War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33

March 17, 2023 Nick Peron

War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD, Part 1

Secret Invasion continues from Mighty Avengers #18….

The New and Mighty Avengers have been lured to the Savage Land as part of a Skrull invasion of Earth. Suddenly, Iron Man is incapacitated by a sophisticated computer virus.[1] The virus begins spreading to everything that runs on StarkTech. This causes failures to happen the SHIELD helicarrier, the Raft Maximum Security Prison, and the Initiative training facility at Camp Hammond.

War Machine (aka Jim Rhodes) — who trains staff at Camp Hammond — comes out of his quarters and asks Yellowjacket what’s going on. That’s when Jim receives a secret message that was programmed into his armor by Tony Stark. Tony warns Jim that he is probably dead and that this is a contingency plan put in place for an omega level threat. He tells Rhodey to trust nobody and to head to a secret satellite that he Stark had set up in Earth orbit, and to tell nobody where he is going. When Yellowjacket asks what’s up, Jim tells him that he was just given orders on a need-to-know basis and takes off.

It is a good thing that Jim said nothing to “Hank Pym” because he is actually a Skrull spy.[2] He doesn’t understand how Jim Rhodes’ armor wasn’t incapacitated with the rest of Stark’s technology. He then orders some camp soldiers — also Skrull spies — to follow War Machine’s movements and provide his coordinates to their invasion fleets.

As War Machine flies away from Camp Hammond he eventually crosses paths with the Skrull invasion ships. Jim realizes that this threat is serious and activates every on board weapon built into his armor. Jim is able to hold his own against the alien ships, so the Skrulls send one of their Super-Skrulls — one with th powers of Nova — against them. When Jim tries to pull the Skrull into space, he discovers that the alien invader doesn’t need to breath. The Skrull pummels Jim’s armor, breaking down its shields. However, before it can rip off Rhodey’s face mask, he tosses the invader into one of his own ship, causing it to explode.

With the immediate threats out of the way, Jim then heads for Tony’s satellite. Inside, he is surprised to find Suzie Endo, the only other person that Tony apparently trusted with this crisis.[3] She tells him that there is a message that only Jim can access and he asks where he can recharge his armor. When he flips up his face mask, Suzie is shocked to discover that Jim is now a cyborg. When she asks what happened, Rhodey says that this was the cost of war.[4] When Jim jacks into the computer it activates the message that Tony left for him.

Tony explains that he had this satellite built off the books shortly after he became the Director of SHIELD.[5] It was to be the last line of defense in the event that someone or something compromised all the StarkTech that he has integrated into law enforcement. While he believes that this was a good thing, there was the risk that it could all be compromised. Tony then reveals that when he had Jim’s new War Machine armor built he intentionally didn’t include any StarkTech. Just like the satellite, it is comprised of bleeding edge cyberware and discontinued tech from when Obadiah Stane ran Tony’s company.[6] Tony tells Jim that Iron Man is gone and the world will need War Machine to defend it. He reiterates that Rhodey should trust nobody as anyone could be compromised. Jim believes that this is a warning that he cannot trust Suzie, whom he remembers got in some legal trouble during the Civil War.[7] Suzie explains that it was a misunderstanding as she is a resident of Hong Kong and isn’t subject to the American Super-Human Registration Act.

The pair are about to throw down when Suzie says that there is a good reason for Jim to trust her behind him. Rhodes turns and looks at the monitors and sees that the Skrull fleet has found the satellite. Even though the satellite was cloaked, the Skrulls somehow managed to track War Machine’s energy signature. Suzie explains that the satellite has defenses that Jim can plug directly into and asks him to trust her to help him saddle up. Jim decides to give Endo the benefit of the doubt. When she hooks him into the defense system, the satellite transforms into a massive suit of armor that is piloted by War Machine. With the Skrull fleet bearing down on him, Jim tells the alien invaders to bring it.

… Secret Invasion continues in Deadpool (vol. 4) #2.

Recurring Characters

War Machine, Suzi Endo, Iron Man, Skrulls, Ms. Marvel, Sentry, Ronin, Luke Cage, Initiative (“Yellowjacket”, Red 9, Stature), SHIELD

Continuity Notes

The use of a computer virus to shut down everything powered by StarkTech happened in Secret Invasion #1.
The revelation that Yellowjacket was replaced with a Skrull spy was revealed in Mighty Avengers #15.
Jim mentions Force Works, the team that Suzie technically joined up with in Force Works #17. She was a member of the team until it disbanded following the events of Force Works #22.
The circumstances surrounding Jim’s transformation into a cyborg will be explained in War Machine (vol. 2) #1.
Tony had become the Director of SHIELD following the conclusion of the Superhuman Civil War. See Civil War #1-7.
Obadiah Stane was a rival businessman who took over Stark International in Iron Man #173. He ran Stane International until he committed suicide in Iron Man #200. Tony ended up buying back the company in Iron Man #283.
Suzie got in trouble operating as Cybermancer during the Civil War. See Civil War: Front Line #8.

Secret Invasion Reading Order