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Our days of fun were cut short when Roadblock got a call from the nest. He looked up at me and nodded. "We'll be there."
"What's happened?"
"Breaker's managed to crack the code. He's tracing for more signals like it. We're onto him." He said quietly then turned to Millie to explain as much as he could to her. They girls were reluctant to let me go, they both clung onto my waist and begged me to stay.
"But you need to help us finish the dance!" Poppy cried. "We need you!"
"You have your mom to help you. She's an amazing dancer so you're in safe hands. I promise to come back. I'll even bring Uncle Duke with me." That got them a deal. They would let me go if I promised to bring Duke back with me next time I visited.
The jet was waiting for us at the nearest Military base so we climbed on and waited anxiously all the way back to the island. "What else did Breaker say?"
"The signal is just as you explained it. It transmits orders through the impulses to target genes and triggers them to mutate. He's pretty sure that he can find more signals like it, he only needs time." I nodded my head then cracked my knuckles.
"One more thing." I looked to Roadblock who sighed. "They've kidnapped Anna and all the other inmates of the prison she was in." My blood ran cold.
The moment we touched down I was off and running towards the others. Duke looked distraught with worry so I quickly pulled him into a hug. "She's going to be okay." I promised him softly and he nodded his head though the strain did not disappear from his face.
"What's our status?" Block asked the moment he had caught up.
"We're still working on that signal. Nothing yet." Scarlet said to us. "Come on. We're all waiting." Someone else took our bags so I followed Scarlet to the bridge where Breaker was busy tracing all signals to find a match. He looked up, chewing on some gum then smiled.
"Welcome back."
"Hey Breaker. Any luck?"
"None so far."
"Robyn, it's good to see you again." Heavy nodded his head in greeting then went to the central table where the holographic images began to play the video feed of the attack. "This is all we have left of what happened. They came in hard and fast. They took everyone, including Anna." Duke flinched. "Our mission is to find out what Cobra is planning. He's going for something, though we don't know what."
"He's using them." I realised. "He's figured out that people on the streets don't have the strength to survive his testing, so he's taken men and women who will." They all looked to me. "What? I'm not as dumb as I look." I walked up to the screen the pulled up some files. "There's Anna, he probably just wanted his sister out of there and back under his control." I reasoned then flicked through some more files before pulling up. "Terrorists, criminals, traitors, they're all people who are permanent threats to the state. You think he didn't just select this prison at random? Cobra wanted his trials to work. He's planning to make an army."
"An army of superhuman mutants." Rip mused then cursed. "Great."
"If I'm right then I'm guessing that Cobra isn't going to be silent about taking over the country anymore. He's going to do it with a loud voice." I continued, searching through the database. "His money has to come from somewhere, so it means he has to be financed by someone." I pressed then pulled up files of the richest men and women in the world with shady backgrounds. "So, if we find out who the one behind the bucks is…" I stared ahead of me.
"Robyn? What's wrong?" I blinked, shaking myself awake before selecting a profile.
"That's her." I informed them, glaring at the brunette woman with a sharply hooked nose.
"How do you know?"
"I saw her." I remembered her clearly. She had been standing a little way off from where the Commander had been working on me. She had had a sickly smile on her face. The same smirk she wore now as she stared down at me. "She was there during the…" I trailed off then looked down, retreating back into my shell.
"It's okay Robyn." Duke said to me, placing a strong arm around me. "You've done good."
"I'll say." Hawk's powerful voice stated as he walked onto the bridge. "Scarlet, you and Snake Eyes start rooting around this woman's history. Find out everything about her. I want to know everyone she's talked to from kindergarten onwards." They hopped to it. "The rest of you, standby for immediate action."
"Come on Robyn, we've got a surprise for you." Ripcord grinned and he and Duke led me away. I followed them until I was standing in my room, looking at the suit which was attached onto a mannequin. It looked very similar to Scarlet's, practically identical in fact. It was amazing.
"Wicked!" I grinned then stepped around, taking it in from all angles. "I can't wait to get suited up." Thankfully I didn't have to wait long. Breaker got a hit. Only, in the middle of the night. I was jerked awake by my alarm, signalling it was mission time.
"Oh crap!" I hissed then leaped forwards, suiting up within a minute before racing to join the others as Breaker raced at us from the other way.
"I got it! I got it! He's…he's in the Pit!"
"The bloody cheek!" Heavy snarled as he grabbed a heavy looking gun. "Come on boys, let's lay down some bass!" I later learned that that was his favourite saying. I hurried towards our ride, the jet already fired up and ready to go, Rip at the controls.
I got there the same moment Snake did but he stepped back and gestured for me to go first. I gave him a bright, genuine smile for the first time before climbing up. Even though we were in a hurry, Snake still had time to be a gentleman. When I got on Scarlet turned to me. "You're going to need these." She handed me a pair of handguns which I strapped to my legs then nodded to her, pulling back my hair into a ponytail.
"To be fair, it's the last place we would have thought to look." Breaker mused as he continued to track the signal. "It's quite clever."
"Kinda stings though." Roadblock reasoned as he cracked his knuckles continuously. The other jets all followed our lead as Heavy laid out the plan. I listened intently to every word, engraving it on my mind as I knew that stealth and secrecy was vital in this mission. We were to go in radio silent on foot in teams.
Scarlet with Duke and Breaker, Storm with Roadblock, Heavy with Rip and air support and then finally, me and Snake Eyes. Heavy Duty looked up to me sincerely. "Are you going to be alright with this mission?"
"Yes. I'll be fine." I promised him.
"You realise you might run into Cobra Commander, you can't afford to flinch in this." I nodded my head.
"Gives me a chance to return the favour he gave me." I told him surely. "I won't flinch." Heavy nodded but looked to Snake.
"Make sure you look after her." Snake Eyes nodded then placed a warm hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him then returned to my seat. Since it was a long way to the Pit I caught up on my interrupted sleep. It was a little hard considering I wasn't in the most comfortable of places. I wished I were a little warmer in my nice, soft, comfortable bed and not flying to my possible death. Oh well. Such is life.
"You and Snake seem to be alright now." Scarlet said quietly to me an hour or so later. She looked at me with a soft smile as I shrugged.
"Him nearly drowning was a great bonding activity for us." I answered simply as I wriggled slightly in my seat.
"Are your over your fear?" I paused for a minute before sighing softly.
"I don't know." Thankfully Scarlet left it there and I did my best to try and sleep some more. When we pulled down, however, I knew that it was time. Scarlet helped me into the gear I needed to abseil as Snake did the same. We were the first team to go in before we would signal the others.
It included trekking across a few miles of the desert though since Ripcord had to keep out of range of the radar. Good thing it was night time. Snake stepped out first then nodded to me. "See you guys later. Snake says bye." I smiled then followed him out into the darkness.
For a while I struggled to see until all at once, my eyes adjusted to the light. "Watch out, there's a snake!" I whispered fearfully then dragged Snake Eyes out of the way. "No pun intended." I finished as the hissing snake slithered away from where Snake Eyes had just about to step on it. He patted my shoulder then continued forwards.
At one point we were separated since we were groping around in darkness. The night vision goggles we were given didn't work after a certain distance, which meant that Cobra had installed a disturbance device, meaning all equipment was useless. I knew I couldn't speak otherwise sensors might pick up the sound so I used my highly alert sense of hearing, smell and my strangely night adjusted eyes to find Snake Eyes who was trying to do the same.
I gently took his hand and held onto it tightly, pulling him forwards to guide him. We travelled the distance quickly before finally, we were there. The base was certainly quiet, save for the few guards posted on the outside carrying guns.
My hand still gripped Snake's and I shifted closer to him, trying to see a way in but he was already moving, pulling me along with him. We waited and waited until I was beginning to wonder what he was waiting for. The ground opened up beneath us.
Snake grabbed me and yanked me back from the edge, pulling us down into the sand as a jet lifted up from within the opening, humming with high pitched thrums before shooting away into the distance. Quickly Snake got off of me and pulled me forwards, running to the edge.
Together we jumped down then turned, shooting our cables up and they attached to the side of the heliport, breaking our fall and gently lowering us down. The moment we were inside we reeled in our lines then slipped through the airfield, listening for any patrols coming our way. Snake pointed up to the control room and I nodded my head, understanding.
He made his way up there, climbing the frame work with spider-like skills as I covered him, ears peeled for anyone coming our way. Everything was quiet, except for when Snake broke into the control room. There was a few bumps and yelps of surprise before I heard the port opening up overhead. Glancing to Snake I activated my beacon, homing in the other teams.
It wasn't long until the airfield was full of our jets, bringing in the cavalry as Snake returned to my side. "Good work." Roadblock said to us, a rather large gun in hand. "Let's move." Still in our teams everyone split off. Snake had his katana drawn and both my guns were out and ready, my ears listening. As we neared a corner I stopped, placing a hand on Snake's shoulder to pull him back and turn him to face me.
I touched a finger to my lips then gestured my head around the corner. Snake nodded then pressed into the wall, waiting. When the pair of Cobra guards walked passed, completely oblivious to us, I led the way forwards to where I was picking up the sound of hundreds of voices all at once.
We went deeper and deeper down until I was sure there couldn't be anymore stairs to go. Thankfully there weren't. On the other hand, I was not prepared for what I saw. I stared at the tanks, all containing people locked in sleep, rows upon rows of them all lining the walls. I could smell the metal in their bodies, making the back of my jaw zing with the taste. It was disgusting. "Snake, they've all been injected with the chip." I whispered to him quietly. "What do we do?" He tapped his ear and I nodded.
"Heavy we've got a problem. We're too late. Cobra has already injected the chip into what looks like all the inmates of the prison break."
"Can you see Anna?" Both Snake and I looked around.
"Negative." There was a small pause before Heavy answered.
"Is there any way of shutting the system down?"
"Maybe, if Scarlet and Breaker got down here." I replied. "I haven't got a clue what I'm doing."
"Alright, hold tight. We're sending your location to Scarlet and Breaker." And that was it. Looking around I felt sorry for these people. Sure, they were bad guys but their life was now over. They were under the control of a criminal mastermind.
"I wondered how long it would be until you found your way home, Subject Forty-Three." I whirled around at the sound of the voice, colour draining from my face as jolts of fear shot up my spine. "It was inevitable."
"Snake…" I whispered and instantly his arms were around me, assuring me that I was alright.
"Of course, I knew you would lead the Joes here. Just like I programmed you." Instantly I was confused and furious.
"I'd never lead them to you!" I snarled aloud. "I am not programmed! I'm not a machine!"
"Oh but you are. You see, the chip was only the beginning of your genetic mutation." His voice drifted around me and I began to grow colder with every word. "I planted instincts in your mind, patterns which would leave a trace signal to lead back here. I thank you for your loyalty. It's a shame you had to run away before I could finish perfecting you."
I'd had enough. I took my gun and shot a single bullet at the loudspeaker, cutting his voice off. Whirling around I faced Snake. "I didn't lead you here. I didn't. Please Snake Eyes, please believe me." In answer he touched my face which strangely calmed me down. He pulled me forwards, inclining his head that we had to run.
We raced back up the way we came, flying over the steps with me in the lead, Cobra's voice still vibrating in my mind. Then I heard battle. "Snake, he knew we were coming. The others are all fighting." I explained to him. "They're to the east." He drew his katana blade and instantly moved to where I had directed him, straining my ear to listen.
We ran around a corner but skidded to a halt as we stood face to face with Cobra Commander himself. "Good evening, Subject Forty-Three. It's good to see you so…improved." I spat at him mentally. How dare he use that word! My weapons were already up and pointing to him and at his guards who all stood beside him. "I'd like to be the first to congratulate you on surviving my little experiment. You weren't meant to. In fact, you were the key to its perfection."
"I want to hear nothing from you." I snapped at him as Snake Eyes turned, facing the new enemy cobras as they poured in from all angles.
"A pity. Still, I think you would like to at least see this." He held out his hand and I looked to where he was gesturing. My eyes widened in shock. A girl stood in the doorway, with black silky hair and dark eyes that glittered. Her smooth skin was richly toned but her face was hard and emotionless. She looked dead. Lifeless.
"Sabrina?"