ThunderCats
Bio-Booster Armor Guyver
Eye of the Storm
Episode 22
They dragged him along the cold metal corrirdor, the boots on his feet scraping against the corrugated steel. Manacles were clamped tight on his writsts, a short chain joining them as his arms throbbed from the pressure the strange bulldog-like men were putting on them. His head dangled on a limp neck, swinging with each rough motion his body was subjected to. After what seemed to him an eternity of off-white floor and the smell of the men hauling him, they stood before a thick metal door embedded in the wall. The Lion lifted his head as it opened to see nearly thirty other Thunderians sitting on the floor, all in chains. Before he could brace himself, he was thrown in. He landed between two women, rather painfully on his elbows, and heard the rumble of the doors closing behind him. He picked himself up, wincing at the scrapes, and felt a pair of slender hands on his shoulder.
"You, too, huh?" her husky voice asked. He looked up at her, midnight hair falling tangled and matted about her Panther features. Her eyes shone with kindness, as did those of the woman whose hands were clasped about her other. The former was lithe and tall, the Puma woman short and a tad stocky.
"Me, too," he said as she pulled him up to her unoccupied side.
Poor kid, thought the Panthress, Etain, as she pulled the young Lion up beside her. She held Avril's hands in one of her own, drawing warmth and love from the contact which would soon be abruptly severed as she and the rest of the surviving members of their convoy from Thundera were shipped to where they would be sold like cattle. Etain leaned down to kiss her on the forehead and managed not to start crying at the thought of what awaited them all. The Lion rose up next to her, panting.
"Sorry to see you here, kid," she said, her husky voice a tad strained. The Thundrainium in the links of chain connecting her wrists were doing a job on her, even moreso on the slightly less-fit Avril. Etain eyed him, his tawny flesh and whipcord muscles beneath the small blue tunic, and could not help but feel something was off about him.
"Is everyone all right?" he asked in a suprisingly strong voice. Etain took a second look at him as his back straightened. The Thundrainium seemed not to bother him at all.
"What does that matter?" she asked, her voice bitter. Avril's hands clenched hers tight. "Look around, we're meat to be sold."
"Etain, stop," the smaller woman, Avril, said.
"There's no rescue coming for us," Etain nearly spat.
"Then let's just enjoy the time together we still have." Etain looked down into Avril's eyes and her heart nearly broke.
"I don't know about that," the Lion said. "Rescue might be closer than you think."
"Yeah?" Though her words were sharp, Etain couldn't entirely suppress the note of hope within them. "What's your name, anyway?" And why the hell aren't those shackles draining your strength? she added silently.
"Sho."
"That's a weird name," Avril said, taking a good look at him herself.
"I get that a lot."
Ten Days Previous
Though outwardly calm, Tygra's thoughts were awhirl as he tried not to stare at Laheela, situated next to him at the central control console of Cat's Lair. All the other stations were unmanned, the Control Center meant to be fully-staffed only in an emergency, and they had drawn the morning watch. Since the events in the ruined tunnels beneath what had once been Fortress Plun-Darr, an awkwardness had appeared between them. For his part, Tygra wasn't sure exactly what his feelings for her were. He had understood the basic reasons for what had happened. After periods of extreme stress of the life-and-death variety, the desire for sex could be intense; it was the body's way of demanding a way to bleed it off. For his part, he hadn't known a woman for so long that his own body's demands had overridden his good senses on top of the relief that the others were safe. Particularly Laheela.
He felt, all told, slightly ashamed of himself for having given in to raging hormones especially given what her life under Primor's heel had entailed. Though their lovemaking had not been awkward in the slightest, the aftereffects were another matter. Tygra steeled himself. They were alone for the moment, and there would be no better chance to talk this out than now.
"Laheela."
"Yes?"
"About that night..."
"Yes. About that night." Her voice was resigned, flat.
"I took advantage of you, Laheela. I can't, no, I won't deny it."
"I thought I was the one who jumped YOUR bones?"
"That aside, we haven't known each other for long and I know about..."
"You don't have to remind me, but I won't say I can't fully forget it."
Laheela finally allowed herself to look at him, at his stunned face. True, she had felt awkward about what had transpired between them, but obviously not nearly so much as he had and for different reasons. Her attraction to Tygra had been feirce, she had known that after their first... well, she had to call it a date. It wasn't his looks, or his body (both quite nice in her opinion), but the man himself. The quiet way he had with her, his willingness to listen without questions, the sheer warmth of his presence. After being rescued from the water tank, she had known. She hadn't known, however, how he felt toward her even after the night they spent together.
"You made me forget Primor for a little while." And THOSE were words she never thought she'd say. What had started as raw, animalistic need had become the warmest sexual experience she had ever known. Laheela had once thought, during her days of bondage, that she would never want anyone if she were ever freed. The realization that she, in fact, did had caused her no small pause. Was she in love, or in love with the IDEA of it?
"I did?"
"And that was the greatest thing of all." Even moreso than the hours of sensual pleasure and... Laheela would never admit to losing count of all the orgasms she'd had. A woman had to keep some secrets. "Tygra, you made me fully free of him. Even if just for a little while. That meant more to me than you know." The feel of his hands, the gentle caresses, so much different from the brutal gropes of the Simian captain. Laheela had never thought she would enjoy a man's attentions, a man inside her, again until that night. But, was it love?
"Laheela..."
"I won't lie. I enjoyed it." Like a righteous mad bastard, she couldn't bring herself to say. "We both did. It was something we both needed, I think, and I don't regret it one bit." She saw him relax ever so slightly. "But, that night was about raw need."
"So, where do we go from here?" He asked, his voice soft and a trifle nervous.
"I don't know, but I want us to go together." There. She had said it. She had taken her first step.
"You do?"
"Yes, with you. Tygra," she turned to face him, "I don't know what I feel just yet. I need time to work it out. But, I have never felt like this before."
"Nor have I," he said after a nervous swallow.
"I wouldn't mind us doing that again, though."
"Nor would I, but..."
"But, let's hold off for awhile on that. So," she said, relaxing in her seat. "I guess we're a couple now."
"We are?"
"Tygra," she snapped, "don't start this off on the wrong foot."
"Sorry. This... Well, I didn't know how this conversation would go. I wanted to apologize..."
"For what? Making me feel alive again? Tygra, you never need to apologize for that. Yes, what happened was sudden, but I can't spend my life afraid of men. If I have learned anything, it's that I can't live my life as a victim. YOU taught me that." Laheela drew in a breath. "Tygra, I like you. I might even love you."
"Y...
"BUT!"
"Y-Yes?"
"I don't know. Tygra, there's a lot of things I don't know right now. I know that I want you. Gods, do I want you. Just... bear with me. Please."
"I shall, Laheela," he said, nodding. "I shall, indeed."
As if proving that the Universe cannot tolerate long a moment of tenderness, the alarm display went off on the control board just as alarm klaxons began to sound. As one, their hands flew over the controls to snap the image on the main monitor onto a small ship entering Third Earth's atmosphere at a dangerous angle. Pieces fell off of it as it fell, burning in the friction of the atmosphere.
"That's Mandora's ship!" Tygra exclaimed as a larger piece of the outer hull flapped away from the fireball of her alarming descent.
"No response on any channel," Laheela said. "At that descent angle, she'll never make the ground!"
"Come on, come on..." Tygra softly urged as the heavily damaged craft streaked lower and lower and even more chunks of the hull spiralled away from the ship. In what could only be described as a minor miracle, the ship righted its angle degree by single degree as though Mandora were fighting gravity and the limited controls she had for all she was worth. Agonizing moments crawled by as the craft descended lower into the atmosphere.
"She's through the upper atmopshere!"
"But that ship is cooked!" Tygra immediately calculated her descent trajectory, relieved that she would land well clear of the colony.
"I have fire teams standing by," Laheela said, "alerting Medical Wing." Another chunk of the ship leaped clear, followed by a metal orb which had to be an escape pod.
"Medical," Pumyra's voice said over the comm channel.
"Prepare a medical team and head for grid square 84," Tygra said, "there's an escape pod about to land. Be advised, it's Mandora."
"Understood. Heading out."
"I only hope they make it in time," Laheela said as the escape pod dug a deep trench in the soil on landing.
Pumyra was out of the newly-built ThunderTank almost before Panthro could bring it to halt. The escape pod lay at the end of a half-kilometer long gouge in the dirt, the grass on the edges still burning in patches. She charged forward, noting that the hatch hadn't opened on its own and that the metal was smoking. The hatch opened during the last few meters of her run, and Pumyra immediately saw the danger Mandora was in.
The corners of her mouth bore dried blood. Though her uniform was mostly black, Pumyra saw several spots moist with that life-giving substance. Mandora lay limp and unmoving in the seat. Her hands reached out on contact and inventorying the damage. Broken ribs... damn, definitely a punctured lung. Pumyra consulted the medscanner, reading multiple pulled muscles but minor damage aside. In Mandora's hand was a data spike. She stirred, drawing Pumyra's attention.
"Don't move," she said. "Help's here."
"Data... spike..." Mandora weakly offered her hand. "Take it... please... stop them..." Mandora lapsed back into unconsciousness.
"GURNEY!" Pumyra screamed as loudly as she could. Things could have been worse, but she wished they could have been better as well. She handed the data spike to Panthro as the gurney was hauled into the rear of the new ThunderTank and the vehicle roared off toward the colony.
Sho reviewed the information on the dataspike as the ThunderCats who were not attending to Mandora looked on. The data scrolling on the main screen was horrifying.
"To think they'd do that," Lion-O breathed, standing in the center of the gathered ThunderCats. On the screen was volumes of information regarding a network of corruption in the high-command structure of CONTROL, the Pan-Galactic Federation's main law-enforcement body. And, it went all the way to the top.
"Bribes, maybe?" Panthro asked, suddenly sure of why Mandora had arrived in her condition. "She was about to blow the whistle."
"Or she had," Sho said as more information appeared. "I'm reading that the commandant of CONTROL has already arranged passage on a ship called the Vertis."
"Shiner," Bengali snarled, "the bastard."
"Know him, then?"
"Kinda wish I didn't."
"Well, it seems he hired this guy to carry him and a bunch of... just a second..." The next screen of information shot a chill throughout all present. "My God..."
"Our contrymen," Cheetara gasped. "Thirty of them..."
"According to this," Sho began, "these guys were involved in a slave trade, mostly on worlds not affiliated with the Pan-Galactic Federation, where they'd have no jurisdiction."
"Sadly, we're in no position to help those already sold," Tygra said, sorrow thick in his voice. Laheela remained ramrod straight beside him, glaring at the screen. "But, there are thirty who need our help now."
"They even used CONTROL ships to ferry them," Lion-O noticed, "using falsified paperwork to cover it."
"And the network of money-transfers," Cheetara said. "It must have taken Mandora YEARS to compile all this."
"Investigating her own people," Panthro said, shaking his head. "From what I see, even their internal affairs people were involved. Had to be hell on her."
"Hey, check this out!" Sho said as he brought up more of the voluminous information. A star chart appeared, plotting a course through the Sol system.
"A stable gateway," Tygra said, shaking his head, "don't see that every day."
"The data calls it 'Thieve's Conduit'."
"Sho, that's a rare event. I never even knew it was there," Tygra brreathed as he neared the human's station. "A quasi-stable wormhole."
"A what?" Lion-O asked.
"A stable wormhole," Tygra began, "is a shortcut between two fixed points in space, yet is something we've never encountered. Quasi-stable is a wormhole with one end fixed in space, yet the other turning up in various points. Most naturally occuring wormholes are utterly unstable."
"According to this data," Sho began, "the entry points for the other end appear regularly in various points of the quadrant."
"And Shiner's gonna use it to get to this point," Myrlha said, "which gives us barely ten days." The door at the rear opened, startling everyone, and Pumyra walked in, flanked by Siberias and Kyranna.
"She's gonna be off her feet for awhile, but I expect a complete recovery," she said.
"Then let's get you three up to speed." Several minutes passed as the three late-comers were filled in.
"I don't mean to sound like a taskmaster here, people, but we need a plan," Lion-O said.
"If we equip the ThunderStrike back onto the Feliner," Panthro began, stroking his chin, "we could get there in time, but we wouldn't have enough firepower to storm the Vertis."
"Why?"
"Sho, the Vertis is a total warship. The Feliner wouldn't stand a chance in a straight-up fight."
"So, we have to get someone inside," Claudis said, rousing from his silence. "But how?"
"If Shiner learned anything from when we were his captives," Lynx-O offered, "then he knows the value of Thundrainium restraints."
"That stuff won't affect me," Sho said, "but I couldn't pass for Thunderian. Even if I could, how would I get... aboard?" Sho looked over his shoulder at Pumyra, whose eyes were alight.
"Sho," she began, "don't let anyone tell you differently. You are a GENIUS!" Sho looked on as she and Siberias conferred.
"Yes, it might work."
"Um..."
"If I'm on the same wavelength," Panthro said as his eyes lit up with the samle flicker...
"Sho. Medical Wing. Now," Pumyra ordered.
"I'll be in the Depot. Tygra, I'm gonna need you on this."
"Done."
"I'll join them," Laheela said, the same light in her eyes.
Laheela noticed Tygra easing back from Panthro as they walked toward the Depot, until the two walked side-by-side. The warm feelings from before, the confusion about what they meant, were gone. More of her people were facing the life she'd had. Even more might even be living that hell, and the knowledge that helping them was beyond their capability galled her to no end. But, Tygra had been right. If she had learned anthing over the years, it was when to act and when to be docile. She still, however, didn't have to like it.
"Whatever this plan is," she began in a low whisper, "I need to be in on it."
"I'm not at all sure I know what it is myself, but I have an idea."
"Sneaking Sho onto that damn slave barge, that's what." And, she kept to herself, I hope he raises all kinds of hell.
"I'm certain that's it." Tygra nodded once. "And, if so, it's likely we'll be cooling our heels while Sho does the work. I don't like having to use him like that."
"I don't, either, but we have no choice. I... I want... No, I NEED to see them freed."
"Like before."
"Yes." It was just like him, not to say what was not needed.
"C'mon!" Panthro shouted from ahead. "Get a move on!"
"I'm certain Lion-O will approve, and we could use your help in the Depot."
"Thank you, Tygra," she said with some of that warm feeling slipping past her grip. He merely smiled as they picked up their pace, and Laheela's hand somehow found its own way into his.
Lion-O stood in the lobby of the Medical Wing, Mandora having been placed behind a privacy screen and under heavy sedation. Myrlha stood beside him, along with Bengali and Kyranna.
Myrlha focused on the thought that Sho would help rescue thirty more of her people from a slave's meager existence, on how much she loved him, of all the good which had happened thanks to his help. Even so, a tiny voice spoke to her of what seemed to be more and more true with each time they'd made love recently. The last few times, she had deliberately waited until the height of her fertility cycle, yet no change. None. Her cycle had proceeded normally. She told herself that it was nothing, that sometimes the magic bullet doesn't shoot. Still, that little voice whispered wordlessly that what Pumyra had told her regarding her chances of having his child had been right.
Pumyra came into view with Siberias, both looking rather pleased with themselves. She knew that what the other woman had told her hadn't been in malice, but she still felt a flash of irrational anger. Before that conversation, she hadn't been thinking about cubs. Sho had been supportive, loving, but he was a man regardless of species. Some aspects of being a woman were well beyond a man's grasp no matter how loving and kind they were. It was just the way of things.
"Sho!" Siberias called, "come on out!"
"You're not seeing what I'M seeing!" he replied from behind another curtain.
"It'll be fine," Pumyra said with a laugh. "Come on."
Her heart turned to ice for a moment at the sight of him, yet her jaw dropped like the rest. He stood there, clad in only shorts, his body having been transformed. The pale skin was now tawny, with white from elbows to fingers and mid-shins to toes. Claws were on fingetips and toetips now. The mop of black hair now gleamed red, but his EYES! They were orange and slitted. Myrlha felt a pang rush through her, a fantasy, that the man she loved with every fiber of her heart were indeed of her own folk.
"I'm impressed!" Bengali exclaimed.
"It's incredible!" Kyranna shouted.
"So," Lion-O began, "why does he look like my kid brother?" It struck her, then, that Sho could easily pass for a much younger Lion-O.
"We didn't realize how strongly he'd resemble you when we first began," Pumyra said.
"We chose Lion Clan mostly in the name of expedience," Siberias added. "Other than size and the red mane, Lions lack the more distinguishing characteristics of other pureblood examples, not to mention mixed-breeds."
"Spots, stripes, coloration patterns, even differing hair colors and shapes," Pumyra said, pointing at the shock of pure white atop her mostly chestnut crown of hair. "The claws are, of course, prosthetic. The eyes are the result of contact lenses which merely disguise the true shape of his pupils and colors of his irises. I have some on-hand in case corrective vision surgery is not an option."
"And his scent?" Kyranna asked. Myrlha shook herself mentally. Even his smell was different now! It was like seeing two images laid over the other. One was Sho in his natrual form, the other this very young-looking Thunderian. How much like an adolescent he looked!
"We were able to synthesize a mist which temporarily masks his scent," Siberias explained. "It must be re-applied every twelve hours to maintain its effectiveness."
"If Panthro was thinking along the lines they were," Bengali offered, "I bet he has another way to fool Shiner into thinking he's Thunderian."
"I see," Lion-O said, tapping his chin with a forefinger. "Nice work! Even if he looks like me as a kid."
"Kid?!"
"Sho, you resemble a Lion at around age twelve or so."
"You're not kidding are you?"
"We've arranged a small test, if you'd all kindly step aside?" Pumyra asked. "Sho, you stay put." They moved out of the way, Myrlha unable to take her eyes off of Sho. Within moments, the doors slid open to admit Snarf, bearing a bundle of small clothes.
"Shnarf, I don't know why you wanted a set of Lion-O's kitten clothes, but..." Snarf stopped in mid-sentence, gaping at Sho. "Jaga doing jumping-jacks, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"
"I'm right here, Snarf," Lion-O laughed. Snarf whirled about to him, then back to Sho.
"I knew that. Wasn't fooled for a minute..."
"Hi."
"SHO?!" Snarf shouted, leaping backward on the tip of his tail. "I know you want to understand Thunderian culture, but isn't this a bit much?!"
"It's for an important mission, Snarf," Lion-O said.
"If you say so. I'll just leave these here." Snarf padded his way to the door before whirling on them all. "And I wasn't fooled for a second!"
"Of course not," Pumyra said. "I think our disguise is as close to perfect as we can get."
"Now, let's see what Panthro's cooking up," Lion-O said while Sho took the garments. Moments later he emerged wearing them.
"How is it?"
"A little tight, Lion-O."
"Know the feeling. Let's go. Pumyra, Siberias, great job!"
"Thank you, m'lord," they replied in unison. As they entered the corridors which led to the Depot, Myrlha fell in step beside Sho.
"Like the new look?" he asked, his voice playful.
"I prefer the real you," she said, her heart warm. "With you like this, I feel like a cradle-robber."
"Really?"
"Trust me, Sho, I prefer the REAL you." She kissed him then, light and tender, before they made their way to the Depot.
"I never expected this," Tygra said as he stood next to Panthro in his main drawing area of the Depot. Sho stood shivering in the tight blue tunic he wore, wishing for the warmth of his own clothes and the absence of the gaping stares Panthro and Tygra were sending his way.
"It's like looking at..."
"Me as a kid," Lion-O said dismissively, "Sho's been getting that a lot."
"If it was good enough to fool Snarf, Shiner doesn't have a chance," Panthro replied. "C'mon, he's the next part."
"Did I miss something?" Sho asked as they walked past racks of tools and piles of junked parts waiting to be melted. "I know time's a factor and all, but isn't this getting laid on a little fast?"
"It's tough to plan a grand strategy when things like this suddenly pop up," Cheetara replied, stopping her hand from ruffling his newly-red hair. "Sorry. I guess that was kind of a reflex."
"I can deal with it," Sho sighed, exasperated. "It's for the cause. Hey, cut it out!" he cried when Myrlha ruffled his hair instead.
"Sorry," she laughed, "couldn't resist!" They emerged into the main assembly/testing area of the Depot where Kat, Kit, and Laheela were scoring the surface of a spherical escape pod with torches.
"I have enough junk," Panthro began, cutting off the teenaged twins before they could comment on Sho's new look, "to simulate the destruction of a small ship. I plan to ventilate some spare Thundrillium fuel cells to simulate a drive reactor accident."
"Think it looks damaged enough?" Laheela asked after cutting off her torch.
"Perfect," Tygra confirmed. "Has the transmitter been modified?"
"Ready and waiting!" Kat said.
"Transmitter?"
"Sho," Panthro said, "Shiner's likely gonna scan the pod to see who's in it. The distress beacon's been outfitted with a system to transpose human bio-signs to Thunderian."
"But how can we be sure Shiner will pick him up?" Lion-O asked.
"Because of his mercenary nature," Tygra explained.
"In other words, this Commandant Lenin will pay him to do it," Sho said. "Greedy bastard. Kinda fits his namesake."
"Who?" Lion-O asked.
"Oh, you mean the man who founded Second Earth's Soviet Union!" Tygra replied. "Yes, men of that stripe seem to follow similar patterns. Even wearing the disguise of revolution, greed is still greed."
"Damn stupid way to live, if you ask me," Sho said. "Trust me, I was there. It wasn't a nice place."
"In any event," Panthro said, "I can transport the junk and the escape pod to the necessary co-ordinates. From there, we dangle the bait."
"I just hope this works," Sho said, not looking forward to being suspended in vacuum in a metal sphere. "You sure this thing will pass muster?"
"Much as I hate to compare Mutant tech to our own, ecape pods are pretty much universal. One is the same as another. As long as we're dealing with Oxygen-breathers, anyway."
"We're really reaching on this one," Bengali said, "but we have to try."
"I'm in. If there's any chance at all I can help, I'm gonna do it."
"I have a schematic of the Vertis from Mandora's data spike," Cheetara said as she handed the datapadd to Sho. On it, Sho spotted the cargo bay in which the people he would rescue were to be sequestered.
"Noted," he said, committing every twist and turn to memory.
"Hey," Panthro said, "they're gonna hit you. They're gonna..."
"I don't care." Sho's emotions were steadily being replaced by his power, by the destruction he knew he could unleash and must control. "I'll take the beatings. I've taken worse."
"I am curious," Claudis said, emerging into the Depot accompanied by Snarfer.
"About what?"
"What you shall do once you encounter inevitable resistance?" Claudis did not notice Tygra stiffening ever so slightly, or seemed not to.
"I made a promise to myself, to protect my countrymen no matter what," Sho said. "If this Shiner wants to get in the way of that, then it's not my fault." Silence fell at that. Claudis nodded at him, smiling.
"Best of luck, Sho," he said simply.
"I want to..."
"No, WilyKat," Lion-O said. "The bulk of the mission is Sho's."
"Understood."
WilyKit stared at her brother, recalling the latest session of council. The next Guyver would rise from their ranks. She knew him. Kat wanted to become the next Guyver. She could see it all over him. He wanted that power so bad they could both taste it. Kat had volunteered for every mission, hoping to wash away some imagined stain on his manhood. And, she knew which one.
She saw his face fall ever so slightly, as it would when they were kittens and kept mostly to the lair. She could almost feel the dark thoughts whirling in his head, could see where they were headed since the revelation from the White Pyramid.
Bro, she thought as they began to load up refuse and the escape pod, don't do anything stupid. Though she had always been the more adventurous of the pair, she had to take pause at where she thought this could go.
Zero Days Previous
The sea of stars enveloped them as Sho prepared to enter the escape pod. He'd committed the specs of the Vertis to memory long since, having been reinforced by Tygra at random periods. He knew the route. He'd spent the better part of two weeks seeing a Thunderian in the mirror. Tygra and Laheela joined him amid the pile of junk in which the escape pod rested. Myrlha drew near, a smile on her face.
"Come back to me."
"I always do." Sho didn't allow himself to dwell on the danger he would soon face alone as she kissed him again. "For luck?"
"Do you remember the route?"
"Could run it in my sleep, Tygra," Sho replied. "Now or never." He settled himself in the seat and strapped himself in.
"Remember. Once on the Vertis, you are on your own. If they hit you, cringe. Act afraid. Do whatever it takes to get put with the others.
Myrlha took her seat in the cockpit of the Feliner, worried despite herself. Sho was going in alone. Well, she corrected herself, not entirely alone. The Guyver counted as one hell of a companion when facing down wretched odds.
"Venting cargo bay," Tygra said. The Feliner shuddered a moment later. She stared at her monitor, seeing the cloud of junk spread in vacuum with Sho's escape pod in the center of the expanding cloud of refuse.
"Venting spent Thundrillium," Laheela said, activating the used-up modules in the cloud and emitting the subatomic particles bearing the energy signature of used-up Thundrillium. "That should convince them a Thunderian ship blew up here."
"Time to go." Tygra re-engaged the Feliner's engines, coupled with those of the ThunderStrike, to the outer atmosphere of Jupiter where the electromagnetic disturbances of its atmosphere would hide the ship from the Vertis. And, there they waited.
Shiner studied the star charts of this region of space as the Vertis emerged from its latest hyperspace jump. Three days with the fat-assed human, former CONTROL commandant Lenin, breathing down his neck. Yes, the money was in the bank, but he was such a control freak! ALWAYS wanting to know what was happening! Shiner restrained his temper yet again, but swore if the man made any more an ass of himself, he'd flush the fucker out the nearest airlock!
"We are in position," Shiner said before Lenin could ask. "We'll arrive at Thieve's Conduit in four hours."
"Excellent," the corpulent human said. "You really are worth your reputation."
"I wouldn't have been in business so long if I wasn't," Shiner replied testily.
"Captain!" an ensign shouted from one of the forward navigation panels. "Debris cloud detected! One thousand kilometes off port bow!" The ensign called up the image, magnified. "I am reading a single life-form."
"What kind?" Lenin asked, much to Shiner's annoyance.
"Sir?"
"Oh, answer the man," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "His money is good."
"It appears to be Thunderian." Shiner felt a chill up his spine at that. Thunderians. In this sector. Something smelled funny.
"Pick him up," Lenin ordred.
"Do I need to remind you, AGAIN, who is the captain of this ship?" Shiner hissed.
"I'll pay, of course," Lenin said.
"Naturally. I'll take my payment up front, thank you."
"You already have a good chunk of my liquid assests, you pirate!" he shouted. "Tell you what, I'll give you what I earn off this one."
"And that would be?" he asked. Still, his instincts tickled.
"Likely get a good price regardless," former commadant Lenin replied. "Exotics always do. Say, fifty thousand base-line price. More if this one's young."
"Helm," Shiner said, finding an excuse to stop talking to him for a moment, "how long has that wreckage been there? Report on the condition of the escape pod."
"Judging by the rate of decay of the energy patterns, about four to eight days," the crewman at the helm reported. "Scans show that the debris is consistent with known Thunderian designs." What they could not know was that most of it was comprised of the wreckage of the original ThunderTank coupled with as much Thunderian technological offal Panthro could scrounge and what he could fake as the same. "The escape pod has suffered damage consistent with impact from energized debris from a small ship."
"Hmmm... A lost soul trying to find his way to a new home, eh?" On the surface, it seemed legitimate. "Full sensor sweep."
"No other ships detected within four AU, sir."
"You know my money's good," Lenin said from behind.
No other ships within four Astronomical Units, four times the mean distance between a star and its nearest inhabitable world, normally the third one out. Hardly a viable measurement, given which planets held life in which solar systems, but even the most modern sensor arrays couldn't reach close to a light-year's distance, not to mention the fantasy of sensors capable of reaching a parsec. Three point six-two light years of early warning, Shiner thought. Imagine the possibilities! Imagine ships so fast, they'd need to have an early-warning bubble THAT fucking huge!
"Captain?"
"The full proceeds from this sale?" Shiner could not entrely keep the disgust out of voice.
"I should make it worth your while. Besides, this one'll likely die out there. Better for him or her to have some kind of life."
"I admire your definition of mercy," Shiner said in a tone that screamed the opposite. "Very well. Bring the pod aboard. Full security measures, and place this one with the others."
"You don't approve of my choice of retirement package, do you?" Lenin asked.
"What I think of your activities is of no consequence, so long as your money is good."
"For every criminal I ever heard..."
"And THAT will be the last you speak on that!" Shiner roared, fully enraged.
"Are we so different?"
"That is like asking if disgraceful behavior is the same as gang rape," Shiner spat. "Why did you turn to this life? Especially one who headed the organization dedicated to hunting us down?"
"I have my reasons," Lenin replied coldly. "So long as my money's good, what do you care?"
"I don't, by and large. 'If you can't beat them, join them'. Am I right?"
"So?"
"We are both criminals, at least in the eyes of the law. But," Shiner said, shaking a finger under Lenin's nose, "unlike you, at least I am true to myself."
"Bah," Lenin said, "what is law? Just an agreed upon set of rules. I found, Shiner, that laws cut both ways. One can enforce, or one can reap profit. For all I did for the Pan-Galactic Federation, I felt I was owed more than a pension."
"The SIZE of that thing!" Myrlha gasped. Lines of static streaked through the image enhancers which lined the interior "window" of the Feliner, their own sensors being hampered by electromagnetic interference. "And you're SURE the Vertis can't detect us?"
"So far, so good, at least," was Tygra's reply.
"Come on," Laheela urged, "it's right there..." As if on cue, the emerald lance of a tractor beam snared the floating lifeboat and began to haul it toward the ship. "Hook, line, and sinker," she said with a satisfied grin.
"I only wish I could see the look on Shiner's face when he realizes how big a hook he's just swallowed," Myrlha added.
"The mission's not over yet. It's all in Sho's hands, now." Both women fell silent at Tygra's words, solemn and tense. None of them would take their eyes away from the Vertis until the shuttles emerged. Myrlha didn't allow herself to consider what could happen if Sho were to fail. She didn't even let herself consider the likelihood of him failing.
Sho stood upright, peeling the flesh colored tape from his leg. The multi-tool Panthro had given him rested beneath. Long and flat with an adjustable portion at the end, Sho used it to free his hands, then turned about to free Etain. Over the course of an hour, all the chained Thunderians had been freed.
"Okay," he said, "who can fly shuttles?" Nine hands we raised. "Good enough. We're getting out of here now." Sho turned toward the door amid murmurs of confusion and some small hope.
"Okay, then." It was Etain, and she didn't sound convinced. "Looks like your next trick's to get past that door. How you gonna pull that off, secret agent man?" she asked once Sho was in front of the sealed door.
"Might wanna stand back, everybody."
"EXPLOSION!" the crewman manning the ship's systems panel cried out. "DECK 35, CARGO BAY 14!"
"WHAT?!" Shiner roared, sprinting to the man's station. The captives, he thought. "I thought you searched them!" he shouted at his head of secutiry.
"We DID, sir!" the man replied as his fingers became a blur over the control surface. "Internal sensors in the area coming back online... What the hell is that?" On the screen were thirty-one blips within an expanded relevant section of the Vertis' superstructure. Thirty Thunderian, one Unknown.
"Run the sensor logs back," Shiner ordered, his stomach having become ice as the picture in his mind became more and more clear. Just before the explosion had occurred... Thirty Thunderians and... one human? "The one we picked up," Shiner hissed as he whirled on Lenin. "The ThunderCats PLANTED him there!"
"Who?" Lenin asked, his florid skin fading to pallid grey. "Are they attacking?!"
"They have nothing to challenge the Vertis with," Shiner replied with pride still in his voice. "From outside anyway. It seems your men were not as thorough at silencing Mandora as you claimed."
"Your men can handle this, I'm sure."
"Of course," Shiner replied. No sense in letting him know how two ThunderCats had seized his ship and sent it away from Third Earth on his last visit to this sector. "Status?"
"Security Team Alpha-Two-Eight is enroute to intercept them, sir!"
"As you can see, my men already have this situation under control." Deep within, Shiner could not help but doubt his words.
Avril stared at him, unsure now what in hell he could be. The plates of teal armor, which had appeared in an explosion which had left a dent the floor and the locked door a bent ruin, covered strange purplish fibers. The sight of him struck fear in her heart. Even the curved fin atop his head screamed power and malice. She shivered, cuddling against her lover Etain at the sight of him and the raw power that seemed to radiate off of his form. The choked whimper that escaped her throat was masked by the collective gasp of her countrymen and the muted words among them which followed.
"Satisfied?" he asked, facing her and Etain. It was all Avril could do not to bury her face in Etain's side. She hadn't been so afraid since she'd been a kitten worried about monsters under her bed. Sho then whirled about, tearing the ruined door from its hinges. "We're not far from a shuttle hangar! Let's move!"
Sho led them out, already commanding his sensor medals to search for enemies. He was not disappointed. Ten of those dog-men closing in ahead with more closing from other corridors. Sho charged forward to meet the ones which would challenge them first. They emerged from the left and right, bringing rifles to arms. Sho wasted no time.
He dashed forward, grasping their heads in each hand and crushing them like overripe grapefruits. Sho then locked onto the pair closing from ahead, snapping off two bursts of the head beam which felled them. Sho leaped to the left, extending his blades and cutting them in twain before whirling about and firing the head beam in short bursts to fell the last of them. For now.
"Come on! Let's go!"
"Captain!" The tone of security's voice said it all.
"What?"
"Alpha-Two-Eight is... Gone, sir. Still tracking the captives!"
"Gone..." Shiner's jaw went slack. Ten of his best men... dead. At the hands of what?
"They're moving! Re-routing security to intercept!"
There it is! Sho thought as the quad of dog-like men raised arms. They didn't stand a chance. Sho charged in, the blades on his arms tearing them into shreds. It was over almost before it had begun. The doors slid open, only to slide shut again. Sho thrust himself between them, keeping them open as thirty people swarmed through the open spaces he left. Sho forced himself through, just before the doors shut. He engaged the head beam, welding the doors shut as he checked the shuttles.
Avril shook with horror, still unable to release her eyes from the sight of his transformed body. Blood dripped from his hands, stained his armor (if that was what it was), as he welded the doors closed. One of the pilots of their ship raced to the raised control panel behind the three shuttles and pounded frantically on the surface.
"GODDAMNIT!" he roared. "The panel's locked out! We're STUCK HERE!"
"Just get on the shuttles," Sho said calmly. "I'll handle the doors."
Avril stood rooted in place until she felt a hand on her upper arm. Etain's face filled her vision.
"Come ON, lover, let's GO!" she shouted, dragging her aboard a shuttle. The doors shut, and she found herself forced into a window seat with that monster in full view. Avril stared at him as the orb at his waist began to glow in time with the light behind his right breastplate.
"CAPTAIN!" the Chief of Secutity shouted.
"What?" Oh, no...
"Large energy reading detected in the shuttlebay! It's..." The ship shook violently, and Shiner found himself wondering what the hell he had taken onboard.
"Jaga's cape!" Tygra shouted as the beam of white light melted the outer hangar doors.
"The plan hit a snag," Laheela said, then her eyes widened as three shuttles emerged into the vacuum.
"CONFIRMATION!" Myrlha hooted. "THIRTY THUNDERIANS ABOARD!" But, what about Sho? she asked herself as several bodies spilled into the vacuum.
"Vertis is coming about!" Tygra shouted as the great ship began to move.
"Oh shit," Laheela said.
Through the viewport, Avril saw him as he threw the black ball at the doors they'd all come through. The shuttle eased off the deck plating as he turned and yanked a breastplate open. The light speared the space before him, melting the thick barricade in front of them. Air rushed into the vacuum, and she buried her face in Etain's arm.
"We're free again, baby girl," the Panthress said, stroking her hair and planting a kiss on her head. "I just hope that guy gets through this okay."
"M-hm." Avril buried her head deeper into Etain's side, shutting out the horror she had seen. "So stong. Too strong..."
Ignorant of Avril's quandary, Sho commanded the Gravity Controller to force him through the rushing air and flaling bodies. He angled left in time to dash under a dropping metal barricade. Sho rested against it, catching his breath as the corridor repressurized. He hadn't expected the plan to go as well as it had.
Shit, he thought as the sensor medals moved about their fleshy tracks. The Vertis was moving.
"Vertis is turning!" Tygra shouted. The massive ship slowly came about as the three shuttles raced toward Jupiter's atmosphere. Sho, he thought, DO SOMETHING! Seconds later, +++++++++++++++++++his silent plea was rewarded.
"Re-aquisition in four minutes," The helmsman said. The shuttles were centered in the viewscreen.
"Status of the unknown..."
"ENERGY BUILDUP ON DECK 30!" he shouted. "Same as the energy detected in the shuttle hangar!"
"Mein Gott in Himmel..." Shiner said in prayer.
He knew he was in the middle of interplanetary space as he charged the left lens of the megaasmasher, and that this move might end up with him sucking vacuum. If that turned out to be the case, his teleportation ability would be his only hope, even if a thin one. Sho doubted he could make it all the way back to Third Earth from the vicinity of Jupiter, but it might be possible to make it back to the Feliner. If it was far enough away, that was.
The megasmasher fired, ripping apart everything in its path. He hadn't been able to reach peak charge with the fighting and use of his other weapons from before. Sho knew that the engineering department was well behind him according to the schematics.
Here we go, Sho thought as he unleashed the blast.
The tractor beam winked out just before it could get a lock on the trailing shuttle. All three proceeded unimpeded toward the planned rendevouz point as the Vertis began to drift. Tygra brought the Feliner out of Jupiter's atmosphere, and the sensor readings of the Vertis instantly became clear.
"Jaga..." he whispered. The damage to the interior of the larger ship was indeed extensive and, from the bubbling evident on the exterior of its bow, he had a good idea how it had happened.
Shiner stuggled to keep on his feet as the Vertis shuddered. Damage alerts blared from seemingly everywhere at once just before the helm station exploded. The man stationed there flew back, his face a mask of scorched flesh and flying blood from the blast. A small fire erupted from his station. The tactical officer had managed to dash out of his seat just before his console exploded. Shiner's crew ran to redundant stations, taking in information and screaming it out. The bridge was filling with smoke that was not being pumped out.
"MAJOR DAMAGE!" the tactical officer cried from his backup station. "FUCK ME RUNNING!"
"REPORT!" Shiner roared.
"I... I don't know where to start!"
"Find a place, damn your eyes!"
"NAVIGATIONAL SENSORS ARE GONE!" cried the other helmsman. "We can't steer like this!"
"Captain!" the cheif engineer's voice cried over the intraship commnet, "what in the FUCK is happening up there?!"
"Can we reach full engine power?!"
"The engines are undamaged!"
For what good that would do, Shiner though ruefully, without sensors for guidance.
"LIFE SUPPORT NOW AT MINIMAL!" shouted the tactical officer. "We're down to CO2 scrubbers on decks one through forty!"
"Bring the redundant systems online!"
"They're gone, too! Completely destroyed! WHAT THE FUCK DID WE GET HIT WITH?!"
"Bring internal sensors back online!" Shiner ordered.
"And what about..."
"FUCK them, they're gone!" Shiner shouted, getting in Lenin's face. "If he says ANYTHING else, detain him at once! We have to..."
"CAPTAIN!" the tactical officer shouted. "I have the unknown lifeform back on internal sensors!"
"Where is it?!"
"Shaft 88, which ends..."
"Twenty meters away from the bridge," Shiner finished, spinning about to face the door. It all made sense. This thing had learned the layout of the Vertis, and...
"LOWER THE SHUTTERS!" Shiner shouted. "Re-route all available security to bridge deck!"
"Internal sensors fully online!" the tactical officer reported. "I can give you a shot of the doors the unknown lifeform will use!"
"Onscreen!" The main display shifted from a starfield to a double door outside of which were forty of his crew with each aiming weapons. Shiner felt his fear ease slightly. The lifts were down, so what emerged would have to be...
The doors opened, a shadowed form leaping from them. His men fired, not realizing until it was too late that it was a corpse of one of their fellows they'd perforated with lasers unitl they stood about staring at it. Shiner froze for a second, realizing what was about to happen yet was unable to get a warning out before it began. A shadow dropped into the open space, and the audio systems shorted out just before he saw his men grasp their heads in time for them to explode. The shape floated into the light, drawing another gasp from Shiner.
"What in the blue fuck is that?" he breathed as it turned and walked casually toward the sealed bridge door. My ship is all but destroyed, Shiner thought, nearly unsteerable. Life support is at rock bottom. All at the hands of that fucking THING!
"You were supposed to be..."
"Tactical officer!" Shiner shouted, "if he says anything else, kill him!"
"SIR!"
"You..."
"My men obey me," Shiner snarled before Lenin could go on. The fat human shut up at once. On the screen the strange insectile neared the sealed door to the bridge.
"Security teams..."
"Tell them to stand down. I won't lose more men."
"Aye, Captain."
"ARE YOU INSANE?" Lenin shouted just as the shutter bent from a blow.
"I have one chance to keep us all alive," Shiner said. "PLAY ALONG!" Dents appeared in the solid metal shutter, the barricade failing more and more with each smash until it gave. The insect-like creature stormed onto the bridge, and Shiner stepped forward to face it. As one, each person on the smoke-filled bridge turned about to take in the sight of the creature as it strode purposefully up to their captain.
"I am..."
"I know who you are," it said, cutting him off with a voice that dripped with cold fury.
"On behalf of what is left of my crew, I offer our immediate and unconditional surrender." If Shiner noticed the look of naked outrage on the face of his former client, he didn't show it. "Enough of my crew has died today, don't you think?"
Sho stared at the bulldog-like man with the monocle, honestly surprised. Surrender? Just like that? He searched with the sensor medals, finding no hidden weapons anywhere on the bridge. And, he had to admit, Shiner was right. Enough had died for one day.
"Congratulations," he said, "you've just made the most intelligent decision of your life."
"If I may say so, falling for this ThunderCat trap was the least."
"That's debatable. Do you still have communications?" A crewman seated at a console to his left nodded. "Shiner, make a call." He provided the frequency, which the captain ordered the dog-man to call. Within seconds, Tygra's face appeared on-screen along with Laheela and Myrlha. "Mission accomplished."
"Excellent," Tygra replied. "I take it Shiner has surrendered?"
"You don't have to rub it in, you know," he muttered.
"We'll take that as a yes," Myrlha said. "We made signal to the PGS Argent. They'll be here in four hours to detain the crew and escort us home."
"Admiral Melekhin's ship," Shiner said with a resigned sigh. "Looks like that old bastard wins out in the end."
"Understood," Sho said curtly. "Did everyone make it?"
"Indeed they did. Remain aboard the Vertis until the Argent arrives. Feliner out." The image vanished abruptly.
"Shiner," Sho said, "assemble your men in Shuttle Hangar Four."
"It will be done."
"And, have your navigation officer step away from the helm."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to destroy it in ten seconds. As you said, enough lives have been lost today." Shiner turned and nodded to the crewman, who nearly tripped over his own feet scampering away. Sho fired the head beam into the control surface in a continuous stream, melting it to sparking slag in seconds.
* "You did your homework on my ship." It was nearly a curse.
"And on you."
Admiral Nikolay Melekhin stood to nearly Lion-O's height, and almost as broad across the chest. His grey hair was cropped close to his head, his face a study in lines and sour expressions. The admiral stood beneath Third Earth's sun, flanked by five of his men who stood at port arms. Lion-O met him, crown and cape in evidence and his own entourage in place. Cheetara, Tygra, Laheela, Myrlha, and Panthro. The light gleamed on the rows of brass on his chest and the polished black boots he wore.
"King Lion-O," he said simply, "thank you for your assistance."
"What of CONTROL?"
"That organ of the Pan-Galactic federation is currently being overseen by the military while it is being gutted. The network of corruption Officer Mandora uncovered was indeed vast. It will be the work of years to rebuild it. May I inquire on her current state?"
"She is recovering, but my Court Physician does not wish her moved for a while yet."
"It is of no consequence. The data she provided us will ensure that heads shall roll. Her testimony is not necessary. I thank you, on behalf of the Pan-Galactic Federation, for saving her life."
"We could do nothing less."
"I have to admit," Admira Melekhin said with a shake of his head, "the damage done to the Vertis was a sight to behold. I never thought anything could make Shiner so meek. Well, in any event, I must return to my ship. I thank you again, King Lion-O." Melekhin and his retinue turned as one to board the shuttle which would ferry them back to the Argent. Lion-O watched it rise into the pale blue of a Third Earth morning.
Sho stood at the entrance to the closed shower of the quarters he and Myrlha shared, looking forward to getting clean. His skin felt positively grimy from the days he'd had to spend waiting for the Vertis. As Pumyra and Siberias had predicted, the Guyver had removed all traces of alteration from his body. Even the contact lenses had been removed. All except the grime and sweat.
"Hey, handsome," Myrlha said as she entered the bathroom, naked as the day she was born.
"Aren't you on duty?"
"I got WilyKit to switch with me. I go on tonight. Besides, I thought you needed a welcome home."
"You've been awful randy lately."
"Are you complaining?"
"Hell no. Wanna join me?" The stream of hot water and the steam was enough.
"If your ass isn't in that shower in five seconds, I'm shoving you... Well." Sho grabbed her wrist and pulled her in. And the rest was wonderful.
Etain reveled in the clean clothes she wore, sauntering across the topmost observation platform of Cat's Lair. Avril stood at the edge, leaning against the safety rail and staring out over the surface of an alien world at sunset. The sight of the colony, the familiar architecture, could almost have fooled her into thinking they were back on Thundera.
"It's beautiful," Avril said as she turned to lean her back against the rail, elbows atop it. Etain looked down at her, drinking her in. She resolved to thank that Sho the moment she saw him. Recognizing him wouldn't be difficult. There were only two humans in the colony after all, and the other was the injured woman who had alerted the ThunderCats to their former plight.
"Not as beautiful as you." She never tired of complementing Avril on that. The younger woman could be so self-conscious about that.
"Our temporary room in Cat's Lair is no place to get up to any... you know...
"Shenanigans?"
"Yes, that." Avril could also be rather shy about that aspect of their relationship. She was only beginning to explore that part of living, Etain reminded herself, and the realization of her orientation had been rather awkward for her. Etain had helped her adjust, and over the course of that they had found a deep and mutual love for each other. Despite the fact that Etain was attracted to men as well as women, she could never imagine anyone else sharing her life again. "I wonder what our new place will be like?"
"A step up from a converted cargo container with a couple of mats and broken furniture, that's what." Raw materials for building had been scarce on the planet where their ship had crashed, with food and water having been a close tie for second. The survivors of the crash had managed, but life had been difficult indeed. What they had seen of this Third Earth was damn near a paradise. "The Nobility really came through when it counted, didn't they?" This was a subject she knew would have to be broached carefully. The Guyver had clearly terrified Avril.
"Why does he obey them?" Avril asked, her eyes having taken on a thousand-yard stare. "With all that power..."
"Because he's a good person?" Etain phrased it as a gentle question. Avril could be delicate about some things, but everyone had chinks in their armor.
"But, that raw power! You saw how he killed those men."
And I won't shed a single tear, Etain thought. "Avril, sweetheart, he kinda had to. They didn't give us many options."
"I know... But..."
New topic, Etain thought. "I've heard about a program being launched to start schooling the kittens here."
"Really?" Avril's former, abbreviated, career had been teaching.
"From what I've been told, Sir Tygra is heading it up. A qualified teacher would be a serious boon, y'know."
"I was only an assistant."
"So?"
"Well, I WOULD enjoy working with kittens again."
"THAT'S the spirit! Hey, I also heard of a great fabric shop around here, and a few good tailors who buy from it." Tryphon, the man who did the weaving, was a master of his craft, she'd been told, and something of an odd unit.
"I could use some new clothes," Avril admitted. "What do they use for currency here?"
"Some crap called gold. Well, we can take a look around tomorrow. What say we get to bed? I could use some time with my snuggle-kitty."
"Etain..."
"I know, not in Cat's Lair. Hell, I'd feel weird doing that here, too." Etain leaned down, and Avril turned her head to meet her kiss. They parted, then made for the hatch which led down into the Lair itself. Once in bed, they were in each other's arms and asleep before they could blink.
The first year of Lion-O's reign draws into winter, with the colony preparing for the cold. A major announcement is proclaimed, as is a major discovery for Cheetara. Lynx-O also receives startling news. All this and more in the next episode of Eye of the Storm.