Origins issue 10

Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	December 23, 2009
Cover date	December 2009
Written by	Larry Hama
Line-art by	Andrea Mutti
Colors by	J. Brown
Letters by	Robbie Robbins
Editor	Andy Schmidt
Assistant editor	Carlos Guzman

The Joes prepare to deal with the mysterious terror threat, but there's a diplomatic twist that puts everything on the line.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

A few blocks away from the US embassy, Hawk and Duke brief G.I. Joe, laying out their multi-pronged attack plan. Breaker and Rock & Roll will enter from the sewers, Snake Eyes from the roof, Duke and Heavy Duty through the rear entrance, and Scarlett and Stalker will approach the main entrance in the guise of civilians. However, as a Mr. Theiss-Pincus of the State Department explains, the team must leave no sign of their operation, as the embassy must be presentable for its inbound visitor and the press. The Joes choose to go in unarmed rather than use the case-fresh silenced pistols they are offered, although Heavy Duty grabs himself a sledgehammer.

Inside the embassy, the hostages decide to take the initiative and attempt to disarm the terrorists' bomb, suspecting they intend to detonate it no matter the outcome. Around the building, G.I. Joe make their approach, and Duke and Heavy Duty are the first to engage the terrorists. Stalker and Scarlett take that as their cue to attack the group trying to turn them away from the reception, whilst Snake Eyes quickly deals with the men on the upper floor. The team quickly make their way through the building, and Breaker and Rock & Roll emerge from the sub-levels just in time to help the hostages overcome their guards.

Before long, only three terrorists remain, including Nadia and "Esau", but they have in their possession a remote detonator for the bomb. Although one hostage, ex-Navy SEAL John, is able to get past the anti-tamper devices on the dumpster, disarming the bomb within is beyond his capabilities, and its blast radius could easily flatten all of London. Over the PA system, Esau threatens to arm his dead man's switch, and announces that he knows of the incoming US official. But outside, Hawk realizes that the entire series of events has been a setup by whatever nebulous government agency "Theiss-Pincus" actually works for – the US official is a double, and it was all a ploy to have the Borovians quietly eliminated by deniable assets. However, they didn't count on the nuclear device, and now Hawk takes it upon himself to sort things out.

The general charges into the building and shoots down all the remaining terrorists bar Esau, whose dead man's switch is now active. Snake Eyes picks that moment to drop from the ceiling tiles, and neatly slices off the man's hand, still firmly wrapped around the device. With the threat passed, it's left to G.I. Joe to mop up the blood and hide the bodies before the US motorcade arrives, whilst John manages to dismantle the nuclear device. As the cars pull up outside, G.I. Joe take their leave, but not before tossing "Pincus" the dead man's switch as a "souvenir".

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

G.I. Joe	Others
Hawk (1) Duke (2) Stalker (3) Snake Eyes (4) Breaker (5) Scarlett (6) Heavy Duty (7) Rock & Roll (8)	"Mr. Theiss-Pincus" (9) Esau (10) Busta Capp (11) Mary (12) Capp's manager (13) John (14) Nadia (15) Terrorists (16) Leonid (17) Fatima (18) Marko (19)

Quotes[edit | edit source]

"Scarlett - give me a hand will you–?"
"Stalker! I thought you–?"
"I'm flattered that you assumed I was that selfless, but it's called Kevlar, and it stops bullets"

–Stalker reassures Scarlett that he's not dead.