Synopsis
The previously page reminds us that Steve Rogers' SHIELD
Avengers captured Amadeus Cho in #35 and wanted to
know where the rest of the Illuminati were hiding. In particular Sue
Richards wanted to find her husband Reed. Then in #37
we learned that they were tracking the Illuminati's movements whenever
they used their translocation devices. But Rogers was exceeding
SHIELD's authority by raiding their foreign bases without warning the
countries involved. And Ms Marvel informed Steve and Sue that Sunspot
now controls AIM. At the end of that issue we discovered that
Sue was a mole in secret contact with her husband. And she passed him a
note from their genius daughter Valeria who had been studying Mr
Fantastic's notes on the death-of-the-multiverse problem. The
4-line message was "Dad. You can't win. Time to start figuring out how
not to lose. Val"
The remnants of the Illuminati are hiding in
Cadiz. Reed is contemplating his daughter's note. Then he uses their
translocation system to move a chess king a few inches, knowing that
this will be detected by SHIELD and bring them running.
The
SHIELD Helicarrier Archangel is currently over the
Mediterranean (since their last attempt to capture the Illuminati in
Rome in #37). The translocation signal is detected and its
destination is pinpointed. (No-one seems to notice that it started from
the same place.) Steve Rogers orders some drones deployed.
Reed
detects the detection and warns the others (Beast, Black
Panther, Captain Britain and Hulk in Doc Green
mode). They have everything prepared.
Maria Hill reports
to Steve that the drones have arrived and the Illuminati haven't
translocated away. They are going to use the same trick they used on
Amadeus Cho in #35. The Illuminati are surrounded by a null-field
that will move with them. And the drones have DNA trackers.
Sam
Wilson as Captain America thinks it's a trap. Rogers
agrees, but he intends to turn the tables.
For the 1st time we
see that James Rhodes controls the War Machine bots from
the Helicarrier. Ms Marvel is with him, and Carol Danvers is
worried because he's going to be handling more bots than he's ever
done before, even in practice. And it gives him headaches and
nosebleeds. Rhodey isn't concerned, because Tony Stark
built this system with a safety shutdown.
He's more worried
about the quality of the personnel manning the Helicarrier. Carol
assures him they've got their best team, apart from 2 psi-agents Susan
and Victor who are off duty. (I don't know whether this will ever
become relevant.) He also worries abut the Hulk, but Ms Marvel says
she'll handle him.
2 minutes later Jim launches 20 War
Machines. (And we also see there's another Helicarrier in the mission.)
When they land Rhodey figures they are right on top of the Illuminati.
Confirmed as a seismic shock heralds Hulk bursting up through the
ground. He smashes several WM's and takes fire from many others.
But then he announces that he was only a distraction.
The other 4
Illuminati emerge through a hatch. Captain Britain activates a light
construct which becomes a solid sword. Which slices through War
Machines. Black Panther has 2 vibro(?)-knives.
Pain-wracked
Rhodes says he's losing bots too quickly. Rogers needs the Illuminati
occupied until the slow Helicarriers can arrive overhead. So Ms Marvel
and Hawkeye head out to join the fight.
Ms M powers
down onto Hulk, and repeatedly pummels him until she's out of puff.
Then she looks down to see the smiling Hulk resting until she'd
finished. Then he sends her flying through 1 of the Helicarriers, which have
finally got there.
Panther, Cap B and Hulk get back to
breaking War Machines. Beast and Mr Fantastic have been trying to get a
communication out through the null-field. Reed has just worked out a
solution and sends it to Beast's comm unit. When they are suddenly
cripplingly hit by Hawkeye's arrows. But Hank McCoy manages to
make the contact he wanted.
Clint Barton reports back that
Beast and Mr F are down, but the other 3 are about to run out of
War Machines to fight. But the helicarriers are now in position, and
Steve Rogers is about to send in his next wave when he's interrupted by
a SHIELD comms tech.
An even larger flying craft is above the
Helicarriers, and hailing them. Inside are AIM troops and Sunspot's New
Avengers. Sunspot claims to have the authority to order them to
cease the attack.