COLONEL Casey felt groggy. She couldn't remember much. She remembered the Flyer she'd been aboard landing at where The Hood had crashed to the ground and approaching what she believed was his unconscious body. Then everything had gone black. Suddenly she jerked awake, consciousness returning. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighted room she was in. She tried to move but found that she couldn't. She was sitting in a large metal chair with large metal cuffs securing her arms and legs to it. She tried to pull herself free but it was a pointless effort because the cuffs were too strong to break.
It was then that she realised that she wasn't alone. A man in a black armoured suit stood a short distance from where she was standing. She didn't recognise the man's face, but recognised the armour as that of The Black Phantom. "Where am I?" she demanded.
"You're our guest," Kruger replied.
"Where are the others?" asked Colonel Casey.
"Others?"
"My crew of course!" said Colonel Casey sharply.
"I don't know the answer to that," said Kruger. "I didn't bring you here."
"But I did."
Colonel Casey and Kruger turned to look at the door leading into the room. It had opened and The Hood was entering in his suit followed a few steps behind by Techno, the latter of which was giving the Colonel a most hateful look behind his goggles.
"You…" Colonel Casey said with gritted teeth.
"Leave us, please," The Hood said to Kruger. "We can take it from here."
"Very well," said Kruger. He turned and walked out of the room, pressing the button to close the door behind him.
The Hood rubbed his hands gleefully as he stood in front of the chair that Colonel Casey was strapped to. Techno remained further back in the darkness, almost refusing to come any closer. "So then, Colonel," The Hood said. "Where shall we start?"
"You can start by telling me where I am and where's my crew?" Colonel Casey snapped.
The Hood chuckled. "I think I can answer both of those with relative ease," he said smugly. "You are in our little secret headquarters. It's exact location is not disclosed of course because naturally we don't want the GDF or International Rescue to find us. At least not yet. As for your crew…well…let's just say they probably didn't feel a thing."
Colonel Casey turned red with fury. "You absolute-"
"SILENCE!" bellowed Techno.
"Ah-ah-ah-ah," The Hood said calmly. "There's no need to talk to our guest like that now, is there, young man?"
Techno growled and folded his arms, snorting in disgust.
"Yes, a tragedy," The Hood continued. "It pains me to do what I had to do, but…well, you know."
"You will pay for this, Hood," said Colonel Casey. "You and your Cabal have caused so much chaos to the world since you formed. Stealing items. Kidnappings. Attempted murder of Jeff Tracy. Not to mention you have brought much torment to my family for keeping my son prisoner!"
The Hood began to chuckle again. "Ah, yes. I was wondering how long it would be before you brought him up," he said. He gave Techno a look, a smirk and a wink so that Colonel Casey wouldn't see him. Techno turned away so that his back was facing towards them.
"What have you done with him?" Colonel Casey asked. "If he's dead-"
"Oh, he's not dead, Colonel," said The Hood. "I wouldn't have gained anything by doing that. No, no, no. He's become more useful to me than you could possibly even think."
"And what the hell does that mean?!" demanded Colonel Casey.
The Hood's smirk seemed to get bigger and more sinister. He took and step to one side and turned back towards where Techno was lurking in the darkness. "See for yourself," he said.
Colonel Casey looked towards Techno. He'd been doing something with his hands and in face. Now he turned back around and stepped forwards into the light. He had pushed his goggles up and removed the voice-modulator over his nose and mouth. Colonel Casey stared. Her blood suddenly went icy cold and the colour instantly began to drain from her face. "No…No…N-N-No…"
"What's the matter, Colonel?" asked The Hood mockingly. "Having trouble with the last two letters?"
Colonel Casey didn't answer because she was too horrified by the figure standing in front of her.
"Hello…Mother!" growled Techno.
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"BROKEN HEARTS" Part 1
NEVER in her life could Colonel Casey express what emotions she was feeling at this very point. For well over a year she'd been tormented with the thought that her son had remained a prisoner of The Cabal after finding her daughter Rita and rescuing her from an old Windmill in England. Now she was facing the realisation that he had in fact been made into a member of The Cabal by The Hood and turned into the new version of The Mechanic. "N-Noel…?!" she said, her voice seemed to have tried to escape her voice-box in shock. "Is that…really you?"
"Yes, Mother," snarled Techno. "I'd say it's good to see you again. Except that'd be a lie. And you always said I was a bad liar."
"Noel, listen to me!" Colonel Casey pleaded. "The Hood's done something to you. He's messed with your mind, just like he did with The Mechanic's. You can fight it. You can break free of his control. We can end this together."
Noel didn't answer for a moment. Instead he moved in closer and brought his head within a few inches of his mother's own. "I'm no puppet here," he said quietly. "And why would I want to give up the best thing that has ever happened to me?"
Colonel Casey's voice seemed to escape entirely now. Surely Noel couldn't mean what he was saying, she thought. But before she could find any words to say in response, Noel placed his right glove on the top of her head and sent a small electric charge through her body which knocked her unconscious after she cried out in pain. Noel then stepped back and raised his right fist clenching it, ready to strike.
"Hold it there now!" The Hood said, grabbing him by the arm. "I really don't see the need for that."
"Get your hand off me!" Noel snapped, yanking his arm out of The Hood's grip. "DON'T DENY ME WHAT I'VE WAITED SO LONG FOR!"
"HAVEN'T YOU ALREADY ACHIEVED THAT?!" The Hood shouted back to silence him. "If my memory serves, all you wanted was to break your Mother's heart. I think the realisation of the truth will do more than that, wouldn't you say?"
Noel shifted uncomfortably and began to sniffle. "She's caused me so much pain. So much grief. She's never been there when we've needed her. All I want is to inflict that pain back on her!"
"And you're doing exactly that," The Hood said. "She'll never be the same again after learning the truth. Trust me, I know what it's like to have your family abandon you. It hurts to no end. I get that you want to do what you want to do, but I'm afraid for now I cannot allow it."
"WHY?!" bellowed Noel. "WE HAD A DEAL!"
"Because she STILL SERVES US A PURPOSE!" thundered The Hood to silence him again. Then he spoke calmly again. "You know what my ultimate goals are, don't you?"
"Yeah," said Noel. "The death of Jeff Tracy and the destruction of International Rescue?"
"Exactly," said The Hood. "By now they'll have realised that the Colonel is our prisoner and will be on the hunt for clues as to her whereabouts." He walked over to the unconscious Colonel and unfastened the lowest metal cuff over her right arm. He then pushed up her sleeve a short way to reveal her silver wristwatch. He undid the clasp and took it off before holding out to Noel.
"I'm not touching that," Noel said bitterly.
"And why not?" asked The Hood. "Because of who gave it to her?"
"No," Noel said. "Because of what they did to it. I bought that for her fortieth birthday. And then she gave it to that self-proclaimed genius inventor of theirs and he made it into more than what it was intended for."
"Exactly," said The Hood. "Do you know what else it does besides tell time?"
"Communications?" said Noel.
"Yes…and?" said The Hood.
Noel shrugged. "Why should I care?" he grunted.
"An emergency locator beacon," smiled The Hood. "As I said, International Rescue will be looking for any clues as to her whereabouts. All we need to do is give it to them."
"But that'll lead them right to us!" Noel protested. "They'll discover our hideout!"
The Hood smirked deviously. "That, my boy, is exactly what I want them to do," he said before starting his menacing cackle.
The Tracy family were uneasy. Virgil tried to distract everyone by playing the piano, except he found himself too distracted to play properly. Scott paced up and down by the windows whilst Jeff tapped his fingers on the desk. Alan tried to lose himself in video games whilst Gordon slouched on one of the sofas. Kayo was just as restless, sitting up on the balcony with her back resting against the railing. Occasionally Scott would glance up at her before returning to his pacing.
Gordon eventually broke the uneasy silence with a loud groan. "Two days," he said. "It's been over two days since Colonel Casey was taken, and we're just sitting here!"
"What can we do, Gordon?" asked Jeff. "Without any clues as to where The Hood took, our hands are tied."
"Do you think we will hear anything, Dad?" asked Alan.
"I hope so, Alan," replied Jeff. "God, I do hope so."
It was almost right on cue that the beeping sound from John's portrait made everyone jump.
"Maybe this is something?" Virgil said hopefully.
Jeff sat himself up straight. "Go ahead, John?"
John's holographic image appeared from the eyes of the portrait. "Guys, I have potential good news," he said.
"Potential?" asked Gordon. "Either you do or you don't, John?"
"What is it, John?" asked Scott. "Is it Colonel Casey?"
"I've picked up an emergency watch locator beacon," said John. "I've got EOS working with Brains to try and triangulate its location."
"Is it Colonel Casey's?" asked Kayo, hurrying down from the balcony.
"Yes, Kayo," said John. "We should have the location in a matter of seconds."
At that moment Brains came hurrying with a laptop on one hand. "We h-have it!" he said as he sent a hologram map image to the table in the middle of the lounge. "The s-signal is coming from a remote region in the Andes."
"Then what are we waiting for?" said Alan eagerly. "We got to go rescue her!"
"Not so fast, Alan," said Jeff sternly. "Look at the location, boys. Do you know what this is likely to be?"
"The location of The Cabal's secret headquarters?" asked Kayo.
"Exactly," said Jeff. "It's my guess that The Hood took Martha to use as bait to lure us into a trap."
"Meaning that The Cabal will be expecting us to come to her rescue," said Virgil.
"Yes, V-Virgil," said Brains. "It w-wouldn't surprise me either if they are the ones who have activated the emergency signal."
"If they didn't want Casey to reveal her location to us they'd have made sure she couldn't," Scott said.
"Well we can't just leave her with them!" said Gordon. "We have to do something!"
"We are, Gordon," said Jeff, getting to his feet. "But we're not going in unprepared. John, alert Captains Rigby and Madison and send them the location of Colonel Casey's beacon. Tell them to meet us at a designated rendezvous point which we will determine once airborne. We're gonna need more than a little back-up on this mission."
"F-A-B," said John.
"The rest of you get suited up," Jeff instructed. "We're all going on this one."
"Even you, Dad?" asked Scott.
"Of course," said Jeff. "Like I said, we're gonna need every available pair of hands for this one."
The brothers and Kayo didn't look at all comfortable with this.
"But, Dad, The Hood has vowed to kill you!" protested Alan. "What if he-"
"I'm going, Alan, and that's final!" Jeff said sharply. "Now get suited up! Kayo, take Shadow. Gordon and Alan, you go with Virgil in Thunderbird 2. Scott, I'm coming in Thunderbird 1 with you."
"Okay," said Scott, still not happy with Jeff's choice but knew there was no point in trying to dissuade him. He turned to the others. "You heard him. Let's gear up!"
The suiting-up process was swiftly carried out with the four brothers and Kayo taking their usual routes to their respective ships and Jeff going via the changing rooms into his old suit before making his way to join Scott in Thunderbird 1 whilst Gordon and Alan went to join Virgil in Thunderbird 2 after getting changed. Soon Thunderbird 1 was heading up its diagonal launch tunnel to the launch bay whilst Thunderbird 2 was lowered over Module 2 and Kayo raced down the tunnel in the Shadowbike before being lifted into the main body of Thunderbird Shadow. The swimming pool moved back as Thunderbird 1 was moved into position, Thunderbird 2 taxied out of its hangar, past the tilted back palm trees and along the runway before being raised into position on its launch pad and Thunderbird Shadow was taken up to the revolving cliff-face before being swung out into the open and turned to face upwards.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
The engines of all three Thunderbirds thundered into life with Thunderbird 1 rising out first from the pool with Shadow following once it was clear to do so and Thunderbird 2 was the last to get airborne.
"Say it, Dad," said Scott.
"Thunderbirds are GO!" answered Jeff.
The three ships then levelled out once at the correct height before racing off at their maximum speeds towards the Andes.
The Hood and Techno went down to a level far below the surface inside their secret base. Here was an specially constructed submarine dock where over several months, Techno had been building them a mobile HQ in the form of a large grey and orange-coloured submarine, armed to the teeth with missiles, torpedoes and even mines. There were also tubes to house his Insect and Ray Meccas, although for the former they would need to be on the surface in order to launch them.
Whilst The Hood and Techno had been tormenting Colonel Casey, the rest of The Cabal had been busy loading supplies and all the equipment that they needed from the base aboard the submarine.
"How long until you're done?" The Hood asked.
"Just a few more crates, boss, and we'll be done," said Silver Swan.
"All systems are green," said The Shocker. "Weapons, propulsion and navigational systems are working perfectly."
"Of course they are," grunted Techno. "I did build it, after all."
"So that's what you look like," remarked The Black Phantom.
Techno blinked, suddenly realising that he'd not put his goggles and voice-modulator back on.
Silver Swan smirked. "Have you done it?" she asked eagerly.
"Done what?" asked Techno.
"Revealed the truth to the Colonel?" said Silver Swan.
"Yeah," snorted Techno. "The pain she's inflicted on me over the years has finally been thrown back at her."
The White Ghost was probably the only member of The Cabal who didn't entirely approve of Techno's motives. Having lost both her brothers, any form of family strain or pain she felt deeply sensitive about. However she chose to keep her mouth shut about it as she helped load the last of the crates into the submarine.
The Hood, Techno, Black Phantom and Shocker failed to notice how pained and troubled she was. Only Silver Swan did. "Are you okay, Laura?" she asked.
Laura looked back at her. "No, I'm not," she whispered back. "I can feel it going all the more now since my fight with that GDF officer. Her damaging my suit has worsened my condition." She looked over at The Hood. "When am I going to get the treatment that I need, Cath? The boss said he would make sure that I got my life back."
"These things don't just happen overnight, Laura," said Silver Swan. "And don't forget, our goals have been dealt blow after blow thanks to the interference of International Rescue and the GDF. If you want someone to blame, it's them. However, you won't have to wait much longer. I can assure you."
Laura frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked.
A beeping sound from the controller on Techno's left arm caught everyone's attention. "Multiple air contacts detected," he said. "Closing in on our location."
The Hood smirked deviously. "And so they come," he said. "Just as we expected them to."
Thunderbird 1 was the first to reach the mountain where the signal from Colonel Casey's watch was coming from.
"Is this the place, Thunderbird 5?" asked Scott.
"Affirmative," replied John. "I'm detecting a deep underground complex lined with steel just inside the mountain."
"Guessing we won't be using the Mole-Pods to tunnel our way in," said Scott.
"Er, no," said John. "The steel walls are at least three inches thick. It's gonna take more than the drills of the Moles to get through that."
"Then it's a good job we have other methods," said Jeff.
At that moment, a squadron of six GDF fighter jets appeared along with Thunderbird Shadow, three GDF Flyers and bringing up the rear was Thunderbird 2.
With Colonel Casey not being present, there was no senior member of the GDF available to lead the rescue mission. Both Rigby and Hayley were aboard two of the Flyers whilst the third was just a Lieutenant. All three had troops aboard and Rigby's also contained what they hoped would be their best weapon against The Cabal: Obsidian.
Neither Hayley nor Rigby felt it was right for them to be leading the operation so they delegated Jeff to be in charge. A responsibility he was more than willing to take on. "This is Jeff Tracy aboard Thunderbird 1," he said into his radio. "Listen up. Here's our plan of action. GDF Fighters, I need you to blast a hole in the side of the mountain facing us to reveal the steel walls underneath. Once its open to us, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 will use their lasers to cut through. Then we need something heavy and powerful to break into the complex."
"Leave that last part to me, Mr Tracy," said Obsidian.
"Thanks, Obsidian," said Jeff. "Everyone else clear?"
"F-A-B," said Virgil.
"Understood," said Hayley and Rigby.
"Acknowledged," said the Squadron-Leader aboard the lead fighter jet. "Commencing attack run!"
The three Thunderbirds and GDF Flyers respectively kept their distance in hovering positions whilst the six fighters formed a line-abreast formation and banked around the mountain before diving down towards it.
"FIRE!" shouted the Squadron-Leader.
No lock-on was necessary. All the missiles had to do was fly straight and true from under the wings of the six fighters. Two missiles were launched from each plane which then pulled up and away from the mountain whilst the missiles rocketed towards the mountainside. A series of colossal explosions shook the mountain as each missile blasted huge chunks of rocks out of it. They flew high into the air and then fell back down, crashing all around down at the base of the mountain. When the smoke and dust finally cleared, the shiny metal wall of the inside of the mountain was visible.
"There's the complex," said Kayo.
"Good job, Fighters," said Jeff. "Start patrolling the area in case The Cabal tries to stop us."
"Roger," acknowledged the Squadron-Leader. "Good luck."
As the fighters moved out of the area, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 moved in towards the mountain.
"How do you want to do this, Thunderbird 1?" asked Virgil.
"Start on the bottom right, Thunderbird 2," answered Scott. "Cut horizontally in clockwise for ten metres and then go vertical until you reach where I start from. I'll do the same, ten metres from left to right and then down vertically to meet where you start."
"F-A-B," said Virgil. "Activating laser."
The two red lasers shot out of the noses of the two Thunderbirds. Slowly and carefully, Scott moved his ship from left to right whilst Virgil moved his from right to left, the ships passing over each other as they went. Once they'd both cut through ten metres horizontally they stopped before Thunderbird 1 began to move down whilst Thunderbird 2 moved up until they'd made a perfectly rectangular cut in the steel wall of the concealed mountain complex.
"Nice one, boys," congratulated Jeff. "Now let's clear the way for Obsidian."
Thunderbirds 1 and 2 moved out of the way whilst Rigby's Flyer moved into position. The front door ramp lowered and Obsidian stood up at the top looking down at the cut in the wall below.
"You're up, Obsidian," said Rigby. "Go get 'em!"
"With pleasure, Cap," said Obsidian with determination. He began to run down the ramp and then leapt off into the air. He clenched his fists and raised them above his head as he dropped down towards the cut in the steel wall. "Obsidian…SMASH!" He struck the wall and the impact caused it to push the cut section right through into the complex, leaving a perfectly cut rectangular hole open for the others to enter, although there was no way of getting any of the aircraft except Thunderbird Shadow inside.
"The door's open, people," said Jeff. "Let's get in there and find Colonel Casey."
"I'm going in to help Obsidian with any resistance," said Kayo, swooping down with Thunderbird Shadow and disappearing in through the hole in the side of the mountain.
Scott and Virgil brought Thunderbirds 1 and 2 into hovering positions above the hole. Scott used his jetpack to carry himself and Jeff down into it whilst Alan and Gordon clung tightly onto Virgil via safety-clips also as he was lowered by the winch under Thunderbird 2's nose as part of his Jaws of Life Mech-Suit."
"Aren't we going to get our troops in there as well?" the pilot of one of the Flyers asked Hayley.
"No, there's no way for us to safely get any of them down through that hole," Hayley answered. "We just have to hope that they can find a concealed doorway in order to let us in. For the moment, we wait."
Kayo had landed Thunderbird Shadow up against the opposite wall inside the complex with its magnetic claws holding it in place. Kayo had disembarked and activated her nanotech battlesuit before hurrying off down the corridor after Obsidian. Jeff and the brothers arrived and began to follow shortly afterwards.
Kayo found Obsidian in what looked like part of a control room. Except it was empty with only empty tables and a few abandoned chairs still there.
"Where are they?" Kayo asked.
"No idea," replied Obsidian. "Do you think they knew we were coming?"
"Mr Tracy reckons Colonel Casey was taken as bait," said Kayo as she headed for a nearby door. "There were no countermeasures launched against the GDF's fighters or us when we closed in on the mountain. Stay alert. I still have a feeling they're lying in wait for us somewhere."
Jeff and the brothers then arrived. "Have you found anything?" Jeff asked.
"Nothing yet," Kayo said as she reached the door. "But I feel The Cabal is waiting for us somewhere beyond this door. Stay here for now. I'm going to have a look."
"Be careful, Kayo," said Alan anxiously.
"Always," Kayo replied. She activated her suit's black stealth-mode and carefully pulled open the door. She then snuck out into the corridor and looked around. The lights were still on, meaning that her stealth was no use to her at all.
"THERE'S ONE OF THEM!"
"KILL 'EM!"
Kayo dived back into the room as a series of laser projectiles shot in her direction, narrowly missing her.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed Scott as Gordon and Alan slammed the door behind Kayo.
"Well, that didn't go to plan," Kayo remarked.
"Who's out there?" asked Virgil.
"Would you believe Hoodlums?" asked Kayo.
"What the numpties The Hood used to call henchmen?" asked Gordon. "I thought he'd stopped using those?"
"I highly doubt that, Gordon," said Jeff. "The Cabal might be powerful people, but it'd take more than them to construct a place like this and maintain it. I highly suspect The Hood's still got several people in his employ. Pawns to be sacrificed so he and the others can make clean getaways."
Scott turned on his radio. "Thunderbird 5, we're kind of pinned in here at the moment. Where is Casey's signal coming from?"
"Not too far from where you are actually, Scott," John replied as he observed the underground scan of the complex. "If you go through that door and turn right for about fifty yards you'll find a turn off to the left into another corridor. There are several doors leading into what look like holding cells. The signal is coming from the one that's second on the right."
"Er, slight problem with that," said Alan. "There are goons with laser-guns outside in that corridor."
"We won't stand a chance against them," added Gordon.
"You might not," said Obsidian, cracking his knuckles. "But I can. Stand aside. I'll deal with them. You get to the Colonel." Everyone stood aside. Through the heads-up display in his domed-helmet, Obsidian could see through the wall that life-signs were moving in to cover the door. He readied himself and then charged at the door. His momentum smashed it off its hinges, inadvertently crushing a couple of the Hoodlums who were not at all prepared to deal with him. Several froze in terror. Others immediately panicked and started to run away. As Obsidian turned to face them, the ones that hadn't chickened out raised their weapons to commencing firing but Obsidian had a surprise attack of his own. He powered up his energy gauntlets and opened his arms out fully before clapping them hard together. This created a powerful shockwave that sent all the Hoodlums in its path flying uncontrollably down the corridor and being knocked about as they hit the floor. Obsidian noticed some more in a big storage room further on, several were setting up to try and counterattack. "These creeps are mine," he told Kayo and the Tracy's. "Go!" And with that he began to sprint down the corridor, his heavy boots thumping as he went.
"Come on!" Kayo said to the others, leading the charge out of the control room and up the corridor in the opposite direction towards where the holding cells were located.
The remaining Hoodlums began firing their weapons at Obsidian, but his strong armour easily repelled them blasts. As he reached the room, he saw that whilst many had taken cover behind crates, there was also what looked like an armoured truck with a cannon mounted on the top. One Hoodlum was beginning to turn it towards him. "Oh, no, you don't," Obsidian said and began to charge towards the truck.
"STOP HIM! STOP HIM!" shrieked a female Hoodlum who was behind the wheel of the truck.
The Hoodlum on the top got the cannon trained on Obsidian, but not in time to fire before Obsidian slammed his entire body into the truck. It rocked up on two wheels, tilting at a forty-five degree angle allowing him to get a power-punch underneath and send it flying over and over with the Hoodlums inside screaming before it then smashed into the wall, dropped to the floor and then exploded in a fireball.
Several of the remaining Hoodlums now fled in terror once this had happened. Only a few brave ones remained and started running towards Obsidian, clear in his view and continuing to shoot at him.
Obsidian turned and stood calmly as he allowed the laser blasts to bounce harmlessly off his suit. "Guys, come on," he said. "Let's just talk about this." The Hoodlums ignored him and continued shooting. He rolled his eyes, then held out his arms and gave a rather small clap which still released a slight shockwave which was enough to knock the Hoodlums off their feet and onto the ground where they were. The shockwave wasn't huge but it was still powerful enough to knock the wind out of them. "Good talk," said Obsidian.
"No, it wasn't…" groaned one of the defeated Hoodlums.
Kayo and the Tracy's had reached where the corridor they needed branched off from the main one. Kayo held up her arm to stop them whilst she scanned around the corner. There were two more Hoodlums standing guard outside the door that John said the signal was coming from. Kayo signalled to them to wait before activating her nanotech shield on her right arm and sprinting round the corner.
The Hoodlums had heard the commotion and were ready for anyone to come round the corner. As soon as Kayo darted around the corner they began to shoot at her. Kayo used the shield to protect herself as she hurried towards them. Then she swung her arm and the shield detached. It zoomed across the corridor, striking the Hoodlum nearest the door and then bounced off to hit the other before returning to Kayo's arm. Both of them cried out in pain and were instantly knocked unconscious.
"CLEAR!" Kayo shouted, telling the Tracy's they could come around. As they hurried up the corridor towards her, Kayo went over to the door and slid back the viewing flap to peer inside. The room was dark, but she could make out the shape of a large torture chair with a tall figure strapped to it. "My God…" she gasped.
"What do you see?" Jeff asked as they reached her.
"I think it's her," said Kayo, stepping back. "Take a look."
Jeff peered inside and he too let out a small gasp. "Great Scott!" he said furiously as he stepped away. "Boys, cut the door open. We can't waste time with the keypad!"
Scott, Virgil and Alan immediately set to work. Virgil used his shoulder-mounted laser to cut along the top of the door whilst Scott used his hand-held one to cut through the left side and Alan used his torch-like one to cut through the right. Gordon, Jeff and Kayo kept back to let them work whilst also keeping their eyes open in case any other Hoodlums turned up. None did, and very soon the three brothers had finished cutting through.
"Stand back!" Virgil said. Scott and Alan retreated away whilst Virgil used one of his Mech's arms to push the door in. It was heavy and fell to the floor with a big CRASH!
Hurrying inside, Scott quickly found a switch on the wall which turned the main lights on. Now they could see Colonel Casey lying motionless in the chair, still strapped in.
"Geez…" exclaimed Gordon, sharing the shock that all the others were.
"Get her out of there!" Jeff ordered as he, Scott, Alan and Kayo immediately set to work trying to release Colonel Casey from the straps. Virgil meanwhile kept a watchful eye on the doorway in case anyone happened to try and block them in.
Gordon then found Colonel Casey's watch sitting on a table nearby. "Doesn't look like she was the one who set off the distress beacon," he observed.
"You mean The Cabal must have?" said Alan. "Why would they do that?"
"To lure us here, Alan," said Scott. "It's the only explanation."
Virgil turned to face them. "Yeah, but where are they?" he asked. "All we've encountered are his goons and none of The Cabal members themselves."
Kayo finished undoing the strap over Colonel Casey's right arm. "There's something very off about this," she said.
The last of the straps were removed and Jeff began to examine Colonel Casey. He carefully tapped her on the cheek in hopes of bringing her round. "Martha?" he said. "Martha, can you hear me?"
Colonel Casey let out a soft moan and started to come round. "J…Jeff…?" she said weakly.
"It's okay, we're here," Jeff said. "We'll get you out of here."
"Will you now?"
Everyone spun round in the direction of the all too familiar voice. It belonged to The Hood, who was standing directly in the doorway of the holding cell - a devilish grin spread across his face.