Death in the Desert
A team of Joes consisting of Lt. Falcon, Duke, Breaker, Crankcase, Heavy Metal, Thunder, Cross Country, Quick Kick, Doc, and Crazylegs, have just destroyed several Terrordromes. Unfortunately, they are then taken prisoners by Tomax and Xamot, who proceed to beat up Duke in front of the others. Cross Country tries to help Duke, but ends up in a fistfight with a viper. Eventually, Tomax and Xamot decide to dispose of the Joes by tossing them into a ravine.
Cobra Commander is evacuating due to Snake Eyes' infiltration of the Cobra Consulate building in New York. Tomax informs the commander of the situation with the Joes, and the commander orders them to be eliminated. Tomax and Xamot interpret this as a directive to call in some of their nastiest vipers to deal with the Joes. As the vipers arrive, some of the Joes try to fight back, but they are ultimately trapped in the ravine, with the SAW viper shooting at them with his heavy machine gun.
Despite the odds against them, some of the Joes bravely sacrifice themselves to protect the others. Lt. Falcon manages to kill the SAW viper and uses his machine gun to take out some of the other vipers. The surviving Joes call for evacuation, but Tomax and Xamot jam their radio transmission and send in more vehicles and troops to finish them off.
The battle continues, with the Joes facing an overwhelming enemy force, but they refuse to give up. However, their luck runs out as Breaker, Crazylegs, and Quick Kick are killed, leaving only Cross Country, Duke, and Lt. Falcon as survivors. As they fall through the sky in the Mobile Battle Bunker, their fate is uncertain, and readers are left wondering whether they will make it out alive.
"G.I. Joe prisoners? Are you crazy? Get rid of them immediately!"
"What? Did I hear you right, Commander? Exactly what do you mean by that?"
"What else can it mean? Just do it!"
--What Cobra Commander and Xamot have here is failure to communicate.
Other Notes
Errors
While Snake-Eyes is seen on the cover, he is not featured in the story.
When the Viper pistol-whips Cross-Country, his faceplate is colored like skin.
The Vipers are missing their gloves half the time.
The coloring is incredibly messed-up on page 11. Hawk is either wearing a jacket, or a long-sleeved shirt, or a short-sleeved shirt, or his sleeves are ripped. Not even the artists can tell Hawk and Duke apart!
On page 18, either we switch to the desert one panel sooner than the captions indicate, or there are suddenly an extra half-dozen people in the Mobile Battle Bunker.
The dossier in this issue incorrectly lists Storm Shadow's first appearance as G.I. Joe #23.
Items of note
First Appearances: S.A.W.-Viper, Countdown, Mobile Battle Bunker
Cobra Commander and the Crimson Twins allude to some ongoing plan for Trucial Abysmia and neighboring Benzheen.
The letters page for this issue has a fan complaining about the lack of realism. Convenient timing!
The letters page also explains the Arashikage I-Ching hexagram. Its meaning: fire over water, which indicates the need for perseverance and caution. Or: "thus, the superior man takes thought of misfortune and arms himself against it in advance."