New York City, a crucial node in the economic engine of the United States, had been rocked by an entire day of chaos. Superpowered criminals and terrorist elements had seemingly picked that day to strike as one.

The United States responded.

On the dawn of the next day the twelfth US Carrier Strike Group sailed into New York Bay. A show of force. A threat that stability would be restored. A promise of protection for the citizens. Congress had suspended Posse Comitatus allowing military action in support of the National Guard in defense of the city. Their actions were limited to those directly called for by state and local civilian leadership.

The sun rose and bathed the deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford in a golden morning glow. The most powerful weapons platform developed by man. Carrying a complement of over 75 aircraft, armed with an array of defensive weapons, and powered by dual nuclear reactors. The mighty city on the sea was truly the greatest symbol of power.

Following his orders, the admiral had flight operations underway. Helicopters, ospreys, and intelligence aircraft. The fighters were being held back. The hornets were too much firepower in too urban a battlefield. A battlefield at home. An amphibious ready group was en route to support the Gerald Ford, but the Ford was deemed essential. Utilizing its mighty reactors it could restore power to the city if it was lost and it could desalinate enough water to keep the city functioning until the city had recovered.

The USS Gerald R. Ford was the ultimate image of power, sitting in New York Bay, on the day a pharaoh wanted to send a message.

The admiral was in his ready room when an alarm blared. As he rose to his feet he could hear steps as people ran past his door. The admiral took to the bridge calling to the ship’s captain, “Sit Rep.”

“Someone… Someone appeared on the flight deck. He… Looks like King Tut or something.” The captain stated, pointing down onto the flight deck where a man stood dressed like an ancient pharaoh. He was blocking the catapult that had an EA-18G Growler ready to launch. “He’s demanding to speak to you, sir.”

The admiral looked to his first officer then down at the man on the deck. The man looked up as if he knew the admiral was watching him from the bridge. The admiral gave a small shudder before controlling himself. Marines were already moving onto the flight deck and surrounding the man. “How did he get on this ship?” The admiral demanded to the room.

“He appeared, sir.” The captain repeated. “He just… stepped out onto the deck. From nowhere.”

The admiral sighed. The administration was still pressuring their officers to win hearts and minds. There were multiple squads of marines surrounding the man. “I’ll talk to him. Simmons, have the marines ready.” The admiral addressed the captain before turning to exit the bridge.

As the admiral stepped out onto the deck he placed his cover upon his head and a pair of marines took a place on his flanks as he marched toward the man who was too early for Halloween. One of the marines informed the admiral that the man had made no aggressive moves. He simply asked to see the “The one who commanded the power of the sea and sun.”

Reaching the ring of marines, the admiral stopped and called past them to the man in the center. “I’m Jeffrey Smyth. Admiral of Carrier Strike Group Twelve. You are trespassing on a United States military vessel. You will be detained and we can speak about how you got on this ship after you are locked in the brig.”

The man cocked his head, his odd headdress making the gesture seem larger somehow. “I am Ka, your new god and all you have will be mine as the world will be mine.” The voice didn’t match the mouth. It was as if the man spoke and the words entered the admiral’s mind directly.

“Every man is entitled to his religious views. However, here our gods are a bit… bigger.” The admiral said before gesturing to one of the marines beside him. “Arrest him.”

“Yes, sir.” The marine holstered his pistol and produced a pair of cuffs. He stepped forward and another marine shifted to let him through.

The moment the marine touched Ka, there was a flash of lightning. From Ka to the marine, and the marine was thrown back.

The second marine that had flanked the admiral moved to secure him. Blocking the admiral’s body from Ka and moving him further away. There was a bark of a rifle and more flashes of light. The admiral’s eyes were blinded by retinal burns as the light show and sound of gunfire continued for several seconds.

Finally the sound died down and the admiral’s vision returned. The marine who had put his body between the admiral and Ka lay on the deck. A massive burn on his back. The lights on the deck flickered and dimmed.

In the same spot he had arrived on the carrier, Ka stood. Electricity flowed, arcing through the deck to his body. The power of two nuclear reactors coursing through Ka. His eyes glowed and he smiled.

“With this, my kingdom returns.”

The alert came out. He had already been on standby since the day before. With what had happened, how could he not be? Something was clearly coming.

He had patched his wounds, rested and checked on his family. Wife, sister, child. He had contacted other people, as he had seen fit. Made sure to put down any baddies he encountered on his way home that day. Friends.

Aurum was fine. He had been home, baking a cake for a friend’s birthday. He had heard about the chaos on the news, and opted to stay inside. Aurum’s sister was fine too, he’d told Shin. She had been busy with work. Which was SUPER.

Today, would be another day. Chaos. Fights. He wanted it over. He just wanted to go home to his son, Michael. This was stupid. He was getting too old for this shit. But the alert came out.

The alert came out, and in full golden lion GARO armor, on a flying triangle, he had disembarked in a direction. To meet up with the rest of the champions.

”The world needs more heroes…” he muttered as he flew.

First, there was the message from the Lady in Red. Ahk had succeeded and her pharaoh once again walked the Earth. That had prompted a regrouping. Ranger had called Rex to meet up at Haven. It had become the base of operations for Ranger in Manhattan. Every available body Ranger had to throw at the problem was divided between Blac-Tac actual and Haven. So, it was the best place Ranger could think of to regroup and plan.

The next morning was when the call came in. Blac-Tac had been contacted by the DoD and Ranger directly by SUPER. Ahk and Ka were on the move. Ahk was a threat, but Ka was attacking the Gerald Ford, not only that he seemed to be feeding off of its nuclear reactors.

Without missing a beat Ranger was in action. Calling in assistance to help manage Ahk while he prepared for Ka. Gear, he needed gear. A ride, he needed a ride. Not just for himself, but also Rex. Helicopters were out. Large targets for a man with zappy hands to shoot down.

One call to Special Operations Command and a Mark V Special Operations Craft had detached from an Amphibious Assault Carrier and was on route up the East River. It would be a six block trip then onto the boat. Then they would turn and burn, back for the bay.

On the ride, Ranger checked his gear. Knowing his foe was using electric powers, Ranger had to plan ahead. His clothes and gear were not just able to stretch out for his strength growth but also shrink in for when he inevitably shifted forms. Beyond that he was carrying gear.

Ranger looked over to Rex as the boat bounced a little. 50 knots in the boat was not the smoothest ride. ”Ready f’r this?” Ranger tilted his head to indicate the flight deck of the carrier as it approached.

The boat spun around to quickly bleed off speed. It came to a rest beside a ladder that had been dropped. Ranger took hold of a rung and started climbing.

Rex knocked back the last of the plain, scalding black coffee and returned the paper cup to its cupholder. The last twenty-four hours had been utterly draining. Between running back and forth across the city, putting out fires, healing people, and stopping assorted mystics and mutants, he was nearly worn out. When he'd finally crashed, he'd slept like the dead for a handful of hours before getting the call to arms.

Two other empty coffee cups rattled around his feet as the boat skipped over the waters. He wasn't concerned about the small amount of litter like he'd normally be. He was in focus mode, steeling himself for what was to come and blocking out as many distractions as possible. He had to be smart about what he could do. Magic allowed him to do so many amazing things, but like all things, there was a price to pay. He had started facing heat exhaustion the night before, as magic had started burning him out through all the use. He couldn't afford to do that again.

Unless he had to.

Rex didn't verbalize a response to Hunter. He just grunted an affirmative and put his rosary back in his pants pocket. He did have on different clothes from the night before, but hardly anyone would notice. He still wore a flannel, jeans, and work boots. Now he'd added a utility belt filled with much of the implements he used on the job, including an ax. As they came up alongside the military vessel, Rex pulled an inscribed leather fireman's glove onto his right hand.

As Hunter started up the ladder, Rex began reciting a verse, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Invisible energy began to form in the unseen shape of a heater shield over his left arm. They were up against a mutant with electrical powers, according to intel. An energy-blocking shield was about all Rex could do.

"I've got your back," Rex said as he followed Hunter up to the deck.

He circled, high and out of reach. The triangular flying platform beneath him had shifted from its initial forest green, to grays and blues, to better blend in with the clouds and sky. No need to get sighted and shot down before they had even begun.

The carrier was beneath him, and the water. He surveyed the area, to see if He spotted anyone on the deck. Did He see the target? He had not yet noticed them, which meant they likely had not noticed him. Good. As for anyone else… look. He could tell you exact measurements and the layout of the ship down to tiny numbers, but his actual eyesight was not eagle sharp. He was high up, things below were small, and He did not get much of a read on troop positions or if Ra the sun god (or whatever his name was) had any goons. He saw movement, though. A ship. A boat.


That’s provably his team.
That was his thought.

They appeared the carrier, and someone started climbing a ladder. A second followed.

Shin was glad he had donned an insulated rubber suit beneath his armor. Kept him warmer, up in the sky. Kept him protected from whatever electricity may fall. He had heard about that, and prepared. One of his several armored white coats was beneath the shard armor, backup for him. The armor itself would not insulate against electricity. Maybe he should have invested in Amelia and her enchanted clothing powers… but the upkeep costs were insane.

He began a controlled descent, far away and out of sight, aiming to come close to the ship at water level. He skimmed the waves, aiming for stealth, then elevated himself up next to the ladder. He arrived just as the duo had made it to the deck, and had their moment to catch their wits and look around.

His feet made little sound as the golden armored hero stepped off the platform. It shifted colors and shape as he stuck out a hand, transforming into a long black sword. Took a few seconds. Then he was ready.

Shin nodded at them both.

Rex was ready. Well, Ranger assumed he was a s ready as Ranger was, which was to say—as ready as they could be to fight someone who was the closest thing to a god on Earth in their time. However, to Ranger a god on Earth was still a man and Samuel Colt made men equal.

Ranger started up the ladder as Rex recited a line to empower a spell before stating he had Ranger’s back. There was so much unknown about what they would find atop the carrier’s flight deck, Ranger was glad he had someone he had worked with at his back.

Throwing himself up onto the deck, Ranger quickly scanned it as he moved to allow room for Rex. There were signs of struggle. Scorch marks across the flight deck, sailors and marines lay scattered. From his perspective, Ranger could see some of the techs hiding behind aircraft that sat on the deck. They were keeping their heads down. Down aft, towards the lift, Ranger saw a man who looked misplaced in time. Powerfully built and wearing a headdress. Ka.

Ka was running his hand along the side of an F-35C that had been preparing for flight operations. A glow passed from Ka’s hand to the aircraft as it moved. Electricity. The same electricity that could be seen arcing up to Ka’s feet from the deck. The aircraft’s canopy was open and a pilot lay on the ground.

It was an understatement to say Ranger was pissed. His city had been attacked. His home, his family were endangered. Now those who had been his brothers in arms were being cast aside and put down like lame horses.

When Rex reached the top of the ladder, Ranger looked at the man with fire in his eyes.Ka was going to pay. It was then that another landed on the deck. Approaching from the water, up the path of the ladder. Golden armored, but shifting to a sword.

Shin?

Ranger had never formally met the man, but had been in the same place as him a couple times. Clandestine missions using the X-Men for cover were interesting to say the least.

With only a small hitch in his giddyup from the appearance of the X-man, Ranger spoke, ”Backup has arrived… Hope yall play with tasers f’r fun. This fight’ll be shockin’.” Ranger took a deep breath, ”Looks like he’s drawin’ power from the nukes through the ship itself. We gotta get him off th ship 'r shut down the reactors. Also need t' clear the deck. Not sure if the sailors 'r' dead 'r incapacitated”

Ka felt invigorated as he never had before. The metal island the people of this new time had constructed was something he couldn’t have dreamed of. The hum of power he could feel from within, the power that he could draw forth into himself. It felt endless. It felt like he was touching the very Sun for power.

Despite the ability of modern man to construct such power, man himself was still weak. The soldiers and their metal sticks were nothing. Ka had been able to brush them aside, ridding them of their pain and burdens, forever. Save one. The man they called, Admiral. That man Ka did not send to meet Osiris. Instead he put him to sleep and left him. He may prove useful later.

More of the men had arrived and Ka unleashed the lightning to dispatch them. Eventually the men stopped coming. That was fine. This metal island was his now. A new throne would be built upon this ‘Ford’ and he would rule from it.

Beyond just containing the power of a Sun inside it, Ka had learned of the power the island could project. They called it a carrier and it was able to project its power through machines that flew through the air, Ka found these airplanes fascinating.

It was while Ka was running his hand along one of the marvels and casting his power into it as a way to understand it that Ka became aware of a new presence on his island. Three new presences.

Ka turned from his new flying machine to look at a trio of men that stood on the edge of his island. Raising his hands in greeting, Ka called out, “<You must be champions of this world. The ones they have summoned to stop me.>” Ka strode forward, halving the distance to the three new men. This left him in the middle of the island, on the flight deck as they called it. “<Kneel before me and I may let you live to serve me.>”

Ka raised an arm and rolled his hand over to slowly point a finger at the deck of the ship. “<Kneel before your new god.>”

Rex pulled himself onto the deck and assumed a standing position to Hunter's right. From there, Rex could more easily extend his shield in front of the man or himself as needed. He laid eyes on the man they were sent to stop, the man who dressed like some ancient pharaoh.

Then Rex saw the bodies.

He glared across the deck. It was sickening, what happened there, and firelight began dancing in his eyes as he prepared to call upon fire.

The armored man he'd met just the day before arrived and Rex ceased glaring just long enough to give an acknowledging nod. His glare intensified as Hunter...joked. Then Ka claimed to be a god.

It was not the first time Rex had met a man who claimed to be a god, but this man was no Hercules. This man was all the worst parts of a mortal's fleshly desires.

The Catholic laughed, a sharp bark of humorless mockery. "You're no god, but I'll happily introduce you to Him. Now stand down!" Rex said, his voice raised with the authority of a man used to taking charge in a life and death emergency.

The two guys were King James and a guy people called Michael, who Shin would refer to as Hunter… since his son was Michael. He didn’t want to think of his son when interacting with this person, or else all he would want was to go home.

This whole situation made him want to go home. Nuclear reactors, nuclear, in water. Where was the giant lizard? Electric enemy boss? Ew. They needed to get Ka off, or get the reactors down. And clear the deck. To reduce chance of casualties due to accident? Yeah. Or other reasons. He opened his mouth with a question on his tongue, but shut up.

Immediately, Aggro boss.

“<You must be champions of this world. The ones they have summoned to stop me.>” Ka strode forward, halving the distance to the three new people.

“<Kneel before me and I may let you live to serve me.>”

Ka raised an arm and rolled his hand over to slowly point a finger at the deck of the ship. “<Kneel before your new god.>”

It was a very good thing Shard was wearing a helmet that covered his eyes. Ka would not see the utter disrespect the armored figure gave him with the disdainful eye roll. It was a wonder Shin could see at all after that effort.

Shin got the feeling this person had killed everyone who had not kneeled. Which meant a lot of bodies on the carrier were corpses. Mass murdering maniac.

King James, nee Rex, laughed. A religious man, he didn’t much care for the Egyptian Pharoah’s delusions of grandeur.

>>> "You're no god, but I'll happily introduce you to Him. Now stand down!"

He had raised his voice, an attempt to intimidate, perhaps? Or show authority? But this pharoah would not respect his authority.

Shin… kneeled. He got down to one knee, placing his sword in his grasp so that it was parallel to the deck of this ship. He bowed his head, briefly. For like a second. He did not look up to see how Ka reacted, only imagined it to be something like this:

Ka’s eyes, flaring as disrespect was lobbed his way. Preparing to exercise power, only to see 1 of the 3 show proper reverence for a god. Dropping to one knee. A smoothing of features, followed by a smile or a sneer of superiority. A momentary lessening of his guard.

Those were things Shin imagined, which may or may not have been true. His head was lowered. He was not directly looking at the guy. It may not have happened. He hoped for the dropped guard, though. Because Rex’s intimidation attempt was not fast enough for him. They needed to put pressure on, hard and fast.

So after that couple of seconds, his grip on his blade tightened. And using the power of his shard armor as propulsion, he surged forward in a rapid slashing strike aimed at Ka’s middle. A sword strike, horizontal.

In his mind, he had pictured it like they do in the shows. One sweeping slash, him appearing on the other side. A second later, the enemy slides into two halves. Slumps.

Shard knew this enemy would not go down so easily, thus, when he got near enough that he was in zapping range, he prepared for one of two things. Ka retreating back a step, or Ka just zapping him. He had plans for either.

Ka chose option one, taking a step back, casual, unharried. Then brought his hand up.

Shard adjusted his grip on the sword, then swung it in a diagonal, upwards, using the motion of the previous swing. Only, he flew upwards at the same time. Separate from the sword. Up, and back towards the air above Hunter and Rex.

At least, that was what he had wanted to happen. What he did not know was that, Ka’s static shield might make that a bit more difficult than initial assessment. Shin was not well-versed in physics.

“When a conductor passes through a magnetic field m, an electric current is induced, and it opposes changes in the initial magnetic field. It is sometimes called the "No you don't" law.

If an object moves fast into a field, it is slowed down. If an object starts movement in the field and tries to move away, it is hard to move away.” — ((OOC from Fuegogrande explaining physics))

Ka had a static field around him, creating a weak magnetic field. Not enough to stop Shin's shards, which were conductive… if they are conductive. But it made them move a little more sluggishly.

His sword fought on, free from his grasp. But a little slower than he would normally have expected. Hopefully it would help give Hunter and Rex an opening while he hovered above. Which he would do in a second, once he broke himself free of the field.

Shin grunted as he flew upwards at less than his usual 75MPH.

Lightning arced after him, and it barely missed. A little slower, and it would have hit him fully, rather than passing a hair’s breadth from his foot. If it had clipped a toe, and passed upwards… a thing worth shuddering to consider. Another bolt impacted the blade, itself.

Shards weren’t a buffer against electricity. See conductivity, But the sword itself would be unharmed. Shin was the one in danger if he got too close. His armor wouldn’t prevent shock- his rubber suit beneath the armor was not perfect protection, but it might save his life from a stray bolt. The soles of his shoes might… maybe that hair’s breadth had been even closer than he had thought.

It took mental effort to control the sword. Every time he swung it. Every time it took damage. He put his focus into maintaining form.

Out loud, he shouted ”I’ll go high and distract him! You—“ He swerved to avoid another bolt. He left his last bit unsaid, they could figure it out.

Ranger wasn’t sure what to expect. He did not expect–but felt it seemed to make too much sense to not happen–Ka to talk. Well, more demand worship than talk. Ranger, felt that God would never be caught dead needing to drain a nuke for power. Not to mention, Ranger would never kneel to anyone. He did not bend the knee nor did he bow. No man, no matter their self deluded sense of superiority, held a status deserving such.

Scanning the deck, Ranger took stock of what he could use as a weapon. That was when the backup took a knee. Ranger swore to himself before moving his arm to shove the backup asi-

Shard, the backup from the X-men, launched himself at Ka. The man was armored and wielding a sword. Ranger wasn’t sure how effective it would be against a bronze age warlord. That was literally what the man was used to fighting. However, Shard had the advantage of X-men training and his armor and weapons being powered by his mutation.

Ranger didn’t wait around to see how effective Shard’s assault was. Overkill was underrated and Ranger was about to give new meaning to accuracy by volume.

Within seconds Ranger was positioned by the center pylon of an F-35C. Both hands gripping the pylon, Ranger lifted. His body erupted in size as his strength radically increased and the fifth-generation fighter’s airframe groaned under its weight forcing through the pylon as it was lifted into the air.

The sound of thunder cracked and rattled the air. Ranger turned his head as he shifted weight from one shoulder to the other. Shin was flying up and the sword was still near Ka. Shard called that he would distract him.

Ka was firing lightning. So Ranger fought lightning with Lightning II . After a moment to build up momentum, Ranger sent the fighter aircraft on one final mission. The missile platform had become the missile as Ranger called out in the strain, ”Incomin’!”

Ka smiled. One of the three was bending the knee. The other two would soon follow or they would no live to see Ka’s glorious new kingdom. One of them, the one who vocally doubted Ka’s godhood, he would suffer the most for his insolence. Suffer, but ultimately he too would worship.

One step, Ka took one step and raised a hand as he opened his mouth to address the man in golden armor who had realized his place in the world. One step was all Ka took before the man charged Ka with a sword.

Were it not for his field of energy around him, Ka would have been sliced in two. Instead, as it had thousands of years ago, the field resisted the movement of swords. Giving Ka enough time to step back and avoid the odd blade. The only loss was to his necklace which held a large gem.

Ka roared in anger. The two would be made to worship him, but the golden one… The golden one would suffer. An eternity of pain as lightning enveloped him. Then an eternity of suffering in Duat. Channeling power from the metal island, Ka sent bolts of lightning into the sky, chasing the golden man. At the same time he moved to avoid the sword which stayed behind and moved on its own. Ka roared and sent a bolt of lightning at the sword.

An odd sensation went up Ka’s spine. Something had entered his field as voice called out. One of the metal wings the men of this time could fly was hurtling toward Ka. It was resisted by his field but it was large enough that even slowed, it would impact with enough force to do catastrophic damage to Ka.

The time-displaced god threw himself out of the way. Barely avoiding the metal sky chariot as it sailed past before slamming into the deck and skidding to a stop with a horrendous screech.

Ka called out to the base of the tower the men used to command the island. His voice no longer in English. The gem lost was an enchanted object that could translate his words to a language modern man could understand. While the words were untranslated, his gesture was clear. Two marines, their eyes shadowed and vacant, stepped out. Between them they held the admiral. The three walked towards Ka who forced more power into his field and sent out a volley of lightning to keep the pests from biting at his heels.

Events moved rapidly. As Ka moved to respond, the metal-armored man blitzed into an assault. Suddenly there was electricity everywhere and the sword missed. Rex's eyes widened and then narrowed. This Ka was no god, but he had power indeed.

He wasn't the only one. The armored man went racing into the sky by the sword remained. Then out of the corner of his eye, Rex saw Hunter move.

An entire aircraft flipped through the air and didn't manage to do more than make Ka move. Rex immediately bolted after Hunter as he had a sudden instinct. What did Rex do when cornered by people? He fired back.

He slid to a stop in front of Hunter just as lightning blistered forth. The arc of plasma slammed into Rex's invisible shield and as it was shredded by the magic there, light in the shape of a cross about as tall as Rex flared into existence as the energies collided.

"Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled!" Rex roared as soon as the lightning died down. A small cloud of light flared in front of him before condensing into seven fireballs. With his right hand, he flicked the first trio of fireballs at Ka and the remaining four at the marines holding the important looking man.

Less than a minute in, and things were getting hairy.

A quick independence of the last few seconds:
His slash had cut a necklace, but not Ka. The gem had hit the ground, not too far away. What effect this would have was currently unknown.

Ka roared in anger, and let loose fury. Lightning lanced through the world, chasing after lil’ ol’ him.

Evasive action. He cut and swerved. Lightning narrowly missed. Ka was successfully distracted.

The bolt that had struck the sword earlier, it still rang in the back of his mind. The impact, as psychic resonance. That was what it would be like every time it took a hit, and it would add up. Enough to give him a headache, wear him down. Make his nose bleed. Worse. His eyes widened in battle glee as he dealt with the mental pain. But this would not work. He had to do better, better, better!

Shin was a quick study. He could learn from seeing, and doing. He knew he should not keep up that same assault. So, as he evaded lightning in the sky, he prepared to separate the blade into many.

With two constructs active, that left one construct remaining, plus some odd additional amount of additional shards. If he was at max, he could focus on one, maybe two, fist-sized groups of shards. Those groups could be free-floating, or drawn to an existing construct to build onto it, or reinforce it. In lieu of this, he could focus on two hand-sized shards, or one hand-sized shard and one fist-sized group of shards, and can use these to build and reinforce. So, he focused on the blade, and— it scattered.

He was no longer focusing on the shard sword. Instead, he had split it apart into three fist-sized groups of shards. Just in time, too.

“Incoming!!” someone shouted.

The groups of shards were smaller, more maneuverable, and easier to have dash away from the Incoming, whatever that-holy shit-was.

Screeeeeeeeeeee

Metal screamed. A fighter jet scraped up a very expensive deck.

Oof. That would have smashed his shards and his consciousness to bits. He veered to one side, and glanced Ranger’s way. His shards hovered safely, off above the crash. Swirled away. Recalculating targets. In the heat of the moment, he lost Ka.

Now to the present:

He found Ka by the sound of his voice.

Ka called something out in Not-English. He had dodged the plane. Thrown himself away from the site of the crash. Bastard.

Even though nobody understood him, three people still obeyed. A sway. They were under a sway. Innocent. And one of them was wearing medals on their uniform.

The field around Ka grew heavier with power, and he shot out more bolts. Shin evaded, his group of shards sailed in the direction of him, to regroup. They had evaded the plane. More were surely coming.

Those three innocents were out of luck. He was not focused on them, when he moved to evade the 100-something foot long bolts of lightning streaking towards himself (and others). He was focused on his health, and his shards. So when Rex took it upon himself to blow the men up—after shielding both himself and Hunter from the incoming assault— Shin completely missed it.

He saw the fireballs streaking towards Ka, however, and … paused his masses of shards for a second… to see what happened.

Earlier, on the way in, Shin had used his headset to call various people and arrange things. He’d also set it up to key onto Michael Hunter and Rex’s frequencies, because who says X-men never prepare?

He had done mental math using his mutation, and knew the measurements of the ship down to the centimeter. Just knew them. He knew how far it was to the waterline, length, beam. This was part of his. If He knew, He could plan. How far to the water, could He drop down then come up, how deep was it, could He fire shards from the other end and still hit?

Now was the time to talk plans. He got on the mic. ” let’s talk Options: electric shield is slowing attacks down. Maybe tactical retreat inside and shut the engines down? Or try and get him off the deck? Drop him in the water or get him wet? Whoa- close Dodge there. You ok? Any ideas? Gotta power him down. Hold on—“

He pressed his shards in the direction of Ka. Nonchalantly. Casually. Slowly. Fred. Then. Through the field. Some small ones split apart, and made their own way towards Ka, on a mission, hoping their larger brethren would distract the man, so they could slip in unnoticed, and attach themselves to him body, his clothing, in ways that did not immediately attract attention, or impede. Meanwhile, Shin had dove down behind a building on the flight deck for cover.

He leaned his back against a wall, and peeked out to check on his shards. The black surfaces caught light, glinting in their approach.