Chapter 14: There's No Time for Grief This is War

In no time they were descending and Temper was in the Indus Valley. The convoy pulled up and everybody dispersed, either doing their jobs or helping somebody out. One particular truck opened and two men pulled out a nuclear warhead. They followed other soldiers with the same cargo to the side of the camp to get ready for pick up. Duke then came out of truck, gun in hand.

"Nukes disabled, long range transportation, wheels down at 1900 hours," Duke informed.

"Home in time for Top Chef," Roadblock added, following Duke out of the truck.

"Good job Tiny Time," Duke congratulated Mouse while giving him a slap on the shoulder.

"All that week combat shooting finally paying off sir," Mouse replied.

Duke walked over to another Joe and signed a few papers. When he turned he held his arms open to Temper who came up and hugged him.

"How have you been doing girl?" Duke asked.

"Good," she answered, "you?"

"Successful mission, you're here safe, no Cobra. I'm great!"

"How's Ana?"

"Good, I talked to her a few days ago. She's been caught up with politics so she's been stressed lately. Snake Eyes?"

"He's good, training Jinx."

"Jinx, that's his apprentice, right?"

"He's helping train her," Temper corrected.

"Temper! How is my peanut butter, jelly, banana lovin' girl?" Roadblock asked. Temper looked to the big man and smiled.

"I'm great. How are you and your daughters?"

"Good. Still terrorizing Duke," Roadblock replied.

"Hey, we gotta keep Duke on his toes," Temper said.

"Alright," Duke interjected, "speaking of keeping people on their toes, I think somebody needs to put a certain ninja's nerves to rest." Duke looked to Temper with a serious look. She rolled her eyes and walked to a space in between two vehicles. Pulling out her phone she texted Snake Eyes.

Safe and sound, she stated.

Glad to hear it. I'll see you in four days. She read his reply and went to find Lady Jaye.

"Hey Jaye," Temper greeted the other woman who turned at the sound of her voice.

"Hey Temp whatcha need?" Lady Jaye asked.

"Just wondering where I could set my belongings," she replied. Lady Jaye smiled.

"Come with me, you can set it with my stuff."

After releasing herself from the burden, she came upon Duke and Roadblock staring down a cupcake with a candle on a small pole at least fifty feet away.

"Let me get this straight; one whole weekend, you lookin' after my little girls," Roadblock stated his benefits and handed Duke a full magazine clip. He took and popped it into the rifle he was holding with a smug look on his face.

"Alright look, I love your kids, I do, but they live to terrorize me… you trained 'em well," Duke complimented. Temper chuckled and leaned against a shack nearby.

"And if you win?" Roadblock questioned. Duke thought about it.

"You have to take your next promotion," Duke stated. Roadblock crossed his arms, smirked and looked at the cupcake.

"You pull the trigger, I pull the trigger," Roadblock said.

"I don't know if I'm gonna trust a pastry from a gumbo chef." Duke released the safety on the gun and took aim.

"Are you guys really gonna waste a perfectly good red velvet cupcake for a stupid bet?" Temper asked. Roadblock glanced over at her then back at Duke.

"Don't worry, if you're really that upset I'll make you one later," Roadblock promised. Temper smiled at the chef and turned her attention to Duke who was still getting ready to pull the trigger. Duke exhaled through his mouth, trying to relieve tension.

"Think about the wind," Roadblock interrupted his friend's concentration.

"Four knots, left to right," Duke said aloud.

"Humidity," Roadblock reminded him, "I'd say it's about 62 percent-"

"Are you gonna give the barometric pressure too?" Duke questioned in annoyance and took aim again. Temper covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"It's on the rise," Roadblock answered, "like your panties." Temper could not help when a small laugh escaped through her fingers. Duke smirked.

"You love my panties," Duke teased. Temper mouthed to no one in particular 'what?' Roadblock glanced at him through his peripherals and back at the cupcake.

"That's an interesting choice of a joke-" Roadblock started.

"Okay, alright." Duke looked to the sky, though his face remained neutral, he was starting to get frustrated.

"-Of all the things you could say," Roadblock continued without stopping.

"I'm just-"

"'You love my panties'?" Roadblock questioned.

"Are you gonna shut up?" Duke asked.

"What does that mean?" Roadblock inquired, referring to what Duke had said.

"Are you gonna shut up?" Duke repeated.

"I'm just saying-" Roadblock defended.

"I'm trying to do something."

"-I'm just lookin' out for you." Roadblock continued to talk until Duke interrupted once again.

"Shut up," Duke ordered and took aim.

"Just sayin'"

"Shut up," Duke repeated, trying to get his concentration back. Roadblock cleared his throat, readying for one last diversion.

"How's your heart rate?" he suddenly asked as Duke pulled the trigger, throwing him off and making the bullet hit the pole instead of the real target. Roadblock and Temper chuckled.

"That is not gonna count," Duke started, "I get to go again, because you talked." Roadblock looked at him seriously.

"You pull the trigger, now I pull the trigger," Roadblock said. He leaned down and pulled up a heavy artillery gun that had to weigh as much as Temper.

"No, we're not doing that," Duke reprimanded, trying to stop him. Roadblock took aim.

"Shhhh."

"That's not gonna count," Duke told him, but he did not listen. Temper covered her ears and watched as Roadblock pulled the trigger, Duke plugged his ears, and an onslaught of bullets rained down on the innocent pastry. Roadblock set the huge gun down and looked through the smoke at his victory.

"Cheater," Duke stated.

"I bought my little girls a karaoke machine and they love singing on it," Roadblock informed Duke.

"All night long," he added, "there's no a… bedtime/ curfew so they're going to be up all night. Make sure you bring your earplugs." Roadblock hit Duke's shoulder, mocking him in a way. Temper watched as Roadblock came to stand in front of her, holding out his arm to her

.

"My lady," he greeted. Temper smiled at his antics and wrapped her arm around his.

"Why thank you, good sir," she played along. All the while Duke turned to the two.

"Come on, best two out three," Duke pleaded.

"Nope," Roadblock answered quickly.

"Best two out of three. C'mon that didn't count! You didn't tell me about the karaoke machine!"

Temper looked at him with pity. He's gonna die from lack of sleep, she thought to herself. The three promenaded toward the middle of the camp. Temper looked over to Lady Jaye and Flint who were coming onto the scene.

"Prepare for extraction," Lady Jaye said to the man next to her.

"Extraction? What are we, teeth?" Flint retorted, the two coming over to the other side, where Temper was.

"You reach HQ?" Roadblock asked one of the Joes.

"No I got nothing," the man replied.

"Go up high," Roadblock commanded.

"Roger Stg."

"Block," Duke called out, coming over to his comrade and Temper. "All have been accounted for, not a single drop of blood." Temper followed the two men as they walked over to the camping tents. Duke caught sight of something on Roadblock.

"Did you scrape your elbow?" Duke asked.

"No! It's sweat," Roadblock corrected.

"That better have been on somebodies face." Duke walked over to check up on things while Roadblock stopped, seeing a firefly. A bug not commonly found in a desert-like place. He watched as it fly away.

"'Ey Duke," Roadblock called for the man's attention. When Duke turned around Roadblock pointed to the insect. "You see that?" The two looked off to the distance and then heard the sound of helicopters and saw lights, Temper looked as well.

"Security's early," Duke commented. Suddenly one of the aircrafts shot at one of the vehicles on a sand mound which broke apart with sparks and fire.

"Get down!" Lady Jaye ordered. All the Joes took cover and watched as the helicopters swept over them and shot at random vehicles where the Joes were.

"Move out!" a man ordered. Bodies hit the ground or were thrown down by the impact of the missiles being shot at them. The Joes took aim and fired upon the enemy. Flint was one that was thrown to the ground as an explosion took place behind him, the sound was deafening, causing a ringing in his ears. Duke took notice of his teammate.

"Flint down!" he informed Roadblock and Temper. "I'm going for him!"

"Go!" Roadblock urged. He and Temper made a cover for Duke as he ran over to Flint, shooting the aircraft. Duke made his way through the smoke and stirred up sand, tackling Flint as another missile was shot in their direction.

"Troops in contact. Request immediate air support!" Roadblock yelled to his communication piece in his ear. "I repeat immediate air support!" Temper moved back, taking cover behind trucks and still covering Duke while Roadblock radioed for help.

"You alright?" Duke asked Flint, though he was still in a state of shock. "Alright, c'mon, we gotta go," Duke urged, lifted the man up to his feet and pushing him to a running pace towards the trucks. "Go, go, go!" They took cover behind a vehicle not too far from the rest, but they were still to open for comfort. "You good?" Duke questioned as Flint collapsed.

Flint nodded deftly in response. "Look we gotta get you covered!" Duke looked over the hood of the car to see an oncoming helicopter shooting the ground, coming straight for them. "Incoming! Incoming! Go, go, go!" Duke yelled, shoving Flint to line of trucks.

Temper saw what Duke was seeing and realized what was happening. Duke tripped and fell, pushing Flint forward and to the ground, away from the truck he was then laying by as the rain of bullets came. Adrenaline surged through Temper's body as she ran to the two men. All Flint could do was watch as one lucky bullet went through, hit the engine, a body rushed past him, and the truck blew up sky high. Fire engulfed the scene before him. Lady Jaye and Roadblock turned their heads to the sound, only to see Flint down and a truck still rolling from the burst of momentum.

"Duke, come in!" Lady Jaye called through the comm. system. It seemed as if the full impact of the loss hit Roadblock immediately, he could not breath.

"DUKE!" Flint yelled, backing away from the fire. "Duke!" Snapping out of it, Roadblock ran to Lady Jaye's position

"Get to cover now!" Roadblock ordered Lady Jaye as she was about to step into the open. Flint gathered his sanity, or least a semblance of it, and ran to the two Joes. More bodies fell, dead or wounded. "Get to the well, go!" Roadblock instructed the two running in front of him.

"Pull back!" a man yelled, some distance away. Roadblock shot at the enemies, nothing seemed to bring the aircraft down. Realizing it was futile, Roadblock ran after Flint and Lady Jaye, following their path and jumped into the well as all hell came down in the form of missiles and fire cover the ground.

Choking they all came up for air and looked up at the night sky. Foot steps and voices approached their hiding spot. As they heard the sounds come closer they ducked under the murky water and waited. Bullets whizzed through the water, but none touched the three. Roadblock motioned up with his finger and slowly came up to see if the coast was clear. He heard the retreating sounds of the helicopters. When the sun came up they devised a plan. Going back to back they linked arms, pushed their backs against each other, put all feet on the wall and slowly but surely made their ascension to the above ground.

"Alright," Roadblock said as the neared the mouth of the well. "On three," he warned them. They prepared for it. "One… two… three!" At the same time they all jumped towards Roadblock's side of the well. Roadblock hoisted himself up. Lady Jaye and Flint pulled themselves up using Roadblock's body and the wall. They all coughed, their throat and lungs filling with smoke and ash as they set eyes on the devastating sight. Bodies were burned, punctured by bullets, or both. Roadblock was the first to get up. He went over to a fallen comrade and pulled the dog tags off the body. Flint and Lady Jaye looked around them, seeing nothing that gave them hope.

"We should leave," Flint told him. "There's nothing here." Roadblock shook his head, his body tensed, blood flowed, and shot up off the ground.

"There's nothing left here?!" Roadblock questioned. Lady Jaye came over to the men quickly.

"That's not what he meant," Lady Jaye defended him.

"These are our brothers!" Roadblock shouted.

"That's not what he meant," she repeated. Flint walked away, head down. Lady Jaye looked Roadblock in the eye.

"Whoever did this… is gonna come back… we need to move," Lady Jaye advised. "You are our leader now."

"We head due east… until we're clear. We're gonna find the man who did this to Duke and our brothers… and we're gonna kill 'em," Roadblock informed.

"Brothers and a sister," Flint corrected. Roadblock glanced to Flint with a questioning look. "Look around… Temper isn't here, I saw her go to Duke, she was caught in the fire of the explosion. They both were," Flint explained. Roadblock stared at the ground before kneeling, grabbing a gun, and putting it in the ground, the butt of the gun going up to the sky.

"Get all the dog tags you can," Roadblock ordered, "and any supplies." Flint did as he was asked. Lady Jaye stayed where she was for a few seconds.

"Are you going to tell Snake Eyes?" she asked.

"He's going to find out eventually, might as well be from me then someone else."

Somewhere in Germany…

Snake Eyes watched as an armored truck pulled through the two gates surrounded a secure prison, Einsargen. It was strange watching someone look so similar to him jump out of the vehicle and enter the prison. Staying in the grass, he waited for a few hours seeing nothing out of the ordinary until a man riding a motorcycle pulled up about a mile away from the first fence. The man pulled out a canister, twisted two of the opposite sides, and pulled outward. It looked as if scales coated the inside cylinder. Pushing a button on the container the scales popped off, revealing to be mechanical bugs. As they flew to the fence and lit up Snake Eyes noticed that they were fireflies. After swarming around the area the fireflies' light flickered. The flickering quickened until they all simultaneous exploded. The man rode forward, shooting the first fence with a torrent of bullets until nothing was left, then shot a missile at the second, giving him a clear path to the entrance of the prison. The man jumped off the motorcycle that came apart and propelled itself forward to the doors and exploded on impact. The man pulled a parachute cord and came to a stop in front of the fire. He took off the helmet, revealing a camo balaclava and pulled out two guns from the holsters at his hips. A few short minutes passed and three men exited the prison, Firefly, the Cobra Commander, and Storm Shadow. He pulled out a gun of his own and walked toward a helicopter that quickly made it's way down, gathered the package, and left before Snake Eyes could get close.

He arranged his own transportation and soon was back in Japan.

Somewhere in the Indus Valley…

"Protocol says we make a distress call right?" Flint questioned.

"No, protocol died with the unit," Roadblock stated.

"What?" Flint muttered as he tried to keep up with Roadblock and Lady Jaye, "How's anybody gonna know we're alive?"

"They're not, 'cause we're not. To our government, to our families, especially to our enemy, we were KIA at 0600 hours in the Indus Valley desert," Roadblock explained.

"We have to at least try, I mean, there might be someone-" Flint started.

"No, anything we do know is a rumor of a rumor. Any and all traces of our existence… is terminated. The only one I trust out there is Snake Eyes." At that Roadblock shouldered his gun and kept moving through the blazing heat. "When we got hit, how we got hit, we were set up right from the start."

"How many stars would somebody need on their shoulder to call an attack like that? Four? Five?" Flint asked.

"No, not stars. Buttons on his suit," Lady Jaye corrected. "National Security Advisor, Secretary of Defense…"

"No," Roadblock started to say, "there's only one man who could authorize a strike like that… and I voted for him."

They kept walking, eventually Lady Jaye headed the expedition, and heard something coming toward them. She held a fist up, motioning for the men behind her to stop. Glancing back she took her index and third finger and tapped her ear twice. As they listened they heard jets and all three of them got ready to fire their guns at the first sight of an enemy.

"Aerial threat down!" Roadblock commanded and they kneeled. As an airplane soared over them they followed the aircraft with their guns, still ready to shoot. Lady Jaye looked to Roadblock, then behind her where the airplane came from. The three of them marched up a small sand dune and pressed themselves to the ground, coming upon an airstrip with a dozen cargo planes.

"We're going home," Roadblock assured them.

Though they did not like the idea of stealing, desperate times called for desperate measures.

In Japan…

Snake Eyes continued training Jinx along with the Blind Master. The Soft Master periodically checked up on him after they both heard the news of the massacre of the Joes. Snake Eyes tried to put off the feeling of loss, knowing that grieving would distract him from the matters at hand. He had seen many of his comrades die, many friends die, and family, but this hit was too close for comfort. He spent every waking moment, directing pain to a different emotion, mostly anger. He was going to make Cobra pay.

He put everything into his fight with Storm Shadow at the temple in the mountains, but it did little to put a dent in his need for revenge. They had gotten a signal from Lady Jaye, which Snake Eyes was glad to hear, but he knew Temper was not with him, nobody needed to say it, he knew. He did as he was asked and brought Tommy back to Japan, alive.

"If Cobra and Zartan are in the White House then the world is at stake," the Blind Master stated.

"Storm Shadow, you will tell us Cobra's end game." Snake Eyes and Jinx held him by the arms, which were bound together, and made him kneel in front of the Blind Master, who stood, and the Soft Master, who sat there watching.

"Or die, by the same sword you once used to kill our Master." The Blind Master turned, picked up a white sheath, and pulled out the blade. The end did not shine like the other half, which had the red Arashikage symbol, but instead was stained a rust red from dried blood. "Your sword-" The Blind Master held it up for everybody to see, then lowered it down, and walked across Tommy's path, the point of the blade passing just in front of his bruised and bloody face. He did not flinch, or blink. "-Given to you by our beloved Hard Master. Do you deny that your envy and hatred drove you to shed the Hard Master's blood?" the Blind Master asked, his back turned to the accused, holding the blade up in front of himself though he could not see the sword. The Blind Master turned the sword upside down, blade to the ground and planted it there in the grass.

"It's possible to feel so much hate… you stop feeling it at all," Storm Shadow spoke, the first words he has uttered since coming into the temple he once lived in. He looked forward, remembering the day he lost his master, and tears brimmed his eyes, he still did not blink.

"Like a fish not knowing it's in water, but my path was chosen for me… by my enemy. Who framed me for killing the Hard Master-" Tommy finally looked in a direction, to Snake Eyes, "-and my friends… for believing it." He then looked to the Blind Master and Soft Master, who were once again side by side. "Why defend yourself to men too blind to see?" Tommy questioned and looked toward the white hilted sword in the ground. "That is the Hard Master's blood," he agreed, "but that is not-" Tommy lunged, rolled, grabbed the sword and swung it at Snake Eyes, who was already preparing for a fight. As the blades met in an x- form, Snake Eyes' sword was proved to be stronger as the one in Tommy's hand was cut in half. The blade flew in the air and penetrated the ground.

"Wait!" the Blind Master shouted holding his wooden staff up, not seeing the ordeal, but hearing it.

"-my sword," Tommy finished with his body crouched down, back to Snake Eyes.

With quick movements he flipped the dagger sized sword, effectively cutting the rope around his wrist and got up, looking to the Masters. Storm Shadow held what was left of the sword up for the occupants of the room to see. "Arashikage steel does not break," he pointed out.

The Soft Master's lips turned up in a smirk. The Blind Master let the staff drop, the sound of the wood vibrating could be heard in the silence of the room.

"I have asked myself over and over," Stormed shadow started, walking horizontally in front of the Masters,"who despised me enough to destroy my life?" As Storm Shadow got to the edge of the glass, he turned, looking to Jinx and Snake Eyes and then to the Blind Master.

"I am sorry Storm Shadow, but who would stand to gain the most by framing you for this crime?" the Blind Master questioned. As Storm Shadow stood there, forming the answer, the Blind Master went on, "Your young adversary who chased you away? Or the man into whose arms you were chased." Tommy remembered running, he remembered the man he ran to. "Someone who welcomed you, showed you kindness."

"He needed me," Storm Shadow informed, looking to the ground, "for who I would become. A warrior of great skill and anger. The man who betrayed me was capable of great ingenuity, violence, but most of all... disguise." The scene played out behind Tommy's eyes, the old, haggard man sticking the duplicate sword into his master and the man taking his mask off, revealing a mad much younger than the mask made him to be, bald, big nose, rounded chin.

"Zartan."

"Yes," the Blind Master agreed. "Tell what he and Cobra have planned, so we can destroy our common enemy, together."

"But before that," the Soft Master interjected, "I, as well as the Blind Master, sanctify the exoneration of Tomisaburo." The Blind Master nodded nodded once in confirmation.

"This trial is adjourned. Snake Eyes, Jinx, prepare to leave immediately for the location of the remaining Joes," the Blind Master ordered and walked out of the room, leaving Storm Shadow and the Soft Master.

"I require a set of clothes and weapons," Tommy informed him.

"They will be given to you. Have you heard the state of Temperance?" the Soft Master asked.

"Yes, I heard she was among the casualties of attack on the Joes."

"Cobra has also attacked the Pit, leaving more bodies in their wake. We must stop them." Storm Shadow bowed his head and turned to leave. "I am not finished," Tommy looked back, and went to sit in front of the Soft Master, "we still have much to discuss."

A/N: Please Review!