This issue starts with a gun pointed at you.
Rogue, Bishop, and Iceman fight a bunch of mutant-hunting soldiers and when Bishop hits them with his bioelectric power they melt—because they’re not human.
Ewwww.
This is the first appearance of Phalanx Covenant—a group of technobeings patterned using the X-Men’s old alien friend, Warlock.
To investigate what the creatures are, Rogue tries to absorb them. All she learns is that one is named “Hodge,” which will be a reference to the character Cameron Hodge, who died during X-Tinction Agenda. The demon responsible for Inferno had made Hodge a deal to resurrect him if he died, so it seems this is the fruition of that deal.
Also, the government has built a Magneto-proof suit of armor, and Storm steals it–at Xavier’s instruction.
Storm is clear that she believes this behavior is inappropriate, and tells the Professor. Interesting that he didn’t use X-Force for this mission, given that they’re clearly down with breaking the law.