"Bank hard to the right, now!" Felina yelled into her radio.
On her command, Havoc banked the TurboKat 2 to the right, slamming both heroines to the left in their seats.
"Return to normal flight Havoc," Felina said.
Havoc leveled out the jet and resumed her flight and said, "She is tough, I wonder what else she has in store?"
Felina heard the engine whine of a Cyclotron from behind her and turned around to see Sure-Shot on the back of one of the Cyclotrons, revving the engine, and looked like she belonged on the back of the bike. "Go ahead and take it out for a ride around the yard, while I put those two through the wringer."
"Are you kidding me!?" Sure-Shot asked.
"No, I'm not; on both counts," Felina said before she keyed the mic and barked, "Havoc, head out to the proving grounds." She refocused on Sure-Shot again and said, "Get out of here before I change my mind."
Sure-Shot kicked the Cyclotron into gear and took off with a cloud of dust billowing behind her.
Felina waved the dust away from her face and spit some out of her mouth before she moved over to a console in the hangar and sat down. Felina flipped a few switches on the console and the monitors came to life, showing the view from the nose of the jet as well as several cameras on the proving grounds. She watched her jet arrive on the grounds and armed a few traps that would test the two heroines to the point of breaking.
Havoc flew passed a few large rock formations and into a very large clearing. She then asked, "What does Felina have in store for us out here?"
Sniper looked over both of her shoulders, to make sure nothing was going to sneak up on them then said, "I have no idea. But this place seems quaint."
Just as she finished answering Havoc, two missiles launched from behind one of those rock formations, aimed right at the TurboKat 2.
Alarm sounded in the cockpit of the jet, startling the two ladies. "What the heck is that?" Havoc asked.
Sniper looked into the radar screen in front of her and saw two red dots heading towards them at a very high rate of speed. "I think two of Felina's toys are coming to say hi. I suggest you turn hard to the left, and I mean like right now or our tails are going to be so blown up!"
Havoc slammed the stick hard to the left and the jet responded by lifting the right wing perpendicular to the ground and turned hard to the left. Letting the two missiles fly past the jet.
"That was way too close," Sniper said before she asked, "Is she trying to kill us?"
Felina smirked, flipped another switch, then said, "Let's see how you two do against a Heat-Seeking missile."
The alarms went off again in the cockpit and Sniper gazed at the monitor. She noticed only one blip on the monitor. "This should be easy, when I tell you to, turn to the right and the missile will fly right past us."
Havoc readied herself and waited for Sniper's command.
Sniper started to sweat the longer she watched the incoming missile get closer to them on the screen. At the last second, she yelled, "Now Havoc!"
Havoc pushed the stick hard to the right, turning the jet safely out of the way of the missile. Or so she thought. After the missile past them, it turned hard to the left and was back on their tail again.
Sniper flipped on the radio and yelled into the mic, "What the hell did you do Caliber?"
"Me?" Felina mocking said. "I'm only doing my job to make sure you both are trained to be your best, and what better way to do that then to send you two a little gift."
"What!?" Sniper asked as the missile got closer to the jet.
"I sent up a heat-seeking missile after you two, have fun and don't scratch my jet!" Felina said.
"Is she out of her mind?" Sniper asked as she watched the missile get even closer. Then an idea formed in her head. Sniper scanned the weapons panel for the switch she knew had to be there. Then she found it. Sniper armed a Flare missile and prepared to launch it. She smiled knowing she was going to get one over on Felina, then said, "Havoc, our friend sent us a gift that we don't want. When I tell you to, pull back on the stick and go into a steep climb."
"Roger that Sniper," Havoc said.
Sniper studied the blip on her screen and as it got closer to the jet, she folded her lower lip into her mouth and nervously chewed on it while her left index finger twitched on the launch button for the missile. After another few agonizing seconds past, Sniper let go of her lip and said, "Now!
Havoc pulled back on the stick and pushed the throttles forward as far as they could go as Sniper launched the Flare missile.
The jet immediately responded to her command and went into a steep climb.
Felina's little gift targeted the hotter heat source and adjusted its trajectory towards the missile Sniper fired.
The two missiles connected and blew each other up in a impressive fireball.
Havoc leveled off her ascent and wiped her brow with the back of her left paw. "I agree with you Sniper, Caliber is trying to kill us!"
"Not today she isn't dear," Sniper said before she turned on the radio and yelled, "I appreciate the gift Caliber. However, if that is the type of gifts you are going to send us, keep them!"
Felina slammed her fist onto the console since she was hoping that the missile would have chased them around the grounds a little longer, testing both of their abilities in the skies. She examined her control panel again to find something, anything that would push the limits of the two as well as the TurboKat 2. Felina noticed they were flying very close to a few rock formations that made a tunnel through the rocks that was just big enough for the jet to fly through. Felina smirked again before she said, "I have one more test for you two, at four o clock low there is a formation I want you two to fly through. Complete that, and we are done for today."
Havoc responded, "Roger Caliber." And after she switched off her radio, she said, "Something smells fishy about this. This seems way too easy."
"You're right Havoc, this does seem too easy. She has something up her sleeve," Sniper said.
Havoc brought the jet around to the entrance of the formation and examined the entrance and at the lat minute, she pulled up and veered away from the formation. "It's too small for me to maneuver through. There is no way I can get the jet into there."
Felina watched as Havoc veered off course and away from the entrance to her playground. "What happened Havoc?" Felina asked.
"I can't fit through there Caliber," Havoc answered.
"I did it, and so can you. Now, get your tails in there or I am putting you in separate rooms for the rest of the week!" Felina said.
That made Havoc even more determined to complete her task. There was no way she was going to sleep without having her soul mate by her side at night. She brought the jet around for another shot at gaining entrance to the passage. As the jet approached the entrance, she narrowed her gaze and aligned the jet with the entrance.
The jet slipped through the entrance of the passage with inches to spare, almost clipping its wings and tail section.
"That was close, remind me to ask Caliber how she did it," Havoc said as she wiped her brow again.
Felina watched them through the monitors. She smiled with pride knowing that Havoc and Sniper were going to flourish under her tutelage. "Alright you two, you passed the second part of your training, now the real fun starts," Felina said to herself and flipped a few switches on the console, then waited to see what occurs.
Once Havoc mastered the controls of the TurboKat 2, she effortlessly flew through the natural obstacle course. She had never flown a jet that responded to the slightest touch before and it was invigorating. Then they both heard a series of explosions and saw dust clouds from the walls of the formations. Sniper then said, "This can't be good." And the walls of the formation starting crumbling around the jet.
"Punch it Havoc, or we are going to be crushed under rubble!" Sniper said.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Havoc said as she pushed the throttles fully open, increasing the speed of the jet to a dangerous level.
Thankfully, Havoc was able to maintain control of the jet as she jerked the stick all over the place not only to avoid the falling rocks, but also the ones that were naturally sticking out of the formations in every direction.
Felina monitored the two from the console and noticed Havoc was doing better than she did. Then she heard an alarm on the console and checked the telemetry of the jet. Felina read the temperature gauge of the left turbocharger and noticed it was very close to overheating. She grabbed the microphone and yelled, "Havoc, back it down!"
"I can't do that, unless you want your baby to be crushed by a bunch of rocks!" Havoc replied before she said, "And by the way, this is your fault Caliber!"
"How is this my fault!?" Felina asked.
"We aren't the ones with a console in front of her that controls EXPLOSIVES!" Sniper said.
She looked at the console in front of her then said, "Alright you have me there. But you need to slow down or you are going to fry the turbocharger."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Havoc said as she rolled the jet.
"Havoc, have you ever seen a turbocharger blow? It sort of makes everything around it blow up too," Felina said.
"WHAT!?" They both asked.
"Havoc, if you can't figure out a way to slow down and still get out of there, I am going to be burying two of my best friends. So get that mind of your working Havoc and figure something out!" Felina ordered.
Havoc looked at the gauges and the controls of the jet. Her mind wracked around the problem and she quickly looked at the temperature of both engines. She noticed that the left engine was running hotter than the right by one hundred degrees. She said to herself, 'This can't be right. Jake would never allow a jet to fly with a flaw like that. Something must not be set right.' Havoc examined every control in the cockpit. Not finding anything out of order, she happened to look out of the canopy at the left intake and saw a piece of debris partially blocking the air intake to the engine. She faced the front of the jet again, then asked, "How much do you trust me?"
"With my life Havoc," Sniper replied.
"Good, because what I am about to do might just kill us both. If it does, know that I love you Sniper, with all my heart." Havoc saw daylight at the end of their path and knew she could enact her plan without hopefully killing them in a fiery explosion. She pulled back on the left throttle only and jammed the right one fully open and set the flaps to 2 degrees.
Sniper felt the jet start to vibrate as the flaps dragged against the force of the engines. "What are you doing!? The jet feels like its going to fall apart."
Havoc didn't answer her but concentrated on the daylight quickly getting closer to her. "Hold together baby, just a few moments longer."
The TurboKat 2 became harder to control the more it vibrated from the drag of the flaps. Havoc had to hold onto the stick with both paws and used all of her strength her legs could produce on the foot pedals controlling the rudder in order to keep the jet stable.
After a few excruciating seconds, the TurboKat 2 emerged from the formations and Havoc barrel rolled the jet, the debris fell from the intake. She pulled the jet out of the roll and watched as the temperature slowly return to normal.
Marissa/Sure-Shot quickly learned how to master the Cyclotron. She crouched over the handlebars, letting the wind flow past her as she sped through the yard. Her hair whipped behind her as she twisted the throttle harder, causing the bike to go even faster than it already was.
The Cyclotron felt like it was telling her to go faster and wanted her to cut loose the longer she rode it. "Alright, you want to go faster?" She asked the machine between her legs. Seeing the exit of the yard to her left that led out to the highway. Sure-Shot made the decision to bend Felina's request, if you could call what she said a request and take the Cyclotron out on the open road to see what it could really do. She turned the bike to the left, down shifted two gears, revving the motor up and spooling the turbocharger to full speed, and left the yard, with a cloud of dust behind her that was barely visible in the setting sun.
She felt alive as she passed cars with cats on the way home from work, or heading out for the night. Not knowing exactly how fast she was going, she quickly glanced down at the speedometer and read that she was traveling over 130 miles and hour. As much as she wanted to slow down, the Cylcotron protested and was telling her to go even faster.
Sure-Shot weaved in and out of traffic, letting the Cyclotron stretch its so-called wings. But she wasn't expecting to run into a Speed Trap set up alongside of the highway. She silently cursed as she passed the officer doing well over double the speed limit.
The Highway Patrol cat almost had a heart attack when Sure-Shot flew past his position. He slammed his car into gear and took off after her.
Sure-Shot gazed into her rear view mirror, and noticed a Patrol car trying to catch up to her. Not wanting to challenge a fellow officer, she slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road.
The officer pulled up to her and stopped. He got out of the car and walked over to her. He stood to her left and looked down at her before she asked, "Do you have any idea how fast you were going miss?"
Sure-Shot looked back up at him, then replied, "Actually, I didn't notice."
He pulled out his ticket book from his belt and said, "License and registration please."
Sure-Shot had a driver's license back in the locker with her clothes. But that wasn't going to help her now. She didn't even know if the Cyclotron was registered or not. She let go of the handlebars and searched the uniform for any type of documentation. She felt a tiny rectangle pocket on the inside of her uniform, just below her left breast. "Can you give me a little privacy, please?"
The officer turned around and Sure-Shot un-zipped her uniform even more than it already was. She reached into her uniform and withdrew two tiny folded pieces of paper. Sure-Shot zipped up her uniform again as far as it could go then handed the paper to the officer saying, "Here you go sir."
The officer turned around and took the two pieces of paper from her. He unfolded the paper and read the name. He lifted his gaze to her and asked, "This says your name is Caliber, is that correct?"
"That is correct sir," Sure-Shot lied.
"This also states, that you live in an underground hangar, somewhere in the city?" He asked.
"That is also correct sir," she responded.
He handed the papers back to her, then asked, "Alright, Caliber. Why were you riding your bike at over twice the speed limit?"
"That I apologize for officer, this is my first time riding the Cylcotron and it felt so right, going as fast as I was, that I lost track of exactly how fast I was going."
"Did you just say that what you are riding is a Cyclotron, as in built by the SWAT Kats?" The officer asked.
"Yes, I did," Sure-Shot answered.
"I have a seven year old daughter and a five year old son that idolizes all of you. Get out of here and keep it under eighty and we won't have any more problems," the officer said.
"I will and thank you," Sure-Shot said.
The officer started to turn and walk away but stopped and said, "By the way, Caliber is a brunette with white streaks running through her hair, if you are going to use someone else's ID that is famous, make sure that you look like them."
Sure-Shot giggled for a second, then said, "I will and have a safe night." She gripped the handlebars again, focused o the road ahead of her, and tapped her left foot on the gear selector before she took off back down the road.
"Wait until I tell my kids that I actually pulled over a SWAT Kat! They are going to flip their lids."
Sure-Shot made her way back to the yard and pulled in. She drove through the yard and back into the hangar. She stopped the bike where the other Cyclotrons stood on their kickstands and put her bike's kickstand down. She switched off the bike and dismounted and kissed the gas tank before heading back to where Felina, Havoc, and Sniper were standing.
"You two did really well out there for your first time on the course. I'm proud of both of you," Felina said.
"Thanks, but did you really have to try to blow us up?" Tina asked as she ripped off her mask.
"All part of the training my dear Tina," Felina answered. She turned to Katerina and said, "Kat, you piloted my baby almost as well as I do. I never would have thought to reduce the throttle of the clogged engine and increase the thrust in the good one. And that barrel roll you pulled was awesome!"
"Thank you Felina, I had performed that maneuver before but not with a plane as advanced as the TurboKat 2."
Felina heard Sure-Shot approaching from the clicking of her boot's heels on the floor. She turned her body to the right, and asked, "And just where have you been?"
Sure-Shot took off the mask she was wearing, shook out her hair, then answered, "I went out for a ride on the Cyclotron, like you told me to."
"Why do I get the feeling you are leaving something out?" Felina said.
"Well, I sort of got pulled over by Highway Patrol," she sheepishly replied and kicked some dust up with the tip of her right boot.
"You what!?" Felina screamed. "What the heck were you doing to gain the attention of Highway Patrol and secondly, why did you leave the yard?"
"You never told me not to leave the yard and the Cyclotron wanted to be driven faster and more aggressive that I could in the yard. So I hit the Highway. I was clocked somewhere around 135."
"135!?" Felina yelled. "You should be in jail right now Marissa."
"I know, but the officer was nice enough to let me go after I gave him your ID Felina,"
"What you did was very reckless and could have put the entire team in jeopardy," Felina said.
"Much like you firing a heat seeking missile after us Felina," Tina said.
Felina didn't have a decent reply to Tina's comment. So to counter, she asked, "What do you two think of Marissa's uniform?
"It shows off too much of her cleavage Felina," Katerina said.
Tina walked around Marissa and inspected every inch of her uniform as she said, "Now wait a minute Kat. I like it. Its just like ours, but only sexier. If I had a bust like Marissa's, I would want to show it off too."
"That's it! All three of you go change into your street clothes. I'm not having the ladies of SWAT becoming eye candy fro the male population to gawk at!"
"But Felina, most of the male population already gawks at us," Tina said.
"Not anymore, I am going to talk to Jake about modifying the uniforms to cover us up more," Felina said.
"And what about Adonis? Are you going to make him cover up too?" Katerina asked.
Felina thought about it for a second, then responded, "Now why would I want to cover up a work of art like that Katerina? Mark aka Adonis is every female's, well almost every female's walking dream come true. It would be a disservice to the female community to cover up such a specimen."
"Lisa is not going to like this Felina," Tina said.
"Lisa gets to go home with him every day Tina and gets to see her husband in all of his glory. So, what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Felina said. "And welcome Marissa aka Sure-Shot to the SWAT Kats and our slightly dysfunctional family."
End of Chapter