Rachel “I’m from the future” Grey is hanging out with the family of Jean Grey (Rachel’s mother in her timeline), playing basketball and speaking in emoticons.
Ah, Chris Claremont and his love of sports!
Later that night, at a family gathering, the entire Grey family is slaughtered by Shi’Ar warrior guards called the “Shi’Ar Death Commandos.”
The attack happens in issue #467, over the course of 24 seconds–with each page of the issue representing one second.
Once the family is slaughtered (everyone except Grandma Grey), the warriors rip off Rachel’s shirt and brand her with the sign of the phoenix so that “she will never hide again.”
The SDC’s mission is to wipe out anyone related to Jean Grey because they believe that the Phoenix Force will seek them out and use them to destroy universes.
Before they can execute Rachel (why did they waste time branding her?), other X-Men arrive, as do some Sentinels, and the Shi’Ar are forced to flee.
Cyclops, when he arrives and sees his in-laws slaughtered, almost decides to kill the entire Shi’Ar team. Emma stops him.
I have to be honest, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Emma has done lots of morally questionable things in the past–even the recent past–and the Shi’Ar just killed a dozen innocent people.
Rachel seems to agree with me, because in the end of the issue she swears revenge.
The story is well done and actually had me caring about Rachel Grey.