Attack on Washington Three

[jean]

Jean remained standing still in her crater. The cosmic flames continued to radiate from her body and the psychic energies causing various debris to float and dance around her. The phoenix raptor spread it's wings around Jean to shield her from Lorna's EMP blast. SHEILD had begun to flee the scene leaving just Jean, Sage and Gambit to handle the mistress of magnetism and the sentinels that had become active again. Sage's message was received as was Lorna's words.

"Your war is none of my concern." It was Jean's voice, but clearly not the telepath herself speaking. The phoenix had only ignited to protect it's host from harm of this battle and felt it necessary to remove Jean from anymore potential harm, not interest at all in engaging in combat. It's wings blazed again and the telepath was carried off into the sky by the aura of the flaming raptor. A loud screech was heard as her figure disappeared into the atmosphere.

The Phoenix has left the building.

[Chain]

It took every ounce the girl had to force herself back into consciousness. She was not going to go down like some chump! Carefully she pulled herself and her broken arm hung limply at her side. Ragged, bruised, bloody and somewhat broken and she slowly limped her way towards Gambit. "Remy... Gimme cards... Take my the broken hand and let's see if we can do something?" She doubted that they'd really be able to phase Polaris since not even the Phoenix seemed to slow her down. The world was pretty much just a bunch of noise and she was suffering from tunnel vision. A Sentinel could be coming right at her at the moment and she wouldn't register it. The tiny blond hurt like all hell but was too stubborn to stay down.

[Gambit]

Things were quickly becoming...well for lack of a better word, annoying. His cards did nothing. They still exploded, sure, all that energy had to go somewhere and a laser wasn't going to stop it. However, the laser caught his cards before they had gotten close enough to do anything that would actually faze the green haired woman. He could have gotten around those lasers easy enough if he threw enough cards, but he was pretty far off now. They'd be easy to pluck out of the sky if he tried throwing them.

Standing and brushing himself off, Remy could only watch as the battle played out before him. It was still a bit hard to move, his body still felt stiff and a bit beat up from the hard landing. He was too sluggish to make a difference, but on the bright side nothing was broken. He just had to watch for that opening.

Whatever that blue wave had been it didn't seem to have done anything. Congrats to the walking flag. Gambit glanced over to where he last saw the guy, but didn't see him. So either Remy was going color blind or the guy had left. He'd assume it was the latter.

Shielding his eyes as debris suddenly rushed past him and people within his line of sight dropped like flies an odd feeling washed over him and everything went black for a moment. Whatever had happened it hadn't really been that effective on him. Strange thing about his powers, they had all sorts of interesting effects. He remembered someone once telling him that his body was full of charged energy.

Gambit's attention was drawn more to just what Polaris was doing. Seeing that she was careful not to cause any direct death, he could help but wonder just what was her goal. What was the point of this?

Turning at the sound of a familiar voice, his eyes came to rest upon Kelly. The girl was a mess. Taking her in his arm in order to keep her from putting too much weight on that limp, he spoke up, "Easy, Petite."

He looked past her as Jean soared into the sky, disappearing from the battle. Just how many of them were left? Most of the people had passed out, many of the team were nowhere to be see, and Polaris was still going strong. He sighed while trying to move her to a safer area. He could stall Polaris, but he doubted he'd be able to beat her head on. But he wouldn't be able to distract her while keeping Kelly from getting herself killed.

He handed her a deck and said, "Ah'd aim for Polaris, if ya wanna distract her. I got dat hunk of metal over dere." He said nodding at the berserk machine that was firing all over the place.

"Ah'll even show you how its done." He grinned at her and took out his own pack of cards. Card after card, each charged with to detonate upon impact, flew from his hand until there were none left in the deck. Some of them might not hit because of the distance, but they were sure to do some kind of damage. "Its all in de wrist, Petite."

[Polaris]

[/b][/size][/color]

With one hand, Polaris latched onto Sentinel #4, keeping it in place with her electro-magnetic energies. These should keep Sage inside, for now. Lorna's left hand - the holding one - remained gestured, maintaining her target as she turned to glance at the current situation: Phoenix had fled, taking with her the X-Men's best and, at the moment, only chance of prevailing. Sunshine and Chain were practically battered, probably only able to hack and wheeze blood, while Rogue remained on the sidelines with Gambit... speaking of which:

Ka-Boosh~!
Ka-Boosh~!
Ka-Boosh~!

Explosions, and lots of them. Sentinel #1 was hit many, many times, so much so it endured dented armor and wobbling backwardness. There were other cards, and unsure of who they were aimed for, Polaris ignited her electro-magnetic shields - the same she had been building since the beginning of the fight - to meet the cards head on. Many poofed into smoke, while some went further than others, though they all either dissolved or went boom.

The Cajun's strong, very. His energy is able to, in some cases, get through. If he could better focus, or get a superior angle, he'd present a severe problem. I calculated going another three or four hours, but at this rate, I'll be fortunate to make the 120 minute mark. No matter, the battle is practically my victory, though I must admit... they're not weak, just lacking passion for this dream of Xavier's and not theirs.[/color]

Charles Xavier had an entire school fighting for him, and nobody else. He'd send others into combat for his own social standpoint, staying behind to watch and ponder the results. That was disappointing, but even more of a let down was the fact such potentially talented individuals flocked under him, and they'd never know their true worth. Oh well, let them learn from a good ol' fashioned beat down, maybe that'd knock some sense into these aspiring heroes.

Ka-Boosh~!
Ka-Boosh~!
Ka-Boosh~!

More explosions upon Sentinel #1. Eventually the titanic terror fell upon his back, crashing into the ground, but still firing. Interestingly enough, the metallic creature was blackened, an obvious sign of extreme effort on the part of the Cajun. Maybe Lorna had been wrong about Gambit, perhaps he wasn't a worthless Swamp Rat. However, Polaris never admitted when she was wrong, and decided it was time to make her conclusive exit.

"Swamp Rat!" Gambit could do well to listen. "I would heavily advise ceasing in your efforts. You lost your chance long ago, to continue will accomplish nothing." Already reports of the Brotherhood's failures came in, Polaris could just look around the Washington area and see that. It probably didn't hurt her assumptions either by Captain America's dramatic departure, or her father Magneto's failure to establish communications with the world on their mission success; it had been many hours, but nothing, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to put everything together.

"Jean has abandoned you, leaving this... shamble you would dare call a team, without anything." Polaris was smirking, and would retain that scowling look for the rest of her speech. "But even the Chinese could win a few wars with quantity, they just lacked the quality to extend further. That in mind, you've all taken out four sentinels, delivered a lucky shot or two on me, and... best of all, held out. For that, you have my praise - my sympathies more."

However, if that did nothing to sway the Cajun, then Polaris would attend to that now. Left hand reinforcing it's grip on Sentinel #4, Lorna looked directly at the thief's own eyes. "You have a thing for pretty women, or so I've gathered.," she said, acknowledging the battlefield budding between Rogue and Gambit. "There exists a good chance you'd not want to be around any other kind, which is why I'll burn this woman to the brink of death - hair, skin, even her organs - if you dare resist any further. The same goes for the rest of you, stand down, or watch the embodiment of your efforts disfigure this woman."

Polaris wasn't playing around, though again she refused to kill anyone directly. The Sentinels would, but they weren't under her control, and Lorna would not. But that did not mean she was soft, or was above inflicting critical injuries to someone, especially someone foolish enough to think Polaris wouldn't use her own metallic 'team mates' as tools.

Even if Sage tried bailing out, that electro-magnetic shield would be inclined to keep her inside. All those wires she was fiddling with would become filled with a surging energy, enhanced by Polaris herself, and shock the woman if she didn't move. Otherwise, it was pretty safe to say Sage was trapped like a rat.

The good news? Taking into account recent events and the latest occurrences, Polaris was getting weaker. If one could know, the Mistress of Magnetism was riding fairly at 63% until exhaustion kicked in. The remnants of Jean's psychic energies combined with the countless tasks Lorna performed, as well as defending herself from a barrage of attacks, were catching up to Polaris.

It'd only be a matter of time before Polaris flat out obliterated their optimism, or her powers waned. Only time and proper decisions would determine which happened.[/ul][/font]

[Sage]

Sage gritted her teeth in pain as Sentinel 4 came to a halt, bouncing the already wounded cyberpath around inside the Sentinel. Honestly, there had to be an easier way of doing this. But no, Magneto had needed to reprogram the Sentinels so she couldn't access them remotely. Great.

Her hands scrambled at the panel, prying at it with both her knife and her hands. She couldn't hide a smirk as it popped off in her hands, revealing wires that would control the robot's every function.

She closed her hand around the bundle of the wires, probing through them with her cyberpathy.


MISSION ASSIGNED: DESTROY ALL WITHOUT X-GENE, ENSURE NO SURVIVORS, AND BURN AMERICAN CAPITAL TO GROUND.......

PRIORITY THREE: PROTECT LIGHTNING QUEEN.....

A second spike of her cyberpathy was aimed at the sentinels control system- triggering its shutdown sequences. Or rather, that's what she aimed to do- surging energy form the so-called Lightning Queen herself raced through the wires.

Sage had been shocked before- given her cyberpathy and habit of taking computers and various electronic devices apart and then putting them together again, it was no surprise that she had. But the energy was much stronger then a little zap this time. Sage screamed in pain, wrenching her hand away from the wires to see it was covered in eletrical burns.

She had no way of knowing if her attack at the Sentinel was successful or not- that would require contact with the system, which was rendered impossible by the current running through the wires.

[Chain]

When he put his arm around her, Kelly refused to lean on him. She was bent a bit and let out a pained whimper when she stood up fool. A sharp pain laced up her side and she was having trouble breathing. Her eyes focused on Remy since she really couldn't see anything else, and she nodded at his instructions. She took the deck in her good hand and slid them into her pocket, then her broken hand was resting against him. She just needed to be touching him.

Kelly slid out one of the cards and looked at Lorna. She was worried that Remy might bail on her or tell her to stand down because of Rogue. The tiny blond was too pissed at the moment. "Will you shut the fuck up!" God villains annoyed the hell out of her with their constant chatter. Blue eyes were blazing as she held the card like Remy showed her. It's all in the wrist. She reached for it and flipped the switch, then she held it for a full minute. Under her breath she muttered something she heard Remy say the first day they met. "First you charge the card." The card flared to life and she let it fly right for Lorna. "Then you blow it up." She refused to fall though her legs nearly buckled and she was already going for the second card.

Her head turned slightly when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. She saw Penny crawling her way towards Rogue and trying to get up and drag her behind a barricade of debris. The the chunky butt curled herself around the other girl in a protective manner, blood staining the back her head and clothes.

[Gambit]

It was obvious to Remy that Kelly was killing herself. It was probably only that stubborn pride of hers and the adrenaline in her veins that kept her from passing out. That wouldn't have been too bad if she at least tried to take it easy, then she would be able to hold out till they could get her healed, but she didn't take any help from him. This was a really bad time for her pride and anger to get in the way of her reason.

Gambit's attention went back to Polaris. She was still calling by the title "Swamp Rat" so it was kind of obvious when she tried to get his attention. Just what was with her and the name calling? He better watch her, she might try to start shooting spitballs at the back of his head and steal his lunch money soon if he wasn't careful.

Remy said nothing as she continued to gloat, but merely met her eyes with his own as his face betrayed none of his emotions. Her words held truth to them. He doubted Jean would be returning anytime soon, Sage was trapped and being used as a hostage, Kelly was too beat up, and Rogue along with Penny were probably still out cold. His mind raced with possible solutions. Anything that could get them all out of this alive. Gambit didn't want the deaths of teammates to hang over him nor did he didn't want to gamble with Sage's life.

He spared a glance to Kelly when she screamed at Polaris. Absently he noticed a breeze beginning to pick up. Almost unnoticable, but it was there. However, Kelly's muttered words cause his eyes to widen a bit. She wasn't thinking! Before he could say anything to Polaris a single card was sent flying. Damn! Polaris would surely take it as a attempt to resist. He really wished Kelly would have given him a bit more time to work with. There wasn't much of a choice left, Gambit had to react. Polaris was holding all the cards and Sage's life was in danger whether he chose an action or no action at all.

Sacrificing speed for accuracy, Gambit unleashed a deck of cards all at once. As they all scattered in Polaris' direction, riding that breeze to give them a bit more distance, he let loose another deck right after them. An entire web of glowing cards moved to engulf Polaris and capture her in the center of what was sure to be a mighty big boom.

It was desperate and Remy was taking a big gamble with Sage's life, but he didn't really have much choice in the matter anymore. Hopefully the explosion would distract the green haired woman's attention long enough while she escaped or defended herself for Sage to get out of that thing. As for him, he was stuck in his current position. If he moved to help Sage he would leave Kelly along with Penny and Rogue at Polaris' mercy. And with her actions with Sage, Gambit didn't doubt she'd take them as leverage.

Breathing hard from the strain of his power being used so much, he tried to come up with a backup plan should this attempt fail. If those gals on his team had any gods, they best start praying this works.

[Polaris]

[/b], Polaris wiggled her left hand's fingers as Chain charged and launched a card at her. Maybe if the girl didn't shout what the hell she was doing, she'd have had better luck, but no matter. Lorna merely moved Sentinel #4 in front of her, using it as a shield that took Kelly's attack.

Ka-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH~!!!

"Attacking me when your own teammate is right here?," she asked, a smirk ever present upon her face. "How utterly pathetic you've become in your formations, risking the well being of your own comrade just to hit me."

Then, as if to add another coating of ignorance, Gambit attempted to do the same thing. However the Swamp Rat didn't cry out, and he followed up at a decent time. This granted him an advantage, obvious the moment the cards began slamming into Polaris and her electro-magnetic shield, knocking her back and causing quite a ruckus. Three cards slipped through, only to dissolve mere inches from Lorna's figure. He's starting to learn... acknowledged the Mistress of Magnetism, slightly impressed at the Cajun's attempts. However, he didn't have the team to do much else, but it was worthwhile nonetheless. It just wasn't enough!

Kr-szzzzsk~!

Hissing streams of smoke snaked upwards, rising into the air from all areas and angles, due to both the card-thrower's attacks. As it began to clear, it was obvious only Sentinel #4 took damage, while Polaris remained hovering in the air in all her glory. But if one could read minds, they'd quickly realize that with the latest dual attack, her power capacity was rapidly falling - and faster than she'd calculated, too! At most, Polaris could go another hour and a half, and was roughly at 52%, almost halfway done.

"You truly are idiots.," she said finally, relieving the silent tension building. These X-Men were either desperate for victory or stupid in combat, Lorna wanted to lean towards both. "As it stands now, do you actually think you can change anything? From the looks of it, your teammates have stopped the rest of the Brotherhood, but me... me... I'm a totally different story, darlings. I don't roll over and die, at least not to childish antics like that." However 'childish' they were, they were packing more of a punch that Lorna would like to admit.

Sentinel#4, now missing it's left arm and both legs and decked in holes and burn marks, remained in the air with Sage still inside. Curiously, Lorna wondered what Chain's attack did to the cyberpath inside, but that wondering ceased the moment Polaris shifted her fingers and immediately Sentinel #4 began to change form, becoming more of an orb shape, tightly packed and layered. This is it. At my rate, I won't be much good any longer. All the sentinels are trashed, and bringing them back would be a waste of energy. The Brotherhood is practically done, it would be best to depart now, but not before... she began plotting, glancing up towards the horizon where she sent Captain America's Vibranium shield earlier.

"Good game, X-Men. However..." Lifting her left hand, Polaris reared it back and then, Sentinel #4 moving in perfect synchronization with her hand, threw the metallic orb far off and into the distance. "... your friend could use your help, unless you think otherwise. But I warn you, coming after me would be the most foolish thing you could ever do."

That said, Polaris collected remaining remnants of electro-magnetic energy, and surrounded the metallic orb. Focusing for just a moment, she released it in a powerful blast - not one enough to kill mind you, just to horribly burn the flesh and hair off one's body - with the intention of capturing Sage inside of it. Unless Sage could counter her electro-magnetism or break through metal, it was very unlikely she'd get out of this. Besides, Polaris didn't kill her, just use her as a mark so the X-Men would know not to mess with the green-haired vixen. Also, there was probably someone who could heal Sage, but the damage would be done.

If the X-Men went to tend to their friend, Polaris would rise into the sky and vanish, leaving the battlefield. If not, well, she had more tricks up her sleeve.[/font][/ul]

[Sage]

Ka-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH~!!!

An explosion rocked the Sentinel, and Sage cried out in pain as she was slammed back in the Sentinel. The back of her head hit the metal hard- dazed, she was unable to do anything for a moment except try and blink the stars that where dancing in front of her eyes away.

That was probably a concussion, she noted, lifting her arm up to cover her eyes from where the sunlight was shining in…

Wait, sunlight.

Kelly’s explosion and the follow-ups blasts from Gambit had managed to knock something loose- some kind of panel or something, apparently, but Sage didn’t particularly care what it was at the moment. She needed to get out of this robot, and now.

She threw her weight against it, ignoring the metal that cut at her. She fell out- and not a moment too soon. The Sentinel began to change shape, becoming more of a ball… something from which escape would have been impossible from for her.

She fell to the ground, her fall stopped by a conveniently placed car whose roof buckled as she crashed into it. Sage cried out once more, her already bruised body screaming in protest at the further abuse. She coughed once, then looked up through half closed eyes to see the ball of metal that was once Sentinel 4 get thrown, like Captain America’s shield was.

She took a deep, shuddering breath- or tried to, rather. She started coughing halfway through, tilting her head to the side so she wouldn’t choke on the blood that she began to cough up.

Bloody fucking hell.

She held her left hand against her side, grabbing her gun with her right. She shakily lifted it up, pointing at Polaris. To the cyberpath’s anger, there was really nothing else that she could do. She emptied the clip at her, and then her arm fell weakly to the roof of the car, the gun sliding from her grasp.

That was all she could do…

[Chain]

Had Kelly not been so focused on where her card hit. Thank God she judged Polaris' self preservation and total bitchiness correctly. Had she blinked she would have missed seeing Sage fall from the Sentinel. For good measure she held the second card and charged it even longer than then the first. But she couldn't sustain it and the had to toss it out of the way before it blew up in her hand. She made sure it didn't go near anyone important.

After the energy was released the strangest thing happened. Her heart rate slowed to nearly undetectable, her breathing slowed to barely allowing her chest to rise and fall, as a matter of fact it wasn't even noticeable. Slowly she started to sink to the ground as the world went black and her body went limp. Her pulse and breath weren't discernible to the naked eye.