Chapter 5: The Attack
Three days had passed; the Thundercats have grown a friendly bond with the human, Elijah, and he, as well. Pumyra was in the living quarters, removing the patch from Lion-O's face and, also, the bandages around Tygra's waist.
"Again, I apologize for inflicting such casualties on you two," said Elijah, apologizing for the second time.
"Hey, it's okay. Look, our wounds are healed and we can put it all behind us," replied Lion in a friendly manner. Lion-O let out a mild "ow!" after having his patch removed like a band-aid by Pumyra.
"Don't be such a baby," said Pumyra as she placed both hands on her hips. She leaned closer to Lion-O's face but they were close enough not to appear intimate, and continued, "Besides, at least I get to see that cute face of yours."
Lion-O's face turned red from hearing that, which was the perfect opportunity for Tygra's snarky comments: "Well, well, you two seem to be closer than usual." He crossed his arm and legs with a sly grin on his face. "Is there anything we should know about?"
Observing their movements, Elijah responded to Tygra's comment while maintaining a stoic manner "Judging by their movements and the multiple times their faces had turned red from being in close contact with one another, I assume that they want to mate with each other."
"N-no, it's not like that!" cried Pumyra, turning around to face Elijah and blushing from his response. "I'm just being friendly!" She moved a few inches away from Lion-O. Elijah and Tygra could see Lion-O's red cheeks. Lion-O added to what Pumyra said, "S-she's right, it's nothing like that! There's nothing going on between us!"
Saying that actually hurt Pumyra a little. Frowning, her eyes stared at Lion-O for a second then back to the two in front of her, "Yeah, there's nothing going on between us. If you excuse, I'll be in my room for a while."
Pumyra left the living quarters with a sad expression on her face. Lion-O got up and followed her.
"Tell me, Elijah, does your people show any sign of emotion?" asked Tygra while looking at the human.
"Oh, yes, we do," he replied, slouching on his back with both his hands on the back of his neck and his legs crossed. "But I was trained by the military to not show my emotions because it might cloud my judgment."
Elijah continued, "Also, because of my lack of emotions, many of my brothers and sisters started calling me a robot."
Tygra let out a small chuckle from hearing that. Elijah, noticing his amusement, raised an eyebrow. "Wanna go see what the others' are doing in the control room?" Elijah asked.
He shrugged his shoulders with the reply "sure," got up from where he was sitting, and walked to the control room with Elijah by his side.
Pumyra was in her room, leaning against a wall, sitting down with her arms wrapped around her legs. She was upset. Sure, she was the one that told Tygra there was nothing going on between her and Lion-O but hearing it from Lion-O made her feel a little heartbroken.
Then a knocking sound appeared at her door. She welcomed whoever it was behind it in a quiet, yet hearable tone of voice, "Come in" and when the door open, she became angry because she saw who it was walking into her room. It was Lion-O.
"What do you want?" she shouted at her king, looking away to avoid eye-contact. "Can't you see I want to be alone?"
Lion-O was, also, upset. He knew, deep down, saying that would upset her and he wanted to make things right. Lion-O crouched in front of the puma, placing his right hand on her left shoulder and smiled. Feeling the warmth from Lion-O's hand stimulated Pumyra, making her cheeks blush crimson red.
Staring into each others' eyes, Lion-O was the first to speak. He said to her in a calm tone of voice, "Look, Pumyra, I know what I said about us not being a couple might've hurt you and I'm sorry for saying that. Do you forgive me?"
Pumyra smiled, sinisterly. Knowing her, Lion-O could tell she had something…malicious crossing her mind. She replied while caressing the lion kings' face, "Sure, I'll forgive you but on one condition."
"And what would that be, Pumyra?"
"I want you to strip naked in front of me," demanded Pumyra as both she and Lion-O stood up. "Everything you're wearing, gone and that includes your underwear."
You could tell that Lion-O was uncomfortable with Pumyra's demand but if it will make her happy, then he'll have to do it.
Lion-O sighed, murmured, "Fine, I'll do it."
20-minutes-later, Lion-O was completely nude. His clothes was on Pumyra's bed, even his undergarments were somewhere in that pile. Pumyra could see everything, making both of them fluster in embarrassment.
"Okay, I forgive you. Now, put your clothes back on before you catch a cold."
Embarrassed and humiliated, Lion-O walked out of the puma's room with his clothes on and went to the control room since that would be where Tygra and Elijah would be.
In the control room, Panthro was driving the Thundertank to their next destination. Elijah and Tygra were sitting and watching the old panther drive. Panthro didn't notice them observing him; too busy watching the dirt road. He finally noticed them and was pretty annoyed by it.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to drive!" Panthro shouted. It was a good thing his hands were still on the wheel, or else, it would've been disastrous.
"Sorry but we've got nothing else to do," Tygra retorted. "Cheetara's watching the cubs while Lion-O is…preoccupied, at the moment, in Pumyra's room."
Eyes widened, Panthro knew what Tygra meant by "preoccupied" when it involves two young cats. He replied without looking away, "Let me guess, you were teasing him about how close he and Pumyra were becoming?"
"Indeed, your guess was correct?" responded Elijah, raising an eyebrow at the panther.
Now, walking into the control room was Lion-O. Still having an embarrassing look on his face, he stood next to his brother and watched the monitors. It was then he noticed something following the Thundertank.
"Did you guys notice the airship that's following us?" asked Lion-O.
"Eh, I thought it was just some kind of bird," Tygra replied. "Maybe, if we ignore it, it'll fly pass us."
Elijah was shocked from seeing the airship on the monitor because he saw an airship like that before. Jaw dropped and trembling in fear, he started seeing horrifying flashbacks of dark figures with knifes and torturing devices, stabbing him, burning him, and skinning him alive.
"Elijah, are you okay?" Lion-O was worried by the look on Elijah's face. The human exclaimed as sweat dripped from his face, "We've got to get as far away from that thing as fast as we can!"
"Why? It's not attacking us," said Pantro. "Like Tygra said, 'If we ignore it, it'll fly pass us.'"
Elijah became hysterical, pleading for panthro to make Thundertank go faster: "No, it won't pass us! Can't you tell that's following us? Soon, it's going to destroy us and the people flying it will kill any survivors because I've seen what they're capable of!"
Tygra, stretching and lounging, asked in a skeptical manner while smiling, "And who are 'they,' Elijah?"
Before he could answer the tigers' question, the star-jet that was following the Thundertank fired a missile as a warning shot at the tanks' right side. The explosion was so powerful; it almost tipped the Thundertank to fall on its side. Its appearance was similar to a stealth bomber, except for the purple veins covering it.
Inside the star-jet, pilot was sending a message to its' superior. He spoke with a Slavic accept, possibly Russian, "This is Vladimir Sokolov, legionary pilot of the 13th century. I've found an unidentified vehicle that's emanating a mild reading of tiberium. Whoever these xenos are, they have him and the sphere. What are you orders, governor?"
"Did you fire a warning shot?" asked the governor through the comlink.
"Yes, sir, I did," replied Vladimir.
"Excellent!" The governor sounded pleased. He gave out his over, "Destroy it and if the sphere is still intact, take it and kill whoever stands in your way. Hail Brighton."
After the governor gave out his order, Vladimir wailed out "hail Brighton!" and continued following the Thundertank. It started firing ionic beams at the rails, hoping to cripple the tank.
In another part of the tank, the galley, Cheetara, Snarf, and the kittens were trying to hold on from the rumbling. Kat looked at the older female while she held onto the table, "Cheetara, what's happening to the Thundertank?"
"I don't know; I go check with the others! Snarf, you watch Wilykat and Kit while I'm gone, okay."
"Snarf!" the little creature kept rolling like a ball due to the ships rough vibrations. Cheetara lit up in a yellow light and ran to the control room to see what's going on.
He drove, turning left and right, trying to dodge every bombardment of missiles that was thrown at the Thundertank but still, it was useless.
"I'm going up there," said Elijah in a no-nonsense kind of way. "And I don't want anyone to stop me." Before he made that choice, he ran to his room and back to the control room, bringing his gauntlet with him.
"Are you crazy?" Tygra emphasized. "That 'thing' will shoot on sight if it sees you!"
Elijah was already on the latter that was connected to the hatch, he turned his head to Tygra and countered, "Have you fought a star-jet before? No, you haven't! So don't tell me I'm crazy until you see me in action!"
As he climbed up the latter and exited out of the hatch, Lion-O and Tygra followed him, thinking he would need reinforcements. Panthro joined in as well, muttering, aggressively, to himself as he switched the Thundertank to autopilot, "Mess with my baby, will they! Well, I'll show them whoever's piloting that thing!"
After Lion-O, Tygra, and Panthro climbed to the roof of the Thundertank, they spotted Elijah with his gauntlet set to 'energy sword mode' and was getting ready for battle. Lion-O and the other Thundercats soon did the same thing and took out their weapons.
The star-jet hovered over the Thundertank, turning around with its rear facing the front. Soon, the bay doors open from the rear. Out came six legionaries flying down on jet packs. They were dressed in blue armor, which was the color of the Brighton Philosophy, with the Brighton Coat of Arms on both sides of their shoulders: a capital B inside an ouroboros with a sword that resembled Excalibur piercing through the B from the stomach to the serpent's head. They wore Advanced Combat helmets with a gas mask covering their faces with a breathing tube connected to it.
This was it, the army from hell. The Thundercats have never dealt with an adversary as advanced as the Brighton Legion before, except for Elijah. Unlike Elijah and the Thundercats, the legionaries had low-tech rifles that, constantly, needed to be reloaded with rounds. The legionaries put away their rifles and, instead, took out machete-like laser swords and started charging at the Thundercats.
The Thundercats retaliated, charging at the enemy. Tygra fires his laser pistol at the one legionary charging at him but all it did was push him back, a little. It wasn't even on full power.
Lion-O sparred with two legionaries. "Two against one, now, that's not fair," he thought, blocking their attacks. Like the Spartans of Ancient Greece, the legionaries were brutal when it came to sparring. Lion-O blocked their attacks with the Sword of Omens and retaliated with such swift strikes.
Panthro, knowing he didn't have the right weapon to fight, charged anyway and took out one of them in the process but, soon, all three of the Thundercats, while fighting, saw Elijah and were shocked as to how he fought.
His skills in battle were merciless, stabbing one Brighton legionary in the shoulder with his energy blade and crippling his left knee with his right foot. Another started swinging his sword towards Elijah but he retaliated and, instead of pulling his energy blade out, he tore it out of the first legionary's shoulder, almost slicing it in half and amputated the second legionary's arm and decapitating his head. Though Lion-O's eyes, it was a bloodbath, but though Elijah's eyes, it was a bloody form of retribution. Now, now, the third one didn't seem intelligent enough to back away and, instead, leaped into the air and was preparing to strike but Elijah sucker punched him right in the chin, sending him falling to the ground on his back. Walking towards the fallen soldier, Elijah waited for him to stand up so he could have a proper battle.
He stared at him as he stood up and listened as he exclaimed, "Die! Federalist pig!" while charging and swinging his laser sword. His swordsmanship was inferior to Elijah's because with just a few swings, Elijah ended it by slicing the legionary through his waist.
The remaining three legionaries trembled in fear with one of them shouting to the others, "Let's get the hell out of here." They flew back to the star-jet on their jetpacks, fearing Elijah and his brutal swordsmanship skills but before they entered their ship, Elijah threw something at them and it clamped on the back of one legionary.
Aboard their ship, one legionary pleaded that they needed reinforcements to deal with the xenos but before the pilot, Vladimir, could argue, he started hearing a loud beeping sound.
"Do you hear something?" asked Vladimir, looking around the room to see where that beeping was coming from. He turned and noticed something was on one soldiers' back, blinking red and blinked faster with every minute. "Jesus Christ! It's a…!" before he could finish his sentence, the bomb went off, blowing the entire ship to kingdom come.
Through Elijah's point-of-view, seeing the Brighton star-jet destroyed was like a fireworks display. Before he walked back inside the Thundertank, Elijah felt something grabbing his left leg. He looked down and saw and amputated Legionary, crawling on his hands, clinging to his leg while, quickly, bleeding to death. When he, finally, reached the point of irritation, Elijah tossed the dying legionary over the Thundertank, falling to the dirt road and screaming his last breath.
Lion-O, Tygra, and Panthro were shocked and amazed by Elijah's antics. As he climbed down the latter and entered the control, Elijah began murmuring to himself, "Oh, this is bad, this is bad. How could they be here on Third-Earth? Of course, the tiberium trails from my ship. They must've followed it to here."
Lion-O stood behind Elijah and shouted, excitingly, "Killing three guys at once, Elijah, that's impressive but couldn't we have, at least, reasoned with them?" Lion-O was naïve about the situation but Elijah was experienced with the situation, dealing with those soldiers in the past.
"Yeah, but thanks to him, I'm going to have to clean blood off my baby's roof," Panthro muttered. Tygra saw how disturbed Elijah was: walking back and forth with eyes as wide as an owls'. He places an arm on his shoulder and commented: "Hey, cheer up. You got rid of them all and they won't be coming back, whoever they were…"
Elijah interrupted Tygra, grabbing him by the collar with both hands and pressing his back against the wall. What Tygra said didn't cheer the human up because he knew that wasn't the end, "…Now, you listen to me, you arrogant tiger; that was just a scouting party! More will come and when they do, all hell would break loose!"
"What did Elijah do?" Cheetara, finally, responded.
Tygra turned his head towards his mate and answered her question, "Six people dressed as soldiers fell out of an airship and tried to attack us. I saw Elijah kill three of them with my own eyes. When they retreated, he threw some sort of bomb at them and destroyed the entire ship."
From hearing that, Cheetara covered her mouth in shock.
Elijah saw the expressions on their faces. He sighed and responded while releasing Tygra, "Look, I'm sorry that I dragged you' all into this. I've faced them before and what they do is beyond the psyche of the subconscious mind."
Panthro replied to that statement with both arms crossed, "What do you mean by dragging us into this? Who were those guys?"
Leaning against the wall, Elijah started rubbing his temples to calm his nerves. He explained everything to his friends: "Somewhere in the Delta quadrant of the galaxy, there is a planet, an imperial planet where oppression and tyranny reside. That planet is called Brighton, also called the 'World of Sadists and Psychos' by Federalists as a joke."
Lion-O didn't like the sound of it. A planet of psychos and sadists, who would ever live on such a place? The lion king wanted to hear. "Is that where those soldiers came from, Elijah?" inquired Lion-O.
Elijah responded, "Yes, that's where they came from." He continued explaining, "You see, those soldiers were Brighton legionaries, the infantry soldiers of the Brighton Legion, the military force of the Brighton Empire." He gave Lion-O an innocent glare; then added. "Now, back to the planet: Hovering over the clouds, a floating fortress made out of marble and gold ruled both the surface and the sky. Inside the fortress was a city and inside the city was a palace and inside the palace was a throne made out of metal and steam, and sitting on the throne is a man, covered in wires and with plastic tubes sticking out of his back, pumping fluids in and out, keeping him alive and immortal. That man, that unholy thing, is the Emperor of the Brightons, Charles Brighton."
"So…the planet's named after their Emperor?" inquired Tygra, raising his left eyebrow in inquiry.
Elijah looked away from Lion-O and at his older brother. He replied while maintaining a stoic expression, "Yes and he has been ruling the planet, and the other planets in the Beta quadrant, for 5 centuries, after the Great Diaspora."
He sighed and continued, "I have seen them conquer worlds, commit acts of xenocide, and enslave alien species they would view as 'useful.'"
"Wait, wait; wait! Are you saying that these Brightons are human?" Pumyra questioned. Elijah did not deny that they were human, replying, "As much as I hate to admit, yes, they're human."
"But that means you killed your own people," said Cheetara. Hearing that, Elijah banged his fist at the wall.
"They're not my people. They're nothing but a bunch of lunatics following the ideas of a bigger lunatic," He led out a small chuckle and added, "The Brightons are nothing but a scourge to this galaxy. The Terran Federation has been at war with them for 400 years and we'll continue our war until one side is victorious."
"So the Brighton Empire is one the human factions?" Wilykat commented.
Before Elijah could respond, Wilykit looked at her brother and asked, "What are you talking about, Kat?"
"Elijah told me that his people are separated in factions, warring organizations, fighting over for that sphere Elijah has, which only Elijah knows what it does."
He didn't mean to lie but Kat promised Elijah that he wouldn't tell the others the truth of the human's knowledge on the sphere. As the explanation continued, the Thundertank, automatically, stopped. The motion of it stopping shook the Thundercats, including Elijah.
"Panthro, go check and see why we stopped," ordered Lion-O.
The panther nodded and walked over to the windshield to see what was in front of them. It was a bad thing to see. So bad, the Thundercats were glad they were prepared. In front of them, an army of lizards blocked their path, 2-miles-away from where they were. Leading them was Mumm-Ra's generals: Slithe, Kaynar, and Addicus.
Slithe was watching for any signs of the Thundertank through his binoculars. He didn't know they were on a hill and couldn't see very well because of the sand that was blowing in the wind.
"Hoo-hoo, when do you think they'll come, Slithe? I can't wait to fight those, blasted, Thundercats," asked Addicus.
"I can't wait to feast on their remains," Kaynar added, giving a wicked laugh as he finished.
Slithe removed his binoculars from his face and replied with a crooked grin, "Patience, my friends, we'll wait 'til they show. Then we'll attack them when they appear and you two can enjoy tearing them apart."
Back at the Thundertank, Lion-O stared at the large army while talking to his general. Panthro crossed his mechanical arms and sighed, stressfully, "This is going to get ugly for us."
"At least we'll go down fighting," Lion-O added. He turned his head to his brother and said in a stern manner, "Tygra, grab whatever's in the armory."
The tiger nods his head. Ran and grabbed whatever he needed in the armory. Elijah volunteered to tag along; Lion-O's going to need as many friends to fight this battle.
Standing outside of the Thundertank, the Thundercats were ready for battle but before the battle commenced, a loud, sound came from the sky. "Is it me or does anyone else hear buzzing?" asked Wilykat.
Elijah recognized the sound. It was the sound of star-jet engines, which was similar to the buzzing, flapping wings of wasps. Elijah turned south and moved back about two inches, pointing and shouting "hornets!" making the other Thundercats turn to his direction. Jaws dropped, Lion-O and his companions were surprised by what they were seeing: Three star-jets like the one that attacked the Thundertank, except bigger and with a hornet-like appearance.
Flying over the lizard army, the pilot in the middle star-jet began announcing to the lizards in a threatening, yet reasonable manner: "Xenos surrender the Federalist, Elijah, and the sphere to us and we will be on our way! Failure to comply would be considered unwise and will result in death!"
After that was announced, the lizards looked at one another. Then they all started laughing. Slithe, with a sinister smile, looked up and shouted at the three star-jets, "You think you can make threats like that to us! Look around, I and comrades have an army and what do you have, hmmm?"
The star-jets soon started to land on the desert sand, facing south with the backside facing the lizard army.
"This isn't going to be a fair fight," Tygra stated.
"How do you know?" asked Lion-O.
"Well, um, because we saw how many soldiers dropped out of that airship and it can be assume that if six dropped out of one airship, then eighteen will come out of all three," Tygra's opinion was flawed, in which Elijah pointed out, "Your assumption may be correct to a Brighton scouting party but not to a battle cruiser. Watch and you'll see what happens."
As the ships' bay doors open, a division appeared out of each star-jet, joining together and forming an army, followed by bulky, heavily-armored tanks from behind. From seeing their increasing number, Tygra's jaw dropped, meaning he was wrong, which he hated to admit.
oooooo
As they marched out of their battle cruisers, they' all stopped and formed a line, holding semi-automatic rifles and machine guns in their hands. Slithe was speechless from seeing an army that was larger than his. An opening appeared in the middle of the army, making way for a well-decorated military officer. As he walked out of the opening, the soldiers reformed the line, closing the opening. The military officer was standing face-to- face, 3-miles-away from the lizard general.
Like all Brighton Legionaries, the color of the military officer's uniform was blue. He wore a silver cuirass on his chest, black boots, and silver gauntlets with claw-tipped fingers covering his hands. Odd about him was that he was wearing a bull-like skull on his right shoulder, a primitive, leather utility belt around his waist, and a crimson cape around his neck. He had bronze skin, indicating he was of Polynesian descent. He had black hair with hazel eyes and had a muscular physique.
He shouted in a loud, booming voice, so loud that it echoed into the heavens, "Reptilian xenos, we are here for a man who goes by the name 'Elijah!' I know you are harboring him and we wish you bring him to us, at once, or else, there will be serious consequences!"
Slithe, finally, responded, feeling offended by his threat, "And who are you to make such a demand, stranger!"
"I am Gaius Aelius Aquilinus, Legatus of this army!" the legate replied, placing his right hand on the center of his chest. He continued, "Who, pray tell, am I addressing myself to?"
"I am Slithe, general of Mumm-Ra's army! The one on my left is Addicus, and the one on my right is Kaynar, two of Mumm-Ra's other generals!" Slithe introduced himself, as well, as addressing the other generals, Addicus and Kaynar. "We are, also, looking for the human, Elijah! Since you have a powerful army, why not we join forces to find him?"
The legate did not respond. On his face was a stoic expression, similar to Elijah's, except for the aggressive eyebrows. He, questionably, retorted, "You dare have the audacity to propose an alliance, reptilian?"
"Of course," Slithe had no idea what he was getting himself into. Having no knowledge of the Bright Empire, he would think making an alliance with them would be a piece of cake, but he was wrong.
Aelius smiled in amusement, letting out a slight chuckle before replying to his proposal. He returned the idea with a menacing grin, "You think that we, the Brighton Legion, would ever make an alliance with filthy xenos, not to mention an alliance with a fat reptile, a barbaric ape, and a, um…psychotic jackal?"
That comment enraged the three generals. Arguments flew back and forth until both Aelius and slithe shouted "Attack!" in unison.
oooooo
As the battle between the Brightons and the lizards was about to commence, the Thundercats observed the beginning of the brawl from behind the star-jets. It was a good thing the Thundertank was parked on a hill. That way, they could, easily, see all the action at a distance.
"Isn't there a way we could prevent this from happening?" Lion-O felt stress from seeing the two sides charging at each other.
"Nope, can't be done," Elijah answered Lion-O's question while he nodded his head in disagreement. "Once the Brightons start their battle, it won't end until one side is victorious."
The human held out his hand in a "look away" stance to Cheetara, Pumyra, and the Wilys. He didn't look at them and continued staring at the battle: "Women and children look away! You do not want my nightmares!"
"But—," Pumyra exclaimed.
"Now!" Elijah roared. They did what he said and looked away, covering the cubs' eyes and closing their eyes as the battle began. You could hear the screams of pain coming from the battlefield: Brightons and lizards firing their rifles at each other, Tanks firing their rounds at the warbots, and vice-versa.
"Whiskers!" Lion-O exclaimed. "We've got to do something before this gets out of hand!"
"Keep your voice down! Do you want them to hear you?" Elijah whispered. He respected Lion-O's belief of peace but had to decline the idea. "Look, Lion-O, if the lizards and the Bright continue fighting, they'll soon learn that they are, equally, matched and they'll retreat and regroup. Thus, we won't see them 'til another time." The human made a point and that point went through Lion-O's head. Even though they were shielded by the Brighton star-jets, it didn't do any good protecting them because, even though the battle was loud, the two sides could hear Elijah and Lion-O's argument. Elijah saw how some of them, the one's not fighting each other, were looking at them. "Oh crap, they see us."
oooooo
"There they are!" shouted a lizard soldier. He was close enough to see the Thundertank, even with all the sand flying in the air.
The legate, Aelius, turned his head and squinted to the point where he could see Elijah and the Thundercats standing in front of the armored vehicle. The surprising part was that he looking at them while battling Addicus. He was strong enough to stop the big ape from attacking by grabbing the top of his club before it could pummel him into the ground. With all his might, the legate judo flips Addicus to the ground.
He stares at General Slithe and shouts in a bitter, yet disgusted, tone of voice, "all right, General Slithe, I change my mind! I accept your proposal but, in return, I want whatever Elijah has in possession! You can have whatever you want from him, or whatever is left of him! Do we have a deal?"
The general did not respond, not yet, anyway. He felt joy surging through his body, smiling with glee. The lizard, finally, responds, "Indeed, we have a deal!" With the addition of humans and their technology in Mumm-Ra's army, they would step closer to controlling Third-Earth. That was the Idea accumulating in Slithe's head. He noticed that Aelius had spotted the Thundercats, as well. He continued, "I see that you've spotted the Thundercats! You have a good sense of sight, human!"
As soon as they walked towards each other and shook hands, they ordered their men to charge at the hill where the Thundertank was parked.
oooooo
Surprised, both Lion-O and Elijah looked at each other in awe. They never thought that both their enemies would ally themselves, making Elijah star at the stampede with his right eyebrow raised and with his left hand scratching the back of his head, commenting on the situation: "Huh, didn't see that coming." He turned to Lion-O and saw that he was doing the same thing: scratching and raising and eyebrow. "What about you, Lion-O? Did you see this coming?"
"No I did not."
Lion-O was quick to come up with a plan. "Panthro, head back to the tank! We need the missiles for this situation!" he ordered.
Panthro ran and entered the tank. He sat in the driver's seat and activated the missile launchers, aiming it at the lizards. As the lizards and the Brighton legionaries stampeded up the hill, Elijah and the Thundercats prepared themselves for battle.
"Well, I guess this is the end: Standing on a hill, about to be stomped to death by an army of humans and lizards," commented Tygra.
Wilykit was standing beside Lion-O, face turning red and was about to say something, "Lion-O, I want you to know that…well, for the past months I've spent with the Thundercats…I…I—."
"—Wait, Kit, before you say anything, I just remembered something," Elijah interrupted Wilykit, looking at the king with a realized look on his face. "Remember those explosives Tygra got from the armory?"
"Yes, what about them?"
With just mentioning that, Lion-O twisted towards Tygra and ordered him to throw the explosives at the army. Tygra nodded, though, as usual, doubting that his brother's plan would work. In his right hand were five explosive packs strung together by a 3-foot-long fuse. It was pretty low-tech and looked ancient. Tygra bought it, yesterday, in an evabon settlement. Tygra looked at the human and retorted, "Okay, but how am I suppose to light the fuse without any matches?"
"Oh, just give it to me," Elijah demanded.
Tygra hands the explosives to Elijah. With one press of a button, a built-in lighter pops out of the front. He lights the fuse and tosses it into the air, flying towards the front of the army. Boom! It was as loud as thunder and as powerful as lightning. Half of the army that was up front fell and died but that's not all. From the explosion, and avalanche of boulders rolled and crushed many of them, causing them to flee for their lives.
Inside the Thundertank, Panthro was pressing a lot of buttons, activating the missile launchers and when he activated them, he launched every missile at the tanks and warbots, causing them to fall like a dead tree. Many Brighton legionaries returned to their ships and flew off, leaving their legate behind. It was very dishonorable of them, leaving their commanding officer behind.
The lizards shouted "retreat!" while the Brightons yelled "fall back!" that did not pleased their leaders. Ironically, even though Slithe, Kaynar, and Addicus were angry at the defeat, Aelius ran towards the Thundercats direction, passing through the crowd of soldiers with quick speed. He was fast but not as fast as Cheetara.
He stopped in front of the hill, looked up, and stared at Elijah. He shouted at the captain, getting his attention, "You there, Elijah!"
"Yes, what is it that you want?" Elijah asked.
"I am Gaius Aelius Aquilinus, Legatus of this army and request an audience with!" the legates' mannerisms were very 'admirable,' even for a Brighton. "I was sent by my commander, Governor Abdul Muhib, to capture you and bring him the sphere! When he explained to me about you he didn't tell me you were a divina, the peacekeepers of the Terran Federation!"
"Tell me, Aelius, what are you going to do now since your army has abandoned you?"
"Never underestimate the Brighton Legion, Elijah! If one Brighton legionary retreats a battle, 10 more will come to take his place! We will return and we will kill all of you and take the sphere from you!" the legate clutched his fists in front of them, scaring only the cubs. Elijah retorted, loudly, "The only way you're getting the sphere is if you remove it from my cold, dead hands!"
Silence fell on the legate, not saying a single word for about 12 seconds. On his face, he gave out a malicious grin and mutters," So be it, then!" he walks away towards General Slithes' direction. He hopped on their hover platforms, tagging along with them and wanting them to take him to their leader, Mumm-Ra.
The lizard and Brighton threat was over, for now. Back inside the Thundertank, Thundercats were in the living quarters, relaxing and taking a break from the day they just had. Lion-O and Elijah were sharing conversations on the situations. The lion king asked the human, "So the Lizards and the Brightons are allies now. Do you think it would last?"
"I doubt it," Elijah replied. "This isn't the first time the Brightons made alliances with other sentient beings. The last time they did so was at the battle of Tar and after they won, they vaporized the natives and claimed the planet as their own."
"That's horrible!" exclaimed Cheetar, sitting in front of the two while Tygra's arm was wrapped around her waist.
"My mentor, General Salveas Amon,once said this: 'A true soldier shows honor by keeping his word and not to harm those who are defenseless. Soldiers who do not show honor are not soldiers but sales, dégoûtants; demi-culs porcs avec des bites Minuscules.'"
"And that means?" asked Tygra.
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Elijah waved his right hand to decline translating what he said. This was a weird day, indeed, for the Thundercats have met an enemy not from this world.
To be concluded.