Magneto's Empire Will Rise in 'X-Men: Mutant Empire Omnibus'

Magneto's empire will rise...

Titan Books is bringing back the classic X-Men trilogy with the release of the brand-new X-MEN: THE MUTANT EMPIRE OMNIBUS from author Christopher Golden.

 

They live as outcasts, hated and feared by the very humanity they protect. They are mutants, born with strange and wonderful powers that set them apart from the rest of the human race. Under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier, they are more than mutants. They are—the X-Men.

Magneto—the X-Men’s oldest, deadliest foe—has taken over a top-secret government installation that houses the Sentinels, powerful mutant-hunting robots. The X-Men must fight to keep this deadly technology out of Magneto’s hands and stop him from carrying out his grand plan: establishing a global Mutant Empire. The X-Men must join forces with old enemies to stop him—but in Magneto’s brave new world, who can they trust?

Pre-order your copy of the X-MEN: THE MUTANT EMPIRE OMNIBUS, available on November 12, wherever books are sold.

EXCLUSIVE text copy of EXCERPT FROM 'X-MEN: THE MUTANT EMPIRE OMNIBUS'

Cloaked from all detection by its extraordinary technology, the space station Avalon described an elliptical orbit around the Earth. On her observation deck, a gleaming metal platform with little ornamentation to warm the cold expanse of space, Eric Magnus Lehnsherr stood alone, gazing down at the planet of his birth with a heavy heart. He was no longer welcome on Earth. More than a man without a country, he was a man without a world. And he feared that such would be the fate of all his kind.

Eric Lehnsherr was a mutant.

He was not an uncommonly large man, standing just over six feet tall and weighing just under two hundred pounds, but there was a quiet fury about him that gave even the bravest soul pause. His eyes were the blue-gray of an impending storm, his long hair an extraordinarily perfect white. Defined by his command, of himself and others around him, he was not given to frivolous commentary or physical expression. Still, he allowed himself a low sigh, a shake of his head, and then his hand came up to stroke his smooth chin.

Lost in contemplation, in waves of hope and grim determination, he barely noticed the hiss of expelled air as a door slid open behind him. There was no danger to him, here. On Avalon, he was …

“Lord Magneto, you summoned me,” Exodus said reverently.

Magneto felt a moment of regret for the day he chose that name. In his anger, his need to present himself to the world as a being of power, he had abandoned the name his parents had given him. It had set him apart from the humans, made them fear him all the more. But it had also made it easier for them to hate. That distance, that difference, also existed in the hushed reverence with which his Acolytes treated him. Fear, hatred, reverence … Magneto wondered if he would ever grow used to them, or to the solitary world they had built around him.

Exodus stood silently, patiently awaiting whatever response Magneto might provide. His robes flowed around him, reminding Magneto of a purple and black butterfly, such a contrast to the hard shell of crimson that he himself wore.

“Your tone reveals your hope that I have finally come to my senses, Exodus,” Magneto said. “I’m sorry to inform you that I remain dedicated to the Empire Agenda.”

“My lord,” Exodus gasped, “you know that I would never think to question your will. I have not …”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Magneto assured him. “You have no fear that I will question your loyalty. Yet I know that you disapprove of this endeavor. Don’t think for a single moment that I don’t know, and understand, your feelings on this subject.”

Magneto walked to Exodus, whose eyes were downcast, and laid a hand on the other’s shoulder.

“Avalon will continue to be a haven away from Earth for those mutants who accept our invitation, our challenge to live free,” Magneto said reassuringly. “And you, my friend, will continue to be the ferryman who guides those lost souls to their new lives, and the chief protector, other than myself, of all who reside here.”

Exodus nodded, but did not appear relieved.

“Please, Exodus, enough of this propriety!” Magneto said in frustration. “Ask the questions that weigh so heavily on you.”

“I know it isn’t my place, Magneto, but it all seems so unnecessary,” Exodus explained. “We have Avalon. What is keeping us from abandoning the Earth entirely?”

Magneto realized that Exodus simply could not comprehend his plans, and resolved to change that. True, Exodus would follow his orders to the letter, no matter what they might be, and he owed no one an explanation of his actions. But what good was blind obedience? Whoever followed him, Magneto had vowed, would not do so in ignorance. That was the human way.

“We are the next step in evolution,” he began, and turned to look back out at the vacuum of space, and the blue world spinning below. “We are homo sapiens superior. It is the destiny of the species currently referred to as ‘humanity’ to die out, to be replaced by our kind. It is natural that they should fear us, for we are the harbinger of their doom.

“I have spent my life trying to carve a place in the world for mutants. By natural law, we ought to be the sovereign race on this world. It is inevitable. Time and again, my efforts have been thwarted by Charles Xavier and his X-Men. Mutants themselves, these so-called heroes have naively worked toward Xavier’s dream that mutants and humans can peacefully co-exist.”

He paused, but when he spoke again, he no longer seemed to be speaking to Exodus.

“Xavier is a madman,” Magneto said, a strange sadness in his tone. “What creature ever embraces entropy? How can any rational being live side by side in harmony with the evidence of its impending death?”

“Yes, lord,” Exodus agreed. “But what you say only strengthens the case for Avalon as the haven for all mutants until we are strong enough to take the entire Earth, or until the humans begin to destroy themselves. Why continue to struggle for a refuge on Earth when we have one in the heavens?”

“Why indeed?” Magneto asked himself, a wistful smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He brushed an errant lock of white hair from his face, then spun to look at Exodus once more.

“I must try, don’t you see?” he asked, suddenly vehement. “That ball of dirt and water spinning down there is our home, Exodus. We have a right to it as the next rung on the evolutionary ladder. The Earth is my home, for better or worse. Every moment of happiness, every ounce of agony, sprang from its soil. To abandon it to the new dream of Avalon means putting my vision of an Earth ruled by mutantkind on hold for an indefinable time.

“That may be what is necessary for the vision to become truth. If so, I am prepared for it. But before I am able to reconcile myself to that decision, I have to make one final effort to create a haven for mutants on Earth now, today! I put the Empire Agenda in place several years ago for just such an attempt. The moment has arrived. Do you understand that?”