The place that Tony wanted to meet up was a dive bar in Boston, supposedly a place Tony had visited often while doing his Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. at MIT. The Cantab Lounge was normally closed before five PM, but Tony Stark's Money had a way of opening doors. Literally in this case. I arrived around three-forty-five, getting there fifteen minutes early, just in case. I didn't think Tony would have fallen in line with the Anti-Mutant Policies, but then, I didn't think he'd back Superhero Registration either, and look how that went. Best to get here early just in case he was about to spring a trap on me or something. I entered the Cantab Lounge and bellied up to the bar, grabbing a Guinness and taking a seat in the corner where my back was to the wall and I had a good view of all the exits.
Tony showed up five minutes late, which was typical for him. He wasn't armored up, of course, but that was deceptive. Tony might not have any of his nanotech suits yet, but he can still armor up in under two minutes. One trip to the bathroom or moment to step outside and make a phone call and he could come crashing back in fully ready to rock my shit. As it happened, however, Tony just grabbed an Arnold Palmer from the Bar and made his way over to me. He nodded at my Argentum Armor that I wore under my Mistcoat.
"Nice armor. Should I be worried?" He grinned.
"I had to make sure this wasn't a trap, Tony. Things aren't exactly great for Mutants these days." I sighed.
"Don't I know it? That stunt that Mystique pulled out in Washington State didn't do you guys any favors either." Shrugged Tony.
"So it was Mystique and her group, then?" I questioned.
"What, you couldn't look into your crystal ball and figure that out?" Snarked Tony.
"I've been a bit busy, Tony." I sighed.
"I'll say. The metal in your armor's not like anything on earth. It's putting off some kind of energy signature almost like the stuff that Thor's people use. Another magic metal?" Queried Tony.
"You're scanning me? I'm hurt." I deadpanned.
"Hey, you wore it out here. You practically begged me to scan you. Granted the scanning contacts being already put in is on me." Chuckled Tony.
"Yeah, yeah. Look, I need your help. You've got lobbyists and stuff on the payroll, right?" I asked.
"Johnny, are you asking me to try and go against the US Government?" Frowned Tony.
"It wouldn't be going against the government, more like swaying the Government's stance on things." I hedged.
"All right, I'll bite. Why would I stick my neck out like that? It might be impossible, Mutants aren't exactly well-liked right now." Frowned Tony.
"Because it's the right thing to do and you're supposed to be a hero? Because you got my Old Man killed by sending him to consult on a project that was just asking for Namor to show up and pitch a fit?" I hissed, angrily.
"All right, calm down. I never said no, just that it might not be possible. Mystique really screwed the pooch for you guys with her terrorist attack. I'm not sure I can get the votes, even with all the lobbyists I have working overtime." Placated Tony.
I took a deep breath to calm down, reminding myself that Tony was a decent guy who wanted to do good. He just did it in an asinine way most of the time. Then I took something out of my bag of holding. It was a Prime Sentinel Arm that Doc Reyes had salvaged, the one that had tried to convert Beast during the attack on the X-Mansion in Westchester. It still had human tissue, and more importantly, a small amount of nanites were dormant inside the reserve at the base of the protruding Nano-Spike. I tossed it on the table and nodded to Tony.
"Scan that." I intoned. Tony did so and for a few moments, nothing was said as Tony's easy grin turned into a frown from what he was seeing. That frown deepened into a full-blown scowl by the time Tony was finished scanning the Prime Sentinel arm.
"If your lobbyists show Congress that scan data, it'll prove that it isn't just mutants the NSA is screwing over. They convert humans to make their Cyborg Shock Troopers, and it isn't just volunteers either." I nodded.
"This is something the Avengers should be dealing with." Grumbled Tony.
"Sure, but there are no Avengers right now, Tony. Last most people saw you guys all died to save the world from Onslaught and most people aren't entirely clear on how you guys managed to come back from the dead. I don't think calling a press conference to straighten that out while the NSA is killing people in their homes is a good idea right now." I sighed.
"It might muddy the waters some, true. Still, I don't think anyone would mind if I put out a call to Cap and Thor alongside getting my Lobbyists on the case. We can always hold a press conference after." Shrugged Tony.
"I can't stop you from doing that. Honestly, having Cap and Thor on our side would be a huge relief. The last time I faced off against any of the Forces of the NSA, I got my ass handed to me. Those Prime Sentinels aren't the most dangerous thing they have and it's only a matter of time before the more dangerous stuff goes rogue." I cautioned.
"What kind of Dangerous Stuff?" Questioned Tony.
"A more advanced cyborg sentinel using Technarchy and Shi'ar technology. The damn thing was basically a Terminator. It kicked our asses and we just barely escaped by bringing the roof down on it. Honestly, I'm not even sure that did more than stall it until we could get away." I answered.
"A Terminator with Technarchy and Shi'ar technology, huh? That definitely sounds like someone's exceeded their remit." Agreed Tony.
"Oh?" I queried.
"Yeah. Like you said, I have people on the Payroll who can liaise with the Government. Apparently, the NSA wasn't supposed to use Alien Technologies in any of their programs because Congress believes non-human tech to be unstable. Between this scan data and reports of Alien Tech Sentinels, that's enough for an inquiry. It also should interest Colonel Fury, since SHIELD is supposed to guard against Alien Infiltration." Responded Tony.
"And with Congress demanding an Inquiry and SHIELD coming down on them, the NSA is going to have to suspend operations. That just might be enough for Congress to reverse the policy against mutants. I will warn you, though. Don't expect the NSA's Cyborg Forces to go down without a fight. The Cyborg in charge of them isn't exactly stable." I cautioned.
"Yeah? Well, we'll just have to see if he can deal with me, Cap, and Thor coming down on him." Smirked Tony.
The rest of the meeting passed with meaningless chit-chat and small talk. Tony was very interested in my Artefacts, wanting to know how to incorporate mystical artifice into his suits if it was even possible to do so. I told him that I could get him mystical metals to work with, but that would probably be the end of it since Tony didn't have a mystic bone in his body for the actual spellwork involved. He told me we should get together and talk business when this whole fiasco was over with and that was that. We finished our drinks and headed out. Unfortunately, we got only five steps out of the door when the Force screamed at me to move. I tackled Tony to the ground just in time for a beam of plasma to bore into the sidewalk where we'd been standing, burning a hole down into the sewers. Looking up, the form of the Omega Sentinel appeared as if out of thin air.
"A Miniature Skrull cloaking device? You didn't tell me it had one of those!" Grunted Tony, scanning the Omega Sentinel as he got to his feet.
"I didn't know! It didn't use it the last time!" I hissed, getting up and retrieving my Champion's Helm from my bag of holding and putting it on.
"Can you hold it off while I armor up? Should only take around ninety seconds." Asked Tony.
"We're about to find out!" I growled, pulling out my Wan-Shen and taking up a guard. Tony ran for an alleyway to go suit up as the Omega Sentinel gazed down at me.
"Threat detected. Subject: Mystical Mutant Three identified. Moving to neutralize." Said the Omega Sentinel.
"Neutralize this!" I growled.
Then I flung an Amber Spear at the Omega Sentinel. An adamantium shield folded out of its arm as it batted away my mystical javelin, but I was already moving away. Its follow-on plasma blast vaporized a nearby parking meter, melting the coins inside to slag and blasting another hole into the sewers. In response, I uttered a few mystic syllables and made a mystic gesture at the Omega Sentinel, hoping my Ferromantic studying would pay off and that I could short-circuit at least something on the Omega Sentinel. As it happened, I just barely managed to get its fold-out plasma cannon to glitch out as it attempted to fire down on me again. This resulted in a critical failure of the magnetic bottling mechanism that blew the Omega Sentinel's right arm off in a burst of high-energy plasma.
"Error! Plasma cannon critical! Right arm non-functional! Unknown capability detected, switching to backup!" Blurted the Omega Sentinel as another cannon folded out of Its shoulder and began firing pulsed plasma at me.
I was forced to dodge away, being significantly faster than our last matchup. I still wasn't as fast as the Omega Sentinel, however, and was forced to put up a mystic shield to block the last pulse. The pulse burst against my shield, which shattered and threw me back into a parked truck that crumpled around me. It was better than the other trucks and cars that got hit by pulses that I dodged, however. Those exploded in bursts of plasma-induced flames. I managed to extricate myself from the wreckage of the truck in time for the Omega Sentinel to rocket down at me and smash into my torso, sending me flying back down the street. My ribs ached, but Alakhestry told me they were just bruised, an improvement over the shattering of last time. I silently thanked my Artifice as I skidded to a halt at the end of the block, stumbling to my feet to see that the Omega Sentinel was about to fire another Plasma Beam at me.
"Not today, Sparky!" Came Tony's synthesized Voice as his repulsors blasted into the Omega Sentinel from the side.
"Took you long enough!" I grunted, retrieving my Wan-Shen from where it landed.
"Hey, at least you got its arm! You were doing just fine!" Retorted Tony.
"Threat detected. Subject: Iron Man identified. Threat level, extreme. Switching priority target." Intoned the Omega Sentinel as it folded out some form of nozzle from its right arm, it fired an arcing, blue beam at Tony that washed over his armor to no effect.
"A Kree Electromagnetic Pulse Weapon? That won't work on me! I've faced off against too many mooks who've tried that on me!" Grinned Tony, before firing both of his hand repulsors at the Omega Sentinel.
The Omega Sentinel's EMP weapon retracted and the adamantium shield folded out of Its arm in its place, tanking the double-strength, repulsor blast like a champ. That was when I reached out with another Ferromantic spell, incanting mystical syllables and making a mystical gesture. My magic managed to cause a fault in the programming of the adamantium shield, causing it to partially retract and stick in that position. Tony took full advantage and shot another, double-strength, repulsor blast at the Omega Sentinel, blasting off its left arm and leaving it with only its shoulder cannons to work with. If there truly was anything left of Karima Shapandur in there, I was betting that it felt a spike of fear at that.
As if to corroborate my thought, the Omega Sentinel blared out, "Error! Arms non-functional! Threat Level: Fatal! Withdrawing to prevent neutralization!"
"No, you don't!" Growled Tony, flying to intercept. However, the Omega Sentinel folded a tube out of its back that fired a pulse of some kind of invisible energy. Immediately, the Omega Sentinel sped up mid-flight, cruising past Tony's attempt to cut it off from retreat. It was soon out of the area as Tony landed on the ground.
"That was a Kronan Gravitron. It's used by a certain Alien Race as a gravity drive for various vehicles. Between that, the Skrull cloaking device, and the Kree EMP Weapon. I'm pretty confident that I can get an Inquiry. I also managed to get a full scan while we were fighting the thing, so that should be useful in coming up with countermeasures. How did you manage to get it to glitch out like that?" Questioned Tony
"I looked up more powerful spells meant to be used against advanced tech, just in case of round two. Seems to have come in handy." I offered.
"I'll say. You all right?" Queried Tony.
"I'll live. Listen, I need to get back to my Island. You know how to reach me once you've set everything up on your end, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I had Strange look into that number you called me from. Pretty neat how you've got a magic phone and all. I should be able to get a hold of you." Nodded Tony.
"Great. I'll wait for your call." I replied.
Then I headed off for where Hank had parked the Blackbird. He hadn't wanted to talk to Tony. Something about waiting until he was no longer a fugitive. I guess he didn't want to taint the reunion. As I clambered onto the Jet, I could only be thankful that Forge had installed a cloak on the X-Men's Blackbird before he'd gone off to do whatever it was he did between runs on the team. Tinkering probably. Without that cloak, Hank would have been swarmed by Prime Sentinels pretty damned quick. The Blue-furred man in question nodded at me as I took my seat.
"How was Tony? I understand he met you at a bar?" Questioned Hank.
"Relax, Bones. He had an Arnold Palmer." I placated.
"Bones?" Queried Hank.
"You're a Doctor McCoy, aren't you?" I grinned.
"As amusing as that is, I am not that kind of Doctor. I'm a geneticist." Retorted Hank, though he was still smiling.
"Maybe I ought to call you Sulu, instead? You are flying the Blackbird." I hedged.
"Would that not be a demotion? From Chief Medical Officer to Pilot?" Asked Hank.
"I mean, I liked Sulu, but most people weren't fans of tertiary characters." I shrugged.
"That isn't entirely true. I am given to understand that Chekov has a decent fanbase." Smirked Hank.
"Just take us out." I chuckled.
And with that, we lifted off, headed back for my island. . .
XXXX
Bastion was agitated. Five days ago, his perfect killing machine had returned without its arms, having unsuccessfully engaged the Unknown Mystical Mutant and Iron Man at the same time. To make matters worse, the surge in funding that they had recently gained had suddenly been cut off pending review. There were rumors that the fools in Congress were agitating for an Inquiry and Kelly's group was fighting a losing battle against the calls for it. Bastion wasn't certain how it was happening, just that it was. Then Nick Fury began sniffing around, threatening to get SHIELD involved in Bastion's business. If the Inquiry happened, that would force Bastion's hand vis-a-vis Phase Two, but SHIELD's involvement would be disastrous. He would have to take measures to ensure it didn't come to that.
"If only Mystique would oblige us again and destroy something else. This would be a lot easier, then." Grumbled Bastion as he stalked over toward one of the numerous labs inside the base he was using for his main operations.
It was an old Missile Silo that had been decommissioned a year or so after the Soviets Collapsed southwest of Baltimore. It had been slated for demolition but had been saved at the last minute by Gyrich and his National Security Agency. Gyrich had turned the old missile base into a black site and expanded its underground bunkers over the next few years. Now, it was Bastion's Headquarters, close enough to Washington DC to liaise with Senator Kelly and his group, but centrally located enough to send out teams of Prime Sentinels to most places around the Eastern Seaboard of the United States within an hour of sending the orders.
As Bastion entered his lab, he spied the objects he was looking for. A trio of artificial Synthezoids that had been built with Skrull Technology that had been given to Bastion by Gyrich and Kelly's mysterious backers. These three Synthezoids were painstakingly sculpted to resemble three prominent mutants and had Skrull technology implanted in them that would allow an approximation of the Mutants' powers. One bore the appearance of the Mutant Vigilante known as Shadowcat, one bore the appearance of the Mutant Vigilante known as Meltdown, and one bore the appearance of the Mutant Vigilante known as Mirage. The three Synthezoids would serve his purposes well enough. Bastion would use them in a false-flag operation to assassinate President Clinton.
If Graydon Creed's assassination when he'd only been a candidate sparked outrage, then the assassination of a sitting president by apparent Mutant Terrorists would spark a firestorm that would utterly annihilate any calls for an Inquiry or SHIELD intervention. Once that happened, Bastion would be free to continue his work with more support. He would have a free hand to finish phase one, then he could move on to phase two, doing the same for all Superpowered people. True, he did not hate them the same way he did the Mutant Filth, but as had just been proven recently, they posed an obstacle to further operations. Once they were gone, Bastion would be free to coup the Government, cutting out Kelly and Gyrich entirely. Once that had happened, Bastion would be able to take his operations global.
When the world was in his steel grip, then he would rule it as only a mind such as his could. He would eliminate the possibility of unknown variables before they could begin to trouble him. Only then would he truly be able to bring about the steel dawn he had been dreaming of lately. The mass cyberization of humanity and the export of his steel revolution to the stars! First, however, he needed to focus on the task at hand. Bastion awakened the trio of Synthezoids and gave them their mission. With an affirmative, the Synthezoids moved out. By the end of the week, Bastion would have his free hand.
One way or another. . .
XXXX
AN: OK, so here we see Tony and Jan's plan to stop Bastion take shape. Jan's crafting and training have also paid off big time, allowing him to defeat the Omega Sentinel alongside Tony. Previously, it kicked his ass, but thanks to his Ferromantic studies, he has spells that can cause it to hurt itself or create openings for someone else with the power to hurt it. It's not as good as being able to solo the Omega Sentinel, but it's a step in the right direction.
We also see what Bastion is trying to accomplish here with the Operation. True, he hates mutants, but getting rid of them is just the first phase of a plan to Cyberize the whole world and then the Universe. As so often happens with these sorts of things, the AI has gone rogue. Gyrich and Kelly don't know it yet, but their Anti-Mutant project is about to bite them in the ass hard. At least it will if nothing is done, anyway. Of course, Robotic assassins tend not to work out in comics, but you'll just have to keep reading to see what happens.
At any rate, the next chapter will involve the attack on the president.
Stay tuned. . .