Disclaimer: Goes without saying but I do not own any of the X-Men characters, nor any other Marvel character herein included. They're the properties of the original creators as dictated by official documents, whom you can find out more about in Wikipedia or something. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics, etc.
Rating: T for a bit of violence. I censor profanity like they would in a comic, if I ever use it.
(This story happens in the same timeline/universe as Spider-Man: Repulse, Bruce Banner: The Abysmal, Avengers: The Galaxy's Mightiest, and The Mighty Thor: Moxy. but it's self contained!)
PART 1: Meet the Team
"So. I am very aware of what you might be thinking right about now, as you look around the room at who your teammates are." Henry McCoy often had a speech to give as a greeting, instead of simply saying hello. Even more often, he would be hanging upside down from the ceiling while he talked. "I imagine you are asking yourselves whether we have quite arbitrarily selected your names out of a hat."
"No way. Can you do telepathy now, too, Hank?" Bobby asked, and as could be expected, he was the only one leaning back onto his chair. Casual and informal as ever.
Hank, hanging down above the large circular table, in the middle of them all, adjusted his glasses and showed his usual grin.
"Not quite yet, Iceman. And I would ask we stick with our codenames from here on out. Rest assured that this team has been assembled quite carefully and intently to cover every tactical advantage that can possibly be achieved. After all, our missions will be involving stakes of the most serious, and probably dramatic, variety."
"Hey, I'm not gonna complain that you want to put me in an all-women team," said Bobby, the Iceman, managing to wink, once, in every direction.
"Same," said Xi'an, Karma, smiling suggestively. She was sitting up straight with hands on her legs.
"Guys, can we not make this awkward?" Asked Hisako, Armor, with her hands resting comfortably on the table.
"Hear hear," added the Phoenix, Rachel Summers. She had her legs crossed, and her arms crossed on top of them. She was tapping an impatient finger. "I don't like seeing the kids here."
"Hey," Hisako protested, but Beast cut her off.
"My dear, Armor is virtually untouchable by anything living in the universe, let alone on our earth. And the same can be said about Dust." He nodded kindly towards the niqāb wearing young woman, Sooraya, and her eyes blinked in gratitude. "They are very far from the position of first-year juniors, but nor should they be sent into dangerous missions on their own. Every one of us started somewhere."
"And every one of us ended up dealing with tragedy," Rachel argued.
Ororo Monroe opened her eyes to face the reluctant telepath, meeting her with an implacable expression. She felt all eyes on her, and she was ready for it.
"They have already started somewhere, and dealt with tragedy. They have proven themselves in numerous instances. They are on the team. We will make sure nothing happens to them, and they will make sure nothing happens to us, and together, we will make sure nothing happens to our world. We are to be called X-Men Earth, and we are a very important part of a joint project between mutants and humans, headed by the X-Men and the Avengers. X-Men Earth will deal with situations that put the planet in danger, preferably before they happen."
"That would be nice," said Amara, Magma, with a scoff. "And we already have a mission?"
"Indeed," Ororo said with a nod. "Beast, if you would continue. And try to stay on subject, will you?" Then she closed her eyes.
Karma and Phoenix for telepathy and telekinesis. Magma and Storm for unbridled powerful control over nature. Armor and Dust together for the perfect defense. And Iceman as the ever-dependable super-power that can adapt to any situation and need. Also, for the first time ever, they would be working with a dedicated operator working communications and support, which was Beast. Them and every one else out doing field missions, since Beast was now the resident support for every X-Men team, and would not be seeing action for the foreseeable future. This would allow Henry to be a more reliable teacher, which in Ororo's opinion, was his greatest responsibility.
"K.I.A. We do not yet know what it stands for, but we know enough to be particularly concerned. We know they are the unholy alliance between remnants of a major A.I.M cell and what was left of the Eastern quadrant of Hydra after the last S.H.I.E.L.D cleanup. We know they have nuclear warheads in their possession and we have ascertained the location of several stocks of them. Our first strike should go without incident, by which I mean we will catch them off-guard. Once we have revealed our knowledge and intentions, however, we should expect the succeeding strikes to become increasingly more difficult."
Bobby whistled. "Nukes being stockpiled by suicidal maniacs. Nice," he said sarcastically.
"A.I.M? Hydra?" Rachel frowned. "This sounds like Avengers business."
"It's Earth business, my dear, which makes it ours. Rest assured, however, that Avengers Earth will be doing their part. It is our collaborative goal to disarm the entire organization completely, and should the opportunity present itself, dismantle the whole business while we're at it."
"We do not know what they're planning to do with the bombs?" Xi'an asked.
"Indeed we do not," Henry admitted.
"How many places are we hitting?" Rachel asked.
"Five," said Ororo, opening her eyes again, and summoning their attention. "And we are leaving right now. I will tell you what we know of their defenses and explain our plan of attack in the time we have between assaults. As far as this mission is concerned, we cannot be pulling punches, and we cannot be taking risks. This means that, regrettably, there will be some tolerance for the loss of life."
Sooraya shuffled somewhat. "You mean…we are supposed to kill them?" she asked, worried.
"It is a possibility," Ororo said, not without compassion. "As always, X-Men avoid taking life as much as possible. But that is what it means to bear this responsibility, sometimes. If the situation is dire, and your life is on the line, or worst, the life of another, you need to be able to do what you have to do."
It wasn't something Charles would be very appreciative of, but Charles was an idealist beyond anything Ororo had ever seen, or would ever see again. She turned her white eyes to Dust.
"Is that a problem? I can guarantee that you will not need to do it, but I cannot guarantee that you will not see it happen."
"I…"
"I have to say, this honesty is very refreshing," Rachel pointed out, with a bit of compassion, and Storm nodded.
"This team will have no lies," Ororo stated, as a demand. "And no secrets. They are always the bane that divides us, and leads to the worst results. I do not want us to fail the mission, or each other. I can promise you I have no intention for us to go about committing unwanted murder. It would make me supremely happy to complete every mission with zero causalities, and this one is no exception. That alone would be the best statement we can make regarding our efficacy. But this mission, as Beast said, is very difficult, and the risks are high."
"Yes," Sooraya agreed, breathing deeply. "Yes, you are right. We have to succeed. It will be my honor to do my part."
Ororo smiled at her and prolonged that to everyone. "Let us go, then. We shall show these despicable men that the time when they were allowed to carry out such plans is behind us."
"Hey now, what if they're women?" Bobby asked, and they all turned evil eyes towards him. "I'm just saying! Pretty sexist to assume they're all evil men, isn't it?"
"Shut up, Bobby" said three of them in a chorus, and the rest giggled.
Iceman pouted and crossed his arms. "Well. This is starting out just great," he complained.
Part End: Thank you for reading, please consider leaving a review if you have the time.
Starting off with the introductions. What do you think of the team? Interesting? Powerful? Would you like to see them in an actual run? Let me know your thoughts!