Synopsis / Summary / Plot
On the South American island of Lingares some government troops are cautiously approaching their target. 1 consoles another that if they're killed they'll come back as ... and then they *are* killed by some sort of explosion..
In East Brunswick, New Jersey some robots are planning to attack the Supreme Court in Washington DC. But the leader is assassinated with a long-range shot by Solo working for Force Works. Gauntlet uses his alien power glove to intercept a robot that tries to escape. Field team leader War Machine blasts through a wall to take down the rest. But Solo tells him there are 2 unaccounted for. James Rhodes finds them hiding in cupboard. They pretend to surrender but when they've lured Gauntlet in as well they set off a bomb.
Later their commander Maria Hill tells Rhodes that Gauntlet will be in the hospital for a few weeks and Solo quit because Rhodey's compassion towards the enemy made him dangerous to work with. Jim says that he only agreed to take this job to honour Tony Stark's legacy (as an AI/robot builder presumably). He doesn't really like being in the War Machine armour because he died in it in Civil War II. So if she wants to fire him get it over with. And tell Nick Fury Jr that he wants to have strong words with him about who he lent the suit to (a reference to the Punisher: War Machine series). But Hill doesn't want to fire him she wants him to lead another team to rescue a missing agent.
Later Quake is being taken by an undetectable Force Works plane to Lingares which has apparently suffered a nuclear explosion. Maria Hill has sent Daisy Johnson and the pilot in for the above rescue. Hill warns her that if it all goes wrong she must implement the Poseidon Protocols. (And it all *does* go wrong so maybe we'll learn what they are next issue?)
Suddenly the undetectable plane gets detected and is hit by a missile, resulting in Quake falling out of the plane. Luckily War Machine turns up to complete the team and save her in midair. The pilot tries to control the flaming plane's descent but only succeeds in snapping the control column off. He bails out without a parachute and we see it is US Agent. His shield and agility help him survive crashing through the jungle trees.
When he recovers his senses he finds himself menaced by heavily armed men who definitely *aren't* government troops. The 'imposter Captain America' does his typical US superiority rant as he defeats them, but then a lot more show up and get the drop on him. However a female member of the group, face hidden by a balaclava, turns against her comrades. John Walker joins her in the fight, and recognises her voice. They've just clobbered the whole lot when Quake and War Machine arrive and assume the female is 1 of the enemy about to attack USA. But she removes the balaclava to reveal herself as Mockingbird.
Walker and Rhodey have a macho-off. Bobbi Morse objects to the summary that they've found and rescued her, claiming she did as much of the finding and rescuing. But mainly she objects to WM saying that they'll now go home, because she hasn't finished her mission. She figures that the explosion of the experimental nuclear weapon was the start of something bigger. Johnson and Walker agree because Hill told *them* to complete the mission, especially to look out for AI involvement.
Then War Machine detects many figures approaching at speed, and a swarm of Deathloks attacks them - zombie cyborgs created from the government troops. Mocky and the Agent are overwhelmed, and WM loses contact with Quake. The Deathloks even pull him down as he tries to get some height. He sends out a call for help.