asterous

chapter four

chapter four - drop zone

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SOMEWHERE IN THE CARRIBEAN SEA
JULY 22nd — 20:08 ECT

"approaching santa prisca," m'gann announced.

dick stared out the window of the bioship. surely enough, he could see the island fast approaching them. this was their first official mission, it had to go perfectly.

dick thought back to just hours earlier when batman had assigned them this covert mission. santa prisca was home to a dangerous and illegal neurosteroid called venom that was being used as a strength enhancer.

the league had gathered infrared heat signatures that proved that the venom factory was working at full capacity, but  all shipments of venom had been inexplicably cut off. they hadn't dared go in for fear of the businessmen finding out and just moving elsewhere.

until now.

it was a covert recon mission, the team was there to observe and to observe only. in batman's words, "if the justice league needs to intervene, we will."

the plan required two drop-zones, and the team had chosen the leader for the mission. dick wasn't surprised at the choice.

"approaching drop-zone a in thirty seconds," m'gann said.

kaldur stood up, pressing on his belt to change his outfit from its garish red to a dull blue. "ready."

"i'm putting the bioship in camouflage mode, you're clear to exit."

kaldur nodded, watching as a small hole opened up on the floor of the bioship. about a metre below them was water, and kaldur took no time at all to just dive right in. 

he radioed in a few minutes later. "heat and motion sensors are patched, data's on a continuous loop. clear to move in."

"drop zone b in thirty seconds," m'gann announced a minute later.

wally stood up, turning to dick. "look at this!" he said, pressing on the lightning bolt symbol on his chest. the bright colours of his uniform slowly faded to dark.

"dude, you showed me, like, twelve times yesterday." dick laughed, adjusting his gloves to go almost all the way to his elbows.

"i know, but it's so sick!" wally spun around to show off his uniform. "you should get the new stealth-wear."

"i already dress for stealth."

"i miss the days when you wore bright green tights."

dick scrunched his nose up, shaking his head. "they were so bad."

"what about you, supey?" wally asked. "are you boring like the boy wonder here?"

"no capes, no tights, no offense."

"it totally works for you," m'gann pined, catching herself quickly. "in that... you can, uhm, you can totally... work in those."

"nice, save, meg," dick laughed, watching as she pulled her hood over her head and disappeared.

a grappling hook came down from the ceiling over wally and dick's chairs. they both attached it to their belts as another hole appeared in the bioship floor. dick and wally zipped down, landing softly on the dirt below. m'gann appeared a moment later, her hood down.

their stealth was fruitless, though, as superboy decided to just jump out of the ship. the three of them dove out of the way as he landed with a loud smash, creating a small crater.

"i knew i didn't need a line," superboy said, smirking.

"oh yeah, because creating a seismic event will definitely help with the covert part of our mission," dick said, standing up and crossing his arms.