Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #17
The Initiative, Part 3
Five Months Ago
The Mandarin has been freed from his cell at the An Hu Po State Psychiatric Facility in Nei Monggol Province, China. Now the madmen run the madhouse. One of the Mandarin’s followers, Darius Faraz, has brought ten new Rings of Power. Since his hands are severed, the Mandarin is having them surgically fused to his spine. It is a painful process that requires super-heating the weapons before applying them directly to the bone. As the are being applied, the Mandarin calls out the name of his greatest failure, his son, Temugin.[1]
Now
Over the past few months there has been a surge in terrorist activities globally. Someone has been providing high tech weapons to these organizations. Newly appointed SHIELD Director Tony Stark has been able to identify the seller as Darius Faraz. Faraz has connections to allegedly reformed terrorist Karim Mahwash Najeeb, who went missing months earlier while in China. Now, Stark and Dum Dum Dugan are trying to connect the dots and find out who the supplier is.[2] Stark doesn’t think the Chinese government will allow SHIELD in the country. Since it is the only lead they have, Dugan suggests they do it anyway, because that’s what Nick Fury would have done.[3] However, Dugan suggests they do it covertly since the the spy agency has been getting a lot of negative attention since Tony became Director.
Dugan is referring to the appearance of Miriam Sharpe on the Viewpoint talk show. She has been calling out Tony Stark after she learned that he has gotten into a romantic relationship with Maya Hansen, who was responsible so so much death and destruction.[4]
Meanwhile, Maya Hansen gets a phone call from Secretary of State, Jack Kooning. Jack wants to talk to her about Extremis.
At the same time, Tony is going to his chief advisor, Sal Kennedy, who is shooting golf balls off the deck of the SHIELD helicarrier. Shockingly, Sal agrees with Dugan’s suggestion. When Tony asks why, all Kennedy can say is that he doesn’t like what his new job is doing with him, but he thinks a covert mission is the only way after hearing how a group of Neo-Nazis in opened fire in a synagogue and killed 93 people, 60 of them were children. He then asks Tony if he’s read Maya’s abstract on Extremis. However, Tony will not allow her to use Extremis, no matter how beneficial it may be, there is too many ways that it could be abused.
Concurrently, Maya is meeting with Jack Kooning in the back of his limo. She denies that Extremis exists, but Jack knows better. Maya eventually admits its real, but doesn’t think it should be released. She promised Tony Stark, whom she owes for giving her a second chance. Even when Jack dangles the opportunity to continue her research with an unlimited budget. Kooning tells her that if she ever changes her mind, he could have her swept away in secret, set up with a new identity, so she can work on Extremis where Stark can’t stop her.
That evening, Tony and Maya have returned to their shared apartment for then night. As Tony watches Maya sleep he makes up his mind. He calls Dugan and tells him they’re going to move ahead with the covert mission.
Soon, Dugan is giving a mission briefing to Stark and Alpha Team — Tony’s armored team of SHIELD agents — to go over the mission. When they are raiding the An Hu Po facility they will be looking for Najeeb. They will be flown as close to Chinese territory as possible in a stealth helicopter, from there they will use stealth to reach the facility.
After Iron Man and Team Alpha take out the guards at the facility and go inside. They are surprised to discover that the place is deserted. In the bunk room they find some strange writing on the wall that the translators in their helmets cannot decipher, but Stark finds it familiar.[5] They also find signs of a conflict in one of the lower cells.
Down in the morgue, they find the body of Karim Najeeb as well as a forge, for some reason. Iron Man orders one of Alpha Team to bring the body back to the choppers and have it brought back to the helicarrier right away so an autopsy is performed. Iron Man and the rest of the team remain behind because they still have one more wing to investigate, the surgical wing. There, they start picking up multiple bogies. They are soon ambushed by the patients who have all been transformed into cyborgs. They are all linked to a hive mind and when repulsor rounds don’t work, they have to switch to lethal ammunition to shut them down. They are soon swarmed, prompting Tony to order a full retreat.
By this time, the body of Karim Najeeb has been delivered to the SHIELD helicarrier. It is then taken down to the morgue where Maya Hansen and Sal Kennedy prepare to do the autopsy. Suddenly, Karim’s eyes open up and his internal organs rupture upward out of his belly, like great bloody tendrils.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, SHIELD (“Dum Dum Dugan”, Maya Hansen, Sal Kennedy), Mandarin, Darius Faraz, Jack Kooning, Miriam Sharpe, Karim Najeeb (corpse)
Continuity Notes
The Mandarin lost his hands after he was defeated by Iron Man in Iron Man (vol. 3) #9-10. As revealed last issue, he had been incarcerated at this mental health facility for the past few years. Believing the Mandarin to be dead, his followers found his severed hands and turned over the Mandarin’s rings to his son, Temugin in Iron Man (vol. 3) #53. Temugin was charged with tying up his father’s loose ends — namely killing Iron Man — although Temugin has failed to succeed at this point. The rings seen here are separate from the ones still being worn by Temguin.
The man who appears to be Dum Dum Dugan here is actually a Skrull impostor. He has infiltrated SHIELD as part of planned invasion of Earth. This will be revealed in Secret Invasion: Prologue #1. The core story of the invasion will be told in Secret Invasion #1-8.
If you’re wondering where Nick Fury is, he went AWOL after the events of Secret War #1-5, after it was discovered that he lead an unsanctioned secret invasion of Latveria. In reality, he actually stumbled upon the aforementioned Skrull invasion and is currently in hiding working thwarting it. See Mighty Avengers #12. Tony Stark took over as Director of SHIELD following the events of Civil War #1-7.
Miriam Sharpe became a public figure that supported the recently passed Super-Human Registration Act because her son was killed in a superhuman battle, as seen in Civil War #1. Maya Hansen was responsible for giving Extremis to home grown terrorists who later used it to kill an entire FBI field office. See Iron Man (vol. 4) #1-6.
It’s familiar with Tony because it is written in the Makluan language. The Makluans are the alien race that created the Mandarin’s rings, as explained in Tales of Suspense #50. The words here read “Axonn-Karr”, as explained Iron Man Agent of SHIELD #28. Karr was the Makulan who brought the rings to Earth.
Topical References
The computer in Tony’s department is depicted as an iMac. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world brand of computers.
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