JLU 2001 Fanfiction - Task Force X #5

Russia

Looking down over the environment filled Nathaniel Adam with a certain amount of dread. The window from the jet was small, limiting the captain’s field of view, but he had a distinct feeling that the barren, arctic wasteland would be the same pretty much wherever he looked. The airplane banked in the fierce winds coming down from the North Pole. Adam was glad that he had decided against flying over from America under his own power. He had contemplated the maneuver but the necessity of a restraint system to carry the prisoner back to America had won out in the end. Not that the cold could bother him; a good majority of Captain Atom’s body was composed of the nuclear energy that was at his disposal. In essence, he was a living furnace.

Adam replayed the conversation in his mind that he had had prior to leaving. This mission had come up at the last minute; a bullshit assignment that degenerated a nationally funded task force into a group of glorified babysitters. And Captain Atom, because he was team leader, had been forced to go while half his team stayed in the States, unwinding from their return mission on Themyscira. Adam threw a glance over at Patrick Dugan, who had drawn the short straw as well. He was staring out the window much the same as Adam had been doing. If depression was a tangible property, then it could be seen settling over Dugan’s features.

This had all come about following a phone call from the President of the United States.

“You’re going to Russia,” Amanda Waller said to Dugan and the captain. “You won’t be gone long. You’re taking part in a meta-human prisoner transfer.”

For a minute, Nathaniel thought the woman was kidding. They had just returned from Themyscira hours prior and Task Force X had barely had the opportunity to relax. Adam wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a drink. However, when he recognized the lack of humor in Waller’s eyes, his body sagged. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

Waller shook her head. “I just got off the horn with the big man upstairs. He says that he wants trained professionals running the show so that he can avoid an international incident.”

“International incident?” Dugan repeated, cocking his head to the side. The last thing he wanted was to go on another mission, but he knew the importance of duty, even though his involvement with Task Force X resulted from the blackmail of violence against his family. He swallowed his ill feelings for Amanda Waller and asked, “Who’s the target?”

“Frances Kane, codenamed Magenta. Maybe you two have heard of her.” Waller threw each of them a thick manila folder, which they both promptly opened and began digging through. “She usually operates out of Central City and is closely affiliated with the Flash’s Rogues.”

“Then what the hell is she doing in Russia?”

“Very good question, Patrick,” Waller responded. “A few weeks ago, a public battle took place between Magenta and the Outsiders, the new ones, not that old group run by that bleached blonde twit with the dirty fingernails. In the midst of battle, Kane seemingly disappeared. I have reason to believe that one of the Outsiders— Wind—specifically sent Magenta to Russia where she would be no trouble for him. The only problem is that Frances Kane is insane and started tearing up the Russian countryside when she woke up from her coma. The Russians are pissed and want Magenta off their soil.”

Captain Atom nodded. “So the President does have a lot to lose.”

“Potentially,” Waller responded. She looked each of her agents in the eye and smiled widely. “But you two aren’t going to fail, are you?”

Nathaniel Adam snapped back to reality as the plane began to descend from the sky. Waller had promised this mission wouldn’t take too long, but he had learned long ago that there were no guarantees when it came to dealing with superpowers. From what Waller had told them, Magenta was in Russian control and awaiting transfer. Unlike American technology, Russia had not had the means to keep Frances Kane submissive so they had to resort to mass anesthetics. Adam looked once more at Dugan, who returned the stare. “This is going to be fun.”

“Yippee,” the former war hero responded. He rose to his feet and shuddered as a chill traveled down his spine. He wasn’t even outside and the cold of winter was assaulting him already. “Give me a minute to get suited up and we can get this shit job over and done with.”

“Take your time,” Captain Atom responded as the plane touched down on solid ground. He unbuckled himself and rose to his feet as the airplane rolled to a complete stop. Adam watched as Dugan climbed down into the cargo bay where the S.T.R.I.P.E. armor was waiting for him.

The airplane door opened wide, filling the cabin with a sudden chill that Adam swore he could feel invading about the energy course throughout his body. The heat won out in the end. Captain Atom strode down the steps to the snow-covered runway below. There was a constant drift of snow falling from the sky that made vision vague but not indiscernible. There were heavily shrouded people moving up and down the runway, most of them checking the airplane to make sure that it was in good enough condition for a return trip to America.

There was one figure, however, that broke through the snow and made a beeline for the leader of Task Force X. The man, who walked with a bit of a limp, paused a few feet from Captain Atom and extended his hand. Adam recognized him immediately. The built figure was the last remaining member of Russia’s meta-team, Red Square. The confrontation that had taken place between Red Square and the Justice League* was heavily documented and Adam had made sure to read through everything before stepping foot on Russian soil. He refused to be caught with his pants down if a fight broke out.

(*See JLA #10-12 for details.)

However, Red Square had been decimated when Doctor Fate, possessed by Nabu, had come to Russia in search of the Red Square member, Mysta. Nabu had gone drunk with power and was seeking to raise as much chaos as he could. Adam didn’t want to think about what would have happened had the Justice Society not been available to put an end to Fate’s reign of terror. But even before his defeat, Red Square had been among Fate’s first victims. When the dust had settled in Moscow, Red Star alone had been left standing. And even that was not saying much.

Seeing Red Star now, Adam saw that the scars of battle had yet to completely heal. The limp alone was evidence. Adam took the man’s hand. “The name’s Captain Atom, it’s good to meet you. I’ve read about you quite a bit.”

“Likewise,” the Russian responded in near perfect English. His grip was firm, something that Captain Atom highly respected. “Welcome to Moscow.”

“Thank you,” the captain responded. “I only wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I understand that you’ve been having some problems lately.”

Red Star gave a quick, dry laugh. “That’s putting it mildly.” He stumbled for a moment as he turned and pointed to a complex situated not far from where the airplane landed. “Magenta is in there. If you don’t mind, I would like to get this over with and get that psycho back to where she belongs.”

“Understandable,” the captain replied, “but in just a moment. I have another comrade who should be making his way out here any day now.”

The cargo bay opened. The ground shook lightly as the armored figure touched down on solid ground and moved toward Captain Atom and Red Star. As he moved, Dugan was running the armor through a full diagnostic of the systems at his disposal. Thankfully, everything was checking out green.

Captain Atom laid a hand on S.T.R.I.P.E.’s shoulder. “Are you ready?”

{{I’m fully operational,}} S.T.R.I.P.E. responded, his voice different as it drifted through the armor’s voice modification software. {{Let’s do this.}}

The trio of heroes headed inside.

America's Personal Meta-Team...

“Magnetic”
(The events of this issue take place after OUTSIDERS #11)

Task force X #5 - December, Year Four by Matt Hrubey

“She appeared out of thin air one day a few weeks back,” Red Star explained as they watched an unconscious Frances Kane through a thick paned window. “She was found by a farmer and his wife. From reports, Magenta didn’t wake up for hours. But when she did, she lost control. The farmer and his wife were the first to go.”

{{Not exactly what I’d call hospitality,}} Dugan muttered. The speaker system picked up every word, however, and S.T.R.I.P.E. received two awkward gazes. {{I have to make jokes or I’ll lose my mind in this place. No offense.}}

Red Star disregarded the statement, turning back to the sleeping Magenta. “Anyway, I tracked her location to a few miles outside the city. I had some of the best soldiers Russia had to offer at my back.”

“Had?”

“Yes, had, captain,” the Russian replied. “She tore through my army like a knife through butter. I’m still not completely sure how I managed to capture Magenta, much less stay alive. Nevertheless, I succeeded in getting her back here and she’s been drugged up to her eyeballs since then.”

“She looks like she’s dead,” Captain Atom observed. He stepped inside the room and looked over Magenta’s vital signs. He frowned. “Exactly how much is ‘up to her eyeballs’?”

“No one in this installation is willing to take the chance of her escaping. We prefer her dead to conscious.”

{{Nice work, Doctor Kevorkian,}} S.T.R.I.P.E. said, once more earning him a glare. He waved off the captain and cracked a smile inside his mask at the look of confusion on Red Star’s face. {{Don’t think too hard. It’s an American thing.}}

“Quite,” Red Star responded. He had reached his limit with the Americans already and they had only just stepped foot on Russian soil. “Now that you are both here, I’ll have my men pack Magenta up so you can take her. Until then, feel free to look around the complex.”

With that, Red Star walked out, leaving the members of Task Force X alone with the Mistress of Magnetism. The two men stared at Frances Kane in silence before Dugan spoke.

{{Pack her up? They make her sound like a doggy bag.}}

“Come on,” Captain Atom responded, stepping past Dugan and moving for the door. “I want to see this place.”

Georgetown

Jade Nguyen downed the liquid in her shot glass and slammed it back down onto the bar. At her side, the man did the same but at a much slower pace. From the way her companion moved, it was obvious that the alcohol was beginning to take effect. He swayed on his chair and reached out for the bar to confidently balance himself.

Seeing Jade laugh, Neal Emerson growled. “What’s so funny?”

“Maybe this competition wasn’t the best choice for you,” she responded, downing another shot. “I mean, I’m making you look like a giant pussy and I don’t think your ego can take that.”

Emerson reached for another glass. “Laugh it up. This isn’t over until I say that it’s over.”

“I learned a long time ago how to control my body. I can keep this up all night.” However, as Jade finished her statement, Emerson’s head slumped down on the bar and the shot glass dropped from his hand and shattered on the floor. Jade sighed. “But apparently, you can’t.”

She hopped off her stool, patting Neal on the head as she walked by. Jade stumbled but quickly recovered her footing. Even inebriated, she had the reflexes of a cat. She moved toward the door, needing fresh air as opposed to the stagnant stench that filled the random bar in Georgetown. It would be a lie if she said the alcohol hadn’t gotten to her like it had to the doctor. Unlike Polaris, however, Jade refused to show any kind of weakness, even during downtime. She was working on a completely male dominated team with the only female companionship coming from Amanda Waller. That wasn’t saying much. Cheshire silently wondered whether or not the Wall was hiding her own pair of testicles.

Stepping out into the night, Jade smiled as the cold air hit her glistening skin.

“Hey, momma.”

Cheshire’s eyes shot open. She looked with disgust at the pair of men who had taken to standing on each side of her—penning her as if she were an animal. Against her better judgment, she smiled, wanting to play along until things got out of hand. And they would. She knew horny college boys too well. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, that’s a loaded question, isn’t it?”

“Is it?” Cheshire asked, shrugging her shoulders. “A curious one, yes. But a loaded question?”

One of the men, smelling strongly of rum rubbed up against her. Cheshire straightened up but resisted the urge to kill.

“Do you want to have a good time?” the other man asked. His thumbs were in the pockets of his pants. He was trying desperately—and failing just as badly—to look cool. It was all lost on someone like Jade anyhow. She didn’t know why they were even bothering. “Come on.”

“I’m going to have to pass,” Jade said, taking a step away. “Besides, it’s already past my bedtime.”

“I’m sure you can make an exception for us.” One of them grabbed her wrist.

She spun toward them. “That was a mistake.”

The man recoiled at the look of utter hatred reflected in Jade’s eyes. However, he didn’t move fast enough as Jade’s palm struck him directly in the nose, breaking it. A stream of blood seeped down as the man screamed in pain. It sounded like a girl, Cheshire would recall later. And they wanted to sleep with her? It was an atrocious thought.

A gouge to the throat sent the second frat boy to his knees, gasping for oxygen. She kicked him in the back of the head, careening his cranium forward until it connected with the ground. The guy was unmoving after that attack.

That’s when the siren went off.

Jade looked around, silently chastising herself for her carelessness. A crowd had formed around the short-lived fight, but everyone was looking at Cheshire as if waiting for her to attack someone else. Due to the flashing lights, it seemed that the fight had also registered the presence of the local authorities. A single policeman pushed himself through the crowd and looked at the drunken frat boys unconscious on the unforgiving ground.

“What seems to be the problem here?” he asked, maintaining a constant hold upon his weapon.

“Oh, there’s no problem here, officer. Me and the boys were just…working out some issues.”

The policeman gave a sarcastic nod. “I’m sure you were. Now, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, put your hands behind your back.”

“Are you serious?”

“Like cancer,” the policeman responded. Jade could see he was itching to pull his weapon. Not that it would do any good against her, even in her inebriated state. “Are we going to have a problem here, miss?”

Cheshire shook her head. “Nope. I bow before your judgment.” She stuck out her arms in preparation of being handcuffed.

Moving hesitantly, the cop grabbed one of Cheshire’s wrists and began to close the cuffs. It was in that single moment of what the policeman believed was success that Cheshire chose to strike. She gripped the wrist of the law enforcer and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed squarely against his back, the wind knocked out of his sails. The cop coughed and wheezed loudly.

The crowd had taken a step back, seeing that the crazed woman was not above attacking the police.

Jade Nguyen knew she was done here. Polaris was still inside but he was more than capable of taking care of himself. She had to get out before the policeman could regain his bearings. More than likely, he could already make a confident sketch of what she looked like and it wouldn’t take much for the big wigs to realize the part that she had played in the night’s events. That would be bad. Waller had clearly told Jade to avoid situations like this.

There was going to be a backlash.

By the time the policeman was back on his feet, Cheshire was long gone.

Russia

Stepping through a doorway into a spacious hall made of glistening steel, Captain Atom couldn’t help but shake his head wondering, if the cobwebs were cleared away, if he would see reality. But there were no cobwebs and the complex was real and true. There were men and women moving back and forth across the installation, going about the jobs that they had been charged with. “I have to admit that I’m extremely impressed with this place.”

“Join the club,” Dugan, sans helmet, replied from his side. “Though, it shouldn’t be wholly unexpected. Russia isn’t the wealthiest country in the world but that doesn’t stop their determination and ambition. Their people are going hungry, but, like any sovereign nation, they don’t want to be seen as inferior to the rest of the world. That’s why they poured so much money—money I’m not even sure they have—into this establishment and their superhuman initiative. Red Square was meant to be their insurance policy. Other countries would be hard pressed to mess with a country that has its own meta-humans on the payroll. Why do you think America created us?”

The captain gave a nod, signifying that he understood what Dugan was explaining. He had always been the soldier, never the general. He knew combat. He spoke it fluently. The one thing that he could never wrap his mind around, however, was politics. It was a game of chess that went beyond normal comprehension. Even though Task Force X was run by politics, the captain avoided that at all costs. That was Waller’s field of interest anyway.

“The Russian superhuman initiative must have been struck hard when Doctor Fate attacked,” Atom heard Dugan say.

Captain Atom leaned upon a glass railing, watching the flurry of movement on the floors below. “That’s why they were so insistent that we get Magenta out of here quickly. If she were to break free, the odds would not be good that Red Star could stop her again. He said it himself that he was lucky last time.”

Dugan replaced the helmet on his head. {{Then it’s only right that we do as they ask. I’m anxious to get home myself.}}

There was a clearing of a throat at their back and both men turned. Red Star stood with his arms across his broad chest. “I’m glad to hear we’re on the same page. If you gentlemen will follow me, everything is prepared.”

The Citadel

“Something has to be done.”

Amanda Waller looked up from her paperwork and found Sergeant Steel leaning against the doorframe of her office. “About what?”

Steel pushed away from the door and took a few steps in the Wall’s office. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Waller sighed deeply. She laid down her pen and folded her hands on the desk in front of her. “Sergeant, I am the Director of Meta-Human Affairs for the President himself. I handle issues that cover the continental United States. Before Task Force X, I was busy. Now, I’m pulling nineteen-hour days just to stay ahead of the game. So, and I’m sorry to be so blunt, I have no fucking clue what you could possibly be talking about.”

“Cheshire,” Steel responded, not the least bit fazed by Waller’s rant. “Something has to be done.”

“So you say.” She picked up her pen and went back to work. “I assume you’re talking about that little mishap on Themyscira.”

“Little mishap? She almost killed someone. It’s just coincidence that that someone happened to be a well known hero.”

“Jade Nguyen was following orders.”

“Perhaps, but the parameters laid out for the mission were very clear. And she broke them. She needs to be punished.”

“Face facts, Sarge, Donna Troy is still alive,” Waller stated. “And besides, I only have four active agents for the Force as it is. I can’t afford to have something happen to one of them.”

“You made the team. You kept it small on purpose. You told me so.”

Waller nodded her head. “Yes, I did tell you that. Keeping Task Force X small allows for better control on my part. That does not change the fact, however, that without Cheshire, the team is going to take a major hit in its ability to successfully complete the objectives laid out before it. So if you want to punish Cheshire, go right ahead, but you will be the one to tell the President that all those federal funds being flooded in Task Force X and Checkmate are going to waste.”

“Something needs to be done,” Sergeant Steel reiterated.

“Yes, and it starts with me going back to work.”

Steel shook his head and knew that he wasn’t going to win out this day. He moved to exit, but before disappearing into the hallway, he turned back to the Wall. “I’ll let it slide this time, but if Jade screws up again, action is being taken.”

“Understood,” Waller replied, still not looking up from the mound of paperwork laid out before her.

It was roughly about this time that Amanda Waller received a phone call explaining the day’s events.

She couldn’t believe her bad luck.

Russia

“I wish they would talk in English.”

“We’re in Russia,” the captain reminded Dugan. “Technically, we’re the guests here. So stop complaining.”

“It just bothers me that we have no idea what they’re saying.”

“Dugan,” Captain Atom responded harshly and the exchange was over.

They watched Red Star conversing in hurried whispers with a group of uniformed Russian officials. One of the men responding to Red Star was animated, moving with a flurry of hand gestures as he tried to get his point across. Finally, the Russian hero laid a hand on the man’s shoulder and broke from the circle. He moved toward the American federal agents, his face an indecipherable melody of unemotional feeling. Red Star was a husk of that man that he had formerly been. Losing all your friends will do that to a person.

“What’s the verdict?” Captain Atom asked. “S.T.R.I.P.E. and I are anxious to return home.”

“I’ve just been given the okay. You have my word that Magenta is secure in your transport. She’s been given an extra dose of medication that will put her out long after you return to America.”

Captain Atom shook the man’s hand. “I’m sorry that all of this happened.”

“You are not responsible,” Red Star responded with a shake of his head. “So you should not pretend to be. Those responsible for Frances Kane being here will get what’s coming to them. Nature has a way of working itself out in the end.”

{{Karma,}} S.T.R.I.P.E. said. Dugan was once more locked away inside his armor. {{It’s a bitch.}}

“I have heard,” Red Star responded. “Now, please, don’t think any less of my hospitality, but if you would take that psychotic murderer and get her out of my country, it would be most appreciated.”

“It’s time to go,” the captain told Dugan. “Load up.”

{{Finally.}}

As Dugan climbed into the Force’s aircraft, Captain Atom returned his gaze to the building housing the Russian Super-Human Initiative. It was a work of beauty, it really was. And it was unexpected finding such a creation in the desolate countryside of the Motherland. Captain Atom shook his head and turned back to Red Star.

“It is an honor to have met you,” Atom responded. “Who knows? Maybe our paths will cross again.”

“Hopefully not,” Red Star retorted, “because if they do, it will most likely be as enemies. That would be a shame.”

“Yes, it would.”

Captain Atom gave a nod and spun on his heels. The aircraft’s engines were sparking to life, signifying that it was almost time to hit the skies.

“Godspeed,” Red Star called over the winds. Captain Atom barely heard the cry as he climbed the stairs of the jet and disappeared into its interior.

As Captain Atom strapped himself in, he locked eyes with Patrick Dugan. They shared an entire conversation with a simple look.

There were no words exchanged the entire way home.

Next Issue: When a government installation comes under attack, Task Force X is deployed. But what aren’t they being told?