<strong>Character Name:</strong>Unknown and Friday<br/><strong>Alias:</strong>Unknown<br/><strong>Time/Date:</strong>0034 to 0115 EDT 6 Apr 2102<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Ruins of North Port Power Station, Long Island<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>None<br/><strong>Mentioned:</strong>Friday<br/><strong>NSFW Warning:</strong>None<br/><hr/><br/>(http://static.srcdn.com/slir/w609-h370-q90-c609:370/wp-content/uploads/X-Men-Days-of-Future-Past-City-Destruction-700x425.jpg) (http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18j0gusctzfhdjpg/ku-large.jpg) (http://images.fandango.com/MDCsite/images/featured/201410/TMNT%20Shredder%20Concept%20(400%20x%20545).jpg)<br/><br/>The ruins of New York City, a moment in so many ways, a reminder of the greatness that once was the United States, some point to it as a reminder of what humanity was capable of in the past and could be again, others use it as an example of humanity's folly, how it nearly destroyed itself with its own hubris and arrogance, and how it could not be repeated again.  The ruins now served as a no man's land, a place of last refuge for people that had less than nothing, who did not fit into the future of the North American Union.  The government wanted nothing to do with ruins.  The ruins were the past, dead and buried.  New motives, new power plays and political objectives were the path forward.  Now more than ever people with money, power, and influence, mega corporations that only cared about their initiatives, profits, the bottom line dominated.  Those that could not get in line had no where else to go but the ruins, and society swept them out of the way.<br/><br/>It was short-sighted and naive.  New York was far from dead.  It was a husk, a corpse, but a corpse that still held secrets, that still had treasure buried and hidden away under the rubble.  Humanity saviors at the time, the legends as they are now called, the Fantastic Four, the Sorcerer Supreme, the old SHIELD, the Avengers, they did not trust that their greatest secrets, their technology, the relics that humanity, and perhaps more importantly at the time, the Sentinels, could not be trusted with.  Those secrets, those forbidden relics and treasures were still there and buried, warded away to keep humanity safe.  It was to humanity's detriment that there were people that knew about those secrets now, that the ruins of New York were a treasure trove waiting to be raided, and they were determined to take it.<br/><br/>That was what happened to one of the settlements in the ruins.  They were near an old power station, using it to power the homesteads they had built around it.  It was after midnight, the generators mostly quiet and turned off to conserve resources.  Near everyone was asleep after yet another hard day of scavenging and working, just like any other night of their lives, or so they thought.  The explosions happened first, right in the middle of the settlement, taking out two ramshackle home steads.  A total of six families had lived in those rickety things that went up in flames, charred ash, and melted and scorched metal in less than three heart beats.  That drew out everyone else from the small settlement.  Men, women, children rushing outside, trying to make sense and order of pure chaos.  That was when the area lights came on, blinding everyone.<br/><br/>That was when the shooting started.<br/><br/>It lasted only a few short seconds.  All in all it was over in less than fourteen minutes, fourteen minutes to kill and eliminate twenty-seven people.  All was going according to his plan.  Less than two minutes the air ship touched down, and ramps slammed hard into cracked concrete and asphalt.  Boots then crunched down on ground, carrying portable equipment.  Behind it was the shadow of the man behind it, moving slowly and surveying about.  It did not take him long for the portable HUD inside his helmet to tell him what he needed to know.  He pointed with an arm that ended in wicked claw, blades that look like they could cut through muscle and bone like so much meat.<strong><em>"There, the connections are there.  Hurry."</em></strong><br/><br/>The men did as commanded, a few taking up guard, the other working.  They connected technology where directed, and in under a half hour, they were finished.  It started slowly, feebly, but across what used to be Manhattan, lighting that somehow survived the war started to flicker to life, infrastructure in place that was not destroyed by the Sentinels so they could use it for their own means back in the past.  It now served a different purpose now, as the circuits and power cables long dormant under what used to be Stark Tower came to life.  Deep down in the substructure of the building, servers and computer still miraculously intact after all of this time thrummed with power and life.<br/><br/><strong><em>"Operating system on line.<br/>Main power restored.   <br/>Attempting connection, accessing....<br/>Connection established, accessing...<br/>Time date established.  Current date, the sixth of April.  The year, two thousand, one hundred and six.  Last known operation, the seventeenth of November, the year two thousand and fifty-seven.<br/>Downloading historical data...<br/>Downloading...<br/>Downloading...<br/>Founding Avengers members, deceased.<br/>Reserve Avengers members, deceased.<br/>Triggers for fail safe protocol activated, activating Avengers Next initiative.<br/>Searching...<br/>Avengers must live on.  Avengers...Assemble."</em></strong><br/><br/>With that, signal went out from what used to be Stark Tower, a signal that went out to search for parameters and indicators.  From what used to be North Port power station, the man smiled underneath his helmet.  The boss was correct, and despite having worked with him for the last three years, that the Boss could predict events with such clarity amazed him.   The man turned and started to head back to the airship.<strong><em>"Contact.  Bravo and Delta teams, establish base camp.  Alpha and Echo are with me.  Time to raid the piggy bank..."</em></strong><br/><br/>In the distance, in the ruins of Manhattan, upon what used to be Stark Tower, a shimmer, a flicker every now and then through the shattered "A" on the side of the building.  A beacon of hope, or the herald of destruction?