WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for House of X #3 by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, VC's Clayton Cowles and Tom Muller, on sale now.
After spending the past two weeks in Powers of X's alternate future, readers finally get to catch back up with the present-day X-Men in House of X #3. When we left off, Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto discovered human scientists working for an organization called Orchis were on the verge of activating a Mother Mold robot.
What makes that so significant is their data, which we learned comes from Moira MacTaggert's ninth life, points to this being the tipping point in the war between humans and mutants. Along with Mother Molds having the ability to create an army of Master Molds, the working theory is the Mother Mold at the Sol's Hammer in space leads to the origin of a mutant-hunting Nimrod.
Of course, the X-Men can't sit idly by and allow these events to take place, especially when the fate of mutantkind is at stake. That's why Xavier tasks Cyclops with assembling a team to fly to the Mother Mold in orbit around the sun, and destroy it before it comes online. So if you've ever wondered what the X-Men version of a Suicide Squad looks like, these eight X-Men, counting Cyclops, are the blueprint.
Once More Unto The Breach
Cyclops' handpicked X-Men team consists of four classic mutants, two members of the younger class and one surprising villain. If you're putting together a team for a suicide mission, the one person you'd want by your side is Wolverine. Also along for the ride are Marvel Girl and Archangel, Cyclops' teammates on Xavier's first class of X-Men. The other fan-favorite mutant is Nightcrawler, who joined the X-Men with Wolverine in Giant-Size X-Men #1.
Wolverine immediately comes to mind as an X-Man who is perfect for this type of mission, but Archangel, Marvel Girl and Nightcrawler make a lot of sense as well. Although Cyclops and Marvel Girl would rather not murder innocent scientists aboard the Sol's Hammer, Warren Worthington's Archangel persona has no qualms about dishing out violence. As for Marvel Girl and Nightcrawler, the former's telepathic abilities can come manipulate any mind, and the latter's teleportation powers can get them out of any jam.
The two younger "Suicide Squad" members are former Generation X'ers Monet and Husk. Monet is a powerhouse, and Husk is a wildcard when anticipating what will appear as she rips the flesh from her body. Our resident villain is Mystique, who spent some time as an X-Man when her daughter, Rogue, was a team leader. Mystique's shape-shifting abilities are tailor-made for this type of mission.
Instead of using a Krakoan portal to enter the Mother Mold facility, the X-Men board a Shi'ar cruiser. They simply can't risk having the Mother Mold come into contact with a Krakoan plant, which is another reason why this is a suicide squad. If things get dicey, they won't have an easy escape route. Also, if the Mother Mold were able to study a Krakoan plant, the X-Men would lose a competitive advantage in the war. The only question is will the team adhere to Cyclops' order, or will someone -- namely Mystique -- go into business for herself.
The X-Men suicide squad is able to get close enough to allow Nightcrawler to teleport inside to verify that their schematics match the actual facility. But just as they're about to breach the hull of the station, one of the onboard soldiers named Erasmus sacrifices himself in an explosion, taking out the X-Men jet in the process.
So for now, it looks like this truly was a suicide mission. The X-Men were aboard their aircraft when the explosion went off, so we're led to believe they perished alongside Erasmus. If we were to theorize, the most likely outcome is Marvel Girl erected a telekinetic shield around her team to keep them safe, which means we will still get a showdown between the X-Men and the turncoat, Omega Sentinel, in House of X #4.