Rogue's eyes reflected the bright light of the computer screen in front of her as she stood, staring forward. She was standing in a dark room, leaning against the back of the chair. The computer in front of her was so large it covered the entire wall. The light blanketed her in a way that somehow seemed to help her focus, and it reminded her of more recent times when she had taken charge and taken initiative instead of doing what everyone else wanted her to do. No one's steppin' up, Rogue thought as she whirled the chair behind her and sat down. Which means it's mah job ta do somethin'.
Everyone else had stopped when they found out that the only information concerning the Purists' location was the Appalachian Mountains. To be sure, it was an enormous mountain range. But they were the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Rogue wasn't just going to sit around waiting for another Purist to walk in to be questioned.
Now Rogue had to form teams. She pulled up a list of the students and staff who had been active since the memory loss. She needed to separate them into three groups: the staff who would stay with the remaining students, the team who would infiltrate the base, and the team that would stay with the jet and guard the students who Rogue needed to help find the base itself.
Resonance. Rogue had read in the files about his psychometry, and he would hopefully be able to see traces of the Purists transporting people and equipment across the mountains to the base in the past. She was unaware how much he could control his powers, but if he couldn't, she hoped she could help him. His telekinesis would help defend the jet.
Brendon. She knew he had a calm head, and his hearing would be vital to detect the activity going on underground. But Rogue wouldn't let either of these kids fight the Purists. They would need to stay in the jet. But they also couldn't be left to defend it. Laura was battle-ready, and probably wouldn't do well with Logan, who Rogue wanted on the team. She could help protect the kids and the jet.
But who would lead the jet team? Ideally, someone who had been trained to fly the jet, and someone who had worked with the X-Men or Brotherhood for a long time. Mystique would be needed to break into the base, so... Bobby. The mountains were snowy and he would be able to defend it.
Rogue needed as many of the X-Men she could to attack the base. She trusted their abilities and their trustworthiness. So that was Jean, Beast, Remy, Lorna, Kitty, Alex, and Scott if he was healed in time. Lorna would want to be placed with the Brotherhood to keep them from getting out of control. Ideally she'd be with her father, but would that be wasting their abilities by putting them together?
Xavier and Noah would stay back with the students. While the team was gone, Rogue was going to have to require the students to all stay with Xavier and Noah in the same room. Hopefully, Xavier would be able to detect any intruders, and the remaining Brotherhood members could fight them off.
But the group that would infiltrate the base would be too big to stay together. They'd have to be split.
Keeping the list of staff open, Rogue navigated to a new screen to create the charts. Now she needed to brainstorm. She needed to pick leaders. Magneto would take over even if she didn't name him a leader, so she could put him on a team and hope nothing went too badly. It would be a good idea to separate Mystique and Magneto. Rogue knew they might be up to something together.
Typing on the keyboard in front of her, Rogue listed what she needed. She needed to absorb a few folks' powers: Evie's fire, Logan's regeneration, Jean's telekinesis and telepathy, and possibly Magneto and Remy's powers. If she absorbed Mystique's shapeshifting abilities and her knowledge of breaking into buildings and hacking computers, then the two of them could be in separate places. So who did Rogue want on her team?
No, she knew what she needed first. If Rogue was going to absorb anyone in the base, she had to have someone with her willing to kill. The other Purists might be infected with whatever virus Smith had, and Rogue couldn't be debilitated. Remy would do this, and presumably so would Magneto and Logan.
The most vital asset would be the ability to actually infiltrate the building. That's how the teams would be organized. Mystique on one side, Remy on the other. Rogue would rather be with Remy and it didn't make sense to have more than two teams, considering their numbers. They needed a Brotherhood member with them, to help with unity. So Magneto would be on their team. Rogue needed a strong leader with Mystique, so she put Scott in charge there.
That left Alex, Hank, Logan, Kitty, and Jean. If Rogue had Jean's telepathy and telekinesis, then her team wouldn't need Jean. Besides, Jean and Scott seemed to work well together. Logan and Beast were both physical hand-to-hand combatants. They would split up, as well. Rogue had a feeling Logan would be uncomfortable with Magneto, but it might save their lives.
And where would Kitty be the most useful? Mystique would be able to get into most places, but when she couldn't get through walls, Kitty could. That left Alex and Lorna. Would Rogue keep them together or split them apart?
Scott's team didn't have a magnetokinetic. Both teams had five now, but Rogue's team would have more abilities covered. So Lorna would be on Scott's. If Alex was on Rogue's team, they'd also have someone with powerful concussive energy blasts.
Rogue sighed. Hopefully, this would work. Just to be sure, there would be a second in case the leader died. She printed out the list:
Jet Team
Leader: Iceman
Second: Sonar
X-23
Resonance
Team 1
Leader: Rogue
Second: Magneto
Gambit
Wolverine
Havok
Team 2
Leader: Cyclops
Second: Mystique
Phoenix
Polaris
Shadowcat
One team needed to go after the Purists in charge. Rogue's team would be best. The other, Scott's team, had to rescue the mutants who were being experimented on. Now Rogue just had to tell everyone the plan. Pushing the rolling chair back, she snatched the paper from the printer with an eye roll. They would see how well the X-Men and Brotherhood could work together. No one except the team members could know about this. It would lessen the chance of any potential spies figuring it out. After wiping the evidence of the computer, Rogue marched off, going to call each of the members.
