Frontline News.

Disclaimer: Do i need to make one for a video rental business that doesn't exist anymore?


Once they book a hotel room, Mainframe and Lady-Jaye wait for Sci-fi to return from a local Blockbuster, hoping it would have any tapes about the place they're headed to. After trading stories like how he joined the Joe's reserve roster after helping to design the satellite from the attempt to destroy the Relay Star back in '83, the two pass the time by worrying if what happened with Taeko and Bazooka could happen to them and their "hidden interests"; even though Mainframe isn't sure why it bothers him; until a new thought pops up. "Say; did you calling me that back infront of Duke mean you knew all along?"

Lady-Jaye glances at him from the second bed before closing her eyes and nodding. "I'll admit we knew they'd try the indirect approach after Low-Light and Iceberg reported spotting someone; but we assumed it would be it would just be the Baroness as usual. Only reason it ended up with you in a hospital bed is because we... we let it happen."

"Let it... you piece of..." He tells her as he slams a fist on the mattress, infuriated that he had been used by other Joes as well as by Cobra. "Sorry; you needed to know Zarana's style for future reference, right?"

"We all did; and i am too."

Neither says anything else until Sci-Fi returns. "I got the stuff, guys. Which one should we watch first-nevermind, I'll choose!" He says cheerfully as he drops a bag on the table.

"Great... what kept you?"/"Those better all be related to why we're here, or I'll kick your butt." Lady-Jaye and Mainframe tell him.

"If you must know, i was on my way back when i saw another of those dumb bastards trying to pass themselves off as a serviceman." Sci-Fi explains. "So i led him into an alley and set him straight."

"Geez, as if our job wasn't hard enough. You didn't say too much while you were at it, did you?" She asks him.

"Nope, just told him about my last assignment. You... you should have how fast the color drained from his fat face. How many of them have you come across?" He asks them.

"According to Stalker, 8 of them since the team was formed; most of which had to be ignored due to risk of exposure." She tells him before mentioning how Gung-Ho told her about one who tried passing himself off as a navy Joe when both were captive during the incident with the laser guidance system.

"Served him right; but anyway, let's get back to work, shall we?" Mainframe says as he's motioning for Sci-Fi to pop one in to the VCR.

"Before i do that... how is it that Gung-Ho isn't always going at it with any of those navy guys like Leatherneck does?" Sci-Fi asked them.

"Oh, he was for a while; but back when they were using that anti-money scheme, Gung-Ho was struggling with a rioter when they fell through a store's display window. Shipwreck was the only one of us with the same bloodtype." Lady-Jaye explained.


As those three are doing that, Beachhead arrives at MacGuffin labs. "Ahm hare tuh speak with thuh person in charge uh thus place, any idea whayer i can find him?" He asks a nearby janitor.

"Dat depends, sonny; which uh dem doohickeys are ya here fer?"

"Naw offense, but Ah ain't at liberty tuh divulge thet." Beachhead replies.

"Ah. One uh dose, eh?" The janitor says before turning to his right. "Check down dat second hall; i saw Dr. Pettigrew* and anoda' visitor go down dere some few minutes ago."

"Another? Whut did thay look lahk?"

"Black haired lady. Almost looked likes dis Russian dame i met when da war ended. Heh, wuz mah' wife mad when she found out." The janitor replies, not noticing Beachhead's gone.

"Shit, thuh Baroness got hare fursd." Beachhead tells himself as he looks around at each door. "Thuh snakes gist don't learn, do thay?"

"Excuse me, sir, are you lost?"/"Don't call may sir; drop an gimme-" One of the lab staff and Beachhead say before the latter stops himself. "I mean, yes. I'm Beachhead, 4IC of G.I. Joe. You've got sum stuff found in thuh Atlantic in hare sumwhere?"

"Oh, this way then. It's in examination room 38." The person says, and leads him there. "You really with G.I. Joe?"

"Thet's whut i said; whut about it?"

"My cousin knew a fellow who tried out as one of your support troops two years ago, but he didn't get past basic training."

"Not surprised, thuh success rate fahwar Grane-shirts iz wun out uh twenty."

Inside he sees people in white coats gathered around a glass cylinder. "Dr. Pettigrew, one of G.I. Joe's commanders is here to speak with you."

"Ok, one second, please." One of the researchers says, and heads over after setting down a clipboard. "You are?"

"Beachhead. Fourth in command. Heard yawl had uh soviet lady hare?"

"Soviet? No, that was a Dr. Teuful, a technician from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft**." The lead scientist tells him.

After a few seconds of trying to get past the big words only fit for danged college boys like that beret wearing blockhead, he huffs and asks what this Dr. Teuful wanted.

"She said she was sent to examine some of the artifacts that were recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic ocean; but she didn't have the proper clearance, so we turned her down." Dr. Pettigrew explains. "Anything worth losing an aircraft carrier for isn't what you let just anyone look at, after all."

"Uh-huh; and where's she now?" Beachhead asked as he looked around.

"She left about eight or nine minutes ago... why, you think she really was a soviet spy?"

"Either thet or wun frum Cobra. Yawl best let us know thuh sekunt either uh them comes callin'."

"Oh, we will. Now that that's settled, would you like to see one of the artifacts, we recently discovered how No. 210 works."


At the same time, the three Joes are alone on the road after returning the tapes. "So now that we got that take care of, what do we do next?" Sci-Fi asks.

Mainframe started to turn to reply before a blinding light appeared out of nowhere, and just as quickly vanished along with the van and the passengers.


Final chapter.

* Made up character.

** German Research Foundation in what was the West German capital, Bonn.