KAYO and Hayley genuinely had to pinch themselves, and each other to make sure that they weren't dreaming. Was that really Warren Grafton inside the giant mech-suit? They'd heard nothing that he'd escaped from prison. It had to be a trick of some kind. It then turned out that Grafton wasn't alone. Two more mechanised suits emerged from the smoke, both with whom they could only presume were henchmen. They didn't recognise either of them.

"This has to be a dream!" Kayo said.

"No…" replied Hayley. "This is a bloody nightmare!"

Grafton then noticed them. He gave a malicious grin and raised his suit's left hand.

"MOVE!" Kayo yelled, grabbing Hayley and pulling her away just as Grafton blasted a green energy beam at them.

Colonel Jennings then reappeared having been helping the other members of the congregation to escape. She too stopped dead when she saw the men in suits. "G-Grafton?!" she stammered. "But HOW?!"

"Hello, Colonel," Grafton said. "Mind if we CRASH the wedding?" He burst out laughing, as did the two men in the other suits.

Colonel Jennings pulled out her side-arm and began shooting. Hayley also pulled our hers concealed inside her Maid of Honour's dress and began shooting. Kayo moved away to try and perform a sneak attack.

The laser blasts from the two GDF officers' weapons were doing nothing to the mech-suits and they both had to jump clear when energy bolts were fired at them.

Kayo concealed herself behind the nearby gazebo where food was supposed to be had after the ceremony. She jumped up and soared through the air, right leg outstretched to try and kick Grafton's suit down from behind. But right at the last second, he turned around and grabbed her leg. He then spun himself and Kayo around, her crying out in alarm before letting go, throwing her in the direction of Hayley who was trying to use a table for cover.

"UUUGGGHHH!" they both cried upon colliding painfully with one another. Kayo could take the hit better than Hayley could. But luckily, Hayley wasn't knocked out.

Colonel Jennings got on her cap radio. "This is Colonel Jennings! We're under attack! We need back-up NOW!"

One of Grafton's henchmen then fired a blast at where she was hiding. She only just managed to get clear in time.

Grafton looked down at the unconscious Rigby and Amanda. "Stage One completed," he said. "Time for Stage Two. Millom, you take the lover boy. I'll take the girl. Banzi, make sure the three wannabe heroines are deadly. Painfully dead."

Banzi cackled evilly. "With pleasure, boss."

"Who are the other two bozos?" Hayley asked.

"Either friends he's met in prison, or some of his former employ still loyal to him," Kayo replied.

Colonel Jennings then joined them. "You two okay?" she asked.

"Been better," Kayo replied. "That's some serious tech they've got!"

"There's a more serious question," said Colonel Jennings. "How the hell has he gotten out of prison without us knowing about it?!"

"Oh, my God!" Hayley had suddenly noticed what was happening. "They've got Amanda and Wayne!"

Colonel Jennings and Kayo looked. Sure enough, they could just see two of the mech-suits walking away into the smoke carrying the unconscious bodies of Amanda and Rigby over their shoulders.

Then Banzi started his attack. "Time to die, losers!" he laughed before shooting energy bolts in their directions.

Kayo went up, Colonel Jennings went right and Hayley went left.

"Keep him distracted!" Kayo said. "I'll try and get behind him."

"That didn't work with Grafton, did it?" Hayley pointed out.

"He wasn't distracted," Kayo said.

So Colonel Jennings and Hayley found new hiding positions and began shooting at Banzi in unison. This did not seem to remotely bother him as he continued to shoot at them both using one blaster each.

Kayo managed to get behind and leapt up to jump onto the suit's back. Maybe, she hoped, there would be an access point to the internals that she could use to disable it. But she would have no such luck. Just like with Grafton, Banzi seemed to know she was coming. He stopped shooting and spun himself around, swinging his right arm and punching her right in the chest. Kayo went flying back across the field, straight into a tree. The impact was so hard it almost broke the tree trunk and Kayo felt the impact all through her skeleton as she dropped to the floor.

"KAYO!" Hayley shouted. But then she got blasted back by a double shot from Banzi who was laughing like a deranged maniac.

"This is too easy," Banzi said. "I thought you GDF people were supposed to be tough? But you really aren't, are ya?" He was advancing on Hayley.

Hayley was winded, but not hurt. She looked up as the menacing shape of Banzi's mech-suit closed in on her. "Stop this," she said. "You don't want to become a killer."

"Yeah? Why not?" sneered Banzi.

The sound of a gun firing was then heard as projectiles began bouncing off Banzi's armour. It was Colonel Jennings, who had switched to bullets in a vain attempt to try and break something vital on the suit. Banzi turned to face her. He laughed even more.

"Are you serious?" Banzi said with a smug grin. "Bullets can't hurt me!"

Hayley saw a chance. She pushed a button on her watch.

Banzi had begun to advance on Colonel Jennings. He raised his left arm, ready to blast her. But then the alert system that had warned him of Kayo's incoming attack went off again, this time alerting him to something much larger coming towards him. He turned back towards Hayley to see that her Cheetah Rapid Response Vehicle had come racing into the field and was charging towards him. Hayley saw that this was clearly more intimidating than she, Colonel Jennings or Kayo were. She noticed a look of alarm in Banzi's eyes. He activated the boosters in his suit's feet and began to rise up, intending for the car to go speeding underneath.

"HA-HA!" jeered Banzi as he lifted off the ground. "NICE TRY-WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Banzi was not prepared for what happened next. Hayley had anticipated the suits could fly and so she activated the Cheetah's own flight mode. It bounced up off the ground at the exact same time as Banzi had leapt up. It struck him front on and sent him flying backwards, somersaulting until he crashed heavily into the ground, carving a trench in the grass as he went.

Kayo had finally managed to pick herself up, but she looked seriously winded. Both Hayley and Colonel Jennings came running over to check on her.

"Are you okay?" Hayley asked.

"Uuuugh," Kayo groaned. "I've never taken a knock like that before."

The rumble of a vehicle engine was heard as a GDF Truck came racing onto the field. The back door opened to allow a group of armoured troops with powerful taser-guns to disembark.

"About damn time you got here!" growled Colonel Jennings. She pointed at Banzi who was trying to get up. "Detain him!"

Banzi sat up and saw the soldiers running towards him. He raised his arms to shoot, but was interrupted by Grafton over his radio. "Banzi! We're taking off."

"But, boss, I-"

"Don't 'but' me, boy!" barked Grafton. "MOVE!"

Banzi snarled at the guards and stood up before launching himself into the air with his jets once more.

A large military-looking Helijet around similar size to the GDF Flyers then appeared from behind some nearby trees. The rear hatch was open and one of the other mech-suits could be seen standing on it whilst holding on to the side of the fuselage. It had to be Grafton.

Kayo, seeing Banzi lifting off, quickly had an idea. "Oh, no you don't!" she said, wanting payback for him striking her. She activated her wrist controller, calling in Thunderbird Shadow which had been patrolling in stealth-mode nearby. It came swooping in, computer-control targeting Banzi's armour and then fired a sonic blast at his suit. It made contact and to Banzi's horror and Grafton's disbelief, it caused all the systems in Banzi's suit to short-circuit.

The suit shut down…and then Banzi fell down. "Oh…Oh, no! YAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHH!" he screamed before slamming hard into the ground below.

"What was that?!" asked Millom who'd joined Grafton in time to see their teammate get taken out.

Grafton gritted his teeth. "He failed," he said. He then spoke to the pilot. "Get us out of here!"

The hatch began to close as the Helijet began to fly away from the scene of devastation. Banzi was now the one who'd had the wind knocked out of him. However, he was still able to notice that the Helijet was leaving without him. "Hey? HEY! BOSS, WHERE ARE YA GOING?! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

"Banzi…you're fired," came the blunt reply.

"NO!" screamed Banzi as the GDF soldiers surrounded him so that he could do no further harm.

Colonel Jennings, Hayley and Kayo watched as the Helijet disappeared from view. "We can't let them escape!" said Colonel Jennings.

"Don't worry, they won't," said Kayo, remote-calling Thunderbird Shadow. It deactivated its optical camouflage and descended to land on the grass. Kayo climbed into the cockpit and was swiftly airborne again, setting off in pursuit.

Hayley also called her Cheetah over. "Care to ride with me, Colonel?" she asked.

Colonel Jennings surprisingly managed a smile. "Most certainty, Captain. Although I think you might want to change?"

Hayley looked at her Maid of Honour dress. It was somewhat messed up from the attack.

Thunderbird Shadow's superior speed quickly allowed it to catch up to Grafton's Helijet. The optical camouflage had been reactivated so that she could sneak up without being noticed. She also knew that back-up was going to be required. "Thunderbird S to International Rescue."

"Go ahead, Kayo?" Jeff's voice answered.

"I hope the boys are ready, Mr Tracy, because we've got a situation."

"The Hood's attacked the wedding?"

"No, it's Grafton."

"Grafton?!" exclaimed Jeff. "How the hell did he get out of jail?!"

"I don't know," said Kayo. "But he's got some serious tech on his hands now. It was able to alert him to my attacks on the ground and one of his henchmen sucker-punched me."

"Are you hurt?"

"Only my pride. But he's also taken Captains Rigby and Thompson hostage and is flying north in one nasty-looking Helijet. I'm in pursuit but am going to need back-up."

"Actually Thunderbird 1 is already airborne," said Jeff. "Scott went to check on a suspected forest fire but it's been brought under control. I'll divert him to you. Do you think you'll need Thunderbird 2?"

"Grafton won't go down without a fight," said Kayo. "And he'll endanger innocent lives in order to try and escape us. We're gonna need ALL hands for this one!"

"F-A-B," said Jeff. He then looked at Virgil, Alan and Gordon. "You heard her, boys. Get moving!"

Virgil, Gordon and Alan hurried towards their respective suit-up routes. Virgil went down the chute, Alan to the changing rooms via the chairs and Gordon via his express elevator. Once they were all suited up they soon regrouped inside the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. Virgil selected Module 2 and lowered the main body down onto it before taxiing along the runway to the launch ramp. The ramp raised into position and the wings folded out ready for take-off.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

Thunderbird 2's engines roared and the great green goliath was swiftly airborne.

"Thunderbird 2 is GO!" said Virgil.

Just then Brains appeared on the holo-projector. "V-Virgil. If you ch-check Store Cupboard 37 inside Thunderbird 2, you'll find the device I've created for The White Ghost."

"I didn't know you'd finished that?" said Virgil. "That was quick."

"Why's it on board Thunderbird 2?" asked Alan.

"Because of all of us, I suspect Virgil m-may be the only one who White Ghost will entrust to approach her," said Brains.

Virgil looked uneasy. "Brains…you did say there's no guarantee that device will actually work for her, didn't you?"

"Y-Yes," said Brains uncomfortably. "I know that's n-not a burden you'll want, Virgil. But who else from our group do you reckon she'd want to talk to?"

Virgil thought hard. But he realised Brains was right. "I don't like this thought, Brains," he said.

"Of c-course you don't," said Brains. "And the thought of it k-killing her hurts me as well. But there is really n-no way of testing such a device."

Jeff's hologram then joined Brains. "I know this mission does not involve Ghost, Virgil. But should we ever get the chance to find her, are you going to be able to go up to her?"

Virgil looked away, avoiding the eye contact of everyone there. "I don't know, Dad…I really don't know."

"It's okay, son," said Jeff. "Focus on your current mission. Do whatever you need to do to help Kayo and the GDF bring Grafton down."

"Now that I can do," said Virgil with determination. "Hang tight. Engaging afterburners."

Thunderbird 2 zoomed across the Pacific to begin the long journey to the other side of the world.

In orbit above the Earth, Thunderbird 5 was also making its way to a new location above Europe and the United Kingdom to better monitor the situation. However John was a little concerned when looking at his scanners. He could see the location of Thunderbird Shadow, but not the Helijet.

"Thunderbird Shadow from Thunderbird 5. I've got a fix on your position, but my scans aren't picking up Grafton's Helijet at all."

"I have visual contact, Thunderbird 5. It's about a mile ahead of me."

"Well I'm detecting nothing at all," said John. "What type of Helijet is it?"

"I've not seen one quite like it," said Kayo. "I don't know any military force to have this type."

"Can you show me a visual feed from your nose camera?" asked John.

"Coming right up."

John now had a live image from Thunderbird Shadow's nose camera. He could see the Helijet for himself. "Wow…that looks big."

"It's huge, John," said Kayo. "Got to be at least the same size as the GDF Flyers."

"Can you attach a tracker to it? Then perhaps I can create a digital scan of the aircraft and see what we're dealing with."

"F-A-B," said Kayo. She moved Thunderbird Shadow a few degrees to the right. "Target lined up. Firing tracker." She pushed a button. The tracker was launched from the left side of Thunderbird Shadow and it attached itself to the tail section of the Helijet. "Tracker in place."

"Great," said John. "EOS, commence scan."

"Scanning underway," said EOS. "The process may take a few minutes to complete."

"Did you get that, Kayo?"

"I did, John," said Kayo. "I just hope Rigs and Amanda are holding up okay in there."

Thunderbird Shadow wasn't the only vehicle in pursuit of Grafton's Helijet. Far below on the ground, Hayley and Colonel Jennings were racing along the country roads of rural Northern France in the Cheetah. It was a very fast car and Hayley could just about make out the shape of the Helijet in the far distance. However, she was finding it hard to concentrate due to the raised voice of Colonel Jennings who was in the passenger seat, shouting furiously into her communicator to the Warden of the prison where Grafton had been held.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S STILL IN HIS CELL?! I'VE LITERALLY JUST SEEN HIM! HE'S TAKEN TWO OF MY OFFICERS CAPTIVE ALONG WITH ONE OF HIS HENCHMEN!"

"Colonel, I'm looking at the surveillance footage of Grafton's cell right now and he's sitting on his bed!" said the Warden.

"And you've checked to make absolutely sure it's him?" asked Colonel Jennings.

"Well, why shouldn't it be him?" asked the Warden.

Colonel Jennings almost exploded. "Check him out, Warden. You have ten minutes to find out and then maybe, just maybe, I'll reconsider having you sacked!" She ended the call and punched the dashboard of the Cheetah.

Hayley felt it best to remain silent. She instead focused her attention on the distant Helijet. They were at matching speeds and the twisting roads made it hard to close the distance any further. "Hang on, guys, we're coming," she muttered.

Aboard the Helijet, Rigby and Amanda were finally waking up. They were alarmed to find themselves bound and gagged inside an unfamiliar looking place. But they were even more alarmed when they saw who their captor was.

Grafton was now out of his mech-suit and walking around in a black leather skin-tight suit that was worn whilst wearing the mech one. Around him and the wooden crate they were sitting on were other mech-suits, some Jeeps and other Armoured vehicles. Grafton had assembled himself a very small personal Army, albeit a very dangerous one at that.

The captives began muffled protests which got Grafton's attention. "Ah, you're awake," he said. "Good." He pulled the tape from their mouths.

"GRAFTON?!" seethed Rigby. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUTTA PRISON?!"

"AND WHY HAVE YOU TAKEN US?!" demanded Amanda.

"Such anger," remarked Grafton. "Excellent."

"What do you mean?" demanded Rigby.

"Does it hurt, Captain?" asked Grafton. "Do you feel helpless? Like you're about to lose something very special to you?"

Rigby tugged at the zip-ties that bound his wrists and ankles. "Once I break free, you'll be the one who's helpless!"

Grafton laughed. "Yeah, we've triple cuffed you due to your advanced physiology. But to answer your question, I want you to experience the loss that I suffered, at the hands of YOUR PEOPLE! I LOST MY WIFE! MY CHILD! MY EMPIRE!"

"YOU DIDN'T CARE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY!" Rigby shouted.

SLAP! Grafton struck him hard across the face.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" shrieked Amanda. But she was swiftly gagged again by a female soldier.

"The boy was useless but he was still mine!" Grafton snapped. "I DID care about my wife though. She would get me out of any legal difficulties so I could build my empire unimpeded. Until you and International Rescue ruined everything!"

"You won't get away with this, Grafton," said Rigby. "International Rescue will be tracking us this very moment, and when they catch up-"

"They won't be able to withstand the awesome firepower of my aircraft," said Grafton. "I've been waiting far too long to get the chance to use it."

Just then, a call came down from the cockpit. "Mr Grafton, radar's picked up an aerial contact following us."

"What is it?" Grafton asked.

"I don't know, sir. The cameras aren't showing anything. But the contact is definitely there."

Rigby smirked. "Now you're in for it." That was all he managed to say before the same female soldier re-gagged him as well.

Grafton turned to Millom who was still inside his mech-suit. "Do you have it?" he asked.

Millom looked at his suit's scanner. "Yeah, I do."

Grafton turned to the soldier. "Secure these two to the crate, then get to cover. It's about to get windy in here."

The soldier began to bind Rigby and Amanda to the crate that was behind them with more tape whilst Grafton and Millom walked to the rear of the cargo bay. The other soldiers hurried out, leaving their equipment strapped securely down. Grafton pushed a button and the rear cargo door began to open. They looked outside and with the naked eye, could see nothing. But Grafton, securing himself with a line to the side wall of the cargo bay, put on a special pair of goggles he'd had created. He then grinned. "There you are! You see it?"

The visor inside Millom's suit was on the same setting Grafton's goggles. "I see it."

"Then go deal with her."

Kayo's eyes narrowed when she saw the cargo bay door starting to open. "Something's happening on board the Helijet. The cargo hatch is opening." Then she noticed a green object emerge from within the Helijet and come flying in her direction. "It's one of the Mech-Suits."

"Is it Grafton?" asked Colonel Jennings over the radio.

Kayo used her scanner to zoom in on the incoming suit. "No, it's the other henchman who…wait a second, he's coming straight at me!" She turned the control stick sharply to the left. Thunderbird Shadow moved quickly in response. Kayo looked back, then gasped out loud. The Mech-Suit had also changed course, and was coming straight towards her. He raised his hands and fired two green energy beams at her. Both struck the side of Thunderbird Shadow causing it to lurch violently. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Kayo exclaimed as she quickly regained control. "THEY CAN SEE ME?! IMPOSSIBLE! I'M IN STEALTH-MODE!"

Millom kept firing his blasts as he tried to chase down Thunderbird Shadow. However, now that Kayo realised what was happening, she was able to use the aircraft's superior speed and manoeuvrability to keep out of reach.

Kayo's message was heard on Tracy Island as well as Thunderbird 5 and Hayley's Cheetah. Everyone who heard was stunned.

Jeff leapt to hit feet. "Thunderbird Shadow is detectable?! How is this possible, Brains?"

But for once, Brains didn't have an answer. "I-I-I-I don't know, M-M-Mr Tracy. G-G-Grafton must have created some s-s-seriously advanced technology that n-n-nobody knew about."

"He must have had some communication to unknown allies whilst inside prison and they managed to get him out without anyone noticing," said John.

Jeff turned back to Kayo's hologram. "Kayo, you gotta lose that guy. I don't care how you do it, but you can't let him bring you down!"

"Nobody's bringing me down, Mr Tracy," said Kayo with determination. She deactivated the camouflage as hiding was pointless now and did a loop the loop in order to get behind Millom. It worked, but only for a second as he cut his suit's boosters and allowed Thunderbird Shadow to race past him where he was able to grab the tail-section. Kayo looked back and saw him holding on tightly. She growled in frustration. But a quick glance at the clear blue sky above them gave her an idea. She increased to full power and pulled back on the control stick. Thunderbird Shadow tilted upwards and began to climb vertically, leaving the Helijet and the ground far below.

"Kayo, what are you doing?" John asked.

"To make him chill out," Kayo replied.

It took John a second to realise what she meant. "What?! Are you crazy? Thunderbird Shadow can't fly that high!"

"And I bet my friend here can't either," Kayo said.

She was right. The higher they got, the thinner the air got. Kayo was protected thanks to her suit and her ship's pressurised cockpit. Millom was also protected inside the mech-suit. But their respective propulsion systems weren't designed to operate at high altitude. Thunderbird Shadow's engines began to falter. But it was Millom's suit that started to freeze over. "What the?!" exclaimed Millom. "What's going on?!"

"What's happening?" Grafton demanded over the radio.

"She's taken me too high!" Millom cried. "My suit's cutting out!" And it did. A split second later, all power to the suit was lost and it lost its grip on Thunderbird Shadow. Millom began screaming in terror as he started the long fall back towards the ground far below.

Seeing he'd let go, Kayo flipped Thunderbird Shadow around and dived after him. As the air grew thicker, she was able to reboot her engines and use the grapple arms to grab hold of the suit in a way that he couldn't grab onto. She then zoomed towards the ground, levelling out at the last second and came along near to the coastal town of La Rochelle. Seeing a suitable open field, she released her grip and Millom's suit went crashing into the ground a lot harder than Banzi's had done. The suit protected him from harm, but the impact knocked him out cold.

"He's down and out," Kayo said as she turned Thunderbird Shadow back towards Grafton's Helijet. "Now to bring the big bird down."

"I'll send a squad to recover the other mech-guy," said Colonel Jennings over the radio. "Good job."

"Don't thank me yet, Colonel," said Kayo. "Let's get the job done first."

Thunderbird Shadow was closing in on Grafton's Helijet once again. He'd seen in the distance the cloud of dust and dirt kicked up by Millom's impact with the ground and he was furious. He let out a bellow of frustration much to the delight of Rigby and Amanda.

Kayo brought her craft right in behind the Helijet so those inside the cargo bay could clearly see her. She turned on a loudspeaker. "Your hired muscle is down, Grafton. Order your Helijet to land and surrender quietly. This doesn't have to get messy."

But Grafton sneered. "Surrender? NEVER!" he bellowed. He then spoke into his earpiece. "FIRE!"

Before Kayo had a chance to react to the alarm now sounding in the cockpit, there came a barrage of shells fired from a pair of revolving turrets mounted underneath the Helijet's wings. The shells ripped right through both of Thunderbird Shadow's engines. It didn't explode but in an instant, Kayo lost all power and the aircraft fell out of sight. Both Rigby and Amanda's screams of horror were muffled by the tape over their mouths whilst Grafton leant over the side of the ramp whilst still attached via his harness.

Thunderbird Shadow was spiralling down out of control whilst Kayo battled desperate to try and regain control. But it was no use. All power was lost. Both engines were destroyed. There was nothing she could do. "Mayday! MAYDAY!" she cried into her radio. "I'VE LOST ALL CONTROL! I'M GOING DOWN!"

Hayley's Cheetah rounded a bend in the road and both Hayley and Colonel Jennings were greeted with a truly shocking sight - that of Thunderbird Shadow falling straight down to Earth with two plumes of black smoke shooting upwards from its destroyed engines as it fell. They heard Kayo's radio call at exactly the same time. "KAYO, GET OUT OF THERE!" Hayley yelled.

But no response came back. Thunderbird Shadow disappeared behind a row of trees. Less than a second later, there appeared a colossal fireball accompanied by a sickening BOOM as it smashed into the ground.

"KAYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"