Dangerous Liaisons

His name is Nathan Dayspring Askani'Son. Or Nathan Christipher Charles Summers. To simplify things, he calls himself Cable.
After spending a lifetime with no blood to call his own, except for the blood he's spilled, Cable has just recently discovered a father he hardly knows.
Scott Summers, the field leader of the X-Men, also known as Cyclops. And having Cyclops for a father can tend to make for a complicated family tree.
"So, believe it or not, that would make you--" Cable begins.
"Your sister? Sort of." Rachel Summers, also known as Phoenix finishes his sentence for him.
"I'm getting a headache." Kitty Pryde, Rachel's teammate on Excalibur, Shadowcat, adds.
Shadowcat's joke falls flat, as she tries to lighten the moor at the Muir Island Research Center. It's been uncomfortable since Cable called two hours ago, saying he was coming to talk with Rachel, the daughter of Scott and Jean Grey from an, as yet, unrealized future.
"Think how we must feel, Ms. Pryde." Cable tells her. "So 'Little Sister' are you going to their wedding?"
"Of course! Aren't you?" Rachel asks.
"Summers asked me to come. He told me he wanted me to be a part of the whole event. But, I don't know. How am I supposed to develop a relationship with a father who's younger than me? As if my life weren't complicated enough. I don't need this. I don't need them." Cable says, sitting down and taking a sip from his coffee.
"Cable, be fair to Scott and Jean. I mean, as hard as it was for Rachel, she's coped pretty will with the whole idea of trying to develop a relationship with our timeline's version of her parents. Why can't you?" Kitty asks.
"A lot easier said than done, Kid." Cable replies.
"Why? At least you were born in this timeline. You existed. I came back through time to discover that I might never be born in this reality." Rachel says, going over and placing a hand on one of Cable's massive shoulders.
"Yes, I was born. And my mother was a clone of Jean Grey created by a psychotic villain so that I could be the ultimate in designer mutant pawns. Some legacy." Cable tells her.
"Don't feel sorry for yourself, Nathan. It doesn't become you. Some of us have had it a lot worse. Would you like to see the scars I bear for having been branded a mutant hunting Hound in the future?" Rachel asks, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze and shake.
"No. Let's not get into swapping childhood horror stories, Rachel, or we'll be here all day." Cable replies.
"You're right. I'd rather put yesterday where it belongs...behind me. And that's why, personally, I can't wait to go see Scott and Jean get married...because it means there are tomorrows for all of us." Rachel tells him.
"How can we be so alike and so dissimilar? How can we feel such an intimate...affinity for each other?" Cable asks, placing his hand over hers and wishing he could tell her more, get to know her more, before....
"But there's something wonderful about it all at the same time, isn't there? We finally get to start asking questions about why we belong with this family of people, instead of why we were always apart." Rachel tells him.
"Too many questions, Sis, with no time for answers." Cable replies, knowing that in just a few short days, after the wedding of their parents, Rachel will be transported through time to become the Mother Askani' and that he will never have another chance to get to know her. Never have another chance to thank her for all she will do for all of their tomorrows.

The intercom interrupts their conversation, as Moira MacTaggert calls Kitty and Rachel to the Communications Room. Cable joins accompanies them there.
Moira is talking with a female officer and behind her, on the screen, Cable and the others can see almost an entire city block of London ablaze.
"The energy signatures from the surrounding area are most definitely mutagenic in nature, Dr. Mactaggert. We finally have the fires under control, but the Weird Happenings Organization could still use some assistance from you folks at Muir Island in figuring out who, or what, created this inferno." The officer tells her.
"Phoenix and Shadowcat will be right there, Brigadier MacNeil. Their specific abilities should be quite useful in getting some answers." Moira replies and cuts off the transmission.
"Moira, you get yourselves involved in this sort of thing often? I thought Muir was primarily a research station." Cable says.
"It 'tis, Cable, but research comes in many forms. An' now that Excalibur has decided to base their operations here on Muir for the time being, my research can take a bit more direct approach in the field." Moira replies.
"Sounds good to me. I think I'll go along for the ride." Cable tells them.
"Not so fast, Nathan. I well remember how you love to run off an' play hero, but the fact o' the matter is, ye're not goin' wi' them." Moira says, as she motions for Rachel and Kitty to be on their way. "You cam here to better understand the link between you an' Rachel. I understand there is some sort o' telepathic bond between ye two. I'd like to know more aboot' that. And in order to do that, M' Lad, I need to slap you on a diagnostic table an' run some tests." Moira says, with a huge grin.
"But.." Cable begins.
"No 'buts' an' no more secrets. Are we agreed?" Moira asks firmly.
"Agreed. I've always listened to you whenever you wanted to strap me down to one thing or another, haven't I, Moira?" Cable says, returning the grin.
"Nathan, ye're insufferable as always." Moira replies, with only a slight blush.

Thirty minutes later, Moira has Nathan in her lab and and ready to begin her examination.
"Do I at least get a lollipop when all this is said and done?" Cable asks.
"Was that an attempt at humor, Nathan? Ye have changed. Either the kids, or this little Domino lass I've heard so much of, must have really mellowed ye out quite a bit. Hmmm. Now this is odd. Your mechanics are...different, in some way, from the first time I helped ye. They scan in a totally different way from the records I've stored in the computer. Back then I read them as standard bionics, but now there appear to be some sort o' organic components present." Moira tells him, as she double checks her equipment.
"There are. When I first arrived here, I was telepathically masking the synthetic-organic components of my body from people of this timeline. Sorry." Cable tells her.
"But this...stuff...in your body. Are ye sayin' it's alive?" Moira asks amazed.
"In a way. It's techno-organic. I'm sure you remember when Apocalypse infected me as a child. This is the result. If I hadn't shielded the knowledge from you, you might have figured out just who I really was before the time was right and risked upsetting the timeline." Cable explains.
"Techno-organic? That would explain things, but this has some striking similarities to the 'Legacy Virus' did ye know this?" Moira asks.
"Only that they both come from the fortieth century. But the entire Summers line is immune to the legacy virus. How could this, in any way be similar?" Cable asks.
"I'm nay' sure how, but there are similarities none the less. This new data indicates you can re-configure its molecular arrangements?" Moira asks.
"Yes. To various modes, including flesh-synthetic." Cable replies.
"Why then d' ye' choose t' carry yer' body aboot like a machine?" Moira asks.
"To get where you want to go, Doctor, it never hurts to remember where you've been. Uhm...not that I doubt your skills, Moira, but what's this thing, lowering down on me, doing?" Cable asks.
"Now, now, Nathan, is that nervousness I be hearin' in yer' voice? Tis' only a cybernetic dampener. In order to do a proper biological scan, I need t' psionically anesthetize yuir' techno-organic incursion. It appears that it automatically compensates for any incursions to your purely biological systems. Which would explain why none of the telepaths in the X-Men can ever seem to get an accurate fix on ye." Moira explains.
"Oh, really? And here I thought I was being clever. Moira, not that I don't enjoy your company immensely, but I'm not quite used to, or comfortable with, the idea of being splayed out before someone. So do you mind telling me exactly what it is you're looking for with these tests? I thought you were investigating my mindlink with Rachel. This doesn't look like any psi-scan I've ever seen." Cable tells her.
"Well, Nathan, to be perfectly honest, I figured since I had ye here, I'd use the opportunity to investigate this hypothesis o' mine aboot the legacy virus..." Moira is interrupted by the sudden blaring of an alarm. "Ach! Not now."
"What is it?" Cable asks.
"Interior klaxons. Someone's broken into the research center." Moira replies.
"Get me out of this thing!" Cable orders.
"I can't do it in the middle of the program, Nate. It could cause irreparable damage. An' we cannae have that, can we?" Moira asks, as she picks up Cable's plasma rifle and flips off the safety. "Security scans show whoever it is heading this way. I'll just break out one of yer charmin' weapons and..."
*THUD*
"Moira! What's happened?!" Cable yells.

"Fear not, she is not dead...yet. I am capable of emitting a viral contagion which can prove, over a prolonged period of time, to be quite lethal. It is both my gift and my curse." Omega Red tells him.
"I don't give a flying fig about your curse, Buddy, if Moira's hurt, I swear--" Cable begins.
"As I told you, she is unharmed for now. And who, pray tell, are you to make demands? You appear in no position to challenge anyone." Red tells him.
"Oh, but you're wrong there, Chum. 'Cause I'm the man who's going to kick your albino ass!" Cable yells, as he shoves the monitoring equipment off of him and gets up from the table. Much to his sorrow, however, Cable discovers that his left arm and leg are still useless to him from Moira's anesthetics. His left leg slides out from under him and he falls to the floor.
"Please, Little Man, show me at least a hint of respect and I will make your death a painless one. You are part machine, I presume? But look at how the female scientist has left you. Your parts useless and so then are you. What kind of a man are you, that you allow yourself to become subject to the dictates of women and machines?" Red asks.
"Sorry, Buddy. I'm not going to engage in a debate with you. Whatever you're here for you're not going to get it without a fight." Cable tells him.
For reply, Omega Red extends carbonadium tentacles from his wrists, which wrap around Cable, lifting him and slamming him into the wall, over and over until the wall, finally, gives way with a crash.
Red leaves Cable laying amid the rubble and turns towards a special panel and rips it open, removing a canister of some material labelled 'Subcutaneous Matrix Stabilizer' and turns to leave. He hears a small beep coming from a panel and turns to see a screen which reads,

PROGRAM SYSTEMS ANALYSIS COMPLETED: DAMPENING SEQUENCE DISENGAGED.

TECHNO-ORGANIC DAMPENER ACTIVATED

"Nathan?"
Cable hears her voice, in his mind. His sister, Rachel Summers, but it is not the beautiful young girl who left him just a short while ago that he sees. But The Mother Askani' ancient and wise, that Cable sees in his minds eye.
"All will be well, Little Brother. All will be as it was ordained to be. You must go back, Nathan. In order to save your people from what they have become, you must go back to where you are from. Just as I came here, so must you return there. Break the cycle of pain, Little Brother. Save your people in a way I could not. Save them for a better tomorrow...."
"Can you hear me, Nathan?" Rachel asks. And Cable blinks, and sees the young Rachel standing over him concerned.
"Rachel? But I just...I heard words....yours...but not from...now.." Cable tries to clear his thoughts before he says something he shouldn't.
"Take it easy, Big Guy. You were battered pretty hard." Rachel tells him.
"I felt something as I was coming to. Something from my childhood. Something...someone I loved very much, once told me." Cable tells her.
"That might be my fault, Nate. I tried to telepathically probe you to ease your pain, but I couldn't get through cleanly." Rachel says with an apologetic grin.
"Don't be so sure of that." Cable tells her.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asks.
"Rachel...what you said earlier, about feeling as if we were linked somehow...it's true. I want you to know I feel it, too. I dearly wish I could tell you more, Little Sister, but...for now just know this, we are linked and no matter what happens...to either one of us...we will be...always." Cable tells her, as he rises and pulls her close, hugging her for all he's worth for what he knows will be the last time.
"Nathan, I'm proud of you." Kitty tells him.
Cable turns to see her standing in the doorway, embarrassed that she had seen this.
"How's Moira? That man that attacked us never touched her, but she hit the floor pretty hard." He tells her.
"'Man' is a liberal term for Omega Red. Moira is recuperating from her limited exposure to his death spore virus. And for some reason, the contagion didn't even affect you, Cable." Kitty tells him.
"The way he threw me around, catching a virus is the least of my worries." Cable replies.
"But not ours. Apparently Omega Red is looking to find a way to stop his vampiric need for the life forces of other people. Without an internal synthesizer to process a rare compound called carbonadium, Red's death spore ravages his own life energy. It appears he's found this cure, but he needs various items from different facilities across the world to do so. We have to stop him before he can gather this material. Because curing himself would also involve the release of the lethal virus into the air around us. So it looks like we have to--"
"Do nothing." Cable cuts Kitty off. "You two have a wedding to go to in two days. A celebration of life that I'm not going to let a proponent of death interfere with. I'll handle Omega Red. If I have to, I'll call in some help."
"Uhm...actually, that may not be necessary. See, the people we got all this information from have just as much a vested interest in stopping him as we do." Kitty says, as she walks back over to the doorway and motions to someone outside to come in.
Cable cannot believe his own eyes when Amelia Vought, Unuscione, Milan and Katu, four of Magneto's Acolytes, enter. Amelia smiles at him and asks,
"How much of a believer are you, Cable, in the old adage...'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'...?"

"I've never been a follower of that particular one, Vought, but your still in luck, because I am a strong believer in 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.' I take it you and the other Acolytes are behind all this?" Cable asks.
"We told Omega Red of the cure, but we had intended to carry it out in space so that the virus wouldn't be released into the atmosphere. He fled and we tracked him first to London and then to here." Amelia replies.
"Let me guess, you told him of this cure hoping that in return he'd join your merry little band?" Cable asks.
"Yes." Amelia says softly. "Wonderful. Well, if you know the other materials that he's going to need for this cure, you'll be able to give me a good ideal of where to look for him. Moira's got plenty of scanning equipment here, so let's get busy." Cable tells them.

Cable and Kitty find Omega Red within a few hours. He has broken into the Russian Space Center, Tyuratam. Cable orders the Acolytes into the PAC-RAT and says goodbye to Kitty and Rachel. "I still think we should go with you, Nathan." Rachel tells him.
"I'm a big boy, Sis. I can handle it." Cable says, as he gives her a warm hug.
"I guess we just have a hard time thinking of you that way, since we found out you're the same Nathan Summers we all knew and loved as a babe." Kitty tells him. "Speaking of which, Cable, did you know that the single most beautiful, tranquil moment of my life was spent inside your mind?"
"Huh?" Cable replies.
"Kitty! You'll embarrass him." Rachel tells her with grin.
"Well, it's the truth. I think he should know. When you were just a tiny little newborn, Rachel linked us to your thoughts. It was beautiful. I could never find the words to express my feelings at that moment. You were really a beautiful baby. I still feel like we were robbed of so much." Kitty tells him.
"Tell me about it." Rachel says.
In reply Cable gives Kitty a quick hug and beats a hasty retreat. Wishing there were some way to let Rachel know that she missed nothing. That she sees him grow to manhood and helps him to learn life's hardest lessons as the Mother Askani' but instead he just sucks it up and leaves, like it seems he's been doing his entire life.

Within an hour, the PAC-RAT settles upon the runway of the Tyuratam Space Center. The reception committee is less than cordial.
"Look Alive, People! We've got company!" Cable yells from the pilot's seat, as he sees soldiers emerge from their barracks and surround their craft.
The soldiers open fire and Unuscione throws up a force field to protect them while Amelia Vought turns all their weapons into vapor. From a tower a guard fires a plasma cannon and scores a direct hit on Katu, who absorbs the energy and sends it back, in spades.
"Well done, Katu, you've tagged their commander." Unuscione says, as she advances towards the man and jerks him up. "Tell me, Flatscan, why were you so quick on the trigger when we arrived? I warn you, if you start mouthing your serial number, so help me I'll--"

PACHOOM

"I hate this." Cable thinks to himself, as they enter the main building. "I keep asking myself how I got dragged into working with these low-lifes, who oppose every basic principle I stand for. Who am I kidding? I know the answer...Omega Red. His actions make the atrocities committed by the Acolytes a walk in the park by comparison. Now I've got to keep an extra eye open in the back of my head and an extra plasma round in the chamber for anyone who decides to play Benedict Arnold with me."
Milan interrupts Cable's thoughts, "Seems our quarry got all the information he needed outta this guy. You can bet he's moved his game piece well ahead of ours by now."
"All right, then. Let's run through this again, because, like everything else in my life, it's confusing at best. What exactly is Omega Red trying to accomplish?" Cable asks.
"He requires a synthetic element called carbonadium inside his bionic systems to control the virus which feeds off his body. As an...incentive...to join our crusade, we offered him a means to cure himself without the carbonadium." Amelia tells him.
"And in order to do that, he needed to acquire certain materials." Cable adds.
"Correct. By utilizing the biocellular matrix, he retrieved during your encounter on Muir Island, with the research developed for Project Epsilon here, Omega Red must undergo a procedure that can only be safely administered in the vacuum of space. Which means at this moment, we fear, he seeking a way to invade our sanctuary, Avalon. And the only access he's aware of for 'uninvited guest' is our Lord's Arctic base." Amelia tells him.
"Well, I guess it's time to break out the parkas and the thermal underwear. Let's go." Cable orders.

An hour later, Cable is monitoring Magnus' former Arctic base from the PAC-RAT via a satellite link.
"Hmmm. According to these telemetry readings, the base is nearly impenetrable." Cable mutters to himself.
"Talking to yourself, Nathan Dayspring?" Katu, the huge, one-armed Inuit asks.
"Please, the name is Cable." Cable replies.
"Certainly, Cable. The others are sleeping, resting for the evening's assault. Since you refuse to join them, you might find that a second cup of coffee is more refreshing than the sound of your own voice. Have you been able to pierce the base's security network?" Katu asks.
"Maybe. The perimeter surveillance operates by transmitting a consistent tachyon beam from one buoy to the next. If we can just knock one of those babies out..." Cable tells him, pointing to the graphic hologram of the perimeter buoy's.
"Then you'd need something to continue relaying a false signal beam." Katu says.
"That's where you come in. Your mutant ability to act as a conduit for atmospheric wavelengths will make you a virtual standing transmitter." Cable tells him.
"And the cold is obviously something I am quite accustomed to. Isn't it?" Katu asks.
"Your words. Not mine. What's with you, Katu? Why have you hooked up with these blood-thirsty savages? It doesn't seem to be your style." Cable says, sipping from his coffee cup.
I wasn't always so vengeful, my friend. I was once a simple Inuit fisherman living on the Siberian Tundra. Then one day, thirty years ago, my whole life changed. I was teaching my son the family trade when we heard thunder in the sky. Thunder cloaked in man-made machines of war. Russian soldiers poured out of the helicopters, but before we could discern their purpose, a hail of bullets rang out, and I watched as they cut down my entire village, my son, my wife...But those who met their deaths at the end of a gun were the fortunate ones. For a monster called Omega Red had emerged,and the death that he dispensed was slow and painful. At that point I wanted nothing more than to join my family in peaceful oblivion, but fate had cast me in a different role. It seems that my mutant power was disrupting a nearby base's satellite transmissions. For punishment Omega Red tore my arm out of it's socket and cast it aside. The last thing he said to me before they took me away was, 'Look on the bright side, you won't have to worry about frostbite anymore!'" Katu tells him.
"Katu, even if I buy that, it still doesn't give you the right to slay innocent people." Cable replies.
"Maybe not, but it does give me the right for revenge!" Katu tells him.

Hours later, as night falls, Cable and the Acolytes trudge through the heavy snow.
"Vought, next tie why don't you enlist one of our flying comrades?" Unuscione asks.
"I'll keep it in mind, Unuscione." Vought replies.
"There she is, People, the perimeter buoy, and our invitation to wander inside. Katu?" Cable asks.
"I'm ready, Cable. Ready to act as your buffer." Katu says, as he approaches the buoy.
Suddenly the buoy explodes from an overload.
"What the--?!" Cable exclaims.
"Sorry about that. A nasty side-effect of my powers that the Russians engineered. You four go ahead. I must stay behind to maintain the link-up. Who knows what might happen to you if the security systems were to come back on-line as you entered the compound. Cable, promise me you'll take care of Omega Red." Katu says.
"Sorry, Big Guy, I can't promise anything until I get a better lay of the land." Cable tells him.
"It matters not. Lord Magneto's will moves in mysterious ways. The scales will be balanced." Katu replies.
"Let's go, Cable. We have a show to catch." Amelia says.
"Take care of yourself, Katu." Cable tells the huge Inuit.
"Good luck, my friend." Katu replies.

Minutes later, Amelia transforms them all to mist and into the former base of Magneto.
"Let's get out of these bulky snow-suits. We'll need complete mobility to prepare for Omega Red's arrival." Cable tells them.
"What he has already beaten us here?" Amelia asks.
"Impossible. The PAC-RAT flew us here directly from Tyuratam. Although he had a head start, there's no way Omega Red cold have had access to anything faster." Cable tells them.
"Unless he possesses some form of transportation device we're not aware of." Amelia says.
"Optimism isn't your strong suit, is it Vought?" Cable asks.
Cable and the others move deeper into the base.
"Uh-oh. Locked doorway at twelve o'clock. The question is how do we open this thing without setting off every alarm in creation?" Cable asks.
"Why don't you try asking?" Amelia says.
Cable give her a look he usually reserves for Boomer and then turns back towards the door.
"Uhm...door open?" Cable says.
Magically the door peels back, as if it is a living membrane of some sort.
"I think Magneto's been reading too many 'Tales of the Arabian Knights.' This is a little too easy. Let me guess...Lights on." Cable says, and the lights, indeed, come on.
"My God!" Cable exclaims.
There before them is Omega Red. Severely beaten and suspended from the ceiling by tentacles.
"Omega Red did beat us here! And it looks as though someone else beat him, literally. Someone..." Cable suddenly spins and levels his plasma rifle at the Acolytes. "You! It was a set-up! All of it!"
"My dear Cable. Whatever would give you that idea?" Amelia asks.
"Other than the fact that you're all abut as trustworthy as used car salesmen running for office, there is no way our boy could have reached this place before we did.." Cable begins.
"...Unless he had access to Avalon's teleport systems?" Amelia asks with an ever growing smile.
"But I rerouted the Body-Sliding program before Magneto attacked me." Cable says.
"And I rerouted it back again." Milan says.
"Unfortunately, there are a few things we simply haven't been able to bring back on-line aboard your former space station. That's where you come in, Cable." Amelia tells him with that same cat-that-swallowed-the-canary smile that Cable was beginning to hate.
"Oh, I doubt that." Cable says, thumbing off the safety of the plasma rifle.
"Doubt makes the mountain which faith can move, Tovarish." A voice says from behind Cable. A voice Cable knows.
Cable spins around in time to see the owner of that voice as he speaks again.
"And faith is something you will most assuredly need if you decide to oppose me and all my new comrades!" Colossus tells him.
"Colossus! And more Acolytes than than I care to shake a stick at. Oboy." Cable says softly.

Our Journey Continues With
Divide and Conquer

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