EOD THE PLANK, NORTH END
"Only dead men walk the plank" echo dozens of graffitied old cars near the entrance of the massive, cobbled bridge that is the plank, connecting old Manhattan with the mainland. Many of the cars were destroyed, others burned or simply abandoned to the elements. The phrase has always been true in one way or another. After the government tried to cut off the island from the rest of the country, many mutants got together in the first concentrated effort of their kind and with Magneto, in one of his last actions before death, built a massive bridge with toppled over buildings, car, buses, ferries and everything their powers could mash together. The entire army of the company waited on the other side and the plank became the burial ground for thousands of mutants, christened with mutant blood. For months, snipers kept the plank a dead warrant. Now, over 8 years later, the phrase serves as a warning for everyone who dares cross the new masters of the Plank, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the most extreme of the MLA.
The plank itself is a straight bridge made of thousands of wrecked vehicles, buildings and other scrap fused together by the combined powers of hundreds of mutants. Cars can't go through it easily because the terrain is highly irregular, requiring people to climb up and down at several points. To the north side of the plank is New York State, the wastes and the rest of the world, this end is left unguarded for the most part, only sporadically can raiders and MLA patrols be seen. On the far, southern end is what many call Magneto Town, raiders, gangbangers, scavengers, merchants, MLA soldiers and refugees requesting safe passage from the Brotherhood. All in a small shantytown of sorts around a sole remaining bridge tower that houses their base.
X-Men EoD Time
Wednesday, August 13th
Parking the car well away from their destination,
Elizabeth led her team in on foot, trying to keep out of sight for the most part. She wasn't overly confident on how this mission would play out, but refused to show any of this concern on her face. With her features hidden under the hoodie, and her hands mainly covered bar the tips of her claws, her boots crunched around the remains of the past society. The bottle neck effect of the bridge worried her, but they had limited other options if they wanted to get over to the other side. She just hoped she wasn't leading her team into a trap. "Eyes and ears open, don't want to draw any more attention then we have to." Before speaking truthfully. "I would rather another way over, less open, but think this will be out quickest way."
"It'd look bad if we took any other route."
Lire said cheerfully. She was in good spirits at the prospect of a long overdue fight. She knew that the mission was to be discreet but she couldn't help hoping for a little action. Her spirits were high enough that she swung an arm around Elizabeth's shoulders, although she was careful to make sure the hood stayed in place. Even though she felt comfortable with their positions and appearance, her eyes still flickered around as she looked over and memorized each vantage point that would help her cover for her teammates should a rapid retreat become necessary. She'd made enough forays into the Plank to be comfortable in the harsh environment and she inhaled with a grin. In a way she envied the mutants that lived here; they, at least, were free; she, on the other hand, felt like a caged dog back at the mansion.
Endelyn was thinking along the same lines as Elizabeth, but her concern did show through her facial emotions. She didn't like the idea of being left out in the open, so she put her hand into her pocket with her metal balls in it, just in case she needed to whip them out to make a shield or sword, or anything along the lines of that. The way Lire was breathing in and grinning, it wierded Endelyn out slightly. She thought she would be used to it by now, being in the mansion with her for so many years. However, she still wasn't quite used to it.
What one could describe as the 'Entrance' to the Plank were two massive concrete guard towers, set on the very edge of the bridge and the land mass in front of it. These had been set up by the company as sniper nests during the crudest days of the war, now, as the dirt holding them slowly sifts into the ocean, the towers are crumbling and are both leaning dangerously inwards, mimicking at some of fragile arch or gateway into the Plank. As the trio of girls moved, should they pay enough attention, they could see the signs of recent traffic on the sand that covered the first part of the plank. Footprints, animal hooves, even two sets of ATV tracks that seemed barely a few hours old doted the rough terrain. Passing under the shadow of the towers, Lire could feel a familiar tingle on the back of her neck, the little hairs on it standing up. The girl knew when she was being watched, and the trio was definitely being watched right now, but she had no idea by whom or from where. After clearing the massive shadows of the crumbling archway, the three saw a grim reminder of where they were. Along the side of the plank, on the very edge, over the ocean, was a long stretch of chain link fencing with several charred and skeletal corpses tied up on it, arms stretched to the sides and legs and heads hanging. Out of the half dozen or so skeletons some had military skeletons, one or two seemed to belong to the company, and one was clothed in the remains of an old style X-men uniform.
Elizabeth let out a muffled, 'heh', its tone far from nice, and she gave a shake of her head as she spoke. "Next time I'll make sure it's a slash and stab mission for you, something you'd enjoy." She hated to think of her team member as it, but Lire was a great tool. Point her in the right direction, and let her loose. Elizabeth did her best to ignore the bodies they passed, trying to not react to the sole X-Men uniform that sat among them. Such a sight was a slap in the face, proof of their failure to control the war so far, and how far they had to go before they won. They had to win, for the sake of Ivan's future, so he wouldn't live with the stigma of his genetics, surrounded by the hatred of those around him.
At one time the sight of so many skeletons would have affected
Lire but those days were long gone. Between the poison her own body produced and a lifetime of violence her mind was to twisted and warped by something as common as death, however she did quiet as they passed to show respect. She looked around, her gaze never staying in one spot for long and her ears straining for anything out of place as they walked; although her gait never faltered and she was careful not to give away any sign that she knew someone was close. She glanced at Elizabeth and grinned, "What I would enjoy is a nap in the shade." She answered as she reached into one if her pockets. She knew that her teammates would find the comment strange and hoped they would figure out her obscure warning. She wouldn't say it outright since she didn't know who the watcher was or how long they had been watching and mutants with enhanced senses were a dime a dozen. As it was she continued to watch and touched the blade of her hidden knife reassuringly, as she waited for a sign of attack or order from Elizabeth to find and eliminate the spy.
Elizabeth frowned beneath her hood, letting her eyes slide across to Lire without moving her head, barely seeing the girl around the fabric. They then shifted to their surroundings. This was outside of Lire's normal line of conversation, which meant something was wrong. Combined with her reaching for her weapons and Elizabeth knew they could be in trouble. Most of her was tempted to set Lire on whatever was out there, but Elizabeth had to wonder if it was the right course. Would it just throw suspicion on them to kill whoever was there, or would it if they didn't? "As long as you watch out for bugs, never know if you're going to get a wasp or a butterfly." She wasn't much for codes, but it was the closest she could manage to put together in the time frame. They had to know if this was an enemy or a possible tool they could use to finish their mission. Elizabeth trusted Lire and Endelyn to take it out if it turned into a threat.
Lire reached her hands high into the air as she stretched and took large easy steps. Lire shrugged as she chuckled, "Ugh... all wasps should be killed." She answered easily with a shrug, "I hate getting stung." It made her nervous to leave the watcher alone; they had no clue how long he'd been watching; if he'd seen them come from the car, in her mind it would be better to wipe him out; no questions asked. As it was she was certain he was unfriendly, by staying in the open they had declared friendly intentions; by just following and watching she had the chilling feeling that they could be heading into an ambush; which in this uneven terrain would be very easy.
Endelyn had remained silent the whole time, something that was usual for the girl. When she looked over at the warnings on the fence, and noticed the X-men costume, she bowed her head low in respect for just a brief moment before looking to Lire as she noticed the girl's movements. She'd taken Lire's warning and actually understood it, which that part was the miracle. She still had her hands in her pockets, and didn't move them when Lire and Elizabeth exchanged their code. She herself also had her eyes open and her ears straining to hear any noise that seemed out of the norm, considering where they were.
Lire was definitely feeling the effects of her battle-hungry mind and she had to consciously keep her fingers from tapping out a nervous beat on her thigh as she struggled against it. She glanced at Elizabeth and then Endelyn; she couldn't let the watcher live... she just couldn't. She thought grimly to herself; right now, the thing that stood out in her mind was make sure that the people she'd given her loyalty too stayed safe. First she started to lag and then suddenly she completely veered off the path as she jogged slowly towards a crushed car sticking out of the bridge. She danced a jig as if needing to use the bathroom and shot a glance at Elizabth. Hopefully it would block the spy's view and give her the opportunity to slip away and search for the spy without him being alerted. It didn't occur to her that she was leaving the other girls as bait; she honestly thought it was the best option. They couldn't just take cover and alert the spy and they couldn't let him live to ambush them; she decided she would capture him alive first before the kill as she pressed the poisonous glands in her mouth and gently licked each sharpened nail as she stepped around the metal heap.
Despite her best efforts to remain relaxed,
Elizabeth's head darted in Lire's direction as the girl ran off. Her jaw tightened as she gritted her teeth together, trying to snap herself out of any worrying reactions that might give them away to whoever was out there. "Don't take too long." She called out, keeping her voice casual. She wished she had a clear decision for the matter, that she knew if whoever was out there had to be killed or not. She hated not knowing... and while annoyed of Lire's need to act, appreciated the girl's need to protect them and get the job done. It was why she trusted Lire at her back and didn't question her abilities or need to use them. They were at war and Lire was a great weapon for the X-Men. "Come on," She comment to Endelyn, offering a smile and continuing on with the act. "Lets see what we can scrounge up around the market places."
Endelyn had absolutely no idea what Lire was doing now, and put it out of her head as the other girl seemingly took off. "Alright." Endelyn agreed with Flame, following after her leader. "Hopefully we find something good?"
Whoever was watching the trio of girls, Viper didn't know where they were, how many or who the watcher even was. She just had the gut feeling they were being observed as they walked into the bridge. Quickly, she stepped out of the way and found refuge behind a car. A quick glimpse around showed one.. or actually two, places where it one would set a vantage point. The massive, half crumbled concrete towers that flanked the entrance to the Plank. If there was someone tracking the girls, that was where they would set up for sure. It made sense, since the MLA wouldn't want a strike force or a hostile group to just walk through the plank without detection and catch them with their pants down. In the meantime, Blade followed Mayhem, oblivious to what she and Viper had perceived. Across the bridge, on the South End, about a 20 to 30 minute walk to where they were, they could already see the first shanties and the perimeter wall of the so called "Magneto Town". Walking down there would mean leaving Viper behind for quite a while though. About five minutes later, they could still barely see Viper's silhouette hiding behind one of the wrecked cars. She had probably detected the position of the observer by now and would move soon, hopefully if the observer was a sniper he wouldn't take down the two girls who were out in the open once he noticed the third one hadn't been seen for a while. Lost in these thoughts, Mayhem and Blade barely noticed the small sound of a bell approaching. The pair were almost caught by surprise by what seemed to be a small group of people traveling by donkeys, moving away from Magneto town in the opposite direction as the girls. At the front of the group stood an old man with leathery skin, one of his eyes was permanently closed and he had a dusty white beard, curly and matted with dirt. Behind him were a pair of young boys, probably 12 or 13, armed with a spear and a pistol each. At the back of the tiny caravan stood an elderly woman with another one in her mid 30s, looking tired and beaten, they led a pack of three donkeys loaded up with what seemed to be trading supplies. The group stopped seeing the two girls, too far away to notice Viper, and the boys quickly stepped in front of the old man and raised their weapons. "Hello." said the man cordially, waiting for a reaction from the pair of what he assumed were wanderers or wastelanders.
Lire moved swiftly towards the towers, darted from cover to cover doing her best to stay hidden. She was moving as fast as safely possible as she listened for any sign the spy had discovered her missing. At the base of the left tower she studied the ground intently, looking for any sign of activity to show this was the one she must climb. She couldn't find anything and she glanced in her team's direction. She could just barely see the group of people and Lire's eyes glowed with silver light as she activated her powers. She knew she didn't have much time and she couldn't risk going to the side where the other tower had a view. So she took a deep breath and started to climb, her quicker reflexes made the ascent quicker although she slowed as she neared the top and listened for movement.
As with the group they encountered,
Elizabeth stopped, eyes fixed on the caravan. Keep her hands down and trying to subtly move them out of eye sight, she offered a nod to them, "Morning." Wanting to send off no hostile vibes but make sure she and Endelyn did not appear weak.
Out of the group,
Endelyn a long time ago would've been friendly and chattery. However, these were dark days, and she wasn't as naive as she once had been. She still managed a small smile. "Hello to you as well." she said softly.
Once Mayhem and Blade had spoken, the group seemed to relax a bit. The old man took a step forward and the girl could see his eyes. One was milky white and looked like it could not see anymore, but the other was deep blue and had a piercing stare, akin to that of a bird of prey. Mayhem could see the man's pupil moving up and down along the women's bodies, as if he was searching for something. Then, finally and with a tired sigh, the man lifted his hand and the two boys brought down his weapons. Without a word, they gave the two mutants a stern look and went to help the women tighten the ropes on their pack mules. "Headin' for Magneto-town?" asked the man with a slight smile. "You can't have lasted long out there, all out of water and supplies..." he continued, glancing at the wastes for a second.
Lire glanced back at her team. They were face to face with the other group but so far she could see no signs of aggression. She reached sideways, feeling the rough cement for a hold as she gingerly moved sideways and up. Her hands and feet were starting to feel the strain from the harsh texture and she swallowed hard as she looked down. As an off-thought she glanced in the direction they had come in and noticed something that excited her. She could see the car they had used. Just barely but she could see it and if she could then that meant the spy could see it as well. She knew if she stayed where she was eventually her muscles would give out and so she climbed faster and, even though the muscles in her arms screamed in protest, she pulled herself over the edge, rolling and pulling out several throwing knives as she went; ready to attack anyone there at the top with her or throw at anyone on the next tower a short distance away.
The large guard tower was a concrete and metal structure standing about 40 feet in height and about 10 square feet in diameter at the base. On the ground level there was a reinforced concrete doorway, with a metal door still clinging to its hinges, but completely useless and bet out of shape. Inside Lire could see the remains of a spiraling staircase which had collapsed when the tower began leaning to the side. The climb through the inside would be just as a dangerous and considerably slower than climbing through the outside. About 20 feet from the ground, on each of the four facings of the tower, lay small vertical slit windows, probably firing points at some point in the past, now they allowed a small peek inside the middle of the tower. Finally, at the top the tower widened to 12 square feet and had a concrete root as well as battlements. At some point the windows on this top sniper's nest provided a good space for the guards and sharpshooters to live, but currently the floor was tilted by the inclination of the tower, and every single window had been shattered by the elements. Across the road from this tower, on the west side of the road another one stood, virtually identical except for the fact it was leaning towards the first tower. Lire began to climb up, stopping for a second at the middle windows to catch her breath. Finally, in sight of the top, the woman realized why it was that the tower became wider near the sniper's nest. The outward slope meant there was nowhere to hold on to and Lire lost her footing before she could climb up top. Had the tower not been leaning, Lire would have plummeted 40 feet down to the water, or worse yet, the metal behemoth that was The Plank. Luckily, the fact the tower was not vertical meant that instead, the woman hit the side of the concrete building hard with her elbow and hip and began to roll sideways towards the front of the tower. At the last second, Lire managed to hold on to the very corner of the sniper's nest, her index finger on her right feeling the dig of broken glass as she dangled from the creaking structure. Lire was now completely suspended from that one hand, holding onto one of the windowsills of the sniper's nest on the east tower.
Lire bit back a scream when she fell, her hands open and questing as she fell until she was able to stop her descent. She hung in place for several moments, her muscles were screaming in agony and her heart was beating like a drum as she slowly took deep breathes to calm herself. The near death experience had broken through to her old self and she was looking decidedly sane as she slowly looked around. There was a coppery taste in her mouth and she spit out dark blood as she realized she'd bitten her tongue, the pain from the single injury lost in her fright from the slip up. Slowly, painfully she started to pull herself up towards the window, desperately trying to ignore the glass digging into her fingers that made her want to let go.
Lire first tried to pull herself directly up, counting only on the strength of her bicep to get her to the window. That, however did not work very well her body pulled her back down. The girl's muscles tugged on her whole body, as if a rubber band that ran from her elbow to her shoulder and then her lower back had suddenly been snapped. The girl's fingers had gone completely numb as she swung in place when she realized the swinging actually meant she could reach up to the ledge and touch it with her other hand. With one final swing, she managed to put her free hand onto the ledge and pull up, rolling into the sniper's nest at the top of the tower, not caring about the broken glass and brick she rolled through or lay on top of.
Grateful they wouldn't have to waste their time in some sort of confrontation with the group,
Elizabeth let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, trying to bring herself into a more relaxed pose like the man's, but not totally succeeding. "It wasn't exactly easy, but we're use to making do." She wanted to get moving, fast, but at the same time didn't want to leave Lire behind or let this group discover whatever she was up to. It may mean they had to buy her a bit of time until she returned to them. "Any good places in town to get said supplies?"
Endelyn had also visibly relaxed when there was no confrontation. Her breathing had remained normal the whole time, though it did feel like Endelyn had let out a huge sigh. Thank goodness she didn't, she couldn't help but to think to herself. The way the old man had stared at them, as if studying their very souls, it reminded of her of the way her father looked at her whenever he was trying to figure out if she had been lying, and it made her feel sort of like a scolded child again. She smiled to the old man as Elizabeth talked to him, remaining quiet on her part.
"Must have been quite the trek..." said the old man with another benevolent smile, "No wonder you look so beat up, must've gone through hell." he added, leaving it up to the girls to decide if he was poking holes in their story or simply showing concern. Slowly the small caravan he was leading passed the man through, heading in the direction of the towers where Lire had been dangling just seconds earlier. "Best way is probably Marlin's, it's down by the river, just go into town and take a right at the end of the bridge, discount prices for mutants and stuff, typical brotherhood fare, can't miss it." he added with a small nod and began to walk behind his caravan. Stopping after a few steps, he looked up at the towers and apparently directed a small wave towards them.
"Thank you."
Elizabeth offered back to the man, choosing to ignore his comments. He wasn't their main worry, getting in, getting the information, and getting back out was. Stepping aside to aid in his and the caravan's passing, her own sight glanced towards the towers despite her best intentions not to. What the hell was keeping Lire!? As the old man waved Elizabeth felt a spike of adrenaline shoot through here. So there was someone up in those towers, damnit! "Who are you waving too?" She tried to make it sound innocent, to not appear concerned over the situation, despite the fact her stomach had felt like it had just jumped into her throat. Elizabeth did not like the idea that she may had just had one of her team members run into a trap, and considering the bonus waiting for them at keeping a low profile, would rather avoid being thrown into a full out brawl.
Lire lay panting in the relative safety of the tower. Glass and brick dug into her spine and the hilt of one her knives had pressed painfully into her side. After taking a few seconds to calm down and get her bearings she finally sat up painfully. The muscles in her arm screamed when she moved her fingers and she was suddenly worried that the muscles in her arm had been ripped. She glanced around the room and found it empty; something she was grateful for. As it was she slowly gained her feet and gingerly made her way to the window; from here she could see the group was moving past Flame and Endelyn and coming towards the towers. She blinked when she saw the man wave in her direction and she immediately started scanning the other tower and he ground below her as she tried to find who he'd waved to. She reached for her throwing knife; grateful to know they'd been secured enough to not have been lost in her slip up. She was irritated; it was as if she blamed her near death experience on the person she was hunting and she was past caring if he was an allie or not. If it turned out to be one of the soldiers from the mansion she was still not likely to let them live. She wanted this person dead and she was damned well prepared to take her time carrying it out.
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