Unexpected: A Message to Scott Summers

2010-05-06T07:25:58Z

Nearly everyone was dead or at least presumed so it seemed. The X-Men were gone, only a few scattered remnants remained. What had once been the secret ops attack team, X-Force, was now all that was left of the entire group. An army of many had been reduced to a group of few and even they had taken some serious hits, numbers dwindling even still. Two years ago they had suffered a major loss: Emma Frost was gone, taken down and then taken away during a battle in San Francisco. At first, they'd had some link to her. She was alive, at least. And then, one fateful afternoon six months after she was taken, Cerebra exploded with a sudden, painful surge of Emma's awareness. Scott Summers would have undoubtedly felt it and then, perhaps even worse, the silence.

Connection: terminated.

Just before dawn there was a small commotion outside the front door of what X-Force were calling home these days. A heavy thud, a weak moan. There, on the doorstep, was another long-lost face: Pixie. Taped to her chest was a photo, a still taken from surveillance: Emma Frost, bound and in the corner of what appeared to be a cell. The cell was in one corner of a space and just barely in frame was what appeared to be a lab and the remnants of a stasis tank. On the back was a message.

"What will you do for love?"

Underneath were a set of coordinates, a date and a time and a final admonishment: come alone.

Encrypted: An Email to Tony Stark

2010-05-06T07:06:21Z

The subject line was a mission code. The sender was a generic-sounding Captain I. Smith and the email address matched perfectly to that moniker. Nothing looked amiss; it was just a standard military email.

Until clicked open.

Almost immediately a video clip began to play. The quality was a little off, but it was clear. A military testing facility, looked more like a medical lab. There were various figures in white coats and others in military uniforms, all high-ranking. In the corner, half in shadow, was Norman Osborn himself. There was one other figure, undeniable for how prominent his face had been to the American people, once upon a time all a symbol of the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave as much as the Stars and Stripes had been.

Steve Rogers. Captain America.

But something was different here. Very different. Norman Osborn gave an order--the first part wasn't clear; the audio quality wasn't the best, but the last part was: show me how you deal with traitors. Cap saluted and turned his attention to a woman bound to a chair. She pleaded with him, calling Cap by name, begging. Sharon Carter. SHIELD Agent. Steve Rogers' girlfriend. Vocal anti-Osborn rabble rouser.

It happened quickly. Captain America picked a gun and shot Carter right between the eyes at point-blank range. The woman slumped over as the wall behind her splattered red and gray. The video went black and then...words all in white.

"There's another version of the truth."

In the signature line there was a string of coordinates, a date, and a time. The expectation was unstated but clear: it was a meeting point. Be there.

The Initiative

Unexpected: A Message to Scott Summers

Encrypted: An Email to Tony Stark