*Krios "James," League Of Shadows Temple, Himalayas
Flickering, failing lights.
Screams.
Gunfire mixed with explosions.
All of his senses seemed alive as he ripped and tore through the ranks of soldiers.
Since bypassing the limitations he had with his powers the fighting of non-enhanced or meta beings came as a slight surprise to him.
'This is f%$king easy,' he thought.
The soldiers had punched through the main entrance of the League of Shadows temple with artillery. But once it had the heavy guns went silent and the hordes of soldiers along with some of their APV's began swarming the entrance. The sudden mass influx of enemies overwhelmed the defenses and the soldiers reached the great hall of the temple.
Despite the better training and greater skill, the Shadow's assassins were not prepared to resist the onslaught.
By the time Krios had entered the fight the great hall was littered with hundreds of dead members. Seeing the array of corpses he couldn't help but feel let down by the Shadows.
But before he could ponder the shortcomings of the rank and file of the League of Shadows, a group of soldiers came up to him.
The lead started shouting in Mandarin,
"On your knees now!"
Krios barely gave them a glance as he flicked his hand in their direction. The entire group was sent flying high up into the ceiling, a disturbing crack sounded before they free fell back to the floor.
A few others who saw their comrades get thrown immediately diverted their attention to Krios and opened fire.
With just a raise of his palm all the bullets flying towards him slowed to within a few feet of him. The bullet heads turned around to face the direction they were shot from before propelling themselves back to their owners.
The bullets hit the soldiers and made their bodies jerk in unnatural ways as the slugs penetrated all over their bodies dropping them.
From his left to his right he began looking more like a conductor as he use his hands to direct his telekinesis in a wholesale slaughter of the invaders.
Some soldiers fell from their own reflected bullets hitting them, others found themselves blasted in the chest with concussion forces that crushed their chests, some felt a swift slice of air before screaming in pain from their body parts being sliced off.
Blood was filling the chambers as Krios continued to press forward to the entrance of the temple.
The growth he had in comparison to his days working as the mob's 'Hound' was immense. At this point in time he doubted if even a tank round could break through his shielding, much less if he decided to 'catch' it and throw it back. His concussive blasts were enough to level buildings and his telekinesis could lift... well could nearly lift mountain tops.
If there was one thing he was unsure of it was his healing factor. Certainly he had displayed incredible displays of recuperation and resilience. The fact he was shot multiple times and fell off a several hundred foot fall a few years back proved that. And Slade's favorite training tool of shooting and stabbing him had shown a degree of increased healing speed.
The problem was, as he flung a wind blade at a soldier bisecting him before he could even scream, was that he did not know the limit. From his research of known heroes and villains who had healing factors the ability had a massive varied range. Even Al Ghul in one of his few times where he answered hundred percent honestly and clearly said he did not know.
Would he survive being burned alive? Would a bullet through the head kill him? Is there some sort of mystical art, scientific metal or weird glowing rock that would cancel it out?
He did not know, and despite his increased confidence, he was not quite ready to test his healing ability past the limits he had already tried.
At this point the soldiers had either retreated down the tunnel or been cut down by Krios and a few of the surviving Shadows. Krios could hear further down the shouts of the men as well as the distinct sound of mechanized wheels grinding and breaking.
Walking towards the sound he soon came upon several bright lights of soldiers crouched down with their weapons aimed towards him and lights on. Behind the men they had managed to fit two APC's side by side, with its headlights sending sharp beams into his direction he raised his hand to shield his eyes.
Seeing his movement and a few of the soldiers being witnesses of his earlier slaughter, they opened fire immediately.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BOOM BOOM BANG BANG BANG
Machine guns and even the small caliber tank rounds from the APC roared out. A surprising amount would miss him while the rest hit a shimmering shield. To their credit, the tank rounds did cause him to dig in slightly as he was not quite ready for the jump from light to heavy calibers. He let them fire for a few moments more before he clenched his fist.
The APC to the left wobbled into the air merely a foot off the ground before violently swinging forward smashing into the front rank of soldiers crushing them. Krios then swung it up and down, left to right, smashing everything in the tunnel before letting it fall upside down in a much more crumpled mess and new red paint job.
The other APC had been dented and bruised but he could see the crew were slowly grinding its breaking gears to reverse.
Taking a deep breath, Krios decided to try something new.
Like many times before he began to gather energy into his hands to fire a concussive blast, but unlike before where he let it fire almost immediately this time he waited. He let the energy build and the strain shake his arm. Before when he had tried this it always seemed to burst with very little change in the effect making it useless to use. But now as he focused he could feel the strain but also the strength to keep the building energy at bay.
Finally, after a few seconds he released the empowered blast directly into the APC.
The APC was lifted off its fronts wheels, its undercarriage collapsing in onto itself as it was flung down the dark tunnel so quickly it caught Krios by surprise.
Looking down at his hands and back at the armored vehicle he could not help but smile,
"Nice... I wonder how far that went?"
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*Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Himalaya Mountain Range
The Team watched as the army scrambled after watching one of the APV get flung out of the tunnel mouth as if it annoyed a giant who flicked it away.
"Well, I don't think we will be able to get in that way," Wally said matter of fact.
Artemis rolled her eyes, "Geez you think."
Before the two could engage in another long bickering segment Barbara spoke up.
"We may not have to, look."
Flicking the bioships digital satellite map of the area revealed an area behind the mountain. A quick zoom showed the snowy mountain ridges save for one particular spot which revealed an expanding hole. While grainy, the image showed a slowly opening hangar door and multiple people running about loading what appeared to be various helicopters.
Kaldur nodded his head, "I see the League Of Shadows have an emergency escape route."
"M'gann take us over there and lets deploy. We will try to investigate during all this chaos."
The Bioship moved silently and invisibly over the battlefield. The army began another artillery barrage into the side of the mountain causing minor avalanches and rock to tumble.
"Idiots," Robin muttered.
"All they are going to do is collapse that tunnel and stop any advances they are trying to make."
The Team remained quiet as the ship flew to the hangar. The opening was large enough that they were able to fly in the upper part undetected and land in one of the empty landing pads.
Barbara watched from the viewing ports as dozens of ninja dressed individuals ran about, loading equipment and various crates into cargo helicopters.
"Batgirl, what are your thoughts?" Kaldur asked.
Scanning the area once more she said, "We should secure this hangar, check the crates for any evidence before proceeding further. Maybe take a moment to interrogate any of the League of Shadow members to try to figure out what is going on. After that..."
"Doing so is a waste of time and stupid!" Robin interrupted irritably.
"We should bypass this completely find the base commander and beat him till he tell us what we want to know."
Some of the Team members gave Robin a weary and annoyed glance. His attitude had been growing more troublesome during this whole trip with snide remarks and critiques that was fraying the nerves of everyone.
Connor appeared to be fed up with him and opened his mouth to speak but Kaldur put a hand on his forearm and shook his head slightly. A motion that Robin saw very clearly.
Kaldur pointedly looked at Robin and said, "Batgirl's thoughts are not stupid, they are practical. Connor and Wally will take the back entrance to the hangar and secure it, while everyone will engage the Shadows. Lets round them all up to the center."
Robin remained quiet but the anger in his face was clear to the rest of the team.
"M'gann lets lower the ramp and engage," Kaldur said taking out both his water blades and charging them up.
The lamp lowered and the Team charged out.
Despite their shortcomings and in some ways the limits of their skills and abilities compared to the Justice League the Team was much stronger then the majority of paramilitary organizations.
Connor had ripped a few doors off the helicopters and used those to bat surprised Shadow members about. Wally did what speedsters did best and ran at nearly mach speed giving barely a slap to the Shadows he saw, but with the momentum of his speed sent them flying into walls. M'gann was flying around and grabbing men off the ground only to let them fall back down onto the concrete floors. Zatanna spoke her magic spells backwards and entangled various Shadows down. Artemis and Batgirl took a few down themselves before taking the task of gathering the knockout or bound Shadows and dragged them to the center of the room with Kaldur.
All in all it only took the team a few minutes to take out the League of Shadows grunts. And though no one said it, they all felt a certain sense of satisfaction and comradery. It had been a long time since they could say that.
As Barbara tied the last of the hangar crew together she pondered what Batman had once told her.
'Sometimes the only way to unite a team is by forcing them to fight together for their survival.'
"Hey, where's Robin?" Wally said as he drifted into view.
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*Felix, League Of Shadows Temple, Himalayas
Looking at a small data pad, Felix watched as the Sturmtruppen made their way to the engagement point. He took a small sip of coffee as he watch the slow but continuous progress of his team, the roar and shaking caused by the nearby artillery pieces nearly making him spill.
The general leading the attacking forces stood beside him, the visible rage the man had was increasing.
"You said this operation would be simple! Now I have dozens of dead combat troops and multiple destroyed armor. You lied!"
Felix's Chinese was rough but he understood the majority of what the general said.
Lowering the data pad down Felix gave the general an appraising look. He pondered the consequences of what action he was going to take. But considering hiding the Order's involvement was important he began looking around the command tent.
The general was still ranting in his native tongue when he noticed that Felix was barely paying him any attention.
"Too busy to even listen to me!" The general growled in English.
"What are you even looking for?"
Felix's nose crinkled as me muttered, "Quite a few still in here... oh well. It cant be helped."
The general confused said in his native tongue, "What?"
Felix stood up and put his hand in a caressing and gentle way on the back of the old generals neck.
"Well, I was hoping the Command tent would be more empty right before I killed you all."
The grip Felix had on the general increased as a reddish hue appeared on his veins and soon connected to the general. Almost immediately the old man began to wilt and grey before becoming an emaciated husk of a man that collapsed to the ground with hoarse breathing.
The others in the command group seeing what happened acted immediately. Two men charged him attempting to tackle him but he merely reached out with inhuman strength and grabbed both by the throat to body slam them into the ground.
A officer further back drew his pistol and began firing, his aim true as he landed 4 shots into Felix's chest. A low groan came from Felix's lips but his grip on the two men did not relent as he began to drain them of their life force. The bullet wounds on his chest glowed red as they swiftly closed and healed with barely a scratch.
Charging the armed officer he deftly snapped the man's neck before knocking his compatriot standing next to him to the ground.
Thankfully, the roar of the artillery muffled any sound of the pistol firing so no one came into the command tent. Reaching down Felix quickly absorbed the life force of the officer he had knocked down. The euphoric rush similar to a high was exquisite, and having so many so quickly at the same time gave him such a boost that he could barely keep his hands from shaking.
"Phew... that is quite the rush," Felix said as he cracked his neck.
Looking around, there were a few frightened technicians staring at Felix with wide eyes.
Seeing them Felix smiled,
"I have a bit more room for a snack..."