Chapter 2: The Invasion Begins

The following morning, Stormy had brought in a broken down tramper and dropped it off at Lucky's Yard.

"Thanks, Stormy," called Ariel. "We'll take it from here."

"No problem," replied Stormy. "See you."

As Stormy headed back for Mittsville, she heard some creaking.

"What was that?" she asked. There was no answer. "Hmm, I must be imagining things." With that, Stormy set off again and decided not to dwell on it anymore.

Hercules and Venus had been up by the coast after escorting a tramper out to sea. The two ocean-going tugs had made good time, so they decided to pay a visit to Lillie Lightship.

"Hi, Hercules," said Lillie. "Hello, Venus."

"Hello, Lillie, m'dearest," smiled Hercules. "I see you've done a marvellous job at keeping all incoming and outgoing vessels safe as usual."

"I have indeed," said Lillie, before remembering something. "Something unusual happened last night. Whilst I was looking out for any incoming vessels, I couldn't help but notice a fleet of unfamiliar tugboats heading towards Bigg City."

"That is unusual," mused Venus, "and on top of Oliver's disappearance as well."

"We'd better speak to Peeper Pipes and his team about this," said Hercules.

Gabby had an evening job in delivering engineering parts to Scuttlebutt Pete so he could start work in the morning. Once she had finished her work, Gabby headed for home, but started to feel low on fuel. Then she saw a tanker barge nearby.

"Good," she said. "I can refill now and be back in time for the morning briefing."

Of course, Gabby was in such a rush that she'd failed to check what was inside. Just as she was being refueled, she began to feel strange.

"I'm feeling… sleepy…" she yawned as she fell into a deep sleep. Nearby, another tug watched on and smirked.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" said the tug. "Julissa will be pleased," she added nastily as she threw a towline on Gabby and towed her away.

Jimbo was out on patrol around the harbour when he felt something strike him in the wheelhouse, causing him to black out almost instantly. Another tug was lurking nearby with a wicked grin.

Melody was asleep at her mooring, unaware of another tug approaching her, or that someone was pouring a barrel of Green Water.

Theodore's fleet was sound asleep and didn't notice three nasty looking tugs approaching their dock. The three tugs were carrying barrels of Green Water on their barges.

Over at the Dock Railway, three steam engines were approaching the sheds with barrels of Green Water inside a freight car.

"There they are," whispered the first one, a Reading 0-6-0ST.

"Do we really have to do it?" gulped the second one, a Duke Power 0-4-0ST.

"If we don't, Addison will shut us up for a long time," replied the third one, a Virginian Railway SA Class tender engine.

"Besides," said the Reading tank engine, "it was the diesels' fault that this railway got dieselised in the first place. Now come on!"

Reluctantly, the other two engines followed him.

At 6:30 the next morning, I got ready for the morning briefing.

"Good morning, Star Fleet," I called. "Before I give the orders out, let's number off."

"One!" called Ten Cents.

"Twa!" called Big Mac.

"Three!" called O.J..

"Four!" called Zip.

"Five!" called Warrior.

"Six!" called Hercules.

"Seven!" called Sunshine.

"Eight!" called Grampus.

"Nine!" called Zob.

"Ten!" called Zebedee.

"Eleven!" called Moonlight.

"Twelve!" called Venus. There was a long pause.

"Gabby?" I asked. "Gabby, that's your cue!" Still, no answer.

"Wait… where is Gabby?!" asked Zip.

"I'm not sure," Venus said in concern. Just then, we heard a horn and looked to see Theodore with a worried expression.

"Has anyone seen Hank, George, Emily, Foduck, Jasper and Benjamin?" he asked. "They didn't come home last night."

"What?! Them as well?" exclaimed Zebedee.

"What do you mean 'as well'?" asked Theodore.

"Gabby didn't answer during the 'number off'," replied Ten Cents. Then he heard whimpering and looked to see Sunshine looking pale.

"N-no!" she gulped. "Ah can't lose Hank like Ah did with Zug!"

"Don't worry, sis," assured Moonlight. "We'll find him."

"Ten Cents! Hercules!" called a voice. It was Penny. "Have you heard the news? Jimbo went missing whilst out on patrol last night!"

"And that's not all," said Ariel, who had tears in her eyes. "Melody's gone missing from Up River!"

"Great Neptune!" gasped Hercules. "Salty's fears were correct."

"We must call a code red indignation meeting!" said Zob.

All the tugs from the Port and Up River, as well as Grampus and Northumberland, gathered at the Ferry Terminal. The Coast Guard team was there as well. Once everyone was present, Zob blew his hooter to get their attention.

"Alright, everyone," he said seriously. "This morning, we woke up to a crisis. Nine of our friends have gone missing: Gabby from the Star Fleet, Melody from Up River, Jimbo from the Naval Base, and Hank, Emily, George, Foduck, Jasper and Benjamin from the V-Tugs."

"Did anyone see or hear anything suspicious last night?" asked Ember.

"Well, I didn't see anything," admitted Northumberland, "but I heard some steam tugs passing the naval base. I was asleep at the time, but I assumed it was some of the Star Tugs making a late night delivery."

"Th' ainlie Star Tug wha wis oot lest nicht wis Gabby," said Big Mac. "'N' she's a diesel tug. Plus, she wis making a delivery tae Scuttlebutt Pete."

"On our way home to the Breaker's Yard last night," said Chimera, "we noticed something unusual near Mittsville."

"It looked like a smokestack with a lightning bolt," explained Alonso, "and we assumed it was a fleet being set up. Now, we wonder if it had anything to do with this."

"This could be an important clue," said Constance, "especially given the information Lillie gave Hercules and Venus yesterday. Anyone who spots a tug with a lightning bolt is to report it to us immediately."

"Do you think that the tug Northumberland heard has anything to do with this?" asked Robin.

"That's a possibility, Robin," remarked Hail, "because it does seem strange that a steam tug would come in unannounced and then Jimbo would just go missing and other diesel tugs go missing as well."

"Well, my number one suspect is Addison Darnell," said Stormy.

"She's more likely to carry out an invasion on Sodor considering she's more into railways than boats," replied Scorpio.

"True," said O.J., "but that doesn't mean to say that she doesn't have someone else working for her who would lead this invasion."

"So, what's the plan?" asked Warrior. "Do we need another curfew?"

"Possibly," said Zob. "But we need to go one step further. From now on, all diesel tugs must remain with a steam tug at all times."

"We can take care of ourselves," retorted Tex. "I don't need no steam tug babysittin' me."

"It's for your own safety," Venus said sternly. "In times of crisis, we cannot afford to take any chances. I'm not just talking about the attack on Bigg City or the Pearl Harbor attack. I'm talking about the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. Those events should serve as a reminder of how essential security is."

"Well said, Venus, m'dear," said Hercules. Then he had an idea. "As an additional means of security, I suggest we take a leaf from Captain Zero's book."

"You mean the flare trick from 1921?" asked Zip. "I like that idea!"

"Yes, it was one of the few good ideas Captain Zero and any of us Z-Stacks had before our turnaround," said Zebedee.

"Now, this was a few months before I arrived," said Zob. "So I'll need to be filled in as to what happened."

"It was during the time O'Malley was held hostage by Flotsam and Jetsam," explained Sea Rogue, "and I was forced to steal barges as a result."

"Certain barges were rigged with flares that would be triggered before they were even touched," added O.J.. "Although thanks to Top Hat's insight and Grampus, they weren't needed."

"And I accidentally set one of them off, much to Zorran and Top Hat's annoyance," chuckled Warrior.

"You know," said Zob, "after the Munitions disaster of 1922, Zorran really came to appreciate you."

"He did?" Warrior said in surprise. "Why?"

"He said you always meant well," replied Zob. "I'm sure a certain Salvage Fleet switcher would agree to that."

"You've got that right," replied Hail. Just then, Salty and his friends came running up.

"We've just had a call from Ms. Stevens of the Dock Railway!" said Salty urgently. "All five diesels have gone missing as well!"

"What?!" everyone else cried in shock.

"Okay," said Grampus, "it looks like someone is connected with Addison."

"We'd better start organizing which tugs go with which fleet then," said Hercules.

It was decided that Zob would work alongside Molly at all times since they were both railway tugs. Hercules and Venus decided to guard Owan and Tex. Now, the latter was reluctant, but agreed since Venus had made a strong argument. Hail swapped places with Donald so that Robin and the other Salvage Tugs could guard him. Sea Rogue swapped with Lucy and got O'Malley to guard her. Since Theodore worked with Warrior on garbage runs, he stuck with him at all times. Guysborough was grumpy about it, but then again, Guysborough is grumpy about everything, so no one took any notice.

After the tugs settled into their new routines, Misty noticed a worried look on Pisces' face.

"Are you okay, sis?" she asked.

"Not really," sighed Pisces. "Just when things had become peaceful here in Bigg City, some of our friends went missing."

"That's understandable," replied Ember. "I think we're all worried about our friends. Plus, it brings back bad memories of what happened… back in the 1940s."

"Ugh, don't remind me," groaned Scorpio.

"Hey, Alonso," called Hail. "Did you and Chimera encounter any troublesome tugs before coming here?"

"Not to the extent those monsters went to," replied Alonso. "But we did encounter quite a few bad apples."

"Even so, this new threat feels too unpredictable," said Chimera.

"Well then, we'd better keep it at it," said O.J.. "And remember; keep your eyes out for any clues." With that, the tugs all headed into separate directions, keeping a lookout for trouble.

Arthour's notes: Terribly sorry about the delay. I got a bit caught in other things. But without further adue, here's chapter 2. There's been a few scares already. In particular, Sunshine has lost her second love, Hank. Will the tugs be able to catch their culprits before it's too late?

Next time, we'll find out what has happened to the tugs and engines who had been Captured!