Return of Cobra II
Flint watched in horror as he came across the destroyed remnants of Colonel Howard Grant's force. The English officer had been assigned a third of the strike force but it looked like whatever they were fighting had them on the run as Flint pressed forward through the island with his laser rifle and passed several of the fleeing troops even as he saw on the ground dozens of dead United Kingdom, French, and German soldiers. The abundant bodies of Serpentor's loyalists lying all around were Flint's only consolation that they gave as good as they got.
"FLINT, LOOK OUT!" Lady Jaye cried out from behind him and Flint got a good look of what was smashing through the jungle of Cobra Island like it was nonexistent. Similar to a BAT that he remembered from his days fighting Cobra's early attempts at creating a soldier stupid enough to follow their military advice. This thing was almost completely silver and much more heavily armed.
Flint didn't hesitate to fire as many laser-rounds into the thing as he could before blinking as the bolts were seemingly absorbed into some kind of field around the thing. Its' armor was channeling the attack like a conductor. Flint watched the thing lift up its' arms and ducked to the side while the trees exploded behind him in a shower of fire. The thing was using everything fired at him to attack.
"TARGET IDENTIFIED: DASHIEL FAIREBORNE. CODENAMED: FLINT. HIGH PRIORITY TARGET. EXTERMINATE." The robot ticked off his name and it was obvious the mindless things he had known were now hit men as well. "Great." Flint grabbed a grenade as the thing was struck in the head with one of LJ's spears, which exploded and sent the thing falling backwards but it was already getting up.
"TARGET IDENTIFIED: ALISON R. HART-BURNETT FAIREBORN CODENAMED: LADY JAYE. HIGH PRIORITY TARGET. EXTERMINATE." The thing leveled a torrent of energy blasts at Flint's wife as he snarled and threw the grenade at point blank range. He barely moved to the side before the explosion sent shrapnel flying at him and tore his arm.
"Geez, Flint try and get a little closer on those things why don't you?" his wife said, safe and sound. The special operative had managed to do a somersault out of the way of the BAT Mark V's blast.
Flint looked at his torn arm and nodded. "I'll make it a point. The thing has some kind of absorb-dissipate armor. I swear of all the times to step into battle it's during a civil war…AHH." Flint said getting up and feeling his arm, which was bleeding badly near the shoulder.
"My guess is that whoever is in charge of Cobra now isn't too fond of Serpentor. Here let me get that." Lady Jaye said pulling out a medical kit.
"We don't have time. We're near Cobra Island's work villages and it's high priority that we lock them down. Especially if there are things like that running around." Flint pointed to the wrecked thing.
"My guess is we still have a long fight ahead of us and we better hope whatever remains of our allies…" Lady Jaye looked at the dead fighters, "They had better be able to hold them off until the rest of the Joes get off the beach."
It was then that Lady Jaye and Flint both heard the cracking of branches about themselves and were suddenly surrounded by several of Cobra Island's defenders, a rag tag group of Asian, African, and Hispanic men wielding laser rifles pointed at their chests.
"You know, I just remembered that I always thought you were unlucky." Lady Jaye sighed and poked her husband in the chest before raising her arms in surrender.
Flint reluctantly complied as well.
***
Falcon watched the assault on Cobra Island's beach become the bloodiest affair he'd ever witnessed out of anything he'd seen in the military. Grenades were dropped from the sky by gliding Cobra troops even as brutal firefights were being fought between Cobra Island mercenaries and the invading force of the United States and her allies. Falcon had already killed three men up close with his pistol and he'd watched a fellow Joe blasted by a laser bolt that was just inches from hitting himself.
'Oh this is going to sound great for Jinx to tell my daughter. Sorry, Honey, but Daddy hasn't had the time to call you at the right time this week so please forgive him, especially since he was killed on the beach in some god forsaken part of the world he should have known better than to attack head on!' Falcon went over the response he expected Jinx to be giving him now. Being married to a Ninja was not the healthiest thing for a man who wanted occasional bouts of sanity. A HISS tank blast then splattered Falcon with hot sand as it missed him.
"HEY! A MAN'S TRYING TO BE INTROSPECTIVE OVER HERE!" Falcon yelled as he watched the energy blasts fire from the weapon and knew they needed to take out that last little blockade against them getting into the heart of Cobra Island or at least off this damned beach.
"I GOT IT!" Icicle, who was as strange a recruit as he'd ever seen, then fired what Falcone had presumed to have been a flame-thrower at the HISS tank and was shocked to find the thing icing over. The Tank now covered in the stuff fired again but instead of the laser blast arcing through the ice it instead burst in the things barrels and blew the armor to kingdom come.
"How the…." Colonel Falcon blinked wondering how many laws of physics just broke right then and there.
"It's based on arctic-temperature principles which allow the weapon to become much more dangerous than piddling little flames might inf.." Icicle was cut off by Falcon then.
"Yeah, shut up. I get the idea. YO JOE!" Falcon cried, leading the charge past the burning Hiss tank as he took a few shots at a stupid low gliding Cobra and shot the guy into a tailspin into the nearby waters.
Serpentor's palace was in the center of the Island and with a quick look it was easy to see they wouldn't have difficulty securing the beach for the armor drop-off and rest of the operation to make their assault on it. Hearing some static on his walky-talky as he contacted Flint and Colonel Grant he wondered if either of them were still alive at this point, the Cobras were more numerous and better armed than he'd thought. The fact they were killing each other as well as Joes didn't particularly encourage Falcon as much as it would normally, especially since they needed prisoners to tell them what exactly was going on.
"bssssstttzzzzzz…this is Colonel Grant! We've been pinned down by Cobra Air Assault and reinforcements….I don't…bsssssztttt…much of my troops are dead. I need he…sssst." The walky-talky buzzed as Falcon sighed and shot a Cobra sniper taking aim from what he obviously thought was a good position in the bushes.
Falcon slapped his head and found a position in the sand where he shoved another magazine into his pistol. The armor was already arriving and ready to start plowing through Cobra Island's jungle, but they needed every man they could get to take out Serpentor's palace. The obvious and most practical answer would be tell him we'll get to you later, but that was something Colonel Falcone-Albernathy wasn't quite ready to do.
"SCARLET!" Falcon called feeling a little silly calling her by that name even when she was now ranked far below him and done actually less service than he had. He'd never quite gotten over the fact she was an original Joe and he was just pretty much along for the ride until now.
"Yeah?" Scarlet said and Falcon blinked, wondering how she'd gotten six Cobra soldiers hog-tied and unharmed.
'Maybe I'm doing something wrong here?' Falcon questioned himself as he looked at the corpses then grabbed his ear, Playboy having apparently fired a shot that burned off half of the field commander's earlobe.
"AHHHhhh….Uh, Scarlet, would you be so kind as to lead the attack on Serpentor's palace. I've got some Europeans to rescue." Falcon said clutching his ear as he looked at Private Wilson and wondered just how much he could do to him as his commanding officer without getting arrested.
"Uh Sorry…" Playboy said.
"Sure I've done the leader thing thousands of times. I may be a bit rusty at it but I think I can handle a simple assault mission." Scarlet smiled something pretty as Falcon nodded and pointed for her to go at it.
"Simple she said….great. I really do suck at this." Falcon thought to himself before looking at the new crop of Joes he'd been assigned as the first part of the new team being recruited from the Armed Forces. "Okay might as well get you guys some field experience. We're attacking…."
Snake Eyes then dumped a Cobra trooper body at Falcon's feet as he looked down to see the man had been hiding in the jungle ready to kill him.
"Um, thank you. We're attacking god knows how many heavily armed Cobra soldiers to rescue a force that by all rights should outnumber us a hundred to one if they've been hit really hard. We'll have no backup and only the weapons on our backs and in our hands…anybody got a problem with that?" Falcon asked and deliberately ignored Playboy's raising of his hand with relish. "Good, Snake Eyes do us a favor and come with us on this. We'll need you."
Snake Eyes gave him a salute and Falcon felt extremely proud, also he had the slightest sensation that this wasn't going to be pure suicide as he originally suspected this would be.
"YO JOE!" Demolition Derby shouted as the huge Interceptor-Tanks rolled from the dropping point and the commander of the armor division began rolling through Cobra Island foliage toward the Terror-Palace of Serpentor and victory. With a leaping Jump, Scarlet managed to get herself on board DD's tank as well.
'God bless…may the force be with you…good luck.' Falcon thought to himself and started his run towards his goal, hoping he wouldn't be too late or just leading everyone to brutal demises.
***
The Baroness watched the destruction of the forces of Cobra Island with distinct and immensely pleasurable relish. The troops of Serpentor still wore the Cobra Hood but they were cut down like blades of grass and it was no small amount of enjoyment that she was able to take a machine gun to the fleeing troops as she rocketed down. The sensation of once again being feared, once again being the angel of death troops whispered of, the sensation of inflicting an iota of the pain and fear she'd suffered in prison was almost enough to make her lose control of her glider as she flew with her escort.
"There you are." The Baroness licked her lips in relish as she saw the Terror-Palace of Serpentor and nearly laughed out loud to how ludicrous the building looked. It looked like Serpentor had chosen one of the mountains that had formed the island and built a Terror drome around it before filling numerous parts of the surrounding caves with guns and armor emplacements. It was fitting that the fool she had thought would lead Cobra to an Empire ruling over the planet would live in a cave like the vermin he is. God above, he even had surrounded the place with a moat!
"Baroness, what should we do now?" One of the Cobra Commandoes to her side with his own rocket pack said. They were adequate enough troops and had shot down a few flight pods, which had dared attack her. Currently the Terror-palace of Serpentor was under it's own assault as Cobra Reborn pelted it with explosives and mild rocket fire. It would not be long until Serpentor's glorious castle was reduced to rubble and the shame of having once served that man was wiped away in a river of blood.
"THERE!" the Baroness cried and pointed her laser pistol down at the ground as she spotted a familiar pair of figures. Xamot and Tomax were escaping in a boat across their little moat toward a Hum-vee that was waiting for them on the other side. The cowardly Crimson Guard members were no doubt fleeing a sinking ship like the rats they were.
"COBRA!" the Baroness cried with the first real feeling since her rescue and threw a grenade into the troop transport where the driver screamed a brief moment before he died in flames. The Cobra Commandoes managed to snag both sets of twins from their boat nicely as well before bringing them before her. The sky was alit by fire and it was far too dangerous to hold the sort of trial the Baroness wanted but she had ceased caring and the sight of the two Corsicans now sporting goatees and still wearing identical uniforms was too delicious to not savor.
"BARONESS!" they both gasped at the same time, clearly shocked that she was alive much less the bringer of their doom.
"You cowardly fools! You honestly believe I would never have found you!" The Baroness was disgusted as she saw in the boat boxes of gold, paintings, and other transportable wealth. The Twins had been living in lives of luxury while she lived in darkness!
"But I…" Tomax began, trying desperately to figure up an excuse.
"It was Tomax! Tomax was the one who testified! I never mentioned you once!" Xamot did the unthinkable and betrayed his brother. The Baroness smiled, she always suspected that their brotherly love would only go so far.
"Very well then, Xamot, I will give your brother his reward first." The Baroness smiled and shot Tomax in the chest. The scarred twin to his side then doubled over in agony with his brother as he felt the wound deep within him just as if he, not Tomax, had been shot. Xamot looked over at his brother's dead form in horror, as if he only now realized what he had done. The Baroness relished in her triumph then shot him in the head. She was pleased at least one of the twins had felt the pain of death twice.
"My work here is done." The Baroness smiled.
***
July 13th, 1973
The United States flag was being raised above the General Sherman Covert Ops Training Center. The fact this college for male and females seeking high risk, high combat positions in the U.S. military was located in Georgia struck the man known as Jonathan Sharp as the idea of some Northern commander's sick joke on military history, given there was hardly anything covert about the man's policies. It was lucky though that the false cadet had been transported here by his father who no doubt viewed the dear General's tactics, such as the burning Atlanta, to be the height of excellence for a prospective officer in Cobra.
'Cobra….' The secret organization seemed to be a million miles away and it was almost impossible to believe that no one in the school had ever heard of it or would until it was time to strike down the nation they were nearly all going to end up serving. Still the slithering coils were entering business, government, military command, finance, and criminal enterprise with increasing grandeur under his father's fifty-year plan to conquer the world. Cobra Commander, whose Cobra-la name was nearly an unpronounceable word, which basically translated as "Snakes" after his noble house, had sent him here to make contact with military prospects and slowly persuade them to Cobra's point of view during education and his period of service in the United States military.
"Hey are you awake?" Shana murmured, to his side, which meant the flag raising was over and he could cease his salute. General Sherman Academy was probably the only military academy in the world that was co-educational and treated the female and male groups as one. Were they not being trained in, what even Jonathan could call, the finest of military skills, and he had grown up with a pistol in his hand and to his head. He imagined the place would have been shut down long ago.
"I imagine so." Jonathan said. He had been given the name as an identity for his instruction here and it had come equipped with a false background, social security number, and even a family that was impeccable, but all a lie by Cobra. The more he was addressed by the name, the more it came to become him and not just a disguise though.
"Hmmph." Shana wrinkled her nose and Jonathan felt extreme shame in the deception he was performing. Liberalism aside it was still risking expulsion to date inside the campus, but he had fallen deeply in love with the woman. It was burning like Greek fire the walls of Byzantium, his desire to tell her the truth and abandon the charade he felt his service to Cobra had become. He had been attracted to her purity, sense of honor, and the fact she was the most passionate of all those present here, next to the years of cold cynicism he had grown into a man around. She had been attracted to the man who was, in a sense, completely out of time. Shana O'Hara had likened him more than once to a samurai or medieval knight in his formality and talk of honorable battle. He had other friends, his mission required it, but no one understood, even subconsciously, just what truly Jonathan was. Scarlet knew he was carrying some burden and had tried for the years they had known each other to get him to open to it. If he did he would destroy the very thing that would cut away his self-deception, however.
"Rifle practice is still a half hour away. You want to sneak a peek at the schedule for tonight so we can get around Commandant Curuthers for a date? Knowing is half the battle." Scarlet whispered into his ear.
"I'd like that a lot." John lowered his head.
"I can see you can't get any more enthusiastic." Scarlet smirked. She'd grown up in a family of martial arts instructors with three older brothers and, from what Philip had heard, she had plenty of time to sharpen that razor wit as much as her punches.
"No. No, it's fine really. I've had a lot on my mind lately." Jonathan said. He had learned to forget that he was a member of Cobra and for the time they'd been here he had become Jonathan Sharp from Kansas, instead of Special Operative 12# or a host of the numbers he'd been raised with since they'd forbidden him to be called by his mother's name for him. Now training was ending and Shana would go on, as would he, into the military proper. Yet he didn't want it to end.
"Well I've…" Shana stopped and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which said she didn't want to intrude. A warmth seemed to pass from Shana to Jonathan and clarity settled around his mind.
"Shana..I'll catch up with you later. I have to go work some things out…I'll talk to you later."
"Okay." Shana said. "It's not like half the things you do aren't odd…" she muttered as he passed and Jonathan nearly stopped her to apologize but he realized he needed to think through their next meeting and think through it well.
Jonathan headed into his bunk and sat down before folding his head into his lap. 'I know what I must do.' The soldier thought. He wasn't sure how he would do it but he would ask her to come with him and be with him for the dawning of Cobra on the world. It was ridiculous and every fiber of his being screamed that it was ridiculous. He would control destiny if he had to and make her understand they were meant to be together and the patriotism she held would find a place in the new order.
"Oh no." the agent returned. Underneath his pillow was a small envelope en-sealed with the Cobra hood. Inside were orders that recalled him from his mission of infiltration. The letter from his father was cold and to the point. It signaled that his time for him to return to Cobra's headquarters and take a field commission, their plan was accelerating.
***
July 13th, 2001
The now Cobra Commander did not know why that particular part of his life came back as he flew circles around the Terror-palace seeking his foe and only occasionally took a sniper shot to kill one of the gunmen defending. It had been many years since she had left the G.I. team and she was probably now married to the commander of the team she fancied, General Duke, or the one called Snake Eyes. They were men of honor and not treacherous foes like she believed the organization of Cobra to be and rightly so, the Commander would say, if not for the fact he was now in command of men and women willing to give their lives for his cause.
"YOU!" a voice called to him from below and the Commander spun through a torrent of laser fire toward the platform where the voice originated. Once he landed he removed his mask and cast it onto the ground before the form of Serpentor as he shot both of his traitor Crimson guards dead beside him. So fat with the pleasures of the flesh, neither had the skill to even aim and fire their weapons before they fell.
"You are responsible for this outrage against my person!" Serpentor cried. "My army is perishing and I will have my pound of flesh from you for it."
"SILENCE FOUL LIAR! IF YOU CARED AN OUNCE FOR YOUR ARMY YOU WOULD BE FIRST IN BATTLE AND LAST TO RETREAT!" the Commander screamed at the top of his lungs and grabbed at his power-spear. A weapon designed with the simplicity of the ancients, with the deadliness of modern technology.
Serpentor reached for one of his genetically engineered cobras, creatures that were hard as steel but living. Much like the man before him, they were relics of Cobra-la's genetic abominations, which though he shared the blood of, but refused to mourn the memory of.
"What dare you say? You dare mock my courage in my own palace! I shall cut you down to the base matter that formed you!" Serpentor said and the duel between the Lords of Cobra began.
The battle was murderously fast and furious with the two melee weapons slamming against each other like the twin concepts of the ancient and the new struggling for supremacy that was taking place in the world around them. Serpentor's serpent caused the power-spear to spark with each strike struck against him.
"You cannot stand against a man who has lived this entire world's history of war, from the days of burning fire in caves to splitting skulls with axes to eradicating civilizations with tactical weapons!" Serpentor snarled forcing all of his strength on his opponent's weapon in a locked duel. He was surprised then when the man met him with equal and distinctly inhuman strength in return.
"It is the duty of all righteous conquerors to crush their foes before them like the dogs they are. You have proven yourself time and time again to be nothing but a butcher and Cobra was remade into nothing more than your bandits. Now in the name of the noble beast and what it stands for…I WILL EXECUTE YOU!" The Cobra Commander then flipped over Serpentor onto the stone ground and brought down his power spear, the weapon sparking as Serpentor blocked the deathblow from the near mad warrior.
***
Snake Eyes walked through the brush of Cobra Island with repeated slashes through the foliage using his katana, a use his ninja masters probably didn't intend, but a utilitarian one nonetheless. The slashes he made were soft and swift to cover up the noise they might make even as he looked frequently back to his "passengers" whom, even with the instructions he had passed on through Falcon, were making far too much noise for their own good.
'It's a very good thing they have a war to distract anyone who might be listening.' Snake Eyes smiled underneath his mask. Unlike the other Joes he really had never stopped fighting in his time off and had spent the majority of his time in and out of monasteries between fighting, what he liked to call the "good fight" against tyranny embodied in Cobra. He had known, before the others, Cobra was returning and in a much deadlier form.
"Great, I'm following a ninja into the brush." The one known as Icicle said and Snake eyes slapped her across the mouth, holding it. They were approaching the area they had confirmed was the battle ground and Snake Eyes knew by the sounds of battle that were far off in sound really meant that the destruction of the third attack group was almost finished. If it were up to Snake Eyes he would just abort the mission and be done with it, they knew what they were getting into when they made this attack. However he had orders and would at least confirm there were none alive before he left, it was the least he could do for soldiers who stood up against evil in their lives.
"Lady, we have successfully eliminated the resistance on this side of the Island. The men request the opportunity to begin the charge on the forces of G.I. Joe rather than continue with the pre-arranged battle plan to destroy Serpentor's military dumps and village barracks." A Cobra soldier walked up towards a woman dressed in battle armor of some kind as he saluted. Snake Eyes parted the foliage a bit and prayed that the trainees behind him had enough sense not to make any noise or make any sudden move.
"You long for combat with the forces of G.I. Joe?" the woman asked removing her helmet and revealing a very attractive woman in her late twenties. He was briefly reminded of Scarlet, due to the athleticism, lethality, and poise that was present in her form but shook that thought away. He had loved Scarlet from afar most of his life, since he'd met her but ever since he'd lost his voice and been disfigured he'd known that she deserved better than a man trapped in such a shell. Worse he knew he could never give her the life that she desired because he had resigned himself to a life of murder and war, love was contradictory to such a lifestyle.
"They humiliated us, Ma'am. My father fought in Cobra and died fighting the Joes and to only know that victory had been snatched from his grasp time and time again with little hope of it ever returning. I want to show them that he did not die in vain. I want to spill their blood." The man said and Snake Eyes shook his head. Cobra was a cult and always had been, recruiting the disenchanted and providing them with false ideas about the glamour of war and revenge. He was an odd man to be saying so because Ninjas were nothing more than medieval wise guys really, but it was nature's way to teach through irony.
"Then that is exactly why we are going to focus on the original battle plan. G.I. Joe's defeat will come in time but it will be on our terms and when they choose. You know the Commander views them as worthy foes and they will be treated as such accordingly. Bring forth the prisoners." The woman said and Snake Eyes surveyed the landscape to get an image of a group of about thirty Cobra commandoes with a few vehicles about, it was obvious the rest were covering sentry duty and probably hunting down the escapees before their next big push.
Fourteen soldiers from what looked to be Britain, Canada, France, and even Germany were led at gunpoint with their hands on their heads, disarmed. Snake Eyes never liked soldiers who surrendered, but that was mainly because of their association with Cobra in his mind and Vietnam. He noticed Colonel Grant was among the soldiers who had given up and made a subtle look to Falcon before signaling in sign "Attack in thirty seconds. Get them out of there. Don't tell the team until your ready."
Snake Eyes didn't like what he was facing but it would feel good to bring the stinging bite of justice to the side of the serpent again.
***
Shana O'Hara watched the progression of tanks through the foliage as the energy blasts from the Interceptor tanks blasted through the walls and defenses Serpentor erected as the HISS tanks were scattered and trouble-bubbles shot out of the air. While it was a good feeling knowing that her tax dollars hadn't been completely put to waste, it was also a disturbing feeling knowing you completely overmatched an enemy that they had practically no chance of beating them. She much preferred a straight one on one fight with an opponent who at least had a chance to fight back.
"Okay, Tanks I want you to ignore the initial battle plan. We're getting chewed up by Cobra in the skies and we need to take down the citadel hard and fast." The newly promoted Sergeant Major Demolition Derby said.
"I don't think you should do that." Scarlet said watching the troops following behind the tanks blasting everything around them as they fought.
"Duke trusts my judgment and I'm relaying my orders back to him. The original plan was for a steady take of the island. This is much quicker…." DD stopped for a second as the interceptor stopped in mid-roll and he ordered the entire group to stop as the two tanks beside him shuddered similarly. Large trails of black smoke were emerging from the bottoms of the tanks as Scarlet saw their treads were completely destroyed despite having the best plate in the world.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this." She said sardonically, guessing what just happened.
"Okay, so there's a mine field below us. Not like anyone got hurt." DD shrugged his shoulders guiltily before Scarlet remembered who was in charge. "Let's get in another tank. I'm not Serpentor, I know actually something about fighting. We're handling this MY way from this point on." It was infuriating someone could make a mistake like this. He'd even ignored the established attack route in order to get there faster. Worse, she'd let him.
"You better hope you do something here that makes up for this." Scarlet murmured as she started shouting and the remembrance of what it was like to be a G.I. Joe leader flooded back into her. Getting on call to Duke she confirmed a new attack root and prepared the assault according to expectations of resistance and got her team ready. They were not only going to level the citadel to the ground they were going to take Serpentor himself and take him alive.
Comments?
Flint watched in horror as he came across the destroyed remnants of Colonel Howard Grant's force. The English officer had been assigned a third of the strike force but it looked like whatever they were fighting had them on the run as Flint pressed forward through the island with his laser rifle and passed several of the fleeing troops even as he saw on the ground dozens of dead United Kingdom, French, and German soldiers. The abundant bodies of Serpentor's loyalists lying all around were Flint's only consolation that they gave as good as they got.
"FLINT, LOOK OUT!" Lady Jaye cried out from behind him and Flint got a good look of what was smashing through the jungle of Cobra Island like it was nonexistent. Similar to a BAT that he remembered from his days fighting Cobra's early attempts at creating a soldier stupid enough to follow their military advice. This thing was almost completely silver and much more heavily armed.
Flint didn't hesitate to fire as many laser-rounds into the thing as he could before blinking as the bolts were seemingly absorbed into some kind of field around the thing. Its' armor was channeling the attack like a conductor. Flint watched the thing lift up its' arms and ducked to the side while the trees exploded behind him in a shower of fire. The thing was using everything fired at him to attack.
"TARGET IDENTIFIED: DASHIEL FAIREBORNE. CODENAMED: FLINT. HIGH PRIORITY TARGET. EXTERMINATE." The robot ticked off his name and it was obvious the mindless things he had known were now hit men as well. "Great." Flint grabbed a grenade as the thing was struck in the head with one of LJ's spears, which exploded and sent the thing falling backwards but it was already getting up.
"TARGET IDENTIFIED: ALISON R. HART-BURNETT FAIREBORN CODENAMED: LADY JAYE. HIGH PRIORITY TARGET. EXTERMINATE." The thing leveled a torrent of energy blasts at Flint's wife as he snarled and threw the grenade at point blank range. He barely moved to the side before the explosion sent shrapnel flying at him and tore his arm.
"Geez, Flint try and get a little closer on those things why don't you?" his wife said, safe and sound. The special operative had managed to do a somersault out of the way of the BAT Mark V's blast.
Flint looked at his torn arm and nodded. "I'll make it a point. The thing has some kind of absorb-dissipate armor. I swear of all the times to step into battle it's during a civil war…AHH." Flint said getting up and feeling his arm, which was bleeding badly near the shoulder.
"My guess is that whoever is in charge of Cobra now isn't too fond of Serpentor. Here let me get that." Lady Jaye said pulling out a medical kit.
"We don't have time. We're near Cobra Island's work villages and it's high priority that we lock them down. Especially if there are things like that running around." Flint pointed to the wrecked thing.
"My guess is we still have a long fight ahead of us and we better hope whatever remains of our allies…" Lady Jaye looked at the dead fighters, "They had better be able to hold them off until the rest of the Joes get off the beach."
It was then that Lady Jaye and Flint both heard the cracking of branches about themselves and were suddenly surrounded by several of Cobra Island's defenders, a rag tag group of Asian, African, and Hispanic men wielding laser rifles pointed at their chests.
"You know, I just remembered that I always thought you were unlucky." Lady Jaye sighed and poked her husband in the chest before raising her arms in surrender.
Flint reluctantly complied as well.
***
Falcon watched the assault on Cobra Island's beach become the bloodiest affair he'd ever witnessed out of anything he'd seen in the military. Grenades were dropped from the sky by gliding Cobra troops even as brutal firefights were being fought between Cobra Island mercenaries and the invading force of the United States and her allies. Falcon had already killed three men up close with his pistol and he'd watched a fellow Joe blasted by a laser bolt that was just inches from hitting himself.
'Oh this is going to sound great for Jinx to tell my daughter. Sorry, Honey, but Daddy hasn't had the time to call you at the right time this week so please forgive him, especially since he was killed on the beach in some god forsaken part of the world he should have known better than to attack head on!' Falcon went over the response he expected Jinx to be giving him now. Being married to a Ninja was not the healthiest thing for a man who wanted occasional bouts of sanity. A HISS tank blast then splattered Falcon with hot sand as it missed him.
"HEY! A MAN'S TRYING TO BE INTROSPECTIVE OVER HERE!" Falcon yelled as he watched the energy blasts fire from the weapon and knew they needed to take out that last little blockade against them getting into the heart of Cobra Island or at least off this damned beach.
"I GOT IT!" Icicle, who was as strange a recruit as he'd ever seen, then fired what Falcone had presumed to have been a flame-thrower at the HISS tank and was shocked to find the thing icing over. The Tank now covered in the stuff fired again but instead of the laser blast arcing through the ice it instead burst in the things barrels and blew the armor to kingdom come.
"How the…." Colonel Falcon blinked wondering how many laws of physics just broke right then and there.
"It's based on arctic-temperature principles which allow the weapon to become much more dangerous than piddling little flames might inf.." Icicle was cut off by Falcon then.
"Yeah, shut up. I get the idea. YO JOE!" Falcon cried, leading the charge past the burning Hiss tank as he took a few shots at a stupid low gliding Cobra and shot the guy into a tailspin into the nearby waters.
Serpentor's palace was in the center of the Island and with a quick look it was easy to see they wouldn't have difficulty securing the beach for the armor drop-off and rest of the operation to make their assault on it. Hearing some static on his walky-talky as he contacted Flint and Colonel Grant he wondered if either of them were still alive at this point, the Cobras were more numerous and better armed than he'd thought. The fact they were killing each other as well as Joes didn't particularly encourage Falcon as much as it would normally, especially since they needed prisoners to tell them what exactly was going on.
"bssssstttzzzzzz…this is Colonel Grant! We've been pinned down by Cobra Air Assault and reinforcements….I don't…bsssssztttt…much of my troops are dead. I need he…sssst." The walky-talky buzzed as Falcon sighed and shot a Cobra sniper taking aim from what he obviously thought was a good position in the bushes.
Falcon slapped his head and found a position in the sand where he shoved another magazine into his pistol. The armor was already arriving and ready to start plowing through Cobra Island's jungle, but they needed every man they could get to take out Serpentor's palace. The obvious and most practical answer would be tell him we'll get to you later, but that was something Colonel Falcone-Albernathy wasn't quite ready to do.
"SCARLET!" Falcon called feeling a little silly calling her by that name even when she was now ranked far below him and done actually less service than he had. He'd never quite gotten over the fact she was an original Joe and he was just pretty much along for the ride until now.
"Yeah?" Scarlet said and Falcon blinked, wondering how she'd gotten six Cobra soldiers hog-tied and unharmed.
'Maybe I'm doing something wrong here?' Falcon questioned himself as he looked at the corpses then grabbed his ear, Playboy having apparently fired a shot that burned off half of the field commander's earlobe.
"AHHHhhh….Uh, Scarlet, would you be so kind as to lead the attack on Serpentor's palace. I've got some Europeans to rescue." Falcon said clutching his ear as he looked at Private Wilson and wondered just how much he could do to him as his commanding officer without getting arrested.
"Uh Sorry…" Playboy said.
"Sure I've done the leader thing thousands of times. I may be a bit rusty at it but I think I can handle a simple assault mission." Scarlet smiled something pretty as Falcon nodded and pointed for her to go at it.
"Simple she said….great. I really do suck at this." Falcon thought to himself before looking at the new crop of Joes he'd been assigned as the first part of the new team being recruited from the Armed Forces. "Okay might as well get you guys some field experience. We're attacking…."
Snake Eyes then dumped a Cobra trooper body at Falcon's feet as he looked down to see the man had been hiding in the jungle ready to kill him.
"Um, thank you. We're attacking god knows how many heavily armed Cobra soldiers to rescue a force that by all rights should outnumber us a hundred to one if they've been hit really hard. We'll have no backup and only the weapons on our backs and in our hands…anybody got a problem with that?" Falcon asked and deliberately ignored Playboy's raising of his hand with relish. "Good, Snake Eyes do us a favor and come with us on this. We'll need you."
Snake Eyes gave him a salute and Falcon felt extremely proud, also he had the slightest sensation that this wasn't going to be pure suicide as he originally suspected this would be.
"YO JOE!" Demolition Derby shouted as the huge Interceptor-Tanks rolled from the dropping point and the commander of the armor division began rolling through Cobra Island foliage toward the Terror-Palace of Serpentor and victory. With a leaping Jump, Scarlet managed to get herself on board DD's tank as well.
'God bless…may the force be with you…good luck.' Falcon thought to himself and started his run towards his goal, hoping he wouldn't be too late or just leading everyone to brutal demises.
***
The Baroness watched the destruction of the forces of Cobra Island with distinct and immensely pleasurable relish. The troops of Serpentor still wore the Cobra Hood but they were cut down like blades of grass and it was no small amount of enjoyment that she was able to take a machine gun to the fleeing troops as she rocketed down. The sensation of once again being feared, once again being the angel of death troops whispered of, the sensation of inflicting an iota of the pain and fear she'd suffered in prison was almost enough to make her lose control of her glider as she flew with her escort.
"There you are." The Baroness licked her lips in relish as she saw the Terror-Palace of Serpentor and nearly laughed out loud to how ludicrous the building looked. It looked like Serpentor had chosen one of the mountains that had formed the island and built a Terror drome around it before filling numerous parts of the surrounding caves with guns and armor emplacements. It was fitting that the fool she had thought would lead Cobra to an Empire ruling over the planet would live in a cave like the vermin he is. God above, he even had surrounded the place with a moat!
"Baroness, what should we do now?" One of the Cobra Commandoes to her side with his own rocket pack said. They were adequate enough troops and had shot down a few flight pods, which had dared attack her. Currently the Terror-palace of Serpentor was under it's own assault as Cobra Reborn pelted it with explosives and mild rocket fire. It would not be long until Serpentor's glorious castle was reduced to rubble and the shame of having once served that man was wiped away in a river of blood.
"THERE!" the Baroness cried and pointed her laser pistol down at the ground as she spotted a familiar pair of figures. Xamot and Tomax were escaping in a boat across their little moat toward a Hum-vee that was waiting for them on the other side. The cowardly Crimson Guard members were no doubt fleeing a sinking ship like the rats they were.
"COBRA!" the Baroness cried with the first real feeling since her rescue and threw a grenade into the troop transport where the driver screamed a brief moment before he died in flames. The Cobra Commandoes managed to snag both sets of twins from their boat nicely as well before bringing them before her. The sky was alit by fire and it was far too dangerous to hold the sort of trial the Baroness wanted but she had ceased caring and the sight of the two Corsicans now sporting goatees and still wearing identical uniforms was too delicious to not savor.
"BARONESS!" they both gasped at the same time, clearly shocked that she was alive much less the bringer of their doom.
"You cowardly fools! You honestly believe I would never have found you!" The Baroness was disgusted as she saw in the boat boxes of gold, paintings, and other transportable wealth. The Twins had been living in lives of luxury while she lived in darkness!
"But I…" Tomax began, trying desperately to figure up an excuse.
"It was Tomax! Tomax was the one who testified! I never mentioned you once!" Xamot did the unthinkable and betrayed his brother. The Baroness smiled, she always suspected that their brotherly love would only go so far.
"Very well then, Xamot, I will give your brother his reward first." The Baroness smiled and shot Tomax in the chest. The scarred twin to his side then doubled over in agony with his brother as he felt the wound deep within him just as if he, not Tomax, had been shot. Xamot looked over at his brother's dead form in horror, as if he only now realized what he had done. The Baroness relished in her triumph then shot him in the head. She was pleased at least one of the twins had felt the pain of death twice.
"My work here is done." The Baroness smiled.
***
July 13th, 1973
The United States flag was being raised above the General Sherman Covert Ops Training Center. The fact this college for male and females seeking high risk, high combat positions in the U.S. military was located in Georgia struck the man known as Jonathan Sharp as the idea of some Northern commander's sick joke on military history, given there was hardly anything covert about the man's policies. It was lucky though that the false cadet had been transported here by his father who no doubt viewed the dear General's tactics, such as the burning Atlanta, to be the height of excellence for a prospective officer in Cobra.
'Cobra….' The secret organization seemed to be a million miles away and it was almost impossible to believe that no one in the school had ever heard of it or would until it was time to strike down the nation they were nearly all going to end up serving. Still the slithering coils were entering business, government, military command, finance, and criminal enterprise with increasing grandeur under his father's fifty-year plan to conquer the world. Cobra Commander, whose Cobra-la name was nearly an unpronounceable word, which basically translated as "Snakes" after his noble house, had sent him here to make contact with military prospects and slowly persuade them to Cobra's point of view during education and his period of service in the United States military.
"Hey are you awake?" Shana murmured, to his side, which meant the flag raising was over and he could cease his salute. General Sherman Academy was probably the only military academy in the world that was co-educational and treated the female and male groups as one. Were they not being trained in, what even Jonathan could call, the finest of military skills, and he had grown up with a pistol in his hand and to his head. He imagined the place would have been shut down long ago.
"I imagine so." Jonathan said. He had been given the name as an identity for his instruction here and it had come equipped with a false background, social security number, and even a family that was impeccable, but all a lie by Cobra. The more he was addressed by the name, the more it came to become him and not just a disguise though.
"Hmmph." Shana wrinkled her nose and Jonathan felt extreme shame in the deception he was performing. Liberalism aside it was still risking expulsion to date inside the campus, but he had fallen deeply in love with the woman. It was burning like Greek fire the walls of Byzantium, his desire to tell her the truth and abandon the charade he felt his service to Cobra had become. He had been attracted to her purity, sense of honor, and the fact she was the most passionate of all those present here, next to the years of cold cynicism he had grown into a man around. She had been attracted to the man who was, in a sense, completely out of time. Shana O'Hara had likened him more than once to a samurai or medieval knight in his formality and talk of honorable battle. He had other friends, his mission required it, but no one understood, even subconsciously, just what truly Jonathan was. Scarlet knew he was carrying some burden and had tried for the years they had known each other to get him to open to it. If he did he would destroy the very thing that would cut away his self-deception, however.
"Rifle practice is still a half hour away. You want to sneak a peek at the schedule for tonight so we can get around Commandant Curuthers for a date? Knowing is half the battle." Scarlet whispered into his ear.
"I'd like that a lot." John lowered his head.
"I can see you can't get any more enthusiastic." Scarlet smirked. She'd grown up in a family of martial arts instructors with three older brothers and, from what Philip had heard, she had plenty of time to sharpen that razor wit as much as her punches.
"No. No, it's fine really. I've had a lot on my mind lately." Jonathan said. He had learned to forget that he was a member of Cobra and for the time they'd been here he had become Jonathan Sharp from Kansas, instead of Special Operative 12# or a host of the numbers he'd been raised with since they'd forbidden him to be called by his mother's name for him. Now training was ending and Shana would go on, as would he, into the military proper. Yet he didn't want it to end.
"Well I've…" Shana stopped and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which said she didn't want to intrude. A warmth seemed to pass from Shana to Jonathan and clarity settled around his mind.
"Shana..I'll catch up with you later. I have to go work some things out…I'll talk to you later."
"Okay." Shana said. "It's not like half the things you do aren't odd…" she muttered as he passed and Jonathan nearly stopped her to apologize but he realized he needed to think through their next meeting and think through it well.
Jonathan headed into his bunk and sat down before folding his head into his lap. 'I know what I must do.' The soldier thought. He wasn't sure how he would do it but he would ask her to come with him and be with him for the dawning of Cobra on the world. It was ridiculous and every fiber of his being screamed that it was ridiculous. He would control destiny if he had to and make her understand they were meant to be together and the patriotism she held would find a place in the new order.
"Oh no." the agent returned. Underneath his pillow was a small envelope en-sealed with the Cobra hood. Inside were orders that recalled him from his mission of infiltration. The letter from his father was cold and to the point. It signaled that his time for him to return to Cobra's headquarters and take a field commission, their plan was accelerating.
***
July 13th, 2001
The now Cobra Commander did not know why that particular part of his life came back as he flew circles around the Terror-palace seeking his foe and only occasionally took a sniper shot to kill one of the gunmen defending. It had been many years since she had left the G.I. team and she was probably now married to the commander of the team she fancied, General Duke, or the one called Snake Eyes. They were men of honor and not treacherous foes like she believed the organization of Cobra to be and rightly so, the Commander would say, if not for the fact he was now in command of men and women willing to give their lives for his cause.
"YOU!" a voice called to him from below and the Commander spun through a torrent of laser fire toward the platform where the voice originated. Once he landed he removed his mask and cast it onto the ground before the form of Serpentor as he shot both of his traitor Crimson guards dead beside him. So fat with the pleasures of the flesh, neither had the skill to even aim and fire their weapons before they fell.
"You are responsible for this outrage against my person!" Serpentor cried. "My army is perishing and I will have my pound of flesh from you for it."
"SILENCE FOUL LIAR! IF YOU CARED AN OUNCE FOR YOUR ARMY YOU WOULD BE FIRST IN BATTLE AND LAST TO RETREAT!" the Commander screamed at the top of his lungs and grabbed at his power-spear. A weapon designed with the simplicity of the ancients, with the deadliness of modern technology.
Serpentor reached for one of his genetically engineered cobras, creatures that were hard as steel but living. Much like the man before him, they were relics of Cobra-la's genetic abominations, which though he shared the blood of, but refused to mourn the memory of.
"What dare you say? You dare mock my courage in my own palace! I shall cut you down to the base matter that formed you!" Serpentor said and the duel between the Lords of Cobra began.
The battle was murderously fast and furious with the two melee weapons slamming against each other like the twin concepts of the ancient and the new struggling for supremacy that was taking place in the world around them. Serpentor's serpent caused the power-spear to spark with each strike struck against him.
"You cannot stand against a man who has lived this entire world's history of war, from the days of burning fire in caves to splitting skulls with axes to eradicating civilizations with tactical weapons!" Serpentor snarled forcing all of his strength on his opponent's weapon in a locked duel. He was surprised then when the man met him with equal and distinctly inhuman strength in return.
"It is the duty of all righteous conquerors to crush their foes before them like the dogs they are. You have proven yourself time and time again to be nothing but a butcher and Cobra was remade into nothing more than your bandits. Now in the name of the noble beast and what it stands for…I WILL EXECUTE YOU!" The Cobra Commander then flipped over Serpentor onto the stone ground and brought down his power spear, the weapon sparking as Serpentor blocked the deathblow from the near mad warrior.
***
Snake Eyes walked through the brush of Cobra Island with repeated slashes through the foliage using his katana, a use his ninja masters probably didn't intend, but a utilitarian one nonetheless. The slashes he made were soft and swift to cover up the noise they might make even as he looked frequently back to his "passengers" whom, even with the instructions he had passed on through Falcon, were making far too much noise for their own good.
'It's a very good thing they have a war to distract anyone who might be listening.' Snake Eyes smiled underneath his mask. Unlike the other Joes he really had never stopped fighting in his time off and had spent the majority of his time in and out of monasteries between fighting, what he liked to call the "good fight" against tyranny embodied in Cobra. He had known, before the others, Cobra was returning and in a much deadlier form.
"Great, I'm following a ninja into the brush." The one known as Icicle said and Snake eyes slapped her across the mouth, holding it. They were approaching the area they had confirmed was the battle ground and Snake Eyes knew by the sounds of battle that were far off in sound really meant that the destruction of the third attack group was almost finished. If it were up to Snake Eyes he would just abort the mission and be done with it, they knew what they were getting into when they made this attack. However he had orders and would at least confirm there were none alive before he left, it was the least he could do for soldiers who stood up against evil in their lives.
"Lady, we have successfully eliminated the resistance on this side of the Island. The men request the opportunity to begin the charge on the forces of G.I. Joe rather than continue with the pre-arranged battle plan to destroy Serpentor's military dumps and village barracks." A Cobra soldier walked up towards a woman dressed in battle armor of some kind as he saluted. Snake Eyes parted the foliage a bit and prayed that the trainees behind him had enough sense not to make any noise or make any sudden move.
"You long for combat with the forces of G.I. Joe?" the woman asked removing her helmet and revealing a very attractive woman in her late twenties. He was briefly reminded of Scarlet, due to the athleticism, lethality, and poise that was present in her form but shook that thought away. He had loved Scarlet from afar most of his life, since he'd met her but ever since he'd lost his voice and been disfigured he'd known that she deserved better than a man trapped in such a shell. Worse he knew he could never give her the life that she desired because he had resigned himself to a life of murder and war, love was contradictory to such a lifestyle.
"They humiliated us, Ma'am. My father fought in Cobra and died fighting the Joes and to only know that victory had been snatched from his grasp time and time again with little hope of it ever returning. I want to show them that he did not die in vain. I want to spill their blood." The man said and Snake Eyes shook his head. Cobra was a cult and always had been, recruiting the disenchanted and providing them with false ideas about the glamour of war and revenge. He was an odd man to be saying so because Ninjas were nothing more than medieval wise guys really, but it was nature's way to teach through irony.
"Then that is exactly why we are going to focus on the original battle plan. G.I. Joe's defeat will come in time but it will be on our terms and when they choose. You know the Commander views them as worthy foes and they will be treated as such accordingly. Bring forth the prisoners." The woman said and Snake Eyes surveyed the landscape to get an image of a group of about thirty Cobra commandoes with a few vehicles about, it was obvious the rest were covering sentry duty and probably hunting down the escapees before their next big push.
Fourteen soldiers from what looked to be Britain, Canada, France, and even Germany were led at gunpoint with their hands on their heads, disarmed. Snake Eyes never liked soldiers who surrendered, but that was mainly because of their association with Cobra in his mind and Vietnam. He noticed Colonel Grant was among the soldiers who had given up and made a subtle look to Falcon before signaling in sign "Attack in thirty seconds. Get them out of there. Don't tell the team until your ready."
Snake Eyes didn't like what he was facing but it would feel good to bring the stinging bite of justice to the side of the serpent again.
***
Shana O'Hara watched the progression of tanks through the foliage as the energy blasts from the Interceptor tanks blasted through the walls and defenses Serpentor erected as the HISS tanks were scattered and trouble-bubbles shot out of the air. While it was a good feeling knowing that her tax dollars hadn't been completely put to waste, it was also a disturbing feeling knowing you completely overmatched an enemy that they had practically no chance of beating them. She much preferred a straight one on one fight with an opponent who at least had a chance to fight back.
"Okay, Tanks I want you to ignore the initial battle plan. We're getting chewed up by Cobra in the skies and we need to take down the citadel hard and fast." The newly promoted Sergeant Major Demolition Derby said.
"I don't think you should do that." Scarlet said watching the troops following behind the tanks blasting everything around them as they fought.
"Duke trusts my judgment and I'm relaying my orders back to him. The original plan was for a steady take of the island. This is much quicker…." DD stopped for a second as the interceptor stopped in mid-roll and he ordered the entire group to stop as the two tanks beside him shuddered similarly. Large trails of black smoke were emerging from the bottoms of the tanks as Scarlet saw their treads were completely destroyed despite having the best plate in the world.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this." She said sardonically, guessing what just happened.
"Okay, so there's a mine field below us. Not like anyone got hurt." DD shrugged his shoulders guiltily before Scarlet remembered who was in charge. "Let's get in another tank. I'm not Serpentor, I know actually something about fighting. We're handling this MY way from this point on." It was infuriating someone could make a mistake like this. He'd even ignored the established attack route in order to get there faster. Worse, she'd let him.
"You better hope you do something here that makes up for this." Scarlet murmured as she started shouting and the remembrance of what it was like to be a G.I. Joe leader flooded back into her. Getting on call to Duke she confirmed a new attack root and prepared the assault according to expectations of resistance and got her team ready. They were not only going to level the citadel to the ground they were going to take Serpentor himself and take him alive.
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