1553/When Sentinels Attack!

When Sentinels Attack!
Date of Scene:	07 May 2020
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	A Wild Sentinel from Genosha's attack, arrives in NYC and goes straight for Mutant Town, luckily some heroes are there to stop it.
Cast of Characters:	Lorna Dane, Daniel Hastings, Martinique Wyngarde, Scott Summers, Danielle Moonstar, Alton Schmidt, Betsy Braddock

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Lorna Dane has posed:
Mutant Town was the largest concentration of Mutant on the East Coast of the United States. There was the Mutant Relocation act, that only added to this. Mutant Town was also one of the more poverty stricken regions in the city. Trash littered the streets, buildings decayed in urban abandonment, graffiti covered plenty of available surfaces. Homeless mutants wandered the city's streets at all hours of the day.

To put it simply, it wasn't a nice part of town. Even if the weather was the exact opposite. The sun was high, it was warm with a Spring breeze... which carried the rotten scent of trash along with it rather than flowers.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
Daniel could have gotten himself an apartment pretty much anywhere in New York that wasn't Fifth Avenue. He wasn't rich.. but he did alright thanks to his government check. So it might be odd that he was scoping out apartments for rent in the neighborhood. Mostly, he was just minding his business like the locals tend to do. Nodding to the few that might recognize him from the memorial. Checking in with rental offices for vacancies and rates. Hands in pockets. Hat on the head to keep the sun glare down. Sunglasses on for the same reason. If the smell bothered him, he wasn't wrinkling his nose. He might even have smelled worse.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde doesn't have a suit, per se. She does have tight leather and guns, and those are what she brings out to Mutant Town. Wearing a trenchcoat over her weapons, she converges on the relevant spot, hands going inside her coat to check her weapons.

Scott Summers has posed:
The X-Men, of course, have plenty to say about Mutant Town. They try to keep down the worst mutant, while quietly supplying shelters, the local high-school and reconstruction projects. They support local political activists, trying to improve the living conditions, and Scott himself comes to the ghetto two or three times every month for such business.

Sad to say, there is not much else they can do because the secrecy of the Xavier's School is paramount. Perhaps they should change their policy, but what would he know? He considers himself a soldier, not mutant leader or revolutionary. At least thanks to the spring weather, the streets are not as hostile as they were in winter. At least if they can keep street crime down this year.

So, as it happens, Scott is not an unknown face in the neighborhood. There is the quiet suspicion among the residents that his weird glasses are to hide a mutation. Although he has neither confirmed nor denied this point. And today he introduced a 'wealthy socialite' to a few of those activists. Which explains why he brought Betsy with him. They are leaving a social center (which was in the second floor of a rather drab building) and he carries a case full of folders with all kinds of projects. "I'll run this by the lawyers first, so make sure they are legal," he comments. "Some of the most creative uses of mutant powers end up banned by the City Hall."

Danielle Moonstar has posed:
Why Dani is tagging along with Scott and Betsy is anyone's guess. Maybe someone decided she really needs to get out of the estate. Maybe she wanted to help out at Mutant Town. Really, though, she's just shrugging deep into her jacket and trying to make herself small because being in a city //in general//.

Having been waiting outside the social center, she pushes away from the wall of the building, shoving a worn paperback in her pocket as she moves to catch up with the pair, braids falling back over her shoulders.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton had an interesting time of it. He's not a known mutant in his civilian ID, so if he wanted to present himself as 'I'm one of you', he had to do it in costume, given the tough rules on having powers at Happy Harbor.

As a result, he decided to set himself up to run a sort of improptu charity visit for the center, claiming the money came from 'anonymous donors.' In reality, though, it's simply Alton withdrawing money on his own, and then presenting it to the center as a briefcase full of cash, so there's no checks or credit withdrawls to trace. It felt good to give, when he had a chance. Even if his dad would say 'tax writeoffs' as the primary reason to do this sort of thing. But he didn't always agree with dad.

So it is the 'IMP' identity is the one donating.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy wasn't sure still on the introduction Scott had given for her, but there has to be something to explain her presence. Purple hair is loose over a classic denim jacket, a purple blouse beneath that's tucked into jeans. She probably doesn't look like most people would expect a wealthy socialite to look, really. Then again, Betsy wasn't one for holding with stereotypes at any rate.

The upside, however, was she was able to give a generous donation to the center, without any questions about how she had that sort of money to give. The fact Betsy had cash on her that she had slipped to some people here and there along the way was something else entirely. "Well, you know what they say about City Hall. Fight them." Betsy will smile. "I will happily fall in with Jusad Priest on breakin' the law."

Lorna Dane has posed:
There was a sudden silence that broke out over the city, it lasted for a beat, two, and nothing further. Then a sudden deep shake, a rumble that sounded more like an Earthquake rather than thing else. It shook from the pavement to the buildings. Dust shook free from the brickwork of the buildings, and a few trash cans fell over, scattering bags and napkins over the road and sidewalks.

A few people screamed in surprise, a few others chuckled as they glanced around and met each other's gaze and looked around. But then the rumble continued, boom, boom, boom. And then suddenly, there it was, rising above the corner store, and taller than a few of the smaller buildings. A Wild Sentinel. It looked cobbled together. A face that swiveled about this way and that, with a piece of a helicopter build into its head. "Mutants: Detected." It's voice echoed over the city below. And that's when people screamed, and started to run. Chaos blossoming as the Sentinel that appeared started to fire... bullets? One entire arm it seemed was replaced with some kind of a machine gun, clearly not meant to be held by a human, but rather a set mounted type.

"Destroy!"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
The rumble and shake had Daniel holding his arms out to his side for a half moment to steady himself. Then.. the world around him began to distort along with his appearance as light began to fold around him in odd ways. Heck, he wasn't even really standing on the ground anymore. "Bloody hell?" Maybe he was used to war zones but he didn't scream. Instead, he started looking around for the source of the rumbling.. and found it.

"No." If you could see his expression, it was a mixture of fear and anger. Rage and concern. In an instant, he was no longer where he was but was now in the line of fire as the Sentinel's arm raised. So too did his. The whirring whine of the gatling mount activated and the familiar sound (to some) of a cannon going off echoed in the alleys with the sounds of concrete and asphalt exploding into a cloud before Daniel. Was he hit? Were others? It's hard to say with all of the screaming but it looks as though.. maybe not?

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde squints, and goes to a pocket. Not getting a gun, but a phone. "I'm going to have to reschedule. Yes, I know. Something just came up. Bye." Hanging up on whoever it was complaining. Well, a criminal that was going to DIE in Mutant Town is now going to live. Probably. For another day anyway. Good thing she's armed. Mastermind dives for cover, behind an old, sturdy, derelict car. One that will take a few bullets. She then starts taking the best shots she can from cover, trying to disarm thet hing if she possibly can.

Scott Summers has posed:
"Not a good idea here," replies Scott, "the survival rates of mutants in prisons is appealing. Getting into jail is almost a death sentence for mutants." Another reason so many were leaving for Genosha. And died. An that is an option they have lost for now.

"Danielle, I hope you didn't get too bored," greets Scott. "You didn't miss much. The office was small enough for two, and the coffee..." he stops, frowning, as he feels the earth tremble. Out of habit his hand moves to his side pocket, where he keeps a combat visor.

Instincts are proven right, as the patchwork Sentinel appears. There is a crackling 'zark' sound and a flash of red light as a blast of force heads for the Sentinel's weapon arm. "Psylocke, mind-line us. Try to 'push' the civilians out of the way. Danielle, call for help!"

Danielle Moonstar has posed:
"Better out here than in there." Dani isn't strictly claustrophobic by the clinical term, but she doesn't like offices. They're, well, clinical! Out here is still a city and it still stinks of people and trash, but it's not four white walls with some terrible art on the walls meant to 'jazz' the place up. She's ready to fall into step when the ground shakes. Earthquakes are not normal on the east coast. She knows this much and concern brushes past her features.

She can feel the fear around her, but she doesn't tap into it deep enough to pull forth anything else. She just knows it's there. "Right. Right." Those dark eyes of hers are on the Sentinel, wide. Fear of her own is bubbling a bit to the surface. She can't help it: this is one of the things she //can't// easily fight. She presses up against the building -- hopefully out of the way of that gun arm -- and fumbles out her phone to start dialing.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
IMP looks up when the Sentinel lands...

"Son of a..."

Priority 1: Don't get shot. Can't help anyone else if you resemble swiss cheese. To that end, IMP flies behind a building, putting a great deal of concrete between himself and the machine gun. Of course his forcefield comes up.

Priority 2: Prevent everyone else from getting shot. To that end, IMP reaches out with his magnetic force. He can feel where the ferrous machinegun is, and with any luck, he just might be able to twist it into something unuseable. He isn't fancy enough to knot it up like a rope, but he can definitely bend it out of shape enough to make it inoperable. He hopes. Hopefully it doesn't have a way to block him.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"The coffee wasn't anything close to real coffee." Betsy wll finish for Scott, before she's looking up around them with a frown. There's just that moment of pain when her heart skips a beat at the sight of the Sentinel. "I can mind link us, no sweat. But I can't push that many people without risk of hurting them." She says to Scott, before that 'link' comes online.

<< Wouldn't it work better if I make a TK cup to hold close to the gun? It might even deflect the shots back at it and damage it. >> Psylocke is already moving, and while she isn't pushing hard, she's trying to nudge people into spots less likely to be shot at. << We need to distract it away from street level. Too many targets. >> She will look at Scott, then at Dani, before she starts to lift up slowly off the ground. << I'll try to get its attention. Blast the damn thing before it kills me? >>

Lorna Dane has posed:
The Wild Sentinel was certainly not like other Sentinels in terms of appearance, it dripped water as it walked, clearly it hadn't flown from Genosha to New York, but rather ...swam. Not that anyone in the immediate area was concerned with the water! It thundered as it walked, "Nonhuman entity detected." Another step, "Destroy!" It repeated, the programming apparently not very expressive beyond the simple statements it issues as its scanners had led it to Mutant Town.

Dan's powers certainly twisted the world around the bullets, and in combination with Alton's manipulation of the machine gun hand.. the civilians had the necessary time to flee. Just as Scott's eyebeam ZAPPED the machinegun arm off, the massive weapon falling away to the ground with a loud, and heavy THUMP.

Unfortunately, Martinique's gun didn't do much to the armored Sentinel, and her bullets ping'ed off it. However, it certainly drew the machine's interest. "Nonhuman entity detected." It repeated again, and this time, raised his other hand, the more typical plasma beam opening up from the Sentinel's hand to fire off a blast at Martinique.

Even with Betsy's nudges here and there, the streets were packed, as people ran into the road, screaming and tried to flee as it pushed between two buildings, taking out brick and mortar as it moved without much care to the collateral damage it made on its way to destroying mutants.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Of course it does." Daniel rolls his eyes as he notes the disarmed Sentinel promptly produces a plasma particle beam. He has no idea who Martinique is. So far as he knows she's just another second amendment nut that thinks a gun is going to stop a Sentinel. Once again, he disappears.. reappearing in front of the stripped down husk of a car she was using as cover. Again, his arms extend and his palms serve to focus his will to guide the angle is displacement as the beam charges and and fires. This was either a good idea.. or a very bad idea. "Run!" Yeah, he was talking to Martinique. The ninja. Shh, ninjas don't exist.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde expected that. Fortunately she can move. It's apparently the ONE thing she can do in this situation, getting up and sprinting, but staying low. Hopefully none of the nearby cars are any good, or hopefully at least they're insured. She takes a few shots as she moves, this time aiming for the head, but not really hoping for much.

Scott Summers has posed:
<<We need to take it down as soon as possible>> replies Scott. No distracting tactics. <<Just hit it>>. The streets are packed with mutants, they can't waste time. And this might be just one of many. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of these things in Genosha!

<<Is this one alone or is it happening all over the city?>> This is mostly for Dani, whose mental powers are not going to be too useful against Sentinels but she can maybe find out. Another blast of red light is sent to the Sentinel, this time he doesn't have a good angle, so it is not fancy. He attempts to hit what he sees, be it leg, head or shoulder.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
IMP did notice, when he took cover...there were Ferrous parts of this sentinel he could affect. Helicopter parts, tank parts, car parts...all of that is plenty. Since it's switched to hand plasma beams, and he can't disable those so easily, he's instead going to take 'hold' of all the ferrous material on the the thing. This thing is heavy...super heavy...but maybe, just maybe, he's got enough force to do this.

So he grabs all the metal and yanks the thing backwards as hard as he can. The idea is to make it fall over backwards, if he can.

He remains behind cover as he does this, not willing to put himself in obvious line of sight of the hand blaster.

Danielle Moonstar has posed:
The call back to Winchester is put in. But who knows how quick they can make it. Time is of the essence here. Dani is suddenly debating the worth of carrying her bow and arrows //everywhere// because psi-arrows? Not useful here. <<Give me a second,>> she tells Scott, expanding out her senses.

She may not be able to pick up on the feelings of people as easily beyond the general region (especially with so much //fear// running rampant), but she's always had a very good rapport with animals and cities are full of those. Mice, rats, pigeons, cats, dogs...

With half an eye on the Wild Sentinel, she skims the minds of the animals outside Mutant Town for similar. Gosh, this is so much easier with Rahne, but then: Rahne still has her human intellect when in wolf form. <<No,>> she lets Psylocke and Cyclops know. <<Just this one.>>

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy will agree, and she will shoot upwards. TK will lash out at the arm remaining, trying to rip it off the shoulder. Being airborne, she can at least look and see if there is any more trouble coming this way. But the main thrust of her power is being used as blunt force.

Lorna Dane has posed:
This Wild Sentinel was in fact alone as Danielle's senses told her, and she would sense the path of fear and terror it left behind it as it made a trek from the waterline to Mutant Town, destroying people as it went. Alarms rang out in the distance, in the path that the Sentinel had left as it plowed through New York City.

The plasma beam slams into the displacement fullforce and goes flying off, away from Martinique and clipping the edge off the top of a building. Cement and bricks crumbling and falling to the street below, right where people ran along sidewalks and in the path of danger.

Alton's magnetic pull doesn't upend the Sentinel, but rather tugs the bulk of its body into place. The Sentinel jerks, and jerks, like a spasm as it tried to pull free. "Analyzing.... Analyzing... Mutant interference detected." It's robotic voice echoed out over the screams of people around.

Which is when Scott's next eyebeam struck it, taking the Sentinel up one leg and into its side. The whole of the robot's side seized and jerked, its weight crumbling as the leg gave out. The plasma gun hand failied about, beam wildly falling this way and that and out of control as it fell, unless otherwise stopped.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
It was relatively easy to deflect plasma fire if you knew where it was going. As Daniel watched the Sentinel's leg give out and the shooting arm begin to flail, he cursed and brought both of his arms together with palms facing and fingers seeming to direct his focus towards the gun itself. His teeth gritted and space seemed to fold in on itself between his palms before he sent the compression wave out towards the outstretched arm of the Sentinel. He'd blown apart packing vans with that blast. He could only hope it would do something to the armor plating as the crack of thunder followed the wave as space was torn asunder then returned to its normal state.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde dives again, grunting as she hits the pavement. Then looking back, she sees what Daniel did,a nd gives a thumbs up. "Are you talking to me?" she then calls out, a delayed reaction to his suggestion to run. "Do these guns look like they need to run?" she calls out, lifting her hand to take another shot at the thing for good measure.

Scott Summers has posed:
Through the mind-link both women can feel the vast relief Scott feels when Dani confirms the sentinel is alone. One of Scott's current fears is there are still enough wild Sentinels out there to cause another massacre (maybe even giant ones). And New York has one of the largest concentrations of mutants in the world due to Mutant Town.

But the metal monster is alone. He almost smiles.

<<Excellent, lets make sure he can't hurt anyone else>> he sends to the others. Instead of running away with the rest, he is running towards the fallen machine, aiming short, narrow beams to its joints and the holes in its patchwork armor. <<I see we are not the only ones fighting back - try also protect them>>

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Maybe IMP wasn't enough to get it done on his own...but once it starts falling, he gives it another jerk towards to ground to get it down and, perhaps most importantly, keep it down. It's clearly detecting his interference, and the building he was hiding behind took a terrible hit from that handblaster, and therefore it's now semi crumbling. Good thing there was a building between him and that blast.

Using all of his magnetic force to hopefully keep it pinned on its back, or at least make it as difficult as possible for it to get up again, he flies behind a different building, in case another shot gets aimed his way. Clearly somebody pretty strong was hitting the thing, though he couldn't see who it was from this angle, and now was not a great time to uncover himself.

Danielle Moonstar has posed:
There's not much Dani can do for the falling debris //or// the falling Sentinel. But she can move forward to any people in the nearby area that might be paralyzed by fear or indecision and pull them out of the way. That, at the very least, she //can// do. She's one of those people who falls into the category of 'peak physical condition.' So she's fast and athletic. She might be able to at least pull or push a few people out of the way and so she lurches forward to do just that: at least for those in the immediate vicinity.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Most of that debris will start to fall - before it hovers where it is in the air. Then it will whoosh upwards, being used as impromptu projectiles hurled with the force from an angry telekinetic in the form of a Psylocke.

<< Scott, while I respect you... there's a whole lot of people to protect, and only so many of us and so much we can do at once. Taking the damn thing out is the best protection we can give.>> There's almost like a weakening in the telepathic link, but she /is/ using the hell out of her telekinesis.

Lorna Dane has posed:
The Wild Sentinel fell with the combined effort completely and utterly. The dust rose as it crushed pavement beneath it, and destroyed several cars. The whole thing was down, and as Daniel used his powers, the remaining hand with the plasma beam was taken out.. And remaining parts of the weapon that made up the Sentinel's arm exploded, though the bulk of the explosion was limited at least.

Scott's eyebeam took out the joints, and the holes in the patchwork construction of its body. The Sentinel buzzed and croaked, and went still as the damage cut into its important systems and it finally failed.

Betsy's quick thinking saved the mutants that were trying to flee the street just as the building debris fell, saving them in one smooth motion as they finally cleared the area.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Who.. the hell.. built these things!?" Daniel all but yells as he kicks a bit of debris out of his way while walking towards the wreckage. "I'm going to take a guess.. some government program gone awry..." Is he muttering to himself? Probably. He's also getting out a black phone and dialing. "Hastings, 18241. Damage Control assessment, New York, Brooklyn, Mutant Sector. Looks like a Sentinel of unspecified design. Currently inactive. Unknown civilian casualties at this time. Send emergency services."

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde gets up when it APPEARS over, taking a deep breath, dusting herself off. On her feet, she also starts approaching. "Whatever government is sending these, must be destroyed, along with every last one of these," she adds to Daniel's comment. Completely obviously to the 'heroes' saving the bystanders. She then takes a shot at the head of the fallen monster for good measure.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott stops shooting as the Sentinel stops moving and shuts down. Although he approaches very carefully, looking for signs of self-repair or any kind of electronic 'life'. <<Good work with the damage control, Betsy>> is all Scott has to say.

Helping the other mutant fights (of course he assumes they are mutants) is no longer necessary. So, they should move into attending the injured. Unfortunately, he can be caught here without his uniform. Hopefully no one has started taking pictures yet. <<We need to leave. Not you, Moonstar. No one saw you using powers. If you can, stay and do some damage assessment. We will send aid ASAP.>>

Danielle Moonstar has posed:
Stay in the city? With all these people? And without anyone she knows? Dani does not hide her distress at this idea very well. It's plainly written on her features. A shame, really, since being part of team-psi means she'd be able to shield it pretty well telepathically.

Still, at least she doesn't argue it even if body language says she really //wants// to. She only fights orders that she thinks are intrinsically wrong. She can see the value in this one. The woman shoves her hands in the pockets of her jean jacket, looking out over the damage in the street. She gives a sharp nod and glances only vaguely in Scott's general direction. << Got it. Text or call me once you know more. >>

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Well, that sounded positive. IMP feels confident that it's relatively safe to uncover, so he flies up and over the building he was hiding behind to hover in the air over the now 'dead' sentinel. Not that it was ever alive to begin with. He wonders if he should've tried an EMP on that thing. Well, maybe not, there were other heroes here who did most of the dirty work of killing the thing, so maybe pinning it was the best thing he could do.

IMP could be heroic, but taking on a murderbot specifically designed to murder his own kind was a little nerve wracking..."...It is dead for good, right?" This question is not asked of anyone in particular, but rather directed at the warriors who fought from the ground. Friggin' murderbots. He shivers a little at just how many people that thing would've killed if it had the chance. But...he did help stop the thing, so that's always good for the old confidence.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy will dip down low, to try and rip the head off the body. That's the mythos on how to kill a vampire, but it can't hurt to do it to a downed Sentinel. She will set down on the ground, with a deep, cleansing breath in and out and a roll of her shoulders.

<< I can just slip out of sight and use illusion to make myself look different, Scott. I'm maybe paranoid, but this may not be the whole attack. I'd feel better if I lingered here with Danielle for a bit. >>

Lorna Dane has posed:
While it seemed to have shut down, it was hard to tell if it was well and truly 'dead'. Alton might pick up on electrical happenings on the innards of the thing, small bursts here and there that denoted that perhaps it wasn't completely out. But neither was it moving at the moment. There were sirens in the distance, the sounds of police cars and fire department getting on scene down the block and path the Sentinel had hit before it came to Mutant Town. It would take some time before they made their way to Mutant Town proper.

Scott Summers has posed:
<<Of course, Betsy. Good idea. If you can also blur the memories of those who saw us too well>> suggests Scott, he is already sneaking through the dark alleyways of Mutant Town, switching visor for fancy glasses while texting like mad using his cell.

The X-Men need to know. Because other Sentinels might walk out of the sea any moment. He wants a team suited up and ready to go in five minutes.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
IMP senses the continued electricty in the murderbot...and wonders if any part of it is still active. To that end, he forces a targeted EMP at the thing. But it isn't strong enough to get through Sentinel armor. Nuts. Still, a bunch of people took pictures with their phones...and a second wide angle EMP later, unprotected phones would be toast. That might help preserve some people against detection later. Nobody deserves to be outed for heroism...

And then cops are coming, and even though he's costumed, it's best to depart from local authorities, so up into the sky he goes!