Operation: WIDEAWAKE - Log 3
Nov. 14th, 2021 07:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsX-Force is still trying to extradition their people from the facility when the Brotherhood shows up early. It is down to illusions and chaos to buy enough time to get clear.
The circular portal sprung to life from nothing in the small clearing, just outside of the security perimeter of the building. Magneto walked out in the lead, his purple and red armor striking in the midday sun. Behind him came the Brotherhood. Lots of the Brotherhood. A full strike time had been assembled, and the combined power was something that would even give the Avengers pause.
And X-Force was not the Avengers.
As soon as they stepped into the clearing, the hijacked security sensors picked them up and the remaining members of X-Force in the command and control vehicle were faced with a quick calculation. The first team had already made it back to the second truck, but the second team and the asset were still in the building.
"Merde. Merde merde merde shit shit shit they are early." Marie-Ange swore as she threw the door to the truck back open. "X-Force, we have Brotherhood incoming, all of them. At least one I do not recognize." She yanked a packet of cards from her vest. "We need to stall them for as long as possible. B Team is still in the building."
“What do you need?” Amanda asked, already on her way to Marie-Ange’s side. “I can probably get some fire going, but without a major city, I don’t have the juice to hold it long.” Only a slight shake of her voice betrayed her fear. The Brotherhood had taken the X-Men apart – X-Force would be no contest at all.
Marie-Ange spread a handful of cards, and a creature of rock and steel pulled itself out of nowhere. "I need an army. I need two eyes, these will fool no one if I make them larger than life." The creature was cartoonish, covered in brushstrokes and sketchlines. "I need to not be distracted. Facade too, I need both of us protected. I think..." She looked directly at Amanda. "I think we can buy B Team time, but I cannot see what comes next. My predictions for the Brotherhood have been all over the map for months."
Artie nodded. He had a 9mm, not enough bullets, an extendable baton and a bad feeling. "Tag team." He signed quickly. "I'll echo you and do my best to blind them, at the same time. You lead it, I just make it harder to tell what's a threat. And Amanda juices your constructs up."
He paused. "We're going to be targets as soon as they realise what we're doing." They'd drilled Tag Team. They both knew it and could do it with either leading but it worked better when he was the follower, given the interactions between their powers.
"I'll keep enough magic to use the shielding spell if it comes to that," Amanda promised. "It should hold enough to get us out." I hope. "But adding sense surround to your illusions should be a lot easier than generating the real thing.
"Yes, and if Artie can make images I can copy, those may be more realistic. The Brotherhood has that woman who influenced Nightcrawler. They have an illusionist too. We need psionic backup, and whatever can keep them busy. Let chaos reign, as it were." Marie-Ange said, nodding at Emma and Wanda in turn.
"I'll find their weak link. Or their strong one," said Emma, coolly, her smile sharp. "Psionic back- up delivered as required. Perhaps," she raised an eyebrow at Wanda, "a combined attack? I open the gate…"
Wanda's face was stone and showed no emotion - but the fury in her eyes was a totally different story. The presence of Magneto added another layer of complexity to the situation for her and she could almost taste her desire to both unleash her powers against him and, at the same time, run. Between her personal feelings towards her father and regarding the devastation the X-Men had faced, Wanda was grateful that her training was keeping her as balanced as she was.
"You open the gate," she said instead of either of those things, "and I'll scramble anything beyond that. I cannot guarantee what impact that will have but it will have an impact." She and Emma had worked in tandem like that before - it wasn't easy with Wanda's powers but it certainly was satisfying.
"Ready?"
Marie-Ange glanced at Artie and counted down on her fingers. Not a moment later, Thor came from behind the truck. He stood tall and spun his hammer by its handle. Ducking next to the truck, Marie-Ange had one hand full of cards, and one hand holding Amanda's, fingers intertwined and luminous with the witch's energy. "If you can give them noise, I can keep three or four up and run the Brotherhood around in circles. Let them chase the Avengers around the field."
“I was hoping for something a little simpler, but…” Amanda squeezed Marie-Ange’s hand before focusing on pushing power into the constructs which were appearing on the field. “At least we know what Thor looks like really well?” she murmured mostly to herself, with a small, wicked grin.
Artie's illusions were based on psionic projection, not psionic manipulation. It was a subtle distinction but meant that his best work was still never as good, as real as what a true illisionist could do. The compensation was simple, however: he worked strobe lights into the display. Everyone moved marginally out of synch under that, flashing lights throwing everyone into stop motion. Thor swung his hammer over his head and rained lightning down on everyone.
Chaos on the battlefield and Wanda hadn't even gotten into the fray yet. Glancing over at Emma, she tilted her head at their mutual target. "Shall we give our friend a very, very bad day?" she asked.
"We can certainly try," murmured Emma and let her mind spread out across the fight in front of them, plucking at the weaker minds to enhance the effects of Artie's illusions. Then she circled around Mastermind, drifting unnoticed around him as she considered the powers he was using, where she could break in.
Emma sighed. She prided herself on her precision, her finesse. But even the most precise of artists needed to use a little bombast on occasion, she decided. “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, it is,” she said. The first slice into Mastermind’s head was her usual scalpel, but then she broadened it, a chisel, breaking open his defences as the hammer of her full power hit that chisel, split his mind open.
Emma reached in, then, made a bridge between their minds. ~Hello darling,~ she said to him, then let a tendril of her power tap against Wanda’s mind, show her what she had made.
~I won’t be able to hold this long,~ she told Wanda. ~So you’d best hurry.~
By the very nature of Wanda's powers, when they were active, she and telepathy did not mix. If she struck too early and missed the mark, she would be bounced out of Mastermind like she had hit a break wall and shatter the connection between her and Emma. It could be repaired, of course, but by then, their chance would have slipped by them.
So as Wanda's mind slipped down the bridge, and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor filled her mental senses to the full, she tamped down on any of her powers. They'd done this before, she and Emma - it wasn't down to a science, not quite, but Wanda knew what to look for in a mental scape not her own.
Emma had led her directly to the spot she needed. ~This looks important,~ she hummed, and then slammed her powers full blast into the base of his mind that controlled his own powers.
Wanda was aware of vague shouts as Mastermind's illusions duplicated out of his control but she was too busy trying to keep her feet under her, stunned from the abruptness of being cut off from Emma.
Amanda's shielding spell popped into existence around Wanda and Emma, protecting them as Wanda recovered her equilibrium. The witch herself was sweating, teeth clenched, as she lent heat and limited substance to Marie-Ange and Artie's illusions. "How much longer?" she ground out, squeezing Marie-Ange's hand tighter.
"Can we use him against them?" Marie-Ange asked between long, slow, even breaths. Her images surged smoothly with every inhale and exhale. Thor swung his mighty hammer, and a trio of leather-clad bikers wove circles around the Brotherhood, motorcycles roaring like Marie-Ange's images never had. Captain America bunkered down behind his shield, and a handful of navy-clad SHIELD agents popped out of shadows to fire imaginary pistols.
Marie-Ange's sweaty hand dropped a card, and the image of Thor faltered for a moment, armor and helm going leather-black and chrome, and then it steadied. "Magneto will not be fooled for long." She said. "As soon as B team is out, drop everything and we retreat. Facade and I can cover our exit."
Artie threw up walls around and in front of them, letting images of rock burst out of the ground and brought his Shield agents back under cover. He was almost spent and his head was screaming. He went for simple, the more complex illusions stopping their movement and switched to pure, disorienting psionic light. His comms chimed and he dropped the light show to run his speech synthesiser. "The others are clear".
“Then best we make a strategic retreat before we are over-run,” said Emma and reaching out with her powers threw a quick telepathic shield over the team, deflecting all eyes from them. She held it as the team slipped away behind her, into their vehicles. Emma was the last to join them, then nodded at Amanda, who was behind the wheel, and the witch quietly turned on the motor and the team ghosted away beneath her shield, leaving a collapsing field of illusions behind them.
The circular portal sprung to life from nothing in the small clearing, just outside of the security perimeter of the building. Magneto walked out in the lead, his purple and red armor striking in the midday sun. Behind him came the Brotherhood. Lots of the Brotherhood. A full strike time had been assembled, and the combined power was something that would even give the Avengers pause.
And X-Force was not the Avengers.
As soon as they stepped into the clearing, the hijacked security sensors picked them up and the remaining members of X-Force in the command and control vehicle were faced with a quick calculation. The first team had already made it back to the second truck, but the second team and the asset were still in the building.
"Merde. Merde merde merde shit shit shit they are early." Marie-Ange swore as she threw the door to the truck back open. "X-Force, we have Brotherhood incoming, all of them. At least one I do not recognize." She yanked a packet of cards from her vest. "We need to stall them for as long as possible. B Team is still in the building."
“What do you need?” Amanda asked, already on her way to Marie-Ange’s side. “I can probably get some fire going, but without a major city, I don’t have the juice to hold it long.” Only a slight shake of her voice betrayed her fear. The Brotherhood had taken the X-Men apart – X-Force would be no contest at all.
Marie-Ange spread a handful of cards, and a creature of rock and steel pulled itself out of nowhere. "I need an army. I need two eyes, these will fool no one if I make them larger than life." The creature was cartoonish, covered in brushstrokes and sketchlines. "I need to not be distracted. Facade too, I need both of us protected. I think..." She looked directly at Amanda. "I think we can buy B Team time, but I cannot see what comes next. My predictions for the Brotherhood have been all over the map for months."
Artie nodded. He had a 9mm, not enough bullets, an extendable baton and a bad feeling. "Tag team." He signed quickly. "I'll echo you and do my best to blind them, at the same time. You lead it, I just make it harder to tell what's a threat. And Amanda juices your constructs up."
He paused. "We're going to be targets as soon as they realise what we're doing." They'd drilled Tag Team. They both knew it and could do it with either leading but it worked better when he was the follower, given the interactions between their powers.
"I'll keep enough magic to use the shielding spell if it comes to that," Amanda promised. "It should hold enough to get us out." I hope. "But adding sense surround to your illusions should be a lot easier than generating the real thing.
"Yes, and if Artie can make images I can copy, those may be more realistic. The Brotherhood has that woman who influenced Nightcrawler. They have an illusionist too. We need psionic backup, and whatever can keep them busy. Let chaos reign, as it were." Marie-Ange said, nodding at Emma and Wanda in turn.
"I'll find their weak link. Or their strong one," said Emma, coolly, her smile sharp. "Psionic back- up delivered as required. Perhaps," she raised an eyebrow at Wanda, "a combined attack? I open the gate…"
Wanda's face was stone and showed no emotion - but the fury in her eyes was a totally different story. The presence of Magneto added another layer of complexity to the situation for her and she could almost taste her desire to both unleash her powers against him and, at the same time, run. Between her personal feelings towards her father and regarding the devastation the X-Men had faced, Wanda was grateful that her training was keeping her as balanced as she was.
"You open the gate," she said instead of either of those things, "and I'll scramble anything beyond that. I cannot guarantee what impact that will have but it will have an impact." She and Emma had worked in tandem like that before - it wasn't easy with Wanda's powers but it certainly was satisfying.
"Ready?"
Marie-Ange glanced at Artie and counted down on her fingers. Not a moment later, Thor came from behind the truck. He stood tall and spun his hammer by its handle. Ducking next to the truck, Marie-Ange had one hand full of cards, and one hand holding Amanda's, fingers intertwined and luminous with the witch's energy. "If you can give them noise, I can keep three or four up and run the Brotherhood around in circles. Let them chase the Avengers around the field."
“I was hoping for something a little simpler, but…” Amanda squeezed Marie-Ange’s hand before focusing on pushing power into the constructs which were appearing on the field. “At least we know what Thor looks like really well?” she murmured mostly to herself, with a small, wicked grin.
Artie's illusions were based on psionic projection, not psionic manipulation. It was a subtle distinction but meant that his best work was still never as good, as real as what a true illisionist could do. The compensation was simple, however: he worked strobe lights into the display. Everyone moved marginally out of synch under that, flashing lights throwing everyone into stop motion. Thor swung his hammer over his head and rained lightning down on everyone.
Chaos on the battlefield and Wanda hadn't even gotten into the fray yet. Glancing over at Emma, she tilted her head at their mutual target. "Shall we give our friend a very, very bad day?" she asked.
"We can certainly try," murmured Emma and let her mind spread out across the fight in front of them, plucking at the weaker minds to enhance the effects of Artie's illusions. Then she circled around Mastermind, drifting unnoticed around him as she considered the powers he was using, where she could break in.
Emma sighed. She prided herself on her precision, her finesse. But even the most precise of artists needed to use a little bombast on occasion, she decided. “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, it is,” she said. The first slice into Mastermind’s head was her usual scalpel, but then she broadened it, a chisel, breaking open his defences as the hammer of her full power hit that chisel, split his mind open.
Emma reached in, then, made a bridge between their minds. ~Hello darling,~ she said to him, then let a tendril of her power tap against Wanda’s mind, show her what she had made.
~I won’t be able to hold this long,~ she told Wanda. ~So you’d best hurry.~
By the very nature of Wanda's powers, when they were active, she and telepathy did not mix. If she struck too early and missed the mark, she would be bounced out of Mastermind like she had hit a break wall and shatter the connection between her and Emma. It could be repaired, of course, but by then, their chance would have slipped by them.
So as Wanda's mind slipped down the bridge, and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor filled her mental senses to the full, she tamped down on any of her powers. They'd done this before, she and Emma - it wasn't down to a science, not quite, but Wanda knew what to look for in a mental scape not her own.
Emma had led her directly to the spot she needed. ~This looks important,~ she hummed, and then slammed her powers full blast into the base of his mind that controlled his own powers.
Wanda was aware of vague shouts as Mastermind's illusions duplicated out of his control but she was too busy trying to keep her feet under her, stunned from the abruptness of being cut off from Emma.
Amanda's shielding spell popped into existence around Wanda and Emma, protecting them as Wanda recovered her equilibrium. The witch herself was sweating, teeth clenched, as she lent heat and limited substance to Marie-Ange and Artie's illusions. "How much longer?" she ground out, squeezing Marie-Ange's hand tighter.
"Can we use him against them?" Marie-Ange asked between long, slow, even breaths. Her images surged smoothly with every inhale and exhale. Thor swung his mighty hammer, and a trio of leather-clad bikers wove circles around the Brotherhood, motorcycles roaring like Marie-Ange's images never had. Captain America bunkered down behind his shield, and a handful of navy-clad SHIELD agents popped out of shadows to fire imaginary pistols.
Marie-Ange's sweaty hand dropped a card, and the image of Thor faltered for a moment, armor and helm going leather-black and chrome, and then it steadied. "Magneto will not be fooled for long." She said. "As soon as B team is out, drop everything and we retreat. Facade and I can cover our exit."
Artie threw up walls around and in front of them, letting images of rock burst out of the ground and brought his Shield agents back under cover. He was almost spent and his head was screaming. He went for simple, the more complex illusions stopping their movement and switched to pure, disorienting psionic light. His comms chimed and he dropped the light show to run his speech synthesiser. "The others are clear".
“Then best we make a strategic retreat before we are over-run,” said Emma and reaching out with her powers threw a quick telepathic shield over the team, deflecting all eyes from them. She held it as the team slipped away behind her, into their vehicles. Emma was the last to join them, then nodded at Amanda, who was behind the wheel, and the witch quietly turned on the motor and the team ghosted away beneath her shield, leaving a collapsing field of illusions behind them.
