Operation: Galactic Storm

Release Date:
March – May 1992

Plot/Theme

The Avengers become caught up in an intergalactic battle of dire proportions when stargates near Earth's sun, used by the Shi'ar and the Kree in a war between the two galactic empires, begin to make the sun unstable, putting all of Earth in danger. To solve the problem, Avengers head to the stars – one team to the Kree Empire and one team to the Shi'ar Imperium – to do what they can to ease tensions between the waring empires. Both teams face stiff opposition in their respective missions, one finding themselves in battle against the Kree Starforce and the other against the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. Along the way, the Avengers learn of the Nega-Bomb, a weapon of the Shi'ar to be used against the Kree home galaxy. The Avengers must act quickly if they are to save the Earth and prevent genocide, all while two galactic empires hang in the balance!

Characters Involved

Black Knight, Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Hercules, Quasar, Thor II, Vision (all Avengers)

Hawkeye / Goliath II, Iron Man, Living Lightning, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman II, USAgent, Wonder Man (all Avengers West Coast)

Mockingbird (reserve member of the Avengers West Coast)

Captain Marvel II, Falcon, Gilgamesh, Dr. Hank Pym, Sersi, She-Hulk, Starfox, Wasp (all inactive Avengers)

Binary, Ch'od, Corsair, Cr+eee, Hepzibah, Raza Longknife (all Starjammers)

Rick Jones

Lilandra
Deathbird
Akari
Astra, Earthquake, Electron, Gladiator, Glom, Hardball, Hobgoblin, Hussar, Impulse, Magique, Manta, Moondancer, Neutron, Nightside, Onslaught, Oracle, Scintilla, Smasher, Solar Wind, Starbolt, Tempest, Titan, Voyager, Warstar (all Imperial Guard)

Supreme Intelligence
Captain Atlas, Korath the Pursuer, Dr. Minerva, Ronan the Accuser, Shatterax, Supremor, Ultimus (all Starforce)
Ael-Dan & Dar-Benn

Secondary Characters

Peggy Carter, John Jameson, Edwin Jarvis
Her
Epoch
Delphi
Dr. Corbeau, Talia Kruma and other Starcore scientists
Devon Ballantine, Kayla Ballantine, Ken Tanaka
Angler
Gloria Angel, Alex Flores, Neal Saroyan
Intergalactic Sentry #372
K'Qill vor Don
Antro, Arachne II, Therak (all Deathweb)
Kree
Shi'ar
Skrulls

Issues Involved

Avengers (1st series) #345-347, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Captain America (1st series) #398-400, Iron Man (1st series) #278-279, Thor (1st series) #445-446, Wonder Man #7-9, Quasar #32-35

Read Order

Part 1 – Captain America (1st series) #398
Part 2 – Avengers West Coast #80
Part 3 – Quasar #32
Part 4 – Wonder Man #7
Part 5 – Avengers (1st series) #345
Part 6 – Iron Man (1st series) #278
Part 7 – Thor (1st series) #445
Part 8 – Captain America (1st series) #399
Part 9 – Avengers West Coast #81
Part 10 – Quasar #33
Part 11 – Wonder Man #8
Part 12 – Avengers (1st series) #346
Part 13 – Iron Man (1st series) #279
Part 14 – Thor (1st series) #446
Part 15 – Captain America (1st series) #400
Part 16 – Avengers West Coast #82
Part 17 – Quasar #34
Part 18 – Wonder Man #9
Part 19 – Avengers (1st series) #347
Aftermath – Quasar #35

Before

• Sersi left the Avengers in Avengers (1st series) #339.
• Hawkeye used the Goliath identity in Avengers (1st series) #63-97.
• Carol Danvers, previously Ms. Marvel, became Binary in Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #164-166, and had served with the Starjammers ever since.
• The Supreme Intelligence of the Kree was reduced to madness after attempting to use the Mind Gem to reconcile the quarreling voices of Blue and Pink Kree inside its gestalt consciousness. A Skrull disguised as the Kree woman Nenora assumed command of the Kree Empire in its absence. [Silver Surfer (3rd series) #6-8]
• An evil imposter of the Elder Contemplator psychically ended the Intelligence's madness, but intended to manipulate the Intelligence as a puppet to rule the Kree after Nenora was revealed as a Skrull. Instead, the Contemplator's hapless ally Clumsy Foulup made a deal with the Cotati, who manipulated the Intelligence to name HIM ruler and cut the Contemplator out. [Silver Surfer (3rd series) #25-31]
• Clumsy Foulup's selfish rule of the Kree was overthrown by the deceptive practices of Pink and Blue Kree generals, Ael-Dann and Dar-Benn, who assumed joint command of the Empire. [Silver Surfer (3rd series) #53]
• Deathbird renounced her claim to the Shi'ar throne in Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #276 and Lilandra was re-instated as rightful ruler of the Shi'ar Empire.
• The Skrulls have long hated the Kree, and vica versa, dating back to their first contact. [Avengers (1st series) #133-134]

Summary

Captain America's ally and former side-kick, Rick Jones, is plagued by dreams of the Kree Empire and Captain America turning into the Supreme Intelligence. When the two meet in Arizona to discuss the dream’s possible meaning, they are suddenly attacked by Warstar of the Imperial Guard. As soon as Cap realizes Rick is the intended target, he gives his communicard Rick so that he can escape via Cap’s skycyle. Though Cap eventually disables Warstar, Rick is captured by other members of the Imperial Guard.

As this transpires, light years away on Hala, the homeworld of the Kree Empire, the Supreme Intelligence goes about assembling a team of Kree champions, beginning with the robotic Supremor, his own surrogate. Though he no longer commands the Kree people, the Supreme Intelligence is assembling such a team because he knows of the impending war that will decide the fate of the Kree Empire forever.

Despite the current issues between he and Iron Man, Captain America contacts the Avengers West Coast branch, who are closer to his location than his teammates in the Avengers East. The West Coast team collects Cap from Arizona and in their Quinjet they pursue Rick Jones using Cap's communicard.

Rick Jones finds himself prisoner of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard members Oracle, Electron and Tempest, who question him about his old friend Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel. When he refuses to comply, Oracle uses her telepathy to compel him to lead them to where he first encountered Mar-Vell. They arrive at the Lost Kree Outpost, where Rick leads them to the long-outlawed Psyche-Magnetron, from which Tempest collects their true objective, a special part that the Shi'ar require. It’s at this point that a Sentry guarding the post attacks and Rick is almost killed in the battle. Fortunately for him, the Avengers West Coast arrive just in time and Cap saves his friend. The three Imperial Guard members are joined by Warstar, who had escaped from Cap earlier and had been secretly following the Avengers. Chaos erupts as the Avengers West take on the Imperial Guard members, while also having to contend with the Kree Sentry.

Eventually, the Imperial Guard members escape with the part from the Psyche-Magnetron, leaving the Avengers to take out the Sentry. Unable to follow the Imperial Guard who head straight into space, Captain America contacts his teammate Quasar, who pursues the Imperial Guard. Unfortunately, their ship docks with an enormous Shi'ar mother ship, which quickly reaches warp speed and plunges through a mysterious hole in space that appears behind Earth's sun. Quasar attempts to quantum-jump after it but is blocked by an unusual black solar flare, after which the hole behind the sun closes up, leaving Quasar with a mystery on his hands.

After seeing another solar flare, Quasar decides that he should stay in space and investigate the sun, as his quantum bands indicate that it is acting dangerously erratic. Growing suspicious, he flies to Starcore, a solar observatory stationed near the sun, and asks its crew if they think the warping of space so close to the sun could be harming it. When one of the scientists confirms his theory, Quasar offers to evacuate them, but the crew decline. Instead, Quasar gives them a special frequency for them to contact him should the need arise.

Back on Earth, The Avengers West Coast arrive back at their Palos Verdes Compound, where Captain America asks Wonder Man to act as a bodyguard to Rick Jones, in case the Shi'ar try to go after him again. Rick is not impressed by this.

Soon after, Quasar receives a communication from Peggy Carter, informing him that a disturbance has been detected at the Tomb of Mar-Vell. Quickly making his way to the tiny moon orbiting Saturn where Mar-Vell was laid to rest, he is joined by Starfox and together they enter the Tomb, where they find Kree operatives Captain Atlas and Dr. Minerva skulking about. However, before the heroes can learn what the Kree are doing there, the entirety of the Imperial Guard attacks. As the battle rages, Atlas use the confusion to descend further into the tomb. He is soon followed by Quasar, who finds the Kree operative has stolen Mar-Vell's Nega-Bands. In desperation, Atlas clangs the Nega-Bands together and vanishes – leaving an astonished Rick Jones in his place, gasping for air in the vacuum of space. Luckily for Rick, Quasar protects him in a quantum field, saving his life.

Having unexpectedly switched place with Rick Jones, Atlas finds himself in the Avengers West Coast Compound. Confused and angry, he lashes out at Wonder Man. During the ensuing battle, Atlas continues to trade places with Rick Jones each time that he clangs the Nega-Bands together. That is, until Wonder Man eventually knocks him out.

Back on Titan, Minerva hints at something big within the Kree Empire as she tells Quasar and Starfox that they will not stop the Kree. Taking the two prisoner, Quasar and Starfox travel to the Avengers West Compound, where Cap decides that the recent events indicate the two great intergalactic empires of the Kree and Shi'ar are moving to some sort of war. Realizing the scope of the threat, he decides to call a meeting of all available Avengers in New York. As the call goes out, a deadly solar flare heads straight for the Starcore space station.

Meanwhile, in the Kree Empire, the Supreme Intelligence continues building his strike force. A Kree scientist exited to a backwater factory is transformed via his own technology into Korath the Pursuer. On a bleak planetoid, the immortal called Demon Druid is summoned by the Supreme Intelligence, who gives him the new name, Ultimus.

Back in Earth’s solar system, Quasar receives the call for help from the Starcore and heads into space to assist, accompanied by Sersi, the Vision and the new Thor. The group arrive too late for the station but locate the entire crew, who managed to get to an escape pod. With the pod in tow, the Avengers witness the formation of a wormhole – a rip in the Space-Time Continuum. To complicate matters, at the same time another warp appears in the distance and an entire space fleet of Shi'ar vessels speeds through it. When the Shi'ar detect the four Avengers, they believe that they might be spies from the Kree Empire and open fire. Fortunately for them, the Avengers evade the attack and manage to break into one of the vessels, whereupon Sersi warns the Shi'ar to stand down, or be destroyed.

Soon, back at Avengers HQ in New York, the West Coast team and several reserves have arrived for a meeting on the Kree / Shi'ar problem. Aware of her threats aboard the Shi’ar ship, Cap reprimands Sersi for her actions and reminds her that the Avengers don't kill or even threaten to do so. Displaying her annoyance at his attitude, Sersi suggests that perhaps the Avengers should. She also points out that they were in deep space and had only just survived an attack – and doubts the Shi'ar would have extended them the same, non-lethal courtesy. When Cap then learns that Hank Pym has shrunken their Shi'ar into a box as prisoners, he is also concerned at these actions, as they remind him of the tactics of the Collector. He warns the Avengers that it is a slippery, muddy road when they make death threats or incarcerate people.

Returning to the problem, Cap tells the Avengers that they have to try and convince the two ancient races to stop war before it gets out of hand. Cap, Iron Man and the Black Widow split the Avengers into three teams. The first is to head to the Kree Empire, consisting of Cap, USAgent, Iron Man, Crystal, Hercules, the Black Knight and Sersi. The second will head to the Shi'ar Imperium – Wonder Man, the Vision, the Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Starfox, the new Thor and Living Lightning. The third and final team will remain on Earth and consist of the Black Widow, She-Hulk, Falcon, Mockingbird, Spider-Woman, Gilgamesh, Hank Pym, the Wasp, and Hawkeye. Seeing Hawkeye’s anger at being relegated to the Earth-based team, Hank Pym meets with Hawkeye later in private and gives him a serum of Pym Particles, enabling him to become Goliath again, as he had once done years before. With the power dynamics now changed, Cap removes USAgent from the Kree squad and replaces him with the new Goliath.When the two space-bound teams depart for their missions, Quasar remains in Earth orbit to safeguard the stargate and is joined by his cosmic-powered companion, Her.  

Meanwhile, in the Shi'ar throneworld, the Shi'ar Majestrix, Lilandra of House Neramani, is plotting her attack on the Kree when she is confronted by her sister, Deathbird, who offers a better way to do battle against their enemy.

Arriving in Kree space via the stargate, the Kree team of Avengers soon come across a space station and dock with it to make contact. However, instead of the Kree, they find that it has been captured by Shi’ar commandoes, who immediately attack the heroes. Secretly watching this from the Kree homeworld, the Supreme Intelligence intends to take advantage of the Avengers’ interference and orders the armored warrior Shatterax deployed at once. Alerted to the arrival of Shatterax at the space station, Iron Man volunteers to take him on. Though he holds his own in the battle, the arrival of reinforcements changes the odds, so Iron Man surrenders on behalf of the Avengers.

Meanwhile, the team bound for the Shi'ar Empire are soon caught up in a space-quake, which originates from a small planet on which a Kree starfighter is attacking a Shi'ar outpost. While Captain Marvel and Living Lightning go to investigate the Kree fighter, Wonder Man goes to talk to Gladiator, who has arrived on scene. Gladiator, however, has no interest in dialogue and easily defeats Wonder Man. Seeing this, the new Thor reluctantly attacks Gladiator and the two nearly evenly-matched warriors battle for some time.

Nearby, Captain Marvel and Living Lightning locate the downed Kree ship, which they find abandoned, save for mysterious piles of ash and, even more bizarrely, a Skrull warrior in the process of activating a self-destruct mechanism. The two Avengers barely have time to escape the destruction of the vessel. Above, Thor finally manages to get the best of Gladiator, defeating him. In an impulsive act, Thor tosses Gladiator through the Shi'ar stargate and then uses his hammer to seal the stargate forever. Realizing he has trapped them in Shi'ar space, some of the Avengers begin to question Thor's sanity, but the conversation is put on hold when the team find themselves surrounded by a large Shi'ar fleet.

Prisoners of the empire, the Kree-squad of Avengers arrive on the Kree homeworld of Hala. At Cap's signal, Sersi uses her transmutation abilities to transform the Avengers, tricking the Kree into believing that they are Kree Accusers who have been exchanged for the Avengers via a trick of teleportation. Acting the part of Accusers, the Avengers “search” for themselves and eventually find a private compartment in which to speak. There, Iron Man's arrogance soon wears thin on Cap and Sersi as he overrides Cap's orders and scolds Sersi for using her “sorcery” on his armor, despite her transmutative power not effecting his suit in the least. Changed back to his normal state, Iron Man decides to reconnoiter and Goliath volunteers to go with him, to keep an eye on their arrogant teammate. Sersi changes the others into regular Kree citizens and they make their way through the Kree homeworld, seeing “wanted” posters of themselves throughout the city.

Meanwhile, beneath the surface of Hala, the Supreme Intelligence's plans are further set in motion as Ultimus, Shatterax, Korath and Supremor come together in a plot which will help the Supreme Intelligence rule the Kree Empire once again. The Kree warriors start to search for Cap, Sersi, Hercules, Crystal and the Black Knight, as the heroes decide that they need to find Iron Man before he does something foolish.

Back on Earth, the USAgent, Spider-Woman, Mockingbird, She-Hulk, the Falcon, Gilgamesh, Hank Pym and the Wasp are on “guard duty” at Project Pegasus, where their Shi’ar prisoners are being held captive. USAgent, still bitter about being dumped for Hawkeye on Cap's Kree-team, is making the assignment difficult for the others when a squad of Imperial Guardsmen suddenly attack. During the battle in which the Guard attempts to free the Shi’ar prisoners, a stray blast frees Dr. Minerva, who then frees her partner, Atlas. Together they make their getaway, ironically using the Imperial Guard’s spacecraft, while the Guard members themselves are captured. However, the tables turn again when a Shi’ar cruiser captures the craft and Atlas learns that his Minerva is the shapeshifting Guardsman named Hobgoblin, who confiscated Atlas’ Nega-Bands.

Once again a prisoner of the Avengers, the real Dr. Minerva is initially uncooperative, but soon uses her connection to Atlas to locate him aboard the Shi'ar cruiser for the heroes. She-Hulk radios Quasar and alerts him to the location of the vessel, which he and Her pursue. Despite interferences from Guardsmen left behind, Quasar eventually catches up to it and persuades the Guardsmen within to free Captain Atlas. However, when Quasar asks what they want with the artifacts they have been collecting, they refuse to tell him. Quasar takes Atlas with him as he leaves, although not without doing some damage to their vessel that forces them shut down their stardrive.

Quasar quantum leaps away with Atlas and the two soon find themselves in Chandilar's solar system, where they encounter Binary of the Starjammers. Assuming he is there to interfere with the Shi’ar war plans against the Kree, Binary attacks, aided by several of the Imperial Guard. Ultimately, Quasar is outmaneuvered when the Guardsman named Voyager hurls him through a self-generated portal to deep space, while Atlas is once again taken prisoner. Luckily for him, Atlas’ time in custody as short, as he soon finds himself freed by Shatterax.

Meanwhile, the Avengers’ Shi'ar-team arrives on Chandilar, the throneworld of the Shi'ar Imperium. There, Captain Marvel attempts to explain to Chancellor Araki that the Shi'ar must stop using the Stargates near Earth's sun, as the disturbances are causing abnormal solar flares and may jeopardize Earth itself. When Araki does not seem to be overly concerned, the hotheaded Thor demands that the Empress Lilandra meet with them, threatening the entire planet in the process. Lilandra, however, is indeed busy, receiving reports from her scientists that they have succeeding in splitting open the Kree Nega-Bands, a necessary step in the process to build their weapon.

Lilandra decides to personally supervise the final stages of the weapon and travels to the weapons testing facility on another world with in the Chandilar system. She also invites the Avengers to witness as she charges Starjammers with delivering the weapon, called a Nega-Bomb, to the Kree Empire via stargate. Surprising all, Corsair refuses to carry out the assignment, worried about a weapon of unknown type traveling through the Earth’s solar system. Unfortunately for him, he is overruled by his own crew. The Avengers are likewise concerned, but more so with the fact that such a weapon will kill billions.

Plagued by his own history being a weapons manufacturer, Wonder Man finds that he cannot do nothing, so he shanghaies Vision to go after the Starjammers, who are towing the vessel containing the weapon. Putting aside their differences regarding the Scarlet Witch, the two heroes work together to prevent the Starjammers from taking the weapon to Kree space. The Starjammers fight back against the intrusion, until Wonder Man manages to convince them that they should think about their actions, rather than just carry out orders. However, their decision comes nearly too late, as the Starjammer and its towed cargo are about to arrive at the stargate. As the Starjammer enters the stargate, they release the vessel containing the bomb just in time, leaving the bomb floating through Shi'ar space. Unfortunately for Wonder Man and the Vision, they are now trapped aboard the vessel with no way for them to return home.

Back on Hala, Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn, the rulers of the Kree, berate Ronan for not having found the fugitive Avengers and order him to do so soon or else. However, all three are unaware that the elusive heroes are actually closing in on the capital citadel to confront the Kree leaders. Monitoring all parties is the Supreme Intelligence, who has finally assembled all of his warriors – Dr. Minerva, Captain Atlas, Supremor, Korath, Ultimus and Shatterax, known together as Star Force. Unseen by even the Intelligence, Deathbird has arrived on Hala, killing the smuggler who brought her to the rival empire in order to maintain the secrecy of her presence.

Lied to by the Supreme Intelligence, who has told them that the Avengers have joined forces with the Shi'ar, united in their hatred of all things Kree, Star Force track and intercept the Avengers, just as they are entering the capital citadel. When Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn arrive on the scene to investigate the intrusion by both the Terran and unauthorized Kree force, Deathbird reveals herself and strikes, slaughtering them both. She then gives a warning to the Kree – that more will befall the fate of their leaders should the Shi'ar Imperium suffer further Kree assault. Amidst this chaos, the Supreme Intelligence reveals itself, using this tragedy to reclaim leadership of the Kree Empire and unite his people in war against the Shi'ar. He commands Ronan to take Star Force to Chandilar and bring Lilandra's head to him. Atlas and Minerva are tasked with guarding the Avengers, who will remain prisoners of the Kree until they die in full view of the empire. Though the Kree are galvanized by their nationalistic fervor, the Supreme Intelligence wonders how his people would react if they learned that tomorrow the Kree Empire will die.

Not all of the Avengers are prisoners, however, as a cloaked Iron Man and a shrunken-down Goliath still remain at large on Hala. Iron Man recommends that they split up, with him attempting to free their teammates while Goliath goes after Deathbird to prove she didn’t act in alliance with the Avengers.

Despite still being weak from his battle with Shatterax, Iron Man attacks the facility where the Avengers are being held, only to find himself opposed by Ronan the Accuser. Meanwhile, Goliath locates Deathbird, tracking the energy signature of her weapons, and convinces her to aid him. She leads the Avenger to the prison where the rest of the Avengers are being held and helps free them, just in time for the whole group to assist Iron Man in his battle against Ronan and all his squad of Accusers. The Avengers escape through the tunnels below the city, but too late realize that Cap is missing. Though some believe they should go back for their teammate, Iron Man reminds them that their mission is more important than any member of the team.

Light years away, the vessel containing the Shi'ar Nega-Bomb is found by a Skrull cruiser.

Back on Chandilar, Lilandra agrees to meet again with the Avengers to hear their petition. Speaking for their group, Captain Marvel explains the situation with the Stargate causing damage to Earth's sun. Unfortunately, when Araki’s emphatic explanation that sacrifices must be made in war causes Thor to become belligerent, Lilandra orders the Avengers to be taken away. Lilandra then meets Araki in private, where she weighs the decisions she has made. The Nega-Bomb she’s deployed could destroy billions of Kree lives, the solar flares caused by their Stargates may destroy Earth and her people are dying in ever-increasing numbers, all in pursuit of a victory which will only be pyrrhic at best. When Lilandra voices the possibility recalling the Nega-Bomb and petitioning the Kree for peace, Araki stealthily pulls a dagger from his cloak to prevent her from giving such an order. Luckily for Lilandra, Araki’s assassination attempt is interrupted by one of the Imperial Guard, who has been sent to guard the empress.

Meanwhile, Ronan and members of Star Force arrive on Chandilar, intent on delivering a Kree death sentence to Lilandra, but are soon discovered by the Imperial Guard. Drawn to the sound of the battle between the two forces, the Avengers decide that this is their chance to prove their good intentions to the Shi'ar. The plan works and the Avengers and the Imperial Guard soon form an uneasy alliance as they work together against their common foe. The actions of the Avengers both inspire and shame Lilandra, who changes her mind and orders the Nega-Bomb recalled.

Despite her change of mind regarding the Nega-Bomb, Lilandra orders the execution of the capture Kree Star Force members. Again, Captain Marvel appeals to the empress for a negotiated solution and reminding her of the danger to the Earth from the Shi'ar stargate. As before, Araki objects when Lilandra seems open to persuasion and provokes the Avengers until Thor lashes out, causing another battle between the Avengers and the Imperial Guard.

During the lengthy battle, Araki continues to advise Lilandra against peace, pushing for the annihilation of their enemies. Frustrated with this, Living Lightning lashes out at Araki with a lightning bolt, which inadvertently reveals Araki’s true form: a Skrull impostor who has taken Araki's place. Realizing the implications of this, Lilandra frees Ultimus from stasis and charges him with returning to the Kree homeworld to report what has transpired and pass along her desire for peace. She also reveals another piece of important information for Ultimus to report: that the Nega-Bomb has gone missing.

At that moment, the Nega-Bomb, now confiscated and towed by a Skrull ship with Wonder Man and the Vision onboard still, emerges from the Shi’ar stargate in orbit of Earth’s sun and begins to travel a short distance to the other stargate, which will take it to Kree Galaxy. Keeping vigil at the Shi’ar stargate, however, is Quasar’s ally Her, whom Quasar tasked her with preventing any and all starcraft from crossing over. Unfortunately, among the crew on the Skrull vessel is the Super-Skrull, who manages to best Her, knocking her through the stargate and out of the fight. Quasar arrives just in time to beat the Super-Skrull and stop the ship but is given an impossible choice by the Skrull ship’s captain. If Quasar does not let the ship and the Nega-Bomb pass through the stargate, the Skrulls will detonate the bomb and destroy the Earth. Faced with no alternative and noticing the effect the Nega-Bomb’s very presence is having on the sun, Quasar reluctantly agrees and the Skrulls continues on their way through the stargate, the Nega-Bomb in tow.

Though he intends on following, Quasar concerns himself first with the state of the sun, which now seems dangerously unstable, the unnatural sunspots now beginning to “eat” away at the sun. Even with his mentor Epoch, Quasar is unsure what to do, until the arrival of Binary, who has been sent by Lilandra to retrieve the Nega-Bomb. In desperation Quasar opens a portal to the Quantum Zone within the sun, hoping that the anti-matter eating at the sun is drawn within. Knowing that Quasar doesn't have power enough to save the sun alone, Binary forsakes her mission for Lilandra and aides in vacuuming up all of the anti-matter and shunting it through Quasar’s portal, barely surviving the process. After taking the critically injured Binary to Earth, Quasar races for the Kree Galaxy to stop the Nega-Bomb.

Still aboard the Nega-Bomb, the Vision and Wonder Man find themselves in conflict, first against the Skrull officers who finally discover their presence and then with each other. While the Vision believes the bomb should be detonated to end the war between the Kree and the Shi’ar, Wonder Man refuses to be a party to genocide. Ultimately, the Vision has a change of heart, once he sees the core of the Nega-Bomb and realizes its pure destructive power. However, before they can move to disarm the weapon, they are attacked in force by the Skrull crew. Ironically, at this point the battle is joined by both the Kree and Shi’ar teams of Avengers, each of which has tracked the location of the bomb. Despite their best efforts, however, the weapon’s detonator activates and the Nega-Bomb explodes.

The Kree Empire is devastated as the Nega-Bomb rips through the galaxy, laying waste to worlds, buildings and people.

In deep space, Quasar wakes to find the Kree-team of Avengers floating motionless, apparently dead. He is joined first by Thor and then by the Shi’ar team of Avengers, who rode out the blast in the Avengers’ Quinjet. The Assembled Avengers then locate Wonder Man and the Vision, both whom are also floating in space, injured but alive after the explosion. Sorrow turns to joy when Starfox realizes that the Kree team of Avengers are not dead, but psionically transmuted by Sersei into inert matter to survive the Nega-Bomb’s blast. As a fellow Eternal, Starfox is able to transmute them back, returning the Avengers back to life. With Cap being the only Avenger left missing, the Avengers decide to return to Hala to find him.

Back on Hala, there are survivors. Among their number, Deathbird happens upon the alive but unconscious Captain America. Moments after Cap awakens, the two are visited by the image of the Supreme Intelligence, who claims to have orchestrated all of the events that led to the Nega-Bomb’s detonation. Though Deathbird is incredulous, the Supreme Intelligence explains that, though ninety-eight percent of the Kree population has died, those sturdy enough to survive are starting to emerge. More importantly, the radiation of the Nega-Bomb has mutated the surviving Kree, freeing them from their evolutionary dead end and beginning their evolution into a race that will make the universe tremble. The Shi’ar, he informs Deathbird, were manipulated into the war to accomplish what the Supreme Intelligence could not do himself internally. Hearing this, Deathbird is furious at her people being used so.

The Avengers soon arrive on Hala and are overwhelmed at the destruction. As they search for survivors, they are found in turn by Atlas and Minerva, who also survived the Nega-Bomb and blame the Avengers for their part in the destruction. However, they are joined by Captain America and Deathbird, who reveal that it was the Supreme Intelligence who was behind this the whole time. Atlas refuses to believe this until Minerva is forced to admit that she knew of the plan. Unable to live on, knowing that he served the Supreme Intelligence and was thus party to the empire’s destruction, Atlas activates a self-destruct program on his battle suit and asks the Avengers to do what he cannot – to make the Supreme Intelligence pay. As Atlas's suit blows up, Minerva rushes over to him and is caught up in the explosion.

Moved by Atlas’ words and the devastation around them, the Black Knight suggests to the Avengers that they kill the Supreme Intelligence. Captain America objects, reiterating that the Avengers do not kill. The assembled Avengers debate for some time as to whether the Supreme Intelligence even qualifies as living and whether they have the right to be judge, jury and executioner. Eventually, the debate splits the heroes into two groups, those for killing the Supreme Intelligence, and those against.

The Avengers “death-squad” soon locates the Supreme Intelligence, who has various defenses to keep the heroes at bay. Ultimately, the team gets through the Intelligence’s defenses and the Black Knight plunges his energy sword into the Supreme Intelligence's brain. The resulting energy discharge destroys the Kree citadel, causing the Avengers to flee. As such, they do not witness as a tiny point of light rises from the ruins and races into space.

The Avenger squad rejoins their teammates, just as Lilandra, the Imperial Guard and Starforce arrive on Hala. Lilandra officially takes possession of the Kree homeworld and all her dominions in the name of the Shi'ar Imperium – meaning all that was Kree is now Shi'ar. Lilandra names Deathbird her viceroy to rule over the fallen empire and then gives Captain America her word that the Stargate near Earth's sun will never be used again. To Lilandra, now one of the most powerful beings in the universe, Captain America wishes good luck but also gives some parting words of warning about responsibility and the sanctity of life. Though he speaks to her, it is clear that he is also speaking to his fellow Avengers who killed the Supreme Intelligence. Nothing will ever be the same again, Captain America announces to all, before returning to the Quinjet.

Meanwhile, the tiny point of light that left the Kree homeworld is intercepted in deep space by a waiting alien ship and downloaded into its computer core. It is in fact the Supreme Intelligence, which has secretly survived its apparent death and now patiently waits for its plan to come to fruition.

Repercussions/Lasting Effects

AVENGERS

• Quasar departs the team following the Galactic Storm to concentrate on his responsibilities in space. [Captain America (1st series) #401]
• Captain America offers his resignation as joint chairman of the Avengers, but it is refused. [Captain America (1st series) #401]
• Hawkeye resumes the Goliath identity in Avengers West Coast #90-97.
• Binary recuperates at Avengers Mansion, and later takes part in the Starblast event. [Avengers (1st series) #350, Starblast crossover] Most of her cosmic power depleted, she eventually rejoins the Avengers as Warbird. [Avengers (3rd series) #4]
• The Avengers find themselves lumbered with the Shi'ar warrior Deathcry, whom Lilandra sends to warn them of a Kree rebel attack. She eventually becomes an honorary Avenger. [Avengers (1st series) #363-366]

KREE

• Minerva and Atlas survived their apparent deaths and plotted the revenge of the Kree. [Silver Surfer (3rd series) #79]
• Quasar and some of his allies returned to Hala to assist with the rebuilding, but this only put them in conflict with Starforce, so they flee. [Quasar #35]
• The surviving Kree were eventually separated from the Shi'ar Imperium in the event known as “Maximum Security.”

SHI'AR

• Imperial Guard member Onslaught has not appeared since Operation: Galactic Storm.
• Pressures of ruling the Kree Empire weighed heavily on Lilandra, causing trouble to start to brew between her and Charles Xavier. [X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #5]