X-Traction

So long as I can get some shut eye..." Nightcrawler piped up with one eye open, happy to get on with it and strike quickly while the iron was hot. "And I'm thinking there are more people to save?"

"Meaning we’ll need space in this thing." Wolverine relents. Speed was one thing, but they couldn’t exactly leave a bunch of mutants stranded after their rescue. Nor could they release these goons back to their superiors quite so easily…

"Alright, let's drop off Hannah and the goons, then head to the island," Scott says as he guides the Blackbird toward a space where he can land near a police department or something similar to make sure the FoH bozos were put away and Hannah could get back to her life.

"Let's not waste any time den. You know where to reach us Hannah."

He gives the lady a wink and then proceeds to have a cat nap as well like Nightcrawler.

Jubilee settles in for the long ride, fishing out a GameToy from beneath her seat cushion.

The X-men drop off the FoH members at the closest police precinct along with Hannah who gives her statement about the kidnapping and rescue. The team takes flight to the Ivory Coast which takes about 9 hours. Once they see the African coastline in the distance, a small island comes into view. A voice comes over the radio. "Unidentified aircraft, please identify yourself."

"That line must be the handbook!" Logan groans, as the noise wakes him from his slumber.

"We all remember how it went last time, right?" he asks the others, somewhat rhetorically.

"Yeah, and we'll kick their ass this time too!"

Jubilee presses her face against the window to get a better look at the island in question.

"Well… Go on!" Wolverine says, motioning to Cyclops.

"It’d be rude not to introduce ourselves!"

Scott waves off Logan's insistence as he re-checks the Blackbird's heading. "We really should get Forge to put in some upgrades." He flicks on the comm to respond to the demand, "Oh, thank God! I've been trying to hail somebody for an hour! I'm low on fuel and really, REALLY need somewhere to land!"

Scott mutes his headset and looks back at the team, "Anything that gets us closer, am I right?"

Gambit chuckles as he thinks about how much Cyclops has changed from when they first met. Cyclops practicing deception so easily now!

"Y'all hear no complaints from me!"

It is almost eleven at night. Jubilee can see the island is not very big, occupied by a single large runway, a control tower, several squat white buildings, a large cylindrical fuel tank, and everywhere is dotted with utility lights which cast bright pools of light.

Over the radio comes the response. "Roger, emergency noted. The runway is clear. We have a small fuel depot at the far end. We can spare enough fuel to get you to the mainland airport. Please stay on board."

"Maybe these guys ain’t so bad after all?" Logan laughs, but the sentiment is obviously empty.

"Mention we are mutants and they’ll really roll out the red carpet for us!"

"Oh, thank you sooo much! You're a real good Samaritan!" Scott says to the control tower as he guides the Blackbird down to the landing strip. He turns off his headset mic and looks at the team, "Let's check the place out on the way down. Once we land, they'll be watching to see if we come out and this is our ride home, so I'd like Kurt to help us get out without being noticed. Any other suggestions?"

Jubilee gawks at Scott as he lies. With intonation and everything!

"Yeah, I have a suggestion. Next time, do that when I have a camcorder on me. Jean would be scandalized."

"That actually worked?!" Nightcrawler was grinning, but incredulous.

"Scott, so you're thinking to leave them scratching their heads over an empty jet while we take cover in whichever building I jump us into? Then let's identify possible location targets." As they began their descent he urged everyone to take note of the various buildings along the landing strip so as to figure out which one they'll want to infiltrate.

"Slim pickings!" Logan grunts, looking over the small island.

"Anyone worth talking to is probably in that control tower. Anyone worth rescuing is probably in one of the other buildings!" he goes on, grumbling.

Gambit shuffles his playing cards between his hands, finally drawing one of his favorites, the Joker.

"Mebbe we go someplace Gambit can send something to de fuel tank and cause a distraction?"

There are two larger hangar-sized buildings, probably used to store airplanes, supplies, and equipment. The other half dozen smaller buildings are likely barracks, offices, and other necessary buildings to do...whatever it is people do here.

Jubilee squints at the small number of buildings.

"I dunno, kind of a dinky place. Maybe they have an underground lair or something."