BIOGRAPHY - Page 4
Aleta’s attitude towards Stakar was quite different, however. She could never bring herself to 
forgive him for the deaths of their children, and only the unique circumstances of their bond prevented her from unleashing her vitriol upon him. As was Arcturian tradition, it was her prerogative to consider their marriage terminated and she began presenting in a new costume to further separate herself from him. The Guardians found themselves on a new mission, thanks to revelations from a tome in Yondu’s possession known as the Book of Antag. It described an object which seemed to be the ancient, lost shield of Captain America from before the Martian invasion, and a cryptic set of clues on how to find it. Vance convinced the other Guardians to search out the shield, believing if nothing else it would be a powerful rallying symbol for the rebuilding of Earth. Their quest seemed hampered from the start, however, as at each leg along the path it appeared that other treasure seekers had been there ahead of them.
On the planet Courg, the Guardians of the Galaxy encountered unexpected resistance from Taserface, a cyborg scout from the race known as the Stark. These vicious warriors were beneficiaries of a lost capsule of Iron Man’s technology sent out into space during the Martian invasion. The Stark emulated the power and aptitude of Tony Stark without any of his humanity or restraint. After humbling Taserface, the Guardians faced a full Stark battle group. As the One-Who-Knows, Stakar waited for Charlie-27 to first notice that the Stark showed significant respect to their female leaders, and restraint towards harming even Nikki. At Charlie’s direction, Stakar surrendered the body to Aleta, adding another powerful female figure to the battlefield whom the Starks hesitated to strike.
While Aleta’s arrival was temporarily a benefit to the Guardians’ struggle, it turned on them when she accidentally struck out with more force than intended, killing a flying Stark lieutenant as she crumbled to the ground. Aleta was horrified at her own actions, as she had tried to walk a path of peace since leaving the other Arcturians and their culture behind. The reaction by the Stark was much worse. The men were but soldiers, but the killing of a female officer (by another female, inexplicable to their culture) only intensified the Stark’s battle fury. They turned their full might against Aleta in vengeance, and she desperately sought a moment’s concentration necessary to call forth Stakar. The Stark ended up pumping spectacular amounts of raw energy into Aleta as 
the change overtook her and, when she crashed to the planet below, Stakar and Aleta found they had been separated once more.
Stakar recovered faster than Aleta, and Vance Astro teleported her to the Freedom’s Lady med-bay using her star. Instead of rejoining the fight, however, Starhawk abandoned the major and flew away into space without explanation. The battle wrapped up without him as Charlie captured a Stark general and they all returned to Freedom’s Lady to recover. As Aleta awakened, the Guardians were threatened by a massive Stark vessel which arrived as reinforcements. The One-Who-Knows was aware of this coming threat and a potential ally he could signal near the edge of the solar system, but was too late to return in time to prevent the utter destruction of the Freedom’s Lady. As he knew he would be. Mercifully, the Guardians abandoned ship and teleported down to Courg when their imminent fate became clear.
Starhawk’s ally, the Protector of the Universe and former Herald of Galactus known as Firelord, arrived on his own search to end the viciousness of the Stark. They disabled the Stark battle cruiser in orbit, while the Guardians mopped up the remaining warriors on the planet below. Only Taserface remained on his feet and, thanks to the arriving Firelord, he quickly fell. As always, Vance Astro and the other more hotheaded Guardians were ticked at Starhawk for running off on h
is own and refusing to share his plans with the team. And, as always, Stakar ignored them and addressed the team leader Martinex that he had secured the battle cruiser for their use. Firelord accepted the role of honorary Guardian and one of the team’s star badges, and gave them further direction on their quest for the shield. The Guardians of the Galaxy soon departed Courg on their new vessel, rechristened the Captain America II. [Guardians of the Galaxy (1st series) #1-4]
The Guardians of the Galaxy spent the next month traveling towards the final destination in their quest. It was an awkward passage of time, for Aleta still nursing a burning hatred towards Stakar, and would not speak to him even now that they had separated. On Klaatu, a world lit by an x-ray star, they were greeted by Mainframe, the sentient mind of the synthesoid Vision now inhabiting the computer network of the empty world. Mainframe pitted the Guardians in a series of tests against Force, a diverse group of thieves who had been following their own copy of the Book of Antag to acquire the shield. Starhawk and Aleta were matched against Tachyon and Eighty-Five of Force but, in truth, their challenges were more personal. Stakar’s knowledge as the One-Who-Knows was temporarily blocked by Mainframe, forcing him to fight Tachyon without any foreknowledge. He passed this test of faith, but Aleta failed her test of forgiveness. Forced to 
interact for the first time since Courg, Aleta refused to give an inch in her hatred of her ex-husband, and continued to hold him accountable for their children’s deaths. [Guardians of the Galaxy (1st series) #5-6]
As Aleta and the other Guardians attended to a ship adrift in space, Stakar used his healing light to help Martinex recover from injuries suffered fighting Force. As he worked, Starhawk confided in one of his teammates for the first time about his origins and the natural of his cyclical knowledge as the One-Who-Knows. He explained that the circumstances of his time loop would arise from an event in the future, after the Guardians expelled him from their ranks for something he “must” do. All the Guardians, even Martinex with his new insight, would hate him for what he was destined to do. Although he would not be a member at the time, Stakar would return to the 21st century with the Guardians. After that point, his consciousness would be forcibly transplanted back in time, as it had countless times before that.
In past incarnations, Stakar’s attempts to escape his fate had only created alternate timelines, without altering his own destiny. Stakar told Martinex how he had lost all agency in his life, living it over and over again with only minor variation in events, no matter what he tried. In this timeline, Stakar remarked, he and Aleta were split from one another sooner than he had ever previously experienced. Ever since, his “Knowledge” had suffered blind spots and lapses that concerned him. Martinex suggested Starhawk might now be living in one of his alternate realities, making his fate more malleable than he thought. Stakar did his best to seem indifferent to the idea.
Meanwhile, the Guardians had encountered the demonic Malevolence, daughter of Mephisto. Fueled by thousands of desiccated souls aboard her ship, Malevolence emerged from stasis with a grudge against the Guardians of the Galaxy already. She made vague references to “the child” and immediately identified Aleta as “the rival” she must face for control of the child. Fighting her way aboard the Captain America II, Malevolence made a beeline for sickbay where she sensed
Starhawk’s great power. Stakar calmly addressed Malevolence as she arrived, simply telling her the child was not there… yet. Seeing the truth in the eyes of the One-Who-Knows, Malevolence departed immediately and the Guardians once again had more questions for Starhawk than he would ever answer. With his new insight, and now fully healed by Stakar’s light, Martinex did his best to support Starhawk’s inscrutable nature against the other members’ antagonism. [Guardians of the Galaxy (1st series) #7]
As time went on, Aleta became closer with the Guardians than in the past. No longer bound by the brief spurts of corporeality allowed by Stakar, she formed a strong friendship with Nikki and a maternal compassion towards most of the others. Even further, she openly propositioned Vance Astro. The thousand-year-old man had grown past his earlier bitterness in recent months and finding Captain America’s shield helped awaken a noble spirit within him that Aleta found attractive. As a practical matter, Vance could not survive outside the unique preservative 
environment of his quarters except in his containment suit. That environment would be equally hostile to any person other than a beautiful Arcturian made of coherent light and able to pass through walls. Aleta was the only woman Vance would ever be able to touch physically skin-to-skin. Aleta’s interest was surprising to Vance but, as she explained how ending her marriage to Stakar was her choice, they tentatively began to explore a relationship together.
While Starhawk was not widely loved among his teammates, Stakar still cared about his endlessly-looped companions to a degree. He had always shared a respect for Yondu, who was suffering spiritually following their encounter with Force. After the Badoon invasion, Yondu always believed himself to be the last Centaurian, but Force had a female Centaurian member named 
Photon. Because of her poor upbringing by a superstitious tribe, Photon hated “The Way” of Yondu’s people and would have nothing to do with him. As he struggled to come to grips with this, Yondu attacked his fellow Guardians and tried to steal a shuttle to pursue Photon himself. Starhawk approached Yondu and faced his misguided anger. He guided Yondu through both his rage and the suicidal urges which followed, telling him that his life still held great meaning for The Way and his people. Stakar and Yondu prayed together as the Centaurian god Anthos directed, and Yondu found his faith once more. [Guardians of the Galaxy (1st series) #8]