Irani Rael (Earth-11584)

History
"'If Maelstrom is coming to Xandar expecting us to just roll over and play dead, he will soon see the error of his ways.'"Irani Rael is the Xanadarian head of the police force known as the Nova Corps. In this position, she is charged with watching over the people of Xandar and the Nova Empire proper, and in effect acts as the de facto head of state for the entire Empire (whose true political structure is less autocratic than the other major empires in this area of the universe, but still not fully democratic.) It is unknown how long she has held this position for, but she claims to have been on the Nova Corps itself for more than thirty years, giving her a good degree of experience in the role.

Relations between the Nova Empire and the other major empires (the Skrull, Kree, and Shi'ar) remain tenuous at best, but the primary threat to the Nova Empire came from mercenaries within their own borders. One of the top threats they face prior to the Siege of Xandar came from the Inhuman Space Pirate, Maelstrom, and his crew. Rael devoted a good number of resources to trying to capture Maelstrom, for naught. She also feared an alliance between Maelstrom and the Mad Titan Thanos. Eventually this possibility was brought to her attention by Rhomann Dey, who alerted her of Yondu Udonta and the Ravagers (along with a group calling itself the Guardians of the Galaxy) coming to Xandar to protect it from Maelstrom and the cleansing effects of the Power Stone. Trusting her gut, she coordinated with the Ravagers, the Guardians, and the Nova Corps to fight of Maelstrom's forces during the Battle of Xandar. All her planning though would have been for naught, had it not been for the efforts of the Guardians. Afterwards, she authorized the rebuilding of Peter Quill's ship, promoted Rhomann Dey to higher up in the organization, and took custody of the Power Stone herself, to ensure it from falling into the hands of Thanos.

Unfortunately this only attracted the Mad Titan to Xandar, as he quickly began to lay siege to the planet and decimated the Nova Corps in the process. It is unclear of Irani Rael survived this onslaught or not.

Powers & Abilities

 * Nova Force: Like all members of the Nova Corps, Irani Rael could access the Nova Force, an interdimensional force of energy that gave all Nova Corps members various abilities. The full extent of this power is as of yet unrevealed, but it is safe to assume that Rael commanded more of the Nova Force than her underlings, given her position as head of the Nova Corps.

Weaknesses
Aside from her connection to the Nova Force, whatever it may entail, Irani Rael possesses no superhuman abilities that would make her less susceptible to harm.

Film Details
Irani Rael appears in the following films in the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases she is portrayed by actress Glenn Close.
 * Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)