| Gatherers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Team Information | |
| Founder(s): | Celestials |
| Leader(s): | Celestials |
| Status: | Defunct |
| Base(s) of Operations: | Earth |
| First appearance: | X-Force Vol 1 96 |
| Created by: | John Francis Moore Jim Cheung |
History[]
Origin[]
The Celestials dispatch their Gatherers.
The Gatherers, also known as Celestial Golems, were robotic constructs created by the highly advanced race of alien beings known as the Celestials when they jump started sentient evolution on the planet Earth. These red skinned humanoids were created millions of years ago when their masters first came to the primitive planet. Within their artificial brains were imprinted the processes that allowed for evolution of entire species. They were able to restructuer the DNA of sentient beings and rewrite the genetic template of future generations. With a simple gesture, a Gatherer was able to devolve evolved sentient beings and return them to their ancestral roots making them very dangerous weapons against biological foes. Upon their arrival, they sent forth their Gatherers with these robotic drones scouring the surface of the world.
Their mission was simple; to collect, categorize and conduct genetic tests as well as alterations to the indigenous native species. They served as critical role in the evolution of the Human race from its primitive simian based roots. It was the work of the Gatherers which led to the birth of the Eternals, creation of the Deviants and the implantation of the X-Gene in Mankind. Eventually, the Celestial Host left the planet and left a handful of their Gatherers behind where they were lost across the millennia as they were buried deep beneath the surface of the Earth at various sites. Each one required a tremendous amount of power to produce to animate one and needed to be maintained to bring one operational.
For thousands of years, the constructs remained inactive where only a few select beings were aware of their existence in the modern age. The Damocles Foundation intended to improve on the handiwork of the Celestials and intended to retrieve an inactive Golem. Their goal was to use its abilities to merge the best qualities of the Deviants with that of Mankind. As the Deviants lacked the genetic adaptability of Humans, they intended to correct that problem in order to bring about the emergence of a new species that would survive the coming age of catastrophe.
Digging up The Past[]
A Celestial Golem.
In 1989, Lucas Bartholemew Guthrie was hired by agents of the Damocles Foundation with the purpose of transporting a cargo that contained one of the Celestial Golems within a crate. A Deviant known as Randy Lee who was disguised as a Human served as his partner and the two raided a warehouse to acquire the cargo with Guthrie unaware as to its contents. In the resultant skirmish, a warehouse guard critically wounded the Deviant who died by left instructions for the cargo to be delivered to Finn. Learning that his partner was an inhuman being, he checked the contents of the crate and immediately felt that it was something alien. Guthrie's uncle later brought his father into the story with the two taking their cargo to a Damocles Foundation base.
However, a young Sam Guthrie followed them and uncovered that the Foundation was experimenting on children. His discovery and capture led to the Deviants decided to detain the three whereupon they revealed their origins as well as that of the Golem which they intended to awaken with energy channeled into its being. As it was being reactivated, Guthrie's uncle managed to pry a gun from one of the Deviant guards and a shot was fired which impacted the energy generators. After the destruction of the generator, the Golem was freed and immediately attacked the Deviants which allowed the Guthrie's to escape.
However, once it dealt with its immediate targets, it pursued the three Humans where it was confronted by Sledge. The dimunitive being used an energy harness to project a powerful body around himself and battled the Golem where he ultimately destroyed it. He somewhat regretted his actions but felt it was a better alternative than allowing Damocles to get their hands on it.
Cracked Foundation[]
Selene takes control of the Gatherer.
Following the loss of the first Gatherer, the Damocles Foundation managed to uncover a second one within the Marianas Trench in 1999 which was in an even better condition than the previous specimen. In this time, Odysseus Indigo stated that he knew that the Foundation was not the only group seeking to engineer the next race but that with a Celestial Gatherer they would be far ahead of the likes of Mr. Sinister, AIM or the Hive. Remembering the previous incident, Indigo this time intended to implant the Reignfire entity into the Gatherer to not only power it but to control it as well. At this time, Roberto DaCosta was working with Selene in an attempt at stopping the Damocles Foundation from achieving their goals. At this time, X-Force was also dispatched in order to stop Indigo from accomplishing his objective in jumpstarting the next evolutionary step. Before they arrived, Foundation scientists began the bonding procedure of the Reignfire entity whose symbiotic nature was believed to be able to adapt to the Celestial made construct though the science behind the creature was not understood.
In the fighting, Sledge attempted to secretly destroy the second Gatherer but was stopped by Selene who instead used her sorcery to bring the construct under her control. Once awakened, it became her willing subject and she demanded complete control of the Damocles Foundation to which Indigo refused. Dispatching his elite Sword team, Selene commanded the Gatherer to attack and it devolved the Deviant strike force into the forms of their primitive ancestors. With Indigo distracted, X-Force managed to regain their powers which led to Dani Moonstar combining her power with that of Arcadia DeVille where they tore the Celestial Gatherer apart on a subatomic level with a blast of energy thus destroying the construct.
Notes[]
- These machines had been referred to as Celestial Golems in their first appearance and later as Celestial Gatherers in X-Force Vol 1 97.
Trivia[]
- One of the members of the Celestial Host is Gammenon the Gatherer who is responsible for finding living beings for experimentation though whether the Gatherers are attributed to him is unknown.
Links[]
- Coming Soon