Keep Honor Bright

Posted on Wed Jan 24th, 2024 @ 5:14pm by Connor Bruin & Bobby Drake & Iris Walker & Cameron Hood & Jade Farwynd & Elias Buckley & Tammy Thompson & Bliss Hawkins & Shinobi Shaw & Ethan Hale & Aurora Summers & Kennedy Kelly

5,260 words; about a 26 minute read

Mission: Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: X-Mansion | War Room
Timeline: August 23rd, 1990 - afternoon

The past day had been rough. Nobody slept well and the morning came with grief. At some point in the night, the three X-Men who had accompanied Professor Xavier on their mission into the lion's den came straggling back to the mansion. Their reports were met with the full gamut of despair.

Charles Xavier was lost to them. He had submitted himself to whatever means Reverend Stryker used to enthrall mutants in order to save Hank McCoy's life. The news trickled through hushed whispers and horrified conversations until it weighed on one and all. There was no school without Xavier. According to his final free thought, there might not be anything if they didn't rescue him. But how?

After everyone went to their various tasks and distractions to either divine a winning strategy or cope with the horrible reality of the situation, everyone came together at the agreed time to discuss matters as a team.

Aurora sat quietly, she had her fears about Xavier being missing, but she also had everyone else's fears and worries threatening to break down the invisible walls erected around her mind. Emotions were running at an all-time high, and it was difficult to filter all of that when it was coming from all around her. Not only was Scott gone, but now Xavier was too. "What are we going to do?" she looked around the gathered team members as she massaged her temples, everyone is terrified that they'll never see the Professor again, that this school will fall and they'll be left with nowhere to go." she paused and took a deep breath. "We have to save the Professor! If Stryker controls Xavier..." she shook her head. "I don't know if Cerebro could be of use, I could try but I'm still learning to use it."

Bliss was in a fresh uniform, and her expression reflected her grim attitude. She was tense as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

"I just came back from checking on the kids in the shelter. They're scared and I can't blame them. I did the best I could to reassure them that we are going to do our best to get the professor back. Honestly, at this point, I think we need to get those kids evacuated to safety if there's a place to get them. We're exposed here, and I don't know what the bad guys are going to want to do next. They can hit us with twice as many forces today. Or just drop a nuke. All I know is I'm not going to meekly walk to the equivalent of the gas Chambers for these bastards. If Chuck is dead, I'm going to make sure he's going to have a lot of company in the afterlife. "

"PROFESSOR XAVIER IS NOT DEAD," Connor protested with wide, animated hand gestures in his signing. "WE NEED TO GO GET HIM."

Jace walked in and only caught the end of that conversation. "I agree with Connor," he said. "No way the Prof is dead. Three of us have been in there. We know some of the layout decently enough and could map out those parts. Besides, what I found on that hard drive I brought back yesterday doesn't leave many options. Least, in my opinion."

He first produced the receipts. "Some of these came from a box labeled 'Sustainable Food Receipts' and the others from an 'Arms and Ammunition Receipts' box." He then pulled out the two photos. "These were in frames on a desk. Looks like old paramilitary buddies standing in front of an armored vehicle. And this," he said, putting a small stack of papers on a table, "is what I printed off the hard drive. List after list of the names of mutants leaked from the MRD database."

Jade had kept to herself after getting those who needed medical attention. She was mostly keeping a hood over her head, keeping her face out of the immediate field of vision until her features returned to normal, She was mostly recovered by now internally, though she still fought off an occasional bout of blood-lust.

"If the Prof was dead, I think all of us would be too." She said, biting the inside of her cheek. "Stryker didn't appear as someone who killed without reason. Method to madness and all...with his hatred of us...I agree with Jace and Connor, I think he's still alive and serving whatever sick purpose Stryker has for him."

Ethan, with his suit's camouflaging mode, turned off had been listening quietly in the corner spoke up. "I don't think he's dead either, but there is only one way to know for sure. Instead of debating, we should be planning how to go in there and take the bastards out. Or at least get the professor back."

"Have you stopped to think that's what Stryker wants?" Aurora looked around those gathered. "I agree, we have to get the Professor back, but Stryker will be ready for a direct assault. With the Professor under his control, he'd know we were coming before we even got anywhere near. Stryker could use Xavier to control us as well." she paused. "If we're going to go then you'll need someone to keep the Professor busy, that would have to be me."

Being the team member with the most tenure on the X-Men, Bobby spoke up. "This isn't the first time the Prof got captured. Not even the second time either. Shit happens, guys. Our job is to clean it up." He glanced at Aurora. "I like the way you think, Aurora, but you haven't seen the Professor come unglued. Years ago there was a cocky bank robber who started getting violent. Teleporter who called himself the Vanisher. In the end, we couldn't beat him, so the Professor wiped the man's memory so he wouldn't be a threat to anyone. He forgot how to use his power. Barely knew his name." Bobby looked around at everyone. "Which one of you wants to take that chance if Professor X has been 'compromised'?"

"I have no idea what would happen to me, what would happen to any of us if that happened. I'm not saying we should be stupid about it, but I think it's a risk we should be willing to take. At least it is one I am willing to take." Ethan said.

Bliss was fighting the urge to break something. As it was, the barbell she was using as a stress ball was not faring well.

"Ok, so the worst case scenario isn't that Chuck is dead. That's just freaking swell. All I know is this, the longer we stand around the more time they have to do whatever they're planning on doing. I get it we don't want to just charge in like The Maniacs they say we are. But I sure as hell I'm not going to watch MTV here while I wait for them to show up at what's left of our front gate. So who in this chicken outfit is in charge? And what are we going to do? Aurora said she can use the Gizmo in the basement to try to find the boss. What next, charter a greyhound? "

"Alright. I think first have Aurora use Cerebro to determine if the prof is still alive. Next, if he is, devise a plan. The problem, as I see it is that Hank McCoy is under Stryker's control. If we rescue the prof, what happens to him? If possible, we should rescue them both!" Tammy said.

Kennedy felt like her life was being pushed in a very specific direction, so much so that she had decided to stop questioning it. Her experience was laughably nonexistent but she couldn’t help but chime in.

“Explain to me why you can’t sneak in there again. You got in, stole stuff, and got out without being detected, why can’t you do that again?”

She felt eyes move to look at her, it created some hesitation but Kennedy continued.

“You said the outside of the property was heavily guarded but the inside wasn’t. We know that Dr. McCoy and the Professor are collared inside… You’re worried about an attack from the Professor, so don’t give them the opportunity to have that happen. Sneak in and free them, then fight your way out. An attack from the inside and the outside once we know we have the two of them uncollared. Take the advantages away from them whenever possible.”

“What other advantages will Stryker have and what can we do to remove them?”

Jace nodded towards Kennedy. "I can get behind that. What can we do to remove their advantages, though? Don't we have the frickin' Juggernaut locked up in the basement? Give him his crystal and helmet and turn him loose on the compound. That should take care of their advantages and be enough of a distraction for the sneaking. And I guess you could charter a Greyhound if you wanted to. Just plan for bathroom breaks."

“I would say I’d fly us in the jet,” put in Iris finally from her position near the wall, “but I think I have something far more important to do- plan B.”

"What is that?" Ethan asked curiously.

“The professor wanted us to gain this intel to turn it over to the authorities,” she pointed out. “I know exactly who to take it to. I know who is most likely to take it seriously and take quick action. And I can get it to them directly.”

Bliss looked over to Iris, the fifty-pound barbell in her hand compressed to about the size of a volleyball. It was easy to forget Iris since that was her power. But now that she was practically asking for attention, Bliss spoke up.
"Yeah, what's this Plan B? We don't even have a Plan A yet. If you know something helpful, this is the time to spit it out. There may not be a tomorrow to wait until. We may not have any second chances."

“Well, that is Plan B,” said Iris. “I take this to the FBI, directly to Agent Chaz Murphy in special investigations. He'll get things moving fast. Then if we fail in rescuing the professor and as many other mutants as possible, the FBI might be able to do something. Even if we succeed, they’ll still want to arrest as many people as they can. Best case scenario, we get in, get the professor and McCoy, release as many mutants from those collars as we can, get out, and then the feds are on the compound less than an hour later to pick up the pieces.”

"WHY WOULD THE FBI LISTEN TO US?" Connor's question sounded like a pointed one. Really he was just curious.

“The FBI on the whole wouldn’t,” Iris told Connor. “But I know agent Murphy. He’ll be very interested in this evidence.” I know him, but he probably doesn’t know me, she thought. She had wasted a lot of time in the FBI offices, finding nothing worth telling anybody about. But at least now her knowledge came in handy.

Cameron had been on the phone. Well, the communication gear Xavier had installed in his secure office. Several calls had been made, some very international. Some quite local. All of this, plus what he had learned from the inspection team had gone into the legal notepad. If one were to read it, they would be surprised to see Cameron wrote in a very old-fashioned cursive script. It had been the first thing his mutant ability had copied, the penmanship of the Head of the School when he was sent to his office in Year 8.

"None of us are soldiers," Jade said, looking over at Armoury who had been quiet so far. "Armoury is. What's the plan, mate?" She said gravely, looking at the dusky man she'd gotten close to recently.

Aurora looked towards Armoury waiting to see what the plan was going to be, he was team leader what he said was what was going to happen.

"I should be able to short-circuit the collars. The trick is to do it without hurting the person wearing them. I'd be willing to give it a try but as far as the FBI, would they be willing to help us?" Tammy said.

“It would be an indirect help,” Iris admitted. “Agent Murphy likes capturing criminals, no matter who they are. If I show him the evidence we found, he’ll go after Stryker without hesitation. And since the mutants are being held against their will, he’d release any who they’re able to capture.”

Jace gathered the receipts, photos, and leaked lists from the table. He carried them over to Iris and handed them to her. "Here, these are probably better suited for your hands then. Take 'em to whoever needs 'em. Maybe they'll be interested in who's supplying Stryker, what paramilitary group he's recruiting from, and who's leaking info from the Mutant Registration Database."

“I’ll make sure to make copies of everything first,” she promised. “As long as I can figure out how to work the copy machine in the library.”

"Okay." Cameron had taken Xavier's traditional place at the head of the table. "Let's start off with some good news. Doctor MacTaggert has sent a Blackbird from Muir Island. She's taking the junior students until we get the security systems back in order. They will be safe there. The North Sea is pretty dangerous, the Island has more defensive equipment than the School has, including some Anti-Air weapons, and some of her residents are able and willing to lend a hand in keeping their home safe. The children will be well-kept in the meantime."

He glanced down at the legal pad, a bit of theater to signal the next point. "We are not using the Juggernaut. He's a madman we can't trust, with powers we don't quite understand. He'll be kept safe until we can hand him over to the authorities. And if anyone needs any further reason, he was working with Stryker's group when they attacked us." The emphatic tone was unusual for the normally stoic Brit.

"As for legal authorities. I've spoken to a friend at INTERPOL. While he can't help directly, he has promised he'll reach out to, and vouch for us with his friends at the FBI. He's given me the name of a Special Agent we can trust, Senior Special Agent Fred Duncan. He's X's contact within the FBI. I've spoken to SSA Duncan, and he's explained that while they have an investigation running into Stryker, they can't act on it due to a lack of solid evidence. Fortunately, we are going to be in a position to be providing SSA Duncan with quite a lot of evidence, and at least one very credible eye witness in the form of the Professor."

"Finally. Connor and I have been working on the Purifier tactical comms gear that's been retrieved. It's cutting-edge, even better than what I've used in the field. The War Room computer is currently working on cracking the gear." Cameron looked at his team, giving them all a moment of eye contact. "I know we're all ready to rock and roll. Drop into their compound. Smash down the gate, turn their brains into mush, and toss any of them into a variety of alternate dimensions. But I'll be the downer here. Stryker knows he's fighting against an enemy that outguns him. If I was his strategic advisor, I would've ditched that compound the moment I captured the enemy general. So while we will proceed on the premise that he's keeping Xavier and Hank McCoy at the compound, I'm very confident that he'll be holed up somewhere else. That comms gear might tell us where."

He then rested his eyes on Aurora. "If anyone objects, speak up. Otherwise, I want to ask Aurora to combine the insertion team memories into something like a cohesive image of the compound and link us all in. That way we can work on the plan together."

"I'm the one with the best eyes here," Ethan spoke up. "I'd love to be in on the action, but I need to fly recon. I can't see inside the compound. But I can give all of you every detail of what's going on outside. If Aurora can arrange that too."

As he was prone to, Elias dropped back into the meeting unannounced. Hair disheveled, uniform dirty, he stepped into view beside Cameron's seat at the table and thumped a piece of hardware down on the table. His camera had been given to Jace when he'd remained behind, so this was not more evidence of the high-grade military hardware or weaponry. No, this was solid, real, and looking a little broken.

"No point going to the compound," Elias stated. "They won't be there. But," he grinned. "I did get outta there with this..." He let go of the shiny, slightly broken tech and pushed it towards Cameron.

It was a control collar, catches released and open, slightly dented. But definitely a control collar.

Aurora looked at the collar then towards Cameron. “I can do that, but I’ll need unrestricted access to those memories. I know people can find it disturbing having a telepath in their minds. All I’ll need is a clear focus to get a good image so I can combine it all and share it. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

Cameron took up the collar as Aurora spoke. He suppressed a shudder of disgust. He had hoped humanity had moved past the idea of collaring their fellow man. Turns out, sick men throughout time all ended up with similar ideas. "Connor, Tammy. Poke at this, see if you can figure out how to kill it at a distance." He slid the control device across the table towards Caveman and Surge.

"Yeah, we might be able to come up with something. How functional is this? If I can find the right frequency. I can jam the control signal and open it up." Tammy said.

The ding of the War Room almost seemed to punctuate Cameron's instruction. The smart software generated a globe hologram. It had North America highlighted with dozens of yellow pins across the US and Canada.

"Hang on with the mindlink for a moment. Now that we know the compound is empty we won't need to raid it." Cameron instructed as he looked at the globe. "It looks like Stryker has more bases than anyone probably thought..."

"It's a shame I can't get into his head" Aurora sighed. "Maybe Cerebro will be able to locate the Professor? It could give us an idea of where he might be?"

"It might." Tammy had to think for a minute. "Maybe I can home in on something of his. Something with a unique frequency."

"Can we look at satellite imagery and see which of the compounds have had recent activity? That could help us narrow it down?" Jade suggested, her arms crossed on her chest as she observed the globe.

On a private note, she was still amazed how much more relaxed she was now in a room full of people that she could only smell them, but couldn't hear their bloodstreams. Blessed silence.

Cameron manipulated the hologram. It seemed the Professor wasn't only tapped into US satellites, but British, EU, Japanese, and even Russian satellites. Including dozens that were aimed out from the planet, some it seemed aimed at a very specific planet. Cameron looked at the dozens of controls and allowed the War Room computer to figure out the correct satellites for the bases that were in use.

Five bases were highlighted as in use. "I don't think we'll get more detail than this. We have a compound near Niagara Falls, Yellowstone Park, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Hoover Dam, and somewhere in Tennessee, near a town called Oak Ridge. Can't narrow it down much more than that from satellite imagery. Anyone have any ideas on how to filter it without sending five teams and hitting them simultaneously?"

A loud, obnoxious beeping sound filled the room, which alerted Connor as if he'd been watching the microwave. He jumped over the team with a couple of flips and planted himself in front of the main computer terminal. He typed with one hand and signed with the other which allowed his device to speak for him.

"THE COMPUTER HAS CRACKED THE COMMUNICATION NETWORK FOR THE PURIFIERS. IT SEEMS THEY ARE UTILIZING A SATELLITE ARRAY WITH INACTIVE TRUNCATING PROTOCOLS ASSOCIATED WITH PENTAGON SYSTEMS. HERE IS THE CHANNEL WITH MOST ACTIVITY."

A radio squawk began the transmission. "—last transport to the northern compound is away. We got collared strays. What about them?"

Another voice replied. "Crate 'em and leave 'em. Another convoy will take them out west."

"Copy that. Over and out."

White noise static filled the channel before the filter cut in to eliminate it.

"Collared strays could be the professor and Hank McCoy. Or just some mutants they picked up. I can ride the radio waves to the transport and check it out. The question is then what? What if it isn't the professor and Hank McCoy?"

"PERHAPS SO." Connor continued signing with his free hand while typing singlehanded on the computer terminal. "I WILL ACCESS THE CHANNEL LINKED TO THE NIAGARA FALLS FACILITY SINCE THAT IS WHERE THEY SEEM TO BE SENDING CONVOYS."

"—won't be a problem after tomorrow. Here we will destroy the evil witch-breed of mutantkind with their champion." It was clearly the voice of William Stryker giving some sort of address. "After that, my brothers, we will be hailed as heroes or martyrs but holy crusaders all the same!"

The transmission filled with cheers from whatever group was present with Stryker during the broadcast.

"That doesn't sound good" Aurora looked worried. "Destroy the evil witch-breed of mutantkind with their own champion...the Professor! He's planning on using the Professor to destroy all the mutants!! With Xavier's abilities he could do it, the Professor is infinitely more powerful than any other telepath he could kill us all."

“Not to mention, Niagara Falls is a densely populated tourist trap of an area,” Kennedy interjected. “It’s nothing but hotels and businesses that cater to sightseeing and then it turns into a city on both sides of the border.”

She furrowed her brow and looked at the Niagara Falls compound that was displayed in the War Room. “Plus Stryker is unpredictable and skittish, look at his behavior in Boston, another heavily populated area, he showed no hesitation in enticing that riot. He’s planning something big but that doesn’t mean he won’t deviate from that plan if he’s spooked. If we want to avoid casualties, he can’t see us coming.”

"We have to get up there and do something, we can't just let this shit play out. Stryker isn't just going to stop up there. If we don't do something, it's only a matter of time before they come after us all. It won't matter if we're mutant or not. If we have powers or are just allies. It won't be safe."

I'd like to pick Stryker up take him about a mile and drop him. See if the angels catch him."

Cameron's voice cut through the cross-talk. His British accent had sharpened, the volume of his voice had grown slightly. But that wasn't what cut through it all. He had learned from every colour sergeant and warrant officer he had served under. And all that projected authority was put in his voice. "Slow down." He demanded.

"From that broadcast, we can make the reasonable assumption that Stryker is at Niagara Falls. We can also reasonably assume he has mutant captives there. The Professor would make it our duty to rescue them." Cameron made the statements in a measured pace. "If we also assume that the Professor is one of those captives, we now have a compelling reason to hit that compound. But not right now, not without a plan and intelligence. That's going to take some time to gather, organise and analyse, and then plan for." Cameron paused for a moment, giving some of the more eager members of his team a moment of eye contact. "I understand that we all want to get him back immediately, but running in now will only get everyone captured. We have some time, and we are going to take that time. Understood?"

Ethan blew out a deep breath. He was growing impatient with Cameron and the others who were dawdling while the professor was in trouble. "Just how long are we going to wait and plan, and figure? You may think we have time. What if you're wrong? What if dragging this out gets the professor and the others killed?"

"What if Xavier isn't there, and we didn't take an hour to verify? What if there are tanks at the gate of that compound, and we didn't take that into consideration? What if Stryker is using innocent civilians as human shields against any attacker? " Cameron's gaze locked onto the young man. "The only thing we know, right now, is that there is a Purifier compound near Niagara Falls. We know nothing else, Ethan. And if we follow your impatience, I guarantee you we will run into a trap and get everyone in this room hurt or killed." His arm gestured at everyone. "Now unless you're ready to make that decision, can convince the team to follow you, and be willing to live with those consequences, you will wait until we know what we're getting into, and how we're getting out of it."

"I'll wait. For now. But I'm not promising how long," Ethan said.

Jace had reverted back to finding the nearest wall to lean against and wait. "So who's scouting it out, who's on infiltration, and who's on extraction?" he asked. "I'd rather not go in there solo. Especially if they could be watching for us."

"Excellent questions Jace," Cameron answered. "Before we even fly to the Falls, we'll be using satellite imagery to see how many trucks and cars have come and gone. We'll need to count the number of people we think are there, what equipment we see, check if we see anyone we recognise." Cameron threw the live feed of the compound on a big screen behind him. "While we account for the number of people, we can also see any entry and exit points for these buildings. When we get a sense of all that, we could consider sending in a scout. Problem with sending someone in, is that they can probably control the world's most powerful psychic as an intruder alarm. I don't think even Iris could avoid being detected by the Professor. So we might have to go in without any on-the-ground recon."

Cameron looked at Ethan, "We might, might consider doing a fly-over right before we go in. But before we set foot near the compound I need to know more about the situation on the ground." Cameron's attention shifted to Connor, "I'd like you to run through a few hours of surveillance data, and see if you can figure out the number of people in the compound, any doors they use, things like that."

"I WILL SEE WHAT I CAN FIND," Connor signed.

"Of course, I'm going to volunteer for that," Ethan said, "but I think you underestimate how good my vision is. We don't have to wait. I can fly there now and gather all the information you need. At least all the information you'd be able to get anyway."

Cameron ignored Ethan, not brooking further arguments. "Tammy, can you see if you can fritz out this collar? I can likely turn it into metal dust or something if I can touch it, but if we can deactivate it at a distance, much the better." Cameron asked the young blonde before letting his eyes dance over the rest. "Anyone willing to help her by wearing the collar for a bit? I know it's a big ask, but it'll be far better way to know if it works."

"Are you kidding?" Bobby protested. "That mutant that attacked us in Boston was wearing one of those things! Who's to say anyone who puts it on won't end up doing the exact same thing?"

"THAT MUTANT IS STILL FROZEN IN A BLOCK OF ICE WITHIN THE DANGER ROOM," Connor said through his device. "PERHAPS TAMMY COULD TRY ON HIM INSTEAD OF ONE OF US."

Bliss raised her hand. "I volunteer. If this is what it takes to get us at least one step closer to the professor I'll do it." She sighed and tossed her 60 lb fidget spinner aside with a clatter. "Anything so I don't have to make dinner again."

"Wow, Bliss! Ok! I admire your guts, girl! Well, I'm willing to try. Although how big a distance we talking here?" Tammy said.

"Nuh.... Bluh..." Connor couldn't fully enunciate his protest to Bliss's insistence on needlessly risking herself but his meaning was plain enough through his near guttural growl.

Bliss looked Connor in the eye and rested her hands on his shoulders to calm and steady him. "It's ok. We're going to try on the guy in the ice machine down in the basement first. If that doesn't work for whatever reason I'm the backup plan. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think that you would figure out a way to fix this if the team can't do it themselves. I have faith in you. And you know that."

That was hard to argue. Connor wanted to. And he was flustered that he couldn't devise a counterargument, not with Bliss's hands on his shoulders and her glimmering green eyes transfixing his own in a sensory lock that he wouldn't break even if he could muster the willpower. He heaved a relenting sigh and thumped his chest twice.

Bliss gave her chest a double thump, not as mocking but as in understanding. She met his gaze with warmth.
"I have faith in you. I always will. " She looked back to the rest of the team. "Let's get this moving, people are counting on us. "

Aurora nodded in agreement at everything.

"I need a kitchen team for dinner. We have a few hours, and none of us have eaten anything substantial. Can I trust you lot to figure something out, or do I need to organise that?" Cameron finally asked the group.

Jade raised her hand and nodded. "Full English coming up. We'll need our strengths up!" She didn't wait for approval, just turned on her heel and headed out the door. "Could use a pair of hands if anyone can cook!" She threw over her shoulder just as she exited.

Aurora got up from her seat. “I’ll go assist Jade, let me know if you want me.” With that, she headed after Jade.

Ethan followed close behind the women. He knew he was no expert, but he knew his way around a kitchen.

“Wait for me!” called Iris, hurrying after them. If she couldn’t make use of her contact at the FBI, at least she could do something to help.

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