G.I. JOE: Heroes & Terrorists

[Lifeline_MD]

On April 24, 2031, multiple terrorist attacks occured simultaneously across the globe, including assassination attempts of the leaders of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Russia, Brazil, China, Japan, Egypt, India, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. Some were successful, and some were foiled.

By the end of the month, a death count was been estimated to be between 20 and 25 million individuals. Most of the terrorists were killed before they could be taken hostage, and those who were apprehended were murdered in prison before they could be interrogated. No identification, criminal or dental records could be found for any of those involved. The only identifying mark common to all was a small tattoo of a stylized snake head behind their left ear.

With intelligence agencies worldwide struggling to piece together what had happened, the United Nations finally decided to take action after years sitting on the sidelines. By an 80% majority, the member states of the UN vote to establish an elite special missions group under the command of the recently expanded Security Council. The nature of this group would be kept secret even from the member nations' representatives to ensure security.

This group would have the authority to act within any nation's sovereign territory to ensure world peace and human rights, even if that meant toppling the current government of a member nation. They would not be subject to international law in their activities.

Their first priority was to track down and destroy the group responsible for the April 24, 2031 terrorist attacks, now known as Black Thursday.

Thus was born UN Special Task Force 1. Code Name: G.I. Joe.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


All hyperlinks go directly to the 'director's cut' of the story.

A NOTE TO NEW READERS: Stories followed by ** are the core stories around which this tale is based, if you aren't ready to read everything, start with these as they will give you the framework to understand the rest

THE RED BOOKS

VOL. I - THE RISE OF COBRA
05/28/2014 - Cobra Commander (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_110cd9tc32h)
06/09/2017 - Scarface (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=158vGcGy1B2aCP88C8sVe2EYbDSG3OCaY0o_lyuISd8 I)
07/20/2019 - Dr. Cassandra Knox (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1QgMrOtxIBTIoF2wtIclrx-yIIybagISbYeRWPcWZ_2U)
02/20/2020 - Raptor (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1u63MC_aCPT7aGLhxGN9FnSfaH_SGLx-YwLN15SHgH5s)
09/16/2021 - Ghost (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1QPhsbdTsQVLwkRehvbFrjNzV36ixJO6uqzWTHHGBLP 4)
10/03/2021 - Baroness COMING SOON
01/03/2022 - Major Bludd COMING SOON
10/31/2022 - Dr. Venom COMING SOON
03/28/2023 - MindbenderCOMING SOON
05/27/2023 - Madame UmbraCOMING SOON
11/11/2023 - HeadmanCOMING SOON
01/01/2024 - FireflyCOMING SOON
04/04/2024 - Crystal BallCOMING SOON
05/17/2024 - Cobra de AcoCOMING SOON
08/17/2024 - Cobra InvasorCOMING SOON
09/02/2024 - Big BoaCOMING SOON
12/25/2024 - ScalpelCOMING SOON

VOL. II - WORLD WAR III
03/27/2026 - Captain MinhCOMING SOON
07/19/2027 - Wild WeaselCOMING SOON
11/19/2026 - Night AdderCOMING SOON
06/06/2027 - InterrogatorCOMING SOON
03/09/2029 - Shadow TrackerCOMING SOON

VOL. III - RETURN OF TERROR
02/02/2030 - Tomax and XamotCOMING SOON
03/14/2031 - Iron Claw (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AIejihoR93NsMeu9Rw7U_iC5Q-d-5ascSKqIRJFaCIw/edit) NEW
05/18/2030 - Storm ShadowCOMING SOON
07/28/2030 - Death's Head SquadCOMING SOON
10/23/2031 - Doc (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_71hkz2zj27)

VOL. IV - BLACK THURSDAY
04/24/2031 - Black Thursday (https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Aa0s1tG3BHSpZGRzM2gzYzlfNzZkcDQ5eGJnMw&hl=en) **
05/13/2031 - Lifeline (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1g4gtk7f4)**
05/15/2031 - Chuckles (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1QPhsbdTsQVLwkRehvbFrjNzV36ixJO6uqzWTHHGBLP 4) **
05/16/2031 - Day at the Terrordrome (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_68f52xgcft)
06/12/2031 - Snake Eyes (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_4fzfch5wd)
06/20/2031 - Flint (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_26dgnwdnf6)
08/04/2031 - Mutt (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_19f3xsspcn)
08/14/2031 - Stalker (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_47cqd5h4d3)
08/20/2031 - Mess Haul Blues (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_46g8s9dbdp)
11/02/2031 - Clean Sweep (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_37gmrz8g7)
11/18/2031 - Big Ben (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_11gqw59kgb)
11/18/2031 - Rollbar (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_15fq62pkf5)
11/28/2031 - Scarlett (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_18gkstx7hc)


VOL. V - ASSEMBLE THE HEROES
01/13/2032 - Games, Gears and Gadgets (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_44hvf8bvcv)
01/19/2032 - Madness in Mozambique (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_73dwdwrpg3)
02/25/2032 - Psych Out (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_9htfdbvds)
03/24/2032 - Duke (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_85hbtmx3dw)
04/12/2032 - Fire and Ice (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_66gkbnprd6)
08/17/2032 - Widescope (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_63d2dmcmcb)
12/18/2032 - Interview with a Terrorist (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_58f57vdbgt)
03/28/2033 - Blackout (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_113d8jcddds)
04/24/2033 - Steel Brigade Commander (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_30ggvctbdj)
06/06/2033 - Destro (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_32crgf63dn) **
06/06/2033 - Who's Conning Who? (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_33cqv35bg8) **
06/24/2033 - Mushroom Mushroom (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vCTpwSsF7Z77z_YkZVKm5e3siZ5iMzmkOpAlHHZXWpQ/pub) NEW

---------------------------------------------------------------

THE WHITE BOOKS

VOL. VI - TO SAVE THE DAY
07/26/2033 - Mercer (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_35cvfkwzfh)
04/15/2034 - UN Special Task Force 1 Intelligence Report (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_56fkdbxwhs)01.100.001A (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_56fkdbxwhs)
04/18/2034 - Twilight (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_42fqs5zsd3)
04/23/2034 - Physicals (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_87d65d2bg7)
04/24/2034 - New York City (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_53gghf4df9)**
04/25/2034 - Scoop (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_99dmq98bf7)
04/26/2034 - Deceit, Lies and Biker Gangs (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1VpWI-x8dPAPwUHd7OAl4PqIMZdSTwK7ScwJqr7aNseY)
04/27/2034 - Intel Inside (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_97vvt4vhdh)
04/28/2034 - Interview COMING SOON
04/29/2034 - Prisoners (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_102hd4pt6db)
05/04/2034 - Brisbane (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_95hr52g9c3)
05/08/2034 - The Screaming Eagles COMING SOON
05/10/2034 - Robo-JoeCOMING SOON
05/12/2034 - Training Camp (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_120v6cvkh68)
04/30/2034 - Vacation COMING SOON
05/29/2034 - Siberia (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_122c4r2vnhs)
06/03/2034 - Rook (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_124gwx4bxfr)
(https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1bjME_uNCs1slQRX1bANwdZaW9x3RQbXtEIytScdhMj 4)06/13/2034 - A Shot of EspressoCOMING SOON
06/22/2034 - Drug War COMING SOON
07/10/2034 - Flight School COMING SOON
07/24/2034 - Nest of Vipers COMING SOON
08/13/2034 - Lincoln Memorial COMING SOON
09/26/2034 - Defection (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1bjME_uNCs1slQRX1bANwdZaW9x3RQbXtEIytScdhMj 4)

VOL. VII - THE SERPENT'S COILS
VOL. VIII - COBRA CIVIL WAR
VOL. IX - DARKENING NIGHT
VOL. X - BLOOD AND SHADOWS

---------------------------------------------------------------

THE BLUE BOOKS

VOL. XI - WRATH OF THE GODS
VOL. XII - REIGN OF TERROR
VOL. XIII - REBELLION
VOL. XIV - LIBERATIONS
VOL. XV - BEHEADING THE SNAKE




APPENDICES

G.I. JOE TEAM ROSTER (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1028vcghgq) NEW VERSION COMING SOON

G.I. JOE TEAM COMMAND HIERARCHY (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Aq0s1tG3BHSpdHFyRDdGWU5KUG5LblBRak8xbHBQe FE&output=html)

COBRA ROSTER COMING SOON

COBRA COMMAND HIERARCY (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Aq0s1tG3BHSpdFp3MjBicU1UeUI4aWIxdlotUmlfV VE&output=html) NEW

COBRA VIPER LEGIONS (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Aq0s1tG3BHSpdDB5Z2YxQUhxTU93dGtkdC1sVXdVS Xc&output=html)

HISTORY AND ATLAS OF WORLD WAR III COMING SOON

WORLD MAP (2034) (http://i31.tinypic.com/jt0xnb.jpg)




Also Available at:

Fanfiction.net (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6057513/1/GI_Joe_Heros_and_Terrorists)

Kittyspryde.com
(http://kittyspryde.forumotion.com/t371-dh-s-joeverse-gi-joe-heroes-and-terrorists#1796)
Toycustomizer.com (http://toycustomizer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=39:gijoe-heroes-terrorists&Itemid=58&layout=default)

Please visit our friends!!

[Lifeline_MD]

Also guys, if there's any suggestion you'd like to make, or a specific character you'd like to see, just let me know.

If the suggestion or character fits in with the joe-verse in production, I'll do my best to include it.

[Troynos]

Off to an interesting start. Can't wait to see more.

[Lifeline_MD]

I hope to have the at least one piece up tomorrow morning. More to come at semi-regular intervals.

[Captain Carstein]

Cool stuff DH! My Warhammer campaign group writes stories throughout our campaign. Always nice to see some more fan-fiction. Good luck!

[Huer-Ta]

Can't wait to read some of this Boss! Looking forward to some Joe Fan-Fiction.

[cobralalalala!]

Cool stuff so far DH, Keep it coming!

[Lifeline_MD]

Cool stuff DH! My Warhammer campaign group writes stories throughout our campaign. Always nice to see some more fan-fiction. Good luck!

Thanks! Hopefully this will be enjoyable to all.

Can't wait to read some of this Boss! Looking forward to some Joe Fan-Fiction.

Cool stuff so far DH, Keep it coming!

Thanks guys. The first two installments should be up tomorrow at some point.

[Bravo Sierra]

Can't wait to read more! I'm real excited to see what you do with Chuckles!

[Tyroc]

Awesome stuff!

[Lifeline 71]

I can't wait to see what you've got planned, especially since you have a chapter on my favorite Joe, Lifeline.

[Lifeline_MD]

Can't wait to read more! I'm real excited to see what you do with Chuckles!

I can't wait to see what you've got planned, especially since you have a chapter on my favorite Joe, Lifeline.

Even before reading your guys comments, they were the two characters slated to make their opening appearances tomorrow to kick things off.

Hopefully you'll both be pleased with their appropriate bad-assedness.

Awesome stuff!

Thank you.

[Lifeline_MD]

05/15/2021 - Chuckles (Part 1)

Philip M. Provost walked through the winter streets of Calgary. A city that still housed the offices of most of Canada's big oil companies, even as alternative energy began to take hold, sometimes with their offices just across the street. The Bow Building, the largest office tower in western Canada when it was built, housed Canada's largest oil and gas companies, was now across the street from an even larger company that provided simple in-home hydro-power generators, perhaps the biggest coup in clean energy. A simple engine the size of a dresser that powered itself and just about anything else in a home. Larger commercial versions now sat in the basements of, and powered most of the buildings he passed, making the old power grids obsolete.

But much though the emerging world power hub interested him to take a closer look at, he only had a couple hours before he would be missed, and he had to talk to someone about this. It had been at least 10 years, probably close to 15 since he'd last talked to Edwin, but if anyone in this city could help, he'd be the only one. In front of the Bank of Montreal, Philip paused, looking at the church in the next block. It hadn't been hard to find out that Edwin still volunteered to help out there. Despite the fact he could have bought his own Caribbean Island and disappeared, he still worked at the hospital every day and volunteered in the community every weekend. Real freaking bleeding heart that one.

Philip shook his head. That was uncharitable, much though he had never really liked Edwin, he had to respect what he'd accomplished. Mind you, he thought, it didn't hurt that he was the only person Philip knew with the connections to get him out of this mess. Slipping across the streets between floods of cars, he walked up the steps to the church and entered the vestibule. He had no idea where to look for Edwin, or if he'd even still be here. It was almost 5:00pm after all.

An elderly couple strolled out of the sanctuary, giving him barely a glance as they headed out into the crisp spring air. Philip smirked a little, global warming was devastating the tropics, but up here, it was cold as hell. Well, or the opposite of hell...whatever. He shook his head, he needed to find edwin, he didn't have time for idle thoughts. Glancing left and right, he walked through the inner doors to the scantuary and looked around. The pews were all empty, and though the scantuary was brightly lit, no one appeared to be around.

"Great. Just great, the once chance I get at this and he's not even freaking here."

As if in answer to his frustration, a door just to the right of the choir loft opened, and a man in a suit walked out just throwing on a duffel coat. Without even seeing his face, Philip recognized the coat from dozens of pictures. Edwin may be rich and brilliant, but like any man, he didn't see the need to bother with some giant wardrobe, wearing the same thing so long as it was clean (or at least close enough) and intact (again, or at least close enough).

Philip cut through the pews, and headed for Edwin, not wanting to raise his voice. He was fairly sure he hadn't been followed, but then again, if he had been, he'd never know. The last guy who'd tried to run had had a quite unpleasant run-in with a certain white-robed ninja. Philip shuddered at the memory of the eviscerated carcass on display for the ensuing weeks.

Edwin had his head down, consulting something on a blackberry and almost ran into Philip on his way out, "Oh, I'm sorry, I was ju.....Philip?"

Skepticism quickly flashed across Edwin's face. Here was a man with no love lost on his former high school classmates, not that Philip blamed him given the hell they'd put him through. Ironic wasn't it? In school, everyone makes fun of the nerds, and they're the ones who wind up running the world.

"I need your help Edwin."

"If its a procedure, you book through the hospital. If you need help cheating on a test, screw off, though I expect you might be a bit too old for that. If you wan't to appologize for the past, screw yourself. If its anything else, see a shrink."

Philip was pretty sure the only reason Edwin hadn't spit in his face was because he had too much class for that. So much for the pleasantries. He had only one card left to play.

"I know who's responsible for the terrorist attacks on the 21st."

Edwin didn't laugh. Big surprise. Just raised an eyebrow. "Sure you do. Next your going to tell me your the one who engineered the bombs."

Philip winced, he had in fact done some of the work on those. He wished he could change that but he couldn't. "Please Edwin, you've got to believe me. Would I have come here to talk to you about this if I was lying?"

Edwin paused, clearly evaluating Philip's claim. Well damn him, if he couldn't see that Philip was desprate, he'd just have to make him believe. This could change the future of the free world.

"You'd better have something to prove this."

In response, Philip turned and raised his left earlobe exposing the snake tattoo there. The same one found on every terrorist's body from the April 21st attacks.

"You were one of the surgeons who examined the bodies. I know you know what this means."

"You could have copied it."

"Your team released altered pictures. No one could match this based off those. You could see the difference in an instant."

Edwin nodded, but didn't look particularly mollified. "Fine, I'll hear you out."

Philip moved aside so Edwin could lead the way, but Edwin made no movement.

"Not here, anyone could hear."

"If your pulling my l-"

"Please, just LISTEN to me for Christ's sake!"

"This way," Edwin replied, leading the way back through the door he'd just recently exited, closing it behind them, then down a flight of stairs and through a small wooden door. Based on the stone walls, they were now in a small storage room built into the foundation of the church, cramed with microphone stands, music stands, and a bunch of other stuff Philip couldn't identify in the half-light permitted by the frosted glass panel in the door.

"You have 5 minutes to convince me. After that," Edwin said, producing a pistol, and silence from somewhere under his coat, "I'm taking you in."

Philip gulped in a breath of air as Edwin fit the silencer without looking. "You have a license for that?"

"You'd be amazed what you can get a license for when your surgery saves the life of the Prime Minister's son. Four minutes, forty seconds."

Well, the man was still a human clock it appeared. Philip plunged right in. "You remember the Cold Fusion lab that Dallas and I worked on in Ontario? Well right after the disaster, I was stripped of any qualifications to practice engineering in any country, and lost everything."

"This was all in the news, tick tock."

Clearly Edwin still wasn't taking him seriously. "Shortly thereafter, while I was living in a halfway house, I was approached by a man-"

"Who?"

"A MAN who called himself "The Commander" who promised me a way to get back at the megacorporations and governments that had thwarted my project. He knew everything about me. He said he was building an organization and needed my help with some logistics. He offered me a position at the top if I'd join. I had nothing left, I listened to him, I believed him. We spent the next five years-"

"When was this?"

"Just over five years ago. As I said, we spent the next five years building up the organization with some help from others. Even when he recruited me he had a thousands of followers, they were from everywhere. I didn't find out about them until over a year after I joined him. By then, I think I'd earned his trust. He had me start working on explosives, with some Scottish nut-job named Destro. He's like someone out of Star Trek, crazy ideas you'd never think would work. Teleportation, laser pistols and the like."

"Look," Philip said, producing a small journal, "Everything I know is in this journal, or on these CDs. I wanted to come in after we tested the bombs, but I ne-"

"Tested?"

"Yeah, on a small village in the Sudan. Killed a few hundred women and children. CHILDREN! That's not what I signed up for. Enlightening the people? Getting government out of bed with big business? Yeah. Wholesale slaughter and terrorism? No!"

Edwin took the book and flipped through it. Nothing registered on his face. "What's this drawing on the first page?" he asked, pointing to a 6 surrounded in coiled lines.

"Sorry, that's unimportant, just drew it. It was the symbol on the reactor that blew."

"Sigma 6 right?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Could your replicate that drawing again?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because your going back."

"What the hell?!?! I want no part of this."

Edwin sneered. Something he did quite well when addressing those he felt to be inferior. "Your the only person who's ever gotten away form them alive right? If I don't miss my guess, you were here doing some business for them, and the only reason you've gotten a chance to meet with me is because you have a sight-seeing break. Right?" He pushed on, not waiting for confirmation. "That means that in a very short period of time, they're going to notice your gone, and they're going to kill you. If your notes about these 'shadow vipers' are the truth, you have about another 15 minutes to get back into the open. You don't know, or at least your journal makes it look like you don't know how deeply some governments are infiltrated, but all the terrorists we got alive were killed within 12 hours of capture with no evidence. Clearly this organization is in a lot deeper than you think. Right now, your the only link anyone has to the inside, so we need you to go back in, and find out what you can. When you can, get a book with this symbol on the front page together and mail it to me. Make sure you don't get any fingerprints or anything else on it. I'll make sure it gets into the right hands. Once someone gets an infiltration agent into the organization, they'll get you out. But until then, your immeasurably valuable."

"But if they catch me, they'll kill me."

"Then don't get caught." Edwin made this sound as simple as taking a stroll through the park. "Now get out of here before they realize your gone."

Edwin tucked the pistol and journal inside his coat and they headed out the door, Edwin taking the lead up the stairs. A janitor was just coming down.

"Oh, excuse me sir."

"No problem." Edwin replied as he passed.

Edwin had no sooner passed the janitor than a pistol appeared in the man's hand.

Crud, though Philip, this really is my day for getting shot at isn't it.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the gunshot that would end his life, but none came. Instead, a strangled cry followed by a crunching sound and gurgling. Philip dared to open one eye, and saw that Edwin had turned around and thrust a pocket knife through the man's carotid artery, no doubt the cause of the strangling cry, and draged it through his trachea resulting in the crunching and the other carotid. His other hand was pressing an already blood soaked pocket puff to the man's throat. Trust the surgeon, Philip thought, to know how to cut a man's throat.

"Belt."

"What?"

"Give me your belt laughing boy, I need a turnkey to stem the blood flow or its getting all over the floor."

"You just killed him. IN A CHURCH!!!"

"Would you prefer that I'd let him kill you, you ungrateful bastard? Give me the belt!" Edwin hissed.

Philip tore it off as fast as he could and handed it to Edwin, who promptly looped it around the man's neck and pulled it taught. More crunching emerged as the trachea was crushed, but Philip was fairly sure the man was quite dead by now.

"Get his pants off."

Philip didn't bother asking again, knowing this would just engender further scorn. He pulled off the man's shoes, followed by his overly tight jeans.

"Wrap them around his neck. That will catch the rest of the blood as it drains from his head."

Philip complied, and tied them off.

"Ok," Edwin said, carefully withdrawing his hand from the man's neck, "Help me put him in the storage room, and get out of here." I'll get this blood washed off, then I'll deal with corpse-boy."

The body was quickly hauled into the storage room and locked in. Philip chuckled with nervous laughter. "Thank you."

"Ok laughing boy. You have a job to do. Get back there, and keep taking notes. Get them to me when you can. Consider yourself drafted."

"Your not the army."

"No, but I know someone who is, and they'll deal with the paperwork. I'll get this journal to the right people, and keep up contact with you. Just make sure your stuff is marked with that sigma-6 logo so I know its you."

"Could we use something else? That could be tied to me a bit too easily."

"Well, what do you know Philip, you have a brain afterall."

"Need I remind you-"

"Lets get something strait Philip, I know your a good engineer, and a good person. I just don't like you. Your useful to me, and to the world right now, so I'll work with you. But that's only because your useful. Got it?"

"Got it."

"You have a code-word you'd like to use instead of the sigma-6 thing?"

"Yeah, Chuckles."

"Do I want to know?"

"More importantly Edwin, its none of your business." Philip retorted and stormed out.

Great, thought Philip as he strode out of the church. I have to deal with that pain in the ass again. I should have just gone to the government, at least they're professional about stuff. Still, prick or not, I have what I came for. Contact.

He pulled out a crumpled photograph from his pocket. Three faces stared out at him, his wife and his kids. He hadn't decided to defect when they tested the bomb, far from it, he'd reveled in its use and the plans for the 21st. But the Commander had lied to him. He'd begged to be able to meet his family in New York after the attacks and bring them with him. The Commander had agreed, telling him to have them wait at the Statue of Liberty. He'd never bothered to mention that the statue was on the list of targets for bombing. When Philip had found out about it, he'd stormed into the commander's office with every intention to hill him. Storm Shadow had stopped him in an instant, and the commander had reminded him that as a member of Cobra, he didn't need attachments to decadent western society. To get out alive, Philip had agreed, but had plotted his revenge. And now he had an avenue to do it. With cobra he would stike back at the countries and corporations that ruined his life. But he'd pass just enough information back to the good, ever-so-trusting Dr. Edwin Steen to appear that he was working for the new UN organization that was being formed to track down Cobra. Just enough so that when they brought down the Commander that he'd have clemency.

The best of both world.




Code Name: Chuckles
File Name:Philip M. Provost
Birthplace: Calgary, Alberta
Rank: N/A
Primary Military Specialty: Infiltration
Secondary Military Specialty: Engineering

[thatjimboguy]

Looks great so far, DH. My only complaint is that I somehow got the impression that it would be two parts because it involved two characters. Oh well, I guess I'll get another part later. Keep up the good work, bro.

[Lifeline_MD]

Chuckles introduction wound up being longer than I thought at first. Lifeline will get his own chapter, he just appears in this one also.

Even in these introductory pieces, there will be characters who appear in other character's stories. Some get their own, some share, some have 'guests' appear.

[Barefoot Jedi]

I'm liking this interpretation!

[Lifeline_MD]

Thanks BFJ.

There's a lot of work to come on it, but its a start.

[Lifeline_MD]

On the bright side, this thread has 204 views. On the down side, only 8 people have responded...

[Lifeline 71]

Nice. Quite a different interpretation of Joe. My man Lifeline is a badass, all right! Can't wait to see what's next.

[Tyroc]

That is awesome DH! Loving it. I like the way you're exploring the character motivations which for me was always lacking in most Joe media. The desire to separate govt and big business is not only one of the big conspiracy theories of the ages but also a very real thing, like the G8, G10, G20 protestors, That's an awesome start and I really look forward to reading more. :)

[Lifeline_MD]

Nice. Quite a different interpretation of Joe. My man Lifeline is a badass, all right! Can't wait to see what's next.

Next? Also happens to be lifeline centric :D

That is awesome DH! Loving it. I like the way you're exploring the character motivations which for me was always lacking in most Joe media. The desire to separate govt and big business is not only one of the big conspiracy theories of the ages but also a very real thing, like the G8, G10, G20 protestors, That's an awesome start and I really look forward to reading more. :)

Glad you noticed. Hopefully the characters shown will be more well rounded in this version. Most of them will keep characteristics established in the original run, but some characters are in desperate need of some redesign.

I am reserving the right to change birthplaces and some specialties as needed.

[Joecom]

Very Awesome! DH

[Bravo Sierra]

Even before reading your guys comments, they were the two characters slated to make their opening appearances tomorrow to kick things off.

Hopefully you'll both be pleased with their appropriate bad-assedness.



Thank you.
I just finished Chuckles, and it's awesome!!!! Great stuff man! Way to go! Tank you! Yeah I said "tank" instead of "thank". Get it?

[xFlintx]

Skidmark and Windmill need a place in this universe :D

[Lifeline_MD]

Very Awesome! DH

Thank you.

I just finished Chuckles, and it's awesome!!!! Great stuff man! Way to go! Tank you! Yeah I said "tank" instead of "thank". Get it?

Of course I did !

Glad you like him. He will be making several appearances throughout.

Skidmark and Windmill need a place in this universe :D

Ask and ye shall recieve. They will make appearances in the next story.

(Saddy, due to writer's block the Lifeline one is on hold, so it will be replaced for today's release)

[Lifeline_MD]

02/25/2022 - Psych-Out

Oslo - Vanderbert Night Club - Weekly Rave

Flashing lights illuminate the room as Cyril Colombani and Edward Roth make their way through the packed crowds.

"You know Ski....er Cyril, you really have to loosen up man. You stick out like a sore thumb." Edward recovered just in time, remembering to use his partner's real name.

"Your just jealous my car goes faster than your chopper."

Edward shook his head, some things never changed.

"You have any idea who we're looking for Ed?"

"Blond guy, 5'10", apparently the DJ."

"I'm not seeing a stage. Just a lot of people who should be having talks with the police."

"Scantily clad women aren't illegal up here."

"No, but the drugs the guys are popping in their drinks are. I still say we run them in."

"Not what we're paid to do. I don't thing Joe would look too kindly on us wasting time on these bums. Just find this guy, what's his name?"

"Kennith Rich."

"Of course you'd remember."

They continued to push their way through the crowd, trying to orient themselves through the flashes of the lights. Cyril's upright bearing kept most of the revelers away from him, but Edward found himself being jostled all the time, which he found quite unpleasant, and propositioned by many of the female revelers, which he found much less unpleasant. Too bad he was only going to be here for another few hours, or he might have enjoyed some company. But orders were orders, fly Ed in, find Kennith, and get him out. How hard could it be? Eight days of searching proved it was actually quite difficult to find him at the parties.

"How exactly does someone go from being the top psychological warfare officer in the European Union, to a DJ anyway?"

"Probably trying to perfect new techniques, could you imagine trying to fight in this?" Ed yelled over the techno blaring through the club's speakers.

Edward had to concede the point.

"There," Cyril nodded towards a small booth near the back door of the club. "Your shorter, cut off the exit, I'll come up on his left. We'll take him out the back. There's no way we'd get him through this."

Edward nodded and slid through the crowd.

Ok, Cyril thought, fingering the auto-injector that Lifeline had handed him before they left the PIT, lets hope he cooperates, I'm not too keen on sticking him with this. But you gotta do what ya gotta do. He edged through the crowd, elbowing a few very drunken girls, who he was sure were underage, out of the way on his way to the booth. Reaching the booth, he slid between the table and the wall and up beside Kennith Rich.

"Yo man, yous got no business in the booth, man. Ya should head back out on the floor, loosen up, pick up some babes."

"I'm not here for that Mr. Rich-"

"Dr. Rich dude, got my PhD in Awesome Pownage from the University of Cool."

Geez, this guy has got to be high on something. And a fairly large dose. Cyril gestured towards Edward to come over. They'd probably have to carry him out. There was no way he could stick him, the drugs in his system could kill him when combined with whatever Dr. Steen had given him. How did a guy who got his degree at Berkley become a druggie?

"Well then Dr. Rich, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Suddenly the distracted look left Kennith's eyes. "Excuse me? I'm trying to do my job here. If your a cop get the fuck out and let me work. I'm not high, I've done nothing illegal, and I will kick you and your buddy's ass if you touch me."

Oh, OK then, thought Cyril. NOT doped up. Just one hell of an actor. But then again, the guy's degree is in psycho warfare...

"Sir, we work for Generals Colton, Flagg and Abernathy. I know you worked with all three. They need your help."

"I told them, and I'm telling you now," Kennith turned away from his station, "leave me alone!"

"That's not what they said."

"What's your clearance code?"

"Excuse me?"

"If they really sent you you'd know the clearance code."

Oh screw this thought Cyril, people are staring, and they had no code word. There was only one way to play this. In one motion he pulled the auto-injector from his coat, and jabbed it into Kennith's stomach.

"I...you...wow, now those are some pretty colors."

Kennith Rich's body slumped back into the arms of Edward.

"Good catch."

"Yeah, now we just need to get him out of here."

"Hey man!" called one of the revelers, "What'ch doin' wid our D_hay?"

"Out the door, now!" Cyril ordered. Which was probably unnecessary in hindsite as Edward was already throwing Kennith over his shoulder and heading for the exit. Thankfully most of the revelers couldn't see them, but a few called after.

The two men and their human cargo barged out into the street, heading for an unmarked military jeep parked at the end of the alley. Edward threw Kennith's body in the back of the vehicle as Cyril gunned the engine, and they were off.

"You know speeding is just going to make us look more guilty right Skidmark?"

"You did realize that there was a cop following us for the last 3 hours right?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, OH! We weren't supposed to be here, and if I'm not mistaken, that black car following us is the cops. I hope you can get the Tomahawk in the air fast."

"We need eight minutes for a full warm up."

"We won't HAVE eight minutes Windmill! How about a cold start?"

"What happened to Mr. Perfection?"

"He's in a hurry."

"All right, all right. I can get us up with a cold start in about 30 seconds."

"Much better."

The VAMP tore out of the city, pushing 180MPH. Thankfully the police, or whoever they were, were falling behind. Edward had pulled out his Blackberry and was attempting to uplink to the Tomahawk, just 10 miles away.

"Come on, come on.....GOT IT! Rear bay doors opening."

"Good man."

Cyril guided the VAMP on a reckless obstacle course through the countryside, and down a slope into a depression. Sitting there in the dark, in the lee of a pair of cliffs, hidden from view from all angles but directly above, sat a Tomahawk helicopter. The VAMP tore up the back ramp, and skidded to a stop just short of the forward bulkhead. Both men leaped out. Cyril heading for the ramp switch, Edward for the cockpit. One semi-successful extraction. Cyril just hoped that their flight out of the city wouldn't be covered by every local media outlet.


General Colton's Office - The Rock - LOCATION CLASSIFIED

"You guys are damn LUCKY that you aren't on every major news station from here to Hong Kong! What the hell were you thinking?"

After 6 months with the team Cyril knew better to answer the general when he was in this mood. Edward, after only 4 weeks, apparently did not.

"Well sir, we though that-"

"That's just it! You DIDN'T think!! Your Joes! You're not supposed to draw attention to yourself, let alone be followed by the cops! Your supposed to be better than that! Get out of my office before I throw you out. Your leave privileges are suspended until further notice!"

Cyril followed Edward into the hall, shaking his head. They'd screwed up badly, but that could have gone much worse, at least they were in a better position than Duke. Cyril shuddered. Hell, Hauser was lucky he had only been busted down to private, most joes would have been court-marshaled for that...


Medical Bay 1E - The Rock - LOCATION CLASSIFIED

"He alright LL?" asked Laurence Flagg.

"He's fine. But he had a couple drinks in his system when Skidmark stuck him," replied Lifeline, "so it will take him a few minutes longer to regain full consciousness."

More gibberish emerged from Kennith Rich's mouth.

"There's some stuff I could put in his system, but I'd advise against it."

"All right then. We'll wait."

"We?"

"You got somewhere you need to go? Your the one who demanded a place on the command staff."

Lifeline shrugged and leaned back on his operating chair. Give him 10 minutes.

Dormatories -The Rock - LOCATION CLASSIFIED

Cyril was looking forward to hitting the sack. What he was not looking forward to was talking to his room-mate. Clutch wasn't a bad guy, but he could be irritating at times. Perhaps he'd just ask Steeler if he could crash in his bed for a few hours. He'd understand. He'd had to work with Clutch on that thing in Mozambique.

Yeah, that's what he'd do. Safer and quieter.

Mess Hall - The Rock - LOCATION CLASSIFIED

Edward leaned on the counter. "Roadblock, I really don't care what you have, just serve me whatever's hot and filling."

"Ya sure man? You look like you've had a rough day."

"Yeah, General Colton's a bit pissed of with me. I screwed up."

"He'll get over it. He just has a short temper, but he always forgives. Eventually."

"That really doesn't make me feel better. You know that right?"


Medical Bay 1E - The Rock - LOCATION CLASSIFIED

"Oh man, those were some really intense drugs you used there...Lifeline was it?"

"Sorry, but it was the only way we were sure you'd come back here," replied Flagg.

"So, I take it my deep-cover op is over?"

"Yeah, we need you for something else."

"What precisely?"

"You remember Black Thursday?"

"Who doesn't."

"Well, we're the team who's taking down the bastards who caused it."

"That's all I need to know. My Uncle was at the Kremlin. I'm in."

"Good man. Lifeline will make sure your OK, and then we'll take you down to the ops center and get you caught up."

"Do I get a funny name?"

"Code name," Lifeline interjected rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean."

"Lifeline, be nice." Flagg admonished. "You have one in mind Ken?"

"Yeah, call me Psych-out."





Code Name: Psych-Out
File Name: Kennith Rich
Birthplace: San Francisco, California
Rank: O-2
Primary Military Specialty: Psy Ops
Secondary Military Specialty: Engineering

[Tyroc]

That is awesome, when you're finished,can I have a signed HC cover please? :)

I love the way you made Psyche Out a bad ass. He's a Psy Ops soldier which he means he's Special Forces but most people portray him as a shrink. Loving everything so far, especially the nuances like Clutch being hard to contend with when all you want is to sack out. Nice!

[Barefoot Jedi]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this!

I like how you write.

I like how you're structuring things and introducing the characters...the filecard info at the end is a stylish touch.

And I like the character interpretations.

[Lifeline_MD]

That is awesome, when you're finished,can I have a signed HC cover please? :)

I love the way you made Psyche Out a bad ass. He's a Psy Ops soldier which he means he's Special Forces but most people portray him as a shrink. Loving everything so far, especially the nuances like Clutch being hard to contend with when all you want is to sack out. Nice!

Psych-out had to be more bad-ass. He screws with peoples minds for heaven's sake. He can't be a wuss.

There are a few little details thrown in with each story as possible.

Did you catch the part about Duke? Roadblock?

If you read carefully (this being the generic second person you) you'll find there are a lot of little things that hint at future stories.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this!

I like how you write.

I like how you're structuring things and introducing the characters...the filecard info at the end is a stylish touch.

And I like the character interpretations.




Glad your enjoying it.

It's been years since I did anything creative for writing, so I'm a bit rusty, but I'm pleased its coming off well.

A team just doesn't appear, it recruits. That's something I find missing from all the Joe media. New members just appear out of thin air, and you know next to nothing about them. I'd like to do an intro for every character, but with 300+ joes/cobras in the states, and another 200 or so internationally, that won't be possible any time soon, but I'm going to try to get all the major characters in.

As for the file card info, it was a spur of the moment decision that I've decided I quite like. Haven't quite figured out what I'll do for the non-character-centric stories at the end yet though.

[Barefoot Jedi]

As for the file card info, it was a spur of the moment decision that I've decided I quite like. Haven't quite figured out what I'll do for the non-character-centric stories at the end yet though.

I see what I read like movies in my mind, and it's very easy for me to imagine what you've written playing out and I can see these sequences and at the end, the text in the corner of the screen.

[Lifeline_MD]

I see what I read like movies in my mind, and it's very easy for me to imagine what you've written playing out and I can see these sequences and at the end, the text in the corner of the screen.



Never looked at it that way. Cool!

[Lifeline_MD]

05/13/2021 - Lifeline (Part 1)

New York - UN Security Council Private Session RE: UN Special Task Force 1

"And that, is about all we can find out from the bodies until we have time to further analyze one. The circuitry implanted in the communication centers of the subject's brains is far beyond what I expected, and a much more rigorous analysis will have to be carried out. At the moment, Calgary's Foothill's Hospital is the center best equipped to handle this, though it would be possible to utilize labs in Japan, China or Italy. However, for convenience, security and honestly, quality, that is the best choice."

The twenty-five members of the Security Council regarded Dr. Edwin Steen dispassionately. General Joseph Colton watched, his beard hiding his amusement. Possibly the most renowned surgeon one could find, and they still questioned his opinion. What had the world come to these days.

It was the representative from Russia who spoke up first. "It seams awfully convenient Mr. Steen that the 'best' place for these tests are at the hospital where you work."

"Well, Comrade Talenkov, if it wasn't at my hospital, I wouldn't be here. Someone else would."

Well, thought Colton, those two still hate each other. At least some things never change.

"If the UN will release 5 of the bodies for me to take back with me, I could have a preliminary diagnosis completed within a week. More than that I can't say without getting a better look at their bodies. Whoever is responsible for this took no chances at these people being identified. Their fingerprints have been surgically altered through grafts, mutilation, removal or gene therapy, a criminal's dream. Part of the reason their dental records can't be matched is because all their teeth are artificial implants. Add to that what appears to be more or less random gene therapy throughout their body has prevented any conclusive DNA matching, even if they were on the grid. The only thing that might give us a clue is these implants."

The British representative leaned forward, "What would you need for security?"

"Probably very little so long as no one knows that the bodies are being moved. The agents who killed those we had in custody haven't made any move to retrieve the bodies before now, so they're not likely to try now. Especially if they think they're still here in New York."

Colton leaned forward, "I have a couple people who can provide cover."

"But I must say that-"

"That's enough Talenkov," interjected the French representative. "Much though we all know you would love to rake Dr. Steen over for perceived wrongs, we have other things to do. General Colton, you will finalize the details to release the corpses to Dr. Steen and provision of a security detail. Good luck to you Dr. Steen."

Steen and Colton nodded and began to leave.

"OH, and General..."

"Yes?"

"Your requests have been approved. All eight."

"Thank you."

The doors closed behind the two men.

"Talenkov is still upset I see."

Steen sighed. "Some things never change. At least he's not still on every talk show."

Colton had to try not to smirk. Talenkov's numerous appearances on television accusing Steen of being a murderer had been great entertainment. Everyone outside of Russia had taken Steen's side in the conflict, but it had been more popular to watch Talenkov's latest rantings than to watch the NFL for a few months. Actually, the Oprah interview had bumped the Superbowl to second in the ratings. When else had that happened?

"So, how goes the recruiting drive General?"

"Please call me Joe. Not to bad. I had a few people in mind for another project and they all wanted in on this so I have a good core to build off of. But I'm in need of a medical officer."

"Is there a question in there somewhere?"

"Yeah, there is."

"I'll think about it. I like my job. Or jobs I guess. I don't think I'd be able to run my company if I was working for you guys. And I'd miss the surgeries."

"You actually enjoy cutting people open?"

"Its always been my dream job. Let me put it this way, you know how long and hard you worked for your general's stripes? Would you give that up to work as a security guard at a hospital?"

Colton nodded. Steen had a point.

"I'll think about it though."

The two men strolled down the hallway, passing the time with idle conversation, carefully steering clear of anything to do with the attacks while in the public, or even relatively public parts of the building. Colton swiped a key-card as they entered the first basement to take them to a secure hallway.

"So you want fou..." he trailed off.

Steen frowned, followed Colton's gaze and saw the guards' bodies lying in the hallway.

"Ah crap," he hissed, drawing a pistol from under his suit.

Colton's eyes widened, "How'd you get that past security?"

Steen smiled, "Ceramic composite. Twice as durable as a regular gun, doesn't set of the metal detectors. So's the ammo if you were wondering."

Ceramic composite bullets were designed to explode shortly after impact into tiny razor sharp fragments that could tear apart the chest cavity of a horse. How precisely a civilian was licensed to carry one, Colton had no idea. And when he thought about it, he realized he didn't really want to know. Rather than bothering to ask he slipped over to one of the guard's bodies and pried the assualt rifle from the man's cold hands. He paused to check that it was loaded and grab a couple extra magazines off the man's belt. Steen advanced down the hallway, back pressed against the wall, gun held out aimed at a door on the opposite side of the hallway. The door to the morgue. The morgue that held the bodies of the captured terrorists. Looked like someone wanted to retrieve them after all.

Colton paused to wonder if the doc had any training, he seemed to know what he was doing. He grabbed the other guard's rifle and ammo and moved up beside Steen.

"You ever used that before?"

"On a target range. Other than that, just some virtual reality practice."

"Good enough. You flank the door, I'll...oh shit."

Two men, armored in orange and blue and carrying what looked to be stylized riot shields entered the hallway. Their backs were to Steen and Colton, at least for now.

Steen raised an eyebrow. Colton nodded, bringing up his rifle, only to have it stopped by Steen's hand. Steen shook his head, and raised his pistol. Colton started to protest only to be stopped when two almost inaudible pops were emitted by Steen's pistol. Colton hadn't seen Steen fit the silencer, but was glad the doctor had thought of it. And with a remarkable precision, each of the bullets smashed into one of the intruder's exposed necks, the explosion of the ceramic bullets tearing their heads apart in complete silence. The clatter of their armor wasn't nearly as silent. Steen recoiled at the noise. Colton raised his rifle expecting more of the men to pour out of the room.

"Yo! Clumsy," came a voice from inside the room, "watch where your going!"

A hearty round of chuckling came from the room. Colton looked at Steen, who shrugged. Talk about your lucky breaks. Steen broke to the far wall, edging along it until he was right beside the door while Colton kept his rifle trained at the opening. Steen nodded and Colton edged down his side of the hallway until he could just see the wall inside the door frame. Colton gestured for Steen to kneel down and fire low. Steen nodded acknowledgment and held up 5 fingers, slowly putting one down approximately each second. Colton braced himself, and when Steen was down to just one finger, launched himself across the hallway to the far side of the door frame and started firing at the men in the room. Beside him, Steen dropped to one knee.

Colton counted at least 15 sets of orange armor in the room. He had long since stopped thinking of enemies as people, just colored targets of one nature or another that had a human like form. Most of his bullets were glancing off armor or, on those faster to react to their arrival, riot shields, presuming that's what they were. Steen by comparison was firing for effect. Aiming carefully and plugging each shot into a seam in the armor, each hit resulting in a spray of fine red mist, a disturbing byproduct of the ceramic shells. Between the two of them five were down before he had to duck back to reload. Steen with his hunt and peck was still covering him when he poked the rifle back in. Another couple went down, still leaving them with...nine. Roughly.

One of the armored intruders pulled a grenade off his chest, and Colton threw himself on top of Steen, knocking them away from the doorway just as the grenade came flying through. Steen pushed him off and dove for the the grenade.

"Are you crazy?!"

Steen ignored him, batting the grenade backhanded off the floor and back through the door, at which point it promptly exploded.

"That was still crazy."

"The average grenade has an 8 second fuze," explained Steen as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I hit it when it was at five."

"Your still crazy."

"That's what my wife always says," grinned Steed.

A single intruder stumbled out of the door, orange armor darkened from fire. Steen put his pistol to his kneecap just beneath the blue armor and pulled the triger. Colton flinched as red mist sprayed him as the man's lower leg disintegrated in a spray of blood, muscle and bone.

"Hold him," Steen said and strode into the still smoky morgue.

Colton thought to protest, but seeing the man reaching for a pistol holstered on his back, Colton had no choice but to jump him. He had to disarm the man of another three pistols, two grenades and two knives before he was finally able to subdue him. Whoever he was.

"What are you doing in there?"

"Cleanup."

Only then did Colton realize that the pops he'd been hearing must have been Steen making sure those inside were dead.

"Don't kill them, they could be useful."

"No point, you have the commander."

"How the hell could you know that?"

"The Sargent's stripes on his arm," Steen poked his head out the door, "You know, the one two inches from your face."

Steen disappeared inside, emerging a minute later with a syringe, vial and telephone. He placed the phone on the floor beside Colton, and filled the syringe with whatever was in the bottle. The entire contents of the needle was promptly emptied into the sergeant's neck, who equally promptly went totally limp.

"We still could have interrogated the rest of them."

"All of them would have bled out in the next 8 hours. All we'd have wound up doing is treating them in time for them to die. Sarge here was the only one who would have made it."

Colton grimaced, but couldn't fault the man's logic. Like it or not. He sighed and picked up the receiver, now relieved of pinning down the armed intruder.

"Security, I need a detail down at the morgue, stat. And EMS and Fire."

Steen was tying some medical tubing just above the stump, thankfully cutting off the flow. Might as well, Colton thought, there was no way they were saving that leg anyway.

"I want in."

Colton frowned, "excuse me?"

"You said you wanted a medic."

"Well sure we'd be-"

"Two conditions. One: I'm on the command staff, and I don't mean a lieutenant. Your CMO is going to need to know what's going on, at all times. Two: my wife comes with me. Your going to need engineers and IT staff, and there's none better."

Colton didn't bother hesitating. "Done and done. You need a codename though..."








Code Name: Lifeline
File Name: Edwin Steen
Birthplace: Calgary, Alberta
Rank: O-6
Primary Military Specialty: Surgeon
Secondary Military Specialty: Medic

[Lifeline_MD]

And that's three installments in three days.

Sadly at this point, I have to go on hiatus for two or three days. I have an exam on Thursday I need to study for. However, stories will return this weekend.



So, if you like what you see so far, post a comment. If you don't, friendly, constructive criticism is appreciated.

Tell your friends to stop by. I'd love some more opinions on the material.

YO JOE!!!

[CharIJoe]

love it DH!

[monkeywrench1988]

epic win DH, keep em comin, any way you could work the twins into the story?

[samantha]

Very entertaining.

[Lifeline 71]

Wow, DH! I'm glad you saved the best for last! This is great stuff. That is definitely not the Sunbow "I'm a pacifist" Lifeline. Who's his wife going to be, Bree van Mark? Anyways, take your much deserved hiatus. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Troynos]

Good stuff.

[Lifeline_MD]

Now available:

[/URL][URL="http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1028vcghgq"]The Roster So Far (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1028vcghgq)

[Lifeline_MD]

love it DH!

Glad to hear it!

epic win DH, keep em comin, any way you could work the twins into the story?

Thanks man. The twins will make an appearance at some point. As will every requested character.

Very entertaining.

Thank you.

Wow, DH! I'm glad you saved the best for last! This is great stuff. That is definitely not the Sunbow "I'm a pacifist" Lifeline. Who's his wife going to be, Bree van Mark? Anyways, take your much deserved hiatus. Looking forward to the next installment.

A pacifist would not join the military. End of story.

I have to admit, I have no idea who that is...

Good stuff.

Thanks man.

[Lifeline 71]

Sorry, DH. Bree van Mark was in the cartoon episode, "The Million Dollar Medic". She and her wealthy father are saved by Lifeline during a battle with Cobra and she develops a crush on him. And I agree, a pacifist wouldn't join the military, especially an elite unit like the Joes. Just because he's a doc doesn't mean he can't kick butt.

[Lifeline_MD]

Sorry, DH. Bree van Mark was in the cartoon episode, "The Million Dollar Medic". She and her wealthy father are saved by Lifeline during a battle with Cobra and she develops a crush on him. And I agree, a pacifist wouldn't join the military, especially an elite unit like the Joes. Just because he's a doc doesn't mean he can't kick butt.

Well, there you have it. Proof I've never watched the old cartoons :D

That name might be handy though. Thank you.

[Lifeline 71]

No prob, DH. It's a pretty typical episode. She falls in love with Lifeline, but when she's in danger, he won't fight the Cobras. She's blonde, early 20's or so. Anyways, good luck with your studies.

[Barefoot Jedi]

Sorry, DH. Bree van Mark was in the cartoon episode, "The Million Dollar Medic". She and her wealthy father are saved by Lifeline during a battle with Cobra and she develops a crush on him. And I agree, a pacifist wouldn't join the military, especially an elite unit like the Joes. Just because he's a doc doesn't mean he can't kick butt.

Well, there you have it. Proof I've never watched the old cartoons :D

That name might be handy though. Thank you.

That's the ep with the COBRA Snow Cats in it.

DH, you've really never seen the Sunbow episodes?

Whoah.

Lifeline is interpreted VERY differently.

[Huer-Ta]

Lifeline's Bio = WIN. I'll catch up on the others soon Boss but I like where this is going!

[Lifeline_MD]

No prob, DH. It's a pretty typical episode. She falls in love with Lifeline, but when she's in danger, he won't fight the Cobras. She's blonde, early 20's or so. Anyways, good luck with your studies.

Ah. good to know. Thanks.

That's the ep with the COBRA Snow Cats in it.

DH, you've really never seen the Sunbow episodes?

Whoah.

Lifeline is interpreted VERY differently.

I know the generic story of how he was portrayed, but not the details.

I got the footlocker a few weeks back, so I'll watch through the series eventually, I just never have before.

Lifeline's Bio = WIN. I'll catch up on the others soon Boss but I like where this is going!

Thanks man! Glad your enjoying it.

[thatjimboguy]

Just read the newest installment DH. It's great!

[Big Jim]

Awesome so far DH. Good luck on your exams, I know the feeling with finals starting next week for me. Any plans on having BeachHead on the team?

[Lifeline_MD]

Just read the newest installment DH. It's great!

Thanks!!

Awesome so far DH. Good luck on your exams, I know the feeling with finals starting next week for me. Any plans on having BeachHead on the team?

Thank you. For the complement and the good wishes.

Beach Head will appear.

[Lifeline_MD]

just a heads up for everyone following:

the next story will be a joeuniverse.com exclusive on everyone's favorite terrorist: Firefly.

[Lifeline_MD]

Firefly will be released tomorrow.

[Bravo Sierra]

Firefly will be released tomorrow.
That is awesome! I just finished "Psych-Out". Good stuff man. You write great fiction. Keep it up, and thanx!

[Troynos]

Where's the Firefly story? Need more!!

[Lifeline_MD]

That is awesome! I just finished "Psych-Out". Good stuff man. You write great fiction. Keep it up, and thanx!

Thank you. Glad your enjoying it.

Where's the Firefly story? Need more!!

Sorry, I've been ridiculously busy the last two weeks, and haven't had time to write anything. Firefly will be a joeuniverse.com exclusive.

I have 4 things in the works that I hope to start uploading later this week.

[Troynos]

BAH!! No excuses. Post Firefly here dangitall. :)

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Looking good DH can't wait for more.

[Lifeline_MD]

BAH!! No excuses. Post Firefly here dangitall. :)

The original Firefly story evolved into a story focused more around an adversary, and that will be a hisstank.com exclusive as that character was requested here. (by you I think...)

Looking good DH can't wait for more.

Hopefully soon there will be more.

[Lifeline_MD]

Well, the original Firefly story has morphed into something completely different, three separate stories:

11/18/2031 - Big Ben COMING SOON
11/18/2031 - Rollbar COMING SOON
11/18/2031 - Ambush COMING SOON

You may also notice that the dates have been moved an additional decade into the future. 2021 just seemed too soon, this fits better.

[Barefoot Jedi]

Well, the original Firefly story has morphed into something completely different, three separate stories:

11/18/2031 - Big Ben COMING SOON
11/18/2031 - Rollbar COMING SOON
11/18/2031 - Ambush COMING SOON

You may also notice that the dates have been moved an additional decade into the future. 2021 just seemed too soon, this fits better.

I'll be waiting.

And please notice I chose your thread for my 7500th post! :D

[Troynos]

more story.. must have more..

[Lifeline_MD]

Did someone say more story?




11/18/2031 - Big Ben

Tunnels Under Buckingham Palace, London

Who the hell designed this place, wondered Firefly to himself. A drunken lab rat could have come up with a less confusing maze than they've got under this city. He paused to consult his Blackberry again. Left. Shaking his head, he cautiously rounded the corner, and squeezed two shots off into the back of another palace security guard. This shouldn't have been so difficult. Get in, set the bomb, get out, blow it up.

Five of the six bombs were set though, and there wasn't anyone alive who could find what Firefly hid. Still, something bothered him, who was that SAS* trooper? He'd almost seemed to know what was going on. Well, Firefly smirked, he had until he took half a cartridge in the chest. He wouldn't be telling anyone anything. That's all that was important.

Firefly paused once more to check his exit map. Still 100 meters inside the blast radius, and yet he had over a kilometer to go to get out. He paused. Ah fuck it. Grabbing a pack of C4 from his belt. He slapped it to the ceiling, and carefully inserted a timer into one end. 30 seconds.

He ducked back around the corner. What did it matter now if there was panic in the streets, there would be when the place crumbled anyway, and this way it would help cover his escape.

5...4...3...

He dodged just in time as bullets tore through the space where his head had been a minute ago.

2...

What the hell? That man should be dead! Firefly grabbed the SMG hanging at his hip and triggered another burst towards the SAS trooper he'd left for dead back in the palace. Well, he wouldn't make that mistake again.

1...

Firefly threw himself behind a pipe just as the explosion ripped apart the tunnel to the left of him. The SAS trooper wasn't as lucky. So long sucker, Firefly thought, and charged towards the hole in the ceiling. He grabbed hold of some protruding re-bar to haul himself up through to the city street, when something heavy crashed into him from behind.

"Your a stubborn one aren't you?" Firefly asked, kicking the SAS trooper in the face.

"Not as stubborn as you mate."

Firefly's hand gripped his pistol, and fired off a trio of bullets into the trooper's hip through the bottom of the holster. The man grunted, but let go.

With his opponent blocking the exit Firefly dogged around the next corner and headed towards his original exit, leaving his incapacitated opponent behind him.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The SAS trooper picked himself up, and leaned against the wall. His gun was lost somewhere in the rubble, but that had never stopped him before.

Behind him came a voice of one of his men, "Sergent Bennett, are you alright sir?"

"I'll live soldier."

Hand me that, he said, gesturing towards the trooper's gunbelts and light machine gun.

"Sir?"

"That's an order Mr. Ferreira."

Taking the first of the gunbelts from the trooper, Sgt. Bennett wrapped it tightly around his calf where the bullets from the terrorist's gun had torn through flesh and muscle, cutting of the bleeding. He stepped experimentally on the leg, and found he could walk, if painfully.

He threw the second belt over his shoulder and took the proffered gun.

"Oh, and Stephen, would you kindly get someone to deactivate those bombs he left?"

"Someone's already...er...working on it sir."

Bennett started on his way, then paused, "what aren't you telling me?"

"Well...er...the guy who's doing it looks like he out of a bad science fiction film. All dressed in green, and well...I'm not really sure he should be handling explosives..."

"Why not?"

"Well, he's kinda...clumsy."

"Define clumsy."

"He tripped, knocked over a couch, and tore a tapestry...while attempting to bow to King Harry."

"Oh lord. Then I'd better get this ruddy bastard fast hadn't I?"

"Good luck sir."

"Thanks Stephen. Try to keep the palace intact."

"I'll do my best sir."

-----------------------------------------------------------

A few hundred meters away Firefly was taking wire-cutters to an old rusted grate. The only obstacle that stood between him and a straight path to freedom from the tunnels, and his escape. His bolt cutters were almost dulled by the rusty old gate, but after a few minutes work he was able to shoulder it open and crawl through.

He paused to check his blackberry once more. Only 50 meters until he was well outside the blast radius. Good. He could trigger it, steal a motorbike and get away in the ... did I just say motorbike? Firefly though to himself. I've been here too long.

...steal a motorcycle and get away in the ensuing confusion before anyone could track him. Anyone in any position of authority who might have seen him was already dead and the security systems would be destroyed along with the palace.

Now, to find that ladder up the storm sewer and this job was over. That would make up for the failure of those fools who were supposed to hit the palace back in April. Almost out.

Ah, here we go. The ladder.

Firefly removed a crowbar from his pack to pry off the cover.

"FREEZE!"

Oh for Cobra's sake....not again.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sgt. Bennett stared down the barrel of the borrowed machine gun at the terrorist.

"FREEZE!"

"Come quietly and I promise you a fair trial!"

The terrorist's only response was to throw something towards the gate Bennett was leaning on for support. He realized too late that it was a flash-bang.

The bright light stung his eyes and the sound deafened him. Bennett only hoped it was temporary, those rock concerts of his youth hadn't exactly helped his hearing. Even blindly he squeezed the trigger of the machine gun, hoseing the tunnel with a spray of bullets in the vain hope of at least taking down the terrorist before he could trigger the explosions.

Bennett stopped firing to listen, then realized how stupid that was. He remembered the hole in the grate, and slid through it, tripping over an intact bar and sprawling to the ground on the other side. He swore and picked himself up only to receive what felt like a boot in the face.

So, the terrorist was still here. A vague recollection of a ladder leading to a sewer grate sprung to mind. The terrorist was trying to get out.

Bennett fumbled for his pistol, managing to pull it from his holster. He triggered a flurry of shots towards the fleeing terrorist, hoping that at least a couple would connect.

He fired wildly until he was out of bullets, and then propped himself against the sewer wall. Either the terrorist was dead, or he would be soon when the explosives went off and the fire tore through these tunnels.

Sgt. Bennett waited.

A minute passed, and then a he felt a hand on his shoulder, he grabbed the arm and threw his opponent, and another seized him from behind.

Another? But there was...

Bennett felt a cold prick on his neck. No...they...he....

Consciousness faded.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bennett's eyes flicked open. He was staring at a ceiling. Not the ceiling of the tunnel he had been in, but...no, that couldn't be right... it looked like a ceiling inside the Palace.

A kindly African-American face leaned over him.

"You all right Sergent?"

"Where is he?"

Another face appeared, this one Caucasian with a Canadian accent, "Some of our men are after him."

Bennett reached for his pistol, his hand closing on air, "And who precisely...hey, where's my gun?"

"You used it on Firefly." The Canadian.

"Who?"

"The masked man you were chasing. Doc, vitals?"

"All clear Hawk. Though I would advise you Sargent Bennett to stay calm and get some rest while your leg heals."

Bennett paused, then grunted, "thanks Doc."

"Just doing my job."

"Rest Sergent," said Hawk, or at least the man Bennett assumed to be 'Hawk', "We have a lot to discuss later."

"One question first."

"What happened to...Firefly did you call him?"

"Our people are in pursuit, but our men got rid of all the explosives before he could set them off. We'll get him. Rest easy soldier.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Bennett was walking around the grounds of the Palace. Beside him was the man named Hawk.

"Who are you?" Bennett finally asked.

"Hawk," the man answered simply.

"That doesn't tell me much. What's your affiliation? Unit? MO?"

"Classified, Classified, and we're hunting down the people responsible for Black Thursday."

"Not classified?"

"Only because we want you."

Bennett looked at him, "Just like that?"

"Yes. Keep in mind, you only get asked once."

"What do I need to do."

"Say yes, pick a code name, and get on a chopper in the morning."

"One condition."

"We don't do conditions."

"I want to bring a couple men with me."

Hawk paused, as if considering this, "send me their dossiers. If we need them, they'll join you on the chopper in the morning."

"One last question...er...sir?"

"Hawk is fine. But if it makes you feel better, yes, sir is appropriate."

"Well sir, what do you mean 'code name'."

"Something that we can call you instead of your real name. Your choice."

Bennett leaned on the railing at the edge of the garden, staring out across the city, his eyes falling on the Palace of Westminster. He smiled.





*SAS = British Special Air Service



Code Name: Big Ben
File Name: David Bennett
Birthplace: Burford, England
Rank: E-7
Primary Military Specialty: Infantry
Secondary Military Specialty: Subversive Operations
---------------------------------------

[Lifeline_MD]

A challenge to joe fans:

1) Who is Mr. Ferreira?
2) Who is dealing with the explosives?

[Lifeline_MD]

I'll be waiting.

And please notice I chose your thread for my 7500th post! :D


I`m flattered.

[Troynos]

2 is Tripwire

1 is Ambush


Great Big Ben story.

Since when is Hawk canadian? lol :)

[Lifeline_MD]

2 is Tripwire

Yes

1 is Ambush

No

And to think, your supposed to be the file card guy. :D

Great Big Ben story.

Since when is Hawk canadian? lol :)

You sir, are a fast reader.

Since I felt like it! Colton and Flagg (Sr and Jr) will be American, so I felt some diversity of command staff was needed.

You may have noticed, Lifeline and Chuckles also moved north :D

Others will be shifting around also as needed to diversify the story.

(eg. Dialtone (both Jack and Jill) will be Belgian)

[Troynos]

I know the name, I just can't remember who it is... driving me nuts..

[Lifeline_MD]

I'd make a joke, but I know you'd beat me 10 ways of Sunday with other filecard trivia.

[Lifeline 71]

I believe Mr. Ferreria is Shockwave.

[Troynos]

Shockwave is Faria

[Lifeline_MD]

I believe Mr. Ferreria is Shockwave.

a good try, but:

Shockwave is Faria



your on the right track though.

[Troynos]

Bullhorn

[Lifeline_MD]

Very good!

Happy new year Troy.





If your still up in 2 or so hours, Rollbar should be finished.

[Troynos]

I won't be, off to bed in 10 or so, just finishing up some reading.

Happy New Year.

[Lifeline_MD]

Happy New Year's Edition:






11/18/2031 - Rollbar

London Streets

"WHERE?!" Rollbar yelled into the radio strapped to his collar.

"Left, NOW!" Dial Tone's voice came through his earbud.

Rollbar hauled the Snarler over to make the tight turn. A speeding red double-decker almost ran him over as he shot across the front of oncoming traffic against the light its horn practically deafening him.

"Ok, where is he?"

"You see the terrorist climbing out of the sewer? That guy!"

"No need to get snippy."

"I'm getting sick of you yelling at me ya prick!"

"Shave off the porn-stash and I might be more inclined to take you seriously. Or let me bang your sister. Either way."

"Fuck you."

Rollbar laughed. Dial Tone was so easy to rile up.

In his reverie he almost missed Firefly pull a man away from a Harley and gun it down the street.

"YES! THIS is what I signed up for!" Rollbar whooped and pulled a wheelie between two sluggish vehicles, "it's on! Its on like Donkey Kong!"

"Your not even old enough to remember that game."

"So what? Classics are classics." Rollbar retorted.

Dial Tone sighed, "Patching the GPS tracking of his blackberry to your uplink now."

Rollbar glanced down at the display lodged between his handle bars as he swerved through more traffic. A blinking red dot now led his green. Now lets see...

A quick jerk of the handle bars bounced him up and over the right curb, and into the park.

"What the hell are you doing Bar?"

"He's heading up constitution, he'll have to merge into Duke of Wellington in a minute and have to circle. He'll be heading for the A4202 and onto the A40. It's the fastest way out from here."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, you see, there was this prostitute..."

"Save it," Dial Tone cut in."

"Your loss, its a great story."

Rollbar bounced the Snarler over the grass of Green Park and pulled out onto Piccadilly across from the original Hard Rock Cafe.

"Damn."

"What now," asked Dial Tone.

"Once we catch this bastard I'm coming back here for the night."

Dial Tone's end crackled as if someone was grabbing the microphone, "No you damn well are NOT."

"General Hawk! Sir!"

"You will follow Firefly, and then you'll get your ass back to The Cove. No leave. UNDERSTOOD!?"

"Yes sir! Sorry sir!"

Rollbar was sweating as he rode down the sidewalk towards Park Lane in front of the Intercontinental. He skirted through the traffic entering the roundabout. And finally into the Northbound lane.

Now...where is....Rollbar was almost thrown from the Snarler as another bike crashed into the side of him and sped away.

"Hey watch it ya...oh..."

The engine roared as he tore off in pursuit of Firefly.

"Told you that was a shortcut Tone."

"Lucky guess."

"Was not." Rollbar retorted, swinging around the switchback beside Hyde Park Corner, "Ten will get ya twenty that he's headed to the Harrow Road Flyover."

"Done. So he's headed into Hyde park because?"

"Shortcut, I hope." Rollbar muttered the last two words under his breath, and slewed the bike west, over the sidewalk opposite Curzon Gate, and into the park.

Screaming pedestrians scattered every which way to avoid the two racing motorcycles. Many tourists and locals were lounging under the rows of trees lining the walkway paralleling Park Lane, but no matter how filled the park was, it was far less crowded than the street. Especially given the thread of speeding hunks of man and machine barreling towards them at almost a hundred miles an hour.

"Skidmark, eat your heart out."

A woman pulled her toddler out of the way of Firefly's bike just in time. Rollbar swerved to dodge an old man using a walker on the other side of the pathway. He took his right hand off the handle bars to reach for his pistol and then paused. A near miss in these crowds could kill. He quickly reholstered the firearm and dodged a discarded stroller as the bikes shot out into Tyburn Way, through several lanes of traffic and onto Edgeware Road.

"Bliss Pharmacy...I may need that when I'm done with this." Rollbar muttered, tossing a lose twig that had lodged in his left glove off.

Firefly shot up the street beside the Salt Bar and threw something behind him. At first, Rollbar thought it was merely a fragment of tree, and it was only when it flew by his head and smashed through the windscreen of the car behind him that he realized that it was a crowbar that had been intended to decapitate him. Well, if that's how you want to play it...Rollbar gunned the Snarler to even higher speeds, attempting to close the gap between the two bikes.

"I'm coming for you Firefly."

The game of cat and mouse through traffic continued up Edgeware until Firefly made a left at Harrow road.

"Tone, he's headed west, Harrow Road. Get Roadblock and his crew to set up there."

"LT's got them on the way."

"You owe me 20 by the way."

"No, you owe me ten."

"What the hell? I called it!"

"He didn't use the flyover, he's going beside it."

"Listen you cheep Belgian bastard-"

"Pay up or shut up."

Rollbar ground his teeth, barely making it around a double-decker pulling out of a stop. And followed Firefly across three lanes of traffic towards the A40 Westway. The Snarler's rear wheel bumped against the railing as he pulled onto the flyover, now only a couple car-lengths behind his quarry. Rollbar pulled his pistol and triggered a few shots at Firefly's back, hoping that any misses would impact with reinforced car frame rather than any windows. Firefly responded by dodging between a pair of slow-moving semis, leaving Rollbar with no choice but to slide between them himself, the drop in speed required to make the game costing him precious distance.

The bikes flew through heavy traffic beside Paddington Waterside and out of the area of the city with the Congestion Charge. Only now did Rollbar realize that traffic was only to get heavier and he'd missed his best chance to take out Firefly. Rush hour was only minutes away and the road was going to be gridlocked by the time they made it out of town. An added lane from the south added only more confusion, and the distance between him and Firefly increased even more.

The freeway curved gently to the north. For a minute Rollbar was reminded of the curved tracks he and his dad would race motorcycles around in his youth. Or had until that biker gang had killed him and his two older brothers. Rollbar would never forget the tattoo or the biker gang, a gang he would hunt to the end of the Earth. Their punishment was why he'd joined the military. Someday, somehow the Dreadnoks would pay for what they did to his family.

Lost in his revere Rollbar almost lost control of his bike as the road turned sharply to the south. he shook his head to clear it. No time for distractions now he chided himself, there's a terrorist on the loose and if you don't watch it, he'll get away.

Rollbar gunned it, but at the speeds he was going the Snarler couldn't accelerate any further. It was up to Firefly now, the two bikes redlining as they flew south through the traffic. The road began a gentle curve westward again approaching the M41 Roundabout, allowing him a brief glance of a soccer stadium off to the north of the road before they flew over the traffic interchange. The road now dropped down quickly to ground level. The four story drop allowed Rollbar to slide through a seam in traffic and gain precious ground in his pursuit of Firefly, who was slowed up by a Smart Car changing lanes. Rollbar was still incredulous that anyone thought those cars looked 'cool' enough to drive. But, he paused, I guess someone's got to be the bottom of the bell curve right?

The road headed almost straight west for a brief stretch, and Rollbar made up small increments of distance by running along the median while Firefly dodged through traffic on the larger Harley. The two bikes were almost neck and neck when they shot through the five-way intersection with Old Oak. Oncoming traffic pulled up and horns blared at the two errant motorcycles.

Rollbar tried not to think about the trail of havoc they were leaving as they wound their way north through the freeway. His pistol was out of ammunition from his earlier potshots, and there was no way he was risking drawing a rifle at these speeds. He'd just as likely have his arm ripped off.

The road flew north over two sets of railroad tracks before settling once more into a more or less westbound track. Side-streets of the expansive residential urban sprawl flew past on either side of the bikes, Rollbar tried not to pay attention, instead staying focused on Firefly's back. Some back part of Rollbar's mind registered passing the Hoover Building, meaning he was now somewhere in Perivale before the road passed another suburb and flew under a rail bridge. Traffic was thinning now as they traveled further from the core of the city, and Western Avenue now passed over another traffic circle. Rollbar could no longer place the location, being farther from the city center than he'd ever bothered to be during his last visit. Well, actually, he hadn't left the bedroom much last visit, but still...

A park appeared on the right, and Rollbar hoped that signaled that the chase was nearing the outskirts where Roadblock had set up the...well...roadblock. He couldn't help but be amused by that small symmetry. Firefly's bike sped past another couple subdivisions and a park, and suddenly cut across several lanes of traffic to the far right. Rollbar spied an approaching flyover.

"Dial Tone, he's diverting!"

"So much for your mind reading."

"I think he's trying to shake me."

"No. Ya think?!"

"Just tell Roadblock to get ready to move."

"LT's bringing the Tomahawk around now, HD is ready to go with a chain gun."

"Tell him to hold off with the heavy stuff, we're going into a residential area."

"You might want to avoid that."

"Oh sure, I'll just wave my hand at him and tell him to divert. We'll do this dance elsewhere. What do I look like? Luke freaking Skywalker!?!"

"Prick."

"I heard that."

"I know."

Rollbar prepared to follow Firefly up the ramp when at the last second, Firefly dodged back into the straight away lane. Rollbar was almost caught by the maneuver, but managed to edge himself in front of a Honda Civic to keep up pursuit.

"Back on the main road. Damn I hate this guy."

A second overhead roundabout was coming up. Again Firefly's bike shifted as if to divert. This time Rollbar was expecting the switchback and managed to stay right on Firefly's tail, this time gaining back much of the distance lost during the last trick.

"That won't work twice."

The bikes raced past Northold Air Field at breakneck speed, the city limits within sight now. Two more bridges loomed ahead, one road and one train. This time Firefly didn't even bother with the deception, instead charging is bike through. Rollbar followed, now barely a split second behind. Another road swung overhead and merged on the right.

"Your passing Ickenham," Dial Tone informed him, "Under that roundabout, about a kilometer and you'll run right into our boys. Just before the Denham Roundabout. They've got all the traffic stopped for this."

"Great. Now just give me a ...shit!"

Almost as if he'd heard them Firefly's bike made straight for the off ramp to the last city roundabout.

"Damn it," Rollbar threw the Snarler into a tight turn behind a furniture truck, and just bounced over the curb to make the ramp. He followed Firefly as he turned north and then cut west along a quiet residential street. The street was lined on either side with trees. Up ahead, Rollbar could see some children playing.

"No...oh god no." Rollbar whispered as he saw Firefly draw his pistol.

He reached back to haul his rifle out of his pack, but watched in horror as Firefly calmly shot two children as he roared past.

Rollbar pulled up short so as not to hit any of the scattering children. Screaming erupted from them, and parents and nannys erupted form the surrounding houses.

"Tone, I've got to break off pursuit. There's two kids down here. Get Doc here, ASAP!"

"That will be at least an hour, I'll get city ambulance to you as fast as I can."

Rollbar grabbed the med kit from the back of the snarler and headed for the two bleeding children.

"I'm sorry. I...I just can't leave them here." Rollbar hung his head. "I lost him."

"You couldn't leave them." There was genuine sympathy in Dial Tone's voice. "You did the right thing."

"Your still tracking his phone right?"

"He ditched it when he hit the rail line a few hundred meteres north of you. He knew we were tracking him."

"Shit."

"Some days are just like that. Now go save some lives."








Code Name: Rollbar
File Name: Reed Williston
Birthplace: East Greenwich, Rhode Island
Rank: E4
Primary Military Specialty: Light Vehicle Operator
Secondary Military Specialty: Mechanic

[Loose Cannon]

Wow! Great Stuff. Big Ben sounds like a BadAss. Rollbar is cool too. Can't wait for more action packed goodness.

[Barefoot Jedi]

Ooh...that was riveting!

I love it when Firefly shoots the children. THAT is a 100% character-defining moment. That deserves a diorama!!! That was above a Resolute-level thrill!

And I'm looking forward to the promise of this:

The freeway curved gently to the north. For a minute Rollbar was reminded of the curved tracks he and his dad would race motorcycles around in his youth. Or had until that biker gang had killed him and his two older brothers. Rollbar would never forget the tattoo or the biker gang, a gang he would hunt to the end of the Earth. Their punishment was why he'd joined the military. Someday, somehow the Dreadnoks would pay for what they did to his family.

[Rich_JJ]

Wow, great stuff! I like how we're getting more Canadians on the team! Keep it up man, I can't wait to read more!

[Barefoot Jedi]

Wow, great stuff! I like how we're getting more Canadians on the team! Keep it up man, I can't wait to read more!

Your sig pic is my new favorite.

[Troynos]

Awesome stuff DH. The Rollbar one was great. Great characterization. You've obviously been to London.

[Lifeline 71]

Awesome stuff, DH! Very exciting, can't wait to read more.

[Lifeline_MD]

Wow! Great Stuff. Big Ben sounds like a BadAss. Rollbar is cool too. Can't wait for more action packed goodness.

Thanks. Yes, Big Ben is going to be Big Bad Ass.

Ooh...that was riveting!

I love it when Firefly shoots the children. THAT is a 100% character-defining moment. That deserves a diorama!!! That was above a Resolute-level thrill!

And I'm looking forward to the promise of this:

The freeway curved gently to the north. For a minute Rollbar was reminded of the curved tracks he and his dad would race motorcycles around in his youth. Or had until that biker gang had killed him and his two older brothers. Rollbar would never forget the tattoo or the biker gang, a gang he would hunt to the end of the Earth. Their punishment was why he'd joined the military. Someday, somehow the Dreadnoks would pay for what they did to his family.


I thought that seemed appropriately evil for Firefly. Seriously, the guy blows up stuff for a living. He's not going to have morals. Period.


As for Rollbar....there will eventually be more on that. That's all I'll say for now.

Wow, great stuff! I like how we're getting more Canadians on the team! Keep it up man, I can't wait to read more!

The Joes and Cobras will be having much more international flare in my Joe-verse. Heavy weight will go to Canada and the USA though.

Awesome stuff DH. The Rollbar one was great. Great characterization. You've obviously been to London.

Nope. Never been there in my life.

I have however downloaded Google Earth :D

I like to be accurate.

(I'm just glad I didn't decide to set the chase in Tokyo. I was starting to run out of ideas near the city limits)

Awesome stuff, DH! Very exciting, can't wait to read more.

Thanks. If I can stay awake long enough tonight, there may be something new in the morning. If not, it will probably be a couple days by the looks of my schedule.

[Lifeline_MD]

Ok, well, due to my schedule over the next few days, I'm not going to have a chance to get the next story done for about 3 days.

Until then, I'm working on the following document (which is much easier to do in fits and starts):

CAST OF CHARACTERS (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1028vcghgq)

I challenge those of you (with time and inclination) to find some interesting details hidden away in there.

[thatjimboguy]

The latest two are sweet DH. I gotta ask though...

Where's Mutt? He was always one of my favorites.

[Lifeline_MD]

I shall add Mutt to the to do list for the near future.

[Troynos]

Are there mountains in Moracco?


Interesting use of Dusty 2.

[Lifeline 71]

Your organizational chart looks good, DH. However, I just want to point out that Avalanche is from Madawaska, ME. I think someone at Hasbro dropped the ball on that one.

[Huer-Ta]

Holy crap in a sack DH, those were some good reads. Rollbar is by far my favorite so far. I would love to see that chase played out on a movie screen it was so well written. Great work Boss Man!!

[Lifeline_MD]

Are there mountains in Moracco?

Not very large ones.

No worries though, that shall be explained later.

Interesting use of Dusty 2.

I thought it was odd that an organization like G.I. Joe would allow a screw up like that to happen - two guys with the same code name.

For others its fixable - Lifeline and Life Line, Sidetrack and Side Track, Ripcord and Rip Cord. Dusty was the only doubled up guy with a single word code name.

So, I figured lets have some fun with the political climate

Your organizational chart looks good, DH. However, I just want to point out that Avalanche is from Madawaska, ME. I think someone at Hasbro dropped the ball on that one.

Oh....didn't know that. Thanks for the tip.

You probably also therefore noticed that Battleforce2000 has been repurposed (kinda).

Holy crap in a sack DH, those were some good reads. Rollbar is by far my favorite so far. I would love to see that chase played out on a movie screen it was so well written. Great work Boss Man!!

Thank you.

[Lifeline 71]

I just read your chart again, and picked up on "Laptop:Bree van Mark- Steen". Nice touch, DH.

[Lifeline_MD]

Hey, no one can ever say I don't listen when people give suggestions :D

I was planning a character in the same vein. The new knowledge of that character gave me a more developed starting point. Thank you for that.

[Lifeline_MD]

Next up:

Scarlett - hopefully tomorrow
Mutt - hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday
Lifeline (Chapter 2) - later this week
Destro - subject to change
Chuckles (Chapter 2) - subject to change

[Lifeline_MD]

11/28/2031 - Scarlett

The Rock - Location Classified (Canadian-American Border)

"Approaching our destination Miss O'hara."

"Can I take off this blindfold yet?"

"Sorry, procedure states that you've got to keep it on until your inside the base." Lift Ticket responded. "Your not the first to be anxious to get it off."

Shana O'hara sighed, "I'd bet not. Who's crazy idea was this anyway?"

"No idea. It came in after I was on the team."

"So, that was...how long ago."

"'Fraid I can't tell you that."

"Figures. What can you tell me?"

"Er...well, your in a helicopter that doesn't exist, on the way to a military base that doesn't exist, to meet with a general who doesn't exist, to interview for a position on a UN military force that doesn't exist. That help?"

Shana allowed her head to hit the back of her seat. "No, not really."

"Ah well. was worth a shot," Lift Ticket chuckled.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Lady Jaye watched the Tomahawk descend. She could see LT behind the stick and the new girl, she paused to check her datapad, Shana, sitting in the co-pilots seat, blindfolded. She shook her head at the regulations. Another silly rule introduced for no real reason. Just put them in the back, and black out the windows. Much more comfortable, but apparently someone on the command staff had a thing for the dramatic.

The helicopter settled on the platform, and the overhead doors began to close. Lady Jaye strode up to the fuselage to meet the new arrival while the rotors were still spinning down. The door slid open, and Shana hoped out. She was saying something over her shoulder to Lift Ticket, thanking him for the ride and the conversation. LT was a fine choice to ferry the new arrivals in Jaye's opinion, perhaps the most sociable guy on the team. A few other's weren't too bad either, but Lifeline could be a bit abrasive with his sense of humor the first couple times you met him, Stalker came off as gruff until he got to know you, and Airtight...well, he was likely to put a whoopee cushion on your seat, and use the fake hand gag.

Shana finally turned around. Jaye was a bit surprised, looks like Cover Girl's going to have a bit of competition for 'hot girl' around here.

"Good morning Ms. O'hara. Welcome to the Rock. You can call me Lady Jaye, or LJ for short. I'll be your handler until your officially on the team."

"Handler?" Shana asked with a laugh, "I guess I should grab my leash and start barking then."

Jaye fought down a smirk, "That won't be necessary. If you'll follow me please."

She refused to get to know Shana until she was on the team. Now that there was a decently sized staff in place, the Joes could run any number of smaller operations, so they could afford to interview a few more people for each position, and Shana wouldn't be the first one thrown out within the hour if it came to it. Shaking her head, Jaye had to admit she was surprised how the team had been assembled in 5 months since she'd been recruited. Things moved quickly around here. She smiled, fingering her ring, and people too.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Shana looked around her as Lady Jaye led her through the hallways. The place seemed to be bored out of solid rock and then finished off. Though the walls and floors near the hanger had been indistinguishable from any windowless military complex, she'd caught glances down new side hallways that were still carved out of stone with wiring and piping being laid into grooves. That obviously meant that they were underground, and the rock suggested somewhere rather rugged without significant dirt cover. The hanger had been close to the surface as the hanger had a retractable roof. Since they hadn't descended there must be next to no soil coverage in the area.

Jaye was pointing out various features along the way, none of them particularly important, so Shana instead focused on memorizing a way out. Better safe than sorry. Though these people may seem nice, the level of secrecy surrounding the operation might have bad consequences if it was decided she didn't belong, and a quick way out may suddenly become a necessity.

The hallway they'd been walking through suddenly opened up into a larger concourse, and Shana gasped in spite of herself. The balcony they were standing on circled the open chamber. An elevator bank sat on the far side, descending, Shana quickly counted, 35 levels below them, and 15 above. Her mind raced. Much of the wall was still bare rock, indicating that the whole shaft was underground. But if the hanger had been just under the surface, that meant...her mind raced. That must mean that this was under a mountain. That was the only thing that would allow the upward growth of the complex without exposing it.

Lady Jaye was leading her around the balcony towards the elevator bank, babbling something about the height and width of the central concourse. Shana wasn't listening, instead she was trying to calculate flight time since she'd been picked up at the Edmonton International. The chopper suggested a relatively short range as it hadn't stopped to refuel at any point. The mountain's size suggested the Rockey Mountains...that meant she was somewhere between Alaska and Mexico, near the west coast. Not that that helped much. Blindfolded and in a chopper, her sense of direction had been shot to blazes, so she had no way of knowing whether they went North, South, or just flew around in really big circles the whole time.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Out of the corner of her eye, Jaye watched Shana. She was a bright one, instead of being distracted by what she'd been telling her, she was inspecting the place. Few would have noticed except a fellow intelligence agent. Well, her actions so far put her a distinct cut above the last half dozen that General Flagg had looked at for the position. Perhaps this one had a chance.

Upon reaching the elevators, Jaye pressed the up signal and waited. The car arrived momentarily, bearing a single occupant.

"Good morning Courage, how are you today?"

"Hum? Oh, morning LJ. Busy. Got to go hunt down some guys in..." he trailed off seeing Shana. "Never-mind. Who is this?"

"A newbie."

Courage smiled, "Well, welcome to you. Good luck with the Generals." With a wave, he departed heading towards the hanger.

Jaye stepped into the car with Shana and hit the signal for the 50th floor.

"One word of advice Shana."

"Yes?"

"If you interview with G.I. Joe, don't speak unless your spoken to. The other two are perfectly normal."

"Aren't I interviewing for the team?"

Jaye chuckled, "Sorry, around here the team is referred to as 'the joes'. G.I. Joe refers to General G.I. Joe. Our commander in chief."

"Oh, well, that makes sense I guess."

"He's a nice guy, but he can have a temper."

The car's chime rang, and the rear doors opened into a foyer. A young greenshirt at the desk looked up.

"O'hara?"

"Yes."

"This way please."

"I'll be waiting here to escort you when your finished," Jaye said and settled into an armchair to wait.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Rock - Sparring Room

Lift Ticket settled himself onto the bleachers beside Stalker and Lifeline.

"So, how was the pickup?" asked Stalker.

"Better than usual, I had a hot red-head beside me for 8 hours. Been a long time since that happened."

Stalker chuckled, "you almost sounded like Shippy there for a minute."

"Hey, I'm not that much of a sleaze. Life, you got any Coke left in that cooler?"

Lifeline looked up from where he was fiddling with the popcorn machine, "probably. Have a look."

"Thanks man."

The machine started popping, and Lifeline resumed his seat. "A redhead, eh? That brings back memories."

"Bree won't be happy with you if she hears that."

"Hum? Oh, no, not like that. There was this redhead in high school. I played the best prank in history on her. I don't know if she ever forgave me." He chuckled, "I always wonder if she got over that."


-----------------------------------------------------------

The Rock - Fiftieth Floor

Lady Jaye stood up and stretched as Shana came back around the corner from her interview. The clock had ticked off a full two hours while she waited, and General Hawk had headed down earlier to the sparing ring. Jaye hoped she wasn't too late to catch at least part of the week's rounds. Shana was holding a file folder in her left hand. It was the contents of that folder that determined whether Jaye would get to see the sparing session, or have to spend the next hour throwing her out.

"Well?"

Shana handed her the folder, "looks like your stuck with me."

Jaye smiled, "that's good. If you don't mind, we'll get you settled later today. The weekly sparing match is going on downstairs, and its the closest thing to live entertainment we get around here. You can join me and get to know some other guys on the team, or I can drop you at the cafeteria for some grub."

"I'll join you, might as well get to know everyone."

"Glad to hear it. So, what do we call you?"

"Scarlett."

"Very Gone with the Wind."

Scarlett chuckled, "yeah, its what my family always called me when I was younger. I'm sure that's what they would have named me if I'd had hair when I was born."

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Rock - Sparring Room

Jaye led Scarlett through the doors. Duke was facing off with Quick Kick in the ring. The first sergeant never gave up. Even though he was badly outmatched. She shook her head. On the first set of bleachers she spied Stalker, Lift Ticket and Hawk in conversation while Lifeline had his back turned poking around with the popcorn machine. Well, there were worse things to be addicted to.

"Afternoon boys. Who's in the infirmary?"

Hawk turned, "Afternoon Jaye. So far Lifeline's had a quiet afternoon. Who's your friend?"

"Lieutenant O'hara reporting fo...er...Scarlett sir. Sorry sir."

Jaye was grabbing a drink from the cooler but was sure she saw Lifeline's back stiffen when Scarlett introduced herself.

Stalker burst out laughing, "The new ones are so darn funny when they get all flustered like that. No worries Scarlett, if your military, it takes a while to break the habit, but don't worry, Hawk here doesn't bite. I'm Stalker by the way."

"Nice to meet you Stalker, Hawk. Good to see you again Lift Ticket."

Now Jaye was quite certain Hawk was suppressing a smirk.

"And you. I see you made it through."

"So far."

"And over here, we have our Chief Medical Officer, Lifeline."

Lifeline turned slowly, "good to see you again Shana. How have yo-"

A sharp crack could be heard over the sound of the sparing as Scarlett delivered a vicious slap to Lifeline's cheek."

Heads in the nearest seats looked on in shock. Lifeline shifted his jaw left, then right, checking to see if it was mobile, then turned back.

"Yeah, I probably deserved tha-"

A backhand this time. Same cheek. Scarlett stormed off to the other side of the gymnasium.

Lifeline didn't move until she was well out of earshot. "Still holds a grudge I see. Its been, what, 16 years Clayton?"

"Almost," replied Hawk, "but lets be honest here, you can't really blame her for being mad."

"Your just thankful she didn't recognize YOU."

"Damn straight."

Jaye was thoroughly confused, "you guys know her?"

"Yeah," answered Hawk, "we went to high school together. All three of us."

"What exactly happened?" asked Stalker, curiosity obviously piqued as much as Jaye's.

"Well you see," Lifeline grinned, "back when we were in high school together, I sort of rigged it so she and here boyfriend at the time appeared on stage during prom."

Jaye was even more confused, "What's so bad about that?"

"Well...they were under the impression that the bed they were using was in a private hotel room."

Lady Jaye hesitated for a minute before the implication registered, "You're sick!"

"No, sick would be uploading the video as the new screen-saver to all the Rock's computers."

Hawk leaned over, "you still have that?"

"Please dear god tell me you didn't just ask him that sir."

"I think the man did," said Stalker. "Now here's my question: did the carpets match the drapes?"

"Couldn't tell," replied Lifeline, "all hardwood."

Hawk smirked, "So was half the audience if I remember correctly."

Jaye shook her head. "Your pigs. All of you." With that, she went to go find Scarlett.

Lifeline watched her go.

"What are you thinking?" asked Hawk.

"Oh nothing. Hey Mainframe," he called to the next bleacher, "I've got a little job for you."



Code Name: Scarlett
File Name: Shana O'hara
Birthplace: Grand Prairie, Alberta
Rank: O2
Primary Military Specialty: Intelligence
Secondary Military Specialty: CLASSIFIED

[Loose Cannon]

Nice to see Scarlett an officer but shouldn't she be more than a 0-2 Lt if she went to high school with Lifeline and Hawk who are both Colonels?

Great stuff!

[Troynos]

Nice. Not that big a fan of the interconnections but still makes for some interesting reading.

But a bit confused. Thought Hawk was one of the people interviewing Scarlett? LJ remarked how Hawk had left awhile before Scarlett got done.

[Bravo Sierra]

Nice one man!

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Nice read keep it coming.

[Lifeline_MD]

Nice to see Scarlett an officer but shouldn't she be more than a 0-2 Lt if she went to high school with Lifeline and Hawk who are both Colonels?

Great stuff!

There's reasons. We'll get there eventually.

And thank you.

Nice. Not that big a fan of the interconnections but still makes for some interesting reading.

But a bit confused. Thought Hawk was one of the people interviewing Scarlett? LJ remarked how Hawk had left awhile before Scarlett got done.

Well, there will be more. Not everyone, but here and there.


Didn't realize that part would be confusing. Newbies can be interviewed by one of four people: G.I. Joe, Hawk, Flagg Sr. or Flagg Jr. (or Ledger or Keel Haul if navy). She wasn't interviewed by Hawk. Hence his ability to leave earlier.

Nice one man!

Thank you.

This one wasn't as 'actiony' as the last few, but I thought it served well.

Nice read keep it coming.

Hopefully more tomorrow morning.

[Troynos]

More, must have more.

And the video of Scarlett......

[thatjimboguy]

The Scarlet story is pretty epic DH. That ending killed me

[Lifeline_MD]

More, must have more.

And the video of Scarlett......

Mutt is in the works. As is a second Lifeline, a second Chuckles, a Destro, an all new character - Ghost, Dusty, Dialtone, Hawk, Snake Eyes and Clutch.

There is no shortage of upcoming material.

Sadly, I cannot link to the video here :D

[Lifeline_MD]

The Scarlet story is pretty epic DH. That ending killed me

Glad you enjoyed it. I was hoping people wouldn't be too upset with the lack of action and killing. Not every story will be on the battlefield. There has to be some downtime.

[Troynos]

Mutt is in the works. As is a second Lifeline, a second Chuckles, a Destro, an all new character - Ghost, Dusty, Dialtone, Hawk, Snake Eyes and Clutch.

There is no shortage of upcoming material.


I hear ya. I keep wanting to do the new ideas and have so many others to finish up, lol

[Barefoot Jedi]

Intriguing re-invention of Scarlett's character.

I like how the characters you utilize and the way you interpret them makes the story unpredictable.

[Lifeline_MD]

Intriguing re-invention of Scarlett's character.

I like how the characters you utilize and the way you interpret them makes the story unpredictable.

Nothing worse than something painfully predictable.

Some things will stay the same, some will change. Hopefully the best of both worlds.

[Lifeline 71]

Great story, DH! I like the connections you made between Lifeline, Scarlett, and Hawk. I'm sure that video's on YouTube by now...

[Lifeline_MD]

Should be, if Mainframe did his job :D

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm hoping to have Mutt finished tonight, got a bit delayed.

[Lifeline_MD]

Unfortunately, due to circumstances, there will be no new story today, despite my attempts.

However, there are additions to the

CAST OF CHARACTERS
(http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1028vcghgq)

For those interested.

More stories and organizational explanations are in the works, but will be delayed.

[Troynos]

Delays are unacceptable :)

[Lifeline 71]

Liking the org chart, DH. I'll be curious to see how you use the doppelgangers-Lifeline vs. Life Line, etc. Now, if your delays are due to that Scarlett video, then we need to talk about priorities :)

[Lifeline_MD]

08/04/2031 - Mutt (and Junkyard)

''More your arse Mutt," hollered Jeffery Perlmutter.

"I'm moving as fast as I can Jeff," his brother Stanley hollered back.

Stanley's dog Junkyard added an enthusiastic bark.

The two brothers were members of the New York City Police Department. Right now they were in hot pursuit of some nutcase who had planted a bomb in Grand Central Station that morning. He'd already killed five cops in his flight, and the brothers were the department's best trackers, so naturally they had drawn the final pursuit.

Stanley was no longer certain earthy where they were. Somewhere along the riverfront among the myriad of industrial buildings lining the river. The nighttimes skyline of Manhattan across the river would have been a sight to behold on any other night.

No one was quite sure who they were chasing,other than that he had a pair of scars bisecting each of his eyes. Jeff had been the one to suggest referring to him as Scar face. Al Pachino, eat your heart out.

Jeff rounded a corner ante stopped, "Damn, lost him."

"OK Junk, do your thing."

Junkyard barked agreeably and put his nose to the ground. Stanley looked around nervously. The terrorist was around here somewhere, and he had very little intention of winding up dead. Jeff's wedding rehearsal was in two days and there was no way Stanley was going to miss that.

Junkyard barked again and polled towards an alleyway on the right.

"Got him."

The brothers took off in pursuit.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The terrorist watched the men go. Dumb dog, he thought, drag a T-bone steak one way and he'll follow, then just wait. The police scanner buzzed in his left ear. Units were converging on the north end of the warehouses, so it was time for him to head out to the south.

Behind his red face mask, he smiled. No matter how advanced the police claimed to be, they were still amazingly dumb.

He dropped silently from the top of the cargo container to the ground and proceeded at a leisurely pace in the opposite direction from that the brother's had taken a moment before. Behind him he could hear barking. So long as the dog hadn't come across the meat yet it wasn't something to be worried about.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Stanley leaned down over Junkyard, "ya dumb mutt always thinking with your stomach. I think we lost him Jeff."

Jeff was staring back the way they had come, "Perhaps not Mutt, look!"

Stanley followed his brother pointing finger and saw what be presumed was their quavery sauntering slowly in the opposite direction. He grinned. He slipped a muzzle onto Junkyard's month and gently shoved Jeff down a crosswise alley.

"If we hurry down this pathway we can cat him off before he reaches the river."

Jeff nodded and the times headed off in pursuit.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The terrorist listened for more barking. Hearing none, he increased his pace, now considering that the police had discovered his trick with the meat sooner than he had anticipated. That would be unfortunate, but not irreparable. He shook his head, there were no indications of pursuit, nothing to worry about.

Cargo containers lined his path on either side, blocking his view of the surroundings, but also hindering any search for him. While empirically he knew this, a small part of his brain worried. He shook his head, he must need another session with Doc V's brainwave scanner. He had to get rid of this paranoia once and for all. And yet the same small part of him worried that his paranoia was what made him one of Cobra's best officers.

A position that was now in danger. The commander wouldn't be pleased with the most recent failure. The last botched New York operation had been a thorn in everyone's side. It had cost Major Bludd his right arm. In a very literal sense. Two dozen Alley Vipers should have been more than enough to retrieve the cadavers before they could be analyzed by the UN's slaves. Instead, they'd gotten themselves killed.

His mind flashed back to that day in the throne room, Major Bludd standing before the commander, explaining his troops failure. For a full twenty minutes the Commander hadn't said a word, and when the Major had finished, that didn't change. Instead the Commander had snapped his fingers and Ghost and Vipra had stepped forward. Bludd had looked horrified as each grabbed an arm and pulled it away from his body.

Everyone in the courtroom had expected his imminent death, but instead the Commander's sword had severed Bludd's right arm just below the shoulder. The screaming Major had then been dragged from the room. Scalpel had been ordered to replace it in due time, but the agony must have been unbearable.

And now his mission had failed. He'd lost both of the blueshirts he'd brought with him, and failed to assassinate the general secretary. He did wonder why he'd been chosen rather than Ghost or Blackout. Either would have made a much more logical choice. But it did no good to debate now. He was here. He had failed. His life was now in the Commander's hands. All he had to do was get back.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Stanley and Jeffery stopped behind yet another row of containers. Stanley was fairly sure he'd counted 40 stacks on their way. Now they just had to wait. The row that the terrorist was making his way down reached a dead end and he would have to cut across into this way if he intended to make his way to the docks. Presumably that was his escape route. A coast guard cutter was supposed to be making its way over after Jeffery's call to dispatch earlier, but they had no way of knowing if it would arrive in time, or how many reinforcements it might bring.

The two men heard the terrorist's footfalls only a split second before he rounded the corner. And by then it was too late.

For a minute all three of them were frozen where they stood. Jeff brought out his nightstick and swung for the terrorist's jaw, Stanley stooped to remove Junkyards' mussel, and the terrorist triggered a burst from an antiquated Uzi.

Jeff's wild swing connected with the terrorist's shoulder, and the terrorist's burst caught Junkyard across the forelegs and Stanley in the arm. He cursed as he went down.

The terrorist kicked Jeff in the leg, dropping him, and scrambled up and over the nearest container.

"Stan, you alright?"

"I'll be fine. Just let me patch this up and I'll be read to go. Junk, your going to have to stay here," he added to his whimpering pet.

"I'm going after him."

"No, wait..."

"No time to wait, if he gets away, we've lost him.

Stanley watched his brother clamber up the container in pursuit. He shook his head, there was no way Jeff could catch that madman alone. He quickly tore a strop of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his own wound in order to staunch the bleeding. Junkyard whimpered beside him, so he took an extra minute to wrap the dog's wounds in two other strips of cloth.

"Stay," he ordered Junkyard, and hurried after his brother.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The terrorist was nearing the riverfront, and he could hear two boats, one was idling, that must be Copperhead waiting for the extraction, and one was approaching, no doubt a coast guard or police cutter by now. He smiled, there was no one who could -

A pair or bullets whipping beside his ear interrupted that thought. Turning, he found himself facing the uninjured cop. Bloody tenacious these two. He dodged behind another container, a mere three stacks from freedom.

The cop was advancing slowly now, pistol pointed at the edge of the container. Another shot caromed off the corner of the container every few seconds. But that was no matter. From his hiding spot he could see Copperhead aiming his rifle.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Stanley dropped down off the last crates and took in the entire scene in a moment. Jeff aiming his gun at a crate, the terrorist presumably behind said crate, and a man on a boat aiming a high-powered hunters rifle at his brother.

"JEFF, LOOK OU-"

His warning was cut off with a sharp report, and his brother's head exploded into a spray of red mist. Stanley drew his own gun and fired wildly as the first terrorist broke from cover and ran from the boat. A second shot from the man on the boat took Stanley in the left shoulder and threw him to the ground, crashing his head on a rock and knocking him unconscious.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Stanley left the hospital two days later, and attended his brother's funeral on what was supposed to have been his wedding day. A week later, he attended the funeral of the woman who would have become his sister in law. A suicide. Three days later he was approached by a man known as Flagg. Flagg offered him a job with the UN, a job that would allow him to hunt the man who had ruined his life, a job he was happy to take.





Code Name: Mutt
File Name: Stanley Perlmutter
Birthplace: Iselin, New Jersey
Rank: E6
Primary Military Specialty: Dog Handler
Secondary Military Specialty: Infantry

[monkeywrench1988]

wow, nice job DH, I like the story and have severla theories on who the man in the red mask was

[monkeywrench1988]

oh and Doc V is Doctor Venom right?

[Lifeline_MD]

wow, nice job DH, I like the story and have severla theories on who the man in the red mask was

I think you should be able to narrow it down even more. It should be made fairly obvious near the beginning

oh and Doc V is Doctor Venom right?

Correct.

[Lifeline_MD]

Also, in addition to Mutt's story, my next little piece of administrative details:

Joeverse Atlas (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_21cvg2qqc3)

[monkeywrench1988]

hmm paranoia plus bomb skills, either firefly or zartan, however the fact of the mask leans more towards firefly

[Lifeline_MD]

Nope on both.

Re-read near the beginning.

[Bravo Sierra]

Just finished "Mutt". Thanx for the good read!

[Bravo Sierra]

Nope on both.

Re-read near the beginning.
"Scarface"???

[Lifeline_MD]

correct.

[Troynos]

I always liked Scarface. He's getting a heightened presence in my 'verse. I even made a nice custom of him.


Nice Mutt story. Making Mutt a cop is a nice touch.

[Lifeline_MD]

I always liked Scarface. He's getting a heightened presence in my 'verse. I even made a nice custom of him.


Nice Mutt story. Making Mutt a cop is a nice touch.

Scarface will have a larger role in this one also. In part because Destro and the Baroness are not involved in cobra, Serpentor will not appear (or at least is very unlikely too) and storm shadow will have a more limited role.

A lot of traditional 'background' characters will step into major roles this time round. (As you've probably already noticed).

[Lifeline_MD]

I am a bit surprised that no one caught the little naming joke in there.

[Lifeline_MD]

And because this got lost on the last page:

Joeverse Atlas (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_21cvg2qqc3) (link)

Joeverse Atlas

G.I. Joe Baseshttp://docs.google.com/File?id=dds3h3c9_22d2h8shct_b
1: The Cooler
2: The Rock
3: The Pitt
4: Tactical Battle Platform
5: The Cove
6: The Mount
7: The Cave
8: Beijing Office
9: South American Office
10: Mongoose Base
11: The Slaughterhouse

COBRA Cells and Recruiting Centers
http://docs.google.com/File?id=dds3h3c9_23g4sn6wdr_b

MARS Industries Industrial Bases
http://docs.google.com/File?id=dds3h3c9_24cjs9whgc_b

[Troynos]

Dammit DH, ya beat me to it. :)

Naming thing? Jeff? hhhhmmm.... not catching it...

[Lifeline_MD]

Dammit DH, ya beat me to it. :)

Naming thing? Jeff? hhhhmmm.... not catching it...

Hey, you beat me to the organizational charts...we're even now :D


Really? no? I thought that would be a fairly obvious one.

Mutt and Jeff (comic strip) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutt_and_Jeff_%28comic_strip%29)

http://home.earthlink.net/~copcomco/MuttJeff115.jpeg

[Troynos]

Damn, can't believe I missed that one.

[Lifeline_MD]

I found it amusing.

I am a tad surprised no one caught it though.

[Bravo Sierra]

I am a bit surprised that no one caught the little naming joke in there.
Nevermind.....your a good writer!

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Great read DH.

[Lifeline_MD]

Nevermind.....your a good writer!

nevermind? er...nevermind what?

and thank you.

Great read DH.

Thanks.

[Lifeline 71]

Great stuff, DH. Loved the references to Dr. Venom and his Brainwave Scanner. Kinda feel bad for Mutt, not so much Maj. Bludd, though. The atlas was helpful, too.

[monkeywrench1988]

oh you mean the whole mutt and jeff thing?, oh and I should've realized it was Fred, that was my first thought but then discounted it when I read about the bomb skills

[Bravo Sierra]

[QUOTE=darth_henning;1311681]nevermind? er...nevermind what?

and thank you.



I thought you were still talking about Scarface when you were actually talking about how you named Mutt's brother. I said I had caught the naming thing, but realized what you were talking about, so Iedited my comment and wrote "Nevermind" so..........I mean the other part though. I really am enjoying your fiction.

[Lifeline_MD]

Great stuff, DH. Loved the references to Dr. Venom and his Brainwave Scanner. Kinda feel bad for Mutt, not so much Maj. Bludd, though. The atlas was helpful, too.

Well, I had to explain the crazy arm somehow...

Mutt had a rather horrible experience. One which will be useful for character portrayal later.

The atlas probably won't get much attention until later when the full out war begins, but thanks.


I thought you were still talking about Scarface when you were actually talking about how you named Mutt's brother. I said I had caught the naming thing, but realized what you were talking about, so Iedited my comment and wrote "Nevermind" so..........I mean the other part though. I really am enjoying your fiction.

Ah, I understand now.

gottcha

[Loose Cannon]

Cool Story, behind Mutt. I'm glad to see Scarface get some love. I can't wait to see who you move up in the Cobra Hierachy. Many of those characters are wide-open to much needed attention. I liked Blackout alot and much of the Plague as well. The Interrogator in particular. I like to think he was CC's personal tele-viper from the beginning and moved up, but extremely loyal.

Who is Ghost? (Can't wait to find out.)

[Lifeline_MD]

Cool Story, behind Mutt. I'm glad to see Scarface get some love. I can't wait to see who you move up in the Cobra Hierachy. Many of those characters are wide-open to much needed attention.

Raptor and crystal ball spring to mind when you say that.

I hope you will enjoy what's been done with them.

I liked Blackout alot and much of the Plague as well. The Interrogator in particular. I like to think he was CC's personal tele-viper from the beginning and moved up, but extremely loyal.

I also liked the plague. Most of them will be here in one capacity or another.

Who is Ghost? (Can't wait to find out.)

Have you ever seen the Canadian Card art for the 25th anniversery?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=330307632770

The guy on the left who no one ever bothered to name.

[thatjimboguy]

I think I alredy commented about this on JU, but great work on the Mutt story. It's epic!

[Lifeline_MD]

Thank you.

I'm hoping to have some more up this week, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with real-life work currently, so it may be a few days.

[zuludelta]

The atlas is a neat idea. Did the Marvel/Devil's Due comics ever come up with anything like that? Would have loved to have seen a "joe-verse" map with all the made up countries: Sierra Gordo, Borovia, The Emirate of Benzheen, Trucial Abysmia, Kalingaland, etc.

[Lifeline_MD]

I believe that Devils Due had something showing the location of Cobra Cells in the battlelines sourcebook (or was it battlefront?) but that's about it.

As for Marvel, I have no idea. The first I've ever seen of them is the collections put out by Marvel (1-5) and the ones that are being put out now.

BTW, Zulu, I may be picking your brain in the near future about some of the very obscure characters you've updated recently to add to my ongoing roster list.

[Troynos]

I don't think either company ever did. It was left to our imagination to place the different countries.

DDP did a map during WW3 showing the locations of the Rock and the Cooler (the prison in the arctic) but that was it, none of the countries.

[Lifeline_MD]

I don't think either company ever did. It was left to our imagination to place the different countries.

DDP did a map during WW3 showing the locations of the Rock and the Cooler (the prison in the arctic) but that was it, none of the countries.

Ah yes. I'd forgotten about that one.



BTW, I believe Flint shall be next. I have a fairly humerous one for him. Lifeline, Beach Head, Law, and Lady Jaye will also appear.

[Troynos]

Flint's one of my top 5 Joes. Can't wait.

[Lifeline_MD]

Really? Well then you should feel sympathy for what the poor boy goes through :D

[JokerFC]

very cool.I find your take very interesting indeed

[Barefoot Jedi]

Stanley left the hospital two days later, and attended his brother's funeral on what was supposed to have been his wedding day. A week later, he attended the funeral of the woman who would have become his sister in law. A suicide. Three days later he was approached by a man known as Flagg. Flagg offered him a job with the UN, a job that would allow him to hunt the man who had ruined his life, a job he was happy to take.

Even though I correctly guessed what would happen, the way this paragraph was written and its content actually choked me up. Maybe it's my time of the month and I'm more emotional, I don't know.

You write in a way that makes it easy for me to visualize what you describe in my mind. I go there.

More exceptional work, DH.

[Lifeline_MD]

very cool.I find your take very interesting indeed

Why thank you.

Stanley left the hospital two days later, and attended his brother's funeral on what was supposed to have been his wedding day. A week later, he attended the funeral of the woman who would have become his sister in law. A suicide. Three days later he was approached by a man known as Flagg. Flagg offered him a job with the UN, a job that would allow him to hunt the man who had ruined his life, a job he was happy to take.

Even though I correctly guessed what would happen, the way this paragraph was written and its content actually choked me up. Maybe it's my time of the month and I'm more emotional, I don't know.

You write in a way that makes it easy for me to visualize what you describe in my mind. I go there.

More exceptional work, DH.

Well, that worked better than I thought it would.

Glad it conveyed the emotion I was going for.

Thank you.

[Viper6]

read the mutt bit, dont see the UN task force recruiting from the po po, but an interesting lead non the less. id change his background to MP and assign him to US army boat yard that cobra was poking around /sabotaging...itd just fit better, seriously... delta guys and taskforce types would be hard pressed to get into joe, some dog cop? probably not. keep i9t coming though, i write too and always like to see what fellow fans are offering up.

[Lifeline_MD]

...itd just fit better,

Oh I'm well aware of how unrealistic that is.

But honestly, very little in this joeverse is realistic, and it was never intended to be. I am neither qualified to, have the knowledge required for, nor interested in being realistic.

its entirely for entertainment value.

[Huer-Ta]

Wow DH, Mutt's bio is quite stirring at the end. You do not disappoint, these just keep getting better.

[Tyroc]

Great work DH, I love the maps!

[Chief CWO]

Been reading through some of this. Haven't been giving it the time it needs, but man this is great reading! Love the stories!

[mcintyre1970]

Very Cool, Great read!!!
How about something on Clutch or Low Light?

[Troynos]

Need more DH.

[Lifeline_MD]

Very Cool, Great read!!!
How about something on Clutch or Low Light?

Clutch is planned out.

Low-light is on the To-do list. No idea how yet though...

Need more DH.

Sorry - my tank time is currently taken up with the game here (see sig). As soon as the joes wipe the Cobras and IGs off the map I've got a bunch of stuff coming.

[Lifeline_MD]

Time for an update me thinks.





06/20/2031 - Flint

The Rock - Location Classified

"Come on man, I said I was sorry for hitting on your wife."

"And I told you I don't like 'players'." The last word was said with acidity that matched battery acid.

"Oh come on, how was I to know the one hot blond in the building..." Dashiell Fairborn slowly trailed off, realizing that once again, he'd said too much.

Lifeline glared at him. Ah well, thought Dashiell, at least he can't do much worse than a full physical and colorectal screening.

"Excuse me while I get the next batch of immunizations."

Next batch? Jeez, we're up to 12 already.

"Is it healthy to have this many at once?"

"Pathogens aren't going to avoid you just because your sick with something else. In fact, they like to bandwagon. So its best your immune system get used to dealing with a lot of them at once."

Dashiell already felt like a pincushion. "I'll bet the good doc never got laid in collect," he muttered darkly to himself.

"The good doctor has good hearing too."

Dashiell shook his head, "I suppose a simple sorry won't do?"

"No, not really."

"You're quite vindictive, you know that right?"

"Yep."

"Just checking."

Lifeline reappeared carrying a rack of needles.

"Please tell me I don't need all of those."

"You do."

Dashiell wearily extended his arm.

"Sorry, these ones go in the gluts."

"Well that's a pain in the ass."

"Literally," Lifeline grinned.

"Your enjoying this entirely too much."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Twenty minutes Dashiell was staggering to stand, his vision blurred and his legs weak.

"Right then Fairborn, we're headed downstairs."

"What on earth for? More shots?"

"No, physical trials."

"Didn't we already do that?"

"Nooo, I gave you a physical examination. Physical trials are preformed by Beach Head to assess candidate's ability to perform in the battlefield under duress."

"When we're drugged up?"

"Not usually."

"Your an asshole."

"Yep."

Lifeline led him out into the corridor and down to the central concourse. During the walk, Dashiell's muscle spasms gradually stopped, and his vision returned to normal. Or at least a close approximation of normal. Even suffering slightly blurred vision, he couldn't help but notice the attractive brunette getting off the elevator just ahead of them. Pretty face, shoulder length hair, a figure to die for.... She was accompanied by, oh what was his name, Lee? no, Law. Code names, Dashiell reminded himself, everyone had code names. Dashiell smiled encouragingly as they passed, eliciting only a raised eyebrow from the woman. Lifeline shook his head and roughly shoved him into the car.

They descended through most of the complex. It appeared to be rather sparsely populated for such a large undertaking, but then again, if this group was being formed in response to the attacks, they wouldn't have had much time for recruiting yet. Especially if every one had to go through the third degree like this.

Dashiell was expecting to stop at the bottom floor, but instead the car continued down below what he had taken to be the floor, passing several more floors before finally slowing to a stop. The doors slid open to reveal a long corridor.

The car chimed, and Lifeline strode out. Dashiell debated hitting the buttons and running for it, but realized that wouldn't get far. He sighed and followed. The hallway gently curved, suggesting that the floor was a giant circle like those above ground. But this one was larger than those he'd been on before. Although, Dashiell thought, if he was deeper in the mountain that made sense. Somewhere in the distance he could hear a drip. He followed Lifeline for a few hundred more meters before lifeline finally selected a door, seemingly at random.

"Beachhead. I've got a live one for you," Dashiell heard Lifeline call through the door as the two of them entered.

"Not for long I reckon."

Dashiell turned towards the sound of the voice. Standing a few meters to his left was the biggest, meanest looking man he'd ever seen. Lifeline was tall at something around 6'4" but this, Beachhead, had several inches even on him. Not to mention the fact he looked like he could wrestle a bear. Dashiell was so distracted by the man's imposing appearance, that he almost missed catching the canvas bag thrown in his direction.

"Put those on pretty boy, and then let's watch you dance."

The man's laugh caused Dashiell to shiver as he retreated to an alcove beside the door to change.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"So," Beachhead asked once Dashiell was gone, "what's he in for?"

"Hit on my wife."

"Ouch. That's almost as bad as pissing off Colton." Beachhead chuckled. "Though I get the feeling I'm not the first stop on the path of pain."

"No, I decided to get the first four medical checks out of the way first. Plus a few optional ones."

"You really have no conscience do you?"

"You have to ask?"

"No. How hard are we going for?"

"Well, he's a Warrant Officer, so give him all you've got."

"We'll be here all day waiting for him to get through those."

"Hot date?"

Beachhead grunted, "you know damn well I don't."

"I told you, all you have to do is...."

"And I told you, I don't need the advice. I'll sort it out myself."

Lifeline shrugged, "have it your way then, I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, yeah. Here comes nancy boy."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dashiell glowered as he exited the alcove, clad in military issue shorts and a light t-shirt, both of which felt like they'd been filled with itching powder.

Beachhead approached, grinning beneath his mustache. "Ok son, all you have to do is get over to that far wall, ring that bell, and get back here without touching anything red."

Dashiell looked out across the empty expanse of floor. The room was cavernous, several hundred meters in both length and breadth. And all grey. No red in sight. Except for the massive gantries near the roof, dozens of meters above.

For a minute he allowed himself to relax. Things weren't that bad. "Well, that's not too har-"

"THEN DO IT MAGGET!" Beachhead interrupted him, clicking a button on a stopwatch in his left hand. "Oh, and we're timing you."

"SHIT!"

Dashiell took off towards the far wall at a run. He wished he'd been given a bit more notice, but he was a good sprinter, and it would only take him a few seconds to-

"WOAH!"

Dashiell felt himself trip and fall and smack face down into something. Something cushioned. Something, Dashiell paused as the stars disappeared, red?

He groaned and rolled over, looking up, seeing walls rising up three meters on either side of him. Beachhead's face appeared over the edge. "Did I mention the room changes?"

Only now did Dashiell notice the remote control in Beachhead's other hand.

"You failed. Do it again."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Beachhead returned to where Lifeline had set up a pair of deck chairs and a table.

"Lemonade?"

"It seemed suitable ironic."

Beachhead shrugged and took the offered glass.

Just ahead of them, they could see Dashiell hauling himself up a ladder from inside the trench.

Lifeline stretched.

Beachhead tapped a series of buttons to slam the trench's sliding lid just as Dashiell's foot cleared the gap.

Dashiell walked back to the starting point, and waited.

Beachhead looked at him, feigning ignorance.

"Well?" Dashiell asked, "can I start?"

Beachhead cocked his head, "of course you c.....oh. Timer's already running."

Dashiell took off, losing a string of curses. Beachhead laughed.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bloody bastard, thought Dashiell. What gives him the righ- whoops!

That damn trench had opened up again, but at least he'd been able to jump it this time. He ran on, but pulled up short, as two rows of red columns, just over a meter high extruded themselves from the ground in front of him. Grey steel disks still covered the top of the columns, and Dashiell used those to vault the two rows. He landed hard. Somehow the ground behind them had dropped away a good meter, and then sloped up. He sighed and ran, in front of him, a vertical grey plate extended from the ground, stretching in both directions. He jumped and caught the edge, scrabbling with his legs to pull himself up, he made it and rolled over to the other side.

His momentum carried him just past the red cushion on the other side. Dashiell rolled away in frustration, picking himself up, and stopped just short of another trench. He shook his head. This one was far too wide to jump, but he spied a rope farther off to the right tethered to his side of the trench. He ran for it, but dropped to the ground as something small whizzed by his ear. He looked around. A sharp crack sounded just to his left, and he spun. It took him a second to notice the little red ball rolling on the ground.

Confusion made him pause, until another knifed down from above, smacking the ground just in front of his feet. He jumped backwards, just in time to avoid another projectile. He ran for the rope, chased by an intensifying stream of red pellets. The red gantries above made sense now. The machinery that hung from them must be part of this funhouse, one part of it firing this stuff at him.

Dashiell reached the rope, and tried to pull the end free. It didn't budge. It also wasn't a rope, but a steal cable. He looked at where it was tied, and found it welded to a block that was attached to the floor. The humming from the box when he pulled the cable indicated it was mag-locked to the floor.

The delay cost him, several of the projectiles hit his shoulder, and a loud buzz rang through the chamber. The floor reverted to its original formation, the cable released and began to retract.

Across the room, Beachhead's voice echoed, "Again!"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Lifeline watched Dashiell storm back to the starting point for his third go.

"You watch the game last night?" Beachhead asked.

"Hockey?"

"I kinda assumed that's the only sport you Canucks watched."

"Well, we do watch football too."

"The CFL? That's not a sport."

"I'll never understand why you Americans say that, we move the ball a longer field, using fewer downs."

"But you don't have any real athletes."

"Only because they get paid more down here."

"Hey, we pay for quality."

"That worked real well with your last president."

Beachhead pursed his lips, "well, I sure didn't vote for him."

"I've yet to meet anyone who did, even members of his own party. And yet, somehow he got 60% of the vote." Lifeline paused, "and about the same percentage of the Treasury when he split for Korea."

"Shut up."

"I'm just saying..."

"What part of 'shut up' do you not understand?"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dashiell reached the starting point, turned and started to run again. He'd gotten only a few meters before Beachhead's voice called out, "Wait there spunky, I haven't started the timer yet."

"What is your problem man?"

"I don't have a problem. Do you have a problem? Does he look like he has a problem Lifeline?.....well?"

"You said shut up, remember?" Lifeline mocked, sipping from his glass.

Dashiell shook his head in disgust as he returned to the starting spot, wondering what kind of outfit he'd gotten himself into.

"Alright," Beachhead said, "again."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Lifeline watched Dashiell go, "he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself does he?"

Beachhead snorted, "would you be?"

Both men chuckled.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Three quarters of an hour later, Dashiell was leaning on the wall beside the door, trying to catch his breath after his fourth attempt to run the gauntlet. The two men were evil. Pure and simple. He'd made it three quarters of the way back before the ground beneath him suddenly tilted backwards throwing him into a newly opened chasm. He didn't know what kind of battle conditions these two were trying to simulate, but they were nothing like he'd ever seen.

"Are you ready yet, or shall we call your mama?" mocked Beachhead.

Dashiell didn't even bother dignifying that with a response, deciding it was best to save his breath and get through this thing. Grudgingly, he pushed off the wall and made his way over to the starting position, sweat and a bit of blood made his outfit cling to his body, increasing its inherent discomfort. He did his best to ignore it while keeping an eye on Beachhead's stopwatch hand. The instant Beachhead's thumb twitched to depress the starter, Dashiell was off and running. He vaulted the first chasm with ease, using his momentum to propel himself up the slowly inclining wall in front of him. He dove off the top edge, somersaulting over the red mat beyond, and grabbed a loose piece of floor tile to hold over his head.

The red pellets from the overhead gun sounded like hail on a tin roof. Ahead of him the second trench cut a scare across the pristine floor. This time however, there was no cable on his side to climb. He shrugged, and made the leap, his fingers scrabbling for purchase on the ladder leading up the far side. Sweat made his hands slip and for an instant he feared another failure, but he finally grabbed the third rung. He cried out in pain as the sharp edge dug into the palm of his hand, but he clambered up to the other side.

Ahead of him was a forest of red poles. Distantly, he wondered just how many crazy configurations this hell-hole had. Rather than vaulting them as he had before, he slithered carefully through below their tops, avoiding the spray of rubber balls fired from either side. At the edge he paused, the far side sloped down to the edge of another trench. He didn't want to try the jumping trick again, and instead hurried along the edge of the pole forest until he came to a section where a sort of bridge crossed the trench.

He ran, watching the bridge retract as he approached, but not fast enough to prevent him from jumping the gap. But it was fast enough for him to end up twisting his ankle as he landed. He cursed as he fell, unaware for a second that his misfortune had actually allowed him to avoid the chain that scythed from roof through the space where he would have been standing.

Dashiell shook his head, and slithered along the ground as more pellets flew from either side of the room, intent on cutting him down. The respite allowed his ankle to stop its throbbing, and he made it through the next hundred meters without incident.

As he approached the bell, he allowed his feet to slide out from under him and slid under the bell, who's frame pelted a random spray of pellets. Rather than try to ring it from the outside as he had before, he stood up inside the giant iron bell, and whacked it with the hanging pendulum. For an instant, Dashiell allowed himself to savor the sound of pellets cracking impotently on the iron shell of the bell, even though the vibrations of the old iron bell were on the verge of deafening him. In a moment, the cracks stopped, and he droped down to a knee to survey the path back.

The whole complexion of the room had changed. In front of him was a series of trenches, followed by a curtain of fire from above, a forest of poles and a 9 foot wall.

"Piece of cake," Dashiell said to himself and grinned.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Beachhead turned to Lifeline, "looks like he's actually going to make it on five tries."

Lifeline looked disgusted.

"Oh come on, hate the guy or not, that beats everyone except Snake."

"Not on my watch he doesn't," Lifeline replied, standing up from his chair. "When you see me raise my hand..."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dashiell's feet were flying, as he approached the end of the course. Ahead of him, he could see Lifeline getting out of his chair and walking towards him. The louse actually had a smile on his face. Looks like he'd made it, Dashiell thought as he headed towards Lifeline who was gesturing at him. Lifeline stood just to the right of the path the Dashiell needed to take to reach the end point, and had his hand raised to give a high five as he passed. Perhaps he'd finally forgiven him. That would be nice.

Dashiell approached, not slowing his pace, and raised a hand to meet Lifeline's - which abruptly dropped and smacked him hard in the stomach.

The wind went out of Dashiell's lungs and he felt himself falling forward and tumbling down into the same trench he'd fallen into the first time.

At least this time he landed face up.

Lifeline's face appeared over the trench, "let this be a lesson, NEVER think somethings over before you've been extracted. It gets you killed."

Dashiell cursed as lifeline jumped the trench back to the other side, and was still muttering expletives when Beachhead's appeared.

The big man smirked, "again."






Code Name: Flint
File Name: Dashiell Fairborn
Birthplace: Wichita, Kansas
Rank: W5
Primary Military Specialty: Infantry
Secondary Military Specialty: Helicopter Pilot

[Troynos]

Poor Flint. Lifeline's an ass.

[Lifeline_MD]

He's what you get when a nice guy has a vindictive side, and is iin a position of power.

Somone's who's usually OK, but can be incredbly evil. The worst kind of person to cross. :D

[CharIJoe]

He's what you get when a nice guy has a vindictive side, and is iin a position of power.

Somone's who's usually OK, but can be incredbly evil. The worst kind of person to cross. :D



(gives dirty look) (waves hockey stick)

[thatjimboguy]

WOW DH!! You had me rolling on this one. Lifeline is turning out to be a bit of a you-know-what. Great job on the latest installment though.

[Lifeline_MD]

i do hope you were rolling with laughter rather than pain.:D


Lifeline is an interesting character. Yes, he can be a real ass sometimes. And he can also be quite nice. (yes, I'm aware that verges on bipolar)

That's there for a reason, to build up to something. But thank you for noticing. Though I thought that would have been clear after what he did to Scarlett :D

[Lifeline 71]

Loved the Flint story, DH! I don't know that I'd have gone quite as far as Lifeline did, however, there is a precedent in movies, literature, and real life that it's never a good idea to tick off the nice guy. Bad things happen.

[Big Jim]

can't wait to see how much more pain BeachHead can inflict. From your description he sounds huge

[Ultra Magnus 71]

DH,

Very funny.

[Loose Cannon]

Nice. can't wait for more!

[Lifeline_MD]

can't wait to see how much more pain BeachHead can inflict. From your description he sounds huge

Beachhead will get more screen (text?) time soon.

DH,

Very funny.

Thank you.

Nice. can't wait for more!

I hope to have another installment up tomorrow.

While I have about a dozen things half-done, I'm not sure how to cap off most of them in a way that makes me happy. So, I may write something entirely from scratch.

[Barefoot Jedi]

Read Flint.

I am enjoying the unpredictability most at the moment. I don't mind character re-inventions if they are inspired re-inventions. That is one of the things missing from ROC. I know, I know...

DED(

You also have a clean writing style that is balanced between being pure and simple and easy-to-read and intelligent. An occasional reader and a bookworm could both enjoy it and that's high praise from me.

Are your customs from your own Joe-Verse? You definitely need to make a Lifeline from THIS continuity if the one you made isn't it.

[Lifeline_MD]

Read Flint.

I am enjoying the unpredictability most at the moment. I don't mind character re-inventions if they are inspired re-inventions. That is one of the things missing from ROC. I know, I know...

Some guys (eg. Colton, Hawk, Snake Eyes, RnR, etc) don't need much in the way of changes. Some (eg. Lifeline, Super Trooper, Sgt. Savage, Rollbar, etc) do. And some, I'm just changing around for more diversity.

(Please note, there will be no gender/race changes in this Joe-verse, only changes in birth places - OK, I lied. Just to mock hasbro there is ONE that has both :D)



You also have a clean writing style that is balanced between being pure and simple and easy-to-read and intelligent. An occasional reader and a bookworm could both enjoy it and that's high praise from me.

thank you.




Are your customs from your own Joe-Verse? You definitely need to make a Lifeline from THIS continuity if the one you made isn't it.

My customs are updates of the classics in modern styles I think stay true to the original look, but have the required changes not to look....odd/garish. So...unintentionally, yes.

In this joeverse, most of the pre-1990 guys have the same uniforms. Later years keep basic ideas, but have the necessary changes to look cool.

However, they don't wear their 'battle gear' around the base at all times. They have more relaxed clothing for down-time (something I should describe more I think now that you mention it).




As to Lifeline in particular - He looks more or less the same, but isn't afraid to carry guns (like my custom).

[Lifeline_MD]

Decided to do things a bit differently this time. I couldn't convey the character as I wanted in third person, so I decided to switch to a first person perspective for this installment.

Also a bit of a stylistic break.

So, onto business













04/24/2033 - Steel Brigade Commander

In transit over Canadian Arctic

Above my head, the twin rotors of the Tomahawk beat a steady rhythm carrying us steadily north. Outside the porthole I can see cargo ships passing through Canada's Northwest Passage in transit between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Its been a long time since I've been this far north. Long enough that Alaska was still the 50th state. Can't believe the previous administration didn't try to fight that business.

I blink at my HUD to bring up the compass. Its deviation continues as we head farther north into the Arctic Circle. Admittedly, I've only been with the team for two short weeks, but I wish they'd trust me with where we're going. This team has an 11 man command staff, and somehow, I know less than the average Sergent it seems. I guess I'm still on probation for the time being.

I adjust my helmet's view to one side to keep an eye of my seat-mates for this flight: Lifeline, my fellow Colonel and Flint, warrant officer. Clearly the two of them have known each other for some time and get along quite well. Interesting. Their personalities seem to be diametrically opposed, I can't see them having ever gotten along.

Not that it matters. So long as the team is cohesive, it doesn't matter how likely or unlikely it is.

I lean my head against the back of my helmet, contemplating the journey, listening with half an ear to their inane conversation. Something to do with trades in the NHL, can you believe it? Members of the most elite military unit ever created, and they're talking about hockey. Unbelievable. They should be more concerned with hunting down terrorists than overpaid athletes.

Then again, perhaps Dr. Steen sympathizes with his fellow overpaid egomaniacs. He did buy the Calgary Leafs or whatever they're called.

I flip off the external audio and open intel files for review. That's the way we'll catch these terrorists, not by lazing around.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Alert, Nunavut, Canada - Four Hours Later

The engines above my head slowly rev down as our wheels touch the icy ground. Based on how the compass is pointing, and the external terrain, it is fairly clear we're in Alert. Mind you, the big fricking sign saying "Welcome to Alert" is a bit of a clue in and of itself. Real bright idea, big blazing sign for a military installation, if anything in Canada can actually be called that. Cold War early warning system indeed. Warning the Commies where they are more like.

I activate my helmet's external speakers, "I believe the mission briefing said something about an underground hanger."

"It did," Lifeline responds, "I'm not sure where everyone is. Permafrost and Kwinn were supposed to be waiting for us."

I have to roll my eyes at this. Two guys pulled away from work to tell us where we are? What a waste of manpower. Even up here, I'm sure they have something better to do. Well, maybe not. This must be where careers go to die.

Lifeline is approaching some building, his ridiculous red parka marking him out from what I can only expect to be several kilometers away. Seriously, are we trying to attract polar bears?

I follow, reluctantly. Why doesn't someone just try the door. These shacks can't be more than a few meters on a side. And yet somehow, the idiots walk right past all the larger - if that word even applies here - buildings and make their way towards what looks like an outhouse. Now I'm not arctic expert, but why the hell would you stick an outhouse in the base rather than use indoor plumbing. They can't be that backwards up here can they? Well...they do have a beaver as a national animal.

Lifeline cracks open the door.

Well now, that's interesting. Its not an outhouse. Its an elevator. Perhaps this isn't a waste of my time after all.

"Seems to be working." This from master of the obvious, Flint.

Rolling my eyes again, I step past Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum and into the elevator.

"After you," mutters Lifeline. Whiny baby. Get on with the job.

One button. Makes things easier. I push it as the other two cram into the lift. Must not be a very large underground space if the car is this -

I feel my stomach lodge in my throat as the car fires down the shaft at speeds above free-fall. It jams to a stop 3.45 seconds later. I feel my knees pop, but both Lifeline and Flint seem to have been prepared for this. So nice of them to let me know. The doors open and I step out into an area vaguely reminiscent of the bridge of the starship Enterprise. In the middle of the room is a bear. No, not a bear, a man in a white parka shouting orders at a staff. On several screens there are ongoing firefights between men in orange prison uniforms, and soldiers in uniforms that look like greenshirts. On another off to the right is what I assume to be a schematic of the facility. I blink a couple times to take an image of the layout and then magnify it in my HUD.

This place is a lot bigger than I expected, much like the PIT. These guys really have a thing for unnecessary expense. There's no need to hide a military force. The more people see it, the more they fear it, and the more your enemy's minds do your work for you. Hiding like this just emboldens them. Why would you hide if your not afraid. But its not my place to make those decisions. At least not yet its not.

Based on the schematic, this facility should hold at least five thousand inmates, but based on the combat on the screens, only a few dozen were currently incarcerated, but they've managed to arm themselves somehow.

Lifeline brushes past my shoulder, "welcome to The Cooler. Not quite the tour I had planned."

The cooler. Interesting. Enough double meanings there to write a book or two. But again, that's not my job. What's next? The Slammer? The Base? sigh.

"What's going on here Permafrost?" Lifeline asks the guy doing to Polar Bear impression.

"What's it look like," the guy sounds like a polar bear for that matter, "jailbreak."

"Forgive me, but that's impossible."

"Wraith."

Oh, the boogieman got them out. Take some responsibility ya turd. You screwed up. Bawdily. Or, more likely, the cursory background checks you probably run up here failed you and someone let them out. And what's the warrant officer cursing about?

"Is he still here?"

Oh please don't tell me that medic-of-the-year over there actually thinks there's some spook out there ruining things? I may need to shoot the both of them and explain myself later.

"Third screen, second row."

Unbelievable. What is wrong with these peo-

Oh, that's interesting. In the middle of the third screen there's a man in armor fighting off a small squad of men. About two dozen are dead nearby.

A couple blinks activate face matching software in my hub. Oh...that's Wraith. So this team's not the only one obsessed with these stupid code names. Or perhaps they randomly assigned it to him. Not that it matters.

"What floor is he on?"

My query causes both Permafrost and Lifeline to turn. The formers head is clad in a black balaclava, hiding his expression, but the growl of his voice suggests irritation, "Who is this Lifeline?"

"Steel Brigade Commander. Mind you, we've still got to get him his Brigade, but its a work in progress."

He grunts, "so long as he can fight. Sergent Harlan, you take 3 men and hold the command center. The rest of you with me. Colonels, if your staying here keep an eye on these screens."

As if. Lead from the front. Terrorize the enemy. This man knows nothing. I sincerely hope he's not in charge here.

"Of course we're coming 'Frost," Lifeline replies, snatching an ammunition satchel and SMG from a rack.

Well, perhaps he's not completely useless as I first suspected.

"Very well then. I'm taking these men down to the dock to back up Shipwreck. We can't let these guys get a hold of a sub. You and Flint bolster the squad on the 9th level. If steel-head here wants to take on Wraith, he's welcome to head off to the 6th level."

"Another day another bunch of corpses," Flint mutters as we head out. I follow at the end of the line onto the bridge and wait as the door seals behind me. I turn to ensure that it isn't in danger of being breached. Mag Locked. Level with the wall. Good. The glass windows to the control center are shuttered. This bridge is the only access in and out, connecting to the third level of cells. Below is a 5 story drop to water below. Practical. A drop of that height would be likely to break legs on an untrained individual, and the temperature of arctic waters would prevent anyone without protective gear from surviving more than a few minutes. They would never reach the surface.

I back down to the middle of the bridge. The elevator we came down in is concealed behind a rock wall. As a matter of fact, the command center and the levels above it are part of a large rock column with their windows protected with metal shutters. There's only a single method of escape without inside help - through the control center we just left.

That raises only a single question in my mind. How did this 'Wraith' get in?

Of course, there's only a single answer to that, he had inside help.

Well, I'll just have to hunt him down too. The others have moved ahead. Further observation shows that the cell block floors are connected using stairs rather than lifts. A wise choice. And the stairs run straight from the end of the bridge up or down to the top and bottom levels. No switchbacks where traps can be laid.

Four levels above, armed inmates appear, aiming down at our forces on the bridge. I drop to one knee and prepare to return fire, but three cracks ring out from above and behind me, and the three men topple. Instinctively I turn, rather than changing the view in my HUD. near the roof the end of a sniper rifle can be seen on a ledge at the top of the command pillar.

"Nice shooting Barrel Roll!" I hear Permafrost yell. There's a name I've never heard before. Interesting. I'll have to look over the team roster again at some point. For now I have a job to do. My legs carry me to the end of the bridge and up three flights of stairs directly behind Lifeline and Flint. I drop off and head into the complex. Gunfire sounds from my right, directing me where I need to go.

Around the corner, I run into a group of greenshirts, doggedly holding off one man in a metal suit. When I saw them in the command center's screens, there were over a dozen of them. Now, only six remain, the bodies of their fellows fallen around them. Well, time for me to do my job; I raise my rifle, smile, pull the trigger.....and the man disappears.

"Ah shit. Not again," says one of the men.

Again? This happens a lot?

My curiosity is cut short as the speaker's head snaps back, a bullet mangling his right eye, and probably what was once a brain behind it. Two men stand frozen in the middle of the corridor while the other three duck into cell doors on either side. Before the first two can make a move, they are scythed down by gunfire from the unseen assailant. But the muzzle flashes from his weapon give him away, and I open fire on his position.

The three survivors are equally quick. They focus their fire on him, one aiming for his current position, and the others tracking fire slightly to either side of him.

What do you know, there's actually some guys around here with brains. Lets see if they can get through this without having them splattered all over the wall.

Whatever invisibility field, or parlor tricks this guy's suit does, its got to use a tremendous amount of energy to keep up moving projections like that during combat. Switching to infrared filters.

Much better. Sucker boy is lit up like a Christmas tree. Then again, perhaps jackrabbit might have been a better comparison. I manage to barely keep my sights on him as he manages a front flip over my head, landing in a crouch behind me and taking off for the stairs.

"Ah Hell no," comes from my left. One of the greenies, tossing a grenade after him. Obviously of the anti-personnel variety as it sticks to the left arm of the fleeing target. His heat signature shimmers as he reacts, frantically trying to dislodge it. He doesn't manage in time, the force of the explosion blowing him into a side hallway just feet from the stairs.

To their credit the other three don't waste time and energy celebrating their victory and instead follow on my heals to finish him off before he manages to recover. In motion, I flip my HUD back to regular vision; foresight which is rewarded when I turn the corner. The explosion wrecked, or at least damaged his cloaking system.

I don't give him a chance to recover, simply raise my rifle and fire. My shots are joined by three other streams. Once all four trail off, I turn.

"What are your names soldiers?" I ask.

"I'm Checkpoint, that's Rook and Red Zone. Technically we haven't earned promotion to official member status, but our duties here were supposed to be our trial. Turned out to be a bit more rigorous testing than originally planned." He shrugs at me, "not that it matters either way."

Well, at least he's smart enough to recognize that. The fact that he was involved in this pathetic event at all disgusts me, but at least this trio seems vaguely competent. Perhaps a decent group to take to start training for a superior counter-terrorism force within the Joes. Something that can actually do the job that the rest of them is supposed to be able to do.

"All right. Leave the body. We'll deal with it later."

Lifeline and Flint choose this moment to come jogging around the corner. Slackers. Probably waiting for us to finish the job and then come to 'offer support'. Humph. Pathetic.

"Top three levels are cleared out," Lifeline puffs between breaths. A doctor that out of shape? Does this team even have a selection process? "I see you guys are finished here. Good work on wraith."

He approaches. No doubt planning to take credit for the kill.

Instead, he drops to a knee to check his pulse. Check his pulse? Are you....oh. The bone saw in his hand explains what he's doing as he draws it roughly through the armored man's neck. Blood spills from the severed carotid arteries, and the cartilage of his trachea cracks.

"Was that really necessary?...er...sir?" asks Red Zone. Or was that Rook. Doesn't matter.

"No, but this would be the fourth time someones said they managed to kill him. I don't want to run into him again. No matter how much lead you put into him."

Thankfully my external speakers are off, or my loud sigh would have split the air. Lead. No one's use that in bullets for a century. Does he not even know that?

"All right," Flint interrupts, "Permafrost says that most of the escapees have made their way down to the sub dock. He and Shipwreck's crew are holding them off, but they need backup when they can get it.

Idiots. A few inmates should be no match for armed guards. Pathetic.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Command Center; The Cooler - Five Hours later

Shockingly enough, Permafrost's incompetent security staff has managed to clear the rest of the complex, and those inmates not killed in combat have been reincarcerated. Most of the greenshirts killed were downed by this Wraith fellow. No one is willing to admit that he got in using inside help. They insist that he snuck in using his 'stealth mode' and there was no way to prevent it.

I know better, and I'll be doing my utmost to root out the traitor here.

Why? Because that's just what I do.







Code Name: Steel Brigade Commander
Subunit: Steel Brigade

File Name: CLASSIFIED
Birthplace: CLASSIFIED
Rank: O6
Primary Military Specialty: Special Forces
Secondary Military Specialty: Counter Espionage

[Troynos]

Interesting. He needs a better name then Steel Brigade Commander.

Nice way to get Rook, Redzone and Checkpoint into it.

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Great read.

[Lifeline_MD]

Interesting. He needs a better name then Steel Brigade Commander.

Nice way to get Rook, Redzone and Checkpoint into it.

I was going to shorten it to Col. Steel, but that didn't feel right either. Still thinking on it.

As a note, over time I've made a few (mostly gramatical) adjustments to the master copies of the chapters listed in the first post. Nothing substantial yet, but if I later decide a change needs to be made, that's where it will be seen.


As for Rook, Redzone and Checkpoint - I was going to do more with them, but just ran out of stuff I wanted to say in this chapter. Steel Brigade has more parts to play in the future though.

Great read.

Thank you.












Up next is our first villain-centric story.

[Lifeline_MD]

With some chagrin, I have realized I'm going to need an area map in order for you guys to mak sense of the next story.

So, hopefully this will be done this evening.

Could be early tomorrow though.

[Lifeline_MD]

This is the longest entry yet, and I'm still not really done with it, but I felt I'd hit an appropriate point for a pause.

I hope that you all enjoy.



http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zjJzhHzO0Mw/S2tiu5Wmh4I/AAAAAAAAAPw/TGbk7Ee2Ua8/s512/joeverse%20shetland.png


06/06/2033 - Destro

Cruising Altitude - Approaching Shetland, Scotland

On this summers morning the coastal town of Grutness was quiet. Situated at the southern tip of the Shetland mainland, the most northerly landmass in the British Isles. Shetland's population hovered around 22,000, and had for many years. The islands had a long history with the Vikings, German traders and more recently the Scots. At the southern tip of the island lay Jarlshof. A remarkable prehistoric archaeological site, dating from bronze and iron age settlers.

Farther north lay another historical site, one that interested the Baroness far more than the tripe pulled from a traveler's pamphlet that made up most of the intelligence report on the island. Just half a kilometer south of the hamlet of Hellister lay Castle McCullen. The target of this visit. Anastasia Decobray leaned back in her seat. The Sumburgh Airport's 4,678 foot runway was the only one on the island large enough to accommodate her jet, and barely at that. She then had to sit through an hours drive to reach the her destination. This trip was nothing but an inconvenience. The Commander knew full well that these McCullens weren't interested in working with Cobra. The elder McCullen had actively opposed Cobra, and was the main reason they still lacked major operations in Central Canada, England, Australia or Southern South America. This turf war had almost brought their organization to the attention of the local governments prematurely. Something McCullen knew Cobra couldn't afford. And yet, somehow the Commander insisted that McCullen, a complete unknown, would be amenable to an alliance. Once again, Anastasia had reason to doubt the commander's sanity.

The pilot leaned back through the door, "Approaching the airstrip m'lady. One of our agents has a car waiting."

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Castle Destro - 23 miles North-Northwest


Destro McCullen the twenty-seventh strolled down the long stairs from the suite of rooms at the top of the castle. A suite still in the process of being redecorated for its new master after the departure of its old. James McCullen the twenty-sixhad died, ostensibly of a heart attack, less than a month prior, and the staff were still adjusting to their new management. One thing they did realize though was that proper deference must be paid to their new lord. Outside the castle walls the clanging of rapiers could be heard as the Iron Grenadiers perfected their dueling skills. Sometimes the old ways truly were best.

At the bottom of the stairs, two servants scuttled out of the way and down a side passage so as to not disrupt their master's morning stroll. Destro smiled. The working class needed to learn its place. A few beheadings of the less cooperative had seen to that. A pause on the balcony off the stairs allowed an unobstructed view of the Grenadiers training in the courtyard below. Fog was still clinging stubbornly to the fields, combining with full battle armor to slow the movements and accuracy of the men. Once they learned to fight in these conditions, they could fight anywhere. As well they would be called to eventually if Destro's plans succeeded.

Not that that was a concern this morning. This day had two focuses: the 'surprise' visit of Cobra's emissary, and dealing with events at the factory in Kazakhstan. Oh yes, Cobra was certain that the Decobray's visit was a surprise, but Destro's agent within Cobra had learned about it over a week ago. General Mayhem was on station at the Sumburgh Airport to keep an eye on their new visitor, and the Cobra Viper who was to drive her had been paid handsomely to turn his allegiance. A payment that would never go through due to his untimely death tomorrow.

It amused Destro to play the Commander's games. If he thought the Iron Grenediers would serve as an adjunct to his terrorist force, he was sadly mistaken. Though the world may not know who was responsible for Black Thursday, Destro did, and fully intended to use that as a major bargaining chip. While some sort of agreement may be beneficial for the expansion of MARS industries, the full weight of the Iron Grenediers would eventually be needed elsewhere and could not be wasted on the frivolities the Commander was interested in. But let his lackeys come. Perhaps they would bring an offer of interest.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sumburgh Airport

Decobray strode down the stairs from the cabin of the jet onto the asphalt runway. Even at just over five feet, she managed a regal bearing casting a disapproving eye over what passed for a terminal. Two other planes sat on the runway, both marked with the insignia of MARS industries. Well, hopefully that meant he was home, otherwise this would be a wasted trip. Shaking her head, she strode over to the waiting Bentley that would ferry her to the castle.

"Blackout," she acknowledged her counterpart.

"Baroness."

They both climbed into the car and headed north. Wild Weasel watched them go from the cockpit of the jet, waiting until they were out of sight to activate his radio. A click on the other end of the line was the only acknowledgement, "They're on their way. Destro's jets are still here. I will rendezvous with Munitia in forty-seven minutes."

Another two clicks confirmed receipt and Wild Weasel signed off.

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Jarlshof Historical Sight

A tourist in a yellow raincoat snapped another picture. Had anyone else been at the ruins that morning, they would have realized he was using a telephoto lens to photograph a wall less than 30 feet ahead of him. They might also have noticed the parabolic antenna protruding over his shoulder pointed back towards the Sumburgh Airport. But as it was, he was the only one braving the cold and fog of the early morning. The camera clicked another half dozen times before it lowered revealing an entirely forgettable face, devoid of any remarkable features. Owen King removed a blackberry from beneath his jacket, and transferred the memory card from the camera to the handheld device. The touch of a few buttons completed this part of the mission.

The camera and radio dish quickly folded into a backpack, protected from the outside moisture. King returned to his Landrover and propped the tourist brochure for Lerwick on the dash. His only concern was whether Michelion could carry out his part of the mission.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Scalloway

King need not have worried. Michelion Paolino strolled around the circumference of Scalloway Castle, his eyes casting down main street, watching the woman loitering along the wharf across the street from the Barber's shop two hundred meters away. The locals took little interest in her, her demeanor suggesting she was waiting for someone. Michelion wasn't sure what she was up to but it was a guarantee that it wasn't good, otherwise he'd have never been assigned to watch her.

For his part, he looked like any other of the few hundred tourists who passed through the Shetland islands every year. He'd already spent over an hour walking around the castle, and he figured much longer might look suspicious, so he sidled across the road and pretended to be taking an interest in the fishing boats that lined the docks. His path temporarily took the woman out of his sight as a building interposed itself between them. He didn't allow himself to worry though, if he hurried to keep her in sight, his cover might be blown. Instead he snapped a few pictures of the boats.

These weren't for any intel purposes, but because they reminded him of his own childhood in Sao Paulo. His family had lived in a corrugated tin shack on the edge of town with many others in the slums. Their family was better off than most however as they'd been able to cobble together a home with several rooms over the seven generations they'd lived there. What even Michelion himself had not known was that his forefathers had been saving money from their jobs, and from what they could barter from the city dump and had amassed a respectable sum of money. Most of it had gone for his and his sister's education, a debt that they could never repay, even now that they'd moved their family into the center of the city.

Michelion shook himself free of the reminiscences. They had no bearing on his current situation, and he must not allow himself to be distracted. He rounded the corner, watching a single car putter through the traffic circle and continued down the main street. His target still leaned up outside the barber shop. On a whim, he decided he might as well get his hair trimmed while he waited. Wild Weasel wouldn't arrive for another half hour, and he couldn't very well keep walking up and down the main street without drawing attention to himself.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sumburgh Airport

General Mayhem watched Wild Weasel depart the jet and climb into a recently arrived taxi. Very interesting, he thought to himself, the laird will be interested to hear this. Off in the distance, a Landrover could be seen departing Jarlshof and heading north. Something about it seemed out of place to Mayhem. Landrovers weren't uncommon on the island, but this one seemed unusually new in comparison to most of them, but he decided to dismiss the worry. It was probably just a tourist who had come across on one of the ferries in the last couple days. He shook his head, and removed his cell phone. Voltar would have to inform the laird about the other Cobra's activities while Mayhem followed him to ensure that he didn't compromise the master's plans on the island.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bently passing Northpunds

The Bently flew north along the country road, Blackout elaborating on the previous weeks events, "and then one of Destro's lackeys, Undertow I'm fairly certain, bought me off for information about your visit."

"I assume you gave it to him?"

"As per the commander's orders. I still don't understand what this mission hopes to gain. I doubt this McCullen will be any different than the last one."

Decobray pursed her lips, but relied honestly, "neither do I. Its simply a waste of our time. McCullen may think we're being played with these little games, but Cobra is far smarter than that. He'll learn in time." She shook her head.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Castle Destro

Voltar exited the communications center and made his way towards the garage to report the latest developments. An extra Cobra at the airport made little difference, but one poking around the island unguarded could potentially become a problem. Especially if he came across some things that should remain buried for the time being. He strode on, oblivious of the tiny fly skittering along the roof above him, but the fly, or rather the fly's controller saw Voltar. Some ingenious work by scientist Seymour Fine had developed the intricate surveillance drones, and a small army of them now buzzed unnoticed through the castle's halls, transmitting their data to a receptor high overhead. None of this intruded on Voltar's sense of urgency as he approached Destro to bring the news.

-----------------------------------------------------------

40,000 Feet Overhead

.......

[WRITER'S NOTE: Yes, this section is deliberately blank. Curious?]

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bently passing Tingwall Airport

The Decobray and Blackout sat in silence as the country flew past. Both were impatient to reach the castle, neither being the tourist type.

Blackout glances in the rear view mirror, "that Landrover finally turned off at Lerwick; another three miles and I'd have had to ditch a body."

"Destro wouldn't have been happy about deaths on his turf. At least ones that he didn't order."

Blackout grunted in agreement, and slid the car onto the right side of the road to avoid a stray sheep, "damn I'll be glad to get out of this stinking country."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Castle Destro

The servants stood at attention as their Laird gave orders in preparations for Decobray's visit to the castle. Dissent rankled among several standing at attention, but this was mixed with a fear for their lives. Many of their number had been executed very publicly for opposing their new master. Even Voltar, vaunted general of the Iron Grenadiers had lost an eye to the sword. MARS own prosthetic technology had compensated for the loss, but the glaring red orb reminded everyone in the castle that their master lacked neither the will, nor the strength to rule.

The meeting was soon dismissed, the attendants given their orders in no uncertain terms. A small squad of Iron Grenadier trainees was stationed on the front lawn going through an advanced drill, their fumbling giving the impression of incompetence. The cook was made to prepare a meal far above normal standards, and the cleaning staff to put out the trappings usually reserved for Corporate parties. A simple message was to be conveyed: the castle's new owner was decadent and incompetent. A message designed strictly to drive the emissary away.

The appearance of the castle was altered in a matter of minutes, finished only instants before a Bently was sighted making the turn from the A971.

-----------------------------------------------------------

40,000 Feet Overhead

"Showtime."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Castle Destro

Decobray watched Blackout pull the car around to the back of the castle. His information from the servant's quarters would be invaluable to future assualts on this castle. A precaution in the Commander's mind, a certainty in Decobray's. Sooner or later MARS, or more specifically the owner's private army, would become a threat to the Commander's plans. So long as the world's governments continued to be complacent about the threat, Destro remained the soul individual outside of the organization that knew of its existance. An individual who would have to be terminated when the time came, should he not decide to side with the right side.

Five stories overhead, Destro watched the visitors with interest. Decobray was significantly more attractive than intelligence briefings had indicated. Attractive, an athletic figure, supple legs.

"I must have her Voltar."

"My lord, is that wise?" Voltar quieried? He was well aware of his master's indulgence in the pleasures of the flesh, but seducing an agent of Cobra could bring danger on the house. Danger he had to admit, he was not sure even the Grenadiers coud prevent.

"Do not question me Voltar, or you'll lose the other eye."

"Yes Laird."

Below, Decobray reached for the knocker on the door. Her gloved hand never reached it. Instead the double doors swung open silently to reveal a butler waiting for her. His appearance was a bit odd, a red prosthetic where his left eye should have been and a scruffy black beard framing his lower face.

"Welcome Baroness Decobray, we have been expecting you."

Although she refused to let it show on her face, Decobray was disturbed. Her mission had been a secret from all but the upper echelons of Cobra, which meant that the Iron Grenadiers were much more well equiped than they were aware, or the organization had a leak that would have to be removed. Permanently.

She paused before entering the castle, observing a squad or more of Iron Grenadiers going through a sword drill on the side lawn. Memories of her fencing days overlaid themselves with the drill. They weren't very good. Granted, Decobray had made the silver medal in two consecutive fencing Olympic events, but these guys weren't even as good as anyone on the recreational circuit. If this was the best mercenaries Destro had to offer, the Commander was wasting his time. Satisfied, she followed the servant into the castle.

Around back Blackout pulled the Bently into what looked to have once been a stable. He climbed out and surveyed the surroundings, noting the same squad of Iron Grenadiers he's glimpsed from the front of the property. Otherwise, the outside grounds seemed clear. The castle backed onto the inlet, or whatever it was, but had a defensive wall ringing the courtyard. Glancing over his shoulder, he moved towards the open rear gate towards the beach. Whereas most ancient castles used wood and iron gates, this wall was sealed with a pair of sliding stone doors, a rather impressive piece of ancient engineering. But impressive or not, it was immaterial if an assault was ever required; two minutes' work by Firefly would finish it off.

Outside the wall lay a small private dock and two modern boathouses. A luxury racing boat was moored to one side of the exposed pier, while an armored patrol boat was docked at the other. An interesting juxtaposition reflected Blackout as the door to one of the boathouses opened. A man in grease stained overalls stepped out and made directly for Blackout.

" 'cuse ma gov'na, 'an ah 'elp ya?"

"No thank you, just came out here to look at the water."

" 'lenta o' 'ater . 'out much ta see."

Blackout nodded as if he understood the man, and turned as if to look across the water at the far shore. Thankfully the man made no further conversation, instead picking up a barrel from by the gate and dragging it back into the boat house before closing the door. Once inside he lifted the receiver to a black phone, "Viper's being snoopy. Best warn Voltar that he'll need to be taken out."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Lerwick

Owen King made his way into the cafe. At this hour in the morning it was almost empty save for the wait staff and two salty old sailors who could have passed for embalmed corpses had they not been regularly lifting mugs of the local ale to their lips. He waited, and a moment later the waitress appeared. Without taking his order she set down a tray of breakfast and pot of coffee. Owen smiled acknowledgement and she nodded in reply before once again disappearing into the back. Beneath his plate lay a sealed envelope containing his continuing orders. Unfolding the paper from the side of the table, he used the noise of the paper to cover the tearing noise made by opening the envelope. He scanned it twice before dropping it into the coffee pot which emitted a slight hiss as the acid therein dissolved the paper. So much for heading off to Hawaii he thought.

Twenty minutes later, he brushed the remnants of the meal from his lips with a folded napkin and returned his plate, coffee pot, and a generous tip to the waitress.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Castle Destro

Decobray waited impatiently in the castle's main hall as instructed by the butler, or whatever he was. She'd watched him walk down through the far doors. His bearing indicated he'd clearly had significant military training, and the slight hitch in his gait indicated his right leg had once been broken somewhere between the knee and the hip. The prosthetic eye was also a clue to battlefield injuries. Perhaps a castoff from the Grenadiers that Destro felt pity for.

But while the butler made an interesting character study, this main hall was far more informative. Half the length of either side was covered with massive portraits of the Castle's Lairds. The portraits on the north wall showed the McCullen's in formal attire, befitting their rank, while those on the south showed the men in the family mask. A plaque on the south wall preceded the first portrait, and Decobray paused to read it before continuing down the hall:

On March 6, 1426 the Battle of St. James was fought near Avranches between the English army of the Duke of Bedford and the French army under Arthur de Richemont. The English victory forced the Duke of Brittany to recognize English Suzerainty. On July 23, Laird James McCullen the First was tried in London and found guilty of selling arms and information to the French. He was imprisoned and tortured for 30 years, his head encompased by an iron mask, and his identity striped away from him in place of the name "Destro". The mask and the name have been adopted as the symbols of Clam McCullen, which will one day re-take its proper place.



Decobray raised an eyebrow after reading the last line. It seemed almost a threat, and yet no company more than MARS had promoted English interests over the last two hundred years. Though the age of the plaque was unclear, the modern English suggested it was no more than a hundred years old. Perhaps left over from a less agreeable McCullen of a previous generation, clearly it's original intent had been abandoned. A shrug and she continued on her way, passing time by analyzing the portraits.

McCullen I looked like the stereotyped mountain man, which his hair all over his head, a scruffy beard. But the bulging muscles underneath his clothing showed a man who knew how to handle himself. By contrast, his masked self seemed like a broken man, even robed in finery once more. The mask didn't help the image as it was crudly formed and appeared to have been pressed to his face while the metal was still molten.

The next half dozen McCullens retained the wild black hair and beard, but looked equally healthy in their masked and unmasked portraits. Their mask or masks, it was unclear whether it was remade for each individual or passed down through the generations, was still made of Iron, but well sculpted and polished. With McCullen VII it changed to a silver mask, or was at least painted as such, the reflection being brighter. The McCullen beard shrunk in size and disappeared altogether with McCullen XIII. The masked portrait of McCullen XIV, an ugly man with a shaved head, was the first to have the mask and sword broach which now adorned the shoulders of all the Iron Grenadiers. Beards made a resurgence for McCullen XVII, the first to wear the black uniform with red cape now made famous by the exploits of the Iron Grenadiers, and McCullen XVIII. It was only with McCullen the XX that the gold helmet was introduced, and from then the uniform remained unchanged.

Over the generations, the McCullen line's appearance approved, the recently deceased McCullen XXVI being in fact rather attractive. Strangely there was as yet no portrait of the castle's newest ruler, something which struck Decobray as odd. The castle's overtly lavish trappings clearly suggested an arrogance of the new owner, and the lack of portrait seemed out of character. She smirked as a thought crossed her mind, probably reserves that portrait for the conquests of his bedroom.

Through the door at the end of the hall she could hear voices. The buttler was speaking with a someone, no doubt a servent of some sort. Decobra resumed pacing the length of the hall, becoming increasingly impatient for the meeting to begin, hoping that Blackout was at least making use of his time.

On the other side of the door, Voltar spoke rapidly with his master, "my laird, I beg you to reconsider, this is a bad idea. What if she..."

"She is in my house Voltar, there is nothing she could do to me, and nothing we need fear. I must take her to my bed. If there is a problem, I know how to deal with her. And should she resist, she, and her compatriot, will never leave alive."

Voltar chafed to reply as he wished, but he knew that this Destro was not as amenable to input as the last, and there was nothing he could do about it. But perhaps he wouldn't have to put up with it much longer. The thought pleased him.

"Send her to my chambers in ten minutes. I shall be prepared."

"Yes Laird," Voltar replied, his teeth set in a grimace.

-----------------------------------------------------------

40,000 Feet overhead

"Best record this I think."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Castle Destro (Ten minutes later)

Decobray was striding up the hallway with every intention of bursting through the hand-carved double doors when the butler opened them and waved her through. She passed by without breaking stride.

"Up the stairs m'lady. Oh, and by the way..."

"Yes."

"I assume you were looking at the portraits, the new Laird is not what you would expect."

"How so?"

It seemed as if the butler was leering at her, "you'll see soon enough m'lady. Enjoy yourself."

With that cryptic warning, he departed, leaving a confused Decobray with her foot resting on the first stair. Determination overcame confusion in short order and she continued up the stairs, pausing on the landing to see the view. Below she could see the incompetent cadre of Iron Grenadiers still at their training. Towards the wall, she could also see a man skulking about, most likely Blackout. Well, at least he was getting somewhere, she shook her head. At the top of the stairs was a plush waiting room with deeply cushioned and upholstered chairs. She didn't bother wasting any further time, fully intending to be long gone from Shetland before lunchtime, instead striding straight to the large wooden door and knocking loudly with the heal of her hand.

The door swung open almost instantly, and Decobray had to back away as a very large pair of breasts, veiled only by a thin komono, practically hit her in the face. The dodge backwards afforded a full view of the woman who had answered the door, she was tall with skin the color of obsidian and the figure of a model. Her frustration peaked, this was what had been delaying her meeting with McCullen?

"I am here to speak to Laird McCullen," the title rankled in her throat, but Decobray assumed that this, this amazon, would yield to the title.

Much to her shock, the woman smiled, "I am Laird Jillian McCullen." The voice rang with the authority of someone who was used to attention and obeisance in their presence. Decobray was taken aback, this could not possibly have been what the butler meant by the new McCullen not being what she expected - could it?


The woman calling herself McCullen let loose a low-throated laugh, clearly Decobray's confusion showed on her face, "you don't believe me do you? Of course you don't. No one does."

She turned and walked a few paces into the room, clearly her personal quarters if the furniature was any indication. A curiosity filled Decobray and she followed, allowing the door to close silently behind her.

The woman turned and continued, "as you probably know, my father James Destro McCullen the twenty-sixth, God rest his soul, never married. He had numerous affairs with women all across Europe, leaving many partial heirs. But if you check their birth records, he is not recorded as their father, and in fact disowned every one of them. During one of his business trips to Ethopia, I tried to pick his pocket. I was an urchin on the street, only six years old, at least as close as I can figure, at the time. My parents were both dead, I have no idea how." She smiled at the memory, "My father's wallet was attached to his belt with a chain that I'd failed to notice, and so he caught me. Do you know what he did? He laughed, and gave me the best advice I ever got, 'if you want to hurt someone, go for their bank account, not their petty cash.' I stowed away on his plane when he left. He found me during the flight, and addopted me when we returned. Few outside the core of the organization ever knew that I was his heir."

Decobray was absolutely flustered, but had no choice but to accept the stories. It did explain why the heir to the McCullen empire had never been seen in public, it would have caused an incredible stir.

"I see," she responded. "Interesting though your personal history is, I'm here to talk to you about some business my organization had with yours."

"Oh yes, your 'Cobra' organization. Well, we'll get to that in due time."

"The business cannot-"

"You forget," interrupted McCullen, "You are in my house now, and things here are done by my rules. And there's something else you should know about me, I always get what I want."

"And what is is exactly that you want?"

"You."

At first the word did not make sense to Decobray, but as McCullen allowed the komono to fall to the floor, suddenly she understood. She backed quickly towards the door, but her back met the handle of the closed door. McCullen was closing the distance too quickly to allow her to open the door.

"McCullen," Decobray stammered trying to buy a few seconds, "I can assure you that I do not-"

Her protests were cut short as McCullen's lips pressed over hers. A brief moan escaped Decobray's throat as McCullen's right hand gripped her thigh...




CONTINUED IN: Who's Conning Who?



Code Name: Destro
File Name: Jillian "Destro" McCullen XXVII
Birthplace: Adama, Ethiopia
Position: MARS CEO/ Director of Iron Grenadiers
Primary Military Specialty: Weapons Manufacturer
Secondary Military Specialty: Experimental Weaponry

[Lifeline_MD]

Added a map to the story to assist the reader in finding where the heck I'm talking about.

(Map has also been added to the Joeverse Atlas.)

[Lifeline 71]

At first I thought that this must be a fake Destro, but then i remembered you said a character would change race and gender. Very interesting, can't wait to read more.

[Barefoot Jedi]

Who knew Destro and the Baroness would be your fanboy lesbian fantasy? :D

Does Destro also have elemental powers? Her origin is uncannily similar to that of Ororo Munro.

This one will take some getting used to. It's like eating an international food utilizing flavors and textures for which you have no point of reference...a taste to be acquired, perhaps.

[Loose Cannon]

Interesting twist. Baroness forced to perform sexaul acts would cause a stir, but this is even greater. How many partial heirs are there? Seems like Voltar could lead a revolution with say Alexander? Who is higher up Voltar or Mayhem?

[Lifeline_MD]

At first I thought that this must be a fake Destro, but then i remembered you said a character would change race and gender. Very interesting, can't wait to read more.

I did say that didn't I.

The second and third chapters in this series are in the works.

I'm quite happy with the plan for them.

Does Destro also have elemental powers? Her origin is uncannily similar to that of Ororo Munro.

Until I googled that, I had no idea who that was. Utter coincidence.

This one will take some getting used to. It's like eating an international food utilizing flavors and textures for which you have no point of reference...a taste to be acquired, perhaps.

The other parts of the Shetland Trilogy are in the works. We'll be force-feeding you :D

Interesting twist. Baroness forced to perform sexaul acts would cause a stir, but this is even greater. How many partial heirs are there? Seems like Voltar could lead a revolution with say Alexander? Who is higher up Voltar or Mayhem?

How many partial heirs? A lot.

Voltar with Alexander? Fraid not. Alexander has another use later in the joeverse. But you've hit close to home on a coming subplot.

Voltar of Mayhem? Interesting question. I had planned them to be equivalent but in charge of different units:

Voltar does special ops (Nullifiers, Undertows, Ferrets, etc) while Mayhem controls the regular Iron Grenadier troops.

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Wow that was a twist.

[thatjimboguy]

Whoah. I haven't seen that big of a swerve since the last season of Survivor. I gotta wonder though, if this isn't some kind of trick on the part of Destro. I guess we'll see.

[Troynos]

Great stuff.

I'm assuming it's the Joes at 40,000 feet.

Who's Michelion Paolino? I don't recognize the name. One of the Argen 7? Made up?

[Lifeline_MD]

Wow that was a twist.

I thought so.

Whoah. I haven't seen that big of a swerve since the last season of Survivor. I gotta wonder though, if this isn't some kind of trick on the part of Destro. I guess we'll see.

It took a lot of work in the earlier scenes with Destro in them to not use any gender-specific pronouns. I'm quite proud I got it to work though.

Of course, if it were a trick, I couldn't say. But isn't there enough going on on Shetland already?

Great stuff.

I'm assuming it's the Joes at 40,000 feet.

Who's Michelion Paolino? I don't recognize the name. One of the Argen 7? Made up?

The individual(s?) at 40,000 feet will be revealed soon.

Michelion Paolino is the file name I made up for Agent Faces. There were a few too many people with 'classified' file names.

There's a few other adjustments hidden in the CAST OF CHARACTERS (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dds3h3c9_1028vcghgq). (Still have to do the Cobra's and IGs though)

[Lifeline_MD]

The two sequels to the Destro story are taking a bit longer than I had originally hoped, but rest assured they're on their way.

To tide you over, I should have Mercer done tomorrow or Tuesday.

Until then, a brief glimpse of what's planned for the next few months:

Upcoming - in progress

gaps indicate removed sections - can't tell you EVERYTHING can I?



09/03/2008 - Cobra Commander (Prelude) Joeuniverse.com exclusive
02/05/2015 - Cobra Commander (Part 1)
08/18/2025 - Wraith Sector12.com exclusive
01/01/2031 - The World Today Upcoming
04/22/2031 - Black Thursday Hisstank.com exclusive
05/01/2031 - G.I. Joe
05/02/2031 - Sparks
05/08/2031 - Flagg
05/11/2031 - Ledger
05/12/2031 - Ace
05/13/2031 - Lifeline (Part 1) DONE
05/15/2031 - Chuckles (Part 1) DONE
05/15/2031 - Short Fuze
05/16/2031 - Quick Kick
05/16/2031 - Beach Head (Part 1)
05/17/2031 - Doc
05/18/2031 - Keel Haul
05/18/2031 - Skidmark
05/18/2031 - Alpine
05/25/2031 - Flash and Grand Slam
06/12/2031 - General Hawk Upcoming
06/12/2031 - Snake Eyes Upcoming
06/14/2031 - Stalker
06/15/2031 - Lift Ticket
06/17/2031 - Cover Girl
06/18/2031 - Steeler
06/19/2031 - Courage
06/20/2031 - Lady Jaye Upcoming
06/20/2031 - Flint DONE
06/21/2031 - Shockwave Upcoming
06/27/2031 - Wraith
07/01/2031 - Opening Day
07/05/2031 - Dial Tone
07/08/2031 - Beach Head (Part 2)

07/18/2031 - The Oktober Guard

08/04/2031 - Mutt (and Junkyard)DONE
08/06/2031 - Duke

08/18/2031 - Airtight

09/14/2031 - Dusty
09/19/2031 - Shipwreck

10/12/2031 - Airborne

11/11/2031 - Sci-Fi

11/18/2031 - Big Ben DONE
11/18/2031 - Rollbar DONE
11/18/2031 - Ambush

11/28/2031 - ScarlettDONE

12/02/2031 - Clutch

01/19/2032 - Mozambique

02/25/2032 - Psych Out DONE

04/24/2033 - Steel Brigade CommanderDONE

06/06/2033 - DestroDONE
06/06/2033 - Whos Conning Who Upcoming
06/06/2033 - Intrigue in Shetland Upcoming

07/26/2033 - Mercer Upcoming

06/06/2034 - (Wouldn't you like to know :D)

[Loose Cannon]

Snake-Eyes is a Lt Colonel? Ok i have to see how you pull that off.

So where are we based on the timeline? 2008 or 2015? I suppose something ugly will happen for 1/1/2031?

What's with Duke's huge demotion to E-1?

[Lifeline_MD]

Snake-Eyes is a Lt Colonel? Ok i have to see how you pull that off.

Wow. I'd love to have an explaination for that, but I really don't. Its supposed to be O1.

oopsies :D


So where are we based on the timeline? 2008 or 2015?

We are currently on 02/07/2010 last time I checked. :D

Yes, its probably not a realistic timeline, no, there's no chance it will happen this way, but hey, I tried to ground it in some shred of reality.

I suppose something ugly will happen for 1/1/2031?

No, that's just a primer (an exerpt from a new years newscast) on what happens to the world in the interveaning 21 years between now and then, as there's no uncontrived way to stick that in to regular conversation.

"Hey Flint, remember that company that opened up 15 years ago?"

"Yeah, what was that called Duke?"

"Extensive Enterprises. Well, did you know..."

Yeah. Not happening.



The "Something Ugly" happens on Black Thursday.


What's with Duke's huge demotion to E-1?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D

wouldn't you like to know.

[Lifeline_MD]

And another long one:



01/26/2034 - Mercer

The Bronx, New York - Outside

Inspector James Gordon ducked back behind the wall of the warehouse as another burst of sub-machine gun fire peppered the brickwork. Right about now he'd have given anything to be his fictional namesake and flip on the bat signal, but sadly stuff like that never happened in real life. Instead, half a dozen members of the NYPD's SWAT team were lying dead in this back end of the Bronx, trying to stave off a gunfight between a bunch of weird dudes in reflective head gear and full combat tack, and another, seemingly identical man. What precisely was it about a full moon that brought out all the nutcases in this city?

He hoped that the spotters could get a bead on these guys sometime soon, he wasn't anxious to have to drag this out any longer than he had to. As it was, the commissioner had informed him he was seriously debating calling in the military to deal with these guys if they weren't in custody within five hours. That was, Gordon checked his watch, just over four hours ago. He shook his head and sighed, wondering if there was any point doing any more than bottling these guys up until someone with more firepower showed up. These lunatics seemed quite content to have barricaded themselves into two buildings on the other side of the street, and were hemmed in on all sides by police.

Corporal Henshaw had discovered that there was a weakness in their armor between the top edge of their vests, and bottom rim of their visors. Sharpshooters would be able to pick them off if they came out into the open, but it would be tricky for the rest of his men, as that small seam was only visible head-on, meaning they'd be exposed to fire themselves. Another sigh and a shake of his head. Ah well, what would be would be. Though he would certainly not turn down reinforcements if he could get them.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - Inside South Building

The man known as Sergent Fang strode among his men. They represented what was left of Death's Head Squadron, one of the elite regiments under within Major Bludd's Viper Corps. Or at least it had been until that blasted Corporal had convinced half a dozen of his best men to return to the corrupt arms of the western regimes. Well, Corporal Stratton was the last one standing, and though it had cost Fang two thirds of his command, be intended to kill him too. No defections, no failures. The NYPD couldn't stop them leaving Stratton the only thing standing between them and extraction. Fang shook his head, his best man. He did wish he'd been allowed to bring a squad of Alley Vipers with him, but the Commander himself had ordered this mission to be kept quiet and use minimal resources. Almost Three years after Black Thursday, the Cobra Organization was becoming restless to show itself, just like a snake coiled to strike. Fang almost burst out laughing at the bad analogy, but held himself in check. It wouldn't do to unnerve the men now. Something was coming, everyone could feel it, and there was speculation it would be on the anniversary of Black Thursday itself. Fang found that utterly melodramatic, but if that was what pleased the commander, so be it; the constant snake motif was equally esoteric, and no one complained about that.

One of the men gestured him over to a side window facing the building where Stratton was laid up. Fang stood up and walked over, keeping the outside wall between himself and the police on the street. Overall, he wasn't worried about them, but a single lucky shot by one of the snipers that had recently appeared on the roofs surrounding their bolt hole could be very inconvenient. Two Strato-vipers were holding transport jets in high orbit, and Fang would have given anything for a bit of air support, but again, they had strict orders not to intervene until it was time for extraction.

He reached the man, Corporal Huaso, who silently pointed to the third window on the fourth floor. Fang slid his binocular lenses off the top of his helmet, allowing the goggles to magnetically adhere to his polarized faceplate before tapping a button on the side of the lenses to increase the magnification. For an instant his vision of the far building blurred as the lenses in the faceplate and the goggles adjusted to form a clear image. Fang shifted his attention to the digital readouts to either side of his viewing window noting that Private Kertan had died in the last few minutes from her injuries. Unfortunate, finding a sharpshooter not drafted for the Night-Vipers, or Ghost's Sniper Company was quite difficult. Another problem he would have to overcome when he got back.

The magnification of the far building allowed him to spot a flash of movement in the far window. A bit of digital image cleanup showed the reflection to be from a viper helmet. Unfortunately, the helmet was not attached to the rest of the body armor, meaning that Stratton had either abandoned it or -

The worst fear he had been about to voice came true as a spray of bullets impacted on Huaso's chest plate. Fang made it back behind cover, but Huaso wasn't as lucky, with at least three of the bullets tearing through the cartilage of his throat. Quickly rewinding a recording of the last few seconds, Fang spotted Stratton three windows right of the one where they'd spotted the helmet. Returning fire now would be pointless though, Stratton had done the damage, and no doubt moved on by now.

Gnashing his teeth Fang bent over to drag Huaso's body away from the window to allow another of his men to take up station. Dead troops or not, the mission must be finished.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Armored Personal Carrier - Brooklyn Bridge

"I still don't understand why we're supposed to take one of these nut-jobs alive," Barricade grumbled.

"Because that's what General Colton ordered," Shockwave snapped. He was getting tired of the incessant grumbling. He was just as upset with these people as anyone else, but orders were orders, and if Colton wanted this man alive, there had to be a good reason, even if the team wasn't let in on it. It wasn't his job to tell everyone why they were performing a mission, just to make sure they got it done right and well, and if he could tell them afterwards, all the better.

Cannonball's head poked around from the driver's chair, "Almost there guys, he hollered, you'll be bashing snake skin in no time."

In spite of himself, Shockwave smiled along with the rest of the team. Cannonball's exuberant nature was infectious, and was one of the main reasons Shockwave had seconded him away from his work on testing out the RHINO to take them into New York. Urban combat in a populated western city was the last thing that any of the team had expected to have to deal with before the terrorist organization even went public. A quick glance at his second command confirmed that she had the same misgivings; if New York was the first location for hostilities to break out, how vulnerable were other American and European cities?

As if reading his mind Mayday shrugged, "not much we can do but stop it Jason. Relax. We're just killing a few terrorists."

Very pretty girl, very dark sense of humor, Shockwave reflected, listening to her laugh. Most of the team seemed to have been cheered up by the remark. Except for Bombardier. He and Med Alert had been attached to the unit for this operation, and while Medi seemed like a nice enough guy, Bombardier was almost as off-putting as the Steel Brigade Commander. Shockwave had gone to pull his file before the mission and hadn't had access to any of it. He'd gone up the chain first to Grid Iron and then Lifeline to see if they could pull something from it; nothing. He had to admit he was a bit disturbed that a Captain and a Colonel didn't have access to the file. Just who was this guy?

Glimpsing flashing lights ahead, Shockwave shook the thought from his head and refocused on the mission ahead. Colton had ordered him to pick up some group of rogue terrorists, and Lifeline had agreed that the mission was critical after reviewing the brief. That was one thing about Lifeline that most of the mission commanders were coming to appreciate, he wasn't afraid to talk to them about a mission off the record. While most of the command staff had a habit of being evasive, Lifeline and Courage didn't seem to feel inhibited by the official restrictions of need-to-know. Well, at least to some degree, Lifeline hadn't explained why he had suddenly been very eager to retrieve the squad after seeing the original radio intercept.

Ah well, mission time.

"Widescope, Barricade, Effects. You three are going in the front of the south building. Mayday will take Stone and Long Arm around the back. Pincer them and take them out. Get some prisoners if you can. Bullet-proof, and Bombardier, your with me, we're extracting the defectors if that's really what they are. Bullhorn, you'll hook up with Mace, and see if you can talk both teams down while we get set up. Med Alert, Dial Tone, you guys stay back with the APC and Cannonball. Keep us updated, and we'll let you know if we need medical." A quick glance up and down the benches showed that the team understood, "lets go then."

The APC rolled to a stop around the corner and out of sight of the main building, and the team hustled out, moving to their pre-arranged positions. Waving Bombardier and Bullet-proof onwards, Shockwave detoured towards the police line. Mace glided into position beside him, though Shockwave couldn't have said where the man came from. A man wearing an inspector's badge stepped back from the line, two bullet holes stitched the outer edge of his trench coat, but apparently had left him untouched. The image left Shockwave slightly off balance, unsure whether to laugh that there was still an inspector who wore a trench coat, or to respect the man for not standing back in a firefight. Settling on the latter, Shockwave presented clearance papers, faxed from the mayor's office to the APC only minutes before.

The situation was still sticky. The joe's still hadn't gone public and Colton insisted they would not until they finally had access to a major target, and so authorizations that would be respected by local police and military forces were still a bit tricky to get. Thankfully, these had come through without an issue.

Still, the inspector's eyebrow went up upon reading the document, "international. Military. Strike. Force."

"Good. Captain. Kirk. Impression." Replied Shockwave.

The corners of the inspector's mouth were twitching, trying to suppress a grin, "I see. Well, you guys look like you know what your doing. I'll let you do the heavy lifting. Where do you want my men?"

"As they are. Mace and Bullhorn will let you know if they need to change anything."

Even as he turned to leave, Shockwave could feel the inspector's eyes appraising his kit. Not that he could really blame the man, it probably wasn't every day that he got approached by an Urban Combat Officer covered in body armor and packing half a dozen exposed firearms. Then again, it probably wasn't every day he was dealing with armed terrorists either. You'd think he'd be used it it by now.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Terrordrome 193

Cobra Commander paced up and down the length of the room. He was clearly frustrated with Death's Head. Behind his face-mask the man known to G.I. Joe as Chuckles smiled. This was exactly the reaction he'd hoped to attain when he'd made the arrangements with Stratton to defect away from Cobra and take intel to the joes. It was the only way he could think of to get the information to G.I. Joe. He didn't want to endanger his regular drops with that volume of material, and needed to find a scapegoat to pin it on. Had the disgruntled viper not presented himself as a viable carrier for the information, Chuckles would have been in quite a bind. He didn't intend to give up his position just yet. There were still many things he wanted to accomplish under the banner of Cobra before he turned in the Commander for his crimes.

A delicate balance was required.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - Behind South Building

No movement was evident in the rear windows of the south building. Good, Mayday thought slipping a pair of mini-binoculars back into their pouch, hopefully we can get in quietly. Quickly gesturing Stone and Long Arm forward, the three dashed across the back alley, apparently undetected. Mayday had an instant for a quick sigh of relief before Long Arm went to work on the door. Under many circumstances, she'd have just had him blow the thing off its hinges, but they really didn't know what they were dealing with, either in terms of numbers of capabilities. A couple years ago Colton and Lifeline had managed to surprise a group of Alley Vipers at the UN Headquarters, but the Joes hadn't engaged any since then, so there was really no comparison. Cautious by nature, the lack of proper intel made her cringe, but there wasn't much to be done about it now, they were here, and had to get this over with.

Long Arm was still fiddling with the lock, and Stone was scanning the upstairs windows. Telling herself to relax, Mayday scanned both directions in the alley, seeing Shockwave and his team climbing through a broken window in the next building. She silently wished them luck and turned back as Long Arm emitted a contented grunt.

"We're in," he hissed, cautiously pushing the door open.

Stone stepped around the frame as the door opened, and plastered himself against the inside wall, rifle sweeping the room, "clear."

The three stepped in to an empty room. To their left sat the loading docks where a few dozen refrigeration units sat stacked waiting for the next day's trucks. The door to the front offices was directly ahead and closed, stairs and a freight elevator on the far left wall, and a small table next to a washroom on the far right, the later presumably a makeshift staff room. Stone's head turned towards the restroom a look of confusion passing across his face. An instant later, Mayday realized he'd picked up on a shuffling sound from the room. She dropped to a knee behind the partially open outer door, while Long Arm dropped down into the truck bay to set up converging fields of fire. Stone hurried quietly towards the door and took up position just as the toilet flushed.

A few tense seconds passed during with the the sounds of a running tap could be heard through the wooden door. Remarkably clean for a terrorist, Mayday reflected. The water shut off, Stone drew a knife from his belt and cocked his arm, the door opened and a man stepped out. His rifle was slung on one shoulder and his helmet was tucked under one arm while he was still pulling on his gloves. Stone didn't hesitate, his arm straightening quickly and slamming the knife point first through the man's trachea. Blood bubbled from the wound as the man's eye's went wide, his body slowly slackening. Reaching over with his free hand Stone grabbed the man's helmet before it dropped from his lifeless hands and slowly lowered the body to the floor.

A quick nod confirmed that the man was dead, and Mayday closed the door. Long Arm was already fiddling with the control pannel for the lift to jam it on the first floor. Mayday hurried over to the stairwell, listening for movement before opening the door. She could hear faint voices above, but not what floor they were on.

A strip of green paper slid under the door from the front office, the all clear signal from the second group. Stone tore off the end and shoved it back under the crack to confirm. The door lock rattled and Widescope stuck his head through. Mayday kept watch up the stairs, letting Stone sort things out. A few seconds later the men finished.

Stone jogged over, "Widescope and his team have to take the third floor through the front stairs because they don't open onto the second floor."

"Fine. We'll take the second and meet them on the fourth. You almost done there Long?"

"Almost."

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - Front of South Building

Widescope's team had had a much easier time of things, Barricade had noticed a broken window concealed under the fire escape that the three had been able to crawl through. Apparently the only guard on the main floor had been in the back. A quick recon by Effects found the front staircase hidden behind the far wall, leading up to the third floor, bypassing the second.

A quick confirmation of orders with Stone and the three men took to the stairs, Widescope's riot shield leading the way. Behind him, Effects was fiddling with a smoke bomb, making Widescope slightly uncomfortable. Then again, the fact that a special effects technician had decided to join the military and was now one of their foremost demolitions experts was enough to make anyone somewhat nervous. He tried to shake off the discomfort as they approached the door to the third floor.

Barricade piled himself on the side of the door, slowly turning the handle, Effects lobbed the smoke grenade down the hall blanketing it in darkness while Widescope pulled his goggles down from his cap to try and get a visual through the smoke. On either side of him he could see the ends of rifles pointed down the hallway. Offices lined both sides, most of them with their doors opened, but they reached the far end of the floor without incident. A half dozen dead vipers could be found in different rooms. Some had been taken out by the police's wild fire through the windows, but a couple look like they'd died fighting each other, which seemed to substantiate the possibility of defectors.

At the far stairs they met Mayday and her team exiting the second floor, "anything?"

"About a dozen dead guys," she whispered, "you?"

"Half-dozen."

"Viper squad's what, about 30?" Barricade inquired.

"Thirty-six," replied Stone.

"Well, we've got one in the North building, about twenty dead here, and another four on the streets," Long Arm summarized. "That should leave what, about 10 on the top floor?"

"About that," Mayday confirmed, "average evening's work."

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - North Building

Bombardier's laser rifle had made short work of the lock on the back door, and Shockwave and Bulletproof had been surprised not to have met any resistance on the first two floors. Like the building just to the south, this one consisted of a mere four floors, and was well over 150 years old. Most of the rooms behind the windows were peppered with bullet holes, but the fire from next door seemed to have dropped off. For that, Shockwave had to admit he was glad. A few stray shots would have immediately alerted the defector, if that's what he really was, to their presence.

Ostensibly the defector knew they were coming, but his response would be telling if he could be surprised, so the longer they could remain undetected the better. Second floor was empty.

Wondering if this whole thing was a ruse or a trap, he taped Bombardier on the shoulder and they headed back to where Bulletproof was keeping an eye on the single set of stairs. Shockwave took point as they ascended. The door to the third floor was propped open with an empty pistol magazine, clearly for a quick escape. Bulletproof made a move to take a position on the stairs, but Shockwave pulled lightly on his backpack to get him to follow down the hallway. The third door facing the building to the south was propped open similarly, and Shockwave pushed Bulletproof into the second doorway on the opposite side for covering fire while Bombardier pressed himself against the wall on the far side of the door.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - Police Line

Inspector Gordon stood next to the man named Mace, watching another guy named..er... Bullwinkle or something like that. Though he had no idea who these guys were, he was thankful for their arrival. They were far more armed than any of his men, and probably more so than the national guard would have been. Nothing evidenced thsi more than the fact that the guy kneeling in front of him had assembled a sniper rifle out of a briefcase in twenty seconds flat. A small smirk twitched his lips as he considered what the men who'd gone into those buildings were carrying. Those bastards didn't stand a chance in his opinion.

"No shot," the man reported. He sounded quite disappointed.

"Ya want me to radio Mayday to save one for you?" Mace replied.

"Plenty more where they came from. I'll just kill some later."

Indecision froze Gordon for a moment before he gained the courage to ask, "excuse me, did you say more?"

"Yes Inspector, I did."

"Here?"

"No. And hopefully they never will be."

"Oh good."

"Or at least, not if we can help it."

"Who are these people, Mace was it?"

"Mace. That's Bullhorn. Dudes in orange, green and yellow over by the APC are Med Alert, Dial Tone and Cannonball respectively."

"Um, OK."

"That's what everyone says when they first hear all our code names. You get used to it," Mace smiled. "These guys work for the same group responsible for Black Thursday."

Gordon felt his stomach drop out of his feet.

"We're the force that's supposed to hunt them down. We think the guy in the North Building is a defector, and we're trying to retrieve him."

"To try him?"

"No, to get the information he's carrying so we can stymie their next attacks, and hopefully figure out who's running them."

"I'm sorry, but Black Thursday was almost three years ago now, and you still don't know who's running them?"

"No. And I'm afraid I can't explain why."

"I understand, only too well. Its the same in NYPD, need to know only."

"Don't worry inspector, I don't-"

Mace was cut off by a sharp crack from Bullhorn's rifle, "Got one."

Though Gordon was disturbed by what he just learned, he was slightly more worried by the relish in the man's voice at having killed someone.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - North Building

Shockwave burst into the room seconds after hearing the crack of Bullhorn's sniper rifle, dropping to one knee and scanning the east wall, his gaze stopping as it landed on a viper standing there without his mask. It took an effort of will not to twitch the trigger of his Heckler and Koch MP7, but the man stood there with his hands on his hips.

"Felix Stratton?"

"Yeah. You the Joes?"

"Yes. Come with us please."

"Not until I kill those bastards," Stratton replied pointing to the far building.

"Already taken care of," Shockwave replied. The words were barely out of his mouth when an eruption of gunfire sounded from the south building. In spite of himself he grinned behind his mask.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - South Building

Mayday's team had stormed into the fourth floor seconds after the gunshot from Bullhorn below. Widescope led the charge, his shield providing cover for the men and woman who poured through the door behind him. Two of the vipers were quick and managed to get off a few shots before being cut down by rifle fire from Effects and Long Arm. The other seven had tried to take cover and return fire, but Mayday had capped two of them in short order, while a grenade from Effects brought three of them down. Shots from Barricade and stone had taken out the other three.

Clearing the room had taken only seconds, and none of the team had been wounded. Mayday breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled a radio from her pocket, "north building secure. Butcher's bill was zip."

Shockwave's response came instantly, "found our man. Good work. See you at the street."

"Darn," said Barricade. "That's it? I was just getting used to stretching my legs."

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - APC

Shockwave sat across from Stratton. He didn't really trust the man, but just flipping through the files he'd been handed showed him that the extraction had been well worth it. The two backpacks by his feet carried more information on the Cobra organization than the team had managed to glean in the last three years. He may not like Mercer, but he had to admit a grudging respect for someone who could evade capture by an organization so large and structured.

If he was actually trustworthy, he might have actually made a good Joe, he reflected, as Cannonball started the engine and started driving them back to the PIT.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Bronx, New York - The Following Morning

During the cahos of Mayday's assualt on the fourth floor, she hadn't thought to look towards the fire escape where Fang had been leaning, trying to get a better look at the sniper on the ground in front of the building. While his squad had laid down their lives, he'd dropped down to street level and killed a hobo hiding behind a trash bin. Quickly exchanging his armor for the man's clothing he'd been able to slip through the police line a few hours later with only cursory questioning.

He knew he'd failed the Commander, but he also knew that one day he'd get revenge on Stratton.




Code Name: Mercer
File Name: Felix Stratton
Birthplace: Spencer, West Virginia
Rank: N/A
Primary Military Specialty: CLASSIFIED
Secondary Military Specialty: CLASSIFIED

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Wow

[Loose Cannon]

One of my favorite Joes of all. Thanks DH

[Tyroc]

Love your work DH :)

[Lifeline 71]

Awesome! 3 of my favorite Joes-Shockwave, Med Alert, and Wide Scope-in one story. I also like how Lifeline has a major command role in your stories. Keep it up!

[Lifeline_MD]

Wow

Thank you.

One of my favorite Joes of all. Thanks DH

Your most welcome. I like him too.

Love your work DH :)

Thank you.

Awesome! 3 of my favorite Joes-Shockwave, Med Alert, and Wide Scope-in one story. I also like how Lifeline has a major command role in your stories. Keep it up!

Shockwave and Wide Scope have individual stories on the way, and the urban assualt force will be a fairly prominant group.

[Lifeline_MD]

I bet you guys can't guess who's up next for a joeverse adaptation....

(won't be done til Sat at the earliest due to my physiology exam Friday)

[Lifeline_MD]

Since I'm on writing hiatus, I thought I'd give a peak at the current draft (V4 I think) of the G.I. Joe Command Staff:


G.I. Joe Team Command Staff


G.I. Joe (O10) - General - Commander in Chief UN Special Task Force 1

Flagg II (O10) - General - Director: Army Operations, Managing Director: The PIT
Hawk (O10) - General- Director: Air Force and Covert Operations, Managing Director: The ROCK
Keel Haul (O10) - Admiral - Director: Naval and Marine Operations, Captain: USS Flagg

Ray (O9) - Lt. General - Deputy Director: Field Operations

Ledger (O8) - Rear Admiral - Deputy Director: Naval Operations, Captain: HMCS Battleford

Flagg III (O7) - Brigadier General - Tactical and Strategic Commander

Courage (O6) - Colonel - Commander: Eurasian and African Operations, Deputy Director: Air Force Operations, Managing Director: The COVE
Lifeline (O6) - Colonel - Chief Medical Officer, Assistant Strategic Commander, Personnel Officer, Special Services, Director: Scientific Operations
Sharp (O6) - Colonel - Commander: American and Australian Operations, Deputy Director: Army Operations, Managing Director: South American Office
Steel Brigade Commander (O6) - Colonel -Deputy Director: Covert Operations, Commanding Officer: Steel Brigade, Special Services

Breckhov (O5) - Lt. Colonel - Deputy Commander of Eurasian Operations, Officer in Charge: Oktober Guard Division, Managing Director: The CAVE
G.I. Jane (O5) - Lt. Colonel - Deputy Commander American Operations
Laptop (O5) - Lt. Colonel - Officer in Charge: Experimental Weaponry Division
Skystriker (O5) - Lt. Colonel - Officer in Charge: Air Force Operations
Steam-Roller (O5) - Lt. Colonel - Deputy Commander: African Operations, Managing Director: Mobile Command Center
Surefire (O5) - Lt. Colonel - Officer in Charge: Prosecution Division, Officer in Charge: Military Police, Officer in Charge: Criminal Investigation Division

Action-Man (O4) - Major - Covert Operations, Director: Intelligence Division
Barrage (O4) - Major - Managing Director: The Slaughterhouse
Doc (O4) - Major - First Medical Officer,
Ghostrider (O4) - Major - Special Services
Payload (O4) - Major - Managing Director: Defiant Shuttle Complex, Director: High Altitude Operations
Permafrost (O4) - Major - Managing Director: The Cooler, First Officer: Criminal Investigation Division
Red Star (O4) - Major - First Officer: Oktober Guard Division
Storm (O4) - Major - Managing Director: Mongoose Base

Ace (O3) - Captain - First Officer: Air Force Operations (USS Flagg), Commanding Officer: First Combat Squadron
Claymore (O3) - Captain - Managing Director: The Mount, Officer: Covert Operations, Deputy Director: Intelligence Division
Countdown (O3) - Captain - Officer: Defiant Shuttle
Gears (O3) - Captain - Officer: Experimental Weapons Division
Gorky (O3) - Captain - Officer: Infantry Operations Oktober Guard
Grid Iron (O3) - Captain - Officer: Recruitment, Officer: Training
Ice Cream Soldier (O3) - Captain - Officer: Special Weapons
Maverick (O3) - Captain - Deputy Director: Experimental Weapons Division
Rapidfire (O3) - Captain - Officer: Rapid Response Operations, Officer: Covert Operations
Updraft (O3) - Captain - Officer: Air Force Operations, Commanding Officer: Second Combat Squadron

Dogfight (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Air Force Operations
Falcon (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Infantry Operations
Major Altitude (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Air Force Operations
Psych-out (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Psychological Warfare
Savage (O2) - First Lieutenant - Director: Screaming Eagles Special Forces
Scarlett (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Intelligence Division
Shipwreck (O2) - Lieutenant (Junior Grade) - Managing Director: Tactical Battle Platform, Officer: Naval Operations (Small Vessels)
Shockwave (O2) - First Lieutenant - Commanding Officer: Urban Assault Force
Skydive (O2) - First Lieutenant - Commanding Officer: Sky Patrol
Slipstream (O2) - First Lieutenant - Commanding Officer: Third Combat Squadron
Super-Trooper (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Infantry Operations
Volga (O2) - First Lieutenant - Officer: Oktober Guard Division

Breaker (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Commanding Officer: Communication and Technology Division
Bulletproof (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Officer: Intelligence Division, Officer: Criminal Investigations Division
Cool Breeze (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Officer: Intelligence Division
Cutter (O1) - Ensign - Officer: Coast Guard Liaison
Mayday (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Deputy Commanding Officer: Urban Assault Force
Sci-Fi (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Deputy Commanding Officer: Special Weapons
Snake-Eyes (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Special Services
Spaceshot (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Officer: Defiant Shuttle Complex, Officer: High Altitude Operations
Steeler (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Commanding Officer: Armored Division
Stormavick (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Officer: Oktober Guard Division
Thunderwing (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Deputy Commanding Officer: Armored Division
T'Jbang (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Managing Director: Beijing Office
Windmill (O1) - Second Lieutenant - Commanding Officer: Helicopter Combat Squadron

[xFlintx]

When is Lobotomaxx getting his commision as director of Extraterrestrial affairs? :D

And Sargent Slaughter should have earned a commission as professional a$$ kicker

[Lifeline_MD]

When is Lobotomaxx getting his commision as director of Extraterrestrial affairs? :D

And Sargent Slaughter should have earned a commission as professional a$$ kicker

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/299/3/f/Head_desk___Forkke_by_NeoSlashott.gif

[Lifeline_MD]

Also, for those interested in a summary of where our joes come from:

(Please note, I have yet to add Action Force, Brazilian, Argentinian and Indian Figures, as well as names borrowed from a few bootleg lines so this list will change )



Birthplaces

United States - 130
Canada - 30
United Kingdom- 12
CLASSIFIED - 9
Germany - 6
Argentina - 5
Brazil - 5
Italy - 5
Japan - 5
Russia - 5
France - 4
China - 3
Cuba - 3
Australia - 2
Belgium - 2
Denmark - 2
Mexico - 2
Morocco - 2
Norway - 2
Ukraine - 2
Austria - 1
Chile - 1
Czech Republic - 1
Greece - 1
Israel - 1
Madagascar - 1
New Zealand - 1
Panama - 1
Portugal - 1
Samoa - 1
Spain - 1
Sweden - 1
Switzerland - 1
Turkey - 1
United Arab Emirates- 1

[xFlintx]

http://www.jmort.com/graphics/cobra/lobotomaxx.jpg
http://www.halfbattle.com/pics/lobotomaxx1.jpg

[Troynos]

How long did it take you to search for that pic?

[monkeywrench1988]

hopefully the Screaming Eagles wil be better than Extreme, wait what am I saying? DH is wirting this it's bound to be a thousand times better

[Ultra Magnus 71]

Very nice DH I like your take on the units command structure.

[Lifeline_MD]

hopefully the Screaming Eagles wil be better than Extreme, wait what am I saying? DH is wirting this it's bound to be a thousand times better

I now have the urge to write one of their missions.

You may get a better look at them in the near future.

Very nice DH I like your take on the units command structure.

Thanks. Its still a work in progress - some of the officers from the original ARAH line don't fit as well as I'd hoped, and I need officers for other things that don't exist yet. So there's probably still a few changes on the way, but I thought I'd let everyone have a glimpse at the rough draft.

[xFlintx]

How long did it take you to search for that pic?
Not long at all. DH is a BIG lobotomaxx fan and I didn't want to disapoint him :D

[xFlintx]

perhaps carcass
http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/thumb/9/9d/Carcassblackhorizon.jpg/250px-Carcassblackhorizon.jpg
or
Predacon
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2009/08/crazyjoemoments_predacon_x.jpg
Are more in your taste. The Lunartix Empire Demands recognition!!! lol :D

[Lifeline_MD]

Are more in your taste. The Lunartix Empire Demands recognition!!! lol :D

Lunatic Empire more like.

Dear heavens.

[Lifeline_MD]

Cleansweep, Gears and Jinx are currently in the works for release.

The second two parts of the Shetland Trilogy (sequels to the Destro story) are on hold for the time being.

[xFlintx]

Lunatic Empire more like.

Dear heavens.
Yeah, they really do kinda suck, but they make me laugh. This will be the last mention of them.... (for now)

Keep up the great work DH!

[Lifeline_MD]

Awwww... and I just figured out how to fit them in.... :D



I appologize for the lack of stuff recently. I've hit writers block on the last 3 stories I've been working on in addition to being ridiculously busy.

That said, I've finally got one that's fully planned out.

Unfortunately, you'll all recognize the title: Twilight.

[monkeywrench1988]

as long as it has nothing to do with sparkling vampires everything will be fine, and thanks DH, their execution was flawless in the vhs that came with savage but Extreme was an epic failure

[Lifeline_MD]

as long as it has nothing to do with sparkling vampires everything will be fine, and thanks DH, their execution was flawless in the vhs that came with savage but Extreme was an epic failure

Oh, it has to do with vampires alright. :D

As you'll see in 30 seconds.

[Lifeline_MD]

04/18/2034 - Twilight (Chapter 1)

04/18/2034: 0600h - The Rock - Briefing Room

Rapid Fire dropped down into the seat next to Falcon, "any idea what's going on around here?"

"Got me," he replied, "but its got the brass antsy as all hell. Even Steel seems to be crapping his pants about something."

"Great. I thought Courage looked jumpy when I passed him earlier. Though I'm not really sure what makes me more nervous, that, or the people assembled for this briefing."

Falcon was tempted to agree, the assemblage was worrisome: Med Alert, Stretcher and Triage were chatting in the corner, an unusual sight to see all three medics in one place; Airtight and Sci-fi were no doubt debating the latest in modern warfare techniques; Blowtorch, Dart, Sparta and Antenna were clustered around the front; Barricade, Widescope and Shockwave lounged near the far right wall and Tarurus, Red Dog and Slaughter were arm wrestling near the back, watched carefully by an unusually large group of greenshirts. But perhaps most disturbing of all, Snake Eyes was off alone near the far left wall. He never attended briefings, even those rare times he was seen on the bases. Usually he showed up, did something and disappeared. Overall, Falcon definitely had to agree with Rap., this was not exactly an encouraging sign.

The door at the back of the auditorium banged open, with a disturbing series of heavy weapons operators, Heavy Duty, Harpoon, Freight and Hardball barrelling through with Wild Bill on their heals.

"Well that doesn't exactly make me feel any better," Falcon commented, quickly calculating the magnitude of firepower that had just walked into the room, "and that doesn't help either." The last referred to the briefing officer. Usually it was up to Sharpe or Courage to give the briefing, depending on the theater of operations, occasional Lifeline would give it for smaller operations, and once Ledger had been pressed into service, but it was General Colton who was currently walking onto stage from the other door

Even Slaughter and Red Dog quietened at his appearance, the room deathly quiet after the shuffling of a few chairs. Colton wasted no time.

"As you've no doubt seen in the news for the last eleven or so months, across southern Europe there have been thousands of claims of so-called vampire sightings, around the same time that a rash in unidentified deaths began. Sounded ridiculous to everyone outside of Hollywood, and a handful of people at Interpol who decided to investigate. Turns out that the sightings became more numerous the closer they were to Venice. Interviews on the ground showed similar correlations in Northern Africa and Turkey, showing the same convergence in intensity. Someone decided to point a military grade satellite at the area around Venice for a few nights, and they saw something. An unidentified flying object - and the second any of you mention aliens I will personally shoot you - between eight and nine feet in length with an approximately equal wingspan. The shape and aerodynamics roughly match those of a bat, so a bunch of scientists went to investigate the area where it landed. They disappeared.

Interpol thought it best not to mention that and cause public panic, and sent a team after them. They disappeared. So the Italian military sent a military force after them, followed by one from the European Union, followed by a special forces team from the US military. That team at least managed to get a communication out. Our offices picked it up, as did anyone else monitoring the frequency they were using, but the message was garbled beyond interpretation. All communication was cut thereafter. That was just three days ago.

No one else wants to go near the island, and that's why we're sending you men in. Your going to take a scenic trip down to Poveglia Island. Whatever is happening there, you go in and fix it."

And with that, Colton left, quickly being replaced at the podium by Courage.

"All right men, most of you have probably never heard of Poveglia Island, and I woudn't blame you. Its five kilometers south of Venice, and just over half a kilometer west of Malamocco on the coastal due bar surrounding the lagoon. Questions at the end Airtight. Its not exactly a vacation spot. The island got its scary start when the Romans, being the kind, gentle souls they were, decided the best thing for society was to round up all the plague victims of the era, and stick them somewhere. During the Bubonic plague the island was reinstated and when the plague got worse, they lowered Poveglia's requirements to anybody with any sign of sickness at all. Then they decided that rather than letting the plague run its course, and risk any victim surviving or escaping,they decided that the best thing to do was throw them in a large pit atop the already-dead bodies and set them on fire. Most estimates put the death toll between 160,000 and 200,000 and charred bones still wash up on shore.

The island was home to a small community until it was abandoned around 1380, during the War of Chioggia between Venice and Genoa. A mental hospital was built on the island in 1922. Local lore suggests that one mental health doctor tortured and killed many of the patients, before being thrown to his death from a bell tower. Of course, the legend also states that he survived the fall, but was, ahem, strangled by a mist that came up from the ground. Of course, the island is now said to be haunted. If you see the headless horseman, please take a picture. Those are the ruins you see on the island. At the turn of the century, the island was used for vineyard farming, and closed to tourists. After a few incidents of vandalism, and a couple murders in 2018, the vineyards were abandoned and tourism is still not permitted.

Real fun place. Most of the open pits were covered in the last couple centuries, but a few remain."

Courage pressed a button on the podium and a satellite image of the Bay of Venice appeared on the screen behind him with a red circle around Poveglia Island. The magnification increased, revealing the details of the island and its buildings. The Island was actually three smaller landmasses connected with bridges: an octagonal building sat at the southern point, either entirely covering a circular island, or built on stilts like Venice, a central, square-ish island on which a series of ancient stone buildings dominated the left half, and an third at the north end that arched along buffering the entire north coast of the central island. It was the third island which Courage focused on, "As you can see, there are a small series of freshly excavated pits here, almost exactly where they were in antiquity, in fact, you can see the old bones beneath some of the fresher corpses."

Courage directed his laser pointer at one of the pits, "here you can see the bodies of some of the special forces troopers. Their uniforms are still there, but their gear has all been removed. Satellites don't show it anywhere on the island, but we know it must be there somewhere as no boat has come or gone since they arrived."

Falcon felt a bit of bile rise as he took in the injuries suffered by the troopers and the police who could be seen beneath them. Many had had their throats slit, or been decapitated, but others had been completely eviscerated, lost limbs, or been castrated. Most had several injuries to different parts of their body, all looking like they were done with a simple, but very large, blade. That certainly explained why Snake Eyes and the three medics were there.

"What's more unnerving than the injuries your seeing," continued Courage, "is that there are ten people unaccounted for in the graves, two from each of the scientific group, interpol force, local and European militarys and special operations teams that went aground. Your secondary mission is to try and find them and get them off the island to safety. But most importantly you guys are going to be figuring out who or what is causing this. Now, I'm reticent to use the word 'vampire', but based on further satellite coverage, and some long-range photographs by the Italian military, we've got something roughly man-sized with wings.

The Experimental Weapons Division informs me it is possible to build a flight pack like our Stealth JUMP packs and attach working wings to give the impression of bat-like flight without noticeable exhaust plumes. We believe that's what we're dealing with, but we don't know. The records Mercer brought with him from Cobra indicate that similar packs, minus the wings, were in development somewhere in Asia, so we know that conflict with them is a possibility, especially given their recent activity in Rome. I realize this is a large strike force for a single mission, but because of the number of people who have died on the island, and because of the age and size of the complex, we feel that it is necessary. Any smaller force could be avoided and prevent a quick resolution. Suitcase?"

Somehow Falcon had missed the lawyer's entrance, but he now moved from the edge of the room to the center of the stage.

"Good afternoon. Because the Italian government has requested intervention from the UN, I do not require you to fill out the usual mission forms. You are there on official business and will have full support from the Italian military, and will refer to yourselves as UN Special Task Force One for all official correspondence outside of the team. As your usual cover, an equal number of members from UN Special Task Force Omega has been flown out from England this afternoon, and your arrival will be undetected. The usual precautions apply to prevent contact between your two forces. They will be housed in Venice until your extraction and then switch places with you for the extraction. Other than three members of the Italian military who report directly to the President, the exchange will work as usual.

All greenshirts who have not participated in previous missions must remain after this briefing for further instructions on how to proceed with your cover. Thank you."

"Thank you suitcase. Further details including maps of the islands, and what we know of the buildings will be given to you on your way out. Sure Fire will be in charge of the operation with Shockwave, Falcon and Slaughter each in charge of a smaller team. One medic will be assigned to each team at your discretion. Your team will also be joined by Rex as your science officer. He has been briefed separately and is already in Europe to give a lecture series allowing him to meet you in Venice before you begin your operation. Any questions?"

Airtight's hand went up first, "Sir, two questions. First, if this island is in the middle of Venice Bay and less than a half kilometer from an inhabited area, how is this a covert operation? Let alone when there are vineyards there? Secondly, and along the same lines, how could this person with the jet pack have lived there without anyone having noticed him even with the vineyards closed?"

"To answer your first question, all the drops on the island have been done on the far side when no other boats were in view. Your drop will be under the cover of darkness, and don't worry about being seen. The half kilometer is more than enough for you to go unnoticed by anyone who's not using binoculars, and most of the local residents have other things to worry about. As for how this person has been living there, I really have no idea. If you find out while your there let me know.

Anyone else? No? Good. Rapid Fire, Falcon, Lifeline wants to see you two in the med center. Dismissed"

Falcon glanced left at Rapid Fire who appeared equally confused and shrugged as he rose from his seat, "somethings up."

"No kidding, lets find out what's going on."

The two men made their way out of the room through the front door into the command hallways. The enlisted men didn't realize it, but a second set of corridors ran through several levels of The Rock through which officers could move to go about their business more quickly during emergencies. They had been built by the original owners to allow the CIA and Canada's CSIS to keep an eye on the NORAD operatives who were supposed to be housed in the base during the Cold War, but the base had never been used, and when the Joes had moved in, there was no way to modify the two systems into one without compromising the stability of much of the construction, so it had fallen into use as extra office space and storage. The armories were located in a similar stretch of corridor a few floors down.

A lift car was waiting down the hall, and Falcon hit the button for the twelfth level, "here's a question, why would Lifeline want to meet with us separately, rather than come in for the briefing? And why us and not his medical team?"

"That's been bugging me too. I have a feeling its something he doesn't want the non-coms to know, but the fact he's not letting Shock in on it is odd as well." Rapid Fire shrugged, "We'll see."

The lift door opened, and the two men headed into the large med bay. Off to the left the door to the kennel was closed, but through the glass they could see Link and Shipwreck fighting with Polly who was putting up quite a struggle.

"Fixed the soundproofing I see," Rapid Fire commented dryly. "Hey, Lifeline, you here?"

A hand jutted out and waved from one of the nearby bays, beckoning them over. Lifeline was leaning over a laptop perched on Mainframe's bedside.

"Hey Frame. Working in the hospital? I would have thought the doctor would order you some downtime to recuperate?"

"Trust me Falcon, when you see what I'm working on, you'll understand."

"Real spooky stuff then eh? But seriously, how are you?"

"Not too bad considering. At least I got out of Indonesia, there were a lot of good men who didn't."

Silence fell in the room. Indonesia had been one heck of an op gone wrong. Most of the team had wound up dead, and Mainframe had only barely made it out in a fireman's carry over Stalker's shoulder. Those two were the only ones who boarded the flight home. Fistfight, Arctic Blast, Camper, Gunslinger, Shockblast and Side Track would all be missed; Duke, not so much. Still, it was a tragedy when anyone didn't make it home, no matter if you liked them or not. But there was no changing that now. Dead was dead.

"All right you two, I only have a few minutes," Lifeline broke the silence, "and this is rather important to you."

Gesturing for them to follow him, Lifeline led them down through the med bay and through a door neither recognized. "I've asked you here to show you two things. Well, when I told Courage to send you up, it was only one, but its two now. Firstly, I assume you've seen the satellite images of Poveglia? Good. Well, no doubt you saw the injuries to the corpses."

A small part of Falcon wondered how a doctor could be so cold when talking about a dead person.

"I was looking at them, trying to figure out what caused the injuries, and I couldn't place a weapon, so I decided to take some practice swings at some of the medical dummies my company produces. We generally ship them out to med schools, hospitals and the like as training pieces for surgeries and such. But because of their close resemblance to the physical characteristics of human anatomy, and their accuracy of response, they also provide a very useful simulator for wound damage. Now, the skin on them is a bit tougher than human skin, but we made it a bit thinner, so it kind of matches what you'd see in real life. Its better with the internal organ mock-ups.

On the wall here, you can see the injuries from our satellite shots, and here are a series of 8 dummies suffering various wounds. You'll notice the first seven don't match very well, but the eighth comes fairly close to the injuries sustained by the individual in the center of this pit. For the first five I tried standard weapons around the base: I took a bonesaw, and the like to the first, had Rock and Roll machine gun the second, had Inferno take a fire ax to the third, took combat knives to the fourth, and let Snake Eyes have a go at the fifth.

At this point, you'll notice a few similarities appear, but the blade strokes are wrong. I tried having Snake Eyes do it with his off hand on the sixth, and then tried something different with the seventh. I'd noticed on the fifth that the strokes were too long, and though they pointed in the right direction appeared to have started with the tip of the blade rather than the edge, so on number seven, I had Snake hold the blade in the reverse of the normal position, with the blade tip pointed downwards when his hand was held forward. As you can see, its getting closer. For try number eight, I got him to let me tie the blade to his forearm, with the tip pointed back behind his elbow and go at it again. As you can see, the wounds from number eight almost exactly match those on the body. There are some differences which I attribute to another weapon, different positioning of the attacker and victim and a much taller attacker.

So that means your dealing with someone who is quite tall. The wounds suggest in excess of eight feet, which I would have though was impossible, but appears to be the case based on the images captured of that person flying on the winged jet pack. Which brings me to my second commentary. Actually, its not mine, Carl was the first to notice it."

Lifeline continued talking as they returned to where Mainframe lay in bed, his leg still supported in a stirrup, "I'd left some of the footage of the person's flight playing on my computer when I went to deal with something else, and it caught Carl's eye as he was passing, and he picked up on something I didn't. The position of the flyer, and the aerodynamics of the flight don't match that of a jet pack user. Now, you probably know he was the medical consultant when the US finally developed the first military jet pack, so he knows the flight mechanics of the body better than anyone else. Now, I won't go into the details of it, but based on the jerking of the body, arm movements, and leg positioning during the flight, the man couldn't have been wearing a jetpack. His legs would have been scorched by propellant if he was using a chemically powered one, or blown down if he was using a scramjet version. Also, the repetitive jerking up and down of his body with each wing beat indicates that the wings are responsible for the flight. Since Mainframe was in anyway, I let him loose on the footage to see if the two of them could come up with something."

Falcon and Rapid Fire perched on chairs beside Mainframe's bed where they had a view of the laptop.

"Quite simply," explained Mainframe, "I took the images from the satellite capture of the flight and tried to model the shape of the person your looking at. I found a few things that were interesting. Firstly," he enlarged the point where the two wings joined in the middle of the person's back, "there is no space between these and the body to fit a jetpack. As you can see, they sit on a small bulge rising from the back only a few inches above the back. Now, given the wingspan, and modern science, its probably not impossible to have designed a backpack with wings that would allow for flight. I've never heard of anyone even coming close to getting something like that to work, but obviously its possible. What is unusual though is the motion with the wings. Watch the shoulders, you'll see that they drop down briefly before coming back up after each wing beat. Same with the hips. What's strange about that is that it indicates that the wings are not worn using conventional harneses. It seems almost as if they are attached directly to the spine, which is impossible."

"So what are you saying," Falcon found the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them, "this is actually a vampire? You've been here a bit too long Frame."

"No, I'm not saying that, I'm just saying your dealing with something very freaking weird."

"Lovely."

"Thanks Frame," Lifeline interupted, "get some rest. Come along you two."

Lifeline ushered them towards the door, and once they were out of Mainframe's hearing, he halted them, "guys, I have no idea what your getting into, but a lot of very competent people died on that island, and there's something very, very weird about whoever this nutjob is. Keep your eyes open."

Falcon was almost out the door with Rapid Fire when Lifeline decided to add something else, "oh, and don't let this distract you, but all of the victims have massive bite marks on their necks."

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 1900h - Motor Launch - Approaching Poveglia Island

Falcon peared through a pair of binoculars towards Poveglia island trying to get a feel for the land before night fell and the strike team landed; there was only so much a person could glean from satellite images, and second-hand photographs. Dart appeared to agree, as he lay prone on top of the wheelhouse staring through what looked like an enlarged sniper scope at the distant island.

"You see anything," Falcon decided to verify his own lack of observations.

"Old buildings, trees, a couple bones on the beach. Nothing regarding our mission. Though there does appear to be a storm rolling in from the east."

Falcon nodded, he'd noticed the storm also, probably because of the wind whipping the breakers around them. At the edge of the bay, he'd already seen the barriers raise above the water level to prevent the rising sea levels from inundating the Lagoon. The pneumatic steal barriers could protect against up to a twenty foot rise in water levels without allowing any rise in the level in the lagoon. One worry that did play on Falcon's mind was that the storm would reduce visibility on the island to nearly zero, making a proper search almost impossible, meaning they would have to be on this tiny spit of land far longer than he would have liked. On the bright side, the weather also meant that anyone in Malamocco who happened to glance towards the island would be completely unable to see the island, let alone the Joes going about their business on it.

A few more minutes of bumping across the water, and the two boats drew into the small divide between the central island and the southern octagonal stone landing. Even this close, Falcon couldn't tell whether it was artificially constructed, or just covering a pre-existing island. But the stone ramparts rose five feet out of the water leading to a flat topped area that looked like it may once have been covered by a roof that had long since collapsed.

Freight jumped out of the second boat, and clambered up the side of the artificial pier, turning to stabilize the ladders from each boat and help the rest of the team up. Somehow, by the time Falcon made it up the ladder a handful of seconds later, Snake Eyes was already over by the bridge to the middle island peering up at the buildings there. Falcon shook his head and offered a hand to Sparta as she climbed the last couple rungs of the ladder.

Once the entire team was aground, the two boats pulled in their ladders and headed back out into the lagoon where they would wait until the team radioed for pickup. Rapid Fire took charge immediately. All right guys, we're going to split into three search teams, team one will come with me, and search the south buildings, team two will go with Falcon to search the north buildings, and team three will go with Slaughter to check the eastern side of the island. We'll meet at the bridge to the north island as soon as everyone's done. There aren't many places to hide here, we'll find this nutcase. Take him alive if you can, but our safety and those of the people we hope to rescue takes priority."

"Shockwave, Widescope, Barricade, Stretcher, Harpoon, Freight and you six," Rapid Fire pointed to one group of greenshirts, "are team one with me. Dart, Rex, Sparta, Antenna, Med Alert and you seven are team two with Falcon. The rest of you are with Slaughter. Snake Eyes, I'm assuming your going to do your own thing anyway, so go, just stay in...where the hell did he go?"

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 1915h - North Island of Poveglia Island

Snake Eyes walked silently across the bridge linking to the northern island, noting that it was only a little over a hundred years old, making it the newest piece of construction by a good few centuries anywhere on the island. The first thing he'd decided to investigate were the bodies in the holes. Though the whole team was tasked with extraction and solving, his job was to figure out who was running this place and what they were doing. Most of the command staff believed it was one crazy individual, not the first one the team had had to deal with, but Hawk was fairly convinced that this had something to do with a Cobra bioweapons project that had been alluded to in the files that Mercer had brought with him. Apparently Lifeline had attempted to get more information from Chuckles about it, but all he'd managed to come up with was the name of the operation: Project Lunartix. Locations and details were above his access level, whatever it was.

A quick glance around showed empty fields surrounding the pits with the bodies. A light tap by with a finger on the side of his visor overlayed the view with an infrared image. It came up just as blank as visual observation and Snake Eyes allowed himself to relax for a moment before he dropped in the central pit for a closer look at the bodies. Somewhat morbid walking around on centuries worth of dead bodies. Briefly Snake Eye's mind flashed back to one of his missions during the Chino-Korean War of the last decade when his small team had had to move through a recently abandoned battlefield in Manchuria.He landed with his feet on either side of the torso of one of the US Special Forces team. Tens of thousands of recently dead had littered the ground, but most of them had still been recognizable. Here, beneath the fresh corpses were the decayed bones of plague victims that had been buried for centuries, the marks of burning still evident on many, and the stench of decay nauseous even with burned tissue of his nasal passages. An Arashikage breathing technique reduced the smell to merely unpleasant.

A quick search revealed that everything other than the simple uniform had been removed, just as with everyone else in the pit. Whoever this guy was, he now had one heck of an armory sitting somewhere on the island. Presuming of course that it was just one individual and not more than that. Tapping the top edge of the right side of his visor captured quick images of the faces of each victim. A flurry of taps on the keypad at his wrist and the image set fired off 20,000 feet overhead to where Ghostrider was circling to forward them to the PIT for positive identification. He backflipped out of the hole and repeated the procedure in each of the flanking pits. Those bodies also carried nothing in the way of identification or weaponry, though as Lifeline had indicated, each one had a large bite mark on the neck. On a couple, the bite had torn out the trachea which would have resulted in nearly instantaneous death, on others, it overlapped and had snapped the spine, while on the rest, it appeared purely superficial on the side of the neck.

Not being a doctor, Snake Eyes had to admit, he didn't understand the reason for the wounds, especially given the variety of other injuries suffered by the victims which would have been more than adequate to kill them, but what interested him more was the state of dessication around the wounds. A black green twinge affected the skin surrounding the wounds, but no blood stained the surrounding area, unlike every other wound on the bodies. Snake Eyes quickly snapped a few more images and sent them of before backflipping out of the pit and back onto level ground.

The immediate area was still empty, but a brief ripple of movement in a group of trees slightly to the north caught his attention. Nothing showed on an infrared scan, but something more than the wind had caused it.

-----------------------------------------------------------

(Character limit exceeded - see next post)

[Lifeline_MD]

04/18/2034: 1930h - East side of Poveglia Island

Blowtorch muttered to himself as he worked another branch out of the joint between his chest armor and torso. The rest of the team was a half dozen meters ahead, slowly spreading through the trees that covered most of the main island. The buildings themselves were practically burried in them, while the eastern edge of the island was completely covered with them. Finally, he managed to work his armor free from the clawing tree and hurried to catch up. Taurus and Red Dog were arguing quietly about something off to the left, but Triage was bent over something and Blowtorch joined him. The medic pointed silently at a depression in the ground; it was roughly the shape of a foot, but far larger than anything Blowtorch had ever seen, and with a very pointed toe. It definitely wasn't a foot print, but perhaps an indentation made by an unusual shoe.

Blowtorch was about to wave Slaughter over when something barrelled out of the bush knocking him over, Triage reacted instantly, throwing his back against a tree and firing off a shot from a pistol before Blowtorch had even hit the ground. The commotion quickly drew the attention of the rest of the team, the greenshirts converging blindly on the area, while Red Dog and Taurus tried to get a clean shot at the attacker. After a few seconds, the cause of the commotion was clear, a very large black dog had gripped onto the throat of one of the greenshirts and hauled him to the ground. The man was beating at the animal furiously with his hands, but despite the man's attempt and the blood poring from the wound Triage's bullet had inflicted the dog held on. The struggle ended as suddenly as it had began as the dog tore a gaping hole in the troopers's throat before sucumbing to another pair of shots from Red Dog and Taurus who finally brought it down. Triage hurried over to the man's side, but he was already dead.

"He's gone Sir."

Slaughter sighed, "bag him, and you two," he indicated two other greenshirts, "find a place near the buildings and put him under some protection. We'll take him out with us."

The two troopers moved to help Triage with the body bag.

"Damn. Rapid Fire isn't going to be happy that I lost one of my men on this milk run."

"Sir," interrupted Taurus, "this is a cobra mutt. Night Adder's."

"That cooks it. We finish searching these woods, then we meet up with the other teams at the buildings. Something's up here."

Just then a scream sounded from the direction of the buildings.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 1925h - Building 5, Poveglia Island

Falcon and his team walked cautiously through the door into the southern most building on Poveglia. It sat on a Southwest-Northeast angle, and was just under a hundred meters in length along that axis and slightly over ten meters in width, with a second story on the more northerly half terminating with the island's bell tower. Darkness was falling outside, and inside the building was practically pitch dark.

"Dart, you take Rex, Sparta and these three with you. Antenna, Med Alert and you four, come with me."

Part of Falcon felt guilty for not yet having learned the names of all the greenshirts who were, temporarily, under his command. He made a mental note to be more involved with them for the rest of the mission.

"Robinson," he hoped that actually was the man's name, "take point; we're going to check upstairs."

"Yes sir!"

Ah good, Falcon thought, that had been the right name, allowing himself a small look of satisfaction as they climbed the stairs. The smile disappeared as they reached the top. Three large black dogs lay in the hallway. Or rather, their bodies did, their heads having been removed and now lined up on the third shelf of an ancient bookcase beside a doorway to another room. The top two shelves were occupied by sixteen severed human heads. Behind him, someone retched, and Falcon couldn't really blame whoever it was as he fought to keep down his own bile. Each head wore an expression of terror, and dried blood stained the shelves and congealed in a pool on the floor.

"Well," Med Alert commented dryly, "I'd say they're dead. Want me to check for pulses sir?"

Falcon shot him a withering look, "see if you can't identify them. If not, command will still want the pictures. Devonowski," he pointed to the young woman who stood behind Med Alert, "give him any assistance he needs."

"Yes sir."

"The rest of you fan out and start checking rooms."

Sparta and Rex headed into the office nextdoor, while the other three greenshirts headed down the hall, eventually disappearing three doors down.

"Sir, a word?" Antenna asked gesturing back into the stairwell.

Falcon followed, and raised an eyebrow once they were out of ear-shot of the rest of the team.

"I recognize one of those heads. Dr. Robert Nurse. He worked at...what?"

"Sorry," Falcon appologized trying to stop himself from from chuckling, "but I never thought I'd hear the name Doctor Nurse. That's just amusing."

"Sure. Anyway, he worked MIT as a geneticist. I know that because he was dating my cousin for a few months a couple years ago. He quit the campus suddenly about 20 months ago, moved out of the country, stopped answering e-mails; basically disappeared. She had no idea where he went."

"So, a missing geneticist turns up, minus his body, at an abandoned island, where we have rumors of a vampire. This day is getting better and better. Anything else?"

"On, nothing really important; his main project was artificial life."

Falcon turned and allowed his forehead to smack against the stonework of the wall, "great just great. Any other tidbits? Careful Med! We want those heads intact!"

The last followed a loud crashing sound from upstairs.

"No, that's abou-"

Antenna was cut off by a loud scream by Devonowski.

Both men were up the stairs, weapons drawn six seconds later, but that was too long. Med alert was lying on his side unconscious, his head bleeding profusely where it had smacked into the bookcase. Devonowski's body lay beside him, with a gaping wound slashed from waist to neck spilling organs and spurting blood. Behind her, five leters were written on the wall with her blood: LEAVE.




TO BE CONTINUED.....

[Lifeline_MD]

I`ve attached a map of Poveglia Island for you guys

1 - corpse pit
2 - corpse pit
3 - corpse pit
4 - TO BE REVEALED
5 - TO BE REVEALED
6 - location of dog attack on Slaughter`s team
7 - TO BE REVEALED

B1 - Building 1 - Mental Hosptial 1
B2 - Building 2 - Mental Hosptial 2
B3 - Building 3 - Mental Hosptial 3
B4 - Building 4 - Mental Hosptial 4
B5 - Building 5 - Main Mental Hospital (w bell tower)
B6 - Fort et Octogone Poveglia (13 century fort)

[Troynos]

Haven't read it yet, but how'd you make the island. Putting me to shame :(


Just read it. Awesome stuff.

I love how you casually tossed Duke's death in there. Don't like him much do ya?

I knew I should have finished my Cobra La story quicker!! DAMN YOU!!!

:)

[Lifeline_MD]

Haven't read it yet, but how'd you make the island. Putting me to shame :(

I didn't its a screenshot from Google Earth.

Poveglia Island ACTUALLY FREAKIN EXISTS!

(and the description is accurate to its history - truth is scarrier than fiction)

Poveglia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poveglia)

Poveglia - Island Of Horrors (http://www.squidoo.com/poveglia)


*NOTE: wikipedia states that the buildings are from the retirement village rather than the mental hospital, but every other source I've seen states the reverse, so I went with the more fun explaination*


Just read it. Awesome stuff.

I love how you casually tossed Duke's death in there. Don't like him much do ya?

No. No I really don't. I wondered if anyone would catch that after the list of red-shirts I threw in beforehand.

But don't worry, he'll get a story. Eventually.


I knew I should have finished my Cobra La story quicker!! DAMN YOU!!!

:)

Oh. You figured that out already? Drat.

[Big Jim]

Sweet Nemesis Enforcer

[Tyroc]

awesome stuff DH :)

[Lifeline_MD]

Sweet Nemesis Enforcer

awesome stuff DH :)

Thanks guys.

[monkeywrench1988]

I just finished reading it, great job, btw I assume the more natural looking bite marks are from the dogs?

[Lifeline 71]

(Facepalm) Can't believe I just figured out the bat creature is Nemesis Enforcer! Great story, DH. I did notice how you slipped Duke's death in there, very nice. Can't wait to see the next part.

[Lifeline_MD]

I just finished reading it, great job, btw I assume the more natural looking bite marks are from the dogs?

Very good catch! Indeeed they are. Though, technically its dog. Three of the four were killed in the buildings, and only one got free. (admittedly, there's no way you could have known that)

(Facepalm) Can't believe I just figured out the bat creature is Nemesis Enforcer! Great story, DH. I did notice how you slipped Duke's death in there, very nice. Can't wait to see the next part.

I always try to throw in some details that kinda fit into the story, but are related to different plots. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

[monkeywrench1988]

I assumed the other three had been the last to be caught, but it makes sense

[Lifeline_MD]

I assumed the other three had been the last to be caught, but it makes sense

Yeah. I didn't really have any way to make that clear in the story without it being a blatant unnecessary insert. The general idea seems to have come across fairly clearly though, so I'm happy.

Next Chaper SHOULD be done on Friday evening/Saturday morning.

[Lifeline_MD]

A few hours late but...



04/18/2034 - Twilight (Chapter 2)


04/18/2034: 2000h - The Rock - Special Operations Command Center 3

Hawk paced the room behind the row of technicians, his frustration evident to everyone in the room, Lifeline was leaning over Datum's shoulder while Breaker and Uplink spoke quietly at another terminal.

"So, allow me to recap," Hawk snarled, "Two greenshirts are dead, Snake Eyes is missing, and Rapid Fire has no idea what's going on. That about it?"

Lifeline rolled his eyes, "you forgot that this is most likely a cobra installation."

Hawk cursed and resumed pacing.

"Oh would you calm down Clayton? Ghostrider can still keep the uplink with Snake open once he gets above ground again; we just have to wait for him to finish checking out whatever was in that underground cellar."

Hawk merely grumbled something unintelligible. The last thing they'd heard from Rapid Fire's team was the report of the dog and vampire attacks, after that the interference from the storm had started disrupting their satellite uplink, and their short-range radios didn't quite carry far enough to reach the nearest receptor the Joes could commandeer on land. What was worse was that in spite of the sea wall raised around the lagoon, the high winds were making it impossible for the local police boats to stay on the water around the island and relay messages. All that was left was the laser uplink between Snake Eyes' wrist communicator and Ghostrider's stealth jet, but Snake Eyes had disappeared about half an hour ago to investigate some underground building he'd found near the east coast of the northern island and hadn't reported in since. Hopefully everything was going well.

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04/18/2034: 2000h - Underground Bunker; North Island of Poveglia Island

Everything was very far from fine. Snake Eyes had followed the movement he'd spotted earlier into a copse of trees on the north side of the island, eventually determining that it had been caused by a small radio dish that was swinging disjointedly in the wind from a single wire after having been ripped off it pole sometime in the past.

After twenty or so minutes, he had tracked the buried cable from the dish to a pipe inset in the ground beneath another group of trees on the east side of the island. A bit of prodding in the immediate area had revealed a closed trapdoor hidden beneath a bit of artificial turf. The trapdoor wasn't locked, instead having been torn off its hinges some time recently and simply set back on top of the hole. Beneath, the shaft opened into a hallway with a ceiling about three feet under the ground. Water sloshed around his ankles as Snake Eyes had dropped into the hole. A series of pumps along the hallway worked furiously to drain the hall, but the water seepage from the lagoon was slowly winning the battle. Dim light showed a few feet ahead from a larger cavern which Snake Eyes approached cautiously, one hand on his holstered gloc, the other ready to go for his katana.

The hallway opened up into a large chamber. At the far side, a large pool of water sloshed, or rather, a pool of water that was deeper than the water in the rest of the chamber. It looked like there was an underwater entrance out into the lagoon, and tied up to the wall were a pair of mini-subs, explaining how the island had been supplied without anyone noticing.

A flash of movement off to the right caught Snake Eyes' attention almost too late. He dropped and rolled to his right, becoming quickly soaked in the water covering the floor, but his movement had allowed him to avoid the downwards stroke of a giant blade. Coming to his feet, Snake eyes got his first look at his attacker; the thing stood about six feet from him and was dressed head to toe in red armor blotched with white and blue. His head was encased in a helmet that looked like the face of an insect, complete with small antenna sticking out of each side of his head, blue flashing orbs where his eyes should have been, and a large snout. In his hands was a massive weapon that was somewhere between a sword and an axe with a massive head slowly sloping down to the handle and a sharp edge running along the front and top edges. Based on the dent gouged in the floor where Snake Eyes had stood a moment before, it had to weight at least a couple dozen pounds, and yet this person was swinging it about his head as though it were a tennis racket.

The person charged, screaming unintelligibly with the axe swinging towards Snake Eyes' head. He dodged again, drawing his katana and delivering a sharp riposte to the attacker's back. Instead the tip of the blade skipped off the armored plates on the back, and seemed instead to simply enrage his opponent more. The blade scythed through the air, clanging loudly as it met the edge of the Katana. His opponent rolled away, readying for another overhand strike. Snake Eyes waited patiently until his opponent was in full motion charging for him, then quickly sidestepped to the left and hammered his blade towards the man's exposed neck beneath the back of his helmet. His opponent threw his shoulder up, blocking the strike and preventing his own decapitation.

Mentally, Snake Eyes cursed, this guy was almost as fast as the Hard Master had once been. Another swipe from his opponents blade carved the air a few inches in front of Snake Eyes, exposing a hole in his defences into which Snake Eyes charged, blade leveled ready to end the match in a single stroke. Instead the armored man brought his pointed boot up hard between Snake Eye's legs. Even with a back flip, the breath flew from his lungs, and Snake Eyes gasped with the pain; barely able to fall unceremoniously to the left as his opponent made to skewer him. He landed hard on his right hip, a sharp object digging into his flesh while the katana was knocked from his hand by the force of hitting the water surface. Another stroke of the axe would have taken his head off had he not moved when he did, but as he dodged away his hand pulled the obstruction from his right hip. As he came to his knee, he fired twice towards his opponent's chest; the obstruction that had dug into his hip was an experimental AA11 provided by the experimental weapons division back at the pit. It used a small battery to charge a solenoid that repulsed semi-magnetized armor piercing rounds out the barrel at high speeds for anti-armor, anti-personnel use. The lack of chemical repellent reduced the kickback until it was hardly noticeable more than a slight jolt as the solenoid activated, similarly, and completely eliminated the traditional crack of a firearm, making it a perfect weapon for covert operations.

The attacker appeared to jump backwards, the two shots having taken him off his feet; the axe splashed into the waves a few feet away from the body collapsing to the floor. Snake Eyes picked himself up and retrieved his Katana before walking over to the body to ensure it was dead. Reaching down, he grabbed hold of the bottom of the helmet, preparing to drive a knife into the subject's trachea, but stopped; the man was wheezing something with his dying breaths,

"Was.....once.....a.....man. Was once a MAN!"

The last word was expressed with what little strength remained in the man's body before he went limp in Snake Eyes's hand.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 2110h - Building 5, Poveglia Island

Med Alert leaned against the wall in one of the rooms off the second floor hallway. Other than superficial head wounds from where the vampire, Falcon paused to correct himself, the man who dressed like a vampire, had smashed the medic's head against the wall when he flew in the window. As nearly as they could figure, Devonowski had been bent down looking at the three dog's bodies with her back to the window when the man had climbed in and knocked Med Alert into the wall. She must have thought he'd tripped, and turned, only then realizing that they were not alone. By the time she had screamed, the man had already carved the gaping wound into her chest. What no one had figured out was how he had managed to write the word on the wall and get out the window in the few seconds it had taken the rest of the team to react. Sparta had just managed to get a glance of the feet of someone diving out the window as she came out of the room she was searching, and Falcon had arrived only a second later. That left the apparition only 5 seconds to have written those words, and no one could possibly move that fast. Could they?

Falcon shook his head. The island was getting to him and he wasn't thinking rationally. Probably the collection of heads, he reflected, he'd never been comfortable with dismemberment. Rapid Fire wasn't happy, both his and Slaughter's teams had also lost a greenshirt; Slaughter's to one of Night Adder's dogs that had still been lose on the island, and Rapid Fire's by a man falling into a pit filled with sharpened spikes as they hurried to back up Falcon's team after Devonowski's piercing scream. Again, no one was quite sure why there was a pit with spikes around, but they were and they'd cost them another member of the team. Slaughter's team had gone down to check the main floor while parts of Falcon's and Rapid Fire's searched the second. Antenna was trying to get a signal up on the bell tower, guarded by a greenshirt, Triage and Stretcher were bagging the severed heads, and Rex and Airtight were off fiddling with something in another room that Falcon figured he really didn't want to know about.

The sound of a door opening on the main floor carried up the stairs followed by a heavy tread of someone approaching. Sci-fi took position at the top of the stairs; the whole team was already inside, not counting Snake Eyes, and if it was him, they'd have never known he was coming. Preparing for the worst, Falcon leveled his shotgun down the stairs just as Snake Eyes came around the corner. The reason for the noise of his entrance was immediately evident. Over one shoulder he carried a man in huge red body armor, and in the other, he carried a giant axe, not his, obviously from the corpse.

"Well," Rapid Fire said, coming up behind Falcon, "looks like the island's mystery has already been solved. Why didn't we just send the ninja to start with?"

Snake Eyes unceremoniously dropped the body at the top of the stairs, and then shook his head. He typed a brief message on his wrist communicator then showed it to Rapid Fire. Falcon leaned over to get a look at it. It read: Not the vampire - there is another.

Falcon and Rapid Fire looked at one another.

"Lovely."

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 2130h - Clearing, Poveglia Island

Red Dog gave one final heave on the rope as he and Taurus hauled the body of Greenshirt Phillips out of the pit. Spikes still protruded from his body in several places where they remained embedded from his fall. Despite his history of violence, and the missions he'd undertaken in the middle east, the contortion and bleeding was still quite ghastly. Triage and Harpoon carefully removed the stakes and slid the body into a body bag.

"Is there any reason we're keeping the stakes Triage?" Slaughter asked.

"Autopsy."

"I think we all know how he died."

"I know, but the brass still requires the procedures be followed. Yes, its a pain in the ass, but what can you do," Triage shook his head.

"Alright. Harpoon, Rollinson, you guys take this back to the main building and report to Falcon. The rest of us will finish up here and put a proper cover on the pit so no one else gets themselves killed here."

"Got it," confirmed Harpoon, taking hold of the handles at the head of the body bag.

Watching them go, Red Dog observed the Greenshirts still around the pit looked terrified. He couldn't blame them. Turned out that most of them were on their first mission out of The Rock. And to have already lost three of their number to accidents wouldn't be sitting well with them. Admittedly, he was kinda weirded out also. Other than the mess in Indonesia, no single mission had cost the joes more than three troops in total, and to have three down in the first few hours on a tiny island was disturbing. At least none of Alpha Regiment, the Joes who had earned code names, were dead yet, he was pretty sure that that alone would have dissolved what little morale the greenshirts had left.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 2140h - Outside Building 5, Poveglia Island

"Alright, put it down here," Harpoon ordered. Each man lowered his end of the body bag to the ground next to the two others they'd be taking out. Twenty years of military service stood behind Harpoon, and this ranked as the most nut-job mission he'd ever been on. At least Devonowski had bitten it taking on the enemy, but the other two were dead from freak accidents. It was incomprehensible.

"Well Rollinson, we'd better get ourselves inside before...."

Harpoon trailed off as he turned, his jaw dropping, "GET DOWN!"

Behind Rollinson stood eight feet of nightmare. Until about half a second ago, Harpoon had dismissed all the vampire reports as pure insanity, but he had just been proved wrong. The thing, for there was no better word for it, had massive grey wings tucked behind it, beneath which writhed an octet of green tentacles. It was sheathed from head to toe in crimson plating that looked like it was an outgrowth of the body, only his arms and fave visible. The arms bulged with muscles and veins, and from the forearms extruded massive blades of bone that broke through the skin. The right one was still soaked with blood, doubtless Devonowski's. The face wore an expression of utter malice and a grin that exposed serrated teeth that would have terrorized a shark.

Rollinson tried to get out of the way, but was too slow. A single stroke by the left arm decapitated the greenshirt while he was still fumbling to bring a rifle to bare.

Harpoon snatched a grenade off his belt. He knew he wouldn't survive a hand to hand encounter with the vampire, but he doubted even it could take a grenade. The grin was wiped from his face as the vampire caught the grenade in mid-air, and allowed it to explode in his hand. Blood trickled from a few small wounds in its hand, but the rest of its body was untouched.

It took only a split second for the thing to cross the intervening distance between them. Harpoon managed to duck the swipe of the arm blades, but gasped for air as the creature drove its knee into his stomach. For a minute Harpoon didn't understand why his stomach felt wet, then he remembered the bone spurs on the creature's kneecap. He opened his mouth to scream, but couldn't draw breath. Above him he could hear Sci-fi yelling from a window. Dimly he watched the laser trooper's shots as they deflected off the creature's wing as the creature took hold of him by the face and lifted him from the ground. Its nails dug holes into his face, but Harpoon was beyond pain now. Yet, when the creature dug its teath into his neck he managed to scream, but was abruptly cut short as his throat was torn out.

Harpoon wished he could have seen Jenny just one last time.




TO BE CONTINUED.....

[Loose Cannon]

Damn too bad for Harpoon. Was he the Extreme Harpoon?

Love the story though. I want to see wht you come up with for the armor on the Royal Guard guys.

[Lifeline_MD]

Damn too bad for Harpoon. Was he the Extreme Harpoon?

Yes, he was. Its unfortunate I had to kill him, I wanted to expand the cast from its ARAH roots, but he was the only one who fit the roll. Ah well.

Bets on the next guy to bite it?

Love the story though. I want to see wht you come up with for the armor on the Royal Guard guys.

Well, we now know its katana proof. I'll think of something.

[Lifeline 71]

Wow, very cool, DH! Too bad about Harpoon, though. Nice use of CC's catchphrase from the movie, as well.

[Lifeline_MD]

Wow, very cool, DH! Too bad about Harpoon, though. Nice use of CC's catchphrase from the movie, as well.

Its use will be explained in the next chapter or two.

As for Harpoon, you'll learn a little more about him in Chapter 3.

Probably won't have that up till Wednesday at the earliest though.

[Lifeline_MD]

A shorter chapter, but I`m not really in a very writy mood today.


TWILIGHT CHAPTER 3


04/18/2034: 2230h - Main Floor, Main Building, Poveglia Island

Antenna sat over in the corner of the room, trying desperately to raise the Rock, Med Alert was tending to Blowtorch's wounds, and Freight was pacing around the room. Falcon sighed, thinking about the events of an hour ago. He had witnessed the vampire rip out Harpoon's throat as a snack, while deflecting the blasts from Sci-fi's laser rifles with his wings. Slaughter's team coming back from the clearing had managed to surprise it as they returned, and Blowtorch had let loose with his flamethrower; that was the first thing that seemed to get to the creature. It had let loose an ear-splitting shriek before charging towards Blowtorch. Foolishly two greenshirts had stepped in front and opened fire. It had quickly become a heroic last stand. The vampire had grabbed each by the throat, and took to the air, using the bonespurs from his knees to rake Blowtorch's front as ittook off. The greenshirts had hung on, but been thrown to the ground from several hundred feet up, shattering their bodies. Falcon was fairly sure that if he got off this island, their terrified screams as they fell would haunt him for the rest of his life.

And right now, it was looking like a heck of an if. Eight members of the team was already dead, one more greenshirt having committed suicide out of terror not ten minutes ago. Triage and Stretcher were currently body-bagging him on the main floor, to lie with his other fallen comrades. No one needed to know how he died.

Freight was about to make another pass of the room, but Falcon interrupted him with a hand to his shoulder, "you all right man?"

"I'm just not sure what I'm going to say to Jenny," Freight shook his head.

"I'm don't think I can help you. She may have lost one of her parents, but at least she still has you."

Immediately Falcon knew that wouldn't help.

"I still remember when Jose and I adopted her, she was such a happy little girl. This is going to break her heart," Freight shook his head, and then walked away.

Rapid Fire appeared at Falcon's shoulder, "this is why most units don't allow relatives, let alone couples, to serve."

"This isn't exactly most units," Falcon countered.

"True, but you'd think they'd at least have the brains not to send them on the same mission." Rapid Fire closed his eyes for a second, "that isn't really fair is it. There was no way we could have known this would happen."

Falcon didn't respond, he had nothing to say. The only member of the team who wasn't obviously disturbed by the day's events was Snake Eyes, and who knew what he was thinking.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 2230h - Second Floor, Main Building, Poveglia Island

Snake Eyes was bothered by the days events. Not because of the deaths of his fellow joes, he'd seen far worse during a variety of covert operations before, during and after the Chino-Korean War, but rather because of how the opponent he had faced in the underground bunker had reminded him of his old friend Thomas. If he wasn't dead, Snake Eyes would have sworn that he had taught the man how to fight with a sword. In hindsight, all his trademarks were there: the aggressive style, close-set stance, overhead strikes that opened slight defensive holes....

Memories surfaced of their days training together in the quad outside the Hard Master's Dojo, in those days before the attack, the days before Snake Eye's second family had been taken from him. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes, and he blinked them away, quashing the memories. There was only the here and now. The past was past.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/18/2034: 2300h - Main Floor, Main Building, Poveglia Island

"OK, so just what are we looking at Rex?" inquired Shockwave.

Falcon leaned over his shoulder staring at the laptop Rex was balancing on his knee.

"Quite simply," explained the scientist, "a whole new level of warfare. Obviously this person looks vaguely human, even with these armored plates all over his body, and there's a good reason for it, he is. Well, more accurately he was."

Confused as he was by this Falcon couldn't help notice the usually implacable Snake Eyes jerk backwards in surprise. What exactly had the man come across?

Rex was explaining, "once we drilled through the armor plates, which was no easy undertaking, we took a tissue sample and we came up with conflicting results. Airtight was the first to figure it out, and it made sense once Antenna told us what Dr. Nurse had done before winding up here on the island. There are two tissue types. Most of the body is a human being, from Mongolia if I'm not mistaken, the other is some combination of other species. The armor plates are similar in composition to the chitin of a cockroach, mixed with the shell of a turtle, and a half-dozen other species. Its not as strong as true armor plating, but it will stand up to most small-arms fire, and apparently Snake Eyes' katana. There's probably a lot more going on with the rest of it, but without proper facilities, that's the best I can give you."

"How can you pinpoint the body, er, sorry, the test subject is from Mongolia?" asked Rapid Fire, "I remember Steen and Greer made a huge splash in the media a few years ago with that study that showed negligible differences between the genomes of different racial groups."

"Quite right, they are pretty minimal. That said, males in Mongolia, and a lot of Asia are a bit different in one regard, their Y-chromosomes. Remember that a few thousand years ago almost all of Asia was ruled by Ghengis Kahn and his descendants. Well, they were quite... er... a prolific family. Their harem was huge and scattered throughout the empire and they had a lot of offspring, and because they were Kahn's offspring, they were favored for survival. To this day, about eight percent of the men in the area of the former Mongol Empire have this Y-chromosome. Or, probably his. But suffice to say, that its a farily distinct marker."

"And you recognized this in a couple hours?" Falcon asked with some incredulity.

Rex shrugged, "part of the topic of my Masters thesis."

"So, to summarize, we've got a Cobra run think tank, made up of some of the world's top scientists in genetics and artificial life, making supersoldiers by screwing with their genomes, with patients from somewhere in Asia. Oh, and there's still a fucking vampire out there that wants to kill us," Rapid Fire said in frustration.

Falcon couldn't help but notice how everyone was now referring to the thing as a vampire, he hadn't been convinced when he saw it, and now he was even less so.

"Well, I think the vampire is another one of their projects," Rex explained. "Given what they've managed here, it wouldn;t be beyond them to genetically engineer the component parts required for that."

"Lovely, so its a Cobra-run vampire that wants to kill us. Makes me feel so much better."

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/19/2034: 0300h - Second Floor, Main Building, Poveglia Island

Most of the team lay sleeping in a few rooms on the second floor, out of the blinding rain and waves that now lashed their island prison, but Blowtorch and Heavy Duty stood watch. At least officially they did, Snake Eyes was wide awake in a corner by the window, and a couple nervous greenshirts were playing poker in the corner. One of their friends had stepped out to relieve himself a few hours ago, and he hadn't come back. It was fairly clear he wouldn't be.

If they found him, the medics would be out of body bags once they dealt with him. Blowtorch leaned down into the stairwell to check that the flare there was still going; it was. The flares had been Dart's idea as it appeared that the only thing the vampire was afraid of was light, and thus far they had remained safe. At least for now.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/19/2034: 0300h - Outside, Poveglia Island

Lights burned in the windows and doorways between him and his prey, but it didn't matter, they would be dead soon. For now he had his stores to feed from. They would die soon.

A final pull on the legs of the last victim showed that he was secured to the tree. A bloody grin of satisfaction came to the creature's lips and he strode off towards his subterranean abode.

-----------------------------------------------------------

04/19/2034: 0600h - Outside, Poveglia Island

Another rope dropped from the tree, and Snake Eyes scuttled over another few branches to move onto the next one. Widescope, had found the missing greenshirt shortly after dawn, or at least what had passed for dawn during this storm, suspended from a tree. Then again, to simply say that he'd been suspended from a tree didn't even come close to describing the horror of the sight; hell, even after everything he'd seen in Asia, he'd lost what little he'd managed to get in his stomach for breakfast. Other than the three medics, the rest of the team had remained inside, unwilling or unable to face the horror outside. At least the rain had washed the worst of the blood away.

Suspended from the tree was a message, Leave or die, written with the body of the greenshirt. His body, minus the head and arms, had been suspended with rope in the shape of an L, his intestines pulled out and twisted into the shapes of an e and an a, one arm crooked to form a v, mor intestines in the shape of an e, the OR carved into the flesh of his extracted lungs, the d made from the other arm with the liver clutched in the hand, the i formed with the man's torn out spine and severed head, and the final e made from, well, Snake Eyes wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like blood vessels of some sort. The entire ghastly array faced the door, and would no doubt have been dripping blood had it been a few hours earlier or had it not been raining as heavily as it was.

Another slice with the trench-knife cut down the final e, which was caught by Triage then passed off to Stretcher, who along with Med Alert were carefully removing the ropes before carefully laying them in the bodybag with their owner.

Snake Eyes landed in a crouch, his eyes surveying the surrounding territory, despite half a dozen fellow joes leaning out of upstairs windows, weapons at the ready. Things were getting out of hand quickly, and even his laser-link with Ghostrider was now lost. The team was now completely alone.

-----------------------------------------------------------


TO BE CONTINUED.....

[monkeywrench1988]

nice DH so was snake eyes opponent Strom Shadow? aLSO COULD dR. nURSE HAVE EXPERIMENTED ON HIMSELF?

[Troynos]

Pretty cool.

Interesting thing on Freight and Harpoon.

[Lifeline_MD]

nice DH so was snake eyes opponent Strom Shadow? aLSO COULD dR. nURSE HAVE EXPERIMENTED ON HIMSELF?

Not stormshadow.

But the thing with Genghis Khan should be a hint about something.

(BTW, in case you thought I made that thing up about the Y-chromosome, I didn't: Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0214_030214_genghis.html))

Dr. Nurse is simply a captive scientist who never escaped the island.


Pretty cool.

Interesting thing on Freight and Harpoon.

Ah, you caught that. I tried to work it in so that it was noticible, but not 'in your face'.






EDIT: i'm a little surprised no one commented on the way that they found that last greenshir though.

[Troynos]

Very descriptive, but I didn't comment cause it fit with what Nemesis Enforcer has shown so far. Seems a bit on the cruel and demented side.

[monkeywrench1988]

oh crap Serpentor!!!!!

[Loose Cannon]

Bloody. I hope there aren't more Royal Gaurds. And where is Golobulus?

[Lifeline_MD]

Very descriptive, but I didn't comment cause it fit with what Nemesis Enforcer has shown so far. Seems a bit on the cruel and demented side.

And he's just getting started :D

oh crap Serpentor!!!!!

Bingo!

Bloody. I hope there aren't more Royal Gaurds. And where is Golobulus?

You shall see answers to both those questions very soon.

[Lifeline_MD]

Taking a break from Twilight for a few days to heighten the suspense:







11/02/2031 - Clean Sweep

Ruins of New Delhi, India

An arm extended and poked the rubble dislodging a cascade of small rocks and clearing the pathway ahead. Gears whirred as the arm retracted, and the drone's treads spun for traction on the silt deposited in the ruins. A few meters ahead the tunnel dead-ended at a concrete wall. The spotlight from the drone swivelled allowing the camera to observe the surrounding debris. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, the camera rotated and slid to the opposite end of the drone which began backing the way it had come.

At the mouth of the tunnel Daniel Price allowed his head to fall back against the steal post sticking up from the ground behind him, keeping only half an eye on the control console in his hands as he backed the drone out. Beneath his suit he was sweating horribly, but thankfully he only had another thirty minutes left during this deployment before he had to head back out. A quick check on the radiation gauge on his wrist showed the levels approaching the yellow zone a little earlier than normal. He sighed, that was to be expected as he was working closer to the epicenter this afternoon, but he still wasn't keen on staying in a high radiation zone longer than he had to.

The rover drone trundled out of the hole beside him, and he set it in follow mode before standing up. He'd make a show of poking around for a few minutes before heading for extraction, but he was dead tired after a full six hours in hazmat suit. He strolled up to the top of the ruin beside him and turned to stare towards what had once been the center of town. A couple kilometers away the edge of the blast crater rose, encircling a massive hole in the ground coated with fused atomic glass. Just over five years ago three nuclear warheads had been detonated at the core of that hole, killing most of the city's nearly 20 million in mere seconds. The radiation cloud had drifted east polluting vast swaths of cropland along the Yamuna and Ganges rivers in northern India.

Two years later, India had ceased to exist as a country, its territory being parceled out to Pakistan, Nepal, China Bangladesh and Sri Lenka. Conspiracy theorists still claimed it was a plot by Pakistan to improve their territorial claims, despite overwhelming evidence that the three were 'dirty bombs' assembled by a rogue organization. Daniel was one of the small army of military and civilian investigators crawling all over the irradiated zone, the only territory officially administered by the United Nations, examining the results and attempting to piece together what had happened.

Not that they'd found much with most of the city leveled, and nothing would ever be recovered from within the crater. But here and there surveillance tapes and other detritus of society were being found that had slowly allowed a reconstruction of the hours leading up to the disaster. Work had intensified recently, starting a few weeks after Black Thursday, though it was unclear why. Personally, Daniel suspected that someone believed that the two events were linked to the same group, whoever they were.

The sounds of a helicopter reached his ears from the south, and he turned to make his way to the extraction point.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Research Buildings - South End of the Irradiated Zone


"Morning Daniel," chirped Brittney, his research assistant. "Anything interesting on the night shift?"

"Rocks, roaches and radiation," he smiled shaking his head. "I think that anything useful has probably been picked up already. Other than the various human detritus, there's not much left for the crews."

"Can I start packing for Cancun yet?"

"Two more weeks until the next rotation out. Perhaps. Unless something major comes to light, there's not much point sticking around."

He picked up the week's mail from the side table and started rifling through, stroking his mustache. Less than last week, but his subscriptions had come through this time and a letter confirmed that his paper had been accepted by Nature for publication in the spring. Well, at least something good had come out of this posting, he reflected. There was also a letter from the US Military abouts ome posting to a special international operations unit with the UN because of his bio-weapons research. He put that letter on top of the pile he would read later, it sounded like something more interesting than his usual work back in the states, which usually involved attempting to weaponize the common cold. Here, he'd been able to work on viruses and bacteria that had survived the massive nuclear fallout from the blast, many of which had been mutated beyond recognition and therefore served as incredible templates for weaponization of disease. A smile quirked the corner of his mouth as he realized just how twisted that thought would sound to an outsider, but he knew that most in the science community would understand it was a rational interest, not a desire to destroy the world.

Daniel was dead tired after a night of searching through the debris field, but his latest batch of viral cultures needed to be re-plated this morning or they'd overgrow the dish and most of them would die. He sighed, such was the life of a research scientist who didn't have the benefit of grad students to do all the grunt work for them. Not much he could do about it up here. You couldn't exactly run any proper programs out in the middle of a tent city. Still, the main compound here had some very nice Level 3 containment facilities for the scientists to use on their projects.

He steped into the antechamber, and quickly divested himself of his outdoor clothes changing into a containment suit. Most of the stuff inside didn't really require it, but given the high mutagen possibilities after prolonged exposure to radiation, no one, least of all Daniel, wanted to take any chances. Shouldering through the door, he prepared to get to work. Strain 4BI14.3 looked promising as a short-lifespan biological agent that could be safely dispersed on a battlefield and would slowly deteriorate due to exposure to atmospheric levels of nitrogen. Of course, that had caused problems culturing it, and cost Daniel several months of work, but it was worth it. The money he would make from the American military would set him up for life. Let alone what the Pentagon had promised to pay him to bury all the details so no other country could get its hands on it.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Tomahawk Helicopter - Four Hundred Miles East of the Irradiated Zone

Despite the Pentagon's attempts to keep the research buried, people did know about it. A CSIS operative working in the same building had found out about the research during the Halloween bash only three days before. A few calls had gone to the right people and now a small official task force from G.I. Joe was en route.

Grid-iron leaned back in the copilot's chair, watching the mountains of Nepal fall away behind them. The refueling had taken a little longer than they'd originally intended, but they'd still make it to the irradiated zone in time to meet with, Pierce or Price or whatever his name was. Airtight was positively giddy in the main cabin babbling about the advance in viral warfare that this guy had come up with; it positively creeped Grid out. He kind of felt bad leaving Surefire and Suitcase back there to suffer through the running monologue, but he couldn't take it anymore. Condor may be a hard man to talk too about anything, but right now Grid really appreciated the quiet of the cockpit interrupted only by the regular thrumming of the rotor overhead.

Perhaps he could get some sleep on the way once he re-read the man's file.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Research Buildings - South End of the Irradiated Zone

Daniel slid another plate into the incubator. The bacterial strains were growing better than he had expected, and only a few minor adjustments would be required to increase virulence to a significant level. Not bad for a year's work. If he could prove its effectiveness, he'd be set up for life and be able to retire a very happy man. There was only one problem in proving his work, there was no suitable test population. Yes, there were isolated populations around the world it could be tested on, but full isolation could only be accomplished with a military interdiction of an area, and that would require the involvement of the US military, which he could not afford. Alternately, they could release it somewhere else and rely on the local military to contain it, but that would possibly allow them to obtain a sample, thereby defeating the purpose of a secret weapon.

He blew a little air out between his teeth in frustration. There was little he could do about it, he'd probably wind up having to do further mutations to get it to affect rats or something, and then have to test it in a lab to prove its worth. Which probably meant another years work which he really didn't want to put in here.

The intercom buzzed, his secretary's voice came through, "Dr. Price? One of your holes has developed, the administration is asking for you to take a look at it at your earliest convenience."

Checking the clock on the wall, Daniel found he'd only been out of the irradiated zone for 4 hours, far below the normal safety limits. However, the development sounded promising. A few weeks ago, seismic readings had been taken of an area at the edge of the blast crater and had found that beneath the fused rubble on top, a hand full of small buildings from a residential area still stood. Daniel had just developed a bacterial strain that secreted a highly concentrated form of stomach acid for a completely different purposes, and the decision had been made to seed it over the sites. In short order a series of small holes had developed as the bacteria ate their way down to the caverns below. A short blast with a liquefied toxin would quickly eliminate the bacterial cells so that they didn't eat through anything of value, and the call must have meant that one colony had finally done its job and made it through.

There was no choice, either he had to go out or someone else would go and take credit for the discovery. Price quickly sterilized the area he had been working in, and headed out through the decontamination procedures to make it to the field.

Fifteen minutes later he'd barely made it out into the atrium of his offices when he was accosted by a group of military personal. While, they didn't look like military personnel, all being dressed semi-casually, their bearing was instantly recognizable to anyone who had served in the military, let alone the special forces.

"Can I help you?"

"Greetings Dr. Price," said one of them, skinny and slightly nerdy, "we are here to discuss your current projects, and a reassignment to a new post."

"Sure, in about six hours, I have some work to do in the field, then I need to get some sleep. Feel free to enjoy the hospitality of the base." Daniel knew that they'd do anything but enjoy it, but that wasn't his problem.

The guy in the back lit up like a Christmas tree, "your going out? Can I come with you, I've been dying to get a look at the crater, and a few samples."

One of his companions gave him a withering look, "Dr. Price, allow me to introduce Airtight."

Daniel warily extended his hand, and promptly heard the bones of Airtight's hands crack under the slight pressure he'd exerted, followed by a gasp. Horror washed through him, was his hand contaminated with some of the viruses or bacteria he was working with? Did the man have degenerative bone disease?

"My hand, my hand!"

"Geez man, I'm sorry, quick, the infirmary is ...this...."

Daniel allowed himself to trail off as the other three of the group broke up with laughter, quickly followed by Airtight. He stood there in confusion until one of the men, the one who had introduced Airtight, managed to sputter out an explanation, "fake hand *gasp* favorite prank *gasp* your face *gasp* priceless." He dissolved into a fit of laughter again.

Daniel allowed anger to well within him, and barged past the men, heading for the ready room to suit up and go out, but the one called Airtight followed him.

"Hey man, I'm sorry about that, its a bad habit."

Daniel kept walking, but his pursuer persisted, "look, we're here to talk about your research, it could be vitally important and we can't allow it to fall into the wrong hands."

"And who precisely," asked Daniel, turning abruptly, "is this 'we'?"

"That's a long explanation."

"Its a 30 minute chopper ride to where we're going."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Ruins of New Delhi, India - 30 minutes later

Daniel dropped out of the helicopter, his head still reeling from what Airtight had told him about the unit he was with. Though he still didn't have a name for it, he knew that he was being courted by the best of the best. One thing was certain, if he didn't agree to work with them, his research would definitely be disappearing overnight and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't worried of his own safety, but his career would be drastically modified either way. Now though wasn't the time to worry about it.

Another man in a hazmat suit approached, "Hello Dr. Price, we've got the rope and tackle all set up for you. The place looks mostly intact, the apartment block across the street that collapsed fuzed together in the street and deflected most of the blast around the house under here, so its almost completely intact. Everything around it is destroyed though, so its just the one house as far as we can tell."

Airtight was leaning over the hole, by rights a house this close to the blast zone should have been vaporized."

"Indeed," agreed the technician, "But because of the arrangement of the three bombs, the apartment block across the street was hit by all three shock waves almost simultaneously, and it basically fused into a giant glassis that protected this house. Its an impossibly small probability, but it seems to have happened here. Will you be going down with Dr. Price, Mr...?"

"Airtight, just Airtight. And yes, I will be."

Airtight hadn't bothered to mention that little detail to Daniel but he wasn't up to arguing the point, someone had to go in as his spotter, so it might as well be him. The two rapelled down the hole made by Daniel's microbes and into what looked like a surprisingly well apointed house. This had been, if Daniel remembered correctly, one of the poorer areas of the city before the blast, but one wall of the room was lined with a bank of technology that looked straight off the factory floor.

"Strange," commented Airtight, "look here, they still have power."

"That's ridiculus, there's no way they..." Daniel's mouth dropped open as Airtight powered up one of the monitors. "Perhaps we should get some support?"

"No need, look behind you."

Daniel urned around and found himself staring at the corpses of three men, each lying on a different level of a bunk-bed. Each wore a simple blue outfit, with a stylized snake head on the chest; three red cloths and matching blue helmets lay on the dresser beside the bunks.

"What happened?"

Airtight pointed towards a series of large steel oxygen canisters, "my bet is that one of these canisters didn't have the oxygen these guys expected and their employers timed whatever was in it to be released while these guys were sleeping. That or the radiation got to them. I'll have to call someone to get into these computer systems to find out more."

"But what were they doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? They planted the bombs. Look at the city map there, those three red pins mark the locations where the bombs were, the green ones the major buildings of the city, the orange circle the blast radius, and the green pin is, I think, this house. See how the three circles converge just before it? They meant for that apartment block to collapse. I'd bet you that if we checked the rest of this house we'd find a generator, water purification system, and more non-perishable food items than you or I would know what to do with."

"They're from the same organization you were telling me about in the chopper."

"Yep, uniforms prove it."

"All right, I'll talk to your organization. The planet needs to be swept clean of these people."




Code Name: Clean Sweep
File Name: Daniel Price PhD
Birthplace: Elizabeth, New Jersey
Rank: E4
Primary Military Specialty: Chemical Operations Specialist
Secondary Military Specialty: Biological Weapons

[Lifeline_MD]

BTW, yes, I'm aware that that story seems to stop abruptly before it reveals a lot about the house.

There's a reason for that.

[Lifeline_MD]

Now that I have the first 7 TBP reissues of the old marvel stuff, I'm finally reading them, so expect to see a few references start to pop up here and there.

[Loose Cannon]

I never give Clean Sweep much thought. I like the story a lot. What else catastrophic befell the world? I know something bad happened but how bad? Were there multiple events simutaneously occurring when New Delhi was destroyed?

I'm sorry if I asked before but what happened Black Thursday? In this timeline, The Destruction of New Delhi was years before, but Black Thursday was a just a few weeks ago?

Still I love the take on the collapse of India as a State. I often wonder what would happen if the same thing happened in Pakistan, but India would seem worse. China and Russia didn't try to get a piece of that pie? Well I guess there was the Chino-Korean war, but we don't know what happened there.

So going back to Twilight. Are the Royal Guards related to Serpentor? Or will be seeing a Separate Serpentor?

Well keep it coming DH. A lot to digest, but great nail-biting action, and plot twists, and mystery.

[Lifeline_MD]

I never give Clean Sweep much thought. I like the story a lot.

I'm trying to give more obscure characters like Clean Sweep a chance at life.

What else catastrophic befell the world? I know something bad happened but how bad? Were there multiple events simutaneously occurring when New Delhi was destroyed?

I'm sorry if I asked before but what happened Black Thursday? In this timeline, The Destruction of New Delhi was years before, but Black Thursday was a just a few weeks ago?

The twenties were a bad time. I'm trying to alude to some things first before revealing everything in the historical summary (The World Today), but its probably getting to the point where I should write that out in full.

New Delhi itself was an isolated incident years earlier, but as you now know was related to Cobra, being one of their earliest major operations.

Black Thursday is outlined in the first post here under "Premis", but I'm saving the details for now. Another hint appears near the end of Chuckle's story.

Still I love the take on the collapse of India as a State. I often wonder what would happen if the same thing happened in Pakistan, but India would seem worse. China and Russia didn't try to get a piece of that pie? Well I guess there was the Chino-Korean war, but we don't know what happened there.

I'm sure Russia would try, but as they don't really share any borders, so that would be kind of hard to swing in a politically favorable way.


EDIT: Just went back and checked, China DID get a piece.


So going back to Twilight. Are the Royal Guards related to Serpentor? Or will be seeing a Separate Serpentor?

I don't want to give away too much in advance, but they aren't the same. However, the scientists won't do a whole bunch of work on one thing, and then not attempt to apply it to something else to save time/effort/expense.

In order to get Serpentor you need the genetics of a dozen (or so) leaders, to get a royal guard, you only need one and some modern DNA to splice. Might as well use the extra for something

Well keep it coming DH. A lot to digest, but great nail-biting action, and plot twists, and mystery.

Glad your enjoying it.

I hope to have a couple more things up soon(ish).

[sparhawk]

Heh. "Snake Eyes was bothered by the days events." Saw it coming, still made me chuckle.

[Loose Cannon]

Thanks for clearing that up Darth. Keep em coming.

[Lifeline_MD]

Heh. "Snake Eyes was bothered by the days events." Saw it coming, still made me chuckle.

Glad you liked it.

Thanks for clearing that up Darth. Keep em coming.

Working on Gears, Chapter 4 of Twilight, Mess Haul Blues, and the curently untitled sequal to the Clean Sweep story at the moment.

Gears will be done tomorrow.

After that...not sure.






Clean Sweep was not a popular story I see. Ah well. Hopefully Gears will be.

[Lifeline 71]

Clean Sweep's story wasn't bad, just a different change of pace.

[Troynos]

I have yet to read Clean Sweep.

Meant to today, but I've been catching up on the comic book Fables, trying to work through some thoughts on another project I'm going to attempt.

[Lifeline_MD]

Clean Sweep's story wasn't bad, just a different change of pace.

Hopefully that means you liked it.

I have yet to read Clean Sweep.

Meant to today, but I've been catching up on the comic book Fables, trying to work through some thoughts on another project I'm going to attempt.

Can't blame you. I've been catching up on your joeverse for the last two weeks. :D

[Lifeline 71]

Yeah, i did like the Clean Sweep story, although it was a bit rushed. I always thought the Eco Warriors had potential as a CBR unit, and that Airtight should have been the leader, not Flint. So it was good to see Clean Sweep working with Airtight in that capacity.

[Troynos]

Finally read Clean Sweep.

Very cool. I like it. Different, but cool.

Like the "mad scientist" feel to Clean Sweep.

[Lifeline_MD]

Yeah, i did like the Clean Sweep story, although it was a bit rushed. I always thought the Eco Warriors had potential as a CBR unit, and that Airtight should have been the leader, not Flint. So it was good to see Clean Sweep working with Airtight in that capacity.

In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with the characters introduced in the later years. What killed it was the garish colors, poorer sculpts (on some) and spring-loaded launchers which everyone seems to dispise.

But there's a lot of potential for guys like Clean Sweep, and you'll see a lot of later-era guys getting more face time here.

Finally read Clean Sweep.

Very cool. I like it. Different, but cool.

Like the "mad scientist" feel to Clean Sweep.

He's slightly touched all right. Unfortunately, I can tell you exactly what protocols he'd be using to make those bacteria.





This next story is a bit of a 'filler' story, but hopefully enjoyable none-the-less.