Ace had never piloted a plane in such conditions. Visibility was almost zero. Winds were well above danger level. Communications were nearly impossible through the storm.

He loved it.

His team of Skystrikers had been circling the Cobra base, waiting for word from Flint's team. They should have at least gotten in by now, but nothing below them had changed.

"Come on, guys," he spoke into his head set. "Where are you?" He knew the ground team probably couldn't hear him, but it helped ease his nerves to try.

As suddenly as it had started, the storm died. That's not natural, he thought. Oh, well. Gift horse in the mouth and all that.

He checked on his fellow pilots. "Everyone still with me?"

"Right behind you, Ace,"

"Just waiting for the snakes to show their ugly mugs!"

"Save some for me, man!"

"You glory hogs!"

Stalker, Shipwreck, Footloose, Cover Girl. Everyone accounted for.

Now all they had to do was try to attract some attention…

Lifeline had placed Dusty and Lady Jaye on the ground, hidden behind boxes of equipment at the back of the lab. He stood at the doorway, waiting for Flint and the others. He peeked around the edge of the door again. Still no Cobra. Unfortunately, still no Joe Team.

He could have sworn he had heard the sounds of fighting earlier. But the noise had faded away before he could be certain. And he wasn't about to start yelling for any kind of attention.

Zartan had finally gone when Cobra Commander's voice had started screeching at him from his personal comm device. He had regarded Lifeline silently a moment before moving into the hallway. "Remember, Joe—I am NOT your friend. My loyalties do not tie me to Mindbender or Bludd. But I still work for Cobra." He waited for Lifeline's nod of acknowledgement before stepping through the door.

He looked at his watch. They were definitely behind schedule. Where are you? he wondered.

Glancing back at the hidden figures, Lifeline made up his mind. He left the room.

He had a pretty good memory; Zartan had brought him through hallways that were obviously unused barracks. That must mean the fighting was the other way.

It took surprisingly little time to reach what must have been the operations center. Cobra Commander himself sat in a throne-like chair overlooking a bank of monitors.

One screen showed a firefight between a Skystriker and a Rattler. As he watched, the Rattler's wing was torn to pieces and it went down.

A second screen showed Cobra troopers battling hand-to-hand with a small team of Joes. Lifeline let out a sigh of relief. Flint's group had landed and gotten in the base.

He was about to retreat when a snippet of conversation caught his attention.

"…that his device is not worth what I paid for it!" It was the Commander. He stood and walked toward a large machine at the side of the room. "He assured me that it would keep a sandstorm going for two hours! AAAaaaaarrrrrghhh!"

"We're hooking up the next power cell right now, Commander."

"No wonder he sold me the thing so cheaply! It runs through batteries like an eight year old! I hardly even used it and it's out of juice!" The Commander kicked at the metal side of the equipment.

Major Bludd was standing nearby at a control panel. "Well, the storm lasted long enough to cover the hangar bay opening to launch the Rattlers. And the device still had enough power to move the sand over the doors again once they were closed. Perhaps if you hadn't insisted on using it to create that giant--and, might I add, completely unnecessary-- sand wave earlier it would still have enough power to keep up the storm!"

"But Bludd," the Commander crooned, "Wasn't that the best entertainment you've had all week? Watching those two Joes go under like amateur surfers in a hurricane was worth it!"

He kicked the machine again. "If this isn't up and running again in fifteen minutes, I will send it back to Destro in little tiny pieces!"

Bludd sighed. "The secondary battery is almost up and running."

Lifeline looked at the machine, then at the screen, then at the Commander. He was starting to think of an plan.

He ducked into the doorway, keeping a low profile. Cobra Commander and Bludd were focused on the huge screens. Perfect. Keeping to the walls, Lifeline moved around the room until Destro's machine was between him and the room's other occupants.

Okay, power source, power source…Where would they put it? Lifeline scanned the array of machinery. He smiled when he spotted a small white sticker sporting a drawing of a stick figure being electrocuted. 'Do not touch!' the sticker read.

Good thing Destro doesn't have a very high opinion of the Commander's technical abilities, Lifeline mused.

The set-up looked fairly similar to machines often found in hospitals. The medic hoped it was, anyway. He grabbed a small wire and pulled. There was a small spark and a faint whiff of ozone. That should do it…

He was about to turn back the way he came, but the sound of the Commander's Boots made him stay still. He was approaching the side of the machine…If he turned the corner, he would see Lifeline for sure. Of course, if Lifeline went around the other end, he'd run right into Major Bludd.

"Bludd, come here!" The commander screamed. "Why are all these lights off?"

Lifeline heard Bludd approach his leader. Now was the time to escape.

He eased around the far end of the device until he was at the corner of the control panel under the screens. The two enemies were still out of his line of sight.

He crept forward, listening for the sounds of conversation.

"I don't understand, Commander," Bludd's voice wheedled, "We hooked up the second battery just like Destro told us to!" It sounded like they had moved to the rear of the machine where Lifeline had been moments ago.

The medic started forward, then glanced at the bank of controls. One lever stood out from the rest. It was clearly labeled 'hangar doors.'

Lifeline pulled it and ran.

"Ace! Check it out! Something's happening down there!" Cover Girl's voice sounded in his ear.

He swung his plane around for a better view. Sure enough, he could see movement on the ground. What had appeared to be nothing but an empty strech of sand was moving, pulling away from itself. It looked like-

"The doors are opening! Wild Bill, that's your signal. Get in there! we'll cover you!"

"Copy, Ace. Just keep the Cobras off my rotors and I'll be down there in a jiffy!"

Ace was swept up into another dogfight. It was hard to keep an eye on the Tomahawk, but ge glanced down every so often to keep up with Bill's progress. As the Rattler he was fighting began to fatally smoke, Ace saw that the helicopter pilot had managed to land in the Cobra hangar. He and Roadblock would be waiting and ready should any Cobra troops appear.

Now all we need is the rest of the team... Where are they? He voiced a silent prayer for his teammates and engaged the next rattler.

Finally there were no Cobra planes left. The sky was empty of the enemy. "Looks like we wiped 'em out. Everyone accounted for?" Ace always dreaded having to ask that question. He held his breath until all of his fellow pilots had answered in the affirmative.

"Good work. We've got one last job to do... Once Wild Bill gets that copter out of there, anyway. Anyone see what's going on down there?"

"Ace! This is Flint! We are on board the Tomahawk and ready to pull out. As soon as we're clear, do your thing." The man's voice sounded strained, but Ace knew now wasn't the time to ask. He'd find out soon enough what had happened.

The Skystrikers circled as the helicopter rose into the air. The hangar below looked to be scattered with Trouble Bubbles, gliders, and Rattlers in various states of disrepair, but empty of Cobra troopers. Ace hoped they hadn't closed off the hangar entirely. It would be nice if the damage wasn't contained...

"Sky team, you know the drill. Let's do it!" Ace yelled into his headset. He felt a surge of adrenaline as he brought the plane around again. The others were strung out behind him, following his every move.

When his sensors told him he was in position, he hit the button that would release the two MK20 Rockeye bombs from the undercarriage of the plane. Behind him, one after another, the other pilots did the same.

Wild Bill confirmed his team's hits with a loud yell. "YEEeeeAAAaaawww... Look at those flames! Cobra's not going to be using that base anymore!"

Cheers of agreement from the other Joes reached his ears. He started to smile-- then remembered why they had come in the first place. The thrill of destroying a Cobra base could not compete with the worry in his gut over his two teammates. He still didn't know how they were doing; he only assumed Flint's team had been successful. I'm sure they're okay, he told himself. Let's just get them home...

He turned his Skystriker one last time to follow the Tomahawk back to base.

Author's note:

I didn't really plan on having Lifeline do that--Flint's team was going to set charges or something-- but... everyone always rags on him for being a pacifist. That doesn't mean he can't participate...

And I like writing from different perspectives, ya know?

Yes, yes, yes-- Dusty and Lady Jaye are the focus of upcoming chapters, but I felt I couldn't just have a rescue team show up in one scene and blink they're back at the base in the next scene.

Thanks for all of the reviews, by the way! I appreciate it greatly.