**Players: Connor, Hildegarde, Hosea, Lucas, Magneto, Maxwell, Rashmi, Travis **
Summary: On this day, Nero's warlord days ended.
Date: February 02, 2011
Log Title:Valley of the Shadow of Death - Pt I
Rating: R(V)
Africa - Nero's Camp
Where the camp begins, all other life ends. Hard dirt with muddy puddles fill the road as it grows close to Nero's camp. This dirt road is much more commonly used than the rest. The gate is closed with cyclone fencing, and wooden watch towers look over the forest, guarded at all times by soldiers.
Inside the fence several stone buildings can be found. Trucks and LAV's move about, soldiers training at most hours of the day. Complete with running water and electricity powered by a nearby wind plant, it could be called the one trace of 'civilization' here. Nero's home away from home is here as well, a large mansion of a building with its own sets of guards to protect the warlord when he comes to visit. A helipad can even be found near the palace, his common method of entry and exit..
Night has fallen at the camp. The best time to sabotage a camp full of hostile bad guys. There has been a rather focused preparation time. Rashmi's warnings by Nero have not gone unheeded. He believes her that she'll have a rescue coming. The response? He's been preparing the soldiers for an attack. On top of this, he's been preparing a trap. Lights flood the area, shining down on the camp and giving more than enough light to see by. It's hard to see much from outside the camp. The high fence line and towers with guards watch the forest with intention.
The forest, however, is where the staging grounds are. Hosea goes over the plan with the group. "Dere are many prisoners," Hosea says. "We have to get close to da power source and take it out. When it is dark, den we will be able to get them out in the cover of darkness." There's a LOT of guards, though, about two hundred in the camp. The exact location of Travis is known, he's easy to see. He's near the front gate. Nero has decided that he'll be best presented at a post. tied there for the evening. Does Nero know there's an attack tonight? Or is he just prepared? It's hard to tell, but there he is.
The back of the camp has the main group of prisoners. A known ninety-seven people are in the camp prison. There's a special prison with mutant prisoners on the other side of the camp, and in Nero's palace, there is a lab in the basement where the experiments are done.
Maxwell paces back and forth in his room on the first floor of the palace. He'd managed to bluff his way into the camp by posing as a genetic scientist Nero was looking to recruit from the states. He can tell by the precautions that somthing is up, his time to act might be sooner than he'd expected. Taking the large suitcases he brought with him he lays them on the bed and unlocks them, he's going to need what's inside them very soon from the looks of it. Turning to look out his window over the compound he looks from building to building recalling what he's seen so far. "Armory there, generators.. prison, barraks, motorpool. Decent layout for a militant scumbag, going to be a shame to torch the place."
Rashmi huddles by the door in her cell, in sight of the guard window but close enough that, given the conditions are right, she can take a run for it. The redhead is filthy, yellowing bruises standing out all over her skin, her hair hanging in limp strings… but there's a glimmer of steel, and nothing at all pleasant in her smile as she reaches out with one foot, pushing the sleeping mat away from its place on the floor. Beneath, scratched into the concrete over days of slow, painful effort, is a simple, three word message, a final slap in the face to the monster of a warlord that has made her life a living nightmare.
[I WARNED YOU]
Taking a deep breath, Connor pulls the black mask over his face, leaving just his eyes exposed, which he then covers with a set of goggles to protect them and provide a slight edge against bright lights in his eyes. Once properly settled, he checks the two knives he has in sheathes at his hips… the only lethal items on him, besides himself, "Remember Lucas… Nero doesn't know you're here… you hold back from the first wave. Once he thinks he has us… cut loose. By now he's had plenty of time to set his trap… whatever it might be. Magneto hasn't acknowledged any sign he's going to be here in time… so we'll just wing it. In the meantime… Miss Von Reigenlief and I will be in first for shock and awe." No one can see the smile under the mask, but he looks to the teacher, "You take the hundred on the right, I'll take the hundred on the left?" A bit of brevity before the battle.
Travis isn't to happy about his position as the look on his face shows he's angry. The metal collar around his neck is quite visible as he struggles against the ropes. He's definitely sporting his fair share of bumps, cuts and bruises but he still tries to use what strength he has to pull against the bonds.
Hildegarde is in the forest with the others. This is the first time she's worn her uniform around any of the students. The outfit is black thick leather with cammoflauge pannels over the more padded areas. She is wearing black fingerless gloves with steel plates on the knuckles and large combat boots with steel plates on the bottom. The woman had to move a bit slower than the others, her weight and outfit making it harder for her to sneak than the others, but she has managed to catch up in time to aknowlege that she knows the plan. "Right. I'll try to take out a bunch before they can get the lights on." She double checks that her hair is braided tight and lowers a pair of tinted goggles over her eyes. "Everybody ready?"
Lucas is wearing something more akin to a superhero costume. He figured by the time it was his turn to dance, the secret assault wouldn't be so secret anymore. The costume he's wearing is primarily ash gray, with dark red boots, dark red across his waist and thighs, and dark red at his wrists, leaving his hands exposed bare. It has a dark red cape, the cowl of which wraps up and covers his face, leaving his short, floppy blonde hair exposed. Between all the colors are bands of black accents, and it's all made from the light armored spandex-like materials from Xavier's mansion. He looks at Connor and nods, "And I'll get the thousand in the second wave." He chuckles softly, looking at Hildegarde, "Ah reckon we're as ready as we get. Let's roll."
Hosea nods. His own gear is very utility based. One of the sets of armor that Connor brought is his choice of gear. He pulls the hood tight, restricting his hair. He opts for the entrance that he used the last time he came in. A teleport to the corner tower. He chokes out the guard, and takes his hat, picking up the rifle and looking over the camp. "Dey are mostly on the south end of da camp," he announces. Most of them not near Travis. Rather they are near the prison, and near the barracks. This makes a challenge for Maxwell. At the moment it may be very difficult to get to the generators. Soldiers are everywhere.
Nero arrives at the door of Rashmi's cell. "I have just received word that your friend Ikbuku has arrived," he tells her. "Would you like to see how your rescue shall go?" He motions graciously for her to come with him. A terrible smile is across his face. He knows the layout.
Maxwell frowns as he watches the soldiers moving, going over the plan in his head and making adjustments as needed. From the look of things he may need to hit the armory first and hope that they've got a bazooka or somthing he can use to knock the generators out from a distance. Of course he still has no idea what the compound is preparing for, but he works best when he makes this stuff up as he goes.
Rashmi pulls herself to her feet, toeing the sleeping mat, guiding attention to the letters scratched on the floor. Drawing in a breath, she turns, head tilting back to stare unflinchingly at Nero. "Yes," she replies, her voice positively dripping venom. "Yes, I think I would like to very much. After you," she says, moving to walk behind and to one side of the warlord.
"Allright, you old bastard… make good on it." Connor mumbles to himself as he holds out his hand, and smooth as glass a portal erupts into life next to him. The exit point is five hundred feet above the camp… perfect for dropping a near-invulnerable teacher right into the pack of soldiers, "Remember to act surprised when he pulls whatever he pulls Ma'am… ready when you are." The reason for the portal is two-fold… one to air-drop them right into the thick of the soldiers and spread chaos… and the second is to signal Magneto that the attack is occurring.
Hildegarde nods and steps forward toward the portal. "Alright, let's get those kids back. And if we're lucky Magneto will show up and help us out sooner rather than later." She turns to the group and offers an encouraging smile. "Ms. VonReginleif could be a bit of a mouthful in this kind of situation. If you need me just call for 'Panzer', ok?" The woman turns toward the portal and closes the rest of the distance with a sprint, leaping through the disc and commeting down into the middle of the soldiers to create one of her massive craters. Everyone within twenty feet of her will have the ground beneath them crumbled, and everyone ten feet out from there will get the shockwave.
Travis isn't aware of the upcoming rescue attempt, just that something is going on. He continues to struggle hating being in the position he's in. He looks around for someone to yell at but there aren't any guards in site so he continues to pull against the ropes.
He arrived some time ago and began a careful examination of the area. Molecule by molecule, atom by atom, the Mutant Master of Magnetism has familiarized himself with this place. He's scattered dust, a fine sifting of iron and nickel and zinc, crushed cars pulverized for just this purpose. As the dust has settled, he has read it. As it drifts through doorways and into windows, he has followed it. As a man breathes it in, he has known it. The warlord called Nero placed this camp this far out into the forest for secrecy: the biggest secret it now holds is how few of its secrets remain hidden.
Magneto has one major concern, however: those collars. He's never seen a collar that isn't trapped against tampering. What tricks has Nero's pet monster, the Sugar Man, put in these…? He frowns as fine metal dust settles into collars all around the camp. Electronics. Signals. Traces…
He doesn't twitch as Panzer appears near him, nor when she craters in the middle of the compound. Not a collar, so not his current concern.
Maxwell blinks as the ground shakes with the impact of the Portaled Hilde. "Well now, I'd say whatever is gonna happen is starting. Time to dress for the party I think." He flips open the first suitcase and grins as he sees his own reflection in the lenses of his armored mask. Shedding the dork glasses and the dress shirt and slacks he begins to quickly strap into his body-armor and grab his weapons. The Hooligan is a long way from home, but this old soldier is going to war once again.
It's almost too quiet in front of the compound. The occasional guard can be seen going by but besides Travis, not much is out in the bright lights. It's obvious something is up though as a only three or four guards are seen in the area. The prisons seem quiet for the time being. That is until Hilde crashes into the middle of the area. As soon as she lands about a dozen men just appear in the area all seeming to be fairly well armoured and armed. From the shadows several shots are fired off at the woman as if they were waiting for that first person to arrive.
Panzer ducks down to the ground as soon as she lands, springing up quickly and leaping several yards to the nearest guard tower. The woman strikes the side of the tower like a cannon ball, causing the tower to collapse. She erupts from the wreckage and springs toward some of the gunfire, not staying in one place for more than a few seconds. Upon landing near some of the soldiers Panzer begins grabbing Nero's men and hurling them at other soldiers, using the troops as weapons against themselves.
Magneto flexes his fingers, and dust responds. Collars all around the compound experience degradation in their electronics, receptors which no longer receive, and components which no longer move. His eyes narrow as he examines locks and fences and that post Travis is tied to. It doesn't matter if there's a nail or not; dust coalesces into a sharp blade and those ropes Travis is tied with 'miraculously' separate.
The soldiers by the generator take up their arms. They have a job. There's about twenty of them, give or take. Even with the attack they maintain their post. Two other guards rush past the barracks, on their way to the garage behind the barracks. Looks like they want to get some heavier firepower. Outside the palace, the soldiers are sparse, however. It looks like the focus is on what's going on outside.
Maxwell bursts from the room once he's fully armed up, studded bat in hand as he takes a fast look about to see if anyone is watching the inside of the palace. Should somone be there he charges quickly swinging for their skull with the bat hopefully before they react, if not he makes his way towards the doors and prepares to head towards the Armory.
Panzer keeps up the pressure, sprinting and leaping around the compound. The area in her general vicinity is sheer chaos. Bullets flying, people screaming, spot lights trying to focus on the woman. Panzer happens upon a row of trucks and picks one up, hurling it at a group of gunmen and turning toward where Travis is tied up. No wait, he's not tied up anymore? Did someone let him out already? The moment of confusion ends up getting Panzer shot a couple of times in the left arm. She yells out and stomps on the ground, causing a fissure to form. The fracture travels rapidly along the ground moving in the direction the bullets came from.
The dust gets into Travis' collar and the collars of other mutants in the area start to spark a bit and slowly start to short out from the deterioration. As the six arms of Travis are freed he drops to his knees for a second as his powers come back to him though he dosen't move from the spot for the time being.
The dozen soldiers that appeared start taking aim at Hilde and firing at her, not caring if their captive is in the cross fire or not. From the bushes another dozen appear just as armoured and armed as the rest. Hilde is successful at throwing a few soldiers at one another but they're quick to get back on their feet. Magneto would notice something odd about the post that Travis was tied to, that it goes deeper and something is under it about a foot under the earth.
From behind Hilde a bald woman appears out of nowhere and seems to have a blank look on her face. Her eyes turn towards the large woman but don't focus on her as there is a breath of flame that leaves the Mutates mouth to blast Panzer.
Panzer keeps up the pressure, sprinting and leaping around the compound. The area in her general vicinity is sheer chaos. Bullets flying, people screaming, spot lights trying to focus on the woman. Panzer happens upon a row of trucks and picks one up, hurling it at a group of gunmen and turning toward where Travis is tied up. No wait, he's not tied up anymore? Did someone let him out already? The moment of confusion ends up getting Panzer shot a couple of times in the left arm.
Panzer turns quickly to face the direction the bullets came from and is surprised to find another woman in front of her. Panzer does not manage to dodge the flames and leaps back as they strike her. She lands several yards back and bats at herself instinctively, though it appears that her suit protected her from most of the damage. Panzer shakes her head at the woman, "You don't have to work for him anymore. Stop fighting us. We can get you out of here."
From Maxwell's room, there is a guard in the hall. However, he's been distracted by the ongoings outside. His job is to watch inside the palace. He should've been more attentive. The guard goes down without a fight, but there are more voices coming down the hall in his section. The hallway continues in both directions, so if Maxwell chooses, he can still get out the other direction. Maxwell turns and heads the other direction away from the voices. He's looking for a doorway out of the palace. Moving through the palace at a dead run before somone can notice if somthing is wrong.
Something below the post Travis was tied to…? Oh, he has suspicions….
Magneto drifts lower, his attention focused on the item buried in the ground. Peripherally, he is aware of the other mutants in the area; he's set deterioration in process in all of the collars he can reach — which is all of the collars within a mile of him. Should be enough… even if he has to stop that to do something else. Like dig out whatever it is that Nero buried beneath his bait.
It is a strange feeling, but slight. Powers start to deteriorate rapidly, and within seconds they are gone all together. The guards behind Maxwell continue on, and at the sound of Maxwell's running feet, they follow quickly, shouting something in an African language. Down the hall, there is a door that leads to the outside.
The Mutate with the flaming breath doesn't seem to acknowledge anything Panzer says but breaths another breath of flame but before it reaches Hilde the flame starts to die out as even the Mutate is effected by whatever just happened. As soon as she was there though she disappears by unknown means.
What's behind Travis is a disc that's about two feet long and it starts to come up easy enough as it's made of metal but as soon as people's powers go out the trap is triggered as Magneto's powers aren't able to get it out all the way. An electric current rips through the ground and courses through Travis for a bit and the six armed mutant lets out a scream of pain as.
The guards knew what was going to happen so as soon as the powers of the mutants are gone, they hold up their firearms pointing them at Hilde, Magneto and Travis while one of them yells for them to surrender in English.
Panzer attempts to leap backward when the woman breathes a second jet of flame at her, but she strangely only moves a few feet instead of several yards. The woman looks down confusedly and suddenly looks a bit dizzy. She actually falls to the ground and grabs her head, the deterioration of her power actually reducing her muscle mass rapidly. The woman goes from almost a thousand pounds to under 200 pounds in a matter of seconds. It seems to disorient her severely. By the time Panzer is able to stand she finds herself surrounded by gunmen. She puts up one of her hands slowly, the other clutching the bullet wounds on her arm.
Maxwell sees the door and charges, taking a smoke grande from his belt and tossing it over his shoulder as he goes. Yanking the door open he charges out into the main yard, taking a moment to get his barings he makes a beeline towards the armory, bat in hand ready to smack down anything that gets in his way.
Magneto digs into the ground, unburying the thing under Travis… and then the dizziness sets in, the sudden compression of his senses as the powers that he has lived with since the Second World War evaporate. He feels them going and he roars, enraged, because he KNOWS this, he HATES this, and it's going to happen anyway.
He tries to land, but the disappearance of his powers is too fast to actually get to the ground. He plummets, striking the roof of a canvas-covered truck, bouncing off to hit the ground. Ungh…!
Be grateful no one can hear what he says. He doesn't need powers to blister paint with words.
Two of the guards roughly grab Travis and pull him to his feet, the teen seems to be half out of it for the moment. A few guards say something to each other in another language and laugh as they walk up to Hilde and prod her with their rifles indicating for her to start walking towards the prisons. A dozen guards stay behind while the other dozen start escorting Travis and Hilde to be locked up. After all Nero doesn't want them dead when he can use them. Where Magneto falls one soldier starts to walk towards that area to see what the noise was.
The guards cough and hack as they reach the smoke, not knowin what is on the other side, they don't dare advance further. As Hooligan makes his way toward the armory, it draws the attention of a few soldiers. Gunfire spits out from the assault rifles. There's place for cover, fortunately. Unfortunately, it is nothing more than the roll of the hill at the edge of the camp. It slopes downward, an opportunity for immediate cover. The next solid cover is still several feet away at the back of the barracks. There's no tower guards on this side of the camp, primarily because there is a cliff overlooking a part of the rainforest. It's not a likely place for people to assault from. There is still a wall, however, preventing people from reaching the cliff itself.
Panzer eyes the men dangerously, making her free hand into a fist before relaxing it. She says a few things in German that are probably generally unplesant and turns to walk in the direction they point her in. The woman appears to be having some difficulty walking. Her boots were designed to withstand incredible force and weigh quite a lot. For the first time since she was a teenager Panzer is finding it difficult to lift her own feet, and the sensation is frightening to her. After a few yards she meets up with Travis. She does not try to get too close to him, "Are you alright? Where are the others?"
Maxwell simply keeps running, he's been shot at before and this armor was stop pretty much anything short of armor-piercing rounds. However the assault rifles are definately pushing it's threshhold as a round blows a chunk off his right pauldron. Drawing his shotgun with a free hand he blasts a single shot towards those firing at them to hopefully make them duck and give him enough time to duck around behind the barracks.
Magneto breathes, lying on the dusty earth, trying to get his head together. He hears the approach of the guard and does what he did, all those years ago, avoiding other men hunting him… he rolls under the truck he just bounced off. The cloak is a problem, wrapping around him, but he shoves it out of the way, making sure all of it is under the truck with him. First item of business: don't get seen. Second: get rid of the damn cloak. Third…. revenge.
Looking up at Hilde, Travis nods that he's okay. Sure he hurts all over but over all he's alright. "David…something happened to him and they have Rashmi, she's inside, where Nero is." He says before a guard smacks him in the face with the butt of his rifle. "Keep quiet." He yells to Travis before going to give Hilde a good smack with the rifle as well. "You keep quiet too." Once in the prisons the smell is vile as they've been home to many people and haven't been cleaned and sanitary conditions aren't something prevalent here.
The guard walks around the truck and Magneto would be able to see his boots crunching on the dirt though lucky for the Master of Magnetism, the guard never looks down. His big mistake though was coming out there alone.
The shot from Maxwell does cause the soldiers to duck, but goes wide. However, the enemies don't press in so quickly either. They call for backup, and a few of the guards start to advance. Two others start to run to the other side of the building, hoping to get to Maxwell from both sides. Things aren't looking very good. There's a couple hundred soldiers between the rescuers and victory. Not a single person has been rescued. Ain't life a kick in the head?
Panzer yells out when the rifle strikes her. Sure it hurts, but it was more the surprise of how much it hurt that caused her to call out. She is very not used to being this vulnerable to physical attacks. Panzer spits blood on the ground and continues marching into the prison. She makes a distasteful face as she enters the prison and frowns at Travis, not saying anything and making sure that she has her hand clamped down on the wound on her arm. If she ever makes it back home she's going to get a new suit. She is quite tired of being shot.
Maxwell grits his teeth under the mask, he's not hearing the fighting he should be.. the Mutants aren't wreaking the havoc they should be. It's becoming very clear he's out of his element here, but then again he's out of his country. Realization dawns slowly, he's not in amercia anymore.. there are no rules.. there are no federal agents or SHIELD that will hunt him down if he cross that line and kills. Under the mask his features change from near panic to grim determination. "Ok.. new game.. new rules. The safety is off." He returns the bat to it's scabbard and takes up the shotgun in his hands, pumping the slide to load a new round. "Eric forgive me.." He takes a breath and steps out to face the two fools that were coming around the other side of the building, shotgun blasting away as he quickly unloads three blasts of rubber shot at them.
Yes. The guard should have brought friends. Lots of them. And he should be more careful, like looking down, like checking under the truck. But since he didn't, and he isn't, on his head the consequences.
Magneto unhooks the cloak and looks up at the undercarriage of the truck. Look: the muffler is held on with baling wire. How shockingly unprofessional. He untwists the wire as the guard walks along one side of the truck, then rolls out that side as the guard pauses at the front corner. The Mutant Master of Magnetism gets to his feet — ow. He ignores the hurts of the fall, because this guard is more important than bruises… or even broken bones. A step, he reaches — does the guard see the wire coming over his head? Does he shout, or get a hand, something, in the way before it tightens around his neck?
There's a glare to the guard and Travis clenches to of his fist in his hands before looking at Hilde. There's a look in his eyes that says he is about to snap as he's tired of being kept here, tired of being used and tired of being a pawn for Nero. He looks at the guard who hit him and spits out a bit of blood at guard. He leans and and whispers to her, "Please tell me you're not alone."
The guard is walking away from Mageneto and a gurgle is let out as the wire wraps around his throat and his air supply is cut off. There's quite a bit of struggling and the man drops his rifle as he grasps for release, but the only release that comes is when he eventually fades out from lack of oxygen.
Panzer gives Travis a disapproving look when he spits on the guard. It's not that she thinks it was rude of him to do such a thing, but it was probably not terribly wise considering the situation. When he whispers to her she reaches up and pulls her goggles up to rest on the top of her head. "Nein." She didn't come alone, but she doesn't say anything more than this. If the others are not in as much trouble as she and Travis are, then maybe they have a chance. And there's always Magneto, assuming he shows up. Panzer lifts her feet again, testing to make sure she still does not have her ability.
The first guard goes down, the second ducks behind the wall again. A grenade comes from behind the wall , but is too far away to actually catch Maxwell for shrapnel damage. The concussive shock, however, should be rather mind numbing. There are several more soldiers closing in. Could this be it?
Some will call it luck. Some will call it karma. Others will call it divine intervention. Out of the sky, a burning piece of stone finishes it's several billion mile journey through space. It plunges into the camp, sending a shockwave that can be felt for miles. A crater far larger than any that Hilde could create is the result, the far side of the camp collapsing in a single strike. The dirt flies up into the air, and the soldiers are universally knocked off of their feet. Several of them were within the blast, meaning now, there's about a hundred less than there was before. A strange and unpredictable turn of events to be certain. What are the odds of this? Those combatants with Maxwell suddenly turn, getting to their feet and rushing back to the sight of the impact. All of them do, save for a few guarding the prisoners, who are still quite distracted. It's not every day you are present for a meteorite strike. The dust washes over the camp, making sight difficult at best.
Maxwell ducks back around the back of the building as the grenade is tossed, as he waits for the blast the earth shakes. "Damn… what kind of Grenade was that?" He looks around the corner again to see the guards gone and the air filled with dust. Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth he makes a run for the armory door and unless challenge dashes through it.
Magneto stands firm, muscles bunching as the guard struggles against the wire. He makes sure the guard is all the way dead before he eases the man to the ground. A quick search; spare ammunition is his main aim, but other useful items, like keys, also interest him. Then the body goes under the truck. He'll pick up the gun and examine it — an AK47? Nero is a cheap warlord.
Panzer actually falls down on one knee when the meteor strikes the ground. "What on earth?" SHe glances around quickly trying to see the source of the impact, but she was shielded from the view of the space rock before it struck. The only thing she knew that could cause the earth to shake like that was herself, and she's fairly certain she didn't do this. She covers her mouth when the dust appears, caughing a few times and moving in closer to Travis. She tries to position hersefl so that they are back to back.
Maxwell emerges from the armory, a smile nearly splitting his face under the mask as he hefts a rather hefty missle launcher over one shoulder. Lining up the generator building in his sights he says simply. "Lights out assholes.." Before firing off and single shot that results in soldiers scattering like roachs, and the generator building turning into a smoking wreck in a spectacular fireball.
The guard is about to smack Travis again when the meteor strikes and the guards and he stumbles to the ground, three hands holding him up while another grabs the bars and two more try to grab Hilde so she doesn't fall to badly. As for the guards, none of them are expecting the meteor strike. As soon as the trembling is over the power goes out on the compound. The dampening effect on everyone's powers is lifted and the effect is immediate for all mutants.
The meteor strike slams into the earth, and the shockwave rocks the truck Magneto is crouched behind, and he ends up face-down on the ground again with an all-over bruise as a result. Oh, someone's going to hurt because of this….
But first… the sense comes back, lines of force limning the world around him like light in the darkness. With those lines of force, an understanding of what just happened. Big chunk of rock. Over there. Huh. How convenient, in a way he finds just as suspicious as the thing under Travis' post. Speaking of which… Reach. Crush.
All right. Now that he's sure that's done? Gather himself. Gather his powers. Gather the cloak from under the truck. Time to make an entrance.
Maxwell drops the now empty launcher and moves towards where he saw the LAVs parked by the barrak. "Ok part 1 is done.. power's out. Next stop the prison." He drove and serviced vehicles like these every day in his time with the army. Opening the door if the keys are not readily available he pulls a multi-tool from his belt pouchs and after climbing in rips out the cover on the steering column to begin hotwiring it.
Feeling his powers back and knowing that things are in a state of chaos right now, Travis reaches out a hand to try to grab one of Hilde's. "We're heading inside to get Rashmi." He says to he and if she follows him or not, Travis starts to rush away from the prisons, kicking one of the unfortunate guards as he goes by. He doesn't care if Hilde is following him or not but that is where he's headed.
Panzer has a second wave of vertigo as her weight skyrockets again. She shakes her head and looks down at her feet, lifting them in turn to make sure that her powers have indeed returned. "Oh good." She decides to pay back that guard that butted her, reeling back and punching him square in the chest with several hundred pounds of force. The woman turns and follows Travis, knocking down guards as she sees them.
At one point there is a branch in the tunnel. Panzer looks to the left and nods to Travis, "I'll go this way, you go that." She reaches into a pocket on her suit and pulls out a small communication device. "Here. It's linked up to the rest of us." She places the device in Travis's hand and takes off down her hallway. Occasional tremmors will let Travis know that the professor is still actively fighting the men in the camp. She'll show up back in the villaige after the raid with a few extra bullet holes, but nothing too serious.
"NERO."
How is it that a simple word can resonate so? The air shivers with it. Literally; that meteor strike kicked up a hell of a lot of dust, and Magneto already salted the whole area with metals. It operates as an audio amplifier, a deep basso tone that reaches outward in rolling waves.
With that sound, light: arcing lightning slashing across the night. Electricity flares, backlighting the cloaked figure that rises up from the motor pool. Trucks sag and liquify beneath him. Guns in hands melt, plastic or wooden parts falling away. "NERO! You think you are powerful. THIS is POWER."
Not caring what guards there are Travis is focused on getting into the mansion. He rushes through the doors as he uses the comm that Hilde gave him to communicate with whoever else has them.
The guards have enough time to see Magneto rise up and not being familiar with Magneto several of them start firing on the man sending rounds of fire at him. There are now about eighteen guards left that are scrambling to take out Magneto.
The truck isn't hard to hotwire, and before long it's running like a charm. The prison isn't far away, maybe a hundred yards from the garage.
Maxwell curses and looks up as the light show starts "Oh crap…" he redoubles his efforts on trying to get the LAV started before Magneto turns it to goo and grins as it turns over. "Hot damn, now let's get moving." He guns the engine and speeds away from the magnetic meltdown towards the prison. Tossing up a cloud of dust as he whips the vehicle around so it's rear hatch is pointed at the prison doors. Emerging from the hatch he blasts any guards that may try to stop him with the shotgun and throws the door open. "Governor just called… pardons for everyone."
Magneto moves over the camp, and every metallic item within a hundred yards disintegrates into its component atoms. Trucks, guns, nails in the fence, pots in the kitchen… everything. Guards have chains form and wrap around them, dragging them down to crouch, head down, inches from the ground. He ignores bullets; they are gnats, absorbed into the massive cloud of dust that whirls around him, leaving again as parts of new chains that wrap and drop other guards. Casual. Inevitable. "NERO!!!"
The sole guard left at the prison look surprised to see Maxwell, but as he raises his gun to fight back, the rubber bullets knock him back. The guard can't be old enough to even shave yet. He's quite young. Some of the prisoners rally to their cells, eager for escape, while others cower at the back, an indicator of who has been here the longest. There's a few hundred of them in here. No doubt more than can be placed in one LAV.
Some of the soldiers are very young, twelve, thirteen, fifteen years old, but still many others are full grown adults. All the same, they are brought to their knees under Magneto's force. One more still challenges though. A cloudy eyed mutant watches from his perch on one of the towers, and then teleports. But he doesn't teleport himself, his power teleports other objects. In this case, it's namely the Master of Magnetism that he is trying to teleport, directly to his own position on the tower, where a fist is aimed for the elder mutant's face.
Maxwell sighs as he looks behind him to see the LAV turn to goop.. "Dammit, this is why I can't have nice things." He pulls the Halligan bar from his back and using the heavy crowbar-like end he begins breaking locks if needed and forcing doors open. "If you find somone that can't run, help them. No one gets left behind, now get the heck out of here!" Max isn't noticing what's going on outside, he's focused on his jailbreak efforts.
Magneto will be teleported. He hates that, too, because that's been done to him, too. And the fist hits, because the mutate has practiced that move, in this place, and he's probably pretty good at it. Is he good enough to deal with punching a metal helmet, though? He'll only get one chance. After that, he'll be wrapped in metal, some of it from any collar he might still be wearing.
Mutant. Magneto won't hurt the mutants. Not more than he has to, anyway. This one? He might need to hurt him…
The one shot is taken, and as the collar is stripped from him, the emergency trigger activates, and the drugs are injected into his body. His powers are gone, at least for the moment. It was the failsafe installed, just in case somebody managed to get the collar off. With all of the rapid force, the syringe was close enough that the force drove it into his neck. It's clear that the mutant is helpless at this point, now taken by the Master of Magnetism. Who still opposes? No one.
The people in the cells begin to pour out, helping the wounded, and encouraging those too broken in their will to still hope for escape. They are like a flood, pouring out of the stench and filth and into the night. One young girl stops to give the gruff Hooligan a massive hug, sobbing with tears of joy. She's been waiting for this moment.
Maxwell shatters the last lock with his halligan bar and turns to spin-kick a recovering guard that got a bit too gutsy. Picking the girl up to return the hug and carrying her out of the prison. "I certainly hope one of you knows where the heck we're supposed to go cause I'm clueless." He's grinning from ear to ear at the scene of the prisoners escaping and for the first time in a long time he actually feels like a hero. "Some days I really love this job."
Nero isn't showing up. Typical warlord. Magneto is Not Impressed. He watches the prisoners flood out of the cells and scowls. Not precisely what he was here for, but well enough. "People. You are in the presence of Magneto. As sovereign of Genosha, I am claiming all of you who are mutant as my own citizens, and you have the right to petition me for assistance and redress against the criminal known as Nero. Step forward, if you would claim your rights."
The roof of the palace suddenly collapses, from a flaming burst pouring out of it. A black man fires a few rounds of a pistol into the wreckage before he is almost swept off the balcony of the large home by a collapsing roof. Looks like Nero's occupied. A couple of mutants step forward from the prison that the others had been pushed into recently. They aren't many that aren't brainwashed, maybe a couple. They are malnourished, tortured, hurting, but they are alive.
Maxwell has turned his focus to dealing with any guards that still be foolish enough to be trying to fight after all of this. Any that might step forward to stop the escape of the prisoners is met by the armored vigilante and quickly feels the wrath of his studded bat. With all of thier guns destroyed for once Max finds himself on the winning side of the arms race and uses this to his full advantage.
Magneto separates the mutants from the humans… although if the mutants have human family they wish to claim, he will allow those to come, too. He comes down to earth to walk among his people. Metal shifts around him — pumps appear, and troughs for water, for washing. The hurt are soothed with healer machines, small ones for small wounds, mostly, but a few larger ones, built on the spot, for hurts too big for quick bandages. The people who come out dressed in rags are given clothing, metals spun so fine they feel like silk. The guards are moved with a wave of his hand, metal plates forming beneath them, then flying them to one side. Casual.
Inevitable.
Not a whole lot are still willing to fight this battle. Those who haven't been destroyed by Magneto's force and aren't chained down are running for their lives. There's not a lot of them, either. The flames from the now burning palace light the camp, revealing easier what is happening. Dawn is coming, the edges of the sky starting to turn a red hue. A young prisoner seems very intent on getting to the palace, though, rushing to the last battleground. An English speaking African comes up to Maxwell. "We are in your debt, good sir, and to your friends." He motions to the east. "We have room for you to stay with us, if you will let us do this kindness to you, and your mutant friends."
Maxwell looks to the man speaking to him and nods, after coming down off the adrenaline rush of the fighting the fact that he's been running around in full armor for some time is begining to weigh on him. "Sounds good, I think we need to wait for whoever else that came with Magneto to gather before we can head out, besides I gotta beg a ride back to the states from them. My trip here was unfortunatly rather one-way."
There are too many hurt, too many wounded, to move everyone away from this place, safely, quite yet. Or so Magneto has decided. However, Nero's camp is anathema. It just isn't good enough. So the Mutant Master of Magnetism rearranges everything in the area to provide shelters, beds, light, heat, water, cooling, medical care, communications… everything anyone could want. He'll even smooth out the road leading in.
All without slave labor. Take that, wanna-be warlord.
The dawn breaks, the sun peeking over the eastern sky. The prisoners are free, the oppressors are dead, and the camp is no longer a place of death, but a place of healing.
It truly is a beautiful morning.
