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"One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail;
Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail."
- William Shakespeare, Coriolanus
Roberto DaCosta stood on the balcony of the Arsenal, looking down at the vast collection of confiscated items, equipment and vehicles that had been captured over the years that was stored below, and he knew why Magneto had been so wary of it. Yes, it could used against the alien threat, but whoever controlled the Arsenal after the war was over would be in a very significant position of power, and there was no way that just anybody could be allowed to use that. He knew that Magnus didn't need the items as such, but then again you never knew when some maniac would unleash a new plague of sentinels on mutantkind. Roberto was hoping that when this was all over, there might be a more united front from humanity and that the old issues wouldn't be so important as they had once been.
For everything he had seen and done in his time, he was still a student of Charles Xavier, and he really did believe that the dream was achievable, even if he also believed that the way there was not as black and white as Xavier would like. Xavier was the white, Magneto the black and Cable had shown them there were shades of grey. He'd not always seen eye to eye with Nathan Summers but he did have a respect for the man - living up to the fact he was the son of the first X-Man, the alleged saviour of humanity and a time lost soldier explained why Cable had such an attitude. He knew pressure. Not for the first time DaCosta wondered where the Askani'Son was. He'd gone missing just after the war and hadn't been heard of since.
"Mr DaCosta," said Pen Dragon as he approached. "Welcome to the Arsenal."
"You mean that?" Roberto's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man.
"Nope," said Dragon. "Don't really want you here at all, but we figured we didn't get too much say in the matter."
"Honest."
"I try."
"Which is better than I've heard about you." Pen gave a smirk. "What?"
"You're not the first to believe the rumours about me. You won't be the last, either, but you'll certainly be wrong. I'm not the man you think I am."
"Forgive me if I don't accept that at face value. I've heard it before."
"I'll bet." The two men looked at each other, weighing each other up, but before their verbal sparring could continue, they were interrupted by a female voice, the Russian accent betraying her identity.
"If you two are done with the testosterone session," Elena said, speaking directly in to their minds as she said the words for added effect and both DaCosta and Dragon grimaced, "I'll show Roberto to his quarters. You do have some things to take care of?" It was more a statement than a question and Pen nodded.
"True, can't stand around gossiping all day," he said and winked at Roberto. "Catch you later." Roberto shook his head as the man walked away, towards one of the elevators that took him down and out of sight.
"What's going on?" Roberto asked.
"Something SHIELD noticed a while back was some anomalies in the comms grid for the Underground, and we've had a few operations compromised of late. Pen thinks that the collaborators have managed to get in and they're working our own tools against us, and he's gone to Nevada to find out."
Roberto didn't understand "Nevada?"
"It's the main relay of SHIELD communications, buried one hundred and eighty feet below Death Valley," Elena said.
"Death Valley? That's mostly in California," said Roberto.
"And accessed and controlled from Las Vegas," Elena replied. "There's a transport that moves from Vegas to the SHIELD comms grid. Consider how much electricity is pumped through Vegas - nobody notices anomalous spikes in the national grid." She sighed at the ingenuity of it - as a former KGB agent she had been amazed at how subtle the Americans and there allies had been at times. While they had been equally as subtle, it surprised her as to the extent of how much neither side had known about certain aspects of the other, especially when it seemed so obvious that they should have now. "Come," she said, leading him over to the elevator that would take him down to the lower levels.
"Why not teleport me down there directly?" Roberto asked.
"Because we needed to be sure you were not a threat," she replied. "You think it was coincidence I was here? If you had been, I'd have told Dragon and right now you would be dead."
"I was trained by Xavier to fight mental intrusion," Roberto said.
"And even Xavier could not removed the mental blocks Weapon X placed in the head of your comrade Wolverine. I was able to remove more of them than Xavier believed possible."
"I remember hearing about that," Roberto said. "Point taken." The lift descended. "You really think Pen Dragon could have killed me?"
Elena smiled and shook her head. "In the short time I have known him, one thing has become apparent - never underestimate Pen Dragon."
"You'll not find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy," Dragon said to himself, as he looked about Las Vegas, the gaudy lights, the bustle of people and the imposing form of a Martian war machine in the distance. "Except maybe Nottingham."
He wasn't in the city itself, but looking down on it from a ridge, ensuring that he wasn't in the heart of enemy territory. To be fair, Las Vegas wasn't quite the city it had once been, but it was still one of the pleasure capitals of the world, though it catered to an alien culture as well as a human one. He shivered considering how close the Martians were to a major item in the Resistance arsenal against them. Then again, it would take considerable effort to find the place he was heading to and, making sure he wasn't watched or followed he made his way towards the outskirts of the city in the black transit van that he'd chosen from the garage. It had been given a paint job so it didn't attract attention, and just looked like a normal maintenance vehicle, but inside there were a range of high tech equipment and weapons - just in case he needed them.
Fortunately, he didn't need to go in to the centre, just to an office block, where the company logo said 'Hack Writers Inc.' which amused him. The building was quite damaged, but there were still people working in the non-damaged parts. The Martians ruled the planet, but they were the masters and life went on as normal, the aliens taking what they wanted, when they wanted it. The air of normality that they allowed was another way of keeping humanity subjugated - it was a luxury that they allowed out of the goodness of their hearts, though Dragon also considered that they might not have had the resources to coral the entire planet. He entered the building and walked to the reception desk.
"I'm from Safeguard, here about the bug problem," he said to the girl sitting there. "We think we know what the problem is, but we just need to check. I'm sure my people have contacted you."
"Yes," she said. "I spoke to your Mr Ted Wagon myself." He smiled inwardly. "You know where you're going?"
"Lifts are over there?" He gestured to the left and she nodded. "Thanks, love."
"I love your accent," she called as he walked off and he gave a light chuckle. Americans, he thought to himself as he entered the carriage and he inserted a special key he'd brought with him to override the main controls and descend to the lower levels. Ten minutes later the lift stopped and he stepped out to see the familiar blue uniforms with the SHIELD crest emblazoned on them.
"Commander Dragon?" The base commander approached him. "I'm Doctor Linus Cicada, facility director."
"Doctor Cicada," said Dragon, taking his hand. "Good to meet you face to face. You know why I'm here?"
"Yes, sir," he said. "However, there is no way the system could have been compromised. It would have set off so many different alerts and alarms that we'd be deafened."
"I know you guys have a tight ship," Pen said, "but the enemy have a definite lead on us and we need to rule things out. This is the first, most obvious place to start."
"Understood," Cicada replied as they walked to the doctor's office. "We've been keeping tabs on you since you appeared, and you've certainly made an impact."
"You have?" Pen said, with curiosity.
"Oh yes," the other man said. "From here we have access to every video camera, digital communication forms and satellite feeds on the planet. Wherever there's a camera, there's SHIELD."
"Now that I didn't know," said Pen. "One way feed correct?"
"Of course," said Cicada. "To turn it to a two way link, they'd need to know that we were watching, they'd need to be able to detect the piggyback signal we use, and they'd need to break encryption codes sixteen different languages, as well as get past the firewalls and other security protocols we have, most of which have been created by some of the greatest minds on the planet when it comes to computing."
"Out of curiosity, how many times have Stark's security systems been breached?" asked Dragon.
"Point taken, however if you think we've been compromised, then it won't hurt to look and see what we can find. I must warn you, this could take some time. There's a lot of connections to look over."
"This kind of thing always takes time," Pen sighed. "Let's get started."
"And that concludes your tour of the facility," Elena said as she finished walking DaCosta around the Arsenal. Nomad wandered over and gave him a ring. "It's your communication device as well as a Pym Particle Generator, or PPG. It can hold weaponry or other items, depending on the mission at hand."
"Cool," said Roberto as he slipped it on to his left index finger. "Useful to have."
"Because we've no real reason to trust you," said Nomad, "you've limited access to the system. All your non-standard system requests will be logged by X and relayed through me."
"I'm not overly thrilled about that. I'm not a criminal, I'm not a terrorist, I'm…"
"Running with Magneto," said Elena. "We all know what the man is capable of. His record speaks for himself."
"I'm working with him, protecting an island of mutants who've not had the guidance I've had," said Roberto. "I'm not going to defend Magnus, but I won't stand by and let innocent people be taken down by the aliens just because they've not had any true leadership. If I'm running with anyone, I'm with Charles Xavier. Wherever the Professor is…"
"Forgive us if we don't take that on your word alone," said Nomad.
"You trust Pen Dragon more than you do me," said DaCosta, an element of disgust entering his voice.
"Let's just say we've had evidence to get that," Elena said. "It wasn't a trust that was easily given."
"Do I get let in on it?"
Monroe and Elena looked at each other. "It's down to Pen," said Elena. "It's his story to tell."
"Question - what are your power levels these days?" asked Monroe. "You've had a varied history, and you've had a few variations on your power to absorb solar power and convert in to a bio-energy."
"If you imagine the being called Reignfire, that's what I'm like," said Roberto. "I can fly, cast plasma bolts and can call them from the sky in a focused burst if needed. I also have enhanced strength and have a limited control over fire in my immediate area. I'm similar to him, if Reignfire hadn't been an insane experiment."
"I see," said Nomad, suitably impressed at the young man's power levels. "Interesting."
"I also use his armour from time to time," Roberto answered. "I can absorb a lot of energy forms, heat, light and radiation, but I'm not invulnerable and when I'm using my powers I'm draining my energies. Magnus was the one who convinced me I should readopt it for added protection."
"Similar absorption powers to those of Pen," said Elena. "Interesting how various mutations are powered via solar energies, yet affect people in different ways. It's almost as if the evolutionary process is working to protect people from any harmful effects of the sun."
"Or other sources of radiation," Nomad remarked.
"If we ever find Professor Xavier, then maybe we can ask him why that is," said Roberto. "In the meantime, I'll go to my room and familiarise myself with the place."
"As much as you can," Nomad reminded and Sunspot left the two of them. He looked at Elena. "Well?"
"I am not sure yet," she answered. "However I think that maybe he will be a valuable ally."
"We'll give him chance to prove himself," Monroe said. "We all agreed as much, but we'll keep an eye on him anyway. Where are Sam and Jess anyway?"
"Still at the conference at Avengers Bunker," said Elena. "It's running over quite a lot, but the revelation of the Martians being on the Moon means that a lot of plans are being revised." She shook her head. "Pen should have gone with them."
"He didn't want to answer their questions," Monroe said. "Still, thinking of an idea to get him out of the way while the meeting's on was sneaky."
Elena stared at him. "You don't think he'll find anything?"
"Oh, he'll find something, he always does. It probably won't be what he's looking for, but I've a pretty good idea that trouble has a way of finding him anyway."
"We've barely scratched the surface," Dragon sighed as the technical staff went through the data. They'd been at it now for e four hours, and though they had narrowed the search parameters down to the compromised activities by the Resistance and SHIELD but there was still a mountain of information to work through and it was as if they were panning the mountain for gold. "There has to be some kind of freaking anomaly in there." He shook his head. "There a smoking room about?"
"Yes," said Cicada. "I often enjoy a cigar in there from time to time." He gave Dragon directions and Pen headed out towards it, passing the doorway to the tunnels that led to the main relays. There were workers who were taking bits away.
"Excuse me," he said, collaring one of them. "What's going on here?"
"Routine maintenance, Commander," said the technician, whose badge named identified him as Drake. "Because of the heightened need for security since the war began, we swap out the algorithm generators from time to time and reset them, in the reprogramming suite, and ready them to be reinstalled."
"And you guys do this all the time?" said Dragon. "You have access to the actual hardware?"
"Yes, sir."
"Drake, how hard would it be to get in there and, I don't know, add something to the systems?"
"Add something?"
"A relay device or some such thing." He could see the look on the man's face as if he were mad. "Humour me."
"Well, sir, assuming they could get past security upstairs both with their identity and by bringing in the equipment, they'd need to get access to the systems and the hardware. Each of those requires being signed in and out, having their signature confirmed by the duty officer. Then they're issues with a LTP..."
"A what?" Dragon interrupted.
"Limited time pass, for access to the tunnels." He pointed at the slot for a card to be inserted. "They only have a maximum of four hours before their card runs out, in which time they have to get to the systems, which are about 100 miles away to do their job and get back. The shuttle travels at approximately 150mph so you have 40 mins to get to the front part of the systems, and it takes about an hours and forty-five minutes to get to the far end, and that's at top speed. It takes that to get back again as well, and if takes half an hour to do the job then you've worked well. If they go over the time on the card they're sealed in and the duty officer and project director need to authorise their release." He looked a little sheepish. "Trust me, sir, you only do it the once."
"I see," said Dragon. Drake was right, it was almost impossible to get in there, but his gut instincts told him that was what had happened, that somehow security had been compromised and someone had gotten at the hardware itself and if they could do it once, then they could do it again. "But how did they do it?" he mused. His need for a cigarette was forgotten as he went back to the control room. "I think I know how they did it, if not how they did how they did it." He explained his idea.
"That's almost as unlikely as them breaking the encryptions," Cicada said. "Maybe we're looking for something that simply isn't there."
"Maybe," said Dragon. "But my gut is telling me that we need to look in there. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Unless…" He tapped a few keys on the console. "Yes..." He sighed. "Look at this."
"It's routine maintenance." Cicada wasn't seeing it. "It just happens to be around the time the incidents…" Then he saw it. "Wait, what's that?"
"Items replaced. Not reprogrammed." Dragon knew that it meant something. "Where do we get replacement parts? It's not like we can order them direct from somewhere. Where did they come from?"
"They came from the Japan office of Stark/Fujikawa," Cicada said, "to the exact design specifications of Tony Stark himself. In the first wave of attacks, we had a lot of the systems damaged by feedback and we had to replace a lot of the systems. There's not many parts left these days but we use them if necessary.
"Right," said Dragon. Was it possible that there was a batch that had been sent to them, and now and only now they were being used? This was a major breach, true, but it could have been a lot worse. "I think we found the problem."
"But with Japan in ruins, it would be impossible to find out if that was where the problem originated." Dragon mused a moment and made a decision
"Get in there and have those parts pulled and examined fully. I also want to know who installed them," he said. "Find out and let my people know what you find."
"What about you?"
Dragon smiled. "I'm heading to Japan."
