Chapter 11: Drop-Zone

Word Count : 9643

This chapter is dedicated as a birthday gift to MrMasterplan. So, happy birthday Mr... whatever your real name is!

And with that out of the way, sit back and enjoy this next chapter of Death Korps of Justice.

Chapter 11: Drop-Zone

If there was one aspect of this new team that Krieg disliked more than the xenos, it was their mode of transportation. A purely organic ship of xeno origin that was apparently alive. Needless to say, he had trouble sitting still and calmly in his chair as he discreetly shot suspicious looks at his surroundings. This felt far too much like being in the belly of the beast. To distract himself, he mentally recited the mission for the umpteenth time. Go in, investigate what was happening on Santa Prisca, then report back. A strictly covert, recon mission. 'Something tells me the covert part will not work out as planned,' he thought to himself while glancing at Kid Flash and Superboy. Neither of them possessed any traits that even came remotely close to being associated with subtlety.

"We're approaching Santa Prisca," Miss Martian announced. Krieg had to admit that he was a bit anxious. Not about going into battle, he had done such things many times before. What worried him was the team. He did not trust any of their skills. They were too soft, too inexperienced or too individual. None of them knew how to operate as a team. Krieg's time in the Death Korps had taught him that no single man could win a battle alone. The Death Korps knew that better than anyone. They fought as one unit, the one in front willingly giving his life so that the one behind could gain that extra yard. He doubted anyone of these youngsters had that kind of drive in them.

But he pushed such thoughts aside when the island came into view, and he made a final check to make sure he packed all the equipment he would need. Two combats knives sheathed in his boots, two smoke bombs, two knockout gas bombs, one tear gas bomb, three flashbangs, a tranquil pistol and a Benelli M3. But the Benelli had been updated with a variety of new and innovative types of ammunition, each one colored differently to make identification easier. Black ones were the usual rubber bullets he was familiar with, but others, such as the green ones were capsules filled with knockout gas and designed with proximity sensors that would make them explode once they came within a certain distance from a solid object.

Blue ones were essentially rocket propelled miniature Tasers the size of a slug round, each carrying enough energy for one burst that could short-circuit a computer or paralyze an opponent for several seconds. Yellow ones were simple tracers, made to stick to whatever they hit and stay attached. And then there were his favorites, the red ones. These were live bird shots, real ammunition that could easily kill. They were meant as a last resort in case Krieg came up against something that nonlethal rounds could not harm. And from what he had gathered concerning the metas that existed in this world, there were quite a few of those.

"Drop-zone A in 30," Miss Martian said, snapping Krieg back to reality as Aqualad stood up from his seat. Said seat melted back into the ship, making Krieg mentally gag, while Aqualad switched to his stealth mode by pressing a button on his belt, turning the red on his suit into a dark grey color.

"Ready," he stated. Krieg instantly banished all his thoughts, setting all his focus on the mission. Though he did send a silent prayer to the Emperor that these idiots would not compromise the mission too much.

"Putting Bioship in camouflage mode," Miss Martian said as they drew ever neared to their target. Entering camouflage most likely meant that they had entered radar distance. The moment of action was coming ever closer. Reaching drop-zone A, Miss Martian opened up a hole in the ship's floor and Aqualad dived out and into the water below. Now it was all up to him as Miss Martian halted the Bioship in the air, waiting for the all clear signal.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on continuous loop, move in," and there was the awaited signal. With the coast clear, Miss Martian guided the Bioship inland, heading towards drop-zone B. it did not take them long to reach it.

"Drop-zone B," Miss Martian announced, making everyone save Krieg and Miss Martian rise from their seats. Grapple lines were grown from the roof of the ship as another hole opened up in the floor. Robin and Kid Flash were quick to attach the lines to their belts, with Kid Flash activating a similar system like Aqualad had used earlier, turning his otherwise bright yellow and red costume into dark grey and black.

"How cool is this?" he asked of Miss Martian. Krieg was a bit confused if he were to be honest. For some reason, Kid Flash often paid more attention to Miss Martian than the rest of the team. Peculiar.

"Very impressive," Miss Martian answered as her own clothes morphed into an exact replica of the Martian Manhunter's. Great, as if Krieg needed any more of a reminder of that alien swine.

"Uh, that works too," Kid Flash lamely said before directing his attention to Superboy, who stood as still as a statue, "Hey, Supey, not too late to put on the new stealth tech," the clone did not even look remotely interested in the proposition as he folded his arms.

"No capes, no tights. No offence," he stated.

"It totally works for you," Miss Martian suddenly said, looking at Superboy with a dreamy look in her eyes. A look that truly puzzled Krieg. Though it seemed like the green xeno had spoken without really thinking, as she suddenly looked like only now realized the words she had uttered.

"In that you can totally do good work in those clothes," she hastily added before giving an awkward thumb up. She was quickly ignored as Robin and Kid Flash grappled down to the ground. Superboy was just about to jump after them when Krieg held out a hand in front of him. Superboy looked at him in confusion at being stopped.

"What?" he asked in irritation. Krieg said nothing, just held out a grapple line for him with his other hand. All he received in return was a scoff.

"Please, I don't need a stupid line. I'm invulnerable, remember? I won't be hurt by such a short fall," Superboy remarked confidently. But Krieg did not relent on the matter, for this was not a question on whether he could get hurt or not.

"And more's the pity. But if you were to just jump, you would cause enough noise to alert any possible hostiles of our location. And I will not have your obvious lack of intelligence jeopardizing this mission," he stated coldly. Superboy visibly bristled at the insult, and looked more than ready to give Krieg a trashing. But in the end he just settled for shoving Krieg aside and leaping out without the line. Even from the height they were, both Krieg and Miss Martian could hear the 'boom' as the clone made contact with the ground.

"Infernal xeno scum," Krieg muttered to himself, before directing his attention to Miss Martian, still seated at the controls, "Get this ship moving again, xeno. We still have our mission to complete," some would probably say that he spoke far too harshly against the Martian as a small flinch was seen from her before she nodded in acceptance and steered the ship towards drop-zone C. in truth, he did not care if she was hurt or offended by his words. He was already doing enough by not strangling her.

"Drop-zone C," she suddenly announced, not even receiving so much as a glance or even a sound from Krieg as he repelled down to the ground. The moment his boots were firmly planted on solid soil, he had his shotgun out and aimed at the foliage, eyes peeled for possible dangers. Seeing none, he reluctantly signaled Miss Martian down from the Bioship, and the two of them began a silent march through the jungle terrain. Once again, Krieg found himself cursing Batman. That he was forced to be on the same team as a xeno was horrendous enough, now the caped crusader had the audacity to pair him up with said xeno on a mission. It galled him that the Justice League did not believe he was competent enough to infiltrate a small dock to steal information on his own. Even as he remained vigilant for any possible ambushes, he remembered with vivid detail how his protests had fallen on deaf ears and he had been presented with no other alternative than to comply.

"Are you alright?" Miss Martian suddenly asked in concern from where she was hovering behind Krieg. Krieg for his part did not for a second break his stride, not even dignifying her question by turning around and face her.

"None of your business, xeno," he responded monotonously. He truly hoped that she would take the hint and back of, hopefully keeping quiet for the rest of the mission. He was wrong.

"Look, I know we got off to a rocky start. I know I messed up a bit by going into your mind without permission, but I'm hoping we can get over it," she tried to explain, further agitating Krieg. But he did not plan on experiencing another outburst, so he expelled all emotions from his mind, systematically purging it like he had been taught on his homeworld.

"Irrelevant," he retorted, voice as emotionless as his mind had become. Yet still the disgusting xeno persevered with her damnable efforts of "making amends".

"But it's relevant to me, Krieg. On Mars, I didn't have that many friends, but I really wish to make some here on Earth," she continued, further grating on his nerves. 'Stay calm, detach yourself from your emotions, be as unfeeling as a rock,' Krieg recited to himself mentally as he felt his anger threatening to make a nasty return. That xeno sure knew what buttons to press in order to successfully rile up a Death Korps Guardsman.

"Then find someone else, because I desire neither your friendship nor your company," he retorted coldly as he jumped over a log in his path. There was a blessed lack of sound from his unwelcomed companion after that, which brought a strange sense of relief to Krieg. Maybe now he could focus on the mission without needless interruptions?

"Can't you at least give me chance?" well, that hope went right out the window as the xeno began speaking yet again. This time, Krieg stopped in his tracks and turned fully to face the xeno.

"You want a chance?" he asked, receiving a vigorous nod from Miss Martian, along with a hopeful smile, "Then stay out of my way, xeno," and that smile was promptly wiped away as Krieg turned his back to her and trudged along. Thankfully, that seemed to have finally shut the xeno up, as the rest of their walk was made in silence. Until at last they reached the target; a small port, consisting of nothing more than a couple of huts, a truckload of crates, two guard towers, an office building the size of a garage and a single wooden jetty. Krieg could see all of that from his binoculars he had brought out, and it was all expected by him, but what were unexpected were the men patrolling the port. From what Batman had informed them, Santa Prisca was supposed to be run by a drug lord. That meant he would have hired a crew of thugs and cutthroats.

These men looked nothing like that. They carried state of the art weaponry far too expensive for simple drug lords, kept up a coordinated patrol of the compound and were all dressed in matching uniforms of red cloaks with black masks covering the upper half of their faces. This all troubled Krieg, for this was not the enemy he had been informed would inhabit the island. They were far too organized to be mere mercenaries hired for extra security. Something was definitively not right about this situation, and he was going to find out what exactly.

"You stay here and keep watch. I will go in and find information," he ordered without even glancing at the xeno, slinging his shotgun over his shoulders while bringing out his tranquil gun. Stealth was of utmost importance here.

"What!? You want to go in alone?" Miss Martian burst out in shock, though she at least had enough sense to keep it quiet.

"Yes," Krieg simply answered.

"But we're supposed to be a team. I can't let you run into danger alone," she tried to argue with him. 'Dear Emperor, must I explain everything to her?' Krieg thought in exasperation as he turned to face her, noting how she gave a miniscule flinch as his eyes landed on her.

"You said you wanted a chance earlier. Well, here it is. A single soldier has a greater chance of infiltrating a base without detection than an entire squad. But I do not expect to make it out without the alarm being triggered. If my presence is discovered, I am counting on you to provide assistance and keep a way of escape open," he explained to her. It galled him to place so much trust on a xeno, knowing she could easily leave him behind to fend for himself, but he was limited on options here. In any case, it seemed that the xeno had taken his words to heart as her face was set with a steely resolve.

"I am putting a lot of faith in you, xeno. Do not make me regret it," that was his last words to her before began to steadily move closer towards the port. Reaching the first tower, he waited until the sentry stepped into his line of fire, and then placed a dart in his neck. Luckily, he did not fall out of the tower as he collapsed into blissful unconsciousness, so the other guards were none the wiser. With the way clear, he silently slipped into the port, taking cover behind a stack of crates. After making sure no guards were coming his way, he crept onward, moving from cover to cover with practiced ease. The sudden noise of chatting guards made Krieg dive behind cover like a frightened rabbit, gun held at the ready in case of discovery. As the conversing guards, two if Krieg's guess was correct, drew nearer, he could make out their words.

"And here I thought Bane's gang would prove to be greater challenge. We've barely seen a glimpse of them for days now," one of them commented casually to his partner, who grunted in response.

"What did you expect from hired guns? No backbone whatsoever. Still, I do hope this means we'll be done with this island soon enough," the other one answered. His partner's answer came just as they walked past Krieg's hiding spot, never even noticing him.

"Don't worry. Lord Kobra has assured us that our task is almost completed," by that point, their growing distance from Krieg made their words grow quiet until he could no longer hear them. With the coast clear, Krieg moved forward again. Finally, his target was within sight, the office. Problem was that a single guard was blocking his way. But he seemed to barely pay any attention to his surroundings, which Krieg was more than happy to capitalize on. He slowly snuck up on the unsuspecting guard, crouching low to remain undetected. And when he was close enough, he struck. Before the guard even knew what had hit him, Krieg had his throat in a tight hold, cutting off the blood flow to his brain. A silent way to knock out one's opponent, one that Krieg had worked tirelessly to master. Hold too short a time, and the guard will recover in an instant, hold too long, and you risk inflicting serious damage to the victim's brain, maybe even killing him. Krieg was really not that concerned about the last risk, but his superiors were a bit squishy about that.

The moment the guard ceased his struggling, Krieg let go and dragged his limp body out of sight. With the way cleared, he quickly moved up to the building. Peering through a window, he found three hostiles inside, none of them aware of what was transpiring just outside their door. Holding his tranquil gun at the ready, he walked right up to the door and knocked on it. As expected, the enemy saw no danger from a simple knock and so one of them walked up and opened the door without even checking if there was a friend or foe on the other side. The moment the door swung open, Krieg pistol whipped the one standing at the door in the head before pushing him aside to shoot the last two guards before they even had time to get out of their chairs.

Now that the guards had been dealt with, Krieg began rummaging around the office in search of information. After checking the data system, and confirming Krieg's suspicions that they were encrypted and required a password, he forewent the computers and instead searched for paper files. He may have been from a time and place far ahead of this world technology wise, but Krieg knew his hacking skills were abysmal. Without someone like Robin on hand, there was no way he was gaining access to the digital files. His search eventually bore results, as he found the ship records over the last few months. They had stayed consistent up until June 19, then all sea travels to and from the island had been cut off.

All of them, except for one recent. It was purely a delivery to the island, but no records on what was on board, or who sent it. 'Must be valuable Intel if they left it off the records. Most likely kept in their databanks. Need to contact Robin and request his assistance on the matter,' he thought to himself before activating his comm.

"Krieg to Robin, do you read me, over?" all he received in turn was static. Someone was jamming their systems. Krieg instantly drew two conclusions from that. 1; their presence on the island had been discovered. Or 2; something big was going down and they did not desire any interruptions. Either way, it was not good. But while Krieg was preoccupied with trying to contact his team, the guard he had previously knocked out with a pistol whip was back on his feet with a serrated knife in hand. Believing the element of surprise would grant him victory, he lunged at Krieg with the intent of cutting him open. A lifetime of combat training kicked in and Krieg sidestepped the attack before grabbing hold of the outstretched arm. A forceful tug broke it at the elbow before he slammed the guard's head straight into a desk and kept him pinned there.

"The password to your computer system," Krieg demanded as he kept up the pressure on the guard, who to his credit did not utter a sound from the obvious pain he must have been in.

"Go to hell," he snarled out in contempt at Krieg, who for his part did not try to interrogate his prisoner further. There really was no time for it right about now.

"You first," Krieg countered. However, Krieg became aware of something far more alarming than an uncooperative guard as sparks of electricity began dancing across every computer. In fact, they were all conversing on one particular computer, placed right behind Krieg. He would have to admit it was strange how it behaved, for it almost seemed like the electricity was gathering up for a…

Not even questioning his decision, Krieg dragged the hapless guard he had previously kept pinned to the table in front of him like a human shield. Just in the nick of time too, because a second later he was catapulted out of the small office by a bolt of electricity slamming into his improvised shield like a sledgehammer wielded by an Ogryn. Krieg survived with but a few bruises as gravity slammed him into the ground, his shield was not so fortunate if his motionless body and the stench of cooked meat were anything to go by. Good riddance in his opinion. He pushed the lifeless body off of him and scrambled back up on his feet, shotgun at the ready.

What greeted him was a young woman materializing out of a flash of electricity, skin a ghostly white with spiky blue hair and a menacing smile on her lips. A black leotard hugged her shapely form with a white lightning bolt going down the front while black boots adorned her legs to just above her knees. 'Damn, a Meta,' Krieg thought to himself in alarm. He was definitively not equipped to deal with the likes of her. She must have realized the same since she made no move to attack and just placed her hands on her hips, that sick smile still in place.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A sneaky little spy, snooping around in places he should stay away from," even her voice oozed confidence. She was truly unconcerned about the possibility of him being a threat to her. Then again, with how cries of alarm were going off all across the docks, she would have every single guard coming to her aid any minute now.

"Now, why don't you lay down your weapon, and I promise I'll go easy on you," the woman offered mockingly, clearly feeling in control.

"You want my weapon?" Krieg asked slowly, right before he aimed his shotgun straight at her, "Then come and take it," three rubber shots were pumped out in rapid succession, all of which were destroyed by bolts of electricity. The woman's smile was by now downright malicious in nature.

"I was hoping you'd say that. After all, Livewire's always up for a fight," the now named Livewire commented before letting loose with another bolt that Krieg barely dodged. He rolled clear of another barrage of electric bolts before returning fire. Those bullets hit nothing but air as Livewire disappeared in a flash of electricity before reappearing with a cocky grin in place.

"That all you got, tough guy?" she mockingly asked as she opened fire again. Krieg managed to dodge to first two bolts, but was hit by a third to the chest and was slammed into a stack of crates. Thankfully, it was a low-powered bolt, and only left a stinging pain in his chest and a few seconds of muscle spasms. But in those seconds, he was completely defenseless, and Livewire could easily finish him off. Only, she did not, she only observed him with a predatory gleam in her eyes. It was clear to Krieg how she saw this fight. She was a cat toying with a mouse. 'Well, let's see if I can't turn this around,' he thought to himself as the moment he could control his muscles again, he popped a smoke grenade that flooded the whole area with thick white smoke. Visibility was reduced to zero, but Livewire was unconcerned as her mocking laughter rang through the docks.

"Trying to hide your retreat? Did you finally realize that you'd bitten off more than you could chew?" she called out tauntingly as she sauntered through the smoke, oblivious to the danger she just placed herself in. For retreat was the last thing on Krieg's mind at that moment, all his focus placed on crushing this Meta. 'Thank you for revealing your position so blatantly,' that was Krieg's thought as he rammed into Livewire like a mad bull. With an undignified "oof" as the air was knocked out of her lungs, Livewire staggered back in surprise. But Krieg was not about to relent his attack and pushed on with a powerful blow to the stomach and a knee to her forehead as he grabbed it in his hands and dragged it down. It was finished off with a kick that sent her sprawling to the ground, only to be straddled by Krieg as he began to mercilessly pummel her face.

But after the tenth blow, at which point her face was pretty swollen up and bleeding, Livewire retaliated by letting out a wild burst of electricity in all directions, stunning Krieg as his nerves were played like violin strings by the voltages. Gritting his teeth stopped the shout of pain from escaping, but he was powerless to stop the furious villainess from letting loose with a powerful electric bolt that sent him flying back and crash right through an empty wooden crate. He was greeted on the other side by five very surprised guards.

"What the…" one of them began, but Krieg was faster. Ignoring the pain coursing through every muscle in his body, he pushed himself back up and rammed an elbow into the face of one guard before spinning around and sweeping the legs from underneath two guards. The third was in the midst of raising his gun when Krieg brought his shotgun to bear and shot him straight in the knee at point blank range, shattering it. As he fell to the ground, wailing in pain, Krieg sent another one to blissful unconsciousness with a spinning kick before sidestepping a knife thrust from the last one standing. He caught the arm in the second attempt and slammed him to the ground with a judo throw. Some added pressure in the right areas dislocated his shoulder before he moved to finish off the two he had knocked over earlier. He was given no chance to do so as Livewire joined the fray, her smirk replaced by a furious snarl as her entire frame sparkled with barely restrained power.

"That's it, the gloves are off!" she snarled out in anger, firing off an electric bolt. Krieg barely dived out of the way of the first one, rolled clear of a second, did a limbo move to doge the third and threw himself behind a crate to avoid the fourth. Instincts had him discreetly move behind the crate next to his first one, seconds before his first cover was vaporized by a flurry of bolts. A lull in enemy fire had him standing up and returning fire with his shotgun, catching Livewire by surprise as she only managed to blast apart a few and one slipped past to slam into her chest, knocking her flat on her backside. That only seemed to infuriate her even further as she spit out a glob of blood before standing back up again. They had by now advanced into an area where stacks of crate created corridors between them, and Krieg fled down one them as Livewire unleashed a flurry of electric bolts that obliterated everything in sight, including the newly arrived reinforcements for her.

But she seemed completely unaware, or uncaring, about the friendly fire she was causing as she roared in anger. She menacingly advanced down the way Krieg had taken, teeth grinding as her bloodshot eyes scanned every nook and cranny.

"Come out, come, wherever you are," she sing-songed, trying to sound teasing but only ended up with a growling tone. Krieg meanwhile had taken cover within a half opened crate big enough to hold a car, inspecting his wounds. A few holes burnt through his clothes, with severe second degree burns on the skin beneath were the dominant ones. Those bolts really hurt. Yet despite his wounded state, Krieg remained completely calm, his mind already focused on how to defeat this so called Livewire. Absentmindedly, he wondered what had happened to the Martian. Surely she must have realized his cover had been compromised by now. 'She most likely turned tail and ran,' he thought to himself bitterly. Never trust a xeno.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching his hiding place, footsteps too light to be that of a man. So he brought out a flashbang and made ready with the shotgun. Then, just as she was about to step up to the crate, he leaped out and threw the primed grenade right in her face. Livewire screamed in pain and anger when it went off and robbed her of her sight and hearing, something that Krieg was quick to use to his advantage as he unloaded every single rubber bullet he had loaded into the shotgun. The moment his gun ran dry, he stepped up and swung it like a baseball bat straight into her head. A momentary surge of victory went through him as Livewire fell to the ground from the abuse, but it was quenched when a storm of electricity blasted out of her body. For a few precious seconds, Krieg felt like he was fried alive as wave after wave after wave of electricity went through every single nerve and muscle in his body. And this time, he could not hold back the scream of agony.

When Livewire finally reined her powers back in, Krieg was left a smoking mess as he fell face first to the ground. Livewire tried to laugh at her accomplishment, but it came out as a ragged cough while she clutched her chest. Some of her ribs must have been broken by the rubber bullets. Slowly, she tried to stand back up, eyes never straying far from the unmoving form of Krieg. At least she assumed it was Krieg she was looking at, her eyesight had barely begun to return and all she could make out was a grey lump on the ground. Nevertheless, with hate overflowing her eyes and anger boiling in her veins, she powered up a last electric bolt to end it all.

"Krieg!" a female voice suddenly screamed in terror, making Livewire's bloodshot eyes land on the fuzzy image of something black and green. What she was truly looking at was Miss Martian, who was staring in abject horror at Krieg's heavily burned and smoking form. 'I should have been faster in dealing with those guards,' she thought to herself dejectedly. Now she had let yet another friend down with her incompetence. First Mr. Twister, and now this. It just was not fair. Sadly, Miss Martian's moment of despair left her temporarily defenseless, and Livewire had just about had it with heroes for today. So she let loose her electric bolt right at Miss Martian. She snapped back to reality just in time and brought up a telekinetic shield to protect her. That shield ended up getting blasted apart and sent Miss Martian crashing into a crate with a painful shriek.

With a very noticeable limp to her steps, Livewire slowly made her way towards Miss Martian, passing Krieg's still unmoving form without sparing him a second glance. Had she done so, she may have noticed the slight twitch his body gave. Livewire came to a stop in front of the slightly dazed Martian, taking in ragged breaths as her hands crackled with power.

"I'm going to fry you, and then your little soldier friend," she snarled out in contempt as she raised her hands and aimed them at her. Miss Martian, still in the midst of getting her bearings back, could do nothing but stare in fear at her impending death. Her mind instantly flashed back to that fateful day with Krieg, and just like then, she froze up in terror. For a few horrific seconds, she did not see Livewire looming above her, but Krieg with a knife in hand. But that illusion was suddenly shattered when the real Krieg leaped up and grabbed Livewire in a Nelson hold.

"Knock her out, now!" he shouted as he struggled to hold her still. He was definitively stronger than her, but she had her Meta powers, which she used to send a continuous stream of electricity straight into Krieg. Hardly enough to kill him, but it hurt like hell and made his body want to curl up in a ball. But he ignored the pain and stubbornly held on, waiting for the xeno to deal the knock-out blow. Problem was, she did not do it. Her mind was still trapped in its cage of terror, struggling to regain control and do something, anything!

But Krieg had no time for that, so with a primal roar he lifted Livewire up and threw himself forward, slamming her straight into the ground with his body pushing her down. It stunned her enough to create a lapse in voltages getting pumped out of her body. Krieg took that chance to turn her over on her back, straddle her and begin to furiously pound her face with his fists. He did not let up, not even when she tried to blast him with electricity again, he just bit down until he drew blood from his mouth and let his fists continue to rise and fall. Not even when blood began adorning his knuckles did he stop, not even when her electricity began to abate and her hands tried to weakly stop him. He just kept striking in a wild frenzy, knowing she could potentially retaliate again if he let up. Finally, when she grew still beneath him, he relented and stepped off her.

Her face was nigh unrecognizable, swollen up like a balloon and blood smeared all over. Multiple teeth were missing and her left eye looked completely ruined. Krieg made a brief check to see if her heart was still beating, and after finding a pulse simply left her behind without a second thought. She was dealt with now, therefore no longer his concern. What was his concern however was the cowardly xeno in the midst of standing back up on shaky legs. He stormed over to her with swift steps, completely ignoring the numerous wounds adorning him.

"I'm sorry, I tried to get here sooner, but there were so many guards and…" whatever other meaningless excuses that were meant to come out that filthy mouth were promptly halted as Krieg walked up to her and slammed her against the crate behind her. Before her mind could even register what had happened Krieg had her pinned by the throat with a forearm, putting just enough pressure behind it to make breathing a little harder than usual.

"Now you listen here, xeno. I do not care about your slow progress in dispatching the enemy resistance, but I do not tolerate your weakness in battle," he told her coldly, his masked face a few mere inches away from Miss Martian's, whose wide and frightful eyes dared not stray away from his cold an unchanging visage. With what little bravado that existed in her form, Miss Martian tried to defend herself.

"But I tried to…"

"You froze up!" Krieg interrupted her, voice rising an octave higher before he regained control of himself and continued with a much calmer voice, "You took one hit from her, and was then powerless to defend yourself. But that little misstep pales in comparison to what you did next. I had Livewire temporarily pinned, and I told you to knock her out. Yet you did nothing," despite using such a calm tone, Miss Martian could not stop a chill of dread from creeping up her spine. It was terrible to admit it, but Miss Martian was more afraid of Krieg than of the enemy.

"What was I supposed to…" her attempt at defense was once again stopped by Krieg.

"Hit her in the head, slam something heavy into it, use your psyker powers. Just take your pick," here, he leaned in close until their noses almost touched each other, "If you want to stay in this line of work, you need to learn to be ruthless, to never show mercy or reprieve to your enemies. Be as hard as rock, as unyielding as steel and as cold as ice. And make no mistake, xeno, if you persist on becoming a liability in battle again, then I will personally take you down. Have I made myself clear?" all the poor girl could do was fearfully nod her head, terrified of what he might do to her otherwise. Satisfied that his point had been made, he stepped back and let go of her.

"We have gathered everything of value here. We need to regroup with the others and plan our next move from there," he stated before striding away, not even sparing a glance to make sure Miss Martian followed. At first, she did not move from her position, still scared out of her mind as her whole body trembled in fear. 'Dear God, why am I so afraid of him? We're supposed to be on the same team, yet he still terrifies me. Why?' those thoughts went through her head as she fought not to let her tears roll out. Eventually she mustered up the energy to follow Krieg back into the jungle. As she caught up to him, neither said anything as they trudged along.

But they had not gotten very far before Krieg's steps began to grow unsteady, and he walking became a bit wobbly. At one point he lost his footing and fell to his knees. Miss Martian was instantly at his side trying to help, but he roughly shoved her aside and pushed on.

"Shouldn't you be resting, or at least take care of your wounds?" Miss Martian inquired, truly worried for him. She may have been afraid of him, but they were still teammates. He just waved a dismissive hand at her.

"No time for that. I can deal with those nuisances after the mission is over," he responded before pushing on. Miss Martian felt like protesting, but decided against it. Who knew how he would react if he was pushed too much. After walking on for what felt like hours, Krieg suddenly held up a hand as a signal to stop. He had heard something up ahead. It almost sounded like heavy footsteps

"Did you hear anything?" Miss Martian asked curiously. Krieg did not answer her as he peered into the thick undergrowth.

"Xeno, scan ahead for any life forms," he ordered without even turning to face. If she felt hurt or insulted by it, she kept quiet as her eyes began glowing green.

"There's someone straight ahead of us, a human," she finally answered as her eyes returned to normal. 'Well, at least she has some uses,' Krieg thought to himself as he glanced at her over his shoulder.

"One of ours?" he asked of her, making the Martian shake her head.

"Very well then. We will advance quietly, but do not engage. Let us see what we are dealing with first," he ordered. No complaints came from his companion, so they slowly crept close through the foliage, keeping as quiet as possible. Eventually they found their mysterious opponent; a giant of a man wearing simple jeans and sleeveless shirt, with a black and white mask covering his entire head. And he seemed to be waiting for something in front of a cave entrance. Krieg made a quick analysis of the situation before he spoke again.

"Miss Martian, I need you to deal with him," he told her, receiving a shocked look from.

"What?" she asked in surprise. She had clearly not expected him to put any manner of faith in her after the debacle with Livewire.

"I am currently too tired and wounded to fight someone of that caliber. I will draw his attention, then you use your psychic powers on him," he clarified as he brought up his shotgun yet again.

"You sure?" she asked uncertainly, but with a small twinge of hope behind her words.

"No, but I am out of options," that promptly shattered her hopes. But nevertheless, she nodded her head in acceptance and turned invisible. Krieg waited for a few moments before he stepped out into the open and fired upon his enemy. As expected, the rubber bullets did nothing more than sting his opponent, and undoubtedly made him angry. Krieg kept firing until he had spent all but the very last round in his shotgun, that one he saved as his enemy finally turned around and glared at him in irritation.

"Great, another Niño to worry about," he grumbled to himself as he cracked his knuckles and strode towards Krieg, who for his part stood his ground defiantly without an ounce of fear in his being. The man he was facing smirked confidently at him.

"Not going to run away? Good, saves me the trouble of…" he did not get further than that as he suddenly found himself lifted into the air, yet nothing was touching him.

"I was beginning to think you were going to let him kill me," Krieg said nonchalantly as Miss Martian reappeared next to him, looking a bit sheepish.

"Sorry about that…" she said, trailing off at the end. Krieg just shrugged his shoulders.

"Irrelevant. It is over now anyways," he stated as he brought up his shotgun and aimed straight at their hovering enemy's face. One pull of the trigger later and he became the first villain to taste Krieg's gas bullets. A few seconds of coughing followed for him, before he was out like a candle and Miss Martian began wrapping him up in vines hanging from the trees. With that said and done, Krieg slowly walked over to the entrance of the cave and leaned against it. Since they were waiting for the rest of the team to show up, might as well rest for a little bit. 'And deal with those pesky burn wounds,' he added as an afterthought as he brought out his first aid kit and began bandaging those wounds caused by those electric bolts that penetrated his uniform.

The two of them did not remain alone in the small clearing for long however, as rapid footsteps could be heard coming from within the cave. Krieg was instantly at the ready, a newly loaded shotgun aimed at the entrance as Miss Martian appeared beside him, ready for battle. That proved to be unnecessary in the end, as it was in fact their team that came running out of the cave.

"Took you long enough to get here," Krieg commented as he shouldered his shotgun, receiving a fair amount of glares.

"Well excuse us for doing our jobs," Kid Flash retorted. Before it could escalate any further, Aqualad stepped forward to stop it.

"Enough, we're supposed to fight Kobra, not each other," he ordered sternly, surprising Krieg with how in command he appeared. While Kid Flash seemed content to back down, Krieg was not that pleased to take an order from an abhuman.

"Since when do you give the orders here?" Krieg questioned harshly. The answer he received was not comforting in the least for him.

"Since we kind of elected him team leader just a few moments ago," Robin answered, and Krieg was certain beyond any doubt that he sounded quite smug when he told that to him. Aqualad suddenly spoke up again.

"I am sorry we did not consult you or Miss Martian, but I'm willing to hear your opinions now. Would you be willing to have me as leader?" he asked politely. Absentmindedly, Krieg began wondering whether the abhuman could even talk in any other way.

"Hello Megan, it's totally obvious you should be leader," Miss Martian said enthusiastically, clearly in support of his promotion. All eyes were subsequently placed on Krieg as they waited to hear his words on the matter.

"This team needs a leader to work efficiently. Now can we move on to swap information and plan our next course of action?" Krieg requested. Every second wasted increased the enemy's chance of victory. Aqualad nodded in agreement, so the two groups traded what info they had with each other, before a plan of action was drawn up and they moved out to carry it out.

It would only be much later, when they had returned to the Cave, that Aqualad realized that Krieg had never technically answered his question.

They hit the enemy hard before they even realized the danger. Kid Flash was moving back and forth across the field, taking out cultist left, right and center. Aqualad and Superboy were teaming up to deal with the Kobra Venom induced monstrosity, slowly pushing it off the field. Robin was facing Lord Kobra himself in single combat, and receiving a painful education on why you do not face a man whose skills far surpasses your own. And while all of that were happening, Miss Martian was trying to sneak aboard the helicopter with some explosives borrowed from Bane. To give her a better chance of success, Krieg was providing cover with his shotgun, knocking out one cultist after the other.

But more cultists became aware of the danger he presented and formed a firing line against him, pumping out a wall of lead at him and forcing him into cover. Common sense would have him hide behind his cover until they ran out of bullets, but Death Korps sense won out. So he threw a smoke grenade over the cover, and the moment the area was covered in smoke, he charged straight at the blinded cultists. The first one never knew what hit him as an elbow impacted against his head. The second had his legs knocked off from under him before an axe kick slammed into his stomach like a sledgehammer.

Another cultist tried bashing Krieg with the butt of his gun, but Krieg ducked under the blow and came up with an uppercut before coming around with a spinning kick to a second cultist attacking from behind. Krieg was quickly in motion again, breaking the arm of one cultist before using him as a human shield against a knife stab towards his stomach. He threw the wounded cultist aside, making the attacker lose his grip on the knife before a fist to the face knocked him out. He sidestepped another cultists attack before kicking him right in the left knee from the side, breaking it and finishing him off with a fist to the head as he fell to his knees.

Yet another cultist tried taking him on head-on, but only ended up getting flipped over his shoulder and slammed into a second cultist. Someone else had drawn a knife and attacked, causing Krieg to catch the attacking hand and twisting it until the knife was dropped. The attacker was finished off with a jab into his right eye with a thumb and a knee between the legs. The last opponent was neutralized with a kick between the legs and a knee to the forehead as he doubled over in pain. Krieg gave a distasteful look at the groaning or unconscious cultists surrounding him.

"Amateurish heretics," he said as he strode towards the helicopter. A sudden beam of light that nearly made him a head shorter made him stop and turn towards the origin of the beam. He found a middle-aged man with a goatee and a strange armored suit. And he looked mighty pissed off. Krieg was not impressed.

"If that was meant as a warning shot, then you just wasted your only chance of walking away from this fight unharmed," Krieg stated coldly as he drew a knife. The so far unidentified man just scoffed at his claim.

"Ha! As if you would ever pose a threat to me. For you see, your pathetic skills can't outshine the brilliance of Dr. Light!" he proclaimed arrogantly. Krieg ignored whatever else he was planning on blabbering on about and charged straight at him. Obviously, he had not expected such a move and was too slow in his reaction and therefore ended up getting slammed to the ground as Krieg rammed into him shoulder first.

Krieg wasted no time and stabbed his knife straight through Dr. Light's right hand, pinning it to the ground. Ignoring his screams of pain, Krieg grabbed the front of his suit and delivered the strongest blow he could muster straight to his face. That was the only blow he managed to land before Dr. Light used his still free hand to let loose a blast of light that sent Krieg flying off of him.

"You bastard, I'll kill you for this!" Dr. Light snarled out in anger as he tried to pull out the knife still stuck in his hand. It went slowly, and he cringed and whined like a little child the whole way. The moment he was free again, he staggered back up and powered up another blast to finish Krieg off. But he suddenly found another target in the form of Miss Martian exiting the helicopter. Without hesitation, he aimed at her instead and unleashed the blast. Miss Martian did not notice the attack until it was too late to do anything but stare in wonder. Seconds before it would have impacted, something tackled Miss Martian to the ground, saving her life.

Dr. Light was not concerned about that as he took the chance to rush on board the helicopter, hoping to make good on his escape. Miss Martian's savior was instantly back on his feet and firing away with his shotgun at the helicopter, doing absolutely nothing as its engines started up. And it was only now, when Miss Martian had recovered her wits, that she fully realized just who had saved her, and she was left astonished.

"Krieg?" she asked in disbelief. Not too long ago he had threatened to kill her should she prove a liability, and now he was saving her?

"Did you plant the explosives?" he questioned without even looking at her, calmly reloading his shotgun. Miss Martian did not answer verbally, she just brought out the trigger and activated it. A nice display of fireworks followed as the helicopter, and its cargo, went up in flames and conveniently crashed right into the factory, obliterating it and thereby removing any and all traces of this new Kobra Venom. Though Krieg noted with a certain level of disappointment that a parachute was landing safely in the jungle, too far away from their position to mount a chase. Around them, the noise of battle began to diminish, signifying the end of this battle.

"We should rejoin the others," Krieg sated monotonously as he slung the shotgun over his shoulder and began walking away.

"Krieg, wait!" Miss Martian suddenly called out, making him stop in his tracks and slightly turn his head to stare at her, "Why did you save me like that? I thought you didn't like me," several awkward seconds of silence followed, and then Krieg just walked away without providing an answer. Despite that, a small smile formed on Miss Martian's lips. 'Maybe there's hope yet,' she thought to himself.

Krieg meanwhile was offering a thousand apologies to the Emperor in his head while mentally chastising himself. He felt disgusted at himself for saving a filthy xeno. He could have let her die, he should have let her die! But even as he beat himself over his heretical action, he knew why he did it. Batman's orders; protect your teammates, and never leave anyone behind. Orders were orders, no matter how much he detested them.

To be honest, Krieg was more than a bit surprised that Batman went so easy on them during the debriefing. Considering how the mission had gone, he had expected a harsher reprimand, maybe even disbanding the team (he could always dream). Alas, all they received was a quick verbal lashing, and then a congratulation on a job well done. Sometimes, Krieg could just not understand the mindset of these heroes. If he did not know any better, Krieg would have almost thought Batman to be a xeno, given how alien his way of acting sometimes appeared.

"Krieg," and speaking of xenos, here came his least favorable of the whole bunch, and he did not look pleased in the slightest. To be honest, Krieg had expected this for quite some time. If anything, he was a bit surprised that it took this long.

"Martian Manhunter," he greeted as he turned away from the zeta tube controls in the Cave.

"I heard what you did to my niece," there was no mistaking the furious tone in his voice, even when he was speaking as calmly as he was. As usual, Krieg was untroubled.

"And that would be relevant because…?" Krieg inquired monotonously. Deciphering a xeno's thoughts were never something that Krieg had any particular skill in, but he was fairly confident that his question had only infuriated the Martian further.

"I know you dislike me, I can even understand why you dislike me, after what I did. But don't you dare take that anger out on my niece. She had nothing to do with it. If you have any problems, take them up with me," Manhunter stated coldly. That earned him a scoff from Krieg.

"You think I acted the way I did because of some grudge with you?" he asked, receiving a confused look from the Martian, "It is true that I harbor a severe dislike for you, but I am not so petty as to take that out on Miss Martian simply because she is related to you. No, I did it because I dislike her as a person," that revelation seemed to throw Manhunter for a loop as no words came from him, so Krieg continued talking.

"Apart from Captain Marvel, she is the most naïve and idiotic creature I have ever had the misfortune of crossing paths with. Not only are her combat skills laughable, but her mental fortitude is all but nonexistent. She has none of the qualities that are required of a soldier out on the field," his verdict was cold and to the point, completely untroubled by how insulting he may have made it sound. As a matter of fact, he had put much effort into making it sound as insulting as possible.

"My niece is new to Earth, and simply lacks experience. Give her time and…"

"Time is not something that we have the luxury of. This team could be deployed at any hour of the day, and Miss Martian remains a liability to the success of our missions if she persists in remaining ignorant of our reality. Now I am not thrilled about being on this team in the first place, but since I am a member, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that the team is capable of carrying out its duty. So if you do not teach Miss Martian what it entails to be a soldier, then I will. And I will be extremely forceful in my methods," Krieg's ultimatum had Martian Manhunter bristling with anger, and Krieg was sure his eyes glowed red for a tiny moment there. Manhunter had tried to be reasonable, but Krieg had crossed a line now.

"Then let me make this clear to you. If you so much as touch her, then I will…"

"What? Kill me? Use your psychic powers on me? Rip my mind apart?" Krieg cut in, speaking with a clear tone of distaste against the xeno. Here, Krieg walked right up to him to the point that only a few inches their faces from each other.

"A little piece of advice, xeno. Do not make threats you lack the courage to back up," he stated coldly, meeting the Martian's furious glare with one of cold indifference from behind his gasmask. Without another word spoken between them, Krieg turned his back to the Martian and marched straight back to the zeta tubes. Only when Krieg had vanished in the usual flash of white light, did the dark figure which had silently observed the argument from the shadows step forward.

"I am truly starting to question the wisdom in placing him on this team, Batman," Martian Manhunter admitted as his eyes never strayed from the zeta tubes, not even when Batman walked up to stand next to him.

"I'm afraid we're limited on options. I don't want to risk innocent lives by setting him loose, and the Justice League can't just lock him up when he's committed no crime," Batman stated. And awkward silence descended upon the two of them, broken only when Batman let out a resigned sigh.

"While I don't like his methods in the slightest, and I feel like he could have been less harsh with his words, but he has a point about your niece," the man's admission finally managed to drag Manhunter's eyes away from the zeta tubes, to land on Batman with anger and disbelief flowing out of them.

"She remains too naïve about the reality of fighting crime, and that naïveté will cost her dearly one day if she doesn't learn to adapt," Batman elaborated for him. while Manhunter was loath to admit it himself, he could not deny the truth behind those words.

"I know, but M'gann is new to Earth. I'm sure that with time, she'll grow up," he tried to reason. Batman simply nodded his head in acceptance.

"Very well then. And don't worry about Krieg. If he tries another stunt like that again, he's off the team," he assured Manhunter. But he did not look that much assured by those words.

"Something tells me Krieg would welcome such a decision,"