The Badger

Disclaimer: I don't own G.I. Joe or the Misfits, nor do I own The Incredibles or Kingdom Hearts. The characters of Kasim Ibn-Farahnakian and Senior Airman Faisal Ahmed are my creation.

Summary: After COBRA launches one of Syndrome's Omnidroids Scarlett and a Greenshirt interview one of the survivors of its target.

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Detainee Report

Name: Kasim Ibn-Farahnakian

Nationality: Iranian

Age: 27

Misc: From limited information, detainee was or is likely affiliated with the Iranian military. Detainee was discovered in the aftermath of the attack by the Heartless on Bandar Abbas. Judging from the crusts of salt on his clothing and the occasional maritime references, he is believed to be a member of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy or by his so-far uncooperative demeanor, even a member of the Islamic Republic Guards Corps Navy.

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The ruins of Bandar Abbas were still smoking, even after almost a week. Even though it was a video recording of the aftermath of the attack of the Omnidroid, Scarlett could still smell the smoke, the scent of death.

In the video a woman wailed as Iranian rescue crews tried to dig for survivors and bodies in the Al-Khaliq Mosque, which was smashed during the battle when a stricken F4 Phantom ploughed into it on its terminal dive.

"Still nothing?" General Hawk asked.

"He's barely said anything, of any use." Scarlett said, "Aside from the occasional word grumbled while asleep, nothing really of any use. I'm hitting a wall."

There was a knock on the door and a young man, about nineteen years old wearing the camouflage fatigues of a US Air Force senior airman appeared, carrying a file, "Sir, more field reports from Bandar Abbas."

"Thank you." Hawk said as the young soldier put the file on his desk.

"Excuse me," Scarlett said, struck by a flash of inspiration, "Airman Ahmed?"

"Yes?" Ahmed replied.

"How's your Farsi…" Scarlett asked.

"A little rusty. I only speak it when I visit my grandparents, but I can read and write it…" Ahmed replied, "May I ask why…"

Almost half an hour later, Ahmed was practically trotting to keep up with the taller, longer legged Joe.

As they walked into the cellblock Ahmed noticed the survivor they'd brought in on a stretcher almost six days ago. He was of Indo-Aryan descent, as evidenced by his slightly tanned Caucasian complexion, and dark hair and eyes. He was clad in the remnants of an Iranian military uniform, without any evidence of rank or insignia.

"Come to interrogate me again…" the man said, contemptuously at Scarlett before noticing Ahmed, "Who are you?"

"I am Senior Airman Faisal Ahmed, US Air Force…" the man replied in English.

The prisoner said something in Farsi. "What did he say?" Scarlett asked.

"Not something I would want to repeat in present company." Faisal replied.

"Humor me." Scarlett said.

"He basically called me a 'fucking traitor'. And asked 'Why the hell am I in that uniform'?" Ahmed replied, "I'm from Los Angeles, not Tehran…My grandparents moved to America in the 1950s…We were just as angry at the Shah as the revolutionaries…"

"So what happened at Bandar Abbas?" Scarlett asked, trying to switch tracks.

"Still at that? Don't you have enough reports? From satellites, aircraft, and everything else…" The Iranian prisoner replied, "Or even your eunuch lapdog…"

Offended Ahmed shouted something back in Farsi.

"Good, you've rediscovered your balls." The prisoner replied, "And if you're trying to offer help, then you're sadly mistaken. We drove that Omnidroid away…"

"You 'drove away' the Omnidroid because of the help of the Misfits." Scarlett replied, "And I hate to break it to you, but one-third of the Iranian military was destroyed in the effort, against only one Omnidroid…"

"Fine…I will tell my tale, but thru your lapdog, no one else…" The prisoner replied.

Scarlett mulled the request for a second and then turned towards Ahmed, "Record everything he says and turn the report in after you're through."

Ahmed felt like a lamb being stared down by a caged panther, as Scarlett left the room. The Joe gave him a friendly pat on the back.

Hours later, Faisal Ahmed turned in the following transcript.

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Ahmed: So what happened at Bandar Abbas?

Farahnakian: The first awareness I had of anything being amiss was a phone call I received, when I was visiting my parents on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas. The Omnidroid had destroyed Kish Island. The High Command recalled us all.

I arrived on the base to see almost every ship in the harbor, save for an old Vosper frigate that had long since been scrapped for parts, getting underway. I boarded my own vessel, a Boghammar patrol-boat, armed with a twin barrel 23mm cannon and a recoilless rifle.

My boat joined swarms of others, behind the Peykaap and Tir torpedo boats, and two Chinese Cat-14 catamaran missile boats. The IIS Alborz, an Alvand frigate, was the flagship of our revenge. Five Mod-Kamans and four Houdongs escorted the Alborz.

I could see the Phantoms flying over my head, streaking towards the Omnidroid. American aircraft from when we used to be your allies of convenience. The Phantoms were going in first, firing their missiles at the Omnidroid, to soften it up. Then the Alborz and the Mod-Kamans and Houdongs would use their own missiles, with the Peykaap and Tir torpedo boats to finish the job.

We were the afterthought a squadron of small, fast moving boats used to harass and board tankers and oil platforms armed with rockets, mortars, recoilless rifles and heavy machineguns. We would use swarm tactics against a stricken Omnidroid. We were more useful in lightning fast interdiction raids, dropping off marine commandoes, like ourselves, and racing away.

"The Phantoms and the missile boats will likely destroy the thing before we get anywhere near it." One of my shipmates said as he drove.

"I don't think we'll even use this…" the gunner said from his gunwell, raising the RPG-7.

A: But that's not what happened?

F: No. We could hear the radio broadcast calling us the stone in Allah's sling. The stone that would destroy the COBRA abomination launched at us. I laughed inwardly. At the very least I would simply gain a few hours in the sun and an excuse to drive like a maniac through the seas.

A: What was your first clue that maybe you had gotten in over your heads?

F: I saw one of the Phantoms flying back, wings wobbling, all its ordinance shot away. A long stream of smoke followed behind it.

Foruz asked from the gunnery station, "What's wrong with the plane, sir?"

"Probably some mechanical issue or a small fire." I said, to reassure him. I didn't want to even imagine that the Phantom was likely a lone survivor of a decimated formation.

As we approached the Omnidroid's last position, heading just above the water towards Bandar Abbas, we saw more evidence of the first attack. Wreckage of several aircraft floated, mixed in amongst slicks of fuel oil and dead bodies amidst the occasional survivor…

A: Did you stop to rescue them?

F: No. We didn't have the time. We were the next thing standing in the creature's way to Bandar Abbas.

A: What happened when you attacked the Omnidroid?

F: We started to come within range of the Omnidroid. I could hear the deafening roar as the Alborz started to fire its missiles. Simultaneously the Mod-Kaman and Houdong missile boats did the same. The Cat-14 Catamarans sped forward, shooting their own short range missiles.

I could see the thing clearly now: A large, ominous metal sphere just on the surface of the water, ploughing towards Bandar Abbas. I saw the missiles streak towards the thing and either get shot out of the air by high energy laser blasts, like something out of an American movie, or simply explode onto the Omnidroid. Enough missiles were striking home to do damage, but the Omnidroid kept its speed on the water.

I saw another Phantom take a hit, struck by a laser burst. It wagged its wings as the pilot struggled for control before the two crewmembers ejected. I saw two winged creatures fly from the Omnidroid, grabbing the pilots and I saw two multicolored, heart shapes flying into the skies.

The torpedo boats raced ahead and launched their torpedoes. I saw numerous underwater explosions that shook the Omnidroid but were as ineffective as the missiles from both the planes and the warships.

I heard the order for the swarming attack from my radio. "All units close and attack! There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet!"

I looked at the other three men on my boat. The oldest man other than me was maybe twenty-two years old. Within the next few minutes we might all bed dead.

"La-Ilaha Ilah Allah!" Came the declaration, "There is no God but Allah!!!"

Soudi shoved the throttles forward as, Akhmed, our Engineman said his own final prayer.

The larger guns on the bigger ships opened up first, their shells striking home on the Omnidroid's armor. Then we started to fire away using our rockets.

The Omnidroid continued its advance, shooting back with mounted laser turrets. I saw a laser blast hit a Peykaap torpedo boat which promptly exploded, killing all three crewmembers onboard.

I put the RPG on my shoulder, taking a knee to try and steady my aim, praying to God that my aim would be true. I fired a rocket at the massive thing, striking one of the many turrets.

The Omnidroid fired a missile from somewhere and it struck one of the Houdong missile boats with a terrific explosion, leaving the larger boat dead in the water, leaving it no chance to maneuver before one of the Mod-Kamans collided with it. The Houdong cracked in half and sank and the Mod-Kaman was severely damaged.

Several of the flying devils from the Omnidroid dove towards our boats. Several of them were killed by machinegun fire, but enough of them survived to attack, taking crewmembers screaming from their stations and dropping them from hundreds of feet into the sea.

The most damning thing I saw was the Omnidroid launching more missiles. Three struck the Alborz amidships, causing her list badly to port as crewmembers scrambled to life rafts.

Smoke, flaming patches of oil, bodies and liferafts floated on the surface as the once orderly battle group sank into chaos. "Ram them!" came an order.

I watched another Houdong, on fire, run with what forward way she could make into the side of the Omnidroid and explode. The shockwave capsized another Boghammar and I saw crewmembers in the water for a brief second before I noticed them being dragged underwater by strange water demons, green humanoids with glowing yellow eyes and the strange symbol (he draws what looks like the combined Heartless, COBRA, and Nobody insignia seen by the team at Facility Kronos), and more of the strange, glowing heart shapes floating into the sky.

"Retreat! Fall back to the secondary line…" came the order.

It was every man for himself, as dozens of small boats, two of the surviving Mod-Kamans, and the lone surviving Houdong.

Utter chaos reigned. I saw several survivors on a life raft from the Alborz try madly to paddle away before a Tir torpedo boat ran them over. The Omnidroid reached with a clawed tentacle and grabbed the Tir from the water, throwing it at one of the Mod-Kaman's with a terrific explosion.

A: Secondary line?

F: Some more late arrivals - Mainly two more Cat-14s, two Mod-Kamans from Bushehr that had pulled in for repairs at Bandar Abbas last week, and two PF 103 gunboats. They were reinforced by several more Phantoms and F5 Tigers from the air and land based cruise-missile sites.

Surely we had done enough damage that the Omnidroid couldn't possibly make it through to Bandar Abbas. I prayed the missiles would stop them. My prayers went unanswered.

As we fled towards the secondary line, I saw the true magnitude of the disaster. One hundred of our small boats, ten torpedo boats, two catamarans, and ten of our larger missile patrol ships had embarked to attack. Fewer than three torpedo boats, one of the catamarans, a Mod Kaman, and a Houdong remained to limp back. Of our small boats, only thirty-seven of them remained, and of those boats, over half of them were barely mobile.

Those that were unfortunate enough to lose their last motor and left to drift either were attacked by underwater Heartless or run down by the Omnidroid.

We wheeled around and turned to attack, heartened by the sight of more of our missiles streaking towards the Omnidroid.

The secondary line cracked faster than the first, in spite of the sheer firepower we launched at it. The battle was a complete route.

A: What happened to your boat?

F: We were turning towards the Omnidroid for another attack run when a flying Heartless dove towards the boat. Foruz tried to kill it with the 23mm gun, but it already pulled Soudi screaming from the helm. He gripped the wheel like a madman, but the thing was far stronger and pulled him off, literally pulling his arms off. I saw the glowing shape again.

The Omnidroid loomed large as I grabbed the wheel and turned us away from the Omnidroid. Akhmed grabbed the RPG and fired the rocket at the Omnidroid before a hooked tentacle smashed the back of the boat, splattering Akhmed like a bug struck with a newspaper.

I hit the water and swam desperately for a floating piece of wreckage before blacking out…

A: How did you survive?

F: I don't know. Perhaps by Allah I was lucky. But all I know was when I regained consciousness I saw the aftermath of another disaster. One of the PF103s drifted, the only signs of life being Heartless running about her decks, hunting for surviving crew members.

I saw a Phantom racing over from behind the mountains and sink it with two missiles, to prevent Heartless from swarming onto the shores.

I saw the beach. Maybe three kilometers away. I could swim that.

A: Weren't you afraid you'd be killed?

F: I would either die of exposure or be killed by underwater Heartless. I would rather die fighting than from exposure. I swam towards the beach. I had always been a strong swimmer, growing up near the shores of Bandar Abbas. And to be a member of our unit you had to be a strong swimmer.

A: You mean the Iranian Marine Commandoes? (Detainee declined to comment, but based on body language I would say yes) What happened when you made it to shore?

F: I finally made it to shore, my limbs quavered and shook, but I had to get to Bandar Abbas. I had to see if my family was alive. I took the small compass from my pocket, one given to me as a gift by my father three years ago.

I got my bearings, and knowing that a motorway, fairly primitive by your standards, was just over the dunes and ran a Northwest-Southeast route towards Bandar Abbas. I walked on foot; I didn't think I'd have to go too far, I knew that there was a shore based missile battery along the highway. Perhaps I could find some transportation, or at the very least some water and something to eat.

As I neared the battery I could smell smoke. I at first dismissed it as the smell of the exhaust from numerous missiles, or maybe even the smoke from the many fires from the flotillas that tried to fight the Omnidroid but were summarily decimated.

My hopes of finding an intact outpost shrank when I saw the corpse of a Pasdaran (AN: Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) soldier lying dead near the road.

His AKM-47 and webbing with magazines was fortunately still intact and I took both from his corpse, helping myself to water from his water bottle and some of his rations. I walked another half mile towards his post, hoping that the missile troops were able to fight off the Heartless.

I was wrong. The missile battery was in shambles. Flames were everywhere, interspersed with splatters of blood and dead bodies, Heartless and Pasdaran soldier alike.

I continued, cautiously on my guard, ensuring that a full magazine was in my weapon and that there was a round in the chamber. I flicked the safety off, to full auto. I had seven more magazines, plus the half-full magazine that was originally in the weapon. But I couldn't afford to fight a protracted gunfight here. I had to get to Bandar Abbas, I had to see if my family was alright.

A: How did you eventually reach Bandar Abbas? What did you find when you got there?

F: I eventually hitched a ride over there, when I encountered some troops trying to fix some mechanical problems with their APC. I found a still raging battle, because the Omnidroid had, just as I'd feared, crossed the beach onto Bandar Abbas despite our best efforts to kill it at sea.

I could see more of the strange, glowing heart shapes as the Omnidroid smashed its way through the city. I could see small shapes descending from somewhere underneath. That must have been where all those Heartless that destroyed the missile battery came from, inside the Omnidroid.

The infantry commander ordered the unit to dismount the APC. I followed them, I could make my break away from the formation later, but for the time being I was stuck with them. I proceeded at the back of the patrol, watching our backs. We got a radio call that several Heartless had besieged numerous civilians at a nearby apartment complex. My heart froze when I heard the address.

My younger sister lived in the apartment complex with her husband and two sons. My heart hammered both from running towards the place and from the fear of what I might find.

I saw a crashed bus on the street corner. The Omnidroid had flung it aside as it forged through town. I saw more Heartless around the bus, harvesting the hearts of the survivors.

My blood was up. I recognized the bus as the line my sister took every day from work. Enraged I charged like a madman for the bus, shooting anything that even vaguely resembled a Heartless.

After I had killed every Heartless, they must have been the lesser ones, for had they been those higher grade Heartless, I would likely be dead, several of the soldiers approached me, looking at me as though I were some mad, wild eyed demon.

Eventually we regrouped and headed for the apartment complex which another army unit had surrounded. We entered through the two entranceways, tossing grenades into the lobby.

One of the strange scimitar armed Heartless scraped its swordlike appendages together and struck one of our men with a lethal electric spark. It was gunned down by the rest of us.

We fought from room to room, sweeping everything, taking terrified civilians and grouping them into the lower floors.

I saw the door to my sister's apartment smashed open and charged inside to see a Heartless on top of her as she tried to shield her two screaming children from it.

"DIE SPAWN OF HELL!!!" I shouted with rage and emptied my entire magazine into it, sending it flying, spraying black blood, out the window.

My family was fortunate. My little sister survived as did my nephews. Several times we broke into apartments and saw Heartless taking the hearts of occupants.

As soon as we secured the apartment, we heard cries for help over the radio. We evacuated the civilians, loading them into our APCs and trucks waiting nearby.

My sister looked at me, terrified, "I will find the others…" I promised. Inwardly I added. Or die doing so.

The cries for help continued. Several civilians were trapped inside the Al-Khaliq mosque just a few streets away from us. Several Heartless had smashed down the barricades, killing the few security personnel that guarded the area.

As we raced towards the area, I saw more hearts float skyward. We ducked behind a barricade where an infantry sergeant crouched with six other soldiers.

"They've broken into the mosque. We've sent teams in to rescue the survivors, but they keep getting slaughtered by Heartless that got inside…" The sergeant said, "I had forty-eight men with me, when we first approached the mosque…these six remain."

We entered the shrine, once a house of worship to Allah, but now a charnel house. Bodies lay strewn about the area, men, women, children. Old. Young. The Heartless didn't care. And we were setting in to slaughter the Heartless out of revenge.

We swept carefully, going room by room, kicking doors in and spraying any Heartless we found with bursts of automatic fire.

I heard a scream and saw a large Heartless spew fire at three soldiers, turning them into screaming torches. We were forced to shoot our own men, so they wouldn't burn us in turn.

Three of us faced the fire breather. One soldier, brave bastard, timed his grenade to throw into the creature's maw, causing it to explode.

The mosque was a perfect defensive position; it occupied high ground and had good fields of fire. We could evacuate civilians in here, once we re-erected the barricades. The effort was underway…I could see the medics moving the wounded to the larger open spaces to perform triages. We placed our heavier weapons on the top floors with good fields of fire, sending details to scrounge ammunition, we were starting to run low…

The Heartless were already trying to attack the mosque. We were beating them back with withering fire, leaving several of their corpses shot to pieces in the streets.

I was starting to feel hopeful that we could hold the civilians safely here when one of the F4 Phantoms screamed over head, shooting its missiles at the Omnidroid before turning and fleeing. A missile from the Omnidroid raced away, striking the rear of the aircraft, causing it to stumble out of the air and head towards the mosque in a death-dive.

Shortly after the impact I lost consciousness and did not regain it, until I found myself looking into the face of the strange green lizard with the golden mane from your team. The rest as you know, is history…

End of Transcript.

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"I have the report." Ahmed said, as he turned the transcript in.

"Thank you." Scarlett said.

The television in the rec room was showing news broadcasts on the attack on Bandar Abbas.

"The death toll from Bandar Abbas is believed to be as high as one-hundred and fifty thousand from a population of nearly 350,000." The reporter from CNN said, "US military sources believed the Iranian military to have suffered losses as high as one third of its total strength. The Iranian government has begun calling up reservists and increasing conscription rates…"

"This just in: The Iranian government has begun to seal its borders, restricting any travel within their airspace or their waters…" The CNN announcer continued, "Furthermore Tehran seems to have severed diplomatic ties with the rest of the world…"

"The Iranians are behaving just like a cornered badger. They're going to ground, hoping to fight any more of those things." Scarlett said.

"That's not all," Lady Jaye said from the other couch shortly after Sr. Airman Ahmed left the room, "The Israelis have increased air and sea patrols and have begun more reserve callups. So have the Syrians, Jordanians, Saudis and Kuwaitis. The Bandar Abbas incident's got them spooked."

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Senior Airman Ahmed returned to his barracks room, tossing off his BDU top. As he did so he noticed a microdot right where Scarlett had tapped him on the back. The Air Force intelligence specialist, one of several working at G.I. Joe for the Intelligence branch, chose not to mull the matter and lay down on his couch to rest.

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Kasim Ibn-Farahnakian was later repatriated back to Iran after receiving medical treatment.

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End