Graduation Preparation

Their one-week break came to an end and what met them the morning after their break shocked them. It was time for their graduation ceremony. They were too disciplined to ask, but all of them wanted to know if Bruce was crazy.

"You want us to attack a building full of mutants?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Bruce responded.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Harry asked.

"It's up to you, you're the team's tactical advisor. Peter is the team leader. All of the other positions can be decided by you and Peter," Bruce informed him.

"This is impossible!" Harry yelled.

"Don't worry your lives aren't in danger. If you don't complete the training, it's fine. You'll just need to do another six months. If you pass, then you are free to go back to your families. I hear the Servants of the Slumbering Serpents are on their last leg. Depending on how well you do on your final practicum they could go away forever, or prove to be surprisingly resilient," Bruce half-smiled. 

"Alright, I'll leave you to it. I want a plan and resource request to me within three days. Feel free to use the war games room to research," Bruce left and the seven teenagers were left to consider their options.

"Harry, I don't want to go through another six months of training. I miss my family, and I know they're worried about me," Miles said to Harry imploring him with his eyes to find a solution. 

"We can do it, Harry. Remember those scary people we fought? I think we're well prepared for this," Peter said. The others nodded.

"All of you remember that the only people we beat were a couple of humans, correct? Even without powers, that one human beat us up so many times. Now, we're going to fight an academy of mutants that offers combat training, most of whom range from beta to alpha-ranked mutants. There's even a suggestion they might have two Omega-level mutants!"

"Harry, you're Bruce's best student, if you think more positively, I know you can come up with something," Mary Jane said. Harry gulped, how come all of these girls liked Peter so much? He couldn't even let him have one of them? Harry refocused on the problem at hand. 

"I'll do my best, but all of you should be prepared to suffer to pass this test. You should also prepare for another six months of training," Harry voiced his thoughts and went to the war games room. 

"MJ, Gwen, and Miles, I want background, psychological profiles, and mutant level rank and peers of every known X-man. That includes the Brotherhood of Mutants, Hellfire Club, and the Avengers!

Ned, I need you to get me blueprints for the mansion that includes the hidden levels. Use Bruce's backdoor into Stark, the Fantastic Four, and Shield if you need to. 

"Mary Jane, you will infiltrate as a prospective student, ask Bruce for a Mom and Dad robot. No, better have him dig up a couple of actual fake parents who can guard their thoughts against Alpha-level mutants.

Peter, you and I are going to crack this nut Bruce gave us," Peter was the leader, but when it came to planning and general operations, Harry was in charge. Peter didn't care too much, he followed Harry. 

The teenagers got to work, immediately. Harry and Peter came up with the rough outline of a plan. 

"There are over 100 students and staff. There is the primary mansion where the core subjects are taught. Five more exterior buildings that teach other subjects. The staff is about twenty people, while there are about eighty students. 

This doesn't count the former students who often show up unannounced. Random attacks from other mutant groups, internal fights, and consultants who come randomly. 

This is a big mess, but I think a simple plan that can be adjusted later will be our first step," Harry said.

"Great, what's the simple plan?" Peter asked.

"We take out the staff first and then clean up the kids as needed. Bruce's assignment was pretty vague. I'll get some clarification," Harry responded.

"Why can't we do both?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We could attack the students and staff at the same time. Most of the mutants are humans with extra powers, kind of like us. If someone dropped in knockout gas it would slow us down if not knock us out. With the students and staff members of the Xavier Mansion, It would reduce the number of people we needed to worry about quickly," Peter said. 

"The problem is that the powers of the mutants vary that we would have to weaken the knockout gas so much that it wouldn't be very effective," Harry responded. 

"If you say so, I think even if we used the least powerful knockout gas it would save a lot of time. It could cut their student force by half, and if we catch the teachers off guard it could take down even Omega-level mutants. 

"Okay, I'll consider it after we've received the intel, but for now the order is Staff and then students," Harry compromised.

"What about smoke bombs laced with fear gas, we're not using those are we?" Peter asked. 

"Against the staff, I plan to use those. The students, I don't want to cause any lasting trauma. Some of these kids are as young as six years old!" Harry responded. 

"I guess this plan will have to do until we gather more intel," Peter said.

"Yeah, let's look at the gear we can use on this mission," Harry said as he and Peter went to a terminal.