Escape. Again.
The four of them began to head towards the door to leave, but on hearing the sound of running footsteps they retreated back into the darkened room. At the end of the corridor, Enforcers were running towards the lifts up to ground level.
Had they been outside, it would have been clear why they were running upstairs. Enforcer tanks and choppers had initiated a full-on assault of the camp. The noise of gunfire was deafening, as the full might of the Enforcer Tank Corps was brought to bear on the small facility. The lucky few had already got out; the others had to take shelter in the few heavily armoured buildings.
"Ooh, yeah!" said the leading trooper, as he ordered more tanks to fire on the camp. As they added their firepower, the last of the remaining watch towers collapsed with an almighty crash onto the main prison block. Prisoners began running out, trying to make good their newfound freedom, but were gunned down before they even reached the collapsed perimeter fence.
As the bombardment continued, the few thinly-built structures left were beginning to concede defeat, walls collapsing and roofs caving in under the weight of impact.
Down in the bowels of the building, the four were becoming all too well aware of the situation. The heavy shelling was causing the roofs of the underground corridors to collapse, and they knew there was only a matter of time before what remained of the structure collapsed. Shielding Cody and Xenon as best they could from falling masonry, the Swat Kats were trying to get to the stairwell they had come down, knowing the lift would be far too risky. As they neared their escape route, a noise of metal-on-concrete fell down through the stairwell shaft to their ears. Moments later, an Enforcer tank marked with the camp's own logo crashed down the shaft, its thin armour crumpling as it hit the deck, along with tons of concrete stairs. There was no way back up.
T-Bone and Razor looked at each other with worried looks. They could hardly rely on the lift, surely. As if in answer to their question, they heard the noise of the lift approaching them on the lowest floor. Puzzled, they cast enquiring looks at one another before another sound became audible over the noise of the approaching lift; screams.
Acting instinctively, the Swat Kats grabbed their charges and threw them to the ground before hitting the deck themselves, and not a moment too soon.
The lift had fallen from almost the top level, and hit the basement floor so hard that it blasted the doors clean off. They flew down the corridor, embedding in the end wall. The group stood up, looking at the hole where the lift should be. All that was left was a crumpled heap of metal, and at least one hapless Enforcer amidst it.
T-Bone approached the shaft and looked up. It appeared to still be sound, but there was no way of knowing how long it would stay like that.
"Come on!" Razor yelled, having joined T-Bone at the shaft "we've got to get out while we still can!"
They activated their rocket packs, and each grabbed hold of one of their entourage. They fired up the jets and quickly ascended the shaft, only once having to dodge a piece of falling concrete.
They emerged at the top of the shaft into a wrecked reception room. Several bodies were visible underneath collapsed roofing beams, and a few Kats were still huddled behind the main desk; the only piece of furniture still in place.
"Steele's really going to town here" T-Bone quipped to Razor, who was not interested in humorous repartee.
"We need to figure a way out of here" he said, joining the Kats behind the desk. "Is there any way out?" he asked a Kat wearing a sergeant's uniform.
"No, not unless they stop firing. If they did, there's an outbuilding across the concourse, it has an Armoured Personnel Carrier in it which could get us out, but we can't reach it" he replied in a panic.
While they were talking, Cody had begun to wonder towards the shattered entrance holding his staff. Once again, a sandstorm blew up around the camp, and the enforcers on the hill stopped firing.
"Go, go, go!" yelled Razor to the survivors, who didn't need telling twice. They ran for the door, heading straight for the outbuilding. The Swat Kats joined them, and T-Bone paused at the entrance to pick up Cody.
"No!" Cody shouted, as T-Bone made to pick him up "I can't keep this up on the move again, go!"
Reluctantly, T-Bone headed into the storm in the direction everyone else had taken. Cody saw him disappear into the sand, and lowered his staff.
Immediately, the storm began to lift, and Cody took the last opportunity to run for the outbuilding.
"Right, recommence fire" yelled Steele, who had just arrived by chopper, to his tank battery, which again opened fire on the camp.
As visibility returned, T-Bone looked back over his shoulder as the others ran into the building. He saw Cody running towards him, but so had one of the tank commanders, who fired a shell right at him. It missed, hitting the remnants of the administration building they had just left, but the blast was enough to throw Cody headlong into the concrete wall. Chance picked him up, and ran with him into the building, just as another shell exploded behind him.
The APC was partially covered by fallen debris, but those already there had done a good job of moving enough of this off it, and they all piled in. The sergeant was driving, and no sooner had T-Bone climbed into the vehicle with Cody it set off.
The door was closed, but that was no obstacle. The armoured vehicle smashed through the wall with ease, and headed towards the back of the facility on Razor's instruction. The tanks and the choppers tried to fire, but the APC was too fast, and they couldn't get off an accurate shot.
When the vehicle smashed through the fence and pulled up next to the Turbokat, Razor, T-Bone and Xenon, clutching Cody in his arms, jumped out. They watched for a moment as the vehicle drove off, before noticing the tank battery on the ridge above the facility beginning to reposition itself for another barrage.
The group hurried to get back in the jet, but were cut short when several more armoured cars and tanks came around a corner from where they had been hiding behind a destroyed out-building. The tanks trained their turrets on the jet, before rolling to a halt. The group watched as the hatch on the nearest tank popped open, to reveal an exultant Steele, who jumped out with his mega phone.
"Cease Fire! We've got them surrounded!" he shouted through it, somewhat needlessly.
The Enforcers kept their weapons trained on the Swat Kats, but didn't fire. Steele slowly walked towards them with an extremely smug look on his face.
"The so called Swat Kats breaking into an Enforcer facility" he said, in a mock-serious tone. He tutted at them. "Shame on you guys."
"That's rich coming from you!" T-Bone shouted back, defiantly. "We know about your dealings with Puma-Dyne! We know you're in league with them to make The Pandemic vaccine expensive!"
"Xenon" Steele said, in the kind of tone one would use to a child of three. "You are such a tattletale" he added. "You were but a pothole in my road to riches, but because of those meddling Swat Kats my plan is sunk" he said, his tone becoming deeply vindictive. "But I don't hold a grudge. I even have a nice little surprise for you" he said, gesturing to a convoy approaching them from inside the base.
Coming towards them were two armoured Enforcer transport vehicles. Designed to move valuable cargoes across the city in safety, the trucks were built to withstand bombs. They were flanked by several tanks, which were larger and more heavily armoured than the standard model. They had been built by Puma-Dyne based on the failed Behemoth Project, and were designed to handle virtually anything.
"That's a lot of hardware" Razor said to his partner "I wonder why they need all that."
The reason for such heavy-duty vehicles became evident when the convoy halted just inside the perimeter of the former Enforcer Base. The trucks stopped moving forwards, but didn't stop moving entirely. They rocked from side to side as if something very large were crashing around inside them. All the Enforcers seemed on edge as the two trucks reversed so their cargo bay doors faced the Swat Kats. This new aspect on the vehicles showed how even the heavy titanium doors of these trucks seemed to be having difficulty holding their contents. The doors were buckled in several places, and seemed to be ready to give way at any moment.
"Huh? What's going on?" Cody asked Razor.
Before he could answer, Steele walked over to the trucks, which were still rocking to and fro.
"Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. Or, rather, some friends" he said, activating the door release buttons and retreating quickly back to the safety of his tank.
The powered doors opened slowly, and as they did the trucks stopped rocking. Once the doors had opened as far as their hinges would allow, they stopped, revealing the darkened interiors of the vehicles. For a moment, there was silence, only the metallic noises of Enforcers taking the safety catches off their weapons audible. Then an immense roar rent the air, emanating from one of the trucks. Then the vehicle shook violently and the most hellish of creatures stumbled out of it into the light.
From where the Swat Kats stood, it looked, to all intents and purposes, like an overgrown Kat. It was covered in fur and had all the right anatomical features, but was at least nine feet tall. Only when it turned towards them did they see the full extent of the situation. Its entire right-hand side appeared to have melted, the fur gone, replaced with raw, scarred flesh. Its arm was bulging to at least twice the size it should have been, muscles rippling along its length. Its head was a misshapen blob, its mangled features barely recognisable. Cody gave an audible gasp at the horrendous vision before him. This was only aggravated when another creature emerged from the other truck. It too appeared to have had its flesh melted off, but it wasn't a uniform effect, it appeared instead in patches all over.
"Victims..." Xenon said, the sight needing no more explanation than that.
While the Swat Kats stared, the Enforcers had all retreated into their vehicles.
"Well, I'll leave you guys to get acquainted" Steele said. "I have got to go and meet Feral. I need to explain why the Swat Kats just forced me to destroy this facility" he added, laughing as his tank drove towards a waiting chopper.
The two former prisoners had seen their victims, and begun to run towards the group, their loping gate carrying them rather haphazardly towards the perimeter fence of the facility.
"Xenon, take Cody away from here. We'll handle this" T-Bone shouted at Xenon.
"Wait, you can't kill them, they're still Kats!" Xenon said, aghast.
"Maybe" said Razor, trying not to panic, "but is there any way to help them?" he asked, all too well aware that the two mutants were rapidly closing the distance between them.
"I believe so, but they must be knocked out first so I can use Cody's blood to create the serum to reverse the effects" Xenon replied.
"Please T-Bone" Cody asked imploringly, looking at him with pleading eyes.
"You get out of here, we'll see what we can do" T-Bone replied, not altogether convinced this was a good idea.
"They've mutated very strong bones" said Xenon, "you can see from their body structure."
The mutants were shaking a fence violently, and it didn't look like it would hold, so Xenon took hold of Cody and carried him into the Turbokat, while T-Bone and Razor tried to figure out how they were going to do this.
The two mutants had been stopped short by a small section of chain-link fence that was still standing. Strangely, they seemed not to have noticed the gaping hole in the fence where the APC had driven through it. Clearly, the mutation had deprived the victims of any capacity to think rationally. They were driven only by the most basic of needs; the need to feed.
---
The Enforcer tanks had begun to retreat, heading back up the hill towards headquarters. Steele had taken off in one of the choppers towards the main railway station, hoping to meet Feral as he got off the train. He thought by presenting his story first, he might be able to retain his job. The possibility had even occurred to him that, with the right spin, he could make the whole thing seem like his triumph, and maybe even earn a promotion. He thought nothing of the Swat Kats; they would surely kill the two mutants, destroying any evidence of their existence. Perhaps the situation could be salvaged.
"Go faster" Steele barked at the pilot, his usual bad mood restoring itself.
---
T-Bone and Razor were still trying to figure out how to simply immobilise the two mutants, when the fence gave way, and all discussion was brought to an abrupt end. They dodged the mutants, running back into the wrecked facility, where they might find some cover. They had armed their glovatrixes only with lethal weapons, and as Xenon had said, they were still Kats underneath.
As they were pursued deeper into the wreckage of the base, they headed into a warehouse building that still seemed largely intact. Inside was dark, all the lights having gone out with the generator. The two mutants followed, crashing through the door. The Swat Kats took cover behind a support pillar. Unable to see them the mutants blundered around in the dark, crashing into obstacles.
Razor activated his infra-red visor, and spotted them at the other end of the warehouse. Taking aim carefully, he fired a crossbow bolt at the ceiling above them. A large steel girder gave way, crashing down on top of the mutants.
"Razor, you weren't supposed to kill them..." said T-Bone.
"I didn't. Their bones could handle it, or at least, that's the impression Xenon gave..." replied Razor, not sounding particularly concerned.
They moved over to the mutants. Both were still alive, although completely unconscious. The Swat Kats levered the girder off them, and deftly tied them up.
"I don't like the idea of taking them back in the hold with Xenon and Cody" said T-Bone.
"Me neither" replied Razor. "They'll be safe here for now, we can come back with a serum later."
With that, the two Swat Kats headed back to their jet, and with Cody and Xenon aboard took off, heading for Xenon's oil refinery laboratory...
---
"No, they have been secured" came a voice from the back of the warehouse.
"Indeed, the mutants have been contained" added a second.
"Certainly, the Swat Kats are most reliable" chimed in, a trifle unnecessarily, a third voice.
Outside, two armoured trucks with 'Puma-Dyne' logos emblazoned across their sides had pulled up, and white-coated Kats stepped out and headed into the warehouse. They collected the two mutants and loaded them into the backs of the trucks.
"What shall we do with them, put them in cold storage? We need to keep them out of the way, right?" asked one of the drivers.
"No, I want them in the Nemesis Program" said the owner of the first voice.
"Indeed, we shall get some use from them yet" added the second.
"Certainly, we can recover some value from the situation" concluded the third, once again unnecessarily...
