EOD ROAD TO SALEM
The Quarantine area is fenced off by a giant wall/force field that seems able to nullify mutant powers, making them easy targets for Company men. However, this technology is rare and consumes industrial amounts of energy, which means that any technology, supplies or personnel trying to make their way from the main gate of the Quarantine area to their destination within the wastes, be it Salem or the X-Mansion had to brave the wastes and their inhabitants. For this reason, many times these valuables left heavily guarded by armed convoys. At the gate of the Quarantine Wall, the most vulnerable point in the heavily guarded, giant fence, lies a large military base, reinforced every day by men and hardware from the other side. From it, patrols run along the walls every day and make sure nothing and no one breaks the quarantine. The base on the inner side though is little more than a dozen fortified bunkers and machine-gun emplacements, along some high caliber guns that could turn a tank or even a colossus type troopers into dust with a few shots.
Near the gate of the military base at the central gate of the Quarantine wall an APC and a small group of armed men stood next to a heavily armored truck with military markings. They wait for the second detail of their convoy, another APC commanded by the X-men, who are there to handle any troubles of the mutant type that might arise.
X-Men EoD Time
Wednesday, August 13th
While the APC trundled along the dry, barren earth,
Vlad closed his eyes and scooted down in his seat so that he could stretch his legs out a little more and rest his head just below the ceiling. He looked rather silly, being so large to begin without the Colossus armor that turned him, as much as was possible, into the other Russian tank that the mansion had known well before Vlad had ever arrived all those fateful years ago. The smell of Nathan's tossed cigarette dropped images of Liz into the bruiser's brain, which were followed by pictures of Ivan, and then he had to open his eyes lest he lose his focus. The helmet he had taken was sitting on his knee and a hand came out to secure it as he felt the APC start to slow and then heard the hydraulics sounding as the back hatch dropped to let them out the same way they'd been let in. Since there were no windows, Vlad had to climb out of the vehicle in order to see the team that The Company had given them standing, ready to go and obviously waiting on them, near the gate. Palming his helmet in one hand, he approached the small legion of Company soldiers with a nod. "Men," he said, glancing to them all with his gruff, grey eyes, dwarfing most of them for certain, and then glanced back to the APC. "Sorry about the hold up," he said as he turned his eyes again on the team who was to help them. "The name is Vlad, or Invalesco, doesn't matter to me," he introduced himself, though it seemed routine and insincere. After all, to a dying man, new introductions were essentially pointless.
As the APC moved across the barren landscape,
Nathan sat back in the seat, his head firmly pressed against the headrest and his eyes closed. It was taking him a moment to make sure that his breathing was under control as he tried to keep his thoughts contained. His mind kept drifting back to Endelyn. He thought about what had happened this morning at breakfast. The cold shoulder that she had given him, and the general feeling of resentment that she had carried for him. Then his mind drifted back to Katie, the reason that Endelyn had grown cold to him over the past couple of years. With his sister in the mansion, it had become hard for him to separate family, love, and work, and now that fact was making its mark on Nathan. Feeling as the APC began to slow down, Nathan opened his eyes, looking out over the group that had gathered around the other APC. Once the APC that carried the X-men came to a stop, he opened the door and slid out, landing heavily on the ground. He walked over to stand next to Vlad, giving a quick nod to the company men before introducing himself as well, "Codename is Entropy, but you can call me Nathan." He stood next to the towering Russian with a blank expression on his face, waiting for the signal to move.
After the two walking tanks had come out of the back of the APC,
Catherine followed, wearing a Flak jacket and armed with an assault rifle, "Quartz" said simply the girl, knowing the Company men were not about to go about using real names during a mission. She was trying to detach herself from everything else, focusing on the mission at hand. She gave Nathan a glance, as if telling him to do the same.
The trio of men waiting by the APC were all equipped in a remarkably similar way to Catherine, each of them was wearing a Company Flakk Jacket and armed with an assault rifle as well as a small side arm. Additionally, however, they wore helmets with an added visor and had a couple of grenades strapped to their vest, Vlad, being the closest, could identify a smoke grenade and a fragmentation grenade on each man. "Call us Alpha squad." said the leader of the man, greeting Vlad with a nod as the trio approached their APC. "Alpha-1..." he added and then nodded towards his teammates, "2 and 3. That'll suffice." he concluded as he swung his weapon back to free his hands. "That there is the generator we're transporting, its of prime importance that it doesn't get destroyed or stolen. Road is not wide enough to flank so we'll have to move in single file, we'll leave it up to you to decide who takes the front and rear guards." said Alpha-1, walking to the X-men APC and resting a hand on it, almost as if he was checking the solidity. "You're packing quite a punch." he added, obviously referring to the Colossus Armors. "Trip will take about 3 to 5 hours, hard to know with the roads, raiders, etcetera.... I take it y'all have been briefed? Know the route?"
"Alpha 1, 2, 3,"
Vlad greeted to each of them in turn, looking at the men with a minute nod to indicate that he'd understood who was who, though he hoped he didn't actually have to use them much since 2 and 3 were far more reticent than 1 and it would be easy for him to mistakenly switch their numbers. As Alpha 1 gave them the rundown, Vlad's eyes traveled to the generator he'd indicated, and then looked back to the leader of the Alpha Squad, silent but clearly paying attention. "I want Quartz on the truck with the generator," he explained, breaking his gaze from Alpha 1 to glance to Catherine as she approached in her apparently apropos Flakk jacket and assault rifle, and then back to the leader. Vlad gave a wry smile as he commented on the Colossus Armor, glancing down at the massive suit that covered his already durable body, and then let out a little laugh, feeling a bit like his former self in the presence of Alpha 1, who seemed easy going and well informed. "I can be a little overprotective
," he admitted, and then was quiet as the rest of the questions came out. "Yes, we're all good to go," he said, looking from the Alpha Squad to the APCs they were to use. He rubbed his hand over his thickly bearded chin. "Nathan, I want you in back to cover our asses, I'll take up the front, and Quartz will protect the generator."
As Vlad gave his survey of the duties for this mission, Nathan nodded to him, understanding the need for him to be posted as a sort of rear gunner for this mission. He turned back to Alpha squad once again, nodding to them, "Good to know who we're working with. Shall we get this show on the road?" He asked, glancing slightly to Vlad before beginning to turn back towards the APC that he had just come from.
"Understood." Catherine gave a salute to Vlad. She didn't want to look any less formal than she already did with her hair, she wanted to make sure the Alphas knew she was serious. She walked over to the generator, rubbing her hands over it, judging how much diamond she'd need. "Shouldn't be a problem to cover. It'll be safe."
"Ok then." replied Alpha-1 as he grabbed pushed the communicator button on the collar of his own uniform and relayed the orders, looking at Vlad as he did so as if to make sure everything was Kosher. "X-men are taking the front on APC 1. One of them is riding shotgun, the other one on read guard." he said, as he spoke, Vlad could hear Alpha-1 speak in his own communicator, meaning the frequencies were probably synced up. "Truck is going second. One of the X-men is riding on the back with the package, try not to do any sudden maneuvers, transport, don't want anyone falling off." he continued, nodding in Catherine's direction so the truck driver could see who he was talking about. "Alpha team will be taking the rear, going third on APC 2. Let's get this done by dinner time guys." he added. With that, all of Alpha team climbed onto their own APC and started it, the mutants could see one of the hatches up top open and either Alpha 2 or 3 (couldn't be quite sure) come up, with his assault rifle at the ready. This was probably the same hatch Nathan had to use in the APC he and Vlad were taking, up front. "Cmon boys, let's not keep the convoy waiting!" yelled out Hightower from the window, mostly to Vlad and Nathan, since Catherine had already taken her post at the back of the transport truck, next to the large generator.
"Roger that, Alpha Squad," Vlad said, nodding to Alpha 1 as he checked over the orders with a cursory glance his way. Once all of the orders had been made, Vlad set the helmet on top of his head and buckled the chin strap so that it fit snug around his square jaw, and walked over to the front APC. Taking a deep breath, the massive Russian hoisted himself into the back hatch of the first APC and eased his bulk into a seat, though he knocked his head on the ceiling of the APC, letting out a clear DONG as the metal of his helmet met the metal frame of the APC.
As he was already standing next to the APC that he was going to be riding in, Nathan swung (ungracefully) into the back, finding the hatch in the center of the vehicle's ceiling. He unlatched the bottom of the hatch and popped it aside, poking his head out of the top. When he heard Vlad's head hit the roof of the APC, he couldn't help but let out a small snicker and smile. "Alright, ready to roll here."
Catherine gave a chuckle. "Fall out? Not likely." If worst came to worst, she could grab onto a wall and dig in with some diamond. She wasn't going anywhere. Nonetheless, he held on to the generator a little as she waited for the APCs to get moving. She rubbed her hands together, eager to get going. "Let's get this thing moving!"
"Wasn't expecting any dents in the inside." said Hightower with an annoyed expression on his face when Vlad put a very noticeable imprint of his head on the ceiling of the APC. Turning back to the front, Hightower hit the gas and the convoy took off. Vlad and Nathan rode up front with the first APC, Nathan serving as 'gunner' of sorts and looking over the main hatch. In the meantime, Catherine held onto the generator as the truck rolled over the gravelly road. There was little to no suspension on the back of the heavy pickup and the woman was sure her ass would get back at her for the rough ride the next day. Alpha team took the rear, on the second APC, with one of their grunts peeking out from the hatch with his assault rifle at the ready. After about 15 minutes of the ride, Vlad's communicator (patched through to the communicators of the other X-men) went off. After a bit of static, Alpha-1's voice could be heard coming through. "Invalesc- do - copy? Alpha team to X-team, you copy?" said the man's voice. After a second, he continued. "You know the route, so you know about the trouble spots, right? We're passing through the first one in about 25 to 35 minutes. It's the demolished overpass. If they hit us there's a 50% chance it's there. Any recommendations?"
Vlad's eyes shifted to Hightower as he whined about his precious APC. The Russian's face was blank, lined with perhaps a coldness that froze his expression so that he looked tense and unforgiving. There was no apology that followed, and instead the giant simply blinked and then cast his gaze to the barren horizon. The approaching steel beehive had been on his mind for the past couple of minutes, a familiar twist of nerves slowly aching in his gut. Tilting his head towards the communicator on his Colossus Armor, Vlad immediately pushed it, holding it with his index in a way that had always seemed to help with the static, and replied, "Invalesco to Alpha 1, reading loud and clear. It's been a while since I've been this way but those columns and the steel beehive are a perfect place for raiders to hide and ambush. I was thinking about a jump to rattle as much of them as I can and having as many men on the turrets as possible. Quartz, how are you holding up? Is it safe?"
"Far as I can see..." Catherine was looking into the distance to try to spot anyone, but it was hard to see if anyone was coming. "Might be fine..." The beehive looked liked it could house many, but it was uncertain. "Unless they're inside that thing." It would be impossible to tell right now, they needed to get closer. "Let's just keep going."
After a bit of static, Alpha-1's voice came through again, loud and clear on the communicators of all three X-men. "A jump?" asked the company operative on the other end. "What exactly do you mean?" he asked again. He didn't know if Vlad wanted to stop the convoy and then he's jump into the overpass area or what exactly. "Wouldn't we be an easier target if we stop?"
"I was thinking more of just rolling out the door and jumping into the middle, and then jumping out onto the other side if we ran into trouble. I don't wanna be sitting ducks," Vlad clarified as he peered out from under the metal lip of the windshield as his head pushed against the top of the APC. He felt a bit like a gorilla with his broad shoulders squashed into the cab, but with other things on his mind, Vlad simply readjusted himself and waited for response from Alpha 1. With his armor, condition, and mutant power, Vlad was perhaps being rash and simplistic in his thinking, but what was the point of being durable and covered in armor if he didn't get to make a little noise with it?
Nathan blinked when he heard Vlad's plan. That sounded a lot more like suicide than he wanted to hear. Sure, the large Russian wasn't going to be much help in combat if he was stuck in the cab of the APC, but even in all of his armor, it didn't seem promising for him to be out there alone when they didn't know what they were running into, then again, that's why Nathan was sitting gunner. From his post, he kept scanning the piles that lay out in front of him.
After a couple of seconds of silence and a small burst of static, Alpha-1's voice came out of the X-men's communicators once more. "We'll be there in less than 10 minutes so... let me get everything straight." said the man. "Your APC will stop for a sec BEFORE we enter the threat zone. You'll jump in and shake stuff up, then the APCs and cargo will follow you in. Then we head out, then you jump out the other side and rattle some more stuff?.Over." said the man, expecting some retort or confirmation from any of the 3 X-men before the convoy got to the overpass, which was just a few minutes away now.
"10 minutes...time to get this thing ready." Catherine spoke into her communicator, assuming the others to know what she meant. She began rubbing her hands together vigorously, as if warming them from cold, before placing them squarely on the generator, still facing away from it, to be safe. She'd have to keep concentrated on the diamond, but she didn't want something to come up unexpected. The diamond began slowly spreading from her hands to the generator, slowly enveloping it, while all at the same time crawling up her arms. As it continued, she nudged her communicator against the rock to speak. "Generator encasement around forty five percent completion, communication may be rare soon as personal encasement begins." It was formal, but hopefully they got the point.
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