FanFic:Saving Sodor Part 18: Salvage Operation

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Previous Part: Part 17

Saving Sodor Part 18: Salvage Operation

Characters: (in order of appearance)

• Rosie
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Harold
• Rosie
• Boco
• Diesel 10
• Mavis
• Diesel
• James
• Percy
• Henry
• Lady

Chapter Eighteen

Though the silence seemed like an eternity to Rosie, due to the shock she was in, it was broken after a few seconds as someone cried out. "Oh my goodness!"

Rosie was stunned, and looked around for who made the noise. She found out as she looked to where the points where, and standing there was none other than - the Fat Controller.

"Sir?" Rosie exclaimed surprised. "Where did you come from?"

"I landed here just now with Harold." The Fat Controller pointed to the left side of where they were, where Harold was standing on a helipad. Rosie saw that the helicopter was in shock to, and she guessed that he must have seen what had happened to Thomas, as well as the diesels.

"We saw you coming," continued the Fat Controller. "We watched as Diesel 10 chased you into the sidings. Did you not see me?"

Rosie told him that she hadn't. "I was too scared to notice you, sorry, Sir."

"Don't apologise. I expect you were. Thomas seemed very scared too; scared of what Diesel 10 was planning to do to you. And it seemed Diesel 10 was too fixed on you to notice me. So while he was bracing himself to destroy you, I ran over to the points and switched them so they led to the other siding."

"So you saved me?"

"Correction; Thomas saved you - and the rest of Sodor." The Fat Controller sighed. "But as we saw just now, Diesel pushed Thomas of the cliff - and also fell off himself." The Fat Controller put his hand to his forehead and shook his head. "It's my fault."

"No, Sir! It was Diesel who pushed Thomas off the cliff! You were making sure Diesel 10 didn't destroy me."

"Maybe." The Fat Controller sighed. "But now is not the time to dwell on it! I'd better go and call for a rescue team, to bring Thomas back to the rails. We'll have to bring the diesels back too, but I'll be sending Diesel 10 away. And if we can repair Diesel, once we have, he's going back to the Mainland."

The Fat Controller turned and started to walk towards Harold, but Rosie stopped him as she called after him. "Sir? Thomas...do you think...Thomas is okay."

The Fat Controller turned back to her, looking grave. "I'm afraid I couldn't answer that right now Rosie. I can't judge the damage Thomas took after that fall. We'll see if he's okay after we've salvaged him, and then see if he can be fixed."

The Fat Controller then boarded Harold, who then can out of his shock. As his blades started to whir, he smiled at Rosie. "Don't worry, Rosie. Thomas has had plenty of accidents before. And he's always been fixed and running again after them." With that, still smiling, Harold took off to the skies.

Maybe, Rosie thought sadly. But none of Thomas' accidents has been him falling off a cliff. He's had accidents which he's survived. And even if he's survived this one, he might not even be able to fix.

An hour later, Rosie watched as a large crane was now standing by the cliffs, it's base in the ravine. Some flood lights had been brought to light up the place.

The crane was now lifting something from the ravine. As it did, Boco reversed into the siding which Thomas, Diesel and Diesel 10 had fallen off the end of, a flatbed coupled behind him. He stopped when the flatbed was on the edge of the siding, standing next to Rosie. "Are you alright, Rosie?" He asked.

Rosie, still miserable after witnessing the engine she loved fall of the cliff, didn't answer.

At that moment, the crane lifted it's first salvaged load above them. As they were facing away from it, Rosie and Boco couldn't see what it was. But when the crane placed the load on the flatbed, Rosie saw what it was.

It was Diesel 10. But he looked more startling than ever. His paint was completely scratched all over, making him an ugly grey. His claw had completely come off, making him without his weapon. His windows had also been smashed. His eyes were closed.

He started to grunt, much to Rosie's fright. "I....can't...believe...it! Puffballs...foiled...my...plan...again!" Then his eyes suddenly jerked open. Rosie gasped with fright. The diesel's eyes turned to look at her and he snarled. "But I'll be back!" He growled through clenched teeth. "I'll come back and destroy you puffballs! You haven't heard the last of me!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on," said Boco, as he pulled out of the siding, the flatbed with Diesel 10 trailing behind him. "You won't be seeing another steam engine agin after tonight."

A short while after Boco left with Diesel 10, Mavis reversed into the siding where the engines had fallen off the end of, also with a flatbed coupled behind her. The crane was now lifting it's second load.

"Diesel 10 won't be bothering anymore steam engines now," said Mavis. "What do you think to that Rosie?"

Rosie still didn't reply. Mavis understood why and felt sorry for her. The quarry diesel was also worried about if Thomas was okay.

The crane unloaded it's second salvaged load. To Rosie's fright, it was Diesel. His black paint had been scratched and his front end was dented badly. He had broken a side rod and lost two of his wheels.

His eyes were closed at first, but then they slowly opened. "What...happened? Did I...destroy...Thomas?"

"Come on, Diesel," said Mavis. "We're going to see if you can be repaired. And if you can be, then once you are, you're going back to the Mainland.

And Mavis left with Diesel on the flatbed, and headed towards Croven's Gate.

Shortly afterwoods, Rosie was still in the sidings, when this time, James and Percy backed into the siding next to her. Percy was coupled behind James, and he had a flatbed coupled behind him. Rosie knew who this flatbed was for."

"We heard about what happened to Thomas," said James sadly to Rosie.

"I hope he's okay," added Percy miserably.

"We should be really be happy, because he saved Sodor," said James.

"But we can't be," replied Percy. "Because though Sodor is okay, Thomas may not be."

Rosie said nothing. She was every lost in thought.

Just then, the crane unloaded it's last load, and when Rosie saw it, she was horrified.

It was Thomas.

But he didn't looked liked Thomas. The side of his boiler had been ripped into, creating a hole; his dome was cracked; one of his wheels was bent; his cab roof was dented; his lamp and whistle were smashed. Most of all, his blue was badly scratched.

"Thomas," Rosie tearfully whispered. At that moment, the almost destroyed tank engine opened his eyes. He looked at Rosie and smiled.

"Hey, Rosie. Are you okay?"

"Not really. Look at you Thomas! You could have been destroyed."

"I couldn't let Diesel 10 do that to you," smiled Thomas.

"We're going to take you to Croven's Gate now," explained James.

"We sure hope you can be fixed," added Percy.

"Please be okay, Thomas," said Rosie sadly.

"I will. Don't worry Rosie. I'll be fine. Goodbye." Then Rosie watched through eyes full of tears as James and Percy pulled Thomas away.

Later that night, Rosie was puffing back to her shed. She was very miserable. She had been horrified when she saw the state Thomas was in, because he had saved her.

The line passed Tidmouth sheds. When the sheds came into view, Rosie saw that the only engines who usually slept there were Henry, James and Percy. But also with them were Boco, Mavis and Lady (who had been put back onto the rails by Rocky earlier that night).

"Hey, Rosie, we're filling up the spaces in the shed while the other engines are away." Boco called.

"Why don't you join us?" asked Mavis. "It's better than being on your own."

Rosie, who couldn't have felt more alone, agreed. She went onto the turntable, turned around, and back down into the one empty space in the shed that was between Percy and Lady.

"How are you feeling?" Percy asked. Rosie didn't answer.

"I saw the state Thomas was in," Lady told her. "I was very shocked! I didn't expect that to happen to him! We should all be happy now that he's saved Sodor. And then this happens. How did the engines down Croven's Gate react?"

"They were horrified," explained James. "They were in great shock, and I couldn't even snap them out of it by telling them that Sodor was now safe."

"Even Gordon was stunned when he saw Thomas," added Henry. "But he was sad, so he didn't boast about he was right."

Just then, the Fat Controller came to the sheds. "So while I've been away, Diesel 10 tried to destroy all steam engines."

"Yes," replied Henry.

"Well, as we all know by know, he was stopped by one steam engine that we all know - and that also got badly damaged in the process. Thomas is now at Croven's Gate, and we're trying to repair him."

"You can repair him, right Sir?" Percy asked nervously.

The Fat Controller looked up. "To be honest Percy, I'm not sure. The damage is terrible. Thomas may be beyond repair. If we can't fix - then only thing to do is to scrap him."

The engines said nothing. But they were very sad to hear this. To think that Thomas, their good friend who had just saved Sodor, could possibly be scrapped.

"The same goes for Diesel. If we can't fix him, then we'll scrap him too."

None of the engines cared about Diesel. They thought he deserved to be scrapped. He had tried to help Diesel 10 destroy the steam engines and he was the engine who pushed Thomas off the cliff.

"We'll just have to see how it goes," the Fat Controller concluded. "Try not to worry tonight and get some sleep. Goodnight."

The Fat Controller then departed. The engines fell into an uneasy sleep. All of them were very afraid. Thomas had risked his life to save Sodor - and his reward could turn out to be a one way trip to the scrapyard.