Chapter 2: The ice planet of Hoth
It was a total war-zone in this sector of space. A small fleet of star-fighters, strangely resembling some form of aquatic fish, flew past a satellite network of spherical space mines as they engaged multiple Triceraton fighters.
Large laser bolts flew in every direction as a trio of these amphibian-like ships flew up the haul of one large Triceraton command-ship and fired at its outer hull, dealing quite a bit of damage to it.
On the bridge of the command-ship, Captain Mozar saw the trio of fighters pass by them. "You sluggish fools!" Mozar scolded his own men. "Stay alert! The Salamandrians slithered past you like slither fish!"
"Captain Mozar sir, scanners are picking up an incoming ship that just dropped out of hyperspace." One Triceraton officer reported.
The officer then projected a small hologram of the Ulixies coming out of hyperspace.
Mozar's eyes widened slightly as he instantly recognized the ship. "I know that vessel!" Mozar stated. "It's the Fugitoid's ship!" He then turned to another Triceraton officer. "Contact squadron three, blast it out of the sky!"
The officer saluted before going over a communications console. "Squadron three, the Fugitoid's ship has been spotted. You have direct orders from Captain Mozar to shoot it down!" The officer ordered.
"Affirmative, proceeding to engage." The leader of Squadron three responded.
Several Triceraton star-fighters swarmed around the Ulixies, battering the ship with heavy laser bolts. Thankfully, the blasts didn't do much since the frontal deflector shields were online. But that didn't mean it caused some damage.
Inside the bridge, the ship rocked profusely as the makeshift crew tried to get hang of themselves.
"Those ships, they're Triceratons!" Leonardo exclaimed.
"No kidding!" Raphael stated sarcastically. "And there's like a kajillion of them!"
"Professor, what do we do?!" Donatello questioned, his voice full of panic.
"We take evasive action!" Fugitoid declared as he took control of the ship.
The Ulixies quickly sped forward, maneuvering past several Triceraton fighters that began chasing them as well as avoiding the mass amount of laser fire that filled the emptiness of space.
"What are you waiting for, Squad Leader?! Blast the Fugitoid to pieces!" Mozar ordered to the leader of squadron three via hologram.
"I think we're almost out of this!" April exclaimed. But just as soon as she said that, one of the Triceraton fighters managed to hit the Ulixies' engine in the back, causing the ship to deter from it's course with a thick cloud of smoke behind them as they plummeted down to a small white planet below them.
"Or not!" Casey exclaimed.
"I recommend we take plunging into the lethal crushing gravity of that planet philosophically." Fugitoid said calmly as the windshield of the ship began to crack as they entered the atmosphere of the planet.
"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Donnie screamed.
"IT MEANS WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Fugitoid screamed back.
Everyone screamed as the Ulixies spun out of control. Everyone on the bridge was sent flying and rolling everywhere as they tried to hold onto something or each other. The Fugitoid extended his robotic limbs with his hands still holding on to the central console and his feet magnetizing to the ceiling. April lost her grip on the console and was sent flying, but Donnie managed to catch her in his arms and grab onto Fugitoid's arm.
Raph soon also lost his grip on the console and was sent flying into the windshield of the bridge. "I HATE SPACE!" He shouted. "I HATE IT! I REALLY DO!"
The Ulixies continued to spiral out of control, almost slamming into several Triceraton and Salamandrian fighters. Though most of the ships managed to avoid collision with the Ulixies, it's wing slammed into one Salamandrian ship and was sent flying off course.
"Collision course red! We're going down! Brace yourself, lieutenant!" The Salamandrain pilot exclaimed to his gunner as both their fighter and the Ulixies descended down towards the icy planet below.
Both ships fell through the atmosphere of the planet and crashed down hard onto the surface of the frozen planet. The two ships landed several miles away from each other with the Ulixies crashing down and skidding to a halt in the middle of a snow filled valley while the Salamadrian fighter crashed down on a small mountain just a few miles away.
As the Turtles, April, Casey, and Fugitoid stepped out of the ship with their space suits on, they saw the landscape before them. The planet looked like a desolate and yet beautiful wasteland. There was no sign of civilization anywhere, just miles and miles off unending snow in a heavy blizzard, with a few tauntauns passing by.
"Ugh, my head.." Raph groaned as he rubbed his helmet. "Where are we?"
Fugitoid looked into a miniature computer on his arm, "According to this, we are on the ice planet Hoth."
Donnie looked at the readings on his built-in-scanner on his staff. "Whoa. Temperatures on this planet are negative one hundred degrees celsius!"
"What does that mean?" Mikey asked.
"It means it's freezing cold!" April translated as she shivered with the rest of the group. She then turned to the Fugitoid, "Aren't the Turtles gonna freeze?" She asked, since she and Casey wore suits and it appeared that the Turtles didn't.
"No, they're suits permeate a warm invisible force field, like a second skin." Fugitoid explained. "Cozy right?"
"Uh..I think my shell froze to my butt." Mikey said.
The group walked to the side of the ship and saw a massive hole in the hull.
"What's it looking like, Fugitoid?" Leo asked the Professor.
"If I had to categorize our situation, it would fall somewhere between probably doomed and unequivocally doomed." Fugitoid reported.
"Wait.. so no power?! We won't be able to charge our suits!" Raph exclaimed.
"And worse, we've only got a couple hours of heat left!" Donnie added. "After that, we'll freeze to death!"
"Ah, man!" Casey moaned. "I was supposed to go out in a blaze of glory like with giant transforming robots frying me with lasers! Not like this!"
"We need to find some shelter until this storm clears." Leo stated.
Donnie then scanned the environment with his staff. "Now let's see..." He moved the scanner around before finally detecting something a few miles away on the snowy plane. "Yes! There some kind of huge structure just ten klicks away! And the place is packed with laminasteel... oh, looks like it's refined too!"
"Excellent work, Donatello, we could use that metal to patch up the ship!" Fugitoid said.
However, as the group began to make their way through the snow, they failed to notice that another group was watching them. A male, dark blue skinned Salamandiran along with his companion, who was a female Salamandrian, had exited their downed fighter. The male had a mace built onto his tail and had scars over most of his body, including some prosthetic organs on his side and even a bionic eye on the heavily scarred right side of his face. His companion, the female Salamandrian, was just a few inches shorter than him with a slim figure, broad shoulders, aqua colored skin and a shiny turquoise suit.
"There they are!" The Salamandrian commander named G'Throkka stated. "The ones who rammed our vessel!"
"Yes, and they are heading towards the laminasteel!" The female lieutenant named Y'Gythgba said as she gave a roar-like call.
"We must capture it before they do." G'Throkka stated.
"No, let us destroy these interlopers and take the laminasteel for ourselves." Y'Gythgba insisted. "They robbed us of glorious battle!"
G'Throkka shifted his gaze back at the group as they walked into a large snow field towards a large snow-covered structure in the distance. "Still.. when I gaze upon them, I see their courage. Others would have despaired but they go on as comrades. I can respect that."
"No! You know that is not the Salamandrian way, Commander!" Y'Gythgba stated fiercely. "They must be destroyed!"
Despite the blizzard now starting to clear up a little, it still wasn't very comfortable for the group as they forced themselves through the freezing cold temperatures. As they walked, they soon came out onto a large field of snow, and on the field were the remains of several crashed starships and broken down large walkers laying covered in the snow.
Though they were fascinated by all the broken ships and walkers, the group continued to press on until they reached the other side of the field. And at the other side of the field was a large cave with huge blast doors in the side of a large hill.
After managing to get the large blast doors open, the group walked inside the cave and saw a large docking bay that was packed with a variety of old and abandoned speeders, starships, supplies, and droids.
"What is this place?" April asked in curiosity as the blast doors closed behind them, sheltering the group from the raging blizzard outside and allowing the group to take their helmets off.
"This was Echo Base." Fugitoid exclaimed. "It was once one of the many bases used by the Rebel Alliance to hide from the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. However, it was later abandoned when Empire discovered them during the battle of Hoth in 3 aby."
"Yeah, yeah, save the history lesson for later." Raph stated. "Let's just get the laminasteel and get off this planet."
Donnie held up his scanner/staff and scanned for the laminasteel. He moved his scanner to forward as he scanned the rest of the base.
"My scanners are picking up the laminasteel, coming somewhere at the other side of this cave."
"Well, why don't we just use some from those speeders and other things?' April asked, gesturing to the broken down airspeeders and droids.
"It's not that simple, April." Fugitoid explained. "This base hasn't been used in over a decade. The metal from these speeders and droids are too old to be used for the ship."
"Aw yeah!" Mikey scatted past the group and began performing a series of ice skater tricks. "Check me out! Michelangelo on ice!"
"Mikey, stop! Your using up your heat too fast!" Donnie warned in concern.
"What's more important, bra? Staying warm or my art?" Mikey asked as he skated to a halt on his knees.
Ignoring Mikey's rather stupid question, April suddenly felt something as she held her head.
"Uh... something's not right." She said. "Weird vibe alert."
The Fugitoid's sensors picked up something as well as he raised his metallic finger, "My sensors indicate we are about to be visited by-"
Before he could finish, the group looked up in surprise at the sound of almost savage roars as the two salamandrian soldiers jumped down through a large hole in the ceiling and landed in front of the group.
"What the heck?! Alien lizards?!" Casey exclaimed in surprise.
"Newtralizers!" Leo also exclaimed as the two creatures looked almost identical to the Newtralizer.
"You downed our ship, dishonored us. Now you will fight us!" Y'Gythgba angrily told them as she drew her sword and pointed it at them threateningly.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Fugitoid exclaimed as he stepped past the group and approached the two salamandrians. "We're all honorable beings here, we did not intend to damage your ship."
Y'Gythgba and G'Throkka looked to each other as Fugitoid continued.
"Please, we can help each other in this desperate plight." Fugitoid explained.
"It is true that we are all trapped." G'Throkka admitted. "Cooperation is survival here. But you are.." He paused for a moment, "out-worlders."
"Everyone is an out-worlder on a world not their own." Fugitoid said philosophically to the salamandiran pair.
Raph then walked up to Y'Gythgba, "Listen, sister, we don't want to fight ya. You're clearly outnumbered."
"Numbers mean nothing!" She spat in reply, jabbing him in the chest with her webbed finger. "I do not fear you or your friends."
Leo then stepped forward, "Look, man, it's all good. We're all cool here." He then held out his hand to shake, "Look, I'm offering my hand. Put it there, bro."
However, the two salamandrians seemed incredibly outraged by this. "What? I consider conciliation and you offer the hand of combat?!" G'Throkka exclaimed in shock and anger.
"Combat?!" Leo questioned in surprise. "No! You don't understand-"
"Uh, yes," Fugitoid tried to explain as he pushed Leo back, "I should have warned you that, to the salamandirans, the hand-extended gesture means.."
"ATTACK!" G'Throkka yelled as he and Y'Gythgba charged towards the group who were forced to scatter.
Y'Gthgba flew past Raph and hit Donnie with a flying kick before clashing blades with Raph.
G'Throkka tried to smash Leo with his sword, but Leo jumped out of the way just in time. Leo then pulled out his blaster and was about to blast G'Throkka when the salamandiran commander knocked him away with his mace-like tail before firing his wrist-mounted blaster at the rest of the group.
"All of you should stop fighting, and rationally consider the danger to your heating systems!" Fugitoid tried to explain as he dodged the laser fire. "One hit in the wrong spot and death is imminent!"
But his warning was ignored as G'Throkka rushed past him, knocking him down as G'Throkka attacked the others.
Donnie tried firing his scanner staff at Y'Gythgba with the built-in blaster part of his staff. But Y'Gythgba managed to dodge his blasts and even blocked a few with her sword as she jumped on top of one of the broken down airspeeders and launched herself at the purple clad turtle.
"Those that dishonor us will be destroyed!" Y'Gythgba stated as she ducked under a swing from Donnie's staff before swerving around him and knocking him away with the swipe of her tail.
"You got some imagination, sweetheart!" Raph exclaimed as he tried to stab her from above, only for the salamandrian lieutenant to jump out of the way before the two of them continued in their fight.
Leo and G'Throkka were clashing with each others blades, seeming to be evenly matched as they blocked and parred each others blows. However, Leo swung his laser katana at G'Throkka's head, allowing the salamandrian commander to duck underneath the swing and knock Leo away with a strong punch to the plastron.
"Booyaka-" Mikey jumped down from a nearby scaffolding above G'Throkka, trying to get the drop on him, but G'Throkka easily dodged the oncoming attack as he punched Mikey in the gut before grabbing him by the shell and throwing him away.
"Yo, lizard lips!" Casey called out, standing on another scaffolding that was just on the other side of the docking bay. He then jumped up and smacked multiple photon pucks at G'Throkka with his hockey stick. But the salamandrian commander ran past all of them as they exploded on the ground. He roared as he leapt towards Casey, punching him in the face and sending the young vigilante careening into a wall before landing in a pile of old boxes.
"Hold still you stupid.." April grunted as she tried to blast Y'Gythgba with her blaster, but the female salamandrian was able to avoid her blasts as she kicked both Donnie and Raph away before she leapt towards April and knocked her away with a tail swipe.
"Well, I suppose I will have to intervene." Fugitoid sighed just as Raph and Donnie were sent crashing into him by Y'Gythgba.
"You okay, April?" Raph asked as he and Donnie quickly recovered to help her up.
However, they were unable to react fast enough as Y'Gythgba jumped on top of Raph's shell, launched herself over April, and kicked Donnie in the face.
"That's it! You're going down!" Raph angrily exclaimed as he dashed towards her, clashing his energy sais against her blade as the two engaged in a heated duel with the both of them swinging viciously at each other, showing no signs of tiring or slowing down.
Though after a short bit, Raph managed to gain the edge as he managed to land a solid hard kick to her face, knocking the female salamandrian back.
Y'Gythgba growled angrily as Raph charged towards her, hoping to press his advantage. But she was ready for him this time as she dodged a swing from his sais before punching Raph across the face and delivering a sharp upper-cut with a retractable blade on her suit to knock him down.
"Raph!" Donnie exclaimed before he charged towards Y'Gythgba with his staff and engaged her.
As Raph recovered from the blow, he was surprised to find that he wasn't feeling angry about being knocked down, but rather something... else.
"Never... been hit like... that before..." He said to himself. "It felt kinda... nice."
He then looked towards Y'Gythgba as she delivered a hard knee to Donnie's gut, knocking the wind out of him. And that's when it hit him as he suddenly saw the salamandrian woman in a whole new light.
She had guts and a violent temper to match, and was just as beautiful. However, she was far more than some trigger-happy brawler or another pretty face, no.
She was quick on her feet, she was smart, she was incredibly stubborn, she was hot-headed and fierce, she had a strong sense of honor, she was unquestioningly loyal to her companion, and she was so incredibly strong...
She was a warrior, in every sense of word. And Raph loved that.
However, he didn't get to ponder on these thoughts for too long as Y'Gythgba turned towards him, causing his eyes to widen slightly. And before he could move or react, the salamandrian woman came over and punched him in the face, knocking him out.
Leo continued to parry blades with G'Throkka as it was clear that the salamandrain commander had the advantage.
"Destruction follows dishonor!" G'Throkka exclaimed as he knocked Leo's laser katanas out of his hands and punched him in the gut, sending him flying into his brothers and friends who were down on the ground, beaten and battered.
As Y'Gythgba walked towards them and dumped an unconscious Raph on the ground, Fugitoid slowly got up, his legs straining slightly as he stood tall.
"I am a pacifist, but even pacifists have to stand their ground once in a while!" He declared with a fire-symbols in his optics as a pair of twin blasters came out of his wrists and he opened fire at the salamandrians and forcing them on the defensive.
The two salamandrians skillfully dodged the laser blasts before Y'Gythgba threw some kind of shuriken-like device towards the Fugitoid, forcing him to cease fire and jump out of the way as the device hit the wall behind him.
After a few moments, the device then exploded, sending a good portion rubble from the wall and the ceiling above down on the group.
When the snow and dust settled, it appeared that the group had been buried alive. G'Throkka growled in frustration as he and Y'Gythgba gazed upon the rubble.
"We must dig the creatures out and resume the battle! It is a dishonorable death!"
"No, let them freeze." Y'Gythgba stated coldly. "We must hurry to the laminasteel."
With that said, the two salamandrians continued their trek through the base, leaving the docking bay and going into one of the many tunnels.
A few minutes after they left, there was a sudden shifting amongst the rubble. A long metallic arm pushed off one of the heavy rocks as Fugitoid emerged from the rumble with a few dents on his body.
"No need to worry." He announced as he helped everyone out of the rumble and back on their feet. "Only a minor inconvenience."
"Ugh, we keep getting our shells handed to us." Mikey groaned as he rubbed his shell.
"We gotta keep going, not much heat left." Leo exclaimed as he looked at a small device on his wrist, indicating the power on his suit was low, "Come on."
The group then began walking through the base and going down one of the tunnels.
"You know, I've been thinking, I bet those salamandrians are after the laminasteel too." April said as they trekked through the narrow caves.
"Another reason to hurry, people!" Fugitoid exclaimed urgently as he pushed both Donnie and April forward.
As they made their way, Raph hung back with Casey. "Hey, Casey... uh... you think a turtle can like.. uh.." He paused for a for a moment, rubbing the back of his head before folding his arms behind his back. "date a newt?" He finished.
"Dude, what?!" Casey questioned before he jokingly pushed Raph back as he burst out laughing.
"No, I mean... you know... these salamandrians aren't so bad. Like, the lizard girl's cool!"
"Really, Raph?" Leo irritably questioned sarcastically. "What are you gonna do, ask that giant newt out on a date?"
"Well, I mean..." Raph stuttered slightly, but couldn't finish his sentence.
Mikey chuckled a bit as he walked up to Raph, "Wow, you really got a crush on that salamander-hottie? She's like bigger, stronger, and probably a better fighter than you!"
"Exactly." Raph said with a somewhat dreamy smile. "What a woman."
The group soon resumed their journey through the tunnels as they soon came into another large docking bay.
"The laminasteel's not far up ahead!" Donnie excitedly exclaimed as he looked at his scanner again. "We just have to go through a few more tunnels and out of the base and we'll be there!"
However, what they didn't notice was that G'Throkka and Y'Gythgba were observing them from a small peak that lead into another tunnel above the group.
"So they survived." G'Throkka observed as he watched the group go into another tunnel. "The droid stated our collision was an accident, perhaps we need not be enemies."
"Commander G'Throkka, do not be foolish!" Y'Gythgba told him as she put a webbed hand on his shoulder. "They are clearly working with the Triceratons!"
"We do not know that!" G'Throkka retorted with a slight roar.
"They fought you four against one!" Y'Gythgba scoffed with a roar of her own. "They are cowardly dishonorable fools!"
"Come," G'Throkka stated as he turned around and continued on their path through the tunnel they were taking, "we will reach the laminasteel far faster than they will."
Y'Gythgba looked back down at the group, glaring spitefully at them one last time before turning around and joining her commander.
The group continued down another tunnel as they moved in single file soon coming into another large intersection of tunnels.
"So what happens when if those aliens make it to the laminasteel before we do?" Donnie wondered.
"I got the answer," Casey said, "we take them down, goongala-style!"
"Woah, hold up, let's cut the salamanders a break." Raph told the group. "They think we're the bad guys, right? What if we could convince them to work with us, to find that metal stuff together?"
However, Leo did not share his hotheaded brother's sentiments. "Worst idea you've had and that's saying something! Forget it, Raph, let's just get that laminasteel!"
The rest of the group seemed to agree with Leo as they continued through the tunnels. However, Raph instead stopped in the middle of the room, quite stunned by his brother's resentment to the Salamandrians.
His face then hardened with resolve as he turned to one of the tunnels on his left. "I'm sorry, guys." Raph quietly said before he rushed down another one of the tunnels. "This might be our only chance."
As Raph went down the other tunnel, the group continued on their path before coming into a large area of icy caverns, with ice stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. And on the other side of the caverns was a large cave opening, leading out into the cold blizzard outside, forcing the group to put their helmets back on.
For a moment, it seemed that the group was finally getting closer to the laminasteel as they were feeling a great wash of relief. However, that relief was shattered when April looked behind her and saw that one of their company was missing!
"Guys! Hold up! Where's Raph?" April questioned in confusion as the group quickly came to a stop.
"Oh no." Leo groaned as he slapped a hand on his helmet. "I bet he went off to talk to his girlfriend!"
However, before they could do anything for that matter, Donnie scanners started picking up something strange. He looked closer at his scanner before realizing that there were several creatures surrounding them in the caverns. "Hold up! I've got something on my scanners." He stated.
The group soon noticed this as well as they could slightly see some white fur amongst the snow and ice.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Leo said as the group was now getting a bit worried. "Yeah, we're in trouble!"
True to his word, a large white-furred thing came popping out of the snow, roaring at them as more seemed to come and surround the group. The strange creature seemed to be a horrifying combination of Bigfoot and a polar bear with sharp claws on each of it's hands, thick white fur to blend in with the snow, several rows of sharp teeth in it's deranged looking mouth, and small horns on the sides of it's head.
"Serious trouble!" Donnie cried fearfully as the creatures moved to attack them.
Meanwhile, Y'Gythgba and G'Throkka had managed to get out of the base with seemingly no interruptions at the moment. They were forced to put their helmets back on as well as they walked out into the cold blizzard. As they walked, they soon came across a icy cliff that overlooked a large ravine. But the two Salamandrians were not bothered by this as they continued on.
"Lieutenant Y'Gythgba, we are getting close to laminasteel." G'Throkka reported as he looked at his suits scanners.
"And by now, those low-grade lifeforms are surely frozen." Y'Gythgba concluded.
Just as she said that, Raph leaped over the edge, flipping over the salamandrian pair and landing gracefully in their path with a dramatic pose.
"Ta da!" Raph said pridefully. "Impressed, right?"
Though surprised that he had survived the earlier battle, G'Throkka looked unimpressed while Y'Gythgba actually looked amused.
"No, but I respect your tenacity." Y'Gythgba replied as she aimed her suit's blaster at him.
"Wait! Before you blast me, hold up." Raph told her, holding his hands up as he backed up to the edge of the cliff. "Look, we could all work together as a team, a unit!" He proposed.
The two salamandrians looked to each, surprised by his offer of an alliance in spite of their earlier battle.
"You're bravery speaks of a heroic heart, stranger." G'Throkka spoke, crossing his arms.
"But you are in our way." Y'Gythgba finished as she shot her blaster, shooting the ice below Raph's feet instead of shooting him. The ice below Raph began to crack as he felt the slab of ice he was standing on beginning to slip.
"That's not good team work!" Raph cried as the piece of ice he was standing on collapsed, plunging him down into the ravine.
"Interesting that you chose to shoot the ice and not the stranger." G'Throkka noted.
"There is no significance to-" Y'Gythgba began when she heard a loud animalistic growl come from behind G'Throkka. "Look!"
G'Throkka turned around to see a pair of the same creatures that were currently attacking the Turtles, April, and Casey back at the caverns.
"Wampas!" G'Throkka shouted.
Back at the caverns, the group was having a hard time fending off the incoming wampas as the caverns were a tight space to move around in, not to mention the wampas massive statures also made it difficult.
Mikey slashed at one wampa with his laser tonfas before another one grabbed him and tried to crush him in a tight bear-hug. Thankfully, Casey shot several photon pucks at the wampa, disorienting it and allowing Mikey to slip out of the wampa's arms and kick it away.
Casey wacked one wampa with his hockey stick, only for another one to smack him away with it's clawed paw. The wampa was about to bite Casey when Donnie whacked it on the head with his staff and April blasted it with her blaster, killing it.
Leo dashed through the caverns as one wampa chased him. The wampa then lunged at him, only for Leo to jump on top of it and blast it with his blaster. He then lunged at another wampa and cut off it's arm with his laser katana. Since Leo's laser katana was mostly plasma, it immediately cauterized the wound, but that didn't keep the wampa from roaring in pain it staggered back, holding the place where it's arm used to be. The wampa clutched it's arm hole for a moment before Leo jumped up and slashed the wampa across it's throat, killing it.
Y'Gythgba stopped a wampa's advance by holding it's jaws open as it was about to bite her. He then swiped it away with her tail before swerving around the swipe of another wampa. She then drew her sword and charged at more wampas that were climbing up the cliff.
G'Throkka jumped back and knocked away one of the wampas with a punch before swiping another one with his mace-ended tail. He quickly swerved out of the way as another wampa pounced at him, but missed G'Throkka as it slammed into the wall. As G'Throkka blasted at some more wampas with his suit's blaster, he failed to notice another wampa sneaking up on him. Before he knew what was happening, the wampa smacked G'Throkka away, sending him crashing into the wall and knocking him out.
Y'Gythgba avoided a swipe from one wampa as she fired her blaster at it. She then jumped on the wampa's back and was about decapitate it with her sword when she looked in horror to see her commander knocked out and about to be devoured by two wampas.
"G'Throkka!" She cried as she quickly threw down the wampa before rushing towards her commander. As she ran, two more wampas leapt towards her, blocking her path. Y'Gythgba tried to keep them back with her blaster fire and sword swings, but a third wampa came in and knocked her down with the swipe of it's paw.
As Raph managed to climb back up the cliff, he silently gasped as he saw Y'Gythgba on the ground and surrounded by the three wampas. No, he couldn't let her die, he had to save her!
Moving fast, Raph made his grand appearance as he jumped onto one of the wampa's faces, stabbing it in the throat and killing it before leaping off of it and tackling another and stabbing it in the stomach. The last one tried to swipe and him with it's paws, but Raph ducked underneath and stabbed the wampa in the head, a mighty cry ripping from his throat as he killed the wampa.
Y'Gythgba stared at him with wide eyes, a strange feeling washing over her as she sat up. The turtle was brash, unruly and had an obvious thirst for battle that probably outweighed his common sense. But he was bold, he was honorable despite her former beliefs, he was experienced, he was passionate, he was fierce, he was hotheaded, he was stubborn, he was so outrageously strong...and..
"Hey, need a hand?" Raph asked, offering his hand which Y'Gythgba took as he helped her to her feet.
...He was a gentleman. And Y'Gythgba loved that.
However, she seemed to push these thoughts away as she brushed some snow off her before she looked at Raph with a hardened look.
"Stranger." Y'Gythgba said as she pointed her wrist blaster at him.
"Wait, wait! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Raph exclaimed as he waved his hands in front of him. But to his surprise, Y'Gythgba shot past him at a wampa that was right behind him, killing it instantly.
"Perhaps I may have misjudged you." Y'Gythgba said as she walked up to Raph. "You risked your life to assist two complete strangers against ravenous beasts. I owe you my thanks and an apology." She humbly bowed her head.
Raph gave an affirmative smile, "Hey, it happens to the best of us. No harm done." He then looked down a bit nervously, "My name's, eh... Raphael."
"I am called Y'Gythgba." The salamandrian female replied.
"Your called Yg.." Raph stammered for a bit, finding it difficult to pronounce her name, which Y'Gythgba found quite funny as she chuckled a bit. "I got an idea," Raph finally said, "back on Earth, there's this painting of like the most beautiful woman in art and stuff... um, so how about if I call you 'Mona Lisa'?"
The newly dubbed 'Mona Lisa' simply smiled as she slithered her tail behind him. "As you please, Raphael." She replied kindly as she gently pushed him towards herself slowly until their helmets touched.
"Some day, our noses will meet... in the flesh." She said almost seductively as she pulled away, leaving an emotionally blown-away Raph.
"My nose... will be ready." Raph said with a goofy grin on his face.
Once that was cleared up, the two of them carried the still knocked out G'Throkka and laid him down by the wall. "So, uh... Mona... what are we gonna do about your pal?"
"Perhaps if I use a low output.." Mona Lisa mused, making some adjustments on her wrist laser before giving a slight knock on G'Throkka's body. "Yes, I believe he will be fine in no time at all."
Back at the caverns, Leo sliced at an wampa with his laser katanas as he found himself back-to-back with April as she sent a physic blast at another wampa.
The group hand managed to hold their own quite well against the wampas for some time. But no matter what the group seemed to do, no matter how many wampas they killed, more of them just kept coming, and they were quickly becoming overwhelmed by their numbers.
"They just keep coming!" Donnie cried as he whacked another wampa with his staff.
However, several wampas were quickly shot and killed by laser fire from both Mona Lisa and G'Throkka at the entrance of the cave. They quickly rushed in to join the fray followed by Raph as the three of them took on the wampas alongside the rest of the group.
"Whoa!" Mikey exclaimed as the others looked in surprise. "Raph's with the bad guys?!"
Mona slashed another wampa across the chest, causing it to roar in pain as it stubbled back.
"We're friends now, Mikey!" Raph told him as he jumped up and stabbed the wampa in the back with his laser sais.
Raph and Mona both ran together as they used their respective weapons to slice through several wampas while G'Throkka knocked a few back with some hard punches as he found himself standing back-to-back with Leo.
"I am Commander G'Throkka!" He introduced as he and Leo shot at more wampas with their respective blasters.
Mikey quickly hopped onto the scene, "That name's cool and all, but I got something better!" He exclaimed. "How about... 'Laser Lizard'?"
Leo and G'Throkka looked unimpressed as they lowered their eyelids.
"No, no, no, 'GI Newt'?" Mikey asked. "Nah... I got it! 'Sal Commander'!"
The newly dubbed 'Sal Commander' glanced towards Leo as the blue clad turtle simply gave him a look that silently said 'just go with it'.
Raph and Mona each sliced at two more wampas, leaving one left as it tried to pounce at them, but Mona stabbed it in the head as Raph jabbed it in the chest, killing it.
With the last of the wampas dead, everyone managed to regroup and catch their breath.
"Is that all of them?" April asked as she breathed heavily. No one answered as they waited for more wampas to come. But thankfully, none came.
Leo walked up to G'Throkka, "I won't offer you my hand, but I will offer you my friendship." Leo told him as he put away his laser katanas.
Sal Commander nodded as held up his right arm and closed his fist, which Leo hesitantly mirrored. They rubbed their fists against each other before G'Throkka gave his animal-like call, which Leo did as well, much to others amusement.
"Okay, that was weird." Mikey spoke up. "Now let's get that llama steel!" He cheered, despite not being able to pronounce the name of the alien metal.
The now-conjoined group walked out of the caverns, leaving Echo Base behind as they walked up a large hill as Donnie continued to lead with his scanner.
"Okay, closer... closer..." Donnie said as he held out the scanner in front of him, which began beeping rapidly, indicating the laminasteel was close by.
The group soon came towards a small snowy slope where they saw a large spherical device made almost entirely out of metal down at the bottom of the slope.
"There!" Donnie exclaimed. "That satellite, it's made of laminasteel!"
Most of the group ran down the slope to try and grab it, but Fugitoid, Sal Commander, and Mona Lisa all stopped as their eyes/optics widened in horror and fear. "That's no satellite," Fugitoid began fearfully, "that's a Triceraton space mine!"
Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, April, and Casey all stepped away from it with a startle, a few of them even yelping in fear.
"That thing's a bomb?!" Raph exclaimed in shock.
"If we could deactivate it, we could use the laminasteel to fix both of our ships, right?" Leo asked as Honeycutt, Sal, and Mona slid down the slope to join them.
"Hmm, let me see..." Honeycutt said as he began to scan it. "Yes, the laminasteel is perfect! It even contains a dark matter regulator!"
"Guys, we really gotta go," April said as she hugged herself to keep warm. "We're getting short on power and-" Her suddenly widened a bit as she quickly sensed something behind her. "Oh no!"
The group suddenly heard multiple growls as they looked up to see themselves surrounded by another large pack of wampas. Everyone in the group drew their respective weapons as they each took a combat stance.
These monsters just wouldn't give up!
"There are too many to fight!" Fugitoid exclaimed.
"Anyone got a plan?" Mikey asked nervously. "I'm all ears, if I have ears anyway."
"Yeah, I do." Raph replied, "Take that thing and RUN!"
That was probably the best plan at the moment as Honeycutt, Raph, Mona, and Sal all picked up the space mine and made a run for it along with everyone else. The whole group screamed and yelled as they ran to avoid the large pack of angry and hungry wampas chasing them.
Donnie screamed as several wampas were about to close in on him, but he quickly ran under an ice arch that was just small enough for him to fit through, leaving the wampas to crash into the ice arch.
"Come on, guys! Hustle!" Raph yelled as he, Fugitoid, Mona, and Sal carried the space mine, running surprisingly fast even though the space mine was quite heavy.
However, as the group continued to run, they failed to notice a steep icy slope just ahead of them. They unfortunately realized this too late as they slipped on the ice and tumbled down the slippery slope as several wampas followed them.
As the others slid down the slope, screaming in terror, Leo and Mikey were able to get onto their shells as they slid and began slashing and slicing at several wampas that came near them with their respective laser swords and tonfas.
"Booyakasha!" Mikey cheered as he sliced a wampa down.
Eventually, the group came to the end of the slope and quickly got to their feet as Fugitoid, Sal, Raph, and Mona picked up the space mine and resumed running.
"The ship's up ahead! Hurry!" Donnie yelled as they made a bolt for the Ulixies across the snowy field in front of Echo Base, with the wampas hot on their heels.
A wampa was right behind Mikey as it bit right at his butt, causing Mikey to scream in terror as it motivated him to run faster. Casey laughed out loud at the hilarious sight, only for another wampa to do the same to him, resulting in him screaming as well.
Casey hopped into the air, with the soles on his suit's feet expanding as he found himself hovering slightly above the ground as if he were wearing a pair of skates. "Aw, yeah! Hover skates are full-effect, yo!" He cheered as he smacked some photon pucks at the closest wampas, knocking a few back with the exploding pucks.
The group continued to run to the Ulixies as they were so close to it now, even though there were still at least a dozen wampas gaining on them. As he ran, Donnie saw an open wedge in front of him and noticed how they had been running on one large flat piece of ice covered in snow, and an idea popped in his head.
"Casey, give me all of your photon pucks!" Donnie ordered.
Casey hover-skated over to him and handed him six photon pucks, which Donnie immediately grabbed and put them into the wedge as everyone made it over with the wampas right above them.
"Awesome idea, Donatello!" Casey said as he quickly took out his hockey stick and began whacking any wampa that got close to Donnie.
"NOW RUN, YOU MORON!" Donnie shouted as planted the last of the photon pucks into the wedge.
"GOONGALA!" Casey shouted as he quickly jumped over the wedge and joined Donatello just as the photon pucks exploded, creating a massive ball of flame that knocked them and several wampas away with the force of the explosion.
The ground beneath the wampas began to crack as the ground began to crumble. The ground finally gave away as it collapsed and sent all of the remaining wampas falling into a very deep ravine.
Donnie and Casey smirked as they fist bumped before they got back up and joined the others.
"Quickly now!" Fugitoid exclaimed as they got closer to the ship. "We're almost there!"
However, Leo was suddenly feeling weak as he began to limp to the ship. "We may be... too... late." He said weakly as he could feel the heat in his suit reaching critical low and the freezing cold settling in as he fell to his knees, unable to take the cold as another blizzard set in.
"Leo!" April cried in horror as she quickly helped Leo to his feet, despite her suit's system failure being imminent as well. Everyone got to the ship as Leo set down, leaning his back against the hull of the ship as he and Mikey still sat back as well, their suits losing power.
Honeycutt wasted no time in getting to work as he used a small built-in laser drill in his finger to cut through the metal shell of the mine top and open it up to expose the central piece. "Excellent! The dark matter regulator!" He said enthusiastically.
Casey looked down at his suit's gauntlet, which had a big red beeping light, indicating his suit was just about out of power. "Oh no, this is it! The big freeze! We won't make it through this, Red!" He told April. "We're not mutants!"
"Warm blooded or not, we're in trouble, Professor!" April said to Honeycutt.
"Please, don't pressure me!" Fugitoid replied nervously as he got to work on removing the dark matter regulator.
"Rokka, rokka.." G'Throkka grunted weakly before his suit lost power and he fell to the ground.
"Commander!" Mona cried as she was quickly by his side.
Fugitoid finally managed to pull out the dark matter regulator out of the mine before he ran to the damaged part of the ship.
"Faster, Honeycutt, no time! No time!" He muttered to himself as he quickly got to work on repairing the ship.
Donnie's suit also ran out of power as he collapsed near the professor. "Oh, dear, oh dear!" Fugitoid exclaimed, now on the verge of panic. "Hurrying as fast as I can!"
"This... is... it.." Casey weakly said before his and April's suits lost power and they fell to the ground, passed out.
Raph was next as his suit quickly ran out of power as well. He began to feel faint and cold as he staggered back a little.
"Raphael!" Mona cried as she caught Raph just as he was about to collapse. She then carefully leaned him back against the deactivated space mine as she sat down next to him, her suit also running out of power.
"Mona.." Raph tried to speak with what little consciousness he had left. "I wish I could... tell you... how I... feel..."
"Raphael... believe me... I... know..." Mona weakly replied as she wrapped her tail around him and the two leaned against each other as they both blacked out.
"Raphael... Raphael..."
The red clad turtle heard his voice being called as he slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry as he regained consciousness. His vision began to clear as he could just make out the salamandrian warrior he had fallen in love with give him a comforting smile.
"Mona..." Raph mumbled in surprise as she offered him a hand, which he gladly took. He was still a bit wobbly, but held onto Mona's shoulders as he straightened himself, his hands briefly falling on her breastplate, but he quickly pulled them back.
"Ugh, what happened?" He heard Mikey groan as he looked around to see that everyone was alright. They were on the bridge of a fully functioning Ulixies and all of their friends were alive and well.
"You guys okay?" April asked in concern as she helped Sal Commander to his feet.
Sal Commander held his head and let his senses clear up before speaking, "We are grateful." He said as he helped Mikey to his feet. "Hopefully one day, we can repay your kindness."
"Yes, one day." Mona agreed as she looked towards Raphael and held his hand. The two looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment, until Fugitoid interrupted the moment as he walked into the room between Raph and Mona.
"No time for doodling, I've already repaired your craft." He said. "Not to be rude, but we have triceratons to catch up with."
With that out of the way, Raph cleared his throat as he gazed at Mona. "Mona, uh... look, um... what I'm trying to say is... uh.." Mona Lisa silenced him by softly putting a finger on his lip as she smiled at him.
"Let me say it for you, Raphael. In my own language." She said before she gave her salamandrian call before they slowly leaned in and let their noses touch (or rather kiss), and Raph even popped up his leg.
Leo and Donnie looked in wide-eyed surprise, Casey seemed to be grossed out, April giggled at the cute and romantic scene, and Sal Commander maintained a neutral expression as he covered Mikey's eyes.
With the salamandrian fighter repaired, Mona Lisa and Sal Commander got back inside. Mona gave one final wave to Raph before the two flew off to regroup with their fleet. Raph watched them leave through the the Ulixies' front window as he placed a hand on the glass.
"Good-bye, Mona Lisa." Raph said, a touch of solemn in his voice.
Leo smiled as he put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You'll see her again one day, Raph."
"I sure hope so."
"The triceratons are like millions of astral-miles ahead." Donnie said as he and Mikey joined them. "With a little luck, we'll catch up."
"Let's do this!" Mikey said with a laugh as the Ulixies and it's crew resumed on their mission to save the galaxy.