Home Is The Warrior
Camp Verde had been a small isolated Reservation in Arizona, until all it's people were killed in an unsolved, unprecipitated slaughter. As sole suviving member of his tribe, James Proudstar now controls the land. He has turned his former home into the hideout and headquarters for the militant mutant outlaws known as X-Force. But as this band returns from a tense mission in which two former friends, the mutant pyromorph Rusty Collins and the mutant girl known as Skids Blevins, were freed from a radical anti-mutant organization, called The Friends of Humanity, the X-Force members emerging from the PAC-RAT's (Personnel Assault Carrier-Rapid All Terrain) cargo bay doors have to wonder, why is it that whenever they return here it never feels as if they're coming home? What is missing from this ram-shackle compound they've tried so hard to turn into a proper base of operations?
"Ah, just smell that dusty air." Boomer says.
*SNIFF* *SNIFF* "More'n dust, Boomer-Babe." Feral notes, as she catches a scent in the air.
"What is it, Feral?" Warpath asks.
"People've been here. Someone's still here, too." Feral replies.
"You sure?" Rictor asks.
"O'course she's sure, Ric. Here we go again. Let's fan out an' scope out the complex." Sam tells them.
"What about Rusty and Skids, Sam?" Sunspot asks.
"We'll leave 'em in the PAC-RAT, for now, Bobby. They're still brain-fried, so they can't help much. They'd take us out soon as take out an intruder. Split into four-two's. Boomer's with me. We got the Tara section. Bobby an' Ric, Take the LYD. Terry an' Jimmy, hit the garage. 'Star an' Feral, you got the Weapons Depot. We all meet in the Comm-Room. Stay in close contact an' no stupid solo fightin'. 'Star, Feral, you two understand that?" Sam asks.
"We hear you, Cannonball. We hear you." Feral replies.
Soon, in the groups living quarters, which Tabitha has dubbed "Tara"
"Sam? Everythin' okay?" Tabitha calls out, as she stands watch in the hall.
"Livin' quarters look clear, right now, Boomer. But someone was here." Sam answers.
"How can you tell?" Tabitha asks.
"I been sketchin' out ideas for linkin' all the bunker compounds together an' someone's finished off all my designs for the camp an' they did a much better job than I would've. What I want to know is who did this an' why?" Sam asks.
Fifty meters away, in the access tunnel leading to the vehicle storage and maintenance bunker. Siryn and Warpath swiftly make their way to the bunker, until Siryn is suddenly blasted out of the air by a low-level plasma blast. Before Warpath can even turn around he's taken out by a concussion grenade.
Inside the Medi-Lab, two hundred meters northeast of the vehicle storage area.
"You hear anything anymore, Bobby?" Rictor asks.
"No. I thought it was Siryn's sonic scream, but it was cut off rather abruptly. As if she were hit with a sonic dampener." Bobby replies.
"Well, let's head over there an' find out. 'Cause it's pretty obvious there's no one here." Rictor tells him.
Suddenly a gas grenade explodes between the two of them and as they fall to the floor, a huge figure emerges from the shadows.
"The two of you never cease to amaze me with your carelessness. Sleep well, Boys. Pleasant Dreams." The shadowed figure says, as he exits the Medi-Lab.
The Weapons Depot, fifty-five meters southwest of the Medi-Lab.
"Have you picked up a scent?" Shatterstar asks.
"Sumthin' But, I don't know what." Feral answers.
"Has anyone told you how heavy your accent gets when you are excited?" 'Star asks.
"No, Buns, but if jou hum a few bars." Feral replies.
"Shall we go find someone to use these on?" 'Star asks, as he offers Feral a plasma rifle.
"Why not? Whoever was here, ain't here now." Feral tells him.
"Wrong!" A voice from the shadows shouts, as a wide-angle heavy stun plasma blast knocks both of them to the floor.
Again, a huge figure steps forth from the shadows to stand over the two fallen youths.
"Don't worry." The shadowed figure says to 'Star, as he attempts to get to his feet. "It was just a very heavy stun blast. After all, since you were my recruits, you don't really think I'd be idiotic enough to engage the two of you in combat, do you? Now to find Sam and..."
The thought is never finished, as the huge figure is suddenly slammed across the room and into the weapon's rack.
"Well, take three big guesses, whoever you are, as to what just happened. Sam found you!" Sam tells the intruder. "Now, why don't you come outta the shadow, Mister. So we can see who..." Sam's heart skips a beat, as the man steps forward and into the light. "Oh My Lord! YOU?!!"
"Who did you expect?" Cable asks, "I have to seriously question your strategy, Sam. You did exactly what I wanted. I mean, blasting me, of all people, into a weapon's rack? That's like putting the wolf in charge of the hen-house."
"CABLE!!" Tabitha screams with tears of joy pouring from her eyes. She leaps upon Nathan and locks her arms around his neck hugging him with more warmth and love than Nathan has ever seen the girl express. "It can't be? But, You're ALIVE!!"
"Uhm...I...uhm...obviously, Tabitha...uhm...I'm glad to see you, too." Nathan, finally, manages to say. Touched by Tabitha's warm welcome.
"Cable, Ol' Pal." Sam says, from behind him.
"Eh?" Nathan turns around to find Sam's charged up fist two inches from his head.
"How's this for strategy? The beautiful blonde distracts you, while a kinetic-field punch knocks you into tomorrow!" Sam tells him.
"That's real impressive, Sam. You've got the angry young man pose down pat." Nathan tells him.
"Pose?" Sam replies.
"I like the 'Beautiful Blonde' part, myself." Tabitha says, as she, finally, releases Nathan as Shatterstar and Feral enter the room.
"Hey, Boss. Nice t'see you back." Feral says. *SNIFF* *SNIFF* "Your scent's different."
"I am different, Maria. Each battle should change a man." Nathan tells her.
Shatterstar draws both of his double-bladed swords and crosses them over his heart, as he strides forward and kneels on one knee before Nathan, lowers his head and says,
"It is an Honor, Sir, to see a respected warrior and beloved commander return from a battlefield where he was thought cancelled."
Before Nathan can reply to 'Stars welcome, Rictor interrupts the touching scene.
"Speak for yourself, 'Star! Not all of us are thrilled to see this murderer alive again!" Rictor says.
"Rictor, I never expected to see you, or DaCosta, with X-Force again, but truth to tell, I'm glad you've both come back." Nathan tells them.
"You're glad?" Both Rictor and Sunspot ask in unison.
"I don't have a fight with either of you. And neither of you has one with me." Nathan tells them.
"What about my father, Cable? I saw you kill him." Rictor says.
"Wasn't me, Kid. Stryfe murdered you father, Ric. He's my twin, with his helmet off. So it looked like it was me. Why, I don't know, but Stryfe never needed a reason to kill, did he? As for your father, Roberto. He was killed by the External, Gideon." Nathan tells him.
"What?!!" Roberto asks in shock.
"When did you find all this out?" Sam asks.
"Just recently. During the time I spent missing in the time stream. Between life and death, here and there. I learned a lot of things." Nathan tells him.
"Like what?" Sam asks.
"Like knowing how much I need X-Force, now. And not just to accomplish my goals, but because, much to my surprise, all of you make a difference in my life. It's obvious you kids believed in my more forceful interpretation of Xavier's Dream to one extent or another. You just have to look at how you've chosen to live to know that." Nathan tells them.
"'Zactly the point. Our choice. You say you need us, Cable, but maybe we don't need you!" Sam tells him.
"Sam! What's gotten into you? You're acting bizarre!" Tabitha says, as she goes over to stand with Nathan, 'Star and Feral.
"'Acting' is a good choice of words." Nathan says, as he walks over to Sam and places his hands on Sam's shoulders and looks him in the eye. "Sam, you've been weighed down by the burden of leadership since I left. Forced to make the kinds of decisions no one you age should have to make. You've wrestled with the responsibility of lives balancing on your every word. Tell me the truth, Sam. Tell yourself the truth. Tell me that it isn't too much for any one man or woman to bear. Tell me you haven't felt yourself alone and apart from everyone around you. It's the isolation of leadership, and it isn't pleasant, I know. So, tell me that you haven't purposely distanced yourself emotionally for fear of being hurt or hurting others." Cable says to him.
"I...have." Sam answers and steps forward and hugs Nathan, as the tears he's been fighting back now come forth.
"I'm sorry, Sam...for everything I did to you...and especially for everything I didn't do for you. I tried so hard to be a military leader that I forgot where I came from. I forgot that soldiers fighting together are more than programmable machines. They're Brothers-In-Arms. They're a Family and I want to try to do right by you, Son...by All of you." Nathan says.
"Hey, you gave me a reason to go on living after my family was killed, Cable. As far as I'm concerned, you've done all right, so far." James says, as he and Theresa enter the room.
"Aye. Ye've been missed sorely, Nathan." Theresa adds, as she waits her turn to hug Nathan.
"Well, things are sure gonna be different around here with you back." Sam says.
"The road remains the same, Sam, and we all ride it together." Nathan tells him.
Shortly, after the team has retrieved Rusty and Skids from the PAC-RAT and put them in the Medi-Lab for Nathan to examine.
"Well, Stryfe didn't lobotomize them, but he just as well might have. Their brains have had specific neural tissue implants which force them to behave the way they do. Once, several years ago for me, two thousand years in the future for you, Stryfe did the same thing to my son, Tyler." Nathan explains.
"Your son, Tyler? But you said he wasn't..." Sam asks.
"I lied about Tyler to keep myself emotionally distant from you, Sam." Nathan tells him.
"Guess, it worked." Sam replies.
"I'll try to find a new way." Nathan tells him.
"Well, until you do, what can we do for Rusty and Skids? Do they stay this way forever or can they be returned to normal?" Tabitha asks.
"Not with the equipment we have here, Tabitha. Maybe if I could find a way to contact the Professor and get us up to Greymalkin." Nathan tells her.
"We can take the PAC-RAT orbital, can't we?" Theresa asks.
"Sure, but not before we're sure we know what we're doin'" Sam says.
"Still don't trust me completely, do you, Sam?" Nathan asks.
"Give me a good reason to, Sir. The truth. All of it. Please." Sam replies.
"You want some concrete answers from the horse's mouth, right, Sam? Fine. You deserve it. Here goes...My original name is Nathan Dayspring. I was delivered to the future by a woman named Askani' and raised to be the savior for the rebellion against the Canaanite rule of the External High-Lord, whom you know in this timeline as Apocalypse. We lost the war in my future, Sam. So I returned to this timeline, which happens to be a focal point for all history which may happen, to ensure that madmen like Apocalypse would never have the opportunity again to create the kind of hell that my world has become. And you, Sam, were part of my plan. The hope that I was going to develop a High-Lord taught and raised by the views of both Xavier and Magneto. The one person who, someday in the future, can become mankind and mutantkind's savior. Then a monkey wrench got thrown into the works. Stryfe, The Chaos Bringer, a worldwide fomentor of anarchy from my time had come back here as well. He's an exact duplicate of me. I have my suspicions as to why that is, but until I know for sure, I think I'll keep that to myself. I never had the chance to verify what I believe after we were both sucked into the timestream. I escaped, Stryfe didn't. Which brings us to the here and now. How's that for straight talk?" Nathan asks.
"Pretty good." Sam replies quietly.
"Well, you did ask. And there are still some answers I can't give you, Sam. Both because I can't reveal potential futures to you and also because I have become a traveler so mired in the timestream that I'm not sure which future belongs to this particular timeline anymore." Nathan says.
"Droga! How are you ever able to make any decisions then?" Roberto asks.
"Do it day by day, DaCosta. Anyway, I've learned that the future is what you make it." Nathan replies.
"An' what can ye make of this one then, Cable?" Theresa asks, pointing to the moniter screen.
PARAHUMAN PERIMETER BREECH BEING REGISTERED
"Tell you what, Theresa, just to prove my point of a second ago, I can only go so far as to predict that in our immediate future, someone is going to spit teeth on the desert sand!!" Cable tells her, as he grabs a plasma rifle and leads the way to confront their intruder.
Shatterstar, Warpath, Rictor and Feral, who were already outside when the intruder arrived are all blasted to the ground just as Cable, Cannonball, Boomer and Siryn exit the bunker. Siryn immediately lets loose a sonic blast upon their attacker.
"Fekt! How could Guthrie betray us like this?" 'Star asks.
Minutes later, Cable and the others have lifted off in the PAC-RAT and are leaving Earth's atmosphere.
Cable docks with Greymalkin and opens the hatch. Upon entering he heads straight for a computer console and begins entering data.
A split-second later, Cable's unit appears in the main lounge, where Sam and his unit are.
Seconds later, Cable has teleported to Greymalkin's Central Core. Ironic, he thinks, that he's walking into a suicide mission in order to save a living computer program. Especially since, years ago, this same computer program risked it's 'Life' to save him, but the irony only serves to drive him harder to save the one thing Cable has had his entire life which even remotely fell under the definition of 'Father' Cable telepathically establishes a link with the central core and grits his teeth at the pain caused by the sudden influx of totally alien sensations from the alien programming that has been added.
"OH, MY LORD!!" Theresa screams, as Nathan appears aboard the PAC-RAT. "Is he--Is he--Is he--Alive?"
High above the Earth, Magnus watches through his monitors as the team arrives back at their Camp Verde bunker.
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"Keep poundin' 'em, Siryn! Bobby, Boomer--Follow up! Keep 'em off balance so me an' Cable can come in tight!" Sam, out of habit, issues orders.
"Cable?" Siryn asks, subtly reminding Sam of who's in charge, at least in her eyes.
"It's a good maneuver. Do it." Cable tells her.
"One for Sammy." Sunspot says.
"Ya' got a funny way a' showin' it." Sam says.
"I come for the primary children of the atom, only. Samual Guthrie, Roberto DaCosta, I grant you an escape from the asylum called Earth. The Harbinger of the Magnetic Storm wishes to carry you both away from here and lift you to a better place. As the sole remaining active participants from Xavier's second generation I grant only the two of you this boon." Exodus tells them.
"What about Xi'an Coy Mann? What about Rahne Sinclaire?" Sam asks.
"The former has spurned heaven, the latter has not been officially approached. It was hoped your participation would lead to others joining our cause." Exodus replies.
"Whose cause?" Sam asks.
"All will be revealed when the gates of heaven open to greet you." Exodus tells him.
"Well, no gates're gonna open unless the other New Mutants come with us. An' that means Boomer an' Rictor." Sam says.
"Yo, Mason-Dixon, ixnay on the including meay, okay?" Tabitha tells him.
"He has not requested their audience." Exodus says.
"But I have." Sam replies.
"...Very will. I acquiesce." Exodus says.
"In which case, include Rusty an' Skids on that list, too." Sam tells him.
"The two in your medical laboratory? They are tainted in mind, if not in body." Exodus says.
"Heaven has to accept all of God's children who haven't sinned o' their own choice. The Good Lord doesn't throw fish back." Sam replies.
"This is a stupid move, Sam. Strategically, it's..." Cable begins to say.
"You were right before, about me bein' tired. Maybe it's high time we went to a better place than this. Did better things than this." Sam says, as he walks forward and places his hand firmly upon Cable's shoulder. Cable smiles knowingly and nods his agreement.
"But not all of us're bein' asked, Sam, or had ye conveniently missed that fact?" Theresa asks.
"Someone has to lead the way, Terry. If it works for us, maybe the rest of y'all can follow." Sam replies.
"So it shall be. Heaven awaits those who pray." Exodus says. And with a gesture, from him, they are lifted up and gone from sight.
"Sam and Cable knew what they were doing all along, didn't you, Cable?" Warpath asks.
"Yeah. When he grabbed my shoulder, Sam planted his comm-link tracer. Just like I trained him to do. It's a dangerous ploy, but how better to find out who is behind all this." Cable tells them.
"I see! And why go alone, when you can trick your opponent into allowing a larger strike force to come also? I would not have given Guthrie credit for the Foojkies" 'Star says.
"Hah! Neither would I." Cable says.
"Then neither one of you sees what Sam is quickly becoming." Theresa tells them.
"And what is that?" Cable asks.
"The best that all his teachers had to offer." Theresa replies.
"That could very well be true, Theresa. I just hope this teacher taught him that when playing a game of hide and seek that it's a lot more fun if you hade where you can be found." Cable tells her.
"Back in space again!" Feral hisses
"Silence your hissing, Cat." 'Star tells her.
"I don't like this. I really don't like this. In fact, I don't like this one bit." Cable says, as he monitors their heading and course.
"We're still locked onto Sam's signal, Cable." Theresa tells him.
"Super-impose the tracking coordinates over the grid display I'm feeding you console now." Cable orders.
A display of the Earth is brought up on the screen with the location of Sam's signal highlighted as being in Earth orbit.
"Look at that! I knew I really didn't like this one bit." Cable says.
"You don't mean to tell me that Sam and the others are aboard...?" Warpath begins to ask.
"Don't panic yet, James. Our probes aren't getting through cleanly. It's as if I were speaking English to a Japanese operator. I'm going to send a high-energy pulse override signal to de-activate the cloaking screens." Cable tells them.
"You know, suddenly I don't like this any more, either." Warpath says, as revealed before them there in space is the huge space station that Cable once called home.
"I knew it! Greymalkin!! Someone has taken it from me!" Cable says, as he slams his fist down on the console in front of him.
"Ye have t' stay steady, Cable. Whoever did this is going t' be very difficult t' deal with." Theresa tells him.
"You don't understand, Theresa. Greymalkin is all that I have. All that reminds me of where I've been. The life I lost and where I need to go." Cable tells her.
"Ye have us, Nathan. We have each other. Ye must forget about what ye've lost. Yer past is our future. What ye had, what ye no longer have. It's not as important as makin' the possibilities happen. Yer the one who planted these seeds in our time. Now it's time t' see it grow and be harvested. Well now, d' we sit an' stew or d' we move forward?" Theresa asks.
Nathan is touched by the beautiful young woman's words. And ashamed to admit that he still spends too much time looking back when he should be looking ahead.
"We move forward. We find Sam and the others. Then we roll right over the people who did this. Because heaven also awaits those who prey." Cable tells her.
"What's the plan, Cable?" Warpath asks.
"I'm going to override the Body-Sliding technology, find Sam's unit and teleport them here. Then I'm going to program this entire station to obliterate itself." Cable tells them.
ZZZAASSHHAAAKKKK
Cable is blasted back away from the console.
"What a hypocritical rational, Nathan Dayspring. If you cannot attain the joys of heaven, then no one else should?" Exodus asks.
"Yeah, it's a real joy to be sitting on a weapon that can destroy the entire planet below. Real interesting definition of heaven, Exodus." Warpath tells him.
"How dare you defile the holy sanctity of Avalon with your poisoned words." Exodus says.
FACHOW
Cable's plasma blast catches Exodus square in the face and knocks him from the air and to the floor below, screaming in pain as he falls.
"Don't talk to me about sanctity, Exodus. I've spent my life fighting fanatics like you. I've seen too many good people die because of zealotry and bigotry and I've had enough!" Cable turns to X-Force and orders, "Engage him, while I retrieve the others. He's walking trouble so don't hold back."
X-Force attacks like a well-oiled machine. 'Star and Feral soften him up, Warpath delivers the knock-out blow and Siryn finishes the show by bringing the roof down on top of him.
"I've found Sam and programmed an override link to the station's teleport systems. X-Force: We're moving out!" Cable tells them, just before they disappear.
"Sam, c'mon. Pack it up. You're out of here, now!" Cable orders.
"But what about you?" Sam asks.
I'm going to try and retrieve the Professor's sentient programming from the systems and then I'm going to blow this place to pieces!" Cable tells him.
"No." Sam says.
"No? What do you mean, 'no'?! Greymalkin is lost to me. It's become completely co-opted by the alien systems introduced into it's central data-net. And you know who's responsible, Sam! Do you honestly want Him hovering over the planet like some mad god?!" Cable asks.
"Magnus says this place is going ta become a safe home for mutants. If that's what they want. He saved Rusty an' Skids an' they've decided to stay here. They have every right ta make their own choice. Just like the rest o' us do. We can continue ta fight back home on earth for what we believe in. That doesn't mean everyone has to. The right ta make our own choices, the right of self-determination is the argument we used against Xavier ta gain our own freedom. Who are we ta tell others they don't have the same rights?" Sam asks.
"Sam..." Cable sighs and turns to Rusty and Skids, "To think, it was the two of you that got me into this moral quagmire to begin with. I never wanted to become a father again. Now look at the choices my students, my children are forcing me to make." Cable turns towards a computer screen and says, "Computer: Override Access: Body-Slide By Eight: PAC-RAT Bound: Disengage Mooring Locks: Set Auto Pilot: Return To Origination Coordinates."
"NO!! Cable, we won't leave without you!" Theresa yells, as the teleporter takes them.
SYSTEMS DATANET ACCESS
"Find Programming Core File: Professor." Cable orders.
PROCESSING
Seconds pass with nothing happening.
"Come on...I'm a dead man...standing here dead to rights...all for a stupid computer program." Cable intensifies his link and pushes deeper into the core.
"Why, Nathan. I am not certain if I should be thanking you for your tenacity or chiding you for your insults." Professor tells him, through his link.
"Professor! You're still alive!!" Cable yells out in his joy.
"Other than a mild case of indigestion due to this alien programming in my system, I am online." Professor tells him.
"Well, I'm getting you out of there right now. Join with me, Old Friend, as you did all those years ago. Then I'm going to find a way to activate the auto-destruct sequence. Giving enough time for Magnus to evacuate everyone and..." Cable begins.
"I believe allowing you to retrieve this small piece of your past was more than gracious of me..."
"...Surely you do not expect me to allow you to destroy me home as easily as you did my hope of bringing all of the children under my fold? For, given time, Cable, they would have seen the light." Magneto tells him.
"So...It is you. In full armor, no less. Time is something I've seen plenty of, Magneto, and in all that time, I've only seen you fail. Time and again! Your way leads to oppression and bitterness, Magneto, and ends in death. Sam and the others would never have chosen to stay with you!" Cable tells him.
Cable sets himself to mind-wipe Magnus. He knows the man has powerful psi-shield's but it's his only hope, and then something occurs to Cable and he draws his plasma pistol instead. Like Sam's gambit, it's dangerous, but whether he lives through it or not, it will assure that , Magnus will never get to Sam and the others.
"And you believe YOU offer a better path?" Magnus asks.
"You don't get it, do you? They haven't chosen to follow my path any more. I've chosen to follow their's. And that's a road which you and I are barrelling down from opposite directions. Which means we're gearing up for a head-on collision!" Cable tells him and fires his plasma pistols repeatedly and to no effect. The blast never reach Magnus through his ever-present magnetic shield.
"You are a small-minded fool, Nathan Dayspring! We could have simply passed each other by on the road. Acknowledging our different ways, yet wishing the other, safe journey, since our goals, the salvation of mutantkind, remain the same. Yet you have chosen to turn this into a battle! Which, since half of you is made of metal and I am the Over-Lord of the Fatal Attraction, makes your decision utterly devoid of reason! Sam and the others should have been MINE, Man of Tomorrow! They could have helped me build a Glorious home for our people! And they were mine once. Mine to meld and form, but that is lost, but what I find most Galling of all, Cable, is that in your ARROGANCE, your EGO, and in your outright STUPIDITY, you would choose to throw away all that those children have to offer you, by allowing yourself to be KILLED AT MY HANDS!!"
YEEAAARRGH
It is as if grenades had been placed within Cable's left arm and leg. Magnus rips apart what he thinks to be only bionics, but is in truth Nathan's own flesh and blood, transformed by the techno-organic virus inflicted upon him as an infant by Apocalypse. Nathan is left on the floor, blood pouring out of him by the pint, more dead than alive. The only spark keeping him attached to this mortal plane is the same one which saved him as an infant by joining with him and keeping the virus at bay so that the babe might live.
"Why does your own lack of faith cause you to make the same mistakes over and over again? Odd, that I should be asking you that. Look at the vicious circle I have place myself in, but you...you chose the name Cable for all it implies. A link between then and now, between the desire for a better world and the need to fight for it. And now look at you, lost, adrift and finally, literally and figuratively, a man out of time." Magnus tells him.
"Prof...fes...oor.." Nathan seeks, withing himself for his friend.
"I am inside of you, Nathan. Barely." Professor answers.
"You still live? Why would a man who is so much artifice, desperately cling to life?" Magnus asks amazed.
"Because...I..am.a...man..! A..man..who just..beat you...because..X-Force..is Mine, Magnus..and you've...lost them..for good...Body-Slide...by..one..PAC-RAT..bound.." Cable says.
"You run away for now, Cable. And for the sake of Sam and the others, I will allow it. But the day will come, when you will not be able to hide from your past or your future. The day will come soon." Magnus tells him, as he fades from view.
"We better prep the medical-lab on touch-down. But I'm not sure it's going to make a difference." Tabitha says.
"Greymalkin didn't detonate? Has Cable failed?" Roberto asks.
"That would depend on your definition of failure, Roberto." Professor tells him.
"Professor? You're alive! Excellent!" Roberto says.
"Magnus retains the us of the station, but Nathan successfully removed my programming from the central core while still also managing to maintain the override on the station's interplanetary teleportational systems. From a personal, and albeit selfish, standpoint, I would call Nathan's endeavors an overwhelming success." Professor tells them.
"S'that...good enuff..f'r you...DaCosta..?" Nathan manages to ask.
"Better than that, Cable. You came back with your Heart and Soul. And left your material possessions behind. If anything, you have shown me that you Have changed. You have chosen Life over death. Blood over metal and you have restored our Hope in a battered but unbroken Dream." Roberto tells him, as he holds his hand until they have landed and Warpath takes him into the bunker.
"He was not nearly the challenge we expected, My Lord." Exodus says.
"Really, Exodus? I thought he was a Far greater threat than I had anticipated. This was not a physical combat, My Friend. But a Philosophical one. And ultimately, by robbing me of the chance to forge the minds of the Next Generation of mutants...It is a battle which Cable has Won
Our Journey Continues With
Shadows On The Rock
