About Me
I am a man who chooses to remain a mystery to most people. One of the most secretive operatives in the military, much of my past is unknown. All I'll tell you is that I grew up somewhere in the United States, along with my twin sister, Terri. We were very close throughout out our youth. I have carried her picture with me for good luck during my military career.
At age 18, I enlisted in the army and eventually arrived in South East Asia during the Vietnam War. I will only reveal a little of my time in Vietnam to you. 1968 is when I first met Lonzo "Stalker" Wilkinson and Tommy "Storm Shadow" Arashikage. The three of us soldiers reported to Saigon for a top secret mission. At the time, the Tet offensive was underway and the our jeep driver was killed by two young Vietnamese men on a motorcycle. I took off after the men, following them to a warehouse. I arrived just seconds after the men killed Baron Eugen DeCobray, a humanitarian assisting the South Vietnamese. I shot and killed the two men who were later revealed to be North Vietnamese agents. DeCobray's sister, Anastasia, entered the room, believing I had murdered DeCobray. Anastasia kept on believing the military had killed a good man like her brother, and eventually entered into a career of international terrorism under the name, "Baroness." I of course was cleared of all charges when weapons dealer James McCullen Destro XXIII proved he was innocent. Destro was accompanied by his son, James McCullen Destro XXIV.
Three years later, I was serving on Long Range Recon Patrol (LRRP) with Stalker and Storm Shadow in the jungles of Vietnam. We were accompanied by three other soldiers: Wade Collins, Ramon Escobedo and Dick Saperstein. We had stumbled upon an encampment of North Vietnamese soldiers and a firefight ensued. At the time Collins, Saperstein and Escobedo were all believed killed in the attack. Stalker, Storm Shadow, and I all retreated to a landing zone for rescue. As we ran across a field toward the extraction chopper, we were fired upon. I was hit badly and Stalker ordered Storm Shadow to leave me. Storm Shadow refused, running back to save me and to Stalker's amazement, he evaded all enemy fire and retrieved me unscathed.
My injuries got me sent back to the United States. When I arrived at the local airport, my parents and sister were nowhere to be found. After hours of waiting, I was met by a young army officer named Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy. Hawk told me the tragic news: my parents and sister had been killed in a car wreck just hours before. Devastated, I travelled the world for a short time before reaching Japan. Storm Shadow had offered me a position in the "family business." That "business" was in fact a ninja clan. I trained there for years with Storm Shadow's uncles, the Soft Master and the Hard Master. For a time, I felt that I belonged here with my new family and Storm Shadow was like a brother to me. My ability to quickly learn skills especially impressed Storm Shadows uncle, the Hard Master. Despite me deliberately throwing matches, the Hard Master knew who the true victor was. Even Storm Shadow knew this and this fact served to slowly drive a wedge between him and me. But tragedy would again strike. My family's car had collided with another car whose driver was also killed. The man was an unstable Vietnam veteran and he had caused the accident. But the man's brother turned the story around in his head. He blamed me, the family's remaining son for his brother's death. At the time we didn't know but he hired two mercenaries -- Zartan and Firefly -- to kill me. Zartan infiltrated the clan and stole one of Storm Shadow's arrows. He mistakenly killed the Hard Master, believing him to be me. Storm Shadow fled Japan to find his uncle's killer because he was believed to be the assassin. He would eventually find the warped man who had ordered my death. That man would later be known as Cobra Commander.
The death of the Hard Master left the Arashikage clan in disarray and made me an orphan once more. I moved to a cabin in the High Sierras, and lived alone there, with my wolf, Timber. When Hawk and Stalker were organizing the G.I. Joe team, Stalker suggested me as a team member. The two came to my cabin and offered me a spot on the team which I accepted. Once on the team, I became close to Scarlett. On an early mission in the Middle East Scarlett, Rock 'n Roll, Grunt, and I were sent to save George Strawhacker from Cobra. On the way, a helicopter accident forced us to bail out, but Scarlett was stuck in the burning chopper. I stayed behind to save her. I saved Scarlett, but a window exploded in my damn face, scarring me and damaging my vocal cords. Despite my injuries, I convinced Hawk to let me continue on with the mission. You see, George Strawhacker had been my sister's fiancee. When the Cobras tried to pretend they were the prisoner, only I knowing George, recognized who the imposters were.
Over the next few years, I had become an important part of the team. I could no longer speak, and now wore a black mask to cover my disfigured face. I participated in the rescue of Dr. Adele Burkhart from Cobra and was part of many other important missions. I was captured by the Cobra scientist, Dr. Venom, who used the Brain-wave Scanner on me, trying to extract information from my mind. Using my ninja training I tricked the machine into believing I was dead by slowing my heart rate. I eventually escaped. I did run into Dr. Venom again in the nation of Sierra Gordo. I was left for dead by Venom in a burning warehouse while Stalker, Breaker and Gung-Ho were captured. I later freed the Joes and tracked down Dr. Venom, the Baroness and the eskimo mercenary, Kwinn to a small river's island. There, the Baroness dropped a bomb on the island and the Cobra bunker there, intending to kill Venom and Kwinn because they knew too much. At the last second, I pushed the others into the bunker. The other Joes had escaped the island as it exploded, but they had no idea that the bunker was intact at the bottom of the river. We eventually escaped, but Kwinn and I were betrayed by Venom and the two of us were arrested. We escaped and tracked down Venom. Kwinn intended to get his revenge on Venom, though I did not want to kill him. During an assault on G.I. Joe headquarters, Kwinn was shot in the back by Venom. I saw Kwinn die, but as he fell a grenade dropped out of his hand, killing Venom. Kwinn had gotten his revenge at the cost of his life.
Vengeance returned to my life when I once again met Storm Shadow, now a member of Cobra and Cobra Commander's bodyguard. I confronted Storm Shadow but discovered that he had not killed the Hard Master and had infiltrated Cobra, hoping to discover who killed his uncle. After that, I continued my missions for the Joe team. I was later attacked by Cobra at my mountain retreat. In the ensuing battle my cabin was destroyed. On leave, Scarlett and I were attacked by Cobra Crimson Guardsmen led by Fred II. He was defeated, but not before he pulled off my mask and saw my scarred face.
I was one of the many Joes involved in the first battle of Cobra Island, trying to push Cobra off of the island before they became a sovereign nation. That mission failed. Soon afterward, Fred II once again tracked down me along with Stalker at the Vietnam memorial. There, Fred II confronted us. He revealed that he was actually Wade Collins. Collins hadn't died years ago in Vietnam, but he survived as a P.O.W. He returned to the United States and his life fell apart he eventually found Cobra and joined the Crimson Guard where he had plastic surgery to have the same face as all the other identical Guardsmen in the "Fred series." Stalker and I convinced Collins that Cobra had used him, and that he still had a family that Cobra had "assigned him to." We allowed Collins to escape and start a new life, never telling anyone what really happened. Months later, Storm Shadow and I got a message from the Soft Master. It was revealed that the Hard Master's true killer was Zartan. I disappeared with my old friend, and we both tracked Zartan to Cobra Island. While there, the Joe called Ripcord landed on the island and was being rescued by the Joes. We did not find Zartan because he disguised himself as Ripcord. We fought our way to the Cobra marina and attempted to escape when the Baroness shot Storm Shadow for being a traitor to Cobra. He was thought to be dead, but weeks later, he snuck into G.I. Joe headquarters revealing that he had been revived by the same science that created the Cobra Emperor, Serpentor. He told me that he was tired of living his life for revenge. So I gave him the key to what was left of my cabin, letting my friend stay there and sort out his life.
When Stalker, Quick Kick and Snow Job were being held in a Borovian gulag after a failed mission, Scarlett and I faked our own death and traveled to Borovia to rescue our comrades, who had been written off by the government. Shortly after our return Scarlett and I went on a special mission into Asia along with two other Joes. Our group's mission went on for months when many possible extraction sites were compromised. During the mission, I saved the life of a poor farmer who was being forced off his land by a local communist government. Eventually, the team returned home.
Some time after the Joes returned from Southeast Asia, I finally decided to try and repair my damaged face. While under sedation during his reconstructive surgery, the Baroness attacked the hospital in Europe after learning I was the same soldier who she thought had shot her brother in Vietnam. She captured me and shot Scarlett in the head, the stupid bitch. I escaped Cobra capture and Destro revealed to the Baroness that I hadn't killed her brother. After all this, Scarlett remained in a coma. Storm Shadow performed the "Arashikage Mind Set" on me, allowing me to forget my sorrow over Scarlett's apparent death by going on a mission into Borovia. I eventually came out of the mind set and returned home to find Scarlett had survived. I went on many more missions for the Joe team, including the Battle of Benzheen, a middle eastern country under Cobra's control. During that mission, many Joes lost their lives. I later fought at Destro's castle in Trans-Carpathia, assisting the former Cobra member in breaking his ties with the organization. When Scarlett apparently joined Cobra, I was devastated until I discovered that it was all part of a ploy to allow Scarlett to infiltrate Cobra. I helped rescue her during a battle in Millville.
For a time, Scarlett and I lived together in my rebuilt mountain cabin. Unfortunately I was soon forced back into duty. In 1994, on one of my last missions for the Joe team, I attacked Destro's castle in Eastern Europe. Cobra Commander had taken over the castle and brainwashed Storm Shadow and many other former Cobra members. They now swore allegiance to Cobra and fought against the Joes against their will. I attempted to free Storm Shadow, but failed. Soon afterward, the word came from the Pentagon that the Joe team was being shut down. At an emotional ceremony at Joe headquarters in Utah, the Joes "retired the colors" leaving the Pit an abandoned army base. After the Joe team was shut down, I went on one last mission with members of the team, fighting Cobra. I again encountered Storm Shadow who remained under the Commander's control. After that final mission, Scarlette and I were engaged to be married, but three years after the team disbanded, I left Scarlett behind and moved back into seclusion in my cabin in the High Sierras. We did not speak for for four years. During those years, I began teaching a young ninja student named Kamakura, who refers to me as "Silent Master".
In 2001, the G.I. Joe Team was reinstated by the government in reponse to Cobra's return to the United States. Duke brought many of the older Joes to help train and lead a batch of new recruits (including Kamakura) and I am now one of the team's highest ranking field commanders. Scarlett is also a member of the new team. At first, Scarlett maintained a necessary working relationship with me, but she had not yet forgiven me and barely acknowledged me when off duty. After we were captured by Cobra during the nano-mite incident, we reconciled with each other while facing our possible deaths. We are again engaged to be married, but continue to work with the Joe team. I once again came face to face with Storm Shadow, who was again working for Cobra, and was sent on a mission to assassinate Hawk. We fought, and Storm Shadow claimed that he still held a grudge against me for my supposed favored status given by the Hard Master years ago. As he made his final escape, the ninja slashed his sword at my face, tearing another scar across it. For a moment, I let my anger get the best of me as I fired wildly into the ceiling into which Storm Shadow escaped. After that encounter, many missions of mine for the new team included battling mutated soldiers in the arctic and rescuing Flint and the Baroness from Russian mobsters. Scarlett and I then returned to our cabin for some time off, but were interrupted by Billy (now going by "William"), who had received word from Storm Shadow that he needed my help to make the final break from Cobra Commander's mind control. By the time Kamakura, Billy, and I reached our fellow ninja, he was again subjected to the Brain-wave Scanner by Cobra Commander himself. A fight followed, but in the end, Storm Shadow chose to return to the Commander's side. I had also helped track down a group of mysterious children who turned out to be clones of the original Serpentor. As a convoy of Joes escorted the children to a safe location, forces led by a revived Serpentor attacked, taking the children with him and capturing me and several other Joes. As we escaped our jail cell on Cobra Island, I was seriously injured and had to be carried the rest of the way. Soon, on one of their biggest operations ever, the Joes led an assault on Cobra Island that led to victory. I have since recovered from my injuries and returned to duty.
