Immediately, I opened up with my most powerful Ferromantic Anti-Tech Spell on the Omega Sentinel in front of me. For a moment, it appeared to do nothing, until I tossed an Amber Spear at it. It attempted to fold out its adamantium shield to defend only for the shield to stick in place with three-quarters worth of extension left to go. The Amber Spear slammed into its right shoulder with the force of a thunderbolt, the magic aided by my superhuman strength. The Omega Sentinel was smashed backward and I poured on the firepower. Conjured Icicles, globs of magma, balls of fire, and blades of wind smashed into the same spot one after another, opening a chink in the advanced alloy armor protecting the synthetic myomer muscles and nanomachine blood vessels. I drew my Wan-Shen from my bag of holding and struck at the presented opening.
Force-Forged, Mystically-enhanced, Valyrian Steel struck out in a superhumanly powerful arc. It slammed into and through the chink in the Omega Sentinel's armor, slicing through myomer muscles and spilling nanomachine-based blood onto the ground. My Wan-Shen cut through the shoulder of the Omega Sentinel before the blade crunched into the carbonadium servo and endoskeleton that made up the joint. There was a shriek of tortured metal as my strike damaged the shoulder joint before the Force Screamed at me to move. I leaped away just as a snapshot from a plasma blaster that folded out of the Omega Sentinel's left arm. Unfortunately, this particular Omega Sentinel seemed to have improved its reflexes since the last time we fought, because I didn't quite escape the blast of high-energy plasma.
Part of the blast splashed against my right side. It heated thr Argentum plates of my armor, superheating the mystical metal and burning my ribs. I managed to get out of the way with only a grazing strike and a moderate burn wound, but as the Omega Sentinel that used to be Karima Shapandur levered itself upright, I realized that another shot like that would definitely damage my armor and if that happens, then I would have effectively lost this fight. Fortunately, the damaged right shoulder on the Omega Sentinel wasn't doing it any favors either. I saw the sparks fly from the shoulder joint as it pulled my Wan-Shen out of its body and tossed it on the ground. I was already using the force for multiple things, enhancing my body, ignoring the pain from my burned side, and keeping up a limited sense of battle precognition, but I added one more thing to the list even so as I reached out with Zeison-Sha Telekinesis for my Wan-Shen.
The Blade lifted up off the ground and struck at the Omega Sentinel's other arm as it tried to blast me again. With a screeching noise the alloy armor was creased as my Wan-Shen slammed into the Omega Sentinel's left shoulder from behind, rebounding off it, but throwing the plasma blast wide and into the form of a second Omega Sentinel that was attempting to bear down on Captain America with some kind of shoulder-mounted railcannon from his non-shield side. The plasma Blast hit the Second Omega Sentinel full in the side, causing a massive explosion as the railcannon energized and destroying the Second Omega Sentinel as Cap turned to look. I pulled my Wan-Shen back into my grasp as Cap tossed me a two-fingered salute before leaping back into the fray. The First Omega Sentinel righted itself and burst forward at me, slamming its shoulder into me and crunching my Argentum Armor inward whilst breaking several ribs.
I went flying backward into the side of one of the SHIELD Hover APCs knocking the hyperadvanced vehicle over and causing stars to explode behind my eyes. As I fought back the wave of unconsciousness that threatened to drag me under using the Force and Alakhestry, I spotted the Omega Sentinel that had been Karima Shapandur unfold two more plasma blasters out of her side and shoulder, melding them together into a gigantic plasma cannon that took up much of her torso. As the red glow stared at me like the gates of hell opening, I only had time to cast one final spell. I made it another Ferromantic Anti-Tech Spell. It was the best choice I could have made as the magnetic bottlers in the Plasma Cannon currently taking up most of the Omega Sentinel's torso lost containment inside the cannon.
For a brief moment, daylight returned to the night as a miniature sun lit up the exterior of the NSA Base. When it receded, the Omega Sentinel that had been Karima Shapandur was no more. I reached for my bag of holding and pulled out a few items. Healing potions to fix my burned and broken torso, repair salve to slather on my Argentum Armor, and a fatigue cure to keep me in the fight. Then I stood back up, called my Wan-Shen back into my grasp with the Force, and headed back into the fight, slicing through some kind of Stealth Prime Sentinel Model that was attempting to sneak up on Jubilee as she helped Emma Frost dismantle a third Omega Sentinel.
My Wan-Shen cleaved the Stealth Prime Sentinel apart from shoulder to hip and I tossed off another Anti-Tech Spell at the Third Omega Sentinel as it attempted to fling a Shi'ar Psi-Bomb at Emma only for the launcher to jam and a burst of purple energy to tear open the Armor on the Omega Sentinel's torso. The Omega Sentinel tried to shoot back with a right arm that turned into a Plasma Blaster only for Emma to tear it off with her Telekinetic Power and Jubilee to shoot it in the side as it tried to compensate with its other arm, throwing off its aim. The plasma blast cored another Stealth Prime Sentinel attempting to stab Husk Through with a nanospike from behind instead of slamming into Emma. Then an Amber Spear from me struck it through the hole in the torso armor and slammed into some sort of reactor, blowing the thing in half.
As Emma and Jubilee moved off to help out Husk and Iceman respectively, I took in the battlefield. More Prime Sentinels had emerged from the base, as had one last Omega Sentinel, but with help from Iron Man, Synch, Beast, and M had them contained. We were putting up one Hell of a fight, and it didn't look like it was slowing down any time soon. Thor was a beast, as usual, drawing the majority of Omega Sentinels toward him and blasting them with lightning or caving them in with Mjolnir, but it seemed like they were just being replaced. Mostly with Prime Sentinels, but that could still give Bastion time to kill the Hostages. Fortunately, I spotted Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Mockingbird make their move into the base to stop that from happening. Now we just had to hold the line and let them do their thing.
As I charged back into the Fray slamming aside an Omega Sentinel that was about to hit Beast with a strike from my Wan-Shen, I hoped that they would be able to do their jobs fast. I dodged away from a return blast from another Omega Sentinel coming out of the base alongside a squad of Prime Sentinels, even as Iron Man let off a raft of micromissiles that scrapped several of the Prime Sentinels and tore open the frontal armor of the Omega Sentinel with multiple hits. A Telekinetic assault from me ripped out the reactor and caused an explosion, even as M and Synch took apart the other Omega Sentinel. Shrugging as I turned back to the battle, I realized I didn't really have time to worry about the infiltration team.
Then I got blasted back by an Omega Sentinel that rushed me from out of the base and collapsed a lung. Iron Man was fortunately more on the ball as he drew the Omega Sentinel's fire while I downed another healing potion and stumbled to my feet. As he hit that Omega Sentinel with a double repulsor blast from both hands, I shook my head to clear any lingering cobwebs, nodded at him from the ground, and headed back into the fight, carving up a Prime Sentinel attempting to snipe Maria Hill with a plasma blaster. The apparently rookie Agent unloaded a pair of SHIELD-Issue Laser Pistols into a second Prime Sentinel that had been trying to stab me with a nanospike. I nodded at her in thanks. She nodded back before moving to go aid Captain America and some other agents.
Then the Force told me to dodge and I did so, being forced to pay more attention to the battle in front of me. . .
XXXX
Clint Barton may be affiliated with SHIELD and a former Avenger, but he wasn't always. There was a time not too long ago where instead of the Avenger Hawkeye, he had been a professional thief. It was because of those skills that he had managed to sneak past the Black-Suited NSA Agents, with their Armored Vests and Laser Pistols and make his way into the detention level. True, he'd had to drop a few agents to get here. One to swipe his keycard, two more guarding the lift down, but they were on the wrong side of the law, not to mention History, so really he didn't feel too bad about it.
The Detention Level was something else, though. Rows of cells, most holding haggard-looking mutants with signs of abuse sliced, burned, bruised, and scourged into their skin. They all wore inhibitor collars, the kind that represented trade with a rogue government, that being the Magistrates of Genosha. The collars kept their powers from helping them escape, or even survive the punishments they looked like they'd gone through. The thing is, those collars only worked up to a point. For more powerful mutants, they wouldn't completely suppress superpowers. There would need to be some kind of maximum security level to handle people like the X-Men. Clint didn't see anything like that here.
"Hey you! You're with the Avengers, yeah? Hawkeye, right?" Came a voice to Clint's right.
Clint looked over to see a vaguely familiar-looking, brown-haired, man who looked like he'd been worked over pretty well, but had only partially healed up. The guy reminded Clint of someone he'd met before around the time of Desert Storm, maybe? It wasn't until the guy spoke again that it clicked for Clint.
"Yeah, I thought it was you! Listen, you gotta get all of us out of here, man! These NSA Guys are doing the sorta stuff that Saddam wasn't even into!" Pled the Man.
"Wait, I know you. Avalanche, right? That Merc that Val Cooper got to work for Freedom Force back during Desert Storm? I would've thought you'd have hitched a flight back to Greece when all this went down?" Frowned Clint.
"I renounced my Greek Citizenship like fifteen years ago. If I'd known they were gonna up and join the EU a few years later I probably would've kept it." Scowled the Man, Avalanche.
"Tough break." Snorted Clint, Amused.
"Not the point! Look, you've gotta break us out, all of us! The guy they've got running this place is some kind of psycho! He's been having the guards put the boots to us, then when someone gets beaten down enough to stop struggling, the Guy in charge takes them to one of his labs and we don't see them again! I mean, we do, but they aren't them, you know? He turns them into one of those Cyborg Things! Pretty sure that's all against the Geneva Convention!" Insisted Avalanche.
"Where did they put the X-Men?" Pressed Clint.
"They're in Max Security. It's just them and one other guy down there. They had to keep that guy constantly sedated cause even the strongest null fields they're using can't inhibit even most of his powers. You won't be able to get down there without the Boss' personal access codes. Not unless I help you! I can use my powers to open up a fissure down into Max Security, but you've gotta let us all out first. Most of the folks in here aren't like me, they don't have useful powers or military training. Some of these folks are just kids!" Continued Avalanche.
"All right, how do I do that?" Questioned Clint.
"There should be a guard station down the right-hand branch of the T-Intersection at the end of the hall. The left-hand branch leads to the Max Security elevator. Take down the guards in the station and hit the override, that should open the cells and disable the inhibitor collars on this level." Informed Avalanche.
"On it." Nodded Clint.
As he headed down the corridor lined with cells full of beaten, scared, mutants, Clint reached for his radio and called Mockingbird and Black Widow. They were supposed to check the labs for the X-Men. Hopefully, the X-Men weren't there, because Clint was one level too far down to back them up if they needed help with the Evac. Unfortunately, when he called, the only thing that greeted him over the radio was the sounds of Combat.
"Little Busy here, Clint!" Came Natalia's Voice over the Radio.
"I've found a whole cell block of people being used for some sort of cybernetics experiments, no sign of the X-Men yet." Commed Clint.
"I think we know what the experiments were. Shit, Mockingbird is down, I gotta go. I hope you find the X-Men quick, because if we can't withdraw soon, we're gonna be in for a world of hurt!" Responded Natalia, hurriedly.
On hearing that, Clint could only pick up the pace. He turned the corner toward the guardpost, already drawing arrows from his quiver even as the pair of guards turned to face him. Letting fly, the twin arrows smashed into the armored vest of each guard even as they tried to draw their laser pistols from their holsters. The Taser Arrows dumped enough voltage into each guard to drop a moose and they slumped to the ground, unconscious. Clint slid into the guard post, snatching up one of the fallen guards' access keys and opening the cage the manual override sat inside of with it. Then he hit the switch.
And all hell broke loose on the detention level as formerly beaten down and caged up mutants spilled out of their cells, ready to fight. . .
XXXX
Natalia Romanova had been in a lot of fights. Even before her time with SHIELD. The Red Room had molded her into a weapon from the moment the Soviets had taken her from her burning nursery back in the twenties. She didn't look it, but the Black Widow was over seventy years old, with her entire adult life being spent in one form of combat or another. The chemicals and other experimental treatments she'd undergone had helped in that regard, so when she said she'd been in a lot of fights, she meant it. That was why she know without a shadow of a doubt that this fight would be her last if something didn't change fast.
It had seemed a simple enough job. Infiltrate while all the superhuman enemies were outside dealing with the assault. The only opposition that was supposed to still be inside the base were normal human agents and scientists. All the Cyborgs were supposed to be outside. Of course nothing could ever be that simple. Not these days. She and Bobbi had been blindsided in the labs by the Commander of the base. Sebastion Gilberti was supposed to just be a normal, if genius, scientist. A robotics expert that Gyrich had snapped up to help make better Sentinels. Nobody had mentioned the first Sentinel he'd ever made had been himself.
He'd taken out Bobbi with some kind of neural blaster that folded out of his arm partway through his initial ambush and it had been all Nat could do to grab Bobbi and try to retreat, blasting the door controls to the labs with the Widow's Bite to force the blast doors to lock into place. She'd then dragged Bobbi's unconscious form back up the hallway, hoping to find a spot to hide out and maybe wake Bobbi up with an Adrenaline Needle. She'd made it around the corner before Gilberti blasted through the Carbonadium Alloy blast doors and started chasing them. It had been all she could do to duck into an unoccupied security room and try to avoid notice.
"My eyes are multi-spectrum scanners! I know you're in there! Why not surrender and I'll make this fast?" Sneered Gilberti from right outside the Carbonadium Alloy security door.
Nat didn't answer right away, instead preferring to pull an Adrenaline Needle out from a concealed pouch and jam it into Bobbi's chest. As she thought, the spike of pure Adrenaline immediately kickstarted Bobbi's brain from whatever state Gilberti had put it in and Bobbi bolted upright, taking a deep, gasping, breath in as she did so. Unfortunately, Gilberti wasn't very patient, even as a Cyborg. With a clunk and a screech of tearing metal, he wrenched the Carbonadium Alloy security door out of its frame with his Cybernetic arms. Gilberti was grinning like a madman as he advanced into the doorway, menacingly.
"I like that you chose to do this the hard way. I was lying about making it quick if you surrendered anyway. This way is much more fun for me." Snarled Gilberti.
As Nat braced herself for a charge, however, the reinforcements she and Bobbi desperately needed finally arrived. Some sort of blur smashed into Gilberti, taking part of the wall and doorframe with him as Gilberti was bull-rushed through the Carbonadium Alloy doors leading into the vehicle hangar. Moments later Clint appeared in the doorway as Nat saw Logan, Scott Summers, and Sean Cassidy rush past to join whoever had absconded with Gilberti in battle in the Hangar.
"Found the X-Men. You guys will never believe who was down there with them!" Grinned Clint.
"Who?" Asked Nat.
"The Juggernaut." Grinned the familiar face of Avalanche, Mercenary Mutant as he helped Storm carry an unconscious Jean Grey into the Security room.
"Oh. Oh, Gilberti isn't going to leave here in one piece, is he. . ." Muttered Bobbi.
Her only response was Clint's Shit-Eating Grin. . .
XXXX
AN: Apologies for any spelling or grammar errors in this one. My editing software is on my still at the shop laptop. Apparently, the part they're waiting on needs to be shipped from Canada. Hopefully, this wasn't too illegible and you all could read this OK.
Here we see part one of the Climax of the Alternate Operation: Zero Tolerance. A few things were set up in the first part that will eventually lead to Jan getting an invite to join the reassembled Avengers team. Notably, saving Cap's Bacon. At the same time, Clint freeing the X-Men will ensure that nobody gets to shit talk the Avengers for not caring about Mutants going forward. That seemed to be a constant topic in the last few IRL years of comics and I'm sick of it.
Also, the reason Bastion had to keep Juggernaut Sedated was because his power-nullifying technology only works on Mutant Powers, not the powers given to Juggernaut by Cyttorak. He'd easily bust out if he wasn't constany drugged to the gills. Clint yanking out his IV and pointing him at Bastion was the smart play there.
At any rate, next chapter will be the second part of the Climax to the Alternate Operation: Zero Tolerance Arc.
Stay tuned. . .