Hawk's Holiday.
Chapter 9: Rescue.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters.
Several voices were calling out Hawk's name as he slowly came to. His head felt as though someone had used it as a baseball and had scored a home run. The pungent smell reminded him about the gas that Scrap-Iron used on him and Cathy. Cathy! Damn it where was she? Hawk opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. Bad idea. The pain made him close his eyes and lie back down again.
"General? General Hawk!" Chuckles spoke softly but urgently as he tried to roust Hawk. Hawk opened his eyes again, and saw Chuckles' worried expression.
"I gather than, Chuckles, that I'm not dead, and you're not an angel." Hawk smiled grimly and sat up again, slowly this time.
"No, sir. I'm afraid not sir." Chuckles was relieved as he handed Hawk a canteen of tea, with a dash of 'medicinal' Brandy in it.
"That's good. You would make an odd angel with those loud shirts of yours." Hawk remarked. "Sit-rep, how are the others? And did you see where they took Cathy?"
"Kamakura and Daina are helping Paige now." Chuckles pointed to the other three Joes. Kamakura helped Paige to her feet and all three of them came over, their faces grim.
"Are you all right sir?" Paige asked.
"I have a hell of a headache, and I've puked up everything I've eaten in the last 6 months. But otherwise I'm peachy. You?" Hawk replied as he stood up.
"I've been better sir. But I'm good to go." Paige stated with conviction.
"They took Cathy to the northwest. They left you this note sir." Daina said handing Hawk a large, slightly puke stained, Post-It note. Cathy's captors had stuck it to Hawk's chest after knocking him out. The note had a few lines printed in felt marker:
'We have Colonel LaCroix. Come to the location on the map by midnight tonight, alone and unarmed, or the Bitch dies. COBRA!'
Kamakura held out a map of the area. The hotel was high lighted, as was a path to an area 10 km SE from the hotel. It was most likely a cabin and definitely a trap.
"Crap, God damn it to hell! If he called Duke right now it would take a bit of time to get a team together and get them and their equipment across the border. Like it or not he would have to make due with what he had in the time they had left.
What they had wasn't much he saw. They each had their pistols, plus Cathy's Lathi, which she dropped. Plus they had the two Cobra's rifles, an M4 Carbine, and an FN-P90. But they had no spare ammo. They were goatfucked.
Chuckles read Hawk's gloomy expression and smiled. "Don't worry sir, we'll get her back. Duke sent a 'care package' along with us just in case."
"Does 'care package' mean what I hope it means?" Hawk enquired, a hopeful smile spreading across his face. The others nodded in assent.
"What are we sitting around here for then? Let's get back to the hotel, double time! Yo Joe!" With that Hawk put his skis back on, grabbed his gear, and lead the way back to the hotel.
90 minutes later they arrived back at the hotel. Hawk had tossed his puke-stained jacket away before they arrived and they marched past the reception desk with no problems. Chuckles asked for a few boxes that had been sent to the hotel to be sent up to his suite.
Hawk stated that he was going to grab a quick shower and he would meet the others in Chuckles' suite in 20 minutes.
Hawk arrived at the suite, freshly showered and changed, and noticed a few men with two-wheel carts and a room service tray moving away. Before Hawk could knock on the door, Daina opened it up and pulled him into the suite and locked the door behind him.
They walked in and found the other three Joes opening up the boxes like kids on Christmas morning. But the stuff in these particular boxes would make any kid green with envy. Not to mention netting all of them long prison sentences if they were caught with them. All of the boxes had 'Fed-Ex' packaging on them, and labels declaring that the boxes were computer parts and had government stamps on them that told customs that they were not to be opened under penalty of law.
There was an assortment of pistols, sub machine guns, small sniper rifles, ammunition, knives, swords, and a few fragmentation and concussion grenades. There was also a bag of explosive goodies like a few blocks of Semtex (Czechoslovakian made plastic explosive), detonators, and a few of the aforementioned distraction devices. They would all be put away for life if they were caught with this stuff.
Daina handed Hawk a garment bag. "Duke said that you might appreciate this as well." She grinned.
Hawk opened up the bag to reveal his old, well-worn, brown leather bomber jacket. There was a set of black BDU's and boots as well. Chuckles handed him an armoured vest he could wear under his jacket. Hawk seriously considered proposing to Duke after this was all over. He went and changed.
After changing, Hawk gathered his weapons. First a .45 calibre H&K SOCOM pistol, with a laser target sight mounted under the barrel went into his hip holster. A nine-inch sound suppressor went into the pocket that normally held a spare magazine. A Ruger GP-100 .357 Magnum revolver with a 4-inch barrel went into a shoulder holster. An army issue K-Bar knife rode on his left hip. Several miniature fragmentation grenades and SAS style 'flash-bang' devices went into the thigh pockets of his BDU's. Finally he picked up a suppressed H&K MP-10, 10mm SMG. Several clips for each weapon were placed in various pouches. As an afterthought he stuck Cathy's Lathi pistol in a jacket pocket.
Chuckles, Daina, and Paige Adams all wore basic black BDU's (sans pearls) and carried an assortment of weapons. They all carried .45 cal SOCOM pistols and H&K MP-10 SMGs. Paige and Daina carried Enfield L96A1 Sniper rifles chambered for 7.62 NATO. Both rifles had night vision scopes, suppressors, and bipods attached to them. Chuckles also had a Remington 870 .12 gauge shotgun in a scabbard on his back. They also carried an assortment of grenades and explosives with them. All three wore lightweight body armour.
Kamakura was dressed in his forest green and black ninja outfit. He also had a SOCOM pistol, and H&K MP5K-PDW SMG. He also had an assortment of traditional ninja weaponry. Sheathed in a scabbard across his back was a ninja-do, the traditional sword of a ninja. He also had a cold steel tanto knife, several throwing stars, a set of nunchuks, and a pair of Kamas or fighting sickles. All of them had secure radios with earpieces and lip mikes. They all had night vision goggles as well.
They made plans over a quick meal and coffee, and then left the hotel through a rear exit. They climbed into Hawk's SUV and drove most of the distance to the cabin indicated on the map. They stopped at a secluded area and got ready to walk the rest of the distance. Paige and Daina would deploy to sniper positions while Hawk, Kamakura and Chuckles would make their way to the cabin. Each of them, except Kamakura, put on a black knit watch cap, and blackened their faces with camouflage paint. Kamakura covered his face with his mask.
It was past 2100 hrs and it was fairly dark outside. It was also getting colder, around –12 degrees Celsius.
Kamakura, who was on point, spotted the first sentry. He signalled for the others to stop while he drew his tanto. Moving silently as a cat he crept up behind the sentry, a lone Siegie. As soon as he got within range, he pounced. His left hand covered the sentry's nose and mouth, as his right hand drove the tanto blade into the side of the sentry's neck, the edge facing outwards. The apprentice ninja quietly lowered the corpse to the ground and motioned the others forward.
Daina spotted movement through her snipers scope. A second Siegie had stopped by a tree and removed his facemask and leaned his rifle by the tree. A lighter flared in the darkness. Daina blinked at the sentry's stupidity or overconfidence and zeroed in on his face. She waited for a moment, drew in a deep breath, and fired. The heavy 7.62 NATO round caught the smoker right between the eyes, and he slumped down to the ground. Daina nodded in satisfaction.
Another Siegie came out of the darkness. He had seen the glowing cigarette as well and had come to tell his partner to put it out. He found a glowing cigarette on the ground and stepped on it to put it out. Then he noticed the body of his partner. He shone the flashlight attached to his FN P-90 on his partner's body. He had a hole the size of a quarter in the middle of his forehead.
Siegie #3's last act was to try to raise his radio to his lips. Suddenly he felt a sledgehammer blow to his chest that literally broke his heart. The radio dropped from his numb fingers as he collapsed to his knees. He then pitched forward face first and stayed there. Paige clicked the transmit button twice to indicate that it was clear.
Hawk, Chuckles, and Kamakura approached the cabin. They spotted two more sentries, a man and a woman, pacing around outside in the cold under the porch light. All of the curtains were drawn inside, and only a few lights were on. They could only see a few figures moving about inside.
The log cabin was a simple one-story structure. There was a moderate sized living room, a small kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. A gas-powered generator that sat outside in a small wooden hut provided power. Several 45-gallon oil drums sat several feet away from the generator set.
Hawk motioned for Kamakura to take care of the male sentry, while he and Chuckles would try to take the woman alive if possible.
"Jesus Christ it's getting fucking cold out here." The male sentry spoke softly to his companion.
"Quit bitching Eric. Just keep moving a bit. It helps the circulation." The female said back.
"How can you stand the cold? I'm gonna be frozen before midnight!" Eric growled. "You got an extra sweater on underneath your uniform, Cassandra?"
Cassandra chuckled a bit at her companion's discomfort. "Just think about the big fat bonus we'll be getting for this. Not to mention our trip to the Caribbean, and all the fun we'll have there." Her voice took on a slightly suggestive tone.
"Can't hardly wait, babe. Wait! What was that noise?" Eric searched around for the source of the noise he heard.
"I didn't hear anything." Cassandra said looking around. She clutched her SMG closer.
"I'll go check it out. Wait here." Eric quietly moved off into the darkness, H&K G-36 at the ready.
Several minutes went by. Cassandra paced back and forth nervously waiting for Eric's return. She heard some kind of commotion; some kind of strangled gurgling noise, and then silence.
"Eric?" she whispered fearfully. She moved off in the direction Eric went in. 2 minutes later she discovered Eric's body. His throat had been cut from ear to ear.
"No! Eric, no!" Cassandra sobbed quietly. As she drew in her breath to scream, a pair of powerful arms reached out from the darkness and grabbed her from behind. One hand was placed over her mouth, and the other arm held her in a vice-like grip around her neck. She was taken around behind a few trees. Hawk stepped out of the darkness and aimed his suppressed MP-10 at her head. Cassandra's eyes widened in fear and recognition.
"If you scream, you die. Do you understand?" Hawk whispered hoarsely. Cassandra blinked and nodded as best she could with Chuckles arm around her neck. Hawk nodded and Chuckles removed his huge hand from her face.
Cassandra stared in terror at the GI Joe commander. With his face blackened, and the expression on his face, he resembled a demon from hell.
"How many of you are there?" Hawk demanded harshly.
"There were 6 of us Siegies plus our boss, a Crimson Guard Immortal. You killed Freddie earlier." Cassandra tried to spit in Hawk's face, but Chuckles gave her neck a squeeze.
"Who else?" Hawk demanded.
"Three Vipers, plus Scrap-Iron and Wild Weasel. That's it." Cassandra replied.
"Good girl. Chuckles, tie her up. We move in 5 minutes." Hawk said to Chuckles, who nodded.
Chuckles made the mistake of relaxing his grip a bit. Cassandra wiggled free and kicked Chuckles in the groin. He managed to protect himself by moving his leg, but she was still able to wriggle free, pull her knife and charge at Hawk, a scream rising to her throat.
"Shit!" Hawk muttered as he aimed his MP-10 and triggered a 3 round burst. All three rounds hit her in the face, shattering her skull. She collapsed to the ground at his feet.
"Paige! Daina! Anyone come out of the cabin?" Hawk whispered urgently into his lip mike. Kamakura and Chuckles jogged up quietly.
"No, sir." Paige replied.
"Nyet. No one has stepped outside." Daina replied.
Hawk breathed a sigh of relief. "Keep watching. We hit them in 4 minutes." Hawk signalled the other two to head to the back door.
"I don't like this. It's way too quiet out there for my liking." Wild Weasel growled as he paced back and forth by the front window.
Scrap-Iron was standing on the opposite side of the room. "Relax, the Joes got lucky earlier I'll admit, but we still have the advantage. Not to mention Hawk's woman."
Cathy was tied to an uncomfortable armchair. She had been gagged to keep her from screaming. Not to mention biting as one of the stooges had found out earlier.
The stooges were sitting together on a wide couch. Moe was loading a round into his M-203 grenade launcher, Curly was field stripping his Glock 21 pistol, and Larry was too doped up on painkillers to care either way. His left arm was heavily bandaged after Daina had shot him twice.
Moe's brother was also worried. "I'm calling the sentries for a report. It's been too long since any of them have called in." He lifted his radio and keyed the transmitter. "Sentry #1 report!" No answer. "Sentry #2?" Nothing. He frowned as he called the other sentries. When he got no reply from any of them, he threw the radio against the wall with a snarl of rage. "They're here! The Joes are here! The sentries are either dead or captured!"
"Fuck!" Scrap-Iron snarled. "You're right! They must be ready to hit the place…" A small explosion and the lights going out interrupted him.
"Shit!" Moe's brother screamed as he tried to make his way towards Cathy in the dark. He tripped and fell on her, knocking both her and him to the floor.
Hawk, Kamakura and Chuckles waited outside the back door. Hawk was on one side of the door, a Def-Tec distraction device in one hand, and pin in the other. Kamakura was on the other, MP5K-PDW at the ready. Chuckles aimed his shotgun at the door. The Remington was loaded with 5 frangible TKO slugs. The TKO slugs contained powdered zinc, which would disperse on impact, but not before it destroyed any locking mechanism or hinge.
"Go Chuckles!" Hawk roared. Chuckles blasted the door with two rounds from the shotgun, and then gave the door a massive kick. He leapt out of the way as Hawk rolled the Def-Tec into the center of the room. The device rolled in at the feet of the stooges as they tried to get up. Curly was trying to carry Larry over his shoulder and Moe was leading them. Cathy saw the device and closed her eyes tightly.
KA-BOOM! The Def-Tec exploded in a flash of over 1 million candlepower and over 180 decibels of sound. There was a loud crash as Wild Weasel went through the front window. Everyone else screamed in pain at the sound and noise. The Joes all roared 'Yo Joe!' as they burst into the room.
Scrap-Iron had staggered over to the front window. Even with his protective goggles on his vision was still a bit blurry. He saw Hawk charge into the room followed by two other Joes. He tried to aim his SMG at Hawk.
Hawk and Chuckles saw Scrap-Iron raise his SMG and triggered their MP-10s. Several rounds tore Scrap-Iron's MP5K from his grasp. A few more 10mm slugs impacted with Scrap-Iron's Class III-body armour and knocked him through the front window.
A bestial roar almost made the three Joes jump out of their skins. The huge lumbering Curly had Larry over one shoulder and Moe under his other arm as he ran towards the back door. He charged past Hawk and Chuckles and nearly flattened Kamakura who barely dove out of the way in time. Curly ran through the door and into the night.
"Cathy!" Hawk shouted. "Where are you?"
"We're in here Hawk!" The CGI called out from the bedroom. "Why not come in and join us?" He called in a mocking voice. He had managed to drag Cathy into the bedroom in the confusion.
Hawk let his SMG hang by its shoulder strap as he drew the Ruger. "Kamakura, go out and circle around and see if you can surprise him from behind. Chuckles cover me." They both nodded, as Kamakura moved out, and Chuckles reloaded his MP-10.
Hawk and Chuckles moved into the bedroom. The CGI had cut Cathy free from the chair and was using her as a shield. One hand held Cathy, the other held a Glock 19 9mm. He had opened the bedroom window; cold air was blowing into the room.
"Its over. Let Cathy go and drop the gun. Now." Hawk stated calmly. He cocked back the hammer of the .357 for emphasis. Chuckles stood off to the side, MP-10 at the ready.
The desperate CGI aimed the Glock at Hawk. "Fuck you Hawk! Even if your buddy takes me down I'll still be known as the man who killed the great General Hawk!"
There was the loud noise of an aircraft engine starting up. The CGI turned his head in the direction of the noise. Cathy saw her chance and snapped her head back, catching the CGI in the nose. He howled in pain and fury and let Cathy slip out of his grasp.
He tried to aim at Hawk again, but Hawk beat him to the draw. The .357 round nearly decapitated the CGI where he stood.
Hawk put away his pistol and rushed to Cathy's side. He took her in his arms and removed her gag. "Are you all right?" He asked, while looking her over to see if she was wounded.
"Clay!" She cried out and threw her arms around him.
Several gunshots were heard from outside. And the aircraft noises had increased dramatically. Hawk, Cathy, and Chuckles rushed outside to see Paige, Daina, and Kamakura firing uselessly at Cobra Hurricane VTOL that rose up and took off in a hurry.
"Shit! Fuck! God Damn it!" Paige fumed. She couldn't believe that she missed the big lummox who rushed out the back door carrying two other guys, and now this! It wasn't her night.
Cathy rushed over and hugged all three of them. Then they all had one big happy group hug. "Thank you. All of you." Cathy said through her tears.
"You're welcome Miss LaCroix, I mean, Cathy." Kamakura said with a warm smile under his mask.
"Let's clean up a bit and get out of here." Hawk ordered.
They quickly doused the fire with snow and a fire extinguisher that Chuckles found. "What about the bodies?" Daina asked as they made it back to Hawk's SUV.
"Someone give me a cell phone." Cathy ordered. Paige got one out of her luggage and handed it over. Cathy dialled a number and rattled off something in rapid French. She hung up and handed the phone back to Paige.
"Who was that?" Hawk asked.
"A clean up crew." Cathy replied, amused at everyone's shocked expressions. "Hey, old habits die hard. Especially in our line of work."
"True, that." Hawk smiled and got into the SUV's drivers seat. Cathy climbed into the passenger side and the others got in the back.
Cathy stared a bit at Hawk as he started the engine. "Jesus, Clay. You're still wearing that old jacket?"
"Hey, I like this old jacket. Got it all nice and broken in. Having a good cleaner helps." Hawk said defensively.
"How do you know so much about Hawk's old jacket, Cathy?" Chuckles asked.
"Who do you think gave it to him?" Cathy replied sweetly.
"WHAT?" The four younger Joes all shouted together. Hawk and Cathy laughed.
"I guess this means we'll be going home now." Paige said sadly. She and the others had really grown to like the place.
"What do you mean 'we'll be going home now' I've still got a week of vacation time left!" Hawk growled.
"How are we going to stay here after what just happened?" Kamakura demanded.
"We were far enough away from the hotel, and behind a few mountains that no one heard much, if anything. And the clean up crew should take care of the mess. No one will ever know" Cathy replied.
"Yeah, and besides, I came here to enjoy a two week holiday, and I intend to do just that!" Hawk laughed and the others joined in. The six friends enjoyed the ride all the way back to the hotel.
Meanwhile…The Hurricane VTOL levelled off at 30,000 feet. Wild Weasel sighed and hit the autopilot.
"Well, that was a total disaster." He remarked to Scrap-Iron, who was trying to take off his armoured vest. He got it off and checked himself over for damage. Finding none he sat back, relaxed, and closed his eyes.
"The Commander's going to be pissed." Wild Weasel said.
"Uh-huh." Scrap-Iron replied.
"But it wasn't our fault, right?" Wild Weasel asked.
"Nope." Scrap-Iron replied.
"We'll pin the whole mess on the CGI and those three losers, and we'll escape Scott free, right buddy?" Wild Weasel was starting to feel better.
"Sounds good." Scrap-Iron said.
"At least those three morons are dead with the rest of the Siegies. Thank heaven for small favours." Wild Weasel smiled.
Movement from the back of the plane cut off Scrap-Iron's reply. Both of them drew their pistols.
A canvas tarp fell away and Larry, Curly, and Moe were sitting there amid the cargo containers.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Scrap-Iron screamed.
Wild Weasel simply turned around, put his head down and sat there quivering while groaning; "No. No. No. No."
"We thought you guys would help us." Curly said.
"We needed someone to get us out of there, and to help take care of Larry." Moe added.
Larry just groaned in pain.
Scrap-Iron sighed and turned his back to the stooges. Wild Weasel just looked at him and nodded. Scrap-Iron quietly took the magazine out of his Beretta 93-R and replaced it with a clip of low velocity rounds that wouldn't go through the side of the plane.
"Don't worry. We'll take care of you. Real nice." Scrap-Iron smiled as he turned to face the stooges.
Epilogue. The PIT.
One week later Hawk and the others returned home from their holiday.
Hawk called ahead the previous day to announce that they were coming home and that Duke and the others should be there to greet them when they arrived.
Duke and the other Joes at the base were all ready to greet their CO when he arrived home. They were all gathered at the base of the hydraulic lift, waiting.
Finally a signal was given, and the lift started its slow ascent. "Atten-hut!" Beachhead barked. All of the Joes stood at attention.
The lift came down to reveal two SUV's. One was Hawk's the other belonged to Chuckles. The lift stopped and the doors opened. Hawk stepped out of the driver's side. He was wearing his trademark bomber jacket and three gold stars on each collar.
Duke looked a bit nervous. They had found his 'care package'. What the hell had happened?
"Order arms!" Beachhead snapped. Everyone saluted as Hawk got out and faced the team. Chuckles and the others got out of his SUV. They all saluted as well.
Hawk nodded approvingly. "At ease Joes." Everyone stood at ease, as Hawk walked up to his XO.
"The place is still standing." Hawk remarked looking around.
"Flint and I managed to keep everyone under control while you were gone, General." Duke said with a smile.
"Good to hear. I'll expect a full report from you and Flint tomorrow morning." Hawk replied.
"How was your trip, sir?" Duke asked.
"Oh, nothing unusual. A little hiking, some cross country skiing, some fishing, and a bit of hunting." Hawk smiled a bit. Duke tensed a bit. He didn't like how Hawk had emphasised the hunting part.
The passenger door on Hawk's SUV opened up suddenly. A pair of long, shapely legs came out, followed by the tall form of an attractive red headed woman.
"Duke, you remember Colonel Cathy LaCroix, Canadian Armed Forces, retired?" Hawk stated with a big smile.
"Duke! It's really nice to see you again. It's been awhile." Cathy smiled at the surprised Duke. She waved at the other Joes who were almost as surprised as their XO was. Chuckles and the others grinned.
"Colonel LaCroix, a pleasure as always." Duke shook hands with Cathy. "What brings you here?"
"Oh I was just working at the hotel when Clay here walked in. He invited me to come see your new place, and here I am." Cathy grinned.
"Shall I arrange guest quarters for Colonel LaCroix, Hawk?" Flint asked.
"Nah. That won't be necessary." Hawk smiled. Duke flushed a bit. "Oh yeah, we brought you back a souvenir. Paige?" Hawk motioned to Paige Adams who dug out a large, gift- wrapped package and presented it to Duke with a flourish.
"Are you going to open it or what?" Chuckles asked with a grin.
Duke eyed the package warily before he opened it. Inside was a hatbox. He opened it carefully, fully expecting it to blow up in his face. When it didn't explode, he reached in and pulled out the object inside. It was a Crimson Guardsman's helmet!
Duke stared at the helmet in astonishment. Then a flashbulb jarred him back to reality. Cathy stood there with a Polaroid camera and an amused expression on her face.
"See, Clay. I told you he'd like it." Cathy, Hawk and the other friends laughed as Duke stood there looking stunned.
"I'll tell you all about it later; meanwhile I'm going to show Cathy around the place." Hawk grinned. "Dismissed." He added.
Duke was still standing there looking shocked when Hawk added; "By the way, I appreciated the 'care package' and the company. But next time tell me first, ok?"
Flint came up to the happy couple and the befuddled XO. "How long will you be visiting us, Colonel?"
"First, call me Cathy. And second, I'll be here for two weeks. An old friend showed up and told me it was time for me to take a holiday!"
Hawk, Cathy, and the others walked off, leaving Flint there with a big grin on his face, and Duke standing there with a Crimson Guardsman's helmet in his hands, and a stunned expression still on his face.
This is going to be an interesting two weeks! Flint thought as he steered Duke out of the room.
The End.