Disclaimer: Goes without saying but I do not own any of the X-Men characters, nor any other Marvel character herein included. They're the properties of the original creators as dictated by official documents, whom you can find out more about in Wikipedia or something. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics, etc.

Rating: T for a bit of violence. I censor profanity like they would in a comic, if I ever use it.

(This story happens in the same timeline/universe as Spider-Man: Repulse, Bruce Banner: The Abysmal, Avengers: The Galaxy's Mightiest, and The Mighty Thor: Moxy. but it's self contained!)

PART 10: X-Men Earth

There were no more contractors in the base, so the conclusion to the mission was pretty anti-climactic.

Bobby went and froze the entire room where the bombs were stored, from top to bottom, so no signal would be able to reach them, let alone a person. Meanwhile, Ororo calmed the storm in time for at least part of the underground base to be left intact.

However, as far as anything above ground was concerned, it was complete devastation.

The soldiers fought to the very last, so it took too long of a while for Ororo to reach the communication room in person where she able to talk to Beast herself.

Ororo's very first question must not have come as a surprise. "How are Phoenix and her team?"

"Mission successful, despite setbacks very much like yours," Henry reported, concerned. "You don't sound like you're in that good of a shape, my dear."

Ororo scoffed, trading glances with the rest of her team. They were still waiting for Dust's frozen pieces to get warm enough that she could assemble herself. "What setbacks? Are they okay or not?"

"They are heading your way as we speak. A team of Madripoorean mutants were the contractors there. They set up a good ambush but Magma was a bit too powerful for them."

We should all be too powerful for our foes to contend with. I split the team completely wrong, Ororo thought, berating herself in silence.

Despite that, each and every one of her X-Men had acted admirably. They didn't lose hope and they were very quick to act once the opportunity presented itself. Dust, especially, was of note, and she was precisely the member Ororo had questioned the most.

That was always how such things went.

"I gather there is no information on who K.I.A. is?" Henry asked. "Every other strike has required immediate extraction, so there hasn't been enough time to search in that sense. Stark tried to get something, but it turns out they scrubbed every database on every base we have been hitting. I gather they must have done so as soon as our strikes were revelead."

"Dark Beast was here," Ororo said. She was so tired. She was sitting in front of the communicator, but she was holding her face in her hands. Too tired to sit up straight.

Ororo started massaging her face. "He took over the base so they couldn't betray him, so we might get lucky. Hisako's doing what she can, but everything is in a weird language."

"Weird how, my dear? Don't you recognize the characters?" Henry asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's alien," Ororo said. "I can't place it, but I know it's alien. I also found some dossiers with K.I.A spelled out, but that's the same alien language."

"This is phenomenal!" Henry announced, beyond happy. "The Avengers have recovered absolutely nothing of note. I will let them know, but I certainly would want first crack at whatever you find. I'm confident that with Cypher's help, we shall get to the bottom of this conundrum before you can say stars and garters."

"That's good, because there's no way I can figure this out," said Hisako, slapping at the machine frustrated.

Turns out that wasn't a communications room. It was some kind of main headquarters room. It was likely the most important room in the whole base.

Ororo didn't much care about that, though. "I put Dark Beast and Mesmero in a cell, along with every soldier I thought would wake up soon, but there are a lot of soldiers who can still cause us trouble."

"Phoenix will be there within the hour," Beast guaranteed. "I will have to let you know later whom shall be sent to collect all the data."

"What happened with the fifth base?" Ororo asked, disappointed. "I imagine you sent the Avengers in?"

"Ah, yes! I did take some liberties regarding that particular situation. The Avengers were not required, as it turned out. I contacted our allies at X-Force, and asked them to intercede on our behalf."

Ororo nodded. It still felt like a loss to need assistance in that manner, but it was definitely better that it came from their own. "Good thinking, Beast. We will be standing by, contact us if necessary."

"Will do, Storm, will certainly do!"

Storm leaned back against the chair, beyond tired.

"Not a fan of fighting several feet below the ice, huh?" Bobby asked, smirking at her, and Ororo rolled her eyes.

She was about to respond, but Sooraya's ice began to crack and crumble. They all turned to watch a hundred particles of sandy material break through the ice. Then, they whirled and spiraled, swiftly taking a human form.

Once she was complete, she immediately kneeled down on the ground, as if losing her balance. "Oh, thank God," Sooraya proclaimed, and rested her forehead on the ground with gratitude and relief. "I am back. I made it back."

"Storm told us what you did," Bobby said, walking next to her with his hands on his waist, looking proud. "That was badass, girl."

Hisako also stood up and approached, extending her hand to Sooraya. "You're really amazing Soo—Dust," Hisako said, awkwardly. "Super amazing, you saved all our butts."

Sooraya sighed and grasped Hisako's hand, allowing her to aid her into a stand. Then she looked to Ororo, facing her meaningfully. "And you saved mine."

Ororo tried not to relax her face too much. If she showed too much relief, the girl would realize the amount of danger she had been in.

"That is what X-Men are all about, right?" Sooraya asked.

Ororo scoffed, shaking her head. She was still so sore, and beyond tired. Her head was hurting immensely, and her nose was plugged so it wouldn't bleed quite so much. At the end of it all, they had faced quite difficult odds as far as their first mission was concerned. But each and every single one of her team members had been dependable. Professional.

Heroic.

Storm felt honored that she had been offered to lead that team. Wolverine had been given the leadership on the team that had been put together to address street-level crime, and Kitty had preferred to stay with the children at the school as a full time teacher and administrator. With Rogue being a part of the joint Avengers and X-Men team, and Cyclops not an option, she had been selected.

Still, whether due to the absence of others or not, she knew from the start that she could do the job. After all, she had led the X-Men before on many occasions.

That team was, without a doubt, odd. Each member was part of a group of friends and brothers in arms with which they had faced many battles and many wars, and much grief, and neither of them were there. They were all new to each other, except for her.

Storm knew them all, and they knew her, and they respected her.

And she respected them.

"That is what it means to be X-Men," Ororo agreed.

It wasn't, really, not according to Charles, but as much as she respected him and his ideals, Ororo had her own. She had her own vision for her team and what they should prioritize.

When the plane loses pressure, and the oxygen masks come out, one is supposed to take care of themselves before addressing the ones they are responsible for. That was the logic behind her view of X-Men.

X-Men would not be saving anyone, least of all the world, if they can't save themselves.

"Our first mission has been successful," Ororo announced to them all. "X-Men Earth have saved the world for the first time. And believe me, it will not be the last."

Ororo looked up, closing her eyes with a heavy breath. She couldn't wait to get back to the mansion and receive some proper treatment for her wounds. They were really bothering her.

"But more importantly," Ororo added with a smile. "We lost nothing."

"I lost a bit of pride, actually. I mean, almost getting done in by Mesmero?" Bobby pointed out, appalled. "Of all the ways to be in trouble, seriously. And not to mention the poor man's Beast completely out-smarting-"

"Shut up, Iceman!" they all said, using different tones of frustration, but united in their protest.

Part End: Thank you for reading, please consider leaving a review if you have the time.

Hope you enjoyed the read, and felt the characters were well executed. Hopefully, I'll follow up with the parallel story that went on with Stark and his Avengers. And find out more about those behind K.I.A.