BIOGRAPHY - Page 4
During the formal ceremony to celebrate the joining of the Shi’ar and Kree empires, Deathbird survived an attack from a Kree resistance fighter. Despite harboring a deep resentment towards the Kree for the role they played in the war, Lilandra wanted to resolve things peacefully. To e
nsure she was not seen as undermining her sister’s authority, Lilandra went undercover to meet with the resistance leaders face to face and negotiate an end to hostilities. While she succeeded in convincing the resistance leader, Malakii, to end their hostilities, some rogue elements in the resistance still attempted to complete their plans to attack a stargate. This prompted Lilandra to put her pilot skills to good use to stop them, with aid from Malakii and the X-Men. Despite his aid, Lilandra was still duty bound to arrest Malakii, and this reluctance to put what was right above her duty lead to a significant falling out between herself between herself and her consort, Charles, who ended their relationship. [X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #5]
When Charles Xavier’s son, Legion, attempted to change the past, the subsequent repercussions in the timestream drove both Jahf, the guardian of the M’Kraan, and the Watchers to seek out Lilandra and advise her the end of the universe was upon them. Despite the fact that Charles had ended their relationship, Lilandra still loved him deeply and reached out to him via hologram in his hour of need. Even as they spoke, a crystal wave swept the universe, ending everything. Fortunately, through the efforts of Bishop, this reality wipe was undone, returning everyone to life. [Legion Quest crossover]
Despite now being the largest empire in the known universe, the Shi’ar soon came under threat from the Uncreated. The violent aliens despised all religions and cut a swath across Lilandra’s empire, headed for Chandilar, its throneworld. On top of this, the empress had to deal with the political maneuvering of her minister of peace, T’Cahar; a supporter of her mad brother D’Ken who was granted special privileges due to the war. T’Cahar attempted to use her leniency towards the Starjammers against her, while using the war to build his own political stature. The Starjammers singlehandedly ended the war themselves and, with T’Cahar’s special powers ended, Lilandra immediately capitalized on this by having the man arrested for treason. [Starjammers (1st series) #1-4]
When Lilandra learned that the Silver Surfer had apparently destroyed his homeworld Zenn-La, she immediately sent her military to arrest him. However, soon after, the real culprits were revealed: the immensely powerful technorganic beings known as the Inciters. The Inciters were believed to be fairy tale creatures and none knew they really existed. Believing that they would cause galaxy wide chaos if the Inciters were revealed to be real, Lilandra decided to announce that a sleeper device of Galactus destroyed Zenn-La, and kept the creatures’ existence secret. [X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #13]
On Earth, a dark manifestation of Xavier’s consciousness, Onslaught, had wreaked havoc, seemingly killing the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Lilandra couldn’t help but feel partly responsible, given her psychic connection with Xavier had inadvertently released a dark aspect of Xavier’s personality when it first formed. Despite the fact that the empire had come under threat from the Phalanx, the empress sent a contingent of the Imperial Guard to the Earth to take the place of its lost heroes. While the Imperial pleaded to return and help the empire, Lilandra refused, insisting the Earth needed them. In fact, that decision was well founded, as the Guard saved the Earth from a rogue Kree faction. [Imperial Guard #1]
Meanwhile, the Phalanx forces overwhelmed the Shi’ar and captured the throneworld, Chandilar. The techno-organic creatures slaughtered many Shi’ar and would have killed all the children in the breeding chambers, the next generation of the Shi’ar race, if not for Lilandra. The empress 
surrendered herself in exchange for sparing the children. However, after capturing Lilandra, the aliens attempted to assimilate the children into their collective. If not for the actions of the X-Men, Lilandra would have been tortured to death and the children assimilated. In appreciation for the X-Men’s efforts, she provided them with the best ship in the fleet in order to get home, before proceeding with rebuilding the empire after yet another time of war. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #344-345]
Despite learning that Galactus was essential to the universe years before, it was little consolation when the former Avenger Mantis approached Lilandra and informed her that the Devourer was afflicted with a madness that drove him to consume sentient life. When the Silver Surfer, who had resumed his role as Herald, approached the Shi’ar, Lilandra was wise enough to hear out his plan to take down Galactus. With the aid of the Fantastic Four, Avengers and assorted alien races, Galactus was transformed into a star. Once more, the Empress was in the debt of the heroes of Earth. [Galactus: the Devourer #5-6]
With her empire the most powerful in the known universe, Lilandra made efforts to maintain that power by brokering an alliance with the Spartoi Empire. During the ceremony to seal their union through a symbolic wedding of empires, the empress was attacked by assassins sent by Ronan the Accuser, who wished vengeance for the Shi’ar subjugating his race. Fortunately, due to the psychic foresight of one of her Guardsmen, Lilandra was able to pre-empt the assassination attempt. However, due to manipulations by the masterminds behind the assassination attempt, suspicions were cast upon members of the Spartoi royalty for the attempt, driving Lilandra to call off the alliance. [Inhumans (3rd series) #4]
Soon after, Lilandra was called to chair a meeting of the Galactic Council. The purpose of the meeting was to welcome a new race, the Ruul. However, the meeting was hijacked by members with an anti-human agenda. The anti-human movement called for a judgement of the human species by the M’Ndavian Gems, an irrefutable system of judgement that would read each =member’s innermost thoughts and beliefs. Despite Lilandra’s best efforts, the anti-human tide went against her. The nail in the coffin was her former lover Charles Xavier, using his vast psychic powers to draw on the Council’s mental energy in an attempt to stave off an attack by Ego, the 
Living Planet. Incensed by his actions, the Council resolved that something must be done about humanity. Lilandra herself was still resolute in her support of humankind, until she learned of the murder of the ancient and benevolent order of Time Keepers by the human Kang the Conqueror. That moment of doubt resulted in the last of the M’Ndavian Gems turning black, meaning humanity had to be dealt with, one way or another.
The Ruul proposed a plan, which Lilandra reluctantly accepted in favor of not destroying Earth. The planet would be quarantined from the rest of the universe and made into a prison for the worst criminals of the space. This increased hostile alien activity would distract the humans enough that they wouldn’t notice their quarantine or focus on escape.
In her heart, Lilandra had not simply resigned Earth to its fate and wished to undo the ruling. However, in order to avoid a war, she had to operate covertly. She sent her loyal servant Cerise to Earth to notify the X-Men of what was happening, then arranged a secret meeting with Charles 
Xavier and the Starjammers. Xavier was justifiably angry about the situation but calmed when Lilandra explained her position. She also tasked Charles with finding her wayward sister Deathbird, who held the code key needed to traverse the satellite barrier erected around the Earth.
Soon after, when she was approached a by a contingent of Avengers who pleaded for her to free Earth, Lilandra was unable to do or say anything, since she was before the Galactic Council. Later, these Avengers were ambushed and captured by the Ruul and learned they were in fact an evolved form of the Kree. The whole plan to turn the Earth into a prison was a plot by the Kree, led by the Supreme Intelligence, to retain power. After his attack on Earth, Ego had been reduced to spore form and sent by the Ruul to Earth, where he would absorb the planet, after which the Ruul would steal the energy for themselves.
The Avengers subsequently escaped and shared this information with Lilandra and the Galactic Council, causing the Supreme Intelligence to reveal itself and gloat. Unbeknownst to Lilandra, the Kree had amassed a massive fleet and, using the power of Ego, were reclaiming their empire. Fortunately, the humans managed to remove the Kree’s Ego power source, though the aliens still remained a powerful foe. Upon learning of the Kree’s manipulation, Lilandra and the Council ended the quarantine around Earth and removed the alien prisoners, before focusing on battling the Kree. While she longed to reach out to Charles Xavier, Lilandra was too embarrassed by everything that had taken place to face him. [Maximum Security crossover]