12637/The Cure: Recon on DAMT hq

The Cure: Recon on DAMT hq
Date of Scene:	11 January 2021
Location:	Mutant Research Facility - Somewhere in Westchester Wilderness
Synopsis:	Jean investigates DAMT hq
Cast of Characters:	Pixie, Phoenix
Tinyplot:	Mutant Cure

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Pixie has posed:
Although two of the four military helicopters had been shot down, the remaining two were ample enough to transport most of DAMT personnel back to their headquarters. Of course, it meant that some officers had to remain behind in mutant town, but that just meant that, along with the police presence, they could maintain a better control on the mutants that had continued to put up a fight.

Even so, the majority of the fighting was over for now, mutants were mostly hiding in their homes and streets were eerily empty in Mutant Town.

The rest of the helicopters, including the ones carrying the prisoners, and the two remaining Cyborg Reavers (after at least two of them had been defeated by the Xmen back at Mutant Town), would fly for another hour over the wilderness that made up the wilderness of Westchester County.

Even in the winter, this place was beautiful, majestic - Great pines, rolling hills, mountains and thick trailing forests all covered in heavy blankets of snow. In the summer, this was a beautiful hiking area with hundreds of miles of wilderness trails and wildlife to observe.

In the winter, it was near impenetrable in places, undrivable even by more heavy duty vehicles, which would probably explain why they used helicopters to transport their personnel in the first place.

Eventually the choppers land in a wide open airfield, the dark grey tarmac kept regularly cleaned of snow. It's not a particularly large tarmac, and aside from the choppers it does not boast any real airplanes aside from the choppers Still its a sizable facility, big enough to house some ATVs but no tanks.

This is not the army but it is some sort of expensive looking research facility of sorts, as a large compound stands in the clearing next to the tarmac, and this is where the mutant prisoners are taken, currently unconscious.

Phoenix has posed:
For all her years of training and discipline, impulsive decisions were still on Jean's yearly review list of opportunities. It was pretty much automatically entered at this point. This was one of those times. Fueled by her anger as her teammates fell to the Cure, she'd taken off after the retreating DAMT forces. It was a sudden decision, but she didn't do it without a plan. Follow them, catalog the direction by the sun's position and distance, and keep an eye open for landmarks to help.

For all her desire to rip the helicopters out of the sky, knowing there were innocents aboard at least some of them stilled her hand. Needing to focus on flying helped too. Not a native ability but an extension of her telekinesis, Jean was already needing to pull on threads of her inner wellspring of power to keep her going. At this altitude, the air was thin and cold, and she shielded herself in a small cocoon of energy to try and ward off some of the effects without too much that her powers would be outright visible to the naked eye. Flying any distance like this was exhausting and she was slowly sinking with weariness when the copters began coming in for a landing.

Gratefully, she lowered herself in the trees outside of the field. She takes a seat on one old maple branch, ignoring the snow already gathered there as sucked in painful lungfuls of winter air.

"...finally." She mutters hoarsely to herself as she looks out towards the airfield and the prisoners being unloaded. "What're you hiding in there?"

Keeping to a distance for the moment, she lets her telepathic powers stretch out to start scanning the immediate landing areas for signs of life outside of those in the helicopters.

Pixie has posed:
The semi-conscious mutants have been handcuffed and are pushed in line towards the large steel doors of the compound. There are security personnel and weaponry set up around the perimeter as well as cameras set up evenly around. The compound itself is fairly large, and has maybe three stories, but covers a lot of ground.

As the large steel doors open, they admit the officers first, the mutant prisoners - of which there are maybe a dozen - and more officers flanking the rear. They move like soldiers but are dressed more like covert operatives. A black insignia with the letters DAMT is visible on one corner of the building.

One of the mutants, dazed but full of rage, stumbles back, putting up quite a resistance against the officers, who use tasers to weaken him and he groans and stumbles. "Get in there, mutie! Damn freaks!" mutters one of the officers.

Phoenix has posed:
Teeth grit as Jean watches them abuse the mutant captives and her fists ball at her side. How easily she could just grab and launch these monsters out into the forest. What could their so called 'cure' due to a being like her?

Indeed. What could it do? Jean's ever present worry chimes in. What could it let go?

Sighing bitterly, she tears her eyes away and looks towards one of the equally dazed but more passive mutants. Steeling herself and making sure she's secure in her spot in the tree, she closes her mind and lets herself split away. She reaches out to the other mutant's mind and gently moves to settle herself in beside them. << Friend. >> Is the whisper. << Peace. Let me see, let me help. >> Because if she can see through their eyes and hear through their ears, she may be able to learn more.

It's a risky gamble. With her mind elsewhere, it leaves her body exposed and vulnerable.

Pixie has posed:
The mutant blinks, head jerking up a bit, glancing around as he hears that voice in his head. He is thin, wiry, soo tired. Probably a speedster or something when he's at full power. It's interesting that they didn't take away his powers though. Even he is wondering the same thing as he is led in chains and cuffs, heavily drugged, drowsy, into the compound.

The guards continue to push them inside, going through various security checks and it's clear that this place will not be easy to break into. Aside from the guards, there are cameras, probably booby traps, lasers, hidden weaponry everywhere.

They continue to prod the prisoners, leading them on down winding paths in the labrynthine facility towards a set of holding cells. "Get in there!" and they start shoving them in, one at a time. The cells have bars sure, but they also have some sort of energy fields which will likely stun them and cause them considerable pain if they get too close.

One of the younger mutants, a girl of maybe 14 or 15 whimpers, "What are you going to do with us?"

"Silence!" snaps one of the guards and says no more.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey doesn't try to distract the mutant who's head she's in all too much. She doesn't need him acting suspicious. She keeps her focus not only on keeping the connection, but trying to commit to memory as much as she can about the layout, the people they pass, and the security. If she can provide a good mental image, she may be able to lead their teleporters right to the location of the captives. With nothing yet disrupting her connection, she's keeping her mental fingers crossed that there's no kinda of dampening fields.

Outside, the Jean sitting in the tree remains nestled up against the trunk with her eyes closed and her breath fogging in the air around her. She's still, save for a light shivering that begins to set in from her lack of motion.

Pixie has posed:
Lots of security, lots of guards, lots of weaponry. They don't have any telepathic dampening fields, but maybe they don't need to, not with all those mutant neutralizing devices on hand. The thin wiry mutant doesn't seem to notice someone's mind in his head. He groans groggily as he's let into his cell, but after the guards march off, he yells and throws himself against the wall, vibrating quickly as if he might just phase himself out of that cell.

Unfortunately the energy barrier hits him square in the chest, flaring up briefly as it sends a powerful bolt of energy throughout his body. He shrieks in pain and rage, staggering back to the ground. He's not dead, but judging from the look on his face and his trembling body, he seems to be in a lot of pain and shock.

Outside, guards continue to scan the perimeter, a vehicle or two coming and going along the single narrow road leading out of the compound. One guard comes a little too close to Jean..

Phoenix has posed:
<< Easy! >> Jean insists as she feels the anger welling up in the captive. << We're coming. The X-Men are-- >>

But too late. As the energy field slams into the speedster, the shock and pain rebounds into Jean. With a sharp cry, Jean severs the connection and reflexively clings to the tree as her head is sent reeling from the psychic backlash.

With her ears ringing and eyes watering from the impression of pain, she starts to pull herself up onto her feet. She hears the vehicles nearby. Time to go. They may have heard her already.

Pixie has posed:
Outside, some guards are already moving towards her spot. "Over here! I thought I heard a sound!" he points his Neutro-X gun towards her location. "Who's there? Show yourself!" at the same time, he signals to his associates, who start to surround Jean's location.

Phoenix has posed:
Time to go.

Shit, it's *really* time to go. Jean doesn't want to know what'll happen if she gets hit, and figures the world doesn't either. Even if they don't realize that.

Gritting her teeth to tap back in to her rattled powers, she reaches out to a tree about two-hundred feet to her left. Closing her fist in the air, she locks her power on one of the upper branches of the tree and gives it a sharp snap. The branch drops with a resounding crunch in the still winter forest and a rush of snow plumes up in its wake.

Distraction set, Jean moves to take off through the trees in the opposing direction. Pale pink light surrounds her feet. It's a trick she'd been practicing over the summer and autumn, using her powers to keep her just above the surface of the water so she could walk across it. Only now it's snow, as she tries to not make noise or leave tracks as she makes her retreat.