And The Struggle Continues.
Author Chick's Notes: Points for guessing what Sci-Fi's referring to in this, when he first shows up in this chapter. Well points and my deepest of respects for a fellow perve. ^^ Disclaimers are in chapter 1.
(Blah) Denotes spoken Russian.
Blah Denotes spoken Arabic.
And The Struggle Continues.
Dailtone sat at the communications consol bored out of his mind. He'd found a frequency used by the remaining COBRA forces once, by freak accident and had not been able to find it since. He sat there scanning the airwaves again as he had for the last month and nothing. Breaker was going to be relieving him in an hour and to be honest Dialtone couldn't wait. That's when he heard it.
"Edgewood here." Dialtone sat bolt upright and began tracing the signal. It was the first hit he'd had in a month and he didn't want to loose it. He tried to pick up the other side of the conversation but the static was too strong. All he got was the occasional word or two, so he focused instead on Edgewood's signal, which was coming in loud and clear on twenty-eight metres.
"Good. I'll set up the planning meeting for tomorrow morning then." Edgewood purred over the receiver. Dialtone was typing furiously to trace the signal before the new head of COBRA signed off. "Alright then Charlie India Foxtrot. This is Charlie Echo Delta signing off."
"Gotcha." Dialtone grinned as the computer returned the signal trace information. Turning off his consol, Dialtone slammed on the intercom switch. "Attention Duke, Brekov, and Baroness. This is Dialtone, come to the control room immediately! I found them!"
Brekov was first followed shortly by the Baroness and Duke. They crowded around the tech as he pulled up a map of western Mexico to show them the exact location of his trace. "I heard Edgewood himself speaking and the trace came back as having originated here. Near Guaymas on the Gulf of California."
"I want a strike force assembled immediately!" Duke ordered as Brekov began pulling up the duty roster.
"Wait!" The Baroness called out. "They're in Mexico, yes?"
"Da." Brekov replied.
"They may be making a run for the supply cache in Chihuahua?" The Baroness suggested.
"They would know where it is." Duke muttered. "You might be right. In which case we have to get to it first." Duke said aloud. "Dialtone? Get Tripwire and Sci-Fi up here on the double." He added. Dialtone made the call as Duke looked to the other two commanders. "They can help us with the details."
In the computer room where COBRA's old system was being decoded, Sci-Fi tapped his fingers on the desk waiting for a file on China to come up. "I'll have the chu sum twat and a side of sum yung chik with that." He joked. "OW!" Sci-Fi yelped when Tripwire swatted his bad shoulder. "Hey I like women too y'know!" He defended. "I believe the term in my case, is 'bisexual'?"
"T.M.I.!" Mainframe laughed before Sci-Fi could go off on one of his infamous ramblings.
"Up yours, ya …" Sci-Fi was cut off by Dialtone's hail.
"Sci-Fi, Tripwire? Duke wants you in the control room ASAP."
"…Prude." Sci-Fi finished as he rose from his seat. "I like that. Discharged on disability and they're still after my ass." He muttered as he and Tripwire left.
Tripwire chuckled as the two made their way to the control room. "Hey at least they didn't discharge you because of MY ass." He offered.
"Probably because they know I'd go fucking nuts and blow something up if they did." Sci-Fi retorted.
"This is true." Tripwire agreed. "You wanted to see us Duke?"
"Yes." Duke said when the two entered. "Dialtone found Edgewood in Mexico. We think they might be making a run for the cache there and we need your input."
"Where." Tripwire asked as he and Sci-Fi leaned over Dialtone's shoulder.
"Guaymas."
"Bless you."
"Sci-Fi…" Dialtone groaned. "Anyway. The transmission was coming from there so the Baroness surmised they might be making a run for Ciudad Juarez and the cache." Dialtone explained.
Tripwire slipped into the chair next to Dialtone and pulled up a map of the area. "Ignore the comedian, Jack. He's on a roll today." Tripwire explained as Sci-Fi poked his tongue out at the two seated before him. "Okay…Guaymas, Guaymas? Where the hell is Guaymas on this thing?" Tripwire muttered.
Sci-Fi leaned over and pointed on the map where the town was. "And the cache is here, an hour southeast of Ciudad Juarez." He added pointing to the spot on the map.
"It's roughly a thousand miles between the two." Tripwire muttered under his breath.
"Yeah and check out the terrain between the coast and the cache, Babe. The Sierra Madre's are well over five thousand feet at their lowest points in some areas." Sci-Fi added as he studied the topographical map. "If they're going by land it'll take them time." He added.
"It'd be like going from Great Falls to Boise on foot wouldn't it?" Dialtone asked.
"More like Seattle to Spokane." Sci-Fi replied. "This trek is from the coast to the inland high plains."
"Well it shouldn't be to big a problem then should it? For us I mean." Tripwire added. "We just need to go to El Paso and then across the boarder and follow the river for a while."
"So what are we waiting for?" Dailtone asked. "We know they're not using air transportation. And like you said, over land it's a bit of a haul." Duke joined the trio as they discussed the current situation.
Tripwire glanced over his shoulder at Duke. "What is the political climate like in Mexico at the moment?" He asked.
Duke shook his head at the question before realising what Tripwire was trying to get at. "Further south near the capitol things have cooled off, but near either boarder things are less stable." He said.
"Guerrilla movement pretty rough up here then?" Sci-Fi asked, pointing at the map.
"At least as recently as the last two months, why?" Duke answered.
"It'll take Edgewood longer. I say we get off our dead asses and get moving for Chihuahua." Sci-Fi suggested. Tripwire made a small noise of disgust and Sci-Fi laughed.
"Shut up." Tripwire grumbled.
"Huh?" Duke and Dialtone asked.
"If I had to explain. I'll spend the next month sleeping on the floor." Sci-Fi chuckled.
Duke shook his head and ordered an emergency meeting in the auditorium. Dialtone sent out the call to all available personal and in little less then half an hour they were assembled.
"Alright people." Duke began. "Dialtone found a transmission coming from the COBRA resistance and we think they're going to make a run for a supply cache in eastern Mexico. Our objective is to get there first and stop them." He stated.
"Take no prisoners?" Low Light asked.
"We'll try for some prisoners for information." Brekov smirked. "The rest are fair game." He added.
"Good." Low Light grinned.
The Baroness stepped forward to the podium then. "We do not know what kind of surveillance they might have, so we will be taking ground transport south to our objective." She stated. "I do not want to risk our cover being exposed by them observing a mass flight in their direction."
The Baroness had ordered a ready state of emergency in just such a situation since the over throw of Cobra Commander and his empire. It took the Joe force little time to get assembled, armed and moving out on the road heading south for Texas and then into Mexico.
It was well after the middle of the night on the road. The October Guard had all decided to ride together out of habit. Brekov was sleeping in the back while Stormavik drove. Diana was unable to sleep so she rode shotgun and talked with her fellow comrade.
(Five years ago, this would have seemed unthinkable.) Diana laughed as she checked the rear view mirror to see the trail of lights behind them.
Stormavik chuckled in the darkness. (Da. But then things changed.) He agreed. (I have to admit though they are interesting to work with.) He added as an after thought.
(Da.) Diana purred. (Very interesting.) She smiled.
Stormavik glanced at his side and smirked. (How is he doing?) He asked.
(My snowman is getting better. He can walk some with the use of crutches.) Diana explained. (He's just angry that he couldn't join us on this trip.)
Just then Frostbite's voice piped up over the secured link they had established between the main base and the convoy. (I thought about it and decided I'm glad I can't join you.) He chuckled.
(Oh?) Stormavik asked.
(Yeah.) Frostbite replied. (Mexico is hotter then three kinds of hell. I'll stick to cold and glaciated, thank you very much.) He laughed.
(How hot?) Stormavik asked.
(Cuba. Only slightly less humid.) Frostbite replied. Stormavik groaned at the response and Diana laughed.
(Look on the bright side, Vlad?) Diana began. (They might not have rum but they have that tequila stuff you like.) She suggested.
(Hnn. The good tequila is further south.) Stormavik groused.
(Is that all you guys think about is booze?) Frostbite asked.
Brekov had woken up and heard the last comment made. (We judge our missions based on the local liquor available.) He mumbled. (The better the local liquor, the better the mission.) Frostbite laughed over the com-link at Brekov's statement.
Further up the convoy, Dusty was driving with Imani seated next to him. They suggested I join Sea and be long-range look out. Imani said.
Duke's still worried that your arm isn't fully healed yet after that shot you took in the over throw. Dusty replied. Besides, you have better long-range accuracy then most of the others.
I don't mind his reasoning. Imani said. I prefer it actually. It gives me practice with my aim. She smirked in the dim cab.
Dusty laughed. They could hear the conversation between Frostbite and the Guard over the com-link and Dusty grinned.
What do they find so funny I wonder. Imani said as she listened in.
I understood one word. 'Tequila'. So I imagine they're talking about their favourite contact sport. Dusty replied.
Which is?
Cut throat drinking. He laughed. Tequila is a spirit distilled from a cactus down here. He explained.
Imani wrinkled her nose. She never cared for the taste of alcohol, but she didn't begrudge those who did like it. She gazed out of the window and saw the sky was brown. Why does it look like that? she asked.
Dusty leaned forward to look out the window. Means we might have some rough weather later.
TBC…