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November, 1988 "...And Into the Fire" Written by Larry Hama;
Summary by Russ Humphress |
At the monastery, Colonel Peng is informed that Esterhazy is not among those killed outside the walls, and after a brief discussion with the Abbot on the nature of Legends and history, the Colonel notes offhandedly how convenient that they only have to defend 3 sides of the monastery, as the fourth side sits on the brink of a sheer cliff face.
At the bottom of the cliff, Iceberg stands looking up, estimating the climb to be about 500 feet straight up. A tough climb, but not as bad as the North Face of the Eiger. As Iceberg and Snake-Eyes begin the ascent, Scarlett notes that Alpine is the teams world class mountain climber, but he's not here. Chuckles echoes the sentiment that Snake-Eyes and Iceberg are Joes all the way, and then knocks a smirking Anderson flat with a well placed right. When Anderson complains that he hadn't said anything, Chuckles responds, "That was just in case you were thinking of saying something!" On the cliff above, Iceberg and Snake-Eyes make the ascent step by step, finally arriving on a narrow ledge at the base of the monastery wall. Snake-Eyes' first throw of the grappling hook fails to catch, drawing the attention of a Chinese guard atop the wall. Before the guard can fire or raise an alarm, Snake-Eyes again throws the grappling hook, this time catching the guard and pulling him over the side. At the cliff base, the rest of the team is wondering what is happening as the body hits behind them with a thump. Scarlett turns the body over and they see it's a Chinese soldier, just as the rope drops from above. The team then prepares to join Snake-Eyes and Iceberg.
Inside the monastery, the Colonel and Sergeant Wu see to it that the Abbot is locked in the monastery's windowless storeroom, with guards at both ends of the fifty foot corridor leading to it's only entrance. Sergeant Wu gets angry when the Abbot refuses a guard's offer of food. The Colonel later admonishes him that angeris not becoming of a soldier.
Meanwhile the Joes and remaining rebels have gained the inside of the monastery, and plan the Abbot's rescue. Snake-Eyes, Esterhazy, and Tenzig, Esterhazy's lieutenant will rescue the Abbot, Esterhazy's two remaining men will cover them. Chuckles will procure an escape vehicle, while Scarlett and Anderson disable the other vehicles, and Iceberg is to make sure the gate is open. Snake-Eyes and Tenzig take out the guards at the exterior end of the storeroom hallway, then Tenzig distracts the two at the far end with an order to check the door, allowing Snake-Eyes to get into the hallway's ceiling above the rafters. Scarlett and Anderson set about puncturing the tires of the Chinese vehicles, and Chuckles works to hot-wire the ignition of one vehicle for the getaway, and Snake-Eyes works his way down the corridor's ceiling, unnoticed by the guards, until he dispenses with them both in a single figure eight swipe of his sword. The Abbot tells Snake-Eyes that to have violence committed on his behalf is a stain on his karma as he follows him down the corridor. At the exterior door, Esterhazy questions the location of their cover, and Tenzig tells him he is afraid they have taken it on themselves to exact vengeance for their fallen comrades.
In the monastery dining hall, Colonel Peng belatedly realizes the attack
will come from the cliff face, in accordance with Sun Tzu's teachings,
just as the two rebels break in with guns blazing. Sergeant Wu shoots down
one of the rebels, then falls on a grenade thrown by the other. Colonel
Peng shoots the second rebel, vowing
that Sergeant Wu will not have died in vain, and orders the guards
to sound the general alarm.
As the Alarm sounds, the Joes, the Abbot, Tenzig and Esterhazy pile into the getaway truck, picking up Iceberg just after he blows open the main gate with a satchel charge. Chuckles realizes he forgot about the tanks outside, but Iceberg tells him he cut their electrical wiring, they won't be a problem. As the Joes speed away, the Colonel orders his personal armored car dug out of the haystack where he had it hidden for just such a contingency. Soon the Colonel and his troops are gaining on the Joes, and Tenzig is wounded. The Joes return fire, making the Chinese back off for the moment.
Later at the rift pass out of the valley, the Joes discover that Colonel
Peng has collapsed a landslide of rocks, blocking the passage out to vehicle
traffic. Realizing that the Colonel will have the means to clear it for
his own vehicle, Esterhazy remains to hold the pass while the others escape
on foot. Before they go, Esterhazy
gives his only possession, a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War to the Abbot,
with the hope that he will pass it on to someone else. Esterhazy also tells
Anderson he can tell the agency they shouldn't forget what they pledged
to protect. The last we see of Esterhazy is firing on the advancing
Chinese, as the team escapes behind him in the distance.
Much later, the team has made their way to a friendly village.
As the Joes prepare to head for the extraction point, the Abbott tells
them that he and Tenzig are staying behind, both to organize a new resistance,
each in their own way. Surprisingly, Agent Anderson tells them that
he too is staying, saying that someone has to help out the "ignorant natives."
The Abbot then tells Anderson that when Esterhazy first arrived, he was
much like Anderson, thinking he could move the mountains and change the
world. Instead the Abbot says, the mountains stayed where they were,
and the World changed Esterhazy. The Abbot then gives Anderson the copy
of Sun Tzu's Art of War. As the Joes march off into the distance, Anderson
asks if Esterhazy was really like him at first, to which the Abbot responds,
"No. He was worse!"
Commentary: This is part two of one of the tighter two-part stories
ever in Marvel Joe. The Marvel stories, both regular series and Special
Missions, tended to either be one-shots (or seeming one-shots) or multi-issue,
months' long story arcs. This issue can be read to an extent by itself,
but you really need to have read the
previous issue to catch a lot of what's going on.
Like the previous issue, this one deals with application of the principles from Sun Tzu's Art of War. The central point of this issue, of course, being the attack from the least likely direction. The slight foreshadowing of the Colonel's comment about only defending three sides because of the cliff tends to make you wonder why that passage from Sun Tzu didn't occur to him then, but then, that would have made for much too short a story.
The surprise redemption of CIA Agent Anderson at the end is hopeful
note on the idea of honor winning out over politics. Anderson's previous
appearances haven't set him up to be a sympathetic character, which makes
the twist even more of a surprise. The unstated idea being that if
enough people have the conviction to follow their beliefs and honor, instead
of just following orders, we might be able to change the world for the
better after all.
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