X-Force battles the Brotherhood. Sauron draws first blood. Elsewhere, Kane is ambushed by MLF in an extra story called "X-Tenuating Circumstances."
Synopsis
On the ground, Warpath and Siryn stare down Toad of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, along with Blob and Pyro. In the air, Shatterstar and Sauron tussle. This seems foolish to Sauron, as he is the only one with wings. Shatterstar throws caution to the wind and lashes out with one of his swords. On his way down he adjusts himself to break his fall with a tree branch that he swings deftly from. Seeing Sauron still airborne, Shatterstar runs for the armory for some long range weapons.
With his wealth of knowledge, Masque finds an opening to the secret X-Force base. With him are Phantazia and Thornn, sister of Feral. Having gained the entrance, Masque flips on the lights and the trio walk in to find some very high grade weaponry. They plan to set some explosives, but shots ring out all around them and they turn to see Cable and some members of X-Force waiting to counter any attack. Cable, finally tired of his home being invaded, tells Masque that his time is finally up.
Outside, Warpath is successful at getting the Blob into a ditch. Siryn takes out Pyro with a quick sonic jab to his throat, but Toad springs up and takes her from behind. He exhibits a new power: the ability to excrete a goo from his hands. Attempting to seal Siryn's mouth, Toad actually ends up getting shot in the back by a freshly returned Shatterstar. Siryn is grateful for the help and the three head inside to figure out what is going on.
What's going on is that Thornn hits the lights and a scuffle begins in the dark. Feral immediately attacks her sister while Cable, able to see, tries shooting Phantazia down. Her powers scramble his circuitry, however, and he instead guides Cannonball right into her. Unfortunately for Cannonball, Phantazia's powers can disrupt humans as well and he goes careening off. Cable has had enough playing in the dark and he orders X-Force outside. Feral, however, can't pull herself away from the fight with Thornn. The sisters continue at it. Thornn enjoys being able to take her aggression out, especially after all Feral has put her through. Thornn ultimately wins and leaves Feral lying on the floor.
At the underground entrance, Sauron enters and sees Cannonball flying towards him. Cannonball's powers are still going haywire and they glitch right as Sauron swings a pointed wing at his abdomen. Being temporarily vulnerable, Cannonball is impaled right through the gut. X-Force catches up to see Cannonball hanging from the wing of Sauron. Boom Boom can't believe her eyes. Cannonball is dead.
X-Tenuating Circumstances
Garrison Kane, the latest Weapon X, plants himself outside a warehouse in Canada. He'd been called in to round up some smugglers of liquor and cigarettes. He scans the premises and notes only six warm bodies. On his own signal, Kane busts through the door and effectually kicks the crap out of the inhabitants. He notices that they are uniformed, an oddity for mere smugglers. He gets a smack in the back of the head and falls to the floor. He turns and sees that the six men were not the only inhabitants of the warehouse. Sumo, Forearm, and Wildside of the Mutant Liberation Front greet him, leaving Kane to wonder what he's gotten mixed up in. This story continues in X-Force #9.