Krakoa: The Island

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Juggernaut, Blink, and Sunfire prepare for their mission.


Shiro fingered the silicate solar panels of his uniform. A nervous habit he'd picked up since acquiring the new uniform. He checked the connections to the internal circuitry for the tenth time before his gaze fell on the dark red rising sun emblem on his right glove. He clenched his fist, conjuring golden flame in his hand and illuminating the first ray of the power indicator. It didn't take an empath to see just how uncomfortable and nervous he was.

Cain looked up from reading the dossier that the Japanese government had provided, noting Shiro's obvious anxiety. "Relax," he said quietly but firmly. "These are your people, we're gonna need you to do most of the talking. Ain't going to be much use if you're stuttering and spazzing out."

He checked one of the small displays on the bulkhead, noting their time until they would land in Japan. Less than an hour now, thanks to the Blackbird's supersonic capabilities. "I gotta admit, this weirds me out a bit too. Mysterious island, unknown mutant, some bioweapon that no one bothered to ever officially record? Something here we ain't being told, you think?"

"There is always something we're not being told," Clarice agreed. It seemed to be the nature of these government type missions, at least on TV and with their lives surreal enough as it was, it made sense that their lives would mimic a TV show. "I mean, look at our government, the right hand barely acknowledges the left even exists most of the time, much less talks."

Shiro lifted his head up and looked out the window to see the Pacific Ocean, reflecting the sun's light like a gigantic mirror. "I trust Prime Minister Abe about as far as my sister can throw him," he said. "There are some trustworthy members of the Diet - for whatever definitons of 'trustworthy' apply to politicians - but for Abe-san to have agreed to our help unsettles me."

"Chuck's got friends all over," Cain agreed, "but this stinks like day-old shit on toast. You two know the ground rules, yeah?" Cain already wasn't happy with being drafted into the role of field leader, but given the situation and the lack of options, he had to accept it. Two junior X-Men, one of whom was only recently back at full status, and here they all were going into a situation where they knew they didn't have all the information they needed.

He tapped the dossier against his knee for emphasis. "We gotta wear these stupid-ass suits in case whatever kacked the Jap team is still out there stinkin' up the place. If anything gets hairy - Blink, it's your job to get our asses out of there pronto. Sunfire, you're probably gonna have to do all the talking, so try and rein in the attitude if whoever's out there gets testy, understand?"

Her job was always to get in or out, pronto, it was the bane of being a long-range teleporter. "No problem, I port us back to quarantine just in case." Having a pre-set place to port to was always useful, "Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut and look as cute as I can in these oversized hazmat suits."

"If it is a man, then that may be a key strategy," said Shiro with a small smile. He released his fist and extinguished the flames, and the glowing ray on his glove darkened again. "Have they given us a map of the island or any topographical data?"

Cain nodded, pulling out two copies of the map and passing them to his teammates. "Small place, ain't a lot of detail. Funny how it don't seem to be registered on any Japanese census or official records. Which again stinks like shit, and we're being dropped right into it."

He glanced down at the aerial photo of the small island and shrugged. "They call it Krakoa."