-1- "If anyone has any suggestions," Waller said tightly as the sound of feet thundered towards them, "I'd be more than willing to listen."
It seemed that they could not possibly escape this. The conspiracy against them had failed to ‘acquire their services,’ but they had managed to injure them, escape, and set the entire Pentagon against them.
Cavalier sighed. "I do believe the phrase here is 'last stand'." he said, his usual joy and amusement missing.
"Not like you to give up," Vixen said.
"I see no way out," Cavalier said. "And if I must die, then fighting a horde of soldiers is an acceptable death. Several powerful heroes would be better, but ah, take when you can get."
Waller was staring at him. "You never struck me as having a death wish."
"I've no wish to die," Cavalier assured her. "But it looks as though we will die, and that being so, I will die as I have lived." He brandished his blade and stood tall.
The sound of running feet was very close now. Or so it seemed; the long straight corridors of the Pentagon made for confusing acoustics.
Electrocutioner stood by Cavalier, powering up electricity in his hands.
Abruptly the wall behind them broke out. They whirled, to see Katana and Geo-Force.
"What in the world....?" Sarge Steel stared at them in a mixture of amazement and disbelief.
"No time to argue, we've got to get you out of here!"
Almost as one, the Squad joined their rescuers in escape.
All save Cavalier, who still stood ready to face the soldiers yet, perhaps in his mind staging some glorious Horatius-at-the-bridge sacrifice.
"Come on, you idiot!" Vixen yanked him along.
*****************
-2- Geo-Force had forged a tunnel underground, leading them away from the capital. There were other things underground in DC they didn't want to get near, even though most of them had been cleaned out in the aftermath of the Starro invasion. Sarge Steel knew about some of these, of course.
"Is it a coup?" Waller asked without preamble. No 'Why are you helping us?' or 'How did you get here?' Though she supposed Katana might have something to do with it.
"Not as such," Geo-Force answered, leading them in a race down the tunnel, and pausing occasionally to fill in the tunnel behind them. "They aren't trying to take out the President, else Steel would have been aware of them before now."
Steel grunted.
"They're trying to go around the White House entirely. Clandestine black ops through the Pentagon. The classic case of one hand of the government not knowing what the other was doing."
"Siccing troops on us doesn't strike me as terribly clandestine," Waller said dryly.
"Ahh, but that's about framing and blaming you," Katana pointed out, "Steel included. That way, the White House would be more amenable to them, forking over money and not asking questions."
Steel and Waller looked at each other, huffing and panting as they ran, the Squad chivvying them along. They were both political insiders; they both knew it could be done. It would not take much to spin it for the White House as Steel and/or Waller being frustrated by the White House's policy in the wake of the disastrous fallout of Enchantress and Killer Frost.
"Where are we going?" Manhunter prompted.
"To one of the safe places that we have. There, we will tell you more."
*****************
-3- Hellbore stood before Brent and Roberts, expecting a reprimand.
But none was forthcoming. "Lazarium was old," Brent said philosophically, "It was only a matter of time."
"It is true our....associate...is not pleased," Roberts said, "But we do have a contingency."
"You mean Malthus and his robots?" Hellbore frowned.
"In part," Brent said. "But we managed to steal away another pet project from Checkmate.....Roberts, will you show him? I will need to answer the White House and top brass on the fall out of the Squad's escape."
"With pleasure." Roberts led Hellbore through a door.
The door led to a long, downward sloping hallway. Technically this was not part of the Pentagon itself, but it was relatively close to that structure and easily accessible from it. If Geo-Force had but known, his own escape tunnel was fairly close to it.
At the bottom of the hallway was a dimly lit room. Hellbore had seen a lot of things, but when Roberts showed him what was inside, his jaw dropped.....
*****************
-4- Geo-Force led them, surprisingly, to a small building on the surface about twenty miles away, beneath a glass dome, that let the sunshine in. They were fairly deep in the Virginia countryside; far enough away from most major inhabited areas that the Squad could see no other buildings. But Waller had no doubt they were close to numerous government concerns, most of them in the spying business.
"What is this place?" Manhunter asked Geo-Force. "Did you build it with your powers?"
Geo-Force gave a bitter, tired laugh, but before he could speak, it was Steel that answered. "No, he didn't. Even before the Apokolips invasion, various people in the government had the idea that protecting certain secrets--or certain people--from satellites or other means of spying. There are several of these "No-scan domes" scattered throughout the country. No doubt Geo-Force's involvement in the Global Guardians alerted him to them."
"And besides, my powers have been acting oddly lately," Geo-Force sighed.
"You seemed to do fine to me, underground," Vixen pointed out.
"Well enough," Geo-Force agreed. "But my powers have seemed....distant. Impersonal. It's hard to describe. Strange things have been happening, it seems."
"Strange things are always happening," Cavalier grumped. "It is our life."
"Surely these conspirators know about these safe zones as well?" Knockout asked.
"General Brent might know," Katana agreed. "But at the moment, he is no doubt concerned with consolidating his power. The Squad on the run and painted as the enemy will serve his purposes almost as well as the Squad destroyed. We can't hide in such a place forever, and he would know that; if we stay here, eventually he will come for us."
"What we know," Geo-Force spoke, "Is that Roberts and Brent have at least one conspirator. We don't know who it is, or who they are."
"And how did you come by this knowledge?" Steel asked.
"We came home from our mission in China," Geo-Force sighed, "Which is something I'd rather not talk about, and has no bearing on this situation, or at least I don't think so. For me, home meant Markovia. Things were relatively quiet there, but my mother was concerned about disturbing changes she had heard about in the American Government."
Steel frowned. "I can see how she would be concerned after the Starro crisis, and obviously something is very wrong, but surely--"
Geo-Force shook his head. "Steel, it is not merely this latest situation that concerns Markovia. Or indeed the rest of the world. American military adventurism is an ongoing problem, regardless of which party is in power or their agenda. But leaving that aside for the moment, this concern even more frightening, as it indicates that military black-ops factions within the Pentagon--and yes, certain elements of Checkmate also--are ready to subvert the White House and Congress, as they seem to view even the most militant foreign policy as hesitant and timid."
Waller could tell that Steel was getting angry, so before he could retort, she butted in. "I still don't understand where your mother heard this information."
"After the situation in our own country, which you may recall ended my sister's membership on the Squad,"
* Geo-Force answered, "She made it her business to seek out such information."
Steel grunted, silenced but not satisfied.
"As you said," Manhunter put in, "We can't stay here forever. We have to hit back."
"Oh yes," Geo-Force agreed. "We will help you, but after they turned the Pentagon against you, a direct attack isn't really the answer, is it?"
"I would prefer it so," Knockout scowled, punching her left fist into her right palm.
"So would we all," Waller assured her. "But a straight up fight isn't going to achieve us the victory here. Not, at least, without exposing them first."
Steel was thoughtful. "I just hope some of my old contacts will still listen to me," he reflected.
"And mine," Waller agreed.
"We'll do what we can," Katana promised.
Geo-Force nodded, his eyes brooding.
The Squad members looked amongst themselves. This was bigger than any of them, all but the Parademon understood that. The fight against Enchantress had been purely on the physical level; and while the stakes had been higher, the solution had been more obvious. This was more mundane political situation, but dealing with it would prove to be much, much more complicated.
* Suicide Squad #20-21 and
Teen Titans #27-28
*****************
-5- After dismissing Hellbore, Roberts visited Malthus in his robotics laboratory.
The sour-tempered mad scientist was as close to being happy as he ever became, surrounded by his machines, making more of them all the time. The room was filled with mechanical grinding and buzzing, and the welding efforts of Malthus and several labor robots constructed for the purpose only added to the din, as well as sending sparks everywhere. Malthus himself was a greasy mess. Roberts supposed that was why the roboticist preferred a black trenchcoat; made the grease disappear. Though the man's face itself was likewise coated, almost looking like a soldier ready for night operations.
"Progress?" Roberts asked.
Malthus looked up and grinned, not bothering to remove his welding goggles. "It's all going splendidly. The first five second generation prototypes will be ready tomorrow; and another dozen by the end of the week, with the help of your manufacturing facilities." The robots in question were more humanoid than his earlier models, looking like metal skeletons out of the Terminator film franchise. They had enhanced sensors and a greater variety of weapons, as well as enhanced agility and physical strength.
"And cybernetic limbs for injured soldiers?" Roberts reminded him.
Again, Malthus nodded. "Haven't had time to build any yet, but all the volunteers tested positive. Additionally, Doctor Stone's notes on muscle enhancement have proven useful indeed. None of the subjects will be as strong as 'Cyborg', but all of them will be well above the human norm.
Roberts grinned his own thin, cowardly grin. "It's a pity that the good Doctor did not willingly cooperate with us."
Malthus was puzzled about that. "I would have thought he'd be pleased."
"So did we, but--" Roberts shrugged "--he has his own notions of how things should be run, and resents us co-opting his information. I rather think he views us as competition."
"Perhaps he'll come around if, after defeating the Squad, we go after his son next," Malthus suggested.
"No." Roberts' voice hardened. "He had his chance to side with us, and he wasted it. We may indeed go after the Titans, but if so he will not benefit from it."
Malthus seemed slightly surprised, but wisely did not push the issue. "His loss."
"Indeed. Meantime, while you give good news on the cybernetic limbs and muscle enhancements, you haven't begun actual work on those. You must begin as soon as possible."
Malthus's relative good mood absorbed even this threat. "First thing tomorrow morning," he promised. "I'll coordinate with Wilkerson."
"Very good. I shall see him next." Roberts stalked out.
Malthus watched him go, and shook his head, a knowing sneer on his face. The fool bureaucrat actually thought he was a full partner in this affair. He was little more than a glorified gofer for Brent, and once their power-base was secure, the roboticist was sure that the General and their...other associate....would put him in his place. But all things in their time. He bent his head over his latest creation and got back to work.
*****************
-6- Wilkerson's lab was connected to Malthus' by a short corridor. The geneticists' lab was bathed in a sickly green glow; the various large plastic tubes filled with fluid, genetic engineering experiments floating inside. Some were clones of various soldiers, or gene splicing of one or more people together. One or two were stranger organisms that were part of their long-term plans.
Wilkerson was also involved in their....other project that Roberts had shown Hellbore earlier, but not in as direct a capacity. There he was doing little more than maintenance. That project had been created by a different level of science all together.
"Malthus will come to you to work on the limb replacements and muscle enhancements tomorrow," Roberts said without preamble.
Wilkerson did not look around, eyes to a microscope. "Certainly, no problem. Your existing soldiers will have their performance enhancers on schedule, as well."
"Good. Be sure to check in on our other project as well; you're our guide with that one."
Wilkerson looked around, vaguely annoyed. "I can't decipher the base technology behind that; I've told you that several times already."
"Of course not. But the Checkmate scientists we captured along with the specimen weren't that helpful even once we broke them. You're the only expert we have. And also," and here Roberts attempted a threatening glare, "Do not take such a tone with me again. We are not the Suicide Squad; we will not tolerate your eccentricities to that extent."
Wilkerson's thoughts mirrored Malthus where Roberts was concerned, but he merely nodded.
After Roberts walked out, Wilkerson quietly said to himself, "The fact that this group isn't the Squad is about the only thing to be said for it."
*****************
-7- The Squad agreed with Waller and Steel that a simple, traditional fight was not going to solve that problem. And this was significant; in this situation, they really couldn't tell the Squad what to do. There was no government protection for them anymore; they were fugitives now no matter what they did, unless they cleared the Squad's name. They could have taken their ball and gone home, as it were, leaving Waller and Steel to take the fall. Aside from Vixen and Manhunter, who were in effect the team's "minders", any one of them could sell them up the river, or even have indirectly helped the enemy by attacking them.
But certainly, each of them (except the Parademon, who followed Knockout blindly) saw how it would be in their own best interest to help take Roberts and Brent down. Even if they wanted to bail on the Squad after this, none of them wanted to try to operate as a criminal in an America where Brent and Roberts held sway over White House policy, if not direct control.
All of that said, however, Knockout pointed out that she and the Parademon were not instruments of subtlety. "Our notion of intrigue was to kill whom Lord Darkseid wanted dead," she said. "That being so, let us be your distraction. Let these conspirators think we've split off from you and are wreaking havoc. Let them focus on us so you do what needs to be done. We are much more likely to survive whatever they throw at us, even if captured."
"All of that sounds good," Waller allowed, "But then we won't have you if we need you."
Knockout shrugged unhappily. "Chance we have to take. It's what we're best suited for; it's the duty we know, and we will almost certainly be more help to you in this way then defensively."
Steel and Waller exchanged a look.
"We can't keep them here if they want to go," Steel said, "And they're right that muscle won't win this."
"Not by itself," Waller agreed, sounding resigned. "I hope this works....go."
Knockout gestured to Parademon, and the Apokolips pair left. Waller buried her face in her hands.
"So," Manhunter said. "While those two are wreaking havoc, what exactly are we going to do? I know you said you two hoped to reach some of your connections but..."
Steel smiled. "Oh, I think there are a couple of people I can call. But first we have to get out of here...."
*****************
-8- The next day, Wilkerson was in the special project lab, carefully making an injection into the specimen's neck.
Someone came in. Carefully removing the syringe, he looked around and was glad to see it was Brent. At least the military man was competent and understood how these sort of alliances worked.
"You had a busy morning, I hear." Brent said.
"As per Roberts' instructions," Wilkerson agreed. "He is a tiresome, presumptuous fool."
"He has his uses," Brent said. "Even after we succeed we will need him."
"Yes, I'm sure. But he doesn't understand that he's nothing more than a functionary."
"When the time comes, my associate and I will educate him," Brent promised. "I look forward to that almost as much as you do. But let us focus on the present. Is the specimen ready?"
"Very nearly," Wilkerson answered. "Another day or two at most. The original armor is gone; Checkmate saw to that, and we were unable to recover any of it. But then, I'm not sure we could reattach it even if we had."
"The subject is still very useful as is," Brent said. "Especially with your enhancements."
"Sometime, when things are less pressing," Wilkerson said, "I would be very interested to hear the story of how you got him away from Checkmate in the first place. I mean, I know you interrogated some of their scientists but...."
"Need to know basis, Doctor Wilkerson," Brent said mildly, but Wilkerson understood it to be a much more serious threat than anything to come from Roberts.
"Yes, of course, I meant no offense," the scientist said hastily.
"My only regret is you can't duplicate the changes to his DNA."
"Higher science as you know," Wilkerson responded. "But studies continue, and when other work is less pressing I will have more time to analyze it."
"And probably assistance also," Brent said. "I know you could use more help than the occasional robot on loan from Malthus. Once we dictate policy, it will be much more feasible."
Wilkerson nodded. "I look forward to it."
Brent smiled. "Many things to look forward to in the days to come."
They fell silent then, staring at the body on the table.
The armor was gone, and the young man that remained was unconscious, his face pale and wan. But his musculature, already impressive before, had grown under Wilkerson's chemical ministrations.
He was the young man that had been inside the false OMAC armor that the Squad and Titans had fought in Markovia.
