Another explosion ripped through the quiet of the
London night, wood and fragments of stone flying as
the sky lit up in red and orange. Pete Wisdom scowled
as he and Rachel Summers took shelter nearby, the
black haired older man casually hammering unconscious
one of the soldiers who had launched the sudden
attack.
"Black Air," Pete scowled, taking in the stylized
black star symbol on the vest of the military uniform
of their captive. "I thought that the Weird Happenings
Organization shut them down?" he continued, his tone
bitter.
"Looks like they missed some," Rachel sighed, the
redhead poking her head over a broken section of wall
to get a look at the situation.
A pair of transport craft were parked on the street,
modified military helicopters that had released nearly
thirty troopers to surround the convoy of unmarked
vehicles that had come up the lane. Each of the black
and red garbed troops carried a type of heavy blaster,
power connections feeding into backpacks they wore.
"Huh," Pete poked at the weapon their unconscious
opponent carried, "looks almost like Advanced Idea
Mechanics tech, a multifunction energy projector Black
Air seized a few years back that they weaponized."
"Movement," Rachel said seriously.
"Damn," Pete growled, recognizing the politician that
was being forced out of her car by the troops. "Looks
like we can't wait for Widget to bring back help," he
said grimly.
"Got a plan?" Rachel asked, coiling her body to move
and silently wishing that she wasn't dressed in a
skirt.
Pete loosened his tie, his black suit fitting his
serious manner. "Protect the minister and his people."
he said simply, "I'll distract the troops."
"Alone?" Rachel blurted, but Pete was already on the
move.
Wisdom splayed out his fingers, firing from each one
of the hotknives that were the manifestation of his
mutant nature, the solar temperature projections
arching unerringly right into the backpacks of the ten
men who were nearest to the captives. Explosions sent
men and equipment flying as the stunned troopers tried
to get their bearings, Pete moving to get his next
target.
"Wow," Rachel managed before taking off,
telekinetically racing to the man who was the target
of the attack. Forming a dome around them for
protection as they landed she didn't recognize the
older man, though that didn't really surprise her.
"Are you all right?" she asked, addressing both him
and his companions.
"I think so," he managed, a bit of gray coloring his
temples, his bodyguards and assistants chorusing
similar responses.
Pete threw his next bursts of hotknives into the
'copters engines, both vehicles fireballing even as
the first bolts of energy weapons raced towards where
he stood. The crumbling section of wall he dodged
behind shattered as it absorbed the fire but it gave
him just enough time to fire hotknives into the ground
nearby another group, bombarding them with fragments
of the superheated rock. With cries of alarm and pain
another five or so men were downed, leaving a group of
very shaken Black Air operatives to try and
reorganize.
'Remind me not to underestimate Mr. Wisdom,' Rachel
thought, realizing that in a matter of moments he had
managed to defeat over half of the attackers. 'Of
course, that still leave the other half,' she added
grimly.
Above the battlefield there was a rainbow distortion
in the air, and the members of Excalibur dropped into
place like a well oiled machine. Dani Moonstar took
point, psionic arrows ready with Wolfsbane by her
side. Britannia swiftly took to the air, Spitfire
racing to one side even as Widget collapsed the gate,
the silver skinned woman looking ready for battle.
With a smile Pete rose from cover, his black tie and
suit jacket blowing in the wind. "Gentlemen," he said
clearly, "as you can see, my reinforcements have
arrived. Your escape route is gone, you're out-gunned
and the chances are your employers are not going to
save you." He smiled grimly, "We can do this the easy
way or hard way, your pick."
The Black Air troops looked at each other, then at
the eagerly waiting members of Excalibur, then one by
one they took off their weapon packs and surrendered
peacefully. Soon local police forces rounded them up,
carting them away and starting to clean up the mess.
"I'm impressed, Mr. Wisdom," Spitfire commented after
Rachel filled the group in on Pete's one man battle
against the Black Air troops, the white haired young
woman still dressed in a borrowed X-Men uniform.
"Haven't had to do that in a while," Pete answered
gruffly, "didn't miss it much."
There was a disturbance and a heavily built officer
made his way over to where they stood. Dai Thomas
smiled wryly, "You lot just can't seem to stay out of
trouble, can you?"
"We were in the area," Rachel shrugged.
"Well, thanks," Dai conceded. He smiled grimly, "If
those bastards had gotten hold of the minister of
Defense, I think we'd all be in trouble."
"So were they doing this on their own," Dani asked,
the native American frowning slightly, "or as
mercenaries?"
"That's something we'll be asking," Dai made a face
as he conceded, "though I doubt we'll get very much of
an answer."
Britannia dropped from the sky, her Union Jack
designed uniform beaded with moisture. "No sign of
other forces," she reported, "if they did have someone
else out here they probably scampered before I hit the
air."
Pete nodded grimly before looking to Dai, "Is there
anything else we can help with?"
"No," Dai shook his head, "I think this is all pretty
much open and shut. I'll contact you on the island if
anything else comes up."
"All right people," Pete yelled to the team, "let's
move out!"
Widget floated a few inches off the ground as the
rainbow energy contained within her expanded outward,
forming the gateway that would carry them home.
Quickly they leapt through. disappearing only to leave
a twinkling of light in their wake.
Outside of the Muir island research station the team
dropped onto the rough stone before hurrying indoors.
"I'm glad you're all right," Kate said softly to
Rachel, the silver skinned woman smiling down at her
gently.
Rachel took her hand, "I was perfectly safe." She
tossed a scolding look at Pete, "In fact, he kept me a
little too safe."
Pete looked a bit sheepish, "Old habit." He frowned
slightly, "And why did it take so long to get help, by
the way?"
Rahne shook her head, the redheaded werewolf looking
grim, "We were having a bit of a spirited debate when
Widget arrived."
Before Pete could ask Dani continued, "It seems that
Cecelia had two former members of the Brotherhood,
Polaris and Plasma, on the island without telling
anyone."
They entered the common room where Cecelia was
waiting, the African American swiftly looking them
over for injuries, "Is everyone all right?"
"Good enough," Pete answered. He looked over at
Cecelia and asked, "Were Polaris and friend here for a
medical consultation?"
"Yes," Cecelia put her hands in her labcoat pockets.
"This place is a medical facility first and
foremost," Pete reminded his teammates, "and Cecelia
is the Chief Medical Officer on the island. Therefore,
that was her call to make."
"That puts us in our place," Britannia took her helm
off, shaking her head.
"Now," Pete said briskly, "could I talk to you for a
moment, Cecelia?"
Cecelia and Pete left the room, walking towards the
medical wing together. "Thanks for backing me up,"
Cecelia said softly.
"You were spectacularly lucky that didn't blow up in
your face," Pete said to her harshly. He puffed out a
breath, "The only reason that I supported you is that
Xavier gave you this job and I generally trust his
judgment."
Cecelia winced, "Understood."
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