Belle Reve Penitentiary, Louisiana

Floyd Lawton and Hudson Pyle sat in the small private commissary that was exclusive to members of Task Force X. The assassin known as Deadshot and the vigilante known as the Cavalier sat across from each other, looks of concentration fixed on their faces. There were a few other men and women in the room but the two had their own corner. A team of armored guards with assault rifles kept watch over the convicts. Cavalier leaned forward and smirked at Deadshot, "Careful you don't miss, Lawton."

Deadshot, the deadliest sniper alive, gritted his teeth, "I don't miss Pyle." He let out a slow breath and slid the small wood box out from the tower of blocks and carefully placed it on top. Already the tower was a haphazard jumble of blocks, ready to crash at any second. But Deadshot did not make it even wobble. Deadshot leaned back and grinned, satisfied with himself, as Cavalier rubbed his beard. The swordsman reached a finger forward to extract a block when suddenly a hand slammed on the table.

The tower crumbled and crashed instantly as Deadshot's fist tightened to throw a punch and Cavalier pulled a shiv from some unknown spot. Bette Sans Soici, the Checkmate Agent known as Plastique clutched her stomach and laughed and laughed. Deadshot's fist relaxed and he grinned while Cavalier nonchalantly slid his makeshift knife back where it came from. Plastique kept laughing and a tear slid down her eye before she stopped, "My god, the looks on your faces. Two hardened killers, spooked by Jenga!" She began laughing again and Cavalier said, "I was just about to beat him too."

Deadshot snorted, "In your dreams, Pyle." Plastique collected herself again and stood up, "Well Happy Halloween guys but Waller has a job for us." Deadshot looked at her, "I'm a volunteer I choose my missions unlike some people," he said with a side-eye grin at Cavalier who shrugged. Plastique nodded, "That may be true but the boss specifically requested you. Most of our big guns are in play and this is a critical op. She already sent an advance support team. We're gonna be the boots on the ground."

Cavalier asked, "What's the mission?" Plastique replied, "Waller will want to brief herself. But it's international. We're pulling a lot of conscripts for this one. I got the files here." She activated the holographic display on her wrist computer showing several mugshots. Deadshot nodded, "Beast, Mister Freeze, that Alien Queen, we've got a few heavy hitters." Cavalier snorted, "And a lot of wildcards. Amygdala? Ambush Bug? That one is a maniac. This is going to be an interesting op."

Plastique nodded, "Yes but we need a big team for this op. They've pulled all the conscripts into the briefing room. Let's head over there now. Unless you need to put all the little wood pieces back in the box?" Deadshot and Cavalier glanced at each other and walked off after Plastique, leaving the pile of wooden blocks behind.

---

The conscripts were congregated in a large briefing room. There were rows of chairs facing a holographic projector. There were around a dozen men and women in the room, dangerous criminals and rogue vigilantes who couldn't be housed anywhere else. They had all been made fully aware of the times of their deal. Time off their sentences and fresh air in exchange for performing black ops missions for the US Government. For most of them this was their first mission for the Suicide Squad, as the Belle Reve Inmates called it, and there was a palpable tension in the air. Armed guards lined the walls of the room, ready for anything. Waller would be arriving soon and the conscripts had a few minutes to converse.

Eventually Amanda Waller strolled into the room followed by Deadshot, Plastique, and Cavalier who were all in uniform with their weapons. Amanda Waller was a stout woman with a stony face, and everyone in the room immediately knew that she was not a woman to be trifled with. Deadshot, Cavalier, and Plastique all took positions at her side as she cleared her throat, "Welcome to the Suicide Squad inmates, I have your first assignment."

She turned on the holographic projector which showed a map of the Middle East, specifically the area around the Quraci desert, "Bialya and Khandaq. Two of the only nations in the world to be run by superhumans. Black Adam and Queen Bee have had an increasing rivalry ever since she conquered Qurac. Now these two rogue nations share a border and tensions are rising. Queen Bee's HIVE and Adam's Onslaught groups have been wreaking havoc in the region. Thousands have died already and both nations have armies massing on the borders. It will only be a matter of time before these two throw the whole region into chaos." She displayed pictures of Black Adam and Queen Bee. Teth-Adam, one of the most powerful beings in the world, glared at the camera while the mind controller Queen Bee smirked at the Suicide Squad.

Waller continued, "The Justice League has already approached the UN for permission to intervene. Superman, Wonder Woman, and several other members of the League are hosting a peace summit in Dubai. Black Adam and Queen Bee are both attending. This is the first time that League has taken an active role in geopolitics. They have a real chance of brokering a peace between the two nations. How long until the League starts running everything after that? That cannot be allowed. So we're going to broker our own peace agreement. Your mission will be to infiltrate the capital city of Khandaq and a major Bialyan military base. You will capture Black Adam's wife, Isis. She has the same powers as him but she spends most of her time in mortal form, Adrianna Tomaz."

A skinny blonde haired meta named Luftballon snorted, "Isis could wipe the floor with all of us combined. If we get caught breaking in, we're screwed." Waller simply replied, "Yes which is why we placed an advance team in preparation for this op. This team includes assets that will assist you in infiltrating the base and neutralizing Isis if she assumes super form. We have little firm intel on the Palace, other than it's well guarded and includes several Onslaught members. The advance team should have more information for you."

"You will link up with the team and capture Isis alive. Any threats you encounter along the way should be dealt with quickly and quietly. Onslaught and HIVE both use super-powered or talented agents. Capturing any of them would be a great boon but they are expendable. After capturing Isis you will then cross the Quraci desert and infiltrate Alpha Hive, where General Harjavti, Queen Bee's lover and military commander, will be. Intel suggests that he brought their teen son along. King Bee is expendable but Prince Bee must be taken alive. After you capture the target you will be extracted and we will take it from there."

Waller stared into each and every one of their eyes, "Plastique is our field leader. If any of you disobey her orders or jeopardize the mission, she has fully authority to detonate the bombs in your heads. If you try to go AWOL you will be killed instantly. If you betray the team you will be killed. If you are captured you will resist interrogation or you will be killed. Am I clear?" she received a bevy of nods in response. Waller continued, "Each of you will be given a commlink and wrist computer that will let you communicate and share data among the Squad. It will also contain information on your objectives and everything we know about Onslaught and HIVE operatives in the area. They are dangerous and well-armed, they are not to be underestimated."

"You will receive your equipment when you board the transport. You'll be inserting at night. You have five days to complete your mission. Plastique, it's your show now." Waller exited the room and Plastique, Deadshot, and Cavalier showed the new Squad members to the VTOL. It was a large craft and fit all of them easily. A small squad of Checkmate operators joined the Squad who were allowed their equipment. After getting in uniform and equipped they boarded the craft. The VTOL pilot pressed a few buttons and the aircraft disappeared into thin air as the Suicide Squad left to the Quraci desert. The Squad had an opportunity to talk among themselves and prepare for the operation.

---

After several hours of travel they arrived in the desert in the dark night. It was a new moon and the desert was almost pitch black. The pilot opened the backdoor and exposed the shadowed landscape to the Squad. Deadshot looked at the conscripts and said, "Those of you who can't fly or jump or what ever the hell you need to do, strap on a chute and jump!" Deadshot pulled on a parachute and jumped out of the aircraft, followed by Cavalier. Soon everyone in the Squad followed suit, those who were reluctant to jump prodded on by the Checkmate soldiers who then jumped last.

After a nerve wracking fall the Squad landed on the desert. They set to burying their chutes as the VTOL disappeared from view. The Suicide Squad was on it's own now. Plastique addressed the Squad, "We move fast to the safe house the advance team set up. Only myself and Deadshot know the location, so listen to us if you want to make it out of here alive. Be careful and be quiet. We're in neutral ground but we do not want to attract the attention of HIVE or Onslaught. We need to make it to the safe house before morning. Get in formation and let's move."

The Checkmate soldiers brought up the rear and Deadshot scouted ahead, leading the Squad along as they trekked across the sand. The dunes rose and fell and no other life could be seen for miles around. The wind whistled through the desert and nothing else could be heard. The Squad would have to keep their voices down but it seemed they could talk. It was the calm before the storm Plastique knew, the calm before the mission would inevitably head sideways as missions always did. She just hoped the new conscripts were ready for it.

Victor sat in fill winter regalia in the 75 degree room, right hand clenched into a fist as he flexed the muscles of futility to try and keep the cold contained. It was more of a mental exercise than a physical to try and willingly suppress his power. The gesture of his right hand helped visualize the efforts as he hoarded his hoarfrost while the rest were present but in the palm rested a lightbulb so that he had to keep mental measure of its presence in the palm so that he didn't crush it. They had gone the extra mile to put a little Elsa figurine in the lightbulb to tease him about why he was here.

He was here and not some other freezing freak because of his life in Africa, he new some of the little things that could save the mission. It was his practicality and practical skills put to the effort this time around. BUt all his practicality went to the left as the lightbulb cracked under the mission Paramaters.

"With all respect. You are insane. Not only will we have two country controlling villains, but the full support of the league hunting us down. The only thing that might save our lives if anything goes bad is the 'no killing' rules of most of the members being at odds with either of the villains lacking moral code. And you might still blow us up after that as is..."

He said his peace then sighed with resignation. "When do we leave?"

The rest was much of a blur to him as he tried to ull up all the African data that he could on the countries they were invading. His African was rusty after a decade to he was you-tube-ing lots of sport games and old news feeds to get the dialects back. He didn't need to be a polyglot, but a smattering of phrases would get them into certain places easier than most. Their propensity to hire empowered individuals would mean that he might have a chance at outright infiltration without his suit if it came to that or else being the only one capable of indefinite underwater activity.

When they got to the drop zone, they were lucky enough to arrive at the desert, he used his gun to generate a pile of dry-ice snow to fall into to dismiss his mass before hitting the sand. Frost is not uncommon in a place with temperatures below 30 at night, deserts only lack the moisture. By the rising of the sun, the snow will be gone into the atmosphere.

Ambush Bug didn't know why he was on this mission. He didn't particularly care. As long as they didn't nag him to go out and make friends they could have had him running laps around the prison in full scuba gear. He sat through the briefing, half paying attention. Something about Africa, or maybe the Middle East. He was more focused on getting something to eat before leaving for the mission. He took a moment to pay attention to the pictures of the two superhumans displayed on the projector. "Buzz, buzz." Ambush Bug muttered to himself, before his thoughts turned inward again.

His attention was caught when one of his fellow newly initiated squad mates spoke up with a voice like icicles scraping over other icicles. "What an odd choice of dress..." he thought as he eyed the full winter gear the man was wearing, completely ignoring the fact that he himself was dressed up in a garish green and yellow jumpsuit. Ambush Bug considered the eskimo's words, but disregarded them. The choice is die now, or die later, what did it matter?

Ambush Bug stood, and not quite sure what to do after missing most of the briefing, simply followed the others. He tried his best to sleep through most of the travel and prep time. Everything he needed was stuck in his body. Before he knew it, Ambush Bug found himself staring out the back of an open aircraft. Would now be a bad time to mention my fear of heights?" he asked no one in particular, before disappearing in a flash. He reappeared about two meters above the desert sand, and dropped the last few feet to a tumbling fall. "Whew! Good game. Let's go again."

“With all respect…” Anatoli sized up the man who had spoken. Despite the rather mild temperature in the room, he was dressed as if going into the Siberian tundra. Anatoli took an instant disliking to the man.

“If you are not ready, perhaps you should not have been chosen for such a mission…” The Russian said quietly.

He surveyed his teammates, taking in the costumes and strange equipment. They were all odd operators. He was used to combat boots, not green tights. Still, this was probably one of the most important missions Anatoli had been on in his long life. Part of him was excited to be back in the role of earth shaker, while the other part was nervous about his teammates’ performance. There's at least a few people I can depend on, he thought, glancing at Deadshot.

On the plane, Anatoli checked his cybernetic arm, testing servos and flexing the motors, ten followed that with a similar routine on his biological arm, finishing it off by cracking his knuckles. It was good to get back into the business, after his time in jail. American prisons were just too boring.

Now that he had checked over his person, Anatoli started checking his equipment. They had given him a big bag of boom. A smile played across the Beast’s face as he thought of the destruction he would wrought. Hopefully Plastique won't steal my thunder…

Securing his precious cargo, the mercenary jumped from the plane, opened his chute, landing gracefully on the sand. Anatoli pulled on his mask. The Beast came alive.

After a few hours of walking and several miles of empty desert, Plastique checked her computer. It was about four hours until sunrise and they were about halfway to the safehouse. At the pace they were making, they'd be there with plenty of time to spare. Reaching the advance base would mean shelter, food, and new equipment and intel to help them on their objective. Now she just needed to make sure they reached the safe house intact. Deadshot took the lead, zooming in with his visor every so often to make sure they were alone. The desert was clear around them, no life bigger than a lizard for leagues. Part of him itched for some action, a pretty large part. Deadshot only felt really alive when he was close to death. To most, feeling that way would have been troubling, to Floyd Lawton it was just a fact of life. Deadshot checked their surroundings again and found nothing. But there was that familiar feeling. A sinking in his gut that told him that things were about to get messy, and fast. It was very rarely wrong.

Deadshot scanned the desert again looking for any traces of movement or heat. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary. He swept the area around them again and then he saw it. The desert was cold at this hour and there were no heat signs showing anything living beyond the members of the squad. Deadshot looked at Freeze and noted that in thermal vision, the metahuman had an extremely low temperature. But it was still higher than the cold sand. And when he noticed that he then noticed that there were several cold spots that were both too cold to be normal life signs but too warm to be nothing. And there were dozens of them all around them.

Deadshot opened his mouth to shout a warning when suddenly the cold spots flared into warmth and the ground exploded around them. Dozens of black clad figures jumped in the air, wielding melee weapons of every conceivable variety. Deadshot raised his rifle and immediately put a round through one of the ninjas and the man jerked to the ground, his rifle fired in several single shots that sounded like automatic fire. More and more ninjas were knocked out of the air and lay still. But more kept coming on all sides. Plastique raised her shotgun and blew two away at the same time, sending their flaming corpses flying. Cavalier drew a dagger and it flew into a man's throat. His swords came out and he skewered another ninja before four fell on him at the same time, and the swordsman fought them all off with his blades.

Amygdala roared and began charging through the dark clad ninjas while Luftballon stood still and raised his hands. Several of the assassins clutched their heads and screamed as Luftballon's microwave emissions melted their insides. Javelin created an energy spear and threw it, managing to impale three of the assassins before he created another spear and began holding off several attackers with his gleaming staff. One Checkmate soldier cried out as he was run through with a sword but his killer was blown away by another trooper and the survivors began laying down automatic fire. Though they must have killed more than a dozen of them in the first moments of the fight, more and more kept coming. Another Checkmate soldier was riddled with throwing knives and crumpled to the ground. Plastique blew a hole through one man's stomach and the stock of the shotgun against another man's head, hitting him with enough force to snap his neck. Cavalier chopped the head off of one of his attackers but the rest pressed their assault and it was all he could do to keep from getting stabbed or slashed. Deadshot's arm guns fired and several men dropped but the rest managed to close into melee distance.

Lawton dodged a swipe and blew the man's head off at close range. He grabbed the body and blocked the next attack, killing the next man by shooting through his meat shield. The situation was bad. There were outnumbered five to one and surrounded on all sides. It was a classic ambush and some part of his mind wondered how the hell these assassins knew they would be here. But he knew it didn't matter right now, they just needed to survive. Seven ninjas jumped forward at Freeze from all sides with swords raised while five charged Beast at the same time. Four ninjas came at Ambush Bug, three with swords while one hung back to fling a dagger at him. Another dozen came at Kommand'r and the Bug-eyed Bandit all of them with knives and swords ready to kill them.

Komand'r found herself falling asleep a couple times during the mission briefing. If I wanted to hear someone drone on about a mission, she quietly thought to herself, I would've just stayed home and had a chat with my military advisor. After all, I'm supposed to be on vacation...

On the other side of the room sat the Bug-Eyed Bandit, who was excited to be involved in a military operation, or something like it. It beats the hell out of staying in the cell of some prison. She looked around at everyone else in the room and was not too surprised to see such an odd mix of people. While listening to the briefing, she found the time to make a little game in which she would look at someone and try to guess what their abilities are. Hmm, winter clothes? Probably some ice abilities... Hey, is he that Captain Cold I've been hearing so much about back home? She began to do this with each person, which occupied her mind up until it was time to jump.

Upon boarding the aircraft, Komand'r smirked. Hah, Waller thought she confiscated my booze. Now, I can drink all I want in Qurac. Her backpack hung loosely from her back, filled with drinks and clothes filling the gaps between the bottles, to prevent them from clinking with each other.

The Bug-Eyed Bandit frantically put all her equipment into the parachute bag, closed her eyes, and jumped. She managed to know when to pull the strap and land normally and safely.

After putting on her rocket boots, Komand'r gracefully jumped off the plane and pulled out a can of Pabst blue ribbon beer from her backpack and flew around recklessly, yelling "Whoo! No more Waller! Time to party!" If any action would be conspicuous enough to attract ninjas, this would be it.

This annoyed Brie a bit as she was preparing her robotic bees on the sand and booting up her computer. When the dozen ninjas jumped out at Brie, she glanced at them but kept her focus on the technology, as it was her only means of defense.

Komand'r flew down towards Brie and began to throw and project blackbolts from her palms to the ninjas. Since she could only occupy the attention of about four at a time and at most kill two at a time, she had some difficulty keeping the rest from getting to Brie. "Can I get an extra hand over here?"

“With all respect…If you are not ready, perhaps you should not have been chosen for such a mission…”

"And yet I was, so just how vital must a rook like me be to such a mission completion versus someone as eager as a pawn like you?"

He let their respective values hang in the air before Freeze did his best to continue sculpting his skillset by looping the materials to review as the hours passed fairly wordlessly, trying to be efficiently multi-tasking, he was spending the hours passively charging up spare anti-batteries. He could either link the pistol to his suit, or load a battery and use the same connection to power more batteries, he could not do both at the same time. A change to be rectified if the suit ever sees revision.

There was no buildup of lactic acid in his joints as the pointman took a moment to bring them to attention. Then the stillness exploded into action. The arctic one dropped to one knee as he opened fire, so to speak, in sweeping motions rather than precise shots. Be it fortune or planning, those attacking him were using blunted weapons to prevent suit breach as he took a club to the ribs and upside the peripheral of his helmet. He wasn't sure how many he was hitting, but he tried to keep cool as he released three second sweeps of radiating cold strong enough to pin people in place or bring single limbs to shocking frigidity that might shatter upon striking him next time.

A ninja rushed the Beast, swinging a katana wildly. The Russian caught the blade with his cybernetic hand, much to the surprise of the ninja. With a twist, the Beast snapped the sword as if it was made of foil, and with another grab and twist, snapped the ninja’s neck. He hefted the limp form, throwing it to intercept another rush of ninjas. The body suddenly exploded, the hidden grenade taking out the cluster of warriors.

“Everyone loves a surprise,” the Beast said as he dropped the grenade's pin.

A sharp pain stung on his back as a dagger sunk into his skin. The Beast roared, not in pain, but in excitement. He laughed as he kicked backwards, crushing his assailant’s head. His cybernetic hand folded back on itself as he switch to gun mode, and began spraying death onto the ninja hoard. A hoard that was steadily growing as more and more ninjas emerged.

The Beast checked his teammates as the ninjas shrunk back from him, taking other targets. Deadshot and Plastique were making short work of the ninjas, while the self-proclaimed rook, Mr. Freeze, seemed fairly competent, with a dash of luck.

The alien was wild, sloppy, and probably drunk, but didn't seem in danger of dying, at least at the moment. The bee girl however, was not so lucky; she didn't seem to have any way to defend herself. Redirecting his gun hand, the Beast provided some covering fire to the Bug Eyed Bandit.

“Get down!” he yelled, jumping across the battlefield to defend his teammate. "Whatever you're doing, make it quick."

Ambush Bug let out a gasp, half surprise, half joy, as he was ambushed. "Ninjas!" he cried gleefully, and assumed a pose he had seen from a martial arts movie. Just as a ninja was upon him he disappeared, and reappeared behind his assailant, karate chopping him in the head. With the advanced suit strength, Ambush Bug's blow left the ninja in a crumpled heap on the ground, either unconscious or dead. "Green beats black! Wataaa!"

Ambush Bug jumped from attacker to attacker, striking various poses and shouting, punching and kicking along the way. One jump however, left him several meters away from the action, where he doubled over momentarily to catch his breath. "Whew. It is not easy to kick this much ass." Rather than jumping back into the fray after catching his breath, Ambush Bug instead took a moment to watch the chaos from relative safety.

Ambush Bug's attention was drawn immediately to the girl on her laptop, and the alien defending her. He was about to move to help the pair when the Russian beat Ambush Bug to the punch, leaping toward the pair.. "Well, I'm not one to let some sore rooskie make me look bad..." he muttered as he teleported near the pair. "Never fear! Ambush Bug is he--" Ambush Bug's words were cut off by a blow to the gut, and he doubled over in pain.

A ninja raised his sword to decapitate Ambush Bug but his head melted as Luftballon shoved his hand on his face. Luftballon, Javelin, and the remaining Checkmate soldiers formed a circle near Ambush Bug, Kommand'r, and Brie. With automatic weapons and powers they held off the ninjas from overwhelming them and allowing Brie to get her bugs operational. Dozens of corpses littered the ground near them. Deadshot and Plastique fought back to back, blowing away ninjas at long and close range with hot lead, snapping necks or stabbing if they got too close. Plastique punched one ninja and his chest literally exploded from a concussive blast while Deadshot fired one of his wrist pistols into a ninja's head, the bullet piercing two other skulls as all three dropped dead. Cavalier finally managed to get the upper hand of his attackers. He blocked two katanas at once and kicked the third man savagely in the gut. Cavalier ducked down and slashed another ninja's ankle and pivoted to run the last run through his stomach. He withdrew both blades and cut the wounded man across his chest. Cavalier slammed his heel into the first man's neck and snapped it instantly.

Amygdala, Freeze, and Beast swept up what remained of the ninjas. The large metahuman Amygdala trampled men under his feet and swept his tree trunk arms in wide paths, crushing bones with every blow. Freeze's ice attacks wiped out a large number of ninjas, shattered ninjas glimmered in the sand. Beast's precise and skilled attacks slaughtered any who opposed him, their corpses piled high. Within just a few minutes, more than half of the assassins had been wiped out by the Suicide Squad. Deadshot was just allowing himself to smile in satisfaction when suddenly thirteen more shapes flew out of the sand behind the horde of ninjas. His visor locked in on the figures. There were twelve men and one woman. Each of the men had smooth armor etched in the style of an animal, with a bestial helmet covering each man's features. The animals were all from the Chinese Zodiac. The woman wore a simple pure white outfit with a white mask that obscured her more petite frame. The database identified them as the Twelve Brothers in Silk and the White Canary.

Each of them were children of an infamous martial arts assassin known as Huang. Huang had trained his children in his arts, a more violent and deadly counter to heroes who took sidekicks. Huang had wanted twelve sons of the Zodiac to affirm his legacy, one son for every year of the cycle. If there were extra children born in the same year, they fought to the death at the age of twelve. Girls were usually eliminated outright. But for unknown reasons White Canary had been spared. The group were infamous in the criminal underworld for their skill and lethality. Each was a master in martial arts and White Canary was the best of them, she assumed control of the group after killing their father. The thirteen assassins were well known associates of the League of Assassins. This confirmed intel that the League was somehow involved in the war between Queen Bee and Black Adam.

As the remnants of the rank and file ninjas tried to engage the Suicide Squad, the Thirteen Assassins sprang into action. Six of them alone came for Ambush Bug, Kommand'r, Brie, Luftballon, and Javelin. A Checkmate soldier tried to shoot them but a knife embedded itself in his visor as he dropped to the ground. The brother known as Horse jumped at Javelin with a spear, who erected his own spear to hold Horse off. The two traded blows with their spears while Luftballon raised his hands to cook the other brothers. Rat flung a chain that wrapped around his neck and flung him on the ground, knocking him out of the fight temporarily as Checkmate soldiers crouched over him and tried to shoot the brothers who expertly avoided their shots. Rat and Pig both jumped at Ambush Bug from opposite sides. Rat with his chain and Pig with dual daggers. Goat, Dog, and Rooster made for Brie and Kommand'r. Rooster tried to throw several daggers at Kommand'r while Dog jumped at her with a sword. Goat charged at Brie with a blade poised to strike.

A large burly brother named Tiger jumped on Amygdala's face. The meta tried to pry him off but Tiger sunk a dagger deep into one of his eyes. The meta screamed and blindly shoved his fist at Tiger. Tiger jumped off of Amygdala and the meta's own meaty fist knocked him out cold onto the sand. Tiger then turned his attention to Beast, leaping at him with an axe and dagger poised while Monkey tried to attack Beast's rear with a polearm axe. Ox, Snake, Dragon, and Rabbit all dove for Freeze. Snake and Rabbit both had swords and attacked at him from the sides while Ox attempted to close in with a large two handed hammer, and Dragon fired arrows at the meta. Deadshot and Plastique couldn't assist as the remaining rank and file ninjas attacked the two of them at once and swarmed their position, it was all the pair could do to hold him off. That left Cavalier alone with White Canary. The two sword fighters sized each other up across the battlefield, Cavalier with twin longswords and White Canary with her long spear. They charged at each other and traded blows at lightning speed, parrying, blocking, and slashing at a pace that boggled the mind.

The Suicide Squad had been turning the tide until the Children in Silk had appeared, now they were in a draw. It was up to the Squad to turn the tide soon before they were completely overwhelmed.

Freeze had all of a moment to try and swap batteries when the others fell back and others came forward. He was nowhere as fast as the ninjas but a flick of the thumb can be done in the time it took them to close the distance. The anti-battery detonated just as the three closed in on him, flash freezing the world around them all in a ten foot radius.

Without focus, the blast was not nearly the same as from his gun, there was no ice walls thick enough to stop bullets. In the middle of the desert was perfect pearl that started to crumble apart the moment arrows shattered the shell. The solid nitrogen would not have been enough to outright kill with such an indirect blast, but the sudden temperature drop should be enough to incapacitate the warriors for a few minutes to hours. Depending on training and precautions to take on an arctic opponent.

This now left the scientist time and opportunity to act. He locked his pistol into the output slot, set the latest half-full battery into his belt and lifted up the smallest of unconscious ninjas as a body shield as he approached the archer.

"Got it, thanks!" Brie jumped up, holding her phone as a large swarm of mechanical bees floated behind her. Although there was fighting all around her, she seemed to have been pinned into a position where she was one-on-one with some guy with goat armor on. Eager to test her equipment, she tapped her phone and swiped up, causing half the group of bees, about 250, to swarm the man. Finding the man's vulnerable spots was easy for the bees, and it only took a couple of stings to make the man crumple to the ground in asphyxiation.

While taking a few sips, Komand'r drunkenly dodged the daggers, then shot a starbolt at Dog as he was in the middle of his jump. She began to smile a bit as she recklessly threw starbolts at both Rooster and Dog. Once Rooster seemed to run out of things to throw, Komand'r decided to tease them by flying a little bit higher away from reach whenever they tried to jump for her, and punish them with a starbolt whenever they jumped.

As Tiger’s axe swung down on Beast, but was stopped by his bayonet that extended from his gun hand. At such a close range, the Russian couldn’t get off a clean shot. The two exchanged blows, getting off only minor knicks. What Beast lacked in swordsmanship, he made up in raw strength, keeping Tiger at bay, or so he thought. While his brother kept the Beast occupied, Monkey crept up for a killing blow.

“I heard you were a word class fighter… But I see that your reputation was ill-gotten,” the Beast taunted his opponent. Tiger simply grinned, but his eyes betrayed him, flicking slightly behind his opponent to his approaching brother. Beast saw the tell, shifting to grab Monkey's pole axe with his normal hand, while he tried to ward off the renewed attacks of Tiger. With a twist, he broke the blade off of Monkey’s weapon, splintering the pole. In the same motion, Beast slashed at Tiger with his new weapon, forcing him to back up, which finally giving Beast enough room to make off a clean shot. Bullets went unanswered into the martial artist.

“You shoulda been the Twelve Brothers in Kevlar,” the Beast roared at his dead opponent, laughing manically.

Monkey used the opportunity to close back in to Beast, stabbing the brute with a small dagger. The Beast reached back, grabbing his attacker’s hand, and in one smooth motion, hefted the attacker high in the air. He landed in a heap across the battlefield, unmoving.

“Anybody else?!”

Ambush Bug was back up in a moment, swinging his head side to side. "I'm good! Back in the action!"he called out. Ambush Bug teleported up into the air just in time to avoid a swing from Rat's chain. "Hey!" he called as he feel toward the pair, "Is that supposed to be your tail?" Just as Ambush Bug was about to land on Pig's upturned daggers, he teleported again, this time behind Pig. He reared back, and planted a super strength kick in between the ninja's legs.

As Pig was rolling on the ground in pain, Rat wasted no time in attacking once more, slashing the chain across Ambush Bug's chest. While the suit absorbed most of the blow, Ambush Bug still leaped back. "Yowch! No cheese for you!" He teleported again, this time right in front of Rat, who was about to swing his chain once more. Ambush Bug caught his arm, and pulled hard. There was a wrenching pop from Rat's shoulder. Ambush Bug finished him off with a straight punch to the face, sending the ninja flying back a few feet, where he'd lay, unmoving.

"Oh yeah! Ambush Bug number one ninja slayer!" Ambush Bug threw his arms up in the air in victory.

The Children in Silk were masters in martial arts, disciplined adherents to the ways of melee combat, victors in countless assassination missions and death matches. Against the reckless abandon of the superpowered and technologically superior Suicide Squad, it didn't matter. Goat screamed in agony and fear as Brie's bees swarmed him. Whether it was shock, suffocation, or the stings of her bees, he soon died and fell to the floor in a heap of swarming machines. Rooster and Dog tried to dodge Kommand'rs bolts but her wild drunken shots made it difficult to predict her movements, and neither was faster than the speed of light. A bolt cleaved straight through Rooster and left his chest a smoking crater, dropping him to the floor instantly as his heart and spinal column were completely vaporized. A stray bolt took out Dog's leg and he wildly flailed in the air before landing in the sand.

Beast had already gunned Tiger down and Beast's superpowered throw left Monkey knocked out cold. Ambush Bug had disabled Rat and Pig, and Freeze's ice blast blasted Ox, Snake, and Rabbit. Snake screamed in pain as he was blinded and Ox's strong arm was blue to the elbow, he would likely lose it. Rabbit was the worst off with both his legs succumbing to frost bite but it was quickly solved when his brother Dragon disregarded his safety and peppered him with arrows to try and kill Freeze. Across the battlefield Horse still battled Javelin the two seemed at an equal match until Javelin suddenly disengaged and leaped back shouting, "Now!" Horse ran forward but stopped as the Checkmate soldiers riddled him with bullets.

The other ninjas had taken heavy casualties and cloth garbed bodies littered the desert floor. The last ninja dropped to the ground with a large hole in his head as Plastique pumped her shotgun. Dragon tried to fire an arrow but screamed as his head started to swell and turn red and a few seconds later simply exploded, splattering his brains and skull across the sand. Luftballon groaned and stood up, "Fucking Ninjas." White Canary had seen that her brothers had fallen and as she fought Cavalier she reached for a communicator on her wrist, "Need pickup now!" Suddenly the air was wracked by the screeches and screams of inhuman throats. Dark shapes dropped out of the night sky, Man-Bats. The League of Shadows had copied Dr. Langstrom-s gene-splicing techniques and applied it to their men. The ninja Man-Bats swarmed, Checkmate soldiers dropping several as they covered White Canary. White Canary blocked Cavalier's swords and withdrew as he had to fight off two Man-Bats at the same time. She perched on a large albino Man-Bat with pale moon skin and blood red eyes before lifting off and flying into the night sky.

Several Man-Bat and Ninja corpses were left behind with a few Checkmate soldiers. Checkmate soldiers went around and put down any Assassins who were still alive. Of the Twelve Brothers in Silk, Goat, Rooster, Tiger, Rabbit, Horse, and Dragon were all dead. Snake, Ox, and Dog were crippled. Only Monkey, Rat, and Pig remained alive and whole. The Suicide Squad had gotten the better of one of the League of Shadow's assassination teams. Amygdala groaned as he awoke. He screamed in rage and pain as he tore the knife from his eye and blood gushed down his face. He ripped off cloth from a dead ninja and made a makeshift eyepatch which also helped stop the bleeding for his metahuman healing to take into effect. He would forever have only one eye however. The Checkmate troopers hurriedly shackled the surviving brothers even the crippled ones in handcuffs. All the brothers were stripped of weapons and armor, left in only silk undergarments while hoods were pulled over their heads.

Plastique reloaded and said, "Alright, reload and gather any equipment you can. Take the tags from our troopers. Amygdala, carry the bodies, we're not leaving anyone behind. Cavalier, grab blood samples from the Man-Bats, we'll see if our lab boys can get something from that. Ambush Bug scout you'll scout ahead as we move forward. Jump ahead, take a look around, and jump back. Deadshot, take the rear with the rest of the troopers. Larvan, I want you to screen our team with your bees providing a perimeter around us as we move. Beast, I want you to get Monkey, Rat, and Pig on their feet and moving. Keep an eye on them. If they try anything, shoot them immediately. We move in five, and we won't stop till we reach the safehouse."

Deadshot spoke up, "What about the other brothers?" Plastique grimaced, "They're crippled and we can't move them safely with our reduced numbers. Plus they're enemy agents. You know what to do." Deadshot nodded and advanced to Snake, Ox, and Dog. Later six shots rang in the air as he double-tapped all three in the head. Amygdala lugged the corpses of the fallen Checkmate troopers on his back and Javelin mucked around with several spears. He planted them in the ground and placed nine helmets on the staffs, displaying the helms of the fallen brothers and arranging their bodies before them. They were placed in a circle on their positions in the Chinese Zodiac. The Children in Silk were now effectively defunct. Whether it was a sign of respect or meant to be a warning, none knew but they let him finish the macabre monument.

Then the Suicide Squad set off with Cavalier and Plastique leading the survivors to safety. For a few hours they trekked through the desert and dawn started peaking through when finally Plastique motioned them to stop. They had reached a large mountain range in the middle of the desert, one of many rocky features that dotted the landscape. Plastique keyed her mic in a specific sequence and suddenly several troopers in desert-pattern Checkmate armor advanced on them from the hills.

They raised their weapons until the man at their lead motioned them to relax. A man in a tight-fighting black suit with an insectoid visor nodded at Plastique, "Better late than never." Plastique grunted, "Good to see you too Black Spider. We got held up. Intel was right, the League of Shadows is involved somehow." Rat, Pig, and Monkey were forced to their knees and the Checkmate soldiers hustled them inside while others took the fallen troopers from Amygdala's shoulders and attended to them. Black Spider nodded at the hidden bunker, "We better get inside. Sun's almost up and the desert will be crawling with HIVE and Onslaught agents." Plastique nodded and the Suicide Squad hustled inside.

Checkmate had turned the cave systems into a fortress. Hidden turrets screened the approach with a large monitor of camera screens displaying views inside and outside. A large armory filled to the brim with weapons and equipment beckoned while another room held several bunks and a cafeteria was open. A large common area held a pool table, a poker table, ping-pong, and a tv playing dvds with a game console nearby. A medical bay was also close by and Amygdala hurried in to be checked out. Monkey, Pig, and Rat were taken to the holding cells while the fallen troopers were placed in body bags and hustled off. Several other Squad members could be seen, infamous murderers and criminals who made names for themselves as well as numerous military operatives.

Plastique turned to address her team, "We have time to rest now. Re-arm or modify your equipment if you wish. The fabricators here can help you make any weapon or gear you can think of. If you need it go see the doc for meds or help, and it might be a good idea to grab some shut-eye. Otherwise you have the run of the base, but get in trouble and you know who holds the button. We have all day to rest and plan our kidnapping of Isis. Meet again in the briefing room at noon." With that she walked off and Cavalier and Deadshot immediately went to the pool table.

Ambush Bug nodded as he received his orders. He sketched a wrong-handed salute, and said "Yes sir commander sir!" He disappeared. Ambush would return periodically to give reports such as "Sand." and "More sand." and "Saw a bug that looked like me. And sand." Every report he gave was about as eventful. By the time the group arrived in the mountain range, Ambush Bug was starting to miss the jail cell.

He cocked his head at the introduction of Black Spider. "Nother bug, eh? Did aliens give you the fancy suit too?" he gave a short giggle, and teleported over to the entrance of the bunker. Once inside he found the nearest seat, and flopped into it. "Yo, we got any eats boss?" this question was directed at Plastiqe. She seemed to be giving the orders at the moment.

Brie nodded quietly when given the order. 16 groups of bees formed a circle around them as they trekked, each forming a split screen on her tablet. Being less physically fit than the rest of the Suicide Squad members, she lagged behind the rest of them. When she noticed troopers on some of the screens, she tried to run towards Plastique, but slipped and flailed around to avoid falling to the sand. She then tried longer strides and jumps to get to Plastique. By the time Brie got to Plastique, Plastique had already began talking to Black Spider. Brie looked at her legs in disappointment.

On the other hand, Komand'r carelessly trekked through the sand, taking sips from her beer which grew warmer by the minute. I should've brought a cooler, she looked in retrospect. Whenever she would tire from walking, she flew up with her rocket boots, and when she would tire of flying, she would walk.

Once they got into the bunker, Komand'r's first instinct was to hurry to the fridge to put her beverages in. Brie, limping from exhaustion by then, went to her bunk, took off her shoes, and massaged her sore feet.

“It seemed rather pointless to shoot half of the prisoners, but keep the other half.” He mentioned in an off-hand nature to Plastique when they had gotten back to the base. He shrugged, and changed the subject. “Our secret base is impressive, and this is coming from one familiar with secret bases,” he laughed, marveling at the security as well as the amenities. “Most of the time, i got to spend missions in a hole I wouldn’t even want to shit in. This is like a palace!”

"Yo, we got any eats boss?" Anatoli heard Ambush Bug asking Plastique.

“The real question is, where's the beer?” Anatoli asked no one in particular.

“Hey lady,” Anatoli called out to Blackfire, following the alien on her journeyed to find a fridge. “You got any more? I'm looking to get, er, pissed, now that we're on break.” While Blackfire wasn't his first choice in drinking partners, she did seem to be the most likely to have drinks.

“I'm really wanting a beer. Hopefully you didn't drink them all during our mission.” This part might have been a little passive aggressive.

“You didn't do bad out there, but drinking during the job… That's a bit sloppy.” A sly grin came across his face. “We're not on mission now, though. Is your alien biology any competition to my enhanced humanity?” He barked out a laugh. “I know that I won't be hungover…” He let the challenge linger in the air.