Virgil awoke in the dark dingy room he was left to die in. At first all he could see was black. It was cold, his uniform was ripped and it was musty. Once his eyes adjusted Virgil felt around and recalled where Turner had left the battery powered lamp. Dragging himself across the room, Virgil felt every aching pain in his body. Every broken bone, every bruise, every welt. Once he found and powered on the lamp Virgil was reminded how alone he was. How hungry he was. Unbeknownst to Virgil it had been two days since he was left alone. Just over a week since he crashed.
He didn't know if it was his concussion or his emotions toying with him but he really thought he could hear Scott. He missed his family. Settling arguments, watching the Terrible Two push John into the pool, Grandmas cooking. He envisioned himself sitting under Thunderbird 2's cockpit, fixing the control panel to enhance his scans. He would remove the panel, add the booster, piece of cake. But no. He was here alone. He didn't know where he was and he couldn't even try to escape because he was sure his leg was broken, not to mention his ribs. He needed time to heal. For some reason he wasn't mad at Turner, or The Hood; he was mad that now he would have to take rehab time. He wouldn't be able to help on missions for weeks, and that upset him the most. Once his brothers found him, the idea of taking so much time off from helping people frustrated him greatly. And he knew his brothers would find him because they never give up at any cost.
Virgil shifted to prop himself on the wall. He leaned his head against the wall, the nice cold wall.
He needed to do something. So after a great struggle to stand up Virgil grabbed the light and began hobbling around the borders of the room. At night and when he wouldn't cooperate he was kept in a separate room, now he was in the large room he was first brought into. It had seemed like Tuner had left everything where it was when he took off. All the medical "tools" and supplies were still there on the table in the middle of the room near the makeshift bed. Well it was the metal table he originally woke up on once arriving. Virgil thought he could dress some of his wounds, but all of the rubbing alcohol was gone and the only thing he had left for materials was paint and means for stitching a wound. These materials were useless for broken bones. So in order to make a splint for his leg, Virgil started to take apart the table. The posts for the legs were really long, but they would have to do. After taking the posts and attaching them to his leg with medical tape and parts of his uniform sleeve, he began to survey the room again.
In the far corner from the door Virgil could hear a small trickle. Water? He thought After bringing the light closer to the wall he could see that he was right. A small steady stream of water was coming from the wall. "Haha yes!" Virgil pushed his fist into the air in excitement and went back to the medicine table and grabbed an empty IV sack for water. After using one of the medical tools to cut the corner of the bag Virgil pushed the bag against the wall and the water slowly seeped into the bag. As it filled Virgil felt the weight of the bag. He was tired and weak and broken. So, so broken. Although he was left to die, at least he didn't have to help The Hood anymore, and he wouldn't get beaten anymore. The only part of him left to suffer is his mind as he is left to think about everything that has transpired over the last few weeks.
After slowly sipping the bag of water until it was empty, Virgil leaned against the wall and slid down it. It wasn't a graceful descent to the floor, but at this point it didn't matter. He would feel better after he slept, and the traces of sedative left in the IV bag would make sure of that.
Alan was upside down in one of the chairs in the lounge while Scott stood at his father's desk looking over John's shoulder as he analyzed the audio footage from Thunderbird 2.
"Thunderbird 2 to Tracy Island, John?"
"John, Scott, Gordon, come in."
"Preparing for crash landing."
Rewind.
"Thunderbird 2 to Tracy Island, John?"
"John, Scott, Gordon, come in."
"Preparing for crash landing."
"There has to be something we are missing John!" Scott said as he paced around to the other side of the desk. "Sounds in the background, frequencies, anything?"
"I don't know Scott, I have searched for all background noises, reduced it to quarter speed, I don't know what else I can do."
"Hey guys…" Alan said from his position on the couch. "Thunderbird 2 is the biggest ship we have, how could it have been taken out so easily?"
"It wasn't easy Alan," John started, "the ship 2 was rivaled against had to have a weapon on it just as powerful. And that is hard because International Rescue is one of the only rescue operations in the world with this type of tech. It's second to none, virtually indestructible."
"Well the type of tech to take down Virgil's ship didn't just come out of nowhere," Alan added now sitting upright in his seat looking at John.
"No type of technology exists Alan," John retorted.
"Actually…." Scott intervened.
"Scott?" John turned the chair to face his brother who was now leaning against the wall of Tracy portraits. "What do you mean 'actually'?"
"Well, before dad introduced the rest of you to International Rescue he showed me. My first thought, out of love and concern for you guys was what if the technology got into the wrong hands? Although Thunderbirds are meant for peacekeeping and rescue operations, there was the possibility of someone wanting this tech enough to do anything to get it. So dad devised a plan to create a machine that with a single shot, could… take down a Thunderbird…" Scott finished looking at the floor, he knew what was about to come his way.
"There was a means of destroying the Thunderbirds and you didn't think to tell us about it? Scott? What the hell? We need to know about shit like this!"
"Yeah yeah I know!" Scott held up his hands defensively, "and in hindsight I should have told you that the GDF systems were hacked three weeks before all this started. The systems that contained weapons tech, base locations and the TBD plans all went haywire. At first it looked like nothing was taken but Colonel Casey informed me a few days ago that for 30 seconds all their systems were completely inoperable and a hack could happened without the computers registering it."
"Wait, TBD plans?" John asked as he slumped back down into his father's chair. "You told me that was a ship name, Thunderbird Destroyer!"
"It is a ship name! The exact ship that dad designed to keep our technology out of the wrong hands, the ship that was supposed to be our failsafe," Scott angry, not angry at his family, angry at himself. Tears streaked down his face as he shouted his next words. "IT WAS THE SHIP THAT SHOT DOWN OUR LITTLE BROTHER JOHN!" By now Scott was in tears on the floor. Uncontrollably sobbing as he thought about how his naivety may have killed one of his brothers. John was sitting in shock. Scott was the leader he was supposed to be keeping it together, and now their leader was in a ball on the floor. Not only that but seeing Scott break down drove Alan out of the room faster than anything.
"Lo-look Scott," John said as he eased his way over to Scott, he didn't know what to do. "I know it is tough, but we'll get him back, we will get Virgil back. Scott, look at me," John said as he grabbed Scott's chin and tilted his head so his tear filled eyes to meet his emerald ones, "this family will have closure."
"John, he is my rock, he helps me when you aren't here. He, he keeps me grounded and he is, John… he's my best friend. I can't lose him like I lost mom, or dad."
"We have listened to that tape a thousand times, we know Virgil survived the crash. He's a strong, bull-headed Tracy, he is not going to quit so easily."
Sighing, Scott slumped against the wall and rubbed his face. "Okay."
"Now, go un-scare the shit out of Alan."
"So" John began, "now that you and Alan have chilled out a bit, why don't I tell you the good news. Using a set of blueprint for the TBD, I was able to determine that the ship could only fire once then the main power supply had to be replaced. It wasn't on the specks but it was just simple math, simple math I bet the Hood didn't account for. I also tracked all the parts needed to make this ship to a warehouse in Southern Utah, of all places. On the order list was only one set of each of the components needed to build the centrifuge of the canon."
"So now that The Hood has used the weapon, he will have to order another set of pieces!" Alan summed up.
"Exactly. I have EOS managing all transfers made from every energy source provider there is. Black Market and all so the minute a new piece is ordered, we'll know."
Scott made his way over to John and griped his shoulder, "solid plan John."
It was a solid plan, except for even though The Hood may have missed the 'simple math', his assailant Mr. Turner did not. In fact Mr. Turner's skills and notable knowledge on computers that gained The Hood access to GDF computers in the first place.
Three weeks before the crash, The Hood and Mr. Turner stand in front of a metal table illuminated by a single overhead light. Turner places a roll of blueprints on the table.
"So now that you have the plans to Jeff's secret weapon, does that mean we have a partnership?" Mr. Turner inquired after gaining The Hood access to the most secure network in the world.
"It does indeed, if you have something else to offer me, I have many men that would have eventually gained this type of access…"
"I do have more information regarding the math and details of this specific ship not listed in the building instructions."
"Continue…" The Hood said intrigued by Turner's restricted information.
"By doing some simple math calculations it appears that Jeff's designs only permitted one shot be fired by this specific ship, that is why I have ordered two sets of parts sent to two different locations and before anyone is the wiser, we will be long gone."
"Why only two sets?"
"Because, Hood, two is all we will need. One to take down the green behemoth of a ship International Rescue calls Thunderbird 2, so they are crippled and devastated at the loss of their most powerful ship and their pilot. The second one will be shot directly at their Island Base, once they have rebuilt their precious ship, found their crippled and dying teammate and finally start to get their lives back."
"Why not kill the Tracy and attack the Island?"
"Because you want them to suffer, immensely. And nothing is more frustrating than believing you have lost a family member only to have them return crippled and clinging to life. That and if we kill the Tracy we could risk them shutting International Rescue all together."
"Brilliant plan Mr. Turner, welcome aboard!"
End of Flashback…