NOV. YEAR 2
MV1 Presents ... The Star Spangled Avenger ...
CAPTAIN AMERICA: MV1 #477
TALKIN' ABOUT A REVOLUTION
Part One: Missing In Action!
written by Mark Bousquet

Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Kudos to Matt Turnage for his excellent work on CAP - it’s gonna be tough following in Matt’s (and Dave’s) footsteps!

Bombs exploded all around Captain America. Mortar shells flew threw the air. A foot soldier stepped on a land mine and the charge exploded, ripping through his body. Bulletts whipping through the air rang in his ears. Armored tanks rolled past, smoking from overuse of their forward cannons.

Captain America was in the middle of a war.

No, he thought, this isn’t a war - it’s a slaughter.

One side - the side with the tanks - was clearly winning. To his left, he could hear the anguished cries of a man about to die. He spun quickly, seeing a soldier about to be speared through the middle by a robotic drone. The drone flashed down with a large knife, ready to tear through the soldier’s chest and penetrate his heart.

SP-TANG!!!

A red, white and blue shield came in-between the man’s chest and the knife in a space that should not have been possible and stopped the killing blow.

The drone turned to look at the man who had made the throw, as the shield returned to it’s owner. "Who -- are -- you?" the bot spoke in robot staccato.

"Captain America."

"How – did – you – get – here?"

Before Steve could answer, he was jumped from behind and fell forward, his assailant still on his back. He cursed his sloppiness, but the middle of a battlefield isn’t the easiest place to stay on top of everything. He was about to roll the attacker forward and over his shoulder, when he heard his attacker’s voice, as a whisper, in his ear.

"Play along, stranger," the male voice ordered. "Let the Devil Droids think you our enemy."

Cap did as ordered, no need to fight two enemies - at least until he figured out what was going on. They fell to the ground and rolled over and over each other as the stranger hurled insult after insult at him. True to form, the droids watched on, unsure how to proceed.

A female voice exploded into Steve’s mind, "Retreat! Teleport away everyone! This battle is lost!"

Steve’s attacker mumbled his disgust, but did as ordered, flipping a switch on his belt. He and Steve vanished from the field of battle and reappeared inside a cave.

Steve looked around quick and saw the dying and wounded, the huddled masses of women and children and young boys readying weapons no young man should ever have to pick up. Soldiers from the battle began "popping" into existence inside the cave around them.

He turned back to the attacker, who pointed a laser gun at him.

"Appreciate the save for the Johnklo boy," he said, his voice steady and measured. Military background, Steve reasoned. "But that doesn’t change the question the Devil Droid asked you. How did you get here?"

Captain America met the man’s gaze and his words came out slowly and quietly. "I don’t know."

Earth - Wyoming

"What the… ??"

"Huh? What are you- hey, where’d he go?"

"To save the world, probably."

"Not funny, Falcon."

"Er, sorry Sharon," Sam Wilson, the Falcon, replied.

Sharon Carter and the Falcon stood on a ridge in the flatlands of Wyoming. They had come here with Captain America, only to see him vanish before their eyes.

"What did you see, Sam?" Sharon asked, all business. No hint of concern in her voice at all that Sam could hear. "And be precise."

Sam closed his eyes, trying to remember every detail. "Not much to see, Sharon. Blue light seemed to emanate from his chest. Formed a bubble, enveloping him. Soon as it had spread large enough to cover his whole body, it sucked back in on itself. Cap vanished. No trace of any device. Not even any new smell."

Sharon furrowed her brow. "Wish I had seen it," she huffed, then straightened herself and put her eyes back behind a pair of binoculars. "There’s Mount Beaulieu straight ahead, four miles. No visible sign of HYDRA’s presence. No visible sign of any human occupants. Intel reports say that a large percentage of tourists have been flocking here, but I don’t see any campsites. Not surprising, recon satellites show the tourist movement coming and leaving Beaulieu from the other side mostly, which is why we chose to approach from this angle." She paused for half a second to make sure Falcon was paying attention. "We proceed as planned."

Falcon replied, a little shocked, "I think finding Cap has become our number one priority, don’t you?"

"The mission was to search that mountain for signs of HYDRA and infiltrate if possible. That’s still our mission."

"But Cap-"

"Is a big boy who can take care of himself."

"Look, lady, I’m here because of Steve, not because of SHIELD and-"

Sharon dropped the binoculars and turned to look at the Falcon. Her voice was pure professional cool and her features were rock solid. "I want to find Cap as much as you do, Sam. But we have nothing to go on. No clues. No visible signs, other than his foot prints, that he was ever here. It’s a dead end mystery for now. For all we know, HYDRA could have snagged him and he’s inside Mount Beaulieu right now. Hell, do you think I want to be working for SHIELD at all? I don’t. Believe me. But with that entire Q-Ray disaster that we avoided,* we can’t take the risk that HYDRA isn’t building another one. If SHIELD need our help, we have to give it. Given all that, I see no other option than to proceed."

* Don’t tell me you missed Matt Turnage’s excellent run? -- Matt Fan Mark …

She turned away and continued on their path.

"Oh yeah," Sam grumbled under his breath, "work one case for SHIELD. Easy way to get some funds diverted into the neighborhood. Piece of cake."

Someplace Else

Captain America sat around a flimsy table with three members of the Rebel Army. He studied them closely - all three looked to be roughly his age, but instead of a bright uniform, they wore rags. By facial appearance, however, the four of them could be brothers.

"The Carpans are the devil’s children," the man who had pointed his laser pistol at Cap explained. "They seek to keep us trapped here like dogs, working in the fields for little money. They want us powerless."

"That they do, Shio!" the soldier/farmer named Alano agreed. "You see, stranger, we, the Olanans, are the chosen race of this planet. It is our destiny that we shall rule this planet by the right of God. The Carpans know this, which is why they treat us like animals."

"Aye, Alano," Shio nodded his head, "the Carpans force us to live in filth, while they live off the spoils that we provide them. Listen well, stranger!" Shio pointed his finger right at Cap, "The houses they live in?"

"We built them!" Alano and the third soldier, Grappoi, shouted in response.

"The horses they ride?"

"We raised them!"

"The food they eat?"

"We grew them!"

The rallying cry went on and on, and Steve listened intently. There was much to consider.

Not the least of which was the fact that he didn’t want to be here. Who would? One minute he was with Sharon and Sam, the next he’s in the middle of a war. Yesterday he was contemplating two items: the insistance that Sam tag along with him and Sharon to investigate an HYDRA facility and how he was going to lay-out pages for the issue of X-MEN he’d been contracted to draw for Marvel Comics.

Right now, neither mattered in the least.

He didn’t know where he was (the Olanans had never heard of the Earth), didn’t know how he got here and had no clue how to get home. He relied on the years of training he’d honed over the course of a lifetime that started in World War II and continued today with the Avengers. Look at the situation. Assess it realistically. Make the best move with the options you’ve got.

The situation - on a planet far from home. No idea about anything to do with how he got here. No idea who could have done this. Lord knew he had plenty of sworn enemies, but most of them would rather see Cap dead then simply send him someplace else. He was here now, though. In the middle of a war sitting with farmers who had rebelled against their apparently oppressive ruling class.

Assess it realistically - no immediate way home. Like it or not, there was a war going on. He looked around at the women and children, the injured and dying and he couldn’t help wanting to help them.

The best move with these options …

He looked at Shio, his voice raising, his fist pounding on the table, "We will not live like dogs, stranger! We could use a man like you! Will you aid us?"

The best option right now, Steve thought, is to wait and see.

But his eyes were already back to a young boy trying to piece together a laser cannon. The thought popped from inside his mind, "No one should have to live like this. No one."

He stood and walked around the damp caverns, letting the sights and smells of the wounded wash over him as he pondered Shio’s plea for help. The Avengers had a long standing oath to not involve themselves in other people’s governmental business. They were out to protect people, not help them form governments. A young girl cried at the feet of her dead mother’s body being dragged away. A husband screamed in pain as his leg was amputated by his wife. A family of five shared the meat from a single rat, cooked over a small fire. Medics tried to stem the flow of blood from wounds that would not cease flowing. People cried as loved ones faded in and out of consciousness.

It was almost too unbelievable.

His earlier thoughts came back to Steve Rogers.

This isn’t a war. This is a slaughter.

Earth - Wyoming

"See the way all the hikers come up the same trail?" Sharon asked as she pulled her coat in tighter around her.

"I do," Sam answered, feeling the chill of the cool night air. "Not that there’s anything odd with that."

"Sure there is, Sam," Sharon shot back in a harsh whisper. "There are other trails where they could come up. But they don’t. Ever. In the three months SHIELD has had their eye on this place, there has only been 25 hikers not using that particular trail. Oddly enough, the main trail that they do use is completely covered by trees for a whole half-mile. SHIELD’s satellites can’t get a peek down under that growth."

"Yes, but as you can see, all the non-main trails lead into difficult climbing areas. You need to be a professional mountain climber to scale those walls. Besides, why doesn’t SHIELD just use infrared scans? You’re telling me SHIELD can hear what radio station I’m listening to from space, but can’t look under a bunch of trees?"

"They’ve tried all their different scans. None of them show anything," Sharon shrugged. "That’s the primary cause that drew their attention to this place. That half-mile area long, and one-quarter mile wide is a dead area for SHIELD’s satellites. They can’t look under those trees at all. SHIELD is completely in the dark. Which is why they wanted to send me and Steve in - their own agents aren’t as god as we are. And why I- I mean, we recruited you."

"Why’s that? Am I supposed to use my Falcon vision to tell you what’s under there?"

"Yes."

Sam looked at her strangely, "But I don’t have Falcon vision."

Sharon reached into a pocket on her pants and pulled out a small package that she hurled at Sam. "Now you do."

INTERLUDE

A man stands at the base of Mount Rushmore, looking up at the four American Presidents immortalized on the mountain’s face.

"You must sit in Heaven and weep," the man spoke aloud to no one in his thick Scottish accent. "To think of what has become of your beloved country … ‘tis sad." Ethos brushed his grey robe and pulled the hood over his head.

"To all things a beginning. To all things an end."

END INTERLUDE

Earth - Wyoming

"This is not a good idea," Sam reminded Sharon for the umpteenth time. "The two of us posing as hikers and walking through here would be much better."

They stood near the top of the dark area of treetops on Mount Beaulieu. They were tired and agitated. From Cap’s disappearance through the long climb up one of the expert trails, Sam Wilson had just about had enough. He went with Steve and Sharon because Steve asked him to come. Well, not quite.

Steve had asked to borrow Sam’s Falcon costume so he could make the "dive-bomb" run himself, but Sam wasn’t about to hand the costume over to someone who had little experience flying. Even if that person was Captain America.

"Just relax, Sam," Sharon reassured. "Keep those goggles on I gave you and stick as high up in the trees as you can. You’re just going to make a simple recon run. Fly down, fly back, don’t be spotted."

"Sounds simple," Falcon shot at Sharon.

"Hope it is simple." Sharon responded. "Good luck."

Sam said nothing but soared down the slope and towards the dead area. He knew the goggles would both transmit a signal back to Sharon where she would record whatever the goggles saw. He also had a self-contained recording unit on his belt, in case the dead area blocked the transmission.

The Falcon approached the dead area and saw what looked to be a harmless and natural growth of trees that formed what looked like a tunnel. He flew into the opening and was greeted by a battalion of HYDRA troops.

FZZZZZ-NNNNNNN!!!!!

Before he had time to react, the troops fired energy blasts at the Falcon, knocking him out of the sky, unconscious.

Someplace Else

Captain America moved through the caverns with a group of ten Olanans. They traveled underground, Steve learned, because the Carpans wouldn’t venture down in the tunnels for any reason at all. The Carpans technology wasn’t advanced enough, either, to send scanners searching for the Olanans.

They were traveling to a farmhouse far out in the country side where the Olanans were growing a stash of crops that they kept for themselves. They would come to the surface at a cave just over a mile from the farmhouse, head down to pick up food and weapons and hurry back under the cover of darkness.

They walked for another hour, Steve being asked over and over if he’d join the rebel forces and free them from their oppressors. Sometimes he was asked outright, sometimes the rebels would just talk about how they needed all the help they could and let their voices trail off, hoping Steve would jump in and agree to help them.

After another hour of walking in the damp caverns, they reached the entrance.

"The bottom of the valley is where we will find the farmhouse," Shio explained. "The Carpans think it nothing more than a house for the old and weak and so leave it alone."

The ragtag group of ten rebels and one Captain America exited the cave and saw nothing but flames.

"The farmhouse is on fire!" one of the men screamed.

"The animals!" Shio roared. "That house holds the elderly! Our forefathers who are too weak to oppose the Carpans are housed within! Look, stranger! Look at our enemy. They burn down a house that holds the old and set fire to the crops that we rely on to feed the sick!"

Captain America looked on the scene with horror in his heart.

"Will you join us, stranger?" Shio asked. "Will you help us overthrow the tyrants that would commit such acts of tyranny! I told you they are the Devil’s children! We need your aid, will you give it?"

All eyes turned to Cap.

"Will you join the rebellion?!?"

"Yes."

to be continued …

AMERICAN GRAFFITI

letters c/o mariner2@tiac.net

Let me give a big nod to Matt Turnage’s excellent run on CAP. As the person who suggested to Matt to try writing CAP, I was thrilled to see how well it all turned out. Those of you who want to keep reading Matt’s stories, head on over to THOR, which he is just beginning. But if you haven't read Matt's CAP run, please go back and due so. You'll find some great Captain America stories.

And let me make a request from the readership, too. I'm only on CAPTAIN AMERICA for 8 issues (at which time Neil Gow will take over), all of which are basically complete as I write this. While I certainly would like you to read and comment on my CAP run, I would ask that if you've only got time to send one letter in to a writer, go try one of the newer series we have at MV1 and send that writer your thoughts instead of me. I know how much a new writer craves comments, and while you can never recieve too many letters, I certainly get my fair share of letters for ALL GOD'S CHILDREN and WEST COAST AVENGERS and I feel for the writers who beg for letters on the mv1talk list. So please go out and give a try to one of the following: Sam Everett's TRIATHALON, Shawn Connolly's SERVE AND PROTECT and Mark Beaulieu's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY or just try any title you haven't read before and let those author's know what you think.

Next Issue: YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION?, PART TWO! Cap joins the rebellion as they strike back against the Carpans! But will his new allies turn on him when he refuses to let them spill blood? The Falcon wakes up in the clutches of HYDRA and waits for Sharon to free him. And waits … and waits … and waits. Plus, more with the old guy at Rushmore! Is he Cap’s newest foe … or his greatest ally?!?

-- Biscuit …

22.November.1998