Backstory: Dr. Cullen's assassination

[Saladin]

I had an idea to deepen the history between Saladin and the X-Men, and I've already discussed this with Jenny and Nav. I think there's enough of a quorum to write it into our backstory canon.

I've included some rough dates which can be revised; I'm assuming that the current school year begins in the autumn of 2007.

As I have already written, Hektor Vespasian was involved in the notorious bloody Gladsheim Riots at Gladsheim University in Stockholm in the winter of 1990. Dr. Cullen had founded his Institute in the autumn of '89, and his inaugural class consisted of (at the least) Ethan Daniels, Francoise Dupont, and Maxine Flannery. Perceiving Hektor to be both a leader of great potential and a man in need of guidance, Dr. Cullen contacted him and invited him to join the Institute. Hektor disagreed with many of Dr. Cullen's viewpoints, but, respecting his wisdom and initiative, he joined Cullen's students and began helping their cause.

Hektor joined the first graduating class and became part of the teaching staff along with Ethan, Francoise, and Max. He also formed a healthy, if competetive, friendship with Ethan. Dr. Cullen had hopes that the two of them would be joint successors to his vision. But in 1997, en route to a high-profile speech, Dr. Cullen was assassinated by a lone gunman who was never apprehended. His students were devastated, but Ethan was determined that the school should continue.

Hektor, however, believed that Dr. Cullen's death was a sign that his vision for integrating mutants into normal society could never be realized. He wanted to see the school become a training ground to equip the next generation to assert their superiority over humans and survive what he saw as an inevitable genetic war. He tried unsuccessfully to persuade the others to his viewpoint; this created a great deal of friction between him and Ethan. In 1998, he joined the radical mutant group Ragnarok and disappeared.

Ethan continued to operate the Institute in accordance with Dr. Cullen's wishes, trying unsuccessfully to reestablish contact with his old classmate, colleague, and friend. It wasn't until 2005 that Hektor appeared in Europe, calling himself Saladin, and seeking recruits for his new Brotherhood of Mutants. By early 2006, he moved to the United States and, continuing his recruitment efforts, began building up his resources to wage the genetic war he had always predicted.

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So, to build up some of these relationships, I though it'd be cool to have a thread set immediately after Dr. Cullen's assassination to deal with his students' reactions. I'd like it to include Ethan, Francoise, and, of course, Hektor; any others who were around at the time could also participate, like Max and Johnathan Parker.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Zem-El Vymes]

I suggest you get Neutron out of his cell first