Day Zero: Back In

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Garrison, Wanda, Bishop and Morgan are sent to meet up with the local law enforcement - and Sofia.




It was a cold day. Appropriate was the only way that Garrison could define it as they sculled the zodiac raft over the East River. Dawn hadn't even started to hint the sky, and they were all but invisible in their black outfits. It had been Kane's idea to dig up the four uniforms they were wearing; black gear identical to quick response and SWAT teams the country over. He'd even found four black vests which they'd emblazoned 'FBI' on the backs, currently hidden under a velcroed flap. If they ran into police, or groups of civilians, the appearance of official law enforcement might give them an advantage. At the very least, it made them all but anonymous to anyone who didn't know them personally, and both Wanda and Bishop had stressed that was a priority for them.

The water lapped around them as they paddled softly in the dark, occasionally seeing a mutant fly over or searchlights strafe the water. Their briefing had stressed that this Apocalypse had men watching the rivers, patrolling to stop a potential invasion force before their massive walls could be completed. That was why they'd agreed to go in under dark, quiet, slipping past one of the unfinished sections and into the city. Bishop had assured them that he knew the area they were to land at, and had a few avenues to slip into the city unknown to anyone who didn't live there. Kane adjusted his grip on the oar, making sure not to click it against the black bag between them in the raft. While the X-Men relied on their powers in combat, their team had elected to bring weapons, and the bag held an impressive array of firearms neatly stowed. Only Wanda had shaken her head when offered a firearm, making it clear that her powers were more than enough to protect her.

The boat finally came silently along the concrete pier, and Kane vaulted out to pull it partway up so they could all disembark. As they unloaded, Garrison spoke quietly in Bishop's ear.

"Duncan's message said he'd meet us at the 44th Firehouse in fifty minutes. Which way to get there without tipping off any enemies?"

Bishop didn't need to respond verbally, he moved immediately to the front and made a hand motion indicating he should be followed. With his time at NYPD he had done plenty city combat, both training and practice. He took a slightly longer lead then usual so that he could scout areas before they moved through them. He also kept them in narrow alleys to prevent them from casting any silhouettes. The route would end up being awkwardly long instead of direct but he was at the whim of things like street lights and high traffic areas.

Morgan was comfortably armed to the teeth with knives hidden up sleeves and in her boots just in case anyone got that close somehow. She was calm, falling into line behind Bishop, eyes always moving to scour the area for enemies, especially from above. Here she was comfortable. Here she knew her place. In war Morgan was home and she was glad to not only not be in charge but to have people outranking her who seemed to deserve the honor. The sounds of the city blended together into a dull, thudding blur of quiet white noise, though her ears strained to pick out individual sounds from the mix.

Following behind Morgan was Wanda as she kept close enough to the group as to not get lost but not close enough that if someone took a shot at them they could get two for one. She had pushed down the worry and fear for Jennie and the rest of her teammates; she couldn't afford to get distracted. They were entering a literal battle field and distraction could get herself or the others killed. Instead, Wanda mentally tried to keep track of where Bishop led them and keep an eye on their surroundings.

It was only a couple of blocks from the firehouse when they saw the first long rifleman in the opposite rooftop. There was a collected sigh from the party. Apocalypse's men had been dedicated to their mutant powers according to their intelligence, and the choice of an intelligent firing position and a hint of blue uniform indicated one of the New York SWAT. Kane motioned towards the building, looking for a friendly face.

The doors opened as the group approached it, likely drawn out by message relay to inside as they had approached - their arrival had been anticipated after all - revealing Duncan and a steely officer, who nodded shortly. She was about Wanda's height, but pulled in the mouth, as if there was a bad taste she could not get rid of, and dark hair had been raked off her features in a tight French braid. The black armored vest repeated Duncan's, as did the automatic at her hip.

"You're early," she said, and suddenly became Sofia. "The coffee was terrible anyway."

"Well, that's kind of creepy." Kane muttered as they shuffled inside. Duncan shook his hand and waved through towards the centre of the firehouse. The large trucks weren't there, instead leaving a large space which had numerous tables set up, and a collection of public services represented in uniform.

"Only good thing about this situation is that it delays the World Series that my Cubs aren't in." Fred said, as he went to the head of the table. The joke was as fatigued as the man. Garrison knew his boss well enough to know that the man likely had been living on coffee and cat naps since the crisis started.

"What's the situation, Fred?"

"Raining shit and the tide coming in." Fred indicated the people around him. "Since I'm pretty much the ranking political official on the island, I've taken command of all the emergency services trapped here I could locate. My men from the field office, three precincts of NYPD, including their SWAT and aerial divisions, a half dozen firehouses, and a bunch of EMT teams. The good news is that five hospitals are running on generator power with enough volunteers to keep their emergency rooms open. If they had evacuated when they should have, the body count would be a lot higher."

He pointed to a large map of the island. "The bad news is pretty much everything else. This Apocalypse controls the entire island, up to north of Central Park, and down to the island parks and Port Authority. We're cut off behind a large wall, which we still don't know how it's being built, and despite the best efforts, there's still tens of thousands of people trapped in here, maybe more. Apocalypse's teams seem to be focused on the north. This isn't a systematic invasion. It's more like a rival tribe attacking the town; looting, pillaging, but not really understanding how to take control. The problem is that south of that big building, where we are, we've got roving mobs of mutants and humans, doing all sorts of damage. We just got word from Colonel Parks from the Pershing National Guard armory that he's under siege by a mob."

"Sounds like we need to unpin those troops so they can set up some control points and guide everyone out, am I right? I'm not sure we'd have the visibility or authority to do it." Bishop was already leaned over the map, looking for the best path to establish out of the city.

He wasn't concerned with how the wall was being constructed so much as how it could be taken down. He knew he might be stepping on toes but he was the mutant liaison to the police, right?

"I prefer my mobs without fully automatic weapons." Duncan nodded. "Denying them the firepower is about as important as adding it to our own. As for authority, we get in, and I won't have any trouble with the Colonel. The trouble is that we're looking at the better part of four hundred people mobbing the place right now. The gates will hold... for a time, at least. There's some of those Apocalypse mutants, a bunch of, well, things. They look like lumpy circus strongmen made out of clay, and they're support to the mutants. As well, the mob looks like its being directed by figures in grey robes. We're trying to get more information on them."

At the last part, Wanda looked interested. "I might be able to get you information on those," she said from where she was pouring over the map, but she left it there. The 'lumpy circus strongmen' might have sounded familiar and, well, figures in grey robes were right up her alley. She'd never officially met Duncan but she was rather fond of him considering he had been part of the FBI team that Sofia had brought with her to rescue Garrison and herself. "This is just ..." She shook her head. "Beyond chaos and I can see why everything has gone to hell."

"Not to sound impatient, but who do we get to take out first?" Sofia asked suddenly, raising her head from where she had been staring at the map before her and making no more sense out of it than before. If she were honest, she'd mostly been watching Bishop near the end there and pondering him in different uniforms, trying to figure out which one repelled her the least. "What? I got my reports on Apocalypse and Friends in hours ago, I don't have anything intelligent to add. I'm just here to blow stuff up."

"Gotta say, I'm with her," Morgan nodded in Sofia's direction. Her eyes had gone over the map a couple times but she'd refrained from really committing the thing to memory like everyone else was. In the end she was a foot soldier, and she was comfortable in that position as well. "It sounds like we should start with the armory. Sitting here talking about how they are under siege isn't going to do us or them any good, is it? As well as you can plan you can't plan for everything. None of us know what all we're going up against but with the exception of the potential intel from Wanda we likely know everything we're going to know from inside here."

The metamorph shrugged, the gesture drawing attention to the guns in the shoulder holsters. "So, how about considering a game plan which involves shooting some of the bastards in the way? Nothing like getting your hands dirty to help clear the way a bit." Alright, maybe that was a bit of a simplistic approach but you could really only complicate things so much before she got restless and annoyed. Besides, she had come to do some damage to the people fucking everything up. That could have just been the urge to kill shit she generally ignored having that was talking there, though.

"Very basic rules. Anyone holding a gun, any of Apocalypse's mutant guards, and any of the weird meat things are weapons free. Everything else, non-lethal measures only. We're trying to lift a siege, not cause a blood bath." Duncan said firmly. He was still a cop, not a soldier, and they didn't know enough about the opposition to rule out mind control or a hundred other things.

"Two teams maybe? Some of us punch a hole through into the armory, while the rest take on the targets in the crowd. If we can collapse the leadership, we might disperse them that way." Garrison said, nodding.

"I'll have units back up your assault. Riot squads can clear the mob if you can take out their heavy hitters first."

Bishop looked to Wanda. "Since we're taking the heavy hitters do you think you can give me a charge?" He smirked to her. He hadn't had a full charge in quite some time.

"Bow-cheka-wow-wow."

"Stop that."