Lost and Found

US Agent is returning to Ventura, California, after his regular trip to visit his parents graves.[1] Along the way, he is stopped by a fan for an autograph when suddenly, an alien ship appears in the sky above the city. Deducing this must be trouble, the Agent races back to the Works as quickly as possible.[2]

As he approaches the Works he witnesses the alien ship stop over top the base. Deciding he needs to get covert, US Agent sneaks into the facility through one of the air ducts. Inside, he has discovered that whoever these alien invaders are they have completely shut down the entire base. He then spots two intruders just after they have captured Fisher Todd — Force Works’ resident technician — and placed him in some kind of stasis pod. Snooping around he can’t find a single member of the team. When he comes across Amanda Chaney’s dictation device he plays back its most recent recording and learns that the team was ambushed out of nowhere. Up in the room that Spider-Woman shares with her daughter Rachel, the Agent discovers that even Rachel was kidnapped by their mysterious attackers.

Heading down to the Chaos Vault, US Agent uses his photon gauntlets to power up one of the computers enough that he can watch the security playbacks so he can get a good look at who the invaders are. He watches Spider-Woman in the Vroom Room in a training simulation when suddenly the camera goes out. Another one shows the Scarlet Witch and Iron Man arguing with each other over authority of the team before that camera goes out as well.[3] The last bit of footage is of Century meditating in his room. When the intruders enter there, Century has long enough to recognize them before the feed cuts out. Learning that whoever is attacking them is known to Century once again stokes the US Agent’s long running dislike of the alien. That’s when US Agent is ambushed by a massive stone skinned alien called Onxy. The Agent manages to injure his foe and flee the scene.

He ends up in the atrum where he finds four more alien invaders — the reptilian Kiwi, the red skinned Skewer, the aptly named Slug, and a Skrull named Kerth — standing guard over a number of stasis pods which contain every member of Force Works and its support staff. US Agent tries to fight them all but is easily outnumbered and soon overwhelmed. That’s when Century — the only other member of the team to remain uncaptured — suddenly teleports into the room long enough to grab US Agent and retreat.

The pair materialize in a sub-basement below the Works over a mile underground. US Agent is surprised to learn about this part of the facility as Iron Man never showed it to them. Century confirms that he found this hiding place completely by accident and that there appears to be no manual way to access this chamber from the rest of the headquarters. US Agent notices a marking for Timely, Wisconsin.[4] He then pushes this mystery aside as their friends are still in danger and demands to know who these aliens are and how Century knows them. Century explains that the aliens above are all employed by a slave trader known as the Broker. As it turns out, the Broker once owned Century as a slave until the alien was able to free himself and escape.[5] The two then get to work formulating a plan to free their friends.

A half hour later, US Agent is back outside the Works and demands that the Broker come out and make a deal. The alien slave trader is more than interested in hearing what the Agent has to say and appears before him personally. Jack tells the Broker that he has incapacitated Century and is willing to turn him over in exchange for the rest of Force Works. This is a great deal for the Broker and he summons his minions who bring down the captive members of Force Works from the ship. The Broker also shoves off the control device that he uses to control his slaves. It is remotely connected to Tyrmean brain-stem parasites and he can cause his slaves excruciating pain at the push of a button. US Agent then summons Century, however, this actually turns out to be PLATO in disguise who, unfortunately, has a very limited range outside the base. This causes his cover to be quickly blown, prompting the Broker to order his men to kill Force Works.

However, before this order can be carried out, the real Century teleports onto the scene and uses Parallax to cut off the Broker’s left hand sending it and the slave control device to another dimension. With the Broker’s slaves now free, they quickly cease hostilities toward US Agent and Century. With Force Works back in US Agent’s possession he begins the process of freeing them from the stasis pods they are trapped in. This will take some time and while he waits, Century tells him that he will be leaving with the Broker and their former slaves. He has decided to go with them because it will give Century the chance to uncover the mysteries of his past. US Agent promises to say goodbye to the others for him and wishes him luck. As the alien ship takes off for its voyage through space, Rachel Carpenter is the first person to wake up from stasis. When she asks the Agent what’s going on he tells her today turned out to be a great day after all.

Recurring Characters

Force Works (Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman, Century), Broker, Kerth, Kiwi, Onyx, Skewer, Slug, Fisher Todd, Amanda Chaney, Rachel Carpenter, PLATO

Continuity Notes

1. US Agents parents, Caleb and Emily Walker, were murdered by the Watchdogs after they learned his secret identity. See Captain America #345.

2. US Agent laments over having to deal with aliens again since he and Force Works just recently dealt with the Skrulls and the Kree. See Force Works #13-14.

3. Iron Man appointed Wanda as leader of the group in Force Works #1. However, Tony has been overstepping her authority since issue #5, earning her ire.

4. Timely, Wisconsin is the town founded by Kang the Conqueror. Its marking being here in Tony’s sub-basement is complicated to explain. The details:

   • Kang established Timely in the early 20th Century as a beachhead for his on going efforts to conquer the Modern Age. It was prominently featured in the Citizen Kang event seen in Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #17, Fantastic Four Annual #25, and Avengers Annual #21.

   • This is supposed to be a clue to the mastermind behind the upcoming storyline The Crossing. Wherein Iron Man is revealed to be a sleeper agent who has been working for Kang for years. See Avengers #390-395, Iron Man #319-325, Force Works #16-20, War Machine #20-23, Avengers: The Crossing #1, Avengers: Timeslide #1, Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1.

   • However, this is all a huge red herring as The Crossing was entirely a fabrication created by Immortus to keep the Avengers busy as part of a long winding scheme to manipulate the team’s destiny. This will all be explained in Avengers Forever #8.

5. For more on the Century’s time as a slave of the Broker and the answers to his mysterious past see Century: Distant Sons #1.

Topical References

• Amanda Chaney is depicted as using a pocket tape recorder to take dictations. This should be considered a topical reference as this technology is obsolete. US Agent refers to it as a Dictaphone, which was a brand of old timey dictation machines created by Alexander Graham Bell starting in 1881. That wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference as the term dictaphone has long since become a proprietary eponym to describe all dictation machines.

• According to Amanda’s recording, the Scarlet Witch is scheduled to do an interview with USA Today. This should be considered topical as USAT is a real world newspaper.

• The Broker speaks in a flamboyant and feminine manner that is considered a negative stereotype of the gay community. This sterotype was commonly used for laughs back in the 1990s back when being gay was considered somewhat taboo. This sort of characterization is considered by many to be offensive by today’s standards. Its use here should be considered topical as it was a product of its time.