Author's Notes: Ladies and Gentlemen I offer up Chapter Nine and the continuance of the Flashback, I hope I'll hear from all my readers one day, in the meantime I say...

"We Now Return to Jem."


I couldn't help myself any longer; I was now openly rocking with my mirth, it was obvious to me that I had upset the group yet their story so far just tickled at my ironic humor node. I shook my head apologetically and quelled the urge to laugh loudly; Amy was pouting slightly, she didn't yet know the full story surrounding not only Jem and the Holograms, but The Transformers and GIJoe as well.

"Forgive the interruption." I stated genuinely sorry. "But I find it most ironic that you would be sent to help GIJoe stop Cobra from using Decepticon technology." I admitted with a brief chuckle of merriment.

"Why?" Roxy wondered curiously obviously sensing that there was a story behind my reasons.

"It must wait; it has to do with my reality." I explained. "Now please continue I am most eager to hear the rest of this." I encouraged resuming the soft even stroking of my little ones' hair.

"Well; after eating dinner and getting a decent nights rest some of us returned to Jem's office to discuss tactics." Jerrica continued; and once again I closed my eyes to visualize the words they were speaking, and once again I saw a vividly animated though dark world populated by characters I knew so very, very well.


Rio, Jerrica and Pizzazz met with Jem in her office the following morning; the leader of GIJoe smiled in greeting as they walked in and indicated they should sit. Jerrica and Pizzazz readily complied; Rio however remained standing, arms clasped behind his back the implanted knowledge was taking a hold on him.

"At ease." Jem stated; Rio visibly relaxed and took a seat, Jem shook her head and once more brought up the image of the Nemesis.
"Our surveillance strategies don't last very long I'm afraid." She began. "But we have managed to determine the best entrance." She added manipulating the screens' image to reveal an unused access port close to the belly of the ship. "This was connected to something at one point; we're not sure what, but as far as we've been able to determine Cobra wasn't aware of it." She explained.

"So our goal is to reach that access port, gain entry; and blow the engines?" Rio surmised; Jerrica eyed her boyfriend worriedly, he'd been acting strangely since last night and it scared her.

"Affirmative." Jem returned. "You'll be working closely with Wet Suit for that; he's the only member with access to aquatic vessels." She added.

"This should be a piece of cake." Pizzazz proclaimed ignoring the serious danger of this assignment.

"Do not underestimate Cobra." Jem chastised. "Now; you'll need proper code names for this mission and a good Commando squad always has a name." She added thoughtfully.

"Easy; we'll be the Misfits." Pizzazz stated disinterestedly.

"Negative." Rio stated in turn before Jerrica could get a word in. "Our team name will be the Starlight Brigade." He informed; surprisingly Jem reacted with the most amusement laughing openly and gaily, the laughter covered up the fact that she'd begun to cry.

"Clever Rio; and your company is thirteen, most suitable for a brigade." She complimented inputting the name into the computer. "I suggest your team familiarize themselves with the equipment; I've already had it brought to your quarters, and you'll need code names." She continued letting go of the laughter and the pain and resuming the business at hand; Rio nodded understandably, he saluted Jem and took his leave with Pizzazz hot on his heels eager to see her new toys. Jerrica however hung back; she was openly concerned for Rio and couldn't think of anyone better suited to talk to.

"If we pull this off will we…" She trailed off uncertain or unwilling to say anything more.

"Jerrica he'll be fine; Roma doesn't leave such things to complicate matters further." Jem returned understandably; she offered an encouraging smile.

"Thank you; I… It's a little disconcerting talking to you though." Jerrica admitted; Jem nodded understandably yet again and pulled her long hair back revealing duplicate Jemstar earrings.

"I know what you mean." She returned with a conspiratorial smile. "You should tell him when you get back; I mean that, don't leave it off forever. You never know when you might see him for the last time." She added in a soft whisper filled with pain; Jerrica pushed aside her sudden confusion and came around the table, she hugged Jem in sympathy and quickly took her leave before it got even weirder to grasp mentally speaking.


"This is cool." Aja admitted attiring herself in the body armor; it wasn't normal armor, once it came in contact with the wearer it seemed to conform to their bodies. It also shimmered and adopted suitable colors for camouflaging with its' surroundings; currently it was mostly golden hued with slightly darker undertones to match the ship.

"I would suggest not wearing the helmet yet." Shana cautioned; though Aja couldn't see her until she removed the helmet she'd put on.

"These look a lot like laser guns." Clash remarked eyeing her weapon; Video smiled at her cousin with genuine affection for once.

"That's because they are." She stated examining the palm-sized computer with a show of knowing how it operated; she punched in a five digit code with certainty and the screen awoke, an odd grouping of images flashed briefly across the liquid crystal display and then a young woman appeared.

"Greetings Mistress Video." She stated in a charming sounding voice; it was as if she had always belonged to her, with a smile she touched the screen in greeting sharing a DNA scan in the process.

"Hello Crystal." She returned softly; the computer smiled and reached out a hand to touch her side of the screen.

"Starlight Brigade 'Tention!" Rio exclaimed as he burst into the room; the Holograms shared a confused look while the Misfits returned to putting on their armor.

"We're not in the army Rio." Pizzazz pointed out as she followed in after him; Jerrica was last, she looked somewhat confused.

"We are for the time being." Rio stated. "However you have a point; ladies we'll be heading out on our mission as soon as we're ready, for that purpose we'll need authentic code names." He continued eyeing each of his charges in turn; he appeared extremely suited to his job as Commander of this misplaced outfit.

"Do all of you have special training?" Jerrica wondered.

"How do you mean?" Kimber returned confusedly.

"She's talking about special skills." Aja clarified. "Like I seem to have greater skills in the martial arts then before; and Video's skills with technical equipment appear to have expanded." She elaborated; Shana smiled and held up her extra piece of equipment, it was a communications station backpack.

"I appear to be in charge of communications." She stated; Danse looked around the group nervously, she didn't like her particular skills and knowledge.

"I've got advanced medical training and equipment." Raya chimed in holding up a large medical pack with the Red Cross; Jerrica eyed Danse briefly before turning her attention on the Misfits.

"Don't look at us deary." Jetta stated defensively; Roxy shook her head and stepped forward.

"We don't have any specialized skills; if anything we're the heavy hitters." She informed hefting the much larger cannon with practiced ease; apparently the armor enhanced her physical capabilities, a non-standard feature.

"And you're gonna need it luv." Jetta stated assuredly; Jerrica ignored the insinuation and turned back to Rio.

"Jem said code names and learning how to use this equipment; I'd say the best way to do that would be to find a firing range." She stated thoughtfully; Rio nodded and tossed her a weapon, which she deftly caught by now this sort of reaction and knowledge came second nature to the two groups.

"Gear up and then we'll find the firing range." He commanded; the Misfits' eyes gleamed with sudden eager glee, the thought of using high powered weapons to blow things up was suddenly very appealing to them.


The man known as Snake watched quietly as this commando team practiced; every hit was expertly attained, and most definitely lethal, he was convinced now so more then ever that this time the traitors would pay.

"Attempting to seize victory from defeat yet again Commander?" Destro asked as he quietly joined his old acquaintance.

"Of course noble Destro; I have waited fifteen years to wrest control back from that sniveling creatures' abominations, and now it is almost in my grasp." He returned clenching one hand into a fist; Destro shook his head, he really could care less about these glorified speeches. He knew the former Cobra Commander could never retake the reigns of Cobra; even if this team stopped them from activating the Nemesis, Venomous Maximus would most likely have a contingency plan of some kind. Destro just wanted things to get back to reasonable normalcy; his beloved wife and unborn heir had already been lost in the same devastating explosion that forced the Joes to turn him into this… Monstrosity; and he didn't aim to continue living another fifteen years as less then human.

"They're pretty good." Monkey Wrench remarked coming up beside Destro. "Ya think I'll be able to get one of'em ta notice me?" He wondered.

"I doubt it." Snake muttered under his breath; turning away he made his way out of the training area, it was time to get in touch with an old and well respected ally.

"I think I've finally figured out a code name." Kimber stated as she paused in her target practice. "What do you think of Harmony?" She asked nervous at the reaction of the others.

"It's not exactly covert ops material." Rio remarked thoughtfully; Kimber's face began to fall, but Rio quickly continued. "But it suits you." He hastily stated.

"I think our code names should reflect our new skills." Jerrica suggested; the others all shared looks of agreement and Video decided to go first.

"Call me Symmetry." She stated blasting a fake B.A.T into junk.

"Since I'm the communications expert I'll take the call sign Syntax." Shana decided.

"I'll take the name Triage." Raya chose looking up from her anatomy book.

"You can just call me Tisen." Aja added." The name of the Samurai's long bladed Katana." She elaborated.

"Lynchpin." Stormer spoke up timidly; the other Misfits' didn't mock her; in fact Pizzazz secretly smiled and Jetta shot her a thumbs up.

"I'll be Firecracker!" Clash exclaimed firing off her mini-rocket launcher at one of the targets with a smirk; this was more fun then scaring people with her cymbals.

"Just call me Discord yanks; because that's my new name." Jetta called out with a smile; Pizzazz shoved the Brit aside.

"Enough of this theatrical crap; so you're Discord, whatever, I'm Diva and the rest of us have our names." She proclaimed with annoyance; Jerrica rolled her eyes.

"Everyone doesn't have a name yet." Rio pointed out; Roxy shifted her gaze and Danse eyed her friends nervously.

"This is stupid." Diva complained. "Why don't you just pick the names Rio?" She demanded.

"That's not very democratic of you." Jerrica observed smugly; Diva glowered, Tisen and Syntax giggled softly at that and Harmony shot her sister a knowing look.

"In that case Jerrica; what do we call you?" She asked curiously.

"Corona." She returned confidently plucking the name seemingly from random.

"Strange choice of names." Rio returned thoughtfully. "I suppose I should go next." He added acquiring a pensive expression. "I've decided on Stormfront." He stated.

"I've actually already got a code name." Roxy revealed with a small sigh. "Got it from the Dreadnoks; they stuck me with the unflattering name Hellraiser." She reluctantly stated; the other Misfits eyed her incredulously; however they didn't say anything and it was everyone's turn to shoot Danse with curious looks, the dancer squirmed under the intense gaze and tried to ignore them.

"Come on Danse it can't be that bad; whatever you've decided." Tisen urged; Danse sighed and decided she couldn't put it off anymore.

"Ok; I'll be Silencer." She muttered; the others didn't know what to make of that, but decided not to be pushy about it.

"Fine; we've all decided our code names, and we've mastered this gear, I suggest we begin our mission." Stormfront spoke up holstering his pistol; the rest of the Starlight Brigade decided he was right and knew they shouldn't delay any further.


The two Joes piloting the submersible were fairly regular looking; the one called Wet Suit wore dark colors, mostly blacks and blues with brief breaks of silver on his wrist guards and ankle guards. He hadn't said much since being introduced, which suited Stormfront just fine; Torpedo on the other hand kept joking and rambling with anecdotes. He was wearing a black and grey jumpsuit with a few gadgets on the left arm; his right eye was replaced with a mechanical implant of some kind, it glowed strangely.

"We're gonna be real deep." Wet Suit cautioned as the cloaked sub continued its' descent. "So we're going to have to dock just right." He added.

"Oracle has the others running a distraction mission so you won't be detected, but I think you should do this fast." Torpedo spoke up seriously for once; Stormfront nodded and Corona glanced at the others concernedly.

"There she is." Wet Suit remarked eyeing the radar screen. "Just another forty-thousand leagues or so." He added with a thoughtful expression.

"Just how big is this ship anyway?" Corona asked; Torpedo chuckled at the question.

"Didn't our base give you any ideas?" He shot back; Corona eyed him incredulously.

"It'll be that big, how are we ever going to find the engine room?" She wondered exasperatedly.

"We'll split into teams; Oracle hinted at a spy on the inside who might be able to help." Stormfront returned; Torpedo shot him a curious look.

"Spy; aboard that ship?" He repeated with a laugh. "I highly doubt that." He added dismissively; Stormfront shot him a look, but before he could say anything an alert klaxon began to blare.

"What's that?" Lynchpin wondered fearfully.

"Enemy ships inbound." Torpedo revealed shifting in his seat and twisting a dial before tapping commands into the control panel. "Strap yourselves in ladies, this is gonna get rough." He added; Corona hadn't left her seat, but Harmony, Diva and Tisen had to check out the wildlife; they barely made it back to their seats when the sub shook under enemy fire.

"They shouldn't have been able to detect us with the cloak." Wet Suit muttered pulling the vessel into a tight turn and speeding up.

"Obviously they got better tech then us." Torpedo grumbled returning fire with the rear mounted weapons; Wet Suit didn't say anything as a new alarm erupted, ignoring his surroundings he pulled back on the stick and maneuvered the ship past a rock outcropping, Silencer let out a tiny shriek of fear as the vessel tumbled under the explosion.

"Damn Cobra ships; they're too fast." Wet Suit grumbled as he tried to hit the attacking ship once more in vain.


"Electric Eel twenty to Nemesis; Joe sub will soon be neutralized." The squad leader reported to his commander; Akula growled as he brought up an image of the conflict on one of the Decepticon monitors.

"You had better succeed squadron leader; unless you wish to be terminated." He returned in his deep voice.

"Understood commander." The squad leader stated; the attacking subs doubled their efforts, the transport shook under several blasts and the insurgence team screamed in terror. Wet Suit shot Torpedo a knowing look; both Joes didn't like what they had to do next, but for the good of the mission it had to be.

"Well; this is where we part company Stormfront, your team better not screw this up." Wet Suit called over his shoulder as he prepared for the most harrowing maneuver their ship was capable of.

"What's he talking about?" Triage asked concerned; Stormfront shook his head.

"No idea." He returned straight faced.

"Initiating separation sequence." Torpedo stated slapping the large red button on his immediate overhead console; the submarine seemed to contract briefly, and then exploded outward just as Wet Suit pulled the ship behind a rock outcropping and out of visual range of their attackers. The detached section spiraled downwards to the ocean floor; the main portion of the ship spiraled back up into attack range, a screen popped out of the wall showing this to the occupants of the separated section.

"God; tell me they're not doing this." Syntax exclaimed struggling to break out of her safety restraint, but some force kept them on. The group watched helplessly as the enemy blasted their former ride apart; before it was entirely destroyed a strange weapon was fired, the attacking vessels also detonated and Syntax turned her head a few tears escaping her eyes.

"Oh God." Lynchpin murmured fighting the urge to scream; a panel suddenly slid open and a new person slipped his head out, he was wearing a white mask and his eyes betrayed nothing.

"The diversion was a success." He remarked.

"Proceed Storm Shadow." Stormfront ordered; the women shot him horrified looks, the man nodded and slid back into the compartment and the engines started up again in silent mode.


"Hold it." I interrupted. "Wet Suit and Torpedo sacrificed themselves; despite what Oracle told you and Jerrica earlier, and Storm Shadow helped finish the mission?" I demanded clearly disturbed.

"Yes." Rio replied sorrowfully. "She let me in on the real plan while the others were introduced to our pilots." He stated.

"They did what they had to do." Kimber added with a frown." It was a desperate ploy, but it worked." She added misreading the reason for my incredulousness.

"Of course it worked; it's the same kind of ploy I would have used." I shot back. "Standard operating procedure; of course I wouldn't sacrifice friends, not even if I knew they could survive." I added with a slight frown.

"How dare you judge them." Raya accused; I shook my head.

"I'm not judging anybody." I countered. "It just surprised me that's' all, I would never have expected any version of Jem to be reduced to such a desperate ploy… A pity I couldn't have helped, there probably would have been less death." I remarked with a small sigh. "Then again; I'm not one of Roma's employees, I've got my own things to see to." I added with a slight glance at Amy who had fallen asleep by now in my arms; Jerrica shot me a curious glance, but Rio decided to resume telling the story since he didn't want to keep Amy too much longer.


The airlock cycled through the proper sequence and Stormfront led his team into one of the largest corridors he'd ever seen; none of this area of the ship had been modified for humans, and the sinister looking purple symbol adorning the walls at key areas augmented the frightening mood caused by the lack of proper lighting.

"I feel like we just stepped into the land of giants." Silencer remarked in awe.

"They're not that big." Discord countered trying to keep the slight tremor of fear from her voice.

"What's the best plan of action?" Hellraiser wondered; Stormfront slipped his helmet on and tapped the left wrist guard controls, a three dimensional image of the ship appeared.

"We split up; Syntax, Lynchpin and Tisen remain here and establish a communications outpost, Corona, Triage, Symmetry and Hellraiser will locate the engine room. The rest of you are with me we're going to the bridge." He ordered; Diva looked about ready to protest, but Discord and Firecracker urged her to silence.

"What about Storm Shadow?" Silencer wondered glancing back at the sub where the mysterious member of the group had remained.

"I will also remain here to help guard your avenue of escape." He replied as he studied the room with calculated ease.

"It's settled then?" Stormfront stated.

"Be careful Rio." Corona whispered hugging her boyfriend tightly before they parted with their respective teams.

"Keep in touch Jerrica." Syntax called out before both missions vanished into the darkness of the corridors.


Akula stood among a squadron of his best men as the human sized airlock cycled through and Venomous Maximus marched aboard the Decepticon vessel flanked by several assorted soldiers.

"We're finally on schedule my lord." He reported falling quickly in step with the Cobra Emperor; he ignored the woman walking dejectedly behind them and the numerous Razor Troopers and Sand Scorpions serving as honor guard.

"And… Our other development?" Maximus inquired in that rich baritone; Akula smiled.

"The good Doctor is progressing as well as could be expected; this alien technology is still worlds beyond us in certain aspects." Akula returned; Venomous nodded briefly showing off his sharp canines, the two paused at the entrance to the ship proper.

"See to it that nothing interferes; I want security doubled." He ordered; Akula bowed with closed eyes and nodded his head.

"It shall be done… Will the others be joining us?" He wondered; Venomous shook his head.

"The resistance fools are still posing slight problems; Neurotoxin and Razorclaw are going to be preoccupied during this momentous occasion." He returned glancing briefly to the doe eyed woman. "Coil Crusher was recently injured and is in the infirmary." He added coldly a hint of raw ire flashing briefly through his pupils; Akula knew what that meant, Coil Crusher tried to bed the slave empress again. Shaking his head briefly he led the way from the room and to the heavily modified bridge where he as master of the vessel could show off the impressive progress they had managed so far.


Corona felt strange as she led her team deeper into the Nemesis; she was not meant for this sort of thing, sneaking around as part of a covert ops unit; she felt sick at the prospect of killing anyone. And yet she knew she had no choice, of her team only Hellraiser seemed at ease with their task, but for all she knew it could have been a front.

"My scanners aren't picking up a single life sign; Oracle wasn't kidding when she said this section wasn't in use." Symmetry remarked breaking the stifling silence; walking around this Decepticon vessel was highly unsettling to say the least. Triage let out a scream as her night vision detected the barest hint of something laying in their path; Hellraiser and Symmetry flicked on their high powered lights revealing the source.
A large mostly white robot with what could have been wings attached to it; and a distinctive cone shaped head lay in the corridor, apparently dead if the gaping wounds in its' chest were any indicator.

"Sorry Jerrica." She apologized. "But it came out of nowhere." She added.

"I'm glad Cobra didn't find him; I'd hate to think what we'd do if we had to fight that." Symmetry remarked switching off her light; Hellraiser didn't say anything and began to clamber over the giants' legs.

"Come on; this has to lead somewhere." She urged; Corona nodded and tapped open a com line with her chin.

"Syntax, we've found a dead Decepticon; better tell Stormfront to watch out for road blocks." She reported.

"Will do." Syntax returned; Symmetry was helping Triage over the unknown unit when a wall panel nearby suddenly slid open, Hellraiser lowered her weapon on the entry prepared to fire. Several BATs emerged escorting a bald man in glasses; as soon as they saw the intruders they began to open fire, the man dove for cover. Corona hesitated uncertain how to proceed, but Hellraiser and Symmetry didn't hold back; the BATs were rendered useless scrap in seconds and no alarm was sounded. The bald man eyed the remains of his guards with disinterest; then he turned to the female commandos brushing at some imagined dust on his uniform.

"About time GIJoe got here." He complained.

"You're Mindbender." Triage remarked in surprise.

"Of course I am; my creations felt it would be greater torture to keep me alive to witness their victory." He snapped back as if it should be obvious. "If you're looking for the engine room I can tell you you're in the wrong place… Follow me quickly; this leads directly to my lab, which is mere moments away from the engine room." He insisted heading back into the passageway; the others turned to Corona who suddenly felt the pressure of command.

"He seems trustworthy; and Stormfront did mention a man on the inside." She remarked before following after Mindbender; Hellraiser was quick on her heels, she wouldn't trust Mindbender so readily, but if he spoke truth…


Stormfront and his team had already passed a fallen Decepticon without incident; theirs had been mostly black and yellow with purple highlights and jagged silver wings. He'd been lying prone next to what appeared to be an elevator shaft; and so they began to climb, they passed four more dead levels of the ship until stumbling upon a storage facility of some kind with humans in mind.

"Discord, Diva, Firecracker come with me; you two stay here and guard our escape path." He instructed; Harmony nodded while Silencer appeared relieved.

"Cor; why are we going blindly into danger?" Discord wondered.

"Because you agreed to follow my commands." Stormfront shot back; Diva froze from her position and removed the automatic from her back.

"Those are ugly." She whispered indicating the two Swamp Rat guards near the entranceway; Firecracker smirked beneath her helmet and slipped out a pistol with silencer.

"Subtlety and finesse dear Pizzazz." She reminded before calmly stepping out of the shadows and firing two perfect head shots; the guards collapsed dead.

"Finally a chance at some fun; what say we do what the Misfits do best." Diva spoke over her shoulder. "Offer up a distraction." She added with a hidden smirk.

"I'm with you, but first." Stormfront paused to remove a few grenades from storage crates. "I think we should shut down the bridge; don't you?" He wondered a smirk playing across his lips.


Tisen and Lynchpin fidgeted as Syntax kept tabs on their friends; Storm Shadow hadn't bothered to come out of the submarine yet, but they didn't really consider him that much of a threat. They should have though; while Syntax waited for a report from Corona a few assorted shadows slipped free of the submarine, Lynchpin never knew what hit her. Tisen was rendered comatose soon after and Syntax froze as she felt the rifle pressed up against her head.

"So sorry to resort to this sexy." A strange voice remarked.

"Don't antagonize da Joe Ripper." Monkey Wrench growled coming into view; he shot her a genuine look of apology.

"It's clear Commander." A man in red and blue armor remarked; he was holding an automatic and wore a matching colored helmet to his armor.

"Excellent Scrap-Iron." An all too familiar voice stated. "Torch bring out the Thunder Machine." He ordered stepping into Syntax's view; the man called Snake stood there decked out in full battle armor. This one was completely black with a matching cape and helmet with silver face plate; she could no longer see his face, but she knew the voice well enough.

"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded; she saw Scrap-Iron tying up her friends and felt some relief that at least they weren't here to kill them.

"Quite simple my dear; I aim to show Venomous Maximus just who is supposed to be leading Cobra." Snake returned; Syntax turned her head slightly as a large armored hovercraft emerged from the airlock, just how it could fit in the sub was beyond her. The driver was a red head with a scruffy beard and mustache; mirrored shades and a dirty red head band, he was also wearing Dreadnok colors.

"Crikey; I didn't think we'd ever get'er up'n runnin'." The man pressing the gun to her head remarked; Syntax wondered what he looked like, but didn't dare turn her head to see. By now Lynchpin and Tisen were secure; their helmets removed for obvious reasons, Scrap-Iron brought the remaining rope over to her and began securing her legs.

"Storm Shadow you know what to do." Snake reminded; the ninja bowed.

"Yes Cobra Commander." He returned.

"Excellent; this should not take long." He stated as he and Monkey Wrench boarded the Thunder Machine; Scrap-Iron finished tying Syntax up and Ripper pulled his gun away as he removed the helmet. The two of them proceeded to join the others; Storm Shadow left her view and a moment later she heard her equipment being smashed, the Thunder Machine began to move off down the corridor. Syntax began to consider options of escape, but before she could even get anywhere she felt a blow to her head and thought no more.

To Be Continued; Ah how typical; Cobra Commander has used his supposed allies to sneak aboard and force a perhaps final confrontation with Venomous Maximus... Will the JEM Girls get out of this situation unscathed; and incidentally just what is Danse's specialty? All of that shall be revealed in the next exciting chapter; and so once again we... Cut to Commercial!

"GIJEM Will be Back After these Messages."