3D rendering by Armondikov loosely based on a vehicle from the Thunderbirds franchise.

The Prospector/Iron Mole miniature from the 1976 film adaptation of At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

A rough smack across the face rouses Buzz to consciousness. Xelmec Uül’s gloating leer greets the pilot as his eyes find focus. 

“The time has come for a parting of the ways, Upper Worlder. I, to conquer your homeland and you, to wait for death.” 

Feeling the strain in his shoulders, a still groggy Buzz turns his head and notes the wrist manacles and chains from which he hangs. 

The inner side of the Black Citadel’s iron gates are at his back. His toes dangle a foot above the flagstoned courtyard. 

“The Zenobans will come seeking their lost iradiamite. When they force that gate, both they and you will die!” Xelmec Uül laughs. 

Xelmec Uül points to a switch positioned below Buzz, directly across the seam between the massive gate’s two metal doors. 

A wire leads from the switch to a metal box topped by an antenna and radio tubes. An array of gauges and dials cover the front of the box. 

“When the gate is breached, that switch will trip and the transmitter will send a signal to a radio detonator below.” Xelmec Uül explains. 

“That detonator will then set off a massive charge of explosives at the base of the island on which this fortress stands.” 

“When that happens, this stronghold will collapse into the lava lake that surrounds it, taking you and your would-be rescuers with it!” 

Buzz struggles futilely against his bonds. “You’ll never succeed, Uül. America will crush your Tinkertoy army, you two-bit tyrant!” 

“Your country will fail as you have failed and as all those who oppose my will must inevitably fail!” the despot boasts. 

Xelmec Uül turns on his heel and strides away from the shackled pilot. “Lt! Order the garrison below. We depart immediately!” 

Helpless to resist or escape, Buzz can only watch as the master of the Black Citadel and his troops descend on the platform elevator. 

Silence falls upon the empty fortress as Xelmec Uül’s army assembles far below and Buzz awaits death at the hands of his friends. 

As the lantern-like case containing the iradiamite ore flies toward his head, Buzz ducks and then dives to the floor of the audience chamber. 

Hastily drawing his disintegrator pistol, Gunner Barrett looses a hurried shot at the sprawling pilot. “Take that, choir boy!” 

The bolt of energy from Gunner’s ray pistol sizzles through the air inches above Buzz as he slides across the marble floor. 

Buzz returns fire, squeezing off a shot from his pneumatic pistol seconds after Gunner’s errant attempt. 

The bullet strikes Gunner square in the chest. A look of astonishment crosses the gangster’s face. “You… dirty r-rat…” 

Buzz scrambles back to his feet as Gunner’s lifeless body drops to the floor. He waves his pistol at Xelmec Uül and Valen. 

“Unless you two are in a hurry to join your pal Gunner, I suggest you stay right where you are.” 

The pilot edges back slowly, hesitating to take his eyes off Xelmec Uül and Valen as he seeks to recover the errant iradiamite.

“Shocktrooper!” The Prime Scientist snaps at the robot soldier standing behind her wheelchair. “Stop the intruder!”

The metal automaton shambles stiffly toward Buzz, its corrugated hose arms outstretched, clamp hands raised in menace. 

Buzz gives ground before the threatening advance of the robot soldier. “Don’t take another step, you mechanical monster!” 

Xelmec Uül’s cruel laugh fills the throne room. “Your threats are useless against my unstoppable shocktroopers, barbarian!” 

The Prime Scientist adds her laughter to that of her tyrannical sovereign. “I did not build them to feel fear, Upper Worlder. Only to obey!” 

Buzz fires at the deadly automaton, emptying his pistol’s magazine as it closes the distance between them, step by unwavering step. 

The bullets rebound harmlessly from the robot’s metal shell. Striding nearer, its arm slashes downward, battering the pilot’s head.