Part 3: Tragic Events Lead to Authority
However, it was not the threat of the return of Magneto which would propel Bastion to greater authority. It was the threat of Onslaught. For months, who or what was Onslaught had been an enigma to both Operation: Zero Tolerance, as well as the X-Men, in whom Onslaught seemed to have special interest. Eventually, it was revealed that not only was Onslaught a person, but it had been Professor Xavier, driven mad for months after having inadvertently absorbed part of the psyche of Magneto. Given greater power by way of the crimson gem of Cyttorak, as well as the reality-altering powers of Franklin Richards, Onslaught took control of the entire island of Manhattan. Shortly thereafter, the X-Men were joined in their battle against Onslaught by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. With the help of the Avengers, specifically Thor, Xavier was separated from Onslaught, which had evolved to the point where it could exist as its own entity. Driven to disgust at both humanity and mutantkind, especially after glimpsing from Nate Grey how mutants ruled in the world in the dimension some had come to call the Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught decided to end all life on the planet. It was only through the apparent sacrifice of the Fantastic Four and Avengers that Onslaught was stopped. In the aftermath, the world looked on in horror, as the Earth’s mightiest heroes had perished on national television to end the threat of a mutant, while the outlaw team called the X-Men, they themselves mutants, survived. [Onslaught crossover]
As Graydon Creed rode the domestic public outrage closer to being elected president of the United States, Bastion used the international horror to increase support for Operation: Zero Tolerance. Further, his organization took charge of the Sentinel facility in Kentucky which Onslaught 
had used to construct his own models of Sentinels. To the delight of Harper, their analysis showed that these Sentinels were antiquated next to the advanced models designed by Bastion. Uncanny X-Men #337] However, the greatest coup for Bastion post-Onslaught incident was that Professor Xavier himself fell into Bastion’s hands. Having realized that, though his actions had not truly been his own, he had come very close to ending all life on the planet, Charles Xavier felt it his duty to turn himself in to the Committee on Mutant Affairs. Only by turning himself over voluntarily could he assuage those of authority that he posed no threat to the world. [X-Men (2nd series) #57] Unfortunately for Xavier, however, his custody would quickly fall under the auspices of Operation: Zero Tolerance – and Bastion.
By this time, perhaps as a result of the Onslaught incident, Operation: Zero Tolerance had been assigned the abandoned Hulkbuster base in New Mexico. As part of its operation, it had been modified to act as a containment facility for dangerous individuals. Among its first detainees was Charles Xavier. 
However, Xavier was not alone, as elsewhere in the facility was a young girl named Nina, one of a group of synthetic children called Mannites. Though she had trouble expressing her origins in terms Xavier could understand during their secret conversations, it was clear that whatever her past she had come under the supervision of Bastion and Operation: Zero Tolerance. For reasons of his own, Bastion held secret Xavier’s true identity of Professor X, his status as a mutant or as the founder and mentor of the X-Men from others, such as Peter Henry Gyrich, who repeatedly objected to an ordinary citizen being held in maximum security. Despite objections, Bastion continued to hold and interrogate Xavier, even using physical blows in anger when Xavier would not answer his questions. [Onslaught Epilogue]
Still, opportunities availed themselves to Bastion on US soil, brought to him by other government agencies. For some time, the US military had been searching for a mutant precog calling himself “Preacher.” Finding a painting he had made of a mutant they had identified as Shard, the brass ordered the release of a cybernetic monstrosity called the Hound. The Hound’s mission led to the deserts outside of Las Vegas, where it obtained the technological bracelet which contained Shard, who in actuality was a hologramatic recreation of a mutant from the future, built into a bracelet device constructed in the future.
Though the bracelet, and therefore Shard, fell into the hands of Bastion and his research facility in Area 51, Shard was liberated from the facility by Storm, Bishop and Wild Child, who had been tipped to the location by Preacher. While the trio succeeded in their mission, Preacher himself soon thereafter fell into Bastion’s hands. Provided with a remote cabin in the Colorado Rockies, he was ordered to continue painting scenes of the future – thereby becoming a source of unique intelligence for Bastion. [Uncanny X-Men Annual ‘96] However, even though he was denied his prize of Shard and her technology from the future, Bastion questioned mutant inventor Forge, believing that he had something to do with her technology. [X-Factor (1st series) #127]
Clearly, Bastion’s position was growing domestically, both politically and in terms and of resources. Still, Bastion longed to continue the growth of Operation: Zero Tolerance internationally. Among his international trips was one to Japan, where he attempted to convince government & military officials. [Wolverine Annual ‘96]
Over the next several months, Bastion continued to spread his influence in the States, in situations both subtle and direct. Like the computerized entities he had been in a previous life, he multitasked effortlessly, never letting his attention fall on a single task. When J. Jonah Jameson attempted to look into the past of presidential candidate Graydon Creed, Bastion attempted to intervene. [Uncanny X-Men #339] After Emma Frost came to his attention [Generation X #20], Bastion had her investigated and personally reviewed the data with his assistant, Daria. [Generation X #23] In turn, Bastion’s investigation drew his attention to the Hellfire Club, which he promptly began to have surveilled. [X-Man #22]
Simultaneously, authorities turned to Bastion for assistance or advice. When the homicidal pseudo-vigilante called Venom was captured, police officials notified Bastion, suspecting that Venom might be a mutant. Taking the time to personally meet with him in prison, Bastion sized him up for possible future recruitment as an operative. [Venom On Trial #1] Just as well, US military officials not only notified Bastion upon detecting a humanoid figure entering Earth’s atmosphere, but took orders from him to shoot it down. Likewise, Bastion ordered the military to stand down, once they realized it was the Silver Surfer. [Silver Surfer (3rd series) #123] The time soon came when Bastion began to move more proactively, less in the shadows. In one such gambit, Bastion convinced the handlers of the government-sponsored team of X-Factor to hand over Mystique to his hands. However, rather than complying, Forge and the rest of X-Factor not only refused, but quit the employ of the government, becoming a rogue team. [X-Factor (1st series) #132]
Part 4: The Pieces in Place, the Trap is Sprung
Upon his rebirth, Bastion had nothing but his new humanity and the knowledge of cybernetic science yet to be invented. Through his drive and determination, he achieved a position of authority in a government agency, which he then began to build into an internationally recognized organization. As he armed this organization with new breeds of Sentinels, Bastion stretched his hand to other government agencies, eventually having them all answer to him. All this, Bastion had achieved, in preparation for his plan, which was to begin with the capture of a little girl.
For weeks, Jubilation Lee, known to her friends as Jubilee, had been a member of Emma Frost’s group of students, which Frost and her co-headmaster 
Banshee called Generation X. When the students came under attack by Banshee’s cousin, Black Tom Cassidy, Jubilee went for help, only to be confronted by one of Black Tom’s creations, a plant-based creation duplicating another mutant named Mondo. About to lose her life, Jubilee was saved by Bastion, who coldly killed the creature. However, Bastion’s motives were less than benevolent, as he quickly showed, knocking Jubilee out. Having avoided a direct confrontation with the X-Men to date, Bastion saw the young girl, with her ties to the outlaw team, as an inroad. [Generation X #25]
Immediately, Bastion brought the unconscious Jubilee to the former Hulkbuster base, Operaton: Zero Tolerance’s main base of operations. Soon after regaining consciousness, however, Jubilee’s training kicked in and she quickly overpowered her guards, 
making good her escape. Nevertheless, despite the seriousness of her plight, Jubilee paused from her flight to provide resuscitation to one of the guards she injured with her powers. Her pause did allow more guards to arrive, but Jubilee still outfought them and made her way outside. However, as the base was in a remote area, her escape was never a possibility and she was easily recaptured. Still, the video of Jubilee’s pause was enough to give Bastion pause of a different type. [Uncanny X-Men #343, Generation X #26]
Soon thereafter, Jubilee found herself restrained by a straightjacket, with a large contraption affixed to her head. In this manner, she was questioned by Bastion. Using an elaborate series of holograms, Bastion did his best to convince Jubilee that the X-Men had already been killed. His plan was to trigger a particularly harsh emotional reaction, whereupon the helmet monitoring her thoughts would pick up stray thoughts and thus betray the X-Men. However, Bastion went too far in his attempt when he displayed an image of a tortured Wolverine, begging for mercy. Knowing that this could not be the case, Jubilee no longer believed anything Bastion told her, vowing never to be broken. [Generation X #27]
Thus thwarted, Bastion moved his attention to the next step and ordered Harper and the rest of Operation: Zero Tolerance to move on the X-Men they had identified in Hong Kong upon their return. 
Flying back from a mission on a loaned jet, the X-Men were suddenly attacked by two O:ZT experimental aircraft, which easily downed that of the X-Men’s. Even as the air battle occurred, Bastion began the public relations offensive, leaking footage of the event to news networks. In addition, Special Agent Peter Henry Gyrich announced on a news program that three high security assault ships, while on field maneuvers, had been attacked by five X-Men. Further, Gyrich provided to the public their first sanctioned announcement of the existence of Operation: Zero Tolerance, describing it as a task force composed of representatives of several countries to contain the mutant menace, once and for all.
Among the many items of information that Gyrich omitted in his report was the deployment for the first time of the new design of Sentinels, the Prime Sentinels. It was with these new weapons that all five X-Men on the craft - Cannonball, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and Wolverine – were captured alive. Simultaneous to this, another operation composed of yet more Prime Sentinels took possession of the X-Men’s mansion in Westchester, NY and, using codes obtained from mental probings of Jubilee, confiscated Xavier’s most secret computer files, such as the Xavier Protocols, Danger Room schematics & information on the Mutant Underground. While all of these files had been wisely encrypted, Bastion gloated to Xavier that he had all the time in the world to break them, one at a time. [X-Men (2nd series) #65]
Now the public had been made aware of Operation: Zero Tolerance, plans months in the making were enacted. Some months previous, an informant of the Mutant Liberation Front’s in the Department of Defense had been discovered by O:ZT. However, instead of exposing it, O:ZT had waited for their public disclosure, whereupon they provided disinformation to the MLF that the Wakeman Oncological Research Center in St. Louis, Missouri was actually a laboratory developing a version of the Legacy virus to be used as a weapon. When the MLF took control of the facility, the trap was sprung and O:ZT surrounded the facility, while three “employees” revealed themselves to be Prime Sentinels and attacked. Though it was not a complete success due to the unforeseen intervention of X-Force, Commander Ekaterina Gryaznova reported via com screen to Bastion of which mutants had taken into custody. However, back at the Xavier estate, Bastion was having his own troubles. [X-Force (1st series) #67-68]
Having learned of the assault on the mansion from his friend, Shield agent GW Bridge, Cable made a counter-assault, easily passing through the First Strike troops guarding the perimeter. Once inside, Cable rescued a detained Caliban and took him to the safety of the tunnels below which once led to the Morlock tunnel beneath New York, far away. As Bastion above coordinated the First Strike troops search of the estate, Cable made his way to the mansion’s computer mainframe, where he downloaded and erased the Xavier Protocol files, right under Bastion’s nose. Though learning of Cable’s actions too late, Bastion himself confronted Cable as he attempted to leave. He informed Cable that his hackers had already extracted the Cerebro files, which would allow him to track anyone born with the X-Factor gene. Already, Bastion claimed, he had ordered his men to begin the liquidation of every name in that file, if he came to harm.
Having gotten Cable’s attention, Bastion proceeded to stun the mutant with the litany of sensitive information he had gathered on him and the rest of the X-Men, including Cable’s name and personal history. Though no doubt unnerved by Bastion’s possession of his deepest secrets, Cable refused to succumb to Bastion’s threat of genocide against the return of the data Cable had downloaded and deleted. Rather, he put a gun to Bastion’s back and, with great effort, used his telepathy to overcome the psi-shields of the First Strike troops’ armor and cause them to depart the mansion. To Cable’s surprise, however, Bastion was not affected by the telepathy, making Cable realize that he was not a normal human. Strained by the telepathic effort, Cable collapsed into unconsciousness. However, upon awakening, he found that Bastion had departed, having evidently decided for his own reasons to allow Cable to keep his freedom. [Cable (2nd series) #45-47]