October 30th, 2062 - 14:11 NZDT
It's a usual afternoon on board Thunderbird 5. Since April, John and Captain Ridley O'Bannon had started to meet when they came every week in order to play some gravity ball. The sessions allowed John to start playing his favourite game again, however, he is still very rusty, and Ridley had started to catch on. There're currently in an intense final round with the next point being the winner. John reaches out at a stretch to get the ball, but Ridley reacts fast and uses her legs to fire the ball back and into the goal. John sighs as he has to admit defeat again.
"Lucky shot," John argues.
"That wasn't luck," Ridley chuckles, "That was skill. But then, you're a good teacher."
"That's... uh... nice," John stutters, "I mean, of you."
"'Excuse me, John," EOS interrupts, "I have detected an anomaly in space that will require your attention, assuming you've finished exercising with Captain O'Bannon."
"Mm," Ridley chuckles, "I'll leave you two alone. Same time next week?"
"Sure," John says, "Only next time I won't go so easy on you."
"Said the man who's down four games to one," Ridley lists at their currently leader board. John shakes his head and watches as Ridley heads back to her ship before she takes off. John heads in the opposite direction and into the surveillance section of the gravity ring.
"Okay, EOS, show me that anomaly," John asks.
"This comet has a diameter of 330m and a mass of 40 million metric tons," EOS explains.
"Yes, I studied it in college. It's supposed to miss Earth by millions of miles," John says.
"However, it has apparently changed trajectory," EOS says, "And the probability of a collision with Earth is now 100%."
"What could knock a comet that far off course?" John asks and spins around the holographic diagram and notices something odd on the surface and calls Tracy Island, "EOS, zoom in closer. Come in, Tracy Island, we have a situation."
On Tracy Island, Kayo lounged on a couch with her feet on Alan's lap. Scott walks into the room and takes a seat on the couch next to them. Opposite Scott on the other side of the room sat Virgil and Brains.
"Ugh, you always say that." Alan says.
"Go on, John," Scott says.
"There's a comet heading right for Earth, and it shouldn't be," John explains.
"Something The Mechanic cooked up?" Virgil asks.
"Good guess, but no." John says, and he zooms in on the object he noticed on the side of the comet. More specifically, the logo on the object.
"Huh?" Scott questions taking a closer look at the logo before his eyes narrow, "Langstrom Fischler!"
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
"Looks like some heavy lifting is required," Marion notes as she enters from the kitchen.
"You're right," Scott says, "Virgil, join Alan and Kayo."
"FAB," Virgil says and heads over to the passenger bay to suit up.
5
Alan and Kayo descend and start to get suited up.
4
Alan and Kayo are lifted on a crane from the bottom of the hanger into Thunderbird 3.
3
Thunderbird 3's blast door closes.
2
Alan and Kayo's chairs roll up to the controls with Virgil in the passenger seat behind Alan.
1
Thunderbird 3's rockets start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
October 30th, 2062 - 14:38 NZDT
"Any luck tracking down Fishler?" Virgil asks.
"Not yet" Scott states, "That guy changes his addresses more often than I change socks."
"Ah! F-Found him. Connecting now," Brains says and calls the number. After a few beeps he answers the phone.
"Hello! This is Langstrom Fishler," Fishler answers, "Inventor and visionary!"
"And this is International Rescue," Marion says sternly.
"Ah, yes," Fishler mutters causing everyone to roll their eyes, "So it is."
"Fishler, didn't the GDF tear up your space operations permit?" Scott asks.
"Well, yes," Fishler admits, "But I think you'll find that only applies to me personally going into space. Nothing there to keep me operating something remotely. Ha-ha!"
"Ugh!" Brains groans.
"So, you stuck a rocket on a comet?" Marion asks.
"Brilliant, isn't it?" Fishler gleams, "I'm going to bring that comet into Earth's orbit and mine it for frozen water. I'll be helping countless people! And making a tidy profit too."
"No, you w-won't," Brains cries, "Because that c-comet isn't going to orbit Earth, it's going to b-bash right into it."
"Oh, nonsense!" Fishler waves off, "I've calculated this trajectory to the last millimetre. In fact, I was just about to make one final tinsy course correction."
"I can't begin to describe how much that worries us," Marion mutters.
"Oh, of course it would, Ms Worrypants," Fishler chuckles, "Alright, and three, two, one." However, an alarm goes off instead, "Ooh."
"Impressive," Brains says sarcastically.
"Oh, well, I'm sure it's nothing," Fishler states, "Probably actually just a minor fractalization of the... uh... turbo and carbulator system."
"Did he just make that up?" Alan asks who is listening in to the call.
"Yes, he did," Kayo deadpans.
"Argh," Fishler stutters, "Oh, anyway, it's not like it can do any harm. It's just a little ball of water and rock."
"No," Scott interjects, "It's a really big ball of water and rock which will cause massive destruction when it hits the planet."
"I'll... get back to you on that," Fishler replies and hangs up.
"John's right," Virgil says, "We do have a situation." Alan nods and takes Thunderbird 3 right past the comet and turns around behind it to face Earth. He makes sure to keep his distance in order to prevent Thunderbird 3 getting hit by a chuck of rock that my get dislodged.
"What are our options?" Scott asks.
"We c-could try to steer the c-comet away from Earth," Brains suggests.
"Yeah, because we've seen how well that's worked for Fishler," Kayo sighs.
"Ah, yes," Brains responds, "Point taken."
"I say we blast it to bits," Virgil calls, "Any dust that is left will just burn up in the atmosphere. I've loaded enough demolition charges to do the job."
"Wait. Let's go back for a second," Alan says turning to face Virgil, "You put fucking explosive on my ship?!"
"Alan," Kayo defends, "We fly a rocket, it's already an explosive."
"Hm. Point taken," Alan shrugs.
"Agreed. Let's blow the thing up," Scott says.
"Here's how it will work," Virgil explains and presents a hologram of his plan, "First, Thunderbird 3 grabs the comet's nucleus with the grappling arms and drills a hole all the way to the comet's core. Next, I stick an explosive charge into the centre of it."
"Then it's kaboom, bye-bye, comet," Alan finishes, "Simple enough. Engaging grappling arms." Alan then takes a sharp right and moves Thunderbird 3 towards the surface of the comet. He slows down and tries to get a lock on his controls in order to find a stable part of the comet to attach to. "Closer, almost got it," he mumbles to himself and makes contact with the surface, "Engaged."
"Good work," Kayo compliments which causes Alan to release a massive grin.
"Now start drilling," Virgil orders.
"Okay, big fella," Alan says reaching over to open the nose cone and activate the drill, "As my dentist says, 'This won't hurt a bit.'"
"Argh!" Virgil cries as Thunderbird 3 suddenly jolts, "Fishler's started his rocket again."
"We're losing out grip on the comet," Kayo informs. Seconds later, Thunderbird 3 breaks off from the comet and goes into a spin. Chunks of the comet also fall of and crash into Thunderbird 3, setting off several alarms.
"Hang on!" Alan cries and gets Thunderbird 3 back under his control.
"Thunderbird 3, what is your status?" Scott asks.
"Thunderbird 3, do you copy?" Marion asks.
"Ah, this is Thunderbird 3. It was a rough ride," Alan says.
"But thanks to Alan, we're okay," Virgil says.
"Which is more than Fishler is going to be when I'm done with him," Scott says.
"Yeah, we would have finished the job by now if he hadn't butted in," Virgil complains as Alan dodges the last of the debris at escape the comet due to the start-up of the engines again.
Scott growls and calls Fishler again, "Fishler, what the hell have you done?"
"Well, after our little chat," Fishler starts, seemingly oblivious to Scott's anger, "I decided to give the comet another push. Now it will just bounce off the atmosphere and fly away into space."
"No, it won't," Brains states and presents a hologram, "The comet is still going to enter Earth's atmosphere, but now it will crash into Global 1 on its way."
"Ah, right, yes," Fishler stutters, "Global 1. Ha... Which is?"
"A new space station," Marion states, "Which IS now directly in the path of that comet."
"I'll... get back to you on that," Fishler replies and hangs up.
"Something m-must be done about that man," Brains shouts.
"I know," Scott sighs, "But first things first—"
"Hey, how about we forget about the comet," Alan suggests, "We zip back and just move Global 1 out of the way?"
"Better you two stay on task and blow up the comet," Scott declines.
"And Fishler's rocket," Brains adds.
"Especially Fishler's rocket," Marion confirms.
"Okay, so what do you say we go grab that comet by the tail?" Alan asks and fires Thunderbird 3 off in pursuit of the comet once again.
October 30th, 2062 - 14:46 NZDT
"Meanwhile, I'll break the new to Global 1," John states.
"Okay, John," Scott says, "Keep us informed."
"Global 1, this is International Rescue," John calls.
"Already calling for a rematch?" Ridley answers with a smirk.
"No. It's about something else. Ridley, you may wanna sit down," John says seriously.
"Not so easy in zero gravity," Ridley jokes but then notices the serious facial expression John is showing, "Okay. You have my attention."
"Good because all of you on Global 1 are in terrible danger." John says and explains the situation. Ridley raises her eyebrows in horror and immediately begins having her men abandon the ship.
"And the shuttles are clear," Ridley says.
"Good," John sighs in relief, "If the comet hits at least no-one's on board."
"Well, yeah. About that..." Ridley murmurs.
"O'Bannon," John asks slowly, "Exactly where are you?"
"On Global 1..." Ridley states.
"But you told the crew to abandon ship!" John cries.
"I did. And they did," Ridley says, "Only the last shuttlecraft was short one seat. Besides, I thought you could use a hand with the towing operation."
"What towing operation?" John asks.
"John, I did the calculations, my manoeuvring jets aren't powerful enough to push Global One out of the way in time. So, I'm counting on you to save the space station," Ridley says.
"Ridley, I'm not a tugboat captain, I rescue people." John says.
"Okay, I'm people. Rescue me," Ridley says.
"EOS," John sighs, "Lateral thrusters to full." EOS's camera nods as she begins moving Thunderbird 5 and in moments, Thunderbird 5 starts heading towards Global 1's position.
"John, w-what are you doing?" Brains asks as he notices Thunderbird 5's movement on the holo-map.
"Trying to save Captain O'Bannon's life," John says as he was steering Thunderbird Five.
"Oh, well, then, c-carry on," Brains shrugs off before realizing what John had said, "Using Thunderbird F-Five?!"
"That's the general idea," John answers.
"John, come on, if things don't go your way, we could use Global 1, Thunderbird 5 and you," Scott says.
"Love to hear about a better plan," John mutters and hangs up on Tracy Island.
"I've n-never seen John behave so imp-plusively," Brains states.
"I've seen a similar thing with Scott," Marion comments and looks at Scott. They stare at each other for a moment, seemingly having a silent conversation until Scott realises what Marion is on about.
"Oh," Scott states.
"Hello. Fishler here," the unwelcoming voice says, "Just been brainstorming. About that space station, what if you built an enormous badminton racket?"
"A what?" Brains asks shocked at what he had just heard.
"Then, and now hear me out," Fishler continues, "You take it up in one of your fancy ships, give a comet a whack and voila! Game, set, match!"
"We'll... get back to you on that," Scott replies and hangs up.
"I repeat, something m-must be done about that man," Brains mutters.
"Marion, suit up," Scott sighs.
"You've got it," Marion replies and walks over to her chair.
7
Thunderbird 7 pulls out from a hanger underneath Thunderbird 1 to allow Marion to get inside.
6
A crane comes down and lifts Thunderbird 7 onto a platform.
5
The platform starts to move out of the hanger.
4
Marion prepares Thunderbird 7 for flight.
3
The hanger doors open to a flat concrete surface on the back of Tracy Island.
2
Marion makes the last pre-flight checks.
1
The engines start.
Thunderbirds are Go!
October 30th, 2062 - 04:41 GMT
Marion arrives in London where Fishler Industries are currently located. She cuts the main engines in order to provide some stealth but while Thunderbird 7 what better than most of the fleet, Thunderbird S is still better. Landing at the base of the building, she starts making her way up to Fishler's office. As she walks up to the door, she hears Fishler mumble about something. The door makes a loud rattling sound as Marion knocks on it.
"Oh, get that, will you?" Fishler calls from inside, "That'll be my yummy lunch I ordered."
"It's okay," Marion says deciding she'd had enough and walks into the room, "I'll let myself in."
"Pay for that, will you... uh... Ketteridge?" Fishler sighs to the other man in the room, who is currently starting at Marion's backside.
"It's—" the man starts.
"Kinnear," Marion finishes.
"You know my name!" Kinnear says excitedly.
"I know lots of things," Marion says. She inserts a card into the computer systems on the wall, "Bye, bye," she says sweetly and walks back out of the room, giving a flirty wave at him before closing the door and rolling her eyes in disgust. When leaving the building, Marion presses a button on her wrist controller and cuts the power in the building, hindering Fishler's ability to affect the comet anymore. "I've uploaded the Disrupter Virus into Fishler's system," Marion calls, "He won't be 'helping' anymore."
"Good work, Marion," Scott smiles.
October 30th, 2062 - 15:44 NZDT
"Okay, grab the comet and try not to get hit by that rocket," Virgil explains to Alan.
"Yeah, because that would definitely leave a mark," Alan states and indicates to the now powered down rocket. He goes in for a landing, but the comet is now in too much of a spin that to the rocket being turned on earlier. As a result, Alan fires a grapple from one of the grasping arms and attaches it to the comet inside to pull them in like a fishing line. "Yah!" Alan cries as Thunderbird 3 rocks a bit, "This time, for sure." Within a flash, Thunderbird 3 crashes into the side of the comet and Alan activates Thunderbird 3's thrusters to secure their position on the side of the comet. He then opens the nose cone again and activates the drill. "Argh!" Kayo cries as the comet starts to break up again, "This is like using a power drill on a fairy cake, it just peels away."
"You seem to know a lot about fairy cakes," Alan jokes and receives a glare from Kayo and a chuckle from Virgil.
"I just happen to know that comet nuclei are an amalgam of rock, ice, and frozen gas," Kayo fires back, "Hence, fairy cake."
"Hey Virgil," Alan calls back with a smirk on his face, "Don't suppose you can glue your explosive to the surface of the comet and let it rip?"
"Nope," Virgil smiles, "Unfortunately, we have to bury it right in the centre, anything else and the comet will just break up into several slightly smaller comets."
"Aw!" Alan complains, "That's a shame."
October 30th, 2062 - 15:47 NZDT
"Thunderbird 5 is now aligned with Global 1," EOS announces.
"Thank you, EOS," John says with a sigh.
"However, out fuel reserves are down by 48%," EOS continues.
"Thank you, EOS," John says bluntly.
"I just thought you should know," EOS defends.
"O'Bannon, I'm here," John calls.
"I noticed," Ridley chuckles, "That was some entrance."
"I'm sending a pod down for you," John says.
"How 'bout you send that mooring claw instead?" Ridley asks.
"There may not be time to pull Global 1 clear of the comet," John exclaims, "I'll rescue you first, then we can try."
"No," Ridley says stubbornly, "It's like we discussed - save me, save my station. Package deal."
"Ridley," John exacerbates, "Be reasonable, please."
"John, this is my command, and I am not about to abandon it," Ridley states firmly, "Would you give up Thunderbird 5 if the boot were on the other foot?"
John sighs, "You owe me Captain. Engaging mooring claw." John lowers down the mooring claw which attaches to the station.
"Uh... John," Virgil calls looking out the window of Thunderbird 3, "No pressure or anything, but we're headed your way, and fast."
"Confirming collar lock," Ridley says to John.
"And Thunderbird 5 is go!" John announces and activates the thrusters. However, due to the weight of Global 1, John fails to pick up any real speed. The comet is quickly approaching.
October 30th, 2062 - 15:50 NZDT
"There must be a way to dig deeper," Kayo muses.
"Yeah, if we back out and ram it," Alan scoffs, before turning around and seeing Virgil and Kayo get their helmets on, "Which is... what you guys want to do."
"Mm-hm," the other two hum.
"Ugh!" Alan groans getting on his own helmet, "This one is going to hurt a little." He powers down his thrusters and retracts Thunderbird 3 from the comet. Once a suitable distance away, he powers them up again and goes flying into the comet. The impact, bending the grasping arms backwards.
"Nice work," Kayo states, "The ship is still in one piece."
"Yep," Alan sighs and rubs his head, "That's more than I can say."
"Okay, this time," Virgil analyses, "Slow down the drill, low speed, high torque."
"See," Alan exclaims and starts drilling again, "That's why you always aced your physics tests,"
October 30th, 2062 - 15:51 NZDT
"John, according to my c-calculations..." Brains starts but changes his angle, "Oh, blast it all! Just go faster!"
"I'm giving her all I've got," John struggles.
"Maybe I can help," Ridley interjects.
"How?" John asks.
"I'll manually trigger the station's jets. Alone, they weren't enough to push Global 1 clear. But combined with Thunderbird 5's thrusters, they might make the difference," Ridley explains.
"Great!" John says, "And the manual controls are located where exactly."
"Well," Ridley trails, "That's the bad news." Without saying anything to John, she starts to make her way across the full length of Global 1.
"Ridley!" John cries, "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Using some of those Zero-G Handball tricks you taught me," Ridley replies and continues on her way, away from Thunderbird 5, "Just like climbing a set of monkey bars."
"If the monkey bars are 22,000 miles high," John states with worry.
"John," Ridley breaths with a smile, "Don't help." A few seconds later, she makes it to the halfway point, "Oh, this should be interesting." In front of her, is the shuttle docking bay that is still rotating, creating an obstacle for her to pass. She pushes her way across the centre with little trouble and makes it to the other side. However, looking around on the other side, she notices a problem. "Oh, handrail. Where's the handrail?" Ridley mutters and looks at one of the signal dishes, "This'll do."
On board Thunderbird 5, John suddenly loses contact with Ridley, "I've lost visual. Ridley, where are you? Do you copy?"
"I'm here John," Ridley answers after a few seconds and makes the final few pushes over to the manual control panel. Opening it up, she fires Global 1's thruster's and it along with Thunderbird 5 start to move faster, "It's working."
"John!" EOS yells, "Debris from the comet is crossing the orbit of Global 1. Prepare for impact. Prepare for impact."
"Ridley," John shouts looking up, "Watch out!"
Rocks start attacking the station from above. Most of them hitting the solar panels sending them flying all over the place. Ridley tries to make her way back over to Thunderbird 5, but a section of solar panel come across and hit her, trapping her between two sections. "Oh, John," Ridley cries, "I can't move." She doesn't get a reply and looks up at the incoming comet, "John. Are you there? John?"
"You're an idiot," a voice says, pulling Ridley's attention from the comet and see sees John in his exo-suit, "We really have to stop meeting like this. Come on." Reaching over, John grabs onto Ridley's hand and pulls her out of the solar panels and helps back towards Thunderbird 5, "First one back to Thunderbird 5 wins," he jokes.
"John, there's another w-wave of debris heading your way," Brains informs.
"We fucking know," John yells as he dodges chucks of rock that fall left, right and centre. They are briefly separate with John's exo-suit going haywire. Luckily, Ridley had grabbed onto the central structure of Global 1 and as it came round, she jumps onto John's back and stabilizes them. Turning around, they watch as the comet passes and John blinks in confusion. "Did I just see Thunderbird 3 sticking out of that comet?!"
"Yes, and they've j-just hit the upper edge of the atmosphere," Brains explains.
"Alan, Kayo, Virgil disengage!" Scott yells, "The comet is starting to burn up."
"What do you mean, 'starting to'?" Alan exclaims.
"We've just reached the centre of the comet nucleus. I'm inserting the explosives," Virgil states, "Set in the energy yield, check. Locking the detonator, and check. Okay, we're ready to rock and roll."
"This is us leaving," Kayo announces, "Except our grasping arms won't retract."
"What?!" Virgil cries.
"We're not thrilled out it either!" Alan grunts.
"Thunderbird 3, do you read me?" Scott asks but gets no response, "Thunderbird 3... Virgil, Kayo, Alan..."
In the skies above Mexico, the comet shudders violently as in plummets into Earth's atmosphere. This luckily sets Thunderbird 3 free, and it spins away from the comet in the direction of Thunderbird 5.
"Argh!" Alan and Kayo strain, getting Thunderbird 3 back under their control.
"Much better," Virgil sighs.
"You gonna blow that up or what?" Alan asks.
"FAB," Virgil smiles and presses a button on his wrist controller. Behind them, the comet explodes into a massive fireball and Alan flies them back towards Tracy Island
"They did it!" Scott sighs.
"I never d-doubted them for a moment," Brains says.
October 30th, 2062 - 16:17 NZDT
John and Ridley watch the comet dissipate from the safety of Thunderbird 5.
"I feel like I should keep more of an eye on you," John jokes, turning to Ridley.
"Oh, and why's that?" Ridley asks and folds her arms over with a smile.
"You're stubborn and reckless at times," John says with a chuckle, "But you have the right intensions."
"Really?" Ridley muses, "I don't see how you can keep an extra eye on me with all the rescues you have to deal with."
"I could if I offered you a job," John states and Ridley quickly turns to John in shock who just nods, "Brains has been thinking of creating a new Thunderbird 5 and I'll be transferred there. This beauty, however, will remain operational, docked with this new Thunderbird and I was hoping for some help."
"Are you sure?" Ridley asks.
"Absolutely," John smiles, "Though the new Thunderbird won't be ready until 2065, I'm sure EOS won't get too jealous if you stick around for longer."
"It would be a pleasure, Captain," EOS says.
"Well, John," Ridley smiles, "Looks like you got yourself a partner."