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#5
OCT 10 |
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New World Chaos, Part One:
“A Message”
“A Message”
“Things are now in motion that cannot be undone,” Sebastian Shaw said as he popped the corkscrew off of a bottle of champagne. Sitting across from him in the Italian restaurant was Sigrid Trask, the newly appointed CEO of Trask Enterprises. He reached across the table and poured some champagne in her glass. “We shall both soon have exactly what we want.”
“And yet you still won’t tell me exactly how that’s being done,” Sigrid said taking the glass to her lips hesitantly. Shaw could tell that she didn’t trust mutants from every interaction with him; even taking a celebratory glass from one was an exercise in discipline for her. He was beginning to wonder how the two of them had ever managed to work out an agreement in the first place.
“I’m giving you the gift of deniability, Ms. Trask. You should be thanking for me for looking out for your interests. Besides,” Shaw paused the conversation as their waiter brought them both their plates. He waited until the man was out of hearing distance to continue. “Besides, you will know exactly when the move has been made. Trust me on that.”
Sebastian knew that was asking a lot of the pretty little blonde but he didn’t much care. If their plan was going to work, Stryfe’s upcoming actions needed to be a surprise to her as it would be to everyone else across the planet. He saw right through the relaxed façade she had on at the dinner table so he was sure she wasn’t much of an actress. No, he needed her shock to be genuine.
“I prefer knowledge, Mr. Shaw,” Sigrid said, twirling her fork into her pasta.
“And I respect that but I have been doing this for a long time so just follow my lead.” Shaw reached into his suit jacket pocket and slid the young woman a gray jumpdrive. “That has all the schematics you will need for your meeting with Colonel Reyes and Gyrich.”
Sigrid took the device and put it in her purse. “I’ve never asked Shaw, but why are you helping me with this? You are a mutant, after all.”
“Were there not Germans who stood against the Nazis? Romans who called for reform in the Empire? I may be a mutant but I see the same problems that you do, and together I believe we’ll have the means to solve them. It will just require some sacrifices first.”
Sigrid had little idea how literal that statement was.
Normally, graduation day at Princeton University was a happy, thrilling occasion. It was a day that marked a transition, a new era for those who had worked so hard for years. It was a step from youth to adulthood. Students came to the event expecting to receive the rewards for their long, arduous nights spent studying in the library. Today, what they found instead was a scene of carnage and death caused by a group of very angry people.
Everyone present at the commencement for the college of Humanities and Social Sciences cowered on the ground. A small group of mutants gathered around a bloody pulp that was once a man and each of them glared at the crowd. What was most surprising was that the person who seemed to emanate the most animosity and hatred happened to be the only woman. Her hate came off in her in waves, like watching an evangelist stir a crowd into praise, except she stirred this one into cowering.
“Which of these pinpricks is the Dean?” Raven Darkholme muttered. Mystique surveyed the crowd, her eyes narrowed. “Can any of you even tell? They all start to look the same after a while.”
The Blob poked at the pulp with his foot. “Pretty sure this was him,” he said. “Sorry for landing on him.”
Mystique rolled her eyes, raised her sub-machine gun and emptied several rounds into the ceiling. Most of the crowd screamed. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said, “I just want you to know up front, we plan on killing all but one of you. You can’t bribe us as I really don’t care about money.”
“Speak for yourself,” Random muttered.
Mystique shot him a glare and continued. “We’re here to send a message,” she said. “The X-Men may be loved and they may be respected. However, they are not the ambassadors of the mutant race. We are. We are better than you. You are ANTS compared to us. Respect us…or we will fuck you.” She turned to Mesmero. “Pick one. A skinny little bitch or fat cat business man, someone they’ll listen to. Then tell the rest of the sons of bitches to tear themselves apart.”
The green-skinned mutant smiled. “With pleasure.”
She looked at the others. “Time to go.”
Rogue shook her head as she surveyed the damage to the Academy grounds. Weapon X had been on the grounds for twenty minutes and they had caused thousands of dollars in damage. Their biggest casualty was still in a coma, but Storm wasn’t the only mutant injured. Avalanche had buckled much of the Academy grounds in his attack on Ororo and some children had been injured. Betsy and Emma were both still on the phone with concerned parents, reassuring them of their children’s safety.
“You shouldn’t look so bummed out,” Sunspot said, floating down from the sky. His solar powers were fully active and his body was completely black as result. “All things considered, it could have been much worse.”
“I know, but it just seems like we take two steps forward and someone tries to knock us five back. Plain damn annoying,” Rogue said, not really looking at Sunspot as she talked. Her mind was too focused on the work it was going to take to fix all the damage done.
“It’s not like the X-Men are hurting for money to fix all of this,” Sunspot said, moving to Rogue’s side. Much of the manicured landscape had been tossed up like a bad construction site by Avalanche’s attack. “We have my company, Warren’s, Emma’s, and that’s without mentioning that Xavier and Psylocke both come from wealthy backgrounds. The X-Men are hardly what I would call middle class.”
Rogue laughed. “When you put it that way sugah, I guess I can’t much argue with you.”
“So I heard Dr. McCoy arrived not too long ago. Any news on Storm yet?”
Rogue sighed deeply. “Nothing’s changed. If I could trade places with her I would in a hot split second.”
“I should have been here when the attack happened,” Sunspot said. “Maybe if I had been...”
Rogue turned around and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. They both looked each other in the eye, a little bit longer than either of them were expecting. “No point playing what ifs. You’re busying with X-Corps International. That’s good work and you need to keep at it honey.”
Sunspot grinned. “Maybe so, but it would have been good to lay Sabretooth on his ass one time.”
Rogue laughed and it felt surprisingly refreshing. “Sugah, you would have had to get past Betsy. I think she would have skinned him alive if she got half the chance.”
Nathan Summers leaned against the wall of the Academy’s medical bay, watching Doctor Henry McCoy give Storm a physical. Nathan felt like he should have been there for Storm when Avalanche attacked. He was use to losing people in combat because of the gruesome war he waged against Apocalypse, but he had once cared for Ororo on a romantic level. Her being hurt reminded him too much of Aliya and that struck very close to home. Hank kept glancing up at him until he finally stood straight up and removed his glasses.
“My stars and garters,” he grumbled, “sit down. You’re not going to help Ororo by hovering over her like that.”
“I’m sorry, Hank,” he said, promptly sitting. “I’m just…”
“We are all worried,” the Beast said. “We all love her and just want the best. Unfortunately, there’s only so much each of us can do.”
“I know,” he said, quickly taking the tremor out of his voice. He was a soldier and an injury shouldn’t be rattling him like this. “Have you…?”
“Yes,” he said. “Her vitals are normal and Emma’s induced coma seems to be doing the trick. I give Storm a week or so recovery time. She’ll be fine…at least physically.”
“Can’t we just take that memory away from her?”
Hank sighed and rubbed his eyes. He looked down at Storm’s still body and began tapping the bed. “Emma has, at least to the best of her ability, but it’s possible effects will remain. Charles has asked me to assume Ororo’s headmaster duties in addition to my own until she’s on her feet,” he said. “It’ll be interesting but I believe I can balance the workload.”
Cable nodded. “You’re the best choice for the job. I’m sure you’ll do well.”
Wolverine walked into the medical bay and pointed at Cable. “Me and you need to talk, bub.”
Nathan had been waiting for this ‘conversation’ to come up, so he stood up from his chair and gave Logan a steely stare. “Fine, but we don’t do it in front of her.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. I actually care about ‘Ro.”
Mansion Administrative Office
Logan bared his teeth at Cable as he clutched the front of the taller man’s shirt. His Adamantium claws pressed against the skin between his knuckles, contained only by the force of his will. A small group of X-Men were assembled in the conference room of the Mansion’s administrative offices.
“I don’t care if Domino is your ‘inside man’, Summers!” he roared. “After what she let happen to ‘Ro, I’m going to gut her!”
Nathan narrowed his eyes. “Are you done throwing your tantrum?” he asked. Logan growled but released him and stepped away. He looked at the X-Men assembled around him. “I’m sorry I kept this from you, but it was necessary,” he said. “Without Dom’s intel, this attack would have been much, much worse. Someone might have even been killed.”
“Storm might as well be dead,” Logan said. “You have no right–”
“No right to do WHAT, Logan?!” Cable yelled. “Keep an eye on our enemies? If you haven’t noticed this is a different ballgame we’re playing and this Weapon X is a step up from the one you worked in. We need information.”
“Nathan, Logan, please,” Professor X said, finally coming between them. “We are all hurt. We are all worried about Storm. But right now we can’t lay blame on each other. We need to unite.”
“How long have they been in place?” Betsy asked.
“Practically since the beginning,” Charles said. “Ororo, Nathan and myself all agreed this may be the best plan of action. It saved lives this time.”
“Barely,” she replied. “Placing these operatives without the knowledge of anyone else…it’s unacceptable. Don’t we have your trust by now, Charles?”
“It was never about trust, Betsy. We just felt that it was best to keep our mole’s identity as limited as possible. From what we know, Cassandra Nova is an immense telepath. We tell too many and there stands a chance she could discover from a mere unprotected surface thought. Would you honestly expect me to put Domino’s life at that much risk just to assuage hurt feelings?”
Sunspot walked into the room and picked up the television remote. Everyone looked at him but he waved at the flatscreen on the opposite side of the room. “You are all going to want to see this,” he said.
The TV turned on and an image of a reporter standing in front of emergency crews appeared. “—there are over three hundred dead in this tragedy,” she said. “Reportedly, the terrorists only left one person alive, Robert Mount of Atlanta, Georgia. Mister Mount is currently with the police, giving his statement, but we were able to catch him saying one thing as he left the amphitheater—” She glanced down at a clipboard in her hand. “—‘This is only the first, this is only the first.’ For those of you just tuning in, it appears that the mutant terrorist organization, the Brotherhood of Mutants, is responsible for the slaughter of over three hundred people here at Princeton University this morning…”
“Oh hell,” Logan growled.
“Mystique,” Cable muttered. Betsy was already on her phone, placing a call to Pete Wisdom.
“I’ll gather the team,” Kurt said. “They’ll want to know about this.”
The full team of X-Men stood in the war room underneath the Academy. Rogue looked around the room and sighed. This was the first time they had needed to assemble as a full team in this manner. They had organized multiple faculty meetings, but this was different. Every time they had needed to act as X-Men, they had been able to coordinate as smaller, more precise teams. This would require so much more.
“All right everyone,” she said. “Here’s what we’ve been dreading since X-Corps went public. Some of you may know that Mystique attacked and threatened Charles in Chicago the day of the announcement.”
“Toad and Mimic were with her,” Cable added.
“Right. Despite that, we have no idea the exact composition of this incarnation of the Brotherhood. Cable spoke with CSA Director Reyes a few hours ago and was able to obtain a short list of possible members, but there’s no way to verify accuracy. The only thing we do know is that Mimic is in SHIELD custody.”
“Oh my stars and garters,” Beast muttered as he read the list. He looked up and lifted his glasses from the bridge of his nose. “If this list of possibilities is even…thirty percent correct…we are looking at one of the most frightening Brotherhood groupings that I have ever seen.”
“Does the Brotherhood have anything to do with Weapon X?” Omega Sentinel asked as Hank passed her the sheet of possible members.
“No,” Cable said.
“However, Colonel Reyes did suggest the possibility of someone backing the group,” Emma said. “Someone with money, power and an agenda.”
Warren gave a terse laugh. “Doesn’t narrow the list down much.”
“So it’s the biggest damn coincidence in the history o’ coincidences,” Logan muttered. “That’s bullshit. The timing—”
“Is a coincidence whether you like it or not, Logan,” Rogue interrupted. “Unless we uncover evidence suggesting otherwise, it’s a coincidence. Any other questions?”
“How do we even begin to attempt to find Mystique and the others?” Omega Sentinel asked.
Emma chimed in. “Charles is working hard with Cerebro right now to pull up any leads that might give us an avenue of attack. Until then we stay on our guard and be ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
Mystique watched Hemingway drag the large box through the abandoned pier warehouse like he was entirely bored with the prospect of its contents. She could have slapped the large, gray brute for that, but he was a Morlock so she excused his lack of sophistication. What he carried would take the Brotherhood to the next level. She hoped that it would force her children and the rest of the X-Men to see the reality of mutant/human relations.
Hopping out of her chair, Raven walked up to Hemingway. “Be careful with the cargo. We don’t need them damaged.”
Hemingway sat the large wooden box and cracked it open with just a couple of fingers. Five people of varying races and backgrounds were bound, gagged and unconscious in it. “Gift wrapped telepaths just like you asked. Don’t know what’s so special about them? Telepaths seem like a dime a dozen.”
“Which is precisely why Stryfe doesn’t mind using these five,” Mystique said as she walked around the box, examining the mutants to make sure none of them were overly injured. A few bruises and cuts she could accept, but anything more and she’d show Hemingway why Stryfe trusted her as field commander of the Brotherhood. “Telepathy is one of the more common mutations, so five of them missing from the pool will not be a great loss to the mutant nation and none of these are exceptionally powerful anyway.”
Toad leaped from halfway across the warehouse with a bunch of vials in his hands. “And that’s why we’re pumping them up with some good ol MGH. Kid tested and mother approved!”
Raven looked at Mortimer, again thinking about the physical changes that had occurred in him recently. He seemed to be a far more powerful mutant than he once was and she intended to ask him about, but she wanted to do so in private. “We’ll inject them when Stryfe gives the order. Keep a good eye on the stuff till then.”
Toad smiled. “Little Rock, here we come.”
CSA Headquarters
Sigrid Trask sat across the desk from Colonel Miguel Reyes as he looked over her proposal. He was a tall, strong man with obvious Hispanic features and all the posture of someone who had spent over twenty years of their life in the military. She found him attractive, but this was business and that never mixed with pleasure. It was the basic tenant of business she lived by.
Colonel Reyes sat the proposal papers down and said, “It all looks sound. I’ll need to have my Business Analysts go over it to draw up any potential pitfalls in cost and what it would take to implement the project, but you tentatively have a yes.”
Trask kept the smile off of her face. Showing too much enthusiasm in business was a weakness. “This will be a great boon for your organization, I can assure you.”
Reyes nodded. “I certainly hope so. With this contract in mind, you’ll be operating as the head of our R&D department in H.A.M.M.E.R.”
Trask nodded. “What is H.A.M.M.E.R.?”
“The military branch of the C.S.A. that deals with the big threats. Think of them as the Special Forces of the Commission. Your company will be handling the development of all equipment to be utilized by this group of people.”
“And is it strictly human?”
Reyes’ eye perked up and Trask immediately regretted asking the question as she could see that he didn’t like it. “As of now, yes, but that could change. Is that going to be a problem?”
“No. I am more than happy to work with whoever the CSA chooses to employ.”
Colonel Reyes nodded. “Good. Then give me a few days and I will get back to you with a definitive answer.”
Little Rock, Arkansas
No one paid attention to the minivan as it crossed the bridge over the Arkansas River. It was a conventional minivan, the same sort that every other housewife drove. It was a gray-ish blue and completely unremarkable. Six people sat inside, all asleep except the driver. He kept the driver’s window rolled down, enjoying the warm breeze and fresh, if humid, air and hummed a simple tune.
Toad looked into his rearview mirror at the unconscious telepaths and started whistling to himself. Things were about to get very interesting.
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To Be Continued...
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