Mutants at war -236
The first true battle for the Foundation in this war began with Hulk's roar. The sound was primal, reverberating through the air and sending a chill down the spines of everyone present, friend and foe alike. Hulk charged towards a group of drones that Storm had forced down, his massive form barreling through the debris and dust.
Under the watchful eyes of both mutants and Foundation members, he easily smashed the first drone into pieces, the metal crumpling like paper under his fists. He moved on to the others, dismantling them with brutal efficiency, seemingly unfazed by the laser blasts and energy weapons that glanced off his thick green skin.
Clearly, the Sentinels identified him as a significant threat. Several of the towering machines diverted their attention from the perimeter defenses and focused on the Hulk, directing a concentrated assault his way.
A swarm of drones accompanied them, their numbers overwhelming as they surrounded the Hulk, bombarding him with everything they had. The Hulk, undeterred, roared again—a thunderous sound that shook the very ground—and began cutting through the mass of drones, each swing of his fists obliterating several at a time.
Despite his immense power, the Sentinels were no simple foes. The larger, more advanced models kept their distance, analyzing his movements and coordinating their attacks. They began to employ more calculated tactics, leaving cuts and burns across the Hulk's body as they tried to wear him down. But for every wound they inflicted, the Hulk's rage only seemed to grow, fueling his relentless assault.
"Damn, I didn't expect that from such a kind and awkward guy," Logan muttered, standing alongside Steve and the others as they watched the battle unfold. There was a mixture of awe and concern in his voice. The gentle scientist they had known had transformed into a force of nature, a green monster of unparalleled strength and fury. Logan, for all his years of fighting, couldn't help but feel a spark of excitement at the sight. The beast within him, the primal part of his nature, recognized a worthy opponent.
But this wasn't just a battle to be admired—it was a war that needed winning. Steve turned to his team, their eyes locked on the chaos before them. "We can't let him take all the hits," he said, his voice cutting through the noise of the battlefield. "We've got our part to play."
Logan grinned, the excitement of the fight taking hold. "You don't have to tell me twice, Cap." With that, he unsheathed his claws, the metallic snikt sound lost in the roar of the battlefield, and charged towards the nearest group of drones. His adamantium claws sliced through metal as if it were nothing, his movements a blur of deadly precision.
Steve, with Peggy and Bucky at his side, moved to engage another group of drones. His shield became a whirling weapon of destruction, deflecting energy blasts and smashing through enemy ranks. Peggy's precise shots found weak points in the drones' armor, while Bucky used his enhanced strength to tear them apart with brutal efficiency.
Peggy wasn't as strong as either Steve or Bucky; they had both been enhanced by the super soldier serum and had power that reached beyond normal human limits. Bucky's robotic arms and leg were even stronger, letting him easily beat Steve in arm wrestling, something that didn't stop Steve from challenging him all the time.
She did however have strength far beyond what a woman of her size should have, the white tiger amulet around her neck gave her the strength of a tiger, but tigers weren't just about brute force, but also speed.
Her speed was where she shined; she was fast and deadly, sipping across the battlefield with her energy guns and delivering precise hits while easily dodging out of the way of attacks by a hair's breadth, thanks to her enhanced senses and agility.
As they fought, the battlefield became a chaotic blend of metal, energy blasts, and raw power. The Sentinels, relentless in their pursuit, adapted their tactics with every passing moment. Some began to focus their attacks on the weaker points of the defenses, trying to breach the perimeter and reach the civilians sheltering within Ironwood.
This couldn't be allowed and so more mutants came out from the fortress-like wall to take part in the battle. The Sentinels clearly were drawn to the mutants, shifting their focus away from the roaring military-grade weapons on top of the walls to the mutants. Allowing the guns to take care of the drones as the mutants and sentinels started clashing.
As the mutants poured out from the fortress-like walls of Ironwood, the battlefield erupted into a full-scale warzone. The Sentinels, designed to target and eliminate mutants, immediately shifted their focus from the defensive fortifications to the approaching mutants. The change in the Sentinels' strategy allowed the heavy artillery on the walls to concentrate their firepower on the swarming drones, thinning their numbers and preventing them from overwhelming the defenses.
The clash between the mutants and the Sentinels was nothing short of cataclysmic. Magneto, hovering above the battlefield with a magnetic field shimmering around him, directed a barrage of metallic debris toward the Sentinels, who, in turn, started to adapt to his power and neutralize it.
This was the true power of the Sentinels: the ability to use mutations to deal with mutants. They would generate their own magnetic fields to cancel out Magneto's, thereby reducing him to merely a powerless human.
This was why they were so dangerous and why they had been able to kill so many mutants. Still, just because they were well-made and dangerous didn't mean the Mutants weren't able to fight back.
The sentinels were just machines, after all, and like all machines, they had limitations. While humans' greatest strength was their ability to overcome their limitations.
Magneto as one of the world's most powerful mutants wasn't something mass produced robots could take out easily, it would take at least half a dozen of them to be able to counter his powers, and that was why he had Polaris with him when he acted.
Polaris was his Daughter and the only one of his children who had inherited his own mutation, the ability to manipulate metals. While she wasn't as strong as him, she could still help him since she could generate a different magnetic field and force the sentinels to divide their focus.
While something like dividing a robot's focus would normally be an impossibility, they had some limits when it came to copying and using mutant powers. Even more so when they had to make magnetic fields, since they themselves were made of metal, meaning they didn't only have to target Magneto's powers but protect themselves from their own fields as well.
Adding in Polaris, meant that the two of them could still fight even when against as many as a dozen sentinels, and even if they couldn't easily win, they could at least hold them back until the rest were dealt with.
But Magneto wasn't about to simply hold back these robots, he wanted more. And it just so happened that he could, while destroying the sentinels themselves were difficult, he could use the gap they left in their suppression of his ability to deal with hundreds of their drones.
Chunks of metal debris, remnants of destroyed drones and downed Sentinels, lifted into the air, swirling around Magneto in a deadly storm. He directed this metallic tempest with precision, sending shards and beams of metal hurtling through the air, slicing through the swarm of drones that filled the sky. The drones, designed to overwhelm through sheer numbers, were torn apart by the ferocity of Magneto's attack.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the mutants fought with a ferocity born of desperation and determination. Logan was a whirlwind of destruction, his claws tearing through metal as he leaped from one drone to the next. Despite the size and strength of the machines, they were no match for his adamantium claws and unrelenting rage.
Steve, Peggy, and Bucky continued to fight with a coordinated precision that came from years of working together. Steve's shield ricocheted off Sentinels and drones alike, causing confusion and disarray in the enemy ranks. Peggy's speed and agility allowed her to dart in and out of combat, taking out key targets with surgical precision. Bucky, with his cybernetic enhancements, fought with a brutal efficiency, his metal arm crushing drones with ease.
The three members of Alpha-1 also joined the fray, fighting much like Ironman himself, flying in the air using their boots and firing lasers from their palms or micro missiles from all over their suits.
They also weren't afraid of getting in close and personal and smashing up the robots with their enhanced strength from the suits, knocking or ripping drones apart, and from time to time, picking off a sentinel with the help of others.
Their special anti-robot weapons were very effective even if the smaller, more portable ones they used took a short while to charge up, though the captain suspected that the mutants would soon request some more weapons like that for themselves.