Author's Note: Please, enjoy chapter 2 of G.I. Joe: The Revival! Leave a comment or a heart! Have fun and enjoy.
Chapter 2: The Aftermath
An abandoned warehouse, several hours after midnight...
The sounds of gunshots and explosions were the only things that could be heard all around the large and secluded warehouse that had once been a privately owned lumber factory until the Cobra Commander got his hands on it and turned it into his hideout/backup base.
Left and right, large and oddly-shaped bodies fell to the ground like sacks of sand, life fleeing from their peculiar forms as they let out their last breaths.
A small group of elite soldiers from all around the world managed to finally put a dent in their enemy's numbers after what seemed to be an eternity. However, the battle was still far from over.
For it seemed that when one Cobra operative fell, several other operatives appeared to take their place without even faltering.
"Duke, you alright over there, bro?" One of the soldiers called out to his comrade after he took out one of the overly large men that had jumped down in front them from the high platform just above their heads.
The said man narrowly avoided getting smacked in the face with an enormous and odd-looking metallic baton as he tried to find a way to beat his new opponent without his guns, since he accidentally dropped them in the middle of a fight he previously had with a different Viper soldier.
"Yeah, I'm fine. For now." He finally responded in between punches, "How are Scarlett and Breaker doing on their end?" He asked, quickly ducking to pick up some random gun off the ground and without wasting any time, swiftly started firing away at the first Cobra scum that came his way.
"They need a few more minutes to shut down the whole system. Think you guys can hold these bastards off for that long?" Another voice chimed in from the other end of the warehouse.
"Less talking, more shooting! That goes especially for you, Ripcord." A stern and heavily accented voice interrupted as more bio-enhanced soldiers made their appearance from all sides.
"Damn! These guys are popping up like daisies! How many did that crazy bastard create? A thousand?" The man, Ripcord, yelled, dodging what could have been a fatal blow that would've effectively ended his life right then and there.
"Keep your eyes open and watch your sixes!" A woman shouted from above.
Duke ducked behind a heavy metal crate, managing to avoid getting caught in the crossfire just in the nick of time.
Reaching into one of the many pockets of his combat pants, he pulled out the few smoke bomb he had left after the launching of their initial attack.
Glancing back at the battlefield, Duke counted to ten and threw the smoke bombs in his hand at the approaching enemy.
"Smoke's up, guys!" He called out to his comrades just as the smoke bombs exploded in a brief flash of bright light from which a thick and heavy smoke eagerly enveloped a large portion of the otherwise baren warehouse.
With the enemy being distracted by the heavy cloud surrounding their forms, three masked figures jumped down from a high platform right after defeating the enemies they encountered up there, who were lying in wait to launch a surprise attack on their unaware teammates, and effortlessly cut through the enemy's frontline, moving in perfect sync with one another as if they were perfoming a dance routine they had practiced and performed many times before.
Left and right, the Viper soldiers fell at their feet in the wake of their attack.
Duke, on his end, led his team towards the three, shooting at every enemy soldier they encountered as the smoke began to clear up.
"Scarlett, how's it going on your end? 'Cuz, things aren't really smooth on ours." Duke spoke into his ear piece, waiting for a response from his friend.
"We're almost done over here, Duke. Keep them occupied for a few more minutes. We're activating the kill switch." Was the redhead's response.
"How much time are we talking about?" Duke asked again, skillfully gunning down three Viper soldiers from his position with his newly acquired weapon that he had started to take an odd liking to.
"Less than 2 minutes. Once we activate the kill switch, everything that contains nanomites or anything along those lines will explode instantly. It won't be pretty, so we'll give you guys a signal when to duck and cover. So, stay on your toes." Breaker's voice reached everyone's ears.
"Alright, everyone, you heard the man. Be ready to run at any given moment." Heavy Duty called out as he took down one of his opponents.
Lady Jaye, Ripcord and Flint cleared out one area of the warehouse on their own and wasted no time in creating an exit big enough for the whole team to pass through without problem.
"NOW, YOU GUYS! RUN!" Breaker shouted through the intercom system, alerting the whole team of the immanent danger.
No sooner had he said that than a familiar beeping sound was heard all throughout the area as small red dots began to appear everywhere around them.
In a matter of mere seconds the entire team evacuated the premises at an almost neck-breaking speed, ignoring all else around them as they inwardly counted down the seconds until detonation.
The brave troops barely managed to find a proper and decent cover when the whole warehouse burst into flames with a loud resounding 'BOOM', sending bits and pieces of sharp glass, hot metal, heavy bricks and the like in every single direction in a diameter of 50 meters around the area where the warehouse had once proudly stood.
Thick and heavy smoke rose into the early morning sky as a large fire roared on the ground, ravenously eating away at the dewy grass, small forest flowers and fallen chunks of wood.
Several Joes peeked out of their hiding places after they were certain that no other heavy, sharp or inflamed object would be hurdled their way.
The glowing fire reflected off their dirt and sweat covered faces; its warmth caressing their cheeks as it spread onto some of the surrounding trees.
"Damn." Ripcord, as expected, was the first one to break the stifling silence as he finally got up to his feet.
"That's putting it mildly, mate." Heavy Duty walked towards the pilot with his eyes glued on the disaster in front of them.
"Did everyone make it out in one piece?" Duke called out from his location, as a few members of the British military tried to extinguish the flames before it spread too much.
"Yeah, we're all here." Roadblock was the one who responded, his voice echoing around the area.
"Breaker?" Heavy Duty called out, hoping with every fiber of his being that his friend would confirm what he wanted...no, needed to know.
The said man walked out of a thick bush with his loyal companion, his tablet, in hand.
"Everyone's signal is still intact. We're all good." The Moroccan nodded at the large man and smiled at the screen, glad beyond belief that all his friends were alright.
"Everyone, round up!" Heavy Duty swiftly ordered, his stern tone leaving no room for complaints or arguments of any kind from the others.
In a matter of several minutes, the G.I. Joe soldiers that had been sent out gathered in one spot, looking no worse for wear despite the severity of their latest mission.
Duke mentally counted his team to check and see if everyone was indeed present and in one piece.
Ever since Cobra's attack on their main base, his habit of looking out for his teammates during missions and making sure that everyone had been accounted for before leaving for base after they completed said missions had gone to a whole new level. Some called him paranoid, while some called him overprotective due to his overbearing mother hen behavior. However, the young blonde male couldn't have cared less how his teammates and subordinates called him. Because at the end of the day, he could sleep peacefully, knowing that all his dear people were safe and sound.
And the relief he'd felt once he saw that all of his friends had safely made it out of the warehouse could not even be described in mere words.
"Good, we're all here." Roadblock stated, wiping off the dust and sweat from his face, then glanced at the small gash on his right arm that began to sting him a bit.
"Wait!" Scarlett called out, her blue scanning each and every individual as well as the immediate surrounding area.
"Where are the Generals?" She asked, now turning around to check and see if they were anywhere near by or still in hiding somewhere.
"General Colton got shot in the chest during the fight on our end." A British soldier responded as he walked up to the group.
"What?!" Scarlett cried out in shock, the other Joes mirrored her shocked expression.
"Is he alright?" Breaker fired right away, his face turning a few sheets of white.
"I thought you said everyone's signal was still active." Heavy Duty turned towards Breaker.
"And it was...I mean is! The only way for them to not appear on my scans is only if they hadn't placed their chips on in the first place." He replied while checking his computer for any kind of malfunction that he might have overseen previously.
"Nevermind that now, you two." Scarlett boldly interrupted before turning towards the British soldier and began questioning him, "Have you heard from them? What happened out there?"
"General Colton went ahead of us and got shot by a sniper. General Hawk immediately acted and got him out of the line of fire. He, Sergeant Stone, along with a few of our men took him to a hospital for medical assistance. We hadn't heard from them since, ma'am." He finished and nodded toward his team, "We called our backup team a few minutes ago to come help us with the fire. We're starting to run out of water and we need to put it out before it spreads further."
The Joes took in the situation right away and quickly moved into action. Luckily for them, help had arrived just in time as five large military trucks drew up near them and the soldiers within the vehicles wasted no time as they ran towards the fire with thick hoses in their hands, spraying the surrounding greenery with either cool water or foam.
"ALL UNITS PICK AS MANY HOSES AND BUCKETS AS YOU CAN! OUR PRIORITY IS TO PUT OUT THE BLOODY FIRE!" Heavy Duty hollered out and ran towards the trucks along with Duke, Roadblock, Flint and Jinx, silently cursing himself for not acting sooner.
The Joes and the British military worked long and hard to put out the fire, running back and forth, carrying as many buckets as they could just to help, shouting orders and throwing themselves into their task more and more with each horrifying second that passed achingly slow. Unfortunately, the fire spread faster than they had expected and more than half of the forest burned down in the roaring flames, leaving nothing but burnt trees and ashy grass in its wake.
The black smoke that rose higher and higher in the air resembled a dark omnious whirlwind that threatened to engulf the area around the former Cobra base in a blink of an eye, striking fear and panic into the hearts of the young men and women who are fighting with all the strength left in their tired bodies to extinguish the untamable flames.
By some odd stroke of luck, the fire department had managed to get a distress call from Breaker's computer and deployed several of its best vehicles that arrived just as the young soldiers were about to lose all hope.
The firemen wasted no time in pulling out their own hoses and aiming them at the fire around them with great expertise, aiding the Joes and the British military in putting the flames out and saving what remained of the usually tranquil forest.
Half an hour later, the fire was completely put out and the thick smoke cleared up, allowing everyone a moment of respite since the explosion. The firemen along with some of the British soldiers assessed the surrounding areas for any other kind of danger and checked to see if there were any unfortunate campers that were in the area and in desperate need of immediate medical assistance.
Duke sighed as a paramedic bandaged the small second degree burns on his arms, going on and about how to properly treat them, bandage them and so on.
He was barely listening to what the other man was saying, far too preoccupied with other more important things than a few burns and bruises. He was a soldier, a G.I. Joe at that. And he had survived far worse things in life than something as minor and harmless as that.
"Thanks for the help, man." Duke smiled at the paramedic as the man finished dressing his wounds and lightly patted him on the shoulder before moving towards the rest of his team.
They looked no worse for wear after the whole ordeal, he noted with immence relief. However, they seemed to be extremely annoyed and cross for some reason.
"Hey, guys. What's with the long faces?" He asked once he got close enough.
Scarlett took a deep breath and answered his question since the others didn't seem like they were about to be of any help at all.
"The police arrived twenty minutes ago. They refuse to let us go until we've answered all their questions concerning the fire and some other incident that occurred several hours ago. Luckily, Heavy and Jeremy are taking care of that as we speak. But, it might take same time since there are papers that must to be taken care of before they give us the green light. Until then, we're stuck here." She said, trying very hard not to huff at that.
"And they're not our only problem." They all looked up as Roadblock approached them.
"Someone alerted the media about us being here and now all the roads are crowded with both local and foreign media wanting to get a scoop at the latest happenings. Some even tried sneaking in to get a free shot of the whole scene. The police managed to chase them away, but they won't be leaving any time soon. And more are coming this way." Roadblock informed his team, both his voice and body language showed mild irritation and annoyance.
"Great." Flint groaned and swore under his breath.
"How are we supposed to get out of here without being hogged by the media?" Scarlett pinched the bridge of her nose, her brain already trying to work out some kind of an escape route that won't involve physical conflict.
Suddenly, a helicopter with the logo of a local news station stopped just above them and a familiar voice called out through the intercom system.
"Did somebody order a ride?" Scarlett's heart fluttered at hearing her boyfriend's voice.
The Joes looked up at the helicopter as Ripcord waved at them from the inside.
"How on Earth did you...?" Scarlett couldn't even finish her question from the wide grin that spread on her face as she gazed happily at the man she loved.
"You have your talents, babe. And I have mine." He winked at her with a smile and went on, "I bumped into an old friend of mine from high school and he gave me this sweet girl in exchange for meeting Zen Master in person. Turns out, he's a big fan. So, I hope that's okay with you, Z?" He turned his attention towards the said man, perspiration beginning to break out on his face from the pointed look he just knew he was getting from the masked man who preferred to be excluded from any and all kinds of schemes and shenanigans. Especially, since a certain incident that went down two months ago with General Hawk.
Ripcord would never admit it out loud, but he was extremely happy for being in the comfort and safety of a flying vehicle, a good few meters above ground, and way out of the black clad ninja's reach.
"We'll deal with that later. Right now, we've got work to do." Heavy Duty interjected as he approached his team.
Almost instantly, the mood had changed and a much more somber look appeared on the faces of the Alfa Team.
"Now, we hadn't heard from the Generals ever since we launched our attack on the Cobra scum and we still haven't heard from General Hawk about General Colton's well-being. Not only that, but we also don't know our enemy's status and we need to regroup ASAP, so that we could properly prepare in case that snake managed to survive. There is also the matter of our combined mission with the British army that needs to be taken care of with the higher ups. So, with that in mind we need to split up into three teams and meet up once all things are settled." He stated, looking at each and every one of his teammates that were present, before continuing on, "Scarlett, Duke and Ripcord, you guys will head towards the hospital where General Colton's at. Jeremy and a few of his men are already on their way there since they had to oversee the transport of the wounded. He'll text you the address in the next few minutes, Scarlett, so keep your phone with you at all times." He nodded at the redhead, before turning to regard Duke, "Once you're there, report to General Hawk and keep us updated on General Colton's status. Keep your eyes open while you're there. You see anything suspicious, call us right away." Lightly patting the young blonde on the shoulder, Heavy Duty nodded towards the helicopter above as he wordlessly dismissed them both.
As the two walked away, Heavy Duty turned towards the others.
"Roadblock, you and Mouse will meet up with the President and the Prime Minister at the British Military base. Report all of our findings and meet up with us at our current base once you're done. From there, we will head to the hospital to regroup with the others." Roadblock nodded his head and went to look for his other comrade.
"We'll prepare the big guns and rally the troops. I want everyone on stand-by. If the bastard survived, he will retaliate sooner rather than later and I'm not plannin' on giving him an opening like last time, so let's get a move on people." With that, the rest of the Joes jumped to complete the given tasks as they mentally prepared themselves for what was to come.
Heavy Duty threw a fleeting look at the destroyed hideout and the surrounding nature as he and his team walked towards their vehicles.
'Come what may, that rat bastard will pay!' He swore to himself and boarded the large military truck after Snake Eyes, never looking back.
Author's Note: Sorry for any grammatical or lexical mistake. You guys know what to do should you spot one. Leave a review (pretty please) and see you soon!