![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
-Kaci was also applied to the most seriously wounded of the friendlies, again just to stabilize. If you'd have died untreated, you are alive instead, and resting in the bunkhouse.
-The walking wounded would have been patched up in a group first aid session in the main room of the cookhouse then dispersed to what tasks they can handle, or to try to rest and decompress.
-Team BrainWatch, in addition to deprogramming various friendlies, has been asked to monitor the hostiles, particularly that Amber should be keeping an eye on Sid in case his darkness moves elsewhere.
-Get packed up and ready to go back to Old Home soon.
-Don't get wasted (yet) but by all means have a drink. We did it, guys.
X-Men: Movieverse 2 - Sunday, May 31, 2009, 6:33 PM
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=CO= Abandoned Mine - Mountains - Colorado
A crushed pebble trail winds up a slope through brush and weeds toward a smallish black hole opening intot he mountainside. The entryway is not natural, though. It's framed by weathered timbers, and the debris that spills out from the opeing contains bits of rusted metal and orange-colored rock. The entire place hangs heavy with history and heart-break--that of the men who mined here, the ones who bet their fortunes on it, and the communities that thrived and died throughout the entire region.
[This room is set watchable. Use alias COAbandonedMine to watch here.]
(Exits : [M]ountain [T]rail )
(Players : Tybalt, Alex, Zenith, and Walter )
Partly cloudy has turned to cloudy, and from thence to a cold spring rain that gusts cold water against exposed skin and swiftly chills any fools unwary enough to leave warmth and shelter. Naturally, this means that there are SUPERSPIES out in it, sneaking carefully up on the mouth of the mine. Remy has given most of his dryness capabilities over to keeping his allotment of C4 dry, the rest of him soaked and pale and his hair slicked down to outline the inhibitor at his ear like an odd and technological tumour. His voice is a murmur, directed to his comlink, rather than a shout to try and compete with the wind and the odd grumbles of thunder. "Main issues gonna be the one that's right past the lair. I think I got the market cornered on sneak, unless y'want t'use y'powers to make the ceilin' y'floor, Zephyr."
The rain has finally conquered the curl to Zenith's hair, and it straggles straight like everyone else's. She looks pale just from the adrenaline and worry about the mission ahead. "It would be easy enough," she says in respose to Remy, but in a strictly factual manner--she's not /volunteering/, you see.
Trailing behind Remy in a heavy, rain-slicked coat, Alex takes a moment to press the inhibitor into his ear. He doesn't trust in its ability to cling. "Which do you need me at?" He asks, raising a hand to slip a damp mat of hair away from his eyes.
"If y'ain't sure y'can handle it, then y'takin' the first one in, an' be ready t'get my back if I come runnin' with somethin' on my tail." Remy decides, taking the lack of volunteer spirit as a sign he needs to do it himself as he creeps forward to the next spot of covering rock, and crouches to get water seeping into his boots. Puddle. Joy. "Summers, y'takin' the one at the left fork."
"Okay," Zenith says in some relief. For a moment she gives in and the raindrops around her look like they're falling slowly or to the side, deflected by something, but she doesn't let the unnecessary use of power go for long. She creeps along, following Remy's lead as to cover.
The mine opens before them once past the narrow, timber-propped entry. The main passage is dark and damp, with the light from outside quickly extinguished by a greedy dark. The scents of metal and rain saturate the air, with an iron tang like blood at the back of your throats. NICE PLACE.
"Got it. In and out, we don't need to stay." Alex remarks, voicing the redundancy to himself more than the others. He pulls the jacket tighter to his body as he makes his move behind the others, digging a flashlight out from his pocket and flicking it on as he nears the mouth.
The long indrawn breath that Remy takes to try and force himself to steadiness and clarity doesn't transmit over the commlink as he reaches the mine entrance. It shows in his posture for a moment all the same. Click, goes his flashlight, and he drops down to hand motions and radio silence as he begins to cautiously advance just inside the threshhold, sideways along the wall to give a smaller target to any mine-maddened minions. There's at least a cessation of being rained on, in trade for the potential cost of his soul.
Zenith wrings out as much of her hair as she can pull together into a tail one-handed, the other busy with her flashlight. She seems at least surface calm, in a way that suggests it's because she doesn't quite comprehend the extent of the danger. She glances up to the ceiling, but stays on the floor as long as she's still with the others.
Alex is surface-angry. He advances behind the others as instructed, sending the occasional wary flashlight beam over his shoulder to ensure they aren't outflanked. Following suite, he makes a point to casually move from cover to cover.
Deeper into the mine Remy advances, leaving trails of damp footprints as he keeps his flashlight beam near his feet, illumining his steps without casting too far on ahead. He pauses at one point to hold up a hand for a halt while he listens at the first junction, then waves Zenith down it. And then there were two. The next split is where he is the one to take his leave, inching along eeeever so cautiously towards where their rats have made their lair in order to see whether there are people home before getting on the other side. His inhibitor is mashed against his head with his free hand.
Zenith takes to the ceiling once she splits off, crouching low and moving along toward what she guesses is her assigned spot. She's got plenty of attention for noise of anyone in the direction she's headed too.
There is only marginal attention paid to maintaining stealth for Alex, but it is not entirely ignored. He maintains his initial plan of moving from cover to cover as he rounds his bend and heads to his support beam. Upon arrival he reaches into his jacket and produces a shaped charge, rubbing it into the wood around the X he marked previously.
The passageway that leads down toward the hideout earlier found by Pete is quiet and dark. If the light is still on in the direction of their little lovenest, it can't be seen. Or else ... maybe they aren't there?
When Zenith gets to her X, she considers it for a moment, up at the closest point to it, whether it's being on the ceiling or on a wall. After a moment, she measures approximately an area the size of her fist around it, and then puts her C4 to the side of that, tongue-tip protruding as she recalls how to do it, and leaving room for powers once she gets back down to where she branched earlier.
No light from the lovenest. Bother. The hem of his button down shirt is pulled over his flashlight, as Remy mutes its light down to the bare minimum to let his eyes dark adjust while not falling into pits. He sneeeeaks on past, barely breathing and with a rampaging case of the willies all up and down his spine and along his shoulders until he's far enough past the door to hot-foot it for his X, calf muscle twinging as he pulls at scabs that dislike such treatment. X, x, x... X! Deft hands pat around in his pack, first readying the C4 and its detonator before, flashlight in his teeth, he begins applying a pretty purple-pink glow to various nails and spikes holding the timbers in place -- not enough to take it down on their own, but enough to weaken it for a later fall. He darts back as SNAPS and CRACKS begin to sound, eyes wide and face adrenaline-pale as stealth... is somewhat compromised.
The snap-crackle-pop chases after Remy as the nails and spikes begin to go. There's a low groan echoing through the timbers -- and then a sharp crack as the first piece of wood cracks.
Zenith concentrates hard, and a fist-sized area of wood around her X strains under the sudden gravitic force, and then implodes in on itself. She doesn't wait to see if the C4 stays put or gets taken down by anything her destruction starts to displace, she just starts running for the entrace herself.
There isn't a boom as Alex weakens his strut, but a sizzling scent that fills the air. He reaches up to cup one hand a bit above the explosive then a bit under, generating just enough energy to begin to microwave it from the core out. As the smell and smoke fill the air his eyes squint to focus through. After a quick confirmation of his work he sets the detonator and turns to leave.
"{Shit, shit, buggering fuckmonkey crap!}" is the translation from the Cajun French that hisses from Remy after a pause to see whether it's going to collapse just from that is overruled by the notion that it might, and being there for it would be -bad- as the first crack of wood sounds. His dart becomes a full on not-quite sprint, calf stabbing at him and ignored just as he ignores the potential evil love nest, intent on getting to the other side and getting -out-.
A sharp crack and a splatter of droplets heralds the implosion, followed by a creak-creak-creak. There's no sharp snap, as there was with Remy's, but rather a continuing complaint from the wooden supports. The microwaved wood begins to burn. That can't set off explosives early, right?
As they head for the entrance of the mine, it seems to get darker ... and colder. They have only seconds left before the explosives go off, but it's a good few minutes before they get back to the entrance.
Creaking is plenty ominous enough to urge Zenith forward, getting much closer to a flat-out run than she might otherwise, since she just shifts her "ground" up off the actual, uneven, surface of the mine.
A Remy comes popping out his tunnel as if the hounds of hell were after him, and he's not precisely gaining on them. "Zephyr, we run out of time I need y'to throw up a wall o' gravity over our heads!" is puffed into his comlink. Hopefully he's close enough for the signal to transmit to hers.
Burning. Whoops. Alex's eyes grow wide as dinner plates as he turns and begins to break into a light jog, flicking his light ahead of him to catch the pitfall early. "We might have a bigger problem. I'll explain later, but, run. Out of the cave. Now." He says, breaking into a faster pace after getting around the gaping maw of inconvenience.
"'s only going to help with the small chunks," Zenith pants back. "Can't hold the whole fucking roof!" Still, she moderates her speed so that Remy and Alex should hopefully make it forward into her range.
As the three pathways converge closer to the main passage, each of them is visible to the other. Alex and Remy's lights bob and zig, though Zenith's is a smoother glow as she cheats. The detonation down the three branches comes with a sharp report. Stealth? WHAT stealth? A stretch of silence yawns before them as the mine holds its breath -- then, mutation-weakened timbers give way with a last creak and crash, and the earth overhead groans. A puff of dirt chases at their heals, followed by a sudden rush of noise as the three branches of the mine collapse. Pebbles join the dirt, and a few larger rocks shake loose over their heads. Think fast!
And, say, is that a set of two flashlights just ahead of them?
"S'better'n nothin!" says Remy, staggering along with all possible speed as he tucks into Zenith's orbit just in time to get a few of the first few 'That was -really dumb- of you' twinges filtering through the adrenaline from a calf where healing punctures have torn open again. But the glimpse of light steals further words from him, as well as further forward momentum. He drops to an uneven dog trot that takes him towards the side of the tunnel until he can figure out what direction the flashlights are heading.
Zenith stops using her mutation in a totally useful manner--what some might jealously call cheating--and the moment her feet touch the floor, a shield snaps up, reversing the gravity above her and anyone standing near her, so the falling rocks slow and then bounce off. She's too focused on that to notice light, but she does notice when her protectee slows, and she slows with him to keep him under cover.
Alex doesn't slow. As Remy begins to slow he reaches out to loop an arm under his arm to provide support and try to help prevent the slowing down. Smoke? Rubble? "We're almost there!" Alex calls out, emitting mild warmth and a whole lot of blue glow. Screw flashlights.
Well, Alex, that sure makes it convenient to find you, doesn't it? The blast of a shotgun cracks out, speeding toward them -- and then suddenly angling up, deflected by Zenith's gravity. That light in front of them? It probably isn't your teammates -- and it is remaining steady, near a passageway that branches off to the side.
Zenith makes a terrified squeak, registering the powerdrain of deflecting the force of bullets rather than rocks even before she recognizes what happened. "Shooting--" she says, unnecessarily.
[ICRadio] Kitty: What are we doing with guests that don't know what's going on?
Well, there goes trying to figure it out quietly. "Y'fuckin' -moron-!" says Remy, but mostly lost to the roar of the shotgun inside the closed walls of the cave. Despite this slur on Alex's cerebral capacity, he apparently finds the looped arm useful enough to leave there, gait shifting to something faster as the business of putting weight on the bad leg is eased a little. "Smash through," he orders, free hand reaching blindly into his pack to fumble out a pack of playing cards. "All we got to do is get out and past."
[ICRadio] Pete's voice crackles along the commlink. "Get them under cover and out of the way. Tell them it's an FBI operation if you have to."
A cloud of dust and debris overtakes them, puffing forward and out toward the mouth of the mine. Everything around them is obscured, and it is hard to tell which way is the right way out. On the plus side, it makes it hard for anyone to shoot at you!
Zenith scrunches back even closer to the other two, reaching out a hand to keep track of them when it gets so hard to see. "Don't count on me for anything but shield," she says shortly, the strain of further debris sounding in her voice. They lead, and she'll just follow, concentration elsewhere.
[ICRadio] Sal: "We've got gunshots. I repeat, gunshots from the mine," comes in from Sal.
"Did I ruin the surprise of flashlights and explosions?!" Alex asks non-productively, stretching out the hand he isn't supporting Remy with as they race against the crumbling mine. A steady stream of controlled blasts are immediately tossed towards the source of gunfire and light. "I'll keep their heads down, get ready to detonate falling debris!"
Swearing continues frm Remy's direction, taking advantage of the full bilingual amenities at his command, with a word or two of the Spanish he's working on thrown in just for good measure. Also, he runs, trying at first to track falling debris to detonate, before giving up due to the dust. "Just keep runnin'!"
[ICRadio] Will: I don't sense anyone coming out yet.
Little shards of white-hot rock spray back at them as dust chokes the air. They run, and they run -- but strangely, they don't seem to get out. You would /swear/ that you should be at the entrance by now, but you aren't. Slowly, the air clears ... and there's no one around. The passageway extends either way around you, with your two teemmates next to you.
[ICRadio] Amber: Do we stay put or get ready to help if necessary?
Zenith gives a half sob, slowing, and looks around with a bit of panic. "What do we /do/?"
[ICRadio] Kitty: Hyperion and Magik, I want you to move forward and see what is holding them up. Everyone else, provide back up for them.
"Mere de Dieu, where's the -exit-?" Remy's voice is suddenly edged with little-boy plaintive, echoed over the commlink as he presses madly at the button on it as if trying to summon an elevator out.
[ICRadio] Remy: "Mere de Dieu, where's the -exit-?"
[ICRadio] Sal: "Copy that, Shadowcat."
[ICRadio] Amber: Unless ya'll got seperated, you're close. I could see some of Alex's blasts.
[ICRadio] Zenith: Illyana: "Going down now."
"Hold on. Relax. The mine is fucking with us." Alex replies, slowing and checking Remy before releasing his grip. His flashlight is produced once again as he flicks it in both directions to figure what happened, turning back and training an open palm towards the prior gunfire. "We should get some cover." He says, slowly moving towards a rocky prominence along the side of the wall.
[ICRadio] Pete: "Gambit, what's your situation?"
[ICRadio] Will: Psycho Bitch, try to get in a good position to see through this cloud. Magik, stay behind me. I'll keep you from getting hit.
"I -figured- that, y'smug ass." Plaintiveness vanishes like mist before the sun in the face of Alex trying to be reassuring, and his grip is encouraged loose with a shake of shoulders as Remy hop-shuffles forward with his eyes closed and his hand on the comm button again as he hears a question. "It's in our heads. Keepin' us from seein' the way out. Endless tunnel."
[ICRadio] Remy: "It's in our heads. Keepin' us from seein' the way out. Endless tunnel."
"Can't we just keep going?" Zenith asks plaintively in turn. She stays off her com, letting one voice do the talking for the little group to make things simpler. "We were going straight for it before--just keep going straight--"
[ICRadio] Kitty: "I'm sending Hyperion and Magik to you. If you're close to the entrance, they should be able to see you and get you the hell out. Hold tight, Gambit."
"Sure. We should keep moving, but" Alex replies, giving Remy a look as he leans up against the rock and squints around the corner. "Any of you see or hear what happened to the fuckers up /there?/" He asks, slowly clenching his fingers. He's ready to shoot back again.
Will enters the mine and looks deep into the tunnel. He says, "No sign of them," into his comsystem and then adds, "Gambit, this is Hyperion, do something that would make it easier to find you." And then he faces Illyana. "We need to mark the cave's entrance. Do you have any rope?"
"Be advised," says Remy to the comlink. "We ain't seen what happened t'the two targets. They are down here with us." Step-shuffle. Step-shuffle. "We got help inbound, Summers. Hyperion an' Magik. Outside saw y'blasts, so we ain't far."
[ICRadio] Will: No sign of them. -- Gambit, this is Hyperion, do something that would make it easier to find you.
In answer to Will's request, Remy palms the deck of cards, charges them partially, and tosses them sidelong at a wall where Alex and Zenith aren't.
[ICRadio] Remy: "Be advised: We ain't seen what happened t'the two targets. They are down here with us."
Illyana brings her tranq gun up, ready, as she follows Will in, peering ahead. "Can you sense them?" she asks, and then digs into her pocket, bringing out a piece of chalk. After last time, she's prepared! She frowns though, not seeing the use at the moment.
The passageway is dark and empty around you, with emphasis on dark. You can't hear anything, and you can see only the light from each other. Remy's card explodes with a bright-sharp pop of light and sound, and pebbles shower you, hot.
Will gestures to the wall and says, "Mark it in a line as we go in. Vary the designs, just in case it gets in our heads." Afterward he looks into the mine for Remy's sign. "I can't sense them. I should be able to."
[ICRadio] Amber: "Just a thought, but if people are going to be going deeper into the mine to find the others, we should be going in as a group, rather than two or three at a time. Otherwise they're just separating us into smaller groups. Easier to pick off."
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Did they go /into/ the mine? Get the hell out of there, Hyperion and Magik. I wanted you to look from the entrance."
[ICRadio] Pete: "Or they're hoping to lure us in so they can get around us to get out."
[ICRadio] Sal: "Hyperion and Magik, be advised that I can no longer make out your positions,"
"Dammit!" Zenith shouts, the anger not really directed at Remy, but wincing from the hot pebbles she's trying to shield from now too.
The readied arm raises to shield Alex's cheek from the shower of pebbles, still summoning a low curse under his breath. "If I create that glow, then, it could illuminate their profiles if they shift. We're behind a barrier but it should still flood around. It would help the other team."
<< Get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head. >> More mantra than actual directive to the ghost haunting his brainmeats, Remy repeats the thought over and over again. "If y'all can't find us... go f'the bad guys," he directs over the comlink, as hot pebbles pelt at him and he backs towards Alex's position. "Zephyr," he directs to the shield maiden. "Come in close with us."
[ICRadio] Remy: "If y'all can't find us... go f'the bad guys,"
[ICRadio] Natalie: Do we know where the bad guys /are/?
"We're barely inside the mine," Will replies. He waits for the blast, which he never sees, before saying, "No contact with Gambit or the others. Hyperion and Magik are retreating to previous location and awaiting further orders." He gestures for Illyana to follow as he begins to exit the mine.
[ICRadio] Will: We're barely inside the mine. No contact with Gambit or the others. Hyperion and Magik are retreating to previous location and awaiting further orders.
Illyana slips her chalk away again, and listening to the com, nods. She follows Will back out.
A curt nod meets Remy as Alex leans his head back in and produces enough light to illuminate their position vibrantly. "I'm going to paint their silhouettes. Light 'em up." He says into his communicator, pulling the roll of rope from his jacket and sliding it to Remy as he goes sparkly.
[ICRadio] Alex: I'm going to paint their silhouettes. Light 'em up.
Zenith squishes in even closer, according to Remy's direction. "I'm running low on juice," she says, voice strained. She looks confused at talk of silhouettes, but that's not her job, so she just concentrates on shielding.
[ICRadio] Walter: Is anyone hurt in the mine?
Will pauses and looks over his shoulder. "Just saw a faint light deep in the mine, down one of the side passages. Orders, Shadowcat?"
[ICRadio] Amber: If anyone's going to find them in there, it's gonna be me. That big a group is gonna glow like a lightning bug. But I'm not moving unless I get a say so. So..
The light emitted by Alex is almost blinding on eyes adjusted for dimness. It sparkles off minerals in the walls, glittering back at them. It reaches far toward the ends of the passage. One disappears into the darkness, while the other end opens up into a larger passage. There's no one else visible.
PS: When I say no one else, I mean no one else besides the three of you, okay? Okay.
[ICRadio] Will: Just saw a faint light deep in the mine, down one of the side passages. Orders, Shadowcat?
"There!" Illyana says at the same time, stopping moving, putting her hand on Will's arm, and pointing. "I can see them too." she adds into the com.
[ICRadio] Zenith: Illyana: I can see them too.
[ICRadio] Amber: Oh, well then.. ignore me.
[ICRadio] Sal: "There's a light visible from out here, but barely. Maintaining position."
An audible gasp from Remy transmits over the comm as his eyes tear up, and one hand lifts to shield them, a seared mark from one of the hot pebbles scored across the back of it. "Bon dieu, glad to hear that," he says to the comm. "I ain't seein' shit but us... an' cosmetic damage only, Dynamo."
[ICRadio] Remy: "Bon dieu, glad to hear that. I ain't seein' shit but us... an' cosmetic damage only, Dynamo."
[ICRadio] Pete: "Confirming Psycho Bitch's report. Origin isn't visible."
Zenith makes another squeaking noise, pressing her hands over her eyes for a moment. "Now we stay put? Wait for them to find the light?" she checks. With no debris currently falling, she cautiously lets her shield down, ready to snap it back up if necessary.
"Do we move out or maintain position?" Alex asks calmly, glancing towards Remy then Zenith. His brow gathers thoughtfully at her strain as he shifts against the rock to venture another peak around, killing his light as he does so.
[ICRadio] Natalie: Who is it?
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Wisdom, Psycho, move forward to join Hyperion and Magik then proceed carefully into the cave. Dynamo and I will move forward to cover the spots. The rest of you in the yard, stay here and deal with this situation."
[ICRadio] Will: I want that woman with the mutant-finding nose.
Will nods toward Illyana and says, "I want that woman with the mutant-finding nose," into his comsystem. He prepares to move forward.
Illyana glances back behind her and Will, checking for the others to be joining them, and gets out her chalk again, starting up a line on the wall with the hand not busy with her gun.
"First rule o' bein' lost," Remy confirms, grim but focused for the moment, as he staaares into the darkness and attempts to lean against the wall and take weight off his calf. "Stay put once y'called f'rescue. Keep an eye out in case it ain't friendlies that find us first."
[ICRadio] Sal: "Copy that, Shadowcat. Hyperion, Magik, hold up 'til we've caught up to you." Moments later: "I think we got a rider coming down. Can anyone confirm?"
[ICRadio] Pete: "We've definitely got movement up the mountain. How long before you make it up?"
[ICRadio] Percy: I don't know. I'm not sure who or what it is. I think it's stopped.
Will stays put, waiting in the entrance. He looks around the mouth of the cave and says, "Might be the horsehand."
[ICRadio] Will: Might be the horsehand.
The rock at your back is cold and damp, with the rain seeping down through the ground and through the cracks to run down and soak through your clothing. It sure is awful cold and lonely down here.
Zenith shivers. "I need to keep the shield up?" She's got her plaintiveness under control now, at least. "Can get it up in time for rocks, but not bullets. But I could use the rest--"
"Got it." Alex replies, leaning against the crag and running his dusty hands over his face. A tense sigh finds its way past his lips as he closes his eyes and tries to relax like he said would be a good idea. Great idea. That pretty little head of his is worried, but he does his damndest to not look it.
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Can anyone get closer to confirm if it's a person?" A moment later: "Dynamo, Psycho, you'll be the fastest. Try to catch up but be /careful/."
[ICRadio] Amber: It's beyondte boundry, but Jeff's on the back of that horse guys. Don't know where he's going, but he's moving at a clip.
"I got Zephyr an' Summers with me, we're sittin' tight" Remy reports to the radio, just to confirm, as he curls a little harder inwards as the rock dampens his shirt even more and brings on a miserable quality of hunch to his bearing, aided and abetted by the pain in his leg. Wait... dampness? He blinks a moment. "Y'can drop the shield, I think. -Feels- like we close enough to the entrance to be gettin' rainwater, at least."
[ICRadio] Remy: "I got Zephyr an' Summers with me, we're sittin' tight."
[ICRadio] Amadeus: "Should we pursue, or should I keep waiting for Sid?"
[ICRadio] Sal: "Copy that, Shadowcat."
[ICRadio] Sal to Amber: You got a visual confirmation, brighteyes, or is that just his mojo showin?
[ICRadio] Walter: He in tranq range?
[ICRadio] Amber: Can't see his face from this distance, that's just his mojo.
[ICRadio] Amber: No. Beyond the border.
Illyana frowns, hearing the chatter about a riders and such that she can't effect, and looks into the mine, then back over her shoulder again. "Who are we waiting for now?" she asks Will, verifying now that there have been changes with other orders.
[ICRadio] Will: Magik and Hyperion are on standby. Who're we waiting on? Torchlight?
[ICRadio] Kitty: "If the rider's beyond our boundaries, I want Psycho and Wisdom to continue with the orders. Join Hyperion and Magik and make your way to get the others. Extracting our team members should be the key priority."
[ICRadio] Sal: "Torchlight has fired on the horse, I repeat, Torchlight has fired on the horse."
The longer you remain here, the more your unease grows. It's easy to jump at small noises, and there are so many small noises, from the crackle of coms to a rumble of late-falling rock here and there behind you. There's a scramble from farther down the passage as pebbles roll and crunch. Perhaps another rock?
Zenith jerks in surprise at some noise, and her shield suddenly snaps back on for some reason. "Are we sure it's safe to stay here?" she asks, in a low voice.
Will looks up at the water. "Ah, shit," he breathes. "We don't have much time left. When we get there, Magik, I want you to instantly get us out. I'll pull everyone to me at once." He lowers his head and equips his rifle.
Two gunshots sound from the passage way that lead toward a larger passage.
"Zephyr..." says Remy, twitching and turning his head to try and catch a noise that's got him spooked enough that the hand on her arm to get her attention lingers unheeded, simple human contact with no more motivation behind it than touch. "Somethin' that way... shit!" He snaps at a thunderous crack in his ears of more gunfire. "I don't know. I do know we ain't seein' what's really there. Maybe it wants to walk us out over some pit somewhere."
Fingers spread out as Alex reaches an arm out and squints towards the sound of gravel crunchy and rolling. He remains quiet, so tense he's aware of the volume of his breathing. At the gunshots, his fist begins to emit blue, concentric pulses.
[ICRadio] Percy: It's just kind of a dark spot. Not really moving anymore. I could shoot it with a tranq.
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Psycho, take someone with you," she snaps over the comlink. "Wisdom, whatever you're doing.. Well, keep doing it. Amber, get down and go towards the mine."
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Oh, hell. Go for it. Shoot it with a tranq."
Illyana's voice comes out thin in places, from the tension in her muscles. "/Three/," she hisses as a reminder to Will. "Is my absolute maximum. That leaves one behind."
[ICRadio] Pete: "Jeff's mount is hit, but still mobile. Fucker's out of my line of sight - can anyone else get visual?"
[ICRadio] Sal: "Hyperion, Magik, I'm comin' up behind you."
BLAM. A beam flashes through the darkness towards a broad-shouldered man. California breaks into a sprint towards the target immediately after, a hail of plasma heralding his preparation to assault and engage.
"Then we'll have to risk pulling them out slowly" Will replies. He raises his rifle and adds, "Now, let's move." He turns a flashlight and begins to run into the sidepassage, moving swiftly. "Less time we spend in here the better. Psycho Bitch, take point in front of me."
[ICRadio] Will: Psycho Bitch, take point in front of me.
A shot goes off over Alex's head, spraying the ceiling and echoing /sharply/ toward Will, Illyana, Sal and Amber. A few pellets zing toward Alex, Remy, and Zenith. The man he throws himself toward readies another shot and ducks behind an outthrust of rock. Plasma meets rock, melts it, but misses.
Amadeus scrambles up from his cover, quickly trailing behind Amber and into the mine, trying to check his tranq and not slip and fall at the same time. Alright, so this is his first mission with quick tactical orders! At least, in the rain. "Wait up!"
"Jesus fuck, Summers--!" Apparently hunkering down comes with a time limit, as Alex explodes into action, leaving the other two behind and Remy snarling a bemused "-Communicate!-" just ahead of proof coming in the form of more shotgun blasts. Scooping up a handful of mine rock and charging it as he goes, Remy flings it down towards the ground at the base of the outcropping, seeking an upwards explosion meant to distract while they go for a better maneuver.
"Or breaking into two groups." With all the new people added to the total, Illyana winces even more, but then there's shots to hear, and she flinches instinctively at the sound. She brings up tranq gun up also.
[ICRadio] Walter: "Barrier. Target lost." He sounds rather sad about this.
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Aletheia, I want you to come forward and help us cover the mine. Babel and Kelsey can stay back in the ya--" The transimission is cut off as gunfire sounds in the mine.
Amber whips around to give Amadeus a look. "Could you yell any louder? I'm sure the badguys would LOVE to know our exact location." She hisses. She gives a quick glance around for Sal and the others.
Sal is fleet of foot and nimble of body, Sal moves into postion quickly; she doesn't bother to confirm this over the radio, since she is /right there/. "More gunshots in the mine," she does bark over the comm as she shoulders her gun. She charges, but not headlong.
[ICRadio] Sal: "More gunshots in the mine," crackles over the comm. It is Sal's voice, and surprsingly neutral.
[ICRadio] Natalie: Did not copy, Shadowcat. You want us up there or down here?
[ICRadio] Pete says evenly, "If he's still mobile, he's back on foot."
"Summers, you're out of my range!" Zenith shouts after him. Not that she thinks he'll care, but she warns it anyway. She hurries to keep up with Remy at least, shield raised to try to take care of the bullets.
At the entrance, shots ring out from deeper in the mine, followed by a series of smaller blasts and one larger, sharp explosion.
[ICRadio] Kitty: "Yes. Aletheia, come forward. Whatever the hell is going down in there, they might need safe cover to come out into. I want your team to get them and /bring/ them back, Hyperion."
Amadeus stays close behind Amber, close enough to be able to grab or push her down if needed. "Alright, they're shooting, and shit is exploding, you sure you shouldn't stay behind me while we go deeper?"
There isn't time for Alex to respond or acknowledge Remy's startled call. He runs towards his target, vision blurring with each pounding step and his blasts become more wild and rapid. He is not trying to hit. He is trying to keep a head down. The dread in Alex meets something else, and he is filled with less tactical logic and more blinding rage. BLAM! Nancie. BLAM! Pellets slice past and deflect off some ribs. BLAM! Kitty. As the distance closes, he tries to tackle the gunman against the mine wall.
Will sprints swiftly after Sal, but isn't nearly as fast as she is. "Magik, two more behind us. Get them in line and close to me in case this place caves in. Psycho, go faster and give them backup."
[ICRadio] Will: Magik, two more behind us. Get them in line and close to me in case this place caves in. Psycho, go faster and give them backup.
Remy isn't that hard to hurry after. Bereft of the Alex-shaped crutch, he press-gangs Zenith into service, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to support himself, and following along in Alex's wake with his other hand fishing in his pack again. "Summers's closed with one of the targets. Attemptin' a grapple."
[ICRadio] Remy: "Summers's closed with one of the targets. Attemptin' a grapple."
[ICRadio] Percy: Repeat that once more, Shadowcat? You want /Alethia/ to come forward and provide covering fire?
Amber says, "We're following Hyperian and the others. Stay at the back. With your ears, you'll hear trouble behind us before I will." Amber says as she pulls out one of the tranq and holds it loose in one hand, jogging up towards the others and falling quickly in line.""
As the group near the entrance heads deeper, it becomes clear that the sounds are largely originating down a side passage branching off to their right.
Illyana slows her next couple steps to bring her closer to Amber and Amadeus coming up behind, verifying that they're following at a good pace. "Come on, we need to get closer together," she tells them.
[ICRadio] Walter: Orders?
[ICRadio] Kitty: "I need someone with some firearm experience to stay in the yard and cover it. Dynamo, get ready to provide cover. That's your orders."
[ICRadio] Walter: Here or the yard?
"Fucking /Christ/, I'm /going/," is somewhat unfortunately repeated over the comms. Sal picks up speed as she breaks for the right-side passageway, eyes and ears focused on the tunnel ahead of her. "Gambit, you said California's engaged? Can you confirm?"
The fall doesn't keep Alex down long, and though some rocks and pieces of wood grind along the back of his shoulder, he tumbles back to his feet and continues. His other arm raises to join the first as he unleashes the weak flurry of blasts after the gimp; his focus on closing the distance and be extremely impolite.
"I don't have cat ears unless... alright." Amadeus doesn't argue, he just follows quickly, sticking close to Amber.
[ICRadio] Sal: "Fucking /Christ/, I'm /going/," is followed by an urgent, "Gambit, you said California's engaged? Can you confirm?"
[ICRadio] Sal: "Oh, goddamn, goddamn!"
The ceiling over Sal erupts as a deafening shot rings out. Rocks and hot shot shower her.
[ICRadio] Percy: Target is /here/. Repeat for emphasis, we have Jeff on the porch.
Will raises his hand and attempts to keep the rocks from falling all over Sal. "Fire on anyone who looks hostile!" come Will's orders.
[ICRadio] Will: Fire on anyone who looks hostile!
[ICRadio] Walter: I'm fastest here, shoud I engage?
A passage breaks off behind the outcropping, and Alex is just visible down it. His bursts illuminate yet another passage that zips around back toward the larger tunnel.
With a telekinetic shield, obviously.
"He is so engaged he showin' off the ring," Remy answers Sal, advancing forward at the best speed he can muster and coming up with a second deck of cards from his pack. This one isn't charged whole cloth -- instead he palms one and nudges at Zenith to take them into a better line of sight on the other man. "But mind the riccochets in the damn' cave!" he amends to Will's orders.
[ICRadio] Remy: "He is so engaged he showin' off the ring," Remy answers Sal, before he amends Will's orders with "But mind the riccochets in the damn' cave!"
Zenith makes no protest at supporting Remy, since that shrinks her shield slightly. She responds when nudged, assisting to the new position, and bites her lip. "I got one or two shots left--" she says, not using them just yet. "Then the shield's down--"
"Oh, goddamn, goddamn!" squeals over the comm in the wake of the shot, and Sal goes down in a rain of shotgun pellets and rock fragments. She turns as she goes down, and pulls her gun into firing position: one tranq is fired, her aim as steady as she can make it in the wake of searing pain. As soon as it's off, she's reloading.
The rain of shot and rock abruptly stops as Will's shield snaps into place over Sal. Her first shot goes wild.
[ICRadio] Percy:
[ICRadio] Walter: Tranq them both. Why we have them.
Next, Will shoves the larger pieces of rock forward with a blast of energy. The shot remains suspended for a moment before it drops and trinkles on the ground.
Illyana's attention divides between the rain of rock up ahead and the words over the com. "I can get someone to the target!" she says into her own com. "Do I need to grab someone and jump there?"
Boy, it is a mobile gimp he is pursuing. Alex purses his lips as the glow from his fists remain outstretched to illuminate the path ahead. He follows his senses and the sound, taking the turn and doubling towards the gunfire, ready to unleash another shower of plasma.
[ICRadio] Zenith: Illyana: "I can get someone to the target! Do I need to grab someone and jump there?"
Amadeus begins firing at any hostile target he sees moving, well, enemy target. He never moves far from Amber, always keeping her in his peripheral vision, but he's very focused on attempting to get body shots.
Will is behind Sal, throwing rocks forward toward, possibly, the culprit who fired earlier.
"/Fuck/," Sal snarls, readying her second shot and aiming; she is still on her /ass/ on the /ground/, surrounded by rock fragments and spent shot as she fires the next tranq round. From her position, her shot should be true unless something else interferes with it.
Amber is currently working and moving with her back pressed against the wall, easing towards the sounds of gunshots and trying to stay out of the actual bullet range. Fucking guns. She snakes her way closer, pushing wet hair from her eyes as she glances around to catch sight of auras. Checking to see if anyone is compromised.
There is little noise except the crunch of gravel as Alex explodes around the corner and launches himself at Sid, knocking and pinning him to the floor and beginning to unleash fury born from fear. Through the grapple he tries to get one hand around a throat, the other around a face. BURN.
And more bodies appear from the other side of Alex and Sid, Remy shuffling along as quick as he can with Zenith, and with his palmed card useless as Alex tackles Sid and puts himself too close to the target for there to be a safe explosion. "Jesus... holy fucking god..." He is likely going to be put off bacon for a while.
Sal's second shot strikes true as Sid's finger squeezes on the trigger of his shotgun. The shot blasts down at an angle toward Will, Amber, Illyana, and Amadeus. One of the rocks hits Alex in the face, and the second one punches back into the darkness behind him, toward Remy. Beneath Alex's hands, Sid screams, and the stench of burnt flesh rises over stone and blood.
It's hard to hear with all of the shooting and throwing of rocks, but there's a tiny squeak of pain coming from the side wall as Amber gets an eyefull of the room around her. Eyes squeeze shut as she rests a hand against the wall, reaching to her bag to dig around, fishing out her sunglasses.
"Target has been hit, I repeat, Sid has been-- Christ Almighty, California!" Sal's stomach churns at the stench of burning flesh, and her breath catches at the sound of Sid's scream. But she readies another dart, and holds steady until the pair seperate again.
[ICRadio] Sal: "Target has been hit, I repeat, Sid has been-- Christ Almighty, California!"
Just behind Will, Illyana throws up her arms and tries to duck away from the shot, but still catches some in her leg since it's angled down. She chokes at the scent of burning.
Will raises a shield this time as he runs. Little pellets smack and bounce in front of him and begin to ricochet against the stone passageway. One grazes him on the leg while another bounces against his leg and gives him a nice bruise. Raising his rifle, he takes a shot at the downed Sid. "Putting another into him just in case. Gambit, get him off, please."
[ICRadio] Will: Putting another into him just in case. Gambit, get him off, please.
There is some blinding rage behind Alex's eyes as he glares through the sizzling smoke of flesh, but he relents as his more humane side takes over. And a rock smashes into his face above the right eye. Alex's mind snaps back to the pleasant and away from the unique flavor of anger and fear. "What the /fuck?!/" He growls, reaching up to clutch at his head and rolling aside. There is some blood.
"On it." Grim and expressionless is Remy's voice over the comm, letting himself loose from Zenith to close the gap and clap a hand heavily on Alex's shoulder. "Enough," he counsels, tugging at him from his somewhat off-center balance with his re-injured leg. "It's enough, homme."
[ICRadio] Remy: "On it."
Zenith lets Remy go, but she stays close, hand coming up in her unconscious pressing down gesture, ready to strengthen the gravity around Alex if anyone tells her it's necessary.
Amadeus stops firing, instead stepping in front of Amber, closing his eyes while trying to shield her from flying rocks, many of which are pelting and sticking into his back, well, the ones not large enough to impale him. "F-fuck, you alright?"
Flesh peels away with Alex's hand, and there is a whimper from the man beneath him. His throat and face are a bloody ruin.
Amber didn't see any of that coming, only getting gently clipped before Amadeus moves in front of her to keep the rest of it from hitting. Eyes open wide as she uses the man's back to pull herself up, "I'll be alright," she hisses as she turns her gaze towards the shining group and takes a few small steps forward. She heard a whimper. First aid kit is at the ready.
Alex doesn't put up a fight as he stumbles to his feet at Remy's prying. A wrathful eye glares down at Sid then at his bloody hands then he reaches up to wipe them off on his jacket. That will be fun to clean later. "Someone grab that gun" He mutters under his breath.
Will jogs up behind everyone and surveys the outcome. He glances at Sal, then Illyana. "There're probably only two ways this man's going to live. The first is an emergency room. The second is Kaci." And then he looks at Gambit. It's one of /those/ looks. "Any ideas?"
Once it's clear that Alex isn't going to take a swing at him, Remy's eyes are for Sid, long and hard and at last ghosting shut as his gorge starts to rise. He opens them again to meet Will's look, and gives a small nod. "It be a mercy, poor bastard."
Illyana is favoring her leg quite badly, but she limps forward. "Where's Kaci? I can take him." She looks at Will, and then around at everyone, checking to make sure saving the guy is what is wanted.
There are no further whimpers. Twice tranqed and bleeding from his face and throat, Sid lies there. He has no opinion.
Amber steps up towards the group and shakes her head. "It's not safe for you to take him anywhere right now," she murmurs. "I mean, you can do it if you want, but his aura is still black as night."
Amadeus falls to his knees when Amber walls away, trying to reach around for his back and survey the damage. He has little pieces of rock spread out all over it, and quite a bit of bruising from the larger pieces. "Goddamnit, what the hell did I get into this time. I better not be dying." He's not, though he's bleeding, he'll survive.
Sal gets to her feet; where she was hit with shot and debris has begun to heal. "Pretty damn doped up," Sal growls in response to Amber's question, "and we have more on hand. Let the teleapths take a run at'm when he's out?"
"Even if they can fix things," says Remy, turning to Sal next with care in his words and one hand resting against the rock wall to support himself as he watches her, and not Will or Sid. "I ain't so sure he's ever comin' out o' this mine."
"Kill him now, it hops to one of us. Keep it in him, doped," Illyana suggests, coming closer to where Sid is.
The taste of having his fury sated is bittersweet, and Alex continues wiping the blood from his hands as he squints through the room then floods it with light. "Watch your eyes." He warns, glancing aside to study Amber.
As Sparkleprincess glitters, the room is clearly lit with shadows falling long around him.
Will clears his throat. He extends his hand and lets Sid's shotgun snap up into it. "Let's follow orders, for now," Will says. "That way we can study it-" he shakes his head at Illyana. "Right. Well, I'm leaving the call to Gambit."
"Fair point," Remy admits to Illyana, with a long sigh of a breath, and a hand held up to Will. "'Long as he's out, he ain't feelin' anythin', and that thing ain't movin'. Let's just hope the double dose o' tranqs don't stop his breathin' and solve it f'us all anyways." With a shake of his head, he motions Amber forward. "Cover the wounds. Light dressin'. Then Magik, you grab PB an' get him to Team BrainWatch."
"I'm followin' orders," Sal tells Remy, her voice flat. "But Magik an' Hyperion have a point." PRETEND SHE SAID THAT ON TOP OF REMY because her player is slow. She shifts out of Amber's way, and looks to Illyana with a nod.
Amber moves forward at the order, shielding her eyes from Alex's glow before getting to work on Sid's wounds as quickly and efficiently as possible.
There is little to do with injuries such as Sid is experience beyond cover them. At least that means you don't have to look at it. The smell, however, still hangs in the air.
Illyana waits for the bandaging to be done, resting her weight on her other leg, and then points to direct Sal. "You carry him, then I can just touch you both." She waits until Sal has him up and securely held before she creates her red disc of light to step into.
"Alright, then let's get the fuck out of here," Will replies. He shoulders the shotgun and proceeds to leave, moving up the passage. 'Nice to meet you, fuckface,' he thinks.
The blip of red light that is Illyana's desc flashes only briefly before disappearing.
DISC.
@disc me as FAIL.
Continue to Part II:
