Ground Support
"Rogue, duck!"
Rogue heeded Bobby's warning just in time for the bullets to fly harmlessly over her head. A blast of ice flew over her head in the opposite direction, slamming the armored assailant into the wall with sufficient force to knock him out.
Rogue smiled as her boyfriend helped her up. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Bobby answered with a huge grin.
"BOBBY!"
Bobby turned around just in time to see another gunman taking aim. He cursed under his breath and fired an ice blast—or tried to, at least. Bobby frowned, staring at his own hands in confusion, and realized there was absolutely no cover he or Rogue could reach before the gunman fired.
"And you're dead," Storm announced calmly.
Fortunately the bullets were only holographic, and the simulation simply ended when they made contact with Rogue and Bobby's sensor suits.
Bobby kicked at the floor in frustration, and Rogue rolled her eyes.
"We completed all the objectives," Bobby complained. "The conditions for victory were met."
Storm sounded a bit too amused as she answered, "I see. Perhaps you forgot to mention that to the terrorists before they shot you?"
"We screwed up," Rogue admitted. "But you have to admit, we did pretty good."
"Yes," Storm mock-agreed, "you performed admirably right up until the point where you got shot."
Bobby sighed. "We'll do better next time."
"Good!" Storm exclaimed cheerfully. "Because next time starts… right now."
xxx
Bobby collapsed against the wall next to the danger room door, breathing rapidly and wiping sweat from his forehead; he hated sweating. Thanks to his powers he almost never perspired, but right now he was so exhausted he couldn't suppress it like he usually did.
He felt hot. He hated feeling hot.
"What was that back there?" Rogue asked as she entered the hallway behind him.
Bobby looked up at his girlfriend. "You mean aside from brutal and unnecessary?"
Rogue frowned at his negativity, and then said, "You know what I mean, Bobby. What happened the first time? Why couldn't you just use your powers to freeze that guy?"
"I'm not sure," Bobby admitted.
At that moment Storm emerged from the control room, and Bobby groaned with the effort of rising to his feet next to Rogue.
"That was much better," Storm commended.
"It felt a lot worse," Bobby complained.
Storm crossed her arms. "I would have thought being alive would feel much better than being dead, Mr. Drake. But if you'd prefer to run the simulation again to achieve your preferred state—?"
"No, ma'am!" Bobby answered quickly.
"Good," Storm said with an approving nod.
"Where's Cyclops?" Bobby asked, suddenly noticing the absence. "Isn't he usually here for the de-briefs?"
"Scott…" Storm hesitated, "is taking some time off. I'll be taking his place as team leader temporarily. If he were here, though, I'm sure he would agree with me that your second simulation was superb. Good communication, good teamwork, and excellent use of your powers."
"Yeah, about the teamwork," Rogue interjected. "Not to be ungrateful for the extra practice time, but… why us and not the rest of the class? And why were you so hard on us? Do you know something you're not telling us?"
"That wasn't just any extra training, Rogue," Storm answered. "The Professor has decided to grant both of you combat status. Starting tomorrow you'll be training with Logan, Kurt, and I."
Bobby's eyes lit up, and Rogue smiled. "That's great!" the excitable Bobby commented.
"Yeah," Rogue agreed cautiously. "But what about the others? Peter and Kitty have almost as much experience as we do, and even Jubilee is coming along nicely in self defense class."
"They don't have the field experience you two have," Storm explained.
"But Peter was instrumental in the evacuation of the Mansion."
Storm looked thoughtful for a moment, and then agreed, "Yes, Peter showed exceptional leadership and poise during that situation. I'll be sure to speak to the Professor about your recommendation. In the meantime, however, you should both consider yourselves full members of the X-Men team. You'll start understanding exactly how things are going to change for you starting tomorrow," Storm smiled, "but for tonight, feel free to enjoy yourselves."
Rogue actually hugged Storm in excitement, and Bobby smiled and said a simple, "Thanks."
xxx
The White House Situation Room was arguably the most secure room in the world. For most of its life it had owed this distinction to the anti-electronic surveillance measures, but today it was also one of the few rooms in the world that used the latest experimental anti-telepathy technology outside of a laboratory setting.
The room was simple enough, considering it contained everything the President of the United States needed to plan and monitor a war without leaving the room. Most of that was communications equipment – very secure communications equipment. Otherwise, the most important assets were his advisors. The most prominent of those currently present was Secretary of Defense Bolivar Trask.
That distinction arguably shifted when the marine guards opened the doors to admit a dress uniformed general of the special forces. The mood in the room noticeably shifted when the distinguished-looking man with the black eye patch entered the room.
"General Fury," the President greeted warmly. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
"I serve at the pleasure of the President," Fury answered calmly, taking the seat the President gestured towards.
"General Fury," Secretary Trask began, "the purpose of this briefing is informational; both for us and for you."
Fury smiled wryly. "As opposed to the other briefings where we just shoot the breeze, Mr. Secretary?"
Trask's eyes narrowed, and there was and undercurrent of tension in the room. It was well known that Trask and Fury didn't care for each other, and while most of the military personnel in the room would obviously side with Fury, they couldn't simply degenerate into an overt verbal sparring match with the President in the room.
Fortunately, the Secretary was all business. "General, we would be very interested in hearing your informed opinion of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s preparedness for cooperation with the Sentinel Program."
Fury's expression noticeably hardened, but the President raised his hand to forestall any argument on the General's part. "Your objections to the Program have been heard and noted, General. And as Secretary Trask mentioned, this briefing is purely informational."
Fury rubbed his forehead nervously. "Sir, my objections to the Program itself aside, I don't see any real tactical advantage to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working in direct conjunction with the Sentinels. Our operational protocols are… not compatible."
Trask leaned forward dangerously. "Are you saying you would disobey a direct order from your Commander in Chief?"
"Of course not, Mr. Secretary," Fury answered indignantly. "I'm merely pointing out that it's difficult to assess S.H.I.E.L.D.'s readiness when I don't know what kind of operation we're talking about."
The President leaned forward. "Talk to me about ground support."
Fury nodded stiffly. "Yes, sir. But, Mr. President—I must once again record my strongest possible—"
"We've been over this before, General," Trask interrupted, sounding bored. "Public opinion will back us up on this. The public just wants us to do something about the mutant problem. At this point, I very much doubt they will object to anything we decide to do."
Fury was starting to get truly angry at Trask. He was dangerously close to losing his famous calm as he answered, "But this is just wrong! Doesn't that matter to anyone?"
"Thank you, General Fury," the President cut him off. "But let us turn to your informed opinion on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s readiness to provide armed ground support, if you please."
xxx
"Does anyone else think it's hilarious that we're having a mission briefing about a parade?" Wolverine asked the room as a whole.
Xavier forced a smile. "Thank you, Logan.
"All of the final details have been arranged; every mutant group we've invited except for Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow has agreed to attend. Media outlets have been contacted."
"So what's left for us to do, exactly?" Storm asked.
"The NYPD has warned us to expect protestors," Xavier explained. "I fully trust the official authorities to ensure the peace, but I will need all of you to be particularly vigilant. Especially considering how many of our students and other mutant civilians will be attending."
"Not to distract anyone from this very important parade," Wolverine rejoined, "but how exactly is this helping us find Magneto?"
"It is helping us – all of us – by giving Mutant Rights' Issues visibility and media exposure to combat the sensationalist propaganda about us," Storm argued.
After a short pause, Wolverine concluded, "So… it's not, then."
Xavier ignored the interruption and continued, "Bobby, Rogue, this is going to be your first official mission with the X-Men, and I have no reason to expect it will be anything but uneventful."
"Yeah, sounds like a real snooze-fest," Wolverine agreed.
"Just remember to follow Storm and the others' lead." Xavier paused to smile warmly. "I am very proud of both of you.
"We leave for New York in two hours. Everyone please take care of any last minute preparations, and remember to tell your students that attendance is optional but highly encouraged."
"Who's staying behind to mind the shop?" Wolverine asked.
The others exchanged glances, as they suddenly realized that they had all been planning on attending.
"I'm afraid you won't be getting off that easily, Logan. Scott has graciously offered to delay his leave of absence to watch over any students who choose not to attend."
Wolverine snorted. "Babysitting? I'm not sure which one of us is getting off easy."
