October 11th, 2061 - 05:34 MDT
A motorbike speeds along the white snow planes on central Canada. It has an Echelon Decoding Device connected to the side of it as speeds away from an incident that had happened just a few moments ago meaning that the boss asked for its transferal to his secret base. However, above him, Thunderbird Shadow appears. Revving the engine, the motorcyclist turns off into a tunnel thinking that the Thunderbird couldn't follow. Little did he know, Kayo has other ideas and releases her motorcycle from Thunderbird S. She keeps hot on his tail before looping over him in the tunnel and getting in front. Quickly, Kayo applies her brakes and the other motorbike crashes into the back of her, spinning out of control and throwing the guy off into the side wall knocking him unconscious. Kayo jumps out of her bike and drags the man out of the tunnel, before dropping him on the ground as law enforcement can collect him. Walking away, she makes it to the motorbike and picks up the device and calls John.
"John, it's Kayo. The Echelon decoding device has been recovered," Kayo states.
"Wait, what?" John questions, "You engaged with the subject? Kayo, you were just supposed to shadow him."
"We did a little... shadow boxing," Kayo supplies.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
October 12th, 2061 - 07:01 NZST
In the lounge area, Sally and Alan are sitting on the sofas watching the fight between Scott and Kayo unfold. Scott is not a happy man.
"...Scott do not tell me how to do my job," Kayo fires back.
"It's not that we don't appreciate your excellent work, Kayo, it's just that this is not what we do," Scott complains.
"Why not?" Kayo shoots.
"Because we're not the police," Scott exasperates, "We leave the law enforcement up to the GDF. Our priority is people. Our job is to help rescue and clean up during international disasters. Not chasing after bad guys!"
"Scott, we can't always wait for catastrophe to strike!" Kayo shouts, "If I hadn't taken action and retrieved that decoding device, he could have accessed the computer system of every government in the world."
"Yep, but he didn't," Scott says not noticing his mistake.
"That's right," Kayo smirks, "By stopping the thief, I stopped an international disaster before it happened." Scott opens his mouth to reply but the com goes off and John appears on the holo-screen.
"We have a situation developing," John says.
"This discussion isn't over," Scott points.
"I'm sure," Kayo deadpans, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"What's the situation, John?" Scott asks.
"The Central Air Traffic Control Hub, CATCH, has gone offline," John explains.
"What do you mean gone offline'?" Scott questions.
"I mean it's disappeared, gone, no longer working," John explains, "That means there's over 2,000 planes stuck in the air with no way of landing safely."
"I'd say that's a problem," Alan says from his position on the sofa.
"John, monitor all communications, see if you can find the source of the problem," Scott orders.
"I've tried to access the CATCH computer but it's locked. If we can't bring it back online—" John trails.
"It's only a matter of time before there's an accident," Scott notes, "Alright... Kayo, I need you to go to CATCH and scout the compound, see is you can find out what's going on. Alan go with her."
"Here," a voice calls and Kayo turns around to see an object thrown at her, which appears to be a remote access chip. She looks up and see Brains entering the room.
"What's this?" Kayo asks.
"A remote access chip," Brains explains, "P-Place it in the computer and hopefully I'll be able to reboot CATCH from here." Kayo nods and starts to leave with Alan but is stopped by Scott.
"Kayo..." Scott warns.
"Scott," Kayo says.
"Under no circumstance are you to engage in any hostile activity," Scott orders, "This is a reconnaissance mission only. If you find trouble, contact John and get out of there. He'll alert the GDF. Understand?"
"FAB. That's why Alan is babysitting right," Kayo states and winks at Alan as he sits down in his chair next to her.
"Virg," Scott says into his earpiece, "Time to suit up. I'll explain on the way. Thunderbirds are go!"
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
October 11th, 2061 - 13:38 PDT
"Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 2," John calls, "I'm picking up a distress signal nearest your location. I'm sending the coordinates now."
"Coordinates received," Scott says, "Virgil I'll double time it to your location. After-burners on."
"All right," Virgil says and speeds up along with Thunderbird 1, heading towards the distress signal. When he arrives, he notices that the plane is in an almost nosedive. "She's losing too much altitude. Gotta help her level off," Virgil explains to Scott and turns sharply to try and get behind the plane. He opens the bay doors in the module and attempts to get a lock on the plane, "Hold still for Virgil. Now," the grapple gets fired and it connects to the underside of the plane which begins to level off. "Yeah! Dead-eye Virgil strikes again."
"Oh, so now you're suddenly a good shot," Scott jokes.
"Hey, I have to take every small victory I can get," Virgil jokes him return but his smile fades when the plane continues to struggle, "This won't hold for long. It's you to you now, big brother."
"Matching speed," Scott says appearing from behind, before flying directly below Thunderbird 2's course, "Virgil, you have control of Thunderbird 1. Just keep her flying straight. If only Marion wasn't visiting her parents right now."
"No worries, Scott, will do," Virgil replies.
"Though I would like her waxed and detailed when I get back too," Scott muses as he makes the final checks to his suit and opens the cockpit window of Thunderbird 1 to allow him to lower his seat out before attaching the line to the bird. "I'm ready to go Virgil," Scott informs and jumps and skids across the back of the plane before his boots stop him, "Phew. Thank you for magnetic boots, Brains." Scott then makes his way over to the door on the side of the plane. "Thunderbird 5, this is Thunderbird 1. I'm at the emergency door. Can you remotely access the plane's on-board computer and unlock it?"
"Hacking the on-board computer of a plane in flight is a violation of—" EOS starts but is cut off by John opening a diagram of the plane and doing it anyway.
"Consider it done," John says and the emergency door flies opens, almost taking Scott out as it did to some of the cargo that was on the plane. Scott waits a few seconds to make sure it's safe before going in and making his way over to the cockpit to find the pilot knocked out.
"Virgil, the pilot's out cold, but stable," Scott informs, "I'll have to land this thing."
"Right behind you. Be careful Scott," Virgil acknowledges.
"FAB," Scott says sitting down in the co-pilots seat.
October 11th, 2061 - 16:54 EDT
Kayo flies Thunderbird S over the CATCH compound and does a quick scan of the building.
"Looks like somebody's home," Kayo notes and flies in to land on the back of the satellite dish. She climbs out along with Alan and starts to look around.
October 11th, 2061 - 13:56 PDT
"This is a mess," Scott comments as he messes with the controls on the plane. Looking up, he sees a desert in front of him, "I see a strip of land where I can put her down."
"Are you sure Scott? It's not very big," Virgil states.
"No other options. Follow my flight pattern," Scott says just as the left wing finally breaks off and hitting the grabbles that connect the plane to Thunderbird 2, "I'm going down! Get ready for a bumpy landing."
"Scott, hold on!" Virgil yells as the holo-diagram of the plane is beeping. Scott lands the plane with a bump, and it starts to run along the desert floor at a quick pace. Thinking swiftly, Virgil manages to attach two grapples to the tail section to pull it to a halt. However, all it achieves is ripping the plane into two and the nose continues to run until it comes to a halt, with the very tip precariously balanced over a cliff.
"Phew. That was close," Scott sighs.
"You're not out of the woods yet, Scott," Virgil says and the plane creaks as it balances awkwardly on the edge. Scott gets up and goes into the cargo bay, starting up the forklift there and proceeds to move the cargo to the open end which causes the plane to balance itself out.
October 11th, 2061 - 17:10 EDT
Alan and Kayo are sneaking around on the roof when they both hear voices. Looking down over the edge they see several of The Hood's goons. Kayo holds a hand up to Alan and moves over to the skylight, looking down into the facility.
"Excellent," The Hood's voice says.
"And the planes?" Mullion asks.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll sort it out. Most of them," The Hood chuckles.
"Thunderbird 5, come in," Alan whispers and gets a death stare from Kayo.
"This is Thunderbird 5. What do you see?" John asks.
"It's The Hood. He's shut down CATCH and has no plan to reboot it," Alan explains.
"Alright, you guys get out of there, I'll alert the GDF. Return to Shadow and wait for backup."
"What's that John? You're breaking up," Kayo says walking over to Alan and turning his com off before taking it off him.
"Shut up and follow," Kayo says to Alan and indicates for him to follow. As they make their way inside, Kayo throws one of the goons down the gangway knocking him out after he had spotted Alan and was about it call it in. They make it to the main control room.
"We have all CATCH personnel locked in the sub-basement, just as you ordered," Mullion says, "They puts up no resistance."
"Everything is right on schedule. Soon we'll have what we need, and no one will be any the wiser," The Hood muses, "Keep CATCH shut down for another hour and that should be a good enough diversion."
"Yes Sir," Mullion says ending the communication.
"This is all a diversion. But for what?" Kayo asks.
October 11th, 2061 - 14:16 PDT
"Scott!" Virgil shouts as he appears the back of the plane with the heavy lifting gear on.
"Stay back! This plane is a tightrope walker on roller skates," Scott states, "I need to try and get the Pilot out and any sudden movements will cause this thing to take a header into the gorge."
"FAB. I'll try to secure it with a tow line," Virgil says and runs back to Thunderbird 2. Scott turns back around with a sigh and notices that the pilot has begun to regain consciousness.
"Must gain altitude," she mumbles and goes to get up but is preventing in doing so by Scott.
"Easy. You had a hard landing and we're still in danger," Scott says, "I need you to sit still."
"There was a plane and... who are you?" the pilot asks, clearly confused.
"International Rescue," Scott says and helps her get comfortable in the pilot seat, "It's okay, everything's going to be fine." As he says this, the plane begins to tilt again and Scott pulls the pilot back, "Woah! Or not."
October 11th, 2061 - 17:21 EDT
Inside CATCH, Mullion starts to regain consciousness from his position on the floor. When he finally comes to, he looks up to see Kayo is sat in the control seat with Alan to her right.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead. Time to talk," Kayo coaxes with a smirk, "What brings you to the neighbourhood?"
"You think I'd ever tell you," Mullion sneers, "I remember that look for fear and dread on Tracy Island all those years ago and from what I can see all that's changed is that you can now throw one."
"I wouldn't be so sure on that one," Alan says with anger, arms crossed against his chest, "This Kayo here," he indicates with his finger, "Is badass."
Mullion raises an eyebrow and chuckles, "I won't tell you any—" He stops when Kayo's right boot lands dangerously close to his crotch causing him to yelp and go back several feet. Mullion looks up and Kayo and lets out a low growl, "Fine! We were to sabotage CATCH as a diversion. The Hood knew the authorities would be focused on the skies."
"Instead of?" Alan asks.
"Instead of his plan to steal a billion therms of Alsterene," Mullion says, "But it's too late. There's nothing you can do about it."
"Don't bet on it," Kayo says and walks away from him with Alan behind her, "John, this is Kayo. Do you read?"
"Yeah, suddenly I read you loud and clear which is weird because there's really no reason for your coms to—" John starts.
"Pass me to Brains please," Kayo interrupts.
"Connecting," John groans, "You're on with Brains."
"Have you f-found the source of the problem?" Brains asks, "It's still chaos in the skies."
"The Hood shut down CATCH to divert attention from a massive theft of Alsterene," Alan explains and watches a Kayo attaches the device to the systems which start to reload, "Kayo took out the hostiles and plugged in the device you gave her."
"It's up to you know Brains. Good luck," Kayo adds.
"But what about you?" Brains asks.
"I don't know about Alan, but I've got another job to do," Kayo says and starts to make her way out.
"N-No, Kayo. Stay where you are and wait for backup," Brains tries but Kayo turns off her coms again and turns to Alan.
"You in?" Kayo asks.
"Looks that way," Alan replies with a small smile and the pair make their way back to Thunderbird S.
October 11th, 2061 - 14:32 PDT
The plane is still hangs in the balance as Virgil returns from Thunderbird 2 with a tow line to secure the plane. The plane starts to tip again and go over. "No, no, no!" Virgil cries and sprints over to the plane, attaching the end of the cable just as it falls. The line pulls taught and the plane stops going down the cliff face. "Come on! Hold! Just... Scott, you okay?"
"I guess okay is relative term," Scott answers and he holds onto the pilot and the pushes against the control panel to keep upright.
"I've had better days," the pilot adds.
"Maybe I could hoist you back up using Thunderbird 2?" Virgil suggests.
"Negative Virgil. The plane's too big and it's crumbling like one of Grandma's cakes," Scott dismisses as the plane creeks again, "We gotta get out of his fast."
"Any ideas?" the pilot asks.
"I'm open to suggestions," Scott replies.
October 11th, 2061 - 17:49 EDT
Thunderbird S arrives below The Hood's ship and docks with the Alsterene canaster.
"I'll wait here," Alan says from the back seat.
"Your call," Kayo says and gets out of the driver's seat and climbs up the side of the canaster onto the main ship itself. She stops as she sees one of the goons standing by a disrupter.
"Hold it there," a goon says, "This was made for knocking aircraft out of the sky, but it'll do just fine on you. No funny stuff."
"Don't worry, you won't be laughing," Kayo smirks and jumps over to the gangway and kicks the end of the barrel as he turns it towards her, knocking him from the gangway over the edge of the ship to his death. "I was wrong. That was pretty funny."
October 11th, 2061 - 14:52 PDT
"Scott..." Virgil calls as the creaking intensifies, and the plane starts to slip. It then where the metal holding the tow line breaks away resulting in the plane falling. "It's going!"
"Hold on," Scott says grabbing onto the pilot and firing his grapple at the rock face. They go straight through the plane as it falls down into the gorge and explodes at the bottom.
"Oh!" the pilot exclaims as the pair are temporary engulfed by the smoke that has resulted from the explosion.
"I'm Scott, by the way," Scott introduces.
"Nice to meet you, Scott. Captain Jane Carter," the pilot replies.
"Good news," John says over the coms, "CATCH is back online."
"Great John. Glad to hear that Kayo and Alan were on the scene and in control," Scott says with a smile.
"Uh, yeah..." John stutters looking at Thunderbird S's location, "Not exactly."
October 11th, 2061 - 17:53 EDT
Kayo jumps up to the platform behind The Hood. In front of him on the gangway are the controls.
"Nice of you to join us, Tanusha," The Hood says without turning around.
"You really need to invest in a better class of baddies, Uncle," Kayo chuckles.
"As I mentioned before, excellent workers are hard to come by," The Hood exclaims, "The Tracy's are truly fortunate to have you to skulk in the shadows for them while they take to the sky. Why do you let them treat you like a minion, Kayo?" He walks around to stand behind her so he can whisper into her ear to fill her head with taunts and create doubt. "You have the skills and spirit to lead. Like me."
"You call this leading? You've risked thousands of lives just to cover a... fuel theft," Kayo whispers.
"Not just any fuel theft. The greatest fuel theft of all time," The Hood states, "Alsterene is the cleanest, most efficient combustible energy source that exists on our planet. This haul will allow me to run my operation for years to come."
"Not while I'm around," Kayo says with uncertainty as she turns around.
"Why do you help those that would hoard the resources of the world?" The Hood asks, "There are many that need this fuel far more than the rich companies who own it."
"Oh, I'm sure your motives are nothing but noble," Kayo says, "You'd never sell the stolen fuel to the highest bidder. You're nothing but a common thief."
"Am I? You may find, Tanusha," The Hood empathises, "That things are not always as they appear."
"Enough talking," Kayo murmurs.
"Yes. Enough talking," The Hood says and beckons to four goons who surround Kayo, "There are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who act and those who react, such as the Tracy's. You are not one of them Kayo." He moves closer to her and leans in, "You know that. You and I are the same. We are bold. We see an opportunity and we take it."
Kayo gulps, "You're right." She taps her wrist, "Alan." A few seconds later, the wires connecting to the Alsterene tank begin to explode. The Hood runs over to look over the gangway.
"What?" The Hood cries, "Secure those tanks!" Kayo uses this opportunity to make her escape and jumps down to the gangway below and making it across to one of the lines to slide down.
"Kayo, satellite is picking up an explosion in your vicinity," John calls, "Help is on the way. Sit tight."
"Too late, John," Kayo says getting back into the driver's seat, "We might not get The Hood, but at least he won't get away with the stolen fuel." The final explosion happens that send the large canaster of Alsterene down towards the Earth. Kayo starts up Thunderbird S's engines, as the tank falls to the ground.
"Kayo," Alan says, "I don't think Thunderbird S was designed to take this kind of strain."
"We're not flying them home, Al. We just need a nice soft landing," Kayo says but Thunderbird S seems to disagree as the engines start to struggle, "Come on, come on, just a little bit longer."
On The Hood's ship, one of the henchmen gets up and fires the disrupter at Thunderbird S and gets accidently shoved over the edge by The Hood. "You fool!"
"We've been hit with a disrupter!" Kayo yells to Alan who continues to try and get the engines to work when he notices another problem.
"Kayo! The Alsterene tanks has separated," Alan shouts.
"Hang in there, guys. I'm on my way," Scott coms in.
"The engines are out," Alan yells and watches as Kayo tries the controls.
"Eject!" Scott exclaims in terror as he hears the situation unfolding.
"Ejection controls aren't responding," Kayo panics and looks up to see that The Hood's ship has taken a downward turn after her and the tank. The alarms blare as the ground approaches, when suddenly, a grapple connects to Thunderbird S and Alan and Kayo watch the Alsterene tanks hit the ground and explode. The pair look up from where the grapple came from as they are slowly lowered to the ground. It was from The Hood's ship. Once they hit the ground the cable detaches and The Hood heads away from the scene of the incident just as Thunderbird 1 arrives.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you going after him?" Kayo says pointing over to the ship going off into the distance.
"People are the Thunderbirds priority Kayo," Scott sighs as Kayo scoffs in annoyance that The Hood was allowed to get away again.
"The Hood could have just as easily saved those tanks, but he saved us," Alan says confused, "Why?"
"Don't ask me. I'm just as surprised as you are," Kayo says a bit too quickly, jumping out of Thunderbird S.
"I'm not happy about the way you handled this," Scott states, " A: You put yourself AND ALAN in danger and B: That's not the way International Rescue does things."
"Then maybe it's time to change the way things are done," Kayo sneers and helps Alan out of Thunderbird S.
" Well, I'm just glad you guys are okay," Scott says before opening Thunderbird S's damage statistics, "Looks like Brains has his work cut out for him. Think you might have fried the motor."
"It's for the best," Kayo smirks, "We wouldn't want Brains to have nothing to do."
"I heard that," Brains says over the com channel causing everyone to laugh.