Chapter Five:

            A soldier stood on a grated platform overlooking a large room, as five mutants walked in quick order across the floor.  Each was a male, about thirty years in age, but their eyes looked much older.  They marched with practiced steps, following the orders directed at them without question.

             However, the doomed soldier would never be the one giving those mutants orders again.  He was trying to cry out to the scattered others of his team but a strong hand covered his mouth, as he was drug into the shadows.  When the muffling hand moved, long claws slashed his throat and he could only choke quietly on his own blood as he died. 

            Lady Deathstrike lowered her victim to the ground slowly, and did not look at him as she withdrew her claws from his back.  Her eyes stared forward, unblinking as she searched for her main target.  However, she had not seen Stryker again since entering the compound.  She took a moment to stare down at the line of young men curiously. 

The guards kept their guns leveled at the five, but Deathstrike did not think they looked capable of a fight.  Their scents were full of emotion, an odorous mixture of fear and anticipation.  They were all pale, as if they had not been in the sun for many years, and by the way the soldiers were treating them, she guessed that they were mutants.

            One of them wore dark glasses and used a simple cane to feel his way along the floor.  Two stood side-by-side, glaring with vicious glee and laughing as they spoke in low voices.  The shortest one walked along cooperatively, but had a sort of muzzle over his face to prevent him from opening his mouth.  The last was the tallest and oldest by far, standing in somber silence in the front of the line, not looking into the eyes of the humans around him.

            Deathstrike frowned and listened to the commander as he spoke to them.

            "Two groups of mutants have entered the compound," the soldier spoke loudly, "Your mission is to stop them from reaching the captured targets within the cell block.  Lethal force has been authorized by General Stryker..."

            The two mutants standing next to each other exchanged wide grins and then returned their eyes to the commander.  The mutant with the dark glasses shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and gripped his cane tightly in front of him with both hands.

            "However," the commander continued, "The mutant known as Magneto is to be taken alive.  When he has been incapacitated, bring him directly to the General.  Is that clear?"

            "Yes, sir," four of them said in unison, and the one who was muzzled nodded to indicate his affirmative.

            "All right..." the commander said, and then raise his eyes to the other soldiers, "Let's move out!"

            Deathstrike stepped backward into the dark again as the troops began to empty from the room, leaving the five mutants unattended.  She noticed then each soldier wore strange devices over their heads instead of helmets.  The clear lenses over their eyes reflected the dimming overhead lights.

Before the commander left, the tallest of the mutants stepped forward and spoke.  Deathstrike heard the fear in his voice.

            "Sir?" he asked, and the commander spun towards him angrily, "What about Cody...I mean, what about Weinberg, sir?"

            The commander's stern gaze faltered for a moment, "Weinberg will be dispatched by the General's orders only...when Magneto is in place..."

            The tallest mutant nodded again, and took a step back to fall into line.  Deathstrike narrowed her eyes on him and wondered why this 'Weinberg' caused him and the commander such alarm. 

            Through the grated floor beneath her feet, she could see soldiers moving out of the central door.  The commander was last, speaking to another soldier about returning to the main control room.  Deathstrike grinned softly, and decided to follow the troops to the compound's central operations.

            However, she paused again to glance at the five mutants and frowned.

            The smallest was pulling at the muzzle around his face, until one of the two gleeful mutants held out one hand, and the locks popped.  The other chuckled in delight and cracked his knuckles audibly. 

            "Thanks," the small mutant said aloud and a small vibration ran along the room's walls.

            Telekinetic, Deathstrike noted to herself as she glanced at the smiling pair, and then looked at the small mutant again, Sonic vocal force...I remember something about them from before with Stryker...

            The name caused painful memories to surface, and she gritted her teeth painfully.  They were more of Stryker's mutant prisoners, though they were not under the same influence that had once kept Deathstrike under Stryker's power.  These mutants had been bred, artificially created by the same experiments that had created Charlene McGee, the firestarter.

            And, now, Stryker planned to use them to recapture Magneto. 

Deathstrike flexed her hands with an audible cracking, which echoed through the room.  The five mutants glanced around curiously at the noise, but did not noticed the Lady, even as she swung down from the grated platform and followed the retreating soldiers toward the control room.

***

Author's note:  Finally able to update!  Hope everyone had a good holiday.  I'm glad life can return to normal again.  :-) 

The five mutants described all come from the movie "Firestarter: Rekindled."  I'm assuming some twenty-odd years have past since the events of that movie.