History
The Askani are a religious group of rebel fighters, with some time-travelers returning to the modern era, in the late 37th century, dedicated to upholding the X-Men's beliefs and battling Apocalypse.
Origin
After many adventures with Excalibur, Phoenix sacrificed herself to exile in the timestream, to save her teammate, Captain Britain. There Rachel diverged into two timelines. One Rachel became stranded the late 37th century, 100 years after Apocalypse conquered the world. Rachel soon met young Blaquesmith, who called her the "Bright Lady", and sensed his psychic potential, but denied his request to become her disciple. The Order of the Witnesses, founded in the late 21st century, by a mutant seeking redemption, believed Rachel was the "Lost Child of the Twelve", descended from mutants who fought Apocalypse in modern-day, and sent the aged Diogenes Chang and Squy'rr to observe her. Rachel, as "Alyr'n Summerset", attended Apocalypse's Festival of Resurrection, where she encountered his prelates, Ch'Vayre and Luminesca, and battled high councilor Diamanda Nero, before allying with Diogenes and Squy'rr.
Over the next year, Rachel gathered followers, under the name Clan Askani, meaning "family of outsiders". The Askani developed tenets, such 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. Rachel accepted anyone as Akani; via discipline and training, some achieved psychic power, enabling such Askani practices as mediation performed while levitation upside down. Rachel's earliest recruits included Malachi Hark, who would become the first Askani priest; Qua, an Atlantean elemental; Lexii, last survivor of a Clone Sisterhood; and the Gibson-Sterling Mark Nine Warbot Ozana. Nero ambushed the group near the Scavenger Colony, releasing the humanoid virus Plague against both the Askani and prelates Ch'Vayre and Luminesca. Qua and Luminesca died, but as Rachel destroyed Plague, she had a vision that she would "protect the child born on the day of spring". Nero captured Diogenes and Squy'rr, torturing them for information and then wiping-out the the Order of the Witnesses. The Askani pursued Nero, but Squy'rr and Hark were killed and Rachel was forced to release the Phoenix Force to defeat Nero.
The Askani rescued several children protected by the Order, including the young Sanctity, another time-traveling telepath originally from the modern ear. Rachel later followed Sanctity back to the modern era's past, where Sanctity hoped to change the future, knowing her father, Bolivar, would invent the mutant-hunting Sentinels, Rachel stopped her from interacting with Bolivar, but Sanctity secretly planted information about the Twelve in the Sentinels' Master Mold computer. Rachel left the Askani for a time, but later returned, taking the name Mother Askani. [1]
Over the next several years, 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 developed a ceremonial language, unique martial arts and the Psimitar, a weapon that focuses psionic energy. The Askani took, as their symbols, the Phoenix and the scarred eye, reminiscent of the scars around the Askani'son's right eye. Ch'vayre eventually joined the Askani, but Madame Sanctity secretly sent him to the past to found an Askani church in the Alps. Sanctity told Ch'vayre of the future exploits of the adult Askani'son, active as Cable in that era through time travel) and bade him to manipulate the Askani'son into battling Apocalypse. [2]
Interaction with the Modern Era
The Askani first appeared when Sanctity, a time-traveling telepath came to the modern era, where she hoped to change the future, knowing her father, Bolivar Trask, would invent the mutant-hunting Sentinels, and Rachel Summers stopped her from interacting with Bolivar, but Sanctity secretly planted information about the Twelve in the Sentinels' Master Mold computer.[3]
The next time they were seen was when Mother Askani decided to fulfill the Askani'son prophecy and, with the synthcon Boak, sent a Sister Askani, who sacrificed her physical body to become energy and tasked with preservation of the Askani'son, to the modern era. Sister Askani arrived just as Apocalypse infected the infant Nathan Christopher Charles Summers with a Techno-Organic Virus. Nathan's father, X-Factor's leader Cyclops, reluctantly allowed this Sister Askani to take Nathan forward to her time, to cure the virus.[4]
Later, Mother Askani and Boak gave a second Sister Askani information about various time-traveling threats and sent her to a later point in the modern ear, to keep vigilance over Cyclops and Jean Grey. This Sister Askani was captured by Nathan's time-traveling adopted son, Tyler Dayspring, but helped united Cyclops, Jean, and the adult Nathan, as a family.[5]
Learning of the infant Askani'son's arrival, Apocalypse ordered his Canaanites to massacre the Askani, killing many Askani including Throeblood, then seized the clone, believing him to be Nathan. Mother Askani then created cloned bodies similar to Cyclops and Jean and pulled their essences, forward from the past in order to protect baby Nathan. Ch'vayre, who had returned to the future once again loyal to Apocalypse, captured the true Nathan from Boak. Cyclops, Jean, and Mother Askani successfully rescued Nathan, but Ch'Vayre severely wounded Mother Askani, leaving her in a coma. Cyclops and Jean fled with Nathan and Mother Askani and spent the next decade raising Nathan in secret, posing as humans "Slym" and "Redd Dayspring" and joining the Askani-inspired Clan Rebellion to undermine Apocalypse's empire. Twelve years later, Slym, Redd, and a teenaged Nathan managed to overthrow and seemingly kill Apocalypse, just as the comatose Mother Askani finally succumbed to death. Mother Askani's power no longer able to fetter Cyclops and Jean in the future, they faded back to their home era, leaving Nathan on his own. [6]
Clan Chosen
Madame Sanctity, now leading the Askani, continued to use time-travel to meddle with the past. As Nathan grew, he befriended Throeblood's son, Tetherblood, grudgingly attended secret Askani revivals ministered by Fossil, met Blaquesmith, and became aware of the artificial intelligence "Professor", the Celestial-created Ship, whose consciousness had been brought forward in time with him). Nathan and his allies fought the New Canaanites, who had risen to power after Apocalypse's seeming death, and were found, by Alyia, an Askani novitiate who Madame Sanctity sent to recruit the Askani'son. Nathan was repulsed by the now-insane Sanctity, but the New Canaanites soon assaulted the Askani stronghold, wiping-out the Askani, and Nathan's clone, now named Stryfe, faked Sanctity's death, so she could tutor him.[7]
Nathan, Tetherblood, Aliya, and Blaquesmith determined to carry-on the Askani legacy as the guerrilla army the Clan Chosen, a group that eventually included A.D.A.M. Unit Eleven, Aliya's sister Hope, father and son Adam and Jon Spectre, Dawnsilk, Lark, Sepulcher, and Silo. Training in the Askani ways under surviving Askani elders, they repeatedly battled the New Canaanites and the Scions of Apocalypse, led by Stryfe, and the Neo-Canaanites. When Stryfe's spy, Korless, infiltrated the Clan and Stryfe psychically attacked Nathan, Aliya brought Cable, Nathan's older self, forward in time from the modern era to heal Nathan's mind.[8]
After decades of battle, the Clan Chosen signed a long-lasting peace treaty with the New Canaanites - but Nathan, upset by rumors that Apocalypse had survived, convinced the Clan's Askani Council that they need to fight again. However, ensuing battles cost the Clan dearly; Adam and Aliya (now Nathan's wife, using the Clan name Jenskot) were killed and Stryfe drove Jenskot's son, Tyler, insane - forcing Nathan to shoot Tyler and damage Dawnsilk's mind in order to save her life.[9][10]
Believing the Clan Chosen destroyed, the New Canaanites consolidated their power - but Nathan brought the legacy of the Askani to modern-day, traveling as Cable in hopes of defeating Apocalypse. Blaquesmith, also sent back to monitor Cable, gave Psimitars and Askani training to the long-lived Dark Mother and her Dark Sisterhood, hoping they would become a new Askani clan, but they later tried to kill Blaquesmith and Cable. After Cable and Blaquesmith defeated the Sisterhood, both were intrigued to learn the Dark Mother was attributed to passing down the powerful psionic powers to Jean.[11]
Cable made several attempts to spread the Askani way of life - implanting techniques and beliefs in Sunspot's mind, to protect him from the Mutant Liberation Front's Reignfire,[12] and inspiring religious admiration in Nigel Novotny, who became an Askani disciple after entertainment mogul, Jackie Singapore's plan to confuse Cable, by disguising Nigel as Blaquesmith failed.[13]
Cable later founded the artificial island, Providence, and over-threw the nation of Rumekistan, seeking to bring peaceful Askani solutions to both their peoples, but in both cases, he was removed from power before a lasting hold took place.[14]Paraphernalia
Weapons
See Also
- 21 appearance(s) of Clan Askani (Earth-4935)
- 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Clan Askani (Earth-4935)
- 15 mention(s) of Clan Askani (Earth-4935)
- 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Clan Askani (Earth-4935)
- 16 member(s) of Clan Askani (Earth-4935)
Links and References
References
- ↑ X-Men: Phoenix #1–3
- ↑ Cable #42–53
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #Minus 1
- ↑ X-Factor #65–68
- ↑ Cable #6–8
- ↑ Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1–4
- ↑ Askani'son #1–4
- ↑ Cable #24–25
- ↑ X-Force (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Cable #1
- ↑ Cable #92–95
- ↑ X-Force #44
- ↑ Soldier X #1–12
- ↑ X-Men: Phoenix Force Handbook #1