THUNDERCATHIANS
Chapter 03: Mission Starts
It was a calm night in the imperial capital, which didn't match the furius mood of the protesters who would walk along several of the main arteries to the sound of choruses of protest and carrying either torches or sticks as improvised clubs.
The reason for the protests was not the lack or inefficient distribution of money, food or any social goods. The discontent of the population was rooted in an aspect that demonstrated Cathia's technological superiority and that its application had raised the standard of living of the inhabitants.
For more than two generations Cathia had been proud to tell the rest of the population about it most wonderful creation since the fall in the price of space missions and its consequent expansion throughout the cosmos: the creation of geriatric assistance biodroids, also known as "asistedroids".
At first glorified by the population as they glimpsed a solution to Cathia's growing and distressing problem of care for the elderly, they were later looked upon with suspicion when the imperial army approved the mass construction of asistedroids for combat use in the wars that broke out with their neighbors in the cosmos.
The use of the asistedroids of later generations had a multipurpose use applied to the civilian sphere and this eventually caused problems that were not foreseen by anyone. The people accused the asistedroids of being hoarding too many aspects that the population used to do, that and the fact that the asistedroids were so similar to the Cathians, only increased several insecurities and that later originated the current protests.
“Look at all those crazies, Risu, I can't believe what they're doing," Yuubi said to his friend, as they watched through the right window of their military limousine as a large group of Cathians set fire to a huge mass of what appeared to be deactivated asistedroids, discarded by their former owners.
The skin of the asistedroids had already been consumed by fire and showed only the bare metal shell very similar to the body of Japanese puppets. In that case, an asistedroid who had apparently not been deactivated turned his head towards the passing limousine and released a secretion of oil through one of his eyes.
From the perspective of the two young military men, it seems that the asistedroid wascrying.
“Tch.... what the hell is wrong with Cathia?” asked Risu, looking angry at no one in particular.
“...You're right Risu, the best thing we can do is to get away from everything, from the war, from this...”
The limousine continued its course and reached an aerospace base restricted to the public, where the "Thundercat" was being prepared to make its ascent into the stratosphere.
Waiting for the two young men, there was Rauri, who was not wearing a military suit, but rather a civilian suit more appropriate for a field day than for the mission on which she would also embark.
“What delayed you?” Rauri asked.
“It was nothing, just a small traffic jam," Risu answered quickly, preventing Yuubi from telling Rauri anything about what they had seen before they reached the base.
Yuubi was displeased, but after seeing Rauri's gentle smile, he rejoiced at his friend's interruption.
As Rauri gave the details of the mission preparation to his friend, Yuubi looked up to the night sky and saw other ships rising above the "Thundercat".
The mission, due to its confidential nature, was carried out at night in that military base which was very far from the capital in a desert area surrounded by mountains and with guarded and restricted access to the general public.
To make things easier, Risu's ship would not take off from the base, the "Tundercat" engines would be heard from miles away, many more from the restricted area controlled by the army. Instead, army blimps would raise the ship to the stratosphere and then the "Thundercat" would activate its engines by disengaging itself from the blimps.
“...The engines are ready, sir, they can start to lift us now” a Cathian informed Risu on the ship's main communications screen.
“That the engines are warming up all the way up, because we won't have much time when we reach the stratosphere.”
“Trust Tara, sir, we're not taking any blimps from the base.”
Tara was the engineer of the ship, of muscular constitution, she was very tall and had sunburned skin. Like Risu, she had an aggressive smile that was always accompanied by a cigarette that she never lit.
Tara's eyes were ochre in color and her sea-green hair, like her tail, was combed like a ponytail but not neat, but several stubborn locks of hair shot out in all directions.
On the bridge of the ship, apart from Rauri, Risu and Yuubi, there were two young Cathians, some children.
Jessie and Sebastian were two young cousins who volunteered for this mission.
Jessie, she had a light skin tone with a blood red tail and hair, long and always somewhat fluffy and well cared for and perfumed, her sparkling emerald eyes denoted a brave and determined girl.
Sebastian, who had a slightly paler skin tone and unlike his cousin, had a ginger (orange) tail and hair that seemed to have a glow of its own. He also had two beautiful emeralds for eyes, and a face that competed in beauty with that of her already beautiful cousin.
Yubbi was unhappy with the presence of the two young men, as the two cousins' files reported a series of arrests for child vandalism.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Yuubi whispered to his friend as the ship approached the stratosphere.
“Don't you think it's too late to go back now?” Risu asked strangely.
“It's never too late, unless you're dead.”
“Yes, I'm pretty sure.... If adults engage in their narrow-minded ways, it is our duty to create and move forward on a new path that leads us into the future.”
Yuubi looked at his friend with pleasure.
“The opposite would be sinful, like seeing a good pair of breasts in front of you and not using the classic one: ups, I tripped," Risu concluded.
“You are an idiot, how I regret being under the orders of an idiot like you," he whispered to him with a smile on his lips.
“I am sorry to be such a jerk, but you have no choice but to put up with me until we return to Cathia," Risu replied with a sarcastic smile.
Yuubi wondered for a moment if that sarcastic smile meant he would have to put up with his friend for the rest of his life, but such thoughts were interrupted when Jessie and Sebastian told them they were about to reach the height required for the mission.
“Well, be ready to disengage and start the engines," Risu ordered.
“I was born ready," said Sebastian.
“And I always have my "engines ready"," said Jessie.
Yuubi shook his head, while Rauri hid a laugh.
“Ten cats, nine cats, eight cats... two cats, one cat! Let's meow!” shouted the two boys despite the annoying gestures of Yubbi and Risu, proceeding with the mission.
Despite the absurd behaviour, the two cousins performed their duties to perfection and the "Thundercat" shot out into the infinite darkness of space.
Only a few brief jolts preceded a calm advance because in the vacuum of space there was no friction or bumps of any kind.
“Ñuuuuu ñuuuu brrrrr ñuuuuuu nooo…”
“What are those two doing?” Yuubi asked as he watched Jessie and Sebastian twist their bodies as if they were having muscle spasms.
“I think they try to simulate G-forces when you go through the atmosphere, you know, when a rocket goes off from the surface and into the stratosphere," Risu replied with a funny smile. Needless to say, Yuubi didn't see the humor in it.
.
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In Thundera, Lion-O had mixed feelings about the sage Llaga, they had finally reached the Tower of Omens and the prospects were not encouraging.
“Why Llaga, why did you keep silent all these years? Father, you didn't tell me the truth either... both of you never supported me.”
Two women approached the place, one was Cheetara, a warrior priestess under the orders of the old man Llaga, the other an adorable girl named Wilykit, she and her brother named Wilykat, had fled the house to escape poverty and not be a burden to their widowed mother and two younger brothers.
“What's wrong with Lion-O?” Wilykit asked.
“I think I know what's wrong with him," replied Cheetara, who despite being loyal to her master, at that moment could not help but question the attitude of her old mentor in keeping so many secrets.
Cheetara dismissed Wilykit and then approached Lion-O cautiously.
“Lion-O....”
“How could Llaga hide all this, the book of omens, the technology, everything...”
“...Lion-O, it was imperative that the whole matter of the book of omens be kept secret.”
“But you were one of his warrior priestesses and Llaga told you nothing about the Tower of Omens.”
“No... I was not very important... there were others with a higher rank than me," cheetara said hurtingly, as she was one of the best under the command of the old man and he still said nothing to her.
“And what about technology, Llaga knew very well that technology existed and never told me.... I was treated like a fool by others for years, including my father!”
“Lion-O, Llaga, assumed that all the technology had been lost or was unusable due to the time that had passed.”
“He could have told me! Instead he kept quiet as if the technology was just a fairy tale!”
“Maybe he didn't want to give you false hope," she said as she moved closer to her young king and placed her delicate hand on his shoulder.
“And what about my father, he didn't accept the technology either, but in the end he sent Panthro and the traitor Sabre to look for the technology.”
“Maybe like Llaga, he didn't want to give you vain hope.... maybe, maybe...”
Cheetara couldn't take it anymore and hugged Lion-O to ease her pain.
Lion-O was surprised, but then hugged Cheetara shyly.
“I hate adults," said Lion-O as Cheetara separated herself from her king.
“Now we are the adults," smiled Cheetah, "we must take care of Wilykat and Wilykit, and we must defeat Mumm-ra and free our compatriots, there is so much to do.”
“True, but first of all, we must apply ourselves and try to understand the technology found in the feline tank that brought Panthro.”
The two youths looked at each other and nodded, as Wilykat and Wilykit ran to them.
“Panthro and Tygra, they won't let us help them with the feline tank! we hate adults!”
Lion-O and Cheetara looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh despite the annoyance on the faces of the two children who were pouting in front of them.
CONTINUARÁ...
Author's final notes: In this chapter I showed the social situation in Cathia that in the Asobi ni iku yo chapter, in which Rauri appears, shows more clearly why Eris is sad and ashamed of the behaviour of her ancestors.
As a wink, the scene of the burned assistedroids, I took it out of one of the best animes I ever saw: Armitage III. I recommend it to you, the plot is simply magnificent.
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