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"And without fear the lawless roads
Ran wrong through all the land."
- Edwin Muir, Journeys and Places
He stared out from the balcony across the battle ravaged city of Hammer Bay, a bottle of beer in one hand and his cigarette in the other, wistfully looking out at the ocean and thinking he should have known better, that he'd been risking it by sailing that close, but at the same time it was something that he'd needed to do. Such a shame about the cost. He glanced down and wondered how long it would take to fall and hit the floor from here. Not that he ever would, of course, but he could see why people might.
"Penny for them?" said a voice. He didn't turn around, but he knew who it was.
"Hello, Sam," he said, his voice betraying how tired and alone he really felt. It was more a sigh than a statement and she wandered over.
"You okay, Pen?" she asked, and he gave a wry smile before taking a drag on his cigarette.
"Every time I come to Genosha it's always the same. Something bad always happens here, though usually it's someone trying to kill me." He took a drink of his beer. "That I can deal with, as I can cap the bastard with a hot knife. This…" He shook his head in resignation. "Never got the hang of this." He looked at her for the first time since she came out. "Any wisdom of the ages?"
She smiled. She seemed young enough but she'd live a long time already, and she knew that was what he meant. "All I know is that it gets easier, it just takes time."
"I'm kind of sick of hearing that. It's all a matter of time, one way or another." He felt her hand on his shoulder and he was glad of it.
"If you want to talk, I'm here." He stayed silent and considered the last few day or so and how they'd gotten here. It had all been going so well…
"Nomad to Dragon."
"Go ahead, Jack," said Pen as he poured himself a coffee.
"I found it." A smile crossed Pen's lips and he put his cup down.
"You found it?"
"Tier 17, south wing."
"On my way, Dragon out." He pressed a button on the console. "X, what's the ETA on the girls?"
"They will be returning from the SHIELD Alpha Site within the next twenty minutes, Commander," X replied and Dragon nodded.
"When they get back, have them meet Jack me and in 17 South."
"Yes, Commander," X said and Dragon left to find the nearest pneumatic auto lift. The PAL took him down the seventeenth tier and Dragon noted there were only two other tiers below, so they were almost at the bottom of the base, and he wondered how far off the seabed they actually were.
"South," he muttered, looking at the crossroads he was at and turned ninety degrees to his right. "South." He walked to the door, pressed his hand to the panel and it opened and he went inside to where Jack Monroe was waiting, and he gestured for Dragon to look down. "Oh, sweet Jesus…" Dragon's heart was in his mouth as he looked down at the store. "It's the garage…"
Monroe nodded. "A couple of jets, cars, bikes, boats and if I'm reading this right the hatch over there leads to a submersible. Oh, and that looks like it's a Quinjet, but I've no idea how they prised one of them from the Avengers." He stopped and stared at Dragon. "Are those tears in your eyes?"
"It's all so pretty…" Dragon was in awe and he gripped the guardrail tightly as he looked on. "Whose are they?"
"From the look of it, they're mostly captured AIM vehicles. We knew the made weapons, but Advanced Idea Mechanics indicates they were capable of more." Nomad pressed a few more buttons. "There are also other bits and pieces collected over the years, but I guess we'll get to them in due course."
"How did they get them down here?" Dragon asked. "Teleported in?"
"I guess so," said Nomad. "There is a tesseract matrix control. Form a portal and away you go."
Dragon could already see the potential. "You think we could fit the vehicles with tesseract generators, so we don't have to rely on the base?"
"I'll find out," the other man answered and Dragon headed for a ladder to take him down to the ground and he ran his hands over the bikes.
"These are cool," he said. "You had all these cool toys when you were the Scourge?"
"Only as and when needed," Monroe said as he joined him. "Never really had a need for most of it."
Dragon looked around. "Come on," he said. "I want to see just what they have."
"I can pull up the inventory."
"No, I meant see as in touch." Dragon shook his head and reached for his cigarettes when he saw the sign. "And when are you going to sort that out?" he asked, nodding at the no smoking sign.
"Don't know," Monroe replied. "Eventually." Dragon sighed and put the packet back in his pocket and went for a wander up and down, looking for something special, something that he knew he would find amongst this Aladdin's cave. After a little while they had covered about three quarters of the place, and Dragon hadn't found that one special item.
"Commander Dragon," said X. "The girls have arrived and will be down in a moment."
"Thank you, X," said Dragon. "Jack? Girls are here. Meet you at the ladder." Nomad gave him a thumbs up and they headed to where the rest of the team were about to enter and as they got their, all five of the team met up. "Timing is everything."
"Nice place," said Jessica. "Looks like we're well equipped on the vehicles."
Elena was a little less than impressed having been around rockets and spacecraft most of her life, but she knew that Monroe and Dragon would find it all fascinating. "Would you boys like some time alone?"
"Cute," Dragon answered. "How'd it go?"
"They're not happy," said Sam. "Alpha Site is well equipped, but they want to send a team here, take charge." It was to be expected. The SHIELD agents had wanted access to this place, and while they were technically SHIELD, none of them were high-ranking agents. There was going to be conflict at some point, more a case of when than if.
"You tell 'em where to shove it?" asked Dragon, his eyes narrowing.
"Not exactly." Jessica looked at him. "We can't alienate them, we may need them at some point and for now they need us as well. Our job is the same one - we stop the aliens and figure the rest out later." Dragon sighed. "It makes sense."
"I know," said Dragon. "I just get the feeling this isn't going to be the last we hear about it. How was Alpha Site?"
"It's not quite Valhalla Base, but it'll do," said Elena. "Comms and defences are active, as well as the distortion emitters that prevent the aliens from scanning for them. They don't have a teleporter, but we can arrange something for them when we get chance."
"Fine." Dragon nodded to Monroe who tapped the console to see what he could find.
"There was something else," said Jessica. "They'd like us to do something, while they're getting set up."
"Go on," Dragon said, getting an uneasy feeling.
"They want us assist a mission in Genosha. One of their field teams went out and hasn't been heard of."
"And we can help how?"
"Find out what happened. Forge can't spend the manpower going after them, but the mission was vital to the moral of the whole resistance. If we could complete it…"
"What's the gig?" asked Monroe.
Jessica closed her eyes, thinking of he fallen friend. "Recovering the adamantium skeleton of Wolverine."
"It's in Genosha?" said Dragon.
"Was," Sam corrected. "A skorpsmen insurgence went in and took it during one of the more recent attacks. We think they might be trying to figure a way of bonding adamantium to skeletal structures, given their penchant for using technology to upgrade themselves."
"We can't let that happen," Elena said.
"No arguments there," Dragon answered, thinking he had a serious dislike of Genosha. "Forge is expecting us?"
"We'll let him know on route," said Jessica.
"How long do you think it'll take?" said Pen. "Bikes, tesseract chamber, we're good to go."
"Wait a moment," said Monroe. "We need to get ready. I've got some Pym Particle Generators, or PPGs. They're signet rings that act as comms devices and have a hollow to store things, miniaturized by the PPG and enlarged as well. As a precaution we load them with a few things and then head out."
"A game plan then. You get the PPGs, Jess calls Forge, I get the bikes ready and you two…" He looked at Sam and Elena. "Get a coffee?"
The five members of the team sat around the table, in the war room of Strategic Genoshan Command building, with Forge at the other end. Forge was looking after the Resistance in Genosha, working with the various heroes across the world as well as acting as liaison to SHIELD and keeping co-ordinating activities on the small island, through the SGC, designed by him and created by the people who worked for him. The Martian attacks came every other day now, but there was more than enough firepower on the island from the mutant inhabitants to keep the enemy at bay, but every assault nibbled a little bit more from the island, either in terms of land, resources or people, and the SGC had fortunately never taken too many hits. The Genoshans were holding their own, but there was a cost and they could see how tired the man was.
"So you're going to decide who gets what from the Arsenal?" he said, looking pointedly at Dragon. "Now I know you and I have never met but I have heard reports from others and…"
"You just wait one damn minute," said Dragon, not ready for the ambush and he chided himself for thinking of the man as the person he had known. "First off, I'm not who you think I am, and I wish people would stop confusing me with Pete Wisdom. I'm Pen Dragon. P-E-N D-R-A-G-O-N, as in King Arthur, as in the Knights of the Round Table, as in…"
"The team called the Pendragons?" suggested Forge, a snide edge entering his voice.
"Ye-es," said Dragon. "And second, there is no 'I' here. We decided this, us five, and it's more a matter of security than anything else. Five people can access the Arsenal and the trove inside, and that's us. One of us is compromised, the others can do something about it. The less people who know the better, and one isn't an option, and anyone who needs our help will get it. Get it?"
"Got it," said Forge, but they could tell he wasn't happy and this wasn't over.
"Good," said Dragon shaking his head. "We're not your enemy, Forge. That's the bastards who keep attacking the island and the rest of the world. We're on the same side."
"That remains to be seen." Forge turned and looked out of the window at the city. "But let's deal with that another time. I've lost four agents trying to recover Logan's bones, you think you can help or find out why we lost them?"
"That's why we're here, Governor," said Jessica, using Forge's formal title on the island. He had been given the governance, but by whom the man had not yet said. "Where are they?"
"The bones are at the northern most part of the island," said Forge. "That's where our scans have detected the largest adamantium trace, but we lost contact with that sector a few months back. We think they're starting to build an Arena, but so far we can neither confirm or deny it. We have a lot of resources in Wakanda, helping out T'challa and his people…"
"Wait a sec," said Nomad. "Wakanda's the other side of Africa, and Genosha is an island. I know they took in some refugees in the early days, but it's a long way to go."
"We know," Forge said. "But they need help and we can give it."
"Maybe we're not so different after all." Dragon's reminder gave Forge a moment.
"Maybe you're right. Are you and your team willing to go to find out what happened?"
Dragon looked around, and the team indicated they were. "Yes, we are," he said. "Who are we looking for?"
"Four people. Roberto DaCosta, Firestar, and SHIELD agents Daryl Allen and Lydia del Ruiz." Dragon's heart leapt in to his throat and he hoped he'd misheard.
"I'm sorry, what was that last name again?"
"Lydia del Ruiz. Her father is an unitarianism preacher in Hammer Bay, and quite influential amongst the people out there. A voice of reason in a torrent of chaos." Forge's voice spoke of the respect he had for the man and Dragon had a sinking feeling.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked. "You look a little pale."
"I'm fine," he said, pushing it to one side, as he needed to do. He'd deal with his feelings after the mission was done. "There are people out there who need our help, so let's go find them." Forge nodded and the team went out of the SGC to the motorcycles they had brought from the Arsenal and headed out of the city towards the last known location of Forge's strike force.
"I still say we should have brough some cars, or a land rover, or something a little more protected," Nomad said over his comms.
"Yeah," said Dragon, "I know, but then we'd have looked like a bad episode of Team Knight Rider."
"Were there any good episodes of that show?" asked Sam.
"Never saw it," said Nomad. "Was out doing things like… I dunno, saving the world."
"Oh there's always time for television," said Dragon. "Back home, I was just getting in to this TV show called Dragonball. Loved it, thought it was great, a little kid beating the crap out of folk."
"You know it was a comic book first?" said Elena. "My father used to get it for me."
"I wouldn't have thought you were allowed things like that," Dragon said.
"KGB connections," Elena said and Dragon knew she had to be smiling. This was quite fun, rolling through the Genoshan countryside, chatting with his new friends. It was almost enough to make them forget that they were on a mission, or rather almost enough to let make him forget. Almost. He could still remember the last thing she had said to him, before he'd left, never to return.
"I'll square this, just make sure you come back."
And he hadn't. Not that she knew that, she wasn't even aware that there'd been a change and that the man she thought was her Peter Wisdom wasn't actually hers but an amalgamation of his life and the life of this doppelganger, as was all of that reality. Kate had tried telling him that she wasn't really his Lydia anymore, but it hadn't made it any easier. He steeled himself as the chattering of the others passed him by, thinking that he had lost so much over the last few years, and that he would be damned if he added Lydia del Ruiz to the list again for the second time in just over two months.
"So what do you think of the bikes then?" Nomad was saying and it shook him from his reverie. These were top of the range models, with a normal top speed of around 200 miles per hour, though with the thrusters, X calculated that 300 could be reached and sustained for several minutes. They were also fitted with weapons. A laser cannon, twin machines guns and a rocket launcher, which Pen thought was a little overkill, but he wasn't going to complain. There were times when he could have done with a rocket launcher, but he'd not had one.
"Yeah, these are pretty damn cool. AIM did an impressive job on these." There was a front piece that a heads up display, that gave scans from in front and behind as well as zoom and infrared capability, and it also doubled as a targeting system for the rockets. Everything was controlled from the hand grips, as well as what he was reliably informed was a compressed air lift system, which could propel the bike vertically in to the air about forty feet and was also useful for leaping over things as well. "Good thing they work as well on and off the road."
"They handle smoothly too," said Jessica. "I can see why you liked the look of what was in the garage. I…" She stopped as her bike sensors detected something. "I'm getting something."
"Confirmed," Dragon said. "Guess we've got company. Elena, you sense anything out there?"
"Nothing human," she said. "Not close anyway."
"Skorpsmen," said Nomad and the team slowed to a halt, forming a pentagon to maximise scanning potential.
"Here they come!" said Sam, and the Skorpsmen appeared, but the team were ready and quickly got on with the work, unleashing their various powers and offensive capabilities on them. The weapon systems on the bikes worked incredibly well, at picking them enemy off as they came close, but those that got by were greeted by hot knives, blades and bio-blasts as well as pneumatically fired spikes from the Scourge suit and psionic bolts, courtesy of Elena. The battle was furious and intense, but over within moments, the Skorpsmen bodies littering the floor.
"Anyone else think that was way too easy?" asked Dragon, as the smoke cleared and the dust settled, and then he felt it, as if something strange had come over him and he knew he had felt something similar before and he looked at Elena who looked alarmed. "Uh oh…"
"What?" asked Jessica. "What's wrong?"
"I can't manifest my hot knives," he answered. "And if I'm right, Elena just lost her psychic connection to the rest of us."
"I just went lightheaded and now I've nothing," she said, worried.
"Lightheaded?" asked Sam. "I thought it was from the intensity of the fight." She tried to manifest a new sword but nothing happened. "But I'm not a mutant."
"Jess?" said Dragon, his throat going dry.
"I've lost my bio-blasts," she confirmed. "Some kind of dampening field, to inhibit metahuman powers?"
"I don't know," said Dragon. "But I don't hear anything." He checked the sensors, but there was nothing and he turned to infra-red, which told a different story. There were about fifteen Skorpsmen out there and they were just waiting. "But what are they waiting for?" he muttered and then they charged…
