(Five)
The X-men slept well and were refreshed and happy when they woke. They rose, excited and ready to get this battle over with so they could go home. They cleaned up and got dressed before wandering out to the galley.
Remy had passed on Clan dress this morning and put his X-men clothes back on. He was overjoyed when Fallen had returned his much missed leather duster, it had been left behind on her ship when they were taken prisoner by the Clan all those weeks ago. He wanted his long coat for the pockets and the flexibility of the spandex pants for greater mobility, leather never really was his favorite. He hadn't liked the Clan dress at all, he was self conscious about his scars and he felt exposed without a shirt. His boots were also of a much higher quality, he wasn't one to scrimp when it came to his protective gear. They were made of fine leather and fit snugly, giving his ankles support in case he had to do any jumping around. His chest plate was flexible, but reinforced with durable Kevlar and gave him a sense of security. If any shrapnel were to go flying, at least his torso would be protected.
The others seemed to have no such concerns. Well, Henry wasn't going out in the field so that was no big deal, but Logan didn't seem nervous about going out to plant bombs in little more than black leather pants and boots. There was something to be said for having a healing factor.
Fallen was waiting them in the galley and had some things out on the table. She had set out a nice breakfast of fresh bread and fruit, plus some ground grains as cereal. It was sweetened with some form of honey and was quite tasty. Henry was impressed, he had seen no bees here, never mind farmers growing crops. Most of what she had placed out for them must have been gathered and prepared by either her or Maylee.
Fallen had also put together some small backpacks with travel food and water for Logan and Gambit. The two of them would participate in the actual raids while Henry remained behind on the Lucky Dragon co-ordinating the various teams.
While he ate, Logan looked at what she'd put out for them. "What're those packs for?"
"Let it not be said the Clan treats its prisoners poorly," she teased. "There's some food here for you and some water." She tossed Remy a leather bag. He caught it easily and smiled when he felt the weight of it. He opened it and saw it was full of marble sized ball bearings. "Those might come in handy," she suggested.
"Merci, mon chere," he said with a grin and slipped the pouch into one of his roomy pockets. Cards were good, but bearings even better, they went farther and carried a stronger charge. The stronger the charge, the bigger the bang. He was sorry he'd lost his retractable bo staff to the Dognan, it could've come in handy today. He had his wooden one, but it wasn't the same.
"De rien," she replied to Gambit then laughed when he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Don't get excited, that's the extent of my French other than some swears. Don't be shy with those bearings, I've got plenty more." Fallen turned to Logan as well and locked them both firmly with her eyes. "Now, you two be careful out there. I'm counting on you coming back. I've considered Henry's proposal and a trip back to Earth is sounding more and more appealing. I need you as an excuse to get out of here so try not to get killed, okay?" she said only half joking.
"You'll take us home, then?" Henry asked, his eyes hopeful.
"Yes, if I get the opportunity. If we pull this off today, I might be able to get things rolling quickly so we can all be free of this place. It will take some luck and prayers, but I think I can manage it." She looked back at Wolverine and Gambit. "Be wary of Valentin. Don't let him bully you or use you unwisely."
"We'll be careful. Don't worry," Logan promised, his mood vastly improved by the thought of going home.
She gave them each a small black box. "Take these. Hide them. Those are tracking devices. Only use them if you get in trouble and don't let Valentin know you have them. You activate them like this..." She showed them a small button on one side. "Seth can find you anywhere on this rock. If you activate it, sit tight and we'll come pick you up."
They enjoyed their quick breakfast and ate well, knowing they weren't going to eat so well if they ended up back at the Station. Seth and Kimble joined them a few minutes later from the screen, a welcome surprise. Seth seemed to have recovered from yesterday's trouble and was smiling and joking around with Kimble as always.
They briefly went over the day's plans. They had three targets to hit today if all went well. First was the munitions and fuel dump, the second was a large barracks, and the third was the main Dognan complex itself. The last would be the most risky, since the first two targets were fairly isolated. The last one was a huge building and much better guarded. The hope was that destroying these three main targets would so cripple the Dognan slavers that they would be forced to leave Cerise for good. The truth was, Cerise was so badly damaged from all the fighting, there wasn't much left to keep. What little there was, the Clan wanted and was determined to have it.
They moved into the Main Room and everyone took their places. They settled in and the Lucky Dragon took off for the staging area. The flight was quick, only an hour or so. Henry was interested in the ship and how it was flown, he asked lots of questions and Fallen answered them with a laugh. She was in fact a powerful telekinetic and used her power to guide the ship as well as producing the Ristle as fuel for the engines. The ship could not be flown without her. Henry was sorry they didn't have time to explore the ship further, he would have loved to see the engines and know them better. Perhaps after all of this was done, he might get that chance.
As they flew along, Kimble was joking around and in a good mood as he teased his brother and Fallen. He did in fact have quite the large library of jokes, both dirty and innocent, and he had them all in stitches most of the time. His good humor was infectious and they landed at the rendevous place in high spirits.
They were met outside the Lucky Dragon by Valentin and his crew who had teleported out to the site the night before. Several large squads of men were here to be used for this mission, clumped together with their leaders. Most of them were packing up the gear they had used overnight, folding up the tents and putting out the cooking fires. Logan and Remy joined the alpha squad that was headed up by Valentin and were paired off with their partners for the day. It was believed they would all fare better with the buddy system in place. Logan would go with Valentin and Remy with Bruce.
Bruce wore a modern headset radio that he and Henry had scrounged up from somewhere and was in link with Henry back on the ship. They would stay closely in touch throughout all three stages of the operation and Beast wouldmonitor their progress from the Lucky Dragon. It still surprised Logan to see the odd combination of Medieval and modern out here. Swords and radios, teleporters and bow and arrows. He just shook his head in wonder and kept moving.
Bruce was nearby and he joked and chatted with Justin as he waited for all the various squads to get ready. The two men were playing around, but with such a large crowd of men, showed no signs of intimacy and behaved as if they were nothing more than just good friends. No one seemed to know they were more than that and Beast wasn't about to comment on it. Both men carried bows and shot off a few practice rounds while they waited, showing off. Both were excellent shots and confident.
Reese was there, too, although he would be used for the next trip later this day. It was decided to alternate the teleporters to give each one a break. Jacob would be moving them first. Reese sat crouched at Valentin's feet, a dusty, humble human dog. Like before, he was dressed in the ragged pants and wore no boots. He didn't speak, but growled and barked up at his Master. Valentin would nod and respond back, somehow understanding him perfectly. Reese kept a wary eye on Wolverine, sniffing at him and showing his teeth.
Logan returned in kind, not letting this dirty little creep think he was superior because he was Valentin's Third. Logan stood very close, invading the smaller man's personal space fearlessly and made sure it was Reese who backed down. Valentin let them play their little game without interfering. He was entertaining thoughts of making Logan an officer if he decided to stay. Wolverine certainly seemed very comfortable out here in this military atmosphere and Valentin had no doubt the man would be a valuable asset to the cause.
Valentin made sure everyone had their cloaking devices and that the timers on the charges had all been set properly. All seemed to be in order so they readied to depart. Jacob gathered them all together and concentrated, working his magic. He teleported them in close to the munitions warehouse, a site about two miles from where they had camped.
This was the first of their three targets for the day. The warehouse was located near the ruined city and not well protected considering what was supposedly inside. The Dognan had lost territory here to the Clan raiders bit by bit and were stretched out much too thin to guard it as well as such a tasty target deserved. In spite of this building having been built by an alien race, the structure was similar to any warehouse back home, as if it had been plucked off the earth as the humans had been and placedt here. The warehouse was a long cinderblock building with many windows and doors, most of them open and unguarded. If their information was correct, this building contained weapons and fuel for some of the larger Dognan fighting ships. It should go up with a spectacular bang.
The Clansmen split off into their assigned pairs to plant the charges. Logan had prepared these bundles of explosives for this occasion, cocktails of C4 and dynamite. Logan was playing for keeps. He had trained these men how to handle the explosives over the past weeks, hopefully well enough that no one would get blown up by accident. It had been a crash course, most government agencies back home wouldn't have remotely considered giving such dangerous ordinance to newly trained men, but out here they had to make due with what they had.
The Clansmen and their complimentary X-men were all cloaked and moved about easily for the most part. The Clansmen men had been well trained by Valentin as far as sneaking about without being noticed was concerned and they moved stealthily and quietly. Logan couldn't help but be impressed by their skill and he could now see how these men who lived as little more than savages had gotten as far against the Dognan as they had. The Dognan couldn't retaliate against what they couldn't see or hear. They were as sneaky quiet as any other black ops team Logan had worked with in the past, moving like deadly shadows along the outside walls and up through the windows to get inside.
Wolverine and Valentin came up on a pair of Dognan sentries that were a little more wary then the others but dispatched them quickly and quietly. It was the only the trouble they encountered.
Remy followed Bruce as he had been ordered to, but was still uncomfortable with all of this. He didn't mind the sneaking around, but the explosives they were planning to use made him nervous. He knew those things were tricky and had always refused jobs back home where they were involved. More than one fellow thief in his Guild had blown off a finger or two during a pinch and he wasn't interested in the least in joining their ranks.
They went in through one of the unguarded doors and made their way over to where some large drums of fuel were placed. Gambit was happy enough to let Bruce do all the work as far as planting the bombs near some large containers of fuel and setting the timers. Remy stood over him protectively, holding up his end by covering him in case of trouble. It was quiet in the nook they had chosen and they got in and out with no trouble. Remy couldn't hide his relief when it was over. Maybe all this was going to go more easily than he had feared.
Logan planted his own charges and stepped back to watch over the other teams as they worked. He observed Valentin nearby doing the same and continued to be impressed with Valentin's skill and bravery. Out here, the man was still in charge, but had taken no less risk than his men. He walked silently among the sentries, taking out the threats and placing his own explosive charges himself. Handling explosives was always a risky business even for the well trained, but he showed no fear or concern for himself. He was all business and did what had to be done and got out of there. It wasn't long before all the charges were in place and all the pairs regrouped around the front.
"This is too easy, my friend," Valentin complained with a grin. "I almost feel sorry for them."
"I don't," Logan replied, remembering the pens.
They teleported back in a flash of bright light, reappearing not far from Fallen's ship. They had a spectacular view of the warehouse from their safe distance and watched as it exploded. All the fuel and munitions caught fire and a huge fireball burst out to the sky, going up red and orange and black. A wave of heat and acrid smell washed over them, but it was intensely satisfying. Phase One was complete with ease and no casualties.