Chapter Summaries

Dane defeated Hive and discovered that the Sky Hammer carried Hive’s consciousness to spore-infected hosts, prompting him to isolate the city and warn the Warriors Three. In Tokyo, Sif killed Sin, but Dane evacuated Sif and the injured Pegasus; as he surveyed the kneeling crowd, faint whispers began in his mind.

• Hive used the Sky Hammer and his shifting body to trap Dane and the Warriors Three, but Dane escaped the chains and killed Hive by freezing the hammer in time.
• Dane explained that Hive’s spores infected hosts and that the Sky Hammer triggered their transformation, then warned the Warriors Three to stay isolated and ordered the city quarantined.
• Natasha reported that Jessica and Destroyer Armor had finished their missions, Stark was still fighting, and Sif was locked in battle with Sin.
• Sin knocked Pegasus from the sky and wounded Sif, but Dane seized Sin’s hammer, giving Sif the opening to stab her heart and kill her.
• Dane examined Pegasus’s injuries and sent Sif and the injured horse back to base through the Bifrost.
• Dane noticed that the people nearby remained kneeling and heard faint whispers in his mind.

Dane and his allies confronted the Serpent and the remaining Sky Hammer Venerables after rescuing the victims controlled by the hammers. When Dane’s time-stop failed against the Serpent, he prepared to face him directly and asked his allies to hold off the Venerables.

• Dane recognized that the Sky Hammers used the Serpent’s power of Fear to control people, then left as the survivors celebrated Sin’s death.
• Dane arrived at the Serpent’s camp with Stark, Jessica, and Thor, where he found Ivan Vanko and Dario Agger among the Sky Hammer Venerables.
• Jessica returned the Casket of Ancient Winters to Dane, and Stark discovered he could not lift a Sky Hammer without the Serpent’s permission.
• Thor attacked the Serpent, while Dane caught Thor after Nur Worldbreaker knocked him back; Jessica wounded Nekode Sea-breaker with Sif’s cursed sword.
• Dane tried to stop time, but the Serpent broke free, and Dane concluded that the Time Sphere would not work against him.
• Dane asked Stark and then Jessica to hold off the Sky Hammer Venerables as he prepared to face the Serpent.

Dane fought The Serpent while the others battled the Sky Hammer Venerables on the glacier. After Natasha’s campaign redirected public fear toward Hydra, The Serpent’s power began to wane, and Dane left him questioning how a human could withstand his attacks.

• Jessica and the Destroyer engaged Sky Hammer Venerables while Stark charged at Whiplash.
• Dane used the Casket of Ancient Winters against The Serpent, then put it away and fought him with enhanced speed and strength.
• Dane and The Serpent’s battle devastated the island, forcing the other fighters to move onto the glacier, where Ivan and Namor attacked Stark and Jessica.
• The Serpent used multiple Sky Hammers to ambush Dane, and Hive’s possessed hammer struck him as well.
• Dane turned the Destroyer Sky Hammer against The Serpent, trapped him with the Ten Rings, and struck him with a cosmic-energy punch.
• Dane realized Natasha had redirected public fear toward Hydra, weakening The Serpent’s supply of power, and The Serpent paused to wonder how Dane’s body could withstand his blows.

The World Serpent abandoned his temporary body, restored his true form, and attacked Dane, Stark, Jessica, Thor, and the Destroyer over the Pacific. As the Serpent unleashed poisonous rain and a massive tail strike, Stark sent in the Iron Legion and fired a devastating energy beam, leaving the battle unresolved.

• The World Serpent sacrificed the Sky Hammer Venerables to transfer the life force of more than a thousand people into his true body, then transformed into a giant serpent.
• The World Serpent struck Thor and the Destroyer with his tail, sending them soaring into the sky, and the Destroyer carried the unconscious Thor to safety.
• The World Serpent spat poisonous venom over the Pacific, corroding Stark's Thorbuster Armor and injuring Jessica before Dane protected her with one of the [Ten Rings].
• Stark remotely sent the Iron Legion to bombard the World Serpent with its weapons and a massive energy beam.
• Dane used the power of time to move the Thorbuster Armor and Jessica out of the beam's impact zone.

Stark’s antimatter bomb failed to harm the giant serpent because its apparent body was Kull’s shadow, sustained by divine power from another world. Odin explained how the serpent could be forced to reveal its true body, and Thor awoke inside the Destroyer Armor as Dane considered their next move.

• Stark revealed that his space-based Annihilation Bomb used antimatter, but the giant serpent emerged from the explosion unharmed.
• Dane realized the serpent was Kull’s shadow, and Odin confirmed that Kull’s true body existed in another world.
• Odin explained that the serpent’s physical form was sustained by divine power and could be worn down with sufficiently powerful attacks.
• Dane asked Stark whether he had another Annihilation Bomb, and Thor regained consciousness inside the Destroyer Armor.
• Thor asked where his Mjolnir was, and Dane focused the group on dealing with the giant serpent.

Dane and Thor attacked The Serpent on two fronts, with Thor using Pym Particles to grow enormous and Dane entering the serpent’s mental world. The Serpent turned the fight around by sealing the mental realm and stripping Thor of his borrowed size, leaving Thor battered in the sea.

• Dane enlarged Thor with Pym Particles so he could fight the World Serpent while Dane entered The Serpent’s shadow to attack his true body.
• Thor and Dane injured the serpent in the physical and mental worlds, forcing The Serpent to divide his attention and rapidly expend power.
• The Serpent sealed the mental world and shifted his power into the physical serpent body, where Dane began attacking it with a Positron Cannon.
• The Serpent dispelled Thor’s gigantification with Blood Magic and knocked Thor into the sea after deflecting Mjolnir.
• Mjolnir turned back toward Thor as The Serpent stood over him with his Scepter.

Thor fought the Serpent after Mjolnir was shattered, but Odin intervened to save him and was struck by the Serpent’s curse. As the Serpent prepared to finish Thor, a gigantic masked figure emerged from the sea and trapped him between its hands.

• The Serpent seized Thor’s Hammer, shattered it, and attacked Thor as the Destroyer Armor protected him.
• Thor’s rage awakened more of the Destroyer’s power, but the Serpent found the armor’s weakness and nearly stabbed Thor through the eye.
• Odin took control of the Destroyer Armor, stopped the Serpent’s attack, and revealed himself to Kull.
• The Serpent used venom-tainted seawater to immobilize the armor and sent a curse through his Scepter, injuring Odin in Asgard.
• The Serpent took the Heavenly Hammer Namor and prepared to strike Thor, but a gigantic masked figure rose from the sea and trapped him between its hands.

After trapping the wounded Serpent in the Quantum Realm, Dane watched Earth enter a period of peace while the conflict over the Cosmic Orb escalated around Xandar. He remotely awakened a powerful synthetic body aboard Atlas’s flagship and prepared to demonstrate the Legion’s strength to its new clients.

• Dane sent the weakened Serpent into the Quantum Realm, where Umbrella captured him as a test subject, and Thor returned to Asgard as Odin’s condition worsened.
• Sokovia and Wakanda strengthened their ties while Dane resumed his research and monitored events across Earth and space.
• Star-Lord’s possession of the Cosmic Orb drew Ronan, Thanos, Gamora, Nebula, and other factions into a struggle over the Power Stone as Xandar came under attack.
• Atlas introduced itself to Xandar as a military contractor and offered help as the Nova Corps struggled against Ronan’s forces.
• Cortana reported Umbrella’s discoveries and the completed synthetic body made from the Serpent’s genes, and Dane transferred his consciousness into it aboard Atlas’s flagship.
• Dane ordered Atlas to accept a battlefield and make a token-payment deal with Xandar, then began equipping his new body with armor.

Dane led the Atlas Legion into the battle over Michelle, where his fleet and soldiers overwhelmed Ronan the Accuser's Kree forces. The chapter left Atlas boarding the Kree flagship and routing its defenders with armor and physical ammunition that their shields could not stop.

• Dane ordered the Atlas fleet to attack the Kree ships in orbit above Michelle after it crossed through a wormhole.
• The Kree refused Atlas's warning to withdraw and focused their weapons on Dane's fleet.
• Atlas fighters pressed toward the Kree flagship while Michelle's defenders attacked the Kree fleet from behind.
• Atlas squads boarded the flagship, and Dane stood untouched as the Kree fired on him.
• Dane killed the Kree attackers with his Bolter, then ordered the Atlas soldiers to advance.
• Atlas's physical rounds pierced Kree armor and bypassed their deflection shields, causing the Kree forces to collapse.

Dane and the Atlas Legion destroyed the Kree forces attacking Michelle, earning Xandar’s trust and military contracts. At Nova Corps headquarters, Dane warned Nova that the Kree would not restrain Ronan because Thanos was supplying him and the Kree had more pressing concerns.

• Dane and the Atlases slaughtered the Kree aboard their warship, then descended on Michelle and hunted down the ground forces.
• The Atlases called in a Positron Cannon strike that destroyed the Kree’s final stronghold on Michelle.
• Dane told Michelle’s governor that the Atlas Legion would not clean up the remaining stragglers, and declined to extort the planet.
• After the Battle of Michelle, Xandar signed military contracts with the Atlas Legion because of its decisive victory and professional conduct.
• At Nova Corps headquarters, Dane told Nova that Ronan had taken control of an agricultural planet and that Thanos had supplied him with weapons and logistical support.
• Dane explained that the Kree would not restrain Ronan because they had no time to keep confronting Xandar.

Dane explained why Ronan was using Xandar as a common enemy and continued fighting his fleet with Atlas. When Ronan learned Star-Lord was on Knowhere, Dane followed him there, where Ronan had already clashed with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

• Dane told Nova that the Kree were weakened by civil war and that Ronan needed Xandar as an enemy to unite his people.
• Atlas intercepted Ronan's attacks on remote planets, and Ronan realized its forces and wormhole technology posed a serious threat.
• Ronan learned that Star-Lord had taken the Power Stone to Knowhere and secretly left his fleet to pursue him.
• Cortana detected Ronan's departure, and Dane persuaded Nova to share Knowhere's coordinates, though she refused to attack Ronan's fleet first.
• Dane took a small Atlas force to Knowhere, where Ronan was already fighting the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Collector had lost control of his vault.

Dane looted The Collector's vault with Howard the Duck and found the Embers of Creation and a stone that resisted psychic power. When Ronan attacked the Guardians of the Galaxy over the Cosmic Orb, Dane took the Orb and defeated Ronan with a single blow, leaving Ronan to activate his full power.

• Dane went to The Collector's lair, met Howard the Duck, and agreed to split the treasures with him.
• Dane seized the Embers of Creation and a mysterious, nearly indestructible stone from the vault's looters.
• Ronan fought Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Gamora while the Guardians tried to take the Cosmic Orb.
• Dane stopped Quill, took the Cosmic Orb, and caught Ronan's Universal Hammer when Ronan attacked him.
• Dane knocked Ronan down, but Ronan reclaimed the Universal Hammer and activated his full strength.

Dane defeated Ronan on Knowhere, let him escape to preserve Xandar’s need for Atlas, and crushed the empty Orb before seeking Xandar’s recognition of Atlas’s claim to Knowhere. Meanwhile, Quill’s group escaped with the real Power Stone and decided to take it to Xandar despite being wanted there.

• Dane dodged Ronan’s attacks, absorbed the energy from Ronan’s Universal Hammer, and forced Ronan to flee by collapsing the ground beneath him.
• Dane revealed that Ronan’s strength came mostly from his equipment and chose not to stop his escape so Xandar would continue to need Atlas’s military support.
• Dane crushed the Orb’s empty shell and asked Nova to recognize Atlas’s proposed rule over Knowhere.
• Quill’s companions discovered that Quill had switched the Orb and kept the real Power Stone, while Drax admitted he had drawn Ronan to them.
• Gamora stopped the crew’s argument by firing inside the ship, then persuaded them to take the Power Stone to Xandar for safekeeping.

Ronan seized the Power Stone and set course for Xandar while the Guardians of the Galaxy were imprisoned aboard the Dark Aster. Dane took control of Knowhere, then received a distress signal reporting Ronan’s attack on Xandar’s industrial planets.

• Ronan captured the Guardians of the Galaxy, took the Power Stone, and spared the group after Quill talked him into locking them in a cell.
• Nebula revealed that she had tracked the Guardians and informed Ronan that Quill had the Power Stone, then rejected Gamora’s attempt to recruit her.
• Dane brought Atlas personnel and Astartes to Knowhere, imposed new laws, and sorted its residents and wanted criminals under his rule.
• Dane received a distress signal instead of Xandar’s recognition of his rule and learned that Ronan was destroying Xandar’s industrial planets.
• Dane realized Ronan had taken the Power Stone more quickly than he expected, though Atlas’s presence had kept Ronan’s fleet from breaking through Xandar’s defenses.

After Ronan’s raids weakened Xandar, Nova negotiated a new contract with Dane for Atlas to help eliminate him in exchange for military technology. Xandar’s fleet rushed ahead to engage Ronan, while Dane held Atlas back, leaving the campaign’s first clash to the Nova Corps.

• Atlas and the Nova Corps stopped Ronan’s first assault on Xandar, but Ronan then began raiding planets and destroying billions of lives with the Power Stone.
• Nova asked Dane to lead an offensive against Ronan, and Dane requested that Xandar open its military technology for trade.
• Xandar agreed to the trade on the condition that the Nova Corps join the expedition and take the leading role, while Atlas served as support.
• Dane prepared a battle plan with the Astartes, then adjusted it after learning that Nova Corps commander Falan resented being made to follow mercenaries.
• Falan led the Nova Corps into the jump corridor early and engaged Ronan’s fleet before Atlas joined the battle.

Falan’s attempted decapitation strike against Ronan failed, and the Nova Corps struggled until the Atlas Legion arrived and turned aside the Power Stone’s attack. Dane led an Astartes boarding assault, confronted Ronan, and began fighting him aboard the Dark Aster.

• Falan sent ten enhanced Nova Corps soldiers to kill Ronan, but Ronan destroyed part of the Nova Corps command ship with the Power Stone and forced the Corps onto the defensive.
• The Atlas Legion arrived, and its wormhole film absorbed Ronan’s attack; Falan shifted the Nova Corps to supporting Atlas.
• Dane ordered fifty Astartes to board the Dark Aster, and Nebula offered to guide him to Ronan and pledged herself to Dane.
• Dane directed his assault squad to kill the Kree guards, then entered Ronan’s chamber and gave his name.
• Ronan attacked Dane with the Universal Hammer, and the impact broke through the floor and sent them both crashing to the level below.

Dane overwhelmed Ronan aboard the Dark Aster while the Guardians of the Galaxy escaped their cells and were found by Atlas’s soldiers. Dane killed Ronan and took the Power Stone, but its energy began flooding into his body and straining his heart and brain.

• Dane adapted to the Power Stone’s energy and battered Ronan through the Dark Aster while the Guardians escaped and armed themselves.
• Atlas’s soldiers encountered the Guardians, identified them, and told them to hide while they secured the ship.
• Dane pinned Ronan and ordered his soldiers to take the Dark Aster to Knowhere.
• Ronan regained the Universal Hammer and tried to destroy the Dark Aster, but Dane seized the Power Stone and dissolved him with its energy.
• Dane drained the unstable Universal Hammer, but the Power Stone’s energy entered his bloodstream and began tormenting his body.

Dane subdued the Power Stone and Atlas defeated Ronan’s fleet, while the stranded Guardians of the Galaxy tried to escape in an Astartes assault craft and encountered Cortana. After returning to Knowhere, Dane took possession of the Collector’s residence and began questioning the Guardians, with Quill trying to appeal to their shared Terran origins.

• Dane endured the Power Stone’s energy, tamed it, and sealed the Stone in a container.
• The Astartes turned the captured Dark Aster against the Kree fleet, and most of the remaining Necrocraft were destroyed or fled.
• Rocket Raccoon took an assault craft to escape with the Guardians, but Cortana detected their unauthorized access and appeared before them.
• Dane returned to Knowhere, where Xandar had recognized Atlas’s occupation of the station as a military base.
• Dane had the Guardians brought into the Collector’s residence and questioned them, while Quill tried to establish that they were both from Terra.

Dane revealed the Guardians’ hidden histories and recruited Gamora to help him find Thanos, then forced Rocket Raccoon to cooperate in drawing out the High Evolutionary. Rocket feared Dane would repeat the High Evolutionary’s abuse, but Dane promised to protect him as they began planning their approach.

• Dane told Quill that Earth was called Earth, revealed that Quill had an uncle there, and informed Drax that Thanos had ordered Ronan to destroy Drax’s home planet.
• Dane identified Rocket Raccoon as test subject 89P13 and exposed Gamora as Thanos’s adopted daughter, prompting Drax to confront her before Gamora admitted the truth.
• Dane offered to clear the Guardians’ warrants and bounties if they helped him find Thanos, and Gamora agreed to the deal.
• Dane sent the Guardians flying with a burst of purple energy and kept Rocket behind, triggering Rocket’s memories of the High Evolutionary’s cruelty.
• Dane said he wanted to use Rocket to draw out the High Evolutionary, explained that the High Evolutionary had created the Sovereign’s Supreme Race, and promised Rocket’s safety despite denying him the right to refuse.

Dane discovered Adam’s golden cocoon in The Collector’s basement and decided to keep it, while Thanos traced the Power Stone to Atlas and planned to pursue the Soul Stone through Gamora. On Sovereign, Ayesha learned that Knowhere had changed hands and The Collector had vanished, putting Adam’s cocoon’s fate in doubt.

• Dane sent Nebula to work with Gamora on redirecting Thanos toward the Soul Stone after Nebula failed to earn his trust.
• Cortana found Adam’s golden cocoon in The Collector’s basement, and Dane decided to claim it after sensing the powerful life force inside.
• Ebony Maw told Thanos that Gamora had joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and that Atlas’s leader held the Power Stone.
• Thanos concluded that Atlas’s leader might be able to wield the Power Stone and chose to seek the Soul Stone through Gamora instead.
• Ayesha learned that Knowhere had changed hands and The Collector had disappeared, and she worried about Adam’s cocoon, which had been placed there to absorb energy from the Celestial head.