Origin
The Celestials created Ship with the idea of collecting information and specimens who they could later tamper with. In one of it’s missions it ended up in Earth and didn’t leave. The immortal mutant Saul found it but was unable to operate or enter it. As time passed another mutant found his way to Ship, this one being Apocalypse who tried to kill Saul but was unable to, because he was a fellow external, a member of a class of pseudo-immortal mutants. As Apocalypse enters Ship he made it his personal vessel, as it had perfect cloaking devices, and using his great knowledge of Celestial mechanics, he reprograms Ship to serve him.
Creation
Ship was created by Walter and Louise Simonson and first appeared in X-Factor 15 (1987).
Character Evolution
Ship was first introduced as a sentient spaceship co-opted by Apocalypse. He was then turned by X-Factor and acted as their base/vessel. When apocalypse infected Nathan Summers with the techno-organic virus, Ship accompanied Nathan (in his chest) to the future and acted as a guide. Back in the present, Ship, now called Professor, was the central core of Cable’s space base, Graymalkin. He was then the network in the X-Force base in Arizona. After a Phalanx tried to absorb the information in the bunker, the Phalanx’s body wasn’t able to contain the mass of information and Ship was able to transfer his consciousness into the body. He then took to the stars.