xp_logs | The Dark Phoenix

X-Men returning from India land after Dark Phoenix forces them from the sky

The Blackbird was coming out of top speed, having coaxed every extra bit they could returning from the destruction in India. Half those aboard were wounded and several had not made it out of the base. They had picked up the distress signal from the mansion along with the images of the Firebird descending on it. The mansion was being torn to pieces, and they caught sight of several of the students before parts were flattened, burying them in the rubble.

The plan was simple; get close enough to VTOL down and send the rest of the teams to take on what they'd taken to calling Dark Phoenix while the injured are evacuated back to the plane. Unfortunately the plan fell apart almost immediately as once they transitioned to VTOL mode, a telekinetic grip seized the plane and it was smashed into the ground. One wing was hopelessly twisted and the people inside stunned.

Slowly, they levered the rear door open, and stepped out into the fury of the attack. There was only a brief moment to coordinate before they moved off in groups to try and find their people on the ground.

Adrienne hung back in the plane, elbows on knees, head in hands. "I think I'm gonna sit this one out if that's cool," she called out, even though no one had asked. "Sifting through rubble that used to be the mansion? I might break a nail. Get my clothes dirty. I don't think that's gonna work for me right now."

There was a hand on her shoulder, and a bright smile that was totally out of place given the state of the blackbird and the sounds of collapse coming from outside. That was all Arthur did to try to comfort her, but his eyes searched their little group for anyone who had a gameplan.

"What's the protocol for an attack here? Would the students have grouped? Is there a bunker?" He asked no one in particular.

"There is," Callisto said, "but they didn't even make it to the right part of the building, from what we've seen - everything must've just happened far too fast." The brunette glanced in Adrienne's direction before straightening-up a little. "Plan's unchanged," she said. "Find the injured, get 'em to safety. We do the first bit and see where we are come the second."

The hand still on Adrienne's shoulder turned into a brief grip of reassurance before Arthur moved forward and toward the door. He turned his smile up a few notches. "Hear that? Your families and friends are out there. They need us. We're bringing hope."

"The kids are smart and far more capable than I was at that age." He pointed at the Blackbird's exit, but his eyes moved from Adrienne to Cammie to Callisto as if trying to will his good humor into them. "They'll have figured out a way to keep safe. We just have to find them."

"Too bad we're probably all going to die here, or I'd suggest you start a new career as a motivational speaker," Adrienne muttered glumly, getting to her feet wearily. She spent a moment trying to brush some of the dust and grime off herself before deciding it was a lost cause.

"Shut up, we're not going to fucking die," Cammie said, checking what was left of her wrappings, "Anyone have anything to drink? I'm out of antifreeze," she said, holding up a silver colored whiskey flask, "Not that it will do much good, but hey, I'm thirsty."

Adrienne flipped her off and stuck her tongue out at Cammie before tossing the green-haired girl her own flask. "I told Summers it's coffee." She always told Summers her flask had coffee in it. "But it's bourbon."

Cammie caught the flask with ease and took a swig, "There are some good things about you," she said, "This will work. Anyone else want a drink? If we are going to die the rest of you might as well get drunk. Fuck knows I can't, but drunk people are fun to watch."

Callisto seemed to be ignoring this exchange, straightening up as she exited the twisted wreck and pulling off the headphones she always wore in the Blackbird to minimise the temporarily tinnitus it gave her, tossing them aside and running her hands through her filthy mop of hair."Right, we're this way," she said, tipping her head in their direction. She glanced at Adrienne, but said nothing about the other woman's current demeanour right then. "Stay low, stay safe. We find people, we get them to safety. We good?" She scanned the faces before her, but didn't wait for a response. "Right. Let's go."

***

Remy and 'Ro were gone. Dead. They sacrificed themselves, and for what, Rogue thought bitterly. They escaped India barely, only for the Mansion to be attacked.

And now they were brought down by who knows what, staring at the chaos that was supposed to be their home, their haven.

Enough was enough.

She gauged the situation, eyes narrowed, with her hands on her hips. "Right. I ain't no leader, and y'all are all veterans, but I think it needs to be said." She cleared her throat. "People have died. We got Jean back. And now Emma's crew needs help. That's all we are focusing on. We can break down later, and I assure ya, I got dibs on all the wine in Westchester, but let's do this now. For everyone."

She was oddly proud of herself for not crying. Not yet, at least.

"Wolverine, you're up with me at the front," Wade said. "Daytripper and Rogue, bring up the rear. Everybody else pair up. We'll be moving fast to get to the White Queen. Does anybody have comms? My earwig's dead, I got nothing coming through." He wasn't sure how well this was going to work - ideally he'd leave the injured and the concussed at the Blackbird, but there were no guarantees they'd be safe there given what they were going up against. That left then with a basic vanguard and rearguard protection formation and a hope that nobody collapsed on the way - or lost control of their powers because that would suck a lot.

"Mine's out too." Amanda had a visible bruise rising on her cheekbone, from where she'd smacked her face into the back of the seat in front of her, but she was upright and functioning, even if it took every ounce of discipline to push down her reactions to losing teammates. Friends. She grimaced, swallowing hard against the sudden lump in her throat. "Normally I'd suggest Jean do the brain tap thing, but..." She glanced apologetically at the suppression device Jean was wearing.

Jean had been quiet for most of the trip. She hadn't said a word to anyone, including Scott. Her mind had been drifting, partially unwilling, partially by choice. The reports were in. There was a duplicate of her that had likely been the one that razed the city in India to the ground and chose the mansion as it's next target.

Truth be told, she wasn't surprised. It explained the sense of dread she had been having when she woke up, and potentially the dreams. At the time she didn't quite know what it all meant, despite vague inklings that she had partially chalked up to grief. But upon hearing the news it confirmed a suspicion she had but wouldn't let herself fully acknowledge. And for her alternate self to go to the mansion to lay siege was something she would have done, something Jane would have done anyway.

She knew to go for the heart.

"She would use it anyway. Try to listen in," she said softly. "If she could." They trusted that she would never read their minds. It was because she had built that trust over years. This version of herself wouldn't show the same restraint.

Scott winced as he put his weight down on an injured foot and shook his head, "We've got to assume that she is listening to us right now," he pointed out gesturing back at the ruins of the Blackbird, "She's certainly aware of us, and comms or not there isn't anything we can do to stop her picking through our heads if she wants to." Even the strongest of defenses would shatter under the kind of power they were seeing, "That is if she even notices us," He nodded in Wade and Rogue's direction, "Deadpool and Rogue are right, we just need to get moving ."

"That fucker may have done a number on me back in India, but you can still count on me. I'm not trained like you X-Men types, but I sure as fuck can carry my own weight. Count on me to watch them." Jessica began, gesturing toward Pixie and Julian. "I'm invulnerable and, thanks to Rogue, I know how to use it." She finished, crossing her arms in determination. Her head HURT and her body was dying for some rest. But fuck that. This was her chance to be the hero that she'd always wanted to be. To be the woman who, those few years ago, decided to put her powers to good use. The woman untouched by the darker side of things. To be Jewel.

Pixie looked up, her eyes a deep black. The rest of her face was eerily pale and expressionless. "I can still fight. We will drive the enemy out of our home." Her hand moved to her belt, where she'd tucked the Soul Dagger. Her fingers were shaking slightly.

Likewise, Julian stood on wobbly feet, his head still ringing, though not as much as it had before, a bandage wrapped around part of his head. "I'm not sitting this out either, let's get moving." Uncertainty wavered behind his blue eyes for a moment as he held out a hand to Pixie, offering to help her up- resolved steeled there a moment later, as his trademark cocky smile broke through the pained expression he'd been wearing most of the flight, "No one else dies today." Secretly, Julian was very glad for the painkillers he'd taken in flight.

"Let's make damn sure that's the case." They'd lost enough already. They couldn't afford to lose more lives. Even if they were protecting the one place so many of them viewed as home. Logan glanced around. This wasn't the kind of fight they'd come to expect. This was about survival, pure and simple, and not some greater cause or ideal. No matter what happened, coming out on the other side was going to suck. "Alright folks, let's get this show on the road. We don't have time to waste."

Wanda was the last to rise and her movements were stiff, a lingering present from India along with the bruises that darkened parts of her face. To most on the plane, she probably looked exhausted but stoic, face set like stone; but she knew a few, most likely Amanda, could see past the facade to the grief at losing people so dear to her. Their team had always known, right from when Pete and Remy had asked them to join in, what might be at the end of the path for all of them. But knowing and dealing with it weren't always the same.

She took a deep breath and gestured towards the exit for the Blackbird. "Let us see if we can make that happen, Julian," she said calmly, though she doubted every word. "Allons-y, if you all would be so kind."

***

Marie-Ange shook herself, trying to clear the dizziness and pain away - there wasn't time for headaches. "Rocky, Facade, I need you with me. If we have survivors, I want to know where and how badly they are hurt." She turned briefly, to find Husk just behind her, and gave the other woman a nod. "You and Nevermore, on heavy lifting, literally. I can add structure support if we need time to move anyone out. William, if you have energy left, I need you to destroy anything keeping us from getting where we need to be."

She didn't wait for any of them to answer - just swept forward, bare arms and torn clothes slowly being covered by the bulky armor that was on the card in her hand.

Paige followed suit, re-husking from her automatic stone husk into a lighter diamond one as she followed Marie-Ange, plowing through the knee high debris and creating a path for those behind her. "Not a problem."

Billy closed his eyes a moment. He suspected it was half in his mind, but he the chaos around was almost tangible, like the static energy in the air before a storm. Except this storm was already there, and the chaos with it, just waiting to be used. He the lightning, instantly covering his hands and forearms. "Blow things up. Got it."

Korvus followed Paige's cleared path, deliberately tossing aside any debris that settled back into the path after being shoved by the diamond body in front of him.

Artie nodded. He moved his rifle around, holding it ready and picked up the backpack with first aid supplies, water, power bars and gu. He'd eaten and slept on the plane. He could almost believe that he was functional, save for the exhausted shaking his hands gave off whenever he stopped for too long. He gave a thumbs up and moved out.

Doreen took a deep breath, "Okay Miss Colbert," she said, "It's hard to really smell anything right now though, there's... a lot of scents everywhere. I mean, I can try to sort it out," she said. And she would. She could do it, right? In the end though it was like Yoda always said, do or do not, there is no try. So she'd go out there and she'd do it and she'd kick ass.

"Just tell me what you can." Marie-Ange suggested. "Even a little bit might lead us somewhere."

She followed just behind Dori, across the destroyed remains of the left wing of the mansion until the younger woman stopped, snuffled a bit and then started pulling up debris.

Seeing Dori dig, Korvus moved in alongside her naturally. He pulled the huge blade from his back, shoving it into the rubble under a large beam to use like a lever. The young man got under the haft in a squat, using all his strength to lift up a large section of crumbled wreckage.

Every time they shifted a piece of debris, Artie was there, sending down a projection, ribbons of softly glowing text reading "Are you down there? We're coming, okay. Just hang on". He couldn't move as much debris as the other three could but he could and did shift as much as he could and while they were moving the heavy stuff, he was focused on security, on watching the area around the mansion. Was it safe? Was it cleared? Was that movement? He swung his gun up and stared, fixedly, at the shadow he thought he'd seen move. It didn't move again and he sent another projection down into the rubble.

Dori sniffed and moved through the rubble, her hands slowly picking through things. She was far from her normal, chipper self, "Why did this happen?" she muttered.

Paige came over and helped her with one of the larger stones, a sharp almost smile on her sparkly features. "You're doing great, Dori. Just keep it up."

"Keep digging. I will shore up as much as I can. Artie, as soon as Doreen gives the word, you are on point for to make light." Marie-Ange knelt down, fingers splayed on a piece of wood. "Be prepared to move fast. None of this is stable."