The Raid Part 1

(Illyana's perspective)

We all left the jet, our pure black and white X-men uniform tight on my skin as we went down the ramp. I could feel the compacted snow crunch beneath my feet as the snow delicately landed in my hair and face. Piotr was next to me his steel form activated and hulking, his steps leaving large foot prints in the snow.

Everyone was fully suited up and had most of their powers at the ready. It had been agreed after we landed that we would split into two groups. One to hunt down the heart of Stryker's operation and the other to free any mutants or collect any more damning information.

I was a little dubious of splitting up but decided to not voice my worries as everyone else looked very confident in themselves and the plan. The feeling i had been feeling hadn't ceased and had in fact increased but I wasn't sure if it was just my nerves or an actual manifestation of my powers. ' "You'll easily be able to do what I can do with teleportation, something tells me that you'll be even more effective than I am with it." ' I remembered Emelia's words to me not too long ago, but i still felt as it was purely comforting words for me after i expressed my inadequacies.

"Hey, Illyana are you okay? You have been distracted since we landed, especially when you saw the dam."

I turned my head in the direction of Jean who was the one who asked me the question. I had feelings for her in the past, she was still a very beautiful woman and was a role model for me as I got out of Limbo but I could feel the relationship strain as Emelia became my girlfriend, not that we were romantically attached to each other...

"Yeah I'm okay... Just feeling a little off due to nerves is all."

"Mm, okay, just let me know if you need any help or need to take a break."

"Sure, I'll do just that."

Our group started to split after half an hour of walking as Piotr (Colossus), Cyclops, Storm and Logan went in the direction of a side entrance they had discovered from scans, they believed it could lead directly into the base via a ladder.

My group consisted of me, Jean, Slipstream, Rogue and Cypher. Our goal was to save any mutants we find, as long as they aren't hostile, and find any documents that may damn him even further than his office's documents that Emelia was taking to the president at this moment already did.

Not even ten minutes through our walk we identified the main entrance to the base. A large sluice gate tunnel with a massive vault like door on the right side of it was what indicated the bases existence. Several cameras were rotating at the entrance causing us to all hide at the side of the tunnel to avoid the obvious detection radius of the cameras.

"Cypher, can you loop the camera footage for us?"

"Look, I'll do my best but this is spec ops level security, it may take me several minutes, even with my ability."

Thus, hunkered down and leaning against the side of the sluice gate tunnel we waited for Cypher to complete his hack. People shifted time from time as the silence was deafening and only intensified by the pitch black space we found ourselves in. I found a quiet solace in the space as my memories of Limbo slowly started to come back into my mind. They had been coming back in drips and drabs, every now and then i would wake up in night tremors from the ghastly experiences i was reexperiencing. This state continue for several minutes, Slipstream moving his neck side to side in an effort to reduce the tension in his neck, Rogue anxiously toying with her black goth gloves as she flexed her fingers and Jean closing her eyes to focus her abilities, i knew this because i had seen her demonstrate her abilities to the other students several times before.

"Ah... Finally, it's done, the cameras are on a loop. Were safe to go."

"I feel the presence of five guards within the entrance way of the base and no one within one hundred meters of them."

Jean added onto his words as everyone got up and walked up to the entrance of the base. The vault-like door itself was made out of pure steel and had several genetic scanners. Jean looked at Cypher but he merely shook his head, an understanding being reached at that moment. 

'We'll have to force our way in.'

Without any waiting Jean stepped back so she could have full view of the vault door and closed her eyes whilst extending her hands. I swear i could see a faint orange colouration build around her but shook off the idea as I i felt a forceful energy blast towards the door. A monstrous metallic squeal and wrenching screech erupted from the vault door as another pulse of energy flooded into the door causing i to bend inwards, within seconds the noises changed from painful wrenching to a loud cacophony of different pitched noises that resembled a metal beam being drilled into by an industrial tool.

The door ripped apart, the metal fragment that made up the door's original structure fragmenting and blasting back into the base, towards the guards. There wasn't even a fight as the men were shredded into mush by the sheer amount of shrapnel from the door. Blood oozed everywhere and seeped into every crevasse and crack in the stone floors of the room.

We all hurried into the base and very quickly began to clear rooms for any hostile presence. We found nothing except a few doorways leading into a barracks room, sleeping quarters and a door leading further into the base. 

Choosing to enter the base proper we all carefully moved through the corridors and tunnels, the sound of our boots on the concrete deafening amidst the dead silence of the inside of the base. I noticed a distinct lack of personnel in the base as my thoughts took me back to the raid on the school.

"Hey, guys, i think the base isn't fully staffed, we must have taken out a large amount of their members in the assault on the school."

Everyone turned to me, some with panicked expressions but once they heard what i was saying they decided to let me off the hook it seems.

"Whilst it seems as such, we can't assume anything."

Slipstream was the one to speak as he stepped up to the end of the hallway and put his hand out behind him, halting us. 

He turned his head away from the corner and drew his body back. Looking over at all of us he raised his right hand and put up four fingers.

'So there is four enemies to our front.'

We all got close to Slipstream as he quietly mouthed a countdown. '3... 2... 1' On the '1' mark we all went around the corner, Jean instantly grasping two of the hostile enemy as i summoned my sword and slashed the air, creating grey energy to blast into space creating a vortex of wind and pressure that quickly reached the two men who had been surprised and would continue to be so until they awoke. Out team ran down to the end of the hallway and quickly searched the men for ID cards. When we eventually found one we opened up the door they were guarding only to find a long narrow passage way with multiple cages on either side of the walkway.

Muffled cries and stifled voices erupted from the cages as the door opened, hope of food or water probably driving the prisoners crazy. Because we were trained for these situations we swiftly leapt into action and began to open the cages, taking care to calm down the people within. I reached the front of a cage where two women were laying in filth and muck their bodies emaciated and their faces gaunt and hollow. The only reason i could tell they were alive was the fact that my sword, which was currently floating beside me as i stood at the entrance to their cell, was attempting to bathe them in some of its energy in an attempt to aid them.

"Rogue, help, i have two near dead women here!"

I called out to Rogue who had just left a cell because the occupants were dead. She immediately ran over as she grasped the key card from earlier and proceeded to unlock the door. Several more calls for her assistance were called as I went inside and attempted to wake them up. My efforts were in vain however as they were completely unconscious and shallow of breath.

"Slipstream! Could i get you to make a warp connection back to the school?"

Jean was the one to ask next as she helped a man to walk with her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm doin it, just give us a second, fuck..."

I turned back to the women and decided to throw caution to the wind. I slipped my hands below the skeletal looking bodies and hefted them over my shoulders, their weight inconsequential due to their health. I stepped out of the cell only to be met by grimaces and pained looks as everyone in the team felt sympathy for the two women on my shoulders.

"Let's go!"

Red sparks shuddered in mid-air before forming into a bright orange-red portal. Jean led the man she was holding through into the medical ward of Xavier's school as Cypher followed behind her with a child in his arms who was also emaciated. Rogue stayed behind with Slipstream as I quickly followed Jean and Cypher's examples and carried the women through into the ward.

I dropped off the women and travelled back through as Jean stayed and began to do emergency first aid and medical procedures on the emaciated women and child. Cypher and me were back through and started to go through the prison cells again when a massive shudder and tremor vibrated through the whole entire damn followed by the sound of a massive laser hissing across molten cements and stone.

"What the fuck is going on now!?"

I agreed with the question as i looked around. My feelings of dread intensified as I simply began to run towards the other cells, quickly checking for any survivors. Unfortunately the rest of the cells were filled with dead men and women who had obviously only died several hours ago. I gritted my teeth as another shudder suffused the gigantic structure around us. I was starting to feel my nerves increase ten fold as the feeling of dread spread throughout my body.

"Fuck, get back to the school! Now! We need to go! This segment of the dam won't hold much longer... We'll come back instantly to get the others!"

I screamed out towards the rest of the team who quickly nodded and sprinted through the portal. I however felt a ringing static in my ear from the earpieces we were given.

"Jean! Anyone! There is a mutant here who is controlling cyclops he is forcing him to shoot at us, its compromising the integrity of the dam!"

"Damnit! Slipstream, take the soldiers through with you... I'll meet you all back at the school, I'll regroup with the others and take the jet back!"

"Wait, don't..."

Despite hearing his fading words I began to run through the interior halls of the base as cracks began to spread. I swear i could hear a small amount of water trickling as i ran past but i opted to ignore it as i was focused on getting to the epicentre of the laser blasting sounds. My heart beat in my chest as i was getting closer, the adrenaline pumping through my body as me and my sword blitzed down the hallway as fast as i physically could.

'Please just last a little longer dam! Please...'

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