Chapter 186: Batman-Style Operation
The first object was to fall from the Batwing, alongside Batman was the Batcycle concealed in the aircraft's modified cargo bay.
Seconds later, as the Batwing passed almost directly over the gamma bomb research facility, dozens of bat-drones deployed, streaking toward the base ahead of Batman himself.
Since Batman's current Arkham suit had been stripped of most electronics, these drones would scan the facility's thermal signatures and relay data back to the Batwing, where Oracle AI would process the information and transmit it through the wireless receiver hidden in Batman's cowl.
As for Batman himself—he'd managed unprotected drops from eighteen thousand feet even before acquiring Venom. This was nothing.
The air was thin at nearly thirty thousand feet, but Batman's expression remained perfectly controlled. Inside him, Venom was thrilled by the sensation of freefall.
Altitude decreased rapidly. Twenty-three thousand feet. Sixteen thousand. Six thousand.
When they reached roughly twenty-three hundred feet, Batman suddenly spoke:
"Robin!"
"Ready!"
The black symbiote rippled across the armor, elongating Batman's cowl ears, transforming his eyes into white pools that swept dramatically toward the temples. The massive, ferocious white bat emblem replaced the sharp symbol on his original suit.
The transformation continued. Venom spread further across Batman's body, assimilating the broad cape behind him.
The pristine new cape immediately became ragged under the symbiote's influence, shifting toward dark crimson. Thick bone structures extended from Batman's shoulder blades, connecting to the cape material.
WHOOSH!
The membranous wings spread wide like a demon's appendages.
Venom couldn't achieve true powered flight. Even with wings manifested, it couldn't generate sufficient force to actually fly.
But maintaining the dark red membrane and black bone structure in an open configuration still functioned to slow descent and enable gliding.
Batman's plummeting form suddenly arrested mid-fall. His breathing remained steady as he extended both arms toward the Batcycle falling nearby.
Batman hadn't equipped the motorcycle with a parachute.
The New Mexico operation demanded every second counted. A parachute's sluggish deployment—requiring a canopy large enough to support the motorcycle's weight far exceeding a human body—would dramatically increase Batman's exposure risk.
From Batman's investigation, the gamma bomb research facility resembled a SHIELD installation: independent power and water systems, physically isolated from the internet.
Batman couldn't guarantee the level of security present, but he never minded comprehensive preparation.
FWOOSH!
What shot from Batman's hands wasn't webbing but Venom's symbiote material.
The moment it contacted the Batcycle, the substance enveloped the vehicle almost completely. Then, as Batman's arms pulled with tremendous force against gravity, the motorcycle hurtled toward him through the air.
Twenty-three hundred feet vanished in moments. Just as Batman's velocity decreased to safe parameters, the Batcycle reached him. He grabbed the handlebars and swung aboard in one fluid motion.
"Safe parameters" applied to the Batcycle, not Batman. Without the motorcycle, he wouldn't have bothered deploying Venom's wings at all—he'd have simply cratered directly into the ground and walked away.
In that instant, Batman descended from the sky astride his motorcycle, wings spread behind him like some mythical creature.
The next second, he twisted the throttle. As the wheels spun to life, his wings folded inward, transforming back into the black cape that billowed dramatically behind his racing form.
"Bruce, bat-drone thermal imaging scan results as follows—"
As Batman transitioned seamlessly from thirty-thousand-foot drop to ground-level motorcycle approach toward the gamma facility, Oracle AI aboard the high-altitude Batwing was already reporting.
Since Batman had obtained facility layouts and distribution patterns in advance, Oracle's data rapidly constructed a thermal imaging overlay in Batman's mind.
"Initiate X-ray secondary scan and report again. Then reposition all drones to the facility's southern perimeter. Separate drone rotors, deploy spider units into the ventilation system, and construct complete internal structure maps with personnel distribution." Batman ordered.
"Understood, Bruce. Executing commands." Oracle AI responded immediately.
Thirty miles above the gamma bomb research facility, the bat-drones responded to Oracle's control, initiating secondary scans before vectoring toward the southern perimeter.
CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.
With soft mechanical sounds, the drone rotors separated from their chassis and clattered to the ground, each fragmenting into sixteen pieces.
The fragments lay dormant for several seconds. Then tiny mechanical legs extended from each component.
What had been bat-drones moments ago had transformed—each aircraft becoming sixteen spider-robots that scuttled on delicate legs into the facility's wastewater pipes.
"Thermal imaging indicates concentrated heat sources throughout the facility's interior. The largest mass is located center-left. Report conditions in that sector."
"Barbara, divide the entire gamma bomb research facility into four quadrants. Assign spider-robot reconnaissance to each zone independently."
"Distance to facility: twenty-nine miles. When I reach six-mile range, attempt activation of the suit's electronic warfare virus."
"Maintain bat-pod deployment readiness. Lock drop coordinates three meters ahead of my position."
"Activate Batwing self-destruct protocol. Three-hour countdown initiated."
"Establish remote connection to Parker Industries. Execute heavy industrial acquisition plan."
"Maintain composite waveform device in standby mode. Same for electromagnetic pulse ordnance."
"Initiate Siege Engine Protocol."
Countless commands flowed from Batman, each executed immediately by Oracle AI.
Just as Batman had prepared endless contingencies to stop the Hulk and Professor Connors at Oscorp Tower, he'd constructed forty-one major operational plans for the New Mexico mission.
Each major plan comprised hundreds of detailed sub-protocols.
Every plan corresponded to different conditions involving Norman Osborn and General Ross—whether they were cooperating smoothly, whether Norman was imprisoned, whether either had undergone abnormal changes.
The worst-case scenario Batman had designated "Alpha Protocol," designed for complete mission failure: all previous methods ineffective, the facility overrun with monsters, Batman himself in mortal danger.
Thermal imaging showed no large creatures present, but for Batman this was merely reference data.
Just as Doctor Banner and Professor Connors appeared completely harmless in human form before transforming into massive, destructive behemoths, Batman didn't trust the bat-drone thermal scans at face value.