The wind billowed through what was once Roswell, New Mexico. The famed town had been demolished in Onslaught's first wave as the Psychic High Lord attempted to find any weapons of extraterrestrial origin to aid in his take-over of the Earth. Had he explored approximately a thousand miles to the west, he would have found where the US Government stored the alien technology acquired in the Roswell crash, the infamous Area 51. Now the town lay desolate, a reminder of what humanity had been.

Outside Roswell was a different story. There a fortress stood, housing the greatest weapon Onslaught ever acquired; Master Mould. Once a weapon for the Human High Council, somehow, Master Mould was turned. Now the 'father' of the Sentinels was tasked with creating enough Sentinels to completely obliterate Onslaught's greatest threat. Apocalypse.

Several miles from this fortress, two men watched the Sentinels on their patrols of the area, searching for them no doubt. They were the X-Men, or what was left of the Jade team of X-Men; team leader Havok and Cannonball. The rest of the team had been taken down by Master Mould's Sentinels and a traitor within their ranks. Now the two plotted a way to free the remainder of the team from Master Mould and Sanctity. Unfortunately, any plan they were able to come up with meant certain suicide.

Havok smiled. He liked plans like that. They always worked.

(See Last issue - Tony)

"You dirty bi--!"

Sanctity slapped Warbird across the face. Carol hung her head. Sanctity had been beating the team's three women for several hours. Cecilia was broken, and hung limply against her manacles. Carol still had some defiance within her, but she had been beaten severely. It would be some time before she could be able to defy Sanctity again. But Rachel was the worst off of the three.

The woman otherwise known as Cable hung in a soundproof force-field, writhing in pain. The force-field also dampened psi powers, rendering Rachel's telepathy and telekinesis useless. On top of all that, Rachel's body had been infected with the techno-organic virus. Without her telekinesis to prevent the virus from spreading, Cable would die within the hour.

Sanctity crossed the room and passed through the field which held Rachel. Cable's screams were ear-splitting. Sanctity laughed at her former comrade's pain.

"A little bit of silicon hurt that much?" she taunted.

"Sanctity!" Rachel gasped. "You--" Tanya slapped her hand over Rachel's mouth.

"Already heard that one from Carol over there -- wave!" Sanctity waved, and Carol screamed an obscenity that neither of them could hear through the sound-proof walls. "Ah, so much power wasted in the wrong cause."

"Wh-why di-did you d-do this?" Rachel stammered through sobs.

"Let's say, I had a vision," Sanctity smirked, drawing her psi-sword and nicking Rachel's cheek. "You might call it...a 'revelation'." She cackled at her own joke. "The point is, dear sister -- you don't mind me calling you sister, do you? -- that you're going to die."

"Then I'll see you in Hell," Cable swore.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Sanctity laughed. She raised her sword. Rachel cringed. She was dead. Sanctity brought it down. Rachel braced herself for the blade's kiss.

The butt of the sword slammed into Rachel's temple and knocked her unconscious.

"Good night Cable," Tanya said, leaving her. "I hope your death will be better than your short life."

Lawrence Trask looked at Banshee and Chamber. The three men had been separated from their team-mates after Sanctity had attacked them. It had taken some time to convince Banshee that Sanctity had betrayed them, but Sean eventually accepted the truth.

"Speak of the devil," Revelation muttered. Sanctity entered the room, a cloak of blood-red silk over hanging over her shoulders.

"Oh, that's who I'm being compared to now?" she laughed. "Just a few moments ago, the ladies seems to think I was a dog. Funny, isn't it?" She motioned to someone behind her. One of Master Mould's Prime Sentinels strode to Tanya's side.

"Bring my brother," she ordered. "Master Mould wishes to see him." The Prime unshackled Lawrence and drug him into the hallway. He then stood him upright and pushed him into step with Sanctity.

"Why did you do this?" Revelation growled.

"Many reasons," Sanctity replied, her face suddenly dark.

"Name one."

"Remember when I first manifested my powers?" she asked. He nodded. "I'd drift in and out of the timestream...into the past, the future, whenever...but I'd always come back. It was interesting to see the past. Watch Onslaught's rise to power. Watch Bishop gather the X-Men. Watch the first conflicts between the X-Men and the Prelates."

"Get to the point." Revelation spat.

"But the future was a desolate thing. What I saw there is something I never want to see again. I saw the tombstones of the X-Men. I saw X-Force, X-Posse, and our new recruits in death camps. I saw Bishop and X-Man leading a last futile assault on Onslaught. I saw them all die." Sanctity looked at Revelation, her lips drawn into a sneer. "Bishop's dream is useless. I've seen it myself. You're going to lose, dear brother. I just picked the winning side."

Revelation balled his hands into fists, ready to lash out at his sister. He would have done so as well, if it hadn't been for the Sentinel ready to tear him apart if he so much as moved. "You think I haven't seen all that!?! Tanya, I've seen all of that and more! I saw our victories. I saw our losses. I saw three generations of X-Men fight alongside each other. I saw what you thought was the final assault, followed closely by the man called Apocalypse and his assault." Revelation stopped and spun Sanctity to face him. "There's one difference between the two of us Sanctity. One thing. You know what that is? Hope. Pure and simple."

"Then you're fighting for something stupid Lawrence."

"No, Tanya. You are."

"Let's move," Havok said. Cannonball put his arms underneath Havok's and ignited his blast field, carrying them both into the air. The air screamed as they flew towards the fortress. Sentinels were alerted to their presence seconds before they hit. Seconds too late.

A blast of Alex's pure cosmic plasma tore the outer wall apart, and Sam's blast field took care of the next one. As they hit the ground the Sentinels mobbed them. Alex used blast after blast to rip them to shreds, while Sam manipulated his blast field around his hands and feet, creating hyper-powered blows. Phase one had worked.

"If you can hear us," Alex called into his comm-link, "we're comin' for you!"

Revelation was led into Master Mould's control room. Sanctity's Prime Sentinel bodyguard crossed the room to join a squadron stationed around Master Mould. Sanctity bowed to the giant Sentinel, while Revelation stood back defiantly.

"I have brought my brother," she declared.

"I see that," Master Mould said. There was a hiss of pneumatics, and the chest cavity of Master Mould opened. Out stepped a man with grey hair and a matching goatee. He was in a black bodysuit with a purple collar and cuffs.

"Hello Lawrence," he called. He strode down the side of Master Mould and walked to Revelation. He laughed at the look of pure shock upon Lawrence's face.

"Pay no heed to the man behind the curtain," he laughed. "I am Bastion."

"Is that the real Master Mould?" Revelation asked, confused.

"This?" he said, rapping his knuckles on the foot. "This is Master Mould version two, identical to the original, excepting the cavity for a pilot. The original is in cold storage in Siberia." Bastion laughed at his joke.

"Why did you do this? The Sentinels are humanity's only weapon against Onslaught."

"Onslaught himself promised me a little piece of his empire," Bastion said. "And since I can create Sentinels -- Hell, I invented the Primes for him -- I'm more valuable to him than almost any other being on the planet. I could destroy Onslaught and he knows that."

"So why don't you?"

"I will, once I have my children by my side," he said, walking away from Revelation. "I already have my daughter."

"What are you talking about?" Revelation gasped.

"What's the matter Lawrence?" Bastion laughed. "Don't you recognise your own father? I admit, the nanites did change my appearance a lot."

"How dare you lie like that?!" Revelation spat. "My father was a good man. He would never ally himself with scum like Onslaught."

Bastion strode back to Lawrence and back-handed him viscously. "That scum is a god, and if you want to survive, you'll treat him as such!"

"Go to He--" Bastion punched Revelation hard enough to knock him out.

"Put him with the rest of the X-Men, and prepare for the two that just began to attack." He got back into the pilot cavity of Master Mould. "I want them dead by nightfall."

*KRAKOOM!*

Havok strode down the hall, freshly clear of Sentinels. Sam followed close behind with plasma weapons in hand. Alex had changed the amplitude of each blast with each wave of Primes so they couldn't adapt.

"Incoming!" Sam screamed. Alex had seen them. There had been no need to yell. He didn't dare tell Sam.

*KRAKOOM!*

"Another one bites the dust!" Alex whooped triumphantly.

{I can hear th' two o' you!} Chamber suddenly teleflashed. {I'm trying to be unconscious here! Could you knock it off?}

"How far away do you think we are Jono?" Alex asked.

{Sean thinks no more than a hundred yards,} Jono said. {They've got him gagged pretty good. Just about strangling the poor bloke.}

"Here comes another round!" Sam said. Alex primed a blast but cursed.

"They've got Revelation!" he yelled into the comm-link, as the Primes approached them using Lawrence as a human shield. "We can't do anything!"

{I think I can,} Jono grunted. A bright beam burst from a wall, and sliced through the hall. A cloud of dust and molten steel exploded into the corridor. Chamber walked through the debris, his bio-nuclear furnace blazing. Several surgical bio-blasts took out the Primes holding Revelation. Chamber rushed to catch his team-mate.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Alex asked, joining Chamber, who fanned the unconscious Revelation. Dried blood was caked under his nose from a powerful blow.

{Just barely built up enough strength through the interference of the power negator,} Chamber said with a facial expression that resembled a smile. {They had to give me some degree of my powers to keep me alive. Bad move!}

"Ah'd say," Sam laughed. "Let's get Sean free and find the ladies," Havok ordered.

Bastion cursed. "Intercept them before they reach that holding cell," he ordered within Master Mould.

"Make sure they do not rescue them." Bastion ordered, as Sanctity started to stride out to do her father's bidding. "Tanya!" he roared.

Sanctity spun with a look of utter fear on her face. "Yes?"

"Stay here," he said. "I'm going to need your assistance. Let the Primes handle the X-Men."

"Yes," she replied, "of course."

The hall was filled with utter destruction. Cosmic plasma, sonic booms, bio-kinetic fire, and weapons-grade plasma ripped through the Sentinels. Revelation, now partially awake, was supported by Cannonball as the two fired into the midst of the Sentinels.

{They're close!} Chamber flashed. {Cable's got a psi signature like a flare in the middle of a cloudy night!}

"Interesting analogy," Revelation muttered.

"They're trying to overwhelm us before we get to the rest of the team!" Havok screamed over one of his blasts.

"They're not goin' t' succeed boyo!" Banshee yelled before unleashing a devastating sonic scream.

{Here!} Jono blasted a door in, and the X-Men ducked inside to find Doc, Warbird, and Cable.

"Blast it!" Revelation staggered away from Cannonball. He started to wipe away the blood on his face, franticly looking for a shut-off to the power inhibitor.

"Larry, over here!" Sam called. Revelation walked over to Cannonball, this time a bit steadier. "This panel looks important. Which button do y' think it is?" A blast of hot plasma melted the panel.

"Doesn't matter," Revelation said, lowering the smoking gun. He holstered the pistol then rushed to Cable's side. Her body was covered in techno-organic material. It looked like the TO virus had finally overwhelmed Cable. He searched for a pulse. He couldn't feel one.

"No!" Revelation cried as he started CPR, pounding on Rachel's chest, pausing only to give her emergency breaths. "Come on! Come on Rachel! I know you're stronger than this! You're not going to let this thing beat you! Come on!"

Once Doc was freed, she rushed to help Revelation. She felt for a pulse, listened for breathing but shook her head. "She's gone," Cecilia said. "There's no use."

"NO!" Revelation screamed. He picked up her limp body and held it in his arms. "No Rachel. You can't be gone. We need you. Your dad needs you. Humanity needs you." He paused for an instant. "I need you." He pressed his lips lightly to hers.

"Incoming!" Warbird cried, priming her nega bands.

Havok laid his hand on Revelation's shoulder. "Come on son. We need your help."

"Give me one more second," Lawrence replied.

"Hurry lad!" Banshee said. "Th' Sentinels aren't going to wait for ye all day!" The team had already started blasting into the hallway to stop the advance of the Sentinels.

"Okay." He started to lay Cable's body down, when a movement caught his eye. "She's breathing! She's alive!"

Cable took another breath, this time deeper. Revelation could see the techno-organic appearance of her skin slowly disappear.

"Tell little Miss Lazarus we could use her help!" Cannonball yelled.

Rachel's eyes fluttered open. "Whu-where am I? There was the dark tunnel, with a light at the end. And then --" She looked up at Lawrence. "-- then I heard you?"

"Cable, hate to cut your return from the dead short, but we need help!" Havok cried, blasting away at the overwhealmig onslaught of Sentinels charging all around them.

"My psimitar," she gasped. "Where is it?"

"Here!" Banshee tossed the weapon to Revelation and he handed it to Rachel.

"Let's rock 'n' roll!"

The X-Men moved down the corridor in a combined front. Havok screamed for them to duck into a side door. As they rushed inside one by one, Cannonball whistled in awe.

"Wow, look at all o' th' Sentinels!" he exclaimed.

{Havok! Check this out!} Havok joined Chamber and saw that the charges that the team had placed the previous day were still intact.

"We can still blow this place?" Havok whispered. "Hah, hah! We can still blow this place!"

"What're ye talkin' about?" Banshee asked.

Warbird caught on. "The timers are gone," she said, "but if we blow these buggers up, we'll starts a chain reaction through the entire fortress!"

"Awesome!"

"Let's just do it and get done," Doc said. "I'm a doctor, not a pyrotechnician."

"Then me, Chamber, Banshee and Warbird will do it," Havok said, and started issuing orders. After he detailed a plan, he turned to the rest team. "Hold the Primes back at all costs. Got it? Let's move!"

There they stood in what could possibly be the last stand of the X-Men. Four faced the scores upon scores of Sentinels. Four faced several squadrons of the deadliest Sentinels ever created.

"Ready?!" Havok screamed. The team nodded as a united entity, which they were with the help of Cable's powers. "NOW!!!!"

*KRAKOOM!*

The rumble of energy in the room was deafening. Havok, Chamber, and Warbird's energies were blurred together with Banshee's sonic scream as they tore apart the Sentinels, starting a chain reaction that would tear apart the fortress. The others fought the Prime Sentinels the only way they knew how.

Cannonball blasted through them, throwing them aside like bowling pins. Doc shielded Revelation while Lawrence blasted the Sentinels apart from within the confines of her force-field. Cable spun her psimitar left, right, up down, repeating a deadly pattern over and over, and slicing through the Sentinels as easy as a knife would butter.

The X-Men were winning. And not so far away Bastion knew it...

"I have recalled the Primes," Sanctity said.

"A wise choice my daughter," Bastion said from within Master Mould. "Order them to regroup over the designated rendezvous point."

"Where would that be?"

"A place called Area 51," Bastion said. The foundations of the building shook. "Come now. We must depart for that place as well."

A small compartment opened within Master Mould's leg, and Sanctity stepped inside. The door clanged shut, and the lights pierced the small space after an instant.

"The X-Men will pay for the injustice they did this day," said Bastion through a small speaker on the wall.

"Yes," Sanctity said, sitting down. "They shall." A small viewscreen flickered into existence in time to see the fortress crumble to the ground.

The fortress lay in ruins, burying everything within. Nothing moved. It seemed all inside had been destroyed. But there was one slight movement in the area that once housed the standard model Sentinels.

"Cable, you can let the bubble go now," Havok said.

"Alex, there's a lot more rubble here than you think," Rachel gasped. "About a ton."

"Chamber, could you ignite the rubble at the molecular level?" Alex asked thoughtfully.

{It'd take a lot o' energy,} Jono replied. {It might be enough to finally kill me.}

"Let's hope that doesn't happen," Banshee muttered. "Do it boyo."

Chamber nodded then closed his eyes. His bio-nuclear furnace flashed white, as Jono concentrated as much energy as he could into tearing apart the rubble burying them. There was a blinding flash from above, and then Chamber collapsed. Havok picked him up as Cable's telekinetic bubble disappeared.

"Debriefing in the Blackbird en route," he ordered. "We've got to get off the ground and after Master Mould."

"No," Revelation said. "It's not Master Mould."

"What?"

"I'll explain after I contact the Human High Council in Asia," he said, gazing after Master Mould and the Prime Sentinels following him.

"Humanity might still have a chance."