Cobra: 1986 Personnel and Equipment
Personnel:
AVACs: Air-Vipers, Advanced Class, or AVACs, are elite Cobra pilots that are seemingly fearless, and capable of performing advanced calculations in their head. Both qualities are vital if one wishes to pilot the so-called Pocket Rocket: the Firebat! Availability:
Battle Android Troopers: BATs are mass-produced in various Cobra Island factories, using factory seconds for microprocessors and mechanical components built in third world sweat shops. Though dumb as hammers, BATs are heavily armed and dangerous! Availability:
Doctor Mindbender: formerly a mild-mannered orthodontist, Doctor Mindbender came into being after the man tested out brain-wave altering devices meant to alleviate dental pain on himself. His personality polarized, he became a literal mad scientist! Availability:
Motor-Vipers: Cobra's Recon and Perimeter Defense Force, Motor-Vipers patrol, defend, and scout any real estate that group has laid claim to. While sharing the same basic rank (and pay) of regular Cobra troopers, Motor-Vipers at least have their own ride! Availability:
Serpentor: built from the genetic remnants of history's greatest military geniuses, (and a few more recent ingredients), the being known as Serpentor was naturally inclined to take command of Cobra for himself, and in time, that's precisely what he did! Availability:
Strato-Vipers: while some Air-Vipers strive to become AVACs, others instead work at becoming Strato-Vipers! These elite pilots have logged thousands of hours in the air, have considerable combat experience, and have even been surgically augmented! Availability:
Vipers: those Cobras who show great promise as combatants are often promoted to that organization's light infantry: the Vipers! These thoroughly trained, highly motivated, and well-equipped operatives are a serious threat to freedom world-wide! Availability:
Dreadnoks:
Monkeywrench: something of a firebug, Monkeywrench has never liked anything so much as a nice, loud explosion. Naturally, this made him immensely favorable to the Dreadnoks, who are more than happy to indulge his overwhelming destructive urges! Availability:
Thrasher: growing up terminally spoiled, the youth that would devolve into Thrasher wanted for nothing. With no discipline to rein him in, Thrasher's violent, destructive urges consumed him, and he ultimately found his way into the Dreadnoks! Availability:
Zandar: Zartan's brother, Zandar is nominally one of his lieutenants in the Dreadnoks. His asocial tendencies generally preclude him being an active leader of the bunch, however, and as always, he has a tendency to blend into the background. Availability:
Zarana: Zartan's sister, Zarana is one of his lieutenants in the Dreadnoks. Her unchecked cruelty, greed, and ambition also garnered her a position as Cobra's second in command for quite some time, an opportunity she milked for all it was worth. Availability:
Equipment:
the Air Chariot: a veritable mobile throne for Serpentor to occupy whilst leading Cobra forces towards global domination, the Air Chariot is an ostentatious, snake-themed golden aircraft that the emperor may use to survey the battlefield from above. Availability:
the Cobra Battle Field Kits: Cobra maintains a large supply of prefabricated kits that are packed and able to be put into action in mere moments. Though not as versatile as their vehicles, this gear is nonetheless vital to the overall success of their plans. Availability:
the Firebat: a staple of Cobra air power since its initial rollout in 1986, the Firebat essentially consists of a cockpit strapped over a F104 Cobrajet Turbine, with barely enough control surfaces and armaments to let it serve as more than a suicide device. Availability:
the Hydro-Sled: one of Doctor Mindbender's creations, the Hydro-Sled is built to rapidly deploy Cobra operatives on the waves, whether to reach a specific destination or to engage other ships - particularly when a Moray is unavailable to them. Availability:
the Night Raven: a supersonic aircraft Cobra uses to spy upon its enemies with impunity, the Night Raven can fly at over three times the speed of sound, doing so at an elevation of over 80,000 feet. When it does have to fight, though, it is heavily armed! Availability:
the Stun: the vehicle of choice for the Cobra Recon and Perimeter Defense Forces, the Stun is a three-wheeled, off-road vehicle. Lightly armored but heavily armed, the Stun can assault anything within one hundred and eighty degrees of its current location! Availability:
the Terror Drome: prefabricated facilities Cobra can use to rapidly project its power anywhere on earth, their Terror Dromes are large, cylindrical bases of operations. Equipped with Firebat launch silos and a veritable hate ray, they are a tough nut to crack! Availability:
Dreadnoks:
the Dreadnok Air Assault Gyro Copter: seeing how relatively easy it is to fly the things, the Dreadnoks 'borrowed' a few of Cobra's original FANG helicopters, gave them tacky new paint jobs, and made them a part of their air force - such as it is. Availability:
the Dreadnok Air Assault VTOL Copter: like their 'borrowed' FANGs, the Dreadnoks found that GI Joe Sky Hawks were also pretty easy to fly - and decided to 'confiscate' a few for their own purposes. Even if they named them incorrectly. Availability:
the Ground Assault 4WD: even though they have numerous vehicles all their own, the Dreadnoks cheerfully make off with a Cobra Stinger now and then. Despite their new, green and black color scheme, these 4WD vehicles are functionally the same. Availability:
the Ground Assault Motorcycle: the GI Joe team's RAM is an exceptionally fast ground attack vehicle. Also being a motorcycle, the things are natural targets for Dreadnok aggression - or theft when an unsuspecting Joe leaves theirs unattended. Availability:
the Swampfire: a swamp skimmer with a twist, the Swampfire can fire up its rotors and take flight whenever necessary. Furthermore, it is uniquely capable of changing color, blending into the background to better sneak up on the Dreadnoks' foes. Availability:
the Thunder Machine: Thrasher's greatest creation, the Thunder Machine is a car/truck/something that he cobbled together from the remains of numerous other vehicles. Heavily armed and ludicrously fast, the Thunder Machine is a Dreadnok mainstay! Availability: