Krypteia
| Krypteia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dates run: | September 27-28, 2008 |
| Run By: | Alicia |
| Read the logs: | Krypteia |
"His mind... it's warped." There really wasn't any other word for it, and she really couldn't explain how. It just... didn't make any sense.
A pro-mutant rally is attacked by trained mutant soldiers, only in their teens, another clue to the mysterious 'Taygetos' project.
Contents
Cast
Angelo Espinosa, Tatiana Caban, Karolina Dean, Noriko Kikuchi, Callisto, Nathan Dayspring.
Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Juggernaut.
Mariana Machado, four unidentified mutant assassins
Timing
Plot Summary
In late September, New Dawn held an exhibition in New York's Central Park. There were talks given on the movement's activities and way of life, demonstrations by New Dawn artisans, and other mutant-centric displays. Angelo, who had heard of New Dawn prior to this thanks to his work with Elpis, decided to take a small group of students to the event. Tatiana came out of genuine interest, while Noriko and Karolina were hoping to slip away and get into mischief. Callisto, who had been planning to spend the day in New York, agreed to drop them off and pick them up.
After enjoying the event for several hours, they attended Mariana Machado's talk that evening, joined by Callisto. Her enhanced senses allowed her to pick up on suspicious movement in the woods, and even as she warned Angelo, an energy blast from that direction barely missed Machado. It didn't miss some of the bystanders, however, and the crowd panicked, scattering and trying to take cover.
The Xavier's group became separated in the chaos. Angelo called the mansion for help, then worked on finding the girls. In the process, he came across Machado, and convinced her to stick with him. Tat managed to link up with Angelo and Machado shortly thereafter, and they also encountered one of the assassins, a young mutant around the age of fifteen and had to flee to protect Machado. Karolina was visibly glowing and Noriko is startled into making visible use of her powers, and the two were targeted by another of the team of assassins - again, a young mutant in his mid-teens - as a potential threat. Callisto made a timely reappearance and was able to help them out. The five eventually managed to find each other in the woods, and focused on staying together and ahead of the 'bad guys' for long enough for the team to get there.
Thankfully, a small team of X-Men was training in the Blackbird, practicing aerial drop maneuvers. The team dropped from the Blackbird into Central Park under cover of fog provided from Ororo, who continued to provide cover with the weather as the X-Men tracked down Angelo and the others, while remaining ahead of the police.
Jean, in an encounter with the young assassins (who turn out to be a team of four), found a moment for a telepathic scan. She established that their minds have been psionically manipulated to a heretofore unseen extent, to the point where they seemed almost non-human. Cain, meanwhile, was very disturbed by finding himself in a combat situation with 'kids', giving him a disturbing flashback to the incident with Siena Blaze.
After what can best be described as a running scuffle, the X-Men got to Angelo's group first, only to discover that they had been joined by more civilians. One of the young assassins made another attempt to kill Machado, and Scott attempted a non-lethal counter with an optic blast. Unfortunately, he was hit from behind and the optic blast fired in an unintended direction, seriously injuring the young mutant. The other three young mutants retreat.
The Blackbird made another quick approach, and Jean brought herself, Cain, Machado and the injured assassin aboard. On the way back to the mansion, she attempted and failed to save the assassin's life. Scott, Ororo and Angelo escorted the rest of the group safely out of the park, dodging any conversations with the police. Callisto wound up driving home after all, just with two extra passengers in the car.
Back at the mansion, in the aftermath, Machado was grateful for the rescue, but was saddened rather than disturbed by the youth of her attackers. Jean suspected she may know more than she admitted to, but Charles merely urged the woman to keep in touch.
The age of the attackers, their obvious military training, and what was done to their minds raised other questions, given the events of Seven Minutes In Heaven. Nathan asked Jean to check the body for any unusual markings. During a cursory examination, they found a small alpha-omega tattoo, identical to the ones given to new Mistra operatives. The obvious connection is made, as is a call to Nick Fury, who sends someone out to collect the body and debrief the team.
Related Links
X-Men Mission: Hole in the World
External Links
Trivia and Meta
Trivia
Scott became more distanced from the younger members of the X-Men following the incident, eventually suggesting Marie D'Ancato get more involved in their training.
Meta
Plotrunner: Alicia
