Born to wealth, his inheritance more then just monetary, Tony Stark received his fathers genius and business savvy, along with his mothers good nature and common sense . Bolstering these with a natural talent for engineering, along with a will of Iron, Anthony Stark became an even more accomplished businessman then his father. But tragedy struck the young Millionaire, trapping him , he thought at the time, forever, in a suit of Iron to match his inner resolve! Since then he has fought back against many trials and tribulations, conquering every one like a shining knight of old. His steel mesh armor acting as a weapon for good against the most hi-tech villains of all time! He is the shining warrior of the future! The Golden Avenger! He is the one and only, the invincible
Rocketing through the clouds, high above the smog covered city known as Los Angeles, a
shining Silver and Jet figure cuts an awesome swath through the heavens. Long has it been
since this metallic titan was last seen anywhere above the Earth, or for that matter , on
it. But still, even though he himself is loathe to admit it, he's been missed, and he has
missed this life. But WAR MACHINE will still deny it with his last breath!
"Time to check out the mods Tone added to the suit since we returned from Zarkos's
mad house*. He replaced the shell firing cannon with a pulse bolt cannon . That should
save me on ammo, but the pulse cannon draws a lotta power. Still, there's nothing like
flying like this. Been flyin' most of my adult life, and this is still the way that gives
me the most thrills."
*See last issue.
Suddenly a familiar voice rings through War Machines headset.
"Looking good Jim, all systems read well within tolerances. How about we put the
updated suit through some paces ?"
Jim Rhodes smiles , as Tony Starks voice fades.
"Sure thing boss-man, I'll head over to the testing facility above Nevadas' desert
."
"Good Rhodey, this won't take long. How does it feel to be back in the saddle
again?"
Again Jim smiles, mulling the answer in his head before finally speaking,
"Tony, I hate bein' in this tin can, I hate usin' this suit. I don't EVER want to
lead this kinda' life again. But other then that, I gotta say..... I love this man!"
Starks laughter fills Rhodeys helmet as War Machine arcs down towards the testing
grounds. Suddenly a missile, then two streak towards Rhodes on plumes of smoke and flame
from the barren deserts surface.
"Uh oh," Thinks Rhodes, "Heat seekers, attracted to my jets. Lets give
'em something else to sniff."
Automatically the back mounted rocket launcher slides into place and fires a hellfire
missile, back at the launchers that had birthed the two missiles zeroing in on War
Machine. Suddenly, the two ground to air sorties turn in mid flight and follow the hi-heat
missile back to their inception point, with explosive results!
Ba-BOOM!
"Not bad Jim." Rings Starks voice once more, "So far you're 1 for 1 .
Lets see what happens when I get serious here."
"What's that mean Stark"?
"You're about to find out Rhodes."
"I don't think I'm gonna like this one." Thinks Rhodey , as several blips
appear on his HUD*, and begin closing fast. "This is not cool."
*HUD=Heads Up Display
Then recognition dawns on Rhodey as the blips appear on his long range imaging system.
"Aw man Tone, what are you trying to do to me? Kill me? "
"Naah Mr Rhodes, just trying to work the kinks out."
"Yeah, if I ever end up with anything to kink again after this ." Jim mumbles
to himself. His answer is Tony Starks muted laughter. "He's lovin' this." Thinks
Rhodes as a half dozen man sized figures streak towards him on a collision course. A half
dozen gold and crimson forms, that are old , outdated, Iron Man prototypes .
War Machine cuts left as two Iron Man suits streak by and under his line of flight,
spinning in mid air, Rhodes fires his repulser rays at the two sets of boot jets ,
throwing off their gyroscopic stabilizers, then, he quickly accesses his mini chain gun,
that pops out of its arm compartment, and begins firing armor piercing slugs. They careen
harmlessly off the tumbling Iron Man 'Bots.
"Great, figures he'd make them fully functional, right down to the integrity field."
Then , a scream of multiple particle beams fills the air around War Machine, as he's
battered by a brace of repulser rays by the drone suits. "UNNNGHGH!" Growls
Rhodey as he's tossed through the air like a broken doll. Suddenly the first two Iron Man
suits that War Machine blasted return and slam into Rhodey flying faster then Mach 1!
Ka-BOOM!
"I gotta take control of this situation, otherwise, I'm toast."
Rhodey ignites his boot jets , at full thrust, he dives towards the desert floor, as
all six Iron Man suits follow. War Machine pushes his throttle mentally to the wall as he
leaves the outdated suits behind in a blaze of jet thrust, at the last possible instant,
he pulls up from the desert floor, twisting in mid-air as his rocket launcher swivels into
position.
"Eat hot missile bot-boys!"
The rocket launcher belches three quick salvos , as three missiles pick out the three
separate suits, impacting on the chests of the empty suits, blowing them from the sky!
"Three down Tony, any other surprises up your billion dollar sleeves?"
"Keep watching Mr Rhodes." Comes the reply, "The best is yet to
come!"
With that the three remaining suits begin circling the hovering War Machine , like
Indians circling the wagon train.
"What the heck?" Thinks Jim Rhodes as he awaits their next move, when
suddenly he's attacked from behind, as repulsers rock him sending him tumbling end over
end!
Vra-ZAAKKT!
"Unngh" Grunts Rhodey as he looks around trying to figure out where the blast
came from, when just as quickly, the circling Iron-Bots attack as one!
Swooping in to hammer at War Machine with everything from sonic pulses to uni-beam lasers!~ War Machine is battered like a fighter who doesn't know which way is up! He covers himself up as the attacks continue, lashing out blindly he tries to fight back, but there are to many of them, and they aren't sluggish, while he is!
"Tony!" He shouts, "Call 'em off man, I-I can't handle it!"
There's no reply as the bombardment continues. Rhodes offers little resistence as the
three remaining Iron-bots now simply hammer at him with blows that could turn concrete to
powder. Silently, painfully War Machine lies there, enduring it when suddenly , finally
something snaps in place in Jim Rhodes mind, and he reacts! His laser blade on his right
gauntlet ignites, growing to four feet in length, and with a cry of almost animal anger,
War Machine strikes!
Zaa-RAAK!
He slashes through the chests of the three Iron -Bots, breaking through slightly in all
three suits, but not enough to stop them completely, or even slow them down. But they have
moved into a defensive posture now, as Rhodey mentally triggers his suits auto-fire
system, and just as quickly he's a puppet on a string, as his suit fires multiple weapons
at the obsolete suits of armor surrounding him, his repulser rays move from Iron-Bot to
Iron-Bot so quickly his limbs ache, as his chest uni-beam powers up and fires a searing
solar blast at the nearest bot at full intensity, slagging several key components, and
downing one suit permanently.
Then Jim Rhodes is back in control, dropping the auto-fire mode, he keys his rocket
launcher once again, blasting at the nearest Iron-Bot at point blank range, shattering the
old suit of armor. Igniting his boot jets , War Machine blasts off the desert floor , the
last Iron-Bot takes off after him, its programming still ordering it to win this battle.
Rhodey gains ground between them , when he spins in mid-air and fires his pulse cannon
which has just slid into place.
Ba-Kow!
The blast disintegrates the old armor , as suddenly War Machine hears the sound of
metallic hands clapping.
"Where the hell is that coming from? " He grumbles aloud, as if in answer,
the air next to him, to his left, begins to shimmer as a sleeker, more modern suit of Red
and Gold armor seems to appear from nowhere. "Excellent Rhodey, I knew you still had
it in you old buddy."
Angrily War Machine turns full on towards Iron Man. "Still had it in me? Still had
it in me? You pompous sonuva-"
BANG!
War Machines roundhouse punch nearly tears Iron Mans head off!
"UNNGHH!" Shouts Iron Man, "Rhodey, stand down! I apologize!"
"And that's supposed to make it better? What the hell is wrong with you Stark?
We're supposed to be friends dammit!"
"We are War Machine, but I had to make sure you weren't going to go off and kill
yourself. I had to be sure you were still capable of handling the suit."
"Well hell Stark, why didn't you just ask me? It's one thing to run a few tests
dammit, it's another to beat me to a pulp."
"Look Rhodes, this was the only way I could think of to be sure you were still
capable, still had it in you. I didn't want you going out in the suit today , and getting
killed tomorrow."
"That's a sorry excuse mister. Now get outta my sight."
War Machine rockets upwards and away from Iron Man, leaving him on the ground looking
after his receding form.
"Ah hell Rhodey. Wait a minute!"
Iron Man streaks up into the clouds after his friend, his dual powered flight system
pushing to the max as he seeks to overtake his friend, and just as he gets closer, all his
systems crash!
"What the heck?"
Tony looks over at War Machine, and suddenly he sees Rhodey drop like a puppet as well,
just like that , both men begin to fall back down from the clouds, from over five miles
up! Over the roaring of the wind, Tony hears Jim screaming at him.
"What are you doin' to me now Stark? Don't you ever freakin' quit?"
"It's not me Jim, whatever did this, got us both."
As he speaks , Tony mentally tries to re-boot his armor, but nothing happens, the suit
is as useless as a rock . Nothing glows on his displays. Everything is powerless.
"This is something like an EM-pulse, but I have protection against that. Whatever
this is, it's worse then anything I've ever encountered." He thinks to himself.
One mile down and nothing even flickers, two and all they're both doing is falling
faster, three and Tony's had enough. He reaches under his suits left breastplate and pulls
a manual switch, and instantly a set of glider wings snap out of his back pack unit,
almost instantly his free fall is slowed, as War Machine tumbles past, but then , as
barely more then a mile is left before ground zero Rhodey's armor suddenly sprouts a
parachute, that slows his fall, but barely! Both men hit the ground with an
Earthquake-like effect!
Ba-BOOOM!
Minutes pass slowly as nothing moves in the two craters on the barren desert floor.
More minutes pass as slowly a red gloved , metal hand reaches out of the crater, followed
painfully by another, then Iron Man drags himself over to the spot where War Machine
impacted. Tony stares down into the crater, as War Machine lays on his back , unmoving.
Tony heaves the heavy suit over the edge of the crater, sliding down its face to roll into
War Machine with a slight "Clang".
"Ouch" The dull voice from inside the battered grey suit painfully gurgles .
"Man , why do I hang around with you? All you do is try to get me killed."
Tony smiles inside his powerless suit as he struggles to help his friend up, when just
as quickly as it first occurred, both suits flare to life, as if they've never died. They
both are at full power, without rebooting!
"Tone, what the hell is going on here?"
"I have no idea Jim."
"Is this a defect in the suits?"
"No idea Rhodey, but somehow I don't think so. This is impossible. Both our suits
are at full power, as if nothing happened to them. As if they were active the entire time,
and we couldn't access them. Wait a minute, tune your suits transceiver to the emergency
broadcast frequency I just picked something up."
Rhodey complies, and can't believe what he hears.
"I-its everywhere, not just here, not just us. It's like the whole world ,
"Blinked"
"I know Jim. I'm picking up reports from all over the world. Everything shut down,
everywhere. It wasn't just our suits."
Both men fire up their jet boots and head west, back to Stark international. This act
alone speaks of either incredible bravery, or stupidity , especially considering what
happened to them both mere moments earlier.
Both arrive at Stark International as several tons of equipment is being loaded into
dozens of moving tractor trailers.
"Taking a lot back east with you huh?"
"Yes Jim, I am. But this facility will still be operating. Just the main staff
will be going with me."
"How'd Bambi take it?"
"About as well as you expected Rhodey. Mrs. Arbogast was PO'd to say the
least."
Both men laugh inside their respective suits, but it's a nervous laugh at best. They
stare around them, at everything , and realize that all the workers are nervous as well.
Mere moments ago the entire world suffered a blackout of sorts. Who know how many died
during that brief period? And what if it happens again? All of these questions go through
their respective minds, but there are no answers forthcoming anywhere.
Armored assaults C/O [email protected]
Well gang, somehow I lost the lettres to this issue, sorry everybody. I hope you'll
write more and I promise to get 'em posted into the next issue.
Ralph