All or Nothing

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Salvador Larroca
• Lettering - Tom Orzechowski
• Colorist - Liquid!
• Ass't Editor - Andrew Lis
• Editor - Andrew Lis
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  Rogue sits on the alien junk pile she's made, pondering her fate. She's always felt guilty about stealing parts of people's souls and is convinced Vargas is the karmic payback.

  On TV, Cho reports that the day-old invasion has destroyed the military, and the X-Men are the only hope. Khan watches the broadcast while being briefed. Rogue has destroyed 97% of the equipment thrown at her; Khan admires the strategy: reinforcements must be rushed there while casualties are evacuated, causing a traffic jam in their portal. Wary, he wants the rest of the X-Men found.

  The elite Pathfinder soldiers are sent in; some of them worry Khan is distracted by love, but they think the harem will kill Ororo. The X-Men, trying to sneak past, are stopped when Heather is identified as Shi'ar royalty. A soldier salutes but then realizes Lucas is an imposter. The X-Men attack before he warns anyone. Mugu, a gorilla-like soldier, gets Neal by the neck, who can't fight back without killing him, so Heather instinctively batters Mugu senseless. Lucas uses fists not powers, so as not to set off alarms, and Sage guards the door, using her power to control her body and to calculate probabilities of motion.

  Heather is upset; first she learns her father's a mutant criminal, and now her mother must be Shi'ar. Lucas realizes Khan is using Ororo as bait. Sage floods the computer with thousands of false battle reports; she is confident Ororo can free herself from the harem.

  On earth, Cameron surfs around dropping grenades and destroys the alien supply dump.

  Khan orders lethal force on Madripoor, which will eliminate two X-Men and set an example for earth. Jalene, head of the harem, says Ororo will object, but Khan wants her to learn who rules, even if she is a goddess and is to be his queen.

  Khan enters her room; she is scantily dressed and lit by candles, and he is impressed, especially when she literally dances on air with him. Jalene and the harem observe on a screen, ready to kill her if she makes a false move. Ororo wants to convince Khan there's more to life than conquest, and he says earth's fate is sealed, but he kisses her.

  Later, Ororo rests alone on the bed, till Jalene tries to stab her. They roll into a pond below, and tentacles reach for them. Ororo kicks Jalene off, gets the knife, and cuts the tentacle. Bleeding, she gets to the surface and finds the harem arrayed against her. She tells them what she told Khan: she won't be conquered. She begins to draw down lightning, but instead is shocked herself and collapses.

  Note: the issue is laced with references to Star Wars: Khan's generals are Vader's cohort from the original Deathstar; Dukane says, "I've got a bad feeling about this"; sneaking around in stolen armor; underwater tentacles.