X-Men: Trek Wars By Ben Church All Star Wars characters are the property of Lucasfilm. All Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount. All X-Men characters are the property of Marvel Comics. Cybo and Anhalleh Starbore are my creations. send feedback to bchurch@su.edu Chapter 8 "Then it is done." Exodus agreed. "Once the X-Men are your prisoners, you will leave Earth for us." "Agreed." Brakiss said. He was lying, once the New Republic was defeated, he would return and conquer Earth in the name of the Emperor. Never had he seen a planet so rich with the force. But he must let Exodus have his way for the time being. It would be dangerous to confront him. He was strong in the force, stronger than any Brakiss had found besides himself. Exodus left Magneto's chamber with Brakiss behind him. Brakiss paused a moment to regard the silent form of Magneto. There was such strength in this man. "When he awakes, he will be a powerful ally. How like us these people are. And if the analogy holds, and Exodus plays the part of Vader, then he will be a dangerous enemy to this man. It will be interesting to see how this turns out." "Hear me Acolytes!" Exodus said. "It is the decree of Magneto that we help these people to remove the X-Men from earth." "Oh shit." Colossus thought. Jubilee ran towards the mansion, almost running into trees in her haste. She had to warn the professor of what was happening. But what really lent speed to her feet was the knowledge that Will may be alive. When she was finally within sight of the mansion, she suddenly ran into something. She stopped short and tried to go forward. There was nothing there, but she could not go any further. She felt like a mime. "Hello Jubilee." said a voice behind her. She turned and faced a pale skinned boy with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. He was dressed all in black, and he had an air of menace about him. He was also accompanied by several people carrying guns, and wearing a strange white armor. "Who are you?" she asked, trying to sound brave. "My name is Zekk. I'm very glad to meet you Jubilee." Lando was starting to get annoyed with Skip. "What's a matter Lando?" Skip asked. "Don't tell me you've never been beaten at Sabbacc before." "Not twelve games in a row." Lando growled. Suddenly, an alarm went off in the cockpit. "Saved by the bell." Lando raced into the cockpit and gaped at the sight before him. A ship of Unknown design had suddenly appeared before the Lady Luck. The scanners had told him there was nothing within light-years of their position. "We drop out of Hyperspace for one lousy hour to let the damn engines cool, and look what happens." He quickly fired up the hyperdrive but his view of the bridge faded. And was replaced by a small room with a single cot. He looked around in surprise then something hit him from behind. He hit the floor hard and passed out. "Did you get them?" Sela asked. "Yes Commander, they are in the brig." "Excellent." "The force is strong in you Jubilee." Zekk said. "You are capable of so much." "Look I don't know who you are or what you want, how you know my name, or even what you're talking about, but I've got to get back to the mansion..." Zekk smiled. "You can't help your friends Jubilee. Soon you and your friends will be soldiers, Dark Jedi of the Second Imperium." "I don't think so." Jubilee smirked and blasted him with her fireworks. Zekk was thrown backwards, but he used the force to slow his momentum and land safely. The Stormtroopers raised their blasters and prepared to shoot her. "No." Zekk ordered. "I'll handle this. I'm sorry I have to do this to you Jubilee." A rock behind Jubilee lifted in the air and connected with her skull. Jubilee slumped unconscious to the ground. "You're gonna regret takin' me on Bub." Wolverine snarled. "I'm the best at what I do." "Yes Logan so you have informed me, but to quote the ever present `they', actions speak louder than words." Around them, the rest of the X-Men crowded around to see the results of the coming fight. Beast had been bragging about how no one could beat him after he defeated Bobby, so Wolverine had challenged him. "All right," Scott said. "You both know the rules. First one to win two matches in a row wins, begin." Beast pushed the start button on his controller. As the chalengee he was allowed to be first player, and got first pick. "I believe the proper character for this grudge match would be Scorpion." he said and picked accordingly. "Fine, I pick Kano." The fight was short, Beast had played often and mastered all of every character's special abilities, while Wolverine had only played twice with Jubilee. "You were saying my clawed friend?" "There's still one more fight Hank." "I'm sure Creed would be lovin' t' see dis." Gambit said. "A most interesting contest." Brakiss said, looking through the window. "Remember, I want them alive." "We don't take orders from you." Uniscone sneered. "If I feel like killing an X-Man I will." Brakiss frowned, and raised his hand. Uniscone suddenly choked and grasped her throat. "First of all, if it were that easy, the X-Men would be dead right now. Secondly, if you question my orders, I will crush your skull, and use the force to make everyone here corroborate my story that you were killed in battle. Is that clear?" Weakly, Uniscone nodded. "Good." Brakiss released her. Then he smiled. "Attack." Beast and Wolverine jumped up as the wall was smashed in. "It's the Acolytes!" Cyclops yelled. "How did they get past the security system?" "For that mattah," Rouge interjected. "How'd they find us in the first place?" "Don' much matter Chere." Gambit said. "Point is, dey here." Gambit charged up a card and threw it at Cargil, who caught it. She grinned just before she realized what she had just done. "Oh sh-" The card exploded in her hand, knocking her unconscious. Gambit didn't stop to think why it didn't at least blow off her hand. He merely leapt to the attack. "You won't find me as easy to beat X-Men!" Uniscone said. She reached out with her exo-skeleton and grabbed Bishop. Bishop struggled in her grip but was unable to get away. Uniscione began to tighten her grip. Gambit came to help him, but Uniscone merely smashed him against the wall. In the background, Brakiss saw Gambit go down and used the force to pick him up and began to bring him into the cloaked imperial shuttle behind him. The Stormtroopers waited in reserve for when the Acolytes were defeated. *Scott there's a psi nearby! Betsy, let's take him out before he takes Gambit!* Brakiss felt the assault on his mind and smiled. These would be powerful students indeed. He struck back with the dark side and was able to knock one of the attackers out. Now he had two prisoners. He quickly brought them onto the shuttle. "Damn!" Beast said, in a rare expression of profanity. "They've got Gambit and Psylocke!" "Not for long." ArchAngel said. He took off into the air, but was intercepted by Senyaka. Senyaka's whip curled around his waist, searing his skin. ArchAngel screamed and dropped to the ground. As he lost consciousness, he felt himself lifted off the ground. "This one will be interesting." Brakiss thought. Wolverine sliced through Senyaka's whip, and knocked him out. He realized that not all the Acolytes were here. In fact, Uniscone was the only one left. And she was about to get a nasty surprise. Bishop could not breathe, he decided he'd absorbed enough energy. "Uniscone," he gasped. "Oh you wish to beg for mercy X-Man?" Uniscone sneered. "Go right ahead." "You really should do your homework on an opponent before fighting them." He released all the energy he'd absorbed from her in a single blast that blew her out through the hole in the wall. She did not get back up. "C'mon!" Wolverine said. "Let's go get the others back!" "I wonder," thought Brakiss. "What would have happened if I had brought all the Acolytes?" He turned to the captain of the Storm Troopers "Attack." Wolverine leapt through the hole in the wall only to be struck in the chest by a blast from an energy weapon. He fell back, his chest a smoking ruin. "Idiots!" Brakiss screamed. "I told you I wanted them alive!" He began to choke the trooper that had shot Wolverine, when a most extraordinary thing happened. Wolverine healed. "By the Force," Brakiss whispered. "Never have I seen a Force user heal so quickly." "I don't know who you are Bub." Wolverine growled. "But if you don't let our friends go, you'll be sorry." "No doubt you could carry through with that threat quite easily." Brakiss said. "If you could touch me." He flung the half-feral man away from him, keeping him at a distance with the Force. Cyclops dodged the blasts of the troopers' weapons and returned fire. His optic blasts, at the normal level of intensity did nothing, but as he increased the power they began to fall back. Beast had no trouble avoiding being hit as he and Rogue took out the strange men. Meanwhile Iceman and Storm worked together to freeze the troops where they stood. "The element of surprise has been lost." Brakiss thought, shielding himself from Jean and Xavier's joint attack. "I will capture the rest later." He backed into the shuttle and closed the ramp. Wolverine immediately headed for the ship, but before he could reach it, he was blown back by a tremendous gust of wind as the shuttle took off. "Damn." Bishop said, he had absorbed all the energy from the blasters and now wanted to get rid of it. "Now what?" His question was answered when they suddenly found themselves on the Starjammer. "You've got incredible timing Dad." Cyclops said smiling. "It's a good thing you showed up, but why?" "Lilandra's been kidnapped." Corsair said simply. "What?" Xavier gasped. "One of her newest protectors was killed trying to save her." "Well then," said Q. "Now that all the players are in place, maybe the game will get really interesting." "What the hell do you want Q?" Cyclops asked angrily. Xavier had briefed him earlier on this entity. Q looked at him curiously for a moment and then smiled wryly. "Oh you _must_ meet Riker." He snapped his fingers and he and Cyclops, Wolverine, Bishop, Rogue and Iceman vanished. Jean gasped in a delayed reaction to the presence of so powerful a presence. "Good lord Professor, what's going on?" To be continued...