan's Tower. They'd brought all his gear up and he was waiting for his ride out of the city and the country in pursuit of Xana.
'Yes. Xana escaped I have to hunt him down and stop him before he destroys more lives.' Soldier replied, taking a long draw on his cigar.
'I'm still upset that you lied to us Soldier. You could have told us from the outset what you were planning.' She said.
'I know. But I was playing a tricky double bluff. I couldn't let anyone in on my plan I'm surprised you didn't find it when you were fishing around my head.'
'You kept it well hidden in there. I knew you weren't lying to us, but yet you were leading us into a trap. You're one deceptive, clever bugger.'
'I know. Comes from a life time of dealing with people of similar nature, I trust no one and always have a Plan B. And a Plan C.'
'So where are you heading now?' she asked.
'Back home to Brittan. That's where he's heading. My contact picked him up on security footage leaving in a private jet. That same contact is due to pick me up soon.' Soldier answered.
'Will you come back?' she asked looking into his eyes.
Soldier kissed her deeply, 'I will try. I can't guarantee that I'll live that long though.' The wind picked up and the high pitched shrill of jet engines as a long sleek black jet came in view.
'Is that, who I think it is?' Raven asked.
'Yes, who else would recommend you guys to pull this off with?' Soldier smiled, quickly loaded his kit and climbed aboard. The jet pulled off began to scream off into the sky. The Titans arrived on the roof and stared at the leaving jet.
'Wait isn't that Batman's jet?' Cyborg asked.
'Yeah. He recommended us to Soldier. We must be getting good at this super hero lark.' Raven answered; a small tear in the corner of her eye.
The End.