WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy #8 by Al Ewing, Marcio Takara, Federico Blee, and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
The Elders of the Universe are some of the oldest beings to exist in the Marvel Universe, and they're more visible than ever before thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Grandmaster and Collector. The former oversees games, including gladiator arenas, while the latter collects relics and people, with both believing they're better than everyone else.
Despite their differences, that sense of superiority seesm to be pervaisive among the Elders of the Universe. That even holds true for the newest Elder, the Profiteer, who just returned in Guardians of the Galaxy #8.
Profiteer debuted in Empyre: Fantastic Four as an arms dealer and lord of war who ran the Casino Cosmico. There, she had a reenactment of the Kree-Skrull War fought by a Kree boy named Jo-Venn and a Skrull girl named N'Kalla. She didn't care that peace was achieved; so long as she could gain riches by reimagining this war. As her name implies, the Profiteer is all about wealth, which is why the Fantastic Four freed her warriors and undid her plans.
After Empyre established a new cosmic order for the Marvel Universe, Reed Richards had the Profiteer dissect a Cotati WMD, only for her to ask a high fee for the service. She wanted the warrior kids back but thanks to Emperor Hulkling, her contract was terminated and she left empty-handed in Empyre: Fantastic Four Fallout, waiting for the right opportunity to strike again. Now, that time has come, as she tries to manipulate the diplomatic conference where Noh-Varr has been framed for murder.
Marvel Boy' i in custody as Super-Skrull and most members of the galactic alliance think he killed Emperor Stote of Zn'rx, as well as Val-Lorr, a Kree Imperium soldier whose weapon backfired and murdered him. Luckily, Rocket Raccoon's the lead investigator, and he quickly ties all clues together. Rocket realizes someone's got a telepathic block on as Moondragon scans the room. Plus, he deduces the weapon was rigged and always meant to backfire, thanks to his considerable weapons knowledge.
Rocket calls out the Badoon representative, Lani Ko Ako, who's wearing an image inducer, who then reveals that she's actually Profiteer in disguise. The Profiteer knew the sisterhood wouldn't send an emissary so she imitated her. These diplomatic deaths would mean cosmic war, since the Imperium faction would hunt rogue Utopians in the resultant conflict. This means that she could sell more weapons, which would allow her to live up to her name as a Tony Stark-esque war profiteer. Rocket is impressed, as he knows rigged weapons are already out there, so it seems like both sides are waging war on each other.
What sweetens the deal is the Zn'rx empire is immediately embroiled in the Snarkwar, so there's money to be made there too. While the Profiteer ties to keep anyone from leaving hte meeting and spoiling her plan, she disappears when the cosmic economy crashes due to the unforeseen threat of Knull the symbitoe god. Profiteer disappears knowing no one has money to spend anytime soon, but she's still intent on studying the Chitauri bio-bomb Peacebringer has, which means she'll make another play very soon on the market.