The Rex Corgi of Maatsuyker Island Saga Continues.

The Retaking of the Corgington

Those killer penguins are going down.

The Story so far:

After being taken by surprise, the Australian Antarctic Vessel (AAV) Rexinald Corgington had been overrun by killer penguins just off the coast of Maatsuyker Island.

The woosy humans capitulated immediately while the skipper, Rex Corgi, escaped into the interior of Maatsuyker Island.

Finally, he rendezvoused with the AAV Ziggy Stardust. After a series of misunderstandings they were all friends again and determined to retake the Corgington.

The saga continues.

Maddie was outraged.

“What the fuck are you doing Rex?”

“What do you mean?”

“OK, Shabby I can handle, but Ginger and Tilli Manilli? How dare you bring them onboard. I’m the top cat around here.”

“Look, Ziggy and I have been talking, and we just don’t think those humans have got enough killer instinct or emotional resilience to retake the Corgington.

Remember when the penguins attacked? The humans went all David Attenborough on me, and were overwhelmed in no time.”

“Alright. Well, they’re all sleeping on deck or you’ll never hear the end of this.”

Rex gave Maddie that melancholic “I’m a Corgi” look, and Maddie seemed satisfied.

Meanwhile, the penguins were getting more prepared than expected.

As it turned out, Penguin Phil’s Medium publication, The Stoic Penguin, was now funding the entire operation. It was enough inspiration for some of the penguins to shake themselves out of their PornBurrow and Smillew article stupor.

They’d been training hard and twelve crack penguins had been formed into Phil’s own personal Fedaykin.

The AAV Ziggy Stardust was now steaming down the east coast of Maatsuyker Island and the Corgington would soon be coming into view.

The main combatants had assembled in the war room with Rex and Ziggy shuffling corgi and penguin tiles back and forth on the map, trying to finalise their strategy.

Tilli Manilli put her paws up on the table and looked Rex in the eyes.

“Is this it? Is this all we’ve got? They’ve got us outnumbered two to one. Three to one if we don’t count the humans, which we probably shouldn’t.”

The leader of the humans became alert.

“Are we going to get a chance to take some photos of the penguins? Maybe some…”

Shabby jumped up onto the table and brought his claws down, slicing through the human’s cheek, who then retreated to the corner and said no more.

Tilli continued.

“Clay? Maeve? Bentley?”

“There wasn’t time. Battles have been won against greater odds.”

“Have you been reading The Stoic Penguin? They’re going to be more prepared than you expect.

Promise me one thing Rex.

If Phil starts throwing tennis balls, you’re not going to react and go chasing them.”

Maddie hissed at Tilli Manilli and she too retreated to the corner and curled up in the human’s lap. Maddie continued.

“One minor detail Rex. Cats don’t do water.”

Rex and Ziggy looked at each other. Ziggy put his paw up on the map.

“There’s only one thing for it. We’ll pull into this bay just north of the penguins. The cats will disembark and Maddie, you’ll lead them overland and attack the penguins from the north. Once you’re ready, Shabby, you make it to the point here. Just make that awful hissing, growling noise you do as the signal.

We’ll split the humans into two. I’ll lead my group onto the beach and hit them from the East.

Rex, you take the rest and board the Corgington.”

Rex barked agreement.

It was sunrise. Phil had been working through the night on his latest blog post “The 7 Traits of Killer Penguins That Enable Them To Swim from Argentina to Tasmania.”

Way off in the distance, he heard a blood-curdling hissing, growling noise.

They’re coming.

He picked up a tennis ball.

Rex was pacing up and down the deck in front of his assembled force.

“OK, humans, let me make this very clear. No cameras.”

One of the humans up the back gently elbowed his neighbour in the ribs and lent over to whisper in his ear. “He didn’t say anything about cell phones…”

“We’ll be anchoring just shy of the point to await Shabby’s signal. Team Ziggy will board their speedboats and hit the shore. Team Rex, we’ll then board our speedboats and make our way to the Corgington.”

Phil, expecting a direct frontal assault, had formed the killer penguins up on the lower cliff above the beach.

The speedboats were just starting to come into view and were now splitting into two.

Team Ziggy was heading directly for the beach as expected.

“They’re heading for the beach and it looks like we’ve got them well outnumbered. First, we’ll smash their assault and then to the Corgington to quash any remaining resistance.”

Closer and closer. The tension was building and some of the less stoic penguins were starting to poop a lot.

Ziggy was leading the charge and was just seconds away from the beach when all hell broke loose.

Maddie and the cats had taken the left flank completely by surprise. The cats were ferocious and the left flank collapsed in no time.

The Fedaykin were holding the middle ground. Phil knew they had to get to the Corgington before the cats were upon them.

Meanwhile, Ziggy and the team had hit the beach and were moving on the right flank.

The thick smell of penguin poop filled the air.

It looked like the right flank was about to collapse as quickly as the left when one of the humans was to purr “Oooo, cutey, wooty penguins!” and pulled their cell phone out to take some pics.

Ziggy saw it, slapped it from his hand and threw it into the water.

That was enough to dissuade any of the other humans from trying something similar and the attack continued.

Phil could see the writing on the wall. The left flank had collapsed, the right wouldn’t hold too much longer and Ziggy was directly between him and the Corgington.

Phil and the Fedaykin stood at the base of the path onto the beach facing Ziggy with the humans at his back.

Phil pulled out the tennis ball and threw it down the beach. Ziggy’s head jerked to the right.

“Must not chase the tennis ball. Must not chase the tennis ball.”

It was too late. Just the mere distraction had given the humans time to pull out their cell phones and for Phil and the Fedaykin to slip past and hit the water.

Rex and his team had now boarded the Corgington, overwhelmed the two guards and retaken the bridge.

From the bridge he could see that Maddie and Ziggy had smashed the penguin forces but Phil and the Fedaykin were on the loose and heading for the Corgington.

Before long, they were up on the main deck and the best the humans could manage was trying to get a few selfies. Phil had them rounded up in no time and soon, they were making their way to the bridge.

“This isn’t looking good.” Rex knew he had to stay free at least until Maddie and Ziggy could make it to the Corgington.

He headed below deck into the maze of hatches and corridors.

By the time Phil got to the bridge, Rex was gone.

“Find him!”

Rex raced through the corridors wondering what to do next.

Just then, he came upon the teleportation lab.

“Those stupid penguins, it looks like they’ve just kicked the power out at the wall.”

He plugged it back in and it came to life. Then a mirage began to appear and before too long it had taken solid form.

“Rex! Rex Corgi I love you!”

“Lucy! Lucy Furr, I love you too, but we only have moments to save the Corgington and I can’t do it without you. We’ll lead them up onto the narrow walkway on the deck and then they’ll only be able to come at as one at a time.”

They lured the penguins who then gave chase. Running for their lives, they made it to the observation deck at the end of the walkway. Now the two of them could take them on one at a time.

The first two penguins didn’t stand a chance and were cast overboard in no time.

Then Phil yelled. “Get out of the way and let me at them.”

This wasn’t going to be so easy.

They lunged and swiped. Parry and thrust. Phil caught Rex off balance and took the chance for a direct attack on Lucy.

He moved into the centre of the observation deck and turned to the other penguins.

“Come on!”

But it was too late. The other penguins were diving overboard into the water and Ziggy and team were making their way up the walkway. Phil was soon surrounded. The Corgington was theirs.

Rex, Lucy and Ziggy headed down to the snack dispenser to celebrate.

Just then, Maddie and the cats appeared.

“Where is he?”

“We locked him in one of the human enclosures.”

“…and what are we going to do with him?”

Ginger pushed his way to the front of the throng.

“Rex, Maddie, let me tell you what we’re going to do with him. I haven’t eaten in a week.”

This is the latest episode in the Maatsuyker Island Saga. You can read more here:

Perhaps you’d like to learn some more about the intrepid Lucy and Ziggy from Ann James: