Title: Hands On
Author: Kristen Sharpe
Date: October 24, 2025
Rating: G
Disclaimer: SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.

            Sparks flew as Chance focused on the bright point of his welding line.  The work was hot and his whiskers were crimped under the suffocating face shield, but it gave him a sense of satisfaction.  Beyond the manual labor of clearing out the hangar and launch tunnel entrance, so much of what they were doing he had to leave to Jake.  Perfecting prototype engines, designing a jet around them… designing a jet period.  But, welding was something Chance knew.  And, he was good at it too.  He’d taken a class in high school that had then been a handy side gig during his Enforcer training.  Now, it was helping him shape a proper engine dolly.

            He reached the end of the weld and released his grip on the torch before stepping back to lift the face shield and click the welder off.  Then, he surveyed his work.  The latest welds still had to cool, but they looked good under the flux.  Even if the frame they were forming didn’t look like much yet.

            He was still amazed they’d gotten this far on their secret side project.  Jake had his prototype engine burning two types of fuel.  The lift worked.  The underground launch tunnel was clear, and they had its door mechanism working well enough to move materials underground without having to pull any more risky stunts with a crane and the maintenance access. 

            Thank goodness.

            Getting the engines inside had been nerve-wracking.  Not least due to working after dark with limited light sources.  The salvage yard wasn’t under most flight paths or along a regular Enforcer patrol route, but they couldn’t afford to be sloppy.  He was getting too excited for this to end before it had even really begun.

            And, Jake was so excited he’d been burning the candle at both ends in a frenzy of ideas.  He was bouncing between them as inspiration, time, and resources allowed.  With the engine more or less working and needing a break – or what counted as a break in Crazy Inventor Land – Jake had moved on to designing the jet.  His latest plan was to give it a third engine they’d have to build from scratch.

            “For VTOL,” he’d said confidently.

            “Why?” Chance had demanded.  Building a jet was crazy enough on its own, let alone one with the complicated engineering needed for vertical take-offs and landings.  Besides which…  “We have the launch tunnel.”

            “And, wouldn’t it help if we could hover to scope things out?  We’ll probably have to even land and take off again out in the city eventually.”  Jake’s face had gone  serious.  “We don’t have any ground support anymore.”

            “You said that about your no shoes idea too.”

            “My point still stands.  And, hey, it’ll be a challenge.  For me to build and you to fly.”

             That was the argument that won Chance over.  As with lining up a missile, Jake’s aim was right on target.

            Speaking of, Chance looked toward Jake’s desk to find him face-down over his right arm, apparently asleep mid-scheme.  Chance rolled his eyes and shucked his welding shield off with a huff before walking over to save whatever plans Jake might be drooling on.  Once he got closer, he didn’t find any drool, but his best friend had definitely been sketching away on something.

            Nudging Jake aside, Chance was able to see the current project.  It looked like a…. hand?  No, whatever it was, it looked like it fitted over a hand.  Some kind of mechanical glove thing that… fired grappling hooks and little missiles?

            Yeah, no way that was going to be one of the ideas that actually happened.  But, it did look pretty cool.  Just like something Rockat would use. 

            Inspired, Chance leaned over and scribbled a name beside the drawings.      

            Then, he poked Jake into an at least semi-awake state and guided him up out of the hangar and to his actual bed.

            Jake was still up first the next morning.  By the time Chance made it to the tiny kitchen in search of food, Jake was already there proudly holding up a much cleaner design of the glove.

            “I call it the Glovatrix,” he said.

             “Oh, yeah?” Chance asked, trying to sound only half-interested as he turned to rummage in the fridge.  “How’d you come up with that?”

            “Uhm…”  Chance could tell without looking that Jake was trying not to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.  “In my sleep, I think?  I don’t really remember half of last night.”

             “Yeah, I bet.”  Chance grabbed a can of milk for both of them, staying in the fridge long enough for most of his smirk to fade.  “Well, I like it.”