Chapter 14
Panthro flew the Feliner toward the mines with the majority of the Evil Chaser pods following right behind. The weapons on board were armed and the ThunderGuard manned the controls. They had no idea what they were going to run into once they cleared the forest and the mines were directly in front of them.
"Lord Panthro, who do you think this Captain is?" the leader of the ThunderGuard contingent, Captain Ashok, a white tiger, asked. He was sitting in the second-in-command's chair.
"Not anyone that is coming to mind but obviously we pissed him off somehow," the panther responded.
"Well he can't know us very well. Harming the Thundrillium mines here doesn't shut down operations. New Thundera could ship it to Third Earth if need be," Ashok pointed out.
"Very true. His intent is probably to harm the planet in some way then. With New Thundera distracted he could wipe Third Earth off the map and we would have been powerless to stop it," Panthro frowned.
"Then with systems on New Thundera damaged and Third Earth gone, New Thundera would be his next target," the Captain said. The panther was about to say something when suddenly the Feliner's systems started squawking.
"What is it?" Ashok asked since the ship seemed to be just fine. Panthro ran a check on all the lights on his control panel and found the culprit.
"The unsteady ground warning. It must have been triggered by us flying so close to the tree tops," Panthro frowned. Their radio crackled to life and over it came Mandora's voice,
"Earthquake!" The panther looked at the tiger and he just shrugged.
"Full booster engines! If we don't get to the mines fast there won't be any mines or planet left!" Panthro commanded. They hadn't had time to refuel and the panther knew that whatever fuel they had left would be gone by the time they arrived at the mines if they used the booster engines but they had no choice if their enemy was doing what Panthro suspected he was doing.
"Aye, aye!" Ashok punched the button and the ship gained speed rapidly.
"Time to the mines now only two minutes," the Captain informed him. The panther knew that the Evil Chaser pods were not as fast but they had him still on their radar and he could see them attempting to pick up their pace.
"Exiting the forest cover! Hang on for a quick descent!" Panthro shouted into the internal communications system. He then had Ashok kill the booster engines.
"Fuel at three gallons! Low fuel warning activated!" The tiger told him. Then the Feliner came under fire from the people on the ground and the ThunderGuard in the back did not wait for an invitation. Quickly they fired back and the people took cover.
"We're coming in too hot!" Ashok watched as the ground grew closer by the moment. Suddenly, Panthro cut the main engines and the ship went silent. He pulled up on the yoke and the Feliner nosed up as the panther then pushed the button for the landing system to kick in. The reverse thrusters activated and the ship began to slow.
"Two gallons of fuel!"
"One gallon of fuel!"
"She's empty! BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!" Ashok announced as the reverse thrusters cut out and the Feliner crashed to the ground. The Evil Chasers were right behind them and they began strafing the ground to keep everyone back from the Feliner. They began to land in shifts as the ground began to shake once more.
To Be Continued…