It's Like Having Been Born Again. Pt 14
Author chick's notes: Well seeing as training is well underway and what have you…how about some other stuff too? Namely the bringing in of some other troops, and a little research into what Destro had going…kinda sorta. Disclaimers in Pt 1.
It's Like Having Been Born Again. Pt 14
A week had passed since they had begun training in earnest. Each of them had something to contribute in one fashion or another. Steeler had the rest of his make shift motor pool getting familiarized with COBRA equipment, in the efforts to find their weaknesses. Torpedo and Diana began working on field maneuvers with Imani, all three of them mastering a different environment and coordinating that knowledge into a master training program. Gung Ho and Stalker had also joined them by that time and easily fit themselves into the daily routine of life at the bunker.
The marine had been hell for any COBRA agents down in the swamps of Louisiana and was only to glad to move up a little closer to the heart of their operations. His extensive clan back home didn't need him too much to help keep their home free of the invading army, so he didn't feel to bad about leaving them alone.
Stalker meanwhile had returned to his roots. Upon the disbanding of the Joe team he had made it back to his native Detroit and it didn't take him long to work his way back through the ranks of the seedy underground that had been the heart of his youth. The only exception this time was that instead of terrorizing the citizens of the city and wreaking havoc on them, he had gotten the local gangs to focus all their efforts on COBRA.
Mainframe had joined Sci-Fi and Tripwire in the lab as the three began working in earnest with procuring and manufacturing weapons. "My ass hurts!" Sci-Fi complained as he gingerly took a seat at the worktable. Mainframe chuckled.
"Excuse me? Who bottoms usually?" Tripwire spoke up from where he was hunched over a microscope.
"Not that! All this exercise. Jesus I knew it's been a while but damn I didn't think I was that out of shape." Sci-Fi explained. "I mean yeah, you're hung like a bull and everything…"
"Thank you!" Mainframe piped up from the computer consol. "That falls into the 'more then I really want to know' category folks!" He laughed.
"Sorry dude." Sci-Fi mumbled before glaring at Tripwire.
Tripwire rolled his eyes and shook his head. He went back to examining the piece of circuitry board they'd salvaged from what was believed to be Destro's ill-fated sonic device when he noticed something. "Sea? Come here and check this out." He said as he zeroed in on what he had found. Sci-Fi began cursing under his breath as he got up, a look from his lover shut him up and he made his way over.
"Yeah Babe?" He said as he looked into the eyepiece. "What have you…oh hello!" He said when he spotted the flaw that Tripwire had found.
"It's on some of the other pieces too." Tripwire explained as he gestured to other fragments laying on the table nearby. "Kinda interesting huh?"
"Kinda?" Sci-Fi laughed. "Babe this explains what happened when this sucker was fired out on the Grounds." Mainframe stepped over and asked to take a look, he too quickly spotted what the other two were interested in and laughed.
"There's no way it would have worked…at least not with the amount of juice he had pumping through it." Mainframe said to them.
"There's no way it would have worked right, period. It's to finely tuned to a certain frequency." Tripwire explained.
"Yeah it would resonate itself into destruction every time." Sci-Fi added, explaining the multitude of minute cracks they could see under the microscope.
Mainframe remembered something he'd found in Destro's data that the Baroness had handed over to them. "Oh wait! I found his notes on the test firing itself." He said as he ran back over to the computer to punch up what he had seen earlier. Sci-Fi and Tripwire leaned over his shoulder as he pulled up a large file marked 'test 014653'.
Tripwire scanned the information before asking what a certain link contained. Mainframe pulled up the link and both he and Tripwire cringed at the picture that came up. Sci-Fi didn't flinch back as he examined the photo. The figure was human in form, wearing a COBRA uniform. There were several large ruptures along the upper torso and the head had melted, for a better lack of a word.
"So that's why it was never put to actual use." Sci-Fi murmured as he read the data underneath the gruesome picture. "The resonance frequency of the device was figured to be to close to that of a human being." Tripwire and Mainframe both looked at him oddly as he mumbled some more while reading further. "I wonder…" He said as he stepped over to his laptop he had set up and began calculating a few scenarios. "Hmm? If only we could get our hands on who ever this dude was. Or possibly another victim of this thing?" He said as his calculations all came back with the same result.
"Uh Sci-Fi? There are others we think got it from this thing." Mainframe pointed out.
"Those three." Tripwire added, pointing towards the hanger where Steeler and Clutch were.
"Oh yeah. Hmm. I wonder if the preacher's boy is on-line?" He said as he got on-line to the Internet and scanned for screen name he knew. "Bingo!" He cheered as he typed in a command to open a secured link.
Greenstreak Yo babe!
Operati0n_MindCr1me Whose brain did you get me?
Sci-Fi howled in laughter at their chosen password confirmation before typing in his response. Mainframe who was reading over his shoulder also got the giggles as he recognized the film that was quoted. It was one of his all time favorites.
Greenstreak Abby, someone… Abby Normal?
Operati0n_MindCr1me lol What can I do you for Sea?
Greenstreak Your taste in albums rocks btw. Anyhoo, I found something I want you to have a look see at.
Sci-Fi pulled the information Mainframe had saved and sent it to his contact.
Operati0n_MindCr1me K…got it! Hang on checking now.
Greenstreak Hang on to what? ^^
Operati0n_MindCr1me …
Sci-Fi laughed as he waited for a response.
Operati0n_MinCr1me Wow. Is this from that sonic gizmo thingy?
Greenstreak Yup.
Operati0n_MindCr1me Do you think this is what happened to SGC?
Greenstreak Possibly…and man is there a story there you WON'T believe about that one!
Operati0n_MindCr1me Oh?
Sci-Fi asked where his contact was presently located. He was shocked to find that the person was very nearby and offered for the contact to join him and the others.
Greenstreak No shit? Dude I can get you here in like two seconds flat!
Operati0n_MindCr1me I'm by myself at the moment. I can let Shades know I'm meeting you though?
Greenstreak Kewl digs. Send the stuff to him too, he might find it interesting.
Sci-Fi and his contact continued talking for a little longer before shutting down the link. He then turned to the other two in the lab and smiled evilly. "I am going to see if Ms. Thing will go make a pick up for me." He winked as he left the lab and headed for the hanger.
Cover Girl was leaning over the engine of a HISS when he walked in. "Hey gorgeous? Wanna go joy riding?" Sci-Fi asked as he got over to her.
She stood up and wiped her brow before answering. "Depends? Do I get to watch whatever pornos you want me to pick up?" She asked, grinning at him.
"Alas, no porn. But…he is cute." Sci-Fi winked. He then told her of whom he wanted to her to get and where he was located.
"No kidding? Lifeline? Sure!" She grinned as she slammed down the access panel of the HISS and bounced over to Betsy. The other tankers in the hanger heard the Chevelle start up and Cover Girl rev the engine a few times before peeling out of the hanger.
"Where's she off to?" Steeler demanded of Sci-Fi.
"I asked her to go pick someone up for me. Don't sweat it, they're a former Joe and it will only take a few." He said to the fuming lieutenant. Steeler glanced at the retreating car and then to Sci-Fi. Sighing he shook his head and went back to the STUN he'd been tearing apart for the better part of a day. Sci-Fi followed him.
"Hey, I need a favor." He said as Steeler picked up a socket wrench.
"Yeah?"
"I know this might seem crass and all, but do you remember where you found your remains? We need to recover them so I can figure out a theory I've got." Sci-Fi explained.
Steeler stopped what he was doing and looked up at the laser trooper. "To be honest I don't. I was sick with that bacteria whatsit when we found them. Grunt and Leila could probably tell you though…why?" Steeler responded after a moment.
Sci-Fi went on to explain what they had uncovered in the lab and said how he needed the remains, so they could be autopsied. "If my theory's right, then the skeletons should have the evidence to back it up."
"What good would that do ya?" Steeler asked.
Sci-Fi's grin turned predatory as he explained. "Because…once we prove my theory, we can build a stable version of that sonic gizmo. Old snake face wouldn't stand a chance against the thing either."
Steeler's brow furrowed for a moment as Sci-Fi's words sank in. "The Baroness wasn't kidding when she said you two were the Resistance's Destro was she?" He asked. Sci-Fi waggled his eyebrows and replied with a crisp 'nope'. Steeler chuckled and told the man that he'd have better luck with Grunt or Leila in his quest. Sci-Fi thanked him and set off to find the two as Steeler watched him leave. "Jesus, they're both nuts." He laughed as he went back to what he was doing.
Later that evening, Grunt led several of the Joes including Lifeline, whom Cover Girl picked up earlier that day, to the grim site where the three withered skeletons were. With the greatest of care they were carefully sealed into body bags and placed into the transport. Upon returning to the bunker, they were escorted to the lab and looked over.
It took just a few minutes for Sci-Fi's theory to be proven correct with the remains. The malleus, incus, and stapes are all pulverized, and there are hairline fractures all over the bones, of the three skeletons. From the dust that were once the inner ear bones and the condition of the skeletons, it was figured that the three had probably died instantly when exposed to the sonic assault of the weapon. Sci-Fi took the information into account and began thinking of ways to make the sonic weapon, safe to use yet deadly to whatever it was aimed at.
After the autopsies were complete, they were finally laid to rest in graves near by. Steeler, Clutch, and Grunt all felt odd at watching their own funerals, as Cover Girl and the Baroness placed the dog tags of the three men in the graves containing their bodies. Imani had asked the Joes if it would be alright if she too placed something in the graves. They consented and watched as the young woman placed small articles that had belonged to her parents and siblings in with the three who had also been killed by Destro. After the burial, three large flat stones someone had found, were placed at the heads of each grave as simple yet poignant markers.
To Be Continued…
