Stark Wars: Chapter 6 - The Day the Hero Died

After Iron Man’s crusade to destroy all armors that use his stolen technology has created an international incident, the military has decided to find Edwin Cord’s Project: Firepower.[1] Cord choses a man named Jack Taggard to pilot Firepower and they run him through a virtual reality simulation where he has to fight Iron Man. He passes the test with flying colours, much to the satisfaction of General Mead.

Meanwhile, at Stark Enterprises, Tony Stark is reeling from his last mission where he believes he killed the Titanium Man. Although he wanted to stop people from using his stolen technology he didn’t want to take any lives.[2] Jim Rhodes comes in on Tony as he is eyeing a bottle of of scotch. Tony explains that although he has never wanted a drink more in his life, he knows that he never needed one less.[3]

Tony and Jim then fly to Accutech, a Stark Enterprises subsidiary, to meet with Abe Zimmer a computer programmer helping Tony with his situation. Although Tony is actively bricking all suits of high tech armor that use his stolen tech, it doesn’t stop the plans from being access and used. Zimmer has come up with a solution, a computer worm that will proliferate across every computer in the world. Anyone with the plans to Tony’s Iron Man armor will be deleted and any attempts to copy them will also be deleted unless whoever is doing so — such as Tony himself — has the proper passcodes. Tony is pleased and orders Abe to send out the virus. Moments after it is uploaded to computer networks, the copies of the plans at Transcorp — a company owned by Justin Hammer — are erased.

However, little does Tony know that Edwin Cord has already completed his Firepower armor for the military using stolen Stark technology. Putting the armor on for the first time, Jack Taggert runs through a live test where he pits the Firepower armor on military hardware. The massive suit is able to wipe out the military jets and tanks in under twelve seconds thanks to its plethora of weapons.

Meanwhile, Tony has just one last armor user on his list but, so far, hasn’t been able to figure out who it is due to a glitch in the data they stole from Justin Hammer. Needing to scan the entire planet and learn who is left, Tony realizes that he needs to revisit an old nightmare to get what he needs. Changing into Iron Man, Stark flies into space and boards his space station, which has been abandoned ever since Advance Idea Mechanics unleashed a powerful anaerobic plague making the place uninhabitable.[4] In a matter of moments, the computers on the space station is able to pinpoint the location of the last suit of armor using his stolen technology.

However, when Tony returns to Earth and arrives at Stark Enterprises he discovers the Senator Boynton is waiting for him in his office. The senator tells him about Project: Firepower and wants to enlist Stark’s aid in luring Iron Man into a trap so that he can be stopped once and for all. Tony decides to play along as it will give him the opportunity to shut down the Firepower armor. When he tells Jim his plan, Rhodes is admittedly concerned that Tony might be putting himself at too great a risk.

The following day, Firepower is deployed to the desert as the military and Edwin Cord wait for Iron Man to be lured into the area by his “former employer” Tony Stark.[5] Meanwhile, Tony and Jim watch over the scene in a Stark Enterprise helicopter. Changing into his armor, Tony then heads out to battle Firepower as Iron Man. He quickly discovers that, despite its bulky frame, the Firepower armor is quite deadly and resistant to the weapons built into his own armor. Put on the defensive, Iron Man manages to evade Firepower’s attacks and get close enough to place his negator pack. Unfortunately, the military had a chance to examine this device from Iron Man’s previous attacks and the Firepower armor is immune to the devices. Firepower then punches Iron Man with enough force to not only send him flying, but shatter Tony’s rib cage.

Seriously injured and unable to fight, Iron Man retreats back to the helicopter where Jim is waiting for him. They pretend that Iron Man has taken them hostage in order to buy them some time. Jim is deeply concerned when he removes Tony’s armor and sees how beat up he is. However, Tony insists that they need to end the battle no matter what and initiates his back-up plan. Moments later, Iron Man is seen flying out of the helicopter and is blown to bits by Firepower’s miniature nuclear warhead. Following the explosion, the military watches as the remains of Iron Man’s armor falls to the ground. One soldier, who still sees Iron Man as a hero, comes upon his shattered blood-splattered helmet and can’t help but weep over Iron Man’s demise.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Firepower, Justin Hammer, Edwin Cord, AIM, Jim Rhodes, Abe Zimmer

Continuity Notes

1. In Iron Man #225, Tony discovered that Spymaster stole his Iron Man technology and sold it to Justin Hammer, who in turn has been selling the technology to those who wear armored technology. Tony has been deactivating all suits of armor that are using this technology without his authorization.

2. Tony seemingly killed the Titanium Man, aka the Gremlin, last issue. However, he will resurface — sans Titanium Man armor — in Savage Hulk #1.

3. Tony has had a problem with drinking for years that has devolved into total alcoholism on at least two occasions in Iron Man #128 and #167-182. His second bender almost cost him everything.

4. Tony had been working on a space station since Iron Man #205. It was infected with a bio-weapon by AIM in Iron Man #215, forcing Tony to abandon it.

5. At the time of this story, only a select few know that Tony Stark and Iron Man are the same person. When Iron Man’s crusade to deactivate all of his stolen technology, it generated a lot of negative publicity, forcing Tony to “fire” Iron Man from Stark Enterprises in Iron Man #226.