X-Force: Beyond Omega

As we stepped off the Blackbird, a gust of icy wind immediately bit at my face. Despite the suit's thermal adjustment, the cold was sharp. I had to use my ice power to fend off the cold. The North Pole was a bleak landscape of snow and ice—a desolate, hostile environment. But this scent! Blood!

Logan's nose twitched, his claws instinctively extending.

"Blood," he muttered, his voice low and gravelly.

I used my ice control to stretch my senses, scanning as far as possible. Blood... Dead bodies... Well, another fucked up mission. I quickly searched around us to detect the enemy, but there was none. Nothing that's alive.

Logan sniffed again, narrowing his eyes. "It's fresh."

Psylocke used her psychic power to check our surroundings. "I'm not getting any life signs except for ours."

"Kurt, take us to the base," I said while keeping my senses stretched around us.

Nightcrawler teleported us to the Shield's base.

The temporary base was a disaster zone. Large, grey metal structures, hastily bolted together to withstand the harsh weather, now stood eerily quiet. It was like one of those zombie horror games with a bunker and zombies hiding inside, except there were only dead bodies. The faint smears of blood streaked across the snow, blackened scorch marks charred the walls, and broken equipment was all over the floor.

Logan crouched near the bent and slashed entrance of the largest building, sniffing the air. His eyes narrowed as he ran a single claw along one of the deep gashes in the door. "These cuts are clean," he muttered, his voice low and rough. "Whoever did this, cut this reinforced metal door in just a single slash. Looks like our killer got a nice blade or sword. Two blades..." He touched the other slash mark.

I followed him inside, my boots crunching against the icy floor. The metallic smell of blood hit me immediately, sharp and suffocating. The scene inside was worse than I'd imagined. Bodies of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents lay slumped against walls or sprawled on the ground, their black tactical suits torn apart like paper. The blood beneath them was already frozen, but the brutality was just... Too perfect.

I knelt beside one of the fallen agents, carefully inspecting the wounds. Deep, precise cuts marred his chest and neck. "Blade wounds. One short blade and one medium," I said as I noticed the slashes and stabs on the dead body. "The strikes are too perfect. Just look at these slashes..." I pointed at the wound on his chest and neck. "A short blade slashed the neck and a long one punctured his heart."

I moved on to the next body. The same style. One stab and one slash at the exact same place.

"I doubt our killer is a human. It's like some kind of a machine... Or, an alien with X-ray vision and perfect reflexes. Well, this is messed up," I sighed.

"No footprints outside," Psylocke came in after looking around outside. "The storm's wiped out any tracks."

I am worried about Natasha. I hope she's alright.

"Natasha was supposed to be here," Logan said, his claws scraping against the metal wall as he paced. "She wouldn't go down easy. Where the hell is she?"

"Betsy, can you check once again?" Storm asked with a worried expression.

Psylocke's focus deepened as she reached out with her psychic abilities, her lips pressing into a thin line. After a few moments, she opened her eyes, frustration flickering across her face. "Nothing. No life signs."

The storm outside just got worse.

Storm glanced at the entrance as her eyes became white. The snowstorm stopped within seconds. "We'll need another way to track her."

I looked around the room again, searching for clues. My eyes fell on a console, its screen shattered but still flickering faintly. A few keystrokes revealed partial logs—fragments of communication.

[Log Entry 0429: "…alien energy signatures. Unprecedented levels… requesting immediate backup… hostile presence dete—"]

The recording cut off in static. Another log followed:

[Log Entry 0430: "…Romanoff engaging… defensive measures failing… repeating: hostile presen—"]

I shared the logs with the team. "Natasha was here when the attack happened. She might've fought back, but whatever—or whoever—did this overwhelmed them fast."

Kurt, who was trying to contact the Professor, stuttered, "I... I can't contact the Professor. Some kind of jammer?! This is bad, isn't it?"

Damn it! I can't wait anymore. She might be in danger. No point wasting time.

"I have an idea," I walked outside and touched the snowy ground, spreading my senses through the ice and moisture. There were a couple of dead bodies outside too, but luckily Natasha wasn't among them. But robots... A few clicks away from our location, there were around twenty giant robots, hiding using camo tech. But they couldn't hide from the ice. I shifted my focus toward that spaceship and wow! Would you look at that? It got some nice weapons and they were all aimed at our location.

It was a well-planned trap. But who?

I focused harder, pushing my senses further into the icy wasteland. But as I increased my power, the suit failed to withstand the amount of cold energy I was producing. The nanites inside started breaking down and the circuitry failed, causing sparks to fly from my suit. I ripped it apart with ease. My body finally transformed into organic ice.

My senses stretched even further, expanding outward in all directions. Using the storm far away and the moisture in the air, I amplified my reach. Everything in the area became clear to me, from the frozen blood on the ground to the faintest traces of movement in the distance. It was like a 360 surround view. I have never used my ice power to this extent. I could sense the smallest details for miles.

The first thing I noticed was the circle of robots, camouflaged, their metallic forms blending into the icy landscape. At least twenty of them, hidden just beyond the snowdrifts, standing in perfect formation. Great. First aliens, now robots.

I adjusted my focus, pushing my senses further. There, just beyond the line of snow-covered hills, was the crash site. The alien ship lay partially buried in snow, its hull cracked and scorched. But what caught my attention were the weapon systems, active and glowing with faint red energy. The guns mounted on the ship seemed active, their red targeting systems locked onto our position. I could hear the faintest of humming sounds, a low vibrational pulse coming from the ship. Probably remote-controlled...

I narrowed my focus even further, searching for any signs of movement. And there—off in the distance, lying atop a ridge overlooking the base, was a figure, covered in a heap of ice. A humanoid, its form was unnaturally still, yet the faint outline of its blue metallic skin was visible even from this distance. It didn't look human, but it wasn't entirely robotic either. A woman! The cyborg got an alien sniper rifle aimed at us.

Wait a sec! Blue skin... Cyborg... Deadly with weapons...

Lady Death said that Thanos was targeting me, so... My wild guess is that the blue cyborg might be Nebula. Let me check once more. I focused my senses on her. The scent of blood was too strong. There were even two blades lying just beside her buried under the snow. Her eyes are black and that metal area around her eye. Shit! That's definitely Nebula, alright.

I pulled my senses back in, narrowing my focus to the group. I used telepathy to talk to them. "Act normal. We've got twenty robots in position, and the alien ship's weapon systems are active and aimed at us. There's a cyborg sniper, blue skin, far off to the side, aiming her sniper rifle at us. Whatever's going on here, it's a setup. A trap. And they're waiting for the right moment to strike. And there's no sign of Natasha. Now, here's what we are gonna do. Kurt, get everyone out of here. Teleport back to the ship. This fight... I will handle it alone."

"What? You can't..." Psylocke said in disbelief.

"Trust me," I smiled at her. "I won't be able to use my full power with you all here."

[Bang!] Nebula took a shot, aiming at Kurt. The bullet was fast, but I was faster. With super speed and the power to freeze the bullet in mid-air, I stopped it. "Go! NOW!"

Everyone grabbed onto Kurt as he teleported back to the ship. They took off.

I looked at Nebula and pointed my middle finger at her. "Come and get me, bitch!"

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AN: It's time to unleash full power of ice. And I'm gonna take a few days off to stockpile. See you soon...

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