"Guardian Protocols"
"Power Hungry" Thunderbolts 106 (December 2006)
"Power Full" Thunderbolts 107 (January 2007)
"Power Outage" Thunderbolts 108 (February 2007)
Reprinted in Thunderbolts: Guardian Protocols
(2006/11/01)

Reader Rating: Above Average

Summary: Zemo's Thunderbolts meet the Grandmaster's Squadron Supreme at the last open conduit for the Wellspring of Power. When Zemo is betrayed by Joystick, the power of the Wellspring is dispersed, granting powers to everyone on Earth. The Thunderbolts Army and the world's heroes (temporarily putting aside their Civil War) battle to stem the rising tide of chaos, until Zemo can take down the Grandmaster -- and Songbird can take down Zemo!

The Squadron Sinister (aka Supreme Power) are Dr Spectrum, Hyperion, and Nighthawk. Speaking appearances from Captain American, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic and Yellowjacket.

As listed in Civil War Files, the Thunderbolts Army consists of: Ajaxis, Aqueduct, Asylum, Atlas, Batroc, Beetle 1, Beetle 2, Beetle 3, Blacklash, Blizzard, Bloodstrike, Boomerang, Bushmaster, Coronary, Death Adder, Doctor Octopus, Eel, Fixer, Ironclad, Joystick, Killer Shrike, King Cobra, Machete, Mach IV, Mongoose, Moonstone, Over-Mind, Ox, Porcupine, Pretty Persuasions, Primus, Quicksand, Radioactive Man, Rattler, Red Ronin, Slyde, Smiling Tiger, Smuggler, "Snake" Marston, Songbird, Swordsman, Tatterdemalion, Texas Twister, Unicorn, Vapor, Vector, Vermin, Whiplash, Whirlwind, X-Ray, Zaran, and Baron Zemo.

Continuity: Zemo falls into the Wellspring conduit, to next be seen in the flesh in "Born Better" (2007/04/01).

Comments: The "Guardian Protocols" themselves refer to invasion of Earth by an alien fleet in response to releasing of the Wellspring's power. That never happens, presumably because author Fabian Nicieza is forced to wrap up his storyline and step aside for a new creative team.