July 15, 2001
2:31 p.m.
Conrad Hauser gathered the G.I. Team into the conference hall as he went over the situation in his head about a dozen times, trying to figure out an angle which wouldn't needlessly endanger all of his men, but the facts were staring him in the face.
"I'm going to hate myself after all this." Duke said though his teeth.
The Brigadier General stood in front of his men and looked at his brother, who was wearing his Colonel's uniform proudly. He'd been given the bronze star for his efforts on Cobra Island and Duke had never been more proud of his younger brother. The man was the head of the G.I. Joe team now though and he'd been briefed before everyone else with as much seriousness as General Hawk used to brief him. Duke didn't like to think about his brother's reaction to the news he'd given him. Aside from calling Duke's plan crazy, he hadn't much liked the information they'd discovered on Cobra either and questioned its' validity.
'I'd question it too, but I'm not going to call Shana a liar.' Duke thought as he looked over the G.I. Joes, old and new, along with a few carefully selected "advisors" from the United Nations Coalition, which had been drastically reduced in size by attacks and the General privately informing them that Cobra was either dealt with in small teams or one might as well gun down one's own troops for the corpses they'd make of them. There were quite a few faces, which were in mourning. Ace, Clutch, and Stryker had all been killed in the attack on Cobra Island and it had hit them all pretty hard. They had no time for sorrows though as the world was entering its' second week completely deprived of most of it's leaders while Cobra did what it pleased.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm here to talk to you about the attack on Cobra Island, the final results of it, the information we were able to pull from it and the other sources we'd been in contact with since then." The groans and general muttering Duke heard were disrespectful, but completely justified. Serpentor had been the slime of humanity for much of Duke's military career and he didn't regret that he and his own private army had been sent to prison or the morgue but the entire attack had left them wide open for a flank from the real parties responsible for the world-wide government kidnappings. The oddest thing was not a single one of those snakes had been taken alive out of the thirty-seven who'd been killed in the altercation. "You all know about Ace, Clutch, and Quick Kick's deaths and the loss it is to the Joe team and the world at large…" Quick Kick's death hit Duke especially hard because the man had gone on to have a life as a youth center manager well away from the military. "However the other dead include a nearly three hundred and fifty United Nations Coalition and regular U.S. soldiers. This is opposed to ninety nine percent of captured or slain Coil army militia who numbered three thousand at our last estimates. The operation freed thirteen thousand enslaved civilians and ended one of the biggest pipelines of terrorist activity and drugs into the world today. We should be proud of that."
Duke cleared his throat and was pleased to notice that some bare traces of smiles had begun to emerge on his teammate's faces. He was glad to tell them that their suffering had not been for nothing. "We also have received valuable information about the organization we are entitling Cobra Reborn, for lack of a better name at this point. We've faced them in combat and have a good estimate of their technology; which includes personalized battle armor, almost full AI BATS, some sort of invisibility cloak, which they seem to be only able to use when not engaged in battle, and finally a form of magnetism based kinetic field which, until overloaded, will absorb most of the punishment we can dish out. This is all top technology and it's obvious that the Snakes are better armed this time around, but more importantly they have better training and talent too. Whatever they've been up to these past thirteen years, it's not been picking up any man who wants to fight for pay but crack shots and fanatics….they showed it on Cobra Island and we took a beating for it." Duke flipped on a projector and images from the battle were slid through. Finally the image rested on a military academy graduate in his mid-twenties.
"This picture is of Jonathan Sharp, a covert ops trainee who disappeared on his first mission into the Ukraine with fifteen other operatives of which twelve were never seen again. This picture is extremely out of date and before the original G.I. team was assembled but your looking at the new Cobra Commander." Duke slid to a new slide, which showed an artist's representation of what Scarlet saw. The man's eyes were his most telling feature. His eyes were like a viper's. It personally gave Duke the creeps and only a few things did that including metal masks, hoods, people throwing snake's into his chest, and people turning into snakes.
"That's the new Cobra Commander? How come we haven't heard of this guy before?" Flint questioned, obviously more than a little irritated. Duke admitted he probably would be too if he had been on Cobra Island when the new Cobras had attacked.
"We've managed to get a fairly wide paper trail from the African sub-continent where he supported several of the local governments currently in power to getting there, South America as well, plus the Baltic revolutions and Chec rebels in Russia. He has a taste for legitimate causes, so it was hard to find the typical Cobra slash and burn that would have tipped off the CIA…or so I've heard. In any case, we're trying to find bases in the regions and see if we can trace the supply armament shipments that we know would have been needed to outfit this group. Our agents currently believe for some time he's had support of insiders in Russia, and even the United States for high technology usage and factory assembly. It's more than likely that they've even had access to space platforms and the guys at the lab already have me worried about satellite missiles and God knows any number of other things floating above us now." Duke shook his head in half-disbelief. This was not the type of report he liked to give.
"Duke, where exactly have my tax dollars been going for the last decade?" Lady Jaye clasped her hands together and asked a very good question.
"I'm not sure, Lady Jaye. However, from the profile we've got of this man, he's going to accelerate his attacks very soon and he's likely to come after us. Especially as payback for Cobra's previous defeats." Duke grit his teeth, three friends were already in the ground. "I strongly advise you all to remember this man is like Cobra Commander and Serpentor, completely insane with unpredictability definitely on his side. Thus, we have to be a little unpredictable." Duke said this mainly to the new recruits but he also was now to the point of the speech he really hated and he had to prepare the Joes for what he was going to do.
"Good evening, G.I. Joe. It's always a pleasure to see how time whittles away even the best recruits." The voice came from the back of the room and Duke looked down at his papers while Gung Ho sat up and had to be held back by Flint and Dial-tone to avoid punching the man in the face. Several others, from Shipwreck to Lady Jaye, were half out of their seats as well. Standing there, arrogant as ever, was an older but still well built Zartan with face paint restored and his handcuffs being removed by the M.P.s.
"Some analysis of the attacks Cobra conducted revealed some familiar faces who managed to avoid getting put away for life in prison…" Duke began as the slides he clicked on to show Buzzer directing a group of similarly dressed slime.
"Unlike others." Zartan bemoaned in the dark room and Duke had a wicked urge to turn up the lights. Zartan had been indicted for countless acts of terrorist activity and nine counts of murder, which Duke had testified to. He had almost been disappointed when Zartan managed to avoid the electric chair.
"And from what we can tell they've formed a new Dreadnoks group somewhere in the United States except much larger and missing their charter member for 'moral guidance'." Duke smiled at Zartan who was clearly irritated. Duke hated Cobra Commander, Destro, and Serpentor but they were all crazy in his mind and, to a certain extent, unable to be held accountable for their actions. Zartan, on the other hand, was just a mercenary and a traitor and he invoked more scorn than the others ever could. "At my recommendation, in exchange for commuting the rest of his sentence, Zartan has agreed to lead us to his people and their new hideout."
"Forgive me, General, for questioning you on this…" Falcon began "But if Zartan has been rotting behind bars for the past decade and hasn't been deemed valuable enough for Cobra to send two Vipers and a row boat to try and rescue him. What exactly makes you think he'll be of any use in finding out where any of Cobra's bases are?" Duke's little brother crossed his arms and looks with a suspicious gaze at the Dreadnok commander.
"Insolent….just because I wasn't chosen to be rescued by the arrogant snob currently in command of Cobra doesn't mean I'm completely without my resources Joe. My sister, Zarana, and I were in contact just before she was rescued from her latest sentence. It was our initial plan that I would be broken out soon after she was, but apparently their dear commander forbid it." Zartan said with a sneer as several of the G.I. Joe team obviously found that extremely funny.
"Honor among thieves, Zartan." Duke said simply.
"It's honor among family, Duke. In any case my sister gave me precise enough instructions to reach their base without too much difficulty and in exchange for my freedom from the series of brightly lit hells you've shuffled me through, I will let you have them all." Zartan stared at the screen of Buzzer with contempt. "I also want to remind you, my sister is free to go after this as well."
"That's presuming you can keep her out of trouble, Zartan. I'd like nothing more than to make sure both of you get hauled back up the river." Duke pointed at Zartan who simply nodded. It was a shame about Zarana and, sexism aside, Duke had always felt she'd been more goaded into Zartan's life than anything else. Still there wasn't much use crying over it, given a chance to start anew she'd wasted it and had been in and out of prison since Cobra's defeat at Cobra-La.
"I'll make sure we'll never see each other again once this is over, Duke. You can guarantee it." Zartan curled his lip at the General with a sneer.
***
July 15, 2001
6:30 pm
Scarlet shot targets in the training pit for, she didn't know how long. The meeting with Duke had not gone well though and she was glad to get some time alone. The entire situation had gone way out of hand and she was extremely nervous, something she couldn't remember ever being. She'd called Little Conrad and Dashiell at her brothers and they were doing fine, though worried sick about their mother given the attack on Cobra Island. It was times like this she really wished she could talk to her family about this but too much was top secret and personal.
"I hate my life." Scarlet sighed.
"Hmmm, someone isn't having a very good day, it would seem." Lady Jaye said from behind Scarlet, who looked up at her friend.
"Tell me about it. In fact say the worst week of my life." Scarlet did not exaggerate as she fired the gun for a bull's eye into the Cobra target and the simulation ended. President Bush had spared no expense on funding G.I. Joe this time around.
"Given the kind of things we've been through, that's saying a lot." Lady Jaye smirked as she set the program for another round, two subjects, and top difficulty. The system then produced a huge array of Cobra troops and laser fire around the two women and a life or death battle began between them and their illusionary foes.
"Trust me I would trade what I'm going through right now for a straight fight against a giant amoeba or face stealing cosmetics companies any day." Scarlet smiled, thinking of some of the more insane situations they've found themselves in. Leaping over an explosion, she fired a crossbow bolt into a Cobra trooper who vanished promptly.
"Well, you may just get your wish pretty soon. Duke wants you on the mission into the swamps of Zartan, while they try and track down Cobra's launching site for whatever might be up in the sky." Lady Jaye ducked under two laser blasts before swinging her javelin into holographic jaws and knocking them into oblivion with blows to the neck with her fists.
Scarlet didn't trust Zartan one bit and frankly was fairly certain that the mercenary leader was going to promptly turn over the Joes to his "brothers" the moment he could for whatever reward Cobra Reborn would be willing to give.
'And just what is John willing to give for me?' Scarlet blinked as a laser bolt nearly took her shoulder off before Lady Jaye pushed her out of its' way.
"Slipping in your old age aren't we, Shana?" Jaye smirked as a Cobra tank exploded thanks to Jaye's javelins.
"Oh shut up." Scarlet smirked at her friend. Lady Jaye was her closet friend, but she couldn't talk to her about this thing like she wanted to. It was one thing to be betrayed, it was quite another to have the betrayer trying to destroy you and your way of life.
'It sounds like a really bad fiction.' She smirked kicking another illusion in the head before bringing out her rifle and destroying five more. The simulation ended about twenty minutes later and Scarlet fell flat on the ground in exhaustion but they'd amassed the highest score yet.
"What a rush…Scarlet…is something wrong." Lady Jaye stopped to look at her friend.
"Yes." Scarlet said, shaking her head. "What gave it away?"
"The fact this took thirty minutes instead of ten…it would take five but I'm taking it easy before I go with Flint to check on our kids, they take more energy than assaulting a Cobra base." Jaye smirks. "You haven't looked this bad since Duke's last coma."
Scarlet sighed, truth be told, she'd been worse, but right now it wasn't time to bring that up.
"You wouldn't believe me…." Scarlet sighed before getting the look from Lady Jaye.
"I'm related to Destro, we've traveled through time, and I once destroyed a conch which allowed the Baroness to control the male population of the world." Lady Jaye reminded her.
"Point conceded. I used to date the new Cobra Commander." Scarlet admitted. She didn't want to say, was in love with, because every time she thought about that she developed an urge to kill someone.
"Okay, your right. I don't believe it." Lady Jaye blinked.
"He's also the son of the original Cobra Commander. I think he retreated because I saw him." Scarlet said in a matter of fact tone.
"I no longer doubt you have the bizarre ability to attract the strangest men in the world." Jaye sighed and helped Scarlet up off the ground.
"Next time I'll try for James Bond." Scarlet shook her head and walked away, still trying to move through the strangeness of the situation.
***
July 15, 2001
2:59 pm
The new Cobra Commander and Snakes watched the Earth come into focus on the Cobra Command Station's view monitors.
"Twenty seconds until targeting is complete, Commander." Shareware said with a look towards his master who nodded in return.
"So, this is your Plan B. I'm not entirely sure it will succeed where the MASS Device, Pyramid of Darkness, and many, many other super weapons have failed spectacularly." Destro said as he clenched his metal gauntlets and looked at the Baroness beside him, uncomfortable with the confidence and blood thirst she had been showing since Cobra Island.
"Destro, your continuing questioning of my tactics is truly beginning to annoy me. The MASS device, Pyramid of Darkness, dollar bill destroying energy beams, and other "super weapons" as you call them were not the problem but the essential planning involved….a weapon is only as good as it's user." The Commander said as Snakes hissed at his feet.
"The planning wassssssss perfect, it wassssss the incompetentssssss who dealt with it afterwardssssss who made the planssssss to fail." Snakes murmured.
"Or perhaps it was destiny, father, that you would only taste victory until the time you could devour it here." The new commander quickly changed the subject so best to avoid the fact that his father the very person who dealt with it afterwards.
"Targeting….locked on." Shareware said looking up as the chords tied directly to the Cobra Command Station's central computer reacted to his every thought.
"I think it would be better for all parties concerned, Commander, if we made the demonstration of this station's destructive power on the G.I. Joe's command headquarters." Fallen Angel smashed her fists together and breathed a deep breath watching from the deck below.
"Demonstration of this station's….*snerk*." Shareware said while being paid no attention of attention to by Cobra Reborn's masters. "Geez has nobody here seen Star Wars?" he sighed under his breath as they continued to ignore him.
"As I argued before…TO YOU ALL….G.I. Joe must be made an example of and have sufficiently fought for their cause enough that I will give them fair warning before I annihilate them and their cause in the fashion befitting a Fior." The Commander smiled. It would a trial by combat that would settle once and for all who was truly the rightful ruler of the world.
"And I have argued to you that you are showing the same overestimation of your power and ignorance of G.I. Joe's skills that your father did before you!" The Baroness DeCobray hissed toward the Commander and growled when Snakes returned it.
"Believe what you will Baroness. Everything G.I. Joe does I am aware of and I have my own reasons for wanting them alive…brace yourselves everyone. Begin the de-cloaking procedure and power up the afterburners for immediate departure from our position once the blast is fired. I want this timed perfectly. The weapon is of no use unless we can make sure it the world's nations cannot retaliate against our position." The Commander ordered, grabbing some nearby railing as on the monitor the image of the now docked U.S.S. Patriot was on the screen surrounded by the energy cannon's focus.
"You may fire at will." Cobra Commander said while his father had a sadistic glint in his eye. The station shuddered visibly and the scene went a bright, hot, blinding, red as the fusion cannon blast cleared and the aircraft carrier Patriot was completely annihilated with minimal damage to the dock around it. Jupiter's Thunder was indeed the most powerful weapon the world had ever designed.
"I detect no trace of survivors, sir, though anyone watching what we did is either blind or wetting themselves." Shareware smirked as the Commander frowned visibly and shook his head.
"Transmit this to the pre-ordained locations. I the Commander of the Revolutionary Group Cobra hereby inform you that the destruction of U.S.S. Patriot was retaliation for centuries of civil war, injust rule, and strife that the forces the United States through G.I. Joe, the Soviet Union through the October Guard, and Hitler through his Nazis have supported. Good men have died in this attack as well as the wicked and I bear the responsibility for this. However, the Earth must become fully aware of the price of war and that no longer will it be stood for this quiet age of death where starvation, pestilence, mass murder, and the torture of one's fellow humans can be safely tucked away. Nations of the World, I have cleared of you of your previous leadership and the mistakes of the past…I command you to use this time I am giving you to charter an end to all of which I speak of and usher humanity into a new Golden Age. Since this is common decency I speak of and I am the savage which drives you to such actions I take no pride but no shame in informing you that every hour you delay I will eliminate a major military base or platform of oppression." Cobra Commander waved as Shareware stopped the transmission.
"Highly melodramatic." The Baroness said, and Destro agreed.
"One wondersssss exactly what one'sssssss goalssssss are and if they are compatible with our own, my sssssson." Snakes looked up with his soulless stare.
"Why you cursed faithless freak…" Fallen Angel already had her gun out before she was stopped.
"Fear is a powerful tool of motivation, but men eventually master all of their fears. One must understand how one can turn fear into devotion. Deprived of their militaries and blessed with a new utopian society I will mold, Cobra will be viewed as saviors as in the long term we are able to move fully into power…. since the Old leaders will have been suitably "adjusted" to our point of view." Cobra Commander sighed. He was uncomfortable with the brain washing that was being done, but Doctor Thoughtwave was an expert in his field and it was necessary for their ultimate victory to be as bloodless as possible.
"Jussssssst remember that any victory which isssssss not total, issssssss worthlessssss." Snakes murmured as the Commander left his enemies alone on the bridge.
'I am surrounded like Caesar.' Were Cobra Commander's parting musings.
***
Destro looked at the treasures that were being piled into his personal transport from the Cobra Command Station. The wealth of items included gold bars, classic paintings, and jewelry, which could be easily exchanged. The wealth of the Empire of Cobra was considerable but the Scottish Lord had little desire for it but to regain enough of his original wealth that he might somehow continue his line without the heady disgrace that the war he had fought for so long had brought him.
"Be careful with that you twit! It's from the Ming Dynasty and I'll have your head if it's scratched!" Destro shouted to the Cobra workmen.
Destro sighed as he looked at the new crop of fanatics that Cobra had managed to acquire. In the beginning the forces of Cobra had been exactly like this. The young idealistic soldiers promised delusions of victory and a better world order where they would be viewed as heroes in a new age. Inevitably this crop was cut down like wheat and mercenaries started to do the fighting before mutiny and rebellion destroyed the organization. James McCullen, Destro, did not like to think that prison had reformed him and in truth he had few regrets about his time with Cobra, but he had lost a decade of his life, his family business, and was about to be dumped anew in the intrigues of madmen like the Old Cobra Commander whose form reflected what Destro had always known about him. His son seemed slightly more rational with a slighter sense of honor but it was also obvious "Snakes" cared nothing for his heir and still considered himself Cobra's master. Given such leadership it was not hard to see another long fall from great heights to terrible doom and hellish torment.
"You seemed vexed, Destro." The Baroness said, coming up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Even as Destro took them away and looked at her with his dark deep stare "Even on the edge of the victory we have spent most of our lives waiting for."
"Are we really on the verge of victory, Baroness, or is that what you want to believe?" Destro asked with a half sneer under his mask.
"I'm not sure I care much for your attitude, Destro. You have seen what Jupiter's Thunder can do to the world's military…soon the leaders shall be under our thumb as well and the world will come tumbling like a house of cards soon after." The Baroness stared at her lover.
"So you say, but as I recall with my previous designs, similar expectations met with failure. I no longer believe anywhere in my heart that humanity has the intellectual capacity to respond to fear properly anymore." Destro said shaking his head. "And forgive me if I believe that following a honor obsessed samurai baying at the whims of a mad mutant lizard is not the healthiest course of action at present."
The Baroness smiled evilly "Pessimistic as always."
Destro shook his head and looked out towards the Earth below which was a glorious gem that held wonders untold for a man who might be willing to plunder them and seek them, treasures the world would part with much more readily than it's freedom. "I will not debate the obvious with you Baroness, but I implore you to consider that together we could make a life for ourselves far away from this…madness."
The Baroness scoffed. "I think you have gone soft in your imprisonment, Destro. I have dreamed of revenge for so long that it has become my entire sum and what I wreaked so far is but the opening act to the DEATH OF GI JOE and the DEVASTATION OF ALL MY OPPRESSORS!"
The Baroness DeCobray smacked Destro across the face and he fell back the slightest bit as he looked at her.
Destro looked at the Baroness with a commanding and penetrating gaze as he crumpled his fist together and slammed it into a nearby wall. "Mark my words Baroness that whether you wish it or not we will both escape this never-ending cycle and start anew. The only question shall be just how we do it."
Destro ordered the remainder of his goods brought onboard the transport and headed then back to the world of his birth.
***
Falcon overlooked the teams, which had been recruited for the upcoming missions and couldn't put away his doubts about them all. Some of them were, to politely put it, well past retirement age and more mouth than bite despite what big brother Duke would like to say and the rest were amazingly under tested in this.
"So what's your code name soldier?" Falcon looked at the first member of Team A, which would be tackling the investigation of Cobra's rocket platform in Siberia.
"Last Chance." The blonde woman said, she wasn't beautiful but pretty and looked like she had taken up an athletic lifestyle only recently but with a relish. She was an intelligence operative from what Falcon's reports said and a good one.
"So how'd you get that name?" Falcon asked looking at her.
"I was a defense attorney sir before I joined the Army. I was viewed as the Last Chance for prisoners who were on their last appeal." Last Chance said.
"And what made you join the army?" Falcon put his hands behind his back.
"The fact I was so good at my job sir." The woman said then frowned.
Falcon nodded an "oh" before he went over to Infiltrator whom had received a commendation and a transfer from his fourteen year mission on Cobra Island. The man had considerable combat and guerilla skill, which would be very useful on this mission but the new Major was a bit unsettling to the Colonel, especially when he insisted on calling him "kid".
"Okay everybody your missions are starting now. With the attacks on the worlds' military by Cobra's space station we know that they are operating somewhere in the stars and unfortunately since the damn thing can move across the globe in an hour and we at present don't have any way of locating it…our top priority is finding some way to get onboard a supply shuttle or other means and taking the machine out." Falcon paced around the room.
"We know the drill. Just point us where we have to go and I'll make sure it happens." Beachhead, who had been the first person to re-enlist in G.I. Joe, slammed his fists together. Falcon didn't like that the man was now an officer nor did he like the former instructor was in charge of the mission to Cobra's suspected rocket pad but it had been the Commander of the Military's orders. One didn't question General Hawk especially when he's your natural father.
"Yeah pipe down there. You, Infiltrator, Icicle, Demolition Derby, Last Chance, and Punch Card are the spearhead of team A. If you locate Cobra's rocket pad we need you to get a tracer on anything going up. If the situation warrants it I'll lead in my own team and Flint a third to provide backup. If your mission is successful though we'll fall back to our mobile base now that this one is compromised and we'll prepare an all out assault on Cobra Command Station." Falcon turned to group two.
"Scarlett, you'll be leading Team B, which will be in charge of babysitting Zartan and making sure that his sister's Dreadnoks are shut down. The rocket pad information isn't necessarily secure and this lead is arguably just as good for finding out where the Snakes are. Dialtone, Creed, Gung Ho, Playboy, and Snake Eyes will be your team. I've contacted several local military and police units plus a standby Team of Joes to put the kibosh on the Dreadnoks if the Swamp Rat tries something funny." Colonel Falcon smiled.
Scarlet smirked as if the Colonel's words had a joke. "Trust me, it'll be a long time before I'm afraid of what Zartan can pull. I'll head out with them as soon as the meeting is over."
Falcon nodded and looked at the list of Joes that would eventually go down in history once they were fully trained that was, new names without past victories but a crisis already in the works. Hammerhead, Slackjaw, Greasefire, Stormwarden, Gaurdian Angel, Cold Iron, Hot Lead, Prophetess, and many others…
'It's going to a long day.' He thought to himself.
2:31 p.m.
Conrad Hauser gathered the G.I. Team into the conference hall as he went over the situation in his head about a dozen times, trying to figure out an angle which wouldn't needlessly endanger all of his men, but the facts were staring him in the face.
"I'm going to hate myself after all this." Duke said though his teeth.
The Brigadier General stood in front of his men and looked at his brother, who was wearing his Colonel's uniform proudly. He'd been given the bronze star for his efforts on Cobra Island and Duke had never been more proud of his younger brother. The man was the head of the G.I. Joe team now though and he'd been briefed before everyone else with as much seriousness as General Hawk used to brief him. Duke didn't like to think about his brother's reaction to the news he'd given him. Aside from calling Duke's plan crazy, he hadn't much liked the information they'd discovered on Cobra either and questioned its' validity.
'I'd question it too, but I'm not going to call Shana a liar.' Duke thought as he looked over the G.I. Joes, old and new, along with a few carefully selected "advisors" from the United Nations Coalition, which had been drastically reduced in size by attacks and the General privately informing them that Cobra was either dealt with in small teams or one might as well gun down one's own troops for the corpses they'd make of them. There were quite a few faces, which were in mourning. Ace, Clutch, and Stryker had all been killed in the attack on Cobra Island and it had hit them all pretty hard. They had no time for sorrows though as the world was entering its' second week completely deprived of most of it's leaders while Cobra did what it pleased.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm here to talk to you about the attack on Cobra Island, the final results of it, the information we were able to pull from it and the other sources we'd been in contact with since then." The groans and general muttering Duke heard were disrespectful, but completely justified. Serpentor had been the slime of humanity for much of Duke's military career and he didn't regret that he and his own private army had been sent to prison or the morgue but the entire attack had left them wide open for a flank from the real parties responsible for the world-wide government kidnappings. The oddest thing was not a single one of those snakes had been taken alive out of the thirty-seven who'd been killed in the altercation. "You all know about Ace, Clutch, and Quick Kick's deaths and the loss it is to the Joe team and the world at large…" Quick Kick's death hit Duke especially hard because the man had gone on to have a life as a youth center manager well away from the military. "However the other dead include a nearly three hundred and fifty United Nations Coalition and regular U.S. soldiers. This is opposed to ninety nine percent of captured or slain Coil army militia who numbered three thousand at our last estimates. The operation freed thirteen thousand enslaved civilians and ended one of the biggest pipelines of terrorist activity and drugs into the world today. We should be proud of that."
Duke cleared his throat and was pleased to notice that some bare traces of smiles had begun to emerge on his teammate's faces. He was glad to tell them that their suffering had not been for nothing. "We also have received valuable information about the organization we are entitling Cobra Reborn, for lack of a better name at this point. We've faced them in combat and have a good estimate of their technology; which includes personalized battle armor, almost full AI BATS, some sort of invisibility cloak, which they seem to be only able to use when not engaged in battle, and finally a form of magnetism based kinetic field which, until overloaded, will absorb most of the punishment we can dish out. This is all top technology and it's obvious that the Snakes are better armed this time around, but more importantly they have better training and talent too. Whatever they've been up to these past thirteen years, it's not been picking up any man who wants to fight for pay but crack shots and fanatics….they showed it on Cobra Island and we took a beating for it." Duke flipped on a projector and images from the battle were slid through. Finally the image rested on a military academy graduate in his mid-twenties.
"This picture is of Jonathan Sharp, a covert ops trainee who disappeared on his first mission into the Ukraine with fifteen other operatives of which twelve were never seen again. This picture is extremely out of date and before the original G.I. team was assembled but your looking at the new Cobra Commander." Duke slid to a new slide, which showed an artist's representation of what Scarlet saw. The man's eyes were his most telling feature. His eyes were like a viper's. It personally gave Duke the creeps and only a few things did that including metal masks, hoods, people throwing snake's into his chest, and people turning into snakes.
"That's the new Cobra Commander? How come we haven't heard of this guy before?" Flint questioned, obviously more than a little irritated. Duke admitted he probably would be too if he had been on Cobra Island when the new Cobras had attacked.
"We've managed to get a fairly wide paper trail from the African sub-continent where he supported several of the local governments currently in power to getting there, South America as well, plus the Baltic revolutions and Chec rebels in Russia. He has a taste for legitimate causes, so it was hard to find the typical Cobra slash and burn that would have tipped off the CIA…or so I've heard. In any case, we're trying to find bases in the regions and see if we can trace the supply armament shipments that we know would have been needed to outfit this group. Our agents currently believe for some time he's had support of insiders in Russia, and even the United States for high technology usage and factory assembly. It's more than likely that they've even had access to space platforms and the guys at the lab already have me worried about satellite missiles and God knows any number of other things floating above us now." Duke shook his head in half-disbelief. This was not the type of report he liked to give.
"Duke, where exactly have my tax dollars been going for the last decade?" Lady Jaye clasped her hands together and asked a very good question.
"I'm not sure, Lady Jaye. However, from the profile we've got of this man, he's going to accelerate his attacks very soon and he's likely to come after us. Especially as payback for Cobra's previous defeats." Duke grit his teeth, three friends were already in the ground. "I strongly advise you all to remember this man is like Cobra Commander and Serpentor, completely insane with unpredictability definitely on his side. Thus, we have to be a little unpredictable." Duke said this mainly to the new recruits but he also was now to the point of the speech he really hated and he had to prepare the Joes for what he was going to do.
"Good evening, G.I. Joe. It's always a pleasure to see how time whittles away even the best recruits." The voice came from the back of the room and Duke looked down at his papers while Gung Ho sat up and had to be held back by Flint and Dial-tone to avoid punching the man in the face. Several others, from Shipwreck to Lady Jaye, were half out of their seats as well. Standing there, arrogant as ever, was an older but still well built Zartan with face paint restored and his handcuffs being removed by the M.P.s.
"Some analysis of the attacks Cobra conducted revealed some familiar faces who managed to avoid getting put away for life in prison…" Duke began as the slides he clicked on to show Buzzer directing a group of similarly dressed slime.
"Unlike others." Zartan bemoaned in the dark room and Duke had a wicked urge to turn up the lights. Zartan had been indicted for countless acts of terrorist activity and nine counts of murder, which Duke had testified to. He had almost been disappointed when Zartan managed to avoid the electric chair.
"And from what we can tell they've formed a new Dreadnoks group somewhere in the United States except much larger and missing their charter member for 'moral guidance'." Duke smiled at Zartan who was clearly irritated. Duke hated Cobra Commander, Destro, and Serpentor but they were all crazy in his mind and, to a certain extent, unable to be held accountable for their actions. Zartan, on the other hand, was just a mercenary and a traitor and he invoked more scorn than the others ever could. "At my recommendation, in exchange for commuting the rest of his sentence, Zartan has agreed to lead us to his people and their new hideout."
"Forgive me, General, for questioning you on this…" Falcon began "But if Zartan has been rotting behind bars for the past decade and hasn't been deemed valuable enough for Cobra to send two Vipers and a row boat to try and rescue him. What exactly makes you think he'll be of any use in finding out where any of Cobra's bases are?" Duke's little brother crossed his arms and looks with a suspicious gaze at the Dreadnok commander.
"Insolent….just because I wasn't chosen to be rescued by the arrogant snob currently in command of Cobra doesn't mean I'm completely without my resources Joe. My sister, Zarana, and I were in contact just before she was rescued from her latest sentence. It was our initial plan that I would be broken out soon after she was, but apparently their dear commander forbid it." Zartan said with a sneer as several of the G.I. Joe team obviously found that extremely funny.
"Honor among thieves, Zartan." Duke said simply.
"It's honor among family, Duke. In any case my sister gave me precise enough instructions to reach their base without too much difficulty and in exchange for my freedom from the series of brightly lit hells you've shuffled me through, I will let you have them all." Zartan stared at the screen of Buzzer with contempt. "I also want to remind you, my sister is free to go after this as well."
"That's presuming you can keep her out of trouble, Zartan. I'd like nothing more than to make sure both of you get hauled back up the river." Duke pointed at Zartan who simply nodded. It was a shame about Zarana and, sexism aside, Duke had always felt she'd been more goaded into Zartan's life than anything else. Still there wasn't much use crying over it, given a chance to start anew she'd wasted it and had been in and out of prison since Cobra's defeat at Cobra-La.
"I'll make sure we'll never see each other again once this is over, Duke. You can guarantee it." Zartan curled his lip at the General with a sneer.
***
July 15, 2001
6:30 pm
Scarlet shot targets in the training pit for, she didn't know how long. The meeting with Duke had not gone well though and she was glad to get some time alone. The entire situation had gone way out of hand and she was extremely nervous, something she couldn't remember ever being. She'd called Little Conrad and Dashiell at her brothers and they were doing fine, though worried sick about their mother given the attack on Cobra Island. It was times like this she really wished she could talk to her family about this but too much was top secret and personal.
"I hate my life." Scarlet sighed.
"Hmmm, someone isn't having a very good day, it would seem." Lady Jaye said from behind Scarlet, who looked up at her friend.
"Tell me about it. In fact say the worst week of my life." Scarlet did not exaggerate as she fired the gun for a bull's eye into the Cobra target and the simulation ended. President Bush had spared no expense on funding G.I. Joe this time around.
"Given the kind of things we've been through, that's saying a lot." Lady Jaye smirked as she set the program for another round, two subjects, and top difficulty. The system then produced a huge array of Cobra troops and laser fire around the two women and a life or death battle began between them and their illusionary foes.
"Trust me I would trade what I'm going through right now for a straight fight against a giant amoeba or face stealing cosmetics companies any day." Scarlet smiled, thinking of some of the more insane situations they've found themselves in. Leaping over an explosion, she fired a crossbow bolt into a Cobra trooper who vanished promptly.
"Well, you may just get your wish pretty soon. Duke wants you on the mission into the swamps of Zartan, while they try and track down Cobra's launching site for whatever might be up in the sky." Lady Jaye ducked under two laser blasts before swinging her javelin into holographic jaws and knocking them into oblivion with blows to the neck with her fists.
Scarlet didn't trust Zartan one bit and frankly was fairly certain that the mercenary leader was going to promptly turn over the Joes to his "brothers" the moment he could for whatever reward Cobra Reborn would be willing to give.
'And just what is John willing to give for me?' Scarlet blinked as a laser bolt nearly took her shoulder off before Lady Jaye pushed her out of its' way.
"Slipping in your old age aren't we, Shana?" Jaye smirked as a Cobra tank exploded thanks to Jaye's javelins.
"Oh shut up." Scarlet smirked at her friend. Lady Jaye was her closet friend, but she couldn't talk to her about this thing like she wanted to. It was one thing to be betrayed, it was quite another to have the betrayer trying to destroy you and your way of life.
'It sounds like a really bad fiction.' She smirked kicking another illusion in the head before bringing out her rifle and destroying five more. The simulation ended about twenty minutes later and Scarlet fell flat on the ground in exhaustion but they'd amassed the highest score yet.
"What a rush…Scarlet…is something wrong." Lady Jaye stopped to look at her friend.
"Yes." Scarlet said, shaking her head. "What gave it away?"
"The fact this took thirty minutes instead of ten…it would take five but I'm taking it easy before I go with Flint to check on our kids, they take more energy than assaulting a Cobra base." Jaye smirks. "You haven't looked this bad since Duke's last coma."
Scarlet sighed, truth be told, she'd been worse, but right now it wasn't time to bring that up.
"You wouldn't believe me…." Scarlet sighed before getting the look from Lady Jaye.
"I'm related to Destro, we've traveled through time, and I once destroyed a conch which allowed the Baroness to control the male population of the world." Lady Jaye reminded her.
"Point conceded. I used to date the new Cobra Commander." Scarlet admitted. She didn't want to say, was in love with, because every time she thought about that she developed an urge to kill someone.
"Okay, your right. I don't believe it." Lady Jaye blinked.
"He's also the son of the original Cobra Commander. I think he retreated because I saw him." Scarlet said in a matter of fact tone.
"I no longer doubt you have the bizarre ability to attract the strangest men in the world." Jaye sighed and helped Scarlet up off the ground.
"Next time I'll try for James Bond." Scarlet shook her head and walked away, still trying to move through the strangeness of the situation.
***
July 15, 2001
2:59 pm
The new Cobra Commander and Snakes watched the Earth come into focus on the Cobra Command Station's view monitors.
"Twenty seconds until targeting is complete, Commander." Shareware said with a look towards his master who nodded in return.
"So, this is your Plan B. I'm not entirely sure it will succeed where the MASS Device, Pyramid of Darkness, and many, many other super weapons have failed spectacularly." Destro said as he clenched his metal gauntlets and looked at the Baroness beside him, uncomfortable with the confidence and blood thirst she had been showing since Cobra Island.
"Destro, your continuing questioning of my tactics is truly beginning to annoy me. The MASS device, Pyramid of Darkness, dollar bill destroying energy beams, and other "super weapons" as you call them were not the problem but the essential planning involved….a weapon is only as good as it's user." The Commander said as Snakes hissed at his feet.
"The planning wassssssss perfect, it wassssss the incompetentssssss who dealt with it afterwardssssss who made the planssssss to fail." Snakes murmured.
"Or perhaps it was destiny, father, that you would only taste victory until the time you could devour it here." The new commander quickly changed the subject so best to avoid the fact that his father the very person who dealt with it afterwards.
"Targeting….locked on." Shareware said looking up as the chords tied directly to the Cobra Command Station's central computer reacted to his every thought.
"I think it would be better for all parties concerned, Commander, if we made the demonstration of this station's destructive power on the G.I. Joe's command headquarters." Fallen Angel smashed her fists together and breathed a deep breath watching from the deck below.
"Demonstration of this station's….*snerk*." Shareware said while being paid no attention of attention to by Cobra Reborn's masters. "Geez has nobody here seen Star Wars?" he sighed under his breath as they continued to ignore him.
"As I argued before…TO YOU ALL….G.I. Joe must be made an example of and have sufficiently fought for their cause enough that I will give them fair warning before I annihilate them and their cause in the fashion befitting a Fior." The Commander smiled. It would a trial by combat that would settle once and for all who was truly the rightful ruler of the world.
"And I have argued to you that you are showing the same overestimation of your power and ignorance of G.I. Joe's skills that your father did before you!" The Baroness DeCobray hissed toward the Commander and growled when Snakes returned it.
"Believe what you will Baroness. Everything G.I. Joe does I am aware of and I have my own reasons for wanting them alive…brace yourselves everyone. Begin the de-cloaking procedure and power up the afterburners for immediate departure from our position once the blast is fired. I want this timed perfectly. The weapon is of no use unless we can make sure it the world's nations cannot retaliate against our position." The Commander ordered, grabbing some nearby railing as on the monitor the image of the now docked U.S.S. Patriot was on the screen surrounded by the energy cannon's focus.
"You may fire at will." Cobra Commander said while his father had a sadistic glint in his eye. The station shuddered visibly and the scene went a bright, hot, blinding, red as the fusion cannon blast cleared and the aircraft carrier Patriot was completely annihilated with minimal damage to the dock around it. Jupiter's Thunder was indeed the most powerful weapon the world had ever designed.
"I detect no trace of survivors, sir, though anyone watching what we did is either blind or wetting themselves." Shareware smirked as the Commander frowned visibly and shook his head.
"Transmit this to the pre-ordained locations. I the Commander of the Revolutionary Group Cobra hereby inform you that the destruction of U.S.S. Patriot was retaliation for centuries of civil war, injust rule, and strife that the forces the United States through G.I. Joe, the Soviet Union through the October Guard, and Hitler through his Nazis have supported. Good men have died in this attack as well as the wicked and I bear the responsibility for this. However, the Earth must become fully aware of the price of war and that no longer will it be stood for this quiet age of death where starvation, pestilence, mass murder, and the torture of one's fellow humans can be safely tucked away. Nations of the World, I have cleared of you of your previous leadership and the mistakes of the past…I command you to use this time I am giving you to charter an end to all of which I speak of and usher humanity into a new Golden Age. Since this is common decency I speak of and I am the savage which drives you to such actions I take no pride but no shame in informing you that every hour you delay I will eliminate a major military base or platform of oppression." Cobra Commander waved as Shareware stopped the transmission.
"Highly melodramatic." The Baroness said, and Destro agreed.
"One wondersssss exactly what one'sssssss goalssssss are and if they are compatible with our own, my sssssson." Snakes looked up with his soulless stare.
"Why you cursed faithless freak…" Fallen Angel already had her gun out before she was stopped.
"Fear is a powerful tool of motivation, but men eventually master all of their fears. One must understand how one can turn fear into devotion. Deprived of their militaries and blessed with a new utopian society I will mold, Cobra will be viewed as saviors as in the long term we are able to move fully into power…. since the Old leaders will have been suitably "adjusted" to our point of view." Cobra Commander sighed. He was uncomfortable with the brain washing that was being done, but Doctor Thoughtwave was an expert in his field and it was necessary for their ultimate victory to be as bloodless as possible.
"Jussssssst remember that any victory which isssssss not total, issssssss worthlessssss." Snakes murmured as the Commander left his enemies alone on the bridge.
'I am surrounded like Caesar.' Were Cobra Commander's parting musings.
***
Destro looked at the treasures that were being piled into his personal transport from the Cobra Command Station. The wealth of items included gold bars, classic paintings, and jewelry, which could be easily exchanged. The wealth of the Empire of Cobra was considerable but the Scottish Lord had little desire for it but to regain enough of his original wealth that he might somehow continue his line without the heady disgrace that the war he had fought for so long had brought him.
"Be careful with that you twit! It's from the Ming Dynasty and I'll have your head if it's scratched!" Destro shouted to the Cobra workmen.
Destro sighed as he looked at the new crop of fanatics that Cobra had managed to acquire. In the beginning the forces of Cobra had been exactly like this. The young idealistic soldiers promised delusions of victory and a better world order where they would be viewed as heroes in a new age. Inevitably this crop was cut down like wheat and mercenaries started to do the fighting before mutiny and rebellion destroyed the organization. James McCullen, Destro, did not like to think that prison had reformed him and in truth he had few regrets about his time with Cobra, but he had lost a decade of his life, his family business, and was about to be dumped anew in the intrigues of madmen like the Old Cobra Commander whose form reflected what Destro had always known about him. His son seemed slightly more rational with a slighter sense of honor but it was also obvious "Snakes" cared nothing for his heir and still considered himself Cobra's master. Given such leadership it was not hard to see another long fall from great heights to terrible doom and hellish torment.
"You seemed vexed, Destro." The Baroness said, coming up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Even as Destro took them away and looked at her with his dark deep stare "Even on the edge of the victory we have spent most of our lives waiting for."
"Are we really on the verge of victory, Baroness, or is that what you want to believe?" Destro asked with a half sneer under his mask.
"I'm not sure I care much for your attitude, Destro. You have seen what Jupiter's Thunder can do to the world's military…soon the leaders shall be under our thumb as well and the world will come tumbling like a house of cards soon after." The Baroness stared at her lover.
"So you say, but as I recall with my previous designs, similar expectations met with failure. I no longer believe anywhere in my heart that humanity has the intellectual capacity to respond to fear properly anymore." Destro said shaking his head. "And forgive me if I believe that following a honor obsessed samurai baying at the whims of a mad mutant lizard is not the healthiest course of action at present."
The Baroness smiled evilly "Pessimistic as always."
Destro shook his head and looked out towards the Earth below which was a glorious gem that held wonders untold for a man who might be willing to plunder them and seek them, treasures the world would part with much more readily than it's freedom. "I will not debate the obvious with you Baroness, but I implore you to consider that together we could make a life for ourselves far away from this…madness."
The Baroness scoffed. "I think you have gone soft in your imprisonment, Destro. I have dreamed of revenge for so long that it has become my entire sum and what I wreaked so far is but the opening act to the DEATH OF GI JOE and the DEVASTATION OF ALL MY OPPRESSORS!"
The Baroness DeCobray smacked Destro across the face and he fell back the slightest bit as he looked at her.
Destro looked at the Baroness with a commanding and penetrating gaze as he crumpled his fist together and slammed it into a nearby wall. "Mark my words Baroness that whether you wish it or not we will both escape this never-ending cycle and start anew. The only question shall be just how we do it."
Destro ordered the remainder of his goods brought onboard the transport and headed then back to the world of his birth.
***
Falcon overlooked the teams, which had been recruited for the upcoming missions and couldn't put away his doubts about them all. Some of them were, to politely put it, well past retirement age and more mouth than bite despite what big brother Duke would like to say and the rest were amazingly under tested in this.
"So what's your code name soldier?" Falcon looked at the first member of Team A, which would be tackling the investigation of Cobra's rocket platform in Siberia.
"Last Chance." The blonde woman said, she wasn't beautiful but pretty and looked like she had taken up an athletic lifestyle only recently but with a relish. She was an intelligence operative from what Falcon's reports said and a good one.
"So how'd you get that name?" Falcon asked looking at her.
"I was a defense attorney sir before I joined the Army. I was viewed as the Last Chance for prisoners who were on their last appeal." Last Chance said.
"And what made you join the army?" Falcon put his hands behind his back.
"The fact I was so good at my job sir." The woman said then frowned.
Falcon nodded an "oh" before he went over to Infiltrator whom had received a commendation and a transfer from his fourteen year mission on Cobra Island. The man had considerable combat and guerilla skill, which would be very useful on this mission but the new Major was a bit unsettling to the Colonel, especially when he insisted on calling him "kid".
"Okay everybody your missions are starting now. With the attacks on the worlds' military by Cobra's space station we know that they are operating somewhere in the stars and unfortunately since the damn thing can move across the globe in an hour and we at present don't have any way of locating it…our top priority is finding some way to get onboard a supply shuttle or other means and taking the machine out." Falcon paced around the room.
"We know the drill. Just point us where we have to go and I'll make sure it happens." Beachhead, who had been the first person to re-enlist in G.I. Joe, slammed his fists together. Falcon didn't like that the man was now an officer nor did he like the former instructor was in charge of the mission to Cobra's suspected rocket pad but it had been the Commander of the Military's orders. One didn't question General Hawk especially when he's your natural father.
"Yeah pipe down there. You, Infiltrator, Icicle, Demolition Derby, Last Chance, and Punch Card are the spearhead of team A. If you locate Cobra's rocket pad we need you to get a tracer on anything going up. If the situation warrants it I'll lead in my own team and Flint a third to provide backup. If your mission is successful though we'll fall back to our mobile base now that this one is compromised and we'll prepare an all out assault on Cobra Command Station." Falcon turned to group two.
"Scarlett, you'll be leading Team B, which will be in charge of babysitting Zartan and making sure that his sister's Dreadnoks are shut down. The rocket pad information isn't necessarily secure and this lead is arguably just as good for finding out where the Snakes are. Dialtone, Creed, Gung Ho, Playboy, and Snake Eyes will be your team. I've contacted several local military and police units plus a standby Team of Joes to put the kibosh on the Dreadnoks if the Swamp Rat tries something funny." Colonel Falcon smiled.
Scarlet smirked as if the Colonel's words had a joke. "Trust me, it'll be a long time before I'm afraid of what Zartan can pull. I'll head out with them as soon as the meeting is over."
Falcon nodded and looked at the list of Joes that would eventually go down in history once they were fully trained that was, new names without past victories but a crisis already in the works. Hammerhead, Slackjaw, Greasefire, Stormwarden, Gaurdian Angel, Cold Iron, Hot Lead, Prophetess, and many others…
'It's going to a long day.' He thought to himself.