Reading Activities: War of Kings 2 of 6

War of Kings #2

"Every Last One of Them"
Written By Abnett and Lanning
Drawn by Paul Pelletier
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As Gladiator watches a world burn thanks to a Nega-Bomb detonation, his prisoner Lilandra, deposed Empress of the Shi'ar Empire, is turned over to the new and quite evil, Emperor Vulcan. Vulcan's in a good mood, what with the genocide and total war he's been waging these last couple of months. Vulcan gloats at the carnage he has brought about even as he reminds Lilandra that she herself used the Nega-Bomb on the Kree years prior as part of the original Kree-Shi'ar War. Granted, Lilandra was using REALLY powerful Negabombs, while the ones Vulcan is using seem to lack the total, galaxy destroying carnage that Lilandra's Nega-Bomb had.

Meanwhile on Hala, Medusa tells the Kree that their new Inhuman overlords will destroy the Kree and avenge the destruction that the Shi'ar have unleashed upon Hala. Needless to say, the Kree are unimpressed as the citizens riot and blame the Inhumans for the attack. In their private council room, the Inhumans discuss how they have to stop the Shi'ar and the implications a war will have on their project to kickstart Kree evolution (the "Uplift Project"), which is the only reason why the Inhumans have been given control over the Kree in the first place. As they discuss the urgent need to beat the Shi'ar and beat them fast in order to keep the masses under their thumb, it's clear that they need Ronan's help to stop the Shi'ar since the Kree love their former Accuser and will settle down if he could talk to them.

But Ronan is in a hospital bed, badly hurt, as we see Polaris and Crystal standing at his bedside. Polaris tells Crystal that the attack should be taken as a sign that the universe doesn't want Crystal to marry Ronan. In spite of this, Crystal now seems to be more devoted to Ronan than ever before as the sight of the brutally beaten Kree warrior has caused Crystal to magically develop feelings for Ronan. Polaris tells her that the Starjammers are preparing to head out and fight Vulcan's forces and asks her to join them. Crystal says no, until Ronan wakes up and asks how the Kree people are doing. After being told that they are praying for his speedy recovery and return to power, he reminds her of their alliance and tells her to not let him down as far as looking after the Kree.

Crystal and Polaris head out to see the other injured Kree at the medical center, with Crystal using her power over the elements to bring forth much needed water for the masses. She also tells the masses that the attack by the Shi'ar is a sign that Vulcan fears the Kree/Inhuman alliance and that the attack will be avenged.

As Maximus (Black Bolt's evil brother) finishes working on a ship, Karnak discusses how the above-mentioned speach by Crystal has already hit the Kree version of cable news and has gotten the masses to settle down. Of course, Medusa chimes in that Crystal was lying through her teeth as if the Inhumans don't give a damn about the Kree and even openly yells "PAH!" in a disgusted tone when Maximus reveals that the Kree public are already calling Crystal "The People's Princess". With the Starjammers preparing to leave that night to help the Kree counter-attack, Maximus reveals the new line of robot Sentries he has created for the Kree Armada: Blackbolt-esque "Chorus Sentries".

Maximus's flare for creating death devices is brought up as Crystal narrates the Kree counter-attack against the second wave of battleships of the Shi'ar Armada. Containing the sound power of Black Bolt's voice of doom, they make short work of the Shi'ar as Polaris uses her magnetic power to help sneak the Starjammer ship onto the hull of a larger Shi'ar warship, so that Havok could blast a hole into it and allow Triton, the aquatic Inhuman, and his group of zero gravity suit wearing soldiers to enter into the warship and destroy it.

When then cut to Vulcan being told that the entire second wave of Shi'ar warships have been destroyed. Needless to say, Vulcan is not amused at all and proclaims again, his intention to kill all of his enemies: the Kree, the Inhumans, and their allies, starting with Lilandra, who finds herself facing Vulcan even as he charges up his fists to blast her with his energy blast powers.

Two Cents: More self-contained joy in the sense that I don't have to buy a bunch of tie-ins to follow the story. Sadly, the main mini-series lacks any sort of feeling of an actual crossover; it feels more like a glorified "Inhumans" mini-series with special guest stars the Starjammers.