GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Chapter Twenty-Three

The truck pulled to a stop in front of the school, a cloud of dust rolling past from the unpaved dirt road. The doors opened up and Major Bludd stepped out of the passenger side, tapping his pipe against his wrist, knocking tobacco onto the ground. He wore a dark brown military uniform with silver shoulder pads, and had pistols holstered at each hip. He adjusted his belt and looked around, fumbling in his pocket for a pouch of tobacco.

The school was located at the end of a long unpaved street right through the center of town, and only housed half a dozen classrooms, some administrative offices, and a gymnasium. It served as Bludd’s base of operations. Down the street in front of the school were scattered buildings; the local post office, a drugstore, a tiny strip mall that contained a shoe store and a dentist’s office among others, and there was a large church at the end of the block. All the buildings were empty, except for the church, which Bludd had taken as his personal residence for the time being. The grass was knee-high in most places, not having been mown in years, and right now it was far down on Bludd’s list of priorities.

His driver, a man wearing a black Cobra uniform and helmet, waited by the truck as Bludd walked into the school and entered the lobby, his black boots clicking loudly on the dusty tile floor. Wooden crates were piled up everywhere, and would have to be disposed of eventually, but that was also not a priority. Right now, Bludd had only one thing on his itinerary.

The gymnasium was a mess. Half of it was lined with cots, where the new arrivals slept. The other half of the gym was stacked with various crates and containers, full of supplies and equipment, which were now scattered everywhere. A line of tables along the wall under one of the basketball hoops was covered in food supplies, such as cans and scraps of cardboard boxes, along with a pile of discarded plastic bottles.

Several soldiers were in the gym, some of them lying on their cots, some sitting around and talking. When they noticed Bludd, they jumped up out of their chairs and immediately saluted him.

Bludd snapped off a salute as well. “As you were,” he said. “Where are the others?”

“Doing combat drills, sir,” the soldier in front said. The red Cobra insignia on the shoulder of his jacket marked him as a squad captain.

Bludd gestured loosely toward the garbage and mess. “Get this cleaned up. Just dump it all out back for now. Cobra Commander will be here in a few hours.”

At the mention of the Commander’s name, all of the troops jumped into action. It was almost like just mentioning his name acted as a post-hypnotic suggestion to ensure complete obedience. Right away, the troops began gathering up the scraps and garbage and packing them up to haul outside. Bludd nodded to himself and continued through the gym and to the large set of double doors near the back.

Behind the school was a large open field flanked on both sides by wooded areas that stretched for several acres in each direction. Most of the field was not mown, like the rest of the properties near the school, but by now much of the tall grass had been stomped down. Several unmarked moving trucks were parked in a line in the middle of the field, and emptied crates were stacked nearby. Bludd walked across the flattened grass, hearing shouts nearby on the other side of the trucks.

More crates and boxes had been stacked up across the field, and several abandoned cars were also scattered around, turning the area into an obstacle course. Two black-uniformed Cobra officers stood on a long crate, overlooking the course, shouting directions.

Bludd watched as the Cobra troops, some dressed in red uniforms and others dressed in blue body armor, ran through the makeshift obstacle course, ducking behind stacks of crates and crouching behind vehicles as the two officers barked orders. They rushed in between locations, taking cover, cradling assault rifles in their arms, weighed down by full combat gear. More soldiers stood at the opposite end of the course, firing at them with paintball guns. The officers ordered the men forward and they dodged paintball fire, trying to make it to the end of the course. Most of the crates and cars were heavily decorated with orange splotches of color, and Bludd spied a few of the soldiers with orange markings as well.

“Major Bludd, it’s good to see you, sir,” one of the officers said, noticing him standing there.

Bludd walked up to them and crossed his arms, staring out at the advancing troops, nodding in approval. “I like this. Is everything going well?”

“Very well, sir.”

“How many of them have been shot?”

“We had four or five men go down for the first few drills. But this drill and the last one, none of the men took hits.”

“Wonderful. And I see you have them in full gear, that’s a good idea.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As much as Bludd would have preferred that the men continue their drills, he knew they had to get ready. “Cobra Commander will be here in a few hours. He abandoned his operation in New York and is moving his headquarters here permanently.”

The officer was taken aback in shock. “We don’t have time to get everything ready!”

“Don’t worry about it for now,” Bludd said. “The Commander knows that we haven’t completed all of our work here. Just get the men cleaned up and ready to give him a demonstration. I told the men inside to get rid of all the garbage as well. Let’s try to make this place look nice when he arrives.”

“Yes, sir! Of course!”

The officers immediately ended the drill and began ordering the men around. Bludd stood back and allowed the officers to take control of the situation. Even though he was technically in charge, one of his objectives was to get the officers to assert as much authority as possible, since they would be the ones in full command when Bludd left. His employment with Cobra was temporary. As soon as he felt the troops were properly trained, he would collect his payment and leave.

The next few hours went by in a flurry of activity, as the troops finished distributing the weapons that had been delivered the day before, and organized the empty crates a bit more. Destro had delivered his final shipment almost a week early for some reason, and now the Cobra troops had a full assortment of weapons, from assault rifles to pistols to grenades to rocket launchers. Bludd hoped to start live-fire exercises in a day or two, as the troops so far had not been using actual ammunition in their practices.

At first, Bludd had been concerned about the use of live ammo, since the loud sound of constant gunfire tended to attract attention. But it was not a problem here. The town was pretty isolated, so there was no one around to hear the gunfire. According to the Commander’s information, the nearest residents to the town were almost fifteen miles away, so they could fire all the ammo they wanted and no one would hear it.

Right now, he had four hundred troops at his disposal, most of them having been stationed here in town for almost a year. While the buildings near the school were still abandoned, most of the homes nearby had been occupied for some time by Cobra troops, and some of the businesses were open as well, such as the grocery store and a doctor’s office, which were also staffed by Cobra troops. The town was not exactly thriving, but it was functional and almost self-supporting. Cobra owned some warehouses in a neighboring city where all their supplies were delivered first, and then Cobra agents brought the supplies into town, so no outsiders ever entered the town limits. But in time, that would change.

Almost four hours later, a helicopter appeared in the sky, flying low over the surrounding mountains. The Cobra soldiers lined up in formation, Major Bludd in front, and waited expectantly as the helicopter lowered to the ground.

The side door slid open and Cobra Commander stepped out, dressed in a dark blue uniform with silver shoulder epaulettes and a bright silver Cobra symbol on his chest. He wore tall black boots and his hands were concealed in black gloves. And as usual, he wore a helmet with a reflective silver facemask, and he also sported a dark blue cape. Bludd had so far never seen even a glimpse of Cobra Commander’s real face, and he suspected that even the Commander’s bodyguard, the ninja Storm Shadow, had never seen it either.

The wind from the helicopter rotors buffeted them, but Cobra Commander barely seemed to notice. His cape flapped wildly behind him as he surveyed the crowd of troops, and after a few moments he stepped forward and approached Major Bludd. Behind him, Storm Shadow emerged from the helicopter as well, and the rotors finally began to slow as the engine shut down. The ninja wore his standard white clothing, with a hood obscuring his face, and he had one sword sheathed across his back instead of the usual two.

“Good work, Major Bludd,” the Commander said. “How much of their training have you completed? Surely you aren’t done yet?”

“Most of their basic training is done. We’re doing advanced combat drills right now. We just started doing weapon drills, since we only got the weapons recently.”

“I understand. But you’ll have to speed things up, I’m afraid.”

Bludd was not surprised. The only reason the Commander would move his headquarters on such short notice was if something had gone wrong in New York. Although he was very curious what had happened, he had the discretion not to ask questions.

“When is everything else going to arrive?” he asked.

“Tonight,” the Commander said. “We had to ship the rest by truck. Doctor Mindbender is coming as well. My command center is established and ready to set up our equipment, correct?”

“Yes,” Bludd answered.

“Good. Let’s go down and see it, shall we?”

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