DISCLAIMER: STILL DON'T OWN THEM.

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Note:

Thank you once again for all of the feedback, likes and favourites.

Sorry I'm a bit late on this chapter, been a bit busy.

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Chapter 20: Strategy.

Previously:

Jeff paused and looked at them. "And I feel I need to explain to you all how I know the Hood, well, as we now know Balah Gaat."

… …

"Do you all remember me telling you about how I first met Kyrano?"

"Yes." Gordon answered. "You had been dispatched to his village when you were in the army. You were there to help after an earthquake had hit nearby."

"Yes, that's right. The Hood… Well, Balah Gaat was." Jeff looked over to where Kyrano was sitting. "He was Kyrano's half-brother. From the very first moment he had met me Balah made it known that he didn't like me, and to be honest, I didn't care for him much either… He always seemed obsessed by the amount of power, wealth and control he could gain from manipulating people and he never seemed bothered by how much he could hurt someone... One day another earthquake hit and destroyed the village and we were sent in to help with the rescue. We managed to save quite a few lives, but there were many who had not been so lucky, and had unfortunately been killed in the initial earthquake. Balah Gait's wife and his 4-year-old son had been two of those who I had to dig out of the rubble, and had already passed away."

"Dad, you know it wasn't your fault, right?" Scott said, looking at his father with concern. "What happened that day was tragic, but unfortunately, we all know that no matter how hard you try, sometimes you can't save everyone!"

"I know." Jeff replied. "It's just… I knew Balah had blamed me for what had happened, I remember at the time some sort of threat was made against me, but shortly afterwards he seemed to just disappear. I never really thought about him much after that, I remember that Kyrano once mentioned that he had not seen him since the earthquake, and eventually he concluded that he must have passed away. Neither of us imagined that the Hood was Balah Gaat. Now we do know... And." Jeff sighed. "When I now think back it's obvious who the Hood really was... I should have realised, then maybe I could have protected you boys, and stopped him from hurting Virgil."

"Dad, what's happened with Virgil, it's not your fault!" John interjected.

"You could never have seen this coming and you can't always protect us from harm dad," Gordon added.

Jeff sighed and looked away from the image of his sons.

"Dad, none of us blame you for what's happened, and I know that Virgil won't blame you either!" Alan replied firmly, gaining his father's attention. "There's only one person who is responsible for this and that's Balah Gaat, or the Hood, or whatever name he wants to go by!"

"Scott," Brains stammered, rushing over to Jeff.

"Yes Brains?"

"The metals foundry has confirmed that you can land Thunderbird 2 there and the site will be secured at all times. I've sent you a layout of the building, Virgil's signal is coming from the basement."

"FAB Brains." Scott responded. "Gordon, I want you to go through the information and see if you can form a plan."

"FAB Scott." Gordon replied.

"Gordon, I have some further information for you which may prove useful," Brains stammered.

Gordon smiled. "FAB Brains."

"I'll send it through now," Brains added.

"Dad, are you going to be okay?" Scott asked as he looked at his father's sullen form.

"Yes... Yes, boys I will!" Jeff replied pulling himself together. "Now it sounds like you have everything in hand. I'm going to go and speak with Penny and contact the doctor she mentioned, and see what we can get arranged for Virgil. I want you to keep in contact, let me know of any developments."

"FAB dad!" Scott clicked the communicator off and went back to concentrating on flying Thunderbird 2. "Okay guys we will be landing in about 10 minutes. Gordon, how long will it take us to get to the danger zone?"

"It should take us around 5 minutes," Gordon responded. "We just need to make sure that we are efficient with getting everything we need on the hover bikes, so we don't hit any unseen delays."

Alan smiled. "Don't worry Gords, you can rely on us!"

"I know I can!" Gordon replied. "Now, I've been going through all the information Brains came up with and I've got a plan."

"Go for it Gordon," Scott beamed.

"The building that Virgil is in as four different entrances. One at the front, one at the back, and two others on either side. Now, the front and back ones are too exposed. The entrance on the right side is well covered. However, the left side is not only well covered, but it also looks out on to a woodland. If we go in that way, then there will be plenty of places for us to hide the bikes, and any other equipment we may need. Now, Virgil's signal is coming from the basement, and from what we know there are the six men that we've seen, there's at least one more who's been working behind the camera, and then there's the Hood. We have no idea where they will be, and there may be more men inside, which means we will need to use our thermal imagers to detect them as we go."

"Gordon, what you've said so far sounds good to me. I want you to go through the rest of the plan once we have reached the danger zone." Scott pressed a few buttons on Thunderbird 2's control panel. "Okay guys, we are coming in to land."

... ...

A short time later:

Scott finished securing Thunderbird 2 and made his way over to Gordon and Alan who were waiting with the loaded hover bikes. "Have you contacted dad?"

"Yes, he said that he's spoken to the doctor that Penny recommended, and they are on standby ready to receive Virgil.

"That's good!" Scott looked around. "Where's John?"

"He's just checking the security that's been provided for Thunderbird 2," Alan replied. "He'll be back in a second."

"Speak of the devil!" Gordon said, pointing to John who was running towards them.

"How's it looking John?" Scott queried.

"All good, they've really gone above and beyond what I was expecting."

"Great. Then let's go get our brother," Scott stated.

"FAB!" The rest of them chimed, as they jumped on their hover bikes, and headed towards the danger zone.

Gordon led the way, signalling to his brothers to stop when he began to reach the clearing of the woodland. "Okay, we're here… This looks like a good place to hide our bikes and anything else we don't want to carry inside."

"Okay Gordon, so what's the rest of your plan?" Scott asked.

"Well, as I said earlier we will be going through the side entrance on the left side of the building which is just up ahead. When I studied the layout that Brains sent, I could see that there was a doorway which leads directly down to the basement, which as you know is where Virgil's signal is coming from. Now, as we are using the thermal imager to track the other men in there, then I suggest that we stick together, and we stay in pairs. Me and Scott will take the lead. Alan, I want you to stay close to Scott, and John you will be with me… If we see anyone then we will take them out using our tranquilliser guns and then we will tie them up. If we don't see the Hood, then we will kick his arse some other time… The aim of this mission is simple… We are here to get Virg out of there! So, to reiterate, we stay together and do not go off on our own. Yes Scott, I'm looking at you! I don't want to have to rescue another bro!"

Scott looked at Gordon. "I would never go off on my own!"

"Yeah, sure you wouldn't!" Alan responded with a laugh.

"Okay. Don't worry Gords, I'll do as you say and not run off on my own!" Scott replied, with a grin.

Gordon returned the smile. "Final checks. Everyone got their med kits?"

"FAB!" Alan, Scott and John answered.

Gordon smiled. "Good! Right… Finally, has everyone got their tranquilliser guns and their extra ammo packs?"

"FAB Gordon!" They all responded.

"Good," Gordon stated as he turned to face the clearing, "then it looks like we're ready!"

"Hey Gords," Scott said placing his hand on the back of Gordon's shoulder.

"Yes Scott?" Gordon asked, turning towards his brother.

Scott pulled Gordon into a quick hug and then ruffled his hair. "I'm really proud of you, I just wanted you to know that."

"Thanks Scott," Gordon replied going red, "okay, are you all ready?"

"FAB!" They all chorused.

Gordon nodded. "Then Follow me!"