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The First to Fall; (open)
Topic Started: Apr 14 2008, 10:36 PM (3,402 Views)
Jayson
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Stone Touch / Super Strength
Without speaking a word, the red head sat silently. So many times before she could have used the phrase, 'my world's been turned upside down.' Today in the early morning air she stood staring at the the scenes unfolding like gory play thinking that same mentality. Out all the past missions, from the FOH building to the explosion in Mutant Town, there was nothing that truly connected her to them. This time it would be no different expect for the real fact that this was one of her closest friend's family. And she was furious.

Jayson didn't like jet rides in normal occasions. They made her feel queasy. So the use of avoidance tactics clearly made her wonder if they had sick bags stuffed somewhere on the Blackbird. Her gloved fingers were curled around the armrest. Her knuckles were white underneath the leather material. Thinking back probably having some juice before take off would have been for the best. If it wasn't for the fear of getting sick she would be thinking heavily on what her boss had just debriefed them about.

Human and mutant children living under one roof. Sentinels being sent to destroy the Eldraitii Base just because of the earliest stages of a dream. According to Faye there were really no dangerous mutants there. Eldan if provoked could be a force to be reckoned with, but besides him there was this one child that had a tendency to explode. That was it. They weren't dangerous. They were just under the radar. Why would they wish to attack kids who would rather be alone? Why would they humans do such a thing?

Once landed Rock-solid listened to the rest of Cyclops's orders. She didn't dare move until her stomach settled slightly. Her body had to be at 100%. Her boss was right. This wasn't a Sunday drive. This was war. There was only one wish. Why couldn't someone else be attacked? Why did it have to be her friend's family? This was the outrage.

Prying off her resistants the stone-turner stood the moment the majority were off the Blackbird. Pausing only a brief second to tap Entropy on the shoulder she walked out into the early morning air. They were going to need everyone the could get. This place was a war zone. The metal monstrosities (as Violey would call them) would be the first to go down. Their reign of destruction had to stop, now!

Taking a running start to the right Rock-solid waited for orders. Her powers weren't the best against metal-skinned sentinels. However, there was a human controller, wasn't there? Taking a hair tie from around her wrist she pulled back her hair into a loose ponytail. They were all going to pay. Everyone last one of them would know that attacking children was the worst fault of any.
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Mina
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Logan’s silence as he entered the jet did not go unnoticed by Mina, but with all the tension currently running rampant through the rest of the team she simply wasn’t in the right frame of mind to try and reassure him. This was something he was going to have to deal with on his own. When he looked to her, however, she didn’t turn away from his gaze. Without a word she reached out to take his hand as Scott chastised the rest of the group. She didn’t view his words as overly harsh necessarily, but then again maybe she was just used to it. The newer members of the team, though, she knew they weren’t, and briefly wondered if they were going to adapt to Cyclops or if he would have to adapt to them.

This was not the same team he had led just five years ago. Their numbers had grown, but was Scott growing with them?

Take-off was perfect as always and Mina withdrew her hand as she began mentally preparing for the battle ahead. When the Quinjets dropped onto the radar behind them Mina barely even blinked, knowing full well that their pilots were no where near Scott Grey-Summers in terms of skill. The jet accelerated, twisted, rolled, and they lost their unwelcome SHIELD escort. Through it all Mina remained completely calm and focused, going over a seemingly endless list of chemical equations in her mind. How she remembered them all or how she was able to bring them up at moment’s notice, she didn’t know. When it came to science her mind seemed to work at an accelerated pace in order to let her best utilize her mutation. Her memory was photographic, but even though it had never failed her yet she still did her best to keep her mind sharp.

The moment they touched down and Cyclops gave his orders Mina was out of her seat and headed out the back of the plane. The words “extreme force” stuck with her as she stepped outside; what exactly did he mean by that? The scene before her left no time to dwell on his words though, her gaze narrowing as she was accosted by the smell of burning fires. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Logan move to help a few children out of the way but before she could go and help her attention was drawn by a group of a half dozen SHIELD operatives headed her way. The firelight from the burning mansion glinted off the metal of their automatic weapons, and her blood ran cold. This place was occupied by civilians, children…what the hell did they need that kind of firepower for?

“Halt!” one of them, she assumed their captain, directed her as she headed out to meet them. “Put your hands on your head and get on your knees.” Six automatic weapons turned towards her with six itchy fingers inching up on the triggers. Behind them she saw a group of children, the oldest of whom couldn’t even be 15, cowering in a huddle on the ground guarded by yet another operative.

With an obvious disdainful frown on her features Mina came to a halt a few yards away. “Call off your men, there are children here. This is not –“

Whatever she was going to say next was lost as the operatives opened fire. A spray of bullets erupted towards her and she took in a quick, startled breath, completely unprepared for that level of hostility. She reacted immediately, reaching out to as many bullets as she could pinpoint in the split-second she had to respond and ripped the metal apart, each one exploding into small plumes of atomic fire. There were a few she missed though and she flinched as they bit into the dirt around her, that flinch deepening into a grimace as one cut across the outside of bicep, ripping into her uniform and grazing the skin beneath.

When the sounds of gunfire died away her gaze snapped to the operatives and the guns in their hands exploded into absolutely nothing. Sure, she could’ve avoided the big ‘boom’ her powers made by simply breaking apart the molecules instead of the actual atoms, but she figured she needed to make a point. They had shot at her, after all, and she wasn’t going to play around.

The operatives pull their pistols but the guns didn’t fire when the trigger was pulled. Gunpowder: a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate that is extremely easy to alter into something no more volatile than baby powder. That vital explosion caused by the firing pin striking the primer was completely absent, and before they could pull any other nasty surprises from their bag of tricks, Mina distracted them with a quick white-hot burst of energy as she ripped into the oxygen atoms hanging in the atmosphere.

“Stand down,” she uttered coolly, her injured left arm hanging by her side, her own blood dripping from her fingertips even though she didn’t even feel the wound. “These are children, not terrorists!” To accentuate her point she doused the operatives in water, and while it really didn’t harm them in any way, it made her feel better…

From behind her she heard the eerie whine of metallic joints moving and felt the ground rumble slightly beneath her feet. Turning, she had to crane her head back to see the eyes of the Sentinel as it loomed over her, metallic outer shell covered in soot from the burning mansion. Her powers reached out to it but it was simply too complex to process in the split-second it took for the Sentinel to lock her in as its target.

“Shit.”
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Shina Schwarz
Unregistered

Shina was actually more at home in the jet and more calm than anyone else in the jet really. Even when the craft decided to go about evasive maneuvers, she remained cold and collected. She was sitting in her harness, arms crossed, eyes closed. This was it… war. What she had been immersed in on an almost constant basis. War seemed to follow her, the only intermission being a brief moment of peace that only lasted what seemed like a breath before war reattached itself to her wake like a destructive cloak. Still… the only thing that bothered her was the fact that they were fighting against the organization that she had so blindly trusted. She would have thought that with all the big wigs that were running around now-a-days, one of them would have enough intestinal fortitude to speak up at some super-meeting and say, ‘Hey, maybe this isn’t such a good idea…’ Still… there was a strong chance that all the big-wigs hated mutants too.

Shina knew everything there was about the soldiers they were to face. Her squad was specific, and had a special role in the battle to come. There was no better way to baptise her team in the ways of war than war itself… and it seemed that was exactly what was going on. Shina felt the G’s pulling her around as they wound down to a landing, and the sounds of war beckoned to her as the hatch open. She released her harness, stood and grabbed a handrail, looking to Scott and awaited the command. It didn’t take long.

"Nightstalkers, on Ms. Schwarz's command move, flank right. X-Men, fliers up top, ground based move left. Get the Edraitii and the noncombatants out of the line of fire, and start in on the Sentinels. Weapons are adaptable. Do not attack the same Sentinel twice with the same tactic. Improvisation and Innovation are imperative."

Shina knew her task. While most of the X-Men were going to focus on the two Sentinels, which were by far the strongest task force, her team were to deal with the smaller targets.

"Extreme force is authorized."

Shina felt a small ping of regret hit her in the gut. She knew that it was going to happen… it always did when they were authorized to use deadly force if needed. She was not new to this feeling, and had fact anticipated it. Oddly though, it wasn’t regret that she was going to use that kind of force, but regret that their enemies didn’t have a slight chance anymore.

Shina looked out and recognized the round-up tactic that the soldiers were using. She sent out an energetic pulse of her own energy, getting a better reading. It was clear that most of them weren’t in agreement with what their orders were… some where hesitant… others had discontent on their face.

They wouldn’t know what hit them.

She respected Anna, giving her the nod letting her know that she indeed trusted Shina to some point, enough to allow her to give her direction. Still, Shina recognized too that she was having the pre-battle flash, something Shina herself had dealt with before her first real fight. A little shake, and she came to, realizing the situation and seemed to try to shake her fear.

Callan was a different story though. She was obviously fearful of what had to be done… what must be done. Still… she was trying to refrain from showing it… but the look on her face and in her eyes was unmistakable. Shina wasn’t missing a beat though… her plans and the plethora of back-up plans already instilled in her mind… and should each of those fail, there was always innovation. Improvise… adapt… overcome.

Everett, the only male of their team, she was unsure about. As a matter of fact, she didn’t even know if he knew that he was on Shina’s team. If not, he was about to be informed. Still… he seemed eager, although the anticipation wasn’t hostile. He wanted to save people… and that was exactly what they would be doing.

Lastly was Jayson… the woman who could turn people to stone with a mere touch, as well as supernaturally strong. She had no interaction with the woman, and couldn’t even get a clear read of her body language. But Shina had her orders, and they needed to move… now.

“Everett, Anna, Callan, Jayson, let’s Move!” she yelled. Her voice held authority, demanding a response, but it also held a great deal of respect and pride. She had hand-picked her Nighstalkers for their task… and it wouldn’t take but a mere moment to know if she had made the right choice. Still… Shina was the first out the door, attaching a small communicator to her ear that Scott had gave her the night before. It would help considering that they were separated from the main group… and should Scott need their help at any point, they could be reached. Scott knew this battle was coming for more than a few hours… he just didn’t know where and when.

Shina sprinted, running towards a narrow alley in which she could address her team. After about 80 feet, she slowed to a stop, knowing they would be out of the line of fire, at least temporarily. Here is where she would address them… give them their roles… and their rally point.
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Koen Taylor
Unregistered

Taylor was relatively unharmed compared to the Eldraiti. Beyond a mild concussion and the general aching of his whole body, he was ok. It was his head. His head was the problem. The initial sharp, splitting pain was fading, replaced with the sensation that his brain had swollen, and his skull was no longer large enough to comfortably house it. Every electrical signal in or out caused a painful throb. It was more painful than any hangover could dream of being. Taylor had experienced this before, when he was first handling his powers, but it had never been this severe. Maybe it was because he'd simply blown up a microwave. And a television. And his first computer.

Not a sentinel. Not a complex, powerful system. His physical brain was sore. His mind was exausted, and now, hands were on him, and a rough voice was telling him to suck it up.

A hot flash of anger rose in Taylor, but was instantly quelled by another throb of pain. If he could speak, and was not in immediate mortal peril, he might have named a few things that man could suck on. His very voice cause the pulsing pain to intensify, not to mention the physical contact and moving. The noise as the sentinel attacked. The pain from his left hand being burned... All of this served to excite the monsters that seemed to be tap-dancing on his head.

He only managed to shake his head. He couldn't just suck it up. He was not an X-Man. He hadn't been trained to function in battle situations. He wasn't the slightest bit prepared for something like this. For anything like this.

__

Somewhere in his subconscious, Koen understood that Taylor was not capable of securing their continued life. Taylor wasn't sleeping or drowsy, though, and their life was in immediate danger. There was no being gentle or nice. With a sharp yank, Koen pulled Taylor into the subconscious and took over. If Taylor could not save their life, then he would.

The transition did not eliminate the pain. In fact, the pain was a little more intense than before, but Koen could take it. Koen, unlike Taylor, would be able to function under this stress.

He opened his eyes, inviting another stab through his skull. What was he to do? If it were just him, he could just run off. With the X-Men here, the Sentinels would have more important things to do than chase after one mutant. Koen's escape, however, was not to be. The wresting of control had slightly weakened the separation between Koen and Taylor. While this would not affect his powers (drat), it meant that the inactive Taylor's wishes would not allow him to simply abandon the Eldraiti (double drat).

The acute would notice the lack of expression on his face, aside from the occasional flinch of pain. He didn't even look at the man still protecting him, he simply slid from under him and spoke one word.

"Fine."

And he was off, at a full sprint, back to the mansion. Wren had to be somewhere tending to the children. He needed to find her.

About half-way, he noticed a crowd of children. He didn’t see them, of course, but they were loud enough that he didn’t really need to. Wren had to be with them, and if she wasn’t, that would mean the children were alone. They needed him regardless. Beyond the fact that most of the mutant children had no battle effective abilities (and the few who did, probably had little control), there were also human children mixed in with them. They were even more defenseless.

Before he got to them, however, he noticed several quite small systems. Mostly night-vision sensors. Infra-red. They were all armed, though. Koen could take out a couple, but he was not Jackie Chan, and this was not a movie. He could not single and bare-handedly take out a squad of trained soldiers with guns. Taylor could have taken out their nightvision pieces, which would have tipped the scales in his favor, but Koen was no cyberpath. Some other action would need to be taken.

No choice then. The situation had to be handled with some amount of delicacy, but it was doable. Koen picked up a rock, aimed carefully and threw it with as much force as he could manage. This was one fluid movement, and the actual aiming didn’t even require a pause.

Two seconds later, one of the Soldiers dropped as a stone struck him square on the forehead. Snatch. Aim. Throw. Another dropped. Then Koen turned, and ran. He knew they would have figured out his position from the two shots. He knew they would pursue him, but that was the risk he was prepared to take. Just as long as they weren't busy shooting the children.

No choice. The children would be left alone, but no company was definitely better than the wrong company.
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Hank McCoy
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Over the course of the plane ride, Hank had been quiet, lost in his own thoughts. This usually happened before battle; the big man liked to collect his thoughts and ready himself for the upcoming battle, fearing a loss of control. It had been a while since he had truly lost control on the battlefield -- or in daily life -- but Hank had grown to fear it. Despite his codename, bringing out his beast side was not something he did readily.

With a sigh, Hank broke out of his thoughts, gathering a mindful serenity around himself as the jet burst into an evasive maneuver. This was when he had to smile. Despite the seriousness of the situation, it was entirely apparent just how much perfect control Scott (and Jean, because at this point they were linked up mentally) had over the Blackbird. It was a familiar and comforting thought, one that testified to the trust he could put into "Fearless Leader".

The moment the jet had landed, Hank was unbuckled and on his feet, stretching his limbs out carefully as he awaited orders. He wasn't particularly fond of flying, but the real reason for standing quickly was just a case of nerves. The idea of battle wasn't exactly something he looked forward to either, but at least it would be better than sitting in a plane doing nothing. Carefully he gathered the lightweight box of medical supplies that he'd packed earlier; he would store it in a secure location as soon as they were off the plane.

"Extreme force is authorized."

Hank looked around, peering into Scott's face as they came off the jet. Of course there was no telling what emotion lay behind those glasses, but Hank had never heard his leader say this before. Not in a context such as this, anyway. He could see using extreme force against the sentinels, true, but against humans?

Yet Scott was the leader, and Hank...well, there was still self-doubt present there in his mind. He rolled his shoulders back, tilting his head so he could take a deep breath, and surveyed his surroundings. The smoke that was billowing darkly from the fires stung his eyes and lungs, and Hank mentally reviewed the amount of medical supplies that would work for burn injuries and smoke inhalation. He'd included a lot, thankfully, and his next movement was to look for those that might be injured.

"Nightstalkers, on Ms. Schwarz's command move, flank right. X-Men, fliers up top, ground based move left. Get the Edraitii and the noncombatants out of the line of fire, and start in on the Sentinels. Weapons are adaptable. Do not attack the same Sentinel twice with the same tactic. Improvisation and Innovation are imperative."

Hank gave a short nod, silent, and focused. There were soldiers -- Mina was taking care of a group of them, Hank saw with the smallest of smiles. The water on them was a nice touch. The grin vanished entirely, however, when a massive Sentinel approached, and Hank bounded towards it with long, loping strides, feeling adrenaline building in his veins. He would take care of the injuries, naturally, but at the moment the most pressing issue was the Sentinel that threatened to destroy everything.

Underneath the adrenaline, though, his mind was ticking calmly. Hank had briefly studied the mechanics of a Sentinel early on, and while the mechanics were always changing and being updated, he knew the logistics of taking them down.

The problem was that Hank was only a single man, against a giant robot, and even with tooth and claw he could only do so much. Nevertheless, as he loped towards the massive robot, his intent was on taking the robot down completely. With an agility borne of a combination of mutation and long training, he pounced on the thing and started scaling it, feeling the mechanism whirring beneath him. Now where was the main bank of wires...
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Synch
Unregistered

Everything was a go. Everett was one of the last to rise from his seat since this was his first mission where he would be required to actually defend people with force. Not everyone immediately went charging into battle like the big blue furry guy, Everett had heard people call him beast. The fact that he was a well established and respected doctor was something of a surprise to this power copier. Most of the adult team members were eager to get involved with the protection of the residence or payback for the actual attack. Everett would have been lying if he didn’t admit that even he wanted those monsters to pay for what they had done. Every day one could see the atrocities committed in war on both sides. People left dead, injured, entire communities shaken and left homeless but to see it upon American soil and by a government that threatened to protect its citizens Synch suddenly felt sick to the stomach at the realisation of the people truly responsible for this.

Nightmares had plagued him like so many others since Mutant Town. To think that human’s hated mutants so much that they would kill defenceless children, His nausea quickly mutated into a seething hatred and a willingness to do anything in order to stop this.

“Everett, Anna, Callan, Jayson, let’s Move!” Shina ordered as she took off at a dead sprint into the war zone. By then Synch was already out of his seat and standing by the boarding platform seeing firsthand the damage as black smoke bellowed into the sky obscuring the sun and turning the sky into a vision of despair.

Synch placed a hand upon his teammates shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze to let Anna know that she wasn’t alone or the only one afraid. “If we watch each other’s backs and we can get through this together.” Synch tried to muster up the best confident reassuring voice he could manage given the circumstances. He actually appeared confident in absolute victory since he’d always had to appear fearless in his field of sports. Crowds could smell fear like a fart in a car and that was not a crowd pleaser.

With another light smile Synch began walking down the ramp until he came across Callan. They had only met briefly at a sporadic meeting of the Elite squad of students. How he managed to achieve such recognition was still a mystery. Everett was a straight A student and his powers were something that allowed for great adaptability and power but he’d surly not been around long enough to make a deep impression upon anyone. Again Synch placed a hand on a teammates shoulder and smiled slightly in confidence. “Stick together and watch each other’s back and we will kick butt.”

Even with his huge ego and showmanship that needed to be noticed, Synch understood when to play seriously and the dynamics of teamwork. The team would function more easily and fluidly if everyone understood that they were not alone, that someone was watching over them and going to protect them all if it was in his power.

Synch looked over to Jayson and all he did was smile and nod in greeting. The danger room session that participated in a few days before this whole mess had started had given him an appreciation of her skill and ability not even mentioning her mutancy.

Synch stretched little to loosen up when suddenly as his body began to glow as his mutant ability activated allowing him to absorb surrounding mutant powers. Synch had a rudimentary knowledge of who could do what and with Cyclops’ report on the adaptability of these metal monsters Synch thought it best he keep an avenue of attack and defence open to him at all times. Synch hadn’t taken every power around him because he had never trained to absorb so much power so quickly but he’d taken a few that could be used in a pinch with no danger of him losing it and endangering other people. Cyclops’s optic blast and Wolverine’s fabled healing would do as a surprise for anyone who saw fit to endanger himself and his friends.

It took several moments for the glow to dissipate and the powers to become under his complete control if only temporarily. The world became a cacophony of scent and sound, like his senses had awoken for the first time and truly experiencing scent and sound for the first time. His power instantly reacted to the loud thumps of mechanical foot falls and whining of gears by compensating for the increased audio and olfactory sensations.

Synch had sprinted across the open ground until he’d joined Shina, his team leader in the dark hollow of the ally. Hidden away from danger for the moment until the small blond team leader began handing out duty assignments. Synch remained quiet as he waited for everyone else to arrive so they could finally start getting their hands dirty. With his righteous anger in full swing, he wanted someone one to pay and for the destruction to stop.

“Shit.” Synch heard even among the crashing sounds of the newly awakened world around him. In looking around suddenly he saw a large Sentinel robot looming over one of the senior X-men. Without thinking Synch tapped the power of Quicksilver that he’d taken after said mutant had tried to paint with walls with his backside. In a blur of motion Synch was gone from the ally and sprinting across the battleground. Everything that Quicksilver had been suddenly his to command and control. To the casual observer Synch would have just disappeared but to Synch the world seemed to slow down to a perpetual crawl.

Supersensitive hearing could hear the windup of machinery that was building to a fever pitch with the ultimate goal to end Mina’s life. Synch wasn’t spending much attention that exactly how this giant death machine was going to end her life only that he needed to reach her before its goal was realised. In a matter of seconds Synch had snatched Mina from the ground and had turned into a skidding stop that covered a few dozen meters. Learning to stop at such high speeds was still something Synch was working on. Theoretically Everett could stop on a dime but the sudden change in momentum and g-forces always bad him queasy or he ended up tripping on onto his face so he concluded controlled skidding until he gained greater control was the order of the day.

As the pilot of the large Sentinel saw that the blooded body of its target was not spread out all over the ground it slowly turned and saw Synch still with Mina in his arms. “You want me to drop you off here or you want door to door service?” There was a cocky smirk on his lips but something dark and dangerous in the gleam of his eyes.

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ShadowX
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Even after fifteen years and dozens of missions, Jean’s heart still pounded with the thrill and anticipation of fight… the challenge. Before, she would’ve reached through their rapport to link her thoughts with Scott’s, but now, that was irrelevant he was as mentally close to her as her uniform, actually, closer; they were one. Though their link had existed for years, this was the first combat where they would be as one. Phoenix took to the soot heavy air and although the flames from the destroyed guest house were licking the night, Sco- Cyclops’ thoughts were as cool and unruffled as a frozen lake.

The darkness and flickering shadows are making it hard to see :: Phoenix sent to Cyclops as she peered through the haze around her. Many of the X-Men had disappeared into the cover of darkness. Then suddenly, her attention was caught by bright flashes of light as Flux tore through bullets. With her blonde hair shining in the firelight, she looked like some celestial being come down to Earth. Phoenix paused in mid-air reaching out with her mind to shield her friend but from darkness, Beast leapt for the Sentinel. She sent Cyclops image of the unfolding scene; the first into battle were the original X-Men and she was proud of that, proud of her oldest friends, still paving the way.


Cyclops moved with complete assurance, despite needing a cane to walk. He felt Phoenix take to the air, felt the wind, the smoke as she cut through the sky, saw the images she sent him. Everyone that was visible through the soot, the filth in the air, and that included every human, every child, every mutant, as they moved in and out of hell. He closed his eyes briefly, so his own visual stimuli did not distract him, and in an instant, his path was instantly plotted with his innate understanding of spatial geometry.

With the absolute confidence of a powerful man, and a prepared one, Cyclops cut his path through the chaos, the debris that rained down as the Sentinels attacked the Edraitii mansion and the mutants. He ignored the children, knowing that the weaker members of their team would care for them. No, he had bigger game to hunt, and overhead, his wife moved in tandem with him, neither one of them needing to locate. She knew his position, as he knew hers.

Not once in his progress did he unleash his powers. He ducked behind large portions of debris to avoid direct confrontation. Sentinels could adapt their defenses depending on the attack unleashed upon them. He was going to had to strike hard and fast and do as much damage as possible in one attack.

It was all he was going to get before the machines adapted. He couldn't risk them analyzing his powers prematurely. ::On my mark, Phoenix,:: he thought, unnecessarily, ::It's time to show them that we are not going to roll over and play dead.::


With a curt nod, unseen by her husband on the ground but she knew it was felt, she gained altitude and climbed into the night sky. Whether she got too close and spooked the pilot or they had orders to view fliers as primary targets, she didn’t know, although she suspected the latter; it was a long standing axiom that whoever ruled the skies, won the battle. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter, the Sentinel changed targets from firing into the manor, flushing out the mutants for the ground troops, and targeted Phoenix.

She dove, climbed, dodged around trees, and zigzagged, switching her pattern too randomly for the computer to anticipate; it would have to be down to the human pilot to tag her. As the bullets whizzed past her close enough to hear them cut through the air, she knew that at least it was focused on her, leaving Cyclops to get the perfect shot.


He knew when the time was right, watching the sentinel through his wife's eyes. She swooped like a circus acrobat, and he wondered how she could control her powers like that, so perfectly. The human body is not particularly aerodynamic, but the fliers he knew, he had always envied them. Through their link, which was no longer a link but an open floodgate of thought, sensation, emotion, he felt her pure adulation, even under these horrifying circumstances. She was enjoying setting up this bigotted human in his war machine.

And, then, the shot lined up perfectly, and Cyclops's hand was at his visor control. A carefully planned though split second finger twist of the dial, and the ruby quartz lenses slid open. Twin beams of light burst from the extra dimensional portals that had formed in the eyes of fifteen year old Scott Summers, and shot in razor straight precision through the smoky air, slamming into the cockpit of the sentinel who dared to target his beloved.

The beams struck the pilot at full strength blasting him out the canopy of the humanoid monstrosity's "head", in a shatter of plexiglass and shards of metal, his ribs shattering under the concussive force of Cyclops power. The pilot was thrown into the open air, and he began to fall, 25 feet towards the ground.


The pilot’s shriek added to those all around, the children crying out in fear and panic as their idyllic world was viciously torn down. In the split-seconds as the pilot was forcibly ejected through his shattered cockpit. Though the man’s mind was awash with fear and pain, Phoenix pluck images from his mind like snapshots falling from a poorly secured family album, and family is what poured out… his family. He was a father with two young children, one ten years old and the other six; both of his sons proud of their SHIELD father.

Phoenix reached out her mind and wrapped it around and falling man, staying his downward plunge. The pain that swamped his mind hid his intention it was too late; gasping and splitting up blood through trembling lips, he fired his gun.


Cyclops's hand dropped from his visor, as the ungrateful human did not appreciate the mercy of the Phoenix, and as the bullets flew at him, he was not as fast as Quicksilver, not as lucky as Longshot, not as explosive as Havok. His beam widened, and the bullets shattered beneath his very gaze, but the shrapnel... a freak shot, a sliver of red hot metal creased his cheek as he turned and slammed his eyes closed so as not to hurt anyone, since there was no time to close his visor. The shard of metal slammed into his visor's earcup control, and shorted the circuitry, exploding it into a shower of sparks and a high pitched squeal of damaged electronics.

With a cry of rage and pain, Cyclops ripped his visor from his face and threw it to the ground. Blinded without it, momentarily deafened in one ear, bleeding, and with a stripe of burn on his cheek, the X-Man dropped behind some debris to make himself a smaller target until he could get his bearings.


Cyclops’ rage was shared by Phoenix through their joint mind and within her grasp was the source of her husband’s pain.

“We saved your miserable life!” She screamed at him; her red hair, having come loose during her aerial maneuvers, billowed in the updraft from the fires. Her teeth bared and eyes blazed in fury as she gathered in all the thoughts of pain and fear around them and funneled it into his limited human psyche. “Feel what you’ve done!” One human mind was not meant to hold the thoughts and fears of over a dozen minds.

The pilot’s shrieks of pain as his mind was assaulted were as terrible and agonized as any child’s at the base. The Phoenix had saved his life but had taken everything else, as she deposited the pilot’s twitching form on the ground.

Her thoughts turned to her blinded husband.


Her fury was something to behold, even when seen from the safety of her mind. Phoenix's mind had ripped apart an office building looking for her lost lover. She'd burnt the mind away from the arrogant young sociopath Longshot and reduced him to a tabula rasa, to be rewritten as something different, something not as violent. Her powers could not be escaped, could not be fought, could not be bested, and Cyclops, watching from the darkness behind his eyelids, felt absolute awe and complete love for this woman who was more a part of him than he himself was at times.

He tilted his head up, and though he couldn't physically see, through her guidance, his head followed the pilot's descent. ::Brilliant:: he whispered in Phoenix's mind, ::He'll be the example for all others to come.::

He stood, now, as he felt her wrap herself more securely around him, just as power once had wrapped around his broken leg to allow him to fight for his life. Cyclops felt her touch tighten around the damage portion of his brain that was supposed to have given him the ability to control his beams, and he felt her unspoken urging.

Against everything that he had trained himself to do, against every caution, every routine, every fear of hurting those he loved, he surrendered to complete trust of the woman who had long ago become his reason for living.

Cyclops, without his visor, his glasses, his shields of ruby quartz, lifted his eyelids...

... and his powers held, trapped in the globes of his eyes, completely under their command. In elation and with an almost arrogant tilt to his head, his turned his gaze at the now pilot-less sentinel and with the exact precision he was known for, he flexed his powers, and the beams streaked out, slicing the thing's damaged cockpit from its mechanical torso, in a vicious sparking decapitation. He couldn't help but smile as he did so.


Phoenix’s heart swelled with pride and lips curved up in a smile. He was everything he was meant to be. She descended toward him, the shower of sparks from the demolished Sentinel raining down. With everything around them drowned out by this momentous event, Phoenix reached out and ran her hand over his glassesless face.

:: Finally :: They breathed a sigh of finally being whole.
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Lorna Dane
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Polaris stepped out of the Blackbird behind Shina’s Nightsalkers, her eyes sweeping around the chaos soaked arena as she looked for where she would best be needed. Watching the humans rounding up the mutant children sent a firey anger surging though her veins, her whole being burning with outrage at the injustice of it all. Finally she could turn all the anger into something productive. She was technically ‘a flier’ so that meant she should take advantage of her ability to use magnetic fields to levitate herself and as Flux confronted the ground troops, Lorna did exactly that, lifting herself into the air with the familiar swell of green energy colouring the space around her. She observed briefly as Flux dealt with the guns and seeing that she didn’t need any help, Polaris turned her attention to larger matters.

SHEILD couldn’t have picked a more perfect adversary for the green haired mutant to go up against. It was like giving a child free rein in a toy shop. Really it was just case of which route she went. She could over load the electrical circuits, causing them to short circuit or she could do for the more satisfying route of simply ripping into the metal shell, pulling it apart until it could no longer function. Polaris wasn’t really known for her offensive powers as she rarely used her gift in that way and as such was frequently under estimated by those she fought alongside and against. Those at the museum when Kraven had drugged her had been given a taste of what she was capable, but Cyclops had authorised extreme force and she wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity.

Phoenix and Cyclops were dealing with one of the Sentinels, and Polaris watched for a brief moment, her heart filled with a fierce pride at their display of raw power. SHEILD and humans everywhere would finally understand what they were up against, how mutants could not be denied and oppressed. Focusing her attention on the second Sentinel, which Hank was athletically climbing up and she flew towards it. She hadn’t expected it to be simple, but as the Sentinel sensed her approach it turned it’s weapons on her, lifting a hand to fire blasts of energy at her. Shielding and dodging as best she could, Polaris knew she had deal with that before she got to her main goal which was the pilot’s cockpit.

Seeing an opportunity, she came to rest of the metal beast’s shoulder, causing it a moments of hesitation but a moment was all she needed as her powers latched onto the ‘hand’, the familiar crackle of green energy lighting up the dark sky and with a deafening sound of crumpling ripping metal she folded it in on itself, wiring and hydraulics snapping like dry twigs under foot. Sparks showered down below as the hand hung useless from it’s robotic arm and Polaris took to the air, aware that she needed to start moving again before the Sentinel adapted to the harmful fly on it’s shoulder.

Looking down to check Hank’s progress Polaris veered away from the Sentinel, coming at it from a different angle so as to avoid the defensive weapons it was no sending her way. Flying in from behind the robots head, she levitated around, near the shoulders once more before she finally came to rest in front of the pilot’s cockpit. The man inside was behind tinted glass, but no doubt could see her. There was little he could do without attacking himself in the process though, and so Polaris, with a sweep of her hand began to rips off the top of the compartment, jagged chunks of metal ripping back as she opened it like a can of sardines. The man came into view and almost a immediately a volley of bullets exploded outwards, one catching her thigh with a concussive blast, her uniform deflecting the worst of the damage but the burning pain caused her to cry out, as she was knocked back a little. The rest of the bullets she caught with ease and brushed aside, ripping the gun from his hand and crushing it.

“Oh please, metal guns, metal robots? Humans, you never learn. Haven’t you been fighting Magneto all these years? Did you really think he was the only one?” She smiled, more than a hint of arrogance in her features. Insecure and damaged she may be, but out here, with her powers ripping through metal like paper, she was invincible. Her powers made her that, they made her better than this man who snivelled in front of her, hiding behind his metal toys while children died below. Encircling herself and the man with a magnetic field, she lifted them both high out of the cabin and up into clear air. He clung to her out of necessity, cursing loudly but Lorna only tightened her magnetic hold around him, forcing his limbs into stillness. “Don’t worry, my friend is coming to deal with your little robot. You and I get watch while the mighty SHEILD is brought to it's knees. You didn't really think you'd get away with trying to kill innocent children did you?”
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Anna Cuff
Unregistered

Anna Looked over, and gave Synch a weak nod. It wasn't much of a gesture, but it surprisingly gave her the strength she needed. Of course, is it even possible to be given strength for things like this. Or is it simply found within oneself. Anna didn't have time to speculate, cause Shina had called her to duty. No matter how hard she wanted to speculate, She had a mission to do.

But even then The Chaos Queen couldn't run as Phoenix and Cyclops took down half of the Sentinels in the area. Two swift moves and the metal monstrosity was disposed of. Anna smiled weakly. Maybe with the veterans here, they stand a chance.

She sputtered to a stop next to her group leader, ducking down to stay out of sight. She gritted her teeth as the children screamed in terror. around them. She shook her head, trying to ignore the sound, but even the young woman couldn't ignore the maternal instinct embedded in her genes for generations.

"HERE!!" She shouted, bolting out around a corner. There was a little girl, not even ten years old, soot ridden and a bad cut across above her eye. She sat trying to comfort a young boy, six or seven. Anna's heart shattered at the sight. The love between the two, the bravery of the girl trying to be strong in spite of the danger. But it was time for Anna to be strong of her.

"Come on." She said, holding out a hand. "Let's get outta here." Anna said tartly, grabbing the wrist of the girl, who grabbed the boys hand. She spun around the corner to where Shina was waiting for them. "Wait here for a minute...we'll get you out of here."

It was at that moment that Synch bolted out of there, at near supersonic speeds. Anna gasped and spun around. "Everett!!! Get Back here!!!" She glanced over at Shina, split between helping her teammate and following orders.

"Shouldn't we do something?!" she nearly yelled at Shina.
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Wolverine
Unregistered

“I’ll take the young one back….” he’d known Samantha was there, hot on his trail, feeling a sense of pride, even in the heat of battle, that she had chosen to follow him;; to help him any way she could. If there was one thing others could not understand, it was the often silent understanding feral mutants held between each other, whether enemies or allies, feline, canine or anything else, they were a species of their own entirely. He’d smelt her change, caught the pheromones she couldn’t help but release, even heard the bones cracking as they changed shape. He didn’t understand the pain that went with such a metamorphosis, but he could more than relate to the instinctual feelings that was no doubt being felt by her now.

He had no time to watch her leave with the little girl, the need to protect Koen from the sentinel’s attack becoming his entire focus. He knew it would be hard for Panthera to stay in control;; stay focused, avoid the base instinct of survival taking over;; not to mention the smell of blood driving her wild completely. It was hard enough dealing with what was right in front of them, let alone having to watch out for a fellow teammate, making sure she did not become a danger to those they were supposed to be there to rescue.

"Fine."

Well, about time!

Logan did not even try to stop the young man from sliding out from beneath him, simply looking up as he ran off, a smirk on his face. “That’s tha spirit kid,” he simply said. Oh yes, he’d been harsh to think someone so young, and seemingly so inexperienced could really ‘suck it up’, however, he wasn’t the reassuring “Yer’ll be okay” type. No, this was war, the fact of the matter was - suck it up or die - there was no other alternative.

With all remnants of his own recently caused injuries now fully healed, Logan stood back up, gaze moving to look upon the metal robots looming above them, seeing the distraction Jean was causing to one, watching as the pilot was sent flying out of the cockpit by precisely calculated shot of Cyclops’ optic beams. He was too far away to see or hear much more than that;; too far away and blocked by the buildings established on the Eldraitii base to even know Mina was in trouble, to even realize Synch had basically just saved her life. The destruction of one of the sentinels by two of the people he’d classifieds as among he closest friends, until just recently, brought a new sense of focus to his mind, eyes moving to look upon the remaining sentinel, making his way around the buildings towards it, spotting Beast already scaling the oversized machine. Looking up, he caught sight of the familiar glow of Polaris’ powers, eyes narrowing as he tried to make out what was happening through the smoke and darkness of the area.

It was time to have some real fun. What he’d been waiting for. What he’d come out here to do. Grabbing on to the opposite side the Beast was already climbing up, Logan hesitated none, hands and feet working together, keen eyesight spotting the handholds long before he was upon them. He only stopped when he saw Lorna had the pilot in her grasp, frowning somewhat, because it did seem she was more than ready to just plain drop him should the need arise. Who was he to talk though, had he gotten there first, he would have done whatever was necessary to stop what was currently happening… then again, one couldn’t expect anything less from the Wolverine. It was just who he was - short of killing the guy, since that was something an X-Man never did, although, sometimes he just couldn’t help it.

Really, he couldn’t.

Snapping out of his reverie, Logan knew, between Beast, Polaris, and him, this baby was going down, and going down hard! The blades shot out, the usual SNIKT! that accompanied them drowned out by the sounds of the battle around them. They were plunged into the wrist above the hand Lorna hadn’t already rendered useless, cutting quickly, yet still taking enough time for the machine’s computer to instigate a response. The Wolverine was lifted into the air as the arm raised, shaking him from side to side, something Logan found rather amusing, despite the entire fact that if it managed to dislodge him, he’d fall, hitting the ground harder than most considering his entire skeleton was fused with the added weight of adamantium metal.

“Oh yeah, keep tryin!” he hissed, under his breath, plunging the second set of blades deep down into the wrist, working through the wires and the metal attaching it to the arm, intending to render another of its main weapons useless. Fortunately, in doing so, he was held in place, able to withstand the attempts to dislodge him long enough to hear the satisfying sound of sparks and metal tearing away from metal;; to watch as his success neared completion, the hand falling away, and plunging downwards. “Heads up below!” he announced to anyone on the ground, via the communicator in his ear, one hand holding on as the other activated it.

Then, he turned, heading towards the base of the neck, grinning from ear to ear. Oh, to cut of the head of the real thing, instead of a damned simulation. He really was enjoying this a little too much.
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Static
Unregistered

Callan barely felt Synch's hand when it gently fell on her shoulder. His words sounded like a cryptic, dull mumbling that she couldn't understand entirely. However, she did realize after a short delay that he had addressed her and she needed to follow Shina. That was all she could focus on now. ~Shina. She'll tell you what to do. Go.~

Her fear was quickly turning to anger, and this wasn't the type of situation that allowed her to set herself straight. All of the troubling thoughts that had plagued her for days. . . this was just like her nightmares. War was no longer a distant thought, an unwelcome possibility for the future. It was upon them here, now, and Callan wasn't about to let some twisted humans prey on innocent kids. None of them asked to be mutants. None of them should have been killed for it. However, these humans chose to be intolerant murderers. They deserved a taste of their own medicine.

As if on auto-pilot, Callan ran to Shina and the others who stood just out of harm's way. Her hands shot out as a chain reaction sent sparks flying toward nearly every soldier she passed that was within twenty feet. Most of them collapsed, screaming as an electric current shot through their bodies. It wasn't her goal to kill every man she could, but it didn't take much effort for her to kill with her powers. Honestly, if she had killed every one of them, she would not have felt much remorse. Her opinion at the moment was that they all deserved whatever fate they would receive here.

It was becoming difficult to resist the urge to let loose and electrocute every single enemy in sight to death. She knew deep down that doing so would not be wise, but on the surface it was all that she could think about. The rage just continued to build. Being angry was easier than being afraid. Hopefully Shina would tell her how to channel that anger now. At least if she had orders she could be productive without going wild. . . hopefully. Eagerly she waited to be addressed. The expression on her face was still somewhat vacant, but the look in her eyes had lost its uncertainty. Now she looked around slowly, taking everything in with a harsh glare.

Already many of the X-men were ripping into the sentinels and putting the soldiers in their places. In the short time she had been back at the mansion, Callan had been gaining a whole new respect for the X-men she had known years ago. The age gap between them seemed smaller now. They were more human than she remembered (though that probably isn't the proper word to describe it). Yet seeing them in action here reminded her how superior they were to her. She admired them, their strength and wisdom, even though she rarely expressed such feelings. After all, her main reason for returning to the school was to learn to be like them. She just had a long way to go. . .
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Samantha Carter
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The jaunt back to the jet was filled with wide turns and scattering about to keep the child in her clutches safe and avoid any lasers that may come flying their way. Within seconds, the black wing came into view and the mighty beast ran around laying the child carefully next to the bird. Her original intention was to change back into human form and see if the injuries were severe. Her original intention was to not conform to the use of her powers to begin with. But like always plans change and this one wasn't a very good idea.

The stench of blood was already overwhelming and to a hungry beast, it's mouth watering. Having enough control, the large tiger didn't even look to the child as a meal, but as her cub licking the face and pushing the body to a secure location. The feral inside was in heated control and wouldn't allow for Sam to change back. Unfortunately, if she didn't change back into human, the woman could kill herself from pure exhaustion of the energy needed to sustain the tiger.

That wasn't on the feline's mind as she perked up her mighty head to see that her teammates were handling the big metal toys with ease. What they possibly didn't notice that one of the pilots managed to escape or was even thrown out of the cockpit. Lying there, the figure moved, something the beast picked up instantly. With her keen eyesight fully into play now, she didn't recognize it as one of her teammates. Snack time.

Prancing around the jet, the tiger moved with silent precision. Every so often, it would crouch on its haunches and watch the prey. The large blackened tail would swish along the cement and huge white fangs would be dampened by a large tongue. Yes, this was going to be a good hunt. The pilot decided he was going to try and call in for backup, but couldn't seem to find his communication device lying a few feet away from him. It was then he realized, either one leg was broken or both cause he couldn't move. This only heightened the tiger's senses making the kill that much more easier. Child's play.

Finally after crawling to the device, the man picked up the receiver and placed it on his ear. But during his scrimmage, the tiger had strategically placed herself directly behind him hunched down as though hiding in the tall grass. Instead, she was behind some debris or cement blocks caused by the sentinels. A low growl emitted from deep in the larynx but inaudible because of the surrounding noise. The man, however, heard it and nearly caught his heart in his throat as he slowly turned his head. By that time, the tiger was now directly behind his skull. All the man saw was very large, very sharp teeth waiting and anticipating the kill.

A blood curdling scream came from the man, then a loud snap. Bones were crushed between teeth like toothpicks and it only fueled the tiger for more blood. But her time was running out, and if she didn't revert back, Samantha Carter would die.
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Jayson
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Stone Touch / Super Strength
“Everett, Anna, Callan, Jayson, let’s Move!” [Shina] yelled. Inwardly, Rock-solid smiled. The orders she'd been waiting for had finally come. They weren't from her boss but her boss had given charge over the team she was in to Shina. It was Shina she would prove herself to. Who would have thought that a couple of DR session on following orders as punishment of not following orders would benefit anything?

As each name was called the red head couldn't help but wonder why they were chosen for whatever mission they were on. She knew Everatt mainly due to his being a famous sport's star and the challenge of wit and strength in that DR battle. Anna was a fellow Corsair. Static she'd seen around the mansion grounds but not truly saying hi to her yet. The one in control, Shina, she'd seen her talking to Scott briefly at that school meeting.

It didn't matter how well she knew everyone. They were now together striving for the same goal. In this war zone meet and greets couldn't be done. With everyone screaming and the bullets zooming everywhere who would be able to calmly state their names, ages, where they were from, and all those other lovely first meeting questions. It was not the time. Over a good cheeseburger value meal they could talk, next week?

Running through the chaos wasn't all that difficult. In her mind's eye, Rock-solid saw this as just another DR session. Only by doing this could she justify ignoring her friend's family to gather in an inconspicuous area. Later the humans would pay for targeting the children who belonged here. This was a shelter of those who wanted to be alone. A day had to come where this mangling of innocent lives would be stopped.

In the shadows of the sentinels the stone turning mutant stood next to Shina. "Your orders, what are they?" she asked standing in attention. If this had been her first mission Jayson would have been starring at what was happening. She would have seen her boss's new perspective of the world. A fear would have been developed if she'd witnessed Polaris unleash her destruction. This wasn't time for sightseeing. Her team was a trusted one. They had her back as she had theirs.
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Orbital
Unregistered

[ JP: Stretch + Orbital ]

It was Mutant Town, all over again.

"Dammit, Colin, move!" The pink-skinned mutant uttered to himself behind those grit ivory teeth, darting through the structurally-compromised halls as beams and planks began to crack -- he tugged that mask of his over his mutated features, before tightening the securing straps at his chin.

SLAM. The entire section of the upper floor gave way -- right under his feet.

"WWAAUUUG ooh holy SHIT!" He yelled out, just barely clinging onto an exposed pipe, as that entire section of the hallway broke apart.

Heavy breaths rose from him, as he glanced down -- just in time to see a pair of young kids look up at that impending, oncoming slab, screaming in sheer doom and huddling tight.

A look of horror, on Colin's face. He had to act ... now.

Releasing his grip, Stretch dropped in free-fall, teeth grit with determination, as he watched that large section of the hall descend marginally slower than him.

To those kids, it must've seemed like a nightmare -- they were going to be squished like insects.

The smaller one clung onto the older boy, cringing in fear as that mass of wood and concrete came ever closer.

Death was here.

But even as the massive shadow approached, and that huge overhang looked to be mere inches from crushing them ... it stopped.

And it was all due to the pink mutant in the dead-center of it all, using every last ounce of strength in his malleable pink body to keep it from falling on them.

" ... Get ... outta ... here!" He grunted out, barely coherently to the kids, his large arms shaking, even with the support of his massive muscles.

This thing weighed far more than anything he'd ever lifted in his life.

Quickly, the two orphans scampered away, to safety, as Colin's red-on-black eyes blinked shut under the strain ... before he couldn't hold it anymore.

"Aaacgkkh!" He sounded out, tone strained -- before that mass came crumbling down on him, pinning him under an incredible avalanche of rubble.

-----

As the incoming Sentinels seemed dealt with, Roy stayed in his defensive position, hovering watchfully as rescue efforts continued down in the Eldraitii Base -- he worked, as well, using his abilities to secure some of the more unstable parts of the structure that he could see.

But something troubled him -- most notably, Scott and Jean's lack of the typical level of communication with teammates. Things seemed rather ... well, haphazard at the moment .... and that was completely unlike Cyclops.

An approaching rumble in the sky broke his preoccupied concern, and saw his eyes lift, to the horizon.

Jets. Fury sent air infiltrators ... to an orphanage.

Apparently, he felt the X-Men's involvement was a tad heavy-handed.

"Cyclops, we've got a positive on incoming F-22s," Orbital echoed through the radio, though the broadcast was on the general channel. " ... I can't believe S.H.I.E.L.D., this is turning from just preposterous to batshit insane. I'm intercepting before they close in."

Three in all -- and as the supersonic fighters roared closer, Roy levitated higher, the eyes behind his cool-hued shades narrowed in concentration.

They were coming fast -- but wouldn't know what hit them. Before one of the fighters could pick up a positive bead on the 'bogey', Orbital already had the gravity readers of his ejection seat by the cojones -- and before he could fire off a tracer, the gravity manipulator activated it, ejecting the human pilot into the great blue yonder.

An outstretched arm -- and his powers would halt that unpiloted craft mid-flight, before his eyes narrowed even more, fingers in his hand tightening into a ball ... as he crushed that advanced warbird like a tin can, the fuselage rupturing into a high-octane fireball ... before he looked up, and willed it into the stratosphere as if its weight was inconsequential.

He controlled gravity. It was.

The two remaining fighters split, in a divergent manouver -- one approaching on the right, firing tracers and bullets at Orbital, and the other locking on him with a Sidewinder.

He concentrated, eyes shut -- arms were out to either side of him, palms flat, as he projected a flux shield, deflecting the onslaught of ammunition -- before his eyes would open once more, focusing on that incoming Sidewinder missile.

Its progress would slow ... before errantly redirecting upwards, and in the other direction -- finding a key spot as both the fighters converged, and detonating.

The planes ... reduced to embers in the sky. And the pilots ... both of them kept save, in orbs of gravitational energy, being lowered to the ground like two drifting, blue-hued bubbles.

Roy glared over the pilots, as they sprawled in surprise, glancing up at the mutant.

All he would do is shake his head ... and lift into the air.

"Area secure, Cyclops," he would radio in, making his way over to where the X-Men Field Leader and his wife were ... before his brows furrowed in a slight bit of concern.

That ... pilot was shrieking. And not just screaming, but full-on shrieking, of the blood-curdling variety.

" ... Is everything alright?" He uttered lowly, looking between the two of them.
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ShadowX
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The complete connection had been made, the absolute joining of minds and powers and souls at the moment that Jean had wrapped herself around Scott and he opened his eyes without glasses, visors or shields for the first time in fifteen years. It was the culmination of everything in his life that he had wanted, total and complete surrender to everything that was this woman he loved, and vice versa. They were locked together in support, in love, in control. It was... exhilaratingly freeing-- an engine that had at last been put into tune, performance enhanced and modified into perfection. For a split second, what was around them was forgotten, until the Junior X-Man Orbital appeared and spoke with them, drawing their attention back to the suffering human at their feet. In the back of their mind, they felt as Polaris ripped his partner from his own cockpit and bound him in electromagnetic shackles. They felt every mind on the battlefield, and their strategically geared thoughts formulated battle plans, calculated impossible angles of attack, developed geometric patterns of movement that would do the most damage in the least amount of time. All this happened, in the two seconds between Orbital's disrespectful questioning of their methods, and their turning glowing red eyes and perfectly moderated powers in his direction. "Is everything all right? Look around you, Orbital and tell us if it is." They extended a hand in a laconic wave, "This is the world as it is. It is time to stop asking and start acting."

They spoke as one, male and female voices in unison. And act, they did. Scott’s reluctance to leave the ground was forgotten as her telepathic field enfolded them both and they rose, hovering over the battle field. Normally invisible, the rising sun showed a change to Jean’s telekinetic field. The colors of fire, bright red, orange, and yellow, swirled around them; it was fitting, beneath their composed exterior and passion through burned their souls.

They stretched out their thoughts, identifying every SHIELD mind within their range and using Jean’s knowledge of neurology applied pinpoint pressure to a specific part of their brains. Immediately, regardless of what they were doing, soldiers’ eyes rolled back in their heads and collapsed to the ground, their bodies shivering and limbs twitching.

As the soldiers collapsed, Scott's powers went to work, controlled now not by the visor damaged by human weapons but by telepathic strokings of the portion of his brain scarred long ago as a child protecting his brother had struck the ground and shattered part of his skull. Crimson beams, far redder than the fires that burned or the blood that had been split were directed by blinks, and wills that were doubled and conjoined, and the razor sharp beams sliced the air, taking out the war machines that the humans had arrived in, the sentinels legs suddenly severed at the knees, the weak points Cyclops had identified in his studying of the monstrosities. As they fell, guided in perfect aim to collapse without hurting a single innocent, he turned his head upwards and they whispered in eerie syncronicity, "They watched the children, they identified this place, with their machines, their weapons." And a bolt of pure concussive force streaked heavenward, the mutant who unleashing this terrible power having never reached so high, so fast, so far, afraid of losing control and cracking the sky in two.

There was no such fear now.

Looming over the battlefield as the SHIELD agents were still in the throes of seizures, Jean and Scott addressed their X-Men. “SHIELD sent a message when they attacked this place, a haven for children and misfits… the harmless, they said: Fear us! We have more people than you. Our machines of war will send you screaming into the night, hunted, alone, and helpless. We can come for you at any time. Fear us!”

Higher into the atmosphere than any mutant there could see, the demolished SHIELD satellite was pulled from its orbit and came hurtling down, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.

“Another message sent today,” as the couple spoke, the flaming wreckage came nearer, guided to land so as to not harm any innocents with falling debris, mutant or human. They hovered over the ground littered with broken human toys and broken human weapons and broken human men, and with a backdrop of dying flames, they spoke in the ears and the minds of every man, woman and child in that scene of carnage, oppression and misery. "This is our message, humans carry it to your leaders, mutants carry it in your hearts. We will not lie down and wait for death to come. We will not wait for peace, not anymore. We'll bring it to our people, by whatever means necessary. Extend your hand and we'll take it gladly, but raise a fist and we'll counter it with one of our own." Each word was punctuated with confidence and warmth and almost invasive waves of courage to lift the souls of the mutants who listened, even those who had expressed doubts. But to the humans who cowered before their superiors, each syllable uttered was terrifying, nauseating, and filled with deadly finality.

The pair landed on the toppled body of one of the sentinels and looked over the ruins and said, "We're no longer your whipping boys, the bastard stepchildren of humanity, and we're not going anywhere. We'll grow stronger, we'll grow in numbers, and if you continue this genocide, we'll grow far more dangerous."
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