A massive solar flare caused by the opening of a stargate near the sun has destroyed the
STARCORE space station. A team of
Avengers (
Quasar,
Sersi,
Vision, and new
Thor Eric Masterson) is dispatched to search for survivors. They locate the station’s lifepod with the refugees but another stargate opens up and hundreds of
Shi’ar ships emerge, heading for the first stargate. Seeing the Earth heroes as a threat, the lead Shi’ar ship opens fire. The super-powered Avengers aassault the ship and capture it….
Later,
Captain America presides over a meeting of all the
Avengers. The captive Shi’ar are shrunk by
Hank Pym and contained along with
Captain Atlas and
Dr. Minerva. Since the use of the stargates in our solar system is threatening to cause the sun to go nova, Cap proposes a diplomatic mission to the Kree and Shi’ar to negotiate an end to the war. Cap divides the heroes into three teams: one to visit the Kree, one to go to the Shi’ar, and the third to remain on Earth.
Hawkeye rebels against being assigned to Earth and uses Hank’s chemical to become
Goliath once more. Cap then swaps him with a disgruntled
USAgent. Quasar guides the ships on their journey and encounters the cosmic being
Her.
Epilogue:
Lilandra, the Shi’ar empress, is having moral qualms about their course of action—but her evil sister
Deathbird arrives with a grim suggestion….
Continued in
IRON MAN #278
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