Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Fangs of the Snake. Enjoy the 3000-word chapter. I don't own GI JOE; Hasbro and a few others do.
Duke and the other Joes were all too focused on certain details of the future like being able to dig through the battle.
All of them seemed to be tired yet continued to work over and over again as if they were in a trance or other such work. It was not the case and simply was what was expected of soldiers as the Joes collected salvage and wreckage from the destroyed battleship.
Part of Duke thought the sharks and other such aquatic animals posed a far greater threat in danger than the Cobras. It was not him considering Cobra to be lesser and lesser a threat, even the most rookie GI Joe knew that the terrorists were not to ever once be considered lesser a threat.
The problem with that was he had no idea if any of the Cobras had perished during said duel with the warship. It would not be within doubt to believe Cobra Commander had some sort of exit plan at the end considering it was just too easy to write the man off as dead.
That? And if he was dead? There would be worse people to take his place, always worse people as Destro or Baroness would gladly take over the man's twisted legacy of terrorism and hate.
A sobering thought if one such existed within his mind and yet not an unneeded one that they were incapable of dealing with.
Still? They would continue to dig through the wreckage as if it was garbage for a raccoon, any intel was better than nothing. The jets flew overhead as they seemed to be tiresome, too eager to fixate upon something that they barely noticed the danger… Not until it was too late.
A pair of Hurricane VTOLS opened fire on their planes, forcing the jets to break off and flew off. duke did not once miss a beat, knowing what was coming and he knew exactly what was to expect.
"COBRA ATTACK!" He heard before the sound of gunfire went off.
Duke was about to speak before an explosion rocked the deck of the carrier, sending fire and twisted metal everywhere. The Cobra battleship, floating peacefully in the bay, exploded as the ship split open like a rabbit pack of maggots. The Joes were dumbstruck, watching as the wreckage sprung, forcing a barrage of Cobra watercraft, all opening fire upon the supercarrier.
"EVERYONE BATTLE STATIONS!" Duke yelled as he grabbed his rifle and went forwards to try and attack as F.A.N.G helicopters roared outwards, raking the deck with missiles.
This was followed by grappling hooks attached to the deck as dozens of B.A.T robots and Cobra soldiers began to crawl up.
The first few were easily gunned down but it became clearer to them that Cobra was going to overwhelm them as dozens of the machines swarmed them. Duke made a motion and the others nodded; slowly yet surely would they be driven backward.
The Joes retreated inwards as laser fire and fallen soldiers began to erupt around them. One of the F.A.N.G copters landed on the deck and Cobra Commander climbed out, glancing around with such interest at his army's victory.
"Who's the fool NOW, Destro?" Cobra Commander hissed before shooting one of the crew in the head, his corpse collapsing into the cold ocean. "Slaughter them! KILL THEM ALL!" Cobra Commander stated, hissing the words as he seemed to be all too amused by every single word upon it all and he was all too focused at the moment, eager to figure out how best to kill them at the second.
There was a lot more to try and see and do, it could only grow upon every single moment, eager to figure out a better battle plan than this.
Destro was utterly silent as all of this played out in front of his very eyes. he knew more and more that Cobra Commander was playing for keeps and the use of the wreckage as bait was brilliant, the fact he was already pressing the attack? Yes, if he wanted to keep his head.
He knew he'd need to try and figure out how best to prove himself more and more invaluable to their species, this was a thing that can and will grow further and further with each second, unsure of what to see and do.
Whatever he did next would be horrid and horrid more and more upon the moment, a fire that could and would rage for good, burning all of it for the time being.
He didn't know what to try and figure out as of the second and this was horrid and annoying to every single person.
It was a nightmare that boggled his mind over and over within such a thing that could not at all be contained.
"KILL THE GI JOES!" Cobra Commander hissed, pausing and shooting one of the soldiers within the head before turning and walking towards the bridge as his men led by Firefly and Storm Shadow entered the room.
Yes, he wanted total victory, and today? Today would be the END of G.I Joe over and over, they died today or Cobra did.
Cobra Commander left Destro and Baroness to their sheer bafflement by his tiredness with their pathetic mockery of his skills. This was a vessel he truly could not understand and control, something more and more unfathomable at the end of all days.
"It seems today will be the end of the Joes…" Baroness said as Cobra Commander started to butcher the remaining crew still alive on the deck.
(Inside U.S.S Flagg.)
Even though Duke had been caught off guard? He did not at ALL back down from combating Cobra, gunning down a pair of B.A.T which exploded into piles of scrap with a spectacular explosion. He knew Cobra had no limit to robots which is why they had sent dozens of them into the bowels of the ship, several self-destructing to keep the destruction of the supercarrier going.
Cobra Commander pulling off an ambush of this size was not easy and he knew more and more that if anything? They'd not live to fight them off another day.
"There's too many to fight off, they've already cut off communications." He heard as he turned to look at Keelhaul.
"Then we get off the Flagg and figure everything out…. Can we do that?" He asks before he looked around, all too unsure of what to say and do next.
They had a lot more to figure out like how Cobra had found them and what the next plan was. staying here just wasn't an option and it would never be so. Their home would sadly fall and they knew that for a fact, they had to be ready to try and cut loose at the time being.
"We need to go, when can we get out of here?" Duke asked before the other Joes looked at him.
"Duke, we can't just…." Keelhaul started to say as the general looked at the admiral.
"We stay here and they destroy the entire ship. Cobra Commander used the wreckage to bait us into a trap and there's nothing we can do about this now. nothing… You think I like leaving the Flagg with them." He said before looking around, too eager to understand what to say and even do next.
He doubted that could change and he doubted such options would get better with time. Hopefully, that could and would happen soon enough. Cobra didn't want to destroy the ship, they could and would replace it down the road. No, they wanted to pervert it, turn it into a symbol of their evil.
Still? They could not afford to stay down and let Cobra win and take over the world and he knew more and more that Cobra had won this battle, throwing away their entire group for one last blaze of glory wasn't worth it, fighting another day would be.
However? Now they had to run and escape, Cobra would hunt the Joes down but they still had to back down against the rest of the army and the group, eager to kill them and take the entire group down.
Duke did not once consider their goals to be a thing they could plan against for now. Cobra was never this forwardly aggressive at the moment, they never struck first on this level, and never at all had they thrown their forces to try and cut down the enemy like this.
Duke was a lot more to try and understand about Cobra at the time and he had a lot more plans on his mind, unsure of what to say and do next. Duke looked at the other Joes as he ran through the ship, raising his weapon to blow away the next few B. which continued to swarm into the deck, gunning down any crew they could find.
Duke led the others towards the hangar as he sighed and prepared to figure it out more and more. They had more and more upon the line and it became harder and harder at the time being and something, not even he would be allowed to deal with.
This was far beyond what was said or done at the end of the moment, there was a lot more to try and do, they had to strike while the iron was hot anyway and the more time wasted. The more time they would spend coming and going.
They had more on the end of the line to fix and it bothered Duke they might have seen through the plans that GI Joe was making. If they had a mole or perhaps similar?
It'd only be a matter of time before they were caught and strung up which meant more and more problems for the rest of the Joes even if they escaped, people needed to crush them over and over, even if they were all taken down.
"We should split up, make sure the rest of the groups aren't found. The longer we're out in the open? The more they're going to be able to hunt us and Cobra Commander isn't going to hunt us until everyone or everything Joe related is gone." Duke heard as he sighed.
Another thing the Joe leader hated. Splitting up. It was hard enough dealing with being cut off from the rest of their men, dealing with it without any real support or even soldiers. Well, they could and would come up with the idea of it.
Still? They were Joes and they were bred to fight wars the best way possible. If that meant splitting up? Well, it meant splitting up, to begin with, far beyond what Duke wanted but they'd still get it done as best as possible if need be.
It had been far harder at the moment. A thing to try and figure out as of now was horrid enough. It was a lot more to try and figure out how to handle it as now and she knew more and more plans were to try and figure it out.
There was just too much on the time before now that just… Didn't at all make sense, and that only continued to grow more and more uneasy about what to happen next.
He sighed and turned towards the sky, too unsure and uncertain of what to say and do next. What more would come? Would be thrown at them before today came to an end.
"GI JOE!" Came the cry of more and more soldiers before Firefly came roaring through flames at them.
"Guys, go. I'll deal with him, it's a lot more annoying to deal with, but I'll catch up." Roadblock said as Duke went to say something at the time being.
There were a few seconds of silence as explosions rocked the ship and made them turn to leave. There was no time for debate, no time to say or even do anything… Not even simply time to do anything more than run away, retreat to find another day to fight. Another day to try and fix it all… Yes, it seemed better that way than just leaving it up to chance.
Duke allowed Roadblock his moment and urged the others towards the eagle hawks as he knew they'd return to take the carrier sooner or later.
For now? Cobra had won at the moment; they had driven them all off and it was harder and harder to see it come down to it. Explosions and gunfire saw them driven off as if they were bugs on a windshield.
Roadblock slammed into Firefly, sending them falling into the depths of the ship as Duke watched the fire and explosions rock the ship.
"Good luck, soldier," Duke muttered before he continued to fire, gunning down every B.A.T that he saw around them, shattering each of them into the garbage as he snorted.
Once more did he find it to be annoying to deal with them? They were just garbage to deal with compared to better soldiers on their side, ones who actually could and would fight the best.
It became more of a challenge to deal with them once his gun ran dry but he knew that was part of why Cobra used them, they were extra meat shields and a good cover if anything bad happened.
It became an example of ensuring their competence as of now, it seemed to be worse and worse as of the time being.
He sighed and looked down at the ground, unsure and uncertain of what to do next and it was too much to figure out as of now. Duke didn't know what to try and say as he climbed aboard the helicopter and sat down.
"Someone tell command we're getting out of here and we're coming in, Cobra is going to attack us again and we need to be ready to fight back," Duke said before he looked down at the ground before now.
He didn't at all know what to say next and he looked upwards and seemed to fall utterly silent as he pondered their next move in utter silence, unsure and uncertain to the end.
The other Joes were just as silent as they boarded the escape choppers. The Flagg was more than just some ship, more than just a symbol of what was to come and what would end with the Joes, it was home, a place to rest after a hard-fought battle.
And now it'd either be scrap for the bottom of the ocean or a weapon used against the very people it was designed to help with. An idea that enraged the Joes to no end and it didn't at all end when it seemed to be able to relax while he cracked his f
"COBRA! COBRA! COBRA!" He heard as they flew deep into the sky, watching as Cobra Sea craft and aircraft swarmed the ship.
All of them watched as the ship which was enflamed started to sink. Duke could only clench his fist, angry beyond all belief as they passed around the sky.
The other Joes relaxed as he cracked his fingers. The fight was lost and that much was clear, they had to fight another time, another day, and they had to be ready for it all.
He was too annoyed, too eager to fight back as of now, they had to be ready for now, prepared for the best and the worse.
All of it became a nightmare to fix, to fathom for now… All of it became harder and harder to believe… They wanted payback, they wanted blood for their transgressions repaid… But it wasn't today at all that would end properly… No, another day was at best the course of action for them.
It didn't end the way it should have but it would end correctly soon over and over.
They couldn't win a war with Cobra here, watching explosions the size of cars blankets the area, no doubt the remains of the crew putting up one last act of defiance for all the good it did. They'd die possibly killing some regular soldiers or perhaps the remains of their army… All of it would end.
"So, how do we stop him from getting away with the cargo he has? There's going to be chaos all over America if they wipe us out… Hell, even the world might not be safe from it all." He heard as he sighed once more.
There was a lot more to their ordeal, a lot more to their ordeal, and a lot more than he wished to deal with, to figure out… How had Cobra planned it? how had they managed such an attack? How did he come back with a crushing defeat for the Joes within seconds of being able to relax once more?
They had no idea and no supplies as of now. He didn't at the moment know for now what to say before he clicked his jaw, snapping his lips together in a frown as he believed more or less in the desire to fight back.
Duke would see it end before Cobra controlled the world, before they were done with conquest, he'd end it all… Even if it meant the death of their allies, and the death of their friends.
They'd fight, just like they always did. They'd fight Cobra to the bitter end, to the entire end of the rope. Something that bothered none of them as he heard no objections to a counterattack. Perhaps they were all flabbergasted by it all.
"We keep fighting, Joes. When their done and dusted? Then we can come back." Duke said before sighing to himself, unable to fathom what to do if put in the position, to begin with.
He didn't know what to say to lift their spirits anyway.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed and such. Until the 900–6500-word chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show the GI Joes regrouping and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf!