Casualty Reports.
At the same time in the Green-shirt barracks, Pine was humming some tune, when he notices Katzenbogen writing something. "Dah dah deh deh dah*. What ya got there, Davey?" He asked.
"Katzenbogen to you! And don't look over my shoulder, Pine. This...is an entry exam for the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. Once i get the chance, I'm getting out of this...business, and going up in the world. Not going to waste my life trying to lose it, like you people insist on doing." David replied.
"Whatever, egghead." Pine replied back.
"Now hear this; All Joe's to the motor pool for Operation: Long Arm, I repeat, all Joes to motor pool." The two heard over the loudspeaker.
"Guess we better go, Catsandbogart." Pine said.
"...Fine. Nobody touch these papers, got it!" David said to him, and the others.
In the motor pool, Duke was instructing the Joes.
"Roadblock, Wild Bill, you take the lead flight position."
"Stalker, Scarlett, V.A.M.P. one."
"Gung-Ho, Tripwire, on the second."
"Snake-Eyes, take the third." He ordered, as Flint, Lady-Jaye, Pine, and Katzenbogen came in.
"Where do we go?" Flint asked.
"You, in Skyhawk three. Lady-Jaye, stay here. Those crutches will get in your way, which will get in our way." Duke replied.
"Sir, these are only a precaution from Doc. I can walk just fine by tomorrow." She said.
"...If you must, but you will stay in the transport until i say otherwise. Pine, Katzenbogen, help her up, and keep her there." Duke said.
"Yes, sir." Pine said, with a big grin.
"I saw that, keep your mind out of the gutter, soldier." Duke said next.
"Flint, your in Skyhawk four."
"Mutt, Skyhawk five. Green-shirts will take the rest."
"Clutch, Short-Fuze, V.A.M.P. four."
"Rock 'n Roll, Flash, your on the fifth."
"Cover-Girl will lead the Wolverines, Thunder, the Sluggers, Steeler, the M.O.B.A.T.s."
"Everyone ready?" Duke asked as he, and the other flyers head outside.
"Sir, yes, sir." They all said, with Junkyard barking.
"Then move out. Yo Joe, convoy go!" He ordered.
Once they arrive at Los Alamos the next day, and tying Junkyard to one V.A.M.P.'s trailer hook, Duke, Flint, and Flash are led to the cannon by the lead designer and another person.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I'm Dr. Vandermeer, and this is Dr. Winters. And this is the Zilveren Harpoen**; which means silver harpoon in Dutch."
"Whoa, just look at that thing, Duke. How big is it?" Flint asked.
"It's 80 yards in length. With a firing range from here to halfway to Saturn. And that'd be after going through one mile of titanium alloy." Vandermeer said. Flint whistled in response.
"And all the rocks in Cobra Commander's head." Duke joked.
"Levity aside, this weapon will do as well as requested." Vandermeer replied.
"But only when absolutely necessary, to ensure that, you will not be given the activation code until such time." Winters added.
"No arguments here, ma'am." Duke said.
"May i examine the internal mechanisms before the laser core is installed, Dr.?" Flash asked.
"Certainly. This way, sirs." Vandermeer replied.
In the rest of the building, some others were looking at other projects. "Dude, check all this out; stuff about that crazy teleporter we stopped...specs for space station delta...C.U.B.E, what's that." Rock 'n Roll asked.
"Colossal Universal energy grid aBsorbtion dEvice. It's more of a thought experiment, than a physical one." Katzenbogen explained.
"And a tongue twister." Rock 'n Roll replied. The Green-shirt just palmed his face.
"There's also projects on Dr. Shakur's Vulcan machine, sonic crowd dispersal, and here are the specs for your P.A.C./R.A.T. units." A worker says to them.
"Yep, got 20 a' them already, pardner." Wild Bill replied.
"Wait...Blaine? Good to see ya, man!" Rock 'n Roll exclaimed.
"Same here, heard you got married recently." Scarlett said.
"There's no doubt, with all this, we'll knock Cobra's lights out." Roadblock added.
"Still got that rhyming problem of yours, i see. Nice shirt, show off." Blaine said, grinning.
"Fraid so." Roadblock replied, then laughed.
They then hear tapping outside. "What's that?" Blaine asked, and headed for the hall. "You brought an injured person with you?" He asked out loud.
"Excuse me, had to use the lavatory." The person answered.
"Ah. Name's Blaine Parker. Who might you be?" He asked.
"Lady-Jaye: recent addition to G.I. Joe intelligence division. And don't mind these, temporary." She answered, holding up one crutch.
"Uh-huh. Mine's Mainframe: G.I. Joe reserve corps***. Electronics division." He replied.
When the cannon was loaded on to the truckbed, Duke and the rest prepare to leave. After handing the crutches to Katzenbogen, Lady-Jaye sees him point to a spot behind her, where Flint is standing. "Leg doing better, i see." He said.
"It is, thanks again...About...in the van-" She tried to say, only for Flint to raise a hand.
"We can discuss that later, Lady-Jaye." He said quietly. She nodded slowly then went to her V.A.M.P., but stopped and rolled up her sleeves.
"Just in case." She said, seeing Snake-Eyes tilt his head, then shrug.
"Yo J-"/"Hold it." Duke and the gate guard say a few minutes later.
"What is it?" Pine asked.
"You still have my pen." The guard said.
"So?" Pine asked next.
"Just return it please." The guard told him.
"Why do you even care?" Pine asked loudly.
"It's my O.C.D., helps with the job." The guard replied.
"Helps being a pain in the ass, too. Want your pen; here boy, fetch." Pine grumbled before whistling and throwing it, causing the guard to flip him off.
18 miles, and one bathroom break for Green-shirt LeClaire later, Cobra attacks.
"Shit, shit, shit; Watch out!" Pine says, seeing a Stinger firing. The two both yell in panic before the truck crashed.
"Ow, the hell did that-David?!" Pine shouted, seeing Katzenbogen unconscious.
"Come on, wake up, man, wake up." He said, shaking him.
"Ohh...got an owie." David said, as he woke up.
"Owie? You...feeling alright?" Pine asked.
"Huh, who're you?" Was the reply.
Chapter ten. Read and review.
*Guess where this tune's from.
**Made up.
***Also made up.