Blood Truce

SHIELD agent Dum Dum Dugan has come to Euro Disneyland in Paris to meet with Dmitri Panshin, a former Russian operative that wishes to work for the United States. With tensions with Russia cooler than usual, the United States is in a race to scoop up defecting operatives before other competing nations can. This is why Dugan is meeting with Panshin. However, as the two meet they are unaware that they are being watched by individuals who have a bone to grind with Panshin.

When the Russian goes to the washroom, he ends up taking so long that Dugan goes in to check on him. He walks in on someone wearing a prototype Stark Multi-Man armor. Calling themself Agent Orange, they have come to eliminate Panshin. Dugan starts shooting at the would-be assassin but his bullets have no effect. That’s when the Titanium Man, aka Boris Bullski, comes crashing in through the wall to rescue Panshin. Although Dugan takes a bullet in the calf, Agent Orange realizes that he’s in over his head and flees the scene, letting slip that he knows something about SHIELD command as he leaves.[1] Titanium Man tries to follow after Agent Orange but loses him. When he reports back to his handlers, they tell him to abord the mission and return to base.

Sometime later, the SHIELD helicarrier hovers over Brooklyn as an Avengers Quinjet arrives and lands on deck. From the jet comes Captain America who is greeted by Nick Fury and two of his Chief Administrative Officer Nate Thurman, and Lieutenant Colonel Tom Gittes, who is filling in for Dugan while he recovers. As they go to check on how Dugan is doing, Nick Fury gets Cap up to speed on the situation with Dmitri Pashin. Captain America isn’t happy to hear that SHIELD is buying the services of a torture expert that used to work for Russian intelligence, but Fury explains that this is the current state of the world right now and buying Pashin is a necessity.

Meanwhile, Gittes and Thurman are down in the mess hall getting some food. They meet with their colleague Roger Goshaw. As it turns out the trio were the ones responsible for the failed hit on Pashin. They are now concerned that Captain America is getting involved in the situation as the hero could uncover their conspiracy. Thurman is having second thoughts and wants out, even though his brother George died at the hands of Dimitri Pashin and has every reason to want him dead. Gittes figures that Captain America is going to be a problem unless they eliminate Panshin first.

Later, in the Prauge, Captain America is incognito so he can keep tabs on Dimitri. as Panshin picks up his son, Sergei, they are attacked by Agent Orange once more. Luckily, Captain America is there and keeps Agent Orange busy long enough for Pashin and his son to escape in a car. Damaging Agent Orange’s gyro systems, Captain America follows after the Pashin’s only to see the Titanium Man trying to capture them. As Cap fight this new threat, Dimitri and his son try to lose their pursers in a nearby crowd. Unfortunately, the two get separated in the mass of people. Meanwhile, Agent Orange’s auto-repair systems have kicked in allowing him to join the battle again. Agent Orange is incapacitated a second time giving Titanium Man the chance to fly over the crowd. Spotting young Sergei, he snatches up the boy, who goes with him willingly as Bullski is his uncle.

Fearing that the youth is in danger, Cap summons a SHIELD aircraft to pick him up so they can chase after Titanium Man. However, along the way they are ambushed by Agent Orange once more. This time, Orange manages to wrap a “bolo-jangler” around Titanium Man, shorting out his armor with electricity. This causes him to let Sergei go, allowing Agent Orange to snatch up the boy and flee the scene. Captain America is unable to follow after him as he orders the SHIELD agent flying their ship to save Titanium Man before he plumets to the ground. When Cap asks Boris why Russian intelligence wants Pashin, Bullski reveals that he’s actually working for Advanced Idea Mechanics as his own government can no longer afford upkeeping his armor.

Captain America takes Titanium Man back to the SHIELD helicarrier where he puts Nick Fury in touch with his handlers at AIM. While both sides do not trust each other, they agree that Dimitri Pashin is too valuable to be allowed in the hands of some unknown third party. Like it or not, they agree to pool resources to find Pashin before Agent Orange does and carries out his assassination.

Finding Dimitri Pashin turns out to be pretty easy, as the Russian has managed to smuggle himself into the United States. Arriving in Manhattan, he waltzes right through the secret entrance to SHIELD headquarters and is promptly arrested. However, Fury soon arrives and has Pashin released. The former Russian operative explains that he has come to seek SHIELD’s aid in rescuing his son, saying he will join up with them if they help. That’s when Agent Gittes enters the room and tells Fury that they have received a call from someone claiming to be from the terrorist organization known as Hydra. It turns out that this Hydra agent is Agent Orange and he tells Fury and Cap that he will release the boy if they hand over his father. Fury agrees to the exchange, but something about Agent Orange claiming to be Hydra doesn’t add up to anyone.

Still, they agree to meet with him and soon the helicarrier is hovering over Germany. After Fury, Cap, Titanium Man, and Pashin leave for their rendezvous, Gittes decides that this is now the time to act. Agent Thurman still thinks this is a bad idea and wants nothing to do with it, but will help Gittes one last time. Heading downstairs, Gittes call Roger Goshaw, who just happens to be the one in the Agent Orange armor, to warn him that Fury and Captain America are coming. Goshaw is unafraid, promising Tom that he has everything under control.

While aboard the helicopter, Captain America confronts Dimitri about his past as a torture expert. Pashin doesn’t apologize for his past actions, saying that people die in their chosen professions as it is their duty. Cap, however, believes that the horrendous things Dimitri has done went beyond duty. Dimitri admits that what he had done was well beyond duty indeed. He thinks back to 10 years earlier when he and his wife there in the Czech Republic together. There they were waiting to meet with an representative of the United States Embassy under the watch of Russian intelligence. When their contact arrived, the Russian agents recognized them as SHIELD agents. Gunfire was exchanged and Dimitri’s wife, Sonya, was fatally shot in the crossfire. Injured as well, Dimitri woke up in the hospital and was told that the SHIELD agents were dealt with and that his wife will be remembered as a hero of her people. However, officials had left it up to Dimtri to tell Sergei that his mother was dead.

Dimitri snaps out of his recollection of the past when they arrive at the meeting place in the easter part of Germany where a ruined city from the World War II has been maintained as a historical site. There, Agent Orange is waiting for them with Sergei. When the exchange is made, Agent Orange then grabs Dimitri and flies away.

Meanwhile, back aboard the helicarrier, Nate Thurman sees that it is time for the next phase of the plan. He uses his authority level to order a red alert, which results in all non-crew regular to be confined to quarters. As Gittes is taking control of the helicarrier, Gittes heads down and easily takes Dugan prisoner, thanks to his injured leg. Moments later, Agent Orange arrives with Dimitri Pashin. By this time, Gitties has formed a kangaroo court of other SHIELD agents to convict Pashin for his crimes and execute him. However, the trail is interrupted when Captain America and the others arrive. A team of SHIELD agents loyal to Gittes and Agent Orange all head up to the flight deck to stop them from interfering.

This time around, Captain America manages to trash Agent Orange and presses on while Fury and Titanium Man deal with the rogue agents. Heading into the helicarrier, Cap finds Pashin, who had been stashed in on C deck. As he is freeing the Russian they are ambushed by Gittes, Thurman and two others loyal Gittes’ cause. However, the others are reluctant to shoot at Captain America just to get Pashin. Also by this point, Thurman has decided that this has gone on long enough and turns on Gittes. He tells Tom that he wants this over with so his brother’s soul can finally rest. With that, the mutiny has been stopped dead in its tracks.

About a month later, Captain America comes to check on Fury to see how things turned out. Dugan has reported that Pashin and his son are all moved into their new home and that he’s ready to work. Meanwhile, Fury is facing a hearing regarding Gittes and his rogue agents, as their mutiny happened on his watch. Fury can’t believe it, but assures Cap that he can handle whatever Congress throws at him. Thinking about everything that went down, Nick asks Cap who he thinks the winner is in all of this. After a moments consideration, Steve thinks that it is Sergei as he still has a father.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan), AIM, Titanium Man

Continuity Notes

1. It’s later revealed in Secret Warriors #5 and New Avengers (vol. 4) #16 reveal that Dugan was injured in 1966. His body has been kept in suspended animation since and his mind has been controlling highly sophisticated Life Model Decoys employed by Nick Fury, however he is unaware of this condition. That all said, a LMD wouldn’t usually be crippled by such an injury. It’s likely that Fury made this LMD with similar human frailties as it help sell the deception.

Topical References

• A footnote at the beginning of this story states that it takes place shortly after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Following the end of World War II, Germany was split in two countries: The democratic West Germany and the communist East. The Berlin Wall split the city of Berlin in half. It was torn down on November 9, 1989. It’s collapse led to the reunification of Germany. This should be considered a topical reference as this would lock a Modern Age story to a specific date, which is not possible given the Sliding Timescale.

• The SHIELD dental plan apparently has a $500 deductible for employees that have been working there for less than six months. Adjusting for inflation that’s closer to $960 in 2023 money.

• When the rogue SHIELD agents are spying on Dugan and Pashin, asks “What am I — a retard?” When one of his colleagues points them both out. the use of retard in this context should be considered topical. This is a dated medical term to describe individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. In the context this word is being used, it is being used as a prejorative, which is why the team has fallen out of common use.

• The opening scene in this story takes place at the Disneyland theme park in Paris, aka Euro Disneyland. Usually something like this would be considered topical, but since Marvel Comics is now owned by Disney, this kind of brand synergy would no longer be considered topical.

• This story also deals with the state of Russia following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This an all other Cold War references (KGB, Boris Yeltzin, etc.) that are stated as going on or having had happened in the recent past should also be considered topical. Modern readers should interpret this as a point where US/Russian relations improved in some general way that is unique to the fiction and not something tied to a specific real world event.

• In the mess hall, Gittes says America didn’t win the Cold War to “sell Pepsi in Pinsk.” This is a reference to the fact that following the collapse of the USSR, capitalist corporations were able to get their products into the country for the first time. I’ve already explained why the Cold War stuff is topical so other than that, the reference to Pepsi is topical as this is a real world product.

• During Captain America’s first fight with Agent Orange the two have nicknames for each other. Agent Orange calls Cap Obi Wan Kenobi while Cap isn’t sure if its Beavis or Butthead wearing the suit. The details

  • Obi Wan Kenobi is a character from the Star Wars franchise of films. An elder Jedi Knight of old, he is the mentor for new disciples. Notably Anakin Skywalker, who would later go on to become Darth Vader, and his son Luke Skywalker. Kenobi is killed off in Star Wars: A New Hope. While this type of pop-culture reference would be considered topical, Disney also now owns Lucasarts and all of its properties.

  • Beavis and Butthead was an adult animated cartoon created by Mike Judge. It originally ran on MTV from 1993 to 1997. It spawned two feature length films and has enjoyed two revivals in 2011 and 2022. This comic was published at the height of the show’s initial popularity. It’s reference here should be considered topical.

• The flashback in this story is stated as happening in Czechoslovakia and happening 10 years prior to the main story. While the measurement of time can be accepted as factual, the location should be considered topical. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia split in the Czech Republic and Slovakia on December 31, 1992. Modern readers should interpret this scene happening in either the Czech Republic, I guess? Or Slovakia. Whichever. Does it really matter?

• The exchange between Pashin and his son is stated as happening in East Germany in a section of the city that still had yet to be restored following World War II, which is said to have happened 50 years prior to this story. This is topical for many reason. First, the reference to East Germany for reasons I already explained above. The length of time between World War II and this story is topical because the Sliding Timescale causes the gulf of time between the Modern Age and World War II to expand over time. Lastly, much of Germany has since been rebuilt since its reunification. Modern readers could interpret this meeting place as a location in Germany that has been preserved in its post-war state. Many sites such like this still exist in Germany today as historical sites.