The Reverend William Stryker stood on a catwalk, overlooking the fleet of red and purple robots that stood in the hangar beneath his feet. Each one had a height of about sixty feet. He heard footsteps on the catwalk and turned to address the man responsible for this.

“Look at it—have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

“I’m just surprised you contacted me, Mr. Stryker,” said the man.

“Not at all, Donald,” said Stryker. “I needed a Trask to grant myself access to this facility. You are the last of that line and so the job falls at your feet.”

“The pilots are ready,” said Trask.

“Good,” said Stryker. “Take me to them.”

“Follow me.” Trask turned and walked back the way he came. Stryker looked back down at the Sentinels and smiled before following his newfound ally. In the next room stood several men dressed in flight suits with large helmets in their hands. Once Trask and Stryker entered the room, their commanding officer shouted out.

“ATTEN-SHUN!”

The pilots all snapped to the command, bodies straight, one arm holding the helmet at their side, the other raised in a salute. Only one seemed unresponsive, the only one actually wearing his helmet.

“SKYLARK!”

The pilot looked up. “Whu—?”

“WHAT THE HELL’S THE MATTER WITH YOU?” demanded the commanding officer, stepping right up to Skylark and glaring down at him. “WHEN I GIVE YOU AN ORDER, YOU DAMN-WELL BETTER OBEY!”

“Sorry about that,” said Skylark.

“Sorry what?”

“Sorry sir.”

Stryker stepped up to the disobedient pilot. “What’s your name, son?”

“Skylark, sir. Tom Skylark.”

Stryker’s brow raised. “That accent…England?”

“Yessir.”

“And why are you involved in this job?”

“Skylark was the first successful test pilot of the new remote Sentinel technology,” said Trask.

Stryker continued to focus on the British pilot. “Is that so?”

“It is, sir,” said Skylark. “My mate Rover and I have been together ever since.”

“Rover?” asked Stryker.

“That’s what I like to call my Sentinel,” said Skylark with a smile. Stryker seemed unamused and Skylark’s grin slowly faded.

“There is no room for sentiment in this mission, Skylark. You and the rest of these men are going up against known terrorists who pose a vital threat to the security of the free world. Do you understand me?”

“Yessir, I believe I do,” said Skylark.

“Good,” said Stryker. He turned and walked back towards Trask. “Prepare them for launch.”

“Pillock,” muttered Skylark under his breath.

GET UP AND KILL

Part II

By Chris Munn and Dino Pollard

Hammer Bay
Genosha

As Jonothon Starsmore sat on the docks staring across the water, the only light provided by the burning furnace of psionic energy where was once his lower jaw and chest cavity, he could only think of one thing.

He needed a cigarette.

That was perhaps the thing he missed the most since the recent explosion of psionic energy that, for the second time, took away his mouth. And now he found himself working with Havok’s terrorist front, at times questioning his chosen path and at others reveling in it.

Scott and Jean had returned to the mansion. Something about Beast calling them back, Alex had said. Things had been pretty quiet since Havok, Avalanche and Xorn destroyed a Sentinel storage facility in Colorado. And it was a still that Jono found a bit uneasy.

{You should trust your instincts, Jono.}

{Eh…?}

But before Chamber could detect the intrusion into his mind, someone grabbed his hair from behind and jammed a blade forged of pure psionic energy into the back of his skull. Jono’s mind blazed before he collapsed on the wooden dock.

Above him stood a Japanese woman with flowing purple hair, a red tattoo over her left eye, and a katana sheathed at her side. A purple butterfly appeared over her eyes as she transmitted a message to the rest of her team. {Psylocke to all points—Chamber’s been eliminated.}

{Did you determine their location, Elisabeth?}

{I did, Storm. An abandoned hangar outside Avalon City, I’m uploading a map to each of your minds. I’ll meet you there. Until I say otherwise, maintain telepathic silence. They have Rachel with them and our chances of detection are greatly increased if we have a lot of chatter going.}

Avalon

Storm’s winds lowered Shatterstar and Dazzler to the ground, followed by Rogue who gripped Colossus’ hands in her own. The two heavy hitters landed beside their teammates on the empty tarmac.

“I’d like to think Jean’s not aware of this, but what about Magneto?” asked Rogue. “Think we gotta worry about him showin’ up?”

“No, Magneto is at a summit of the United Nations,” said Storm. “It’s why I had us wait before we made our move.”

“We’re here now, we’d better hurry before Rachel picks up any thoughts,” said Dazzler.

Storm nodded and looked at Colossus. “Little Brother, if you please?”

Piotr Rasputin smirked at his old friend. “With pleasure, Little Sister.” He walked towards the hangar and with each step, his frame grew larger as organic metal spread across every inch of his bare skin. By the time he reached the hangar wall, his body was completely encased in the shining armor and he drove his massive fist through the wall, bursting into it.

“IMPOSTERS!” he shouted. “COME AND FACE US!”

Rogue flew in after him with the rest of the team following. Shatterstar moved to the foreground, his twin blades held ready to strike. “Fekt! Nothing! They hide like cowards!”

{Storm, I have news.}

“Go ahead, Elisabeth.”

{They’re at the harbor, not far from where I ambushed Chamber.}

“You’re sure?”

Hammer Bay

“Oh yes, relatively sure,” said Psylocke as she found herself staring at eight mutants, all of which glared at her with anger and resentment in their eyes. “And I’d advise you to hurry.”

“I think I’ll handle this one,” said Rachel as she stepped to the front of the group, the Phoenix avatar appearing over her right eye. “What do you say, Betsy?”

Psylocke offered a sly grin. “I’d say you should have gotten me away from the shadows.” The mark of the Crimson Dawn began to glow bright red as the shadows swirled around Psylocke’s body and she vanished inside them.

“Can’t believe I forgot she could do that…” muttered Gambit.

“Then I’m pleased to jog your memory, Remy.”

Psylocke’s voice came from behind them and the X-Men spun around to see her standing near the shadows. Except this time, the rest of her team stood with her. Storm moved out into the front of the group, staring down Havok with her blue eyes.

“Alex, what is this madness?” she asked.

“Madness?” Havok took a few steps towards her. “Look around you, Storm. Not all of us have shiny new Avenger ID cards.”

“The X-Corporation has made great strides in the name of mutantkind,” said Storm. “What you’re doing will ruin everything we spent so long building.”

“Successful PR stunts don’t mean shit,” said Havok. “Just look at Africa. All that press and people are still dying. And it’s the same with mutants.”

“We have a Presidential candidate who’s in our corner, we’re pushing through legislation outlawing mutant hate crimes, we’ve got people all over the spectrum supporting us,” said Dazzler.

“Sure, it’s easy to get people to love you when you look like a supermodel,” said Ecstasy. “Not all of us have that luxury, sweets. You walk down the street without a problem but me, I’d still get bottles thrown at me.”

“My friends, this is not the way it’s done,” said Colossus. “I know what you are all experiencing, I have been there myself. I once walked the path you find yourselves on. And it ends in tears, I can promise you that.”

“You ran wit’ Magneto’s crew for all of five minutes, mon ami,” said Gambit. “An’ all that time, you up in space.”

“Who are you t’ judge anyone, Remy?” asked Rogue.

“I seen th’ darkness out dere, cherie. So’d you.”

“But I’m not gonna sink to that level.”

“Maybe if you were in Nebraska, you not be so quick to judge, ne?”

“If you want to continue on this path, if you will continue to corrupt all that Charles Xavier stood for, then we will stop you,” said Storm.

“You and what army, babe?” asked Avalanche. “Don’t know if you can count, but we got you outmatched.”

“Okay Storm, you win,” said Havok. “Just remember, be careful what you wish for!”

He thrust his arms forward and cut loose with rings of plasma energy flowing down his body and out from his upturned palms. Storm’s team scattered for cover as the skies darkened. She looked down at her former teammate with blank eyes and gestured in his direction. Lightning arced from the black clouds that now surrounded her and Havok jumped away as fast as he could to avoid the strikes. He rolled on his back, lashing out with another plasma burst and Storm channeled her lightning bolts into it to diffuse the blast.

Rogue took off from her position, making a beeline for Gambit. The Cajun jumped in the air and hurled a charged playing card at her. The card exploded against her, but it barely slowed her down. Gambit raised his staff and Rogue gripped it herself, lifting him into the air by it.

“One card, sugah? You should know that won’t be enough to stop me!”

“That I know, ma belle,” said Gambit with a sly grin. “But maybe Gambit, he not tryin’ to deal you into this game.”

Rogue looked down at the staff and saw it beginning to crackle with reddish energy. Gambit winked at her before releasing the staff, seconds before the charge released, exploding and knocking her clear across the harbor into the bay.

The staff, made of a special material that allowed him to charge it over and over again, fell from the sky and landed into his waiting hand. He twirled it around and frowned, turning away from the water.

“Sorry ’bout that, but when it come down t’ you or me, Gambit gotta look after his own self.”

He heard a rumbling in the waves and looked down at the wooden dock he stood on. “Now that can’t be good…”

Rogue burst through the dock right beneath Gambit’s feet and he fell towards the ground before he found his descent slowed somehow. Remy looked over his shoulder and saw a man with an iron mask hovering towards him, his legs crossed in a meditation style and his hands clasped together as blue energy surrounded him.

Gambit smiled once more. “Xornie, mon frere, drinks are on me once we get outta this mess.”

“I appreciate the offer Gambit, but I cannot drink,” said Xorn. He turned his attention to Rogue. “Now as for your friend here…”

Rogue started to move towards Xorn but found herself straining just to stay afloat, let alone move in any direction without extreme effort. Xorn cocked his head to the side as beads of sweat formed on Rogue’s face. She tried to move closer but instead she found herself plummeting back into the water.

“Even one with superhuman strength must obey the laws of gravity,” he said.

Warpath braced himself as Shatterstar brought both swords down on his former teammate. The Apache defended himself, using his daggers to block the strike. He thrust forward to force Shatterstar off.

Shatterstar lunged with both swords but Warpath was gone, moving like lightning to avoid the strike and suddenly Shatterstar felt the larger man’s arms wrap around his shoulders.

“The hell do you think you’re doing, ‘Star?” asked Warpath. “After all those years with Cable and X-Force, after all that time you spent fighting in Mojoworld, you above everyone should know how important this is!”

“Although I may agree with your methods, I am honor-bound to stand against you,” said Shatterstar.

“And why’s that?”

“I am here in place of Lord Longshot, and in his place I will fight for a cause he himself would fight for!”

“We’re saving lives and you’re worried about honor? You know how many mutants we saved in Cambodia? How many won’t have to worry about being hunted now that Havok destroyed that Sentinel facility?”

“I care not!” Shatterstar sprung up on his feet, his legs swinging around. The momentum caused Warpath to lean back a little, which permitted Shatterstar to flip all the way around and break free of his old friend’s grip. Shatterstar then thrust forward with his double-bladed sword, driving it into Warpath’s back, taking care to avoid hitting any vital organs.

He drew the blade out as Warpath fell to the ground. “I apologize, my friend.”

The ground fell beneath Colossus’ feet and closed around him. Avalanche stood on a mound of rising rubble, looking down at his handiwork with a smile. Then, massive, metal hands burst through and Avalanche was surprised to see Colossus flying towards him.

The Russian X-Man gripped onto Avalanche’s perch and pulled himself up. He drove his fist against Avalanche’s metal helmet, rocking the Greek terrorist’s head to the side. Colossus noticed the red circle with the crisscrossing black lightning bolts that formed an X emblazoned on his old enemy’s chest. Angered by that, he grabbed the emblem and tore it from Avalanche’s uniform.

“You have no right to wear this symbol!” he shouted.

“Right, but Rogue, Marrow, Magneto, hell even Sabretooth, they were all good enough?” asked Avalanche. “Y’know what I always hated about you, Rasputin?”

He grabbed Colossus’ wrists and began sending vibrational waves through them, shaking every inch of the X-Man’s body. Avalanche looked down at him with a sinister grin. “You’re a fucking hypocrite.”

Colossus cried out in a rage and threw his head forward, slamming it against Avalanche’s head. “You have no right to judge me.”

“Yeah, well maybe I do!”

Colossus turned just in time to see a burst of green energy rushing towards him and knocking him from the perch. He landed on the ground to see a green, flaming skeleton approaching him.

“Alex Roberts, yes?” he asked. “You were once a student.”

“Yeah, but I got news for you.” Skullfire turned his powers on Colossus. “I’m not a student anymore!”

The radiation was intense, Colossus could feel it even through his armored skin. The heat became too much and soon, the X-Man collapsed from exhaustion. Skullfire powered down and moved to Avalanche, offering him a hand. Petros glared up at his teammate and slapped the hand away.

“Fuck off!” he shouted. “I could’ve handled him!” Avalanche got to his feet and turned away from Skullfire, going back towards the battle. “Stay outta my way, rookie!”

“’Hey, thanks for saving my ass.’ ‘Oh, don’t mention it, just happy to help a teammate,’” muttered Skullfire. “Fucking prick.”

Ecstasy leapt over a laser bomb Dazzler threw at her feet. She increased the adrenaline production in her own body, allowing her to push herself faster and give her increased strength.

She landed behind Dazzler, who spun and flashed a light orb in her face. Ecstasy found herself stunned, staggering back and Dazzler launched forward with a kick to her chest.

“Y’know…I never liked you when I was back at the mansion,” said Ecstasy.

“Funny, I wasn’t too keen on you, either.”

The Dazzler lunged forward with another kick but Ecstasy grabbed her leg and swung her around, tossing her off to the side. Before Dazzler could get up, Ecstasy was on top of her, gripping the former singer’s face between her hands.

“Should’ve stuck with your light show, Madonna,” said Ecstasy.

Dazzler closed her eyes and her entire body radiated brilliant, colorful light, completely blinding Ecstasy. Just as she was about to deliver a final blow, she collapsed. Ecstasy watched in shock as Dazzler fell to her feet and looked up to a few feet away where Phoenix and Psylocke were fighting.

“Guess I owe you a thanks, Ray.”

Phoenix’s telekinetic shield blocked a strike from Psylocke’s katana. Both of them seemed to be fighting more for show than anything else, treating the entire battle as an exercise of some kind. Both of them had the signature marks of their powers actively working, for Psylocke it was the psionic butterfly image over her eyes and for Phoenix the avatar over her right eye.

{Why are you holding back, Bets? Not like you.}

{I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out already, Rachel—I’m your ace in the hole.}

{What do you mean?}

{Did you think you were the first telepath Alex spoke to? He came to me when he first had this idea. I told him I believed in what he was doing, but that I felt X-Corps was where I belonged.}

{Then why join Storm’s witch hunt?}

{Someone had to watch your backs, and that’s what I’ve been doing.}

{And we’re fighting because…?}

{Partly for appearances…} Psylocke flashed her a grin. {…and partly because I need a good workout.}

Havok jumped away from a ball of chain lightning, taking cover behind a transport truck. He felt the build-up of cosmic energy in his body and closed his fists, the concentric rings beginning to build around his hands.

Stepping away from his cover, the rings of plasma energy shot forth from his arms and Storm’s winds kept her out of their reach. She inched closer to him, unleashing more lightning and Havok tried to deflect it with his plasma bursts.

“This isn’t you, Alex,” she said. “Who is behind this? The Shadow King?”

“You’re unbelievable,” said Havok. “If Alex is thinking for himself, he’s gotta be under someone else’s control, right?”

“That isn’t what I meant…”

“Well this is what I mean,” said Havok. “I’m not my brother, Storm. Just because Scott is Mr. X-Man and willing to follow in Xavier’s footsteps doesn’t mean I am. I never subscribed much to this cult-like worship you guys have of Xavier’s dream. This here is me thinking for myself and doing what’s best for our kind!”

Storm watched her former ally in shock, believing the words he spoke as truth. “If you speak the truth, if this is who you really are, then I never knew you at all, did I?”

“No, guess you didn’t,” said Havok.

“Then I will not hesitate to use whatever methods necessary to put a stop to your actions!”

The winds grew stronger and Havok watched as rain began to fall in buckets from the clouds. But no…not rain. The temperature grew cooler. It was hail and the stones became larger and larger.

But that wasn’t the thing which caught Havok’s attention. It was what he saw descending from the clouds above, almost completely masking the sky from view. And that caused him more horror than any amount of fierce weather Ororo Munroe could summon.

“Storm!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to get his voice over the winds. “Behind you!”

Storm could make out his words and she offered herself a quick glance over her shoulder and that’s when she saw what Havok saw. And like him, she felt a sense of dread in every inch of her body.

“Goddess protect us…” she muttered, “…Sentinels.”