Drifting in and out of a hazy reality, images began to come. At first, they were blurred and they shifted as they formed. It was impossible to tell what the images represented; they seemed to exist for the sole purpose of confusion. A kaleidoscope of colors made up the background, though there really was no background to this realm. It was like floating in an unknown medium, and the colors flitted and darted throughout the world. More images started to come, but these images were clearer. They began to be recognizable. Familiar stretches of land, familiar faces, and familiar feelings were associated with these new images. But the images themselves didn’t portray the familiar objects. They merely represented them in a wholly symbolic fashion. And after a while, they began to fade away. The entire world started to fade away. A few moments later, the fading increased in speed and intensity. It wasn’t long before all that had been was shrouded in blackness. And then there was nothing.

Tygra awoke abruptly from his bewildering dream and belatedly realized that he was being hauled to his feet. A gloved hand seized the back of his neck and thrust him up against a wall. He suppressed a growl as he felt the dull, throbbing pain in his neck escalate into piercing agony. After a few minutes, though they felt like hours to the injured tiger, his neck was released and he staggered backwards, instinctively putting his hands out to catch himself as he landed on the ground.

And that’s when he realized that he could put out his hands. And his feet, too. Hardly daring to hope, Tygra looked at his wrists and ankles and his hopes were confirmed. The Thundranium manacles had been removed.

There was a soft thud beside him and Pumyra was thrown to the ground. Her chains had also been removed. Catching Tygra’s questioning gaze, Pumyra gave him a rueful smile. "I didn’t realize they were coming until they opened the door. And I couldn’t wake you because they got to you first," she apologized. She looked like she was about to say more when a guard backhanded her alongside the head and knocked her flat. Tygra jumped to defend her but was slammed down himself by two more guards.

"No talking," an officer instructed.

Pumyra mumbled something and got back to a sitting position, fixing the soldiers surrounding them with a venomous gaze. Tygra hesitated and then also pushed his torso off the floor. With a sidelong glance at the guards, he began to massage his wrists and winced as he felt the blood flow resume. He considered getting to his feet, but he and Pumyra had probably been pushed to the floor for a reason. So he sat. And he observed.

This was the first time Tygra was able to see his lodgings. When he’d awakened from unconsciousness, it had been too dark to make anything out. The first thing he noticed was that the cell was quite small, but despite its size there were seven guards crammed in the room and all seven were watching himself and Pumyra very closely. Its color was nondescript and the ceiling had a gentle slope to it. The door to this small room was open and the corridor beyond could be seen. It was dimly lit and as boring as the interior of his holding cell.

The sound of booted feet approaching caught Tygra’s attention and he watched the doorway for signs of what was to happen next. Pumyra also heard the coming soldiers and turned to watch with Tygra. Before long, four guards had appeared in the doorway. There was no discernable signal system, but the seven guards in the room were immediately hustling the prisoners to their feet and pushing them out the door at gunpoint. Considering his weakened condition and the presence of eleven soldiers, Tygra decided this was probably not the best time to escape. For now, he would play their game. But he resolved that this game wouldn’t last long.

"Watch for opportunities," he hissed to Pumyra. The puma nodded quickly and Tygra felt her alertness go up a notch.

The barrel of a gun was slammed into Tygra’s rib cage and he staggered slightly, more from surprise than from the actual blow. "No talking," a soldier warned menacingly.

Wearying of the game already, Tygra nodded in what he hoped resembled submissive acknowledgement. He couldn’t be sure, because he was feeling anything but submissive at the moment. To try and calm himself down, he started making a mental map of the hallways he was traversing. This proved to be more of a challenge than he’d first anticipated because the corridors were given to sporadic turns and periods of winding for the sadistic joy of winding. By the time the soldiers began to slow their hasty march, Tygra was developing a headache.

Pumyra nudged him and nodded to the side with her head. Tygra took a quick look and saw an open door. And beyond the open door…ships! It was a hanger deck! That was their ticket out of here.

But not just yet. If there was anything Tygra understood well, it was the value of patience. While he was adept at battle, he was not the hardened warrior that Panthro was, the bold fighter that existed in Cheetara, or the courageous hero that Lion-O could be. Most of Tygra’s victories had come from wearing his enemy down through patience, invisibility, and stealth. The few times he had charged in headlong had usually resulted in disaster. And with the residual effects of Thundranium still present, now was not the time to make a break for it. He could feel a lingering weakness in his legs and arms. Focusing his attention on Pumyra, Tygra could guess she was feeling the same. Her occasional stumbles betrayed the haughty glances she kept throwing at the guards.

About twenty yards beyond the hanger, the guards halted, forcing their two prisoners to stop as well. A well-secured door stood before them and one soldier began punching in a series of numbers. Tygra closed his eyes and listened. He could hear nothing on the other side of the door. Opening his eyes again, he assessed the positioning of the guards. Their training must have been good, because they were still alert and watching the prisoners intently. But their training wasn’t that good. Five were standing in front of Tygra and Pumyra, two were standing on their left, two more on their right, and two behind them. The tiger managed to hide a smug grin and looked at Pumyra with a questioning gaze. She looked back in confusion until he nodded backwards with his head and then indicated the door in front of him. Realization dawned and she narrowed her eyes briefly, doing a self-inventory. Eventually, she nodded.

Tygra gave her a brief smile and then turned his attention back to the door. The soldier had finished imputing his numbers and the heavy blast door was sliding open. The five guards in front had turned and were preparing to enter. The four guards standing next to the Thundercats were beginning to move forward. The two behind prodded with the barrels of their weapons. Tygra looked at Pumyra and their eyes met. With a quick nod, they moved.

Pumyra flipped backwards over her guard and kneed him into the soldiers in front. Tygra locked arms with the guard behind him, used him as leverage to swing a kick at the two guards on his side and then shoved the surprised guard forward into his other startled comrades. A second later, the two felines were racing down the corridor and making a beeline for the hanger deck. Energy blasts screamed overhead and the sounds of commotion and confusion rose behind the escaping prisoners. "Come on," Tygra urged. Putting on an extra burst of speed, the tiger turned into the hanger deck.

And was instantly pulled back out by Pumyra. The door slid closed in front of them. "They’re depressurizing it," the puma whispered. "And at the present rate, we would have had about five seconds before our blood vessels started to explode. We’ve got to find another way out of here."

By this time, the sounds of pursuit were just around the corner. Tygra thought quickly, grabbed Pumyra’s arm, and took off again down the hall. He thought he’d seen something resembling a control room near their cell.

"Not to sound pessimistic," Pumyra huffed, "but do we know where we’re going?"

"What’s life without a few surprises?" Tygra panted back.

"That’s what I thought," the puma muttered between gasps.

The guards behind them were gaining on the two Thundranium weakened Thundercats and lasers were now searing through the metal hallways. As they rounded a sharp corner, Pumyra suddenly cried out and crashed to the deck, clutching her shoulder. Tygra skidded to a stop and took up a defensive position in front of her. "What’s the damage?" he demanded.

"Laser in the shoulder," Pumyra hissed. "Tygra, what are you doing?! Keep going! Get out of here!"

"Just stay low and I’ll take care of a few things," Tygra growled back. He could hear the running soldiers and judged they would be turning the corner in a matter of minutes. Ignoring further vehement protests from the injured puma, Tygra slipped to the corner and waited. Gauging the distance of the guards by the sounds of their coming, Tygra waited a split second more and then dove out into the hallway.

The guards tried to stop, but they were running too fast and careened into the flying tiger. Rolling beyond them, Tygra righted himself and tried to figure out who was still a threat. When all the soldiers rose to their feet with murderous expressions, the tiger had his answer. Backing up slightly, he tried to ignore the whine of lasers as they powered up. "I suggest you give up, striped scum," one of the soldiers growled.

" ‘Striped scum’? Now that’s original," Tygra muttered under his breath. "I’ve heard better insults from Monkian." But he put his hands on his head to signal surrender, knowing he couldn’t stand down a troop of lasers without the advantage of surprise. The guards hesitated, wanting to blast the tiger anyway, but then they moved forward slowly, lowering their weapons. And that’s when Tygra acted. With a flying leap, the nimble cat cleared the front guards and slammed his body down on top of the rear guards. "PUMYRA! RUN!"

"She can’t." Taken by surprise, Tygra looked up and watched as a new soldier dragged a wincing puma forward and threw her to the floor. "One more step and she dies," the soldier warned as he took out a hand blaster and held it to Pumyra’s head.

Everything Tygra had ever been taught screamed at him to continue the fight and escape. Thundera had to be warned, even if that warning was bought at the expense of Pumyra’s life. But Tygra had always had problems with that particular philosophy, and sacrificing the one for the many had never appealed to him. So the tiger relaxed his tense muscles and dropped his head. "You win," he growled softly. He contented himself with the belief that another chance for escape would present itself.

From behind, guards seized his arms and started to chain them behind his back, making no pretense about being gentle. Tygra clenched his teeth as he felt the immediate affects of Thundranium and then a nearby guard kicked his feet out from under him, dropping the tiger to the deck.

"You scum," Pumyra hissed. "What do you want with us anyway?"

"Silence, slave," her guard told her. For emphasis, he positioned the blaster under her chin and forced her head backwards.

"You think you can silence me?" the puma demanded. "It will take more than that to silence a Thundercat."

"Will it? Your striped friend is wise and keeping his mouth shut," the guard answered. "If you have any intelligence whatsoever—"

"If I have any intelligence, I should denounce you and your men for what they are," Pumyra snarled, thoroughly riled. By now, guards had gotten around to chaining her wrists and ankles, but that didn’t stop the angry puma. "You are nothing more than a bunch of hotheaded, arrogant, scum-sucking, chauvinistic, egotistical maniacs with nothing better to do than to amuse your own immature, pointless, useless, impotent, imbecilic—"

"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!" her guard roared as he slammed her head into the deck with a sickening thud.

Tygra heard Pumyra groan quietly and felt his blood boil. "You didn’t have to—"

"Shut up, slave. That’s enough out of both of you." A man in a white lab coat was coming forward now and the soldiers grudgingly cleared a path for him. He surveyed the scene with a furrowed brow and bushy gray eyebrows. Running a hand through his white, tousled hair, the man reached into a pocket of his immaculate white coat and drew out some kind of inhaler. "Give her ten breaths of this," he instructed, handing it to Pumyra’s guard.

Tygra struggled against his captors, but their hands held him firm and tightened as the man in the coat came closer. "You’re a feisty one, my friend," the man observed. "We’ll have to do something about that." He reached into another pocket and pulled out a large metal clamp with a needle attached to one end of the clamp. Tygra growled threateningly, but the man only looked at him with amusement.

"I have seen such defiance, striped slave," the man laughed. "It has never helped anyone before. It will not help you now. In fact, if you struggle, this will be far more painful." The man approached and Tygra tried to jerk away, but the guards were strong and the Thundranium was intense. "Hold his head," the man ordered.

Tygra felt hands grapple for holds on all sides of his head and more on his neck. By now, fear was beginning to grasp the tiger, and he was feeling the mad adrenaline of a caged animal. But there was no helping his situation. He was too weak to fight and the guards were apparently used to this procedure. He felt the surface scratch of a needle on the back of his lower neck and the cold end of a clamp resting on the upper portion of his collarbone. "Beautiful bone structure," Tygra heard the man breathe. "Now hold him nice and steady. I’m going to tighten it quickly."

Not liking the sound or the feel of what was going on, Tygra tried one more time to break through in a last surge of strength. But his feeble attempts were no match for the conditioned guards who laughed at his efforts. The man was doing something to his metal contraption and Tygra felt the sharp needle bore into the back of his neck. The needle shifted painfully back and forth in the already sore tissue as the man adjusted the clamp’s position. Tygra closed his eyes tightly as the needle collided with his spine. The needle scratched along bone for a while and then Tygra felt the grips on his body tighten even more. The needle was jiggled, shifted, and then Tygra felt it slide between two vertebrae and…

"I still don’t think it was a wise idea, Lion-O," Lynx-O murmured. "The reports at best are unconfirmed. There was no need to inform the clans that—"

"I didn’t inform the clans," Lion-O responded, his lack of sleep showing in the drag of his voice. "I informed Sybar, Courana, and Pumeti. I felt Tygra’s clan had a right to know his situation and because common pumas are claimed by both cougar and puma nobles, I informed the leaders of the cougar and puma clans. So if anyone has any familial ties to Pumyra, they are now informed. They know as much as we know; they know that the Cat’s Lair and the Tower of Omens are destroyed and there are no signs of survivors. But that doesn’t mean that Pumyra and Tygra are gone."

"You didn’t tell them that the Lunatacs are proposing an alliance, did you?" Cheetara asked, uneasy about discussing Tygra for some reason.

"No," Lion-O scowled. "Give me a little bit of credit. I want the advantage in this discussion and giving away my hand wasn’t the way to do it."

"What do you think about the proposal?" Snarf wondered as he trailed along behind the three other Thundercats.

"I think it’s genuine," Lion-O answered. "Don’t ask me how or why. I just feel that Glacion is sincere about this. And I’ve never known him for treachery before."

"No, but we’ve known other Lunatacs who are quite capable of treachery," Cheetara stated. "It’s best to walk into this with caution. Or not walk into it at all."

"Snarf, snarf, I always hate these council meetings."

"You don’t have to come," Lion-O pointed out. "You could go back to your nap."

Snarf ruffled himself up indignantly. "I may be old, but I’m not too old to help out where I’m needed. And you may need my support in this clan meeting."

"Just don’t do anything out of the ordinary," Lion-O pleaded. The foursome had reached the doors to the council room. Cheetara and Lynx-O shifted to respectful positions behind Lion-O and the Lord of the Thundercats strode through the doors as they slid open to admit him.

The scene inside was one of chaos. Clan leaders were shouting at one another and throwing accusations back and forth. The few who maintained a degree of calm looked up in relief as Lion-O and the other Thundercats entered. Tahee immediately stood to welcome the young leader.

"Thank the Ancients you’re here," the cheetah said smoothly. "Maybe you can clear up some flying rumors that are circulating. It seems that we’ve lost all communication with Pride and that Third Earth is in questionable conditions. Perhaps you would care to elaborate?"

Not for the first time, Lion-O wondered where and how Tahee got his information. Since first meeting the leader of the cheetah clans, the lion had been impressed by just how much Tahee seemed to know of activities that were supposedly classified. "I’ll try and do just that," Lion-O told the cheetah. "Let’s get this meeting started. Is everyone here?"

Tahee glanced quickly around the room. "Everyone except Sybar. He’ll probably be here shortly."

Lion-O nodded. "Once he arrives, we’ll begin."

Everyone took their seats, though hushed discussions and suspicious looks continued around the table. Lion-O let the clan leaders go ahead with whatever covert plots they were hatching. He was reveling in the idea that Sybar was late for the meeting. The tiger was usually on time and had been known to make disparaging comments concerning anyone who was tardy, including Lion-O.

After about ten minutes, Lion-O began to get a little impatient. He could tell that the clan leaders were also rather miffed by Sybar’s behavior. Well, that could be a good thing. If everyone was mad at Sybar, maybe that tiger would learn some respect.

Fifteen minutes later, Lion-O was starting to become angry. Even Panya, Sybar’s closest ally in council debates, was grumbling. Snarf was close to dozing off, Cheetara was fidgeting, and Lynx-O’s brow was furrowed in deep thought. "Five more minutes," Lion-O told himself quietly. "I’ll give him five more minutes."

And then the conference room doors slid open. Lion-O whirled around in his chair, ready to indignantly confront Sybar, but he stopped in surprise. There was a tiger standing in the doorway, but it was not Sybar. It was Mantyro. And Mantyro looked very anxious about something.

"Lion-O, may I have a word with you?" the tiger asked. Mantyro’s smooth tenor was outwardly calm, but Lynx-O’s keen ears caught a tremor of anxiety and fear in the tiger’s voice.

"Can it wait?" Lion-O asked.

Mantyro bit his lip and then walked to Lion-O’s side. A hurried whisper in the lion’s ear sent Lion-O surging to his feet. The Lord of the Thundercats stared at the red tiger who nodded solemnly. Watching all this in bewilderment, Cheetara leaned over to Lynx-O. "What did he say?"

Lynx-O’s lips pursed as he considered how to answer the cheetah. "I believe it will be revealed in its proper time," he whispered back. "But the news is not good."

"Cheetara?" Cheetara looked up at Lion-O. The young leader grimaced and continued. "Will you brief the clan council on Third Earth, Pride, and the Lunatacs? There’s something I need to take care of."

Cheetara nodded quickly. "Of course, Lion-O. Anything wrong?"

"That’s what I’m going to find out." With that, Lion-O and Mantyro hurriedly left the room as Cheetara stood to address the council.

As soon as the two Thundercats were out of earshot, Lion-O stopped and swung on the tiger. "Now what’s this I hear about a tiger rebellion?"

"That’s why Sybar’s not here," Mantyro answered. "He’s taken almost all the noble red tiger clans and united them against what he calls the ‘Thundercat hierarchy.’ There are also a handful of common red tigers with him. All the white tigers and the red tigers who aren’t joining with Sybar have been expelled from the settled parts of the mountains and no one knows where they are anymore. It’s like they’ve disappeared. Sybar sent troops out after them, and apparently the troops haven’t returned yet."

"How in Thundera did you learn about this?!" Lion-O demanded.

"My sister Chinga is being dragged into this to save our clan name, but she doesn’t agree with him. She managed to get off a recorded message, but I only received it a few minutes ago." Mantyro sighed and shook his head. "According to her, Sybar has gone completely mad. He blames you for Tygra’s death and—"

"Tygra is NOT dead," Lion-O growled.

"Sybar claims he is," Mantyro returned. "And what Sybar says is the only thing that matters. Sybar is spreading the word that you sent Tygra out on a suicide mission to eliminate the tigers’ influence in the government."

Lion-O’s mouth fell open. "HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY SAY THAT?!" For a moment, Lion-O couldn’t speak for rage. Eventually, he managed to control himself again. "Tygra was one of my closest friends and I valued his opinion more than the facts of any other Thundercat. If anyone pointed me in the right direction during my training, it was Tygra. He was the only one who truly seemed to understand what I was going through. My body was adult, but my mind had to catch up. And he knew that. He was always the understanding one. I can’t believe…" Lion-O trailed off into a series of growls and snarls.

Mantyro hesitated and then decided he had to continue. "There’s more."

Lion-O raised his eyebrow. "You mean that wasn’t it?"

"I’m afraid not. According to my sister, Sybar is now sending out messages to all the other clans on Thundera about the domination of the lion clan and how it should be overthrown and how all the other clans should unite under the wisdom of the tigers." Mantyro shook his head in disbelief. "He’s organizing a mass rebellion and it won’t be long before he starts getting a response to his recruitment efforts."

"Thundera backs the Thundercats," Lion-O murmured. "They wouldn’t dare turn against us. Especially not with an interstellar war at our doorsteps."

"Don’t be so certain," Mantyro warned quietly. "Chinga sent me some of his propaganda and it’s convincing. Not that I’m thinking of joining," he added hastily, seeing Lion-O’s look. "Personally, I think power has gone to Sybar’s head. But that’s only my opinion, not the opinion of the other clans. If his propaganda gets out to the common panthers, and especially the puma and cougar clans who have lost Pumyra, there’s going to be trouble."

"But what can we do about it?" Lion-O asked. "With ships and an entire colony already missing, we can’t afford to take a time out and fight a civil war with an insane tiger."

"That’s another point," Mantyro said softly. "Sybar maintains that if a tiger had been in charge, this war wouldn’t be upon us. Apparently, you got us into the war for the sake of glory."

"And what glory do I get out of losing five Thundercats in the first venture, including my fiancée?" Lion-O demanded. "That’s ludicrous."

"I didn’t say he made sense, Lion-O," Mantyro responded. "But the way Sybar puts these arguments is very convincing to those who don’t know any better."

"So we divert resources to a big publicity campaign?"

"Lion-O, I don’t know. I’m not a political scientist and I’m not a diplomat. I’m a warrior, an illusionist, and a technician. More than that and it’s over my head."

"I’m sorry, Mantyro. I wasn’t trying to attack you," Lion-O apologized.

"Don’t worry about it. If I were in charge and got word that the lions were staging a revolt, I’d probably act the same. You have to watch those lions," he added with a smile.

Lion-O smiled back, though it was half-hearted. "Well, watch this lion. We’re going to take care of this problem quickly or I’m not Lord of the Thundercats." Lion-O wished he could be half as confident as he sounded.

"Anything on your sensors?" Lepora asked as she prepared to merge her Thundera Dagger back into real space.

"Nope. Not a thing," Wiley Kit reported. "Of course, we can’t be completely sure. My brother is still working on this new programming that incorporates hyperspace and real space into something a computer can analyze. But it doesn’t look like there’s anything out there."

"My board’s also blank," Lepora stated. "And it uses the older sensor technology, so it’s probably clear."

"Disengaging hyper drive," Kit said. Nimble hands flying over the Dagger’s controls, she felt the shift between dimensions as her Dagger dropped speed and slid out of hyperspace. Slightly ahead of her, she saw Lepora’s ship materialize.

"We cut it a little close, didn’t we?" Lepora radioed.

Kit grimaced and looked toward the planet Pride. "The computer said we were far enough away from Pride’s gravity well, but you’re right. That was a little close."

In the other Dagger, Lepora shrugged it off and started scanning the planet’s surface. "Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. We’re still alive," the leopard responded. She waited patiently for scanning results to start coming back.

Kit turned her Dagger into a geo-synchronous orbit around Pride. "No sign of any enemy ships," she observed. "The computer was right about that."

"No sign of friendly ships, either," Lepora warned. She suddenly gasped. "Kit? The colony has been destroyed!"

"You’re kidding!"

"No, I’m not!" Lepora insisted. "There’s nothing down there but ruins. The only signs of life are those indigenous to the planet. No Thunderians."

While Lepora had been making her report, Kit had begun scanning the planet’s atmosphere. "Static buoys," she snarled as the computers started to compile results. "The remains, anyway. They’ve been blown up. And the defensive satellites are nothing more than debris, too."

"I’m calling Thundera," Lepora told her. "They have to know."

"Know what? We have nothing to tell them. We’ve got to find more information," Wiley Kit argued. The frustrated Thundercat started extending her scans outside the planet’s atmosphere. "There have to be some clues around here. You can’t just decimate a colony and leave no sign of what’s happened!"

"Shouldn’t we give them a progress report?" Lepora asked.

"And what progress have we made?"

"Good point," the leopard conceded. She pulled her ship away from the planet and started away from the center of the solar system. "No debris out here."

"There."

"What?"

Wiley Kit smiled to herself. "Found it. Past Pride’s moon. There are traces of ionized gas. Sub-light engines before they shift into hyperspace."

Lepora gave her ship a slight push from her engines and went over to investigate. "You’re right. There’s a lot of exhaust out here. Which means a lot of ships. And big ships, at that. Let’s follow them."

Now it was Kit’s turn to play cautious. "Shouldn’t we tell Thundera first?"

"We’ll tell them on the way," Lepora decided. "There aren’t any static buoys up, so it shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll make a quick hyperspace jump and then stop to scan for more exhaust. We’ll tell them while we scan."

"Sounds good," Kit agreed. "How far are we going in hyperspace?"

"How about ten light years? That’ll take about fifteen minutes."

"Okay. I’ve got their hyperspace trajectory based on the engine exhaust. Ten light years, then. Race ya there!"

"You’re on!" Lepora laughed.

Momentarily forgetting the potential danger that lay ahead of them, the two young Thundercats surged ahead, each one trying to coax a little more out of her Dagger. Kit threw her head back and laughed as she felt reality waver around her and her ship’s engines shifted into the realm of hyperspace. Since Lepora had joined the Thundercats, Wiley Kit’s entire world had changed. After hitting puberty, things were awkward between herself and Wiley Kat. While Kit continued to excel in physical activities, her brother just seemed to increase in clumsiness. Tygra had explained that his growth spurt was too fast for his coordination to keep up with changes in his skeletal structure, but that didn’t change things. Kit was off trying to have adventures and Kat was trying not to fall on the way out of his room. And then Lepora had come along.

In Lepora, Wiley Kit had found the female friend she’d instinctively wanted all her life but hadn’t known she needed. Kat had always been there for her, but as she and Kat started to grow apart, Kit found herself longing for female company. There were things to discuss that men just didn’t understand. There were places to go and things to explore that men took no interest in. For a while, Cheetara took it upon herself to supervise Kit’s puberty but it wasn’t quite good enough. Kit needed someone close to her age. She needed someone young to talk to. And then Lepora had come along. The two were instant friends and had become inseparable.

"You’re falling behind," Lepora snickered.

Kit forced her mind away from her nostalgia and urged her Dagger on to greater speeds. "We’ll see about that," she taunted the leopard. That was another thing. With Kat, Wiley Kit had been forced to assume a façade of maturity. There were some things and some circumstances that Kat just didn’t understand. But Lepora understood things, and so Kit could abandon her forced maturity for a more youthful attitude.

Unfortunately, this occasionally led to trouble. It was almost too late when Kit glanced at her scanners and saw the collection of ships. "Lepora! Drop out of hyperspace!" Kit plunged her own Dagger back into real space so quickly that she felt sick for a minute and had to concentrate to keep from blacking out.

"What’s up?" Lepora asked as her ship emerged a few hundred meters in front of Kit’s.

"Check your scanners," Kit groaned, clutching her head as she felt a headache coming on.

"By Jaga," Lepora breathed. "That’s a big force. Do you suppose they’re what we’re looking for?"

"They don’t belong in this sector, that’s for sure," Kit said as she started to do a long-range analysis. "Thundera has to know about this."

"I’m on it," Lepora assured her. "But why are the ships just sitting there? Why aren’t they still in hyperspace? And why haven’t they seen us yet?"

"My guess is that we’re too small. It’s hard for our own ships to track Daggers even when they know where we’re going to be," Kit mused. "But as for the rest of it…" She trailed off and watched her computer readouts closely. "It looks like one of their main ships is having engine problems. I’m not getting any readings from the hyper engines in the biggest ship."

"Okay, I’m calling Thundera for backup and suggestions," Lepora announced. "This could be a big break for us."

Lion-O and Mantyro walked into a council room full of voices. Cheetara stood up as they entered and heaved a sigh of relief. "I told them pretty much everything," Cheetara whispered to the lion. "There are understandable reservations concerning the Lunatacs. Other than that, they seemed to take things pretty well."

"Good," Lion-O sighed. "Get Lynx-O and Snarfer. Follow Mantyro up to the council room and gather up all the other Thundercats who are still on Thundera. We have a rather interesting situation and you should be aware of it."

Cheetara’s eyes widened but she immediately nodded. "Good luck down here," she offered. Turning around, she walked over to Lynx-O and Snarfer. After a few moments, the other two rose and followed Mantyro out the door. Lion-O turned his attention to the vocal clan leaders.

Panya was calling for silence and glaring at the young lord. Eventually, things quieted enough for her to speak. "Let me see if I have this straight, cub," she growled. "Five Thundercats are either missing or dead and we’ve lost both Third Earth and Pride. On top of this disaster, we have an offer from the Lunatacs for an alliance."

"You’ve summarized the situation quite well," Lion-O responded, trying not to let Panya get on his nerves. It was far too early in the meeting to start losing patience. "Any suggestions?"

"Plenty," the panther snorted. "I’d say some new leadership was in order."

Lion-O’s eyes narrowed. "You are out of order, Panya," he snarled. "Given the circumstances, what has taken place was unavoidable. If I remember correctly, you were against the evacuation of Pride in the first place."

Panya stammered for a minute and then fixed the lion with a deadly glare. She was prevented from saying anything when Snoedaro suddenly signaled from the control room.

"Lion-O? Can you come up here?"

Lion-O stood up to leave and then stopped. He surveyed the suspicious leaders and made a rather unprecedented decision. "What’s up Snoedaro? Let’s let everyone hear."

Snoedaro stared at the leader from the monitor and finally nodded. "Lepora is contacting us. She and Kit have found the task force that decimated Pride."

"Pipe it down here," Lion-O ordered. "And then get everyone into the conference room."

Snoedaro turned around and seemed to be talking to someone. Eventually he shrugged and turned back to the screen. "Here it comes. We’ll be there shortly."

Lion-O smiled as the screen went blank. He turned to the puzzled clan leaders and for once, everyone was waiting for him to make the first move. He’d finally managed to surprise them. "You want leadership?" he asked. "I’m going to let you in on the action. If you have anything to say, jump in. If you can keep up, that is. If you can’t, stay out of it and let us handle things."

As Lion-O finished speaking, the wall monitor started to flash again. Lion-O turned and was greeted by Lepora’s face. The leopard was momentarily confused as she saw Lion-O and the clan leaders, but she was a trained Thundercat and it didn’t slow her report. "Lion-O, we found the ships that took out Pride," she announced without prelude.

"That’s what Snoedaro told me," Lion-O said. "Status?"

"According to Kit’s report, ten large cruisers, five mid-sized fighters, and one ship that appears to be some kind of transport or cargo ship."

Behind him, Lion-O heard doors slide open and knew the other Thundercats were arriving, but he kept his attention focused on the screen. "Location?"

"We’re about eight light years away from Pride on a straight line out from the moon. The ships are about a light year beyond us. As far as we can tell, they don’t know we’re here."

"Keep it that way," Lion-O advised. He turned to Lynx-O who was now standing beside him. "Anything else I should know about?"

"That’s all we heard," Lynx-O answered.

"Good." Lion-O turned back to the screen. "Okay, Lepora, I want you and Kit to move in at sub-light speed until you’ve closed the distance by half. At the first sign of trouble, make a five light-year jump, change course, and then make another one to throw them off. If that doesn’t work, just get out of there. And maintain communication status. Got it?"

"Got it," Lepora confirmed. "And Lion-O? I’m disengaging visual communication and diverting power to the shields."

"Good idea. Tell Kit to power up her shields as well."

"Kit here, and I acknowledge," Wiley Kit broke through. "We’re moving in."

"Just what is the purpose of that?" Panya demanded. "You should destroy those ships."

"What if those ships happen to be carrying prisoners from Pride?" Lion-O asked. "Additionally, our force consists of two Thundera Daggers. You heard the report on their force. What odds do you give us if I send Wiley Kit and Lepora on a battle run? It’s a suicide mission, my dear panther."

Panya grumbled, but she was interrupted when Kit’s voice suddenly rode over communications. "We found the Scabbard!"

"You what?" Cheetara exclaimed.

"What’s left of it, anyway," Lepora amended for Kit. "It’s in two pieces, really, and it’s rigged for hyperspace towing."

"Why are the ships just sitting there? Sounds like a trap," Snarfer commented.

"Hyper engine trouble in the transport ship," Kit supplied. "Hang on, I’m trying to get better resolution out of the sensors." After a moment’s pause, Kit’s voice came on again. "Lion-O, I’m sorry. There are no signs of life on the Scabbard, though the forward compartment is still sealed and contains an optimal atmosphere. And two Daggers are missing from the back hanger."

"Two of them got out," Mantyro murmured. "But where would they have gone?"

"Kit, are there any signs of Thundera Daggers around there?" Snoedaro asked.

"Not that I can see," Kit reported. "We’re going to move in a little closer."

"How close are you now?" Lion-O asked.

There was a pause and then Lepora answered. "About a quarter of a light year away."

"That’s close enough," Lion-O said. He was feeling a growing rage at the thought that Leonari might be gone. But he wasn’t about to lose Kit and Lepora, especially with the clan council watching him. "Back off and we’ll send reinforcements."

"Are you kidding? By the time you get anyone out here, they’ll have fixed their engine trouble and they’ll be gone," Lepora argued.

"You can’t possibly be thinking of taking those ships on by yourself," Snarf snorted. "That’s ludicrous!"

"What if Lepora and I did a dual run, one providing cover fire for the other, and then merged into hyperspace, did a quick jump, and then repeated it coming back."

"What purpose would that serve?" Lion-O asked. "No, just sit tight. Mantyro and Snoedaro? Get a Feliner and round up the civilian pilots while you’re at it. Take the orbital defense force from the Plun-Darr side and—"

"Lion-O, they’ve fixed their engines!" Lepora shouted.

"If we’re going to do anything, we’ve got to do it now," Kit seconded.

"What about a run to cripple their engines?" Lynx-O asked. "It is quite risky, but if we want those ship to remain where they are…"

Lion-O nodded. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Lynx-O always has good advice," Kit laughed. "We’re going in."

"Full shields," Lion-O added.

"They’ve seen us," Lepora reported. "They’re moving out to intercept…Kit give me cover fire on the right!"

"Cover fire coming up. Roll left and down. You’ve got three above you. I can take them if you get out of the way."

"On my way in. Meet me up and over. This is just a run, not a fight."

"Faster, Lepora!"

The two Thundercats had left communications open and Lion-O and the others listened in silence as they envisioned the battle. They heard alerts and alarms starting to ring in the background. Bumps and crashes soon became audible. "Status!" Lion-O finally demanded.

"I’m hit, but it’s not bad," Kit reported. "He just clipped me."

"I’ve lost sensor capability," Lepora added. "Other than that, everything’s okay. Kit! Down!"

"Coming up on primary target," Kit announced.

"I’m looping behind you, girl. She’s all yours. I’ll back you up."

"Firing ion guns…direct hit! Chalk one up for the Thundercats!"

"Get out of there, you two!" Cheetara ordered.

"We’re—" Kit was suddenly cut off and the sound of a large explosion echoed through the conference room.

"Kit!" Snarfer shouted.

"Wiley Kit, report!" Lion-O ordered, trying to keep his voice calm though he was inwardly shaking.

"Kit’s engines took a direct hit," Lepora suddenly shouted. "I can’t raise her on any hailing frequencies!"

"Calm down, Lepora. Evasive maneuvers, but try to stay close to Kit’s ship," Lion-O quickly responded. "Did you cripple the transport’s engines?"

"That’s affirmative," the leopard responded. "It’s not going anywhere in the near future."

"Snoedaro and Mantyro, get out there and—" Another explosion cut Lion-O off and he stared in horror at the blank communication screen. "Kit? Lepora?"

There was silence.

"Kit? Lepora? If you guys can answer, this is an order to do so," Lion-O tried again.

"Snarfer, get up to the control room and start scanning," Lynx-O commanded.

"Kit?" Cheetara pleaded. "Lepora? Please answer."

And then the communication channel crackled again. There was an audible sigh of relief from all present until an unexpected voice came on.

"Lord Lion-O of the Thundercats? This is Glacion."

Lion-O’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Glacion? What are you doing on a Thundercat channel?"

"We’ve been monitoring your communications," the Lunatac answered shortly, not offering to apologize or explain. "We are preparing a rescue force if you would care to undertake a joint venture. But we will not go into this if you are not with us. Do you wish our help?"

Lion-O stared at the other Thundercats. "At this point, I’d say that we don’t have much of a choice," Cheetara whispered.

The lion stood silent for a minute and then turned to the clan leaders. "I noticed none of you offered suggestions during the battle," Lion-O observed. There was a low murmur and some grumbling, but no one responded directly. Despite the situation, Lion-O couldn’t help finding a small degree of perverse satisfaction with this. Pushing feelings like that aside, Lion-O returned to the business at hand. "Well, you had your chance to lead and you didn’t. I’m giving you the chance again. Do we align with the Lunatacs?"

After a moment of silence, Tahee responded. "I say yes. If they can help us in this crisis, we should accept that help."

"No," Panya immediately argued. "If we cannot stand on our own under this leadership, we are not fit to stand at all."

Lion-O growled slightly. "It would appear we are divided. I propose an immediate vote to decide the outcome of this disagreement. Any objections." No one said anything. Lion-O nodded in satisfaction. "All in favor of aligning with the Lunatacs?" A number of hands went up, some hands with more hesitation than other hands. "All opposed?"

Lion-O did a quick count. "It’s decided then." He turned back to the communications screen. "We accept your alliance Glacion. We can discuss more concrete terms later, though. Right now, how quickly can your ships prepare to leave, how many are you sending, how fast do they travel, do you have any in the vicinity of Pride, and how soon can you reach Kit and Lepora?"

"Give us five hours and then meet us in orbit around the second moon. We will be sending 25 Lunar Scouts, very similar to your Thundera Daggers in speed and weapons capability."

"I’m familiar with that design," Lion-O informed the ice Lunatac. "Five hours, then." Lion-O reached out and disengaged the communication channel. Stepping back, he managed to catch the various reactions of the other Thundercats. "War makes for strange bedfellows," the lion muttered.

"We’ll start organizing the Feliner force," Mantyro said quietly. He motioned to Snoedaro and the two left the council room.

"Mantyro told us about Sybar," Cheetara whispered. "Have you told the clan leaders?"

"Let’s leave that surprise for another day," Lion-O murmured. "There have been too many rude awakenings for now."

Lepora cursed fiercely as she vainly tried to repair her damaged communication board. Thundera would be expecting a report and if she didn’t respond quickly, they would assume the worst. Looking up, she caught sight of another stream of neutron bombs rushing her way. With a growl of frustration, the leopard swung her ship to the side and the bombs exploded off to the side. The Dagger shook violently and more boards shorted out.

"This can not be happening," Lepora told herself as she struggled to regain control of her rolling ship. "Come on, little ship, come on!"

But the Dagger seemed to have ideas of its own. It came out of its roll only to be shot again by two large cruisers in hot pursuit. Lepora was thrown roughly against a panel of broken wires and muffled a groan as electricity coursed through her body. Her powerful legs shoved her away from the damaged panel, but another jolt sent her rolling out of her seat and onto the small deck of the Dagger. Another sharp hit, and panels started to rain down on the hapless leopard. She tried to shield herself, but an especially sharp corner came crashing down on her head. Lepora’s vision swam as she tried valiantly to remain conscious. But it was a losing battle. Something was trickling down the side of her head, but Lepora wasn’t lucid enough to be worried about it. There was no way she could keep her eyes open a minute longer, and she collapsed onto the floor as the ship continued to shake under a constant barrage of hits, a pool of red forming on the deck behind her.

Cougrois gazed wearily at the remnants of the Tower of Omens. The sun was beginning to set and the broken shards of the Cat’s insignia—the insignia that once proudly adorned the top of the Tower—were catching the last of the day’s light and turning it blood red. The cougar rubbed back his tawny mane and ran his eyes over the debris again. No sign of survivors. Absolutely no sign of survivors.

Even though Willa and Nayda had insisted they’d seen Pumyra land near the Lair, he and the other Thundercats had thought it worth their while to search the Tower as well. But the Tower was as vacant as the Lair. And Pumyra…

Cougrois turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. "Find anything, Kat?"

Wiley Kat stepped over a jagged piece of metal and stopped next to the cougar, pausing to stare at the remains of the Tower. "Maybe," he murmured. "Panthro has found some metal scraps that weren’t part of the Tower."

Cougrois raised an eyebrow. "How can he possibly tell?"

"Because these metal scraps are still hot from reentry," Kat explained. "While you were digging through granite and plaster in a search for the Tower’s basement, something crashed through the atmosphere. Panthro and I went to investigate."

"I wondered where you’d all gone," Cougrois muttered.

"Anyway, this craft was pretty damaged, but Panthro thinks it’s the remains of a static buoy. He ran some scans from the Feliner, and on the far side of the planet there are lots of small objects. Our scanners can’t get an exact fix, but we think we’ve found some more static buoys. The buoys are no longer active, they were short-term craft judging from the remnants we found, but they were probably active a few days ago."

"Which would be when we lost communication with Third Earth," Cougrois sighed. "I knew something was up. Pumyra should have never been left here alone."

"It’s not just Pumyra, and she wasn’t here alone," Kat reminded him. "Tygra’s also missing and he was also here."

"Tigers. What does everyone see in tigers?"

Kat blinked in surprise. "What do you mean by—"

"Never mind," Cougrois interrupted gruffly. "It’s not important. So Panthro has found evidence of static buoys?"

Still confused, Wiley Kat nodded slowly. "Yes. We’re going to pick one up on our way out of here. I came over to ask if you were ready to go."

"Go? Go where?"

"We’ve still got that Control communications probe to examine," Kat said. "If we can decode the message on it, we might figure out who was responsible for this. I know that Tygra kept a backup file of Control codes and frequencies in the Lair on Thundera. If I can hack into his file, I can access his folders and get the information we need to configure our communications to Control frequencies. And we can learn what was on that communications probe. But we need to get that probe and we need to get it quickly before whoever destroyed Control realizes it’s there."

"I don’t like the idea of leaving Third Earth unguarded," Cougrois said quietly.

"We’ve shown Willa and Nayda how to use Hook Mountain to contact Thundera. They can contact us if anything happens."

"It just doesn’t seem right," the cougar growled. "Someone has always been here to guard Third Earth."

"What more can we do?" Kat asked

Cougrois sighed and nudged a broken computer board with the toe of his black boot. "Nothing, I guess. Well, I don’t have anything else to do here. Let’s go."

"Right. We’ll stop to check in with Thundera before we head for the Leo cluster and we’ll take a look at the static buoys on the far side." Wiley Kat stopped and took a good look at the cougar standing next to him. "Are you okay?"

"I keep hoping I’ll wake up. That this is just a dream," Cougrois whispered. "Who could have done something like this? Who would be so cruel as to…"

"We’ll get them back," Kat promised. "I’ve grown up with the Thundercats, and if I know Pumyra and Tygra, we’ll see them again. We just have to keep hoping."

"Hope," Cougrois muttered bitterly. "Hasn’t worked yet."

"We’re not done searching," Kat murmured. "Not by a long shot." In the distance, the two Thundercats heard Panthro’s gruff voice calling their names. "Come on," Kat said. "Let’s get going."

Cougrois hesitated a little longer as he stared at the destruction before his eyes. And then he turned his back to the ruins. Kat was right. There wasn’t time for remorse and grief. He had to keep believing. With these thoughts in mind, the cougar clambered aboard the Feliner and gritted his teeth as its powerful engines drove it through the atmosphere and into the emptiness of space, leaving the emptiness of Third Earth far behind.