Before the Dawn!

Captain America, the Falcon, as well as Professor X, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl of the X-Men have seemingly been killed by the Secret Empire’s atomic annihilator weapon. Number One then orders his subordinates to dump the bodies in the lower levels of their desert headquarters. Moments later, Cap and the others wake up and are surprised that they are still alive.

The two remaining Secret Empire operatives in the room then remove their hoods revealing that they are Gabe Jones and Peggy Carter, who are undercover for SHIELD. Jones quickly briefs Cap and the others on the Secret Empire. He tells them how he infiltrated the organization the first time around when they were engaging in battle with both the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner. At the time, dissention in the ranks led to a rogue agent, named Number Nine, to eliminate his competition and claim the role of Number One. Unfortunately for him, he was eliminated by Jones, who then was posing as Number Six.[1] When the Secret Empire recently re-organized, Nick Fury assigned Gabe and Peggy to infiltrate the terrorist organization. While Jones couldn’t achieve a high rank like last time, his position as Number Sixty-Eight allowed him to make sure that Cap and his allies were not killed by the atomic annihilator.[2] Before going to stop the Secret Empire from using the stolen electro gyro, Gabe gives Cap and Peggy some time to get reacquainted. This proves to be problematic for Cap because he has yet to tell Peggy that their wartime romance is long over and that he is dating Sharon, a younger relative.[3]

Meanwhile, the Secret Empire has lowered the disc holding their captive mutants onto their flying saucer craft so their mutant energies can power the ship.[4] The craft soon lands on the White House lawn just as Moonstone and Quentin Harderman — two of the Empire’s operatives — are coming out of a Congressional hearing.[5] When the military responds to the invasion, the ship is able to shrug off their artillery thanks to a force field powered by mutant energies. Number One then appears on a massive screen and orders the United States to surrender to him. That’s when Moonstone steps in and a mock battle between him and the Secret Empire’s super-powered Number Two takes place. After a brief battle, Moonstone pretends to be defeated and then tells the gathered media and military to listen to the Secret Empire’s demands as they are too powerful.

However, inside the ship, Captain America and his allies ambush the operatives in the control room. While the others disable the device that is taking power from the captive mutants, Captain America races outside to confront Number One. That’s when he is attacked by Moonstone who wants a rematch against the Star-Spangled Avenger. This time, Cap is able to best Moonstone in battle and upon his defeat, the villain admits to the conspiracy to discredit the hero in front of the live television cameras. The revelation shocks the entire nation, while the Viper — currently in prison — is furious that the plan he set in motion has turned into a failure. That’s when Number One tries to flee the scene by running into the White House. Captain America follows him into the Oval Officer. There, Number One removes his mask revealing himself to be none other than the recently disgraced President of the United States.[6] Refusing to accept defeat and imprisonment, the former President takes the coward’s way out by shooting himself in the head. This shocking revelation shakes Captain America down to his core worse than any possible defeat and when he emerges from the White House he refuses to talk to anyone about what just happened.[6]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Secret Empire (Number’s One, Three, Nine, Moonstone, Quentin Harderman), SHIELD (Dum Dum Dugan, Peggy Carter, Gabe Jones), X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl), Viper

Continuity Notes

1. Gabe Jones details the exploits of the first Secret Empire, particularly their use of the mercenary Boomerang to destroy the Hulk and a failed attempt to enslave the Sub-Mariner. This was all chronicled in Tales to Astonish #81-84.

2. Gabe and Peggy’s undercover mission is the reason why Cap, Falcon, and the X-Men encountered Nick Fury and SHIELD in Nashville circa Captain America #173. Mention is made of how Peggy Carter recently joined SHIELD, that happened in issue #169.

3. As detailed in Tales of Suspense #75, Cap had a brief romance with Peggy during World War II but the pair lost track of each other after the Liberation of France. When Cap was revived in the Modern Age (circa Avengers #4), he ended up meeting Sharon, Peggy’s relative and an agent of SHIELD and the two quickly formed a romance. This story states that Peggy is Sharon’s older sister. This is now impossible due to the Sliding Timescale. Click here for all the complex issues regarding the Carter family.

4. The Secret Empire had been secretly kidnapping mutants for this scheme starting back in Avengers #111.

5. Mention is made here how the pair had been smearing Captain America’s good name. This all started when the Viper convinced Harderman to start a negative ad campaign against Cap in Captain America #163. Moonstone later framed Captain America for the murder of the Tumbler in issue #169 and has been manipulating the media to try and replace Cap as America’s hero.

6. It’s from this moment that Captain America is plucked out of time to participate in the Destiny War, chronicled in Avengers Forever #1-12. He is returned at the exact moment of his departure with no memory of these events. The identity of the man who commits suicide here is downplayed in issue #2 of that series, claiming it was a high ranking government official. However, Captain America: Rebirth #2 confirm that Number One was the President of the United States. See below for more details.

Topical References

• This story has the grand daddy of all topical references as it heavily references the Watergate Scandal as through it was happening at the same time of this story and heavily implies that Number One is secretly then US President Richard Nixon. More recent retellings of these events (particularly in Avengers Forever) instead say that there was a massive political corruption scandal as opposed to specifically referencing Watergate. Likewise, the identity of Number One has been generalized to a President of the United States and not a specific one, like Richard Nixon. Given that all acting presidents who appear in Marvel stories become topical references, modern readers could assume that the President who blows his brains out here is a fictional one as opposed to being based on a real life one.

• Likewise, should references that state that this story takes place during America’s upcoming bi-centennial should also be considered topical.

• The cameras used by the news crews at the White House are the type that were commonly used in television in the 1970s. These are now obsolete and their depiction should be considered topical.