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The Imperial Guard were just targeted — and decimated — by a new incarnation of the Lethal Legion, and the fight spread to mutant heroes.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for S.W.O.R.D. #9, available now from Marvel.
The X-Men and the rest of their mutant allies have been trying to cement their place in the Marvel cosmic cosmology, earning the loyalty of many worlds with their advancements like the procurement of Mysterium and the conversion of Mars into Planet Arakko. But there are some alien forces that remain in direct opposition to the mutants and their other allies growing more powerful — and they’re increasingly willing to do something about it.
In S.W.O.R.D. #9 (by Al Ewing, Jacopo Camagni, Fernando Sifuentes, and VC’s Ariana Maher), agents of SWORD and the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard go head-to-head with a new incarnation of a classic villainous team — and despite their power and potential, the Imperial Guard gets absolutely decimated in the conflict.
SWORD #9 largely focuses on a visit from the Shi’Ar royal Xandra — the daughter of Lilandra and Xavier — arriving on Arakko as part of a diplomatic visit. However, the peaceful event is interrupted by the arrival of a dangerous five alien team: a new version of the Lethal Legion. There have been multiple incarnations of the Lethal Legion over the history of the Marvel Universe — with the newest iteration being a tailor-made band of five incredibly dangerous killers who have been designed to target the Shi’Ar Empress Xandra and cause further strife in the galaxy. Gladiator and his fellow Imperial Guard members Manta, Fang, Neutron, and Titan quick rush to her defense alongside Frenzy, Random, and Forearm, while Deathbird works to protect her niece.
The Imperial Guard are usually recognized as one of the more powerful teams in the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe. But the ambush by the Lethal Legion on Arakko quickly takes a dark turn for the galactic heroes. Half-Bot (a cybernetic monster) quickly dispatches Fang when he rushes forward to confront him. The Electric Head is able to target Gladiator’s self-confidence, robbing the Marvel Superman analog of his amazing powers. Although Neutron is able to attack the psychic, he’s stabbed in the back by Mr. Eloquent’s atomic chain saw — which rips open his body and drags him suddenly into a micro-singularity. The psychic Orbis Extremis quickly takes control of the SWORD mutant Random, who promptly dispatches his teammate Forearm.
While Orbis Extremis is promptly kicked away by a giant-sized Titan, he’s distracted long enough for Death Grip to spread his biological warfare through him, quickly slaying him. Reinforcements arrive in the form of Storm, who even the Orbis Stellari (the master of the Lethal Legion) admits is a powerful threat. But watching the battle carry out, it’s clear how dangerous this new take on the Lethal Legion really are. Within moments, the Imperial Guard are down three members, all meeting gruesome fates that can’t be remedied by a straightforward resurrection via the Five on Krakoa. It goes a long way towards proving that the X-Men and their allies might not be as solidified on a galactic scale as they’d hoped.
Making matters even more complicated, the new Lethal Legion seems to be the creation of the Orbis Stellari — a powerful and brilliant alien inventor from the Galactic Rim (and nominal ally of the Galactic Council) has made a bargain with Henry Gyrich and Orchis to complicate things for the mutant nations. This means that the kind of forces who’ve seemingly been open to working with Krakoa and Arakko are in reality playing both sides of the conflict. They could even be involved with Cordyceps Jones, the mysterious alien force that’s been trying to seek the eradication of mutant (and human) life on Earth so other species can claim the world for themselves in X-Men. And if they’re powerful enough to bring down the Imperial Guard, they could pose a serious threat to Storm and her allies.
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