"Nice Job." Kayn said, nodding as he acknowledged his team who had subdued the remaining soldiers. Behind him was Vixen leading the various children. However, the others, Violet especially, still remained on guard towards Vixen, always wary.
The APEX base behind them was now mostly in ruins, its technological defenses destroyed and their guards incapacitated and waiting to be taken away to be interrogated by Batman and co.
Kayn looked at the various children, there was over two dozen of them from Zambesi and around 10 of them from Europe. Their previously frightened faces now showed glimmers of hope.
He could see the reflection of his younger self in them, a time when he too was a prisoner, filled with fear and uncertainty. He knew that their journey to recovery would be long, but this was the first step.
"We need to move quickly," Vixen said, her voice laced with worry as she looked after the various children, "APEX might send reinforcements after losing contact with this base, and we can't risk being here when they arrive."
"We have a rendezvous point away from here in case things went hairy. Lets go there and then figure everything out." Kayn spoke, and Vixen nodded.
Vixen immediately went to organize the children into lines while Kayn moved to speak to his team.
"According to the information collected, these bases contact each-other once every hour, cross-referencing that with the time we took to completely raid the base and how far away the reinforcements would be, we have around 23 mins before anyone gets here." Kayle spoke as her hands glided over the Laptop.
"Make sure to control these soldiers, we're moving out. Soren, you lead the way, I'll speak with Vixen." Kayn spoke, and everyone immediately got to work.
With a plan in place, everything went swimmingly. Kayle, her protectors and Soren lead the way, while Hugo, Violet and Mika watched over the detained soldiers.
As they moved through the dense forest, Kayn noticed the admiration in the children's eyes as they looked at his team. Despite the harsh circumstances, they were inspired by their rescuers' strength and bravery.
Kayn contacted Batman via his comm device. "We took down the base here, and we have the enemies detained. Sending coordinates for the transfer now."
Batman's voice came through, calm and precise. "Understood. Wonder Woman will be there."
The team made their way through the dense foliage, moving swiftly and silently. Vixen walked beside Kayn, her expression contemplative. "I owe you and your team my thanks. Without your help, these children would still be in captivity."
Kayn shook his head, "We're all in this together. APEX is a threat to everyone. Besides, your help was invaluable in dealing with those... creatures."
Vixen smiled, a hint of pride in her eyes. "The Tantu Totem has its uses. I just hope we can put an end to APEX for good."
They reached the rendezvous, a clearing in the forest where a huge jet waited. Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter stood at the entrance, her presence radiating strength and compassion.
"Well done, Kayn," she said, her voice warm. "We'll load them up onto the ship and I'll prepare us for takeoff."
Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter immediately began taking away the various detained soldiers, loading them up onto the ship to be taken away for interrogation and imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Kayn gathered his team. "We need to analyze the data we extracted from the base. APEX won't stop, and neither will we. We have to stay one step ahead."
Kayle, sitting with her laptop, nodded. "I'm already working on decrypting the files. We should have more information soon."
Soren added, "We should also consider our next move. APEX will be on high alert after this. We need to plan our strikes carefully."
Kayn agreed. "We'll regroup, analyze the data, and plan accordingly. For now, let's focus on getting these children to safety and making sure they're taken care of."
At that moment, Vixen approached him, her expression serious, "I need to take the Zambesi children back to the village. There are also more of my people missing, and I could use your help finding them."
Kayn nodded. "You can count on us. We won't rest until APEX is stopped."
Vixen gathered the children who had been taken away from Zambesi, ready to leave, but just as she was about to move away, a little girl ran over and clung to Kayn.
"Brother, I want to follow you too." The girl's voice was delicate as she tightly held onto it, leaving everyone a bit surprised.
"Didn't you come from Zambesi?" Kayn inquired curiously as he looked at her.
"Actually not exactly." Vixen immediately broke into the conversation, beginning to explain, "She had came to Zambesi not too long ago, apparently looking for me, but I was handling business back then and she was kidnapped alongside the others before I left."
Kayn looked back to the girl, now with a more precise gaze. He could immediately sense that she had a extremely high amount of Magical Power in her body for her age, and her spiritual strength was extremely high, protecting her mind from low level curses or mind reading.
She looked to be around 14 years old, with dull pale skin, dark purple short hair and bright violet eyes, with pointing ears and magical rune tattoos all over her body.
"Ever since I was born, I had the ability to see Spirits and Ghosts, which lead me to be seen as crazy. I heard that there was a lady in Zambesi that could help me, but before I met her, I was taken away." The girl began explaining her story.
"According to those bad guys, I had really really high Magic Power, and a natural connection to the Spiritual Realms, so they infused me with all these Magical Runes as an experiment. However, when I met you, I realized your power is more suitable for help me than big sister here." The girl said, finishing off her point by looking towards Vixen.
Kayn chuckled and asked, "What is your name?"
"My name is Gwendolyn Romain, but everyone calls me Gwen." The girl responded happily.
Kayn looked towards Vixen, who just nodded, giving him confirmation that she'd allow him to take Gwen away.
"Are you sure you want to follow us?"
"Yeah." Gwen nodded her head, her face was full of seriousness, as if she had decided on some major life event, and Kayn just smiled smiled after seeing it.
"Then follow us."Kayn touched the little girl's head, stood up and turned to Vixen, giving her a hug before she finally left alongside the Zambesi children.
As Vixen departed, Kayn looked at his team. They were tired but determined. He knew that they would face many more challenges, but together, they were a force to be reckoned with.
"Alright, team," Kayn said, his voice firm. "Let's get to work."
Kayn and the others worked to load the remaining detained ones onto Wonder Woman's ship before leaving, heading back to their headquarters.
_______________________
6 Hours Later
Back at their headquarters, Kayn and his team gathered in the command room. Kayle had set up her laptop, projecting the decrypted files onto the large screen.
"This is what we managed to extract," Kayle began, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "APEX has multiple bases around the world, each conducting different experiments. They're not just targeting Metahumans, Aliens or Homo-Magi now, they're experimenting on anyone, those grotesque monsters were originally normal Humans turned using the poisonous blood of an Alien combined with Magic."
Kayn studied the information, his mind racing. "We need to shut down these operations. If they're allowed to continue, more innocent lives will be at risk."
Hugo spoke up, his voice filled with determination. "I say we skip the little bases and go right for the big one where the commander and leader is at. Take down the King and the Kingdom crumbles."
Kayn nodded, that was the sort of thing he liked to hear, "We'll take the fight to them. But we need to be smart about it. No unnecessary risks. We do this together, as a team. Contact Vixen and give her the information we have."
"Do we want any Justice League influence on this?" Violet, always the calm one was the first to bring them up.
Soren, always the strategist, outlined his thoughts. "First, we gather all the intel we can from these files. Then, we'll send our plan to them. If they want to send someone, okay but if not, who cares. This is our fight anyway, regardless of Justice League influence or not."
"We hit APEX hard and fast, taking out their key facility and bringing down their Empire. If we complete this, any stragglers will be picked apart over time." Kayn spoke, ending the meeting.