RESISTANCE COORDINATION EXECUTIVE
(Earth-811)
Membership: (individuals) confirmed Albion, Arthur, Breeze, Dark Angel, Death's Head (Minion), Grace, Killpower, Motormouth, Tangerine, Union Jack; several unidentified
probable Captain Britain, Crimson Crusader, Tigon Liger, Meggan
(groups) The Dark Guard (individual members not specified), Pendragon's Knights (Breeze specified as member, Albion, Grace and Union Jack likely members - see comments)
Purpose: To fight the Sentinels' occupation of the British Isles
Affiliations: Excalibur of Earth-616 (Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Cerise, Feron, Kylun, Lockheed, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix (Rachel Summers), Shadowcat, Widget)
Enemies: Ahab, the Hierarchy (Sentinel command), Hounds, Sentinels (B774, BFG72, Omega B19, Omega P976 named)
Base of Operations: Camelot Base, somewhere in Britain, 2015 A.D., Earth-811
First Appearance: Excalibur I#66 (June 1993)
History: (Uncanny X-Men#141 - BTS/ Excalibur I#67 - BTS - see comments) - In a dystopian alternate future, the mutant-hunting Sentinel robots had conquered North America. Other countries, fearing the Sentinels would expand their sphere of operations worldwide, began preparations to resist them. In the U.K. the Resistance Coordination Executive spent four years preparing a hidden base, Camelot, equipped to be a retreat for their forces should an invasion occur. Many countries threatened the U.S.A. with nuclear retaliation should the Sentinels move out of North America. In 2013 A.D, 13 years after they took over the U.S.A., the Sentinels moved on the rest of the world. North America sustained a massive nuclear attack, slaying most of the human population of that continent: the Sentinels survived.
(Excalibur I#67 - BTS) - Captain Britain, Meggan and their children were killed when the Sentinels destroyed Braddock Manor (probably shortly after the invasion began - see comments).
(Excalibur I#67 - BTS) - By 2015 A.D., Arthur, confident of R.C.X.'s army's prowess, started preparations for a major attack on the Sentinels. This plan never came about because events overtook it.
(Excalibur I#66 - BTS) - Albion discovered Widget of Earth-616's Excalibur hovering within the ruins of Braddock Manor. He reported his find back to Camelot, who dispatched Tangerine, Arthur, Killpower, Dark Angel and Grace to check out the anomaly. (see comments)
(Excalibur I#66) - The group examined the bizarre spectacle. Killpower suggested that since it looked like a robot, they should destroy it, but Dark Angel and Tangerine disagreed, sensing through various means that Widget was a living being. Tangerine detected that Widget was a fragmented mind, with a single thought, to protect someone called Rachel. Then she felt another mind probing, just as Dark Angel saw Widget's aura intensifying (Widget was at this point reaching out across time and dimensions to Rachel, who was with Excalibur on Earth-616). While Tangerine tried to reach the human soul she could tell was locked inside, Widget tried to warn the R.C.X. members of the imminent arrival of Sentinels.
The killer robots and their allies teleported in a few feet away from the R.C.X. group, but Killpower blew one away instantly, dismissive of the low-grade of their opponents (Gamma and Delta class, instead of the far deadlier Omega Sentinels). Grace skewered one of the Hounds, and pointed out they were facing Ahab's retinue, who had probably come looking for Widget and not expected to encounter the R.C.X.. Arthur ordered Tangerine to keep trying to communicate with Widget, to find out why the Sentinels wanted it so badly, while he and the rest of the group kept the attackers at bay. The telepath ascertained that the mind within Widget was Kate Pryde, sole survivor of this reality's X-Men, bar Rachel Summers, who had escaped to another timeline, and whom Widget feared the Sentinels were planning to pursue.
Tangerine realised that Widget was intending to teleport away, and informed the nearby Albion of this, unfortunately distracting him just long enough for Ahab to skewer and kill the venerable hero. The cyborg ally of the Sentinels swatted Tangerine out the way, and ordered one of his Sentinels to restrain Widget. Trapped, Widget breached the dimensional barriers, allowing both the heroes on Earth-616 and the individuals near Widget on Earth-DoFP to see each other through the interface. Tangerine, recovering from the blow she had taken, saw that her friends and their attackers were all frozen in time, leaving only Ahab, Widget and Sentinel BFG72 unaffected. Ahab was trying to stabilise the dimensional gateway so that he could attack Rachel, and figuring that any enemy of the Sentinels was an ally of hers, Tangerine blasted Ahab with a bio-electrical blast. The Sentinel, unable to move from restraining Widget, released two deadly tracker robots, which flew towards the defenceless R.C.X. telepath. Just in the nick of time, the dimensional interface stabilised, and Shadowcat of Excalibur leapt through, grabbed Tangerine and turned her insubstantial, leaving the trackers to fly through her harmlessly. Ahab, freed from Tangerine's psi attack, moved to impale Shadowcat, but Phoenix melted his harpoon and cyborg hands with a blast of flame as she and the rest of Excalibur followed their teenage team-mate into the dystopian reality. Seeing it's master disabled, BFG72 initiated a tactical retreat, snared Phoenix and Widget with trackers, and teleported it's captives, it's master and itself, back to base.
Time resumed flowing for those left behind, and the two groups of heroes compared notes. Excalibur asked if the R.C.X. group could help them rescue their kidnapped colleagues, but Tangerine pointed out that they would have been taken back to the Sentinel's Headquarters, and Arthur informed the heroes from Earth-616 that the world was dominated by Sentinels, numbering in the millions. Nightcrawler noted that his team was stranded, leaving them but a single option regardless of the odds: defeat the Sentinels or die trying.
(Excalibur I#67 (fb)) - Back at Camelot at the same time as Excalibur crossed the dimensional barrier, the R.C.X. communications team detected a transmission trace. They established radio silence, and triggered a yellow alert, which swiftly rose to red as it became clear they had been too late: the Sentinels had located them! Noncombatants raced to the deep bunker, while the defense forces rushed to the surface door to await the imminent assault.
The plasti-steel main doors of Camelot were swiftly breached, revealing an army of Omega Class Sentinels. The defenders began their counter-attack, annihilating a number of their assailants on the spot, but the innumerable robots relentlessly advanced. Union Jack, Motormouth and the Dark Guard were quickly slaughtered. Death's Head fell shortly afterwards, and the death of the near-invulnerable cyborg broke the resolve of the defenders. Breeze of Pendragon's Knights raced into the forefront of the battle, in an attempt to rally the collapsing defense, but even her superhuman speed was insufficient to save her from the Sentinel's blasts. The remaining defenders fell back, fighting for every inch, but one by one they fell in combat. The noncombatants in the deep bunker surrendered, and were taken captive. As they were being transported back to the Sentinels' Hive, the main force of the Omegas diverted to assist Ahab in his fight at Braddock Manor.
(Excalibur I#67 - BTS) - The swift end to the battle at Braddock Manor meant the Omega Sentinels arrived too late to intercept Excalibur and the last remnants of R.C.X., who had beaten a hasty retreat.
(Excalibur I#67) - Having taken Excalibur back to Camelot, the survivors of R.C.X. discovered the devastation left by the recent assault. Tangerine was able to use her telepathic powers to sense exactly what had happened. While Killpower cradled the corpse of his partner, Motormouth, Arthur and Dark Angel tried to comfort the distraught Tangerine, telling the guilt-ridden telepath that if they had been present during the attack, the only difference it would have made was that they too would have been massacred. Nightcrawler interrupted, pointing out that if the Sentinels they had avoided on the way to Camelot were tracking the group, then the danger had not yet passed. Enraged, Killpower attacked Nightcrawler, accusing him of cowardice. His first blow knocked the German mutant to the ground, but his second was intercepted by Captain Britain, who easily restrained the raging giant.
Arthur calmed the situation, but Killpower pointed out that their erstwhile allies were strangers, prompting the two groups to make formal introductions. The visitors from Earth-616 were surprised to learn that this world's Captain Britain and Meggan had children, and that they were all dead, and even more shocked when Arthur removed his mask to reveal he was the counterpart of a man they had recently fought back in their own continuum. The two groups conferred, and decided that an attack on the Sentinel's guiding intelligence was the only chance they had of defeating a foe of such overwhelming power and numbers.
Using the hollowed out remains of an inert Sentinel as a Trojan Horse, the combined force flew to the States. Inside the Sentinel Cerise used her solid light projections in the manner of a puppeteer, controlling the movements of the machine. Grace, Killpower and Dark Angel were carried along in an energy sphere, to act as captives being returned to base for processing, while the rest of the force hid within the armoured shell. When Sentinels approached to check why the returning Sentinel had not radioed in, the mimicry ability of Excalibur's Kylun fooled the patrol into believing the shell was a damaged robot taking captives back to base.
They reached the Hive, Sentinel HQ, to find the place in an uproar, as Phoenix and Widget had escaped and transported themselves into Chamber H, where the central command Sentinel, known as the Hierarchy, was located. In the confusion, Shadowcat brought the three "captives" back inside the protective armoured shell, then Cerise had her giant puppet smash the Sentinels around them before they realised they were under attack. Using Tangerine for directions, Cerise flew the shell like a battering ram, through the walls of the Hive, until they reached Chamber H, just in time to collide their unlikely vessel into the hordes of Sentinels rushing to the aid of the Hierarchy. Cerise contracted her force field, Shadowcat phased the entire group, and Killpower detonated a grenade, blowing up the Sentinel shell and the first wave of attackers. While Phoenix attempted to use her powers to reprogram the Hierarchy, Excalibur and R.C.X. fought a delaying action to buy her time. Though they had the advantage that their opponents would not use energy weapons inside Chamber H for fear of the damage they might cause, the heroes were still badly outnumbered and slowly began to be overwhelmed. In the nick of time, Phoenix finished her task, and the Sentinels froze where they stood. Ahab, who had witnessed all this, made a last-ditch attempt to kill his nemesis Rachel, but his thrown harpoon was intercepted by a Sentinel, now programmed to preserve life. Ahab escaped capture, teleporting out. With the war apparently over, Arthur asked if Phoenix would stay to help them win the peace; she declined, saying that was their destiny now, and hers was with Excalibur.
Comments: Created by Alan Davis (writer/penciller) and Mark Farmer (inker).
It should be noted that all the members of the R.C.X. listed above are natives of Earth-811, and not their counterparts from Earth-616. Possible exceptions to this are Death's Head, Killpower and Motormouth - all three are dimensional travellers, and thus the versions seen here might be (but probably aren't) the ones who normally operate from Earth-616. There is some precedence for the possibility though. While Excalibur are from Earth-616, two of the members listed above (Phoenix and Widget) are natives of Earth-DoFP who settled on Earth-616 - there is no reason to assume all the migrations were one-way.
Sentinel BFG72 who restrains Widget in Excalibur I#66 is likely named as a sly reference to the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), titular character from a novel by British children's author Roald Dahl.
Various ASSumptions I have made in the history:
1. In Uncanny X-Men#141, the Sentinels have yet to attack the rest of the world; the imminent threat of this and the nuclear conflict it might bring are the spurs which lead the X-Men to attempt to change the timeline and attack the Sentinels HQ in the Baxter Building. The date for the DoFP X-Men's actions are given in Excalibur as happening in 2013 A.D. Two years later, while standing in the ruins of Camelot, Arthur mentions it took four years to build their base. They must have begun construction prior to the invasion, and it's unlikely that they could have finished it after the Sentinels attacked Britain. All of which means R.C.X. probably formed some time before the Sentinel's attacked Britain.
If Camelot was finished before the invasion, then I presume that Captain Britain and Meggan were killed early on in the invasion - otherwise it would have been logical for them to retreat to the more secure location (or at least send their kids there).
2. That Albion was on his own when he found Widget, and reported this back to base, who then sent a team along to investigate. This is based on the fact that in regards to Widget he says "It's been saying that since I discovered it last night, Arthur." Obviously Arthur wasn't there when Albion discovered Widget, and if it has taken Arthur since "last night" to come and have a look, then presumably he has travelled some distance and wasn't nearby. Since the only secure place in the U.K. seems to have been Camelot, then it seems likely that Arthur travelled from there. Given their reactions, Tangerine, Killpower and Dark Angel were also seeing Widget for the first time at this same juncture.
3. That the Days of Future Past R.C.X. (Excalibur I#66-67) is not the same as the Days of Future Tense R.C.X. (mentioned in Excalibur I#94).
Days of Future Past is a timeline that diverged from the mainstream Marvel
Earth shortly prior to the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly, when Kitty
Pryde was thirteen.
Actually, it diverged earlier, as Phoenix of that reality was not killed,
instead mothering Rachel Summers with Cyclops--Snood.
Days of Future Tense is a very thematically-similar future which could still happen for Earth-616. We witness this future as a premonition not long after Kitty Pryde turned eighteen, making it five years within the mainstream Marvel universe since the attempt on Robert Kelly's life.
All valid points, to which I add some
temporal theoretical nonsense. Earth-Days of Future Past (Uncanny X-Men#141,
142, and the events preceding that story (New Mutants I#18, Wolverine: Days of
Future Past, and POSSIBLY Cable II#71 and Unlimited Access#2) represents one
timeline. The story in Excalibur#66+67 (wasn't it called Days of Future
Perfect?) continues directly from the last previous moment from that same
timeline. The one in Excalibur I#94 (Days of Future Tense) represents an
alternate/potential futures from Days of Future Past, apparently diverging
somewhere after the events of UXM141,142. The dates are moot, as
the story was originally meant to occur some 32 years after the assassination of
Kelly, which was written in 1981, but slides forward so that it was maybe 3-4
years in the past.
Then you have the events of the Days of Future Present,
with Franklin's mind traveling back in time in those summer annuals.
Then you have the alternate future of Hyperstorm, another
variant of DoFP, where alternate version of Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers
parented Hyperstorm.
In addition, another variant of Days of Future Past was seen
in New Mutants I#48 and 50.
The world to which the kids from Earth-Battleworld (from What
IF? I#114) returned was also populated by Sentinels and so is a similar
scenario.
I'm sure even more have been seen. --Snood.
Clarifications:
R.C.X. of Earth-Days of Future Past should not be confused with it's dimensional counterparts
Arthur, armoured hero, should not be confused with
Tangerine, telepath, should not be confused with
None of the other heroes of R.C.X. should be confused with
Counterpart of Earth-616's Albion. He discovered Widget in the ruins of Braddock Manor. During the fight against Ahab's retinue, he protected Tangerine from the tracker robots, but was killed when Ahab rammed a harpoon through him from behind.
- Excalibur I#66
Hero who wore armour resembling that of Iron Man or War Machine (probably with similar powers to those Earth-616 heroes). His main weapon was a large gun which he had dubbed Excalibur, stowed on the back of his armour. Probably one of the founders of the R.C.X. in this timeline, given the way he talks about it, and the position of his Earth-616 counterpart, Nigel Orpington-Smythe, as that reality's head of R.C.X. (Resources Control Executive in that timeline). He was certainly one of the leaders of the group by 2015 A.D., since he stated that the R.C.X. had begun planning to attack the Sentinels because he felt their army was strong enough to do so.
Arthur sensed from Captain Britain's reaction to his true identity that they knew each other in the other timeline, but not as allies, and asked if he was a villain in that reality. Nightcrawler told him that his other self was "a man of destiny, in search of purpose." Arthur empathised with this, and stated "Before the rise of the Sentinels, I longed for battle so that I might prove myself a hero. Now that I have seen the reality of war...I yearn only for peace."
Arthur's dream appeared to be fulfilled when Phoenix used her psionic powers to give the Sentinels a new directive, to preserve all life, thus ending the war. He thanked her, but she pointed out that the peace would still need to be won. He agreed, and asked her if she would stay to help, but she told him her destiny lay elsewhere.
- Excalibur I#66, (Excalibur I#67
;
Speedster heroine, member of Pendragon's Knights. She was killed during the Sentinel's assault on Camelot, unable to outrun the robot's destructive blasts even with her speed. Her counterpart of the same name on Earth-616 was a member of the Knights of Pendragon.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
This reality's Captain Britain, killed when Braddock Manor was destroyed by Sentinels. He was married to Meggan, and they had children.
Little is certain about this world's Captain Britain, as he died off-camera prior to the adventure depicted in the comic. It's not specifically stated that he was a member of the R.C.X., but given that the group appears to have existed prior to the Sentinel invasion (Camelot took four years to build, while the Sentinels invaded two years ago) and that virtually every superhuman in Britain appears to have joined R.C.X., it seems likely Captain Britain was a member. Since the divergence between Earth-616 and Earth-DoFP happened after Brian Braddock became Captain Britain, since he was married to Meggan and based at Braddock Manor, it is a reasonable assumption that he was the Captain Britain of Earth-DoFP - but not 100% guaranteed.
- Excalibur I#67 - BTS
Although he isn't positively identified, looking at the costume of this guy, I think he is an older version of Crimson Crusader of Clan Destine. He presumably died during the battle for Camelot.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
One of the few survivors of R.C.X., since she was with the group at Braddock Manor when Camelot was destroyed. She survived the attack on the Hive. Presumably she is similar to her Earth-616 counterpart in most respects.
- Excalibur I#66, (Excalibur I#67
The Dark Guard
Mentioned by Tangerine as being destroyed early on during the battle for Camelot. I've ASSumed that this is the name of a sub-group within R.C.X., analogous to the Dark Guard (Albion, Stacy Arnheim, Dark Angel, Death's Head (Minion), Killpower, Liger, Motormouth, Ultra-Marine), but that's by no means certain. The Dark Guard might even be the name of an individual hero in this reality.
- Excalibur I#67 - BTS
Because he was seen by his fellow defenders as nearly indestructible, Death's Head became a symbol of Camelot's resolve during the Sentinel attack. He was destroyed by an energy beam which melted much of his form, and his death broke the spirit of his fellow heroes.
Given that the Death's Head (Minion) who has interacted with the heroes of Earth-616 is a dimensional traveller not native to Earth-616 to begin with, there remains a chance that the Death's Head who worked and died as part of Earth-DoFP's R.C.X. might be the same Death's Head, at some unspecified point in his future.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
One of the handful of R.C.X. survivors, thanks to her being at Braddock Manor when the Sentinels were attacking Camelot. She accompanied her fellows to the Hive, and presumably helped try to rebuild the world the Sentinels were defeated. What little was seen of her suggests she was largely identical to her counterpart on Earth-616.
- Excalibur I#66, (Excalibur I#67
Another survivor of R.C.X. and the attack on the Hive. Like his Earth-616 counterpart, he was fond of large guns and (his partner?) Motormouth, and her death seemed to upset him deeply. In fact, given that Killpower of Earth-616 was a dimensional traveller, its well within the bounds of possibility that the R.C.X. Killpower could be the Earth-616 Killpower, at some indeterminate point in his future (though he probably isn't).
- Excalibur I#66, (Excalibur I#67
Given the big gun, I'd guess this is Tigon Liger of the Warheads - Snood.
Seen among the defenders who faced the Sentinels, he was presumably killed in the battle for Camelot.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Killed alongside her husband, Captain Britain, and children, when the Sentinels destroyed Braddock Manor. As with her husband, its probable she was a member of R.C.X., but not certain, since she was killed off-camera before the story began.
- Excalibur I#67 - BTS
Armed with a sonic attack like her Earth-616 counterpart, she was killed early on in the attack on Camelot. Given the way Killpower reacted when he found her corpse, they were probably partners like their counterparts (but nothing is certain, since she would have gained her powers after the divergence between Earth-616 and this reality). She was one of the few members of R.C.X. who looked visibly older in this future. As mentioned in the Killpower entry, it is conceivable that this is Earth-616's Motormouth years in the future, given her dimensional travelling abilities.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Team of heroes presumably analogous to Earth-616's Knights of Pendragon. While Albion, Grace and Union Jack were probably members of this group, the only person explicitly stated to be a member was Breeze.
- Excalibur I#67 - BTS
The only member of R.C.X. currently lacking an Earth-616 counterpart (although she does have a counterpart in Earth-Days of Future Tense). A telepath capable of scanning emotions, sensing enemies approaching, psychometry, and generating bio-electrical blasts to fry someone's mind psionically. It appears she lacked defensive powers, relying on her allies to protect her in battle. She survived the battle in the Hive.
- Excalibur I#66, (Excalibur I#67
(Exaclibur I#54)- Last page, Kitty and Alastaire are working on Widget, who suddenly shouts something about "Lookout Tangerine! The trackers..." or words to that effect. I guess it might count as a BTS appearance of RCX-DoFP Tangerine.--Loki
Counterpart to Union Jack (Joey Chapman) of Earth-616. He died in the battle of Camelot. Since he was wearing a uniform similar to the one used by U.J.-616 when he was working with the Knights of Pendragon, he probably belonged to Pendragon's Knights in this reality, and had the superhuman strength from being inhabited by the Pendragon spirit.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Unidentified,
but that headband resembles the one worn by Adam Crown of the Knights of
Pendragon on Earth-616. Perhaps in this reality the Pendragon power of King
Arthur chose a female host.
Presumably killed in the battle for Camelot.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Unidentified
Presumably killed in the battle for Camelot.
I originally wondered if this was Micromax (as did fellow Master of the Obscure Markus Raymond, and Jacob Cundiff, a.k.a. "Doc Worm", who wrote in). While there is a basic resemblance, I don't think he is Micromax, because:
1. He appears to be flying, and I'm fairly sure Micromax couldn't
2. Micromax has a double M emblem on his chest, which this guy lacks.
3. Micromax's goggles on his mask are a lot larger, covering part of his forehead.
The latter two could be put down to artistic differences, except that the artist who created Micromax and his look is the same artist who drew the crowd scene - if he'd meant this guy to be Micromax, he wouldn't have overlooked those details.
He looks like Solar, Man of the Atom, to me--Snood.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Unidentified
Presumably killed in the battle for Camelot.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Unidentified
Presumably killed in the battle for Camelot.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
Unidentified
Presumably killed in the battle for Camelot.
- Excalibur I#67 (fb)
images:
All images come from Excalibur Volume I
Top Image (left):#67, p.1, pan4
Top Image (right):#67, p.8, pan4
Albion:#66, p.23, pan1+2
Arthur (unmasked):#67, p.8, pan5
Arthur (armour):#66, p.20, pan3
Breeze:#67, p.4, pan1+2
Crimson Crusader:#67, p.1, pan4
Dark Angel:#66, p.20, pan3
Death's Head:#67, p.2, pan3+4
Grace:#66, p.22, pan1
Killpower:#67, p.8, pan4
Motormouth:#67, p.1, pan4
Tangerine (body):#66, p.20, pan3
Tangerine (face):#66, p.21, pan2
Union Jack:#67, p.1, pan4
Unidentified (cyborg eye):#67, p.1, pan4
Unidentified (headband):#67, p.1, pan4
Unidentified (flying):#67, p.1, pan4
Unidentified (mouth open):#67, p.2, pan1
Unidentified (back of head, facing to right):#67, p.2, pan1
Unidentified (back of head, facing to left):#67, p.3, pan1
Appearances:
Excalibur I#66-67 (June-July, 1993) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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