A Force Unleashed

by darkstorm5000

The X-Men Past, Present, and Future band together, as the government-sanctioned Project: Wideawake goes online with it's ultimate weapon-The Sentinels! (Contains both classic couples, and unlikely pairings). Final Chapter Added.

11. Heroes

A Force Unleashed

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

…………………………………

Chapter 11- Heroes

In the pre-dawn hours of what many at Xavier's School for the Gifted believed would bring perhaps the greatest challenge they had ever faced this morning, the time had finally come for the X-Men to set off on their quest to save tomorrow.

Currently Warren Worthington III, who had just returned to the school less than twelve hours ago, found himself standing outside of an aged chapel located on the edge of the sprawling woods that surrounded the estate.

"Kurt, are you in here?" Warren asked, as he slowly entered the dimly lit church.

"Ja. I am up here." Kurt Wagner replied, as he sat in one of the front row pews.

"Scott and Ororo wanted to let you know that everyone's getting ready to head out." Warren told him, as he continued inside and towards the front.

"They could have called me on my comm-link and had me teleport back, instead of having you walk all of the way out here." Kurt said, as he stood up and turned to face Warren.

"Actually, I volunteered to deliver the message personally. It gave me a chance to stretch my wings and fly. Plus, even though I'm not what you would call a religious person, for some reason I just felt a need to come out here." Warren revealed, as Kurt for the first time stood face to face with the blonde, winged man in the church.

"They say that God's door is always open, for ALL of his children." Kurt said to Warren in his very heavily German-accented voice.

"So, have you been out here most of the night?" Warren asked Kurt.

"No, just for a little more than an hour, I came out here after running into Scott. When he told me that they had finished their strategy work, I knew that we would most likely be departing soon. But, I did not want to leave without my daily prayer for guidance." Kurt told him, as Warren now noticed that Kurt like himself was also dressed in a black leather uniform, Kurt's trimmed in midnight blue.

"'Ro told me you were a man of God, and now I know what she meant." Warren commented, as he went and sat down on the bench beside Kurt.

"That is not quite the truth. I am just a man, trying his best to do God's Will, but not always being successful." Kurt responded.

"Still, I'm sure you're probably more successful than the rest of us." Warren told him.

In response to Warren's comment, Kurt simply let out a short laugh.

"What's so funny?" Warren curiously asked Kurt.

"It just occurred to me that the two of us talking here like this looks like a scene straight from the Scriptures: The angel and the devil conversing." Kurt said, as he made reference to each man's very unique outward appearance.

"Yeah, but who's the angel, and who's the devil?" Warren now posed to Kurt.

"I would think that to be fairly obvious, even to the untrained eye." Kurt replied.

"I don't know, appearances can be deceiving after all." Warren told him.

"I am all too aware of that." Kurt responded.

"I may look like an angel, but a lot of my actions haven't always lived up to the part. Makes me wonder if maybe there wasn't some kind of mix-up with me and you?" Warren jokingly remarked.

"Or perhaps, it is further proof that God does have a sense of humor after-all?" Kurt equally as humorously retorted, as they prepared to head back to the mansion in a few minutes.

……………………………………

Outside in the school's garage, Logan had as usual been unable to sleep and had spent a good portion of the night in there. His inability to sleep didn't have as much to do with the events in Washington, as it was just a general case of insomnia that seemed to plague him on a nightly basis.

At any rate, Logan had managed to keep himself occupied by working on a blue motorcycle in the garage, which seemed to have become community property at the school. This point had been evidenced by the fact that Gambit and Rogue had decided to take it for a ride, just a few nights before.

"Where'd I put that damn thing at? I just had it a minute ago." Logan said aloud to himself, as he dug through a small toolbox on the floor of the garage and searched for a particular wrench that he needed to finish his tune-up work on the bike.

"I think you're looking for this." A female voice said to Logan, coming from the door on the far side of the garage. Suddenly, the crescent wrench that he had been in need of lifted itself off of the floor from the other side of the bike where he had left it, and floated towards him enveloped in a magnetic field.

"Thanks." Logan said, as he took hold of the wrench in mid-air. Logan had seconds before detected an unfamiliar presence approaching the garage outside, and he now looked up to see that Lorna Dane had entered the garage and was walking towards him, dressed in one of the team's spare black and gold leather uniforms.

"I take it from that little display, you must be the female Magneto I've been hearin' about?" Logan surmised, as he had been told about her's and Havok's abilities following the team's briefing the previous morning.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment, or do I really look psychotic?" Lorna replied with a smirk, as she stopped and stood close to Logan. He was seated on a small work stool by the bike, and was wearing his usual red-checkered lumberjack shirt and jeans.

"I didn't mean it the way it sounded, I was talkin' about your powers and all. Guess I just get edgy around folks that can bend metal just by thinkin' about it." Logan light-heartedly responded, as he then went back to working on the bike.

"It's alright. But power-wise, comparing me to Magneto is like comparing this bike to an eighteen-wheeler. Both of them basically do the same thing, but they're in two different classes." Lorna explained to Logan, as she stood leaning against a worktable in there, "Still, I can manage pretty well if I do say so myself, and I've been working hard on catching up to him."

"Well, that's good to hear. For a minute there, I was startin' to think alternative hair colors might be your forté?" Logan quipped, referring to the voluminous, light-green hair that came down to just above Lorna's shoulders.

"I'd avoid conversations about hair-do's, if I were you." Lorna happily shot back, as she took notice of his own one-of-a-kind hairstyle.

"Point taken, darlin'." Logan said with a smile, as he stopped his work on the bike and looked up at her once again, "What brings ya out here this time o' the mornin' anyways?"

"I was just walking around the estate to get a breath of fresh air, after I finished testing out Forge and Beast's new invention. I happened to see a light on in here, after I ran into Warren out on the grounds, and I came to see who our other early bird was." Lorna replied.

"Warren, that's that rich guy with the wings? I passed by him last night, but I don't see what the big deal is. Those wings aren't that impressive." Logan remarked to Lorna.

"When compared to someone who shoots sexy adamantium claws out of his hands, I guess not." Lorna teasingly said to Logan, "But then again, his wings were never the part of his anatomy that got us girls talkin' anyways."

"Lady, I really didn't need to know about any of that!" Logan sharply replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I offended your delicate ears." Lorna said, as she continued ribbing Logan. She had heard from Scott about how Logan was the one that generally said whatever came to mind, and decided to put his shoe on the other foot, "Anyways, the others should be just about ready to go, so I'm gonna head back in."

"Good, because I've been ready to go since yesterday morning. I'll be there in a few minutes." Logan told Lorna, as she then turned and exited out of the garage door.

As Logan quickly wrapped up his work on the bike, something unexpectedly sprang to mind, something that he hadn't thought about for quite a while now. It was a statement made to him by a man, by the man directly responsible for all of the questions and the confusion that he had about his past and about who he really was. The final conversation they had at Alkali Lake seemed to come back just as clearly and vividly to him now, as it was on that unforgettable day.

"One day…One day someone will finish what I've started Wolverine, one day…"

Logan paused for a moment to think about those words spoken by the late Colonel William Stryker, and how they now sounded as though they were some sort of warning, or even a promise. Logan then began to wonder if Stryker had known about the Sentinels all along, perhaps to serve as a fail-safe in the event that his extinction strike with the second Cerebro machine against all mutants didn't succeed?

Whatever the answer to that particular mystery might be, there was only one response that came to Logan's mind with respect to Stryker's final statement.

"Not today, Bub!" Logan silently swore to himself, as he hurriedly put the small toolbox that he had been using back on top of the nearby worktable. He then left the garage to go change into his uniform, so that he could put action behind the personal declaration that he had just made.

……………………………………

Now that everyone had finally gathered in the airplane hangar located beneath the school, there stood assembled before Professor Charles Xavier were his X-Men past, present, and the future:

Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Havok, Angel, Thunderbird, Beast, Quicksilver, Polaris, Gambit, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Jubilee, Colossus, Banshee, Forge, Iceman and Shadowcat.

And to say it was an awe-inspiring sight would definitely be an understatement.

"…it is not an easy task that you are undertaking, but things that are worthwhile rarely are. I commend you all for the bravery that you are showing, and my only wish is that I were able to join you." Professor Xavier said, as he was just finishing his short and impromptu speech to his X-Men in Hangar B, "Good luck and godspeed."

With those words of encouragement now spoken, the X-Men began to split up into the Black and the Gold teams, the two mission groups that would soon be departing on the team's Blackbird super-sonic planes to face the Sentinels.

"So, how're you feelin'?" Rogue, who was wearing her black and green-trimmed hooded uniform, asked Bobby Drake as she, Bobby, and Remy went to board their Blackbird.

"You know me, cool as ice." Bobby calmly replied, looking over at Rogue dressed in his black and ice-blue trimmed uniform.

"If dat ain't de truth." Remy, who was adorned in a black and brown-trimmed uniform that was accessorized with a full-length black leather trench coat added, as they proceeded up the ramp and into the plane.

"Well, last night wasn't quite what I had pictured our first night sleeping together would be like." Kitty Pryde now said to Peter Rasputin, as the couple stood together in the hangar close to one of the jets.

"I assume that you are referring to the fact that we actually slept?" Peter wittily replied, dressed in a black and red-trimmed uniform that had originally been custom-fit by Jubilee, who had helped him remove the sleeves to allow his massive arms more flexibility.

"Something like that." Kitty giggled, as she smiled and looked up at him wearing a black and pink-trimmed uniform of her own.

"There will always be other nights for us." Peter stated, as he then recalled how Kitty had phased out of his room that morning, and narrowly avoided being spotted by some of the other students.

"There won't be any other nights, not if the Sentinels have anything to say about it." Kitty said, as her cheery attitude now lessened considerably.

"Katya, I know why it is that you came to my room last night. You are still nervous about this situation with the Sentinels." Peter said, as he went straight to the topic that they had been dancing around since their heart-to-heart conversation the day before, "If you are feeling this way, then you do not have to go. Neither I, nor any of the other X-Men, will think any less of you."

"Yeah, but I will. I want to do this, I HAVE to do this. If I don't, then that means I let the Sentinels beat me up here." Kitty said to him, as she pointed up towards her right temple, "And the last thing I'm about to have is robots on the brain."

Peter then stood there momentarily and paused, gazing at the fascinating young lady right in front oh him before he responded to her.

"I understand, Katya." Peter simply replied, as he was able to very much appreciate her inner-courage and her desire to confront her fears head on.

Peter then picked Kitty up and wrapped his arms around her, as the two of them sensuously kissed in a very romantic embrace, before separating to go to their respective planes.

Not too far away from Kitty and Peter, another goodbye was also taking place.

"You have to come back in one piece, now that we've made a commitment to each other." Lorna affectionately said, as she stood wrapped in Alex Summers' arms. She then removed the black leather glove from her left hand and held it in front of him, gesturing towards the small engagement ring that Alex had given to her.

"You better believe I'm coming back. That thing is nowhere near being paid off yet." Alex sarcastically replied, referring to Lorna's ring as well.

"Oh, go get on your plane already!" Lorna laughed, as she playfully hit him in the shoulder, before they gave each other a very intense kiss and then went to board their planes too.

Alison Blaire had earlier come down to the hangar with the others, so that she could wish her friends' good luck on their mission. But, there was one individual in particular that she had come to give a heartfelt send off to.

"Be careful you, all of you." Alison sincerely stated, dressed in a casual, slate-colored blouse and a pair of jeans as she looked up into the ruby-quartz visor of Scott Summers.

"Don't worry, we will." Scott warmly replied.

Alison then saw that the front zipper on Scott's black on black-trimmed uniform was hanging just below his neckline. Alison decided to finish zipping it up for him, and then nervously fiddled with the zipper for a brief moment afterwards. Scott then looked steadily at her during that same moment, before flashing a small smile at Alison and then turning to travel across the hangar to his plane.

Lastly, Hank and Wanda McCoy were also saying goodbye to each other. Well, not actually saying it, but expressing their emotions with a kiss.

With a very passionate kiss.

With a very passionate kiss, which was now approaching the two-minute mark.

"C'mon McCoy! If you don't stop now, ain't no way you're gonna wanna come play with the rest of us." Logan wisecracked to Hank from across the hangar, as he was going up the ramp of one of the Blackbird's dressed in his black and bronze sleeveless uniform.

"Logan, my boy, you have no idea." Hank happily sighed with a small laugh, as he and Wanda stopped their tender display. They stood holding each other, with Hank's eyes focused on Wanda's. Then, Pietro Maximoff swiftly came up to the couple.

"Cyclops is boarding our jet, so I suggest we get a move on." Pietro said to Hank.

"Good luck, to the both of you." Wanda said, as she hugged her brother Pietro and then quickly kissed Hank again.

"With the exceptionally formidable abilities that you possess, your wish of luck indeed carries considerable weight with it, my beloved." Hank told Wanda.

"Don't worry, I shouldn't have that much trouble carrying my weight and his too." Pietro warmly said to his sister, as he and Hank then both left to make their way over to their plane in the hangar.

In just a few minutes, the engines to both planes in Hangar B roared to life. The landing gears then retracted, as the vertical thrusters slowly lifted the jets into the air. Then with tremendous force they both rocketed forward, with the plane carrying Storm's Gold team leading the way out of the cliffside hangar exit, followed by Cyclops' Black team. Remaining inside of the hangar were Professor Xavier, Wanda, Alison, and Sean Cassidy.

"Ye do realize what ye've just done?" Sean said to Professor Xavier through his thick Irish accent, as they all stood about twenty yards away from the hangar exit and looked out onto the dawning day.

"Yes, and I pray that they all return safe and unharmed." Professor Xavier replied, as he sat in his wheel chair wearing a tan dress shirt and dark colored slacks.

To which Sean started to chuckle.

"I don't know if the X-Men are the one's needin' the prayers." Sean stated, "Ye've just dispatched perhaps the most formidable demolition crew ever assembled on God's green Earth! I'd say the Sentinels're the ones in need of a few Hail Mary's right about now."

"The Sentinels certainly won't get any from me. I only wish that I was going off with my husband to help with their demolitions work." Wanda now said, as she and Sean were both wearing black and gold leather uniforms.

"Well, you've already heard my feelings on that particular subject." Professor Xavier reiterated.

"Aye, that makes three of us." Sean agreed, "But, I understand why ye asked Wanda and me to stay back. If those Sentinels do decide to retaliate and make a target out of the school, it'll be up to us t'get these children outta here on that…what did Forge call it?"

"I'm pretty sure I heard someone say Forge calls his helicopter the Velocity." Alison revealed, referring to Forge's personal craft that he had left parked in Hangar A, underground beneath the school's outdoor basketball court.

"That's a mighty interestin' choice of a name for it." Sean remarked.

"I think it sounds rather catchy." Wanda commented.

"Hmmm. Do you guys really think that the Sentinels might come here?" Alison now asked the group.

"At this point, we have to be prepared for that possibility." Professor Xavier told her.

"Well, with our combined powers and the defenses ye've had grafted into yuir home, I think the Sentinels'll be in for one humdinger of a surprise, if'n when they do decide t'pay us a visit." Sean stated, as the first rays of the new rising sun began to peek over the horizon.

…………………………………

In what seemed like just a handful of minutes to its passengers, the modified Blackbird carrying Storm's Gold team had arrived in Washington D.C., landing on an abandoned street one city block west of the White House. Storm, Havok, Angel, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Iceman, Colossus, Gambit, and Jubilee sat and stood around a strategy table in the passenger bay in the rear of the craft, going over any last minute questions or details they had about their plan.

"Man, it feels like I was just here yesterday." Iceman humorously said, as he stood near the table and looked at a 3D diagram of the neighborhoods surrounding the White House. Iceman was, of course, referring to the very recent trip that he, Professor Xavier, and Kitty had made to the city.

As they continued to discuss strategy, it quickly became apparent that their arrival had not gone completely unnoticed, despite the recent upgrades to the Blackbird's radar evading capabilities.

"Storm, looks like we've got some company outside." Havok was the first to say, as he was able to look out through the cockpit's window and see military vehicles and soldiers coming towards them down the street.

"And here I was t'inkin' all of Forge's fancy work on dis plane had bought us a no-hassle ticket in through de front door." Gambit commented, as he sat on one of the benches in the rear of the plane.

"Forge has made this plane virtually invisible to electronic detection, but not from the human eye. Those soldiers most likely spotted us when we were flying by overhead." Storm told Gambit.

"Should we prepare to take off before they get here?" Colossus asked Storm.

"No, their arrival is precisely on time." Storm replied, as the army had very much factored into the plan that she, Professor Xavier and Cyclops had devised.

The Gold team then disembarked from the plane and went out onto the street to meet the approaching soldiers, which was normally congested with traffic and people. But the street, just like the rest of the area surrounding the White House, had been evacuated of civilians by military forces trying to lessen any potential casualties in the event that fighting broke out with the Sentinels.

"Agent Corbin, what is this unauthorized plane doing in the middle of a restricted zone!" An individual, who was dressed in a dark-blue camouflaged military uniform that had a large eagle embossed symbol on his right shoulder and was apparently in charge, shouted. He then stepped out of an all-terrain dune buggy car, as the two-seat vehicle that was being driven by another soldier pulled up and stopped in the middle of the street not too far from where the Blackbird was sitting.

"May I have a word with you?" Storm said to the African-American military commander, who appeared to be in his mid-40's with gray hair and a gray goatee, as she walked down the ramp of the Blackbird towards him and the group of soldiers that had gathered behind him and were armed with very large machine guns.

Since the soldiers had been hastily cobbled together from the U.S. military and from international agencies such as SHIELD, they were all dressed in varying styled and colored uniforms that came in various shades of camouflaged attire.

"Who are all of you?" The commander asked Storm, as he stopped and stood a few feet away from her.

"I am Dr. Ororo Munroe and I believe that we may be of assistance to you, General…" Storm answered, as she looked at his shoulder and ascertained what his rank was.

"…Bridge, Brigadier General G.W. Bridge, ma'am. I'm in charge of this joint ground operation, but what makes you think that we need any help here from a group of civilians?" General Bridge, one of SHIELD's top commanders said with skepticism very apparent in his tone.

"We are the X-Men, and we have experience in dealing with the Sentinels." Storm told him, as she folded her arms in front of her.

"The X-Men? You're crazy if you think I'm going to let a bunch of mutant vigilantes waltz in here and start a firefight with the Sentinels on the President's doorstep, especially while they're holding him hostage." Bridge responded.

"We have a plan, which should free the President from the danger that he is currently in." Storm continued.

"Or, possibly get him killed." General Bridge disbelievingly replied.

Then at that very moment, two extraordinary individuals came over to join the group consisting of the X-Men and the soldiers, announcing their rather impressive presence to them.

The first was a man sealed inside of a shining suit of red and gold armor, equipped with a plethora of advanced technological equipment. He was a modern day knight, prepared to face ever increasing modern day threats with the aid of his incomparably designed battle-suit.

The second could easily be described as a living legend, seemingly ripped from the pages of history to again walk in a modern world that he never expected to live to see. He was dressed in a red, white, and blue star-spangled uniform, which had served as a symbol of hope in the Second World War to those willing to stand up against the forces of fascism and imperialism in Europe and the Pacific.

Together, they were The Invincible Iron Man and Captain America.

"Captain America, I'm surprised but glad to see you here, both of you. The last I heard, you were involved in some kind of operation along the Afghan-Pakistani border?" Bridge said, as he now came over to the sidewalk where Captain America and Iron Man where standing.

"I was there. I've been working in conjunction with SHIELD to help root out HYDRA cells that're attempting to incite hostilities between the local tribes and warlords, all in the hopes of destabilizing the entire region." Captain America replied, as he stood there with his primary weapon strapped to his back, a round red, white, and blue shield that had a large star in the center of it, "We were just wrapping things up there, when the good people at Stark Enterprises sent one of their private aircrafts to pick me up. They said there was major trouble back home, and Iron Man filled me in during our plane ride as to what's been going on."

"It's not enough that your boss designs and manufactures most of SHIELD's weaponry and other equipment, but he also sends his own personal bodyguard to shuttle Cap back Stateside to us." Bridge now said to Iron Man, referring to Tony Stark, the CEO of Stark Enterprises.

"Mr. Stark saw the news reports while on a business trip in Singapore, and he's always willing to help out in the fight against forces that threaten freedom and democracy worldwide. He sent word for me to bring Cap home, and for me to lend any necessary assistance that I might be able to provide here." Iron Man stated to the group in a voice that was automated in its tone, as he spoke to them through the speaker device built into his red and gold metallic helmet, "We just arrived a few minutes ago, and in that time I've been doing a peripheral scan of the White House from here with my armor's sensory array. I'm fairly certain that I can attune my armor to the Sentinel's surveillance frequencies to get inside undetected, but getting out may be a different story. I'll most likely have to fight my way out, if I try to bring the President or anyone else with me. With more time, I can probably patch myself directly into the Sentinel's operating systems and shut them down completely, but I don't know if that's extra time we actually have."

"Miss, while we were walking up I couldn't help but overhear you mention something about having experience in dealing with these Sentinels." Captain America said to Storm, as he then turned his attention back to General Bridge, "I know that you're in charge of this operation General, but with all due respect I really think we should at least hear what she has to say."

"Sure, I'll listen. But, I'm not making any guarantees beyond that." General Bridge replied, as he was now more receptive to listen to what the X-Men's leader had in mind, after Cap had showed his own willingness to take a chance by trusting the X-Men.

"Then, gentlemen if you will follow me, I shall explain everything." Storm said, as the weather goddess, one of SHIELD's finest, the armor clad figure, and the premier agent of liberty all went onboard the Blackbird. They were about to hear Storm's plan to give the Sentinel's a healthy dose of that which they had been programmed to seek out foremost. All the while, the rest of the X-Men and the soldiers left outside gathered around the ramp to listen to the discussion within.

……………………………

In the open skies somewhere over the Midwestern section of the United States, Cyclops' Black team consisting of Beast, Polaris, Forge, Quicksilver, Thunderbird, Wolverine, and Shadowcat was currently searching for the SHIELD heli-carrier. But, they had yet to locate their target objective.

"It looks like that little doo-hickey you spent all night workin' on isn't quite livin' up to expectation." Wolverine remarked from the passenger section of the Blackbird, speaking to Beast who was sitting in the cockpit with Forge.

"Au contraire. This infinitesimal 'doo-hickey', as you refer to it, is working perfectly. It has been impeccably triangulating the unique frequency that endeavors to impede all foreign reconnoitering signals, capable of ascertaining its current vicinity." Beast replied, as he continued to monitor the device that they had plugged into the Blackbird's radar system, while Forge piloted the plane.

"McCoy, why the hell don't you run that by me again in plain English, so us non-encyclopedia types can understand it?" Wolverine loudly inquired.

"What he said, is that the locator is getting clooossser to the heli-carrier by the minute, Bub." Shadowcat smirked, as she sat in her seat and slowly articulated her lay translation for Wolverine.

"It's way too early in the mornin' for you to be startin' up with me, Short-stuff." Wolverine replied in a good-natured tone, as he looked over at Shadowcat. He then turned his attention back to the window next to him and took a look outside.

"How far has it narrowed the search range down to?" Cyclops now asked, as he got up from his chair in the first row of the passenger section, and walked up to the cockpit area to talk to Forge and Beast.

"Judging by the coordinates and flight course stated in its distress call, we believe the heli-carrier made landfall somewhere along the US coastline earlier this morning and is heading westward at an accelerated clip." Forge revealed, "Our readings are indicating that it should be somewhere fairly close to us here, either over northern Arkansas or southern Missouri."

"Maybe they've changed their mind about taking over the world and ridding it of us mutants? They're probably in a hurry to get to Branson now, so they can take in a show or two. I know I wouldn't mind a quick stop there." Polaris quipped, as she sat in a seat across the aisle from Wolverine.

"Dane, you gotta be one of the most unusual ladies I ever met." Wolverine said to Polaris, as he continued staring out of his window and referred to what others might simply regard as a quirky sense of humor on her part.

"Yeah, but she keeps the car trips from getting boring." Thunderbird jokingly remarked, as he sat in the row behind them next to Quicksilver and across the aisle from Shadowcat.

"If her commentary is all that we have to keep ourselves occupied, then it sounds like a good reason for us to take the bus." Quicksilver now wryly added.

"Uh-huh, like you'd know funny if it walked right up and bit you in your tight…butt." Polaris quickly responded to Quicksilver's comment, as she tried to keep in mind that one of the younger members of the X-Men was present on the plane with them.

"On the subject of biting us in our derrierés, it looks as though we've just located our intended destination and are coming up fast on the heli-carrier." Beast said to everyone in the plane, as Cyclops went to sit down and strap himself into his seat, "Lorna, if you don't mind doing us the honor of facilitating our unfettered access inside, we would be ever so grateful."

"Well Hank, I'll say this. You definitely know how to make a girl feel important." Polaris warmly replied, as she stood up and made her way up to the front of the plane.

Polaris took the small, orb-shaped metal object that was connected to the plane's radar system and that was sitting on the cockpit control panel. She then took it and held it in her hands. With a mental command, Polaris began to summon the raw power of the Earth's electro-magnetic spectrum, bending and manipulating the gravitational fields to her will. As Polaris began to channel these tremendous forces into the cloaking device, the plane's electronic controls started flickering off and on uncontrollably. When the entire Blackbird unexpectedly started rocking back and forth violently in mid-air, it prompted the other passengers inside to grab hold of their seats.

"Is it working yet, Lorna?" Thunderbird nervously asked her, as he tightly gripped the arm handles of his seat and tried to keep himself from ripping them off with his enormous strength.

"I think so." Polaris replied, as she closed her eyes and continued focusing more magnetic energy into the cloaking device.

"Well, I hope ya figure it out soon, 'cause I'm feelin' your 'magnetic' personality deep down in my bones!" Wolverine clamored from his chair, as he began to feel queasy from the effect that Polaris' power display was having on his adamantium skeleton.

Suddenly, the ferocious oscillations that had hit the Blackbird instantly stopped. Everyone then looked up to see Polaris still standing at the front of the plane behind the cockpit, and that the orb she had been holding was now glowing very brightly. To those individuals that were there to see it, the light emanating from the orb looked very similar to the energy wave generated by Magneto's mutation device on Liberty Island, which the X-Men had stopped him from unleashing on the world's leaders gathered on nearby Ellis Island.

"Is that contraption really safe?" Quicksilver very curiously asked, as he and the other X-Men were now able to relax a little and sat back in their seats.

"It's very safe." Forge said, as he turned around to reassure him, "Now that Polaris has jump started it, that device has become self-sustaining. It's pulling in E-M waves and using them to generate a refraction effect going up to and beyond the ultraviolet end of the spectrum."

Just as Wolverine was about to ask Forge to clarify what he had just said in his own 'distinctive' manner, Shadowcat once again stepped in to help.

"That 'thingy' is reflecting the sun's rays, cloaking us and making this plane invisible to the naked eye." Shadowcat explained to Wolverine, as she then looked up at Forge, "Right?"

"You're correct, Kitty." Forge confirmed, before turning his attention back to the plane's controls as they neared the heli-carrier.

"Sounds like we've just gone where no mutant has gone before." Thunderbird said to Shadowcat and the rest of the X-Men in a semi-serious tone.

"I wouldn't know. I'm more of a Star Wars fan myself." Shadowcat sprightly replied.

"If that thing makes us invisible, why didn't you build one a whole lot sooner?" Wolverine now asked Forge.

"Haven't you heard the phrase 'Necessity is the mother of invention'?" Forge responded, "On top of not thinking that we would ever have a practical need for a device like this, it would require building a very large machine capable of manipulating a very large amount of electromagnetic energy. Luckily in our case, we're able to use a much smaller device with the help of someone capable of controlling such a tremendous amount of power all on her own."

"Speaking of which, how are you holding up, Lorna?" Cyclops asked his future sister-in-law, as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the other side of the front row aisle, where Polaris was now sitting.

"I'm fine, but I am starting to feel a little tired from maintaining the heavy stasis field around this thing." Polaris replied, as she sat with the device that was still connected to control panel with a number of long cables. It hovered a few inches above Polaris' palms, which were resting in her lap and facing upward.

"We're almost inside, so you shouldn't have to strain yourself much longer." Scott said to Polaris, as he then officially jumped into leader mode, "Forge try to land inside of the heli-carrier's lower-level docking bay. Everyone else, let's get ready to move out."

"I know you said the heli-carrier was big, but that thing is freakin' huge!" Shadowcat said with astonishment in her voice, as she looked out of her window. It was obvious that the sheer enormity of the vessel was making a most definite impression on her, as they drew closer to it.

The SHIELD aircraft heli-carrier looked very similar in appearance to its water-bound counterparts, but it was monstrous in size and was nearly four times larger. Near each top-corner of the craft were gigantic turbine engines that each powered an immense rotor blade, which spun around at an alarming rate. These rotor blades, in addition to the vortex vertical-thruster engines that were located on the sides and underneath the vessel, helped to keep the heli-carrier airborne.

On the top deck-level of the heli-carrier was an immense launching and landing pad, where SHIELD's various fighter jets and attack helicopters took off on missions that could conceivably dispatch them to every corner of the planet. Normally, the deck was full of these aircraft, but because of the emergency in Washington, they and the majority of the rest of the forces on the heli-carrier had been scrambled to the US capital city to lend assistance.

But just like that city, the other half of the X-Men were on there way to help stop the Sentinels, as the invisible Blackbird flew into one of the hangar decks of the heli-carrier completely undetected and landed within. Now, it was time for the hard part to begin, as the Black team disembarked from their plane inside and set about the task of liberating the heli-carrier from its Sentinel captors.

……………………………

Liberté Park, which was located due north of the White House, ordinarily served as a popular attraction in Washington D.C. for both tourists and locals who were out and about in the city. But, in the early hours of this Tuesday morning the park, just like the White House, was firmly in the control of the Sentinels and no visitor would dare venture to its lush green environment this day.

No one, with the exception of one young lady who had traveled a few hundred miles from New York with the express purpose of coming face-to-face with a Sentinel.

"Like guys, I like traveled all of this way to tour the Capitol, but now I think I'm lost. Do you think you could help this poor mutant girl out with some directions?" Jubilee asked with a huge grin, as she casually strolled up to one of the Sentinels and stood between it and another unit stationed on the outer perimeter of Liberté Park. She proceeded to blow a bubble with her chewing gum, peering up at them through the yellow lenses of her black-rimmed sunglasses that matched her black and yellow-trimmed uniform and overcoat.

"Halt mutant!" One of the Sentinels bellowed its command to her, after performing a scan and determining her to be X-gene positive.

"Okay, but ya gotta catch me first!" Jubilee replied, as she turned and swiftly took off across a street that ran adjacent to Liberté Park. She quickly ducked into a nearby alley, as the two Sentinels followed behind her in hurried pursuit and quickly crossed the four-lane boulevard with their very lengthy lower extremities.

After entering and venturing through the small alley that Jubilee had disappeared into, the Sentinels eventually found themselves on another side street that was lined with a couple of hotels and government buildings used by the Treasury Department. There were also a few other historically significant buildings that had been preserved in the neighborhood, dating back to their reconstruction following a fire that swept through the city in the nineteenth century.

"Target identified as Jubilation Lee." One of the Sentinels said aloud to the other, "Target mutant is hereby ordered to discontinue resistance of apprehension by Unit 0217, and is to immediately come out and surrender herself to Unit designate."

"Very well, we will all come out. But, surrendering to you is another matter entirely." A different female voice now said to the Sentinel unit, hidden from somewhere on the street.

The Sentinels optical sensors did a visual scan of the street, including a thorough scan of parked cars, large trees and shrubbery, and other items that were near the curb and along the sidewalk, but they failed to detect Jubilee anywhere. The logic analysis function of the Sentinels' programming immediately kicked in, and they deduced that something was not right about this situation.

Then, Storm, Colossus, Iceman, Gambit, Havok, and Angel, who had waited on the ground for Jubilee to take her up to the top of a building with him, all appeared on various rooftops up and down the street.

"So, since I had to actually help you guys find me, all I got to say is...Tag and now you're it!" Jubilee happily remarked to the Sentinels as she stood next to Angel, who was currently armed with a crossbow that Rogue had lent to him.

"Looks like you boys just found yo'selves as the unexpected guests of honor at our little gatherin'." Gambit commented to the Sentinels, as he pulled a handful of cards out of a pocket on the inside of his trench coat and immediately charged them.

"I suggest that we give our 'guests' a most appropriate reception." Storm calmly said to the rest of the Gold team, as she stood on the edge of one of the rooftops and spoke through the earpiece communicators that she and the other X-Men were all wearing.

"In that case, let me be the one to check their coats at the door!" Havok loudly exclaimed, as he stood next to Storm. Suddenly, a huge burst of cosmically charged energy emerged from his fists held out in front of him and completely obliterated one of the Sentinels, as the powerful wave ripped right through the robot standing down below on the empty and abandoned street.

As the first Sentinel fell, storm clouds seemed to roll in out of nowhere. Without warning the sound of loud booming thunder cracked in the air, an instant before a huge bolt of lightning ferociously struck down from the heavens above and made short work of the second Sentinel. Since the X-Men were dealing with advanced mechanical constructs and not living beings, they felt no need to hold back with their powers. It was a point that was extremely self-evident, as illustrated by the two smoldering metallic husks now strewn across the pavement below.

"Well, that wasn't too hard." Iceman commented, as he stood on another rooftop and spoke through his earpiece communicator.

"That was only the beginning. Now that we've gotten their attention, this street will be crawling with Sentinels in a few minutes." Angel said, as he stood and loaded the crossbow that Rogue had hastily shown him how to use.

"Since we've now lost the element of surprise, I suggest that everyone get down to the ground level and prepare yourselves." Storm said to the rest of the Gold team.

With that, Storm created an air current that rapidly carry both herself and Havok down to the street. Nearby, Angel spread his feathered wings out and flew down from the top of another office building, wrapping one arm around Jubilee and holding the crossbow in his other hand.

Meanwhile, Colossus converted his entire body into organic-steel, while Iceman covered himself in a protective shell of ice. Iceman then created an ice slide on the top of the hotel that he and Colossus were occupying, using it to travel down to ground level.

Lastly, Gambit had had little trouble in getting up to the top of the Treasury building that he was on. He had strapped on special boots and gloves with small spikes on them, and used them to quickly ascend up the outside of the building. It was just one example of the tools that he carried in a small bag strapped to his back, which he had acquired during his now previous life of crime. But at the moment, Gambit was preoccupied with scaling back down the exterior of the building, so he could participate in a far more noble purpose with his new teammates.

Within minutes, Angel's words of forewarning to the rest of the group were proven true, as three more Sentinels appeared at the upper end of the street.

"Unit 0616 initiating scan for mutagenic anomalies: Multiple signatures now confirmed." The Sentinel now said to its fellow units through their internal communication system, "Subjects identified as Piotr Rasputin: cross-referenced as Colossus; Ororo Munroe: cross-referenced as Storm; Robert Drake: cross-referenced as Iceman; Remy Lebeau: cross-referenced as Jack of Hearts, subject also cross-referenced as Gambit; Warren Worthington: cross-referenced as Angel; Alex Masters, cross-indexed as Alex Summers: cross-referenced as Havok; prior identification of Jubilation Lee, now cross-referenced as Jubilee."

Then, the Sentinels paused as they studied the information now at their disposal.

"Unit continuing identification procedure: Subjects collectively cross-referenced as The X-Men. Re-assessing threat matrix:" Unit 0616, the lead unit of the robotic trio said as it continued racing through its programming," Per priority analysis amendment by Dr. Steven F. Lang on program date 050319, threat matrix appraisal has been re-assessed and supercedes all current directives. All available units are instructed to begin termination sequence per Lang amendment, orders are now to Destroy The X-Men!"

With the command now given all of the Sentinels in Washington D.C., including the nearly two dozen units surrounding the White House, left their posts and took flight into the air to soon converge on the side street a few blocks away. As they did, Nightcrawler and Rogue observed their departure from the Blackbird, which had moved from its original landing spot and was now parked on another small street close to Pennsylvania Avenue on the eastern side of the White House.

"It looks like things are going just the way Storm said it would. Those Sentinels' programmin' have them high-tailin' it to get their hands on the mutants causin' the disturbance. You ready for us to do our part?" Rogue asked Nightcrawler, as she stood up from the cockpit chair where they had been monitoring the Sentinels and waiting for their opportunity to act.

"Of course, Fraulein! I am always ready to perform a deed, especially when it is a good one." Nightcrawler impishly replied to her, as he stood up from the chair next to her. Then they both stood behind the pilot and co-pilot's seat and faced one another.

"Okay, let's do it." Rogue said, as she strapped her Katana blade to her back, and then went to wrap her arms very tightly around the back of Nightcrawler's neck.

"I imagine that Gambit would be more than a little jealous, if he were to see the two of us right now?" Nightcrawler light-heartedly responded, as he in turn put his arms tightly around Rogue's waist and held her close to him. Nightcrawler then closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself to make perhaps the most dangerous teleportation jump of his life.

"So? Ah got first dibs on you, let him go find his own Elf to play with." Rogue playfully remarked into his ear, as she smiled and then closed her eyes, an instant before the air within the Blackbird imploded inward and the both of them disappeared in a cloud of sulfur-tinged smoke.

…………………………………

On the heli-carrier the Black team was deep within the mobile flying fortress, as they searched for a means of taking back control of the vessel without alerting the Sentinels to their presence.

"Looks like our friends are hard at work down there." Thunderbird was the first to say, as he and the rest of the Black team quietly watched the Sentinels through a small grated vent opening next to a narrow passageway four levels above. The Sentinels were down below on the spaciously huge observation bridge of the heli-carrier, busily working on some task currently unknown to the X-Men.

"Then, that's all the more reason for us to put a quick end to this, before they can unleash whatever it is they've got in store for us next." Cyclops stated, as he turned to Beast who was standing next to him, "Hank, have you pinpointed where the control room for the heli-carrier is located?"

"According to the schematics that we were able to appropriate, 'Slim', the mainframe control terminal should be across from us on the other side of the main bridge." Beast replied, as he studied a palm pilot device that he had significantly modified, and then pre-loaded an abundance of data into, including the heli-carrier's blue prints.

"Now that you know where it is, any ideas on how we're supposed get to it, Cyke?" Wolverine inquired.

"I'll do it." Shadowcat quickly volunteered, "I can go across that catwalk up above the main bridge that runs between the two sides. I shouldn't have any trouble phasing my way inside of the control room once I get there."

"Do you think that you'll be able to make it there without the Sentinels being alerted to your presence?" Forge inquired of Shadowcat.

"She will, because I'm going with her." Quicksilver now added, as he also volunteered his services, "My super-speed can quickly get us there and back, and slip us past any Sentinels that we may encounter along the way."

"Alright, both of you be careful." Cyclops said in approval, "Keep your comm-links open, the first sign of any trouble and I want you two to head back here on the double."

With that, Quicksilver picked Shadowcat up and cradled her in his arms, which she hadn't been expecting, and dashed off with her across the upper-level catwalk. In what seemed like, and was in reality, almost no time they were outside of the control room right where Beast had said that it would be located.

"Nothing like going from 0 to 100 in under six seconds to get your nerves nice and frazzled." Shadowcat jokingly said to Quicksilver, as he now sat her down on the ground.

"My niece doesn't seem to be bothered by it." Quicksilver replied, as Shadowcat took him by the hand, and then phased the both of them through the large steel in front of them, "A visit doesn't pass without her asking for a piggyback ride from her 'Unca Speedy'."

"You sound like a regular one-man fun park." Shadowcat continued with her light-hearted comments, as she walked up to the large computer terminal in the navigation control room and sat down to begin her hacking attempt, "As long as you don't try to charge me for a return trip, I'm copasetic about it."

Quicksilver then stood there in silence for a brief moment, looking over Shadowcat's shoulder as she rapidly typed keystroke after keystroke on the terminal.

"When you offered to come down here, I had wondered if SHIELD's programming system would be a little on the advanced side for you." Quicksilver remarked to Shadowcat, commenting both on her age and imparting his curiosity regarding her abilities.

"I'm really into computers and stuff, so I'm hanging in there with whatever encryptions and security walls this network can toss at me." Shadowcat enthusiastically replied, as she continued typing commands into the keyboard in front of her, all in an attempt to initiate an override sequence, "You should see what me and Beast have been working on back at the mansion, eventually I think it just might be on par with what they've designed here."

"My brother-in-law has always seemed to have a technological 'green-thumb', as it were." Quicksilver told Shadowcat, as she continued typing at a furious pace. But, she was paying enough attention to his comment to pose an inquiry of her own to him.

"Speaking of family and in-laws, I heard you yesterday talking about your family. So, Magneto's really your Dad?" Shadowcat asked him, with her eyes still trained on the monitor in front of her.

"He is." Quicksilver confirmed, after a short pause before he answered.

"What made you decide to get out of the family business?" Shadowcat continued, referring to his and the Scarlet Witch's decision to leave Magneto's Brotherhood when they weren't too much older than Shadowcat.

"I came to the conclusion that supporting rights for mutants doesn't automatically equate with having to deprive non-mutants of their right to live. I now realize that there has to be a more civil solution." Quicksilver articulately replied.

"If only your Dad and the rest of the folks on both sides that want to see mutants and humans dice each other up could figure that out, we'd all be living in a lot better place right about now." Shadowcat passionately stated, to which Quicksilver nodded his head in silent agreement.

Then, in the blink of an eye Shadowcat's enthusiasm instantly disappeared.

"Aw, dammit!" Shadowcat yelled, as she suddenly stopped her furiously-paced typing and slumped back into her chair.

"What is the matter?" Quicksilver worriedly inquired.

"Well, I've got good news, and I've got bad news." Shadowcat replied, as she spun around in her chair and looked up at her white-haired ally, "Good news is that the Sentinels', for whatever reason, have completely de-activated the heli-carrier's weapons and defensive grid. Bad news is that I was able to get into the control system, but that same counter-order is blocking all outside access to the navigation controls, and I can only override it from the terminal where it originated. The transmission looks like its coming from somewhere in New Mexico, so I'm guessin' that's most likely where their base is. I'm gonna go ahead and download these approximate coordinates into Dr. McCoy's palm-pilot and see what he thinks."

"If that is the case, then there's no point in us wasting anymore time here. We might as well go back and inform the others." Quicksilver said, as Shadowcat finished downloading the data and then stood up from her seat. The two of them then went over to the control room's door and phased through it, before using Quicksilver's blinding speed to dash off and return to where the rest of the Black team was waiting for them.

After gliding back on Quicksilver's swift feet to the concealed area in the upper levels of the heli-carrier, both he and Shadowcat went on to explain what the current situation was to their teammates.

"…and, so we decided to rush back here and let you know what the deal was, and see what we should do next." Shadowcat said, as she finished up their brief summary to the rest of the group.

"Say Dane, why don't you use some of that shaky magnetic vibe o' yours to just take control of this big bird?" Wolverine amicably asked Polaris.

"Yeah, and then for my next trick I'll make the world start spinning backwards." Polaris mockingly replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wolverine disconcertedly inquired.

"My powers do have limits. When I energized the cloaking device that got us in here, it was the greatest electromagnetic field that I ever tried to channel at one time, and I'm still feeling the after-effects." Polaris clarified, in regards to her mutant abilities and the physical toll that they could take on her, "Plus, the heli-carrier is a very large airship with extremely complex navigation controls. I have enough trouble magnetically hotwiring the Blackbird on a good day, I don't know if I could effectively maintain control over something this big."

"Then, just use your powers to turn the controls off." Thunderbird suggested next.

"I understand your logic in suggesting that Polaris employ an acute electro-magnetic pulse wave to disrupt the heli-carriers systems and knock them off-line," Beast chimed in.

"C'mon McCoy, we all know you've got a big 'but' that you're just dying to throw at us." Wolverine surmised.

"But, when taking into consideration its current speed and the momentum behind it, such an act could cause the heli-carrier to careen out of control and possibly crash into a populated area with most disastrous results." Beast finished, to which Wolverine simply grumbled in response.

"Well, since that first trip to suggestion box didn't turn up much, anyone else have two cents that they'd like to add?" The stalwart Thunderbird now asked everyone else.

"I do." Cyclops responded in an unequivocally confident tone, as he looked at the Black team huddled together with him, "We hit the Sentinels on board with everything that we've got, and take back control of the heli-carrier from them the hard way."

"It's about time we went and started rippin' shit up!" Wolverine anxiously remarked.

"Then, I suggest that we get this show on the road." Forge calmly added, as he flipped a small switch on the large rifle that he was carrying, which was a one-of-a-kind energy weapon of his own inventive design. His action started cycling up the energy cells in the weapon, now setting them to a maximum discharge level.

Just as the Black team was preparing to move out and go confront the Sentinels currently on the heli-carrier's main bridge below them, a voice cloaked in the nearby shadows of the tight corridor that they were standing in spoke.

"It looks like everybody and their cousin's decided to just write themselves an invitation onboard this high-security installation. If you don't mind, may I ask who the hell all of you are?" The new voice inquired of the Black team, as he approached them in the dark passageway, armed with a sophisticated and heavy-looking machine gun of his own that was currently pointed at the group. The young man slowly walking towards them appeared to be in his early to mid twenties, had wavy blonde hair, and was dressed in a dark-blue camouflage SHIELD uniform.

"We're the X-Men, and we've come to stop the Sentinels that've hijacked this ship." Cyclops said to him.

"Figures. This whole situation has already gone beyond weird, so it might as well step up to that next level of outer limits." The soldier, whose name ID tag over his left chest read Quartermaine, and whose stripes on his right shoulder indicated that he was a Senior Agent replied.

After a closer inspection, Agent Clay Quartermaine now recognized a couple of the faces in front of him and summarily lowered his weapon. He had remembered seeing them during an official and top-secret SHIELD briefing on the subject of Super-Human Affairs.

"I overheard you talking about taking the fight to the Sentinels. If that's the case, then all of you had better come with me and see my C.O. (Commanding Officer), General Fury."

The Black team then followed Quartermaine into a secret passage, which was hidden directly behind a nearby steel wall in the corridor, and led them to a secluded chamber that didn't appear on any of the blueprints of the heli-carrier. Quartermaine and his fellow SHIELD agents had retreated to this secret fall-back area in SHIELD's flying headquarters, after the Sentinels had managed to gain control of the gargantuan vessel following their surprise attack.

"General Fury, I came across this group of civilians on my way back from my recon assignment. They claim to be the X-Men, and say they want to assist us with taking down the enemy currently onboard." Quartermaine revealed to Lieutenant-General Jake Fury, the Director General and Supreme Commander over all SHIELD forces.

Jake Fury stood at about six feet, two inches tall, had very dark brown eyes and hair, and possessed a stocky, but athletically-built physique. He was also wearing a standard SHIELD camouflaged uniform that had a nine millimeter handgun kept in a shoulder-strapped holster, looking to be in his late thirties or possibly early forties.

"I know who they are." Fury replied to Quartermaine, as he stood amongst the crowd of other SHIELD agents. He then turned to visually inspect each member of the X-Men's Black team, "SHIELD has been well aware of your activities in Westchester, New York for some time now."

"So, you been writin' a book report about us or somethin'?" Logan sarcastically inquired.

"No. At SHIELD, we make it our business to know about absolutely everything that goes on." Fury answered, "Unfortunately, it appears that we miscalculated our assessment of the possible danger that the United States government's Project Wideawake and its secret Sentinel operation actually posed." Fury explained, as the roughly twenty to thirty agents in the room all stood and listened to the conversation.

"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that you've known all along that these Sentinels were being built, and you didn't do anything to stop them!" An extremely infuriated Cyclops now shouted at General Fury, as it confirmed what Banshee had very recently been told by Larry Trask, that in fact the government had confiscated his father's Sentinel technology years ago.

"First off, I suggest that you lower your voice when you're talking to me, son." Fury replied with an unagitated, but very stone-faced expression, "Secondly, we've had grave reservations about Wideawake pursuing an aggressive Sentinel production program from the outset, especially after the incident on Muir Island, but they were deemed a necessary security precaution by those in the upper echelons of the US government. SHIELD's mandate is to confront terrorist and other rogue groups, and prevent them from carrying out acts of violence and intimidation against the rest of the world. Part of that mandate also allows us to gather intelligence on an international scale, but not to interfere in the policies dictated within free and democratic governments, unless we have proper justification in doing so."

"Would holding the President hostage and seizing control of your precious heli-carrier now qualify as proper justification?" Pietro disparagingly questioned Fury.

"That would be affirmative." Fury replied.

"What I don't get is why the Sentinels would take over this carrier to use it as a weapon, but go and turn its defensive grid off?" Shadowcat said, as she decided to interject herself into the conversation.

"I can answer that." Special Agent Sharon Carter, the Assistant Director of SHIELD, responded, "The Sentinels figured out that there is a self-destruct sequence built into the programming of the heli-carrier's defensive system, and disabled all of its defenses to prevent the sequence from being initiated."

Agent Carter possessed strikingly beautiful features with shoulder-length blonde hair, and she appeared to be in her late twenties. Additionally, instead of wearing SHIELD's standard military-style camouflaged uniform, she wore a white sport-coat embossed with SHIELD's insignia on the left shoulder, with a black tank-top underneath. She also had on skin-tight black leather pants, and a handgun similar to General Fury's in a holster by her right hip that was strapped around her waist.

"We've been fighting pitched battles off and on most of the night with the Sentinels, and have managed to take out a good number of 'em. We've been hoping that it will either force them to reactivate the defensive grid, or that we'll occupy them long enough for our forces that were sent to help with the crisis in D.C. to return with reinforcements." Fury told the Black team.

"It may be some time before your cohorts arrive. They seem to be in a stand down mode because of the hostage situation in Washington D.C., and do not want to endanger the President's life. So, it appears that we may be all that you will be receiving in the way of reinforcements, at least for the time being." Beast explained to the agents, who had been without communications from outside of the heli-carrier since the previous day, "Luckily, teammates of our own are on their way to Washington to help alleviate that particular situation."

"Then, we'll just have to take care of things on this end ourselves. But, we're running low on ammunition, and those Sentinels have our armory tightly guarded." Fury stated, as he turned to look towards Agent Quartermaine, "Were you able to turn up anything in regards to spare arms or ammo around the ship?"

"Just this machine gun, and a small caliber pistol that I found in one of the sub-levels." Quartermaine answered.

"Don't worry, we'll get past those Sentinels, and help you get to your weapons back." Thunderbird said to Fury and his agents.

"Good." Fury replied, as he looked around the room, "Everyone, let's get ready to move out."

The X-Men's Black team and the Agents of SHIELD then began to prepare themselves for battle, while Cyclops, General Fury, and Agent Carter set to devising an impromptu plan of attack.

…………………………………

Beneath the White House sat the special underground bunker referred to as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, or PEOC for short. The PEOC was originally set up to serve as an impenetrable backup command post for the President, his cabinet, and the rest of his staff. It was to be used in the event of some catastrophic incident taking place in the world such as a nuclear attack, or what had happened less than twenty-four hours right outside of their window.

Currently, President McKenna and the White House staff that happened to be present when the Sentinels laid siege to the Executive Residence were using the latest in technological equipment to monitor the events, as scant news and other communication feeds still managed to get through to them, despite the Sentinels signal jamming capabilities.

Then, in less than a split-second, their number was unexpectedly increased by two. Having been kidnapped by Colonel William Stryker and brainwashed into carrying out a Presidential assassination attempt, extensive knowledge of the White House and its complete layout had been drilled into Nightcrawler's memory. It was knowledge that still remained to this day and made it relatively simple for him to blindly teleport into the PEOC to rescue the President, even if the President and his Secret Service bodyguards were currently unaware of his reason for coming there

Nightcrawler and Rogue suddenly appeared before the President and his staff, dropping down out of the thin air from above the conference table in the PEOC, knocking over laptop computers, cups of coffee and other beverages, and scattering sheets of paper everywhere as they landed on the wooden surface. They had teleported into the bunker directly above the table, all in an attempt to make sure that they didn't accidentally teleport into a piece of furniture, or into one of the people inside.

"I don't believe this, it's the crazy mutant that tried to kill the President! Circle around and open fire!" Lead Secret Service Agent Calloway said, as he and the other agents clamored around the President, who was seated at the conference table in the PEOC. Then, each agent drew his or her weapon and prepared to fire.

"No, don't shoot, we're here to help! General Bridge is waiting for us to get you out of here." Rogue struggled to say to the President, as she managed to lift herself up to her hands and knees on the table. It was evident that the strain of the teleport had left both her and Nightcrawler momentarily disoriented.

"She is telling you the truth." Nightcrawler added to skeptical listeners, as he was finally able to position himself up to a crouching stance.

"Why should we believe anything you have to say?" The lead agent inquired.

"You'll just have to trust us." Rogue replied.

"We're not letting some mutant terrorists leave here with the President of the United States, to finish the job that one of you started last year." Another Secret Service agent adamantly stated, his gun still drawn and pointed at both Rogue and Nightcrawler.

"Those soldiers outside cannot make a move to retake the city from the Sentinels, until your safety has been assured." Nightcrawler said to the President.

"And they won't be able to do much about stoppin' the Sentinels that hijacked the heli-carrier either. Judgin' by the way those good-for-nothin's are actin', Ah doubt they're drawin' the line at just mutants anymore." Rogue also stated to the President in a matter-of-fact manner, as she sat up on the table.

"What will it be, Herr President? Are you at last ready to make that next move with us?" Nightcrawler now asked President McKenna directly.

McKenna sat in his chair at the head of the table and considered what the two X-Men had said to him. He also thought about Nigthcrawler's query, which reminded him of the previous telepathic conversation that he had one floor level up in the Oval Office. It was with Professor Charles Xavier and all of the X-Men, hours after the psychic attack that attempted to destroy the minds of every living being on the planet.

Then, President McKenna finally came to his decision.

"Agent Calloway, have your men withdraw their weapons." President McKenna said, as he ordered the Secret Service agents to holster their handguns.

"Mr. President, are you sure about this?" The President's National Security Advisor asked him, as she stood next to him and the agents, as they were putting their guns back into their shoulder holsters.

"I'm positive. We have to do something, before those monsters use SHIELD's heli-carrier to take the whole world hostage." President McKenna replied to her, as he turned his attention to Rogue and Nightcrawler. As the pair climbed off of the table and walked over towards him, President McKenna posed a question of his own to them, "How do you intend to get me out of here?"

"The same way that we came in." Nightcrawler smirked with his response.

In a leap of faith, President McKenna went over and stood by Nightcrawler and Rogue in the bunker. Then the three of them embraced each other tightly, and in a flash they disappeared in a puff of blue-black smoke. This was the first time that Nightcrawler had teleported himself along with more than one person at such a lengthy distance, and he had been unsure as to what the effects would be on him and his passengers. But, he thought the reason for doing it was well worth any risk to himself. In the blink of an eye, Nightcrawler, Rogue, and President McKenna were back aboard the Blackbird, but the exertion of the trip had taken an obvious toll on the three of them, leaving the trio in an unconscious heap on the floor in the rear of the Blackbird.

"Uhhnnn…" Rogue moaned, as she was the first of the group to regain consciousness.

After gathering themselves, Rogue and President McKenna got up from the floor and immediately picked up a still unconscious Nightcrawler. They carried him over to a nearby med-lab bed that folded out and helped lie him down, so that he could recover after pushing his mutant abilities to their limits and beyond.

"Keep an eye on Kurt for me, Ah need to go radio the soldiers and let them know we got you out." Rogue said to President McKenna, as she turned to head for the cockpit of the plane.

……………………………

Onboard the SHIELD heli-carrier, the Sentinels had taken control of the stronghold and had also placed a contigent of eight units outside of the heli-carrier's armory to prevent the agents that were still on board from accessing the weapons inside to use against them. Fortunately for the SHIELD agents, they now had received help in the form of the X-Men's Black team currently onboard, although this would prove to be most unfortunate for the Sentinels.

As the Sentinels guarding the entrance to the armory stood outside of it and lined the corridor, General Jake Fury unexpectedly came around a corner at the end of the corridor and walked up to them.

"I could come up with some drawn out speech, or repeat some famous movie line telling you to get off of my plane. But, I think I'll just keep this simple and tell you flat out to give up, before I put one of my SHIELD-issued regulation boots right up your metal ass!" General Fury said, as he came and looked up directly at one of the Sentinels in the passageway.

"Unit 0447 initiating scan for mutagenic anomalies: subject does not possess anomalies. Subject identified as Jacob Fury, cross-referenced as Supreme Commander of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Division. Subject is now ordered to surrender, or he will face lethal punitive retaliation." The Sentinel in front of General Fury replied, as all of the units were now focused on him.

"Well, if you boys take a look behind you, you just might rethink that idea about who's facing lethal retaliation." General Fury told them, as the loud 'Click-Clacking' sound of guns being loaded could be heard from behind, coming from the direction of where the armory was located.

The Sentinels turned around to see the armory door now forcefully opened by an electro-magnetic pulse, and standing in the entranceway were Polaris and Shadowcat. Floating in the air all around the pair were roughly a dozen large caliber machine guns, small rocket launchers, and grenade shell launchers, all with the Sentinels targeted in their scopes. Fury then quickly took cover on the ground, now that he had drawn the Sentinels attention long enough to allow Shadowcat and Polaris to phase into the armory. With a mental command from the Mistress of Magnetism, the weapons now fiercely unloaded their munitions into the Sentinels before they even had an opportunity to perform a genetic scan on the two ladies, and nothing was left of them except for obliterated scrap.

Once the shooting had stopped General Fury stood up from the steel floor, while the rest of the X-Men and SHIELD agents came around the corner to view the damage that had just been inflicted.

"Here, I think this one goes with your outfit." Polaris said, as she magnetically handed one of the large caliber rifles that fired spent uranium, armor-piercing bullets over to General Fury, whom she had also managed to magnetically shield from the flying debris resulting from the barrage of bullets and explosives that she had just unleashed.

Polaris proceeded to hand the rest of the weapons that were floating in the air around her to some of the other approaching agents. The rest of SHIELD's agents continued on into the armory to equip themselves with guns, ammunition, body armor, flame throwers, thermite explosives, and any other item within that they thought might be of use in their fight to retake the heli-carrier.

"Dane, forget what I said earlier about you. After seein' what you just did to our 'buddies' here, I'm damn glad you're on our team." Wolverine said as he came and stood close to Polaris half-teasing her, but also expressing an honest sentiment about her.

"Coming from a noted team player like yourself, don't mind if I blush a second or two from all the kudos you're throwing at me." Polaris whimsically replied.

The combined X-Men and SHIELD forces then began readying themselves for the real fight, as they were about to go and attempt to retake the heli-carrier. But, the Sentinels guarding the armory had managed to alert the other units before they were destroyed, and those Sentinels on the main bridge were now primed and ready for combat as well.

……………………………

Meanwhile, the battle between the X-Men's Gold team in Washington D.C. and the Sentinels was in full swing, as the neighborhood close to Liberté Park had come to resemble a war zone in a very short amount of time.

"It doesn't look like we'll be running out of targets to practice on anytime soon." Angel sarcastically said to Storm, as they both flew overhead above the massive twenty-foot tall Sentinels on the street below, firing explosive tipped arrows and bolts of lightning at them.

"So it appears." Storm replied, referring to the fact that even though they had destroyed more than a dozen Sentinels in as many minutes, she could see dozens more of the robotic constructs on their way in the distance to continue their battle against her and the X-Men.

Currently on the tree-lined street, Colossus was using his super-strength to physically manhandle and dismantle Sentinels one at a time. At the same time, Iceman maneuvered around the Sentinels on his ice-slide to freeze their circuitry, which damaged their internal components and in effect shut them down. Then, it occurred to Iceman that perhaps a little teamwork would accomplish their objective in a more timely manner.

"Hey Peter, how do you feel about a fastball special?" Iceman asked Colossus, as he slid by and stopped next to him.

"As the saying goes, load me up." Colossus replied.

Iceman immediately created a ball made of pure ice in his hands, which was roughly about the size of a beach ball. He then tossed it to Colossus, who immediately grabbed the frozen sphere and hurled the solid object at one of the Sentinels like a major league pitcher.

"Direct hit, my man!" Iceman exclaimed, as the ice ball ripped through the chest of one of the Sentinels and severely crippled it. Then, Iceman repeated the steps and started forming ice balls two at a time in each of his hands, expeditiously tossing Colossus one right after another in rapid succession. Colossus in turn used his incredible strength to violently hurl the ice balls at the Sentinels, sheering various parts of them off including their heads, arms, legs, and other robotic limbs.

But, the Sentinels soon caught on to this tactic and immediately countered by concentrating fire on Colossus and Iceman with energy beams from the palms of their hands, meant to separate the two X-Men by forcing them to dodge their blasts. Gambit, who was nearby and tangling with a couple of Sentinels of his own by tossing kinetically charged cards and metal throwing knives at them, was caught in the crossfire of the barrage by the Sentinels battling Colossus and Iceman and was knocked to the ground by flying debris from the street that hit him.

"I'm going to go help him out, but I'll leave this with you to play with. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what to do with it." Iceman said, as he created a huge baseball bat made out of ice and slung the heavy item over to Colossus.

"No, you most certainly do not, Comrade!" Colossus replied, as he took the ice bat in his right hand and tapped it on the ground, like a professional baseball player preparing to hit one out of the park. Colossus then attempted to do just that, as the steel-armored warrior ran at one of the Sentinels firing on them. He swung the bat, using the large robot for batting practice, shattering both the ice bat and the Sentinel's legs when they forcefully made contact together.

In the meantime, Iceman had quickly slid over to where Gambit was lying on the ground and used his ice beam to completely freeze the three Sentinels close by, before they could finish off his teammate.

"Need a lift?" Iceman now asked Gambit, standing over the Cajun member of the X-Men as he regained consciousness.

"Um, you sure you askin' de right hommé?" Gambit curiously inquired, as he sat up on the sidewalk.

"Well, you're the only guy I see taking a seat here on the concrete." Iceman humorously replied, with an icy smile and frosty breath that accompanied each syllable as it dissipated in the air.

"I s'ppose I can't argue wit' dat, Mon Ami." Gambit told Iceman, as he nimbly jumped up to his feet and hopped onto the back of his ice slide. It carried both Gambit and Iceman back over into action, against what now was starting to look like insurmountable odds. The horde of Sentinels continued their staccato march towards the X-Men from the upper end of the street, as their numbers seemed to be increasing exponentially.

Down the street from Iceman, Colossus, and Gambit, Jubilee had been busy blinding and frying the circuits of Sentinel units, setting them up for Havok to easily obliterate with his searing energy blasts. But, the Sentinels programming was designed to analyze and counter any strategy used against them, and they soon figured out this scheme. Two of them then turned all of their fire against Jubilee, in a desire to quickly eliminate her.

"CrapCrapCrap…why am I the one being chased and having to run all over the place, I'm not even the one with super-speed?" Jubilee silently lamented to herself, as she ran down the street and worked hard to evade the Sentinels' energy blasts being aimed at her, taking cover from the barrage by ducking behind a parked car nearby. The other X-Men took notice of their teammate's predicament and Storm, Angel, Colossus, Iceman, Gambit, and Havok all made a mad dash down to the end of the street where Jubilee was to help her.

All of a sudden, Jubilee became the recipient of some unexpected but very welcome assistance. It came in the form of a rounded red, white, and blue shield that was made from an indestructible vibranium-alloy, which came spinning through the air right overhead and ripped through the two Sentinels as though they were made out of paper.

"Wow, uh, thanks for the save." Jubilee told Captain America, as she stood up from the car that she had crouched on the side of.

"You're welcome." Captain America replied, as his right arm rose straight up into the air to catch his shield when it returned to him in boomerang fashion.

Then, all of the X-Men finally made it to where Jubilee and Cap where and gathered around them. But the many Sentinels, which at this point possibly numbered in excess of fifty, were hot on their trail as they pursued them down the street from its upper end.

"We've received word that the President is aboard your plane. Military forces are now moving into position to carry out phase two of this operation." Captain America said to Storm.

"I'd say they're getting into the act now." Havok said, as he saw Iron Man come rocketing overhead, laying down strafing fire from a shoulder mounted chain-gun and an ion pulse beam located on his chest plate.

Both Iron Man, and the heavily-armed helicopter gunships that rapidly flew up from behind to join him, targeted the Sentinels on the street below and halted their advance. Then, SHIELD and other military ground forces came rolling down the side street in front of the X-Men and Captain America in tanks and armored vehicles, as they sealed off both ends of the long street to block the Sentinels in and continue the battle in earnest.

"That is our cue to depart." Storm said to the Gold team, as she now contacted those onboard the Blackbird, "Rogue, Nightcrawler, this is Storm. Do you copy?"

"Rogue here. How're you guys holdin' up?" Rogue asked her.

"The military is taking over here and we're getting ready to move out." Storm replied.

"Okay, we'll pick you up not too far from where we landed." Rogue told her.

"We'll be there shortly." Storm said, as she signed off and the X-Men prepared to leave the neighborhood where Sentinels and military forces were now engaging each other in a furious battle.

"I'm coming with you to help free the heli-carrier from the Sentinels that hijacked it." Captain America told the X-Men.

"Your presence with us will most assuredly be welcome." Storm replied to him.

Then, Storm created a wind current around her and grabbed Havok and Jubilee by their hands, lifting off straight up into the air. Angel strapped the crossbow to his back and grabbed Gambit and a currently unarmored Colossus to carry them off as well.

Meanwhile, Iceman and Cap were the only two left behind on the ground.

"Guess that just leaves the two of us? I hope you don't mind traveling on a slippery block of ice?" Iceman jokingly asked him.

"I've traveled by every means of transportation known to man, so this is just one more for my dossier." Captain America replied, as he jumped on the ice slide behind Iceman, and the both of them took off skyward on a looping ice bridge that trailed far behind the other faster fliers. Iceman's ice bridge went up and over the roof of a nearby building, taking both of them to the street in close proximity where the Blackbird was waiting.

……………………………

Following a lengthy trip from the armory two levels below up to the forward observation deck on the heli-carrier, the combined forces of SHIELD and the X-Men's Black team were right outside of the entrance to the main bridge.

Cyclops walked right onto the expansive main bridge that seemed to be as large as an outdoor sports stadium. It was full of technological equipment and computer terminals with access to just about any piece of data that could be desired worldwide. As soon as he revealed himself, the nearly two-dozen Sentinels currently on the huge deck immediately performed a standard scan to identify Cyclops, but he simply stood there without saying a word. By this point, he knew that there was no reasoning with the gigantic robots and felt that the time for talking had long passed anyways. Instead, he let his actions speak for him as he opened the ruby quartz shield in his visor and unleashed a powerful optic blast, punching a whole right through one of the cybernetic units.

"Everyone lock and load, and let's move in." Agent Sharon Carter said to her fellow agents, as she took point and everyone went to enter the main bridge right behind Cyclops.

After Cyclops drew first, what took place next could best be described as a modern-day Wild West showdown. Both the Sentinels and their newly allied adversaries exchanged heavy fire with one another, both sides making full use of the modern day weaponry at their disposal.

"Don't any of you ease up one bit against these monsters, else they'll be mailin' you back home, postage-due!" General Fury shouted into his comm-device, as he fired off round after round at the Sentinels from his pump action rifle.

"Make sure that you aim for their weak spot." Agent Carter added, as she fired an RPG (Rocket-Propelled-Grenade) and aimed it at the right side of the Sentinel's head, which the X-Men had informed them was where their main processor was located.

The other SHIELD agents did just as General Fury and Agent Carter had ordered, as they set up a forward battle line by taking cover behind the various terminals and other technological equipment on the bridge, all the while with the Sentinels concentrating energy blast after energy blast at them. But, the Sentinels were firing their blasts extremely carefully and cautiously, all in an effort to preserve as much of the heli-carrier as possible from damage, which would work to the X-Men's and the Agents' advantage.

"I've never seen a rifle quite like yours before, it looks like something that came straight out of our experimental weapons division." SHIELD field operative Riddick Simon said to Forge, as he came up to join him and the other agents on the frontline now exchanging fire with the Sentinels.

"It's actually an advanced, semi-conductive particle accelerator that fires a tight and highly penetrating force beam." Forge replied, as he moved up while maintaining a close proximity to the floor in order to avoid a stray bullet, energy blast or an RPG that may be whizzing by overhead.

"I'm curious as to how effectively it functions in a battlefield environment?" Agent Kate Neville, who was one of SHIELD's top weapons specialist inquired.

"I'd be more than happy to demonstrate it for you right now." Forge replied, as he stood up and placed the butt of his rifle on his shoulder.

Forge proceeded to look through the rifle's targeting scope and trained it onto one of the Sentinels across the room, then fired. The blast from the rifle emitted a tremendous blue-colored light, before its accelerated propulsion-beam powerfully punched a hole into the Sentinel, large enough to drive a small truck through. But, the rifle blast then continued on unabated, as it was strong enough to pass straight through the exterior hull of the heli-carrier.

"That's some Saturday night special you're totin' around there." Wolverine commented to Forge, as he knelt down close by. Wolverine then turned his attention to Thunderbird, who was also crouching down behind an instrument panel next to him, "Say T-bird, what do you say about us more physical-types gettin' in on the action?"

"Fine by me. What do you have in mind?" Thunderbird responded.

"How's about you give me a lift, so I can deliver a personal 'Hello' to those jokers over there?" Wolverine requested, as he popped out the claws on his right hand with a 'Snikt', and pointed them in the Sentinels' general direction.

"Alright, just remember to watch that first step when you come down." Thunderbird replied, as he clasped both of his hands together by his knee in front of him, while Wolverine stood up and ran right towards him.

As Wolverine jumped up to place one foot in Thunderbird's tremendous grasp, Thunderbird catapulted the feral mutant about thirty feet into the air, which was only half the distance up to the observation bridge's ceiling. Wolverine performed a graceful somersault in mid-air, and angled himself to come down behind one of the Sentinels. Wolverine them slammed one set of his claws into the back of the Sentinel to halt his descent, and pulled himself up on top of its shoulder. Crouching down by the right side of its head, Wolverine started clawing furiously at the cybernetic creation like a man possessed.

"Unit 0669 experiencing technical deficiencies resulting from assailage by subject: John Logan, cross-referenced as Weapon X: sub-categorization: 'Logan', also cross-referenced as Weapon X: Wolverine" The Sentinel said, as Wolverine ripped out its main CPU unit out from its robotic skull and shut it down completely.

Now deactivated, the Sentinel simply fell to the metal floor of the heli-carrier with a loud clang, while a few of its fellow units turned their attention and fire on the mutant that had brought it down. As Wolverine feverishly dodged their energy blasts, assistance arrived for him in the form of a three hundred and fifty pound battering-ram that had used his tremendous leg strength to run and fly through the air, launching himself at the Sentinels from the other side of the expansive observation deck with both fists held out in front of him.

"Hope you don't mind, but you looked like you could use a hand or two." Thunderbird said to Wolverine, after hitting the Sentinel with such a high impact that he crashed unimpeded through the giant construct.

"Nah, there's more 'n enough to go around." Wolverine replied, as he and Thunderbird prepared to take on more of the Sentinels, when some more of their teammates decided to join them in the fray.

"I'm most exhilarated that you feel such generous and unselfish sentiments." Beast now said, as he came smashing down on one of the Sentinels, having made his way across the observation deck directly above on the ceiling. Since his uniform was somewhat similar to the one that Nightcrawler wore, his boots had been specially designed to allow him unfettered use of his mutant abilities that granted him heightened agility and dexterity to climb on walls and other surfaces. Now atop the twenty-foot tall Sentinel, Beast took hold of its head and used his own rather formidable strength to seamlessly detach the robot's cranium from the rest of its body.

Then without warning, a mini-tornado came whirling by and entangled the three remaining Sentinels that were fast approaching Beast, Wolverine, and Thunderbird. But, this unnaturally confined cyclone was not the doing of their teammate Storm, rather, it was the result of the nimble-footed Quicksilver using his mutant super-speed. He was running in a tightly defined circle at such an incredible rate, that the very air around him began to swirl at his command. The three Sentinels were caught up in this one-man twister and were violently thrown into a reinforced wall of the heli-carrier, severely crippling them as a result.

"I hope that you're not planning on bringing that home as a souvenir for my niece?" Quicksilver drolly inquired, as he walked over to join the other X-Men. He was referring to the Sentinel's head that Beast was still holding in his hands, which wasn't overly taxing in its weight but still measured in at a sizable four feet in diameter.

"You are unerring in your pronouncement. Bestowing this severed crown as an early birthday gift for my daughter would, after all, be in exceptionally poor taste." Beast humorously replied, as he hadn't really paid attention to the fact that he was still holding the head, until Quicksilver pointed it out to him.

"Well, are you guys ready to make some more souvenirs?" Thunderbird now asked the small group of four, as the rest of the Sentinels were still occupied in exchanging fire with their teammates and allies on the other side of the huge observation chamber.

"Hell, I say we go and gift-wrap 'em while we're at it." Wolverine replied in agreement.

"Then, let's see how cleverly we can tie a bow using the Sentinels' severed limbs for ribbon." Beast happily said, as he finalized the conversation and tossed the Sentinel's head to the side. He, Wolverine, Thunderbird and Quicksilver all dashed off towards the Sentinels and attacked them from behind, forcing their foes to contend with a battle now on two fronts.

Meanwhile back on the frontline, Shadowcat and Polaris were in close proximity to General Fury, Cyclops and Agent Carter, as they continued firing their weapons and optic beam at the Sentinels. Shadowcat then immediately took notice of the four man wrecking crew brutally going to town on the Sentinels, as they were manhandling a small number of the robotic beings.

"I'm not gonna let the guys have all of the fun out there, I can at least use my phasing power to short-circuit a couple of those bucket-heads so they can come and finish them off." Shadowcat said to Polaris, who was standing right next to her. As she was about to go out on the battlefield to help her teammates with their effort, Polaris stopped Shadowcat and pointed out that such an action could be accomplished by a more efficient means.

"That won't be necessary, Kitty. Just because these Sentinels were built with only small amounts of ferrous metal to be more resistant to us 'magnet-people', it doesn't mean that they're immune to my powers. Their electronic circuits are more than vulnerable to my whims." Polaris said, as she mentally summoned an electro-magnetic field around one of the Sentinels and tightened it inward, completely disrupting the robot's processing systems and doing extensive damage to its internal circuit boards as they burnt themselves out.

"You've just given me an idea." General Fury said to Polaris, as he watched her disable one Sentinel after another, and then spoke into his earpiece communicator, "Agent Neville, do you copy?"

"Agent Neville here, what are your orders?" Agent Neville replied over her comm-device.

"Did you bring that experimental electro-spear from the armory with you?" Fury asked her.

"Affirmative, it's here with me and Agent Simon." Agent Neville answered, as she continued exchanging fire with the Sentinels, all the while talking to General Fury at the same time.

"Go ahead and start prepping it, because I think I've finally found a practical use for that damn thing." General Fury told her, as he then went over to Cyclops and told him to call the four X-Men currently on the battlefield back to them.

In less than a minute Wolverine, Beast, Quicksilver, and Thunderbird had fallen back to the frontline position with everyone else, as the firefight with the Sentinels continued. General Fury then ordered Agent Neville to fire the electro-spear, which looked something like a harpoon gun with a lengthy cable attached to it that ran into a moderately-sized portable electric generator.

Agent Simon fired the spear-gun, landing the electro-spear right by the Sentinels. Agent Neville then punched codes into a hand-held device that allowed her to set a force field parameter for the weapon. Once it was established, she activated the device and a powerful electric current passed through the cable, electrocuting everything within the force-field's parameters, namely the Sentinels. Polaris then used her own abilities to increase the electro-spear's force-field effect, causing the remaining Sentinels to fall to the ground before them.

"All Agents, concentrate fire on the fallen targets, don't stop until destruction of their main processors are visually confirmed." Agent Carter ordered, as she, the rest of the SHIELD agents, and Cyclops finished off the fallen Sentinels.

After the barrage of weapon's fire had concluded, SHIELD and the X-Men stood victorious after having done the spectacular by seizing the heli-carrier and taking it back from the Sentinels.

"I wish I could say that's all she wrote, but we've still got some unfinished business with them in New Mexico. They're holding a close friend of ours prisoner, and we don't intend on going home without her." Cyclops resolutely said, as he stood face to face with General Fury, "Unless, you plan trying to stop us unauthorized civilians from busting into a top-secret installation?"

"Those Sentinels took the President hostage and tried to swipe this ship. So yeah, we're going with you to finish this payback." General Fury pledged.

"Hopefully our people in Washington D.C. were just as successful as us in taking care of the contingent in control of that city, and have gotten the President to safety. I'm going to go to our plane in the lower level hangar of this ship to try and contact them." Cyclops stated.

"While you're doing that, I'll put together a small strike force of our own to go with you. We should be ready to depart within the hour." General Fury replied, as he turned towards another soldier, "Agent Quartermaine, I want you to gather a small squad and sweep through the rest of the heli-carrier to see if there are anymore stray Sentinels hiding out. Make sure to check out the tracking dome, the missile deployment silos, the rear-defense armament sector, and the communications tower. Agent Carter, I want you to see if you can get a message to SHIELD CENTRAL and let them know what's happened. I'm going to go check on the soldiers being taken down to the infirmary, I know we've sustained some injuries and a few possible casualties."

While Quartermaine quickly picked eight of his fellow SHIELD agents and led the small cadre to conduct their search, the X-Men left the main bridge of the heli-carrier right behind Cyclops to aid them in their probe. Meanwhile, General Fury and Agent Carter also left bridge so they could assess how they had fared in the fight, and to check the status of their own in the infirmary. In addition, it now fell to them to decide which other agents would be going with them, on what might turn out to be a suicide mission by walking right into the Sentinels' stronghold at the headquarters of Project Wideawake.

……………………………

In just a couple of minutes, the X-Men's Gold team-plus one had boarded their plane on the western side of the White House, sitting on a street not too far from its open lawn area.

"Everyone, get buckled in and prepare for immediate takeoff." Storm said, as most of the X-Men went to take seats in the passenger section of the plane. She then turned her attention to Rogue, who was sitting in the pilot's chair, "How are Kurt and President McKenna?"

"They're fine, but Kurt's still unconscious from the 'port." Rogue replied.

"I need to go check on him." Storm replied, as Angel then spoke to her.

"Go ahead 'Ro, I'll keep an eye on things up here. It's been awhile, but I'm pretty sure I remember how to fly one of these things." Angel stated, as he sat down in the co-pilot's chair next to Rogue, while Storm went to the rear of the plane to check on Nightcrawler's current condition.

Jubilee went and sat down in one of the chairs in the passenger section in the middle of the plane, with Captain America taking a seat next to her. Colossus and Gambit were seated in the row directly in front of her, with Iceman across the aisle from them, and Havok in the row right behind her. With Storm now in the rear of the plane with Nightcrawler, President McKenna came and took a seat with the others in the middle of the plane.

"Good morning, Mr. President." Captain America said, as he stood up and laid his shield down in his chair before saluting his Commander-in-Chief.

"Good morning, Captain. I wasn't aware that you were involved in this operation." President McKenna cordially replied.

"I arrived shortly before it got underway." Captain America revealed, as he sat back down in the seat next to Jubilee, while the Blackbird fired its vertical thrusters to make a quick take-off.

"So, I guess you guys must be feelin' the major jeebies about bein' on a plane full of mutants?" Jubilee now posed to both Captain America and President McKenna.

"Not particularly. What would make you think that, young lady?" Captain America was the first to ask her in response.

"I guess you must not watch much news or TV? According to that guy running for Senate, Graydon Creed and The Friends of Humanity supportin' him, mutants are like the cause of every major thing that's wrong with today's society." Jubilee clarified for him.

"Well, I learned a long time ago not to let my opinions of certain groups of people be influenced by individuals with a fanatic political agenda. I've seen where that road can lead, and it's one I'd hope to never have to travel down again." Captain America very poignantly replied.

Everyone seated in the cabin with Captain America was impressed at how he had managed to make his point in such a brief and eloquent manner. None more so than President McKenna, who more than anything took heed of the thinly-veiled reference in his words.

"All I know is that I'm gonna be the envy of all of those political people you're talkin' about. I'm sitting here next to Captain freakin' America and the President of the United States! You better believe they'd pay top dollar for a photo-op like this." The very outgoing Jubilee said, as she continued talking to Captain America.

"I don't know if that is quite the way I would phrase it." President McKenna commented to Jubilee.

"Don't worry, your fund-raising secrets are safe with me." Jubilee happily remarked to the President, before turning her attention back to Cap, "You know, that's some outfit you've got goin' on there."

"I suppose it must seem pretty outdated to a youngster like yourself." Captain America replied, in reference to his Star-Spangled attire.

"Puh-shaw, no way! I mean, it's definitely on the retro side, but it looks like it's workin' for you. Shows everybody you've got guts by makin' an in-your-face fashion statement like that." Jubilee cheerfully told him.

"You certainly are chipper, especially considering everything that has happened this morning." President McKenna pointed out, regarding Jubilee's vibrant personality.

"Yeah, I'm just as amazed as you. I mean, I'm not even a morning person or anything." Jubilee quipped to him, "Must be all of that almost-getting-stomped-on-by-giant-robot action that's got me so wired."

Just then, as the Blackbird reached its cruising altitude of twenty thousand feet in airspace over the eastern edge of Maryland, action of another sort now made its presence known.

"Um, guys, looks like we might have trouble." Angel said to everyone in the cabin, as he monitored the radar readout from the co-pilot's chair, "Five F-16 fighter jets just popped up out of nowhere, and crept in behind us."

"Again I ask, how'd they find us if we s'ppose t'be invisible t'their radar? Gambit wondered aloud, as he reiterated his point from earlier that morning.

"Don't worry, Sugah." Rogue said, reassuring him, "When we made it back to the Blackbird from the White House, Ah radioed the SHIELD ground forces to let them know. General Bridge sent me coordinates for some special base in Nebraska, and said for us to get the President there ASAP."

"I'll hail them and identify ourselves." Captain America said, as he went up to the front of the plane with Rogue and Angel. He then opened up a communication device strapped to his wrist, and ran a search to patch him directly into the frequency of the jetfighters now flanking the Blackbird, "This is Bluebird. I'm onboard this craft with Bald Eagle, which has been temporarily designated as Air Force One, do you copy?"

"We copy. This is Major Fairborne, Captain. We've been apprised of the current operation that you are involved in, and have been assigned to escort the President to Offutt AFB where the First Lady and their son are waiting." The flight leader replied, "But, we had some difficulty in locating this plane, it's not showing up on any of our radar sensors. Luckily, we were already airborne and on standby when we received the call from General Bridge. If he hadn't given us your time of departure from Washington and what your estimated flight plan and destination would be, we might not have caught up to you at this rendezvous point."

"Yes, I know. It appears that whoever did the work on this plane just might be capable of giving Tony Stark a good run for his money." Captain America replied, right before he signed off and went to sit back down in the seat next to Jubilee.

Meanwhile, the Blackbird and the USAF fighter squadron continued on their current trajectory together, heading towards the military installation in Nebraska.

…………………………

A short time later, the Gold team's Blackbird received another message as they were lifting off from Offutt AFB, having just dropped the President off at the heavily defended military base. But, the message being sent to them this time came from a party with a much more personal connection to the X-Men.

"Come in Gold team, this is Black leader. Do you copy?" The voice of Cyclops now said over the Blackbird's comm-channel on their plane, after he and the rest of the Black team had just finished their sweep of the heli-carrier alongside Agent Quartermaine and the other SHIELD agents.

"Rogue here, Cyclops." Rogue replied to him, as she continued monitoring the

instrument panel in front of her.

"We've just stopped the Sentinels on board the heli-carrier, how is your part of the mission proceeding?" Cyclops asked.

"We've got everything under control here. The President is safe, and the military forces in D.C. are fightin' to free the city right now." Rogue answered.

"With the way things are going, it looks like we'll be back home in time for mid-morning coffee." Angel light-heartedly added from the co-pilot's chair.

"Not quite. Even though we've beaten the Sentinels on board the heli-carrier, they've still got some sort of outside access program overriding its controls and its is heading towards New Mexico where their home base is located." Cyclops revealed to Angel, "We're preparing now to move out ahead of the heli-carrier to rescue Dr. MacTaggert, and to put a stop to whatever else they've got planned before they can successfully execute it. I'm sending the coordinates of the rendezvous point, pass it along to Storm and all of you can join us as soon as you can."

"Okay, we're already airborne and headin' on our way to catch up to you now." Rogue said to Cyclops, as she prepared to set a new flight course for the Blackbird.

"Affirmative, Cyclops out." Cyclops said, as he electronically relayed the information that Shadowcat had uncovered to Rogue, and then signed off.

As the rest of the Black team started to settle into their seats on the Blackbird, General Fury, Agent Carter, and a group of ten of the finest SHIELD agents on the heli-carrier came up the ramp from the hangar outside.

"Gaawwdd Logan, do you just have to bring that thing in here!" Shadowcat now said to Wolverine, referring to his cigar that he had lit in the hangar outside before coming to take a seat in the middle section of the Blackbird across the aisle from her.

"Yup." Wolverine defiantly smirked, as he continued to puff on his pungent-smelling, but deeply gratifying compulsion.

"How can you smoke those things anyways?" Shadowcat disapprovingly remarked, as she continued with her chastisement of his activity.

"Easy, like this kid." Wolverine tauntingly replied, as he blew out a cloud of cigar smoke upwards inside of the cabin, and continued his test of wills with the young lady that had absolutely no problem in letting him know what was on her mind.

"Well, unlike you the rest of us don't have healing factors to keep us from getting cancer from all of that second-hand smoke you're pollutin' the plane with, which you would know about if you'd bother to pick up a medical journal from the last twenty years, or just read the Surgeon General's warning on the side of the…" Shadowcat started to rattle off, when Wolverine interrupted her.

"Alright 'Short-stuff', you win. You can lay off on the federal case you're buildin' against me." Wolverine finally conceded, as he bent forward in his seat and put the cigar out on the heel of his boot.

"I understand where you're coming from." General Fury now commented to Shadowcat, as he walked past both her and Wolverine and headed towards the seating area in the rear of the Blackbird, "My Dad smokes those things like there's no tomorrow, even at his age and despite my Mother telling him that it's past time he gave them up."

As General Jake Fury continued on and then sat down on one of the bench seats alongside the men and women under his command with his semi-automatic rifle laying across his lap, he tried to focus on the mission at hand. But, as Forge and Beast put the Blackbird through its pre-lift off procedures, all Fury could think about was his father.

Jake was, after all, the son of the one and only Colonel Nick Fury, the man regarded as the chief defender of world democracy from World War II up until the years preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall, and to many a veritable living legend. Trying to following in such distinguished footsteps was difficult enough for those that had succeeded Nick Fury as Director General following his retirement from SHIELD, the organization that he had helped to build from scratch during the height of the Cold War era. But, trying to do so while also having to bear the same last name as, and receiving the inevitable comparisons to his famous father made the task just that much more burdensome.

Jake Fury had established a distinguished military career of and on his own, beginning with his graduation from West Point. He then saw action as a part of covert military operations during the 1980's, including stints in Afghanistan to secretly help in the fight against the Soviet's occupation and then on various assignments throughout the rest of the world, before eventually joining SHIELD and serving under his father during his final years of tenure with the espionage organization.

Jake Fury's promotion into the position of Director General of SHIELD more than a decade and a half after his father's retirement had, for the most part, been greeted with optimism and positive anticipation. The years following the end of the Cold War had seen SHIELD's reputation diminish in the eyes of much of the rest of the world, and it was hoped that Fury's insertion as its head would return the organization back to its glory days.

Then, came September 11th and the horrific events of that unforgettable morning.

In the weeks and months that followed the tragedy, calls came for General Fury to resign as director and they were loudly voiced. Many of his critics stated that SHIELD's continuing pre-occupation with the now extremely fractured terrorist organization known as HYDRA had blinded them to the other areas where their intelligence work should be focused in a modern world, and argued that the renowned intelligence agency was in need of vast and extensive restructuring in regards to its purpose and objective.

There were also those within and outside of the world's intelligence community who vocally asserted that there were other individuals, even within SHIELD, that were far more qualified to run it than Fury. For example, Europe's premier super-agent Captain Natasha Romanova, known only to the rest of the world as the elusively code-named Black Widow. They argued that her experience in dealing with the multiple hot zones that sprang up in the wake of communism's fall made her the ideal candidate to handle the myriad of easily, and not so easily, recognizable threats the world now faced. But, Fury's critics also believed that politics were being played, and that the secretive and confidential board of directors that governed SHIELD were unfairly holding the KGB work that Captain Romanova had been involved in during her years prior to joining SHIELD against her. In their eyes, it was so the status quo could keep their boy 'Nick Jr.' in charge, a name that those who disapproved of him privately and sometimes publicly used when referring to General Jake Fury.

As General Fury continued to sit silently on the Blackbird with his thoughts, he wondered if this fiasco with the Sentinels taking the President of the United States hostage, and then attempting to hijack their own heli-carrier right from under their nose, wouldn't wind up being the final nail in SHIELD'S coffin?

……………………………

Having left the heli-carrier's technical commander and seasoned veteran Jasper Sitwell behind and in charge, with SHIELD's most technologically experienced agents to aid him in their continuing search for a means of freeing the ship from the Sentinels' control, the Blackbird ferried the X-Men's Black team and the SHIELD strike force to a small and long abandoned military base in New Mexico. It was located halfway between Alamogordo and Roswell, which was where the headquarters of Project Wideawake was apparently located. As the group disembarked from the plane, they found themselves met by the sight of miles on top of miles of prairie land, rolling grass and shrubs that went over a slightly hilly landscape.

"Some set-up these guys've got here." Shadowcat remarked, as she came down the ramp of the Blackbird behind her teammates, surveying the dilapidated buildings and hangars on what was left of the air-field that had originally been built before World War II.

"Don't be fooled, not everything is always as it seems." Thunderbird wisely pointed out to Shadowcat, as he and a few of the SHIELD agents came down the ramp behind her.

"Yeah, I'm gettin' that whole Area 51 vibe from this place already." Shadowcat retorted.

"Project Wideawake's facilities actually are buried deep underground, and the entrance should be over that next hill." Agent Carter said, as she and the rest of the SHIELD agents and the last of the X-Men came down as well.

As the group walked across the tarmac, passing a number of empty and rundown airplane hangars, they headed towards the hilltop entrance at the far end of the runway area and Cyclops found himself being raised on his earpiece communicator.

"Cyclops, this is Storm." Storm said to him over the communication channel.

"Cyclops here, go ahead." Cyclops said, as he stopped walking to reply.

"We've picked up your Blackbird's homing signal, and are nearing the coordinates that you transmitted to us. We should be landing shortly." Storm informed him.

"Okay, we're already out on the ground now and heading for the Sentinel's underground bunker. We'll wait for the rest of you to get down here before we proceed inside." Cyclops responded.

The group on the ground then looked skyward to see the Gold team's Blackbird fly by, and then slowly descend to vertically land on the runway next to Black team's plane. Then, they were also met with the impressive sight of seeing a large number of USAF and SHIELD fighter jets come flying in overhead, after being scrambled from various bases around the country and given orders from SHIELD high command and the United States' Commander-In-Chief to head with the X-Men to assist in stopping the Sentinels.

As the ground team neared the bunker entrance buried inside of the large hilltop, which was disguised to make it look like a nondescript equipment depot, the very earth beneath their feet began to unexpectedly tremble. Then, the hilltop that stood about one hundred yards from them suddenly and completely exploded outward, forcing everyone to take cover on the ground. Out of the dust and shattered soil that resulted from the eruption, Sentinel after Sentinel after Sentinel poured forth. They used the rocket boosters built into their cybernetic legs to take flight, and immediately went to confront the fighter jets that were patrolling high above.

The dozens of Sentinels and the fighter jet squadron in the atmosphere aggressively engaged one another, as a titanic and monumental air battle was now taking place in the sky directly above. But not to be forgotten, the X-Men and SHIELD agents on the ground were left to contend with more Sentinels coming out of the underground complex, specifically sent to ensure that they did not enter the confines of Project Wideawake.

"Battlefield positions everyone, don't make yourself an easy target for them!" Cyclops shouted to his Black team, as everyone including the SHIELD agents fell back to more defensive positions away from the bunker entrance, while the squad of Sentinels flew and aimed heavy energy blasts at them.

The Sentinels landed on the ground close to the group, in an area between the rundown airplane hangars, and continued their assailage with non-stop energy fire from the openings in their palms. Their shots were countered by Cyclops' optic beams and by the SHIELD agent's weapons fire, while the non-energy wielding members of the Black team attempted to move into positions to better use their varied abilities to mount a counter-attack. On the far end of the runway, the Gold team saw the skirmish that was taking place in the distance and quickly disembarked from their plane so they could help their friends.

Meanwhile, Polaris used her magnetic powers to pull parts of the damaged hangars up from around them, and use the debris as metal projectiles to hurl at the Sentinels. Thunderbird and Quicksilver were using their combined super-speed and super-strength to quickly take down a small number of Sentinels that were currently pursuing them through the base. But, when a stray energy blast from one of the Sentinels hit a nearby hangar that still had some kind of flammable items within, it caused the structure to detonate and knock the two men to the ground. Luckily, a huge steel beam from the demolished structure magnetically lifted itself into the air and tore itself through the Sentinels responsible for the damage.

"Nice save, Dane." Wolverine said, as he saw what had happened and complimented Polaris on her heads up play to help out Thunderbird and Quicksilver.

"I wish I could take credit for it, but it wasn't me." A confused Polaris replied, as she continued to magnetically pick up small bits of metal debris around herself.

"Well, then who was it?" A nearby Shadowcat inquired.

"That would be me." Another, new male voice now said.

"Sonuvabitch!" Wolverine loudly growled, as he instantly recognized the voice and the scent now approaching them.

If the first display of power didn't automatically make obvious to the group battling the Sentinels who had just arrived, the sight of an enormous firebird swooping in overhead to engulf the remaining Sentinels in a literal inferno definitely should have.

Magneto and his Brotherhood's presence had now been announced, in a most unmistakable manner, as all nine of them walked right through a very wide passageway in the flames that had been mentally repulsed by one of their own.

"Ten Sentinels down, and a shitload more to go." Pyro remarked to Magneto and the rest of his Brotherhood teammates, with a tremendous amount of contempt for, and defiance of the Sentinels in his voice.

Dressed in a dark reddish-orange leather uniform trimmed in black, which was accessorized by a backpack that provided a constant line of fuel to ignite the flamethrower mechanisms attached to each wrist, Pyro lifted his orange-tinted goggles up to his brunette hair to turn and look directly at the X-Men and SHIELD agents he and Magneto had just helped to save.

"What are all of you doing here?" Cyclops immediately asked Magneto, in a tone that displayed the tension and uneasiness he harbored towards the man who had apparently come to lend his assistance.

"Come now, did Charles really believe that I would let his children take all of the credit for saving our people this day?" Magneto replied with a huge grin, as he removed his trademarked dark magenta-colored helmet.

Meanwhile, the Gold team along with Captain America had finally managed to reach the large group now assembled together in between the numerous hangars of the airbase, which secretly harbored the headquarters of Project Wideawake below. Experience had taught the X-Men that when dealing with Magneto, to expect for any offer of his to help them to also carry with it some degree of Machiavellian intent, which they were more than ready to contend with.

Just as they were now ready to face the Sentinels in a most decisive final confrontation, one which would unquestionably determine the fate of their's and of mutantkind's very survival…

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Next Chapter: Say Hello to the Bad Guy…

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A/N: Special thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter

ishandahalf- Glad you loved one last Romy moment, before all of the action kicked into high-gear. I also hope you're enjoying the high-gear action too, especially now that the moment of truth has shown up with a buncha rowdy friends.

Episodic- I'm glad you like the addition of more people, since even more people showed up in this chapter too. As far as the grand showdown vs. everyone sitting around and talking, I think I tried to have some of both in this chapter, but let me know what you think.

El Varon- Glad you liked the chapter! I always worry that things might start to ramble on, so I like to keep things moving along and drag as little as possible. As far as Storm, I'd say she's beyond angry. After being ambushed, blasted, and almost drowned by a Sentinel, you can't really blame her.

Lucas'sgirl- Glad you loved the school reunion chapter, and Rogue and Remy's moment together. I hope you liked the action in this chapter, and I think you'll really like the next one too…

TheDreamerLady- Glad you liked the Kiotr, and everything that went along with it. Sorry about it being so long, but after next chapter I think things will start to shorten back down again, so I hope you hang in there.

plutospawn- Glad you like the chapter, and I hope I didn't keep you from your work for too long. As far as the large cast, I think that's one of the reasons I'm such an X-fan because there are so many personalities that interact with one another in different ways, and sometimes come into conflict. With Hank, he's basically gotten the short end of the stick in every incarnation I've seen him, so I thought it was about time he and Wanda saw a little happiness, so why not with one another?

LucreziaNoin86- I'm happy to pick up a new reviewer. I'm glad you like everything I've written so far, because I hope things'll only get better from here.

By the way, I like your choice of screen name. Lieutenant Noin was one of my favorite character's in Gundam Wing, behind Zechs, Duo, Treize, and Lady Une.