“Welcome. I’m glad to see everyone could make it to this important strategy session. If all goes correctly this should be our last session dealing with Darkstar and her forces. I have a plan that will almost guarantee victory,” Sinister smiled his eyes filled with the desire of conquest. Conquest usually wasn’t something Essex sought after. In fact he’s always been more a seeker of perfection through any means necessary. From the day he first joined Apocalypse, the day he gave Gambit his first deck of cards, the day he created Madylene Pyror, and only a few months ago he had sought only perfection. Others that opposed Sinister saw his search for perfection as a madman’s quest. Perhaps if that were Essex’s only motivation he would agree, but long ago he made a deal that promised him everything in return for what he saw as nothing. He knew now that the day his deal would be fulfilled would never come, but even then his search for perfection never stopped. Now he was a warlord leading his charges into battle.

Pyro snickered, “I’m sure you do Sinister, but talk is cheap so what you got goin on in that scheming little head of yours?”

Sinister smiled devilishly, “Patient is a virtue Allerdyce. Now you and Joseph saw the first part of my plan take form today. I used you two to draw out the Dark Riders so I could evaluate them for myself and once things started to get ugly I unleashed Mutant Forger’s creations upon the mutant guards in the human camp. They provided you two with the time to escape and play your final role in my plans.”

Fontanelle zipped her black boot that went along with the rest of her full body black outfit as Sinister talked. She was sure no matter what side won this coming battle there would be no peace for the planet. For even if Darkstar were defeated there would be other foes to defeat. Apocalypse himself would eventually have to be faced. Could they really take on someone as powerful as Apocalypse himself? The question was one that prodded at Gloria because they simply had a hard enough time handling Darkstar’s troops let alone the main honcho’s. The Four Horsemen and Holocaust guarded Apocalypse for crying out loud! The Four Horsemen could probably hold off whole armies let alone a ragtag group of mutants with a cause.

“This battle shall be different from all your others because it will be a massive attack of epic proportions. For a while I’ve kept the secret from most of you about the true production capabilities of this base to keep some of you from being overzealous. As we speak there are 10,000 mutants being birthed in the lower most levels of this facility. Within 3 hours time they will be battle armed and ready to attack!” Sinister exclaimed proudly. Shock moved across the face of everyone except for Mutant Forger who already knew well enough just how potent this place really was. Deep down the mutant was still angered at himself for letting Sinister manipulate him into using his powers. He knew from experience just how destructive his powers could be and to let Essex get to him was a great disappointment for Forger. He couldn’t help but to wonder if Sinister could get him to bend to his will one time how many other times would he be able to? Essex could be just as manipulative and devious as some of the very forces he fought against and if Essex was to win this battle how would he try and use Mutant Forger next? And no matter how hard Forger tried to answer this question he knew only Sinister could provide the answer to it. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know the answer to the question honestly. There was a saying in his world; “Those who seek knowledge also seek danger for to find truth is to find lies.”

“You mean this whole time we could have had a huge army to attack Darkstar with and you’ve been holding out on us with some measly hit and run attacks! Ever since I joined up with you I figured you were always working some angle, always keeping something hidden. I hardly expected this!” Pyro shouted furious.

“Give him time to explain himself before you try and burn anyone!” Omega Red yelled back at Pyro. Arkady didn’t trust Essex too much either, but the man had saved him from the cold of Siberia where the Dark Rider, Deus, had put him into. That was something he was eternally grateful for. And despite the fact Sinister had lied to them he genuinely believed there was some legitimate reason. If there weren’t, Omega Red would strangle the life out of Sinister himself and then lead the charge against Darkstar. The mutant strangely had felt some kind of connection with Darkstar. Almost like a vendetta of sorts. Arkady wondered if Darkstar felt the same type of connection.

“I didn’t tell you all of this base’s power because I was weary of making you all dependent on it. You had to be able to handle the forces of Apocalypse on your own and without the help of my ‘manufactured’ mutants. Soldiers with a dependency are deadly liabilities and liabilities is one thing I couldn’t afford,” Sinister explained hoping he might sooth some of the more skeptical ones like Pyro. He had no intention of trying to dissolve the anger totally, but he only needed to pacify them.

“That makes sound sense to me. Soldiers must be at their full capability to handle the combat situations they might be faced with. Onslaught failed in that regard,” Post said backing up Essex’s justification for his actions. Post enjoyed to be tested in the field of war and Sinister had improved not only his, but everyone else’s fighting skills. Though they may not admit it readily. Particularly the two mutants Joseph and Pyro since they had been weary of the ways of Sinister since he first joined this little outfit.

Two And A Half Months Ago

Post had been greatly shaken by his battle with Holocaust and Juggernaut. He was near defeat, until the man calling himself Sinister came along. With a few decisive moves he had saved Post from death and pulled off a hasty retreat. He had enough sense to know fighting the son of Apocalypse and Juggernaut wasn’t a battle to be taken lightly in any sense of the word.

As the Post and Sinister stood in front of a rusty complex, that looked like it might have once been elegant, Essex waved out his hand and said, “This is where me and mine stay. I offer you sanctuary and a home in return for your servitude as a warrior in my forces.”

Post mumbled a few inaudible thoughts to himself and said, “To be alone this day and age isn’t safe so I shall join you out of necessity.”

“Excellent! You will be pleased to see the benefits of being an ally of myself. Now come and meet your fellow combatants,” Sinister said walking up the steps that lead to the entrance of his shaggy complex. He placed his hand on the center of the left side of the door. A computer greeted the man and the doors slid open.

Post cautiously followed the man up the stairs and through the entrance. There waiting to greet Sinister were five mutants and almost all of them held some strange familiarity to Post. Though there was a lot about him that was jumbled and messed up since Apocalypse took over as ruler of the planet. Even through all the confusion of this new world there was one thing Post remembered well and that was the being Onslaught. He doesn’t remember all the players in the game, but the master most definitely stood clear in his mind. If only he was around now perhaps Apocalypse’s rule would be cut a great deal shorter.

“I guess this must be our new recruit,” the blonde-haired mutant said with a thick Australian accent.

“His name is Post and yes he is now part of our little get together. Lets try to show him a reasonable welcome,” Sinister said shooting his eyes at the large mutant with chords hanging from slightly above his wrists. Post assumed that he was the troublemaker of the group. He would have to get to know this one first.

“So how was your trip to what use to be Washington and Oregon?” the one with long gray hair and energy billowing around his body asked. That mutant was most familiar to Post because he played some role in the whole business of Onslaught. What exactly the role was Post couldn’t remember for sure.

“I failed to find Ruckus or any clue as to where he might be, but as you can see I did found Post here. And I got the chance to build up on my fighting skills a bit. I’ve never been much of a fighter since I’ve always preferred to have people to do the fighting for me,” Sinister reported.

Pyro scoffed, “I figured as much from you. You and Bush could probably both have a good time trying to fight your way out of a paper bag. I wonder where the good ol former president is at during this time? It’s kinda hard to be in charge of a country overrun by demons.”

“At a human camp in Argentina along with Allen Iverson and Jesse Jackson for starters. I got bored and did some intel hacking. I found out where good deals of the former powerful, rich, and famous are. Funny how all of that is dashed to the ground in a instance,” Fontanelle chimed in.

“Perhaps we should have a chat about your computer usage Gloria. Other subjects of greater importance might sooth this anger I feel coming on. How did the bombing on the human camp go Joseph?” Sinister asked curious as to how his forces fared while he was absent.

“We managed to wipe out the whole left wall of the human camp sir. A good deal of humans escaped and from rumors we’ve heard they are forming a resistance group. It probably won’t do much in the long run, but it could be a very useful distraction device in the future,” Ever reported.

Sinister rubbed his chin as his thoughts were overloaded with a grand sense of accomplishment. Things were finally starting to come together and with Post now in his forces only a few more pieces were needed.

Present

“Full capability or not I’m tired of being treated like a chess piece, but I am willing to listen to Sinister. We need to get this plan of attack down and without argument,” Joseph said his words appeasing both sides. When it came to the planning of battle their could be no bickering or aggravating whining.

Sinister appeased began again with the description of his plan to topple Darkstar, “My attack shall be two fold. Mutant Forger will lead my and his creations into battle to liberate the humans and destroy the camp they are forced to reside in. The rest of us are going to go to Darkstar’s castle and free the mutants she experiments on daily. If either side runs into the Dark Riders I believe we shall be capable of handling them.”

Osman who had barely spoke the whole time said, “Sinister if it’s alright with you Gaia and I would prefer to go to the human camp with Darkstar. We couldn’t bare to go back to that forsaken chamber of death we were held in.”

Sinister nodded granting Proteus what he desired. Essex had nearly forgotten about the two’s traumatizing experiences under Darkstar’s imprisonment. It wasn’t something forgotten quickly. If he was going to have the continued support of the mutants under him he was going to have to learn to be a little more sensitive to their needs. That didn’t come easily to Sinister.

“Now that’s settled. Everyone should head to the simulation room and run a warm-up battle. We are going to have to be at tiptop shape to head into the type of circumstances we’re about to come up against,” Post said exuberantly heading down the hall to where the simulation room was located.

“And I use to think Sinister was crazy,” Pyro muttered to himself softly as he followed behind the large blue skinned mutant.

30 Minutes Later

There was a slight zipping sound as Essex turned on the large computer screen in his private sanctum. After the end of the meeting he felt he was getting a communication from someone. They were scrambling their signal though so Sinister had no idea who it might have been. Apocalypse was the first person to come to his mind.

Fortunately, he was wrong and the woman who had hailed him was Darkstar. Unlike most other people on this planet Sinister remembered the way things were before Apocalypse came to power. He knew well enough how much of a hero Laynia had been and to see her so perverted still shocked Sinister. Apocalypse’s manipulations were powerful and their effects strong.

“To what do I owe the pleasure,” Sinister said impolitely. You could feel the vulgarity in his voice and he didn’t even have to utter one offensive word. His tone of voice was just that powerful and it hit Darkstar like a sledgehammer.

“Well, I see you don’t have much love for me. That’s okay because the feeling is very much mutual. So I guess I’ll get straight to the point. I have something you want and I know you won’t be able to resist it.”

“And what would that be?” Sinister asked growing quite impatient with Darkstar though he had barely spoke to her for five minutes. His disgust with her ran that deep and despite his best efforts it showed through Essex like a glow stick.

“Sunfire and Colossus!”