Cable

A darkened yet clean and sterile laboratory in an unknown location. A man with chalk-white skin and glowing red eyes stood before a machine with several test tubes arranged around in a circle. A needle moved from one to the other, collecting samples of each batch of genetic material held in each vial.

He flinched as he felt something inside his head. Something worse than a migraine, more powerful. The man called Essex gripped his forehead, waiting for the ringing to subside and after a few moments it did, replaced by a voice echoing inside his mind.

“That will only lead you to failure.”

“Who are you?” he asked.

“The creations you propose will not prove fit to survive the coming tempest.”

“I disagree,” said Essex. “This mixture of powers and abilities will lead to the creation of something far more interesting, something never before seen in the history of evolution.”

“Hah! That is your way, Essex. Always focused on what is most interesting as opposed to practical. The ways of a scientist are no preparation for the wars to come.”

“And I suppose you have a better solution?”

“You must engineer them to be strong. Because in time, whether it be months, years, decades or even centuries, the tempest will arrive. And all will be swallowed into it. Only the strong will survive what is to come.”

“So I’ve been told many times,” said Essex. “Yet this is based on no sound scientific principles. No evidence to base it on. Simply the ramblings of a madman, one who should have died centuries ago. One who is supposed to be dead now.”

“You should know better than anyone that I do not expire so easily.”

“It’s been one of my constant annoyances, yes.”

“The question I have, Essex, will you prove strong enough to survive?”

“I believe so. Unlike you, I have cheated death. I have returned from the brink. But you? You only survive because you are a parasite, feeding on others, festering inside them. You are nothing more than a disease, En Sabah Nur. And I promise you, I will find the cure.”

“So you say, Sinister. So you say.”

APOCALYPSE TOMORROW

Part I

By Hunter Lambright and Dino Pollard

Oman

There is one thing you wouldn’t expect to find in the desert of this Middle Eastern country and that is a floating weapons platform. Even more out of the ordinary, at least for the Weaponeers who man this platform, was the new arrival who appeared on the platform out of nowhere.

He had short, silver hair and wore a pair of sunglasses, with his left eye radiating brilliant light through the lens. The black t-shirt and khaki pants he wore were covered with straps and belts holding various armaments. His left arm, however, was strange—it appeared cybernetic but was in truth something completely different.

Nathan Christopher Dayspring Summers—the man called Cable. Born in the late twentieth century but raised almost two thousand years in the future to be a soldier. Some think of him as a messiah. Others believe him to be a terrorist. He returned to the era of his birth to prevent a genetic war. He believed himself successful. And with the dissolution of X-Corps, he became a soldier without a war.

He came to Oman because recently, he received a transmission from space from an old friend. This friend was once a prisoner of Apocalypse as an artificially intelligent vehicle called Ship. In Cable’s time, he had survived to become the Professor and came back with Cable to the present. It was here that he adopted the identity of Prosh and gained a body of his own, then went off to the stars.

Cable hadn’t expected to hear from Prosh again, but when he heard no other response, he tracked the signal to Prosh’s last known location, which was here in Oman. And given that the signal has led him to the platform of the techno-terrorists known as the Weaponeers, he decided it wasn’t a coincidence.

“You have one chance to live,” said Cable. “Where’s Prosh?”

The Weaponeers raised their rifles in response and opened fire. Cable extended his hand as his left eye crackled with psionic energy. The bullets slowed to a stop in midair and then dropped to the ground all at once. The blasters strapped to each leg flew from their holsters seemingly without no aid into Cable’s waiting hands. He cracked a smile as the weapons powered up.

“That wasn’t very smart.”

Cable jumped forward, soaring past two of the Weaponeers, holding his arms out to the side and firing twin blasts at each of their chests. When he struck the ground, he rolled into a crouch and fired upwards at two other Weaponeers. He jumped to his feet once more and quickly found himself surrounded as the Weaponeers opened fire. Cable’s eye glowed and the bullets curved around his body, so the Weaponeers were in essence shooting at their own teammates.

He had read up on the Weaponeers. They were famous for raiding nations, striking at their weak points and overpowering them and then forcing the locals into submission through fear. They had quite a few bases set up in the Middle East, in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America.

One of the Weaponeers still clung to life and Cable stared down at him. From the Weaponeer’s mind, Cable extracted the information he needed as well as the access codes to enter the platform. He continued walking towards the end of the platform, taking out whatever armored terrorists got in his way with quick and decisive action. Once he reached the access door, he saw two more who raised their guns. Cable just fixed his gaze on them, that left eye continuing to crackle with barely contained, raw psionic energy. The Weaponeers found themselves being pulled, their bodies turning and their guns aimed not at Cable but each other.

BOOM

BOOM

They both fell to the ground and Cable stepped over their bodies. He entered the access code he gleaned from another Weaponeer and the thick, titanium door slid open to reveal an elevator. Cable entered and once the door closed, he released his grip on the handguns and his telekinesis took hold of them.

They disassembled before his eyes and began to reassemble courtesy of his powers. A few other components flew off from various straps on his body, combining with the handguns and when it was complete, Cable took hold of the proton cannon with both hands. His techno-organic hand held it at the barrel and it seemed to merge with the gun, providing it with additional energy necessary to operate.

The elevator reached its destination on the middle level. The door opened and about two dozen Weaponeers stood between him and his goal, but he could sense their fear once they caught sight of the futuristic weapon pointed at them. The three barrels on the end of the cannon began to glow and they fired off at once, unleashing a massive burst of energy that vaporized the first wave of guards. The cannon disassembled and the unneeded components returned to his back, the separated sidearms sliding into their respective holsters.

Cable continued walking down the corridor, hearing alarms go off throughout the platform. He would have more company soon and part of him relished that. Ever since the death of Apocalypse, he’d been drifting through life, trying to find a purpose. Allying himself with X-Corps was one such attempt and now he realized it had been little more than a distraction. This was the work he should have been pursuing, going after the unseen threats, the ones the heroes believe are best left to the world’s governments.

As he approached a T-junction, he sensed oncoming forces. He continued walking through and then the Weaponeers opened fire. The bullets tore through his body, leaving him a bloody mess, barely anything left resembling a man. They went for overkill, wanting to be sure the man was dead.

Once the gunfire halted, they all remained standing in place for a few moments, each of them to proceed further. Finally, they lowered their weapons and approached the fallen soldier. Cable lay in a pool of his own blood, his body inflicted with wounds no man or mutant could possibly heal from.

A blade of some sort shot through one of the Weaponeers, coming out through his chest. The psionic illusion of Cable’s dead body vanished and the Askani’Son stood in the midst of his attackers, holding an odd spear in his hands. The blade crackled with the same golden, psionic energy emitted by his eye. It was called the Psimitar and was perhaps the most powerful weapon in his vast arsenal, capable of channeling and honing his psionic abilities in a precise and deadly way.

One by one, the Weaponeers fell, until Cable was the only one left standing amidst their broken and bloody bodies. The Psimitar retracted from a full-length spear into a small baton with a blade at the end and Cable telekinetically reattached it to his belt. He moved closer to the vault at the center of the room. The signal may have been gone now, but he could sense his old friend inside.

Cable placed his palms on the surface of the vault and shut his eyes. His entire body surrounded itself with a golden aura, and that power channeled into the vault. He could feel the techno-organic virus beginning to flare up but ignored it, instead focusing on the task at hand.

The vault door tore open with a screech of metal. Cable set foot inside and saw the golden body of his old friend hanging from the ceiling, attached by wires and cords. Cable gestured with his hand and the wires tore free. He moved forward and caught Prosh’s body in his arms, looking into the robotic face.

“Oath…what have they done to you, old friend?” he asked.

[T-took you long enough…] said Prosh.

“I was busy,” said Cable with a slight grin. “C’mon, let’s get you out of here and back to the safeho—”

He stopped, a new presence in his perception. Instinctively, Cable threw up a psionic bubble around Prosh to protect him from the battle. He got to his feet, the Psimitar flying into his hands and extending to its full length as the new challenger stepped into view.

The man held two large swords in each hand. He smiled at the intruder as he swung them around to test them out. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your arrival, stranger?”

“Scimitar, leader of the Weaponeers,” said Cable, drawing the information from his foe’s mind. “I’m here for my friend. Stand down now and you just might be lucky enough to walk out of here with your life.”

“And if I refuse?” asked Scimitar.

Cable’s eye flashed with anger. “Not so lucky.”

Scimitar gestured to Prosh with one of his blades. “That thing you call a friend is a very valuable commodity. The technology within him is decades—perhaps even centuries—ahead of Earth. He will turn quite a large profit for my organization.”

“You forgot to ask me if I give a damn,” said Cable.

“Suit yourself.” Scimitar charged forward and brought both swords around in a large arc. Cable raised his weapon, the swords clanging against the Psimitar’s stave. Cable swung it around, knocking the swords out of his path and then thrust forward, unleashing a psionic blast through the Psimitar’s blade that knocked back his enemy.

Scimitar got back to his feet when the entire platform suddenly tilted and both he and Cable toppled with it. Scimitar looked down at his wrist, a message coming in from one of the Weaponeers.

“Sir, we’re being attacked by some unseen force!”

He turned his gaze to Cable. “Is this your doing?”

“Yes, I chose to launch a full-scale attack on your platform while I’m still onboard,” said Cable. “I’m many things, Scimitar—stupid’s not one of them.”

The ceiling tore open with the sound of a massive wail. A man dropped from the ceiling with a pale face, reddish hair, and blue lips which had facial markings extending from the end of the lips to his ears. Something Cable recognized before.

“I am Decibel of the Clan Akkaba,” he said. “And you, Askani’Son—you must tell me what you know of the Dark Lord.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Decibel,” said Cable.

“LIAR! You will tell me where En Sabah Nur is!”

“…En Sabah Nur?” asked Cable. “Obviously, you’re not up on current events. Apocalypse is dead.”

“YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!” Decibel shouted those words and with them, sonic vibrations emitted from his powerful vocal chords. The mutant cultist continued to shout, turning his sonic scream on the computer core within the vault. Alarms began to blare and the Weaponeer platform rocked back and forth as warnings of ABANDON SHIP blared through the loudspeakers.

[Nathan, if you don’t mind, I think now would be the time to make a prudent escape,] said Prosh.

“I think you’re right,” said Cable. He turned to Decibel but found the mutant had already departed. “Strange…”

Before Cable could move again, a sword flew past his head. He turned and saw Scimitar still glaring at him.

“You and I have unfinished business.”

“Not today,” said Cable as he took Prosh in his arms. “Bodyslide by two.”

“NO!” cried Scimitar as he charged towards Cable and Prosh. But the process had already begun and by the time the villain brought his sword down upon Cable’s head, nothing was left but a blue energy trail.

Egypt

[Nathan, at the risk of asking an obvious question, what are we doing here?]

“Something we have to check up on, Prosh,” said Cable. He wore a cloak over his bodysuit with the hood covering his head. Prosh, however, was able to generate a holographic disguise for himself, made to look like one of the locals.

“This Decibel guy mentioned the Clan Akkaba, I’ve heard of them before. They’re a death cult that worships Apocalypse.”

[And Apocalypse is dead—or so you said.]

“He should be. The Clan Akkaba’s been quiet ever since his death. But for them to return now claiming he’s back…that raises questions in my head.”

[Nathan, the tone in your voice. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re excited.]

“Apocalypse is a madman, one I’ve devoted my life to stopping and tracked across the far reaches of time,” said Cable. “But when he was gone…I became a soldier without a war. I tried fighting for others, tried Worthington’s misguided X-Corps. But in the end, I was glad to see it go. Now if Apocalypse is back, I might have just found the war I’ve been looking for.”

[And what is it we’re looking for here?] asked Prosh.

“I’m not sure, but I’ll know it once—”

“Once you find it?”

Cable and Prosh stopped and turned at the sound of the voice that came from behind. There was a flicker of Cable’s left eye but he was shocked to find he couldn’t probe this strange man’s mind.

“Who are you?” asked Cable.

“Follow me, Nathan. I know where you can find Apocalypse.”

The man turned and Cable and Prosh exchanged glances. “What do you think?”

[Could be a trap,] said Prosh. [But it could also be the best lead you’re going to find. Besides, what does a big guy like you have to be scared of?]

“Point taken,” said Cable as he followed the stranger with Prosh keeping pace with him. He reached forward and grabbed the man’s shoulder. “Wait, I want you to answer some questions first. Where are we going, where is Apocalypse, and who are you?”

“We are going to my lab and my identity?” The man turned and lowered his hood. As he did, his features changed, morphing into a tall man with chalk-white skin, glowing red eyes and a red diamond in the center of his forehead. “Does that answer your question?”

“Sinister…” muttered Cable. “I heard you were dead.”

“Seems to be quite a bit of that going around,” said Sinister. “And as for Apocalypse…” He tapped his head. “He’s right up here.”

The man called Decibel entered the chamber, surrounded by hieroglyphics on the walls. Surrounding him were people dressed in cloaks. Only he and a woman who had a were-like appearance were not. She was called Anais, once leader of the Clan Akkaba. But now, she stood beside her new master, a large, imposing figure clad in golden armor who sat on a throne of bones and skulls.

Decibel knelt down before this man and bowed his head. “My Lord, I did as you asked. I encountered the hated Askani’Son. He knew nothing of our Dark Lord.”

The large figure rubbed his chin as he thought over those words. “Anais, I want you to follow him.”

“Even if he knows nothing?” asked Anais.

“He knows my father is alive, and that’s enough for him. He will track our Lord to the furthest corners of space and time to ensure he’s eliminated. And in that, we will find him.”

“As is your will…” Anais bowed before him, “…Lord Armageddon.”

CABLES

Many of you have known this was coming for a bit. When I decided to take a breather from New Warriors and Ultimate Spider-Man, I asked for suggestions for other books. My partner-in-crime Hunter suggested we work on Cable together, as he had an idea for a mini-series that would lead into his X-Force series.

I couldn’t resist.

I’ve never written a Cable series before. I was slated to once, years back at M2K. But that series would have focused on Nate Grey taking on the name Cable with Nathan acting as a mentor of sorts to him, monitoring him from Greymalkin. That never materialized, though (and for the best, I’d say, because now M2K’s got a kick-assCable/Deadpool series written by Brad Horton).

I got a chance to write Cable briefly here, both during the SuperNova crossover and when I launched X-Corps, but I’d never written him in any major fashion. And I was interested in doing it, because Cable, despite his origins as a Liefeld-created Universal Soldier knock-off, has evolved into a really interesting character.

So here we are, Hunter and I teaming up for a short look into Cable’s solo exploits. Promises to be a good time. Hunter’s already sent me the plot for the second issue and it’s going to blow you guys away.

But in the meantime, check out the other books that are part of MO’s Reckoning event. First we’ve got Chris Munn and myself continuing our work on X-Men. And as for new stuff, we’ve got Hunter’s X-Force, Chris on New X-Men, myself on Deadpool and Hunter, Chris and myself on Astonishing X-Men.

Don’t miss it.

-Dino

 

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