Operation: Zero Tolerance
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| "Operation: Zero Tolerance" | |
 Cover of X-Men (v2) #67 featuring Bastion, Iceman and Cecilia Reyes. Art by Carlos Pacheco. |
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| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
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| Publication date | 1996-1997 |
| Main character(s) | X-Men Bastion Henry Peter Gyrich |
Operation: Zero Tolerance is an event that transpired shortly after the Onslaught Saga in the Marvel Universe. It was a primary focus of most of Marvel's mutant-centric titles (specifically those bearing an "X" in their title) throughout 1996 up to the summer of 1997. Within the comic books, it referred to an eponymous United States government project leaded by Bastion and supported by Henry Peter Gyrich which had the purpose of hunting down every single mutant in the United States.
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[edit] Build-up to Operation: Zero Tolerance
[edit] Aftermath of the Onslaught Saga
Most of the core non-mutant superhero teams (the Fantastic Four, a number of the Avengers and Bruce Banner), along with the surprising aid of Doctor Doom, in the Marvel universe "sacrificed" themselves in order to help destroy Onslaught by leaping into his body, which was comprised of raw energy at the time. The only superheroes who were left outside of Onslaught were all mutants who could not enter into Onslaught due to his ability to siphon their powers and a handful of non-mutant superheroes including Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Dr. Strange that were not present at the battle. Members of the X-Men were then left to physically attack Onslaught directly and eventually succeeded in destroying him and in the process, seemingly those who had leapt into his energy form as well.
[edit] The assassination of Graydon Creed
This led to a great amount of distrust being harboured toward all mutantkind. Shortly thereafter, Graydon Creed, a presidential candidate and outspoken proponent of mutant hatred, was assassinated by what was meant to look like an energy blast of some kind. This escalated humanity's festering feelings toward mutants.
The fallout of both of these events served as a springboard for the man known as Bastion to suggest to the government that he should begin a plan. In order to keep the nation safe from the growing mutant threat, Bastion's plan involved the capture and extermination of as many mutants as he could find.
[edit] Operation: Zero Tolerance begins
Bastion, along with the aid of his newly constructed Prime Sentinels, was given approval to implement this plan, which was dubbed "Operation: Zero Tolerance". He managed to capture a large number of the X-Men early on and was also able to seize control of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning (in the process gaining access to vital information regarding numerous mutants).
Over the course of the story, Jubilee was captured and mentally abused in order to access the secrets she knew. Cyclops had a bomb implanted in his chest after being captured by Operation: Zero Tolerance along with Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine and Cannonball while returning from Japan. Cable infiltrated the X-Mansion after it was occupied by Operation: Zero Tolerance to free Caliban and destroy Xavier's files to prevent Bastion from getting access to them. The X-Mansion was stripped of its technology. Cecilia Reyes and Marrow join the X-Men after confronting Bastion with Iceman. Bastion is arrested and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody at the end of the storyline.
