Thunderbirds Ready for Action! (short story)

Thunderbirds Ready for Action! was a cover story printed in Action 21 that contained elements from the Doctor Who universe. Framed as the front page of an in-universe periodical, the titular article made reference to the Thunderbirds content in the issue while a smaller piece tied-in to the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons crossover comic We Will Destroy Unity City.

This format closely mirrored that of the TV Century 21 cover stories of the mid-1960s, from which much of the material in Action 21 was reprinted. All nine subsequent issues of the magazine would stick to a similar design.

Summary
Thousands of miles above Earth, the International Rescue space station Thunderbird 5 discovers "cast-iron proof" of one man's murderous intentions against another. With both lost deep within a Canadian forest, a race begins between the would-be killer and the fire which he has started to cover his tracks, the resulting danger meaning it is only a matter of time before International Rescue patriarch Jeff Tracy proclaims "Thunderbirds Are Go!".

Meanwhile, the Mysterons announce a threat to destroy Unity City mere hours after their nuclear attack on London was foiled by Captain Scarlet. Action 21's reporter on Cloudbase remains poised to bring readers "the hottest story and pictures" on the developing situation.

Finally, the Marineville Press Office report that Captain Troy Tempest and his crew were fired upon only "minutes ago" as their ship Stingray continues to be "locked in a life-or-death battle beneath the waves".

Characters

 * Jeff Tracy
 * Captain Scarlet
 * Captain Blue
 * Pete Tracker
 * Reporter

Worldbuilding

 * Sam Lincoln is described as having "murder in his heart".
 * Stingray is noted as being "the WASP Super-Sub".
 * Two submarine aircraft carriers have mysteriously disappeared in the past month.

Story notes

 * This story was also a tie-in to the Thunderbirds story Blazing Danger and the Stingray story The Monster Jellyfish.

Continuity

 * As correctly predicted in this story, International Rescue dispatched Thunderbird 1 to Canada in PROSE: Captain Scarlet in Death Crash! and had arrived by PROSE: Captain Black Surrenders.
 * The Mysteron threat was still looming large over Unity City at the time of the 610th Kaplan's assassination, as noted in PROSE: Get the Gunman!.
 * Reports of a "vast, pulsating shape" near Stingray's last position emerged in PROSE: Captain Scarlet in Death Crash! which culminated in an attack on Marineville in PROSE: Sniper!.