CHAPTER 25: NEMESIS ENFORCERS
Time: Unknown. Location: Cobra Island.
Deep beneath Cobra Island lies a series of rarely explored caves. For untold ages, they sat empty. No living thing having penetrated the darkness and emerged back into the light since their creation. The locals spoke of their existence in hushed whispers. Mothers scared their children into submission with threats of abandonment at the mouth of the antre. They told one another that the howling from within was the screams of the souls of the damned. They were thought of as the gateways to Hell, even before the snakes arrived.
When Cobra arrived, they quickly took over the island. Scouring every corner, overturning every rock. Setting up defensive positions; machine gun nests, SAM outposts, armories, barracks. They built their nests upon the rocks. When they found the caves, a team of Rock Vipers was quickly dispatched to explore them. The first team to enter the caves never came out. Radio contact was lost immediately. The second team, a combination of Rock and Night Vipers, was far more successful. Many suspected that the first team had gotten disoriented and fallen into one of the many abysses that opened in the floor of the dank den. After a thorough exploration and mapping, Cobra Commander ordered the entrance sealed. After which, they were once again allowed to resume their slumber.
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Within the 3rd sub-basement level of the Terrordrome red lights flash. Vipers scramble to secure various rooms.
Techno-Vipers and Tele-Vipers take up arms while Medi-Vipers and other support staff rush for the exits. All to no avail. The monsters have been unleashed.
From a small monitor, the masked face of the Commander demands an accounting from his lead geneticist, "Mindbender, what have you done this time?!"
"I assure you, Commander, all is under control."
"Don't lie to me, Mindbender."
The sounds of gunfire echo throughout the lab. Fire alarms blare their warning. Containment vessels are compromised. Toxo-Vipers scream as vats of chemicals and sludge come loose from their bases. Mayhem abounds. "Commander, it is nothing I can not deal with." The wrenching sounds of metal tearing away from metal attract the doctor's attention. He turns as the doors are tossed aside. His personal detachment of Vipers, what was left of them, rush to the smoldering opening. They fire blindly at the looming shadows. They never had a chance. Their lifeless bodies were torn to pieces and cast aside. Smoke chokes the room. The screams of the dying flood his ears. "Commander, I will have to get back to you." Mindbender flips a switch. All the video screens go black. He waits as the lights flicker, trying desperately to fulfill their singular purpose. Time slows. Mindbender takes it all in; the wanton destruction, the mangled corpses, the pools of coagulating blood, the sounds of death. His time has finally come. One of his pets has decided to bite the hand that feeds it. He smiles. He has long prepared himself for this day. He knew it was only a matter of time before he found himself at the receiving end of one of the unnatural beasts. The smirk of a madman plainly painted upon his face, he watches as they force their way into the room.
The first two were exquisite creatures. Standing seven feet tall, their long muscular frames needed only to lower their heads to enter. The third. The hulking brute, almost as tall as his siblings, nearly as wide as he was tall, had a harder time. Unable to enter the room due to the small opening the beast screamed in frustration. His brothers joined him. The sound shook the room and brought a tear to the doctor's eye. Placing a hand on either side of the door frame it pushes, the reinforced concrete and steel yell in protest against this force of un-nature. The three humanoids now occupied the same space as their despicable creator. The largest reaching out to grab his next victim. Mindbender, however, was at peace.
"Pa. Pa." The hand, large enough to crush Mindbender's head like a grape, the hand that had doubtless torn men limb-from-limb, rested gently upon the doctor's shoulder. "Papa." The creature's siblings reached out to the man they saw as a father, mimicking the larger creature's gesture.
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For more than a decade, Mindbender was the sole provider and caregiver of the great creatures. They were deemed too hostile and unpredictable to be allowed within the walls of the Terrordrome. They were coaxed into the forbidden caves. There Mindbender, "Papa," trained his children in the finer use of tools and weapons. By sheer strength alone, they had destroyed his lab and killed over 40 snakes. If they could but use weapons, they'd be unstoppable. They were triplets, made from the same DNA, however, while two were identical, the third was the largest and most powerful. His brothers looked to him for leadership. They cared not for Mindbender, but they harmed him not less they fall prey to their brother.
They learned to use the most basic of weaponry, clubs, axes, swords. They could never grasp the intricacies of firearms. Nor would they don the habiliments of civilized man, preferring instead to wear skins of the animals brought for their training and food. They were beautiful in their primitive simplicity. Any Cobra Trooper assigned to assist Mindbender with his trips to the cave, who was unlucky enough to be seen by one of the triplets, was immediately pounced upon. Mindbender never interfered. They would have their fun until they either consumed the man or his body was little more than a stain on the rocks beneath their feet. It became that those who were demoted within the Cobra ranks would request transfer to the leaky suit brigade rather than the "Ragdoll Brigade," a loose reference to the way the triplets worried their victims much like a terrier does a rat.
Mindbender dubbed his charges the Nemesis Enforcers. He argued and convinced the Commander, that should an event arise that threatened the Island, to the point that they needed to abandon her, his creatures needed but to be released and any who stood in their way would stand no more. It took much convincing, but the day came when the Commander relented and allowed for the necessary measures to be made. The controls fell upon his most loyal Colonels, the twins Tomax and Xamot. He felt it appropriate that the release of the Nemesis Enforcer triplets was to be commanded by the twins.
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Upon evacuating the Island, it was with a heavy heart that the Commander ordered the creatures let loose upon the traitors. With Mindbender missing, he knew Cobra would be unable to retake their home. He was the only living being whom the things allowed to leave them unharmed. He had vanished several weeks prior to the Storm Trooper uprising. His children, as he came to call them, had gone unfed and unvisited. They would not be happy. Finding Mindbender must be made a priority if Cobra was to ever reestablish the Island.
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As their escape pod rose out of the murky waters off the coast of the Island the survivors, turned refugees, looked toward their former home. A massive explosion rocked the south side of the island, not far from the mouth of the cave. Tomax worked the controls while Xamot turned on the monitors. As the computers flicked to life the sensitive instruments could pick up the screams of the men from the Island. Cobra Commander sat eyes blazing. The rest of his face, hidden. Only he knew what thoughts and emotions flashed through his mind. The three sat in silence for some time, watching as various air and watercraft sped away from the Island. Surely it wouldn't end so quickly. The Commander knew that General Eisnekopf had been one of the first to leave. He also knew the General would leave troops to try and stop the attack. He knew the General's arrogance would get the better of him, he'd be unable to accept that three creatures, primitively armed as they were, could decimate his grand Storm Troopers.
"…Commander?"
Shaking his head the Commander turned to his Colonel. "Yes, Tomax?"
"Sir, I was asking if we should execute Bushmaster?"
"Certainly."
"Very good sir. Setting course for Brazil. Xamot, contact all South American assets. Let the Nest know to expect the Serpent."
"Right away Brother." Working at the high-tech terminal, messages were sent, whether their recipients would receive them was unknown. With the world turned upside down, they were unsure how many operators would be left. It was however all a part of the plan, losing some if not all their people. So long as the Nest had survived un-compromised all was not lost. If however it had been overrun, there were other locations they could go to but valuable time would be lost. Not to mention the manpower, supplies, and most importantly the technology they'd have to proceed without.
"Encoded messages have been sent. Rendezvous point 33Z chosen."
"Thank you, Brother. Sir, everything is being prepared."
"Yes yes. Very good. Proceed."
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Sitting in a corner the three gathered around the small glowing embers. They were taught by their Papa how to make things glow and give off heat. Although they need neither, their eyesight is well adapted to the conditions of their residence. Their mitochondria were manipulated to ensure that their bodies could endure even sub-arctic temperatures. No, they needed not the hot things but they did enjoy watching their food die by the orange glow.
The last time Papa came he brought these small animals. They were fast and screamed when caught and they didn't taste very good. But they were food. Pa taught them to save food, not to eat everything all at once. These are the last of the things. They each get one. Their bodies rumble. Things inside them are angry. Papa better hurry.
As they sat, the hole Papa came through opened. The loud scraping of metal on stone got their attention. The largest one cleared his bloodlust long enough for thought, "Papa will be there. He will make the angry things inside us stop."
The three watch the opening expecting their Papa. He never shows. The hole stays open. From outside, they can hear yelling. It smells like there are lots of glowing things outside. Then they hear the voices. Papa brought toys. The two thinner framed brothers stand. The larger one stays on his haunches. Waiting. There they are. But where is Papa? They are yelling. They seem mad. They must have hurt Papa. Like a flash, the largest, the leader, is out of the hole. He has two toys in one hand. They didn't make a noise, but they did get his hand sticky. He hates them. Two more have sticks spitting at him. With a grunt, his brothers have them and have torn them in two. More keep coming. The triplets use the toys to hit other toys. The brothers eat pieces of those that they grab. They hear more coming. The leader turns to his brothers, "We go. Find Papa." He turns. A squad of heavy Storm Troopers steps from the jungle growth.
"OPEN FIRE!"
Their sticks throw things at him. He hates their sticks. He likes the shiny stick Papa gave him. Then a light in his memory fights to flicker to life. He reaches to his back. His shiny stick is there. He will show them that his shiny stick is better. He cleaves through several men with barely a swipe of his arm. The brothers follow his lead as always, they use their sticks, one giant stone hammer the other a double-bladed battle-ax, to beat and hack their toys into puddles. The toys just keep coming.
"Come." Simon trudges into the jungle toward the angry noises. He knows they hurt Papa. He will hurt them. The three of them step into a clearing. They are surprised by a group of waiting toys. They have big things with them. They've seen them before. The toys go inside and the things move. As they step closer one wakes up and turns its black eyes toward them. It spits big glowing things at them. Then lots of noise. Lots of glowing. Their bodies shake. The ground shakes. It smells like their glowing things again, only a lot more of it. The three don't understand what is going on. They just know they don't like it. When the ground stops the toys and their things are still there. The three turn toward them. Simon says one word. A word Papa was very careful to teach them. One word that would come to define everything that happened next. With a pointed finger raised, he utters to his siblings, "War!"
What happens next can only be described as pandemonium. The smaller brothers immediately charge the waiting Storm Troopers and their commandeered HISS Tanks. As the creatures attacked, the Storm Troopers turned to regroup but were set upon by Hell unleashed.
More sticky stuff. More smelly stuff. More food for their bellies. Simon runs his shiny stick through the toy's things. When they open up he tears the toys apart. It is sheer carnage.
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From atop a nearby hill, the Good General Eisenkopf watches the brutal slaughter of his men. He watches as these grotesque creatures survive an explosion that should have left them nothing but piles of ash. He has lead his men with little rest for several months. First in the shadows, then in an all-out battle for control of the Island. His hand holds the responsibility for the deaths of Cobra and civilians alike. He is no idle leader, planning from the sidelines, he is on the field of battle. Yet, he knows when the tides may turn. He recognizes the situation the Commander has left him in. He can't help but envy the Commander at this moment. Having a weapon as powerful as these three things and saving them until the end. He will not lose the Island and if he should so it will burn to the glory of the Storm Troopers.
The Snakes fought viciously. Many of his men had perished. But many more of his enemy had met their end at the hands of his Troopers. Those who fought the hardest; Range Vipers, Alley Vipers, Shock Troopers, EELs, and Crimson Guard were too few to make an impact. He made a mental note that he should expect cells of these tenacious men and women to be a thorn in his side as he took the United States. Now there was little more than a scattering of resistance as Cobra holdouts fought not for the Commander but for their lives.
Turning to his First Sergeant, "Evacuate the high command. Take a battalion of Storm Troopers to deal with this problem. I want them taken alive. If that is not possible then decimate what remains. If we can not keep her, no one shall. I'll be leading our march on Springfield to continue the Purge."
"Sir, yes sir." As the General's top shirt he knows his job. He's been at this for decades. No monster is going to scare him or his men into submission. He snaps off a salute and begins making arrangements to lead the Storm Troopers to another victory. He gathers his best squads and makes preparations. "Men you see what's down there. Those things are coming for us. Cobra Commander seems to think a few freaks can take down the mighty Storm Troopers. He thinks he can retake what is now ours. We must show him he is wrong. The General wants them alive, we will do what we can. Should we fall then too shall the Island fall. The coming battle will be glorious indeed." The resounding shouts of "HAIL EISENKOPF!" showcase the absolute loyalty the Storm Troopers espouse. Even knowing death lurks over a hillock the men show no fear. After all, orders are given they set off.
War indeed.
