The Gulf of Mexico, 1994
Cobra Commander leaned back, glad for the mask obscuring his face. He sat in the passenger side of a hydrofoil as it pulled into Cobra Island's northern docks. He closed his eyes, letting himself drift back a bit, back to before Cobra, before the mask, before meeting Destro, before finding Cobra-La, even before his brother's death. It drifted all the way back to a used car lot, a wife and son who both loved him.
"Commander, sir? We're here."
Cobra Commander blinked, head whipping to his right. He looked up out of the hydrofoil's canopy and spotted a viper standing on the dock, hand outstretched. "Yes, thank you!" he said, grabbing the proffered hand and letting himself be hauled up onto the dock itself. He looked down the docks, spotting a number of empty berths. Cobra Commander spotted a tele-viper holding a clipboard and approached him. "Tele-viper, where has half of our BUGG units gone to?"
The tele-viper straightened and handed over the clipboard. "Commander, they've been sent to the Mid-Atlantic on direct orders from Serpentor." He swallowed as Cobra Commander glared at him through his silver battle mask. "I-it's a military strike."
Cobra Commander looked over the information. "I figured it's a military strike," he groused. "But the Mid-Atlantic? What does that buffoon want to attack, the Second Fleet? There's nothing out there besides that, the Royal navy or..." He trailed off as gears turned in his head. "Wait. BUGGs were sent out, along with Eels. No real surface forces in this force, here. This isn't a force to attack anything on the water, but under the water. In the Mid–" He suddenly shoved the clipboard back to the tele-viper, turned ran back to the hydrofoil he just arrived in. "Refuel and prepare for immediate departure," he hissed out to both the viper who had helped him and the lamprey pilot before turning once more and breaking out into a dead run for a nearby flight pod landing platform, right in front of the docks.
He slid into the small, one-man pod and sped through preflight checks. Within moments he was airborne, flying to the southeast for the terror-drome. Memories dredged themselves up, despite every attempt to stop them...
1985
The silence among the ruins of the once-lively town was the worst. Each crumbled building was a tomb. Cobra Commander wasn't even sure if anyone had managed to survive to be buried alive in any of the crumbled edifices. HISS tanks blasted into scrap and dead Cobra soldiers littered the pockmarked street, a couple of crashed rattlers among the debris. He limped along, his right ankle twisted badly, with a piece of wood as an impromptu cane.
The perpetrators of this massacre stood in a loose group just ahead. There were four of the larger ones and a half-dozen smaller ones, hanging out in the middle of the street in an almost casual manner. The big, boxy blue one was sitting on the still-smoking husk of a US army tank, casually bending the barrel back and forth in his hands. The three with wings on their backs and cockpits for chests stood off to the side, one of them occasionally firing off a shot at anything or anyone that was moving and making sure it never moved again.
The blue-colored one glanced his way and Cobra Commander froze. His free hand strayed to the laser pistol still in its thigh holster. His breath caught in his throat as the others all looked to him, the smaller ones rubbing their hands together in sadistic glee.
The blue one suddenly stood up. "Ravage, Rumble, halt," he said.
A silver-colored plane-robot groaned. "Oh, let them have their fun!" he screeched out. "The Autobots and more of Earth's toy soldiers are showing up on my scanners, so it's good to have a little fun before the real work begins!"
The blue one shook his head. "Megatron wishes for there to be witnesses to what occurred here. At the moment, he is the best candidate to be this witness."
"Oh, very well!" He knelt down, staring at Cobra Commander with glowing red eyes devoid of pity or mercy. "Be very grateful, blob of flesh. You shall be the one to tell the rest of your little species of grease smears of the glory of the Decepticon Empire!"He stood back up. "Decepticons, follow me!" he said before flying up into the sky, the others following.
Cobra Commander followed their flight, suddenly feeling very small and very aware of his place in the universe.
Two months later
Cobra Commander surveyed the remains of the HISS tank and Stinger jeep units, some of them exploding before his eyes. "Major Bludd, take a note. From now on, all Cobra personnel have standing orders to flee on sight from all Decepticon and Autobot forces."
It took about thirty minutes for Cobra Commander to land at the terror-drome, disembark and find out where Serpentor was. He burst through the double doors leading to the genetically-engineered warrior's throne room, brushing past guards and marching up to the throne itself where Serpentor sat. "What did you do?"
Serpentor, as always clad in his snake-themed armor, looked down at the Commander, his expression one of confusion and building anger. "What are you blathering about, Commander?"
Cobra Commander stopped just short of a small set of steps leading up to the throne itself and jabbed a finger at Serpentor. "Did you or did you not authorize a strike against the Decepticon's underwater base? And if you did, what in god's name were you thinking?"
Serpentor slowly stood up and walked down until he stood on the bottom step, towering over Cobra Commander. "You would do wise to control yourself in my presence," he said, raising a gloved hand over the Commander's helmeted head and clenching it.
A low chuckle came from the Commander. "I take it that's a confirmation."
Serpentor nodded. "Of course! We have feared those overrated tin cans for too long, and it has cost us dearly in the eyes of the international community. It is time Cobra reasserts itself once more!" He finished by throwing his arms into the air.
Cobra Commander stared at him for a moment. "So would you mind telling me why now our weapons will succeed in killing them now?" He placed his hands on his hips. "Need I remind you Destro and the Baroness left Cobra, or has that somehow slipped your mind in you megalomania?"
Serpentor glared down, his eyes dancing with an inner fire. "You would do well to rein in your tongue, but I shall forgive you this time." He stepped off the final step, around Cobra Commander and began pacing about the room, gesticulating with his right hand. "Scrap-Iron and Doctor Mindbender have developed a new weapons system that, coupled with the bravery and skill of my soldiers, are sure to breach the Decepticon's defenses!"
Cobra Commander slowly turned to watch him pace. "A genetic engineer who was once an orthodontist and a mid-level engineer managed to accomplish what the best military and scientific minds of Earth failed to do without Autobot assistance?"
Serpentor turned to him. "They WILL push through and destroy them! And then Cobra will be on the path of conquest once more!" He jabbed a finger at the Commander. "The path that you abandoned!"
Cobra Commander stared at him. "You've gone insane, suicidal or both." He walked to the door. "Enjoy your last few hours of life," he said over his shoulder, exiting the throne room.
Serpentor stood there for a moment, mouth open in shock. He snarled and walked to the door, pace increasing with each step. "Cobra Commander, you will NOT leave here until you–" He reached the door and stepped out, but the Commander was gone. He looked up and down the hallway, but there was no sign of him.
Cobra Commander panted and his chest heaved as he ran down the terror-drome's corridors, heedless of anyone else. He quickly arrived at his private quarters, running right inside and heading straight for an innocuous panel in the wall. He slid it open, revealing a safe. He unlocked it, reached in and pulled out a small duffel bag filled to the brim with bankbooks, certificates of deposit, bonds, stocks, a forged driver's license and all the documentation necessary for him to blend back into American society.
Right beneath the bag was a pair of picture frames that the Commander pulled out. The first one was of him and his brother, the day before the latter went to his first tour of duty in Vietnam. The second was of his wife and young son, standing in the driveway of the used car lot he had bought and unsuccessfully tried to run. He looked at each one before unzipping the duffel and stuffing them in.
A pair of vipers suddenly entered the room, rifles in their hands and safeties off. "Cobra Commander, Lord Serpentor has ordered your immediate detainment," the first one said, raising his rifle and aiming it at the Commander with trembling hands.
There was silence before the Commander spoke. "Have you heard? Serpentor has sent a strike force against the Decepticon's underwater base."
The two vipers stumbled back, lowering their rifles. "H-he what?!" He turned to his comrade. "I wondered why the hell we were on lockdown and that announcement about some sort of meeting."
The second viper nodded. "Explains the order for radio silence, too." She shook her head and tapped his helmet. "Man, this is not good!"
Cobra Commander spread his arms out. "Well, every second we stand here talking is another second for the strike force to be obliterated and the Decepticons to fly overhead and bomb Cobra Island back into the Caribbean." He walked forward, reaching behind his back and unplugging his laser pistol from its recharge socket. "Would you two care to join me in fleeing before we're all reduced to ash?"
The vipers looked to each other, shrugged and fell in behind Cobra Commander. The trio exited the room and made their way down the corridor, but stopped as a group of Battle Android Troopers being led by a pair of officers approached. "We might have to–"
One of the officers raised his hand and pointed at the Commander. "There he is! BATs, kill him!"
The officer went for his pistol, but one of the vipers cut him down with a burst from his rifle. "Never did like that idiot," she groused.
The BATs advanced, laser rifles firing. Two in the front suddenly exploded from friendly fire, but the machines kept marching on. The vipers pushed Cobra Commander back, spraying fire at the BATs.
"Aim for their guidance systems!" Cobra Commander shouted, raising his laser pistol and shooting a BAT in the chest. The android jerked back, laser rifle still firing and slicing through the heads of two others. "Fall back!" he shouted. "We don't have time for this!"
The second officer aimed for the Commander, but stumbled back as he was shot several times in the chest and slumped against the wall. One of the vipers pulled a grenade from his flak jacket, pulled the pin and tossed it at the remaining BATs. "Fire in the hole!"
The three turned and ran as the grenade bounced and skittered on the floor, coming to rest right at the feet of the BATs. One of them looked down at it a split-second before it exploded, sending it flying back and showering the immediate area with shrapnel, concussive force and flying android parts.
Cobra Commander glanced to the pair as they continued running. "I doubt that will be the last time Serpentor tries stopping me. I have a flight pod ready to get me back to the docks and a hydrofoil that is hopefully all ready to get us out of here."
One of the vipers looked to him. "'Us'?"
"Well, depending on your upper-body strength, of course." He skidded to a halt as a pair of BATs emerged and turned to them. "Can you hang onto the side of a flight pod while I get us to the docks and our best means of escape?" he asked while firing.
One viper sprayed a burst at one of the BAT's head. "Well, between that and being immolated, I'll rub some ben-gay on my arms after all this is over!" she shouted.
The second BAT was dealt with just as quickly. "If there is an 'over'," Cobra Commander muttered.
The three reached the terror-drome's hangar soon after and were quickly airborne, the vipers hanging off the sides of the flight pod for dear life as it flew to the docks. It landed and the vipers let go, dropping to their knees and clutching the sides of their helmets. "Damn those were loud engines!"
"What? I can't hear you! The engines were too loud!"
Cobra Commander exited the pod and grabbed them by their arms, hauling them to their feet. "Get going!" he shouted, dragging them along to the docks themselves. They quickly arrived at the waiting hydrofoil, the lamprey pilot inside and two others gathered around it. Cobra Commander glanced at them before motioning to the hydrofoil. "Get on board," he hissed out. "We have little time."
"What's going on?" one of them, the tele-viper from earlier, asked.
Cobra Commander walked around him and climbed into the hydrofoil, the two vipers following. "That military strike you told me about? It's an attack against the Decepticons."
The tele-viper's jaw dropped. He jumped onto the front of the ship, clutching the forward-mounted missile launcher. "Get us out of here!" he shouted. "Come on, get going!" He jabbed his finger at the open ocean, his motions becoming more and more frenetic.
The final two at the docks climbed aboard and the hydrofoil shot off, the foils extending. Cobra Island quickly receded in the distance. Cobra Commander turned to the lamprey. "How fast can we go and for how long?"
The lamprey checked the control panel. "We can do sixty knots until our fuel runs out." He looked to Cobra Commander. "My family was killed by the Decepticons. I've seen what they can do up-close. That's one of the reasons I joined Cobra."
One of the vipers crawled over the hull and placed a hand on the lamprey's shoulders, squeezing gently. "Hey, man. I'm sorry."
The lamprey glanced back at him. "Thanks." He looked back to the Commander. "So, when this strike force reaches the Decepticons, what will happen?"
Cobra Commander raised his arm and checked his wristwatch. "Well, if the information our hood ornament had was correct, the strike force has reached their underwater headquarters. Serpentor said Scrap-Iron and Mindbender were working on some weapon system, which undoubtedly made zero difference in their destruction. Knowing Megatron, he will be displeased. Then he will act. And then, Cobra Island burns."
Okay, little explanation. This is sort of a prequel to my other fic 'The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds'. Basically, this is what happened to Cobra. And it's why it's never really gonna appear. Cobra COmmander is based about 80-85% off his Marvel comics incarnation. I obviously own nothing here.