Cyclops, in his uniform, turned at her voice.
[i]What were you expecting, Summers?[/i] he asked himself, seeing how Ryder was attired. His face revealed scarce little of this assessment however and his look didn't linger.

Instead, with a [color=#0096FF]"wait here just a minute, we're missing something,"[/color] he walked out of the hanger. 
Returning a couple minutes later with a training uniform which he handed to her. 

[color=#0096FF]"Now, you get this one,"[/color] he spoke in a level voice; his natural. 
How Ryder had behaved with the students and in general this past little while had made a difference. It was still close in Cyclops' mind what she [i]could[/i] do, but he no longer felt on edge about it; only pragmatically aware.

Wolverine still wasn't holding his breath on this working out, and Cyclops was sure he had a bet with someone on how much longer Ryder would last before she split, but that was Wolverine.

Presently only Cyclops was here as the mission didn't require many. A milk run, essentially.

[color=#0096FF]"For safety,"[/color] he added, lest she think the concern was for keeping up appearances. . .Though there was a bit of that.

Cyclops then directed Ryder to strap in to one of the seats behind the cockpit while he took the pilot's. He drew a deep, measured breath as he strapped in, still at a point in his own recovery where pain was a companion. Then, he went about flicking switches and pressing buttons; firing up the jet as casually as starting a car.


[i]The mission was simple. Fly to Moira MacTaggert's research center on Muir Island to deliver a device The Beast had repaired. The scholarly X-Man would've been only too happy to do so and regale Moira on the enhancements he'd made to said device, however Xavier had assigned Cyclops to the task.

The [u]mission[/u] was simple. 
Reality was often a far different matter, life for the X-Men being what it was.[/i]


They had gotten out to the middle of ocean airspace without things being eventful. Then it seemed like lost time was being made up-
It didn't blip on the radar. The circuitry encased in telepathic-resistant material would make this true for Ryder's as well; at least enough for a stealth entry into their airspace- after all, it hadn't been she the fail-safe was specifically designed for.

[i]It scanned through the hull of the jet.[/i]

"[i]D E T E C T E D  --  M U T A N T -- C Y C L O P S. 
D E T E C T E D  --  M U T A N T -- U N K N O W N.
O B J E C T I V E -- C A P T U R E -- U N K N O W N  M U T A N T.[/i]"

While this went unheard, Cyclops noticed the shadow just in time to look up- then perform evasive maneuvers.

[color=#0096FF]"Brace yourself!!"[/color] 

But the sentinel kept with them as though it were locked-on and married to their movements. 

Cyclops was able to avoid getting hit by its force blasts by being a move ahead- it anticipated for rate of velocity, he anticipated for [i]it's[/i] anticipation. 

So it adjusted its own tac by drawing nearer- then reaching- [i]for the roof.[/i].

"[i]C A P T U R E -- U N K N O W N  M U T A N T.[/i]" 

Cyclops registered it wanted Ryder just ahead of bracing for the pressure break and- beating it to it- fired an optic blast upwards- severing straight through the arm. Shattered pieces of metal hit the exterior and fell through the newly made hole like hail, but none were more significant in size than that.

His view impeded by wreckage, however, Cyclops missed the second hand reaching in-- ripping [i]him[/i] straight out of the jet, seat and all.

"[i]N E U T R A L I Z E -- M U T A N T -- C Y C L O P S.[/i]" 

It gears up to fire via the blast cannon in its chest.
Cyclops -restricted from reaching his visor- makes use of the controls in his gloves-- it's a simultaneous double hit--
--Optic Blast severing the sentinel's head
--Chest cannon blasting through the sentinel's own hand to deliver a direct hit to the X-Man; releasing him, unconscious, to merciless gravity while the sentinel itself goes down.

[i]Then, Ryder would bear witness to an odd sight from her position in the damaged yet still functioning Blackbird.

The detached seat, at first falling as expected, suddenly moves as if sentient, maneuvering to "catch" the plummeting X-Man harmlessly. Its defiance of gravitational logic persisting, it continues with him parallel to the water, until both vanish long before the horizon line, as though the sky itself were a shroud.[/i]