The Matrix Cannon

by Roy Olsen

Complete! Chap. 15 and Ep. in. In an epic battle spanning 5 continents, Destro tries to create an immensely powerful energy weapon. Storm Shadow seeks to end his conflict with Snake Eyes. It's a race that ends in wars both in Peru and Cobra Island itself.

12. Debarkation

Chapter 12

Debarkation

1.

Soldiers ran in circles around the airfield, a mix of Coast Guard and Navy enlisted men frantically searching under every stone around the Naval Air Station at Key West. The muttering and scrambling of men was nearly deafening, but passed through the ears of Major Greg Reynolds totally unheard. Not even his heavy stomping and panting could be heard; he was a man in panic, fearful of the ramifications of what may have happened.

Lt. Sanchez ran up to him and saluted. "We haven't been able to find him, sir. We're moving the searches off base."

Feeling the hairs on his neck frizzle, the Major roared, "This is unacceptable! How the hell can a grown man disappear from the inside of an in-flight helicopter?"

"Well, sir, I—"

"This Coast Guard chopper just came in from the G.I. Jane out in the Gulf, and was supposed to bring us an injured G.I. Joe troop, correct?"

"Yes, sir. But he—"

Reynolds held his hand up. "And when the helicopter gets here, we find out there never was a body on the chopper but actually a lump of clothes underneath a blanket."

Sanchez sighed and nodded. "That's what happened, sir."

"So were we duped by the Joe team? Is this all some stupid joke?"

"I don't believe so, sir." replied Sanchez.

"And why is that?" asked the Major.

"Because the Joe who escaped is Snake Eyes, their elite commando."

All anger erased itself from Reynolds' face and was quickly replaced with amazement. "Oh. Well, uh…let's keep looking for a little longer, just for good measure. I better send that message out to General Abernathy, huh?"

"Yes, sir."

2.

Tapping his fingers on the side of his throne, Cobra Commander was tempted to stand up and start pacing the room again, but he had already been doing that for an hour and his feet were beginning to hurt.

Jumping in shock as the throne room door opened, he stood up and screamed at Tomax as the Crimson Guard Commander walked in. "There are only three hours left! Why haven't I heard a word from any countries of the world?"

"Patience, Commander. Terrorism is a game of resistance. You should know that. They want to hold out as long as they can."

Sitting back down, the Head Snake began tapping his fingers again. "Maybe. But this time I've got them! The Joe team is spread too thin to be able to stop us! And Destro can't ruin everything with his excessive caution. The ball is in my park now!"

"Don't be so sure, Commander." warned Tomax.

Sitting up straight, Cobra Commander took attention to the papers that the Siegie leader held. "What? What is wrong? What are you holding?"

"These are Crimson Guardsmen reports from Florida, and satellite scans of the Gulf of Mexico. The G.I. Joe team has been on the move for hours."

Cobra Commander ran down the steps from his throne. "What? Let me see those!"

Tomax handed over the papers and continued his report. "A handful of Joes arrived at the Key West NAS over eight hours ago. A short time after that, the G.I. Jane was launched to sea."

"But there can't possibly be enough Joes left to operate that sad excuse for a tugboat!"

Tomax pulled out a satellite chart. "If you'll take notice, an hour ago a Coast Guard rescue helicopter arrived at the Jane and dropped another half-dozen Joes on board."

"But where did they come from?"

"A few hours ago, a United States Air Force aircraft took off from Lima, Peru, and travelled at high speed to Miami. A Coast Guard HH-65 rescue 'copter then picked up the passengers from the Key West NAS and flew them straight out to the Jane."

After studying the pictures for a moment, Cobra Commander turned away. "Bah. It is still only a handful of Joes." The Cobra Leader sat back up on his throne. "They will never get past our defenses."

3.

The cramped office felt like a sardine can as every G.I. Joe on board squeezed into the room. Around the table, there were only six seats, occupied by Hawk, Scarlett, Dial-Tone, Doc, Mainframe and Bazooka. The latter two Joes were still too weak to stand up for very long. Around the table stood the rest of the team: Alpine, Crankcase, Grunt and Law. Hawk, Scarlett and Dial-Tone whispered to each other, but the rest of the room was dead silent.

After taking a sip of coffee, Hawk broke the silence. "Joes, I want to congratulate you on the effort you put forth towards capturing the Matrix Cannon. It is unfortunate that Chuckles has become ill and Snake Eyes is still in intensive care." Hawk sighed. "There were no intelligence reports revealing that Cobra Commander had a second device on Cobra Island. Please, do not blame yourselves for this bit of foul luck." The general's statement did little to calm the tension in the room. "Nevertheless, Cobra has once again declared war on the world, and we are the only force available to stop them."

"Sounds familiar." mumbled Alpine.

"I'm sorry that we don't have any time to train for this assault. I'm asking each and every one of you to perform at two-hundred-percent." Turning to each Joe as he fed them orders, Hawk pointed and talked with a stern voice. "Alpine, Law: you two will pilot the W.H.A.L.E.s. Alpine, take Bazooka, and Chuckles with you to man your guns. Law, you have Mainframe and Dial-Tone. Scarlett, you and I are flying the Sky Hawks. Crankcase will ride on my Sky Hawk's ski, and Grunt will go with Scarlett. Doc, I need you to stay on the Jane and coordinate the attack."

"And if the Jane is attacked?" asked the docter.

"There are guns on the deck. Use them." slapped back Hawk.

"I don't use guns, Hawk, you know that."

"That's an order." said the general, without looking at the doctor.

"Yes, sir." replied Doc, a bit disturbed.

"So what is our attack strategy, Hawk?" asked Grunt. "How are we going to get around the defenses?"

The general looked at a map on the table; it displayed a picture of Cobra Island. Pointing to the northeastern corner of the island, Hawk continued his briefing, "We aren't going around the defenses. We're going through them. Just south of this bay is the Terror Drome. I'll bet my life that Cobra Commander put the Matrix Cannon inside here."

"How so?" asked Chuckles.

"Because this northeastern position gives the Commander a clear shot to North America. And even though the Cobra Temple has a higher position on the mountainside, I don't think they'd risk firing it from there. Any mess-ups means goodbye to a third of Cobra Island."

Scarlett pointed to the bay that indented itself into the island in front of the Terror Drome. "So we're going into the harbor?"

"Full speed, guns-a-blazin'."

"There has to be massive defenses throughout the bay." pointed out Grunt. "Not to mention the long-range cannons on the Drome itself."

Hawk leaned back in his chair. "Look, I know this is going to be hard, but what choice do we have?" The general really wished that he had room to stand up and walk around. "I need to know: are you with me or not?" Hawk reached his fist over the table and looked at his fellow Joes. One by one, the teammates stuck their fist on top of or next to his.

Smiling, Hawk looked back down to the map. "Okay, guys, here's the plan…"

4.

With his cape flapping in the wind, Destro stood on the bow of the H.L.S. (His Lord's Ship, of course) Anastasia, gazing northward through a set of very powerful, very high-tech binoculars. Cobra Island was just showing the tip of itself over the horizon, looking almost like a pointed bulls-eye in the eyes of the C.E.O. of M.A.R.S.

Lowering the binoculars, Destro looked over the portside railing. A pair of dolphins were racing the ship, leaping out of the seawater and flapping their tails as hard as they could in order to keep up with the Anastasia.

It was very difficult for Destro to resist smiling; but now was not the time.

An Iron Grenadier Colonel walked up to the Lord and coughed in order to catch Destro's attention. As the leader of the Grenadiers turned around, the Colonel saluted him.

"What is it, Colonel Masters?"

"We are within fifty kilometers range of Cobra Island, my lord. I am reporting it as ordered."

Destro nodded. "Yes, yes. Excellent. I want all teams to report their stations. We will be disembarking soon."

"Yes, my lord. As you wish." The Colonel saluted again and spun around on his heel, then walked back into the ship.

Destro looked through the binoculars again, feeling both anticipation and rage begin to run through his veins.

But then, he felt a hand gently place itself on his shoulder. Unable to resist a smile this time, he turned around to face the Baroness.

"Hello, my dear. Are you comfortable?"

The Baroness smiled. "Comfortable? On your combat frigate? Not exactly. I do not enjoy the idea of assaulting Cobra Island. Despite our differences, I do not have violent feelings for the Commander."

"Hmm…I will admit I do not wish to cause great harm to Cobra Island or the Cobra forces, but I will not let Cobra Commander succeed with his mockery of me and my organization. Rest assured, my dear Anastasia, I will not fire the first shot…but I will fire the last."

5.

"You can't be serious!" cried Cobra Commander as he scurried across the radar-room located in the Terror Drome.

"I…I'm sorry sir, but it's true." whimpered Tele-Viper TV-284 at the satellite feed station. "Destro's battle frigate, the H.L.S. Anastasia, is less than twenty miles off the southern coast, and approaching fast. Also, the G.I. Jane has closed to thirty miles off our eastern shore."

Cobra Commander turned to Tomax and Xamot, who were also standing in the room. "This is all your fault!" he screamed as his hood waved across his face. "It's not enough that I have the G.I. Joe team charging for my shores, but now Destro is making a run for my island, and he'll get here first!"

Tomax waved his hand and spoke in a solemn tone, "Don't blame us for your excessive greed, Commander."

"You should have expected a hostile response from Destro." noted Xamot.

"After all, it was your idea to copy the Matrix Cannon." continued Tomax.

"We were just following your orders." said Xamot.

Chewing on his hood, the Commander growled. "Well, it doesn't matter who made the mistake now, does it? The fact of the matter is that we are being assaulted on two fronts, and with Dr. Mindbender busy working on the Matrix Cannon, and Major Bludd working in Iraq, we are the only leaders available to stop the attacks. So, you two airheads take the Crimson Guard, three Viper battalions and every B.A.T. we have down to the airfields and stop Destro from landing on our southern shore, understand?"

"And what will you be doing?" asked Tomax.

"Saving Cobra Island. I'm not letting my organization fall into a civil war!"

Actually overwhelmed by Cobra Commander's authority, the Crimson Twins nodded in obedience and promptly left the radar station.

"Tele-Viper," commanded the Head Snake as he turned back around, "I want to talk to whoever is in charge of the defenses in the bay in front of the Terror Drome."

"Y-yes, sir." TV-284 began quickly typing in the correct frequency to contact a Lamprey Eel piloting a Moray Hyrdofoil that slowly patrolled the northern half of Cobra Island. Soon a crackling voice replied, identifying itself as LE-63.

"We really need to get digital communication here." growled Cobra Commander, referring to the crackling noise.

"W-we do have digital, sir," noted TV-284, "It's just LE-63 is a chain smoker, sir."

Frowning at the Tele-Viper, Cobra Commander grabbed the microphone and barked, "Lamprey 63! This is your all mighty Commander!"

With more gross crackling, the Moray pilot replied, "All hail Cobra!" He then began coughing.

"Silence! I have new orders for you! There is a frigate assaulting the southern shore. Take every Moray you have and intercept that ship! I want it destroyed!"

"B-But sir," whimpered the Lamprey Eel, "I hate to argue, but the frigate is closing off the eastern shore."

"Shut up, you fool! There is another, more dangerous one assaulting the southern shore! Go after it, now!"

"Y-yes sir! Hail Cobra!"

Cobra Commander threw the microphone onto the control panel and cursed. Why did he only have idiots working for him? Destro's forces out-numbered the Joes ten-to-one. The small squad left in the bay should easily dispose of the Joe team.

Shouldn't it?

Damn.

There was only one choice left; Cobra Commander headed for the Terror Drome's prison cell.

Located in such an ultra-modern structure as the Drome, the prison cell was no slimy dungeon. It was small, but fairly well ventilated and lit. The hallway to the cell was as metallic as those of the Incan Temple Outpost, but carried a rimming of rust and mold due to its two decades of age and Cobra's lack of hygienics.

Standing in a slouched position against the wall beside the cell was a Cobra Trooper, CT-2956, one of the newest and lowest ranking of all Cobra soldiers. So far his enrollment in the Cobra Terrorist Organization had been far from what was promised him. The monotony and painful suffering of his training led him to mouth off to the Cobra Trainer, Big Boa. Usually such an act would lead to death or assignment to the "leaky suit brigade" of Toxo-Vipers, but Big Boa actually liked CT-2956's spunk, and let him live—with a punishment of six months of guard duty in the Terror Drome. The young trooper would have rather been shot.

Upon hearing footsteps approaching the cell, CT-2956 lazily crept back into an upright guard stance and yawned. Looking over his left shoulder, the guard expected to see the usual patrolman, CT-2873, making his rounds.

"Stand at attention!" barked Cobra Commander as he charged towards the prison cell. The guard snapped into an erect stance and fought to resist urinating in his pants. Even the spunky CT-2956 knew that Cobra Commander was a man to be feared—his lack of respect for the lower ranks was legendary. The Commander walked up to the red-bar door, glaring at the trooper. After drilling fear into the slacker guard, he turned his attention into the cell.

There was but one prisoner in the dark pen, lying on the short bed with his feet pressed flat high upon the right wall. "Cobra Commander! What a pleasant surprise." The prisoner swung his legs down and sat upright on the edge of the bed. "To what do I owe this honor?"

Frowning behind his hood, the Head Snake replied, "Stuff it, you worthless traitor. Honor is not something you will ever have again."

"If you want something from me, Commander, you are off to a horrible start." snapped back the prisoner.

CT-2956 couldn't help but turn his head a bit to the left so that he could get a view of Cobra Commander and hear into the cell better. This was great stuff!

Sighing, the Head Snake continued. "Cobra Island is under attack on two fronts, and I need another field commander. The Joes are attacking the northeastern shore with a light assault force. Do you want the job?"

The prisoner walked up to the red bars and grabbed them. "Of course I want the job. But what's in it for me?"

Cobra Commander snorted. "I'll cut your jail sentence in half."

The prisoner shook his head. "Not good enough. I want freedom."

The Commander sat in silent thought for a few moments. "Very well, but only if you leave Cobra Island and never return. You are hereby banished from Cobra operations after today."

"I can live with that."

Turning to CT-2956, Cobra Commander ordered, "Open the cell."

Fumbling with the key, the trooper attempted to quickly obey, and eventually unlocked the door and pressed the button that slid it open.

As the prisoner stepped out, Cobra Commander pulled out his custom pistol. Raising his hands, the prisoner said, "You have nothing to fear from me, Commander."

"I know." The Head Snake then turned the gun towards CT-2956 and fired it. The trooper grabbed his chest and dropped to the floor. "I can't have any witnesses to our little deal. He was a little too curious."

As the prisoner nodded, the gun was turned on him. "One last thing, Overlord. If you lose today. You die. And I will kill you myself."

"Understood."

With that, Cobra Commander and Overlord walked away from the prison cell.

6.

"Okay bring her down, just another ten feet!" called Alpine from the bridge of the second Waterborne Hover Assault Landing: Experimental to be lowered off the side of the G.I. Jane.

Splashing down against the water, the W.H.A.L.E. jerked, sending Alpine crashing into the stack of depth charges kept on the starboard side at the rear. After cursing, the Joe Mountain Trooper climbed over the bridge and crawled between the two twin .50-cal machine guns. Cautiously standing up, he reached above himself where the cables wrapping the hovercraft were attached to the crane and unhooked them. Now free to float on its own, the hovercraft bobbed hard to port as a wave hit it, causing Alpine to fall down and crash upon the starboard set of machine guns. Luckily he was wearing a thick life-support vest, or else he would have busted a couple of ribs. Now he merely got some severe bruising.

Bazooka popped his head out of the port machine-gun's turret-hole and looked at Alpine with his expressionless face. "Ouch."

"Yeah, ouch." growled the Mountain Trooper. Sitting back up on his knees, Alpine watched the crane swing itself up on board the Jane. He then climbed back to the bridge and punched the "On" switch, activating the W.H.A.L.E.'s propellers. Chuckles then stood up in the starboard turret-hole. He still looked a bit green, but he had been at sea long enough that he could keep his lunch down.

"All right, guys, let's go kick some snake ass!" called Alpine.

"Yo Joe!" cheered his gunners.

Pressing the accelerator forward, Alpine leaned back as the hovercraft roared across the waves away from the frigate. Law's W.H.A.L.E. buzzed out from behind the starboard side of the Jane, and Alpine quickly took a driving position roughly thirty yards away from it.

The Mountain Trooper turned around as the sound of jet thrusters blasted behind him. Quickly pouncing over the frigate was a Sky Hawk that rushed up into the air about thirty yards to the portside of the hovercraft. Alpine could see Grunt intensely gripping onto the right ski as the wind rushed across his rippling uniform. Less than a minute later, another Sky Hawk launched from the frigate and took a position to the starboard-side of the other W.H.A.L.E. Although he was harder to see, Alpine smiled as he recognized Crankcase frantically grasping onto the left ski. He didn't quite have the flight experience that Grunt did, and it showed.

General Hawk's voice came over the com, "Okay, Joes, this is it. Cobra is sending troops in droves south to take on Destro, but there are still plenty of defenses left to fight us. We can do this! Yo Joe!"

As the team repeated the battlecry, Alpine looked forward. Cobra Mountain silhouetted itself behind the high, green shoreline of the small island. Peeking over the trees and swamp-brush, sitting about a thousand feet from shore was the Terror Drome, slowly rotating its massive cannons out towards the bay. The massive cylinder appeared to usher a "Come and get it" cry as its shining silver walls glimmered in the bright glow of the tropical sun.

Suddenly, there appeared to be aircraft lifting off of the coast. The Mountain Trooper squinted to see what they were, but as he did the Joe Sky Hawks blasted forward, leaving trails of smoke behind them as they raced to intercept the swarm of black that danced above the closing shoreline. The propellers on Law's W.H.A.L.E. buzzed with even greater life as the craft pushed itself forward across the waves.

Jerking the gearshift down, Alpine punched life into his hovercraft and charged it towards the island.

7.

"E.T.A.: one minute!" called the Nullifier over the closed-com-channel in the Dominator. The vibrations of the flying tank, combined with the thunderous roar of its propeller, nearly drowned out his voice. But the sound amplification system in Destro's helmet got the message through, and the Lord of the Iron Grenadiers looked to his left and gave a thumbs-up to his co-pilot in the port cockpit.

Looking back out of the cramped starboard-side cockpit, Destro washed away all feelings of discomfort and focused on the squadrons of aircraft rising into the sky. Rattlers, F.A.N.G.s, Hurricanes, Flight Pods; everything in Cobra's arsenal came swarming into the air towards the invading Iron Grenadiers Force.

A pair of Mamba helicopters lifted off the shoreline, then raced at unbelievable speeds towards the attack force. A handful of Anti Gravity Pods opened fire on the twin-bladed maroon choppers, but were quickly smashed to pieces by incoming Mamba missiles.

Destro pulled his Dominator right as the high-speed Cobra helicopters zipped by. "Second wave forces! Destroy those Mambas!" ordered the still level-headed Lord. Checking his rear camera screen, he could see missiles from about twenty A.G.P.s fire on the Mambas and obliterate them.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Destro looked back forward…and quickly lost his breath again. A wall of aircraft was moving towards his little invasion fleet. Massive pillars of water erupted out of the ocean as coastal defense cannons opened fire on the beach-landing craft that were bobbing the waves towards Cobra Island. Destro shook as a craft exploded and its Iron Grenadier passengers fell off its side, lit aflame and shaking in pain and screams.

Destro was beginning to doubt that this was all worth it. It was just a weapon, wasn't it? He could get the parts for another and build it, couldn't he?

No! That wasn't what this was about. This was about the fact that that fool Cobra Commander made a mockery of him by building another Matrix Cannon in secret. Then, to really stab at Destro's heart, he was going to use it to terrorize the world and leave the weapons manufacturer out of it all! After all these years, Cobra Commander still thought so little of him. No, this wasn't about the Matrix Cannon anymore. This was about teaching that bungling fool the meaning of loyalty and trust. The cannon? Well, that was just a side benefit.

Looking forward with an even stronger determination, Destro pressed the accelerator forward, delving his Dominator right into the thick of the Cobra defense wall. A Hurricane fighter jet rocketed towards him, but once his board read "Missile Lock," he fired, and moments later he was sailing over the jet's collapsing fuselage. A pair of F.A.N.G.s closed in on the Dominator. Turning left to face the first one, Destro fired the cannons and sent it spinning to the ocean below. The second helicopter fired a rocket, but it hit the armored treads of the Dominator, and merely caused a smoking scar on the craft's side. Slowly rotating the tank/chopper to the right, Destro locked onto the small black helicopter and quickly pounded it to pieces.

Five more F.A.N.G.s closed in on his position, escorted by a Mamba and a pair of Hurricanes. Destro accelerated to the east as a massive barrage of firepower headed his way, causing more damage to his smoking Dominator. Swerving side to side around, between and over Cobra aircraft hanging in the sky, he was able to get the Cobras to shoot upon themselves three or four times. But alas, it was not to last. Looking through the rear camera screen, the Lord of Castle Destro grit his teeth as the missile-lock alarm began whining like mad, and a Hurricane lined itself up behind him—and then exploded! A swarm of A.G.P.s and Dominators rushed to Destro's defense, obliterating his attackers. As fast as they came to his rescue, though, half of Destro's saviors were cut down by more Cobra aircraft swarming into the fray.

"Excellent work, my Iron Grenadiers!" praised Destro. "Come, we have to get to the beaches and take down the artillery! To victory!"

Despite the impossible odds, Destro could see the silver lining on this gray cloud: if there was this much resistance at the southern shore, then that meant defense must be lighter for the Joe team up by the Terror Drome. Good. Cobra Commander was poor at rating the skill levels of his enemies. Although Destro was proud of his Iron Grenadiers, they were no G.I. Joes, and the Joes were the greater threat. The Commander just didn't see it.

8.

Incoming fire from a row of Cobra Battle Barges lining the bay began rocking the W.H.A.L.E. Law turned the hovercraft straight for them and called out to his gunners. "Mainframe! Dial-Tone! Open up on those gunnery stations!" Nodding that they got the orders, the two braniacs adjusted their aim and began shooting at the floating machine-gun nests. Cobra Eels leapt for their lives as their weapons and ammo were blasted to bits.

Confident in his victory over the Barges, Law didn't see the giant bubbles rise up to the surface by the coast line and begin firing their twin .50-cal cannons at him. Turning the steering wheel hard left, Law managed to get the right side of the W.H.A.L.E. torn up, but saved his gunners from being hit.

"What the hell was that?" asked the Military Policeman.

"It was a B.U.G.G." replied Mainframe.

"A what?"

"It's a massive amphibious vehicle that Cobra uses to defend its coastline." said Dial-Tone. "They're big fat bubbly tanks covered in .50-cals and missiles."

"And they can submerge themselves pretty deep." added Mainframe.

"Swell." groaned Law.

"Look out!" cried Dial-Tone as he swung his turret starboard and opened fire. A Firebat dive-bombed at the W.H.A.L.E. and launched its missiles. The flak from Dial-Tone's guns shattered the front-end of the short-range fighter, but the bombs slammed into the side of the hovercraft, sending the Joes leaping for the water. As the Firebat swooped over its exploding target, it was smashed into flames by the strike of a Sky Hawk missile.

Law bobbed his head out of water and gasped for air. He saw Scarlett's Sky Hawk in the corner of his eye as he looked back at the smoking W.A.L.E. sink into the salty sea.

Then, the impossible happened: the front hatch of the sinking craft blew off, and the recon sled fired out of its secret chamber at the base of the hovercraft. The little boat was moving so quickly that Law could only get a glimpse at the black books hanging off the rear of the sled.

"Law! Law, are you all right?" asked Mainframe as he swam over to the soaked MP.

"Y-yeah. Hey, did you just see that?"

"See what?"

"The recon sled just launched!"

"Must have been 'cause of damage to the systems." Mainframe grabbed the boggled Joe and started pulling him backwards.

"But…but someone was on it…"

"Ahoy, there!" called out Alpine from his W.H.A.L.E. "Looks like you guys need a bit of rescuing!"

"Get us out of here, Alpine!" ordered Dial-Tone, "There's a B.U.G.G. over there."

"Not any more!" said the Mountain Trooper as he pulled the Communications Trooper up with his right hand and pointed with his left hand. "Look!"

Scarlett's Sky Hawk began shooting at the big green and yellow bubble-tank with every gun it had. The B.U.G.G. attempted to submerge, but it was too late; its hull was ripped apart and fire began pouring out of its top. As water dumped into the body of the massive vehicle, its Secto-Viper pilots swam into the clear tropical water. A pair of them were lucky enough to grab hold of the jet-skis stored in the framework of the B.U.G.G. and shoot up onto the bay's surface and take off towards the shore of Cobra Island.

As soon as Dial-Tone was up in the cock-pit of the W.H.A.L.E., he pointed to a flashing light on the control panel. "There's a call coming in. Want me to pick that up?"

"We've got cannon fire coming at us from the shore!" cried Chuckles. "It's another one of those big green bubbly things!"

Cursing, Alpine punched the accelerator and drove for the wreckage of the first B.U.G.G.

"Dial-Tone, pick up that damn call! Chuckles, Bazooka, aim for anything that moves! Law, Mainframe, get below-decks and start loading the main cannons! We're headin' for shore!"

The hovercraft sailed across the waves as it raced for Cobra Island, entering the range of the Assault Systems Pods that lined the beach. The blue twin-barreled cannons fired relentlessly at the Joe attackers, putting Alpine's driving skills to the ultimate test. Although he was not holding the CB, Alpine could here Hawk's screaming voice pour from it.

"Alpine! Turn that W.H.A.L.E. around right now! The coastline has not been secured! Get away from those A.S.P.s! That's an order!"

Smiling, Alpine turned the wheel hard right and dodged a pair of blasts rocketing for the Joe craft. "General, do us all a favor and get rid of a few of those guns for me, okay?" yelled back the Mountain Trooper.

Taking a risk, Alpine leveled the hovercraft long enough to fire off a pair of shots from the main guns. An A.S.P. on the shore exploded, sending debris and men scattering in every direction. Unfortunately, the maneuver gave the Pods enough time to target a shot and blow a hole in the front end of the W.H.A.L.E.

"Damn!" cursed Alpine as he struggled with the controls. "Law! Talk to me!"

"She's taking in a lot of water! We're going down!"

Still a hundred feet from the coast, the hovercraft was slowing down and becoming an easier shot. Alpine knew he had to find a way onto shore. Looking to the right, he barked a final order. "Load me up another set of shots! Chuckles, Bazooka, keep the Cobras as busy as you can!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Locked and loaded!" informed Mainframe.

Double-checking his aim, Alpine waited…then fired! The two shots smashed into the two A.S.P.s that the W.H.A.L.E. was heading straight for. Raising their hands, the Joe team cried out a mighty "Yo Joe!"

As Vipers and Techno-Vipers scrambled from the burning wrecks, the Joe hovercraft skidded across the ocean floor, coming to a stop twenty feet from the shore. "Looks like this ride's over, guys." said Chuckles.

"Swim for it, pronto!" ordered Law.

The Joes quickly dove for the water as the remaining handful of A.S.P.s fired on the W.H.A.L.E., igniting the ravaged hovercraft into a cluster ball of fire. Showered by the debris from the explosion, the Joes began crawling across the water towards Cobra Island.

9.

Standing atop a Cobra Adder, Overlord lowered his binoculars and frowned. A Cobra Officer walked up to him with a Tele-Viper close behind.

"Excuse me, commander--" began the officer, but Overlord cut him off.

"You will refer to me as your lord! I am your lord!" barked the eccentric field commander.

Giving a look of frustration, the officer corrected himself. "Forgive, me. Excuse me, my lord, but Cobra Commander demands an update on the battle's status."

Overlord stepped down from his position between the twin "White Heat II" Surface-to-Surface-Missiles behind the Adder's seat and took the vehicle's controls. "Just tell him that we sunk the hovercrafts. Don't give him any details."

"But, sir, er…my lord!"

"Quiet! I have business to attend to!" Revving the Adder's engine, Overlord sped off towards the shore in the little missile-launching truck.

The Cobra Officer nervously turned around to face the Tele-Viper, who was pointing his camera directly at him. "I…I am sorry Commander, but—"

"Don't break a sweat gland, you fool, I saw it all. That's why I wanted a Tele-Viper to go with you." snarled Cobra Commander. His puff of frustration echoed over the closed channel to the officer's headset. "I can't worry about this right now. The Joes are being torn apart, and Destro is the bigger threat. Just keep an eye on that egotistical buffoon Overlord and tell me if I need to worry."

"Yes, sir. Hail Cobra Commander!"

"Bah."

Overlord's Adder rumbled onto the coastline and set itself in a firing position facing northeast. The White Heat II missiles elevated to firing position and Overlord began calculating distance. Picking his binoculars back up, he looked to the horizon and found the G.I. Jane, seemingly motionless sitting on the edge of the world. Smiling, he set down his binoculars and reached for the Adder's firing controls.

A white hand reached in front of the control panel, causing Overlord to jump back and yelp in fright.

"You don't think I'm gonna let you shoot the Jane, do you?" asked Law as he moved his hand away from the control panel and grabbed the Overlord's neck. Chuckles and Alpine reached for the Cobra's arms, but couldn't get them in time. Overlord punched Law with lightning speed; his trademark golden claws ripped into the Joe M.P.'s face—but Law didn't let go. The Joes pulled the former Crimson Guardsman out of the driver's seat, but he violently fought to break away, stabbing with his claws. Chuckles fell to the sand and Alpine jumped away. It wasn't until he was hit in the stomach that Law let go of the Overlord's neck. Now engulfed in laughter, the Cobra reached back into the Adder and hit the "fire" button. The two White Heat II missiles roared to life and blasted off into the bay. Their jet thrusts knocked Overlord onto his back.

10.

Hawk swooped down the shoreline and pulled the trigger. His Sky Hawk began vibrating as the twin 7.62mm guns opened up on the last two A.S.P.-units on the beach. The little blue butt-pains exploded and the Joe General knew that he was clear to make the run for the Terror Drome now.

Of course, he needed to know how his team was doing. Making a tight turn that only the V.T.O.L. Sky Hawk could perform, Hawk looked back down the shore…and felt his jaw drop open. Popping up the communications switch, he couldn't keep his eyes off of what he saw.

"Hawk to Scarlett."

"Scarlett here, Hawk."

"Where did that Adder come from? Did you see it come in from the—Oh my god! Did it just fire its missiles?"

"Affirmative, Hawk! And it looks like they're headed straight for the Jane!"

Quickly changing frequencies, Hawk attempted to call out to sea. "Doc! This is General Hawk! Warning! You've got missiles headed to the Jane! Get the men--!" But it was too late. Two massive explosions fireballed off the portside hull of the frigate, rocking the ship and creating a domino-effect of blasts across the deck. Equipment began to fall and weapons-systems crashed overboard.

Feeling his eyes water, Hawk changed frequency again. "Scarlett, I'm going back to the Jane to see if I can help. Take charge of the team and get into the Terror Drome. Understood?"

After a short pause, she replied, "Yes, sir. You'll need to drop off Grunt. I need all the help I can get."

"Okay. Good luck."

"You, too."

11.

Techno-Viper TCV-78 looked at the papers he was holding, but he couldn't believe them. Closing his eyes, he shook his head.

Then he looked again.

And again.

But there wasn't time to a fourth time. This news was too important to hold. It needed to get to Cobra Commander—fast!

Running towards the radar-room's exit, he became the attention of everyone else in the room. The door slid open and TCV-78 rounded the turn into the hall—and slammed right into Cobra Commander! The two men bounced off of each other, falling onto their backsides, but in opposite directions. The Techno-Viper dropped the papers he was holding and Cobra Commander began cursing and swearing retribution.

As TCV-78 frantically picked up the radar scans, he pleaded for his life. "I'm, I'm so sorry Commander. I was actually on my way to see you! I have very important news!"

The Head Snake stood up from the ground and drew his custom pistol. "This news had better be worth your life, you insipid moron!"

Shaking with fear, the Techno-Viper showed a scan to his leader. "O-Overlord has damaged the G.I. Jane, sir."

"So what? I already knew that!"

"B-but a Joe Sky Hawk, the one we believe to be piloted by General Hawk himself…is flying back to the Jane!"

Putting away his pistol, Cobra Commander grabbed the scan. Sure enough, it showed a Sky Hawk making a beeline for the Jane. Looking back at the Techno-Viper, he glared. "And you're sure General Hawk is flying this craft?"

"Eighty-three percent sure, sir." said TCV-78, starting to feel proud of himself.

Cobra Commander began to make a soft hissing sound as he drifted off in thought. "Then perhaps it is time to test the Matrix Cannon located here on Cobra Island…"

"Sir?"

"Get back to your station! Keep me informed of Hawk's position." snarled the Head Snake.

"Yes, sir! All hail!"

As he began walking away, Cobra Commander turned around. "And Techno-Viper, if you tell anyone about what happened here in the hallway, you will die…slowly, and painfully."

"Of…of course not, sir."