Stormwatch: Team Achilles #19 is an issue of the series Stormwatch: Team Achilles (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 2004. It was published on January 14, 2004.
Synopsis for "Goodnight, Goodnight, the Party's Over"
At a Puerto Rico independence rally held in New York City's Bronx in 1972, the head of the movement, Ramon Emeterio Betances, is attacked by masked gunmen sent by International Operations. Ramon, an incarnation of Citizen Soldier, kills one of his assassins before he is promptly gunned down. Just as he lays dying he tells his murderer that he will be back in the next few years.
In the present, Ben Santini and the American members (and Jukko) of Team Achilles are asleep on their feet, dreaming about Citizen Soldier's previous lives. Team Achilles are at Computouch, and the non-American members conclude that one of Citizen Soldier's S.P.B.s is responsible for the dreams and they must kill it in order to free their incapacitated friends.
In 1934, Captain Peter Cassaday, another incarnation of Citizen Soldier, is brought before a group of wealthy industrialists, which includes a young Reginald "Sonny" Terns, in Washington, D.C. The industrialists know about Cassaday's identity and the captain demands to know how they know him and what they want. The men explain that they known his existence from reading Alexander Hamilton's diary, and they want to invite him to be the leader of a planned coup to overthrow the Roosevelt administration, whom they are dissatisfied of its New Deal policy, and replace it with a fascist government modeled after Nazi Germany with Cassaday prop up as their divine figurehead. Upon hearing this, Cassaday adamantly rejects their offer and swears that he will kill them if they continue their conspiracy.
Back in the present, Weiss, Pickney and Golovin trek through the apparent abandoned building. Pickney takes lead and finds the S.P.B., the fetus-like creature Emoticon, in a tube broadcasting the dreams. Emoticon retaliates.
In the middle of the night of December 14, 1799, Vice President Thomas Jefferson is awakened from his bed and learns from Alexander Hamilton that George Washington is dying. Jefferson and Hamilton later arrived at Mount Vernon and met Washington along with President John Adams and Marquis de Lafayette. The men gathered together in conducting a four-man magic ceremony, which ensured that Washington's spirit continues to be reborn and look after and defend the ideals of the United States of America. After the ceremony is finished and Washington finally passes away, Jefferson worryingly wonders that Washington's journey will be violent for the sake of preserving America's democracy.
In the present, Ivana Baiul contacts Jack Hawksmoor of the Authority, who are currently helping to maintain the world's satellite grid after Santini called for their help, in relinquishing their hold over America's spy satellites in which she wants them to locate Citizen Soldier. Hawksmoor strongly refuses and hangs up. After losing Hawksmoor, Baiul suddenly receives an anonymous text message from Boring, Ohio which reveals Citizen Soldier's location, prompting her to send Giant to find him.
Back at Computouch, Weiss, Pickney and Golovin are under the psychic throes of Emoticon. Golovin, however, manages to activate a grenade and throw it at Emoticon, killing it and causing the sleeping Achilles members to wake up. Team Achilles regroups and soon finds Citizen Soldier, who peacefully surrenders to them. Although his attack on Washington, D.C. has failed, Citizen Soldier reveals that the stolen $200 billion gold reserve is spread amongst his 2,000 employees with new identities and will continue their revolution through their children, in which he hope that the future revolution would be more peaceful.
As Santini tells Citizen Soldier that he will be incarcerated in suspended animation to prevent him from dying and never being reborn, Giant abruptly arrives and kills Citizen Soldier. Santini angrily chastises Giant for only allowing Citizen Soldier to spiritually escape; it turns out that Citizen Soldier was the anonymous tipster to Baiul in order to fulfill "a third way out." Giant tries to reassure Santini that he will tell Baiul about the time of Citizen Soldier's death and allow her to execute several field teams in finding newly born male babies that are the possible reincarnation of Citizen Soldier. Knowing what Baiul would intend to do, Santini rebukes that she will kill every newborn baby in the next month in order to eliminate Citizen Soldier's rebirth.
Twelve hours later, Santini and Flint confront President Kent and Baiul in the Oval Office through a Project Entry portal, dumping two dead agents belonging to Baiul on the Resolute desk. Santini tells Kent that his team is tasked in finding the newborn incarnation of Citizen Soldier and that they will kill more of Baiul's people if they keep killing American-born babies. Furthermore, he warns the racist Kent that Flint will have the pleasure of tearing his head off.
Meanwhile at a seaport at Long Beach, California, a shipping container holding illegal Chinese immigrants is forcefully burst open from the inside. Among them is a newly born baby girl, who has star-shaped irises, telling her parents that they are welcome in America.
Appearing in "Goodnight, Goodnight, the Party's Over"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Ivana Baiul
- Giant
- President Patrick Kent
Antagonists:
- Citizen Soldier (Flashback and main story)
Other Characters:
- Jack Hawksmoor
- The Engineer
- Sonny Terns (Flashback only)
- Thomas Jefferson (Flashback only)
- John Adams (Flashback only)
- Alexander Hamilton (Flashback only)
- Marquis de Lafayette (Flashback only)
Locations:
- New York City (1972)
- Washington, D.C.
- Boring, Ohio
- Computouch Information Systems
- Virginia
- Monticello
- Mount Vernon (1799)
- Long Beach, California
Items:
Vehicles:
Trivia
- Ramon Emeterio Betances is presumably based on Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, the leader of the Puerto Rican clandestine paramilitary organization FALN.
- The 1934 conspiracy that sought to overthrow FDR is a reference to the Business Plot. Peter Cassaday's recruitment to the conspiracy is similar to U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, who testified to Congress about the Business Plot after he was approached into serving the conspiracy. The fictional members of the conspiracy are based on the Business Plot's alleged members:
- Gerald McGoser - Gerald MacGuire, an official of the Committee for a Sound Dollar and Sound Currency.
- Prescott Kent - Samuel Prescott Bush, industrialist and entrepreneur, and the patriarch of the Bush political family. Prescott Kent is presumably an ancestor of President Patrick Kent, thus further referencing the analogue between the real-life George W. Bush and Patrick Kent.
- Robert Starking Clonk - Robert Sterling Clark, heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune.
- Lammot Dapint - Irénée du Pont, head of DuPont company.
- John P. Rassof - John J. Raskob, financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and builder of the Empire State building.
- The physician requesting to bleed George Washington is bloodletting, which is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. The historical use of bloodletting was harmful to patients and the practice has now been abandoned by modern-style medicine for all except a few very specific medical conditions.
- Thomas Jefferson's hostility towards Washington's physician is a reference to Jefferson's dismal views towards medical quackery, which includes bloodletting.
- Before dying George Washington asks Alexander Hamilton to free his slaves. In reality Washington wrote in his will several months before his death that he left directions for the eventual emancipation of the 123 slaves he owned after the passing of his wife Martha Washington. In December 1800, Martha Washington signed a deed of manumission for her deceased husband's slaves.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Stormwatch: Team Achilles series
- Images from Stormwatch: Team Achilles Vol 1 19