In the peaceful camp when the X-Men and Saurians are, Beast, Thunderbird III and some Saurians play soccer, and are joined by Rogue, now healed from her "wounds." She wants to go after the rest of the team, but Beast feels they have to stay and help this community defend itself from the marauding saurians and dinosaurs. Delage interrupts and in speaking to the rest of the community as well, lays a major guilt trip on the X-Men. Rogue's still uneasy, and notices Beast's absence. Hank is getting his fur ruffled by Lupa, who makes no attempt to hide the fact that she's controlling his mind.

Back at the rally, Rogue talks with C'Rel, who still hopes for a peaceful resolution to this crisis, even as the militia marches out of the gate. Meanwhile, Brainchild watches and fairly cackles with delight.

Outside the Savage Land, M'Kai, one of the Saurians, returns to the heavily damaged Blackbird after a foray into the snow. Sage is trying to get the power in the jet back online, as other Saurians watch over Bishop. Sage cranks up the engine, but it stalls. The Saurians get angry, and some sound like they want to start trouble. Bishop wakes up and notes that they're not the only ones to have been persecuted by humans. Sage tries again, and this time, the power (and heat) returns.

Meanwhile the militia is on the move, with Beast and Lupa on point. Hank senses something, but Lupa refuses to let him give a warning. Suddenly giant pterosaurs attack from the sky, knocking both Rogue and Thunderbird to the ground. C'Rel tries to stop the fighting as "smart" velociraptors attack, but no one's listening. Then giant tyrannosaurs crash into the battle, with riders on them being led by Khadar. He calls for death to the humans, which shocks C'Rel.

As Rogue pulls herself back together, Beast takes on some raptors, then is saved by C'Rel. Rogue zooms back to the fray and starts brawling with no holds barred. Then another wave of dinosaurs runs in, but it's a stampede, not an attack, as they are fleeing from the incredibly super-charged (and ticked) Thunderbird. The battle quickly ends, and under C'Rel's orders, Khadar makes peace.

Brainchild watches from his hideout and now plans to send in his new emmisary, Storm, who has been mutated and given claws, pointy ears and a mean disposition. Brainchild is sure he will destroy them all with Storm as his pawn.

Review: Ugh! A terrible issue, almost a waste of paper. It's a sad month when Morrison's writing in NXM is more comprehensible than Claremont's, but that's what happened. The most jarring thing about this issue is the lack of flow. Scenes stop and start, and situations shift gears with no warning. For example, the Saurians are playing soccer with the X-Men on one page, then on the next there's suddenly some ceremony and a whole army in front of them. Where did that come from?

And if Storm is on the cover, why does she only say two words the whole issue? Even more disturbing is the way her transformation (what was she, mutated?) was completely glossed over. When did that happen? Doesn't Storm usually put up more of a fight? It came off as ridicuously lazy writing.

The scene with Sage and Bishop wasn't much better, though Sage did get some minor development in a very Askani-ish way with her "just do it" mentality. Bishop still sounds off, as he has since Claremont started writing him. Also, are we supposed to assume that the Saurians are incredibly warm-blooded or what? How could M'kai go out in Antarctic weather with only a coat and scarf? Even a human would need a full snowsuit! How nuts is that?

Finally, the most lacking thing about this LS is its direction. It started off with an interesting angle on Rogue's difficulty dealing with her enhanced powers and total recall. Now we've got a dinowar from Jurassic Park and Brainchild's power play. What happened to Rogue? This doesn't really fit with the whole concept of X-Treme at all, and I really can't understand why the story was written in the first place.

Not to lay all the blame on Claremont, I think that the art on this book has also contributed to its incoherence. Sharpe's work has become rougher and rougher, and the flow of the panels makes the story hard to understand. For example, the side by side scenes of Beast fighting and Rogue pulling herself out of the mountain didn't work for me at all. The switch from the soccer game to the rally also jarred, probably as much because of the lack of a background as the script.

All in all, a wasted effort. We know the creators are capable of better work, so here's hoping that the final issue ties up these loose ends and presents a clearer and more fulfilling story. Don't hold your breath, though.