BIOGRAPHY - Page 25
A massive new development in mutant culture came when Xavier and Magneto reunited to begin an official nation for mutants on Krakoa. Peace was made with the living island and with all past mutant foes, with the likes of Apocalypse, Sinister, Exodus and Mystique joining in the government of this nation. Security and political clout were bought with new drugs, produced only on Krakoa, which were highly coveted by the human nations. Death itself was conquered when a circuit of mutants known as the Five came together and combined their powers to bring mutants back to life. Threats still remained from the human community, though, such as the futurist group called Orchis. Wolverine was one of several X-Men who died (only to return) while destroying the Mother Mold Sentinel constructed by Orchis in solar orbit, the precursor to contemporary Nimrod technology at long last. [House of X #1-6]
Krakoa was not a total paradise, as an area of the island known as the Wild Hunt still maintained predators and aggressive fauna. Logan spent time hunting there and trying not to grow too complacent. Opening Krakoa’s gates to the likes of Omega Red and Apocalypse made Logan uneasy, and he feared the other shoe might drop. He took some comfort from the fact that Sabretooth was the first to experience Krakoan judgment, sentenced to the Pit of Exile beneath the island for breaking the Three Laws of the land. Logan found time to relax, especially with the new dynamics of his personal life. Logan, Scott and Jean were all alive at the same point for the first time since her death in New York. In the spirit of Krakoa, they all tried something new with Scott in an open relationship with Jean and Emma, and Jean openly with Scott and Logan. Wolverine even had his own room at the Summer House, their family biome on the Blue Area of the Moon. Logan also spent time with Laura and started building his relationships with Daken and Gabby as well.
In less than a month after Krakoa’s founding, a human organization called Xeno launched a new team of Reavers to attack the island, and they assassinated Charles Xavier. Jean and the Five 
were able to use Cerebro and resurrect Charles, but clearly the new Golden Age of mutantkind would be challenged. Wolverine and Kid Omega rescued their scout Domino from Xeno’s bio-weapons shop, with Beast, Jean and Sage providing combat intelligence. Granted a mandate from Xavier and Magneto, this group formed a new X-Force as Krakoa’s CIA, running black ops missions and scouting potential threats to their nation. Logan ran the field team while Beast and the others provided the targets. [X-Force (6th series) #1-3]
Under “FORCE Protocols,” X-Force members were expected to die more regularly on missions and were fast-tracked through resurrection protocols. Forge provided Wolverine with a liquid vat of Adamantium to be bonded to his bones after each return from the grave. Xeno was not the only enemy that Krakoa faced. Mutants now had the wealth of a nation behind them, and their pharmaceutical operation was targeted by the Mercs. These private military actors didn’t care about race or politics… they just wanted Krakoa’s money and assets. The South American nation Terra Verde was a minor political rival who developed a prototype of their own bio-technology before Krakoa hit the market with something far more advanced. X-Force worked with their President Cocom to sign the Krakoan treaty, but also faced a telefloronics group led by his son trying to take over the country and became an active opposition to Krakoa. [X-Force (6th series) #4-6]
Logan and X-Force also uncovered a group known as the Flower Cartel. These apparent drug runners hijacked shipments of Krakoan drugs and re-packaged them for a street drug named “pollen.” During the investigation, X-Force discovered a mutant telepath called the Pale Girl running the cartel, and she brainwashed Logan into killing his own team, including Jean. After that, Logan coordinated with the CIA’s Jeff Barrister to combine intelligence and resources. They discovered the cartel were no mere criminals, but apparently a shadow military force from Russia deliberately trying to undermine Krakoan sovereignty. Logan and Barrister bonded over the mission – Logan pulled strings to get Barrister’s daughter off the waiting list for Krakoan drugs to treat her leukemia, and they arranged to share leads in the future. [Wolverine (7th series) #1-3]
Wolverine was also pulled into conflict with Dracula and the vampire nation. Like Krakoa, the vampires recently set up their own kingdom on radioactive land in the frozen tundra once owned 
by the Soviets. Omega Red’s arrival at Krakoa through the Paris gate, covered in blood, encouraged Logan to investigate whether Arkady should be banished to the Pit alongside Sabretooth. He met a member of the Nightguard named Louise, a vampire hunter, but Dracula’s people got a sample of his blood. [Wolverine (7th series) #1] In a second encounter, Wolverine learned his blood could be synthesized by the vampires into a daywalking formula. The nightstalkers were evolving, too. [Wolverine (7th series) #4-5]
The secrets and lack of oversight in X-Force started to invite problems. Domino had been vocal about weaponizing her pain from Xeno’s torture, so when she was resurrected with the emotional memory of that experience “gone,” Logan started to wonder who made that decision. The Terra Verde situation ended when Beast covertly reprogrammed the telefloronics in President Cocom’s 
son to lobotomize him, leaving Cocom unaware of his son’s terrorism. Instead, the bio-tech gained dominance without a human mind guiding it, and nearly consumed the entire country, and X-Force along with it. Disgusted with Hank’s “ends justify the means” approach and sloppy execution, Jean quit X-Force after helping to fix his mistake. Logan fully understood and thought Jean lasted longer than he expected in the world of shadow operations. He was glad she was out of the business, but it also meant one less conscience overseeing the missions X-Force committed “for the good of the nation.” [X-Force (6th series) #9-10]
Logan’s various commitments still occasionally took him away from Krakoan business. When the Kree-Skrull Alliance was forged and the Cotati plant-people staged an invasion of Earth, most of the Fantastic Four were busy in space dealing with the space fleet. Franklin and Valeria Richards needed help guarding the Chronicle and the Requiem, two children who represented the Kree-Skrull War as it was and triggered a summoning signal to build a temporary FF. Wolverine and Spider-Man responded as reserve members to help stop the Priests of Pama from building an Omni-Wave Projector from the Chronicle’s mind. Logan grumbled about how he was there looking out for mutant royalty, the Omega-class mutant Franklin Richards, but the man of many teams still fondly remembered his time on the Fantastic Four. [Fantastic Four (6th series) #21-23]
Logan reconnected with Conan and his savage allies to prevent Kulan Gath’s rise to power. Doctor Strange discovered the cannibal sorcerer intended to feed on the demon Shuma-Gorath a little at a time and used tainted cocaine to infect others with the demon’s essence as appetizers. Wolverine and the others helped dismantle Gath’s earthly endeavors to slow down his timetable. He and Punisher also took their revenge on the Priest of Sickles, who killed Saviano and disturbed the graves of Castle’s family. [Savage Avengers (1st series) #12-15] After Strange removed the curse of Gath’s ritual from them, they assembled with the likes of Dr. Doom and Kang the Conqueror to finally put an end to Kulan Gath and all his plotting. [Savage Avengers (1st series) #26-28]
Wolverine had another, more antagonistic encounter with non-mutant heroes when the Phoenix Force returned to Earth. The Avengers were assembling the primordial powers of Earth and discovered the existence of the Phoenix’s first mutant host in 1,000,000 B.C. Namor also sought to commune with the Phoenix again, using it in his growing wars with the surface world. Meanwhile, Wolverine intervened on behalf of Krakoa, determined to prevent the Phoenix Force 
from threatening their new nation. This led to a tournament of sorts where the Phoenix brought contenders for its next host into the White Hot Room and empowered two heroes at a time to fight each other for its power. Logan fought to claim the Phoenix himself, rather than lose another friend or ally to its influence, but he was beaten in the tournament by the Black Panther. The Avenger Echo ended up as the Phoenix’s new avatar. [Avengers (7th series) #40-43]
The mutant nation soon faced a crisis when Apocalypse attempted to reconnect with his children and Krakoa’s other half, Arakko. Consumed by centuries of war and ready to invade Krakoa, the forces of Arakko tried to stride across Otherworld to reach them but were blocked by the Majestrix Saturnyne. She forced Krakoa and Arakko to face each other in a tournament to avoid open warfare, bestowing prophecies on each side to uncover the chosen Swordbearers. Logan recognized himself and the Muramasa Blade in the prophecy and set out to find the mad genius 
blacksmith. The original blade forged from his own soul was lost, but Muramasa could forge another. With only three days before the tournament, Wolverine had a whirlwind tour through his contacts in Japan to locate Muramasa. He had little time to truly reconnect with his lost love, Mariko Yashida, resurrected months earlier during an encounter between Old Man Logan and Gorgon. They acknowledged their love was in the past but would always endure, and she warned him that the Hand had the swordsmith in their clutches.
From the Temple of the Bottomless in Kyoto, Wolverine fought his way down into the Hell of the Beast. The Hand intended to wed the son and daughter of the Beast and wanted Muramasa to forge two swords for the ceremony. Logan discovered a Swordbearer from Arakko was also 
seeking a Muramasa blade and found himself in an unlikely alliance. Solem of the Silver-Skin was a likable but dangerous rogue who helped Logan crash the wedding. When the Beast focused on Wolverine, Solem got his hands on the two Muramasa blades. He offered to help Wolverine escape and give him one of the swords, in exchange for a debt. When Solem called upon him, Logan would owe him a fight. Wolverine accepted the debt, whatever the consequences, and returned to Krakoa with his sword.
Saturnyne enjoyed toying with her pawns, hosting a feast before the tournament for both sides to break bread. Logan hoped to end the tournament before it began by assassinating Saturnyne, but her magic prevented him from striking and showed Krakoa’s fate if she weren’t around to regulate Arakko’s aggression. Logan reluctantly backed down. Over the course of the tournament, Wolverine killed Summoner, son of War, while fighting in Blightspoke. Saturnyne amused herself by pitting Solem against War to settle their old grudge, as Solem once slept with and killed War’s husband. Solem called in his marker and made Wolverine fight War for him, and Logan won by cutting off the First Horseman’s hand. It was a rough victory, but Krakoa ultimately won the tournament and prevented Arakko’s invasion. [X of Swords crossover]
