The cavalcade arrived outside the Munitions Dump. Andrews held up his hand and the group halted. \u201cSo, what\u2019s the plan?\u201d whispered Skarloey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou engines hang back,\u201d said Hanako as she and Flora left Rheneas\u2019 cab. \u201cYamta and the Lords are ours to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHold on, this is our railway!\u201d snapped Duncan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExactly. If any of you were to get harmed or worse\u2026this place would shut down. Hang back and stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s right, my engines,\u201d said Mr. Percival. He then removed his coat and hat, hanging them on Skarloey\u2019s lamp irons. \u201cI promise you; we WILL be back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMove out!\u201d Andrews called to his men. Everyone then left the bewildered engines behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2026he IS coming back, right Granpuff?\u201d Peter Sam asked Duke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I certainly hope so, Stuart,\u201d replied Duke as he used Peter Sam\u2019s old name. \u201c\u2026I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yamta and the Lords stood by. She had the detonator in her hand, ready to blow up the railway. A Lord then approached her. \u201cYes?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe enemy has been spotted coming here,\u201d reported the Lord. Yamta then put her helmet on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTake up your positions,\u201d she ordered through her helmet\u2019s voice synthesizer. The Lords scrambled around the Munitions\u2019 Dump and hid behind various objects as Hanako led everyone into the area. She looked around with a grim look on her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026We know you\u2019re here, Yamta,\u201d she called. \u201cThere\u2019s no point in hiding from us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot one step further, Hanako,\u201d warned Yamta as she made her altered voice bounce off every object, confusing the Kitsune. \u201cThings won\u2019t end for the Skarloey Railway unless you agree to let us leave with Bounty.\u201d Hanako smirked<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour bombs have been disabled thanks to Boulton telling us once he learned the truth. Go ahead and press the button. The railway will still be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIdle bluffs are dangerous. Just know this; the railway\u2019s demise is on your head.\u201d Yamta pressed the button on the detonator. The Lord next to her widened his eye in surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2026they didn\u2019t go off!\u201d he reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAn idle bluff, was it?\u201d taunted Hanako.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTHAT\u2019S IT!\u201d shouted a female Lord. She fired at Hanako\u2019s group, prompting the rest of the Lords to open fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTAKE COVER!\u201d shouted Andrews. Everyone was quick to obey that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSTOP SHOOTING! STOP!\u201d Yamta shouted to the Lords. She then grabbed the one near her and got into his face. \u201cI gave you an order to cease fire!\u201d The Lord quickly sent that order through the Collective. \u201cThe risks at an ammo dump are clear! One shot could have blown us sky-high! Who fired the first shot?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Lieutenant Sophia Nevel, Four of Twenty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s demoted to Sergeant. The plan\u2019s a failure. All forces, return to base. The Skarloey Narrow Gauge Railway\u2019s too strong for us. I\u2019ll draw their attention away from you.\u201d The Lord nodded and sent the order through the Collective. Yamta then charged at the heroes as the Lords abandoned the Munitions\u2019 Dump. The soldiers were knocked down like bowling pins while Hanako and her friends were more steadfast. Eventually, Yamta plowed through them and made her way to the engines. \u201c\u2026Time for some boilers to explode!\u201d she hissed. That scared the engines. Someone then swung a large branch onto her head from behind her. She had to take her helmet off to massage the area and looked behind to see Mr. Percival looking very angry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNOT MY FAMILY!\u201d he shouted as he swung the club again. Yamta then vanished in a pillar of light, then it died to reveal that she was gone. Mr. Percival adjusted his tie, then simply retrieved his coat and hat from Skarloey\u2019s lamp irons as everyone else returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Dump\u2019s been cleared of the enemy,\u201d said Andrews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ve beaten her back sufficiently,\u201d replied Hanako. \u201cBut I know her. She\u2019ll be back in some capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen she does, I\u2019m sure you will be ready for her,\u201d remarked Mr. Percival. \u201c\u2026In the meantime, we must go home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone made it back to Crovan\u2019s Gate and just sat there, processing what just happened on the railway. \u201c\u2026At least she wasn\u2019t willing to sacrifice her troops,\u201d muttered Duke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe never did like using her troops like pawns,\u201d replied Hanako.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike I don\u2019t like doing so with my engines,\u201d mumbled Mr. Percival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I know I complain a lot,\u201d remarked Duncan, \u201cbut I never felt like a pawn. Ever. Still don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNone of us do, Sir,\u201d said Skarloey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven those who just started working for you,\u201d chuckled Flora. Mr. Percival smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s very reassuring to hear, everyone,\u201d he said. He then stood up. \u201cHanako, you and your friends have proven yourselves to this railway a hundred-fold these past three days. Please, enjoy a week-long break. Catch up with your friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWill do, Sir!\u201d Hanako and her friends then gathered, and Flora called up Richard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRichard, we have the SKR\u2019s trust. We\u2019re returning to the ships for a week-long break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood to hear, Flora,\u201d replied Richard. \u201cWe\u2019re halfway there to gaining the island\u2019s trust. We\u2019ll see you later.\u201d The call then ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTime to go,\u201d said Flora. Hanako then made a teleport circle under everyone, and they all vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2019m never gonna understand them,\u201d muttered Duncan. \u201c\u2026Still, at least Swalmu had taste in comedians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was a near victory for us,\u201d remarked Duke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to think of it as a near defeat.\u201d The engines and Mr. Percival stared at Duncan in confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Beg pardon?\u201d asked Rusty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, a near victory implies that a person almost won, but didn\u2019t. We almost lost, but we didn\u2019t, so it\u2019s a near defeat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Have you been listening to George Carlin again?\u201d asked Mr. Percival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAye, I have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone returned to the ships and met with Richard. \u201cSo, how was SKR life?\u201d asked Richard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cQuite\u2026thrilling,\u201d sighed Hanako.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, we\u2019ve got id on Yamta,\u201d said Richard. \u201cThundercracker\u2019s doing an air patrol for her right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow\u2019s Boulton holding up?\u201d Richard sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRiddled with regret. He\u2019s not happy that he\u2019s been duped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you seen him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, I have. I just got out of the brig when Flora called. He\u2019s holding up, but the experience isn\u2019t something he can easily wish away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know the feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSounds like Yamta\u2019s a nasty piece of work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou mean she\u2019s a pig-headed idiot,\u201d corrected Swalmu. \u201cShe\u2019s a woman, not a machine. A nasty piece of work could mean anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026That sounded like a comedian my dad and I like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, my husband, for reasons that elude me completely, is a fan of George Carlin!\u201d hissed Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, why not?! The guy told it like it was!\u201d protested Swalmu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d say he\u2019d be happy to know that we talked about him while on Sodor,\u201d chuckled Richard. Swalmu arched an eyebrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid he perform here? I don\u2019t think his material would have been appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNah, it\u2019s something else. Follow me.\u201d Richard led Swalmu to the Ark<\/em>\u2019s bridge. \u201cTell me, have you heard about a t.v. show centered around Sodor?\u201d Richard asked while they walked through the corridors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean the one with the models of the engines? Yeah,\u201d replied Swalmu. \u201cI never really cared for it myself. I don\u2019t know why they kept Donald and Douglas in their black paintjob or why they named the whole thing after Thomas. You\u2019d think he was the sole engine of Sodor!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I liked the series when I was a little boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t see why. I mean, it sounded like the narrator was an Elf high on something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t grow up with Ringo Starr as the narrator.\u201d They arrived on the bridge. \u201cTeletraan, mind playing Donald and Douglas\u2019 debut episode in Thomas and Friends<\/em>? US narration, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure thing,\u201d replied Teletraan. He pulled up the video and the narrator began the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDonald and Douglas are twins and had arrived from Scotland to help Sir Topham Hatt, but only one engine had been expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTHAT\u2019S HIM!\u201d gasped Swalmu. \u201cTHAT\u2019S GEORGE CARLIN!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe narrated the first four seasons of the show for American audiences, so little boys from my home country could grow up with Sodor on their minds. Thank goodness too. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be as interested in Thomas if I heard Ringo Starr. The few times I DID hear his narration, I nearly fell asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I\u2019ve got some catching up to do! Teletraan, pull up the entire George Carlin library! I\u2019m spending my break watching them!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGot it!\u201d chuckled Teletraan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over with Igura, I\u2019m sorry to say that she wasn\u2019t happy with Yamta\u2019s report. \u201cWHY WERE MY ORDERS DISOBEYED?!\u201d she shouted at Yamta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA traitor within the Lords,\u201d replied Yamta, \u201crevealed the bombs\u2019 locations to the enemy and someone opened fire within the ammo dump, causing my unit to forget the risks. We had to abandon the base.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere\u2019s the traitor?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd where\u2019s the Lord who fired that shot?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCurrently serving KP and demoted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGive me their name!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been punished accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTheir name!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve already demoted them and put them on KP!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGIVE ME THEIR NAME!\u201d An ashen gray hand with blue veins then grabbed her and whirled her around to face an Elf of the same skin tone and eyes glowing blue like the veins. He sported flaming red hair and looked angry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe soldier has already been disciplined accordingly!\u201d he hissed. \u201cThere is no need for further punishment. You\u2019ve clearly never learned how to command a unit properly. Yamta and I did during the Final War. We sowed fear and discord among the Realmfleeters with our command styles. I\u2019ll prove it to you with the Arlesdale Railway.\u201d He then made his way to the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYulduk,\u201d Yamta called after the Elf. Yulduk then turned to her. \u201cGood hunting.\u201d Yulduk smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlways,\u201d he said as he left.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The cavalcade arrived outside the Munitions Dump. Andrews held up his hand and the group halted. \u201cSo, what\u2019s the plan?\u201d whispered Skarloey. \u201cYou engines hang back,\u201d said Hanako as she and Flora left Rheneas\u2019 cab. \u201cYamta and the Lords are ours to deal with.\u201d \u201cHold on, this is our railway!\u201d snapped Duncan. \u201cExactly. If any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[754,880],"tags":[482,9,146,597,337],"class_list":["post-6424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey-through-wonder","category-story-journey-through-wonder","tag-fantasy","tag-kamen-rider","tag-sonic","tag-thomas-and-friends","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6425,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424\/revisions\/6425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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