It was a somber group that met in the rec room. "We are going to have to go after the people who sent those two. If they made this psionic weapon, we have to shut them down before this thing becomes commonplace." Cyclops said.
"We have to do more than that, Scott." Gambit said. "In the other timeline, several people told me that they waited too long to start recruiting for this war. We are not going to make that mistake. It is time for me to start using what I was taught as a child and think like a military strategist. The Shadow King is starting to build his relays, so we don't have a lot of time. It is time to start to build our army. This means that we are going to have to relocate, permanently. When we went to the mansion in the future, this place was leveled to the ground. We must assume that the Shadow King destroys this place, so the sooner we leave the better."
At that, Jaysean teleported to the roof and began to generate a telekinetic shield that encompassed the property. I don't like being vulnerable, he said telepathically.
"Is he always this aggressive?" Rogue asked.
The question was aimed at Cody, but Rachel answered. "He is definitely an alpha personality type. He may be aggressive, but he really isn't too full of himself. He's willing to listen."
Sam Guthrie jerked suddenly, staring at Rachel with the a tremendous look of surprise on his face. The surprise turned into the biggest laugh. From the bottom of his lungs, Sam started to laugh uproariously, slapping the table intermittently, next to where he was sitting.
Mondo said, "Hey Brudda. Things are kinda tense. You want to share the joke? Might make everyone feel a little bedda."
Sam forced a measure of composure as he managed to say, "The Witness. I think I figured it out," He broke into another fit of laughter.
"Sam, is this absolutely necessary right now?" Cyclops demanded.
Sam took a couple of deep breaths and said. "The Witness planned on two Remis being here."
The statement got everyone's attention.
"How do you figure that?" Cyclops asked now curious.
Sam forced himself to calm down. "When I got my power, before I became a New Mutant, my preacher took me aside and gave me a warning. He said that the more powerful a man is, the greater the temptation to think of himself as a god. That's not just mutants, but anyone. These rich old guys who start affairs with young women while cheating on their wives are under the same delusion. He said that every man has this temptation. The pastor was right. Think about the attitudes we have seen. Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, Magneto, the Shadow King and even you Professor," Sam wasn't laughing any more.
"You tried to be god and for your sins, Onslaught was created. I don't know what the Gamemaster is, but he is not God. The Witness made a deal that the Gamemaster would save a Remi, so the Gamemaster looked through the probablistic timelines until he found the Remi that he wanted and the Gamemaster kept his bargain, not realizing that due to the probablistic nature of the paradox, at least one Remi should have escaped on his own! After the Gamemaster helped the first Remi, he probably didn't look through the remaining collapsing timelines anymore, totally confident that no one else could have possibly escaped. The Witness played the Gamemaster by making sure that there would be at least two Remis on site to take care of business. When we have the time, if one of the Remis wants to do it, he should look through the memories of that Gambit who was Renee's father and get that information to reconstruct the Witness Program for the Danger Room and then we could ask him." Sam said.
Gambit and young Remi looked at each other. They didn't need to recreate the Witness. Something inside each of them told them that Sam was right.
Younger Remi said. "Logically, that means that another Remi could pop out at any moment. I wonder how history will be different when we deal with the Kor'Es'Rebak with our powers and...oh boy."
"Oh boy, what" Gambit said, a touch of dread in his voice. What had he forgotten?
"We have no reason to assume that the Kor'Es'Rebak will attack the same way they did in Cody's dad's timeline and every reason to think that things will be different. The attack was a few months from now. The campaign lasted for six months. It is too close to now to not take action, " the younger Shi'ar prince said.
Gambit looked at his counterpart in total horror. He had been so focused on the Shadow King, that he had forgotten Shi'ar History, particularly the historic event in which the previous Gambit had literally saved the Empire and set in motion the events that led to his parents' official joining, and his conception! Though their personal origins could not be affected, Gambit felt just as strong sense of loyalty and duty to the Shi'ar people that his young counterpart did. This could not be ignored, yet he had been so focused on the issue of the Shadow King and...
You feel like a moron! We get it! Jaysean said telepathically followed by every other telepath in the room complaining about Gambit's lack of shielding.
"Sorry everyone," Gambit said. "One of us has to go to Chandilar and help Aman."
"I should do it. You have the experience with the Shadow King. I'll need several X-Men, if they will come." Young Remi said. "Aban in particular."
"I've lost my telepathy," Xavier objected.
"Remi's telepathy can offset that. The reason that you must be there is that the Noble Houses need to see you at Aman's side in what will be the greatest crisis of her career," Gambit said.
"Which X-Men do you want to send?" Scott asked with a deep frown. He understood the seriousness of what Young Remi and Gambit were saying, but he was not looking forward to having his forces split.
"As many non telepaths as possible. Call in the other X-teams. We can take volunteers. We need to call them in anyway Cable, could you do that, please?" Gambit said.
Cable looked up surprised, nodded and left the room.
"While I am contacting Aman and bringing her up to date, we need Chamber to introduce his students. We need to know what abilities that we can call upon."
The older Chamber rose to his feet and said. "You've met Jaysean Miller. He is the highest Alpha telepath ever recorded. He rates at nineteen point four, or forty five percent of an Omega. He is also an alpha telekinetic and an alpha teleporter. He is twenty-one. Twenty year old Armando Fernandes is from Brazil He is rated a seventeen point three alpha telepath, a little above Jean and Rachel. Wave Armando, so everyone is sure who I am talking about." Armando raised his hand.
"Rachel's abilities are the same as her mothers. She is eighteen years of age. Joe Bailey is Jean's nephew. Like Jaysean, Joe is a telepath, telekinetic and teleporter. He is a seventeen point one telepath. He is a stronger telekinetic and teleporter than Jaysean. How old are you, Joe?"
"I'm twenty-eight," Joe replied. "My wife, Carrie, is a beta telekinetic. She is not trained as an X-Man," It was obvious that Joe didn't want Carrie on any missions.
Chamber looked at Joe but didn't say anything. He turned to Gambit. "You've met Ji'an. He is from China and he is twenty. You know Renee and Cody and you know their abilities"
"Lars Davis is twenty-one years of age. He is an alpha telepath, rated at sixteen point eight. He is also an alpha teleporter. He is not telekinetic. " Lars, a lanky young man about five foot ten with sandy brown hair and blue eyes, raised his thumb in the air.
"Omar Ablatov is fifteen years of age," Chamber said of a short skinny kid with Eurasian features, who was about five foot six. "He is an alpha telepath at sixteen point four. He is from Kyrgyzstan. Marta Lillieva, John Singh and Sabina Schmidt are fourteen years of age. Marta is a beta telepath rated twelve point five. She is also an alpha telekinetic. I don't remember John and Sabina's strengths," the older Chamber said "It doesn't matter. They are too young for serious fighting" He looked at young Chamber. Omar let just a flash of annoyance slip through his shields, deliberately.
Jean suspected that there was an undercurrent to what Chamber was saying. The younger Chamber had been in a lot of battles since she had known him. There was a hardness to his adult counterpart, like he had been in a few battles too many, like he was trying to protect the teenagers. She had seen too many battles in her own life. What were these constant battles doing to her soul?
Joey, no Joe, she corrected herself, was determined to keep Carrie out of it. A couple of the teachers looked very uncomfortable. They had no desire to be in this conversation. Jean's thoughts were interrupted as Charlie piped in, using a tone that everyone recognized as a young adolescent not wanting to be left out. "I'm kind of a touch telepath,"
Chamber sighed. "I guess that is true, Charlie, but since you have only had your powers for three months... this is Charlie Lehnsherr, the son of Rogue and Magneto. He has both of their powers. Since he is so new to them, we are not yet sure how strong he is. He does have one advantage over Rogue. He can turn her power on and off at will."
Rogue stared at Charlie who grinned sheepishly. "Poppa's power is why you can touch me without gloves." he said, rising he gave her a peck on the cheek to her total shock.
"What about me?" a blond first grader said.
Chamber answered exasperated. "I hadn't forgotten you, Alan. This is Alan Ames. As you can tell, at seven years of age, Alan is an unusually young telepath. He is an eleven point nine. His telepathy went active about six months ago. He is getting stronger with age, so we will have to wait and see how strong he gets. Alan, I didn't mention you is because this is a grown up fight that we are talking about. Little kids would just get hurt."
Alan hung his head, embarrassed.
One of the teachers, a petite thin red head raised her hand. "I'm not into fighting, but I am telepathic. I am rated at around nine. I am a beta telekinetic and I am a short range teleporter." she said. My name is Beverly Rhyne."
"Why do you categorize the telepaths with numbers?" younger Jono asked. "Is that some kind of rating system based on telepathic strength that you developed in your future?"
"Yes. Omegas are nineteen point nine and up. We have never seen higher than twenty. Alphas are thirteen to nineteen point forty five. Betas are below thirteen." Chamber answered his younger counterpart. "It is not an absolute rating system, because certain telepaths have abilities unique to themselves, but it gives a general idea of one's strengths. The rating system for telekinetics and teleporters is.. "
Next! Jaysean said impatiently. If we don't move on this, then there either won't be anything there or the defenses will be impregnable.
"The kid is right," Cable said. If that was a test by Cable to see how the young man would react to being called a kid, then Jaysean passed the test. There was no sense of annoyance transmitted.
"Telepathy is a secondary ability for Bryce O'Connor. He is a mid beta, around seven point five. His primary ability involves heat and light manipulation. He is sixteen."
"Sylvia Burroughs is an alpha telekinetic. She is almost as strong as Jean and Rachel. She is seventeen years of age," The petite blond girl raised her hand.
"Ned Owens is an alpha teleporter. He is fifteen." A skinny curly blond boy raised his hand.
"Pavel Kim has extreme reflexes, physical strength, dexterity, advanced hearing and smell. He is seventeen years of age and he is from Kazakhstan. Yes there are Koreans in Kazakhstan." Chamber said.
"I want Wolfgang, Matsuo and Somtow to come with me to Chandilar. They shoot energy beams and they have been in fights before," Young Remi said referring to three young men.
Chamber indicated a Central Asian woman of about thirty. "This is Kristina Falk. She can fly."
"I'm also a teacher. This is my daughter, Lisa," she said referring to the little girl sitting in her lap.
"Everyone else is either low powered, their mutation is not of fighting value or they are too new to their powers to be front line fighters. To the best of my knowledge, no one else is telepathic," Chamber said. There it was again, that protectiveness, Jean thought.
"The little kids are either the children of mutants or orphans." Nine of the kids had obvious mutations of one kind or another.
"Other than the telepathic boy, do any of the little kids have powers yet?" Sam asked.
"What about it kids? Do you have powers, yet?" asked Adult Chamber. The little kids starting to shake their heads vigorously saying No!
"Wait a minute! Where's Norma? Is she with Renee?" Sylvia asked apprehensively.
Norma wasn't with Renee. To the utter horror of the new arrivals, Norma hadn't made the second trip through time.
"A ship is on its way," Gambit said quietly.
