December 18th, 2062 - 10:47 NZDT
Alan takes a swim in the pool outside. The summer is just starting, and Alan thought it was a perfect opportunity to use the pool while Gordon is on a supply run in South-East Asia. Currently, Alan is doing laps of the pool and just inside the villa, Kayo sits at the counter with a book in her hand. Marion is working in the kitchen behind her making a small snack for the pair.
"Why don't you join him?" Marion asks and slides a plate of waffles in front of Kayo.
"He seems to be enjoying himself just fine," Kayo notes, not looking up from her book.
"But he would prefer it if you joined him," Ridley announces as she walks into the room.
"Ridley!" the other two cry.
"Wow, the girls of International Rescue in the same room for the first time," Ridley smiles and snatches a waffle off Kayo's plate, "Well expect for Lady Penelope, but she hardly visits the island."
"Nice of you to join us," Kayo smiles and gives Ridley a fist bump.
"Well, John and Brains are doing the maintenance and I thought I could use a break," Ridley explains, "But don't try and change the subject Kayo."
"Ugh!" Kayo sighs and rolls her eyes.
"Go on join him," Marion says.
"Fine if it makes you happy," Kayo growls and goes to upstairs to get changed.
"Thunderbird 5 to Tracy Island," John suddenly announces on everyone's coms, "We have a situation."
"Argh!" Marion and Ridley complain, and Kayo gives a slight smirk.
"Welp, looks like the pool may be needed in a second," Kayo winks and walks off.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
Scott sits on the couch reading the newspaper when John's hologram appears in the lounge.
"What have we got, John?" Scott asks and watches as Virgil and the girls enter the room.
"A cargo carrier experienced a massive systems failure," John explains, "The crew are fine. They evacuated over Lake Nakusp, but the ship is on a crash course for Anderbad City. I'm sending you the coordinates for the ship's projected flight path."
"Gordon is still on a supply run, but we're on our way," Virgil says.
"Think you two can handle it?" Kayo asks as Virgil walks towards the painting.
"We may need Thunderbird 7 initially so we'll load her up onto Thunderbird 1," Scott says, "But that could change."
"I'll be standing by if you need me," Kayo says.
"See you in the sky," Virgil calls as Scott walks over to the lamps and Marion sits on her chair.
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 inside Thunderbird 1's cargo hold.
5
Virgil's rocket painting tilts backwards and Scott descends as they get suited up.
4
The fuel supply is emptied on Module 5.
3
The front doors close as Marion gets into the co-pilot seat.
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!
"See you when you get there, Thunderbird 2," Scott calls.
December 17th, 2062 - 16:25 PST
As Thunderbird 1 approaches the Canadian Coast, the land grows from a distant smudge to a sprawling expanse of rugged beauty. The evergreen forests look like a patchwork quilt from the sky, the rivers snaking through them like silver threads. They rocket over Lake Nakusp and spot the falling zeppelin ahead.
"John, now would be the time to fill us in on any nasty surprises," Marion says.
"Funny you should say that," John mutters, "The ship is losing altitude faster than our projections, but why?"
"It l-looks like the l-liquid hydrogen fuel cells have c-cracked open," Brains informs as he floats over to the holo-map that is in front of John in the mission control room.
"And I'm guessing that's bad?" Scott asks.
"The t-tanks keep the fuel isolated," Brains explains, "But if an electrical f-fire starts on impact, you'll get what w-we scientists call a very big ka-boom, which is also what my insides f-feel like." Brains runs a simulation for Scott and Marion to both view from the Thunderbird 1 cockpit.
"What's the time frame?" Marion questions.
"J-John says I'll feel better once I get used to zero gravity," Brains responds.
"I think she means before the zeppelin crashes," John deadpans.
"Oh. Right," Brains stutters, "F-Factoring in altitude, wind speed, ship weight, adjusting for c-cargo, and letting X equal the rate of fuel loss, we get... Oh my." The holo-projections suddenly load as Brains finishes the simulation. A hologram of Anderbad City appears and shows that the zeppelin's crash zone is right in the city centre.
"Guys, you're going to need to move fast," John orders.
"F-A-B. And Brains, that means Feel A-lot Better," Scott says and watches as the zeppelin appears in their view below them, coming out of the cloud cover for a brief moment, ""Thunderbird 7 is ready for launch."
"F-A-B, Scott," Marion acknowledges, "This is Thunderbird 7, launching in three... two... one." The bay doors of Thunderbird 1 open and a small blue, streamlined aircraft drops down. Its wings expand outwards before rolling around to fly parallel with Thunderbird 1.
"We'll attach cables and divert the ship from the city," Scott informs, "Both our ships sure do more than enough while we wait for Thunderbird 2 to do the heavy lifting when Virgil gets here."
"Alright," Marion acknowledges and turns on her grapple lock. She messes around with it until she is able to get a lock and fires out a cable. Unfortunately, the cable proceeds to bounce off the hull of the ship, the same goes for Scott in Thunderbird 1. "Oh! The cable won't lock onto the hull."
"I'll call up a schematic," John says and presses the hologram of the zeppelin in order to bring up the files. However, her receives a no signal alert. "That's weird. File Not Found?"
"Oh, sorry. Your d-database is offline because I started a system check," Brains informs.
"How long to bring them back online?" John asks, "We don't have a lot of time here, Brains."
"It's okay. I've b-backed everything up onto Max," Brains points and beckons Max to come into the room, "He can stream the database to your screen."
"Attaboy, Max," John smiles as Max plugs in the backup, "EOS run a scan."
"It appears that the whole top section is demagnetised," EOS states.
"Thunderbird 2 can nudge the ship and change course that way," Scott suggests.
"I would strongly c-caution against that," Brains says, "Those leaking fuel cells could easily r-rupture."
"Ka-boom," Marion simplifies, "We've got it."
"Okay. I'm going to have to get on board," Scott states, "Maybe I can regain some control of this thing."
"Scott," John interrupts, "The cockpit section isn't demagnetised. You should be able to attach a zipline to it."
"Marion, can you redock with Thunderbird 1 and take the controls?" Scott asks.
"Sure, thing Scotty," Marion says and redocks Thunderbird 7 inside the cargo hold and jumps into Scott's seat. She takes Thunderbird 1 closer to the zeppelin. Meanwhile, Scott gets on his helmet and checks his oxygen levels before giving Marion the thumbs up to lower the chair. The cockpit hatch opens and the red pilot's chair drops. with Marion at the controls and Scott handing onto the mechanical arm attached to the rear. Scott narrows his eyes in order to focus on the section of the ship he wants to get to before firing a line across. It attaches with a clang just as the sound of another aircraft is heard. Marion and Scott turn around to see that Virgil has arrived on scene.
"Hey, Virgil!" Scott calls, "Just taking a little air."
"Yeah, don't look down," Virgil jokes as Scott flings himself across to the zeppelin's cockpit.
Scott looks around for a door into the cockpit and stops one, ten meters away from him. It is just as well that both his gloves and boots have a magnetic funding which he switches on using wrist communicator. Slowly and carefully, he starts to crawl along the side of the craft to get to the door. Once he reaches it, he twists the hatch and the door swings open due to the wind. When he enters the cockpit he closes the door behind him, allowing for him to take off his helmet.
"Whoo! I'm in," Scott announces as runs over to the pilot's chair of the zeppelin, "Looks like all systems critical. We're on auxiliary power with almost no altitude control or steering. I can't risk landing with that fuel leak. I'm gonna point her down and bail out. She'll crash safely into the lake before reaching the city." The zeppelin suddenly drops in altitude and Marion follows after it in Thunderbird 1. "Crash course set. Ready to bail out," Scott calls and gets up from the seat. He makes a dash for the exit, but his movements are paused when he hears the comms monitor crackle into life and a voice is heard.
"Hello? Anyone there?" a female voice says causing Scott to stop and gasp, "We're stuck. We can't get out! Trapped!"
Scott runs back down the stairs and over to the monitor in question. "Hello? Can you hear me?" There is, however, no response. "John, did you get that? I thought everyone was off this ship."
"I thought so too. Hold on," John mutters and turns to Brains, who is still working on Thunderbird 5's systems, "Can Max check the crew manifest against the evacuee headcount?"
"Of c-course," Brains confirms, "On screen, Max."
A small screen flickers behind John and he watches both of the counts start adding up. Two red person symbols then appear next to the evacuation count. "The numbers don't match," John notes as he looks at the manifest, "They messed up their count. Two crew members are missing!"
Virgil does a scan using Thunderbird 2 and his screen start flashing with two green person symbols. "Got 'em. They're inside the cargo hold," he announces.
"Okay, I'll get the crew and evac them out with me," Scott says, heading to the back of the cockpit. At the back, a ladder is located where Scott climbs up and opens the hatch at the top. He pulls himself up and goes to moves when he hears something. Looking up, Scott notices a claw right above him and his eyes widen as it suddenly springs into lift. As quick as he can, Scott slides down onto the ladder and closes the hatch above him, holding it down tightly as if he is bracing for an impact. "Ahh! Okay. We have a new problem," he calls and heads back to the cockpit and starts to bring the zeppelin out of the dive he had put it in. "I've pulled out of the crash course, but I'm struggling to maintain altitude. Come in, cargo crew! This is International Rescue. Do you read me? Over."
"Yes, we read you, barely," the female voice says again, "We're hiding in the back of the hold. Our loading claw's motion trackers have malfunctioned. It locks in on anything that moves."
"Yeah, I got a taste of that. Hold tight. We'll get you out," Scott reassures and calls on the IR frequency, "Guys, I need to keep this crate in the air long enough for us to find a way past that loading claw. Looks like we'll need that backup, Kayo."
"F-A-B," Kayo acknowledges, "I've been monitoring your comms, and Shadow's prepped and ready to go."
3
Thunderbird S's platform heads up the ramp.
2
The platform turns around to show the outside of Tracy Island.
1
The platform rotates and Thunderbird's engines start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
December 17th, 2062 - 16:42 PST
"Scott, we're plotting your new trajectory," John calls.
"Have we time to get the crew out before we get to the city?" Scott asks.
"Negative," John responds, "You'll have to fly over the city and bring it down in the open country on the other side.
"He'll never make it!" Marion interjects, "They're still losing height!"
"If you offload ninety percent of the fuel, there's a ch-chance you'll be light enough to get over the city," Brains states.
"Okay. I'll keep flying," Scott says, "Virgil, you'll start pumping out that fuel. Marion, keep my escape route ready."
"F-A-B," Marion replies.
"F-A-B," Virgil acknowledges and moves Thunderbird 2 into position above the zeppelin. Opening the modules bay doors, he lowers down a fuel pump and tanks. He slowly starts bringing down the fuel line over the area that the hatch is located according to the schematics that Thunderbird 5 has provided for him.
"How are you guys doing in there?" Marion asks as Scott concentrates on flying.
"Oh, you know. Just playing hide-and-seek with a giant bone-crushing craw," the female chuckles nervously, "No big deal."
"Well, hang in there. Help's on its way," Marion replies.
Meanwhile with Thunderbird 2, Virgil has extended the fuel line out completely but is having a problem finding a lock. "The ship is too unstable for me to attach a fuel line," he explains, "Can you hold it steady for me, Scott?"
"Not... really!" Scott strains.
"Marion, fancy a trip outside?" Virgil asks.
"I thought you'd never ask," Marion smiles.
"I've got Thunderbird 1 slaved to my controls," Virgil announces, "I'll keep her steady for you."
Marion attaches her jetpack to her suit before jumping out of Thunderbird 1 and rocketing up to the top of the zeppelin. She flies over and grabs onto the fuel line that Virgil dropped from Module 5 and looks up in horror as Anderbad City comes into view. It's tall skyscrapers looming over the banks of Lake Nakusp. Marion shakes her head as if trying to get the image out of her head and goes back to focusing on attaching the fuel line. "Ahh!" she strains as she pushes down on the fuel line. Slowly, it is guided into a lock.
"Yes! G-Great work, Marion," Brains compliments, "Now you'll see a valve above the coupling. You need to turn that clockwise 'till it clicks."
"Activating pump," Virgil states once he sees Marion give him the thumbs up.
"Everything okay, Marion?" Kayo asks as she flies one the scene.
"Yeah… just enjoying… the view," Marion grunts, "The crew are in the cargo hold on the upper deck. But we're running out of time."
"Don't worry. I'll get 'em out," Kayo says and flies Thunderbird Shadow underneath the zeppelin to attach to the side by one of the emergency exit doors and to stay out of the way of Thunderbird 1. She presses a button on her control unit to reveal Thunderbird Shadow's landing struts that attach the aircraft onto the side of the zeppelin so she can safely get out.
"Yeah," Marion mumbles, "Why would I worry?"
"I'm pumping fuel as fast as I can," Virgil informs, "All the dials are red. Anymore and I'll rupture the line."
"I'm still... holding on... here," Scott calls.
"I've alerted the Anderbad City air traffic control," John informs as he looks a map of the skies in British Columbia, "There's nothing else in the sky. We have a clear run."
"The fuel dump's working," Scott relaxes, "I can see we're gaining altitude. Though I don't know if I can keep this thing high enough."
"I'm recalculating your flight trajectory over the city based on the rate of your fuel loss," Brains explains. There's a pause as he runs the simulation and does the calculations to update the holo-projections with the new data. "Oh. It's going to be t-tight."
"Tight-but-we-should-make-it tight? Or John's spacesuit tight?" Ridley chuckles from one of the couches in the lounge and Marion laughs as she gets back into Thunderbird 1.
"I don't think I know how to answer that question in a way that is reassuring," Brains mutters.
"Spacesuit tight it is," Ridley says.
"Come on! Climb!" Scott yells.
December 17th, 2062 - 16:58 PST
Kayo enters the zeppelin, its airlock hissing open, and hears the claw straight away. She turns to her left and smirks as it, calculating her next move. "This is why I love my job," Kayo mutters to herself, a wide grin spreading across her face, "No two days are ever the same. Well, except for the part where I have to dodge a metal hand with a serious anger management problem." The metal claw makes the move for her. Despite being the size of a small car, it shoots out with the speed of a cobra. It is adorned with razor-sharp clamps that would turn a human into a puddle of soap if it grabbed onto them. The chase is a bizarre game of cat and mouse, except in this case, the cat is a giant, malfunctioning robot arm, and the mouse is a woman with a knack for trouble.
Kayo charges for the stairs in front of her and turns towards the claw, before heading towards it. As the claw closes in, Kayo grins and swings over it, the claw snapping at her heels. She rolls, dodges, and flips, her movements a chaotic ballet of acrobatics. "Come on, ugly, you're slower than a sloth with a broken leg," she quips, hanging upside down from a metal beam as the claw clumsily swipes at her. Kayo is too quick and flips over it and lands on the other side. Turning to her right, she grabs onto the handrail and jumps over it dodging the claw again. The zeppelin's interior is a labyrinth of corridors, its air thick with the scent of ozone and burnt wiring. The claw lumbers through the passage, its metallic teeth gnashing. Spotting some shipping containers in a pile of disarray, Kayo sprints forward and goes around the corner to hide in and amongst them.
Suddenly, the claw then picks up one of the shipping containers and starts to head towards Kayo. "This thing is smarter than it looks," Kayo whispers, "At least, about as smart as a brick." As she looks up, Kayo notices the two missing crew and charges for the door. She gets a hand on the container following her and propels herself forward and into the small room, landing in what some might call a superhero pose.
"International Rescue. Time to go. Follow me," Kayo instructs.
"You're kidding right?" the guy says.
"No, I'm pretty serious," Kayo states as she gets up.
"We can't jump and flip around like you just did!" the guy exclaims, "I try to work out, but come on!"
"He's right," the female says, "We'll get picked up in seconds."
"I have an idea," Kayo says as she looks out of the window to where the claw is, "I'll distract the claw and you make a run of it. Be ready." Kayo runs out again and the claw gives chase to her once again. She disappears around a couple of containers and finds a metal suit similar to the one Marion used against Scott when they first met. Smirking, Kayo jumps inside, just as the claw flings the containers that she is hiding behind. "When I say run, run," she says to the crew members.
December 17th, 2062 - 17:03 PST
"I'm nearly at capacity," Virgil states, "I can't take on much more fuel."
"Just take every last drop you can," Marion orders, "Scott, get ready to bail."
"I will once I know Kayo and the crew are out," Scott says and calls Kayo, "Kayo, how's that evac going?"
December 17th, 2062 - 17:04 PST
"Working on it," Kayo states and engages with the claw, "RUN!" The crew run out and Kayo glances at her surrounding as she keeps the claw distracted, "There, on the left. Where does that lead?"
"The top of the ship. Emergency exit," the female informs.
"This definitely qualifies as an emergency. Go!" Kayo yells as watches as the crew members get into the lift, "Virgil! They're heading out through the emergency exit at the top of the ship."
"F-A-B," Virgil acknowledges, "But that's it for the fuel dump. I'm out of space." He retracts the fuel line into the module just as a hatch on the top of the ship opens up to reveal the crew. "I've got eyes on the crew. Bringing them up."
"Just a few more seconds, Scott," John states, "You're nearly clear."
"As soon as we're over those last buildings, this ship is going down!" Scott cries, "Kayo, you need to get out!"
"Ahh! Great idea, Scott," Kayo grunts sarcastically, "Thanks for the suggestion." Using the metal suit, she kicks a shipping container across the floor of the zeppelin, distracting it allowing her to ger out of the suit and run towards the exit hatch. Once through, she makes it back to where she parked Thunderbird Shadow and breaks off. "Thunderbird Shadow is clear."
"That should do it, Scott," Marion declares, "Now get the hell outta there."
"Got to be sure..." Scott strains as the zeppelin takes out a billboard on top of one of the buildings which didn't show in the city hologram schematics.
"No, Scott!" Marion argues, "Get the fuck out!" To her relief, she sees the cockpit door open and Scott firing a grappling cable over to Thunderbird 1. Marion jumps out of the pilot's seat and allows Scott to retake his seat. With seconds to spare, Thunderbird 1 rolls out of the way of the impact blast and the zeppelin hits the side of a mountain and goes off in a massive fireball of an explosion.
December 18th, 2062 - 13:51 NZDT
Scott, Marion, Virgil, and Kayo sit in the lounge chatting along with Brains, who had returned from Thunderbird 5. Ridley decided to stay on the island until the morning and give EOS some more work to do during her shift. A message comes in from the two crew members they saved earlier.
"Thank you, International Rescue, you saved our lives," the female says, "I still can't believe you took on that claw."
"Nice work, everyone," Scott says as John ends the feed and appears from his painting as a hologram, "We limited the damage at Anderbad City to one billboard."
"And I even completed Thunderbird 5's m-maintenance!" Brains says, "Everything's running p-perfectly."
"Sounds like you've developed a real taste for space," John chuckles.
"Oh, once a year is quite enough, thank you," Brains says.
"Hey, guys!" Gordon announces as he walks into the room.
"How was the supply run?" Ridley asks.
"Routine. But wait until you see what I picked up in an antique store on the way back," Gordon smiles and beckons Max to come in with the item in question. It is of a toy claw machine, "It's the same game Alan and Kayo used to play all the time. You grab prizes with the claw. Who wants to go first?"
"I'll pass," Kayo says and walks upstairs to her room.
"Me too," coughs Marion and follows her.
"Oh, come on! Who doesn't love The Claw?" Gordon cries as everyone leaves the room.
"It's all yours, Gordo'," Virgil says.
"What I say?" Gordon asks, thinking and comes up with an answer, "Oh! The Claw needs prizes! No wonder they didn't want to play!"
Upstairs, Kayo bumps into a shirtless Alan with a towel wrapped around his shoulders.
"Sorry," Kayo mumbles looking away blushing.
"Whoa, Alan!" Marion calls, "Get some clothes on please. You're scaring the ladies!"
"I... erm," Alan stutters, going red himself, "I was just about to head back down to the pool."
"Oh," Marion smirks and looks at Kayo, "I'm sure Kayo would love to you. She just asked me but I'm off to do some work with Scott."
"I—" Kayo starts and watches Marion walk off and growls, "It better be age-appropriate work!"
This time it's Marion's turn to be speechless. Alan makes the wise decision to leave and make a dash for the pool. Things were about to get awkward.