After the Airshow, things have soon returned to normal, and all had settled down for International Rescue. Braedey made relationships with Robyn and General Ironwood, the two even making amends, with the Atlas military providing materials to repair the walls around Mantle, as well as strengthen hospitality.
For the crimes he had committed, as well as the many charges against Faunus that he had abused and forced to work as slaves at the mines, Jacques Schnee had been sent off to the high-security space prison known as The Hex, which is located on the dark side of Remnant's shattered moon. At the same time, Willow Schnee, Jacques' wife and the mother of Weiss and Winter, had appointed herself as temporary CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, and had been starting to do a number of charities to Faunus who need help wherever they can.
And to everyone's surprise, Willow had informed to General Ironwood and International Rescue about some dirty little secrets that Jacques had been up to, had done in the past, and what he's been planing on doing. The main thing that's shocking is the plan Jacques had; he planned to steal the Thunderbirds one by one, and take them to someone in Vale, where he and whoever he's working for, would use them to get rid of International Rescue.
All the while, nobody seems to know exactly who Jacques was aligned with, which gave many of those in the military and International Rescue with concern. They have to keep on their toes, just in case anything happens in the upcoming future.
~*~*~
In Atlas, Jacques was sitting by the wall of his jail cell, which was at the RGDF base for the time being. Until all is said and done, he'll be there until he's sent off to The Hex.
At that moment, General Ironwood walked up to the cell, knocking against the bars of the cell. "You've come to gloat, have you?" Jacques scoffed at him.
General Ironwood stared sternly at the Schnee male. "For your crimes that you have committed at the Airshow and in the past, you are being transferred to the joint Atlas/RGDF space prison known as The Hex." He stated firmly at Jacques. "Nobody is going to be seeing you for a long, long time."
Jacques smirked at Ironwood. "And that makes the world a better place?" He laughed at this. "I happen to know what's coming next, James. If you and International Rescue thought I was bad..." He chuckled darkly. "Just you wait. I know what's going to happen, and let's just say, it will tear International Rescue apart, and I will be free."
Ironwood narrowed his eyes, and looked at Jacques dead in the eye. "I'll make this clear and simple. Tell us; who are you working for?" He demanded.
Jacques just spat in Ironwood's face. "Never."
Ironwood doesn't react at first, but wiped the spit off his face. He glared at Jacques. "See you later then, Jacques." With that, he turned on his heel, and began to walk away.
Jacques looked to see someone over at the door. He saw there was an RGDF soldier standing nearby, armed with a rifle. The soldier walked over to the cell with a smirk on his face, just as what could be static forming across the face, and it then revealed itself to be The Hood himself.
"What were you thinking, Jacques?" The Hood asked incredulously to the former CEO of the S.D.C.
Jacques looked at him, backing up a bit to the wall. He was hesitant. "Now, now. Let's not do anything hasty. I did what you wanted; I stole a Thunderbird-"
The Hood growled darkly at the arrogant male. "And did I get said Thunderbird? No, I did not." He snapped at Jacques. "You are a fool. But luckily, I have a new plan to take over where you failed to do so."
Jacques raised his eyebrow at this. "And that is..."
The Hood looked at him sternly. "None of your business." He stated back.
Jacques stared at him. "Alright. Well, break me out of this. Now, come on." He asked.
The Hood looked at him, then laughed. "Break you out? I do not need a failure on my team." He stated.
Jacques glared at The Hood with narrowed eyes. "I'll tell them you made me do it, and you were here. I'll tell them all I know about you, and your associates." He stated firmly.
The Hood smirked darkly at him. "I do not think they'll believe you, and even if you do break out... I'll come after you, no matter where you hide. No matter what you do, I will find you, and kill you, along with the ones you love." He added darkly.
Jacques breathed a shaky sigh, knowing what The Hood said was true. "I-I...." He soon said nothing.
The Hood smirked darkly. "Good. But do not worry. I got my own plans." With that, he walked out of the hall, concealing his appearance as the soldier, leaving Jacques all alone, and crying to himself, as things were about to change all across Remnant.
~*~*~
About a week had passed by, and there's been no action happening around Remnant. For Braedey and his team, as well as Kieron's team, it was getting rather tense for them all, especially with the big targets of Roman Torchwick, Cinder Fall, and The Hood. With those three targets running about Remnant, it was a concern for them all, especially being unable to know what their endgame really is.
Up onboard Thunderbird Five, about 450km above Remnant's surface, Andrea was checking over any of the emergency frequencies and radio channels, looking through to see if anyone needs any help at all. So far, there wasn't much to be of a bother to her, and it looked to be a very quiet day today for Remnant.
"Man, it's really getting boring out here." Andrea sighed in exasperation. She was really hoping for some action for today, but Braedey said things are getting a little tense back on ground level. "I just wanna do or witness something fun." She muttered. But, she then saw something that seemed to be interacting with the computers onboard her space station. "What in the..."
Andrea turned around, just in time to see a flickering holographic projection start to form before her. Then, what appeared before the blonde looked to be a red projection of a woman, who looked to be wearing a red bodysuit-like outfit that is form-fitting. This is the A.I system called Summer, who's named after Kieron's old friend and former love interest; Summer Rose.
"Greetings." Summer said to Andrea, almost like she's out of breath or something. Wait... why would a projection need to breathe? "Listen. I have come to you and your team because of a coming storm." She said to Andrea.
Andrea looked to the weather patterns around Remnant, and she raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean, an approaching storm?" She questioned.
"It's about The Hood." Summer clarified, Andrea looking on in shock. "I'm afraid he may have something planned for the original International Rescue team, and it could mean trouble."
"Very well." Andrea nodded. "You can stay here and help out wherever you can."
"I'm a fully-functional artificial intelligence system that worked on the original International Rescue craft and on Thunderbird Five every now and then." Summer smirked to herself. "I can handle anything."
"I just hope things won't be as bad as you say it is." Andrea muttered to herself, Summer looking to her with concern.
~*~*~
Today. Jonson, Apps, Lily, and Sarah were all up on Ozpin Island. The sea was calm and still, while the skies were clear with small fluffy clouds.
Jonson, Apps, Lily, and Sarah were all up in the Lounge room of the Villa, all of them discussing about what had happened at the Airshow earlier in the week.
Jonson looked at his Family. "I'm telling you, there was more to that airshow than what had happened." He insisted to them.
Sarah nodded in agreement. "I have to agree with him. Even though Jacques can be evil, he wood never want to do something like what he did, unless he had a reason."
Lily nodded. "Well, what Ironwood found out he was going to take our ships one by one, and take them to somewhere in Vale for a person he's working for. But, it's what he said that worried Ironwood and Winter, even me." She then began to play the recording.
The recording turned on, showing Jacques in the cell, talking to Ironwood, and it was playing the last moments. "And that makes the world a better place?" Jacques laughed. "I happen to know what's coming next, James. If you and International Rescue thought I was bad..." He chuckled darkly. "Just you wait. I know what's going to happen, and let's just say, it will tear International Rescue apart, and I will be free." Then, the recording ended.
Apps sighed with a shudder. "I wonder what he means by that." He said.
Sarah shrugged. "I don't know. But, nothing can rip us apart."
Jonson nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, he's probably lying anyway. I did a checkup of Thunderbird Two after we got back home. All looked to be okay, but I want to run some tests on her, just to be safe."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Why? Everyone already checked it over at the Airshow, and it was okay."
Apps smiled to Lily. "Come on, sis. It's his Thunderbird, and he can be overprotective of it."
Jonson sighed. "Okay. That, I will admit, but we just need to make sure to be safe. Isn't that right, Kieron-" He stopped, forgetting their leader was no lost with them. "Oh. Right..."
Jonson looked down, the rest of them doing so as well. Sarah sighed. "I miss him." She said.
Apps nodded. "We all do." He sighed. "Hey, guys. Do you ever like worry about what happened to Kieron happening to us?" He asked.
Sarah nodded timidly. "No when we're on missions, but when we're at home, yes. I do."
Jonson nodded. "But, it's the job and the life we chose. Because when you send out an S.O.S or a call for help, you deserve to know someone is out there listening."
Lily smiled, her eyes glossy. "Kieron gave his life for us all on Remnant to life and carry on. We owe this to Kieron to carry on what he left behind; to keep all the people of Remnant safe."
Apps nodded. "I know." He looked at them all, as they all hugged each other, as they did miss their older brother. But they knew he was with them in their hearts.
~*~*~
On the other side of Remnant's orbit, the original Thunderbird Five could be seen floating about, having been abandoned since the new Thunderbird Five had been constructed.
The craft has a diameter of 296ft, standing 272ft tall, which includes the height of the antenna array, plus a length of 400ft, and a weight of 976 tonnes. It is powered by atomic batteries, with a Previn-coil artificial gravity generator, with a reception range of 100 million miles, while its geostationary orbit is 22,400 miles above.
Onboard the old space station, was none other than The Hood himself. The diabolical man looked out the windows at Remnant down below with a smirk on his face. "I was going to wait to do this, but now is the time to act. I shall let the world know of them, then I shall destroy them, drawing the others out to save them or their friends." He smirked darkly, his eyes glowing.
The Hood walked over to one of the control consoles, and he smirked. "Let the show begin. The end of the beginning, and the beginning of the end for International Rescue, and their friends." He turned to look over at someone walking up to him. "Prepare the hacking software and upload." He ordered.
The someone is a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He has short black and grey hair as well as a thick mustache and eyebrows, and green eyes. He has on a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants are the same colour as his overcoat. His yellow button undercoat and fingerless gloves match his cordovan shoes, under which he wears yellow socks. Additionally, he has four rings on each of his hands. This person was Arthur Watts, an associate of The Hood and Cinder Fall, and a disgraced former scientist from Atlas, who had faked his own death in a Paladin Incident.
"Of course. The fireworks will surely be a blast." Arthur smirked, now using his hacking technology to tamper with Thunderbird Five's internal communications and receivers. He turned to The Hood, gesturing to a blue button. "Care to do the honours?" He offered with a mock bow.
"With pleasure." The Hood smirked evilly, and he pushed the button at once. 'It is time.' He declared mentally.
~*~*~
All across Remnant, from Scrolls to Holoscreens, TVs and radios, open communication channels and more, they were all taken over. The airwaves have been hacked and interfered with. Even that of International Rescue itself have been hacked into, both Martin and Ozpin Island getting the interference.
The Hood soon appeared on the screen with his smug and confident smile on his face. "People of Remnant. Some of you know who I am. To those who don't, you can call me The Hood." He announced to the world, everyone listening in to every single word of what he was saying. "I used to be all around Remnant, before my final battle against Kieron Ozpin years ago. I have since then returned, and as you have seen, I had plans on taking Remnant over with an iron fist, to get what I want, from who I want, and whenever I wanted it." The Hood smirked darkly. "But all of you are wondering who is International Rescue? It is time I show you all." He then brought up images of Kieron, Jonson, Sarah, Apps, and Lily, with each Thunderbird behind them.
The screen enlarged on Kieron. "This person is Kieron Ozpin, son of Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, and the Pilot fo the old Thunderbird One." The Hood began to talk about each member of Kieron's team by their Thunderbird number. "He is the very man who perished when the Zero-X blew up weeks ago." Next, the screen focused on Jonson. "This is Jonson, former pilot of Thunderbird Two. He is the workhorse of their fleet." Third on the list was Sarah. "This woman is Sarah, former astronaut of Thunderbird Three, and one of only a few women to ever venture into space." The image then transitioned to show Apps. "This person is Apps, the Aquanaut of Thunderbird Four, and is the rather reckless one of the group. It boggles the mind to even wonder how this little devil even ended up in such a position as she has." Finally, the image of Apps was switched over to Lily. "And finally, we have Lily, communications officer of the original Thunderbird Five, who would switch with Sarah between Thunderbird Five and Thunderbird Three."
The Hood smirked, the images now in the corner of the screen. "Yes, people of Remnant. The great Professor Ozpin has children. They were the original pilots of the Thunderbirds that have been all around the world, saving people, stopping evil, and many more before they passed on their roles to others, to a group of insubordinate, insignificant, and pathetic children. Children who don't even know what they're dealing with."
~*~*~
On Ozpin island, as this was happening, Jonson, Apps, Lily, and Sarah were all shocked, appalled, horrified, and in pure unadulterated terror of The Hood knowing about them, and about their history, and that he's broadcasting it to the whole world.
Jonson yelled out, and punched a nearby wall, making a fist-sized hole in it. "How does he know about all of us, and about our pasts?" He said with anger laced in his voice.
Lily quickly typed on a nearby computer. "I don't know, but I'm taking a look as to-" She stopped mid-sentence once she found the reason. "Oh, no."
Apps looked over at her. "What's oh, no?" He asked.
Lily turned to them, her face so pale, one would think she's a ghost. "Thunderbird Five has been hacked." She replied, her voice trembling.
Sarah was confused by this. "Which one of them? There's two circling Remnant right now, remember?" She reminded to her.
Lily brought up a hologram from her computer. "It's our Thunderbird Five, and I can't get access to it. Something's jamming the signal, and I can't break through it." She added in.
Jonson sighed in exasperation. "That's not good at all. The Hood now has all the data and info about us, the Thunderbirds, and where our base-." He stopped once he realised something.
Lily sighed sadly. "Where our base is hidden." She finished.
Apps looked to Jonson. "What now?" He asked.
Jonson looked stern. "We be ready for anything." He said firmly.
Sarah looked over to something in the distance. "Guys? What's that?" She asked, pointing over. Everyone could see that there were four inbound Bullheads approaching the island.
Jonson looked on in confusion. "Why are they all the way out here?" He asked. "Are they looking for the island?"
"People of Remnant. Today, I wipe out the rest of the original International Rescue." The Hood's voice echoed on the TV, getting their attention. "Just like I did to Kieron, I will let them all burn." Then, a video feed from a Bullhead showed the other three Bullheads approaching Ozpin Island. "Today, they will all die... die just like Kieron Ozpin did..." With that, he went silent.
Jonson and the others looked on in horror, seeing the Bullheads arm and activate the missiles tucked under their wings. "Oh, no..." The former muttered in horror, just as the four craft fired a volley of missiles right at the island. "Run for it!" Jonson yelled.
"INCOMING!" Apps yelled out in horror.
Right as he said that, a missile hits the Villa and the Lounge, blasting it apart, sending Jonson, Apps, Lily, and Sarah flying around. As the dust cleared, the whole lounge was all on fire, with the chairs and the tables destroyed, shattered, and broken apart, with flames living all around the area. Kieron's desk had been blasted in half, and the photos were burning away. Kieron's photo burned away in the flames, as fire broke out all over the Villa.
All over the island, fires were breaking out across the forest and the homes, as the missiles continued to fire from the Bullheads. The cliffs started to crumble away and fall apart, revealing some of the underground sections of the island, such as Thunderbird Two's hangar, the science lab, repair bay, the Pod Vehicles hangar, and even the pool collapsed into the empty Thunderbird One launch bay, the runway for the giant transporter even being engulfed by flames and burning away with trees falling across it.
The hangar door for Thunderbird Two was blasted apart, revealing the interior of the hangar, as three missiles flew into the hangar, causing fires and blasting apart, as missiles also blasted apart the roundhouse above Thunderbird Three's silo. Thunderbird One's hangar was engulfed in flame and smoke, as the fires started to spread throughout the interior of the island and the whole of the secret hangars below the island. With Thunderbird Two, it was engulfed in flame, the green paint melting away from the metal, while the fire was burning away at the motors of the giant transporter, some parts falling off Thunderbird Two, and hitting the ground. The fire also surrounded the Pods, burning them and crushing them under the weight of the rocks. Inside Pod 4 was none other than Thunderbird Four, the small yellow submarine engulfed by flames, the craft soon being crushed by the collapsing Pod around it, just as Thunderbird Four exploded, which also destroyed the front landing struts of Thunderbird Two, sending it crashing to the ground, the cockpit exploding and blasting itself apart, just as the whole cavern and roof collapsed on top of the giant transporter.
With the red rocket, Thunderbird Three's hangar was engulfed in flame, with the red rocket burning away, sections of Thunderbird Three falling to the ground, revealing the inside of the craft. Up above, the roundhouse started to fall apart, then it fell inwards, falling into the rocket silo, crushing Thunderbird Three in the process, making it split apart, and fall into a pile of metal and concrete.
~*~*~
All around the world, the people of Remnant were in shock and horror of seeing Ozpin Island burning and being blown up, the hangars and underground location of the Thunderbirds being destroyed and crushed. Soon enough, many were outraged by how diabolical The Hood was, for he had killed International Rescue, and they were heroes to millions around Remnant, even to those who had been around for as long as they have, and they were shouting anger at The Hood for what he has done.
Meanwhile, at Beacon Academy, Ozpin held his hand up against his chest, as he was on his knees, looking at the holoscreen of the island bearing his name burning. "No... my kids..." He muttered.
Professor Goodwitch saw how broken he was, while she too was saddened, and she helped him up. They both watched on as their home, the place they had known for some time and had lived on, go up in flames.
But then, they heard an explosion from outside. They both looked out, and they saw the statue of Kieron being destroyed and fall to the ground in millions of pieces. The statue had been made to commemorate the great man that Kieron was, with the Zero-X pointing up to the skies above, the original Thunderbird One alongside it, and in front of the two craft was Kieron himself. Now, it was no longer there.
All over Remnant, the statues of Kieron were being destroyed, falling to the ground in piles of rubble. This was a message from The Hood to the world to say he was back, and was going to kill or break apart International Rescue by any means he desires. All anyone could do was watch on as Ozpin Island burns away, along with the iconic Thunderbirds.
At his secret location, far from anywhere, The Hood smirked at what he was seeing, especially after leaving the space station, and back on solid ground. "As for you and your team, Braedey Martin, I have other plans to break you." He said darkly. He then snapped his fingers, looked to another screen, and bears witness to see the original Thunderbird Five being blown up into a million pieces. The Hood smirked, as he left the live feed of Ozpin Island up on the screens, so everyone in the world had no choice but to watch.
The Hood turned to Arthur. "Inform to our cardinals to execute Phase 2." He informed to him.
"Of course." Arthur nodded with a mock bow, and he made his way out of the room, while The Hood chuckled darkly to himself.
~*~*~
But, unbeknown to The Hood, onboard the new Thunderbird Five, the one that belongs to Braedey's team, something was about to happen.
Andrea was in shock and horror of what was even happening to Ozpin Island, with tears running down her face, as she couldn't look away from the screen. Summer was also hurt and lost, especially since she was the very computer that helped out across the island. She placed her hand against Andrea's shoulder in comfort, even if she can't touch her physically.
Just then, a signal on the emergency channel began to get the two's attention, as they go and take a look. To their shock, they saw the signal was four of them, and they were S.O.S calls, all of the emergency signals coming from Jonson, Apps, Lily, and Sarah!
"They're... they're alive?" Andrea sniffed, wiping away at her tears.
"I'll check on the call." Summer spoke up, and the call came in.
"Calling... International Rescue. We... we need help." Jonson's voice spoke out, sounding like he's been injured, before the call cuts out.
"I'll contact Braedey and the others." Andrea said to Summer, and began to contact Martin Island.
~*~*~
Inside of the burning house, Jonson was pinned down under the rubber and some wooden beams. Only his arms and hands were free of movement, while he was bleeding from a cut on his head. Sarah was over by Kieron's desk, her left arm gone, plus bleeding badly, and she was knocked out cold, blood bleeding out of where her left arm used to be. Also, Lily was in Thunderbird Three's hangar, the rock above her breaking away, and made her fall into the hangar. She's bleeding badly, pinned down under the rubble and beams. Only her arms and hands are free, while she was bleeding cuts and bruising across her form. Apps, meanwhile, was down in Thunderbird Two's hangar, who's knocked out cold, with both her legs having been sliced off, no thanks to the front blade of the Firefly slicing through them, and she was also bleeding out.
All four teammates were knocked out cold from the frontal assault of missiles and explosions, and were in a critical condition. Their own emergency beacons were all going off, hoping Braedey's team would get to them in time, and free them from the rubble.
~*~*~
A/N: I'd like to give a shoutout to kieron0103 for the idea and he concept for this chapter. We're sort of working on a joint-chapter idea, since our books are intertwined in some aspects.
This is only part one of what's to come forth, and you'll see much more later on.