Suicide Squad Issue 9

"The Final Price"
The Suicide Squad, with the Bronze Tiger in command, arrives at the Manhunter temple in the Louisiana bayou which they have been assigned to destroy, and encounters Captain Atom, who has been sent on a similar mission. When the Captain learns that the bomb contained in the Squad's "Baby Huey" vehicle is an experimental Xyzedium explosive, he realizes that, unknown to all but Colonel Flag, the blast will destroy not only the enemy base, but the Squad members themselves, before they can get clear of the area. He decides to accompany them and attempt to absorb the force of the explosion, but Firestorm, now a Manhunter pawn, appears overhead, and Captain Atom leaves the group to battle him. Before the Squad can reach the Manhunter stronghold, however, a detachment of the Manhunter androids emerges to battle them.

Slipknot attempts to desert and has his arm destroyed by the explosive bracelet each Squad member wears. A hard-fought skirmish ends as the Bronze Tiger is injured and Karin Grace is abducted by a Manhunter. Leaving the Tiger behind, Flag takes charge and storms the temple to complete the mission. After Deadshot and Captain Boomerang are cut off by enemy forces, Flag and the Privateer find Karin and rescue her, and Flag is astounded to learn that Karin is herself a Manhunter agent.

As she holds him at gunpoint, she explains how, while recuperating after the final mission of the previous Suicide Squad team, she met and fell in love with Mark Shaw, who inducted her into the Manhunters. The next second, it is Karin's turn to be astonished, as the Privateer claims that he is not the Mark Shaw she knew, and quickly disarms her. Then a costumed Manhunter appears, and claims to be the real Shaw, while the Privateer is merely an android. The Manhunter then knocks Flag and the Privateer unconscious, and instructs Karin to kill them. She hesitates at the memory of her former romance with Flag, and before she can act, her Manhunter ally begins to fall apart, and is thus revealed as an android. On the temple grounds, the other Manhunters also fall apart, one by one. Although the Squad members are mystified as to the cause of the androids' destruction, it is due to the invisible machinations of the Spectre.

Ordering Shaw to take the still-unconscious Flag to safety, Karin, now realizing how she had been duped, pilots the explosive-filled "Baby Huey" into the center of the Manhunter base, where it crashes, pinning her and the Mark Shaw android beneath it. Outside, the other Squad members rendezvous with the Bronze Tiger. Just as Flag recovers and realizes what has happened, the bomb explodes, completely destroying the temple. Unknown to the Squad, Captain Atom and Firestorm, who have now joined forces, have prevented the blast from killing the team.

Individuals

 * Suicide Squad
 * Bronze Tiger
 * Amanda Waller
 * Captain Boomerang
 * Deadshot
 * Karin Grace
 * Rick Flag
 * Privateer
 * Slipknot
 * John Economos
 * Captain Atom
 * Firestorm
 * Duchess
 * Spectre

Locations

 * Louisiana
 * Belle Reve