War Machine (vol. 2) #4
South Philly, A Long Time Ago
Jim Rhodes and Glenda Sandoval first met many years ago at a church function when they were just children. When his mother told him to play, young Jim became fascinated with what Glenda was doing with a magnifying glass. He learned that she was reflecting the sun’s rays through the lens to burn an ants that she saw killing a caterpillar.
Jim didn’t think that was very nice because the ants were just following their nature, but Glenda still doesn’t like it. That’s when she notices the bandage on his forehead and asks what it was from. Reluctantly, Jim lies and tells her that he fell. When Glenda offers him the magnifying glass he takes it. However, moments later, Jim’s mother grabs him by the ear and drags him away. She tells him to stay away from trash like Glenda.[1]
Occupied Aqaria, Now
War Machine (Jim Rhodes) has invaded the headquarters of military contractor Eaglestar International to rescue Glenda. He faced opposition from both its owner, Davis Harmon, and Ares the god of war, who was dispatched there by Norman Osborn. However, with Harmon apparently dead,[2] Ares opens a sealed door to figure out what it was they were working on at this base. What they discover is that Glenda and a number of others have been infected by some kind of techno-virus. The scanners in Jim’s armor determines that this virus was derived from Ultimo tech, giving those infected enhanced strength and the ability to fire energy beams from their eyes, just like the massive alien robot.
Watching this remotely are Jim’s tech support crew: Parnell Jacobs (Glenda’s husband) and Bethany Cabe. Parnell wants Rhodes to do something, and Beth warns how dangerous Ultimo technology is.[3] Before anyone can restraint Glenda, Ares shoots her in the stomach with his assault rifle. Former SHIELD agent Jake Oh runs to her side and begins performing first aid. The pain from her gunshot would causes Glenda’s true personality to weakly return and Jim hears her muttering about the ants they burned as kids. Parnell watches in horror as Jim’s scanners detect his wife flat lining.
War Machine is furious that Ares killed her and charges at the Olympian god, sending them both crashing out of the facility. With Parnell going dark, Jim tells Bethany to get in touch with Suzi Endo, the only person with the technical skills capable of dealing with this Ultimo infection.[4] Although she is reluctant to work with Jim again, especially after the people he executed in Santo Marco, she agrees when she learns that he is dealing with Ultimo.
Hearing all of this, Ares questions why War Machine is doing all of this and he tells the god that Glenda is innocent in all of this. In fact, that’s his entire crusade, to protect the innocent in war. He took on this mission shortly after he was given his new cybernetic body. During the installation process, Jim’s new cybernetically augmented mind collected endless data on war and conflict and the death tolls. He can instantly know the death tolls of people all over the planet and there is no way for his mind to forget it. Haunted by these figures, War Machine has dedicated his life to eliminating those who commit unspeakable acts in war.
Ares scoffs at Jim’s altruism as he himself was once a protector of the innocent. This all changed thousands of years ago when he wared with the giants known as the Alodai. None of the other gods stood by his side and he was defeated an imprisoned in a massive brazen urn for months. Those he sought to save only laughed at his imprisonment and mocked his altruism. He was eventually freed by fleet footed Hermes, but it was already too late. Ares had already witnessed just how wicked the world could be and has tainted his view of the world. He says that warriors like them love to kill, that the need to kill. So they love war because it gives them the enemies they need to fulfill that need and transform them from monsters to heroes.
That’s when Jake Oh cries out for help. While War Machine and Ares were fighting, the injured infected — including Glenda — healed themselves and infected the rest of his team. Jim quickly swoops in and flies Jake out of range of the infected. When he asks Suzi for a countermeasure, she tells him that he’s going to need to kill them all before they get into a populated area and spread the infection. Worse, Bethany warns Jim that the strain on his body is becoming too intense and he might die if he keeps pushing himself. With no other choice, Rhodes drops a payload of incendiary bombs. As he blacks out, he is told that it was a direct hit and the infected were seemingly destroyed.
As the darkness envelops him, Jim sees a flash of memory of his mother pulling his younger self away from Glenda all those years ago. However, this time, Glenda is on fire. Jim suddenly finds himself in a dark void where Bethany Cabe appears before him. She explains that he is not dead but unconscious. Seeing that he isn’t human even in his unconscious, Jim decides to call in that out that Bethany offered him by transferring his mind in to a cloned body that was prepared for him when he was ready.[5] That’s when Cabe tells him that her facility was attacked and the body was stolen. All she can do right now is guide Jake Oh in how to get him out of unconsciousness. The best they can do now is get Jim to a local safehouse so he can be evaced from the area and put to sleep until they can find a solution to his problem.
However, when Jim wakes up he is told that the infected survived the fire bombing and Ares got infected in the process. When last seen, they were heading to the capital city of Makazan. At that moment, US Senator Chambers is in the city with a camera crew documenting the situation in in Aquiria to show the good that the United States intervention in the region has done. That’s when Ares and the other infected begin attacking the city. Fleeing from the danger, Senator Chambers tells his crew to shut off their cameras.
Recurring Characters
War Machine, Ares, Eaglestar InteUltimo virus, Parnell Jacobs, Bethany Cabe, Glenda Sandoval, Jake Oh, Suzi Endo, (in flasbhack) Hermes, Roberta Rhodes
Continuity Notes
As we saw in War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #34, Jim was hassled by the local street gangs. Next issue we’ll learn the reason that Jim’s mother thinks Glenda is trash is due to the fact that she is half Puerto Rican.
This happened over the last three issues, ‘natch. Although Davis was seemingly killed last issue, he resurfaces as a cyborg in Storm (vol. 3) #4.
Although it first appeared in Tales of Suspense #76, Ultimo’s alien origins were not revealed until Iron Man (vol. 3) #24.
It is mentioned here that Suzi had previously worked with Jim during the Skrull invasion of Earth, as seen in War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33-35. She cut ties with him after he killed Anton Aubuisson, a Roxxon executive in Dark Reign: New Nation #1.
As we saw in War Machine (vol. 2) #1, Jim was severely injured in a military operation. Tony Stark turned Jim into a cyborg to save his life. This was a temporary fix while a cloned body was prepared for him. However, as we saw in that same issue, Jim’s cloned body was stolen by Norman Osborn. Jim will eventually get it back and transfer his mind into it in War Machine (vol. 2) #12.
