Disclaimer: I don't own Swat Kats They belong to Hanna Barbara and whoever owns Hanna Barbara now. I am just borrowing them for my own and possibly the enjoyment of other fans.
Notes: This is another little Swat Kat's ficlet I wrote. I wondered if any of the general Enforcers ever got annoyed that Felina could get away with things that would probably get them kicked out.
This fic has a slightly negative portrayal of Commander Feral. It is not meant to bash the character see my notes at the end for more explanation.
Matters of Perception.
"Wow, Lt. Feral sure saved our butts tonight." He froze as he heard two of his enforcers talking about his niece. He'd been annoyed with the stunt she pulled and was on his way to lecture her on how fool hardy it had been. He recognized the voice as belonging to one of the newer recruits who had just graduated up from basic training. "Her swinging in through that window like that was amazing." He didn't like the hero worship present in the voice. He didn't need new recruits trying stunts like hers.
"Yeah kid but don't get any ideas about trying something like that yourself," Another voice said. "Anyone but her would get thrown out on their tail for pulling reckless stuff like that." He frowned as he didn't like the implication. "The commander's niece is allowed to be reckless but I've seen plenty of other good enforcers kicked out for similar stunts."
"Are you saying she gets special treatment because she's related to the commander?" The rookie's voice was full of disappointment. He stood there in shock to hear it stated in such blunt terms. He'd gone out of his way to try to avoid that perception by having Felina trained outside of Megakat City until she'd proven herself a capable officer so any accusation of nepotism would be baseless. It was disappointing to find such accusations had still cropped up among his ranks.
"Sort of," The other voice said again. "She is damn good at her job and deserves her position but she is allowed more leeway than the rest of us in taking action," He sounded bitter. "If our hands weren't constantly tied and all the good but reckless folks dumped in the litter box we might not need the Swat Kats to save our butts so often."
He'd had enough so he stepped around the corner and felt a slight petty bit of satisfaction at their obvious fear. "Is something the matter gentlemen?" He asked letting none of his anger at what he'd over heard show up in his expression it would do no good to punish his troops for their mistaken perceptions.
"Not at all sir." The older officer said even as the rookie squeaked out a no. He nodded and stepped past them giving them no indiction at all that he'd heard what they had been talking about. He would have to find out how wide spread that misconception was and find some way to dispel it. It wouldn't do to have troop confidence hurt by mistaken impressions.
He could allow a bit more leeway in to ranking officers in dealing with problems though the chain of command would still have to be strictly enforced. He also should probably crack down more on Felina's impulsive actions even though there was no denying that she often got the job done. Still the misconception that bothered him the most was the idea that if his enforcers could act more like the Swat Kats they wouldn't be needed. Those vigilantes never had to answer complaints about destroyed buildings or damage to personal property. They were free to destroy millions of dollars worth of property and equipment before flying off without having to answer to anyone. If he let his enforcers do that they'd be out of a job in a week as Manx and the other powers he answered to would cut their funding before firing him to make way for someone else. Someone like that little rat Steele who he'd promoted out of his command into a dead end paper pushing job.
He arrived at his destination still no clearer on a course of action to see Felina leaving the female officers changing area. "Felina, that was a reckless and dangerous stunt you pulled," he said more harshly than he intended.
"It was necessary," She said clearly not going to back down about her actions. "If I hadn't taken those actions several Enforcers would be dead and a known lunatic would still be on the street." She was right but she'd violated protocol to do it.
"You violated protocol and could have gotten yourself or other officers killed," He hated to say it but he had to. "You are on probation for the next month another stunt like that and you will be suspended." He could tell she was shocked that he'd said that and it was the first time he considered that he might have treated Felina differently than the rest of his enforcers. "Is that understood?" He asked lowering his voice from the angry levels he'd been using.
"Yes sir," She said anger clear in her expression and eyes. "If you'll excuse me sir, I need to go." He nodded and watched her go. He had to head to his office to file the official paperwork on her probation it wouldn't damage her future career prospects nearly every top enforcer had been on probation for violating protocol once or twice. The fact she'd saved several officers would mitigate any damage to her reputation and when word got around that she was on probation it might clear up some of those misconceptions about how he treated her.
The End...
I like Feral I find him a complex and deeply flawed character. He's got a bad job answering to an incompetent like Manx and having to work within the system. There is also the clear indication that the Enforcer technology is out of date compared to the criminal threats they face. The fact that the turbokat is made out of salvaged junk and flies rings around anything the Enforcers have is a pretty good indicator that aside from the fact Razor and T-bone are brilliant the Enforcers don't have the best equipment.
However I did get annoyed with some of his blatant Hypocrisy in the second season where he allowed Felina so much more leeway than he ever did any others. His comment about her being too good to let go sounded an awful lot like a rationalization to me and I could easily see some enforcers getting the idea that she got special treatment because she was the commanders niece. I felt that the officers would clearly recognize her skills but still be annoyed with the perception that she got more leeway than they did.
I decided to explain the disappearance of Steele by saying he got promoted to a paper pushing position because his sudden disappearance always bothered me and paper pushing seemed to be the only thing he'd have been good for.