A call to Silver Hills

Summer 2014

Run by the Tracy family from an island in the South Pacific, International Rescue are often first on the scene whenever disaster strikes, anywhere in the world.

Known by the name of their magnificent machines, they are The Thunderbirds.

x-x

Scott, the eldest of billionaire ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy's five sons, had recently accompanied his dad to Silver Hills for a business conference. There, they had met Albert Collins, owner of Bio-Labs, and his son Wes. Wes was co-commander of the Silver Guardians, a not-for-profit private security organisation set up by Albert over a decade ago, with his best friend Eric. Wes's wife Jen was also a Silver Guardian, a Team Leader. Eric and Jen had been at the conference in an official capacity, as the Silver Guardians had provided Security. With most Power Ranger teams, no one knew the identity of the Rangers. The identities of the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers was common knowledge, as was the fact that Wes and Jen were the Red and Pink Time Force Rangers, and Eric was the Quantum Ranger.

x-x

Wes had been at his desk, going through paperwork, when he got the call. There had been an explosion at Bio-Labs. In minutes, Wes, Jen and Eric were in the car and driving there. Wes found his dad already being looked over by EMTs. He was fine except for a little smoke inhalation. Wes made the decision to call in the Thunderbirds when a gas tank exploded.

"This is International Rescue. How can we help?" came the response to his call.
"This is Wes Collins, Commander of the Silver Guardians in Silver Hills. An explosion has occurred at the Bio-Labs building. Requesting assistance for Search and Rescue and fire control" Wes told them.
"We're on our way" came the response.

x-x

On Tracy Island, the residents were going about their day when they got the call from John, Jeff's second eldest, who was currently up on their space station, Thunderbird Five. Jeff was first into the office and activated Command and Control as Scott and his three younger son's, Virgil, Gordon, and Alan ran into the room. They were followed by Scott's girlfriend Hope, John's wife Lou, who had their one-year-old son Tyler in her arms, Gordon's girlfriend Pippa, and Alan's wife Tin-Tin. The two eighteen-year-olds had returned from their Honeymoon two days previous. Brains, who had designed most of the equipment used by International Rescue, and his son Fermat ran in soon after the others.
"What have we got John?" Jeff asked, and John relayed what he had been told by Wes. Jeff, his sons, Tin-Tin, and Hope were soon launching Thunderbirds One and Two. Hope had gone as she was a trained doctor, specializing in emergency medicine. Lou and Pippa would run Command and Control.

x-x

Wes, Eric and Jen had all morphed as they began to search for people in the rubble. They saw the red-tipped, silver and blue rocket-like Thunderbird One land. Two men exited the craft and began setting up what appeared to be a mobile Command Center. The Thunderbirds kept the identities of their operatives secret. Helmets hid most of their faces.
"Power down" Wes said as he approached them, Eric and Jen also powered down as they followed Wes.
"Commander Collins?" one of the Thunderbird Operatives called as the big, green Thunderbird Two landed and five others disembarked.
"I'm Commander Collins" Wes replied. "This is Commander Myers and Captain Collins. Thank you for coming."
"I'm the Commander" he introduced himself. The Commander's voice was vaguely familiar to Wes.
"You can call me Alpha" the other guy said. His voice was also familiar. Wes knew he had heard both voices before, but couldn't remember where. The Commander had then introduced Wes, Jen and Eric to his team before introducing his team to them. There was Charlie, Foxtrot, and Juliette. Charlie was a guy, Foxtrot and Juliette were women. Charlie was a Field Medic. Juliette, or Jules, was a Doctor who was trained in Emergency Medicine. Foxtrot appeared to be a few years younger than the others. Charlie had told the Commander that Delta and Echo were unloading the Firefly. As he'd said that, something was lowered from Thunderbird Two, and the two Operatives with it took it to the worst of the fire.

x-x

Hope searched the second floor for survivors, and got the injured ready for evac. Wes was with her, and the other members of International Rescue were spread across the first and third floors with Commander Myers and Captain Collins, who Hope had discovered was Wes's wife. Suddenly, part of the ceiling collapsed, with someone falling through the gap.
"Scott, are you ok" Hope said, realizing who had fallen through the ceiling and running to him.
"Yeah, I'm ok" he replied. "Probably have some good bruises though." Checking him over, Hope agreed with him.

x-x

Wes had been near enough to catch Juliette's slip with the name. As she'd said Scott, Wes realized the voices he'd recognized had been Scott Tracy and his dad, Jeff.
"Hello again Scott" Wes said quietly, approaching the other guy. The building had been fully searched and everyone accounted for. Wes saw Scott freeze. "I recognized your voice" he explained. "Don't worry, I won't tell."
"Thank you, Wes" Scott replied as the Commander and the other members of International Rescue approached them.
"Thank you, Commander, for your help today" Wes offered a handshake.
"It's what we do" the Commander replied, accepting the handshake. Soon, the Thunderbirds were in the air and returning to their base.