Again, I do not own GI JOE, nor any characters therein, excepting my own.
My thanks to those who have reviewed this story so far. As for your question, you'll see soon enough, maybe next chapter.
Thursday
Sergeant Jeffers felt at peace. He was currently sitting on the roof of the two story barracks that housed Gamma squad and watched the sunrise. This was part of his morning routine and he had missed it yesterday due to being in the brig, however, he was enjoying it now.
The sound of boots on gravel drew his attention to General Hawk walking toward the barracks. As nimble as a cat, he unfolded his legs and dropped over the edge. He gripped the now empty flagpole and slid down to the ground just as Hawk reached the bottom of the steps that led to the door.
"General." Jeffers said as he snapped to attention.
Hawk barely hid the surprise from his face as he turned to face his nephew.
"Just came by to advise you that your transport will be ready in three hours."
"Thank you, sir." Jeffers said. "I was wondering if I could make a personal request, sir."
"Certainly." Hawk crossed his arms.
"Saturday, Gamma squad is participating in a war games against Alpha squad, and, based on past performance Gamma will lose…"
"Unless you participate." Hawk finished.
"Yes, sir."
"And you wish to participate just so the Gamma's can chalk up a victory." It wasn't a question.
"That is correct, sir."
Hawk thought for a moment. "Tell you what. I would normally deny the request, but seeing as how you've already participated in strategizing for the games, I'll allow it. We'll get you back here tomorrow night to participate Saturday. But, now you need to pack your gear and prepare for dust off." He turned and walked away.
"Thank you, sir." Tom waited until after the general had taken eight or nine paces before jogging up the steps and entering the barracks.
As he passed the squad's war room, he overheard Lieutenant Harris going over the strategy with another soldier.
"What makes this years war game so different than any other?" The soldier asked. "We're gonna get our asses kicked, like last year, if not worse, thanks to Jeffers."
Tom stepped into the room. "Because this year I'm participating. They know your strategy because you don't change it. They know how you'll react because you react the same every year. But, they don't know me, or how I'll react. That's got them in a tizzy right now. They'll be even more cautious, because I'm the wild card that can trip them up. We can use that to destroy them."
"But because of what you did to Hicks, not saying that he didn't deserve it, but because of that, they'll be even more anxious to kick our asses." The soldier, one Corporal Henderson, said.
"The more anxious they are, the more mistakes they'll make." Tom said. "When you're in a fight, you fight smart, not pissed." He walked up to the table and looked at the map. He studied the position they'd been assigned. According to the topography, it was the mouth of a large valley. "Look, they'll send 80 of their force right down the middle, anticipating that they'll bully they're way through the line. They'll send 5 of their force over each hill," he pointed to the areas on the map, "in an attempt to outflank us and get our flag because they believe that you'll put all of your troops on the line to stop the 80 from going through."
Harris was starting to get red in the face. "And how do you know this?'
"Because you do the same thing every year." Tom stared at the man. "Honestly, man, don't you ever learn from your mistakes?"
"This is my first year commanding the war games, Sergeant." Harris said, emphasizing the rank.
Tom ignored it. "But, it's not your first time getting your ass kicked by the Alphas."
"What about the other 10?" Henderson asked.
Tom turned to look at the man.
"You said 80 down the middle, and 5 around our flanks. That's 90. Where are the other 10?"
"Guarding their flag, in case you guys get a set of balls and make a run for it. Unless, I've pissed them off to the point that they forego all common sense, in which case they'll, either send 90 down the middle, or they'll send 10 around each flank."
"And how do you propose that we counter-act these scenarios?" Harris asked.
Tom smiled. "I actually do have a plan or two."
He quickly outlined a couple of ideas that he had, and the three men spent the next hour and a half fine-tuning each plan. Afterwards, Tom broke off to go pack his gear.
Shortly after Tom had stowed his gear by the barracks door, and he returned to the war room, a jeep pulled up to the barracks and the driver honked the horn.
"Well, my rides here, but I'll be back tomorrow night to finalize everything." Tom said as he exited the room. He picked up his duffle bag and opened the door. As he tossed his bag in the back of the jeep, he noticed that Scarlett was in the driver's seat.
"Scarlett." Tom said as he slid into the passenger's seat.
"Sergeant." She gunned the engine, threw it into gear and tore off for the airstrip. "You ready for this?"
Tom shrugged. "Just another assignment for me to screw up. They should've just discharged me yesterday and saved themselves the trouble."
Scarlett frowned. "What makes you think that you're going to screw up?"
"Just look at my record?" He said. "I've been in the Corps over 10 years. In that time, I've been brought up on charges six times for assaulting a superior officer, et cetera, I've been bounced from base to base so much, I don't bother unpacking anymore. I've had nine base assignments. But every time, I do something that strokes someone's ego the wrong way and I get bounced. I feel like a damned ping pong ball."
"Actually I have looked at your record. So have Duke and General Hawk. We've seen everything you just told me. And I won't lie to you there are some huge egos on the team. But, I will tell you that no one will get pissed, like Hicks, and kick your ass if you beat them at something. It'll just light a fire under our asses to work that much harder." She slowed the jeep to a halt when they reached a C-20 Gulfstream aircraft. "If you hurt someone's feelings by being better than them at something, anything, than they don't deserve the post their in."
Tom hopped out of the jeep and grabbed his duffel bag from the back. "We'll see." Was all he said.
Standing by the steps leading up into the jet was Hawk talking to a man that Tom didn't know. As they approached, Scarlett greeted the man.
"Ace." Scarlet said. "Good to see you."
"Scarlett." The brown haired man lifted his hand to receive a high-five from the red-haired woman. He turned his attention to Tom. "And you must be Sergeant Jeffers." He stuck his hand out.
Tom shook the man's hand. "I see my reputation proceeds me."
"Absolutely." Ace smiled. "A few years before I was recruited to the Joe's I ran this exact same obstacle course and was lucky to have finished it. Hawk tells me that you finished it in a minute ten. I'm impressed."
Tom shrugged. "It was nothing special."
"Nothing special?" Ace laughed. "When I'd heard what you did, I had Breaker get a copy of the surveillance tape and it's making its rounds around the base."
"Where can I stow my gear, sir?" Tom asked Hawk, clearly embarrassed by the praise coming from the pilot.
"I'll show you." Hawk led the way up the steps into the jet.
The interior of the jet was beige with three rows of seats, one seat on each side of the main aisle. Behind the third set of seats stood a door.
"In there, soldier." Hawk said, pointing at the door.
"Thank you, sir." Tom walked toward the door.
"Any time you're ready, Ace." Hawk said as Scarlett and Ace climbed into the jet.
"Yes, sir." The pilot responded as he went through a door into the cockpit.
After getting clearance from the tower and filing their flight plan, Ace eased the jet onto the concourse and accelerated to take off speed. Once in the air, Haw turned his char around to face Jeffers.
"First things first, Sergeant." Hawk said. "While on base I am not your uncle, I am your superior officer. I know, from both your record and correspondence with the family, that you have issues with authority figures, but let me make one thing clear. By accepting this transfer, the only way out is imprisonment in Fort Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, or a body bag. Am I clear so far?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. I'm sure you have questions, so go ahead."
"Sir, Ace made mention of 'the Joes'. What is he talking about?"
"He means G.I. Joe. A code name given to an elite troop of men and women whose sole purpose is to fight terrorism anywhere it is found. Our chief threat comes from a terrorist organization called Cobra. It's a ruthless organization that will do anything, and everything, it can to destroy freedom and conquer the world." He motioned to Scarlett.
She touched a button on the armrest of her seat and screen positioned to the right of the cockpit door lit up and the lights in the cabin dimmed. The screen showed a battle between, what he would assume to be, Joe forces and Cobra forces.
"As you can see, they're every bit as determined as we are." She hit another button. The battle disappeared and a head shot of someone wearing a blue cloth hood bearing a stylized cobra head on the forehead. "This is Cobra Commander, former leader of Cobra, now barely recognized as a member of the group."
"Former leader?" Tom asked. "Who's the leader now?"
"I'll get to that." She hit another button, Cobra Commander's picture vanished and was replaced by that of a man wearing a shiny metal mask that covered his entire head. "This is Destro. He supplies arms and technology to Cobra. He's also the brains behind several of Cobras more diabolical devices." A picture of a dark haired woman wearing glasses replaced Destro's. "This is Baroness. We're not really sure of her purpose within Cobra except to serve as Destro's plaything. But, don't underestimate her. She's every bit as ruthless and murderous as the rest of the top echelon." Her picture was replaced by a man wearing a cobra hood with green snakes on either side of his neck. "Finally we have Serpentor, the current leader of Cobra. It is rumored that Dr. Mindbender created Serpentor using strands of DNA from several of the world's most fanatical rulers: Genghis Kahn, Julius Cesar, and Attila the Hun, just to name a few."
"So these are a bunch of bullies with the vision and the means to rule the world." Tom said frankly.
"Absolutely." Hawk replied as the monitor clicked off and the cabin lights were brought back to norm.
Tom smiled. "Good. When do I start?"
Hawk looked at his watch. "You started twenty minutes ago when we took off."
Tom settled back in his seat and closed his eyes.
Deep within the Bayous of Louisiana, a man paced back in forth in front of a wooden table. Surrounding the table were a group of people that did his bidding, as long as he paid them. Never mind that two of the people were his siblings, he hated them all and would leave any of them behind to save his own ass.
"Where is he?" The man's voice sounded almost hollow, even to his own ears.
"Calm down, Brother dear," The man's sister tried soothing him but her Cockney accent was grating his nerves more than usual.
"Shut up, you pink haired twit." He said. He turned back toward the communications array that he had set up. "He was supposed to check in hours ago." He thundered at the device. Just as the echo of his outburst died down, the device started beeping. He snatched up the headset and slapped it on. "You're late." He bellowed into the mic. "I don't care about your excuses." He listened for a minute. "Really?" He started to smile. "Very interesting." His expression turned serious. "I don't care if they do catch you, if you want your money, you'll stay put and do as your told." With that Zartan of the Dreadnoks disconnected the communication and removed the head set.