Suddenly, over the horizon, the members of the new Nova Corps come blazing in at hypersonic speed! Before the Serpent Society even knows what is happening, the Corps burst into the compound. Centurion Malik Tarcel is first to arrive through a window. He uses a heat pulse to enter which vaporizes any glass fragments that could have injured the hostages. Once inside, he turns and quickly punches out Black Mamba.

Next to enter is Centurion Irani Rael. As she flies into the compound, she uses her gravimetric powers to dampen the sonic boom that she's creating behind her. With a single energy beam, Irani takes out Sidewinder.

In another area of the building, Centurion Qubit delivers a gravimetric beam into Fer-De-Lance which causes her to body to weigh the same as the Hoover Dam. At the same time, Centurion Fraktur quickly knocks Death Adder unconscious while Centurion Morrow takes out Anaconda by reversing the villain's gravity and sending her through the roof. That just leaves the Serpent Society's leader, Copperhead, who is quickly taken out of commission by Nova himself. The mission had taken only 1.86 seconds!

As the group leaves the compound, they are met by reporters and other members of the media. Nova reassures them that the Nova Corps has protected friendly worlds for generations and will continue to protect Earth as the planet recovers from the Skrull invasion. After the impromptu press conference, the Nova Corps enjoy their victory which results in some good-natured teasing of Qubit by Morrow.

Meanwhile, the television news begins focusing on Nova and the Nova Corps and their heroic feats. Among those watching the news is Richard Rider's parents Charles and Gloria, his former New Warriors's teammate Justice, and his brother Robert Rider. Robert is at Project: Pegasus talking to his father on the phone.

However, Robert is unhappy that Charles seems more interested and concerned about Rich than him. Once their conversation is over, Nova's former New Warriors teammate, Darkhawk, enters the room. The two begin talking about Rich and how Nova makes them both feel inadequate and a little jealous. Darkhawk feels that Nova is a much more powerful and skilled fighter and Robert is envious of Rich's powers and hero status.

Suddenly, Nova and the new Centurions enter the building and are greeted by Director Gruenwald and Dr. Necker. After the young hero flirts with the red-headed doctor, Nova moves on to attempt talking to the WorldMind. The artificial sentience is monitoring the Quantum Flask which is housing the energy form of Quasar.

The two begin arguing over the Nova Corps formation and the methods used by the WorldMind to create it. Richard feels that he should have been part of the decision and selection process. The Xandarian computer system felt that Nova had been putting it, and its knowledge, in danger too often and had to act. The WorldMind reveals that he had been active while his former host had been asleep and used that time to begin creating the new Centurions. The new recruits had been summoned by the WorldMind during the incident with Galactus at Orbucen. The new Corps got together and recently arrived on Earth.

Rich asks the WorldMind to consult him before creating more Centurions. He is worried that, without proper selection and training, the recruits will face the same fatal fate as the WorldMind's previous choice of Ko-Rel. The advanced computer acknowledges Rich's request but doesn't necessarily gives his agreement.

The WorldMind also informs Nova that he will not be rejoining his former human host's body. The repository of Xandarian knowledge feels the gestalt mainframe of Project: Pegasus is adequate for his needs. He also reasons that, without his presence in Rich Rider and with part of the Nova Force in the new Corps, Nova will no longer have the risk of insanity. The Earth hero strongly disagrees as he misses the WorldMind. However, before they can begin another argument, Robert Rider comes into and announces that a monster named Taboo has attacked New York City!

The Nova Prime of Earth and the alien Nova Corps attack the creature and fight it for nearly an hour. Centurion Irani Rael suggests that they use gravimetric field to contain the beast and use additional gravimetric loads to force it back underground. The plan works and they return to Pegasus.

When they arrive, Nova is stunned to find dozens and dozens of new Centurions. The recruit that shocks Rich the most is...Robert Rider!