Thirteen Days: Rules of Engagement
Oct. 25th, 2007 08:54 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTraining begins, and Terry and Clarice find out that attacking a target in space means a few modifications to the X-Men's usual approach.
It bothered him, to be taking younger X-Men into space. It was a stupid sort of issue to have, really - they wore leathers, they were qualified, he trusted them. They wouldn't be here if he didn't. But Scott was too keenly aware of the risks of this particular mission. They'd all seen deadly danger before, but this was the closest cousin to a suicide mission that the X-Men were ever liable to see - knock on wood - and looking at the younger members of the team he would be taking into space, all he could see were the kids he'd known.
He didn't let them see that, of course, although he couldn't quite keep the slight, quizzical smile off his face as he turned to Terry and Clarice. "So you know how I like to rant about rules of engagement?" The Danger Room was in standby, waiting for his command to start the program. "We'll be throwing most of them out for this run."
"Define, 'throwing most of them out'," Clarice asked, since she had to work especially hard for her powers to be defense and not offensive. Her moral flexibility was sometimes useful and sometimes not. "'Cause most is not all. And we're about to be prime candidates for the Darwin Awards."
"I'll give you the lecture about positive thinking later," Scott said. "Right now, new rule number one. The priority is to put your opponent down in a way that's going to keep him there." It sounded strange to hear those words coming out of his mouth. Twilight Zone-esque, in a way. "That doesn't mean kill. In fact, it really doesn't, because using enough force to kill someone is liable to breach the hull of the station. And kill all of us."
"But we're not so worried about permanent damage to the people," Terry clarified in a flat voice that could have meant anything. She was standing with her arms crossed, hair bound up tight and flat against her head, looking grim. She could hear the... misgivings was the wrong word for it, say rather regret in Scott's voice and shook her head slightly. Reassuring him would do no good and wasn't her job in any case. "And if one of them happens to die, you won't be kicking us off the team as you normally would."
It would be so, so easy to teleport someone into the black, make them piss blood and their eyes bug out of their sockets. Even if their bodies were somehow retrieved it would be a closed casket. And that was beyond even Clarice, she was no killer, but more than that, she did not torture. There were just some things you didn't do. Especially to your enemies, "Right then. No hull breaches. This really means 'no powers' then for most of us."
"It means very careful use of powers," Scott corrected her. "Those of us with powers that might be a little too... forceful for a space station environment are going to be training specifically for precision this week." He didn't need to say that some of the team's powers simply made them unable to safely join this mission. They'd been there at the briefing to see some of their fellow X-Men realize that they had to let their friends go into space without them. "Clarice, your powers are going to be invaluable."
"Always are," she replied. The quick teleport was always useful. "But I don't know if I can teleport from up there to down here. I mean, that's pretty far," and didn't satellites or space stations or whatever move faster than the planet so it could orbit? That did not sound like a good idea to mess with. Clarice broke the laws of physics, but she didn't parade around brandishing its head on a pole. She didn't even want to consider going from Earth to up there. No way.
"Not even an option," Scott said flatly. He'd been over the physics as well. "But I do have another idea that you and Cain and I are going to need to talk about in depth later today..." He shook his head slightly. Later for that; the idea still had some definite flaws. "Anyway. Clarice, you've got mobility going for you once you're aboard the space station, and Terry, you can strike from a distance. The primary mission target is the console that controls the satellite system - we should have hard details on the layout of the station by midday."
Presuming, of course, that the Russians cooperated. He didn't know the details of what was going on behind the scenes politically, but Cooper had promised they'd get the information one way or the other. "Capturing Magneto and the Brotherhood is a secondary objective at best. It would be nice, but wrecking that console comes first. You've probably noticed that a lot of those of us who are going do have one thing or the other - mobility or range. There's a reason for that, because one of us has to reach the primary target."
Terry was frowning, her fingers twitching in a way that suggested they'd have been happier tugging on a lock of hair. "I've got a... couple ideas. Just something I was working on at home and..." She stopped, fluttered her hand, obviously not quite ready to explain what she was thinking, probably because she didn't know yet what that was. "How are you setting it up? In teams, with partners, every mutant for himself?"
"I'd think partners... one for mobility and one for distance. That way, we have a better chance," of what Clarice didn't say, but she didn't much need to. They were all thinking the same thing. How she could be so calm in the face of a potential suicide mission was odd given her normally slightly hyperactive state, but she wasn't really thinking about that. She was mentally reviewing her powers and her teammates so they could hopefully come out alive. Alive was good.
Scott shook his head. "Not partners, apart from a couple of set tasks like you and Cain, and Nate and Jean to blow the airlock." Yet another rule out the window. His smile was very slight and humorless. "I partner us up, we'll be worried about watching each other's backs. It's one of the drawbacks of our team training in this particular context."
"So to sum up, we're on our own, free to use excessive force and should be careful not to get us all killed by wrecking the station." Terry ticked the points off on her black-gloved fingers. "Well, it's a walk in the park then, isn't it? Let's get in there."
It bothered him, to be taking younger X-Men into space. It was a stupid sort of issue to have, really - they wore leathers, they were qualified, he trusted them. They wouldn't be here if he didn't. But Scott was too keenly aware of the risks of this particular mission. They'd all seen deadly danger before, but this was the closest cousin to a suicide mission that the X-Men were ever liable to see - knock on wood - and looking at the younger members of the team he would be taking into space, all he could see were the kids he'd known.
He didn't let them see that, of course, although he couldn't quite keep the slight, quizzical smile off his face as he turned to Terry and Clarice. "So you know how I like to rant about rules of engagement?" The Danger Room was in standby, waiting for his command to start the program. "We'll be throwing most of them out for this run."
"Define, 'throwing most of them out'," Clarice asked, since she had to work especially hard for her powers to be defense and not offensive. Her moral flexibility was sometimes useful and sometimes not. "'Cause most is not all. And we're about to be prime candidates for the Darwin Awards."
"I'll give you the lecture about positive thinking later," Scott said. "Right now, new rule number one. The priority is to put your opponent down in a way that's going to keep him there." It sounded strange to hear those words coming out of his mouth. Twilight Zone-esque, in a way. "That doesn't mean kill. In fact, it really doesn't, because using enough force to kill someone is liable to breach the hull of the station. And kill all of us."
"But we're not so worried about permanent damage to the people," Terry clarified in a flat voice that could have meant anything. She was standing with her arms crossed, hair bound up tight and flat against her head, looking grim. She could hear the... misgivings was the wrong word for it, say rather regret in Scott's voice and shook her head slightly. Reassuring him would do no good and wasn't her job in any case. "And if one of them happens to die, you won't be kicking us off the team as you normally would."
It would be so, so easy to teleport someone into the black, make them piss blood and their eyes bug out of their sockets. Even if their bodies were somehow retrieved it would be a closed casket. And that was beyond even Clarice, she was no killer, but more than that, she did not torture. There were just some things you didn't do. Especially to your enemies, "Right then. No hull breaches. This really means 'no powers' then for most of us."
"It means very careful use of powers," Scott corrected her. "Those of us with powers that might be a little too... forceful for a space station environment are going to be training specifically for precision this week." He didn't need to say that some of the team's powers simply made them unable to safely join this mission. They'd been there at the briefing to see some of their fellow X-Men realize that they had to let their friends go into space without them. "Clarice, your powers are going to be invaluable."
"Always are," she replied. The quick teleport was always useful. "But I don't know if I can teleport from up there to down here. I mean, that's pretty far," and didn't satellites or space stations or whatever move faster than the planet so it could orbit? That did not sound like a good idea to mess with. Clarice broke the laws of physics, but she didn't parade around brandishing its head on a pole. She didn't even want to consider going from Earth to up there. No way.
"Not even an option," Scott said flatly. He'd been over the physics as well. "But I do have another idea that you and Cain and I are going to need to talk about in depth later today..." He shook his head slightly. Later for that; the idea still had some definite flaws. "Anyway. Clarice, you've got mobility going for you once you're aboard the space station, and Terry, you can strike from a distance. The primary mission target is the console that controls the satellite system - we should have hard details on the layout of the station by midday."
Presuming, of course, that the Russians cooperated. He didn't know the details of what was going on behind the scenes politically, but Cooper had promised they'd get the information one way or the other. "Capturing Magneto and the Brotherhood is a secondary objective at best. It would be nice, but wrecking that console comes first. You've probably noticed that a lot of those of us who are going do have one thing or the other - mobility or range. There's a reason for that, because one of us has to reach the primary target."
Terry was frowning, her fingers twitching in a way that suggested they'd have been happier tugging on a lock of hair. "I've got a... couple ideas. Just something I was working on at home and..." She stopped, fluttered her hand, obviously not quite ready to explain what she was thinking, probably because she didn't know yet what that was. "How are you setting it up? In teams, with partners, every mutant for himself?"
"I'd think partners... one for mobility and one for distance. That way, we have a better chance," of what Clarice didn't say, but she didn't much need to. They were all thinking the same thing. How she could be so calm in the face of a potential suicide mission was odd given her normally slightly hyperactive state, but she wasn't really thinking about that. She was mentally reviewing her powers and her teammates so they could hopefully come out alive. Alive was good.
Scott shook his head. "Not partners, apart from a couple of set tasks like you and Cain, and Nate and Jean to blow the airlock." Yet another rule out the window. His smile was very slight and humorless. "I partner us up, we'll be worried about watching each other's backs. It's one of the drawbacks of our team training in this particular context."
"So to sum up, we're on our own, free to use excessive force and should be careful not to get us all killed by wrecking the station." Terry ticked the points off on her black-gloved fingers. "Well, it's a walk in the park then, isn't it? Let's get in there."
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