Trip to Third Earth: Part 1
"That meeting was pointless," Pumyra griped. "We coulda
hear all that on the news."
"Really," Wily Kat said. "Sometimes, I think
they know more than we do."
The Thundercats had just gotten out of 5 hour
council meeting and Pumyra and Wily Kat were killing time until Pumyra
and Panthro had to go to Third Earth.
In Thundera City, it was a beautiful day,
even if it was a bit on the humid side. The Puma and Kat had came down
to the Thundera Space Port with Panthro. He was finishing up some paper-work
with Tor, the Station's supervisor. In 5 minutes, they'd be on their way.
"I hope you guys have a good flight," Kat
said as he started to walk away. "I gotta go. Lion-O wants me to go with
Cheetara to the Hydro plant in Siberana."
"Alright," she said. "See you when I get back."
"Same here."
As he left, Pumyra looked around the Space
Port. Also sorts of freighters and passenger liners were scattered around
the tarmac. Work crew hurried about to get ships ready to depart.
By itself in a corner of the tarmac, sat the
Feliner. Do to recent events, Lion-O had army guards posted around it on
the ground and a fighter escort in the air until it reached the outer limits
of the system. Pumyra knew was needed, but she didn't like it. It felt
like she was being imprisoned.
Panthro came walking over with a clipboard
in his hands. "Alright, let's go."
The two strode over to the Feliner, the fastest
ship in the Royal Thunderan Space Fleet. The two saluted the officer on
duty and walked past the soldiers. They got in and Panthro started to take-off.
The massive space-craft vertically lifted off from the tarmac.
Panthro griped the throttle and said, "Hold
on to your lunch!"
The ship rocketed away from the planet at
incredible speeds. Pumyra didn't even know that it could go this fast.
The Thundercats where slammed into their seats. In a matter of minutes
the Feliner had left New Thundera's Atmosphere and the Thundercats where
able to move around on the ship.
Pumyra wasn't happy. She did not like space
flight in the first place, and thrown around in her seat just made her
mad.
"What kind of stunt was that?" Pumyra yelled
at Panthro. "Somebody could have been hurt!"
"Don't worry about," Panthro said, as if what
had just happened was routine. "I had Tor clear a path for us in the Traffic
pattern. Do you really think I would have done something like this if somebody
could have been hurt?"
"Just don't do again!" the puma yelled. She
started moving towards the back of the ship, "I'm gonna freshen up."
Still seated at his station, Panthro said,
"Take your time; we've got 1 day until we get to Third Earth."
****
Panthro and Pumyra were bored out of their
gords.
They had been trapped in the Feliner for 6
hours. They had played every card game they could remember. Both were running
out of jokes to tell and the fact that they were in a cramped space wasn't
helping much.
Pumyra was sleeping her seat. Panthro was
sitting at his console going over some technical readouts. He had tested
the Mega-condenser three times this flight. Next time, he was going to
bring a book.
Just as Panthro started to doze off, the comm-link
button flashed. " 'Bout time," he said out loud, to no one in particular.
He pushed the button and Wily Kits face appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Kit," he said. "Is there a problem."
"Yeah," Kit said. "We just got word; the Lunattacs
have escaped."
"That's just great," he said. "What has that
got to do with us?"
"They're heading to Third Earth. You guys
might get ambushed, so watch your backs."
"Thanks for the warning. Panthro out." He
pushed a button and the screen went dark. Well, maybe this wasn't going
to be a lum- run after all. He tapped Pumyra on the shoulder. "Time to
return to the land of the living, Pumyra."
She opened an eye,"Why? Its friggin' boring."
"The Lunattacs escaped."
"Great," the Puma said sarcastically. "And
I though I'd catch up on my beauty sleep."
"Well, you can until we get to Third Earth,"
Panthro said. "I though I should warn you now just in cause we get....."
There was a loud explosion and the Feliner
rocked like there was no tomorrow. Panthro was thrown to the floor. Pumyra,
who was strapped into here seat was flailing about like a rag doll. A few
more shots hit the Feliner's shields and then the fire stopped. Panthro
got up into his seat; he had a cut on his fore-head it was starting to
bleed.
The comm-link button was blinking. Panthro
pushed the button. At first the view screen was filled with static. Then
the image of plump Rat Mutant appeared on the screen.
"Rataro!" both Thundercats exclaimed.
"Its nice to know that the almighty Thundercats
still remember me," Rataro said. "My crew and I were searching the space
lanes for another helpless freighter, when we found you, running with your
weapons down."
Panthro tried activating the weapons, but
he just keep on getting error messages. "Damnit!" he yelled as he slammed
his hand on the control panel.
"Running or fighting might be a little hard,
considering we hit your ship with a blast from an Ion Cannon. Your power
should be off line. Now prepare to be boarded. If you don't fight back,
you may live to see another day."
Rataro's image was cut off of the screen.
The massive Rat-Star was looming outside the Feliner's Viewpoint. It flew
close and the Thundercats felt the Feliner shudder as the Rat-Star docked.
"I'm not being taken prisoner by no damn Mutants!"
He turned to Pumyra, "Get the engines back online, I'll deal with the Mutants."
"Okay," she said as she reached into one of
her belt pouches. "But take some of these." She handed him some stun and
gas capsules.
"Thanks," he said as he pulled out his nunchucks.
A few simian Mutants with swords rounded the corner into the main control
area on the Feliner, swords and clubs ready.
Panthro charged them, catching them off guard. He round-house
kicked, knocking a few back. He started to pummel one before he got dogsled.
Pumyra turned around and saw Panthro's predicament. She ran over and jumped
kicked a simian mutant in the back of the head. He flew forward and his
head hit a bulkhead. A loud crack was hear and he fell to the floor,
limp. With one less mutant on him, Panthro was able to throw the others
off.
"Thanks for the save," he said while blocking
a Mutant's swing. "But what about the engines?"
"They should be coming on right about now,"
she said while kicking another mutant.
At the moment, the familiar hums of the engines
returned. The ship shook as power was being returned to the ships systems.
Panthro grinned. "Computer," he said aloud,
"Intruder Alert. Level 3 security protocol."
"Working," the ship's computer said back.
A light laser cannon came out of a ceiling compartment and started shooting
at the intruders. The mutants picked up their fallen comrade and ran back
to the Rat-Star. Pumyra closed the airlock as Panthro activated the weapons
systems.
"Time to give that pirate a taste of his own
medicine," Panthro grinned as he grabbed the manual controls. Panthro was
one of the best shots in the Royal Thunderan Space Fleet. He start taking
out the vital systems of the Rat Star. First the weapons, then the engines.
Soon, the Rat Star was drifting in space. With a smirk on his face, Panthro
hailed the Rat-Star.
"Well, Rataro, thanks for your invitation,
but we must decline." He smiled. "And one more thing; I'm leaving a beacon
here, the Intergalactic police be here shortly to pick you up. If you're
lucky, you won't get Mandora. Have a nice day."
"You can't do this to us Panthro! I'll..."
Panthro hit the comm-link button and sat back down.
"Are you okay, Panthro?" Pumyra said. She
sat a med-kit down on her lap and start cleans a cut on her arm.
"I fine, but lets get outta here," Panthro
said, leaning back. "And if those Lunattacs pull something, I'm gonna make
'em wish they hadn't."
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