Great Rift
| Great Rift | |
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| Dates run: | July 15-20, 2007 |
| Run By: | Alicia |
| Read the logs: | Great Rift |
"'Whoops, I tripped and fell into a private war between an arms smuggler and a tribal king' would sound a lot better coming from you, Ororo."
When an Elpis delegation to Tanzania finds itself in the middle of a conflict between the nation of Wakanda and dangerous vibranium smugglers, they find themselves trying to help - and making an new ally.
Contents
Cast
Nathan Dayspring, Ororo Munroe, Rahne Sinclair, Angelo Espinosa, John Allerdyce
T'Challa, William Moses, Nyami, Bashenga
Timing
Plot Summary
When an Elpis project working to mediate land disputes between Tanzanian farmers and nomad groups (the latter including a number of angry young mutants who had been taking matters into their own hands) ran into some difficulties with the local authorities, Nathan organized a trip to Tanzania to discuss the matter. Accompanying him were Rahne, Angelo, John, and at his invitation, Ororo, who came along in order to serve as a translator and cultural guide (as well as for a working vacation).
Nathan and the others stopped for the night in a local village - only to be awakened in the middle of the night by gunfire and screaming, as the village was attacked by unknown gunmen. They helped the villagers drive off the gunmen, although Rahne was shot in the leg while protecting a mother and her child. The Elpis group was assisted by another stranger to the village, T'Challa, whom Ororo had met at dinner. T'Challa offered them more prompt medical attention for Rahne and the wounded villagers if they accompanied him across the border and into Wakanda, and Ororo agreed.
In Wakanda, with the injured tended, T'Challa confessed to Nathan and Ororo that it had not been a random attack. A mutant with major physical enhancements, T'Challa was in fact the tribal king of Wakanda, and had been assisting the Wakandan military in tracking and stopping illegal shipments of vibranium leaving his country. His success had led to retaliatory attacks by the man leading the smugglers, William Moses. Moses was a mutant himself, and had hired other mutant mercenaries, making it chancy for the Wakandan military to attempt to move against him directly.
The next morning, Ororo called the mansion to update them on the situation and to speak to Scott Summers. The two leaders of the X-Men agreed that Ororo should offer her assistance to T'Challa, who accepted it, if warily.
While T'Challa, Ororo, Nathan, Angelo and John traveled south to intercept a smuggler's convoy, Rahne met Nyami, T'Challa's mother, who was Wakanda's Minister of Education. Nyami expressed a great deal of interest in Rahne's work with Elpis. The next day, she brought a friend, Bashenga, to meet her, and between the three of them, they worked out a way in which the Wakandan government could assist Elpis with its work in the area.
After successfully intercepting the convoy and gathering intelligence about Moses's base of operations, T'Challa and the small team of X-Men raided it the following night. Seriously outnumbered, and facing a very dangerous opponent in Moses, they nonetheless managed to take him and his smugglers into custody. The X-Men's efforts won them the gratitude of both T'Challa and the Wakandan government.
Related Links
External Links
Trivia and Meta
Trivia
This was the second time a group from Elpis wound up in the middle of a crisis situation; the previous incident was the riots in Smichov in November 2006.
Ororo and T'Challa shared something of a mutual attraction, but due to her relationship with Remy LeBeau, neither acted on it.
Meta
Plotrunner: Alicia
T'Challa is, of course, an X-Project adaptation of the Black Panther.
