The Ballad of Sidewinder
This is the story of an original character that I've created. If you've read any of my previous stories, you'll recognize this character from the "What Dreams…" story. She was introduced there and I'll tell her story of coming to the Joe Team. This story will tell of her entrance to the team and how she reacts to the team.
Legal B.S.: I don't own G.I. Joe or any of the established characters. They belong to their prospective companies (Marvel, Hasbro, Devil's Due, etc.). The only character that I own at this time is Cassidy M. Riley/Sidewinder. I also own RiotGear as well as The Stars and Bars Spectacular. If you would like to use them, please ask for permission.
Premise: Introduction of a new character and the reaction from the team and her feelings on them. There is a start of a rivalry/friendship with Ace and her friendship with Firewall.
Characters: Of course the new character will reign over this story. I'll also have Ace being a major player, as well as Firewall (which will be Sidewinder's roommate). As always, I'll have other characters in as well.
Rating: I'll have this as a PG; mainly for language, as well as the subject matter.
Chapter 1: The Chance of a Lifetime
"Cassie that is the dumbest thing that I've ever heard you say. You'll never amount to anything in your life. No military unit will take you."
"Mom, I want this. Dad always told me I could be whatever I wanted."
"Yeah, well you can go find him and tell him what I said. I wish you were never born."
"Mom, you've been drinking. You don't mean that."
"Yes I do, that man ruined my life. I used to be beautiful. When you came along, you took that away. You took away my life."
"So by drinking, you'll chase that away? You know I'll say this because you won't remember this. Go have another glass of wine and go fuck yourself."
"You think you're hot shit, you little bitch? I'll knock you down a couple of pegs then."
She felt the wine glass shatter on her back. The stale odor of boxed wine drenched her Air Force t-shirt. It was the glass that really hurt. It cut into her left shoulder and reopened the wound that mother created a week ago. While her mom was cheap, she believed in buying the best glasses for her booze. Her mom reached her and started to slap her across the face. Cassidy was used to this. She would have another story for the school principal on Monday. Her mother walked away after a dozen good hits. She was used to the comments, for she heard them a lot since she was twelve. The violence started at thirteen. Cassidy was tough; she would take a lot and go find her friends. She could stay with them.
"Go make me another drink, little miss fly-girl." Came her mother's voice.
"I'm sorry?" Cassidy replied.
"I said that we're ready for you to work on the new Strikers, Captain Riley." Spoke the voice. "Your plane is waiting for you."
"Sorry, I'll be there in ten minutes." Cassidy sat up in her bed and looked around her quarters. It was small, but it was all hers. She stood up and walked over to her closet, opening the door and grabbing a flight suit. She threw the uniform on the bed and looked into full-length mirror; admiring that even all of the shit she had been through she still looked good. She tossed her shoulder length strawberry blonde hair back in a couple of clips. She grabbed a bandanna from the top of her dresser and wrapped it around her head. She stared into the mirror again and looked at her green eyes. She followed them to the freckles she had around her nose. She brought her hand up to her tags, grabbed them and gave them a quick kiss. She stared at the rest of her body and felt ashamed. There was the scars from the cigarette burns on her upper right arm, the ones on her flat stomach from the time she was thrown through the plate-glass window. She turned around and looked at the ones on her back. The deep one on her left shoulder from multiple broken glasses; the one from the electrical cord that left a criss-cross pattern on her lower back. She walked away from the mirror and put on the uniform, then her boots and grabbed the pack of cigarettes from her nightstand. She lit up and walked out of her room, locking the door behind her.
She walked from her quarters to the hangars that were a football field's distance away. She spent this time preparing herself on these walks. She thought about a lot on these walks: her dad mostly. He was her strongest supporter. When her mother died, he took her in and took care of her. Her parents divorced when she was eight. She wanted to live with her dad, but the court forced her to live with her instead. From the age of eight until her mom died at fifteen, those days were hell on her. She learned early on that it was the booze that did this. She learned that acting that she was normal, she would fit in. She did fit in and got along with everyone in high school. They never knew about the pain that she dealt with. When she moved in with her father, he knew what happened. They would spend countless nights talking about what happened to her. He did his best to help her and encouraged her to do what she wanted. She couldn't thank him enough for what he did. It was her father that suggested that she become a pilot. She joined the Air Force right after high school. She went through the paces and worked her tail off. She became the youngest female pilot in the history of Wright-Patterson. She acquired the rank of Captain in that time.
She walked into the hanger and walked over to her plane. She was so proud of herself. She started to test the new Skystrikers that would be deployed to the G.I. Joe team. When she joined the Air Force, she heard of stories of the Joe team. She even met a couple of them. They seemed like a family. This was something that she yearned for; she never felt this on the base here. She couldn't pinpoint it, but she thought it had to do with her being a good pilot and a better mechanic. She took care of her own. She liked it better that way.
She unzipped the top of her flight suit, down to her waist. She tied the top part around her waist and pushed a rolling cabinet of tools over to plane. She put on a tool belt and grabbed the tools that she thought she would need. She pushed a ladder over to the plane and climbed up it. She opened up one of the panels and started to work on the plane.
The jeep pulled up to the guardhouse. The guard came out to the jeep and looked inside. There were two men in the jeep: the blonde haired one was dressed in an army dress uniform, and the brunette one was dressed in an air force uniform.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" the guard asked.
"Yes, you can. I'm Captain Armbruster of the G.I. Joe team. This is First Sergeant Hauser. We're looking for a Captain Cassidy Riley. Do you know where we could find her?"
The guard saluted them both. "Yes sir. At this time of day, she should be in the hangars working on her plane. Do you need directions, Captain?"
"No thank you, soldier." Duke replied. "We'll find it." He nodded to Ace and they drove off to the hangers. "You have an idea where she's at, Ace?"
"Yeah Duke, we were here some time ago." Ace replied. "I'm surprised that Hawk wants us to get this one. She seems like trouble."
Duke nodded to him. "You know how Hawk is on new recruits. He has his reasons."
"Yeah I know Duke, but why this particular pilot?" Ace asked. "I know that we're hurting for pilots, but this Captain Riley seems like a troublemaker."
Duke laughed. "You're one to talk, Brad. I seem to remember a pilot that has a weekly poker game. Seems that he has side bets with other Joes on what will happen on base?"
Ace smiled and shook his head. "You're just bitter because you lost fifty bucks on last week's game. You know when the next game is."
"I'm just saying, Ace." Duke shrugged. "Besides Shockwave was the guy that I lost the fifty to and he won't be there."
Ace nodded. "Yeah he's going on a mission with Jinx and a couple of greenies to that town in the Midwest. Checking for Cobra activity?"
Duke shrugged again. "That's classified information, Ace. I know only what Hawk said about the mission. Other than that it's a need to know basis."
"Yeah I know, top." Ace smiled. "I was just fishing, that's all."
Duke just shook his head. "I think that's our hangar." Ace nodded in agreement and stopped the jeep in front of the open bay doors. He hopped out and waited for Duke before they went in. Duke grabbed a file from his briefcase and walked over to Ace. The two of them walked into the hanger. They saw one plane in the hanger and saw someone working on it. They heard a boombox somewhere in the hanger playing Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly."
"That's the new Skystriker?" Ace asked to Duke in a whisper.
Duke nodded. "Yep, they're based off of the new Raptor designs. It's supposed to outstrip the old models by quite a bit. I think this is part of the reason we're looking to have Captain Riley join our ranks. She's supposed to be the best."
"We'll see about that." Ace said with a smile. They walked closer to the plane. Ace saw her working on the plane near the thrusters. They walked closer to the plane. "Excuse me, are you Captain Riley?"
The metal thunk was a sign that they surprised her. "Jesus Christ! There's a fuckin' doorbell by the hangar door! You guys should know to ring it when I'm working in here! What the hell d'you want, you assholes??"
Duke spoke in his best authoritative voice. "Excuse me Captain? You care to repeat that again? I don't think that's how a Captain should speak to a superior."
Cassidy stuck her head out and looked over the left tail wing. She was sweaty, dirty and had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. "Shit. Sorry there Top. I'll be right down." She stood up, stretched and dusted herself off. She bent down and turned off the boombox. She walked over to the ladder and put her feet on the top rung. She put her feet on the side of the ladder and slid down the ladder. She hit the ground feet first and put out the cigarette. She moved the goggles from her eyes to her forehead and took off her work gloves. She walked over to them and saluted.
"Sorry about that, Top." Cassidy replied. "I'm usually more polite when I'm expecting top brass. Captain Cassidy Michelle Riley, but you can call me Sidewinder."
"Like the missile?" Ace asked.
"You catch on pretty quick, flyboy." Sidewinder smiled. "I'm sorry Captain…?"
"Armbruster." Ace offered a hand. "Most of my teammates call me Ace." Sidewinder shook his hand. "This is First Sergeant Hauser, better known as Duke. We're from the G.I. Joe team. We'd like to talk to you for a few minutes."
Sidewinder looked at them. "Are you serious? Who put you up to this?"
"This is no joke, Captain." Duke spoke sternly. He handed her a file folder "Read'em and weep. You've just been reassigned." Sidewinder took the file from Duke and read it. She read the file and looked up. She couldn't believe her luck. This was the next step up for her. She wanted off of this base and was looking forward to being the best of the best. She closed the file and handed it back to Duke.
"I have a couple of questions. First, can I let my father know of my reassignment?"
Duke shook his head no. "You can let him know that you're moving to Fort Wadsworth and will be doing some test flights there. You can't mention that you're joining the Joes."
"Okay, that's fair. You guys are coverts, I know that." Sidewinder agreed. "Secondly, when can we leave? The sooner I'm away from here, the happier I'll be."