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#16
JUN 13 |
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“Sinister Aims and Aspirations” Part Three
Wolverine and his fellow mutants found themselves in a crunch. To one side were a new breed of sentinels gunning for them and to the other side were monstrosities set loose by an unknown entity. Logan wanted to start hacking and slashing on both sides, but his instinct told him that the Sentinels were the more immediate threat. He somersaulted into the air and planted his feet on one of the robots’ chest while fluidly driving his claws down into the thing’s neck. Ripping his arms outward, he cleanly cut off the silver and black automation’s head and leaped off its falling body. He did that series of motions in less than ten seconds.
The sound of a thousand tiny crickets filled the air and everyone watched with morbid fascination as the Sentinel seemed to have rebuilt its head from thin air. Logan crouched down and prepared for another strike. The Sentinel looked at him with blue, soulless eyes and fired off two sonic blasts that struck Logan hard enough to rattle his skeleton. Carried into the air by the blasts, the diminutive man crashed into the roof of a car. Shards of glass were sent out in every direction as the car alarm began to blare.
D.C.’s citizenry were scrambling for cover as the tree way stand-off went into full swing. Police and National Guard troops were converging on the battle, not sure who to strike. The carnage was too intense to properly distinguish friend from foe. Logan had rolled himself off of the indented car and saw just how serious the situation was becoming.
Xavier sat in the Capitol and watched the forces stacked against his X-Men. There was too much chaos and in too timely a fashion. What were eh chances of this erupting today? This entire battle had been orchestrated and his gut pointed him to the young Trask. The woman was as deceptive and conniving as her Uncle. He wouldn’t allow his X-Men to fall to her schemes.
He tried to use his mind to reach out into the soldiers, but all of them had telepathic jamming devices. One on one he was strong enough to get past them, but not hundreds at a time. A few soldiers under his command would do nothing to turn the tide in favor of his X-Men. There had to be something else he could do.
“Professor, we need to go. You’re in danger here.”
Xavier knew the voices of every student he ever taught without having to even give a moment’s consideration. Danielle Moonstar had recently found her way back into the X-Men’s fold after some time away. She came to him flanked by six Secret Service agents. “Professor, you can’t stay. We have to move.”
“Why aren’t you down there helping them instead of worrying about me?” He asked the question harsher than he’d intended to.
“Warren and Emma told me to get you out and I happen to agree. I’m the best one for the job so the sooner you listen the faster I can get down there.”
Xavier nodded and Moonstar surrounded them all in an illusion that made them appear to be janitorial workers.
“They’re cleaning the floor with us,” Warren said as he barrel rolled out the way of a sonic blast and scooped Blink up in his arms. “Can’t you just teleport them to pieces?”
Blink shook her head, favoring her injured right shoulder. “It’s not that easy Warren. The energy matrixes around these Sentinels make my powers haywire. These things were prepared for us.”
“Probably built with us in mind,” Warren said, landing next to Psylocke, who was crouched behind a car. Blink climbed out of his arms and next to Psylocke. Warren stared them both down. “Any plans, ladies?”
“Omega Sentinel has one,” Psylocke said. Something dark in her face told Warren there was more.
“Makes sense considering they’re like her siblings after all.”
Psylocke shook her head. “Not like any kind we’ve ever faced. Omega Sentinel says they’re nano-machines and that’s how they’re able to regenerate so efficiently.”
Warren gritted his teeth. “Trask. So what’s Karima’s plan?”
“To let loose an EMP and take out their nanomachines.”
Warren frowned. “That’s it, isn’t it? An EMP is as likely to damage Karima as it is the Sentinels. If not erase her CPU entirely.”
“I know, Warren, but we’re running short on ideas and high on enemies.”
“Electricity,” Blink blurted out and quickly covered her mouth.
“Well, come on and out with it. We’re running out of time.”
“All machines run on something. We just need to stop whatever is powering them.”
Killian took great pleasure in dragging the screaming blonde through the long, dark hallway. Her begging for freedom added a certain musical quality to the dank place. The others laughed and howled at her from their prison cells. They let her know just how worthless she was and all the awful things they were going to do to her. A few even made Killian twinge and he had more than his fair share of sadistic urges. He wasn’t ashamed of that fact. He reveled in it.
When he finally reached the girl’s designated cell, he looked down at her for the first time in hours. She simultaneously looked like she was frightened of him and wanted him to protect her. He lifted his golden gauntlet up and laughed as the fear-stricken girl hung from it like a monkey on a tree. His blank white eyes bored into her. “You will be strong soon enough. The gang will toughen you up just right.”
The girl soiled herself as he tossed her into her cell. That rancid an odor was sure to earn her a few enemies. Good, because that just meant she would be improved sooner. First you break them and then you make them into brutal savages. That was Tullamore Voge’s way of handling his slaves. He had a reputation across a thousand dimensions for producing stone cold killers.
When Killian reached the end of the hallway, a hologram of the grotesquely fat Tullamore appeared in front of him. The blue bastard was twirling his mustache smugly. “I have a delivery request for the Crimson Pirates.”
“Where to?” Killian felt his blood rising.
“Earth-792. Henry McCoy has made a very large order.”
Storm bobbed and weaved through the National Guard gunfire and Sentinel sonic blasts with an ease that made her almost seen intangible. Never in her life had storm maneuvered so easily through the air. Sekhmet had truly changed her and, as disgusting as it made her feel, Storm was thankful for it. She was truly powerful and knew she had only scratched the surface of her changes.
A pink portal opened above her head and Omega Sentinel flew through it. Her targeting systems allowed her to shoot bullets out of the sky yards away and deflect sonic blasts. She did it was as little effort as Storm moved through the air. “We need your assistance, Ororo.”
“Ask, Karima; I do not think we’ll have long.”
“The Sentinels are pure nanotech. We need to create a total electoral vacuum to deprive them of power.”
Storm nodded and rose higher into the air. “Consider it done.”
Funnels of electricity came down from the sky and surrounded each of Trask’s new Sentinels. The funnels began to spin at a blinding speed. Inside the funnels, nanites were being overloaded and fried at a faster rate than the Sentinels could construct them. Eventually the sentinels could no longer keep themselves together and dissolved into a metallic dust. Storm ended the funnels and fell out of the sky like a rock.
A recovered Wolverine caught her in his arms. “Gotcha, darling.”
Omega Sentinel descended out of the sky and landed next to them. “She is truly remarkable. Has she ever put out that much energy?”
“Never.”
Estonia
Sinister observed the battle and Storm’s display of power. Just how radically had Sekhmet altered her? He would need to keep an eye on her and Blink as the promise of those two had become tantalizing. “A small loss in the long run; I can create a thousand monsters to prompt such a display of power again.”
Risque stood next to him and watched the X-Men along with their allies make short work of the creatures she had unleashed. They had only been created to last for a short, ferocious burst. Xavier and his men would most certainly question the circumstances of the attack. “Trask should have all she needs to start building her new Sentinels. But I still wonder why?”
Sinister leaned back in his throbbing, organic chair. It was a living, breathing creature like everything else in the room. “Mutants need people like Trask to push them…to force them to use their abilities in new and exciting ways.”
“And what happens once the X-Men make the connection between you, her and AIM?”
Sinister smiled. “They’ll come after me. Just like they always do. But the world is changing, Risque. For so long I have to admit my mind’s wheels were merely spinning place. But now…so many new opportunities are presenting themselves.”
The screen in front of them changed from the carnage in D.C. to a picture of a very pregnant Sekhmet. Sinister rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That child is one. I know it.”
“Are we prepared to challenge her?”
“Not yet, but we will be soon. My new AIM sources will see to that.”
The Hellfire Club
Music played and cocktails were passed around as Sebastian Shaw moved through the crowded party with Madylene on one arm. They both wore plastic smiles as they greeted the rich and famous present at the party. Sebastian eventually was stopped for an actual conversation by an up and coming defense company executive. He was one of the few African-Americans present at the party but he did not seem the least bit uncomfortable.
“Your new Sentinels have some kinks Mr. Shaw, but my sources tell me that you’ll get your orders.”
“Sentinels are a vital part of the nation’s defense. I have little doubt that the government will want them.”
The young man smiled. It was both cocky and smug, to things that made Shaw’s blood boil because it reminded him of Shinobi. “If you know something, boy, then spit it out!”
Shrinking a bit I the face of Shaw’s anger, the man said. “It’s not just here. China, India and Israel are all ready to put in bids.”
Shaw’s annoyance quickly turned into a grin. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”
The man nodded. “Very sure, but the CIA along with the CSA are fuming about it. Be very careful with your next steps.”
Madylene laughed, flashing teeth too white to be natural. “Who in this room made their fortunes being careful?”
Shaw added on to the statement. “Shaw Industries will take all customers into consideration. Tell your sources that.”
The Xavier Institute
Storm tended to her garden with all the patience of a gentle mother. She spoke to each plant, caresses them and provided each with just the right amount of sustenance. This was peaceful work. She didn’t have to feel ashamed doing this. Because that’s almost all she felt now every time she used her powers.
“Thought I might find you up here.”
Standing up, she saw Warren at the door of her greenhouse. He was unseasonably relaxed in his clothing. No business suit, but just sweater pants and a tattered shirt. “Hello Warren, does the Professor need me?”
“I saw how you looked in D.C., you know? It’s not a feeling I’m unfamiliar with.”
Storm stiffened. “I’m not sure to what you are referring.”
“I think our shared experience is one of the few where you can feel both exhilaration and disgust. Having all that power but knowing its awful source.” Warren moved more into the garden and closer to Ororo. “I’ve been exactly where you are and there‘s no shame in wanting to master the change you’ve been through.”
“How can you say that? We were twisted. How do I know using my power isn’t exactly what Sekhmet wants?”
“If it is then you’ll fight her. You’ve always been a fighter, more so than me.” Warren took one of Storm’s hands and squeezed. “Take what should be a curse and make it a light. Isn’t that what the Professor always told us?”
Xavier sat down his cell phone and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Colonel Reyes says that the Defense Department is already putting a contract in Sigrid’s hands.”
“That little wench orchestrated this whole affair,” Emma said.
“We have no proof of that.” Xavier turned to Wolverine. “Were you able to get in contact with James?”
“Chuck, the boy has no idea why Risque would be partnered up with Trask.”
“She wouldn’t be.” Danielle walked into the room and exchanged a glare with Emma. “There is a third element in this that we’re missing. Trask is a robotics expert, not a geneticist. Who sent those beasts?”
“Questions we need proper answers to. We won’t be able to slow Trask’s agenda without evidence of wrongdoing.” Xavier sat silent for a moment as he worked out a plan in his mind. “Logan, find schematics to Trask’s main corporate building. This problem may require a bit of espionage.”
Logan smirked. “Now you’re talking my language, Chuck. I’ll get on it.”
Emma wished there was a way to get X-Force involved, but they were already knee deep into their own problems. “Charles, if Trask catches us we stand to lose a great deal. I hate the little whip as much as anyone, but we should be careful about handing her ammunition to use against us.”
“Logan, Betsy and Danielle will go. They’re the least likely to be caught.”
“As long as Trask doesn’t have any other tricks to pull.”
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To Be Continued...
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