The Road to Yuma

**P.I.T. III, Utah**

**May, 1996**

Hawk entered the lab facility in a lower level of the P.I.T.
to see the GI Joe team’s resident inventor Gears standing at a workbench
waiting for him. Dressed in stained coveralls, the inventor nonetheless managed
to snap to attention and salute. Hawk returned the salute and said, “At ease.”

Resting on the workbench was a small vehicle; it was about
three feet square, with large tracked wheels on either side and a turret on the
top. Two thick, rigid aerials at the back suggested it was remotely operated,
Hawk thought.

“So, what have you got?” the general asked.

“Do you remember the PAC/RATs?” Gears asked.

Hawk thought back, then nodded, “Sure, the programmable
robot things we had back in the early ‘80s. One with a flamethrower, one
carried four rockets and one armed with machine-guns. I seem to remember they
were abandoned after only a few months of use because they were prone to being
jammed.”

Gears nodded. “Right, they also had a limited capability;
being limited to set patrol routes or extremely short range remote operation.
This little monster however is better than them. Using the latest in computer
and communications technology, I’ve given this thing a super-encrypted radio
link that operates on ultra high frequencies for a much-reduced chance of it
being hacked. The hull is made of a new composite of titanium and Kevlar making
it resistant to up to 20mm rounds. The tracks can withstand up to a fifty-cal
round.”

Hawk held up his hand halting his recitation. “Whoa, hold
on. Go back to the control system. What’s the range like and how is it
operated?”

“The UHF system is the same as that used by TV sets, whilst
it can be blocked by hills or large buildings, it’s got a range of around four
to five miles. In fact, part of the control system is a TV camera to relay
imagery back to the operator,” Gears explained. He pointed to the camera on the
turret. “The camera is strictly visual light, but there’s a FLIR camera here,”
he flipped open a small panel, “which is usually covered up to protect it. The
operator controls it via a rugged laptop using the keyboard and a small flip-up
control stick.”

“You steer this thing like a video game?” Hawk asked.

“Essentially, yes,” Gears answered. “Anyone who’s played… I
dunno, a Need For Speed or Test Drive game could easily drive this thing. The
control stick is used to steer the turret with a trigger switch on the front
for the gun and a thumb switch on the back to fire the grenade launcher. The
vehicle’s controlled by standard keys, W to go forward, S to reverse, D to turn
right and A to turn left. A couple of other buttons can be used to activate the
small lights on the front, the FLIR camera and if needed, can fire out either a
single smoke grenade or a flash-bang.”

Hawk moved closer and looked over the vehicle. Mounted on
the turret was the recognisable shape of an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Behind
the two cameras, were small silos, which Hawk realised were obviously the
mounts for the two grenades. At the front of the vehicle’s main hull was a
larger, shorter barrel. Behind it partially visible was the rotary drum of a
multi-shot grenade launcher.

“Is that a SAW?” he asked, to confirm what he thought.

“Yes, the 7.62mm light machine-gun is the largest weapon it
can mount. It could also be fitted with an M16 assault rifle, M40 sniper rifle
or the M240 LMG.” Gears indicated a part of the turret. “The ammo is in the
turret in a special belt feeder, carrying a total of two hundred rounds. The
gun is limited to firing in five-round bursts to both conserve ammo and to
mitigate against overheating the barrel.”

Gears moved around the workbench and pointed to the grenade
launcher barrel. “MM1 multi-shot grenade launcher. It’s a fixed mount so it
fires straight ahead, but it gives the unit that little bit of added firepower,
ideal for blowing off doors or clearing an enemy gun-nest or engaging a
bunker.” He indicated the hull of the vehicle. “It’s protected by the armoured
hull, and is loaded with six rounds.”

“What’s the power plant?” Hawk asked.

“Standard 12 volt car battery. Drives the tracks and
provides power to the turret and the cameras. The battery’s readily swappable
and has the advantage that it produces minimal heat, considerably lowering the
vehicle’s IR signature and it barely makes any noise. Both quite handy for a
covert recon platform, right?”

Hawk nodded. “Okay, I take it you want to put it through its
paces?”

“Yeah, I heard you had a group of Joes going to Yuma Proving
Ground for some training. I want to take this puppy along and test it out.”

Hawk nodded, “Fine, but I’ll be telling the Joes in question
to provide a complete report on it. For unbiased opinions.”

Gears nodded. “Fine.”

“Report to Major Storm in the motor pool at oh-nine hundred
tomorrow.”

Gears saluted and Hawk left.

The following morning, Gears entered the motor pool before
09:00, pushing the unmanned vehicle on a flat trolley. He found a corner to
wait in as the other Joes began to arrive. Finally, Major Storm approached him.

“Gears, I presume?” The Major asked.

The inventor nodded and saluted. Major Storm returned the
salute. “Over here,” he added, curtly.

The officer led him over to where several vehicles were
waiting to be moved up to the surface level via an elevator. Various Joes were
leaning against them, some Gears vaguely recognised.

“This is Rampage,” Storm began, gesturing to a lean, Black
guy in a light brown outfit, a ski mask in his hand. “He’s driving the Striker.
That’s Side Track, a new Ranger on the team. He’ll ride with Rampage.”

Side Track raised his hand in a brief wave.

“Next we have Cross Country, driving the HAVOC and Heavy
Duty, who’ll man the guns.”

Gears nodded, “Hi, guys.” He’d met both men before the Joes
had been closed down.

“I’ll be driving the truck, where we’ll have Mirage,
Leatherneck and Bazooka.” Mirage was a Joe Gears had yet to meet. He was blonde
haired, with goggles on his forehead, wearing camouflage utilities. He was
cradling an M249 SAW in his hands. He’d met Bazooka and Leatherneck before.

“Bringing up the rear in the Armadillo, Thunderwing. New
tank driver.”

Thunderwing looked vaguely familiar, Gears thought, like
they’d met before. He was dressed in green coveralls, with a helmet in his
hand. Short brown hair covered his head.

“Alright, get your damn toy on the truck and let’s mount
up!” Major Storm said.

Leatherneck and Bazooka helped Gears load the UGV aboard and
then took seats near the front of the truck, whilst Mirage watched with
interest as Gears opened up the bag carrying the control unit and began running
tests.

Gears noticed Mirage’s attention as the truck rumbled
forward on to the lift.

“What’s up, Staff Sergeant?” Gears asked.

“Nothing, sir,” Mirage replied. “Just curious about the
device, sir.”

“Sit yourself down, Sergeant and I’ll show you how it works.
Might even fire up the sim programme and let you take a try.”

Mirage grinned like a child in a toy store and sat down.

Several hours later, the convoy was still wending its way to
the Yuma Proving Ground along the back-roads of Arizona as Leatherneck was
taking a turn at the simulation programme for the UGV. Mirage had proved adept
at the controls and now Leatherneck was taking a turn to prove to Gears anyone
could use it.

Suddenly, the Joes in the truck heard the scream of incoming
fire.

“Mortars!” yelled Leatherneck and Bazooka in near unison.
The truck picked up speed as the explosions sounded somewhere near by.

In the AWE Striker at the front of the convoy, Side Track
was holding the dash with one hand and yelling into the radio with the other.

“Taking fire! Taking fire! Mortars left side, on the hill!
Incoming fire!” he yelled as another shell arced overhead and detonated in the
sandy ground.

“Stop yelling in the radio and return fire!” Rampage
ordered. “We’ve got a 40mm gun on the top, use the damn thing!”

Side Track quickly dropped the radio handset and grabbed the
small control unit, which allowed the light vehicle’s gun to be used by someone
in the seats. The Ranger swivelled the gun around and fired off three return
shots in the general direction of the mortar firing points.

The shells exploded among the rocks, seconds later 40mm
cannon fire from the Armadillo mini-tank began ripping across the hillside as
Thunderwing opened fire.

Suddenly, anti-tank rockets rippled out of four different
positions on the hillside, Rampage accelerated before throwing the AWE Striker
jeep into a power-slide turn to avoid one of the missiles. Another slammed into
the side of the HAVOC, the assault vehicle’s armour absorbing much of the hit,
as Cross Country accelerated to try to avoid the third. The fourth missile
flashed over Thunderwing’s head, causing the tank driver to reflexively duck as
he swerved the tank off the road.

Both Thunderwing and Side Track began firing into the hills,
even as Major Storm tried to avoid more anti-tank missiles and mortar shells.
One shell hit the road near the truck, causing the officer to swerve, to avoid
the detonation. The truck rumbled off the road and back on as the major fought
for control. An anti-tank missile struck the HAVOC’s forward articulated
tracks. The tank-style treads were shredded by the missile. The HAVOC quickly
ground to a halt.

Heavy Duty didn’t hesitate to throw himself out of the open
gunner’s seat atop the vehicle and scramble off the vehicle as three more
rockets hit the immobilised HAVOC. Cross Country quickly opened the canopy,
which had starred with the impact of shrapnel, and scrambled free. Both Joes
ducked behind the bulk of the vehicle as automatic weapons fire began to rain
down on the HAVOC.

“I think we really ought to reconsider using the HAVOC,”
Heavy Duty said to Cross Country in a remarkably calm voice. “The main armament
doesn’t traverse, the gunner is incredibly exposed to hostile fire and the
canopy is frankly a bullet magnet.”

Cross Country’s face flushed, he was very attached to the
big hunk of iron, but then he seemed to calm down. He shrugged, “There was talk
the Mean Dog was supposed to be the replacement, but the damn thing was plagued
with problems with the articulation system. There was also talk of replacing it
with the Persuader, with the laser cannon replaced by a conventional gun.” He
shook his head. “Neither idea ever happened.”

Thunderwing continued to lay down fire at every firing point
he could, but there fact was, he was running low on ammo and there were too
many positions. He instead steered the Armadillo across to the HAVOC, slipping
behind it.

“Get on the back,” he ordered Heady Duty and Cross Country.
“Let’s get out of here!”

Before the three could move out, the Striker took a near-hit
and was flipped over, before gunfire shredded the truck’s forward wheels.

Thunderwing hunkered down in the Armadillo’s cockpit.
“Major, you copy?” he radioed. “The HAVOC and Striker are immobilised and
you’ve lost your left front wheel.”

“*I read you, Lieutenant*,” Major Storm answered. “*What’s your status?”*

“Low on ammo, taken two hits to my armour, but still
running. I’m positioned behind the HAVOC, with Heavy Duty and Cross Country.”

There was a brief pause.

“*I just ordered Mirage to radio for help*,” Major
Storm said after a moment. “*We’re being jammed. Short-range radio only.”*

Seconds later, Bazooka and Mirage scrambled out the right
side of the truck. Mirage, carrying his M249 SAW, looked angry. Bazooka had his
Carl Gustav recoilless rifle over his shoulder and a small bag of reloads.

Mirage took up a firing position and began laying down
suppression fire. Seconds later, Leatherneck leaped from the back of the truck,
carrying a medical kit, before scurrying across to the AWE Striker. As
Leatherneck ran, Bazooka fired his Carl Gustav toward a group of rocks where
several muzzle flashes could be seen.

The Marine reached the Striker, which was leaning to the
right on its side. Side Track and Rampage were sitting next to the jeep. The
Ranger was holding his M4 carbine, whilst Rampage was holding his Colt pistol
in his hands. Leatherneck dropped next to them. Rampage had pulled off his
balaclava, Leatherneck noticed. A gash decorated his forehead.

“You need a dressing on that,” he commented. Leatherneck
opened the med kit and pulled one out.

“Any help on the way?” Side Track asked. “Our radio was
totalled.”

Leatherneck shook his head as he applied the dressing. “No,
we’re being jammed. We’ve got short-range radio and nothing else.” He looked
Rampage over, “Any other injuries?” he asked.

“Bruises and scrapes,” Rampage answered. “Nothing some
painkillers couldn’t help.”

Leatherneck frowned before looking in the kit. “Haven’t got
any, so suck it up and Ranger on,” he said. Side Track sniggered as the Marine
turned to him. “What about you?”

“I’m a bit bruised and I’ve got a headache,” he replied.
“I’ll live.”

“Bet your ass you will.” Leatherneck grabbed the med kit and
looked toward Bazooka. Catching the anti-tank specialist’s eye, he nodded.

Bazooka fired another recoilless rifle round as Mirage began
firing again, then Leatherneck sprinted back to the truck.

“Guy’s got a great bedside manner, don’t he?” Side Track
said sarcastically.

“What do you expect from a jarhead?” Rampage answered.
“Besides, you’re the one trained as medic. You ought to have patched me up.”

Side Track glowered back, “The med kit was destroyed,
remember?”

Back at the truck, Leatherneck told Major Storm the other
two Joes were fine. The Major had managed to scramble from the truck’s cab
safely.

Major Storm frowned. “They’ve got us immobilised, but
they’re being selective about firing at the truck… I wonder if they know about
the UGV?”

“Who do you figure it is?” Mirage asked, having ducked back
behind the truck.

The officer shrugged. “Could be Cobra, could be some
mercenaries. I don’t know.” He turned to the other Joes, “Anyone got any ideas
on how to take out the jamming gear and get us some air support?”

Gears stuck his hand up, like a kid in class. “I can use the
UGV, Major. I could take out the jammer and some of the mortar teams.”

The others looked at him sceptically. Then Mirage said, “It
ought to be doable, sir.”

Major Storm looked at Mirage. Before the officer could say
anything, Mirage went on, “I tried the geek’s simulator out, sir. It should be
easy for him to do what he’s saying, if we give him a bit of coaching.”

“The ‘Geek’, sergeant?” Gears interrupted. “Might I remind
you, I am a Captain.”

“Sir, sorry, sir.” Mirage looked suitably chastened. The
Joes might be loose with discipline, Major Storm conceded inwardly, but there
was certainly no excusing that.

Gears climbed up on the truck’s wheel, grabbed the UGV’s
controller and hauled it out. He quickly reset it to control of the unit,
instead of the simulator. Then he fired up the UGV. The vehicle was virtually
silent as it moved forward to the tailgate. Leatherneck opened the back of the
truck carefully, avoiding several shots toward him.

The UGV moved forward and dropped off the truck, before
Gears sent it speeding away. A few rounds pinged off its armour before it
rolled off the tarmac road and on to the scrub ground.

At the controls, Mirage and Major Storm watched over Gears’
shoulders as he kept the UGV driving up the hillside, swivelling the turret
around as he went to scan the area. Gears hit the control that activated the
FLIR camera. The infrared camera would help spot targets, even though it was
daytime. The drone’s targeting system was next to be switched on, which put a
red square around any heat sources it detected.

Gears steered toward a large cluster of heat signatures
behind a large pile of rocks. Sure enough, behind the rocks were four gunmen.
Each wore a black jump suit, grey boots, and black gloves. Their heads were
hidden behind a gold helmet and a blue facemask. A light-anti-tank weapon lay
abandoned nearby, whilst two of the gunmen were fussing over a light
machine-gun.

“Who are they?” Mirage whispered, despite the fact they couldn’t
hear him.

Major Storm was silent as he leaned closer to the screen.
“Looks like they’re Black Dragons,” he finally said. “A mercenary outfit that
Action Force and the Oktober Guard have reported clashing with.” He looked at
Gears, “Smoke ‘em.”

Gears flicked off the safety and used the UGV’s SAW to shoot
the two gunmen at the machine-gun first. Then, as one of the others turned, he
swivelled the turret and fired another five-round burst. The fourth gunman
managed to get off a burst of automatic fire from his sub-machine gun, before
the final burst took him out.

“Move out, quick,” Major Storm said to Gears. “Before the
others come looking.”

Gears nodded and sped the UGV away from the dead gunmen. The
UGV moved fairly quickly, but Gears was considering the fact he’d just killed
four men. He felt oddly unconcerned. He didn’t know if it was because he’d done
it at a remove, through the drone or what, but he didn’t feel happy, sad, angry
or anything. He decided he’d have to talk to some of the others about it later.

The UGV approached another large boulder. Here, the
visual-light camera showed another pair of Black Dragon gunmen. They were using
assault rifles with telescopic sights attached. Gears quickly fired on them
before moving onward, climbing the drone higher up the hill. Here he came
across a group of scrub bushes that hid a mortar position. Three Black Dragons
were positioned with the mortar. Gears fired the first of his six grenades into
the firing point. Shrapnel pinged off the UGV, but the gunmen were dead and the
mortar tube was wrecked.

Gears worked his way back across the hill; a large boulder
and several bushes were soon revealed to conceal the Black Dragons’ command
post. Six Black Dragons were there, one with a backpack radio next to him and
another device he was adjusting. Four were looking at a diagram drawn in the
dirt by the sixth. Major Storm decided he was the commander.

“Take them out. Keep him alive if you can,” Major Storm
ordered.

Gears opened fire, quickly swivelling the turret to put a
five-round burst through each of the four gunmen peering at the diagram. He
lowered the turret’s aim and fired at the commander, hitting him in the legs.
The radio operator had now leaped to his feet. Gears swivelled the turret as he
opened fire with a sidearm at the UGV. Another five-round burst dropped him to
the ground. Ignoring the leader of the Black Dragons, who had pulled out his
own sidearm and was firing it futilely at the UGV, Gears swivelled the turret
and fired ten rounds into the electronic device the radio operator had been
adjusting. He fired another burst into the radio set.

Gears then sped the UGV away from the command post, leaving
the Black Dragon leader on the ground. If he didn’t bleed to death, the Joes
could collect him later.

Major Storm immediately began trying to contact the PIT on
his radio as the UGV sped toward the next group of bushes. Gears drew the UGV
to a halt and scanned around with the infrared camera.

“Looks like a machine-gun nest,” Mirage commented. Gears
steered the UGV around the bushes and quickly began firing before the Black
Dragons could react.

Sure enough, a large Russian-made light-machine gun lay on
the ground, the barrel removed, another next to the rest of the weapon.

“Looks like they were swapping barrels,” Mirage said. Which,
Gears thought, even he could work out.

Gears sped the UGV on.

“Hold up, Gears,” Major Storm said. Gears glanced up at him,
before steering the UGV into the shadow of a boulder.

“I just got word from Hawk, they’re deploying a Tomahawk to
drop off reinforcements and an Apache to provide close-air support.” Major
Storm glanced down at the screen. “Any sign of MANPADS?” he asked.

Gears frowned, looking at Mirage. “Man-portable air defence
systems,” the machine-gunner translated, before turning to Major Storm. “No,
sir, not so far.”

Major Storm went back to his radio conversation as Gears
steered the UGV around the boulder and headed toward another cluster of bushes.
Here he found several Black Dragons with assault rifles. He opened fire,
cutting them down.

Several minutes later, as Gears continued to steer the UGV
across the hillside, the heavy thunder of rotors could be heard. Leatherneck
and Mirage looked around the truck to see the Tomahawk and Apache approaching.

As Gears had the UGV approach a boulder at the top of the
hill, two Black Dragons stepped around it, raising FIM-92 Stinger missile
launchers.

“Shoot them!” Mirage snapped. Gears quickly flipped to the
grenade launcher and fired, just as the Black Dragon on the left fired his
Stinger. The grenade killed the two gunmen.

Gears looked to his left to see the missile streak across
the sky, before the two helicopters peeled off, firing flares. The missile
missed and detonated harmlessly away from either helicopter.

In the Apache cockpit, Updraft armed the gun under the nose
of the helicopter and swivelled it toward the missile’s launch point.

“Got them targeted?” Major Altitude, the pilot, asked.

“Nope,” Updraft replied. “No visual on them.”

The helicopter sped toward the hillside as the Tomahawk set
down next to the road. Updraft was scanning the hillside with the day TV camera
built into the Apache’s nose.

“No targets. Switching to infra-red.”

He scanned the hillside again. “Something moving,” he commented.
“Small and fast-moving. Not a person.”

He hit the radio, “Storm, this is Apache. I have visual on
an unidentified object moving fast down the hill, unable to ID.”

“Apache, Storm, that’s the Unmanned Ground Vehicle. Do not
fire on the UGV. It’s friendly.”

Updraft frowned at the reply. “What the heck’s an Unmanned
Ground Vehicle?” he asked Major Altitude.

“Some new toy that Gears is testing,” the pilot replied.

On the ground, the Joes formed teams and headed up the hill,
Duke leading one team and Stalker the second.

Duke led Beach Head, Mirage, Roadblock and Leatherneck up
the side of the hill, moving carefully around each boulder and clump of bushes.
At the other end of the hill, Stalker was leading Recoil, Rock’n’Roll, Jarhead
and Alpha Dog. Stalker’s team found the command post and the still-bleeding
leader. Jarhead punched him, knocking him out, before Recoil dragged the leader
over his shoulder and the team headed back down the hill.

With the threat apparently gone, Major Altitude headed back
to the PIT, as a second Tomahawk arrived, dropping off Med-Alert and Stretcher.
Rampage and the unconscious Black Dragon leader were loaded aboard and
airlifted out as the rest of the Joes awaited Army recovery vehicles to collect
the shot-up truck, AWE Striker and the HAVOC. Gears loaded the UGV aboard the
first Tomahawk and headed back to the PIT, along with Side Track and
Leatherneck as his escorts.

When they arrived, Hawk admitted to Gears the UGV was worth
pursuing, but the Black Dragons were a bigger concern.

## Notes

This story was basically about me wanting to use
the Black Dragons fighting the Joes and to use a bunch of the ‘new’ Joe
characters, ones from post 1994 that I was adding to the roster, like Rampage
and Side Track as well as several characters who didn’t appear in the Marvel
comics, like Mirage, Updraft, Major Altitude, Gears and Major Storm. The drone
tank is based on the UGV/Assault Drone from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.