X-FORCE #14
AIM It Right PT. 2Previously: Through to some investigative work done by the team, Havok has discerned two new clients that Adel has connections to. GenTech and AIM. Emma ordered him to pick one or the other and not try to tackle both, but Havok feels he doesn't have any choice. Besides, who listens to Emma anyway?
Havok lived for these moments now. Inside his tactical room preparing to brief his team on their new mission energized him. Just coming back to this world had nearly killed Alex because it seemed like it knew that he was so changed. King Charles and Queen Emma tried to make sense of his experiences, but they couldn't. Lifetimes were poured into his head and they couldn't figure out why. Mirages of battlefields were drawn forth from his mind that they could barely decipher. None of that mattered now because X-Force was all there was for him.
"Ok people you know why I have most of you here. Pipeline and Abyss are going to be sitting this one out."
"Quite obviously," M said to a frown from Havok.
"Right then. So our mission is going to be two-fold."
"This will require us to split-up?" Shatterstar asked as M rolled her eyes.
"Under the circumstances, we don't have much choice. Various issues are keeping us from tackling this as a full team."
While Shatterstar had no problem with splitting up, he just hoped he wouldn't be partnered with M. X-Men like her gave the rest a bad name with her arrogance and flair. Years of dealing with Monet must have drove Generation X to madness. Zebra skin boots were hugging tightly to her legs. At this moment, in the middle of a tactical meeting of all things! Barely any respect for the art of war was being shown by her.
"Could be nice if you told us who the teams were," Marrow said as she used one of her bone spurts as a toothpick to remove chunks of steak she had eaten earlier.
Dangerous and brutish as she was, Shatterstar preferred to have Marrow at his back over M. Every fiber of The Morlock screamed warrior. Finding even a sliver of that in Monet would be almost impossible. Growing up in a life of privilege would do that.
"I think it might be easier if I explain the missions first," Havok said as a holographic globe appeared in the center of the table with two blinking red dots on Great Britain and Libya. "As you can see we're going to be significantly far apart so we're not going to be able to call each other for help."
"At least until my teleportation bands are operational," Shatterstar said to a nod of acknowledgement from Havok. His pet project was going to be a great boon to X-Fore once the system was operational. The idea was to eliminate any need for vehicular transportation.
"In the meantime, we're just going to have to make due the old fashion way," Havok said as he pointed to London. "The first team is going to track down and kidnap a GenTech executive Matthew Raynor."
Marrow clicked her teeth. "Doesn't sound too difficult."
"There are many variables that could make it difficult Marrow so don't go in their cocky."
Shatterstar folded his arms across his chest and hoped. "So who else is going to London?"
"You and Madrox. M and myself will be going to infiltrate and destroy an AIM base."
Blind Faith narrowed his eyes. "And where does that leave me?"
"Daggoo has been sitting in a cell for three days. I need information. You and the Doc are going to get it."
"Is that really a good idea?" M asked. She wasn't sure if Blind Faith and Dr. Reyes were capable of handling an opponent like Daggoo. What if he broke loose from his restraints? He could kill the two of them.
"Don't worry. We're big boys and girls. We can handle ourselves," Blind Faith said his eyes still locked on Havok.
Marrow snickered. "Besides, didn't the Doc lay you out on your ass?"
"Be careful," M said like she was ready to pounce. "Or you might find yourself in a similar situation."
"Anytime pretty pretty. Anytime."
"Could you two hold off on the bickering for a just a few minutes? There is still a lot I need to cover," Havok said as the map zoomed in on London to give a better view of the city.
Blind Faith tried his best not to zone out, but he didn't like being left out. He hadn't been injured and he certainly wasn't useless in combat. Daggoo could have been interrogated after these missions were over with. What was the rush? Or why was Havok trying to keep him away?
=X=
Abyss sat on the edge of his bed and stretched his arms up into the arm while simultaneously letting forth a large yawn. His room was a battlefield of unkemptness, but at least now he could use the injured excuse to keep Havok from harassing him about it. Getting up from the bed, he walked over to the fridge and reached in for a Coke. To his disappointment, there wasn't one in there and all he had to look at was an empty box.
"Man the Doc definitely needs to go shopping for us again."
Abyss, you promised you would come to me.
Nils felt a shiver at the sound of that voice. It was cold and beautiful just like the Moon. She had indeed earned her mythological name. That voice carried over him softly like the first snow of winter. Ever since last night he hadn't been able to get Selene out of his head and here she was right back in his view. Part of him wondered if the woman enjoyed torturing him with her beauty. As a Mutate, he had never been able to bear witness and recognize such things because his mind was programmed only to work.
Ever since being freed from the Mutate process, Abyss had come to understand just how much of the world he had been missing. One of those things was the companionship of a woman, but even after he was freed he doubted there would ever be much chance of that. His appearance did not lend itself to magazine covers and underwear ads. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine a woman would be interested in him. Much less a woman as hauntingly beautiful as Selene was.
He still couldn't wrap his brain around why the woman was interested in him. The obvious answer seemed to be that she wanted to use him against X-Force, but his heart didn't let him believe that. And despite what the others may have said, he put a lot of value in his heart because for most of his life he never really got the chance to use it. That was something his time in slavery had taught him. Everything about him that made him an individual he cherished. Even his looks, though he was sure they would never bring him love, was something to be cherished.
Abyss. Come to me.
There was that voice again. He almost wanted to moan at the intensity of it. Turning around, he found Selene standing there. She wrapped her arms around him and they kissed deeply. Unlike the times before, he didn't fight it. Nils allowed himself to be lost in the passion of Selene. He damn near drowned in the woman, but Nils wouldn't have fought against that fate. Let him drown and be filled with her.
Pulling away from him, Selene said, "I need you to come with me Abyss. There is something I would like for us to do."
"Right now?"
Selene smiled and made Abyss' heart thump a little faster. "Yes, right now. Your team can do without you for a while."
Abyss bit his bottom lip to think about it. "Ok. Let's go."
=X=
X-Corps HQ (Boston)
Emma sat at the head of the conference table in one of the many offices in this particular building. Warren funded X-Corporation, but they did loan out the rooms for out-of-town executive meetings. Having a function at an X-Corps building was starting to become all the rage in the corporate world. It showed new world thinking and an acceptance of change. All savvy things in the business world, but Emma's purpose here had nothing to do with a corporation.
Seated at the other end of the long table was G.W. Bridge, Commander of SHIELD East. Emma wanted to keep as much distance between her and Bridge as possible. She didn't like the man and especially didn't like the fact he had called her three in the morning for this meeting. If Charles had insisted she get dressed and go, she would have dropped a few erotic nightmares involving grotesquely fat women into Bridge's head. The idea of doing that still clung close to her mind.
Emma sat perfectly postured in her seat despite her tiredness, but had both of her legs kicked up on the table. She had managed to throw enough make-up on to look presentable. "So you called me here Commander. What do you want?"
"I want to talk about your brother."
Emma knew that her brother was going to cause problems for her eventually. "What do you want to know about him?"
"There was recently a pretty big mutant clash in Mogadishu. We have reason to think your brother may know something about it."
Making no effort to hide her annoyance, Emma said, "Would you like me to call him then?"
"No need for that. I already have men interviewing him and Dr. Sasha Ryan. The name ring a bell?"
"Not particularly."
Bridge sat his hands on his lap underneath the table and balled them up. "She was meant to be Dr. Moreau's successor as Genegineer in Genosha. A name that happened to pop up in Mogadishu. Along with a couple of other ones I'm positive you know."
Emma tensed up because his next words could expose X-Force and sent a well-laid plan into ruin. "And what are those? The suspense is just killing me."
Bridge had a reply in mind, but bit it back. "Emplate and Ahab. Both previous foes of the X-Men."
"And you think my brother is involved with them?"
"Along with a number of other people with questionable backgrounds," Bridge said as he slid a gray jumpdrive across the table to Emma. "Seems he takes after his sister."
"If he was anything like me you wouldn't have enough proof to fill a bloody piece of paper," Emma said as she snatched up the jumpdrive. "Give me a quick rundown."
"Eli Bard and Damien Tryp. You should know their type well. The businessmen where their activities in the boardroom are the smallest part of their days."
"Who else?"
Bridge wanted the jumpdrive to speak for itself but he would give her one more. "The Crafter. He's a mutant slaver." Bridge stood up from the table. "But I'm a busy man Ms. Frost. The evidence is all there."
As he rose up from his chair, Emma stared at the jumpdrive and wondered if X-Force was headed for a collision course with her brother? Could she handle that? This wasn't like Adrienne. She actually had cared about Christian. Just what rabbit hole had he fallen down and could she pull him out? Did he even want out?
=X=
Abyss literally stood on the waters of the Indian Ocean with Selene holding his hands. He looked around and wondered if this was some dream that she had put together. As if reading his thoughts, Selene said, "It's all real. You told me that there was much you never got to experience. Well, consider this my first offering."
Nils looked down at the gorgeous water and up at the perfect sky scatters with birds. It was almost more than he could handle. The human Magistrates had denied him this for his entire life. He deserved to see beautiful things and instead he was handed to a life of slavery. For the first time since the collar came off, he felt free.
"These are the things we deserve as mutants Abyss. We can experience life in a way that no human could possibly know."
For some reason, that statement reminded Abyss of this woman's darker nature. She had fed on humans to survive through the centuries and she did it without remorse. She was a beautiful vision, but suddenly the ocean seemed much less spectacular.
"What is wrong? Are you not pleased?"
Not wanting to speak the truth, Abyss said, "I just thought about Eliphas. It's hard to enjoy this when I know you have a psycho ex out there."
Selene laughed and put a tender hand to Abyss' cheek. His skin was smoother than any other she had ever touched and she absolutely loved it. "All in good time Abyss. He will be taken care of."
He could have fallen asleep in that hand, but then he wondered how many had died by it? So he stiffened up and Selene eyed him wearily. "Do you think I mean you harm?"
The Genosha shook his head. "No. This is all just going so fast."
"Forgive me then. But when you are as old as me you latch onto any happiness you can find."
Abyss had spent most of his life only being thought of as a source of labor. It was more than nice to be seen as a source of happiness. "Naw I'm sorry. Just not use to being treated like an actual person. I'm glad I came out here with you."
He pushed back all the negative thoughts he had of Selene and indulged in the moment.
=X=
Madrox pulled down the rearview mirror and tapped the communication piece in his ear. "Subject is on the move and headed this way. We should be en route in thirty minutes. Standby."
Shatterstar's voice crackled in his ear. "Be careful Madrox. We need Raynor here in one piece."
"This will be a cakewalk man. Don't worry."
Jamie had been chosen for the pick-up side of this mission for one reason. He was the only one who could convincingly drive on the left side of the road. Shatterstar's driving skills in general were questionable and Marrow had never learned how. At age sixteen, she was fighting for her life against freakish monsters on The Hill. Daddy buying her a new BMW wasn't exactly on her radar.
He could see Raynor form the mirror wrapped tight in a thick black fleece. Raynor wasn't the most attractive man. One eye drooped too low and he could stand to do a few crunches. His fingers looked like they were as long and crooked as his nose. Matted hair and a greasy bear made Madrox think that the man probably didn't engage in a lot of bathing. Jamie really hoped that the man didn't smell too bad or he'd have Marrow forcibly introduce him to a shower. That little girl could probably scare the piss out of Christopher Walken.
As Raynor got closer to the car, Jamie straightened up in his car seat and tried his best to look professional. If he could pull that off then the rest would be easy. At least he hoped. Murphy's Law always had a way of rearing its ugly head. Madrox seriously wanted to kick whoever came up with that. Right in the balls.
The GenTech executive opened up the door and slid his laptop across the seat before entering. Raynor paid no attention to his driver's appearance as he sat down and buckled up. "Jeffrey, would you mind stopping by the coffee shop before hitting the house?"
Madrox tipped is hat and did his best Cockney accent. "Sorry sir. Jeffrey is a bit under the weather. Poor chap caught the flu."
Raynor frowned and nodded. "Figures with the way this weather has been. Very well then. Take me to the coffee shop."
"Right to sir."
=X=
M floated close to the ground and released Havok who landed almost soundlessly. Moving down next to him, she said, "The land of Qadaffi. How positively quaint. Father never spoke very highly of this place."
"With good reason. Like much of this continent, it's a haven for terrorist and criminal organizations," Havok responded, as he made sure the guns in his waist holsters had clips in them. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to use them, but running into power dampeners was always a possibility.
"You Westerners never manage to disappoint with your arrogance. If Africa is broken it is because of the West's meddling and even in our broken state we've never created anything as destructive as atom bombs or Sentinels."
"Point taken. My apologies," Havok said as he pulled out one of the guns he had holstered at his thigh and handed it to Monet. "You might need this."
M looked at the weapon with disgust, but took it from Havok anyway. "Bullets won't do the job like my fists can."
"Agreed, but this is AIM. No telling what we might run into."
"Which is why I wonder why it's just you and me," Monet said as she began to walk to the base with Havok. She would have much preferred the aerial route, but apparently the base was covered with invisible air mines of all things. Intelligence suggested that no real land defense had been set up.
One of the technicians at the base owed Mikhail a favor and had sent him the schematics of the base and its outlining area. Despite that, Monet was sure she could survive the air mines. Havok was a whole different matter altogether. If only Pipeline was well then this mission would have just required a phone call.
"I wanted this to be an in and out mission," Havok said as he pushed some binoculars to his eyes. "The fewer people the better."
"Then why not Shatterstar? This seems like something he'd be more suited for."
"If I was after information," Havok smiled devilishly. "But I'm trying to tear this place down. We have the team's most destructive abilities."
M wasn't sure how she felt about being used like a bulldozer, but as always she knew she would excel at the task. Perfection being what it was.
=X=
Raynor took ragged, short breaths as he rubbed his wrists raw in an attempt to break free of the ropes placed around them. He shook himself back and forth to tilt over the chair he was tied down to, hoping that would give him some way to freedom. The time between him entering his limo and ending up here was a complete blur for him. His head was buzzing too much for him to try to fill in the gaps.
"Stop struggling. It won't do any good," Shatterstar said as he pulled the bag off his head. "We have some questions for you Mr. Raynor."
The light was burning his eyes. "We? Who else is in here?"
Marrow's raspy voice came from the shadows of the room, "Some very nasty people who don't like not getting what they want." She was eager for him to be uncooperative.
"If it's money you want, I can't get it tied up here," Raynor said as he squinted his eyes to see all of his captors.
Madrox pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of Raynor. "We have questions and what we want are answers."
"I'm not sure if I can help."
Jamie knew he would get some lame response. "If you can't you'll see how much Marrow likes grilse and why 'Star is go good at shish kabob."
Raynor's head was still buzzing so it dulled Madrox's threat. "What do you want to know?"
"Adel. The name ring a bell?"
"A business associate. That's all."
Shatterstar laughed. "Don't tell us the obvious. Assume we already know the basics."
"What projects was he helping GenTech on?" Madrox asked. He wished that 'Star hadn't used so much sedative. Raynor still looked completely out of it.
"A few projects here and there. Nothing major."
Shatterstar gave a low growl and Jamie said, "Please don't go out of your way to piss us off. What projects?"
Raynor weakly smiled. "All sorts of projects."
Shaking his head, Madrox pulled out his gun and pointed it right at Raynor's hand. "One more smartass comment and I start playing little piggy. Got it?"
"Adel was our AIM liason."
=X=
"There is something else I wanted to ask you," Selene said as she stroked Abyss's hand.
They were walking across the water together enjoying the view around them. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Selene had no desire to destroy things like this. She loved beauty and all the majesty and debauchery that came along with it. That feeling is what drove her to love the cities of the world so much. They were filled with such beauty in all its purest and darkest forms. It was like watching living artwork for Selene and it sated the boredom that immortality sometimes inflicted.
A tinge of hesitation was in Abyss's voice as he said, "What is it?"
He didn't like still feeling this way around Selene, but her history spoke for itself. The woman had been a murderer for centuries and as much as he enjoyed being in her company it was hard for him to forget that fact. But she treated him better than anyone had in a very long time and he couldn't forget that either. The contradiction was beginning to tear Nils' mind apart and he didn't even dare to bring it to Selene's attention. She'd probably make him her next meal.
They stopped walking and she looked into his eyes with a longing Abyss thought you only saw on cheesy TV movies. "I enjoy the time we spend together Abyss and I want more of it, but our circumstances prevent us from doing so."
"And I hate that, but what can we do about?"
Selene smiled and for once Abyss didn't feel a shiver. "I have a spell in mind that will slow down time around us and allow us to spend a fair amount of time together. Would you be willing to try it?"
Part of Abyss was screaming no, but a larger part of him couldn't find the harm in it. Maybe a few days alone with Selene was what he needed to understand the complex creature. In time, he always figured he would find a way to reconcile Selene's actions towards others with her actions towards him. A few days of alone time could solve that problem. "I'm in. What do I need to do?"
"Just take my hands and close your eyes. This may sting just a bit," Selene said as she began the necessary chants.
He is mine and he will come to love me.
=X=
The wall gave way under M's fist and a large cloud of cement dust followed. Monet stepped over the sections of the wall she had destroyed and did her best not to scream at the alarms going off around her. The super senses she possessed made hearing such alarms painful to the point of nausea, but she wasn't going to let that happen. Her suit was not going to carry the stain of vomit for the remainder of her time with X-Force. It was a fashion no-no on the level of Kathy Griffin.
"Nice work," Havok said as he stepped over the rubble. He looked around and saw nothing resembling any sort of high-tech equipment. It was barren to the point of being suspicious. "Just like the schematics said. They swept the first floor of all technology and moved everything to the lower levels."
"The little rats did not want anyone snooping around," M said as she tried to scan for any minds nearby. "We have five armed AIM troopers coming our way."
Alex snickered as his right hand powered up. "One good sweep should take care of them. Please don't tell me they're that lacking in security?"
M put her hand to her temple for a moment and said, "Some of them are equipped with psi-blockers so they're obviously trying to hide something. Instead of your bust it up mission how about we try to find out what it is?"
Havok shrugged. "Works for me. In our line of work, information can go a long way. Figured you would have wanted to break some more stuff up to let off some steam."
She turned her nose up at Alex. "Steam about what?"
Alex gave a coy grin. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."
Before she could press him any further, the five AIM troopers came around the corner. They were decked out in red and black fatigues that went along with a matching red helmet. It looked like it came right out of Killzone. In each of their hands was a long rifle that ended in a green diamond tip. They moved in a triangular formation at the two and the trooper making up the point said, "Get down on the floor now!"
Tremendously annoyed, M waved a dismissive hand at the men. "Please."
They all froze and dropped their guns. Havok shook his head. "I thought you we were actually going to have a bit of fun with them."
M walked over and picked up one of the rifles they dropped. "I didn't feel like playing with these. They can punch a nice clean hole through even someone like me. It was better we didn't tussle with them."
Alex stood next to Monet and picked up another gun. He slung it across his chest and said, "Hell, if it can do all that we're taking one with us. I'll let 'Star reverse engineer this for our team's use."
"Fine. Can we just move?" M asked as she began to walk briskly to the nearest staircase.
Alex grabbed her by the shoulder. "What's really bugging you M? You felt something else didn't you? That's why you want us to check this place out isn't it?"
M sighed. "Yes, there is some sort of dormant psychic consciousness in here. It's incredibly powerful. I'd say right up there with Xavier and Grey if not above them. The thought of those idiots with something that powerful should scare you."
Havok knew she was only saying that because she was scared. "It does. So we'll find out who or what it is and put a stop to it. Let's go."
"Seems like you may have needed to bring more than two of us along after all," M said as she opened up the door to the staircase. Taking any sort of elevator would have been pure stupidity. There was no telling what sort of security system these nerds had cooked up and M wasn't about to be a guinea pig. "I can't spend all my time protecting you."
Alex laughed. The arrogance of M knew no end. "Well lead the way. I'll make sure us weak folks cover your rear."
"My rear needs no more covering than your abs need another sit-up."
"Glad you noticed," Havok said as he patted his stomach. "I been trying to keep them to standard."
M smiled. It was half sexy and half condescending. "I wish Cormic would try some of your techniques. He's nearly on the edge of pudge."
Havok knew that was the furthest thing from the truth, but someone who thought they were perfect would always find flaws in everyone else around them. Even in the person they were screwing. He hoped Cormic knew how much bullshit he was getting himself into by fooling with St. Croix. The woman was a car named Crazy and Pipeline was behind the wheels for now.
"I'll pass some ideas along," Havok said as they began to move methodically down the stairs. "Just let me know if you sense anyone."
"Ah yes. Your blasts in this narrow stairway would be an excellent maneuver," M said as she rolled her eyes. "I hope my sarcasm is projecting."
"You have no idea. But I'm far more than my blasts Miss St. Croix. So just tell me if we got a blip and I'll make sure to shut it up."
"As if I need it," M said. She knew that she had more than enough power to handle whatever threat AIM decided to send her way. At least that's what she wanted Alex to think, but this psychic mind she felt was powerful. Perhaps too powerful.
=X=
Madrox swung the gun back and forth in front of Raynor's face. "Why would GenTech need an AIM liaison? And why Adel?"
"We have a number of buyers and not all of them are who you would call legit. AIM was interested in some of our work. Particularly, work I was the project manager for. They sent Adel as a mediator of sorts, but I couldn't tell you why."
Jamie could tell that Shatterstar's sedative was beginning to wear off. Raynor was starting to be more lucid. "So what was the project that AIM was so interested in?"
Raynor was hesitant to answer so Marrow said, "If you don't talk I'll use my telepathy to dig into your head to get the answers I need."
Madrox tried to keep the shock off of his face and then he had to fight to keep off a smirk. "She's pretty nasty with that too man. So I would suggest you don't BS us."
"We were working on a new kind of nerve toxin. One that could attack on the genetic level. Essentially it would target mutants and degrade their DNA. Quite the experiment. Odorless and colorless so it would be completely undetectable."
Madrox felt the urge to pistol whip the guy, but held back. "Does Adel have it?"
A long gulp traveled down Raynor's throat before he answered. "We delivered it to him three hours ago."
Shatterstar was beyond furious because while he may not have been a mutant every last person he cared about was. "How much?"
Raynor felt the man's fury and trembled under it, but he didn't have any choice but to tell the truth. "Enough to blanket London."
NEXT ISSUE: What does X-Force intend to do with Raynor's information? And who comes to the guy's rescue? M and Havok find someone with a strong connection to Xavier in AIM's labs. Who is it and what does Havok intend to do about it?