Mortally wounded, Nova crash-landed on the desolate rimworld of Drez-Lar, where a platoon of Kree warriors had been stranded here since the end of the Annihilation War. Their leader was Ko-Rel, a young Kree female Stellar Captain, whose specialization was in battlefield medicine, she was the highest ranking survivor of their defeat at the hands of Ravenous, which left her in charge. Ko-Rel had been separated from her young son, Zam, for more than a year. While investigating a sort of cosmic phenomenon, appearing to be a meteor of some kind, she stumbled upon the charred remains of Nova. Nova under guidance of the Worldmind, enter the mind of the unsuspecting warrior and instantly transfered her into Nova 0001. With no time to acclimate herself with the power bestowed upon her, she was engaged in battle by a Phalanx hunter pack led by the Phalanx Selects, Lightstrom and Gamora. Ko-Rel made quick work of the hunter pack and Lightstorm, but Gamora went untouched in the assault. upon returning to her ship, the Worldmind informed her that the Phalanx had taken control of Hala. This upset her tremendously due to her son, Zam being left there amidst the chaos.

Gamora tracked Ko-Rel back to her ship and, managed to slaughter most of Ko-Rel's crew. The Worldmind reminded the new Nova, that she must protect, Nova Prime at all cost, for he contained the collective essence of Xandar. Ko-Rel led the Phalanx on a pursuit in order to save her remaining forces. Gamora took advantage of Ko-Rel's absence and infected Nova Prime, with the transmode virus converting him into a member of the Select. During the transformation of Nova Prime, the Worldmind went off line, leaving Ko-Rel to defend herself against the Phalanx hunter pack, which she eventually defeated. When she returned to the ship, she was met by the sight of the mass carnage of her remaining platoon members. However, she was able to salvage the halo-disc containing the image of little Zam. Ko-Rel left the rimworld of Drez-Lar, with the assistance of the Worldmind, in search of Gamora and Nova Prime. While en-route to the planetoid Nil-Rast, the Worldmind instructed Ko-rel, that it would be prudent to destroy him rather than allowing the Phalanx to obtain the secrets he possessed. While on Nil-Rast Nova Prime and Gamora convert the very powerful Drax the Destroyer into a member of the Select.

Shortly thereafter, Ko-Rel attempted to rescue Nova Prime, only to be met with resistance from the Nova, who tried to convince the Worldmind to help him destroy Ko-Rel, which the Worldmind refused. Having the Worldmind on her side Ko-Rel appeared to be on the upside of this brawl, until Gamora joined the fight and took her life.