G.I. Joe: Doomsday Protocol

Chapter 9: Dr. Mindbender's Last words

Twelve hours from the end of the meeting found thirty devoted members of Cobra's elite Vipers - one being a Tele-Viper, all with rifles in hand, extra ammo clips on belts, and Viper helmets under arms - gathered at the tarmac. A small, unmarked, cargo plane rested before them, its engines warming up as Hank ushered everyone aboard via the rear ramp.

Chuckles led Kyle, Steve, Ana, and Larry to their seats lining the interior wall of the plane. They strapped in, Chuckles doing a quick check to make sure his men were secure.

He tried to sleep during the long flight. He tried to dream of Lizzie and Clara. Every once in a while, the memory of life before Cobra would slip in, causing him to think about what life will be like after he gets out; if that day would ever come. But that thought was always followed by guilt, fearing he would have to leave Clara and Lizzie behind.

Chuckles' stifled his concerns as the cargo plane jolted from the lowering of the landing wheels. They were all ordered to don their Viper helmets and stand at attention. After doing as ordered it became apparent that they had all now shed their costumes. Now they were who they believe themselves to be; Vipers. Chuckles put his helmet on last, taking a quick look at the thirty men around him, a way to remind himself of the dangerous nest in which he had become too accustomed.

The inside of Chuckles' helmet lit up. He toggled it through the options for viewing through the HUD; infrared, night vision. The visual data fed to him through the face visor gave digital read-outs of ammo rounds in each clip, number of clips, number of grenades; all of which Chuckles had to manually input knowing the helmet would track the data through audio and visual feedback delivered each time he fired his rifle. It was old M.A.R.S. Industries technology no matter how advanced it might sound, so it was never entirely accurate.

Chuckles' unit was assigned channel three on the radio. They called out individual audio checks to make sure all five of them were hearing one another. Chuckles checked Kyle's rifle to make sure he had loaded it correctly. He slapped the top of Kyle's Viper helmet to let him know he got it right. He could almost see Kyle's smile under the visor.

Chuckles then stood next to Ana. She was the only female Viper on this mission. In fact, she was one of only a dozen female Vipers ever deemed worthy of honoring the uniform. She looked around before rubbing her leather-gloved hand gently and caringly against Chuckles' helmet visor. It lingered there for a second before she snapped back into the now, remembering why she was there, what they were there to do, and that she was a Viper.

The cargo plane touched down hard. The engines slowed but remained on as the rear ramp opened and the Vipers marched out, not a concern of resistance on their mind. They were home. This was the equivalent of the Cobra Holy Land.

They looked around at the remains of the runway and the hangars, more green than metal. They seemed almost dumbfounded as they rushed toward the eroding traffic control tower, getting clear of the cargo plane as it lifted its rear ramp and ascended back into the sky, disappearing into the forming storm clouds and leaving Chuckles and the army of Vipers behind.

A slim, very erect standing Viper took control. "Fall in, Vipers!" It was Hank, no doubt.

"Do we know the location of this server that... called... to you, sir?" asked Chuckles.

Hank read the heavy sarcasm in Chuckles' tone. "No, I don't, soldier. But the brilliant Dr. Mindbender told me what ta do and where on the island ta go when the call came. Did he tell you, soldier?"

"No, sir."

"Were ya' there inside the freighter on Dr. Mindbender's last days?" His rant was getting louder. "Were ya' fortunate enough to escape with ya' life while the brilliance behind the Cobra legacy died in ya' arms?!"