May 2nd 2066 - 21:45 NZST
Work has been quickly progressing with the construction of the T-Drive Engine. Everyone is on edge after the revelation that The Hood is now aware of what International Rescue are constructing. Professor Borender and Brains have been inside the Thunderbird 6 workshop of Mateo Island for most of that time. They rarely came back to Tracy Island, only for the occasional food supply and toiletries. The girls were increasingly worried for the guy's wellbeing as they were getting little sleep and working all hours of the day. Scott didn't share the same sentiment as he is nervous about getting the new Zero-X ready for take-off. The date of July 15th had been set by Scott as the day of the launch. Brains isn't so sure that they would make it, neither were the girls, however, Borender remained confident and agreed with Scott that the date was reasonable.
Currently, Brains and Borender were working on putting what would hopefully be the final T-Drive prototype together. Today they had done around 15 hours of work but remained vigilant. The pair were both used to these long hours when they were putting International Rescue together in the 2040s and working to the tight schedules of Jeff Tracy. Scott just turned out to be no different.
"Hydro spanner," Brains asks.
"Pocket fuser," Borender responds as the pair exchange tools. At this point, Scott and Marion make their way into Thunderbird 6's hanger, which had become a large workshop instead.
"How's the T-Drive engine going?" Marion queries.
"F-Fine," Brains confirms, "We're making good progress."
"Uh-huh," Scott mutters as he walks over to where Borender is working, "What's this part you're working on here?"
"Engine coolant circuit," Borender scoffs, clearly sensing some hostility in Scott's voice.
"V-Very delicate," Brains states.
"Okay, alright," Scott says innocently, putting his hands up in surrender, "And how long will that take?"
"A lot longer if you keep interrupting us," Borender growls.
"I'm not interrupting. I'm—" Scott starts.
"I think what Scott is trying to say," Marion interrupts, "Is that he wants to make sure everything's going according to plan."
"He still doesn't trust me, that's what!" Borender cries.
"Can you blame me?" Scott fires, "How do we know you're really here to help us?"
"The cybernetic link The Hood p-planted in Borender's brain is broken," Brains states.
"You know that Scott," Marion sighs, annoyed at her fiancé, "We need to let them focus on putting this engine together so we can find your father."
"Exactly," Borender states, "I built the original Thunderbirds as well as the T-Drive engine, and I've been waiting years for a chance to rebuild it one of them, but I can't work with you breathing down my neck."
"Well, I'm waiting to rescue my dad!" Scott shouts.
"Scott, we all want the same thing," Brains states, "And that the b-best way you can help right now is be patient and let us work."
"I can't handle just waiting around, not able to do anything," Scott sighs.
"Why don't you come with us?" a voice calls. Everyone in the workshop looks over to see Virgil, Alan and Kayo enter the room, with Virgil the one speaking up, "We're on our way to the Amazon rainforest."
"Simple search and recovery mission to deliver some anti-venom," Kayo informs.
"But we have to hurry," Alan adds, "We'll need Thunderbird 7."
"Hurrying is good," Marion smiles and pushes Scott towards the group that had entered, "And this is just what Scott needs to keep him out of the way."
"She means take his m-mind off all this waiting," Brains calls.
"You sure you want me to take Thunderbird 7?" Scott asks Marion.
"Sounds like Thunderbird 1 could be too slow," Marion states, "Go, I'll stay here."
"Okay," Scott nods and turns to walk out of the room, "I'm in."
7
Thunderbird 7 pulls out from a hanger underneath Thunderbird 1 to allow Scott to get inside.
6
A crane comes down and lifts Thunderbird 7 onto a platform.
5
Virgil's rocket painting tilts backwards and Alan and Kayo descend as they get suited up.
4
The pod equipment is loaded into Module 2.
3
Alan and Kayo 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
The engines start as the blast shield rises.
Thunderbirds are Go!
May 2nd 2066 - 07:08 BRT
"I have the coordinates of where the drone with the anti-venom was last in contact," Scott states as he arrives at the nearby Rio General Hospital Jungle Outpost-14, "You'll need to configure an earth pod. The Dragonfly should be best for getting around the jungle."
"FAB," Kayo replies, "Though we're still a way out."
"How far?" Scott asks, as he sets up mission control.
"30 minutes," Virgil responds.
"Well, our man had 45 minutes, tops," Scott states.
"I'm pushing Thunderbird 2 to her limits, Scott," Virgil says, "We'll get there as soon as we can."
Inside the module, Alan and Kayo go to work configuring a Dragonfly Pod. The Dragonfly is one of the newer pods that Brains designed a couple of years ago and had been proving to be one of the most valuable pods in Thunderbird 2's fleet.
"This big bug should blend in with all the other insects," Alan jokes as Kayo works at the monitor.
"Don't," Kayo growls, "I have a thing about a particular bug that I really don't wanna run into."
"Hey, I didn't know this," Alan says in surprise, "Is it spiders? Because you know this whole mission is because of the spider, right?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Kayo mutters and walks away from Alan as the machines inside the module get to work assembling the pod.
May 2nd 2066 - 07:36 BRT
"Stand by Alan and Kayo," Virgil announces as the couple do the final checks, "We're nearly there."
"We'll find the drone, grab the anti-venom and meet you at Dr Furnier's base as fast as we can," Kayo explains.
"FAB," Virgil responds as he lowers the module, while still keeping it attached to the cables as there is no clear grounding for the module to be placed, "I'll do my best to stabilise him, but you need to hurry. Clock is ticking."
Virgil the lowers the module door and Kayo, at the controls of the Dragonfly, slowly creeps the pod outside before stretching the wings and turning on the engines. The Dragonfly flies out of the module and towards the location of the drone. Meanwhile, Virgil turns Thunderbird 2 around and heads towards the location of Dr Furnier's base. In the Dragonfly passenger seat, Alan works on location the signal of the drone. He uses the data that Thunderbird 7 had forward to him and after a few seconds there is a small beep on the holo-screen.
"I'm picking up a weak signal from the drone," Alan informs Kayo, "But it's below the treetops."
"The jungle is too dense for us to fly through," Kayo states. Alan scans the forest canopy looking for a suitable landing stop and spots something off to his left.
"Land on that tree and I'll climb down," Alan orders before smirking, "You can stay in the pod, so you don't run into any bugs."
"I'm fine," Kayo deadpans as she diverts the direction of their flight path and heads towards the slightly taller tree, with no leaves on it, that peaked above all the others, "There's one small thing that creeps me out, but it's no big deal."
"It's spiders, isn't," Alan laughs.
"I said I don't wanna talk about it, so just drop it," Kayo bites back throwing Alan one of her signature death glares that would always work on him. Suddenly, the branch of the tree starts to break under the weight of the pod. The reason the tree had no leaves on it is because it is dead and excessive force would easily break one of the branches — such as the one the Dragonfly is currently perched on.
"I think we're about to," Alan calls before the branch gives way and the pod goes crashing down towards the forest floor.
May 2nd 2066 - 07:38 BRT
Thunderbird 2 scans the forest canopy for a sign of Furnier's base. Scott had informed him that the base is somewhere in the canopy and should be clearly visible from above. With the help of the rough coordinates, Virgil spots something up ahead, and sure enough it is the base that he is looking for. He brings Thunderbird 2 to a halt and walks over to the passenger platform in the back of the cockpit and attaches a cable to the safety handle on the ceiling. Virgil the presses the button next to it and the floor retracts from underneath him. Suspending in mid-air, Virgil starts to lower himself towards the platform that held the base in the treetops.
"Mission Control," Virgil calls in, "I've arrived."
"FAB," Scott replies. Virgil lands on the platform and makes his way inside the small hut and finds a man sitting on the floor with a smashed anti-venom capsule on the floor.
"Dr Furnier?" Virgil questions.
"I-International Rescue, I presume?" Furnier strains, clearly not in a good way.
"At your service," Virgil smiles and places a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'm going to transfer you to the medical bay on Thunderbird 2, while two of our team pick up the anti-venom. Everything's going to be fine." He then stands up again and looks away from Furnier before mumbling to himself, "So long as they get here in time."
May 2nd 2066 - 07:40 BRT
A couple of miles away, Alan and Kayo hop out of the broken pod. They turn back around to have a look and assess the damage. It didn't look good.
"Wings are gone," Kayo notes, "Apart from that, there's not too much damage."
"Okay, so it won't fly, but we can still travel on the ground," Alan assesses. Kayo wanders around slightly before bringing up her wrist communicator.
"Thunderbird 7, Mission Control," Kayo calls, "Where did you say the medical drone was?"
"Erm..." Scott trails before coming back with, "It should be at your exact location."
"Hmm," Alan muses and the couple start looking around to see if they could find the drone. Kayo then spots something in the corner of her eye and glances upwards to see an orange drone stuck in the old tree's branches.
"No need to travel on ground, Al," Kayo shouts and points upwards, "Look." Alan joins Kayo at the base of the tree and analysis to himself on how he is going to get up to the drone. His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Kayo's voice, "race you."
"Kayo," Alan gasps in shock and places a hand over his heart, "I can't believe you want to play such a childish game when a life is at stake."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" Kayo starts but quickly stops as Alan starts to smirk.
"Besides," Alan states as he starts climbing the tree," You'll never beat me. See you at the top!"
"Asshole!" Kayo laughs and quickly gives chase to Alan. Alan strains as he uses Brains' gecko gloves to help him hall his body weight up the side of the tree. He thinks that he is going at a reasonably fast pace as he swiftly sees the branch in question appear on his right. Slowly, and carefully, Alan brings himself to his feet and tries to balance himself as he makes his way across the branch. After getting about halfway across, he hears a rustling sound from above him and Kayo suddenly drops down in front of him.
"What were you saying about see you at the top," Kayo questions with her signature smirk plastered on her face.
"Okay, you win," Alan sighs but hears the branch starting to creak, "But watch out — these branches are dry and rotten. Remember what happened with that pod."
"So far so good," Kayo responds as she inches herself across towards the drone at the end of the branch, "This branch seems solid enough to take our weight."
As she gets within almost arms reach, Kayo lowers herself to her hands and knees to make it less likely for her to lose her balance. She crawls slowly and reaches out with her right arm as the drone twitches, clearly trying to back itself free.
"Got it," Kayo shouts but a leaf lands on top of the drone and the creaking that Alan heard earlier suddenly intensifies and the couple's eyes widen.
"Oh, you have got be shittin' me," Alan groans, "A leaf? That's enough to..."
However, Alan gets cut off as the branch finally gives way. The couple yells as they go flying down into a river below. Luckily, they had their protective suits on so any encounter with a dangerous animal would have little danger. This didn't stop the adrenaline kicking in as they, and the drone are taken underneath the surface to only be caught in a strong river current that pulls them into an underground section of the river. They are swept straight into the river tunnel and having a current this strong underwater only meant one thing — waterfall. Kayo frantically looks around and sees the branch coming up behind her. Using all of her might, she turns around and grabs onto it. Alan notices what Kayo is doing and does the same, just in time. They see a light appear and before they knew it, they are teetering over the edge of a large drop. Alan managed to hold onto the centre of the branch while Kayo is dangling over the edge only managing to hold onto the end of the branch with her left hand.
"Ugh," Alan groans, "Note to self, next time bring one of the jetpacks. What happened to the drone?"
"Must be at the bottom," Kayo strains and reaches across to bring her right hand up to grab on, "Hold on, I'm coming to you, and we'll figure out a way to get down." She pulls her right arm up again to grab onto a high bit of the branch, but the shift in her body weight causes to branch to teeter some more almost causing her to fall. "Argh!"
"Kayo!" Alan yells going to reach out but has to remain where he is, realising that it is his body weight that is the only thing stopping the branch going right over at the moment. Kayo tries again to reach out to Alan's hand, but her grip finally slips, and she goes luminating downwards. Alan's eyes darken and he reaches over to his utility belt and pulls out a grapple and attaches a line to it. Closing one eye, he aims with extreme precision and fires the line towards Kayo. Kayo sees the line and expands her surface area to make a hit more likely and the grapple connects with her stomach, securing her fall.
"Alan, Kayo," Scott's voice suddenly calls over the coms, "Do you read me? Virgil needs that anti-venom."
"Uh... uh. A little busy right now, Scott, but we're on it," Alan mutters as he tries to keep steady so he himself doesn't go over the edge of the waterfall. He cuts the coms and looks around, trying to formulate a plan, "Maybe I can make my way back to the cliff face along the branch." Alan attempts to move backwards but the branch starts to creak once again and he quickly brings his movements to a stop, "Huh... or maybe not."
"I think I can swing to that ledge," Kayo yells up, indicating with her head towards the nearby ledge. She begins to shift her body weight once again and starts to generate some movement from the grapple line. This in turn causes the branch Alan is on to rock backwards and forwards as well.
"Whoa, easy!" Alan shouts.
"One more try," Kayo replies and starts swinging again before reaching out at fall stretch and grabbing onto the rocks, "Argh!"
"Okay, but now what?" Alan asks.
"I have a plan," Kayo breathes and twist her wrist communicator turning it and something else on, "Here boy." The sound of movement is heard from above and the couple look up to see the Dragonfly start to make its way down the side of the cliff face towards Kayo.
"Oh, nice work, K," Alan compliments but stops as the branch teeters some more, "Uh-oh! Hurry!"
"Hang on," Kayo yells as she climbs up the cliff slightly to make it to where the Dragonfly had come to a stop. A large rock points outwards from the cliff allowing Kayo to stand up completely. As she turns around to face Alan, the branch finally falls causing Kayo to attach her end of the grapple line to one of the Dragonfly's claws. The line swings before tensing fully, stopping Alan's fall.
"Argh!" Alan cries and crashes face first into the cliff that Kayo is on, just a lot further down, "There we go." Kayo the uses the claw on the pod as a winch and starts to pull Alan back up to her position, "So... a simple search and recovery mission, huh?"
"Fuck off," Kayo laughs, "Who's holding who up?"
"Fair enough," Alan chuckles as he gets close enough to reach out and grab onto Kayo's hand. Kayo pulls him up and the couple quickly jump into the Dragonfly and make their way down the side of the waterfall, keeping an eye out for the drone. When they approach the bottom, Alan spots something orange in front of them. "Oh, look, we've finally had some luck."
"And we should have just enough time to get it to Virgil," Kayo states bring the Dragonfly to the bottom and quickly making her way over to the drone. Alan soon follows and as they make their way over to the orange device, it suddenly lights up and starts to hover. Kayo rushes over to try and grab onto the drone only for it to rise and evade Kayo's actions.
"Ugh!" Kayo grunts. Alan shakes his head and makes a dash for the drone in an attempt to grab onto it, but the drone moves off again.
"Oh!" Alan cries before moving slowly over to the drone's new position, "Oh, no. I think I know what's happening. Oh! The drone sensors got damaged in the waterfall. Now it's reading us as a threat and taking evasive action."
"Yeah," Kayo scowls and reaches out with her hands doing the same as Alan did earlier, "Well, evade this!" Kayo leaps towards the drone but it only moves out of the way once again, leaving Kayo to land flat on her face, "Ugh!" Alan tries to cover his laugh as Kayo stands up again and brushes the dirt off her suit.
"I've seen Scott go through this once before," Alan states, "We won't get near it."
"Alan, Kayo, this is Mission Control," Scott calls, "I'm patching you through to Virgil."
"Guys," Virgil states, "Dr Fernier is getting worse. Where are you? I'm calculating how fast that venom is spreading. And it's not looking good. We need that anti-venom now."
"FAB," Kayo replies and turns around to look over to where the drone is currently, which is moving back and forth along one of the tree branches high up, "Is that thing mocking us?"
"I have an idea," Alan states and picks up a small stone before throwing it towards the drone.
"Yeah, that drone is a total dodgeball champ," Kayo sighs, "You'll never hit it."
"I'm not trying to hit it. Argh!" Alan states as he throws another stone at it, "I want it to attack me."
"And that's good because..." Kayo trails, not following Alan's train of thought.
"Because you'll be waiting," Alan replies and continues throwing stones.
"Virgil," Kayo calls, "We've hit a snag. How much time do we have?"
"Not enough," Virgil sighs, "I'm seeing if I can use any meds to slow down the venom, but that will only buy us a few extra minutes."
"Come on," Alan grunts as he throws another stone before the drone stop evading and the couple notice a bright red light start flashing on it, "That's it, come get some!" Kayo moves across to the base of the tree to get out of the way of the drone's sensors. "Here we go," Alan says as he watches the drone get closer and closer before declaring "Now, Kayo!"
Kayo charges towards the drone and like she did before leaps towards it. However, unlike the previous attempt, Kayo manages to grab onto it.
"Argh! Got you!" Kayo cries but the drone starts flying around again picking Kayo up off the floor, "Ah! Oh! Just... need to... power... it... down!" Kayo strains with the drone before pressing the power off button and bringing it to the ground once again. Meanwhile, Alan stands off to the side laughing until tears start coming out of the corner of his eyes. "There. Done," Kayo scowls and gives a pointed look towards Alan for no helping her. Alan chuckles nervously and presses on his satchel.
"Mission Control and Virgil," Alan calls, "We got the anti-venom, but I don't know if we can get to you in... Huh? Time."
Alan had stopped as the sound of VTOL engines are heard overhead and a large shadow covers the couple, dimming out the sunlight completely. They look up to see the underside of Thunderbird 2 directly above them and begin to lower towards the ground. They breathe a sigh of relief.
"I figured it would be quicker if I came to you," Virgil calls over the speaker.
May 2nd 2066 - 07:56 BRT
"The anti-venom is already working," Virgil declares as they monitor Furnier's vitals, "You'll be good as new in no time."
"We'll still take it to Rio General Hospital just to be completely sure and meet up with our Mission Control," Kayo adds.
"Thank you all so much," Furnier states, "I know you all went through a lot to give me that anti-venom."
"Let's make sure we return our little friend here to the hospital," Alan indicates to the drone that is in his hands and walks over to one of the benches, "I'll leave it by the sample jar."
However, he gasps as he sees that the jar, where Virgil and Furnier had captured one of the [insert spider name] is now lying on its side empty.
"The spider!" Virgil cries.
"I must not have put the lid on properly. No-one move!" Furnier calls.
"It's okay," Kayo shouts as she bends over and closes a box that had the spider inside, "I found the little guy trying to crawl away."
"I thought you were afraid of spiders," Alan questions.
"No, I told you I wasn't," Kayo brushes off.
"Then what?!" Alan inquires.
"I'll never tell you. You'll laugh," Kayo states.
"Oh, come on," Alan cries, "I'm your boyfriend, I'd keep it as our secret. Is it millipedes? Grasshoppers? Stick insects? Butterflies?" Kayo suddenly comes to an abrupt stop and places a hand on her chest as she tries to catch her breath. "Wait, butterflies?" Alan smirks chocking back a laugh that is building up, "That's what you're afraid of?"
"You said you wouldn't laugh," Kayo glares but Alan is too amused to care at this point.
"Butterflies?" Alan chuckles, "Apparently, I was wrong."
"It's not funny!" Kayo wines, "Their wings are too fluttery, and they have really weird faces."
"Oh, I have to tell the other girls," Alan says as he doubles over laughing at Kayo's justification.
"Don't you dare," Kayo growls, "You know I can make you regret it."
"Well, I guess I'd have to cancel my surprise," Alan notes which got Kayo's attention.
"Surprise?" Kayo asks, "What surprise?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?" Alan smirks, "Though I better cancel that trip I planned to the butterfly enclosure."
"Alan Bartlett Tracy!"
"Oh, shit!"