And though Sunspot had no way of knowing it, at the time, he was speaking to the very man who had brought about the death of his father and was about to become a pawn in a game as old as time itself.
And Cable was about to lose still another of his students. It truly seemed that The New Mutants were falling apart.
Though Sunspot didn't know it, Gideon was an 'External' a 'High Lord' one of a few mutants gifted with eternal life. Gideon and the others sensed that their next 'High Lord' was to come from this group of Cable's and Gideon had guessed, wrongly, that the next 'External' was to be Sunspot, whereas Cable and the Professor had figured Sam Guthrie aka Cannonball to be the next 'High Lord'
Gideon told Sunspot to meet him the next morning at his office and that he would explain all. Sunspot agreed and Gideon left.

Cable was not the only one losing recruits that night, however, in the Morlock Tunnels underneath the teams bunker headquarters, Masque and one of his henchmen had just cornered Feral, the young female, feline mutant covered with fur and gifted with claws that she had no qualms about using. She didn't want to join Masque's army and commit suicide by attacking the 'top-siders' as the Morlocks called everyone living above their tunnels, mutant and human alike. She finally managed to escape and made it to the hatch leading to the teams bunker headquarters and bypassed all the alarms and ducked into the ventilation shaft.

The next afternoon, Cable kept an appointment with James Proudstar, who was the younger brother of John Proudstar aka Thunderbird who had died on a mission with the X-Men, Cable hoped to recruit James into The New Mutants.
"To get right to the point, I am currently in control of what is left of Charles Xavier's school--And I am aware that you have recently severed your association with Emma Frost's Massachusetts Academy." Cable told him.
"I have. And I'm happy at the reservation. For the first time since my brother died, I feel like I have a purpose other than revenge." James replied.
"I understand. But I have a purpose, too. I have to prepare young mutants such as yourself for war." Cable said.
"War? Aren't you being a little dramatic, Mr. Cable?" "There are five kinds of mutants. The mollifiers. The abusers. The used. The hunted. The hidden. I am trying to create a sixth kind. The survivors. I am trying to prepare you all for a very bleak future."
"You have a crystal ball the rest of us don't?"
"You don't need one to predict the obvious."
"Well, Sir, I'll give it some thought. Actually, you're kind of complicating things. I've gotten a lot of pressure from the academy to return--almost bordering on threats--But I'm going home." James said as the pair rose from thier table and exited into the street, where he hailed a cab.
"No problem. No pressure. No threats. But the time for straddling the fence and not choosing sides is over, James. Mollifiers. Abusers. Used. Hunted. Hidden. Survivors. When you come to a decision, you know where to find us." Cable told him as he entered the cab.
"I do. Thank you for lunch, Mr. Cable. I'll be in touch." James said as he entered the cab.
"I'm sure you will..." Cable said as the cab drove away.

Meanwhile, Sunspot had made his way to Gideon's office. Gideon informed him that he would help him with his fathers funeral arrangements and that his father had left everything to Roberto. Gideon also told him that he would help him run his fathers business empire but that he should leave The New Mutants so that he would have the proper amount of time to devote to the business. Roberto resisted this at first but finally relented and agreed to quit The New Mutants.

When Cable returned to the teams bunker headquarters he found Dom, Sam and Tabitha deep in discussion.
"What's the problem?" He asked.
"Seems like Rictor up an' ran away during the night." Sam answered.
Cable took the note he had left and read it.
"Should we prep a rescue mission?" Dom asked.
"No, Domino. He was told not to pursue this." Cable told her.
"So we just let him go?!" Sam asked.
"I am not your baby-sitter, Sam. Nor am I interested in being your jailer. Rictor's choice is his own." Cable told him.
"But, Sir--He's part of this team--We can't just ignore him!" Sam said.
"Rictor has chosen to terminate his relationship with this team, Sam. This ends any obligations we have to him. Is that understood, Son?"
"All I understand is that this school is fallin' apart around us an' you don't seem t' care! How many more of us have t' die or quit before you do somethin' about it?" Sam shouted.
"--'Not your baby-sitter'--You did say that, right?" Dom asked.
"Not now, Domino." Cable told her.
"You two just go on an' pretend like this is a game! What we had here may not matter much to you, Sir. But it did--It does--T' me!" Sam said as he stormed out of the room.
"And you, Boom-Boom?" Cable asked her.
"Well, Milord, I gotta tell ya--Looks to me like there's the right choice, the wrong choice and not makin' a choice at all. And you just made all three in one!" Tabitha said, as she too left the room.

James Proudstar, meanwhile, had made it back to his Camp Verde Reservation only to find it destroyed. All that remained were dead bodies and still smoking ruins. And one small clue. A Hellfire mask, the type of mask worn by the guards of The Hellfire Club, of which Emma Frost was a member. As the tears poured from his eyes, James said, "Big mistake, Frost...Very big mistake...You're Dead, Frost! DEAD!!"

Later that night, Cable was in the library when Roberto returned to tell him about his fathers death.
"I lost my father at a very young age, too. I know how difficult it can be...If you need time away, to help settle his affairs, I understand."
"Actually I may need more than just a little time away, Sir...I may not be coming back..." Roberto said softly.
"Whatever." Cable replied.
"Yeah...great...whatever then...good-bye, Cable--and good riddance!" Roberto said as he exited the room, slamming the door on his way out.
"That's it?" Sam asked. He had entered the room through the other door and had heard the whole conversation.
"Something bothering you, Sam?" Cable asked.
"I wanna know what kinda game you're planin'--an' I wanna know now!!" Sam shouted.
This was followed by a few moments silence which Sam broke by askaing, "Well--?!"
"Oh--Yes--Sorry Sam--I was just a little confused by the word--'Game'--" Cable replied.
"What would you call it?" Sam asked.
"What I have called it all along...War." Cable replied.
"Don't give me that 'War' bull again! We're not your little play soldiers, y' hear!?" Sam shouted.
"Loud and Clear! Now you hear this...We are fighting a war--Pure and simple! You've just been sheltered from reality too long to see it!" Cable told him.
"Oh, I've been sheltered, have I? I've hadda deal with the pain of seein' my friends die in combat. Seein' 'em leave 'cos they can't take it anymore--I've seen everyone and everything I care for fallin' apart around me!" Sam replied.
"They were casualties, Sam! We're all potential casualties! I've seen hundreds die--Thousands! Don't talk to me about pain, Son...My whole life has been about pain and loss!" Cable told him.
"Yeah...kinda figured as much...Sorta hoped havin' people like us t' care about--Who also cared about you--Would help ease some o' that pain. Guess I was wrong, huh?" Sam said as he turned and left the room.
Cable was shocked to silence, and nearly to tears, by this. He had come to care for these young mutants, even though he knew that a commander should not form emotional attachments to those he commanded. But the thought had never, once, occured to him that these young people had also learned to care for him in return. Cable had come back in time and hooked up with The New Mutants to teach this 'Boy High Lord' how to be a man. And, again, the thought had never, once, occured to him that this remarkable young man might have a thing or two to teach him as well. But it was, finally, beginning to sink in.

The next morning, the team, what was left of it, gathered to say goodbye to Roberto.
"You're certain about this, are you, DaCosta?" Cable asked, trying to make up for being so curt with the boy the day before.
"I have to go. I have to take care of my father's personal things." Roberto replied.
"I'm going to miss you." Sam told him.
"I'm going to miss you, too." Roberto said as he hugged Sam. Tears were flowing from both young men's eyes as Roberto got into the limo' and it drove away. As usual, it was Tabitha who broke the silence, "Arrivedoichee. Adios. Hasta Lumbagos! Boy, this is gonna' make choosing sides in gym class real easy, don' chu' think?"
Dom turned to Cable and asked, "Going to start from scratch, Big Boy?"
"The only way to make this work is to build it from the ground up. The right way. My way.

Later, that afternoon, Cable was in the War Room when Dom entered with a visitor.
"Look what I found wandering the grounds, topside." She said.
"Hello, James." Cable said, rising to greet the huge young man.
"My whole village was wiped out. Everyone was killed." James told him.
"I saw it on the news. I'm sorry." Cable told him.
"It was The Hellfire Club." James said.
"Are you sure?" Cable asked.
"Yes. I want revenge, Cable--But I know that I can't do it alone. If you help me fight my war--Then I'll help you fight yours!" James offered.
"Done!" Cable said, shaking they young man's hand and grasping his shoulder.
Unknown to Cable and the others, this conversation was overheard, by Feral, still hidden in the ventilation shafts, who thought to herself, "Well, if that trade-off works for the Bohunk Bruiser--No reason it shouldn't work for me, too!"