15574/The chism Trail

The chism Trail
Date of Scene:	19 August 2023
Location:	Washington DC
Synopsis:	The X-Men are confronted by Black Team 57 after a mission to Washington to try and garner support for ending HR-485 before it can be voted in to law. The mission rapidly goes south, with much danger and much explosions!
Cast of Characters:	Charles Xavier, Piotr Rasputin, Logan Howlett, Raven Darkholme, Betsy Braddock, Stepford Cuckoos, Illyana Rasputina, Emma Frost, Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Tabitha Smith
Tinyplot:	The Ohio Mutant Conspiracy

---

Charles Xavier has posed:
The meeting with Senator Chism hadn't gone well.  Charles had laid out his case to the Senator, all but pleading with him to vote down the bill, and find a new solution to what problems the Senator was expressing.  Scott had been there during the meeting, Betsy had been sitting outside his office on Capitol Hill.  Ultimately the discussion got more and more tense, with the Senator who supports the bill to mandate the Mutation Reversion therapy, calling the Professor a 'Fear Mongerer'.  From then, the meeting was essentially over.

Charles, Scott, and Betsy all returned to the hotel where Jean and Emma were waiting for them.  They'd laid out the results of the meeting, and tried to devise alternate plans.  Nothing was decided firmly on though, but a call had come to Charles from an old friend who knew what the Professor was vying for.  She'd invited Charles to a party in the city, and along with Scott and Emma, decided to attend the party to try and influence other 'big name attendees' to vote down the bill when it would be voted upon in the Senate soon...

This is when the social media post came out, and began to hit all of the major networks that the X-Men were monitoring.  Jean, and Betsy would soon view the ominous video from kids claiming to have the vaccine, and that it was not what it seemed.  Spurred on by the mystery of it, by the mystery of this Doctor Bachland being such an enigmatic figure himself, and the unknown reasons of why Senator Chism was so adamantly in support of the bill... Jean made a snap decision.

Along with Betsy, they decided to go to Senator Chism's second office in Washington.  His downtown office suite where the bulk majority of the Senator's work really gets done, as opposed to the front-facing 'fancy office' on Capitol Hill.

Here-in, while the others attend the party, Jean and Betsy began to search the Senators office.  Getting inside was utterly simple, and the place was just as you'd expect.  Wall to wall filing cabinets, computer systems, with assistants desks lining the exterior rooms, Chism's own office easy enough to slip in to and search through...

The rest of the X-Men had been sent out on various scouting missions, to try and track down possible leads on where the drug was supposedly being manufactured.  They didn't want to hit the CGI labs in Atlanta yet, because it felt too much like a trap to have the X-Men show up at the main HQ of the lab company, but they did put a 'net out' to search through supposedly connected facilities.  Logan had gone to Canada to investigate his own leads.  He felt Doctor Bachland reminded him of someone he once knew... but in Logan's usual way, he was mysterious about that himself.  Now, after dropping Gambit and Rogue off in Ohio, and picking Logan up from Alberta, the Blackbird was enroute to washington to gather up the team there once the party was over....

Of course, as things do, sometimes unexpected events occur.

Jean and Betsy, still inside Chism's office were casually telling one another what they'd found, and what they hadn't.. which was mostly leaning toward the latter.  Their conversation was interrupted, however, by a familiar voice suddenly speaking to them.

Black Team 57's leader, Captain Carmichael.  "Ladies..." He suddenly spoke, having somehow snuck up on two telepaths?  He smiled at them with a knowing expression.  "And here you were lecturing me on breaking the law, Carrot Top." He said to Jean.  He then went on to explain that his headgear was designed to block telepathy, and that he'd been happily waiting for the X-Men to do something stupid, and that that moment had seemingly finally happened.

Jean, being as diplomatically reserved as possible, spoke calmly to Carmichael. She'd told him that they were on their way out, and he'd seemingly been prepared to let them go, his gun at his side... "Oh, one more thing." Carmichael said, before he pulled a single yellow glove his pocket and tossed it at Jean's feet.

Charles Xavier has posed:
Jean, being as diplomatically reserved as possible, spoke calmly to Carmichael. She'd told him that they were on their way out, and he'd seemingly been prepared to let them go, his gun at his side... "Oh, one more thing." Carmichael said, before he pulled a single yellow glove his pocket and tossed it at Jean's feet.  A glove she'd instantly recognized.  "That little southern beauty of yours, she's got quite a rap sheet.  Turns out she is more interested in clearing her name than sticking with all of you." Carmichael sneared.  "She turned herself over to us.  Just like the Magnetman.  Seems more and more of your people are on the side of giving in to us.  Think you better take that as a sign..."

The glove, along with Carmichael's warning, indicated Rogue too had turned herself over to the soldiers of BT 57.  Apparently things in Ohio hadn't gone well for she and Gambit.

Jean reacted, threatening Carmichael, who was quick to snap his weapon up and release a burst of green-blue energy that shot toward Betsy and Jean!  The energy burst through the Senator's office window, giving Jean and Betsy a route to flee!

This is where we focus now, outside the Senator's downtown office, where a pair of troop transports are beginning to unload members of Black Team 57, all wearing their advanced armor and weapons, all converging on trying to capture, or elminate Jean and Psylocke!

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
    In the depths of the Blackbird and in one of the larger rumble seats, Piotr Rasputin has settled in as best he can. Though there is an air of trepidation to the young man from Russia as he looks about the cabin, blue eyes moving from point to point. Likely not due to the fact that they are in flight, as he has in the past survived... several aerial incidents. More likely due to that subtle vibe one has in such times. A hint of portent.
    If only it weren't for the way his fingers clicked and clinked against the arm of the chair as he tapped them. At times he turned his head and with furrowed brow seemed about to say something. Then for that metal jaw to close shut as he exhaled slowly. His sister likely recognizes that manner of his. Not necessarily a boil of temper, for such was rare in the tall Russian. But definitely an indication... of pressure.

Logan Howlett has posed:
In the rear of the Blackbird, Logan has been keeping entirely to himself. Not so much as a word spoken since he was collected in Canada, simply taking his seat and fixing his intense stare on the deck. As they approach Washington airspace he extends a hand before him, clenching his fist and with a 'snikt' a trio of claws extend from between his knuckles. Metallic claws. Rivulets of blood running down them and pattering on the deckplate quietly.

He sighs, and they retract just as quickly. The open wounds rent by their emergence knits together, the flesh left behind pink and new without hair.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Settled quietly in a seat on the Blackbird, Raven's yellow eyes seemed focused on nothing as she turned all the pieces of information around in her mind. Dressed entirely in black lather, no signs of even a single Smurf skull, she was lost in her own thoughts and attempting to avoid getting in anyone's way. The video had not truly surprised her, the knowledge that there was something more to the vaccine... of course there was, this is what terrified humans did. In her mind however, there was something more here than just scared humans reacting and acting, what that might be she didn't know.

There was a part of her, deep inside, that had a little giggle over the idea of Jean Grey, catburgler. Perhaps she would be able to offer lessons to the X-Men in the future on how to do it.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
As the shot was fired, Betsy automatically leapt to the side in a diving roll, coming up to her feet in a crouch and heading straight for that hole in the wall. Even as she was doing so, she sent out the call. It was not through any commlink, instead being sent out telepathically. To Charles, Scott, Emma and anyone else that was within range, trusting that they would be able to forward the info along to the rest of the team. <<We have company. Shots fired. We will attempt to extricate but a pick up would be welcome.>> Spoken as calmly as ever, like someone didn't just try to kill them and blast a hole in a wall. That hole being their quick exit. Hopefully. She made sure to share a quick visual of what as going on with the team so everyone was on the same sheet of music.

She glanced to Jean, to be sure the redhead was with her. Then as quickly as that hole was made, she'd make a break for it. Almost on the heels of the blast, so to speak. After all, if there was any residual of the energy left, it would prohibit the bad guys from immediately rushing it at least. The exit needed to be sooner rather than later as more time meant the bad guys had more boots on the ground.

Stepford Cuckoos has posed:
"I can hear the metal creaking, Colossus." That's Phoebe, quite at the limit of her patience now after such a long time stuck inside the Blackbird, usual smooth features screwing up towards Piotr as the man tried to deal with his pressure. "Are you going to make a metal band with Wolverine?" since apparently Logan was doing the same. It's followed by Celeste, wide-eyed. "Shhhh. We can't bring you anywhere." she smiles apologetically at them, "I am sorry for my sister." Sophie just stares at them both, glaring daggers at the two sisters before they resume what they are doing, keeping a link up between the various parties.

And for such the whole cadre of sisters is here today, sitting in a circle by the seats in lotus positions, their eyes flickering blue as they maintain concentration (most of the times).

It's Esme that speaks first when something calls her attention from the link she was sharing with the other telepaths in the X-Men. "They are in danger." the five speak in unison.

"The Senator's office."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Piotr's little troublesome sister watches him from over the dog-eared doorstopper of a novel squashed in her lap. Nothing to brighten the mood like a bit of Doestoevsky. /Besy/ in this case, and she lightly flips over the page, examining the Cyrillic sentences with only a passing look. No telepath aboard the Blackbird can rat her out if she's not reading and fretting instead over the least temperamental Rasputin child's behaviour.

"Maybe you want to take up reading when you fly," she advises in a soft undertone. Best not to poke the bear directly. "The Brothers Karamazov, for that beautiful humour and sincerity? Nothing cannot be solved by a few lines from the Great Master."

In any event, the X-Men have an improvised weapon. Illyana could just chuck the huge, heavy book at their target to knock him unconscious. Possibly unleash terrifying memories of university papers due in 48 minutes!

She looks ordinary. Street clothes, nothing shouting 'Mutant duelist' or 'Obvious target here.' Rotating a thin band around her finger idly is her only tell, flickering as it swivels from something that's not quite sapphire or aquamarine embedded throughout.

Emma Frost has posed:
Over at the party, Emma Frost is over nearby Charles and Scott. She's playing the role of a good hostess - by Hellfire Club standards. Which means that she's going to dive into as many minds as possible to see what she can dig up. Possible hooks to press for influence on the vote, business strategems, possible blackmail.. Essentially any sort of thing that might beof use when it comes to manipulating coming events. They wouldn't let her make the Senator a puppet that would be eternally drooling over in an iron lung so she had to get her fun in somehow.

Still while scanning, she goes to pick up some things along the 'spectrum' as she goes to take a breath and moves to drain the rather poor champagne goblet in her hand - no sense i nwasting alcohol, even if bad.

<<Boys, I feel like we should probably get going. The others have gotten just a little bit caught up in things.>> A warning is given to the others, even as Emma goes to start to sweep along the mental network, ready to coordinate as the telepath goes to pass along information.

<<I think we're going to have to cut our losses and run. And if anyone can find a way to pick that wretched beast out of his armor like a can opener and crush hard..>> APparently Carmichael had done the dangerous thing of annoying her even as she goes to get ready for the trouble that is going to come thier way. Going to speak to the Stepfords <<Don't try and burrow into his brain this time. I'm guessing it will have the same result until we can break whatever blocking method he's using.>>

Scott Summers has posed:
Appealing to the 'Big Names' at the party with Charles Xavier is a difficult endeavor--and just keeping things 'not going wrong' was the highest priority for Scott at the moment. He is well trained and versed at navigating these parties, able to mix and belong - at least as much as possible with his ruby glasses. There's always a measure of 'distance' with others that can't see his eyes, and he does know it's better to leave any empathetic speech to those that can better connect with strangers, such as Charles and Emma.

Scott is fresh-shaven, dressed cleanly and traditionally: navy suit jacket with a lighter tone tie. His attire is nice, but forgettable.

It's on Scott to be alert and pay attention to where everyone is, who is talking to whom, and to listen in on anything that might inform the group. Information-gathering. His trips for things such as getting champagne for Emma is one such info-gathering trip; he returns with it in hand to offer to her with a deep chivalrous nod. "Your refreshment---" Scott started to say, but then there's some mental calls going out. Scott first checks in with Charles, though, a mental check on his status. He also steps back physically, faking that he's got a cell phone call. "Give me locations and ETA on arriving to assist, please."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean may... not be running through the hole. The guy wanted to threaten and provoke her. O K. He's done that. She's provoked.

"I'm not sure you really have the best grip on 'stupid' here," she replies, taking a long, deep breath. "I'd call 'stupid' the stubborn inability to see when people are trying to compromise, trying to cooperate, trying are very goddamn best to meet you at your level, trying to do the peaceful thing, and despite that all, rejecting it. I'd say 'stupid' - and probably illegal too, if we're going to split hairs on who's been naughty - is lying publically about the effacacy of a medical treatment."

"And I think stupid would be thinking that Magneto couldn't have killed every single one of you then and there, long before we got there to stop him, and only didn't because he's a better man than his darker nature... but that he won't give you that leeway for long."

"...and I'd say stupid is mistaking that I'm not eveery bit as dangerous, and that thinking that threating to hurt someone I love isn't the single worst decision you've ever made in your life." She stands there, staring at him, as the troops disgorge on the lawn. "Go ahead, use your little gun again."

He may well be shielded from her telepathically, but even as they're talking, she's communicating with Betsy and the people on the Blackbird <<We have incoming on the lawn. Clear that area and we'll rendezvous... after I'm done here.>>

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Of all the scary things the X-Men might have to face over the years, the prospect that Tabitha Smith is flying everyone on the Blackbird. It was only a couple years ago she was barely able to punch coordinates into the auto-pilot.

But that might just have been her math skills and short term memory sometimes sucking there.

Since then she's maybe had a lot more experience. Danger Room flight sims put anything Microsoft and Thrustmaster could cook up to shame, that let her do the crazy fun flying and crashing in a nice safe simulated environment. She's since flown the plane a few times. And rather safely.

Plus it helps her case that the usual pilots are needed for missions on the ground and in DC and Ohio.

For Tabby it's been a lot of flight time.

Dropping folks off, picking people up. a brief stop to grab Logan as well in canada.

The blonde might be a little twitchy but that emergency telepathic beaming sent might have urged her to step on the gas a little harder. That's when flight goes back to possibly scary, hauling supersonic ass to DC maintaining stealth as much as possible. Finding a place to hover and offload.

"Okay guys, I'm practically gonna have to drop you as low and close as I can get. Then start getting evasive. I'm probably gonna be up to my elbows in Air Force till you guys can make room to pick everyone up. Those Heinz Fiftyseven douches have sneaky aircraft of their own. So expect like air support and stuff." she yells out through the internal PA as she brings the Blackbird in for a hover landing as close as she can.

With so many telepaths, range kind of stopped being a worry once she was in DC airspace.

<<I'm scorching a few car roofs with the VTOL at a car park near Phoenix and Psylocke. Closest empty ish space. Won't be leaving insurance details on notes in the wipers.>> she puts out telepathically. <<If they start shooting from air craft, I'll try and get their attention and then lose them somewhere oceany before I come back.>> Though with all the flying so far, they'd probably all prefer a trip through Limbo via Magik's stepping disc portals.

Soon enough she's setting down, the landing ramp is open and Tabby is hovering as best she can so everyone can jump down with as little distance to ground as possible. Cars can cushion some folks but they won't need chutes.

Charles Xavier has posed:
Charles maintains an air of ever-vigilent professionalism to those he is conversing with at the party, even with all the mind alerts going on inside his head. He does nod to Emma and Scott, and does indicate to them that he'll be remaining here, and wil be safe.

Thus, the chaos continues to converge in and around the downtown park that the Senator's second office resides beside. With Jean and Betsy fleeing to the exterior, they are soon to find a caravan of all black vehicles pulling up near to the office building, and all of them unloading more of those strange special forces troopers, along with another team marked by 'US Marshall' identification on their combat vests.

To make matters worse, the largest vehicles, the troop transports, were suddenly brandishing massive cannons that fold out from atop their structures. The cannons form together, building themselves up and twisting their aim around to focus on the X-Women coming from the office building.

Carmichael was soon to pop out of the window himself, his combat boots thudding on the pavement, as he keeps his plasma rifle aimed up, and down sites on Jean. "Nice of you to not fly away too quickly. I was hoping to get a chance to ask you for a dance." The soldier says. "Turn yourself in, Red. Put your hands behind your back, and get down on your knees. Last offer."

More of Black Team starts to roll up on Jean, with others scanning for Psylocke.

When the Blackbird arrives, Tabitha will likely see it first, though it's anyone's guess. Small flying units appear on the SR-77's scopes. Men on flying sleds of all things, more members of BT57, armed with more heavily designed plasma weapons. They're patroling for the X-Men's jet, and as soon as it draws remotely close to the office park, they begin to swarm toward it and those disembarking from it!

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
    Within the Blackbird, Piotr looks over at Phoebe and gives a nod, "Forgive me, little canary. I should be more considerate." He does, however, offer a smile in return to Celeste who is ever the peacemaker. Then his attention is gained by his sister as he turns his head to the side, though he does make a pointed effort to stop his finger-tapping.
    "Perhaps you are right sister. I should. Distract myself." Colossus nods slowly, even as he looks toward the front of the plane again. "I have taken up reading this George Martin. I am told the series he writes it has a masterful ending."
    As for Piotr he was armored and ready, though his clothes were less a uniform in this moment and more something for some measure of ease. A large red track suit that covered his body save for where the hoodie had the zipper pulled down a touch. He had very large tennis sneakers on, and if one were to squint they might imagine him somewhere in Little Odessa working for a particular organized crime family.
    But then the warning goes out and _that_ causes the big Russian to focus entirely.
    Rising from the seat he moves quickly into position, toward the rear landing ramp and grabbing one of the handholds as the jet surges and decelerates. He takes up his place, normally one of the first to evac to ideally take the brunt of any possible fire upon deployment...
    Then once he gets the signal, it's out he goes.

Logan Howlett has posed:
"These bastards," Logan mutters to himself, listening in on the chaos erupting down on the ground. The thick stub of a cigar, formerly smoldering between his teeth, is stubbed out on the inside wall of the cabin and then tossed to the ground. The tendrils of foul-smelling smoke rise around him as he unclasps his seatbelt and rises to his feet. Calloused hands grasp the roof, holding himself steady as he moves towards the rear of the Blackbird.

"Keep it steady," he growls over the comm in his ear. The gold and brown uniform he wears has the cowl pulled down, which he raises one hand to draw up and over his face.

Then he's gone, stepping out into the air. He doesn't fly - in fact, he falls faster than most - but even tears to muscles heal too quick to notice anything but a twinge of pain. On the ground, his eyes are on the sled-mounted commandos.

His arms stretch to either side and his claws pop again, dripping fresh crimson on the pavement.

"C'mon ... " he growls under his breath, teeth beared, "C'mon ... "

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Listening to Tabitha's announcement, and permitting herself to be a part of the telepathic communications, Raven stands herself up and makes ready to depart the vehicle. See also, she conceals her entire form in black, moves to the back of the Blackbird to get a view of what is happening, and on cue leaps out the back to roll up onto her feet already looking like one of the US Marshall's on the ground.

<I'm going for the troop transports, to take out those cannons. If I do not make it back to the Blackbird before you have to go, just leave me... I can get myself home. Make certain Charles and the rest of you get out.>

Betsy Braddock has posed:
When Jean turns back and makes her stand instead of heading for the hills as quickly as possible, that basically dealt the hand for Betsy. She wasn't going to leave her teammate. Yet, she did get the information from Jean on what she wanted done. Thus a lawn needed cleaned of little BT57 gnomes.

A glance around gave Betsy an idea of who was where. Those cannons coming online were a problem. And sadly, her skills and power with telekinetics was much less than the redhead behind her. Yet, when did that ever stop Betsy?

The purple flared around her right hand as her psiblade appeared, the focused totality of her telepathic powers! Then she was moving for the closest troops, letting those instincts of theother half of her gestalt being to the fore. Tapping into her martial arts skills and using that instead of a telepathic attack against those bloody helmets.

With telekinesis, Jean was an artist. She could draw a picture she had such finite control. For Betsy, it was more like a wrecking ball that would take out the entire canvas and easel. That is what she was using now. Just pure brute force. She was learning but she still didn't have that finesse at this point. Hopefully, brute force would be enough. Even as she brought up a hand toward the closest of the cannons, mentally imagining pushing it upwards into the air. Either to bend it awkwardly or to knock over the entire vehicle.

Stepford Cuckoos has posed:
Sophie is quick to tell the other sisters, "We are staying." as they all raise in unison to their feet. In reality it's a good tactical decision. They have tried affecting those soldiers in the past with no success and so they would be a liability on the ground as they can't hope to go toe to toe with armed men. Not without their powers at least. The sisters seem to accept the decision easily even if Celeste waves at both Logan and Piotr when they go off to do their hero landing slash killin'

"Give them heck!" she chirps.

The sisters then move closer to the cockpit as the back is being emptied.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Almost everyone in the bird can be reached telepathically. The odd one out needs her own options, and that calls for shutting her book and stowing it upright in a seat compartment usually host to peanut butter crackers or someone's forgotten cellphone. Once safely tucking Dostoevsky into his roo pouch, Illyana reaches out her palm at eye level. A sparkle of blue light flashes in a short line and out drops a d12, rolling around, a bit ungainly and slightly drunk.

Taking a moment to get its footing, the tiny die in fact has legs. Spindly, delicate ones that unfold as it scampers around on her hand, crouching low and peeping. Her gaze flicks to the pilot's seat and the copilot's chair and the dice daemon leaps off. A clear escort mission from the Demon Queen to go hang out with Tabitha!

That frees her to unlatch and saunter after her brother. "Any directions to follow?" A subtle reminder, but the important one. Once she dips out of the Blackbird, there is no freefall at high-speeds to the ground for her. She simply steps through a line of solid golden-blue fire, re-emerging on a rooftop nearby, following Logan and Piotr's crashing trajectory to determine the best place to land. Or play catch! Physics do not apply to everyone equally.

Emma Frost has posed:
And then there's the alarm. "And off we go to the races. Lovely." Emma Frost waits for her recovery - Charles has indicated that he's all right and Emma's going to take him at his word. And then a few moments later, she's going out the entrance to the party. It's close enough to the fight that she can get there.. if not immediately..

She passes by her Bentley. No, not in this traffic. Emma goes to shift to diamond form. She speaks over the comms <<Scott, if you want to join me or if you want to head there on a scooter, it's your choice>> Presuming Scott does accept her offer of a 'ride'.. Or if he doesn't. Because they're not /that/ far away and he can probably get there quickly himself without risking whiplash.

Then Emma Frost is in diamond form.. And whether or not anyone is telling her it's not a great idea she's going to go like the Hulk and JUMP. Landing over at the fight a short time later - well, after the others have made thier dramatic landing. She goes to hit down and leaves an impact crater which she crawls up and out from - dusting herself off. Still pristine.

Scott Summers has posed:
<...Well. My comm is broken.> Scott has swapped to mental, to Emma, to let her know. <Nobody is responding to me... I don't know how far backup is from Jean and Betsy. We'd better get there, immediately; agreed. > Scott remarks mentally to Emma and into the telepathic chain, frustrated with himself: He should have CHECKED the damn device. Maybe a battery issue. It's always a simple thing. But there's no time to harp on it right now.

<We're close. This is what all that physical training is for, Emma.> And after some 'casual innocent speedy exit', this will simply become a very athletic sprint towards the site. They aren't too far away. There's a visor switch during the elevator ride, of course.

But Scott's own turret isn't useful unless he gets there, and there's some running to do, first, to close into visual range. But Scott never misses a training session (and often runs while training others), so he'll be there shortly.

Jean Grey has posed:
On her knees?

"No." Did they just watch this episode, with Magneto?

Jean continues to stand her ground out there on the lawn. "In case you were too dense to make it out under that stupid hat, I'm going to repeat myself: if you want to do this? Go ahead. Shoot me." Her expression is serious and set. "But I want to be clear: breaking and entering? Call the cops. We've got a good lawyer. But you have no legal authority over anyone here. Senators don't get private armies. You want a fight? That's your decision. But I'll defend myself, and even pointing those at us is legally assault."

She looks around the men joining Carmichael, circling her and Betsy, but it doesn't seem to change her evaluation of the situation. "This is where we get past the point of all the bluster abd posturing. You like barking orders and playing military LARP? Good for you. I'm not impressed. You got the balls to pull that trigger?" There's a light crackling in the air around her, pops and sizzles of briefly agitated molecules.

<<Betsy, you can get out of here, you don't have to->> So much for that.

The other woman gets things started early, although there was no real doubt where this was going to go. Around Jean, several of the gunmen lift into the air, baubled about on telekinetic force. They're so damn proud of their psi-hats, it's really... pretty narrowminded. Either way, maybe that's her version of pointing her own guns back at them?

But the she doesn't look away from Carmichael. Or touch him, mentally or otherwise. Yet.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There was this possibility that air based resistance was going to be a thing. Admittedly Tabby figured something more Quinjet sized but it's early yet.

Once the last of the X-Men were off and moving away from the cover from all those Plasma blasts.

Like last time, there's those damn helmets making telepathy kind of a problem. So tracking them is gonna rely on using those peepers of hers. The glasses on her nose yellow tinted driving aviator styled, the ends of the arms curling around her earlobes to stay in place. At least she can see the avionics indicators a bit better than her own red tinted glasses she often wears on missions. Anti-glare and prescriptions help, but not seeing things in color blind mode like Scott is kinda paramount.

Especially when plasma blasts not hers are bouncing and booming the plane around. <<Don't spend time on the sledbois. I can deal with them, they'll likely follow me. Someone start yanking their helmets off. Find out if they got TP blockers Magneto style or if they got funky brain implants or something.>> this is said as much over comms as it is the mind link.

With some of the X-Men maybe taking a shot at folks on sleds Tabby can at least ping some of their locations as she lifts the plane from where it's hovering. With the landing ramp not retracted yet and just enough air space gained above buildings and sleds following.

One of the reasons for all that apprehension about Tabitha piloting comes to light.

Literally. Multiple orbs of plasma, large as basketballs start filling empty spaces while still in VTOL mode and plenty of room.

The Blackbird starts swinging it's back end around in a circle emptying that brightly glowing payload as it's all psionically directed to float away from the plain and in the radius of any pursuers.

Like trenching the white house lawn mid donut. Just pro racists and plasma bombs.

<<Tick... Tick... Tick...>> she counts down aloud over the comms and mind link.

Charles Xavier has posed:
Some of the X-Men arrive in what should be a stealthy fashion, others arrive in less stealthy fashion.  But what is of note is how quickly the soldiers here to arrest them seem to be adjusting their positions to account for the various X-Men members that arrive.

Even Mystique, in her US Marshall disguise is suddenly accosted, with rifles raising up to face her.

How on earth had they....?

In the sky, the low-thrum of stealth choppers can only barely be heard by those outside.  Black choppers.  They're flying around the airspace of the park, observing the situation from high above.

Scott will be immersed in local police setting up a blockade zone in the areas outside of the park, though he's got a jump on them and will be able to run his way toward the office complex with relative ease.

All of the telepaths will pick up on the civilian law enforcement all settling in aroundthe park, with police choppers enroute as well, many of them eminating a wealth of fear for whatever was unfolding tonight.

But the X-Men, all of those who converge on the park, soon have weapons aiming at them... somehow the black clad figures all knew where they were, even Raven.

"I don't even like wearing this thing." Carmichael.  "The headaches it gives work both ways, Red..." He tells her, his footffalls continuing, but moving very slowly.  "I kinda thought you'd react like this.  You seem like you got a feisty temper in that pretty head of yours..."

He falls silent then, waiting for a second.

Betsy will likely see it first, though Jean is soon to follow.  When Psylocke throws that vehicle over, the shots start going off.  Everyone on the ground, who has been spotted, and aimed down sights at, is suddenly being shot at by bursts of blue-green energy spheres that sizzle toward them with enough power to likely cut holes right thorugh their bodies!

The Blackbird is suddenly being fired at by the men on the flying sleds!  Their cannons also opening fire all at once!

On the ground, the big cannons aim specifically at Jean, and along with Carmichael, they send a flood of flowing energy toward the Phoenix, and all her teammates!

With the Blackbird peppering the sky with explosions trailing out of it, the flying enemies tracking it dodge and weave, some of them get clipped by explosives, one of them even going out of control down toward a wooded edge of the park!

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
    The heavy landing of Colossus does not go unnoticed. He rises up out of the marginal hole he has created in the asphalt, some of the debris falling off his shoes as he steps out and forward. A glance is given to the nearby Hyundai and he nods to himself, pleased that he managed to miss it, for there is no time to leave notes.
    On the comms for the non-telepath inclined and due to the chaos of communications with the telepathy interference, Piotr's voice can be heard. << I am landed, in transition. >>
    He starts to move toward the mass of APCs and armored men, picking up speed. His voice rises loudly as he approaches the government building. "I am merely approaching at speed, exercising my right to gather! Please to not be shooting in my direction lest I be forced to defend myself and any others you so endanger!"

Logan Howlett has posed:
Diplomacy is not something the X-Men ask of Logan. They all have their locked-in expectations of the Canuck and he has long since given up trying to asuage them. He can hear Piotr implore the armed men to let them pass, but already he can smell the aprehension in the air. It's a firefight waiting to happen.

Then it happens.

He moves quickly, darting from point to point. He can evade the majority of fire, though his arms and torso are smoldering from rapidly-healing burns before too long. Powerful leg muscles allow him to leap upward, claws exposed as he pounces towards one of the sled-mounted gunmen.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The plan should have worked. Raven could think of only a few ways that humans could determine who she was, and most of them were supposedly still theoretical. It would seem that some had made it out of the the planning stages and were crafted into reality. If she was right about which one this was, then the playing field has just changed so dramatically that the possibilities staggered her mind.

<Take out the black stealth choppers,> she thinks more aloud, even as she prepares to defend herself. She hasn't actively killed a human in over a year, there hasn't been a reason, but now there was no choice if she hoped to survive. <The tech has to be on those choppers to cover this large of an area.>

Unable to wear body armor and still be able to shift forms, she was forced to resort to other means for protecting herself against incoming bullets. Shifting back into her natural blue form wearing the tight black leather she had on in the Blackbird, she instantly planned her route from current location to the trooper transport.

Using Judo and acrobatics to leap onto the shoulder's of an enemy, she slide down behind him then uses him and his armor as protection against incoming fire. From him she leaped to another, then another, always keeping one of them between her and whom ever it was that was shooting at her, trying to inch her way toward the troop transports.

Pulling her own handgun, she took careful shoots as she worked her way through the enemy troops, over a hundred and forty years of combat and tactical training working to keep herself alive and in constant movement toward her goal.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
<<While I appreciate that, Jean, I'm not simply going to abandon you. You go, I go. You stay, I stay.>> Simple enough on how Betsy is thinking here.

Technically, she didn't fire the first shot. Carmichael did, which was definitely an escalation instead of them being simply taken into custody for burglary. They had not attacked him in any way. They were answering force with force. Because at this point, being a mutant was not illegal. Though they were working on it.

Not that the allegedly good guys seemed to care about who shot first.

But now with the shots being fired, her TK had to be used more for shields. Slamming them up with a shift of her arm to a block position, to try and keep from getting shot in the process of closing with those troops. Her eyes were on one of the helmeted men. Guided by the suggestion from Tabitha, she was looking to take him down. That's where pure physical force, boosted by TK power for strength since he was armored, would come in. Then, should she manage, that helmet would be yanked off if possible. Thus she would be able to learn first hand if it was the helmets blocking their telepathic abilities or implants. She also would be trying to telepathically rip any information out of his head about all of this. Information she would share with the team.

Stepford Cuckoos has posed:
"I think we are burning." Esme points out, looking out of a window on the side to which Phoebe shakes her head, "No, just one of the sleds exploding." touch of wickedness to her tone.

"Good flying, Tabitha." Says Sophie with a reassuring nod while Celeste whispers quietly, "Please don't crash and kill us.." a nervous smile given to the pilot.

With the police starting to converge has the sisters gather again, the blondes joining hands as that fear in the air is palpable. Civilians and cops alike, "Let's give them some breathing room, Cuckoos." Sophie tells the others. They nod in unison and their eyes glow blue, intermittently. And with the five of them together it means their power amplifies dramatically, 'tendrils' reaching out to the police officers and civilians gathering on the edges, "We should evacuate the civilians." their voices echoing in the police officers minds, "And call off our choppers." she suggests, working on that fear she feels in the cops to turn into action. And perhaps give the X-Men some breathing room in where to fight with the B-57. Or at least not have two groups to fight at the same time!

Emma Frost has posed:
The shots going after her get Emma Frost to hiss. A few ricochet - and one that actually nearly takes a chunk off her. So these things can actually hurt her - and the others. The name of the game seems to be not escalating things.. Ah, there they go. There's Logan. And the sleds with gunmen.. She's staying in diamond form and thus bereft of the mental link. But in a chaotic firefight where there's so much fire going around,s he can't risk having her perfect body perforated by a shot.. And the men shot at them first.

Emma goes to pick up one of the cars nearby, lifting it in front of her to use it as a shield from the blasts going.. And then she goes to lift it and HURL it through the air at the group of sleds that were taking potshots at her. Time tos ee how much of a hit they could take. Still, there's some restraint over in the throw. There are pilots inside of them. The aim is to just cripple the weapons and the machines, not cripple the individuals in it. For now, at least..

Even if her aim is off, at the very least having ten or so tons of car hurled at you like a freight train makes for a rather effective distraction to get them to stop shooting at her! A blonde can dream.

Scott Summers has posed:
Well, this looks like a supreme mess.

Scott takes it in quickly, a glance at the exploding chess board in front of him. Being late is not a boon in terms of seeing the layout, but it is maybe in that he gets one more breath of air before he'll be picked as a target amid the mix of cops he had to dodge on arrival.

Lacking comm, Scott is forced to use a different strategy -- directly sending to Xavier, in hopes he will relay to everyone else most efficiently.

< Ambush. You all know the drill for an ambush; they have positional advantage and know it. Keep your heads, stay in trios, and don't be centralized in their kill box, force a side. Exterior team, stay on Wolverine's point. Extract them: open an exit channel. My comm's out, somebody send Magik forward directly to let them reposition, if she's here. >

Scott's still in motion, finding his own spot-- not as much cover as he'd like, but he needs to see upwards!

< Colossus, Emma, I need your cover. South corner. You'll... see me.>

From that position, explosively red beams start to blast out, in lancing, quick pinpointed blasts, picking off targets that are likely to be the mutant detection scanners. It's apparent where the Cyclops turret is located even if he's moving, particularly as he opens up the visor band to do a long horizontal arc in a very intentional anti-aircraft motion. Let's make it a very bad idea to fly up there, for fear of extreme LASER.

Jean Grey has posed:
The rest of the team will have to fend for itself somewhat, but the large volume of fire put down at Jean and Betsy? Well, she did ask for it.

The green energy bolts meet yellow-orange flares in the air, where Jean maintains a telekinetic barrier. Normally, that'd be the end of it. Energy redirected, dispersed. But that isn't what happens now. In Carmichael's case, Jean is sure he sees it, understands what is happening in full detail:

No barrier stops his own gun's bolt before it reaches her, striking her in the center of the chest. The man can aim, at least. It burns there against her body without quite penetrating as he might expect, flares brighter and mixes with that other energy seen around her, sizzling and burning in place. Then, with a notable slowness, it 'enters', dispersing at the same time, burning across her body. And when it is spent, fully absorbed?

It has burned away what she was wearing, with the Phoenix emblem revealed instead, almost at the exact place where he thought to shoot her. The rest of her clothing follows, sizzling away with more of that crackling energetic fire, leaving the glossy red and gold costume beneath.

"If you don't like wearing it, let's take it off it off for you." Before he can make much sense of it, a fiery talon flares to life and seizes Carmicahel, lifting him from the ground. His armor and gear starts to burn away as her own did, but not his flesh. This includes the little jammer he wears on his head, although it goes last, disintegrated down to its components. "Now, let's see what you've done."

With the device destroyed, Jean enters his mind, and not gently. There is practical information she seeks out there, what happened with Rogue and where they've taken her, what other details he may have about the operation and their illicit cure, even the Senator's involvement - he is now an unwitting target of the immense ire burning in the woman's eyes.

But she doesn't stop with the information.

His mind is a fragile fortress, as mental constructs go. Hatred and ignorance are powerful, reckless things, held in check only by the virtue of certain pretenses and illusions, self-deceptions. Pride is potent but fragile. All these things that maintain his outward ego? She shatters them with casual disregard, letting his fear run rampant, his hate become self-destructive terror. And in that moment, she shows him a single, simple truth, pure and unfiltered without the defensive benefit of denial:

She shows him how small he REALLY is. As a human. As a fleck of dust in the cosmos.

All of it happens in an instant, and the burning construct dissapates, throwing the man to the ground. What remains of him is incoherent, in no position to even control his bodily functions, let alone to offer further threats or demands. This all still leaves Jean amidst the conflict. Betsy fighting nearby, the others more distant. Yet she is... separate of it all. Fire outlines her form, crackling, hungry, eager. She doesn't leap into action, but seems to meditate upon the moment, there in the middle of the chaos.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The dice daemon clings hold to the copilot's seat and chirps at Tabitha in something like glee or sheer terror. Reading its thoughts are alien enough to be unpleasant given it /is/ a denizen of the ineffable kingdom of mystic nonsense and adhering to its prime objective: hang out with the Blackbird pilot, bouncing up and down on its tethered webbing to stoke her on.

On the ground, matters take a very pretty pass of multiple shots across multiple different targets. That almost every last one counts as a friend, loved one, or mentor in some capacity for Illyana. She darts off the rooftop, and a salvo crashes where she stood, the woman side-stepping through dimensions. Pity to Scott listening to anyone on comms, because the sporadic pops are accompanied by a pandaemonium howl of the winds rising in chorus to their lady's disenchanted opinion on things.

<Look left,> her voice breaks in and out of existence as she drops backwards into another portal that snaps shut almost as fast as it opened. Speed of thought works faster than speed of altered technology. The explosive bombs falling through the air to gravity's parade join the other signs of defense.

It's with one cobalt-tarnished black boot in Limbo that she arises again, and this time very much on /someone's/ left. Hands spread before her, she brings her hands together and forms words without sound, only an iron-clad intent that gives her codename more than passing reason to headsnap. A converging pirouette of shots go veering out of existence, another burst snapped up, balloons yanked by their strings into a strange glassy state that's neither fully here or there. No evidence of her typical portals, which makes this high magic honed by the best of the best. Her chin lifts, those glowing blue eyes tracing the demon of Limbo. One of hers, thus always trackable. Aspanni'n otin ustaniyniyz!" That sharp invective ends with a punctuation note. Or multiple punctuation notes.

The energy attacks shot by Carmichael's associates, a good number any, go streaming at non-Euclidean pathways across the sky. Others go caroming into other energy pulses not gathered by Illyana - there are many. Specks of blooming light collide with Tabitha's time-bombs, possibly destabilizing them or adding to the unpredictable shockwaves as the Blackbird skillfully veers through the sky. The radial burn of mana spindled up through her invoked spell might not be visible, but the sheer chaos of the patterns uses three-dimensional space as her canvas. Where Piotr is the expert painter, the Sorcerer Supreme's wife goes explosive Mandelbrot or Pollock.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
BOOM!

It's not easy returning fire in an aircraft that doesn't have built in weapons. It's hard enough trying to get the tape deck installed. The only part of her van that still worked after it got shot up.

She is still looking for an ideal spot by a river to let it have it's final rest.

<<Mental notes. We run heavy electrical cables from the inside of the plane to the outside. So I can do this stuff and see where I'm aiming!"

Well the tape deck might just be legacy tech. the plane has it's own audio systems and a bluetooth and remore link.

Kitty used it to sideswipe a quinjet a while back.

Tabby just links her phone and the sound system starts blaring.

And Tabby starts singing.

"Oooh YEAH! Kickstart my heart! Hope it never stops!"

The plane swings about and gets ahead enough of the airborn hostiles and with a little reversing she grins and goads a couple flybois to come at her.

Right into the path of one of Cyclops' optic blasts before she  flips offthe others in front of her whether or not she can see them. Or them her behind the stick as she punches the throttle forwards and makes a go of running down sled based goons with a plane that can take a way bigger beating.

The scorch marks on the outer hull evidence of that.

"Come catch me fuckers!" she yells, again, it's really only the X-men that hear it as she takes off.

Better shooting at her than the others on the ground.

Charles Xavier has posed:
The optic blasts from Cyclops certainly do herald the presence of the X-Mens' veteran on the edge of the park combat zone now.  His blasts shoot up in to the sky toward the chopper flight paths, and it does certainly cause the stealth vehicles to redirect their course, and it certainly does cause them to improvise to try and stay on course... with a challenge.

Within moments, the blue-green blasts of plasma from BT57 soldiers starts zeroing in on Scott's position too.

Xavier's voice fills the minds of those in the X-Men.  "Cyclops is on-site, I'm going to reinforce the mind-link to keep the team connected.  But now is the time to find exit strategies, X-Men.  We cannot allow this to get further out of hand, and play in to their games."

This broadcast is sent to everyone's minds, as Charles sips a glass of wine, and smiles at a anecdotal story someone at the party is telling him, but even the party has many of its members suddenly looking to their various devices  as messaging starts going out across the city and beyond about what is happening at the office complex park.

"Jean!" Charles calls out through the mind-link.  "Jean1 You have a team to see to safety! Help Cyclops gather everyone up, and get out of there!"

But there is nothing Charles can do from his position two blocks away.  He does feel Carmichael's mind as it is exposed when the man's gear is burned away.  He feels the probe in to the man's mind, but Jean goes in like a battering ram, forcing Charles' own connection aside like a leaflet in the winds of a hurricane.

Charles knows what has happened though, and even if Jean has acquired some bits of information, what is done is now done.

On the ground, Mystique manages to get right up beside the last standing APC, and should see little difficulty getting inside at this point. The driver does pull out a conventional handgun though, that he does aim out the window to try and put a bullet in to the blue-bodied Mutant attacker though!

The rest on the ground? They find that BT57 soldiers are continuing to push toward them, and it's becoming clear that they're trying to herd the X-Men, to try and isolate them.

One of the stealth choppers descends out of the sky, its running skids touching down on the grass of the park at its heart, with a group of people jumping out of its interior on to the lawn below its silent rotors.

Carmichael lays on the ground after the Phoenix goes inside of him.  He is indeed reduced to the shell of a now broken Human, with eyes wide and a gleaming sheen of perspiration upon his muscled, and very naked, form.

The chaos continues though, with the soldiers fighting back against Wolverine and Piotr, the blasts aiming for both of the men of metal!  But they're no match for the two's strength and prowess in combat scenarios like this.

With Betsy popping the top off one of them, that particular soldier's mind becomes quite easily accessed as well.

And in the sky, the Blackbird continues to get chased by a small handful of the flying sleds, more rounds of plasma fire shot its way, though the SR77 is much, much faster should it really open up and try to get away.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
    The soldiers that Colossus had been bearing down on are given a moments reprieve by the hurried orders of the team's leader, Cyclops. The armored Russian pulls up and shifts his approach, bringing his movement more in line with Emma and Scott, providing that bulwark that is likely needed for just such a battle.
    << Moving. I am... >> A pause as there is an explosion near, as to whose explosion it is difficult to discern. But enough to check his words if only for a moment. << In position now. >>
    Which is the moment the big bruiser's shiny metal face is right there, though that track suit... does look a bit tacky.
    A few rounds slice across the distance and slam into his broad chest, and suddenly that track suit's hoodie is suffering. He manages to tank some of the impacts, ducking a little low and to the side as he grabs a heavy block of cement from the sidewalk and tears parts of it up to provide a makeshift shield.
    << I do not know how long I can weather this, their weapons... they hurt. >>

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The US Military trained her soldiers very well, in fact they were some of the best in the world. The senator's personal army of mercenaries were perhaps former soldiers, Raven had no idea and really didn't care. What mattered this moment was getting to that cannon.

One minute she's there for the driver to aim at, the next he's putting a bullet into a former associate and she's firing back through the open window. Thirty seconds of time, no more, and she's headed up the side of the transport toward the cannon. The only pause she takes is to borrow a set of body armor off one of the no longer among the living transport guards, and then she's lining the cannon up on target number one.

Originally she thought to destroy the cannon, but controlling it was a far better option and that landed black stealth chopper... well, it was about to no longer exist as the sites were aimed and the cannon fired.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
<<The blockage is from the helmets. Not implants. Get the helmets off and telepaths can stop this before it continues.>>

This from Betsy who had succeeded in tearing the helmet off the faceless trooper. She found a woman in her early 20s underneath it with a buzz cut and some neck tats. She stared up at Betsy in shock. She'd been completely vulnerable to mind invasion without the helmet. Unfortunately, Betsy was still under fire. She could only get the basics from the woman's brain before throwing up a barrier, realising that fire was incoming despite her the fact they were endangering their own teammate by firing at her. All she got from the woman were glimpses of her team training and Carmichael barking orders at them.

"What is wrong with you people?" she suddenly yelled, though none of them likey would hear it, as she put up a barrier. This time it blocked the shots from hitting her...and the vulnerable trooper she had on the ground. A moment later she was moving again, not just to try to avoid shots but mainly to keep the now prone woman from being in danger from her own teammates.

Then Jean got hit. And Betsy turned that direction, intent on trying to help. Then her eyes widened as she watched the confrontation, watched as the mind of the man was utterly broken and he was left as a shattered shell on the ground. <<Jean?>> she called out tentatively to the other woman.

Then gasped as a shot grazed her leg, forcing her to move again. <<Jean, we have to go.>> And she turned to do just that.

Emma Frost has posed:
Scott gives a call for some cover. Then Charles calls for a retreat. Piotr is going to clear a way for them to fall back. Emma goes to shift back to her human form, skin pinkening once more. <<Understood, Charles. Giving cover>> She goes to throw up as much of a mental haze throughout the area as she can to try and distort things to give the rest of them room to evacuate. Trying ot put up as large a field of discomcobulation as possible. Since Charles is taking over the mental link, that lets Emma put her full force into giving them some mental noise.

<<Cover your ears>> is a warning as every single person in a ten block radius goes to suddenly press a button on their phone, music, or whatever that makes it strobe at full on chaos. Every car alarm in a quarter mile goes off. Sirens and flares go as well. Emma's giving them cover.. Even if it's just a few seconds of everyone being deafened even through the chaos of battle. Emma's given warning for them to brace and an offering to shut down part of their ears if they need it even as she goes to let hereslf be reeled away and idsengage.

And if Jean can eat the brains of those that oppose them, why can't /she/? Teacher's pet.

Scott Summers has posed:
< ....Jean... >

Just a simple use of Jean's name, and it did probably go to most of the team, due to the link reinforced by Xavier. It's a sense of worry, but maybe not ABOUT her. It's /dread/: maybe about what he's concerned that she's done. Murder is serious. And this sense of it not even causing any emotion? Murder of a disarmed person....

That's a deeply scary thing. A thing that could break heroes. And this is Jean. She matters.

The threat of something like that is a greater one on their team than some energy guns. Something deeper...


< Full extraction only. Defensive. Colossus, lead across this side, I'm with you. Tabitha, I'll get south sky clear, hold position for incoming portals on this end, long as you can. >

And Magik is right there, so despite broken comm, Scott can just CALL to her. "Get us out of here to the ship. We're more the villain the longer we stay, this isn't a win scenario. Come for me last." Good thing he got that out before Emma started NoisePocalypse.

Scott reins his emotions in, to focus on not being hit, and in making sure he's not in a spot where Colossus is taking too much fire for him, while opening up on the sky. If only he could open up on those deeper worries, not just drones in the air...

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Noise, and a lot of it, puts a significant dent in Illyana's concentration. She twists the spell to put it on a timer to go off, the plasma blasts she continues to snatch in a weird sort of animated suspension. The glowing constellation follows the blonde Russian around at a significant distance, leaping and jumping when the cacophonous swell grows a little too loud or pointed. Protocol turns her to unleash two or three of the explosives where they do the least damage and get the best effect. No lack of water features or nuisance lawns drinking up the Potomac's limited supply of potable water, so detonations to shower BT57 in waves of muck and dirt simply pleases her altogether too much. The riposte will ultimately blow up in the sky, with limited effect on civilian populations or buildings, casting them aside.

She plucks her comm and tosses it to Scott, then salutes.

Then it's girl on the run, dashing across the field and evaporating in a blink. Her stepping discs don't merely have to be horizontal. To foil the mutant-tracking technology and everyone's stomach-churning reaction to freefalling into Limbo, she interchanges them with actual portals. Portals that glow a radiant gold as luminous as the coming dawn and undeniably welcoming, as opposed to 'really awful hellscape on the other side.'

Betsy's her first target -- simply because the violet-haired woman /is/ the easiest to see in her way. Springboarding alphabetically with S-for-Scott and P-for-Phreakingscarynix at the end is only reasonable. Bounce, tag!

Jean Grey has posed:
The voices echo. In her head, and in her ears. Different voices. Charles, Betsy. Familiar, but distant. Jean, Jean, Jean...

The area of grass around her has burned away, leaving a circle of scorched earth. Not mass destruction, at least not yet, but it shows the slow seething of that power. A power that Jean truly does not wield, so much as... carry. Maybe sometimes it wields her. With a detached expression, she watches Carmichael on the ground for a moment, and then slowly turns to look around. But she's not only looking with her eyes, but with her mind. Searching out, hunting, not -finished- with this fight yet, while there is still-

She hears it again. Scott this time.

Part of her recognizes all of that, understands the dire situation, logically at least. But the emotional drive is powerful. If Carmichael didn't know everything, maybe the Senator will. Him next, and anyone else that tries to stop her...

No, no, no. That's wrong. She needs to be with her team, do this with them, help them now, then help Rogue. But it's so hard to pull back, so easy to keep going...

Jean blinks her eyes, and the fire is gone. Then they flutter closed entirely. The costume starts to melt, burn away, maintained as an expression of that other power, and now surrendered, forgotten. In all the effort to reclaim herself?

It leaves her to slump over, to collapse, from cosmic avatar to zero in an instant, like a puppet with her strings cut.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The Blackbird is pretty nimble in VTOL mode. Sled riders fire at her like gnats, But to take them down means maybe slowing down a scooch.

With the order to bail though that's pretty much what Boom-Boom needs to do.

The helicopters being used for delivering goons fresh from the goonery find themselves flown over with bombs dropped to blast right over rotors

The warning coming through comms as much as the mind link. <<Coming back down to scoop all a yas back up. So like you know...>> there's a sense of squee over the link as much as a loud eeeeee sound.

Poor Logan and his ears. <<To me my X-Men!>>

There's a brief stop mid air at as low a height as she can safely manage. A look back down the jet to the hatch. <<Get to dah Blackbird!>> and she'll wait for anyone and everyone planning to get back aboard. Bombs flying out at anything remotely vehicular or BlackOps merc looking. Over the heads of anyone merging from Illyana's portals.

Covering fire. She's tired, but Tabby doesn't need to go full tilt, she still needs enough juice to plot a trip home and not bring cops on their lawn

"When I'm enranged or hitting the stage."

"Adrenaline rushin' through my veins."

"And. I. Say. We're. Still. KICKING AAAAASSSSSS!"

And she's back to singing.

When all is on board that wants out the blonde will finally close that ramp and gun the engines.

Emma's racket might just get drowned out by a jet ready to break the sound barrier inside city limits. "I think we got time for some drive through on the way. I could do with some Wendy's. After I lose the chumps like Bo and Luke! Natch!"

Charles Xavier has posed:
All across the city, Emma's blanket noise layer is very effective.

At the party, Charles bares witness to it, with confusion and nervveous party attendees all reacting, Charles simply sits there observing with a calm demeanor.  The woman who was his guest at the party came to Charles' side, and spoke softly to him.  A moment later the two began to walk out of the party together toward her vehicle.

"We are leaving the event.  Our trip to the nation's capitol has left a lot to be desired.  We must escape, and regroup back at home base." Charles' voice speaks over comms.  "Leave no one behind.  Someone gather up Jean immediately."

On the park-turned-battlefield Colossus plows the proverbial road, clearing a path for those who need it.  While further in on the park, the chopper that Mystique fires upon is totally obliterated by the beam weapon that she manned, while Tabitha's wild bombing from above sends the members of BT57 that hopped off the chopper in to wild flailing heaps of Human limbs!

The Cuckoos manage to infect the mind of the DC police, encouraging them ever-so-gently to ease up on the perimeter which will allow anyone who may choose to rush out of the city to do just so.

And in the sky, the last two stealth choppers seem to be unsure of how to proceed.  With their team leader down it comes down to the remaining internal command within BT57, and the stealth choppers seem to be clearing out to the east while the remaining sled pilots seem to be navigating their sleds down toward the park and away from the Blackbird.

The black clad soldiers now seem to be simply focusing on the major targets, such as Piotr, Wolverine, and Cyclops.

While several more continue to try and stop the visibly dangerous Magik from working said magic!

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan has been making a bee-line for Jean since he saw the flare of fiery power. His eyes turn to the unconscious, broken figure on the ground. He can hear Carmichael's heartbeat, but he recognizes enough about the man's biorhythms to know he's not getting up anytime soon. Maybe ever.

"Jesus Christ, Jeanie," he utters under his breath, "What the hell is in you?"

But he doesn't take pause. Doesn't keep his distance out of fear that the Phoenix may reach out to disassemble him at the molecular level. Instead, he's sliding to catch the slumping Jean in his arms moments before she hits the ground. He looks her over critically, beetled brow furrowed with concern.

The light of the opening portal is shed on him and he looks up, catching the scent of brimstone that wafts from the hell dimension. Well, one of the hell dimensions. There's quite a few.

"C'mon," he murmurs to Jean, hoisting her up in his arms with ease, "Let's get you somewhere safe."

That said, he carries her through the portal without looking back.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Taking out one of the choppers would have to be enough, though Raven really did want to chase the other two down and blow them out of the sky as well. She was working with the X-Men, and that meant when the retreat was sounded. As she left the transport, she grabbed the helmet of the soldier whose armor she had stolen, then looked for the nearest portal to jump through.

Rolling up to her feet in the Blackbird, she glances around to see who else had already taken a portal and only then realized she had in fact been shot once in the shoulder. Staring at the wound for a moment with a wrinkled nose she mutters, "When did that happen?" Keen eyes would notice the wound was already beginning to slowly heal. <On the Blackbird.> she finally reported.

Scott Summers has posed:
Once the team has been pulled out and is on the plane, and the last of them are being removed from the location, Scott still doesn't sigh in relief. There's no lightness to him here. And everyone on the Blackbird will, for the most part, be getting Disapproving Dad frowny quality from Scott, though he's not saying anything at first. It's just at the whole of the situation.

Though he does finally move to some statements-- and they are without any disapproval: "Thanks, Logan." Just that, nothing else around it, before he turns to Tabitha at the pilot area, joining her there....

And shutting off Tabitha's controls, to let her have an earned break. Yep, taking over the pilot job. To Tabitha: "Breathe first. Come down off that high. You're alive, and so is the team. Good work. But if there's fast food, it will be delivered." No fancy stops, but she does get delivery. That's like a special prize, from Scott. A gold star.

Only serious, pensive quiet in the Blackbird for the rest of the flight home.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The flight path Tabby sets isn't straight north. More westerly to Ohio. As far as she knows they still have to go get Gambit and Rogue. The wide loop might burn more fuel but also gives room to re-engage the cloak and leave any pursuers and trackers behind.

The stereo gets turned off finally as well to give everyone's ears a break from so much noise.

Unfortunatelly no one gets Wendy's.

They don't let planes into the Drive Thru.

Too big.

"So umm, anyone called home? We may kinda have pissed a lot of folks off with that gag?" she says when Scott gets his hands on the stick as Tabby can catch her breath. Long Distance flying can be a tiring as combat piloting and then throwing enough bio-electric ordnance on top of all that.

The delivery order probably won't even touch the sides when it lands at the school. "Just wake me if I need to dangle out the back and blow up fighter jets." she states and considers a solid nap.

Charles Xavier has posed:
The Sr-77 Blackbird, battered and bruised, but still flying, makes its way out of the Washington D.C. area. The city itself is left in chaos with police sirens going off all across its entire maze of streets...

Later that night:

In a nearby warehouse setup as a emergency hospital triage center, a figure approaches the stretcher where Carmichael's laid out. The shadow crosses over his face with his eyes still open wide after Jean's assault on his mind.

There is the sound of something being twisted, metal on metal.

The barrel of a elongated pistol is raised up, and placed against the Captain's temple.

A shot rings out, muffled and muted in strength.