Munitions

**Munitions** is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the Stories of Sodor and the eighty-fourth episode overall.

Munitions/Transcript

## Plot

Despite Fort Sudrian being closed down, the Navy still comes in and out of Sodor to gather fuel and munitions. When they do, it means two things for the assisting engines: hard labour, and suffering under the officious Benson. However, Benson eventually learns that he cannot order all the engines about, as not only does Mickey not fall under his authority, but the Fat Controller tells his engines to cite him when ignoring any contradictory orders from Benson.

Meanwhile, as the scrapyard at Barrow is overloaded, Donald is assigned to help transport sold scrap to Killdane. When he arrives, he is surprised to see that he will be working with Henry, who was just recently checked out from the works. The two learn from Terence that nothing has come from the ongoing investigation into Henry's crash, and Henry can't claim to have seen anything due to being barely conscious at the time. Donald is surprised to hear this as he thought Henry looked dead, which suddenly gives him an unplaceable feeling of deja vu.

Then, Donald asks Terence about Mr. Zorro's murder investigation. Terence reveals that they don't have any suspects, but the police have taken samples of the bullets and determined they came from a WWII-era revolver. Just then, Robert Hall appears and reveals that his father owned one such gun which has been missing since he died. Hall is interrupted when Francis arrives with his fuel train, loudly breaking down in the process. Francis explains that not only did he strain himself out, but Benson gave him and Thomas grief when he handed off a fuel tanker to the tank engine.

That night at Brendam, with Mickey and Derek on standby, Bruce, Eric, Toby and Percy carefully carry out the unloading procedure. Tensions rise when Benson barges in and demands the schedule be changed so that he's unloaded first. This upsets Thomas, who has just arrived with the fuel tanker, given that Benson had given him grief about being on time earlier. Ignoring all warnings from the others, Benson decides to forcefully move the train in front of him.

No sooner does Benson bump the train that the munitions are set off, causing several explosions, one of which takes Benson with it, and setting the whole docks and the explosives onboard the Krakatoa on fire. Mickey calls on the other engines to assist with dousing the fires, but some of the debris lands on Thomas' fuel tanker. He rushes back to move it away from the existing fire while Eric and Percy assist Mickey and Derek. Suddenly, Derek's engine cuts out, so Mickey orders Toby and Bruce up front.

Thomas makes it as far as he can before he grinds to a halt due to the fire melding the brake blocks. Realizing he can't go any further, Thomas tries to leave, but he only just starts to move forward when the tanker explodes, catching the others' attention. After they quickly douse the remaining fires and the Krakatoa sinks, they hurry to Thomas' site. As a cliffhanger for the next episode, all of them are stunned to see the skeletons of Thomas' crew and Thomas' charred husk among the debris.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Percy
* Toby
* Donald
* Eric
* Diesel
* Mickey
* Benson *(death)*
* Derek
* Francis
* Terence
* The Fat Controller
* Robert Hall
* Douglas *(cameo)*
* Samantha *(cameo)*
* Arthur *(cameo)*
* Salty *(cameo)*
* William *(cameo)*
* Falcon *(cameo)*
* Ten Cents *(cameo)*
* Drollan *(cameo)*
* Mr. Zorro *(mentioned)*

## Trivia

* This episode marks the final appearance of Benson.
* This episode is based on the TUGS episode of the same name.
* The episode was leaked on December 10, 2023.
* It is revealed that Thomas was an ex Corporal.
* The workmen attending to Francis are named Frank and Eddie, which is a reference to the TUGS characters of the same names.