Disclaimer: Danielle Moonstar, the members of X-Force,
M.L.F. all related characters mentioned, or
appear here belong to Marvel Comics.
They are used for entertainment reasons only.
Note: This takes place around X-Force Annual #3
and before X-Force #41
"Colors of Belief" by Karen
The Balkans, early 90's
"Touch a man's religion, and you take away his soul."
Danielle Moonstar couldn't remember where she'd heard that
phrase, but it sent shivers of ice down her spine.
It sounded familiar, like a quote from a lecture during her
days as a member of the X-MEN's trainee team, the New Mutants.
The chill she'd felt had nothing to do with generator going
off-line again.
The Mutant Liberation's Front hole-in-the-wall base had
once been used as a grain storage facility, now abandoned.
It was located near the capital city's docks.
"For Lord only knows what reason," Dani thought.
"Or maybe the owners were forced out."
She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the lingering smell.
"Hopefully we won't be here long enough to become
accustomed to it," Dani said.
Picking up the television cables, she fiddled with the
hookups before plugging them into an available outlet.
"I hope Forearm is having better luck rigging the power relays
to the generator than I am. I wish he'd get the generator
up and running again, soon."
***************
Dani learned back in the metal folding chair, staring at the
flickering screen of the black-and-white television set.
She picked up the remote control and zapped
through various news channels recapping highlights of the
mounting Serbian conflict.
Her attention riveted on a familiar face in the sea of strangers.
It was a live broadcast from Bosnia, the news anchor
was none other than Trish Tilby, from the Global News Network.
Dani recalled that Trish had helped the X-MEN in the past,
and that once she'd been involved with Hank McCoy, the Beast.
Trish Tilby had a reputation for taking high-risk reporting
assignments. Dani also knew that she was a journalist that
took pride in being fair and impartial.
As these thoughts went through Dani's head, she gave
her full attention to the report:
***********
"This is Trish Tilby, I 'm standing here live in front
of the American Embassy in Bosinia, where President
Milosevic, backing the Bonsian Serbs
and Frano Tudjan have agreed to meet to discuss the
mounting tensions between both ethnic groups.
As of last month, Bosian forces have seized as much
territory as they can, most of it in eastern Bosnina,
with an eye to a future union with Serbia.
With about two thirds now in Serb
hands, all sides make allegations of "ethnic cleansing".
There is evidence that all parties are guilty, but most
accounts hold Serbs responsible for the majority.
Reports say Serbs routinely rape Muslim women, imprison
the men in concentration camps, or execute hundreds at a
time, throwing their bodies into mass graves.
To alleviate the tension, Milosevic and Tujan have agreed
to meet tomorrow at noon. This is Trish Tilby, reporting."
As her last words were garbled out by static.
Dani's attention was drawn away from the screen as
the team's leader, the man called Reiginfire, entered the
room. He then collapsed into a moth-eaten leather chair.
He held a paperback book in one hand.
"What are you watching?" he asked, glancing absently in her
direction.
"Just switching back and forth through the news channels.
It's always good to know what you're up against,'
Dani replied, hoping he wouldn't notice how her hands shook.
"Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer,"
he quoted. "Can't remember who said that, but it's good
advice, especially for our mode of operation," Reignfire said.
"What are you reading?" Dani asked.
"The Good Terrorist," he replied, his long, curling black hair
eerily haloed in a sphere of black solar energy.
It played along the backs of his knuckles, threatening
to singe the book's fragile pages.
A faint, acrid tinge of smoke from the singed paper wafted
to Dani's nose, making her cringe in distaste.
"Wish I was standing downwind," she muttered.
"I'd shred it, if I were you," Feral growled, having heard
the tail end of the conversation.
The cat-like mutant pounced into the office,
as she went to the refrigerator that leaned
up against the back wall.
"The big lug actually managed to get the generator
working again," Feral commented.
"Thank you, Maria," Reignfire said, returning to his book.
Cracking the door open, absently noting that the light did
stay on, she shoved containers around until she found what
she was looking for, a vanilla milkshake. She took it over
to a table and collapsed into another metal folding chair.
"Stupid meat. They call themselves terrorists," Feral
muttered, sipping her drink, tail twitching angrily.
Once a Morlock refugee who sought asylum with X-Force,
Feral had defected from the team when Reignfire offered her
the chance to cut loose against any and all whom would stand in
their way. He'd also given her the opportunity to let her
savage nature full rein.
"And hunting season, is open," Feral thought.
"Maria, these people having been fighting their "jihad"
a Muslim word for holy war, far longer than mutants appeared
on the scene. In the same way that we've demanded
freedom from oppression, the right to be left alone,
so have they. We, on the other hand, have the power to take
our places as the dominant race on this planet,"
Reignfire explained.
"You got a point, jefe?" Feral asked, somewhat mollified.
"Yes. The Mutant Liberation Front, in its various
incarnations has had its day.
However, our presence here is strictly in the
interest of revamping our organization.
We have to make the world see that we intend to be
taken seriously," Reignfire stated.
"If you say so, boss," Feral said, getting up and
leaving the office.
Dani waited a few more minutes before she went to her own room.
___
Later
"How can I explain to them, my friends, the New Mutants, X-Force,
my reasons for being in the M.L.F, when I can't even explain
it to myself? she sighed, rubbing her temples to
soothe a lingering headache.
She lay down on the folding cot that served as her bed.
"Here I am, cut off from everyone and everything I care about.
In the eyes of X-Force, I'm a traitor and I'm powerless to
correct that assumption," Dani said.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Oh, Bobby, what happened to you?"
"Was it wrong to try to help out an old friend?" she thought.
"I'd just returned from the dimension of Norse myth known as
Asgard. During my time with the New Mutants, I gained
the title of Valkayrie....
"Time passed differently there then it did back on Earth and
sometime later I reappeared with the Mutant Liberation Front.
And the first time I meet up with my old friends,
I'm forced to fight them for the sake of keeping up
appearances.
We'd kidnapped Henry Peter Gyrich, director of the
National Security Council, and one of the most
ardent anti-mutant crusaders.
When the dust settled,.... Dani trailed off.
"I'm not here because I believe in what the MLF stands for.
I never did. I'm just here because I want to help out an
old friend, save him from himself. It's Locus's fault,
if she hadn't, if Sunspot's powers hadn't collided with her
phase shifting portal,... If only."
Dani sighed, unable to come resolve her ambivalent feelings
this night.
Hopefully things would be clearer tomorrow morning,
after she'd gotten a good night's sleep.
"I quite literally fell from grace. Like I once told Tempo,
after that throwdown with X-Force on that Caribbean island.
I fell screaming from the skies. An angel cast out of
a heaven I didn't belong in. I've held life in my hands.
I've stared death in the face. I got tired of never knowing
which was the better alternative," Dani said,
staring at the wall before she fell asleep.
__
Next morning
The motorcade rumbled up the avenue leading to the
American embassy. The long, black limo, centermost,
escorted by troop carriers and the local police.
It pulled up to a parking spot along the esplanade in front
of the marble building. Both the man in the limo and the man
he'd come to see, emerged at the same time.
The latter stood at the lowest step leading up to the building
flanked by his bodyguards holding semi-automatic weapons
and an escort of NATO soldiers.
He descended the last step and greeted him,as the other
got out of the limo.
"Glad you could make it, old adversary," Milsoevic greeted.
"Being rather pleasant this afternoon, aren't you?
Last I heard your own people wanted to remove you from office,"
Tudjman replied
"You know what they say about rumors. Shall we go
inside to discuss this cease-fire?" Milsoveic asked.
"That's what I've always depended on you for, your ability to
go straight to the heart of matters,"
Tudjman replied, as they both entered the marble building.
____
Meanwhile
Reignfire gathered the MLF in the main office and proceeded to
outline his plan of attack.
It was essentially a blitzkreig attack that comprised
taking out any armed opposition.
The other part of the plan involved getting into the Embassy
and sabotaging the negotiations.
Interlude
Inside the embassy, said negotiations preceded apace.
Several hours into the meeting, the ruckus from outside,
that grew steadily louder.
"What's that?" Milsoevic asked, frowning.
He glanced up from a pile of documents on the table.
A gust of hot air blew the papers to the floor knocking
bookcases and everything on them down with a loud crash.
Above, the marble ceiling began sizzling.
Everyone craned their necks and looked up.
The gap expanded, and a coal-black figure leapt through it,
It came to a stop, hovering five feet in midair.
"Reignfire!" Tudjman gasped.
"So pleased you remember me," Reignfire said.
"You know this?" Milosevic stammered.
"Who are you? What are you?" Milosevic asked, as he
turned to face the hovering figure.
"I am the future! I am the coming storm. I am the harbinger
of the mutant liberation! Even if it must be sequestered from
the clutches of humanity's clawing fingers one drop of
blood at a time!" Reignfire shouted.
"But? Why? You were supposed to aid our cause, fight the
armies, not turn against us!" Tudjman said.
"I will foment anger and disaffection within the human race.
I will use that disaffection to create an army dedicated to
my cause. That army will rally in unision to strike a claim to
one place, one country we can call our own. And only after we
are safe within the boundaries of the very laws you have
created, only then will we seek to overthrow oppressive rule
on the rest of this world!" Reignfire shouted.
"So, all this time, all your posturing, promises, the
bargain we struck were nothing but hollow lies?" Tudjman said.
"Life's tough, you're a politician, deal with it,"
Reignfire shrugged.
"Even as I speak, my troops are carrying out their orders.
You may watch as your fragile alliance crumbles around you,"
Reignfire finished. He raised himself, exiting the same way
he'd come. Then flew off toward the docks and the MLF's base.
___________________________
Meanwhile, in just a troop carrier, designed to carry several
units with ease, there was more than enough room for every
member of the MLF, even someone as bulky and muscled as
Forearm, who drove.
"I wish Wildside would shut up.
All he's done so far is paint in gory detail how many soldiers
he's going to kill," Dani thought.
She sat in the shotgun seat, blessing the invention of seatbelts
as the troop carrier hit every bump and rut in the road.
She heard Tempo quietly counting to ten backwards,sititng
next to Wildside, sidle to the far side so she wouldn't
have to listen to him.
Feral, however, listened raptly, occasionally purring in
time with the more gory details.
Having lost his 'audience, Wildside finally shut up.
Dani heaved a sigh of relief.
"If only it were that easy,"she thought.
"Hey, Dani, you okay?" Forearm asked, swiveling his head around
to face her, without risking taking his eyes off the road for
too long.
Dani didn't feel like replying, because they'd reached their
destination.
"Ladies, and I use the term loosely, gentleman, we're here,"
Forearm commented, maneuvering their transport alongside
others so it would blend in.
"So far so good," Dani observed.
*******************
Everyone got out of the vehicle.
"Why does 'our fearless leader" get the easy part of this
mission?" Tempo griped, pulling on her metal helmet, then
leaned against the vehicle.
"Because he's initializing the other part of the plan.
You'd know that if you'd paid attention during the briefing,"
Dani replied, shielding her eyes from the afternoon sunlight.
"There's the signal", noting the thick cloud of smoke rising
from the roof.
"Well, I have to agree with Tempo, but at least all we're
facing here is the locals," Forerarm said.
"Take another look, big guy," Feral growled, pointing
towards the balconies lining the building on all sides.
"About time we had some real action."
"NATO soldiers," Wildside growled. "Big diff. After all what's
one less flatscan, except a good start?" as he
gave critical inspection to the length of his nails.
"Tempo, go airborne," Dani ordered, levering a psychic arrow
into place. She watched the woman in the yellow metal costume
rise into the air. She came to a stop about even with the
highest balcony. Using her ability to create
a temporal energy flux field around her and her targets,
Tempo slowed down the soldierrs perception of time.
*********
"Blast it, Tempo! Twist some more time!
"We need to slow these guys down!" Forearm shouted,
barreling into a cadre of soilders armed with pulse laser rifles.
He wrapped his huge limbs around them, then tossed them aside
like so much kindling.
"How long do we have to keep this up?"
"This was only supposed to be a hit and run operation,'
Dani replied.
"I'll try, but you've got no idea what's involved when I do
this," Tempo gasped, sweating underneath her helmet,
teeth clenched in concentration, still hovering in midair.
The bullets and lasers spun around her.
None of which found their target.
*******
On the other side of the tarmac, Wildside, overeager, rushed into
another cadre of soldiers, dispensing them by using his mutant
ability to distort reality, if only temporarily.
Instead, he went for the most vulnerable spots, the jugular,
long-nailed hands raised to slash.
The soldier he faced raised his rifle, palms sweating.
"Go on. Be a hero. Give it your best shot, little man.
I dare you," Wildside goaded, but he was cut off.
Glancing up from his blood-streaked hands. He opened his mouth
to add something more; but whatever it was, was lost.
Suddenly, a glowing arrow of pisonic energy struck him right
between the eyes.
The shock to his nervous system sent him reeling, long enough to
scream, right before he hit the ground.
"Hey, Moonie, what'd ya do that for?" Feral growled.
"Your aim must be off, you hit Wildside inside of this poor
excuse for a GI," Feral added, grasping the soldier by his lapels.
"Not at all," Dani replied. "Feral, scoot around, tell
the others we're clearing out NOW!"
"On it," Feral replied, dropping the soilder, running
off to relay the message.
Dani watched Feral leave, then silently noted the whereabouts
of the others. Glancing up towards the embassy roof, she saw
Reignfire rise up through the hole, headed back to their base.
"It's not like we're cutting it too close here, or anything,"
"The sooner we're outta here, the better I'll feel."
Aftermath
Upon their return, Reignfire dismissed the rest,
then grabbed Dani's arm. It would have singed
her skin even underneath the fabric of her sleeve, that is
if he'd been using his powers. As it was,
the strength in his grip left bruises. Forcibly steering
her towards the office's leather chair,
he threw her into it. Crossing his arms over his chest,
he glared at her. Knowing the game he was playing,
Dani glared silently back at him.
Someone had to break the silence and she'd be damned if she
was going to do it
"Well?" Reignfire demanded, black solar energy crackling
around him.
"Well, what?" Dani replied, leaning back in the chair.
"What do you have to say for yourself? Why did you stop Wildside,
with his ability to alter his victim's perception of reality,
it's no wonder he sees things in his own bloody light,"
Reignfire said.
"It wasn't necessary to eviscerate those soldiers.
Besides he acted against my explicit orders.
They weren't even supposed to be there. I thought our
contact with Tudjman indicated that U.S, troops would be
kept out of the conflict," Dani stated.
"And Feral? X-Force saw her as a wild thing, a shape-changing
Morlock. She was tolerated, but never accepted. I showed her the
paradox of protecting humans who'd want her dead. I let her
feel the anger that was her birthright as a mutant,"
Reignfire said.
"What? You want to pick apart the entire team's performance?
That's what field training sessions are for,"
Dani replied, shrugging.
"What about Tempo?" he asked, shaking his head.
"I should not have freed her from Whitman Maximum Security
Prison. She never truly believed in the violent
necessities of our cause for mutant liberation."
"You got a problem with her, why don't you discuss it
with Tempo. I'm pleased with her performance as I am
with Forearm's. Why don't you come out and tell me what's
really on your mind," Dani asked, irritated with the
dramatics.
"You hesitated, you held back during a critical moment.
That's inexcusable for a field commander," Reignfire growled.
"I think you test me, old friend. I think you still try to
play the role of revolutionary and conscientious objector.
If I ever find out that you were responsible for leaking
information that brought those NATO troops here,
you know what will happen."
With that, Reignfire pivoted on his heels, and left the office.
"I know," Dani whispered, as she watcehd Reignfire go.
Dani waited ten minutes, then pulled a phone from underneath
her cot. She dialed a number she'd been waiting for the right
moment to use. It was long distance, and it was a risk that
could be her in serious jeopardy if the MLF discovered she'd
contacted. She knew it was a chance she had to take.
******
New York, Present Day
Sam Guthrie and Nathan Dayspring left the NYPD precinct.
They'd just seen both Maria Callasantos and Lucia Callasantos
carted off to Ryker's Prison upstate.
Feral and Thornn had revealed they'd been responsible for
the murder of their family.
Sam shook his head, wondering that Cable had an attorney's
license or that Thorrn, Lucia, would have used her one phone
call to contact him.
"How did you know Feral would show up here, Sir?"
Sam asked, trudging along side.
"Standing over six feet had its advantages"
he thought, "especially when trying to keep pace with Cable,
Wearing a pin-stripe polyester suit, he looked nothing
like the gruff team leader of X-Force.
"A little bird told me," Cable replied. "Besides,
Officer Hidalgo did his homework. Even without his help
we had someone on the inside who helped set Feral up.
Don't think it doesn't bother me that one of my soldiers,
on my team...," Cable trailed off.
"It's the fact that Feral was completely unremorseful about
what went down in that dingy two-story house,"
Sam added, shaking his head.
"It wasn't an easy problem, Sam," Cable said, as they paused
outside an electronics shop where a news report was running.
"It's bad enough she betrayed us by defecting to the
Mutant Liberation Front, but blaming them for what happened,
that was a neat trick," Sam said.
"I can't take all the credit for that. The idea came from a
young woman who tipped me off when Feral first arrived in
Manhattan. She also happened to feed Feral the information
which brought her to the Bronx," Cable explained.
"But who would benefit from helping' us out, makin' the
MLF look bad, and gettin' Feral and all that?" Sam asked,
utterly confused by now.
"Dani Moonstar!" Sam cried in shock, turning around to see
a familiar face, sitting on her winged horse.
Dani emerged from the shadows of an alley.
"Sam, Cable. Things worked out just fine, didn't they?"
Dani asked, grasping the reins in a white knuckled grip.
"But you're with the MLF now... Aren't you? Why would you help
us?" Sam demanded.
"Maybe because, like you, I've always been, and still am
someone who cares about the truth and about family,"
Dani explained, right before she disapearred back into
the shadows.
Finito
Updated: 7-17-99
Please note: the e-mail (kareng1@uswest.net will eventually
be changing to kareng1@wqwest.net, messages can still be sent
to the previous address, but sometime by the end of this year,
it will be replace by the qwest instead. ...Stupid merger
