Okay, here is the chapter with Carmelita's team in action! What will happen once they reach the lab?
Let's find out now!
Sly Cooper and the Space Thieves
Chapter 31- The Infiltration
"Okay, be careful down there. And…good luck." "You too, Ringtail." After she said this, Carmelita moved her ship towards Kanog's palace with boosters at maximum power. She didn't have to worry about enemy fighters anymore; they were all too busy with the other fleets. As her fighter entered the planet's atmosphere, it began to grow hot inside, very hot. Carmelita had to struggle a lot to keep her ship from spiraling out of control. Murray and Panda King were holding on tight in there seats, hoping that they will get through this.
"Hold on boys, we are almost through!" After another minute or two of intense flying, they have made it near the surface and Carmelita began to level out the fighter. "Man Carmelita, you sure are a great pilot! We would have been cooked without you." "I also admire your ability to keep us alive under such stressful conditions." Carmelita turned to them and smiled. "Thanks guys; coming from you that means a lot." She thought to herself as she turned her head back to the front of her. 'For internationally wanted criminals, they are alright. They and the rest of Sly's gang have traits that no other criminal gang would have…'
A few minutes later they saw it: Kanog's palace. It looked just the same as it was when they were here last time, except for one big difference. It was covered in a black-tinged force field. 'No doubt Kanog put it up while he is on his precious flagship.' thought Carmelita as she landed her fighter a ditch about 20 meters from the palace. After all three of have gotten out and stretched their legs, they headed towards the palace without being noticed by the probe floating above the place; obviously it was put up there to detect any unwanted visitors.
It sent out a yellow beam and scanned the area around the palace; Carmelita and her team made sure they were hiding behind large rocks when the beam came toward them. Once they were close enough to the front gate, Carmelita huddled with the other two. "Okay guys, here is the plan. Panda King, that probe is floating above the palace, but it is not protected by that force field. I suspect that probe is the source of its power; my scanner detects the same type of energy coming from that probe into the field. You should be able to blow it up using one of your rockets. Once you destroy it, the force field should collapse."
"I will endeavor not to miss." Carmelita then turned to Murray. "Murray, once the force field is down you will have to throw me to the front gate; the bridge that connects the gate to the main land is off. It is too far for me to jump to. Once on the other side, I should be able to activate the bridge to let you and Panda King across." "Check!" After the yellow beam had passed them, Panda King got up and aimed his rocket launcher at the probe. "Proton rocket, fire!" The rocket soared to its target like a hawk. It hit the probe head on, and it blew up in a big explosion! As it vanished in the blast, so did the force field.
"Success! What a beautiful explosion that was!" shouted Panda King. "Good shot. Alright Murray, it's your turn." The big hippo nodded as he and Carmelita made to the edge of the ground that is suppose to connect with the energy bridge. Murray picked up Carmelita and threw to the other side with a great thrust. She landed gracefully at the gates. She turned back to Murray. "Nice throw, big guy! Sit tight; it should take a moment to find the bridge controls." Carmelita knew that the outside controls had to be here somewhere. Sure enough, she found them right above where the bridge extends from.
She pushed the small blue button and the bridge has appeared. Immediately, Murray and Panda King ran across the bridge and met up with Carmelita. "Thanks, Carmelita. So now that we are at the gates, how are we going to open them?" asked Murray. Carmelita thought about it for a moment, and then she smiled mischievously. "We won't have too…" She told them to hide on the left side of the gates. Just then, the gates opened up and two Mantian guards appeared. They found out that something was wrong with the scan probe and were ordered to check it out.
When they came out, they've discovered that the protective force field is down, and the probe was gone. Before they could do anything else, someone tapped their shoulders. They turned and next thing they knew, they were knocked out colder than a mackerel by a big hippo! Murray massaged his fists and said, "That's right you Mantian chumps! "The Murray" just put you guys to sleep…the hard way!" Pleased that this had worked, Carmelita led her team inside the palace before the gates closed behind them.
They remembered this room: big and empty, except for the big pad and the red box with buttons. Carmelita began to examine the box. "Yanor said that the lab is underneath our position, and each button takes us to a different location in the palace. The question is which button will take us to the lab?" Panda King came forward to examine the buttons also. "Perhaps we should wait for another guard to show up, and then we could "persuade" him to tell us." Murray jumped in. "Or maybe we could just press each button until we are in a place that looks like a lab!"
Carmelita thought about it, and she came up with a solution. "Let us try both ideas. Murray, you will step onto the pad and press a different button at each location. Continue to do this until you find the lab. When you do, come back here to get us; we will stay here encase more guards appear to "tell" us where the lab is. Got it?" He nodded as he stepped onto the pad. "Don't worry comrades! "The Murray" will be back in a flash!" After saying this he started with the purple button, and then he was gone in a purple light. "I hope he will be alright." "Do not fear, Carmelita. Murray is a force to be reckoned with. He will be fine."
They only had to wait a few minutes before the big guy returned, and with a happy face. "Hey guys! I found the lab! It took me several buttons and a suddenly embarrassing moment, but I found the right button; it's the black one…" "Good work, Murray. Before we move, tell me…what do you mean by "a suddenly embarrassing moment"?" Murray looked down and giggled. "You see…when I pressed the white button, it took me to a restroom, and I caught a Mantian with his pants down, literally!" All three laughed. "Luckily, I managed to beam away before he saw me, but man that was pretty awkward."
After they had stopped laughing, Carmelita told them to get on the pad and she will press black button. "You two ready? We might run into some tough security down there." They both nodded, stating that they were prepared for anything. Nodding at this, Carmelita pressed the black button, and they both vanished in a black beam light. When the light disappeared, they found themselves in a lab alright. It was huge: experimental armor suits everywhere, thruster packs in a bin labeled "Rejected", and strangely no guards in sight…
"I got a bad feeling about this," said Carmelita as she looked around. "Yanor said that this lab would be heavily guarded, and yet there is not a soul here…most suspicious," said Panda King. Murray spotted something at the very back of the lab; it was the most high-tech safe they have ever seen, 6ft tall, with a computerized combination lock and lasers where a safe door should be. Inside, there was a small device that looked like a black box with two buttons on it, one was red and the other one was blue.
"That has to be the Ximorator!" exclaimed Carmelita. Just then, a familiar voice spoke up from behind. "Step away from that safe, or you will be terminated!" The three of them turned around, and looked at the newcomers with looks of shock; it was Commander York and his team of 8 commandoes that Carmelita once commanded when she was abducted! Now they were preparing to beat them into pulps! "Commander York, what is the matter with you?! It's me, Inspector Fox! Don't you remember me?"
Commander York just looked at her with strange, blank eyes and repeated his previous statement: "Step away from that safe, or you will be terminated!" Murray turned to Carmelita with nervousness. "Uh, Carmelita…I don't think he remembers you." Panda King took a good look at the soldier apes carefully, and then he faced Carmelita. "Carmelita, I believe that they do not know what they are doing. Kanog has some kind of mind control over them; he must have done this while we were away." "That explains why they didn't come with us," she said sarcastically.
The apes were beginning to get out there weapons. Murray thought of something. "Carmelita, don't worry about these guys. Panda King and I will hold them off while you get the Ximorator out of the safe…we will try not to hurt them too bad." Carmelita looked stunned at this plan. "That's nice of you Murray, but I don't have the slightest idea of how to open that alien tin can! This is something only Bentley can figure out, and he's not here!" "There is no choice," said Panda King. "We have faith in you. You can do it." As he finished this statement, the two of them started the big brawl with the commandoes.
After Panda King's pep talk, Carmelita decided to look over the safe and figure out how to open it. The combination lock needed a specific 7 symbol code, and unfortunately for her, all of the code symbols are unfamiliar. 'This is hopeless. How I am I suppose to figure out the code if I don't know what the symbols mean? Where is that smart turtle when I need him? Oh yeah, fighting impossible odds up in space!' Then she remembered something Sly once explained during their space travels: "All safes are the same, no matter how they are designed. Sometimes, when you are clueless, just use your gut…your instinct." She closed her eyes and punched in a random combination…
While Carmelita was code cracking, Murray and Panda King were skull cracking! The big hippo knocked out 2 apes with a single punch to the face each, and two more by punching them in the gut, followed by a head butt to each noggin. They too fell. "Yes!! "The Murray" has triumphed yet again!" Panda King used his Flame-Fu moves to both dodge their attacks, and rendering them unconscious within seconds. He bowed and said, "Forgive me, I did not wish to bestow this pain upon you." After his apology, he and Murray now turned to the head ape.
"You two will be terminated!" yelled Commander York as he rushed towards them. The hippo and panda merely side stepped and York crashed into a table full of untested weapons, causing the whole thing to collapse. York got up, turned back at his opponents, and charged again. Murray gave him a strong, right hook that sent him at Panda King, who finished him with his "Palms of Thunder" move, flattening him. Once the action was over, they looked around; the whole lab was messed up from all the fighting. "Man, I think we over did it a bit, don't you think?" Panda King nodded. "We have used our combat techniques "excessively."
"Well boys, regardless of the damage you caused and the fact that you knocked out my commando squad, you did an excellent job." Carmelita walked to them, with both a satisfied look on her face and the little gizmo in her left hand. Murray jumped with joy. "Awesome! You got the Ximorator! How did you figure out the code?" She just smiled and said, "I trusted my gut." She looked at York and his troops, lying unconscious on the floor. "Are they going to be alright?"
Panda King turned to her and nodded. "I believe so, once Kanog's hold over them is broken." "Then let us hope that Sly and the others are doing okay aboard Kanog's flagship. Come on, we got what we came for. Let's move before more Mantian goons show up!" They ran back to the pad and punched the button that said "Main Entrance" and they were instantly brought back to their starting point. "Okay boys, as soon as we get back to our space fighter we will head back to the Dragon Thief."
But as soon as the team was outside again, they have found a horrible sight; Carmelita's space fighter was destroyed! It was lying there in a smoking, burning heap of metal rubble. To make matters worse, dozens of Mantian guards were there at the sight. They turned and saw Carmelita and her team come out of the palace and began to charge at them. "Sweet apple pie, looks like our only way back to the gang is gone up in smoke!" said Murray in despair. "We are not out of options…yet."
Carmelita activated her com device. "Bentley, its Carmelita! Good news, me and the guys got the gizmo to turn Zarus back to normal! Bad news, a bunch of stupid Mantian guards totally scrapped my space fighter! We need to beamed back on board immediately! Do you copy?" She waited for a moment, and then she got her response. "Rodger that. I'll beam you guys out of there in just a moment. Give me 5 seconds…" The guards were practically upon them now! Just before they could deliver the killing blows, Carmelita, Murray, and Panda King vanished in a bright light.
Back onboard the Dragon Thief, the infiltration team returned in one piece. They were on the bridge, overlooking the battle that is still raging on. "Thanks Bentley, we were almost goners down there," said Carmelita gratefully. The turtle nodded. "No problem, Carmelita. Penelope will get to work immediately on the Ximorator. Once Zarus is back to his old self, we will find a way to send him to help Sly." The beautiful fox suddenly looked worried. "Any word from Sly or the others?"
Bentley shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. I have been trying to contact them after they have flown inside Kanog's flagship, but their com signals are being blocked; it's probably that same metal that blocks our teleportation systems as well. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do except wait…and pray." Carmelita looked towards the humungous ship that belonged to Kanog, and prayed silently that Beowulf, Jacor, Rovax, and especially Sly will defeat that tyrant and escape in one piece.