Categories > Cartoons > G.I. Joe > The Synthoid Conspiracy
Chapter XI: GI Joe’s Counterattack
0 reviewsGI Joe openly moves against Cobra, Scarlett confronts the Synthoid.
0Unrated
Chapter XI: GI Joe’s Counterattack
“Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamn Germans. I want to see them raise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl, “Ach! It’s the goddamn 3rd Army and that son-of-a-fucking-bitch Patton again!”
General George S. Patton
The Cobra base went on yellow alert. Cobra Vipers readied their Zakus for possible combat and recalled all perimeter patrols once the alert was issued. “Hurry up! We’re on alert!” Yelled a Viper at an approaching Water Moccasin with a Zaku riding on it. What struck odd was the airboat was coming for the docks at full speed. “What the heel!” The Water Moccasin slammed into the docks at an angle, launching the airboat into the air, slamming into a stack of crates. “Hey you aren’t Cobra!” realized the Viper as he faced a bazooka armed Zaku II.
“I thought you’d never notice.” Duke slammed the bazooka into the Viper’s head. “Mutt, let’s split up here! We’ve got to find General Franks and the others!”
“Destro’s full shit!” ‘Duke’ exclaimed, “He wants to create dissension among us. Where’s his proof?”
Grey Fox observed ‘Duke’ he had a point, but so far Destro’s intentions, self-serving as they were, have been genuine. If he were to betray them, he would have done it by now. “There is the possibility what Destro has said could be the truth, a Synthoid within our midst would be doing exactly what its programmed. Make us second-guess each other and stir mistrust. This Synthoid will be flushed out in the fullness of time.”
Before ‘Duke’ could say anything, Destro stood to his feet, heading for the door of his study, then turned to the Joes. “Believe what you like. Your welfare is of little consequence to me, just so long as Berg Katse and Cobra Commander learn how dangerous it can be to provoke my anger. Your planes are ready and I have provided you with a few HS-05A Zaku Is, and I grow weary of your company. Please leave now.”
“Scarlett?” A voice called out before she headed for her Skystriker, a short distance was Sylia, gesturing for her to come over.
“What is it, Sylia?”
“A word with you,” She said, noticing ‘Duke’ approaching them, “in private.”
Following the Knight Saber behind an equipment shed, Scarlett was curious why Sylia wanted a private talk with her. “What’s up, Sylia.”
“Don’t trust Duke,” She simply said
“What?” All she could say.
“I don’t trust him, ever since that attack at headquarters.”
Scarlett looked at Sylia with disbelief, that Sylia could say such a thing; Duke was friend and a comrade. “Do you have any proof?”
“Only my observations.” Sylia replied, even though her observations could be considered hearsay, but she was a practiced observer and exercised deductive reasoning. “Fact: Duke mistook you for Cover Girl…”
“Well,” Scarlett interrupted “It was chaotic situation.”
“True. But Duke is a trained soldier and given your relationship, I would never consider him to make such a stupid mistake. Fact: Someone tried to access the data on the hardsuits.”
“Sylia it could have been anyone.”
“With Duke’s access code?” Sylia asked, with an arched eyebrow. “Duke was fully aware that Clayton and I were the only ones with full access. Fact: He stuck up for Franks when Duke always supported troops before an officer especially for the right reasons.”
Scarlett remembered that vividly, that Duke condoned the actions of General ‘Franks.’ “Okay, I’ll give you that one, Sylia.”
“Fact: Duke never could account for his whereabouts or behavior. His enthusiasm seemed very transparent. I’m led to the conclusion that Duke is the Synthoid.”
Scarlett turned her back on Sylia, mulling Sylia’s findings, she did not want to believe Sylia, that Duke was a Synthoid. “Sylia, I just don’t know. You could be the Synthoid.”
“It’s possible, I could be the Synthoid. Because it’s fulfilling it’s purpose to make us doubt each other and stir mistrust,” Sylia said, “Shanna, I value our friendship too much, would I bring you this information if weren’t true?”
“No.” She simply answered. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re not the type who would believe rumor and hearsay, and you always followed deductive reasoning. What do we do about Duke?”
Sylia gave a small smile to her friend.
“How long have we been here, Edward?” Ledger groggily asked. The concept of time was almost lost on the four officers as they were constantly drugged ever since the attack on the Flagg.
“I don’t know, Charles”
“Hey! Shut up in there!” Yelled a Viper oddly enough named Johnny Sasaki*, suddenly he clutched his stomach as something didn’t agree with him or he was hoping it wasn’t a bout of Montezuma’s Revenge which he was prone to suffer all to frequently; his problem was solved with the an AK butt to the face.
“Get us out of here!” Franks pleaded with Mutt.
Before releasing the four officers, he had made to sure of their identities. “Junkyard, are they the real thing?”
A sniff and bark form Junkyard confirmed their identities. “Stand back!”
“Commander Katse! A formation of Skystrikers and a Medea transport coming in fast!”
A growl of frustration came from the Intelligence Chief. How as he going to explain this to Cobra Commander? How were the Joes able to launch an attack? Who was helped them? “Go to red alert! Launch the High Mobility Zakus!”
The formation of Skystrikers continued their approach. The Skystrikers will deal with any defenses allowing Matilda to either land or airdrop the Knight Sabers and the Zakus. “This Wing leader 1. Target sighted. Going clean!” Scarlett released the fuel pods from her Skystriker; the others followed her lead.
Rising from the base to engage the Joes were the HS-06R High Mobility Zaku IIs. “Bandits inbound! Split tactical!” Ace ordered
“Grey Fox! Wolf! Prepare for deployment! Go after those Zakus!” Scarlett ordered.
“Acknowledged!”
“Just turn me loose!”
“The two Knight Sabers approached the rear of the Medea. Both had their FAST packs equipped and ready for combat.
Besides the 9mm vulcans and her beam rifle and sabers, Fox also armed herself with a hyper bazooka. Hopefully the Joes could end this insanity before Cobra can bring their true objectives to fruition. It was Grey Fox’s hope to flush out the Synthoid, she knew who he was, and he was riding with Scarlett.
As the bay door opened, Wolf and Grey Fox approached, ready for combat. “Any words of wisdom, Priss?”
“Just an old saying we have in the 101,”
“What’s that?”
“Time to spread our wings and fly!” Wolf exclaimed as she jumped from the Medea.
“Who dares, wins.” Fox said to herself as she followed Wolf, she quoted the motto of the British SAS. Firing her dual Vernier thrust pack, Fox headed for the Zakus. A lock-on confirmed, Grey Fox fired a round from her hyper bazooka on a High Mobility Zaku.
“Nice shot, Fox!” Wolf complimented, turning her sights on a few Zakus, ready to show them why they called her Wolf. “Now its my turn! Time for some wholesale destruction!” Wolf smiled evilly locking her missiles on five to six Zakus. Wolf unleashed a swarm of missiles from the chest, shoulders and leg modules.
The Medea transport swooped in past the Zakus for the base, air dropping the Joes and the two remaining Knight Sabers.
HS-06F and HS-06M Zaku IIs engaged the Joes and they touched down. Cover Girl in an HS-05A Zaku I raised her bazooka and fired at an oncoming Zaku Marine. The shot blew off the Zaku’s leg. Soon Cover Girl fired her jumpjets dodging oncoming fire from several more F-series Zakus firing her bazooka.
With the grace of a dancer and the deadliness of a samurai, with fluid motions (due to the magnetically coated joints) Dagger moved though the mangrove, Zakus falling to her beam sabers.
With a bead on the Knight Saber through his machine gun’s scope, the Zaku moved his finger to the trigger.
Without the briefest of glances, Dagger threw her beam saber at the Zaku. The energy blade flew with a spin, stabbing the Zaku and operator through the chest. Completely cold, Dagger retrieved her beam saber without even caring about the fate of the Viper, this was war, and if she had to she won’t take prisoners. In the back of her mind, a small part of what was Linna Yamazaki chided herself for the callous attitude she has for killing another human being becoming the scum who killed her parents. Silencing the conflicts of morality and her duty, Dagger focused on her job.
From the ground, Cover Girl watched as Wolf still engaged the High Mobility Zakus, sometimes it would be hand-to-hand. “Be careful, Priss” She whispered then turned to Cypher. “Let’s move out, we still have a job to do.”
Scarlett shook off one Zaku only to having three more Zakus open fire on her. In the RIOs position, ‘Duke’ flipped two switches dumping the Skystrikers of weapons and countermeasures, leaving Scarlett defenseless. “Duke’ gave her a mock wave, pulled on the ejection lever, activating the ejection seat. “Fox, I’m ready.” Scarlett spoke into her lip mike.
“Acknowledged, Wolf and I are on our way.”
Flying alongside the cockpit, Grey Fox wrapped her arms around Scarlett; with the enhanced strength of her hardsuit, she easily lifted the redheaded Joe.
Touching down, ‘Duke’ only saw the Skystriker crash from his vantage point. He smiled at his handiwork only regretting that he never had a chance to kill Grey Fox, she was too cagey and never alone. “So much for Scarlett anyway.”
Making his way through the undergrowth, ‘Duke’ made his way to a rock face, pulling down a rock, which revealed a keypad and punched in an access code.
Touching down, Scarlett, Grey Fox and Wolf reached the access hatch; Fox kept tabs on ‘Duke’ via her sensors. “Wolf, if you could ring the doorbell?”
“Stand back.” Wolf took a few steps back, cracking her knuckles; she locked on the hatch and fired her remaining missiles.
The spent FSW FAST packs blew away from her suit, giving Wolf full range of motion. Fox moved to examined Wolf’s handiwork, which severely compromised the door but still stood. “Nice job,” Fox quipped, “What are you going to do for an encore?”
Approaching the door, Wolf didn’t say a word. With a roar, she swung her leg in a powerful roundhouse kick, with the strength booster on full; making contact with the door, which flew down the corridor. “Holy shit!” Was all Scarlett could utter getting a first hand look of the YHS-02’s strength booster.
The two Knight Sabers followed Scarlett in she armed herself with a machine gun from a fallen Zaku.
Splitting up the three began searching for the Synthoid. Her beam rifle at the ready, Wolf stalked the corridor. Turning the corner, Wolf came upon the officer’s club. “A fully stocked bar! If I know who God was I’d thank her.” Wolf by no means an alcoholic, but Wolf hadn’t had a drink since GI Joe’s funding had been cut and she had no beer money for some time. “Fox might kill me for this, but what the hell! Time to do some looting!”
Grey Fox scanned her area carefully with her beam rifle. She was under a large amount of stress, along with suffering from exhaustion. Grey Fox fought against her exhaustion to stay focused on her job. Moving down the corridor, a Zaku approached with five other individuals. “Freeze! All of you!” Fox threatened with her beam rifle at the ready.
“Take it easy, Fox, its Duke.” The Zaku responded as he lowered his weapons.
“Slowly!” Fox ordered, “How do I know you’re not the Synthoid?”
“Because, I’m not.”
“Do you remember when you introduced me to General Hawk?”
“I’ve never introduced you, Hawk told me you met when you were a cadet at West Point. You two are very good friends. Actually he told me you’re like a daughter to him.”
Fox slowly lowered her beam rifle. If he were a Synthoid, he wouldn’t have known such intimate knowledge between Fox and Hawk. “Its good to see you, Duke,” Fox lifted her visor, the serious look on her face did not betray the relief of seeing a friend safe. “We better link up with Scarlett.”
Scarlett carefully scanned the room before entering, but it was barely lighted. Entering, the door closed behind her. Before she could react, a hammer punch was thrown to the back of her head. “I wanted to kill Grey Fox for her meddling, but you will suffice!” ‘Duke’ sneered at Scarlett as he held her by the collar.
“How nice,” Scarlett quipped sarcastically, as she rammed her knee into ‘Duke’s’ stomach. Breaking free, Scarlett swung her right leg into the Synthoid’s head, hard.
Seeing the Zaku machine gun on the ground, ‘Duke’, still on the ground, crawled for it before Scarlett could grab at it.
Back on his feet, ‘Duke’ swung the stock of the machine gun into Scarlett’s right knee. Screaming out in pain, Scarlett fell, clutching her injured knee. “Okay, Scarlett, I’m weary of your meddling as well as that bitch, Grey Fox!”
“Not so fast, you phony!” A familiar voice from an HS-06F Zaku II threatened, a bazooka at the ready.
“Duke?” Scarlett whispered, trying to stand but the pain and her knee refused to allow her.
In sight of the HS-06F Zaku and the YHS-01 with her beam rifle ready, the Synthoid dropped his weapon and ran down the corridor.
‘Duke’ ran into the main control room as Berg Katse fumed at the situation, as his Vipers and Zakus have been contained by both the Joes and the Knight Sabers. He made a mental note to have all of the personnel who survive and escape, evacuated back to Cobra Island, then severely punished for their incompetence. “Duke! You have a lot of balls to return!” Katse yelled; pulling a handgun on the Synthoid, thinking it was the real article.
“Commander Katse! Don’t shoot! I’m the Synthoid!”
Katse gave a malicious smile reaching for the main control panel, “Perhaps, but one way to find out!” he pressed the button ordering the Synthoid’s destruction. He relished the destruction of the Synthoid, almost wishing to send the genuine article straight to hell! But this will have to do. “Hmm?” He looked at the control panel, “Aw crap! If I’m reading this right, I just set all Synthoids to self-destruct!”
Within the Pentagon, ‘Franks,’ ‘Ledger,’ ‘Howe’ and ‘Sharp’ briefed all military commanders that the US military structure will be reorganized which Cobra will be recognized as an ally. As they mentioned Cobra, the four officers began to melt as the nanomachines overloaded and burned out leaving a puddle of gray goo before the stunned officers. Leaving the military with no other option than to return control back to civilian control.
Duke, Scarlett, who leaned against Duke’s shoulder, Mutt and Grey Fox burst through the door leading into the Synthoid breeding chamber, the Joes arrived to find, after Katse bolted, a gray puddle of goo. “So much for my doppelganger.” Duke quipped. In his mind he hoped the damage caused by the Synthoid was not irreparable.
“This only reinforced my suspicions from the beginning.” Grey Fox stated as knelt before the puddle, examining the gray goop.
“Explain, will you Grey Fox?” Sharp politely requested
“Certainly, Colonel.” Fox answered rising to her feet. “A maxim written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for Sherlock Homes is ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth.’ Through simple deduction I was able to piece together what was going on, but I had no concrete evidence to act on it. Only circumstantial.”
“What was your evidence?”
“One, even though I met General Franks just once and rather brief, he was a strong proponent of the GI Joe team and I heard he supported the formation of the Knight Sabers, even though there has been pressure from the liberal section in Congress, especially those who happen hail from San Francisco to limit our operations. Two, the odd behavior exhibited by Duke.” Fox noted the strange look from the Joe commander, “One, Duke would never confuse Scarlett for Cover Girl, since Duke and the former are very good friends. Two, only General Hawk, and myself have complete access to the files concerning the YHS series hardsuits and beam weapons, no one else, which Synthoid tried to access. Three, Duke was always looking for an excuse to account for his whereabouts, plus when we were ready to move out, his enthusiasm seemed very transparent, almost as if he were reading a script. There were only about five people I could trust, Scarlett and my Knight Sabers.” Fox said with finality.
“I do congratulate you for your deduction, Grey Fox.” Howe told her.
“Thank you General.”
“The Commander is gonna have my ass on a platter for this. Damn it!” Katse grumbled; he managed to sneak away to the sub pens, taking a sub to Cobra Island. A devious smile then came to his lips. “I will overcome this setback. Then I, Berg Katse, will send both GI Joe and the Knight Sabers, all of them to fiery bowels of Hell!” He cackled.
Approaching the Medea transport, Grey Fox received a preliminary medical report from Doc on the four released officers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wolf carrying what looked like a large keg of beer on her shoulder; Cover Girl carrying two cases of something what appeared to be liquor, with Roadblock and Gung-Ho doing the same. “Priss, have you been looting again?” Fox sighed.
“We’re out of booze at home, Boss.” Wolf quipped as she tossed a bottle of scotch to her CO. “I did a little shopping.”
Examining the bottle, Fox lifted her eyebrows and approving look came to her face holding a bottle of 30-year old scotch. “Good work, Priss.”
“Thanks, Boss.” Wolf broadly smiled
“Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamn Germans. I want to see them raise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl, “Ach! It’s the goddamn 3rd Army and that son-of-a-fucking-bitch Patton again!”
General George S. Patton
The Cobra base went on yellow alert. Cobra Vipers readied their Zakus for possible combat and recalled all perimeter patrols once the alert was issued. “Hurry up! We’re on alert!” Yelled a Viper at an approaching Water Moccasin with a Zaku riding on it. What struck odd was the airboat was coming for the docks at full speed. “What the heel!” The Water Moccasin slammed into the docks at an angle, launching the airboat into the air, slamming into a stack of crates. “Hey you aren’t Cobra!” realized the Viper as he faced a bazooka armed Zaku II.
“I thought you’d never notice.” Duke slammed the bazooka into the Viper’s head. “Mutt, let’s split up here! We’ve got to find General Franks and the others!”
“Destro’s full shit!” ‘Duke’ exclaimed, “He wants to create dissension among us. Where’s his proof?”
Grey Fox observed ‘Duke’ he had a point, but so far Destro’s intentions, self-serving as they were, have been genuine. If he were to betray them, he would have done it by now. “There is the possibility what Destro has said could be the truth, a Synthoid within our midst would be doing exactly what its programmed. Make us second-guess each other and stir mistrust. This Synthoid will be flushed out in the fullness of time.”
Before ‘Duke’ could say anything, Destro stood to his feet, heading for the door of his study, then turned to the Joes. “Believe what you like. Your welfare is of little consequence to me, just so long as Berg Katse and Cobra Commander learn how dangerous it can be to provoke my anger. Your planes are ready and I have provided you with a few HS-05A Zaku Is, and I grow weary of your company. Please leave now.”
“Scarlett?” A voice called out before she headed for her Skystriker, a short distance was Sylia, gesturing for her to come over.
“What is it, Sylia?”
“A word with you,” She said, noticing ‘Duke’ approaching them, “in private.”
Following the Knight Saber behind an equipment shed, Scarlett was curious why Sylia wanted a private talk with her. “What’s up, Sylia.”
“Don’t trust Duke,” She simply said
“What?” All she could say.
“I don’t trust him, ever since that attack at headquarters.”
Scarlett looked at Sylia with disbelief, that Sylia could say such a thing; Duke was friend and a comrade. “Do you have any proof?”
“Only my observations.” Sylia replied, even though her observations could be considered hearsay, but she was a practiced observer and exercised deductive reasoning. “Fact: Duke mistook you for Cover Girl…”
“Well,” Scarlett interrupted “It was chaotic situation.”
“True. But Duke is a trained soldier and given your relationship, I would never consider him to make such a stupid mistake. Fact: Someone tried to access the data on the hardsuits.”
“Sylia it could have been anyone.”
“With Duke’s access code?” Sylia asked, with an arched eyebrow. “Duke was fully aware that Clayton and I were the only ones with full access. Fact: He stuck up for Franks when Duke always supported troops before an officer especially for the right reasons.”
Scarlett remembered that vividly, that Duke condoned the actions of General ‘Franks.’ “Okay, I’ll give you that one, Sylia.”
“Fact: Duke never could account for his whereabouts or behavior. His enthusiasm seemed very transparent. I’m led to the conclusion that Duke is the Synthoid.”
Scarlett turned her back on Sylia, mulling Sylia’s findings, she did not want to believe Sylia, that Duke was a Synthoid. “Sylia, I just don’t know. You could be the Synthoid.”
“It’s possible, I could be the Synthoid. Because it’s fulfilling it’s purpose to make us doubt each other and stir mistrust,” Sylia said, “Shanna, I value our friendship too much, would I bring you this information if weren’t true?”
“No.” She simply answered. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re not the type who would believe rumor and hearsay, and you always followed deductive reasoning. What do we do about Duke?”
Sylia gave a small smile to her friend.
“How long have we been here, Edward?” Ledger groggily asked. The concept of time was almost lost on the four officers as they were constantly drugged ever since the attack on the Flagg.
“I don’t know, Charles”
“Hey! Shut up in there!” Yelled a Viper oddly enough named Johnny Sasaki*, suddenly he clutched his stomach as something didn’t agree with him or he was hoping it wasn’t a bout of Montezuma’s Revenge which he was prone to suffer all to frequently; his problem was solved with the an AK butt to the face.
“Get us out of here!” Franks pleaded with Mutt.
Before releasing the four officers, he had made to sure of their identities. “Junkyard, are they the real thing?”
A sniff and bark form Junkyard confirmed their identities. “Stand back!”
“Commander Katse! A formation of Skystrikers and a Medea transport coming in fast!”
A growl of frustration came from the Intelligence Chief. How as he going to explain this to Cobra Commander? How were the Joes able to launch an attack? Who was helped them? “Go to red alert! Launch the High Mobility Zakus!”
The formation of Skystrikers continued their approach. The Skystrikers will deal with any defenses allowing Matilda to either land or airdrop the Knight Sabers and the Zakus. “This Wing leader 1. Target sighted. Going clean!” Scarlett released the fuel pods from her Skystriker; the others followed her lead.
Rising from the base to engage the Joes were the HS-06R High Mobility Zaku IIs. “Bandits inbound! Split tactical!” Ace ordered
“Grey Fox! Wolf! Prepare for deployment! Go after those Zakus!” Scarlett ordered.
“Acknowledged!”
“Just turn me loose!”
“The two Knight Sabers approached the rear of the Medea. Both had their FAST packs equipped and ready for combat.
Besides the 9mm vulcans and her beam rifle and sabers, Fox also armed herself with a hyper bazooka. Hopefully the Joes could end this insanity before Cobra can bring their true objectives to fruition. It was Grey Fox’s hope to flush out the Synthoid, she knew who he was, and he was riding with Scarlett.
As the bay door opened, Wolf and Grey Fox approached, ready for combat. “Any words of wisdom, Priss?”
“Just an old saying we have in the 101,”
“What’s that?”
“Time to spread our wings and fly!” Wolf exclaimed as she jumped from the Medea.
“Who dares, wins.” Fox said to herself as she followed Wolf, she quoted the motto of the British SAS. Firing her dual Vernier thrust pack, Fox headed for the Zakus. A lock-on confirmed, Grey Fox fired a round from her hyper bazooka on a High Mobility Zaku.
“Nice shot, Fox!” Wolf complimented, turning her sights on a few Zakus, ready to show them why they called her Wolf. “Now its my turn! Time for some wholesale destruction!” Wolf smiled evilly locking her missiles on five to six Zakus. Wolf unleashed a swarm of missiles from the chest, shoulders and leg modules.
The Medea transport swooped in past the Zakus for the base, air dropping the Joes and the two remaining Knight Sabers.
HS-06F and HS-06M Zaku IIs engaged the Joes and they touched down. Cover Girl in an HS-05A Zaku I raised her bazooka and fired at an oncoming Zaku Marine. The shot blew off the Zaku’s leg. Soon Cover Girl fired her jumpjets dodging oncoming fire from several more F-series Zakus firing her bazooka.
With the grace of a dancer and the deadliness of a samurai, with fluid motions (due to the magnetically coated joints) Dagger moved though the mangrove, Zakus falling to her beam sabers.
With a bead on the Knight Saber through his machine gun’s scope, the Zaku moved his finger to the trigger.
Without the briefest of glances, Dagger threw her beam saber at the Zaku. The energy blade flew with a spin, stabbing the Zaku and operator through the chest. Completely cold, Dagger retrieved her beam saber without even caring about the fate of the Viper, this was war, and if she had to she won’t take prisoners. In the back of her mind, a small part of what was Linna Yamazaki chided herself for the callous attitude she has for killing another human being becoming the scum who killed her parents. Silencing the conflicts of morality and her duty, Dagger focused on her job.
From the ground, Cover Girl watched as Wolf still engaged the High Mobility Zakus, sometimes it would be hand-to-hand. “Be careful, Priss” She whispered then turned to Cypher. “Let’s move out, we still have a job to do.”
Scarlett shook off one Zaku only to having three more Zakus open fire on her. In the RIOs position, ‘Duke’ flipped two switches dumping the Skystrikers of weapons and countermeasures, leaving Scarlett defenseless. “Duke’ gave her a mock wave, pulled on the ejection lever, activating the ejection seat. “Fox, I’m ready.” Scarlett spoke into her lip mike.
“Acknowledged, Wolf and I are on our way.”
Flying alongside the cockpit, Grey Fox wrapped her arms around Scarlett; with the enhanced strength of her hardsuit, she easily lifted the redheaded Joe.
Touching down, ‘Duke’ only saw the Skystriker crash from his vantage point. He smiled at his handiwork only regretting that he never had a chance to kill Grey Fox, she was too cagey and never alone. “So much for Scarlett anyway.”
Making his way through the undergrowth, ‘Duke’ made his way to a rock face, pulling down a rock, which revealed a keypad and punched in an access code.
Touching down, Scarlett, Grey Fox and Wolf reached the access hatch; Fox kept tabs on ‘Duke’ via her sensors. “Wolf, if you could ring the doorbell?”
“Stand back.” Wolf took a few steps back, cracking her knuckles; she locked on the hatch and fired her remaining missiles.
The spent FSW FAST packs blew away from her suit, giving Wolf full range of motion. Fox moved to examined Wolf’s handiwork, which severely compromised the door but still stood. “Nice job,” Fox quipped, “What are you going to do for an encore?”
Approaching the door, Wolf didn’t say a word. With a roar, she swung her leg in a powerful roundhouse kick, with the strength booster on full; making contact with the door, which flew down the corridor. “Holy shit!” Was all Scarlett could utter getting a first hand look of the YHS-02’s strength booster.
The two Knight Sabers followed Scarlett in she armed herself with a machine gun from a fallen Zaku.
Splitting up the three began searching for the Synthoid. Her beam rifle at the ready, Wolf stalked the corridor. Turning the corner, Wolf came upon the officer’s club. “A fully stocked bar! If I know who God was I’d thank her.” Wolf by no means an alcoholic, but Wolf hadn’t had a drink since GI Joe’s funding had been cut and she had no beer money for some time. “Fox might kill me for this, but what the hell! Time to do some looting!”
Grey Fox scanned her area carefully with her beam rifle. She was under a large amount of stress, along with suffering from exhaustion. Grey Fox fought against her exhaustion to stay focused on her job. Moving down the corridor, a Zaku approached with five other individuals. “Freeze! All of you!” Fox threatened with her beam rifle at the ready.
“Take it easy, Fox, its Duke.” The Zaku responded as he lowered his weapons.
“Slowly!” Fox ordered, “How do I know you’re not the Synthoid?”
“Because, I’m not.”
“Do you remember when you introduced me to General Hawk?”
“I’ve never introduced you, Hawk told me you met when you were a cadet at West Point. You two are very good friends. Actually he told me you’re like a daughter to him.”
Fox slowly lowered her beam rifle. If he were a Synthoid, he wouldn’t have known such intimate knowledge between Fox and Hawk. “Its good to see you, Duke,” Fox lifted her visor, the serious look on her face did not betray the relief of seeing a friend safe. “We better link up with Scarlett.”
Scarlett carefully scanned the room before entering, but it was barely lighted. Entering, the door closed behind her. Before she could react, a hammer punch was thrown to the back of her head. “I wanted to kill Grey Fox for her meddling, but you will suffice!” ‘Duke’ sneered at Scarlett as he held her by the collar.
“How nice,” Scarlett quipped sarcastically, as she rammed her knee into ‘Duke’s’ stomach. Breaking free, Scarlett swung her right leg into the Synthoid’s head, hard.
Seeing the Zaku machine gun on the ground, ‘Duke’, still on the ground, crawled for it before Scarlett could grab at it.
Back on his feet, ‘Duke’ swung the stock of the machine gun into Scarlett’s right knee. Screaming out in pain, Scarlett fell, clutching her injured knee. “Okay, Scarlett, I’m weary of your meddling as well as that bitch, Grey Fox!”
“Not so fast, you phony!” A familiar voice from an HS-06F Zaku II threatened, a bazooka at the ready.
“Duke?” Scarlett whispered, trying to stand but the pain and her knee refused to allow her.
In sight of the HS-06F Zaku and the YHS-01 with her beam rifle ready, the Synthoid dropped his weapon and ran down the corridor.
‘Duke’ ran into the main control room as Berg Katse fumed at the situation, as his Vipers and Zakus have been contained by both the Joes and the Knight Sabers. He made a mental note to have all of the personnel who survive and escape, evacuated back to Cobra Island, then severely punished for their incompetence. “Duke! You have a lot of balls to return!” Katse yelled; pulling a handgun on the Synthoid, thinking it was the real article.
“Commander Katse! Don’t shoot! I’m the Synthoid!”
Katse gave a malicious smile reaching for the main control panel, “Perhaps, but one way to find out!” he pressed the button ordering the Synthoid’s destruction. He relished the destruction of the Synthoid, almost wishing to send the genuine article straight to hell! But this will have to do. “Hmm?” He looked at the control panel, “Aw crap! If I’m reading this right, I just set all Synthoids to self-destruct!”
Within the Pentagon, ‘Franks,’ ‘Ledger,’ ‘Howe’ and ‘Sharp’ briefed all military commanders that the US military structure will be reorganized which Cobra will be recognized as an ally. As they mentioned Cobra, the four officers began to melt as the nanomachines overloaded and burned out leaving a puddle of gray goo before the stunned officers. Leaving the military with no other option than to return control back to civilian control.
Duke, Scarlett, who leaned against Duke’s shoulder, Mutt and Grey Fox burst through the door leading into the Synthoid breeding chamber, the Joes arrived to find, after Katse bolted, a gray puddle of goo. “So much for my doppelganger.” Duke quipped. In his mind he hoped the damage caused by the Synthoid was not irreparable.
“This only reinforced my suspicions from the beginning.” Grey Fox stated as knelt before the puddle, examining the gray goop.
“Explain, will you Grey Fox?” Sharp politely requested
“Certainly, Colonel.” Fox answered rising to her feet. “A maxim written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for Sherlock Homes is ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth.’ Through simple deduction I was able to piece together what was going on, but I had no concrete evidence to act on it. Only circumstantial.”
“What was your evidence?”
“One, even though I met General Franks just once and rather brief, he was a strong proponent of the GI Joe team and I heard he supported the formation of the Knight Sabers, even though there has been pressure from the liberal section in Congress, especially those who happen hail from San Francisco to limit our operations. Two, the odd behavior exhibited by Duke.” Fox noted the strange look from the Joe commander, “One, Duke would never confuse Scarlett for Cover Girl, since Duke and the former are very good friends. Two, only General Hawk, and myself have complete access to the files concerning the YHS series hardsuits and beam weapons, no one else, which Synthoid tried to access. Three, Duke was always looking for an excuse to account for his whereabouts, plus when we were ready to move out, his enthusiasm seemed very transparent, almost as if he were reading a script. There were only about five people I could trust, Scarlett and my Knight Sabers.” Fox said with finality.
“I do congratulate you for your deduction, Grey Fox.” Howe told her.
“Thank you General.”
“The Commander is gonna have my ass on a platter for this. Damn it!” Katse grumbled; he managed to sneak away to the sub pens, taking a sub to Cobra Island. A devious smile then came to his lips. “I will overcome this setback. Then I, Berg Katse, will send both GI Joe and the Knight Sabers, all of them to fiery bowels of Hell!” He cackled.
Approaching the Medea transport, Grey Fox received a preliminary medical report from Doc on the four released officers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wolf carrying what looked like a large keg of beer on her shoulder; Cover Girl carrying two cases of something what appeared to be liquor, with Roadblock and Gung-Ho doing the same. “Priss, have you been looting again?” Fox sighed.
“We’re out of booze at home, Boss.” Wolf quipped as she tossed a bottle of scotch to her CO. “I did a little shopping.”
Examining the bottle, Fox lifted her eyebrows and approving look came to her face holding a bottle of 30-year old scotch. “Good work, Priss.”
“Thanks, Boss.” Wolf broadly smiled
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