Warlords Part 2: Above the Law

People are celebrating the 4th of July near Great Falls, off the Potomac River. That’s when they witness Captain America being attacked by armed terrorists atop the nearby dam. The watch in stunned silence as Captain America leaps from the dam and grabs hold of an American flag suspended over the falls. Seconds later he is hit with a grenade and set on fire before falling into the waters below.

The terrorists then begin making their way to the bottom of the dam in order to recover Captain America’s body so they can return to Alamut with his head and shield as trophies.

However, neither the blast nor the fall killed Captain America. He then swims up to the surface and makes his presence known. He lunges into the soldiers and begins pummeling them with his bare hands. One of his would-be killers begins to panic and begins shooting wildly. Unfortunately, he only ends up mowing down his own men. With his clip empty, the man begins to panic until he sees a handgun on the ground. However, Captain America gets the drop on him before he can get it. He then chastises the man, saying that someone who kills his own men is no soldier.

The terrorist laughs, telling Steve that he and his men were assassins and they cannot die. He says all of their power lies in Alamut, a medieval fortress located in Iran. Captain America knows of it, but doesn’t understand what he was talking about, as he recalls that it was razed by the Mongols back in the 13th century. The man continues to speak in riddles, mocking America for all its freedom and liberty cannot be free from death. As he says this, he shows the CAT tag that he is wearing. Suddenly, the light on the device goes from green to red and the soldier drops dead.

Seconds later, Nick Fury arrives on the scene in a helicopter and tells Steve that these terrorists were originally supposed to launch an attack on the 4th of July celebration below until he happened by. Fury doesn’t get what Steve is doing still looking over the body of the man he was just talking to because he is clearly dead. Steve is well aware of this, but tells Fury that he didn’t kill the man. He then holds up the CAT tag and asks Fury if the device was what killed him. Fury admits that the devices can also be used to silence a soldier so that they cannot be interrogated, and is annoyed that terrorists have figured out the kill switch device in them as well. This annoys Steve, who sees that Fury is still wearing his own CAT tag. He tells the SHIELD Director that he has become too reliant on military technology. He then tells Fury to get his priorities straight before Steve gets back from Dresden, Germany, the place where the CAT tags are produced.

The next day, Steve takes a flight to Germany and is sat next to a woman coming home from a trip to America. She recognizes Steve as Captain America and comments about how he broke the jaw of a family member who fought for the Nazis during World War II.[1] He apologizes, but she says its fine because he prevented that family member from facing the war crimes tribunal. She then challenges him to a game of chess. As they play, she asks his opinion about the recent rise in terrorist attacks. Steve thinks about how the most recent attack on New York was orchestrated by a mad man who wants to kick off another world war.[2] He points out that the only difference between World War I, II, and now is that the number of civilian casualties have increased over the years, and that’s why he continues to fight. He then wins the chess game with a checkmate in three moves.

When Steve arrives in the city of Dresden, he sees a modern city that is still growing. It is a much different place than it was when he was there last in February of 1945. He thinks back to how the city was turned into a blazing charnel house during the final days of the war and that there were no survivors. He remembers the agonizing faces on the charred corpses that were later found. Pushing these thoughts aside he enters the building where the CAT tags are produced. He finds the front lobby empty then notices two time bombs on the opposite ends of the room with just seconds left on the timer. Steve manages to whip out his shield just as the bombs go off and the building begins to collapse on his head.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Nick Fury

Continuity Notes

1. The German woman recognizes Steve Rogers as Captain America as he just recently revealed his true identity to the public in Captain America (vol. 4) #3.

2. This being the terrorist attack that was depicted in Captain America (vol. 4) #1. This is presented as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, but this is now a topical reference, see below.

Topical References

• The first part of this story is set on July 4th and the main plot point being Captain America saving a town in the middle of celebrating Independence Day. Since the holiday is integral to the plot, this should not be considered a topical reference. Not sure if this would also break the Sliding Timescale, I’m not about to chase down the first time July 4th is celebrated in a Marvel comic at this time. However, it’s entirely possible that it does, because holidays often go against the timescale. See my bit about Christmas.

• The German passenger sitting next to Steve on the flight to Dresden states that her grandfather fought in World War II. As the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward, it will become increasingly impossible for a woman of her age to have had a grandfather fight in World War II. As such, the family lineage here should be considered topical as it is relative to the date of publication. Modern readers should interpret this to mean that this woman is an immediate descendant of someone who fought in the war.

• Steve and the Germany passenger also talk about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and the War on Terror as though these were recent events/conflicts. This should be considered a topical reference that were relevant at the time of publication. Modern readers should interpret this scene to be a more generalized discussion on contemporary terrorism and religious extremism.