Canada's Elite

[Lt Storm]

So you’re probably wondering, what makes me so interesting? What makes this guy so special that you need to hear my story? Well, nothing really, except for the fact that everyone seems to be telling their story. Mine started several years ago when I first got drafted by General Hawk, to be part of the Elite Counter Terrorist Group Delta code named, G.I.Joe. My file name is Seymour Fine, Code Name; Sci-Fi.
I came from a small town, Geraldine Montana, with its rolling hills and open farm land. My family lived on Brewster St. just down the road from the high school/middle school/public school. It’s one of those towns as a teenager you can’t wait to escape from, and for me, that was an understatement. The population was only a couple of hundred so everyone knew everyone else, yeah that kind of town. I breezed through school, taking an interest in electronics and computers. But for someone like me opportunity was limited, my family didn’t have much money, most of it was spent feeding my 4 brothers and 3 sisters.
Even in a high school of only about forty students I still got teased, called all the typical names, geek, nerd, freak, got pushed around, my text books knocked out of my hands by the few jocks we had. But instead of lashing out I became an introvert finding my peace in computers and technology. They gave me the outlet I needed to forget about those who didn’t understand me, including my own family. Especially my sister Sheena, she was my exact opposite, popular, loved by everyone, and a social bee. Some of the girls would ask her what my deal was, and her answer was always the typical, “he’s just a geek”, being always embarrassed by me.
There was one girl though, Tracey Cool, she was beautiful with long flowing brown hair and kind loving eyes. She was kind to everyone, even me, though I never had enough courage to ask her out. I just admired her from afar.
I got board with the drool drums of everyday life, and decided to enlist in the army, it was the only way I’d be able to continue my education beyond high school. I was enrolled at Carroll College in Helena Montana figuring I’d finally find acceptance, I was wrong.
I became even more interested in electronics and expanding my love for technology into laser weaponry, becoming one of the most proficient laser snipers. Not to sound arrogant, but I am one of the best. I could already spend hours over electronic equipment, tearing it apart and putting it back together, making it even better then before. I incorporated that sense of patience and precision into my laser weapons. Some of my army comrades joked I was like a rock, no discernable movement of any kind. I always hit my target never missing, and every time they would move it back further and further to see if I could hit it, and every time I did.
Most of my free time was spent alone working on my electronics and tweaking my laser weapons. I became a loner, enjoying circuit boards more then the company of my fellow teammates. They would rib me, calling me an alien, saying I was working on repairing my spaceship or on some grand weapon to take over the world. I shrugged it off, not finding the humor in any of it. After all there was no proof that aliens really existed. They soon gave me the nick name of Sci-Fi after catching me watching a Star Wars movie.
We were on a survival training mission when things went all wrong, I know it seems every story has that moment, but we weren’t ready for this. There were five of us, I was given the task of covering our rear, I should have been up front, and at least that’s what I still believe while we hiked through the Montana mountain range. Unknowingly coming upon an enemy camp…

“Lets keep it spaced even guys, I don’t want anyone tripping over anyone else cause they are too busy playing with their toys, you hear me back there Sci-Fi?” The lead man says.
“Yes sir, I copy that.” Sci-Fi pauses, a heat sensor/infrared scope attached to his helmet. “Hold it!!” He screams just as the leader of the troop steps onto recently disturbed ground triggering a land mine. The rest freeze in their tracks as dirt and pieces of their teammate rain down on them, horrified at what just happened.
“What the hell!?!” The man that was behind the squad leader shouts. “Where did that come from, this is our turf, there shouldn’t be any mines out here.” He says panicking. “Who plants mines in the mountains?”
“Nobody move!” A loud voice booms.
The remaining army trainees look up towards a blue clad military man with a black mask over his face. He is soon joined by several others dressed in similar uniforms.
“Drop your weapons and surrender, or be eliminated.”
“What the…”
Sci-Fi looks at his teammates. “Let’s do as he says.”
“Are you crazy man, we don’t know who these guys are.”
“Exactly, we’re out number and out gunned.” Sci-Fi drops his weapons and packs as the rest follow his lead.
One of the blue dressed men begins picks up their gear being jumped by the panicked military man, who gets taken down quickly and brutally shot in the head.
“Anyone else want to be a hero?” The leader asks the one with a gold like V on his helmet. “Good, then come with us and be educated in a new way, the way of Cobra.”

Cobra, we’ve heard stories of this new terrorist organization, and an Elite Top Secret government army that fought against them. All hand picked from the best of the best the US Military had to offer. But those were only stories…at least up until now.
We were taken to their camp, a mini reeducation center, built underground so it was hidden from any attempts at rescue.
They never asked us anything about our military training, not even our names, we were all just assigned numbers. After a few weeks my teammates began to crack, figuring we’d never be found. I was bunked with one, quiet, same age as me, obviously scared. I would here him crying in his sleep mumbling incoherently. His name was Simon Templeton blonde haired blue eyed, we use to practice at the shooting range together, he was good, and almost as good as I was.
The facility we were in was amazingly vast, I often wondered how they built such a place under the mountain without alerting anyone to their activity. Disguised civilian vehicles would come and go once a week, at least I think so, bringing in supplies. I soon understood this was such the way of the Cobra Organization, operating in secrecy.
Many more “recruits” came through, some lost their minds and subsequently were never seen again. For those of us who made it through we were treated to a pre initiation dinner and told our lives would change forever. I knew it was now or never to make my move, and lucky for me and my introvert way I had access to just what I needed. All I had to do was spew their misguided crap back at them. For being a ruthless terrorist organization they were pretty gullible and full of themselves, or actually believed others shared their twisted view.
The network had no exterior hook ups everything was interior, even the power units, but I didn’t need an exterior line to do what I needed to do. I timed everything to the last second, the guard changes, the security camera surveillance, and the check in times.
During my travels and physical training I saw a small communications room, I knew this place had to have one. I set up a shortwave transmitter with mores code hoping someone would be close enough to pick it up and trace it. Lucky for me the wiring ran up into the ceiling so I could hook splice into and set up my device.
Graduation day came a few days later, and it was the first time we got a look at our leader, a man with an annoying voice obviously altered by a voice unit, wearing a blue hood on his head. He spewed the same kind of nonsensical garbage that we’ve been feed over the weeks or has it been months, I kind of lost count, fortunately for me none of it sunk in. I just did as I did in high school to fit in, go with the crowd.
It seemed no one had found my little device yet, Simon had become warped to Cobra’s cause so I was on my own. This was going to be tricky and some of my own teammates went missing, presumably dead having gone insane under the intense reprogramming we underwent. We were told that the final phase of our training would be a great transformation and an initiation into the Cobra movement. I didn’t even want to think about what that meant, but it seemed these guys were big on ceremony. Soon we’d be part of the Cobra fold and placed into battle against my own country.


The day finally came, I was resting in my “room” when alarms began to blare. I figured it was another drill when Simon busted in tossing a rifle at me, dressed in a Cobra enemy uniform.

“We’re under attack!”
“What!?!”
“Come on Sci-Fi, we’re going to need you.”
Finally someone must have gotten my little distress call.
“Follow me troops, we must stop the intruders!” Simon yells.

I followed him and the others as we made our way towards the only entry way we knew of. Smoke was billowing in, high explosives or some kind of RPG had blasted open the doors. We fought against men dressed in green military uniforms, I knew this was the moment I had been waiting for, and our saviors were finally here. I decided to send Cobra a message, not to mess with my home state. In all the confusion I slipped away from the others and headed for the Amory.

“Press on, we are more in number we can take them all!!” Simon shouts, having become more confident and taking a leader like role. “Sci-Fi, I need you to…Sci-Fi?”
“Gas masks men!” A man dressed in green with red pads shouts. “First line, fire!” The green shirts in front brace their weapons launching knock-out gas into the army of newly trained Cobra Troops.

A few levels down, the bunker armory. Sci-Fi sets up several charges around the room unaware that he is no longer alone.
“What are you doing in here, you should be out there helping…are those…explosives?”
Sci-Fi slowly turns rising. “Simon, listen to me, they have you brainwashed…”
“You’re going to blow this base up.”
“This isn’t the way it is supposed to be, you know that. We were training under the U.S. Military…”
“Yes for a government that lies and betrays its own men and country. Under the Cobra rule we will…”
“What, live as slaves? Listen to me Simon…” Sci-Fi grabs his former teammate by the arms. “You have to snap out of it, they are misguiding you, feeding you…”
“NO!” He breaks free from Sci-Fi’s grasp. “I see clearly now for the first time ever, Cobra is the new rule and I will be a part of it.” Simon pulls a pistol out pointing it at Sci-Fi’s head. “If you aren’t with us then you are against us, I’m sorry I have to do this, I considered you a friend.”
A friend…
“So am I.” Sci-Fi pulls a remote device from his pocket activating it. The times on the bombs begin to count down. “Three minutes.”
“You won’t have that long.”
Sci-Fi looks past Simon, startled.
“What?” He turns seeing nothing, then swings his head around just in time to meet Sci-Fi’s fist dropping him to the ground. “You will pay for that.”
“There is no time for this.” Sci-Fi runs ducking behind the lockers as Simon picks back up his gun.
“Come on out…die for the Cobra cause.” He looks down at his feet as a small canister rolls out spewing out thick smoke. Simon coughs covering his mouth. “Smart move, but that won’t help you.”
Sci-Fi picks up a rifle from the wall and bolts for the stairs leading up to a catwalk as bullets fly just missing him in the smoke. “If we don’t get out of here we will both die!”
“Fine, then we both die.” Simon watches Sci-Fi’s shadowy figure move higher up the catwalk. He takes chase after him firing wildly ahead of Sci-Fi stopping him. “Let’s finish this, just you and me, friend becomes foe.”
Again, there it is the one thing I always wanted…a friend.
“Fine.” Sci-Fi drops his gun.
Simon, slides his gun into the front of his belt and lunges towards Sci-Fi, who blocks him grabbing his right arm swinging the blonde haired man around and into the rail, knocking the wind out of him. Simon gasps dropping down to his knees looking down at the red flashing lights below from the timers as the smoke begins to clear. He pulls his gun from his belt firing off a couple of shots.
“Don’t you’ll…” Sci-Fi’s words are drowned out as one of the explosives erupts shaking the catwalk knocking him down. “No…you’ll start a chain reaction.” More of the explosives begin to explode. Sci-Fi scrambles to his feet as the catwalk becomes unstable. “The timers were all rigged together…”
“You and your electronics, maybe you should have taken explosives one-oh-one.” Simon stabilizes himself as he gets up pointing his gun at Sci-Fi. “It’s too bad really, with your talents you could have been someone within Cobra, now you’ll be no one. Just another nameless, faceless, soldier buried in an unmarked grave.”
Another explosion erupts rocking the catwalk pulling it from its fasteners making it sway. Simon watches as he gets further from Sci-Fi the walkway pulling apart. His feet begin to slide, another explosion rocks the catwalk knocking Simon’s gun from his hand.
“No…good god…Sci-Fi…” Simon reaches out his hand desperation in his eyes.
Sci-Fi braces himself reaching out. “You have to jump Simon…I can’t….” The final explosive erupts between the two knocking Sci-Fi back. “NO!!” He watches as Simon plummets down into the fires. “Simon…” He lowers his head for a moment, and then hurries for the exit above.

In the main area the explosions shake the structure causing the battle to cease and creating chaos. The man in the green and red pads yells to the troops for an immediate retreat. They all pile out running a safe distance away as the structure begins to collapse in on itself. The Cobra Troops all stand in awe and shock.
“Round them up.” The military man orders.
“What do you think happened?” One of the men in green ask.
“I don’t know.”
U.S. Military support soon arrives tending to the wounded and taking names of the captured Cobra Troops.
A Sergeant walks up to the red padded military man. “I hear you are the man I need to talk to about this?”
“Yes sir, I was in the area doing scouting mission when I picked up a mysterious distress call. I traced it here, a top secret Cobra training facility. I believe these are some of the missing men from the Montana regiment.”
“Yes, some of them are, unfortunately they’ll be spending quite a few years in a mental institution deprogramming them. Who were you here looking for?”
“Sorry sir, that’s top secret.”
“What is your name soldier?”
“Code name, Flash.”
“I mean real name, or is that top secret too?”
“Actually, yes it is.”
“My god…”
Flash turns and watches as the rubble and dust begin to subside noticing a man coming towards them, a little worse for wear. “Good god someone survived that. We need a medic over her on the double!” He meets up with the man, catching him in his arms as he collapses.
“I…I did what I had to do…” Sci-Fi says weakly.
“This was your handy work?”
“Yes sir.”
“What is your name?”
“Private Seymour Fine, sir.”
“Seymour Fine…I’m glad to meet you.”
“What…?” Seymour looks up at the soldier and passes out.

It was days later when I finally woke up in a military medical hospital, I barely remember anything that happened, most of it was just a blur. I was visited by high ranking Generals, basically wanting to make sure what happened never happened. It would have looked bad if word got out this Cobra army was capturing and recruiting American soldiers. The doctors checked me over, asked me a series of questions for what seemed like weeks before they let me out. They saw me fit to enter reactive duty but I decided to take a leave instead. I didn’t expect someone to be waiting for me when I got out of the hospital.

“Private Seymour Fine?”
“Yes?” He looks at a civilian dressed man.
“You don’t remember me do you?”
“I’m sorry, should I?”
“Probably not, you were pretty banged up when we found you.”
Seymour looks at him seeing flashes of that fateful day. “You…you were the soldier who asked me my name.”
“Yes I am, I came to see how you are doing?”
“Uh thanks, I’m fine, at least the doctors say that.”
“Do you think you are?”
“I guess so.” Seymour continues walking down the steps towards a cab that waits for him out front. “Thanks for checking up on me.”
“Are you going back home?”
“Yes.”
“Geraldine Montana right?”
“Who are you?”
“A friend. My name is Anthony Gambello.”
“Well, thanks again for stopping by Anthony.”
“See you around.”

I didn’t realize then how right he was, I just got into my cab and took the first bus home. When I got there my family treated me like a regular person, like nothing had happened. I guess it was there was to deal with it, not that they knew much of what I had gone through. The government wanted to keep it all under wraps, I guess Simon had a point after all, as delusional as it was.
It wasn’t long after when I decided to rejoin the military having a clean bill of mental health from the doctors. They said it was remarkable that I was able to resist the reprogramming when the others didn’t. Guess they didn’t know me well enough, I kept my mind occupied by rerunning my fascination with lasers and electronics through my head, creating my own world to escape into and create.
I furthered my studies with laser weapons and electronics, I could rebuild, retool, or re-outfit and repair any laser weapon in seconds.
Six months later I was called to my commander’s office and received another mysterious visitor.

A man in a Military dress uniform sits behind a desk his hands folded together as Seymour enters saluting him. He salutes back asking him to take a seat.
“I hear you helped destroy a Cobra training facility up in the mountains.”
“Sir?”
“It’s alright, I know all about it. I’m not here to ask you more questions or review your psyche. I am here to offer you the chance of a life time.” Just then Anthony enters the office smiling at Seymour. “You remember Flash.”
“Flash?” Seymour shakes his hand.
“Code name, everyone in my unit has one, we’re like a family an ever expanding one. My code name is Hawk and Flash here came out about a year ago on a scouting mission. We had our eye on you for awhile, then heard some of your unit went missing. I sent him out here to find you, not knowing if you were one of the missing. I’m glad you made it because I want to offer you a position on my team.”
“You will have to realize that your life as you know it will change. We need a new laser trooper, I’m taking leave to finish my masters in Electronic Engineering.” Flash adds.
“We are a top secret military group fighting against the forces of Cobra. We could use a man with your abilities and sharp mind on our team.” Hawk adds.
“I’m not good with explosives.” Seymour says.
“We already have and explosives expert. We need a laser weapons systems operator of your caliber, not to mention your expertise in electronic instrument repair. So what do you say soldier?”
“It’s a chance of a lifetime Seymour, to do something good with your talents, to become someone, to get justice for the others who didn’t make it.” Flash says with a serious tone to his voice.

Do something good, to become someone, to belong…a purpose to my life, finally.

“I accept.”
“Excellent.” Hawk shakes Seymour’s hand. “Now all you need is a code name.”
“I think I already have one sir, Sci-Fi.”
Flash smiles patting Seymour on the shoulder.
“Very well then Sci-Fi,” Hawk says, “welcome to G.I.Joe.”