Captain America #321
Ultimatum
Twenty-five miles off the shores of England, a commercial airliner is hijacked in mid-air by ULTIMATUM (Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind), a new terrorist organization led by the anti-nationalist known as Flag-Smasher.[1] After forcing their way on board and taking control of the plane, Flag-Smasher assures the 110 passengers that if they follow his orders none of them will be harmed.
Back in the United States, Captain America is paying a visit to Hiram Riddley, the lead hacker of his Stars and Stripes support team. He has been impressed with how Hiram and his friends have been able to assist him with his new hotline and gives the teen a specially made baseball jacket, one of many he wants to give to the other members of the group. Hiram is blown away, and he and his mother insist that he stay over for dinner. After dinner, Hiram’s mother — a lonely single parent — asks to speak with him alone.[2] She thanks Cap for being a positive role model in her son’s life and offers to be a listening ear if he ever needs one. Before she can make a romantic move on the Avenger, Hiram rushes downstairs to tell Cap that there is an emergency.
Rushing upstairs, Captain America sees the reports about the plane hijacking and learns that Flag-Smasher is demanding that Captain America meet him in a battle or the hostages will be executed.
Later, at an air base somewhere in Europe, ULTIMATUM are moving the hostages to secure location. Flag-Smasher takes this opportunity to expand upon his demands. He addresses the world and tells them that he wants to fight Captain America to the death in order to prove whose ideologies is right, Flag-Smasher’s anti-nationalist ideals or the misconception he has about what Captain America represents. He demands that Captain America meets his demands in the next four hours or else.
By this time, Captain America is heading across the Atlantic in an Avengers Quinjet. Working with SHIELD, he has narrowed down the possible locations where Flag-Smasher was able to stash the commercial airliner. With SHIELD checking on other locations, Steve has a few hours to investigate an airfield that was previously operated by Hydra located in the Swiss Alps. Landing the Quinjet and taking a sky-cycle through the treacherous blizzard swept region, Captain America soon finds a nearby outpost. Sure enough it is occupied from some ULTIMATUM agents. Captain America makes short work of them and steals one of their uniforms so he can infiltrate the airfield.
There, he discovers that the passengers have all been moved to another location. Commandeering a pair of ULTIMATUM’s flying skis and uses them to follow a group heading to the monastery where the hostages are being kept. When Captain America finds the hostages, he realizes that he is going to have to move fast because there are too many guards in the room. As he begins knocking them all out, one of the ULTIMATUM soldiers begins opening fire on the hostages. In a panic, Captain America shoots the man with the uzi he took off the man whose uniform he stole. Although it was absolutely necessary to stop any more passengers getting killed, Captain America is horrified that he resorted to lethal force. After he calls the authorities to pick up the hostages, Cap also carries the body of the dead ULTIMATUM soldier aboard. When one of the hostages asks why he’s doing that, Captain America explains that he intends to avenge everyone who died that day.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, ULTIMATUM (Flag-Smasher), Hiram Riddley, SHIELD
Continuity Notes
It’s later revealed that ULTIMATUM was secretly funded by the Red Skull. See Captain America #348.
The dinner reminds Steve of the romantic meals he’d have with his ex-fiancée Bernie Rosenthal. The pair dated from Captain America #248 through 317. She proposed to him in issue #292. She later put the breaks on their relationship so she could attend law school out of state because she feared that she would get sucked into Steve’s hotline venture and give up her dreams of becoming a lawyer.
Topical References
The plane highjacked by ULTIMATUM is depicted as Boeing 747 owned by TWA. This should be considered topical as 747 fleets are being retired, but also because TWA is a real world business that ceased operations in 2001.
Hiram’s computer and television are both CRT displays. This should be considered topical because this is obsolete technology.
