Jake Clawson sighed and rubbed his temples with the pads of his fingers. Shit. This wasn't going anywhere! No matter how hard they tried to solve this, it wouldn't be enough. He'd called both MASA and Puma Dyne for some kind of way to do what he'd been asked to, but they both turned out the same answer.
He gritted his teeth and growled, eyebrows knotting and hair standing on end. "Damn it."
The phone rang and the tips of his ears perked up. Was this it? He reached for the receiver, lifted it. "Hello?"
"Razor, it's the representative from MASA; we spoke earlier about your problem."
Jake nodded. Good thing he hadn't told the guy his real name. "Yeah, I know. You told me it's not possible to hold anything with those temperatures. You'd need something that could generate a ton of energy to melt that kind of substance, right?" He shrugged. "No problem, really; I'll deal with it."
"Actually, there's another solution you probably haven't thought of yet. Have you ever seen an arc flash before?"
Jake raised an eyebrow. "No, but I've heard of what it can do. That kind of shit can really mess with someone in more ways than one. I don't know if it'll do the trick, though; I forgot how high it could go."
"Well, the maximum temperature that a flash could reach is about twenty-thousand degrees Celsius. You do the math as far as Kelvin goes, but that's going to put a dent into whatever you're trying to melt, diamond included. Most of the time, it's an accident due to faulty wiring; but in the right circumstances it can be artificially produced."
Jake smirked. Bingo. "I'm listening." Finally, they were back in business.
The conversation ended in two minutes and he pounded his right fist on the table twice. "Yes, yes, yes! This'll work!" He shoved himself up out of the swivel chair and bolted towards the training room. The sound of a heavy bag's chains echoed along the hallways as he closed in.
He threw open the door and yelled, "We did it, Chance!"
The big tom stopped the bag with his hands, craned his head towards him. "What'd we do, buddy?"
Jake almost split his face clean in half with the grin that he sported. "We found an answer. There's a way to stop Frosty without using lava."
One of Chance's eyebrows lifted. "Well how the hell are we gonna do that?"
Jake strutted over towards the big lug and rested a hand on his left shoulder. "Lend me your ears for a moment, bud. This'll be a surefire plan."
Kanto the Slayer presents
A SWAT Kats Fanfiction
SWAT Kats: Endgame
"So, tell me what this does again? These diagrams don't really make any sense."
Jake shrugged. He didn't expect anyone to understand, really. "Basically Callie, we're gonna fry him without pulling from a volcano. It's a pocket arc flash that packs over five thousand Kelvin worth of heat. The warhead's packed with thermite; we've got plenty of that here. Once the warhead makes contact, the detonator goes off, heating the thermite to boiling and making it go bang. A chain reaction goes from there to the wires, toasting the insulation to failing point. Once that happens… well, it's academic from there."
Callie raised an eyebrow. "So the spark that results from the wires being fried will generate enough energy to blow pieces of the guy off?" She bowed her head, eyes turned downward and half-lidded, eyebrows furrowed; her left hand rubbed her right arm. "Sounds better than my plan..."
He shook his head. That wasn't the way to go about this. "It wasn't a bad plan at all. It gave me the idea for this one." He looked towards Chance. "This is the only shot we got at stopping this before it's too late."
Chance nodded. "How fast can you get a few of 'em set up?"
Jake shrugged. "About half an hour for each one; might take a day or two tops. Depends on how much time we've got."
His big buddy grimaced. "We got zero time here, dude. We've gotta take him out before he turns the city into his own skating rink. Get to it."
Jake opened the door to the lounge and headed back towards the hatch in the garage, the icy winds biting his ears. "I hate the cold," he muttered as he lifted it and climbed down the ladder. The warmth seeped through his bones the further down he went, and it was finally all right to take off his jacket. He jogged towards his workshop, tossing his jacket along the way.
"All right, time to kick this guy's ass." He unlocked his computer and got to work designing the new weapon. Yeah, there wasn't much time, but he had to do this first; part of the whole process. They'd need at least four in order to properly weaken him. Both birds would be in the air; he'd have to triple that number.
Jake rolled his shoulders and set himself for the long haul. An almost dead silence set over the room, save for the quiet hum of the fan and the clicks of his mouse. He had no clue how much time had passed when the phone rang, but when it did, he let the answer machine pick up, 'cause he was too busy to really care.
Felina's voice came from the loudspeaker. "Hey guys, it's me. I'm over here at the office, keeping tabs on that tracer we put on the truck that got away from the robbery. These guys won't be hiding from us for long. Anyways, how's the problem-solving going? I sure hope you've got something, because once we find him, all hell is probably going to break loose. We're going to need something big to put this creep down, or he's going to make good on his threats."
Jake grimaced. "Yeah, I get that. You don't have to remind me."
"I'm gonna be here for a while, but I'll be in touch," she continued. "Once you've got everything ready, hit me up. In the meantime, I'll inform you all of any changes in the situation. Be ready; KatGuard might need you guys for backup in case things turn sour. Tell Jake not to work himself too hard, okay? See you guys later."
The message ended and Jake smiled. That last one seriously made his day. "Thanks, Felina." Determination brought his focus back onto what he was doing. He had to make sure everyone got out all right. She relied on him. Hell, the whole city did. He couldn't let them down, any of them.
It must have been about ten minutes or so; hell, he couldn't keep track of time anyways. But he was finally finished. Jake leaned back and looked at his design with a satisfied smile. "There it is… the Flash Missile."
He based the crimson and white piece of work with a stylized thunderbolt on the body on the Megavolt Missile, except this one had a bigger bang. Instead of transferring the current into the target, it would instead intentionally short out due to the first explosion from the thermite reaction. The result would be a ten thousand volt arc flash, a blast that'd toast anything in its path.
They'd have to get Rex as far away from the city as they could before throwing those at him. They needed to avoid collateral damage this time.
Jake stood and stretched out until his joints popped. "Okay, time for phase two."
The KatGuard offices, located downtown, buzzed with activity.
Since the news came in that Felina had placed a tracer on the truck loaded with stolen goods from a major supermarket, they began suiting up, keeping tabs on the vehicle and preparing to mobilize. The decision was made to have a full squad ready to mobilize once the bug had reached its final destination, and after a wait of ten minutes to confirm, they would get a move on.
Felina stood at ease in Captain Puma's office, the big black tom reclining in his plush leather swivel chair. "You've done some exceptional work, Feral." He sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the desk. "I'm just regretful that we couldn't stop 'em from leaving with the goods."
She nodded. "It happens, Sir. We're just gonna have to get it back, that's all."
Puma grunted in agreement. "That, or destroy it. We don't want anyone else getting a hold of those supplies." He stood and stalked out from behind his desk, pacing the length of the room. "We're gonna need to know how many there are, what they're carrying and when they go to sleep, if at all. I want you to pick a scout-sniper team and have them get there as soon as we get a lock on that tracer. Full stealth; no contact unless fired upon." He turned towards Felina, blue eyes pinning her where she stood. "Your unit has shotgun when we go for the raid. Understood?"
Felina nodded and a satisfied smile developed along her features, head tilted upwards. "Hooah, Sir."
Marcus nodded. "That's my girl." He snapped to attention and saluted, hand level with his eyebrows. "Fight for the safety of the city."
She stiffened and saluted as well. "Fight for the pride of the team," she responded.
"Get it done, Felina."
She pulled an about face and got moving, opening the door without any kind of fanfare. Heading towards the elevators, she hammered out a strategy, fought the fight before it even started. When the elevator stopped at the third floor, she had already won twice and was working on attempt number three.
"Officer on site," someone bellowed, and saluted as Felina walked through the offices. Those that saw her enter stood and saluted as well; soon, she had everyone's attention. She stopped in the middle of the room. "At ease, kats." They relaxed and the room fell silent.
Felina took a deep breath and began. "This is it, people. In the next few hours, you will be engaging one of the most difficult targets you've ever gone after. He's got enough power over the weather to shut this entire city down for an indefinite period of time. He's building an army out of the homeless and destitute, and they are being trained to defend their position, execute raids, and take hostages."
She peered at each face, making sure that the message was setting in. "We are not going to let this city be overrun by a tyrant and a bunch of rags. Our goal is to halt this before it spills over; to keep the Enforcers from wasting any more manpower and resources on this." Felina craned her head over towards the chief intelligence officer. "You got a lock on that signal?"
He nodded. "Yes ma'am. It's stopped in the old warehouse district near the port."
She nodded. "I need two volunteers to scout the place; preferably one sniper and one observer. Anyone who can't shoot for anywhere beyond five hundred yards, take a seat." Several sat. Felina nodded and spoke again. "Give me seven hundred." More sat; fewer this time. She looked around. "Okay, anyone up for nine hundred yards?"
A few more sat down, and soon it was down to a few… including Reggie Bengal. Felina raised an eyebrow as she looked towards him. "Kid, you better not be shitting me."
He stood a bit straighter. "No ma'am, I am not."
She walked towards him, sized the tom up. He couldn't be any younger than about eighteen, maybe nineteen. "Is that so? Well then can you tell me what your longest shot is?"
He smiled. "It's one thousand, three hundred yards."
Felina nodded. "Who do you trust more than anyone else here?"
He pointed towards a she-kat with Prussian blue eyes and black hair. "Frida over there; we trained together."
Felina's gaze was directed to where Reggie pointed. "Stand up, Frida." She stood and saluted quickly before resting at ease. "Reggie, you're the sniper. Frida, you're the scout. You two are to head over to the location that the tracker is marking, set up shop, and observe anything that's going on; I mean anything. We need all the information we can get before the raid."
"Understood," they said in tandem.
Felina paced back towards the elevators with Reggie and Frida in tow. "I need my squad and another to form up on me, ASAP. It's almost time to get moving. I want those coordinates loaded up onto every GPS transponder we've got, yesterday." Immediately, seventeen kats clad in black tactical gear stood and headed for the elevators as well. "Let's get moving, people! He's not going to wait all day for us."
The office brimmed with activity again and the elevator doors slid closed, Felina's team with the sniper-scout element in one and the secondary squad in the other. She lay out the ground work on the way down. "The strategy is simple," she began. "We have to keep these guys from doing this again. Of course, Mayor Manx could help with that, but since he's an idiot we'll have to do it ourselves. We're gonna try to limit casualties to just the primary target; anyone that puts down their weapon and surrenders, cuff 'em and cover 'em. If they keep shooting at you, you don't stop until they do or they're down."
They all nodded in agreement, faces expressionless. It was, after all, their mistake for joining Rex.
The elevator opened, both teams spilling out into the lobby and heading towards the armory to gear up. On the way, Felina continued explaining the plan. "We capture as many as we can, destroy their supplies, and take out Rex Shard as quickly as possible. He's too dangerous to lock up in some cage." She glanced towards the second team leader. "Your team will be the distraction when things go down, got it?"
He nodded. "I got it. We'll keep their heads down."
The doors to the armory slid open as the two teams walked towards it. Guns and grenades and tactical vests lined the walls; magazines and ammunition were neatly stacked in boxes. A faint scent of gunpowder hung in the air, not nearly enough to be overpowering. Felina loved that smell, but wasted little time taking it in. "Gear up. Flash bangs only; no grenades. We don't want any extra messes to clean up."
The teams dispersed, and everyone picked out their ideal weapons. For the most part, the differences were in handguns, since the standard rifle for KatGuard was the 416. Reggie however did something a bit unorthodox and picked the biggest gun in the room. Frida's eyes widened, eyebrows high at what she saw him reaching for.
"What the hell… that's crazy, Reg."
He grinned. "I can't help it. This one likes me." Reggie cradled a Barrett M107 in his arms like a kitten, a ridiculous grin on his face. "You never know what we'll run into," he said as he picked four magazines from a nearby box. "I figure this'll be enough for what we're doing." He squared the ammo away on his vest before picking up a fifth magazine, ten rounds already inside. He rammed it home and smiled as the satisfying click rang in his ears.
Frida lifted her rifle and got it loaded, rolling her eyes as she did so. "It's too noisy," she muttered.
Reggie looked at her behind his left shoulder. "We're not exactly going to be quiet once it gets going, are we?"
She shook her head. "I still think it's a bit ostentatious."
He shrugged and said, "It gets the job done. That's all that matters, right?"
The sound of a pair of hands clapping twice cut into the conversation and made everyone in the room focus their attention on Felina. "Prep time is over. Let's get moving, now!"
They filed out of the armory and headed for the garage, located two floors below. A pregnant silence hung over their heads as the elevators slid downwards. As the elevators reached the bottom, they shifted their weight from one foot to the other, some of them furrowing their brows. No matter how hard they tried to keep casualties to a minimum besides the one that counted, it'd be ugly.
It was no time to falter, though. Action had to be taken or else the city would be under a permanent deep freeze. The doors opened again and they moved towards nearby APCs, each team leader taking the driver's seat. Frida and Reggie were with Felina's team as the back hatches closed, and once they did the lights in the back turned on.
"We got the GPS signal set up," Felina said over their radios. "Looks like the truck stopped at 17th street, and it's in the Warehouse District just like the guys in intelligence said." The engines started. "We're gonna be two blocks away from the building at first, so get ready to hoof it. Activate your displays and get ready for uplink."
Each team member put on their helmet and the bullet-resistant visor came down over their eyes, flashing blue for a moment after a few seconds. Data and information spread along the clear glass for a few seconds before a map of the city was displayed, with an arrow pointing towards the location of the signal. Frida and Reggie didn't need helmets; they would be too far away to even be involved in direct action. They put on glasses with the same polycarbonate lenses as the visors, and the same data was shown to them as their teammates.
"Uplink confirmed. We're in stealth as soon as we hop out. Reggie, Frida, you leave first. It's up to you to find the best position to cover the rest of the team and provide recon. Understood?"
Reggie nodded. "Copy that. We'll keep an eye out for you."
"Good man. All right people, we're heading out!"
The APCs rolled out of the garage, heading for the location of the tracer. Reggie's eyes closed and his breath slowed to an almost imperceptible pace. One of the other mercenaries glanced over to him, an eyebrow raised. "What's he doing?"
Frida smiled and looked over to him as well. "He's in his quiet place. All good snipers have one. I bet he can't even hear us talking about him right now." She tugged on one of his ears; he didn't move. "See? Part of him isn't even here."
The tom smirked. "Sure seems that way. I just hope he doesn't get all sleepy like that when it's time to shoot something."
Frida rolled her eyes. "Just do your job and let us do ours. When he fires the big gun he's got, you'll know it."
The tom nodded. "Okay. I gotta say though, it's impressive he can even carry the damn thing." He leaned forward, staring at the big fifty-caliber rifle. "How much does it take to even pick it up? It looks like it weighs a ton."
Frida shrugged. "Hell if I know. I just know that he can pick it up, aim with it, and fire two shots on target in less than three seconds. That's enough for me."
After they drove for two hours, the APCs jolted to a halt, breaks squealing. "We're here, kats. Get ready for the big show."
"Hooah!" they all yelled as the doors opened. Felina's voice echoed across her team's channel. "Recon element, move out. Make sure not to get caught out there." She waited until they were well beyond the APC before she closed the doors.
Until they picked a site that was secure and high enough to provide a decent over watch, they were on their own. That meant complete radio silence for however long it took.
"If you wanna start praying for them," she said over her team's radios, "Now's the time."
Jake wiped the sweat from his forehead as he worked on his fourth Flash Missile. There just wasn't enough time to make as many of these as they needed. If he'd known who exactly was behind the snow storm a bit sooner and what he was capable of, he'd have gotten all the tools together much faster. But they had to work with what they had, and now he was behind. He began setting up the warhead for the almost finished weapon when a quiet clink made him turn his head to the right.
"Looks like hard stuff," Callie said with a smile as she removed her hand from the cup of hot chocolate.
Jake chuckled. "Usually it's not so bad." He took a sip from the mug. "But this is some seriously deep shit we're in this time. He could make good on that city wide freeze at any time, and like you guys said, he'd made specific demands for the Mayor, Commander Feral, and the Deputy - I mean, you."
Callie grinned. "Funny thing about being dead is that when people want you for something, they don't get what they want. He's going to be sorely disappointed." She ruffled his hair. "I certainly wish I knew how to do all this; then I'd be able to help out."
He shrugged and took another sip. "This is help enough for me. You make some pretty good hot chocolate. I could run all night on this if I wanted." He put the mug down on the workbench and sighed. "Felina has to have found them by now. If she has, things could get ugly really quickly."
The silver-haired queen nodded. "Yeah, you're right. But think about what'll happen if she hasn't found them yet."
Jake grimaced, his mouth turning down in distaste. "I see your point on that. He might think that no one's gonna step up. But if someone does, he might do something stupid that requires our immediate attention. If we have to use these things before we're ready, it might not turn out well."
Callie placed a hand on his right shoulder. "Well then, she just has to reduce their ability to fight, that's all. If it were me though, I'd try to capture as many as I could rather than kill anyone. They're just a bunch of homeless kats that are looking for a warm place to sleep and some hot food. If you can remove the reason to fight, you can win without fighting at all."
Jake peered towards her, one of his eyebrows quirked. "First you talk about logistics; now you talk about weakening the will to fight. You're a really good strategist, you know that?"
Her cheeks flushed and her head tilted down slightly as a small smile graced her features. "I just don't want this to go on any longer than it has to, that's all. Long fights only make things worse for everyone involved."
She began to head out of Jake's workshop, turning to look over her left shoulder as she reached the doorway. "Let me know if you need another mug!" With that, she turned the corner and left, the glossy silver tail swaying behind her. Jake couldn't help but stare for a moment before he shook his head.
He sure wished Felina were here, but Callie had a point. She had work to do; damn important work at that. Probably best not to worry about her too much and keep slugging it out. Jake picked up where he left off, fixing a thermite warhead to missile number four. Good thing he had plenty of stuff to work with; otherwise this would take more than just putting it all together.
Time refused to slow down for them, but it was best not to rush this kind of work. Besides, Felina could settle this situation before the SWAT Kats ever got a chance to show up! At least, he hoped she could. This was one of those times when you didn't really want to mobilize…
A scraggly kat dressed in old, worn-down clothing and a long, heavy winter coat draped over his shoulders paced along an alleyway, a G36C cradled in his arms. His ears twitched this way and that for the slightest hint of intruders. His hands gripped the rifle to the point where it protested slightly, knuckles turning white.
He shivered, taking a moment to adjust his coat. This wasn't his kinda work, damn it! They just wanted a place to stay and some food, and if they had to steal it, fine. But the sick bastard in that orange coat of his was getting them ready to fight a damn war.
He set off on his patrol route again when a sharp crack echoed along the walls. The kat jumped the tiniest bit, almost dropping his rifle. He pointed the damn thing downrange from his right hip and shouted, "Who's there?"
The wind caused loose junk to rustle and drift past him. He crept forward and tried not to shake too much. At the end of the alley, he stopped and checked the corners... finding no one. His body went slack and he sighed. Definitely not his kinda work.
"I wouldn't move if I were you."
He stiffened, his eyes widening and jaw clenching. Something colder than the night air around him pressed against the back of his head. Oh, hell. "Please… please don't kill me!"
"I won't." A she-kat's voice, but it was detached, unemotional. "Not if you cooperate, anyway. Put the gun down, slowly."
He bent at the knees and placed the gun on the ground. The damn thing was useless. He heard her tell him to face the right wall and he did, unable to stop his shakes. This was fucking embarrassing! His shoulders complained slightly as his hands were forced behind his back, and he heard the sound of several clicks. Great.
She turned him around. "Get his gun," the she-kat called out. There was someone else here? Shit!
A second kat jumped into the alley from above, the snow crunching beneath his feet. He knew he heard something. It just wasn't from where he thought it was. The kat walked over, picked the gun off of the ground. A light shone from the wrap-around lenses he wore. "Hmm… safety's on. Who exactly is training you guys?"
A shot of bravado ran through him. "Like I'd tell you mugs that."
"Shut up," the she-kat snapped, "We already know anyways."
His ears flattened back on his head. Crap, he'd fallen right into that one. "S-sorry."
The broad scoffed. "Not sorry enough. Stay still and stay quiet."
She started patting him down, looking for anything else on him. "Not even a radio. Probably trying to keep his communications secure."
The other kat chuckled. "If he has any. I suppose that's a good thing on our part; means that we can get to the target area without anyone calling us in."
The she-kat turned to look at the guy. "You found somewhere?"
"Yeah; it's a ways yet, but it'll provide a good angle."
She nodded. "Okay, let's move."
He smiled winningly at the lady. "Hey, this mean you guys are gonna let me go?"
"No," was the last thing he heard before his brain rattled in the cage that was his skull. The world fell away as he collapsed to the snow.
Felina was still in her team's APC, eyes closed and her breathing slow and steady in a constant rhythm. The plan was to wait for at least three hours until there was no radio contact, then charge in after them since the plan had been botched somehow. It had been two hours now, and Frida and Reggie hadn't called in yet. She was starting to get a little worried.
Her ear bud chirped, made her eyes open. Thank God, they made it. She clicked the earpiece. "This is Assault One, go ahead Eyeball."
"Good to hear you, Assault One. Eyeball is on site and scoped up."
Frida. Reggie was probably looking down the scope of that big gun. Good. "I wanna know how many, what they've got, and whether our guy is there or not. Understood?"
"Copy that, One. We already know the last part; they're carrying HKs mostly; G36C and KV. Still a bunch of greenhorns and most of them are probably cold and tired by now. We're counting around twenty on patrol in alleyways and side streets though; they're expecting company. Evasion is advised if possible."
She nodded. "Any sign of the primary target?"
"Negative. We're still looking out for him."
Felina sighed. At least they had something. "Switch on your beacon, Eyeball. We're mobilizing." She switched the HUD on her visor to strategic view and a map of the warehouse district popped in a small window on the right side of the display.
"Copy, stand by… beacon active, confirm."
A yellow blip appeared on a rooftop seven hundred yards away from the target building. Oh, that was perfect. Some nice easy shots, just in case they needed to take 'em. "Confirmed, that's a good spot you picked there, Eyeball. Assault One and Two are en route. Keep me posted on the situation, out."
Felina clicked her ear bud again, bringing the contact to a close. Go time. She made a tight fist with her right hand and pounded on the ceiling three times. "Saddle up!" Her thumb pressed the button to open the rear hatch. The doors on the other APC opened as well and Felina climbed out of the driver's seat, her 416 and a USP Tactical .45 strapped to her right thigh. "Form up on me, double time!"
"Hooah!" The mercenaries rallied around Felina.
"Get your heads in the zone, we're going in. We got sentries on the way there, numbering anywhere from ten to twenty, so eyes wide and mouths shut. Don't shoot anyone unless they shoot at you. Eyeball will be informing us of changes in the situation on the way, so be prepared for anything once we get into position." She turned toward the leader of Assault Two. "I want you to place charges on that truck. When I give the word, blow it to hell; we're not letting anyone get out of this."
"I got it, boss."
After checking their gear one last time, Felina sent the second team ahead as over watch, with hers trailing a few feet behind. The two squads slunk from building to building, leapfrogged over each other. The sentries remained oblivious to their presence for a full half-hour before Felina's ear bud chirped again. Damn. She clicked.
"Assault One, this is Eyeball; we have a situation."
Felina gritted her teeth. Well that was wonderful. She took a knee and held up her right hand in a fist; her team stopped and followed suit. "Report."
"We've got eyes on the primary target, but there's a snag."
One of her eyebrows rose. "And what's that?"
"There're queens and kids in the area. Sure doesn't look like they're hostages."
Felina grimaced. Shit. "They got any weapons?"
"Negative. They're probably in there to keep out of the cold."
Double shit. This just got messy as all hell. Felina's eyebrows knotted, going nearly flat, her mouth turned down in a pout. What the hell else was gonna go wrong? "You are to maintain observational status unless told otherwise, got that? Don't shoot unless you are ordered to or a teammate's life is in serious danger."
"Gotcha, One. We'll maintain recon posture unless notified to do otherwise."
She clicked off the ear bud and stood. They weren't gonna stop just because of a snag. "Keep moving."
A hundred yards from the warehouse, Felina halted her team and clicked her ear piece, switching to the second squad's frequency. "Assault Two, place the C4 on the truck, then get into position."
"Copy, Assault One. We're on the move."
Felina switched the view on her visor's HUD to that of the camera installed in the second squad leader's helmet. From there, she could see what he saw and make sure that they were in the right place.
The team approached the corner before the truck and Assault Two took a peek. Three sentries so far, how many more? He tilted his head back behind cover, craned his head over at his squad, pointed to two kats and gestured towards the corner. They moved, rounded the bend, and the leader looked out again. The stocks of their rifles smashed against the skulls of the sentries, made them collapse limply. Out like a couple of candles.
Felina winced. Damn. That had to hurt. Better than killing them, though.
The microphone on the camera picked up Assault Two's order to 'rig up'. Four kats moved from behind cover and set explosives to the truck while the other four, plus the leader, stood as lookouts.
She switched frequencies, switched cameras. The roof adjacent to the warehouse, the barrel of the M107 stretched towards the entrance. Who had the cam? "Eyeball, report your status."
"Status is green, ma'am. We've got a visual on Assault Two; they're heading towards their waypoint now."
Okay. Frida wore the shades with the micro camera installed. Good. "Zoom in for me down there, Eyeball."
"Roger that."
The camera closed in on the truck. Felina could see the C4 that'd been placed; they'd done their job. She nodded. "Thanks, they did what they were supposed to. Remember, no firing until I order it or unless there's a damn good reason."
"Copy that."
Felina cut the feed to Frida's cam, got as close to the gaping warehouse entrance as she could before posting up against the corner of the building with her squad. She clicked her ear piece. "All elements report," she whispered.
"Assault Two is in position."
"This is Eyeball; standing by on over watch."
Felina nodded and withdrew a flash bang from her assault vest. "Assault Two, prep a bang. On my go, you toss it and subdue everyone on the warehouse's right side. We'll take the left. Clear?"
"Crystal, Assault One."
Felina nodded, craned her head around the corner. No guards here. Probably all inside, protecting the women, children, and most of all, Rex. They were definitely going to shoot. She grimaced, pulled her head back around. Deaths couldn't be avoided now, but they could be cut back on.
She clicked her ear piece. "All elements stand by. Three… two… one…go loud."
She rounded the corner, tossed the bang as far in as she could, hid behind her cover again. Someone yelled before the flashes went off. Felina's team stormed the place, fired at the first few kats in their way. Lucky. They were guards. A few kats swung to the left and let loose; three more gunmen down. Women and children huddled on the ground, covering their heads. The squads hustled along the walls, shot at any kat that carried a weapon while they were still stunned.
Seven seconds gone.
Felina saw a huge half-sphere of ice ahead. Rex. She gritted her teeth and charged headlong. No getting away this time. Bullets flew through the air, narrowly missed her ears. Five feet left. The dome of ice broke free, a bolt of frost blue blazed out from the rubble. Felina dove to her right, rolled over her shoulder, aimed and fired. Shit! More ice in the way! "Sit still and die, damn you!"
The ice melted and revealed a hooded Rex shard, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Make me."
Felina snarled, closed the distance and, swinging with the stock of her 416, tried to dislocate the bastard's jaw. He ducked, tried to hit her with a short right uppercut. Spin to the inside; come in with that rifle again. The stock smacked his right temple, forced him to roll for all of five feet. She stalked him, eyes narrowing. "I'm gonna enjoy this."
Rex growled, flung a spike of ice at her from his right hand. She smashed it with her rifle, another, a third. She rammed the heel of her right boot into his face, sent him sliding across the ground again. Felina aimed again, went for the kill; Rex raised his right hand and blasted at her. Her eyes widened as she pivoted on her right foot, the bolt passing barely two inches in front of her nose.
Her ears twitched, she hopped backwards. Another energy bolt, closer now. She saw another from the corner of her right eye and rolled forward, fired a three-round burst from one knee. Rex's body twitched as the shots landed near his liver and he stumbled to the ground, blood soaking his winter coat.
Felina lowered her rifle for a moment, clenched her right fist. "Check."
She stood, rifle leveled towards his head. Eight other rifles pointed downrange as well and Felina's face broke out in a smug smile. She lowered her gun, lifting her head and staring down her nose at Rex. "Are you done now?"
He chuckled, his left hand applying pressure to the wounds that had been made.
Felina raised an eyebrow, the smile turning into a sneer. "What the hell's so funny?"
Rex's chuckle escalated; became a laugh.
Felina set the rifle's stock to her shoulder again, peering down the red dot sight. "What the hell is so goddamned funny!?"
Rex's laugh tapered off. "You are, ya mugs. You think you're the big heroes here? Huh?" He glared at her. "Let me tell you the truth; you ain't got me dead to rights yet, bitch. Tomorrow, everyone in this city will be kat-sicles; including these pathetic excuses for soldiers."
Her ears picked up a collection of shocked gasps from behind her. "You… you bastard," one of the cuffed homeless toms shouted. Too bad. They had it coming.
He grinned, eyes narrowed and brows low. "I don't give a shit about you, them, or this city. Only thing I want is to make everyone that put me away suffer for as long as I can before killing them."
Felina's face twisted in a snarl, nostrils flared and head tilted forward, as if she were about ready to charge him like a bull. Her finger twitched just the slightest bit, applying just enough pressure to the trigger. The bolt was sent flying forward, firing pin ramming into the primer and sending the round careening down the barrel towards its intended target.
The bullet sliced through the air to punch through Rex's head.
Her eyes widened, eyebrows arched high and lips tight as he exploded in a cloud of snow. No. Not again. Her hands tightened on her rifle, causing it to creak slightly. Gone. Was he even here in the first place? Was this all just a trap to lure them away from what he really wanted?
The snarl returned to her face; this time, a growl came along with it. The growl turned into a roar that echoed through the cold night air.
She flung the rifle to the warehouse floor and stormed out, ignorant of the shattered remains that she left in her wake. Not fucking again. The next time she saw him, she would tear into him with her claws instead of just shooting him.
The mercenaries lowered their rifles, staring in disbelief at their leader. "Holy shit," one of them muttered under his breath.
The leader of Assault Two nodded. "Poor son of a bitch doesn't know what he just did to himself. Now she won't stop until either he's dead or she is." He looked around at the kats that were still left alive. "This is what you get for following the wrong kat," he declared. "I know life's tough as hell, but this ain't the way to go about it. Don't think you're getting off easy tonight, either; any of you." With that, he called in for pickup and extraction, and then pulled out a remote detonator from one of his pockets.
He smirked. "Perfect way to end the night; fireworks."
His right index finger squeezed the trigger, held it for two seconds. Explosions rocked the warehouse as the truck outside met its fate.
A silhouette staggered out from behind one of the warehouse buildings, several hundred meters away from the raid site. It breathed harshly, dragged its feet. The left arm pressed against its right side as if trying to hold something in.
"Damn it. She really nailed me."
The light of the pale, silvery moon bathed the shadow-draped figure, revealing the orange coat and black face mask of Rex Shard. Her shots went clean through, narrowly missing the liver. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt or he wasn't in serious trouble, just meant that he wasn't immediately dead. He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the pain for long enough that he could get his focus back.
Rex concentrated on the ice, pictured it drawing towards him. He gasped as a sudden chill ran along his skin. The snow filled the holes, packed in tight, sealing the wounds. He groaned through his teeth. That made the pain worse! The bleeding had stopped, though.
He straightened, glaring toward the warehouse that he'd narrowly managed to escape. He was bluffing; she did have him dead to rights back there. That yammering was just to buy him enough time to get the hell out, and it worked.
Rex shuddered. He wouldn't be standing here if she'd managed to see through that bluff. "Next time, I'm gonna smash the hell outta the ice statue that I turn you into." Ice began to form on his features, traveling from his boots, up the legs of his pants and the hem of his coat, along the fingers of his gloves; covering his shoulders, neck, head; the tips of his ears.
Three seconds passed in stillness before the ice sculpture fell away, white powder falling in a heavy curtain to the ground.
Chance headed towards the base with Callie in tow, intending to check on Jake's progress. Damn. He'd asked him to do all that in such a short time. Guilt welled up inside him, made him quicken his steps. He was probably half-baked by now.
He opened the door, grinning. "Hey buddy, how's it…" His voice tapered down as he saw Jake resting. "…Going?"
He smiled. Poor guy. He deserved every inch of rest he could get right now. Chance looked toward Callie; she nodded and vanished around the corner. He took a look around; the missiles on the far right wall caught his eye. Chance walked over, eyeballed 'em. Wow, pretty sweet. Crimson red, metal flake paint on the nose, fins and wings with a thunderbolt of the same color on the body. The rest of it was white. Twelve feet long, looked like it weighed about four hundred pounds. He could bench that, easy.
Chance nodded. "Not bad. This'll do nicely."
He faced the doorway again. Callie was there with one of the blankets from their room. "Thanks," Chance whispered. "He's been at this all night."
She nodded, draped the blanket around Jake's shoulders. "I know. He worked his tail off to get these done. We'd better use them well." She headed over to him, gave him a firm stare. "I don't want you to pass out either. You'd better get some sleep too, ya big ape."
Chance scratched the back of his head. Wow, scary. "I just woke up from a nap." Yeah. Five in the morning, and he called it a nap. "I'm more worried about Jake here than me."
She leaned in and kissed him on his right cheek. "I know. That's one of the reasons I love you." She left the workshop, hips and tail swaying. Chance looked behind his right shoulder, one eyebrow raised. Goddamn. He was gonna have to do something about that ass later. He looked toward the missiles again, sighed. "Guess I'd better wake him up soon. Gotta have some help with these."
He waited half an hour before lightly shaking Jake's right shoulder. "Jake, come on. It's time to wake up, buddy; we got a big day ahead." Wow. That one had to win understatement of the year.
Jake's eyes opened, half-lidded and unfocused. "Mmm? What's up?"
Chance chuckled. He'd do something really nice for him after this, if they weren't frozen food at the end. "We got stuff to do, dude. I see you did what I asked ya to; awesome."
"Couldn't finish 'em all." His buddy shook his head slowly, ears low and flat.
Chance's expression took on a worried cast, eyebrows curving upwards. "Are you kidding me? This is plenty." He grinned. "We'll fry this punk in seconds flat and be back in time for some breakfast."
"Are you sure? What if it's not enough?"
Chance ruffled Jake's hair. "You worry too much sometimes, bud. We got the gear, thanks to you; now we just need to use it and see what's what." He started heading out, turned to look at Jake as he reached the doorway. "You need anything?"
"Yeah, a cup of coffee with two lumps of sugar and five minutes to shower."
He laughed. That was more like it. "I'll get you that drink, you just be ready to move out when we get the call." Hell. Chances were they would, and soon. Wouldn't be the first time they had to step in for someone else. But the guys at KatGuard were different. Pros. Something had to have gone right last night.
He scaled the ladder again and headed towards the lounge to get that cup of coffee. He looked to his right and… there was Felina, sitting on the couch. Whoa. That was freaky. He was just thinking about her three minutes ago. Her face looked worn, her expression blank as a slab of granite and eyes bloodshot. Oh crap. Not good.
"I'm gonna assume that things didn't go well."
She turned her head toward him, eyes boring into his skull. He raised his hands as if trying to put a wall between him and that stare. Okay. Bad question. "Sorry. You just look like…"
"…Shit, I know." Her eyes narrowed, brows lowered so much that the top eyelid just about disappeared. "I want to smash something."
Chance smirked. "Yeah, I get that. You need some sleep, though."
"No, I don't." She tightened her right fist and rammed into the coffee table. "What I need to do is get into the air. Kick his ass to next week. I want to vaporize him before he does what he plans on doing."
No. Not like she was now. He hardened his features as much as he could stand. "I'm not letting you take a single step towards the StealthKat unless you are one hundred percent, you got that?"
She glared at him, eyebrows knotted and head tilted forward. "I'm not in the mood right now, Chance. Let me head out or I'll make you."
"You both need to calm down, now."
They turned their heads toward the voice. Callie. Her hands were on her hips, her face clearly showed her irritation. "Seriously, this is getting out of hand. I am not going to have you two killing each other, let alone going out to get yourselves killed."
Felina's jaw tightened as she gave her intense glare a new target. "He's gonna kill everyone in this city, starting with the ones that put him away. That means he's gonna go after Uncle and the mayor. Do you want that on your head?"
Callie crossed her arms, met Felina's stare with her own. "Do you know where he is?"
Felina went silent, glaring for a few more seconds before she turned her head away. "No. But we can't just sit around." Her voice lost its aggression.
Chance grimaced. Hadn't he tried to make that painfully clear before? He'd been right. She was doing the same right now. Good intentions, but the fact was that she was drained and time for a big search was not there anymore.
Callie walked over toward Felina, sat down, ran her right hand through her hair. Her expression softened; the tip and curve of her eyebrows lifted and her mouth turned down. "You're trashed. Get some sleep, at least three hours. Jake did that when he got too tired to keep going."
"Jake?" Felina's head raised a little, the tips of her ears perked. "Is he okay?"
Callie nodded. "Got everything nice and shiny for when we bust Shard up. He should be sleeping now."
Chance scratched the back of his head. Crap. He'd forgotten all about that, hadn't he? "Um, actually… I kinda woke him up."
Shit. Callie was pouting at him now. "What'd you go and do that for? He needs to get his strength back."
He sighed. Yeah. Just make him feel even more like crap, why don't you. "We've gotta be ready for the call; I can't have him falling asleep in mid-air. I don't have his aim, you know that."
She sighed. "Yeah, I know that. It's just kinda harsh, that's all."
Yeah. It was harsh. "Situation's forced us into this. We're gonna have to end it quickly when it finally goes down." He looked toward Felina. "You, go. Get down to the hangar, get into bed, and get some rest. That's an order."
Felina looked behind her right shoulder. "Well aren't you mister leader now?"
Chance shrugged. "Someone's gotta do it. Get."
Felina chuckled. "Okay, mister leader." She stood slowly, her exhaustion finally showing through. "Wake me when we get the call." She was gone within thirty seconds.
Callie stood, brushed her jeans off as if there were a layer of dirt on it. Oops. Not a good sign. "Well, that was productive." She looked up at him through her lashes, eyebrows slightly knotted. "So then, mister leader… you wanna tell me what that was about?"
He sighed. "She wanted to go storming off out there looking for him. You saw how she was; if she went off half-cocked and wasted, she'd get herself in some serious trouble. I tried to make her go to bed, she made a threat; we almost came to blows." He shrugged. That was about it.
Callie's expression shifted from upset to sympathetic. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled up, shifted her hips; buried her head in the crook of his neck. "We have to finish this before it gets worse for everyone."
He stroked her hair with his left hand, rubbed at the base of her tail with his right. She purred softly and a gentle smile spread across Chance's face, eyes relaxing. "We will finish this. He's not going any further." Callie nuzzled against his neck, the purr rising in volume. He raised an eyebrow. Whoa. What was up with her? "You okay?"
She nodded. "You feel nice."
He chuckled. Was that all? Probably scared and worried and a bit frustrated. Like him. "You feel nice too." He pushed her away, just slightly. No time for this. "I gotta get Jake some coffee, two lumps of sugar."
Callie smiled, one eyebrow lifting. "Did he really ask for that?" She chuckled. "He must be okay then. I'll get it for him. Go ahead and turn on the news; should be coming on in a bit." She pulled away and headed for the brewer.
Damn it. She was just too good to him. He sat down, turned on the tube. No news yet, it was only six-thirty. He yawned. Crap. No more sleep for him, though. He'd get himself a cup of Joe later.
For the first time that week, the early morning passed without incident. Once the nine o' clock news rolled around though, things would pick up with a vengeance. Chance leaned forward as the fanfare for Kat's Eye News played, ears turned towards the speakers. A certain something would come on sooner or later; when it did, that'd be their cue.
Callie sat next to him, a bit more relaxed. "Just sit back, Chance. You don't have to glue yourself to the screen."
He didn't move. When was it gonna happen? He wrung his hands, eyebrows furrowed. Come on, it had to show up sooner or later.
"Temperatures are at an all-time low downtown, with the weather approaching whiteout conditions. The MegaKat Weather Center is putting up a Storm Advisory Warning for the time being. Looks like this is only gonna get worse."
Chance grimaced. Crap. That'd make flying damn near impossible. Oh well. They had to get in the air.
"Thanks, Dan." The camera showed Ann Gora, brown hair cropped on her head and almond eyes fixed forward, alert and attentive. "With the weather as bad as it is, people are beginning to wonder when it will end. The Enforcers have not yet made a statement, but KatGuard, the security force employed to bolster them, informed us that they were on the hunt. Sources have identified the kat responsible for the foul weather as none other than Rex Shard, recently escaped from… hey, what's going on back there?"
Chance leaned forward a bit more, a runner at the starter's block. His ears twitched. Falling equipment, breaking glass. Shouts turned to screams. A shot of ice blue made Ann duck behind the news desk; her co-anchor wasn't so lucky, got turned into a frozen statue. Damn. He knew it'd happen.
Callie gasped. "Oh God…" She leaned forward as well, eyes locked on the screen.
The orange coat soon displayed itself, hood down. Rex Shard strutted onto the set of Kat's Eye News, sat on the desk. "We interrupt this broadcast to inform you that you, citizens of MegaKat City, are screwed."
Chance gritted his teeth, his lips curled into a snarl. Cocky bastard. He'd pay for that.
Rex smirked, looking down his nose at the camera. "As you are fully aware by now, I'm in control of the weather. I got the power to shut down freeways, cancel flights; freeze the water and cut the power. You see out your windows? It's white, all of it. You can't see two inches in front of your face anymore when this kinda shit happens." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Sooner or later, the heat's gonna go. I wonder what you'll do once that happens."
Chance began to get to his feet, anxious to shut this guy up. A hand on his shoulder; he looked to his right, saw Callie shake her head. He sat back down again. What was the deal?
"I don't want money, I don't want safety; hell, I don't even want your damn respect. You want this to end? I want Commander Ulysses Feral, Mayor Ryan Manx, and Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs here in this studio in two hours or less. Once time runs out and they're not here, that storm warning is gonna turn into a reality, and this city will freeze in Hell." Rex began to stand, and then sat back down again. "Almost forgot. No cops, no mercs. They get here before or during our little chat and I will white this city out. I do however, invite the SWAT Kats. We got business to conclude." He chuckled, an evil smirk crossing his features. "You have an hour and fifty-nine minutes. Have a nice day, you poor bastards." He raised his right hand; the feed cut in the blink of an eye.
"Now we can go." Callie got to her feet, hopped over the table and ran towards the garage. Chance followed suit. Holy fucking shit. Ann was still alive in there! He'd use her as leverage for sure; they had to get in there and get her out. Throw open the hatch, slide down the ladder. They hauled ass, reached the hangar in record time. The meaty underside of his left fist rammed into the Panic Button near the phone and the alarm went off throughout the base. Callie sprinted to her locker, started putting on her gear.
Jake and Felina rushed him, stopped a few feet in front of him. "Suit up, we got the call."
Felina crammed her right fist into her left hand. "Let's melt us a snowman."
They moved to the lockers, donned their flight gear. Chance put a hand on Jake's right shoulder. "You okay?"
Jake grinned. "I'm awake if that's what you're asking. The Flash Missiles are ready to deploy, but there's only six for each bird. We gotta make 'em count."
He nodded, started heading towards the TurboKat. "Rex has the Kat's Eye News building on lockdown. Got at least one hostage in there, maybe more. Someone needs to get in and see what's up, maybe try to get him outta there so we can actually fight him."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Callie?"
Chance nodded. "Callie. She can't quite fly yet or operate a weapons station. We get her behind enemy lines, have her tell us the situation, and then she takes it from there."
"Is that so?"
They turned to face her, now in full combat gear. Chance grinned. "Yeah, that's so. You're going in first. Think you can handle him?"
She nodded. "You bet your ass. Just give me a few flash bangs, a breaching charge, and a good distraction."
Chance nodded. "Think you can handle a pick set?"
Callie raised an eyebrow, lips pursed and pupils shrinking a bit. After a moment, she shook her head. "Nope, can't do that yet. Sorry."
"It's okay." He headed for the storage area, opened up a box with the explosives inside. "Take two charges, maybe three. Don't use them until you get there, or unless you have to. It's up to you whether you wanna go in through the front or find a different entrance. He's in the studio though, so he's probably not watching any security cams."
She nodded. "Probably gonna take the roof anyway. Ventilation is one of the best ways to go when you don't know exactly where the guy is. I just hope there's a way to get in without having to get there on the ground." She shook her head, stopping him before he said a word. "Don't bother flying me there. I'll think of something."
Chance shrugged. "All right, be careful in there."
Callie saluted, dug into the crate. Chance and Jake began heading for the TurboKat, donning their helmets on the way. Chance's radio buzzed, he tapped the receive panel on his helmet. "What's the word?"
"This is Lioness. I'm prepped for flight."
He nodded. Awesome. "Don't leave just yet; we got hostages in the studio. Ghost is gonna do a recon run before we go airborne."
"What!? Oh, that's just spectacular. When did this happen?"
Chance smirked. She really did want to beat the crap out of him. Well she'd get her chance soon enough. "While you were asleep. Look, I'm just as eager as you, but we need intel, maybe even a way to get him out of that building. We're gonna remain on standby as well, so don't freak out. You copy?"
A sigh. "Copy that. I'm on standby, out."
He nodded. All right, that takes care of that for now. He leapt into the cockpit, followed closely by Jake. The canopy slid closed and the bird swiveled down to the staging area. Chance pressed a button on the remote that was always in the jet, causing the exit to the hangar to open up. He looked to his right, saw Ghost wearing a Delta Pack. Was that how she'd do it? He nodded. Good plan. Best way to get in there without being detected. He tapped his radio. "Ghost, let us know when you're in. We'll be on standby here until you infiltrate."
He saw her nod. "Roger that. I'll keep you posted." The burners went live and Ghost floated upwards; within the next two seconds she was racing down the launch tunnel. "I'm clear," the radio buzzed once she exited.
Chance smiled. "Good luck out there." Okay. Now came the hard part: waiting. He looked behind him; Jake was still alert. Good. "How was your nap?"
Jake shrugged. "Could've been better, but the coffee and the shower helped."
Chance nodded, faced forward again. "I sure hope so. I don't want you passing out on me up there. Once she gets him outta there, if she can, we're going in hot and loud." It was gonna be messy. No matter. They had to stop him now, before things got even worse.
The bullet-resistant visor on Ghost's helmet shielded her eyes; an oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth, feeding her fresh air. Wow. You really couldn't see anything out here. Lucky for her the helmets had GPS transponders.
Her destination showed as a blue pulse on her heads-up display, with a grid map of the city as a reference point. Keep moving. It was still about an hour away. How many? Where exactly in the building were they? T-Bone said the main studio, right? She'd been there before.
She sped up, confidence welling up within her. The mission was already done. She'd be back in the hangar eating a late breakfast. Snuggle time. Ghost smiled. It'd be a good way to end all this, relieve some stress.
She neared her destination and told her brain to shut up. Her face schooled itself into a blank mask, clear of emotion. In the face of that iron curtain she drew up around her mind, her discursive thoughts fled in terror, leaving it completely empty and free to react to everything.
She hovered over the roof, saw the air duct. Ghost cut the power and unceremoniously dumped the Delta Pack off of the ledge she stood on. It was pretty much useless now that she was here. She fished into her gear; found the pocket cutting torch. She lit up and, putting the flame to the frame, began slicing open a hole big enough for her to fit through.
Fifteen seconds later, she was in. Ghost tapped the panel on the right side of her helmet, which turned on her radio. "All wings, this is Ghost. I snuck into his house, ready to go to work. Repeat, I'm in the house. Deploy immediately."
"Copy that Ghost, we're scrambling. Keep us posted on intel, T-Bone out."
She switched off the channel and, following the schematic map to the Kat's Eye News building on her visor display, she headed straight and turned left, taking the first right after the corner. Second left; that one back there was the wrong room. She turned left again, then right. The map displayed before her eyes served her well, silently guiding her towards the room in question. She made as little noise as she could; even her breathing was nigh-impossible to pick up.
It was all of five minutes before she forced herself to a stop, hairs on the back of her neck bristling and insides twisting. She lay flat on her stomach and played dead. Her ears twitched, turning this way and that like radar dishes.
Garbled speech echoed off of the walls of the metal labyrinth. Getting close? Maybe she was. She took the next right, inched toward the vent that the voices originated from and looked down.
"Get to the point, Shard. What do you want from us?"
That was Commander Feral's voice, which meant she was in the right place. Rex was there too; she could see that ostentatious orange coat of his. He pushed off from the news desk, strutting towards the imposing tom. She could see the cocky smirk he no doubt wore.
The frost-flinging criminal got up in his enemy's face. "I want you to suffer, Feral. Hell, I want everyone to suffer now." He looked to his right. "Good old Mayor Manx! I never figured I'd get to see your fat ass again. I'm surprised you haven't skipped town."
She watched as he adjusted his collar, wrung his hands against each other. "I wouldn't want to miss an important occasion like this, you know. You just let me know what you want and it's yours; anything!"
Ghost diverted her attention from the little chat they were having and began scanning the rest of what she could see. There were other kats down there, huddled behind the news desk. Her eyebrows rose. Among the six that were there, she saw a green business jacket and matching skirt, bob-cut brown hair. Ann.
She looked away, tapped her radio. "T-Bone, I'm at the news room."
"Good. What's your status?"
"Green, still unobserved." She looked down again. "We got six hostages including Ann Gora. They're still alive, for now. I also have visual confirmation of Mayor Manx and Commander Feral." Movement. She zoomed in, saw Rex making threatening gestures. "I think it's about to go down. I'm going loud. You guys better haul ass, out."
She tapped her radio again, her right hand slipped into the Glovatrix strapped at her thigh. She pulled it out, got herself ready to move.
"This is your fault, you know," her ears picked up. His voice was rough, tense. "All of it. The weather, the kats who died, everything. You locked me up in that frozen hell, and look what you've got to show for it."
Feral growled. "It was the right thing to do. If I knew this would have happened, I'd have killed you back then."
"Yeah, like you would have." Rex scoffed. "I should just freeze you both right now and be done with it, but I don't see the Deputy Mayor here. Where's the bitch at? She's late and time's up."
"She's dead."
The Mayor actually sounded… a bit angry instead of placating. He walked toward Rex, fists tight. "Because of selfish kats like you, we lost Callie."
The room was silent for a span… and then Rex suddenly threw his head back, laughing. "Well that's a riot! Here I am trying to get revenge on you all, and someone beat me to one of ya!" His laugh picked up in volume.
Rex gasped, doubled over. Feral had grabbed onto him and rammed his right knee into his solar plexus. "I might die today, but I'm going to spend my last moments tearing you to pieces, Shard."
Ghost's jaw tightened. Yeah. Definitely time to go now. She pounded into the vent with the Glovatrix, it came loose in two shots, fell to the floor. She dropped out of the vent, deployed her shield and lowered her posture.
Feral looked towards her, eyes wide. "You!" He was hauled up by his legs, driven into the floor by Rex. He breathed hard through his nose, a hand around his throat.
Rex laughed. "Rip me to pieces, huh? You sure as hell can try! I dare ya!"
Ghost slinked towards the two struggling kats, tried to get as close as she could without being heard. She managed to get within a good three feet; that was enough. Ghost charged forward shield first, rammed into the orange coat and knocked him off of Feral.
She recovered and rose to one knee, peering over the top edge of the metal shield, eyes narrowing. "Miss me?"
Rex stood, a grimace on his face. "We need to finish our business, SWAT Kat."
She stayed low, advancing forward steadily. "Then why are you still talking?" She called out behind her without turning her head. "Commander Feral, there are six kats still alive behind that desk. Get them and the Mayor out of here, now." She set herself, held still for a moment.
"Not gonna happen, bitch!" Rex fired a bolt of ice from his right hand at her partially exposed head. She lowered her head and the ice broke on the shield as she charged forward to try and crash into him again. Something gave. She pushed out to the right and turned. Rex was on the ground, teeth bared.
Ghost wasted no time. She leapt toward him, pinned him to the ground, clamored on top of him. Squeezed his rib cage with her legs, saw him grind his teeth and wince, eyes forced shut in pain. Good. Did more damage than she thought. She deactivated her shield while he fought against the pain and began ramming into Rex's face with her fists. An eye, the nose, the right side of his jaw. He growled, clawed for her neck and squeezed. Ghost's jaw tightened. Not good! She hammered into his face with the Glovatrix, heard something snap. Rex screamed, blood gushing from his nose. His hand only tightened. Damn it!
"Let go of me!" Her thighs squeezed again, knees pressed into the lower ribs... she heard something else break. Rex howled in pain, finally let go. Ghost gasped for air, rolled off of him. Shit. She tried to get her air back. He wouldn't be moving all that much with a few popped ribs and a broken nose. She had time.
She got up, grabbed him by his neck. "Too much trouble." She hauled him onto a shoulder, headed towards the nearest wall. Ghost unstrapped a breaching charge and slapped it into place. She moved a few feet away and pressed in the trigger located on her Glovatrix. Boom. She stepped through the hole she'd just made and headed towards a room with plenty of windows.
She looked back at him. Still dazed. All right.
"You're all made of snow, right?" She smirked. "Let's see how far the wind carries you, then." She sprinted towards the windows, stopped just short of them, and used the momentum she'd gained to toss him. Glass shattered as she sent Rex flying through the cold mid-morning air.
Ghost pressed in the radio panel on the right side of her helmet, turning away from the window. "T-Bone, Ghost here. He's clear of the building. I just hope he's conscious and pissed enough to go big."
"Roger that, good job. Any hostages?"
She nodded. "Six of them. They're okay; Feral's probably escaped with them and the Mayor by now." She started walking out. "What's your ETA?"
A roar overhead. She looked up and chuckled. "Never mind. Give him hell, out." She touched the panel again and continued walking. She was about to exit the room when her skin tingled, her tail curled and her ears perked. She turned to face the shattered windows, eyes narrowed. "Something's wrong. He should've been fighting back at least a little when I brought him to the window."
Oh no. She sprinted towards the opening, stared down. She pulled her head back as soon as she saw Rex growing in size. Holy crap! He recovered already? "Damn it!" She ran towards the room's exit. Time to get out of here before he tore the place down! She crammed her fingers down on the radio button. "Mayday, mayday, emergency maneuvers! He's going big and he's at full capacity! Get him out of the city, now!"
"Roger that, we're on it! Get moving to the nearest exit, pronto!"
"Way ahead of you there!" She turned right around the first corner. Stairwell ahead. She kicked the door open with her left heel, hauled ass downstairs. Lights flickered, the building rocked. Shit, shit, shit! Faster! She stumbled through the door at the bottom of the stairwell. Garage level. Great. She made tracks to the exit, the garage rumbling with the noise upstairs. How big was he now?
She finally sprinted out onto the snow, darted into a nearby alleyway. Ghost doubled over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She looked to her right and gritted her teeth as she saw Rex rip apart the Kat's Eye News building to find her.
"Damn it, now you've done it." She straightened, tapped her radio. "I'm clear of the building. All wings, engage with all the firepower you got. Take him down hard. I'm leaving the combat zone, keep me posted."
She turned the radio off, saw the TurboKat and StealthKat head towards the frozen monolith that was Rex Shard, explosions going off near his head. That wasn't gonna work nearly as well as it should, but it did the job. He growled, swatted outwards at the jets. "And here we go." Her part was done; time to disappear. She jogged towards the end of the alley, turned the corner, and headed for some shelter against the cold.
Definitely time for a hot chocolate when she got back.
Lioness's eyebrows creased as she pulled the stick back, coaxing the StealthKat up and over the hand that tried to swat her out of the air. Close one. She sliced right, trained her sights on the side of his head. "I know this won't work, but it's better than nothing."
She thumbed the weapon release and watched as a Sidewinder rammed into its target. The guy wasn't hot, sure… but that didn't mean that a heat seeker couldn't be radar-guided as well.
It only seemed to piss him off even more. She made her jet curve underneath his fist and broke engagement. "I think that's enough, guys." She began heading for the outskirts of the city, looked behind her to make sure. Oh hell yeah. He was coming for them. Shit. She throttled up. "Playing bait and switch sucks."
Her radio buzzed. "I know, but we can't do it any other way. We gotta make him think we're running away."
Razor. She smiled. "If you say so, handsome. Just don't let him get you, or I'll claw your eyes out."
The radar warning receiver blared at her and she gritted her teeth. Damn! How fast was this bastard? "I ain't your buddy, go away! Get him off my six!"
"Can't do that, he's on us too! We gotta outrun this freak!"
Well duh. That much was painfully obvious. "I'm climbing; we'll see how high this guy can jump." She pulled back on the stick and the nose shot up, nozzles tilted to aid her ascent. Lioness looked behind her, saw him swing and swipe at her. Her eyes widened as he actually jumped to grab for her. "Oh hell no!"
A sudden flash. Rex's face twisted in agony as the arm that tried to grab her was blown off at the shoulder. Lioness huffed in relief. "About damn time, Razor! Was that the new missile?"
"Yeah, and I don't think he likes it much."
She smirked. "That's obvious." He staggered as he fell; she went over the top and angled the nose down at him again. "Let's see how he likes one from me."
The snow around him began gathering to a single point… and her eyes widened. "Um, that's not funny, quit that." She gritted her teeth. Fuck! "Guys, he's getting a whole new arm!" She pulled away, heading for the city limits again. What the hell was it going to take?
She heard T-Bone's frustrated growl over the radio. "This guy just won't stay down, will he? We're gonna have to really give it to him. Maintain evasive patterns until we get clear of any buildings. We need to get as far as MegaKat Desert, and then end this thing."
Lioness glanced at her radar, saw him move toward them again. "He's back into it, haul ass!"
Just a bit more. They had to hold out for a bit longer, get him clear of the city. She squinted, tried to see through all the snow. Damn it. It really was turning into a whiteout now. She pressed in a panel on the left side of her helmet and the visor HUD slid over her eyes. Good. That was a hell of a lot better. They only had a few miles to go before the desert, thank God.
They got clear of the city limits, went a bit farther. Lioness checked her radar; he was still trailing them. Apparently, he wanted to get rid of them just as badly as he wanted to wipe the city off of the map. She smirked. He could try his hardest and it still wouldn't be enough.
"That's enough hide and seek," she heard on her radio. "Re-engage! Kick his ass!"
She grinned wildly. "That's just what I wanted to hear." She broke right, throttled up. Headed straight for him. "Time to see how big of a bang these things have for myself." She switched to the Flash Missiles, locked her sights onto Rex's left arm, just at the shoulder. "I got tone…" She hit the weapon release button and saw a red and white missile streak toward its target. "It's away. Breaking off!" She pulled back hard, tried to gain some airtime before he tried to swat her.
Rex's roar made her grin. "Got him."
She saw the TurboKat heading towards him from the top of the loop. Good. Keep hitting him. Half-roll, extend. She looked behind her right shoulder, saw another flash. What'd been torn off now? Probably another arm. She sliced left to take a look, grimaced. "He's doing that thing again. We gotta take him down, now!"
She quickly got a sight picture, her radar beeping. "Unloading!" She fired another one, held target, fired again. They slammed into his chest, electric arcs sparked against him for only brief seconds. Huge craters in the wake of the missiles, but more snow was coming towards him. It was slower, though. Too much to concentrate on at once. "It's working, Razor!"
"Yeah, but you're wasting your ordinance. I'm reading three left on you; we don't have a lot of these to burn!"
Her eyes narrowed. "Then this next shot's gonna have to do it." She was still a ways apart from him; she could finish this right now. She set her sights again, got a lock. "Say good night, Frosty."
"Hold your fire!"
Her thumb hovered over the red weapon release. She growled. "What's the deal? I was about to polish him off!" She was getting closer now. Not good. Arms were halfway done.
She heard T-Bone across the radio. "Don't you want to do this as a team? I know you're pissed at him, but don't try to be a hero. 'Sides, it'll take more than one missile, and we'll do better if we both hit him at once."
She sighed. Damn. She was really getting out of her head, wasn't she? "Copy that. Give me the green light when you got a lock."
Seconds later, she heard razor's voice. "I got tone. On my mark…"
Felina's thumb settled onto the weapon release.
"Three, two, one… deploy!"
Her thumb twitched, a missile went streaking towards Rex's head. She knew he couldn't move away in time. She saw a second missile from the TurboKat right beside it. "Break away?"
"Just wait a minute."
T-Bone. What was he up to?
The missiles slammed into his forehead, completely wrecked his face. She squinted. Was he healing up there? Her eyes widened and she grinned. No. He wasn't! "Sweet!"
"Fire for effect! Razor, dump 'em all!"
Two more missiles streaked towards Rex's head, made contact. He stumbled around, blind. They fired again, another set of contacts. Half of his head vanished. His screams were cut off. "Die, you bastard." She fired once more, the TurboKat followed suit. The rest of his head disappeared in a storm of explosions.
She heard T-Bone over the air. "Okay, now you can break away."
The TurboKat pulled left, Lioness pulled right. She looked down at their handiwork. Rex collapsed to his knees, fell to the ground. She could hear the earth shake as he crashed and looked down at him. "Chew on that, Frosty."
The snow continued to fall as the birds left the scene. Behind them, Rex was melting into nothing more than a puddle. Lioness pulled off her oxygen mask and sighed, head tilted back and eyes shut in exhaustion. The anger drained out of her, left her empty. "Finally. We got him…"
"About damn time, too. Was getting hard to see out there." T-Bone sighed. "I swear if I ever see this much snow again, it'll be too soon."
Lioness laughed, weary from the fight. "We should stay in for a while, then. I'm sure there's some hot chocolate waiting back at base." She put on her mask again. "Let's go home."
For two more days, there was still heavy snow fall. Mayor Manx called for a massive city-wide cleanup of the roads and sidewalks, one of the few good things he'd done in ten terms. Maybe it was because of Callie being mentioned back at the Kat's Eye news building. It wouldn't last, though. He'd be back to his lazy self in no time.
KatGuard was given a bonus for the recapture of all the food from the grocery store raid, without damaging it. Commander Feral and Captain Puma made an agreement to bolster each other until the Enforcers could get back on their feet again. Of course, this meant that they'd get most of the pay that the normal police were getting, but Ulysses was willing to go that far. The way he saw it, it was better than relying on the SWAT Kats.
Of course, if he knew that the SWAT Kats had an insider in the private military force, he'd decry them quick fast. But he didn't, and it was better if he never found out.
Benny was given a commendation for his efforts in the situation, and though he didn't move up from Captain, he did get a nice pay raise and some time off. The hostages from the Kat's Eye News building were safe and sound, though Ann was mourning the loss of the news room. Still, it wasn't all bad; the executives, hearing of the damage done, gave her paid time off as well.
Without any fanfare, the SWAT Kats faded quietly into the background. No one had seen them fight against Rex this time, and it would probably be attributed to KatGuard for finally ending this. That was fine. They could use a bit less camera time anyway.
Thus, even with a bit of early frost on the ground, life moved on in MegaKat City.
Chapter 56: Whiteout (Finale) – Icebreaker
My God, that took some doing.
Seriously, the longest chapter I've ever written. I had to claw my way out of this one, fight tooth and nail for every scene. But I got it. I tried a few new writing techniques in this one; figured I'd pull them out and show you guys what I've learned. Tell me what you think.
Anyways, I'm going to do something to celebrate now. I already have the next arc in my head, but we need to do the side stories first. Until then, I'm outta here.
Hasta la vista, see ya when I see ya.
