EOD PERIMETER GATE
The perimeter wall around the X-mansion seems more fitting of a prison than anything else, making a poignant statement that the X-men are being kept in as much as the MLA is being kept out. The wall is made of a double layer of brick topped with barbed, electrified wire. Atop it, there is enough space for a man to patrol with little risk of electrocuting himself, and it is generally circled by 3 men team every turn, company commandos equipped much like Swat operatives would. The wall is made so it stands mere feet behind the Field surrounding the X-mansion, providing the soldiers with protection against most mutant abilities coming from the outside. Considering the wall is relatively new, there are no automated defenses, but tall guard towers have been built on every corner of the wall, manned by Company snipers and spotlights, ready to engage any approaching threats. Some 20 feet in front of the wall, there is a heavy wire fence, topped with barbed wire as well. There is only one entrance to through the gate, a double heavy gate wide enough for two APCs at one, complete with a guardhouse that requires either Company or X-men ID to cross. A powerful, 50 Caliber gun sits on the outer side of the guardhouse, pointing into the wastes.
X-Men EoD Time
Wednesday, August 13th
There it was: the gate. It was more of a wall, really, an inverted moat of brick designed to quarantine, or protect, or isolate, or whatever it was that The Company was printing on their reports these days.
Vlad didn't care. He knew that the only thing that mattered was time - time enough to give Ivan half a chance at living. As it stood, Vlad was the dying father of what could, at any day, become an orphan through war or disease, and if he fell it would only be so long before the rest of the X-Men fell too. He knew that, could feel it like a dull ache in his bones that willed him with nothing more to burn than pure hatred for the situation and a steely, almost anal resolve to make as big of an impact as he could with the time he had left. Sighing as he looked up at the giant structure, Vlad approached the guardhouse, pulling at a small chain around his neck until he finally produced his dogtags and the Special Clearance badge graciously given to him by The Company. "Vladimir Shostakovich, codename Invalesco," he drawled idly, a smidge of his formerly stronger accent showing through as he dipped his head to look into the window and see if he recognized the guard on duty.
One of the soldiers at the gate quickly grabbed Vlad's badge and ran a sort of hand held scanner over the bar code at the bottom. "Clearance granted, free passage permit." he said as the same words displayed on the reader. "Good luck Operative Invalesco, stay safe." added the grunt as he waved his hand in the air for a sec and the gate opened automatically to let the tank of a man and his team (whenever they got there) through.
Nathan came walking across the grounds to the gate. As he neared the gate, he pulled three things from his pockets that he was still able to reach under that armor: his cigarettes, his lighter, and his ID tag. Carefully flipping open the pack of smokes, he managed to pull a cigarette from the box with his lips, taking a cautious moment to light it. He slid the lighter and cigarettes back into his pocket as he approached the guardhouse near where Vlad was standing, "Nathan White; Codename: Entropy." He spoke around the cigarette in his mouth before sliding the name tag back into his pocket.
Outside the gate, one of the armored APCs the company normally used suddenly drove up to the two walking tanks standing by the gate and the back access raft of the vehicle opened, as the two were too large with the Colossus class suits to climb up through the normal doors on the side. One of the heavy plexiglass windows rolled down and Invalesco and Entropy could see inside. A man in his 50s with black sunglasses and a salt and pepper scruff was looking at the pair from the inside. "Name's Hightower, I'm the driver." he simply declared. "I'm to get your men to the thing, be there through the thing, and then bring you back from the thing." he added with very little ceremony or change in his rough tone. "Don't be gettin' any mud or anything in my vehicle." he finally concluded.
As Hightower was finishing his speech,
Catherine came through the gate, nonchalantly flashing her badge at the scanner and opened the side door, sitting on the passenger seat of the APC.
"You know it,"
Vlad replied in a similarly unenthused manner, waiting for the guard to be done scanning the clearance badge before he stood up straight and lowered it into his armor once again. He felt the small bottle of Combat Drugs shift a little, and so he reached down and repositioned it so that it would be easier to extract if the time came for it. Standing up straight, he was no longer able to see into the guardhouse since Vlad was nearly as tall as it, and the smell of wafting cigarette heralded Nathan's arrival before Vlad had even heard him. He glanced at his straggling team and then, without so much as a smile, Vlad walked through the large gate and straight up to one of the APC, going around the back as he was accustomed to considering his size. As a distinct sound accompanied the plexiglass rolling down, Vlad rested his hand on the top of the large vehicle and dipped his head in to see Hightower, a new face for Invalesco, and one he hoped was prepared. "Then let's do this thing," he said, imitating Hightower's overuse of the word 'thing' and then climbed into the back of the APC.
Driving up their rather 'lovely' transport for the mission to the guardhouse,
Elizabeth stopped the vehicle beside it as she fished around underneath the hoodie to find her pass. She didn't like the idea of carrying it on her into The Plank, but they were stuck in a web of bureaucracy that did little more than just get in their way most the time. Slipping the card out from the neck hole, she held it between two nails, "Elizabeth Sho- Charms," She snarled out, hating the fact the system didn't recognize her and Vlad. "Mayhem." Once it was scanned and verified it was actually her, Elizabeth stuffed her ID back away, hoping it would stay hidden. With a glance towards the other team as they passed, she took the car out past the gates and onward to
EoD: The Plank, North End.
Striding through the gate towards the APC,
Nathan made his way to the door opposite which Vlad had just entered, opening it and clambering into the seat, much of his grace lost with the armor. He flicked what was left of his mostly unsmoked cigarette out the door before closing it behind him, not wanting to have to roll down the window in a vehicle whose driver already seemed to be a little light in the head. He just sat back and waited for the APC to begin to move.
The sight of his wife driving the beaten up El Camino through the gate was missed by
Vlad, who took up a whole side of the APC to himself and, sitting in the seat with his shoulders slightly hunched since he was oversized for, well, just about everything, the slightly inconvenienced man did not so much as lurch as Hightower stoically drove them forward to
EoD: Route to Salem.
ACCESSIBLE AREAS
EoD Mansion Courtyard
X-Men: End of Days * X-Men EoD Characters
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