Shadows From the Past

By isomer

Disclaimer:

I do not own the rights to GI Joe, Action Force, or Battle Action Force, or any of the characters that appeared in them. I'm just borrowing them for a bit of a story. This story is intended to merge the Battle Action Force continuity in with the current (as of 2002) GI Joe comic continuity. On the whole I think it does it very well.

The story is not quite complete. I intend to add a few bits of fluff or incidentals sooner or later. I also think I may continue it a some future point too. The Red Shadows were just too neat an idea to let go of… especially if the regular publishers wont/cant bring the back. :)

GI Joe: Shadows From the Past

Pt 1: Destro

Destro again looked at the video screen showing his son, as he paced the short confines of his cell, still not sure what to do with the boy. He had certainly made a mess of things in his attempt to take over Cobra, and would likely want some form of revenge since he had given Mistress Armada to Cobra Commander as part of a deal. Destro knew his son need not worry too much, he was sure that Cobra Commander would find a place for her within Cobra… until then, of course, he would not want to be in her shoes.

The contemplation was just a way to kill time, he was expecting a visitor. A very strange and mysterious visitor, who insisted that the Baroness be away for his visit. The arrogance, and strangeness of the request raised within Destro a curiosity he had not experienced since he learned he had a son. He was also alarmed by how much the strange visitor seemed to know about himself and Cobra, but he would never have thought to meet with the man if Zartan had not so strongly suggested it.

Destro switched his monitor from the jail cells, to display the current readiness of his security forces, for he was taking no chances.

A subtle beep informed him of a car approaching his castle, his monitor automatically switched over to display it. It was not a car that Destro could easily recognize, it seemed to be a customized sports car, designed for speed with a flashy red paint job. Whoever it was, liked their cars, and liked them fast. His cameras were not able to get a clear image of the man as he entered the castle, he would have to speak with is techs about improving the cameras. In the mean time, he would see what his visitor looked like soon enough.

Turning off his monitor, Destro stood and waited for his visitor to be brought to him. The clear clip sound of boots on stone floor announced his visitor. Two of his guards held the doors open for his guest.

Odd... his guards seemed uneasy.

The visitor stopped in the doorway, allowing the light to silhouette him, while the window provided the same effect for Destro.

“The Design of your ancestral mask is a remarkable coincidence. Do you suppose that is why Cobra Commander first sought to employ you all those years ago?” The visitor asked.

Zartan didn’t say the visitor would be rude. Destro chose not to answer the cryptic question. “Who are you?”

“I have had many names, Destro. Including yours. For now, call me Jackal.”

“Jackal? Should I know you?”

The figure stepped forward into the room, allowing Destro to see him clearly for the first time. He suddenly realized he was looking at... himself??

Jackal seemed amused by Destro’s shock. “As I said, a remarkable coincidence. Mine is not a mask, but an enhanced bionic exoskeleton. A combination of two accidents, the second of which was failing to kill Cobra Commander before he gave me an acid bath. But I have to admit, this new face, is a drastic improvement over the pervious, which was basically the same, without the ability to generate facial expressions.”

Destro did not buy the explanation, but decided not to challenge Jackal about it just yet. “What do you want with me?”

“Two things, Destro. First, I want you to keep my secret. As far as Cobra Commander, the Baroness and Major Blood are concerned, I am dead. I wish to keep it that way.”

“The second?”

“I want to give you a warning, not to get involved. We are returning, and we are going to teach the Commander a lesson about casting things aside. Especially our lives. It will be a blood feud, and there is no reason for you to be involved… especially since I feel a sort of kinship with you. It would be tragic for Destro to be fighting on both sides of this conflict.”

“Really… and why am I to believe this, Jackal?”

“What else should I tell you to make you believe me?” Jackal asked.

“Tell me about the early days of Cobra, and your death… maybe that will convince me.”

“I doubt it, but if that is your wish. Your Fang helicopters are based on designs we stole Action Force, the European version of your dreaded G I Joe. We destroyed the helicopters and stole the plans. Your Hiss tanks were originally called Hyenas, I'm not sure I like the ‘improvements’ you have made to them. Doctor Venom did not invent the SNAKE escape armor, just the mind control operating system. When the Commander formed Cobra I stole his bank account numbers and changed the access codes, which inspired him to keep me alive after my ‘accident’. A large scale infiltration operation went wrong, I was believed dead. Only Zartan knew I survived. I took the money I had stolen from the Commander and retired, but as a result of the failure, Cobra Commander went stark raving mad. He eventually pulled himself back to sanity, but I fear the better part of his genius was lost forever.

“The Baroness was not born with the name DeCobray… that name was made up for her by Blood. She was raised in a rich home… not unlike this. She hated her father passionately, and saw her self as a terrorist Robin Hood, taking out the aristocracy. She no more than a spoiled brat when we recruited her for Cobra. Why did she hate him? I don’t know… maybe he failed to care when her brother was killed in Viet Nam, or maybe she sexually molested her as a child. I don’t really care. But if you fail to heed my warning, Destro, the tide of Blood will wash you away as well as Cobra and G I Joe.”

Destro surveyed his visitor coldly, but he couldn’t help wondering if the insanity of Cobra commander could not deal with the loss of his first ‘Destro’ and that was why he forced him to take the name.

Jackal spoke again. “Do you know where your name comes from, Destro? It is a warning, to ever remind him that you are waiting for your opportunity to destroy him. At least, that his why he gave the name to me. Are you satisfied now? Will you heed my warning?”

“I shall not mention you to Cobra Commander or the Baroness. But I am indebted to the Commander. I may not be able to remain, uninvolved.”

“I suppose that is what I should have expected.” Jackal answered. “When the time comes, there will be plenty of blood for the Baron. I hope yours wont be part of it.”

Jackal turned and walked away, Destro was too lost in his own thoughts to even think of stopping him. It was time for him to research some ancient history.

Pt 2: Zartan

A small holographic image appeared in front of Zartan. A communication he had been expecting, but dreading at the same time. It was Jackal, a man he had once known as Destro, before the current Destro had joined Cobra all those years ago.

“Thank you for helping me deliver my message to Destro, Zartan. Your base florida base is swarming with snakes.” Jackal said.

“An unavoidable circumstance, Jackal. I’ve had to make a deal… in return for my health.” Zartan replied.

“Where is your daughter. Zartan?”

“She is… Away at present. You cannot date her.”

Jackal smiled. “I merely wanted to make sure she was safe. To reward you for helping me meet with Destro, I am giving you this warning. We are going to take care of your snake infestation.”

Zartan’s eyes widened in horror… “What? When?”

“As we speak, Zartan. Run for your life, if you value it. Blood for the Baron!” The screen went black.

He opened a new channel on his communications console. “Zartan to all Dreadnoks. Get out of the swamp, or to shelters now. Emergency Evacuation.”

Buzzer’s face appeared on the screen. “Oi, Zartan… what about the Snakes?”

“Let them fend for themselves.”

Zartan’s attention was drawn to the sound of machine gun fire out in the swamp. It had already begun. He glanced down at the bomb shelter entrance, thinking of taking shelter there, but then thought better of it. Now that his skin condition was cured, he would be better off in the swamp where he could hide more effectively.

***

A man stood in front of a blood colored Hiss tank, he wore a black military cut uniform, with a red cap and shoulder stripes, and a skull insignia on his chest, his entire manner spoke of a life in the military, although his face had not weathered the years very well. He was the Black Major.

He was surrounded by equally disciplined troopers dressed all in red, with red helmets with red face plates, except for the black and white eye slits. They were all well armed. Jackal himself was sitting in the cockpit of the Hiss tank.

“Our… Special Forces have already begun their assault on the Cobra forces. Soon they shall begin to try and flee the swamp. Your job is to prevent that from happening. I have marked all the known swamp exits, and a few hidden ones. Each squad is to take a Tank and stake out an exit. When you see someone attempting to flee, mow them down. There is a motorcycle gang in there in addition to Cobra. They are not the main priority, it is acceptable if some of them escape, but anyone wearing a Cobra Uniform must die. One more thing.” The Black Major held up a photo of Zartan, “This man is one of Cobra’s inner circle. Bring me his body as proof of the kill.”

“BLOOD FOR THE BARON!!” The troops shouted, then ran to their posts. The Black Major smiled. He had been waiting for his revenge for a very, very long time, and now it was finally starting to happen.

***

Buzzer and Torch, peeked out from their hiding place.. They were suddenly glad they had opted to not take their usual way out of the swamp. A red tank was sitting there waiting for them. They did not recognize the red uniforms, but Buzzer couldn’t help feeling like he should.

A few of the newer Dreadnoks staggered onto the hidden road, not seeing the tank wanting for them, and Buzzer and Torch knew better than to shout a warning. They took a stupid risk in taking the usual way out, even if it was one of the hidden exits, they would have to deal with it themselves.

The tank opened fire, and mowed the men down with machine guns. “More Blood for the Baron!” someone shouted.

“These guys is nutters,” Buzzer whispered, then pulled his head back down. They would make sure they were nowhere near any tanks or men in red when they made their break from the swamp.

***

From his vantage point in the trees, Zartan had an excellent view of the fighting. Whatever it was Cobra was fighting, it wasn’t human. They seemed like reptiles, wearing red swimsuits, carrying nets and tridents equipped with lasers. At range, they were an even match for the Cobra troops, but the catch was keeping them at range. The swamp was the best environment for that kind of combat, there were too many trees to get in the way, and too many places for them to hide. Plus the creatures seemed to be amphibious. They moved faster through the water than anything Zartan had ever seen before. And in hand to hand combat, the Cobra troops had no chance against the monsters. They had overwhelming strength, and were not afraid to literally bite someone’s head off if they got the chance.

The green Krakens made short work of every one they came across. Shooting some with lasers, skewering others on their tridents, and simply ripping others apart after they had been ensnared in their nets.

Zartan adjusted his pigmentation to more closely resemble the bark of the tree he was hiding in. He did not want to be caught by these things.

***

The Black Major approached Jackal. “I hope someone escapes to take word back to their commander.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Jackal answered. “I don’t think we will be able to find Zartan hin his native swamp. He is too good at his job for that… and his natural camouflage will make it next to impossible for us to find him.”

“Even the Kraken?”

“They are not Bloodhounds.”

“Well, we will get him one day soon, in either case. I just hope he gives his commander a good enough description for the Commander to identify the Kraken.”

***

Cobra Commander looked up as Zartan staggered into his throne room. Zartan was trying to stand tall and look formidable, but the strain of the previous day was obvious.

“What happened, Zartan” Cobra Commander hissed. “What happened to the army I left in your care to oversee our shared intrestess.”

“They… They were all killed, Commander.”

“By… things. I don’t know what they were. Monsters or aliens, green with red jumpsuits, carrying tridents and nets.”

“Do you really expect me to forgive you after telling me such a ridiculous story as that?”

“But Commander…”

“What, Zartan?”

“I have proof”

“You brought me a dead body to show you did more than cower in some tree?”

“No, Commander…” Zartan stammered, holding up a video tape. “They destroyed my base, but I was able to recover this security camera footage.”

“And I suppose that is sure to convince me… Just as Jurassic Park made us all believe that dinosaurs still walked the Earth! Do you take me for a fool?”

“Please, Commander….”

“Very well, put it in the player.”

Zartan placed the tape in a VCR, and pressed the play button. The large panel on the far wall suddenly came alive and showed several of the green creatures kicking in the door of Zartan’s headquarters, and proceed to destroy every piece of equipment in sight.

The tape ran to the end, and Cobra Commander remained silent.

The tape ended.

“Commander?” Zartan asked.

Cobra Commander remained silent.

“Do you know these creatures?”

“They are called Kraken…” Cobra Commander said softly, then turned coldly towards Zartan. “Get out.”

Zartan quickly retreated, leaving the Commander alone with his thoughts.

This is not possible, Cobra Commander thought to himself, Only I know the secret of the Kraken. Who else could be using them… and give them the same uniforms and equipment that I did?

He remembered the first time he had used the Kraken. He had sent them to take out a force of SAS men. They had succeeded in eliminating most of the SAS force, but had been eliminated. He had never gotten around to making another batch of them. Who else could it be? He had already killed Black Major, the only other person who knew almost as much about them as he did.

He did not have any answers… but he would get them, and it did not matter how many he had to kill to get them. It would be war.

Part 3: Duke

Duke studied the most disturbing report that had crossed his desk in several weeks. A massacre in the swamps of Florida. Normally, he would automatically assume that it was work done by the Dreadnoks or maybe Cobra, but they seemed to be the main victims. Not the only victims, there were plenty of innocents killed as well. Most shot repeatedly and left on the side of the road. When a team of Joes led by Gung-Ho and Cutter entered the swamps to investigate they found what remained of a Cobra army.

In the end it would likely make little difference. Cobra seemed to have and endless supply of men. Either way, with his worries over the revived Cobra, dealing with the Jugglers, and trying to get the reinstated G.I. Joe team into top form, the last thing he needed was another player on the field. To say nothing of a well armed force that was capable of taking out a major Cobra force on its own turf.

He suddenly preferred the days, just hours ago really, when his biggest worries were trying to locate Firefly and Major Blood.

The intercom on his desk gently buzzed. He pressed the button and cut off his secretary. “I thought I told you I didn’t want any interruptions.”

“You have a long distance phone call, sir. He wont take no for an answer, and is giving pass codes he should not know.”

“Who is it?”

“He says his name is Rob Buckingham.”

Duke smiled, that was a name he had not heard in a very long time. Since before he joined G.I. Joe, and he was part of an international force that was dealing with Cobra. A Force that had always kept very close ties to G. I. Joe. Duke picked up the phone.

“Eagle! What can I do for you?”

“I was just calling to see how you were handling your retirement from the military.” Buckingham answered with a British accent.

“Well, I'm not exactly retired any more.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear that. I rather envy your position.”

“So what have you been up to?” Duke asked, hoping that Buckingham would soon get to the point of his call.

“I'm retired now too. Doing much the same type of time killing activities that you had been up to until your reinstatement. Clipping newspaper stories, looking at other people’s photos, doing a bit of fishing, that sort of thing.”

“Sounds like it is just as dull for you as it was for me then, Rob.”

“Well, while I was looking over some new papers today, I got to remembering the old days.”

“Really? Is it something that I would remember?” Duke asked.

“Actually I think it was a few weeks before you joined up. The big push we made just before the Asian snake infestation.”

“I don’t remember it off hand, but I can look it up. Was there anything in piticular about it that you reminisce about?”

“Not really. I just got to thinking that a year later there was a bit of a revival, but nothing came of it. And we never located most of the leaders.”

“What makes you remember the old days?”

Buckingham uttered a humorless chuckle. “Some things you never forget, but I really cant talk about that. Hush-hush, you understand.”

“I certainly do,” Duke said, “Thanks for the call, I hope I can return the favor.”

“No problem, Duke,” Buckingham replied, then hung up.

Duke sat for a moment, then buzzed his secretary. “Dig up all the old files on the Red Shadows.”

Part 4: Dr. Mindbender

Something has Cobra Commander on edge, Doctor Mindbender thought as he listened to his commander rant on the view screen. The Joes must have won a victory that was what usually set the Commander off like this. Slowly the commander started getting around to the point of his call. It was hard to pay attention to the Commander when he was like this, since he had heard so much of it before with very few changes. Wait a moment… he wasn’t talking about Joes at all, but about expecting attacks from some other source.

“I expect you to have the first wave of the new Battle Android Troopers deployed at once!” Cobra Commander concluded.

“Of course, Commander. I will see to it personally.” Mindbender replied just before the screen went black. If there is a new force on the field, I must find a way to use it to my own advantage, he thought. In the mean time, the Commander did not hesitate to remind him of the threat of Storm Shadow should he try and betray the Commander.

For that matter, Mindbender wished he knew more about Storm Shadow. Surely a ninja warrior as good as he was could not have the simple do-gooder background that Storm Shadow claimed. Mindbender needed as many advantages as he could get these days.

It also paid to keep the Commander happy. Mindbender walked to the main store room. “Cobra BATS, activate.”

Row upon row of Battle Android Troopers came online, each with its own soft beep, and a display of red lights on their faces that gave each of them the barest hint of a human face. Mindbender found they were much more intimidating that way. Any war had to first be won in the mind, before it can be won on the battlefield.

An explosion echoed through the base. Mindbender had to fight his initial impulse to run for his escape route. He already had the perfect weapon, it would be premature not to use it. On the other hand, BATS never had very effective friend or foe recognition software.

Instead he punched up his communications screen again. “Tele-Viper. Give me a status report.”

“We are being overrun by troops in Red uniforms, Sir.” The Tele-Viper then punched up footage from a security camera covering the doors to the base. Six Vipers were laying dead at their posts, while scores of soldiers in red uniforms and red face concealing helmets rushed into the building.

Typical idiotic Vipers, they weren’t on their guard since it was suppose to have been a secret base. At least the Joes didn’t know about it, but it apparently was not secret enough. At least they received the proper punishment for their failure.

The sound of gunfire. Had they already penetrated that far into his base? Damn.

“Tele-Viper, order all troops to form a perimeter around the command room. I will be there shortly.”

The Tele-Viper acknowledged, and signed off. Mindbender turned towards his Androids. “Cobra BATS, destroy anyone dressed in red! Into the corridor and Attack.”

He eyed each android warily as it passed, not entirely sure they would properly follow his commands. He wished there had been more time to properly test them. Almost as soon as they entered the hallway, the gunfire really began as the BATS and Red Shadows began exchanging fire. After most of the BATS were in the hallway, Mindbender followed them, using the entire wave of them as personal bodyguards to reach the control room.

Mindbender had to admit that the men in red were skilled, but they were also too fanatical for their own good. In fact, he would go so far as to say they were suicidal. They would shout “Blood for the Baron,” and then charge into the guns of his oncoming BATS without even trying to take cover. And they very seldom missed. Only his BATS extra armor prevented their destruction.

Mindbender could not help wondering just who this Baron they were willing to die for was. What kind of person could wield such unyielding loyalty?

The fighting was intense, but the BATS successfully pushed the Red Shadow troops back, allowing Mindbender to reach the Control Room, at which point, Mindbender put them into a defensive stance, unwilling to give up his shield just yet.

“All of the invading troops have pulled out, sir.” The Tele-Viper reported.

Strange, Mindbender thought, They were winning. “They can’t be retreating, what are they up to?”

Video screens across the control room lit up, showing various views of the grounds outside. The men in red had all pulled back quite a distance, but were still surrounding the building. Mindbender kept looking from one screen to another, until he found what he was looking for. One soldier that was apparently reporting to a superior. That camera view bothered him though, since the superior officer, who wore a uniform slightly different from the others, with a smoother face mask, was standing next to a piece of heavy artillery that he could not identify. For some reason he thought the cut of the superior officers uniform looked a lot like that of Cobra Commanders.

The enemy commander, slowly lowered the barrel of his artillery piece until it was pointed directly at their base.

It suddenly seemed to be getting hot. Mindbender realized he was sweating, and not just him, but everyone in the control room. “That cannon is some sort of laser… he is cooking us alive in here. Everybody outside the base! Send the BATS out first, and everybody forms up behind them. Tele-Viper, wipe the computer files.”

The Tele-Viper punched a few commands to make sure there would be nothing left in the computers for the enemy to find should they fall, then followed Mindbender and the others outside the base. As he was leaving, he noticed the printer’s paper feed catch fire.

The BATS filled out of the base and assumed a V formation, holding their rifles out waiting for the order to fire. The rest of the Vipers and other Cobra personnel grabbed their own guns and took positions behind the BATS, each one using a BAT as his or her personal shield.

The enemy’s expressions were unreadable behind their red face masks, but the leader sounded smug as he spoke through a loud speaker with a distinct Japanese accent. “I am Red Laser, of the Red Shadows, to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

Mindbender grabbed a loudspeaker from a Tele-Viper, but did not move to make him self seen. “I am Dr. Mindbender, currently representing Cobra.”

“Ah, good. I was hoping to meet you, and your reputed Android soldiers. This will be a fair test after all.”

“You seem to have very good intelligence on us, yet I have never heard of your Red Shadows before,” Mindbender replied, then thought to himself, test, what test?

“You should study your history then.” Red Laser replied, and then, pulling out a remote, pressed a button. The Red Shadow soldiers backed away, allowing passage of something else. Walking skeletons.

No, not skeletons, but robots designed to look like skeletons. Actually, after closer examination, aside from the arms and legs, they really didn’t come close to representing any realistic skeleton, but they sure achieved the initial shock effect. They had misshapen skull heads, with glowing eyes, and an unnatural smile, the ‘ribcage’ was molded onto the red colored torso of the robots. The rest of Mindbenders troops were certainly unnerved. Except for the BATS of course.

“Cobra BATS,” Mindbender ordered, “Move forward and attack!”

The BATS and Skeletrons advanced and clashed with each other, neither having a clear advantage. The BATS seemed to have a greater physical strength, their punches being able to crumple the heads of the Skeletrons, but the Skeletrons were no less deadly, their bony fingers easily slicing through the armor of the BATS.

“Quickly,” Mindbender turned to his troops, “While they are distracted watching the robots fight, circle around and secure their laser cannon!”

The vipers nodded, and disappeared into the woods that surrounded their once secret base. Dr. Mindbender kept a sharp eye out, both to keep track of the Vipers progress and to see which set of androids was winning. Already he could see where his own BATS could use some improving, and he got a few new ideas too, inspired by the Skeletron designs. Still, the Skeletron design of a skeleton was simply tacky. Their robotic forces were too evenly matched.

“Tele-Viper, sneak back into the base and set the self destruct charges for 10 minutes.” Mindbender ordered. The Tele-viper rushed to obey, leaving Mindbender with a few officers and Cobra support staff.

The Vipers had finally reached Red Laser’s laser cannon, Mindbender watched the silent struggle as the Vipers tried to first take the cannon by stealth. The first few kills were clean, the shadows went down without a sound. Then one of the other Shadows noticed, and raised alarm. The nearest Viper shot him, and all hell broke loose. Red Laser brought up a strange looking pistol which burned the next Viper in two. The next Viper brought up his own gun and shot Red Laser in the head. The man went down like a rag doll, and the fight for the cannon continued in earnest.

The fighting for the cannon continued, but Mindbender could tell it was only a matter of time before his own outnumbered forces fell to the waves of Red Shadows. Finally, one of his Vipers managed to climb into the gunners chair of the Laser Cannon. He turned it on the rushing horde of Shadows and fired, vaporizing several, burning many, and wounding others.

Mindbender stood up to shout at the Viper, “No, Destroy all the Androids!”

Instinctively, the Viper obeyed, turning the gun on the Skeletrons and BATS fighting in the space between Cobra and the Red Shadows. They sparked, and sizzled, BATS uniforms caught fire, but all the androids continued fighting. Mindbender was pleased that the first to be destroyed was a Skeletron, an not one of his BATS. First one Skeletron exploded, and then a BATS. Then, another with its shrapnel sparking a chain reaction in all of the androids, Skeletron and BATS alike.

Mindbender checked his watch, timing the action. Time to pull his men out.

“Cobra retreat to the Base!” He shouted, and led the run back into the Cobra base, his officers and support staff right behind him, while the Vipers followed in a fighting retreat. Their machine gun fire helping the others get away into the base clean, while slowing the Shadow advance down.

Groggily, Red Laser sat up, holding his head, and feeling a dent in his helmet, apparently caused by a bullet. He looked over to see the ruined remains of his Skeletrons and the Cobra BATS as well. He doubted he would learn very much from examining the remains. Looking around he further noticed that the retreating Cobra slime had sabotaged his Laser Cannon before they left. It would take a while for it to be functional again. He would see to it none of them would survive this outrage.

“Shadows, after them! Bring me the living head of Dr. Mindbender!”

The Shadows obeyed, pouring into the Cobra base like a red tide after the retreating Cobra personnel.

Then there suddenly was no more Cobra base. A huge fireball enveloped the Red Shadow troops that had been charging into the base, killing them all.

Red Laser’s face was completely impassive behind his facemask. The Baron would not be pleased with the outcome of this operation.

***

“Then leaving the Vipers to fight a holding action, I led the others out through my escape tunnel to safety. I'm sure the explosion took out most, if not all of the pursuing Red Shadows,” Mindbender finished his explanation.

“I am not pleased with this outcome, Doctor Mindbender,” Cobra Commander seethed.

“I’m sorry, Commander. It could not be helped.”

“I wonder. Their leader, the Baron is gone, the Red Shadows ceased being a threat long ago. Once again, I had come to think they had finally been wiped out completely.”

“Commander? What information do you have on these Shadows?” Mindbender asked hesitantly.

“Nothing!” Cobra Commander shouted. “Leave me. I must think.”

Dr. Mindbender bowed and left. He had some thinking to do himself. Someone was bound to know what connection Cobra Commander had to the Red Shadows. Perhaps if he could find the secret, he could finally be rid of Cobra and its insanity forever.

Pt. 5: Tomax and Xamot

“This floor is where most”

“Of our investments are handled.”

John Shepard followed his hosts, Tomax and Xamot, as they guided him through the halls of Extensive Enterprises. He scarcely paid them any attention as they went through their sales pitch to get him to let their company handle his finances, instead he was paying more attention to seeing who was in each room that they passed. In just about every room was someone he recognized. So far, everything was set for the plan. Jackal should be just outside the parking deck waiting for his exit, and the first surprise should be arriving soon enough. The next office they passed contained an elderly Japanese man talking with a sales representative, Red Laser was also ready.

“You seem extra busy today, are you?”

“Yes, business is picking up,”

“It’s a sign that the economy is about to improve.” A lie, Tomax thought. He and his associates would make sure that the economy stayed low, at least until Cobra had finished its land acquisitions.

“Ah, yes, of course.” Shepard answered.

“Didn’t you say that you had”

“Military experience, Mr. Shepard?”

“Yes, I got my start with the British SAS,” John Shepard replied.

“Many of our clients come from various military backgrounds.”

“We have even helped some of them come out of retirement.”

“I still find ways to stay active.” Shepard replied. He was already bored with these twins. At least he knew the fun would begin soon.

Back on the street level, a car pulled up to the front doors of the Extensive Enterprises building. Its passenger got out and walked into the building, while the car remained where it was, waiting.

One of the security men at the door waited a moment, then seeing that the car had no intention of moving on, walked over to it. “Excuse me sir, this is not a parking area. Could you move your car please?”

“blood.”

The guard was confused, “What?”

“Blood for the Baron!” The car driver shouted, and the car exploded.

The sound and initial shockwave triggered steel shutters to close across the windows and doors of the Extensive Enterprises building, so that no damage was done when the main shockwave of the explosion hit, carrying parts of car debris and parts of security guard.

Additional Extensive Enterprises security agents rushed to the scene, only to be felled by sniper fire from a nearby building. A few more sniper shots impacted harmlessly against the steel window shutters that now secured the building.

* * *

John Smith had always hated his generic name, and his generic accounting job as well. There was nothing out of the ordinary about his life, and he resented that. Then the steel shutters slammed over the windows to his office floor. Then, even stranger, his co-worker, Fred, began quickly assembling an assault rifle from parts located in his company briefcase.

John couldn’t say anything, he couldn’t imagine that Fred would go on a crazy shooting spree. Fred was too generic to do anything like that. All John could do was hide behind his desk.

Then Fred began pulling on a red uniform, with a silver Cobra insignia on its front, but before he could finish dressing, another man in red kicked open the door, only this man in red sported a skull and cross bones.

The second man in red quickly shot Fred three times, then turned the gun on John.

***

The steel shutters slammed down over the windows, quickly followed by a plink plink of sniper fire slamming onto the steel shutter. John Shepard knew he did not look as surprised as he should have. “What happened?”

“Something activated the building security.”

“Nothing to worry about. If you will excuse us,”

“There is something we must attend to.”

“Actually, Gentlemen,” Shepard said while leveling a gun at them, “If you value your own safety you will stay here, with me, the Black Major.”

The twins looked at the gun the Black Major was holding on them, and then at each other before slowly sitting back down into the conference room chairs.

“Well, then Black Major, “ Tomax began.

“How can we be of assistance?” Xamot finished.

***

Airtight rushed up to Duke, “So far none of the explosions have been chemical or radioactive. Tripwire has defused three car bombs, but—“

Another explosion went off down the street that the GI Joe team had just finished clearing of civilians.

“—we don’t know how many more there are.”

“Keep working on it, and call in more bomb sniffing dogs.” Duke ordered. This was turning into a busy day, and at the heart of the trouble, the Extensive Enterprises building stood, locked up tighter than a Cobra fortress under siege.

Several of the Extensive Enterprises security men who had not been caught in any of the bomb blasts, had been wounded by snipers; Lifeline was tending to their wounds, attempting to save their lives, while Lady Jaye, Beach Head, and Spirit were trying to find the Snipers. Low-Light had taken his own sniper position to provide support if it was needed, and Tunnel Rat was checking to see if there were any ways into Extensive Enterprises from below street level.

***

Tunnel Rat stopped suddenly, which caught some of the greenshirts behind him off guard. Someone swore when he stepped into something he did not want to identify, and Tunnel Rat silenced him with a dirty look.

Bringing his gun up, Tunnel Rat checked around the corner. His caution was rewarded as he avoided being hit by the hail of gunfire that came from around the corner.

Ducking back, he put his gun around the corner and fired blindly. He raised up his communication bracelet, “Duke, got men in Red trying to burn their way through a steel shutter down here.”

“Do you need reinforcements?” Duke asked.

One of the Greenshirts pulled a grenade, and hurled it down the sewer tunnel with the men in red.

After the blast, Tunnel Rat looked to make sure all were dead, “Nope, but who are these guys in red with the Skull and Crossbones?”

“They are called Red Shadows… we thought they had been wiped out before Cobra even came into existence.”

“Wish they had,” Tunnel Rat answered as he stepped over their bodies to check the steel shutter across the sewer tunnel. “I don’t think we will be able to get into EE this way. The Doors are too thick.”

***

“You are in for a real treat,” Said the Black Major, “You have the opportunity to meet the leader of the Red Shadows, and you just might be able to live to tell about it.”

The sounds of gunfire echoed through out the building. Tomax and Xamot could not help wondering how their undercover Crimson Guardsmen were doing. Still, if either side had been pushovers, the shooting would have been over a long time ago.

Finally, there was a high pitched whine, followed by the smell of ozone, and all the shooting had stopped, at least on that floor.

“Since we are still alive, does that mean,”

“You wish to come to some sort of arrangement?”

“It does,” answered a new voice from the door. Red Laser stood wearing a red uniform with a smoother face mask than the regular foot soldier. “We wish you to deliver a message.”

“And do we need to be alive to deliver this message?” Xamot asked.

“No, you do not.” Red Laser answered, and the Black Major smiled at the thought.

Xamot’s question was just the distraction Tomax needed to trip a silent alarm. Crimson Guardsmen would soon be responding. They needed to resolve the situation quickly, the GI Joe team would surely be responding to whatever it was that caused the shutters to close. There were too many dead Crimson Guardsmen, if the Joe team found them they may take that as solid evidence to link Extensive Enterprises with Cobra.

“Your help will not be arriving,” Red Laser said.

“My men have already secured our exit route. They will ensure that we remain undisturbed.” The Black Major explained. “Now, Up.”

Tomax and Xamot stood, following the motions of the Black Major’s gun as he guided them into the hallway, which was lined with Red Shadow soldiers.

They reached the elevator at the end of the hallway, which was already heading down to their floor. The doors opened, revealing a man dressed in a white jumpsuit, with a red front sporting the skull and crossbones, and a black round tube covering his head, except for a slot revealing two angry eyes.

“May I present,” Red Laser announced, “the Baron Ironblood. Leader of the Red Shadows.”

Black Major remained impassive.

“Have you agreed to our terms?” The Baron asked.

“His voice…” Tomax stammered.

“It sounds just like..” Xamot continued.

“Your Cobra Commander?” Black Major finished for them. “That is an interesting question, isn’t it.”

“The offer has not yet been explained to them, My Baron.” Red Laser replied.

“I see,” said the Baron, obviously not pleased, then he turned his attention to the brothers. “In exchange for your life, you will deliver a visual message to Cobra Commander, and you will give us access to your financial records.”

“Those records…”

“Are strictly confidential.”

“Ah… you pretend to have morals.” The Baron raised his pistol and fired once.

Both brothers grabbed their left arm in pain, but only one of them was bleeding.

“I suppose, it wouldn’t hurt…”

“If you had a quick look.”

It was impossible to tell if the Baron or Red Laser were pleased, but the Black Major had a look of satisfaction on his face as he led the brothers to a computer terminal, where they sat and brought up the database of Extensive Enterprises clients.

“No, Not that listing.” The Baron hissed. “The other one.”

The twins looked at each other and swallowed, before opening the secret database that no one knew about. The one that they made by illegally hacking into computer records all around the world to generate a complete financial profile on, if not everyone, as close to everyone as could be achieved.

“That’s better.”

The Black Major kept a close watch on the twins as they looked up a series of names. Some of the names the twins recognized as having Cobra connections, while others the twins did not recognize at all. They made a point to remember each name, because although the names meant little to them, it may make all the difference to Cobra Commander, especially when it came to covering themselves later. They were especially surprised when Billy’s name came up.

“Do you want printouts?” Tomax asked.

“No need.” Replied the Black Major. “Shall we be leaving now, Baron?”

“Yes. Bring them with us. To the parking garage.”

Once again gunfire began to echo through the building. Apparently either GI Joe or more Crimson Guardsmen had breached the defensive perimeter that the Shadows had formed.

“Our exit plan should still be safe.” The Black Major said, leading the Twins, the Baron and Red Laser back to the elevator.

The twins could not help but feel a sense of dismay that none of the Crimson Guard had managed to disable the elevators. “What will become of the soldiers you are leaving behind?” Xamot asked.

“They will fade, like Shadows always do. Or they will die, the only option for failure.” The Baron answered.

The elevator reached the parking level and opened. The Black Major roughly shoved the twins out of the elevator, as the others walked out.

“Well, my Baron?” The Black Major asked, while pointing his pistol at the head of the nearest twin.

“Let them live. We will deliver a stronger message that way.”

The Black Major pulled out a disk, and handed placed it in the pocket of one of the twins. “This contains our message.”

The far wall of the Parking level exploded inward, and a red HISS tank rumbled in, with Jackal at the controls.

“Will there be any problems getting past the Joes?” Asked the Black Major.

“No. They wont know what hit them.” Jackal answered.

The Baron climbed into the cockpit next to Jackal, while Red Laser climbed into the turret, leaving the Black Major to hold onto the back.

Tomax and Xamot could only stare as the red tank made its getaway. “Was that Destro?”

“Quickly, let us call, Cobra Commander, and get our mess cleaned up before the Joes arrive.”

***

“…And Destro was driving the getaway tank.” Xamot finished.

Cobra Commander seethed. “Get here as soon as you can, and you can tell me again what happened in more detail.”

The screen went black.

“Why would Destro betray me…”

“I wouldn’t, Cobra Commander,” Destro’s voice came from behind the Commander. “I can hardly be both here, and leading a raid. And my son is still safe in his cell.”

Cobra Commander was silent in thought.

“Who is this other ‘Destro’, Cobra Commander?” Destro demanded, “and who is this Baron Ironblood the twins mentioned? Your reaction was… interesting.”

“He is no one, Destro. He no longer exists. And whoever is using the name will die horribly. Leave me!”

Apparently, Destro thought, it was wise of him to spend more time at Cobra Headquarters. It would be interesting to see what the Commanders next move would be.

Pt 6: Storm Shadow

Alone, in his locked chambers, Cobra Commander looked over the battle reports. Again and again Red Shadows had attacked key Cobra instillations. Their attacks had not yet come close to weakening Cobra, but they had managed to delay several of Cobras future plans. They would come out of nowhere, strike hard, and then vanish into nothing. He doubted that even GI Joe had yet realized the Red Shadows had returned. He had forgotten how well he had trained his old Shadows. Maybe he had been a little hasty in the way he cast the Shadows aside in favor of his new Cobra.

And now, Xamot had delivered video disk containing a message for him from the Red Shadows. He again played the message, in which the John Shepard, the Black Major appeared on screen.

“Greetings, my Baron,” the message began, the hate and contempt plainly visible on the Major’s face. “It has been a long time. The time I spent tracking your past, so that I may destroy you utterly. You covered your tracks well. I never even realized you were keeping a wife on the side while you continued operations with us. Did you know that the Joes have some strange notion that you actually were a used car salesman, they have no idea what you were actually doing on your dealership property.

“Your wife, indecently was no challenge. She, along with her second husband, and their children didn’t put up any fight at all before they died. They didn’t even make the newspaper front page, so I wasn’t sure if you were even aware of it. I also arranged an accident for the investigator they had hired to find the son you kidnapped shortly after your bout with insanity. Again, no challenge.

“I want you to know you are being destroyed, and that I am the one behind it. I want to bring you down kicking and screaming. You will be completely ruined before I kill you.”

The fool was digging his own grave in telling him even this much of his plan, Cobra Commander thought. In some ways, he felt it was almost a pity the Major could not have been brought over to Cobra. But then bringing Red Jackal into Cobra had nearly been a disaster.

Still… the threat was clear, and precautions would be necessary. It would be a risk to his programming to use him, but what choice was there?

***

Something was out of place, thought Billy. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it yet, but something was out of place. He was being watched. He knew that much at least. The man with a walking stick at the corner who was reading a newspaper, and two men who had been following him since he got off the bus. There was more to it than that. He would be sure to tell Snake Eyes and Beach Head once he got back to Joe head quarters. No… that was suppose to be a secret, he would have to loose them before then. Who would want to follow him anyway? Was someone using him to find the Joes?

Billy turned into a coffee shop before he reached the man at the corner. He ordered some hot tea and sat in a seat that gave him an equal view of the street outside the windows, and the people inside. He would at least have little time to think about what to do, not many people had the skills necessary to follow him, as the two men from the bus stop had.

Storm Shadow folded the newspaper, and grabbed his walking stick and began walking back towards the coffee shop that Billy had entered. He didn’t know if he was angry or disappointed in Billy. The boy had definitely neglected his training; otherwise he surely would have recognized him, even from that distance. No doubt the boy thought he was still quite good. Pride and arrogance had brought many men low.

It was also obvious that the two men who had been trailing Billy had no Ninja training, although they did seem to be well skilled as soldiers. They did not notice him as a danger as he passed between them. He gently bumped their shoulders as he passed, that was all they, or anyone else on the street saw.

The deed done, Storm Shadow vanished into the crowd.

From inside the coffee shop, Billy watched the man with the walking stick pass the two men from the bus stop. Even though the man’s face was partly obscured, he knew him from somewhere. He knew him from somewhere. Then the two men staggered a few steps before falling to the ground. A crowd quickly formed outside the window, followed by shouts for someone to call 911.

On his way out, Billy spared a quick glance at the fallen men through the crowd, and the growing pool of blood under them. A quick strike with a poison dagger, most likely, and no sign of the other man.

Billy quickly made his way to Joe HQ, they would want to hear of this assassination.

****

Storm Shadow didn’t go far, the two men had to have back up somewhere in the area. He kept a sharp eye out for them. From his vantage point on a building ledge, he saw them. Two more men who had snuck back into an alley to discuss what to do next.

Storm Shadow leapt down into the ally between the two men. A flash of steal felled both men, and then he again sheathed his sword so that it again resembled the walking stick.

****

The Black Major entered the command room of their base, where Jackal, Red Laser, Red Wolf and Baron Ironblood waited to hear the report from their missing command staff member. “Our first assassination attempt on Billy has failed. The agents involved were all killed.”

“Good.” Said Ironblood, “That is what they deserve for failure. What do you have planned for the next attempt?”

“You should try something more subtle for the next one,” Red Laser added.

“Subtlety has never been my style,” the Black Major replied. “I was thinking something more along the lines of a full scaled assault.”

The Baron laughed.

****

The Joes were not taking the threat to Billy’s life seriously enough, Storm Shadow thought. He would have to stay around longer than he had originally thought. But then he knew that Snake Eyes and the others could be dense at times.

Snake Eyes never did really understand why the Soft Master had been so quick and so sure that Storm Shadow had been the one to kill the Hard Master, but then Snake Eyes didn’t really know the full story about his past. Snake Eyes didn’t know that before they met during the war, he had been a completely different person. Under the name of Azaki Suromo, he and his brother Shima had run away from home to train with another Ninja Clan that specialized in assassinations. Only one member from each family was eligible to become a Ninja. Snake Eyes did not know that he had murdered his own brother to make sure he would be chosen. Following that he had entered into a short career as an assassin. He didn’t really learn the value of Honor or friendship until he returned to America and was drafted as Thomas Arashikage. The battlegrounds of Viet Nam had proven more of an incentive to reform than any prison ever could have been, especially his friendship with Snake Eyes. While serving there, he began patching up his relationship with his family, to the point that they welcomed him, and later his friend Snake Eyes into his own family’s Ninja school. The rest was history.

After killing Shima, he knew he would have been the prime suspect for killing the Hard Master. As much as he may want to, he couldn’t blame any of them for thinking that he had.

A TV news broadcast caught Storm Shadow’s attention. “… In a vicious terrorist attack, several explosions have leveled the small town of Springfield…”

Whatever was going on, was apparently much bigger than Billy. It made him wonder exactly why Cobra Commander had sent him out so far to protect a potential enemy, even if he was the man’s son. In a way it made Storm Shadow feel somewhat nostalgic to be so near to Billy again.

****

Snake Eyes, silent as ever, followed Billy as the young man showed him his apartment.

“It’s not that I mind you being here, Snake Eyes, I just feel like I'm a little old for a sleep over.” Billy went on, then stopped, studying the impassive mask the other man wore. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I wanted to join to help you guys out, bring my father to justice. I didn’t expect I would be getting a wet nurse.”

Snake Eyes dropped himself down on the couch, setting his sword, Uzi, and pistol on the coffee table, before laying on the couch with his feet propped up on the arm rest.

“Food is in the fridge. I'm going to bed.” Billy disappeared into his bedroom. Each tried to rest, but neither succeeded in getting any sleep.

Across the street, Storm Shadow watched patiently, and grateful that Snake Eyes didn’t seem to notice his presence, but he was not sure if Snake Eyes was pretending, or if he really did not notice him.

Outside, a truck drove by… then stopped a near the end of the street.

It was a much quieter sound that aroused Snake Eyes’ attention. He did not stand, but reached over and grabbed his pistol and returned it to its holster. He reached over again to retrieve his other weapons, then rolled onto the floor to crawl away from the window that was just behind the couch. Billy stood in the doorway to his bedroom, not sure why he suddenly felt threatened.

Storm Shadow, too, was alerted, he sat up to better observe the street below, and readied his long bow. The street was filled with people. Not just the street, but there were more along the sides, and presumably around the back of Billy’s apartment building as well. They all wore red uniforms with red face concealing helmets. He took a brief moment to consider picking one of them off to steal his clothes and infiltrate their unit, but it didn’t look like he had that much time. It also didn’t look like they were even going to try to make this a covert operation, which would limit his options in that situation. Instead, he headed for ground level, but then thought better of it. The Silent Master would surely know they were there, but maybe not about all of them. There were just too many of them.

Storm Shadow notched an arrow, and targeted the phone connection to the apartment building. Sure enough, one of the Shadows was ready cut the line. Snake Eyes and Billy would need that phone line, since the Shadows were most likely jamming their personal communicators. The arrow flew.

Inside the apartment, Snake Eyes scowled at his wrist computer. No signal was getting out to summon help. It was now dead weight. Something landed hard outside near the corner of the building. He looked at Billy and pointed to the phone.

“It still has a dial tone,” Billy said after picking up the handset. Then after seeing the look Snake Eyes gave him. “Right… Ill call for back up.” Billy quickly dialed the number for GI Joe headquarters.

Storm Shadow watched the Red Shadows closely from his vantage point across the street. They had found the man he had killed quickly and had formed some sort of plan. He waited to see what sort of plan it was. They were leveling their guns at the apartment, most of them anyway, some had already made their way inside, and others were pointing their guns back to cover the building Storm Shadow was hiding in. And another was dealing with the phone line again, only this time by tying explosives onto the telephone pole.

For a moment, Storm Shadow thought about taking out the one with the explosives, but he did not have that moment. He ducked as a hail of machinegun fire peppered the building under him, in the same instant, the explosives went off cutting power and phone service for the entire block.

Billy’s phone call was cut with a tremendous explosion, and every window in his apartment shattered under the hail of machinegun fire.

Firing their guns non-stop, the Red Shadows charged to the apartment, ready to leap through the front window to take out whatever may be surviving within. With the noise and excitement none of them noticed the small metal object that had landed in the shrubs in front of that window, until the grenade exploded, killing and throwing the first two lines of charging Shadows.

Two of the other Shadows who had been providing covering fire, also fell dead with two of Storm Shadow’s throwing stars lodged in their necks.

The second wave of Shadows charged into the apartment, only to fall before an answering hail of bullets from Snake Eyes’ Uzi. Others fell shortly there after, once Billy had armed himself with gun from one of the Shadows.

Since most of the Shadow’s attention was now firmly focused on the apartment, and the unexpected resistance within, Storm Shadow was able to quickly reach street level. The Shadow’s weakest point was definitely now the front. Based on the sounds of gunfire from within the apartment, Snake Eyes had the enemy bottled up inside, but he had no idea how weakened the force taking the front had been after the grenade and initial assault.

Moving from shadow to shadow, Storm Shadow made his way across the street. Appearing out of nowhere before each of the remaining Red Shadows frontal assault. He paused before making his next move, but decided he would have to take the chance that Snake Eyes would see him as a target, as he dove through the shattered front window into the apartment.

The front room was bullet scared and scored, but empty, with the doors shut. Spent magazines had been thrown on the floor. Storm Shadow again readied his bow and arrow, closed his eyes and concentrated. The act of using the ear that sees was nearly impossible with all the gunfire. The hallway and other rooms were filled with gunfire, but apparently the Red Shadows were just being thorough. In spite of him self, he felt sorry for all the other tenants who were loosing their lives this day. No sign of Snake Eyes or Billy, yet… No, they were still there.

He didn’t know how they managed it, but they were in the ceiling. He fired his arrow into the ceiling next to where Snake Eyes was waiting. Storm Shadow lowered his weapons to wait.

The ceiling cracked, then gave way, Snake Eyes and Billy landed next to each other, crouched, and ready for a fight.

Billy was not sure what passed between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as they glared at each other for a few seconds. The memory of their battle over General Hawk fresh in each man’s memory. Finally Storm Shadow motioned his head in the direction of the broken window, a split second before he leaped through it. Snake Eyes and Billy followed after him, scarcely glancing at the dead Red Shadows outside.

Part 7: Steeler

“Well, Firefly, what did you find?” Cobra Commander’s voice sounded dulled, depressed. The weight of the Red Shadow’s assault was weighing heavily on him, or maybe it had to do with the doubt of not knowing if Billy was dead or alive. Maybe all the humanity had not yet been driven out of him.

“They went after him in force, Commander, but Storm Shadow got there first. They apparently escaped and have gone to ground.”

“Find them. They must not be allowed to harm Billy, even if you have to kill him yourself.”

“My fee…” Firefly began to ask, but thought better of it when he saw the sudden glare in the Commander’s eyes. Just this once, he would accept payment later.

****

“Settle down everyone,” Hawk strode across the front of the briefing room, as the old faces he knew well took their seats, and the newer faces he did not know so well took seats behind the older ones. The newer recruits were too awed by his Tomahawk reputation to get too close.

Hawk continued, “This briefing is to bring everyone up to speed on the new threat that is facing us. I wish to remind everyone that all of the information that is going to be discussed here is classified top secret… and some of it will come from classified British files. You are not allowed to ask how we came by it, not that it’s hard to guess. But, before we get to that, I want an update on the search for Snake Eyes and Billy. Jinx and Spirit?”

Jinx and Spirit each cast an uneasy look at each other in a silent contest to decide who would stand to tell the results. Spirit lost, and found himself standing. “The enemy laid waste to the entire apartment building, and killed a dozen civilians in the process. By all indications, Snake Eyes and Billy escaped with the aid of Storm Shadow—“

“Storm Shadow?” Hawk interrupted.

“He killed a bunch of the enemy, but we don’t know why he was there yet.” Jinx answered without bothering to stand. “He was friends with Billy once.”

Spirit continued. “We have no evidence that Snake Eyes or Billy have been captured. I suspect they have gone into hiding, possibly with Storm Shadow. It is also not known why they have not made their way to a safe house.”

“Snake Eyes must have his reasons.” Hawk replied, as Spirit sat back down. “Now on to other business. The name of our new enemy is the Red Shadows, so far they have been focusing their terror efforts on Cobra, but its just a matter of time before they turn their sights on us, and in the mean time, a lot of civilians are being caught in the middle. This is getting bloody, and I think its just starting.

“In the past few months there have been several attacks by these Red Shadows. The Dreadnok compound was raided, so were several other previously unknown Cobra facilities, including a BAT research lab. Springfield and several other known, and a few previously unknown Cobra bases have been burnt to the ground. There was a school shooting yesterday that is being reported as a random tragedy was actually a hit on the families of known Crimson Guardsmen. Several other similar events have been occurring all over the world. Only the Red Shadow attack on Extensive Enterprises has not had a proven connection to Cobra.

“Neither Duke nor myself has any experience with the Red Shadows. They were a bit before our time, so I have recalled one of the few Joes who has fought them before. Welcome back, Steeler.”

Hearing his cue, Steeler nervously entered and stood at the front of the room., nodding as most of the older Joes whom he had not seen in years, hooted and hollered at his reappearance, causing him to turn red.

Although smiling, Duke calmed things back down. “Ok, Joes, back to business. Steeler, if you would…”

“Ok,” Steeler said, mostly to prepare himself than anything else. “Back before I first joined JI Joe, I worked for an early version of the European Action Force organization that GI Joe was later patterned after. At that time the AF was divided up into four different groupings. Q force was for water operations, there was a Space force that operated from the AF satellite, SAS force were the heavy hitters, but I was in with the infantry in Z force. Brigadier Flagg merged the different groupings of AF into a single fighting unit shortly after we wiped the Red Shadows out and a new group calling itself Cobra started to make trouble. When that happened most of the original SAS, Z, Q and Space force members were transferred to non-combatant posts. Since Cobra never had as large a force in space as the Red Shadows, the Space force was mostly closed down completely. Since I didn’t have as much to do, I eagerly signed on with GI Joe when the USA started up their program against Cobra.

“The Red Shadows were led by a man known only as Baron Ironblood. We don’t know what he looked like because he always wore an iron mask that looked like a stovepipe on his head. The Baron specialized in a form of brainwashing that turned almost all of his men into fanatically loyal puppets. His right hand man was the Black Major, he is ex-SAS and one of the first AF men recruited before he turned against us and joined the Shadows. He tried to keep the Shadows going after the disappearance of the Baron, but we figured he eventually gave up and retired someplace. Other command staff included Red Laser who specialized in advanced technology, Red Wolf who commanded their fighter squadrons, Red Jackal who was their tank commander and looked like Destro only with a lesser defined face. Rumor has it that Red Jackal was also an AF man turned traitor by the Baron’s brainwashing.

“Their equipment included Hyenas which were kin to the original Hiss tanks, they also had a wheeled transport called the Shadow Track, but their worse weapon was the RoboSkull, a sort of VTOL jet/space fighter. It could go anywhere really, and looked like a TIE fighter with a skull for the center. They also had a large fleet of transport and warships, and what seemed like an endless supply of suicidal troops that were not afraid to charge across a minefield or parachute with out a chute while wearing high explosives. Once they deployed an army of lizard creatures, I never faced them, but was briefed on them after they and a few SAS squads practically wiped each other out.

“Except for the Baron, who wore white, and the Black Major, who wore black, everyone and everything in the Red Shadows was a bright red color. Something to do with symbolizing a tide of Blood sweeping across the land. It may not be very camouflaging but the effect it has on morale can be staggering. Also, their troops were not only suicidal, they were also exceptionally skilled soldiers.

“Some people have theorized that there was some link between the Shadows and Cobra, but as far as I know it was never proven.”

Hawk stood up and again took to floor. “Thank you, Steeler. Now, Joes with the aid of some targeting dummies based on BAT technology, and with a scenario inspired by Steeler’s experiences, we have prepared a live fire exercise for you topside.”

The Joes filled out of the room, with a few hello, how have you been’s passed to Steeler as they passed. Once the room was mostly empty, Steeler had to ask… “Sir, I appreciate the excuse for a reunion, but the Red Shadows are long gone, why the briefing and exercises?”

“Reports of their destruction were greatly exaggerated,” Hawk replied. “Come on, lets see how they do in your scenario.”

****

“Not doing very well, are they?”

“Its only their first run, Steeler,” Hawk replied. “That’s why we are doing this. Better they fail here while the enemy is firing smoke and paint balls than against the real thing.”

Steeler winced as the monitors of the war game showed another tank “taken out” when a paratrooper wearing smoke bombs, cut his chute loose and fell on it.

On another screen Heavy Duty was firing randomly into a squad of mock Red Shadows. “They just keep coming!” he shouted. A much calmer Roadblock and Gung Ho rushed hurried over to his side and started pumping more carefully directed ammo at the oncoming horde. Their radiated calm helped to calm Heavy Duty enough for him to direct his own fire more accurately to slow the oncoming tide Shadows, but even then they were forced to begin a slow retreat backwards.

“My Joes are sure having a hard time adjusting to the Shadows different tatics,” Hawk said.

“We always did have a higher mortality rate in those days,” Steeler replied. “I wish Snake Eyes was here, it would be good to see how he would deal with this. Ouch, Stalker is down.”

Sure enough, one of the monitors showed Stalker cursing and staring down at the red paintball stain decorating his chest.

“Half of them are down now.” Hawk pressed the stop button on the simulation and all the Red clad automatons stopped moving. “Ok Joes, hit the showers and change. In two hours we are going to do this again, and next time, your opponents fire is going to be a bit more accurate.”

On each of the monitors the Joes grumbled and helped up their “dead” comrades and headed back to the barracks where they would shower, rest and discuss what had gone wrong. Everyone knew the next test run would be a completely different story.

“Hawk, mind if I go take a look at one of the new tanks?”

“Go ahead Steeler, it will take us a while to reset things, and I know you have been dying to climb back into a tank since you got here.”

Hawk barely heard Steeler’s thanks, as the man was already out the door before he thought to utter it.

****

Billy was not having a good time. He, and his two bodyguards had been on the run the entire time since his apartment had been destroyed. It seemed that no matter where they went or what they did, the enemy knew where they were. It was uncanny how the enemy always seemed to know, regardless of the ninja tricks they used to elude them. Billy was beginning to think that maybe they were being tracked by satellite, but that didn’t seem to practical either somehow.

And the entire time Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow refused to speak to each other, or rather communicate, since Snake Eyes was incapable of speech. Fatigue was beginning to show on all three of them, and Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were too untrusting of each other to trade off watches in order for the other to sleep. Billy hoped that something would happen soon, they had been forced to hide in the sewers as part of their latest plan to escape detection.

In the back of a truck driving along the street above, Jackal tuned from his own monitors to the Mutton. “Well,” he asked, “Can you still detect them?” The Mutton wore what looked like eithe a type of space suit or a deep sea diving suit with various antennas attached to the helmet.

“Yes,” The Mutton answered in a gargled voice. “Under this street.”

Jackal grabbed the radio, “Stop the truck.”

As soon as the truck stopped, Jackal leapt out followed by several Red Shadows. The Mutton followed a moment later, walking slowly.

“Mutton, stand directly over them.”

Red Shadows ran to block traffic as the Mutton walked into the middle of the street. None of the drivers argued with the muzzle of a machine gun.

The Mutton stopped, then started walking down the street to remain above the three men.

At last, Jackal thought. “Take your positions.”

The remaining Red Shadows each ran to a man hole or storm drain.

“Stun Grenades.”

Each of the Red Shadows tossed a grenade down into the sewers, which was almost immediately followed by an explosion.

“They are unconscious.” The Mutton intoned.

“Get the boy, take no chances with the others.”

The Shadows at the manholes, again opened them and climbed down. Then came the expected sound of precautionary gunfire. A moment later, the Red Shadows climbed back out of the sewer, dragging Billy’s body with them.

Jackal smiled. “Load the boy on the truck, and take care of the witnesses.”

The Shadows who were blocking traffic opened fire on the drivers they had been intimidating, then they moved on to their passengers, and started firing at the cars in the second row and beyond. The Shadows standing by the storm drains turned their guns on the spectators on the sidewalks and store windows before they too fired. “Blood For The Baron!”

The street ran red with blood.

****

“Is something wrong Steeler?” Rock and Roll asked.

“Its nothing. Just a strange feeling.”

“You miss being in the saddle?”

“That’s not it exactly,” Steeler replied. “Its just I'm remembering the old days. I cant help missing Breaker, he should have been giving that lecture not me, but he is gone, and I cant shake the feeling that something big is going to happen. The guys in SAS got to where they developed a second sense during Operation Bloodhound where they could feel it if the Baron was near by. I'm having something like that.”

Rock and Roll laughed, “We all get that way from time to time about the old days, and old friends. But its not like the shadows are going to raid our training exercise, so relax.”

Steeler couldn’t help smiling. “Well they have done that sort of thing in the past, that’s why you guys are all equipped with live ammo for these war games.”

“What?”

****

Hawk slammed his fist down so hard on the table that the TV jumped.

“Take it easy, we didn’t know.” Duke tried to calm his superior down.

“How could we not have known? They did this,” he jestured to the CNN news coverage of a downtown massacre on the screen, “in broad daylight, in the middle of the fraging city, and two of our own were in the middle of it.”

“We don’t know what happened yet. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are being flown to the hospital, and we will put high security on Storm Shadow.” Not that any amount of security would prevent the man from leaving when he was well enough. “Billy may have gotten away, and besides…”

“Besides, we couldn’t have gotten there in time to save anyone anyway,” Hawk finished for Duke. “That doesn’t make it any easier to know that there was no choice, no way I could have prevented this. But I will damn sure make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

****

Groggily Billy came back to his senses. He was tied securely and could not move an inch or finger. He saw a gray ceiling, but not the gray of the sewers. “Where am I?”

The red clad guards did not answer him.

Finally he heard footsteps approaching him. Boots on concrete. Not far now.

He was so incredibly uncomfortable.

Then he saw a metal mask and two angry eyes.

Those eyes…

The man with the angry eyes put the barrel of a pistol to Billy’s forehead.

The man said, “So, you are my son.”

That voice was so unmistakable, as were those angry eyes.

Billy asked… “D-D-Dad??”

Pt 8: Red Shadows

Sitting in shadows, Destro waited in Castle Destro. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he would have a visitor, but he did not think it would take this long. Every day for the past few weeks he had spent sitting in this chair waiting, and all he had to show for it was that he had finally managed to catch up on some reading and paperwork. Still he had it easy compared to the Baroness, patience had never been among her virtues.

Finally, one of his hidden Nullifier guards sounded a subtle chime that his guest had arrived. The guards would allow the guest to enter the palace as if he owned it, but filled the hallways as soon as he was out of sight. The guest would not be allowed to leave easily.

The door to the study opened, and Jackal entered just as he did before the war between Cobra and the Red Shadows began. Just as before Jackal looked exactly like Destro, down to his silver facemask, this time Jackal was carrying a bag.

“Again, the likeness is stunning,” Destro said, while sitting forward allowing the light to shine on his own face. “But I have taken to wearing my old gold one around the house, just to tell us apart.”

The door behind Jackal opened, as two Nullifiers entered and stood guard on either side of it. Others were visible lining the hallway.

“I didn’t come for a fight, or to stage a cue, Destro,” Jackal said. “I just wanted to ask you a question.”

“Oh, no. There wont be a fight that is what the guards are for. Ask your question.”

“Why did you not heed my warning not to get involved?”

Destro smiled. “Do you really take me for a buffoon? As soon as Cobra Commander saw you among the opposition, he would, and nearly did, assume it was me. I would then be your scapegoat, fighting for my life. The Commander does not appreciate treason, which brings me to my question. Why are you so set on revenge against the Commander?”

“What have you learned about me so far, Destro?”

Destro tossed a file onto the reading table. “After much expense, I have learned quite a bit about you, Red Jackal. You were recruited into action force as a hot headed kid who wanted to do nothing more than drive fast and fancy vehicles. You were believed to have been killed in action by the Red Shadows, but they recovered your battered body, and used advanced cybernetics to bring you back to health. Either through brainwashing, or because they offered you a better deal, you began working for the Red Shadows, in charge of their Hiss Tank Division. Of course then they were called Hyena tanks. After article 909 was passed and the Red Shadows were hunted down, you were one of the few who escaped. Everything else you told me, on your last visit.”

“Ha. Very thorough. The answer to your question is a simple one. Our leader, the Baron Ironblood, betrayed the Red Shadows! That is why your Cobra Commander must die. He destroyed my life time and again… for NOTHING!”

‘YOUR RIDDLES MEAN NOTHING!” shouted the Baroness, as she flung open the secret door she had been waiting behind. She could not stand the waiting any more, forget waiting for the cue word that Destro was suppose to say when it was time for her to make her appearance. “Your betrayal of Cobra means Death!”

Destro grabbed the Baroness’s gun away before she had a chance to use it. “Not yet, my Dear, its not proper to kill our guests.”

“I was hoping to meet you, Baroness. I wanted to give you your fathers head as a gift, but when I researched it, I discovered that he had already passed away. No doubt from the shame of what you had become. But then I decided that it didn’t matter what killed him, his head would still get the point across.” Jackal tossed the bag he was holding over towards the Baroness.

Destro looked in the bag first, “I can only tolerate so much arrogance from my Guests, Jackal.”

The Baroness lost all color when she looked into the bag, and grabbed the pistol back, pointing it at Jackal’s head.

“BARRONESS!” Destro shouted with such an air of command in his voice that she stopped instantly, and took a deep breath after silently counting to ten.

“Now, Jackal,” the Baroness said, “kindly answer my question.”

Jackal gave the Baroness an exaggerated bow, “Of course, Baroness.”

“Where is Cobra Commander’s son, Billy?”

“You have no idea how misplaced your loyalty is, do you, Baroness? But, very well, I shall answer you out of pity. He is alive and well, if in a state of shock. The Baron has taken a personal interest in him, and keeps him with him at all times.”

“Thank you,” the Baroness said with a smile, then she pulled the trigger. And just to be sure, fired again.

Destro squatted down to examine the wounds, and the blood dripping from the holes in Jackal’s mask. If he thought that there was not enough blood coming from the wounds he gave no indication. “Take the body away.”

The two Nullifiers standing at the door came over. One grabbed Jackals feet, and the other his arms, as they carried the body away.

****

Hours later, Jackal came to, and found himself on the trash heap behind the castle. Once more he was grateful that few really understood the nature of his cybernetics. His faceplate was not just a mask, like Destro’s was. If it had been then he would surely be dead. But the layers of armor that were his head, gave him a much greater endurance when it came to head wounds.

****

Destro was grateful that the Baroness had already gone to bed before the news came. He was not sure how she would take the news when the Televiper came in to tell him that the homing signal was moving. The Baroness had been so happy to have killed the man, he didn’t want to spoil it with news that he was still alive, and leading them right to the enemy’s base.

****

The Black Major waited impatiently in the back of his command truck, which he had painted to resemble an ARB Co Movers truck. It was a touch of irony that he secretly enjoyed. He was feeling that old restlessness again. He needed to have action soon or he felt he would go mad. But he had to remind himself that action was just around the corner. Total revenge, and all the action he could handle in just a few short days, they just needed to properly prepare for the final event, and that was why he was here waiting.

He had given two of his Shadows the photograph of a former Red Shadow who had been “rehabilitated” after the Red Shadows had been all but wiped out. He had gotten a nice government job now, he would never be trusted with anything sensitive, but he should still have picked up the information he needed to know about the G I Joe team’s plans.

The doors to the truck opened, and the two plain clothes Red Shadows tossed in the still struggling man. At the site of the Black Major’s leveled pistol, the man became very still. The truck doors closed behind him.

“BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!” The Black Major shouted.

The man screamed, clutching his head, before standing to attention. “Blood for the Baron!”

The old Baron’s brainwashing techniques were effective. “Now, tell me what you know of GI Joe’s plans.”

****

Red Laser was worried about the Baron Ironblood. He was beginning to act too unpredictably. For example, why was he keeping Billy alive? It was almost as if it liked the thought that he had a son. As if the boy could actually have been his, it should have been laughable, if it wasn’t so worrying. The last thing he needed was for the Baron to have a breakdown during the final battle with the dreaded Cobra forces.

At least the Baron was taking the precaution of keeping Billy securely chained at all times, with a round the clock guard. He hoped the Baron didn’t plan to try brainwashing Billy into being another General.

He really could not afford to worry about such things now, however. He needed to make sure the Skeletrons, and Krakens would be ready for the expected battle. Unfortunately the Mutons were too much of an untested factor to use this soon. They would have to sit the big battle out. But one thing he knew for sure, by the end of it, either Cobra or the Red Shadows would be no more.

****

Hot death rained down on the GI Joe’s armored column, as Red Wolf guided his squadron of Roboskulls in another strafing run. He had managed to take out another tank completely and crippled two others. It was fun, but it was taking too long. He called for paratroopers.

One of the Roboskulls exploded as a result of a lucky shot from a tank.

Wait a moment, Red Wolf thought as he had to evade a shot. The tanks were taking evasive action to avoid his attacks, but it wasn’t as random as he had originally thought. They were positioning themselves to be able to throw up an effective flack curtain. He had never heard of tanks being used in such a fashion, but he had to admit its effectiveness as machine gun fire echoed against his Roboskull’s hull.

Finally high altitude planes arrived and started dropping Red Shadow paratroopers wearing vests made from high explosives.

He had to move away from the tanks in order to deal with Sky Strikers and other planes that had arrived to provide air support for the Joe team.

The Joes seemed prepared for their suicidal paratroopers. As soon as the Joes saw them they let loose with their machine guns, not letting up until their bullets detonated the falling explosives.

A few paratroopers managed to land safely in the wooded area beside the tank column, and one or two paratroopers found their targets, taking out a tank with a splut and a bang.

Other Joes regretted allowing any of the Paratroopers to land safely, as troopers on foot charged from the side. The suicide charge took out another tank before anyone managed to bring their guns around to the new threat.

Red Wolf shot down another fighter, and noted with pride the number of destroyed tanks. The mission was a success. “All Roboskulls, return to base.”

****

“All over the map, the Red Shadows have been making blitz attacks against us. We have let them think that they have dealt us significant losses,” Duke announced to his officers.

“I have news for you, Duke,” Flint said, “They have.”

“All they have taken out, Flint, has been old surplus tanks and equipment. Our main inventory has hardly been touched. But the bottom line is that whatever they have planed is going to happen soon. We need to make sure we are there to contain it, and take out whoever wins. Wile Kamakura and Jinx will use the confusion to try and recover Billy.”

****

Cobra Commander ordered his ARB Co command truck to halt in the middle of nowhere.

Crimson Guardsmen disembarked from it, and other trucks in the convoy and fanned out to secure the area. Any civilians they managed to find in the immediate area of one mile were very unfortunate, but at least their deaths were quick. Once that task was complete, Tomax and Xamot informed Cobra Commander, who was waiting with a shovel.

They followed him as he made his way on foot into the woods, guiding himself by landmarks he alone knew. Finally he came to the spot he was looking for, and began digging.

“May I ask, Cobra Commander,” Tomax began.

“Exactly what are you digging for?” Xamot finished.

“I find that if I am to fully bury the past, I must first dig part of it up. Or rather, you must.” The Commander answered, while handing the shovel to Tomax to finish digging.

Part 9: Scarlet.

Scarlet snapped awake at the sharp hurried knocking sound on her door. She instinctively reached past her robe, and instead pulled on her pants and shirt, so that while she may not be combat ready, she was that much closer. She opened the door to find Jinx and Spirit waiting outside.

“What’s happened?” She asked.

“We just got an anonymous phone call telling us where Billy is.” Jinx answered. “They also said that Firefly has been dispatched with orders to kill him, so we are going now. Duke wanted us to take you along to sneak in, and sneak him out.”

“The voice sampling software says the caller was really Destro.” Spirit said.

“Ill finish getting dressed.”

****

Fortunately the Red Shadow’s base was in a remote location, Scarlet thought. When the big showdown happened, there would not be many civilians around to get in the way. On the other hand, with that much space, they could certainly hold a large number of troops.

Jinx, Spirit and Scarlet moved silently in the night, going from shadow to shadow. There certainly a lot of buildings on the property too. Mostly quickly assembled hangers or barns. A quick look inside one revealed tanks. Scarlet sure hoped the brass would allow them to use air strikes to take out most of this hardware before any shooting started. She doubted that they would though. They may not mind firing a smart missile across Saudi Arabia, but it was another matter entirely to fire one across Ohio. They would sooner loose than admit to the people that something was wrong.

Spirit sent a quick signal over their communicators to let Duke know that they had confirmed this to be a Red Shadow strong hold. In the morning the build up would begin, and every one wished they had enough explosives to do some midnight demolition work, but their priority was to locate Billy, so they kept going from building to building.

Scarlet spotted another guard wearing the distinctive red uniform of the Red Shadows. “Spirit, we still need to know where they are holding Billy… can you take him down without killing him?”

“I didn’t kill the last one. He took a suicide pill as soon as I tried to ask a question.”

She thought for a moment. They were too fanatical then. Instead she raised her crossbow, her bolt killed the man quickly and silently. They continued their search.

At the center of the compound, they found a building that looked most promising. It was larger than any of the others, and much more heavily guarded. They would not be able to sneak in the front door of this one, and they were suddenly reminded that they did not have much time before one of the guards they had killed would be missed.

With the help of Scarlet’s crossbow, they found another way into the building using a second floor window. Once inside, they split up, each of them taking a different floor.

The alarms sounded. Someone must have found one of the bodies. Scarlet tried to meld into the shadows.

Gunshots.

But not inside the building, someone was shooting out on the compound. She could only assume that somewhere on the Red Shadow’s compound, Firefly was being blamed for the deaths of several guards, but Firefly had ninja training too. She doubted the Shadows would be able to get him. They had to be sure to find Billy first.

The building was starting to come alive, troops running down the halls. Scarlet narrowly avoided detection once again by ducking into a darkened room. Still, she felt sure that if the Red Shadow’s masks didn’t cut peripheral vision so much, she would have been discovered long ago.

Scarlet had the strangest feeling she was not alone… There was a figure in a chair.

“Who enters my chambers unannounced?” A voice asked. It sounded too much like Cobra Commander’s voice. She fired.

The crossbow bolt hit the man’s chest square in the middle, and went in deep. A clean kill.

He stood up.

No, he wasn’t Cobra Commander, despite the voice. His outfit looked more like the man in the iron mask.

The man reached up and pulled out the crossbow bolt, and held it up to his mask at eye level.

“You dare try to kill your Baron?” he said, and leveled a pistol at her.

She went to dodge, but what should have been a graceful maneuver turned into a disaster as she tripped over a dead body on the floor.

Click. Click.

The Baron’s gun was apparently empty, but he continued to press the trigger oblivious to the fact that it would do no good.

The body Scarlet had tripped over, she realized was another Red Shadow soldier. She backed up out of the room. Eventually the Baron returned to his seat and put his gun back down.

She heard two beeps on her communicator, indicating that Spirit had located Billy. She headed back to the window where they had entered to wait for Spirit and Jinx to leave.

Billy was in remarkably good shape for his confinement, but Spirit still needed to help get him down the rope.

The Red Shadows were very well trained, that much Scarlet and the others could tell easily, the way they ran back and forth across their compound searching for intruders.

A series of large explosions rocked the compound, followed by the sounds of a low flying airplane passing overhead.

Scarlet easily identified the plane as an A-10 Warthog… no, that wasn’t quite right, the wings weren’t a quite the right angle, and there was a turret behind the cockpit. Cobra Rattlers.

“The shootings started, Joes… lets get out of here.” She said, leading Spirit, Jinx, and the exhausted Billy into the darkness and confusion.

Part 10: Cobra Commander

“Commander,” Destro began in the voice that came across as an arrogant whine, “Wild Weasel reports that the enemy has deployed its Robo-Skulls.” The fool really didn’t have a firm grasp of what was to happen, and was not entirely pleased that he was being forced to act as driver to Cobra Commander in his very own Dominator.

“Good. Send in the Firebats, Night Ravens and Mambas to handle the Robo-Skulls. The Rattlers are to continue their bombardment of the Red Shadow’s ground forces. Any sign of GI Joe forces?”

“Not yet, Cobra Commander… wait a moment.” Destro touched his ear piece trying to make out what was being said more clearly. “Yes, Firebat 6 reports seeing armored columns of GI Joe and AF forces moving into the area.”

Behind his mask, Cobra Commander smiled. “Excellent. Now we can begin, send in the HISS tanks and the first battalions of CLAWS, Vipers and BATs. Remember, their first targets are to destroy the Red Shadow Skeletron androids. Once they are destroyed phase two can begin.”

“Are you sure this is wise, Commander? It is such an obvious trap!”

“Yes it is, isn’t it? But a trap for who, Destro? That is the question.” He could withdraw and let the Joes deal directly with the Red Shadows, but he knew the Shadows too well. Their leaders were driven by revenge against Cobra, and would fade away like the shadows they were before any Joe mounted attack.

“And why aren’t you using any of your Neo Vipers or Crimson Guards?”

“I am using a few of my Crimson Guardsmen, Destro. But the fact is, I have no desire to throw away my best troops in this operation. BATs are easily built, and the Viper units are made up of potential troublemakers. Unfortunately I needed to deploy the Claws to take out the Skeletrons. We shall just have to hope that the enemy holds their Krackens in reserve.”

“Now, would you please explain why you are wearing that ridiculous outfit?”

Anger flashed across Cobra Commanders eyes, and hardened his voice. “In good time, Destro.”

****

“I dragged a lot of people out of retirement for this,” Duke said, “This had better all go down according to plan.”

“This is our single best chance to wipe out both Cobra and the Red Shadows,” Hawk replied. “Everyone knows what is at stake here. They will all do their jobs.”

Duke took a breath, and wished he were closer to the front for this operation. He picked up the radio mike “Squad commanders, report in.”

“This is Eagle, SAS forces ready to deploy.” Eagle was technically too old for action, but he commanded too much respect among the SAS, and had the most experience dealing with the Red Shadows of anyone. He was one of several old AF soldiers who had been reinstated for this one last battle. He didn’t let the edge he was feeling reach his voice, ever since the Operation Bloodhound days, he could feel when Ironblood was near, and Ironblood was definitely in the area.

“Sergeant Stalker here, the Joe forces are ready to go! Hey, Duke, Why did you change my call sign for this op?” The black Sergeant, who was one of the first Joes recruited asked.

“To cut down on confusion. Whose next?”

“Stalker here, the Vamps are ready to go.” Stalker was another from the old AF that had fought the Shadows, he was a white man who wore a driving mask very similar to Snake Eyes’ original costume.

“Oh…”

“Quiet Sergeant Stalker. Next.”

“Steeler, AF and Joe tank platoons are in position.”

“Covergirl here, and my Wolverines are in position,” Covergirl was a former model who had joined GI Joe, and recently been reinstated along with the rest of the team.

“Hunter here. My Wolverines are also in position.” Hunter was a Mexican bandit who had joined the old Action Force in hopes of redeeming himself and winning a pardon for his crimes. Whenever he enters combat, he wears a mask similar to Cobra officers to keep from being recognized.

“All forces, wait until Cobra is fully engaged with the enemy before entering the battle,” Duke cautioned, and all the commanders acknowledged.

“I'm worried, Duke,” Hawk said. “I expected Cobra to have come with a much larger force than that.”

Cobra HISS Tanks in a V formation punched a hole through the Red Shadow’s outer defense line, a move that took them by surprise, as they expected Cobra to attempt to surround them. Instead Cobra’s move easily allowed the Shadows to move in on Cobra’s flanks. Immediately behind the HISS tanks an army of Vipers and BATs followed, forming a protective barrier around Cobra Commander and Destro in Destro’s Dominator. In the air, a variety of Cobra aircraft did battle with Red Shadow Robo-Skulls.

Two Strike HISS tanks stopped well short of the quickly shifting front lines. Their forward crew compartments raised up as high as they could go, and a Crimson Guardsman climbed out on top of it, armed with a high power sniper rifles.

“Commander,” Destro spoke, “We have eliminated the last of the front line Skeletrons, but at a tremendous loss of manpower.”

“Excellent,” answered Cobra Commander, “Move us to the front line.”

“As you wish.” Destro obeyed, even though he had no idea what the Commander had planned. He just felt certain that it could not be a good idea.

The Dominator stopped, and Cobra Commander opened the canopy and stood in the seat for all to see. He was not wearing his traditional venom blue suit with silver battle helmet, instead he was wearing a white suit, with a black and Red V emblem on the front, a white Skull and Crossbones centered in the field of red. He had added a black cape, and a Cobra armband. On his head he wore the stovepipe like mask that had once been instantly recognizable as Baron Ironblood.

The Black Major pulled his pistol, he knew better than to underestimate this opponent. Red Jackal fumed at the outrageousness of his old commander to once again wear Ironblood uniform, while Red Laser simply stared in disbelief. Red Wolf had not yet noticed, as he was involved in a dogfight with several Cobra planes. Baron Ironblood, did not seem to fully understand what was going on. He stood climbed up on a Hyena Tank and ordered it to the front lines, to face his Cobra equivalent.

“CEASE FIRE!” Cobra Commander shouted, a microphone in his mask carrying his voice across the entire battlefield over loud speakers, while radioing his words to both the Cobra and the Red Shadow aircraft.

The Cobra forces obeyed, recognizing the voice of their Commander. The BATs also obeyed but they had been programmed to expect this unexpected command. The Red Shadows also obeyed, recognizing the voice of Cobra Commander as the voice of their commander, the Baron Ironblood.

For a moment the battlefield was silent. Destro was just as shocked as the GI Joe observers at the results. The Joe observers began to worry.

“My dear Red Shadows, we have all been betrayed!” Cobra Commander shouted, and still not a single soldier moved.

Baron Ironblood on his Hyena, which was essentially a red HISS tank, stood to challenge the affront to his authority. “I am the Baron Ironblood!” He said, in the same voice as the Commander. “Kill these Cobra swine!”

The Red Shadows shuffled their guns, not entirely sure what to do when faced with two Ironbloods, each giving conflicting orders.

“Really?” Cobra Commander answered, “Do it yourself!” The Commander raised his gun to fire at the Baron’s head, taking careful aim at the eye visor.

Black Major and Red Laser each smiled, knowing full well that the range was too great for the Cobra Commander’s puny pistol to even be able to scratch the armored visor of the Baron.

Cobra Commander fired, but it did not matter if his shot hit or not, because at the same moment, the two Crimson Guardsman snipers the Commander had deployed also fired. Their shots shattered the visor, and ripped through what lay behind it, and ricocheted within the heavily armored mask doing that much more damage to the wearer.

Baron Ironblood’s head exploded within his mask which then fell off his shoulders revealing a mess of wires where his neck use to be.

“Your leaders have betrayed us,” Cobra Commander continued, “by replacing me with that THING and forcing you to fight against me! And leading us into a trap! We are now being surrounded by GI Joe’s forces, as your leaders well know.

“Join me and Cobra against our common foes! Restrain the Black Major, Red Laser and Red Jackal for trial, then turn your guns to the perimeter where GI Joe awaits.”

“Bloody hell,” thought Black Major. Yes, he had know about the Joes plan to ambush them, and had not informed anyone else. If Cobra Commander were killed, it would have been worth the loss of a few hundred Red Shadows. Still he had not survived as long as he had by taking foolish chances. He shot and killed the nearest Shadows before they had a chance to come near him, then ran to make his escape.

“Crap” thought Hawk. The last thing he had expected was for the Red Shadows to join forces with Cobra against them. “Send everyone in!!” he ordered.

Jackal had kept a close watch on the Black Major; he knew the Major had an escape route. A Red Shadow jumped on him in an attempt to restrain him, but he fell after Jackal head butted him with his cybernetic skull. He ran after the Black Major in his own bid for freedom.

Red Laser was held firmly by two Red Shadows. He was in too much shock to even think of fighting back.

Two columns of Wolverines charged into action, their missiles firing into the Red Shadow and Cobra Ranks.

Fresh Mambas and Cobra Fangs seemed to come in out of nowhere, at the same time the GI Joe Awe Strikers and Dragonflies came onto the scene. In the fresh confusion, the Dominator’s tail extended and rotors deployed.

Cobra Commander and Destro, took to the sky in the Dominator, and flew away from the battlefield, along with most of the Cobra air forces flying escort for them, leaving the token Cobra ground forces behind to fend for themselves, along with the Red Shadows.

****

The final report on the battle was simple and clear. The battle had been a massacre. The Joes took heavy losses, mainly among the Greenshirts and SAS, but many of the regulars were wounded. The few Cobra forces he had left behind had been wiped out, either by the Joes or his own BATs.

The Red Shadows had once again, and hopefully more effectively, been wiped out. There were still a few had escaped. If they ever reared their heads again, they would be killed.

Yes, it had been a massacre, but then, that had been the point.

Cobra Commanders laughter echoed down the hall.