The tracks became easier to follow the longer they followed them. It was a good thing there wasn't any snowfall to slowly erase the tracks. It also meant that each subsequent pawprint they found was fresher than the last.
The squad followed these tracks for what felt like an hour. It was probably less, but when you're stumbling over packed snow and ice, a minute felt a hell of a lot longer. There were few discernable landmarks too, so there was no telling how far they had walked or for how long. No one was willing to check a watch, not that any of them had one.
"Can't believe I'm here again; what utter stupidity," Harkness grumbled. He did that off and on, which grated on the nerves after awhile. They all probably felt the same, but everyone else was too professional to say it. Harkness had no such problems.
"Would you keep it down?" Black Spider eventually demanded exasperatingly. "We're on the job. Act like it."
"I've done a lot more of these 'jobs' than you have," the Aussie shot back, a cloud of steam erupting out of his mouth. "I've more than earned the right to complain about them."
"We are tracking a target that can survive in this climate. We have no idea where he exactly is," the assassin rebuked. "He could very well be right next to us and we wouldn't know. So why let him know we're here when we could sneak up on him?"
"Spider's right," Deadshot interjected before Harkness could respond. The last thing they needed was to get into a fight. It was too damn cold for that. "Everyone needs to remain silent until we find the target. Preferably not even then."
"Sure, O' Captain," Harkness muttered sourly. "Can't disobey the captain."
"You do realize I can tell Waller you're making a run for it and she'd blow your head off without a second thought?"
"Ha! Nice try. You and I both know these little bombs in our heads have tracking devices. Waller'll know I'm right next to ya."
"Except we're up in the Arctic," the sniper quickly pointed out. "Frequencies get messed with due to the pole up here. It was tough reaching her the last time we were up here. It's very likely Waller doesn't have much of a signal on the trackers on us. She'd believe me if I said you were going off the reservation."
Harkness stared at him darkly. "Ass," he cursed, but thankfully fell silent.
That hopefully ended that interaction for now. Though honestly, that was a genuine fear. There were two poles they were having to deal with here: the literal North Pole and Magnetic North Pole. Go ask any Boy Scout, but there was a separate, magnetic pole that would mess with compasses, which ended up leading campers, hikers, and outdoor explorers off their intended path. Satellite imaging helped to remove that as a complication, and no doubt there was at least one satellite looking down on them, but those poles were a legitimate concern when it came to communications.
Good thing they had a satellite phone this go-around.
They continued to follow the trail of bear prints in relative silence, save for the crunching of snow and ice beneath their feet. The air was frigid, making things very uncomfortable, even in their protective gear. There was barely any wind though, so that was nice. It also kept the fresher tracks more visible as any wind could push snow onto them.
And then they found it. There was no discernable land marker to indicate where it was, not until they were practically on top of it. Deadshot had nearly toppled into it if he hadn't felt the snow suddenly give underneath his feet. Looking down, there was a hole in the ice, the tracks vanishing into it as they went underground.
"I bloody hope that's a cave," Harkness said, his teeth chattering.
Snow flowed into the opening, stopping further into it. Carefully, Deadshot descended into the hole, finding it was almost perfectly round. It was clearly naturally made; the walls, floor, and ceiling were rough rather than polished and smooth. There was a rather steep slope though, so he kept both arms extended out, hands pressed against the sides. He worked his way down until the slope evened out to where he didn't need further support. "We've got a cave alright," he spoke into his comm link.
He heard the others begin to enter the opening, so the sniper ventured further in. Pulling off his parka, he tossed it to one side and made certain the guns on his wrist mounts were locked and loaded. The others eventually reached him and also removed their parkas. It was game time.
There had been a strong chill that had struck the sharpshooter when he had initially disrobed. However, he was strangely feeling some warmth now. It took him a moment before he realized that Diablo was giving off some heat. Good man.
Black Spider took the lead then, two long, wicked-looking knives in hand. Electrocutioner followed after him, then Deadshot after him. Harkness and Diablo brought up the rear.
Without any snow, there were no visible signs of tracks, unfortunately. At first, they saw wet prints, as if the bears had stepped in water and then on dry ground. No doubt that wetness was from the snow they had walked into before entering the cave. The moisture left behind left a decent print at first, but eventually they faded into nothing as each step removed water until the paw was dried. They were effectively wandering around blind down here.
No one spoke, thankfully. Just the sound of their own footsteps seemed to echo excessively loud. The damn acoustics were not on their side here.
Black Spider stopped then. He looked to his left, and reached out with his hand, gripping onto his knife tightly. There seemed to be some darkness there and his hand faded into it. The assassin stared intently into it for several moments before he moved to vanish into it.
The rest of the squad just stood there and waited. Electrocutioner held up both of his arms, exposing the odd gauntlets on his forearms. His fingers were flexing over and over, as if he were preparing himself in case something other than Spider reappeared.
Eventually, the man did reappear. "There are branching tunnels," he informed them quietly. "This one ends in a dead end."
Deadshot nodded, then looked over his shoulder to Boomerang. "Can you use your sonar boomerang to get us some intel on what's up ahead?"
Harkness thankfully just responded with a sharp nod. He had to give the man credit, when it was game time, he was on his A-game. Moving around Deadshot and Electrocutioner, Boomerang held up his sonar boomerang and then threw it further down the tunnel. They all waited patiently, listening for if it hit a wall or something. Eventually, it came back, Harkness catching it with ease.
Immediately, he opened a small screen on the weapon and stared intently at it. "Looks like there's a main cavern up ahead. There're a few branching tunnels, but nothing that goes too deep," he reported.
"Alright, to the main cavern then."
Black Spider took up the lead again, Boomerang right behind him, and so on. They followed the tunnel further and further in, spotting the various intersecting tunnels. Each man would glance into the opening as they passed by, ensuring there was nothing in there.
And then they reached the main cavern. The chamber just opened up, revealing it to be made of ice and crystal. Deadshot was willing to bet the crystal arrowhead they had found had come from here. The ceiling stood high above them, the walls formed a relatively round room, and the floor looked flat enough to get good footing.
There was also a rather large, snarling polar bear dead ahead.
Immediately, Deadshot was taking aim with his wrist mount as he backed a couple steps into the tunnel. Diablo also shifted back, one, to not get in Deadshot's way, and two, to put distance between him and the bear. Even now, he wasn't making any flames, which would have come in handy with an angry-looking bear in front of them.
Black Spider assumed a stance, holding his knives up in front of him, ready to react to whatever the polar bear did. Boomerang held up a boomerang in each hand, no telling what specialty they were from the angle Deadshot had on them. Electrocutioner just stared passively at the bar, not the least bit perturbed by it.
"All for killing that mangy beast, say yay," Boomerang said.
"Yay," Spider and Electrocutioner immediately responded.
"The yays have it."
Deadshot was inclined to agree. No way were they going to die to a damn bear up here, not when they could kill it and be done with it.
That was until he heard some growling right next to him.
Slowly, the sniper tilted his head to his left and noticed he was standing right next to an intersecting tunnel, and right out of the darkness a second polar bear was emerging. It had its rather sharp teeth bare, dripping with saliva. Its eyes were locked right on him.
For a brief moment, all Deadshot could think of was, "Clever Girl."
For now, the farce was over. There were no more questions to answer, at least not without going in endless circles as one senator after another tried to catch her off balance and try to pin her down. All that could be explained about the underground facility was explained and Task Force X remained classified. It was some other schmuck's turn to go through the roasting now.
Waller was heading back to Belle Reve.
As she walked down the steps in front of Capitol Hill, a certain dark-colored Suburban waited for her. An A.R.G.U.S. agent opened a door, she climbed in, and once it was shut, it was sparing a glance to a waiting Bordeaux.
"I hope that was within your expectations, Director," Waller offered as a greeting.
"I noticed they got under your skin, particularly Finch," Bordeaux replied. "Don't think I didn't notice the underhanded antagonism. Calling a bureaucrat like that out and in public? That's asking for trouble."
"God forbid I hurt their little feelings. They've wasted enough of my time as is," Waller retorted. That summed up everything, a waste of time indeed. She had far more important things to deal with. Some self-important assholes might have cost people their lives and undermined American security.
"And now is not the time to be poking the bear. Slow to arouse, yes, but a pain in the ass when they do start doing so," the Director remarked. "The eyes are not going to be leaving you and the debate is only getting started."
"If they keep it focused on Belle Reve the institution, then we're still ahead. Task Force X remains in the shadows and there is no connection to A.R.G.U.S." That was the plan. Even if it meant putting her prison in the spotlight, as long as it only focused on the prison itself and went no deeper, emerging from this scandal intact was more than possible.
"I would recommend keeping your clandestine missions on the down low, or suspending them temporarily; however, this might interest you." Bordeaux offered an iPad up, one that Waller accepted and began scrolling through.
She remained in control, not giving away any interest she might hold. There was new intelligence on Russia, specifically the secretive program that she had originally sent two squads out to gain more information on only for them to uncover the freshest lead to obtaining Victor Fries. Whatever ruckus the squads had caused, it had ruffled enough feathers that there was movement.
Specifically, movement to another facility. As before, this was another place that had been left to rot after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As before, it had too much activity occurring to be anything but suspicious. The timing was too coincidental not to believe that there was a connection.
They were moving. If they thought they were being subtle, they couldn't have been more wrong. Bordeaux's advice on reducing the number of squad missions would have to wait. This was too important to leave alone; the last time such a program had been in operation, American intelligence services had been on high alert as a lethal assassin had emerged and scared all in any position of power.
The world was already too chaotic a place to allow a second one. This needed to be addressed immediately before he went out of hand.
Closing the iPad, "I'll make sure my people look into this."
"For your sake, they had better keep it quiet," Bordeaux warned. "Another mishap, and that might bring more unwanted attention."
"Your concern is noted," Waller replied.
The director raised an eyebrow. "Do not tell me you plan to head back."
"I never meant to come in the first place, but I respect subpoenas enough to see what I'm dealing with. Congress' rabble rousers have accomplished nothing but to waste time, and that time could have been better used elsewhere."
"So you're heading back to Louisiana. Not willing to see the sights while you're here?"
Waller gave a snort. "I've already seen them and know them by heart. If I had wanted a vacation, I would have gone elsewhere. Now, take me back to the airport. I would like to know if my jet will be ready and willing to take off in a moment's notice."
"No wonder you packed light," Bordeaux muttered under her breath. Then aloud, "I'll pass along word of your travel plans."
She didn't utter a sound, merely graced with a slight nodding of her head. The rest of this trip would remain in silence.
Even with Waller in Washington, there were still matters to handle here in Belle Reve. The warden of the prison had left instructions of what needed to be done, and Rick Flag would be overseeing it.
The first order of business was completing repairs on the ceiling. The eyesore that had been the patch job was dismantled, and the reinforced steel was being installed. For extra protection, a lining of lead was being added. When you lived in a world where one of its heroes could see through objects, lead was necessary to maintain secrets.
Flag surveyed the work, stance wide with hands behind his back and his head tilted back. Scaffolding towered over him and men were hard at work with welding the metal in place. It was a large plate, and the portion of the damaged steel lining that had been removed rested on the floor not far from where the Colonel stood.
The blast of energy that the Tamaranean had fired had punched a hole through it. The edges weren't jagged, but held a melted quality to them, hinting at the sheer heat that had been involved. He could give credit where credit was due, it was an impressive sight. An aggravating one, but impressive all the same.
There was no sense in tearing it all out; an entire prison was just above them. Cutting this hole out and inserting a new plate would have to work. That would only be the start, though. Covering it all up with several layers of concrete was next and the contraption they were going to have to use to make sure it dried up on the ceiling almost made his head hurt thinking about it.
Trying to work against gravity was always complicated.
Without a word, Flag turned away from the construction and headed deeper into the facility. There was another project being worked on that also had high priority.
The majority of inmates here resided in the cell block. None were important enough to be held in isolation elsewhere. That did not mean there weren't specialized cells that needed to be kept separate. There were some inmates that required some distance from the others due to how dangerous they could be.
Major Force had been one such inmate. It wasn't because of his single minded zeal or the immense strength he was able to use, though. No, it was the fact that he had been a walking, talking nuclear reaction happening at all times of the day. A specialized cell had been built to try and contain him should he go into meltdown. That cell had not been used when he had sustained enough damage to the containment suit he wore.
According to Waller, the very nature of that nuclear reactions had become clear once it could be seen with the naked human eye. Despite all of the precautions and the structure of that cell, it became clear that it was woefully inadequate. The explosion would have torn through the security theater and vaporized them all. The Tamaranean's actions spared them all, but exposed them.
Now, one of those cells was being remodeled. This time, they had the knowledge and know how to ensure that it would be up to the task. The same parameters used to keep Victor Fries imprisoned in Blackgate was being outfitted in one of these specialized cells. While any of the cells on the cell block would have done nicely, Waller had a different idea.
She wanted Fries isolated, kept apart from the other squad members so that he wouldn't get any ideas or be inspired to create new ones. She wanted to chip away at his mind with isolation, make him more pliable to her will.
Flag understood that Waller had a design here. He himself was struggling to understand what exactly it was, but at the end of the day, he was a soldier. He followed orders. He didn't think about what his superiors wanted or why, just did as he was told. Only in the field has his mind needed because when in battle, even the best laid plans fell apart.
Reaching the cell that Waller had chosen to house the future recruit, Flag eyed the technicians in there. They were working quickly, making progress in leaps and bounds. The cell was being insulated to retain all cold and shield any and all heat. The wiring in the walls was being updated as well as added to. The system that would generate the low temperatures was still being installed.
This would be a long work in progress. The team repairing the ceiling in the cell block may be finishing up when this cell was completed. Hopefully the team that was sent in would take their time in tracking down the infamous madman.
All the same, the cell needed to be complete before they returned.
For a moment, he wondered about the hastily put together squad. After Wilson had invaded, there had been quite some restructuring of the various squads, combining different power sets with one another to create a new ideal team.
You could always count on Lawton. Harkness you couldn't trust any further than you could throw. Frost so far had been an addition that hadn't caused waves, but without Force or Vertigo, that left the question of who would take their places. Force's raw power and brute strength needed to be replaced, but no one else here was in the same league. Vertigo had been the closest to a second in command for Lawton, but ego had prevented Vertigo from ever truly standing out.
That, and he talked too much.
Flag wasn't sure how Plastique or Diablo would fit in. Electrocutioner had promise, provided he could follow orders. That man might make up for the power aspect that Force had brought to the Alpha squad, the crown jewel of Waller's Task Force X crown. Black Spider was another wild card.
More importantly, how would such a team fare in the Arctic? It wasn't often that any force of men, be it those of Task Force X or your standard military unit had cause to go up past the Arctic Circle. Would it be worth losing any more on this mission?
Was Waller getting ahead of herself again with adding to her collection of operatives? It could be argued that that was the reason for their troubles with Congress.
All the same, he was a soldier and he had his orders. As he watched the work being done in the cell, he noted how little he knew about what was taking place in that small room. Then he dismissed any feelings of inadequacy or inferiority. Sometimes you happened to lack a skill or the knowhow for certain things; that was why you had others under your command who did.
Just follow the orders, do as you were told. Just like any soldier would.
Before Deadshot could make a move, Electrocutioner did.
As the sniper stared at the very large teeth and the string of saliva dripping from the bear's mouth, the former Seven Men of Death member took aim with one arm and fired an electrical discharge right into the large animal. There was a flash of light, the bear roaring from pain, and then just as suddenly dropped to the floor.
The other polar roared before it began its charge. Electrocutioner just raised his other arm up—Black Spider and Boomerang darting out of his line of sight—paused long enough to aim, and fired another electrical blast. This struck the charging bear as well, causing it to yelp a high-pitched tone, and then it too fell.
In a matter of moments, their bear problem was no longer a problem.
For the moment.
"Am I glad we brought you along," Boomerang said after a moment, still clutching at his weapons.
"Child's play," Electrocutioner waved off the praise. "I suggest one of you makes certain they are dead. Those discharges may not have killed them."
"Consider it done." Deadshot took aim at the nearest bear with his wrist mouth. You didn't need to tell him twice to make certain a dangerous animal was no longer dangerous.
"Please, wait!"
The voice had come out of nowhere. It was the only reason Deadshot hadn't fired. Turning his head, he looked into the icy chamber. There had to be some sort of light source that lit the place up, though he couldn't see one.
Some distance past the fallen polar bear stood a man. He stood out as much as he blended in, if that made sense. His pale blue skin helped him blend in. The fact that he stood in only tight-fitting shorts made him stand out. He had a weapon in hand, what looked like a harpoon gun.
"Are you Victor Fries?" Deadshot called out.
The bald man's posture didn't change as he was already standing straight. "I am," he responded, his tone surprisingly soft. It was hard to see him as the imposing vigilante that he was.
You had to give the Bat props for his look. He looked and sounded like a badass; Fries, on the other hand, looked as if he had a bad case of hypothermia and sounded as if he should have been a kindergarten teacher.
"Drop your weapon and surrender yourself," Black Spider then ordered, crossing his arms in front of his chest, holding his long knives up in the air.
"You are not police," Fries replied, still holding onto his harpoon gun. "Who are you?"
"We're blokes you don't want to mess with," Harkness replied. "We've been sent to bring you back to civilization."
"I will not return." There was a hint of steel in Fries' tone that time.
"Heh, I think you misunderstand," the Aussie continued. "You don't have a choice in the matter."
Fries then raised up the harpoon gun, taking aim with it. "I certainly do have a choice. Leave this place and take your troubles with you."
Electrocutioner took a step forward, placing himself in the front line with Black Spider and Boomerang. "You do not realize the position you are in," the man grunted. "Each of us was selected to successfully apprehend you. My electric gauntlets have the power to stun these bears; you have seen this. They can and will do the same to you if you continue to resist."
There was a slight twitch from one of Fries' eyes. If Deadshot hadn't been watching the guy carefully, he would have missed it. If he hadn't had the zoom feature activated with the lens in his mask, he wouldn't have seen it as if it happened right in front of him. It was a tell, much like one from a poker player. The twitch had happened when Electrocutioner had mentioned the downed polar bears.
"Perhaps we should frame this another way," the sharpshooter called out, drawing Fries' attention to him now. "If you don't surrender yourself, I will put a bullet in the head of each of these bears."
"You will not!" Fries shouted, aiming his harpoon right at Deadshot.
Heh, looked like he found a bargaining chip.
"Look at the facts, Fries. There are five of us, each one chosen to take you down if we have to. Your little harpoon gun only has one shot. Even if you were able to take one of us down, there are the other four who will bring you down hard. If that isn't incentive enough to give yourself up, then think about your little pets here. You don't cooperate with us, we'll take you down, and then we'll kill your bears out of spite. Give yourself up, we leave them alone and they'll recover enough to get back on their feet and continue to lead their regular polar bear lives."
Fries didn't move, he just held his position, still aiming his weapon at them. He was a logical man, so he must understand the situation he was in. He was all alone, didn't have his suit, and he had five men that had no problem killing people and animals. Well, make that four, Diablo was cutting back. He didn't need to know that part, however.
"Sounds like a good deal to me," Boomerang added. "It's probably the best one you're going to get."
The man didn't answer, but there was an instant where his eye did glance to the polar bear nearest him. He was lucky that the mission was to bring him back alive. That little look gave Deadshot the opening for a kill shot, and he would have taken it right then and there.
Then, "You give your word that you will not harm them further?" Fries asked.
"You have my word," Deadshot promised.
The man's face hardened. "Your word, perhaps. I want the others' as well."
Deadshot couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This guy seriously wanted all five of them to promise not to hurt his pets? That seemed pretty childish.
"What point is there for all of us to give you our word?" Boomerang asked, asking the question the sharpshooter honestly didn't care to voice.
"I may have your gunman's word not to hurt these innocent creatures, but I do not have yours. I could give myself up and someone other than him can hurt him and claim that they hadn't given their word."
"Not one for trust, are ya, mate?"
"I know your type. You are all killers; the kill is all that drives you. That is the extent of my trust in you. Now, give me your word, or I promise you that any harm that comes to these animals I will return tenfold."
If anyone else had said those words, Deadshot would have blown them off. Anyone could make a threat; it didn't mean they had the ability to actually follow through. This man here, however, had attempted to freeze an entire city solid, and threw his weight around with Gotham's heaviest hitters. This was not a man to trifle with, even if his current attire left something to be desired.
"I will give you my word that I will not harm these animals of yours," Diablo suddenly said, actually moving to show himself to Fries. He then looked expectantly at the others.
"Alright, fine," Boomerang sighed. "I won't hurt the polar bears. Happy?"
"Lower your weapon and surrender, and I too will not harm these animals," Black Spider agreed.
"I will not hurt them as well," Electrocutioner added.
"Anything else? Any other conditions?" Deadshot asked then. "You better make them now or forever hold your peace."
Fries stared at them for several moments, then he let out a sigh. He then lowered the harpoon gun, holding it for a moment in front of his abdomen before dropping it to the floor. "Honor your word, gentlemen," was all he said.
