[Jean Grey School of Higher Learning]

[June 21, 2023]

[9:22 PM]

Logan snarled as he leaped onto the back of a war machine. The quadrupedal tank shook as it tried to dislodge the feral man from its back. It didn’t work as wolverine dug his claws into the glowing sections of the solid steel plating.

The first few strikes sizzled and gave him a light shock. The next few found more critical wires, and an explosion tossed the man back.

Logan landed on the outskirts of the mansion property. The dividing forest had become the machine’s grave.

The forest-like barrier was designed to keep people out. It looked good and kept the various loud sounds in. The carefully curated, maintained, and the well-liked forest was currently on fire.

Logan sighed as he had imported those trees in to provide privacy. Millions in labor, shipping, and manpower were now going up in smoke.

the headmaster of the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning looked up as his ears picked up the sounds of rotors. The machine invaders liked using nacelle tiltrotors for their air support.

The multitude of mechanical soldiers and the war machines exited the massive dropships. They landed on the beach and then moved into the forest. Various X-Men were fighting to protect their homes. Most of the teachers were here, fighting in the front lines.

Behind them, were the students providing support. The more powerful ones were also moving through the burning forest to fight.

Krakoa was also doing its part. Anything that made it onto mansion ground had the very earth rising against them.

The machines were making steady efforts to gain ground, but it was by no means easy.

With the many enemies, the X-Mansion had sophisticated warning systems. It was good enough that the reactionary forces were able to clear the first wave. The problem was that the was more than one wave.

Logan lost count at how many had come but still more headed in. All from the direction of the Ocean Beach and the Pacific Ocean. Hang had said that there were landing boats there. They were lined across the beach and disgorged robot infantry.

Logan had a thought on the situation with Utopia. From what Hank said, the island nation was under siege by several massive robots. Of course, it was massive robots.

Logan took a deep breath. He grunted as the pain kicked in. The pain was good. Pain meant that he was still alive.

The burns were already healing as he flipped onto his feet. Storm drove literal spears of ice into the advancing robot soldiers. They knew not fear nor hesitation as they walked forward.

Laser weapons slammed into the reinforced wall of the X-Mansion. While building the new school, he decided that a proper design had to be implemented. Which necessitated metal reinforce materials. Which was sound as the lasers blew out chunks of the wall to reveal plate steel underneath.

Laura ran over. Her costume was in tatters from the literal baptism of light and fire.

“How we doing?” Logan asked as he watched Bobby create new walls of ice. It linked with Storm’s ice spears, creating a hedge-like maze of white walls. It gave enough time for Amara and Danielle to clean up the rest.

“Not great! When are the reinforcements supposed to hit?” Laura snarled as she scratched at her own healing burns.

She didn’t know what she hated more. The hot lead that popped out, or the literal ants-eating-her-flesh as it healed from laser fire.

“They are…” Logan began but stopped as his communicator beeped. “Wolverine.” He said in case it was who he hoped it was.

“Thank you for your patience, Mister Wolverine,” a woman said as if this was a simple telemarketing call. “Reinforcements are ready, please ensure the Val Verde Anchor is out in the open. We would recommend at least 8 stories of open-air, and a diameter of 50 meters.”

“Uhhh. Ok. What are you guys sending for help?” Logan said as he looked around.

Laura simply pointed to their feet.

“Get Piotr to drag the block here,” Logan said as he nodded. Laura spoke into her own communicator and a man responded back.

“Reinforcements will be 10 mobile suits and 1 battle platform. Please brace for shocks after I confirm unit gating.”

“Understood. The anchor will be ready in a few moments. Do we need to do anything? Press a button. Plug it in?” Logan asked as he recalled the near-perfect cube he had been given by his old friend.

“Any additional power will not be required. The internal power source is good for 5 years before we will need to exchange it,” the woman said with a smile. “If possible, please give me a rundown of what the soldiers can expect.”

Logan rattled off the details of what he could see. The much larger Omnics and Sentinel forces were now breaking past the tree line.

The defensive groups were gathering at the central muster point. It was at the center of open fields that served as the mansion's front lawn.

A metal man plodded over. The anchor cube thing on his shoulder. Lasers and bullets bounced off Peter’s metal body and the man dropped the cube with a thud.

“The cube is ready,” Logan said, forgetting its original name.

“Acknowledged. Signal for gating has been sent. Please evacuate the area as the initial shock wave is dangerous,” the operator said. Her fingers danced on her keyboard. The request for gating got sent with a single enter key.

Logan and Laura glanced at each other, and then at Piotr. The three quickly hustled out as the cube began to emit a loud whine. Impressive since the internal Impulse-Reactor was behind layers of steel and concrete.

[BOOOM] [THUD]

Two massive, Sentinel-like machines appeared. Colored in deep, Val Verde Green, the two units assessed the situation.

“Zaku 14 has arrived,” the pilot said he surveyed the situation. The IFF quickly painted all the robots in red, and the metahumans as green.

“Zaku 15, engaging,” the other pilot said as he readied his weapon, the Z56 Smart Gun. A scaled-up M56, using 1 kilogram needles versus the 1 gram needles of the M56.

The pair took steps forward. Unlike the traditional sentinels, these Zaku units were much heavier. The armor and weapons were designed to engage rather than scout and capture humans.

The two found the ideal targets and opened fire. The whine of the magnetic acceleration system spun up and peaked for an instant. In that instant, ferromagnetic steel needles were launched out of a cannon.

The targets exploded. Each shot was precise as computer-guided targeting systems worked with deadly accuracy.

The battlefield immediately shifted as the Omnic forces adjusted. They spread out more to prevent an area of effect from what was considered friendly fire. The shrapnel damage from the exploding machines was damaging each other.

[BOOOM] [THUD]

Another two Zaku units joined. Their guns immediately started firing as the combat data got linked to them.

Piotr cheered as he rushed off to help push the invaders back. Logan watched as his old friend picked up an infantry unit and tore it into two parts.

[BOOOM] [THUD]

The first four fanned out as the next two units arrived. What was once an encroaching army was reduced into scrap. The heavy needle rounds tore through the enemy as if they had no armored.

[BOOOM] [THUD]

The six Zakus formed a defensive line. Four were cleaning out the forest as the other two were attacking the bigger units in the burning forest. The now clear land gave a fantastic view out to the oceanfront.

Logan had enough reprieve that he could look behind as well. Smoke coiled out from the city. Yet it was far from defenseless. Various heroes were already engaging the invading robot forces.

Which included them as soon as they could secure the mansion grounds.

“Uhhhh, that's kinda impressive,” Laura said as she watched the carnage occur. It honestly made her happy to see war machines that were supporting them for a change.

“No kidding. Johnny is a lot of things, but he tends to be reliable. At least when he isn’t neck-deep in trouble,” Logan said as he felt the next power spike from that distant box. His senses were sharp enough to feel the atmosphere change ever so subtly.

[BOOOM] [THUD]

Zakus reinforcement seven and eight appeared. They cleaned up the remaining line and began to walk through the flaming forest.

“Well I guess we clean up and head to Utopia or the city,” Laura sighed as she rotated her shoulder. The healed burn still tingled.

“We can at least rub it into Cyclop's face,” Logan said as he smiled. A long life taught him to look for those silver linings.

[BOOOM] [THUD]

[Bweeeeee!]

Zaku nine and ten arrived in time to see Zaku four melt under the intense laser fire from an enemy titan.

“FUCK!” Laura screamed as the Zaku fell and exploded. She doubt that pilot survived.

Logan watched as the remaining nine did not return fire. They kept cleaning up the nearby enemies.

What the hell were they-

Logan and Laura froze as every hair on their body raised up.

[TOOOOOOOOOOOOM]

[Bweeeeee!]

The world shook as the new unit landed. The enemy Titan’s second laser attack struck another Zaku unit, but the pilot was much luckier. It only melted the left chest piece and the pilot was able to eject before the unit exploded.

[Vreeeeeeeeeee!]

Laura and Logan rubbed their eyes as the new Titan attacked the enemy Titan. Explosions rocked the waters the enemy unit lost its missile system. That system then exploded, unbalancing the unit. It was well designed as it could still return fire.

A total of five enemy Titans were sieging Utopia, and the new arrival had forced them to split up.

Two were now changing targets. Their attacks were nearly synchronized.

[Bweeeeee!][Bweeeeee!][Bweeeeee!]

[Greetings X-Men. This is Captain Aiden Pryde of Val Verde’s White Tiger Legion. We will be moving forward and engaging the enemy's larger war machines. Please reorganize and respond as needed.]

—

The Battle Platform, Timber Wolf 5, ignored the incoming fire as Aiden finished his speech. Then he assessed the two Titans attacking him.

“Data received. Titan X1 has been defeated. Known and hypothetical data comes from Magi,” the gunner said. The man directed the new data to overlay the display screen. “Designating new enemies. X2, X3, X4, X5, X6.”

“Permission to move and engage,” the pilot asked as the computer laid out the best course to travel. The sensors mapped the environment for a kilometer around the mansion grounds.

“Granted, engage and fire at will,” Aiden said. The two others acknowledged and the Titan began to move forward. The prototype was not very fast. The Octo-Motion system was designed for stability, not speed.

“All Zaku units. Provide support as we move and engage,” Aiden said and the remaining eight Zakus moved. They would flank the Timber Wolf as they engaged the biggest toys on the battlefield.

The Nine units moved in for the kill. X2 did not last long.

It did however explode and surged water onto the island.

—

Logan nodded and touched at his communicator. He needed to talk to someone keeping track of their situation. Hank was always on top of these things.

“How are we looking?” Logan asked as he felt the earth rumble with each of the Titan’s steps forward.

“We are doing well now. The pressure is off, and we are reorganizing. The enemy forces are split between Utopia, us, and San Francisco. Utopia is holding, we are now clear. The teams we sent to the city are finally cleaning up. I would say things are now great,” Hank said as he read the various bits of information getting sent in.

“How are the students?” Logan asked with a tight voice. Invasions like these were cruel and the world was rarely kind. The kids were getting a gritty taste of what a shit sandwich tasted like today.

“No casualties, thankfully. Val Verde has medics on our side now and they are tending to the wounded. Seems that they can even regenerate lost limbs. For once your military friends are proving to be a great boon.”

Logan ignored the barb as he felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

“How's the city team?”

“The invading Bio-Sentinels were concentrating on the San Fransokyo district. The Big Hero Six, Ant-Man, Wasp, along with, oddly enough, She-Hulk and Deadpool.”

Logan narrowed his eyes as he wondered what Jennifer was doing on the west coast, but dropped it. Jennifer often traveled on a lark and it was good that she was here to help. The less said about Wade, the better.

“On a sad point, Mayor Sinclair’s Patriot Force failed.”

Logan winced. Mayor Sinclair was convinced that Detroit Steel’s newest armor would work. The Steelmechs were an amalgamation of Sentinel Frames and Repulsor-Technology. Some models could even transform into a jet.

“Live Corp’ Sentinel of Safety also failed. Rather spectacularly I would say.”

Laura rolled her eyes as she tossed up her hands and began walking back to the mansion. She could probably round up some friends and rush the beach or something. It has to be better than listening to Logan getting updates.

Especially about how stupid projects and big tech companies playing military games. As a girl raised in a military facility, it was super insulting. A technology focus company failed to realize what battles and war actually meant.

“Logan. I am getting reports that we have new problems. Wild Sentinals are now hitting the far side of Utopia!” Hank said with a raised voice. The closest the man has been to panic in a while.

“I understand,” Logan said as he cut off communications. He needed to talk to Johnny again.

————

Chapter 65: Welcome to the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning