The Initiative, Part 2

Now

With civilian and VIP guests expected to arrive on the SHIELD helicarrier, Dum Dum Dugan wants to be certain that Tony Stark, the new Director, isn’t late or a no show.[1]

At that moment, Tony Stark is down in the morgue with Maya Hansen. They are examining the body of a dead terrorist. He has been biologically engineered to operate and power a mini-rail gun with his own biology. Maya is amazed because this is a perfect blending of man and machine. Stark, however, sees this as an aberration. Looking at an scan of the dead man’s brain, Tony notices something was implanted in it. Maya cuts open the skull and pulls a device. It’s some kind of organic hard drive that captures data from captured by the retina. Once removed, Maya notes that it is rapidly decomposing. They wire it into a computer so they can pull whatever footage can be salvage from it.

The footage is of a attack on a yacht party being held by cosmetics magnate Gianni Glitz and his biggest shareholders. The terrorists who arrived were part of an animal rights organization called Cat’s Paw who were targeting Glitz for testing his product on animals. When Iron Man and Alpha Team — Tony’s personal team of armored SHIELD agents — arrived, they were not expecting them to have the advanced weapons they did. Prior to this, Cat’s Paw was small potatoes, having only set a few campus fires in the past. Unprepared for such heavy ordinance, Iron Man had no choice but to use lethal force in order to save the hostages. This is just one of 40 such attacks in so many weeks, and Tony would like to know who is supplying these penny ante terrorists with high grade weapons.

That’s when Sal comes in to remind Tony of his appointment and that he is late. Stark is more interested in the digital recorder, especially since Maya was able to pull up the image of an helicopter but the image is degrading quickly. When Sal presses the issue, he is disturbed when Tony yells at him that he’s not going to blow off his duty. That’s when the footage shows him the man that the Cat’s Paw paid for their equipment. They are able to match it up with SHIELD’s database. The man is Darius Faraz who is employed by CM Security Consultants, a private security firm that has taken contracts from the United Nations. A major shareholder of the company just turns out to be Karim Mahwash Najeeb, an allegedly reformed terrorist who has disappeared in China recently.

Months Ago

What Tony Stark doesn’t know is that Najeem and his people were taken to the secret Hu Po State Psychiatric Hospital in Nei Mnggol Province. Karim has convinced their guide to take them down in their sub-basement where the most psychotic patients were being held. Najeeb is interested in a patient that has been incarcerated for years who has survived without food or drink. Having no known name, the staff began referring to him as Master Khan.[2] Once they are brought outside Khan’s celll, Karim has Darius shoot their guide in the head. Opening the cell door, Najeeb tells Master Khan that they have a mutual enemy and he has brought a gift. That’s when Darius presents a case which holds the Ten Rings of Power.[3]

However, the Mandarin continues to sit motionless. Losing his patients, Karim orders his men to kill him as this was a waste of time. That’s when the, Mandarin wakes up. With unexpected strength he is able to pull chunks of concrete loose around where his chains are bolted. Swinging them around, he violently kills the entire entourage except Karim and Darius Faraz. When Najeeb orders Darius to shoot, Faraz shoots Najeeb in the head. As it turns out, Darius was never loyal to Karim, but a follower of the Mandarin.

Now

Tony and Maya are trying to figure out how they can get answers. That’s when Dugan comes down and demands to speak to Tony in private. As Stark changes into a suit in his quarters, Dugan insists that he needs to carry out his duty on deck. It becomes clear that Stark isn’t avoiding it because he doesn’t think it is important. It is because he has never had to do this before and its upsetting to him and punches out the mirror. Dugan asks and is given permission to speak freely. He admits that he has issues with the way Tony has been running SHIELD, but he cannot deny that he has been mostly successful. However, while Stark is trying to run the spy agency like a corporation, the major difference is that people don’t die at corporations and it’s a reality he’s going to have to get used to. The only thing you can do is ask if what cost those lives helped make the world a better place. Tony thinks about it for a moment and can truthfully say that he did.

With that, Tony Stark can finally go up to the deck and give the eulogy for the three SHIELD agents who died in the line of duty.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, SHIELD (“Dum Dum Dugan”, Maya Hansen, Sal Kennedy), Mandarin, Darius Faraz, Karim Najeeb

Continuity Notes

1. This isn’t the real Dum Dum Dugan, but a Skrull infiltrator who is part of a planned invasion of Earth, as will be revealed in Secret Invasion: Prologue #1. The core of this event is covered in Secret Invasion #1-8.

2. If it’s not obvious enough, this is the Mandarin who has been MIA since Iron Man (vol. 3) #9-10.

3. The original Ten Rings of Power were found by the Mandarin aboard an alien ship decades earlier, as explained in Tales of Suspense #50. He wore the rings for years until his apparent in Iron Man (vol. 3) #10. The rings were recovered an given to the Mandarin’s son Temugin in Iron Man (vol. 3) #53, who is still wearing them. These rings are new ones procured by Najeeb and his people. Where they came from are never clearly explained.

The Initiative Reading Order

Civil War: The Initiative #1, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Thunderbolts #112, 113, 114, 115, Omega Flight #1-5, Moon Knight (vol. 3) #13, Captain America (vol. 5) #26, 27, 28, 29, 30, New Avengers #27, 28, 29, 30, 31, New Warriors (vol. 4) #1-8, Black Panther (vol. 4) #27, 28, 29, 30, Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD #15, 16, 17, 18, Avengers: The Initiative #1, 2, 3, Fantastic Four #547, 548, 549, 550, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #6-11, Mighty Avengers #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Sub-Mariner (vol. 2) #1-6, The Order (vol. 2) 1-4, Penance: Relentless #1, 2, 3, 4, 5