A Force To Be Reckoned With

There once was a dream--A dream where mankind could live in harmony with mutantkind--For the betterment of the entire planet.
That dream has become a nightmare.
Now it is up to an elite band of battle-honed young mutants to keep the hope of the dream alive and the stinging encroachment of the nightmare at bay!
Five young heroes for a world gone mad--Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Feral, Shatterstar and Warpath.
Led by the mysterious man called Cable and his free-wheeling, hard-hitting ally, Domino, these mutants fight for the things which are noble and pure in all of us--And they're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
X-Force--They'll fight fire with fire--no matter who gets burned!

Antarctica, seven silent figures stand motionless, brooding, alone with their thoughts...And the weight of the road they have chosen to follow...Once they were children, delighting in a dream...Now they are soldiers, fighting for the freedom of their kind.
Cable had finally tracked down Stryfe and the Mutant Liberation Front. They had fled Madripoor and made for one of Stryfe's base hidden here in the vast emptiness of Antarctica. The Professor had finally traced Zero's teleportation field from the warehouse in Madripoor that Cable had hoped would be Stryfe's tomb, but knew in his heart that his own personal demon would find some way to escape.
"Sensor scan checks out?" Cable asked Tabitha.
"Yup. We're right above them." She answered.
"And the electro-magnetic scrambler has messed up their defense systems, right?" Sam asked Dom as she exited their craft.
"Do you even need to ask, Kiddo?" She replied.
"Let's do it, then." Cable said, as he mad ready to blast through the hatch. "Remember, they're packing a lot of firepower."
"As are we. We have waited long enough for this opportunity." Shatterstar said.
"I know. Today, the terrorist actions of the Mutant Liberation Front...Come to an end!" Cable said, blasting through the hatch.
Immediately guards appeared from everywhere. The team made short work of these. Then Shatterstar turned and said, "Cable--activity at mark 32!"
The MLF had made it to the scene. Forearm, Kamikaze, Wildside and Reaper raced to meet their attackers.
"I told you to learn our method of telling time--one o'clock to twelve--Don't use that mark garbage for positioning again!" Cable told Shatterstar.
"Understood. Can I attack now?" Shatterstar asked.
"Yeah, have a party." Cable replied.
"Whoever is fool enough to lead to attack is mine!" Shatterstar yelled, leaping to meet the MLF.
Reaper attacked him, but in two strokes Shatterstar cut off Reaper's left hand. Shatterstar downed him with a kick to the chin, as he stood holding the bleeding stump of his left wrist.
Warpath and Forearm rushed towards each other like a pair of runaway locomotives. When they met, Warpath landed a blow which knocked Forearm back a full fifty feet.
"None of this matters--We can take as many of their pieces as they offer, but we have to nail the king...We have to nail Stryfe." Cable said, as he blasted Kamikaze out of the air.
"Indeed you do, Cable, indeed you do." Stryfe said as he watched the battle safe in his moniter room. "Thumbelina, contact Zero--Begin teleportation of the remaining MLF members to a safer location."
"What of the four in direct combat now?" She asked.
"They are lost to us for now. Better to lose some fingers in order to save the whold hand, no?" With this Stryfe turned to the computer and said, "Computer--Fail-safe override--Access code Nathan 0-0-0...Activate self-destruct now."

"SELF-DESTRUCT ACTIVATED: TEN MINUTES AND COUNTING"

Later, that night, the area was again alive with activity as several units of S.H.I.E.L.D. were going over the remains of Stryfe's base. The operation was under the command of one G.W. Bridge. One of the officers ran up to Bridge and said, "The tech-boys came up with positive I.D. This was a Mutant Liberation Front base. Take a look at this." The officer handed G.W. a firearm that had been found in the wreckage.
"Armament. No markings. Not standard design, of course. Weaponry you can't break down or duplicate. Cable's trademark. This is beyond even S.H.I.E.L.D. capacity. Contact Fury--Tell him the situation is under control." G.W. ordered.
"Yes, Commander. Anything else?"
"Yes. Call me George. I don't like titles or labels. Hero. Villain. Human. Mutant. None of it matters squat to me. Only right and wrong. And in this particular case it's starting to become crystal clear. Cable and his little army of toy soldiers have to be brought down!"

The next morning, in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, Sam entered the hanger as Cable was checking out their Scout-Craft.
"Place is really startin' t' come 'round, Sir. It's got everthin' we need. Livin' quarters are kinda cramped though. Frankly, we were all kinda' hopin' t' have our own rooms. Uhm...Are you listenin' to me?" Sam asked the pair of legs sticking out from under the craft.
"Yup." Cable answered.
"Need a hand with the diagnostic check?"
"Nope." Cable replied.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Yup." Cable told him, sliding out from under the craft.
"We had the MLF in the palm of our hands yesterday. Why'd we let 'em get away?" Sam asked.
"We severely crippled both their operations and their manpower. To have tried to go beyond that would have jeopardized our unit more than I would have perferred." Cable told him.
"I wasn't sure that you cared about us, one way or the other." Sam said.
"I do." Cable replied.
"But you held us back. Are you afraid of Stryfe killing one of us the way he killed your son?" Sam asked him softly.
Cable wasn't quite sure how to respond to this direct a question from Sam. It had caught him completely by surprise. Sam had put two and two together and had gotten four. Now he wanted to hear it from Cable himself. After a few moments of thought, Cable told him,
"The young man in question was named Tyler. He was like a son to me. Not my flesh and blood. A part of my soul, maybe...but not my body. Stryfe captured and corrupted him..." Cable hesitated not knowing what more to say.
"Then what happened?" Sam asked, almost in a whisper.
"He died during a terrorist operation. It was a position he was placed in by Stryfe. I have several reasons for wanting to see that armored maggot dead. Tyler's death is only one of them." Cable told him. (At this time Cable still believed Tyler to be dead. Tyler was actually alive and in this time posing as the arms dealer know as Tolliver.)
"You never told me any of this. Why?" Sam asked.
"You never asked." Cable replied.
"Every day I learn somethin' about you that either makes me wanna bust you one or respect you even more." Sam said offering his hand to Cable.
Cable took his hand and returned the grip firmly, letting Sam know that he appreciated his respect.
"Wait--Don't tell me--Male bonding, right?" Dom said as she entered the hanger.
"Domino. A pleasure, as always." Cable told her.
"Don't you know it. Sam--The others are waiting for you." She said.
"Shoot--I'm late for our workout! Later, Folks." Sam said as he rushed to meet the others.
"Mood was thick enough to cut with a buzzsaw--What were you two Beef-Bags talking about?" Dom asked, once Sam was gone.
"Sam was asking about Tyler. I take it the curosity was provoked?" Cable asked her.
"Well, they were all just wondering what the grudge match against Stryfe was all about." Dom replied.
"How much more did you decide to disclose to them?" Cable asked, as he telekinetically lifted several tools and floated them over to where he was working.
"Oh, I told them about that beauty mark in the shape of a magnum on your--HEY! What do you think you're doing?!!" Dom yelled.
"Simplifying my grunt work. Don't worry--I wouldn't have done it if anyone else was around." He told her.
"Well, if you're going to hold back on telling these kids everything there is to know about you--You'd better be prepared to sing like a canary if they catch you pulling stunts like that!" She said.
"When it's time for them to learn. They'll learn." He replied.
"Fine--Just don't expect them to jump through hoops without barking once in a while." She told him.
"Their bark is nothing compared to my bite." Cable replied.

Meanwhile, in Manhatten, at The World Trade Center, Gideon and Roberto DaCosta, aka Sunspot, were just arriving for a business meeting, a hostile takeover of another company. As they were seated a beautiful woman, at the head of the table, rose and addressed the assembled businessmen.
"I am Arianna Jankos. This meeting was called in order to buy out what remains of my company holdings. Against my better wishes. Allow me to introduce to you a gentleman who is going to prevent that from happening. His name is Tom Cassidy. He's here to make all of you a counter-offer you simply can't refuse!" As she spoke men with guns entered the room and surrounded the table, then a tall black bearded man entered saying,
"Afternoon Ladies and Gents..."
"That's Black Tom! He's Banshee's cousin!" Sunspot said as he began to rise from his seat. "Droga! His history is replete with terrorist acts!"
"Not here. Not now." Gideon said stopping him. "We wait. We bide our time. We see what his game is. Learn how to win the hand with the cards you're dealt." He told Sunspot.
Black Tom took the seat at the head of the table, sat back, crossed his legs, smiled and said,
"The lovely Lady Arianna has requested the pleasure of my company to assure that she does not lose hers. In order to do that we'll need to extort scads of money form your respective corporations. Indeed...Scads...So for the next few hours...Days...Weeks even--You will all be my unwilling guests! To be less coy about the deal--Call yourselves my hostages!" Black Tom said smiling from ear to ear.

At that moment, in a S.H.I.E.L.D. chopper, high over the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, G.W. Bridge turned to the radioman and asked, "Has the call been routed through?"
"Yes, Commander Bridge--But the Colonel isn't very happy." The radioman replied.
"He never is." G.W. replied, and then, as Fury's face came on screen, G.W. said, "Ah, Nicholas--Good morning."
"This better be good, Bridge." Fury told him.
"The MLF base in Antarctica was trashed. Definite signs of high-tech activity." G.W. reported.
"Same signature to the weaponry?" Fury asked.
"Bigger than a John Hancock. It was Cable." G.W. replied.
"A.I.M. I can deal with. Hydra's like a kiss from my grandmother--But this guy...What's his game? You have the authority to do whatever's necessary, Bridge. Just bring this guy in!" Fury ordered.
"Understood, Nicholas. Bridge out." G.W. said as he broke off the transmission.
G.W. then thought to himself, remembering his Six Pack days with Cable, "It had to come down to this, didn't it? I shouldn't be surprised. Out of all of us, you were always the enigma...The silent explosion we called you..." G.W. roused himself from his thoughts, turned to the radioman and said, "Patch me through on a security access line to General Clarke in Canadian Military. I want Department H brought in on this. It's time to call in Weapon X!"

G.W. found out from General Clarke that Weapon X aka Garrison Kane, his old partner from the Six Pack, was in the Port Menier Shipyards on Anticosti Island, a province of Quebec, Canada. When he arrived at the shipyards, he found Kane locked in combat with the mercernary known as Deadpool. Kane had just taken him down by firing his left hand (Both Kane's arms are bionic, since he lost both of his natural arms in the explosion of Stryfe's underground base during the Six Pack's last mission together) at Deadpool's throat choking him.
"Not bad, Kane." G.W. said.
"Bridge?! What're you doing here?" Kane asked.
"Watching your cocky butt." G.W. said as he shot Deadpool, who had risen and was preparing to jump Kane from behind.
"You didn't have to shoot him!" Kane said.
"I know. I wanted to." G.W. told him.
"I had things under control! I'm not the little green kid you can order around anymore, Bridge!" Kane said.
"Oohhh...Lissen t' the kid. Didn't have ta shoot y' know." Deadpool said still laying on the ground.
"Shut Up!" Both men said in unison.
"I just wanted to get the baggage out of the way so we could talk." G.W. said.
"Talk? Euphemism for 'I want something' right?" Kane asked.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been asked to bring Cable in. I'm expected to take him down." G.W. told him.
"Cable? I haven't seen him in months. Not since the last time he pulled one of his disappearing acts on us!" Kane said.
"When he's caught, he'll wish he'd stayed AWOL." Bridge said.
"What's he done? I mean there's no love lost between us--But if he's going to be sanctioned, I'm curious as to why." Kane asked.
"No sanctioning. We just want some questions answered. He's got himself a new little band of merry men. Calls them X-Force. Mutant band, I gather." G.W. told him.
"Last I heard, Tolliver had a price on his head." Kane said.
"Yeah. Would/ve thought you'd've taken Tolliver down by now." G.W. asked.
"Too connected. As many people in Department H who'd as soon support him as stop him." Kane answered.
"By the way, Dudley Do-Right just lost his man." G.W. said, upon noting that Deadpool had slipped away.
"Ahhh Crud!" Kane exclaimed.
"By the way, I'm putting together a task force. Care to join?" G.W. asked.
"To bring Cable in? I'll pass. Bury the past, Bridge. I have. Next time you want to help me--DON'T!" Kane said walking off.
"Yeah, well, next time at least do your homework and know your opponent has a personal teleporter! Once a cocky kid, always a cocky kid." G.W. said as he took out his radio and signaled the chopper, "Recover-One--Bridge, ready for pick-up...Empty handed, for now..."

The next day, at the Adirondack Mountain headquarters of X-Force. Cable had assembled the team outside, in the thick woods, for a training session.
"Everyone ready? The game is tag. You find Feral before she tags you. The object of the excercise is to prepare for the kinds of ambush situations you may encounter in the field. Any questions?" Cable asked.
"Never expected t' be playin' learning games with this outfit! All we're missin' is the Danger Room!" Sam said.
"Just because I no longer consider the X-Force unit a school, per se, Sam--Doesn't mean you don't need training." Cable explained.
"All of us against the Kitty-Cat, Cable? Sounds kind of lopsided." James said.
"For whom, Warpath? She has a head-start and sufficient hiding places. Once we enter the skirmish field, you're on your own." Cable told them.
"Are we on solo missions, or can we help each other out?" James asked.
"All our training programs involve teamwork, James." Dom answered him.
"Fekt! Just give me tin minutes and this excercise will be over!" Shatterstar said.
"I think you mean 'TEN' minutes, Pretty-Boy." Dom corrected him.
"Time limit?" Sam asked.
"Fifteen minutes. That should even be long enough for the 'Pretty-Boy' I think." Cable answered.
"Ready--Time-Set--GO!" Cable ordered.
As the team entered the thick woods, Feral jumped down from a tree on Sam's back as he flew by and steered him straight into Warpath.
"You play games with me, Boys...You better play for keeps!" Feral told them.
Suddenly, Feral was bombarded by explosions from Tabitha's plasma bombs.
"Surprised, Kitten? Wrist attachments. They let me launch my plasma bombs. Game's over. Don't go hackin' up a furball or nuthin'!" Tabitha told her.
"How'z'about I hack you up instead?!" Feral said, as she leaped upon Tabitha.
"What're you--Crazy!? Easy--It's just a game!" Tabitha screamed.
"Hold on, Tabitha--I'm on her!" Cable yelled as he ran to her aid.
"Don't think so!" Feral said, as she triggered one of Tabitha's new wrist launchers and launched a plasma bomb right into Cable's chest.
"Things are going smoothly, aren't they, Big Boy?" Dom said, as Cable was getting up from the ground.
"Give me a break." He told her.
"Okay, I'll take her down myself." Dom said.
"Domino--Wait--!" Cable yelled as Dom rushed in.
Feral downed her with a drop-kick to the gut and leaped for her throat.
"Easy, Girl--You're carrying the exercise too far!" Dom told her.
"Because she knows, Domino. She knows, as well as I do--War is a game of that there is no doubt--But not one to be played for fun. It is a game to be played for victory and honor." Shatterstar said, as he approached.
"Everyone's got their own dictionary then, Tons o' Buns...'cause I play the game for life and death!" Feral told him.
"Even better, Wild One. What say you play with me?" Shatterstar said with a smile.
Feral leaped for his throat, but he side-stepped and slammed the hilt of his sword to the side of her skull, knocking her to the ground.
"Fighting is what you do--Killing is what I am!" He told her.
As she leaped up to renew her attack, Feral was slammed into a tree by Sam.
"Enough!! Feral, calm down! Geez--We're only playin' for fun!" Sam yelled.
"Let me loose in the field--Then hunt me down--Let me taste the heat of the kill--For Fun? FOR FUN?!" She screamed, as she leaped forward and gutted Sam with her claws.
"There, now. That was fun!" She told him, as he lay bleeding on the ground. She stepped forward to finish the job and suddenly found the warm barrel of a plasma pistol on her nose.
Cable forced her to back off, turned to Dom, who was checking out Sam and asked,
"Status?"
"He's in bad shape. Medilab. Stat. Computer prep underway now." Dom replied.
"Then the cat gets put out for the night." Cable said, as he shot Feral.
"You didn't--?" James asked.
"No. But I probably should have. I had it set for heavy stun."
Cable then holstered his gun, turned and gently picked up Sam.
"He's losing a lot of blood. I'm an idiot! I didn't prep the short-range teleporters. We have to carry him back!" Cable said.
"So let's stop standing around whining about it and move-out!" Dom said, setting off for the medilab at a run.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, at The World Trade Center, Black Tom Cassidy and Arianna left their hostages under the watchful eyes of the guards and adjourned to the roof, where several workmen had just completed constructing a huge machine. Black Tom turned to Arianna and said,
"This interdimensional teleporter is just what I needed."
"And finding someone to kidnap the heads of all the companies trying to buy me out was what I needed." Arianna replied.
"Turn it on. Now! I wish to see my friend's pug-ugly face again!" Tom told her.
The huge machine started to glow and to hum with power, which continues to build up, louder and louder.
"C'mon...I need ye, Cain.." Tom said.
Suddenly, the whole machine exploded. Then, as the smoke cleared, a huge man walked forward, looked down at Black Tom Cassidy and said,
"Hey, Tommy...Guess who's home?! The JUGGERNAUT is back!!" Cain Marko yelled.
"An' just in time, too, Boyo. We've got work t' do!" Black Tom Cassidy said, with a devilish smile.

Back in X-Force's medilab, Sam was just coming around.
"Computer, Patients Condition?" Cable asked the medical moniter.

PATIENT'S WOUNDS HEALING AT A VASTLY ACCELLARATED RATE

Our Journey Continues With