The Genoshan Job - Part 1

Posted on Mon Feb 17th, 2025 @ 4:47pm by Connor Bruin & Hayden Davis & Kennedy Kelly & Kayleigh Marshall & Drew Williams & Desmond Greene & Alex Summers

2,225 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 6: X-Fernus Agenda
Location: Resistance HQ | Genosha
Timeline: December 6th, 1990

After taking the rest of the day to rest and recuperate, the X-Men were gathered by Alex to join the Resistance leaders for mission planning. Back down at the motor pool level on the far side of the stolen trucks were double steel doors wedged into a tunnel that went straight into the bedrock. Beyond those doors was where the Resistance planned its every move.

The map room was dimly lit, the glow of an overhead projector casting deep shadows across the rough, uneven stone walls. A massive, hand-drawn map of Genosha had been spread across the far wall, its edges curling slightly from humidity and wear. Colored markers, tactical figurines, and hastily scribbled notes covered its surface—signs of a war waged not from the comfort of command centers, but from the dirt and blood of the jungle itself.

Victor Creed stood at the head of the table, the dim light catching the bullet hole in his old U.S. Army green beret. He planted his hands firmly on the table, his sharp golden eyes scanning the gathered X-Men. He exuded command, though it was an uneasy sort of leadership, as if the instinct to rip and tear was always bubbling just beneath his skin.

At his right stood John Proudstar with arms crossed over his broad chest. His presence was steadying. Where Victor was raw power and unchecked fury, Proudstar was the iron grip on the reins, the tempered steel in the fire.

Alex Summers leaned against the far wall, one foot crossed over the other, arms folded in an effortless display of cool charm. His natural charisma was undeniable, his reserved nature lending him an air of quiet confidence. To the Resistance, he was a hero, a legend forged in the fires of Genosha's brutal oppression. To the X-Men, he was the long-lost brother of Cyclops, a missing link to the First Class who preceded them.

Victor's voice rumbled through the room like distant thunder. "You all made it this far, so that means you're worth something. But you want to break back into hell? You want to hit the Flesh Factory itself? Then we do it smart. We don’t just break in—we cripple them while we break in."

He jabbed a clawed finger at the map, dragging it along the high-speed rail line that cut across the island. "That train you all rode in on is the lifeline of the Magistrates. It ferries prisoners, personnel, supplies—you name it. Every damn thing they need to keep this mutant slaughterhouse running."

John Proudstar took over, his voice measured and firm. "The main transit hub is in Hammer Bay, the capital city beneath the Ridgeback Mountains where the Flesh Factory is located. If we hijack a train and send an explosive payload straight into that station, we sever that lifeline. No reinforcements. No quick redeployments. It buys us time to hit the Flesh Factory without them swarming us in minutes."

Alex stepped forward then, his hands resting lightly on the table as he addressed the X-Men directly. "But here's the thing. This isn't a smash-and-grab. We need precise execution. That train needs to be loaded with just the right amount of ordnance—not enough to level the entire city, but enough to make sure the Magistrates feel it. And when that's done, we need boots on the ground to rush the Factory to get inside, disable security, free prisoners, and take down anyone wearing a damn lab coat along the way."

Victor's grin was all fangs. "So. You tell me, X-Men. Where do you see yourselves in this spec-op?"

The question hung in the air like a challenge, the weight of the mission pressing down on them. The X-Men exchanged looks, the magnitude of the situation settling in. They were at the tip of the spear to break Genosha's back.

“I can give you precise destruction.” Kennedy said while examining and adjusting the ragged fletch on one of her arrows. “I can create as large or as small of an explosion that you need, if you show me an area or a piece of equipment that needs to be destroyed, I can do it with little collateral damage if need be.”

She placed the adjusted arrow back into the shabby quiver Kennedy had claimed from the armory, it was clear that the Genosha rebels didn’t care for anything that wasn’t a gun. “But I need people to get me in and get me out of the depot.”

"I'll take the Flesh Factory," said Hayden. "I can control water and create mist for coverage or short-circuiting electronics. And if there's cooling systems or industrial pipes in the Factory, I can try to flood whatever rooms or corridors I can. Maybe even shutoff some ingress points from the Magistrates."

Alex shook his head and smiled sweetly at Hayden's suggestion. "That sounds useful and all, but we won't actually be splitting up. Our primary strike team will hijack the train to load up the larger attack force to attack the Flesh Factory, but we can't do that until the train hub is down."

"We'll have Magistrates coming straight up our ass otherwise," Proudstar cut in.

"They'll regret it if they do," Creed growled.

After looking at the map and listening to the spotty plan, Connor felt like he had a grasp of the situation. "PHASE 1 OF THE PLAN IS TO HIJACK A TRAIN. PHASE 2 IS TO LOAD IT WITH RESISTANCE FIGHTERS AND TAKE IT TO THE CENTRAL STATION. PHASE 3 IS TO BLOW UP THE CENTRAL STATION. PHASE 4 IS TO ATTACK THE FLESH FACTORY WITH THE ADVANTAGE THAT OFFERS."

He held up two fingers before continuing to sign. "I HAVE 2 QUESTIONS: 1 IS HOW DO WE TRANSFER EVERYONE FROM PHASE 2 TO PHASE 4 WHEN PHASE 3 WOULD INHIBIT OUR OWN TRAVEL? 2 IS HOW DO WE ESCAPE THE FLESH FACTORY WITHOUT USE OF A RETURN TRAIN TO THE STATION?"

"This is war," Victor snarled. "We fight."

"By which Victor means we embed ourselves into the Flesh Factory and use their own defenses against them," Alex offered, looking to John for support.

"Right..." Proudstar agreed, though he seemed only half-convinced. "Attrition is how you wear down a superior adversary. Make it too painful to continue. If we can bring down the Factory, then it's only a matter of time before the entire island goes into revolt against Moreau and his Magistrates."

"IT SOUNDS LIKE EITHER WAY, SURVIVAL IS THE VICTORY CONDITION," Connor noted.

"Survival is the only victory," Victor corrected, his golden eyes wild with a thirst for battle. "What about the rest of you?" he asked the mutants who hadn't spoken yet. "Where are you gonna throw in?"

Drew bit his lower lip as he thought of how his powers would work out best. "Get me one of those cattle prods, some zip ties and or some rope and I can blitz the first set of guards or scientists we come across. If we can find and take the security office quickly it might give us control of the entire facility."

"I can fight." Desmond volunteered. "I'm strong, I can take a beating, and I can heal. Might be the strongest guy here." His amber eyes ran across the group around the table. The older men looked imposing to Desmond. Imposing in the same way as those soldiers or bikers he saw back home. But Desmond also remembered his football coach telling him that if he wants to hang tough, he had to act tough.

“I can turn their own body heat against them, in fact any source of heat. I can use it to set fires.” She paused. “I can heal injuries too, but not without hurting myself in the process.”

Victor, a sharp, toothy expression that was more animal than man. His golden eyes gleamed with something between amusement and approval as he looked over the assembled X-Men and Resistance fighters. They weren't the hardened killers he was used to running with, but they had the right kind of fire in them. Maybe, just maybe, they'd survive this.

"Good," he rumbled, crossing his arms over his massive chest. "Y'all are showin' some spine." His smirk widened as he flicked his gaze toward Connor. "Guess you got some bite in you after all, X-Men."

He turned back to the map, tapping a clawed finger against the train depot. "Here's how this is gonna go down. We hit the nearest train depot and we hit it hard. No time for sneakin' around—Magistrates see a problem, they call for backup. We are the backup."

His finger traced along the rail line to the central station. "Once we got control of that train, we ride it straight into their main hub. Havok and I take point. We clear a path, make it loud, make it messy—keep ‘em too busy dyin’ to call for reinforcements. Meanwhile, Proudstar's crew brings up the rear, makin’ sure nobody follows. You X-Men are with me and Havok."

Creed’s smirk grew sharp as he stabbed his finger down at the central station's schematics. "We take the engine room. That's where the fun starts. We rig that bastard to blow and get the hell out before it turns into a crater. If we do it right, it takes out a big chunk of their infrastructure and leaves 'em scrambling."

He dragged his claw along the map again, running up the tunnel toward the mountains. "From there, we run up the railway tunnel to the Flesh Factory. No stoppin', no slowin' down. We tear through every bastard standin' between us and our people. Kill 'em, maim 'em, I don’t care—just don’t leave anyone upright who can point a gun at our backs." His gaze swept across the team, making sure they understood.

Then, he leaned forward, placing both hands on the table and letting the room fall into a heavy silence before he spoke again. "Now, I ain't gonna sugarcoat this. This is war. The second we step into that depot, we're past the point of no return. You freeze up? You hesitate? You flinch? You're dead. Maybe we're all dead. Got it?" He let the silence hang, his eyes daring anyone to object. Then, slowly, he straightened and cracked his knuckles. His grin was damn near feral. "Then saddle up, kiddies. This is gonna be one hell of a ride."

Alex glanced back at the team, then opened the room for discussion. "Questions?"

"WHEN DO WE MOVE OUT?" Connor asked right off the bat.

"Nightfall," Victor said as if that had been obvious. "We wait to move under the cover of dark and then we strike." He looked around, reminding himself these were kids and apparently lacked real world experience.

“We’ll be ready” Kayleigh looked around her teammates, then back at Victor. “I for one, would like to see any records they hold on me go up in smoke!”

A sudden knock at the door cut through the discussion.

Victor's expression immediately darkened. "I said no interruptions," he snapped, already turning to glare at whoever was on the other side.

The door creaked open anyway, revealing a short Filipina girl with delicate, birdlike features and a pair of white, downy wings tucked close to her back. She hesitated, her dark eyes flicking from face to face before landing on Alex.

Victor let out a low growl of irritation, but Alex raised a hand before he could start barking orders. "Easy,” he said evenly, turning his attention to the new arrival. "What’s up, Gabi?"

The girl, Gabi, blushed for the briefest instant before clearing her throat. "Um, someone from the infirmary insisted on joining the meeting."

Before anyone could respond, another figure stepped past her.

Tandy Bowen looked better than before. That wasn't saying much, considering the last time they'd seen her she had been half-conscious and barely hanging on. But now, her old self had returned, a surly smirk tugging at her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You didn’t really think I was just gonna sit around while you guys did all the fun stuff, did you?" she drawled. "I'm getting Ty back."

Connor grinned at her enthusiasm which reflected in his ecstatic hand signing. "THANK YOU, TANDY," his device said on his behalf. "WE CAME TO GENOSHA TO RESCUE THE BOTH OF YOU. NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP TO RESCUE TWO OF OUR OWN AS WELL. THE RESISTANCE LEADERSHIP HAS A SOLID PLAN TO GET THEM OUT OF CAPTIVITY AND BRING DOWN THEIR SLAVE OPERATIONS FOR GOOD."

Tandy tilted her head, her smirk widening. "Good. 'Cause I've got plenty of payback to hand out."

Victor, who had been growing more and more visibly agitated, finally let out a frustrated growl and ran a hand down his face. "Okay, that's enough. Everybody get the hell out of my map room." His glare swept over the group like a storm rolling in. "I don’t care if you wanna hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but take social hour to the mess hall where it belongs."

Alex and John exchanged a glance before Alex sighed and nodded. "Fine. Everyone regroup in the motor pool after midnight. Be ready to roll out."

With that, the meeting was officially adjourned.

TBC

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