Cable (1st series) #11

Issue Date: 
May 1994
Story Title: 
The Killing Field: Part III
Staff: 

Glenn Herdling (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Barta, Conrad, Farmer, Hanna, LaRosa, Lowe, Rodier (inkers), Starkings (letterer), Marie Javins (colorist), Lisa Patrick (editor), Tom DeFalco (editor in chief)

Brief Description: 

Surrounded by the Acolytes Cable is in trouble. He manages to escape and finds his way to the center of Magneto’s citadel where the mainframe is located. He’s able to see where all the Acolytes are and what they’re up to. He eventually leaves to go after some of the Acolytes. After capturing Milan and one of the Kleinstocks, he is caught by Cargill, Voght and the other Kleinstock. They reach an impassé; Cable wants to know what Omega Red is up to and the Acolytes want their teammates back. Cable finds out that Omega Red is undergoing the process to rid himself of the death spore virus inside the base because his access to Avalon was destroyed. Knowing that if the process completes on Earth it will destroy the world’s population, Voght transports herself and Cable out of there to go look for Omega Red. The only person standing in their way is Colossus and he and Cable go toe to toe. Cable eventually defeats him and moves on to Omega Red. They battle for a bit, but the virus overcomes Cable. Katu teleports in behind Omega Red right before the procedure finishes and tries to override the base’s teleportation unit to take them into space, but Cable stops him. Instead, Katu turns his powers inward and implodes both him and Omega Red. Meanwhile in Florida, Lee Forrester’s first mate, Paolo, meets an untimely demise as his body is sucked dry under the dock.

Full Summary: 

Magneto’s arctic base:

Cable stands surrounded by the eleven Acolytes, worried. He knows that what they did to Omega Red will happen to him unless he thinks fast. Cable yells, “Lights off!” and they respond in kind, turning the room pitch black. In complete darkness Cable’s bionic eye gives him an advantage, which he uses to knock over the Kleinstock brothers and push Skids to the side. Amelia orders everyone after him and orders the lights back on. They don’t respond and she yells it once more. They still don’t turn. Looking dejected, head slouched forward, Amelia states, “He knows.”
Cable makes his way through the base. Passages open before him drawing him closer and closer to the heart of the complex. Cable finds himself in a room with a giant monitor screen. He reflects on things a moment and realizes he wasn’t using any verbal commands to make the various passages open.

Cable’s gut tells him he’s reached his goal; that he’s made his way to the soul of the living fortress. He stands at the terminal, thinks for a second and smiles. He tells the monitor to turn on and it does. First up on the screen are Unuscione and the Kleinstock brothers. Unuscione is assuring her search-partners that Cable can’t hide from them forever, and can’t escape either with Katu holding down the perimeter field. One of the Kleinstocks tells her not to worry, that he won’t make it that far. Cable thinks to himself how wrong they are. The Acolytes have fallen for the old “divide and conquer” strategy.

The monitor shows him Javitz and Milan next. Javitz asks Milan if he’s picked up any signs of Cable. Milan reminds him how the base messes with his power to convert psionic impulses. Javitz tells him he’s even more useless than usual. Next up are Colossus and Voght. Cable is pleased to see what he views as his two biggest threats on the same team. Colossus voices his concerns to Amelia about how they’re treating Cable. He thought they were going to try and persuade him to join their cause, not antagonize him. Amelia tells him Cable is too stubborn to be persuaded by any other means. She also tells Colossus that she doesn’t care who he is, he’s no match for all of them and there’s no way he can be everywhere at once. Cable rubs his chin and thinks things are about to get fun.

West Coast of Florida, Port of Shark Bay:

Lee Forrester, captain of the trawler Arcadia, is getting ready for another trip to the Atlantic fishing rounds. She yells for her first mate, Paolo, to get his fishing net onboard. Paolo tells her he’s coming and under his breath complains about her nagging. Lee checks the net he bought and becomes upset. She asks him what he was thinking. He tells her it was cheaper. She tells him to return it immediately before she takes the cost out of his paycheck. He tosses the so-called net over his shoulder and plods back onto the dock, obviously irritated. As he’s walking he thinks to himself how she should be getting her own nets, and how he was only trying to save them some money.

His thoughts are cut short as what looks like a tentacle rises from the water, grabs him by the ankle, and rips him off the dock. He hits the water hard. His face, before it submerges, begins to decay and smoke pours out from his eye sockets. Whatever took Paolo feels better having sucked his life force dry. With each body he grows stronger and stronger and soon he will be whole again, the villain thinks to himself, and after he becomes whole he will take pleasure in rending the flesh of the ship’s captain, one layer at a time.

Meanwhile, Milan and Cargill are now teamed up and are traveling through one of the hallways. Milan checks his video monitor and assures Cargill that once they’re close enough to Cable he should be able to pick up his psi-patterns. Cargill sarcastically calls his video monitor a converted Gameboy. Milan, having endured several taunts recently regarding his mutant power, starts to complain about the abuse he’s taking, but then a picture starts to form on his monitor. It’s him and he’s upside down. Cable drops from the ceiling and says, “Boo”. Milan screams as Cable lifts him up into the air and out of sight. Cargill turns around to find Milan missing and his video unit on the ground. She calls out for him, but he doesn’t answer.

Elsewhere in the complex, one of the Kleinstocks asks the other two if they heard a scream. Unuscione tells him it was probably just the wind blowing through the tunnels. The other Kleinstock tells his brother not to worry, although if he actually turned around to talk to him he would see that his brother was being wrapped up by some of the complex’s vines. He asks his brother if he would feel better if they performed the merge. He doesn’t get a response and turns around in time to see a fleeting glimpse of one of the vines before it disappears. He yells out and goes after his brother into the darkness. Unuscione tells him to stop, as she now realizes what Cable is up to, but he doesn’t and disappears.

Unuscione puts up her exoskeleton as she senses Cable is about to attack. She asks him if he really thought he could sneak up on her and he tells her he thought he would give it a try. She swings at Cable with her force field shaped like a fist. Part of the wall begins to move and forms into the shape of a fist as well. It takes a swing at Unuscione and knocks her back. Unuscione can’t believe the walls are obeying his every gesture. Cable tells her he owes it all to Voght. When they came to that locked door earlier she told Cable how to open it, and he wondered why she didn’t just open it. Obviously she couldn’t and that’s the reason they recruited him. Cable’s wall-fist grabs Unuscione’s force field and crushes it causing extreme psychic feedback for the Acolyte. She passes out and hits the floor. Cable continues his monologue; the Acolytes knew he could psychically manipulate the techno-organics of his body, so they must have thought it wouldn’t be too difficult for him to control a base made of the same substance.

Now that Cable realizes the part he’s played in all of this he decides to get back to Omega Red to see what his deal is. As he steps through one of the walls, Cargill and the other Kleinstock meet him. Kleinstock has his fist aimed at Cables head prepared to fire off a plasma burst. He tells Cable that Omega Red is gone and that he better tell him where Milan and his brother are. Cable tells him he wants to know about Red first. Cargill walks over and decks Cable knocking him to the floor, telling him he’s in no position to barter. She then tells him what he wants to know anyway, that Omega is going to try to set himself off in the base since he can’t get into space. She explains that the death spore virus will be unleashed across the world in a few minutes, which is why they need their missing comrades so they can take them up to Avalon.

Cable tells her he’s not going to help her out, not with the world at stake. He tells her he won’t let her just walk away. Voght, who just showed up, says that Cable may have a point and there’s no time for argument. She transports Cable away leaving Cargill and Kleinstock behind.

They reappear in another room. Cable asks her why she let him get away. She tells him things have gotten out of hand and as leader of the group she needed to do something. She explains the only reason they enlisted Omega Red was because they knew his threat would draw Cable out. She was all for letting him complete his mission in space, but unbeknownst to her some of the Acolytes sabotaged his access. She tells Cable that not all Acolytes want to see humanity destroyed, they just want to be left out of their affairs. Cable asks her if she’s telling him everything. She admits she’s not, but tells him there’s no more time to explain. They take off for Omega Red.

Amelia spots someone ahead. “Uh-Oh”, she tells Cable, “they have company”. It’s Colossus and Cable quips how he wondered where he had went. He then tells Voght to teleport ahead while he stays and deals with Colossus.

Amelia reappears right outside the chamber where Omega Red is performing the procedure. He’s already hooked up to the bio-cellular matrix stabilizer. Omega spots her and mockingly suggests she transport herself as far away as possible lest she remain at ground zero for the release of his death spores. She tells him she’s there to put an end to his plan.

Omega leaps at her and tells her he didn’t think the Acolytes were the heroic type; after all they were the ones who prevented him from going into space thus ensuring a deadly plague was released on Earth. A glance at the machine shows the countdown stands at 4 minutes and 48 seconds. Omega wraps Amelia up in his coils and tells her his life-sucking addiction will end even if it means the conclusion to the entire human race, starting with her.

Back near the heart of the base, Cable, who knows that time is of the essence, wraps Colossus up in some vines hoping to end things quickly. Cable runs by as he falls to the ground. However, Colossus is able to grab hold of Cable’s ankle and knock him over too.

Colossus tells Cable not to judge him for joining the Acolytes after what he recently endured. Cable tells him he’s arrogant. Colossus tears free of the vines and tells Cable not to label him as arrogant until he understands. He tells him the Acolytes need Cable. Cable tells him they have a funny way of showing it and decks Colossus with a wall-fist. Colossus catches the giant fist as it hits him and squeezes it until it implodes. Colossus informs Cable that his powers are as formidable as Stryfe’s inside this fortress and that he can perfect those abilities with the Acolytes to protect mutantkind against Stryfe’s type of treachery. Cable gives Colossus a roundhouse kick that knocks him back. He asks Colossus if that’s really what it’s all about or is it that he wants to keep an eye on him in case he turns into someone like Stryfe. Then he asks Colossus if he blames him for his sister’s death.

Colossus yells, “Silence! Do not bring my sister into this!” and pummels Cable into the ground. He lifts Cable up in the air by his neck and brings back his fist to strike. He tells Cable that his sister has nothing to do with his motivation. Cable tells him he’s wrong and that she has everything to do with it. She’s the reason he left the X-Men, he tells him, the reason why he has hidden himself and why he is now following lunatics who are plotting the destruction of all humanity. Cable is able to maneuver himself out of Colossus’ hold and tries to flip over his back. Colossus grabs him midair and flings him into the tunnel wall.

Colossus tells Cable that he is wrong, that Xavier’s dream is a farce. He explains that if mutants and humans can’t coexist peacefully then they must build up walls to protect themselves from each other. He tells Cable he had hoped he would join them and help them in their mission.

Some vines shoot out from the wall behind Colossus and wrap him up again. This time one of them manages to wrap itself around his neck, choking him. As Colossus struggles to breathe, Cable tells him to listen to himself using words such as “mutants” and “flatscans”. He tells Colossus he’s sick of labels and that they’re all just human beings. Colossus starts feeling dizzy and slowly reverts to human form. Cable gives him a burst of telekinetics and a telepathic nudge to knock him out. He apologizes to the unconscious Colossus, but tells him he may understand it better if he gets a chance to sleep on it.

Cable takes off and finds himself quickly in Omega Red’s chamber. Red still has a grip on Amelia and is holding her up in the air. Cable dives at him, forcing him to drop Amelia. He gives Red an uppercut that sends him flying back. He enlightens Omega to the fact that this time his cybernetics can’t be anesthetized and it will be a fair fight. He then sends Omega Red smashing into some equipment. Red tells him to enjoy it while he can as his time is almost up. A quick glance at the machine shows there is only 29 seconds left until the process is complete.

Cable falls over as the death spore virus emanates from Omega Red. Red tells Cable he won’t allow his defeat to be so simple and that he will need his strong life force for the upcoming process. With a burst of electricity Katu appears behind Omega Red and hoists him into the air. He tells Cable not to worry and that he will mentally engage the base’s teleportation unit to transport both of them into space. Katu attempts the transport but nothing happens. Someone is overriding the matrix he says and then realizes it must be Cable. Cable tells him he won’t let him do it; he won’t let him sacrifice himself that way. Katu tells Cable he wouldn’t have made a good Acolyte. Then he turns his powers inward and implodes both him and Red. Red has time for one last scream before they both disappear.

Cable asks Voght if she knew about Katu’s plan to redirect Omega Red’s death spore virus to create a deadly shield around the Earth, cutting humans off from Avalon and space. Before she can answer, Colossus, Cargill and Kleinstock appear. Cable asks them if they still want to try and pound him into seeing things their way. Colossus tells him further conflict is useless. Cable tells Colossus he hopes he wasn’t part of the sabotage that almost caused the end of humanity. Colossus tells Cable to trust that he knows what he’s doing. Cable tells him he hopes so, for humanity’s sake. Cable leaves, angered. Colossus watches him go, dejected.

Characters Involved: 

Cable
Lee Forrester

Paolo (Lee’s first mate)

Omega Red

Joanna Cargill, Rusty Collins, Colossus, Javitz, Katu, Harlan Kleinstock, Sven Kleinstock, Milan, Scanner, Skids, Carmella Unuscione, Amelia Voght (all Acolytes)
Senyaka (psionic whip only)

Story Notes: 

This issue picks up directly from where the previous issue left off.

Omega Red was ambushed and severely beaten off-panel in the previous issue by the majority of the Acolytes as they knew this was the only place he could go to complete his mission.

Lee Forrester once had a relationship with both Cyclops and Magneto. She met Cyclops when he took a leave of absence from the X-Men following Jean’s funeral and joined her boat crew in Uncanny X-Men #143. They got to know each other over time and one day Cyclops had to dive overboard to rescue Lee and they ended up washing ashore a strange island in the Bermuda Triangle. It turned out to be a secret base of Magneto’s. After being rescued and following a journey into outer space where Cyclops met his father, he returned to Florida to see Lee. He told her about his upcoming trip to visit his grandparents in Alaska with Alex and his dad. She basically gave him an ultimatum, either be a superhero or be with her. Scott never had the chance to choose as he met Madelyne Pryor, his future wife and mother of Cable, during his family vacation. In Uncanny X-Men #188 Lee was out at sea when she found Magneto adrift and about to be eaten by a shark. She saved him from the shark and later took him to the same secret island base in the Bermuda Triangle. While there, they became more then friends. Their relationship broke off when Magneto was called upon by Xavier to help the X-Men and New Mutants against the Beyonder. These events transpired in New Mutants (1st series) #23-24, 26, 28-29

Paolo almost got into fisticuffs with Cyclops in Uncanny X-Men #144 when he reached for Scott’s ruby quartz sunglasses.

Senyaka was last seen and seemingly killed in Uncanny X-Men #304. It was there Magneto used his powers to crush him with his own psionic whip. Earlier, in X-Factor #92, Senyaka and some other Acolytes had killed dozens of innocent humans at a hospital, and although Magneto would’ve given his blessing for the mission, he wasn’t asked. Therefore Senyaka needed to be punished. His resurrection is explained in the next issue.

A Gameboy is a hand-held video gaming device created and manufactured by Nintendo.

Colossus joined up with the Acolytes in Uncanny X-Men #304. The event he is referring to when he says, “what I recently have endured” is the death of his sister, Illyana, to the Legacy virus.

Stryfe is a clone of Cable and also the mastermind of the Legacy virus. This is what Cable is referring to when he asks Colossus if he blames him for his sister’s death.

The last time Omega Red and Cable fought, Cable was undergoing an analysis by Moira MacTaggert on Muir Island. His cybernetics were anesthetized for most of the battle and Omega Red easily defeated him. This occurred in the first part of this storyline in Cable #09.

Katu reappeared in Uncanny X-Men #366 without any explanation. Omega Red’s next appearance was in Generation X #10 also without any explanation.

Three Marvel Masterprint cards of “Amazing Spider-Man” are inserted in the middle of the comic between pages 16 and 17. The three cards are Chameleon, Spider-Man and Kraven.

Issue Information: 
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