Each person in the command room was intently examining the screens before them, Hardishane included. "They've probably gone for backup," he called out over his shoulder. "But if they're stupid enough to try another assault, they will try to sneak a scout in here, and that's going to be Wolverine."
A menacing tone entered his voice. "If anyone misses him, I'll kill them myself, if by some miracle he doesn't." Silence greeted this pronouncement; part of Hardishane's agreement gave him rather broad authority while he remained. It was just possible he would be able to make that stick. He ignored the Chief Magistrate's glower.
"Sir," a woman called out from a few chairs down, "I've got... something. A weak signal from a mutie-detector. Inside the complex." She frowned and tapped at her keyboard. "Tuning... yes, there's definitely something there. Red sector, near the hangars."
Hardishane walked up behind her. "What do you see, people? Get the cameras looking up and down, too - he's not going to be strolling down the hallways."
The tech at the next console called out. "I think I spotted him for a second, sir. Here's the playback..." A scene played out at half speed on his monitor. A camera kept watch at a blast door, turning back and forth. A flicker of movement came in from above; a hand in a brown glove. It vanished just as quickly.
"Bingo, that's his get-up." Hardishane paused, thinking. "Taking the long route, eh? Figured I'd be watching the better ones?" He came to a decision. "All right, first thing, everyone else keep looking. This might be a diversion. None of the rest can be as good as he is, though."
He spoke into a comlink. "Skybreaker, get down to Hangar 6 right now. Move your ass. And someone send a team to check out that blast door. You, over there. Hook me up with the nearest company to H6." A pause as the link was established. "Who am I speaking to?"
"Lieutenant Hugh Mallory, Echo Company," the officer replied crisply.
"Fine; get everyone moving to H4 as we talk. Mallory, who's your best shot with the energy rifles?"
"That'd be Corporal Patty Bryce, sir. She's Marksman level A."
"Good. She's to proceed to H6, and meet Skybreaker there. Further orders will follow." He turned to the command team. "Okay, by now he should be passing the supply depot. He's going to have to cross on the rafters. Who's got a camera that can see there?" Hardishane had returned to his seat.
"Sir, over here, sir."
"Good, patch in to my display, I want a look at him. You, any change in that genejoke's signal? Why didn't we pick him up before?"
The tech replied, nervously, "I'm not sure, sir. The signature's still weak. Almost no mutie patterns."
"Wait, there he is." The view was far from perfect, but at one point they had a very clear outline. Wolverine's costume, with the arching, almost wolflike points on the sides of the head, was unmistakable. Silvery claws silently cut an opening though a panel so he could move to the next girder. "Aha! See that? He's got a damping collar on. They must've pulled the tracker out of it. Smart." He grinned. "But, of course, it just makes him easier to kill."
"Skybreaker here. I've met Bryce; awaiting orders." The report came over the comlink, all business.
"Look up, by the northwest corner. There's an intake vent, next to the ledge. Get her up there."
"On my way." A pause as the mutate began flying, then the reply came back. "Oh, I see it now. The light puts out a lot of glare, you can't really see it from the ground."
"That's the idea. And the vent will suck away her scent. Corporal, are you positioned?" Hardishane asked.
"Yes, sir, Command."
"Skybreaker, get out of there now. Bryce, look down, by the side door. You see that crate there?"
"Affirmative."
"Okay, line up your rifle, and set up a shot just to the left of that crate. He'll have to pass by there to get to the serviceway. Do not move, do not even breathe, do not adjust the gun to line up with him. Let him move into your sights. And crank up the power, maximum output."
The Chief Magistrate had been quietly watching, but now she broke in, appalled. "That's the antitank setting! You'll vaporize him!"
"I'm not taking any chances with this S.O.B. Maybe the Genengineer can clone him from the remnants or something." A frown as he inspected a playback. "He's moving pretty fast and clumsy, taking chances. They must be desperate. Or he's just not used to normal senses." An indicator beeped on Hardishane's console. "Command here."
"Sir, we're by the blast door. Can you see this?" A head-mounted camera looked up over the metal framework; the four-inch-thick wall had a neat hole sliced out, just big enough for a person to slip through.
Hardishane motioned to the Chief. "That's why we're not taking chances. Those claws can cut through damn near anything." He checked his watch. "Any sign of anyone else? They might be wearing collars, too, you know. No other 'weak signals'?" Silence greeted him. "That freak's their best bet, and they know it. All right, radio silence from here on, he should be getting to H6 right about now." A pause. "Echo Company, be ready to move in."
Eyes intent on displays, stillness descended upon the command center. Hardishane watched through the sniper's helmet camera. A flicker of movement as a dark outline dropped from the ceiling behind an airship. Then only shadows, until a ripple slid against the wall. It vanished behind the crate, and then eased out towards the service trench...
A couple of techs jumped as the CRACK-BOOM of the energy rifle echoed out of several consoles. Hardishane's screen flared white and struggled to readjust its gain.
"Got him!" the Magistrate crowed. "Can you see that, Command? I love these guns!" Clouds of dust drifted everywhere; through the haze the cameras showed a ten-foot hole in the wall Wolverine had been crouching next to.
A slow-motion playback on a display in front of Hardishane detailed the entire sequence. A dim outline of Wolverine, frozen; then a glowing flicker on his chest; then a flash of blinding light that made the camera white-out; and finally an expanding fireball. There was no room for doubt; the hit was dead-on, center body mass.
{Heal that, freak!}, Hardishane smiled. "Good work, Corporal. Echo, move in for clean-up. I want what's left of him. There are people who will pay a bundle for a souvenir piece of that skeleton. Hell, I want one."
He turned and addressed the command center. "Okay, people, their scout is history. Sooner or later, the rest are going to have to hit us. My bet is on sooner - if they were going for backup they wouldn't have sent him in. I want to know about it the moment it..."
"Command! Command! He's still there! He's moving!" The shrill note of terror in the corporal's voice carried even over the comlink. All color drained from Hardishane's face as he whirled, staring openmouthed at his bank of screens.
The outline drifted through the settling dust, scraps of still-burning costume hanging from his unmarked chest. He floated unsupported for a moment, then raised his hands. Sonic booms shattered glass throughout the hangar as spears of force tore into the approaching squads. The screens on Hardishane's board collapsed into static, the cameras feeding them ruined.
The mutant proximity alarm blared. He had dropped to the floor and pulled out his sidearm before his mind consciously registered that there were gunshots and screams in the command center.
Dazed, he stared as the Chief Magistrate struggled and fell. A whirling figure, moving so fast he blurred, slashed adamantium claws through computers, viewscreens, and consoles. The costume was all wrong, it was that forcefield punk's, but there was no doubt who it was inside.
Wolverine finished his streak of destruction, and turned to face the gaping Hardishane, tossing a damping collar over his shoulder. They were the only two left standing. "Gotta hand it to that kid. No way I coulda snuck in here with you lookin' for me." He smiled, and Hardishane nearly emptied his bladder. "But if you'd already found me..."
Hardishane whipped up his blaster, trying for a shot, knowing it was already too late.
Kurt and the others surveyed the Magistrate headquarters from the same office Storm and Logan had used. All wearing collars, they had crept as close at they dared to the citadel. This was the go/no go point. If Fortress and Wolverine failed, they would make their way back to the Blackbird and call up every reserve they could find.
Rachel was squeezing the windowsill to keep her hands from trembling. {I swore I'd never wear a collar again...}. She worked to forget the images she'd seen in the Magstrates' minds as she'd pulled the floorplans of the citadel from them. They reminded her too much of home. "How long has it been?"
Peter checked. "Twenty-five minutes." He didn't add that there were only ten minutes left to get the 'go' signal from Wolverine.
There came a rumbling from inside the building. Tension filled the quartet of mutants; Kitty fingered the release that would pop off her collar. "Something's happening." A series of muffled explosions came next. "Must be big."
"Sounds like they moved on Greg. Hope he's okay." Rachel stared intently at the forbidding building just ahead. Suddenly, there was a flicker around part of an outside wall. A sixty-foot section slowly, almost gracefully, fell inward. The crash echoed from buildings throughout the city. Flashes of energy could be seen through the hole.
Peter grinned. "You always can tell where the X-Men have been. I think he will fit in with us very well."
Kurt stood. "I just got Wolverine's signal. Time to move." {And pray we make it in time.}