G.I. Combat Vol 1 286

"Devil Dust"

Cover

Devil Dust

Dead Winner

Editors

Murray Boltinoff

Previous Issue	Next Issue
G.I. Combat # 285	G.I. Combat # 287

Sometimes I feel sorry for those Legion military coppers chasing us all over the globe. Poor chaps...

— Philip "Prince" Edwards

G.I. Combat #286 is an issue of the series G.I. Combat (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1986.

Synopsis for "Devil Dust"

The Mercenaries have landed at Key Largo off the straits of Florida, between jobs and out of money. As they are perusing the beaches checking out the local sunbathing beauties, they are recognized by a businessman known only as the Fat Man. He invites the three to sit down with him in the shade. His face is disfigured, and he wears a white suit three sizes too small for him. He tells them that he has been sent on vacation by his wife Wanda, and wants to bring his wife back a special present. He offers the Mercenaries a job - to dive down into the depths of th4e strait and find him a treasure from one of the many sunken wrecks found on the bottom. They accept his easy job, and he hires them a speedboat with a glass bottom named the "Southern Star". The skipper of the boat, a beautiful woman named Charlie, tells them to suit up as they set sail for the deep waters.

Hour after hour they find nothing, from Key Largo to Bimini and then over to the Grand Bahamas, when finally they locate the wreckage of a plane on the bottom. They dive deep down to the plane wreck, finding the pilot still in his seat being eaten by the fish along with a mysterious wooden Aztec statue. Gordon collects the statue, deciding that it's perfect for the Fat Man to give to his wife. But before he can surface, Gordon is attacked by a killer shark. Charlie was ready to help, and harpoons the shark before it can make its move. The three surface and return to the speedboat. As they begin to head back to Key Largo, they are attacked by two men in a seaplane swooping down to shoot at the boat. Horst and Prince return fire, and the seaplane is shot down and explodes. Gordon worries that the explosion might attract the attention of the Coast Guard, so Charlie sets sail for a small island out of the way until things can cool off for them to return.

As the four go ashore, they discover that they are not alone on the island. From out of the trees steps the Fat Man, along with two of his hired goons. The Mercenaries realize that it was all a trap, but are cut off from their escape by Charlie, who has double-crossed them. She gives the Fat Man the Aztec statue, who unscrews the top off to reveal it full of raw uncut cocaine worth a street value of twenty million. The Fat Man then shoots Charlie, but as she falls she shoots back wounding the Fat Man. He drops the cocaine, spilling it out onto the sand of the beach. The Mercenaries leap into action and kill the remaining goons. The only ones left standing are the three Mercenaries. As the wind begins to pick up across the beach, the Mercenaries board the speedboat and leave the island hoping that the wind will take them to their next mission.

Appearing in "Devil Dust"

Featured Characters:

Mercenaries

Supporting Characters:

Charlie

Antagonists:

The Fat Man
Henchmen

Other Characters:

Sunbathers

Locations:

Key Largo, Florida

Items:

Wooden Aztec statue
Speargun
Raw uncut cocaine

Vehicles:

Tourist speedboat
Seaplane

Synopsis for "Dead Winner"

In Maunddaw, in the Bay of Bengel, The Mercenaries are waiting in line to board a cruise ship heading for America when they overhear some of the passengers talking about the police delaying the ship to look for Foreign Legion deserters. Quickly leaving the dock before they are spotted, the three are able to charter a speedboat to take them to safety until the situation cools off. They head out to sea and away from sight, but later are spotted by the Harbor Police. The police begin to fire, but Gordon blasts the ship's searchlights out so they are able to escape in the dark. They head inland, into the Chindwin River.

By morning, the Mercenaries have floated quite a distance into the country. Their speedboat is nearly out of gas, so they stop at the nearest dock they can find. At the top of the hill from the river sits an old missionary, and the three hope to be able to get some help from anyone that still lives there. Inside, an old man named Mr. Pinckney is extremely sick with jungle fever, being cared for by an old local native named Ali. The Mercenaries enter just in time to see the man collapse, too weak to stand. They help him to the bed, and Pinckney pleads with the men to find his lost sister Daphne so that she may continue with his missionary work. He tells them that she was last known to be at her jungle hospital about forty miles up country, tending to the sick. Recently, Ali has told him that he has heard the drums beating from the village, telling the area that the natives are no longer paying the witch doctors for their spells. They speak of gathering together and attacking the hospital, and killing everyone including the missionary's sister. The Mercenaries accept the job, even though the man has nothing to pay them. They owe God a freebee.

The Mercenaries trek through the treacherous jungle for days before they get into the area where the man said the hospital would be. They find that the attack has already started. Horst moves up to rescue a young woman who is about to be speared from the tree. He disarms the native, but a poisonous viper pites the native on the arm, and he falls from the tree. The young woman, whom they discover is Daphne Pinckney herself, rushes over to help the dying native. She sucks the venom out of the man's arm, leaving him to recover on his own under the shade of a nearby tree. The Mercenaries tell Daphne that they are here to take her back to her brother, but she refuses to leave her patients in the hospital without telling them goodbye. The group is ambushed by the warring native, who desire to bring back the head of the woman for their witch doctor Ahmed. The Mercenaries strike back, but Daphne forbids them from killing. With fists and knives, the Mercenaries try to hold back the attacking natives but there is just too many of them. One native moves in to kill Daphne with his spear, but just as he delivers the killing blow the native that she had rescued before jumps between them and is killed by the spear. The fighting stops. The natives are shocked at the sight of on of their own dying by their hands. The dying native is Ahmed, the chief witch doctor, who saved Daphne's life to repay the good deed she did for him.

Returning back to the Missionary church, Daphne is able to spend a few minute's time with her brother before he dies from the fever. She promises to take over his work after he is gone. As she is leaving the church to thank the three Mercenaries, she collapses into Horst's arms. She tells him that she had a cut in her mouth, and the poison that she had sucked out of the witch doctor's arm is now in her bloodstream. She dies in his arms, and they bury both brother and sister together outside the church. The native Ali promises to keep their memories alive, and that the villagers will remember them and tend to their graves for as long as they exist.

Appearing in "Dead Winner"

Featured Characters:

Mercenaries

Supporting Characters:

Mr. Pinckney (Dies)
Daphne Pinckney (Dies)

Antagonists:

Harbor police officers

Other Characters:

Chief Ahmed
Ali
Myanmar natives

Locations:

Maungdaw, Myanmar

Vehicles:

Speedboat
Police boat

Notes

The final page of this issue begins the text article Famous Fighting Outfits: The Battling Super-Builders (Part 1), telling the story of the Engineers Corp during World War 2.

Links and References

This page is missing characters! This page is missing one or more character, location or item appearances. If you find any characters that appear in this issue, episode, movie, game or book but are not included on the page, please add them to the Appearances list of the template.

G.I. Combat Vol 1 286

Contents