Near Misses

**Near Misses** is the first story of the TUGS Survival AU timeline as the counterpart to *Losses*.

## Plot

Captain Star recalls the attack on Pearl Harbor and President Franklin D. Roosevelt declaring war on Japan as a result, thus bringing the United States into the Second World War. Thomas and Andrea had already made the right decision to postpone the honeymoon and Lillie is stored at Lucky's Yard for safety. Lexi, Placido and Maeve come back to the Dock Railway to help with the extra work.

One night, Ten Cents has a nightmare about being caught up in an attack. The rest of the Stars are concerned, especially Hercules and Sunshine. Zip also shows concerns for her friend and when she overhears Hercules comforting Ten Cents, she wishes she had a big sibling as well.

The next morning, Captain Star decides to have Ten Cents work with Hercules for the time being and the two tugs go to escort a naval tramper out to sea. Meanwhile, Zorran and Zug set off to collect munitions for the naval base. Captain Zero then leaves for a meeting with the harbour master, unaware of an unwelcome visitor, lurking nearby.

Once Ten Cents and Hercules have seen the tramper off, they return to port and wonder if Ariel and Penny are alright.

Zorran and Zug have delivered the munitions safely and Jimbo clears them, but also informs that Admiral Cardona wants to speak to him. Whilst Zorran heads back for the Zero Dock, Zug goes to see Admiral Cardona. The admiral has a message from Captain Zero, saying he needs to collect an urgent delivery from the old quay. What Zug doesn't mean that someone has laid a trap for him.

Porter and Kirke have just finished shunting some munition boxcars off Zob's car floats. Once that's done, Top Hat and Zob set off back for their respective docks.

Zug arrives at the old quay, only for a larger tug to pounce on him. Poor Zug is terrified and he is escorted in a warehouse where a group of vessels and two humans are waiting for him; they are silhouetted so Zug can't see them in full. One of the humans goes to get a barrel, which confirms Zug's worst fears...

Back at the Star Dock, Captain Star does the number off system with his fleet without any issues and instructs them to await further instructions. Just as Captain Zero is about to get his fleet to number off, he notices that Zak, Zug and Zeus are missing. Zorran then explains that Admiral Cardona wanted to speak to Zug and Captain Zero goes to phone the naval base to check if Zug is alright. When Admiral Cardona explains about the urgent job, Captain Zero is shocked as he never gave such an order. Quickly, he hangs up and informs his fleet that Zug has gone missing. Zorran quickly organises a search party and instructs Captain Zero and Captain Star to stay at their docks in case of an attack. When the Stars are informed of this, Hercules agrees to help, saying that it was time to return the favour as the Z-Stacks helped to look for Sunshine when she was kidnapped. Zak and Zeus then show up and Zorran instructs Zob to keep an eye on them whilst looking for Zug.

The Stars and Z-Stacks meet up with the Salvage Fleet and Coast Guard team as well as Robin who is worried for her brother's safety. Billy Shoepack, Sea Rogue and O’Malley promise to look up river for him. Captain Lucky even contacts Sally Seaplane to see if she can search for Zug from the skies. Although Finbar is needed in case of fire, he promised to keep a lookout. Captain Zero also asks Mr. Lloyd and the engines to look for Zug.

Top Hat, Sunshine, Zebedee and Zip check the waste dump but neither Lord Stinker nor Jack have seen him. Placido can't find Zug either and Little Owl worries that this may have been what Zak, Zeus and Ursula Zero were planning. Pisces, Misty and Scorpio look out at sea but come across a ship waving the swastika. Quickly the three tugs turn back for port as the inevitable is about to happen.

Ten Cents and Hercules are searching by the old quay when the air raid sirens go off, striking terror into Ten Cents. Quickly, Hercules throws a towline and rushes into a warehouse where they both make an horrifying discovery...

Captain Zero rushes over to Captain Star's announcing house, which has a basement. The two captains waste no time in rushing downstairs and Captain Zero feels upset, due to Zug going missing and Bigg City being invaded. Captain Star sympathizes with him and hopes the tugs come out of this alive.

Sunshine, Top Hat, Zebedee and Zip are still looking for Zug when the enemy planes start bombing. Sunshine directs them to a warehouse and Pisces, Misty and Scorpio came up. However, a enemy bomber is aiming for Zip who is still looking for Zug. Quickly, Top Hat shoves Zip out of the way but barely avoids a strike in the e wheelhouse with a part of his stack getting damaged.

O.J., Grampus, Zorran and Zilly are still looking for Zug. O.J. doesn’t notice an enemy ship firing a torpedo at him, but Zilly does and charges forward in front of it. Poor Zilly gets dented by some debris, much to Grampus' horror.

Over on the Dock Railway, a munitions boxcar has caught fire and there is a danger of the entire railway being blown up. Quickly, Kirke rushes the boxcar to the abandoned tunnel, despite Porter and Henney's protests. Kirke tells his crew to jump and they reluctantly obey. Once Kirke enters the tunnel, the munitions explode, causing the tunnel to collapse.

Sally is fighting enemy planes from the sky. Moonlight and Hail, who are sheltering nearby, cheer her on. Then, an enemy plane shoots at Sally. She manages to dive lower than the attack, but it dents her wing. She lands under some canopies, much to Moonlight and Hail's relief.

Big Mac, Warrior and Stormy are trying to avoid the bombs. Then, Big Mac sees a bomb heading for a fuel barge, right next to Warrior. Big Mac pushes Warrior out of the way just the barge explodes.

Then, the attack stops with the enemies either killed or arrested. Warrior is worried that Big Mac may been killed but to his and Stormy's relief, Big Mac survives the attack, the worst damage being a cracked funnel. Zebedee, Zip, Sunshine, Pisces, Misty and Scorpio come up towing in Top Hat. Big Mac praises Top Hat for his bravery. Then O.J., Zorran and Grampus show up with the damaged Zilly. Ember, Robin, Zob, Zak and Zeus show up followed by Hail who then tells about Sally and that Moonlight's helping her home. Zob informs them that Jack and Lord Stinker are alright but Mr. Krieger's was crushed when his announcing house was destroyed. Ember confirms that Captain Lucky and Lillie are alright. Then the Coast Guard team shows up and Davy Jones informs the tugs about Kirke and the tunnel. Quickly, the group rushes off to the Railhead.

Fortunately, Kirke made it down to the other side of the tunnel with the back of his cab damaged. Porter and Henney are relieved that their brother is alive but everyone is shaken up by the near misses that have occured. Then, just as Mr. Lloyd goes to arrange repairs for Kirke, Ten Cents and Hercules show up - and Big Mac notices that they've found Zug. This gives a brief glimmer of hope - which is sadly short-lived as Ten Cents and Hercules sadly reveal that Zug has been murdered via a forced Final Firing. Sunshine, Zip and Robin are heartbroken at this with Zebedee also saddened, although Zak and Zeus are secretly pleased. Zorran then informs Ten Cents and Hercules about the near misses. Hail goes to help Moonlight explain to Sally's owners about her near miss, the remaining Stars and Z-Stacks head back to inform Captain Star and Captain Zero, Stormy and Robin go to help out where they can and Pisces Misty, Scorpio and Ember stay to clear up the mess. Placido, meanwhile, begins to sense a connection between Zug's death and the attack.

Captain Zero's announcing house has been destroyed in the attack but Captain Star lets him and the Z-Stacks stay at the Star Dock until it is rebuilt. Then the remaining Stars and Z-Stacks arrive back and both captains are relieved. After learning about the damage Big Mac, Top Hat and Zilly have incurred, both captains promises to arrange repairs for them. When they get to the number off, Captain Star and Captain Zero notice Zug didn't call his number. It's then that Captain Star and Captain Zero learn the bad news and the latter is devastated. However, just as Captain Zero apologises to Zug, a miracle happens. Zug suddenly wakes up. Everyone else (except for Zak and Zeus who exchanged dark expressions) are relieved and overjoyed. After completing the number off, Big Mac, Top Hat and Zilly are taken to Lucky's for repairs whilst Zug is left at the Star dock to rest up during the 24-hour period.

Zip spreads the good news about Zug and Robin is massively relieved. However, despite all the near misses they had, Captain Star then gets a phone call from the retirement home to say that his mother was killed in the attack. Then Captain Lucky and Andrea slip in and inform them that Captain Lucky's parents are dead. The four are embraced in a hug. Thomas informs the tugs about this and they decide to hold a funeral service for them.

Big Mac is repaired in time for the funeral, which takes place a week after the attack. Unfortunately, Top Hat, Zilly and Kirke’s repairs are taking longer, due to more excessive damage but they are able to listen in. Both Captain Star and Captain Lucky recall memories of their parents. Once the service is complete, O.J. escorts Captain Star's mother and Captain Lucky's parents up to Uptown to be buried.

Mr. Krieger recovers in hospital, and although, he has a permanent limp, and has to use a walking stick now, he still runs the garbage dump with Jack and Lord Stinker, and he is happily awaiting the next time Warrior comes to take his garbage runs.

## Differences between the Prime Timeline and the Survival AU

* Top Hat, Zug, Zilly, Kirke, Sally Seaplane and Mr. Krieger survive the attack (or murder attempt in Zug's case). However:
	+ Top Hat, Zilly, Kirke and Sally Seplane has extensive damage, which means repairs will take a long time.
	+ Mr. Krieger has a permanent limp after his leg was crushed.

## Characters

* Captain Star
* Ten Cents
* Big Mac
* O.J.
* Top Hat
* Warrior
* Hercules
* Sunshine
* Grampus
* Captain Zero
* Zorran
* Zebedee
* Zak
* Zug
* Zip
* Zeus
* Zob
* Zilly
* Pisces
* Misty
* Scorpio
* Ember
* Stormy
* Hail
* Moonlight
* Robin
* Sea Rogue
* O'Malley
* Billy Shoepack
* Lillie Lightship (does not speak)
* Sally Seaplane
* Jacob Burke and Ebenezer Blair
* Corona
* Finbar (does not speak)
* Peeper Pipes (does not speak)
* Davy Jones
* Cappy (does not speak)
* Snowy (does not speak)
* Jimbo
* Lord Stinker
* Jack the Grappler
* Captain Lucky
* Admiral Cardona
* Mr. Frederick Lloyd
* Mr. Krieger (does not speak)
* Puffa
* Little Owl
* Porter
* Henney
* Kirke
* Placido
* Lexi
* Maeve

## Voices

### Official

* Simon Nash as Ten Cents
* Sean Barrett as Big Mac, Hercules, Zebedee, Sea Rogue, Blair and Captain Zero
* Ian James Corlett as O.J.
* John Baddeley as Top Hat and Puffa
* Chris Tulloch as Zorran
* Shaun Prendergrast as Zak
* Nigel Anthony as Zug and Davy Jones
* Lee Cornes as Grampus
* JoAnne Good as Sally Seaplane
* David Menkin as Porter
* Lucy Montgomery as Lexi

### Fan chosen

* Peter Dickson as Captain Star
* Jeff Bennett as Warrior
* Michelle Creber as Sunshine
* Tara Strong as Zip and Misty
* Richard White as Zeus
* Christian Bale as Zob
* Matt Frewer as Zilly
* Catherine Cavadini as Pisces
* E.G. Daily as Scorpio
* Ali Milner as Ember
* Nicole Sullivan as Stormy
* Katie Leigh as Hail
* Shaun Prendergrast as Moonlight
* Julie Nathanson as Robin
* Jennifer Hale as Corona
* Chris Evans as Jimbo
* Lenore Zann as Little Owl and Captain Lucky
* Phyllis Smith as Henney
* Alan Tudyk as Kirke
* Peter New as Placido
* Cristina Pucelli as Maeve
* Paul Dobson as Mr. Lloyd
* Dawnn Lewis as Ursula Zero
* J.K. Simmons as Mr. Broke
* Javier Bardem as Admiral Cardona