Post Tenebras Spero Lucem=(Latin creed of falconers) "After The Darkness, I Hope For The Light"
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*VERY loose Gaelic glossary:
damnu air=damnit
annsachd = "beloved"
cac ar oineach="shit on honor"
ulaidh="darling" or "hidden treasure"
Chan eil mi a' tuigsinn="I don't understand"
Tha mi duilich="I'm sorry"
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---The West Point Cadet Prayer can be read in its entirety at thanks for giving me an idea about Cheyenne Mountain. It's only a very small mention, sorry, but it fitted well when I needed it.
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Loudly, belatedly, Cobra's alarm klaxon screamed to life. Surviving Vipers ran through the clouds of smoke and dust in a mad rush to their posts, leaping over rubble and sprawling bodies alike, trying desperately to repel the enemy's surprise attack. No luck. The blitzkrieg had suddenly switched directions, becoming a two pronged attack strafing the turret guns and the main hanger. No one could get a bead on the small, agile vehicles invisible to radar, ghosting in and out of visual. No one could even tell how many of them there were.
But no one had to ask WHAT they were.
Cloaked hovercars.
That meant SHIELD.
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"WHAT?" Destro shook off the concerned Baroness' hand. He stomped his way through the hazy dark towards the flickering glow of the lighters held by the Dreadnok women, caring for the still unconscious Zartan. "YOU!" He grabbed the startled Zaranna by the throat and lifted her from her brother's side, hoisting her clean off the ground. The lighter fell from her hands as she tried to free herself. "THIS is what your foolish, greedy games have led us to, woman!"
"Kill that bitch, you lose the Dreadnoks," Zanya shouted from Zartan's other side, jumping to her feet.
"And this concerns me how," Destro asked with a snarl, ignoring Zaranna's attempts to claw the metal gauntlet from her throat.
Zanya grinned. "Fang face needs us, chrome head. What's he gonna say if half of his allies in America ups and dumps his sorry ass?"
Destro's lip curled into a sneer. He tossed Zaranna aside and turned on his heel.
Zanya held her chin and light high as she crouched down, helping the raggedly coughing woman sit up straight. "So, DEAREST aunt---" The girl grabbed the older woman's broken nose and, with a heart-stopping gasp from Zaranna, yanked it hard, setting it straight. "---who's the mascot now?"
Cupping her nose and rocking in pain, Zaranna could only look at her niece with eyes filled with tears of agony...and darkest hate.
Ignoring the family drama of the Dreadnoks, Destro began rallying the Cobra forces. "You, there! Viper! Come here! Contact Communications. All Vipers are to use the secured frequency. I want all known channels used by SHIELD, NATO, the UN, and GI Joe jammed. They must not call for reinforcements! And tell our batteries to stop firing wildly! Have them plot the courses of the hovercars when they decloak and anticipate their next move accordingly." He clenched his metal fist. "Then blow them out of the sky."
The Viper bowed, snapping orders into his comm as he backed away. The Baroness limped up to Destro through the multiple beams of flashlights swinging about the twilight room. She placed a hand on his dented mask. "Darling, they're taking the Commander and the others to the infirmary. We should go with them---"
"You may go, my dear, but I have a battle to direct."
A worried crease marred her smooth brow. "James, it is not safe for you here---"
"As long as SHIELD is after the Joes' precious General, it is not safe for any of us anywhere! Viper," Destro roared. "I want patrols in every hall. The General and his would be rescuer can't have gotten very far. I want them brought to me, and I want them alive. SHIELD will not negotiate with us if the hostages are dead---"
A harsh, gurgling hiss cut through Destro's orders.
"The...Tomahawk...is mine."
Slowly, all eyes turned to the man cradled face down in a make-shift stretcher of the crimson-stained table cloth. Cobra Commander lifted his maimed face, the glow of the flashlights struck his murderous eyes alight with a mad burn. A small shiver ran through the ranks as he spoke again. "The Tomahawk...belongs to me. He is MINE!"
"Cobra Commander," Destro began. "I must protest---"
"He's MINE," the Commander screeched through his blood. "I PAID for him! I OWN him. HE. IS. MINE."
"Commander, this is folly," Destro insisted hotly.
"Destro," the Commander hissed dangerously. "You WILL return what is rightfully mine to me..." He reached out and clutched Stormshadow's tunic. "...or I will have him take something of YOURS!"
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Thanks to the maps Father Drozd had dug up, finding the hidden door under all those garish murals had been easy. The thick smoke and dust had even made it easier. With her nose literally to the wall, Lady Jaye had actually seen where air currents had whispered out from minuscule cracks, disrupting the murky atmosphere. Even opening it had been easy. She just had to wait a moment for another set of building-shaking explosions before she could slam her heel onto the flagstone trigger while pushing against the door. If the ancient machinery had squealed, she couldn't hear it after the deafening blasts. And if she hadn't heard it at that range, she was pretty sure no one else did.
She hoped.
Jaye didn't even have to worry about trying to blunder her way in the dark after she had closed the door. Over her mask, she had simply donned those night vision 'granny glasses' Fury had grudgingly loaned her and she could see as clearly as...well, a green twilight. And if she had thought that Cobra must have re-discovered the passageways by now, she was quickly disabused of that notion. Layers upon layers of aged cobwebs stretched undisturbed from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. She and Hawk were safe, for now.
But they weren't out of the woods yet.
No, the hard part was up ahead, at the top of the ancient set of stairways they climbed, hand in hand. If anything went wrong...
She took a deep, calming breath before hailing the Captain on the comm.
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The hovercar shuddered as a barrage of shells tried to get a bead on the ghosting vehicle.
"Take those guns out NOW," Steve ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Low Light threw the hovercar into a steep dive, strafing the turret guns and dropping flares as a frantic Steve tried to re-establish contact with their lost bird.
"---birds---in---Warbirds come IN, damnu air---"
"That's our girl!" Steve boosted the volume and tried to overwhelm the cacophony of the anti-aircraft fire peppering the skies. "Eagle here! We lost your homing signal! Where the blazes are you?"
"We're---cover. I found one of---secret passage---"
"Jay Bird, your transmission's full of snow," Steve said loudly as his fingers flew over the keyboard, desperately trying to clean the channel.
"Walls must---thick," she spat. "---Hawk---"
"Wait! What about Hawk," Steve shouted.
"---only window I---find was---top of---get it clear and---here or---have to---! Climbing---"
Her voice disappeared under a mound of static.
"Jaye!" Steve tapped violently on the keyboard. "JAYE!"
The radio just crackled.
"Blast!" Steve yanked the headset off. "Wardog!"
More static.
"Snakes must be jamming us," Low Light said. "Try the hovercar's emergency channel, sir. It only works line of sight, but you might get through."
"Thanks." The hovercar shuddered from a too close miss. "And keep your eyes on the sky!" Steve fiddled with the comm once again. "C'mon, baby," he muttered under his breath. "Wardog, this is Eagle. Can you hear me? Wardog!"
"Here, sir," came the crisp reply over the speaker.
"Tell your partner to stop shooting the main structures," Steve ordered. "Our birds flew into a crack. We're being jammed, the transmission was staticky, so I don't know where they are."
"Understood," Duke growled. "Any clues?"
Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "'Window'," he murmured. "I told her to throw Hawk out the nearest window...but they've blocked up their windows. The biggest one they've got left is barely big enough to shoot an arrow through."
"So Jaye's improvising," Duke reasoned.
"Right." Steve punched up a digital map of the fort. "They were in the Great Hall...and now they're in one of the secret passageways...'top' and 'Climbing'..." He snapped his fingers and tapped at three structures, lighting them up. "Three adjoining towers to the Great Hall; the Chapel Tower to the south, the Keep Tower to the north, and the Warder's Tower to the West." He brought himself up short, a horrific thought suddenly crossing his mind. "You don't think she's going to really toss him off a tower, do you?"
Duke snorted. "I'm hoping they both have enough sense to just wave us down."
"You 'hope,'" Steve asked incredulously.
"She's a smart girl," Duke told him. "Without communications, she'll know that literally tossing him out is a no-go now." He paused. "They might, however, try to grab their own ride," he admitted.
"Well," Steve coughed, "no matter what, they're going to have some problems. We missed a couple of guns. The Chapel Tower has a manned anti-aircraft gun protecting a Fang helipad at the top. Only one Fang there but," he tapped the image of the Keep Tower, "there's two anti-aircraft guns watching a sizable hanger full of Cobra gliders and pilots here. And the Warder's Tower is heavily guarded with troops..." He frowned. "...but there's nothing there except a frosted skylight dome, with a metal grate and a...lightning rod? Odd, there's a few more lightning rods poking around it..."
"So which tower is it," Duke demanded.
Steve shook himself from his musings. "No idea, son."
"Dammit all," Duke swore. "So what do we do, sir?"
Steve's scowl deepened with his silence.
"Not that anyone's asked me," Fury's voice rasped, "but the girlie's lightly armed with no armor and towin' wounded. They ain't gonna get a chance ta just stand up and hail us with all those snakes slitherin' around. Not without a fight. All it'd take is one lucky shot fer the mission ta be a wash."
"But which tower," Duke pressed.
"Who cares. I'm reroutin' pilot controls ta ya, Doggy."
"What?!"
"RAVEN," Steve shouted. "What the blazes do you think you're doing?"
"C'mon, Eagle-Scout, pick yer tower and I'll pick mine. Between the hovercars and the two of us old codgers, we can give the kids a little more elbow room ta flag us down." A huff of laughter croaked through the speaker. "Or don't ya think we can take these idiots?"
"You're underestimating the enemy badly, Colonel," Duke snarled.
"Oooo," Fury mocked. "I'm shakin' in my eyepatch. C'mon, old solider! Ya know we can do this."
Steve's eyes narrowed. "Why so eager to jump into the fray all of the sudden, Raven?"
"Ya kiddin'? This is the kinda stuff I was born ta jump inta!" Steve could almost see Fury's face split into a wide grin. "No hidden agendas, no damned politics, just a good ol'fashioned butt kickin'! Save the girl, rescue the POW, and crack some heads along the way! So are ya comin', Eagle? Or are ya turnin' chicken on me?"
Despite himself, a small grin tugged at Steve's lips.
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"And this isn't even the craziest thing you've ordered me to do," Jaye muttered, unwinding the filthy silk sling from Hawk's shoulder.
"You're the one...who offered me this option," he reminded her, trying not to grunt in pain.
"I didn't think you'd actually take it!" She pressed her hand against her forehead and sighed. "The Captain is going to kill me."
"Only if I die," Hawk told her. "And I don't plan on doing that. I've got too much to do before I rest, remember?"
Despite herself, Jaye smiled.
The last of the sling slipped from his shoulder. He turned and blindly held his Glock out to her. "Ready?"
She stuffed the silk lengths into her apron pocket, took the Glock and pushed her Luger into his hands. "As ready as I'll ever be, sir."
"Three in the clip, one in the chamber, right," Hawk asked, settling the German gun comfortably in his hand.
"Yes, sir. Eleven and one?"
"You got it."
"Sixteen bullets in all," Jaye murmured, patting the wall down for the secret door.
"Make every shot count," Hawk reminded her. "Keep together. Don't stop for anything until we're in place."
"Understood." Her fingers paused as they felt a brush of cold mountain air chill them. "Found it." After a moment of brief tapping on the floor, one of the flagstones gave slightly. She led the General squarely before the door. "Ready, sir?"
He took a deep breath and shifted into a linebacker's stance. "Ready. Let's do it."
Jaye slammed her heel onto the loose flagstone and shoved the door as hard as she could, crashing the stone panel right into her first Viper. She kicked the door again, hearing things crunch behind it.
"What th---"
Her night vision glasses easily picked out the Vipers among the gliders in the bright moonlit night. Two were right in front of her.
She fired and fired again.
Fourteen bullets.
"Go!"
"YO JOE!"
And they ran.
Belated rifle-fire tore up the stone around them, occasionally striking Cobra friendlies, doing half of the Joes' work for them. But any cheering they felt died quickly as more Vipers took the fallens' places.
Thirteen. Twelve. Eleven. Ten. Nine...
There were just too damned many of them.
"Heads down, Joe," Hawk called out from behind her. "I'm spent!"
Five.
Jaye really wished she had picked up a rifle.
Didn't matter. If they could just reach their objective...
And there they were.
Cobra anti-aircraft guns. The nice kind that could swivel 360degrees and, in the right hands, clear a tower top of Vipers.
Just as Jaye was beginning to believe they would make it, there came a cry from behind her. Her heart froze. Even before she turned, she knew what she'd see.
Glowing in the moonlight under a pile of dark Vipers was Hawk.
He'd been tackled to the ground.
"No," she screamed. She ran back and fired. "Get off of him, you bastards!" She fired again, almost point blank right into the visors of the Cobra troops.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
*Click*
"Jaye," Hawk screamed.
She fell back into a defensive stance. "I'm so sorry, Dash," she murmured.
The rest of the Vipers rushed her.
Like a shooting star, something flashed from the sky unbelievably fast. It smashed into the men attacking Jaye and ricocheted from Viper to Viper with crippling accuracy. All around her, Cobra troopers fell faster than anyone could realize what was happening. Unscathed, Jaye gapped as the weapon bounced off one last Viper and arced high into the air, hovering for just a split second.
Long enough for Jaye and Hawk to recognize the single white star glowing at the center of the concave shield.
Long enough for a plunging body to snatch it out of the sky.
The war-disc flew from the man's hand with a vengeance, sweeping aside the first layer of Vipers over Hawk like so much dust. If he had been paying attention, Hawk would have been able to scramble free.
But his eyes were fastened on the man that hit the roof in a cloud of dust.
A huge Greenshirt slowly rose from his landing crouch, his face inscrutable behind the visor of the standard issue helmet he wore. His open top flapped in the wind, revealing patterned chainmail underneath, the stripes blackened by night and silvered by moonlight.
A single white star shone bright against his chest.
He raised a hand sheathed in night-darkened leather high into the air. And like an eagle trained to the glove, the brightly gleaming shield returned to Captain America's hand.
An awed light glowed in Hawk's eyes.
The Living Legend lowered his shield to his side, turned his face to the younger man, and spoke. "What in Sam's Hill are you waiting for, kid? MOVE IT!"
A savage grin spread over Hawk's face. "SIR, YES, SIR," Hawk barked, decking a Viper right in the throat.
They were going to make it.
THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE IT!
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Destro slammed his fists against the map table, causing the holographic image of the castle to momentarily flicker. "WHO has just joined the battle?!"
The unfortunate Tele-Viper swallowed hard. "T-they're saying Captain America, sir."
The Scottish laird could feel the sweat bead under his mask. "Are there any signs of his cursed Avengers," he asked calmly.
"No, sir, but..." The Tele-Viper cocked his head. "Sir, we're getting reports that a lone SHIELD Agent is...hijacking the Fang on the Chapel Tower." He frowned as details were hysterically shouted to him over his comm. "An older man in a duster coat, standard jumper, heavily armed and...sir, they're saying he's wearing an eyepatch."
"Fury," Destro growled. He ran his hand over his metal face.
"Sir," the Tele-Viper said weakly. "The SHIELD Agent has just successfully stolen the Viper and is firing on the remaining anti-aircraft guns."
"They're going to take him," Destro realized out loud. He closed his eyes. "Anastasia," he whispered, feeling the stark cold of fear pierce his heart. In his mind he again saw the bright steel blade resting against her elegant throat.
He was going to lose her. Forever.
"No, annsachd," he murmured, clenching his fist. "No! I will NOT let that madman take you from me!" He spun, jabbing a finger at the one of the Tele-Vipers. "Send every available Viper out. Infantry, mortar crews, ANYTHING! Delay them!"
"Yes, sir."
"And I want the Lattimer device activated!"
All heads snapped around. "But, sir," one of the men said protested, "it's never been approved out of the experimental---"
Destro cut him off. "You WILL activate that machine before the Tomahawk leaves that roof ! If you do not..." The laird raked the room with desperate, dangerous eyes. "...you will regret it. On my honor, you will ALL regret it."
Motion returned to the Control Room with renewed vigor. "Lattimer's power warming up, sir. Mortar crews are on their way."
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Captain America's shield arced through the air and cut a swath right through the Keep Tower's anti-aircraft guns, one right after the other. They both exploded, sending the shield soaring straight into the air, spinning like a flaming wheel.
"Be right back, kid," Steve shouted. He kicked a Viper hard in the stomach and planted a foot on the man's lowering head, using it as a spring board. He leapt, gaining unbelievable altitude, stretching his body out until it almost looked as if he could fly.
At the apex of his jump Steve snatched up the still burning shield as it fell. Twisting in mid-air, he tucked the flaming war-disc under his boots and curled up, centering his mass. He plummeted straight down into a cushioning mass of screaming Vipers, smothering the fire upon impact. He somersaulted from their moaning ranks, vaulted over several more Vipers, and returned to give the belabored General some support. "Sorry I took so long," he shouted over the din, smacking his smoking shield into another Viper. "How're you doing?"
Despite the fact that his right arm felt ready to fall from his shoulder, Hawk was grinning from ear to ear. "I'm great," Hawk shouted back. "More than great!" This was a battle straight out of his childhood dreams. There he was, standing back to back with Captain America, surrounded by hordes of the enemy, armed with nothing but the man's legendary shield, their bare fists, and raw guts.
And they were winning!
Well, OK, so Jaye was letting loose with a rifle she had eagerly pounced...
...and the hovercars were surgically shooting into the crowd of dwindling Vipers...
...AND a certain one-eyed chunk of crow-bait was in a stolen Fang, blowing up the rest of the anti-aircraft guns so that a hovercar could actually get close enough for them to board, giving them the chance to run for the high hills with their tail between their legs...
Hell, none of that could detract from this moment.
"Head out of the clouds, kid," Steve yelled, slamming his shield into a group of Vipers. "Our ride's waiting at the edge of the roof! We're bugging out!"
Hawk shot a quick glance and saw Low Light crouched in the hovercar's open cockpit with a semi-auto rifle, picking off approaching Vipers with speed and typical efficiency. "Yes, sir!" He drove his knee into one last Viper, feeling the other man's jewels pop. "Jaye! On our six! Lay down suppressive fire and move! Move! Move!"
"Right behind you, sir," she yelled. She switched the rifle into full auto mode and began mowing down snakes in earnest. "YO JOE!"
Hawk ran behind Captain America, watching as his hero plowed right into the Vipers trying to run interference. The Avenger rammed them with his shield, tossed them sideways over his shoulder, knocked them out of the way, flung his shield a short distance to bounce off their chins; the man cleared a path to the hovercar without breaking stride once. It was amazing!
They were going to make it!
THEY WERE GOING TO...
Light flickered at the corner of his eye, triggering something in memory that drowned out his inner cheering with shrill alarm.
Hawk turned his eyes to the Warder's Tower and saw that the lightning rod over the frosted glass dome had begun to glow. The four spikes surrounding it crackled with energy, a sight that strangely reminded him of salt winds and carbine, the sails of a tall ship, and of his lost friend George Lattimer---
The realization froze him in his tracks. "Lattimer," he whispered. "LOW LIGHT, GET---"
He never got a chance to finish. Without warning the glass dome became blindingly incandescent. Crackling bolts of energy leapt from the central spike to the surrounding rods. There was a beat of silence.
With a roar rivaling the hurricane seas, the Lattimer device discharged.
The rippling waves of energy tore through the starry sky like a maddened Aurora Borealis. Hawk felt every hair on his body stand on end as the electro-magnetic pulses rushed high above him, cascading over the outer castle walls like a like an umbrella fountain. Those under the umbrella, like Low Light and his hovercar, were fine.
Fury and Duke were not.
The EMP hit the Fang and the second hovercar like a storm breaker, disrupting their engine power and flinging them far off into the night.
Just like that...they were gone.
Steve froze, his blue eyes wide at the swift horror of it all. "Sweet Mother and---"
"Mortar," Jaye screamed.
At that cry, Hawk did what any artillery man would do.
He hit the deck.
He never saw the first mortar round as Low Light shot it out of the sky. He never saw the second round as it struck Steve's shield, or the explosion that blew the older man right into the hovercar, nearly knocking Low Light into the open air. Shell fragments peppered Hawk, forcing him to keep his head ducked a moment longer, making him miss the sight of Steve lunging and catching the sniper before he fell to his death.
But nothing prevented Hawk from seeing the third shell arc from the courtyard to slam into the hovercar's port engine.
It was like watching the Hindenburg in slow motion. He saw the explosion blossom slowly, bleaching all color from the Captain and Low Light's flesh. He saw the Captain pull the sniper protectively against him and raise his shield.
But more than anything, Hawk FELT the eyes of his hero, his friend, as he and Low Light were engulfed in flame and thunder.
"NO!"
The hovercar was blown through the air, trailing debris, smoke and fire. It struck the parapet head on and tumbled fender over bumper right into the EMP, washing them down the mountain side.
Hawk lunged forward, desperate to do something, anything, but equally determined arms wrapped themselves around his legs.
Lady Jaye.
They went down in a pile of limbs.
"You can't help them," Jaye screamed as Hawk struggled to kick free. "You can't help them! GENERAL!"
The title stopped him cold.
"I'm sorry, Clay," she said gently, her voice deep with grief.
Hawk curled into a tight ball. His whole body shook as if holding back a heart-rending scream.
His Warbirds were gone.
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"Confirmed," the Tele-Viper announced to Destro, smiling wide. "The enemy vehicles have been destroyed!"
"Then don't give the General a chance to regroup," Destro snapped. "Go and return the Commander's precious bird to him!"
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The Vipers began to converge on the grief stricken General.
"Oh, bloody hell," Jaye spat, firing from her prone position. "Sir, believe me," she said. "I know how you feel. But dammit, Clayton, this is not the place to fall apart!"
At Jaye's rebuke Hawk raised his head, blinking rapidly past his tear-blurred vision. He shook his head, feeling the anger burn in his chest, driving the anguish down. As long as he allowed himself to wallow in his grief, Lady Jaye was in danger. And Hawk owed his last Warbird too much to let her die because of him.
He started to pull himself together. "Jaye," he said thickly, getting to his feet. "Remember how we licked this damned EMP bubble the last time?"
She scrambled to her feet. "A tall ship's not going to help us, Hawk!"
"No, but a low tech glider will."
"What," Jaye demanded incredulously, yanking the spent cartridge out. She jerked her head at the cascading energies overhead. "You can't fly into that with your injuries!"
"Just cover me and MOVE, solider!"
Cursing under her breath, Lady Jaye slammed a fresh ammo box into her rifle and laid down suppressive fire.
Hawk scooped up a discarded rifle and forced his aching shoulder to perform. He ran to the nearest air-worthy glider and shot the tethers anchoring it to the roof top.
"Hurry, sir," Jaye called out. "The bad guys are getting reinforcements!"
The General tossed the rifle aside and braced himself. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he put both hands on the glider. "Jaye, we've got wings! Let's go!"
"I'll get the next ride out," Jaye called back. "Go!"
"Don't be an idiot," Hawk shouted harshly. "Jaye---"
"If I let up for one second, they'll be on you," Jaye snapped. "So with all due respect, get the hell on that glider and go!" She ducked a shot. "They died for you, Hawk! You HAVE to live!"
Gunfire began walking it way towards him. If he didn't move now, none of the gliders would be able to fly. "I'll be back for you," he swore, feeling every word being dragged out of his mouth.
He thought he heard her whisper over the battle sounds. "...I know you will..."
Hawk threw himself into the harness, gripped the hang bar of the glider, and shoved it out of it's shelter as fast as he could run.
"Stop him!"
He ran faster and faster, feeling the wind gather around him. A low wall loomed before him. He jumped---
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Destro watched in horror as the Hawk became airborne. "NO," he screamed hoarsely. "Stop him!"
Too late. The glider swept gracefully over the parapet and plunged deep into the cascades of EMP.
Hawk was gone from sight.
"Turn off the Lattimer device," he said desperately. "Send out all available aircrafts---"
"Sir, the only aircrafts we have left are the gliders," the Tele-Viper informed him. "And only a few are airworthy."
Destro collapsed into a chair, feeling as if his very life had drained from him.
Anastasia was going to be killed.
"Sir? Do you have any further orders?" The once proud laird just looked at the Tele-Viper, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Concerning the other Joe. We, um, still have her cornered, sir."
The spark of life flickered in Destro's eyes. "Yes. The thief. Bring her. The Commander might accept her instead."
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The rifle finally clicked empty. The Vipers seemed to have heard and ceased fire, cautiously poking their heads out from cover. Reinforcements edged their way past the door, making their side of the roof more crowded than before. "Old woman," one of them called out to her. "We have been ordered to capture you alive! Surrender now, and you will be treated well!"
Jaye ejected the spent ammo cartridge from her rifle and glanced at the remaining gliders in the hanger. She knew it was death to try and fly one out. They would never let a second glider leave the roof. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to be captured.
"What's your answer, GI Joe?"
She looked up. The EMP cascade had been turned off, revealing the night once more. The stars blazed with heartbreaking brightness against the deep velvet of the mountain sky. She turned her face to the moon, feeling the balming rays of that cold sliver beauty against the overheated skin of her arms and hands.
The sky was empty of all else.
She smiled.
"Fly free, Hawk," she murmured, "and give Dash my love."
Lady Jaye slammed a fresh ammo cartridge into her rifle. "Nuts to you," she spat at the Vipers contemptuously. "YO JOE!" She shot at anything that moved, not caring how much ammo she spent as she ran for the gliders. She probably wouldn't make it, but she refused to let them take her so easily.
"Torch 'em!"
Twin tongues of flamethrowers suddenly leapt out, engulfing both rows of gliders in a hellish blaze. Jaye jumped back cursing, her options now severely limited.
"Surrender!"
"Never," she shouted, backing up to the broken edge of the Tower. She glanced over and quickly looked away, shaking the vertigo from her head. "You want me, snakes, come and get me!"
A shadow suddenly loomed over her, blocking the rays of the moon. She looked up...and nearly dropped her rifle.
It was the glider.
"JUMP," Hawk barked, putting all the command he could into that one word.
And Jaye, ever the solider, automatically obeyed.
She jumped.
The glider plunged, swooping down on her. With a great cry of pain, Hawk caught her in his arms. The nose of the craft jerked from the sudden extra weight, and they started to plummet. "Grab onto me," Hawk ordered. Jaye quickly dropped her rifle and wrapped her arms around his neck, managing to lock her legs around his waist as well. With all his might, Hawk flung his own legs about, forcing the glider to turn on a wingtip 180degrees back up. Before the glider could stall he threw his weight to the side, tilting the wings so that they caught the wind. He spiraled up around the castle Keep, trying to regain enough lost altitude to make it over the parapets again.
"What the hell are you doing back here," she hollered.
"Nice to see you too," he said dryly. "I told you I'd be back for you!"
"But not without the cavalry!"
"It'd have been too late by then! And I won't lose you! Not you too."
She tightened her hold around his neck and buried her face in his good shoulder.
"Hey, ease up," Hawk chided gently. "I'm too old to be dodging jealous husbands."
She nearly choked on a sob. "Sir...I would be more than happy to see him chase you around Wright-Patterson!"
"Yeah." His eyes softened. "That makes two of us."
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Hope blazed in Destro at the sight of the glider.
"Tell the Vipers on the roof to torch his wings," he ordered. "Bring our Icarus back down to Earth!"
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With a dreadful whoosh, a controlled burst from the flamethrowers struck the glider from above. The wings, though flame-retardant, were not able to withstand that kind of heat.
Holes burned through the stiff material.
They began to fall.
"Hold on tight to me," Hawk ordered Jaye. He leaned back, trying to slow their fall into a controlled descent.
The wind fanned the flames, making the holes grow faster.
"Hawk," Jaye screamed in alarm.
"I know, I know," he yelled back. "Loosen up your hold on me!" He struggled out of the harness, keeping an eye on the ground.
It was coming up awfully fast.
"ROLL," Hawk ordered, shoving Jaye from the glider. Timing it so that he wouldn't land on the tumbling woman, he dropped after her.
He hit the ground going head over heels, the pain in his shoulder striking out at him, making the world turn red in agony.
Mercifully, he blacked out.
...
"Hawk?"
For one brief moment, he couldn't move.
"Hawk!"
He forced his eyes open. Everything was a blur.
"Hawk...can you see me?"
He blinked rapidly, his eyes finally coming into focus.
Jaye's emerald eyes looked back at him, wide and terrified. "Sir...say something!"
"I..." Hawk coughed. "I see...you lost...that stupid mask and wig."
She bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, sir. Yes, I did."
"Too bad...about the glasses." He blinked rapidly again. "Are...you alright?"
Jaye hesitated. "I'm not hurt, sir."
"Liar," he said, managing to lift a hand to touch the bloody scrape along her cheek.
She cupped his hand against her face, unmindful of the stinging. "How are you doing?"
He closed his eyes, trying to get a feel of his aching body. "Well...it feels like...I just fell out of the sky."
She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and briefly closed her own eyes. "Can you stand, Hawk?"
He opened his eyes and looked past Jaye.
There in the courtyard, they were surrounded by about twenty Vipers, all pointing their rifles at them.
He let his head fall back. "I guess...we've been caught."
"...yes, sir..."
He sighed and held out his good arm to her. "Help me up, Jaye."
She draped his arm over her shoulder and slipped her arm under him. With as much dignity as possible, she first helped Hawk to sit up, waited for him to gather himself, then helped him to his feet.
A deep, Scottish burr spoke up from behind the circle of Vipers. "I see that you both have survived." Destro slowly shouldered his way past the Vipers, regarding them with crossed arms. "Good. The Commander will be very pleased."
Hawk straightened his spine and lifted his chin. Lady Jaye echoed his defiant posture.
"You have put up a valiant fight," Destro continued, "and believe it or not, I am sorry for your losses, General Tomahawk. As soon as this...unpleasantness has been concluded, I will send out men to find the bodies and send them back to America for a proper burial." He tapped a hand over his heart. "I owe it to Captain America, at the very least, for keeping Scotland free from Nazi invasions."
Hawk's breath hitched slightly, but other than that slip, he managed to keep his emotions under control. "Thank you for that." He nodded his head towards Jaye. "What about her? Will you let her accompany the bodies?"
Destro tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I am not sure. Since we have recaptured you, her status is now in question." He metal sheathed faced flexed in disgust. "The Commander might wish to add her to his...collection---"
"No," Hawk immediately snapped out. "You will not let him do that."
Destro scowled. "You overestimate my ability to influence the Commander. As much as I respect you and your Joes, there are many things that I value more."
"Like your honor," Hawk asked harshly, his voice dropping low.
"Yes, such as my honor. Though in this instance," he admitted softly, "it is my heart that is at stake."
"Whatever threat the Commander's made against the Baroness will be null and void when you walk through those doors with me," Hawk whispered. "Has he specified that he wanted Jaye?"
"No," Destro said. "Not yet."
"You have me," Hawk pointed. "Ask for her life."
The Intel Op's eyes flashed. "I will not have you begging for my life to this pompous---"
"Jaye," Hawk rebuked sharply.
"You expect me to aid this ungrateful wench," Destro asked. "What could possibly entice me to risk the Baroness for her?"
Very deliberately, Hawk swung his head from one side to the other. "There's no deal, Destro. You are going to get Lady Jaye to safety."
"Out of the goodness of my heart, I suppose?"
"No," Hawk countered. "Out of what remains of your honor."
"'Honor,'" Jaye growled from between cletched teeth. "This man has no honor, Hawk. He's a cac ar oineach---"
"Lady Jaye," Hawk snapped.
"'Lady,'" Destro snorted. "That was not the language of a lady---"
Hawk pushed Jaye behind him and took one step forward, invading Destro's personal space. "That's where you're wrong," he hissed, ignoring the sounds of twenty rifles bolting back. "That WAS the language of a Lady. And if you do not see her to safety..." His voice dropped to almost inaudible levels as he shoved a finger into the chest of the Scottish laird. "...then your HOUSE. Has. No. Honor."
For a long moment, Destro didn't move. Finally, slowly, Destro leaned his head forward and spoke so softly that only Hawk could hear him. "That was a rumor."
Hawk smiled, his voice equally soft. "Rumors have a way of being founded in fact."
Destro scowled. Without warning he swept Hawk aside and grabbed Lady Jaye's jaw, forcing her to look at him.
"Stand down," Hawk ordered her. "It's alright, Jaye. Just stand down."
Trembling against the desire to fight off Destro, Lady Jaye glared at the armsdealer. Defiance made her emerald eyes glitter all the more fiercely, almost glowing against her pale and filthy skin.
Destro gazed into those eyes for a very long time. Slowly, he brought his free hand to the side of his head...and raised the protective lenses covering his eyes.
His fiercely glittering emerald eyes.
Destro shut the lenses with a snap and shot a questioning glare at Hawk.
The General shook his head.
"What," Jaye demanded, her words slightly distorted from Destro's grip. "What is it?"
Destro released her and pointed to a Viper. "I want five of you men to take her to the dungeons. Lock her up and guard her well, BUT," he suddenly thundered. "The first one of you to lay so much as a finger on her will personally answer to me! If she is harmed in ANY WAY...then you ALL become personally answerable to me. Am I clear?"
"YES, SIR!"
The Scottish laird looked into her eyes, so much a mirror of his own. "I will try to return you to America, ulaidh. If I cannot, I do promise to buy your parole from the Commander however way I can. Though...discourteous, you have always been an honorable opponent. You will be treated well under my care."
She balled her fists up tight, desperately confused now. "Chan eil mi a' tuigsinn."
Destro's stern expression softened. "Tha mi duilich."
"Lady Jaye," Hawk said gently, extending his hand. "Come here."
"Why," Destro demanded suspiciously.
"Because," Hawk said, his voice suddenly achingly weary, "I want to say good-bye."
Jaye lifted her chin high into the air, gathering the coolness of her high society breeding around her. Despite her ragged and battered appearance, she gracefully stepped past Destro with gliding steps and, with a practiced twirl of her skirts, stopped to stand before Hawk.
Hawk slipped his good arm around her stiffly squared shoulders and drew her close. "At ease," he murmured into her hair. "Damn Cobra and Destro. This may be the last time we'll ever speak to each other."
She relaxed into his embrace. "We can still fight," she whispered.
"No," he told her firmly. "The mission has changed for you now. Survive. Escape. Resist. Evade. Get back to America." He closed his eyes tight. "He'll be depending on you. He'll be so confused, so scared. He won't admit it, but he will be. He'll need your strength, Jaye."
She bit her lip, thinking of Flint. "Yes. But---"
He gave her a little shake. "Jaye. Even with Destro's assurances, you're still expendable in the Commander's eyes. Jaye, I NEED you to survive. You have to live. For me. For him." He looked into her eyes. "Please."
Despite his strong front, Jaye could see the fear in him. "But what about you," she whispered, though she knew full well what Cobra was going to do to him, to his mind, his soul.
"I..." Hawk swallowed hard. "'The tree of liberty must be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants and patriots alike.'"
She did not like the sound of that. "...no..."
Hawk's thumb brushed away the tears streaming down her cheeks. She hadn't even realize she was crying. "Just...promise to remember me, Jaye. Don't let this old solider just fade away."
She leaned her bloody cheek against his wounded shoulder. "I'll remember you, Hawk," she whispered. "I'll remember you."
"It's time," Destro rumbled. "Come, General."
Under her embrace, Hawk trembled.
Once again, she felt the nightmare feel of his spirit hovering just under his skin.
"No," Jaye gasped, clutching Hawk for all that she was worth. She struggled against the Vipers trying to pull them apart. "No, Hawk, stay! Hawk, you promised not to surrender! YOU PROMISED US!"
"This isn't a surrender," he whispered into her ear, holding her just as tight. "It's a retreat. I'm just sorry to leave you with such a heavy burden. I'm so sorry, Jaye."
Her grip was slipping and so was his. She looked into his tearing eyes as she tried to hold on. "Hawk---"
"I am so grateful to have known you." He brushed his lips over her forehead. "Good bye, Allison. Please forgive me if you can."
"CLAY!"
With one last heave, the two Joes were finally pulled apart.
.
*******************************************************
.
The room was a melodramatic combination of a medieval torturer chamber and a mad scientist's laboratory. The walls were completely devoted to monitors, at the foot of which were bulky control panels, furiously lighting up like a child's electronic play toy. A group of long wooden tables were arranged in a horseshoe U-shape in the middle of the room, scattered with computer disks, paper notes, as were various instruments of medicine and inquisition.
At the very center of the room was a monstrous rectangular pillar of technology. Clunky and inelegant, the thing gave the impression of not being assembled properly. Even in dormancy, the top crackled with malevolent energy. On all four sides of the thing were chairs fitted with restraints and something that resembled an industrial hairdressing dryer.
The Brainwave Scanner.
The sight never failed to send shivers up Destro's spine.
"Looks like something out of the Frankenstein movies," Hawk observed mildly from between the Vipers pressing against him on all four sides.
"Droll, but apt." Destro waved a hand, indicating the entire building. "This fort is remote, isolated. As such, the Commander secured it from the local government for Mindbender. One of his experimental facilities focused on improving past inventions, such as the Brainwave Scanner."
"Or the EMP modulator," Hawk asked.
Destro dipped his head. "Exactly." He cocked a head at Hawk. "We've renamed it. The machine is now called the Lattimer device, after the man who first field tested it on his decommissioned battleship."
Hawk lunged. His captors barely held him back. "Bragging now, Destro?"
"Not bragging, Hawk." The masked man looked away. "I just thought you should know. Admiral Lattimer was, after all, your friend."
Hawk bowed his head.
"We will leave in a few hours, after we have found your men and allies," Destro told him. "When we do, we will level these structures and leave nothing for SHIELD or GI Joe to find. They will gain no benefit from this aborted rescue attempt."
Hawk glared at Destro. "And what make you think that Cobra will benefit from all this," he asked. "The only thing you'll get from me is my name, rank, serial number, and maybe my birthday. "
"I suppose you think your will is too strong for the Brainwave Scanner?" Destro shook his head. "Everyone breaks under it, General." He scowled. "Everyone."
"Maybe," Hawk said. "But you won't benefit from trying to break me."
Before Destro could respond, the door to the mad room opened. The Crimson Twins, both sporting slings, shoved a limping Mindbender into the room. They were shortly followed by Stormshadow pulling a gurney holding a Cobra Commander, his face swathed in bandages and breathing heavily into an oxygen mask.
But Destro had eyes only for the woman behind the gurney.
Coolly, as if she had never been in danger, the Baroness Anastasia DeCobray placed her hand on her consort's outstretched arm. "Darling," she acknowledged him calmly.
"Annsachd," he murmured, slipping a hand over hers.
"Where is he, Destro," the Commander rasped, his voice slightly slurred from strong painkillers. "Has he been restrained yet?"
Destro lifted his finger and the four Vipers escorted the heavily shackled Hawk forward.
Cobra Commander started violently. "Put him in the machine, you fools! Quickly!"
Hawk grinned toothily as he was roughly herded towards the Brainwave Scanner. He stretched out his neck and snapped his teeth at the Commander, causing the bedridden man to jump in his gurney.
"Into the machine," the Commander shrilled.
The Vipers struggled to stuff the fighting Hawk into a restraining chair.
"Where are the Drednoks," Destro whispered to the Baroness.
"The Commander has deemed them unworthy of witnessing this momentous occasion," she murmured back. "Glorious. This will be a crushing blow to GI Joe."
Destro frowned as the first restraint snapped over Hawk's wrist. "I see nothing glorious about this."
"Darling---"
"No, Anastasia. The Tomahawk has been a valiant solider true to his cause, a decent and honorable man. Such a creature is beyond price. And now, we are to witness the stripping of his mind and very soul." His scowl deepened as a Viper punched Hawk in his wounded shoulder. "No, Anastasia. There is nothing glorious about any of this."
The Commander cackled, gesturing for Stormshadow to adjust the gurney, allowing him to sit up. "So, General Tomahawk," the Commander spat, drawing out his name like a bad joke. "Do you have anything else to say, before I make you truly mine?"
Panting heavily from the exhaustion, pain, but more, fear, Hawk still managed to harshly bark out, "Abernathy, Clayton M! Lieutenant General! RA2-127-5406!" Hawk looked at the Commander with a final raptorial glare. "And thanks for dinner."
The Commander shrieked with rage. "Insolence! Take him, Mindbender!"
The Doctor limped to Hawk's side and bowed to the Commander. "It will be a pleasure." He lowered the headpiece onto Hawk and, despite the man's struggling, fitted it tight.
"Begin at your leisure, doctor," the Commander lazily ordered, leaning forward with anticipation. "I want to see my bird squirm."
Hawk closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. "Abernathy," he repeated. "Clayton M. Lieutenant...General! RA...2-127...-5406." He swallowed hard, realizing that his mouth had suddenly gone dry. This wasn't working. It was imperative that he calmed down. He couldn't let his terror overwhelm him or he'd...
Oh, God...
Almost without thinking, the prayer that had guided his entire adult life came tumbling to his lips. "'O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of human hearts,'" he recited. "'Help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth.'"
"Mindbender," the perplexed Cobra Commander asked. "What is he doing?"
"Praying?" Mindbender chuckled. "How primitive. Should I gag him?"
"No," the Commander said. "This is rather amusing."
Destro could feel his teeth grind in anger.
"'May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural,'" Hawk continued. "'Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life."
"Are you recording this, Mindbender," the Commander laughed.
"Yes, Commander."
"Remember to send the Joes a copy."
"Of course, Commander."
Hawk just went on, his voice growing stronger with each sentence, his heart calming with a kind of defiant peace. He looked at each person in the room as he spoke his next words, his eyes lingering on Destro and the Commander the longest. "'Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy.'" He glared at the Commander. "'Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life.'"
The Commander clutched at the white sheet covering his legs. "I think," he rasped in an unamused voice, "that I have heard enough."
Tomax and Xamot nodded. "As have---"
"---we all."
"Do it," the Commander ordered. "Now."
Hawk rushed to the end of the prayer. "'Soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer,'" he shouted. "'Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied---'"
Mindbender threw the switch.
.
********************************************************
.
Down below in the dungeons, a Jay Bird fell to her knees, shivering uncontrollably.
Miles away, an Owl flexed his fingers in nightmare sleep. "...Hawk..."
.
***************************************************************
.
Hawk screamed in pain as the volts of the Brainwave Scanner shot through his skull, bowing his back and splaying his fingers wide open. His wounded shoulder smoked, his eyes bulged grotesquely.
Destro turned away, closing his eyes. "You have maintained," he murmured. "You have maintained."
"Where are the images of his mind," the Commander demanded of Mindbender, searching the huge wall of monitors. "Where are they?"
Destro curled his lip. "Commander, we are on a tight schedule," he reminded the man. "If you must view the contents of Hawk's mind, record it and view them later."
"Silence," the Commander shouted. "I've paid a heavy sum to view this movie and I will not leave until I am satisfied! Mindbender!"
"It is simply taking the images a second to appear," Mindbender hastily assured him, fiddling with the control panel. "Ah! There!"
Flickering onto the wall of monitors as a single picture was a gray wall of thick fog. It enveloped the world in a cool gray shroud that defused the light of sun and moon, creating an ambiance that some would call gloomy, but to the subjective view of Hawk's mind, it was as comforting as a lambswool blanket. The deep ringing of church bells tolled in the distance.
"This is boring," the Commander complained childishly. "I want to see something else, the confidential knowledge entrusted to the Tomahawk; ways into the hidden Presidential bunker, the dirty laundry of all the American Senators, classified defense information like satellite access codes or the secrets of Cheyenne Mountain!" He banged a fist against the mattress. "Give me something good!"
"Of course, Commander." Mindbender twisted the controls, causing Hawk's whole body to spasm.
But the picture on the wall remained the same.
Mindbender frowned. "There's something wrong..."
Slowly but surely, lights started to materialize from the fog.
"What is that," the Baroness asked.
As if on cue a blocky, gothic fortress-like building made of hard granite loomed into view, its windows glowing with the distinctive colored arch of a church being lit by hundreds of candles from the inside. The sanctuary window, the largest of the rainbow bright glass panels, was proudly marked with the words 'Duty. Honor. Country.'
"Mindbender," the Commander snapped impatiently, "change the scene!"
The Doctor hastened to obey.
Hawk buckled under the strain, again screaming his throat raw, but the image on the screen only zoomed in onto an ornately casted arched door, the front entrance of the chapel. Suddenly, it was thrown open, the light streaming around the silhouette of a young man wearing a Green Beret.
"F-Falcon," Hawk gasped through the pain.
The unmarred image of Captain Vincent Falcone smiled and waved. "Hiya, Hawk! Nice to see you. Sort of. Well, it'll be great to be finally relieved." The younger man made a face. "Why me, sir? You know how much I hate guard duty. Y'know, QuickKick or Breaker wouldn't have minded---" He cut himself off, reacting as if he actually saw the people in the room. "But there'll be enough time for that later. Better get in here before the fang gang coughs a clue."
"Mindbender," the Commander shrieked. "Turn it off! STOP THE SCANNER! NOW!"
"Too late." The image of Falcon grinned broadly and he held out his hand. "C'mon home, sir. The rest of us are waiting."
Hawk screamed again. The screens glowed blindingly bright as the image surged forth, entering the white light of the West Point Cadet Chapel in Hawk's mind. Echoes of "Welcome home," rang throughout the speakers.
The Commander nearly leapt from his gurney. "MINDBENDER!"
With the finality of a slamming door, the screens blanked out...
...the screaming stopped...
...and the man who had been the Tomahawk faded away.
