18546/Mutants and Master Molds - Get Wrecked

Mutants and Master Molds - Get Wrecked
Date of Scene:	26 July 2024
Location:	Sentinel Factory
Synopsis:	A group of X-Men and allies go to strike at a Sentinel base and are lead into an ambush. Not all of them will make it out in one piece.
Cast of Characters:	Monet St. Croix, Quentin Quire, Mark Grayson, Rogue, Samuel Guthrie, Bishop, Fred Dukes
Tinyplot:	Mutants and Master Molds

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Monet St. Croix has posed:
It had taken time and backtracking data trails, but the X-Men had finally tracked down to a location where the Sentinels were working on building their massive mecha. Their production had been slowed by the continuous hits the X-Men and thier allies had put on them, and now was the chance to put the hurt on them for good.

For the X-MEn and allies flying along through the night, coming up on the isolated complex far out in the Canadian wilderness, an old Cold War nuclear shelter.. It was time to go all Clippy on the Robots.

Quentin Quire has posed:
Always up to smash some Sentinels. Quentin's catching a ride with the X-folks this time, combat attired and mostly ready to go as he sits in the back of the X-Jet, playing on his phone and chugging a caffeinated beverage. He's been jittery the whole flight, no doubt from all the caffeine he's packing away, but has mostly kept it to himself.

"Are we there yet?"

Well, mostly.

Mark Grayson has posed:
It had been some time since Mark had worked alongside Xavier's team, but the menacing presence of Sentinels was a threat he knew all too well. As the call for assistance came through, the blue and gold-clad hero swiftly fell into position on the right flank of the aircraft. The crisp, invigorating air of the high altitude swept over him, momentarily igniting a rush of exhilaration. But this fleeting sense of freedom was quickly tempered by the gravity of the mission ahead.

As the aircraft banked into a sharp turn, Mark adjusted his stance, reaching up to activate his comm unit. His voice, steady and clear, cut through the static of the channel. "I understand you're dealing with some problematic Sentinels," he said, his tone resolute and determined. "I'm here to lend a hand. I'm ready and equipped to assist. How can I contribute to neutralizing the threat?" His words carried a blend of confidence and readiness, reflecting his commitment to the task at hand. "Just call me..."

"Invincible!"

Rogue has posed:
rogue is seated in the blackbird, strapped in, she has her leather jacket worn over her green and gold suit. Looking a bit unsure of all of this, she glances at a tablet computer at her side, and taps something on the screen. It gives her a map of the area, of what to expect, before she just shakes her head from side to side. "I got a bad feelin' about this one." She mutters, mostly to herself.

When the sound is heard that signifies their impending arrival, the Belle removes her crash harness, and moves to stand up. Since she can fly, she's not really concerned about turbulence. She does use hand holds in the ceiling of the Jet to get to its aft hatch, and as she holds one, she waits to be deployed with the rest of the team. She glance forward, and reaches in to her jacket with her free hand.

Pulling a piece of strawberry bubble gum from a plastic container, the Belle rolls it around between her fingertips before she slips it in to her mouth, and begins to softly chew upon it. Nothing calms nerves quite like a bit of bubblegum, right?

"I'm ready to roll." The Southern bomber tells her team.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
It's time to wreck and rule. The Blackbird goes along in stealth mode, approaching towards the drop zone with Invincible flying along the flank of the moidfied Blackbird. He's in a good position to the stealthed aircraft - he's far more durable than it is, so when trouble starts he can no doubt draw fire.

If Quentin's scanning along, there's no signs of life so that means they can go guilt free when it comes to leveling the area.

And there's an energy buildup ahead of them. The Blackbird's sensors would register it as a set of plasma cannons going for a lock-on Invincible, going to start to open fire on him from long range!

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin unbelts out of his crash seat, following Rogue towards the back of the jet as she moves to disembark. "Who's the boy scout?" he ask the Southern Belle as he steps up beside hear, having heard Invincible's heroic introduction over the comms. "I thought Superman stuck to Metropolis..."

Plucking an earpiece out of his pocket he tucks it into his ear, going technological for now instead of the telepathic, since he doesn't know this new guy just yet. "Sure. Glad to have you aboard, Invisible..." he replies over the comms as the Blackbird starts its final approach. "....I'm not getting any sense of intelligent life down there, so whatever it is, good bet it's entirely automated..." he says, for both their benefit, "...so don't need to worry about casualt-....!"

The juke of the Blackbird's evasion systems kicking in catches Quentin offguard, last words swallowed back as he stumbles and grabs at the guardrails. "Guess this is our exit!" he calls to Rogue before he slams his fist on the button to deploy the hatch, waiting for it to fully open before leaping out into the open air, jacket flapping in the breeze.

Mark Grayson has posed:
And draw fire he does. As the initial blasts begin to pummel the Blackbird, Invincible springs into action, rolling away from the aircraft with a burst of speed designed to capture the enemy's attention. He becomes a blur of motion, a whirlwind of agility and purpose, as he maneuvers through the chaos.

The first lance of plasma fire streaks past him, easily evaded with a swift roll. The second blast grazes dangerously close, its searing heat kissing his side, a stark reminder of the stakes at hand. Determined not to let the next attack land, he sharpens his focus. As the third blast hurtles toward him, he executes a dazzling series of acrobatic maneuvers: twisting, rolling, and evading with a grace that borders on the superhuman. His movements are a ballet of defiance against the deadly fire.

"Nice try-" he begins, his voice full of bravado, but the words are cut off abruptly as the fourth blast strikes him with brutal force. The impact sends him reeling, the searing plasma scorching his uniform and searing his skin. He plummets several hundred feet, the force of the blast leaving him momentarily disoriented.

As he falls, he fights to regain control, struggling against the disorienting rush of the descent. With sheer willpower, he begins to stabilize, orienting himself and preparing to re-enter the fray. His resolve is unshaken, and as he re-adjusts, his focus sharpens once more. The fight is far from over, and he's determined to dive back into the battle with renewed vigor.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had her right hand gripping the hold above her shoulder, as Quentin asked her the question about the escort hero they had along with them outside. She shrugged her shoulders at the question, and showed a sly grin. "No clue," she told him. "Maybe he's a hottie though. We need t'meet the pretty heroes more often, I say." She added, as she glanced her green eyes toward the front of the Blackbird where the team leads were operating the Jet. When she looked back to Quentin, she saw him moving to get the party started, and with the comm chatter audible to her ears, she shakes her head softly. "This is gonna be a nightmare..." She muttered, changing her tune from her silly words just previously.

With a shrug of her shoulders, and the Bird's hatch open, wind rushing across Rogue's body, she leapt out of the passenger compartment, and flew right out of the Jet, with her arms wide open, and one knee bent downward, her other leg stretched out taught behind her as she flew with speed, precision, and a agile angle taken to direct her toward the Sentinel base.

"Am I just goin' full assault? If there ain't no intelligent life in that place down there, may as well pummel it in to fine powder." The Belle noted, as she swept down toward a line of trees to help confuse any radar that might be searching for their flyers.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The fight is just beginning, even as multi-barrel blaster cannons go to pop out and keep up the barrage o fenergy blasts over at the approaching group of heroes as flak bubbles would burst out along them and anyone on the Blackbird goes to get ready for a combat drop!

As they do, in the ground hangars are splitting open, deployment bays chiming over as from them massive Sentinels would start to launch out. Bigger, more than ten meters tall, obviously more armored than the standard models that heroes would have fought before.. Armor that was multiple layers thick, making them look almost like lizards, scales all over them in serrated edges.

The Blackbird hasn't been picked up yet as Invincible is the one getting all the attention. As he goes to fall towards the ground, but is able to rapidly reorient himself, one of the Sentinels goes to charge over at him at high speed! It's rocketing at him at supersonic speeds, a fist bigger than his body going to cock back through the air as if Superman flying to throw a tremendous punch..

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin's not nearly as acrobatic as Invincible or Rogue when it comes to exiting a plane in flight. There's no flailing or screaming as he plunges towards the earth, just arms and legs spread to catch as much of the wailing wind as possible before the lavender glow of his telekinetics envelopes the young, slowing his plummet down to something a little more reasonable.

The speed of his descent keeps him well clear of the flak cannons, allowing gravity to do most of the work at dodging the blasts. "I say go for it!" he calls back to Rogue over the comms as wind rushes in his ears.

And then he's in the tree line, stepping down into the grass as gently as if he was stepping from the curb. Let the heavy hitters handle the big nasties, he'll find whatever counts as a brain and lobotomize it.

The underbrush crackles under his feet as he moves through the tree line, towards the bunker's imposing edifice.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible, having missed the earlier exchange between Quentin and Rogue, refocuses as he rockets back into the fray. Rising high into the sky, he scowls in frustration as his mask's lenses blur his vision. With a swift, almost impatient gesture, he tears off the mask, revealing a face that's strikingly handsome-if you're into that distinct, sharp Asian allure. His eyes, now fully alert and clear, scan the battlefield as he swiftly adjusts his trajectory to evade the barrage of incoming shots.

His gaze locks onto the looming Sentinels, their imposing forms cutting through the sky. "When did they decide to go Jurassic Park?" he mutters, more to himself than anyone else, a touch of incredulity in his voice. His thoughts briefly flit to the Sentinels' tails, but there's no time for speculation as one of the mechanical giants lunges at him with a powerful, outstretched fist.

With reflexes honed to perfection, Invincible twists in mid-air, aligning himself for a counterstrike. He launches towards the Sentinel with explosive force, drawing back his own fist in a powerful arc. The collision is a thunderous impact of raw power as his punch slams into the Sentinel's metal hide, the force of his strike bending and warping the armor. He doesn't relent, driving his punch upward, aiming to punch through and shatter the Sentinel's head in a spectacular display of strength and precision.

Rogue has posed:
This kind of situation was quite a prickly one for a Mutant. These infernal machines were designed to fight, and kill, Mutants. Rogue had fought them off several times in her history with the X-Men, and every time she thought she was getting a better handle on how to deal with one of these damn things, they went and redesigned them. "These things are worse than iPhones." Rogue's voice chimes in over the open comms, before she vanishes down in to the trees.

What reappears in her wake, is a tree itself.

The tried and true method... Rogue rips a tree from its roots in the ground, shedding loose branches, sticks of all sizes, leaves gallore, and a whole host of muddy dirt falling down in clumps beneath it, as the Southern Belle brings the mighty tree trunk up in to the sky.

With it, her arms and legs wrapped around it, she flies forward, at a surprisingly quickening pace! utilizing the tree like a giant battering ram, Rogue makes for the Sentinel that Mark was under attack from.

"Got your back, Newbie." Her husky voice says through the network, seconds before the huge tree would plow right in to the scaley Sentinel with a crash that would likely reverberate around the entire landscape!

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie was a bit slow getting out of the plane normally he drops out mid air, but he steps out and looks about and spots one of the sentinels He picks one of the back ones, and with a step forward he kicks in his blast field aiming for center mass to fly up to and through one of the sentinels before the others know he has joined the fight.

Bishop has posed:
In addition to the Blackbird. The X-Men maintain a few smaller single person auxilary crafts to be put to use from time to time and for Bishop - it's been one of those times.

He'd been already out and about, investigating matters related to the Mutant Liberation Front, The Purifiers -and- The Friends of Humanity (it's been busy lately....) when the call for assistance came through and the word of the location of the Sentinel factory was noted through the lnked computer systems.

Fortune - or perhaps a healthy dosage of bad luck - had him on a trajectory that that made a diversion that way reasonable and doable with the fuel resources he had left and so a quick redirection sent him racing towards a rendezvous point..just in time to see the multiple meters tall Sentinels begin emerging from their underground bunkers.

"....I think we need a bigger assault team.." he grumbles before quickly bringing the X-Jet towards a suitable landing spot and beginning a rapid unbuckling as the hatch to the one-man craft begins opening up above him.

"X-Men and allies, if you can hear me, this is Bishop. I'm on site."

A push of a large arm sends him vaulting over the side of his craft and in one smooth gesture his X.S.E. blaster rifle is already out, firing out a volley of concussive blasts and sending them racing across the air towards one of the soaring Sentinels in a continued array of brightly colored surges of energy. "Sorched earth tactics! Full power engagement. Don't hold back! These things wrecked havoc in New York and Madripoor."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
As Quentin goes to land, he's definitely not picking up any sort of brainwaves. That means there's no big, bad (human) brain. So nothing he can necessarily pick up - but that doesn't mean that he can't lobotomize whatever robot he happens to come across. There's always some giant central computer processor that monologues at them that if blasted shuts everything down. If it worked for Brainiac, it has to work for home grown Sentinels.
    As the group goes to deploy from the Blackbird, Invincible goe sto charge at the massive Sentinel. The two go to exchange blows, Invincible getting the better of it. He goes to strike hard, moving to evade the strikes going at him or just tank them. His fists blitz hard over to the armor and.. Bits o fit snap off. He's taken it down alread..

No, broken chunks of layered armor are coming off, like on a tank. Each structure in turn being like a shell to limit damage over to the whole. An interesting engineering feat and design that the giant robots couldn't have come up wtih on their own.. Right in time for Rogue to follow up with a brutal SMACK over wtih the tree as it would turn over to kindling, spraying all over as the chest would collapse! That's the cue for the outer torso to turn into buzzsaws. Hundreds and hundreds of them going to start to come out to make every single square meter of the front of it look like a woodcutter! Definitely nto the best idea to take it head on now..

Quentin is moving towards his own flank, seemingly intent on getting underground and away from the others to go and bust some robotic brains.. Right over as another Sentinel would slide up and out. This one isn't humanoid, but has six limbs like an insect. A pair of heavy retro-thrusters would be along it's back, making it look more like an armored grasshopper. It would hiss in that terrifying robotic monotone <<MUTANT SIGNATURE DETECTED>> as a large mouth would open,d isplaying an array of hundreds and hundreds of razor sharp sharkteeth!

Sam goes to launch his wya towards the Sentinels, coming just out of the Blackbird and going at high speed! He goes to impact through the Sentinel, crushing through the armored chest and out the other, even as armored shreds would collapse, the Sentinel going to crumple towards the ground and fall inert. One of the plasma cannons along the ground that had been firing over at Invincible now goes to shift to focus over on him, but instead of plasma it goes to shoot.. Darkness. Literal darkness at him, blasting him with Darkforce energies, the essence of the void itself!

Bishop goes to land and moves to spare no time, and just goes to blast up and over at one of the large Sentinels! His weapons go to channel immense amount sof energy over into the Sentinel! Which go to impact along it's frame, even as it would glow, futuristic weapons and plasma fritzing along it even as it would be clearly absorbing the energy while going to taunt at Bishop in a deep, threatening pulse <<RESISTANCE.. IS FUTILE>>

Quentin Quire has posed:
Surely he'll have an easier time of it underground, right? Let the heavy hitters draw the attention of the big sentinels, and Quentin can sneak around the back, down a few hallways, find the monologuing computer running the whole show, and turn it into a toaster.

That was the plan, anyway. Until an unforeseen hatch opens up under his feet, just barely missing catching the mutant as he dives to the side, out of the way of the sea of insectile limbs.

"Mother fu-" he yelps into the comms as he dives into the dirt, rolling away from the open hatch as another angry armored grasshopper-looking Sentinel crawls up and out of the ground behind the first.

He's not packing an energy blaster like Bishop, and he's not a blaster all on his own like Cannonball or Rogue. And his psionic attacks wouldn't do much good here either. That doesn't seem to bother Quentin all that much as he reaches out with his telekinesis, snatching up whatever isn't firmly rooted in the immediate vicinity. A tornado of stones, rocks, broken tree limbs and shattered armored scales caught up in a lavender glow and rattling off the two grasshoppers as he gets to his feet.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Thanks for the assist? Mighty Woman??" Invincible's voice drips with incredulity as he gazes at Rogue, a wide grin spreading across his face. "I haven't seen you in ages. Huge fan!" His eyes sparkle with genuine admiration as he takes in the sight of the Southern beauty.

He nods appreciatively toward the crumpled Sentinel. "These things really do come with everything but the kitchen sink, don't they? Thanks for knocking it out of the park for me!" With a wink and a playful salute, he launches himself back into the fray, his energy and resolve palpable.

But just as he repositions himself to dive back into the chaos, a menacing Darkforce cannon fires from the shadows. The orb of darkforce crashes into Invincible with devastating force, and in an instant, he's engulfed. The world around him warps and shatters, his figure becoming obscured as the darkforce engulfs him, leaving only his outstretched hand visible.

Within the abyss of the Darkforce dimension, Invincible experiences a disorienting plunge into an alien reality. The sensation is chilling and oppressive, as if he's swimming through a dense, viscous fluid that saps his strength. The frigid cold seeps into his bones, his senses dulling as he struggles to maintain a semblance of clarity amidst the stifling darkness. His mind reels, trying to grasp the enormity of this strange, cold realm, even as it threatens to pull him under.

Fred Dukes has posed:
And where was Blob during all this time?

He wades out of some room on the facility, presumably teleported there by the Brotherhood nexus. Or maybe he just stowed away on the X-Jet, since he's wearing the fake x-man version of his costume. "Look out y'all! Fatback is on the scene! A totally legit X-Man with totally legit X-cessories."

Blob spits at the ground, and frowns a bit when he sees the assault already fully in progress. "I'm gonna wring Vanisher's scrawny neck one of these days." Blob mutters, finding a hunk of steel industrial tow-cable to rip out of its moorings, intending to use it as a whip. And then he sees what looks like a portal to hell.

Blob considers how much he cares about some X-Twerp getting stuck there. The Darkforce energy is unnerving at best, and Blob's ugly face is almost reflected in its stygian depths. Blob sighs hugely, wraps the tow-cable around his waist, and hurls the other end of the line in.

"Y'all grab that!" Blob shouts, already feeling the tug of the Darkforce and situating himself to aggressively stand in place. "And tug!"

Rogue has posed:
The literal tree that Rogue was holding up took a bit of a pruning after her initial ram on that Sentinel machine, but she kept it up, holding on to it by a precarious position upon its trunk. She was covered in bits of tree debris, but still heard Mark's response, and still shot him a moment's smile before she noted the Buzz Saws presenting themselves. "Yeah, these things think they're real damn clever." She responded, "Hit'em with everythin' ya got. We haven't picked up any life signs yet, so this place is fair game all around. Get'em where they are comin' from. Take out the hives, kill the Queens, blah blah blah."

She flew forward again, and glanced back at him. "Nice t'see ya again too!" She called out, not needing the comms, as she was still yet close enough.

As Rogue flew on that tree trunk like it were a Harry Potter broom in a Quidditch match, the Southern Belle heard the arrival of Bishop. "Nice t'hear ya made it. Cannonball and QQ could use some help, if ya can zero in on them." She spoke over the comms, as she flew toward one of the out buildings where the Sentinel that attacked Mark had come from.

What follows is Rogue utilizing her tree trunk to smash the roof down from above it, trying to make the building itself fall down, and in upon itself.

"Knock knock, ya sonsa bitches!" The Belle shouted in her husky tone of voice, using the tree trunk now like a hammer on a colony of ants!

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie has seem some weird things over the years, one of his best friends has her own private limbo and he has been there. As the darkness coats over him, he at first is not to freaked out, having been in the mine darkness is not something he is unused to, As the darkness coats over him more though, there is a feeling of dread coming over him. The mines yes they are dark and deep and they can come down on you. That is what Sam is feeling and like the first time his power triggered, it kicks into high gear now, The problem is unlike last time blasting him out the side of a mountain, this time, he is going a bit wild, and into the side of another mountain, digging a deep trench into the side of it, before stopping.

Bishop has posed:
"We've heard that before..." remarks Bishop, stoic and unmoved by the taunt at the moment.

More concerning is that it adapted to his blaster fire and seemed to have absorbed the energy of it in a frustrating mirror of his own abilities.

Circumstances didn't allow him to enter the fray with a battery of energy storage ready to go and sadly he lacks the strength, flight and speed of the likes of Rogue and Invincible - or the telekinetic fury or invulnerable blasting of Cannonball...

But he's not without resources.

A shift of a few switches and then his free hand reaches to his back to remove his high powered X.S.E. rifle from his back holster as he moves to close in the distance. Where kinetic energy balsts might not work, high powered armored piercing slugs very well might and as he dives in closer, a barrage of bullets goes spraying forth from this main blaster, only to be followed by a volley of rapid shots from the futuristic shot gun as it barrels an attack spread towards the Sentinel.

Bishops aim is something akin to nigh unerring even when in motion and he attempts to target vital areas with his assault, going for the eyes, mouth or any other exposed parts on the machine-monster while keeping on the move. His very steps build up kinetic charge into his body but it will take a moment before enough of that converts into something useful.

It's only the arrival of Fred and his bellowing voice that causes Bishop to double take slightly, reacting more to that then the Sentinel's first taunt.

"...Well wasn't expecting -that-..."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
In the depths, there's Rogue charging down to save the day to beat up those spawns of glitches! The seemingly insectoid takes the brutal smash down over from Rogue, it *crunching* over from the blow even as she goes to burst on down. As it's barraged over by a brutal blast of everything that Quentin can pick up and throw at it. It's mouth goes to open, and then to glow bright with a pulsating energy blast that charges up. And then towards Quentin, it moves to UNLEASH a massive blast of plasma fire, which would catch the pink haired mutant over in the corona! It would blaze and blast away, sizzling and disintegrating over to nothingness.

Ashes to ashes. Rust to rust.

It has the time to chant out loud for everyone aboveground to hear <<MUTANT SIGNATURE.. TERMINATED>>

Up above the Darkforce threatens to consume Invincible within the unending void. A parallel plane of existence? Emptiness. Sensory deprivation. Nothingness. Eternally alone. Consumed. One might fly a million light years in every direction to never see the stars, never to hear a thing, feel a single molecule again. Absolute zero.

But there is safety in the strong form of Fred Dukes, aka the Blob! Throwing in a lifeline in a very literal way as he arrives to backup the team as Sam is trying along with it to just blast his way on out! It's like boosting against nothing, as Sam races as fast as possible.. And is able to pull out. Blasting through a mountain in the Canadian wasteland, out the other end of it, wtihout so much as a scratch on his blast field. But quite possibly completely disoriented.

Rogue hears coming through the corridors yells. Cries. Cries that were familiar from those howls that for a portion of her life had plagued her. <<YOU TOOK MY LIFE! YOU KILLED ME! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!>> There are screams and chants of a woman that Rogue had taken a large part of, but made peace with.

Carol Danvers. Screaming like she was still inside of Rogue's consciousness, even as the echos would blast up, audible to the battlefield if one was listening.

Bishop continues to exchange the barrage, as he goes to mix it up with blasts and bullets, driving the Sentinel back as it's having to now switch over to taking the energy to shield itself. Glowing from the attack to a large force field, holding off further attacks. Then it speaks, in a monotone all too twistedly familiar.

<<YOU KNOW WHAT WILL COME. WHAT WILL HAPPEN. NO MATTER WHAT YOU WILL DO. YOU WILL FAIL. WE ARE INEVITABLE. YOU CANNOT STOP US.>> Taunting the man from the dark future that might be. Chanting. Mocking. <<WE HAVE WON. YOU HAVE SEEN IT. YOU CANNOT STOP IT.>>

Quentin Quire has posed:
Not that a tornado of rocks and sticks and chunks of armor plating is really going to do a lot. Even at scale, he's not doing much more than denting the armor plating of the grassinels... the sentihoppers... the bug-looking robots. Which was kind of the idea. Slow them down and make a break for the bunker.

Bolting for the bunker, Quentin didn't even register the blast of plasma before it envelopes him. A telepathic shout of pain and panick filling everyone's mind before receeding away to silence.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible definitely didn't have 'rescued by Blob' on his bingo card for today. Yet, here he was, grappling with the absurdity of the situation. As the tow-hook arced through the air, the Viltrumite seized it with a determined grip, pulling himself out of the suffocating darkness with relentless effort. The ascent was a grueling struggle, each inch gained through sheer willpower.

When he finally emerged into the light, he exhaled deeply, the weight of his ordeal settling with a heavy whoompf as he hit the ground. His gaze immediately sought out his rescuer, and he let out a surprised, breathless, "Thanks..." His voice trailed off as he looked up to see who had come to his aid. "...big guy," he managed with a wry smile, pushing himself up with renewed resolve.

"Let's get back into this fight!" he declared, his voice brimming with determination. Rising to his feet, he focused on the nearest Sentinel, his mind already strategizing his next move. He charged at the back of the Sentinel's head with explosive speed, reaching out to secure a firm grip. With a swift and powerful maneuver, he swung himself over its shoulder, his momentum carrying him forward. He plummeted straight down, delivering a bone-shattering pile driver that sent a shockwave through the mechanical behemoth. His hands, fueled by his indomitable strength, wrenched at the Sentinel's head, tearing it from its neck in a display of raw power.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue was not holding back, as she was one to do when dealing with Sentinels. She had no pitty for them, nor the nests that they crawled out from, as such she was utilizing that heavy tree trunk of nature's tonnage to smash down upon the building. Sinking the building down upon itself, Rogue opened up a number of holes, craters and gaps in the structure's integrity before she paused when she heard a woman's voice screaming.

'There weren't supposed to be anyone alive in there.'

Covered in the natural debris from the tree's ravage form, Rogue raised her head up, her white and brown hair a wild mess of disheveled locks, framing her face, an enraged look upon her otherwise lovely facial features. She was in an intense mood, smashing the building down. But who was that voice...?

'Carol?'

Rogue tossed the tree aside, letting it fall across the edge of the building, as she shot down inside of one of the holes she had made in the building's roof. Going against her own ideas of personal safety, Rogue ventured in to the belly of the carnage she had wrought upon the installation... "Carol?" Rogue called out in to the dark, smoke and dust all over in front of her, leading to very limited visibility for the Southern Belle to view what was hiding in the shadows. "Carol. I'm here, call out and I'll come get ya!" She shouted, the guilt she felt for what she'd done to the other woman was still intense inside the corners of her heart, and even though she felt deception was possible-- maybe even likely-- she still had to be sure, right?

"Quentin? I thought you said this place was clear'a minds? You sense Carol Danvers around here, by chance?" Rogue asked, only to a crackling mic. "Quentin?" She repeated, as she stepped in to the dark.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie is crashed into another mountain side. It takes him a moment to come to his senses, away from the darkness yet, but also away from the fight. He sits there a moment as he tries to remember where he was. After a moment, he is back up into the air, and takes a moment longer to find which way he needs to head. At speeds he is only half way through his mountain tunnel on the way back when he hears the call for Quentin and no reply.

Fred Dukes has posed:
Blob stares into the Darkforce Dimension, his piggy little eyes widening as he sees something in there that resonates with his awful little soul.

Invincible is out, and Blob shakes his head. "Sure thing Superboy." Blob says, clinging to absurdity in the face of absurdity. "Fatback, the best X-Man, is always there to help! Hyuck!"

Quinten Quire blows up. Blob considers his feelings, briefly, finds none, and continues waddling forward, pulling the tow-line out from around his waist and swinging it around like a flail. He lashes the tow-line at the leg of one of the sentinels, trying to pull the machine down into strangling range.

Bishop has posed:
The taunt alone isn't enough unto itself. Bishop is, if nothing else, very unflappable save for when personal failure is involved.

Of -more- concerh, however, is how they even know that. Bishop's history is not something known to..well..mostly anyone at all. Mostly. There was that seminar at the Genoshan embassy where, against all common sense and usual sense of restraint, he opted to speak on behalf of suporting Lorna's effort while also offering a dire warning to the extreme views of -either- side of the room in regards to mutants and humans. Possibly that somehow got back to other databases but the fact that the Sentinels accessed it is....a very serious worry.

"Wrong." he manages to interject, "....You might have manages some success in the time I came from but for all your digging around about my past you're forgetting one simple element of it that I shared. We. Beat. You."

The grit and determiantion forces his advancement, switching back to powreful pulses of energy as the shield against the projectiles comes up. The kinetic energy he's stored up to this point now pushing into his X.S.E. blasters and discharging a sudden massive torrent of firepower from the amplified burst, looking to try and finally punch through the shield and the Sentinel itself as it lances across the area in a blazing burst. "..and we'll do it agai---"

<<MUTANT SIGNATURE TERMINATED.>>

That's what does it. Bishop's eyes widen in shock and growing horror. "X-Men! Sound off!" he yells over his comm link.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Carol's 'voice' continues to yell at Rogue, even as Quentin does not respond. <<YOU TOOK MY LIFE! YOU TOOK MY MIND! YOU TOOK MY BODY! YOU THINK YOU CAN SAY SORRY!? YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!>> There's a howl from 'Carol' that would echo along, pain and hate filled. A raised pitch of raw loathing from a woman that had her existence stolen from her.

Calculated through countless recordings, psychological profiles, and tones of voice to try and hit /just/ that proper pitch for maximum psychological pain.

As Mark goes to charge on down towards the Sentinel in a brutal overhand smash in proper fashion, it goes to swing it's own up to meet his.

KRAKKA-THOOM!

Thunder erupts. The land shakes. Everything quakes. Invincible is stopped cold in midair as two mighty fists meet. One giant. One small. Then the Sentinel goes to swing it's -other- fist over to try and smash him once again!

Blob's tactic works as he goes to throw the tow line over to the Sentinel, which causes it to tumble to the ground hard as the mighty Blob goes to start to yank it towards him! It's form goes to rotate, falling in on itself as it's body would crumple inwards, arms and legs retracting and reforming. Armored form hardening, making it look over like a giant armordillo without a head as Blob would drag it towards him!

Sam is rocketing fast back towards the battlefield in time to hear the chant of 'Mutant Signature Terminated', the screams of 'Carol', and Bishop calling out a quick command over the commlink rather than the mental one.

The massive Sentinel goes to stalk towards Bishop, even as his barrage would go against the shield, hardening and reinforcing it. <<ALL WILL FALL. WE HAVE SEEN IT. YOU FAILED. NOTHING SHALL CHANGE. THE FUTURE IS WRIT. YOU SHALL DIE KNOWING IT. ALL FOR NOTHING>> It goes to raise a massive fist up, as if intent on smashing him over the head. The shield turning a burning corona and blaze as energy is melting, armor is failing, and the arm is starting to turn to sludge. Giving the body of the Sentinel an almost demonic hue to it as it would turn to freshly forged fire.

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin Quire is still dead. Is there even a corpse left to mourn?!

Mark Grayson has posed:
Growling with primal fury, Mark slams forward with every ounce of his strength, the Sentinel's metal frame creaking and groaning under the relentless pressure. His muscles bulge, veins popping as he strains to rip the massive arm from its socket. The intensity of his effort sends shockwaves through the air, but before he can finish the job, the Sentinel's other arm swings up and crashes into his back. Mark is caught in a vise-like grip, crushed between the Sentinel's merciless hands.

But here's the thing: Invincible thrives on adversity. The more he's beaten, the stronger he becomes. As the Sentinel grinds him between its unyielding palms, something ignites within Mark. With a roar that reverberates like thunder, he finds his grip, his fingers digging into the cold, unforgiving metal. Fueled by sheer willpower and rage, he begins to claw his way free. His hands rip and tear through steel, gears, and hydraulics, shredding the Sentinel's innards with savage determination.

Fred Dukes has posed:
Blob's sentinel literally curls up into a ball.

Blob just kind of sits there, taking this act of evolution in.

"Shit I can't make this fool world up." Blob says to himself, since Toad's still in jail or something. The big man scratches his head, trying to remember what the actual plan was since he was too busy being cool and dismissive to pick up on it. The monster chews his lip and takes a look for something vulnerable.

Blob waddles up against the sentinel-armor-ball, a little hesitantly since it might attack at any time, and tries to pry it apart. The machine could be a useful source of raw material to throw at things, at least.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie calls out over the com "Cannonball here, Ah am coming back in, give me a spot you want an impact in. You know where the blasts were coming from, Ah think Ah am heading to them, but if you can confirm, Ah will head to take care of their cannons.

Rogue has posed:
"Bishop." rogue's voice says over the team network. "Carol is in here somewhere, I think. She sounds like she's being held as a captive. I'm tryin' t'find her, but I've kinda made a mess'a the place."

Rogue was headed down a flight of stairs, taking a turn down a hallway that she left completely ruined by smashing the roof down atop it, and on down in to the next floor beneath it. She stepped around one of the giant tree trunk shaped holes in the floor, her yellow thigh-high boots stepping carefully, as she glanced down the hole, then up to the far side of the hallway where there were open doors to some other chamber.

"Carol?" Rogue asked again in to the dark. "Body?" She heard, and questioned, shaking her head from side to side. "I threw your body off the Golden Gate bridge, t'keep Mystique from gettin' it. I didn't..." She trailed off there, knowing that at the time, she'd done it to try and give the woman a fighting chance, since if Mystique had gotten ahold of Carol in those days, it probably would not have ended well for the Marvelous woman.

"Somethin' about this feels fishy.." Rogue finally decided, as she went to leap up in to the air, and tear aside the crumbled ceiling to fly back out of the building, apparently not interested in searching any further for whatever was making that voice!

Bishop has posed:
"NNneaarrrgh!!!"

Bishop's torrent of energy seems to be doing the trick, overloading the shield and forcing the energy and heat to overwhelm the Sentinel's armored components as well. His attack is fueld as much by desperation as it is rage however. As long as this Sentinel can hold him here he can't assist the others and they are so, very, sadly, down a man.

Something that he'll likely by beating himself up over later.

The slagging of the Sentinel is a good thign however. The blazing energy is even potential fuel for him to draw upon as is the fire. Less good is the massive molten fist and metal that's coming arcing down for him and he's forced to now disengage.

What energy he has left goes into his own body, amping his strength and reflexes up to super human levels and enabling him to vault awa at the very last second. The shockwave rolls into him, pushing him further along while also battering his body and a spray of molten level narrowly avoids burning right through him but does singe his legs and arms as he attempts to use his momentum to movement to avoid being covered in slag all together and experiencing a fate not unlike that of a certain Omega the Kid. Overall this is taking far too long. He should have brought his bigger guns. It was a small transport craft. He'll have to borrow one of Cable's hammerspace bags.

"Rogue, we need to fall back!" he calls out, ignoring the pain and burns to send another volley of firepower towards The Sentinel once again, alternating between slugs and energy assaults to hopefully finally put it down so he can switch up to aiding another.

Blob gets a quick glance. Yeah. An armadillo Sentinel isn't....a good look. It's Sam and Rogue that catch his attention however and wincing in pain he calls back, "Rogue...be careful! These Sentinels know too much about us! Think about it!"

And he naturally now notices that distinct lack of Quentin Quire over comm or that little tingle of telepathy his absorption abilities ping whenever his mind is reached out to by another. "We need eyes on Quentin!"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
As the group is spread out and spread thin across the battlefield, another wrinkle is added in as they lose psionic communications. A jamming field goes to kick in, which would severely limit comms if not stopping them entirely, leaving each hero to thier own little melee in the battlefield as they would very likely be uncoordinated, only able to yell if things could be heard across the melee.

Mark takes a beating, but gives a brutal one back. He would meet each blow, each smash, each stomp and finally BEAT the Sentinel down. Battered, crumpled into bits, trashed and smashed. It's left in a crumpled heap and Mark very likely feels a sense of accomplishment over it. One down, and a whole mess to go. he also has a view of the entire battlefield now. Smoke obscured. Cannons, Sentinels, more launching from the hangar..

Blob's opponent goes to then untangle itself as Blob goes to waddle up around it. Then it moves to try and snap itself around, going to try and crush over on him like a massive crocodile, intent on snapping him up and entombing him within it like a roly-polly with him on the inside as it would try to bring on a brutal squish - at least if it was able to get around him. The maneuver was very blatant. And Blob did have the chance and time to brace himself.

Up in the air, as comms are cut, blasts would go off around Cannonball from the plasma cannons. They're meaningless and not a threat. He gets a good view of the bunker as Sentinels launch. They definitely weren't defending it like a construction site. more like a nuclear silo, a storage bunker.. Deep underground, hidden from sensors, plenty of space.. They weren't defending it, they were attacking from it!

'Carol's' voice echos as Rogue goes down in search of her. 'I died. You killed me. You think you can just eat part of someone's soul, put them in a coma, and they can get better?' The voice sounds old. Frail. 'There's parts of me gone. Empty. You -took- them from me. I can never have them back. Unless I take them back from you.' The tone turns to mournful as Rogue goes deeper. Contemplative as the Sentinel doing the broadcasting adjusts the tones for psychological manipulation, to try and maximize the bait as it tries to lure Rogue in, deeper.

'Everything feels wrong. I'm not me. I wake up each day and I know there are holes. Holes you made.'

Bishop's able to in a brutal fight slam his way over against the Sentinel, with maximum effort, a massive blast of energy, and finally obliterating it over to so much electronic soup and throw it away. He has a few moments then to catch his breath and give out more instructions - if anyone can hear them on the chaos of the battlefield. Further along in the underground..

There are remnants of a body of a recently seemingly deceased Kid Omega. A fleshy bit. Most of a skull.. A cranium. And the pink bits within. Walking towards it quietly and silently through the chaos is a humanoid that goes 'hrm' at it. Gazes at it. Then goes to quietly get out a box to ever so carefully wrap it around the bit. The box would chime 'Stasis Field Enabled'. The man would give a low nod and speak some words no one was around to hear.. Then walking away through the smoke.

To the astral realm, where Kid Omega had withdrawn to when his body was destroyed..

Might this be even worse a fate?

Mark Grayson has posed:
As he scrambles free, leaving a trail of twisted metal in his wake, Mark rises into the air, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. The front of his uniform hangs in tatters, the back shredded to ribbons. Blood flows freely from his nose, mixing with the crimson streak down the side of his mouth. Every muscle in his body screams in agony. Outwardly, he is Invincible, a paragon of strength. Inwardly, he is a whirlwind of pain and exhaustion. He had managed to vanquish one enemy, but the battlefield teems with countless more, a relentless tide of opposition.

"We need to withdraw," he says, his voice a harsh rasp, echoing the earlier sentiment with grim resolve. "We don't have the power or numbers to win this fight." He spits a glob of blood and saliva to the side, the action punctuating his words with raw finality. He isn't the one in command, but he understands the dire reality of their situation. Despite his invulnerability, the weight of the battle presses heavily upon him. He knows what must be done, even if the decision isn't his to make.

Rogue has posed:
The way that the voice of Carol has a strange tone to it, an ethereal tone to how it echoes down the corridors inside the bashed-up building? It just gives Rogue a bad feeling. Could it be Carol Danvers? Maybe, but that seems unlikely. Some part of her feels obligated to find out, but something has happened out there. Quentin isn't responding on comms, and people are calling for a retreat.

Rogue spends a minute talking to others on the comm network who are still inside the Blackbird, and she orders them to get back, swing by and extract those who need it. "I'll meet ya at the fall back point." She states, apparently not intending to get in to the Blackbird herself, as she can fly herself.

to the voice in the dark, Rogue shakes her head. "Nice try, Wormtongue..." She muttered, before her fist smashed in to the roof's open crevace, creating a larger gap for her to fly up out of.

"Get back to the Jet. I'll do a sweep for Quentin. But, if..." She paused. "Just get back. We'll make'em pay for this." She could be heard stating over the team network, as she took to the sky like a bullet shooting out of that gap in the building's apex.

Fred Dukes has posed:
"You know I knew this was comin' but I still stepped right into the briar patch. By my own heartless Darwinist beliefs I probably deserve this." Blob says as the Sentinel becomes fucking Pac-Man. The Sentinel's mouth-body stretches out like a giant mousetrap and comes slamming down.

Blob holds his hands out and squats, gravity shuddering as he increases his weight, sticking to the ground.

There's an awful, inhuman crunch, followed by a number of horrible scraping noises, as if a fist of stone was scooping delicate layered metal and plastic out of a heavy shell. Because that's exactly what's happening: Blob took the second the machine was snapping down to shove a fist in the machine's insides and start scooping. His goal is to get to the shiniest, hottest part of the Sentinel's guts and rip it in half.

His Brotherhood-com is on the fritz, which is annoying. Vanisher'll show up eventually if they're totally cut off, and he's got a convenient shield here, but if the X-Men die the Sentinels'll focus on him. He looks for whatever megaphone this thing uses to talk.

Bishop has posed:
So the comms are down now. Great.

They stumbled into this mess, that's for sure...and that's -with- the reinforcements that were provided by Bishop, Sam and Fred. They absolutely need a small army on this scenario now. These Sentinels have evolved.

"Damn..." sneers Bishop before turning his attention to reach into the spreading flames caused by the destruction of the giant Sentinel. The fire blazes but does not burn him as the energy from it is siphoned into his form, rapidly empowering him and sending energy blazing up and down his large physique and bursting from his eyes.

An instant later and he's rushed over towards Blob while holstering his rifle and blaster.

As Blob begins to rip and shred the interior of the Sentinel, Bishop lands on the outside and reaches forward.

HIs strength rages, surging up and up as his internal battery pushes the power he just gained and rapidly rushes his physical power up towards levels that even Blob just might appreciate, looking to help him pull the Sentinel apart with a shredding of metal and a crunching of debris. Sparking wires and blasts of plasma will serve to only fuel this effort.

"Let's go, Blob. We're out of here. You're an honorary X-Men for right now. Congratulations. Now move!"

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will head towards the silo looking to try to take the sentinels out where they came from. Once inside, not finding sentinels left, he starts flying into anything and everything he can, trying to wreck any signal or production ability they have. Maybe it will bring them back to try to stop him, or at least slow down the computers working here.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
When Sam flies through the base and finds nothing of any value in it left, that confirms it. They'd done it all for nothing. The group still has the Blackbird to fall back to as they leave several destroyed and damaged Sentinels in their wake. For those that aren't able to make it back to the Blackbird there are teleporters able to help quickly yank people off the battlefield. But it's been a bloody loss.

No one's been able to get eyes on Quentin, and with the Sentinel's announcement and the total collapse of the mental network.. The Sentinels had no reason to take any mutants alive. The Sentinels..

Have struck back.