The Olympians
Episode Two: LIGHTNING STRIKES THRICE
By Nike
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Alex wrote in her pocket-sized diary:
Dear Diary,
Today, the Firebirds experienced the biggest surprise in their stay in Earth just a few minutes ago. A thunderstorm had passed this area and they were shocked when the lightning struck and lit up the entire base. They thought that the Harpies were attacking them. Even Phoenix ordered the Firebirds to go to their battle stations and were they all surprised when the storm passed and the lightning flashes stopped. 
At that moment, Alex stopped writing and placed the diary in her pocket. She glanced at her right and saw the Firebird commander staring warily at the clear blue sky.
Phoenix turned to glance at her. “This Earth of yours is one strange planet, Alex.”
Alex grinned. “Get ready for more surprise, Phoenix,” she replied. “I was thinking of the same thing myself.”
“Hey, Phoenix!” Blast yelled at she pointed at the mountain range that had been struck by lightning. “Look at that! Half of it is gone!”
“Shoot, those are really powerful energy bolts indeed.” Meteor whistled in awe. “I don’t think the storms from Tempestia can match them.”
“Odd,” Phoenix frowned in puzzlement. “This planet doesn’t strike me as one filled with storms before.”
“It is called lightning, Phoenix.” Alex explained.
Many Firebirds now looked suspiciously at Lightning.
“I should have known that YOU were behind this.” Explosion accused, glaring at a VERY nervous Lightning.
“But I didn’t do ANYTHING!” Lightning protested. “My powers can’t do even a tenth of what it did!”
“Lightning bolts are very destructive indeed,” Andrea, Alex’s mom explained as she stepped into view. “A single bolt can cut mountains, blow up bridges or oil tanks.”
Phoenix looked thoughtful. They had been looking for new sources of energy so that they can return back to their planet. Could this one called lightning be the answer to their problem?
“Tell me more about this lightning, Andrea.” She began.
Andrea got a small twig and began drawing figures on the ground. “Lightning is really electricity.” She explained
Lightning looked interested. “We also have electricity back in Olympia.” She commented. “We generate it from our power plants but it doesn’t come from the sky.” She paused, frowning. “That is, if you don’t count the electrical storms in Tempestia.”
“Think we can harness it somehow, Andrea?” Meteor asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Andrea replied doubtfully. “I’ve seen it destroy objects, a single bolt can pack one hefty punch.”
Phoenix frowned. “Perhaps Earth’s technology cannot handle such forces yet. In Olympia, we have learned to control. Forms of energy unknown to your kind.” She paused for while, thinking. “Tell Electra, I’d like to speak to her as soon as possible.”
As usual, Electra complained. “Catch lightning?” she snorted. “You want to put it in a cage, I suppose?”
Phoenix didn’t mind her tone of voice. “If you think that’s the way to catch it, do it.” She replied and then left the room.
Electra watched her go. “Me and my big mouth.” She muttered.
Minutes later, Electra went off in search some raw materials. Then she came back to borrow some of Centaurie’s tools.
“What do you think YOU’RE doing?!” Centaurie exclaimed upon stepping inside her workshop and seeing Electra making off with her electrical tools.
Electra ignored her, she just kept muttering to herself. “Catch lightning, Hah! None of this nonsense in Olympia, now!"
Then Electra went outside to begin her work. Meteor came to help her, but they only pretended to be more miserable than the other is.
“Can you believe it, a device for making lightning?" Electra snorted as she tightened up some bolts on an odd looking machine. "What’s next? Making stones do the foxtrot?"
“Well, none of this nonsense would ever happen back in Olympia." Meteor replied as she continued wielding a steel bar. "And if I was back in Olympia…"
Electra cut her off. "Oh yeah? Then why did YOU came over here and HELPED me?"
“You FORCED…er, I mean BLACKMAILED, me to.” Meteor retorted. “Would you think that I would come here if I wanted to?”
"Oh sure, I did." Electra argued sarcastically. "In fact I was so DESPERATE for your help that you had to come here to help WITHOUT being asked to."
Meteor didn’t say anything after that.
Days passed. Electra worked hard on the project until finally it was finished. One afternoon she came back to the base and spoke to Phoenix.
"I suppose you’ll want to see it." She began. "Don’t suppose, I’ll get any thanks---just a worn clutch." She added as led Phoenix to a nearby mountain range.
The Firebird commander strained her eyes but she couldn’t see a thing. "Where is it?"
In reply to her question, Electra pushed a button on her wristband controller and from the tallest mountains rose a huge metal tower. "According to Andrea, lightning strikes the tallest objects around. Well, here it is then. This antenna has got to be the tallest thing around since Mount Olympia!"
Phoenix frowned. "I just hope that the Harpies don’t learn anything about it."
But even as she spoke, Laserclaw, the trained spy-vulture of the Harpies had been recording everything on tape. Unseen by the others, it then flew towards the Harpy Base to report to Hecate.
Minutes later, inside the Harpy Base…
Hecate turned to Shriek after listening to Laserclaw’s report. “What do you think it could be?”
Shriek frowned as she thought about it. “From its structure, I would suggest it could be a communications device.”
“Who are the Firebirds sending messages to?” Darkhawk suddenly demanded. “They must be dealt with as soon as possible!”
Hecate glared at her to keep quiet. “We got to know first to whom they are sending messages to then we’ll hunt them down.” She cut her off and then turned to face Shriek. “Go to the place and try to find out to whom the Firebirds are sending to. Laserclaw will guide you.”
Shriek nodded. "It shall be done, Commander.”
Following Hecate’s commands, Shriek trekked the woods near the mountains. Laserclaw circled on but Shriek couldn’t see anything resembling a tower.
“Where is it?” she muttered.
Suddenly, a huge tower rose from the mountain range. Quickly, she turned the radio transmitter in her pack. Shriek listened for any radio frequencies. 
Nothing.
Shriek frowned and tried other frequencies.
No infrared. No air waves. Not even ultraviolet rays. Nothing at all.
Shriek turned to go. This was drastic, whatever the Firebirds are sending messages with was totally undetectable even to an expert like her.
<Hecate must be told of this without delay,> she thought as she sped back to the Harpy base.
Later…
“Destroy it! Along with the Firebirds!” Darkhawk shouted upon hearing Shriek’s report.
Hecate looked thoughtful. “This technology is beyond our wildest dreams. If we can learn its secret, we’ll have a powerful weapon against the Firebirds. Laserclaw, return and keep an eye on them while I make my plans.”
The Harpy Commander was so busy with Shriek’s report that she didn’t notice Darkhawk whisper something to Shudder and slip out of the base.
Not knowing that they were being watched, the Firebirds made final preparations for the final test of Meteor’s Lightning Energy Converter. Powerful cables were being led from the base of the mast, deep into the mountain, and then connected to the equipment in the chamber.
Meteor muttered to herself and to anyone that could hear that the whole thing was ridiculous. “What if there’s no storm? What if there’s no more lightning?”
"There will be a thunderstorm sooner or later, Meteor." Andrea told her. "We’ll just have to wait."
"Ok. We’ll wait. After all, we’ve got all the time of our lives to wait!" scoffed Meteor. "So fine, let’s wait."
"We can pick up weather reports from the radio." Alex suggested. "They could tell us if a storm’s coming."
"Cheer up, Meteor." Lightning began, relieved for once that the other Firebirds are not blaming her for everything. "If there isn’t a storm, we can make Electra fly a kite tonight."
Laserclaw watched the Firebirds from high in the sky. The spy-vulture flew in closer to the metal mast and perched on the swaying structure while recording all the details on tape. As darkness fell, it spiraled down to the height of the mast. It was actively watching the activities below when it spotted something anew.
There was an opening at the foot of the mountain. The Firebirds were coming out and so were the two humans who befriended them. Laserclaw stayed quiet, unseen in the dusk, it watched the Firebirds assemble at Phoenix’s command while Alex and her mom climbed on the hovercraft. Then in a roar of jet engines, the Firebirds swept off the mountain and back to their base. 
Laserclaw immediately arrived at the Harpy Base and tossed a cassette to Shriek who played it into the computer as the Harpies listened to the report. The steel mast was still a mystery but it seemed that the Firebirds had made something that was hidden inside the mountain.
"I must know what’s so important about their work that they have buried it." Hecate began. "I can’t stand those creatures knowing something that I don’t!" She called for Darkhawk but Rave said that he saw her go off with Shudder.
Hecate roared with rage. Some of the Harpies swore that they could see smoke coming from her ears.
"That mindless vandal! I can guess what she’s planning” she shouted angrily. "We must stop her immediately! Harpies, SCRAMBLE!"
At the command of their angry leader, the frightened Harpies rose into the air and raced at top speed to stop Darkhawk before she destroys the Firebirds and their secret.
"When I get my hands on that run-down bag of bones…" Hecate muttered angrily as they neared the place.
Alex stood by the radio, trying to tune into a local station to catch a weather forecast. “The sky is clouding over.” She explained. “I shouldn’t be surprised if there was another storm soon.”
She turned the dial again and there were a few bars of music. Then the music stopped and a man’s voice was heard.
“Here is the local weather outlook for the next 24 hours. Temperatures will stay the same but a moist warm air stream from the west will move in later with a possibility of thunderstorms over the mountains…”
“This is IT!” Alex cheered jumping with joy. “A storm is coming up!”
“Humans…” muttered Meteor in disbelief. “There’s a storm coming and THAT’S good news?”
“If Electra’s machine is ready, let’s not waste time.” Concluded Phoenix. “Firebirds, let’s get going!”
In a moment the Firebirds, along with Alex and her mom were making their way to the mountain. Storm clouds were gathering as they reached the place and a few drops of rain fell. 
“Well at least we’ll be shielded from the rain inside the chamber.” Blast sighed as the rain started pouring.
“Don’t count on it.” Electra shook her head. “We know nothing of this lightning thing and I intend to watch this test as far away as possible.”
“There’s an overhanging cliff over there.” Phoenix pointed to a nearby range. “We’ll be out of the storm but we’ll still be able to see the mountain.”
Taking up their positions, the Firebirds watched as Electra activated the controls on her wrist panel and the mast slowly rose on top of the tower.
Clouds began to swell as the storm began.
In the darkness, no one saw Darkhawk and Shudder as they slipped into the chamber. The Harpy second-in-command stopped in the center of the chamber and looked around. The walls and the roof were made out of rock. The floor was paved with plastic sheeting and in the center rose a mighty piece of machinery. She walked around it from each corner, rose a silver column and each column had a silver sphere on top of it. Between them were cables. 
Nothing moved inside. Everything was silent.
“I thought we’re going to smash this place.” Shudder frowned watching Darkhawk. “Two jolts and these will all be junk.”
“It’s not doing anything!" Darkhawk exclaimed as she examined the machines. “It doesn’t even work and that fool of a leader thought that it was a secret radio system!”
Hecate suddenly appeared along with the other Harpies... “SABOTEUR! Against my orders, YOU would destroy this machine! And a fool of a leader do you think am I?” she began angrily, aiming to blast Darkhawk’s face.
“I only thought to serve you and the Cause.” Replied Darkhawk evenly. “The Firebirds could use this machine to harm us.”
“But it does NOTHING! You said it so yourself!” Hecate argued, calming down. “They have extended their aerial, we saw that. They are probably preparing to receive or send a signal. If they have friends, I want to know. Then we shall crush them all!”
From the cliff, the Firebirds peered up as the storm began. Lightning flashed among the thick clouds, making them glow brightly with electricity.
Blast raised an eyebrow. “Very pretty, I’m sure.” She said, wryly.  “When will that contraption work anyway?”
“Contraption!?” Electra exclaimed in anger. “MY Lightning Energy Converter is NOT a contraption. You just wait and be patient!”
“No, YOU wait and be patient! You sound like a human everyday!” argued Meteor. “WOW! WHAT was THAT?!”
At that moment an ear-splitting crack of thunder broke the silence as a lightning bolt hit the mast, making it glow with blue and white light.
Meanwhile inside the mountain, Shudder was trying to hide from Hecate’s anger when suddenly the place became charged with electrical energy.
“Who are they sending messages to?” Darkhawk shrieked as the lightning bolt struck one of the pillars. “And most importantly, WHAT are they sending with?”
Shriek tried to find out, but she couldn’t get anything but static. Sparks flew about the area, knocking most of them down. Gale tried to get up but she was knocked out when she touched the walls.
Snarl was maddened by the confusion. Crazed by the sparks, it turned against Hecate, its own master. A swift knockdown punch from the Harpy commander quickly brought it back to its senses. Whimpering it was led away by Shriek.
“If it can be activated, it can be destroyed!” Darkhawk shouted as she aimed her blaster at the machine but a stray electrical bolt knocked her out.
“It’s a Firebird trap! Harpies, RETREAT!” Hecate cried, but the electric sparks already formed an electrical curtain around them. The Harpies were able to escape but they were badly burnt in the process.
“Where did THEY come from?” Phoenix asked in wonder upon seeing their enemies retreating and badly burned.
Scout frowned. “I thought I heard their signal a while ago, but I thought it was just a false alarm.”
Blast laughed. “Well, they certainly got the message!”
Electra checked her machine. “It’s bent on some parts but I’m sure it can be fixed.”
Phoenix looked at the sky. The storm had passed and the full moon was shining beautifully. “Energy from the sky is what we’ll use to go back to our planet. It will be also our gift to them after we’re gone.”