Chapter 5: DETERMINATION I

Marauder – Danger Room:

30 mins earlier:

Daniel began dismantling the gun.

"This is amazing, but lot of flaws, this gun was made to fight anything but I need it to permanently destroy sentinels" He began rewiring some connections and replacing some parts. "If I switch up the flow of the EMP, instead of releasing an energy wave, it will shoot out completely frying their circuits. But that will just turn them off, so, by also mixing it with the gun's original energy source, which is risky, but a few conductors will help and…. DONE!!"

As he worked a sentinel blew the roof.

"/Target Found/"

Daniel finished the gun and pointed it to the sentinel and fired.

The blast hit the sentinel but no damages were made, it just stumbled a bit.

'Did I fail' Daniel wondered.

"/Prepare to Eli-Eli-Eli/" the Sentinel began to glitch.

'It's working' Daniel could see the inside of the sentinel frying.

The sentinel glitched, stumbled, sparks were around it soon, its head exploded and it fell.

……….

NOW

Daniel stood on top of it and pointed the gun to the next sentinel

"I finally Understand" He fired.

Like the first, it short circuited and blew up.

"Two down, three to go" He smirked.

The remaining three became began firing at Daniel who jumped down and began dodging their attacks. He fired two shots, but the sentinels took off into the air to dodge the attacks.

'Looks like they're cautious of the blasts' He dodge the incoming shots and hid behind a pile of debris. He knew it wasn't effective but he had a plan.

The sentinel fired at his location, destroying it. As they were charging to fire again, two shot pierced through the dust and hit the sentinel on the left and center. Their head exploded but before the center sentinel fell, it accidentally fired a blast towards the head of the last sentinel, destroying it as well.

"Well, 2 hit 1 combo, I'm good at this." Daniel walked towards the sentinels. "I'm pretty sure I ca--"

Before he could get closer a red beam penetrated through his stomach.

"ARRGG" He covered the wound, 'For a simulation, it fucking hurts' a huge shadow loomed him, as he turned to look at what it was, but,

BANG

Something slammed into him and sent him straight into a building.

BOOM

"COUGH, COUGH" He coughed some blood. 'THAT FUCKING HURTS!!' He thought in pain, he tried to use his right-hand stand, but a sharp pain flowed through his body and fell back on the ground. 'Great my hand is virtually broken, yay for advance tech'

RRRRRRUUUMBLE

The ground began to shake as the huge shadow covered him again, he raised his head to look at it and his eyes widen in surprise.

"Holy…. You've got to be kidding me"

KraKoa - Observation:

The Professor and Magneto walked into another room where a group of people were waiting for them.

"Are we ready?" The professor asks

"We are" a blue furry man with a muscular build and a simian or feline-like appearance and pointed ears. He wore a simple suit consisting of a simple black and yellow X-Men uniform and a pair of glasses. "Trinary is pooling all observable data from human resource; Arecibo, a few re-tasked SETI radio telescopes and the Dyson solar observatory…." He typed some information into the computer. "….and while that still leaves us a good eight light-minutes behind, we fortunately have someone on hand who can extrapolate that data into an actionable forecast." He is Hank McCoy also known as Beast.

"You always have a good head on your shoulders, Henry" the professor smiled.

"Thank you, sir, it's easily my third-best feature." Beast smiled.

"And you, Storm"

"Yes, I believe so…" Storm has a long flowing striking white hair. Her eyes are bright blue with dark skin and sharp, beautiful features emphasize her status as a goddess-like figure among mutants. "I'm still not sure exactly how this is going to work." She said in a gentle voice.

"Recourses have been fully retrieved" A young woman around early twenties with long, straight black hair with colorful highlights in a shade of blue. She has brown skin, reflecting her Indian heritage. "We can proceed" She announced after hacking Arecibo; A large radio telescope observatory, located in Puerto Rico, that the humans use to initiate their plans against mutants. Trinary uses her Technopath abilities to hack into the system to achieve their objectives.

"Thank you, Trinary" The professor smiled at her before wearing a serious expression. "Let us begin"

The Stepford cuckoos moved behind Beast, Storm and Trinary and place their hands on them.

"The cuckoos will bind each of you, enabling you to join your minds together and function as a singular organism." He placed his hands on his cerebro. "Beast, observation. Trinary, Analysis and Storm, Invocation." The cerebro shone a bright light. "And as for myself…. connection"

Storm eyes glowed white as she raised her hand and the water in the pool she was standing in rose and formed and image of Jean.

"Professor…."

"Oh, Jean. The anguish in your mind…. the pain…. shall we fear the worse" The professor asked.

The Sun – Orchis Forge:

Outside the forge, the X-Men jet, laid there half destroyed.

"It's bad sir" Jean communicated telepathically. Monet was currently holding her.

"Archangel and Husk are dead." She looked at them; Cyclops was putting Archangel down and Mystique was covering Husks body.

"Nightcrawler has some kind of internal injury and Logan is……" She looked at Logans arm, the entire biceps were completely gone, lacking any flesh, but due still connected due to his adamantium bones but it was regenerating.

"…. Not his full self." She communicated. "We underestimated these people's resolve. And it cost us"

"Can you complete the mission?" Magneto asked.

"I don't know if—"

"Yes. We can finish it. We have to" Cyclops interrupted her, "Or this was for nothing"

"He's right. Hrrnnn" Logan said and groan in pain as his muscle fibers and veins were reattaching. "We can finish this. Cause if we don't, they'll finish us." He looked at Jean, "Don't kid yourself, Red. We are playin' for blood here."

"So, we solider on?" Jean asks telepathically.

"Yes. Nightcrawler, can you still get us in there?" Cyclops asked as he closed Angel's eyes.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine" Nightcrawler said while holding his right ribs and wiping blood from his lips. Cyclops nodded.

"Okay, Jean and Monet will stay here and maintain our connection with KarKoa. Succeed or fail, they have to know what happens next" Cyclops communicated his plans telepathically as Nightcrawler teleported him into a section of the forge with no soldiers.

"The rest of us will jump in and disengage the mother molds control collars and send that thing on a one-way trip to oblivion." Nightcrawler teleported Logan to the security hub, full of soldiers there. Wolverine started slicing and dicing the men as they also fired at him.

"Wolverine will take the security hub and Mystique will take the one near the habitat so she can blend in." Nightcrawler teleported Mystique to the habitat. She quickly shapeshifts into a scientist to start.

"Kurt and I will take the remaining two. Once the job is done, he'll gather us up and we'll find a way to get out of here." Nightcrawler teleported behind two scientists and grabbed his sword.

"Be safe. Be Strong. Win"

………..

In another hallway, Alia was crying on the ground. Her face was a mess as her tears left a trail of black makeup on her face.

"Get up" Karima said while watching the flames of the explosion caused by Alia's husband on the other side.

"What, I…... I" Alia said between her tears.

"You have to get up"

"Why, I don't… I"

"Technically, I'm just an observer here, Doctor Gregor. I have no command authority." She explains, "So, if you just plan on sitting there— defeated, paralyzed by loss— then I can't actually order you to defend this station…" She looks at the Doctor, "But if you don't, he will have died for nothing" with that, Alia's face shifted to pure hatred and anger.

"This is Doctor Alia, who is in charge of the security now." She turned her transmission on while wiping her face and stood up

"This is captain Moore; I've got the wheels" a man responded.

"Where are you, captain?"

"I'm on the command deck. Trying to coordinate fire teams and emergency staffs."

"Listen carefully, captain. I'm at the habitat control collar. You need to send teams to the other three immediately…. Thats their real target" Alia explained.

"Understood, but I've already dispatched three security teams to their ships, should they stand down. They're getting ready to breach and board the mutant vessel now." The captain said.

"No. We're going to need to—"

Kra-GUNG

"What was that?"

Kra-GUNG

Outside, two control collars were disconnected from the Mother Mold, leaving two more.

"The mutants have disengaged two of the collars"

……..

In sector four, multiple dismembered bodies laid on the ground with claw marks on them.

Wolverine walk out of the room as he already flipped the switch for the disconnection of the collar.

……..

In sector two, two scientists were tied together unconscious by a flipped lever.

Nightcrawler teleported away as his mission was done.

KraKoa - Observation:

"We are halfway there, Professor." Jeans image informed them. "Wolverine and Nightcrawler are done and moving back our way."

"The sentinel drones are on a deceleration arc, Jean. They will be there soon." Beast said

"I think we're close. Cyclops is close and Mystique is --"

"We have to move" Monet interrupted her.

The Sun – Orchis Forge:

On the X-men jet, the soldiers were cutting a hole through it.

Monet helped Jean up, "We're being boarded." She grabbed Jeans arm and pulled her to the escape pod. "Come on. Escape pod. In here, I'll cover your exit" She pushed jean inside sealed the door.

"What!? You're not coming?" Jean banged on the closing door.

"They've got to find someone here or they'll start looking for you and you have to stay connected to the team and KraKoa"

"No, the team is not a problem, but at this distance—without us working in tandem…. the other is…. Well…" Jean ran out of excuses to convince Monet to come with her. "You need to come with me!"

"I dunno what to say, Marvel Girl. Try harder." Monet turned to face the army of soldiers that broke in as Jean's escape pod flew out of the jet. "Because we're out of options"

She breath in and out, "Now, as for you lots..." she began a dramatic and terrifying transformation. Her usually sleek and composed appearance becomes feral and imposing. her skin becomes a deep, blood-red color, and her eyes turn a glowing, menacing yellow. Her body is covered in sharp, black spikes that protrude from her back, shoulders, and limbs, giving her a dangerous, almost demonic look. Her fingers elongate into razor-sharp claws, and her overall form becomes more muscular and beastly.

RRRRROAAR

She let a beastly roar that sent fear into the soldiers. "…. Let's dance. You've bitten more than you can chew" She jumped into their mist and began slicing and ripping them apart. They were also shooting her but she just kept ripping them to shreds.

…………….

In the forge, a bright red laser knocked/disintegrated some of the soldiers.

"I'm in the control collar" Cyclops walked and flipped the switch, "disengaging now"

Kra-GUNG

"All that leaves is you, Mystique." He waited. "Mystique?" He walked out of the room. "Mystique! are you there?"

…………..

In the habitat, Mystique walked towards the switch.

"Stop screaming in my head, Summers. I hear you" She looks around but doesn't see anyone, not even a single worker. "I've got turned around but I'm here now. I've… Hold on. Something isn't right" She turned around to see Alia and Karima by a red button.

"Hey there, I've got bad news for you" Alia raised her hand to the button.

"You must be the head here" Mystique tried to divert her attention.

Alia frowned and pulled her hand back to hit the button.

"NO" Mystique, seeing that Alia wasn't giving any chance, dashed towards the lever but was to late as Alia hit the button.

The air lock above the habitat opened and sucked mystique into space.

Alia turned her transmission on. "Captain, they have disable three of the collars. I'm going to leave the last one here open to space. Hopefully the hard vacuum will keep them out long enough for me to bring the mother Mold online" she walked to a computer and began typing the lunch sequence.

"Good, we've also eliminated the opposition on their ship, so I'm re-taking all support team to you. They're en route now." The captain said

"What do you mean "bring the Mother Mold online"?" Karima asked with her hands on her hips.

"I'll be giving you one guess"

/MOTHER MOLD BOOT IN 30 SECOND….29/

"It's too soon. You don't know if it's going to be sane" Karima's eyes widen.

"I think it will be…... and I won't let them stop us no matter what" Alia began searching her lab and her coat pockets. "Ah! I knew it was here" She found a small gun in her pocket.

"A point-to-point translocator of A.I.M. design." Karima analyzed.

"No, this is a version I worked on with Daniel. Its important and today, it will help me avenge what I lost" Alia traced her fingers on the gun with a sad smile as small tears flowed down her cheeks.

"You mean take the fight to them?"

Alia just smiled. "For Humanity"