THERE BE DRAGONS!
Chapter 7: Turmoil Makes a Daring Raid
High above Enforcer Headquarters, T-Bone hovered waiting. Very soon a red dragon came up through the cloud cover to meet him. It moved close until it was hovering near the cargo door.
"Open up, T-Bone," Adair requested.
"Roger!" The tabby pilot reached out and pressed the release button.
Below the door slid open and the moment it did, Adair changed from dragon to SWAT Kat in the blink of an eye. Razor dived into the opening then hit the close button. He crossed the cargo floor and climbed up the ladder, dropping into his seat seconds later. Strapping himself in and putting on his helmet, he called to his partner through the radio.
"Let's go home, buddy!"
"Sounds good to me!" T-Bone switched the jet from VTOL to forward motion and engaged all engines to send them roaring off toward their hidden hangar. Neither of them spoke during the fairly short ride.
Razor's mind dwelled on those few moments with Feral on the flight line. The big tom's behavior toward him had been much more than fear of being near such a large creature which was strange in and of itself. Feral was generally fearless, except where being afraid was justified, but Adair hadn't threatened him in any way. Yet the Chief Enforcer refused to come closer to him and take Viper prisoner, something he would have done without much hesitation. What was going on with Feral?
He was so preoccupied with trying to puzzle this out that he never noticed they had returned home and T-Bone was already opening the canopy and leaping out. The cool air of the hangar made him blink and come out of his deep thoughts. Frowning, he leaped from the cockpit, his partner was standing there eyeing him questioningly.
"What's up, buddy? I thought the mission went off well except for the problem of you rejoining me when you switched forms."
Razor shook his head and began walking toward their changing area without saying anything as yet. Confused and concerned, T-Bone trailed after him. The two of them changed clothes in silence then headed for upstairs. Jake didn't pause in the garage but headed upward to their apartment instead.
He went to the kitchen and took out a couple cans of milk and tossed one to Chance who caught it easily, continuing to stare at his friend, waiting for some kind of explanation.
Jake leaned against the counter and sighed. "When I dropped Viper off, Feral behaved strangely. You know he would have been the first to grab Viper and Mirandized him but he didn't. Instead he sent his enforcers to take the prisoner while he stood some twenty feet from me. I could see he was tense, a little nervous and there was fear in his eyes though he tried to hide it."
Chance's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Now that doesn't sound like him. He's not one to be afraid of much and his usual response would be throwing a tantrum for your interference. Did he say anything at all?"
"Yes, but it wasn't to rant at me which I was expecting, instead he...he thanked me for helping capture Viper as well as rescuing his enforcers from their falling choppers."
"He what?" Chance blurted, nearly choking on his milk. "He's never thanked anyone, at least not directly. What the heck is up with him?"
"I don't know and I don't' like it. A change in behavior by Feral is not a good thing right now when I'm trying to get dragon kind accepted. I didn't think he would be happy about us being here because it disrupts his sense of order which is already disturbed by our interference as the SWAT Kats and now here are dragons in his precious airspace interfering in enforcer business as well. Yet, all I got was a mild rebuke for interfering and that's all!" Jake said, confused and a little worried.
They were silent for a moment, trying to come up with reasons for the way the Commander was acting but after several long minutes, Chance shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, there's nothing we can do about it right now except to keep a closer eye on him. The behavior seems to have happened when you, as a dragon, appeared so we'll just have to observe him more to see why that is."
Jake grimaced unhappily but had to admit his partner was right. "Yeah, guess you're right. Think I'll prod him a little more the next time we meet to see what his problem might be but for now we've got work to do."
Chance grunted in agreement, finished his milk, tossed the can and turned to head downstairs to the garage to get back to work that had been interrupted by the call.
Some weeks passed and another omega came out of the woodwork. Jake once mused that if he was so minded he should do a graph on the times the omegas showed because it seemed they did it in waves...one after the other...as if connected by some kind of perverted telepathy.
Chance just snorted at him but had to admit that they did seem to take turns or join up but never showed up by accident together, except that one time when Dark Kat interfered with Viper's theft of a catalyst at the labs. And, for whatever reason, the order of appearance seemed to be almost the same several times running...Hard Drive...Viper...Dark Kat...sprinkled with a few scientific accidents every now and then. This time, however, a rare appearance by Turmoil took everyone by surprise.
Why she would decide to return to Megakat City after escaping only four months ago, was the question on everyone's mind. The only answer they got was a vicious attack committed at the height of an unusually violent thunderstorm.
Normally, most aircraft would be grounded under such conditions but it appeared Turmoil had some new style jets that could navigate through it with disturbing ease.
It had started as a nasty day that made the normal commute to work a nightmare both for the Katizens and the enforcers who had to deal with multiple accidents throughout the day without the benefit of their choppers...the winds too violent for them. Even the jets were unable to fly under these conditions, so foot patrols and mobile ground units had to deal with whatever came up during the day shift.
As the day went on, the weather worsened to the point the Mayor's office was forced to issue a bulletin instructing people to return home and get off the roads. Businesses sent their employees home causing even more accidents for a while as traffic backed up for an hour or more then things calmed, except for the weather, as evening approached.
It was during the hour just before dusk that Turmoil's forces dove out of the thick cloud cover and attacked Enforcer Headquarters. She apparently had new jamming gear that prevented any of the enforcer's detection equipment from sensing her before it was too late.
While her large airship remained above the clouds over the building, her attack force of small, very agile, jets poured down just like the rain that hid them mostly from view and began pounding the flight line and control tower with highly effective bursts of a new sonic device that literally shattered the choppers parked on the flight line, the glass windows of the upper floors and tower, and the very thick concrete of the flight line, causing it to ripple and crumble.
Screams drifted up from the sidewalks far below as enforcers ran for cover to avoid the deadly rain of glass and concrete from above.
Over at the salvage yard, the two mechanics sat tensely watching the weather news on the TV. There was no work since everyone had been told to stay inside so Jake had used the time to maintenance and do upgrade work on the Turbokat. Chance did the basic work and ensured the jet was fully fueled and loaded in case they were called out to help, though personally he hoped they wouldn't be needed. Flying under these conditions was courting suicide though Chance could do it if pressed.
When they had finished their self imposed tasks, the pair returned upstairs and made dinner then relaxed before the TV. The weather news was grim and they were worried about the shoreline being threatened by huge swells brought in by the storm from further out at sea.
"That storm might cause as much damage as an omega attack and I'm concerned about the ecological threat if those refineries on the coast are breached in any way, buddy," Chance said.
"Yeah, I know but there's nothing we can do about it except hope it blows over before it does any truly disastrous damage."
"Then I hope that weather Kat isn't blowing smoke up our asses with his report that the storm has reached its peak and should be moving off by midnight," Chance snorted derisively.
Suddenly the weather Kat was replaced with a news alert. They sat forward, worried expressions on their faces as they listened intently.
"This is Kat's Eye News with a Special Alert! Enforcer Headquarters is under attack by an unknown enemy. Katizens are warned to stay away from the area around the headquarters building and to stay indoors while the enforcers deal with the danger. Our on scene reporter is having some serious difficulties trying to transmit under the severe weather conditions...please stand by while we try to reach Ann Gora who is a block or so from the enforcer building...come in Ann..."
There were bursts of static, an image appeared for a second of a drenched and beleaguered Ann Gora before it faded again then after more seconds of static, her image finally stabilized somewhat. She was standing under an awning trying to report while her camerkat showed images of the enforcer building behind her. Just barely seen through the pouring rain, small jets were flying overhead with bursts of weapons fire flickering brightly against the dark sky.
"...his is Ann Gora of Kat's Eye News...as you can see behind me, some unknown assailant is attacking Enforcer Headquarters... (blast of static then her image vanishes but her voice could still be heard) Apparently they are using some kind of sonic device as glass and concrete is raining down like it's been shattered. (Image returns and showers of debris can be seen falling) Commander Feral has launched a counterattack but the weather hampers him though obviously not the enemy...I..." (another burst of static and Ann's image winks out).
The news announcer comes back on, "We're sorry folks but the storm is seriously messing with our broadcast from our on scene reporter. To reiterate what Ann has said...Enforcer Headquarters is under attack by unknown assailants..."
By this time, Chance had shut off the TV and was racing for the hangar, Jake hot on his heels. Quickly, they change and leap aboard the jet. T-Bone signaled the turn table to lower them and minutes later sent the jet roaring through the launch tunnel and into the sky. The jet was immediately buffeted by the high winds, visibility limited by the rain, and lightning making flying extremely hazardous.
"This is crap! How the hell does this enemy manage to fly in this!" T-Bone shouted, clutching the yoke tightly in his paws, fighting to keep control of the violently yawing Turbokat as he struggled to get them to the scene of the battle.
Looking a little green from all the buffeting, Razor hissed in annoyance and concern as his screens fed back nonsense, unable to handle the extreme conditions.
"I don't know but the Turbokat is having a fit dealing with all this. I can't get a decent image of what's ahead and I have no desire to use the dimensional radar again. Let's try our x-ray monitor to see what we're dealing with."
"I hope you can see better than I can. None of my sensors are helping very much up here," T-Bone gritted, barely able to see where he was going.
"Crud!" Razor shouted. "T-Bone! There's a huge fleet of mini jets that seem to have no difficulty flying in this shit and they out number the enforcers who are just sitting ducks out here. Those jets are flying rings around them and easily taking them out of the sky."
"Well, I guess you better do your best to locate them so we can blast them out of the sky and give the enforcers a breather," his partner growled, closing in on the battle.
For the next harrowing minutes, T-Bone did his best to keep the Turbokat in the air and to avoid being shot to pieces. The sonic missiles threatened to take the jet from the sky many times but Razor was succeeding in take out many of them.
Though fast and with new weapons, the attackers weren't invulnerable to Razor's specialized weapons however, there were too many of them and it wasn't long before the SWAT Kats began to be lose their advantage when more jets appeared.
"It doesn't look good buddy! There's just too many of them and they are succeeding in doing some damage to us. It's all I can do to keep us airborne," T-Bone shouted.
"I know!" Razor answered. He studied the battle and decided he couldn't do much more from his gunnery seat. "Time for me to see what I can do on my own buddy."
"What?" T-Bone blurted in shock. "Are you nuts? You aren't invulnerable! How do you think you can deal with these guys without getting yourself killed?"
"Trust me, I've flown in much worse conditions, we're made for it and I certainly can maneuver in it better than the Turbokat and the enforcers. Besides, there's no choice. There are too many of them and they are wiping out the enforcers. Additionally, my natural weapons work in this weather so you do your best to keep the Turbokat in one piece and not let any of those guys knock her from the sky while I try to reduce the odds a bit," Razor said firmly, brooking no more arguments.
T-Bone grumbled unhappily but said nothing more as his partner prepared to leave the cockpit. Razor fitted the ear piece on once more than dropped down into the cargo hold. When the cargo side door slid open, he was nearly slapped back against the far wall from the strong winds. Narrowing his eyes against the rain being swept in, he pulled his way toward the door then hurled himself out, falling swiftly toward the ground.
In the cockpit, T-Bone felt the sudden in-rush of air which forced him to grip the yoke even tighter. Seconds later, his board signaled the door was closed once more. Switching his gaze to the storm filled sky before him, he barely made out the form of the huge red dragon for just a moment as it flapped its wings sending it toward the battle, vanishing from his view within the heavy clouds. He grit his teeth, offered a prayer his partner would survive intact, then headed for another concentration of enemy, firing the Mega Laser as he went.
Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs had opted to remain at city hall in case she was needed to monitor both situations...the storm and the attack on Enforcer Headquarters. She was in the Mayor's office watching the TV for any news on the battle but it was nearly useless as the storm continued to play havoc with the broadcasting signal however, it and the radio that was on beside her, were the only avenues she had to keep tabs on what was going on as trying to speak to the enforcers right now would be impossible. She still had no idea who their attacker was, though she had a suspicion it could be Dark Kat.
The Mayor had evacuated just after he gave the warning to shut down businesses and sent people home, warning her to keep him informed of what was happening. Callie could only roll her eyes in disgust at that order as the cowardly mayor left as if his tail was on fire.
The radio told her things were not going well for either the enforcers or the SWAT Kats, who had just appeared on the scene. Suddenly, the announcer got real excited as reports of a red dragon arriving at the battle, reached them.
Callie glanced at the snowy TV wishing it would clear and suddenly, with a burst of static, it did, revealing images of jets in dogfights, many falling from the sky but Ann Gora was still unable to determine if they were enemy or enforcer as her excited voice reported what she could see, then the camera caught the distinctive shape of the Turbokat appearing through the thick cloud cover, firing a laser that shown red against the dark sky, at some of the smaller jets ahead of it. The SWAT Kats seemed to be making some headway, knocking several of the faster jets from the air until it was surrounded by the enemy then disappeared from view by more clouds and rain.
Her heart tightened at that gloomy sight but then the camera focused on something that appeared suddenly, haloed in a flash of lightning...a dragon, flaming and taking out the small jets easily. For as long as the signal held and the dragon remained in view, Callie held her breath as she watched with a thrill of fear and excitement.
Ever since the report of dragons living among them came out, she wondered if they would show themselves beyond the one in the magazine and the report she'd read from Commander Feral on Dr. Viper's attack.
To her mind, the failure of the dragon community to show itself wasn't helping their cause to be accepted as regular Katizens, though she supposed having been nearly systematically exterminated, they would be really hesitant to stick their necks out. Still, if they wanted to be free to fly the skies once more, they were simply going to have to get over their fear.
'Just one dragon wasn't going to do it by itself,' she sighed. Her musings were interrupted by another spat of clear images flashing across the screen, displaying not one but four dragons now on the scene. Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Well how about that? Looks like some of them mustarded up the courage after all,' she thought, pleased, watching to see if the reinforcements would be able to turn the tide battle for the good guys.
.