(Three)

Valentin had been one of the last ones to wake and when he saw the crowd gathered at the cage's edge, he knew there had been trouble. Ever cautious, he had taken the time to recover his sword, reaching under his seat silently and without being noticed. He gripped it now in a white knuckled hand, furious. He had been stunned when he saw Kimble in the cage. Sure he knew the Siskan existed in the computer, but since he had never known about the personality's ability to come out in a hologram, his shock was doubled. But what had truly enraged him was seeing the Honor Sword Mark proudly displayed on Kimble chest. Valentin had always wanted the Mark for himself but was never quite good enough. Now Fallen had put the Mark on this freak. He now understood why Kimble and Seth had always worn shirts when in his presence. Fallen had given this Mark to her pets and had been hiding it all this time. Her insolence knew no boundaries and she would pay dearly for this.

"What the hell is going on?" Valentin bellowed in his outrage.

Wolverine gripped Valentin's shoulder and heaved the First General away from the cage. He spun him around and shoved him back into Joseph who had come to his aid. Logan snarled, "Back off! The guy's a little busy!" Valentin advanced, but paused when Logan popped his claws. "Not a good idea, bub."

Valentin unsheathed his sword and tossed the scabbard aside. Joseph moved in behind him and followed suit.

"We should have left you to rot on Cerise!" Valentin snarled and lunged at Wolverine.

One thing about arrogant men was their predictability. Logan knew he was going to charge and when he did, sidestepped him easily with a well trained grace. He grabbed Valentin's sword arm as he came forward and stuck his own leg out, tripping him. Logan used the big man's momentum to spin him around while still gripping his wrist, snapping both bones in his forearm. There was a sickening crack as the bones gave way, a sharp report like the sound of a gun going off, and Valentin howled in pain. All of this took less than a second.

Joseph never hesitated to aid his Master. He stepped up and plunged his sword through Wolverine's stomach, a mad grin on his lips.

His hands still full with Valentin, Logan never had a chance to defend himself. He didn't give the scream of pain Joseph was seeking, he had experienced far worse than this, but only grunted loudly as the blade slid right through him. Wolverine released Valentin involuntarily, his body going into shock even if his brain didn't quite catch up with it yet. He fell back into the seats, taking Joseph's sword down with him.

Valentin, now released, finished his forward motion as his legs buckled and his sword fell to the floor with a clatter, signaling his defeat.

Gambit had revived from Fallen's suicidal jump just after Logan and was on the ball quickly, all of his training coming to serve him well. He'd sensed the impending attack just as Logan had and reacted immediately to the Clansmen's advance. He was too far away to stop Valentin but next dove at Joseph, protecting his teammate from being stabbed again. He was worried for Logan sure, but had compartmentalized it for now, seeking only to keep the damage to a minimum. Logan would heal if given the chance. Remy clothes-lined Joseph across the neck and dragged him to the floor before smashing Joseph's face with a sharp crack of his elbow, stunning him.

Beast was up now as well. He looked past all this to observe a half drugged, drunken Bruce stagger woozily to his feet. Bruce had woken from the sedative he'd been given just in time to see Valentin rush the X-men. He didn't comprehend what he was seeing, only knew that he was supposed to back up his Master in any situation and had risen to do so. He held a sword in his hands, but was clearly in no condition to use it. Bruce's foggy brain understood only that Valentin was howling in pain and he was somehow supposed to do something about it. He jerked forward in a sloppy lunge with the sword, but Beast easily grabbed his wrist and twisted it with just enough force to make Bruce to drop his weapon without actually hurting him. He had more control than Wolverine and had no desire to see his friend injured.

Bruce growled with pain and staggered back as he was released. "What's going on?"

"Just calm down and take it easy," Henry tried to soothe, but though he saw only fear and disbelief in Bruce's eyes, explanations would have to wait for a calmer moment. He moved closer and blocked the aisle before Bruce could try to do any more harm.

Bruce backed up and grumbled with frustration, but stayed put.

Meanwhile, Valentin had gathered some of his wits. He reached again for his sword with his good hand, but cried out in surprise when Maylee stomped down on his fingers, pinning him. She stood over him, holding a small dagger in her trembling hands, an unspoken threat. Valentin, outnumbered and now injured, pulled back and sat back on his haunches to reassess his situation. He sensed Henry looming behind him and gave it up — for now.

Wolverine tried to regain his footing, but kept getting the sword that was still trapped in his guts hung up on the seats. He cursed through a snarl and slowly drew it out, tearing the flesh that had foolishly tried to heal around it. Blood gushed out in a warm river down his legs, but stopped almost immediately once the sword was removed. The cut had sealed itself, preventing blood loss, but the internal injury itself would take longer to heal. It was still very painful and he shut it out as the long years of his life had trained him to do. He would worry about that later, when he was sure the fighting was done. He did notice a large rip in his shirt and swore again, he should have known better than to put his good Earth clothes back on. This was the second time in two days he had his guts ripped to pieces. He could heal, but two such serious injuries in so little time made him tired and sore. He heaved himself up with a grunt and took a step towards Valentin who was still crouched in the aisle.

"Are we done?" Logan grumbled at him impatiently.

Valentin raised his hands in surrender and said nothing, but his eyes were wild with defiance.

Logan looked at Maylee. "We got anything to tie these guys up with?"

"I think Fallen's got some rope in the galley." She left to retrieve it.

Gambit had Joseph pinned quite nicely, and snorted with his usual arrogance. "Not much of a contest if you ask me, homme."

"Yeah, well, you didn't get stabbed," Wolverine complained.

"Heh, mebbe next time."

Maylee returned with the rope and they began to tie up the Clansmen.

Valentin glared at Bruce. " 'Bout time you woke up, you fuckin' faggot. Not like you did us any good," he hissed with real contempt.

Bruce just lowered his eyes and allowed himself to be bound with no argument. He had no clue what was going on. He had no idea where they were, or even why he was on the ship at all, only that some kind of mutiny had taken place. As he was tossed back into his seat, he looked with wonder at the scene playing out inside the cage.