Xavier sat by Donella's bedside and gently tried to slip into her mind only to be met with firm barriers. It had been a week since the incident in her office. Rogue had sworn up and down that she'd only touched Donella for two minutes so the prolonged coma was worrying. Jean had hooked her up to the monitors and an IV with fluids then had left her almost completely alone only returning to replace the bag or to make sure she was still clean. Xavier sighed mentally at Jeans behavior but there wasn't much he could do to force the women to get along with one another. He smoothed her hair but it just sprang back up as if it had a life of its own. "Is this how you felt?" He murmured. "Watching me lay in this bed day after day?"
"She didn't show it very much though." Rogue said from behind him. "She was very strong, very determined not to let her pain interfere."
He turned to look at Rogue, he knew she felt intensely guilty about having to touch Donella. "Have you been able to determine why she won't come out of the coma? You said the powers have faded away so she should be waking."
Rogue sat in the chair beside him. "Ah've sifted through what memories of her's I can but Ah haven't figured any of it out. She's worn out from the last six years. She suffers from depression though how she's managed to hide it so well is beyond me and there's a deep dark blackness, like a stain, in her memories that she shies away from. Ah can't even get near it."
Xavier nodded slowly. "That might be why she's still in a coma. She just doesn't want to wake."
Rogue had jut opened her mouth to say something when all the alarms in Haven went off at once. The noise was deafening. Then the alarms tapered off to one or two and a prerecorded voice spoke. "This is a yellow coded alert. Intruders have breached the primary outer perimeter. This is a yellow coded alert. Intruders have breached the primary outer perimeter."
Rogue jumped up. "Ah have to get to the conference room."
"Go I'll be along in a minute." He turned his wheel chair around and followed her out of the infirmary silently cursing it's limited speed.
When he reached the conference room everyone was waiting for him. There were thick white binders set out and a large map displayed on the far wall. "Alright. As of 2:57 this afternoon our outer perimeter has been compromised." Scott spoke calmly and motioned to the lap where a laser pointer showed the outer perimeter. It was roughly a mile away from the illustrated display of Haven.
"The outer perimeter is a series of underground sensors and hidden cameras. The sensors detected movement beyond that of the local animal population and the cameras confirmed that fifty armed men are approaching Haven in a search pattern. They don't know where we are exactly but I'm willing to bet they will know it when they see it." He flipped a page in his binder and used the laser pointer again. "This is our secondary Perimeter. Its about fifty yards from the first entrance to Haven and the easiest entrance to get to though it is very well hidden. Again underground sensors and hidden cameras. There is also a offensive system in place that can be primed to deploy but it has to be primed before they reach it or it's useless."
Logan stood. "We set up a series of Taser like weapons that discharge electrified prongs in all directions at random, a series of flamethrowers and as primitive as it sounds if we push a button a whole bunch of sharpened spikes will pop up outta the ground and skewer anyone over them."
"Anyone who either manages to survive or get past the first line of defense will be able to reach the entrance to Haven, they have to find it first. It's hidden in a bluff wall behind native shrubs and concealed with holographic technology but if they have the right equipment they can find it. Getting it open is their next problem. The security pass code is changed every week, there's a retina scan and if you fail both a pit opens up underneath and drops you into a room that will rapidly fill with gas. Quick and virtually painless. The syatem is rigged to change the pass-code if an electronic device is used to hack the code and instead of a green light indicating a correct code entry the correct code entry color is red. That should confuse the daylights out of them. The Retina scan is also electronic proof." Scott flipped to another page and Xavier was silently impressed with how much thought and planning had gone into making sure this place was safe and secure.
"We can probably let the main defenses take care of them and mop up what's left, my biggest worry is that they might have some kind of GPS tracker that will let the FoH know where we are. Eventually they'll send more people than we can fight off." Logan grumbled.
"That's when we consider evacuation." Rogue spoke up and looked at Kurt. "Kurt and Ah have been working on a joint evacuation project. The six escape tunnels end at apparently random locations, We've set up safe houses with vehicles, money, food, disguises and weapons. Everyone in Haven has a number. When we sound the evacuation alert they will go to the tunnel with their number on it. From there they will go to the alternate Haven site in Brazil. We've spent the last few months working on getting it habitable. It's not as nice as Haven is but it's secure. We also have transportation to Brazil set up. Once the evacuees get to the safe houses they will wait for a few days then use the available vehicles to travel to Southern California. Two barges will be waiting to take them across to South America. From there we travel to Brazil."
"So it's decision time folks. Do we arm the secondary perimeter defenses or hold off and hope they can't find the entrance?" Logan sat back down followed by Scott.
Xavier considered the information before him while the Committee talked amongst themselves each offering up their own opinion and their own information as to what measures they had helped put in place. After a moment he cleared his throat and they went silent. "After I woke Donella and I went through everything you've presented. She explained how thoroughly you've all planned for any eventuality. Based on that information my advise is to arm the secondary perimeter defense systems. And have any combat ready people standing by in the event they manage to breach Haven. Scott I read in your defense binder that there are certain technological defenses set up to prevent technological detection. Would they extend to GPS tracking?"
"They might but I can't be sure. The better part of half our defense plan was based on our location being a secret. Donella changed the location almost weekly. We didn't even know where it was going to be until the day she told us to fly, teleport or transport ourselves to British Columbia then we traveled for three hours to this particular section of British Columbia and started working under a mental shield." Scott said.
"It sounds as if she were worried about a precog or telepath getting the information." Xavier commented.
Scott chuckled. "She's always maintained that she's paranoid. In this case it's worked to our advantage."
"Quite. Let us hope that your technological security measures will prevent GPS tracking. Arm the defense systems and be ready for an assault. Also I would like to arrange an announcement to the citizens of Haven."
"We can broadcast over the emergency PA system." Rogue said. "When would you like to do the broadcast?"
"As soon as this meeting is done."
"Well it's done Chuck, lets get moving people. Everyone knows what they're doin'." Logan stood and strode out of the room to get the combat teams ready.
Rogue lead Xavier to the Broadcast room. "Just push this button and speak into the microphone."
He pushed the button. "Attention residents of Haven. As you know there was a yellow coded alert. I'm sure all of you are aware of what that means. Haven is facing it's first major threat. I know you must be worried but I would like to tell you there is little cause for alarm. Safety measures have been taken and it is likely we will be able to remove the threat before it reaches Haven. However I ask you all to remain vigilant and calm. There may be need to evacuate. In light of that possibility please prepare what you might need so it is ready in the event an evacuation is necessary. Prepare only what you know you will need. Material possessions are fleeting and can be attained later."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "I am proud to see what Haven has become. It fills me with joy to see how adversity has brought us together and it is my hope that we never lose this sense of community."
He turned off the microphone and looked to Rogue "I'm sure you have something that you need to do. I'll be returning to the infirmary and get out of everyone's way."
She gave him a hug before he left the room. "Yer neva in the way." She promised him and left to find Logan.
Xavier smiled and returned to the infirmary.
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The first clue the FoH militants had that they might be in danger was when a double row of sleek black weapons popped up out of the ground and shot pronged electrical leads at them in all directions. The jolt of electricity was cripplingly painful to those who were struck. While not actually fatal they were debilitating and caused mass confusion. Just as the tasers were running out of juice the flamethrowers popped up in random patterns and started spraying flames in all directions. They lowered an raised at random preventing their targets from being able to predict their movements. The militants scattered like birds trying to avoid being hit by the searing flames. The team leader Lt. St James could already count six dead and another four who would probably be joining them soon. He soon noticed the pattern to the attacks though. They were strung out in an uneven row about ten yards wide but beyond them there was safety. "Charge through it men!" He shouted. "It's safe on the other side. We're almost on them!"
His men charged forward leaping this way and that to avoid the flame throwers. Just as they thought they were safe though an even deadlier trap sprung in the patch of supposedly safe space just beyond the initial traps. Sharped steel stakes five feet long and spring loaded shot up out of the ground impaling anyone directly above them. Some were lucky and were only grazed by the deadly stakes. Others were impaled through their leg or foot. A handful were not so lucky and took stakes through the chest and groin. They were still horribly alive though the stakes having missed their heart and only having punctured a lung, or the stake had cut through their spine leaving them paralyzed and in agony. Those who were lucky enough to be missed watched in horror as their comrades remained transfixed.
"Put them out of their misery!" The St. James bellowed in horror. He fired a controlled burst of gunfire at the transfixed men ending their pain. The remaining militants did likewise. Once they were done he took a head count. Out of the fifty men he'd brought with him only twenty seven remained and of those twenty seven ten were injured. He glared at the trapped expanse of ground. "What kind of monsters are we dealing with here?"
No one answered him and they proceeded with caution. He was using a electronic sweeper to search for hidden entrances which would surely be electronically protected. When they had started their search in British Columbia they noticed right away that there was some kind of radio jamming keeping the team from using their radios. Originally the FoH had thought to use radar to locate Haven which was thought to be underground but when they had tried all they got was a massive white screen. Radar jamming had been employed as well. His scanner beeped and he tuned in on the source. They found the door cleverly hidden behind bushes and a holographic projector which they quickly smashed to pieces. There was a keypad and a retina scanner set next to the door and he motioned three men forward. They pulled out small computers and hooked them up to the key pad and the retina scanner. After a few minutes the keypad turned green and he relaxed slightly then the retina scanner beeped. The first indication St. James had that something was wrong was when the keypad suddenly flashed twice and the ground dropped out from under the three men in front of the door and another three men just behind them. He could hear a hissing noise and just before the trapdoor swung back up he saw his men writhing on the floor as a poisonous gas choked the life from them.
He was down to twenty one men and he was starting to feel distinctly nervous about the whole mission. "Just blow the door in!" He barked. One of the men cautiously put a block of C4 on the door and back up. They retreated to a safe distance and blew the door to pieces. "Go Go Go. Jump over the trap door!" He bellowed and the twenty one remaining team members leaped over the trapdoor and into the waiting arms and attacks of the Haven Combat Force.
After a brutal and bloody fight St. James was the only remaining member of the team he had lead all over British Columbia in search of Haven. He had managed to hold his own and was alive through sheer dint of his fighting ability and stubborn refusal to die until he'd taken at least one of his enemy with him. Logan called off the attack and eyed St. James dispassionately. "Yer one stupid crazy sonofabitch."
"Me! You're the one who booby-trapped your front yard!" St James spat then had to laugh at how stupid that sounded.
Logan shrugged. "It's war." He said simply.
St. James nodded in agreement. "I'm not going to let you capture me." He warned.
"I know."
"Then kill me. Sic your freaks on me. Tell them to use their unnatural powers on me and just get it over with."
Logan gave a bark of laughter. "Actually I was thinkin' of hand to hand with ya. You and me."
St. James thought about it for a minute. "Lets do it."
Logan launched himself at his opponent. St. James was a good fighter, he'd been trained by the best. He and Logan grappled with one another, kicking, punching using every dirty trick they knew but in the end Logan was better. Logan had once been hailed as the King of the Cage and because of his healing mutation he couldn't die. He could be hurt but he would always heal within minutes while St. James, was just a human with a mission. The last blow Logan delivered snapped St. James neck like a twig. Logan waved off the cheers. "Don't." He said shortly. "He was man doin' what he thought was right and it cost him his life. Ain't no pride in killing a man like that. Someone clean up this mess and don't forget to clean the lawn too. I don't want anyone to know where they were when they died."
He stalked down into Haven and made a beeline for his quarters. He felt old and dirty and disgusted that a good man like St. James had died for a war that should never have happened. He climbed into the shower and tried to wash himself clean of the disgust, of the anger and of the feeling that if things had happened just a little differently he might have been St. James, leading a team to their death.
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Finally! Something big happens!!
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