5155/X-Men: A Mission of Minds

X-Men: A Mission of Minds
Date of Scene:	12 August 2018
Location:	Danger Room
Synopsis:	Cyclops and Storm infiltrate a Sentinel warehouse in a Danger Room simulation.
Cast of Characters:	Storm, Cyclops
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Storm has posed:
Westchester, NY.
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Danger Room. Simulation 3-2.6.

    There were well over seven years of simulations hidden within the Danger Room's programming. Each one had to have the permission of a member of the X-Men, a higher-level code that only a small group of them were able to access. Many of those simulations focused on disabling one another in case the team was ever compromised, but a lot more focused on the rate of survivability. Scenarios when the environment might overwhelm the team, like Ororo's first mission to Krakoa.

    But Scott and Ororo's - or Cyclops and Storm in this situation - mission was less emotional than that had been. They have been actively logging thirty minutes of breaking into a warehouse facility that housed active Sentinels. Storm passes a corner, instinctively electrocuting two security guards as they find her by surprise. Pulling the first body to the wall, a hand goes to her ear.

    "I'm on the ground floor, Cyclops. It looks like there are more guards on the South East end. What is your location?" Storm asks through the com unit in her ear. As she awaits his response, she begins to pull the other body next to the first. She steps up to the corner and sees a factory of parts on a conveyor belt. The cape to her uniform is removed and placed on the ground, watching the scene closely and trying to go unnoticed.

Cyclops has posed:
The number of times that Scott has been in the Danger Room lately has been relatively high, especially when considering his multi-month sabbatical. Unfortunately, they have all been in order to assess individual members of the New Mutants as well as a few group sessions to see how some of them work as a team. So far so good. He's been impressed with the few he's been able to work with. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to get in and stretch his own legs until Ororo reached out to him for a good old breaking-and-entering subroutine.

Approaching from the opposite side of the warehouse from Storm, Cyclops had opted to climb a rather suspect ladder up the second landing and enter from the southern side. Having just slipped into an ajar door onto a platform that overlooks the building floor, he peeks over the rails to his right to see the guards she was talking about. His eyes scan the rest of the floor for anyone who may compromise Storm's position while also looking out for any patrols heading his way, "South end, second floor. I'll handle the guards on this end."

With that, he creeps along the walkway to position himself above where the guards are stationed. Two standing guard of what looks like some sort of office and a third patrolling away from them towards the southwest corner. Planting a hand on the rail, he hoists himself over the edge and lets gravity carry him down. His knee makes contact with the back of one guard's head, sending him to the ground immediately. Cyclops lands with a heavy *THUD* and immediately springs up, twisting his body around to roundhouse the back of his heel into the side of the second guard's head. The third must have heard when Scott landed, as he is in the process of turning around when Cyclops quickly glances over his shoulder and taps his visor, sending a very quick optical blast in his direction. The blast was initiated and killed so swiftly that it managed to only knock the guard down. Cyclops is immediately sprinting across the floor where he drops to a knee and slams a fist into the poor man's head, knocking him out.

Casting another quick glance around and listening for any alerted guards, Cyclops taps his ear again, "Clear."

Storm has posed:
    When Storm hears her partner's voice, she is observing the factory process. Scanning a trail from the beginning of the belt to the end, blue eyes find a control panel that is being manned and secured in a room on the northern side of the factory. There is a lot of commotion in the center, making it a difficult path to stopping the Sentinel production.

    "There is a control room on the Northern side, but everything below it is covered by civilians and security," Storm says. She dashes forward and slides to hide behind an array of packages waiting to be opened. "Most of the civilians are being blackmailed, so any hostile force would be bad. Thoughts?"

Cyclops has posed:
After the guards are taken down, Cyclops also works on dragging their unconscious bodies to cover in case any of the others decide to head this way. Once they're safely out of plain sight, he takes cover behind a stack of crates on a large metallic shelf system and peers across the factory floor towards the north side, spotting the path towards the office Ororo pointed out.

Hearing her voice in his ear, his brows furrow and his face tightens as he glances around, considering their options. Reaching up to his ear again, he speaks softly to avoid detection, "Any direct approach would risk hurting civilians." He glances up at the shelving he's crouching behind and considers, "What we need is a distraction. Something to separate the guards from everyone else. There are some crates I could shove off the shelves along the southern wall that could do the trick." Peeking back around the crates in Storm's general direction, he looks her way for better options on her end, "I'm open to suggestions."

Storm has posed:
    At the mention of Cyclops being open to suggestions, Storm begins to concentrate and her blue eyes milk over. She stares blankly towards the ceiling of the factory, seeing beyond the metallic interior and focuses on the weather higher above. Clouds begin to form and darken, thunder cracks throughout the sky. Focusing on a specific outcome, several flashes of lightning lash out and strike the warehouse.

    The lights around the warehouse dim and blue emergency lights light up the facility. The conveyor belt pauses as confusion erupts all around them. "I have a few suggestions in mind," Storm offers, continuing, "I'll start on the Eastern side. You head on the Western. We'll rendezvous at the control room, taking out as many of the security that we can."

Cyclops has posed:
With a mutant power like Scott's, it is incredibly effective in a wide variety of situations. Being discreet isn't one of them. Storm's, on the other hand, could be mistaken for a simple freak act of nature. After all, that's what it is, right? Scott knew she'd have some trick up her sleeve. She always does.

His lips curve into a slight grin as lightning pummels the warehouse and sends the machinery into a chaotic spasm of motion. As soon as the emergency backup lights power on, he's on the move. Flanking around to his left, he makes his way around a conveyor belt and begins running his way north where he sees a few civilians ducking with their arms over their head as a hail of sparks fly down from the ceiling. It looks like some of the circuits may have overloaded and some of the panels are beginning to blow. That's good.

Approaching the civilians, he crouches down and motions in the direction he came and speaks in a hushed tone, "The way behind me is clear. You'll be safe that way!" He motions behind him and then quickly moves on to a guard that is aiming his rifle up as he looks for the source of the sparks. Scott drops to the ground and swings his leg around, connecting with the back of the guard's knee and sending him down to the floor. The rifle is kicked away and an elbow is brought down to the guard's head, stilling him.

Spotting another guard on the other side of the belt, Scott plants his hands on the belt and moves to hoist himself over it and the sentinel torso that is being moved from station to station.

Storm has posed:
    As soon as Storm is done speaking, she is on the move. Without her cape, she is more agile and has more speed to her advantage. She uses it to head on the eastern side of the warehouse, using her powers to see everything around her as energy. This allows her to easily connect with two security guards, dropping kicking one in the back of the neck with a heavy boot thanks to the help of quickly conjured winds.

    The other guard whips a rifle in Storm's direction and she darts for cover. Shots fire against Sentinel chest plates and metal before a force of wind propels several pieces in the man's direction, knocking him unconscious. There is a small group of civilians bending down for cover, and Storm approaches them quickly.

    "Run in that direction," she points, "Now!"

    She watches as the small group heads where she directs them, and then turns around to feel a sharp pain against her cheek. Storm lifts herself from the ground and looks up to see a female guard wearing iron knuckles. She wastes no time to approach Storm once more, only to find an electrical charge raging through her body. Her knuckles begin to bleed, the iron knuckles acting as a conduit, and then the guard falls unconscious.

    Spitting blood against the concrete flooring, Storm rises to her feet and dashes behind crates as more guards start walking in her direction.

Cyclops has posed:
There goes the sneak attack approach. When trying to be covert, you always keep a backup plan in case things go loud so it isn't much of a surprise when shots echo through the warehouse. As he's sailing over the belt with the huge mechanical torso, the guard on the other side turns around in time to see the X-Man hurdling towards him. He manages to level his firearm at Scott and squeeze off a few rounds before he's taken down with a swift kick to the abdomen.

A single round skims Scott's left arm, tearing into his suit and through his skin, a small spray of blood spitting onto the conveyor belt behind him. There's no time to process the pain as he hears the sounds of more guards approaching. A group comes from a door on the northeast side of the ground floor and another approaches on the second floor catwalk, their footsteps ringing out dull metallic thuds as they approach. Damn. They're exposed.

"Watch your back, a few guards are on the second floor. I'll see what I can do from here," he says as he holds his fingertip agains his ear. Moving his finger slightly to his visor, he opens up the intensity a bit and sends a bigger optical blast up to the walkway while the ground-based guards start running towards Storm, leveling their rifles in her direction.

Storm has posed:
    Rubbing her cheek as she hides behind the crates, Storm hears Cyclops' warning and the activity from the various guards that were most likely responding to the gun shots. She looks up to see the array of men and women with weapons. "Heard and seen," Storm replies, keeping her finger close to her ear. "Guess our cover is blown, my friend." She curses to herself.

    "BACK UP GENERATORS WILL BE ACTIVE IN TWO MINUTES..."

    Hearing the announcement, Storm curses again as she commands hurricane force winds to knock back the approaching guards, sending them spiraling through the air. One lands on a piece of Sentinel equipment, which isn't a pretty sight. Storm does not see this because she is already sprinting north.

    "That means our cover will /really/ be blown shortly," she offers over the com.

Cyclops has posed:
The blast firing from Scott's visor connects with the walkway and slams through it, connecting with the guards running their way. He drags the blast by slightly moving his head so the entire walkway they're moving down gets knocked aside and shifts beneath their feet. They all grab on to the rail and their footing slips and they tumble down to the ground floor.

"I'm afraid you're right, Storm," he replies a bit louder this time. Since things have gotten loud, he isn't so concerned about being covert. He peers over the conveyor belt in time to see Storm's hurricane-force winds blow the other ground guards backwards. "I can provide cover if you can make it to the control room!"

He's more or less in the center of the floor, surrounded by belts and pieces of Sentinel bodies with a fairly clear view of the control room. Although he notices a stairway on the wall to the east. Getting back to the second floor might give him more room to cover his teammate. He leaps away from the belt and makes his way towards the stairs so he can get to the elevated position.

Storm has posed:
    "That, I can do," Storm replies, turning swiftly to avoid running into more crates. "Let me know when you are in position."

    As she turns a corner, there are guards to her left and right. Looking behind her, guards have been following her trail and finally caught up to her. They all raise their weapons into her air, aiming for the Kenyan woman. Storm looks around and raises both gloved hands in surrender. Her right hand moves further to her ear, activating the com.

    "Any time now. I have an audience," Storm says in a lowered tone.

Cyclops has posed:
The moment Scott makes it to the second floor landing he stops and glances over to Storm's location and sees the groups of guards that have her pinned. He doesn't waste a moment of processing what's happening and immediately fires off a blast at one of the guards between him and Ororo. His aim is to give his partner enough of an opening to get herself out of danger.

The guard hit by the blast is thrown forward, a few inches away from Ororo but sailing past. He hits one of the female guards on Ororo's left side and they both tumble to the floor. The other guards turn their attention towards the source of the blast, one pointing towards Scott, "Up there! Fire!"

All but one of the guards turn towards Scott and start hailing rounds in his direction while the one still trained on Ororo steps forward and swings the stock of his rifle at her, aiming to knock her out.

Scott, in the meantime, turns and leaps further down the walkway, neatly flipping forward and lightly touching down as he managed to avoid getting shot this time.

Storm has posed:
    As a guard flies passed her, Storm takes that as Cyclops is in position. Noticing the guards' attention going above, she looks up to see the man flipping neatly to safety. All the while, a guard is seen in Storm's peripheral vision, and she swiftly twirls around.

    The wind surrounding them dance with force, not allowing the gunman to get his physical hit in; instead, he is thrown backwards as a cylindrical cluster of wind starts the beginning of a tornado. Storm stands at the center of this force, concentrating as it builds in intensity. Black boots rise into the air as Storm takes flight and hovers over the many crates of the warehouse and they fall to the tornado's grasp.

    She watches as her powers pull guards from the ground and tossing them above, following Storm as she flies northern towards the control room. Arriving, she cuts her will on the forces of nature, allowing her to descend to the ground. "I've made it to the control room," she says into the com, dropping her hand and firmly gripping the door. She turns it and--

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion erupts across the warehouse, taking Storm with it. Fire and smoke can be seen wafting throughout what used to be a control room.

Cyclops has posed:
The gunfire aimed at him stopping courtesy of Storm's miniature tornado, Scott is finally able to come to a halt and glance out over the rest of the factory floor to check for any lurkers sneaking around. It looks like they're all clear for now.

Then chaos. The walkway beneath his feet shudders and sways as an explosion rips through the warehouse. He looks over to see the fire and smoke swirling around where the control room used to be. His forehead wrinkles as his brows rise slightly above his visor and his mouth opens in shock.

"Ororo!" He turns and immediately begins to sprint around the walkway towards the control-room-side of the warehouse. He leaps over mangled metal pipes and remnants of supplies and parts that have found their way to the second floor after all the action and now the explosion. As he gets closer, the path is obscured by the dense smoke from the explosion. He lowers his posture and waves his arm out in front of him as he begins to breathe in the warm, dark air while he searches for his friend, "Ororo, talk to me!" His voice, while still as stern as it usually is in a mission scenario now shows signs of emotion.

Storm has posed:
    Ororo is on the ground with debris, fire, and smoke covering her. Her breathing is heavy but there is no severe pain, even as she lays in what would normally decapitate her. The Danger Room is skilled in its hard-light construction, but certain safeties were on that prevented death. Pain on the other hand... that is what Ororo is feeling now.

    "We failed," she says, her voice traveling clearly throughout the chaos around them. "Who puts a bomb in the point of destination?" She coughs a little, raising from the ground slowly and sitting up. Her Mohawk is on fire.

Cyclops has posed:
When the smoke clears enough for him to find Ororo on the ground level again, he quickly leaps down and jogs over to help her get to her feet. Noting the flames in her hair, he reaches up and closes his hand over the heat to suffocate the fire. Wrapping an arm around her back, he helps her stand and looks her over, "It would seem whoever programmed this simulation has an interesting sense of humor."

Helping her ove away from the debris, he glances up, "End program." The warehouse interior begins to slowly fade away to nothingness as the metallic walls and floor of the Danger Room reappear. "Are you okay?"

Storm has posed:
    A wince comes from her instinctively as Scott helps her up. It isn't so much the pain from the explosion, but the fall she encountered when makeshift force pushed her away from the 'blast'. This isn't the first time Ororo has felt something like this, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

    The scenario fading away falls on a blind eye as Ororo adjusts to her full height. "I would feel better if I didn't think it was Logan that programmed it that way," Ororo replies, "With the security features off, no doubt."

Cyclops has posed:
If he was honest about it, Scott's first inclination, too, was that Logan programmed it. Mental note: simulation 3-2.6 has an explosive with the safeties disabled. And, like Ororo, this wasn't the first explosion nor the last that he's been around. It never gets easy, though. Especially when teammates get hurt.

He nods as Ororo manages to straighten up. She seems to be okay aside from some cosmetic damage and what will likely be some pretty nasty bruises when she wakes up tomorrow. "We may need to reset the default protocols for all simulations in case this happens again." Ideally, all simulations should have a default safety level. He's surprised this one was turned off. "Do you need medical attention?"

Storm has posed:
    "Luckily, I activated the safeties before we started. Otherwise, I would need medical attention." Ororo looks back at where the control room used to be, also noting that a bomb will activate as a counter measure. "I'll just walk it off."

    "How are you?" Ororo asks. "For a man that has been away for several months, you are as vigilant as ever, Scott."

Cyclops has posed:
Scott seems to relax after Ororo says she can just walk it off. As much as Scott can seem to relax, that is. He, too, looks up at the void where the control room once was and nods.

In all the chaos, he had completely forgotten that he had been hit by one of the bullets. Fortunately it was a glancing shot so the damage was minimal. Unfortunately it was just enough to get by the safety protocols and actually tear into his flesh. But it's a minor wound. And it wasn't an explosion in the face, so he can't really complain. Swiveling his arm out so he can get a glimpse of the damage, he is quick to shrug it off, "I'm fine."

He looks back to his friend and nods, "I may have been away, but I kept myself busy." He kept a pretty strict schedule while in the mountains. Starting and ending each day with a jog through the forest, he's probably in better shape now that he was before he left. "Thank you though." He manages to offer her a smile as he nods at her again and moves towards the door leading out intot he base, "I would imagine you'd like to get cleaned up."

Storm has posed:
    "Yes. Cleaning up is a must right about now," Ororo offers, passing through the doors of the Danger Room, revealing a metallic hallway. "See you at dinner." With a nod, the Kenyan woman makes her way to the elevators and heads to her quarters.

Cyclops has posed:
As they exit the Danger Room, Scott turns and nods to Ororo. "Until then," he says before turning to head back intot he Danger Room to have a look at the simulation settings. He would never launch a simulation for the New Mutants without first activating all safety features, but he wants to make sure everything is as it should be before he's comfortable training again.