Sitting in the conference room in the palace, Bishop looked around at his fellow X-Men as Lilandra updated them on what had happened in Deathbird's attack. Lilandra's retelling of what had happened hurt. He had been partly responsible for that attack, responsible for lives lost and people hurt. It wasn't a nice feeling, and with it came the knowledge that he would have to stop her, no matter how he cared for her. In a way, Bishop felt that Deathbird did had claim to the Empire, and wondered at the Empress's statement that she was insane. Her attack had shown her to be ruthless and desperate, but that didn't mean insanity. And yet, he pondered, Lilandra was certainly a better empress than her sister would ever be.
Sighing as Lilandra ended, he paid attention to Cyclops' battle plans, deciding to concentrate on the matter at hand, and sort his feelings out afterward.
Scott brought an image of Deathbird's fleet up on the screen and looked at it for a few seconds, before updating it to reveal her fleet at present, now that the Kythrida was out of commision.
"It doesn't seem that Deathbird will be too much of a threat," Scott began, "But we all know her far too well to assume that. She has a total of twelve ships, that we know of. Bishop, you were with Deathbird before this attack-"
"I do not know if she has any more ships, but she certainly has many allies that might offer her their services, in the right situation. I do not, however, feel this is it. They wish for power, and at the moment, that is something the Empire is lacking in. From what I could gather, Deathbird's allies wished for her to wait until Lilandra had get the Empire into a semblance of it's old self before attempting to take it again, rather than them having to do any work."
Cyclops nodded at Bishop's summation. "Even if she only has this fleet of ships, we need to take her down, alive. Do we know where they are?" Glancing over at Lilandra, she nodded, and brought up a star map of the section of galaxy nearest to them, and, after zooming in on a section, pointed at several blue dots near a star. Cyclops nodded. "If we can get the crew down to the planet, thinking their ship is in danger, we can take them out there, destroying the ship so they can't reurn to it."
Remy coughed politely, and leaned across the table. "Excuse de interruption, Cyke, but I t'ink dat de crew will stay on de ship. Dey have a sort o' kamikaze mindslot. De only one who'll 'port downside'd be de Lady herself. Right, Bish?"
Looking over at Remy, startled both at the acurate summation of the situation, and Remy including him in the situation. "Yes, I would say that is true. Deathbird's crew see themselves as dispensible, whereas she is not. They would merely try to use their ships to inflict as much damage on the Empire's fleet as possible."
Frowing, Cyclops steepled his fingers, deep in thought. He looked from the star map to the information on a screen before him that told him about the ships the Empire had.
"We also wish to get all the ships back in one piece, if possible," Lilandra noted, her Majestrix facade not letting any emotion show. "Even if we defeat Deathbird this time, she is not our only enemy, and we need ways to defend ourselves."
Cyclops sat, drumming his fingers on the table, and looked up at the Professor, who had, up until now, been silent. Bishop assumed he must be uncomfortable in Lilandra's presence, since she must know by now about Onslaught. "Have you any idea's about how to go about this, sir? You know both our abilites and Shi'ar warfare better than any of us."
At that, the Professor gave an ironic smile. "Do you really think so, Scott?" Cyclops frowned at that, obviously not understanding who the Professor was refering to. Bishop did. "I have not been in contact, even, with the Empire for almost four years now, Scott. Whereas Gambit has been an the centre of this crisis." Bishop watched Remy's face closely. His first reaction was one of surprise, but he hid it quickly, so that one who was not watching so closely as Bishop would not even have noticed. He smiled wryly. It could have been him the Professor asked, but he was glad he had not. It had been hard enough for him to give out the information he had, let alone plot the woman he loved's downfall.
"Well, Gambit? Have you got a plan?"
Remy sat back and folded his arms, looking at each of the X-Men in turn, no doubt surveying them, their powers and characters. He then nodded slowly. "Oui. I t'ink so." The indignant look Cyclops gave Remy didn't pass Bishop by. If anything, it amused him. "Split int' teams, and go 'board each ship wit' some back-up from de Shi'ar forces. Dat'll get Deathbird onto de planet surface, and have an extra team waiting f' her dere, t' bring her in."
Bishop heard a laugh from Iceman, and looked up to see a highly amused Bobby Drake. "I think the Cajun's got you there, Scott. I guess you can still decide who goes on what team, huh?"
Ignoring Bobby's comment, he did so. "It seems that eight of these ships are small ones with paltry security, and a small crew. The Shi'ar can take care of those by themselves. We will take the bigger ships. They'll have a crew of about twenty, it seems." He glanced up at his team, and doled out pairings. "I'll go with Hank. Jubilee, you're with Psylocke. That leaves Shadowcat with Remy. Carol can lead the remaining crew, if she feels up to that," he got a nod from the blonde, then he turned to face Bishop. "That leaves you and Bobby to get Deathbird. I need you to stay focused, and hopefully she won't fight if she cares for you." Bishop's gut twisted, but he kept his face emotionless and nodded. "Remember we want them alive, and as unharmed as possible. This is just a matter of misplaced loyalty." Bishop noticed Gambit wince, and agreed with him that it had been a dig at him and his association with Sinister. Undoubtedly Cyclops had a grudge against Remy for that, since Sinister had helped to create some of the worst parts of his life. Though, Bishop mused, the Marauders had very little to do with that.
Pushing the thoughts out of his head, Bishop stood, action hopefully woul stop him thinking. As he did so, most of the other X-Men did. They filed out of the room, tho, he noticed, Charles had the courage to stay and talk to Lilandra. He wondered what they would say, and then reminded himself it was truly none of his business.
Catching up to Remy as they walked towards the ship that would transport them to the battle with Deathbird and her troops, he inquired how the trip to Earth had turned out. He was treated to a dazzling smile from Remy.
"Better'n I could ever have hoped for. Better'n I deserve. I..." His voice trailed off, and he looked at Bishop, awestruck. "I got a daughter, Bish."
There was a whirlwind of emotion starting inside Bishop, surprise, happiness, and something he couldn't pinpoint. "How?" Was all he could manage thru this maelstrom of feelings.
"When we were in Antarctica, our powers were supressed," A look of amusement crossed Remy's face, and Bishop wondered why. "Me and Rogue got... intimate. I had no idea, an' she t'ought I was dead. But. Oh, Bish, y' should see her!" Remy's strange eyes softened. "She's so beautiful. So amazin'. So much dat I t'ought I could never have."
"How does Rogue feel?"
Remy's eyes smiled. "I t'ink she might still be able t' love me, mon ami. I might be able t' have de family I always dreamed o'."
With the word 'family', Bishop realised what the main feeling that had confused him just. "She's my step-sister," he mused, and Gambit looked at him, startled.
"Oh, oui. De Witness 'dopted y', didn' 'e?" Remy smiled, and it was full of true joy. He placed a hand on his friend's back. "I guess she is. Welcome t' de family, mon ami."