Chapter 1 – Crash Land

A young woman watch in horror as the flight deck flared into flames. Her long brown hair, which was originally up in a bun, was hanging down, almost in her face. Though the bridge was in flames that did not stop her from yelling out commands to the people who were still alive on the bridge. She knew half of the bridge crew were already dead but she couldn’t worry about that now. She had to keep the ship from being destroyed. She was being perused by another ship, which was firing upon her.

She knew who her pursuer was. And she knew they would stop at nothing to prevent her from escaping. She had been held against her will. While being held captive, she made friends. At the first chance, she and many of her new friends stole a ship to escape. She even learned that some of her family and older friends were helping her. Her new friends were also being held against their will.

“Damage Report!” She looked around her bridge. Debris was everywhere as were bodies. She quickly snapped her head to look at the view screen, which for the moment was showing nothing but static.

“We have hull breaches on levels two through six! Force fields in place but I do not know how much longer they will last!” A male voice was heard from somewhere.

“What’s our heading!”

“Unknown,” another voice yelled. “Navigation has been knocked out. Weapons unresponsive. Wait…”

“What was it?”

“We’re in some sort of pull.”

“The enemy?”

“No, it’s not a tractor beam. We’re being pulled downward. I think we’re approaching a planet’s atmosphere!”

“Put it on screen.”

“Unresponsive.”

The woman slammed her hand on the arm of her chair. A single tear slid from her eye, as she knew it was the end.

“We have fought bravely,” she said quietly with her head bent, but then looked up with determination in her eyes. If they were going to die, she wasn’t about to show her emotions in front of her crew, especially over the deceased.

“All hands! Brace for impact!” Just as she was about to brace herself, the lights flickered out for a moment. She suddenly felt herself being pulled out of her seat and off to one side. A clang was heard and she noticed she was incased in something. She knew who did it and knew whatever she was in was useless to try and get out. She slumped to the floor and cried for everyone.

For several minutes she felt the floor shake as the ship began it’s descend through the atmosphere, but once it was through, she felt nothing. She quickly heard a few screams and then silence. She prayed that when they landed there would be some survivors.

Suddenly she surged forward, banging her head, then flew back. Once she got her bearings, she huddled her legs together, ignoring the pain in her back, as she knew they were vastly approaching the ground of whatever planet they were about to crash on. The last the thought that went through her mind was hope the planet was inhabited.

-

Cats’ Lair was full of activity. The swivelling head moved from side to side, doing it’s normal routine of checking the premises. Just outside the lair, two children, about the age of 12, were playing around in the snow. They quickly seized their play as an explosion was heard. They turned to the sound and watched whatever it was begin a descent to the ground. But they weren’t the only ones that witnessed it. The head stopped its movement and minutes later; four adults came running out of the lair.

“What was that?” one of kids asked.

“From the scanners,” the leader said. “It’s a ship crashing to ground. And from the looks of it, it’s on fire.”

The leader slightly turned as one of his friends was heading towards their vehicle. “It’ll be faster with the Thundertank.”

“Panthro is right,” a tiger looking humanoid said. “We’ve already projected it’s landing.”

The four adults and two kids quickly climbed into the Thundertank and drove off to the crash sight. The six people were known on the planet as Thundercats. The two kids were called Wilykit and Wilykat, as the four adults were Panthro, Tygra, Cheetara and their leader Lion-O.

When they reached the sight, they were shocked, the ship was still in flames. It wasn’t a very big ship but was big enough to fit at least fifty people. The Thundercats knew they had to act fast if they were to try and save anyone that might have been alive. Tygra immediately had a plan formed as he jumped out of the Thundertank.

“There isn’t enough water in the tank to extinguish the flames. We’ll need to get some sort of pipe or tube there so we can transport the water, as there is a lake nearby. It won’t take much to break the ice and with the ice water, it will put the fire out quicker.”

Panthro snapped his fingers. “I have the perfect transportation. I just installed an extendable pipe for these type of purposes.”

“I can get to the lake in no time,” Cheetara offered.

Lion-O nodded his approval of the plan. His team-mates quickly went to work. Panthro ejected the pipe and when Cheetara had a hold of it, she fled to the nearby lake.

Lion-O’s eyes widened in surprise as the pipe kept on coming out. When it finally stopped, it took a few minutes before Panthro noticed water was starting go into the pipe. “Water pressure is building up,” he announced. “I’m flicking the switch so watch out.”

Within seconds water began to spout out of one of the claws from the Thundertank. Panthro drove the tank around the wreckage until the fire was out. When the fire was out, Panthro turned off the pressure and began to extract the pipe.

Within moments Cheetara came running up with the pipe in hand. She dropped the pipe, allowing the tank to do the rest and looked at the wreckage. “From the looks of things, this ship was under attack and judging by the holes in the hull, it was in hot pursuit.”

“I agree,” Lion-O agreed. “We should find out if there’s any survivors.” He grabbed the sword of Omens, which was strapped to his left leg in the claw shield. “Sword of Omens. Give me sight beyond sight.”

Through the eye, Lion-O saw the debris all over the floor. Scorch marks everywhere indicating the fire began from the inside. As the eye looked, Lion-O’s eyes widened in horror. Dead bodies laid everyway some were slumped over consoles while others laid on the floor with burn marks. He was about to give up on his search when something caught the eye’s attention. Zoomed in, the eye revealed him a hand slowly, trying to move from a fallen bulkhead.

Wilykat walked close to the wreckage. “There’s something written on the side of the hull.”

“It looks like,” Wilykit said. “The name of the ship? This ship is human designed.”

“There’s someone trapped inside, alive,” the leader said as he placed the sword back in the claw shield. “Who ever it is, is on the flight deck trapped under debris.”

“Let’s move,” Tygra announced.

“Wait,” Panthro called. “It may be too dangerous. It may be wise for only one person to go in. The floors could collapse. Cheetara, can you sense any other life signs.”

Cheetara close her eyes, placing her fingers to her temple. During the past four years the Thundercats have been on Third Earth, Cheetara had been able to harness her sixth sense better. Though it still weakened her but it wasn’t like it was before. Through her mind, she scanned over the bodies.

Her body went limp after a few moments. Tygra, who was standing behind her, quickly caught her before she fell back.

“What did you see?” Lion-O asked.

“Many dead bodies,” she answered weakly. “There was more in that ship than we expected. There’s only one survivor.”

“Tygra,” Lion-O said. “Go in and rescue the survivor.”

Tygra nodded. He gently placed Cheetara in Lion-O’s arms and quickly made his way through the snow to the wreckage. All around the ship, the snow had melted away leaving the frozen ground visible. He jumped up as close as he could get to the bridge before entering through one of the many holes in the hull.

Lights flickering all round as Tygra slowly made his way through the sea of bodies and debris. His stomach tightened at the thought of the people who died and felt sorry for them. It made him remember when his people died when trying to flee from Thundera, just before it exploded.

When he reached the bridge, he quickly found the survivor. Bulkheads trapped the person, with a hand sticking out. As he began to move the bulkhead and other debris, he noticed the hand belonged to a woman. He also concluded that she was still conscious as he heard her moan as the debris moved.

“Help is here. Don’t be afraid. I’ll get you out.”

Several more minutes traveled on before he was able to get enough of the debris out of the way. He crouched down and slid one hand under her back as his other went under her knees and gently pulled her up.

“T…Thank…you…” she tried weakly.

“Don’t speak. Save your strength.”

When he knew she was secure in his arms, he quickly made his way back through and out the ship. Once in the brisk air, she shivered, which did not go unnoticed by Tygra. He quickly made his way to the ground.

When he landed, Lion-O was already waiting for him when he reached the bottom with a blanket in hand. Lion-O wrapped the woman in the blanket and when she was secured, Tygra and the rest of the Thundercats climbed back into the Thundertank.

Tygra noticed that she was now limp in his arms, which started to worry him as she had lost consciousness. He looked into her face. Her once nice face was smothered in dirt and scratches. Her hair was a tangled mess. One couldn’t even tell what her hair color was.

Panthro switched the tank into gear and quickly traveled back to Cats’ Lair. When the reached home Snarf came running down the snow covered steps.

“What happened, Lion-O? Snarf.”

“Not sure,” Lion-O said. “There was only one survivor and she’s now unconscious.”

“That’s bad.” Snarf turned and quickly took off back into the lair.

Tygra, guessing Snarf was off to set up one of the guest rooms for the woman, jumped out of the tank and preceded to the warmth of indoors.

-

Soft, warm blankets were the first things she noticed as she began to regain consciousness. She felt very safe within the walls of the blankets. But how is that possible? She did not remember climbing into bed nor were her blankets ever this soft. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a darkened room with moonlight shining through a weird styled window.

“Where am I?” she asked softly not expecting an answer.

“Cats’ Lair,” a male answered gently. He noticed she started to tremble at the sound of his voice. “Do not be afraid. I’m a friend. Careful, you are injured.”

“Who are you?” she asked.

“My name is Tygra and you’re safe on Third Earth.”

“Third Earth? The home of the Thundercats.”

“Yes. Actually I am a Thundercat.”

The woman quickly relaxed. She was in the home of Thundercats, which meant she was safe. A slight smiled began to grace her lips but quickly faded as she remembered what happened. “My ship!” She bolted up but immediately regretted it.

Tygra was at her side in an instant, gently pushing her back down. “Easy now,” he said. “You’re ship was badly damaged and from the looks of things, it’s no longer space worthy. However, some of the parts maybe salvageable.”

“My crew?”

“Gone, I’m afraid.” The tone in voice was saddened. “I pulled you out, you were trapped under debris.”

“Bastards,” the woman cursed as tears formed in her eyes. “It should have been me, not them.”

Tygra, unaccustomed to the curse, held her hand gently. “Who are you referring to?” He noticed that she had the prettiest pale green eyes he had ever seen. All the warrior maidens from the tree top kingdom had dark eyes.

“My fiancé. The marriage was to be an arranged marriage by my father but I escaped. Him and his brothers came after us and hunted us down like animals. My crew died protecting me, my brothers died protecting me.” More tears flowed.

“What is your name?”

“Alana.” The woman blinked a few times, trying to be rid of the tears and for the first time, she saw her rescuer. She looked into his eyes, which were strange but amusing as he was a cat. From the features that she could tell from the moonlight, he looked to be a tiger. She slowly moved her other hand and gently touched his face. The touch slightly startled him.

“You saved my life, a complete stranger.”

“That’s the purgative of a Thundercat.”

“So the rumors are true. For the past year I’ve been told a lot about the Thundercats.”

“I should let you rest.” Tygra gently pulled her hand away from his face. “I need to let my leader know that you have awakened.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Three days now. Panthro has been looking at the wreckage.”

Alana moved her head away from Tygra. “What is happening about the recovery of my…crew?”

“Nothing as of yet. We’re waiting until you are strong enough.”

“I would like to be part of the cleanup operation…please.”

“Why? Seeing the destruction will be devastating.”

“I don’t care. I knew each and everyone of my crewmembers. They were my friends and they deserve proper burial in the way they want. Especially my brothers.”

“Your brothers?”

“My brothers did not agree with the arranged marriage. My other sisters were forced into arranged marriages and I haven’t seen them since the wedding day. I don’t want to end up like that.”

“Thundera was never into arranged marriages.” Tygra backed away from the bed and began to walk to the exit of the room.

“Tygra,” Alana called with a weak voice. Tygra turned back to her. “Thank you. I’ve never met a man who sounds as kind as you and for that it sooths my heart to know my crew’s death wasn’t in vain.”

“Your welcome. In a few hours, someone will wake you to have something to eat. It will soon be sunrise.”

“Tygra.”

“Yes.”

“I want to see my ship as soon as possible. The sooner the crew is laid to rest the better.”

“I’ll see what I can do. For now, rest.”

Tygra quickly walked out of the room before she asked him another question. He walked up to the command room and waited for his leader to awaken. When he woke, the command room was the first place he went.

“Morning, Tygra,” Lion-O said.

“Lion-O,” Tygra said. “Our guest has awakened.”

“That’s good,” Lion-O answered. “Did she give you any information?”

“Her name is Alana and she was running from her fiancé.”

“Her fiancé?” Panthro questioned as he walked into the command room. “Why would she do that?”

“An Arranged marriage that she disagreed with. With help of her brothers, they escaped and he hunted her down.”

“You mean,” Lion-O started. “A man caused all that damaged to the ship over an arranged marriage. That’s a shame. What is an arranged marriage?”

Panthro looked at the young lord. “It is when a person is forced to marry someone he or she doesn’t want to.”

“That’s just plain cruel,” Lion-O said. “She lost her crew to a madman.”

“People are just plain cruel in general, Lion-O,” Tygra said. “When Alana is strong enough she wants to see the ship and wants to oversee the recovery operation of her crew.”

“What!” Lion-O burst. “That’s a lot of bodies lying in that ship. That ship is a tomb.”

“Even so, she wants to give them a proper burial of what they wanted.”

“That makes sense,” Panthro agreed. “I’ve taken a look at the ship and it looks like some of the computer components could be used to power our weapons better and perhaps I could make few new additions.”

“Before we take apart her ship, we’re going to ask her permission if it would be alright. Even though she has been marooned on Third Earth, the ship is still hers to do what she pleases,” Lion-O said.

“How are her injuries coming along?” Panthro asked.

“Luckily,” Tygra said. “Most of her injuries are minor. The worst is a cut on her head and few bruises. It would seem it was caused from the bulkhead that covered her. I’ve inspected the spot where I found her and it looks like the bulkhead was placed there to protect her.”

“If it weren’t for the bulkhead, she would have died,” Panthro concluded. “Snarf has started on breakfast and it will be reading in an hour or so.”

“Good,” Tygra said. “I told Alana that someone would go and wake her so she could eat.”

-

Alana was awakened to someone slightly shaking her. When she finally stirred and looked at the person. She quickly recognized the person as Tygra.

“I wanted to let you know,” he said. “That breakfast is ready.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly. She peered over to the window, seeing that the sun had risen.

“Would you like to eat here or in the dinning room?”

“The dinning room. The sooner I get back on my feet the better.”

Tygra turned and grabbed an article of clothing from a nearby chair. “Here wrap up in this. It’s one of Cheetara’s robes.”

“Can you help me to sit up?” Alana asked.

Tygra nodded. He grasped her hand and gently began to pull her up. When she was a little off the bed, he placed his other hand behind her to support her back. When she sat up, Tygra placed the robe around her shoulders so she could put her arms in the sleeves.

Tygra pulled back the blanket and pulled her legs around to touch the cool floor. With his help, she stood and with one arm around her waist and the other holding her hand they walked slowly to the dinning room.

Upon reaching there, Alana saw five other humanoids and one four legged creature sitting at a rectangular table and there was two empty spots. One for Tygra and the other must have been for her.

“Alana,” Tygra said. “Meet Cheetara, Panthro, Wilykit, Wilykat and Lion-O our leader and Lord of the Thundercats.”

Lion-O knew the woman was suffering from loss. He looked at her and gave a small smile. She now looked better than she did. Her face was cleaned up as her hair was pinned back into a bun to keep her hair off her wounds.

“Who’s the creature?”

“That’s Snarf,” Panthro said with a smirk. “He has many talents.”

“One of which is preparing food,” Wilykit said.

Tygra walked over to an empty seat and helped her to sit. The other empty seat, which was quickly occupied by Tygra, was beside her. On her other side was Lion-O. It was a quiet meal and surprisingly, Alana ate more than what she expected but less than what the Thundercats wanted her to eat.

“Alana,” Lion-O said when the meal was finished and Snarf began to clear away the plates with the help of the Thunderkittens. “As soon as you’re strong enough, someone will take you to what’s left your ship. But I should warn you…”

“I know, there are seventy bodies lying around like rag dolls. I suppose Tygra said that I wanted to help in the recovery operation.”

“Yes, he did,” Lion-O said. “I know right now, you’re grieving but with your permission, Panthro could use parts of your ship to upgrade Cats’ Lair and other objects.”

“Do with what you need. Tygra already said that the ship maybe salvageable but will never be space worthy again. If I didn’t have too, I wouldn’t go anywhere near the ship but my brothers are in there and they deserve to be buried by me.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Panthro said. “But how many brothers did you have?”

“Six brothers. I have four sisters. My father ended up marrying a three times. Two of his wives died during childbirth. Lion-O, if you don’t mind me asking but did you fight a man name Safari Joe?”

“Yes, actually we did,” Lion-O answered. “Why?”

“He’s my father.”

“You’re father,” Cheetara eyes widened in shock. “That man almost killed us, if it weren’t for Lion-O. He used our greatest weakness against us to render us almost useless.”

“Thunddrainium,” Alana said. “My father told me about that. That is actually how I heard about you but I wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth about hunting you guys. My father, is many things and a coward is one of them. He also is a liar.”

“That,” Lion-O said. “We figured out for a ourselves.”

“He’s a big show-off but when it comes down to action, he’s worthless. Yes, he’s hunted other creatures but when he met a creature who could think for themselves, his coward comes through. He mostly relies on his weapons to protect him and when they fail…you know the rest. When I fled from my fiancé I had full intention of coming here but part way here, we were attacked…” tears began to flow down her cheeks. “I have lost everything that meant anything to me.”

Alana went to stand and leave the room. She did not want to cry in front of strangers who helped her. But as she stood, her legs gave out and she began to fall. Lion-O was quick in getting to her before she collapsed.

“Tygra, why don’t you take her back to her room. She’s been through a lot.”

Tygra nodded. He picked Alana up and carried her out of the room and into hers. When he sat her down, he noticed that she was trying real hard not to cry.

“You don’t have to hide just because you’re within strange company,” Tygra said softly.

Either through his gentle words or softness of his voice, she couldn’t figure out which one, tears began to flow out of her tightly closed eyes. “Please…leave.”

“No,” he said gently but sternly. “You are in pain, in more ways than one. I want to help.”

Alana opened her blurry eyes to stare at the tiger. “Why do you want to help a stranger? Much less a daughter of the man who tried to kill you.”

“From what I can see and what you’ve said, you don’t seem to be anything like your father. You would not be the first human to be our friend. There are several humans on Third Earth.”

“Please, Tygra. I would like to be left alone. Besides, I should get more rest. The more rest I have the quicker, I’ll heal.”

“I agree with you there on rest. If you need anything, there’s a button to the left of the bed. Just push it. Someone will hear it. My room is just around the corridor, Lion-O is at the end of the hall and the others are on the level below you.”

Alana nodded. She pulled her feet on to the bed and removed the robe. Tygra took it from her hands and place it on the chair. When he turned to help her lie down, she was already lying on the bed facing away from him. He knew she was silently crying. Without saying anything, Tygra left the room and once the doors were closed, he could hear heavy sobs, faintly, coming from the room.

It soared his heart knowing what she was going through. A few times, when the Thundercats first crashed and Cats’ Lair was complete, he would hear Lion-O grief over the lost of Planet Thundera. When he returned to the dinning room, Lion-O was the only one left.

“Will she be okay?” Lion-O asked.

“Physically yes, but right now emotionally, no. Actually knowing that her father hunted us down and he tried to force her to marry someone and then that someone hunts her down and kills her friends, is taking a lot out of her.”

“I would imagine. I know I remember when I grieved over Thundera and you overheard. She tried to leave the room without help.”

“Yes. She wants to grieve alone but I won’t let her just as I wouldn’t let you. Tomorrow I’m going to change her bandages and hopefully she’ll be a little more open.”

“Give her time Tygra. She’s not like me. Perhaps if she sees someone of her own kind. Tomorrow I’ll go and see Willa. Willa might be able to help.”

“Then again, maybe not. Willa will be just as much as a stranger as we are.”

“That maybe so but Willa is also human. From what I’ve learned about humans, they like to consult with their own kind more than other races.”

“I’ll take first watch tonight.”

“No. You are almost just as drained as she is. You have been up most of the time, keeping watch over her. I’m going to get Panthro to take the first watch. And if anything, you’ll stay in bed until morning.”

“You’re right. I’m going to head out to the wreckage to see if I can piece together of why the damage is so extensive.”

“That does puzzle me. There must have been some sort of faulty circuits somewhere. The holes are too rounded.”

Lion-O watched Tygra leave the room. Lion-O sat back at the dinning table pondering how he should approach Willa, if he should even approach her at all. Alana was a stranger to Third Earth and she may not want to see another human just yet.

“Something troubles you,” a voice said.

Lion-O looked up and saw the ghost of his mentor. “Jaga. I’m not sure what I should do.”

“The woman is stronger than she looks. She may grieve now but she’ll soon learn how to live again, just as you did.”

“Is it actually wise to allow her to help in the recovery operation?”

“It may not be wise but it is her wish. It will also help in her healing in the end.”

“Thank you, Jaga.”

“Take care Lion-O.”

When Jaga was gone, Lion-O headed out to get some fresh air. He knew Cheetara was in the control room and the Thunderkittens were playing in the snow.

 

Continued

 

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