7640/John's Return-Finale: The Rescue

John's Return-Finale: The Rescue
Date of Scene:	01 September 2021
Location:	Dominion Capitol City
Synopsis:	James comes back bigger and his brother can finally rest
Cast of Characters:	James Proudstar, Samuel Guthrie, Kitty Pryde, Tabitha Smith, Illyana Rasputina, Rogue, Raven Darkholme, Mortimer Toynbee, Talia Wagner

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James Proudstar has posed:
The time line reads as follows. .

    A small group went after Jean and to hold D'Ken responsible. They journeyed into the M'krann crystal and then returned by stepping stone to Earth. The raid on the Shi'ar cruiser took place almost immediately. Most likely the day after they got back. The day Jim was killed.

    It was a few days later when Lilandra returned as the Shi'ar empress and restored peace between Earth and the Shi'ar. This was also the day Kitty, Doug and whomever else wanted to help managed to translate the electronic documents from the Shi'ar and discovered the Dominator's involvement and their plan to clone Jim as a second generation of Apache clone soldiers

    Revealing the documents to the Shi'ar laid bare the Dominators machinations and was enough for Lilandra to send a diplomatic taskforce to Dominion, escorting human envoys.

    Yes, stepping stones would have been faster but walking into an unknown situation is dangerous even for a hell Lord. The small fleet now hangs in orbit around Dominion. A frigate and a pair of cruisers are all Lilandra could spare and she could not attend in person. But now two weeks after he was captured the taskforce hangs in orbit over the city plant Dominion.

    The Dominators have agreed to a meeting they maintain their innocence. They tell the Shi'ar with overbearing condescension that the humans are over reacting. They are running experiments on dead humans. Spoils of war as is their right by Galactic Law.

James Proudstar has posed:
They are teleported down to the meeting place it is functional and pragmatic as is all Dominator design and architecture. The meeting is stuffy and pretentious, the Dominators are contentious in their claims to be in the right. The lead negotiator says, "The frailty of humanity's emotionality is a well know weakness, like the Shi'ar they are prone to fits of passion that make them... reckless. We have done nothing that violates intergalactic law or precedent. The Kree," he spits this word like a curse."Have been far more aggressive in their manipulations."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie is dressed not in costume, but in a suit. The young man, wants to get this done, and while, he half expects this to go south quickly he is willing to try. He would have read up and gotten the briefing from the space lawyer on the way here. He looks somewhat like the old southern lawyers you see in old movies.
     Sam will look upon the Dominator stepping forward. "Biologicals are not part of salvage units, in a combat action bodies are to be returned to their respective parties, and any prisoners are to listed for possible prisoner exchange. We are here to retrieve this man's body." He fights to hide emotion on claiming James is dead. "Experiments, and actions of others, do not make one's own actions better. Are you telling us, you believe the Dominion should be following the Kree's example?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde listens to the Dominators, not showing any of those emotions they are talking about. Even if she is feeling them inside. She sits with Lockheed on the table beside her, and lets them make their case before glancing around at the others and turning back to the Dominators after Sam has finished speaking.

"And these are not just dead bodies. You are creating people, creating humans. Whether homo sapiens or homo superior, they are still our people. Humanity is not a source for slave labor, whether captured or birthed here," she tells them. "You have already assaulted our planet and tried to modify our genetic structure, causing the deaths of many. Earth will not stand by for this to continue. We require the return of all remains and any other biological matter based upon them."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith doesn't do negotiations because no one want her trying to be diplomatic. She is exactly the kind of reckless passion and anger the Dumbinator guy is talking about. She's also not dressed for this in her hot pink top and matching pants. Sunglasses that are not remotely necessary in space are still over her eyes to hide any glares that might shoot out of her eyes and her hands are carefully held behind her back with fingers laced together as she listens and blows a big bubble with her gum to avoid saying anything.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Teleportation not by Illyana's typical stepping disks, since the harrowing of Limbo may not be a good diversion. Neither would letting the Dominators know their abilities, since the other dimension remains an ace up the sleeve. Pretentiousness does nothing to inspire the oft-absent demon queen, who has dared to come dressed for the event in a function that could kill sartorially. Slaying edges of her articulated black suit might be marginally inspired by the likes of Emma Grace Frost, rather than, say, Nathaniel Essex. But those hard facets shine all the same, and the negotiator's accusations of emotional quality very well may be thrown back in their faces by that alabastrine countenance framed in the coolest sunlight of the high latitudes.

"How lucky we are not human," she replies. Russian has a terseness to it universal in nature, cool elegance brandishing words as dueling swords, pointed ripostes made of pauses and syllables. An active spell around her invokes familiarity in all mundane languages -- on your own for magical, which remains unique to the Rasputin sorceress alone. "You are in violation of four separate protocols observed across interstellar and dimensional boundaries. The Kree provide proper burials and exchanges for the deceased." Technicalities? Why hello, she is happy to weave between Kitty and Sam's arguments with a ruthlessly neutral sensibility. "Kryptonians established precedent for returning those fallen, for example."

A long beat follows, and then her obsidian lips tilt a little. "There is the matter, Excellency," and how dispassion can turn the title hollow and dark, "that you have stolen one of my subjects."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue stands near to her people but behind the ones that are doing the talking. She's not in a suit and tie, she's in her green and gold bodysuit with her leather jacket on over it. Her gloved hands are in the side pockets of the jacket keeping it held closed over her upper body while her long two toned hair falls around her shoulders.

*POP*

She's chewing bubblegum too. Strawberry bubblegum no less. Her eyes go from person to person as they speak, before going back to the Shi'ar... she's got words for them... especially if they don't play nice with their demands here...

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Staying to the back of the whole group, Mystique wears a full white catsuit with her usual thigh high boots. Her arms are folded lightly across her chest, her face a neutral mask of indifference on her face. What emotions she might feel are locked behind the mask, but she is completely and utterly enraged. If it had been true humans here, the bodies being used in experiments by aliens, she would have been upset. Humans belong to Earth, not these freaks of outer space, and she would have still wanted to get the bodies back.

This however was a mutant and that changed everything in her mind. No one on Earth was allowed to violate a mutant, what would make anyone thing that she would let aliens get away with it? One way or another, she was getting that body back and destroying every piece of research and experiments these things had done.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Mortimer Toynbee keeps close to Mystique's side, crouching with his knees bowed, very much the toad in every sense of the word. He's wearing a version of jester's motley, colorful and patchwork, fitted to his distorted body, bloated in his torso, spindled at the arms, with greasy hair hanging down in his face and his oversized mouth open to allow his disquieting, slime-coated tongue dangle a bit, every bit of a weapon as if he wore a pistol at his belt.

He has little interest in the words and keeps his own council as he has not been given permission to speak. He is here in case words do not suffice to get the point across and to make sure Mystique is protected and flanked by at least one who is loyal to her above all else.

Bulging eyes take in the mutants of Xavier's with a mingling of curiosity and contempt as his arms hang slack between knobby knees, his weight poised on the balls of his feet.

James Proudstar has posed:
The Shi'ar nod ay each point the humans make, watching the Doms looking for chinks in their armor. The lead Shi'ar even covers a smile at Magik's ripostes. The Doms nod respectfully at Sam's inquiries considering. They blanch outright of Kitty's suggestion of returning the products of their research, "See hear, the products created form those faulty human tissues have been improved by the dominator research and will remain our property!" Getting a bit heated and emotional himself when the right pressure is applied. A junior adjutant leans in and whispers something to his boss. The Boss nods and makes a placating gesture. "Yes, you seem overly concerned with the remains of our comrades we can assure you they are being given the utmost in respect. We will show you the bodies, if that will be the crux of our negotiations?"

Talia Wagner has posed:
    TJ is pissed. Like ridiculously pissed. She is doing her absolute best to not telegraph how pissed she is though. Ironically Mystique has been around her the most and might have an idea about how pissed she is under the surface on this one.

    Mostly on the whole trip out she has been distracting herself and meditating. Thinking thoughts as zen as she can that this isn't her John. This is another realities John whom died. Now it is also not her James whom died either. Seriously can those brothers even catch a break in any reality. Be Zen. Be zen. Zen damnit.

    The comment about it being faulty human tissue though has her suck in a breath and look towards the ceiling. Hexbolting a Dominator won't be appreciated in the delicate negotiations. Trust Aunt Kate to sort this bullshit out.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith pops her bubble to interject coldly, "Not a damned thing Inferior about either of the Proudstar brothers." She clenches her laced fingers together as they go whiter from the blood being squeezed outta place. Another bubble is quickly blown. She's really trying to be good. Really.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks to the other and shakes his head a bit to this and says "First off your subject has a name Mr. James Proudstar, and we suspect there are others. The utmost respect for Mr. Proudstar can not be done on this plant. Mr. Proudstar is neither faulty or human. He is part of the species of Earth decent Homo-Superior. "
     He stands up steeling his mental defenses as they were taught by Charles Xavier. "This is the second offence against our people and of one family non the less. We know of the experiments starting on Mr. John Proudstar, and will need all experiments with his DNA stopped as well." Sam will put his arms behind his back, and says "As it seems you have chosen a specific line, it would seem even you deem the Proudstar line superior.
     Sam paces back and forth stating "Your people have attacked those of Earth on multiple times, and failed. We now come to you offering you a chance to return what was taken. We the people of Earth be it Homo sapien, Homo Superior or other, will not stand for attacks or abduction of our people any more. We do not wish to have to take, that which belongs to Earth back by force, but we will have our friend and his families remains, and I suggest you look at your success rate at going against the people of Earth.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique keeps her eyes on Talia, she did indeed know the anger raging inside her alternate reality granddaughter. She didn't know the full reason behind it, that wasn't something they had spoke of, but she could feel it inside her. Her own rage, for other reasons, matched it, but this was the talking part. It would fail. The talking always failed with these f-ing aliens. They all thought themselves superior to human, so much so they didn't bother to learn that humans weren't the only ones from earth any more.

Shifting her amber eyes from Talia to Toad for just a moment, they then move to the aliens. She was standing there as perfect proof that humans had something better on the planet now, her cobalt skin contrasting wonderfully against the white clothing. Deep inside of herself, she really wanted to punch the smug Dominator in the face... patience, it would happen.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Mortimer Toynbee doesn't know all the specifics on the situation, although he's put enough together from overhearing Mystique discuss it. He considers it a bit above his proverbial pay grade - his job is fixing things and hurting people, not necessarily in that order.

He doesn't know the Dominators. But he knows the way they talk. He knows the creatures who think they're better, who speak about others like specimens. They've been trying to dissect him his whole life.

He just spits onto the floor. Probably doesn't mean anything. Probably.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's weight shifts from one booted foot to the other. Her eyes go from the Doms to the talkers on her side. She continues to just idly stand by and chew her gum though, but does give a glancing glare toward Toad when he catches her attention with that spit on the floor...

Glare...

A look is given to Mystique though, and Rogue smiles softly before putting her eyes back on the conversation at hand.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The Dominators' psychic gifts hit a brittle wall where Illyana is involved. She benefits naught from the latent telepathic gifts of the X-Team, but that sure helps when it comes to dealing with inherently psionic races or those with an elevated talent for reading minds and thoughts. Add a poker face perfected by possibly experiencing a minimal emotional threshold for humans or mutants.

"Raw resources stolen from our territory and manufactured into goods or refined are still theft, regardless of your additional labour, construction or experimentation." She doesn't smile, and rage lies somewhere around UY Scuti. In other words, exceptionally far away. "The primary products, byproducts of the process, and the base materials do not belong to you. They will not remain your property."

She gestures with a flick of her fingers, gesturing to the adjutants and the Dominator negotiating force. "Clearly there have been assumptions made on your parts that were proven wrong. A continued effort to stay to this illogical path will only result in poorer terms for you and a dissatisfactory economic and diplomatic position, which leads to a waste of further resources and setbacks." A beat. "Punitive measures, the decline of stock and reputation among other interstellar and intergalactic parties. For it will be a glaring, resounding message that you are little better than scavengers, stealing materiel to create subpar materials, and marketing them as superior when they are of dubious origin. Contraband in some quarters."

Another moment, and then she pointedly adds, "You most fortunately have the opportunity to demonstrate your goodwill by correcting your actions before encountering permanent consequences. Damaging ones."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty stays silent this time after Sam finishes speaking. Instead, Lockheed rises and walks forward a few steps across the table. The Dominators eye him as they might any in the room. Unlike some of those from Earth, they know of his race, the Flock. No doubt they have done their homework on their visitors, and recognized him as that race's greatest warrior.

The small purple dragon looks about the room slowly, and does something very few in the room have ever seen him do.

He speaks.


The people of Earth sought neither enmity nor war.
But your people invaded based on lies spread galore.

Horrendous acts you committed. Innocents you harmed,
And in the wake of your battle you left Earth powerfully armed.

Lived amongst the Earthlings I have, seen your invasion's result.
This once fledgling world is now quite adult.

Their powers multiplied, thanks to your dire genetic attack,
Yet they have restrained from pursuing you. Showed restraint. Held back.

Now you challenge the Earthlings, after growing their might?
I tell you: be not fools. You do not wish this fight.

Earth is young still when it comes to roaming the stars,
But keep setting against them and they will pay back their scars.

Still time you have to set matters aright,
I warn you again. You do not want this fight.

Lockheed stands there on the table eyeing them before returning to take a seat. Kitty Pryde looks over to him, giving him a look of gratitude before her attention goes back to the Dominators. "We have come seeking redress for these grievances. We do not want it to have to go beyond negotiations. But do not mistake what we are capable of if you stay the course you are on," she tells them.

James Proudstar has posed:
The dominators glare first at Samuel and then at Illyana as they make salient points, points that are echoed by the Shi'ar as the they start to lay out the basis for sanctions, if compromise can not be reached. As Lockheed speaks the other races present all react. None had realized the true nature of the Kitty's companion, they all assumed he was some some dwarf variety native to Earth. An oddity, not one of the true Flock, especially not that Races greatest warrior. The Dominators blanch looking stricken and then that shock is met with another.

     The Door opens and John Proudstar, Thunderbird, walks through in his traditional red and blue thunderbird outfit. He moves the same way he did in the old training vids you've seen. He smiles and shakes his head, "Nice you all came so far for my baby brother. Shame you couldn't be bothered for me." He gives a sardonic chuckle, but if you want to see what happened to him, I can show you, I can show you the facility, and you'll see that my brother's are happy here. They are what they were created to be and nothing more. They wouldn't have a place on your world, any more than I would. We are products or this world now." He looks at the Doms and nods.

    "If you 'll all follow me I will take you to James' body."There is a solemnness to his tone but actual sadness is missing. John, Thunderbird, Proudstar leads you through the diplomatic suites and across a skywalk into the clone training facility. You can see the clones in process and in training. He leads you to a small room. Inside on a slab is the body of James Proudstar, under a sheet, badly beaten and deeply cut by knives, the kind of knives used by the Apache clones.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Mortimer Toynbee snickers and jumps up and down a little bit, giggling and foaming a bit at the corners of his mouth, "The talking dragon owned you ye sallow faced weenies heeeheheheheheheheheheheheeeeeee!" he says, adding a raspberry to the affair, but then looking down shamefacedly before Mystique can discipline him.

"S-s-s-sorry, mum, lost me head fer a moment, won't 'appen again."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique offers Toad a smile even as she chuckles darkly, "No worries Toad, you're fine.

Then she narrows her eyes, watching John very intently as he moves into the room and then speaks.

Following as they are lead out of the room, there is something at the back of her head, a tingling, a familiarity. Brain washing? No, this was something more... this was...

"That's a shape shifter, not a clone or a copy of John," she states very loudly as she steps toward the fake-John. "You think you can fool me, I was /made/ for pretending to be something I'm not!"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's eyes are on Toad again as he makes his chime-in, but when John enters, the Belle raises her stare up to him. He's a face she's never seen in person before as he's been gone a long time. But she still knows who he is, there's quite a lot of imagery of him to be found in the X-Men base back home....

He's more handsome than the pictur... focus Rogue.

She smiles softly and looks to the others as they all move to trail after him. She does the same, hands still in her pockets. She glances around the skywalk thing they walk across but otherwise is quiet as they're delivered to a new place, to 'view' James... morbid... and sad.

When Raven speaks up, Rogue just looks from her to John, and then to the others... "What? Really?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith cannot help a little smirk at Toad's reaction to Lockheed. It even dulls her emotions a touch. Her response to the fake-John is to ignore him and she hangs back a little. She doesn't even care when Mystique calls him out for being a shapeshifter rather than a real John Proudstar copy.

Finally though Tabby walks up to the body. She didn't really let herself acknowledge his death but right here's the evidence in front of her. No one can see the tears welling in her eyes as she moves. Finally she reaches out to place a hand on the body, pretty much daring anyone to stop her, but at the last second she stops short of touching the corpse.

Tabby's sunglass covered gaze swings toward the fake-John in a single smooth motion. "You got exactly one chance to bring me the real Jimmy before I stop bein' nice. Just One. And don't screw me around no more."

Talia Wagner has posed:
    Seeing a clone of John doesn't do anything to soothe TJ. Nope this just drives it home. Not as much as the knives the one clone drove into her guts did though during the Shi'ar attack. This whole cloning operation is a nightmare.

    When the John is called out as a shapeshifter though she pauses, blinking a little bit and looking between Mystique and the maybe John clone or the maybe shapeshifter. Well this is complicating. "The hell?"

    Crimson energy gathers around one fist, to Illyana there is a flavor of chaos magic to it. She doesn't lift her hand or hexbolt the pretender but those yellow eyes are narrowed and oh she is fighting the desire to blast the shapeshifter at this point. Fighting oh so hard to keep her chill. The struggle. It is real.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde stares at John when he comes in. He predated her by a few years at Xavier's, but she's seen so many of his Danger Room sessions in the work that she does there. As Raven reveals the truth about him though, Kitty's lips press into a tight line. Lockheed's paws tighten on her shoulders slightly as the empathic dragon senses her emotions.

"What small amount of trust we might have given you seems to be rapidly evaporating," she says. She looks to the body, but only briefly. What she's feeling inside will come out another time. For now she focuses in dealing with the aliens.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Lockheed's a handsome dragon and even better cause for Illyana to have a stuffed version of him and lots of childish art drawn about her favourite purple friend. Oh, when times were simpler. Especially when he sings, she would be hard pressed to interject at all. But the Shi'ar and Dominators in their endless back and forth concede only so much.

It might be the singular consolation for irritating a firecracker attached to a Russian dirty bomb. Anger remains a distant wave for her, reinforced by the blackened air of will clamping down on a response when Tabitha floats over to Jimmy's body to check out the injuries. "Do they think we are this stupid?"

Damning words in a rather bored tone follow. Mystique and Talia bring the anger, she just draws a single, smart twirl of her finger in the air. "Do you treat us as this stupid?" is fired right to the aliens. "You get treated nicely, we talk to you instead of giving you reasons to run. Maybe we should lose our patience."

James Proudstar has posed:
That's when things went South, officially. The near-John goes pale umber at Mystique and then at Tabs, "How? My cousins were right! You humans are more trouble than your worth. He drops the facade of being human, hands lashing out like whips, body stretching and deforming, shoving at the mutants trying to make a path to the door. Those strategically minded may realize that he's trying to get to an alarm. To raise the alert status of the facility and get back up. There is one Dominator, that junior adjutant, who is trying vary hard to convince you all that he is invisible, he was really good at it too, best in his class, course Jean and Charles weren't in that class, so... bad day to be a dominator. The Shi'ar staffers pull weapons and assume a protective phalanx around the Senior liaison. The liaison, frowns, and narrows his eyes at the Dominator, "You have stretched any and all bounds of hospitality or normalcy of decorum and diplomacy with your bad faith. At this point, these negotiations are ended, and the humans are free to seek more drastic resolution." The Shi'ar barrister nods to Sam.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Mortimer Toynbee just hops from foot to foot slightly behind Mystique and swivels his head back and forth in a 'yeah, you're gonna get it now, what, try me, beotch, try me, yeah, ungh" fashion, albeit while keeping his mouth shut because he's already tested Mystique's patience once and he's not about to push his luck and get himself smacked down, even if it might be worth it, working up a very potent and viscous loogie to deposit in the face of the Dominator.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique has a tactical mind, it's one of the more normal things she's actually known for. Putting two and two together she gets alarm about to be triggered. He's got all whip like hands, how impressive and she's got a Toad tongue.

"Toad! Stop those hands!" She calls, already reaching into the tops of her boots to pull her pistols and taking aim at whatever this shapeshifting thing was.

It been a while since she shot something in hopes of killing it, and that desire to kill was doubled the usual because whatever this thing was, it really, really ticked her off by thinking she and the others were stupid.

"Time to kick some alien ass people!" She adds then takes a shot at the creature formerly known as John Proudstar.

Talia Wagner has posed:
    On the bright side as far as TJ is concerned, her fist was already charged up with the hexbolt. So she just has to raise it and blast the shapeshifter as he lunges across the room trying to trigger the alarm.

    She has been wanting to blast one of these smug bastards the entire trip out here. Not just the meeting with them. Hell maybe even for days before that. Since a John Clone stabbed her.

    Such is the desire to blast a damn alien that she puts into that crimson hexbolt as she fires it off.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's eyes aren't on the John Clone when he does his transformation in to his aggressive form. She is quick to note everyone's reactions and looks over at him just to see him get all riled up. As others react, Rogue leans back to avoid one of his hands. She raises her booted right foot up and sends it kicking outward to shove a metal table at the Imposter John at high speeds!

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over to Tabby and Illyana as they confirm it is not James, and Mystique's words of it not being John. He looks over to the alien left in the room. Sam stays calm, and looks to the Dominator "Tell your people to look to sectors 57493.293 and 57493.257." And he speaks into a communicator in his ear "Now." and at that moment in a nearby asteroid two mutants do their things. Amara Aquila is standing on one the size of a small skyscraper, and as she starts to flow, the ground below her starts to glow till soon, the asteroid is one glowing mass of lava. On another Julio Richter kneels down on a similar sized asteroid, and the image seems to get blurry for a moment, but it is the vibrations from the young mutant. With a stomp of his foot the asteroid seems to shatter apart broken by his vibrations.
     Sam mutes the roar of his own blast field and lifts off the ground glowing Orange. "We tried to be polite, we tried to nice. Your people will bring us our friend and all we asked for now, or this building and every military and political structure on this planet will be a smoking crater" He stares at the Alien with cold stare "You were warned."

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Mortimer Toynbee unleashes his tongue with a noisy, sputtering explosion of spit, lashing it all the way across and making a velvet rope of mutant flesh between anyone and that alarm button, his excess appendage dripping a gluey, adhesive slime in a curtain from his ropey extrusion that will present a formidable obstacle to anyone but those with the greatest strength and the strongest stomach.

"Stimk thith upf yer artheth!!!" Toad adds with a two finger salute.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Not to be outdone by anyone else present, when the thing that was not John runs, Tabby pulls her hands from behind her back and a time bomb goes sailing at the fleeing shapeshifter along with all the other things being tossed his way.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
As things start to go sideways, Kitty slips a hand into the pocket of her costume, pulling out a small tablet. Modified from what was learned of Dominator technology during the 2012 invasion, she heads over to a network port and connects it. Specially designed programs begin attacking the Dominator firewalls. Having had the previous set of files gave Kitty and Doug a leg up on preparing something they hope can quickly attack the Dominator security and find a crack in it. Kitty starts searching for more information on the clones and James so she can direct people in the right direction.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
For once, the Demon Queen isn't running straight into battle with a black diamond shine in her smile and a ululating keening on her lips. More disturbing by half, Illyana raises her empty hands. Pinky fingers outstretched shape the outer horns, her thumbs touching together, then swept apart as she raises her left hand above her head. Circles form in a shade of bright violet, filled in by hotter red eldritch symbols and spheres. Someone has been amplifying her arcane arts, and it shows when the odds begin shifting around to forge a mystic barrier that dare not call upon the most famous providers of such aid.

Instead, the artistry envelopes her and those immediately surrounding the blonde sorceress in a globe of protection against various physical threats and more obscure energies. "Should have asked Brainiac how it all went," she notes dryly to Tabitha. "This is transparent to your bombs going out."

The circumference of the orb wheels around her, then blows outward, pushing back against the facility's walls. Good luck, Dominator attempting your psychic games: she smirks right at him.

James Proudstar has posed:
John is blasted, pinned by a table, wrapped in a tongue, blown up and shot. Generally, he is having a very bad day and is not getting paid nearly enough for this. He collapses in a ruined heap inches from that door.

    The dominator sees all this and then hears Sam's words, and he very well may pee himself or whatever the Dommy equivalent is, but this kid has nothing left, left no guile, no disdain or bravado. he collapses, "I'll take you to your friend, I only ask for my life."

    The attack by Magma and Rictor does cause the alarms to be triggered, but by this point Kitty has all the info she needs. James is in the basement two floors down in a cell, his condition unbreakable. John is in the room next to James, he's listed as viable.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will look to the others, and says "Mystique if you would take Rogue, Nocturne, Kitty and Toad and make sure their records are taken care of, and there is nothing salvageable from here. Magik, Boomboom, you follow me." And with that he lifts up in the air a bit more and the neigh invulnerable cannonball shows his name blasting down through the floors towards James and John, leaving a nice sized hole for the others to follow.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Well that's one way to make a door way, and Mystique rather enjoyed watching that happen. Gesturing for Toad to follow, she looks over at Rogue and offers one hell of a huge grin. Pistols still in hand, she waits to see just what Rogue will do, what with being the one in 'charge' now. There's a amused little thought running around in head, but she's not going to share it just yet.

"You realize this building is getting destroyed, right?" She asks Rogue simply. "And anything I see that isn't one of us is getting killed... not the Shi'ar either of course, though I'd strongly suggest they start leaving."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Follow Sam to Jimmy. Aye-aye Captain. Tabby is just crazy enough to jump in the hole after Sam, not worrying about whether or not it's a long fall. Sam will catch her if there's any danger of her not surviving. Or Yana will. She's pretty sure of that.

Talia Wagner has posed:
    "I mean unless some Shi'ar want to blow up some Domintors... I'm fine with that." her tail lashing with anger still. She hasn't left yet, she will be sticking with Mystique when they exit to find said records....

    I mean liberally applied the geneticist aliens who did this are like living records after all.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue nods to Sam and watches as he blasts through the floor. She exhales at the destruction and gently shakes her head. "Why couldn't they just play ball..." She mutters before looking to those with her on this run. "Okay, ya'll. We're goin' down a level, I think." She states before lifting up off the ground. "If ya need a ride down, hop on. We're gonna try'n get this done lickity split, so we can get back t'the others before things get even weirder around here."

With that said, Rogue floats to the hole in the ground and moves to head on down toward the central corridor to go find the location of the records keeping area!

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Tabitha leads the vanguard of wrath, Illyana behind her a step or two. "I am glad you brought your sunglasses. It's going to get very bright, won't it?" The ball she has wrapped around them hardens, and the crashing descent through the floor inside that orb of force could be plenty fun. Cue lifting her hand to keep Tabby from becoming a Boom-Boom shaped splat on the floor, wherever the floor ends up being. If they both come out in space, that will just be Sam's fault, now won't it?

Her Soulsword is nowhere to be seen for now, though that hardly means anything. Not like they've given anyone a lack of excellent reasons to lash out repeatedly with a pointed object around here.

James Proudstar has posed:
The Shi'ar barrister gives a smile to the mutants and a dull wave to the devastator begging for his life. The adjutants with him look vaguely scared at the destructive power unleashed. The whole group is whisked away in one of those teleportation fields, back to the ship.

    Two floors down are the cells and in the back is one that smells like an animal lives in it, you can her the growl, the long dark hair. the sheer size of this monster, is he bigger? He raises up, chained to the floor, he looks at them approach and his deep brown eyes fall on Tabby, his voice is dry and scratchy and he doesn't speak in english, "Beloved, you came? You came for me?" He says in Apache. If she comes close enough he hugs her gently. Then smiles at Sam and at Illyana, still chained to the floor.

    Rogue leads them down one level and then into the central chamber, clean white sterile, clearly a medical facility, you can see the cloning vats, the instruments, all the apparati of cloning and the computers that support it. Laid out before the destruction squad with all the key Dominator experts. And a smattering of clones all moving at half speed and out of sorts.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will look over to Magik and Boomer "You two get James, I will check on John." That seems to be James, but would rather Tabby have some back up if it is another trick. If it is James, well lets just say Sam figured no need to ass awkwardness. He heads to find John, channeling a blast punch to get himself inside the room to move and check on the other man, and see if he is awake, able to be moved or what.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith grins her thanks at Illyana for the assist and immediately begins scanning their surroundings once it's not too bright around her to see. Threats that might intend to keep her out of the cell are her immediate concern. Seeing none, she moves toward the cell and has to pause for a moment after blsting open the cell, "Did you get bigger, Jimmy? That's gonna be a crick in the neck." She covers with a joke. "You can cut those chains more safely than I can blow them, Yana."

James Proudstar has posed:
Sam walks in to the next room to find John is in a bed, looking small and diminished. He's been kept alive by these machines for over a decade. They feed him, breath for him, keep his heart beating. The once powerful water hobbled by his greatest foes, you can see the wounds where the Dominators have been harvesting tissue. John isn't here, he hasn't been for quite sometime. This is just a tissue bank for John Proudstar's genetic material. There is a piece of equipment, connected to JOhn's head, a machine with a blue white crystal sticking out of it.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Tabby enters first, the blonde ghost following through the smoke and blasted doors. "Da," Illyana agrees. "Stay to the side, please." No need to hurt anyone if things go awry.

If it is James, then nothing to fear from the sword suddenly in hand where none was before. The brightest shard of a girl's soul, wrapped in silver thorns rather than its usual black, settles in Illyana's hand. She flexes it and then brings the artifact down in a double-handed strike absent any of the fancy footwork or duelling needed otherwise: this is sheer violence against an inanimate object, no else.

Doubly she strikes with the Soulsword shattering the chain links, breaking down any source of bondage. Flesh would need to worry, but the resounding second hit pours all the arcane energy through maintaining a cutting edge that laughs at lesser materials. Links may just fly all over, deflected from harming anyone in Jimmy's cell by the spell she threw. The next is already coming, fingertips flickering in sharp motions.

James Proudstar has posed:
Rogue, Mystique and Talia emerge down one level and then head into the central chamber. Clean white sterile, clearly a medical facility, they can see the cloning vats, the instruments, all the apparati of cloning and the computers that support it. Laid out before the destruction squad with all the key Dominator experts. And a smattering of clones all moving at half speed and out of sorts. The clones have not had a chance to enact a true counter attack yet. This is a target rich environment.

Rogue has posed:
From the corridor, the group traveling to the central records area finally finds the doorway and aftera moment of trying to access it, the doors are ripped open unceremoniously. Anyone and everyone inside the room with the cloning tech will see the group of very unhappy mutants come to find anything they can, and likely destroy the rest.

Rogue flies right on inside, hoping to draw any of the attention she can.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
There is no hesitation from the cobalt Mutant, the minute there are targets, she opens fire. Clones first, they are the real risk, and she figures that Talia will enjoy the chance to murder the ever loving f**k out of the experts. Toad will remain by the exits to ensure that none of them have an escape route, and if one gets in range, which is a large range, they will find themselves split on in the face.

"Gonna need some kind of computer virus from Kitty," she comments as she opens fire, acting as if this is an every day occurrence and she's just making friendly conversation. "Something strong enough to get back to their home world and destroy the back ups of their work. Think Kitty can manage that?"

Target rich environment indeed, "I got the clones." she then adds, "Toad, feel free to go hog wild!"

Talia Wagner has posed:
    I mean. Talia does not like the whole slew of John clones being shot by Mystique. This part is enough to cause some nightmares later. Still it isn't enough to slow her down as she leaps up snagging the ceiling with one hand and sticking long enough to plant her feet and go running towards the scientists and various technicians.

    She is trusting Mystique to have the clones, so she racing along in a very unconventional manner and hurling ruby red hexbolts, popping Domintors each time she lands one. Maximum confusion right now and trying to sow a whole lot of anger fueled chaos.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith only waits long enough for James to be free of the chains before she moves toward him and checks him over for any lingering wounds, "You ready to get outta this hellhole, Jimmy?" She probably understood the Apache but then it's Tabby so who knows. Her actions don't really give much in the way of evidence.

James Proudstar has posed:
James watches Yana as she slice though his binds, he watches the blade and shows no fear of it, or the duelist who wields it. His trust in both is absolute. After being released he collapses on the two woman, but even though his body crumples the mass that they have come to expect from James' form never lands on them, he holds himself up even when appearing entirely collapsed. He nods to Tabitha, "Yes. I'm ready." this is in english. He's easy to guide out of the cell and back towards the remainder of the party.

    The clones driect fire to the biggest threat attacking Rogue but again, the blasts are fractions of their former intensity, their aim is atrocious, they can't hit any of you. and They fall to Mystique's attacks as if they were coated in molasses. The Dominators try to flee but to no avail, trapped between chaos magic and Toads expectoration, they go down in gruesome and devastating ways. Kitty sets the virus, one that she and Doug had spent sometime developing. It not only erases Jim and John's information but any other X-Men and brotherhood as well, and tracks certain key genetic structures crippling their ability to produce mutant clones of any sort. The equipment goes up under Talia's chaos magics, frying and turning itself inside out as the probability fields warp and twist around the delicate scientific equipment.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie has been around machines that keep people alive. His Pa and the cancer. He looks to the man, and frowns. Should he disconnect him, and let him pass? No Sam has to have hope, he looks around finding a breathing pump to use to keep John breathing till they can get him healed up or to the medlab on the Shi'ar ship. They have a lot of things to help out "Magik, I need a stepping disk from here to the ship's Medlab. Get Warpath and Boomer out and then come back and get me." He tries to keep James from having to see his brother like this.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue doesn't participate in the killing. But she does absorb some of the attacks that she's able to, dodging out of any that seem like they're going to be a bit too nasty for her. She doesn't hesitate to smash equipment though, and toss aside anyone who gets too close to her. She defends Katherine as the virus is installed as well, and grimaces at the sight of Mystique and Toad at work... Charles has certainly effected the way Rogue does these kind of raids.

"Come on." Rogue says to the others once they've cleaned up in the lab. She gives it one more look over before she shoves over a cloning vat, smashing it on the ground. "Assholes." She mutters before turning to flee the room and go back to find the others.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar stands with an effort and moves to his brother's side. He smiles sadly to Sam, and place a hand on the other man's shoulder. Then he focuses on his brother. He disconnects the tubes and equipment, and he sings to his brother, the song of their tribe. The song of their family, the one they were born with and the one they found along the way. The X-Men are in this song, and Jim cries for his brother, he takes the time and when John has been disconnected he picks his brother up over his shoulders and pulls the crystal from the machine. He nods to Yana, and is ready to go.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Every shot she reminded herself that they were clones, not mutants. They were already dead inside, no matter how much they looked like the real thing.

When the clones are gone, and the experts are dead, Mystique sets to shooting the equipment itself. Not one piece of equipment in that room will remain intact, if she has C4 on hand she would blow it all straight to whatever hell the Dominator's might or might not believe in.

"Toad," she orders. "With me."

Now that the destruction was complete, she bolts out of the room in search of the single Domiator that tried to barter his life for information. If she can find him, he will get to see the destruction first hand even if she and Toad have to drag him kicking and screaming back to the lab.

"You see this," she spits out venomously at him. "This is a small taste of what mutants can do. Remember this, tell others about this, and let your people know that mutants are off limits or I will search the galaxy to find /you/ and take you apart piece by piece."

Only when that is done, does she release him to find the others.

Talia Wagner has posed:
    Well when peak brotherhood grams and toad rush out, TJ will hang around with Kitty and Rogue until Kitty is done with the job. Looking out for the X-men at this point.

    "So.... to be clear were the Shi'ar going to be teleporting us out before the whole facility blows up or are we on our own...?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Before the group ports out, Tabitha leaves a large time bomb in the room John was in. "That should go off in about five so we should get outta here, folks."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will make sure everyone if out before himself, being the last one out as he knows if need be he can ride the explosion out.

James Proudstar has posed:
The labs and production facilities destroyed all that remains is the final coup de grace. Tabs places the Warpath sized Time bomb in the place where Warpath once stood. James laughs and smiles, even in the middle of all this. Kitty signals the Shi'ar cruiser to leave orbit and through her usual combination or arcane style and and raw mutant power a certain Blonde Russian brings everyone home. She even nails that pesky left turn in Albuquerque. Sam is the last to leave and all the mutants are standing a galaxy away on the cold pavement of Xavier's front drive in a cool fall evening when the cloning facility goes up, but it does and leaves nothing but a crater.

    "James looks, well, bigger, but beaten and hollowed out, holding the body of his brother, and glowing crystal of his memories, "Thank you, thank you all for coming to get me. For helping me bring John back. It means more than you know."