Synopsis
This issue's catchup page has Philip Nelson Vogt telling us how he and his Troubleshooters are monitoring the Ultimates. Recently (Free Comic Book Day 2016: Civil War II) they and War Machine (James Rhodes) went up against Thanos. They won but Jim Rhodes died. They had been forewarned about the Mad Titan by the new Inhuman precog Ulysses. The superhuman community is divided over following his predictions. Now he had predicted the Hulk killing many heroes and then Hawkeye killed Bruce Banner to stop it happening (CWII#3).
But we go back to Machu Picchu in 1998 where we find Dr Adam Brashear and his son Dr Kevin Brashear. Kevin has a very big gun which he can carry because of anti-grav units in it. They're here to deal with the 2nd manifestation of the Infinaut whose mass alone would be enough to destroy the Earth. Kevin will aim the gun but Adam will energise it with his superpower (if he's recovered enough from Doktor Skorpion's Shadow Ray). Gravity goes wild as the Infinaut starts to materialise from somewhere. If they shoot too soon the energy will pass though him, but if they wait too long the Earth will die. They fire and the invader fades away. Adam says it worked like it did the 1st time.
Now we have Vogt recording his notes on the subject. The Infinaut has returned several times since 1998, sometimes given different names like the Macro-Beast and the Omnivader. His apps are preceded by ripples in spacetime which give 10 hours warning, enough time to repel him. But 8 days ago Ulysses predicted his next arrival and the Ultimates were notified. Troubleshooter Jessup is watching their preparations ...
... which are happening in Boston's Fenway Park baseball stadium. Their ally Raz Malhotra, the new Giant-Man, has helped Adam build a large Pym Particle accelerator. But Adam is more concerned about Hawkeye 'executing' Bruce Banner on the basis of Ulysses' prediction. Carol Danvers says she's unhappy about Clint Barton's action but she's glad the Hulk rampage was avoided. He wants her assurance that something like that won't happen again, but she dodges the question by answering that Clint will face trial and then justice. America Chavez detects the spacetime ripples that herald the Infinaut's approach. T'Challa checks the vibranium couplings and reminds Raz that the Wakandan Kimoyo OS added to his costume will help him guide the power flow. But Monica Rambeau as Spectrum will regulate the electricity flow by becoming 1 with it. Ulysses watches with amazement as the Ultimates work as a team without a leader.
The Infinaut arrives in his 9th manifestation. They now see clearly that it is an extremely large humanoid in some sort of spacesuit. Giant-Man grows bigger than ever to match him. Blue Marvel tells U that he himself has stopped such manifestations 6 times before. But this time with more warning from U they've set up a method of guiding him in safely. GM grabs the alien's hand. While Black Panther monitors progress the team manages to reduce the interloper to human size so that his mass doesn't severely damage the Earth.
T'Challa makes a welcoming speech and the Infinaut's translation software quickly allows him to respond warmly. Adam realises that he's another scientist and explorer, and that now they can learn from each other. And he tells Ulysses that this time he did good.
Epilogue 1:- Vogt gets a visit from his Troubleshooter agent Col Terry Jessup who can travel as undetectable psi-energy and can also read minds. He's been watching the Ultimates and reports their success with the Infinaut but that there's a deep rift in the team over Ulysses.
Epilogue 2:- Conner Sims (Anti-Man) is in his cell deep below the Ultimates' Triskelion HQ continuing to moan that there's a cage around the universe, but he never actually mentions the jailer, the "1 who is 1". However a voice in his head now commiserates with him, and we see it is Thanos communicating mentally from his own cell - and he wants to know everything that Conner saw outside the Omniverse.