Synopsis
The Avengers #244 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
On Florida’s Banana River not far from the Kennedy Space Center, a small pleasure craft hides the presence of the Avengers on an undercover mission. Captain Marvel reports back from her quick reconnaissance of the area. She and Captain America, piloting the craft go below for a strategy session called by Avengers chairman Vision. Wasp, Scarlet Witch, and Starfox are already in place. Vision explains that the Center has had a run of accidents which may be sabotage by an alien menace called the Dire Wraiths. At this point, an explosion is heard at the Center. The heroes race to the scene to find the test pad’s gantries have been blown up—and then a second explosion topples a huge booster rocket; Captain Marvel, Starfox, and Vision catch the booster to keep it from smashing on the ground and they hurl it into the ocean where it explodes safely. Meanwhile, Cap, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch have overpowered the band of saboteurs, called the Rocketeers. Then an enemy fills the area with the mists of the Dark Nebula, which overcomes the heroes, even Vision but not the Rocketeers who make their getaway. The Avengers’ new leader feels his first mission has been a failure….
At the Los Angeles International Airport, Clint Barton and Bobbi Morse arrive and surprise Bill Foster, sent to meet them but who was expecting Hawkeye and Mockingbird in costume….
The Avengers meet with the Space Center’s commander, General William Bridges, and top scientist Dr. Woodrow Cather; they are briefed on the existence of the Dire Wraiths, how they kill by tongue, feed on their victims’ brains, and then take their places. The majority of Wraiths use a power celled sorcery and recently tried to destroy a SHIELD Helicarrier (ROM #53) while a smaller group use science. Dr. Cather wants his ion-drive project protected but General Bridges favors guarding the Space Shuttles and intends to call in outside troops. Vision becomes emotional and rejects that plan, suggesting the Avengers can handle the mission themselves….
Quicksilver, teleported by Lockjaw, arrives in his home country of Transia and heads to a certain cabin and, to his horror, finds the place has been destroyed….
The Rocketeers, Dire Wraiths in disguise, meet with their mysterious leader who tells them that he did not send the dark mist, suggesting that the “sisterhood” is aware of them. He orders them to continue their mission, giving them wristwatches containing a device that will jam the humans’ detection equipment….
At the base, the Avengers are keeping the entire Center under surveillance. The villains easily slip past the detection devices but not the Vision’s; he can see them plainly. The Avengers go after them and nab them easily. Wanda casts a spell which forces the captive Rocketeers to revert to their true alien forms. Dr. Cather tells the soldiers he has to retrieve some secret tech from the ion-drive rocket but it turns out he is also a Dire Wraith, plotting to use the rocket to escape. When the rocket takes off, the Wraiths tell Cap that the “ion-drive” was a version of their alien star-drive, fabricated from Earth technology, and the red exhaust indicates that the drive is unstable and could explode at any moment. And Wasp, who was guarding the rocket, is trapped aboard….