A year ago, Ningen soldiers in Area 51 mutiny as per their organization’s defection to serving Cryptiq. They bypass Dr. Gracey, who at that time is examining blood samples from Carly Vanders, and slaughter their way into a holding area. They find someone they call ‘the Asset’ and free him.
In the present day, American soldiers and a unit of trained dogs battle Jihadists in Syria. A soldier named Sawyer “Sawmill” Millius chases a Jihadist who runs into a basement, but his dog Commando G (codenamed ‘Grendel’) barks and alerts him to the fact that the basement is trapped. Millius and Commando-G flee just before the basement explodes. Millius returns to base and is met by Agent Jim West, who says he wants to recruit him and Millius into the special operations unit known as Black Hops.
West takes Millius and Grendel to England and fills Millius in on the situation with Ningen and Cryptiq. He also introduces them to the rest of the team, which now includes Penelope as a full-time member. Grendel introduces himself to the other animals and makes friends with USA GI, though Patriot-R as usual is more ornery. West admits he’s not fully comfortable with his superiors having put Millius and Grendel on the team since Grendel is neither radiation-enhanced (like USA GI and Patriot-R) or cybernetic (like Rigor-Tortoise). Millius, however, insists that Grendel is very capable.
West explains the mission: Ningen is owned and run by Kanina Lovacova, but Kanina’s sister Misha recently had a falling out with the organization after botching a mission for the Russians (as shown in ‘’Kamen America Issue 1: Stars and Strife’’), to the point where Misha wants to defect. Black Hops is to extract Misha and get her back to America so she can tell the government what she knows about Ningen’s operations. However, Kanina anticipated their plan, stashed her sister in a castle in Amsterdam, and pumped her full of sedatives. Black Hops is thus to infiltrate the castle and rescue Misha by any means necessary.
USA GI, Rigor-Tortoise, Patriot-R, and Penelope fight their way into the castle. They slaughter several guards and report their status while, in the command center, Millius complains that he and Grendel should be getting on-the-job practice by going with the team. West tells Millius that he and Grendel are totally unprepared for the kind of work Black Hops does, and notes how Misha has some kind of superpowers that nobody is really sure how to deal with, especially people like Millius who have no experience with the preternatural. He also points out that Penelope required a lot of training before she could join the team on a permanent basis, meaning Millius will need the same.
Black Hops reaches Misha’s room and Patriot-R triggers a gatling gun in Rigor-Tortoise’s shell. This kills the guards but also makes a huge racket, alerting the rest of the castle. Penelope grabs Misha’s unconscious body and says she can’t use her rifle while carrying Misha, so the rest of the team will need to do the fighting for her as they leave. Meanwhile, Kanina (who now has a hook to replace the hand she lost) sees this on a security camera and sends Burke along with some men to stop the intruders. Apex Moth orders her to just let the intruders go with Misha, but Kanina ignores him.
Kanina leads some of her forces to attack the Black Hops team. They fare poorly, especially after Patriot-R first uses Rigor-Tortoise’s shell as a shield and then shoots missiles out of it to devastate her troops, but he, Rigor-Tortoise, and Misha are separated from Penelope and USA GI. Kanina has Burke lead troops to attack the former group. Patriot-R connects Rigor-Tortoise to a chain and triggers blades to flip out of the tortoise’s shell, then swings the bladed shell on the chain to wipe out Burke’s forces. He’s able to get himself, Rigor-Tortoise, and Misha to a waiting helicopter.
Penelope and USA GI receive permission to pursue Kanina through the castle. They kill more of her men but she escapes into a network of tunnels below the castle, then blows up the tunnel behind her to block pursuit. Penelope and USA GI try to find another way into the tunnels.
Patriot-R takes Rigor-Tortoise to the infirmary for a snack as West tells Millius that the tunnels are a complicated maze. Meanwhile, Misha opens her eyes, which are now yellow. She gets up from her infirmary bed, goes into the hall, and murders a passing soldier to get his badge. She then uses the badge to enter a secured room and steal a briefcase.
Patriot-R sees Misha in the halls and pursues her, but by the time he catches up, she’s killed several soldiers. He looks at the carnage as one of the seemingly-dead soldiers sits up. The soldier smashes his head with a fire extinguisher and then runs off with the briefcase, and Patriot-R is just barely able to set off an alarm before collapsing.
Meanwhile, in the tunnels, Kanina leads the real Misha through the tunnels to an underground dock. They make slow progress because Misha is still largely sedated, but Kanina keeps them going. The sisters argue, with Kanina saying Misha acted selfishly when she threw her last mission; she adds that Misha clearly she lost her nerve. Misha snaps that Kanina always put her down despite her remarkable skills, and Kanina responds that it’s not enough for a Lovacova to be merely good.
—Kanina Lovacova
Kanina notes that Misha will get herself killed if she tries to be a mercenary in a half-hearted way, and she offers to let Misha retire somewhere to do whatever she wants, but says she can’t allow the Americans to get her. Misha protests that the Americans aren’t bad, but Kanina dismisses this. Meanwhile, Penelope uses some blueprints West sent her to find another way into the tunnels.
West has Millius seal the door and explains that one of Ningen’s missions was to break a mutatnt called Mimic Nautilus out of custody in Area 51. Mimic was once an ordinary soldier at Roswell but was mutated by something, losing his voice but gaining the power to take the form of anyone he touches. He became America’s premier assassin for some time before going rogue, shooting JFK on the grassy knoll, and becoming a major recurring problem. He’s been caught several times and even executed but always came back to life, resulting in the government finally locking him in Area 51 for study. Now that Ningen has freed him, though, he’s a fearsome enemy.
Someone pounds on the door and begs for help. The cameras have been disabled, but since Mimic can’t talk, West authorizes Millius to open the door and let in whoever needs help. West does so and a soldier stumbles through holding a wounded comrade; unfortunately, while the uninjured soldier continues to chatter, Grendel senses there’s something wrong with the wounded one and barks. The wounded soldier, revealed to be Mimic, kills the other soldier and shoots Millius in the eye before aiming his gun at West. Millius manages to order Grendel to attack and the dog does so, biting Mimic’s arm and making him miss his shot.
Kanina senses Penelope behind her and throws a grenade, forcing Penelope to jump away before she can get a shot off. The explosion knocks down a rock and pins Penelope in place just out of reach from where her gun fell. Kanina then draws her own gun and aims at Penelope, saying she’ll kill her in exchange for losing her hand. USA GI can’t reach her in time, but Misha manages to conjure a small fireball and blast the gun away, saying she’s decided what she wants to do. She then blasts Kanina into the water, and Kanina swims away. USA GI frees Penelope and the two return to Misha, but when Penelope radios West, she gets no response. As they go, Misha warns that Mimic will kill everyone in the base before they can get there.
Mimic uses the briefcase to smack Grendel and West aside. He turns to go but stops to shoot Grendel, only for West to jump in front of the dog and take the bullet. Mimic leaves and West pets Grendel before dying. Millius gets up to see West lying dead on top of the dog. Mimic takes the briefcase as he heads into the nearby woods, eludes all pursuit, and escapes.
A week later, Millius has been bandaged and his destroyed eye is covered. He sighs that Black Hops failed and even let West get killed, but their new handler Agent Hudson says that West deploy believed in the importance of being willing to sacrifice one’s life for one’s friends, including ‘man’s best friend.’ He says that Millius and Grendel have been cleared for Black Hops training, with Penelope noting that they did as well as could be expected against Mimic. She also notes that Misha chose not to join Black Hops but went to stay with a friend; the friend turns out to be Carly Vanders.
Elsewhere, Apex Moth castigates Kanina for getting into a fight with Black Hops and losing Misha. Kanina says it’s not important since Misha knew nothing of real value. Then Mimic arrives with the briefcase, and Moth opens it to reveal a preserved hand.
In an epilogue, Penelope is introduced to Carly Vanders.
This comic contains examples of the following tropes:
- As the Good Book Says...: The new officer in charge of Black Hops quotes John 15:13 when describing why West was willing to die for Grendel.
- Cthulhumanoid: Mimic’s default appearance is that of a grayish human with tentacles sprouting out of his face.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Grendel is able to sense that the ‘wounded soldier’ is really Mimic in disguise.
- Hook Hand: Kanina now has one, to replace the hand she lost during her fight against USA GI on Hart Island.
- Moe Greene Special: Millius’s eye is shot out by Mimic.
- Roswell That Ends Well: Mimic was altered by something while stationed at Roswell.
- Shapeshifting: Mimic’s main power is to change his appearance to match anyone he can touch. He’s a perfect match, except for being unable to speak.
- The Speechless: Mimic cannot talk.
