Berserker Road

**April, 1994**

**Austria**

The three flatbed trucks rumbled through the Austrian
countryside. Making their way from the military airfield where they had arrived
from Britain, they were now heading for a small Austrian military weapons
testing range where they would be off-loading their cargo. On the rear-most
truck was a Z-Force battle tank. The middle truck carried an Armadillo
mini-tank and a Z-Force jeep. The lead truck carried the vehicles for testing,
a pair of modified Z-Force jeeps. In the cab, Wheels was sitting next to the
driver reading the file provided by Special Weapons Force on the modifications.

Special Weapons Force had made several changes to Action
Force vehicles over the years; the SAS Force Battle Bike was a Rapid-Fire Bike
with the sidecar-minigun removed and a pair of 9mm guns added under the nose
fairing, for example. In recent months, the Z-Force jeep, a mainstay of the
unit since its formation, was losing its role to the American-built Hammer
jeeps, which had better armour and weapons. In an effort to find a use for the
venerable jeeps, SWF had come up with the Improved Weapons Kit, or I-Wick, to
give the vehicles extra life. The I-Wick basically added an armour shell to the
rear deck, in place of the usual roll-cage, with a variety of weapons fits
available.

I-Wick Mk. I was a simple gun turret in the middle of the
shell, which allowed for the mounting of a machine-gun like the FN MAG light
machine-gun, the M2 .50 calibre heavy machine-gun or even the M134 minigun. The
Mk II I-Wick offered a turret operated from inside the vehicle that mounted
four light anti-tank missiles, such as the US TOW missile, the French HOT or
the British Swingfire. A third version mounting six FIM-92 surface-to-air
missiles was also being developed.

The Mk II and Mk III I-Wick were particularly of interest to
Wheels, since they would fill capability gaps in Z-Force. Currently, the unit’s
anti-tank capability was either with man-portable systems, the Wolverine
multiple-launch rocket system vehicle or the small surface-to-surface rockets
mounted on their ATCs and Hammers. The anti-air capability of Z-Force lay in
the Whirlwind towed twin gun system, fixed air-defence units or man-portable
systems. The Whirlwind, however was not an ideal option, it depended on being
stationary to fire and wasn’t quick to be moved.  An attempt to create a mobile gun system, mating a Whirlwind
turret to a Wolverine chassis, had been made by Special Weapons Force. It
hadn’t made it to production due to problems with the controls. Although SAS
Force had their own mobile SAM vehicles in the Mobile Missile System or the
Puma, a modified version of the Cobra Stinger jeep, Z-Force lacked its own
system. Wheels didn’t know why they’d not bought Pumas of their own, as they
had with the Hammer, Recon Jeep and Wolverine.

Sighing, the Dutchman put aside the paper work and fished
out a small bottle of water from a pouch on his belt. As he swigged, he looked
around the roomy four-seater cab. Driving the truck was Big Rig, an American
inter-state trucker recruited to Z-Force some years earlier. Sitting in the
seats behind them were Ton-Up, the Swedish Z-Force NCO who normally drove
Wolverines or the Armadillo mini-tank and Roadhog, another Z-Force jeep driver.
Roadhog was asleep, snoring lightly, behind Wheels. Ton-Up, however, was awake
and reading a British comic book. A US comics publisher had started selling
comics based on GI Joe’s exploits some years earlier. Finally, their UK arm had
begun producing their own ‘Action Force’ comic; using what information they
could glean from public sources or whatever they made up.

Wheels rolled his eyes. “I still can’t believe you read that
rubbish,” he commented to Ton-Up.

The Swede didn’t even tear his eyes from the pages. “Hey
man, leave me alone, plenty of us read it. The stories are pretty good, even
when they make stuff up.”

Wheels rolled his eyes again. The cover artwork showed two
SAS Force soldiers, judging by the black and grey camo, firing slightly
unrealistic M-16s next to a very curvy woman in a white uniform, firing an M-16
of her own with one hand, whilst punching the air with her other hand. Next to
her was a blonde guy in a similar white uniform, a snarl on his lips, firing
his own M-16. Canadian flags on their uniforms indicated they were apparently
supposed to be Deke and Moosejaw, Wheels thought. Under the title, a separate
banner read ‘Together with GI Joe Canada against The Red Shadows!’ whilst an
explosion filled the background.

Wheels shook his head and turned away. Big Rig looked over
at him before looking back at Ton-Up, “So, Ton-Up, what’s Wheels got against
these four-colour funnies anyway?”

Ton-Up laughed, “Basically he hates the fact that in a story
set at Christmas, they showed him getting a foo, I mean a soccer shirt for
Christmas. He was shown getting an Ajax shirt and since he’s a PSV Eindhoven
fan, he was not happy. Think giving a Yankees shirt to a Red Sox fan. I think
he’s still holding a grudge.”

Wheels glowered at Ton-Up, but said nothing.

The trucks rumbled along the Austrian highway for a few more
miles before the radio on the lead truck crackled.

“*Big Rig, this is Long Haul. I’ve got a visual on two Cobra Ferrets and an armed pick-up coming up on our six. They’re hauling ass, dodging through traffic. I don’t think they see us yet, but I can see them in my rear-view mirrors*."

Long Haul was the driver of the third Z-Force flatbed, a
British Army truck driver.

“Roger that, Long Haul, play it cool, m’man, they might just
pass us by.”

“*Don’t bet on it, mate, we’ve got AF logos painted on our rear ramps, remember?”*

Big Rig cursed even as the sound of automatic weapons fire
erupted behind them.

“*We’re taking fire. Thankfully this clown on the lead Ferret’s just hitting the ramp and it’s armoured.”*

Wheels took the radio from Big Rig. “Long Haul, this is
Wheels, any idea who they are?"

“*Affirmative, Trax has positive ID on Butcher on the lead Ferret. He thinks it’s Pyro on the second.”*

“The Berserkers,” Wheels spat the name like a curse.

“Who are the Berserkers?” Big Rig asked as he checked his
rear-view mirror.

Ton-Up frowned at him. “Don’t they give threat briefings to
Logistics and Transport?”

“Not very often,” Big Rig replied.

“They’re four Cobra troopers who Anna Conda allows to run
amuck as an independent group at times. According to the head docs, they’re
psychotic, sociopathic, narcissistic and various other words for mentally
unstable. Butcher’s got a dangerous obsession with bladed weapons and cleavers.
Hence the name. He’s a Cobra trooper. Pyro’s a Viper and has a mania for fire,
blowing stuff up and incendiary weapons. Then there’s Triggerhappy, a former
Crimson Guardsman who’s a weapons expert.
Marksman and sniper trained, but just as happy to blaze away with a
machine-gun. Last but by no means least, is Roadkill, a lunatic HISS driver who
will eagerly run down anyone who crosses his path. He has an unhealthy taste
for driving fast and dangerously. He’ll be the one in the pick-up,” Wheels
explained. “Action Force have run into them several times, including when
Quickfire was chased out of Anna Conda’s castle by Pyro and Butcher; the time
Butcher and Triggerhappy stole a prototype weapon from Stonebury range and
Kickback trashed a shopping precinct getting it back and then the four of them
kidnapped the MoD liaison Trent’s daughter and wound up killing him when he
tried rescuing her, single-handed.”

“Sounds like a right bunch of douchebags,” Big Rig
commented.

“Got that right,” Roadhog said. He’d woken up without the
others realising.

Bullets were still pinging off the armoured ramp of the rear
truck, until Roadkill swerved out from behind it and sped up alongside,
scattering cars as he did, allowing Triggerhappy to fire at the cab.

The Crimson Guardsman was rudely surprised when Trax opened
fire at him with an MP5K sub-machine-gun. Triggerhappy wildly sprayed return
fire at the truck, causing Trax to duck back inside, as the 7.62mm rounds
bounced off the truck’s cab. Then Roadkill got a shock when Long Haul swerved
the truck toward the pick-up, forcing the HISS driver to veer away, smashing
into the guardrail and scraping the paint off as the vehicle slid along side
before he regained enough control to veer back toward the truck.

Butcher opened fire at the truck with his Ferret’s 9mm guns
in front of his handlebars, but the rounds had even less effect than the
machine-gun rounds Triggerhappy was still blazing at the truck with.

In the cab of the second truck, Bronco, the Z-Force
infantryman pulled out the M16 assault rifle he carried, wound down the window
and leaned out. Bronco took aim and fired a single round at the pick-up truck.
The bullet shattered the windscreen and caused Roadkill to slam on the brakes
and swerve away. Bronco fired another, nearly hitting the pick-up’s rear-view
mirror, but instead hitting the window in the driver’s door. Again, Roadkill
swerved away, before trying to turn back. The Infantryman’s accuracy caused
Triggerhappy to notice and turn his machine-gun on the second truck instead.
Bronco ducked away, as the machine-gun rounds slammed into the armour. In the
front of the cab, Road Ranger pulled a key from around his neck and handed it
to Egghead, the Special Weapons Force test driver. “Unlock the glove box,
there’s an MP5K inside, you can use it.”

“How can I use it, I’m in the wrong place?” Egghead asked.

Pointing with one hand, whilst steering with the other, Road
Ranger indicated the hatch in the top of the cab. “Climb out there,” he said.
“It’s supposed to be use to man a Ma Deuce in combat zones, but we don’t have
one. You can get out though and climb on to the truck bed.”

Egghead looked at him incredulously, “You’re nuts!”

Bronco pulled back from the window as more rounds rattled
off the armour. “I’ll do it,” he snapped. “Get out of the way.”

Egghead scrambled across the seats into the backseats.
Bronco then scrambled the other way, before standing up and unlocking the
hatch. Bronco clambered out the hatch, crouching on the cab before he slung his
rifle over his shoulder and dropped on to the trailer.

None of the Berserkers were paying attention to him as he
made his way unsteadily along the side of the Armadillo mini tank. Bronco
unclipped the tarpaulin over the vehicle and allowed the wind to whip it aside.
He climbed into the mini tank’s cockpit in the turret and scanned the
unfamiliar controls. He soon found the weapons controls, rotated the turret and
checked the four 40mm guns were loaded. They were; the shells had been fitted
after the trucks had been off-loaded from the planes.

Bronco then activated the targeting system, aimed at the
armed pick-up truck and fired. A single 40mm shell blasted out of the guns,
slammed into the pick-up and threw it off the road, flipping it over in the
process. The pick-up crashed down upside down, before exploding.

Both Ferrets opened fire at him as Pyro and Butcher tried to
avenge their fallen comrades.

Their attention diverted, the two Berserkers left themselves
open to Trax in the trailing truck and Roadhog in the lead truck. Both opened
fire with MP5Ks. Butcher was hit in the arm and fell off his Ferret, nearly
getting run over by a car behind him. The Cobra trooper managed to roll clear.
His Ferret however was hit by the same car and shoved into the path of Big
Rig’s truck, which slammed into it and sent it spinning across the road into
the guardrail. Pyro was hit by Trax and fell off his Ferret and was promptly
run over by the car behind him, which skidded to a halt.

The three Action Force trucks came to a halt, blocking the
road.

The Z-Force soldiers dismounted from the trucks as Road
Ranger called into Action Force’s Austrian headquarters to report on what had
happened.

Bronco climbed down from the Armadillo after shutting it
back down. He jogged back down the road to the burning wreckage of the pick-up
truck.

As Wheels covered him, Roadhog flipped Pyro over and
conducted a swift check of him.

“Crushed ribs, broken arms. He might yet live,” the Belgian
said.

“Butcher’s only got a superficial arm wound,” Ton-Up called.
“As well as bruising, that is.”

Bronco trotted back to the others. “No way Roadkill and
Triggerhappy survived,” he reported as Big Rig opened a pair of handcuffs and
restrained Butcher.

“You killed them!” Butcher snarled.

Bronco cradled his M16, barrel pointing toward the
Berserker, “Yeah, I did. That’d be the same maniacs shooting at me and my
mates. So spare me the whining.”

He looked back at Wheels who had holstered his sidearm.
“Triggerhappy probably died when the pick-up landed anyway,” Bronco added.

Wheels shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter,” he replied. “It
was a righteous kill anyway. Self-defence. Defence of innocent civilians.”

Austrian police cars and a pair of helicopters began racing
toward them.

Long Haul turned at the sound of the sirens.

“Ah, the local authorities are here,” he commented. “I
called them on my radio.”

Ton-Up glanced at the two Berserkers.

“End of the road, guys. You’ll be locked up for a long time
to come,” the Swede commented.

## Background

A short burst story, I wanted to do a story with some of Z-Force in that wasn't a massive battle story and I wanted to use the Berserkers. This was the result.

The idea of in-universe comics was one I came up with as I was writing, I honestly had no intention of doing that until I decided Ton-Up was reading and I needed something for him to be reading. It does neatly provide a way to excuse some of the wackiness of some stories: Oh, that was a comic from in-universe! [ETA: 25/3 I'm re-reading my IDW trades of the ARAH comics and I just noticed in #79 the news-stand the Joes are hiding under is selling Marvel comics, including both GI Joe and GI Joe: Special Missions, making in-universe Joe comics canon!]

The football rivalry thing was also a little fun, I had intended to make Wheels annoyed at being replaced by someone else in a story. I then decided to change it to a sports shirt, thinking since he's Dutch, I'd make him an Ajax fan, before realising he's from Eindhoven and then discovering PSV Eindhoven and Ajax are rivals, so it fell together well.

I had intended the story to be longer with much more of a chase and running battle going on, but after getting demotivated in my writing I decided to wrap it up quicker and that an extended chase wouldn't necessarily be a great read.