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07-31-2015, 04:18 AM | #1 |
Darth_Henning
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 21,174
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The Phoenix Customs gang was again kind enough to let me dabble in their Resurgence universe and write a short story to go along with this year's stuff.
Hopefully I've managed to do their creations justice. G.I. Joe Resurgence: Issue 2: Operation Desert Swarm Part 1 - It’s like Disneyworld. But with Snakes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Springs The Arizona wind blew through the town’s streets from the lake, bringing a welcome bit of spray to the boardwalk, even if the temperature still topped 100 degrees in the early afternoon. But the heat was good for business, tourists thronged the artificial beach, sunning themselves beneath the cloudless sky, or enjoying the patios ringing the boardwalk. Bright awnings and banners advertized all sorts of entertainment for the well-to-do of all ages. Children ran across the street, heading for the waterpark and the playground. A harried nanny made a quick apology to the blonde man who they almost knocked over before continuing her fruitless chase. He smiled, shaking his head, and enjoying a brief glimpse of a normal life. Had she stopped longer, she’d have noticed that his outfit shared the same duality as the town. The Hawaiian shirt fit in with the vacation attire that populated the resorts along the lake on the west side of town, but the dusty industrial work boots belonged in the last remaining mine shaft on the south of town. Nearly 150 years of mining had emptied the surrounding hills of every ounce of rock, minerals and metals. Yet three years ago,a new company had bought the town outright. ARBCO had opened a new mine, and thrown up a series of hotels and casinos along the coast of the lake, drawing thousands of tourists every day to the pristine area. A waterslide through the mine closest to the lake had become a must-see attraction, and the planned opening of the roller-coaster was expected to overwhelm the hotel capacity. It was beautiful, but like many things, the beautiful facade hid some horrible secrets. The eastern side of the town was a contrast. Dirty and dilapidated row housing was filled with hundreds of miners, separated from the glamor of the resort by a wall and brand new two story bunkers. These bunkers were not filled with miners though, they were sealed to those who lived on both sides. But late at night, if someone knew what to look for, they could find what was happening. Some new form of BAT patrolled the streets at night, and anyone who got too curious disappeared. Strange sounds came from the closed mines, as if something was being built, and brown clad Desert Vipers patrolled the barracks in the morning, herding the miners into the one open tunnel, bringing up a new alloy. Cobra was here in force, and that meant only one thing to Chuckles. Find out what they were doing, why they were here. Then call in the rest of the G.I. Joe team to stop them. He took the last swallow of his morning coffee, tossed the cup into the blue recycling bin on the corner, and turned towards the mines. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Control Room - Castle Destro The Laird paced the operations room, his patience wearing thin. “We SOLD Cobra this encryption software. Why is it taking so long to open it?” Despite the cool of the room, the Iron Grenadier at the computer was sweating. Something was different about the incryption, almost like there was a living thing in the system fighting back against him. But that was impossible. Whisp had retrieved a copy of Cobra’s latest schemes from underneath the nose of their newest field officer Monarch and gotten away with it while a team of G.I. Joes had assaulted their heavily fortified base in Mauritania. [As depicted in the events of Resurgence: The Break of Peace] Now that she’d returned from completing that and another assignment in Eastern Europe, it was finally time to decrypt her intelligence. The Iron Grenadier licked his lips nervously, painstakingly aware of the Larid’s presence behind him. Destro was a good commander, not prone to abrupt or summary executions, but still imposing and terrifying. He shook his head, opening these files was like trying to swat a swarm of aphids. Just when he seemed close to cracking it, the encryption codes seemed to dissolve and then reform in a completely different way. Whoever had programmed this almost seemed to be living in it. “Time is ticking,” Destro reminded the room, “to find out what these files say. And” he added, “before I send some reinforcements to our operation in Antarctica.” “Yes, my Liege,” he managed, turning back to his screen, trying to come up with a new plan. Chewing his lip, he pulled a USB from the desk drawer, and plugged it in. Rather than trying to decrypt the files, he opened up basic programming of the encryption and began comparing it to the original base program. It took five minutes to isolate and remove the changes, but finally one touch of the button opened up what Cobra had been hiding. “I have it Laird Destro!” he exclaimed, unable to hide some relief and excitement. He heard his boss’ approach and felt a single bead of sweat roll down his spine. As the Laird read over his shoulder, he swallowed as he understood the import of what was on the screen. When he had finished, Destro nodded, “take a three day vacation. Be back for work on Friday.” Straightening, Destro glared a Whisp for a minute. “Tell the Nullifiers to prepare the Deamon. We’re going to take a little trip of our own.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Springs Mine Slowly the miners filed out of the underground caverns, relieved to be finished their days in the dark, dust-clogged tunnels beneath the earth. Behind them, Cobra Desert Vipers probed the darkness to ensure that no one remained in the depths. Bayonets probed the depths of ore-carts. Flashlights illuminated every crevice and rat-hole. Only once they were satisfied that nothing could possibly be left in the mines did they move on and up through the mine. The last viper paused and turned. His light playing around the darkened space before flipping off. He shook loose his blonde hair from the beret and scratched his neck. He probably had until morning before the others discovered the undressed viper tied, gagged and unconscious at the back of this grotto. That gave Chuckles about 8 hours to search the mine. Over the past week he’d been through every inch of these tunnels as a miner, but there was one shaft deep in the earth that was blocked off, and not even the Desert Vipers entered. He’d ‘accidentally’ dropped a flare through the grating, and knew there was no rockfall or other blockage, and someone had doused the flame a few seconds later. Whatever Cobra was hiding down there, Chuckles intended to find it. Working with a pair of night vision goggles, it took him half an hour to find the grating, and another half hour to pry it loose and slip through. The shaft on the other side dropped almost vertically into the earth. It was quiet below, but the brush of cool air across his skin meant that there was open space below. He worked his way down the shaft slowly and carefully, pausing only when a misplaced boot caused a shower of gravel and dirt to rain down to the bottom of the shaft. His feet braced a mere foot above the bottom lip of the shaft, he heard noises, and then a light flick on below him. Mentally he berated himself for being careless. The light grew closer, obviously a flashlight, and a minute later a bald head appeared below Chuckles boots. A hulk of a man looked down at the ground, a doughnut in one hand, and some kind of crossbow in the other. Chuckles shrugged, and let go of the wall. He fell on the man’s shoulders, wrapping his arm around the man’s bulbous throat. Rather than being knocked to the ground, the man straightened, and slammed his head back into Chuckles face, the snapping noise and sudden flow of blood across his lips told Chuckles that his nose was broken. Staples, he thought to himself looking at the man’s head, why does he have staples in his head? The big man clawed at Chuckles’ arm. But twenty years as an agent was enough to resist even this man’s gorilla grip. Chuckles held on, even as the man slammed him backwards into the wall, dropping his flashlight. The man finally started to claw at Chuckle’s arm more desperately, but weakly, and after a final few seconds of struggle dropped to the stone floor of the tunnel with Chuckles atop him. He held on for another few seconds, just to be certain that the man was unconscious. He groaned, pulling his arm from beneath the man’s snoring bulk. The dreadnok tattoo on the man’s arm told Chuckles all he needed to know. What he was looking for was probably here. Gingerly he touched his nose. Yep, he winced, definitely broken. Again. Oh well. He looked around. He was in a small circular room. A laptop sat open on the table, and he grabbed it. Several locked doors ringed the room. Eeny-meeny-miney-mo. He walked over to one of the unmarked doors, and pulled out his set of lockpicks. It took a full five minutes of hard work. The tumblers were old and rusting. Probably an old jail used in one of the gold-rushes around the two a hundred years or so ago. Finally the door opened, and Chuckes looked in on an unexpected surprise. “Well well well, what have we here?” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Command Center - The PIT - Undisclosed Location Eagle Eye walked into the command center, and snapped to attention with a salute. “Sir!” “At ease soldier,” General Hawk ordered, returning the salute. Eagle Eye fell in next to Dusty. Both were wearing base fatigues, but Hawk was still in full combat uniform. Dried mud caked his lower legs. “I’ll make this quick and short, we found them.” “Them sir?” Dusty asked, but the expression on Eagle Eye’s face probably already answered the question. Hawk nodded to Eagle Eye, “at least that’s what the message from Groundpounder and Chuckles indicates.” Eagle Eye swayed like he was about to collapse, but stayed on his feet. “You two are going to command the extraction team to get them out.” “Command sir?” Eagle Eye asked. “Is there an echo in here?” Hawk asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yes Eagle Eye, command. You have shown me a lot of potential in your short time with the team, and I want to test you to see how you do with it. Operation Waterfront did not go well, but we all make mistakes. The real test if how you learn from them.” Eagle Eye nodded, looking solemn. “They’re in a town called Gold Springs. A resort in Arizona. From what little we know, it seems to be Springfield lite. A heavy Cobra presence, but also a large group of Civilians. Dusty, you are in charge of engaging and destroying Cobra’s forces. Eagle Eye, your team’s job is to get our boys out, get any intel you can, and keep the population safe. If necessary you may engage Cobra, but ONLY if necessary. Understood?” “Sir, yes sir!” The two men chorused in unison. “Dusty, you’re my most trusted guy in the Desert. Make sure Cobra learns why. Eagle Eye, we have reason to believe Glitch may be present. I know you two are developing a history, but I want you to focus on your job. Understood?” “Yes sir! I won’t let you down!” Eagle Eye saluted again “Sir!” “I know you won’t,” Hawk nodded, “I’ve been watching you closely son, and I think you have a lot of potential. The men look up to you, and you’re not afraid to do what needs to be done. In time, I think you’ll make one heck of a commander.” “Thank you sir.” A knock came at the door. “Ah yes, and of course you both know your medical officer. My old friend Carl, or as you know him, Doc.” Eagle Eye turned and saluted, Dusty’s open mouthed surprises was less restrained. Dusty shook his old friends hand surprise still in his eyes. “First Thunder? Now you Doc? I thought you guys bought it in Trucial Abysemia a few years ago?” Doc frowned for a second, then realization dawned, and he laughed, “no man, that’s just a cover story we fed the media so that people wouldn’t look into a bunch of us on a classified mission.” “Classifed?” “You know, infiltrate a government filled with snakes, topple it, that thing we do every other month it seems.” “Arab spring?” “Nailed it.” “So….wait….why was Crankcase’s twin brother sobbing in the hallway when I ran into him a while ago?” “Crankcase doesn’t have a brother.” “Son of a - “ Dusty pursed his lips, “excuse me, I need to go hit a friend, then get the rest of the team.” “See you at the briefing,” Doc chuckled, and slapped him on his back as Dusty followed Eagle Eye out of the room. “What do you need me for boss?” “Just wanted to check something with you now that you’re back.” Hawk said, offering a chair. Doc waved his hand to decline. “After First Aid found him [As depicted in the events of Resurgence: Operation Waterfront], we had Lifeline go over Eagle Eye pretty thoroughly. Physically he’s cleared him, but he deferred the psych evaluation to you. You’ve been watching him the last few months. What do you think? Is he ready to go back out there with a team under his command?” Doc paused, considering. “I guess the question is what you expect him to do?” “Lead the team, get them in and out safely, and complete the mission.” “That, I have little doubt he can do then,” Doc admitted with a half shrug. “But the guy still jumps when he walks into the storage shed up top.” He pointed up to the PIT’s concealed entrance. “I wouldn’t be cutting him loose for leave any time soon. But give him a weapon, and point him at Cobra? He’ll get the job done.” Hawk sighed, “well at this point, that’s all we can ask for. Thank you Doc.” “Most welcome sir.” Doc saluted and turned to leave “Oh and Doc, one more thing?” “Yes sir?” “I want you to keep an eye on Prodigy.” “Sure, I can check him when I get back.” “No, I mean on the mission.” Doc blinked twice, removed his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on. “Say again?” “I’m sending him on the mission with you.” “You’re putting Eagle Eye, who has significant…. personal investment in this mission, in command. And you want me to be busy watching the OTHER potentially crazy guy? This is DESTRO’s SON we’re talking about. With respect sir, have you thought this through?” Hawk sat down on the edge of the map table, “anyone else asking me that would be up for insubordination.” He shook his head, “I’m not confident with the kid yet either, but he’s come a long way since he first showed up on our doorstep. Close the door.” Doc reached behind him, brushing the wall switch, and the door closed soundlessly behind him. “What is it?” “This is highly classified. Even above your pay grade. But I’ve had some intel come in from an....unusual source. It suggests that we’re up against more in that little town that Chuckles has found yet. Prodigy has a set of skills that I believe will be essential to the mission's success. And your collective survival.” “Well as you can imagine I’m a big fan of that,” Doc replied sarcastically. “I’ll pack extra tranquilizers then, just to be on the safe side.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona Desert - 5 miles from Gold Springs Sun Devil crested another sand dune and looked down into the valley below him. In the distance the sky shone with reflected light, and strobes along the underside of a hovering Zepplin. He snorted in derision. Las Vegas North, he thought to himself. The arrogance of the mega corporations. Deserts could not be controlled. Global warming continued to worsen, and there was nothing stopping a sandstorm from scouring this resort town from the face of the map. Assuming of course Cobra didn’t manage to do that first. The distress signal that he’d picked up while executing a solo training exercise seemed to originate from just outside the town. What it meant was unclear. It was definitely on a Joe code, but an older one. However, it checked out, and hadn’t been compromised. Nothing showed on the horizon, or seemed to move in the valley. Sun Devil shrugged to himself, and began to unpack the bivouac that he had dragged behind him the last three hundred kilometers through the desert. Over the next two hours, stars pinwheeled in the sky above him. Shadowed beneath the canopy, Sun Devil watched the ground ahead of him as two shapes darted from shadow to shadow, moving towards him. Only when they were 100 yards away did he gently tap his foot against an empty water jug. It was enough to get both men’s attention. As they came into view, Sun Devil couldn’t repress a smile. Standing he hurried over and hugged the nearest of the two. “Groundpounder! You’re alive!” “Barely,” coughed his friend. “Seems Chuckles was doing some mining work in town and sprung me.” Sun Devil turned. He didn’t recognize the blonde man in the Viper’s uniform, but the collar of a Hawaiian shirt poking out immediately marked him as one of the most infamous Joes. “I can’t thank you enough sir.” “No need to thank me. Just doing my job.” The three of them sunk beneath the canvas of the Bivouac to discuss plans. Groundpounder revealed that he had gotten the message out that Sun Devil had received the previous night. Then he revealed what he’d found in the town. The urgency of the message made sense now. Although no official confirmation had been sent from command, Chuckles indicated that the burst packet of information he had sent along with the message had been received, including his request for reinforcements. All the three of them had to do now, was wait. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Training Room - The PIT - Undisclosed Location Eagle Eye leaned on the wall, waiting for Dusty to arrive. Strong Arm was putting a bunch of new Joes through the workout to end all workouts. Eagle Eye thanked whatever lucky star he had been born under that Sgt. Slaughter hadn’t retired before he passed PT. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t have survived under Strong Arm. “My GRANDMOTHER could do better pushups!” Beside Eagle Eye, Roadblock laughed, “be glad that ain’t us son, an hour like that and we’d be done!” Eagle Eye couldn’t agree more. He hoped that the pool of liquid beneath each man was water from when they’d been hosed down, but from the way each of them was dripping, he suspected it was sweat. “No offence sir but I may not be eating any of your Louisiana special anytime soon.” Roadblock laughed again, and clapped Eagle Eye on the back. He tried not to flinch. Finally as Dusty walked in, Strong Arm relented. “All right boys, boss is here, prepare to do some REAL work!” The new recruits began to struggle to attention. “At ease,” Dusty gestured for them to sit on the floor. At least two of them collapsed. “Those of you who can stand are coming with Eagle Eye and me for some R and R and R in Arizona. A bit of a rescue, recon and really annoy Cobra mission.” A couple weak laughs were all Dusty got for responses. “I’m going to be taking the fight to Cobra. Landmine, Treads, Switch Gears. You guys are coming with me. We’ll be going in by air with Mongoose.” “Sir?” a relatively pretty brunette raised her hand catching Eagle Eye’s eye, not for the first time that afternoon, “do you want to bring the cougar?” “That’s the general idea,” Dusty nodded. “Then I think you should probably bring Grease Monkey. The engine is still pretty finicky.” “Finicky?” Dusty asked. “Well, Brainstorm designed it and-” Dusty held up a hand, “say no more. Grease Monkey, you too.” A fist pump from one of the men laying on the floor. “Eagle Eye?” Nodding acknowledgement to Dusty, Eagle Eye stepped forward, “the rest of you are coming with me. Some of our boys have,” Eagle Eye had to catch his breath for a second, for an instant, an image of a dockside warehouse flashed through his mind’s eye, “have got themselves in some trouble.” he finished. Swallowing he continued, “it’s our job to get them home.” “As my friend always says,” Strong Arm growled, “we all go home or nobody goes home.” “I like the first one more.” Eagle Eye attempted, then continued, “Upshot, Prodigy, Strong Arm and Overboard, you guys are coming with me.” “Why me?” protested Overboard. “Arizona is a desert!” “Where we’re going is on a lake, you’re going to help us get in and out before Cobra knows what’s going on. And there are civilians who will need rescuing.” “Fine. Any marine life? “Only if you count the sunbathers,” offered Eagle Eye. “Dang. Well, work is work.” “Everyone get your stuff, we leave in 90 minutes,” Dusty closed off, then turned to Eagle Eye. “Not bad. You’ll get the hang of it.” Seeing Roadblock he paused, then added, “hey man, apparently Cobra’s holed up in the middle of the city. Feel like breaking down a few doors with the kids and I?” Roadblock lit up like a kid at christmas. “You want me to come with you to Gold Springs? Well let me just pack my Snake shooting things!” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TO BE CONTINUED (later today) |
08-02-2015, 05:30 PM | #2 |
DOUBLE "O" COMMANDO
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: AMERICA
Posts: 1,409
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Very Nice, indeed.
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08-07-2015, 01:06 AM | #3 |
G.I.Joe medic
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Litchfield, ME
Posts: 3,171
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Great stuff, man! Keep it up, can't wait to see the next part of the story!!
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