It's ironic. We've lived with the Apocalypse for what feels like...forever. It's become the norm. We press on day after day. One objective to the next. It actually gives our lives structure! Yet, it's when the clouds clear and the Earth looks as it once did, blue and perfect, that the enormity of our task sinks in. How do we fix a broken world?
Stormwatch: Post Human Division #17 is an issue of the series Stormwatch: Post Human Division (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 2009.
Synopsis for "A Day in the Life"
Jackson King and Christine Trelane watch the sun rise on Earth from Skywatch III. They discuss the growing problem of overcrowding aboard the station due to the constant influx of refugees coming from Earth. So far Stormwatch has been converting some rooms into dorms and there has been fights breaking out amongst the refugees, in which some of the crew have been attacked. Furthermore, three-quarters of their crew are burning out from their work. Although King had already opened dialogue with the Authority, Christine even suggested negotiating a deal with the North Koreans for their bunker space.
In the ruins of Sydney, Fuji, Winter, and Hellstrike gather up another group of refugees and await their turn to teleport back to the station. Suddenly, they are attacked by a couple of Incubites and the team requests an emergency teleport back to the station. Unfortunately, the Incubites get caught up in the teleporter and hitch a ride back to the station. Just as the Incubites attacked the refugees and the Stormwatch field operatives, the Incubites reach their fifteen minute limit and explode, showering their blood on the refugees. Fuji and Hellstrike are immune to contamination but Jackson orders the surviving refugees into quarantine.
As the medical team examines the remains of one of the Incubites, two of the quarantined refugees succumb to the infection and mutate into Incubites themselves. The new Incubites break free from their containment. Jackson locks down parts of the station where the Incubites are located in order to corral them despite trapping some people who are unable to escape. He then sends only Fuji and Hellstrike to deal with the creatures while the rest of the team served as backup as Jackson cannot risk them getting infected.
Fuji and Hellstrike engage one of the Incubites, but their fierce fight causes a breach in the hull that sends them along with the Incubite out into space. Fortunately, the Stormwatch operatives are able to survive in the void of space while the Incubite isn't. Meanwhile, Deathblow and Fahrenheit track down and finish off the last of the monsters. As Fahrenheit burns the Incubite's body, Deathblow sees John Lynch's Team 7 signal on his arm but is interrupted before he can get to it.
Jackson, Christine, Flint and Winter survey the damage at the med-unit. They find the remaining refugee who was exposed to the Incubite, a young boy. Flint informs King that she and Winter found the boy in which the Incubites did not touch him. King suspects the boy is still infected. Even though the boy had not turned, King makes a tough choice by teleporting the boy to the middle of the Australian Outback, much to Christine's horror. King claims that the boy was dead anyway and reminds Christine again that they now need help from the Authority.
Appearing in "A Day in the Life"
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- The Carrier (Cameo)
Synopsis for "Missile Man: Stalking Horse - Chapter 4"
Missile-Man confronts Miles Craven in a facility housing numerous superhumans in tubes. He tells Craven that many of the people imprisoned are his friends who are loyal Americans. But Craven replies that they are post-humans, whom he deemed as dangerous beings no matter their loyalty in which he believes they will pose a threat to the world, and thus it is necessary to imprison them to keep the world safe. But Missile-Man is not satisfied with Craven's answer and swears to bring him down along with the Number of the Beast program. But a young Gabriel Newman stops Missile-Man by launching a telepathic assault on his mind. As Missile Man loses consciousness, Craven tells him that some post-humans like Newman recognize the danger they pose before planning to inter Missile-Man into the N.O.T.B. program as a 'reward' for his services.
In the present, Missile-Man finish telling the inquisitive stranger his story; after over sixty years trapped in suspended animation, Missile-Man woke up and found the world was ending caused by mad superhumans as prophesized by Craven. However, Missile-Man blamed the N.O.T.B. program for making those superhumans that way. Missile-Man also learned that Craven and along with Newman are long dead.
But the stranger tells Missile-Man that Craven is still alive and that he was one of many people who imprisoned superhumans. Furthermore, he suggests that Craven and others like him planned all of this and Armageddon was only the beginning. Missile-Man then demands the stranger of who he is in which he reveals himself to be a representative for the Paladins, a group of post-humans who were similarly victimized in the same manner like Missile-Man. The representative then offers Missile-Man to join the Paladins and have the chance at revenge against the people who exploited him. After hearing his offer, Missile-Man drops his bottle and eagerly accepts.
Appearing in "Missile Man: Stalking Horse - Chapter 4"
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Notes
- This issue is collected in the Stormwatch PHD: World's End trade.
- Missile Man: Stalking Horse was preceded in Gen 13 (Volume 4) #25 and concludes in this issue.
See Also