Chapter Ten
Warfare
"Sci-Fi! Take out that H.I.S.S.!" Duke pointed down the hill while looking back to the Heavy Arms Laser. The Joe Laser-Trooper tilted the massive green cannon another ten degrees down and rotated it five degrees left, then pulled the pair of triggers. A row of lights along the cannon's fuselage flashed, and the device made a high-pitched zapping sound.
The beam was invisible, unlike those in motion pictures, but its effect sure wasn't. The right tracks of Duke's marked H.I.S.S. II tank began to sizzle, then sliced apart, as if a welding torch was cutting them. In mere moments, the Cobra tank's broken right tread began twisting itself destructively among its gears and the vehicle spew rock and dust, then leaned onto its smoking side. Once it was stopped, the H.A.L. began tearing apart the side of the tank.
Even from eighty yards, Duke could see that Sci-Fi was having the time of his life. "Great work, Sci-Fi, now get ready for hell!" Duke knew that the H.A.L. was going to become the number one target on the field because of what just happened…and he was right.
1.
"A week's worth of extra rations to whoever destroys that laser cannon!" screamed Cobra Commander from his position manning the turret of a H.I.S.S. II tank that kept a position closer to the entrance of the outpost.
"Cobraaa!" Roared the legion of Vipers surrounding him as they focused their fire on the H.A.L. It was a tactical blunder, because once the troops took their attention away from the other Joes, they were left wide open for strikes from the RA.M.s that were zooming down the mountainside. Six different Cobra Troopers and Vipers dropped immediately, and Stun-36 exploded, sending the Motor-Viper drivers leaping into the air.
"No, you fools! Watch out for the other vehicles!" barked the Commander as he spun his H.I.S.S. II's turret towards Muskrat's RA.M. and opened fire. Muskrat swerved his motorcycle and cranked the accelerator, narrowly avoiding the violent eruption behind him.
"Driver! Stop this thing!" cried Cobra Commander as he pounded on the fuselage of the H.I.S.S. II; the light blue High Speed Sentry actually skidded to a stop on the muddy ground. "Open the back door! Let the B.A.T.s out!"
As the back wall of the H.I.S.S. broke open, pressurized air puffed out in a large burst. The massive back door then leaned backwards nearly seventy degrees until it stopped and began pulling out the massive tray holding two rows of seats from the inside of the H.I.S.S. II tank. Humming with a grinding sound, the inside of the tank pushed itself out like a giant tongue…but this tongue carried a terrible, heaping prize atop it: four B.A.T.s sat atop the seats that stuck out from the H.I.S.S., and were now free to escape their high-speed prison.
Cobra Commander pounded on the top of the tank and pointed towards the G.I. Joe motorcycles assaulting his troops. "B.A.T.s! Destroy those motorcycles! Now!"
Like rabid animals, the Battle Android Troopers scrambled up from their seated positions and looked for the motorcycles. Once they had found them visually, they ran, firing their weapons with no respect for their limited ammunition supply.
Despite outnumbering the Joes nearly five-to-one, Cobra was losing. G.I. Joe had set themselves up well, and were quickly shooting down every troop and vehicle on the field. Vipers were beginning to run out of the outpost's main entrance with their arms in the air.
There wasn't much time left.
"Driver!" cried out the Commander, "Close the back end and get me back into the base!"
2.
"Ever the melodramatic, eh, Storm Shadow?" said Grunt, "We can't leave now, thanks to what you obviously did to Snake Eyes."
"Despite our appearances," replied the white ninja, "he was the victor. And it is because of my loss to him that I grant you this one warning!" Storm Shadow stumbled through the doorway. "I have placed a bomb next to a power generator in this building. It will explode in seven minutes."
"My god, you are a sick man, Stormy!" gasped Crankcase.
Storm Shadow looked to Snake Eyes. "I have helped you, my brother. We are now even." The frown on the commando's face was readable through the trooper mask he wore. "Goodbye, my brother. Perhaps, when we are healed, we can once again be brothers. I have no right to challenge you again." With that, the Cobra Ninja limped off down the hall.
"Did he actually chuckle a little bit?" asked Crankcase. Everyone looked to Chuckles.
"Look, just 'cause it's my name doesn't make me an expert!"
"Forget this, we need to find that bomb and find it fast!" ordered Grunt.
"But what about all our wounded guys?" asked Chuckles.
"We know we can save them, but who knows where that bomb is?" pointed out Crankcase.
"And what if it's a trick by the vanilla swordsman to throw us off his scent?" said a groggy Alpine.
"That's a little too poetic, there, Alpine, but good point." said Crankcase.
Grunt frowned, picked up Mainframe's body and turned towards the exits. "Okay, scratch that. We save ourselves. We can't find a bomb lugging around our injured. Let's go guys, and let's hope things work out for the best."
"Amen, man." said Crankcase as he began dragging Alpine.
"Figures." said Chuckles as he looked around the hallway.
"What figures?" asked Grunt.
"Snake Eyes is gone. And he took my gun."
3.
Destro set down his wrench and wiggled the power cable. It seemed as tight as could be, and ready to have energy rushing through it at insane levels. Though the Lord of Castle Destro would never admit it out loud, he was thankful to have a Techno-Viper in the room assisting him—it really cut down on the busy work.
"The cable is ready, Viper. Activate the power switch."
Nodding his obedience, the Techno-Viper turned around to the top-floor-chamber's cut-off lever and pulled it down. With a bit of theatric spark, electricity sizzled through the cable up to the Matrix Cannon, lighting up the weapon's systems. The excessive sparkling tempered down, and all that remained was a deep hum and eerie glow emanating from the Cannon.
"Excellent." Destro climbed around the Cannon's fuselage and slid himself back onto the rear leather seat. "Now, fully open the sliding hatchway doors while I raise the cannon up and deal with our G.I. Joe intruders."
Frantically pushing buttons on the chamber's ground-floor-computer-station's control board, the Techno-Viper replied with a touch of panic in his voice. "I'm sorry, Lord Destro, but the doors are locked in their current positions! There is nothing I can do to move them!"
Stretching his cheeks in a massive grin hidden behind his expressionless mask, Destro replied, "Don't worry about it. I brought a key."
Roaring to life, the Matrix Cannon sparked with blinding energy, thrusting a blind burst of energy forward, quickly transforming the chamber doors into molten balls of fire.
As the globs of flame crashed to the floor, Destro cheered, "It works! My Weapon of Mass Destruction works!" The Techno-Viper nervously giggled and picked up a fire-extinguisher. After laughing some more, the weapon's inventor realized he almost sounded like Cobra Commander. Turning to look at the Viper, he asked, "Do you know what makes it truly amazing?" The Viper stopped spraying the flames, realizing that rain was now pouring into the room, and slowly shook his head. "It's practically a hand-held weapon! Why, two men could fire this! If they had the energy for it, of course…" Destro became lost in thought.
"Lord Destro, sir?" asked the Techno-Viper after about thirty seconds of dead silence.
Shaking his head, the CEO of M.A.R.S. gripped the controls of the Matrix Cannon and pulled the lever that activated the elevation of the tower. "I apologize. I was merely…hypothesizing. Now, man the computer-station while I raise the cannon out of the mountain's side and erase the G.I. Joe team forever, securing Cobra's claim at control of the free world."
4.
Pain was a strange sensation. The stronger it gets, the less you feel it. And right now, Snake Eyes' stomach was practically numb. He wasn't sure what Storm Shadow's katana had done to his intestines, but he was sure that he would be in a hospital for a month.
Despite the agony that he was enduring, his sense of honor—both as a member of the Arashikage clan and of the G.I. Joe team—pushed him further into the dark, wet, metallic hallways of the Cobra Incan Temple Outpost. He wasn't sure where the power generators were, but power lines ran through tubes bolted onto the walls that lead deeper into the cavern. It was a safe bet they led to a generator.
Up ahead, the rustling of boots against metal echoed around the corner. There was little light to focus on, but the silhouettes of men reflected off the walls ahead. The long, empty hallway gave Snake Eyes nowhere to hide. He would have to face the approaching Cobras face-to-face—he was saving his sole clip of ammunition for whomever or whatever he found in the generator room.
"Hey. Who's that?" asked one of the Vipers who rounded the corner.
"I don't know, he's wearing black! I can barely see him!" responded another.
"Who cares? Just push him over! We're running for our lives here!" cried the Viper in the rear.
Surprisingly, the three troops were un-armed, and charged arrogantly towards Snake Eyes, who crouched down, tripped one Viper and threw another onto the third. As the Cobras picked themselves up off of the metallic floor, they scampered away.
"Forget him. Let's just get out of here!" With that, the troops were gone. Snake Eyes continued down the hallway and rounded the corner, coming up to a door labeled "Thermal Generators." Cautiously turning the handle, the Joe commando walked in.
Inside the vast chamber were a row of ten massive orange power generators hooked to vents along the walls by an equal number of large swooping cables. The deep hum of the eighteen-piston-motors in the generators was almost deafening. The air was thick and stuffy, and the masked commando began to sweat intensely, and burst out some painful coughs. Whoever was running these generators was running them hard.
To the left were a cluster of un-manned computer stations, some with donuts and steaming coffee still resting on their counters. Apparently things were a bit lax down here in the power room. To the right were a doorway and a large wall of monitoring stations. Up above the entrance was a walkway, hanging down from large steel poles and silhouetted by the room's bright lights blaring behind it. It was the ideal place to take control of this room from, so the Joe Commando watched it closely.
It didn't take long to see where the bomb had been placed. It helped that Snake Eyes knew the way that Storm Shadow's mind worked. Snake Eyes would have put the bomb in the same place.
Pulling the explosive out from behind the center-most-generator's rear piston shaft, which was also closest to this massive engine's fuel tanks, Snake Eyes painfully stood up and began climbing back down from the generator…
When the lights when out.
The emergency lights clicked on, bathing the room in a shade of green. Surprisingly, the generators hadn't shut off; their mind-numbing roar was a thunderous as ever.
But it did mean someone else was in the room.
5.
There was no doubt about it: the tide had turned; the Joe team was getting overrun. The H.A.L. had fallen five minutes ago, thanks to Cobra Commander's little bounty. A H.E.A.T.-Viper managed to push his five-foot long armor-piercing-missile launcher up onto the smoldering wreckage of a H.I.S.S. and get a clear, elevated shot at the laser cannon. Sci-Fi barely got away with his life. Ironically, it wasn't a Joe that shot down the cheering Cobra High-Explosive Anti-Tank Trooper in his yellow suit; it was a jealous Viper who had wanted the bounty for himself.
And now B.A.T.s were tearing apart Beach Head's RA.M. There wasn't enough time to try to turn around Duke's Armadillo on the muddy ground, so the Joe's First Sergeant snatched his assault rifle, stood up on the mini-tank's soggy seat and aimed at the B.A.T. that had its arm around Beach Head's throat. After freeing the safety, Duke squeezed the handle and pulled back the trigger. As the rifle vibrated, he quickly swung it towards each and every Battle Android Trooper, who rattled violently from the bullets shattering their bodies.
After the B.A.T.s collapsed to the ground, Beach Head rubbed his neck and gave Duke a thumbs-up signal. Smiling, the Joe First-Sergeant reset his rifle's safety and dropped it into the Armadillo, then set himself back down onto the soggy seat.
Looking forward again, Duke ducked as the tank was torn apart by rapid-fire pouring out of a pair of F.A.N.G. helicopters zeroing in on his position. Unable to even flinch, Duke forced himself into a fetal position, waiting for the F.A.N.G.s' rockets to finish him off.
And the sound of a flying rocket finally came.
But it wasn't Duke who exploded.
The cannon-fire stopped and Duke dared to look up. A smoking ball was dissipating where one of the F.A.N.G.s had been hovering; the other chopper was racing away. A trail of smoke was drawn across the sky from the destroyed Cobra copter…to the M.M.S.!
"Grand Slam I owe you a beer!" called out Duke.
Beach Head ran over to the Armadillo as the First Sergeant jumped out of the ravaged mini-tank. "Thanks for the save, Duke. Looks like we both needed one today."
"Yeah, well, this is war." Duke frowned. "We need to pull back. Cobra is too strong for us here."
Beach Head pointed down the roadway that led to Cusco. "I think they'd disagree with you, Duke."
Looking over, the Joe First Sergeant saw a Persuader, two Hummers and a Wolverine rolling up the road, closing in on the Cobra Incan Outpost. Flying above them were Wild Bill's Dragonfly and three Sky Hawks. In the distance rocketed a squadron of Skystrikers.
The reinforcements had arrived.
But most important of all: in front of the group was a Tomahawk helicopter, gently lowering an Amphibious Personnel Carrier to the ground. Once it rattled to the soggy mountainside, a dozen Joes poured out of the backside and set up defensive positions around the long armored vehicle.
"C'mon, Beach Head, let's get over to the A.P.C. and help organize this rescue." said Duke with a smile.
"Yes, s--."
Before Beach Head could complete his reply, the Tomahawk helicopter, still hovering over the A.P.C. as the Joes unhooked its cables, erupted into a blistering orange ball of flame, spewing its pilots and gunners to the ground, then melted in the sky and splashed down onto the personnel carrier, which itself then burst into smoke and flame from the intense heat and began to melt as its drivers ran from the cockpit. Everyone within fifty yards ran away from the flame as it vaporized every amount of liquid within an equivalent radius. Explosives on the vehicles erupted, but the heat was far more frightening then the deafening explosions.
"Good god!" cried Short Fuse as he and five other Joes ran over to Duke and clutched the Armadillo's broken roll-bar. "Is that what Cobra has been working on all this time?"
Duke stared at the molten wreckage, wishing he had an aspirin. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."
Breaker came running down to the Armadillo from the M.M.S. "Duke! Duke, do you see that?" called out the Joe Communications Trooper.
Angered, Duke barked back, "Of course I see that, Breaker! Could I miss something like that?"
"N-no, sir, not the Tomahawk. Over there!" Breaker pointed down the hill towards the Incan Outpost. Duke turned around and tried to figure out what his fellow Joe was talking about. Squinting, he picked out a group of men walking out of the outpost and slowly lumbering their way up the hill.
"Short Fuse, give me your binoculars!" ordered the First Sergeant.
"Yes, sir."
Squinting again, but this time through binoculars, Duke quickly picked out the group of men—it was Grunt, Chuckles and Crankcase…carrying Mainframe, Bazooka and Alpine!
"Let's move it Joes! We've got injured men trying to move across the field, and we've got to save them! Go! Go! Go!" Without even asking a question, the group of Joes by the Armadillo scrambled behind Duke and followed him down the hill towards the escapees.
Thanks to the destruction of the Tomahawk and the A.P.C., there wasn't much activity in this part of the field anymore, so the Joes made it across a-okay. Duke waved to Grunt, who weakly waved back, and gently set Mainframe's body down.
"Dear god am I glad to see you guys." Grunt grabbed Duke's hand in a handshake.
"It's good to see that you all are still kickin'." said Duke as he grabbed Mainframe's limp body from the Joe Infantry Trooper and heaved it onto his shoulders. Other Joes did the same with Bazooka and Alpine's bodies.
"More or less." replied Grunt. "Was a helluva fight getting Mainframe and Bazooka out of the base."
Duke stopped walking and looked over. "You had to find them?"
Confused, Grunt studied his commanding sergeant. "Y-yeah. We blasted our ways all through that shiny snake pit."
Then it hit him.
"You want us to take you back?"
"I just need one of you. If we're going to stop the Matrix Cannon, we have to do it from the inside, not from out here."
After heaving out a sigh, Grunt nodded. "Okay, I'll go with you."
"Thanks. Beach Head! Throw Grunt your assault-rifle!"
"Like hell I will!"
"Do it! And now you're in charge of the field operations."
"Swell."
"Short-Fuse, Breaker, Repeater, you're with me."
"Yo Joe!"
6.
"D-Destro! What did you just do?" gasped Cobra Commander as he slowly walked into the top-floor chamber, nervously clutching his custom pistol.
As he flicked control switches, Destro smiled and didn't bother to look down at the Commander. "I am insuring our destinies, my dear Cobra Commander. The G.I. Joe team cannot possibly resist the power of the Matrix Cannon. With it, I will erase them from the Earth, once and for all."
"You're beginning to sound like me, Destro." growled the Head Snake. "We did not build the Matrix Cannon as a battlefield weapon. I want to use it to blackmail the governments of the world, not obliterate them!"
Looking down at his facemasked ally, Destro's anger radiated through his own facemask as he shook his fist. "You have lost your passion, Commander! You ask me to help you conquer the world, but when the time comes to claim your prize, you back down!"
Cobra Commander hissed in anger, looked over at the Techno-Viper by the computer-station and shot him. He then aimed his pistol up at Destro. "Get down from there, Destro. Now! Cobra is my Terrorist Organization, and it will be run my way!"
Staring at each other, the two lords of terrorism sat in near dead silence, with only the sounds of battle rumbling from the outside to break the eerie calm. "Very well, Commander," said Destro after a minute or two, "I will come down." As he climbed off of the seat, he flicked a switch, and the Matrix Cannon fired!
Stepping back in shock, Cobra Commander looked up at the insane amount of activity being performed by the cannon. The blast was invisible, but it was more than obvious that something big was happening. Lights were flashing at a mad rate and every ounce of moisture in the area was evaporating. The gateway out of the mountain was glowing red with heat, as if a giant flame was pouring through it.
Imitating a fireman, Destro slid down the thick pillar that held the Matrix Cannon up in the air. "The cannon is all yours, Commander. It is doing exactly what we agreed upon: charring the Brazilian Rain Forest. I have lived up to my part of the deal. Can you?" With that, the Lord of Castle Destro briskly stormed out of the top-floor-chamber and disappeared into the hallway.
"You bucket-headed buffoon! Get back here!" screamed the Head Snake as the realization of what was happening hit him. He fired multiple gunshots into the wall, then turned back to the cannon. What could he do? Looking around the room, he soon saw the Matrix Cannon's computer-station. He ran over to it, kicking the Techno-Viper's body out of the way and frantically looked for an "Off" button. As with any complex device, it is never that simple. His next choice of actions was to just begin hitting buttons like crazy—and he did.
Warning lights began flashing and the main computer monitor filled with the words "Warning! Power Overload Activated! Critical Destruction in 10 Seconds!" Cursing as loud as he could, Cobra Commander watched the "10" countdown to a "9", then an "8", then a "7", then a "6."
There was only one option left.
Picking up his pistol from where he dropped it, Cobra Commander began shooting at the Matrix Cannon. The bullets from his gun simply ricocheted from the cannon, slamming themselves into the walls of the top-floor-chamber.
In a hysteric state, Cobra Commander looked back to the computer screen. It now read "Critical Destruction in 2 Seconds!"
The Leader of the Cobra Terrorist Organization dropped to his knees and cried out "No! I can't die this way!"
Then the room went gray.
7.
Five minutes earlier:
Leveling his AK-47, Snake Eyes slowly crept back up the power generator's access ladder and examined the room. The chamber was still bright, but now it was all green. The ground floor was totally devoid of any activity, save the steaming coffee. But the cross-room walkway: it was still the best place to…
Movement.
At the far right end of the walkway the silhouette of an arm raising a sub-machine-gun lifted itself above the railing and swung itself towards Snake Eyes. The ninja dropped the explosive and jumped off of the power generator. He landed a bit awkwardly, but still managed to perform a painful roll across the floor as a rapid burst of fire chased him across the room. Forced into a crooked stance due to his bodily pain, Snake Eyes fired back, quickly chasing back the silhouetted assailant, who ran towards a ladder and slid down it. The Joe's AK-47 ate up its ammunition and the commando tossed it to the ground. After reloading his sub-machine-gun, the assailant charged at Snake Eyes, shooting a constant stream of bullets.
The black ninja dove behind a generator and crashed into a tool chest. Now with his ears ringing in pain, he slid open a drawer and pulled out a handful of wrenches.
"Thanks for the help, Snake Eyes!" called the attacking Cobra. The sound of an empty clip hitting the floor echoed through the room, followed by the slap of a full clip. Snake Eyes peeked around the generator and saw Firefly, now bathed in lime-green light, reach up onto the engine, grab the bomb and briskly move towards the exit door.
Running out across the smooth metallic floor, Snake Eyes threw the stainless-steel wrenches like awkward shuriken, pummeling Firefly's green body. The blunt metal tools did little harm, thanks to his Kevlar-protected costume, but they certainly grabbed his attention. Now running at the Cobra Saboteur, Snake Eyes raised a sledgehammer.
"Are you insane? Get away from me!" screamed Firefly, but it was too late. The Joe ninja swung the hammer at the Cobra's gun, sending it flying across the room. As Firefly stepped back, Snake Eyes completed a 360-degree turn with the hammer and slammed it into the Cobra's chest. The sound of cracking ribs was quickly followed by the sight of the saboteur flying five feet through the air, then crashing onto the ground and skidding twelve feet into a computer station, where a cup of hot coffee dumped onto his unconscious body.
Snake Eyes dropped the hammer and picked up the bomb where Firefly had dropped it. He walked over to his foe's body to make sure that he was alive.
All good.
Firefly wore enough body armor to protect a tank. But even a tank could be dented by a sledgehammer. A Cobra tank, anyways.
8.
"Up here, Duke."
"Thanks, Grunt."
As First Sergeant of the G.I. Joe Team, Duke had been through more Cobra bases than anybody, except maybe Snake Eyes. Their defense layouts all had one similarity: Cobra Commander kept his command center in the middle, surrounded by Siegies (CG's, a.k.a. Crimson Guardsmen), and once you found them, you knew you had hit paydirt.
But this place was a graveyard. A complete ghost town. Apparently every Cobra assigned to it was out fighting the Joe team, and frankly, doing a lousy job. But still, the power had just gone out, and if not for Grunt, Duke would probably be running in circles.
Of course, he would never admit that.
"We never went up to the Matrix Cannon's location, but there were plenty of signs telling us which way to go."
"I'm impressed that you found your way out in the dark." praised Repeater.
"Thanks. It was a team effort. And it wasn't dark for too long."
"Like now." griped Short-Fuse.
"I have a feeling the power is off for good." said Duke. "Let's keep moving."
Down the hall, Destro sat crouched with his arm wrapped around a beautiful black-haired woman.
"More Joes!" whispered the Baroness.
"Yes." replied Destro. After a moment he softly laughed. "They are the Commander's problem, now. I have the C.L.A.W.s re-fueled and we can make our escape."
"But what of the Matrix Cannon?" gasped the Cobra Queen as she stood up and dusted herself off.
Speaking through a clamped jaw, Destro growled, "It is yet another failure due to the incompetence of Cobra Commander."
"If you hate him so, why do you work with him?" The clacking of the Baroness' heels echoed as she walked down the hall.
"As he so eloquently pointed out, my dear Baroness: he has the resources that I need to perform my work. In short, I need him." Destro's head drooped forward.
Slowly petting her lover's metal head, the Baroness smiled. "Then perhaps you should find ways of achieving greater…'independence.'"
Destro smiled and embraced his love. "Perhaps." After a short kiss, Destro and the Baroness left the Cobra Incan Temple Outpost.
9.
The top-floor-chamber was surprisingly dry, and smelled like burnt steel. Rainfall from gray skies outside was finally beginning to let-up, so only a sprinkle was blowing through the huge hole in the mountainside.
"Doesn't this place look charming?" joked Short-Fuse.
Duke looked around the blackened and wreckage-laden room, and quickly recognized what must be the Matrix Cannon. The futuristic-looking zapper sat perched atop the elevator with a huge cable tailing out from its rear and leading to a rather sickly-looking computer-station.
"Somebody must have got pretty mad at the Matrix Cannon, Duke." reported Breaker. "The computer controls are smashed and shot-up. I can't tell what was going on without any power, but it must have been big."
"I don't want any power getting into this place. Cut every power line you can find." ordered the First Sergeant. But mere moments after the Joe team got started, Breaker turned back to duke, popped a bubble-gum bubble and handed him his headphones.
"Priority One from General Hawk, sir!"
"Thanks, Breaker. Duke here, General." As the Joe Communications Trooper chewed his gum, he watched Duke listen to Hawk, and saw his facial expressions drop lower and lower. When the Sergeant handed the headset back, he was extremely somber. "I need to head outside, guys. Keep working."
"Yes, sir."