Alaska Unrest: Which of these things doesn't belong?

[Domino]

Dom was soon pulling up close behind Jessie and the dragon, watching as the great red dragon kept plowing through approaching members of the Idiot Corps. "Jessie, you found her?" Dom asked as she stepped over bodies of the mercs Jessie had dispatched upon her arrival. "Nate and I owe you. Big time," she said as she looked into the cell and saw the red haired girl more or less slumped against the back wall of the cell. "Hope? Your father sent us to find you..."

As Dom waited by Jessie's side for the girl to reply, there was something about this place that seemed way too familiar. She did a few quick double-takes as more prisoners came to the front of the cells they were in. "Jessie, I think we better let these folks out..."

The red dragon roared loudly as a rocket came flying down the corridor. The creature tried to bat it back with her wing, but it flew under the great expanse and kept coming at them.

"Hope, if that's you, we need to go, now!" Dom said as the rocket suddenly veered and moved down an adjacent corridor. "This place is getting a it too hot for my liking."  

[Hope Summers]

Hope was dazed at first when Jessie and Domino appeared. Her dad Nathan had shared X-Men history with her, so she knew who these ladies were right away. "Nathan is going to be so pissed!" she shouted as she got to her feet. "Some sicko took my gun...I mean Dad's gun."

"We can get you a new gun," Dom said as she look between Hope and Jessie. "Now, listen to your Aunt Jessie here carefully. She can get you the hell out of here. I think I need to go blow idiots up before I leave, but I'll exit as fast as I can."

As Hope walked out of her cell, she looked at Jessie and Domino and then toward the big red dragon. "They grabbed a bunch of kids, but I think they were taken out of this facility. Jessie, should we go check the computer system before we exfil, or would that take too long?"

 

[Jessie Grey]

Jessie smiled at her niece. "Oh I think we can make time." She said with a sly grin as she psionically pulled the remaining cell doors off their hinges and they headed down the hall. She tossed any soldiers in their way to the side like rag dolls. "I am glad we found you in time Hope." She responded as they seemed to arrive at a computer terminal. "You two do what you need to and we will make sure that no one gets in the way."

Jessie and Shiara stood watch over Domino and Hope.

[Hope Summers]

"Dad always said to trust you, Jessie," Hope said as she tried not to get too distracted by the dragon. "Something weird was happening. Not all the people they took were mutants. Some of them were wizards, and there were some vampires and werewolves. I don't understand why they would..."

Hope gasped as Domino slammed her hand into a part of the console not holding a vital part of the computer. "Jessie, we have a problem. These loons are apparently moving that plan into full force that we heard the command staff talking about," Dom said as she flexed her hand. "Weapon X is dealing in mystics now, and they have a full-blown lab here. We need to find them and destroy this place before they can send their data up the pipeline. Can you scan for crazies while I finish wiping this system, Jessie?"

[Jessie Grey]

"Yes I had heard whispers of Weapon X trying to branch out and honestly as much as I hate it the fact they are doing it is not surprising!" Jessie responded as she listened to what HOPE had asked her and put her hands to her temple. "I can sense them....They are closer than you think." She responded as she looked at Domino. "Domino keep my niece safe....We don't want to lose her again. Me and Shiara will handle the rest." She said nodding to the other woman as her own body erupted in flame.

[Domino]

"Oh boy...you might want to scan this map of the complex first," Dom said as she turned to see Jessie and the big red dragon prepare to free a few prisoners and take down a few crazy scientists and soldiers. "These guys thought booby traps might be a nice idea if what seems to be on this map is real. This makes the Danger Room look tame."

"I can help!" Hope said as she looked at the map and mimicked Jessie's telepathy to show her and Shiara what was on the map.

"Your Dad would be proud, kiddo," Dom said as she looked between Hope and Jessie. "Once you have things taken care of, Jessie, I can blow up the main engineering area and start a chain reaction that should shut this whole place down. Will Ewan need any help? I'm not sure how much Maddie and Amora are helping..." 

 

[Jessie Grey]

"I trust my mo....I mean Maddie."Jessie responded as she wasn't sure what Domino thought about the Red Queen being one of her parents. "Amora may have an agenda but I trust her enough to follow through with this as this will effect those who are magically endowed as well. I trust Ewan will be OK.....As far as your side of it that would be best....Just keep HOPE safe...I fear if we lose her again we won't get her back so easily."

Jessie's flames surrounded her again and both her and Shiara flew down the hall.

[Domino]

Dom almost said something when Jessie started to call Maddie Pryor her mom, but Jessie was from another reality, and for all Dom knew, her mother might have been Maddie and might have been a saint. The X-Forcer decided to keep her mouth shut as Jessie and the dragon woman Shiara started to make their way through the complex.

"These places give me the creeps, Hope, so once we get everyone out, we are blowing this pop stand to kingdom come," Dom said as she dug into her gear and found some of the toys Conor had given to her for missions like this. They were in touch, even if he was half way across the globe, and he did send her intel and weapons when he could. As she prepped the C4 charges, Dom noticed something goofy on the schematic. {{Jessie, be careful when you get to Sublevel 6. There is a room there that seems to be blocked off with a lot of radiation shielding. I have no idea who or what is in there. It might have null field generators around it as well}}

Dom looked at Hope and shook her head. "I wish your Dad were here, kiddo. And I hope Jessie and her friend can get this place locked down fast."

 

 

[Jessie Grey]

"Thank you for the heads up Dom!"Jessie said in response as both her and Shiara went down the halls. Soldiers that stood in their path were no more then ants as they were swatted aside like nothing.

"Shiara what do you think maybe on Sublevel 6? It seems there is also an awful lot of mental shielding going on as well?" The two women approached another group of cells as Jessie did the same thing she did to Hope's cell.

"Whatever it is there is a part of me that wants to know and another that is not so sure...."

[Shiara]

{{I can't sense what is there, but I can sense the things being used to keep us out}} Shiara said to Jessie as they continued their progress through the complex. {{There are a great many wards and bafflers to keep mutant and mystic away from whatever is being kept down there. It might be an advanced lab, or it could be a prisoner or group being held away from the others. Are any of your X-Men missing? Perhaps they have one of your teammates here?}}

Shiara was tired of the soldiers that were coming at them. A small part of her knew they were likely only following their orders, but she had dealt all her life with foolish people who followed leaders blindly. {{I pray that these idiots give up and let us move forward, but I doubt they will}}

By now Shiara's claws were covered in the blood of the soldiers and the oil of their weapons. {{When will people learn that this is lunacy?}}

 

[Jessie Grey]

"When someone is committed to a cause sometimes it's to the death....I guess the saying goes for these men as well unfortunately." Jessie responded as the young Phoenix swept down the hallway getting closer to the door. She could feel the resistance but powered through it.

"Hope was the only one I know of that was missing......Part of me thinks this might even be a test.....Whatever is there I hope for everyone's sake it is important because if it's not I would have reduced this place to ashes a long while ago!"

[Shiara]

The red dragon telepathically nodded to her fellow fighter as Jessie reached the doorway ahead of her. While Shiara's brute strength might have been useful to barrel through things most of the time, this likely required a bit more finesse. {{I think your power would be much better in this situation than mine. What is that old saying about the bull and the china shop?}}

Shiara turned to see if anyone had followed them. She brushed her tail against the wall and suddenly roared in pain. {{The walls may have some sort of component that halts magic. Be careful. It might also nullify mutant powers as well}} The dragon then looked down the hallway they had come through and saw no one advancing on them. {{I feel...someone...inside that room. Many someones. And all the same. I think they are trying to trick us}}

[Jessie Grey]

Jessie could feel the resistance to the magical energy as well which surprised her as well. {"Shiara I can feel it as well. I don't know what is causing it but I intend to find out."} She responded as she moved closer to the door she felt an overwhelming pain hit her. She didn't know what was causing it but it was strong. The energy hit her slamming her back against the wall.

"{"Shiara it' dampens mutant abilities as well."} She said as she fought back against the dampening energy. "ENOUGH!"She screamed as the Phoenix surrounded her almost taking up the whole space. It would not be contained. Her uniform burned away leaving her nude for a moment before inner fire surrounded her. The top of her head downward glowed as a Gold colored headband appeared around her head as her nude body gave way to a tight fitting crimson and black with the Phoenix symbol proudly on her chest. She looked over at Shiara and could feel the slight fear in her aura. She spoke without their mental link. "My friend I am OK." She said knowing others that were linked to her could see what was happening. "But it's time to end this!"Her voice took on an ominous tone as she let loose with a massive blast against the wall as it crumbled and gave way. She didn't know what she would see at that point but she was prepared for anything.

[Shiara]

Shiara was more afraid for Jessie than she was scared of the Phoenix Force herself, but the young woman's reassurance helped greatly. {{Be careful}} she said telepathically as she watched Jessie step into the room. The dragoness moved cautiously to the doorway and mentally recoiled at what she saw inside. Hundreds of tanks lined the room, and the women in the tanks all looked strikingly beautiful and eerily familiar.

{{Jessie, this may be a trap}} Shiara said as she slowly moved into the room and looked at one of the tanks. What Shiara had thought was a full grown woman was at best a slip of a girl, her hair varying in tones from platinum blonde to strawberry red. Another tank held a girl who looked like her skin was made of rubies, and a third was a burned out corpse. None of them seemed to be alive, but there were too many tanks to tell immediately if all those inside were dead.

{{Can you sense life in any of these poor souls?}} she asked as she moved forward a bit more, then stopping to look behind them to make sure no one was coming to attack her or Jessie.

Then an object in the front of the room caught Shiara's eye. It was an obsidian egg. It was large enough to hold a person or a small dragon, but Shiara doubted it was one of her kind. {{Jessie, that egg is radiating power. Have you seen such a thing before?}}

[Jessie Grey]

"Some are very faint but most have left this plain a long time ago." She responded with a sadness in her tone. Her attention was turned toward the egg. {"Yes I have once in my life with my mother...."}She added as she felt the power radiating from the egg but didn't know what to make of it. {"Whatever is in it there is a reason why it's here......And for whatever reason they have it here it is not for the good of the universe that is for sure.} She finished floating into the room and getting closer to the egg.

[Blackguard]

Beyond the back wall of the room, there was a chamber that was not visible to the casual observer. A group of Blackguard test subjects was sealed in stasis tanks, and a set of sensors kicked on once anyone get past a certain point in the main lab area. Temperatures started to rise on each unit, and soon the subjects were freed from their plexiglass chambers.

If it had not been for the nanotechnology developed by Roxxon, or was that stolen by Roxxon, the subjects would have all been naked, but each was soon covered in a layer of nanites that transformed into clothing and bio-armor.

Alarms started to sound both in the room and in the lab as the subjects did what they were programmed to do. Each made their way through a passageway and entered the lab with no weapons visible to the naked eye.

The red dragon had moved to block their entry, but she screamed in pain as one test subject struck her with a set of glowing claws that appeared with a very familiar sound to an X-Man--SNIKT! Soon they were starting to surround the egg and preparing to fight the other intruder in the lab.

[Jessie Grey]

Jessie heard Shiara scream out in pain and could feel the agony amplified through their link. It only made her more angry and more focused on ending this. She was not intimidated in the least by these soldiers as she floated even closer. The wilder side of her spirit had been unleashed and she knew her various family members both her and around the world could feel it. All she could do is have her mind clear to show she was in control.

"Do you really think your pathetic abilities mean anything to me? You defending this egg against me is about as effective as ants defending against a tidal wave!" She roared as she thrust her hands out grabbing two of the nearest guards and throwing them telekinetically against the back of the lab. Her passionate eyes roared to life with fire as she continued forward. She would end this one way or another.

[The Whisperer]

By now Ewan, Maddie and Amora had gotten most of the innocents to safety, but the woman named Cosima was proving to be a problem as she ran to see what had become of the little girl who had been at her side for the early part of the fighting.

"Maddie, I'll try to find our charge," Ewan said to Jessie's mother before he winced in pain. "You should get to Jessie. She needs your help." 

"I will find the girl!" Amora shouted as she batted the last of the combatants in her area over the top of the large chain link fence that surrounded part of the compound. "Get to your beloved!"

Ewan nodded as he and Maddie flew into the building. They passed Domino and the young girl they now knew as Hope Summers before closing in on the room where Jessie and the dragonness Shiara were fighting off more soldiers. It was then that Ewan saw the egg and felt his mind snap back almost violently as waves of first energy and then fire rolled off the object.

{{Jessie, be careful. Don't let them get to the egg. My sister said something to me about an egg like that in the past, or should I say she saw it in a distant future. The one she saw had Jean inside}}

[Jessie Grey]

{"Beloved please be careful...If something happened to you I don't know if I could keep myself together."}Jessie said mentally through their link as she put up a psi shield around Ewan allowing him to move forward. She knew Maddie was able to look after herself but she still kept an eye on her mother just in case.

{"I feel some kind of connection to what's inside Ewan I just don't know what or why?"}She added as she made her way even closer to the egg dispatching any Blackguard that stood in her way. The energy of the egg became even more intense as she got so close she could reach out and touch it.

"I feel it." She said to both Ewan and her mother.

[Domino]

Domino was not happy with how long this whole operation was taking, and the look on her face said volumes as she did the last of her tinkering with the computer system. "Folks, we better get out of Dodge fast!" she yelled over her comm-link to her teammates. "These jokers might have rigged this place to blow a bit sooner than we planned. Do you need help down there?"

"Domino, we should just go to them," Hope said as suddenly Dom could see fire in the teen's eyes. "I'm feeling...something...where they are."

"Where the hell is Nate when you need him?" Dom grumbled as she grabbed her gear and started to move with Hope toward the location of their teammates. "Sorry. I just keep wishing your dad would teleport in right now."

"Me, too!" Hope shouted back as they continued their run down the corridor.

Dom was not going to address what she saw in Hope's eyes just yet. She did not want to think about another Phoenix coming into play just yet.

[Hope Summers]

Hope made it first to the room where Jessie was standing near the huge egg. Ewan, Maddie and the dragon woman Shiara were nearby fighting off some more goon squad guys, but Hope kept focusing on the egg and Jessie. "Jessie, what should we do?" Hope asked as she stepped closer to the egg.

"Jessie, I'm fine," Ewan said audibly as he moved closer to his girlfriend. By now he and Maddie were working in tandem to keep whatever was left of the Blackguard augmented soldiers behind a mystic barrier. "Domino," he said as he looked back over his shoulder, "perhaps you can help keep these faux-Wolverines out of the way?"

"Oh, isn't this just a sight to behold?" Dom said as she fired a few shots at the Weapon X rejects, but they healed just as well as Logan did. "Crap on a stick. I should have known!"

"Jessie, your Mom looks...funny..." Hope said as she pointed toward Maddie. It was almost as if Maddie were vanishing before their eyes as the egg started to vibrate and hum.

"Maddie!" Ewan shouted as as doubled his efforts on the barrier. "Stop your attack. You are expending too much energy, and the egg seems to be drawing it inside."

"The egg!" Hope shouted as it started to fracture. Beams of light and fire started shooting out, and one hit the youngest Summers square in the chest. Soon a small raptor started to form around the teen as fire flared in her eyes. A second beam hit Maddie and sent her flying backward toward the wall. Energy from the egg also swirled around Jessie, and finally two beams shot out of the lab and into the Alaskan skies.

And in the center of the cracked and blackened eggshell was a seemingly lifeless form, but the woman was far from dead as a raptor formed around her as well. It was not as strong as it had been before, but it was powerful enough to stir the embers of the woman's heart and soul as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Jean?" Ewan asked as the building started to shake around them. "Jessie, we need to leave now!"

[Jessie Grey]

"Jessie wasn't sure how to feel about what had happened. She looked over at her mother who had been hit by one of the beams and knocked against the wall.She was worried about Maddie and reached out to her psychically. {"Mother? Are you OK??....."}

She then looked at Hope which had been touched by the Phoenix and she didn't know how to react to it. She kept a sharp eye on her. Some of the energy of the egg swirled around her which she felt strange but nothing bad from what she could tell. The greatest shock came from what emerged from the egg. She stood there in shock looking at the figure.

"Jean?.....Mom?" She said waiting for an answer but her response from her boyfriend caught her attention. She turned and raised her hands putting both her boyfriend, Maddie & Domino in telekinetic shields and started to raise them out of the hole that had started to form. "Love I will get you all out of here but I need to make sure this ends well." She looked at Hope as well. "Hope if you need to leave with the others I understand but stay and I welcome your help."

[The Whisperer]

"I can get Domino and Maddie out of here," Ewan said as he reached out his hand to touch Jessie, "but I do not want to leave you to end this on your own," he added as a green mist started to emanate from his body and filtered through the barrier, moving in and around the Blackguard troops. "This should slow them down, but I am not sure it will kill them. Logan had me try it on him once, and he barely felt a thing. And as for how I did that, well, we are so in tune, Jessie, our attacks seem to work in unison in ways few might understand."

Ewan looked at Hope and then toward Jean. Having Jean and Maddie here spooked him greatly. Having so much Phoenix power in one place with so little of the balance of the MacFeorais darkness could spell disaster.  He was not about to let that happen.

"Once Domino and Maddie are outside, I am coming back," Ewan said as his mist only seemed to annoy the Blackguard more. He flew upward with his charges and blew a kiss to Jessie as Jean finally got to her feet in the egg.

[Phoenix]

OOC: This is a post I have waited to do since Grant Morrison sent Jean packing over 10 years ago...it has been too long--K

IC:

Jean slowly started to stand in the rubble of the shattered egg, and she blinked as she tried to get her eyes to work properly. She had been dead for so long, and she was still not sure about how she got here. She had been nothing more than a collection of bones for so very long, but now here she stood with The Phoenix flowing in her once more. She watched as Maddie and Domino were flown out of the room and then turned her attention to Jessie and Hope. "Daughter," she said softly to Jessie, "and Nathan's daughter," she added as she looked at Hope.

What was left of her burial garments were still hanging on her body, but the raptor that burned inside her soon made short work of them, turning the scraps of fabric into the costume of the White Phoenix. As she set her gaze on the troops before her, Jean could sense the "Logan" in them and felt a knot of pain rise in her gut.

"You will not hurt our people again!" her voice rang out like a clarion throughout the complex, and the compound started to shake around them. Jean saw a red dragon off to the side and watched as its tail swung out and sent the soldiers scattering backward. "Neither mutant nor mystic!"

{{Let's finish this}} Jean said telepathically to Jessie and Hope. {{No one should suffer this again!}}   

[Jessie Grey]

Jessie was taken back for a moment as she looked at Jean come into her own. "Mother."She said with a smile for a moment nothing mattered to her but her mind was then taken back to the situation at hand. Her telepathic message to her and Hope got her attention 100 percent. She looked over at Hope {"Ready for this niece?"} She said as the fire around Jessie grew.