6/7

6/7 Apocalypse: employer and controller Apocalypse stands above the Alliance's four field operatives, directing their work and demanding obedience. His appearance at the end of X-Factor #5 puts a face, still largely concealed, to the master behind them. The following issue brings him fully into the confrontation. His interest in Michael Nowlan explains the operation's cruelty. Nowlan can increase mutant power, making him a resource to capture and use. Keeping him alive matters because Apocalypse wants that ability available. The Alliance receives little reassurance from serving him. Even Frenzy's durability does not protect her when she challenges his orders. He expects his authority to hold regardless of how powerful his employees feel. His willingness to abandon them also places their apparent strength in perspective. They are useful while they advance his aims, and replaceable when they fail. The dependence on Nowlan is particularly ugly alongside Apocalypse's talk of strength. His operatives want advantages supplied by a frightened captive, and they use a hostage to obtain them. He can talk about testing mutants against each other while arranging the conditions himself. His discipline of Frenzy makes that hierarchy visible. She wants to keep the boost; he wants Nowlan contained and under his supervision. When those priorities clash, her preference carries very little weight. The Alliance can bully Michael and Suzy, but it cannot negotiate with its employer on equal terms. The whole operation runs downward, with each more powerful person trying to decide what the next person must endure. For X-Factor, the encounter introduces an enemy whose judgment of other mutants leaves very little room for care. For the Alliance, it exposes just how conditional their master's protection really is.