Erasmus Mendel was a member of the organization known as Orchis, who came together to deal with the threat of mutants. He led the mission to the space station, Orchis Forge to make sure that it would be able to support human lives after they bring it online. Mendel waited aboard his vessel until a ship came into sensor range. It happened to be a Shi'ar scout ship which Mendel believed carried a strike team of X-Men. This pushed Mendel to board the space station in order to deal with the threat.