Port Genosha, the first distillery on Krakoa:
Forge enters and asks Tempo how the last batch turned out. Whiskey’s not really her thing, she replies and suggests he ask the dandy over there. She is referring to Sebastian Shaw, who muses that last week they set out to make the world’s best whiskey, a goal that should have taken years, but today they both succeeded. The Five returned his son to him, but Forge and Tempo working in concert are the true miracle workers of Krakoa. Tempo’s ability to age the whiskey to fifty years after it was newly made is truly mutantdom’s finest work. And now he will leave, as it seems they have another appointment.
Storm enters and curtly asks to speak to Forge alone. He asks her what is going on. A group of Russians are making his old power-dampening weapons, she reveals. Forge protests. He deleted all the files when he quit the US government. Storm asks if he is sure he got everything. Of course, he boasts, but then recalls that Daniels, one of the engineers working under him at the Department of Defense, did have a photographic memory. Storm swears.
A little later, the Quiet Council waits for the White Queen. Sophie of the Stepford Cuckoos convenes Emma’s regret, but she won’t be joining them today. She explains that Bishop has succeeded in hacking Madripoor’s government. The intel revealed cooperation between the Verendi government of Madripoor, Russia and Brazil. A freighter has been identified as a floating factory for the Russian weapons based on Forge’s old design. A scientist who used to work for Forge went missing two days after Xavier’s message to the world.
Shaw wonders if Krakoa isn’t a little young to be taking on half the world and suggests relegating the matter to X-Force. Now, where is Emma? Looking at him coldly, Sophie spells out that the Marauders have sailed off to war. She is here to tell the Council to give them a wide berth.
Nightcrawler suggests they should discuss this. Xavier agrees. In the meantime, Magneto sends to Sophie that she should tell Emma to leave none to tell the tale. Sophie complies.
Aboard the Russian freighter, one man announces there is an iceberg ahead. His superior calls him an idiot. They are in the South Pacific near the equator. He looks up to see an iceberg, on which stand Iceman and Storm. He gives orders to reverse the ship, but they are stuck in even more ice.
Iceman tells Emma, it’s time for her move. The Mercury hovers above the ship. Forge and Bishop teleport down to free Daniels, who was force to work for the Russians, while Pyro and Emma teleport to another part of the ship. Pyro still marvels that the Mercury is a UFO. A tale for another time, Emma remarks.
When they run into some armed guards, Emma surprises them by flashing her breasts. With all of the men having only one thing on their minds, Emma easily takes mental control of them and has them shoot at each other (kneecaps mostly).
Bishop alerts Christian Frost that he has their package ready for extraction.
In the meantime, another Russian military plans to self-destruct the ship, but he is stopped by Callisto and her knife. Emma walks up to him and takes the power neutralizer. The man threatens there is going to be hell to pay for her people when this story gets out. Unimpressed, Emma replies she hasn’t written their story yet, but it goes something like this: They are going to fall into a deep sleep and, when they awake, they will have no memory of the last month. They will have nothing but warm thoughts for mutants and other oppressed minorities. Gay, disabled, trans… it doesn’t matter. Any thought of cruelty to those different will make them physically ill. They will have no knowledge how their ship was lost, just that a UFO collected them and little gray aliens prodded them before sending them back to Red Square.
With that done, the UFO destroys the ship. With everybody aboard Christian’s submarine, Bishop asks where Hellfire Trading got a UFO from and how Christian is controlling it with a piano.
Christian explains that, if Bishop were flying it, he would choose a different interface. It’s all in the captain’s head. And how they came to possess the ship, well, there’s a tale. Bishop wants to know. Christian tells him to ask his sister.
On a Krakoan beach, Forge is talking with Daniels, who admires what they have done on Krakoa. Forge remarks that he couldn’t help but notice that Daniel was throwing his work. He shortened the time that Forge’s ill-conceived creation acts on mutant powers, didn’t he? Daniels agrees. Did Forge examine the chip set? He hid a message asking for help in there. Forge admits he didn’t. Chastened, he regrets his invention and that Daniels has a photographic memory. Daniels realizes that means he can’t go home. Forge tells him he would never be safe. He won’t remember everything about his old life, but don’t worry, he’ll make sure he will enjoy the Krakoan retirement plan in Rio Verde. Emma begins to work on him.
Rio Verde, a golfing place:
Masque swears as he misses the hole. Daniels joins him and suggests he bend his knees. After some hesitation, he introduces himself as Dan Molina. Masque welcomes him. It will be nice to have someone to play the game with. Most of his friends don’t care for it.
The Arbor Magna:
The Five and Xavier are confused and frustrated. They’ve been trying nonstop but for some reason all resurrection attempts of Kate Pryde fail. Xavier tells them he will inform the White Queen of his decision tomorrow.
