Eulogizing Cable

Nathan Christopher Summers, son of Xman Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops, is going to die.
For most of his adult life, Nathan has been a soldier.  He has gone by the name Cable for just about as long as he has 'Nathan', but today Cable is more meaningful than anything else you could call him. 

A cable links things together, and that is exactly what Nathan does.  He is the link to a terrible timeline; a possible future where the world was an apocalyptic ruin.  But he is also a part of a timeline where there are heroes, mutant heroes, who call themselves the Xmen.  These Xmen have always fought for survival and acceptance in a world that didn't understand them, feared them, and to an extent, hated them.  They protected people from harm while all the time trying to advance their cause.  Like Cable, they can be considered soldiers. 

Cable has fought alongside the Xmen, sometimes as part of a core team, other times as leader of an off-shoot team, perhaps most often on his own...he has fought the good fight.  As it stands now, the good fight is a war between the Xmen, the best of a race on the verge of extinction, and Bastion, leader of a cabal of powerful bigots and terrorists determined to destroy all of mutantkind.  These bigots have never been this close to their goal, the Xmen, never this desperate.  After a series of brutal battles, and near-suicidal tactics, the Xmen have scored an important victory.  Yet that victory has not been without cost - they've lost a carefree, Ariel; a Knight who crawled his last breath; and now they will lose Cable.          


Cable is sacrificing himself, mind and body to provide a crucial link.  He will be the bridge to the present and keep the doorway open until all his allies can cross over from a hellish future into the present.  They will be needed for the final battle, and as any good soldier knows, sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself to give others the chance to finish the fight.  We do not know if he is afraid; given all that he has seen and done, its unlikely.  But we do know that he is determined; his will is singular, unbroken, straight and true, like an optic blast.  His father will hurt, but he will also be proud, and very, very thankful.


So I ask you all to remember Cable, remember his sacrifice and honor his memory.  He has fought all his life for his beliefs and the greater good but he died for his friends, his race, and most of all, for Hope.