Cobra's new enhanced fighter pilot infiltrates the Pit.
Detailed summary
Stiletto
In Dr Mindbender's laboratory on Cobra Island, the evil Doctor has turned a former Strato-Viper into a Star-Viper, who shows his fast reflexes by catching some flies that bother Serpentor. Mindbender intends to send the Star Viper to a military base in Utah, that Mindbender suspects of being the G.I. Joe shuttle launch site. They don't know that a B.A.T. has a spy camera installed by Fred VII, so he and the Baroness hear about those plans, which worries the Baroness since Serpentor is making his move for command, but Fred calms her down with a kiss.
The next day, a B.A.T. drives a truck to Utah and leaves the Star Viper, who disguises the B.A.T. as a trucker and instructs it to drive back and forth in the highway twice a day, always passing that same spot at noon and at midnight.
On Cobra Island, Croc Master finds cooking fires, of the kind he has been finding for months, but never finds who makes the fires. Croc Master applauds the cleverness of whoever has been living in the swamp without being caught, so he decides that as long as he keeps for himself and feeds off the little animals, it's nothing to bother about, and decides not to tell his Cobra superiors about it either, or they would think he isn't doing his job.
Back in Utah, new Joes Wildcard, Windmill and Skidmark drive past a hitchhiker (the Star Viper) who dissapears in the tima that takes Windmill to turn his head. Shortly after, the new Joes reach the base, where Gung-Ho makes them sing and the clumsy Wildcard breaks his pen. Inside, Spirit guides them underground to the Pit.
Above ground, the Star Viper leaves the underside of Skidmark's Desert Fox jeep and sneaks into the Pit, where Iceberg is giving a tour to the new Joes, and Mainframe shows them his latest gizmo for the shuttles, a receiver/decoder/data-link that can read every signal from every U.S. spy satellite, making it the ultimate black box. This is all eavesdropped by the Star Viper.
That night, the Star Viper takes the black box and sneaks his way to the exit, but is found out by Flint and Lady Jaye who were making out outside. The Star Viper punches Flint and throws Lady Jaye away, then gets away in the A.W.E. Striker and Flint sounds the alert. Mainframe notices the black box is missing and the Joes take on their vehicles, but a pressure-release charge left by the Star Viper jams the blast doors in place, so they can't get the vehicles out. Wildcard's Mean Dog and Skidmark's Desert Fox are the only vehicles available fro the chase, due to being parked avobe ground. Wildcard rides with Flint and Lady Jaye, and Skidmark with Windmill and Tunnel Rat.
The Star Viper dodges all the Joes' shots, and by midnight, the trucker B.A.T. passes the spot and the Star Viper jumps into the truck. Wildcard raises the rocket pods of the Mean Dog and locks on the truck, but the Star Viper enters the truck trailer, where his Stellar Stiletto is stashed, and takes off before Wildcard blows the truck out.
The Joes are sure that the man belonged to Cobra, but Flint assures that they won't be gloating for long, as the black box has an undetectable anti-tampering mechanism rigged to an electronic code sequence, that if forced will blow up through fifty square feet. Despite that, Flint knows that the honchos at the Pentagon are not going to be happy about their secret, expensive toy going missing.
Appearances
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Civilians |
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Memorable quotes
- None yet.
Other Notes
Errors
- "Skidmark" has got to be the most ill-advised codename in the G.I. Joe canon.
Items of note
- First appearance Wild Card, Skidmark, Windmill, Star-Viper, Croc Master
- Captain Minh returns.
- Baroness and Fred VII have a love affair.
- When the new Joes are brought into the Pit, Flint seems to be staring at Lady Jaye's butt.
- This is not the first time a B.A.T. has driven a semi-truck.
- In the United Kingdom the story was reprinted in Transformers #294, #295, #296 & #297.
Real-world references
- No references.
Footnotes and References
Gallery
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