Chapter 5: Location X

' I believe the term is cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war! ' – Lex Luthor, Season 1, Episode 21 : " Tempest ".

May 29th 2012. 09:33 AM UTC-6. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Expandable's crew was agitated as men ran up and down the courses, following their captain's instructions. Rick Flagg did his best not to hinder their work as he dodged them here and there on his way to the back of the ship. He knew they were preparing for action. Their next stop wasn't a secret, the Black King himself hadn't bothered keeping up the mystery.

As soon as he had received the information, the king immediately asked the captain to set course towards the american east coast then demanded to see Flagg. Ever since he'd gotten on board, the relations between him and his superior had been tense but an order was an order and Rick Flagg wasn't one to disobey.

He presented himself at the Black King's cabin a quarter of an hour later, taking the time to clear his throat and prepare to face the man before knocking on the sealing vault door. "Come in, Flagg!" the voice inside called.

Rick nodded at the man who looked up from the opened case on his table. "Sir."

"We have a situation." the king said without preamble. He looked worried. "Can you dispatch an agent to Maryland?"

Flagg thought for a moment. "I may be able to call on a sleeper agent, sir but the commute might last several hours, maybe even a day. When do you need them on the field?"

"Yesterday." The Black King replied bluntly. "Send them to the town of Glenmont, that's Wilson's residence."

"Something happened to Wilson, sir?" Rick's interest was picked.

"He was the one to send the memo about the Island. He'd just come back from Iraq and learned of Queen and his friends attacking several KUDEVIANT facilities then figured they were close to find the central point." he explained. "He was supposed to send more information hours ago and I can't get him to answer his contact link."

Rick looked down at the reminder of the failed mission which took Lang's life in Iraq. The king himself noticed it. "I know, Flagg. It's never easy." he said. "Look on the bright side: you wanted Queen and Sullivan on board? You'll get them. Soon."

"Sir, whatever happened to agent Wilson, I'll make sure we find him." he stood upright, galvanized by the idea of finally sharing their goal with the vigilantes of the Justice League against their common enemy.

"See to it." The King dismissed him and put on his jacket, before heading down to the captain's spot, catching Flagg one last time in the corridor. "Bishop! Make sure to tell your agent he's on his own, I have a feeling I'm gonna need you on the field when we get there!"

Rick saluted him and took off to his own room.

May 29th 2012. 10:44 AM UTC-6. Off the coast of Maine, USA.

The northern part of the Atlantic was renowned for its capricious and often violent weather. Rare were the moments of peace in this ocean and there was always an underlying fear of the fishermen's families off the coast of Maine that their loved ones would not return home at the end of the day.

Such matters hadn't stopped one frail shipping boat from adventuring itself out at sea, navigating further away from the coast as it slowly approached an island bare of any human being as it was closed in an effort to preserve the wildlife on it months ago: the Metinic Island.

These claims were known to be lies by the three occupants of the boat. They knew the true nature of the activities taking place on this piece of land lost at sea as they prepared themselves to accost on it.

"The facility's larger than the other ones." Chloe held onto the satellite pictures sprawled on the small table, keeping it from moving away as the boat rocked onto the powerful waves it encountered. The weather wasn't looking good, it rained a lot and the skies were dark, which was exactly what they wanted.

"It's certain. They're keeping inmates in there too. Do you think we can find the guys?"

"That depends on whether Luthor keeps all his assets in one place or prefers to decentralize them. You know him better than I do in any case." Bruce answered, thoughtful. "I wouldn't want to seem selfish but I think we'd better not make them our priority. I know how it sounds."

"You're right." Oliver's dark voice replied from the wheel as he steered the boat closer to the shore. "They'll be expecting us anyway. That scientist we interrogated? No way he didn't tell them about what we know. As much as it pains me to say this, we have to look after ourselves first and make sure we can find the data. Then we'll have all the leverage we need for a negotiation."

"Piece of cake." Chloe muttered drawing the men's attention.

Oliver left the wheel, prompting Bruce to take his spot. "You look pale, you sure you're okay?" he said cupping her face.

She tried to give him a smile but her stomach twisted and all she could muster was a grimace. "Make sure you get back in one piece." she said. "Then I'll be okay."

"We'll be fine." he whispered, finding a little smile in himself for her benefit.

Chloe didn't look convinced but nodded anyway. "Hopefully this is the last time we do this."

"Touching land in two minutes." Bruce warned from his spot.

Oliver nodded and kissed her for a long moment. When they came up for air, his eyes had taken on this hardened glint that Chloe called 'the warrior look'. He stroked her face for an instant before backing away.

"Okay let's do this."

On the island, a man shook his head and took a bite of his sandwich. "Fuckin' weather." he spoke with a mouthful, spewing a few bits of food on the dashboard of his truck as the rain poured onto the windshield.

At his side, another man shrugged. "It is what it is." he zipped up his coat and pressed on the handle. "See ya for the night cargo." he said before climbing down the truck and circling to the back, hurrying into the concrete hangar.

"Godspeed, amigo!" the driver rose his sandwich as a toast before taking another bite.

The door opened again and the man swallowed his food down. "What the rain's too strong out there, Jorge?" His attempt at humor fell short when he found himself side to side with a tall blond guy wearing his colleague's clothes.

"I'm sorry, Jorge had a little... accident." the visitor said, his blond hair hidden under a corporate cap. "Too much rain. He slipped on a stone and banged his head on the ground. Poor guy."

"What are you doing?" the driver started to lunge for him but was forced to back off when the other man pulled out a small-sized crossbow.

He gaped at the weapon, recognizing the man's face. "You're Oliver Queen."

Oliver smirked. "Nice observation skills buddy, now put your hands down on the wheel again, and try not to look at my friend behind you."

"Your frien-"

"Over here." A raspy tone in his back almost made him jump through the roof. "What in god's name...!" he yelled at the sight of a caped bat in the back of the empty truck.

"Warned you." Oliver mocked him. "Now be a good boy and drive us inside the facility and all will be well."

The driver took a moment to regain his breath along with his assurance. "And if I refuse?" he challenged.

A dangerous glint appeared in Oliver's eyes, he slipped closer to the man. "The last time I was in a vehicle with two government agents they both wound up dead. Do you want me to add your name to the list?"

The man opened his mouth but was cut off. "I don't want to know your name, actually." Oliver reflected. "I'm going to call you Truck Driver, alright? Now unless you want to change that to Dead Truck Driver, I'd suggest you turn on the engine and drive."

Truck Driver's assurance was gone, he realized his predicament when he noticed the area was empty of anyone else and he wouldn't be able to call for help on the radio as Oliver had just taken it away from him and turned it off. He was forced to comply with the vigilante's request if he didn't want to receive an arrow between the eyes. Besides, he didn't even want to think about the creature in the back.

Even with the headlights on and the sweepers brushing off the windshield, the visibility was terrible. Rain kept showering the road ahead and enveloping the truck in a bubble making its occupants feel as if they were alone in the world. Thankfully, the large grooved tyres of the military truck were more than good enough to keep it on track towards the facility.

"You're halfway there." Chloe's voice whispered into Oliver's ear.

The latter grunted and sat back, letting his crossbow rest on his lap, still pointed at the driver. "You know how many people are working in there?" he asked him quietly.

Truck Driver gave him a suspicious glance before looking back at the road. "I don't know man. All I do is transportation between the port and the workhouse. I've never got inside the damn thing except for the warehouse and there shouldn't be more than five people there right now."

Oliver nodded, aware of Bruce keeping an ear open on their conversation as he watched at the back of the truck for any sign that they were being followed while he exchanged information with Chloe in full discretion.

"So you don't know what they're doing in there? The workhouse?" Oliver asked, almost relaxed, the edge in his tone was gone when he spoke to the driver. "Haven't heard any rumors?"

The driver shook his head, his own worries tampered. "Nah man, they're pretty quiet the ones working inside, white-coat types and all that. They've got that professional secret thing going, you know?"

Oliver pursed his lips. "I suppose it's better that way." he reflected, earning a curious look from the driver. "When we get there," he changed the subject. "You're going to have to find some bullshit to feed them so you can get inside, let us in and drive out. That gonna be okay with you?"

"I think I can manage."

"Great. And don't think about getting smart. The thing I told you about those government agents? It's real. Okay?"

Truck Driver nodded empathetically. "So long as I get outta here in one piece, that's fine by me."

Oliver nodded. "Then we have a deal. Give them the bullshit and let us handle the rest."

They stopped at a tall steel gate. The driver let out a breath and pointed towards the radio sitting on the dashboard in front of the other man. "Press the green button on it. It's gonna ring them so they know we're here."

Oliver stared at him through thinned eyes. "It's the normal procedure, honest!" Truck Driver insisted. "They need us to ring them before they open the gates that's how it goes."

The vigilante glanced back at Bruce before grasping the radio slowly. "Alright. But remember? Don't play smart."

"It's safe, honest." he pressed on.

Oliver hesitated, looking over the gates engulfed in rain. It almost felt like they were out by nightfall even if they were in the middle of the day. On each side of the gates stood tall concrete walls topped by barbed wires and at regular gaps, were light spots. The walls seemed to go on and on for miles. He wondered how long it had taken them to build such a facility. When did this project start?

He blinked the distracting thoughts away and pressed the green button, bracing himself like it was going to explode. Nothing happened for a moment until a loud siren wailed. Oliver almost jumped and looked at the driver sharply who rose his hand in an appeasing gesture.

"Relax!" he urged.

The siren stopped and soon the gates unlocked before, slowly, sliding open, revealing the inside of an open warehouse several yards ahead. "It's just the ring up. Don't worry."

Oliver breathed out a sigh of relief as he put his cap back on and made sure his Green Arrow costume was covered by the upper uniform he'd taken from Jorge. He pushed the cap down on his face to hide his identity and made sure not to look up too much as the truck moved inside the warehouse, stopping behind the closing gates.

In front of them, was another set of gates, closed ones. It was a checkpoint. They were now inside the building and could hear the rain pit-patting on the roof. A guard moved up to Truck Driver's door and climbed up to his window, inspecting him and Oliver who looked away for a moment, watching the other guard circling the truck in silence.

"Papers." the first guard asked. Truck Driver gave him his driver license. The guard's brow furrowed. "No authorization?"

"Ah.." the driver started. "I'm just here to take back some empty cans, you know? The ones that carried the... uh...phosphates?"

The guard looked confused. "The phosphates?"

Truck Driver swallowed nervously. "Yeah, the ones that have been sitting around empty for months. They're in here I tell you. We need them."

"Hold on." The guard said before climbing down and heading towards an office desk on the left side of the building where three more men stood. They chatted for a moment with their superior before one of them sat in front of a computer and spent long minutes looking at its screen as the others waited in a tense silence.

Oliver sent a questioning look to the driver who was starting to sweat profusely. The man gulped but gave him a comforting gesture. The vigilante wasn't reassured, though. He watched the last guard walking to and fro in front of the truck and wondered what he would do if he had taken a harder look at the back. Like, pushing open the dark green curtains covering the backside of the vehicle and fell nose to nose with the Batman himself. Or what would happen if the guards saw through their bullshit.

They almost jumped in surprise when the truck readjusted as a weight was added to it. Oliver saw out of the eye the second guard perched at his door window. The man was clean-shaven and oozed an air of fake superiority. He looked like a guard empowered by the fact that he held a gun. A dangerous kind of guard.

"So what are you transporting?" he inquired with a smirk.

The question was addressed to Oliver but the driver took the initiative and answered for him as the vigilante tried not to show too much of his face. "Nothing." Truck Driver explained. "It's empty, as I said we're looking to fill up, not to drop something."

The guard sniffed, as if it made him more imposing. "And that guy here," he prodded Oliver's shoulder. "Can't talk for himself?"

Oliver still kept his eyes firmly fixed under the dashboard, making sure his half-opened coat hid his crossbow and hoped the guard wouldn't spot his Green Arrow pants. "Mmh... tired." he mumbled.

"Tired?" the guard repeated. "It's ten past noon."

"Yeah, uh..." Truck Driver came at Oliver's help. "It was a long night-shift for him. He had to fill in for my mate, Jorge who wasn't feeling well."

The guard stared at them suspiciously for a long moment in silence. "I'm gonna check the cargo, if you don't mind."

The driver looked like a deer in the headlights but nodded. "Go right ahead." he said.

"Right? Okay?" he nudged Oliver again.

"Sure."

The guard remained immobile for a few seconds, looking at Oliver with an odd look on his face before climbing down and heading towards the back. Oliver cursed under his breath as the driver was starting to look properly panicked. Oliver had the urge to glance behind him but remembered he wouldn't see anything as the curtain between them and the back was drawn. He just hoped Bruce was ready to deal with the intrusion.

At the same moment, the other guard regained his place at the driver's window and handed back the driver's identification, the hint of a professional smile on his face. "So," he started. "The twelves empty barrels that contained phosphate, that's correct?"

The driver took his papers with an uncertain hand. "Right." he said.

"Hey you're doing alright, there?" The guard asked, almost amused as he noticed the beads of sweat on the driver's face.

"Ye... yeah... sure." Truck Driver stuttered. "It's just that... uh... I kept my window open on the way here, it's just some spray."

"Of course, of course." The guard replied and eyed the gates. "Right so let's get these open."

Before any of them could move a piercing shout echoed from the back of the truck, freezing the blood in their veins. It was quickly muffled and soon the silence came back.

"What was that?" came the question from the men by the table.

The guard who spoke to them eyed the two men in the cockpit suspiciously before starting to climb out and draw his gun. Oliver leaped from his spot and, past the driver, grabbed the guard through the open window and covered his mouth as he shot tranquilizer arrows at the group of guards.

Two of them fell down right away but the third one was protected by the table and, as the man who struggled in Oliver's grasp destabilized him, had gotten enough time to unholster his gun and aim at the vigilante.

Truck Driver yelled and braced himself for the shot. A quiet noise was followed by a pained cry. When he opened his eyes, he saw the dark creature from the back of the truck moving towards the writhing guard who caught some kind of taser shot.

"Oh...! Oh my god!" he breathed.

Oliver grunted and banged the last guard's head against the truck's door, letting him slip down on the ground, knocked out. He then grabbed Truck Driver by the collar. "We're gonna open you the gates and you're gonna drive out of here and make yourself forgotten, okay?" he told him in anger.

"Okay." the man nodded frantically.

Oliver let him go and climbed out of the vehicle, bringing the radio with him. "I'll keep that with me." he simply said.

Soon enough, the gates from which they came were opened and the vehicle backtracked then breezed out of their sights. The two vigilantes shared a look then both men let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Come on let's get these somewhere safe." Bruce motioned to the unconscious guards.

The Green Arrow preceded Batman, weapons ready to fire, inside the mysterious Location X. The warehouse had led to a small door – unlocked – giving access to the facility's inner sanctuary. A notable difference to the previous facility they had sneaked into in Missouri was the lack of large rooms to accommodate the inmates. Location X seemed to be mainly constituted of small interweaving corridors giving access to countless smaller rooms behind closed doors from which came muffled cries and scream that chilled the blood of the vigilantes in this already sinister environment.

A second, and most important for them, difference was the utter and complete lack of video-surveillance equipment. Either the people in charge were terrible in managing the security of their installation or they had something more terrible to hide than what the last members of the Justice League had already seen.

"What do you think?" Batman asked as they stopped at a corner and examined the corridor's configuration.

Green Arrow could only think it looked like a labyrinth. Anybody could come out of anywhere at anytime. "I think we'd better stay together."

"Safe decision." Watchtower agreed, receiving the video streams from the vigilantes' in real time. "This place is a real stranglehold, boys. If you make one bad encounter it might turn pretty bad pretty quick. Be extra-careful." she urged.

"Ain't she right?" Oliver winced. "And these screams, damn it! What the hell are they doing in here to provoke this kind of reaction?"

"We're going to have to find out, soon." Batman decided. "The databases, first. We need proof to stop Luthor once and for all."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, let's do that quick, okay?" he asked, itching to set the suffering prisoners free from their jailers. "How long do you think we have before people start noticing no one's at the gates?"

"It's the lunch-break so we probably have less than an hour. At most." Chloe informed them. "Let's make it count."

Following her cue, Bruce and Oliver engaged themselves further into the corridors. Every ten doors, the walls were cut by another corridor perpendicular to the one they walked down. The latter were also connected to other alleys following the same pattern which resulted in linear blocks of 40 square meters and gave the vigilantes the impression of loosing themselves in an unending cobweb.

"Stop, stop!" Oliver said, looking around at yet another intersection. "How long have we been walking already? Maybe we're on the wrong path to find the computer room."

Bruce looked irritated. "I'm starting to think there's no computer room altogether."

"Go on." the other man prompted.

"Look around." he said. "Do you see any lifts? Any staircase or even any door leading outside?" he pointed to the square block on their left. "These seem to only house experiments. This place isn't about storage."

Watchtower's voice came from the comm links. "They might have decentralized their data all over the facility." she explained. "I'm guessing here but it's possible there's a terminal in each of these room and they're all linked together."

"That would make sense." Oliver agreed.

"There's no upper floor and nothing underground it seems." Bruce exposed. "Your solution is most likely to be the right one."

The bang of a door closing echoed through the alleys, pressing the vigilantes into a decision. "Well, let's find out." Oliver approached the closest door and turned the knob. It sliced open, allowing them to rush inside at the surprise of the three scientists already there.

The Green Arrow shot one of them as Batman engulfed the rest in his cape, letting two limp bodies fall down a moment later, allowing the heroes to take in the room's layout. As predicted it was a small square room. The monotony of the white walls was broken by a bank of computers and scientific tools disposed on a desk pressed to the far wall as to the right of the door, an elevated medical bed was occupied by a seemingly sedated individual clad in only a white cloth. He was hooked to a breathing machine and his pulse was regular as the IV drip in his arm seemed to keep him alive and feed him chemical components.

Oliver noted with a touch of bitterness that the only thing that reminded him he wasn't in a normal hospital were the metallic cuffs restraining the patient on the bed.

"Leave him be." Chloe told him. "It's better we don't interfere with his treatment. His life might depend on it."

He nodded but remained silent as he watched the dark lines under the man's eyes as well as his pronounced cheekbones that reflected his malnourished condition.

"I've got something." Bruce declared.

He was already sat in front of the computer, typing away at the keyboard. Oliver approached him. "Well?"

"Watch." he said. Lines of informations ran down the screen. "It's the raw data of everything that's been happening here and in each facility of the project since its inception."

A relieved smile broke out on Oliver's face. "Hear that, Tower? Watchtower?"

"I'm here." she replied after a moment. "Don't waste time and start filling up the drives."

"A problem?"

They heard her take a long breath. "The weather's getting better and I've just seen a small convoy leave the port. It's only a matter of time before I'm noticed and they realize you got inside the facility."

Oliver sighed, resigned but Bruce disagreed. "I need more time, there's too much data the risk of missing the most incriminating evidence is too great. We need enough dirt to keep him away for good!"

"Time's ticking, Bruce."

"I know but we-"

"Shh!" Oliver ordered, reaching for his crossbow as footsteps echoed in the corridor.

They got closer, prompting the heroes to prepare themselves at the door as they waited in anticipation. The moment seemed to last an eternity. The sounds got louder and louder, almost echoing in their own heads until, at last, it started to decrease, slowly, until it faded away completely.

They breathed and remained immobile for a moment. "Boys..." Chloe's voice seemed uneasy as she pulled them out of their stupor. "It's a matter of seconds now. The trucks are starting to pull up to the gates."

Oliver closed his eyes and activated his comm link. "Watchtower, I want you to get the boat out at sea. You're risking too much staying on the shores."

"What about you?" she asked, outraged.

"Batman is going to send you the data through out wireless link. We'll make sure it lasts until the end." he explained.

"Oliver!" she exclaimed. "You're not going to sacrifice yourself for that!"

"That's not in my plan, honey, trust me." he replied, his hand pulling a set of grenades out of his belt. "We're just gonna give them their money's worth."

"Don't do anything rash, please..." even through the radio he could hear her voice trembling.

"I love you, Chloe." his answer was obvious.

"I love you too." she cried through her labored breathing.

He nodded. "Now, go." his whispered order was hardly what he wished he had said but he refused to keep the conversation going any longer for fear she might decide to get stubborn and join them in the field.

"Give them their money's worth?" came Bruce's inquiring voice. He pointed at the grenades in Oliver's hand. "What's your plan?"

He smirked. "It's a little too quiet for my taste out there, don't you think?"

Chloe did her best to calm her stomach. She had already barfed twice and the pitching of the boat wasn't helping. She didn't know if she got sick or if it was a bad case of seasickness that got hold of her but it was getting harder and harder to keep her spot in front of the computer.

Still, she forced herself to work through the uneasiness and pulled the fishing boat away from the shoreline. Chloe wasn't an expert at driving such a vehicle but Oliver had shown her the basics when they prepared the operation. She could manage to steer it back towards the continent at worst. The hard part was keeping the boat from drifting as it remained in the middle of the sea and also, to avoid a freak wave that might catch her by surprise.

Chloe shook her head, hoping to dissipate the haze away when she caught sight, out of the corner of the eye of a couple of guards on the coastline of the Island. One of them had his goggles set on the boat and the other was talking into his radio.

"Shit!"

The sirens blared off each side of the facility and shouts mixed themselves with the noises of people running around in the smoke, trying to find their way out of their predicament as the visibility became worse and worse all the while they screamed at each other, demanding answers about what was happening only to find other people sprawled on the ground.

Another group of scientists turned a corner only to be greeted by a harsh blow to the head.

"Now that's what I call a party!" Oliver claimed on the radio as he looked at the people he had just knocked out. "Hey the security guards are starting to come out."

"Look out for them, they might get trigger happy." Batman's raspy voice replied in his ear.

"How's the transfer going?" he asked as he came up into a room and unchained another inmate.

"I need to check again but we were barely at ten percent when I left it."

Oliver bit his tongue. "Okay." he answered, adventuring himself again into another alley and unpinned yet another smoke grenade into the section. It burst out loudly and started spewing more gray matter in the air.

"What's going on?"

"Are we under attack?" came voices from all sides, muffled by the sirens wailing their ears off.

The Green Arrow moved through the smoke into the direction of the closest voice, imagining he would find another group of running scientists until he fell face to face with a security detail of a dozen men. A few shouts and punches later and half of them were down. Things were going in the vigilante's favor until one of them started firing into the smoke.

Oliver took cover through another corridor and touched his ear. "It's starting to get crowded here! How are we looking now?" he yelled into the comm.

"Seventeen percent!" Batman shouted.

"Over here!" came the voice of a guard from another alley.

Green Arrow moved swiftly to tackle the man. His fist hit him straight on his nose, banging his head against the ground, knocking him out. The vigilante grabbed his radio and continued his progress, bumping into terrified inmates from time to time. "Keep to the walls!" he advised them.

"Arrow!" Batman's frantic voice made him freeze. "Arrow, I've found Dinah!"

Oliver knelt down. "What?"

"She's here, unconscious, I've got her with me."

"Get to the transfer room, I've joining you here!" Barely a second after breathing the words, Oliver's arm was grabbed and he was lifted against the wall. He shouted in pain as the man pressed his forearm into his throat.

Nothing could have prepared to the sight that greeted him as he watched the face of the man in horror. "Batman!" he squeaked. "You won't believe it but I found Victor and he's not happy to see me!"

The cyborg's robotic eye blinked red as his other hand pressed against Green Arrow's face, willing to smash him into the wall. "Batman! Help!"

A hydroplane appeared on the horizon and set course after the fishing boat. Chloe put a hand on her stomach and let go of the wheel as she barfed again on the boat's floor.

Outside, the speedboat called out of a megaphone. "Surrender yourself, you are outrun! Surrender or we will use force!"

Chloe gripped the wheel to pull her aching body up even as the world started to spin around her. The voice from the megaphone seemed to echo through her skull so loud she was afraid it might burst. In a last effort, she pressed the accelerator and turned the wheel even as she started to fall down.

"Surrender!"