guardians of the galaxy

In the aftermath of Annihilation: Conquest, Star-Lord[11] decides to form a team of interstellar heroes that will be proactive in protecting the galaxy, rather than reacting to crises as they happen. To this end, he recruits Adam Warlock,[12] Drax the Destroyer,[13] Gamora,[13] Phyla-Vell (the new Quasar),[14] Rocket Raccoon,[15] and Groot,[15] with Mantis as support staff.

On the recommendation of ally Nova, the group establishes a base of operations at the space station Knowhere, which possesses a teleportation system with near-universal range.[16] An intelligent, super-powered dog called Cosmo acts as Knowhere's chief of security and works closely with the new team. After an initial clash with the revitalised Universal Church of Truth,[1] the team's investigation of a mass of "Limbo ice" reveals a semi-amnesiac man who identifies himself as Vance Astro - Major Victory of the Guardians of the Galaxy.[17] Astro's declaration inspires the as-yet-unnamed team to adopt the "Guardians of the Galaxy" name for their own.[18]

The team then battles the Universal Church of Truth once again, while Astro is attacked aboard Knowhere by an incarnation of his former teammate Starhawk.[19] Matters worsen when the alien shape-shifting Skrulls apparently infiltrate Knowhere,[20] and the revelation that Star-Lord directed Mantis to telepathically coerce the heroes into joining the team.[21]

After this, the team members each went their own way due to some misunderstandings. However Rocket Raccoon decided to continue and started a search for the missing members. He asked Bug to join the team, as well Groot's return to full size and the addition of Mantis and Major Victory as field members. Meanwhile Starlord went to the Kree Empire in an attempt to help them out of a situation, but Ronan The Accuser reveals to him that they are reconstructing the Phalanx's Babel Spire in order to preserve the Kree, before throwing him into the Negative Zone, where he meets King Blastaar. Blastaar's plan is to break into 42, the prison created by the Initiative to house anti-registration forces.

Blastaar hopes to use Starlord as a way to get into 42, so he may then invade Earth. Blastaar's Negative Zone forces then launch a full scale attack against 42, which is defended by the superhumans inside - as the guards fled and locked them in the negative zone - led by Jack Flag. Starlord then goes into 42, and begins talking to Jack Flag, hoping to use him and other superhumans in 42 as a way to contact the Guardians. Using a telepath, Starlord is able to contact Mantis and get the Guardians to teleport into the Negative Zone, preparing for a big battle.

Meanwhile, Adam Warlock and Gamora invade the Universal Church of Truth's headquarters, as Adam Warlock wishes to find out more about them, and asks to be taken to their leader.

Elsewhere, Drax and Quasar begin looking for Cammi, but on their search they talk to a seer who tells them about the oncoming war. When they say they don't care and are looking for a girl, the seer remarks that he knows of this girl, and that her name is Heather, much to Drax and Quasar's surprise. Phylla was able to wake Moondragon from the dead, but lost her Quantum Bands in the process. The consequence for Phyla is that she is now the new avatar of death. They went back to Knowhere and did not follow up on the search for Cammi.
[edit] War of Kings

Adam Warlock and Gamora return to the Guardians and inform the team of the War of Kings. Starlord and Rocket Raccoon decide to split into 3 teams to keep the war from growing out of control:

* The Kree Team with Starlord, Bug, Gamora, Jack Flag and Martyr (Phylla-Vell)
* The Shi'ar Team with Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Adam Warlock, Major Victory and Groot
* The Coordination Team with Moondragon, Mantis and Cosmo the Spacedog

The Kree Team ask Black Bolt to stop the war, a request he denies. The Shi'ar team becomes separated from Adam Warlock, who is transported onto a Shi'ar vessel and is attacked by Vulcan, emperor of the Shi'ar. The rest of the Shi'ar Team works with the Starjammers to free Lilandra from Emperor Vulcan.

Warlock fights with Vulcan and some Imperial Guardsmen. In the end Guardsman Magique is able to put a 'witchmark' on Adam without him knowing, enabling her to track him. Meanwhile, Martyr kidnaps Crystal to force the Inhumans to stop the war. Both squads transport back to Knowhere, but are followed by the Imperial Guard (via Magique's 'witchmark' on Adam) and the Inhumans (via Lockjaw). The three-way battles rages all over Knowhere, until the Inhumans are able to retrieve Crystal and return to Hala. Magique follows Adam Warlock, who magically transfers the 'witchmark' onto her, leading Shi'ar soldiers shoot her instead of Adam Warlock. The Guard are eventually forcibly teleported off of Knowhere.

Star-Lord, Mantis, Bug, Jack Flag, and Cosmo are taken to the 31st Century by that era's Guardians, who warn them of the creation of an all-destroying energy rift called The Fault at the war's conclusion. Trapped in the future, Star-Lord's team is able to get a message to Adam Warlock in the 21st Century. Warlock is unable to stop The Fault's creation, but is able to cast a spell that contains it. The strain, however, causes him to revert to his Magus personality. Star-Lord's team, rescued by Kang the Conqueror, arrives as this happens, and the ensuing fight against Magus results in the deaths of Mantis, Cosmo, Major Victory, Martyr, and Gamora. Star-Lord uses a Cosmic Cube, provided by Kang, to neutralize Magus's powers and shoot him in the head.

This denouement turns out to have been faked by the Magus, who keeps the "dead" Guardians as his prisoners until Martyr breaks free. While the other half of the Guardians comes to rescue, Phyla-Vell is misled by Maelstrom into freeing Thanos. Thanos and Magus are both defeated by the reunited Guardians, but Martyr is apparently killed. The Guardians return to Knowhere, unaware that the future of the universe - according to the future Guardians of the Galaxy - is depending on them.