Scintilla is a member of the Imperial Guard, a multi-ethnic group of super-powered alien beings who act as enforcers of the laws of the Shi'ar Empire. Under her original Guardsman name of Midget, she was amongst the first of the Imperial Guard encountered by the team of superhuman mutant adventurers known as the X-Men who sought to rescue the Princess-Majestrix Lilandra from her insane brother, then-Majestor D'ken. Following the orders of their emperor, the Guard clashed with the X-Men and were on the verge of winning when the band of interstellar freebooters known as the Starjammers arrived to turn the tide of battle in the X-Men's favor.
Later, after the formerly-exiled Deathbird had usurped the Shi'ar throne from her sister, Lilandra, Midget was amongst those Imperial Guard members who clashed with the British team of costumed adventurers known as Excalibur and the Starjammers over the fate of the then-bearer of the cosmic Phoenix Force, the alternate future daughter of the X-Man Jean Grey named Rachel Summers.
During the war between the Shi'ar and Kree Empires, Midget - now using her new Guardsman codename of Scintilla - was part of a small team of Guardsmen who were charged with preventing the member of the Earth team of super-powered beings known as the Avengers named Quasar from retrieving the legendary Nega-Bands of the Kree warrior Captain Mar-vell, which had been stolen.
