X-Men Mission: Nicobar Reef

PHASE 1

X-Men: Nicobar Reef
Dates run:	March 27-28 2008
Run By:	Alicia
Read the logs:	Nicobar Reef

No, Scott, don't! He's your father!

When ex-mutant child soldiers from an Elpis resettlement center are kidnapped by pirates, the X-Men go after them, and Cyclops discovers that his family tree is a little more extensive than he realized.

Cast

Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Kurt Sefton, Forge, Marie D'Ancato, Marius Laverne, Jennie Stavros, Theresa Cassidy, Nathan Dayspring

Christopher Summers, Badri Raza, Hepzibah, Chod

Timing

March 27-28 2008

Plot Summary

Nathan received a troubling phone call from the Elpis staff setting up the organization's new DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) center for ex-child soldiers in Sri Lanka. The would-be beneficiaries of the program, twelve young mutants in all, had disappeared from their homes, seemingly overnight. Nash and Matsuda managed to trace them to a ship sailing for Madripoor, where they would presumably be sold. Nathan alerted the X-Men, then left for Sri Lanka while the team tried to track down the ship while it was still in international waters (where it could be legally stopped).

Charles successfully tracked the young mutants aboard the ship using Cerebro while the team raced to the Indian Ocean on the Blackbird. They discovered, upon arrival, that the target ship had been boarded by the crew of another, and fighting had broken out. There were mutants on both sides, and the X-Men found themselves dropping into a far more volatile situation than they had expected. The target ship was damaged in the fighting, forcing some members of the team to try and extricate the young captives from the cargo hold before they drowned while others continued the fight on deck. Scott was knocked overboard, and hearing Jean's call of his name, the captain of the second ship, who later identified himself as 'Corsair', rescued him. A quick conversation established that they were both there to free the children, and the X-Men and Corsair's people joined forces. Forge was forced to take part of the team and chase down fleeing pirates in the Blackbird, but the situation was soon resolved in favor of the X-Men and their new allies.

Corsair insisted that the children return on his ship to Madripoor, before departing with the X-Men for Sri Lanka. Scott sent part of the team on ahead on the Blackbird, but remained on the ship with the others, not entirely trusting Corsair. While landing in Madripoor, Forge discovered more about Corsair's crew by talking to Raza, his 'first mate'; this included their interest in stopping the slave trade whenever possible, which led Forge to offer technical assistance in their efforts. Back on the ship, the captain approached Jean later that night, asking her to read his mind. She was shocked to discover that he was in fact Christopher Summers, who had been presumed dead for fifteen years. A rather slapstick scene ensued as Scott rushed in, sensing her shock on the link, and, misunderstanding what he was seeing, punched his father. Jean blurted out the truth, leaving Scott in shock.

The next morning in Madripoor, Jean convinced Scott to talk to his father before they left. Chris explained what had happened, telling Scott that he had been involved in a counterespionage case that went badly, leading to the shooting down of their family's plane. He survived, but was brought to Madripoor and sold into slavery when he refused to supply the intelligence his captors desired. Having been told by them that they had killed his sons while making their way to the crash site, Chris did not attempt to make contact with his parents or return to North America even when he masterminded an uprising among his fellow slaves and killed their owner. Instead, he remained in Madripoor, running a modest criminal enterprise and occasionally intervening to save others from the slave trade. Scott was unimpressed by this story, but told Chris where to find them back in the US, leaving the next move in his hands.

Related Links

Madripoor

Elpis

External Links

Nicobar Reef

Trivia and Meta

Trivia

Chris showed up at the mansion two weeks later to spend more time with his sons. Alex was overjoyed; Scott, much less so. Before Chris's visit was over, the two of them had wound up in yet another fistfight.

Meta

Plotrunner: Alicia

Ideas for a Corsair who was among the land of the living had been tossed around for some time, most specifically by Nute and Dex. The eventual shape of the plot drew its inspiration from these previous discussions, although the use of Tom Selleck as Corsair's PB was a fortuitous accident.