Chapter 14
The ThunderGuard released a hail of anti-aircraft missiles and Catapult cannonballs at the solitary ship. Then as if by magic the other ships in the Mutant armada appeared as their cloaking devices were disengaged.
"Sound the alarm. All civilians are to get inside and stay inside until we give the all clear. Continue to fire on the Mutants. Every available body should report to the flight craft in the hangar. We'll fight them in the skies and from the ground," Panthro ordered. The Kittens quickly got to work and soon the war was on.
"Prisoners are to be taken alive. We need to know what they know and why they want Slythe back so badly. I'm heading to the ThunderTank. Contact me from there," the panther instructed. He turned and headed out, Cheetara right behind him. Lynx-O and Ben-Gali headed for the ThunderStrike.
"We may be outnumbered by at least two to one," the cheetah said once they were alone. The ships numbered in the double digits and could easily hold one hundred Mutants apiece.
"Should be a piece of cake," Panthro chuckled.
"They will notice that the Sword is not part of the battle," she pointed out.
"We have to hope that the battle doesn't continue for that long. The ones that value their lives will turn tail," he said as they climbed into the ThunderTank. She nodded and quickly climbed into the back of the mighty tank to man the large gun.
"Ho!" Panthro shouted as the ThunderTank bust out of the hangar and onto the battlefield. The back popped open and Cheetara opened fire.
Meanwhile, inside the Lair, the building shook as it took direct hits. The Kittens were dispatching those available to assess the damage and put out any fires that erupted.
"This isn't good," WilyKat said as he continued to keeping Panthro and the others abreast of the situation.
"We'll beat these Mutants," his sister said with pride.
"That may be but there won't be a Lair to use. A few more direct hits and we'll be forced to evacuate," he told her. The radio crackled to life and Panthro's voice came in over the air.
"Three ships have turned tail but three remain. We've downed at least five. What was the original count?" He asked.
"There are four ships unaccounted for. The Lair can't take too much more of this. Try to get rid of those guys," Kat explained.
"Do a complete planet scan. Make sure those four ships aren't hiding somewhere," with that the call ended. Kat quickly did a planet scan but found nothing. He tried the radio again but got no response. He then radioed the ThunderStrike.
"Where is the ThunderTank?" He asked.
"Haven't seen him but we're up to our eyeballs out here," Ben-Gali replied.
"I can't get a response. Something has happened," Kat responded.
"Great Jaga," Ben-Gali murmured into the radio before the transmission was cut. The Lair shook violently and the Cats in the Control Room were thrown out of their chairs and onto the floor.
"Status report!" Kit screamed.
"The hit severed the radio antenna and we're running on emergency power," came the reply from Punthar.
"Dammit! Get all the power you can to the med bay and to the Catapults!" Kat commanded.
"Rerouting!" Punthar replied. Suddenly a loud roar rippled through the building.
"Lion-O?" Kit raised an eyebrow. The Control Room doors were shut and running on emergency power meant that they would have to be forced open. Quickly Punthar and a couple of the other Cats working the room headed for the doors. They could not do much more from where they were anyway.
"We have to get the doors open. Emergency air flow will only function for an hour and then the air gets really stale really quickly," Kat instructed. The entire staff got to the doors and began forcing them open when they heard a loud roar again except this time they did not recognize it.
"We've got to hurry!" Kit ordered.
To Be Continued…