The end of this chapter is a bit grim (Death), so skip the last section if you need to.

The briefing started at 1241 hours, in one of the most secure rooms of the underground bunkers.

"Cobra has Dr. Burkhart stashed on an island in the Caribbean," said Hawk. "We ran a Blackbird mission over it and shot this high resolution hologram." The hologram showed a small, rocky island. A large mountain peak, a village, a fort, and an airfield were visible, cutting out of the island's vegetation. "We're almost certain they're holding Burkhart in this old Spanish fort."

"Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, Hawk," said Stalker.

"There's a pulse Doppler radar on this mountain that can spot a hang glider clear to the horizon. Surface-to-air missile sites are all over the place. Cobra is prepared for anything. Getting in will be very hairy."

"Strength of garrison?" asked Scarlett.

"A full battalion- 1200 men. The perimeter is heavy with concertina wire, mines, tank traps and machine gun bunkers. Presence of high voltage cables means they've got a heavy generator, which could mean that the fencing is electrified."

"Sorry I asked."

"Grunt, Stalker and Short-Fuse! You will take out the airfield, tower and hangar, leaving one small aircraft intact. Flash and Breaker will take care of the radar. Mission supply will fix you up with some special 'black boxes.' Scarlett and Snake-Eyes will knock out the generator in the fort. Your objective is to clear the way for the secondary team that will actually storm the fort.

"This is the only known photo of Cobra Commander." Hawk switched on a display screen. Cobra Commander was dressed all in blue, draped in customary ornamental military garb. His head was concealed by a long blue hood, which displayed the stark red symbol of Cobra on the forehead.

"This is the Baroness." The baroness had long, dark hair, and sported round glasses. She wore a much simpler blue suit. "Don't ever turn your back on her, unless she's dead."

"Even then, I'd search her for grenades," said Stalker.

"We all know this woman," Hawk changed the display to show Dr. Adele Burkhart. "The media painted a pretty black picture of her, but inflammatory headlines help sell newspapers, right?"

"Hawk," said Short-Fuse, peeved, "Are you trying to tell me she ain't no traitor?"

"Calm down, Short-Fuse! We each took an oath to defend the constitution of the United States. That constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to disagree with the government."

Snake-Eyes tapped Scarlett on the shoulder, and signed a message. She translated, "Snake-Eyes is signally me that he wants to know: 'How can the rights of an individual compare to the safety of the entire world? Wouldn't a B-52 bombing raid solve this problem with less risk?"

"No!" Hawk exclaimed, "We're the good guys, remember? The island has a civilian population. Besides, it's not our job to judge Dr. Burkhart."

"What is our job?" asked Short-Fuse.

"We're soldiers. Our job is to follow orders. To do the impossible, and make it look easy."*

"I trust you are uncomfortable, Dr. Burkhart?" Cobra Commander addressed his prisoner at 1920 hours in his island lair**, "I admit the straps are excruciatingly tight. But they will prevent you from injuring yourself when we begin the 'information extraction' procedure. You are familiar with the rather disagreeable side effects of scapalomine and other so-called truth serums?"

"You'll never get a chance to use your filthy drugs on me," said Dr. Burkhart. "This whole island is going to be bombed off the map at any moment!"

"Really, Dr. Burkhart, who would do such a thing?"

Dr. Burkhart was handcuffed and restrained by metal locks to a chair in the middle of a room. The room's walls were covered with machinery and equipment, and it was filled with guards. The large symbol of cobra was plastered onto the back wall. Cobra Commander and the Baroness observed their prisoner.

"Who do you think?" asked Dr. Burkhart, aghast. "A government that would sponsor something as reprehensible as the doomsday project isn't going to think twice about vaporizing a whole island to preserve its precious secrets!"

"Doctor, this situation is far more complex than you believe. That which seems mindless is often precisely choreographed. Don't you agree, Baroness?"

Baroness was garbed in a more formal, Cobra-blue military uniform, "It's always best to let your opponents think they know what you're up to."

"Cobra Commander!" exclaimed a lackey of the Commander. He had on a strange technical headset. He saluted the commander, left fist over his chest and right hand flat in the air, "Radar has spotted a submarine on the surface, 20 miles north of the island! It was there just long enough to launch a small boat and landing party!"

"Excellent!" exclaimed Cobra Commander, "Dispatch two heavy weapons platoons to cover the north beach, and on their way, they can stop at the fishing village to carry out the 'contingency plan.' My dear Dr. Burkhart, you will soon see the distinct advantages of having no scruples whatsoever!"

The Joes approached the island by the north coast, at 2015 ours.

"Do you see anything through those image intensifiers, Grunt?" asked Scarlett.

"Yeah! I see another pair of intensifiers starin' straight back at me," said Grunt. His binoculars were much boxier and bulkier than the ones you'd purchase at Walmart. "Looks like Cobra is havin' a heavy hardware party on the beach, and we're the guests!"

The Joe's were all crammed onto the boat in full uniform and gear. Breaker was chewing on bubble gum, and made a bubble precariously close to Scarlett's long red ponytail, luckily without her noticing.

"Time for Stalker to put a rocket in his pocket and crash their bash!" said Short-Fuse, calm and relaxed.

"Ain't no lie, I love to fly!" said Stalker.

"Hurry up and strap on that Jump, Jet Mobile Propulsion Unit!" said Flash.

The Cobras on the beach were observing the Joes. They were in a fortified position, all artillery aimed at the incoming Joes.

"Another 50 yards and they'll be in range!" stated one Cobra, "Wait! Take cover! They've launched some sort of rocket at us!"

Stalker zoomed in with the Jump, dropping a grenade straight over their fortifications, "Say hey! Thought I'd drop by and liven up your party with some fireworks."

The large explosion alerted the Joes in the boat to open fire on the beach.

"Stalker's got them on the run!" exclaimed Grunt, "Gun that outboard! We're goin' in!"

Stalker flew after the fleeing flunkies of Cobra, who began to retreat. He pulled out his laser blaster and took aimed shots at them. "Don't leave!" he shouted, "You'll miss my grand finale. I whistle 'Stars and stripes forever,' while using this laser blaster to strafe the beach in time to the kettle drum parts!"

The Joes arrived on the now empty beach, and Stalker descended to the ground to greet them, "Looks like the party's over, gang! The hosts took their goodies and went home!"

"They'll be back, in force!" shouted Short-Fuse.

"Head for the tree line!" exclaimed Flash, "We've got to get into the jungle and under cover."

The Joes pulled their boat ashore and collected the rest of the gear. They trekked about a half-mile into the forest, to be safe from any prying eyes.

"There was nothin' in Hawk's plans 'bout bein' found out so early!" said Stalker. "Does that change anything, Flash?"

"Negative, Stalker!" Flash replied, pulling out his map of the island, "We proceed to our individual targets as planned."

"Hawk wasn't kidding!" exclaimed Short-Fuse, "This mission is so hairy it's got dandruff!"

The few surviving troops entered Cobra Commander's main hall, where Dr. Burkhart was being kept.

"Your troops turned tail and ran, Commander!" said the Baroness sternly, "The American intruder team escaped without a scratch."

"We were out-gunned, sir!" said one of the lackeys, "They had some sort of portable air support! We were completely surprised."

"Not as surprised as I," said Cobra Commander, "I hadn't expected any of you to survive! This G.I. Joe team is less efficient than I thought!"

"They're far too efficient for my taste!" said the Baroness. She gestured angrily towards Dr. Burkhart, "I say we kill the hostage now and send out fire teams to sweep the whole island!"

"No, my good Baroness." Cobra Commander left the room and ascended stairs to an observation pavilion, "That's exactly what they want us to do. This initial landing is a feint to draw my troops away from the force, so that they can set up for a heavy assault which will land on a closer beach."

Baroness followed Cobra Commander to the pavilion. Cobra Commander gestured to the courtyard, where the bulk of his forces stood prepared within the walls of the fortress. He continued, "We have Dr. Burkhart. Therefore, they must come to us, and when they arrive, they will find the fort at full strength!"

At 2045 hours, Breaker and Flash arrived at Cobra's radar site. It peaked out of the rest of the forest, on a small cliff. The main building was surrounded with electrical fencing, but this was of no concern to the two Joes.

"Breaker, what makes our mission-planning honchos," Flash dug with his spade, "So sure that this is the spot," Flash dug again, "Where the underground electrical cable runs."

"Simple, Flash," Breaker replied, digging alongside Flash, "This is an unmanned radar site. The power source and radar screens must be in the fort. Draw a straight line between radar and fort and you've got-" Breaker finished digging, and examined what he had hit, "Bad news. That's no cable! That's quarter-inch steel pipe!"

"Breaker, you may be a whiz with communication equipment, but otherwise you're a real dummy. The cable's inside the pipe."

"What do we do now? We're a thousand miles from the nearest acetylene torch! I don't even have my P-38, my G.I. can opener, with me!"

"Stand back, Breaker." Flash lowered himself to a knee, and aimed his rifle at the pipe. He put his visor down. "This will be real touchy. I can't be off by a hair. But anything a torch can do, my laser rifle can do better!" Flash shot the rifle, melting the pipe off but leaving the cables within completely intact.

"Flash, you have more nerve than brains! If you had severed that live cable, the whole mission would have been blown!"

"But I didn't," Flash raised his visor to examine the cable, "So tell me how these gadgets of yours work!"

Breaker popped some bubble gum, and set up his equipment to tap into the line, "We tap into this line and record a tape loop of their 'All Clear' signal. And then we play it back continuously. The 7th fleet could sail in and the Cobra radar scopes would show nothing but empty sea."

"Like I said, you're a whiz."

At 2050 hours, Scarlett launched a grappling hook to the parapets of the hook. It landed perfectly on the top, and she gave the line a tug to ensure it was secure. She and Snake Eyes began to scale the fort. At the second window they passed, they spotted the main room, and Dr. Adele Burkhart.

"There she is, Snake Eyes," whispered Scarlett, "That's Dr. Burkhart!"

Snake Eyes looked at Scarlett.

"You might not do much talking," she continued, "But I know what you're thinking. One well-placed shot and we could scrub this mission and be home free. But that's the easy way," the duo continued to climb the fortress to the top, "And if this job was supposed to be easy, G.I. Joe wouldn't have gotten it!"

At 2055 hours, some of the Joes crept through the woods towards the airfield.

"This is gonna be like shootin' ducks in a pond, Grunt," said Short-Fuse.

"I don't like it," replied Grunt, "It's too easy. What do you think, Stalker?"

"It stinks," said Stalker, "But no worse than the rest of this lousy mission."

At 2058 hours in the pentagon, the generals continued to discuss the ongoing mission. They were examining the map of the island, and the files of six Joes, with the names 'Hawk – Clayton M. Abernathy,' 'Grand Slam – James Barney,' 'Rock 'N Roll – Craig R. McConnel,' 'Zap – Rafael J. Melendez,' 'Steeler – Ralph W. Pulaski,' and 'Clutch – Lance Steinberg' written on them.

"This is the Hydrofoil LCT, Landing Craft Tank," said General Flagg, "That will land force two, the heavy assault team, on Cobra's island."

"There are only six men in that team," said General Austin, "Do you expect them to spearhead straight through the front door of the fort?"

"Yes, sir. Opposition should be minimal. The airfield diversion will bleed troops to the other end of the island."

"And if the diversion fails?"

"Our men are on their own, all the way."

At 2059 hours, 50 miles south of the island, aboard the Hydrofoil, Hawk observed through binoculars the location of Cobra's island.

"Hawk," asked the captain, "We're too far away to see anything. Why bother lookin'?"

"There's a fireworks display scheduled for that airstrip at 2100 hours!" he exclaimed, "And that's just about-"

At 2100, the Joes near the fortress made their move. Short Fuse readied his mortar.

Stalker glanced at his watch. "NOW!" he shouted.

"Drop it on 'em, Short Fuse!" exclaimed Grunt.

Short Fuse sent it off. It went high into the sky before landing, exploding three aircraft.

Grunt charged onto the airfield, "Stalker, lay down some cover fire as we make tracks!"

"You got it, Grunt!" Stalker said.

They cut through the airfield quickly, easily mowing down the enemy aircraft.

"I still think this was too easy!" said Short Fuse, running towards the other Joes once the path was clear, "They didn't even put up a fight!"

"I ain't gonna complain about it!" said Stalker.

But in the burning wreckage, Cobra's only casualties were stuffed scarecrows, made to look like the real deal from afar. At 2101 hours, observers of Cobra's forces carefully emerged from an underground bunker. They reported in what had happened, "Airstrip bunker team reporting! Everything is going according to plan! The intruders destroyed the dummy planes by mortar attack! One light aircraft left intact. Over."

At 2110 hours, Snake Eyes and Scarlett crept out of the shadows of the fort's roof. They knocked out the guard by the artillery, and descended down the stairs into the fort. In the hallway at the end, they silently dispatched another lackey. They continued to creep along, until Snake Eyes signaled for Scarlett to see inside one of the rooms, where two lackeys were manning computer equipment.

"Cobra Commander wants a constant radar check on the southern sea approaches," one said.

"Nothing out there for 150 miles, sir," the other replied.

Scarlett and Snake Eyes silently made it past the doorway without the cobras noticing.

At 2120 hours, near the fishing village, some of the Joes met up from their respective missions.

"Halt!" shouted Breaker, "Who goes there?"

"Stalker, Grunt, and Short Fuse," replied Short Fuse, "The airstrip's been neutralized."

"Ditto the radar!" said Flash.

"We still have an ambush to set up," said Stalker, "Let's go!"

At 2130 hours inside the fort, the Baroness petitioned Cobra Commander again to reason with her, "Commander, they've already destroyed the airstrip! And yet, you still refuse to kill the hostage! If you have a master plan, I demand to be informed of it!"

"Patience, Baroness," the Commander said.

"But Cobra's credibility is worthless unless we carry out our threat to kill her now!"

"Go ahead and get it over with!" exclaimed Dr. Burkhart, "I'm not going to help you anyway!"

"All in good time, Dr. Burkhart," said Cobra Commander, "One must defer pleasures if one wishes to savor them-"

One of his lackeys rushed in, "Commander! The G.I. Joe heavy assault team has landed!"

"Splendid!"

On the beach, a motorcycle, a tank, and a jeep rolled out of the Hydrofoil. Rock 'N Roll was on the motorcycle, Clutch and Grand Slam were on the jeep, and the rest rode with Hawk on the tank.

"Rock 'n Roll!" exclaimed Hawk, referring to the Joe, not the music, "Take the right wing! Clutch and Grand Slam, take the left!"

"We hear you, Hawk!" Clutch shouted.

"Steeler! You, Zap, and I are rollin' right up the middle!" The tank met a fence, which was easily rolled over. They continued to burst through Cobra's defenses.

"Fall back!" shouted one cobra, as they fled, "Nothing can stop them!"

One right on his heels replied, "They're smashing through the wire and breaking inside the perimeter!"

Rock 'N Roll jumped over the fence, and then straight over a foxhole the cobras had built. He engaged forces in the back with a machine gun attached to and operated via his motorcycle, "Get back, Cobra! Rock 'N Roll is here to stay!"

Meanwhile, Clutch was swerving the jeep all over the beach, steering clear of all shots Cobra made in his direction. Grand Slam asked, "Hey, Clutch! How is it that you always manage to swerve out of the path of the artillery shells?"

"I'd like to say it's skill and determination, Grand Slam," he replied, "But it's mostly stark fear and blind luck!"

At 2140 hours inside the Spanish fort Cobra was using, Snake Eyes and Scarlett found the generator room. They tossed in two grenades for good measure, causing a great deal of technical difficulties in the explosion.

From the main room, Cobra Commander observed the wreckage on a screen, "Their penetration team has just blown the main generators! Baroness, I believe it's time to fill you in on my game-plan."

"Do you plan to kill Dr. Burkhart now?" the Baroness asked in an almost pleading tone.

"No! 'Dr. Burkhart' is due at the airfield! Have a staff car and escort stand by to transport her."

At 2155 hours, an expensive car and two motorcycles sped out of the fort, Dr. Burkhart seated in the back.

The Joes arrived in the fishing village at 2200 hours to a grim sight.

"I-I don't believe it!" said Grunt in despair, "Cobra wiped out the entire village!"

Bodies sat slumped on porches, in doorways, and face-down on the ground. If not for the bullet wounds, they could have been mistaken for softly sleeping civilians.

"Women and kids," said Flash, "Everybody."

"They did it to keep them from helping us," said Short Fuse.

"It's our fault. If we hadn't come here-"

"Calm down, Flash!" said Breaker, "It's not our fault. But we should do the decent thing and bury them-"

"Wrong, Breaker!" said Stalker, "We're not buryin' anyone. No matter how innocent they were. We got an ambush to set! If we take time out to clean up this mess, we might as well call Cobra right now and tell 'em we're bugging out!"

*Larry Hama originally wanted this line to read as 'To do the unthinkable, and then be forgotten.' The editorial process changed this. It is up to the reader which interpretation to take.

**Reads as 'Cobra Island' in the comic, but the official Cobra Island will not be made until much later.