14980/The Path of Progress: A Walk Around The Bloc

The Path of Progress: A Walk Around The Bloc
Date of Scene:	28 May 2023
Location:	Industrial District -- Eastern European Shithole
Synopsis:	Cable and his team make a raid on another facility, rescuing a number of mutants. And maybe, just maybe find the name of the individual behind all of this...
Cast of Characters:	Cable, Monet St. Croix, Tabitha Smith, Sally Pride, Clarice Ferguson

---

Cable has posed:
It took some time to get through the encryption and protections on the data taken from the Indian Ocean site, to go through the data and find out just where the captives who had not been harvested for their body parts might have been sent. And while Cable and his allies still don't have a name of just who is behind the whole sickening affair, they do seem to be getting closer. More importantly, they have another target - this one a rundown and seemingly abandoned factory in one of those former Soviet Bloc countries in Eastern Europe.

Each mission comes with its own complications. Madripoor is a, well, hive of scum and villainy but the facility being used was isolated making a direct assault pretty easy. The south Indian Ocean island was isolated and difficult to reach, but again far from any prying eyes. This one though, the factory is in the middle of a city and while the rundown industrial district with its ancient technology is not exactly a hive of activity, a lot of random explosions is almost guaranteed to attract the local authorities. And while a number of them are likely on the take and thoroughly corrupt, probably not all of them are.

Violent as he can be in his methods Cable generally tries not to massacre legitimate officers of the law - or whatever passes for them in broken nations like this one.

So headquarters for this mission? An equally rundown office building, five stories tall, that happens to overlook the nearby factory, giving an adequate surveillance perch to take in the target and make the assessment of how to proceed. Which is what Cable is seemingly doing, standing leaning over a table where blueprints of the factory are laid out - illegally bought and paid for of course - close to one of those same windows that looks down over the factory. "No heavily armed guard towers or weapon emplacements here," he says matter of factly, that cool-eyed gaze locked on the map in front of him. "All the defenses must be tucked away inside, kept out of the way of prying eyes. Makes proper intel a little trickier to come by. From what I've been able to find out it's a safe bet that we're probably looking at some high-priced - and powered - mercs," he notes flatly. "The one I know of for sure is this man," he says, slapping a profile down on the table. "Goes by the name of Bushwacker. Ex-CIA, he's noted to be a mutant hater and has worked with a variety of organizations that have similar agendas. Comes complete with a bionic prosthesis on his right arm that can morph into virtually any sort of firearm imaginable.

Oh, he wants that arm.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod thoughtfully over at it. "We can't fight our way through all of that. Not without being bogged down." HEr tone is thoughtful. "Best to try and bypass as many of them as we can." And they may not have the ability of Cable to be teleported in with pinpoint accuracy. She goes to look over at it for a moment while going to think for a few seconds.

"Meltdown, do you think that if I can carry you close enough you can blast through most of the exterior of the buliding to make a hole for us to go through?" By 'carry' she means 'hold Tabby like a gun' sort of thing. She would ponder over.

"IF we can get close and telepathically.. Confirm where his rough position is, Meltdown can make us a hole then the rest of us can breach." Which involves her using Tabby like an explosion on a stick.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Just because it's getting on for summer doesn't mean some environments aren't still going to be cold. Eastern Europe tends to get like that where there's alps and mountain ranges all over the place. Hence how there's a Boom-Boom in black mostly. A few lines of yellow piping around the edged of any padding that would have normally been yellow to fit the biker look.

Now it just looks like a very espionage chic catsuit. The red tinted glasses on her nose the only other color.

The suggestion they just boom their way though just gets a chuckle. "You do know that we can probably actually sneak in right. These old factories and stuff have so many holes in them they can't keep track of everything. Plus the guards are probably going to be local hires and dumb as bricks, that's why they'd likely hire a guy like this bushwhacker. Keep them on point. We can pretty be as quiet as we want No point making noise we don't need." she points out.

Sally Pride has posed:
Last time Sally Pride just happened to be one of the mercenary minded mutants that caught one of the lines Cable had put out for help. Mostly for needing people who could possibly operate vehicles in that tropical storm that was being used as cover.

Then she saw what was actually going on in that horrible, hideous place. Seeing mutants caged up and medically experimented on. It was almost a PST flashback to NULL but a hundred times worse.

Now she was here because it was personal interest in doing something about these horrible acts. Though the mercenary paycheck was still nice, this was more about the helping other mutants. Sally didn't make a difference between genetic or scientifically created ones. This crossed a number of lines either way.

The lioness nods as they go over the blueprints. "You're probably right. They want to blend into the rest of the rundown surroundings, use it as camoflague. The advanced defenses are going to be on the inside. Also makes tactical sense, as most people aren't going to bother with the exterior. If they're here for trouble, they're going to being going inside."

She taps a clawed fingertip on the tabletop a few times. "She's got a point. But we also don't want to spend more time than necessary wandering the facility. Being ready to make our own egresses doesn't hurt."

Cable has posed:
Listening quietly to the back and forth, Cable does not immediately interject as the trio exchanges ideas. "I imagine that a lot of those nooks and cranies that might provide easy access have a technological solution applies. Laser trip wires and cameras at the minimum. We don't seem to be dealing with a fly by night sort of organization here," he muses thoughtfully. "Regardless though, if we do make our own entrance we probably want to do it as subtly as possible. I'd rather not battle both the local authorities and whatever mercenaries they have inside. Bushwacker isn't exactly a heavyweight like Taskmaster, but if he's just the tip of the iceberg things could get a little rough," he admits.

Glancing back down at the blueprint laid out in front of them, Nathan frowns slightly. "The loading docks might be our best bet. They're around back, away from the street and any immediate line of sight from the surrounding buildings. If we do have to get a little? explosive having as much cover as possible is probably for the best," he says, turning his attention back to the other three to get their thoughts.

While they continue to discuss their strategies, Cable moves to a nearby table and begins to go through the various weapons he has laid out there - a health assortment ready for his inspection and use of course - along with a handful of other technological marvels that he has seemingly laid his hands on.

He does seem to have the best toys at his disposal.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would take a moment to shrug over at the others. Then there's a stiff nod over to Tabitha's commentary. "Very well." She doesn't particularly see the point of trying to sneak in past soldiers, heavy security, and whatever else that might be thrown their way.. But, she's going to trust the future soldier and Tabitha. Which if Tabitha ever asked her on she would totally deny that it had gone through her mind at all.

"IF you feel that is best." Monet is more of a 'go in and smash thing' type. But she at least is willing ot accomodate the others when the plan is somewhat beyond her immediate ability to keep task with. She keeps at least a partially annoyed expression on her face for appearances. She would rather break in given hte lack of hostages and her extreme annoyance at how long they had been strung along chasing freaks.

Sally Pride has posed:
Oh Sally is mostly a 'go in and smash stuff' type of person. But her training for special ops taught her that sometimes you need to be patient and precise to get to the 'smash everything good' stage. "Good idea. If we do need to make an entrance, it'll be faster and less disruptive to burn through a loading dock door than a wall," Sally agrees with that assessment to use the cargo area as a back door of sorts. "Just need to be wary of security on it. And it shouldn't be too complicated considering how often those cargo doors need to be opened and closed to handle... resources." She makes a face at the thought of what some of those 'resources' could be.

The lioness' tail sways a few times while her attention shifts to watch Cable go over his futuristic looking arsenal. "I would love to know where he gets his toys from," she muses, mostly to herself.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Loading dock might be a better idea. We get any thing on what vehicles come and go round back from the surveillance and stuff. Go jack a van or truck. use any credentials and access they have, just drive right on up." Tabby ponders.

Then hmms. "Or we can just like straight fly over, M got some strength, so she carries us. Drops us on the pack patio, I break the locks on the door. We go from there." she posits. "No excess light or noise. "

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
With a BLINK, some blue energy puffs and flashes in the room and a pink mutant hops out of a portal next to Nathan and looks surprised that she appears there at just that moment, "Oh sorry," she mutters. She glances at everyone there and she's late but she doesn't interrupt with her dumb questions. She's dressed casually, not undercover and not like she's been in the savage land. She has been well known for helping out in the savage land campaign and even using her own personal time to help those in Fall Village, as its rebuilt after some weird dinosaurs trashed it.

She just walks over to a little stool nearby and sits down, saying nothing. Much like her extended cameos, she doesn't have much to say at the moment. She just looks up at Cable and then over at Monet and Tabitha and the others planning out their mission.

Cable has posed:
It is an interesting notion to be sure. Though probably a bit of a long shot. Still Cable considers Tabby's suggestion for a moment. "We do have a suitable vehicle downstairs and forging a work order wouldn't be that difficult," he says thoughtfully, beginning to pack up his kit, making his final preparations. "I don't think we'll be fooling anyone, but it should get us pretty damn close. One driver, the rest of us in the back, ready to jump any security that shows itself," he says slowly, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully.

Not his regular modus operandi either. But he likes to think he's pretty adaptable when it comes to getting the mission done.

Of course it is right about then when there is that flash and the last prospective member of the mission makes their appearance. And while Cable has access to teleportation technology thanks to his secretive - and invisible - ship in orbit, it comes with certain limitations that the elfin young woman does not have.

"Or we could probably just teleport in and save us the hassle. Though that comes with a few potential problems as well. These bluepritns are next to useless - a holdover from when the factory was still in use making mutions during the Cold War. I somehow doubt we'll find much the same outside the basic structure," the grim future-soldier admits.

In a perfect world he doesn't like to lead anyone into situations like this, when the intelligence is so very sketchy. He's seen far too many missions go wrong because of a lack of good intel. But they're kinda up against it, timewise and the last thing he wants - the last thing any of them wants - is to see more mutants carved up for body parts because they waited a little too long.

"Any objections to teleporting in blindly?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would shrug over at Cable, "In that case, we can be quickly relocated. And amongst those of us present, we can rapidly secure a breech area if need be to penetrate further." Between the ability of Tabitha to nuke everything in the area and with the sheer number of guns Cable had, they could probably secure a foothold to get in deeper to the complex.

"When we have secured an entrypoint they we can quickly reconoittir before we initiate our assault." The pink girl's presence made everything much, much easier! Monet would give a smile over to Clarice then before nodding over to the future soldier for a few moments.

"Will our enemy be expecting us to sneak in or break through?" She would inquire thoughtfully. Yes, they would likely prepare for anything they could.. But they would probably focus primarily on oen or the other. One only had so much tech, manpower, and weapons. One had to prioritize. They couldn't cover every contingency.. So they'd just have to go for the likeliest ones. So take whatever was the biggest possibility..

And then do something completely different. That was the very, very rough way her understanding of tactics worked.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Blink's arrival gets a grin and a hmm. "Well that just made things faster. There's a look to blue prints. "So who wants to hope that the local Po-Po is suitably bribed to not screw with anything going on on site?" she says hopefully.

"So screw it, we port in inside. Hope the layout we have is not changed much by the current occupants. But we can probably rip that from the guards while we're there. Aim for like a squad leader or something." she says and looks to Monet. Sally gets a grin too. "You probably do not want to know. But a guy with hair that gray has been collecting a long time." she points out and chuckles.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride laughs softly. Mostly as an effort to make the mood a little less grim before they all have to plunge into this dark and dire situation. "Well that certainly makes getting in more convenient."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
"I can teleport you into the room," Blink says as she contemplates the blueprints. "Should be fine unless someone's having their poker game in there," she adds. She's not trying to be sarcastic but a surprise teleport is just that, a surprise, especially if Blink's never been there before.

Blink looks at Monet as she asks some questions, maybe ones Blink has been thinking too. She stands up and scoots over to look at the blueprints. She looks the layout over but doesn't say anything about it.

Cable has posed:
So that's pretty much decided.

As a general rule Cable does not exactly run with people who get squeamish about a bit of the rough and tumble. The missions he focus on are not the sort that tend to be nice and clean - for good or ill. It's a messy world with a lot of terrible people in it. And someone has to be willing to deal with them.

With his own kit packed and slung over one shoulder, Nathan Summers drifts back over to the table to see just what Blink has in mind as far as their insertion goes, giving a little nod at her selection. "Seems like a good candidate. Small enough that we're probably not teleporting into the middle of their guard post, not too central but not so far from the old factory floor that we'll be trying to cut our way through every defense they have on hand," he agrees with apparent satisfaction. "Lets do it," he says. "If you need any gear grab it from the table. Then we head out."

And with that he pulls one of the weapons free from his pack, hefting it in that metal, cybernetic arm.

Time to make the bad guys pay. And hopefully save a few lives in the process.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix goes to take none of the gear on the table. Mostly that she's not skilled enough for it to be useful for her nor does the technology there seem to be of any use to her. She listens over to Blink and gives a nod over and dip sher head. "Very well. As soon as we get there if there is nothing hostile that the rest of you cannot deal with, I can scan the area to try and pick out wherever our targets are." Or at least where the largest concentration of hostiles were.

She was nowhere near as good a telepath as Cable was, but she was acceptable. And while Tabby had powers, she was still learning to use them and would be (in M's mind, at least) being ready to deal with interlopers over anything scanning-wise. It wasn't like they didn't have enough firepower present to handle things. She would give a nod over to Sally then and tap at her arm. "I'll also connect us as we go underground telepathically to coordinate in case we have to split up." Something the Xavier's Crowd did often, buts he wasn't sure if Sally did or not. SO it was an offer - as well as for permission. She didn't quite know what the stealthy one was fluent with.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride takes a moment to double-check her own blaster. It was charged, and while technically designed originally as a non-lethal weapon she set it to the highest possible capacity. Non-lethal did not mean non-painful. She was a mutated predator, she had plenty of natural 'lethal' weapons of her own. The blaster was for when quick and precise was needed. Like if someone is unlucky enough to be at the point the teleport to.

She gives a nod to Monet. "Good to keep everyone in contact," she agrees. "Let's do this."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink points her pink finger at a side room thats nondescript, "You're right. This room," she tells Cable and the others, "This room here is good," she suggests, tapping the blueprint. She has on these gloves with the fingers cut off of them which maybe are leftovers from her time in the savage land. She looks up from the blueprint as people shuffle around to grab gear. She crosses her arms as she waits for people to get ready, not saying anything more.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The blonde already had her gear stashed in conveniently hidden pockets inside her uniform. Yes she would have to unzip it to get at things but it's better than visible pockets ruining the lines of the catsuit.

An earpiece is the only equipment she does grab. Mind links are fine for silent chat but you never know when psi blockers are in play, and something mundane is always handy.

Blink picking a good spot gets a big grin and a nod. "We'll straight up good to rock." No weapons on her but then she is walking ordnances. That doesn't mean she can't respect a weapon when others use it. "So if we like see people on the other side. I can throw a few flashbangs, Blink closes up, wait a second, reopen, then Big Cat and Cable shoot anyone still standing." she suggests as an entrance tactic.

Cable has posed:
While it's true that Cable's telepathy might be second to none, he is awfully reluctant to utilize it. That doesn't seem to have changed - probably because while the cybernetic body parts he already has have their uses, he would rather not be completely ravaged by Techno-Organic virus. So he simply dips his head Monet's way in agreement with her suggestion. "Good," he says simply. "Same rules as last time, if you feel your powers start to dissipate, back it up. Sooner or later we're going to run into mutation dampeners, I'm certain. Don't let yourself get trapped and we'll blast our way free if needed," he says quietly.

Then, gathering with the others, he waits for Blink to open her portal.

When the portal opens, it does so in exactly the right place of course. The room looks cozy - big enough for them certainly but crowded with assorted rusted machinery that has apparently been dumped out of the way and forgotten. On the surface the room appears to be deserted and - perhaps more importantly for their purposes - there do not seem to be any cameras or obvious defenses waiting for them.

Taking the lead, Cable goes through first - nothing taken for granted as he keeps that heavy rifle leveled as his grim-faced visage sweeps across the chamber before motioning for the rest of the team to follow

For Monet's part the sense of other living, breathing beings is almost immediately apparent - no psi-blockers in this room at least - and again she can sense that a number of them are drugged and apparently helpless, somewhere to the west - the large, open chamber that was the main factory back in the day. But there are a dozen or more other life signatures that are distinctly not drugged.

That would be the welcoming party then.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to focus over as the group arrives, even as seh closes her eyes. She doesn't have to at all. She doesn't need it to focus. But it's an instinctive, calming thing. Block out sensations from the other senses, focus on themind. It's a mantra that many telepaths use early on to help calm themselves. She goes to take a moment then before her eyes open.

"There." she gestures in the direction where the drugged minds are coming from. Shen she jabs her hand more directly over to the west. "ENemies." There are no psi blockers, nothing that seems particularly anti-mutant..

But technology is something she cannot detect,a nd anything that's inheretn tot he area that's not been sprung she has no way of telling. But the fact there aren't psi inhibitors here is a slightly better sign than the last few times. It means that they have at least some level of surprise.

Rather than them kicking into existence as the group comes in. She knows where some of the victims are, and where the closest hostiles are.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink raises her hand like Zatanna and opens the portal, letting others go through before going in herself. The last through the portal, she glances around the deserted room, half expecting someone or something to be there. There's only a rat that's scurries across the floor. She raises her hand again and a pink javelin knife thing shimmers into view, lighting up the room also, which is helpful. It's not so bright to radiate under the door to the west Monet speaks about.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Boomer is in shortly after Cable along with everyone else. Tabitha's telepathy mostly going into maintaining the mind link for communications "You'd think being bioelectrical I could churn out an EMP. But nooo. It'd make some of this a whole lot easier." not that people with bullets would be affected by that kind of blast but possible hostile cyborg mercenaries might not have a good time. Separating it from the friendly cyborg leading them is the trick.

"So bad guys are thataway?" she looks where Monet pinged them. We gotta go through them and not towards a different direction for out objective?" she figures and shrugs. She does goe to check the door, whether or not it's metal or wood. Hopefully metal. She doesn't need to see what's on the other side if it's metal. Conductivity is so handy sometimes."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride steps through the portal with blaster ready in one hand. Though being the bit of a gearhead that she is her attention briefly turns to the machinery on the otherside... though it's short lived once seeing it's in rusted, delapitated condition. "Must be the room they dumped all the factory machinery they weren't using. Lots of big structures to block view of the portal, and us. Good pick."

Monet picks up on a direction for them, and she shifts entirely into business mode. Time to get shit done and get people out of this hell.

Cable has posed:
"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Cable agrees quietly, nodding Sally's way. Really, Blink couldn't have selected a better entryway if they did have full intel on the site. No guards, no surveillance and plenty of bit, rusting metal hulks to shield their entrance. For once, something is going right on these missions.

No doubt that will change soon enough.

"If things get desperate I can provide the EMP. The problem is they don't tend to be pocket-sized and I figure this part of the world has enough issues without my knocking out power to the whole city for the next few days," Nathan states as he starts towards the only obvious door leading out of the room. Not that he won't do it, mind you, if it comes to that. He'd just rather avoid the necessity if he can possibly avoid it.

Passing by, the cybernetic warrior nods to Monet as she provides them a general bearing to pursue. "Alright. Priority is getting any prisoners out of here alive. Secondary mission is collecting any intel on who is behind this or any other facilities they might have," he says, hand on the door knob. "Anyone we takedown is just a bonus," he adds flatly, the tone making it clear that by 'takedown' he is not particularly concerned if they're still breathing at the end of this.

With that, Cable opens the door and slips out of the makeshift storage room, starting to pick his way through the long hallway that leads from the front entrance and office area back to the factory floor. Side passages seem to lead into washrooms and a lunch room, but otherwise it is a straight trip to their destination. And it's only when they near a set of double doors leading to the old factory floor that things go wrong.

Almost as soon as they get in sight of the factory entrance, panels in both the ceiling and floor slide aside and a quartet of turrets suddenly slide out, locking into place before peppering the entire hall with a flood of laser fire.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Well, this is lovely. As the group goes forwards they have a few moments before there's clearly an alert that's been raised, and Monet goes to grumble quickly to herself. She goes to curse and speaks quietly along the mental link <<Blink, if you can take our infiltrator ahead to the next area?>> While Boom-Boom could simply obliterate the turrets. Then Blink and Sally could go deal with the next layer of threats or just go deeper to rescue the captives.

That would (hopefully) if the quick teleportation and bypass went well leave Meltdowm to detonate the turrets, then Cable to be ready to bust down whatever would be in the next area ahead of them to wait. Well.. And if Cable, M, and Tabitha made lots and lots of noise, hopefully it would let the Pink-Porter quickly leapfrog around anyonea nd everything in the way and let Sally get in and ou tto secure any and all useful information for them. Not that things ever went accordiong to plan.

Even as M is rapidly going to dodge rapid laserfire before it burns a hole through her!

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride follows after Cable, her movements making as little noise as possible. Even if she wasn't specifically stealthy being a mutant feline has certain perks. That and the heightened senses. Those tend to come in more useful, and this was one of those times. This is also one of those times why she keeps a gun handy.

Ears pick the faint sound of parts moving as the turrets start to deploy, and she pulls back from her steps. Reflexes take over, jerking her entire body back against the wall to narrow her profile. While holding out her blaster in one hand and firing back in an effort to disable the security measure. It's not until one of the turrets actually locks onto her position that she pushes off of the wall to bolt away, leaving a string of laser burn marks across the surface behind her, way too close for comfort.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink smiles and nods to what Sally says, nodding in agreement about the room. Things are looking good so far. She looks back at the door to the room though and frowns, wondering what's behind it. She listens to what Cable says and says, "There must be older triggers and alarms. Maybe on the doors." She leans her glowing javelin toward the wooden door and braces herself as Cable just goes on through like the most confident person ever.

Taking up the rear, Blink inclines her neck around those ahead of her to see what's been triggered up ahead. "What's going on?" She raises her hand and creates a portal while trying to concentrate on what Monet says but looks unsure she even understands. She forces the portal to envelope people and hopefully teleport them ahead to the next room to bypass the doors and the turrets. If they're in range, that is. She's moving quickly, so she doesn't pause like she normally does and the portal goes off with a BLINK!!!!

"No time! Ugh! Is everyone okay?!"

Cable has posed:
The long, straight hallway is great until a moment like this and then it abruptly feels like a shooting gallery. There are those side passages of course, but the nearest one of those is a good twenty feet behind them. So as those turrets start blasting away, Cable throws up a hand, the power of his mind rising up to meet the barrage of fire. But telekinetic force can only do so much against laser blasts and while he manages to deflect the first few soon enough he is left to follow Sally's approach and simply throw himself up tight against the wall of the hallway, sliding that heavy plasma rifle across his body and awkwardly aiming at the hidden weapons emplacement standing squarely between them and their mission objective.

He drops into a crouch to try and cut his target profile even more and fires off a few answering shots in reply. It's not fullout suppression fire, but between him, Sally and Tabby they can lay down a pretty effective field of fire. And sure enough in short order one of the ground turrets suddenly explodes, the top blown clean off as black, billowing smoke begins to pour out.

One down, three to go.

Or Blink can just come to the rescue. As that expanding portal washes over to bring them all out of harms way, Cable and the rest of them find themselves standing on the other side of those double doors. The sound of laser fire from the other side continues to echo over them, but instead of facing those turrets they find themselves in a makeshift facility that seems very much like the one they discovered in the abandoned colonial fort back in the Indian Ocean. As assemblage of pens have been set up, mesh fences containing drugged mutants laying on gurneys with a dozen or so rifle-wielding mercs. Foremost amongst them is a man who's entire arm looks like some high-powered cannon.

For a moment there is surprised silence. Then the room explodes into activity.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The man that's arm is a cannon has M's immediate attention. The point here is to make as much chaos as possible and damage. She goes to charge towards the man, her intent being as seh dive bombs him to simply try and grab him about the neck, snap his body around and tries to if she can telepathically override his consciousness. Presuming she can both overpower him physically a n dmentally, she geos to try and hijack the part of him that controls the gun..

And goes to simply try to use him to blast at everything hostile about the room, itnent on just trying to cause as much damage with her mook-gun as possible!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The Turrets spun up, but others managed to shoot them while Tabby was charging a directed blast. The plasma gets held onto for a while though. It was expected they'd have automated stuff as much as live shooting goons.

They always have goons.

"So like draw fire away from like Blink, and whomever wants to help get those peeps to a hospital or somewhere wit friendly medical care?" she ponders while some of the rifle wielding mooks find streams of plasma hitting various angles of their heads. Kind of like being hit with a very hot skillet while firecrackers go off in their ears.

More BOOM! than clang!

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink twists around and looks at the double doors just behind her and she can hear the turrets twisting around mechanically looking for them. She turns back around to the quiet room and frowns at the nearby mercs and detained mutans and the other horrible stuff, "Uhh, we're not alone..." she mutters. She tries to concentrate on remembering the blueprints but going back doesn't seem like a good idea to her, so she's not quick to react this time. Maybe the team can deal with these guys.

"There's so many. But I'll help them. I know how to help them," Blink tells Tabitha and rushes over to the nearest detainee. Helping every single one is going to be a challenge.

Sally Pride has posed:
Now they're thinking with portals.

It's arguable if the situation Blink jumps them into is better or worse, but it's at least at their intended point.

The moment of surprise is just long enough for Sally to get her bearings on the new arrangement. "Help them. You have the best means of getting them somewhere safe." And then hurtle herself into the fray, lunging at the mercenaries as one would expect a big cat to do. Likely sending herself and her unfortunate victim tumbling across the floor, until she can put him out of the fight.

Cable has posed:
Out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Of course the fire is exactly where they want to be, more or less. And while they might be caught a little flat-footed by the sudden transition, at least their enemies are too.

As the team springs into action Cable moves to cover Blink and her efforts to rescue who she can when a pair of blondes - one male, one female - detach themselves from the other guards who rush to confront Sally and Tabby.

"Our employer won't care for this at all, Andrea," the young man says, glaring towards Nathan.

"He certainly will not, Andreas," she answers.

"Best we do something about that there," Andreas replies lifting a hand towards Cable.

"Most certainly brother," Andrea offers, doing the same.

A blast of concussive force lashes out from the blonde male, hitting Cable square in the chest and sending him staggering back. Meanwhile the blonde woman gestures towards the floor under Cables feet. Another blast rips from her hands and abruptly where there was metal plating there is a sudden void and Cable falls, vanishing from view.

As Monet flies towards Bushwacker, determined to take him out fast, the ex-CIA agent falls back, that gun-arm firing off a powerful blast her way even as he starts to scramble backwards. "You stay away from me you mutant freak!" he screams, beginning to lay down more rapid fire to try and keep M at bay.

Tabitha finds herself confronting a half dozen guards who open fire, peppering her with blasts before she scatters them with her own reply. A pair go down almost at once but the others hastily try to regroup.

For her part, Sally too gets a bit of a surprise when a massive figure steps out from behind one of the steel columns that rise from floor to ceiling. Almost seven-feet tall, that isn't even his most notable trait. No, that would be the four, muscular arms that he spots as he advances on the lioness. "Alright kitty, it's time to play," he growls, flexing ominously.

With her back-up gone, Blink is left on her own to deal with the dozen or so sedated mutants who lay unconscious in their pens. And while the rest of the team has most of the threats locked down, one of the hired guards spots her approaching the nearest of the prisoners, starting to bring his rifle up in her direction?

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Going to drive over at Bushwhacker, Monet is not fast enough to engage him before he can drive her away with fire. She can't call out a warning to the others as the chaotic melee starts up. Monet can only fly along and go to then quickly evaluate her direction, position.. And then make sure that Bushwhacker is focused entirely on her. She goes to taunt out at him..

"Then you must be completely thrilled working with them! Tehy're two of the most prominent members of hte mutant community!" Oh yes, she knows who the Nazi Twins are. Bushwhacker has a loathing of mutants. So let's see if she can play that up.. Monet goes to dive away and fly as erratically as she can, zig-zagging while trying to focus over on Bushwhacker's mindset. Two things. The first.. The first is that the Struckers are mutants. Extremely important, powerufl mutants. the next, that he hates mutants. He hates mutants who have tricked him.

And he never knew the Struckers were mutants. He's a race freak, so hopefully that's easy enough to redirect. It's building upon existing emotions and hate and..

They're Nazis. No one will miss them. And traitors to their own kind. So hopefully Bushwhacker does something good for the gene pool in a mouth foaming frenzy and removes the two Strucker twins from it.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride looks up as the large muscular form steps out, putting the threat presented by the mercs to shame. She looks him up, down, and at his most defining trait. Snorts softly. "Four arms. Overcompensating much?"

Then she moves. Charges towards the large man... but then it turns out to be a feint as instead she dives into a roll, trying to get behind them. Then bringing up her blaster and firing off a few shots, even as she's sliding from her dive on her back.

Multiple arms was kind of new, but she's dealt with enough big brutish enemies to know her best advantage was to keep on the move.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink runs up the line of cots and pens where the detained mutants are. She looks at them worriedly, then turns toward the mercenary who notices her and is readying his bigass Liefeld gun. Uh oh! Dang, that could do some damage! Look at that thing!

Blink uses a portal to try to quickly cut the giant Liefeld rifle in half, not waiting to see if the portal causes an explosion or the mercenary just gets more pissed off or what. She decides to teleport two of the mutants and herself away with a BLINK!! She's gone! She's completely disappeared with the mutants who probably were unconscious through the whole thing anyway.

(meme) A few moments later ....... Blink reappears and falls from vertical portal like she's the super-villain Spot or something. She lands on her feet and she braces herself to see if anyone's spotted her this time, "I need a faster plan..." she mutters.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
One of the neat tricks she's learned over the years is that while she can dodge, and she does dodge, barely behind her own cover. When others do the same, she doesn't have the same need to penetrate save cover. All it takes is for Tabitha to float her spheroid bombs over and around. She doesn't even need to see when her own telepathy can actually help her pin point a location.

The explosions lighting up behind that cover. "You should see them at all the parties. Andrea got pretty cosy with some gangbanger mutants from Bushwick a while back. Those girls were lit for her!" she teases loudly.

If you're gonna so dissent might as well spread it around. Get the Nazi's all infighting instead of well another word with the in suffix.

Cable has posed:
For just a moment Bushwacker takes his eyes off of Monet - just long enough to shoot a glare over towards the Strucker Twins and the bulky and bruising Forearm - all three of whom certainly seem like mutants or mutant adjacent. Hate burns in those eyes but he doesn't allow himself to become distracted for long, gaze quickly swivveling back towards M as he brings his arm up again, the weapon there already morphing into something that appears just as deadly. "The best of us have to compromise now and then. A temporary arrangement, I promise you," he hisses. But the distraction has served it's purpose perhaps as M is already practically ontop of him.

The appropriately named Forearm works to try and catch up to Sally and he swings a pair of those powerful arms at he as she slides by agilely, growly when he misses. He takes another powerful swing her way - connecting with one of those steel pillars instead and leaving it dented and twisted - a testament to just how strong the man is too. "Why won't you stand still," he growls at the lioness before staggering back, driven away by the shots she peppers him with.

Those little manipulated bombs begin to move out amongst the hired guns, exploding in a timely fashion as more of the hired mercs go flying, Right before Tabby turns her attention towards Andrea Strucker. "You bitch!" the blonde woman screams angrily, turning to blast at her tormentor. One of those beams hits Tabitha's cover and poof, it melts away like it was never even there.

For just an instant things look bad for Blink. And then that portal is projected to intersect with the rifle aimed her way, slicing through the power supply just as it is about to fire. Instead it practically explodes in the man's face as a cry of shock and pain sounds, echoing throughout the cavernour chamber leaving her free to port a pair of the unconscious mutants to safety before reappearing some distance away.

It would seem that Andrea isn't the only one distracted by Boom-Boom's taunts as her brother turns that cold, haughty visage her way as well. "Ignore her sister. We have other?" he starts. Which is right around the point where a plasma bast screams across the room, striking him and sending him flying back against one of the wire-mesh enclosures. The metal fingers of Cable's cybernetic hand curl against the edge of the pit he was nearly dumped into, pulling himself up slowly, gun already in view and responsible for Andreas Strucker's sudden flight.

He's baaaacccckkkk!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Well, lovely. Unfortunately his hate isn't to the point that it overwhelms his idiocy. "Well, then make sure you're sharing her ass in the nearest prison cell!" She goes tos nap at Bushwhack.. Then she goes to call over ot Tabitha <<Fastball!>> This is accompanied as M goes to overpower the gun-armed racist, moves to pick him up and moves to hurl him HARD over at the nearest inbred hick that lusts for thier sibling of the pair of Nazi twins. The launch is accompanied by her plotted trajecotry, which is then sent over to Tabitha right where the girl hopefully moves toknow where just to set off that giant boom..

And M has figured out what it takes to get the gun-arm to tiwtch mid-flight as Bushwhack's gun-arm glows and fires a blast at each of the inbred Nazis!

Sally Pride has posed:
"Wouldn't want this to be too easy now would you?" Sally snarks back. Though the impact in the pillar did not go unnoticed. She's back on her feet quick enough, this time rushing back towards him while he staggers from the energy blasts. He's big, his bulky, even she won't be able to just toss him about in a fight. This is one that is going to take being smart as well as tough.

She clasps her hands together, and uses the momentum of dashing in to swing both her arms in a hammer blow aimed at Forearm's midsection. More specifically, she's aiming to hit the center of his mass, just enough to stagger him again, and rock him back into that pillar he already struck once. The hard construction material might be more effective than her own direct blows against such a large foe.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink quickly climbs on top of the next pen and counts up those left nearby but she can see Cable struggling in the pit from her vantage point. She collapses a portal on him and teleports him onto solid ground with a BLINK!! Wow, that was quick.

"Cable! Can you keep those mercenary guys back? I'm going to teleport this half of the room!" she shouts out. She raises her hands like Zatanna and looks back at the nearby pens and cots, "Well maybe not half..." she mutters to herself. She wipes her forehead maybe looking tired as she disappears with a BLINK!!! One of the mercenaries near Cable is way too late to take a pot shot at her.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby's cover just goes away when Andrea blasts at it. Tabby will likely have to make her own. But she does grin when it means it's annoying the other blonde. "Knew it, all that homophobia, it's okay to step out of the closet. As a mutant and a woman loving women. Holding back and getting angry just ain't healthy." she yells and keeps on taunting the woman, charging her own blast as she scrambles from spot to spot, trailing a few extra bombs at any remaining gun wielding goons.

"Seriously girl, if ya want we can totally go out, drinking dancing, third date stuff two dates early! Get you back on the well Narrow if not so much straight!" she suggests and blows a kiss an Andrea.

"Don't go being a party pooper and listen to that Nazi brother of his. He's probably go hang out at one of those seedy bath houses. Saw one down the street. No shame, but you could pick a better place to cruise dude!" she adds.

That blast spot suggested as Tabby winds up a decent pitch and lets fly.

Cable has posed:
Really, Bushwacker never really had a chance. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow. Too slow to bring his new weapon to bear, he instead finds himself flying through the air with something less than the greatest of ease, landing rather roughly atop Andreas Strucker leaving both men downed and trying to recover. A chance they will just not get as Tabitha's little timebomb arrives seconds later, exploding amongst them. When the dust settles, both of the hired guns are splayed about in the wreckage of the pen, clearly unconscious.

While Tabitha and Monet might be collaborating effectively, it does mean that the infuriating Boom-Boom is also going to have to dodge the revenge of the remaining Strucker twin. "What did you do to my brother!" she shrieks, those disintegration blasts flying wildly now, tearing up the floor around Tabby. It's hard to tell it the other taunts are getting to her. She's already a little ball of furious rage.

It would seem that Forearm is the definition of big and slow and while Sally would no doubt be in trouble if he ever manages to get those oversized mitts on her, he can't seem to keep up. He does lunge at her when she closes, but that hit to the solar-plexus drives him back, slamming him hardinto that twisted steel support. Metal grinds like nails on the chalkboard before the pillar twists and crumples. A moment later a section of the roof over head collapses inwards and the mighty Forearm finds himself buried beneath heavy metal sheeting.

"You'll have your cover," Cable offers up in reply to Blink, regaining his feet at starting forward once more, that plasma cannon drawn and leveled. Again and again it bursts to life, a bright green flare around the muzzle before another blast rips through the nearby pens, sending the handful of guards still on their feet scattering, trying to find some safe-haven. And Cable doesn't intend to give them one. "Get 'em out Blink. You're clear."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
This has Monet flying around and grabbing the remaining waste of genetic material over and moving to squeeze one hand around the throat of the remaining STrucker Twin (That she can't be bothered to care what the name is) and holds her hands around her cheeks. "I am going to make you an offer. Shut up. And keep your mouth still. Tabitha, dear, please put one of your bombs between her teeth that will explode that empty, ugly head o fher's if she so much as breathes or jabs it with her tongue. You've seen how well she detonates them. Now stay /completely/ still and shut up. If you're so stupid as to not be able to grasp why.."

She goes to hold the STrucker girl steady, fingers grasping the girl's cheeks to -force- her to keep her mouth open in an 'ahh' while gesturing over at Tabitha to insert the detonator into her mouth. hse knows that Tabby can recall, reset, or set off the bomb-ombs at any time so there won't be any risk.

But for once let them give nightmares to the type of monster that deserves it.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Blink has used a large portal to teleport many of the pens and cots away, emptying (half) the room but she reappears a few minutes later with a BLINK!! She looks more tired now and is rubbing her neck as she looks around for Cable or Monet or someone else who can tell her, "Are there more? Who else needs help....?" she asks.

Blink leans over and puts her hands on her knees, contemplating what she'll do next. If any mercenaries spot her, she might be dead meat. Thankfully, Cable blasted them and gave her the cover she asked for. "Maybe we should go!" she lets out. She sighs, still looking tired.

Sally Pride has posed:
Thank goodness that worked. It probably didn't kill the big guy, but it will take him time to dig out of that rubble, and that's all they really need right now. The time. Sally turns on her heels, sprinting back to help with gathering up the mutants for Blink to move out of the facility. "I'm ready to ditch this place as soon as possible."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
So much running and jumping. The two blondes blasting at each other but Tabby amazing seems to be the saner and more controlled energy wielder. "Oh you know, team work! Makes the dream work!" she states and tries to lead the blasts Andrea hurls towards her and the Boomie one moving to put the downed brother in the field of effect.

"We might wanna hurry. This girl is nuts. Hot, but crazy as fuck even for me. I dunno how much this building can handle of her blasting away at everything" Better the incensed woman hit someone she cares about than hitting someone Tabitha might. "See if you just agreed to go out with me. I could show you a wilder time than in Harlem. You're PoS brother can rot though."

This as Monet grabs and restrains her. This letting Tabby move in and boop Andrea in the nose. There's a brief flash of light that maybe might look like she just filled the woman's sinus cavity with a bomb and totally not just a glowy ball of harmless light.

Well not that harmless. It might wreck an equilibrium for a day or so when it blasts against inner ears.

But the Nazi don't know it won't take a head off. "Now behave or you'll have the worst night of your life and not the best!"

Cable has posed:
"You got them all. Good work," Cable replies to blink as he still scans the room, grim-faced, for any other threats that might present themselves. But it looks like the few mercenaries who might still be conscious are definitely on the run. The factory is not in such great shape, but then that was already the case and seeing what is supposed to be an abandoned facility in ruins doesn't exactly break Cable's heart. Or interfere with the status quo in this particular neck of the woods.

Andrea Strucker continues to hurl those disintegration blasts towards Boom-Boom right up until the moment when Monet swoops down on her in surprise, grabbing hold. The blonde struggles crazily for a moment, flailing about, those beams slashing wildly as she very nearly brings the roof down on them all. But M's threats seem to reach her and she stills, turning wild eyes towards Tabby as she approaches. "Don't you do it! Don't you do it you little tramp!" she shrieks - right before she's rendered unconscious.

Good riddance.

"Agreed," Cable says with a nod towards Sally. "M, do a quick scan and make sure there are no more mutants on site. And then see if you can pull anything useful from this Nazi traitor," he says, glaring towards Andrea Strucker contemptuously. "She mentioned their employer. I want a name," he notes, once again leaving the telepathic work to Monet.

It will be easy enough for Monet to verify that there are no more captives on site, at least none in the drugged-out hazy as the others. And even the unconscious Andrea Strucker proves useful as a name does float around in her consciousness, just waiting to be plucked out.

Sublime. John Sublime.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod over at Cable, "OF course. After that we need to put them somewhere approrpiate to garbage like them." Killing them would be simple.. but hardly as satisfying as what those within here deserve. Monsters and Nazis. "Do you think you have something appropriate to do with them?" They deserve to feel just as much pain as they'd inflictedo n others, after all.

Then she geos to start to focus on the brains and moves to pull information from her. She goes to take a few moments.. "Sublime. John Sublime." She frowns. Trying to figure out if teh name had any meaning. Running it through her eidetic memory for any sort of prior references. Finding nothing whatsoever.

So, now priority - finding out ways to make Nazis suffer. Even more than gene trash like Forearm.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The Nazi woman is left unconscious, a little smoke wisping out of her head where the tiny bombh inside might have cause an impeding migraine when she wakes up. Tabby doesn't even bother kicking her when she's down. "I say we put some inhibitor collars on them all and just dump them in one of those Siberian prison camps." she suggests and shrugs.

"How you going with the evac Blink hon?" she asks over comms while she looks around, making sure there's no stragglers that need themselves some booming. Sally, Cable and Monet getting smiles too. "No one missing bits they came into the mission with?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Clarice Ferguson looks at Sally as she comes over, "I can get us out but I don't feel good," she tells her with a sigh. She straightens up and puts her hands on her hips then opens a portal, "Everyone going, better get going," she advises helpfully. She motions at Monet and Tabitha who are further off, then uses the portal herself.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride nods. "I understand this is probably exhausting for you. Appreciated." She continues helping former captives through Blink's portal. Once they're somewhere safe with the people she can help with basic inspections and first aid as needed.

Cable has posed:
Joh Sublime. It's not a name that Cable recognizes though it is definitely one they'll be looking into when all of this is over and done with. His brow furrows, lines marking his features there and he gives Blink a last look. "We're out. Grab our other priority prisoners and gather up so we can get out of here," the grizzled soldier says.

For his part Cable starts over towads the collapsed section of roof, his telekinetic powers already reaching out before he gets that close to begin moving the heavy sheet metal aside to reveal the hulking Forearm beneath. He might be a fairly sizable man, but Nathan readily picks him up on those invisible strands of force, carting him behind as they gather back up in a group with the others -- Bushwacker and Andreas Stucker -- in tow.

He smiles briefly at Tabby as she makes her suggestion on what should be done with them. "Tempting. Let me think on it. We might want to be able to lay our hands on them again before too long and I'd rather not invade a Siberian prison to do it," he says.

Then the portal opens and they are gone. One step closer to putting an end to all of this.