THUNDERCATHIANS
Capítulo 10: Engatusando
A tall, scrawny figure looked closely at several control panels that indicated numerous variants present and developing in Mumm-ra's dark, fallen "pyramid.
Suddenly a door behind the figure opened and Vultureman hurriedly proceeded to turn off the control panels present.
An avian with a body covered with celestial plumage, unlike the traitorous avian, entered the enclosure and Vultureman breathed a sigh of relief.
“What's going on, Blue? For a moment I thought it was Captain Salamander.”
“I'm sorry to have interrupted your work, Your Excellency," said the avian with a bow, just as he did when he was the Vultureman's secretary when he was the President of the avian city.
“Well, what news do you bring?” He was questioned by the tall, ungainly avian half-plucked.
“Slithe together with Monkian and Jackalman are stuck in what was Claudus' kingdom, they can't with the urban warfare tactics of the cat barbarians under Lynx-O and Bengali's command.”
“Even though Slithe has Mechs and aerial fighters?” Interesting.
“So is your Excellency, from what I found out, Rodent, whoever was Ratar-O's second and now commands the rats due to the death of the warlord, gives the barbarians free passage through his territory.”
“The news you bring me is very interesting, how come nobody has discovered the transit of the cat barbarians through the territory controlled by the rats?”
“Your excellence, the barbarians use tunnels that last for hundreds of kilometers, that is why it is impossible to eliminate them from the air and the sweeps with Mechs and infantry on the surface are unsuccessful.”
“And of course, since Rodent is an ally of Slithe, the cold-blooded don't suspect the help the rodent is giving the cats. What an amazing event! Mice and cats getting along! Or should I say... conspiring together. Those cat barbarians turned out to be more crafty than I thought at first, they're good at that...engatusar.”
“Your Excellency, how were the negotiations with the barbarians?”
“Even though I had to lower myself to talk to these barbarians, I must say that the negotiations were very productive.”
“Your Excellency?”
“There's a new player on the scene, my loyal Blue. One who shares with the Thundercats barbarians the hobby of engatusar when it suits him, I suppose all cats are alike after all.”
“Only you have the agile and precise discernment for these situations that so characterizes your excellence.”
“Both crows and cats and rats share something.... a taste for shiny things. Now I see that the barbarians and these new feline allies gave a great deal of treasure to Rodent, to give them his help, but the sum I received and the benefits I will get from this deal will be... astronomical.”
“Why does your Excellency need such exorbitant capital in such haste?”
“Because once Mumm-ra fell with his pathetic henchmen, I plan to run for the avian presidency.”
“But Your Excellency, in avian they don't look kindly on you because of...!”
“You can say it, Blue, they don't look kindly on me because of my black betrayal.... don't worry, in the negotiations I was assured that the events prior to the Avian fall would be recounted in the population for my convenience.”
“Even so....”
“Even so it will work out wonderfully for me, don't forget that in a political contest what matters is money, with it you can buy propaganda that will saturate the electorate every moment! It doesn't matter if your opponents are better than you, the one who is best known because of the propaganda wins! Propaganda that's not cheap at all.”
“And the capital given to your Excellency, in exchange for what?”
“I took a submissive position when Mumm-ra and Pumyra shared out various responsibilities, the fact that I was accused of cowardice when Mumm-ra confronted Lion-O ultimately worked to my advantage. With Slithe and Pumyra far away, I have access to the efficient distribution of the energy generated in Mumm-ra's ship, something obvious since that was also one of my tasks in Avian.”
“And what does your Excellency plan to do?”
“It's obvious my loyal Blue. I'm afraid I must first inform Pumyra that the re-energization of our lord Mumm-ra will take longer than anticipated.”
“Captain Salamander won't have anything to say about it, Your Excellency? Remember that power generation and distribution is also used in the manufacture of Mechs and aircraft.... if Salamander's reports and yours do not match...”
“I convinced the good Captain Salamander that due to the low energy production, it is only feasible to manufacture mobile cannon Mechs, faster war machines and frontline combat like the feline tanks, should be postponed in their manufacture.”
“I'm afraid, Vultureman, that won't be possible anymore," said a reptile that suddenly entered the room and pointed a laser at the two avians.
“Captain Salamander! Don't tell me you're here to inspect my work," said Vultureman.
“I came rather to inspect the hidden microphones that are installed in the ventilation ducts along the entire pyramid.”
Vultureman and Blue exchanged nervous looks, but then noticed that Salamander was giving them an accomplice look.
“I see you're organizing a game of cards between the two of you, don't you know that it's much more interesting between three people?”
Salamander put his gun away, and Vultureman and Blue lowered their arms.
“So you intend to play? I warn you that the ticket costs a lot of money for the first game. What chips do you have to offer?” Vultureman asked him with a malevolent smile.
“An interesting one, Your Excellency... The reports from me confirming to Slithe and Pumyra that not only the manufacture of feline tanks is impossible, but also the fact that the production of auto cannon Mechs, aircraft and so on along with laser weapons will suffer an unfortunate delay... No, don't worry, Mr. President, Rodent also joins the party by sending his apologies for the low production of thundranium that he will send to the pyramid, you know.... he no longer has thundercats slaves at his disposal," replied Salamander with another equally perverse smile.
“What's in it for you, Captain?” Blue asked him.
“I got tired of being second, I think my people should have another leader, one who would allow my fellow men to return to their lands and also bring them a well-deserved agreement with the Thundercats and the other cats regarding new lands where we could settle, and not the wasteland where we were forced to live. Can you imagine the impact that'll make on, Vultureman? I think I'm eligible to be a... president, too.”
.
.
In the Tower of Omens, Cheetara enjoyed a luxury: a night's rest after another unsuccessful attempt by Pumyra and her army to conquer the Tower.
A pale light illuminated the bedroom where the thundercat was located and it turned its face to see better the figure of Tygra who was sleeping.
"I wonder if what Lion-O decided was the right thing to do," Cheetara thought, recalling how Yuubi convinced Lion-O to bribe Rodent and Vultureman to betray Mumm-ra. Bribe that came from the magic bag that belonged to Wilykat and Wilykit that they brought from the city of dogs.
"I never saw Tygra with a more vulnerable gaze," Cheetara thought again, when Lion-O, at Yuubi's suggestion, agreed that he would help Rodent and Vultureman secure their dominance over their respective peers. Moreover, recently a lieutenant of Slithe joined Yuubi's plan, after all it was necessary since the hidden microphones planted by her would sooner or later be discovered.
"Ratar-O is dead, but his body was not found. He and Slithe are of no use to us since they take this war personally," Cheetara recalled the words of the cathian. "Vultureman, Rodent and Salamander, don't take this personally, they prefer to be more pragmatic. We must make a deal with them."
She and the other thundercats were against the idea, but Yuubi reminded them of Mumm-ra's advantage in having most of the stellar stones and her immortal and diabolical nature.
"We face an enemy who has the help of demons from the void of space. Mumm-ra is recharging his energy right now, but when he wakes up we will have problems," Yuubi said this time. "If we want to win this war, we must exterminate our own demons which are honor, mercy, justice and fair play. If those demons survive, we will end up defeated, so those demons must be the first enemies to strike down."
"You speak of making peace with our enemies," Tygra said on that occasion.
"Exactly, because you can't make peace with our friends, that's why it's called making peace with the enemy," Yuubi said.
"I have no problem making peace," Lion-O said with a grimace. "What I don't like is that we have to commit to actions after the war that my father would surely disapprove of."
"Good King Claudus, your father Lion-O, surely ruled with loyalty, justice, courage and honor. However, he did not foresee that the kingdom would fall to such a fearsome and seemingly invincible enemy. We must yield to certain aspects with our enemies if we want them to yield to other aspects, which will assure us victory in a war of uncertain outcome and most importantly, a lasting peace in the future.”
Lion-O glanced suppliantly at his brother, but Tygra returned the same vulnerable gaze. There was nothing more to say, the two royal brothers and Panthro clenched their fists and with their low glances and silence, gave the Cathian free rein to send agents to the different fortresses of the enemy to carry out the peace negotiations and the future distribution of the Third Planet.
Tygra's breathing became more agitated and the thundercat woke up and found Cheetara hugging his naked torso.
“Can't you sleep, my love? I'm sorry I couldn't do more in the meeting with Yuubi, I'm useless," said Tygra.
“Don't say that, Tygra, you're not useless, in fact, if it weren't for you I'd be dead. Remember that flower you gave me at the doors of Jaga Abbey? That flower gave me the strength to move on.”
“I should have done more, I should have given you food and water, I should have come closer, but I was hiding like a shy child.... you must have thought it was pathetic.”
“I thought you were so cute and sweet.... Thank you, Tygra, thank you for what you did for me.”
“And I thank you because for you I decided to become a stronger man, someone who could protect you, it wasn't the rivalry with Lion-O that motivated me to excel myself, it was you, it was always you, your love for me.”
The two thundercats embraced each other and decided that they still had a few more hours to give themselves to that love that was sown in their youth and that now flourished only for them.
CONTINUARÁ...
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