War Machine (vol. 2) #7
Dubai, Months Ago[1]
Jim Rhodes had been called in to help the military test out a new fighter plane. After testing out the “Cobra Maneuver” Jim was able to land the plane, but it caught fire. After giving his report, he meets with Colonel Hendrickson and asks her out to get a drink. Unfortunately, before they can do so, the base is attacked by terrorists. Without thinking, Jim grabs a machine gun and begins shooting back at the ambushers. While he is gunning down insurgents, Jim realizes that these are the first men he has killed in nearly six years.[2] Jim rushed into battle to save a plane mechanic and was caught in an explosion which blew off half his face and severely injured his right arm. This of course will lead to Jim’s severe injuries and being rebuilt as a cyborg….
Mackelroy Army Base, Now
War Machine is attacking this military installation after he learned that the United States military was involved in unleashing a techo-virus in the nation of Aquaria using Ultimo technology. He is now attacking this base to find out who is ultimately responsible. He faces opposition and when one soldier begins shooting at him without concern for his own well being, Jim can’t help but relate given that he was in the same situation not that long ago. The situation is being monitored by Jim’s support team — Bethany Cabe, Parnell Jacobs, Glenda Sandoval, Jake Oh, and Suzi Endo — who are en route to his location in their military transport. Glenda remarks how War Machine hasn’t harmed any of the soldiers and is impressed that he took out all the vehicles on base. This way, if the Ultimo virus gets out, it can only spread on foot in the middle of the desert. With their hacking skill, they help Jim pinpoint the secured part of the facility where the Ultimo tech is stored. When Jim blasts open the bunker, he finds Ultimo’s severed head. It is still active and begins firing energy beams at him.
This situation causes the commanding General to contact National Security Director Norman Osborn to demand what is going on. Taking the call at Avengers Tower with his assistant Victoria Hand, Osborn explains that they had stored the Ultimo remains there to keeping America safe.[3] Before the general can get any more answer out of him, Osborn terminates the call. Osborn asks what Initiative teams are able to respond to War Machine’s attack. Unfortunately, the Desert Stars are investigating a Tyrannus rumor,[4] but American Eagle (Jason Strongbow) is nearby. Norman wonders if he remembers that time he tried to kill the hero.[5] When he calls Jason, he is unhappy to hear from Osborn. Norman knows that Strongbow has been harboring Jim Rhodes’ mother under a false identity and is willing to let it go if Strongbow agrees to stop War Machine.
As it turns out, American Eagle was riding to the scene on horseback. When he arrives, he pulls some soldiers out of the way of Ultimo’s eye beams. Although Osborn has deputized him as a HAMMER operative to deal with Rhodes, Jason points out that Ultimo is the real threat to the base.
With the soldiers turning their attention to Ultimo, the alien robot begins blasting them. Seeing the troops getting cut down reminds Jim of that day in Dubai. The soldiers then were getting cut down by the terrorists. When one of them got close to Jim, he vowed to kill them all. The terrorist laughed at him since Jim seemed unaware that his arms and legs had been blown off. While Jim couldn’t save his fellow soldiers at the time, he refuses to allow anyone to die here. His cybernetic body and armor has the ability to incorporate other technologies and War Machine uses this to reform the destroyed military vehicles into a massive suit of armor to protect himself. When American Eagle arrives, the two work together to stop the rampaging Ultimo head. Jason uses a spear to rip out one of its eyes, which Jim then incorporates into his weapon’s systems and blasts open Ultimo.
War Machine exits the massive suit of improvised armor to take a look inside Ultimo’s head. Inside he finds a bunch of unarmed scientists who surrender immediately. Jim then gets to work hacking into the computers to steal all the data they have collected on Ultimo and what they were planning on using it for. However, Ultimo’s brain isn’t there and so he confronts the head of the project one Doctor Philip Prometheus, the Director of Human Engineering Life Laboratories.[6] The doctor tells him that they separated Ultimo’s mind from his head so they could study it further and learn how it gained sentience. By this time, Jim’s support team has arrived and Suzi Endo gets to work on the scientists computers. She discovers that Ultimo’s mind has been split into three components that are being researched in different parts of the country.
With the battle over, Norman Osborn orders Strongbow to apprehend War Machine. Jason tells him that he’s on speaker phone and Jim heard the whole thing. American Eagle disobeys Osborn’s command and wishes Jim luck while War Machine tells him to look after his mother. War Machine and his team decide to split up to capture the three brain components. To this end, Bethany Cabe takes Jake Oh to one of the locations as he suits up in a spare suit of War Machine armor. Suzi directs Jim to his location, telling him to brace himself for a shock.
Meanwhile, at a Stark Solution’s facility in Plano, Texas, a man resembling Tony Stark is woken up by his assistant. He is informed of War Machine’s recent attack on Mackelroy Army Base. Since the company is examining one of the Ultimo components, the board of directors are worried about what might happen if War Machine attacks. Stark tells the assistant to relay the message that he is going to deal with War Machine directly.[7]
Recurring Characters
War Machine, Doctor Prometheus, American Eagle, Bethany Cabe, Parnell Jacobs, Jake Oh, Glenda Sandoval, Suzi Endo, Norman Osborn, Victoria Hand, Morgan Stark (unidentified), Ultimo (remains)
Continuity Notes
This flashback occurs just prior to the flashback in War Machine (vol. 2) #1. Both flashbacks take place prior to Avengers: The Initiative #1. In this story, it is stated that these events happened a year prior to the main story. See below for more on this time measurement.
Per the Sliding Timescale, “six years” prior would include publications that were released between November 1981 and October 1985. This was the period when Jim worked as Tony Stark’s pilot and later took over the role of Iron Man as Stark was spiraling into alcoholism. I can’t think of any specific example off the top of my head, but I’m quite sure Jim has killed someone in the “six years” between then and now. But whatever obscure example that is escaping my mind was probably unintentional (as most superhero related fatalities tend to go), so I think we can assume that Jim means it has been six years since he intentionally killed someone, or killed someone outside of being a superhero.
Osborn states that the Ultimo nearly destroyed Spokane, Washington, a few years back. That was in Iron Man (vol. 3) #23-25. However, Ultimo did get loose one other time before this story and that was in Avengers: The Initiative #1, after it rampaged in San Francisco.
The Desert Stars are one of the teams formed by the 50-State Initiative, as seen in Avengers: The Initiative #12. At the time of this story, Tyrannus was last seen (chronologically) in Hulk #11 and won’t resurface until Incredible Hulk #605. The Desert Star’s mission (to date) has not been depicted but I think it is safe to assume that their search for Tyrannus was unsuccessful.
Osborn did try to kill Strongbow when he was in charge of the Thunderbolts, this was during an operation to apprehend Steel Spider and Sepulcher, two unregistered superheroes as seen in Thunderbolts #112-115. Although he was apprehended, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #2 explains that Strongbow was released because, as a member of the Navajo that lives on reservation, he is exempt from the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) that was passed in Civil War #3. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.
Dr. Prometheus is a deep cut character that hasn’t been seen for a while he was a foe of the Micronauts. See Micronauts #4-8, 42-44 and Annual #2.
This story implies that this is Tony Stark, but this is a fake out. As we’ll discover next issue, this is actually Tony’s cousin Morgan Stark. This is hinted by the fact that he is leaving a Stark Solutions office, which Tony Stark formed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1, which Tony abandoned after getting back the rights to Stark International and Stark Enterprises in Iron Man (vol. 3) #56. At the time of this story, Tony Stark is on the run from the law thanks to Norman Osborn, over his failure to protect the Earth from a recent Skrull invasion (Secret Invasion #1-8), see Invincible Iron Man #8-19.
Topical References
This story states that the flashback in this story takes place about a year prior to the main story. As stated above, this flashback precedes the one seen in War Machine (vol. 2) #1, and both take place prior to Avengers: The Initiative #1. As I stated in the index entry for issue #1 of this series, this measurement of time should be considered topical as it measures the time between Avengers: The Initiative #1, and issue #1 by publication dates. Per the Sliding Timescale, these events would have happened roughly 8 months apart rather than a full year.
Osborn states that Ultimo attacked Spokane “a few years ago”. Iron Man (vol. 3) #23-25 was published from December, 1999 to February, 2000, while this issue was published in August, 2009. Per the Sliding Timescale, the Iron Man issue took place during “Year Ten” of the Modern Age while this story takes place in “Year Twelve”, making this measurement of time factual.
