General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross took off the green jacket from his military uniform and loosened his tie and collar. He poured a glass of bourbon for himself and sat in the leather reclining chair in his living room. Ross raised a fresh cigar to his lips but before he could light it, his chair was knocked over from behind.

Ross crawled out from under the chair, pulling himself up as quickly as he could. He went for an old service revolver he kept in a drawer but just as he drew it out, his attacker slammed a truncheon on his wrist. Ross grunted dropped the gun. The attacker then kicked Ross in the chest with enough force to stunt his breathing for a moment and knock him back several feet.

The General attempted to go on the offensive but when he tried to strike, the mystery attacker deflected the punch with a truncheon and used the second truncheon to jab Ross in his stomach. The attacker used both truncheons and struck at Ross’ knees, bringing the man crashing face down.

The attacker placed one foot on Ross’ back and pinned a truncheon against his neck. “You even breathe wrong and I snap it, Thunderbolt. You understand what I’m saying?”

“I dunno who you are, but you just entered a world of shit, boy!” spat Ross. “Obviously you know who I am so you must have a death-wish or somethin’, attackin’ a four-star general! If you kill me, your life is over, you hear?”

“I’m not going to kill you, Ross. In fact, as long as you tell me what I want to know, everything between us will be just fine.”

“Who the hell are you?”

The attacker got off of Ross and pulled him to his feet with minimal effort. He pinned Ross to the wall, bracing the truncheon against his throat. The man had shaggy brown hair and a black domino mask. He wore a gray and gold costume that possessed two discs near the shoulders and a stylized belt-buckle which bore the letter N.

“The name’s Nomad,” he said. “But maybe the name Jack Monroe is more familiar to you?”

“Monroe, right.” Ross’ eyes narrowed. “Another of those costumed freaks. Not to mention a known terrorist!”

“A terrorist because your people made me that way, Ross. You and your Control buddies, remember?” asked Nomad. “I know what you did to Barnes. I know all about the Winter Soldier.”

“You don’t know jack.”

“You signed the kill order on Viller!”

“Who?” asked Ross. “The hell are you talkin’ about?”

Nomad frowned. “Right. Faustus’ little mind games. But how much do you actually remember, Ross?”

“You’re outta your mind, boy.”

“The Winter Soldier was used as a tool of disinformation. High-level assassinations attributed to the Soviets. And the targets were all ones Control deemed expendable or a potential risk to their motivations,” said Nomad.

“You been spendin’ too much time on the Internet, son.”

“We’ve seen him. My team and I. And right now, we’re on his trail. We’re going to bring Barnes in and reverse whatever it is you did to him,” said Nomad.

Ross began to chuckle. “What, you think Barnes was forced against his will or something?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Captain America’s teen sidekick, a counter to the Hitler Youth and alla that? That was a cover story, boy!” said Ross. “Barnes was trained in wetworks and when we found him alive, we revived him. Offered him the chance to keep servin’ his country. He volunteered to become the Winter Soldier.”

“You’re lying,” said Nomad. “Bucky would never…”

“He wouldn’t, huh?” asked Ross. “Why do you think we do the things we do? You think it’s ’cause we wanna rule the world? We’re doin’ this because it’s what’s best for the country. To preserve the American way of life, we gotta work outside the box sometimes. Figure that’s something a guy like you would be able to understand. We did what we had to do because otherwise, pansies like you would’ve sit back an’ let the commies march right over us.”

“Don’t lecture me about the American way, Ross,” said Nomad. “You lost it a long time ago.”

Nomad kneed Ross in the groin and bashed the side of his head with the truncheon, knocking him unconscious. He left the house through the back door and walked a few blocks down where a car waited for him. Nomad climbed inside and the driver stared at him with her green eyes.

“I hope that was satisfactory for you,” said the Black Widow.

“Stuff it, Natasha. I’m not in the mood for a lecture.”

Natasha Romanov started up the car and once she was convinced they were clear, she activated a switch. The car’s wheels turned so they faced the ground and the car rose into the air. “Did Ross have anything useful to add?”

“He said Barnes is doing this willingly. No mind control,” said Nomad.

“And yet they had Faustus wipe his memory after each mission?” asked the Black Widow.

“Exactly. Which means Faustus was telling the truth when he told us that Control thinks Ross is obsolete. He knows nothing. Or at least nothing that could help us.”

“And your situation?” asked the Black Widow. “Did you find out anything more about your connection to the Winter Soldier?”

“Like I said, Ross knows nothing.”

SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS

Part III

By Dino Pollard

Roxxon Energy Corporation
Cybertek Subsidiary
Silicon Valley

Cybertek possessed some of the most cutting edge security on the market. But no matter how good the locks were and how many failsafes were in place to prevent them from being opened, they still couldn’t do much against bugs.

That’s where Eric O’Grady, the latest Ant-Man, came in. With a helmet and a suit of armor that enabled him to shrink down to insect size, Ant-Man and his tiny one-man plane were able to easily enter Cybertek through cracks in the doors. Laser-grid security bars were also easy to bypass. Ant-Man maneuvered the jet around them with complete ease, his helmet’s infrared technology causing them to stand out.

Although O’Grady generally performed missions like this solo, this time he had someone on his tail. Monica Rambeau, the Avenger called Photon. With the ability to transform into any form of energy, it made her the only other of Nomad’s secret Avengers able to easily infiltrate the compound.

When they had reached the main lab, the canopy on the ship slid open and Ant-Man jumped out, growing to full-size before he hit the ground. Through his helmet’s cybernetic link, the ship flew onto his belt, attaching it to a compartment there. Energy came from the lights above, transforming into Photon’s human form.

Ant-Man sat at one of the computer terminals and turned it on. Photon stood behind him, arms crossed, watching as he tried to bypass the login screen. “Do you actually know what you’re doing?”

O’Grady smiled beneath his helmet. “When I was nineteen, I managed to hack into the FBI’s mainframe but I was stupid enough to leave a trail. Still, it impressed SHIELD that they recruited me, taught me some additional tricks. How do you think I got the access codes to the locker that held this suit in it in the first place?”

“Good point,” said Photon.

“Of course, this whole thing would go a lot faster if you just zapped into the computer.”

“My powers don’t work that way,” she said.

“You’re kidding,” said Ant-Man. “So why the hell did Nomad include you on this job?”

“Maybe he thought you needed back-up,” said Monica. “Or maybe he just doesn’t trust you.”

Eric had managed to go into the computer’s code, trying to break the encryption that way. “Well, glad I’m such a valued member of this team.”

“Oh, you’re valuable. But that doesn’t mean we trust you,” said Monica. “You’re using an identity and equipment created by a man we’ve all come to respect a great deal. And your first act with that identity was to drag it through the mud by becoming a thief and a merc.”

“Right, because beating your wife just screams ‘respectable.’”

Energy welled up in Monica’s closed fist and she was very tempted to direct it at O’Grady’s head. But she held back. “Just finish the damn job already.”

“Looks like I’ve managed to bypass the logins, now let’s see what we can find about this thing,” said Ant-Man.

“How do you know where to look?” asked Photon, looking over the vast number of folders on the screen.

“I don’t, that’s why I’m just searching for anything involving Viller,” said Ant-Man. “Bingo—Project: Alpha-Mech. Foster, you reading me from the Quinjet?”

The voice of Bill Foster, the team’s resident science expert, Goliath, came through Ant-Man’s helmet. “What do you have, O’Grady?”

Ant-Man removed a USB device from a compartment on his belt and plugged it into the computer. “I’m transmitting the information to you now, tell me what you know about this.”

“It’s coming in. Looks like Viller was able to utilize this technology pretty effectively. And…Jesus.”

“What is it, Foster?” asked Ant-Man.

“You and Monica need to get out of there right now, do you hear me?”

“What? Why? Did we trip security somehow?” asked Ant-Man.

“The Deathlok unit—they got it working again!”

“What? How? Viller never mentioned that.”

“What’s going on?” asked Photon. Ant-Man looked over his shoulder to answer her question when he saw Goliath was right to be worried. The Deathlok had been reawakened and now stood between the Avengers and the exit.

The Quinjet hovered above the clouds of San Jose with War Machine flying alongside it. Spider-Woman handled the controls of the plane while White Tiger held his Kimoyo card in the palm of his hand, his eyes fixed on it. The mask of his pure white costume was off, resting on the back of his head.

“You sure that thing of yours is accurate?” asked Spider-Woman.

“This is Wakandan technology, sister. You really think T’Challa is the kind of guy who makes mistakes?”

“Fair enough,” said Spider-Woman. Her successor, Julia Carpenter served with the West Coast team briefly. But despite a long career in superheroics and several associations with the Avengers, this was the first time Jessica Drew had officially been a member of the group. Although the official status of this team was still in question.

Kasper Cole, on the other hand, had never been associated with any team of heroes. Nomad had originally wanted the Black Panther. But after sustaining injuries on a recent mission and with the media and the public scrutinizing the X-Corporation closer than ever, T’Challa couldn’t make the commitment. Instead, he referred Nomad to Cole, the latest to bear the mantle of the White Tiger and personally trained by T’Challa himself.

“He’s close, take us down,” said Kasper and he pulled the mask on.

Jessica activated the Quinjet’s autopilot and cloaking as the jet descended through the clouds. She joined Kasper near the now-open hatch. The White Tiger simply jumped from the plane, falling to the streets below and landing without a problem. The vibranium soles on his boots were capable of absorbing the impact of his landing.

Spider-Woman wasn’t so lucky but had other methods. Although she didn’t possess the psionic webbing of her successors, she had her own methods of travel. When she jumped from the Quinjet, Jessica spread her arms and the wings attached to the sides of her costume and under her arms caught the wind currents, aiding her gliding ability to the rooftops. She touched down just as War Machine hovered by her side.

“He’s moving fast,” said Spider-Woman, perched on the ledge and trying to keep tabs on the White Tiger.

“Kid’s anxious to go up against the Soldier again. Maybe too anxious.”

“As in ‘getting-himself-killed’ anxious?”

War Machine nodded. “Follow me, I’m tracking his implant.” He engaged his thrusters and flew forward with Spider-Woman following close behind through a combination of leaping from rooftops and gliding.

The armor’s GPS system locked on to the White Tiger’s implant. All the Avengers had been given them by SHIELD when they agreed to be part of this unit and it made them easy to track. The White Tiger was moving as fast as possible, the Kimoyo card in his hand guiding him to his prey. He came to the edge of a rooftop and jumped, although fell short of the next building’s ledge. Instead, his feet crashed into the windows of one of the apartment units.

The White Tiger skidded to a stop on the bare hardwood floor. Other than a table with several firearms on it, the apartment was completely empty. The White Tiger checked the Kimoyo card and it indicated that the Soldier was still here. He drew his energy dagger, cranking the setting up. Not enough for a lethal charge, but it would be strong enough to disable even someone like the Winter Soldier.

He walked down the narrow corridor and saw another room to the right, between the living room and the front door. As he neared that room, he fired a charge from the energy dagger and bullets fired from the doorway. The Tiger pressed himself against the wall and listened. He slid the Kimoyo card back into a pocket on his trench coat and with a flick of his wrist, golden claws emerged from the fingertips of his gloves.

The barrel of a rifle came from the doorway and the White Tiger slashed at it, the anti-metal claws shredding it to ribbons. He pounced into the room but the Winter Soldier was ready with a cross from his cybernetic arm that knocked the Tiger back into the corridor. The Soldier drew a second rifle that had been slung on his back. He placed his foot on the White Tiger’s chest and took aim with the rifle.

“Does that suit protect you from high-caliber bullets at such a close range?” asked the Winter Soldier.

He didn’t have a chance to find out. A venom blast struck him in the back and threw him forward. Spider-Woman had come in through the window. The Winter Soldier recovered quickly and opened fire and Spider-Woman did what she could to avoid the spray of bullets. Having cleared a path, the Winter Soldier ran for the window and jumped out, leaving a small metal orb behind, an orb that had a flashing red light with the flashes growing more frantic with each passing second.

“Move!” shouted the White Tiger. He got to his feet and he and Spider-Woman both leapt from the apartment as well just seconds before the thermite grenade exploded. They tumbled in free fall, not able to reach the wall of the opposite building. The White Tiger twisted and landed on his feet and Spider-Woman glided to safety.

At the end of the alley stood the Winter Soldier, his eyes fixed on them. He raised his rifle once more, except gunfire came not from him but from the skies above. War Machine descended from the clouds, the shoulder-mounted gatling gun spinning furiously and both the repulsor units on his hands firing blast after blast.

The Winter Soldier ran from the scene, his speed and agility enabling him to stay just ahead of War Machine’s fire. He turned down an alley, where it was difficult for Rhodey to follow him. Once there, the Winter Soldier prepared for his next strike, checking the inventory for anything that might be helpful.

War Machine, the White Tiger and Spider-Woman gathered at the mouth of the alley and started to enter. The Winter Soldier stood waiting for them and the White Tiger charged forward, but War Machine’s sensors told a different story.

“Tiger, wait!”

His warning came too late, the White Tiger leaped forward and passed right through the holographic projection of the Winter Soldier. What he did instead was trigger another thermite grenade, one which used the hologram as a motion detector. War Machine stood in front of Spider-Woman to use his armored form to protect her from the blast, but the White Tiger was caught right in the heart of it. He lay sprawled on the ground, his jacket in tatters.

Spider-Woman and War Machine moved to the White Tiger and Jessica immediately pulled his mask off. Kasper lay unconscious and she placed two fingers on the side of his neck. “He’s got a pulse but it’s weak.”

“Get him back to base, I’ll go after Bucky,” said War Machine.

Spider-Woman nodded and pulled Kasper’s mask down. She took him in her arms and ran up the side of the building. War Machine activated his scanners and searched the alley but no sign was immediately present. A hand grabbed his shoulder and Rhodey spun around, surprised his sensors didn’t detect anything. The Winter Soldier delivered a powerful blow with his cybernetic arm.

War Machine stumbled back and the arc reactor that served as his chest piece began to glow brightly as he prepared to fire a unibeam. But the Soldier activated a switch on his mechanical wrist and a localized electromagnetic pulse emitted from it, which shut down Rhodey’s armor and left him lying on the ground.

The Winter Soldier stood over him and grinned. “They say you’re important, so that’s the only reason you’re still alive. But cross me again and I might go off the reservation.”

He reached for his belt buckle, activating a hidden switch and vanished in a flash of light.

Cybertek

The Deathlok opened fire, an energy burst from his gun striking Photon in the back before she could transubstantiate into energy form. Ant-Man’s gauntlets generated a “sting,” a burst of electrical energy that seemed to have no effect on the zombified cyborg. When Deathlok opened fire on him, the Ant-Man shrunk in size, the thrusters on his belt allowing him to maneuver around the blasts.

A massive hand burst in from the ceiling and Goliath gripped Deathlok in his fist. The cyborg was too strong though, able to break one of Goliath’s fingers and make his escape. He jumped from the giant’s palm and landed in a crouch as Photon burst through the hole in the ceiling and flew right inside Deathlok. His entire body seized up and he collapsed.

Later at an underground base, one of several whose existence was known only to Nick Fury himself, Bill Foster ran through the diagnostics on the Deathlok cyborg. As he did, he just shook his head in regret. The rest of the Avengers, with the exception of Kasper who was still in recovery, stood nearby.

“We’ve got nothing,” said Bill.

“What do you mean nothing?” asked Jack Monroe.

“I mean that Cybertek equipped the unit with a failsafe. Anyone tries to examine it without the proper access, the files on the hard drive self-delete and the entire unit completely shuts down. What we’re looking at now is basically a hunk of metal attached to a decayed body.”

“But one thing’s for sure, at least those assholes don’t have their hands on this thing anymore,” said Eric.

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” said Bill. “They wouldn’t have let go of tech like this that easily. Cybertek’s got something else up their sleeve.”

“Something they don’t need Viller for, which is why he was targeted in the first place,” said Jack. “Natasha, get on the horn to Fury. Tell him SHIELD needs to get Viller a new life.”

“You think he’s still in danger?” asked Natasha.

“Not really. Control knows that hitting him again would risk some kind of exposure and they don’t want that. Probably figure Viller will do less damage out in the open,” said Jack. “Still, nothing wrong with being careful.” He turned now to Rhodey. “How’s Kasper?”

“The panther herb his powers derive from are helping him to heal. Still, doubt he’ll be a hundred percent anytime soon.”

“Okay, we keep him sidelined until further notice,” said Jack.

“And what about the Soldier?” asked Jessica. “He’s still out there.”

“Yeah, and after his EMP shut down my armor, he said they told him I was important. That doesn’t make me feel so good,” said Rhodey.

“We stopped them from killing Viller, but they still got away without a scratch,” said Monica.

“Yeah, and we still got Faustus,” said Eric. “So what’s our next move?”

“I’m working on it,” said Jack. “No one said this job would be easy.”

NEXT: Control in Hand