We see a sky as though reflected in a tunnel of mirrors, the contrast then "turns down" to blacks and dark, steely greens, before it's black completely. The sound of a beating heart, a gasp, trees contracting and cracking, the "lights" "turn up" red, then higher until all we see is white.
=========
We begin properly in the Ready Room where Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and Colossus are gathered around the digital pin board, which is presently depicting a compound.
Cyclops is sporting a new design of visor.
"Alright, just beyond the south perimetre is a clearing edged by trees," using a control panel on the rim of the board, he causes the "pin display" to rearrange itself into a smooth depiction of the now specified location in relation to the first, "affording us both space and cover to touch down. From there we'll circumvent the enclosure," -he adjusts the "pin display" to match the plan run-down as he speaks- "and make our entry from the west, into the manufacturing wing," he looks up, "where our objective, is to shut it down beyond restoration."
We next join them in the X-Jet, where they ascend into the darkening sky and turn in the necessary direction. Cyclops takes this moment to shift a small switch on his visor -near where the lens frame curves into the arm- while he looks out the windshield. From his POV, we see the unclear scene below come into acuity as his ruby quartz lens has been made to instantly shift its curvature*.
*Scott lost some of his natural visual acuity as a residual effect of things in Vol.1 (Part 11)! ~Tra
We hear Xavier in the minds of his X-Men: "Remember Scott, as this is your first mission post-recovery, when you arrive at the compound-"
Cyclops: '-taking up a remote coordination position," we hear him answer as we see them now at the location of their objective; Cyclops still in the jet, operating with his team on comm. device only as they head in.
He doesn't seem like this is his preference, but he's taking it in stride. "How's it looking from the inside?"
Jean: "Still no security, but as soon as we walked in, it's like..." while she's finding how to put what she perceives into words, Storm has her own perception: "There's a change in the atmosphere."
Colossus: "Even I feel something."
Cyclops: "Jean, can you do a telepathic scan of the area?"
Storm and Colossus take point while Jean closes her eyes momentarily to concentrate. "I don't feel any other minds here..."
Cyclops' expression shows to us how odd he finds this.
"...and I'm not pinpointing any source for what we're feeling." She opens her eyes. "It's as though something's emanating from the building itself."
"Keep yourselves alert and me apprised."
"Copy that, Scott."
Proceeding through the dimly lit compound, they arrive at the threshold to the manufacturing wing without having encountered any trouble, though the strange atmosphere hasn't abated....
Just inside, Colossus' weight causes a panel of flooring to compress and, like the pressure plate of a landmine, act as a trigger, though not for an explosive discharge; Colossus is restricted from taking another step. "Agh! There's a magnetic plate here - and I don't know if it's from the energy we've been feeling, but I can't armour down, either."
Cyclops: "Storm, heat him up to demagnetize the plate."
Storm summons her lightning, aiming it at her conductive yet immune teammate -- but suddenly, as though the room has come alive with Storm's electricity, two large orbs on coiled rods come out from opposite walls and ensnare her by that very power -- the lightning continuing to pour forth from her as though ceasing it is beyond Storm's abilities; forced into a loop of summoning and release.
At the same time, other floor panels lift by mechanism, soon forming a box around Colossus -- the material appearing non-conductive on the outside, as Storm's lightning doesn't attract that way, while magnetic on the inside as we see Colossus' arms now adhering to the walls; he can't break out from inside.
Jean's the only one not trapped by something and she relays the turn of events to Cyclops.
"Can you bring down Colossus' walls, or affect the rods telepathically?"
"I've trying-- Psi-dampeners must've been activated as well, my powers are weak!" She looks around, "there's nothing else I can work with." Her eyes then come rather unsettlingly to a massive object at the other end of the room, "and I think Storm's powers are being used to charge something."
As that charge builds, the massive object moves as though unfolding itself, and we see it for what it is: a gigantic sentinel.
Jean is noticing something else -- the sentinel doesn't appear connected to anything, the transfer of charge apparently remote. A display on its front measures its power level; there's an "Active" point, but the measure can go far beyond that. So long as it keeps receiving power its strength will build. This, too, is relayed to Cyclops.
The good news is the immobilized Storm is likely to be ignored by the sentinel since she's the source of its charge -- but what is this power abuse doing to her?
Cyclops' teeth clench at the dilemma of two bound teammates and one who can't act upon them yet can get away themselves -he makes a choice which still focuses on them all: "Jean, get out of there --from outside the room you can-"
"Any exit's also been sealed!"
Cyclops is already moving: "I'm coming."
Xavier, having been dialed into all of this via Cerebro, speaks into the mind of his leading X-Man: "Yes, it is time to put your physical condition to the test." The states of all his X-Men are weighing on him.
Jean (gravely): "The sentinel will be active before you get here."
We hear, with Xavier, Cyclops' personal thoughts: 'If I'd been with them in the first place...!' But instead of focusing on that he pauses suddenly with the memory of something, the layout of the compound. He'd just stepped off the ramp of the X-Jet, and now quickly doubles-back as he communicates determinedly: "Heading to the north side's power station -I'll shut it down at the source." Concern can be heard in his voice with his next communication, "manage however you can for as long as you can, Jean."
By Jean's expression, her focus will at least manage to surmount the pressure; her attention divided between keeping an eye on the sentinel and scanning the area for anything she might possibly be able to use.
Then down the X-Jet's ramp comes a motorcycle driven by Cyclops -- --as he nears the north side of the compound perimetre, he eyes a gate that's closing him off from the power station --but not for long--VIIZHOOM!
Blasted!
He parks, dismounts and uses another blast for the power station door. Once inside, though dark, he can just make out what seems a clear way to the power box -- until more sentinels come at him as though they'd been making up the corridor's very walls.
Meanwhile, Jean's face-off with the massive sentinel is a battle of measure: the machine following her every move yet careful not to launch an assault in any way that might interfere with the mechanism binding Storm, or destroy the walls around Colossus, despite Jean's attempts to direct attacks in this manner.
It doesn't, however, seem to mind discharges that rattle the walls, Jean thereby using this to advantage in a dangerous repeat of making herself the target and moving away just in time. The walls' material is near-discouragingly sturdy, yet it can be compromised.
If Jean can get away -and lure the sentinel- from the psi-dampeners, she'll stand a better chance. But which will give way first -- her stamina or the walls?
Cyclops' face-off with the army of smaller sentinels is a similar battle of attrition; he's holding his own, while being effectively held up from making any more progress towards the power box.
With Cerebro, Xavier can "see" the battle from both locations: "Time is of the essence, Scott!"
Cyclops can't muscle his way through the collection of foes, but he sees an opening another way --he manages to blast himself some breathing room, holds that breath, and--
--VIIZHOOOWM!!!!!
--a trick shot!
It bounces off multiple sentinels before colliding with the power box -- KRRUSSHHHZZZZZ
In front of an exerted Jean Grey the gigantic sentinel's movements arrest --while it has a massive absorption capacity for power it has no storage; with the grid short circuited, so too is the 'bot.
Everything goes dark.
Lights rise back on in the Danger Room.