2013.05.25 - Sentinels: The Magneto Protocol

The Mutant Action Center in Staten Island- the 'first' of the MACs- is a place under siege. Or at least, it looks that way. Fences erected against criminals and trespassers serve surprisingly well to stop police from entering; the small climbing towers for the children prove to be remarkable guard towers, with brilliant spotlights turned out to hold the police at bay.

And the center of the complex, the courtyard, has been turned into a determined living wall taking cover behind concrete barricades. The very young and families are hiding in the communal housing- here, mostly, are the young and the strong, the most dangerous members of the community. Here is where the Mutant Action Center makes it stand, with mutants singing songs of unity and self-determination. Here is where the mutants seem determined to make a stand, protecting one of their own who'd fled into their protection from police pursuit.

At the heart of them all is Erik Lehnsherr, standing determinedly in a practical dark shirt and surplus military parts, holding his cane in a white knuckled grip, and keeping a nervous young mutant immediately at his side, as if protecting him by dint of his personal presence.

Here's where questions truly rise in a mutant's head.. a mutant that believes that one day, mutants and non- can live together in peace. While some of that has come true, the Amazing Nightcrawler still has so little faith in the judicial system; once a mutant enters, he's not all that sure that justice is as blind as she really should be.

The blue fuzzy elf isn't on the side of the police, they who are surrounding the locale. Nightcrawler is on the inside, hidden by the shadows for the moment as he's attached to the side of a building, watching and listening to the attempts at negotiation.. or lack thereof. As if that'll help him reconcile the needs of mutants versus rule of law?

Ha.

Not far away is another pro-active supporter of mutant rights, and then some. Most would brand her as a terrorist. In fact, she may very well wear such a title with a sense of honor and pride.

That would be Mystique.

Nearby to where the scene unfolds sits a smaller, completely discreet boat, occupied by at least one completely discreet man. He watches the scene through binoculars, the smaller boat lazily bobbing within the waves. He may be keeping his distance but he's far from disconnected. The Brotherhood is everywhere. Thus, so is Mystique. A thin, insignificant headset keeps her up to date from the street-side informants. Even from a distance she's at the very center of this.

Hidden away upon her boat is enough explosive ordnance to take down anything the Coast Guard could think to throw her way. Should be simple to take down a Sentinel or four. All the metamorph needs is the right window of opportunity.

Olena is there, to be sure. The MAC is her home... when she's not at the mansion hidden on the East Side. Her position, however, is not nearly as obvious as Magneto's. She stands by the roof access door on top of the building, a large black canvas bag at her feet and a selection of 'tools' prepared within it. She's dressed in reinforced black leather, though the mask she would normally wear is not yet in evidence. Her tools, however, aren't obvious, even to a sky sweep from a helicopter, nestled between the roof access point and an old AC. She crouches in the shadows there, simply waiting, one particular tool very near to hand. Because, like Mystique, she knows the Sentinels are coming. And she intends to put on a show for them.

Rogue has been on a journey of self-discovery on her own recently. The Mutant Action Center is one of her frequent stops. This was the cause they all had been fighting for, and some of the mutants there have had it worse then she's had it. And that says something. Rogue keeps to the shadows as well, dressed in a long black trench coat with a hood over her head.

She kept quiet for now. But if this escalated any further she was ready for action. She hated cops for many reasons, and this would just add yet another to that long list.

Jamie is lucky, thanks to his super awesome cool mutant power, he gets to play both sides of barricade. He has one of his dupes inside, just trying to keep things calm and hoping that others will actually listen to him. Also he's there for legal advice, cause really what good is passing the NY Bar if you can't use it to your advantage. John Madrox, Mutant Lawyer to the rescue!

As for the other dupe, he was able to get closer than most to the cops, by pulling he Lawyer card as well. See being the Mutant Lawyer does pay off. But he's not interacting with the police, just keeping an eye on them. Hey he lives in the area, can't have things getting blown up and stuff!

A series of loud rumbling noises are heard, like that of a jet airliner flying right over head, but in honesty that would be a far better thing. It is however the sound of the newest model of Sentinel, built entirely in secret to the point that Congress and the current President had no idea that they existed. There were four at the moment. They crashed down hard into the street just behind the police, who seemed just as surprised at their arrival as most everyone else was.

They were 20-foot-tall killing machines vaguely in the shape of a man. Purple heads and limbs, contrasted by the dark blue of their bodies and extremities. Oddly enough several of the police open fire on the monstrosities the bullets have no effect on them.

They look at the panicking police and they announce in unison, "HUMAN AUTHORITY OFFICERS! WE MEAN YOU NO HARM!"

The look towards the building and their eyes turn on making them into giant spotlights to obscure the vision of anyone happening to look out a window: "UNREGISTERED MUTANTS! SURRENDER TO OUR AUTHORITY AND NONE WILL BE HARM. HOSTILITY WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! YOU ARE GIVEN ONE MINUTE TO SURRENDER!"

"And so it begins, then," Erik says with a small nod. He twirls his staff on his fingertips, nods once at the young mutant at his side, and takes a step forward. "This is private property, deemed a residence by New York City habitation code and the laws of New York!" His voice echoes like the report of a gun, though pales in comparison to the overwhelming tone of the Sentinels' speaker systems. "You cannot proceed onto this property without a warrant, and we are prepared to repel anyone who illegally enters the premises! We demand you depart forthwith and do not return without /lawful/ papers for entry!" Erik grips his cane in his hands even tighter. "This is /your/ only warning!"

"Zum Teufel.." and Nightcrawler crosses himself quickly, lifting his new cross to give it a quick kiss before looking down at those on the ground. Glowing yellow eyes take stock, inventory..

Women and children need to be taken to safety.. as if there is anywhere safe.

Anywhere is safer than here!

At the response by the now identified spokesman, Kurt is loathe to show himself in front of the police, but he's not in his X-Man uniform.. and a decision is made. Leaping from his hiding spot on the shadowed wall, the blue elf flips through the air, bouncing off another lower building before landing behind Erik on all fours before crouching. "It will be interesting if they've been reprogramed to return for a warrant," he observes. "Can they actually change their spots? Or was that stripes? Or.."

"And -those,- children, would be the Sentinels," Mystique's middle-aged male guise speaks over the secured channel. "Notice how they immediately play up the shock and awe and go staight to the ultimatum. A word of advice..."

While speaking the man stands, gently sets the binoculars aside, then steps toward the floating cabin. "When it is time to strike--"

A slate grey tarp gets rolled aside, revealing crates full of some very big, nasty toys, courtesy of assorted countries.

--do so quickly and firmly."

A matched pair of loaded Russian RPG-7's are pulled out of the first crate, one over each shoulder.

"Second volleys are rarely afforded."

Mystique doesn't fire yet. Erik's out at ground zero. Let this play out on its own. As soon as the Sentinels disregard his demands (and they will,) that's when the party kicks off good and proper.

"Teams to positions, the real fun is about to start." These machines are designed to withstand mutant attacks, are they? Does that include anti-tank rockets? It's a great day to find out!

Like Mystique, one of Olena's primary tools, today, is one of those Russian RPG's. The young hyperperceptive has learned several new tricks since the last time she and Nightcrawler met -- oh so many weeks ago. Thanks in no small part to his mother, in fact. She remains in hiding with hers, however, rather than out in the open, relying on the secrecy of her hiding place against the electrical backwash of the building. She knows she'll only have one volley with ths... and then it's grab the bag and get off the roof, pronto... before the lightshow begins.

Oh that's just great. Of course Sentinels arrived, because the scene just wasn't escalated enough. She tossed back her hood and sighed at the seight. She felt that stress at the bit of her stomach as Rogue made a sudden realization. She spoke quietly, "Ah'm gonna be missing Carol's powers right about now. Fantastic."

She looked them over; these Sentinels were not like the ones seen previously. They looked higher tech, and well armored. This was going to get real nasty real quickly.

Rogue lifted her eyebrows in surprise when she spotted Kurt a head of her.

Robots, it had to be robots...seriously the Man of Many hates fighting robots. Especially really really big robots. He has no weaponry, or anything else that he can use against these things. So sadly the one who is behind enemy lines so to speak is now searching the place for something he can use as weapon. His powers will duplicate it once he gets it, so that is pretty awesome.

As for the Jamie who is with the cops, he just looks at them, "Is there nothing you can do to stop them? There is a peaceful solution for this, I can get them surrender. This will turn into a slaughter." Okay he can't get them surrender, but he has to try something.

One of the Sentinels was counting down "25! 24! 23!" and so on, basically letting everyone know exactly how long it would be before they attacked.

The police were still unsure of how to proceed, none of them had ever seen anything like this before. Mutants were strange enough but giant robots, that was like something out of a comic book! The lead negotiator, who was standing next to the 'outside Madrox' nodded, "I wish there was something I could do! I have no idea what these things are." He looked back to the building and pulled up his megaphone and said, "Please! We have no control over these... whatever they are! Just surrender and I promise you'll get your day in court! I don't want this to turn more of a fubar than it already is!"

The foremost Sentinel however, moved it's hand and a small laser shot out destroyed the megaphone. It spoke immediately after, "ALL HUMANS ARE ORDER TO VACATE THE LOCATION. ANY ATTEMPT TO AID THE MUTANTS WILL BE TREATED AS AN ACT OF HOSTILITY!"

The third Sentinel added, "WE ACT WITH THE AUTHORITY OF NO GOVERNMENT OR AGENCY! WE EXIST TO PROTECT THE HUMAN RACE! YOU WILL STAND DOWN AND SURRENDER!"

The first Sentinel is now at "3!2!1!"

The last Sentinel then says, "YOU DEADLINE HAS BEEN REACHED WE DEMAND YOUR ANSWER NOW!"

Erik turns to the mutants most closely gathered around him as the Sentinels prepare their attack. "Good luck, my friends," he informs them.

"Should I fall today, remember my name. Fight on in my name." His voice rises, becoming a stirring eloqution.

"Carry our cause on your banners and backs to the farthest cities in America. Let the world know that mutants will not go gently into that good night; let the world know that we, being not victims, will fight with tooth and nail and claw; that we will defy the bludgeons of tyranny and oppression. Stand firm and unyielding!" he booms. "Walk tall, and with pride in your brothers and sisters!" Erik turns back to the advancing Sentinels, and his cane explodes in his hands, steel and metal wrapping around his body like a second skin. "Defy them with your last bitter breath, though they may take our lives!" A helmet darkens his features, save for the ice in his eyes, and a calf-length mantle shimmers down his back. Erik Lehnsherr- Magneto- rises into the air as the Sentinels make their demands, manifesting his terrible powers for the first time in the public eye. "If every you loved me- if ever you loved your brothers and sisters- make them pay dearly for the lives they claim today!" he bellows. "And forever remember this day!"

Light /itself/ seems to warp around the floating, red-clad man, and he clenches a fist at the nearest Sentinel.

"I have your answer /here/!" he roars. A wave of /something/ lashes out from his fist, visibly distorting the air, and the head of the lead Sentinel collapses in on itself as if a child had crushed a can of soda.

With an earth-shattering roar, the mutants hiding in the Center scream and charge forward, unleashing a hellish tide of their unique talents at the other three Sentinels, casting their defiance into the Sentinel's teeth.

"Mein Gott im Himmel.." Kurt whispers, those glowing yellow eyes turning out towards the police. There's understanding, if not pity for the uniformed men; they don't have half the chance that any of these mutants have within the walls.. and he takes a deep breath.

The impassioned speech brings those poor souls forward, and the only way the Amazing Nightcrawler can be of any aid is if he moves forward and quickly..


 * BAMF*

The elf lands on one of the arms of a Sentinel.. the one who shot with the laser.. and wraps himself around a weak spot, tail and all. There's a look of concentration before-


 * BAMF*

The offending bit of machinery, that is, the Sentinel's arm, is now gone.. and a good mile away, in the water before the Amazing Nightcrawler teleports back, trailing his infernal brimstone stench.. ready and willing to head back into the fray. Practice is certainly making perfect!

"You heard the giant, menacing robot. Let's give them our answer."

That lone fisherman steps out onto the back of the boat. Over the span of three of those steps his physique begins to change. A few inches of height are gained. Over a dozen inches of girth are lost. Weathered skin bleeds out into a brilliant cobalt blue. Scraggly brown hair shifts into sleek, fire red strands.

Mystique isn't hiding any longer. Mutant and proud. This is her fight, and she intends to win. Let there be no mistake that a mutant is going to kick their collective behinds.

The pair of launchers lift up into position, both gauging the distance toward one of the Sentinels. Whichever she's got the clearest shot on, she's not about to be picky.

The voice speaking out over the coms has changed, drawn into a low, duo-toned lilt that's all wicked and undeniably female. "All teams, fire at will."

There's an acute Ka-WOOSH! sounding out in perfect stereo as the RPG's scream free of their launchers, covering the distance across open water toward the first machine nearly as quickly as one could snap their fingers.

Closer to where the Sentinels stand there are other attacks sounding out, scattered from numerous hiding locations. Conventional weaponry, mutant powers, whatever they can bring to the fight. However, these ragrag mutant teams came right off of the streets. On par with the X-Men they are not. They may distract, they may get lucky, but Mystique's team only has so many heavy-hitters to go around. Today, one of these heavy-hitters is Olena.

Pan Lehnsherr can give a good speech. Olena -- Strilka, as she is coming to be known -- will give him that. As the light surrounds him, she moves around beside the AC unit and pulls her mask over her face. With a fluid movement, she lifts the RPG to her shoulder and takes aim -- though her abilities are such that she hardly needs to. As 'the fisherman's' voice sounds over the earpiece she wears, the Ukrainian girl pulls the trigger, launching a rocket at the Sentinels, aiming for a spot where it will do the most damage. Shot taken, she tosses the RPG into the black bag, pulls out an elegant black bow to go with the quiver full of very special arrows she already wears (not to mention the numerous other weapons, obvious and not, she now has stowed about her person, and takes off running across the roof toward the corner where she's prepared her next 'surprise' for the giant metalmen.

HOLDUP. Rogue has been visiting this place for a few weeks and it's being lead by MAGNETO? Well that certainly explained a few things at least.

Nearby she spots a little boy crying nearby with flaming hands. She calmly kneels next to him and gently touched the side of his face, "Billy right? I need you to find somewhere safe for a bit. Just run until you can't run anymore, until you see something like a hospital or church. Now get outta here."

She stood as her hands now began flaming, and Mystique makes her presence known. "Hell of a family reunion."

Well okay, Jamie couldn't find a good weapon for himself to use. He really needs to start carrying some, the trench coat is good place to hide them at least. Mental Note: Send a dupe to learn how to use various weapons. But that leaves on thing for him to do. When you can't fight you flee. And when you make copies of yourself all who register as mutants, you flee in many directions. Hopefully that will be enough to confuse the Sentinels. So not only does the dupe at the center do that, so does Jamie Prime with the cops. They both make about 20 copies each, and all of those dupes are just sent scattering.

As the mutants attack, so do the Sentinel's not caring all about the lost of one of there own. The remaining three suddenly shoot out tear gas grenades out of their mouths, them landing among the crowd of the attacking mutants

The Sentinel that Nightcrawler teleported an arm off of, seemed to care less about that fact, pressing forward it's attack. More tear gas grenades were shot out of their mouths. They seemed to be more concerned with non-lethal force, until...

As the various RPGs started to slam into and explode against the Sentinels they do take damage, a lot of it actually, "HOSTILE ACTIONS ARE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE!" they repeat from earlier. But they are still moving, now aiming their hands at the oncoming horde of mutants. Plasma blast shot into the crowd of attacking mutants.

The Sentinel with no head, continued to move, putting the CPU and sensors in the head would be a strategic weakness. It aimed it's hand at the Madrox who was outside with the others, it was now active scanning rather than relying on visual sensors which were, indeed, in the head. An charged particle beam shot out of it's hand as it did, it didn't care if it hit mutant or human targets. It was now war.

In the distance more jet engines could be heard, they were coming the first four were only the vanguard, now it was time for the army. At least six more were on the way and would arrive in seconds.

Magneto flings himself forward and throws his hands into the air, slamming a shield of force into the air between the swarm of mutants and the assaulting Sentinels. The shield is tenuous at best, for its size- mutants scream, and die, and the Sentinel assault presses forward. "Attack their flanks!" he roars. "Press them from the sides! Target their power systems!" he shouts. He makes a jerking motion with one fist, as a man snapping a stout length of cord, and rips the feet of one Sentinel out from underneath it, bringing the titan collapsing to the ground.

"We must not falter!"

He flings another hand out, shielding a handful of cops from the blasts of energy flying across the battlefield.

From where everyone's sitting, Magneto is the lynchpin of this fight. He's protecting the young mutant conregation, the erstwhile police force, and trying to hold off the inevitable.

"Reinforcements are incoming!" he shouts. "Second line, retreat to the holdout shelters! You've done your part!"

Magneto reachs his hands up and catches a particle beam in his palms, straining mightily against the full might of the Sentinel blasting a concentrated energy beam directly at him. "I don't know how much longer I can hold them off!"

Landing only briefly, Nightcrawler's tail lashes from side to side, and he's rocked by several explosions of the RPGs that land. He is caught in one of the blast waves, and is flown back end over end, before he lands feet first on the side of a building that yet stands, blue fur singed, and missing in spots now. He's off once again in a brimstone-laced *bamf* after shaking his head and digging at his pupilless yellow eyes, only to land near the police.. those non-mutants that will be targeted just as quickly as the mutants.. and he calls out, "Fall back!" before grabbing a couple and teleporting some distance away, to relative safety, just breaths before the Sentinel unleashes its particle beam.


 * bamf*

Nightcrawler returns to the fray, and his head cocks to hear the incoming. "There are more coming!"

Obviously, it's known, given Magneto's impassioned words, and the call for those first lines to fall back. He's got no idea either how this will all come around; he's never worked with any of them.. and he hasn't yet seen Rogue.

All he can do, then, is to continue to disarm them.. after a fashion!


 * bamf*

From the back of the boat Mystique can see the third RPG trail coming from the rooftops. There's her special project at play, right on target. The detail that surprises her the most? That would be the six additional Sentinels coming in from above.

"This has just become a warzone, hit them with everything you have!"

Two empty launchers are dropped to the boat's deck. Time is something she has little of. Firepower is something she has much of. Another crate gets flung open and, seconds later, the metamorph is loaded down with a multi-shot grenade launcher, a heavy machine gun, and a healthy collection of spare rounds for each.

It's time to join the rest of her species. She takes a running start and gracefully leaps off the edge of the boat, vanishing beneath the chilly water. Somewhere beneath the surface her feet and legs morph into a scaled mermaid's tail. Distance between the boat and the island gets covered at a frightening pace.

Mystique had warned Olena that a Sentinel party was never a small party. She checks her own six to make sure nothing's incoming from behind, and then sets up a very precise shot with her bow. It's aimed at a building across the street from the action center, just beyond the vanguard force. Her focus is sharper than the explosive-packed tip, as air currents and shrapnel and energy beams and bodies in motion seem to slow down to predictable speeds as her mind rapid-fire processes the movements and trajectories. The arrow sails easily across the distance, slamming into a small box placed in the middle of the night at the very corner of the building's roof. She does the same thing with two more corners on two different buildings, and then whacks a fourth box at her feet all in rapid succession -- less than a heartbeat between shots. The boxes light up and sharp razor wire lines shoot out from them, compliments of another mutant at the action center who pops up from behind the lip of the first building. He reaches over, wraps his fists around the lines and electrifies them.

"Pozhezha v tsilomu," she tells Mystique, speaking in her native Ukrainian: Fire in the hole. Or, in this case... a convenient electrical net meant solely to mess up sensors and disrupt logic circuits.

That done, Strilka grabs another arrow, hooks a zip line to it, and lets it fly toward her next point of attack.

If Rogue had the time, she would be stunned that she along with the others were fighting on Magneto's side. This is something to ponder about at a less chaotic time.

As the tear gas grenades were thrown, as a few slipped through Magneto's epic shield, she threw fire towards their direction and exploded them before they were able to release their gas. And for the time being she followed orders, and made her way to the side.

Jamie is still doing the distraction routine. But of course the Sentinel does blast at some of them, and those poor dupes are now dead. The bad news about that is all the dupes that Jamie have are in range of their death. The mindlink is enough to send a shock through all the Jamies, and gets them stopped in their tracks. So well that gives the Sentinels some rather large groups of mutant signatures to aim at.

As one Sentinel loses its legs and crashes to the ground, "SUPPLEMENTAL PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. DESTORY MAGNETO!" It seemed who ever had written or at least viewed the Sentinel programming was not a fan of Magneto.

What was left of the first four Sentinels all made directed attacks on Magneto... the difference they were all firing energy blasts of counter-electromotive force. A beam designed to pass through magnetic fields. Instead of repelling, it attracts.

As Mystique had a bit of a surprise in store for her, as the -ten- Sentinels pass overhead they all fired microwave beams at her location, basically planning dehydrating her and her body before she even gets to shore.

All the Sentinels as the arrive say, "DESTROY! EXTERMINATE!" They start firing actual lasers at everything still stating, "EXTERMINATE! DESTROY!"

Then Olena let lose her with her electrical net, and the Sentinels responded to it as such, "SENSORS CONFUSED! LOGIC CURCUITS COMPROMISED! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

With that they started attacking randomly, with anything they could find or use.

Had Magneto not very recently had this exact incident occur with the Red Skull, he might have been more overwhelmed. Internalizing his formidable skills, Magneto flings himself sideways with lightninglike reflexes that are far beyond what a man his age should remotely be capable of. His horizontal leaps carries him at least fifty feet, spinning and whirling three feet off the ground. He comes to his feet and makes a gesture that looks as if it came from a t'ai chi instructor, weaving something complex through the air. It ends up with his palms raising and then slamming to the ground- and the local gravitational field around the Sentinels suddenly increases tenfold, putting instant strain on everything from their servomotors to the delicate microcircuitry that keeps them functioning.

"Flee, all of you!" Erik roars to the mutants, making a series of cutting gestures in the air. "Run! I will hold them off as best I am able!"

Rushing forward, Erik summons steel and iron from the earth itself, and launches a spear the size of a telephone pole into one Sentinel's chest, moving as fast as the speed of sound.

Nightcrawler removes another arm, but there's an entire army arriving, and they're all targeting... Magneto now? And sounding very much like something out of Dr. Who.. that program that he has undoubted forced others to watch, as he himself was forced to watch it when he was in the UK scant years ago.

Now, and only now does Nightcrawler catch the fact that Rogue is present, and his eyes widen. He's still not sure what it is she can do and what she can't.. and so, descretion being the better part of valour he calls to his as-of-yet unknown to him sister, "Get as many out as you can.." und please don't get hit, comes in a whisper before he turns his attention back..

Time to get the mutants who aren't going quite as fast as the others to safety.. and it's a rapid-fire teleporting taxi service..

Is the water suddenly getting hotter..? Mystique is feeling it, alright! There's no way she could reasonably try to swim up through those rays, unless...

Ever watch a spoon get microwaved? It can really put on a lightshow, and the spoon could care less. She's still got a vast number of tricks up her sleeve. If metal doesn't do the job then she can shift into rock, or crystal, or bone, or virtually anything that she can think of. Something will work.

When the metamorph returns she's swimming so quickly that she lunges high out of the water even as it's being cooked, the heated air shimmering around a mercurial form (because hey, it works for Cessily) as she targets two more Sentinels. Thirty caliber armor-piercing rounds chatter through the belt-fed PKM at one side. 40mm explosive grenade shells Thump as they're cast out into the world from the other.

Once Mystique lands she'll be back on the move, light on her feet as ever. Despite being able to copy virtually any molecular chain she still cannot add mass to herself. It's still her, now in a thick metallic foil.

"Fall back, this is in Magneto's hands!"

A little mayhem + a little confusion = one heckuva big show. That's what Magneto asked for, right? Okay. So, it might put the police in danger. Olena has no love for them, that's for sure. Nor for most any human she's met since her incarceration in Poznyar. And, by this point, most of the mutants that are going to heed Erik's cry for retreat have probably done so. So, if they get caught in the cross fire... well, they die as martyrs to the cause.

The Ukrainian archer, however, still has a role to play in this fight. She is the black knight to Magneto's king and Mystique's queen. Zipping along the taut line she fired, she flips herself up onto a secondary rooftop, such that she's behind the Sentinels, now. Her unique perceptions allow her to sense, by the movement of dust motes in the air as much as anything else, where the gravity waves her mentor creates are strongest and most likely to hinder. This helps her avoid them. She runs nimbly across the rooftop and leaps the span of an alley between buildings to roll across a second one, never staying in one place for very long -- just in case, as she now tracks the incoming movement of the reinforcements.

Rogue yells out a strung out curse word that is not for any delicate ears to hear as she finds a broken-off wall to hide behind. In the distance she spots a man running away who looks more built then more humans. Well it was worth a shot.

She runs after him and touches the back of his neck, "Sorry handsome! Would'a kissed ya if the time is right. Better scoot! Things are gonna get way more nasty."

Thankfully, the gym boy was a mutant, as her new muscles tore at her clothing, and she looked exceedingly muscled as well, "And Ah know a thing or two about bein' stong."

She smirks at Magneto's display, "Apparently Ah'm not the only one."

Before she charges in, she catches Nightcrawler and smiles her confident smile, "Oh I intend to Sug' you just watch."

A Year Ago:

Robotic Expert: Mr. Madrox, so when you are surrounded by an army of giant robots, if you are just get these 4 common things, and you can shut them all down.

Dupe sent to study robotics doesn't even look up from Ball in a cup and just says, "Yeah sure, got it. Four common things, I can understand that."

Now

Jamie Prime just suddenly remembers that, "If that dupe ever comes out again, I will kill him myself. It's not murder if it's a dupe, doesn't even count as suicide." And now one of Jamie's dupes sees a lady he knows, the mindlink means Jamie Prime has also saw her and a wicked idea comes to mind. He does his best to try and get the attractive skunk haired ladies attention. They need more power, and hey if it means sacrificing a dupe, she may be able to give them the power they need. So the dupe waves and even calls out, "Hey over, here, you, lady whose name I forgot. Even though I shouldn't have cause when we lost our powers together you totally gave me an awesome kiss!"

And as the others arrive, ten more are on their way. They are the Sentinels, they will not stop for anything. As the original Sentinels fall new ones take their place, "DESTROY!"

These Sentinels only cared about Magneto, they were not attacking anything else. They did not care about their damage, they did not care about their primary objective. That objective was replaced with a new one, "Destroy Magneto."

Magneto's fight is a valiant one. Unimaginable force is brought to bear- tons of metal used as bludgeons, radiation, every trick and device for destruction the mutant can manage. Sentinels fly apart, are crushed into tiny cubes, are blasted with radiation- and it's not enough.

Magneto spends his efforts valiantly, buying time for extraction and escape. But in the end, he is but one man, exhausted and worn beyond his ability to continue to fight. He maintains a weak shield, just enough to hold off the particle beams trained on him, but it ebbs, then wanes entirely, leaving Magneto kneeling and slumped, exhausted and barely able to stay upright. Sentinels close in on him, lashing out with the flexible manacles to imprison and detain the Master of Magnetism.

"PRIMARY TARGET ACQUIRED. RETURNING TO DETENTION CENTER. SECONDARY TARGETS SCATTERED," the primary Sentinel booms. "DETAIN ANY REMAINING MUTANTS. DESTROY THE FACILITY."

The Prime unit gathers Magneto into a detainment cell built into its chest, fairly crucifying him inside the tiny containment cell, and explodes into the air, heading east. The remaining Sentinels turn their attention to the Center, smashing their way through the ranks of mutants- capturing those they can, scattering others, and levelling the Mutant Action Center until little remains but burning skeletons of buildings and crushed playground equipment.

"We all need to fall back," Kurt acknoweldges, and it's not something that he particularly likes. But, they're outgunned, as it were. And with the things so fixated on Magneto? Well.. a merry chase could be led elsewhere, away from the mutant compound!

There's a voice, however, that makes Nightcrawler's head turn 'round, and glowing yellow eyes narrow, his lips rising to show those fangs again in something that could almost be described as a feral growl. He pushes off after landing from a teleport, and *bamfs* again, the power of his leap taking him far further than the exit from the infernal dimension.. only to land atop the differently skinned mutant.

Only he doesn't just land. Nightcrawler grabs her and rolls.. and rolls.. and rolls.. and lands on top. That demonic visage is not a happy one, and his tail whips from side to side. "You.. und I.. we will speak.." before he leaps up and teleports away in that all-too-familiar *bamf*.

Now, catching the capture of Magneto, Kurt's eyes widen, and he does what he can to help keep as many mutants from falling into the hands of those robots..

Throughout the battle Mystique had remained confident that Magneto could handle himself out there. This remains true even when the Sentinels begin to gang up on him, though her confidence does wane as they continue to lay on the pressure. He's incredibly powerful, but he's no longer in his prime. To see him fall to these mechanical monsters?

"Erik..."

One pause, one hiccup within her onslaught, and she's getting plowed over from an unscheduled bamf. Guns go scattering away from her as she's rolled and dropped back-first against the pavement, the metallic sheen of her skin giving way to True Blue as she stares up into the eyes of her son, glowing eyes to glowing eyes. With a grin.

"Did I forget your birthday again?"

Just as quickly her mutant son is gone. She's back on her feet, making a run for her weapons, when something else snags hold of her. Metal. Unforgiving.

"Back off!" she snarls, morphing her snagged limb in a way that she can slip right out of the Sentinel's hold. But, as already proven? Where there's one, there's more. They have their prize, already. Mystique is a tricky one with one heck of a rap sheet across the globe. To find her is a pretty big deal. To catch her?

"I will destroy you all!" she bellows, endlessly morphing and slipping out of so many of those metallic serpents. As if to prove her point she remote-detonates her boat out in the bay. Leave no evidence behind!

She might even end up breaking free of their hold until one of the machines decides to dump a few thousand volts through those lines. The metamorph and electricity still don't get along all that well.

All Strilka needs is one. Just one lonely little (okay, giant) robot to keep its back turned long enough for her to do what she needs to do. One little (okay, giant) robot to leave the fray intact enough to make its retreat back to its home base. Magneto warned her he would quite probably fall under the barrage of the mutant-hating machines. He was, he told her, counting on it, counting on the fact that he would become a distraction for them -- for her. And he's as good as his word, as she knew he would be.

As the Master of Magnetism is drawn into the Prime Sentinel's chest, the Ukrainian 'Arrow' pulls her last trick from the black bag she carried and shoves her arms into a harness with a hard, square backpack that covers her back. Pressing a button in the center of the front of the harness, an electrical field surrounds her and fades into her skin. She knocks a final arrow to her string and draws back her bow. Calmly, she takes aim and fires. Another zipline sings through the air, before the behemoth has gone too far. It's grappling point lodges into the Sentinel's shoulder and the girl is yanked expectantly off her feet to swing through the air after it, the electrical field from the harness cloaking her (for at least a little while) from the machines' sensors. As it ascends into the air, she thumbs a remote on her belt and the arrow shaft spins, pulling the line up and dragging her to tuck against the Sentinel's body.

Once there, she is able to pop a panel and climb inside, pulling it closed again behind her, just before the thing goes supersonic to make its flight home.

Yes. Thanks to the Brotherhood's careful planning and her precise execution, she's stowing away, hidden inside a cloaking field, jammed up between a bunch of electronics and a metal bulkhead, with a pressure suit beneath her leathers and a small rebreather with a limited amount of air to see her through the thin atmosphere. It won't be a comfortable ride... but she'll get there in one piece... and then be free to be the knight the chess master requires.

And another ten Sentinels arrived. They now had orders to level the entire building, any and all mutants inside it. They also knew that Magneto was there and they all wanted to exterminate him. They wanted him destroyed, they didn't care what it took

As Sentinels were destroyed by their attackers, more came. For ever single Sentinel was destroyed, two take it's place, constantly.

Every one landed and said, "EXTERMINATE ALL MUTANTS!"

The fight has well and truly ended. Mutants flee in all directions. Some are detained and caught- some die. The Sentinels, payloads filled, take off one at a time, with two or three mutants in tow. They fly to the east, single and in groups, while the remaining Sentinels crush and level the Mutant Action Center. Administration buildings, community housing, the courtyard, the rec center- it's all crushed into nothing. The Mutant Action Center on Staten Island- the first of them, the first real hope for a community for the mutants of New York, and maybe America, is destroyed. Obliterated under the heel of the Sentinels, destroyed in the name of detaining one lone mutant, now dead, and then furthured by the apprehension of Magneto himself, and the handful of other mutants they'd detained.

Perhaps someone will eventually make sense of it all. Some congressmen will take credit for it, others will decry it. And a nation may or may not move on. But a hundred hungry eyes stare at the burning wreckage from blocks away, and a city watches with shock as a pillar of their community literally goes up in smoke.

There is a promise in the air. A promise of retribution, of justice. Of inequality that must be addressed.

There is a promise in the air.

Of war.