Genosha: The End of the Beginning: In The Air Tonight

[x-gambit.livejournal.com]

An aerial team of X-Men distract Genosha's airforce outside of the Citadel



Below it was mostly quiet. Perimeter and gate security was confused and trying to figure out why the power was down, but it was clear no alarms had been raised yet. People looked around, yet no one looked up. Earlier the aerial team had watched groups of their teammates sneak from the outside of the wall, across the grounds and to their various entry points. Now they just had to wait to see if they were needed, if the Genoshans would send in helicopters or planes or if they would be sighted at all.

Staying under the radar for as long as possible was a key factor in Sam's mind as they approached the citadel. He stayed further in the back of the other fliers, letting the quieter and less visible ones take point. It was still pretty quiet which was good, since that meant their teammates had more time to infiltrate the area and to get set up before they were inevitably discovered. Until that time, or until they were spotted, they would just hang tight and stay airborne until they were needed.

"That's it, people, stay in formation and out of sight as long as possible. So far, so good."

Terry squirmed a little in place, but not too much for fear of Lorna losing her grip on the bits and pieces of metal in her uniform. While capable of flying, it was not a preferred mode of transportation for her (awkward gliding is just embarrassing) and frankly, she needed to save her voice. So getting an assist to the highest rooftop in the area was worth a wedgie. She looked back at Sam and nodded, then over at her pilot and prayed skies would be clear until the ground wasn't so far beneath her.

Lorna had a good hold on Terry as they were airborne, but stayed close in case anything did happen. "Don't worry Siryn. I won't drop you." Lorna reassured her. Carefully Lorna placed Terry on the top most part of the roof, staying out of sight and being very quite. Lorna then mouthed, 'There you go.'

Warren was silently winging his way near the front of the group, sharp eyes keeping trained on the ground below. There was movement, but it didn't seem like they'd noticed the group in the sky. Not yet, anyway.

Angel looked around carefully, well aware that her own flight was...well, less than subtle. Being a great, flaming beacon in the sky probably wasn't ideal. She was keeping it down the best she could, but if she snuffed the flames out too much...well, the world would be short one fiery redhead. She shifted her gaze to Sam - wasn't so far, so good usually the beginning of a death sentence?

Off in the distance the sound of a bell ringing out could be heard. Curious as to the meaning of the same, Sam checked the ground below them and it looked like some activity was taking place below them.

"Alright people, looks like there's some motion on the ground below, everyone stay alert." He wasn't quite sure what was going on but they'd be best off paying close attention to their surroundings. As the hanger door drew up lights inside illuminated what looked like a small, military grade jet. The voice over the loud speaker came back a moment before the plane rolled out onto the tarmac. It quickly gained speed down the runway and took off into the air. All seemed well, surprisingly enough, when the jet's flight turned away from where the group of X-Men were stationed. That was, until it turned off in the distance. A wide arc carved a perimeter around the group, though whether or not it knew the X-Men were there was uncertain.

Right up until the jet opened fire.

Rushing ahead of the group and quickly throwing up a shield, to protect the rest of the team. "Move guys..." Polaris said holding up the shield for as long as possible to allow the team to react.

Terry scouted the rooftop vantage point until the doors of the hanger opened. Then she ducked out of sight, circling a ventilation shaft. When it swung back around, she muttered an unintelligible curse likely involving creative arrangements of animals, hell, and his future procreation habits under her breath. As the jet barreled down on her airborne teammates, she modulated her voice to produce a thin stream of sound aimed at the craft to upset its delicate balance.

"So far, so good," Angel mocked under her breath as she quickly turned towards the upcoming blasts, flames forming around her hands. "Seriously, somebody hit Sam, please." Preferably someone who wasn't actively trying to kill them. Angel flew up a bit higher, drawing her hands together and firing off several fire balls to disrupt the jet fire.

At the sound of the gunfire, Warren had immediately pulled his wings in close and spiraled, keeping himself away from the fire. A stray bullet would quickly cripple him, and he didn't want to be a burden on his team.

Terry's efforts to unbalance the jet seemed to be working, but the pilot compensated by rolling the jet to on side to dodge the strange turbulence. It came out of the roll to find a fiery girl sending fireballs its way and it returned fire in kind, aiming straight at her until one of its wings caught fire. It seemed at first as if the plane would retreat entirely but instead of turning around and heading back to the hanger it went straight up into the air. It disappeared into the clouds and then came back down on the other side of the group...just as another jet was coming out of the hangar,

Terry shaded her eyes with her hand and watched the jet disappear up into the clouds. A noise behind her captured her attention and made her spin around to see another jet rolling down the taxiway. "Another one incoming," she announced to the others as the first jet flanked them. At this distance, her scream couldn't touch the one already lifted off, but it dug a furrow into the ground of the airstrip, chewing up concrete and dirt and making take offs more difficult for the line of jets already pulling into position. Her shield dropped when the plane disappeared into the clouds. Turning towards Siryn's voice about another plane, her eyes followed where she was looking at and saw the other jet. Lorna got ready to fire a magnetic pulse to the grounded jet but felt a junk of metal behind her so she turned and fired off the pulse towards the first jet to get it off balance. Dealing with the immediate threat first.

Things were going south and fast. Sam cursed under his breath before telling himself to calm down and to assess the situation. "Stay cool everyone, we've got this. You all know the drill, take evasive manoeuvers as needed and let's ground 'em." He swerved and headed towards the nearest jet, ready to blast through one of its wings or its tail section in an attempt to knock it out of the air should it keep firing on the

Angel's eyes widened when she saw the jet firing at her, and she quickly dodged out of the way, watching as the plane's wing catch fire. She turned to look at the taxiway to find that Terry was indeed correct about the second jet. One jet on the ground getting ready for take off- Angel turned to look over her shoulder - and one behind them with an already-damaged wing. Fire formed around Angel's hands, and she took aim at that, taking advantage of the weakness. And she fired.

Terry's scream faltered out, and she stopped to suck down more breath before continuing in her efforts to damage the runway. She continued to try and stay out of sight on the rooftop, aware that she would be an eas(ier) target once her location was determined.

Below, the first squads of Magistrates could be seen moving out and in the base. Some were taking up positions on balconies and upper floors, while sharpshooters spread themselves out between the limited anti-aircraft positions around the base. They could also see the incoming drone of several attack helicopters, moving their way to support the others. In a few minutes, the skies over the Citadel would be very crowded and dangerous. But they knew, the hotter it was for them, the more forces it drew away from where the students were being held.