Chapter 33
Mandora, Lion-O, and Cheetara boarded the first ship while the other split up amongst the other ships. The three boarded to find a jackal lying on the floor near the door. Mandora felt for a pulse but only found a cold corpse. Rolling him over, there was a blaster wound to the chest.
"That's not good," the blonde said.
"No, it is not," Lion-O shook his head. They moved down the hallway until they reached the control room. At the controls, a vulture sat, his eyes unseeing the screens in front of him. Mandora, again, felt for a pulse but found nothing but cold death, and another shot to the chest.
"What the hell happened here?" Cheetara wanted to know.
"I didn't think they'd turn on each other," Mandora admitted. They moved further into the ship, inspecting, and looking for any clues as to what had happened. The galley was empty as was the bathroom. Only two spaces remained – the bunk room and the storage hold.
Mandora was the first through the door in the bunk room. She cursed and Lion-O and Cheetara followed her into the room. There were more dead Mutants. All five had been blasted to death with laser blasters.
"How did no one get a call out for help?" Lion-O asked.
"I have no idea. Maybe our vulture friend was trying and got killed for his trouble," Mandora frowned.
"The storage hold needs to be checked," Cheetara spoke up.
"I'm going to radio the others. See what they've found," the blonde spoke up before quickly using her helmet to reach the other two boarding teams. The two ThunderCats waited to hear what the Evil Chaser had to say, worrying about what they may find in the storage hold. Mandora heaved a sigh and turned toward her friends.
"How bad is it?" Lion-O wanted to know.
"Bad. Corporal Simmons and his team found ten dead and Technician Kane's team found ten more," Mandora frowned.
"So, with our seven – that's over half of those who were occupying all of the ships. Any sign of Baki?" Cheetara asked.
"No. I don't think he would have killed his own," Mandora said.
"I didn't get that vibe off of him," Lion-O admitted. The three made their way to the storage hatch. Lion-O held his breath as they opened the hatch. Mandora used a flashlight from her belt to light up the hold.
"Damn," the blonde cursed. There in the hold was Baki. He'd been beaten and shot. Lion-O used the latter to move down inside the space and checked for a pulse.
"He's gone," he told them.
"Ok, lets retreat. I'll call the battle cruiser and get a forensics team in here. We need to hold those that took off accountable," Mandora said. Lion-O climbed out and the three headed for their boarding ship.
Once back on the ground, Mandora and the Evil Chasers got to work while the ThunderCats headed back inside. Panthro, Ben-Gali, and the ThunderKittens went to get their new Mutant friends and the rest of the leaders of Third Earth while Lion-O and Cheetara moved into the large conference room.
"How do I tell them what has happened?" he asked his fiancée.
"The only thing you can do is be honest. My guess is that those who perpetrated these terrible crimes didn't want our hospitality and didn't want Evil Chaser involvement. Baki must have been skating on thinner ice than we thought," Cheetara put a hand on his forearm. The first few people started coming in through the door and Lion-O swallowed hard.
"What's going on?" Slythe asked as he took a seat. More soon followed behind him and finally Panthro brought up the rear.
"I have some very distressing news," Lion-O started.
To Be Continued…