The “Fall of X” event has left Marvel Comics‘ Mutants in dire straits. With the anti-Mutant group Orchis having seized power, every Mutant still on Earth is at risk. Thankfully, X-Force has taken the initiative in creating the perfect shelter for their people.
X-Force #47 by Benjamin Percy and Daniel Picciotto finds the titular team regrouping in the wake of the Hellfire Gala disaster. The role of X-Force, according to Wolverine, is to be “the guard dog at the door” of the Mutant homeland of Krakoa. With the dream of Krakoa dead, what remains of the team has to establish a new home to protect.
This presents X-Force with numerous challenges. With Orchis employing advanced technology against the various X-Men teams, any shelter they create will have to be off the grid. They also need a base of operations remote enough to prevent it from being discovered by accident, and the Mutant shelter has to be an original installation, unknown to any human agency.
The X-Force Fortress of Solitude
X-Force moved a mobile lab once utilized by Beast to the North Pole, using the plant control powers of Black Tom Cassidy to bury the base in the Arctic ice. They’re able to start growing their own food and find a low-tech sensory system through the local flora.
The new base meets all of X-Force’s needs for a Mutant shelter and base of operations. Beyond being remote, the magnetic fields around the North Pole interfere with the Mutant tracking technology used by Orchis. It also ensures they have the ability to control who can access the new base since the North Pole attracts few visitors.
Unfortunately, the remote location is a double-edged sword. While the telepath Quintin Quire can use his powers to locate other Mutants and tell them of the sanctuary, not all of them can reach the North Pole under their own power. This complication is minor, however, compared to the problems that the new X-Force base addresses.
X-Force #47 is now available in comic shops everywhere.
