US Agent: Mission Logs

[Rift]

I could go on and on about how this whole situation in New York City has spiraled out of control due to the willful ignorance of those in power or stress how the operation involving Frank Simpson, the catalyst for all of this, went FUBAR thanks to the interference of the devil of Hell's Kitchen, but there is little point in doing so. Soldiers don't whine. We take what the world throws at us for good or ill, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get back on the horse. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't angry about being left out of finishing a fight that I was involved in starting, but that's just the way the cards fell. Part of it is my own damn fault for trusting the CSA again after being burned by them before. That is on me and who knows? By the time all is said and done I may just be heading back to NYC after all. For now, I have a new mission that is taking me to the border. It'll be good to get away from all that nonsense of the Big Apple. Been a long time since I've been to Texas, a long time since I've been anywhere representing normal America. Should be a nice change.

[Rift]

I could write about the mission, complain about how our unsecure borders are making it easier for super villains like Black Tarantula and his goons to enter and exit our great nation unopposed, but why bother? I was there, I lived it, no point in rehashing. What I am going to write about though is the insanity happening in New York. I've seen it on the television same as everyone else and I have contacts out there that have filled me in on just how crazy and intense this gang war is getting. It all got me thinking about Captain America. Even pulled out an old picture of me and Battlestar back when I wore the stripes, just to reminisce and remember the man who wears it now, the only man that should ever carry the shield.

I'm used to the notion that I am nothing but a discount Cap and the idea that Steve Rogers and I hate each other. To anyone not involved in what went down that is what it appears to be. But the truth is I have the utmost respect for Captain Rogers. Hell, I probably respect and admire him more than any other man on the face of the planet. I know better than most the weight he carries on his shoulders, what it means to carry that shield. I wasn't fired from the position. Far from it in fact. I gave it up, handed the shield and the costume back to Steve because I knew then what I know now: He and he alone is Captain America.

Granted we rarely see eye-to-eye. It isn't that he's outdated, it's that he compromises too much. His attempts to get everyone to agree, to make everyone play nice and not ruffle any feathers is the problem in a nutshell. Mercy and diplomacy has its place for sure, but eventually you have to stand up and kick some enemy backside. America didn't become the nation that it is by shaking the hands of the British! We rebelled. We ruffled feathers. Its what we do and who we are and there is zero reason for us to apologize for it.

That said, disagreements aside, I do not envy the man. Especially not at a time like this. Some suits in a room that have never seen real combat outside of their monitor screens are likely at this moment telling him to stand down. To not march into NYC and kick the ever living hell out of Kingpin, this Negative idiot, and whatever other morons are trying to turn the place into their very own sandbox. He's going to have to do what he always does: make the hard choice. Decide whether the government needs to be obeyed or shown the error of its ways. And the whole time people will be watching. His fellow Avengers, the unregistered heroes, the American public, and indeed the world.

Because at the end of the day that is what legends do. They are the voice for those who are voiceless, the beacon of hope and light for folks stuck in the darkness without a way out. And Steve? Well, Rogers does it better than anyone. It is more pressure than you can possibly imagine, but he's the man for the job. I know that he'll make the right choice.

[Rift]

It is finally over. After an eventful trip down to South America, a reunion with the Power Broker (mostly my foot reconnecting with his jaw after so long), and a confrontation with the Black Tarantula I managed to pull a final rabbit out of the hat for the win. Granted I had to reach out to the webhead to actually pull this off, but unregistered help or not it was worth it. Sure I stopped the Black Tarantula from entering what the media has dubbed the Hellzone (freaking clowns are more interested with sensationalizing a tragedy than getting real news out to people!) but that is not the real victory here. I can stand up to a million and one of these costumed loons, slug a ton of goons, and clean the clocks of every person who looks their way but in the end that isn't what matters. No what matters is the fact that I was able to help a little boy and his mom.

Fabian, the Tarantula's kid, deserved better than to be used as a pawn by his sicko old man. He deserves the same shot every other young man deserves, the chance to be his old man and make choices for himself. And even though I know El Creepo is done with the kid, at least for now he has some breathing room. That is the real victory here and the reason I don't care that everyone sees me as second rate, C-list material. They make their jokes and they dislike me because I tell them what they either won't hear elsewhere or don't want to hear and that's okay. Because they can hate my politics, they can hate me, and they can take away my job, but what they can't do is change the fact that I have saves people. People like that little boy and all the countless, nameless people not getting gunned down by Tarantula's goon squad. I don't need the recognition or the approval of anyone including and especially the other costumes. Knowing I did the right thing is good enough for me.

[Rift]

Half a world away a travesty is happening. Mazikhandar, a sandbox littered with terrorists has decided to try and step up to the big leagues. Amidst a civil war they have hired some B and C-list super villains to act as their enforcers. Bad enough right? But now they've gone too far. They are holding American diplomats and their security details, brought them up on treason charges in a joke of a trial, and decided to thumb their nose at the good old U.S.A.

If this had happened in the Reagan years you can bet your last dollar that we'd have been over there in a flash, probably even would have asked Rogers to lead the damn mission. But instead we live in a time where we worry about everyone's tissue paper feelings and apologize for being who we are. As a result the Avengers have been grounded. The Fantastic Four doesn't intervene in international affairs such as this. The street levels don't get out of the Big Apple. And that crazy fool Moon Knight is probably off peeling faces off of muggers or branding people in the name of the moon or some insane people crap.

Well I for one am not going to stand by and allow our people, our fellow citizens to be held and likely executed. I've called Battlestar and put out some feelers. Dossiers are already arriving. I may only be able to get a ragtag group of soldiers together, but damn it, they will be Americans willing to do the right thing. Just need a decent name for the group, something classic and with gravitas. I may not be Captain America anymore, but The Invaders sounds good to me. They are gonna love that name, so laded with history!

[Rift]

They hated it.

The name.

The mission.

Me.

Bunch of crybabies worrying about how a name sounds. How it sounds. I mean really? The Invaders were a team of super powered badasses that sent the Axis powers running with their tails tucked between their legs. Captain freaking America was part of 'em. Bucky held his own back when he had no powers, no metal arm or hippie hair. The original Human Torch and his pal Toro lit up the krauts really good. They battled Nazis and monsters and you name it. The reels about them were always exciting, theaters jam packed.

That was then.

Now? Now it is a mean word. It sends a bad message, it triggers something inside people. Well so what? It should. An enemy is holding out countrymen so yes, we are going to Invade. We are going to take back what is ours. We are gonna kick butt and take names while doing so. I mean this is AMERICA. We greet you with an apple pie in hand, a gun in the other, and see which one you want more. But apparently this ragtag group of misfits want to sit around debating how mean I am, how inappropriate the name is. The Film Noir reject I've dubbed Spooky even hit his head on the desk as if I had just announced something so stupid he couldn't believe he'd heard it. I've got a mercenary toaster, an unsure second rate Avenger, Dick Tracy with mysterious motives for even being here, and an X-Kid likely here to spy on me for Xavier in case I say or do something they don't like.

This is turning out just great.