Summary : The Clansmen make their move against the Dognan slavers. Will the X-men finally earn their ride home?
Notes: This is part three of my Kimble series, you will need to read the other two before beginning this. :)
Rated M for language, violence and non-explicit sexual situations.
AU but only because I chose to change a few things in my dear friends' histories for simplification, nothing drastic so please forgive. I wrote this for a friend who didn't read the comics so there is a bit of back history and explanation on who everyone is and what their powers are. I've been working on this story for years so I do ask that you don't use any of my non-Marvel universe characters without my permission. I love my Siskans as I do my children.
I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for reading this, I'm like a kid at Christmas watching my hit counter tick slowly but steadily upwards. I only had just a couple of readers before I posted this on fanfiction so yeah, I'm happy. (!) Thanks especially for those who reviewed, it's always nice to hear a kind word and the helpful hints have been very appreciated.
To answer your question Roughneck 17, yes, there will be more X-men in this story later on and more of my favorite villains, including Sabretooth and Wildchild – I have a thing for my ferals if you hadn't noticed!
2-7-2011 ~ Just a quick note to say that I have just revised some of the material in this book since it was first posted years ago. I didn't change any of the events, I just wanted to clean up any spelling and grammar mistakes I could find and well, try to make the writing itself a bit better. I plan to do this with all of the stories I have posted but since I have such a huge collection of books, it will take me a long while. I apologize now for any inconsistencies you may encounter going forward, there will be a point where my revisions have left off and you'll probably notice it as you read along. Please forgive me. – Squeekness
10-12-13 - Updated, added (breaks)s as necessary.
(One)
Henry sat at his work station, fumbling through the last of the detonators. The date for the big offensive had been set for the next day and as much as he didn't like the idea of warfare, he was eager to get these done.
Beast was a creature of deep feelings though he didn't always articulate them. Here he was creating devices made to kill and yet you wouldn't know from the look on his face that the very act of doing this disturbed him greatly. Remy was not the only one with reservations about large scale killing, but Beast hadn't been able to get the acts of the slavers out of his mind. He recalled all too vividly the sounds of them killing off the humans that had been undesirable as slaves and the pens had been a horror. Those people had done nothing wrong other than be in the wrong place at the worst possible time. As much as he shared Gambit's revulsion to killing and war in general – as a doctor he'd had to repair too much of the collateral damage that many battles and stupid petty squabbles had left behind – he understood that sometimes it just had to be done.
Logan was aware of his teammates' reluctance to fight and had gone out of his way to remind them both about the callousness of such slavers. Any race that felt itself so superior that it could kill and enslave with such a lack of compassion and sympathy for the rights of others was one that had to be destroyed. The Dognan moved from world to world, how long before they decided they wanted more than just a few slaves from their own precious Earth and stole the rest of it?
Henry knew this, he did, but there was always that lingering doubt that not all of the Dognan men approved of such practices. A race that thought nothing of slavery no doubt used conscription as a means of replenishing their ranks. They could be killing many innocent people along with the guilty. Henry knew his history, Nazi Germany no doubt had its share of innocent Germans, but the regime as a whole had to go. This wasn't much different.
The one thing that did give Henry some selfish comfort was the knowledge that he wasn't going to be active in the field. He would be co-ordinating the various teams from the Lucky Dragon and not out in the actual fighting. It made this a little easier to bear.
Beast closed his eyes and rubbed them for a moment. These thoughts were painful and he was trying not to dwell on them. He also knew that this thing had to be done for them to earn their way home, as distasteful as it might be. He had tried to explore other avenues of getting their freedom a bit more cheaply, but the alternatives here were almost non-existent, there simply was no other way besides their co-operation with the Clan.
Beyond his initial outburst, Gambit, too, had gone quiet on the matter. He did as he was instructed and kept his thoughts to himself. The haunted look was in his eyes a bit more than before, however, and it was no secret that he was ready to just get this over with.
Lucky for him that would be the very next day. Another reason Beast was eager to finish today's work was that they had all been invited to spend what they hoped would be one of their last nights here with the Clan on the Lucky Dragon, being treated to Fallen's superior hospitality. It was an invitation none of them had even considered refusing.
The plan was for them to sleep overnight with Fallen and then she would fly them to the staging area in the morning. Beast was looking forward to some decent food and a good night's sleep – not to mention the luxury of a nice hot shower.
"You ready, Blue?"
Henry looked up into Wolverine's eyes, seeing his teammate had arrived to collect him a little early, no doubt thinking along the same lines he was. Logan had packed up their few meager belongings and was taking them along just in case this finished quickly. Remy was quiet but tense behind him, a small backpack and his bo staff in hand.
"Yes, I just have to pack up the last of this stuff."
They helped Beast gather the remaining ordinance for the offensive. Henry was in charge of the timers and detonators for the explosives, but he and Bruce had also scrounged some more two way radios and tracking devices that might come in handy. Bruce wasn't coming along with them to the Dragon, this had been an X-men only invite, Fallen's way of apologizing for their rough first meeting.
Maylee met them along the way, she was returning from her classes and had been told to keep an eye out for them to make sure they didn't get lost, and they followed her to the large hanger bay. The Lucky Dragon was parked in its usual place, ready and inviting. The ramp was down but the hatchway was locked. There was a small intercom box just outside the door and Maylee clicked a button on it. "Seth, it's me."
Seth was quick to answer, "Hey, Maylee. Did you find everyone okay?"
"Yes, they're all here."
"Good. You know the rules though. You'll have to wash up first. Fallen's in the workshop. You can use her lav. Take turns."
"Okay." Maylee clicked off and there was a loud snap as the hatch unlocked.
"What was that all about?" Logan grumbled.
"Fallen has this thing about being clean. She thinks all the Stations are filthy. She won't be happy unless we shower first. Is that a problem?"
Unanimously, "No!"
Maylee lead them into the ship and directly into Fallen's private lavatory. Logan noticed immediately as he entered that the air quality in the ship was much better than in the hanger, something Henry had mentioned from when he had visited here so recently, but it hadn't meant anything until he experienced it now for himself. It was much cleaner and he assumed she must have filters running.
In all the time they had spent on the Lucky Dragon before, none of the X-men had gone inside Fallen's lavatory. It was located to the back of the cage room, a private area just for her. The lav was generous for a bathroom, almost as big as the cage area itself and with plenty of room for everyone. There was a good supply of hot water so they could take as long as they liked to wash. Maylee smiled at them demurely and left.
While he waited for his turn in the shower, Logan took some time to check out the room. Fallen's lav was large and had lots of shelves. Towels, clothes and bedding were stacked neatly on one shelf and a generous supply of medical supplies were on another. There was a medium sized viewing screen mounted on the wall near the shower - so Fallen could talk with Seth, Maylee had explained. The sink area had a large vanity with a long mirror. She had a lot of items in jars lined up along the top of it, he saw some hand rolled cigarettes in one and helped himself. He also noted another jar with old style metal syringes and wondered why she would need so many. A closer look at her collection revealed she had quite the assortment of recreational drugs. He sniffed at the jars and winced at the smell, many of them were opiates and no doubt were the source of her habit.
Wolverine saw a washing machine and crammed all of their clothes into it. This machine was simple yet quite efficient, Maylee told them that it could wash their clothes in a matter of only a few minutes, something that would make Fallen a million bucks and then some if she ever had a mind to sell this technology back home. Logan was happy just for the privilege of using it, these small luxuries were most welcome after living in the grungy Clan caves all this time. It was almost like the Lucky Dragon was a time machine warping them back to civilization. He smiled at Remy as he stepped out of the shower and hopped in, grateful.
After everyone was cleaned up, they all felt refreshed and comfortable. As they left the lav, they were startled to hear loud, thumping dance music drifting up from the lower level. The affect on Gambit was immediate, he broke out into a wide smile and his pace quickened. He was a veteran of the many dance clubs nearby the Institute. Gambit loved a scrap, a chance to flex his muscles to the maximum, but more than that he loved to dance. It was a release for him and he could surely use that right now, all these weeks stressed out at Clan Station Nine had left him quite miserable.
Logan, knowing this, had to suppress a smile as he rushed to keep up.