The X-Project

The motley team lands in India, and immediately scatters.



The identities issued by Fred Duncan were closely scrutinized by Indian authorities, but they held up, and with the rest of the American contingent of the UN inspectors, they were all waved through. Most of the FBI team was assembling in a hanger on the airfield, but Kane and his mutant found themselves waved towards an empty room by Duncan, to get themselves organized. They slowly filed in, around a large table and a wall full of folding chairs waiting. Garrison pulled out a stack of files, which he passed over to each of them.

"Initial investigation reports and information from the Pentagon about the explosion itself, as caught on satellite." Kane explained. "From here, we're going to have to split up to the bomb site, access to the people around it, and any where else anyone might have a connection."

Farouk blinked at the neat columns of numbers and chemical formulas looking at him from the page glanced at Tommy somewhat helplessly. "Umm... My file seems to be missing a suitably shallow summarization."

Catching the glance, Tommy fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he politely offered, "The site of the explosion is radioactive from the looks of these compounds." He considered a few things in his head, as he supplied, "If I can figure out how to touch them, I can make pieces of evidence safe to be around." At that statement, he looked to Adrienne.

"I guess that means I have the great pleasure of getting my hands dirty and touching the stuff," Adrienne grumbled. She glared at Tommy. "You'd better make sure the 'pieces of evidence' are very, very, very safe. If my skin turns blue or I grow claws or a third eye or something, I'm coming after you first."

Smiling quietly, Paige turned another page in her file, drifting over the numbers and facts she had mostly already hypothesized. "I'll be testing it again before hand. You're too useful to be scaly and, well. Dead." She flipped open the flap on her messenger bag and pulled out a highlighter, colouring a few opening paragraphs in various sections, before trading her file with Farouk's. "There. Does anyone else need Cliff Notes?"

"Paige, if you give me the cliff notes version I promise to buy you something suitably expensive in a machine that goes ping variety." Jubilee noted, scanning through the file she'd been given. "What's the media coverage been like so far?"

Wanda sighed and cast a look in her younger coworker's direction. "Considering the scope, Jubilee, you should already know that," she said firmly, making a mental note to give Jubilee some 'homework' after a fashion. "But to cover, it has been rather extensive and covering this thing from all sides of the spectrum."

"I've been in communication with friends at the medical college in Islamabad and Medecins Sans Frontieres," Leo said, scrutinizing the file in his hands carefully. "There's definitely a mixed reaction in their areas. But at the moment, their concerns are less about the mutant involvement and more about safety and stability." Leo looked back up soberly. "There's not complete panic on the streets yet, but it's getting close."

Morgan was close to sprawled in her chair in a borrowed male body. She hadn't bothered to explain to anyone who she actually was because she was still pissed enough at Garrison nearly outing her in the middle of a fucking bar. If he'd told people that was his business. "Aye, they're getting close. Problem's not panic entirely," she said in a gruff, Scottish highland accent. "Panic'll make it worse but the problem's military's are just waiting for that reason to pull the trigger. Panic'll make it easier for them to do it. And it'll make it messier, obviously. Right fucking blood bath. Panic means people demand they make a move, and they don't give a toss that we're here, not really. We could get caught in the crossfire easily if it escalates that quickly."

"The military is flailing as much as anyone else," said Emma. "All those wasted years and all that wasted money trying to buy favour with the more insane of the border tribesmen and this is what they get." She made a small moue of displeasure at the folder in her hand. "Someone's going to pay for this and it might as well be the Generals." She looked up at Garrison. "You know I can't go in as anyone but myself. I'm too well-known in the area and Frost Enterprises has far too many customers in the region for me to risk undercover work. But the Pakistani military runs all the aviation and the majority of sophisticated electronics procurements in Pakistan; commercial and military. Frost Enterprises contracts give me enough reason to go there to protect my investments and gain access to high-level political and military circles. I can feed you information on what the inner circles are doing and where the finances lead but I have to do it my way." She frowned for a moment and then nodded decisively. "And I need Leo and Farouk."

"Sure. I've got the right people here for gruntwork on the ground." Kane looked around the room at the team he'd assembled. In one sense, he was a little daunted to be the one in charge. The closest he'd worked to this kind of random grouping of people and talents was Alpha Flight, and he'd never been in charge. These weren't police, or X-Men, or people younger than him. Half of them were older, had more experience, but he was the cop in the room, and it was his call to make. Very daunted was closer.

"Keep in touch from Pakistan, so we can put our information together. Paige, Tommy and Adrienne, I've arranged for space with the inspection team to the site for you. Just try and keep as off the radar as possible. Once you're there, talk to Agent Helen Demetros. She'll link you into the reports from the inspection team. Morgan, Jubilee, Wanda and I will base from here, and meet back in a couple of days with anything we've found out on how this guy got to his target and who the Sons of Bakr really are." Kane shook his head. "Please, as fast as you can find out anything. The situation here is so close to the edge, we don't have a lot of time to spare."