STORY: "X-Cutioner's Song, part 5: Familiar Refrain" (22 pages)
Apocalypse has a skirmish with the X-Men but escapes. X-Force are held prisoner by the X-Men and X-Factor, who allow Cannonball to help them fight Stryfe. Wolverine and Bishop go to a secret Canadian government base in search of files on Stryfe, and find Cable has got there first.

What you need to know:
Again, not an enormous amount. This issue is full of plot points for the crossover, but not much happens that has a great impact on the series.

The story continues in X-Factor #95, X-Men vol 2 #15 and X-Force #17, in which (deep breath):- Bishop, Cable and Wolverine team up and head off to Cable's headquarters in orbit around Earth; Professor X stays in a coma; the X-Men and X-Factor have a fight with Stryfe's former henchmen, the Mutant Liberation Front, which achieves not a great deal but gets some of the team injured; Cyclops and Jean escape from their cell in Stryfe's headquarters; and a badly injured Apocalypse goes to the X-Men for help.

Comments:
See the comments for the previous issue, really. The plot romps satisfyingly onwards, the art's passable enough (though Brandon Peterson would improve enormously over subsequent years). Fun.
 

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X, Archangel, the Beast, Bishop, Storm, Wolverine (all last in X-Force vol 1 #16) and Jean Grey (last in X-Men vol 2 #14; all but the Beast and Jean Grey next in X-Factor vol 1 #85, then all in X-Men vol 2 #15, then in X-Force vol 1 #17)
Gambit and Rogue (both last in X-Force vol 1 #16; next in X-Factor vol 1 #85, then in X-Men vol 2 #15, then in X-Force vol 1 #17, then in issue #297)
Colossus (last in X-Force vol 1 #16; next in X-Men vol 2 #15, then in X-Factor vol 1 #86, then in X-Force vol 1 #18, then in Wolverine vol 2 #66-68, then in X-Men vol 2 #17-19, then in issue #299)
Iceman (last in X-Force vol 1 #16; next in X-Men vol 2 #15, then in X-Factor vol 1 #86, then in X-Men vol 2 #16, then in X-Force vol 1 #18, then in Wolverine vol 2 #67-68, then in X-Men vol 2 #17-19, then in issue #299)
Psylocke (last in X-Force vol 1 #16; next in X-Factor vol 1 #85, then in X-Men vol 2 #15, then in X-Factor vol 1 #86, then in X-Men vol 2 #16, then in X-Force vol 1 #18, then in Wolverine vol 2 #67-68, then in X-Men vol 2 #17-24, then in issue #304)

GUEST STARS
Cable (between X-Force vol 1 #15 and X-Factor vol 1 #85)
X-Factor II: Havok, the Multiple Man, Polaris, Quicksilver and Strong Guy (all between X-Force vol 1 #16 and X-Men vol 2 #15)
X-Force I: Boom-Boom, Cannonball II (both next in X-Factor vol 1 #85), Feral, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Sunspot and Warpath (behind the scenes; the latter six next in X-Force vol 1 #17; all last in X-Force vol 1 #16)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Moira MacTaggert (between X-Men vol 2 #14-15)
Jubilee (between X-Force vol 1 #16 and #18)

VILLAINS
Apocalypse (last in X-Men vol 2 #14; next in X-Factor vol 1 #85)
The Horsemen of Apocalypse: Caliban (next in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18), Famine (no further appearances to date; both last in X-Force vol 1 #16) and War I (between X-Factor vol 1 #84 and Wolverine vol 2 #147)
Stryfe (between X-Force vol 1 #16 and X-Factor vol 1 #85)

GUEST APPEARANCES
Valerie Cooper (between X-Force vol 1 #16-17)
The Professor (between X-Force vol 1 #16 and X-Men vol 2 #15)

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