This story is getting very complicated. But hey! It's the X-men. That's what we've come to expect. Lilandra and Major-General Ka'ardum are trying to put together a force powerful enough to stand up to D'ken, Deathbird and Vulcan. Meanwhile D'ken is setting a trap for our freedom fighters. Vulcan and Deathbird, Cal'syee Neramani, are going to be married. They're going to perform the ceremony at the base of the M'kraan Crystal. Then immediately following, they are going to kill Charles Xavier by trapping him in the crystal. All goes as planned, except our freedom fighters strike early. It doesn't seem like either side is making much ground, but NightCrawler is attempting to save Charles. Well Vulcan isn't about to let that happen. So he jumps up and throws Charles in to the crystal himself. Darwin comes running to his aid and also jumps in after him. Meanwhile D'ken has Lilandra in a death grip. He's about to kill her when he is killed . . . by Vulcan. "You think I would be your brother?! That I would serve beneath you?! You think I could ever forget what you did to me?", he shouts as he frys him with his eye beams. He's talking about when he was a child and D'ken ordered the death of his mother. But this was his plan all along. Now that D'ken is dead, and he is married to Deathbird, "I claim D'ken's throne as my own! By right of blood and combat! By right of succession! I name myself Emperor Vulcan, Ruler of this Shi'ar Imperium!". And now Vulcan's plan seems complete. I like this story by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan. But there really is an awful lot going on. And there's only 1 more issue left in this story-arc. And we have a lot of unanswered questions. Good luck with wrapping everything up next issue. That should prove to be interesting.
