Authors note: These characters do not belong to me. I don't own them. All storylines are completely made up and my own creations. Suggestions are welcome.

A voice cried out, piercing the darkness of the night, calling out frantically and in urgency -

"Penny? PENNY?! Wake up!"

Chapter 01: A Beautiful Day

It was a beautiful day in August. The sun was shining, but one could feel that tiny nip in the air -reminding you that autumn was near.

Pontypandy's finest were going to have another training day today, well at least most of them were.

Sam Jones, everyone's hero next door and leading firefighter at the Pontypandy fire station, was currently engaged in rolling up the fire hoses that were drying out in the sun.

Elvis Cridlington, was upstairs in the kitchen, preparing lunch and tea for the team, while Ellie Phillip and Arnold McKinley were giving Jupiter, the pump ladder appliance a wash.

Penny Morris, however, had to visit the Newtown Fire Academy. She was giving the trainee firefighters a course on underwater rescues. And of course, the equipment Ben had requisitioned for the Ocean Rescue Centre two weeks earlier had arrived at the Newtown Fire Station. They were ready to be collected and he had offered to pick up the equipment from the station.

Ben walked into the Pontypandy fire station. The team was all occupied in the daily work around the fire station.

"Morning Ben" called Sam, as he packed away the dried out hoses into Jupiter. "Nice to see you around here"

"Morning Sam. Have you seen Penny? We were supposed to go to Newtown today"

"Right here Ben" And with that Penny came sliding down the fireman's pole. Penny was dressed in her station uniform and ready to go.

"Picking up the equipment for the Ocean Rescue Center today, are we Penny?" asked Sam.

"Actually Ben is going to pick it up, they are the spares for Neptune and Juno. I'm just giving him a ride. I'm heading off to Newtown Academy to teach our trainee firefighters a thing or two about Ocean Rescues. Would you like to join us?" asked Penny

"Ah no, Penny. I believe Chief Fire Officer Boyce specifically requested for you" smirked Sam

"Yes Sam, since you said you had ample amount of work around here to do" finished Penny "Anyway let's get going Ben, I want to make it back to Pontypandy by lunchtime."

"Have fun you two"

A couple of hours into the shift, the team were all ready to begin their ocean rescue training session. Sam had driven off with Mercury about a while ago, looking for a place to hide on the open sea, leaving the rest of the team to prepare for the mock search and rescue. Ellie, Arnold and Elvis were ready to begin the drill.

Station Officer Steele gave one last briefing before they headed off to our respective vehicles.

"Elvis and Ellie? You will search for Sam in Neptune," Station Officer Steele instructed. "Arnold? You will join Tom in Wallaby Two. You all need this training just as much, so don't start getting too confident about your abilities. I'll coordinate the entire search from here"

"Yes, sir!" the team replied in unison.

"Excellent! Stay in full radio contact. I will be accessing you on every action you take. Are you ready for your search and rescue drill?"

Tom started taking off into the sky with Arnold on board, while Elvis and Ellie drove off o he Ocean Rescue Centre. They quickly donned their ocean rescue uniforms and boarded Neptune. Apart from Penny, Sam and Elvis were the only other firefighters qualified to drive Neptune.

The drill went smoothly without any trouble. With Arnold directing every move from the helicopter, they found Sam quite quickly as Sam had chosen to hide out near the lighthouse. Hen as expected, Ellie carried out the perfect procedures on Sam, checking for dehydration and any injuries. Then lowering the harness, they quickly secured Sam to Wallaby 2.

"Good job team. You have successfully completed the ocean rescue raining" announced Station Officer Steele, as Sam was lowered backed onto Neptune. "Report back to the station"

Once back, Station Officer Steele wasted no time in debriefing them. The team was all assembled inside the Briefing Room. Arnold, Ellie, Elvis and Sam stood 'at ease' as Station Officer Steele gave the results of his assessment and recommendations of the drill. All in all the drill was a successful one.

Sam made his way into the kitchen after the briefing and went to the cupboard to fetch some plates for lunch. Elvis began to serve lunch while Arnold settled in and grabbed the newspaper from the chair. Today's lunch was Shepard pie, courtesy of Firefighter Cridlington.

"This is delicious" muttered Ellie, through spoonfuls of pie.

"Yes, indeed" said Arnold

"Glad you like it. Wish Penny were here. She absolutely loves Sheppard's pie and It isn't often that I get to make one for lunch" replied Elvis.

"Yes Elvis, it isn't often that we get to eat it either" said Sam, causing Ellie to giggle "Anyway I wonder what's going on at the academy"