North Korea
Today

A small, one-manned black and silver aircraft burst through the clouds. Humanoid in shape, the aircraft in question was actually a sophisticated suit of battle armor and the pilot spoke into the helmet’s built-in communicator.

“Be advised, I’ve just entered North Korean airspace.”

“Acknowledged, Jacobs. We have people on the ground already.”

“Roger that. And Cybermancer? It’s War Machine when we’re in the field.”

“I knew Jim Rhodes, Jacobs. You are no Jim Rhodes.”

“Honey, if you knew even half the shit about Rhodes as I do, you wouldn’t be so quick to jump to his defense, believe me,” said War Machine as he dove down headfirst towards the rapidly approaching ground.

“Watch your back out there, War Machine.” The new voice was male and quite gruff. “Thanks to the state-run media, North Koreans view Iron Man as the ultimate weapon of capitalist aggression. Chances are anyone in a suit of armor will be thought of as Stark or someone working for him.”

“Yeah well, you’ll forgive me for not crapping my metal shorts,” said War Machine. “Somehow, I doubt anyone in this country is gonna pose much of a threat to me.”

“Just remember, we want minimal aggression on this op.”

Parnell Jacobs chuckled beneath the helmet. “Boss, if that were true, you wouldn’t have sent in a guy called War Machine.”

War Machine righted himself slowing his descent and hovering above the ground. As he neared the military complex, the soldiers shouted in Korean as they took aim with their weapons, unloading round after round. The bullets flattened against his metal hide and Jacobs couldn’t help but smile under the faceplate.

“My turn.”

Rotating up over his right shoulder was a gatling gun and over his left a rocket launcher. War Machine’s targeting computer identified the first wave of soldiers and the gatling gun made short work of them, the bullets tearing through their flesh.

He continued hovering through and a tank rolled out to meet him. Now the rocket launcher came into effect, firing several missiles at the battle wagon until it was reduced to a flaming mass of twisted metal.

“Was that really necessary, Jacobs?”

“They were shooting at me, babe. What’d you want me to do, surrender?”

“You are piloting a suit that is equal to the military might of several countries. They posed no threat to you.”

“Details.” He descended lower to the ground until his thrusters disengaged completely and his booted feet landed. War Machine walked through the smoke and flames, coming up to the front entrance. He was about to burst through the door when he heard a rumbling coming from behind him. War Machine turned and saw three tanks and dozens of armed soldiers, some with bazookas, facing off against him. One of them barked orders at him through a bullhorn.

“I assume you’re giving me a chance to surrender peacefully. Unfortunately for you, I don’t speak Korean,” said War Machine as his weapons armed once more. “Damn, I love this job.”

London
One Month Ago

Dane Whitman took the two pints of Guinness from the counter and walked to the table in the back of the pub where his guest for the evening waited. He sat across from the grizzled war veteran, setting down the glass and sipping his own.

“So what’s this all about?” he asked.

The vet took his lager and sipped it slowly before he set it down once again, his gaze fixed on the last descendent of Sir Percy of Scandia, the original Black Knight. “You’ve been hanging around London for a while, ever since that business at Muir Isle. Why are you still here?”

“This is where my family’s from, I have a good research position at a local university, I’m happy here.”

“And what about your legacy?”

Dane flinched a bit as he lowered his eyes. “The Black Knight is finished. I’ve locked the Ebony Blade away, it’s caused too much pain for far too many people. I have no interest in reliving that period of my life again.”

“Thought you had some sort of mystic weapons now.”

Dane shook his head. “Guess I’m no longer the Pendragon of this age. The Sword of Light, the Shield of Night, Strider, the armor…they’re all gone. Just vanished one day. Probably because I wasn’t living up to my duties. Think I’m better off anyway.”

“Maybe not.”

Dane sipped his beer. “Since when did a SHIELD commander become the patron saint of superhero lost causes? What’s this really about?”

The SHIELD agent took a cigar from his jacket pocket and placed it between his lips, lighting it with a Zippo lighter. He opened his mouth and allowed the smoke to billow forth before he answered Dane’s question.

“I’m putting together a special unit, Whitman.”

“And?”

“And I need a field leader.”

“Why me?”

“You’ve proven yourself numerous times in the past. You were a Defender, an Avenger—even led them for a time. And your file says something about a team in a parallel dimension?”

“For a time. But I still need to know more about this team. What sort of unit?”

“There are no less than three supervillains with their own countries. Iran and North Korea are accelerating their nuclear capabilities. And the international community is running low on resources and advantages. Everyone’s busy with the economic crisis, which is basically handing our enemies a golden opportunity. We need people who are able to get in and handle these threats before they escalate.”

“So shoot first, ask questions later? Not really my style,” said Dane.

“That’s why it has to be you. I need someone I can trust to do the right thing, to keep a clear head in the field.”

“This doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in your selections,” said Dane. “Who else have you tapped?”

North Korea
Today

The Black Knight descended, riding on a one-man aircraft, sleek and black in appearance in the design of a horse. He jumped from his technological steed and fell into freefall. As he fell through the air, he unhooked the metal hilt that hung from a ring on his belt. A blade composed of photonic energy emitted from one end and he drove it into the head of a soldier. It disrupted the soldier’s neural pathways and left him unconscious, but otherwise alive.

He swung the blade once more, disabling another soldier within striking distance and when a third opened fire, he generated a photonic shield to defend himself, the bullets flattening against it.

Three soldiers attempted to ambush him from behind but the technological steed came to his rescue, unleashing energy bursts from the side-mounted turrets. It landed by his side and he boarded it once more. The craft now hovered a few feet above the ground and he flicked a switch and wheels emerged from the bottom, transforming it into a motorcycle.

He heard gunfire and ducked his head, cursing himself for being so careless. But no bullets struck him. In fact, no bullets even passed by him whatsoever. He looked up and he watched as the bullets seemed to flatten against thin air and then he turned his gaze upwards.

Hovering several feet in the air was a man who was barefoot and shirtless, clad in black pants and a waist-length black jacket with an X tattooed over his heart. His left eye crackled with golden energy and his hair was short and brown with a silver streak at the center.

“You need to be more careful, Whitman,” said the X-Man.

Tibet
One Month Ago

The elder monk led the SHIELD agent through the halls of the monastery. As they reached the end, he pushed open the doors leading to a lavish garden, framed beautifully by the surrounding mountains.

“When he came to us, he was a broken man, lost and confused, seemingly without a place in the world,” said the old man. “Here, we have helped him find peace, to find a reason for being in a world that is not his own.”

“With all due respect, you may have helped him find peace, but you haven’t given him a purpose,” said the agent. “In fact, I’d argue he’s even more directionless now.”

In the garden, hovering upside-down in the lotus position with his eyes shut, was a bald young man, the only white faced monk in the monastery. Under his left eyelid, energy seemed to pour out. The agent approached and stared at him.

“Can you hear me, Nate?”

The man called Nathan Grey opened his eyes, taking in the man who stood before him. He effortlessly turned his body so now he floated right-side up. “I can see right through you, Colonel. I can see your plans. And I know your secrets.”

“That’s pretty impressive for just one look at me.”

“You’d be surprised how much I’m capable of.”

“Let’s cut to the chase then, shall we? If you know all my secrets, then you also know why I’m here.”

“What do you know about me, Colonel?” asked Nate.

“I know you’re a refugee of a reality that’s been wiped from existence. I know you’ve been wandering here for years trying to find a purpose. And I know that you’ve proven you can be a danger to both yourself and others.”

“And your solution is for me to join this…team of yours,” said Nate. He gestured with his hand and a flower flew towards it, hovering above his palm. “Why should I waste my time?”

“Because with your power, you can save countless lives.”

“The lives of talking monkeys. The lives of the ungrateful masses who have continually tried to kill me. Hard to see the upside.”

As Nate spoke, the flower in his hand separated at the molecular level, dividing into millions of tiny bits just barely visible to the naked eye. They circled his hand and his arm, flowing all around his body.

“I have been manipulated by many and I have watched mutants—my people, my tribe—suffer as a result.” He looked up. “So I say yes.”

“That sounded like a reason for refusing my offer, not for accepting.”

“I have my reasons,” said Nate. “Mostly because I see what’s in your mind, Colonel. I know what’s really going on. And I’m intrigued to see how this plays out.”

Central Park
One Month Ago

Delroy Garrett, Jr. ran through park dressed in shorts and a tank top. He sprung from the path, gripping onto a branch and swinging from it before flipping in the air and landing once more in a run, barely giving him a second to rest.

With three times the abilities of a man in peak physical condition, that included increased senses. And right now, his hearing picked up the sound of a ticking watch suddenly stopped. Delroy stopped himself and saw a man sitting on a nearby park bench, holding a stop watch in his hand.

“Not bad. Although I thought Triathalon was faster than that.”

“Triathalon’s dead. I’m just Delroy Garrett now, washed-up Olympic athlete and washed-up superhero.”

“Not long after you left the Avengers, the U.N. granted them sovereignty. Not exactly the best timing on your part.”

“Yeah well, after what we found out about Tremont and the Triunes, I realized I’d devoted myself to a lie,” said Delroy. “Using the identity they gave me was no longer appropriate.”

“Ever consider making up for your past mistakes?”

“What, are you recruiting for the Avengers now?” asked Delroy.

“I’ve got nothing to do with the Avengers, I’m here for my own benefit, on SHIELD business.”

“And what sort of business is that?” asked Delroy.

“I’m putting together a special unit with a specific rule we’re working from—Force Works.”

“Force Works? Wasn’t that what the West Coast Avengers became for a time?”

“You’ve done your homework.”

“I did a lot of reading when I was with the Avengers.”

“The world’s a much more dangerous place and now that the Avengers have their own country, their hands are far more tied than usual. The FF has financial troubles and the X-Men have turned to terrorism. Someone’s gotta tackle the big threats that the others can’t.”

“I have been missing out on the action these days,” said Delroy. “And maybe separating myself from these powers of mine wasn’t the best way to deal with things.”

“So Triathalon runs again?”

“No, not Triathalon, that guy was nothing more than Tremont’s puppet,” said Delroy. “I’ve actually been spending a lot of time with the Chandlers these days.”

“Oh?”

“You can call me the 3-D Man.”

The Infiltrator
Today

Suzi Endo stood with her arms extended, wires connected from the gauntlets on her armor to the computer systems of the Infiltrator, the ship that has come to be used by this team.

“War Machine, X-Man and the Black Knight have gone in with the first wave and provided a suitable distraction,” she said.

“Good,” came the gruff voice of the colonel. “Then it’s time for infiltration.” He turned from Cybermancer, facing the other four individuals. “You ready for this?”

Of the four individuals, one had gray skin, long silver hair and red tattoos on his face. He held a strange battle-axe in his hands. Another was a black man dressed in a red, green and yellow costume, his eyes concealed by the goggles on his mask, one green and one red. The fourth could scarcely be called a man at all. Most of his body was metal and numerous guns were attached to his body. The fourth and final was a blond woman dressed in skintight black leather with a gold belt that bore a red hourglass.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” said the man called Deathlok.

“Century will take you into the base. Deathlok, you link up with the mainframe as soon as you can. We gotta figure out just what exactly the Koreans have been developing over here.”

The Raft
One Month Ago

The blond woman was led into the room by armed SHIELD agents and sat in a chair, her hands and feet both clad in shackles which were chained together, limiting her movement. The room was completely dark, save for a single light that shone from a lamp over her head.

“Yelena Belova,” came the gruff voice.

“What is meaning of this?” asked the Russian woman.

“After your scuffle with Natasha Romanova, you joined with an unsanctioned terrorist organization known as Weapon Plus, an organization Interpol has been attempting to bring down. That’s when Natasha defeated you and disguised herself as you and there, her and other Interpol agents were able to take down one of the organization’s cells.”

“I’m waiting for point.”

“The point is you’re in a lot of trouble, little spider. We can have you tried in international courts on some of the human rights violations we’ve got linked to you. Or you can pay back your debt to society.”

“What do you mean?” asked Yelena.

The SHIELD commander stepped into the light, focusing his gaze on her. “I mean you work for me. Off the books, no official status. You do your job and you don’t fuck with me, you get to go free.”

“For how long?”

“One year, that’s all I ask. One year of working with my unit and after that, you disappear. Do we have a deal?”

North Korea
Today

A tear appeared in space and time and the four individuals emerged from it. Deathlok looked at his companions. “Century, you’re with me. 3-D Man and Black Widow, you get moving to the lower levels of this facility. Once you’re there, start setting the charges then get your asses back here to rendezvous.”

“As long as she can keep up,” said 3-D Man as he broke off into a run. The Black Widow rolled her eyes before giving chase.

“I’m working with amateurs…” she muttered.

“Lady, I was an Avenger. You’re just the Made-In-Hong-Kong version of the real Widow.”

“Romanova betrayed her country and the oaths she swore,” said the Black Widow. “And when the time comes, her and I will battle once more.”

“Yeah, and you’ll get your ass kicked once more,” said the 3-D Man. “Now come on, I don’t have time to waste.”

They raced down the steps of the facility. Most of the security forces had been distracted thanks to the assault outside courtesy of the Black Knight, X-Man and War Machine. Once they reached their goal, the Black Widow removed the pack strapped to her back and opened it, removing the charges. The 3-D Man took one at a time, setting it with superhuman speed at the various structural points of the facility.

“Wish we knew exactly what we were destroying here,” he said.

“That is Deathlok mission, not us,” said the Black Widow. “He retrieves data, we blow compound.”

SHIELD Safehouse
One Month Ago

Once he was Jack Truman, Agent 18 of SHIELD. Now, after an encounter with the Iron Trinity, he uploaded his consciousness into the experimental Deathlok prototype, becoming trapped inside. As the new Deathlok, he has been performing the odd mission for SHIELD’s more covert areas.

He entered the office of his commanding officer. The grizzled war veteran who sat before Deathlok had been many things in his life, including the Director of SHIELD. Now, he had contacted Truman, with promise of a new position.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” he said.

“Your message said something about a new mission,” said Deathlok.

“First I have to ask, how are things with your…other side?”

Truman hoped that wouldn’t come up. “Aaronson has been quiet as of late.” When Truman uploaded his consciousness into Deathlok, he didn’t realize there was one in there already—that of Adam Aaronson, also known as Machine Teen of the New Warriors.

“No other incidents?”

Truman shook his head. “I think it’s safe to say that he’s been fully buried within the programming.”

“Good. Then we can get started.” The commander held a remote in his hand, which activated the large monitor behind him. He turned to face it and Deathlok came by his side. It showcased a map of the world and focused on an area in North Korea.

“Given Korea’s actions as of late, I’ve developed a theory,” he said. “The missile launches are just a distraction for something bigger.”

“How did you come to that theory?” asked Deathlok.

“There have been rumblings in the underworld, a big purchase as of late. Something that may or may not be connected to North Korea. I think they’re hiding something far bigger than missiles.”

“Such as?”

He turned to Deathlok. “That’s what you’re going to find out.”

“Getting into North Korea, that won’t be easy,” said Deathlok.

“That’s why you’re not going in alone.” He pressed another button on the remote and the screen zoomed out. Headshots of various superhumans appeared, with arrows linked to their respective places on the map. “I’m putting together a new unit. Many of them have already been signed on.”

“Eight man unit?” asked Deathlok. “Many of these people, I’ve read their files. They could prove unstable.”

“They could also prove very useful. But I want you on this as well. You know this game better than any of them, Truman.”

Deathlok faced the commander. “This is a dangerous game you’re getting yourself into, Bridge.”

George Washington Bridge seemed to have no reaction to that statement. “I’m well aware of that, Truman. But this is a dangerous world. And we have to be ready for it.”

North Korea
Today

Century stood by the door as Deathlok plugged himself into the facility’s computer systems. “Have you found what we’re looking for?” asked the alien being.

“Almost,” said Deathlok. “I think…oh…oh fuck.”

Century looked over his shoulder. “What is it? What did you find?”

“The Koreans…Bridge was right, this is about more than missiles,” said Deathlok. “A guy called the Atom Smasher was being stored here, imprisoned. They want to use him as a weapon. And now he’s been dispatched.”

“Dispatched to where?” asked Century.

“Seoul.”

ATOMIC

Part I

By Dino Pollard

FORCE WORDS

And once again, I find myself taking on a new book. And just like The Defenders, this is a book I’ve been tempted to do for a while. I wasn’t a fan of the Force Works comics, but I liked the concept behind it and the characters who were involved. Although what you see here is slightly different from what I originally thought up years back.

Recently, I had been feeling a bit dry on some of my books and I needed a recharge. So I decided that two of those titles (New Warriors and Ultimate Spider-Man) would be put on a hiatus and allow me to work on two other books in the interim. One is a Cable limited series I’m writing with Hunter, who’s quickly becoming my partner-in-crime and the other was this. Although my run is limited, I’m not labeling this a limited series, because I’d like to see it continue once I step down. I came up with the idea for this book when I just started jotting down the names of characters who intrigued me and hadn’t been used. And as I did, I was reminded of my old Force Works concept from years back and I dusted it off, making appropriate changes.

At first, I was going to have this be a team led by Pete Wisdom. But as the concept evolved, I realized he didn’t quite fit in with it, especially because he’ll have a big role in the Omegaverse in the near future. I thought a few times about who I would have administer this group. I didn’t want it to be Fury, because I wanted this to be something more secretive, something the Director of SHIELD would like to disavow himself of if necessary. Maria Hill seemed like a good contender, but Curt and I were already using her inAvengers. And for some reason, I didn’t feel like using Dugan for this. So I looked through the list of SHIELD agents and I was surprised at myself when I forgot that GW Bridge, a character I’ve always dug, was also part of SHIELD and a perfect fit for this unit, especially given his past with similar units like Weapon PRIME in X-Force and (although it’s after our cut-off), the Six Pack in Cable & Deadpool.

Truman Deathlok is a favorite of mine and someone I’ve wanted to use ever since I brought him into the Omegaverse in New Warriors. Now I’ve finally found the perfect book for him. I always thought Century was a really cool and original character and both he and Cybermancer serve to connect this book to the previous incarnation. I’ve developed an affinity for Yelena Belova thanks to Andy Diggle’s Thunderbolts run and Steve Seinberg’s Amazing Fantasy issue featuring Triathalon made me realize the character actually has potential beyond being the bitter stereotype he was portrayed as in Avengers. And like Marvel, I’ve decided to have him take on the 3-D Man identity for two reasons—one, I like the connection to the Chandlers and two, as Delroy said in this issue, why stick with the name given to him by a man who manipulated and played him as a puppet?

As far as Nate Grey goes, I love the guy, pure and simple. And he hasn’t been seen much at MO other than being manipulated by others. So I decided to play off that in this series, which you’ll see come to the fore as time goes on.

I knew I wanted another armored character and I would have liked to use Rhodey, but I already knew Nate had plans for him in Iron Man. Then I realized that Parnell Jacobs makes more sense for this group, plus he’s just a fun character to write.

And last but not least, the Black Knight. Dane’s a sweet character and I came to like him when he was going a bit more technological as the leader of the Avengers. So I decided I would play off that and give him the spotlight in this series.

This should be a fun ride.

-Dino