Weapon X (1st series) #4

Issue Date: 
June 1995
Story Title: 
Into the Maelstrom !
Staff: 

Larry Hama (writer), Adam Kubert (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Joe Rosas and Digital Chameleon (colors), Pat Brosseau (letters), Bob Harras (editor, editor in chief)

Brief Description: 

Emma walks Gateway through a virtual reality reenactment of one of the human cullings in America. Gateway seems to be callous though and he denies her plea for his assistance. Logan, however, is able to change Gateway's mind by showing him the image of an innocent little girl being brutally murdered. With Gateway joining the council in their attack, the council moves on with their plan to attack Apocalypse's citadel in New York. As the council prepares themselves, elsewhere Apocalypse is approached by Rex and is informed of the council's movements looking more like they are on the verge of attacking. Apocalypse seems to not care, because he believes that Pierce and his other enhanced humans will succeed in their mission to stop the council's uprising. Back in Paris, the council, Logan, and Gateway are aboard the lead airship moving towards America. Logan finds Emma talking to Braddock who gets angry and walks away as Logan approaches because of Emma's accusations of Braddock not being able to handle leading the attack. Logan and Emma talk for a few moments of Braddock's suicidal wishes and Logan talks to Emma about his feelings of betrayal by his lover Jean. A short while later, Emma is on the bridge with Brian as the airship approaches a large weather storm when two enhanced humans attack them. Logan and Gateway are not on the bridge when it is attacked; they are on the top of the airship. Pierce is one of the enhanced humans and he orders the other to attack the two mutants on top of the ship, just as he radios the closest station of Infinites to send Interceptors to blow the airships out of the sky. Sadly, the two mutants find that the other enhanced human is none other than their friend Carol Danvers. Logan tries to talk Carol out of killing Gateway, while below them Braddock shows his true colors by betraying the council and siding with Pierce. Luckily for the others, Braddock comes to his senses and is able to blow Piece out of the cockpit using a gun. Pierce though, is able to fatally wound Braddock, as he flies from the cockpit. Outside the ship, Pierce kills Carol for her lapse in concentration in killing Gateway. Logan is forced to kill Pierce, using the claws from his severed hand arm which, up till then, was a secret only known to him that he still had the use of his claws from that hand. Gateway quickly takes charge of the situation, which looks at this point hopeless. Gateway creates a portal large enough for the entire Armada to travel through with their destination, being Apocalypse's heartland.

Full Summary: 

Emma walks Gateway next to a video screen that is showing the video clip that a young boy had brought to them of the cullings in America. Emma asks Gateway how he can just stand by and watch all the innocent humans in America die and not feel saddened and have a need to help? Gateway very coldly replies that it has always been human nature for genocide and cites several examples of how other humans killed other humans just because of where they lived. Logan who has been walking by the pair, walks away and grabs Gateway's collar to drag him with him.

Logan turns a corner in the virtual reality video of the culling and shows Gateway an Infinite killing a child named Jodie Craig, as she begs for mercy. Gateway asks Logan to not be so cruel, but Logan throws Gateway's face in front of Jodie's as she dies. Logan tells Gateway that he knows he has the knowledge about death but asks if he has ever seen the reaper man so up close? Logan pulls a diary from the ground that he had earlier had some technicians make up of Jodie's diary that was lying next to her as she died. Logan shoves the diary in Gateway's face and tells him to read it then decide whether or not he wants to help in the attack against Apocalypse. Gateway stands with the diary in his hands and tells Logan that he is a "cold son of a..." and Logan replies that he sure is.

Logan, as he lights his cigar, tells Brian Braddock to tell the young man to turn off his holo-projector because Gateway is not going to give the High Council the time of day anymore. Braddock, who is standing behind Logan, tells him that his subtlety is not very good and that if he was more polite, he may have coerced Gateway better. Gateway interrupts their conversation and tells Braddock that Logan did the right thing and he is now convinced to lead the Armada against Apocalypse.

In what remains of New York City, Apocalypse walks from his torture chamber where he keeps Magneto imprisoned. He talks about how that if he will not talk, he will allow his associates to handle him from here on out. Rex interrupts Apocalypse's ranting and informs him that the human Armada is no longer in London and that they could be heading to attack them as they speak. Apocalypse continues to walk to a room filled with enhanced humans being experimented on in large vials. Rex informs Apocalypse that Mikhail Rasputin has not been heard from since he had arrived in London and Pierce and his meta-humans have not reported in either. Apocalypse looks down at one of the experiments and tells Rex that he believes Pierce is more adaptable then they had expected and that he may yet win against the Council for them. He shows Rex an experiment where yesterday there were two humans in the vat and today there is only one. Apocalypse tells Rex that he believes the enhanced humans feed off of any material around them to help them survive.

In the cockpit of the lead Armada ship, Gateway tells the helmsman to steer the ship to the storm front they have picked up in order to use it as cover. He turns to Logan, who is standing behind him, and tells him that he is not leading the Armada for Jodie Craig, but for Carol Danvers. Logan begins to walk away and tells Gateway that he has his guilty reasons and Logan has his as well. Logan walks out of the cockpit, telling Gateway that he wants to go check on the rest of the Human High Council.

Along one of the corridors of the lead airship, Logan sees Braddock and Emma talking about how she thinks that he should not be leading the ship, since he is almost invaluable to the council because of his knowledge in building things. He disagrees though saying that since Pierce killed the other techs and he is the only one who can fix something in mid-flight if something goes wrong. Logan comes near them as Braddock storms off in anger. Emma tells Logan that Braddock seems of late like he cannot be trusted and Logan informs her that Mariko had said the same thing earlier. Logan defends Braddock by saying that Brian would not come on the lead airship if he were a traitor, because he knows Apocalypse would attack their ship first. Emma harshly responds back that Logan would also be considered foolish in helping drop bombs on his own lover. Logan does not respond to her comment but walks towards another room and asking Emma to follow him. She does as he asks and they wind up in the room that houses the hundreds of nuclear bombs that are waiting to be dropped on Apocalypse's stronghold in New York. He tells her that he knows Jean and that she has a soft heart. The only way you could do a thing like they are about to do is if you are able to harden that heart. He tells Emma that he knows Jean could never harden her heart, so he must harden his and drop the bombs on the woman he loves to save the rest of the world from genocide. Emma apologizes for her rude tongue and tells Logan she does not know how it feels to be like him.

A few minutes later, the helmsman screams for Braddock's help in controlling the ship. Braddock asks where Gateway is and the helmsman replies that he is on the top of the ship but is linked via a communication headpiece to the cockpit. Braddock next asks where Logan is and Emma walks in, offering her assistant and tells Braddock that Logan went to help Gateway.

On the top of the ship, Logan fights the wind to reach Gateway and tells him that, if he going to be flying outside, he at least needs to be wearing a safety harness. Gateway starts to ramble on about the scientific names of atmospheric & storm components but Logan interrupts him, saying their common, everyday names. Gateway replies to Logan that the sky holds more mysteries then just those. Just then, a streak of wind carrying something passes the two mutants and Logan wonders aloud what the object just was. "What's the matter Logan, don't you know trouble when it flies in your face?" asks Gateway as he recognizes the attacker. It is Pierce, carried by another enhanced human with wings. He radios the closest Infinite patrol stationed and who sends out interceptors to take down the Armada.

Pierce flies into the lead ship and radios the Infinites to which ship he is in. When the two enhanced humans land, he tells the flier to take out Gateway and Logan while he takes care of everyone else. Meanwhile, Emma tries to radio Gateway, warn him and ask for Logan's assistance on the ship. Pierce turns his attention towards Braddock and orders him to show his true colors. The truth revealed, Emma turns to Braddock in shock. Braddock does as told and knocks Emma to the floor, taking over the helm himself.

On top of the lead airship, Logan is knocked back by the flier's attack and, as he falls, recognizes his attacker. As the flier lands and holds its gun to Gateway's head, they both recognize the flier as Carol Danvers. Logan cries for her to stop and to remember who she was before and to not let the rest of the world's humans end up like her. Carol looks at her two one-time friends and bites her lip not knowing what to do.

Back in the cockpit, Emma walks towards Pierce and Braddock and tells Braddock that she cannot believe he sold out the human race. Braddock begins to pull his gun from his holster and he tells Emma that he tried to fight it until know. Braddock turns around and fires a blast into Pierce knocking him out of the ships cockpit. Unluckily for Braddock, Pierce is able to stab a hole into Braddock's chest as he falls, fatally wounding Braddock. Emma takes the axe she had picked up and chops Pierce's hand off and, as he falls, Emma grabs a hold of Braddock, to hold him in his final moments. Brian, as he slumps to the ground, tells her that he could not do it because, in the end, he was only human.

Topside, Carol begs Logan to kill her. Since Pierce was able to infect her with himself, she is sharing a body with something loathsome and it is making her kill Gateway. Logan, who's arm is still all shot up from where Carol had shot him moments earlier, tells her that he cannot reach her in time, because of his wound. Behind Carol, Pierce's cyborg fingers reach out to kill her. He comments that she was the only way off the death ship they are on, but if he is going to die, at least they will die together. Pierce reaches for Gateway and tells Logan that they have lost and that he is going to snap Gateway's neck first. Logan stands to his feet and, since his other arm is out of commission, he tells Pierce that he is forcing him to play his hole card. Pierce laughs at Logan and asks him if he is going to try to "stump" him to death. With a "Snikt" sound, Logan's claws pop out of his handless arm and as he stabs Pierce through with them. He thinks to himself that Cyclops was able to take his arm, but he missed his claws. "Got anymore jokes bub?" Logan asks Pierce, as he picks him off the ground, finally killing him.

Around Logan and Gateway, the Interceptors have caught up with them and Logan thinks that they may have won the battle, but they are about to lose the war. Gateway tells Logan to not give up as he takes the safety harness rope and wraps his up a new whirligig. Whirling it, he makes a portal big enough for the entire armada to enter. Logan grits his teeth and says that he had kind of hoped they would lose, but if it is in his cards to take the bombs to Apocalypse, then let the war end, cause "Doomsday is comin'!"

Characters Involved: 

Weapon X
Gateway
Brian Braddock, Emma Frost, Bolivar Trask, Moira MacTaggert-Trask, Mariko Yashida (all Human High Council)
Eurasia Army members

Carol Danvers, Donald Pierce (both Reavers)
Infinites
Apocalypse
Rex
genetically altered humans in Apocalypse's lab

In a video :
Dead American humans
Infinites
Jodie Craig

Story Notes: 

De rigueur is a French term referring to a socially obligatory act, demanded by fashion or custom.

Mikhail Rasputin's fate can be found in X-Universe #2.

A hole card is a card term referring to a special card held in check and hidden from other players until the proper moment to play it.

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