Operation: Galactic Storm Part 16 - Shi’ar Hatred!

This story continues from Captain America #400…

The Avengers have gotten caught in the middle of a war between the Kree and the Shi’ar. The team has sent off two delegations to convince the warring empires to stop using the star gate near Earth as it is threatening to destabilize their sun.[1]

Arriving on the Shi’ar home world of Chandralar the Avengers delegation — consisting of Captain Marvel, Starfox, the Scarlet Witch, Living Lighting, and Thor — have had a hard time convincing Empress Lilandra to listen to them. Things have gotten more complicated since the Kree sent their Starforce to try and assassinate Lilandra.[2] Captured thanks to some assistance from the Avengers, Lilandra now orders Starforce to be executed for their crimes.

The Avengers try to reason with Lilandra, telling her to spare Starforce as they could use their capture to negotiate peace with the Kree. However, Lilandra’s aid Araki advises her not to give any quarter to the Kree. Seeing that they’re going nowhere with this, Captain Marvel then reiterates the reason why they have come: To convince the Shi’ar to stop using the star gate between Earth and the Kree galaxy as it is threatening their home world. Despite the fact that Araki considers Earth and its people as insignificant primitives, Lilandra says that she will think about it. Araki protests this, saying that the Avengers only aided against Starforce to ingratiate themselves to the empire. Lilandra orders the Imperial Guard to escort the Avengers back to their quarters where they will be sequestered until she makes up her mind.

When the Imperial Guardsman known as Earthquake gets a little too hands on with Thor, the novice thunder god strikes him with Mjolnir. This causes a fight to break out between the Avengers and the Imperial Guard. Eventually, only Thor and Smasher are the only two combatants left standing. Although the pair are reluctant to fight against each other — having earned mutual respect for one another during the fight with Starforce — the two still come to blows.

As the battle rages, Lilandra considers letting one of Starforce so they can return to their Kree master and negotiate peace. Araki protests against this idea and Lilandra becomes confused all over agian. Overhearing this, the Living Lightning is getting watching Araki derail things and zaps him with electricity. The jolt causes Araki to change shape, revealing that he was actually a Skrull spy this entire time.[3] Seeing this makes everyone realize that the Skrulls have been inflaming hostilities between the Kree and the Shi’ar. Lilandra then frees Starforce’s Ultimus so he can go back to the Kree galaxy with an offer of peace. Ultimus agrees that the Skrulls — age old enemies of the Kree — were likely responsible for instigating war between their people.[4] He agrees to return to his empire with this news, but can’t say if this will end the war. The Avengers also ask Lilandra to recall the Nega-Bomb that is being ferried into the Kree empire. Unfortunately, when she tries to recall the ship, the Empress learns that the nega-bomb ship has disappeared.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the members of the West Coast Avengers who remained on Earth have returned to their headquarters in Palos Verdes, California. US Agent is not happy that they let the Doctor Minerva — a Kree operative — go free. However, Hank Pym decided that it was necessary after she helped them track the fleeing Shi’ar. Spider-Woman has placed to go and when US Agent offers to give her a life, she tells him that she wants to be alone. Going out into the back yard, Spider-Woman thinks about how this recent threat to Earth made her realize that she could lose everything in the blink of an eye. This gets her thinking about the constant conflict between her ex-husband Larry Carpenter over visitations with their daughter, Rachel. As Spider-Woman, Julia has often sacrificed the opportunity to see her daughter and realizes that if she wants to spend as much time with her daughter as possible, she might have to give up her double life.

Little does Spider-Woman know is that she is being observed by three arachnid powered individuals named Arachne, Antro, and Therak. Therak worries that they have been spotted but Antro and Arachne assure him that they have not. Arachne decides that this is enough observation for one night and that they’ll have plenty of time to eliminate the Avengers West Coast later. With that, Antro teleports them away.[5]

While back in space, Wonder Man and the Vision have intercepted the nega-bomb ship and they discover that it has been hijacked by Skrull spies. They realize that they need to stop the runaway weapon before it goes off and causes untold death and destruction.[6] As the nega-bomb ship crosses through the warp gate to the Kree galaxy, Quasar radios the Avengers delegation in the Shi’ar galaxy to tell them that he knows where the Nega-Bomb is.[7]

… This story continues in Quasar #34.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Hank Pym, Wasp, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Starfox, Captain Marvel, Mockingbird, Quasar, US Agent, Living Lightning, Spider-Woman) Lilandra, Imperial Guard (Astra, Earthquake, Hardball, Hussar, Smasher, Titan), Starforce (Supremor, Shatterax, Ronan, Korath, Ultimus), Deathweb (Arachne, Antro, Therak)

Continuity Notes

1. The Avengers split off into their two delegations in Avengers #345.

2. This delegation’s clashes with the Shi’ar and the Kree Starforce were chronicled in Thor #445 and 446.

3. The Skrull has been posing as Araki since Quasar #33. The real Araki was last seen in Uncanny X-Men #151 and is presumed dead. A new Araki — Araki 6 — will be seen much later in New X-Men #133, suggesting that Araki is either a title or they have a bunch of spares. The exact story behind it all has not been explained.

4. The Kree and the Skrull have been enemies for centuries. It all started when the Skrulls came to the Kree home world of Hala to invite them into their empire. They then discovered that there were two intelligent races on the planet: The humanoid Kree and the plant-like Cotati. Only willing to share with one race, they brought two teams to Earth’s moon where they would have a year to build a civilization. The winner of this contest would be welcomed as allies to the Skrulls. The Cotati won the competition by growing a forest on the moon’s lifeless surface. The Kree reacted poorly to loseing and slaughtered everyone kicking off the centuries long Kree/Skrull War. See Avengers #133.

5. These spider themed villains are called Deathweb and their schemes against Spider-Woman and the Avengers West Coast will be chronicled in Avengers West Coast #84-86 and Spider-Woman (vol. 2) #1-4.

6. Wonder Man complains about the Vision’s analytical mind, saying wishes the Vision still had emotions. The Vision lost his capacity for feeling after he was disassembled in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45. This will remain the status quo until the Vision is given new brain engrams in Avengers #348.

7. Quasar mentions how he was briefly pulled into deep space. This was during a fight with Neutron of the Imperial Guard in Quasar #33.

Topical References

• Thor refers to Starfox’s powers — the ability to tap into the pleasure centers of the brain — as “Love Potion Number 9”. This is a reference to a 1959 song of the same name. Originally sung by the Clovers, a cover by The Searchers in 1964 became incredibly popular. This reference should be considered topical.

Operation: Galactic Storm Reading Order

Captain America #398, Avengers West Coast #80, Quasar #32, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7, Avengers #345, Iron Man #278, Thor #445, Captain America #399, Avengers West Coast #81, Quasar #33, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #8, Avengers #346, Iron Man #279, Thor #446, Captain America #400, Avengers West Coast #82, Quasar #34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9, Avengers #347, Captain America #401, Quasar #35