Welcome back, again i don't own GI JOE, Hope you enjoy
A old beat up yellow VW bug pulls up to a full service gas station in Springfield Missouri. A woman gets out with ripped jeans and a grey hoodie. She stretches and cracks her neck. She pulls a bubble gum pack from her pocket and puts two pieces in her mouth. She chews for a half a minute before ringing the bell. A nice young gentlemen comes out in pressed uniform. He has a big smile and perfect white teeth. "Howdy Ma'am. I'm Fred, how may I serve you?"
"Well aren't you the most charming welcome I've ever had. Fill her up and whole nine yards." The woman spoke with a slight New York accent and warm smile.
"Right away Ma'am." The service man went right to it. She looked around smacking her bubble gum loud. On the wall of the gas station giant letters spelling ARBCO, all the way down it.
She sighed with relief inside, she finally made it. She had to ditch two GI Joe tales on her. She knew Dusty would understand, but Beach Head was going to be pissed. She felt sorry for Dusty riding back to base with the grumpy Ranger man. She pulled her hoodie back and let her long hair come out. She had dyed it blonde after letting it grow out. It had been almost a year since Flint died in her arms. She hadn't cut it since that day. She only dyed it after giving Beachhead the slip. She knew Scarlett didn't leak her plan, and Storm Shadow had too much honor to betray Scarlett's trust. It had to be Psyche Out. She must have failed the psyche evaluation, or they knew she wouldn't let this go.
"Ma'am, you there? You okay?" The service man interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh yes, I'm good. Just the breath taking mid west. I'm from New York. All city to this, just breath taking." She covered with a lie.
"Yes Ma'am it sure is. Will that be cash or charge?" The man asked.
"Cash dear and keep the change." She hands the man some cash. Then gets in and drives on into town.
In a garage across town two men look at a car and both shake their heads. Each having a blank stare as they look at the car. The first one just laughs, "Yo dawg it was your idea, let's be auto mechanics. That'll be a great cover. A younger kid came out early twenties.
"Yo grumpy and grumpier i got this. This is why you sprung me from prison. To fix cars." The young man went to work right away while the other two still looked baffled. They walked to the front room at the shop and saw no customers waiting.
"My Cousins working out isn't he Noah? Don't lie." Carter (two four six) said as he did a small victory dance.
"He's good. You win Carter. The kids been able to help keep our cover while we prepare. Just when the fighting starts he dips out." Noah said as he took a sip of the diet soda he was nursing on the counter. He made a face after, "still can't stand that crap."
Carter's cousin comes walking in from the back small dance in his step, "mmm the honey that just walked in. Good lord it's my day. She may be wearing a hoodie but daddy can tell there's more then meets the eye. She drove her lil VW around back. I need one of you to start paperwork, but I call dibs." He made a motion that he's watching the other two as the three walked to the back. She was bent over with the hood up fiddling with something in the trunk of the bug. Her cut off jeans was making Carter's cousin lose his focus as well as Carter now. Carter slugged his cousins arm and whispered, "dibbs denied."
She turned around chewing her gum loud, "I heard you guys are the best shop in town."
"You better believe it miss...?" Carter's asked as charming as he could. That's when she locked eyes with Noah. They both knew at the same time, it only took nanoseconds for the two to have guns drawn. Carter pushed his cousin behind one of the giant tool racks and threw a screw driver at the automatic controls release button dropping the garage doors traping them all in the garage bay.
After some silence Jaye starts, "You havn't shot?"
"Neither have you, so your not here to kill me." Noah answered.
"I need your help in killing Cobra Commander, Scrap Iron and Black out. Why havn't you shot?" Jaye asked.
"Too noisy it'll blow our cover." Noah answered as he lowered his gun. "Scrap Iron's dead by your sniper."
"Nope just seriously wounded." Noah motioned to Carter, and he pushed his cousin in the next room. He cousin went reluctantly.
Jaye put her gun away, "Got anything to drink?" With a half smile.
Noah shook his head, "First rule, you're sober."
Jaye scowled for a second, "How about water?" Noah went to the mini fridge and passed her a bottle.
"What's the story with you and the Joes?" Noah inquired trying to size his potential ally.
"AWOL. I gave them the slip before coming here. You are hard to find by the way. Taking the name William and living under his nose." Jaye said as she sipped her water.
"How did you find me?" Noah asked suspiciously.
"Storm Shadow." Jaye said plainly. Noah nodded. He looked her over. This wasn't the Lady Jaye he knew. He could see the same vengeance in her eyes that he carried.
"You're one of the best the joes have to offer, I'd be a idiot to turn you down. But it's my rules." Noah stated.
"Agreed on one condition, I get the kill shot." Jaye's eyes said it all. Noah nodded in agreement. Carter came running in from the front with his cousin ordered the younger man into a panic room.
"We got Vipers incoming. Two jeeps just pulled up, three vipers in each, in their civilian security uniforms. One of them is a Officer." Carter said quickly.
Noah looked at her car, "Did you stop for gas at the full service pump?"
"Yes, there's not a chance he made me." Jaye got defensive.
"No but you are a stranger and he bugged your car, they bug all strangers who come through town. Once in town you came straight here and stopped. So far I've stayed off their radar, but an out of town visitor. That raises a red flag. Follow our lead, and hope this works out." Noah said softly. Soon three vipers walked through the back doors rifles up. The Officer wasn't there which meant he was in the front office or still outside. Noah stepped forward, "How can I help you fine gentlemen." The lead of the three stepped forward; he had stripes on his vest. Noah had to stop himself from calling the man by his rank. The lead Viper looked around, "William right? Moved to town near what six months back?"
"Names Willy, but it's been little over nine months now." Noah answered keeping his tone steady.
"Alright we are just doing a random inspection. It was in the ARBCO lease agreement, remember." The man said smirking as the other two laughed. Noah had grown out his beard and shaved his head bald. He dyed his beard and eye brows to age himself. The Vipers wouldn't easily recognize him.
"I remember, read that agreement front and back. Please look around, can offer you fella's a drink as well?" Noah kept the man's attention.
The Viper shook his head, "I don't recognize the broad. I'd definitely recognize her if I saw her before." Noah held in his laugh as Carter didn't. The Viper turned quick, "we have a problem here."
"No sir, just for a girl like that you need a better pick line." Carter said
"Or tinder." Jaye cut in. Noah and Carter almost fell over.
"Me and Willy met on Tinder, he's my little wet Willy." Jaye said in a puppy voice pointing at Noah as she smacked her gum.
Noah shrugged, "Man has needs."
"Enough, we're done here. Have a good day." The lead Viper said as they left. After five minutes Noah looked at Jaye, "Well."
"Like you said I'm one of the best." She took joy in how much that little stunt agitated Noah.
"Look at the little puppy he's all..." Carter stopped once he saw Noah's face. Noah walked towards the front to make sure the Vipers left.
Jaye whistled as she pulled her bag out of the car. Carter looked over as she shook her head, "Does he ever turn off. Stay sober, what's his deal?"
"He can't, last time he turned off he put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Luckily I had already removed all the firing pins from his guns. He was pissed, but once he sobered he thanked me." Carter said as he motioned his cousin out of the panic room.
"He did what?" Jaye asked stunned
"What do you expect? He found out he was a clone, the earliest real thing was his wife leaving him for his XO. His mother was a fraud. Zarana expects him to betray Cobra but he's been brain washed years ago and couldn't if he wanted to. Then Vypra gets killed. My boys been to hell. He's just finding his way back."
"Then I'm at the right place. Two through hell survive better then one." Jaye nodded and pulled her flask out and threw it in the trash. "Sober. Tell me you guys got caffine."
"Yeah in the mini fridge it's diet cola. Part of the cover." Carter smirked as Noah came walking out. He opened the panic room and pulled out two weapon cases.
"Carter we can't afford it to be here any more. We knew it was a risk being here, but I got a feeling." Noah said opening the cases.
"Son of a gun. Yo cuzz, pack up everything you need. I know these feelings, the DeCainne feeling. Everything goes to hell once after, it's like fates early warning system. Were we meeting?" Carter asked.
Noah stopped, "We arn't. Get your cousin under ground as well as your mom. If they figure out it's us here you know that they'll go after her to get to you. They'll be looking for you and me together. Email me once you're settled in, go ahead and take the money from the garage. I'll set charges to burn my house and the garage to kill evidence. You do the same to yours and then run. You're all the family I got left."
Carter nodded, "It ain't fair bringing my momma into this dawg. But I hate when you're right. Fine, I'll be your eye in the interwebbed sky. Take care my brotha." They exchanged a quick hug then Noah motioned to Jaye, "Throw your bag in my jeep out back and help me with this case." They loaded up the Jeep and Noah said his good byes again. Then he drove off with Jaye leaving the bug there.
During the drive Jaye asked, "What's the plan?" Noah stayed quiet for a bit. Then finally he answered, "Infiltrate a Cobra base, find their locations. Then end it." It strained him to finish the last part. "It's a good thing you're here. I not might be able to pull the trigger. You can, and if my programming kicks were I can't control it, I'll fight it. That should give you long enough to kill me too if needed." He was straight faced saying it. Jaye nodded and stayed silent. It was what she wanted, a shot at Cobra Commander and this ex Alley Viper was the best shot, programming or not. They pulled up to a small house. There was no garage but it had two bed rooms and one and a half baths. It looked warm on the outside, but once inside it was cold. There was little to no furniture, a small twin bed in each room.
"You're welcome to what ever in the fridge you want. I'm grabbing my go bags and then setting charges." Noah said as he went running through the house.
"You forget in GI Joe, that you guys are human too under all that Cobra armor. You guys have families and homes for some of you. There's always so many of you it feels like we are fighting an unending line of cloned storm troopers of the empire, just a bunch of..." She paused before she finished. He came out of one room then into the other silent. Jaye began to kick herself, she needed this to work. She didn't want to sabotage it already.
"Don't go soft on me Jaye, I need that anger and coldness. We both need it otherwise we might as well quit now. I don't expect us to be all chummy and friends now. I'm built tougher then some words." Noah called from the other room.
Jaye agreed, "Don't worry I got plenty of hate." She continued to look out the window. The sun was just setting and neighbors were getting home. It seemed so surreal to her. It also made her angry, they had their happy little families and she didn't.
"All these people are Cobra?" She asked out loud. It was mostly rhetorical.
"They don't know it. They have no idea ARBCO is a Cobra front. To them it's like a local Wal-Mart or something. It's how he likes it, he's an manipulator. He's a lot smarter then you all give him credit, then most of Cobra high command gives him credit for. It's all a act. How do you think he's still in charge? Not even the great Destro has been able to beat him." Noah answered. Jaye nodded and stayed quiet. She never looked at it that way before. Noah gave her a lot to think on. She was almost lost in thought when she out the corner of her eye two shadows near the fence going for the side of the house. She ran to Noah then in a whisper, "we got two bodies on the side of the house."
"Their not alone, they will hit quietly. They won't want to make a scene. Neither do we." He whispered back and slipped her Beretta 9mm with a silencer. She checked the mag then slid it back in. He pulled a black shield from the closet and his night stick. He motioned her to the side bedroom and he took the back with the kitchen. The kitchen was a dinning room combination. His table was three in half feet wide. It was four feet long with a table cloth that touched the floor. He slide underneath and waited.
Jaye went to the closet next to the window and cracked it. Then slide under the bed. The room was pretty bare; she heard the latch on the window get undone from the outside. The window slide open and a shadow climb in. Once in the Viper pushed the drape aside and scanned the room not seeing any one. He motioned the second one in. As the second climbed in the first noticed the cracked door. He motioned his fellow viper. They were in the security clothes from earlier, same black tactical pants. The same light body armor over a black t shirt it had a big white ARBCO across it. They swung the door wide with guns aimed at the closet. A loud crash came from the kitchen followed by a burst of a silenced semi automatic. Jaye could hear the bullets rip through the wall. Then shortly soon after she heard a man screamed out. The two vipers went to move to the hall way when Jaye swung her hand out enough and fired two shots. Blood splattered the wall like a bad gag on a nickelodeon show from the head wounds on the two Vipers as the both fell dead. Jaye slipped out and check the window, saw it was clear then headed for the kitchen.
Noah waited under the table, he heard them lock pick the door them open it. He could see four legs enter and that's when he lifted the table and using it he slammed the two vipers against the wall. One of the Vipers tried to get his hand around the table and squeezed the trigger of his SMG. The bullets sprayed the wall. Noah dropped the table then jabbed his night stick into one of the Vipers neck pulling the taser trigger and shocked him. The man screamed as he fried. He quickly passed out cold. The second Viper raised a shotgun to Noah's head. A quick kick to the man's knee caused him to go down. Noah overtook him and his shot gun, ripped it from his hands and punched him with the edge of the alley viper shield on his arm. The Vipers nose erupted in blood spray. Another punch dropped the man.
Jaye entered the room quickly bringing her gun up, she fired two shots past Noah. The flash of a gun barrels gave away more Vipers. They heard grunts from the recipients of the shots. Noah quickly ran after Jaye grabbing her and using his shield to cover them as multiple rifles opened fire. It was tight and close behind the shield, their legs and arms were semi exposed. The Viper's outside nicked the two a few times. Noah pushed him and Jaye into the living room abandoning the kitchen. The rifles pushed this from a quiet encounter to a full blown fight. Noah held his shield at the doorway while Jaye ran for a weapon. She found him SMG and brought it over. She tapped his shoulder then set the barrel on it as Noah dropped to a knee. He became her portable cover as she fired back. Once the gun fire stopped being returned Noah lobbed a grenade for certainty and they ran for his jeep.
"You drive, I'll shoot. You know the town." Jaye said as she jumped in the shot gun seat. Noah nodded and kicked the Jeep into gear. They sped off before he began dialing on his phone.
"Hey middle of car chase, hands on the wheel." Jaye shouted. After Noah hit the send button and the house blew up. He threw the phone out the car and they sped off. Once Jaye believed no one was following, she climbed up front with Noah. The sun still hadn't risen. The morning air was cool and refreshing. Though the quiet of the drive was driving Jaye up the wall. "Can I put on some music, this silence is...uh. I just, can't do it." He nodded and she found a jazz station. She turned to Noah as they drove, "Until today I have always hated those Alley Viper shields. Now they have earned my respect." He just smirked. After a hour of driving they pull into a gas station. He motions Jaye to stay put. She shrugs and he walks in to the station.
Noah found the clerk, "how you doing? That security system looks new? Did the big man swing for digital cameras too?"
"Nah he's a cheap bastard still on tape. What can I get for you?" The clerk responded. Noah pulled out his night stick from the back of his pants and immediately tasered the man. He hit the floor out cold. Noah next grabbed his keys and found the office in the back and stole the security footage. He walked back up front then robbed the cash drawer. He looked and saw an. Ram hemi filling up and turned the pump off from the register. It only takes a few minutes for the driver to come in angry. He caught a night stick to the face. He went down hard with blood coming down his face and looked up, "What the hell?"
"The only reason you are alive is the woman outside. I need her help and I think she's against cold blooded killing." Noah said as he hit him again knocking him out.
He reaches down grabs his keys and flips the pump back on. He moves and grabs a plastic bag filling it with Gatorade and water. He also bagged up some snacks then walked out to the truck and throws them in. Then he motions Jaye over to the truck. He grabs the weapons trunk and moves it over. He pours gas all over his jeep after he finishes filling the truck. Then throws a grenade in it and blows it sky high. They drive off in the truck heading west. Jaye finally breaks the9 silence, "what's west?"
"A cobra satalite installation. It'll be keyed into their network. With it Cobra Commander's private server." Noah said smirking.
"Now that sounds like a plan." Jaye finally grinned.
A week later and two car changes later they pull up to a mountain road in the San Bernardino mountains in California. They got out, Noah first with Jaye following. They looked over a small valley, on the souther side a number of mirrors were set up. They had metal wires tethering all the satalites together like a giant web. It was a sight to see. Jaye shook her head, "how the hell do you guys build something like this with no one knowing?"
"Fear and black mail. Some paid off, others were killed. It's the Cobra way." He answered. He pulled a trunk and opened it. His Alley Viper gear was
inside. He began to slide it on and get dressed. Jaye looked over, "i thought that was damaged badly last we met?"
"True that set was, I had a new one commissioned." He answered as he finished getting dressed.
Jaye nodded, "intel said you were in good with Destro." He smirked. Jaye put on a vest and armed herself with a M4 and .40 semi automatic hand gun. She slid the Glock into his holster and saw Noah shake his head, "what?"
"I prefer 1911's, just me though." He smirked. She blew him off being a smart mouth. But she noticed he was actually being friendly. She shook her head, friendly with a Alley Viper, who would have thought.
It was early morning when they made their move. They crept along the hill making their way down slowly. They saw a couple troopers on guard duty. Noah slipped his gun to his back and drew his night stick. Jaye switched to her hand gun and screwed in its silencer. Noah took a running start and caught the first one off guard. His night stick cracked hard over the man's head. He instantly blacked out. Jaye put a bullet through the other ones neck below his helmet. Noah snapped his neck so he didn't bleed out slowly. They quietly continued staying out of sight of the cameras. They reached the door, Noah punched in a code. The door opened.
Jaye stopped, "they don't rotate their codes?"
"Not the command codes, that was a override code televipers use to back door security." They entered slowly, passing a ready room. A number of troopers where in there. Some where changing others sleeling, a total of seven of them. Noah motioned her still, these where off duty. That meant at least seven on duty. There is never this many. He checked his SMG, then slipped a flash bang into the room.
As the grenade went off he flipped his visor down and turned the corner. The disorientation troopers didn't have a chance. A barrage of three round bursts erupted from Noah's gun. Each burst dropped another unprepared trooper. Jaye turned the corner and let her M4 do the talking. She worked her way across the room right to left. Noah's target seemed sporadic at first but then she realized he was gunning them down by threat level and rank. As the last one went down the alarm went off. They could hear the boots running after the alarm. Jaye pulled a claymore out and set it up quickly. Then they ran for cover. The door opened and triggered the claymore, shrapnel sprayed forward ripping chunks of wall, door and flesh.
The screams were louder then the alarm. Noah came out first, gun up he began to finish the survivors. Jaye followed until some one fired back using a high caliber rifle. The shot nicked her side. Both took cover positions while a few more shots rang through. He took a quick look, it wasn't the troopers. The shots came from the end of the corridor. He heard a shout, "So the infamous Alley Viper. People wondered where you went. I'm going to collect big." The female voice was cold, unnerving. He recognized it, Munitia. He motioned to Jaye to stay. He didn't say a word, her voice rang out again, "where are you traitor, don't tell me you ran." He whispered to Jaye, "When have the shot take it." He turned the corner and ran down the corridor with his shield up. The first shot stopped him for a second. It dented the shield, he started running again. The next shot didn't stop him. It dented the shield again.
"Whose the girl your with now? Is she going to die too?" Munitia yelled out as she fired again. Jaye got a sight finally by the muzzle flash. She lined up her M4, and switched on her hybrid holographic sight. She exhaled and squeezed, Munitia screamed as the bullet grazed the side of her head. Her calm and cool nature finally broke. She went to run but as she turned she saw a fragmentation roll next to her feet. It went off as she tried to clear. Her body flew up and spun mid air like a rag doll before it flopped to the ground. Noah dropped the grenade key to the ground. Jaye ran to catch up, he put his fist up for a fist bump. She looked at his odd then finally bumped it. Noah started walking down the corridor, "She ran with Black Out and Firefly. Even rumored to be sleeping with Black Out, supposedly meant more to him then her. At least I hope so. They left Munitia and a squad of troopers to guard a communications hub. Something's really off." Noah said.
"One of those famous gut feelings?" Jaye asked smiling at Munitia's burnt corpse. "It wasn't one of ours Flint but it's a beginning." She whispered
They reached end of the hall, Noah turns the alarm off. He shakes his head, "Not like a bad gut feeling, more like I'm missing something." He see's an elevator and looks odd. "The control tower is upstairs but this goes downstairs. There isn't supposed to be down stairs in the communication relays." Jaye raised her rifle as he used the Tele-Viper's code. It opened, they entered. He changed mag's for a fresh one. They hit down button, it went down quickly. His shield up as it stopped, Jaye and he took a formation stance. The door opened to find a bunch of Cobra techs standing in lab coats waiting. Most were armed with hand guns, a couple holding keyboards as weapons. Noah laughed till he saw Dr. Knox. She froze in fear when she saw his black armor. "Oh God it's One Eight Eight." She slipped out. The techs reacted in fear when the heard the number identification. A few techs just put their guns down and kneeled with hands over their head. Noah stood up, and took aim.
"One Eight Eight, think carefully. I can help you...I can-" She pleaded. He just smirked and fired. The three rounds cleared her skull. She hit the ground limp.
"Unless you want to join her, start talking. What is this place and have you called for back up?" Noah shouted. The techs frazzled, most shaking.
One finally stepped forward, "it's the staging ground for Cobra's new orbital weapon. The reinforcements are thirty minutes out."
"Jaye call the Joes, we don't have enough time to destroy this place and I wanna hurt commander any way I can." Noah said as he rounded up the techs. One tried to resist and he shot him. The others didn't need any more motivation. Jaye run up to the computer and began downloading to her external hard drive as she was scanning the cobra network for their targets. She smiled when she found them, "Got you bastards!" She saw the targeting controls and realized the weapon was armed. She was about to use the weapon on Springfield but remembered that Noah said not all knew about cobra. So she set the weapon to fire on the facility in thirty minutes. She ran over to Noah who finished locking the techs up in a closet.
"We gotta run. I set the weapon to fire, here."
"Ah damn." He said as they ran for the elevator. Once they got up they ran pass the dead troopers to the parking lot. He saw a Cobra Vamp parked and threw his gear in the back and jumped in. He found a set of keys in the bill fold. Jaye slid in, "Go Go Go!" He kicked it into gear, not looking back.
A few miles outside they base they pulled over, Noah pointed the front of the VAMP so they could see. They watched as the Cobra reinforcements descended upon the facility from a Cobra air transport. The sky lit up, and there was covered in a blinding light. When the light faded, the plane was crashing into the ground onto the Cobra troops it just deployed. The Cobra facility was in ruins. Noah got out, he took his helmet and mask off. He left them in the cab. He sipped water leaning against the jeep he grinned watching the Cobra facility in ruins. Jaye slipped out and leaned next to him, offered her water for a bump, "A toast to the first strike?" Noah bumped her bottle with his, "Congrats on the first strike." He felt Jaye's head hit his shoulde, it damn near made him jump till he saw her face and then her side. He saw her wound and the blood. He helped her back to the Vamp and got her in her seat. She was fading in and out from blood loss. The last thing she remembered was Noah putting a compress on her wound, then the black of sleep.