In order to make some money, Peter and the Guardians of the Galaxy head into the forbidden Quarantine Zone to capture a monster for their patron, Lady Hellbender. However, they are forced to flee the Quarantine Zone when Peter accidentally releases an unknown alien entity, only for them to encounter the Nova Corps patrol ship Hala's Hope captained by Centurion Ko-Rel, Peter's ex-girlfriend. Ko-Rel detains the Guardians along with religious figure Grand Unifier Raker of the Universal Church of the Truth, who was also caught trespassing in the Quarantine Zone to search for his church's god. While being processed, Peter also meets a young Nova Corps cadet named Nikki, who happens to be Ko-Rel's daughter, leading Peter to suspect he might be Nikki's father. Ko-Rel decides to give the Guardians three cycles to pay a massive fine. Being broke, the Guardians decide to try and scam Lady Hellbender. The plan goes awry and the Guardians are forced to flee, but they are able to steal enough money to pay off the fine. Furious at the Guardians, Lady Hellbender swears revenge and hires an army of bounty hunters to chase after them. The Guardians then travel to The Rock, a Nova Corps space station where Hala's Hope is docked, but find most of the Nova Corps officers have apparently been brainwashed. The Hala's Hope leaves the station and the Guardians decide to flee to Knowhere. They meet with Knowhere's head of security, Cosmo, who instructs them to investigate the Church. In return, Cosmo will convince the Nova Corps to drop their charges against the Guardians. As the Guardians investigate, they discover that Raker has manipulated Nikki into being possessed by the alien entity from the Quarantine Zone and become the Church's Matriarch, brainwashing new converts with the Promise, a pledge to resurrect lost loved ones. As a result, Raker has been able to harness incredibly powerful Faith Energy, which supplies the Church with massive amounts of power and advanced technology which they use to convert entire worlds. Nikki attempts to tempt the Guardians with the Promise, but they are able to resist and see through the illusion the Promise actually is. The Guardians attempt to gain assistance from the Worldmind, but it concludes that the Church's victory is inevitable and flees the galaxy with the remaining Nova Corps. Drax eventually succumbs to the Promise, but the Guardians are able to help him overcome it with help from Mantis. They also encounter Adam Warlock, the Church's original deity who withdrew from the Church. Warlock reveals that the alien entity that has possessed Nikki is in fact his dark side, Magus, who seeks to consume all the Faith Energy in the galaxy in order to manifest a new physical form.