After Jubilee and Sunspot were successfully recruited into X-Force, Psylocke relentlessly drilled the young mutants in hand-to-hand combat at the team’s clandestine base. She pushed the young mutants far harder than their standard training sessions, emphasizing that their enemies strike to kill and there is no room for hesitation in X-Force.
Cable and Archangel interrupted the sparring session to distribute new tactical uniforms to the recruits. Cable immediately initiated a mission briefing, explaining that former Horseman War was actively establishing safe houses to orchestrate Apocalypse’s return. To stop this, X-Force needed to hunt down Apocalypse’s remaining Horsemen—War, Famine, and Pestilence—by utilizing the psionic tracking abilities of the mutant Caliban.
The team descended into the dark Morlock tunnels beneath New York City to search for their tracker. An encounter with an elderly Morlock named Annalee quickly proved to be a trap. X-Force was suddenly ambushed by a militant group of mutants known as the Acolytes.
A fierce battle erupted in the underground corridors as the Acolytes attacked through a thick cloud of smoke, courtesy of Amelia Voght. Psylocke engaged in close-quarters combat, utilizing her psychic blade to strike down Barnacle, while Cable exchanged heavy fire with Frenzy. During the standoff, the Acolytes revealed they were in the tunnels to recruit the surviving Morlocks into a new movement led by Exodus.
While the two factions argued, Jubilee located a terrified Caliban hiding in the shadows. After a gentle plea, Caliban agreed to point them in the right direction to stop Apocalypse. Unwilling to wait, Psylocke sneaked up behind Caliban and violently amplified his tracking powers with her telepathy, forcefully extracting the target locations from his mind against his will.
Jubilee was furious at the violation, shouting that Caliban had already been willing to help them. Psylocke remained entirely unrepentant, coldly stating that Apocalypse plans in eons and X-Force did not have seconds to spare. With the necessary coordinates acquired, Cable commanded the team to lock and load, leaving the Acolytes behind as they set off to eliminate the targets on their strike list.
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
