[IC] X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

[Morose]

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Starkette

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Location: Airspace above DC -> Hanson Power Plant
{"McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines can get so confusing."}

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Starkette had read a brief description of the blonde girl's powers. As far as Starkette was aware, she could mostly just give the potential outcomes of decisions. She hardly felt that was good from a surveillance perspective and that it lent itself better for strategizing and coordinating teams sent in on the ground. But of course, the shapeshifter chimed in as well, offering to be eyes in the sky. While that would be good for an initial look, Starkette couldn't help but find it impractical. Was the girl intending to fly out, take a look, fly back, report in, and repeat in an endless cycle?

She bit her nails slightly, subtly reminding herself to play well with others. It wasn't a common trait in her family, but one she tried her best to exhibit. She didn't want to be defined by her parents--she didn't even want to be defined by her grandfather. There was a reason why she went by a codename, disguising her true identity from almost everyone. Those at S.H.I.E.L.D. were in the know because they had to be. Everyone else could be left guessing as to who Starkette really was.

Thankfully, Cassandra was brilliant at strategizing, as ever. Establishing a perimeter to evacuate civilians was a good move. It'd minimize casualties and the Brotherhood wasn't known for being human friendly, after all. The attack on the power plant was likely a point in a larger plan to cause chaos and terror on all of Washington D.C., the nation's capitol. Evacuations were crucial. Sending in the speedster as a scout was a good idea as well, one that made sense to Starkette, even if the man himself seemed less than pleased. It annoyed Starkette--why sign up to be an X-Men if you're going to be pissy about it?

By the time the plane had landed, Starkette had been fiddling with her watch. It was a custom piece from Stark Industries--she had done an internship there for her final two years of high school, given that it wasn't that far from school. Its computer was powerful enough for their purposes and with a tap, it projected a holographic keyboard and readout. Essentially, Starkette had opened up terminal, equipped with a virtual machine that had a variety of tools and tricks to it.

It took her less than a minute to ping the ip addresses used by the Hanson Power Plant, with a quick WhoIs search giving her the relevant numbers. A good portion of machines were up and running, which made Starkette grin. Penetration testing would need to happen next, and thankfully, people tended to be rather ridiculous when it came to usernames and passwords. She took the name of the administrator listed on the WhoIs profile and then ran it through a custom program she had written, one that would generate usernames based off of an input. With those usernames, she then took her password list from her John the Ripper program and ran those logins, bitting her finger nails in the process.

Right as Cassandra gave Marygold a tap on the shoulder, Starkette's program found a match. "Weak," Starkette rolled her eyes. She had expected it to take at least ten minutes to find a match. But with remote access available to the machine of one user, she did a quick search for surveillance feeds, and grinned as she found them. A few more lines of code later and she had sent the feed over to the blackbird's main computers, just in case, though she intended to log into one of the terminals in the HQ set up.

"We're in," Starkette announced, tapping her watch twice to end the holographic projection. "Honestly, this plant is so vulnerable it makes Aquaman look badass." She snorted, pleased with her own joke. She had seen the Aquaman movie that DC put out. She still found Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy to be infinitely cooler. She then caught up to Cassandra, excited for how well the mission had been going already. And quite thankful for her watch. It was her pride and joy, like a baby to her. The power of a macOS in such a small size.

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_{*Roll for Starkette getting surveillance established was given by the BlueSky (GM) few days prior over PM}

[FantasyChic]

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Allison Andrews

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Location: Airspace above DC -> Hanson Power Plant
{"There's no I in team!"}

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Allison was happy her suggestion was taken and did a little giddy dance in her seat. She looked over at the SHIELD operative she would be helping and couldn't help but notice the woman looked less than stellar. Was it because she was teamed up with a new X-men or because she was with her solely? Did she know about her powers? I mean, having someone to help predict the future would surely be valuable? She intended to prove herself.

The others had their own jobs and it seemed surveillance was key. She couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, it was their idea to scout to protect them all from danger at the start? They were all relatively new to this, the X-men at least. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry in this case. The Brotherhood weren't something you wanted to mess with without a solid plan.

It seemed the SHIELD agent was already in the works. She booted something on her watch and Allison stared in amazement. It was so cool! Soon, she shared the information about the plant. "That watch is so cool! I want one!" She knew it probably wasn't something easily obtained, but still. She followed the woman after she left. It seemed she didn't want to wait for her, in any case, but she was part of this team. "No visions yet, but I'll keep you updated. Ready to help!"

[LadyRunic]

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Ayita Dyrkin

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Location Hanson Power Plant
{"Monsters aren't usually in the skin of a beast. Far too often they wear the skin of Man."}

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Rolling her shoulders, Ayita stood as the Blackbird landed. It really was a necessary evil to fly encased in metal and shielded from the wind. Working a crink from her neck, she glanced at Marygold with wary eyes. Knowing full well the form she intended to use in both reporting and watching she expected the woman to be a tad dubious of it, but it's eyes were sharp and the form common. With the added bonus of the fact it would be simple to speak in simple terms in it. Though she did respect Marygold for not dismissing her-
abilities nor mocking them. More so than just recon if she was in the sky she could help where she was needed. They would loose their eyes but also have a emergency assistance. One she doubted the Brotherhood would see coming. But doubt or not, it was best to expect being expected. "When I come in to report. Raise up your arm and brace yourself. Shifting is not..." Ayita's voice rose so the entire group could hear. It was rather imperative they did not panic in the last seconds of a landing. Her feet would have rather sharp talons, as for the not turning back... She looked towards the sky, tilting her head. It was painful to shift, something they could possibly guess. It was why she did it so rarely and preferred the form in which the hurt was reduced. Needless to say that form was not human.

Shaking her head at Allison and the S.H.E.I.L.D. member with that funny watch, she stepped towards the Blackbird's exit. "Do not take easy for granite." She commented softly, her amber eyes turning black. Pain filled them as feathers burst from her skin. It was not clean. Shifting broke skin, bone, veins and organs. If she had a ounce of less practice at it she would scream from it. But her time spent in the wilderness had taught her silence was indeed a virtue. Ayita did give a squawk of relief as she finished. It was a form she often took, so the change was quicker than most. Spreading ebony wings, the raven took flight with a cackle. It's talons flashing out to snatch at the funny watch and purposefully missing as she darted from the aircraft. It was in the nature of a raven to taunt and 'play'. Just as it was their nature to be thieves of shiny things. Ayita adhered to these instincts that flooded her avian veins. However different they were from her normal self. Beating he wings once, twice. She soared towards the plant and her scouting, landing every so often. Searching for the thermals of air to use the currents as a surfer might a wave. Still watching the plant and the grounds about.

[Afro Samurai]

Oshea Jackson

"You lack the minerals and viramins, iron, and the niacine."

O.C. - Time's Up

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Oshea awoke from his slumber; one last glance out of the window, it looked like the Blackbird landed. With a grunt and a stretch of his arms, Oshea then unbuckled himself from the seat and rose. A stream of cold shot down his spine, and he let out an audible shudder. Sure it wasn't winter, it seemed Oshea's nerves begun to get the better of him the closer he got to the Blackbird's exit. Sunlight, today it was a lush yellow stronger than usual and coated with patches of red and orange. He stopped to marvel its presence, and it occurred to him: he'd rather not be fighting the Brotherhood today, no, today he wanted to sleep. In sleep, he couldn't be worried about the next task, the next request, the next loss.

As he and his compatriots often had to do, Oshea pushed his doubt to recesses of his mind. He froze. Dull aches rushed from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head; the onset of his anxiety. But why now? He had done far more daring things than fighting the Brotherhood: getting into fist fights with armed gunman, throwing Hail Mary passes on 4th and 25 in Madden, talking back to his mother. A myriad of things had been more worthy of his fear than beating up a few bad guys, a simplification of course, the Brotherhood were well-trained mutant assassins in every right--but Oshea always thought the mundane more frightening than the fantastic. Breathe, fool. Breathe.

Oshea never took his mother's advice for much, and he knew he should have. Her face swam to the front of his mind from whatever crevice he had buried it, and louder than ever, in unison with his sub-conscious, she spoke to him for the first time in years:

"Just breathe, baby. It's gonna be alright."

As a boy, he was never prepared for anything; he did everything on a whim, a swell of hotblood, the pulse of a desire. It was also the reason he ran from anything that seemed too big for him. All of this, this X-men business, this Brotherhood business, it was all too big for him--and now he had to run toward it.

He closed his eyes, and let the black blot out his worry alongside each breath he took. He opened his eyes; sunlight, a stronger and more lush yellow than usual. He flipped the visor on his face; all color fell to mono-ruby red. One last breath. Breathe.

A whir of wind, a blue streak. A fine disappearing act, if he were to say so himself. It was game time, and Oshea was ready to play, he scouted the surrounding area for anything nefarious in nature or ontology.

[BlueSky44]

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Location: Hanson Power Plant

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Marygold along with Beast were standing outside of the of the Blackbird, when a large gust of wind burst out from behind them, whipping Marygold's ponytail around her face. The two looked at each other, and knew that whatever it was, seemed to be gone, but that didn't defeat the growing sense of fear in Marygold. She ran back into the plane and gave Starkette a worried look. "Please tell me you have eyes on the cameras,because we need those right now!"

Cassandra Reed
The sounds coming from the trees around her are typical of what you would find in the woods. A great gust of wind suddenly whips up from behind and flies past, gone in an instant. The area seems to have reverted back to its more quiet state. However the trail towards the power plant seems to have flatten down a little since she last looked at it.

Starkette and Allison Andrews
Marygold comes running back in yelling. As Starkette looks at the cameras, she will see a blur of something just passing the outer gates of the power plant. However that might just be Oshea running by. Marygold is worried about something, but you don't know what. Allison sees the same things as Starkette does, but notices that Beast has come back inside as well, though he doesn't look too worried about anything, but both Starkette and Allison can definitely tell that something is up. However, Allison's powers decide to kick in and she starts having a vision.

Ayita Dyrkin
As Ayita flies above the plant, she can see Oshea starting to do a loop around the place. She sees a large truck pulling up, but as a guard walks out to greet it, something zips past, knocking him down on the ground. Ayita now notices that there are two blurs zipping around the plant, and they are about to be running right next to each other. One she knows is Oshea, but who is the other one?

Oshea Jackson
Oshea doesn't notice anything unusual during his little scouting mission. It was as he was about to go back to the front of the plant when something happens. A man manages to run up next to him, and Oshea somehow manages to see the guy's face as the pair are running.

"Hey there, hows it going? You seem to be having a good ole time, so I'm just going to do this," he says as he manages to maneuver in front of Oshea, tripping him. He managed not to fall over himself, but Oshea could hear him laughing as the guy ran off.

[Morose]

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Starkette

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Location: Hanson Power Plant
{"That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."}

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Starkette hesitated for a moment as Allison complimented her watch, before breaking out into a smile. The thing was her pride and joy, her baby. There were a few upgrades she was hoping to make, including the installation of a digital assistant, but those could wait. For now, it was functional and badass. Exactly what she wanted in a computerized watch. Smart watches couldn't hold a candle to it. "You think so?" Starkette replied. "I interned at Stark Industries for a few years. When we're back in New York, you and I can drop by Stark Tower, see if they've got a prototype lying around. Might get lucky."

Of course, Allison wasn't the only one paying attention to her watch. Starkette honestly hadn't realized that it would be this distracting, having grown up around advanced technology. She rolled her eyes a bit at the dramatic aura of the shapeshifter. "We get it, Batman. Very scary and grim," Starkette muttered sarcastically under her breath, barely loud enough for Allison to hear and the girl was right next to her. No one else would be able to hear her comment. She rolled her eyes yet again as the girl tried to steal her watch in her raven form. She was lucky that no security protocols or anything had been set off, and Starkette returned her attention to her work.

"Yes, I have my two eyes on the cameras right now," Starkette replied. "Give me an hour and Amazon Prime, I might be able to have a third eye. Amazon has everything. Though, doesn't she have a third eye? Allison, right?" Starkette nodded her head towards the girl, referencing her power to see the future. And while Beast didn't look concerned, Marygold looked a little shaken up so Starkette cut the sarcasm and pulled up the feed on the Blackbird's computers.

"Here's the video footage captured," Starkette murmured, her hands flying across the keyboard. It felt a bit clunky to her, in comparison to her watch, but the computers on the Blackboard were considerably more powerful. "...I see what you mean," she muttered, picking up a blur in the power plant. She tried to slow down the frame rate in order to capture an image, but she couldn't make out what the blur was.

"No identification, but there's background noise," she explained, her fingers flying again, before a slightly garbled audio began to play. She chuckled slightly. "Whatever the thing is, it's got killer taste...Uptown Girl? Billy Joel, anyone? One of the greatest songs of 1983?"

[Nallore]

Cassandra Reed

Location: Hanson Power Plant

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As Cassandra looked around the area things so far seemed to be pretty calm, like it was very peaceful as she was looking around however Cassandra then felt and heard a sudden gust of air running past her. Which made her instantly point her gun forward as she started to look around the area for anything. But just as quickly as the gust of air went by there was nothing, completely peaceful once more, but Cassandra knelt down looking at the ground seeing what looked like could be footprints. She knew it wasn't Oshea since he had already ran out to scout out the area.

Cassandra turned around and started to make her way back over towards The Blackbird, she looked over towards Marygold, Alison, Beast and Starkette as she walked over to the monitor. Seeing the blur of the image, Cassandra thinking of everything that she has seen so far, listening to Starkette's comment over the other speedster's taste in music. "Certainly has a great taste in music. Lets try and see if we can slow him down though." She said as she started to move over, and started to try and hack into the building's security systems to try and put the building into lockdown.

Cassandra turned her attention towards Marygold, Alison and Beast. "Do you guys happen to know anyone else who has similar powers to Oshea, X-Men or Brotherhood by any chance?" She asked, hopefully to try and narrow down who the person is the only other one who she knew had super speed was another SHIELD Agent.

[LadyRunic]

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Ayita Dyrkin

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Location Hanson Power Plant
{"Monsters aren't usually in the skin of a beast. Far too often they wear the skin of Man."}

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The raven beat her wings, lazily. Looking like any other raven in the sky looking for a shiny 'toy' or food. Ayita had noted the quick moving man, but she was not to tangle herself in it. Let Oshea handle this first engagement. For foolish the predator that took on more than she could handle. If he could not handle himself she would- quite literally- swoop in. Most likely with talons and muscled wings that would cause damage akin to a punch. Part of the reason bird wings were pinned. Pigeons especially, Ayita remembered with distaste. Disgusting rats with wings. Parasite upon the human cities and towns. Despicable.

Turning her attention to the truck, the Raven-shifter swooped down to land on a post. Shaking herself and preening as if scratching some itch. Which was true enough. Feathers always were a bit itchy when she had just shifted. Though she was a tad worried about another speedster, especially about how to combat him. The best she could do would be to get him in water or in the air. Or perhaps he had some fear or love she could exploit. Though the shifter would not bank upon that. Peering at the truck, she gave caw. The raven side of her mind stretched. Longing to feel the wind and feast on meat. Her talons shifted on the post as she ruffled her feathers. There would be a fight coming and she was not keen on it. Fighting was needful, but something best avoided. Experience had taught her too well, she thought almost sadly. Humans were not to be trusted, mutants were not to be either. Few were the exceptions and even those she was tentative with. She flipped her tail in disdain of her thoughts, and resumed the preening of her feathers. Ravens did not fear man. They were too integrated with their cities and man often left trash that could be food. Ayita, however, was no raven- nor spring chicken- and kept her guard up and self alert.

[FantasyChic]

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Allison Andrews

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Location: Hanson Power Plant
{"Here we go..."}

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Allison watched as the SHIELD agents worked, feeling a bit useless. She hoped she would have a vision at some point she could relay to them, but no such luck. One of the agents mentioned her abilities, though she couldn't place her name. "Yes, Allison. I'm trying really, super hard right now too. I will mention that I am good and probabilities too, so if you need help plotting the best course of action for something, I'm your girl!" She tried not to sound too enthusiastic, but it couldn't be helped.

The other agent asked her a question about Oshea. "Umm...as far as I know, no X-Man has similar powers to him. Unsure about the Brotherhood. I only joined the ranks recently and haven't been brought up to speed on..." In that instant, Allison's mind warped to somewhere else. Possibly due to stress, possibly due to development, but her vision was coming in mixed forms. She could see different things. Iron Man appeared in one, shouting out someone's name she never heard of. In another, Wolverine and Sabretooth get in a fight. In a blurred out vision, someone seems to have their powers activated while in another there is something darker. A death. In the last one she could make out, the Brotherhood seems to already be in control of the plant.

She snapped out of her vision and fell to the ground. It was too much at once. She hadn't experienced multiple visions before. Were they all going to come true, or would certain ones come true? Could she alter them? She looked at the others, "I just had a vision. Well..visions I guess. I can tell you them all, though I am not sure which ones will come true. In one of them though, The Brotherhood has already taken control of the power plant."

[Afro Samurai]

Oshea Jackson

"They want a fight? I'll bring it to 'em."

Location: Hanson Power Plant.

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Somehow Oshea avoided splattering his face against the concrete. Bless the stars! Allison would never talk to him if he bruised up his flawless face. He wouldn't talk to himself if he had his exorbitant features tarnished by some reject Flash clone. Oshea spun around in .001 seconds and darted back to the Blackbird with all the might he could muster. He skid to a stop, creating a small fissure in the concrete and kicking up small bits of gravel from the sudden halt of speed and velocity. He lifted up his red visor and spoke in a tone that verbalized the worry he had been trying to deafen since the morning.

"Uh, yeah, big problem! Quicksilver's already here. An' if he's here, the rest of them fools can't be far behind. What we gonna do?"

Quicksilver. He was one of the fastest mutants alive, way out of Oshea's league, for sure. Pietro could have killed Oshea in nanoseconds, why didn't he? Why did Quicksilver choose to toy with him? Oshea couldn't find an answer, and thinking about it--about being so close to death, made him angry; he had to focus, though. If things went bad as Oshea expected them to, he figured he'd run into Maximoff again, and he wasn't sure Pietro would be so kind the next time around. Would he be ready? Only time would tell.

[BlueSky44]

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@Afro Samurai@FantasyChic@LadyRunic@Nallore@Morose

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Marygold Isley

Location: Hanson Power Plant

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When Oshea came in, Marygold figured that he probably had an encounter, and she had to suppress the urge to smile as he answered Cassandra's question for her. She had no idea who would all be there, at least not truly. Learning about what Allison saw in her vision was probably a good idea, but sending people out there to start off with might be the smart thing to do first. If the Brotherhood was there already, they had to move quickly in order to stop them.

"Alright, Quicksilver is already here, probably sent in real quick to scout things out for the rest of them. Problem is that we don't know exactly which of them are coming. Sabretooth is probably coming, but we don't know if anyone else is," she said, when she glanced back at Starkette's screen, and saw something that worried her a little. She shouldn't be surprised that she was there, afterall, she was Quicksilver's sister, so the two generally were not that far apart from one another.

"Ok, we definintly need to get moving in on the plant," she said as she pointed at the screen were you could see a woman walking up to the guard gate and warping the fences and area around her,"Because if I'm not mistaken, looks like his sister is here too. Alright, Allison, something tells me the vision of the Brotherhood controlling the power plant is probably not true, since they seem to just now be showing up. We need to move in, now. Allison, I need you to tell me what you saw, and everyone else needs to head out. Beast, you have the most experience out of all of us in fighting the Brotherhood, you and Oshea go out there now, and Allison and I will catch up with you in a few minutes. Also, please see if you can spot Ayita, she could be anywhere and we might need her help, though don't spend much time looking for her. Just take a quick glance around, but nothing more. Be careful though, they may have you two outnumbered".

She turned towards the SHIELD agents, and thought about what they were going to do. Marygold knew that she had no control over what they did, which kind of annoyed her a little, but she was starting to get used to it. She turned towards Cassandra,"The two of you can do what you wish. I don't really have much control over what you do. You two can head out, or wait until Allison tells us about her visions, I'm leaving it up to you".

Beast looked at her for a few minutes, but he eventually turned to leave the plane. Marygold turned her attention to Allison, even though she was curious about what Cassandra and Starkette were going to do, but knowing what happened in Allison's visions was more important just then.

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Ayita Dyrkin
Ayita doesn't see much from her perch at first, she'll see the same commotion that Marygold had noticed on the cameras. However, she'll notice a shadow that seemed to be moving closer to the front gate. A few guards had come out to try and stop the attack, but they are easily dealt with by the woman at the front, and the truck that had pulled up was trying to turn around, but the woman stopped it, rolling it over on end and off to the side. Ayita can see her walk through the gates, and Quicksilver meets her at the front and she can see them heading inside the plant together.

[Morose]

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Cassandra looked over towards Allison as she seemed to suddenly go into some sort of daze, having a feeling that it was most likely a vision. From what she knew so far her ability was predicting probabilities and things that could happen, when the vision had ended Allison gave them some information that the brotherhood had taken control over the power plant. Oshea's announcement when he got back to the Blackbird that it was Quicksilver, she recognized the name and heard about him in some SHIELD files that she managed to find.

Her attention then turned towards the monitor as she caught a glimpse of a woman approaching the main gate easily warping it as she approached the power plant, the Maximoff's always worked together from what she knew. Marygold started to give the other X-Men their orders, looking over towards Starkette as Beast started to head out of the Blackbird. "Starkette and I will go ahead and assist Oshea and Beast." She figured sitting around and waiting wouldn't be much use.

Starkette bit her lip after watching the footage of the other Maximoff on the display. She only vaguely remembered reading the files on Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, having instead concentrated on studying the heavy hitters like Magneto. Combined with Allison's news that the Brotherhood may have already had control of the plant - news that seemed to be contradicted by their current situation, thankfully - the fledgeling S.H.I.E.L.D. agent felt more than a little stressed. Cassandra then started to turn and make her way off of the ramp of the Blackbird and started making her way towards the power plant.

Starkette took off with her supervising officer as the pair of them headed towards the power plant, highly aware of all the possibilities for tragedy. The Maximoff girl had already done incredible damage to the truck - imagine what she'd do to the X-Men and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents assisting them. Her heart was pumping and if she was honest with herself, she was a little bit afraid. Cassandra had been on plenty of combat missions before--this was Starkette's first one.

"What's the plan of attack, boss?" Starkette asked, looking over at Cassandra. She knew the basics--assist Oshea and Beast in fighting the Brotherhood--but there were more details to work out. They were two non-mutants, after all, about to go into combat with a group that absolutely hated homo sapiens.

Cassandra looked over her shoulder as Starkette quickly caught up with her, she knew it was her first official combat mission she had taught her all that she knew. Though they didn't have any form of super abilities like the other X-Men had, they always did work really well together as a team. And when Starkette asked what the game plan was against the Maximoff twins, there were some civilians still in and around the power plant the building as far as she knew wasn't fully evacuated just yet. "We have to get any civilians that are still in the building out, scout out the area for any other Brotherhood members, and assist Oshea and Beast wherever we can." Cassandra said gently giving Starkette a pat on the shoulder and smiling at her. "Your gonna be just fine."

Starkette nodded, smiling a bit uneasily back at Cassandra. Getting any remaining civilians out of the building would probably be the best first move to make. With those innocent bystanders out of the way, it'd be easier to fight the Brotherhood. And in the process of finding them, they'd be effectively functioning as scouts at the same time.

"I wish we brought the dwarves," Starkette sighed, referencing tiny drones that could act as remote scouting units. They were a favorite among S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, particularly those concentrating on science and tech.

Cassandra smiled at Starkette giving her a nod, the dwarves were always very useful in a mission or even getting into very small tight spaces where people couldn't get through. Though she didn't really expect to bring them with her, something she should have thought of bringing in but they had Ayita and Oshea. "I probably should have brought those with me, i'll have to put a request for them when we get back. But we have Ayita, Oshea and Alison in case the three of them catch anything." Starkette nodded. They'd have to trust in their new teammates now.

As Cassandra continued to make her way towards the power plant she was also curious on what Starkette's thoughts were on the X-Men team. "You've had time to get to know the others, what are your thoughts on them so far?"

Starkette chuckled slightly, looking reminiscent of her father for a moment. "I don't know most of them, to be honest. Fury hadn't had me working with all of the X-Men until you came. Used to be that I'd just check in with Marygold, Beast, and the Professor. Some of the senior X-Men too, but you know...My family doesn't have the greatest reputation, so not always a lot of trust with those guys." She shook her head slightly, relaxing a bit yet still on guard in case she spotted any movement. "They're an interesting bunch. Psychic girl, bird girl, and a speedster... I just hope we can trust them and it doesn't bite us in the ass, y'know?"

Cassandra continued to look around the area, still on full alert and on guard as she turned to look at Starkette chuckling slightly she hadn't met Starkette's father but pretty much knew his reputation with pretty much everyone who has gotten to know him. "I'm sure that the others will warm up to you." Cassandra said as she thought about the new X-Men team that they are working with, they were a unique bunch and still pretty green as well. "I think they can be trusted, they are still new to everything though it feels like." Cassandra said as she spotted the road towards the power plant getting closer.

Starkette rolled her eyes slightly, but there was a smile on her face. "Please, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even bother to learn our names. They're just kids, y'know, messed up in this shit," Starkette said, perhaps even slightly hypocritically. She was barely eighteen herself. "But as long as they don't hail hydra, they're fine in my book." She kept her eyes peeled, as they were closing in on the power plant. Scarlet Witch may have opened the gates, but it felt a little foolish to just walk inside, with members of the Brotherhood already there.

But with Quicksilver inside, could they really sneak up on them anyways? "Side entrance or are we just going straight in, boss?"

"If I remember correctly you're still closer to their age than I am." Cassandra said jokingly looking over at her and gave her a slight nudge, she shuddered slightly at the mentioning of HYDRA even though they were barely around anymore, they always seemed to rear their ugly heads at random times, remembering a member of one her previous teams she was assigned to was a member of HYDRA at one point. When they neared the main road, Cassandra cautiously looked up and down the main road.

"A side entrance would be a better way to get through." Cassandra said, going through the main entrance was probably not the best idea either, a side entrance would be better and they would have a better chance at catching maybe the Maximoffs off guard as well as securing an easy escape route of the workers within the plant. Cassandra then backtracked somewhat making sure that they were still within the tree line of the plant while still looking for a side entrance of some kind.

"Probably the first time a side anything has been better," Starkette joked as she followed her S.O. "It's a great day for side hoes," she finished, giving more context for her slight pun as she also searched for another way into the plant. However, she couldn't help but be nervous that perhaps the main gate was the only way in--why else would Scarlet Witch feel a need to destroy it so utterly? It wasn't like Magneto couldn't have done so himself. The guy controlled metal after all.

[LadyRunic]

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Ayita Dyrkin

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Location Hanson Power Plant
{"Monsters aren't usually in the skin of a beast. Far too often they wear the skin of Man."}

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Picking up a likely stone to satisfy one of her apparent 'kind' the raven took off with a beat of her wings. Doing another sweep of the building. Something was making her uneasy. Following at a angle to where the Blackbird was. If this speedster was keeping pace with Oshea, Ayita would expect him to know where the ship was. Plus, to travel in a straight line was a notion she had never liked. With sweeping arcs one could see more and potentially get more for the time they spent going back. Though she did ride the winds with haste and took herself just barley into the canopy of leaves.

It was worrisome, this witch woman who could toss trucks. But she needed to get back to the others so they at least knew. Ayita mussed over her other forms, and the likeliness of being caught in them. A rat or mouse would be common place, and enough so that she could use her fellow rodents tunnels in the building. But still Ayita couldn't shake that something was wrong. The main gate was known to contain enemies, so that left side tunnels. Narrow points. Her eyes narrowed as her wings beat furiously. Narrow points in which to funnel prey or a unwelcome predator.

Tipping herself into a spiral she spread her black wings as a familiar blue figure exited the plane. Letting her rocks fall, she twisted in the air to spiral about Beast's shoulders before landing on one. Her talons closing carefully and well aware of their deadly purpose. Lowering her black beak and beady eyes she gave a raucous caw again. Hopping down and up into the ship. "Mary, Mary." It was the best her raven voice could say in a hurry, and with awkward flat walking she fanned her wings unhappily. "Two. Witch, as well. Mebbe trap. Mouse go in?" Her black head tilted as she ruffled her feathers. Her voice wasn't the greatest in this form, but she was normally understandable. Hopping onto a seat she shifted her feet with a resigned croak.

[Nallore]

Cassandra Reed

Location: Hanson Power Plant

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Cassandra looked over at Starkette and chuckled slightly at her little pun there, as she walked along the side still making sure that they weren't to close to the plant itself so that they wouldn't be spotted. So far there were two members of the Brotherhood in the area, she was also looking around for any sort of grates that they could enter as well so that they could get into the plant undetected. "Hopefully the rest of the Brotherhood aren't close or around here yet other then the Maximoff twins." Cassandra said softly.

She also kept looking around the trees, for any other further movement going on sometimes she always did get very nervous and paranoid when things were calm for the most part. Cassandra then turned on the radio to inform the other X-Men, to also find out where they are and if they have any other information yet. "It's Cassandra, do any of you guys have any new information? We are looking for a side entrance to hopefully catch the others off guard." She asked looking around their surroundings.

[FantasyChic]

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Allison Andrews

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Location: Hanson Power Plant
{"It's all in the mind, I guess?"}

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Allison waited until the others went their respective routes before she turned to face Marygold. She couldn't understand why her visions were playing her like this all of a sudden? She really needed to train them better. It seems like one of her visions wasn't going to come true if what she heard was right. Quicksilver was here and if he was here, his sister wasn't far behind. She only knew of them from what she read. They were powerful, but she had a feeling Oshea could handle Quicksilver if it came to it. It was Scarlet Witch that worried her.

"Well, all righty then. I saw a few visions. I take it the Brotherhood one is out then, seeing as they aren't in control of this plant. In one of them, Iron Man came into view and was yelling for someone named Gwyn. Not sure who that would be. In another one Sabretooth is here and he's about to...attack someone but Logan...I mean Wolverine comes in and tackles him. In another one, some blurred person disovers their mutant powers. Not sure who it is seeing as we're all mutants here, save for the SHIELD agents and I don't think they are mutants. In the last one...someone dies. I couldn't make it out. I really tried!"

One could tell the panic in her voice. She didn't understand what was happening with her abilities, but she hoped Marygold could help her make heads or tails. If she had to guess, it seemed the Iron Man one may come true. She hoped so as the others either didn't make sense given the circumstances or were...too awful to come true.

[Afro Samurai]

Oshea Jackson

"You ain't a crook son, you just a shook one."

Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Part Two.

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Location: Hanson Power Plant

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Finally, Oshea would get to see the Beast in action. Of all the X-Men, Beast intrigued him most because he retained duality of the human-being in the same way Shelley's Creature did: his exterior was monster, his interior was human. Beast was more than his might, he had the intelligence to accompany, and for Oshea, that made Beast more formidable a fighter and teacher than Jean Grey or Wolverine. For a moment, Oshea was overcome with awe--this was the first time he would be able to work with his his second favorite mutant (Bishop was his first). Oshea figured it best to consult Beast, one who had years of experience fighting the Brotherhood, for advice.

"So, how do we fight these dudes? That one dude is way faster than me, and the other chick can flip over trucks without touching them. I don't know how Marygold or those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents expect us to beat these fools, 'specially since we ain't even ran into Sabertooth or Magneto yet."

Tension has a way of compressing bravery back into the cowardice from which it stems, and Oshea was no longer sure if he was ready for what was about to happen. He could feel battle loom, and he wondered if any of his colleagues did as well. Well, of course Allison did, she saw things happen before they happened--though one was right to question the accuracy of these visions. He wondered how Allison and the rest of the group were doing. If everyone made it out of this ordeal alive, Oshea might finally muster up the courage to say hello to her. He couldn't let juvenile crushes distract him from the task at hand; as Oshea's mind often did, it leaped from one train of thought to the next without hindrance, he questioned Beast once again.

"Le's say, hypothetically, we do run into Quicksilver again, how you and I supposed to beat him if I can't even catch him?" It was then he heard the comm-link message from Cassandra,

"It's Cassandra, do you guys have any new information? We're looking for a side entrance to hopefully catch the others off guard." her voice fizzled through,

"Dead over here, dog." Oshea gave a prompt reply.

He and Beast kept walking, Oshea braced his mind for what was to come. Meanwhile, he figured he would strike up some conversation with McCoy. After all, it would be a wasted opportunity not to speak to the most intelligent of all the X-Men, well, most Beast was the most intelligent X-Man in Oshea's opinion. Professor X didn't count! Intruding someone's mind to extract information was not the same as using one's natural abilities to solve problems. And there was one problem Oshea had he was sure Beast could solve.

"Two questions, big dog, 1) how do you talk to girls? 2) when you gonna stop cheating every time we play chess? 3) could you beat Wolverine in a fight? 4) how you propose I get faster?" Four questions instead of two, and Oshea fired them all in combination with one another, with the random set-up and connection of a wild boxer. Beyond the first two sentences, a conversation with Oshea was never coherent, his mind simply moved too fast for his brain to establish a logical connection between anything he said. A true gift and curse, since it meant any telepath would have a hard time intruding his mind and trying to read his thoughts--a nightmare when it came to his social life.

[BlueSky44]

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@Morose@Afro Samurai@FantasyChic@Nallore@LadyRunic

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Marygold Isley

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Allison could see Marygold clench her fist. "I really need to have a talk with a few people after this," she said under her breath as she stood there thinking of the possible outcomes. Having Wolverine show up would be kind of handy, since his feud with Sabretooth was well known. A person developing powers? That would be strange, maybe one of the civilians at the power plant, but she had no idea why Allison's abilities would show her that. The last one worried her, but she managed to keep calm about it, how much longer she could keep that facade up, she had no idea.

She heard Cassandra's voice come over the radio, and turned her attention towards Allison once more,"Well, hopefully the bad outcomes don't happen. Alright, we need to head out and catch up with the others. Oshea and Beast are heading for the front of the building, and with any luck Ayita has caught up with them. Cassandra and Starkette are looking for a side entrance, we should see if we can find a way through the back, like a backdoor in order to see if we can surround them". She heard something, and looked over at the cameras that Starkette had set up. Marygold got on the radio immediately, "Hey Cassandra, I can see some movement not far where you two are. So be careful".

Marygold turned back and started exiting the plane, motioning for Allison to follow her. She knew what direction everyone had gone in, so she started heading the opposite way around the plant.

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Beast

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Hank looked over at Oshea, and showed a slight annoyance over his rapid succession of "two" questions. He paused after his first question about Quicksilver, and looked over at Oshea to respond. "The best way is to try and trick Quicksilver, lure him into a trap, outsmart him. He generally rushes ahead and dives head on right into the thick of things. What we need to do is try and come up with a way to trick him, use his speed against him. For it doesn't matter how fast you are in a fight against him, what truly matters is how you use your brains to make up for the difference".

He might have been slightly annoyed by Oshea's questions, but he couldn't help but chuckle at him, since some of these questions he was asked a lot about at the Institute, so they were standard for him. "The answer to your question is simple, I just talk to them like I do anyone else, but the fur does tend to be a little difficult to deal with, I shed too much. Secondly, I've never cheated, you do realize that is never really possible in chess anyway. No, I could probably not defeat Wolverine, since he heals a lot more quickly, and punching him in the ribs is like punching metal. The answer to your fourth question is a bit more difficult. We haven't checked anything formally, but I'll bet you are already faster than when you first came to the Institute. Just keep training, and eventually you will become faster".

He looked over and saw a raven that quickly revealed herself to be Ayita. She gave her very short report, and when she asked about going in as a mouse so that they could see what was going on. Hank thought for a moment and said "Go ahead, but be careful to not be seen by anyone inside. Keep an eye on them, and if you see anything, find either myself or Marygold and report in".

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Cassandra Reed and Starkette
There is a window that you two might be able to get through if you had someone lift you up, or maybe if one of you boosted the other up. It is about 7 feet off the ground. The sounds of something moving closer to you in the surrounding trees and brush can be heard right after Marygold radios you about it. There is a low growl coming from the trees as well, but you can't see anything. The growls are getting closer as the two of you move around the plant.

[Morose]

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Starkette

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Location: Hanson Power Plant
{"Everything is achievable through technology."}

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Starkette nodded. She had read the files on the Brotherhood and they'd have their hands full with just the Maximoff Twins. They hadn't brought icers with them either, meaning that they were packing actual heat. Shots could accidentally kill one of the hostiles, rather than allow them to be contained and subsequently imprisoned. It brought a lot of judgmental calls into the near future and Starkette couldn't help but want to ask her S.O. what their orders were. Were they to shoot to kill? Or shoot to injure and incapacitate?

She listened as Cassandra radioed in, only to hear Oshea reply. Starkette gave a quizzical look over at Cassandra. "Is that supposed to be...code? Or is it...slang?" She scoffed slightly at the notion that it was the later. She was only eighteen, after all. She wasn't old and scarred like Fury--she knew slang. Marygold replied over the radio that she detected movement, just as Starkette spotted a nearby window and her watch flashed at her.

"Hostile mutant detected," the watch said in a monotone. It pulled up a small holographic display of the nearby area, with a red blinking light in the tree line. It was hazy, as if the watch couldn't pinpoint the exact location. Starkette, of course, only frowned at the piece of technology. It wasn't even a proper A.I., closer to Apple's Siri at this point.

"No shit, Sherlock," Starkette muttered, hearing the growling noises crescendo. The watch made no further noises and Starkette waved her hand onto the holograph, dismissing the image. She didn't need a display to know what she could hear, after all. The window seven feet off the ground wouldn't be too hard to get through, but Starkette couldn't help but rack her mind before figuring out the most likely identity of their foe.

"Sabretooth is on location," Starkette radioed over, before looking at Cassandra. "Do we engage or infiltrate the plant, boss?" Of course, it was possible that they could do both. One could go through the window and the other engage the mutant. But Cassandra was her Supervising Officer. The chain of command said that Cassandra got to make the call.

"I'll give you a boost, get you inside," Starkette then offered. "I can handle this asswipe." Though truthfully, she didn't know if she could. She just knew that she had a plan: attack.

[LadyRunic]

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Ayita Dyrkin

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Location Hanson Power Plant
{"Monsters aren't usually in the skin of a beast. Far too often they wear the skin of Man."}

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Wings beat once more as she took flight again. But not without a indignant ruffle of her feathers, "Never seen." She squawked. It was true enough, if one made allowances for those who knew her forms. There was a slight distinction that her human mind left upon her beastial or avian form. Thoughts no creature should have. Save perhaps those of higher thinking. Letting the leaves mask her once more, she gave a lonesome caw. Those higher forms were the easiest to hold. To control. Instinct and thought worked wine in wing or claw in claw. As she drew near the power plant, Raven-Ayita dipped down towards the ground. Her shadow raced her towards her goal.

Bones snapped and flesh tore. Blood seeped on the breeze. Her feathers abandoned her over the rumble ground, leaving only the slightest of trail along with drops of her blood from the shift. Her feet thudded against the ground as a she slid through the shadows of the truck with a squeak. Peering about the darkness she scuttled into the nearest shadow and tight opening. Her large ears swiveling about and her nose twitching. The mouse-Ayita sniffed again. Listening to the sounds, if she heard nothing she would scuttled towards the building. Looking for any small holes in which she could slip into the building. Cautious of any prowling Brotherhood 'cat'.

It would not do, to become cat food after all.

[Nallore]

Cassandra Reed

Location: Hanson Power Plant

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Cassandra heard Oshea's voice over the radio, she then looked towards Starkette and gave a slight shrug the three of them were near the front entrance. When she spotted the window, that would be their way into the plant then but it was seven feet above the ground she wouldn't be able to climb up without a boost. Then she quickly turned around drawing out her sidearm as she heard the growl over the radio, and Marygold picking up something on the screen that Starkette had set up, along with Starkette's watch going off saying a hostile mutant was nearby. "Yeah, we are hearing it now, we will be fine and will keep you updated." She said, looking over at Starkette asking for orders. They probably wouldn't be able to take on Sabertooth if that is who was making those growling sounds they probably wouldn't stand in hand to hand combat, but they were packing their guns.

Cassandra looked towards Starkette as she quickly made her way towards the wall. "No i'll boost you up, then you help me up." She said as she got into position lowering herself somewhat cupping her hands together. "If Sabertooth shows up, we engage from the higher ground." She ordered motioning for Starkette to move with her head. Her eyes continued to scan around the area she wasn't sure where the noise was going to be coming through.