To Me, My X-Men!

[Cable]

Somehow, someway they still found me, caught up to me. Since the last stop, i've kept on my feet, had to, if they caught up there would be no words, no choices, only my life and this baby's life or their life. No questions, no other choices, no other paths. This was the only way.

Looking down at this pristine little baby, so innocent, so fragile, yet that which surrounds the birth and existence of this baby is mirred in chaos and death. No matter the outcome, death would be something this baby would learn in abundance through her life. Survival and death.

" Time to leave our pursuers a little treat." Nathan said softly as he buried something in the snow. They were in Canada now, a tad bit better weather conditions, but not by much. " Time for us to move little one." He said before standing back up and quickly making his way further into Canada.

Nathan was about already 5 miles by foot away from where he stopped when he heard a loud beep go off in the distance. The baby in his arms seemed to laugh as Nathan now knew just how close behind him they were. He looked down at the baby again. " Don't worry little one, as long as this old soldiers heart beats, none of them will take you away." Nathan kept on his feet, using different routes along the way, never leaving a clear path behind him.

[Lady Deathstrike]

Lady Deathstrike and her Purifier squad had been tracking Cable and his infant companion for the better part of a week now, it seemed, and they were getting no closer to them.

"The dogs will not escape us!" she said as she watched her troops fan out and look for the mutant messiah and its soldier-protector. They were not covering ground fast enough, so Deathstrike had to figure out a way to catch up to them. "Look for shortcuts! We need to find a way to cut them off!"

"Ma'am, there's a set of trails to the north of us," one Purifier said as he pointed toward a line of trees in the distance.

"Split the squad in two. One will stay on the main road, and the other will take the northern route," Deatnstrike hissed a she thought of the last time she and her forces fought off the X-Men. "This time they will pay with their lives!"
TBC

[Cable]

It wasnt soon after that the group of purifiers that took the northern less traveled path, that the sky lit up with explosives as screams began to echo through the wilderness. Nathan had known that a larger number would take that path, so he had set another little trap.

The baby in his arms seemed to smile and giggle when the explosives went off. Unfortunately for Nathan and the baby, Lady Deathstrike and her Reavers had taken the other path and now had caught up with Nathan.

" I'm sorry little one, cover your ears, and all will be fine." The Reavers opened fire as Nathan shielded the baby with his techno organic arm, keeping her safe and not paying attention to any bullets that hit him. " Hang in there little one."

Nathan opened fire on Lady Deathstrike and the reavers, but he did so on the move. He thought to himself. {cant stop moving, can't let them get a shot at the baby, the baby is all that matters} Nathan moved further into the forest, using cover and tactical advantages to try to keep Lady Deathstrike from getting on top his position.

[Lady Deathstrike]

"Dog," Deathstrike muttered as she heard the screams of the squad that had taken the northern passage. "Filthy mutant dog." She made a motion with her left hand for her remaining troops to spread out and box in the X-Man and the infant. If he could not move, then he would surely lose this battle.

The Purifiers moved as silently as possible so they would not tip their hand, but Deathstrike knew that Cable would have taken more counter-measures during his run. "Watch for more explosives and traps," she said to her squad as they closed in on the mutants. A few of the men in the front were close enough to get off rounds that came close to Cable. "Close is not good enough!" she growled as she moved swiftly to the front of the team. "Take him down!" she howled as she watched the gunners fire at Cable. "That child cannot survive!"

TBC

[Cable]

They had finally caught up to me. It was only a matter of time, still I had hoped to put more distance between me and them, to get to where I needed to go. But now I had to fight, to protect, to protect the little one in my arms, she was all that mattered now.

Yuriko Oyama aka Lady Deathstrike, no wonder they were able to find me so quickly. Cybernetic enhancements and adamantium bonded to her skeleton, but she isn't nothing like Logan, but still just as deadly. Just have to remember, no matter what, protect the baby.

As the first line of purifiers opened fire and moved forward, I shielded the baby with my techno organic arm. Not the safest place but it easily deflected any bullets that came near the baby. One bullet ripped through my leg, normally if I was alone I could easily dodge all of them, but not this time. Thankfully as the purifiers progressed, they tripped a wire, the ground beneath them caved in as they fell to their death.

Running again, it had always seemed I spent most of my time in the present running, always running from something. You would think being from the future i'd always be prepared for the present, yet things never go as planned, never work out the same way you once knew.

The knee hurts, but pain was something I knew how to deal with. Remember your training as a soldier, self preservation, can't let it slow you down, think past it. But it was then that long nails clawed down my back as my balance was thrown off and down i went into the snow.

{ Dammit old man, too slow} No time for hesitation or to even see where the attacker was, I already knew who it was. Turned around firing, not worrying about precision, needed to give myself a window. { Get up old man, your the only thing she's got, no second chances, they will kill her}

[Lady Deathstrike]

Deathstrike dodged the gunfire as best she could, using a few Purifier grunts as a shield in the process. They were not Stryker's elite forces, so they were expendable. But then again, any more traps from Cable, and she could wind up quite alone in this fight.

"You are an old, sick man!" Deathstrike grunted as the wounds from the bullets that did hit her finally started to heal. "Give me the child, and I will make both your deaths quick!"

Deathstrike made a hand signal to one of the soldiers at the rear of the line, and soon his comm unit started to squeal. "More troops on the way, ma'am."

"No matter how many traps you set, no matter how many of your X-Men come to save you, you will die!" Deathstrike howled as she launched herself at Cable again. She had to dodge both his guns and his feet. She knew he could negate her moves with countermoves of his own.

TBC

[Logan Wolverine]

Logan's body was throbbing but he knew well enough he'd heal quickly. Before Ray could even finish his last sentence, Logan was in full sprint towards a direction. Even before they hit the ground, Logan had sensed Nathan's smell and knew exactly where he was. But he had also picked up someone elses scent.

" Yuriko!!!" Logan yelled as he drove his claws through two purifiers, while still running. As Yuriko turned, Nathan used the distraction to kick Lady D off him and he was back up to his feet, running again. She growled. " Stupid gaijin dog." As she turned to face Logan. Logan knew he had to keep pace with Nathan, he didnt have time to face her. " Laura..."

Before Logan could finish, Laura leapt in the air, rage in her eyes as she dove claws first into Yuriko. " You will die for what you did to Julian, your blood will run." Laura started to slash wildly into Yuriko.

Logan rolled into the snow, dodging the fire power form several purifiers as he then came up with his claws and drove them through the sternum of two more purifiers. " A simple thank ya woulda been nice." Logan spouted as Nathan was now already running far away from the group. He didnt even stop to aknowledge the group, not even Conor.

A purifier with some sort of laser guided sniper rifle took aim for the fleeing Nathan. Logan quickly leapt into the air. " Don' think so bub." Logan drove his claws into the side of the purifiers skull as he squeezed the trigger, sending the blast off course enough to miss Nathan.

[Dragonfly]

Conor came up out of the snow. Slowly. "Yep, that hurt. I'm kinda wishing it had killed me."

Conor looked around and got a quick assesment of what was going on. He caught a glimpse of Cable high tailing it out of there.

"Figures," He said under his breath. Cable had gone to this much trouble to keep clear of everybody, Conor knew he wouldn't stop to chat now. And Conor was prepared for just that. He knew the old man, perhaps better than most. Conor brought his rifle up, and snapped off a shot. But the round didn't sound like a normal bullet. In fact, it was near silent. It was a bug. A micro tracking bug.

Maybe it was because Conor was an expert marksman. Or maybe it was his power of luck, but he hit his mark. And with that, every other round in his mag was the standard death type.

Conor came up to his knee and snapped off several more shots. Maybe it was still his power of luck, but every Purifier he aimed at fell into the snow.

Conor dropped his mag and slapped in a fresh one. He let his rifle hang on it's sling as he flipped the cover open on his Micro-Comp. Using the satellite he hacked, he got a bead on Cable and his direction of travel.

"Logan, I'm on point!" Conor yelled out.

"Bodyslide by one" Conor said as he blinked out of the area.


Conor teleported in about 100 meters ahead of Cable. At this point they would both be several hundred meters from the fight. It would give the two of them a small window before the others caught up. Once they were done with the Purifiers and Lady Deathstrike. Conor took concealment behind a tree, and waited. It was just a few seconds before Cable covered the ground. Conor could hear him running up. Before Cable got to him, Conor stepped out from behind the tree and into Cable's path. Just a few meters apart. Conor left his rifle slung, his hands out and open. Conor wanted Cable to know that he wasn't here to threaten him.

"Nice to see you again Nate, been a while. What's up buddy?"

tbc

[Cable]

I had hoped they wouldnt catch up to me, none of them could quite understand, and even taking the time to explain could be the difference between life and death. I expected Scott to send someone, but never thought Conor would be part of the group. And now, for the sake of all our lives, I would have to do things I wouldnt normally.

" Not this time Conor, Logan, theres alot more at stake than ever before, even by taking this time now, I could be condemning us all to death." Although I had planned for no run ins with my former friends and family, I knew it would inevitably happen, and I came prepared.

The first canister to drop was a nice little device called an e.m.p. explosive. When it went off, Conor's little tracking device was void, as was all the com systems on them. The second canisters that dropped nanoseconds after the first, was your basic smoke and flash bang variety. Enough to cause distortion and confusion, it was all I needed.

As I watched the Blackbird soar overhead, ready to land, the opening was now clear. Perfect. I covered the eyes of the little one in my arms, because now it was time to do something, something that seemed to come with the territory anymore.

It wouldnt take long for Conor and Logan to regain composure, so I needed to add the exclamation point. " Someday you'll thank me, someday you'll understand what exactly is at stake, forgive me." I closed my eyes for a brief second as my finger squeezed the trigger back, sending a shot to Conor's face. An External, he'd heal up real nice, maybe a headache and a little ticked off, but alive.

Before even the initial shock would wear off, I was on the run again, trudging through the snow of what now was a war zone. Looking down, at the little one in my arms. I just shot the person closest to ever being a brother in the face, and yet you are still worth it, to preserve our life, to protect our future.

[Raiden]

As he expected, they weren't on the ground for more than five minutes before they were knee deep in combat. The Purifiers were hot on Cable's tail, and it was of course their job to make sure that they were stopped. Raiden knew that the ultimate goal was to apprehend Cable, but these radicalized militant bastards would make that difficult. And since he was still woozy from his power display, he intended on keeping power stunts to a minimum. Relying on hand to hand combat would have to do for the moment, then.

Even without telekinetically enhancing himself, Ray was fast and managed to slip out of the line of fire from the Purifiers before they had a chance to open fire on him. He quickly drew his Katana from its sheathe, cracking a soldier in the jaw with the hilt of his blade before turning it on another man, first cleaving his weapon in half, slicing a long gash across his dominant arm as the second move. As he groaned in pain, Ray flipped over the man and used his body as a springboard to launch into another with a well timed dropkick before he dropped back first into the snow just as a volley of gunfire was sent his way.

And as much as he knew he would hate himself for this later, Ray created a telekinetic shockwave that blasted snow and soldiers into the air. His body screamed at him for it, but he pushed the pain aside as he hopped up to his feet and slammed his sword into the chest of another soldier and spun the man around, using the body as a human shield before he was riddled with gunfire. "Normally, I try to keep my kills clean, but none of you really deserve it." With a growl, Raiden ripped his sword from the man in gruesome fashion before shoving him to the ground.

"Die slow. Your friends will be doing the same."

[Lady Deathstrike]

Deathstrike growled as X-23 slashed at her wildly. The child assassin seemed to be upset over what had happened to the telekinetic named Hellion. "You will learn that this life brings nothing but pain and sorrow, girl," Deathstrike hissed as she returned every bloody slash with one of her own.

As she kept pounding at X-23, Deathstrike saw her troops being ripped to shreds. More X-Men would descend on their position fast, and she knew Cable was making an escape attempt as she dealt with the gaijin welp. "Move! Now!" she screamed as she slammed her commlink briefly before turning back to X-23. "You will not get the child, and you will all be dead."

Deathstrike smirked as a large winged shadow started to fall over the battlefield. "Wolverine, do not worry. Your harlot will not have to worry about him yet," she yelled as she blocked another strike by X-23. "Soon, but not yet."

TBC

[Laura X-23]

Laura growled even more wildly, not relenting regardless of the wounds Yuriko was inflicting. In her berzerker rage the cut felt like scratches and her own blood only made her become more agressive.

" I....." Laura slashed across Yuriko's chest. " Dont care..." Laura elbowed Yuriko hard in the jaw which made a sickening thud sound. " About the baby..." Laura then brought her knee up into Yuriko's rib cage. " I only......." Laura slashed her claws across Yuriko's face. " Want to see you......" Then Laura drove her claws deep into Yuriko's shoulder, deep into her cybernetics. " Bleed......"

She then popped out a single claw from both her feet and began to kick Yuriko in the chest repeatedly. " I do not feel pain, i am not meant to feel at all, yet I think I will feel, something, when your body pulses for the last time." Laura charged into Yuriko and slammed her backwards into a tree with enough impact that the tree snapped in half as wood shards splintered everywhere.

[Azrael]

Azrael heard Deathstrike's command and finally made himself known. His wing was slowly growing back in, so his flight was aided by a winged glider borrowed from one of his Purifier brethren. He flew toward the location where Cable had last been spotted and pulled his sword as he readied himself to take out the so-called Mutant Messiah. He watched as the man sprinted away from his compatriots with the demon spawn strapped to his chest.

"I will follow you to the ends of the earth, you heathen, and I will rip hope from your grasp," Azrael said as he swooped down in front of the fleeing X-Man. "You have lost your way by your very birth. For the salvation of the world, you shall die," he said as he dove at Cable with his sword drawn. Today he would give no quarter. These demons would die. He looked for a moment at the child and saw it had red hair. "I will do the world a great favor by eliminating another red haired devil!"

TBC

[Cable]

Art of War-Part 1-

Wildcard. Variable if you will. Or if you want to use good ol american terminology, a pain in the ass. I spent alot of time in the military, my days as a soldier outnumber the days when I wasn't one. it didnt matter what corps you were in, usually they had different ways to say the same thing, rather drill it into your skull until it was programmed there.

I remember one of my sergeants, Sgt. Turner was his name, he made the one from Full Metal Jacket seem like a grade school teacher. But his words stuck. I remember one of his speeches before a battle. ( " Listen up you little shitfuck maggots, in war, there are a million variables that could take place at anytime, if any of you pathetic worms think that you can just move in and get out without any of them happening, then the doctor should of slapped your mommy for giving birth to such a abomination retarded monkey baby.") Believe it or not, I cleaned up the language quite a bit. But the message held with me. Hope and pull for the best, but expect and prepare for anything and everything.

I spent some time in Ireland. No matter where i went and what country I was in, the soldier in me always ended up doign research on that countries warfare and weapons. Call it a hobby I guess, but at times it was more a survival technique. Upon my research in Ireland, I came across a nifty little device, a bomb that was quite a nasty little bugger. Developed by the irish Republican Army for urban combat, it was just plain nasty.

Art of War-Part 2-

Weakness. Everyone has one, sometimes more, but no matter whether you're up against a normal man or a killing machine, there is a weakness. This was something i didn't learn in the military but elsewhere. Another place I spent some time at was Japan. Something that stuck with me was saying involving a mans weakness. A well known sensei in Japan once told me. ( " Never view an opponent as a victim or as someone beneath you, view him as an equal, as someone as fast and just as strong as you, for then you will be clear to find his weakness and gain the upperhand." ) This is something I know even Logan holds sacred to this day.

Modern Day Canada-

The arrival of the winged warrior of death was one of those so called variables. Which instantly while on my feet, I began to study the flighted attacker, processing info in my brain. It was then obvious to me, as the weakness was as bright as day as he swooped down for another attempted attack.

This is where that little bomb I told you about would come in handy. A normal explosive grenade woudl prove ineffective, he coudl likely dodge and the explosion would do little but agitate. No, this little baby known as a nail bomb was the perfect recipe. And the imapct would likely take out the warriros greatest asset and also his biggest weakness, his wings.

{ Got to time this perfect} Thinking to myself, doing the mathmatics in my head of the greatest outcome. Then we came in close enough, I turned and let go of the nail bomb as it exploded. I instantly hit the snow, covering the baby in my arms from any damage. She was all that mattered. I flet atleast half a dozen nails stick into my back. { No time to worry about them, they can be pulled out later} And just like that i was on my feet again, not even taking the time to look back at how much damage the winged death angel took.

[Azrael]

Azrael stifled a scream as the nail bomb went off and sent projectiles into his body. This demon spawn was as equally ferocious a warrior as the hairy little Canadian or the redhaired harlot. This was going to be a problem.

Not only did the nails hit his own wings and torso, but they also ripped apart the glider he had been using to aid him until his one wing fully grew in. Blood poured from his body as Azrael tried to ignore or internalize his pain as he prepared to run after the X-Man and the baby.

"My God will grant me the strength to hunt you to your death, hellspawn!" he said as he started to run after Cable. He put his sword in a scabbard on his side and picked up a rifle and ammo belt from one of his dead comrades. He opened fire on Cable, shooting for his head in the hopes of making a kill shot with little effort. "Babylon will fall this day, and from its ashes will rise a new beginning for mankind," he whispered as he kept firing.

Taking down the X-Man would not be that simple if he could not get that kill shot. Winging the man would not do, and hitting the child alone would be impossible at this stage of the hunt. Azrael knew he needed to get the high ground, but being unable to fly left him at a disadvantage.

TBC