18536/Through A Mirror Darkly: Scavenger Hunt

Through A Mirror Darkly: Scavenger Hunt
Date of Scene:	20 July 2024
Location:	South Pacific -- Unnamed Island
Synopsis:	Cable and his team seek out two of the missing primary cores from the ruins of Greymalkin. But they have competition.
Cast of Characters:	Cable, Monet St. Croix, Sally Pride, Stefani Houston, Tabitha Smith, Kaine Parker, Bishop
Tinyplot:	Through a Mirror Darkly

---

Cable has posed:
Greymalkin is no more.

Since his arrival in this time, Greymalkin has served as Cable's orbital base of operations, a closely guarded secret that he has shared with only a few. While he might have maintained a number of different safe houses and equipment depots around the world, Greymalkin was always his place of last retreat. His stalwart bastion in the war he has literally travelled through time to fight.

It's advanced technology made it completely undetectable to modern methods, while also allowing him to teleport with almost impunity to wherever his fight might take him. Coupled with the advanced artificial intelligence unit, 'The Professor', he was able to monitor and predict upcoming hot zones that were of particular interest.

It was a formidable advantage. And one that he no longer has.

Thanks to Stryfe and his Mutant Liberation Front.

For the past couple of weeks Cable and select allies have been travelling the world, gathering back up those resources he was able to salvage before Greymalkin was destroyed. Teleported away or ejected from the doomed station moments before it's destruction.

And for the most part that effort has been successful, netting the majority of conventional arms, equipment and vehicles -- much of the future tech along with the arsenals of modern weaponry -- that he has stockpiled over the years.

But two very big pieces of Greymalkin's formidable array have eluded him. Until now.

After weeks of hacking into the more crude, modern satellite arrays in orbit, Cable has finally managed to reduce his area of search to a tiny unnamed island in the South Pacific along with the surrounding waters. Somewhere in that vicinity the two most valuable pieces of his technological advantage await: the Bodyslide unit that has allowed him swift insertion and extraction from hot zones since his arrival in this time and the 'Professor', the advanced artificial intelligence modelled on Charles Xavier that has helped him keep track of various crises and predict emerging patterns.

Unfortunately, he is not the only one to pinpoint the site.

Upon occasion, during his hunt over the past few weeks, he has arrived a little too late and found a handful of his various cache's already pillaged and raided, the weaponry and technology carried off. Certainly any government that had the chance to get their hands on some of his gear wouldn't hesitate. But Cable has no doubt who is responsible.

Stryfe.

So now, streaking in low over the deep blue waters of Pacific Ocean, the advanced transport he and his assembled team find themselves in practically skims the waters as they rapidly approach the tiny island ahead, that little spec of land in the vast expanse of blue beginning to take shape.

"I hope you're ready to get wet," the future soldier says from behind the controls of the plane. "The chances that one of them actually landed on that island are pretty low, nevermind both of them."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Along in her seat, Monet St. Croix has a small look of anxiety on her face. Things are looking bad not just for mutants, but the planet as a whole. In these last months she has come to discover the seemingly greater force behind Stryfe's schemes, or at the very least whom he's acting on the agency of. "Do we have a wya of actually injuring any of his more dangerous agents?" For the most part they'd just been able to slow them down at best, even though they'd damaged Zero repeatedly. HOpefully to the point that Stryfe couldn't repair him anymore. Then again, the number of drones that had been thrown at them the last fight or two might be even worse.

As the transport would rocket along, Monet St. Croix just goes to look at the readouts while considering. She goes to pull up the latest satellite imagery of the island from whatever one had last orbitted over it. Whether military, intelligence, commercial, or governmental.. Cable's technology could no doubt get into virtually any of them.

Of course, whether the data was useful even if up to date was up in the air.. But it gave something to start with, if only to give them a topographical layout of it.

Sally Pride has posed:
"I hope someone brought some scuba gear." Sally isn't afraid of water like that old cat trope, but that doesn't mean she wants to go into the deep wet depths any more than necessary. She's peering out of a viewport as they close in on the isolated isle. "You're probably right. We're lucky enough they are potentially close to each other, there's no way both are on the island."

She draws and checks her blaster, making sure it's charged and ready. As well as a more traditional handgun in the opposite holster. Lower tech but a lot easier to stalk up on ammunition for. "Also the odds are high we're not the the only ones tracking it out here, MLF or otherwise." There's been too many close calls already to expect to go unopposed.

Stefani Houston has posed:
Six months ago, Stefani was contracted to provide security to a team of scientists researching spiders in the Amazon jungle. Being a capable mercenary, like she is, she spent a lot of that time dealing with local wildlife, and local inhabitants in-general. But, now she has returned to ... where the hell is she right now, anyway?

On a plane, over the ocean waters, with the enigmatic Nathan Summers talking about getting wet? Ocean water... No Bueno. Not for Stefani.

From her seated position in the back of the plane, her face was plastered against one of the windows, and a scowl ran across her facial features. She pulled a bag up over her head by its strap, and grumpily tossed it aside, before she rose up from her chair, and stepped past some of the other passengers, possibly having to step over some of them in fact, on her way to the pilot's cabin.

She'd just appear there, her head sweeping up to look out the front windows, before she swept her green eyes over to Cable to convey her feelings about the ocean, and potentially getting wet from salt water, which ... somehow... Nathan would know is a bad thing for her, likely during some downtime back at Weasel's bar. She shook her head at the pilot, just to let him know she did not like the joke, before she went back in to the passenger area once again.

A locker was yanked open, and the woman in the black bodysuit began to pull out all manner of different types of clothing outfits for survival and operational activities. She stopped when she found a water proofed suit, which she began to loudly flap in the limited space in front of her. She had to unravel it to be able to start slipping it on, starting with her right leg, followed by her left. It was not easy, and she was making a considerable amount of noise, along with a new mess on the floor of the plane, as she got herself further, and further in to the protective suit. With awkward bending over motions, stretching out actions, and a few well timed jumping up and down tactics, she finally zipped the suit up, and pulled the hood up over her head.

finally, she sat back down again, completely covered up almost like a hazmat operator, or a bee-keeper, and with a muffled grunt, she let out a heavy exhale, fogging the visor over from within the mask.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby spent a lot of the flight time with headphones on listening to as much downloaded music the batteries on her phone could allow. By batteries she had a couple cheap power banks ready to go. There's still the trip home of they don't recover the Bodyslide tech.

Once things got closer to mission drop Zones tabby chuckles. "It's still summer, so bikini season is another month and a half. So we got any like underwater sonar fish finder thing pinging to see if we need SCUBA stuff or just a heap of sun tan lotion for a dry landing?" in other words. How narrowed down is the search area.

The blonde actually in an X-Uniform, all yellow, though it's styled as a cropped tee, and some close fitting leggings. With yellow boots, and green tinted all translucent wraparound glasses on her nose.A little white trim here and there adding a slight break to the not quite loud yellow tones. "Think if we crack Holocrappyname's shell, his plasmatic butt will dissipate in the water?" she ponders and hmms.

Kaine Parker has posed:
"Not my first time my hands have gotten dirty," Blood Spider speaks to cable about what waits for them on the ground. However, he'd like to avoid that if possible. At least the target is more deserving than those in his past.

The man in black and red looks over everyone else, "How bad is this going to get?" Blood asks. He's just preparing himself for the chaos. The Spider just wants to quantify the chaos. Also, it helps him with the istuation. Does he be quiet upon landing? Be a good scout in that situation. Or does he get loud? That allows him to not pull his punches much.

The black mask with the red eyes take in the different bits of Yellow of other uniforms. He stands out, but Blood Spider does want to run in different circles than Spider-Man. This is definitely a different circle.

Bishop has posed:
Once again, Bishop is present. A staunch supporter of Cable and his efforts. X-Men and X-Force representation in the house.

Of course, he's not the only one here with such a badge of membership but hey..he's also X.S.E. so let's add that into the mix as well.

He's his usual dour and semi overly serious self. He busies himself checking his blaster rifles and smaller guns, a gaze hidden by red-tinted shades focused fully on the various weaponry he's got equipped to his belts but also listening intently whenever anyone speaks. Some here he's quite familiar with. The usual suspects that have been assisting in these matters. Others are newer faces but he's come to trust the eclectic bands that Cable somehow manages to wrangle together to fight this ongoing battle.

So he stays mostly quiet, not engaging too much with those with him beyond polite nods of acknowledgement if he's greeted. Cable knows how to run an op after all so he's little to add that hasn't already been said or accounted for by the future-soldier.

Cable has posed:
For anyone that might be prone to complain that Cable never brings them anywhere nice -- like say burnt out East European factory hellholes, storm-lashed, crumbling 19th century forts or all the many, many trips to Madripoor, well, they certainly have nothing to complain about this time.

The temperature outside is positively balmy though a pleasing breeze seems to ruffle through the trees present on that island that continues to get closer and closer, more and more details visible through the forward window of the sleek-looking aircraft. The sky is practically free of clouds, the sun bright beating down making each crest in those blue waters below practically gleam, stirred up by the high powered engines that propel the plane barely a twenty feet above them.

The plane practically flies itself naturally, and the white haired future soldier does glance up when Quiet makes her presence -- and disapproval known. He might -- maybe -- have neglected to mention that the operation could have an under water component. In fairness, chances are he did his best to recruit specialists for that in mind, but sometimes you have to work with what you have on hand.

"Stranger things have happened. There's a chance that they both landed on dry ground," he offers up quietly to her. He doesn't have the Professor to calculate the odds of that any longer, but given the size of the planet, the trajectories involved and the weather conditions at the time of reentry for those two modules, the odds might be somewhere around half a percent or so.

Not zero. That's the important thing here.

"There is indeed scuba gear in the back," Cable confirms. "From advanced rebreathers to full wet suits," he notes. Contigencies had to be made.

"You'll find hand-held trackers as well that have been keyed to the signals each of the two core units will be giving off. They are relatively short range though, so you probably won't pick up anything until you're within five hundred feet or so," he says, just a hint of an apologetic note in his voice. If he still had his orbital platform this would be considerably easier.

Of course, if Greymalkin was still up there, none of this would be necessary.

"Any other gear or weapons you might need you should find in the lockers as well," the grizzled future soldier adds.

Then they are reaching their destination, the plane slowing as they near the island, finally settling into a hover about a hundred yards off the coast, a mere dozen or so feet above the waves.

The island itself is indeed tiny -- less then a quarter-mile across at it's longest point and less then half that on the other axis. Mostly eroded beach circles the island with one end rising to a rocky promontory at one end and a variety of trees and scrub greenery litters the area well back from the sandy beaches.

Just enough cover to prevent spotting the units from the air -- if either of them did happen to hit dry land.

The rear ramp to the plane lowers, revealing the surf below, stirred up by the engines of the plane, whipping the ocean into a froth. "It's deep enough to jump from here. It drops off considerably about another hundred yards to the west, but shallow enough that you should be able to touch the bottom about fifteen yards close to the island," Cable adds, unstrapping and rising from his seat, making his own way towards the lockers to finish suiting up.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Going to get out the full rebreathing set just in case, but not bothering with a full bodysuit, Monet St. Croix goes to start to use her psionics to sweep the island to try and pick up anything that would stand out. THeir earlier conflicts had things ranging from virtual nuclear engagements amongst telekinetics who could rend existence to fully automated time traveling combat units from parallel dimensions. So Monet not picking up anything would be meaningless when it came to knowing that the area ws clear. But still, there was little loss in attempting. Even if she experienced a signficant pushback in her sweeps or was blocked, that was good information to have.

She takes out her scanner, contemplates it, and would then start to sweep. She would alculate the island's scale and work on forming a grid pattern of it. Speaking along the comms to the rest of the team <<We should sweep it in groups. Spread out but make sure that we're in line of sight with our partners so we can quickly respond to one another>> Her tone is thoughtful, even as she sees if there's general agreement with her on the matter.

But, a methodical search until they ran into something seemed like the best way to start with things. It was standard operational procedures, at least.

Stefani Houston has posed:
With the hatch on the transport vehicle opening up, Stefani moved past the others to be there to watch it descend, and reveal the landscape beyond. She stared through her visor toward the shoreline, and with a quick judge of distance, she decided against her suit being necessary. She thusly raised a hand to pull the mask off, and quickly unzipped the suit, to regain the rush of having oxygen across her body beneath it. A deep breath was taken in between her pink lips, before she glanced over to the others as they prepared to leave the plane. With a thumbs up, Stefani grabbed her rucksack off of the bulkhead, along with her large rifle. She did not hesitate to leap from the plane, allowing the oxygen to rush across her, making the suit she'd donned ruffle in the winds about her body.

She did not descend at a normal gravitational speed one should fall at, instead floating like a kite on the wind itself, gliding toward the beach, as the waves rushed across the dark brown wet sands of the island's shoreline.

When she touched down, her boots were just beneath a few inches of water, and as she walked, she pealed that suit from her body entirely, dropping back down to just her sleeveless black bodysuit, and the various gear straps that were secured around her form.

She stepped out of the wet suit, and rolled it up to tuck it in to a netting pouch on her rucksack, before she slung her bag over her shoulder, hoisted her rifle across her waistline, clutching it in either of her gloved hands. She scanned her eyes from right to left, before vanishing entirely in to a puff of black smoke, that waved its way toward the foliage and underbrush at the far end of the sandy shores.

She was already inserting herself in to the leafy greens of the island's core.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
While she grabs a tracking device, and stuffs it in a water tight pocket, her phone going into another. Because somethings just shouldn't be left behind.

It's when the rear loading ramp opens up that Tabby grins and with the massive influx of noise she reaches out to the team via mind link. <<Now everyone can contribute to the group chat!>> the benefits of telepathy. Better than noise cancelling technology and allows those who might not be able to communicate easily to do so.

With a peak over the edge of the ramp. Tabby chuckles and with a smooth pirouette, the blonde falls backwards to the ocean. Falling damage easily avoidable for someone that can survive being caught in blasts with way more force.

There is a kind of Goofy yell on the way down though it's far from made in terror.

Quite the opposite.

Kaine Parker has posed:
Blood Spider goes back to the lockers. Knives are the preference. He'll strap one across the right thigh, one down by the left ankle, and one across the left forearm. He'll take a breather, and just in case a hand gun with spare ammo. The way he handles everything tells the group, Blood's not a stranger to weapons.

"Take a vacation they said. Go some place fun and sunny, they said," Blood snarks as he pulls up the mask to put in the breather. A second later he jumps toward the water himself. At least the breather keeps him quiet.

Sally Pride has posed:
"Be careful, and keep the other teams posted on your progress." Sally is already in serious trained soldier mode by the time the transport is making it's landing. "If you see anything suspicious or any of our unwanted company, say something. We don't need any extra surprises."

The lioness mutate grabs a tracker, and a larger rifle to round out her compliment for the sake of being prepared. Even a machete is tucked in her belt, just in case she comes across something that her claws aren't enough to deal with.

"Compared to some of the missions we've been on with Cable? This -is- a vacation," she playfully snarks back at Kaine before stepping out of the craft and onto the island.

Bishop has posed:
Positive - they haven't been shot down by someone already on the island or nearby. Given the powers they are dealing with a long distant strike capable of downing the plane was very much on Bishop's mind.

Negative - underwater recon.

Bishop squints his eyes, scrunching up his M tattoo (as in the letter M. He doesn't have a tattoo of Monet because..akward..) as he stares balefully at the site once the ramp opens up.

Some people should act as lookouts in case we get company. Everybody being caught underwater while being rained own with energy blasts from the likes of Holocaust would not be ideal."

This isn't -completely- because he really doesn't want to go stomping around on the sea floor - okay maybe a little - but it is also prudent and practical given the history of their encounters with the MLF.

Nevertheless, he does begin to equip himself with the appropriate gear and breathing apparatus so that if he can easily and swiftly enter the water to aid those who are doing the recon down there.

"Precisely." he says as he hears Sally Pride's answer to Kaine Parker who, himself, had only gotten a side long look from Bishop before he made his descent.

"We weren't blasted out of the sky. Already an improvement from where I stand."

And with that, he follows her from the plane, dropping down for the water and the island below, and then after his boulder-fall of a landing, begins to move for the beach.

Cable has posed:
It doesn't take Cable all that long to grab his gear -- it was already all packed and stowed in an appropriate case waiting for him. If he has any concerns about leaving the advanced aircraft in standby mode as they go ashore -- and potentially beneath the waves -- he certainly gives no sign of it.

Unsurprisingly, his pack is designed to float, despite the no doubt heavy payload he tends to carry -- some feature of the pocket dimension technology he seems to favor to allow a great deal more to be stored within then would be indicated by the size -- and he casually hurls it down to the waiting waters below before following it out the back of the craft, plunging straight down into the water and disappearing beneath it's surface with a splash. Even if for just a moment or two.

He quickly resurfaces, makes a few quick strokes to grab his back and then falls into a sidestroke, paddling close enough to the shore to get his feet back on the firm, if sandy, ground, hefting that pack over his shoulder and starting to hike towards the waiting beach.

He could, of course, have just floated himself there -- telekinesis for the win -- but it seemed something of an indulgance. A waste of his power. And before this mission is over he might just need all that he can lay his hands on.

<<As said, keep in contact. We can split into smaller teams, complete the survey of the island first. Shouldn't take long given it's size,>> he notes through that telepathic link that has been setup.

The first ones to the shore are likely the first to notice it. While the surf that rolls up the beach has mostly obliterated any traces of it, there, just past where the tide has rolled in is the unmistakable footprint embedded in the sand. Given the location of the island, the fact that it doesn't even merit a name, it doesn't exactly seem likely that it sees many visitors.

Which means that they might not be the first ones here. Despite all of Cable's efforts.

No one is visible along the beach at the moment, though about a hundred yards down the sandy expanse there looks to be a gap in the foilage, as if something simply plowed it's way through leaving broken branches and shattered tree trunks in it's wake. Something fairly big.

Perhaps one of the missing modules that they're searching for?

Or maybe Stryfe has recruited a Cave Troll to go along with his assortment of other monsters.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix isn't quite the first one on the beach so she notices it after the others who would be earlier at arriving. It does however stand out to her. she goes to give a quick mental 'query' in the direction of Sally. <<How recent was this, if you can tell?>> Sally's the one that's by far the best tracker amongst the group after all. So if there's anything useful to be picked up from it..

Another mental query is then given by her to Quiet and to Bishop. How -big- does that footprint seem? She can't get an exact handle when it comes to estimating it. Are they dealing with something human sized? Extremely heavy? Or just something (or someone) that seems about normal? Of course, as she gets a better view she can see how -big- it is, which resolves that question.

Monet goes to keep herself close to the ground and goes to do another careful mental scan of the area. Then another thought comes to her as she moves to send it towards Quiet and Bishop. <<Does.. That look like a boot tread?>> She can't tell from the angle she's at. But if it is a huge boot..

Then they've been beaten to th eprize.

Stefani Houston has posed:
Being immersed in the jungle like foliage gives Stefani a comfort from being out on the beach, exposed to lines of unknown sights.

She rematerializes within the leaves, and tropical island growth, with her voice coming over the mindlike in the fashion of a soft, sweet sounding tone, laced with a Dutch accent.

"I am searching for any eyes that may already be upon us, but it looks like something rather imposing has already arrived."

She puffs in to a line of smoke, sweeps around the base of a tree, and reappears near the toppled and tangled parts of the leafy greens. With a soft exhale, her green eyes scan the trees, listening, watching, and walking at a casual pace as she listens to the others speak on comms, or the shared connection.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Eventually Tabitha will get to shore, having to actually swim once she comes back up from the surface. lacking flight, or telekinesis of the tradition type. And using her plasma blasts to fake a Sam Guthrie impersonation is a bit too loud for her tastes.

So swim it is. At least once she;s back on sure she can flash dry herself easily enough.

Like the others, she's keeping her eyes and ears peeled, though she can also keep her brain peeled, throwing out a sweep for any minds not belonging to the team. Anyone else doing similar likely getting some boost in range as the telepaths might work in unison.

Kaine Parker has posed:
Blood Spider is not the amongst the first there, but he's far from last. He still has to swim his way toward shore. If there's a nearby tree, Blood can pull himself forward. Until then he's trusting in the breather and his physical prowess.

When he makes it to shore, he drips with water and shakes himself off. Then he starts to check the handgun to make sure it's alright.

Pulling out the breather, he slips the mask back down. "Well, this is going to be interesting," he says softly and looks back to see who might be in his group.

Bishop has posed:
It might not seem possible - but Bishop's frown manages to deepen. He looks over the footprint carefully and then glances up to look over the sight of the condition of the jungle. His large rifle is already in hand and held up against his shoulder as he begins marching forward in order to get a better look at the destruction, searching for any additional footprints or signs that any sort of vehicle may have been involved in moving things further into the island.

"Certainly the MLF have members that would have been strong enough to carry whatever this was ...it seems unlikely they'd risk damaging it by dragging it if they could avoid it.. Perhaps we're not dealing with the MLF here." he muses aloud and into his active commlink as well.

His next comment is telepathic, entering into the mind link, << Have we done a full psychic sweep of the island? Do you all have the range to be able to do so? Even if you've already done so, double or triple check it. We can't put any sort of psychic dampening out of the question... Work together if you can.>>

Cable has posed:
A strong and practiced enough swimmer, even lugging his gear along it doesn't take Cable long to wade up onto the shore. Trudging up onto the sand, dripping water, the grizzled soldier from the future sweeps his gaze around the shore and towards that gap in the scattered vegetation down further along the beach, a small frown starting to creep over his expression as he joins the others.

The footprint gets a cursory glance, his expression darkening a little more. "I expect that we're not along. High tide would have washed that away if it was more then a few hours old," he notes. Not quite scowling, but coming rather close. << Keep your eyes open, >> he adds over that telepathic link, reaching back into that pack draped over his shoulder and pulling out a plasma rifle that looks about three times too big to have possibly fit inside that backpack.

Dimensional shenanigans indeed.

A quick glance towards Tabby or Monet will be enough to confirm that there are no obvious life signs on the island -- at least not the sort that would show up under a telepathic scan at any rate. Not that it necessarily means anything. They are already well aware that Stryfe is a powerful telepath in his own right, perhaps as strong as any in this time. He might be able to mask any presence here even if all three of them worked together.

"Quiet can cover us from the tree line. That break in the brush looks like it could have been made by the rentry of one of the modules. Seems like a good place to start," he says, starting up the beach, moving towards the edge of the trees to offer at least a bit of cover.

<< Assuming that they are there, no need to announce our presence, >> the future soldier suggests. Which suggests that stealth mode is no engaged.

Which for Cable might just mean that he doesn't merrily enter the wooded section firing off that humongous plasma rifle in front of him to clear a path. He definitely prefers a straight fight to all the sneaking around.

That trail of destruction does indeed lead into the more heavily wooded section of the island's interior -- such as it is given how short a distance across it ultiamtely is. Nor does it take long for it to be obvious that someone is working up ahead.

Beneath a leafy canopy, a clearing appears to have been carved out by a plummeting object that has carved a deeo trough in the ground. Embedded there at the center is a glittering metallic sphere about two feet in diameter, made of a silvery substance that is reminiscent of Greymalkin itself for those that have been onboard.

One of the cores that they are looking for then.

Unfortunately, they are not the first ones on the scene it would seem. About a dozen or so Zero units -- completely white, featureless androids -- are clustered around the area, hands directed at the ground for the most part, carving out the area around the sphere to free it from it's earthly embrace.

More troublesome then that however is the towering figure that stands on the mound of dirt at the center of the clearing. MAssive and seemingly encased in some transparent field of force, the roiling mass of Holocaust stands, overseeing the proceedings from the clearing's high ground.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
As the group slowly stalks along, Monet goes to do another sweep with her mind as Bishop instructs her. She's not picking up anything that the others aren't in the process. While there might be life here, the next method of telepathically scanning more thoroughly is sensing animals. That is not something that Monet has been able to do so far. She goes in low to the ground and floats just a few centimeters above it, careful to just push the plants to the side with as little motion as possible. They've caught sight of the burning brush, it's definitely a module that they're after..

But they've been beaten to it's retrieval. By Holocaust. With an escort. Without Greymalkin they can't just rush in and grab it and teleport out. If they want to make a fight of it, it means they have to defeat or drive them away. Since anything that Cable can do telekinetically, HOlocaust can match. So far none of them have actually -hurt- that thing yet. She's not sure if they can.

Monet quickly looks to the tohers, her telepathic signal almost empathic in nature as it gets the point across.

'We have a problem'.

But hopefully thye've not been noticed.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sloshing about the beach tide is still preferable than going deep. Meanwhile, while the island isn't very big, the trackers have such a limited range that there's still plenty of back and forth trying to pick up on anything.

To the point it's more likely they're going to find physical evidence first. Like the split through the foliage... and unfortunately, foot prints.

Getting wet is no longer a primary concern, as a mutter under her breath as Sally puts away the tracker and slings the rifle off her back. Hunches down in a stalker stride, only the occasional annoyed flick of her tail giving away more intricate emotion. << We don't need to beat them, just get the item away from them... not that that's any easier >>

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Handy thing is, Tabitha can muffle the sound of her blasts, so getting herself and anyone else that wants to dry off is an easy fix.

Tabitha may still need to brush out her ponytail, but that's something for later.
5rIn stealth mode Tabitha does her best to keep up and sneak about. The sneaking part at least isn't difficult normally, she's been at it since she was a teenager.

The ping from Monet being shared with the others. <<That asshole. So what's the deal with bubble boy? Crack the shell watch the yolk leak out?>>

Bishop has posed:
<<Great...>>

Well he's been wrong before. Not that he was hoping for any surprises - the devil you know and all - but it is indeed the MLF and with one of Stryfe's most powerful and newest ally at that. With the Zero Units present, rushing in may not be the best course of action but neither can they afford to wait. Furthermore, the fact that the telepaths didnt pick up on what would assuredly normally be the overwhelming presence of Holocaust...is possibly a sign unto itself. Stryfe himself may be near or additional telepathic dampening efforts.

<<I suppose we should be grateful for no surprises..." he grouses as he crouches down, attempting to hide himself in the foliage.

<<I strongly suggest that we don't do that based on what I felt when I absorbed his attacks.>> he hastily answers Tabitha, <<We'll need to put him down but probably in a way that doesn't result in what's clearly some sort of a containment suit rupturing. Even I have my limits with absorbing energy and that's not something I care to test...As to getting the item away from them? If we dont' go with the item we'll just be sitting ducks for the Zero Units and Holocaust's ranged attacks. We'll need to thin the herd and put Holocaust in a state where he can't stop us from getting it out. Cable and I are best suited to run defensive strats on Holocaust. I can absorb his attacks and redirect them but it'll be a strain.>>

Stefani Houston has posed:
Stefanie is no stranger to trekking through all manner of natural terrain. Jungles, forests, etc, just so happen to be one of her favorite. As the others begin to filter in to the heavily over grown part of the island's heart, the strange woman in the black bodysuit, puffs in to smoke, flitters up in to the trees, and reappears on various branches of trees able to support a fully grown woman.

Once she has picked a perch, the quiet woman raises up her rifle, peering through the optics to search further ahead, and around the team. She listens to them on comms, listens to them on the mind connection, before they advance further, and she once more puffs back in to her smoke form.

this continues as the team makes distance in to the island, through the fallen foliage, and eventually toward that canopy clearing where the object shimmers in a very alien-like fashion to this scenery.

The puff of black smoke curls around a sturdy tree branch amidst the line of gently waving branches. From toes up to nose, Stef reforms, her rifle raised up. She sees the strange being residing over the technology that has created a dent in the natural earth, and her accented voice waves through the mind link once again.

"He looks like trouble." Quiet says through everyone's internal thoughts.

Cable has posed:
It is not an ideal situation by any means.

The past two times they have come up against Holocaust they have managed to come through in large part by the fact of some of the heavy hitters they've had at their disposal.

But there is no Divine to overpower him by sheer Kryptonian might this time, no Polaris to wrap him up in half of Greymalkin while they made their escape. And while Bishop has shown that he can stand up to the sheer force of the energy blasts the monster can unleash, they seem to press him to the limit.

And the rest of them? Not so much.

Not to mention that if Holocaust and the Zero-Unit copies are here, chances are that Stryfe and then rest of the MLF are somewhere close by. Perhaps searching for the other unit even now. The odds could very quickly shift right out of their favor.

Studying the situation for a moment, crouched low by the edge of the clearing, Cable puts what little telepathic ability he can spare into dampened down their own presence, focusing on masking them as best he is able.

<< We definitely don't want to risk cracking Holocaust open. From what I understand some tiny portion of the island might survive the resulting backlash. Maybe. Chances are we wouldn't.>>

He does spare a glance at Bishop and gives a shrug. <<Probably. I'd rather not test it. No, I think what we need is a distraction. Something to pull Holocaust a way, lead him on a chase while the second team deals with any of the Zero Units that remains, grabs the module and then we'll high tail it.>> he suggests.

Is it ideal? Not really. There is still that second unit out there somewhere. But a straight up fight is risky under the circumstances.

This was meant to be a salvage mission. Not a straight up fight.

<< Any volunteers? >> he asks drily. Running through the jungle with a hulking energy monster on one's tail is not exactly most people's idea of a good time.

But he is pretty good at finding people with a somewhat different sense of a good time. Call it a gift.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would close her eyes and consider <<I can probably lift it.>> she goes to consider for just a few moments. <<How far does your ability at obscuration go?>> This is sent over to Quiet - Monet's seen her go smoke-form but isn't quite sure how that works. She's thoughtful.

<<I've hidden myself fromm Holocaust for a short duration before, so if he isn't aware I'm present I can hopefully do so again.>> If he doesn't even know she's here, for starters. Plus he hasn't run into Quiet before. Then she goes to also offer..

<<Quiet, could you roll it if you can get close enough out to the shore? Or is the jungle too dense for yout o move it at a good pace?>> The woman was the sniper and recon specialist for a reason. Monet goes to quickly offer up her summary of a tactical plan. Namely 'rest of them make noise/fight' while she and Quiet go to try and nab the module. Then fall back to the craft and extract themselves quickly.

It's a rather simple plan, relies upon Quiet being able to blank herself out from awareness, and fro Holocaust to fall for the same trick twice to make it work.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride thumbs the safety of the rifle off and holds it at ready as she crouches down next to a tropical tree. << Say the word and I can deal with those Zeros. You just need to get that big'un away from the prize. >> Any power dampeners won't bother her much either since her combat skills are heavily training and experience based. She's already drawing sights on the drones, just waiting for the signal to spring into action.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's actual thought on the link. Tabby can kinda consider plans amazingly. <<So, we get Monet to do the heavy lifting. How much that thing weigh? She can pretty much swoop in snag it, then just haul ass home." Tabitha suggests with a hmm.

<<Bishop and I can probably keep Bubbleboy occupied. Ain't like I have to worry about plasma burns or explosive blast waves.>> she points out. <<Cable and our lovely lady friends here can shoot up any minions that come out of the wood work.>> come more suggestions.

Bishop has posed:
<<You have your limits Tabitha but you and I are best suited to tank Holocaust and keep him enraged and occupied enough to stay focused on us. It shoudl be us while the others move in fast to pick off the Zero Units and claim the device. We'll need rapid extraction afterwards , especially in the event the MLF is nearby and come running.>>

readying his massive XSE rifle, BIshop begins prowling backwards, looking to get a good spot to properly open fire on Holocaust when the signal is given.

<<That seems like our best shot unless someone has a convenient omega level mutant in their back pocket.>>,

Stefani Houston has posed:
Quiet is peering through her sniper scope, her eyes slowly blinking, with long lashes fluttering in the island winds that smell of that oh-so-deadly ocean water. But her focus is on the goal at-hand, and the style of enemy that seems to be blocking them. She's been through enough of these rodeos to know that guys like that are often not weak to her mere high velocity slug thrower weaponry, but she also knows Cable runs around with people that often pack pretty impressive punches all their own.

She hears Monet's question, and her head raises up over the scope. She considers her response, her pink lips pursed together.

Her sing-song voice replies through the mind link. "If you can get it unlodged, I can probably keep it rolling. I would be vulnerable, however. My smoke form is only able to bring with me what is very close to me. I can bring a person, but they have to be pressed up against me, should anyone need transit. But, it is harder for me to stay in that form, the more I bring with me." She stated, her rifle being slung over her shoulder by the weapon's strap, and her body once more disappearing in to that cloud of smoke. The smoke trickling its way down the tree, and back down in to the forest undergrowth. With that cover protecting her quite impressively, the smokey woman sweeps her way ever closer, preparing to get herself in to position, should Monet's plan be enacted.

"I am ready." Her melodic voice fills the minds of those still within the connection.

Cable has posed:
Their biggest potential problem?

The island just isn't very big. They have somewhat limited space to work with, to lead Holocaust on a merry chase. But it is better then trying to deal with him directly so it will have to do.

With Bishop and Boom-Boom volunteering to try to tank the boss, they at least seem to have their roles set and while it might not be a perfect plan, it is what they have to work with. Cable gives a tight nod of his own and lets them all get into position, himself included.

He does hesitate for just a moment, considering where to put himself. On the one hand, his telekinetic abilities could be used to shield the distraction team. On the other hand, their primary mission is the recovery of that unit.

In the end that is what decides his course of action. At the end of the day the mission goal always comes first for Cable, above everything else. A fact that has periodically put him in conflict with those that he works with. Though this team is made up of more of the hardened operatives then some of their more recent outtings. Professionals. For what they lack in sheer power, professionalism has it's own rewards.

Which means that everyone is in their place, ready to go in short order as the Zeroes countine to carve out that sphere. Indeed, in this case it is to their advantage to give their enemies a few extra minutes to work, to do the majority of the heavy lifting for them.

And sure enough, in relatively short order most of that sphere is uncovered, reducing the amount of sheer strength or telekinetic ability that will be required to move the Greymalkin module. Which is their signal.

<< It's go time, >> Cable sends to Bishop and Tabitha telekinetically, waiting for their first shots to draw the attention of Holocaust. Almost at once the mutant monster unleashes a huge energy blast that virtually rips a line completely across the island, the trees and brush in the way practically melted away it's wake, leaving a blackened swatch of clear ground leading right back to the beach, the leaves on the trees to either side of that blast either wilted and blackened or actually on fire from the sheer heat of the discharge.

Then he, accomanied by a quartet of those featureless white androids begin to tear off after the pair.

Which only leaves the eight Zero Units on site. As one, they start to lift that two-foot diameter silver sphere out of it's pit, getting it to the flat ground of the clearing.

Which is when Cable sends the signal to those that lingered behind to make their own play and get that orb.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
It's a plan that entails to just run a holding action to get the module out of there and flee. It's better than a straight up fight (in theory). But like all great (and not so great) plans, the preparation and the execution never quite all come together the way that they're are supposed to. It's always in the hands (or psionically crafted fingers) of the enemy. Or whatever exactly Holocaust is.

Monet gives a nod of the others, and as Quiet gives her instructions,t he ALgerian woman goes to press in over to her and moves to get ready to blank the two out as best she can psionically. Holocaust's power is immense and an eternally burning, devastating sun. That also means it can overshadow other things.

And Monet hasn't so far seen Holocaust display fine area awareness - the control bubble had to be on him for a reason after all. Monet goes to close her eyes, and as she and Quiet go to turn over to smoke she moves to try to block out all awareness of them for as good as she could to the rest of the jungle.

Then the two are off and the guns are a blazing, and let the games begin.

For those that couldn't wait for the World Cup.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The goal is mostly to occupy and distract so the others can have an easier time to deal with it. So when the time comes she snappoints at Bishop and makes her move to sort of run into Holocaust's field of view. "Hey, the card said MOOPS!" she yells and opens up with her first volley of Plasma. In the form of flashbangs sent via psionic direction up in the energy being's faceplate thing.

she's not trying to break open the suit. Who knows if the place is actually inhabited. Boom-Boom never asked.

But at least she does give everyone else warning it's about to get bright and loud.

and a chance for Bishop to get in where he wants to ass well. <<Maybe we can blast a big enough hole we can bury him in like glass or something. Won't last forever but it beats taking beatings.>> she suggests to her current battle buddy.

Sally Pride has posed:
Waiting. Keeping her sights on a mark while Bishop and Boom-Boom move to get Holocaust's attention drawn away. Space is limited, but any minute he's not pointing those radioactive death rays at the recovery operation is a minute more for the very few they have.

The Cable gives the signal for step two. Sally pulls the trigger, rifle firing at a Zero Unit's center of mass. It was for dealing with the drones that always accompany the MLF operations that the rifle had been loaded with armor-piercing rounds, increasing the penetration potential to get through the robot's exterior and hit the vulnerable internals.

By the time the shot hits Sally is already moving to line up her aim on another, but waiting for the rest of the team to make their moves.

Bishop has posed:
<<I think you got his attention.>> deadpans Bishop in response to Tabitha as he launches himself across the foliage and jungle like terrain to pull Holocaust as far away as possible from the group while also avoiding leading him in the direction of their get away jet because wouldn't -that- be totally hilarious to have him just wreck that. Ahem.

As the energy blasts from Holocaust and the Zero Units lance around him, the future-cop finally reaches a point of being ready for a counter assault and he spins, turning his blasters about into a spinning assault that fires off several devestating and accurate shots for the Zero Units, targetting them first else their dampening fields kind of make the effort of attempting to tank Holocaust himself a moot point. The energy blasts he's less concerned about of course but it'd be bad timing for them to get in close with Holocaust close behind.

Always take out the raid bosses side kicks before focusing on it.

<<We need to put the Zero Units down or this will be harder then it needs to be!!>> he calls out over the psychic link to Tabitha. Between the two of them he's going to be the more accurate shot - expert military tactician trained marksmen in a dystopian horror future and all-but that also means he may be concentrating on the Zero Units for a moment too long, leaving her to deal with Holocaust. Hopefully her claim of handling plasma energy will be what she claims it is.

<<I can convert and amplify whatever he gives me into something that might help with burying him or pushing him away from the island but not if the Zero Units get on me.>>

Stefani Houston has posed:
When Monet gets in to position, Quiet reforms in to her Human shape directly behind the woman. She wraps her arms around the other, with her face coming in beside Monet's own on the right side. "Hold still. You will feel butterflies." She warms with the use of the mind link. The two de-materialize a second later, both caught up in the mysterious black smoke, and both vanishing together in to the natural cover of the island's overgrown flora.

When they re-emerge, it is near the large techno sphere, Quiet's smoke rapidly reforming them both in a way that almost launches them out of the incorporeal state, back in to the world of flesh and bone!

And back in this form, up close to that techno-sphere, Stefani has her pistol drawn, and her crackshot aim leveled at one of the robots that have seemingly been doing a fair amount of the heavy lifting for them thus far.

She waits until they are spotted, before she opens fire with her.45 caliber handgun, as she rushes the sphere, to lay her shoulder in to it, pushing with all her might of which would compare with the likes of Steve Rogers himself (perhaps?)

With a grunt, the mysterious merc attempts to get the ball rolling, while her gun toting hand whips up, and aims for another of the robots before they can fire upon her.

The sound of gunshots rings out from her location, as she digs her deep treaded boots in to the soft earth, and pushes with all her might!

Cable has posed:
So far, so good. At least as these things go.

The sheer devestation that Holocaust is able to inflict is profoundly disturbing to be sure, just one blast from that psionically based form able to rip through half the island and leave virtually nothing but ruin in it's wake. It's not reassuring.

But Bishop and Tabitha are able to do their job, to pepper and distract the being and his quartet of... bodyguards? ...seeker dogs? .. Zero units that level their own, considerably less powerful blasts towards the pair leading them away from the Greymalkin core -- it still being unclear if it is the Bodyslide Unit or the Professor Unit -- and give the others a chance to get it out.

Of course, in this instance Bishop is not wrong. While the Zero-Unit's blasts could be inconvenient if they catch either of them of guard, the real danger is that they will get close enough to direct that power-dampening aura at them. They might be pushed to the limit to manage Holocaust's full power even with their ability to soak up much of the sheer power of each of those blasts?

But if the Zero units can strip them of their mutant powers? The chase might be short indeed. Which is likely why that that quartet of androids streaks out in front of the mutant monster from the future, streaking in hot pursuit of Tabby and Bishop.

In that respect, the team on the sphere recovery have the easier time of it. They have the same dilemma of course -- dodging the eight remaining Zero Units that can sap away their powers if they get close enough. But individually none of them can stand up to a direct assault like Holocaust can.

As Quiet and Monet make their move, smoke-forming towards the waiting sphere, Cable and Sally provide that cover fire, Sally's blasts ripping through the first of the Zero units before moving to take down a second, that pristine white outer layer of armor torn up under her assaults leaving the much more vulnerable inner workings of the future androids exposed.

Like his partner in the assult, Cable too levels that big blasma rifle and sends bright bursts of virulet green plasma energy crackling across the clearing, practically vaporizing one of the andorids before a second is cut in half, each smoking side falling in a heap in the clearing..

And when QUiet takes out a fifth one with multiple shots of that .45 at close range? Well, that leaves only three startled -- presumably, there are no actual faces to show expressions -- androids suddenly left to try and respond.

But the recovery team has their own problem as something heavy suddenly lands on Cable, sending him tumbling to the ground with a grunt. Claws rip down his back before his attacker springs away, landing in front Quiet and Monet.

Black as shadow and seemingly made up of coils of darkness, the stark, grinning visage of Abyss parks himself in front of the pair and that rolling sphere before launching himself towards them, those long claws of pure darkness lashing towards them -- all without so much as a word, a sound escaping him. Silent and deadly.

Sally Pride has posed:
The abrupt motion is only in the peripheral of her vision but the dark form impacting with Cable then lunging forward into the fray is hard to miss. << Heads up, new hostile on the field! >> But it's still arguably a better option than having to deal with Holocaust. Right?
The second round ejects and Sally cocks one more into the chamber, then firing at one of the remaining Zero drones. Only three left was still three too many, especially if they decide to interfer with anyone now having to deal with Abyss. So it was still the better option to their chances to take the remainers out before dealing with the bigger threats.

After the shot the rifle is dropped from her grasp and left to hang from the shoulder strap at her side as Sally draws both her handguns -- one magnum and the other her energy blaster -- in her hands and continues firing at the remaining Zeroes. Not as powerful of weapons, but being able to fire both at once and faster is an effort to make up the difference in suppressing fire until Cable can get back on his feet. Keeping the Zeroes and their power dampening beams from interfering with the bigger threat conflicts is still paramount.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The Zero units and power nullifiers are a dangerous thing. Especially with them in a close quarters fight zone and with very little room for error. As Monet and Quiet go to arrive, hopefully they have one advantage over when it comes in that the Zero Units won't register Quiet's abilities - she's not a mutant, and the source of her powers is hopefully something not in their database. As Monet goes to arrive with ehr she goes to give the ball a hard -shove- to get it going and is there to escort it and move to keep it rolling.

They don't have many options when faced with them - keeping the sphere rollnig requires continous effort, even if they can keep pushing it along, but they don't have any real ability to evade with it or move it along, or try to keep it away from the Zero Units. So whenever one is close even for just a moment, Monet weakens. But that's why Quiet is there - the girl's strength is considerable, and the ball keeps going.

And at one point very quickly a Zero Bot goes to calculate where the two are going, as blaster fire goes back and forth, and Monet goes to send out a mental warning that's cut off by the power suppressor as Abyss goes to arrive on the scence.. And he's right in front of the pair even as Monet's powers are flickering, the dark canvas of splotches threatening to swallow..

But they have an advantage here that's quite possibly unexpected, if one isn't paying attention to the circumstances. Namely the ball.

The two thirds of a meter in diameter sphere that weighs about two thousand kilograms that's being pushed at about fourty kilometers an hour. And inertia from going forwards at a faster pace. What happens is a SLAM that is the ball bumping hard over as it would flatten Abyss hard, and then crush the Zero unit that was in front of Monet (and possibly Quiet) completely flat as the race to get to the beach would continue.

Stefani Houston has posed:
T
Quiet was definitely not a mutant. Her powers were the result of a mad scientist organization dating all the way back to the early 1980s. She had been rebuilt from the inside out, and some might even call it a Frankensteinian creation... though arguably a little easier on the eyes.

When Monet sees Quiet's face again, she'll note that the woman's natural skin tone has been covered over with a black mask to her skin, in the shape of a broken domino mask across her eyes, almost like someone had thrown a splash of black ink across her face, with the ink even animated, moving down like tears across her cheeks.

She glanced to Monet, and then toward the enemies making grounds on them. Her right hand snapped to her belt, where she detached a smoke grenade, armed it, and tossed it with simple carelessness. When it went off with a bang, it created a rapidly expanding barrier of smoke to attempt to provide them some cover, whilst Tabitha continued to rain down her own plasmic grenades!

Quiet replanted herself against the sphere, trying desperately to increase its rolling speeds, undoubtedly crushing more of the forest in front of them, and anything that were to get in the way of the strange techno-sphere!

When that Abyss monster appeared, Quiet quickly holstered her handgun on her thigh with ease, and detached another grenade from her belt, this one an adhesive explosive. When armed, she tossed it with the intent to have it slap right on to the Abyss, or at least somewhere near it, before it'd explode with a burst of fiery hell for whatever the fuck that thing was to deal with.

Another grunt, and a seriously annoyed expression on her masked face, Quiet laid back in to their massive rolling ball, using both of her hands now to steady it as she pushed, and tried to get her own body moving up to a jog, if not an outright run!

Bishop has posed:
The energy attacks from the Zero units are less a concern. In fact he welcomes them and doesn't seek to avoid them, letting them sink into his large frame and fuel his mutant battery, charging it up enough to amplify his physical abilities, enhancing his speed and reflexes more and more such that as he returns fire he becomes a near physical blur of movements. A volley of kinetic force is sent from his blaster rifles and then this is followed by a scything blast of searing blue-white energy as he converts his stored energy out into a blazing assault to bring down more of the Zero Units.

As to Holocaust, there's no sense in even trying to find cover while this is going on, just to keep moving with the added push from his now enhanced physique. Bishop's ability to absorb energy seems to have no bounds to it. It's so attuned and powerful that he could absorb the energy signatures, at full power, of the roster of his peers all at once and while strained - still be able to drink in more.

He's still not about to try Holocaust without being absolutely clear of the Zero Units. There's not room for a single mistake or misfire here.

<<I've got an idea, Tabitha. It's risky but you're going to need to pull the Zero Units off of me.>>

To that end, trusting her to make the attempt after firing a few more cover shots off, he turns to attempt to stand his ground for a moment and calls off to Holocaust: "Hey! Let's see how strong your blasts are when you don't have your backup dancers around to make it easier for you!"

Cable has posed:
The recovery team might have gotten a brief bit of luck when Abyss springs practically in front of that rolling orb and instead finds himself bowled over by it, letting Monet and Quiet continue on their way, another of the Zero Units crushed shortly there after as well. That Quiet adds the adhesive explosive to the mix, the explosion echoing in the trees around them before the smoke grenade adds further cover to their escape.

And with Sally's barrage of double blaster fire laying into the remaining two in the clearing, their way forward is quiet nearly clear.

Nearly.

While there might not be much but smoking ruins left of the Zero Unit caught by the rolling sphere, the same can't be said of Abyss, those shadowy coils that make up his body simply spring back up moments later. That sadistic grin remains etched on his features, seemingly undeterred by his prey's seeming escape and instead begins to lunge off after the pair in swift pursuit, heading for the beach, plunging through that smoke that blocks the trail and seeming to vanish from sight in that mist. If he emerges on the far side, he isn't seen.

For his part, Cable begins to rise to his feet with a grunt, blood marking the back of his body suit where those claws have shreaded right through the armor to tear at his flesh. With a grimace, he begins to take off after the others, also headed for the beach while keeping tabs on Bishop and Tabby's progress.

As instructed, Tabitha provides the covering explosions for Bishop, focusing those plasma bursts of the pursuing Zero Units, taking them out one at a time in fiery explosions that plume up through the canopy of trees, clearing the way for Bishop to enact his plan.

With nothing standing between them, the psionically shelled Holocaust comes to a stop before the time cop just up ahead. And Holocaust begins to show his power -- his real pwoer. Standing in a patch of the devestated earth that was blacked by his previous batch, he shows his own energy leeching abilities now, reaching out not for blasts of power, but life itself. The nearby trees, the brush, even the grass itself begins to wither and die all around him as the roiling mass of energy in that psionic shell feeds on it all. Even at a distance, Bishop might feel him stretching out to try and consume him.

And does he unleash it towards the X-Man?

No, instead he rips up a chunk of earth itself, as casually as one might pick up a rock and hurl it towards the other mutant on an arc that sends that twenty-foot chunk of rock crashing towards him.

Out on the beach itself the recovery team arrives out on the sands just in time to watch as a aircraft not unlike the one they arrived on decloaks not that far from their own. The water beneath it stirs, and then another of those silvery orbs like the one they found is simply hoovered on up into it's waiting opening.

Then, quite casually, a pair of missiles are launched towards their own waiting transport.

Tapping quickly at the paneled controls around his wrist, Cable watches as a section of their plane suddenly detaches, plummeting towards the ocean below an instant before those missiles slam into the plane, blowing it into a million pieces in a fiery explosion that begins to rain down debris all around the island.

Bishop has posed:
Note to self: Get better briefs on the powers of these new MLF arrivals. The ability to absorb and enhance his own abilities was not something Bishop had expected. So much for his plan. That's two 'I was wrong' in one mission. Unacceptable.

But this isn't to say that he can't switch things up in a hurry and think on his feet. As the massive chunk comes hurtling towards him, he's already on the move. He's jsut enough enhanced energy from the blasts taken in by the Zero Units to provide him with the charge necessary to defend himself..and so he holds his ground.

A quirk of his mutant gifts is that he not only absorbs energy but he can convert it...and amplify it. What the Zero Units gave him is strengthened and then suddenly a blasting roar of kinetic force is shot forth from both of the security enforcers outstretched arms, blasting into the incoming rubble with all the grace and impact of an optic blast unleashed by the X-Men's field commander. Bishop pushes, seeking to not simply blast it apart but to punch right through it and send both blast and rubble tumbling backwards towards Holocaust with all of the remaining energy in his mutant battery surging along with it.

With any luck, the odds will turn and provide him with enough cover to regroup with the others.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The group is fleeing towards the safety and the sanctuary of the shore. Without the power suppressor field in front of her, Monet can keep on helping Quiet keep the ball rolling (in a literal way) while they would race along, bumping through the island's underbrush as Abyss just gets right back up again and goe sinto pursuit!

Just what exactly the mutant /is/ is hard to tell. Living Darkforce? A sentient embodiment of a parallel dimension? W hatever he is, his frame is incredibly malleable and it seems like he's some sort of continuous perpetually regenerating portal. Attacking him head on seems doomed to futility as she would keep on psionically scanning behind her and ahead of them as they're about to reach the sanctuary of thier own craft to get out of there just in time..

Then she can only snap her head about right at the last moment as the other jet comes out of nowhere, like a stalking bird of prey that had been lying in ambush.. And their own ride out of there immediately blows up, the other plane seemingly having it's own prize from the bottom of the cereal box with them. Monet goes to put herself out in front of any shrapnel that might be going for Quiet in case the girl couldn't turn to smoke in time if she was near them.. And then it's just smoke, fire, debris, and chaos.

Story of her life.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride beats feet across the isle along with Cable to catch up to the others on the beach... just in time to see the other transport levitate the other module away and unload a pack of missiles into their own. Well that's going to be a pain in the ass. Less of one thanks to Cable's quick thinking, but still a pain.

First, they need to deal with the more immeadiate threat than being stranded.

Sally turns both her weapons upon Abyss and opens fire. Not pausing until she has to eject the magnum's spent magazine.

"I guess now we get to find out if shadows can bleed." And starts firing the energy blaster again as soon as Abyss starts to reform himself from the previous attacks. She's trying to make him have to focus on regenerating and reshaping himself and hopefully suppress more attack chances. Or decide it's not worth it and leave them to what appears to be a stranded fate.

Shrapnel showering the beach is ignored even as it falls a bit too close for comfort. The transport will be mourned later, right now it's keeping focused on the matter at hand.

Stefani Houston has posed:
Quiet had haunted the deserts of Afghanistan for nearly a decade, after losing contact with her team due to the nature of allowing herself to talk, and put her friends in danger. She had to do it, but it damned her to isolation for a very long time. As explosions go off around her, and the realization of something attacking her from behind, while she is solely focused on rolling this strange sphere toward the ocean waters suddenly hits her... a random memory, a random thought.

The first day she had finally left the deserts, and found herself a small roadside inn to stay the night in, she'd slept on a bed for the first time in a decade, enjoyed an actual running shower for the first time in a decade. She'd ordered actual food for the first time in a decade, and she'd watched television for the first time in ... a long time too.

She'd watched a program called American Gladiators, and found it to oddly be the greatest thing of all time. In that lovely program, the contestants were made to roll giant spheres toward specific places on the game floor, where they would trigger spouts of smoke to launch up in the air to signal a scored point. Quiet had happily eaten her food, sitting on her motel bed, and enjoying that very lively show in the mid 1990s...

this, was not American Gladiators, but for some reason... she felt like she was still a contestant on said show.

Lost in thought, she suddenly felt sand beneath her feet, and released the techno-sphere to roll on its own power, just as she watched their plane suddenly explode.

She sighed so very heavily. "My starbursts were on there." Her sing-soft voice said over the mind link, before she spun around to see the aftermath of their actions.

Pieces of their plane rained down on the ground, Monet providing cover, and Quiet brushing aside some of her loose bangs, her pony tail whipping in the wind behind her shoulders.

"Is everyone okay?" She asked, her lips unmoving, as the sphere they had just rescued found a little sandy groove to roll in to.

Point scored.

Cable has posed:
That... is inconvenient.

While they have managed to recover one of the two cores they came here seeking, it would seem that Stryfe and the MLF have acquired the seccond. Worse, they have blown their own transport out of the sky and an instant later that advanced aircraft that blew up their own recloaks, fading from view before the roar of those engines streaks off, leaving them behind.

But the largest piece of debris, the one ejected by Cable just before their air transport was blown out of the sky, lands before the rest, revealing itself to be a sleek motorboat. Not nearly so fast or comfortable as the jet, though also looking somewhat more advanced then the standard makes and models out there.

At least they're not stranded. The island might be -- or was -- a pretty enough place to visit, Holocaust seems intent on turning it into a wasteland of destruction that they probably don't want to stay on.

Especially not with him on it.

As that monster of a mutant reveals that he is even more dangerous then he first appeared to be, Bishop fortunately manages to counter the surprise attack, blowing that hunk of rock apart before it can squash him flat. But more impressively doing so in just the right way to send enough to the shards back, pelting the psionically armored mutant. While that debris might not be able to penetrate his shell, that's not the point. It blinds and distracts him long enough to let Bishop slip away.

It also gives Cable a chance to intervene as well.

Still grimacing from the bloody furrows ripped into his back, he lifts a hand and directs it towards Holocaust. He can't counter the raw power of his blasts, can't hope to contain him for long. What he can do though? Send those waves of telekinetic force slamming into him, lifting him from his feet and hurling him backwards until he flies right off the far side of the island, landing in the water and disappearing from view.

Time bought.

Sally does much the same as Abyss emerges from the brush behind them, a flicker of shadow and claws, sickening grin still etched on his face.

He's quick, but the lioness is quicker, those blasters peppering him with shots, driving him back.

Which would seem to be their queue to leave. "Okay is a relative term. But I think we'll all be better once we're far away from here," Cable grunts articulately, reaching out with his mind to pluck that sphere and deposit it in the back of the waiting boat. Then, lifting everyone one nearby -- who can't fly under their own power at least -- he floats them across the intervening waves into the sleek craft itself.

"I don't know about you, but I've had enough beach life for today. I think I got sand in my boots," the future soldier complains.

Not to mention a bloody back.

So... misison partially successful? They acquired one of the two modules -- though which one is still to be determined. They survived Abyss and Holocaust one more time and while he is down one of his advanced transports, at least they're not completely stranded.

Cable will take it.

With a roard from the onboard motors, that boat begins to streak off, cutting through the brilliant blue of the pacific waters, headed for a safe harbor.