Synopsis / Summary / Plot
War Machine has come to Aqiria to rescue an old friend Dr Glenda Sandoval who is held captive inside a trucking container by Eaglestar International. He is currently trundling (he's had to replace his armoured cyborg legs with tank-treads) after Eaglestar's boss Davis Harmon, because the container is protected by an encrypted codeword and a bomb to prevent breaking in by force.
Up in WM's satellite Glenda's husband Parnell Jacobs is understandably anxious about his wife, who is in a critical condition from being beaten and raped. But James Rhodes wants him to find out what it was his sensors felt landing nearby. Meanwhile Glenda has been given some aid (aerosol medication through gaps in the container) by friendly mercenary Jake Oh and some medics. But she begs them to just trigger the bomb and destroy her.
Meanwhile (again) Bethany Cabe has penetrated Eaglestar's database from her base in Colorado. She finds that they are involved in medical experimentation. And Harmon supervised the attack on Glenda, and injected her with something. Jim finds Harmon, but Glenda insists he be taken alive to face prosecution and explain what he's been doing.
Cocky Harmon freely hands over the code to safely open Glenda's box, and the medics rush her out. WM is about to kill Harmon, and Norman Osborn watching from Avengers Tower tries to call off his Plan B. (Osborn wants Harmon dead too.) But Plan B doesn't want to be called off. It's Ares, God of War.
Ares attacks War Machine rather than Harmon. He's heard of Rhodey's death-dealing war against mass murderers, and sees him as a worthy opponent, a man after his own heart. A bludgeoning battle follows, including Ares ripping off one of WM's cannons and using it against him, and tearing his body from the tank-base and hurling it into the sky.
Jim's body destroys an attacking jet, and then magnetically grabs pieces of debris to add new parts to his armour. The modified WM flies back to Ares and buries him in sand and wrecked tanks.
Rhodey tracks Harmon again and finds him starting to open a quarantined area. Harmon claims that the status of his company in Aqiria means that he can't be prosecuted. And he believes hero WM won't kill him. So he turns back to the quarantine door.
Jake Oh has brought Glenda here, and she heard Harmon's claim of immunity. So she grabs Jake's gun and shoots him (using her status as an Eaglestar employee to make it legal?).
Ares now turns up and congratulates Jim because he assumes he was the executioner. Osborn recalls him because the job's done. But Ares isn't content, and he breaks the quarantine (with his axe).
A horde of people with glowing red eyes and blast capability burst out. Osborn's computer says something about an Ultimo virus. And Glenda's eyes turn red too.