5912/X-men: Hijack This

X-men: Hijack This
Date of Scene:	11 April 2021
Location:	Abandoned salt mine in Nevada
Synopsis:	Anti-mutant terrorist hijack a plan with two dozen Trask engineers and researchers. The X-men assault an abandoned salt mine to save them and the other passengers taken hostage.
Cast of Characters:	Kitty Pryde, Jimmy Hudson, Henry McCoy, Talia Wagner, Roland Livingston

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Kitty Pryde has posed:
Professor Xavier summons the X-men to the Mission Center. Once everyone is seated, he motions to Kitty who pulls up a briefing on the computer.

"X-men," the Professor says. "A plane was hijacked this morning leaving California as you might have seen on the news. You might have also heard the authorities have lost track of the plane. Apparently the hijackers somehow fooled radar into thinking a drone was the plane." Up on the screen is the flight path of the airplane, which left California and was heading east to New York.

"This is a matter of especial concern to us, as a large contingent of Trask employees, including engineers, researchers, and programmers, were in San Francisco for a work conference. They make up twenty-eight of the forty-two passengers," Professor Xavier says. "It is quite possible they were the reason for the hijacking. Possibly to harm them or take revenge. Or maybe to obtain them for their knowledge, which we don't want to fall into the wrong hands."

The Professor motions to Kitty who brings up another display. Showing Nevada. A spot is marked on it, and then other displays show aerial or satellite photos of a facility. Professor Xavier says, "I have used Cerebro and managed to track one of the people on the plane to this location. It is an abandoned salt mine. The salt flats nearby are flat enough to land a plane on. I believe the passengers have been moved underground into the salt mine, which explains the difficulty I had in locating them or reading their thoughts."

Kitty brings up another view. "These two entrances lead down into the salt mine. This one can be driven down. This one is an elevator," the Professor says. "Going down from the surface is going to be difficult without the hijackers having time to hurt the hostages. So we are going to have a two-pronged assault."

He motions to the screen. "One team will assault the surface. I have confirmed there are armed forces there, but not been able to discern their exact numbers or nature. Something was interfering with Cerebro there as well. While that team provides the distraction, Kitty will phase another group down into this tunnel, which is closest to the surface. The second team will infiltrate the salt mine and free the hostages. Once the first team has secured things topside, they can be brought up and the authorities brought in to pick them up."

He gives people time to ask questions and then says, "Be careful, my X-men. And bring everyone back safe, including yourselves."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
After a flight in the Blackbird, the two teams are dropped off and split up to each go to their objective.

Kitty has a tablet with her, checking GPS as they move along. "Ok. The mine tunnel we're looking for should be right underneath us. It's kind of deep, but I should be able to get us there. Assuming you all can hold your breath for long enough. And that I don't take us sideways and miss the tunnel entirely."

She glances around at everyone and gives a shrug. Yes, she might kill them all is what she's saying. But it comes with the job.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy looks around after exiting the Blackbird, having never been in Nevada before. It's his first time out as an X-Man, and his outfit still hasn't had the new rubbed off of it. He looks at the others, then shrugs a little, "Well, try not to go sideways, if you don't mind. Dying on my first mission would just be embarrassing."

Looking at the others, he asks, "Does it always feel like this? Kind of like I'm about to jump out of an airplane or something."

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry had donned his uniform for the excursion - it paid to be prepared. Regardless, it's not like he'd stand out any less. No need to mess up his good clothes! The big man was ahppy to pilot the jet to the location, setting it down with practiced care.

"Indeed. No need test the limits of our lung capacity, Shadowcat." The Beast chuckles, stretching once out of the vehicle. He's calm, confident in Kitty's ability.

A glance to Jimmy and a smile. "Always. But eventually you lean into it, and realize that every day might be your last, regardless of being on a mission or not." He assures the other man.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty grins at them both. "Yes, pretty much like that. A lot of the times we do end up jumping out of the plane without it coming down for a landing," she tells Jimmy. Kitty checks the tablet again. Walking a few steps this way. A few steps that way. "Ok, this is as close as I can get. Should be a wide enough tunnel we have a good shot at hitting it," she says.

Kitty stows the tablet. She puts on a headband with a lamp, and hangs another light on her belt, passing similar equipment to the others if they want it. "Once we get down there, Hank's got the lead. You two have the awesome noses, so hopefully can pick the right way to go. There's a LOT of tunnels down there. But it's been closed for ten years, so shouldn't be fresh scents, hopefully, except for these guys."

The young woman reaches out a hand to each of them. "You guys ready? If so, take a few breathes, hyperventilate a bit like a diver to load up on oxygen in your blood. And then, I'll give two head nods so get a deep breath, and then down on the third."

She waits until they are ready. Gives two nods while drawing deep breaths in and out. Then she sucks in a really deep breath and phases them all down into the ground.

It's dark in the ground. No way to see. No air to breath. They down, and down, and down. For a solid minute they are passing down through rock, until finally they can tell even in pure black that they are passing through an open space. Kitty adjusts, guiding them back up and they can feel the ground under their feet. Then she phases everyone back to normal and lets out a breath, sucking in a deep lungful. But not turning on a light, letting those with senses of smell do that.

It smells like an abandoned tunnel, no fresh scents. No sounds either.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy closes his eyes once they are in the tunnel, both sniffing and listening for any hint of the direction to go in. After a minute of getting nothing, he shakes his head, and says quietly "So far, not getting anything. Do we stick together, or take opposite directions to try and get something? Otherwise there's a fifty/fifty chance we're getting further from them."

He looks to the others, "Talk to me, I'm the newbie here. What's our best play in this situation? I know this place has a lot of tunnels."

Henry McCoy has posed:
The sensation is always so weird - being phased through anything, let alone so much of something! Henry has a little trick - he focuses inwards, rolling equations over and over in his mind. It was like that now, running through his head with his varied projects. It takes him a second or two to recognize they've stopped and become solid. His breath in is slow, measured - trying to be quiet as he can for the moment. Sharp eyes narrow, nostrils flare.

"Indeed. No scents at the moment. No one making noises down here." Hank whispers, crouching a bit to rest a hand on the ground below. "This is towards the facility. It's likely we need to go that way - no need to split up just yet. Besides, we have strength when together."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty nods in agreement. After the two men have had a chance to have a sniff, she cracks a light, but just barely. Enough she can barely see, but Hank and Jimmy no doubt can see far better in far less light than Kitty needs. "Best bet is down that way. It'll attach to a main route down. If they've been coming down, should be able to pick something up there," she says.

They start forward together, Kitty lagging a little behind the other two so her light won't show further ahead and warn someone they are there. Though they don't encounter anything, eventually coming to a larger tunnel which is large enough drive down.

And indeed, they can smell evidence of vehicles having passed. A cable runs along one wall up high, lights on it occasionally to illuminate the underground. Kitty checks her map. "Left is the way to the surface. So probably to the right is our better bet if they drove this far, and past it, then they had a reason to go deeper."

If that sounds good to the men, she lets them creep ahead. It's a long, long walk. This is a huge mine underground. But eventually they come to an area where up ahead they can see a large bus is parked, and also a small jeep. Two men are there, one leaning against the wall, the other leaning against the jeep. One has an assault rifle. The other has some sort of futuristic looking gun resting on his shoulder. While the drivable tunnel continues deeper, there is a side passage where the vehicles are parked, and the two men could be considered as guarding it.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy waves to Kitty to kill the light the moment he sees the guards, then looks at Hank, takes a breath and winces a little as his claws come out. He whispers almost inaudibly, but loud enough for Hank's ears to pick up, "How do we take them out quickest? Can try and sneak up behind the bus."

He looks to the others to see if anyone has another suggestion, otherwise he'll move up with Hank using every bit of cover he can manage.

Henry McCoy has posed:
The hair on the back of Henry's neck stands up when the people are scented, then heard. A nod to Kitty in agreement. "Stay phased, they have automatic weapons." He whispers, crouching low. "If you can disrupt any alarms, that'd be wonderful." Hank offers up, eyes peering at those who are lounging on guard.

"No killing. Disable, render unconcious. We'll bind them up and make sure they're gagged." He explains to Jimmy - though it also sounds as if he were reminding himself too. "Be right back, Shadowcat."

He's then creeping up with Jimmy, dark blue fur helping him blend into the shadows. He gets into position, waiting for Jimmy to be prepared to strike. Once all is set, he looms up over the poor guard, dropping a fist the size of a ham on the top of his head and dropping the man like a sack of potatos.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde turns out the light at the signal from Jimmy. She lags behind them, talking over comms. "Alright, if you need me to phase anyone let me know. I haven't seen any security down here so far. Though those cables that the lights are on, can definitely carry more than just electricity. So there could be cameras or other systems down here."

She stays there back around the slight bend in the drivable tunnel. With it being lit, if not well lit, it makes it less likely her light was seen. And there's just enough darkness for Jimmy and Beast to get close.

Beast takes down the first man, he goes down almost before he knew what hit him!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy creeps up on his guy, using all the stealth he's developed doing survival training in the Canadian woods. He looks at his claws as Hank says no killing, shrugs because, well, he hasn't been trained as a living weapon unlike another claw-bearing Canadian of their acquaintance, so isn't much of a killer anyway. Given the guy has an automatic weapon however, wounding is a definite option.

He leaps forward, rams the claws of one hand into the guard's hand so he can't easily pull the trigger, then spins into an elbow strike to the guy's head, impacting hard enough to snap the guy's head sideways and knock him out.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The man that Jimmy takes down only gets out the start of a cry of pain before he's taken down. Kitty watches from the dark, and when Jimmy and Beast have the two sentries neutralized, she motions to Talia to come forward with her.

Kitty starts up the tunnel, and then stops with a thought. << Go ahead while I try to see what's going through the cables," she tells them. She goes over to the cables that run along the side of the salt mine's drivable tunnel, getting out her phone and tablet and using sensors that don't come in Samsung or Apple phones to check for electrical current, versus ethernet or maybe optical transmissions.

Meanwhile, Beast and Jimmy don't seem to have alerted anyone. Though as they lower the guards to the ground and peek around the corner, they see the tunnel ahead is well lit. There are a series of metal doors, maybe seven or eight, along one side of the tunnel.

There are a few sleeping bags in the tunnel itself, and a good ten to twelve people. Some are sitting at a desk that was brought down and has a laptop on it. Others are sitting around cooking over a small camp stove. Others are talking.

All of them are armed. Some of the weapons don't look like regular guns. More futuristic, like something SHIELD or a group like that might use.

Both men can smell a lot of scents from down that way. Dozens of scents. Voices muffled by the doors. Including at least one fearful child.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia has been pretty quiet. Honestly the few X-men style missions she has been on since she got here have been with her being pretty quiet.

It isn't that she is tongue tied, she just seems to take mission work very seriously and only speaks up when she has something to add to the plan or warnings really. Too many years of day in and day out missions without any real R&R did this to her. She is sort of coming off an extended tour of duty, but unlike most wars where there are actually rotations these days and down time... she hasn't really had any for years now.

Might explain why she is the first to volunteer for field work when she hears an opportunity to help. It sort of feels more natural to her now.

She is geared up, the brown leathers and her dark fur. Yellow eyes able to penetrate any shadows in the salt mines tunnels. She eases along with Kitty now keeping watch while the other starts to do her work. <<If one of the men isn't too disabled we could wake them up and I could possess them.. or if you can snag me one or get me close enough to one without knocking them out. I could take a closer look as one of the bad guys?>>

Roland Livingston has posed:
Having been on a commercial flight since his own jet was down for maintenance, Roland Livingston had been enjoying himself in business class, chatting amiably with his next-seat neighbor, a fancy Trask executive. When the hijackers started to take over Roland nearly got up to begin killing them off, but they had guns and held them to the heads of other hostages. The young Englishman didn't want to see his fellows get killed so he remained seated, quietly seething. Damned terrorists. He'd need to wait for an opportunity to waste them later.

When the plane lands and he's offloaded, Roland is still quite grumpy about the whole situation. He and some other passengers are passed from one guy with futuristic weapons to another until they stick the group of prisoners into cells. The delegation from the Trask company segregated from the other folks like Roland.

Then, to add insult to injury the terrorists wire Roland and another guy in his cell into bomb vests and indicated that they could be remotely detonated. Disarming bombs is not something in the wheelhouse of this scholar of the arcane!

There's always the chance they'll try to execute him first, probably saw his head off in front of a camera, if he volunteers for it. It's likely the bomb vest would come off at some point during the execution preparation. Then he could start taking out terrorists and hopefully find and secure the explosives' detonator. Hopefully.

While he waits for an opportunity, however, he paces the makeshift cell and frowns. His gaze rarely leaves the small opening to the room he's in. The adventurer almost looks like a big cat at the zoo staring at the delicious looking visitors.

"Pardon me, terrorists, but if you're to execute someone I'd like to be first in line. I truly hate waiting around and I'd prefer to be murdered before any women or children or people with families. I don't need to live with that on my conscience," he exclaims in his upper class English accent as someone passes by outside, sounding quite perturbed. "Unless you're that afraid of me, of course. I've heard most terrorists are cowards, after all."

"And don't touch my luggage, you fiends!" Roland calls out. He's got a bespoke vicuña wool suit, a Piaget Altiplano watch and a few very fancy pairs of shoes he'd rather not go missing. Not to mention night vision goggles, a sword, two well accessorized guns, three knives, body armor and ammunition. He was traveling on business, after all.

Roland looks to the others in his cell and quietly tells them, "I'm sure your Navy SEALs or something are on the way. Maybe the Texas Rangers. I'm not really sure how it works in the States, honestly, but I'd wager someone is coming to save you." Second person, because as soon as the bomb vest is off or disarmed Roland is going to do everything he can to destroy the bad guys.

If nothing else, Roland may serve as a distraction.

Henry McCoy has posed:
A quick check of the man he'd down, and Henry nods. "This one is ... not injured, just knocked out. He'll have a terrible headache, though." He whispers over to Talia, noting the thumping that Jimmy provided the other. No judgement - they are bad guys, after all. He keeps crouched, eyes on the hall with the others. "Just... don't get stuck in there." A wry grin.

The big man inches closer, perhaps trying to determine what he can about the high-tech shooters that the villains are packing. If he can get a bead on that, he can forewarn the others.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Jimmy and Hank can hear the English accented voice of Roland calling from behind one of the metal doors. One of the men in the hallway who was crouched near the camp stove stands and walks over. He bangs on the door with the butt of his assault rifle.

"Listen buddy! Shut your lips. Consider that all it takes is a press of a button and you, and everyone else in that room with you goes boom-boom," he shouts back through the door.

Another of the terrorists grins. "Yeah, and you're not in one of the Trask rooms. Means we lose nothing if we blow you up. Not like you know enough to build us stuff to take out muties with. So shut your damn pie hole, Limey bastard."

He grins and one of his buddies pokes him in the shoulder, like congratulating him. Overall, the group out in the hall seem a bit cocky. Things have been going their way.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy peeks down the hallway as well, then withdraws and takes a moment to say on comms <<Ok, well, that answers that. Shadowcat, you any good at disarming bombs? I'm thinking we need to make sure they don't blow people up, and you can go through the wall.>>

He considers the odds, then shrugs and adds <<About all I could add would be running in and getting shot a lot as a distraction, so maybe the possession thing might not be an awful idea.>>

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty catches up. "There is definitely computer communications going on," she whispers to them. "I haven't tried to hack into it yet though, will have to splice the cable to do it.

She peeks around the corner to see what's going on, then pulls back. "I can phase a bomb into the ground where it should probably go inert. Or at worst, you know, blow up the rock, hopefully contained if I go deep enough. Though if it's set to go off if tampered with, phasing it might cause it to go off. In which case... it would explode while phased, so I'd be the only one killed. Though if it goes off they'll know it went off."

Talia Wagner has posed:
<<Eh... >> she walks over to one of the knocked out sentries and crouches down by him. She fishes around in her kit and pulls out some smelling salts. <<I'm going to wake this guard up and possess him. See if I can get close enough to see what they are using for detonators. Maybe I can get my hands on one of them for Hank or Kate to mess with>>

She looks to make sure that is okay. She isn't the field leader on this expidition after all.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Grumbling under his breath, Roland does indeed shut up. But he's not happy about it. He looks the metal door over carefully, studying both it and the rock it's built into, wondering if he has the strength to get through it before whoever has the detonator can get to the button necessary to take him out. Looking behind him at the other prisoners he frowns and mutters to himself, "Damned cowards, threatening me with the lives of innocent people." Gritting his teeth he shakes his head and continues to whisper, "I'm going to enjoy getting blood on my hands when these vests comes off."

Henry McCoy has posed:
The Beast has his head cocked, listening to the shouting and the retort from the guards. There's a very low, rumbling growl. <<They took others. Not Trask people. They are looking to get anti-Mutant weaponry made.>> The anger in his voice is palpable.

<<I can likely disable the bombs, if I can get my hands on them. They might have counter-measures for being shorted out or what have you. It'd be best if we can go that route - no matter how much I'd like to pulp these terrorists." Fingers clench and unclench. "We'll need to get in there - no telling who has the switch at the moment, or if it is a dead-man switch, either."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy doesn't have a ton to do at the moment, so busies himself putting zip-tie handcuffs on the guard that's not being possessed, and wraps his hand in gauze while he's at it. Other than that, he just waits to see how things play out and remains prepared to take action if anything goes pear-shaped.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty nods as Hank says he could handle the bombs. << Ok, I'll phase Hank into the nearest room to take a look at the explosives. Hopefully we can keep the people quiet, while Talia sees if she can find the detonators. >>

Kitty stows her tablet and phone and moves over to join Beast. << Jimmy, let us know if they are on to us, >> she asks. Kitty looks over to Hank to see if he's ready to go. Whenever he gives her the go ahead, she takes his hand and leads him through the wall, heading to the nearest cell. Thankfully the metal doors are solid metal, with no way for the men and women in the tunnel to see inside.

Talia Wagner has posed:
TJ nods and then puts the smelling salts under the unconcious terrorists nose. As soon as he starts to groggily wake up she leans in and merges with him. Possessing him with a bit of the same light as her hexbolts.

"Ugn.. hit him pretty good." she whispers and then slips up nimbly to the man's feet before picking up the weapon. She also picks up and slips the comm in the guy's ear, she must have set it down while messing with the smelling salts.

There is some straightening of clothes and dusting off.

Then there is a sassy little salute to the others and then TJ heads down the hallway towards the group of terrorists. She looks over what she is seeing as she heads into the thick of it. Okay detonators on a couple of belts. Laptop. Some surviellance.

She keeps walking past these deeper into the mine towards other light and noises. Then softly on the comms <<Two detonators, two bombs, two guys. Also laptop with surviellence cams, but only covering the mine entrance. Going to poke a bit ahead and see what is up with the rest of the hostages. Unless you want me to cold cock one of the guys and risk shooting the other?>> she describes about where the guys are.

She is very good at walking with purpose.

Roland Livingston has posed:
And insinuating he wouldn't be able to come up with the means to kill mutants? That's insulting. Roland knows he can figure out how to kill anything, even if he'd have to use mystics arts himself in order to do so. Not that he would kill someone just because of genetic differences.

The whole situation is infuriating. He looks down at his bomb and just about growls at it. Then there's more whispering to himself, "Remain calm, cool, collected. 'When you're going through Hell, keep going.'" He pauses, then softly says, "He also said 'Never Yield to Force' and I screwed that up already. Damned Nazi terrorists. I should kill them for the mutant thing alone." If he wasn't nearly inexhaustible all the anger in his system would have worn him out. "Can't even do calisthenics to cool off thanks to this bloody bomb." Oops. He cursed. Probably also looks like a madman talking to himself while wearing a bomb vest.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Again - more phasing! At least it gets him to focus on something other than the rending of the anti-mutants standing nearby. <<No shooting. Wait for our signal to take them out. Once I have the bombs disarmed, then we can dispatch those cretins.>> He whispers, nodding to Kitty after. A deep breath, and the two phase under and over... slowly phasing up into the room with the bombs. Henry has the semblance of mind to put his finger in front of his lips - the universal sign for Shh!

Once inside, he begins making quick work of the bombs - disarming after a moment's study. "Are you hurt?" He asks of Roland and the other captive.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
As Talia walks the man's body forward past a few of the men and women in the hall, two of that group rise, slinging their weapons over their shoulders. A man and a woman, they start walking towards the vehicle tunnel where Jimmy is waiting with Talia's body and with the man that he's downed and zip-tied.

"So how long until we can get them out of here anyway?" the man asks the woman. She replies, "Not until tomorrow, earliest. Don't worry, we'll get them squirreled away and get them to work making us weapons," she says. She pats the man's shoulder. "You did good joining up. This is a good outfit. We'll make those muties pay for what they did in D.C.," she tells him.

The two of them are about to round the corner any moment.

Meanwhile, Kitty is also trying to keep people calm. "Shh. We're heroes. Here to rescue you," she whispers to them, making a shushing gesture. She waits for Hank to defuse the two bomb vests, and tells the people, "Stay here while we take care of the others. No noise, everyone's lives depend on it."

<< Ok, we're going on to the next room. There were six people, with two vests in this one. >> Kitty phases the vests into the ground only once Hank has finished with them. Then takes his hand to lead him into the next room. Roland sees the two people in the unfamiliar hero costumes just step through the wall, making shushing gestures.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy hears the guards coming easily, given that they're talking as they approach him. He pads up to the corner of the wall after rolling the unconscious guard over next to Talia's body to try and shield her from any stray bullets. On comms, he warns <<Things may be about to get noisy.>> When they come around the corner, he strikes.

He lashes out with his claws, not at the guards, but at their guns, slicing through the barrels, then steps forward and punches the male guard in the face, claws retracting even as the punch flies. He hits as hard as he can, then returns to the elbow strike into the woman's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her before hammering a fist down on the back of her neck.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia murmurs <<Jimmy two incoming>> just in case he didn't hear or smell em coming.

She will mosey over to the one on the computer. Glance down briefly before moving on towards one of the guys with the detonator.

Mostly she is trying to get a feel for who seems to be calling the shots in the room. She has a hunch it is either one of the ones with the detonator or the one at the computer honestly.

Mostly she intends to give him a thrash once she has the signal from everyone.

Once she has has the all clear from Kitty and Hank or if Jimmy makes a buncha noise she will leap into action.

Though in this case springing into action is coughing loudly and then spitting near one of the tunnel walls. "The dust down here is killer." to distract from any noises down the tunnel.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"How'd you do that? The components for Ivar's Imperious Intangibility usually smell like pickled herring," Roland asks very quietly as people walk into his cell through the wall. He's a curious guy when it comes to supernatural stuff, after all. "We're fine," he answers for himself as the other fellow wearing a bomb. With a look towards the woman that walks through walls he asks, "Perhaps you could cast Lochlann's Lock Liberator on the door? I'd quite like to severely harm those ruffians outside now that they can't hurt any of these people." After Beast does his disarming Roland takes off the bomb vest. He also takes a moment to stretch his muscles, staring at Beast. Not like he's never seen a mutant before, more like it's a celebrity he's not particularly impressed with, "Superheroes, eh? I thought the rescue would be more mundane, honestly. Or that I'd talk them into trying to execute me on video so I could overpower them once the vest was off." As he speaks he's quiet, but he seems like a hard man to shut up under the circumstances. "Regardless, you have my thanks. I'll arrange something nice for your people once we're through with these Nazis."

Henry McCoy has posed:
Priorities. Safety of people first, then smashy the bad eggs. Henry, makes sure the bombs are completely disarmed. "You might wish to put these in the ground regardless, Shadowcat." He explains to the woman with him. Yellow eyes then turn to Roland, his head canted. "Overpower them? Your captors had sonic and beam weapons - let along any mundane weaponry that might be present." A nod. "We're going to break you all out of here - we'll need you to move when we say, though. We don't want you getting harmed." If there's any recognition for the other man, he assures.

"Do we have them all ready, Shadowcat? I can open the door, once we're sure." He looks over the enclosure.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde tells Roland quietly, "Let us get the final bombs, just stay quiet for now, we'll be back," she assures him. "Ah, not a mage, but we should be able to handle things." She and Hank continue on to get the final bomb vests. Like Beast suggested, she phases them deep into the ground, just to be extra safe. The shouldn't do more than make make a mild tremor down there.

<< Ok, all of the bombs are disarmed. Ready to move on them? >> she asks the rest of the team. << Nocturne, you're in the best position, start it out and we'll join, >> Kitty suggests.

She phases Beast and herself back into the room where Roland is, it being a door near to the middle which would be a good one to go out of. << I'll phase the door away completely when Nocturne makes her move, >> she tells Beast and Roland.

Talia Wagner has posed:
<<Go time>> she notes as she swings the butt of the rifle into the guy at the computer's head from behind. He started to ask 'wut?" then BAM and it is an expertly excuted Sapping move too. Just SMACK .. thud..... drop to the floor.

She steps away from the man she just hit, and literally steps away from the man she is possessing phasing out of his body right in time for him to be shot by one of his friends.

The Hexbolt she lashes out at the guy nearest her (Who also shot his own friend who was in a near sleep coma toboot> is quick and crackly as it hits the terrorist and slams him back towards the wall there.

What follows is a leap up onto the wall above the slumping guy and then another leap up to the ceiling as she pivots to hexbolt a third.

She really hopes the others are moving in, she did say Go Time.

Damn. Lets hope that is still the right phrasing or saying here in this timeline.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I can bench press a motorcycle and I've been training in armed and empty handed combat since I could walk," Roland explains to Beast in his upper crust accent. "I've slain vampires and necromancers, swum the English channel forward and back, climbed the north face of the Eiger and traversed the Australian outback alone and on foot." He smiles, "I'm more than prepared to deal with this scum."

Then he prepares himself, taking a runner's stance behind the door for the moment when the not-magician phases it out of the way. The instant it's gone he's off like a bullet, charging directly at the nearest terrorist. When he gets there he's quite brutal, chopping down on the side of the man's neck with not quite bone breaking force (superheroes are known for keeping their victims alive, after all and Roland is working with some now) before drawing a knife from the sheathe on the now unconscious man's tactical vest.

As one more evildoer moves to point a gun at Roland the young adventurer is on him, slicing fully through his dominant hand's wrist with the stolen knife before turning and flinging the blade into the gun hand of another villain. Before the amputee can scream Livingston slams a left hook into the side of the guy's jaw, breaking it and sending him sprawling to the ground in a heap. Then the scholar of the arcane leaps into the air in a spinning back kick that strikes the third guy dead center in the face, squashes his nose and makes him collapse limp on the ground. Those three are probably going to live. Roland is not breathing hard as he scoops up an assault rifle and scans the scene, looking for more threats.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy charges down the hallway once he hears the trouble start, claws popping back out as he moves at top speed down the hall. A guard steps around a corner raises his gun and.. shoots him. He grunts as the bullets rip into his torso, but only stumbles slightly and keeps running, quickly closing the space and bisecting this gun like the previous two. He then tackles the guy and punches him a couple times before looking for any other guards that need to be dealt with.

There's another right around the corner he tackled the guard at, so he sweeps his claws through the guy's hamstring, dropping him to the floor and then kicks him in the face. Standing up, he looks down at the bloody holes in his uniform and grumbles, "Man, this was new." Under the bullet holes in the material, all that can be seen is unbroken skin already.

Henry McCoy has posed:
It wasn't so much phased. As Kitty mentions making the door insubstantial, Henry shakes his head. "Not this time, Shadowcat. I need to get this out of my system." The Beast's tone is anything but cordial. Claws extend from his finger tips, digging into the steel door. A growl and a roar, and it is ripped from the moorings - allowing Roland to charge out and take out the first in line.

"Clear!" He roars once the suprisingly fast human dives out to deliver savage blows to the former captors, the door being used as both a distraction and a weapon. The gunshots are heard - the blood scented from Jimmy's wounds, and the other hapless guards.

There are still a few who remain in the path of the escape. The Beast leaps forward, crashing the door down on one of the guardsmen, the poor soul firing off several rounds that plink against the metal. The resounding thud seems... final, as the door comes to rest.

Vaulting forwards, two others are clawed across their torsos - they might survive, but they are out of the fight right now. "Everyone OUT. OUT." He motions to the exit.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Shadowcat gives Beast an understanding nod, standing back out of the way as he rips the door off the hinges. She watches with surprise at how Roland moves, though the observation is made as she herself darts out following the two men through the door.

Kitty turns to the right, moving to the nearest guard. She steps inside his gun, knocking it to the side and delivering an elbow to his head. As he's staggered she grabs his head and slams it down, meeting her knee coming up.

He drops to the ground, while the last remaining guard levels his gun at her. As he pulls the trigger, Shadowcat darts forward to him, dodging to her right to help keep anyone else from being in the line of fire behind her. The man doesn't get how he misses her as his gun clicks, the magazine empty. Kitty closes on him and delivers a spinning kick to the side of his head.

And just like that, the hallway is clear.

Kitty looks around, making sure all of the bad guys are down, moving weapons away from them, and beginning to zip tie them. Making sure none of them will bleed out. "See if you can find the bus keys, or if they are in the ignition. And lets get these people to the surface!" she says.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia wanders along walking on the ceiling really and then leaps, tucks in a roll, and lands by the computer. "I think they are probably here ...."

She opens a draw in the desk the computer is setup on and fishes around "Yup. Keys. Probably the other cells and the bus keys I think?" she holds up a couple of sets of keys now.

After a squint she tosses one set to Hank "That should save the whole ripping doors off hinges if you want." and she starts to walk towards the bus. "I'm driving a bus... vrroom vroom." bit of a laugh there. Okay this mission is near successfully done. She is in a good mood.

Sue her.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I'm impressed," Roland says when he sees the mess the heroes made of the terrorists, seeming more than content to lead the way towards the exit Beast gestured towards. After checking to make sure his new weapon has a round in the chamber he shoulders it, handling it almost like a veteran gunfighter, and moves swiftly forwards. "I'd very much like to have you all over for dinner if you make it to Manhattan," the young man declares as he scans for threats, ready to lay down gunfire on anything that threatens the heroes or the people they've just saved.

As he nears the vehicles he sticks his head into the bus to check for keys in the ignition. Not finding any he takes a knee behind the jeep to use it for cover, continuing to keep his eyes peeled for trouble. He spares a glance towards the blue furred woman, "I'd especially like to get to know you, Ms bus driver." Hard 'Z' sound instead of an 'S' sound on that 'Ms'. "Just let me know where to pick you up and I'll fly you out when my jet is repaired."

Henry McCoy has posed:
With the violence out of his system, Henry's breathing slows - the man calms a bit more. A look to Jimmy, a brow quirked in concern. "You all right?" He wonders, moving over in case the answer is no. Sure, he's aware of the healing - but there may be other factors. Never leave a friend to suffer.

The keys are caught without thought, the Beast jingling them in his palm. "Come along, ladies and gentlemen. We'll get you to safety." He offers to the others who had been captive. Trask employees or not, they get a ride out of trouble via the bus.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy helps collect the hostages, guiding them to the bus. He helps anyone who needs a hand, making sure they all get seated and nobody is left behind. He does his best to keep them as calm as possible, using a certain natural charm and his generally laid back attitude to help calm them down. "It's going to be ok folks, we're getting you out of here and back to your normal lives. Stay calm, and hop on the bus, we'll have you all home before you know it."

He looks over to Hank, "Me? Yeah, just ruined my nice new suit. I'm guessing you guys go through a lot of these things." He pokes a finger at one hole in his outfit. "Bullets apparently aren't that dangerous to me. By the way.. OW. That freaking hurt. Not as bad as being on fire though."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Shadowcat tells Roland, "Thank you for helping us there. We tend to keep a low profile. But glad we were able to help." She does one last sweep to make sure they got everyone, before moving to the bus herself.

One of the Trask employees says, "Thank you so much for saving us." Another one looks at the X-men and says, "You... you guys are mutants, aren't you?" Shadowcat looks him in the eye. "Yes. Yes we are," she tells him before turning away.

She may know that not everyone who works at Trask has the same views as the company's CEO. But they still know what his stances are, and work for him.

"Everyone ready?" she asks, checking, and then turning to pat Talia's shoulder. "Let's get everyone to the surface," she says.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia breezes by Roland and up onto the bus. "I'm in the city a fair bit, I am sure we can arrange for you to buy me dinner for this rescue." a flash of white teeth as she smiles at him.

Once on the bus she checks the keys and finally finds the right one for the bus, rowring the engine on. "All aboard!" she yells out the door. She probably doesn't need to tell people twice.

She adjusts the mirrors and then laments "I wish I had a bus driver hat...." she doesn't really but it sounds good.

She does lean though out the window for a moment and hit a guy with a hex bolt that was starting to stand from the thrashing. One that Kitty hadn't reached yet.

To the mystically attuned though there is a zing of chaos magic.

She waits for everyone to load up and then she smiles when Kitty gives her the pat pat and lets go signal and then starts to drive the bus up and out of the tunnels.