James considered his options. He could hit the warehouse now. Take out the guards. Destroy the weapons. But that would alert Intergang's leadership that someone knew about them. They'd go to ground. Relocate. Become harder to track.
Better to observe. Learn their patterns. Wait for the shipment they'd mentioned. Hit them during the distribution phase when he could catch more of the organization.
But he needed a sample. Just one piece of technology to study.
James circled the warehouse complex. Found a secondary building with fewer guards. Only two people inside, both focused on maintaining equipment.
He descended silently. Used his enhanced senses to track the guards' positions. Waited for the right moment.
One guard left to use the bathroom. The other was focused on a workbench, assembling something.
James slipped through a window. Moved across the ceiling using grappling points. His enhanced strength made it easy to hang upside down and traverse the space.
The guard at the workbench never looked up. He was too focused on his task, muttering to himself about calibration settings.
James spotted what he needed. A small device, maybe the size of a smartphone. Sitting on a table near the wall. It glowed with faint energy. Some kind of power cell or component.
He dropped silently behind a crate. Moved in quick bursts between cover. Reached the table.
Grabbed the device.
It was warm to the touch. Heavier than it looked. The energy it radiated made his fingers tingle.
"AEGIS, scanning acquired device."
"Apokoliptian technology confirmed. Appears to be a power cell or capacitor. Energy density is extraordinary. Estimated power output: equivalent to a small nuclear reactor. Extreme caution advised."
James pocketed the device carefully. Started to retreat the same way he'd entered.
Then the guard returned from the bathroom.
"Hey, where's the calibration cell? I had it right here."
The other guard looked up. "What? It was on the table."
"Well it's not there now. Did you move it?"
"No. Maybe it fell?"
They both started searching. It would only take seconds before they realized something was actually missing and sounded the alarm.
James moved faster. Reached the window. Started to climb out.
"Intruder!"
One of the guards spotted him. Pulled a weapon. Not an Apokoliptian blaster, thank god. Just a regular handgun.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets sparked off the wall near James's head. He threw himself through the window as alarms started blaring throughout the complex.
James hit the ground running. His enhanced speed carried him across the open ground toward the perimeter fence. Behind him, shouts and more gunfire.
He vaulted the fence easily. Kept running. Used his grappling gun to reach the rooftops.
"AEGIS, tracking pursuit?"
"Affirmative. Multiple hostiles mobilizing. Vehicles deploying. Recommendation: increase distance rapidly."
James grappled between buildings. His enhanced strength let him cover huge distances with each swing. Behind him, the sounds of pursuit were fading.
After three blocks, he paused on a high rooftop. Looked back at the warehouse complex. Lights were blazing. Vehicles were circling. They knew someone had hit them but didn't know who or where he'd gone.
Good enough.
James made it back to his factory base within twenty minutes. Immediately set up his analysis equipment and placed the stolen device in a shielded containment field.
"Begin full spectrum analysis. I want everything. Molecular structure. Energy output patterns. Operating principles. Everything."
"Acknowledged. Estimated analysis time: six hours for preliminary results."
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