"Okay, boys an' girls," said Fury, "lissen up an' lissen up good." X-Force had undergone several weeks of intense training and Fury was now satisfied they would work well as a team in the field, which was good because he had an operation for them. He pressed a button on the console and it produced a three dimensional image above a central panel in front of the group, showing them a small island.

"Madripoor," said Fury. "Casablanca o' the modern world by all accounts." The group knew about the small island, located just off the coast of Malaysia in Indonesia. A small pearl in the crown of the Orient, where people could go and hide away taking whatever secrets they had with them.

"A while back it was ruled by a monarchical dictator, name o' Baran, with support provided by General Nguyen Ngoc Coy until they both met with an unfortunate end a few years ago. Place was in chaos, controlled only by the criminal elements, on Jessan Hoan, also known as Tyger Tiger. In all fairness she kept the currency of the place in mostly gambling an' the other crime, not touching the murkier stuff, like slavery an' drugs. Until Viper came along."

The image changed and the face of the former Madame Hydra appeared in place of the island.

"Wanna cut to the chase, Colonel?" asked Wisdom, slouched in his chair waiting for the mission brief, his cigarette in his hand and the smoke being caught in the projected light of the image. Fury didn't mind as he had his cigar in his mouth.

"Then eyes back on the center panel, Wisdom," said his superior officer. Most people treated Fury one of two ways - as a revered mentor or as an old has-been. Pete Wisdom did neither, he treated him like a regular person, or as much as Wisdom treated any regular person. It was a breath of fresh air, which was why Fury let him get away with it.

"She took control o' the island an' of Hoan an' usin' her Hydra connections ta build the island inta arguably the crime capital of Asia. Even the Triads were lookin' over their shoulders. About a month or so ago, Viper and Hydra left the island, leaving the criminal empire there for the takin'. We don't know why they up an' left but we do know it had something to do with the X-Man Wolverine an' the creature known as the Shadow King."

"I thought the X-Men had killed him off," said Siryn. "In their last battle, he was obliterated by Jean."*

(* See M2K's Uncanny X-Men #3 - Russ)

"Yeah, and they also thought they took down Apocalypse too and look how right they were there," pointed out Wisdom. "The recent business with Wolverine aside, didn't I read a bulletin that we'd nabbed Hoan and she was in custody in the Vault?"

"Ya did," confirmed Fury. "Snatched her from the island's infirmary. Yeah, it wasn't a nice thing to do, but we all got our orders."

"So whose in charge now?" asked Maverick.

"This is why yer here," said Fury. "Seems like there's been an uprising an' there's a new man in charge. A new man with his own little army o' enforcers."

"You want us to go in there and enforce military law?" said Wisdom, perking up. Sounded like a job where they got to go and flex a bit of SHIELD muscle.

"Somethin' along those lines," confirmed Fury. "We hoped by taking away Hoan we'd put a serious dent in the operations. However it didn't work out. The crime is stronger than ever and even more people are afraid of the new guys. We didn't even know they were there. The new main charge calls himself the Dragon Lord."

"The Dragon Lord," sighed Pete. "Why don't they ever have normal names? Power's supposed to corrupt, not addle."

"Whoever he is, we do know he has several superhuman underlings working for him. The Children of the Pact is all we managed to find out but we do have some details on that in the SHIELD files, and we might have a possible match."

"Who?" asked Del Ruiz, wondering what the opposition was like.

"We haven't confirmed it is them, Lydia, but the last reference we had to the Children of the Pact is a criminal team known as the Folding Circle."

"Really?" asked Siryn, her grin evident.

"Yes, the ones that stole the Quinjet from the New Warriors."

"Are we scraping the bottom of the barrel here or what?" she said, shaking her head.

"Perhaps, but they were part of a small crime war a while back," said Raven. "A bloke called Aardwolf, if I remember it right."

"Yeah, you seem to know a lot about this," said Fury. "The FBI were keeping an eye on them, as part of the whole Quinjet deal. When the Taylor Foundation got involved and headed over to Madripoor to sort things out from their end, the FBI got in touch with Interpol and kept an eye on things. With Madripoor you generally leave it alone, because someone'll sort it out."

"Hmm," said Fury. "Now it's our turn."

"Question - how did that lot avoid the attention of Wolverine when they were in Madripoor?" Siryn was still sceptical about this information.

"Oh come on, they got their heads handed to them by the New Warriors, so what kind of chance would they have against Logan?" chuckled Pete.

"It would have been an interesting fight," agreed Maverick with a smile. "So, we go in, we take them out?"

"Yup," said Fury. "Set it up so we can set up some kind of presence there. Should have done it as soon as we got Tyger out, but things came up and resources are needed elsewhere."

"Then let's go to work," said Pete. "Give it a day or so, tops."

The team ditched the blues they wore as their SHIELD uniforms and got up in their civilian gear. It was only right to be as inconspicuous as possible for the moment, especially on a public ferry like this one. Theresa was looking out towards the town when Pete appeared on deck beside her.

"Are those the only clothes ye have?" asked Siryn as she saw him in his trademark black suit and white shirt.

"I like them," said Pete. "As did you, if I recall right."

"Screw ye," said Terry and Pete grinned as he watched her storm off, his head tilted to one side as he kept his eyes on her posterior and then he shook his head and lit up a cigarette.

"What was that about?" asked Maverick as he came up and stood beside him.

"History lesson," said Pete. "How you holding up, Davey?"

"Okay. Last time I was here, though..."

"You were feeling sorry for yourself havin' Legacy and tried to get Logan to kill you," said Pete blowing a smoke ring. "I heard. Actually I was in town that night."

"What for?" asked North.

"Oh, this and that," said Pete. "Just following up on summat."

"Ah," said Maverick, wondering if Pete had still been with Black Air at the time.

"Yup," said Pete. "Should be getting in to town in five minutes or so. Better get the team together." He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number, the special SHIELD prefix codes then 9372. That would send the signal to the members of X-Force that they were required.

Maverick's pager went off and Pete knew it had worked and that the others would be here in a moment and soon the other three members of the team gathered. Pete turned and leaned back on the rail fence of the ferry.

"Okay, people, one more time. Lydia, you first."

"We check out the city, do some investigating, see what's what."

"Terry?" asked Pete.

"We find somethin', call it in. No heroics."

"Marc?"

"If something does happen, we contain the situation."

"Dave?"

"And try not to kill anyone."

"And we'll meet at the bar of the Hilton up in Hightown at six if we find nothing. Good, you guys have the game plan down. And remember who we are. We're not in uniform but we've got our badges. We've about an hour and a half so let's rock and roll."

The palace of Madripoor was as foreboding as it had always been and the presence inside made it all the more so. There was a stench of death about the place now and the plant life that had grown once had started to whither and die.

The Children of the Pact had rounded up four of the major crime lords of the city and brought them before the Dragon Lord. They had all known this was coming but it was still a shock to them all the same. He sat upon the throne, and where there had once been a computer system belonging to Hydra there was now a giant pit.

"Bring me your tributes," commanded the Dragon Lord, his arms resting on the arms of the chair as he stared down at them over his joined hands.

"That would be your turn, Alvarez," said one of the guards and shoved the man forward. Miguel Alvarez, steadied himself before he fell into the pit and walked towards the throne.

"My Lord," he said, genuflecting for his master, "the drug cartels which you have allowed to negotiate and run are not being as forthcoming as we would wish and our revenues are not being altered. They believe that they are now in the position to call the shots, with Tiger Tyger removed from the playing field. I cannot bring tribute to you, for there is no funding left after the levies you have already placed upon us."

"Your answer is unacceptable, Alvarez," said the Dragon Lord. "When I gave you the role you promised me you would be able to make the cartels listen to you, that you would call in your markers and ensure that we make as much profit as possible. You assured me that nothing would change. I was obviously mistaken in my judgement."

"But, my Lord..."

"Tiger," commanded the Dragon Lord and the man at the side of him flashed by quickly with a feral roar and Alvarez felt something graze his neck. Then he realised he couldn't breathe and his hand went to his throat in panic and he felt the warm liquid pouring from his neck. The realization that he was almost dead and in a few moments life would depart from him stunned him, and he sagged and fell back, down in to the pit behind him.

Smiling Tiger had slashed through his neck with such savagery he couldn't even scream as he fell down to whichever form of death claimed him first.

"Next," said the Dragon Lord and the others were glad they had been able to make their quota.

David North had never liked Madripoor. In all the years he'd traveled to this city, to the island itself, he'd never found any of the so-called charms that attracted so many others. In his mind, the place was a cesspit and ought to have been leveled long ago. It had gotten worse since the lease that the United Kingdom had had on it expired in 2000.

And now he was part of the clean up crew. Five of them against a city. It was scarcely credible to think of but then again if one man could make a difference, just think what five could do. The first, best place he knew of to get information was the Princess Bar but that had been trashed and Logan had never had it really rebuilt. It hadn't been worth his time or effort to do so.

In that case the second best place to go was Dionysus', named after the Greek god of poetry, song, drama, and drink. The small building stood in a shanty-like hovel on the border between Hightown and Lowtown, but inside it was a virtual palace compared to some of the dives. The rules here were simple - no fighting. The owner, Chi Xan, was an expert fighter and anything that started he would end, permanently on the counts of all involved. It was a challenge that had been ignored at first and was now a reputation.

North entered the building and walked down the small staircase and through the steel door at the end. Inside the place was jumping, there was entertainment on the center stage and the bar was busy as always. North watched and admired the exotic dancers before going back to work. He went down and ordered a beer, luckily they had a nice collection and there was a good German brand.

"Not seen you about before," said the man sitting next to him.

"Nope," said North. "Business trip."

"Buying or selling?"

"Selling." He reached flashed his coat and showed him a gun. "I know the rules."

"Serious piece of hardware," said the man as North covered it up. "Might know a buyer."

"Really," said North, noncommittally. "I hear the town's under new management though. Was hopin' to score a deal with the Tyger."

"You don't need a tiger when you've got a dragon."

"What d'you mean?"

"You're serious about selling, then meet me at Pier 17 at 7 tonight, Mr?"

"Decker, Ernst Decker. I didn't catch your name though."

"No, Mr Decker, you didn't. Until tonight."

"Sure," said North, and watched as the man put his drink down and walked out. Before the bar steward came to take it away, North pocketed the glass. He'd be doing some checking of his own, as he was certain he was being checked on. It was a definite start in the right direction

"English nancy boy," taunted the group that had surrounded Pete Wisdom. They were Asian youths ranging form what he guessed was 18 to early twenties. He had been wandering the streets and back allies trying to get a feel of the place. Madripoor was one of the places he'd always meant to visit but had never gotten around to it. He'd gone looking for the streets and the streets had now found him.

"I'll tell you this once, fellas," he said, as he lit up a cigarette. "Fuck off. Now." He took a breath then exhaled the smoke on to their faces.

"Or you'll what?" taunted one of them, coming closer and Pete grabbed him by the arm and pulled him forward, raising his knee so it caught the bloke in the gut. As the attacker crumpled under the blow, Pete released him and slammed his fist into his jaw, sending him down to the ground, where Pete then dropped ash from the cigarette on him.

"I'd say kick the crap out of you but it seems redundant," he said. One of the others pulled a knife, so Pete pulled one of his own. "Let's not make this messy," he said as the hot knife danced eagerly in front of them. "Now what did I just tell you?" They looked at each other, turned, and ran.

"Expertly done," came a voice and Pete turned, sending the hot knife flying into the wall, millimeters from the man's face. "I'm not sure if that was a good shot or a poor one," said the Asian woman who stood there. If she was concerned about the shot it didn't show.

"Take a wild guess," said Wisdom, wondering if she'd set the thugs on him and what she wanted.

"I always wondered what you were like, Mr Wisdom." Pete smiled, she was familiar with him and it gave her an advantage, however he could play that game too.

"And you're Min Li Ng." The SHIELD files had been cross-referenced with the Avengers files and he'd learnt a fair bit about the so-called Folding Circle.

"Oh, you're good. I can see why the Dragon Lord wants to talk to you."

"The who?"

"Or maybe not as good as he thought. Pier 17, 7pm."

"What's in it for me?"

"You get to leave the city alive," she said as she converted to her energy form and took off in to the night sky. Pete took another drag on the cigarette. He ought to call this in. He wasn't going to though.

Terry and Lydia were checking out the city, seeming for all intents and purposes to be two tourists in Hightown. Lydia was a detective by nature and she was keeping an eye on everyone, watching and waiting while Siryn acted as a distraction. It was a perfect cover as most people looked at the redhead anyway, not really giving Lydia a second look.

What surprised Lydia most was how Madripoor was similar in design to Genosha, or at least how it used to be. She hadn't been back since Magneto took over, since her father made her leave, and though she could hazard a guess as to why, there was no actual proof to confirm her suspicions. Back to the matter at hand though.

"Wanna get a coffee?" she asked Terry.

"Sure," said her partner and they headed for the nearest café-bar. "We are being followed, aren't we?"

"Yes," replied Lydia. "Three of them."

"I only made two," commented Terry, thinking if Cable were still about she'd have gotten a lecture.

"The third is good, it took me a while to spot her."

"We're not goin' to find anything out with them on our tail, are we?"

"Not even going to try," said Lydia as she ordered a couple of coffees. "However, we've learnt something invaluable here. They know who we are, otherwise they'd have done something. They haven't because they we could break them in half. We blow our cover, then we've very little left to lose."

"Great," said Terry. "So we've got a bit of time to kill before we go to the hotel."

"True enough," said Lydia, watching the young woman across the table. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," said Terry.

"What is between you and Pete Wisdom. There's something between the two of you at times that's so intense."

"It's a long story," said Terry. "An' not the kind o' thing that I'd discuss in public. Why ask?"

"Wisdom. I've been working with him and you all for weeks now, and I still don't get him in the least. Everyone else, I've figured out but him... He's infuriating and egotistical, he's surly and downright rude at times, he only respects the rules which he thinks will work for him, as well as being a sexist." Siryn looked at her, her head tilted to one side slightly

"Ye fancy him?"

"Yeah," sighed Lydia, shaking her head in disgust and disappointment at herself. "I think so, and it's not exactly something' I'm proud of."

"Dinnae worry," she said. "When he turns on the charm, it's magnetic. It's hard to imagine him as a lady-killer but..." She trailed off as the drinks were delivered. "It ain't worth it."

"Experience?"

"Men like him."

"Ah. But it doesn't go away, does it?"

"Not fer a while," she said as she took a drink. "Not fer a while. Come on, let's enjoy ourselves a bit then lose those clowns."

Marcus Raven was having a little better luck than the others. As soon as he started on his way, he knew he was being followed, thanks to his telepathy. He wasn't going to actively go into the man's mind, but he knew enough to keep a few steps ahead of him and eventually lost him.

It all meant that someone knew who they were, and if that were so then they had a problem. Raven was an ex-cop and now he was with SHIELD he was a whole new kind of law enforcement official. Madripoor was home to a vast amount of organizations -- the Hand, Hydra, the Yakuza, all of which were constantly being surveyed. That meant that if he went to the local police station he'd find out what he needed. Granted, they had nobody there as good a Chief Inspector Tai had been, but that didn't mean they didn't keep an eye on things. In this city information was worth a lot.

As Pete had said, they didn't have their uniforms but they did have their badges and so that was what he went for. He knew the face of the man who had been following him, so he wanted to find out as much as he could on him. He was obviously a thug for hire, but someone would know how to get in touch with him and who he worked for. It was conceivable that he worked for the Dragon Lord, but Raven needed something a little more substantial. Then he had a better idea, because if there were people who knew they were in town, the police would as well. A slight tweak of people's perceptions with his telepathy meant he was virtually invisible and he made his way inside and looked over the files and one place kept coming up time and again.

Pier 17.

He didn't know much more than that yet, but he sent a text message to Wisdom letting him know he was going to go and keep an eye on the place. It was a shot to nothing, but it was still a shot.

Pete heard the beep in his pocket and he set down his whiskey so he could retrieve his message. He was in the bar of the Hilton and it would be another few minutes or so before six, when the team was to meet.

"Oh, bloody hell," said Pete as he read his message. Raven wasn't stupid but if Wisdom's own meeting at Pier 17 was a set-up then, he could be in trouble.

"Wisdom," said North as he pulled up a chair. "I think I've got something, someone who can get us some information."

"Good work, but we don't have much time, Marc could be in trouble."

"Why?" asked Terry as she arrived with Lydia.

"They know we're here," said Pete, noting the lack of surprise on the faces of the two women.

"They do?" asked North.

"Try and keep up, Davey," said Pete. "What did you get?"

"I'm meeting with a weapons dealer at 7pm."

"Pier 17 by any chance?" asked Pete.

"How the hell did you know that?"

"Because I've got an appointment myself, and guess where Raven's headed?"

"What I don't understand is how they knew we were coming?" said Terry. "We've taken every precaution."

"Someone ratted us out," said Pete.

"It couldn't be someone in SHIELD," said Lydia.

"Don't count on that," said North. "You never know what people are capable of and the stuff that's gone down of late with Sharon Carter should show that."*

(* See recent issues of M2K's Captain America for details on Sharon -- Russ)

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said Pete as he downed his whiskey. "Right now we suit up and head for Pier 17. May as well spring the trap, after all the trouble they've gone to."

"Is this a good idea?" asked Siryn.

"Probably not," said Pete. "But we're being played at the moment and I'm not having that. They wanna meet, we'll meet them on our terms. Any objections?"

The rest stayed silent.

"Good, because this isn't a democracy. Now, let's go kick butt and take names."