2015-06-19 A New Chapter Begins
This scene is rated Everybody
Warning: N/A
2015-06-19
Players: Drake, Logan, Marie (temping Ororo, Bobby, and Hank)
GMed by Marie, basically!
Title: A New Chapter Begins

Ororo had spent the better part of the day in the danger room and was no coming out of it, she had with her some of the other members of the X-Men, Hank and Bobby to be precise. She was in her full training gear as well, a black leather suit with a flowing black cape that attached at her wrists and glimmered like black silver in the hallway lights. "We need to ensure that all members of the team begin that Sentinel training program. It includes that new sentry machine that they displayed in Hell's Kitchen." She told the others as they'd paused in front of the sliding doors of the elevator.

Logan is among this group and walks along listening as she speaks. "This might compromise the team. To protect the students they may have to know." he says lightly. "I know many have gone home for the summer but we have to protect the ones still here. Maybe we should beef up some of their training as well."

The elevator door slides open, and out steps Drake. He isn't decked out for Danger Room shenanigans - he isn't precisely sure what this is about. He'd been asked to make an appearance at this level, so here he is!

News of the Sentinels had reached him as of last night. He has a few thoughts on what should probably be done, but he's in no position to make policies. But he did find that someone had spilled some beans to Dyson already, and that required smoothing over. Is that what this is about?

No sooner does the hallway open up to him than he runs into Ororo, Bobby, Hank, and Logan, at least three of which dudded up. The 'Spandex Brigade', as Remy called it once. The memory tugs a faint grin from the teen as he steps forward. "'Allo."

Hank and Bobby made their replies, mostly just in the form of nods and non vocal reactions and then the two of them parted and went toward the locker rooms. Storm was staring at Logan when Drake arrived. "Yes." She replied to Wolverine. "We're selecting the students that we feel are most… capable of handling this mental burden and we shall be giving them access to the danger room, along with the proper supervision to instruct them on how to use their abilities to defeat these metal monstrosities. Infact, Logan… you and Drake here… are needed for that." The white haired woman looked upon Drake then and she gave him her genuinely warming smile. "Drake. I assume you have seen the news of what has transpired in the city. A reckless display from the Sentinel program, as well as the brutal murder of one of our own?" She was not sure all that Drake knew on the subject, it would seem.

Drake immediately focuses between Logan and Ororo. "I am?," he asks. He's needed for a thing? He's cool with being needed for things - at least mostly. But in light of the recent happenings, he can't afford to get excited too early. The dark-skinned woman steals his attention and wins a bright smile for the trouble.

Don't worry, it vanishes in short order.

"I caught the news last night. I had no idea about, uh… one of ours dying, though. Who was it? What happened?"

Ororo watches as Logan steps away down the hallway to speak to Hank, her eyes then sweep over to Drake and she hears the question. "The Sentinels executed Doug Ramsey on camera for Tony Stark's assistance in protecting mutants. "Tony survived the attack, but he's gone underground to avoid any complications coming from his heroic actions." Storm took a soft breath of air in then and she glanced away for a moment.

"Drake, we need you to help Logan in assisting with further training…" Her attention returned to him. "You're one of our best student graduates, and as such, we want you to join us as a complete member of the X-Men team." She paused and started to walk toward the western hall. "Come along…"

Drake physically cringes at the news. "So they were trying to make an example," he mutters. His right arm crosses his torso to set a hand on the opposite elbow. "Yeah. I was already making the motions to be the.. or a- New Mutant trainer. And in light of this, now seems like the right time to start cracking down on that…"

He begins following after her. "Aheh. Thanks…" The excitement risks bubbling over again, but it's kept under a lid of growing concern. "…Looking forward to this for a while. Got a lott'a questions to go with it."

"Questions are fine, ask them at your leisure." Storm replied as she walked with her graceful steps through the corridor, her cape wisking about behind her. "I need to introduce you to several of this basement's… features, so that you can be better prepared to defend this school should something become of any of us… such as myself, or Scott, or Rogue even." She turned approached one of the metal doors, that at this point, Drake had not been through. It scanned Ororo's face, as well as Drake's and the door opened.

"You've been given clearance to this section of the basement now." Another long corridor stretched out before them, it looked identical to what they'd already been in. She started through the new open doorway and into this new section, another similar metal X door lie ahead and several on either sides of the hallway as well.

Drake follows after her with a glance here and there, ensuring he's certain where they are at any given time. That goes out the window when facial scans come into play. When she makes it clear that he's expected to mimic her behavior, he leans in and blinks at the machine. Afterwards, he straightens up with a grin. "So, no growing a beard, huh?," he muses.

That's not one of his important questions, of course.

"I'm all ears. And eyes. But… first, does this mean no more secrets between me'n everyone else? I'm on the inside?"

"You are on the inside." Ororo told him in response, looking to her left at him as she walked then. "But that means you must respond to emergency calls, when they are sent out and attempt to be around as often as you are possibly capable of." She paused and looked ahead again. "Since you are staying as a resident of the school, however, that won't likely be a problem." It was rare for Ororo to crack a smile, let alone a laugh, but she never seemed to mind people telling jokes.

The white haired teacher motioned to the metal doors as they passed them, speaking on them. "Uniforms, generic in design, such as the one that I am wearing now… as well as the personal designs that some of our members have come up with over the years. You can store your own there as well." She motioned to the doors beside that chamber. "Changing rooms and restroom facilities."

Drake nods quickly enough to jostle those hanging bangs. "Of course. This is what I want." Beat. "I think." He looks to the uniforms, briefly distracted by them. Some are, indeed, /very/ similar to one another. While others look… well, he sees Betsy's. That should say enough. His eyes shift back to Ororo. "What exactly is it the X-Men do? What's the purpose?"

"The purpose is to defend innocent mutants and at the same time… preserve relations with humanity. Some would have you believe that mutants are the future and that the evolution of the human species is an indication that its time on this planet is over." Storm replies to him in her thick African accented voice. "This is simply untrue. Humans are every bit as important to the future of this world as our kind are. We can live together, the world -is- big enough."

She paused beside another doorway and she opened it with a soft touch to a panel beside it. It displayed the interior of the meeting room which held a large circular metal table in the center, upon that table was a 3-dimensional map of part of New York City in a shimmering holographic display. "Here we will often conduct briefings for whatever mission lays ahead for us as a team." She looked upon Drake. "We are protectors of this school and its denizens. As you know, we welcome all mutants here who will be productive members of our program." She glanced into the meeting room. "Sometimes we have to go and rescue potential new members as well… this occasionally requires the use of such an advanced mission preparation room."

Drake nods at her as she confirms everything he told Dyson. It was never /officially/ confirmed to him, but he thought he could take it in faith - and as it turns out, he was right. "And one of the ways we help mutant relations is by… stepping in when the cops or regular police can't handle something, too, right?," he chances. "Not to overstep, but to assist? To show we have the same goal? Even if the cause of the problem is another mutant?"

His gaze turns to the briefing room, and said gaze goes huge. "Duuude," he drawls quietly. He's very aware of their predisposition to rescue operations. He got to be on one with Kurt to retrieve an odd girl from a hospital - a girl who, to his knowledge, still goes by 'Sparrow'. "Yeah… did one of those already. Didn't know about /this/ kind of room, though."

Ororo listened to him and she drew in a light breath. "It can be complicated." She tells him. "The police often feel that should a mutant intervene… if with the best of intentions, that it is an illegal action. But it widely depends on-the-cop-involved and the level of public safety being put at risk. To be quite honest, if it is something you believe the cops can handle? Then no, you should not get involved. We are not the authorities on this planet, in this country, or in this city." She glanced toward the map of New York. "We are merely… very capable citizens…" She looked back at him. "That being said, if it is a situation that has escalated beyond what the Police are capable of handling… then you may choose to enter the fray at your own discretion… but be aware… we're facing great persecution these days. The Sentinels can be called in at a pin-drop, and that could potentially expose you… and expose this school."

Ororo keyed the door again and it rolled shut once more. She started to walk further down the hallway toward the three metal doors that capped off the end of the corridor.

"Yeah, that's… kind of the same protocol of the New Mutants, but with a lot less leeway. Soon as the police arrive on the scene, skedaddle." Drake stuffs his hands into his pockets. "I understand. I'm with you so far."

When she resumes walking, so does Drake. "Will I be able to see a roster of who all is on this team?"

"Of course." Ororo replied to him then as she now keyed open the door at the end of the hallway that went in the direction of North. Beyond the door was another corridor, though its lights were only half as bright currently leaving it somewhat dark and eerie. "This is the entry way into the bunker area." Storm said as she looked back at Drake. "A bomb shelter. It can be put into lockdown, should… that need ever arise. It was added during the cold war due to the heightened tensions of nuclear war. Let us hope it is never needed. But be aware that it is here, all the same… should the students need to be brought here."

Drake had hoped so. She said he's on the inside now, after all.

When the door slides open, he takes a peer inside and surveys what he can make out in the dim light. "Huh. Would this be the place to take the students if Sentinels, uh… decide to attack the school? God forbid'n all." He leans back again to direct his gaze to the female at his side.

"Yes. Precisely." Ororo replied to him then as well when she looked down inside the darker corridor that had similar doorways inside of it. "It is fully stocked and on a completely separate power supply than the rest of the facilities on the property. It can sustain our full capacity school for upwards of seventy years, infact." She exhaled then and left this door open as she started to walk across the hallway, passing the western door and moving to the southern door.

She stood on its eastern side and keyed it open, this door slid apart and within it is the now revealed massive hangar chamber, a cold gust of air rolled out from this room and over both of them. Sitting in the center of the hangar is the giant SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, solid black in color, though it was being occasionally illuminated by white strobe-lights that went down the middle of the hangar floor… silently flashing in sequential order… "Here, you will find our emergency transport and mission operation vehicle. It is known as the 'Blackbird'."

Drake moves along with her in silence, mulling over his next few questions. They may be a little too specific for Ororo to give clear answers, though. It depends on how things are run in this group, really.

But those thoughts are silences when the hangar door opens and the massive jet is revealed. Drake's jaw drops.

"Holy crap, they were right." He takes an additional step forward. "…Why would SHIELD want to know if we have a jet?" After a beat, he gives his head a quick shake, as if dislodging something. "Stupid question. If they knew we had a jet, they'd have proof that we're more than a school, know how we move around, and be able to track us. And that could give us some major problems, even if SHIELD seems to be on the right side." He twiddles a hand as he concludes, "Government's still government, and until mutants are fully accepted, we've gotta tread lightly."

Suddenly, the teen whirls around and juts a thumb over his shoulder to the jet. "It's a good thing nobody told me about this early on. The system works." It's like looking at proof for why keeping the students in the dark is the right idea. Crikey. The jet's /real/.

"Shield is only on the right side due to it currently having good leadership. In the form of Nick Fury. He is a good man, with a good heart." Storm tells Drake. "But good men rarely last in positions of power. His time could pass at any given moment, and like that… the sands of Shield's 'goodness' could shift in a darker direction." Her eyes then glanced toward the hangar and the jet. "We still have to keep ourselves separate from Shield, for this very reason."

When Storm's gaze returned to Drake then she nodded once at him. "Scott is the primary pilot. He instructed me on it and I, in-turn, have passed that knowledge onto Marie. Should you wish to be a pilot as well, you will need to speak to her. She has logged over one-hundred hours behind the Blackbird's stick and is quite capable." Her eyes went back to the plane inside the hangar. "It can hold our entire team… and it is unlikely that anyone other than Shield could detect us on their radars while flying it."

"Heck yes," blurts Drake.

You think he has a soft spot for fancy cars? Dangle a cherry jetplane in front of him and see what happens.

"I'll be talking to her, like, immediately." His words are rushed, excited. Sentinels are terrible, and it's still a real threat, but holy crap, it's a jetplane and he just got permission to learn how to fly it, eee~!

He fusses with his hair, a hand running through it to try to distract himself and settle back down. "A-anyway… what's our structure like?" He takes a step towards Ororo again, letting her shut the hangar bay if she chooses.

Ororo nodded once toward his eagerness to learn to pilot the craft, she had assumed it would be something he would want to learn… motorcycles and planes usually interest the same people. She left the door open for now and released a light exhale. "Scott and I are the two combined leaders of the team. He is in charge of combat tactics and combative preparations, where I deal with the diplomacy and the more subtle sides of this team's… public relations?" Storm now stepped to the central door and she turned toward it. Another facial scan occurred, though this one only seemed to scan her. There was a 'ding' heard followed by a female computer voice that welcomed Storm by name. The X door parted and showed off the wonder that is the 'big round room' known as Cerebero.

"This room was designed specifically for the abilities of Professor Xavier." Storm started to walk INTO this room this time, moving down its central catwalk platform toward that middle station that rested in the metal ball-shaped-room's middle. She turned to face Drake again once she reached the console where Charles did his work. "This room will really serve you personally… no use. However, Jean has potential to some day be able to operate this machine… should she find the focus to learn."

Drake simply nods. Scott and Ororo are in charge. He's willing to help in either department, of course. He strolls onwards, even into the giant spherical chamber. Now, this room is confusing. It has an apparatus in the center, and that's pretty much it. Leaning to the side, he peers down into the cavernous depths below.

"Uh-huh?," he asks, obviously not quite getting the purpose of the room yet. His gaze returns to Ororo, and he asks a simple, blunt, "So what's it do?"

Ororo watched him as he looked about and she turned to the console at his question, her left hand reached out and she picked up the headgear that was attached to the console. "With this device… the Professor can amplify his mental power and he can locate any mutant on the surface of the planet… and a little beyond, should that need ever arise."

Storm turned the headpiece about a few times to show of it off for both of their sets of eyes. "It is how we can find mutants who're in the deepest well of need. We can then formulate an extraction mission to go and rescue them, and perhaps bring them here to welcome them into our ranks at the school. Many students have been found this way, including Rogue and… more recently, Dyson."

"Met him last night," Drake notes. "He mentioned something along those lines." He steps forward, peering at the helmet a little more closely. "That raises another question. Are we keeping things a secret still or what?" His eyes lift to her face, his gaze troubled. "I found out that someone on the staff told Dyson about what we do, and.. well, given Dyson's situation, I understand. But I keep hearing whiffs of people spilling all the beans. And I don't mean to question experience or anything, but I don't wanna be the only one keeping info on the down-low…"

"Samuel." Storm replies then softly as she sat the headpiece back onto its mounting and then placed her hands together in front of her lap, her cape softly laying about her hips and down her thighs. "He discovered a great many things, due to his ability to interact with technology. And… once Scott found out that he knew, he decided to just… let it out." She gently shook her head at this. "You can call it a disagreement on opinions. He felt that the damage had already been done, I felt that the damage could be far worse. He felt the dam was already broken… I felt that the dam could be repaired."

She blinked her eyes then and looked toward the open doorway down the platform walkway. "It is neither here nor there. There are a great many of the students who yet do not know, as as well as the world outside this property's walls… And we need to continue to keep it this way. I would personally appreciate it if you saw things as I do, rather than as Scott does, when it comes to this approach." A little tension in the ranks, it would seem?

Drake doesn't rail against Scott. Scott is his role model. He's got it together. He's a leader. He can get the job done, and has before. He's given him a chance when the rest of the world wouldn't. And yet, on this particular issue, he can't see eye-to-sunglasses.

"Eeyeah, no, I follow. I get you." The importance of secrecy was nailed into his head by none other than the Professor when he joined the New Mutants. He's living proof that the secrets are necessary to keep this place intact. And though one shouldn't ever expect to see Drake counter Scott on anything, he firmly supports their hush-hush policy. "There's a lot at stake here; for everyone. All it takes is one person knowing too much and falling into the wrong hands, or saying the wrong thing for a lott'a lives to be ruined. Or ended. We've /gotta/ be discreet."

"So, uh… do we get little communicators or something? Or will I get a text if I'm needed?"

"Yes, certainly." Storm reached to her belt and she unclipped a small silvery device that she pushed the center of, it unfolded into a screen that looked a lot like a silver-smartphone might. "Here." She handed it to him and then started to walk again toward the exit once more. "You can get direct communication with any of us through the use of it as well as texts, video and all that you'd find on your phone. Except without the risk of it being an open platform, such as a cell carrier service." She glanced back at hima s she walked through the exit door again. "I will send you the list of the complete X-Men roster on it. Codenames."

Drake takes the device of sorts and follows along after her. "Alright. Cool. Just one more thing." He hastens his pace just enough to move in at her side. "You mentioned I'm needed? What should I be doing? The trainer-thing is already something I planned on taking care of. Was there something else?" He's in, and that's great. But what does he /do/ with that?

Ororo stepped out of the Cerebero and turned around to wait for Drake, when he came out and spoke his next question she keyed the door shut and then regarded him. "Honestly, Drake." She spoke in her motherly-toned voice. "We need you to be a visible support structure for the students that are still here. Word about the death of Doug Ramsy is likely to spread, and this may make many of the students fearful. Especially with the sentinels hunting mutants all across the news. The children have seen this and they're going to have questions."

She turned and started to walk to the east again down the hallway. "Add this to your training and general day to day responsibilities, we need you to be ready to go out on missions. There could be some coming very soon, based on what Scott is planning. So keep that communicator close."

"Of course," nods Drake to.. well, everything she just said. It makes sense. But it raises an important question. "Given that there are Sentinels out'n about again, what are the policies gonna be about students going out? If they're tracking mutants, it could be dangerous. When the Jotun were out in force, we kept students indoors as much as possible for their own safety, and this.. this seems like it might be even more dangerous."

Ororo continued to walk down the corridor, her tall boots quietly echoing on the metal floor. "None of our identities are known as of yet. The students should know not to use their powers in public. And… we do not believe that the Sentinels are on open patrol… though that could change at any moment. Its best if the students stay home for now and that we wait and see how those in charge of the Sentinel program sway their influence at the capitol." She shakes her head once then. "Regular non-mutant citizens are not entirely supportive of the program either, due to the collateral damage that the metal monsters can cause."

Drake nods quickly at her. "Right. So.. will there be an announcement going out? Telling'em to keep here? I totally support that - we'd rather they be grouchy or get cabin fever than get killed. I'll do what I can to encourage people to be safe'n cautious until official word gets out, in the meantime?"

"Yes." Storm replied to him then. "School schedule is proceeding as usual and students will be informed then in class. Its likely that many of them will have a lot of questions and this is a good way for them to have them answered by their respective teachers. All students not enrolled in summer courses will be notified at dinner and other gatherings. We do not want to scare the children, however… but it may be difficult to avoid doing that at this stage."

"A little fear can go a long way in keeping'em healthy, anyway." Drake lifts a hand, holding his thumb and forefinger slightly apart. "A /leetle/."

Drake then bows his head to her. "Hey. Miss Monroe. Thanks for doing this. I won't let you guys down." He just felt the need to give that assurance, and ensure his appreciation was known. This is something he worked for, after all.

Ororo paused outside of the women's locker room and she offered Drake a very small smile and a light bow of her head. "I trust you Drake. You have earned your place with us in the school and in the team." She tells him then. "I know that you will do your best, and that your best will do us all proud. Use your communicator to text me any further questions that you may come up with."

Drake pivots on heel to face her, and links his hands - communicator and all - behind his back. He can't help but adopt a prouder smile as she gives her response. But he gives a simple, sharp nod and polite, "Yes, ma'am." It may be a little more militant than what they really expect or require, but it felt appropriate, given the circumstances. And unless she adds anything else, he'll turn to excuse himself back down the hall towards the elevator. He has some people to get in contact with to talk uniforms!

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License