issue summaries

Uncanny X-Men 477 The Rise & Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire Part 3 of 12 Writer: Ed Brubaker Penciler: Clayton Henry Inker: Mark Morales Colorist: Wil Quintana Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos Assist. Editor: Sean Ryan Assoc. Editor: Nick Lowe Editor: Mike Marts Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Date: October 2006

Vulcan (Gabriel Summers) flies through space on his mission of vengeance. He can't stop thinking about what he learned about his past (in Deadly Genesis 6) and it makes him furious.

His parents (Major Christopher Summers and his pregnant wife Katherine) were kidnapped by the Shi'ar. The Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken killed Katherine and placed the nearly dead newborn into an incubator which rapidly aged him. The child (Gabriel) was then sent to be a slave.

Vulcan is determined to find D'Ken and make him pay.

He sometimes wishes he hadn't been such a fool to allow Professor Xavier and Marvel Girl (Rachel Grey) to show him his past, since he can't get the images out of his mind. (Rachel is shown in a flashback to Deadly Genesis).

At least a week after he left Earth, Vulcan finds a Shi'ar ship and blasts right through it, slicing it half. He finds a survivor in a spacesuit floating among the wreckage. The Shi'ar man asks why Vulcan attacked his ship, since it isn't a warship and the Shi'ar aren't a threat to Earth. Angrily, Vulcan replies that that doesn't erase what the Shi'ar have done.

Vulcan demands to know how far the Shi'ar throneworld (Chandilar) is. The man replies that the defenses around Chandilar could hold back Galactus and it would take Vulcan years to reach it. The only way to get their faster would be using Stargates, but those only open for Shi'ar vessels.

Vulcan tells him that he will find a ship then, since he has something to settle with D’Ken. The man informs him that D'ken has been nearly dead in a coma for a long time and Lilandra is now Empress. Enraged, Vulcan lashes out at the man and kills him.

Vulcan contemplates what to do. If he can't have his revenge on D'ken, then he will go after Lilandra and her people instead. But, he needs to a ship to get there. So, he reaches out with his powers to manipulate energy and locates the energy produced by three Shi'ar vessels.

He finds the three vessels, but they are warship and immediately attack him. He realizes he needs one of the ship to remain in tact and also needs a crew to operate it. As the ship continue to fire at him, he recalls that the Shi'ar respect what they fear.

He uses every bit of his energy to control the power sources of the two ships. Power is cut off, including life support and the ships crash into each other.

Vulcan tries not to let on how much he has been weakened. He communicates with the third ship. They can either die or surrender to him. The Captain chooses to surrender. Vulcan broads the ship and the Captain tells him the warbird is his

Later, in Vulcan’s quarters, he summons the Captain and asks if he understands the orders. The Captain says he will follow them, but doesn't understand why they need to destroy the Stargates after their ship passes through them. Vulcan explains that he is concerned about others from Earth following him.

Vulcan asks the Captain to tell him about Lilandra. He informs him that Lilandra is the youngest sister of D'ken and that an older sister, Deathbird, is in exile. No one has seen Deathbird in years, but it is believed that she is still alive.

Vulcan tells the Captain to sit down and give him a crash course on Shi'ar history. He wants to know what he is up against.

As the days go by, Vulcan learns more and more about the Shi'ar and his ships destroy more Stargates.

Vulcan watches from the command deck, and knows that word of his approach must have reached the Throneworld by now.

After reaching the Inner Realms of Shi'ar space and destroying a Stargates, Vulcan knows they will be attacked immediately. Sure enough, the warbird is hailed by the Imperial Guard and ordered to surrender or else face their wrath.

Notes:

- The events in this issue take place prior to the X-Men leaving Earth in Uncanny X-Men 476.

- Deathbird was last seen in Bishop 15, when she was sucked out into space and was presumed dead.