December 11th, 2065 - 07:20 NZST
Mateo Island is bustling with action. Work is heavily underway with the construction of the new Zero-X. Brains had been able to gain access to the old blueprints that were used in the construction of the original and made his own heavily modified changes to the design to make the spacecraft fit for rescuing and not just for deep space travel. There are a whole team of workers that are employed by Tracy Industries working on the island, blissfully unaware that International Rescue's main base of operations is only a mile away from the shoreline.
When the main chuck on the craft is completed in a few months' time, it would get transported over to International Rescue's Ocean Power Rig for final assembly and launch. The whole process meant that Brains would be off Tracy Island for a while and routine maintenance would have to be carried out by everyone else. With the new green pods recently going into service last year, today's task is to go over Thunderbird 2 and check for defects.
"I got the pneumatic leak sealed and flushed," Virgil informs Scott as he joins him inside Module 3, "How's the system check looking?"
Scott is currently over at one of the control screens in the module and checking the equipment and machinery for air rescues were all in order.
"Hydraulics are good," Scott states, "Engine is a-okay, and Nina's reconfigured the VTOL protocol."
"Thunderbird 2 is approved for flight," Marion calls as she swings down from the magnetic claw.
"Thanks for the help," Virgil smiles, "Just keeping up with regular maintenance is a full-time job."
"Maybe Scott should hire a team for that," Marion smirks knowing how Scott felt about more people moving over to the island. They knew that International Rescue would need to increase the amount of people they employed, and Scott argued that Thunderbird 10 will be the perfect way to test out how practical it could be.
As they walk outside of Module 3, they notice a large white cloud emitting from the left side of Thunderbird 2. The pummel of smoke rises and exits out of a large air vent that had been opened up in the roof of the cave hanger.
"Oh," Nina smiles as she approaches the group after spending most of the morning inside Module's 5 and 6, "Alan's been scrubbing carbon deposits off the engine cowling for ages."
"He's really working hard," Marion states. The distance sound of scrubbing comes to a stop allowing the white cloud to dissipate and reveal that it isn't Alan of the engine cowling but Max. Max is sulking slightly as Brains is using Braman more than him now in preparing for the new Zero-X.
"Oh, yeah," Scott says sarcastically, "Alan's a real busy little bee."
Upstairs in the lounge, Alan is lying on his sofa doing some reading off his tablet. When Scott, Marion, Virgil and Nina had wondered off in their separate directions, he saw Max and made him a deal which allowed for him to make an escape upstairs.
"Ah, thank you, Max," Alan sighs, "Okay, time to find some perfect date night ideas."
However, before he could look any further, a hologram appears on the table of a familiar bear.
"Ha-ha-ha, let's be friends," the message says.
"Hmm," Alan muses, "Seems like Brandon is live vlogging. 21 million views. What the hell must he be doing?" Alan silently questions why the video has appeared on the lounge table that is only used during an emergency. Not dwelling on it too much, Alan responds to the bear pop-up and opens the live vlog
"This is Brandon 'The Bear' Berringer," Brandon calls worriedly, "Coming to you from right in front of a totally massive avalanche. Don't worry, Bearheads, I think I'm gonna make it." He pauses and Alan looks in alarm at the rapidly approaching snow that is coming up behind Brandon as he snowboards down the side of the mountain.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
Alan starts to calculate the location of where the live vlog is taking place while he watches.
"Scratch that," Brandon mumbles, "Bear out. See ya!" He then pulls out a device and opens it up behind him. A ball similar to Brains' RAD opens up behind Brandon and encloses him inside just as the snow encases the ball. The live vlog then cuts leaving Alan with a blank screen in front of him. He goes to contact John, who is currently over at Thunderbird 10's construction site, when two voices stop him.
"Busted!" Marion and Nina laugh as they enter the lounge with Scott and Virgil not far behind them with scowls on their faces. They were not happy.
"Guys we have a situation," Alan cries.
"No kidding," Scott scoffs, "You're having Max do all your maintenance for you."
"No," Alan stutters, "I mean, yeah. Of course, I am. But, no, this is serious. There's an emergency."
"It's not just an excuse to get out of doing chores?" Virgil inquires.
"Tracy's honour," Alan says and raises his left hand, "Brandon Berringer is caught in an avalanche, guys. I was watching it live."
"Not that fucking teenager from the Kiwi Alps," Marion sighs.
"The very same," Alan nods.
"Okay," Scott mumbles, "Time to fly."
"Yes!" Alan calls.
"And you can finish your chores when we get back," Nina yells as she runs for her slide.
"Argh!" Alan groans.
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
Virgil's rocket painting tilts backwards and Scott and Alan descend as they get suited up.
4
The pod equipment is loaded into Module 2.
3
Nina and Alan board Thunderbird 2 via the passenger elevator.
2
Thunderbird 2 taxis down the main runway and comes to a halt allowing the ramp to raise.
1
Thunderbird 1 comes to a stop as the swimming pool above starts to retract.
Thunderbirds are Go!
December 10th, 2065 - 13:42 MST
As the three Thunderbird's make their way over the Pacific Ocean, Sally is in the midst of a conversation with John. John and Ridley are doing the final testing on Thunderbird 10. While there isn't much work still to do, there were a number of tests that needed to be do before her sign off that is currently predicated to be in March 2066. As a result, it is determined that Sally would need to lead the rescue to allow EOS to focus on other emergency calls.
"Thunderbird 2, this is Tracy Island," Sally calls, "I'll be running control for Thunderbird 5. Alan give me a full sitrep."
"It's The Bear, Grandma," Alan informs, "He's in serious trouble. His live feed came up until it cut out."
"We've had the pleasure of meeting him once before," Marion explains with distaste, "He seems to have a thing for mountains and trouble."
"Well, he's got both," Sally states, "My scans show he's brought a good portion of the Pincushion snowpack down on his head. There's still millions of tons of snow up on those peaks. Careful, boys. The slightest disturbance could trigger a full avalanche. And that includes the Thunderbirds' engines."
"Okay, looks like we're going to have to find another way onto that mountain," Scott sighs as he and Marion arrive at the disaster sight.
"Thunderbird 7 should be able to get slightly closer," Marion says while Scott prepares his jetpack, "It's a lighter aircraft and it's engines don't create much vibration compared to Thunderbird 1."
"FAB. Don't take any risks though," Scott replies. He then opens the cockpit hatch and lowers his chair, "Thunderbird 2, find a safe place to land, and meet me up there. I'm going to find our old friend Brandon."
Scott then stands up on his chair and takes a look down. Below him are thick clouds and he is unable to see a clear piece of land. The main thrusters on Thunderbird 1 are cut as Scott puts her into hovering mode and jumps off his chair. He dives head first towards the clouds and picks up speed before activating his jetpack and heading over to the Pincushion Mountain. Beside him, Marion flies in Thunderbird 7.
"FAB," Nina acknowledges. Virgil breaks to clouds several miles away from the mountain and finds a flat piece of land that would support Thunderbird 2. He slowly lowers his bird to the surface, not to disturb the snow around them too much.
"Hurry up, Virg," Alan complains, "I've got to get down there before Scott rescues The Bear."
"Er, Alan," Virgil queries, "Are you really that worried about this guy?"
"Well, ye— sure," Alan scoffs, "But, you know, also I don't want to miss out on the chance to pull off a cool rescue on his vlog."
"You know that's not why we do this, Alan," Virgil argues, "You're 21. Dad always said International Rescue wasn't about fame or recognition. It's about rescuing people."
"Well, it helps it you actually remember your Dad," Alan mumbles darkly before turning to Virgil again, "Well today we happen to be rescuing a really famous person on a live vlog in front of 21 million people, and I plan to be there."
"Two problems with that Alan," Nina finally interjects, "A, the vlog is no longer live as Brandon ended it. And B, International Rescue has a no filming policy, so your identity wouldn't be shown away. Now, can we get on with the fucking rescue."
"FAB," Alan sighs and follows Nina into the module.
"Configuring two Sherpa Pods," Virgil informs, just loud enough for the pair to hear before the door to the cockpit closes up behind them. As they enter the module they watch as two Sherpa Pod is assembled using the base of Pods E and F. Alan jumps in Pod E while Nina gets into Pod F. They watch at the module door opens to reveal the outside.
"Sherpa Pods are go," Nina calls and the pair exit the module and make their way towards the mountain base.
"Now to rescue Bear," Alan states.
Virgil closes the hologram of the Sherpa Pods and pinpoints their location on a map of the area on one of the monitors. He then opens a com channel.
"Grandma, have you had any luck contacting Brandon?" Virgil asks.
"I've managed to pick up the signal from his helmet cam," Sally replies and displays a hologram for Virgil to view, "And I'm getting life signs from the crash bubble sensors. Mr Bear isn't answering."
"Keep trying," Virgil orders, "I'll launch some vibration sensors. If there's another avalanche, we'll need all the warning we can get." Virgil moves around in his chair and presses a button on his console. Underneath Thunderbird 2, a cannon drops down from the main frame and fires a single shot. A single senor is goes flying towards the mountain peak. As it nears the mountain it steadily rises, and a parachute is deployed from the top. With wind speeds at a minimum, the senor slowly floats down and embeds itself in the snow. Almost immediately, Virgil starts receiving feedback from it. A constant beeping noise is heard.
Over by Thunderbird 7, Marion is standing next to her bird which she has now placed on an opposite peak with a clear view of the mountain in front of her. She begins her scan of the mountain when Sally gives her a call.
"Marion, you've got to get to Mr Bear fast," Sally explains, "He's all wrong side up."
"He's what?" Marion asks as Scott lands next to her.
"His feet are where his head should be," Sally informs, "He's trapped upside down."
"Shit," Marion mutters.
"What's wrong?" Scott questions and connects to Marion's com frequency.
"Being upside down for too long can be deadly," Sally continues, "All the blood is rushing straight to the poor boy's head."
"Okay Grandma," Scott states, "Marion, anything?"
"I think I've found him," Marion says and activates her jetpack. Her scanner had picked up a drone signal that is going around in a circle and the couple race over to it.
"Alan, Nina, how are the pods coming?" Scott asks.
"They're coming as fast as they can," Nina replies.
"We don't want to set off another avalanche before we've even rescued The Bear from the first one," Alan adds.
Eventually, the Sherpa Pods arrive on the scene where Scott and Marion are hovering overhead next to the drone that they had found flying in circles. Nina parks her pod a few meters away and jumps out before walking over to the ground next to where Marion is flying over and taps her foot several times on the snow.
"Seems stable enough," Nina notes. The couple then disengage their jetpacks and land either side of her and they walk over to Alan's pod.
"Fire up the heat cone," Scott orders to Alan, "I calculate you're going 20 metres down."
"Activating heat cone," Alan acknowledges and they watch as the cone at the front of the Sherpa Pod turns hot red. Alan then tilts the pod to a 45° angle on the caterpillar tracks that are connected to the pod base. As the cone makes contact with the snow, it starts to melt rapidly. Alan then extends the tire on the top of the pod and starts to drill downwards into the snow. As the snow had recently fallen from the avalanche it isn't as compact as it usually is and he finds it quite easy to make the metres underground.
"5 metre," Alan calls, "10... 15... 20!" He stops the pod and waits for the water vapour that had built up dissipate and he stops something red coming out of the steaming cloud. "I found The Bear's crash bubble. Engaging arms." He switches off the heat bank to prevent accidently damaging it as he tries to extract it from the snow pile. He reaches out with two small grasping arms that are connected to either side of the pod and extends them out towards the bubble. On the bubble there are several black handles dotted around and Alan uses the arms to grab onto two of them. He then puts the pod into reverse and starts to head back to the surface. Scott, Marion and Nina observe the position of the pod down the hole and all take a step back when they see Alan coming back up again and reattaching to the caterpillar tracks, going back to horizontal. When Alan checks that the pod is securely attached once again, he goes into reverse and brings the crash bubble out of the hole. Scott and Marion see a small window and notice an upside down Brandon frantically waving at them. Marion rolls her eyes in disgusted and Scott just looks at Brandon in horror. Once Alan is clear of the hole, he places the bubble on the ground so Brandon could be extracted.
"Scotty and his gurl," Brandon smiles, "Am I g-glad to see you?"
"Hello again, Brandon," Marion sighs, "Let's get you the right way up." She steps away from the window to allow Scott and Nina to flip the crash bubble around so Brandon is sitting upright and no longer has all his blood rushing to his head. Brandon lets out a groan and then a sigh of relief. Just as he's getting his baring's Alan jumps in front of the window.
"Hi, I'm Alan!" Alan shouts, "Sorry about the vlog."
"The vlog?" Brandon questions then looks around in alarm, "Oh, no, where's Goose."
"Goose? What goose?" Nina asks.
"Goose," Brandon yells, "She's like, my camera tech."
"Fuck," Marion mumbles and walks away a few paces from the bubble to look further down the mountain.
"International Rescue," Scott calls through his com channels, "We've got another situation. We've got another missing person."
"Searching for life signs," Sally informs and everyone holds their breathes for a second, "Nothing. Thermal scans say you are the only ones on that mountain."
"If she's alive are instruments aren't detecting her," Marion sighs.
"Even if she is dead, we'd still get her thermal signature as it hasn't been that long," Nina points out.
"This mountain is way too big to probe by hand," Alan comments, "We're running out of time."
"Guys," Brandon suddenly says, "Do you know how many viewers my vlog was on? When I'm stuck and don't know what to do, I just say, 'Hey Brandon, what would make the wildest vlog?'"
"Sorry, Brandon," Scott states, "You're not allowed to film us at all."
"We don't have time to film a vlog anyway," Marion scoffs.
"Hang on a minute," Alan muses and looks over to the drone that is still flying around, "Guys, the vlog camera drone will have a homing setting. If we can get our hands on it, it'll lead us right back to its operator's last-known location."
"FAB," Scott smiles and turns on his jetpack, "I'm on it." He quickly flies up to the drone and goes to grab it. "Yah!" However, the drone swiftly moves out of the way and Scott goes flying past it.
"The fu—" Marion mutters.
"Ah, yeah," Alan chuckles nervously, "I forgot to mention, it'll probably have an obstacle-avoidance feature."
"Argh! Stay still!" Scott growls and flies after the drone.
"Ha-ha," Brandon laughs, "This is way wild. Having fun over their Scotty?"
"To be fair this is quite amusing," Nina chuckles and turns to Marion, "One for the kids." Marion turns red with embarrassment and flies up to join Scott. Her excuse would be to help Scott out but in actual fact it is to get away from further embarrassment from Alan and Nina.
"Quite moving," Scott groans as he attempts to grab it again only for the drone to fly away.
"Maybe it's best to use our own drones," Marion offers.
"Good idea," Scott nods and the couple swipe on their wrist communicators to bring up holograms of their respective Thunderbirds. They press a few features on the hologram and from Thunderbird 1 and 7 a drone is launched any they fly over to the scene. Alan and Brandon watch in wonder as the two drone fly over to where Scott and Marion are hovering, at opposite sides of the drone. The drones take their positions on the remaining two sides and they, along with Scott and Marion close in on Brandon's drone very slowly.
"Let's see you get away from us now," Scott smirks. With all its escape routes blocked, the drone didn't know what to do which allowed Marion to reach out and grab the drone, being careful to now damage any of the propellers.
"Got you!" Marion cries. She struggles as the drone tries to break away, but she manages to reach over to the front of the drone, near the camera and press on the red button, "Activating homing setting." She then let's go of the drone and the couple watch ready to grab it again if it is necessary. The drone thinks for a minute before flying off towards the base of the mountain. Marion and Scott's drones follow in pursuit.
"That was totally rad," Brandon says in awe as Scott and Marion land next to Alan, "So what now? Shall I, like, strap on a jetpack or something?"
"Er, fuck no," Marion exclaims in shock, "You know what Brandon, you can ride in Nina's pod."
"What?!" Nina yells.
"Payback's a bitch, hon," Marion winks and walks away leaving both Alan and Scott in shock.
"Erm..." Scott trails, "I'll just go head after the drone." Scott then activates his jetpack and quickly flies off. Marion rolls her eyes and immediately gives chase.
While Nina walks over to her pod to get Brandon out of the driving seat Alan looks dejected as Brandon has still seemed to have not fully acknowledge him yet. He walks sluggishly over to his pod and gets into the driver's seat. Alan lets out a sigh and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photo of Kayo. It was taken a few weeks after they had met when they became best friends. Unlike Alan's other friends at school, he and Kayo had instantly clicked and it was something that Alan had never experienced before. While they had their arguments, Alan never felt any animosity towards Kayo and in some ways it brought them closer. Ever since Kayo's father's accident they only grow closer. Alan decided a while ago that Kayo is the one but knew that now his brothers, apart from Gordon, were in relationships it would be better for them to sort their domestic lives first before he and Kayo did. Alan remembers the surprise he has for Kayo when she travels back to the island when the whole Chaos Crew fiasco is over. He lets out a small smile and puts the photo away again before driving off down the mountain.
December 10th, 2065 - 14:04 MST
Meanwhile, at the base of the mountain Scott and Marion watch from a distance as the drones seemingly head for the ground and then disappearing. On closer inspection they find the reason why.
"The drone have gone down a crevice into the mountain," Marion informs the others.
"That explains why the thermal scans didn't pick up any body heat," Scott realises.
"I'll pull up the drone remote feed and see what's down there," Sally calls.
"FAB," Scott replies and turns to Marion, pulling out a rope, "Hold this for me."
Marion obliges and Scott starts to lower himself down the crevice to see if he can get down and grab Goose himself. He's sure that Sally would be doing a vitals scan, seeing as she was a doctor, and would be able to advise him once he reaches Goose. Unfortunately, he quickly finds that the crevice is too narrow for him and growls in defeat.
"The snow is holding for now, but another avalanche is coming," Virgil suddenly informs everyone, "We're running out of time."
It's at this moment when Alan and Nina pull up in their pods with Brandon in tow. They join Marion on the edge of the crevice just as Scott climbs back up to the top.
"What's the matter, Scott?" Alan enquires.
"The gap is too narrow," Scott sighs, "I can't fit."
"Looks like this is a job for Brandon Berringer," Brandon calls and pushes Scott and Alan to the side.
"Erm, maybe it's best if I try," Alan states scratching the back of his helmet.
"You are the smallest Tracy," Nina smiles, "Knew that would be a handy thing at some point."
"Probably should use a more secure line," Marion adds and indicates over to the Sherpa Pod which as a winch and a line attached to the front of it. Scott runs over to grab it and the harness on the back seat of the pod. He then makes his way back over to Alan who secures the harness and attaches to rope to the front.
"Ready?" Nina asks.
"Sure," Alan smiles and starts to take small steps backward towards the edge of the crevice. He the gradually lowers himself over the edge and starts to walk down the side, "Here I go... on my own. Totally fine." The journey down is taken at a snail's pace to avoid slipping and the winch getting caught. "Imagine being able to vlog and 21 million watch it instead of being stuck down a hole in the ground," Alan sighs.
"Alan, why do you want to be in this vlog so much?" Virgil asks.
"Because it's cool," Alan responds.
"And since when did you care about being cool?" Virgil questions.
"It doesn't matter," Alan sighs.
"It does to me," Virgil counters.
"If I'm being honest," Alan mutters, "It's because of that Rigby dude."
"Captain Rigby?" Virgil asks, "The one at the GDF?"
"Yes," Alan confirms, "He just seems so cool and Kayo seems to think that as well."
"Ah," Virgil smirks, "So this is you being jealous of him."
"Ugh!" Alan groans as he sees Goose come into view, "I've got to go, I've made it."
Alan comes to a stop and reaches over and swings over to the opposite side, where Goose is clinging on for dear life.
"Am I glad to see you," Goose calls.
"I'm International Rescue," Alan introduces as he attaches a clip to Goose that is also connected to the winch, "I've come to get you out of here." Once he's sure that Goose is safely attached to the winch he moves away from her slightly. "Okay, hold on tight," Alan orders. Goose obliges and grabs onto Alan trapping one of his arms, "Oh... Er, I meant onto the rope."
"Oh... Yeah," Goose nervously chuckles and lets Alan go and grabs onto the rope instead.
"It's fine, happens all the time," Alan jokes, "Pulls us up Scott."
A second later the winch starts to be pulled in and Alan and Goose start to rise out of the crevice. Nina and Marion watch closely as they pair come into view again. Marion reaches down and grabs onto Goose to help her up. Goose gladly accepts the hand and pulls herself onto solid ground. Nina then reaches over and gives Alan a hand.
"Cheers," Alan sighs, "All safe and sound. I think your viewers will be pretty happy with this ending, what do you think, Bear?"
Before Brandon could reply there's a loud rumbling sound and the whole mountain and the region around it shakes. Scott looks over at Marion in alarm as he thinks he knows what that mean.
"I don't think it's the end!" Brandon cries.
"The snow is shifting," Virgil informs as his vibration sensor's beeping turns into a high pitch squeal, "It's avalanche time." He picks up Module 2 and fires up Thunderbird 2's VTOL engines. There's no point in playing it safe now and he fires off towards the mountain. Marion does the same with Thunderbird 7 and launches it remotely to prevent her bird from getting trapped in this second avalanche.
"Guys, you need to find shelter," Virgil orders, "I may not make it to you in time."
"The Sherpa Pods," Alan suggests, "We could use them like a giant crash bubble. Scott and Marion you can fly to safety. The rest of us can shelter in the two pods. What do you say, Bear? Want to get buried in another avalanche?"
"Awesome," Brandon smirks.
"We'll be back for you," Scott calls and the couple take off.
"Just don't forget where we're buried," Nina calls.
The four then make a turn for the pods. Nina and Goose get into Pod F while Alan and Brandon get into Pod E. As Alan closes the hatch of his pod he turns around to face Brandon.
"As long as you don't get the inside of the pod in frame, you're alright for filming this for your vlog," Alan says to him.
"Nah, I think I'll skip it," Brandon responds.
"I get it," Alan sighs, "My presence doesn't give off a cool enough vibe for your vlog."
"Are you kidding me?" Brandon scoffs, "You're Alan Tracy, the coolest, most extreme person there is."
"What?" Alan exclaims, "You think I'm cool?"
"Totally," Brandon responds, "You do crazy, intense stunts every day to save people. You're Alan Tracy. You're a race car driver. You're International Rescue."
"Yeah," Alan smiles, "That is pretty cool."
"If I mention that you're standing next to me in my vlog, nobody would want to know what I'm up to. Next to you, The Bear is nothing. When Alan Tracy's around, the vlog stays well away."
"Brandon Berringer thinks I'm cool," Alan states, "Imagine that."
Outside, Thunderbird 2 is charging down the side of the mountain. Below, the avalanche intensifies as more and more snow comes collapsing down. Virgil increase's his speed to get in front of the snow and spots the two pods at the foot of the mountain.
"I see them. Deploying magnetic grappling cables," Virgil informs. He moves around in his chair and presses a button on his console. Underneath Thunderbird 2, instead of a cannon dropping down from the main frame two grapple cable do instead and take aim. "Okay, you guys, brace for impact."
Everyone watches as the snow gets closer and close and the vibrations in the ground only increase. Above they see Thunderbird 2 coming flying in towards them.
"Here it comes," Nina winces.
Just as the snow is only a few hundred yards away from them, Virgil fires the two magnetic grappling cables and both hit their mark. He then strains on his console as he starts to lift Thunderbird 2 upwards so it wouldn't be brought down by the impact of the snow if the pods where now caught in the avalanche. Thunderbird 2 goes soring overhead and the cables tense as they hit their maximum length. As the snow gets in of 200 yards of the pods, they start to drag along the snow before being lifted off the ground and into the air.
"Argh!" Brandon and Goose cry, not expecting the sudden jolt.
"Well?" Alan asks as Brandon as the pods are suspended in mid-air.
"Way extreme!" Brandon shouts, excitedly.
"I can't wait to get home," Marion mumbles over the coms.
End of Part 4B
Part 4 to be concluded in August 2023