Have X-men fans had enough Wolverine yet? Well, I certainly hope not because he's going to continue playing a major role in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series. With the end of the Lotus and the Warrior arc, he and the X-men will have a new set of challenges to face and a new teammate. Now that the summer movie season is over and the next big Marvel movie won't be released until Thor comes out in November, I'm going to do my best to tide fans over with X-men Supreme. I felt like taking Wolverine and the X-men to Japan for an arc was appropriate for the overall synergy of X-men Supreme and the X-men mythos as a whole. But now I'm ready to take them in a different direction.
While The Lotus and the Warrior was primarily a character-based story, there is still a bigger picture in the world of X-men Supreme. X-men Supreme Volume 4: Politics of Fear set up a complicated new situation for the X-men to deal with. Robert Kelly is now President of the United States and General Grimshaw has gained a position of influence, which he intends to use to form the Mutant Security Agency. If there is an overarching theme to this volume of X-men Supreme it's how does the world deal with mutants? And more importantly, how can the X-men make sure that the chosen methods don't lead to greater conflict? It's not an easy question to answer and the comics have been dealing with this a lot lately in the pages of Uncanny X-men. Now General Grimshaw and President Kelly will have to start dealing with it and it begins in the next issue of this fanfiction series! And once again, I have prepared a preview to offer a sneak peak of the next issue of X-men Supreme.
General Grimshaw looked at the seasoned soldier strangely. Jack could tell he was surprised to see him speak up. Given the mood he was in after they left the Xavier Institute, he couldn’t blame him. That extra visit from Scott Summers went further than he expected. For once, Jack Freeman wasn’t just keeping his mouth shut for a mission. This seemed to concern the General. Lucky for him, the Joint Chiefs were still present and getting impatient.
“General, if we could continue…” one of them said.
“Of course,” said General Grimshaw before shifting his attention away from Captain Freeman, “We’ll go over the organization of this new nerve center once it’s fully up and running. In the meantime, we’ll get to work discussing how we’ll fill the ranks of the MSA. The President has a plan to redirect SWAT teams from each state into their respective divisions. I’ve also proposed offering soldiers returning from overseas advanced positions.”
“I’m still concerned that may not be enough to handle a growing mutant population,” said one of the Joint Chiefs, “I’ll be even more concerned if we have to rely heavily on assistance from outside sources like the X-men to pick up the slack.”
“Let’s not get into that old argument again. I know the X-men are taboo around here so let’s save that for a less stressful time,” groaned the General as he started leading his associates out of the area.
“I don’t know if we can afford to set it aside,” said the other Joint Chief, “This Mutant Security Agency of yours is still in its infancy. What if something major comes up that requires more manpower than we can manage?”
“All the more reason to work hard, fast, and smart,” Grimshaw retorted, “The President has given us a chance to carry out a mission that many others have botched. Let’s not blow it!”
They were about to leave the area for the conference room. Then one of the technicians working on the computer array shot up and rushed over.
“Wait! General Grimshaw, I think you should see this!” he said urgently.
“Calm down, poindexter. No need to start screaming before we’re up and running,” said Captain Freeman, stopping the man before he ran too far.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” said the General as he addressed the technician, “What’s going on, son? Why the fireworks?”
“It…it’s one of the systems we’re integrating!” he said breathlessly, “You know how our carrier groups are monitoring all of Genosha for unusual magnetic activity? Well I just finished transferring it to the MSA servers and as soon as I turned it on it detected something!”
“Define something. For a guy like Magneto that could be a whole hell of a lot,” said the General, remaining calm yet urgent.
“Come see for yourself! It’s something I think we’ve seen before!”
The General rushed over to the terminal with Captain Freeman and the Joint Chiefs following close by. They along with many others were very interested in this new development. When they arrived at the computer array the technician brought up an image on one of the monitors on the wall. The image consisted of a detailed satellite map of Genosha with some unusual color shading to indicate a special kind of data.
“As…as you know, when Magneto sends his people somewhere he often uses those metal orb things,” said the technician, still stammering in a way that indicated he was clearly not a soldier, “Well, whenever one leaves the island, we’re able to track it because it leaves behind a distinct magnetic trail that our satellites can follow.”
“I flunked out of high school, but even I can see where this is going,” made Jack.
“I wish it weren’t so obvious, but here it is,” said the technician as he ran some time lapse to the scan, “About six hours ago, three distinct trails were detected. All of them shot out into the airspace over Genosha and accelerated at high speeds towards the northeast.”
The General remained stoic as he took in this information. He then turned towards the two Joint Chiefs.
“It would seem your concerns about being undermanned have just been validated,” he told them, “Magneto’s up to something. He wouldn’t risk sending out his people if it wasn’t important.”
“Could this be some sort of response to the President’s announcement today?” said one of the Joint Chiefs in a worried tone.
“It’s possible,” said the General as he started pondering the possibilities, “Tell me these systems have the ability to trace where the transport orbs are heading. Or at least tell me who should be fired for not being that proactive.”
“At the speed their moving, we can’t pinpoint them exactly,” said the technician, “But we were able to narrow it down to a small area. The trails end around somewhere around downtown Huston, Texas in the northern part of the city. Near as we can tell, there hasn’t been any major mutant activity reported.”
“Houston? What the hell is in Huston that would interest Magneto?” wondered the other Joint Chief.
“Maybe he’s a fan of Texas style barbecue?” shrugged Captain Freeman.
General Grimshaw remained silent. For a moment, he watched the animation as it followed the magnetic trail across the globe to Huston. His instinct told him this was something serious. Magneto was still probably steamed about the raid he organized. Guys like him didn’t just sit by and let their ego heal on its own. This felt like the first sign of a much bigger response.
The General looked closer at the screen, trying to see if there was something specific that could be of interest for Magneto. There wasn’t much to pick from. This area of Huston didn’t have a whole lot of defining features. It just had a bunch of office buildings, some shopping malls, and a few utility hubs. But there was something about the area that didn’t sit right. Whatever he was after, it had to be something specific.
And in addition to providing a nice tie-in to the Wolverine movie, the Lotus and the Warrior arc also introduced Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock to the X-men Supreme fanfiction series. And after a rather traumatic body-swapping experience, she is now the X-men's latest addition. I'm very excited to have her with the team. She has always been one of my personal favorites and she has definitely grown a great deal in recent years, especially with her role in the pages of Uncanny X-Force. Now she'll be establishing herself in X-men Supreme and I look forward to writing her. And now that the Lotus and the Warrior arc has concluded, I can proceed with posting her bio. It should answer a few questions about her background and history in X-men Supreme. I did throw in some changes and some details that probably won't make it into this fanfiction series until later, but it should give fans of Psylocke plenty to enjoy. And while she may not show up for a while, I also did a bio entry for Lady Deathstrike. These two women have left a big mark on X-men and I'm proud to bring them into the X-men Supreme fanfiction series.
Psylocke Bio
Deathstrike Bio
And for all those fans of the pics section, I will eventually add one for Psylocke in a future update. For now, she has a lot to learn with the X-men and she'll be playing an important role in some big arcs coming up in the pages of the X-men Supreme fanfiction series. The previous arc was a nice little departure from the big-picture aspects of X-men Supreme so that more classic X-men elements could be explored. There will always be a place for those stories in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series, but at some point the X-men must figure out how they're going to fit into this new world that President Kelly and General Grimshaw are creating. And as that world unfolds, it's very important that I hear from readers and X-men fans of all types. I want to make this fanfiction series as compelling and entertaining as possible. So if ever you want to chat or comment on X-men Supreme, feel free to contact me at any time. Thanks as always to those who have and continue to support X-men Supreme. Until next time, take care and best wishes! Excelsior!
Jack
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