This article contains spoilers for X-Force #11.
The Madripoor, and Russia all coordinating their efforts to create anti-mutant technology. The X-Men have found themselves on the back foot, constantly dealing with new threats and mysterious new enemy forces.
Matters escalate in X-Force #11, with the X-Men unwittingly unleashing a band of mutant-killers on their island home. The creatures know their way around, successfully breaking into Sage's data-center and locating key points across Krakoa. A band of them then turn Forge's armory against the X-Men, using the organic weapons Forge has created to cause carnage. And, in amidst all this chaos, one of them achieves their true goal.
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He acquires the Cerebro Sword. This was a sword forged by Magneto, constructed from the damaged Cerebro unit Charles Xavier was wearing when he was (temporarily) assassinated. When the Professor was resurrected, Magneto gave Xavier the sword and told him to keep it close, a symbolic reminder of the threat the mutant race now faced. "Every now and then the sword would wink or glimmer with light or hum with the data still coursing through it," a data-page revealed in X-Force #3. "Cerebro was broken, but forged anew and refined, like Xavier's Dream."
But why do the enemies of mutantkind want the Cerebro Sword? The clear implication is that they believe it still has functional Cerebro technology; that it is connected to the global data network Xavier uses to store the copied minds of every mutant in the world, and that he accesses as part of the resurrection protocols. Making matters worse, long-term readers will the X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel, that suggested Cerebro technology could be used to enhance a telepath and allow them to launch an extinction strike against the mutant race. The Cerebro Sword clearly has phenomenal destructive potential - and the most disturbing thing is that the X-Men have no idea it's been taken.
Of course, this is all pretty obvious setup for the "X of Swords" event, which will see ten X-Men wield ten legendary blades in the defense of Krakoa. Promotional images have routinely shown Charles Xavier using the Cerebro Sword, so it's safe to say this arc will see the X-Men race to retrieve it - and learn just how powerful it really is.
