First story :
This story is a reprint of X-Men (1st series) #107. There are, however, three additional pages:
After the X-Men jump into the Stargate, powered by Phoenix, they all wonder what is to come. Wolverine is looking forward to the fight to come, as is Colossus, who wants to protect innocents. Nightcrawler is enjoying himself to the max, while Cyclops and Storm worry about Jean and her increased powers, as Jean herself does. Unable to shut out the thoughts of the others, she wishes she’d never have become Phoenix, while at the same time reveling in her new power and hopes that it will help them save the universe.
Later, while the X-Men are already busy battling the Imperial Guard, they are being observed by the crew of the Starjammer. Their computer, Waldo, reminds them that getting involved is basically a suicide mission. Corsair stresses that he will go, for if the legends are true, then D’Ken’s meddling may destroy the universe. The other Starjammers decide to follow their leader.
Second story :
Princess Lilandra finds herself prisoner aboard one of the Shi’Ar dreadnoughts. A holographic image of her brother, Emperor D’ken, angrily accuses her of treason. He threatens that she will be executed where she stands, unless she confesses and pleads her loyalty. Exile was their sister’s, Deathbird’s, fate, it could be hers. Lilandra angrily retorts that life in a cosmos ruled by her brother isn’t worth living. His insanity has ruled Shi’Ar for far too long and now he threatens all creation! D’Ken snarls that it is his destiny to rule. The power Lilandra discovered on that ancient world will enable him to fulfill his lifelong dream – to become master of the universe. But she will not be alive to behold that moment…
One of the ship’s crew interrupts: he’s scanning multiple unknown contacts. The unknown ships attack with a warhead and are now identified as the pathfinders – Lilandra’s elite exploratory fleet, coming to her rescue. The captain of the flagship hails the dreadnought, demanding they release Lilandra into their care. The Captian refuses and orders the steelbacks to kill her. But Lilandra reacts faster, hitting one of the steelbacks and snatching his weapon. Fighting her way free she inward, curses her would-be-rescuer, Peri. Their Pathfinder ships are no match for an imperial dreadnought. She has to warn him away before the fleet recovers from the surprise attack.
She shoots at her brother’s hologram, a futile gesture, she knows, thinking to herself that direct confrontations never were D’Ken’s style. He prefers deception. As she flees, she realizes that the dreadnought will soon explode. She runs toward a small scout-ship and flees. Outside the dreadnought, she hails Peri, who’s relived to find she’s survived the explosion. Peri asks her to keep transmitting so they can find her, but Lilandra becomes distracted believing she has heard a voice calling her name. Suddenly, without warning, she finds herself reeling from an onslaught of images, emotions memories, the totality of another person – one Charles Xavier. Horrified, she finds that they are mentally compatible.
Much later, she awakes, channeling Xavier’s persona. Xavier has just been through the experience of channeling the psionic potential of every human to repel the alien Z’Nox. Sunndely, “he” wonders why he is on some spacecraft floating in zero gravity. “Xavier” looks and wonders at the sight of “his” forearms – vestigial fathers.
Lil explains; a legacy from the time when the Shi’ar flew unaided, like her sister Deathbird. Xavier’s and Lilandra’s memories struggle for dominance as Lil tries to figure out who she is. She doesn’t recognize her reflection and yet she does. Looking outside, she sees a corpse float through the vacuum and recognizes it in horror as her friend Peri. Suddenly, she finds that she cannot move her legs. She crawls into the infirmary but, of course, the scans show nothing wrong with her legs she is in perfect health. Angrily, she puts herself in an upright position. Now she does not only see herself in the mirror but Charles Xavier’s face as well. And with this comes certainty once more of who she is… and knowledge of who he is as she accesses his memories. She wonders at how alien they are and instinctively fights against that other soul that has joined with her. She knocks the display until something gives way and explodes.
The detonation brings her back to her senses and she finds she can walk again. After a shower, she tries to make sense of things. She was hit by a wave of psionic energy, a telepathic projection of incomprehensible power, as Xavier harnessed the psi-potential of all humanity to repel the attack of the alien Z’nox. A feat not even the empire’s most gifted psychics would be capable of, lilandra marvels. But why did it touch her? She rants at the sad irony. To finally find her soul mate and he’s from some fringe world. Even worse, she has her duty, even though never meeting Xavier might break her heart.
She switches a button to scan the area and is horrified by the sight that greets her: floating corpses and wreckage. Both the imperials and her loyal pathfinders are dead, leaving her no means to oppose her brother. And if the legends are true, her brother will destroy the universe by unleashing the power within the M’kraan crystal. Lil cries in despair, until hitting on the solution: Xavier and his students; might their power be a match for her brother? It’s her only hope, she decides and prepares for the flight. Determined and more optimistic, she starts her journey towards Earth.
