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Title: In the Eye of the Storm, Ch. 31 (The Pursuit of Weapon X, part 2)

Author: W6C Email: wolverine6claws@yahoo.com

Dated: July 11, 2010

Rated: R/NC-17 for violent content

Summary: The Weapons Plus Project engineers and scientists, with the assistance of Colonel Wraith and the military, continue to hunt Weapon X. They attempt to re-acquire their escaped test subject at the Xavier Institute only to find opposition waiting for them.

Disclaimer: The X-Men, Col. Wraith, Col. Fury and SHIELD are not owned by me. I borrow them to tell stories and when I’m done with them they are returned to Marvel and its subsidiaries intact and no worse for wear. No disrespect ever intended toward the X-Men or their creators or owners. No profit is garnered by the author of this story for this story.

Author’s Note: The story idea is mine. The characters never seen anywhere else but in this story are created and owned by the author of this story; these include Dr. Devan Maier, Dr. Felicia Russ, Dr. Roger Lindsay, Dr. James Godin, Dr. John Carlton and Dr. Sid Garra as well as many supporting characters seen throughout the story. Professor Eichmann only shares the same name with a real Prof. Eichmann who had no connection to anything like what is described here.
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Chapter 31

The Pursuit of Weapon X, pt. 2


* * * *


Victor watched Logan closely. He knew that all the information he’d given was a lot to swallow in one sitting but it was imperative that he and the X-Men understood the urgency. There was no time to waste.

“We need to go, Logan… now,” he repeated calmly.

Logan’s gaze rose to meet Creed’s. The two men stared at each other for a moment and then Logan nodded. Creed grabbed Logan’s arm without anymore delay and led him toward the door of the library. He moved so fast, without waiting for permission that his actions startled the others.

“Wait!” Storm said, moving to block the exit. “Let us help. We can help you.”

“You’ll be more help by staying here. Get in their way. Give us time to get a head start,” Victor told her, his large hand gripping Logan’s elbow possessively. He kept himself between Ororo and Logan as the weather witch stepped between them and the way out.

“What if they do not come here?” she pointed out.

“They’re coming here,” Victor assured her. “They’re coming here and they’re bringing an army with them. This will be their first stop and it’s going to take all of you to keep them at bay.”

Kurt stepped forward and approached Sabretooth. “I can help you get a head start,” he offered.

Victor glanced at Nightcrawler, sizing him up against the weight of the two ferals. “You think you could transport both of us?” he asked, leaning threateningly close to Kurt.

“Size only matters if we end up materializing in mid-air,” Kurt told him.

Victor turned to look at Logan. In turn, Logan realized he was being scrutinized and shook himself out of his own thoughts to look back. When he realized Wolverine was still functioning mentally, Creed turned back to Kurt.

“How far can you take us?” he asked.

“Three miles is my maximum distance. Perhaps two point nine with all three of us,” Kurt informed him.

Victor tried to calculate that distance against what he could remember of Wraith’s ability to pick them off with his own teleportation abilities. That was why Kestrel was designated to be their extraction man on covert missions many years ago; his mutant gift of teleportation allowed him to transport other people, even in groups with equipment, from one distant place to another as long as they were within his maximum reach.

“That should be good enough,” he concluded and gave Kurt a nod.

“You should let me change your dressings before you go on the lam,” Hank suggested with a hint of a smile; it was just a hint though as Logan could see the worry in his friend’s eyes.

“No need,” Logan assured him. The two men were experts when it came to surviving in the wilderness, injured or not. Seconds later the sound of helicopters reached Logan’s ears and he raised his head on alert. Half a second behind him, Creed did the same and they both spun toward the large windows.

“No time!” Victor snarled.

“What is it?” Cyclops asked, coming to attention as well.

“Choppers,” Logan growled and a beat later the thundering sound of rotor blades shook the room as the heavy gunships hovered over the mansion. Blinding spotlights suddenly lit up the library as chaos sprang up outside on the estate grounds.

Bobby and Hank moved to the window to see what they were up against as a dozen large trucks roared up the long driveway. The brakes squealed as the lumbering two-and-a-half ton trucks came to a lurching halt as dozens of armed personnel began to deploy from the back of them, racing to take up their positions.

“We’ve got lots of company!” Bobby shouted.

“Now!” Victor shouted over the noise and wrapped a meaty clawed hand around Kurt’s arm. Kurt nodded and laid a hand on Logan’s shoulder and the three disappeared, leaving only a swirl of smoke where they’d been standing.

“Let’s move!” Cyclops shouted and the X-Men scrambled to action.

As Nightcrawler vanished with Logan and Victor, the X-Men moved to defensive positions; some exited the library and raced down the corridor even as windows exploded inward, showering them with shards of glass as troops burst through them to make entry. Soldiers kitted in black gear and night vision equipment raided their home by the dozens and Storm halted amidst the chaos to call the mighty winds to her.

The air churned inside the mansion producing a powerful vortex. Friends and foes alike began to scramble for purchase in order to keep themselves from being flung around by the tornadic current. The X-Men assisted each other to safety zones to either side of the large open hall space as Storm took care of the interlopers in the main hall and Great Room entrances.

Their foes, however, were not as fortunate as the storm queen directed her elemental power toward them. Some of the younger soldiers had never been in combat situations before against mutants and froze as they came upon her. The vision of the tall black woman with the snow white hair, which now stood up on end as she summoned the power of lightning, stopped them in their tracks. The static electricity levels rising in the air around them made their skin crawl as every hair on their bodies stood on end even beneath their heavy body armor.

As the rookies stood dumbfounded and awestruck by her presence and the powerful forces gaining strength inside the building, they were pushed aside or run over by the veteran mutant fighters among them. As the troops poured into the mansion through every window and door, Storm unleashed her fury. Weapons were raised and aimed at target, sighting on the beautiful weather witch… fingers began to squeeze on triggers and targeting lasers appeared as red dots upon her face and dappled her dress.

“Take her!” a booming voice ordered from an unseen position.

A few shots went wild as in that instant Storm took them down in one fell swoop. The wall of wind slammed into the armed men, lifting them off their feet and carrying them backward at high speeds. They slammed into furniture and walls and some were catapulted back through the doors and windows they were just breaching to enter the home.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


They materialized nearly three miles away from the mansion, still on estate property, and Logan stumbled a bit as he re-appeared on uneven ground. Luckily both his companions still had hold of his arms for support and kept him from tumbling over. He looked around the night woods to try to get his bearings, hopping slightly on his good leg to gain his balance. He knew every inch of these forests but it took a moment to recognize the shadows and tree formations.

“We are northwest of the mansion,” Kurt offered and Logan nodded as things became familiar. “I can take you further ---“

“No need. We got it from here,” Creed told him gruffly.

Kurt opened his mouth to challenge Victor’s answer but that’s as far as he got as a familiar sound echoed through the woods toward them. All three turned in the direction it came from and looked to the treetops as a bright red beam of light sliced through the night sky. Explosions and rapid gun fire were also heard clearly even from that distance in the silence of the sleeping forest.

“We gotta go back!” Logan shouted and turned to Kurt.

Victor however had other plans and pulled Logan away from the teleporter; pressing him up hard against his chest, his breath hot against Logan’s face. “We can’t go back! It’s you they’re after.”

“That’s why we need to go back!” Logan growled.

“That’s precisely why we can’t go back!” Victor snarled. Logan pushed against Victor, trying to free himself from the larger man’s grasp. Kurt watched the two ferals push and pull against each other but it was a short-lived match. Logan still wasn’t up to full strength and the teleportation had left him a bit off balance.

“Kurt!” Logan shouted at him as Creed wrapped his arms around his body, trapping him in his embrace. “Take us back!” Wolverine ordered and Kurt’s gaze shot to Victor.

“One more jump, Elf!” Victor growled, using the nickname he’d known Logan to use for the demonic-looking mutant. He grabbed Kurt’s sleeve. “Get us away from here so he can’t go back!”

Kurt nodded. The order served two purposes; Nightcrawler got what he wished for, to help them get further away from the goons hunting them and also served Victor’s need to keep Wolverine from being able to return to the mansion to help his friends. He quickly gripped Logan’s shirt sleeve and they were gone again, re-appearing in a new spot now nearly six miles northwest of the estate.

When they appeared in a clearing, Victor looked up at the starry sky overhead and nodded. Logan drooped in his arms a bit and he looked down at him curiously. “What’s the matter with him?”

“He’s been healing from a life-threatening injury… one that you caused,” Kurt reminded him. “His systems are weakened and his acute senses make him vulnerable to the effects of teleportation. It’ll take him a few minutes to get his equilibrium back. He’ll be fine.” Victor nodded that he understood and Kurt let go of their arms and stepped back. “I need to go back. I need to help.”

“Yeah,” Victor agreed. “Thanks for the ride. Good luck.”

“You too,” Kurt returned softly. He lingered briefly; looking at his best friend now held in Sabretooth’s arms and hoped he was doing the right thing by trusting Creed with Logan’s fate. He shared a last look with Victor, who nodded once in assurance, and Kurt ‘ported back to the mansion to help his teammates.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


In the kitchen there was more chaos as Cyclops’ optic blasts tore through the walls of the mansion, mowing through dozens of armed intruders as he and Bobby took up positions at the back entrance to the mansion. Bodies of soldiers, still on their feet, were scattered about the lawn and patio like eerie ice sculptures; a merciful death as they were flash-frozen instantly with their breath still in their lungs. Their company officers had been frozen while still shouting their orders or waving the troops forward.

In the library, Hank and Colossus were dispatching the raiders with brute force and super-human strength. McCoy’s agility and power were assets to him in the confined space; he pummeled the intruders as they entered the room through the large French windows, one after another. Colossus’ steel form was more than enough to protect him during battle as he helped Beast to protect Professor Xavier who was now trapped inside the room. At the moment, it was an ideal sanctuary as Charles maneuvered his chair into a corner with his back against the wall. He assisted his team by telling them the next position of entry or attack as he read the minds of the militants invading his home, allowing them all to stay one step ahead of the mutant killers.

Jean was holding her own at the side entrance that led in from the garages. Both her telepathy and telekinesis came in handy as she planned out her defense by also reading the minds of the invaders and knowing where to strike at them in turn; tossing furniture at them as they tried to enter and levitating those who did make entry off the floor and hurling them back outside.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Wraith exited the lead truck, chomping down on the stub of his cigar and surveyed the action. The troops deployed on their pre-set assignments, spreading out over the grounds and forcing their way into the buildings while other platoons followed their leaders into the woods, following the many paths and equestrian riding trails that wove into the surrounding forest.

Radio chatter squawked from many directions as team leaders made contact with their team members and relayed information to Operations and Command.

“Bravo Leader to Operations, quadrants one and two are clear.”

“Alpha One to Alpha Leader, we’ve cleared the boat house.”

“Charlie Company to Command, we’ve gained entry to the main house. Stand by.”

Wraith directed his attention toward the main building, watching waves of troops swarming into the mansion. A sudden breeze picked up outside and the force of it bent his head forward, he raised it back up and pushed his hat back up a bit as it had been dislodged. He looked around him curiously as the air pressure changed, making his ears pop.

He concentrated on the sudden shift in the air and realized that it was much more than a stiff wind or a brewing storm. The air current had turned into a vacuum of sorts and seemed to be pulling at him, making him take a step toward the large edifice before planting his feet firmly. Anger rose slightly as he realized his army had found themselves facing off with the X-Men themselves. Just then the air exploded outward, pushing him backward against the grill of the two and a half ton vehicle. He ducked in reflex before focusing again on the house as dozens of windows blew outward, followed by dozens of armed soldiers that were lifted off the ground by an unseen force and tossed like ragdolls onto the lush lawn of the estate.

Wraith grabbed his radio and yelled into it, “Report!”

“We have opposition, sir!”

“No shit! Did you find Weapon X or Sabretooth?”

“No sir!” the voice shouted back over the box. “There’s no sign of them! We’re getting annihilated in here!”

A bright red flash shot into the night sky from the rear of the mansion and the radio went silent. “Reardon? Reardon!” There was no response; the radio was dead…dead like his men.

He shoved the radio in a vest pocket and ran up the knoll toward the main house, scooping up an automatic rifle from one of the downed men on the ground as he raced by. He entered the Great Room foyer and turned left, entering the corridor now littered with bodies and broken furniture. He watched the littered papers, like confetti, fluttering toward the floor.

Wraith stepped over the bodies lying still at his feet, followed by a squad of heavily armed men. He spotted the woman in the hall a few dozen yards away; the woman Creed had told him about. Colonel Wraith sneered at Storm and raised the rifle quickly to aim. Just as he got her focused in his sights, Kurt appeared beside her in a puff of black smoke, grabbed her arm and they both disappeared before his eyes.

In shock, Wraith lowered the weapon slowly, staring at the empty spot the two mutants had just been standing in. “Nightcrawler…” he whispered.

“Sir?” one of the soldiers remarked beside him.

“Nightcrawler,” Wraith repeated. “He’s a teleporter.” The squad of soldiers looked at him and then exchanged looks with each other as Colonel Wraith spun on his toes and headed back toward the trucks. “They aren’t here,” he stated simply, realizing their prey had been transported far from the mansion upon their arrival.

Marching out to the truck he picked up the radio that connected him directly with the Weapon X vehicles staged in a safe area down the road. He reported the situation to Dr. Maier who told him that the situation wasn’t as dire as Wraith thought it was.

“Wait for us at the pre-planned co-ordinates. I’m on my way to you.”

“Yes, sir,” Wraith replied and tossed the mike onto the dashboard. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he told his driver. Tossing a last look at the skirmish around the main house, he radioed to the other troop trucks that hadn’t deployed to follow them.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


After Kurt had left them, Victor began to walk in the opposite direction, his arms still tight around Wolverine.

“Put me down,” Logan told him, trying to wriggle out of his vice-like grip.

“You gonna be able to walk?” Creed asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let me down.”

Victor sighed and stopped on a flat piece of ground to lower Wolverine so he could stand on his own two feet. Logan set down and adjusted the crutches that Hank had given him, leaning on them as he scowled at Creed.

“What,” Victor said.

“We should be back there helping the X-Men,” Logan told him.

“No, we need to be a long way away from there,” Victor told him and turned to continue the hike. Logan kept his spot staring at Creed’s back. When Vic realized he wasn’t hearing footfalls behind him he stopped and turned around. “Don’t make me carry you,” he said. Logan straightened a bit and narrowed his eyes as if challenging the larger mutant. “What is your problem?” Victor asked.

“My problem ---” Logan echoed and hobbled closer. “My problem is that I left my friends back there to deal with trouble that I brought to their doorstep.”

“They’ve known the dangers for years, Logan. It’s their choice… just as it would be if it was you fighting their battles.” Logan lowered his eyes and shook his head, his gaze focusing on the ground in front of him. Victor walked back to stand in front of him. “Your friends… and every other mutant in the world are better off with you as far away from those goons as possible. Do you understand that?” Logan looked up at Victor as he leaned a bit closer, his eyes holding a level of concern that Wolverine had never seen before. Or at least one he didn’t remember ever having seen before. Logan’s scowl softened slightly in the face of what appeared to be actual sincerity coming from Sabretooth. “I know it’s hard for you to really understand the magnitude of what their plans are for you, but you have to trust me, Logan.”

Logan blinked at him, an expression of disbelief twisting his features.

“I know, easier said than done,” Victor told him.

“No it isn’t.”

“It’s not?” Victor asked with a little grin. He couldn’t believe it; Logan trusted him?

“No… saying I trust you is just as impossible as actually being able to trust you,” Logan snarled.

Victor deadpanned at that. “Fine, be that way. I just hope I don’t have to prove to you that you can trust me.” With that he spun around and marched away, leaving Logan to hobble along on his own behind him.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


When Wraith’s convoy arrived at the pre-set coordinates, Dr. Maier’s caravan was already situated in a semi-circle in the dirt lot on the side of the road. Maier’s people were standing outside the vehicles in conversation, obviously making plans regarding their next move.

The large luxury vehicle that he’d had to clean out the day before was off to the right and a large semi-tractor trailer was to the left sitting behind the trailer that had sequestered the winged X-Man from the others when he’d returned.

The Suite itself was sitting to the side with its side door standing open, a soft golden glow from inside spilling out onto the ground. Some of the Weapon X personnel turned casually to look over their shoulders at the military convoy as it entered the staging area, each driver finding a place to park his vehicle.

As his own transport came to a stop, Wraith exited the deuce-and-a-half and marched over to the open trailer, passing by the tractor trailer unit on his way there. He studied the large metal box on the back of the semi; its shiny silver sides reinforced with a dozen metal ribs to add strength to the structure. It was the first time he’d seen the vehicle up close and he laid his palm against the cool surface.

Adamantium.

He stepped back and let his gaze sweep over the entire chamber. It took some doing to create such a large container, along with the trailer that transported it. Someone put a lot of time and energy into making sure the capture of Weapon X was successful to the end. Wolverine would have a hell of a time escaping that container. The one thing adamantium couldn’t slice through …was adamantium.

Satisfied, and impressed, he continued on toward the light shining like a beacon showing him the way. When he appeared in the doorway Dr. Maier looked up and smiled at him. “Colonel Wraith! Do come in… please.”

Wraith stepped up and looked around the interior, noting Dr. Godin and the female doctor “ Russ, he believed her name was - were focused on the panels in front of them. There was a lit screen on the console that looked a lot like a Digital Surveillance Radar display system much like one would see being utilized in an airport tower.

He stepped up into the trailer and looked around carefully. There were a couple of plexi-glass cases on a table in the back corner that held a metal collar, a visor and a high-tech helmet with metal protrusions and dozens of wires attached to it. It had a panel across the front that looked like a safety visor but was of solid material as if used to block the vision instead of protecting it. It had a lens on one side that he figured must affect the right eye in some manner, either for communication or for torture or both. He also noted that the winged X-Man was not present.
"Where's Angel?" he asked curiously.

"You mean The Guardian," Maier corrected.

"Of course. Sorry."

"He's on a mission."

“What is all of this?” Wraith asked. Turning back to address the others he pointed at the console. “Is that an aircraft tracking system?” he asked studying the high tech gadgetry.

“Sort of,” Maier replied, still smiling. “This isn’t exactly like the TRACON systems in airports. This is actually a Personnel Movement Tracking System, a PMTS communications platform. This is advanced technology like none you’ve seen before, Colonel. Its functional capabilities are made possible through a collection of tracking devices situated at precise locations in the lower atmosphere. It operates over a variety of geo-stationary satellites and is designed to automatically transition from one satellite to another as required by the parameters programmed into it at any given time. “

“Like a GPS?”

“Indeed. It was originally designed for Army battle commanders so they could track friendly forces on the battlefield. It’s a satellite-based tracking and communications system originally designed to provide commanders a means to communicate and control the troops and other resources within specific theatre operations. Our version has been modified to specifically track targets that have been specially marked and tagged for surveillance and study… and capture, if needed.”

“Like Weapon X?”

“For one, yes.”

“How did you get your hands on one of these?” Wraith asked. “This technology was created as top secret for military use only.”

“Let’s just say that we have contacts within many government agencies who are able to acquire the tools we need to keep operational and efficient, given the tasks we are responsible for administering and overseeing. The PMTS provides us with digital maps, GPS location data and long band satellite two-way text messaging and visual relay systems. We can operate the PMTS anywhere in the world, from any location, giving over-the-horizon communications to any and all vehicles and troops on the move. Messages are transmitted via satellites in real-time with less than a two second deferment… and locations of troops and vehicle movements are displayed on these computers with NGA maps.”

Wraith’s eyes scanned the myriad of equipment within the mobile lab as he listened to Maier’s explanation of how it all works.

“PMTS was originally fielded with commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software, but when the program was conceived more than fifteen years ago, the military’s long-term vision for its use included a strategy for making product improvements. That concept left us room to modify the system to our exact needs. We’ve been field testing the PMTS and its software for years, using Project test subjects in a two-fold manner. It allows us to keep track of each subject in real-time anywhere in the world, and the live tracking of our subject grants us the ability to study the system’s operations and modify them as needed.

“The significant enhancements we’ve been able to make to PMTS resulted in PMTS Plus, which has successfully passed developmental and technical testing in the field. PMTS Plus contains an embedded military GPS card and an embedded radio frequency identification interrogator within the new long-band satellite transceiver. This embedded GPS card transceiver improves the system’s anti-jamming characteristics.”

Maier paused for a moment to allow any questions Wraith might have. When the Army colonel looked up at him as if wondering why he stopped talking, Dr. Maier continued.

“The RFID interrogator is the enhancement of most significance to our logistics technicians. The interrogator can read active RF tags placed on cargo or containers loaded onto the back of a vehicle… or tags that are embedded within the bio-systems of Project sleeper agents.”

Wraith looked up from the monitor screen again and blinked at Maier. “You have one of these ID tags embedded in Weapon X?”

“Oh yes,” Maier smiled, “it’s been there for over a decade. We’ve recently upgraded it with the newest technology given to us… hence the importance of the anti-jamming capabilities of the unit. Due to its own properties, the adamantium we used in creating our indestructible living weapon also tends to disrupt the radar frequencies we use to otherwise track our subjects. Which has made Weapon X completely stealth capable to everything but MRI tracking… until now.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. has had MRI tracking capabilities for decades…” Wraith mentioned but was cut off by Dr. Godin.

“We are not S.H.I.E.L.D., Colonel. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Director is quite… shall we say, indignant… regarding the Weapons Plus Program.”

“Perceptive man,” Wraith said with a smirk.

“Discerning, to say the least,” Maier agreed with a tight grin. “Colonel Fury has disrupted my plans many times in the past. I’ve taken steps to be sure that his interference will not be an issue in the future.”

“How so?” Wraith asked, always curious about the techniques conjured up that would keep him a few steps ahead of his opponents.

Felicia Russ looked up from her work beside Godin to listen as well. She’d been brought up to speed on the workings of the system she and Dr. Godin were overseeing, but when the discussion behind her turned to include S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director himself she found her attention pulled away from the monitors.

“The recent re-acquisition of our test subject has enabled us to re-evaluate his programming and test his functionality. Some modifications were needed; re-conditioning was paramount, upgrades installed, including the ID card.” Dr. Maier nodded to Godin who turned back to his console to flip a few switches and toggle a couple of levers and a black screen came to life with neon green colors that lit up the dim trailer with an eerie glow and made Wraith squint against the visual assault.

“Active RF tag data are transmitted through the server to PMTS control stations and fed to the RF in-transit visibility server. The original system had control stations that could track cargo as it moved across the battlefield and commanders could redirect shipments on the move as the mission dictated through instant satellite communication. This capability will revolutionize the management of our resources, troops and sleeper agents by providing positive tracking and control capabilities and absolute visibility of all subjects and assets from point of origin to final destination.

“Another enhancement in the military system incorporated a “911” panic button capability. The 911 panic button feature would allow an operator or agent in distress to push a single button on the transmitter and send a message to all PMTS systems that would signal that the subject was in an emergency situation. The message transmitted also provides the receivers with the subject’s serial number and exact location. This feature has been modified instead to read a subject’s RFID tag number which we type into it, match that RFID tag to the subject and send back the location of that RFID tag, and its host carrier, almost instantaneously.”
Colonel Wraith smiled. It was an evil smile that never reached his eyes. “You know where he is.”
“We will… as soon as Dr. Russ inputs this tag number,” Dr. Maier replied and handed the young woman a small black media card.
Felicia acknowledged the instruction with a small polite smile and took the card from the professor’s hand. She looked at it briefly and noted that it looked similar to the memory card she had in her personal digital camera. Dr. Godin pointed to the slot under the radar tracking screen and Dr. Russ plugged it in, her heart was pounding in her chest as they took one more step that promised to bring them that much closer to re-acquiring Weapon X himself.




TBC’d in The Pursuit of Weapon X, part 3





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