Man Without a Country Chapter Four: Executive Action

Captain America has been framed for treason and exiled from the United States. This was due to the fact the Machinesmith somehow stole secret plans for the Argus anti-aircraft cannon.[1]

Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter had come to Moldavia to destroy the cannon and clear his name. Captured by the Machinesmith, the pair learn that things are much more dire than originally thought. The Machinesmith stole all of Steve’s secrets and has used a device to shut down the SHIELD helicarrier. He has also planted one of his robot duplicates among a Moldavian delegation to the United States in order to assassinate the President. With his plan in motion, the Machinesmith has abandoned Steve and Sharon in his headquarters to watch, confident that they will be unable to stop him.

However, neither are willing to give up and while Sharon hacks into the Machinesmith’s computers in order to restart the helicarrier, Steve heads off to the only person in the region who might be able to help him. Steve huffs it all the way to the Latverian border, home of Doctor Doom. There he holds up his Avengers ID card to a security scanner to announce his presence. Sure enough, when he arrives in the town of Doomstadt, there are a pair of Doombots waiting to take him into custody. Wanting to talk to their master, Steve surrenders to them without incident. Given an audience with Doctor Doom, Steve convinces the dictator that a war between Moldavia and the United States would have a negative impact on his own nation as well as interfere with whatever world domination plans he has up his sleve.[2] The gambit pays off and Doom agrees to lend Steve a ship to return to the United States as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, at Camp David, the Machinesmith springs his trap on the President of the United States. While his robotic army keeps American soldiers at bay, the Machinesmith gets what he was really after the so-called “Nuclear Football”, the Presidential computer that can order an immediate tactical nuclear strike. The Machinesmith intends to use it to cause nuclear Armageddon to wipe out all of humanity so machines can take their place. He then uses his mental probe to pull the launch codes from the President’s mind.

That’s when Steve Rogers — back in his Captain America uniform — arrives on the scene. He fights his way through the Machinesmith’s robot army with a makeshift shield. He then wrests the “Nuclear Football” from the Machinesmith, who promptly abandons his body. Steve was too late to stop the countdown from begin started. With just seconds remaining, Cap throws the device at a fuel tank near a crashed helicopter. This ruptures the fuel causing a powerful explosion that destroys the computer before the countdown can finish. The President then looks through the flames and sees that not only did Captain America survive the blast, but he is giving a solute to the Commander-in-Chief.

Later, the newly reinstated Captain America is invited back to the White House for a meeting with the President. He wants to personally apologize for the treason charges and forced exile and wants to give Cap his shield back personally. Steve thanks the President, telling him that it all comes with the job and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Machinesmith, Sharon Carter, SHIELD (Dum Dum Dugan), Doctor Doom

Continuity Notes

1. Steve was charged with treason and forced into exile in Captain America #450. He found out last issue that the Machinesmith probed his mind for secrets back when the Red Skull was reviving him back in issue #445.

2. Here, Doctor Doom mentions how Captain America recently fought alongside his mortal enemy, the Red Skull. This was in Captain America #445-448 wherein Cap was forced to work with he arch-nemesis to save the world from being altered by a Cosmic Cube powered by the mind of Adolf Hitler.

Topical References

• The President of the United States in this story is depicted as Bill Clinton. Clinton was President from 1993 to 2001. His appearance here should be considered topical.

• The “Nuclear Football” is depicted as have 3.5” floppy drives built into it. While you can’t find a photo of what the thing actually looks like today, quite sure it doesn’t have such obsolete technology in it and this depiction should be considered topical.