(Sixteen)

Henry sat at his desk once more, trying to digest the Dognan blue prints Fallen had given him. There was a lot of work to be done and he wished he had some help. As if in answer to his silent plea, there was a soft knock on his table. He looked up to see a Clansman he didn't recognize. "Good morrow, alpha. My name is Bruce. Valentin sent me to give you a hand."

"Good morrow. I'm Henry and I am so very grateful you're here. This will take some time to work out," Henry said with a warm smile and offered his hand.

Bruce took it and gave a firm shake. He was a sturdy Clansman, in his mid-thirties and in good physical condition, though not as heavily muscled as most of the other Clan warriors. He had the tattoos and markings of medium rank and was quite intelligent. Henry learned that Bruce was in charge of most of the reconnaissance work and raid planning for Valentin. He had long rusty blonde hair tied back in the usual ponytail and green eyes that kept straying to Henry's big blue face though he tried to hide it. He had been a Clansman all his life and had never seen an alpha such as Henry with his blue fur and huge size.

Henry and Bruce got along immediately, laughing and teaching one another as they worked, and got a lot done. Bruce was talkative and bright as they worked, freely sharing many stories of growing up in an area not far from here called Pastor's Lake. He had an easy, friendly manner that wasn't much like the others here who seemed to function on the idea that posturing and bravado was the means by which a real man was measured. Henry did not share that view. It was pleasant beyond words to spend time like this, in the company of a relaxed and open person. Bruce was quick to laugh and a real treat to be with. The time fly by.

Bruce was very well educated and seemed able to interpret the plans that Fallen had provided well. They worked for several hours, accomplishing quite a bit, when there came a soft knock on the table again. Bruce turned to face his visitor with a warm smile. "Good morrow, Justin."

"Good morrow, Bruce," Justin greeted with a short laugh. Justin was a contrast to Bruce, being a medium sized Clansman, well built and heavily muscled. Clearly, he was more of a warrior than Bruce who was smaller and seemed weaker by comparison. Justin's hair was long and black, loose about his shoulders and not as long as everyone else's. He carried both a broadsword and a large bow on his back. His eyes glittered with intelligence and amusement as he looked at Henry. "Who's your friend?" he asked Bruce, apparently having qualms about openly showing his interest in the big blue mutant.

"This is Henry."

"Good morrow, Henry McCoy. I've heard all about you," Justin said, offering his hand.

Henry shook it. "All good, I hope."

Justin laughed again. "Fear not. The grapevine says you and Bruce here are going to save us all."

"Well, that's a hard reputation to live up to, but I'll try my best."

"I'm sure you will." Justin patted Bruce on the shoulder. "I'll be down in the galley if you want to eat with me. They'll be serving in an hour."

"I'll be there."

Justin nodded at him and withdrew, his eyes lingering on Bruce's face before he left. Bruce noticed Henry watching them and turned away shyly, his face flushing just slightly.

In that one gesture alone Henry knew these two were much more than just friends. Nothing had to be said, Beast was simply too observant to need them. All such well trained X-men were capable of assessing a person quickly like that, it was all part of survival training. Logan would argue that it was a matter of threat assessment, but Henry wasn't like that. He maintained a neutral ground when it came to race or gender or, more importantly, sexual orientation. He was aware that not many men were so accepting of that one difference and went out of his way to show that he wasn't one of them.

"You two known each other long?" Beast asked just to make conversation, keeping his voice neutral and light.

"We grew up together. The Clan is actually many Clans all gathered from different areas nearby here. We're both from the Deer Clan just like Valentin. We all grew up not far from here by Pastor's lake, that place I was telling you about earlier. When the Dognan war really started gearing up, Valentin convinced a lot of young men to join up with him. Justin convinced our parents to let us come here with him and join the fight."

Henry nodded, but he'd caught something in Bruce's tone. "Doesn't sound like to me like it was your decision."

Bruce thought carefully before he spoke. "Justin wanted to fight. I didn't want to leave him behind. We've been close friends for a long time." He looked up at Henry warily, waiting for judgement. He knew Henry had caught on to him and Justin alarmingly fast, but Beast just smiled at him warmly.

"I understand, my friend. These things are never easy. It seems as though it worked out all right for you. You have a good position here."

Bruce relaxed noticeably. "It's all right. All this technical knowledge is dry and more than a little boring, but it keeps me off the field. I'll be the first to admit I've never been much of a fighter, not like Justin there. He lives for the fight. He spends all of his free time practicing how to do it all better. I can't help but wonder what he'll do when the war is over, if we pull this off, I mean."

"I'm sure things will work out for you guys," Beast said, ever the optimist. He leaned back and stretched, cracking his neck and shoulders. "Why don't you go along and join him. We can pick this up tomorrow. I'm in need of some rest myself."

"Why don't you join us?"

Clan food. Henry couldn't stop the shudder of revulsion that made him shiver. "My apologies, but your Clan food doesn't quite agree with me."

Bruce just smiled. "I know what you mean. It took some time for me to get used to it myself. Pastor's Lake was the best for hunting, but it's been so long now I hardly remember what decent food tastes like. I've lost a lot of weight since I've lived here."

"No offense but I hope I'm not here that long," Henry joked and steered Bruce towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"None taken. Later," Bruce said and left quickly, going the way Justin had gone.

(break)

The time passed quickly for the X-men as they and the Clan prepared for the final assault on the Dognan. Valentin kept a close watch on the alpha troops and was always around, making sure all was going well. He was in charge of the big raid and had full rights to use as many of the alphas and best trained Clan troops as he wished. He worked closely with Beast and Wolverine as they laid out their ideas and moved his people around to suit them, actions that only caused Wolverine's opinion of him to grow. He treated both Henry and Logan with respect and listened to what they had to say.

Valentin behaved very differently here in the Station than he had out in the field when the X-men first met him. He was obviously in charge, but didn't harass or abuse his men. It was quite the opposite actually – he worked closely with them in the training and practiced just as hard as they did. His skill in weaponry was clear as well as the hard work he'd gone through to obtain it. There were no ugly episodes, not like how Valentin had behaved with Kane or his people. It was if that same man didn't exist here, like Valentin suffered from some kind of split personality. If Logan hadn't seen him abuse Fallen so badly, his respect for Valentin would have come much more easily. As it was, Logan found himself liking Valentin very much against his better judgment.

Valentin was watchful of Gambit, but they hardly spoke. Valentin insisted that Remy come along with them out in the field, having watched his fighting skills with admiration. Logan knew it wasn't really Remy's thing, being that Gambit was more of a sneaky infiltrator than a hardened soldier, but it would allow them to stay together where Logan could keep an eye on his Cajun teammate.

Gambit continued to work with the alphas, brushing them up on their hand to hand skills, while also showing them some of his tricks from his days as a thief. There weren't many places he couldn't get into. He didn't share Logan's respect for Valentin, but Gambit had never seen real combat. He didn't realize as Logan did that Valentin was the kind of man who could get the job done in situations where most men would fall apart. Remy avoided Valentin as much as possible and concentrated on his work. He tried to keep his mind on his objective which was to get home in one piece and get back to his girl.

Logan worked with a small crew of alphas, teaching them how make plastique and other small bombs from the materials the Clan had stolen from the Dognan. As promised, they learned quickly and soon they had a good supply of explosives primed and ready for use.

Henry was used more for the planning stages of things and organizing, but he and Bruce also helped out with helping the Clan to salvage what they could from whatever tidbits of technology Fallen managed to steal form the Dognan. It was quite a bit. There were two way radios and tracking devices, armor and weapons to compliment Wolverine's collection of explosives.

When the last plans were finalized, Logan came by to see Henry to learn what he and Bruce had come up with. They made good use of the blue prints Fallen had provided and came up with a decent strategy. The plan was to assault the Dognan stronghold in the three stages. First they would hit the main munitions and supply dump on the outside of the complex, near the ruined city. This would take out the steam out of the Dognan defense and hopefully make the next stages easier and less dangerous.

Next, they would blow up the living quarters where most of the Dognan soldiers were stationed. The Dognan wouldn't be able to fight if most of them were dead.

Then they would go for the main complex itself. This was more difficult because they would actually have to get inside. At first, Logan said this was impossible, but changed his mind when Henry showed him the scrolled blue prints of the complex. There were small marks and comments on the margins. Logan looked at the marks on the corners and turned to Henry, "Who's mark is that?"

Henry grinned. "Seth's. He organized the documents after he hacked them off of a Dognan computer. He's quite sneaky and clever, you know. Some of the remarks came from Kimble. What marvelous handwriting he has. He makes good use of the hologram, as I had told you. It was his suggestion that we hit the main reactor in the center. He was able to determine that destroying that would cause an explosion big enough to bring the whole building down."

"How're we gonna get those charges in there? Looks complicated."

"Easy. We'll have our Cajun friend sneak in through the ventilation shafts and plant the charges while the rest of you create a diversion outside. Shouldn't be too difficult."

"How we gonna get outta there on time?"

"Jacob and Reese. We 'port in and use what few pilots we have to move you guys around as we need to. All you have to do is make enough fuss for Remy to get the job done and then get out as fast as you can. It's so simple it has to work."

"Have you talked to Gambit yet?"

"I'll tell him after supper. I can't see how it would be a problem."