In Systems Operations, Robert Rider, Centurions Irani Rael and Qubit discuss the situation as their fellow Centurions continue to race towards Nil-Rast. The young Centurion from Earth decides to keep the communications link with Suki open so he can talk her through her fear. With Suki Yumiko back online, Robert Rider advises her to divert the tactical feed to her visor's heads-up display in order to help her understand the situation better.

On Nil-Rast, Suki reminds herself that they are fighting the Shi'Ar due to their aggressions against the Kree. The planetoid must be defended because it is a world rich in fuel resources for the Kree Empire. As she is reviewing the mission objectives, a fellow Centurion flying next to her is suddenly disintegrated by an energy beam! Irani confirms that Centurion Lucas Maats is dead.

As the startled Centurion from Earth attempts to land, Nova Prime Malik Tarcel rushes in and destroys a nearby tower where Shi'Ar soldiers were preparing to shoot Suki. With Centurion Yumiko safe, Malik instructs a number of the Centurions from Cohort 86 to follow him into battle. Back on Nu-Xandar, Robert Rider is realizing that his brother, Richard Rider, may have been right in his argument that the new Nova Corps lacks the experience and training for this type of mission.

Meanwhile, on Nil-Rast, Suki, Malik and Centurion Josh Atwater continue to fight the Shi'Ar. Josh sees the war as a glorified video game while Yumiko is troubled by the death of the people around her. Nova Prime Tarcel believes the Shi'Ar warriors they are fighting are traitors and deserve their punishment. The Shi'Ar Centurion believes that the current leader of the Shi'Ar, the Earth mutant named Vulcan, is a madman. He is also convinces that the previous leader, Lilandra Neramani, would never have lead his people into war.

The Centurions' aggressive onslaught appears to cause the Shi'Ar to retreat from their position. However, the optimism in System Operations quickly fades as the younger Rider brother detects a massive teleportation signal in the area of the Cohort 86. Robert Rider realizes that Gladiator and the Shi'Ar's Imperial Guard have arrived on Nil-Rast!

Meanwhile, in the Zaros System, Richard Rider (in his new Quasar form) watches the WorldMind recruit thousands of beings from the nearby planet Zaros Three. Rich and fellow Quasar Wendell Vaughn (whose energy form can only be seen by the former Nova) discuss their strategy of attack against the WorldMind. Wendell informs Rich that the Ego portion of Nu-Xandar will be aware of their arrival. Richard Rider decides that, since it knows he's coming, he'll give the WorldMind a large number of targets! Rich uses the energy of the Quantum Bands to create a bunch of energy duplicates of himself as they rush towards Nu-Xandar.

Back on Nil-Rast, the Nova Corps is being decimated by the Imperial Guard. Suddenly, Nova Prime Malik Tarcel flies in at high speed and attacks Gladiator! Unfortunately, the battle is brief and Tarcel finds himself fighting a much more powerful opponent. As Malik refuses to surrender, Centurion Yumiko blasts Gladiator from behind. Her energy burst has no effect on the Imperial Guard's leader and he once again demands that the Nova Prime surrender his forces to him. Tarcel agrees to his terms in order to save the Centurions. However, after Gladiator takes Malik to the Shi'Ar interrogators, a fellow Strontian member of the Guard named Xenith murders the Nova Corps prisoners!

Elsewhere at Zaros 3, Richard Rider flies inside of Nu-Xandar through one of Ego's many cranial vents. He goes deep into the organic bio-mass and arrives at the cerebral matrix which previously housed the intellect of Ego and is now controlled by the WorldMind. As Rich approaches the holographic display of the WorldMind, the hologram turns and reveals itself to be Ego itself and blasts him with a high energy beam!