Chapter 4
"So what steps should we take to counteract this problem?" Panthro asked.
"Well I think the best thing to do would be to move up the wedding date. You'd squash any attempt at whatever exactly the Mutants are planning. They won't go off half-cocked like they did last time given what happened. This will be a planned, well-coordinated attack that will give them every advantage," Mandora explained.
"We can't move the wedding," Lion-O spoke up.
"Why not?" The Evil Chaser was confused.
"Thunderian tradition dictates that the marriage of the King must take place exactly on the day that the King before him was wed. It is intended to be a way of ushering in the new ruling parties without forgetting those that came before them. To break with such tradition will be seen as blasphemous. Not only that, it will clue the Mutants into the fact that we know what they are up to. It could put your spies at great risk," Lynx-O filled her in.
"The Mutants know of this tradition?" Mandora was surprised.
"I actually thought it to be common knowledge around the universe. All the ruling parties of the Thunderian allies are invited to witness the ceremony and it has been known to be a day where our enemies use our traditions against us. Only once however in our history did the enemy ever win the day. It was a true test of the King and Queen's ability to handle anything together," the lynx said.
"Test of marriage by fire. Wow, you guys don't mess around. So the Mutants are hoping that twice is the charm?" Mandora was seeing where he was coming from.
"Well the first time an attack was successful, Thundera was attacked during the marriage of the new leaders was actually not the Mutants but their cousins the Lunatacs. King Leo the Fifth had squashed an attempt on his father's, Leo the Fourth, life only days prior to the ceremony. Revenge for the murder of those who tried the assassination was swift and by the end of what was to be a blessed day, the Lunatacs retreated, but not before mortally wounding their original target and severely wounding King Leo the Fifth. After the death and burial of his father, the doctors were forced to amputate the left leg of Leo the Fifth. He survived for many years and had many children with his Queen but it was a sober reminder that even Thundera was a target. That is why the tradition still stands. It lets us never forget," Lynx-O told her.
"So then play along with the charade and be ready for them when they come. I like that idea," Mandora nodded.
"Our new systems can handle it and we've been recruiting more ThunderGuard after the last attack. Now that there is confirmation the Mutants are up to no good, we'll double our efforts to have weapons ready," Ben-Gali spoke up.
"Won't they see it coming considering it's almost a tradition?" WilyKat asked.
"Lion-O's rule has been without very much of the same traditions our people held all those years ago on Thundera. My guess is that despite the possibility we'd be ready, the Mutants are gambling that we will not be," Lynx-O smirked slightly.
"It's a good gamble since the last time they came here, we needed to heavily lean on our allies," Pumyra pointed out.
"This is true. If the Mutants were hoping to crush the sprint of the Thunderian people, it really backfired on them," Tygra said.
"Well then that's settled. Shall I put in a request for Evil Chasers to run security at the ceremony?" Mandora asked.
"Yes. We may still need your help depending on what proof your spies bring back but if they believe that there are more or less forces than they think it will be to our advantage. In the meantime, we should pick up production on flying craft and weapons. We keep this between us for as long as possible. If the Mutants find out we know, they'll ramp up production of troops and weapons and then we won't be prepared for them," Lion-O told the group.
To Be Continued…