x-men: messiah complex, pt. VI

The new mutant baby has been kidnapped. Suspecting Mr. Sinister, the X-Men attacked his base in Antarctica only to learn that Sinister didn’t have the baby. Instead the renegade mutant Cable, previously thought dead, had resurfaced and stolen the child. His whereabouts and his intentions remain unclear.

Meanwhile the New X-Men kids, students at the Xavier Institute, wanting to help in the search, snuck out to investigate the Purifiers, a mutant-hating religious organization determined to kill the mutant baby. While there, they suffered a brutal attack from the Reavers, genetically modified mercenaries hired by the Purifiers. Luckily, they got away.

Shortly thereafter the giant Sentinels charged with protecting the Xavier Institute malfunctioned and attacked the mansion.
- Chapter Five, X-Men: Messiah CompleX

*******

The strike team lead by Storm retreated from their battle against the combined forces of the Marauders and Acolytes. Aboard the Blackbird, they rush back to the mansion to report the information Logan got from Gambit and to deliver the badly wounded Nightcrawler to their resident healer.

Unknown to them, the mansion is now being attacked by the giant Sentinels with only Cyclops, Bishop, Warpath and Hepzibah on the forefront to defend the Institute. Beast takes the unconscious Emma Frost down to his infirmary and surprisingly finds all three Cuckoos and Professor Xavier knocked out as well. The student Nezhno grew to his full size and charged towards the sentinel and knocked it back which caused distress on Cyclops’ part (there is a strain on the kid’s body every time he uses his mutant powers).

Warpath and Hepzibah managed to take down the first sentinel. In a desperate attempt, Iceman, toppled another one using the Blackbird II (containing the New X-Men he just rescued) to crash onto the robot’s head. X-23 commanded Mercury to take Hellion to the infirmary immediately before jumping out of the aircraft and landing on the Sentinel causing more damage to its head before it can repair itself.

Cyclops then ordered Dust to turn into her sand form and enter the first Sentinel to investigate while he teams up with Iceman to join X-23 in taking down the other Sentinel still standing.

Dust manages to reach the robot’s pilot but finds a Human-Sentinel hybrid instead, the pilot was apparently infected by the Nano-Sentinel virus that Cassandra Nova created. Fortunately, the student escaped to warn the others. And as the two infected pilots attempted to escape, X-23 jumped on the nearest one and stabbed it consequently caused a short circuit in the android. The other one though managed to escape, threatening the mutants that they will be terminated in due time.

After the battle, Cyclops discusses to Wolverine their current situation. And with the future of their race at the hands of Cable whom they assumed was the mind behind the Sentinel attack. And at the surprise of Logan, Cyclops ordered Logan to assemble X-Force for a special mission – to find Cable, take him down and get the child back by any means necessary.

*******

Just for the X-Force splash on the last page, this issue gets five stars.

I love it when Cyclops takes charge. Not to sound like Emma Frost but I think he’s cooler and hotter when he stands up and enforces his leadership on his team. He is after all, the Captain America of the X-Universe.

The idea of the human-sentinel hybrid was a bit disturbing though. The last time these Nano-Sentinels were unleashed, Genosha (among with a vast number of its mutant population) was destroyed.

With the Institute once again, destroyed and both Cyclops’ and Storm’s team losing on their respective battles – Brubacker manages to reiterate the desperate times that the X-Men are now facing. For the first time since in his stint in Uncanny X-Men, he gets praises from me.

And I forgot to mention the awesome cover art - inspired by the Madonna and the child, with Cable as the Madonna. ^^