HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Chapter 17: The Final Push
Aurora rested while she waited, as did the fighters. Careful cook fires were started and people took the time to eat. Tanara brought hot food to Aurora's side and sat with her.
"Thank you." Feral sighed and smiled taking the plate of food. "Tanara, the jet is a huge flying machine. It will need a very large portal. Can you and a few others help boost my power for this?"
Tanara frowned in surprise. "Just how big is this 'jet.'"
"About the size of the assembly grounds at the outpost we just defeated." Aurora said, smiling wanly at the gape- mouthed look she received.
"Goddess!! That big??" Tanara finally blurted in shock.
"I'm afraid so. Can you help?"
"We're going to have to but it's not going to be easy."
"I know. How many do you think it will take?"
"Uhm......perhaps ten of us." Tanara guessed.
Aurora winced. That was a lot of power pouring through her but there really wasn't a choice.
"When I've finished eating, I'll gather the ones I think will be the best ones for the job." Tanara sighed.
Aurora nodded and applied herself to her rapidly cooling food.
Meanwhile back in Megakat City, Razor was just getting the new negator weapon hooked up while the Professor was manufacturing more robots. He was so focused on his work, he never heard his partner return and begin to load the jet with weapons and some of the completed robots.
They managed to finish at the same time. Razor climbed down from the cockpit and went beneath the jet to check his connections. T-Bone walked up to his side and watched.
Razor finally noticed him. "Back already?"
"Yeah, and loaded everything. The Professor just finished the last of the robots and they are loaded too." T-Bone nodded.
"Great! Well I'm finally finished. We're as ready as we can be. Got ammo for my glovatrix." Razor asked as he closed the hatch on the wiring he had been checking.
"Yep, on the table over there." T-Bone pointed. Razor walked over and began loading his wrist weapon.
Professor Hackle walked in with a robot following him holding a tray of food. "You two need to eat before you take off." He told them, signaling the robot to set the tray down on the table Razor stood at.
"Good idea Professor. Let's see.....we have fifteen minutes left before Feral opens the portal. Hope she figured out how to open it large enough. I don't think she has enough personal power to do it alone." Razor said worriedly, as he grabbed a sandwich and began to eat.
"I'm sure she's thought of that, Razor." T-Bone said with assurance as he finished one sandwich and grabbed another.
Some minutes later, they'd finished then used the bathroom before getting aboard the jet and waiting for the portal to open. Hackle had wished them good luck then moved out of the room since a portal that large could pull him in as well. He'd had his robot servant clear a large space near the area the first portal had been then they left the room.
Five minutes later a glowing spot grew to a huge hole that showed the forest where the group waited for them. T-Bone frowned as he saw a very small opening for the jet above the people watching them.
As he watched, apparently an order had been given and the people gaping quickly scrambled out of the way and hid in the trees leaving T-Bone a large area to take the jet through and hover but not land.
"We're going to have to hover and rise up above the trees to find a landing spot, Razor." T-Bone told his partner.
"Yeah, I can see that. Just hope we don't have to go far or we'll be seen before we want to be." Razor said grimly.
T-Bone didn't respond to that as he revved the engines then went to hover barely five feet from the lab floor as he carefully glided the jet forward and carefully squeezed it through the opening. As soon as the jet cleared the portal, T-Bone sent the jet upward just far enough so that Razor could find them a landing site.
"T-Bone four o'clock position......see it?"
"Got it!" He acknowledged, taking the jet to the rather small landing spot near a lake to the south of the groups location. He landed quickly and shut the engines.
Through their radios they heard Aurora calling them.
"Yeah, babe. Everything okay?" T-Bone asked quickly.
"Yes, just very tired. The portal is closed and we'll be coming your way so stay put. Give me your location." She said, her voice obviously strained from the effort she'd made bringing them there.
Razor quickly relayed their location. "Better relax buddy. This will be our last chance for a rest before we attack." He told his partner.
"Good idea. We've been on the go without a break for a while." T-Bone sighed as he made himself as comfortable as he could and took a nap.
It was more than forty minutes later when their radio announced the groups arrival. Razor lowered the ramp then he and T-Bone jumped down into the cargo hold to greet their guests.
The Caledorians were awed by the huge machine. They climbed aboard following their leaders inside, though a bit afraid as shown by their wide eyes and wild looks. The leaders were nervous but soothed their followers and got ready for the ride of their lives.
"Okay, everyone! What we're going to do is sweep over the fortress and fire the negator as we do so. Just to be on the safe side, we'll do this at least three times before landing inside the place. We'll have to wait until full dark to actually do this so we'll take our time flying toward its vicinity." Razor announced to everyone before signaling the leaders to come forward for a meeting. The rest of the fighters were told to sit on the floor and relax.
Aurora took over the meeting. "Alright, we're taking a risk flying there but if T-Bone flies very high, no one will see us. It will make your ears feel tight so make sure everyone just swallows hard or pinches their noses and blows." She demonstrated.
"This will clear your ears. The jet is fairly quiet when they aren't doing high g's so no one should get too afraid. Just keep them calm. When we are able to land, you've already have your orders as to where you will each take your groups for the assault. Each group will have at least five robots with them. Now is there any questions." She asked.
There were only a few nervous ones that she or Razor answered. Satisfied, the leaders returned to their groups and sat with them.
Razor, Aurora and T-Bone climbed up into the cockpit and strapped in. Taking it slow, T-Bone took the jet up by VTOL mode and rose to the level just below where oxygen would be needed and then went into forward motion.
There were nervous exclamations from below but no one panicked. It took more than two hours to reach the fortress. Darkness was still an hour off by the time they arrived. Checking his fuel gauge, T-Bone could see they could safely go to hover and wait without worrying about running out of fuel.
Aurora went below and told everyone to rest as they were holding position until full dark, letting them know the target was just below them. There were looks of relief and excitement. Soon they would have their world back and they could hardly wait.
Aurora climbed back up. She sighed. "Well, despite being a little shaken by this form of transportation, everyone is doing well and is excited about the battle to come. Hopefully, it will be short and complete."
"The enemy are well trained soldiers and there are probably a force of some one hundred thousand of them down there," Razor guessed. "We will have to hit them fast and hard if we are to win. The loss of their magic will make them panic at first then the sight of the robots should disturb them even more, enough to give us the upper paw and make the difference on whether we win or lose."
"Yes, I think you're right." She murmured then went silent staring out the window. Razor didn't bother her as he checked and rechecked his weapons.
T-Bone allowed his mind to relax and ready itself for the battle to come. For a time there was silence except for the murmur of voices below them.
A little over an hour later, T-Bone gave a warning which Aurora passed to the ones in the hold then they were flying lower. As soon as he was about to reach the fortress, Razor turned on the negator and began to spray a wide beam of energy over the huge mountain base as they swept passed.
Some two hours earlier..........
In the fortress, Derek the Strong was pacing his strategy room angrily, his generals and advisor watching him in trepidation. He was furious and his body glowed with his magical energy.
"Have we heard from the outposts?" He barked coldly.
"No sire! Even the messengers we sent to check have not returned. Silence is all we get from them." His advisor said carefully.
"What is going on!" He roared, not really expecting an answer. Hours ago his portal had shut for no reason he could determine then he sensed a small burst of energy signifying the opening of a portal but it vanished before he could pinpoint it. It happened again two hours ago but this time it was a big surge of power but again it vanished after being open less than ten minutes. Next, his outposts suddenly failed to respond to a routine check-in an hour ago. He was angry and uneasy. Though he sent his own power out to try and determine if he could feel what was happening all he got for his efforts was a headache and silence. Not even a murmur of magical energy could be felt at any of his outposts. It made no sense.....except for one and he refused to belief such could be the case. None of the other sects had any power strong enough to defeat him. He'd made sure of that over two decades ago.
He continued to pace tensely. A premonition of trouble kept trying to get his attention but he absolutely refused to acknowledge it.
He moved to the window and stared out at the gathering gloom. He had the feeling something was waiting to happen out there in the darkness........something that was just waiting for the right moment........growling under his breath he turned from the window and stared at each of his generals. None of them would meet his eyes.
Before he could think of something to say a strange feeling passed over him. He frowned and returned to the window. He could see nothing yet he could tell something was there.
He continued to stare into the night sky until he caught something dark passing overhead. He blinked in confusion. He made a gesture to draw it toward him with his magic and that's when he knew. He roared in fury as he tried spell after spell with no results.
"We are under attack!" He roared. "Muster the army....now!"
His generals ran to do his bidding, each going to where their squadron waited for orders. As they ran, each tried to do magic and was appalled to discover they couldn't.
Rousting their troops, they warned them they were without magic and to fight as they had been trained. An enemy had sneaked in and taken their power. Whoever it was must be crushed swiftly.
The troops poured out of their barracks and mustered in the large assembly area that is until a huge shape started to drop on them and forced them to scatter in terror. As soon as the strange shape landed, a door opened and out poured a straggly force of fighters made up of what was left of the sects they had decimated but with them were two unusual strangers who fired weird weapons that took many of the soldiers down swiftly.
It was utter chaos. The generals had a hard time gathering their troops so they could attack this enemy in force. Every time they tried, strange walking metal things fired odd weapons on them and scattered the army again and again.
In the midst of this nightmare, Razor, Aurora, T-Bone and three sect leaders that included Tanara, charged for the keep, heading for the heart of the red force.....Derek the Strong. Fighting inside the castle was fierce. Only the SWAT Kats' weapons helped them forge ahead.
Aurora used her magic and her enforcer skills to get them to the top of the castle. She'd taken a few hits but none bad enough to stop her. T-Bone guarded her, keeping the worst of the action away much to her annoyance. He ignored her sour looks. He was a protector and that wasn't going to change. Razor barreled ahead until they spilled into Derek's work room.
The big Kat-like male whirled around toward the door and stared in shock. It was the female he had been told he should marry. The reports he'd received had warned him she was formidable but he didn't take them seriously. Her magic was strong, that he would admit, but a threat to him.....no way.
But here she was with two strangers from that other world and there was fire in her eyes. He still didn't think she was his match. He made the mistake of charging her and was caught by surprise when she came at him and did something he didn't quite see that sent him flying toward a wall to smack against it. Stunned and furious, he rolled to his feet only to have his arm grabbed and once more go flying by a slim but powerful form and sent into another wall.
This time he rolled away and managed to get his feet and take a fighting stance. It did him no good because the larger of the two strangers raised an odd weapon on his wrist and fired something at him. It struck him with the power of a horse's kick and pinned him with metal tines against the wall behind him. He struggled against it but it was firmly wedged in the stone behind him.
He hung panting while glaring at the female who approached him with fire in her eyes. She fetched him a right hook that made his head ring.
"That's for all my people you've enslaved or killed. Your reign is over." She hissed coldly at him.
Frowning, he stared at her. "How......how did you manage this?" He demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know." She said cuttingly without giving him an answer.
Suddenly there was a loud cheering going on. The female and her companions went to the window and looked out. The battle was over and they were the victors.
Aurora was smiling when she turned around to leave the room. The SWAT Kats had fierce grins on their faces as they pulled the ex-leader from the wall and put cuffs on him. They hauled him down the stairs where the victors were gathered.