Welcome to Gaia! ::

Inside the cave, Catgirl's comm chirped. When Crystal manages to respond to the sudden message, Bab's voice could be heard, Oracle to Catgirl, what's your status? Is everyone still safe over there? And does anyone need anything like food, drink, or blankets?"

With nothing but the large jacket that Sarah gave her, Caitlin was grateful that she was covered at least. The blushing Amazonian redhead slowly approached Remy LeBeau. Even though Caitlin Fairchild was slightly taller than the lean Cajun, the nervous redhead kept her green eyes cast downward, "Ummm.. Gambit... sir? Ummm.. You mentioned something about the ... 'X-Men'. Can you please... tell me about them? Sarah, Roxy, myself and the others will need a place to go. I need to ... know what your group is like, so that I know we'll all be safe."

With that last statement, Caitlin's eyes came up to meet Gambit's unusual black and red eyes. Gambit might detect a sense that from somewhere within Caitlin Fairchild summoned up a measure of inner strength listen and attempted to read into any possible motives the Cajun may have....

< Jenova Dra'Vaako >


One of her oldest and best trained children, John led Bravo team out to meet the Contact, Arell. They found him just outside of the perimeter, lighting a cigarette. The other six members of his team spread out, one of his other brothers scanning with a high-powered sniper rifle. John stepped up to Arell, looking him up and down through his thermal scanner goggles embedded in his full face helmet. The man was armed, but nothing that could threaten John's mother.

"Boy am I glad t' see y'all! Where Jenosha at?" The cajun man drawled. John made no mention of her at first.

"Where are the rest of your party, Arell? Mother Jenova told us to expect multiple subjects for extraction." Was the first words that the biomechanically enhanced super-soldier asked. Before he took Arell back to Jenova, John would get the rest of the subjects and bring the entire group back to the birds for extraction. He radioed the situation back to Jenova.

"Good boy, John. Go and get the Contact's companions and bring them back here. Move fast and quiet, silence any threat that happens to show itself. Rendezvous back at the Volture in three zero mikes, over and out." Jenova would hold her breath until she heard that her children and Arell were on their way back with the other people that Arell had picked up.


{enter-I.O. Phoenix Base}

Carried Weapons:

○ Nightingale Energy Pistols: Dual advanced energy pistols powered by hydrogen power cells. They have three settings; safe, stun, kill.

○ Tactical Hogleg Shotgun: Small, compact, lever-action shotgun that fires twelve-gauge sabot rounds. Carries five rounds in the tube, one in the chamber.

○ Falcon S77 Tactical .45's: Jenova's favored handgun, the Falcon S77 Tactical .45 caliber pistol. She regularly carries at least two of these handguns plus about ten extra doublestack magazines for each. The doublestack magazines carry twelve rounds each, plus one in the chamber. Both are able to be equipped with laser guides and sound suppressors, which Jenova carries in an equipment pouch.

○ Machete: Jenova carries a rugged, dependable machete for those up close and personal times.


Mongrel Soldiers-Jenova's Mongrel look like so, with slight modifications from Mongrel to Mongrel.

< Jenova Dra'Vaako >


John nodded and signaled to his men to move out. The Mongrels kept up a swift pace, one that regular humans would not have been able to stay with them. Arell seemed to have no problem with the run, however, even though he was smoking like a steam boat.

They reached the cave as Lou, Parker and Skinny headed for it. Three of the mongrels sprinted to and tackled the men, then stood and aimed their rifles at them.

"Identify yourselves now or be shot in the head!" John spoke through the speakers of his helmet to the three captives. The Mongrels would have no qualms about killing these men if they turned out to be anything but some of Arell's companions also in need of extraction. The entire situation was being recorded and sent back to Jenova via combat cams on the Mongrels helmets. The Mercenary leader watched it all with an outlook of anticipation and worry. Every minute they stayed here they risked discovery by I.O. and, though she had almost sixty of her mongrels here, they would be outnumbered and out gunned should they be found and attacked.


{enter-I.O. Phoenix Base}

Carried Weapons:

○ Nightingale Energy Pistols: Dual advanced energy pistols powered by hydrogen power cells. They have three settings; safe, stun, kill.

○ Tactical Hogleg Shotgun: Small, compact, lever-action shotgun that fires twelve-gauge sabot rounds. Carries five rounds in the tube, one in the chamber.

○ Falcon S77 Tactical .45's: Jenova's favored handgun, the Falcon S77 Tactical .45 caliber pistol. She regularly carries at least two of these handguns plus about ten extra doublestack magazines for each. The doublestack magazines carry twelve rounds each, plus one in the chamber. Both are able to be equipped with laser guides and sound suppressors, which Jenova carries in an equipment pouch.

○ Machete: Jenova carries a rugged, dependable machete for those up close and personal times.


Mongrel Soldiers-Jenova's Mongrel look like so, with slight modifications from Mongrel to Mongrel.

< Jenova Dra'Vaako >


"John, strip them as Arell said, but flexcuff them and bring them back to me. They could have more information on the base that we need." Jenova radioed to John when she got a report on the situation. As much as Arell might know, the Mother of the Mongrels wanted to have more, as much as she possibly could.

John instructed the other three men on his team to strip the three men of their weapons and gear as the first three kept them under point-blank gunpoint. Once they were stripped, John personally cuffed them all. He then turned to Arell.

"Mother Jenova wants them for whatever information they might have. Now, call out your companions or we'll leave them for the Buzzards. Two minutes, Arell." John spoke in a harsh, commanding tone. They now had a deadline to make, and John liked to be early on his deadlines.

Back at the Volture, Jenova ordered her men to tighten up the perimeter and prepare for incoming personnel. She anticipated everything to go wrong at the last minute.


{}

Carried Weapons:

○ Nightingale Energy Pistols: Dual advanced energy pistols powered by hydrogen power cells. They have three settings; safe, stun, kill.

○ Tactical Hogleg Shotgun: Small, compact, lever-action shotgun that fires twelve-gauge sabot rounds. Carries five rounds in the tube, one in the chamber.

○ Falcon S77 Tactical .45's: Jenova's favored handgun, the Falcon S77 Tactical .45 caliber pistol. She regularly carries at least two of these handguns plus about ten extra doublestack magazines for each. The doublestack magazines carry twelve rounds each, plus one in the chamber. Both are able to be equipped with laser guides and sound suppressors, which Jenova carries in an equipment pouch.

○ Machete: Jenova carries a rugged, dependable machete for those up close and personal times.


Mongrel Soldiers-Jenova's Mongrel look like so, with slight modifications from Mongrel to Mongrel.

Caitlin heard the disturbance, but the shouted exchange was horribly garbled by the acoustics of the cave. Remembering that she was now super strong and practically invulnerable, the amazonian redhead began to make her way toward the mouth of the cave. Just before she left to go there, Kat whispered to the Cajun thief, "No idea what's going on out there, but I'm going to find out. Check on the others, will ya?"

Carefully padding her way out to the front, the statuesque metahuman clutched her large jacket around herself. Once arriving at the entrance, Caitlin saw the squad of well-armed mercenaries holding some guys she recognized as I.O. guards that faced her in the dep chamber. The redhead also noticed Arell who was calmly smoking a cigar. A skeptical eyebrow arched upward, because she knew these people weren't the heroes she was expecting. Caitlin didn't know if the situation just got better or worse, "Ummmm.... Ooooookay?"

....................

"Ma'am, our sensors detected movement in the canyon."

Ivana Baiul's attention was immediately drawn to the tech that spoke to her in the Command Center. Slinking directly behind the man wearing her sultry evening gown whilst smoking her cigarette on a long black filter, the I.O. director addressed the technician, "Is it our wayward Gen-Actives, Manfield?"

Manfield inclined his head toward Ivana, "No Ma'am. The motion sensors indicate some sort of low flying craft -- probably flying nape of the earth to avoid radar. I think they were two choppers."

Ivana frowned, "S.H.I.E.L.D., you think?"

"That's a distinct possibility, Ma'am."

"Dispatch four Blackhawks to check it out, and get back to me."

"On it, Ma'am."

Arell nodded and looked to the cave. "C'mon, y'all. Dey're de ones dat're gonna get us outta heah! Get on da bird!" Arell hollered as his smoke dangled.

Dun' looked at Caitlin and smirked. "Hey, they aren't I.O., they're good by me. C'mon!" he said, a little bit ready to leave the Desert. Arell doing a quick ammo check as he looked around.

"Y'all get thangs ready, I'll make sure everyone gets aboard!" Arell growled, grabbing one of the ex-I.O. thugs. "If I find out y'all sent dem, I'll kill all FIVE of ya! Un'astan'?" he growled, blowing smoke in the man's face as he led the evacuation procedures.

Bobby looked up as he heard the commotion outside. "So I guess it's time to go, huh?" he asked as he got up, staggering towards the exit and into a VTOL.

< Jenova Dra'Vaako >


As the Hornets screamed down on the Hellfires, the Mongrel pilots split in four directions and let loose their countermeasures, disabling the air to air missiles. Their instruments warned them of the EMP countermeasures of the enemy craft, so they switched to their chainguns and LOS(line-of-sight) rocket pods and engaged the I.O. aircraft.

On the ground, Jenova ushered the evacuees into the Volture and Thundersnow. She then saw the secondary aircraft that was inbound on their position.

"All of you fire at that craft! Bring it down! Now!" As her mongrels, forty six on the ground, all fired their varied high-powered weapons at the inbound craft, Jenova unmounted one of the side chain guns of the Volture and let it rip with abandon towards the incoming airship. The mass amount of lead filling the air would likely bring that bird down in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, the VTOL's were flying circles around the Hornets. The Mongrel pilots had been training since adolescence to pilot the Hellfire's and would not ever be outdone by mere paramilitary pilots. Soon, the Hornets would be decimated one by one until not a single craft was in the air. The I.O. was outmatched in this aspect.


{}

Carried Weapons:

○ Nightingale Energy Pistols: Dual advanced energy pistols powered by hydrogen power cells. They have three settings; safe, stun, kill.

○ Tactical Hogleg Shotgun: Small, compact, lever-action shotgun that fires twelve-gauge sabot rounds. Carries five rounds in the tube, one in the chamber.

○ Falcon S77 Tactical .45's: Jenova's favored handgun, the Falcon S77 Tactical .45 caliber pistol. She regularly carries at least two of these handguns plus about ten extra doublestack magazines for each. The doublestack magazines carry twelve rounds each, plus one in the chamber. Both are able to be equipped with laser guides and sound suppressors, which Jenova carries in an equipment pouch.

○ Machete: Jenova carries a rugged, dependable machete for those up close and personal times.


Mongrel Soldiers-Jenova's Mongrel look like so, with slight modifications from Mongrel to Mongrel.