History
In the late 37th century, 100 years after Apocalypse conquered the world, Askani was a member of the Clan Askani. In this world, humans and whoever else resistant to Apocalypse's rule could be killed at any moment and the Clan Askani were the only rebellion left to opposed Apocalypse's rule. The Askani beliefs taught such tenets as "what is, is," that fate must be embraced, and "thanks for today, please for tomorrow," a belief that the past brings hope, and preached that the "Sacred Timeline" should be preserved and nurtured through careful time travel. Part of the Askani intense discipline and training was mediation performed while levitation upside down. The Askani had a ceremonial language, unique martial arts, and the Psimitar, a weapon that focuses psionic energy. Believers deified the ancient X-Men: "the Xavier" became a father figure, the Bright Lady a mother goddess, and the prophesied "Dayspring" or "Askani'son" their messiah. The Askani also believed in tiny winged Wysps that carried prayers and feared the monstrous Daegon, that hunted the weak in the Apocalypse's name. The Askani took, as their symbols, the Phoenix and the scarred eye, reminiscent of the scars around the Askani'son's right eye.
Eventually, Mother Askani decided to fulfill the Askani'son prophecy, to "protect the child born on the day of spring;" she and the synthcon Boak sent Sister Askani, who sacrificed her physical body to become energy and tasked with preservation of the Askani'son, to the past and codenamed her "Preservation." Sister Askani arrived just as the Riders of the Storm kidnapped the Askani'son, Nathan Summers. After X-Factor rescued the infant Nathan, it was learned that Apocalypse infected the infant with a Techno-Organic Virus. Sister Askani presented herself and stated her mission to save the child. Askani'son's father, X-Factor's leader Cyclops, reluctantly allowed Askani to take Nathan forward to her time, to cure the Techno-Organic Virus.
Upon arriving in this future, Nathan was given to Mother Askani. Mother Askani placed Nathan in an incubation crib to preserve his life, but the virus had progressed too far. The technicians who examined Nathan called for the Mother Askani and informed her that the only thing keeping the child alive were the acts of Ship, who had created a protective electromagnetic field and merged with Nathan's electrical parts, to keep the child alive. Fearing that Nathan would not survive the virus, Mother Askani had him cloned. Despite their original assessments, the Askani learned that the original child would live after all. Learning of the infant Askani'son's arrival, the Canaanites attacked the base and Mother Askani ordered Boak to remove the children. Boak was only able to remove Nathan when the Canaanites blasted their way into the room and seemingly killed the Mother Askani. Soon after, Apocalypse himself entered the room and claimed the remaining child, whom he believed to be the original Nathan Summers that he infected, but was, in fact, the clone. Mother Askani and Boak gave Sister Askani information about various time-traveling threats, codenamed her "Vigilance" and sent her to a later point in the past, to watch-over Cyclops and Jean Grey.
The ritual for Sister Askani to travel through time required her to sacrificed her physical body and become energy as well, dying once her mission was complete. Upon arriving at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Askani was captured, by Tyler Dayspring, the son of Cable, the adult Askani'son, and Stryfe, the adult clone of Askani'son. Tyler had been instructed, by the Canaanite Commission on Strategic Maneuvers, to eliminate any opposition to Apocalypse's rise to power in the past. Askani was able to link minds with Jean, just before Tyler teleported her away, and warn her that "The Chaos-Bringer has returned," meaning Stryfe. After being taken to Tyler's underground base, Tyler began to probe Askani's mind and learned the truth about the relationship between Cable and Stryfe. It was believed that Stryfe was the son of Scott and Madelyne Pryor-Summers, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers, and Cable was a failed clone, but Tyler learned the truth, that Cable was infected with the Techno-Organic Virus and Stryfe was cloned, as a back-up if Cable didn't survive. Shortly after, Cable, possessed by the mind of Stryfe, arrived and began to exact his revenge on Tyler, for his actions as Mr. Tolliver. Unwilling to believe the truth, Stryfe killed Askani, when he destroyed her temporal containment field.
Askani's temporal energy was held together, by A.D.A.M. Unit Zero, and, through the combined efforts of Jean and Professor X, Askani pleaded with Stryfe to leave, by showing images of Scott, Cable, and Tyler's struggles in life, and Stryfe, knowing that all hopes of curing the Legacy Virus would die with him, simply gave-up and expelled himself from Cable's mind.