Slowly and gently Raza brought the Starjammer to dock with the Imperial battlecruiser that Lilandra was presently calling home. Airlocks hissed to life, while machinery hooked the two ships securely together. "Here we go crew." Corsair stated, absentmindedly tugging wrinkles out of his 'uniform.' Together, the four made their way through the last airlock and into the cruiser where, as expected, Lilandra stood waiting. "Majestrix." Corsair greeted her, bowing mockingly. Behind him Ch'od laughed. The guards surrounding the Empress somehow seemed less amused, but Corsair could see that hidden glint of humor in the Empress' eyes.
"Corsair." She nodded. "As arrogant as ever." She finished in English walking over and embracing the man who had managed to save her life more times than she could count.
"Don't forget as handsome." Corsair laughed as well, pulling out of the embrace. "Or perhaps just debonair."
Lilandra allowed the smirk to settle. "Raza, always a pleasure." She said, holding out her hand for the suave pilot to kiss. "Hepzibah." she nodded to the woman who simply nodded in return. The two had never been close, Ch'od on the other hand...
"Lilandra!" he shouted, sweeping her into a monstrous hug that had half of her guards reaching for their weapons. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
The Empress just laughed as Ch'od placed her gracefully back on her own two feet. "It is wonderful to see you too, Ch'od." Looking at them the smile slowly faded, then died. "I wish these were happier circumstances, but fate never seems to give us those. I need all the information you can give me about where my Guard is, Raza." Raza nodded dutifully, turning to retrieve any relevant files from the Starjammer database immediately. "In the meantime, I must ask the three of you to do me a more personal favor. I am in serious need of a skilled bodyguard."
Looking at the men standing behind the Empress, Corsair agreed. None were seasoned fighters, or had any espionage training from the looks of them. Mostly the sons of minor nobility I would guess. Corsair thought, as he finished his once over of the gathered men. It would be mere simplicity for any but the least skilled assassins to slip through their ranks, and as Christopher Summers was well aware, assassination plots seemed to always spring up at the most inopportune times. He nodded. "Anything you need Lil, for a price of course." He added with a wink.
"Of course." Lilandra agreed, her smile returning once again.
* * * * *
"How can she do this?!" Ailon came very close to screeching, as she paced the confines of the advisors' chamber nervously. "We warned her against sending the Imperial Guard, but now to take on those...those...those..." frustrated, the woman just flung her arms up in the air as if to finish her rant.
"Pirates?" D'tar suggested, sitting in a corner and sipping from his drink calmly. Out of the four of the Empresses current advisors, D'tar was the only one who did not seem vexed by the Majestrix's choice in personal bodyguards. Ailon was too young to remember D'ken, and Tes'ral simply did not care. Only A'nok and himself remembered the role that the Starjammers played in putting Lilandra on the throne. And after all, D'tar did owe the crew his life for their help in keeping him from the madman's clutches. "The Starjammers are many things, child." D'tar said to the now silent and seething figure in the middle of the room, "And trustworthy is one of them. They would no more harm Lilandra than they would harm each other. They are almost as fanatically loyal to our Majestrix as you." That granted him a nod from A'nok, which he respectfully returned.
"But you misssss the heart of the problem." Tes'ral hissed from his corner of the room. "It doesh not matter if we or the Empresss trusht theshe Shtarjammersss." The other three looked at the skrull thoughtfully, and D'tar had to admit that this was the first time the skrull had ever offered a useful insight to any discussion. "The noblesh will never agree to having their Empresss guarded by vigilantesh."
"If they find out..." A'nok suggested.
"When they find out." Ailon corrected with doomed certainty. "What would you suggest we do, Tes'ral?" The young woman asked curiously.
D'tar would have sworn he saw the man smile viciously. "What of theshe earthlingsh the Empresss ish ssso closhe to, theshe Xss-Men?"
* * * * *
I just can't see the problem with testing children for the X-Factor before they enter school. Don't we as parents have a right to know if our children could be in jeopardy because they are going to school with a kid who has an out-of-control power? For Governor Ventura to just veto this bill in Minnesota, well, it just proves that the man has no respect for...
Bobby groaned, reached over and slapped the top of his alarm, hitting the snooze button without even looking at the numbers on the digital face. I hate morning radio, was the last thought that entered his head before he dozed back to sleep.
"Robert Drake." He thought he heard somebody calling his name, then just shrugged it off and rolled back over. The name repeated a few times and he continued to ignore it...until the crack of thunder.
"I'm up, Storm. I'm coming." He yelped, running full speed for his bathroom before she could catch him.
"Robert, this is the third time this week you have overslept!" Storm yelled to be heard over the running water of Bobby's shower.
"So?" he asked, peeking his head out the door a few minutes later, toothbrush jutting out of his mouth.
"So, it is Tuesday." Ororo stated matter-of-factly, hands on her hips. "I am heading down to the Danger Room, Robert. If you are not there in five minutes I am sending Logan up after you."
Geez, Bobby thought, rinsing out his mouth while he reached for his razor. What lodged itself up her ass this morning. "Shit." He swore, dropping the razor. The cut didn't look too bad, but the Cajun would give him holy hell for it just for kicks. Grateful that Emma had taught him this little trick, Bobby iced up for a second, then reverted back to normal, the cut no longer existent. Good to know Frosty is useful for something, he laughed, grabbing his uniform and donning it on his way out the door.
At least he was planning on heading out the door, when it burst open to reveal a very peeved looking Canadian. "Damn it, Logan!" Bobby shouted, nearly jumping half way across the room. "Storm said I had five minutes."
"Yah, well yer obviously not very good at tellin' time. Let's go." And with that Wolverine grabbed Bobby by the collar and dragged him very unceremoniously to the Danger Room.
"Logan, tell me you wouldn't do this if I wasn't dressed." Wolverine gave him a strange look over his shoulder while he continued to haul him towards the elevator. "For future reference." Bobby added.
Logan shrugged. "Hair's just as good to hold onto." He gave Bobby a toothy grin as he shoved him through the elevator doorway and slammed the button for the sublevels.
"And my parents wonder why I won't let them redecorate my old room." Bobby sighed. Logan just laughed.
* * * * *
About time! Scott thought, stiffling a yawn, as he watched Logan half push, half throw Iceman into the Danger Room. Without acknowledging the small scuffle that ensued when Bobby crashed into Archangel, Scott nodded towards the Control Room, where Xavier and Cecilia were readying the scenario. Cecilia gave him the thumbs up that meant he could start the program whenever he was ready, and Scott marched his way to the center of the room. "Let's do it, people." He said, signaling to his team that the program was about to begin. "Load Danger Room sequence Alpha 6 point 283." Scott commanded and the atmosphere in the room began to go hazy as usual. But then the walls returned to their original chrome polished color, instead of finishing the transformation.
Unable to comply, Cyclops. Cerebro responded, its voice eerily floating through the room. From the Control Room, Cecilia shrugged, while the Professor began typing on the Danger Room key panel.
"Cerebro, why are you unable to load scenario?" Scott asked, at a complete loss for what to do. The system had never refused any of Cyclops' orders.
Incoming message from Shi'ar battle cruiser, Cyclops. The computer responded, in that fake friendly voice that made tele-marketers seem so annoying. Please stand-by while a connection is opened.
Scott didn't have to motion twice for Charles to come into the Danger Room, followed closely by Dr. Reyes. After a painstakingly long minute a holographic projection of the Majestrix of the Shi'ar empire appeared in the center of the room. "Lilandra." Xavier smiled at his beloved. Lilandra smiled back, but Cyclops could tell that it was strained.
"I wish this were merely a social call, Charles." Lilandra looked down on the floor, then back at the faces of Charles students. "X-Men, I do not enjoy calling you from your home or your planet, but I am in desperate need of your help."
"Lil, what has happened?" Xavier asked, his face becoming drawn and pensive. Scott could imagine him going over every power struggle occurring in the Shi'ar galaxy that he knew of and mentally calculating all the possibilities that would cause Lilandra to contact them directly through Cerebro.
By Xavier's reaction, Scott could see her answer was not even a remote possibility in Charles' mind. "The M'Kraan Crystal has become...active...I think would be the word. My Imperial Guard was sent to investigate and has disappeared."
"I'm sorry, Lilandra." Scott cut in. "You mean Gladiator, and the rest of the Guard have just gone missing?"
"Disappeared is more correct, but yes." Lilandra nodded sadly. "The Starjammers lost sensor contact with them before they touched down on the surface."
"The Starjammers..." Scott began, but Lilandra cut him off.
"Are here with me." Lilandra answered. "Acting as my personal body guards." That earned her some looks from the room's occupants as she continued. "Needless to say the nobles are less than happy with this situation. I need your help, X-Men, if for nothing more than to act as an Imperial Bodyguard until the true Guard can be found or replaced."
At that point, Hank, of all people, cleared his throat and stepped to the front of the room. "Not to rain on your proverbial parade, oh Empress of all things Shi'ar, but our Blackbird is in need of some...*ahem* minor repairs. I do not think we will be capable of venturing into your part of the neighborhood for another three or four months."
"Not to worry, Beast." Lilandra answered seriously. "A cruiser is already on its way to pick you up. I look forward to seeing you all." Cyclops watched her nod toward them all, but had no doubt that that last look toward the Professor had been anything but innocent.
But Bobby's voice at the back of the room took Scott's attention away from their interaction as the hologram cut out. "So are we still gonna have this Danger Room session, or can a poor man grab some breakfast before this intergalactic joyride?"
* * * * *
Rogue and Jean had both been assigned to kitchen duty in preparation for the long trip. Shi'ar food was many things, but yummy it certainly was not. Therefore, not only did everything that would go bad while they were gone have to be thrown out, but everything that could be taken with them had to be packed up for the journey. "Shugah, what's wrong?" Rogue asked, looking over at Jean as she helped prepare snacks to take on the ride towards the M'Kraan moon.
Jean just sighed melodramatically for about the fifth time. "Nothing." She replied, as she turned back toward the refrigerator to throw out the rest of the perishables.
An empath Ah might not be, Rogue thought as she shoved another jar of peanut butter into the suitcase on the counter, but Ah certainly ain't no idiot. Jean continued to sigh and moan as she went through all the food in the house, until Rogue reached her breaking point. "Nothin' my ass!" Rogue shouted. "Nothin' doesn' make yah act like a girl who just lost her favorite puppy. Now tell me what's goin' on, or so help me Gawd I'll absorb it outta yah."
Maybe its the fact that Ah'm shakin' celery at her. Rogue mused, as she watched Jean giggle for a second.
"I'm sorry, Rogue." Jean answered. "Last night I had a dream about the M'Kraan Crystal." She confessed, leaning across the counter so the two could face each other. "Now I'm just afraid it wasn't a dream." Shrugging, Jean turned back to her chore, leaving Rogue standing there speechless for a good minute.
Dear Gawd, Rogue thought, before she had time to come up with a reaction. "Oh pish!" Rogue finally shouted at her. "Y'all are such a pessimist, Mrs. Summers. Y'talkin' 'bout a coincidence, an' that's all it is." But what Jean said made Rogue nervous, which in turn made her accent come out even stronger. Even if Jean wasn't a telepath, that little clue would have let her know that Rogue was taking what she'd just been told very seriously.
"Right, what she said." A voice added, from behind Rogue's shoulder. Before Rogue could even turn around the piece of celery was swiped from her hand.
"Bobby Drake!" Rogue shouted at him. "You get outta this kitchen right this second. We'ah too busy ta deal with you an' youah games!"
"Whatever you say, Mississippi." Bobby grinned at Jean as he strutted out of the room. "Thanks for breakfast."
* * * * *
Tes'ral realized one thing, as he watched the hologram stand before him, never again did he wish to see this man smile. "Very good, Tes'ral." The image applauded him mockingly. "The Empress has finally called on her beloved X-Men to come to her side." A finger snaked out and pointed at the skrull, holding him in place, even though the hologram would never know if he ran. "Now the plan can begin."
Tes'ral grunted in agreement. "Now that the Xsh-Men are on their way, what would you have me do?" The skrull asked obediantly, awaiting the next orders that would bring him closer to the wonderful payment that awaited.
"Play dumb, Tes'ral." The hologram commanded. "I know it will be difficult for you to do, but you must act as if you know nothing." Sharp eyes pierced the skrull's own, and he found himself unable to resist any command given him. "Do you understand?"
Tes'ral found himself ignoring the insult and agreeing whole-heartedly with everything the person in the hologram was saying. "Of courssse, massster." Tes'ral answered. "I know nothing, if that is what your greatnessss commandsss."
"Do not dissapoint me, skrull," were the last words the hologram uttered before it blinked out of existance, leaving Tes'ral with images of wealth and power dancing through his feeble mind.