Ultimate Galactus trilogy
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Ultimate Galactus Trilogy is a collection of three miniseries in Marvel Comics' Ultimate Universe written by Warren Ellis. The series describes the coming of Gah Lak Tus, and features the Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Ultimates, and the Ultimate X-Men.
Ultimate Nightmare, part one of the trilogy, tells the story of the Ultimates and the X-Men discovering Vision, herald of Gah Lak Tus.
Ultimate Secret, part two of the trilogy, chronicles the Ultimates and the Fantastic Four with the help of Mahr Vehl searching for an explanation of who or what Gah Lak Tus is.
Ultimate Extinction, the conclusion of the trilogy, describes how the Ultimates, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men attempt to defeat Gah Lak Tus.
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[edit] Ultimate Nightmare
Ultimate Nightmare is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Warren Ellis, penciled by Trevor Hairsine, and inked by Simon Coleby. Ultimate Nightmare is the first series in the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy.
[edit] Plot
Communications systems across the world are overwhelmed by a tremendously powerful broadcasts, which are also echoed on the psychic plane. Images of massive death and destruction are so disturbing they prompt thousands of people around the world to commit suicide. The source of these broadcasts are tracked to the Tunguska Wasteland in Russia, known as the site of a comet crash that occurred a century ago (1904, as opposed to 1908 in the real world).
Art by Trevor Hairsine
The broadcast draws the attention of every intelligence agency in the world, including S.H.I.E.L.D. and Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Nick Fury assembles a team comprised of himself, Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon to investigate the phenomenon, while at the same time, Professor X sends Jean Grey, Wolverine, and Colossus to rescue what is apparently an immensely powerful psychic being in distress.
Both teams enter the Russian wasteland to discover a forgotten military complex of the former Communist Russia. The teams, unaware of each other's presence, infiltrate the base through separate entrances and explore it on their own accord. Both teams encounter enormous creatures in varying states of decay and mutation but who still resemble a vague humanoid form. The creatures are hostile and attack without provocation. Both teams survive the encounters and progress deeper into the installation.
As they progress, it's discovered that the installation once housed a Russian super-soldier program which, instead of utilizing complex surgery, serums and steroid enhancements developed by the United States, grafting parts taken from an alien machinery onto human beings. Unlike Captain America however, these super soldiers have undergone drastic mutations due to the unpredictable results of their surgeries. Documents found on the scene outline how the installation was sealed with the soldiers still inside, and laced with nuclear land mines to prevent escape or infiltration.
As S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men descend deeper into the installation, they eventually encounter the source of the interference -- and each other. After a brief skirmish, S.H.I.E.L.D. subdues the X-Men and examines the source of the worldwide broadcasts, which they are surprised to learn is a sentient robot called Vision. It came to Earth 100 years ago to warn them of impending doom, but that its ship malfunctioned and crashed and its recovery was hindered by Soviet scientists who sliced off pieces of its body for their super soldier program. He warns that the Eater of Worlds named Gah Lak Tus approaches their planet. The X-Men take the time to escape, and Fury, more concerned over this ominous warning, relocates Vision to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, in an attempt to find out more about Gah Lak Tus.
[edit] Ultimate Secret
Ultimate Secret is a four-issue comic book limited series written by Warren Ellis and penciled by Steve McNiven.
Published from March 2005 to October 2005, Ultimate Secret is the second series in the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy.
[edit] Plot
Spookworks 9, a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. installation in New Mexico, is home to a number of research and development labs focusing on space travel and exploration. Dr. Philip Lawton, head of the project, arrives on the premises for a meeting with other members of the project, as well as to oversee the testing phase of the Asis I, a spaceship that utilizes a revolutionary method of spaceflight which would allow a return journey to the nearest star within a human lifetime. Overseeing this meeting are Captain Carol Danvers, Director of Security. When an invisible monster starts attacking the ship, Lawton sneaks away and turns into Captain Mahr Vehl (by means of symbiotic armor) and destroys the monster, saving the ship's nuclear engine. He is imprisoned by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D., who wants to know who he is. He tells them he is a member of the Kree, an alien race who has been observing the Earth to see if they posed a threat to the Kree in the larger galaxy. Having seen that humans are violent and dangerous, the Kree resolved themselves to keeping humanity stuck on Earth until Gah-Lak-Tus could destroy them. Realizing the implications, Fury calls in the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor.
Once they arrive, Fury explains the events of Ultimate Nightmare to them. Reed becomes excited by the existence of Gah-Lak-Tus, because it would cover the disrepancy between the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox (that the galaxy should be full of intelligence, but we can't hear any of it). The heroes work out a plan: Iron Man, Reed, Sue, Captain Mahr Vehl, and Hawkeye will pilot the Asis 2 (NASA regulations call for full redundancy, so there is another ship). When the aliens attack, they are ambushed by Thor, Ben, Johnny, Black Widow, and Nick Fury.
When the Asis 2 makes it to the Kree ship, they first encounter unarmored Kree (who are ichthyoid in appearance). They kill most of the crew, but Yahn Rgg, the ship's captain, remotely disables Captain Mahr Vehl's surgical alterations, so that he resembles the Kree more. Yahn Rgg has engaged the ship's destruct sequence, to deny the ship's database to the humans. However, the Invisible Woman breaks the command escape module, trapping him on the ship. They get the database, then escape before the ship blows up.
Back at the Spookworks, Nick and the Black Widow are discussing the alien invaders. Nick says he won't autopsy the dead, because 'enough of them will die under interrogation'. Then he mentions that he has half a chance of saving the world, and maybe now he can find out what he's supposed to save the world from.
[edit] Ultimate Extinction
Ultimate Extinction is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Warren Ellis and penciled by Brandon Peterson.
Published from January 2006 to May 2006, Ultimate Extinction is the final series in the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy.
Art by Brandon Peterson
[edit] Plot
- Issue #1: Sam Wilson with the help of the Vision, Reed Richards and Mahr Vehl, assemble a rough idea of Gah Lak Tus, piecing together what it is and a rough timetable and method of destruction for Earth, based on Vision's reports and the Kree database. After disrupting local gravity, it broadcasts on psychic frequencies, a signal reportedly powerful enough to drive entire worlds "insane with fear." Hours later, robotic Gah Lak Tus units land on the surface and emit a flesh-eating virus powerful enough to snuff out planetary life in less than 24 hours. Soon after, they suck out the magma core of the earth, returning energy to Gah Lak Tus and leaving behind a barren shell of a planet, with "no chance of it ever growing or harboring intelligent life again." The grim silence that follows communicates everyone's bleak outlook.
Elsewhere, private investigator Misty Knight is hired to investigate mysterious cult leader Paul Maitreya. Misty tracks the cult to a penthouse and conducts surveillance, where she observes the gatherers welcoming Maitreya, later determined to be one of the many Ultimate Silver Surfers. A sniper fires on Maitreya, a window away from where Misty is watching. Misty pursues the assailant, a bald woman with a dragon tattoo (possibly Moondragon), briefly engaging her gun and hand-to-hand combat, amidst sneering verbal banter. The bald woman escapes, but not before discovering that Misty Knight is a partial cyborg who possesses a Stark Laboratories' IronTech prosthesis for a right arm.
- Issue #2: Nick Fury assembles a team to stop Gah Lak Tus. He recruits super-scientist Reed Richards and renowned telepath Professor Xavier. During a meeting with Reed Richards, subsequent reports emerge that Gah Lak Tus isn't one entity, but rather a swarm of large mechanical ships 100,000 miles long, and only seven days away from Earth.
Misty Knight visits the NYPD to find the identity of her bald, female assailant. The nearest match on record is Heather Douglas - aka Heather Moon - a deceased contract killer who had previously worked for the Paragon Corporation. Misty returns to her private office and is confronted by Maitreya, who attempts to kill her with an electrical current that erupts from his hands. Misty resists. At the Triskelion, news of the attack prompts Captain America and Sam Wilson to investigate the battle. Meanwhile, Misty gradually gains the upper hand and kicks Maitreya out of her apartment window and onto the street, before dropping a fire extinguisher onto his head and detonates it with a well-placed round. To her astonishment, Maitreya is unaffected by the explosion, and quickly cuts loose with another vicious, electric volley.
- Issue #3: Captain America and the Falcon arrive on the scene and engage Maitreya, who flees despite their rapid assault. Captain and the Falcon arrest Misty Knight and bring her to the Triskelion. Meanwhile, throughout the world, Maitreya's 'cult' gradually gains underground influence throughout the world. At the Baxter Building, Reed Richards and Susan Storm, while studying a diagram of the N-Zone and the multiple universes that lie within, conceive of a weapon that could potentially wound or even kill Gah Lak Tus.
At the Triskelion, Charles Xavier and Jean Grey calibrate a psychic boosting array and contact the approaching Gah Lak Tus in deep space. Apparently "desecrated" by associating with organic life, Gah Lak Tus overwhelms Xavier's probe and retaliates against their "contamination" by hurtling a missile at the Triskelion. Captain Marvel and Iron Man intercept the object, which is not a missile but rather another Maitreya, riding a surfboard. A Silver Surfer. They fight, and the Silver Surfer breaks Marvel's arm and moves in to bite his head off.
- Issue #4: Iron Man comes to Marvel's rescue and eliminates the Silver Surfer, who in death unleashes a massive electrical impulse that stuns everyone and sends them plummeting into the ocean below. Iron Man and Marvel are rescued, but the body of the Surfer disappears beneath the waves of the ocean.
Back at the Triskelion, Sam Wilson and Misty Knight talk about the surreality of the current situation when the antennae array behind them explodes. They see Heather Dougles fleeing the scene and apprehend her shortly after, thanks to the quick wits and sharp aim of Misty. The base goes on Red Alert, and Fury receives a call from Reed Richards, who says he knows how to kill Gah Lak Tus.
Jean Grey and Professor Xavier repair the psychic array and conceive of a new plan utilizing Cerebro. Sam Wilson and Nick Fury interrogate Heather Douglas, who is revealed as one of many clones of the deceased mafia hitman, brought into existence by an organization who intends to placate Gah Lak Tus, their "space god" through mass suicide. Further interrogation reveals that the inspiration for this behavior was introduced to them through the "silver men" on Earth, all of which resemble Maitreya and the Silver Surfer. Spurred by Gah Lak Tus's perversion of God, Captain America leads an assault on Maitreya, apprehending him in a fierce battle with the aid of Captain Marvel.
Jean Grey and Charles Xavier appeal to the Vision to aid them in their goal of psychically reconnecting with and assaulting Gah Lak Tus. In Nevada, Reed Richards oversees construction of a massive, towering reproduction of the portal device into the N-Zone.
Fury emerges the next morning, revealing that interrogation of Maitreya yielded no useful leads of information. Just as satellite imagery reveals that the Gah Lak Tus horde will be in orbit within hours, the Triskelion suddenly shifts to Red Alert as hordes of Heather Douglas clones, all armed and dangerous, pour off of the ocean and flood the shores of the Triskelion.
- Issue #5: Hordes of male and female clones assault the Triskelion, engaging hordes of SHIELD forces who desperately fight back. As Captain America, the Falcon, Captain Marvel and Iron Man join the fight, Professor Xavier calls in the X-Men as backup and proceeds with his psychic assault on the approaching Gah Lak Tus horde, linking his mind with every other human on Earth through the Vision's broadcast cortex. Above the Earth, Gah Lak Tus shivers beneath the psychic assault, the previously organized swarm of robots spasming violently and slowly breaking their orbit formation. In Nevada, Reed Richards and Sue Storm board a helicopter, finally explaining that he plans to launch an H-Bomb through the teleporter into a baby universe, utilizing the potential energy from its unexploded Big Bang, and channeling it into the orbitng Gah Lak Tus swarm. The Ultimate Nullifier.
The weapon obliterates 20% of the Gah Lak Tus swarm. A wound but not a grievous one. A failure. Jean Grey and Charles Xavier lie unconscious in their array. Reed Richards and Sue Storm protected in an invisible bubble in their crashed chopper. Wounded Ultimates standing over the countless bodies of clones and SHIELD personnel. All, gazing towards the sky.
An instant later, Gah Lak Tus breaks orbit and mysteriously retreats at incredible speed. The destroyer is gone. The Silver Men, off-balance, return to Gah Lak Tus. Earth is saved.Nick Fury receives preliminary reports: Xavier and Jean Grey are recovering in the Triskelion, and will be better within a week; the Enclave, the controllers of the Heather Douglas clones, are being hunted by SHIELD. Marvel worries that they have not killed Gah Lak Tus, and simply diverted him to another world, ensuring their potential doom. Fury reassures him otherwise: the Vision will soon be launched, with all the plans, science, engineering and tactics needed to create another weapon to inflict even more wounds on Gah Lak Tus. Along with a message.
"Human beings can kick the hell out of anything".
