Stormwatch #10 (1998)

Science officer Molly Perkins learns that an asteroid is going to pass very close to Earth, prompting her to request permission from Weatherman Jackson King to send a team to set charges and blow it off course and into the sun. Jackson blows her off and approves the mission as he is busy with Winter, who is chewing him out for his failure to do more in service of the parallel Earth they discovered, declaring that there is no more reason for the team to exist if they start picking and choosing which lives they save. Jackson responds to Winter's rant by punching him in the face and telling him to leave his office. Winter's words linger, however, as Jackson and Christine walk together and talk about the pressures of being Weatherman. Jackson also talks about his parallel counterpart, who was destroyed in both body and spirit from killing three-hundred people while trying to save half of SkyWatch, which left him wondering if he will make one mistake like the other Jackson King. Meanwhile, the science team approaches the asteroid and realizes it's not merely an asteroid, but a vessel. An alien ship is built inside an asteroid. Molly notifies Jackson and directs the team to set the charges and leave as quickly as possible; the vessel bears eerie similarities to what they just witnessed on the parallel Earth that gives Molly an ominous feeling. As Jackson reaches the science deck, communications with the team on the asteroid are lost. One of the team's shuttles is able to make it off before the charges explode, but the other shuttle and crew onboard are not so lucky. SkyWatch tries to contact the surviving shuttle but they receive no response. The members of StormWatch spend their evening oblivious to the trouble: Hellstrike and Fahrenheit having fun in bed, Flint comforting Winter over a drink, and Fuji gazing out at the stars. The surviving shuttle continues on its path back to SkyWatch.