Chapter Nine

Revelations

"General Abernathy, welcome to my office."

"Bartell." Hawk entered the office slowly with a slight look of annoyance—after all, he had hoped to never have to see this man's face again, and he certainly didn't feel welcome. The office was a small, cluttered room, smothered with every award, no matter how insignificant, that the senator had been handed in his life. Doesn't this man know the meaning of humility? In stark contrast to Hawk's office, however, there were almost no photographs to look at; just a couple with Bartell standing next to some foreign leader who had a "Who the hell is this strange American?" look on their face. Nice.

"I asked would you like any coffee, General?"

"Hmm? Oh, uh, sure. Just black."

Bartell pressed the intercom button on his desk and leaned over, "Jennifer, two coffees, one black, and one my way."

"Yes, Senator."

Bartell smiled. "Sure is nice having a secretary. Don't you have one?"

Hawk shook his head. "Nah. Had one for a while, but I figured I've got enough skill to do the job, so why not save the tax-payers a buck or two?"

Frowning, Bartell leaned back in his chair. "General Abernathy, what the hell do you think you are doing?"

Hawk hadn't prepared for that question. "Excuse me?"

"You've spread the G.I. Joe team across the world in some vain attempt to catch Cobra anywhere and everywhere they should show their faces, am I right?" Bartell sneered. "That looks to me like an act of desperation."

Hawk leaned forward and pounded his fist down. "What would you have me do? Sit on my hands locked in some immature bureaucracy like all you time-wasters in Washington? The G.I. Joe team has grown to an enormous size, and I intend to use my assets rather than just point fingers at which ones I don't think are working hard enough."

The secretary, Jennifer, walked in with the cups of coffee, but at seeing how the two men in the room were simply staring at each other, she quickly set down the mugs and scurried out the door.

Clenching his hands on the edge of his desk, Bartell fought the urge to take a swing at the general. "Whether you approve of my methods or not, General Abernathy, I assure you I speak for your government when I demand that you change your tactics immediately! We are having a difficult time with this costly strategy of yours concerning spreading the Joe team across the globe. What if Cobra decides to use their nuke?"

Hawk sputtered a small laugh. "Senator, I've been fighting Cobra for over twenty-five years, and I can guarantee you that they are not planning to use that nuclear warhead, especially with Destro in command."

Lessening his grip on the desk, Bartell began to tap his fingers. "I sure hope you're right, General, for all of our sakes. But I have to demand that you start recalling your team. It's too many men, at far too high of a cost to the taxpayers."

Hawk frowned. "What kind of a moronic hypocrite are you? You come in here a week ago telling us to become assassins because Cobra is gaining too much support in the world. Now, after I start beating back that support you tell me we need to stop? What planet are you from?"

"I am from a planet that is so quick to jump from hating to supporting its criminals that it'll condemn its heroes for seeing past the deceptions of evil."

Hawk raised his eyebrows and took a second to cool off. "Deep words, Senator. Honestly, I didn't think you were capable."

Bartell gave an honest half-smile. "You don't become a United States Senator on good-looks alone. I know that I have been overbearing, but my intentions have been clean. I don't want you as an opponent, General Abernathy, but I need to know that you can follow orders. See it from my perspective. Cobra Commander finally stopped trying to conquer the world with brute force and was finding success. Then the best troops at my command disagreed with my strategy. It is a frightening idea."

Finally sipping the weak coffee, Hawk nodded. "Look, Bartell, I know that what Cobra is doing is tough to swallow, but look at it my way, too. A senator—that frankly my First Sergeant really hates—tells me to sniper Cobra Commander instead of using fair play. That's a lot to swallow in a very short amount of time."

"Okay, maybe the assassination was a little off-target, especially since the Joes didn't even get the shot, but it doesn't change the fact that your new tactic just won't work."

Hawk leaned forward, "But Senator Bartell, think about what it is doing to Cobra! If the United States of America can't afford a world-wide mission like this, then some little island nation of terrorists can't possibly foot the bill."

Sighing, the Senator took a sip of his coffee and looked back at the G.I. Joe Leader. "Okay, I'll give you three days. I'm not the only one getting itchy about the price, you know."

"Three days is just fine."

1.

Modern technology had its advantages. It was fast, slick, universal and fairly reliable. The problem was, when it crashed, it crashed hard.

Like today.

Duke stood in the Map Room of the PIT in almost complete darkness as Joe technicians frantically worked to restore the room's power. Was it a blown circuit? A broken power line? Nobody new for sure. The fact of the matter was that Duke needed his electronic map of the world up and running immediately, and his patience was wearing very, very thin.

"Mainframe, how much longer is this going to take? Should I step out for lunch?"

"No, sir. It won't take much longer. We've narrowed it down to—" Suddenly, the room's lights turned back on, and the map began filling with red and green dots again. "By Jove I think we've got it!"

Giving Mainframe only a nod of acknowledgement, Duke stepped closer to the large map and studied it. "Breaker, is the map working correctly? Why is there a loss marked for Paris?"

"Um…let me check." The Joe Communications Trooper started reading the information that once again poured across his computer-monitor's screen. "It appears that a group of Crimson Guardsmen had a shoot-out by the Eiffel Tower. Err…they are being treated as heroes by the French government, I'm afraid."

"What?" growled Duke. "Who the hell was assigned to Paris?"

"Uhhh…Lady Jaye, Beach Head, Leatherneck and Gung-Ho."

"A group of Joes with that much experience wouldn't be that sloppy. There has to be more to this story than meets the eye."

2.

Three hours ago:

Only the sounds of her boots tapping the marble floor echoed throughout the great cathedral. Its ghostly blue light seemed cold, but it was too awe-inspiring to condemn. Lady Jaye couldn't take her eyes off of the gothic beauty of Notre Dame, even with an annoying new sound stomping into the church.

"Nobody around here, LJ. Burp. Excuse me. I've walked around the perimeter and haven't seen a thing. Looks like—burp, excuse me again—that this was a wild goose chase."

Disgusted, Lady Jaye turned to scold her teammate Leatherneck, but gasped when she saw what he held in his hand. "A hot dog? You brought a hot dog into Notre Dame Cathedral? Have yee no decency?"

"Hey, I was hungry."

Lady Jaye grabbed him by the ear and pulled him towards the front doors. "And how the heck did you get a hot dog in Paris?"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! There was a guy down the street sellin' 'em. Let me go!"

Before the Joes reached the exit, a man-of-the-cloth walked up to them. "Are you done with your important work here?"

Lady Jaye quickly let go of Leathneck's ear and nervously smiled. "Yes, Father LaGuerre. Everything seems fine. I guess the tip we had about a possible Cobra attack was wrong. Thank you for your time."

The priest bowed, then frowned as he stood back up. "You brought a hot dog in here?"

Lady Jaye's face flushed red. "I'm sorry, Father, we were just leaving." She grabbed Leatherneck's arm, yanked him out of the cathedral and pulled him down the steps. "I canna believe you did that!"

Leathneck stuffed the hot dog in his mouth, then spoke as he chewed. "Me neither! Who'd a thought a guy could find a hot dog vender in Paris?"

Before she could scold him again, Lady Jaye's radio squawked. She quickly pulled it out and pressed the "Call" button. "Beach Head? Is that you? This is Lady Jaye, come in."

After a few moments, the radio squawked again. "Lady Jaye! This is Beach Head. We've got trouble. Get down to the Parc de Champs de Mars, quick! Cobra's—" With that, the radio went silent, and Lady Jaye couldn't get Beach Head back on the line.

"Okay, we've got to move!" ordered the Joe Covert Operations Trooper. She and Leatherneck ran over to their R.A.M. motorcycles, parked down the street and being watched by an unusually-friendly French policeman.

"Hey Lady Jaye!" called over Leatherneck as he pulled on his helmet.

"What?"

"How 'cum whenever we're in Europe you get that Irish accent back?"

"Just shut-up, okay?" As Leatherneck laughed, Lady Jaye rolled her eyes whispering to herself, "Flint, if it was your idea to send me to Paris with these guys, I'll kill ya."

The Joes jumped onto the R.A.M.s, waved merci to the policeman and took off for the Boulevard Saint German, the straightest shot they knew of to get to the Parc de Champs de Mars—home of le Tour Eiffel.

3.

Beach Head dropped to one knee as multiple gunshots flew in his direction. Careful to precisely aim his pistol, the Joe Ranger fired back at the man in the tan trenchcoat who shook violently, then fell onto his back.

Running up behind him, Gung-Ho looked across the Parc de Champs de Mars and squinted. "Do you see anymore?"

Beach Head stood up, pulled off his green ski mask and started tearing it into two long lengths. "No. But they're out there. We got shot at way too many times for it to be just the two people we've dropped so far."

"How's your arm?"

Beach Head looked at the blood oozing from the hole in his left bicep just above his elbow. "It hurts, but the bullet went through. I can still use it." He started wrapping the wound with the ski mask/bandage he had just made. Using his mouth, he tied a knot, then stood up, doing his best to hide his expressions of pain.

Screams started racing across the park from the Eiffel Tower. "I think we found 'em." said Gung-Ho. Nodding in agreement, Beach Head followed his teammate as they sprinted across the Parc de Champs de Mars.

Within fifty feet of the tower, the Joes could see a small group of well-armed and armored baddies aiming shooting their weapons at people around the Eiffel Tower. Those that didn't get shot were running from the scene with their arms in the air.

"Holy crap!" cursed Beach Head. "What the hell is going on here?"

As two more civilians fell to rampant gunfire, Gung-Ho holstered his pistol and pulled out his grenade-launcher. Beach Head did the same, except he pulled out his assault rifle.

But before the two Joes could open fire, some civilians ran towards the north side and threw off their long trenchcoats, revealing themselves to be Crimson Guardsmen in disguise. Whipping out Kalashnikov assault rifles, the Siegies fired at the armored attackers, taking them all down in less than a minute.

"I don't believe it!" gawked Gung-Ho.

"Never believe it when Cobra is involved." growled Beach Head as he pulled his teammate behind a car. "What is a bunch of Crimson Guardsmen doing around the Eiffel Tower right when a bunch of criminals decided to attack? This just doesn't feel right."

"Those Siegies still haven't seen us." pointed out Gung-Ho. "We could take 'em."

Watching the crowd swarm the Crimson Guardsmen, Beach Head shook his head. "Not a chance. Those scum balls just acted like heroes, and the people love 'em." After thinking for a few moments, the Joe Ranger looked back towards the tower and sneered. "But maybe we just need one of 'em."

4.

After about fifteen minutes, Crimson Guardsman Fred XXIV left the crowd of people and police now engulfing the base of the Eiffel Tower. It was an odd feeling to be surrounded by law enforcement—and be praised for being a part of Cobra.

French people. Weird.

But it fit in perfectly with Cobra Commander's "Save the World" scheme, which desperately needed a victory. Rumors were coming in that the police actions across the world were failing miserably because the G.I. Joe team was butting heads with Viper teams almost everywhere.

Even here. Thankfully those members of the French Mafia were stupid enough to take the money to attack the Eiffel Tower. The Siegies weren't exactly supposed to kill them, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Pulling a cell-phone out of his pocket, the Crimson Guardsman quickly dialed a number then cursed as he waited for the voice-mail message to finish its run. "Fred Thirty-Two, this is Twenty-Four. Where are you? Your squad needs to meet up with the rest of us by the Tower. Hurry up, we won't be here much longer!"

As he shoved the phone back in his pocket, Fred saw a dreamy-eyed Parisian-woman walk over to him, giddy with nervous giggles. "Excuse moi, monsieur, but could I 'ave your autograph, si vous plait?" She held out a pen and paper and smiled.

Fred looked at the attractive, short-haired brunette and smiled back. "I'd be happy to give it to you. Who should I make this out to?"

After handing him the pen and paper, the woman frowned. "Jaye, Lady Jaye."

Fred looked up, but before he could react, he was clubbed over the back of his head with the butt of Gung-Ho's grenade-launcher. Leatherneck caught him as he dropped down.

"Okay boys, tres bien." praised Lady Jaye. "Let's get this schmuck out of here."

Throwing the Siegie over his shoulder, Leatherneck smiled. "I didn't know that 'schmuck' was a French word."

Lady Jaye growled as she stared at the Joe Marine. Somewhere on this planet, Flint is laughing his butt off, I can feel it.

5.

Taking a hefty sniff of the dungeon air, Zartan started coughing. It was a crude, moldy odor that was too much to handle. It boggled the Dreadnok Leader's mind how rancid the Cobra Temple's prison had become, considering it wasn't even thirty years old. He started to understand why Destro was so angry about being locked up down here a few days ago. Perhaps the Commander should have shown a bit more mercy.

But that was the past.

Now Zartan was locked in a small, windowless brick cell, with really no hope of escape. He had been put into a far corner of the dungeon where there were no other prisoners to talk to, and no guards to heckle. Destro had proven that he could be just as cruel as the former leader of Cobra, that was for certain.

I will never be loyal to that tin-headed tyrant. He has no concern for anyone but himself and that witch the Baroness. thought Zartan. It is only a matter of time before Zarana or Zandar comes to rescue me. Once I am free, my relations with Cobra are over, forever. Well, at least until Destro is dethroned. And if things keep going the way they are, that won't be very long.

Zartan sat upon his poor excuse for a bed and attempted to calm himself down by using a method of Zen meditation that he hadn't used in years; his concentration broke when sounds of gunfire and screaming echoed down the hallway.

Smiling, Zartan stood up and dusted himself off. "They got here faster than even I could have expected."

More gunshots and screaming filled the hall, but they were mixed with the sound of slashing metal and the ripping of fabric. The sounds stopped with the body of a Cobra Trooper falling in front of Zartan's cell; his helmet rolled off and spun itself out on the floor.

Confused, Zartan walked up to the bars and called out, "Zarana? Zandar? Who is out there? Buzzer?"

Wiping blood from his sword, Storm Shadow walked up to Zartan's cell door and stared at the Dreadnok Leader. Stumbling back in shock, Zartan could barely think of what to say. "St-Storm Shadow? Why are you here?"

The white ninja pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the cell door, then slid it open. "I have been sent to rescue you," he coldly replied.

"R-rescue me?" stuttered Zartan. Attempting to regain his cocky stature, the Dreadnok Leader stepped out of the cell and grinned. The number of slaughtered Cobra Troopers in the hallway was horrible, but he would not let Storm Shadow know how he felt. "Who sent you? My siblings? Some other Dreadnoks?"

The ninja slowly sheathed his katana and pushed Zartan down the hall. "Your Commander did."

"Who?"

6.

"Wake him up."

Following Lady Jaye's order, Leatherneck dumped a cup of cold water over Fred XXIV's head. The Siegie shook his head back and forth and cursed. As water droplets slid off his locks of blond hair, Fred looked around the room he was in. It was a small Parisian hotel room nowhere near the Champs-Elysees. It was a dump, and twice as old as the Crimson Guardsman was.

"You know, there are nicer hotels along the Seine."

"Shut up." growled Leatherneck. "We ain't here to make you comfy."

Lady Jaye pulled the Joe Marine back and crossed her arms. "What can you tell us about Cobra's 'Save the World' plan? What are ya tryin' to achieve?"

Fred smiled. "I think it's a bit obvious, 'G.I. Jaye'. We're showing the world that Cobra has changed its focus, and is now a law-enforcement agency, not a terrorist organization."

"Yeah, and me mere's a gator wrestler." sassed Gung-Ho.

"I thought she was." joked Leatherneck.

"Stop." warned Lady Jaye.

Beach Head walked up to Fred. "The Joe team catches a lot of you guys, and so we're pretty good at breaking you, too. If you want to try to resist us, go ahead, but you won't succeed. The Siegie David Carbo tried to resist Snake Eyes last year. He broke in twenty-three minutes." Beach Head cracked his knuckles. "I'm gonna beat that record."

Fred closed his eyes and turned his head away. "I know where Cobra Commander is!"

7.

Sitting in his new, larger and much more comfortable chair, Destro slumped to his right side and looked across the room. The leaders of Cobra sat around the table, bickering with each other, spewing blames and insults at one another as they tried to justify why they were not the ones responsible for the failure of the "Save the World" scheme. It was an absurd thing to watch, and, Destro had to admit, something he had never seen when Cobra was under the control of the hissing buffoon. Perhaps, just perhaps, Cobra Commander was a better leader than Destro had credited him.

Sitting up, Destro pounded his fist upon the table and yelled, "Enough!" The bickering quickly came to an end. Dr. Mindbender, Tomax, Xamot, Major Bludd and the Baroness gave their heavy-breathing-attention to their new leader.

"What do you wish to say, Lord Destro?" asked the Baroness.

Destro stood up, put his hands behind his back and began strolling around the table. "This is ludicrous! Is this progress? Is this the new Cobra Order you all insisted that I become a part of? You are all a bunch of spoiled children fighting over toys in the sandbox."

"How dare you!" growled Major Bludd.

"Silence!" barked Destro. "I have done exactly what you all wanted. I followed the Commander's 'Save the World' scheme to the letter. And what has it achieved for us? Our armies are pulverized. Our money is gone. And now you are at each others' throats trying to say that you had no part in this."

"That reminds me," interrupted Dr. Mindbender, "Where is Zartan? No one has seen him since yesterday."

Destro sat back down in his chair and twiddled his fingers on the table. "Zartan is a fool. We no longer need his assistance."

"Who are you to say such a—"

"We no longer need his assistance!" roared the Cobra Leader. Leaning forward, Destro intertwined his fingers. "From now on, we are going to run Cobra how I see fit to run it. This is not a democracy or a parliament. If you do not wish to follow my commands, then I suggest you leave at once."

After a few moments of silence, the table cleared of every high-ranking member of the Cobra Terrorist Organization, except for Destro—and the Baroness.

"I don't think you handled that well."

Destro looked over to the Baroness and frowned. "If it means that Cobra is finally mine to control, then I handled it perfectly."

The Baroness adjusted her glasses, stood up and walked over to her lover. "There is no Cobra left foryou to control, James."

To his surprise, Destro laughed. "I find myself respecting the Commander more and more every day that I run this corrupt circus. He was a better manipulator than I."

Baroness sat on her lover's lap and stroked his chin. "I feel it is time to finally tell you, my dear: he hasn't stopped manipulating you."

Leaning back, the new Cobra Leader raised an eyebrow. "You mean with this ridiculous scheme of his? It doesn't matter anymore. I'm ending it, now."

Baroness shook her head. "No, my love. You don't understand. He has never lost control of Cobra, because he never died."

Destro slowly pushed the Baroness off of his lap and stood up. "Watch what are you saying, woman, for you are playing with fire!"

"I speak only the truth to you, James. Once I re-joined the ranks of Cobra, the Crimson Twins, Tomax and Xamot, told me of the Commander's plan to fake his own murder."

Destro held his chin and walked over to the monitor-station on the far side of the room. "But…why? What could the Commander hope to achieve by playing out an extravagant assassination?"

The Baroness gulped, because she knew the answer would ignite an explosion in her lover.

8.

Frozen with shock, the Joes in the room could only stare at each other.

"What did you say?" asked Gung-Ho.

Fred nervously fought back stutters, "I-I kn-know where C-Cobra Commander is, b-because I was on guard duty at the New York branch of Extensive Enterprises a few days ago, the d-day that the C-Commander was killed."

Lady Jaye lifted his chin. "What did you see?"

After a deep breath, Fred continued, "The Commander was rushed into the building, and I was o-ordered to guard him as he made his way up to the twins' office, along with three other Siegies. Once there, we stood guard outside of the office, b-but there was enough yelling going on inside that the four of us could pick up quite a bit of what was g-going on."

Leatherneck stepped closer to Fred. "What did you hear?"

"They…they were talking about the nuclear weapon. Cobra Commander insisted on going to see it, but the twins didn't want him to. But, heh, you know him, he won out in the end. He told them to send him to…uh…Banja Luka. I, uh, I don't know where that is."

"It's a city in Bosnia-Herzegovina." said Beach Head.

"Yeah, well, that's where he's going, and that's where the nuke is, too. Do I get to go now?"

Lady Jaye walked over to the room's phone and began dialing. "Not exactly. But I'm pretty sure we will."

9.

"What?"

"You shouldn't scream, Destro, you know it's bad for your heart."

Breathing heavier, Destro charged over to the Baroness and grabbed her by her shoulders. "I am in no mood for levity!" Inhaling deeply, the new Cobra Leader pushed her aside and walked across the room, then slumped down into his extravagant chair. "The Commander has always been a buffoon. How could he possibly have become such a strategic genius in so short a time?"

With her heels clicking on the floor, the Baroness strode over to Destro and sat down upon the table's edge. "Because he finally followed the one strategy that he has always ignored, all of these years."

Destro looked up to his lover with a sad look in his eyes. "What could that be?"

Smiling, the Baroness replied, "He asked for help."

With a hefty sigh, Destro nodded. "It makes sense. Tomax and Xamot are very cunning men. But to throw the authorities off of his trail by faking his own death…even I would not have tried that. Still, it gave him the time he needed to secretly work on prepping the nuclear bomb."

Twisting Destro's necklace in her hand, Baroness smiled. "The question now is, what are you going to do about it? The bomb isn't where you thought it was. The Commander took it to Bosnia, a country that now supports Cobra. How are you going to get the bomb back without causing a major international incident?"

Standing up, Destro walked over to the room's main monitor and looked at the map on the screen. "If there is an incident, the Commander brought it upon himself. As Cobra's new leader, it is my job to secure the prosperity of this organization, and if some madman is threatening our future existence, then he must be dealt with post haste."

Spinning around, Destro charged towards the room's exit. Stepping in front of him, the Baroness placed her hand upon his chest. "But my dear, many of your men are still loyal to him. How can you expect them attack him?"

Destro reached into his pocket and pulled out a money clip. "This is what his men are truly loyal too. When I ask them to fight for this, they will."

As the new Cobra Leader left the room, the Baroness adjusted her glasses and frowned. "I hope you're right, my dear. I hope you're right."