Port Victoria
Republic of Seychelles

Prudence Leighton knew she was being followed.

Armed with the mutant ability to possess the minds of others made her very psychically aware. Although she couldn’t read minds, she could definitely detect them in her vicinity. And now, she knew there was one in her presence, an imprint that she seemed unable to shake as she walked along the sand of Port Victoria.

She removed her sunglasses and looked around. "I’m not in the mood for games, so you may as well come out. Because if you don’t, I’ll just take over your body myself."

The sand rose up and began to swirl around Prudence, its speed increasing. Prudence could sense the young woman’s psyche within the grains of sand, but she stood silently and unfazed by the display of power as the sand quickly coalesced into the form of a slight woman wearing an abaya with a niqab covering her head.

"Prudence Leighton," said the covered girl. Prudence could detect the accent in her voice, somewhere from the Persian region of the world.

"Who are you?" asked Prudence.

"A friend of a friend," said the woman.

"Our mutual friend doesn’t have a name for you?"

The woman remained silent. Prudence scoffed. "Of course not. What’s this about?"

"Our mutual friend has a need to speak with you."

"And where is this friend of ours?" asked Prudence.

The woman pointed off into the distance. Prudence looked behind her to see her own house on the beach. She shook her head. "Right, naturally. Whoever it is apparently doesn’t want to be seen in public with me, huh?"

The woman nodded and the wind seemed to blow her away, her body converting into sand and seemingly scattering into the sky. Prudence continued the trek to her home and walked up the steps to her balcony. She slid open the sliding glass door and saw a man sitting in the chair sipping a clear liquid from a glass. On the table next to him was a half-empty bottle of Ketel One and a pack of Silk Cut cigarettes.

"Jesus Christ, Wisdom!" she said, storming past him and grabbing the bottle as she did. "I just bought this bottle yesterday! Do you have any idea how much this stuff costs?"

Pete Wisdom simply smiled as he sipped the drink. "Relax love, I’ll send you a new one later."

"You drank half the bottle and you don’t seem the least bit drunk," she said.

"That’s because for once, I’m not drinking alone," said Wisdom. Two other men entered the room, both holding glasses. One was European with short, brown hair and the other Japanese.

"And who are these guys?" she asked.

"I’d like you to meet Dave North and Sean Watanabe," said Wisdom. "Boys, meet Pru Leighton. Best piece of ass this side of the equator."

"Always with the charm," said Prudence, rolling her eyes. "What do you want here, Wisdom? I’m not in the mood for your crap today. And next time you want to talk to me, come see me yourself. Don’t send whatever piece of jailbait you’re banging this week to come find me."

"Not like that at all, love," said Wisdom. "Sooraya, like Dave and Sean over here, are friends, that’s all."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. business again?" asked Prudence.

"We’re not S.H.I.E.L.D.," said North.

"Of course you’re not," said Prudence. She glanced at Watanabe. "And you, stop trying to read my mind."

"How did she know?" asked Watanabe through a psychic link.

"She’s a jumper, lad," said Wisdom. "She can possess anyone in her immediate vicinity. Which means she’s more psi-sensitive than most."

"Would’ve helped if you told me that in advance, Wisdom."

Prudence poured herself a drink and sat on the couch. "We might as well get on with it. Why are you here?"

"We’re investigating reports of mutant rights violations in the world and something that’s turned up is a bit of nastiness in south Asia," said Wisdom.

"There’s always been nastiness in south Asia," said Prudence.

"We’re talking mutants, love—that’s our concern," said Wisdom. "Now, are you gonna help us out or not?"

"Much as I possibly can, I suppose," said Prudence. "A few months ago, there was a report from Amnesty International saying that there were rumors of mutants being sought out in Burma."

"For what purpose?" asked North.

Prudence shrugged. "Not much else has been ascertained yet. But the Burmese are doing something with mutants, whether it’s imprisonment or execution is unknown at this point."

"Whatever it is, we can bet it doesn’t bode well for mutants," said North.

"What other information do you have on Burma?" asked Sean.

"Not much, only some unverified reports that Burma just spent quite a bit of money on the black market."

"Pack your bags, chaps—we’re going to Burma," said Wisdom.

Marvel 2000 Proudly Presents

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
Part Two

By Dino Pollard

Siberia

During the time of the Soviet Union, northern Siberia became notorious for housing numerous state-run penal labor camps. In Russian, they were known as Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitel’no-Trudovykh Lagerey or Gulag for short. From 1930 until 1953, an estimated 1.76 million people died in the Gulags.

Although the camps were officially dissolved by 1960, many of them still stand to this day, one in particular. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia fell into harsh times and many of those once in the employ of the Soviet Union turned to the black market instead.

A man in a wheelchair moved throughout one of the fortified camps flanked by guards on all sides of him. His skin was green, taking on a reptilian appearance. And in his long life, he had seen enough death and decay and destruction to drive even the most hardened souls completely insane.

"Now now, let’s see what we have here," he said, wheeling up to several monitors showcased before him. Each of them displayed the vitals of numerous people hooked up to machines. He pointed to two of the monitors. "Prep these ones for surgery." His fingers gestured to another three. "These ones are ready for shipment. And we need to work on cultivating the DNA of the others before the new arrivals get here."

Naypyidaw
Union of Myanmar

Maung Sein awoke and found himself attached to some sort of odd chair, one which had everything save for his chest and head completely covered. He could feel a draft on his skin and had no idea why.

The room was dark and cold and Maung Sein couldn’t make out much of anything. The silence was almost deafening for him. He could feel the sweat bead on his forehead as his heart rate quickly increased.

He heard the sound of locks moving and then the heavy door opened. A few uniformed guards along with a man who appeared to be a high-ranking officer stepped in.

"Maung Sein, my name is General Tun Aung" said the officer. "Welcome to Naypyidaw."

"Wh-what am I doing here?" asked Maung Sein. "I’ve done nothing wrong, I swear!"

"Do you know what the x-gene is, Maung Sein?" asked Tun Aung.

"No."

"The x-gene is a genetic anomaly found in a certain segment of the population," said Tun Aung. "A person with this gene possesses strange abilities—marks them as mutants."

"B-but I’m not a mutant, I can’t be, I—!"

"Relax, my friend, relax," said Tun Aung, gently laying a hand on Maung Sein’s forehead, trying to calm him. "The State Peace and Development Council views this as a positive trait in you. In fact, you are quite special and now, you have a chance to serve your country. Doesn’t that sound nice?"

Maung Sein looked confused.

"How?" he asked.

"Your particular ability has proven most interesting," said Tun Aung. "You have the ability to convert your body into diamond. And even more astounding is this diamond form can regenerate itself."

"I don’t understand…"

"Of course you don’t. What this means is that while in this diamond form, if you suffer any damage to your body, your body will repair it. And this is beneficial for the SPDC because Myanmar is not a wealthy nation. The precious gems we can cultivate from your body will prove to be an excellent source of funding and can bring prosperity to many citizens, including your own family."

"That’s… that’s all you want from me?" asked Maung Sein. "So I let you take some of these diamonds and then I can return home?"

Tun Aung laughed. "Oh my, of course not. You see, we plan to continue to cultivate diamonds from your body."

Maung Sein’s eyes widened.

"Why look a gift horse in the mouth?" asked Tun Aung with a smile. "That chair you’re in, it will cleave and collect diamonds from your body. Unfortunately, your ability only seems to work while you are conscious, therefore you will feel the entire process."

Maung Sein’s body began to quiver and he tried to hold back the sobs the fear inside him began to generate.

"On behalf of the SPDC, I thank you for your service to our great nation," said Tun Aung.

Yangon

Formerly the capital of Myanmar during the days it was called Burma, Yangon itself has gone through a name change, once known as Rangoon. Once the cleanest city in Asia, it has dwindled by a massive amount since the various coup d’etats over the years.

Despite being ruled by a military junta and various sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union, tourism still exists in Myanmar and can actually be quite profitable.

In a hotel room, the X-Force team opened their luggage. They chartered a private plane and paid off security officials to avoid any detection of the equipment they planned to use. With the economy in shambles, it made bribes very attractive.

The suitcases didn’t contain clothing or personal items but rather laptops and other electronic equipment as well as power packs given the unreliability of Myanmar’s electricity.

"Get this lot set up quickly," said Wisdom. "I want an uplink to S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites ten minutes ago."

Dust and Weapon X, unfamiliar with the equipment, simply stood to the side or assisted when they were asked. Brass, Maverick and Wisdom hooked up the laptops to their power sources and linked up with SHIELD’s satellites, thereby bypassing any security restrictions Myanmar imposed on Internet access.

"We set up?" asked Wisdom.

"Satellite feed is working nicely," said Brass.

"All three laptops are synchronized," said Maverick.

"Beautiful, now for phase two," said Wisdom. He removed two round objects from a metal case attached to wires and gave one to Weapon X and one to Brass. "Put these on your head."

"What for?" asked Brass.

"Because I thought you’d look pretty with a tiara," said Wisdom. "Just do it."

Brass shrugged and slipped the halo over his head and it came to rest on his brow. Weapon X did the same. Wisdom hooked the two headsets into the laptop’s USB ports and opened up a program labeled CEREBRITE.

"What are you doing, Wisdom?" asked Brass.

"Ever hear of Cerebro, that device the X-Men use to find mutants?" asked Wisdom. Brass nodded. "Well, this is Cerebrite, think of it as Cerebro’s younger cousin. Doesn’t have anywhere near the range that Cerebro does, but it should be enough to cover at least half the country. With the two of you using your telepathy in tandem, that range can probably expand to the entire country. If we’re lucky."

"What’s the point of doing this?" asked Dust.

"The point, my dear, is that if we find a localized area of mutants, then we can assume we’re looking at a prison," said Wisdom.

"Or a mutant underground community," said Maverick.

"Either way, it’s something we need to check out," said Wisdom. A digital map came up and Wisdom pointed to a spot with a few bright green dots. "Right here, that’s us. Now start expanding outwards."

The LED lights flashed as Weapon X and Brass expanded their telepathy, reaching out and scanning the brainwaves of those around them. Cerebrite boosted those abilities and separated the mutant brainwaves from human ones, cataloging and displaying them on Wisdom’s laptop.

"Okay, so far we’re pretty standard," said Wisdom. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

As the map began to expand outward, more and more dots popped up, some of them in transit and most of them gathering around the central area. Dozens of dots began to spring up in a centralized location.

"Jackpot," said Wisdom with a grin. "We’ve fo—"

"ARGGHHH!!!!"

The scream came from Brass, who pulled the halo from his head and tossed it away. Weapon X reacted similarly, but made no sound. Maverick and Wisdom went to their teammates’ sides, while Dust simply stood back and watched with curiosity.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Some… some sort of feedback," said Brass. "There’s someone trying to block our search."

"Who could do that?" asked Maverick.

"A powerful psychic could do it," said Brass. Blood leaked a little from his nose and he wiped it away.

"Or someone with the proper technology," said Maverick. He looked at Wisdom. "Are you thinking what I’m thinking?"

"Pru said there were reports of Burma buying some stuff off the black market," said Wisdom.

"But we’re talking about Cerebro technology, Pete," said Maverick.

"Right, so…" Wisdom paused. "Bloody hell… Cassidy, you prick…"

"Who?" asked Brass.

"Sean Cassidy, used to run with the X-Men, now he’s working for an outfit called the Byron Agency," said Wisdom. "If anyone had the means and reason to sell X-Men technology, it’s him."

"Were you able to pinpoint the location of those mutants?" asked Brass.

Wisdom looked at the laptop and a big message that read SIGNAL LOST flashed. He shook his head. "No such luck. We’ll figure out another way in there."

"What do you propose?" asked Maverick.

Wisdom smiled at his friend. "How do you feel about staging a demonstration of your powers?"

Maverick walked the streets of Yangon without the benefit of his gear. He felt naked without his mask on his face and his gun by his side. This idea of Wisdom’s was crazy, but North had learned in his time with the Englishman that those crazy ideas tended to produce results.

It’s why Fury kept Wisdom onboard with SHIELD even in light of all their problems and it’s the sole reason Maverick remained with X-Force after everything that happened.

He entered a bar in Yangon and slid up by the bartender.

"Welcome," said the bartender. "What do you want?"

"Beer is fine," said North. The bartender set down a bottle of beer that had MYANMAR on the label. Maverick took a sip from it and noticed the taste was pretty good.

++Don’t get too comfortable, Mav. We need to get moving.++

The voice that came through Maverick’s earpiece belonged to Wisdom, communicating to him from the hotel. Maverick drained the beer quickly and looked around the bar, picking out the biggest guy. He slid off the stool and walked over to the man, shoving him.

"What are you doing?" asked the man.

"Think I didn’t see you looking at me funny?" asked Maverick.

"I wasn’t looking at you," said the man.

"Fuck you, gook!" said Maverick. He took a swing at the guy and purposely missed. The man responded in kind, knocking Maverick off his feet. He rolled with the punch, allowing his body to absorb the kinetic energy. He unleashed a low-level blast, not powerful enough to really hurt the guy, but enough to send him out of the bar and into the street.

Soldiers who patrolled the streets of Yangon witnessed Maverick firing energy blasts and ran towards him, drawing their guns.

++Showtime, mate.++

Maverick leapt into the air, firing off a succession of blasts taking out the soldiers’ rifles. He landed in the midst of them and relied on handheld fighting techniques to disable them quickly.

++Ease up, Mav. Remember, you want to get captured.++

Maverick leapt back, removing the earpiece as he did and discarding it. When he was captured, he couldn’t risk them locating it on him during a search. The soldiers came at him again and others joined in, pointing their guns at him. Maverick stopped and raised his arms in surrender. One of the soldiers slammed the butt of his rifle against Maverick’s head and he fell unconscious on the ground.

"Contact Naypyidaw, tell them we’ve found one."

The camera went dark once Maverick was knocked unconscious, meaning the ocular implant stopped functioning. Wisdom sat back in the hotel and took a drag on his cigarette.

"Sure about this, Wisdom?" asked Brass.

"Davey can handle himself," said Wisdom. "The man’s been doing this since before you were born, Brass."

"What about Dust?"

"She’s got her part to play and I’m sure she’ll do just fine," said Wisdom. He looked at Weapon X. "How you feelin’, mate?"

Weapon X just stood silently.

"Not a big talker, is he?" asked Brass.

"Nope, but he’s good at what he does." Wisdom looked at the laptop. He had all three of them trying to locate additional information through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files on Myanmar’s history with mutants. So far, the search turned up nothing, only unverified reports.

"What happens now?" asked Brass.

"Now, we wait," said Wisdom. "Welcome to the wonderful world of covert intelligence, my friend. Ninety percent of the game is patience. It’s not like the X-Men or the Avengers—we don’t just wait for trouble to show up at our doorstep. Most of the time, we have to go out and find it and it can be a long road."

The wall exploded towards them and the three mutants saw a group of soldiers armed with automatic rifles as well as a few wearing exoskeletons that resembled Sentinel technology.

"You were saying?" asked Brass.