GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Chapter Seven

“Believe it or not, this is a fairly state-of-the-art facility,” Hawk said as he led the team down the wide corridor. Doors to each side led to small office areas or supply rooms. Dull gray tile lined the floor, and the ceiling was made up of dusty plastic panels and fluorescent lights. The office rooms were lined with cheap metal filing cabinets layered with dust.

“For the 1950s, maybe,” Breaker muttered, glancing at an obsolete computer sitting at one of the work stations.

Scarlett glanced over her shoulder at Snake Eyes and Stalker, who were walking a few paces behind the rest of the group. Stalker was talking animatedly, but he kept his voice low enough that no one else could hear him. Snake Eyes walked with his hands folded serenely behind his back, his footsteps making no sound.

“Here we are,” Hawk said, as they approached the elevators. He pressed a button on the wall and the elevator light went on with a chime. “Let’s take a trip into the basement, shall we?”

“I can hardly wait,” Clutch said, looking around at the rest of the team with a corny grin on his face.

The elevator doors opened to reveal an elevator much larger than what Scarlett had expected. There was easily enough room for all eleven of them to fit inside, with room to spare. It was all bright silver, with a computerized control panel. Hawk pressed a few buttons and the elevator doors slid closed. It began to descend silently.

Scarlett took a quick moment to get a better look at her new teammates, since they were lined up along the walls, all facing the center of the elevator. At first glance, it seemed like a pretty diverse group for such a small team. She wondered if that had been intentional or not. There were a couple of standard old school soldiers, like Gung-Ho and Shipwreck, along with a few younger tech types, like Breaker and Short Fuse. Heavy Duty was the muscle, Snake Eyes was the commando, and Clutch seemed determined to position himself as the comic relief for the team. Scarlett wasn’t entirely sure where she fit in.

It was impossible to tell at such an early stage how well the team would actually work together, but so far she felt comfortable with her new teammates.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened up. Hawk smiled and walked out, and the rest of the team followed him into a large circular lobby that split off into four directions. Large lights overhead shined down on a solid gray marble floor. The lobby was surrounded in tall glass windows that gave them a view of the surrounding areas, lined with computer consoles and large projection screens.

Suddenly, Scarlett felt as if she had walked onto the bridge of a spaceship. Everything was gray and silver, and it all shined as if it was brand new. Arched windows all around, huge plasma screens and advanced computer stations. It was the polar opposite of the main floor above them, everything was sleek and contoured instead of dull and blocky.

Hawk looked at their surprised faces and said, “Welcome to the Pit.”

He led them forward into the main command center. There were two long rows of computer consoles and three large screens up above them. In the center of the room was a large table with a glass cover. Hawk slid his hand along the edge of the screen and it suddenly came to life under his touch, flashing on like a computer screen. A map of the United States blinked into existence in bright colors, but Scarlett realized that it wasn’t a map at all, but a real view of the country by way of satellite imagery.

“Oh, I like that,” Breaker said, a wide smile on his face, looking at the rows of computers. “What kind of hardware are we running here?”

“I’m not a computer guy,” Hawk admitted. “But I can assure you it’s the most advanced system we could get. We’re linked in with every military server in the country, as well as law enforcement and even some international agencies. The amount of information we have at our disposal here is really quite impressive.”

“What about security?”

“This place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox,” Hawk said. “Our electronic security protocols are pretty airtight, or at least that’s what the tech guys have told me. I suppose you’re the expert in that field, so you’ll have to give me your opinion when you have a chance to give the system a test run.”

Breaker nodded and looked appreciatively around him. “When will that be?” he asked.

Hawk smiled and gestured to one of the consoles. “Be my guest.”

Breaker clapped his hands eagerly and sat down at a one of the stations, immediately hunkering down over the keyboard and typing commands onto the screen. Duke leaned on the edge of the table and watched him as he flashed through windows and screens, accessing the system’s primary database.

“Let’s give Breaker some time to get acquainted with the system,” Hawk said. “There’s still lots more to show you.”

As they went through the command area, Scarlett could see that the other members of the team were just as amazed as she was. Even Short Fuse, who didn’t seem like the most amiable person, was staring around with an impressed smile on his face.

“Alright,” Shipwreck said. “I got to ask why they hid this place. I mean, do those buildings upstairs even serve a purpose?”

“It’s a cover,” Stalker answered from behind them. “This is a covert task force, remember? We want our headquarters to be a little inconspicuous. If anyone comes to investigate what we’re doing here, they’ll see those buildings and figure we’re just some kind of administrative unit.”

“Yeah, but it seems like they went to a lot of trouble to keep it hidden like this. I mean, how much did all this cost?”

“It doesn’t matter how much it costs,” Hawk said. “All that matters is whether or not it was a worthwhile investment. And that is all up to you. If our mission is successful one, then all this was worth it.”

“There’s only eleven of us here,” Gung-Ho added. “But this place looks like it could handle a staff of a hundred or more.”

“That’s very true,” Hawk said with a knowing smile. “Perhaps in time, we’ll have that many people on the team. For now, it’s just us, though.”

Two long mahogany tables were set perpendicular to the wall, with lap tops and folders scattered on it. Hawk leaned against the table and said, “Stalker, if you would be so kind to continue the tour. I would like to work with Gung-Ho and Shipwreck for a little while and get their opinion on some the plans we’ve laid out.”

“Sure thing,” Stalker said.

Gung-Ho and Shipwreck took a seat at the table and Hawk directed their attention to the folders on the table. The rest of the group continued through the main command area and passed through a set of large double doors. Stalker held them open politely as everyone walked through.

Down the hall and through another set of doors was the armory. One wall was lined with weapons; everything from large assault rifles like M-16s to smaller automatic weapons like Glock 19s. There were even a few models that Scarlett did not recognize at all.

“Oh, that’s my baby,” Heavy Duty said, walking toward one of the equipment tables. Sitting there was a huge Minigun attached to a circular metal frame. Heavy Duty walked up to it and patted the long barrels. “This bad boy is the XM250C, the handheld Mini. The first real portable Minigun designed to be used by a single operator.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Short Fuse said. “That’s not even in production yet. It’s still a prototype.”

Stalker crossed his arms and gestured at the Minigun. “You’ll find that we have access to several prototype weapons here. In fact, we’ll do some of the testing on these prototypes by using them in the field.”

Heavy Duty lifted the huge weapon assembly and braced the butt of the gun against his hip, swinging the metal frame around his waist. It locked into place in the fixture under the gun, wrapping around his waist like a huge metal belt. He hefted the weapon up and chuckled in his deep voice.

Short Fuse walked over to the other wall, where a series of missile launchers were lined up horizontally. He put his hands on his hips and nodded approvingly. “I think I can work with this,” he said.

“Good to hear,” Stalker said. “Why don’t you two hang out here for a little while and get situated? I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Sure thing, man,” Heavy Duty said, looking around. “I feel right at home already.”

Stalker led Clutch and Scarlett down another hallway and up a slight ramp to a large garage area packed with equipment. Mechanic’s tools were lined up on pegs on the wall, and there were large tables and racks full of machinery and more tools.

Parked in the garage were two armored jeeps painted gray. Scarlett didn’t recognize the model, but they were larger than standard jeeps and smaller than Humvees. One of them was fully enclosed, like a Humvee, but the other had an open back with a .50 caliber machine gun mount attached.

“I guess this is my area, huh?” Clutch said, nodding his head. “These are the new modular MPAVs, aren’t they?”

“They certainly are,” Stalker said. “You’ve worked with them before, haven’t you?”

“Not directly, but I studied them. They’re not officially in use yet.”

“They are now,” Stalker said, patted Clutch on the shoulder.

Scarlett looked around and realized that Snake Eyes was no longer with them. “Hey,” she said. “Where did he go?”

“He disappears sometimes,” Stalker said. “Come with me and we’ll to catch up with him. Clutch, why don’t you stick around here and get yourself acquainted with your new specialty? The user’s manual and design specs are over there on the work bench.”

Clutch laughed to himself as he went to the manual, which was the size of a telephone book. “Oh man, this is gonna be great,” he said sincerely.

“Let’s go downstairs to the training room,” Stalker said to Scarlett. “Snake Eyes will be waiting there for us.”

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