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Chapter 245: French Military Salute
Parademons were the primary weapon of Apokolips, created by transforming captives seized from the various planets conquered by the dark god.
Because their source material was spread across all the conquered galaxies of the multiverse, they were inexhaustible in an almost literal sense. Furthermore, the mass-production line for Parademons on Apokolips was incredibly mature, making the cost almost negligible.
Aside from the rare occasions of directly obliterating an entire planet with interstellar weaponry, whenever Darkseid decided to invade and conquer any world, his primary tactic was always to overwhelm the enemy with a vast sea of Parademons.
It was precisely because of this cheap, effective, and endless nature, coupled with their being armed with Apokoliptian tech-weapons, that in the DC Universe's villain threat assessment, although individually weak, the entire Parademon army from across all of existence was considered a single entity whose threat level was no less than that of Doomsday.
But it was from this supposedly "extremely dangerous" weapon that Orin Vale found a brilliant angle.
Parademons won by overwhelming quality with sheer quantity, but their flaw was also significant: they were brainless.
Parademons could faithfully execute their master's commands, but their operational capacity was similar to that of a beast with low intelligence. This was a weakness that heroes often exploited once they became familiar with it.
For instance, the plan Orin Vale was currently executing was also borrowed from Batman. This time, it wasn't from a live-action movie, but from the major "War" story arc in the New 52 series, where the Justice League assembled to fight Apokolips. In the comics, Superman was captured by the Apokoliptian army and subjected to transformation. Batman, exploiting the Parademons' lack of intelligence, changed into civilian clothes, pretended to be a civilian on the street, and got himself captured by a passing Parademon. He hitched a ride on the Parademon, successfully bypassing security and flying into an Apokoliptian stronghold to rescue Superman.
This move by Orin Vale was a direct homage. He sent Penguin away with a super-speed flash, then dashed back in front of the Parademon and deactivated his entire Battlesuit.
He flashed forward and immediately adopted a French military salute, raising both hands high in surrender on the spot, appearing exceedingly cooperative.
Thus, from the Parademon's perspective, it had flown toward this rooftop, drawn by the scent of fear, only for its vision to blur the moment it arrived. When it refocused, it saw this human, not crying, not fighting, not trying to hang himself, but obediently surrendering and waiting for it.
The Parademon froze for a moment.
It wondered if there had been two people on the rooftop just a moment ago.
Ah well, not important.
The meager brain capacity left after its biological transformation didn't allow the Parademon to think about such complex problems; its CPU would probably burn out just by doing addition and subtraction above ten. It was naturally happy that its prey wasn't resisting, so it cheerfully picked Orin Vale up, turned, and flew toward its stronghold.
Before a formal war, Apokolips always dispatched Parademons to operate secretly in various regions of the world they were about to invade. This was partly to gather intelligence and partly to capture biological samples from the planet for transformation.
The vast majority of cannon fodder during a war was created by transforming enemy captives, so it was natural to capture a few local samples beforehand to make targeted adjustments to the Parademon production line.
And so, without firing a single shot or lifting a finger, Orin Vale was carried by this Parademon to its lair.
They first flew underground, navigating through Gotham's crisscrossing pipe system. After an unknown number of turns, a hidden door suddenly activated on a wall. As the Parademon landed, a seam appeared on what looked like a solid pipe wall. The concealed door opened with a heavy, rumbling sound, revealing a hollow space within.
Upon entering, a damp, musty odor assailed him.
The space was bone-chillingly cold, and a suffocating stench filled the air. The place was quite spacious, but that couldn't mask the thick, oppressive atmosphere.
Orin Vale soon discovered that there were quite a few people here. They were all individuals who had gone missing in recent days, dressed in rags, disheveled, their faces long numb with the fear and despair of the darkness.
And ruling this place were, without a doubt, the Parademons flying all around.
Orin Vale gave a quick scan. There were about twenty to thirty of them, likely a small squad. When the Parademon carrying Orin Vale flew back, many others swarmed up to meet it.
The other Parademons chittered, "Wibbly-wobbly? Wibbly-wobbly?"
Alright, that included a bit of Orin Vale's own embellishment. The Parademons' vocal organs sounded like some kind of insect, and he couldn't understand them at all. But it didn't stop him from using telepathy to figure out what these monsters were saying.
*"Wibbly-wobbly? (Where did you go?)"*
The Parademon gestured excitedly. *Look, quick, look! Look at the great prize I've brought back!*
The other Parademons followed its gestures and turned their heads. They saw that Orin Vale, who had been a helpless civilian just a second ago, had somehow materialized armor parts, his entire body being encased in a rapidly assembling Battlesuit.
The helmet lit up, and the crystal on his chest began to glow. He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping the surroundings through the quickly activating UI interface.
The excitedly gesturing Parademon froze, a great deal of confusion in its tiny head.
*Huh? That's not right. What I brought back doesn't look like this thing, does it?*
But it would never get the chance to figure it out.
Orin Vale raised his right palm, and the light energy cannon fired. The Parademon was blasted straight through the chest, exploding into ashes and dissipating in the light.
Only then were the other Parademons shocked.
"Wibbly-wobbly! Wibbly-wobbly! (Enemy attack!)"
The Parademons all grabbed their weapons, spread their wings, and took to the air, their Apokoliptian energy firearms unleashing a torrent of red-hot energy beams.
Orin Vale also took to the sky, a mach afterimage trailing behind him as he weaved through the Parademons in mid-air. Wherever the afterimage passed, some Parademons were sent flying, others exploded on the spot, and one was pierced through three others by a single light beam, turning into light. Several more were dismembered on the spot by a series of slashes so fast they were a blur, accompanied by magnificent special effects.
One second. The afterimage performed a double somersault and landed on the ground from mid-air. As he braked at super-speed, the soles of his metal combat boots dragged a trail of bright sparks across the ground.
He came to a stop, not even looking back. Only then did several fireballs erupt behind him with a delayed series of booms.
There was no need to capture the Parademons alive. They had neither emotion nor brains; even if captured, it would be impossible to get any intelligence from them.
Orin Vale rescued the captured hostages and, using his Batman pseudonym, contacted Gordon to arrange for their care. Afterward, he returned underground and scanned the stronghold.
Parademons couldn't be interrogated, but there might be traces and clues left at the scene.
For instance... an alien computer.
His gaze fell upon a strange device. It looked like a combination of biological and mechanical parts, resembling a sphere fixed to a metal base.
"Security scan complete. It's a computer-like terminal built with some kind of Apokoliptian technology," Pal reported after the scan. "No weapon risk detected."
"Can you try to crack it and see what's inside?"
"Attempting... but it might take some time," Pal said. "We are not familiar with Apokolips' technology, sir."
"Alright, block its signal first to ensure no one can trace its location, then we'll take it back to crack it slowly."
Orin Vale checked the time.
"In the meantime, it's the perfect chance to go back and grab a meal."
(end of chapter)
Parademons were the primary weapon of Apokolips, created by transforming captives seized from the various planets conquered by the dark god.
Because their source material was spread across all the conquered galaxies of the multiverse, they were inexhaustible in an almost literal sense. Furthermore, the mass-production line for Parademons on Apokolips was incredibly mature, making the cost almost negligible.
Aside from the rare occasions of directly obliterating an entire planet with interstellar weaponry, whenever Darkseid decided to invade and conquer any world, his primary tactic was always to overwhelm the enemy with a vast sea of Parademons.
It was precisely because of this cheap, effective, and endless nature, coupled with their being armed with Apokoliptian tech-weapons, that in the DC Universe's villain threat assessment, although individually weak, the entire Parademon army from across all of existence was considered a single entity whose threat level was no less than that of Doomsday.
But it was from this supposedly "extremely dangerous" weapon that Orin Vale found a brilliant angle.
Parademons won by overwhelming quality with sheer quantity, but their flaw was also significant: they were brainless.
Parademons could faithfully execute their master's commands, but their operational capacity was similar to that of a beast with low intelligence. This was a weakness that heroes often exploited once they became familiar with it.
For instance, the plan Orin Vale was currently executing was also borrowed from Batman. This time, it wasn't from a live-action movie, but from the major "War" story arc in the New 52 series, where the Justice League assembled to fight Apokolips. In the comics, Superman was captured by the Apokoliptian army and subjected to transformation. Batman, exploiting the Parademons' lack of intelligence, changed into civilian clothes, pretended to be a civilian on the street, and got himself captured by a passing Parademon. He hitched a ride on the Parademon, successfully bypassing security and flying into an Apokoliptian stronghold to rescue Superman.
This move by Orin Vale was a direct homage. He sent Penguin away with a super-speed flash, then dashed back in front of the Parademon and deactivated his entire Battlesuit.
He flashed forward and immediately adopted a French military salute, raising both hands high in surrender on the spot, appearing exceedingly cooperative.
Thus, from the Parademon's perspective, it had flown toward this rooftop, drawn by the scent of fear, only for its vision to blur the moment it arrived. When it refocused, it saw this human, not crying, not fighting, not trying to hang himself, but obediently surrendering and waiting for it.
The Parademon froze for a moment.
It wondered if there had been two people on the rooftop just a moment ago.
Ah well, not important.
The meager brain capacity left after its biological transformation didn't allow the Parademon to think about such complex problems; its CPU would probably burn out just by doing addition and subtraction above ten. It was naturally happy that its prey wasn't resisting, so it cheerfully picked Orin Vale up, turned, and flew toward its stronghold.
Before a formal war, Apokolips always dispatched Parademons to operate secretly in various regions of the world they were about to invade. This was partly to gather intelligence and partly to capture biological samples from the planet for transformation.
The vast majority of cannon fodder during a war was created by transforming enemy captives, so it was natural to capture a few local samples beforehand to make targeted adjustments to the Parademon production line.
And so, without firing a single shot or lifting a finger, Orin Vale was carried by this Parademon to its lair.
They first flew underground, navigating through Gotham's crisscrossing pipe system. After an unknown number of turns, a hidden door suddenly activated on a wall. As the Parademon landed, a seam appeared on what looked like a solid pipe wall. The concealed door opened with a heavy, rumbling sound, revealing a hollow space within.
Upon entering, a damp, musty odor assailed him.
The space was bone-chillingly cold, and a suffocating stench filled the air. The place was quite spacious, but that couldn't mask the thick, oppressive atmosphere.
Orin Vale soon discovered that there were quite a few people here. They were all individuals who had gone missing in recent days, dressed in rags, disheveled, their faces long numb with the fear and despair of the darkness.
And ruling this place were, without a doubt, the Parademons flying all around.
Orin Vale gave a quick scan. There were about twenty to thirty of them, likely a small squad. When the Parademon carrying Orin Vale flew back, many others swarmed up to meet it.
The other Parademons chittered, "Wibbly-wobbly? Wibbly-wobbly?"
Alright, that included a bit of Orin Vale's own embellishment. The Parademons' vocal organs sounded like some kind of insect, and he couldn't understand them at all. But it didn't stop him from using telepathy to figure out what these monsters were saying.
*"Wibbly-wobbly? (Where did you go?)"*
The Parademon gestured excitedly. *Look, quick, look! Look at the great prize I've brought back!*
The other Parademons followed its gestures and turned their heads. They saw that Orin Vale, who had been a helpless civilian just a second ago, had somehow materialized armor parts, his entire body being encased in a rapidly assembling Battlesuit.
The helmet lit up, and the crystal on his chest began to glow. He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping the surroundings through the quickly activating UI interface.
The excitedly gesturing Parademon froze, a great deal of confusion in its tiny head.
*Huh? That's not right. What I brought back doesn't look like this thing, does it?*
But it would never get the chance to figure it out.
Orin Vale raised his right palm, and the light energy cannon fired. The Parademon was blasted straight through the chest, exploding into ashes and dissipating in the light.
Only then were the other Parademons shocked.
"Wibbly-wobbly! Wibbly-wobbly! (Enemy attack!)"
The Parademons all grabbed their weapons, spread their wings, and took to the air, their Apokoliptian energy firearms unleashing a torrent of red-hot energy beams.
Orin Vale also took to the sky, a mach afterimage trailing behind him as he weaved through the Parademons in mid-air. Wherever the afterimage passed, some Parademons were sent flying, others exploded on the spot, and one was pierced through three others by a single light beam, turning into light. Several more were dismembered on the spot by a series of slashes so fast they were a blur, accompanied by magnificent special effects.
One second. The afterimage performed a double somersault and landed on the ground from mid-air. As he braked at super-speed, the soles of his metal combat boots dragged a trail of bright sparks across the ground.
He came to a stop, not even looking back. Only then did several fireballs erupt behind him with a delayed series of booms.
There was no need to capture the Parademons alive. They had neither emotion nor brains; even if captured, it would be impossible to get any intelligence from them.
Orin Vale rescued the captured hostages and, using his Batman pseudonym, contacted Gordon to arrange for their care. Afterward, he returned underground and scanned the stronghold.
Parademons couldn't be interrogated, but there might be traces and clues left at the scene.
For instance... an alien computer.
His gaze fell upon a strange device. It looked like a combination of biological and mechanical parts, resembling a sphere fixed to a metal base.
"Security scan complete. It's a computer-like terminal built with some kind of Apokoliptian technology," Pal reported after the scan. "No weapon risk detected."
"Can you try to crack it and see what's inside?"
"Attempting... but it might take some time," Pal said. "We are not familiar with Apokolips' technology, sir."
"Alright, block its signal first to ensure no one can trace its location, then we'll take it back to crack it slowly."
Orin Vale checked the time.
"In the meantime, it's the perfect chance to go back and grab a meal."
(end of chapter)
