Chapter 12
Jonathan Sharp moved down the halls of Cobra Command Station with a grim, delibrat precision as he overviewed the situation in his mind. He had let his emotions get the better of him and for that lapse in judgement the people under his command had been endangered. Scarlet's location had somehow been blocked from the station's computer sensor grid which indicated the inconcievable notion that one of his followers had turned upon him. He would dispatch search teams across the headquarters of the world's most powerful force if...he could bloody find somebody! The entire place seemed almost deserted compared to its usual packed bluster. Sayru would find his answers on the bridge.
"And for you Iceheart for extreme heroism in the face of G.I. Joe sabotage, ingenius use of such virtues as treachery and manipulation, along with the wonderful present to Cobra of the life of the team leader Beachhead; I present to you the Cobra Medal of Honor," the voice of Snakes, the original Cobra Commander was the first thing that Jonathan was surprised to hear. No longer slurred by the serpent's tongue that he had been cursed with for more than a decade, he was dressed in a military grade bio-suit, and presenting Cobra's highest award to the Black Asp operative Jonathan had picked for an infiltration mission. The bridge looked like it had been transformed into a child's birthday with balloons, streamers, and party hats.
"Father..." Jonathan could hardly say anything else as he stared at the procession.
"Ah my Son! So good of you to make it to this occasion! Iceheart has blessed us with our first G.I. prisoners of war. I'm considering setting them in individual hand to hand combat in the Testing Pit with some of our modified BATS. It will be over very quickly I think but the replay value should be immense at homes. I have furthermore the much more important news to give you that thanks to the efforts of the genius scientist Doctor Moreau that I have been restored to my old self again. Unfortunately the Doctor was callously murdered in an assaisination attempt on my life by Destro and we will have to order his immediate execution once the formal exchange of power from you to me has taken place," Cobra Commander said patting Jonathan on the back as he put a paper horn to his costume's breather and blew it out in a snake like stream.
The ex-leader of Cobra looked at the Baroness who showed no reaction to the causal intention to murder her lover. It appeared that whether she thought it would suceed or not, that she wished to see him tested for some arguement they had. "Formal exchange of power father?" the terrorist leader said with a somewhat dry and ironic point.
"Well yes, I don't mean to say that you won't be possessed of a place in the new scheme of things. You're an excellent military leader, the best I've ever had...which isn't saying much I know...but when it comes to the actual process of ruling the world; I think you and I can agree that it'll be best for you to leave that up to me. I dub thee Cobra General and place you in complete charge of Cobra Military Forces with the exclusion of any orders which will come down from me and direct transference of power from me to them," Cobra Commander then kissed his son on both cheeks. It might become necessary they both knew for the leader of Cobra to exterminate his military General at some point in order to defuse any power base problems but terminating other more proven opposition would occupy his time well before that occasion would come to pass.
"Father, what have you done with our military force?" Jonathan had a very bad feeling about what the answer was going to be here.
"Having already recieved news from our partisans in Russia that the October Guard is no more...by the way I think we should have their leaders killed in some messy accident before they get too popular...I have dispatched our force for a crushing blow against the identified G.I. Joe headquarters. I don't want this war entirely won with bolts of lightning from the gods, that is you and me, and I want maybe a trophy or two like General Hawk's head for state functions," Cobra Commander chuckled evilly as he thought of the resulting carnage. Cobra-la had been dying for centuries before the final destruction by the B.E.T's nuclear like detonation and the nobility had emerged from the military whose purpose was to kill as many citizens as possible to preserve their increasingly feeble resources. Snakes had no illusions that he had been bred for anything more than sadism, murder, and destruction and indeed felt that these qualities were in fact the heart of the human experience. Qualities necessary in a leader who wished to drive civilization and increasingly absent every year among the dead end evolutionary track that mankind ran on. Who knew what vistas the human race would reach guided by a leader who would live for thousands of years (or potentially even longer with a consistant focus on genetics) that was untroubled by any remorse to doing what was necessary to be victorious on all fronts?
Cobra General clenched his fists as he realized the sheer volume of loss that this represented. Cobra despite his father's pretensions was not strong enough to causally throw away lives in conflict with G.I. Joe or the Guard. As much as he loved his ideals of honorable combat, such chosen duels to the destruction of the opponent had to be chosen carefully since they recquired the knowledge your opponent would be easily destroyed or treachery by them might not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Jonathan suspected that the General of the Armies in Hawk was just idealistic enough to cast aside respect for his opponent to lay a trap that his father would easily fall for. 'Rather like me being just dishonorable enough to annhilate men from orbit with no chance of defending themselves against it,'
"I've also dispatched the Dreadnoks. Those pathetic mercanaries were an impediment to our image as purveyors of culture. Their deaths will serve as a fitting warning to the scum that we'll have to eliminate to help solidify our hold on the planet and legitimize our reign," Cobra Commander continued. His father was a genius there was no denying it but he was often far too free with his plans.
"They still had their use father. I think you were rash," Jonathan said in what was the most disrespectful tone that he ever took with the man who had made him what he was. He had a peculiar fondness for the men and women who had lived their own rugged way, they were more honest about the reasons they fought than perhaps even he was. The loss of Zarana in particular pained him as she too was a person who struggled with the morality of the evil society that had raised them both but, like he, had never been able to escape it.
"Nonsense," Cobra Commander said, causally dismissing his son's concerns.
"Shareware would you kindly do a diagnostic of the ship? I want you to look for the possibilities of sabotage," Cobra General said as he looked at the cyborg. He remembered well why he had come up here and the incredible danger even one free G.I. Joe woman could cause. Danger doubled by the revelation that there was pratically no one here to stop her.
"Yes General," Shareware said after getting an okay cue from Coba Commander. The results of the diagnostic were not particularly encouraging and he re-did it three times before sharing the news that was about the worst thing since discovering he wasn't allowed to download porn during his working hours. Not that it had stopped Shareware.
"What is it?" Jonathan asked.
"Well it seems that the Reactor Core has reached just about three Roman letters before Omega and a brief track of the electronic paper trail says that this is because someone activated the self-destruct system about half an hour ago," Shareware said before starting to whistle the theme from the Goonies for reasons that are unfathomable to anyone but Super computer brained geeks.
"WHAT!?" Cobra Commander shouted in horror.
"Eject the Reactor Core immediately. Prepare the ships for evacuation immediately to the projected safe locations," Cobra General said as he acknowledged his mistake may have been greater than originally thought.
"Belay that order! We can't allow our greatest weapon to fall into the hands of the enemy! Shut down the self destruct!" Cobra Commander said as he gestured for the Crimson Guard to arrest Jonathan.
"We can't do that father. Shareware has indicated that it's passed the point of no return. Without the main reactor Jupiter's Thunder is crippled and our cloaking field cannot be maintained. Staying onboard would simply mean the intense likelihood of our being arrested and the humiliating resulting charade of a trial before execution. Europe is unlikely to complain much about the Death Penalty being outlawed with the causalties having reached above anything since World War 2," Jonathan causally explained the situation to his father. As long as he was allowed to make the final decision then it would fine, unless he decided to do alittle house cleaning in Cobra's command structure with this new oppurtunity.
"Mmmm yes that must be avoided strongly. I would hate for you my son to be forced to take the honorable way out to preserve your honor while I dignifiedly take the stand to the end," Cobra Commander thought that in such a situation he'd definately have to make preperations for a rescue squad during his trial.
"Yes father," Jonathan sighed.
"Very well eject the Reactor Core! Dump it over someplace that will hurt our enemies like New York or Moscow. You Jonathan shall meanwhile hunt down and destroy these saboteurs while I boldly lead our retreat and prepare for a counter attack with our new partisans!" Cobra Commander lifted his weapon on high to rally the troops.
"We can't dump the reactor core over New York father or Moscow," Jonathan quite deliberately lied, he had no wish to inflict a few million innocent causalties just for spite at this time.
"However sir we CAN use the thrusters of the super weapon to plunge the thing into the atmosphere and create the equivalent of thirty nuclear warheads. We can use this as the coup de gras to the rest of the planet to surrender to us," Shareware interrupted as he gave a wink and a thumbs up to his boss. Shareware didn't intend to leave his old boss behind but really wanted to ingratiate himself with the new management.
Jonathan intended to kill him for it.
"Excellent! With that kind of power we can simply shatter the United States where it stands and pick up the pieces of the rest of the world. I know the Americans anyway, they'll never submit to our authority willingly. COBRA!" Cobra Commander shouted as he ushered off everyone in a variety of directions while he waited for his shuttle to be the first one prepped to leave.
Doing some brief calculations in his head, Cobra General realized with shock that the shattering of the United States with such a weapon could concievably in fact bring about Cobra's victory over the rest of the planet, abeit an unlikely one. He searched himself for some trace of outrage and horror that would result in the tens of millions of deaths that would give him the strength to break ranks with his father's dream. Sayru did not find it and knew his only hope was that the world would surrender before his father wiped out the super power. The military leader had not a trace of hope that his father would spare the pitiful ranks of mortality from the worst man made holocost ever visited on man.
"Iceheart, guardsmen, come!"
***
General Abdullah Mayhem was the leader of Cobra Command's infantry forces and answerable only to the Cobra Commander himself, since he wasn't aware that a new rank had been created inbetween him and he. A Sudanese warrior who had become acquainted with the terrorist organization while trying to protect his families from the merciless corporation controlled government, he had developed a taste for battle with the First World and would have followed the leader of Cobra to the end of his life. Unfortunately the new leader seemed to have gaurenteed that he was going to do exactly that.
"Order more troops to form a perimter around us and cover fire!" Major Bludd shouted beside him, the Austalian man's cowardice disgusting Abdullah. Ten years in the prisons of the Americans had eroded his stomach for battle and it was an insult to his supreme skill as a warrior that he should have to share command with the man.
"We cannot spare the men if we are to emerge victorious!" General Mayhem screamed a war cry as he fired his pistol and felled the driver of a machine gun equipped jeep that flipped over and killed it's entire crew in an instant. The Cobra troops were loyal, couragous, and fanatical in the service of the Dark Cause that would bring an end to the self-styled age of Light that the West made their rallying cry on the backs of all other nations. Still the causalties were enough to shake the will of even the strongest military man, he believed there had to be at least ten thousand dead on both sides and the fighting wasn't even half over.
"Victory is nothing if we're not there to enjoy it!" Major Bludd screamed even as he lifted up a bazooka into the air and exploded its rocket full blank into the propellers of a hovering helicopter. The poor beast spun around until it landed in a group of mixed soldiery that had been forced into a gunfight the likes not seen since WW1. Bludd hardly noticed the resulting explosion and the dying men's screams in the chaos that filled every corner of the air with laser bolts.
"Flank their tank division, do not retreat under any circumstances and use your infantry to draw their fire. Their anti-tank rockets will give them pause until the Super BATs can make a full all out assault!" General Mayhem shouted into his walkie-talkie. It was his gift to be able to visualize a battle no matter how insanely fierce in it's entirety and draw forth probable solutions to the attack and defense difficulties each division under his command faced. He had to respect the genius of the American in charge who was dealing with his tactics quite handily. That coupled with the fact that the Americans will had not broken under the mind numbing causalties and fear his troops usually instilled was a testament to how difficult winning this battle would be. Mayhem was confident he would would not lose despite all the factors against him though. He had lost only one battle his entire life and that was to the man whose allegiance he had sworn himself and his resistance group to.
"We have to leave now! They're breaking through our ranks! Order a retreat!" Major Sebastian Bludd shouted at his fool of a companion. The Austalian had not truly not lost his stomach for battle, far from it, but his way of doing battle was one alien to Mayhem. Sebastian only fought against enemies that he had a clear advantage over and enjoyed the sadistic advantage of fear and pretended mercy to annihilate his enemies. That Abdullah would stand and fight toe-to-toe with the United States military only showed him to be a fool that the original Cobra Commander would have strung up at the first oppurtunity. The other reason the mercanary leader holding the title of '
'General of the Black Asp Special Missions units' thought less of Abdullah had less to do with anything that was the man's fighting or command style than the fact of his color. Major Bludd's grandfather had been a member of Hitler's SS who had escaped the crackdowns in Eastern Europe to the land of British crimminals and the mercanary refused to take orders from one who did not fit the ideals that had been instilled in the young man.
"Never!" Abdullah shouted even as Blood causally shot his fellow soldier in the chest at point blank range and then emptied the clip of his revolver to make sure he wasn't about to rise.
Leaning up against the back of a jeep, Sebastian thought about his options in this situation. It occured to him that he had managed to talk himself out of a pair of trials (and execution) in Rhodesia and Libya thanks to his willingness to pass along key bits of information about Cobra to his oh so accepting governments. With the dossier on Cobra he had been given to start his new career as a commander in their forces he might find himself extremely valuable to the United States as a prisoner. Bludd immediately shook away that option, the Americans were only generous to prisoners when they weren't feeling vengeful. Instead the Major decided to order the prisoners to fight to the last man as he made his own personal escape. Las Vegas after all wasn't so very far from here and if Cobra survived the comming days then he could always make contact with it later as the daring and heroic survivor of their bloodiest conflict yet. The Cobra Commander would believe anything provided it was laced with enough flattery, he was glad Snakes was back in charge.
Bludd smiled even as Falcon picked him off with a sniper shot from 100 yards.
Falcon crawled through the slim passages through the burning wreckage of all the war-machines the two sides had thrown at each other during this conflict. He had already lost two fingers in this battle and a blast wound that needed treatment in the side, and probably a new kidney while they were at it. The team he'd been riding with was all dead now and so were more good soldiers than he had ever wanted to see dead, especially under his command. Falcon knew the snake's head was the key and had crawled from the wreckage with a walkie-talkie for carrying out his orders in the middle of this hellhole and a rifle for taking out their leadership.
With each of the Cobra Generals dead then there was no chance for anymore funny business from them, they were going to win this one but it was going to be the blackest day in American warfare since Gettysburg.
"Man I am so going to Vegas when this over," Falcon spat a bit as he ordered the troops to advance to the point and tighten their circle around Cobra on the west.
***
Supreme Commander Rustavich yawned as finished off a bottle of fine imported champagne and watched American Soap Opera on a big screen that he had connected to a satelite dish. He had only been ruler of Russia alittle while and he was already growing bored with everything he could causally order up. He thought about ordering some more public executions to watch on TV but he really didn't know any of the people this time so he suspected that they wouldn't be nearly as fun as the last batch of his superiors. Putting on his silk komono, he got up passed Anya and Stacy to go check on his armies and see if they had won his war yet.
"Good evening Supreme Commander," the unfamiliar major answered on the holographic receiever he'd ordered taken out of Parliament to put in his bedrooom.
"Who the hell are you?" Rustavich said as he yawned a bit and fixed himself a glass of vodka.
"Unfortunately General Orlock was killed in the fighting sir. We've managed to get a few of the October Guard heavily drugged. We've heard that anyone who can bring the Cobra Commander prisoners from either the Russian top team or the American will be gifted with great wealth and power in the new order," The man said with the worst Russian accent Vladimir had ever heard, he must be a Cossack.
"I already have a lot of power and wealth soldier and I should order you right now to dump them over the side of your helicopter into the nearest frozen river," Vladimir drank down his scotch in one gulp before he stopped a moment.
The man looked nervous and embarrased about this, probably expecting some sort of reward himself for all this.
"Hold on is Colonel Brekhov's girl among them?" Vladimir stopped a moment to think on this.
"His ex-wife or his daughter sir?" the man asked with a slightly anxious look.
"Both," The Supreme Commander said with a happy look. He'd hated Brekhov more than any other man in his life, the pompous ass. It would be nice to see if he could do anything thoroughly unpleasant to them.
"We have them Sir and the Colonel himself," Flint said as he tried to continue using his Boris Badinov accent to Lady Jaye's considerable acting-review horror beside him. Only Horrorshow seemed remotely unoffended by the speach style.
"Okay I'll come see you. Ummmm yeah...go contact the bank and say that you want a million dollars American. Say I ordered you give it up. Divide it among yourselves and have a blast as they say," The Supreme Commander said as he went into his closet and pulled out the elaborate black uniform with the Cobra symbols and ranks he'd devised and put it on. Thirty minutes later he was in his office with the bound and gagged figures of the October Guard, with guns trained on them by the fine forces of the Russian military.
"Ahhhh yes, I will take the pair for interrogation n...." Vladimir didn't get to finish 'now' before Brekhov left up and smacked him in the face with his newly free hands and the man was unconcious before the rest of the Guard began the worst of the pummeling.
"Should we help him? We are the good guys," Lady Jaye said as she watches Brekhov slam the man finally on his desk, finishing his portion of the revenge for all the good soldiers killed.
"For a guy who didn't notice that this is the most diverse squadron in the Russian Military? No way," Quick Kick smirked as he immitated Flint's awful Russian accent.
"Now what do we do with the piece of trash?" Firebird said as she spat on Vladimir's still form.
"We deliver him to the Loyalist forces and let the Cobra allied military in Russia destroy itself in petty warlord fighting. You on the other hand are going to be making your way to your pickup point and get out of this place and back to your people," Brekhov shook his head and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the Supreme Commander. They would simply leave as one more Russian military group transporting a prisoner. Because Red Star liked irony, he thought he would say they were transporting him to prison.
"Why not meet with the leader of the Loyalists?" Flint asked as he considered contacting Frostbite's team who were sabotaging Cobra partisan supply lines in hopes of drawing forces who might know where Cobra's headquarters might be located before they rained more fireballs down on the planet.
"I won't lie to you Colonel Flint. Cobra is winning this war and while the traitors are many, it won't be long until Russia bends its knee like it did with the Khanate. I will keep fighting and work to set up a resistance to eventually overthrow the darkness but while I can gaurentee my safety. I think the leader of the Loyalists would be willing to keep you and any other G.I. Joe he finds as bargaining chips for Russian autonomy," Brekhov shook his head, he never was ceased to be amazed by the lack of spirit that polluted his land's military ranks.
Flint gave a reluctant nod.
***
Snake Eyes had set the self-destruct system to go off in one hour to prevent anyone further dying from Jupiter's thunder, he wondered if that would be time to find Scarlet. What he found instead in the darkest level of the monolithic fortress was something that was enough to shake the mind of even the devoted Ninja warrior's concentration on his mission.
'My God,' was all Snake Eyes could say at the sight of the football stadium like rows of torture racks. Strapped to the metal plates with their eyes fed laser beams by mechanical arms and looks of horror and fear frozen on their faces were the world's leaders. Hundreds of them were hooked up to life support equipment that meant they had likely been like this for days and days. The computer equipment next to the scientists that Snake Eyes had unsheathed the mortal coil of displayed a frightening series of brainwashing images that were slowly rebuilding their minds from the ground up.
Snake Eyes wondered whether or not to leave the mortal leaders here or not because the people that would return to the Earth might just as well be fanatical servants of Cobra more than anything else, he had no idea how deeply these people were being altered and how much damage had already been done. Conscience eventually won out and Snake Eyes sat down to start waking up each individual.
"It has been a long time brother since we have seen each other," Storm Shadow said behind Snake Eyes as the warrior announced his presence to his fellow Ninja. Snake Eyes would have cussed if he could speak, the entire situation had practically proven his skills had slipped considerably in detecting oncomming opponents and that was one of the most important skills one could possibly have.
"It did not have to be. The G.I. Joe team had offered you immunity for information to us because your crimes were relatively minor compared to the rest of Cobra's High Command but you turned it down to serve a sentence handed down by the United Nations for a decade," Snake Eyes signed to his brother ninja. Storm Shadow had refused to turn over any information about Cobra and had even escaped from prison only to be recaptured for trying to rescue fellow soldiers for the cause that Snake Eyes knew he didn't believe in.
"I took an oath of service to a fellow Cobra who saved my life in battle. It transformed from a mere job to true loyalty Snake Eyes. The new Commander of Cobra is an honorable man, not like his father. When I kill him and the true leadership of Cobra is restored then the world will know a golden age where man is allowed to be a warrior and not be ashamed of it," Storm Shadow said with a terrible bitterness. Japan had transformed into an economic power before Storm Shadow's eyes but each day the spirituality and heritage that was meaningful to Storm Shadow died alittle bit more.
"Not like this," Snake Eyes gestured to the suspended politicans as he removed his katana and held it before him.
"In war honor is only extended to those who have honor. Which of these fools is anything but a courtier?" Stormshadow did not even wait for Snake Eyes reply as he drew his own sword and lept downward even as Snake Eyes lept up in the air. Their swords clashed and clanged a dozen times before they spun in the air and landed on their feet to continue their charge again at one another.
"Scarlet is onboard this ship and I will not suffer a delay in bringing her back. Do not make me kill you," Snake Eyes signed one last time even as he drew forth a second blade.
"She belongs to another now brother!" Storm Shadow backflipped forward even as he threw shurikens into the air that Snakes Eyes flipped over. The silent ninja spin kicking at Stormshadow.
Storm Shadow easily somersaulted over the leg and pulled out his own blades to parry Snake Eyes's own before he realized that he felt somewhat weak.
"Poison...." Storm Shadow looked down to his chest which had been pierced by a small needle sticking out of the knee Snake Eyes had landed a light tap on.
Snake Eyes did not sign his apologies for killing him in a dishonorable manner but granted him what comfort that he could. The poison had no cure and with a doomed life Storm Shadow cast aside one of his katana blades and slammed the other through his chest. Storm Shadow knowing what the ninja wished then decapitated him with a single stroke.
Snake Eyes then finished up his computer work for the rescue.
-Charlemagne
Jonathan Sharp moved down the halls of Cobra Command Station with a grim, delibrat precision as he overviewed the situation in his mind. He had let his emotions get the better of him and for that lapse in judgement the people under his command had been endangered. Scarlet's location had somehow been blocked from the station's computer sensor grid which indicated the inconcievable notion that one of his followers had turned upon him. He would dispatch search teams across the headquarters of the world's most powerful force if...he could bloody find somebody! The entire place seemed almost deserted compared to its usual packed bluster. Sayru would find his answers on the bridge.
"And for you Iceheart for extreme heroism in the face of G.I. Joe sabotage, ingenius use of such virtues as treachery and manipulation, along with the wonderful present to Cobra of the life of the team leader Beachhead; I present to you the Cobra Medal of Honor," the voice of Snakes, the original Cobra Commander was the first thing that Jonathan was surprised to hear. No longer slurred by the serpent's tongue that he had been cursed with for more than a decade, he was dressed in a military grade bio-suit, and presenting Cobra's highest award to the Black Asp operative Jonathan had picked for an infiltration mission. The bridge looked like it had been transformed into a child's birthday with balloons, streamers, and party hats.
"Father..." Jonathan could hardly say anything else as he stared at the procession.
"Ah my Son! So good of you to make it to this occasion! Iceheart has blessed us with our first G.I. prisoners of war. I'm considering setting them in individual hand to hand combat in the Testing Pit with some of our modified BATS. It will be over very quickly I think but the replay value should be immense at homes. I have furthermore the much more important news to give you that thanks to the efforts of the genius scientist Doctor Moreau that I have been restored to my old self again. Unfortunately the Doctor was callously murdered in an assaisination attempt on my life by Destro and we will have to order his immediate execution once the formal exchange of power from you to me has taken place," Cobra Commander said patting Jonathan on the back as he put a paper horn to his costume's breather and blew it out in a snake like stream.
The ex-leader of Cobra looked at the Baroness who showed no reaction to the causal intention to murder her lover. It appeared that whether she thought it would suceed or not, that she wished to see him tested for some arguement they had. "Formal exchange of power father?" the terrorist leader said with a somewhat dry and ironic point.
"Well yes, I don't mean to say that you won't be possessed of a place in the new scheme of things. You're an excellent military leader, the best I've ever had...which isn't saying much I know...but when it comes to the actual process of ruling the world; I think you and I can agree that it'll be best for you to leave that up to me. I dub thee Cobra General and place you in complete charge of Cobra Military Forces with the exclusion of any orders which will come down from me and direct transference of power from me to them," Cobra Commander then kissed his son on both cheeks. It might become necessary they both knew for the leader of Cobra to exterminate his military General at some point in order to defuse any power base problems but terminating other more proven opposition would occupy his time well before that occasion would come to pass.
"Father, what have you done with our military force?" Jonathan had a very bad feeling about what the answer was going to be here.
"Having already recieved news from our partisans in Russia that the October Guard is no more...by the way I think we should have their leaders killed in some messy accident before they get too popular...I have dispatched our force for a crushing blow against the identified G.I. Joe headquarters. I don't want this war entirely won with bolts of lightning from the gods, that is you and me, and I want maybe a trophy or two like General Hawk's head for state functions," Cobra Commander chuckled evilly as he thought of the resulting carnage. Cobra-la had been dying for centuries before the final destruction by the B.E.T's nuclear like detonation and the nobility had emerged from the military whose purpose was to kill as many citizens as possible to preserve their increasingly feeble resources. Snakes had no illusions that he had been bred for anything more than sadism, murder, and destruction and indeed felt that these qualities were in fact the heart of the human experience. Qualities necessary in a leader who wished to drive civilization and increasingly absent every year among the dead end evolutionary track that mankind ran on. Who knew what vistas the human race would reach guided by a leader who would live for thousands of years (or potentially even longer with a consistant focus on genetics) that was untroubled by any remorse to doing what was necessary to be victorious on all fronts?
Cobra General clenched his fists as he realized the sheer volume of loss that this represented. Cobra despite his father's pretensions was not strong enough to causally throw away lives in conflict with G.I. Joe or the Guard. As much as he loved his ideals of honorable combat, such chosen duels to the destruction of the opponent had to be chosen carefully since they recquired the knowledge your opponent would be easily destroyed or treachery by them might not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Jonathan suspected that the General of the Armies in Hawk was just idealistic enough to cast aside respect for his opponent to lay a trap that his father would easily fall for. 'Rather like me being just dishonorable enough to annhilate men from orbit with no chance of defending themselves against it,'
"I've also dispatched the Dreadnoks. Those pathetic mercanaries were an impediment to our image as purveyors of culture. Their deaths will serve as a fitting warning to the scum that we'll have to eliminate to help solidify our hold on the planet and legitimize our reign," Cobra Commander continued. His father was a genius there was no denying it but he was often far too free with his plans.
"They still had their use father. I think you were rash," Jonathan said in what was the most disrespectful tone that he ever took with the man who had made him what he was. He had a peculiar fondness for the men and women who had lived their own rugged way, they were more honest about the reasons they fought than perhaps even he was. The loss of Zarana in particular pained him as she too was a person who struggled with the morality of the evil society that had raised them both but, like he, had never been able to escape it.
"Nonsense," Cobra Commander said, causally dismissing his son's concerns.
"Shareware would you kindly do a diagnostic of the ship? I want you to look for the possibilities of sabotage," Cobra General said as he looked at the cyborg. He remembered well why he had come up here and the incredible danger even one free G.I. Joe woman could cause. Danger doubled by the revelation that there was pratically no one here to stop her.
"Yes General," Shareware said after getting an okay cue from Coba Commander. The results of the diagnostic were not particularly encouraging and he re-did it three times before sharing the news that was about the worst thing since discovering he wasn't allowed to download porn during his working hours. Not that it had stopped Shareware.
"What is it?" Jonathan asked.
"Well it seems that the Reactor Core has reached just about three Roman letters before Omega and a brief track of the electronic paper trail says that this is because someone activated the self-destruct system about half an hour ago," Shareware said before starting to whistle the theme from the Goonies for reasons that are unfathomable to anyone but Super computer brained geeks.
"WHAT!?" Cobra Commander shouted in horror.
"Eject the Reactor Core immediately. Prepare the ships for evacuation immediately to the projected safe locations," Cobra General said as he acknowledged his mistake may have been greater than originally thought.
"Belay that order! We can't allow our greatest weapon to fall into the hands of the enemy! Shut down the self destruct!" Cobra Commander said as he gestured for the Crimson Guard to arrest Jonathan.
"We can't do that father. Shareware has indicated that it's passed the point of no return. Without the main reactor Jupiter's Thunder is crippled and our cloaking field cannot be maintained. Staying onboard would simply mean the intense likelihood of our being arrested and the humiliating resulting charade of a trial before execution. Europe is unlikely to complain much about the Death Penalty being outlawed with the causalties having reached above anything since World War 2," Jonathan causally explained the situation to his father. As long as he was allowed to make the final decision then it would fine, unless he decided to do alittle house cleaning in Cobra's command structure with this new oppurtunity.
"Mmmm yes that must be avoided strongly. I would hate for you my son to be forced to take the honorable way out to preserve your honor while I dignifiedly take the stand to the end," Cobra Commander thought that in such a situation he'd definately have to make preperations for a rescue squad during his trial.
"Yes father," Jonathan sighed.
"Very well eject the Reactor Core! Dump it over someplace that will hurt our enemies like New York or Moscow. You Jonathan shall meanwhile hunt down and destroy these saboteurs while I boldly lead our retreat and prepare for a counter attack with our new partisans!" Cobra Commander lifted his weapon on high to rally the troops.
"We can't dump the reactor core over New York father or Moscow," Jonathan quite deliberately lied, he had no wish to inflict a few million innocent causalties just for spite at this time.
"However sir we CAN use the thrusters of the super weapon to plunge the thing into the atmosphere and create the equivalent of thirty nuclear warheads. We can use this as the coup de gras to the rest of the planet to surrender to us," Shareware interrupted as he gave a wink and a thumbs up to his boss. Shareware didn't intend to leave his old boss behind but really wanted to ingratiate himself with the new management.
Jonathan intended to kill him for it.
"Excellent! With that kind of power we can simply shatter the United States where it stands and pick up the pieces of the rest of the world. I know the Americans anyway, they'll never submit to our authority willingly. COBRA!" Cobra Commander shouted as he ushered off everyone in a variety of directions while he waited for his shuttle to be the first one prepped to leave.
Doing some brief calculations in his head, Cobra General realized with shock that the shattering of the United States with such a weapon could concievably in fact bring about Cobra's victory over the rest of the planet, abeit an unlikely one. He searched himself for some trace of outrage and horror that would result in the tens of millions of deaths that would give him the strength to break ranks with his father's dream. Sayru did not find it and knew his only hope was that the world would surrender before his father wiped out the super power. The military leader had not a trace of hope that his father would spare the pitiful ranks of mortality from the worst man made holocost ever visited on man.
"Iceheart, guardsmen, come!"
***
General Abdullah Mayhem was the leader of Cobra Command's infantry forces and answerable only to the Cobra Commander himself, since he wasn't aware that a new rank had been created inbetween him and he. A Sudanese warrior who had become acquainted with the terrorist organization while trying to protect his families from the merciless corporation controlled government, he had developed a taste for battle with the First World and would have followed the leader of Cobra to the end of his life. Unfortunately the new leader seemed to have gaurenteed that he was going to do exactly that.
"Order more troops to form a perimter around us and cover fire!" Major Bludd shouted beside him, the Austalian man's cowardice disgusting Abdullah. Ten years in the prisons of the Americans had eroded his stomach for battle and it was an insult to his supreme skill as a warrior that he should have to share command with the man.
"We cannot spare the men if we are to emerge victorious!" General Mayhem screamed a war cry as he fired his pistol and felled the driver of a machine gun equipped jeep that flipped over and killed it's entire crew in an instant. The Cobra troops were loyal, couragous, and fanatical in the service of the Dark Cause that would bring an end to the self-styled age of Light that the West made their rallying cry on the backs of all other nations. Still the causalties were enough to shake the will of even the strongest military man, he believed there had to be at least ten thousand dead on both sides and the fighting wasn't even half over.
"Victory is nothing if we're not there to enjoy it!" Major Bludd screamed even as he lifted up a bazooka into the air and exploded its rocket full blank into the propellers of a hovering helicopter. The poor beast spun around until it landed in a group of mixed soldiery that had been forced into a gunfight the likes not seen since WW1. Bludd hardly noticed the resulting explosion and the dying men's screams in the chaos that filled every corner of the air with laser bolts.
"Flank their tank division, do not retreat under any circumstances and use your infantry to draw their fire. Their anti-tank rockets will give them pause until the Super BATs can make a full all out assault!" General Mayhem shouted into his walkie-talkie. It was his gift to be able to visualize a battle no matter how insanely fierce in it's entirety and draw forth probable solutions to the attack and defense difficulties each division under his command faced. He had to respect the genius of the American in charge who was dealing with his tactics quite handily. That coupled with the fact that the Americans will had not broken under the mind numbing causalties and fear his troops usually instilled was a testament to how difficult winning this battle would be. Mayhem was confident he would would not lose despite all the factors against him though. He had lost only one battle his entire life and that was to the man whose allegiance he had sworn himself and his resistance group to.
"We have to leave now! They're breaking through our ranks! Order a retreat!" Major Sebastian Bludd shouted at his fool of a companion. The Austalian had not truly not lost his stomach for battle, far from it, but his way of doing battle was one alien to Mayhem. Sebastian only fought against enemies that he had a clear advantage over and enjoyed the sadistic advantage of fear and pretended mercy to annihilate his enemies. That Abdullah would stand and fight toe-to-toe with the United States military only showed him to be a fool that the original Cobra Commander would have strung up at the first oppurtunity. The other reason the mercanary leader holding the title of '
'General of the Black Asp Special Missions units' thought less of Abdullah had less to do with anything that was the man's fighting or command style than the fact of his color. Major Bludd's grandfather had been a member of Hitler's SS who had escaped the crackdowns in Eastern Europe to the land of British crimminals and the mercanary refused to take orders from one who did not fit the ideals that had been instilled in the young man.
"Never!" Abdullah shouted even as Blood causally shot his fellow soldier in the chest at point blank range and then emptied the clip of his revolver to make sure he wasn't about to rise.
Leaning up against the back of a jeep, Sebastian thought about his options in this situation. It occured to him that he had managed to talk himself out of a pair of trials (and execution) in Rhodesia and Libya thanks to his willingness to pass along key bits of information about Cobra to his oh so accepting governments. With the dossier on Cobra he had been given to start his new career as a commander in their forces he might find himself extremely valuable to the United States as a prisoner. Bludd immediately shook away that option, the Americans were only generous to prisoners when they weren't feeling vengeful. Instead the Major decided to order the prisoners to fight to the last man as he made his own personal escape. Las Vegas after all wasn't so very far from here and if Cobra survived the comming days then he could always make contact with it later as the daring and heroic survivor of their bloodiest conflict yet. The Cobra Commander would believe anything provided it was laced with enough flattery, he was glad Snakes was back in charge.
Bludd smiled even as Falcon picked him off with a sniper shot from 100 yards.
Falcon crawled through the slim passages through the burning wreckage of all the war-machines the two sides had thrown at each other during this conflict. He had already lost two fingers in this battle and a blast wound that needed treatment in the side, and probably a new kidney while they were at it. The team he'd been riding with was all dead now and so were more good soldiers than he had ever wanted to see dead, especially under his command. Falcon knew the snake's head was the key and had crawled from the wreckage with a walkie-talkie for carrying out his orders in the middle of this hellhole and a rifle for taking out their leadership.
With each of the Cobra Generals dead then there was no chance for anymore funny business from them, they were going to win this one but it was going to be the blackest day in American warfare since Gettysburg.
"Man I am so going to Vegas when this over," Falcon spat a bit as he ordered the troops to advance to the point and tighten their circle around Cobra on the west.
***
Supreme Commander Rustavich yawned as finished off a bottle of fine imported champagne and watched American Soap Opera on a big screen that he had connected to a satelite dish. He had only been ruler of Russia alittle while and he was already growing bored with everything he could causally order up. He thought about ordering some more public executions to watch on TV but he really didn't know any of the people this time so he suspected that they wouldn't be nearly as fun as the last batch of his superiors. Putting on his silk komono, he got up passed Anya and Stacy to go check on his armies and see if they had won his war yet.
"Good evening Supreme Commander," the unfamiliar major answered on the holographic receiever he'd ordered taken out of Parliament to put in his bedrooom.
"Who the hell are you?" Rustavich said as he yawned a bit and fixed himself a glass of vodka.
"Unfortunately General Orlock was killed in the fighting sir. We've managed to get a few of the October Guard heavily drugged. We've heard that anyone who can bring the Cobra Commander prisoners from either the Russian top team or the American will be gifted with great wealth and power in the new order," The man said with the worst Russian accent Vladimir had ever heard, he must be a Cossack.
"I already have a lot of power and wealth soldier and I should order you right now to dump them over the side of your helicopter into the nearest frozen river," Vladimir drank down his scotch in one gulp before he stopped a moment.
The man looked nervous and embarrased about this, probably expecting some sort of reward himself for all this.
"Hold on is Colonel Brekhov's girl among them?" Vladimir stopped a moment to think on this.
"His ex-wife or his daughter sir?" the man asked with a slightly anxious look.
"Both," The Supreme Commander said with a happy look. He'd hated Brekhov more than any other man in his life, the pompous ass. It would be nice to see if he could do anything thoroughly unpleasant to them.
"We have them Sir and the Colonel himself," Flint said as he tried to continue using his Boris Badinov accent to Lady Jaye's considerable acting-review horror beside him. Only Horrorshow seemed remotely unoffended by the speach style.
"Okay I'll come see you. Ummmm yeah...go contact the bank and say that you want a million dollars American. Say I ordered you give it up. Divide it among yourselves and have a blast as they say," The Supreme Commander said as he went into his closet and pulled out the elaborate black uniform with the Cobra symbols and ranks he'd devised and put it on. Thirty minutes later he was in his office with the bound and gagged figures of the October Guard, with guns trained on them by the fine forces of the Russian military.
"Ahhhh yes, I will take the pair for interrogation n...." Vladimir didn't get to finish 'now' before Brekhov left up and smacked him in the face with his newly free hands and the man was unconcious before the rest of the Guard began the worst of the pummeling.
"Should we help him? We are the good guys," Lady Jaye said as she watches Brekhov slam the man finally on his desk, finishing his portion of the revenge for all the good soldiers killed.
"For a guy who didn't notice that this is the most diverse squadron in the Russian Military? No way," Quick Kick smirked as he immitated Flint's awful Russian accent.
"Now what do we do with the piece of trash?" Firebird said as she spat on Vladimir's still form.
"We deliver him to the Loyalist forces and let the Cobra allied military in Russia destroy itself in petty warlord fighting. You on the other hand are going to be making your way to your pickup point and get out of this place and back to your people," Brekhov shook his head and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the Supreme Commander. They would simply leave as one more Russian military group transporting a prisoner. Because Red Star liked irony, he thought he would say they were transporting him to prison.
"Why not meet with the leader of the Loyalists?" Flint asked as he considered contacting Frostbite's team who were sabotaging Cobra partisan supply lines in hopes of drawing forces who might know where Cobra's headquarters might be located before they rained more fireballs down on the planet.
"I won't lie to you Colonel Flint. Cobra is winning this war and while the traitors are many, it won't be long until Russia bends its knee like it did with the Khanate. I will keep fighting and work to set up a resistance to eventually overthrow the darkness but while I can gaurentee my safety. I think the leader of the Loyalists would be willing to keep you and any other G.I. Joe he finds as bargaining chips for Russian autonomy," Brekhov shook his head, he never was ceased to be amazed by the lack of spirit that polluted his land's military ranks.
Flint gave a reluctant nod.
***
Snake Eyes had set the self-destruct system to go off in one hour to prevent anyone further dying from Jupiter's thunder, he wondered if that would be time to find Scarlet. What he found instead in the darkest level of the monolithic fortress was something that was enough to shake the mind of even the devoted Ninja warrior's concentration on his mission.
'My God,' was all Snake Eyes could say at the sight of the football stadium like rows of torture racks. Strapped to the metal plates with their eyes fed laser beams by mechanical arms and looks of horror and fear frozen on their faces were the world's leaders. Hundreds of them were hooked up to life support equipment that meant they had likely been like this for days and days. The computer equipment next to the scientists that Snake Eyes had unsheathed the mortal coil of displayed a frightening series of brainwashing images that were slowly rebuilding their minds from the ground up.
Snake Eyes wondered whether or not to leave the mortal leaders here or not because the people that would return to the Earth might just as well be fanatical servants of Cobra more than anything else, he had no idea how deeply these people were being altered and how much damage had already been done. Conscience eventually won out and Snake Eyes sat down to start waking up each individual.
"It has been a long time brother since we have seen each other," Storm Shadow said behind Snake Eyes as the warrior announced his presence to his fellow Ninja. Snake Eyes would have cussed if he could speak, the entire situation had practically proven his skills had slipped considerably in detecting oncomming opponents and that was one of the most important skills one could possibly have.
"It did not have to be. The G.I. Joe team had offered you immunity for information to us because your crimes were relatively minor compared to the rest of Cobra's High Command but you turned it down to serve a sentence handed down by the United Nations for a decade," Snake Eyes signed to his brother ninja. Storm Shadow had refused to turn over any information about Cobra and had even escaped from prison only to be recaptured for trying to rescue fellow soldiers for the cause that Snake Eyes knew he didn't believe in.
"I took an oath of service to a fellow Cobra who saved my life in battle. It transformed from a mere job to true loyalty Snake Eyes. The new Commander of Cobra is an honorable man, not like his father. When I kill him and the true leadership of Cobra is restored then the world will know a golden age where man is allowed to be a warrior and not be ashamed of it," Storm Shadow said with a terrible bitterness. Japan had transformed into an economic power before Storm Shadow's eyes but each day the spirituality and heritage that was meaningful to Storm Shadow died alittle bit more.
"Not like this," Snake Eyes gestured to the suspended politicans as he removed his katana and held it before him.
"In war honor is only extended to those who have honor. Which of these fools is anything but a courtier?" Stormshadow did not even wait for Snake Eyes reply as he drew his own sword and lept downward even as Snake Eyes lept up in the air. Their swords clashed and clanged a dozen times before they spun in the air and landed on their feet to continue their charge again at one another.
"Scarlet is onboard this ship and I will not suffer a delay in bringing her back. Do not make me kill you," Snake Eyes signed one last time even as he drew forth a second blade.
"She belongs to another now brother!" Storm Shadow backflipped forward even as he threw shurikens into the air that Snakes Eyes flipped over. The silent ninja spin kicking at Stormshadow.
Storm Shadow easily somersaulted over the leg and pulled out his own blades to parry Snake Eyes's own before he realized that he felt somewhat weak.
"Poison...." Storm Shadow looked down to his chest which had been pierced by a small needle sticking out of the knee Snake Eyes had landed a light tap on.
Snake Eyes did not sign his apologies for killing him in a dishonorable manner but granted him what comfort that he could. The poison had no cure and with a doomed life Storm Shadow cast aside one of his katana blades and slammed the other through his chest. Storm Shadow knowing what the ninja wished then decapitated him with a single stroke.
Snake Eyes then finished up his computer work for the rescue.
-Charlemagne