Rescue Operation

Cyclops, who had been speaking quietly with Storm, pushed Professor X's wheelchair toward the site inside the dam base where the Mutant battle had taken place.

The dead had long since been cleared away, while the wounded had been gathered near the infirmary. Those without beds dragged over mattresses and lay in the corridors waiting for rescue.

The arrival of the X-Men's reinforcements had greatly eased the pressure on the base's medical staff.

In truth, if Alkali Base had been fully operational and its Mutant researchers had been brought in, they could more or less have served as orderlies and performed basic first aid.

But this time, the base had been activated in great haste. Colonel William Stryker had brought more engineers than Mutant researchers. Thus, after the invasion, only the infirmary's bare minimum of medical personnel had been available to provide aid.

The infirmary had originally only dealt with minor ailments like colds, diarrhea, scrapes, and sprains. Who could have imagined it would become a field hospital at the site of a crushing defeat? The medical officers and nurses were run ragged.

The Brotherhood of Mutants followed behind Professor X. The U.S. military soldiers moving through the base did not spare them a glance, as though this group of wanted criminals did not exist.

When Professor X and the others reached the site of the Mutant battle, everyone was stunned by the mess.

There had been plenty of signs of fighting along the way. The most common were bullet marks in the concrete walls. But none of it compared to this open area.

This place looked as though it had been blasted by artillery. Huge crater-like pits spread everywhere in spiderweb patterns. There were also unidentified claw marks that had ripped through metal equipment, concrete walls, and the floor.