Ni-hao! This is the "story before the story." This introduces Feral’s friends and his new Sergeant. As always, comments, complaints, and/or  flames are welcome at AkaneKitty@aol.com.
Enjoy!
~Kim R.
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Swat Kats:The Series
Prelude

"Oh, come on Feral! Humor us this time!"

"Yeah, and besides, you haven't had a girlfriend since the days of being a Lt. "

Feral hmphs into his mustache and looks at his two Commander friends warily. Commander Felix Okto, a 50ish kat with a ponytail and wandering eye, and Commander Lei Moon, his off and on Siamese girlfriend, look at him imploringly.

"I'm not interested," Feral says flatly, although he had been thinking about it.

"You need a date for the Ball coming up in a couple of months." Lei Moon, the she-kat everyone calls Lei-Lei, says." What better a time to get a she-kat and get to know her?"

"Come on, you're not getting any younger!" Okto says. "And besides, weren't you called 'Don Juan' when you were a rookie?"

"That was 20 some odd years ago!" Feral admonishes, but softens a bit. "And besides, I've changes since then."

"No you haven't, you donkey!" Lei-Lei looks at him with those big green eyes of hers. "You're still as handsome as you were 20 years ago."

"Well..." Feral says, and starts to think. His brother had begun to hound him for not producing heirs to the Feral name a few weeks ago.

"You're the oldest male in the Feral family!" his brother argued.

"You should be married by now." Feral now wondered if his brother put his friends up to this.

"Oh, all right!" Feral finally says. "I'll do it if you'll get off my back!"

"Great U-kun!" Lei-Lei shortened his first name. "You'll meet her soon. She'll be visiting here soon." Feral grumbles and reaches across his desk for his mail.

"We'll even double date with you," Okto says as an added incentive.

"What?" Feral continues to read his mail. "You've got to be kidding!"

"It'll be fun!" Lei protests.

"Look," Feral tries to change the subject. "Do you two want to go to the Dojo Championships with me, Sergeant Persain and Felina? My ex sister-in-law gave us tickets."

"Sure!" they agree.

Just then, Feral's radio squawks. "Requesting Commander's presence at Pumadyne. Arson and burglary suspected. Sergeant Gina Persain and Lt. Felina Feral are on site. SWAT Kats spotted."

"Great!" Feral grumbles as he jumps up and grabs his gun and coat.

"Do you want to come along?" Feral asks his friends.

"Sure!" Okto grabs his coat.

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"Wow, what a mess." Sergeant Gina Persain, Feral's latest transferee from the Tokata Police Squad, comments as she looks at the wet and smoldering remains of Pumadyne.  The SWAT Kats had seen the fire and had extinguished it before Gina and her partner Felina had shown up.

 "Uncle's not going to like this," Felina thinks. "We put out the request that the Commander could show up here."

Felina says. "Let's hope he's in a good mood."

"Right." Felina says. Felina knew Gina really didn't connect with the SWAT Kats, especially T-Bone, when she first arrived here. Felina wanted to if all possible avoid Mega War 3.

"Guys," Felina says, walking over to them. "Gina gave me the warning that Uncle's on his way with friends. Finish up what you're doing and get out of Dodge."

"Why would Gina tell us that?" T-Bone asks, with a little spite. Gina had bruised his ego when she first arrived.

*(Author's note: Remind me to tell you that story :) )

Felina shrugs. "So what did you find? Anything?"

"Nah. Pumadyne was complete destroyed," Razor says, looking at the rubble.

"Yeah, when we came here, Pumadyne was completely engulfed," T-Bone says.

"Well, that's a piece of info we can use," Gina smirks, walking to them. "And you always say that the Enforcers are always late."

"Well they are, present company excluded of course." T-Bone admonished.

"Ha!" Gina puts her hands on her hips. "The tides have changed, when the legal law enforcement body is getting ahead of the vigilantes."

"Aren't you being ironic?" Razor asks, puzzled. "Aren't you a vigilante called Scorpina?"
 

"I am a legal vigilante recognized by all law enforcement bodies."

Gina answers with a small smile. She thought Razor was cute. "In other words, I have diplomatic immunity."

The sound of an approaching helicopter diverts Gina attention.

"Well, I have to go give my report to the Commander. Felina, are you coming?"

Felina shakes her head. "No, you go on ahead. I want to look around here myself."

"Boy, is she a piece of work." T-Bone grumbles to Razor. Felina overhears as she looks at some rubble.

"Hey! That's my partner you're talking about!"

"Well she is, Felina." T-Bone protests weakly.

"You wouldn't being be saying that if she hadn't outmaneuvered you in her jet," Razor takes the chance to goad T-Bone.

T-Bone gives him a look.

"Granted, she is a good pilot," T-Bone says, thinking 'She's a damn good pilot.' "But that's not what bugs me. What bugs me is the way she acts all high and mighty."

"When you're the goddaughter of a mayor, I guess that can do that to a person." Felina fidgets, eager to change the subject. "Now, are you going to help me sift through this rubble for evidence or not? My guess if no evidence is found, it will be classified an Unexplained Arson."

 "Commanders. " Gina recognizes all of them.

"Don't tell me this is what's left off Pumadyne." Feral says after he surveys the scene.

"I'm afraid it's true. We're looking for any kind of evidence but, as you can see, it going to be very difficult."

"A report on the events surrounding this Arson," Feral tells Gina.

Okto and Moon walk off to look at the scene better.

"Around 5:30pm today, we got a call from Pumadyne officials that Pumadyne had exploded and was on fire. The officials said they had received
a warning about the event and had gotten everyone out in time. Due to rush hour traffic, I got here around 5:50. By then, Pumadyne had been destroyed and the fired put out."

"Who put the fire out?" Feral asks.

"The SWAT Kats," Gina says simply.

Feral groans. "I should have known," Feral sighs. "Anything else?"

Gina shakes her head. "As of right now, no evidence has been found."

"And I have to explain to the Media and Ms. Briggs." Feral sighs. "Good job, Sergeant. Carry on."

Gina nods and heads back to the area.

Feral walks over to Okto and Lei-Lei. Felix was poking something with his baton.

"It looks like the fire went from the bottom to the top," Felix says.

"It also looks like classic arson," Lei-Lei adds.

"You know what this means?" Feral asks his two friends.

"What?" they ask.

"No sleeping for 24 hours!"

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"I thought you had split." Gina says, walks over to T-Bone, looking him in the face.

"Don't start with me." T-Bone almost growls. Gina cocks her head to the side. "We're trying to help your people out."

"By occupying more space?" Gina looks him up and down. "You know, a vigilante like you should work out more. I mean..."

Razor stifles a laugh. T-Bone was as big as they come. Felina chuckles.

"Listen lady, do you really think I need to work out?" T-Bone asks in disbelief.

"If it'll help your flying..."

T-Bone, at this point, has had it with the she-kat.

Gina starts to shake her head. "My, my. How a pilot's ego just shatters to pieces at the mention of something negative."

"I'm warning you..." T-Bone growls.

"Is that a threat?" Gina crosses her arms across her ample chest. "If it is, I'll throw your tail in the slammer so fast it'll make that big head of yours spin."

Razor, who had chosen to ignore them at this point, finds a sheet of paper in the rubble. The paper was burnt around the edges from the fire. Razor has just put in his uniform pocket when the rough paw of T-Bone grabs him by the arm. "Wha~" Razor gasps.

"We're outta here!" T-Bone barely kept his anger in check.

"No big loss there," Gina smiles.

T-Bone then noticed how pretty she was when she smiled. The notation passed just as quickly. T-Bone releases Razor from his iron deathgrip, and
Razor rubs his arm absentmindedly.
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As the two walk away after saying goodbye to Felina, Razor mentions what he found to T-Bone. "It has some symbols on it," Razor is saying. "I won't know until we get back to hangar."

"Great! It'll give us something to rub in Gina's face." T-Bone had calmed down and was himself again.

The two climb into the TurboKat and take off and head off in the direction of hangar.

"You know what, SureShot?" T-Bone calls to Razor over the roar of the engines. "I want to know why she doesn't pick on you."

"I'm the gunner, hotshot!" Razor ribs T-Bone. "And besides, maybe she relates to you more being a pilot herself."

T-Bone was quiet for a while. "You think so?"

Razor sees an opportunity. "Could this be love?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" T-Bone says quickly.

Razor's chance for a reply is cutoff as Callie's signal alarm goes off. Razor answers it. "Yes, Ms. Briggs."

"Guys, I heard you put out the fire at Pumadyne." Callie says over the radio. "I also heard you left earlier than you usually do. Did Feral run you off again?"

"No. It was Sergeant Persain this time." Razor answers for T-Bone.

"Ah, the Commander's new transferee," Callie acknowledges. "Anyway, will you meet me at Enforcer Headquarters? I can talk to you more there."

"We're there, Ms. Briggs." T-Bone has already maneuvered the jet around as Callie disconnects.

"Ready for another round with the Sergeant?" Razor asks T-Bone.

"I already have my gloves on."

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"I'm proud of Gina and Felina today," Feral tells his friends in his office after they returned. "Too bad we couldn't find anymore evidence."

"What are you going to do next?" Felix asks.

"Gina, along with Felina, is gone undercover to look for some more clues before shift change." Feral sits downs behind his desk.

"Well, we got to go." Felix looks at his watch. "We'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Yeah," Lei-Lei says as they start out the door, "and don't forget about the date."

"Great," Feral groans as they leave. "I was hoping they forgot about that."

A few minutes later there was knock on Feral's door. "Enter," he says.

Feral takes a look at the entourage behind Ms. Briggs. "Gina must be slipping. You actually returned, this time."

"Come off it, Feral," Callie defends the Swat Kats. "Why would you have that kind of sergeant?"

"A sergeant that does her job!" If the deputy mayor could defend the SWAT Kats, he could damn well defend his Enforcers. "Isn't that what you've
been harping on for the past few months? That we haven't been doing our job?"

Callie is silent as she lets Feral's words sink in. "Touche," she finally says to him.

"Feral does has a point," Callie thinks to herself. "The Enforcers have improved greatly over the past couple of months. And here I am defending the boys instead of..."

Callie's thoughts are interrupted when Felina busted into her Uncle's office.

"Felina!" Feral sternly states.

"Sorry, but you have to know what Gina and I found out when we searched for information," Felina says in one breath, and oblivious to who else was in the room.

"Go on," Feral nods.

"Seems like some bigwig came through town a couple days ago looking for hired help," Felina states. "And Gina says that the kat they described sounded like one of the bodyguards for a kingpin she knows about."

This rouses Feral's curiosity. "Where is Gina?"

"On the airstrip, servicing her jet." Felina mentions the jet that Gina brought with her.

Feral rises from his chair. "I think I'll go talk to her." And he walks out the door with Felina.

Callie and the SWAT Kats follow discreetly.  After letting the Feral's go ahead awhile, Callie motions for the SWAT Kats to stop.

"Wait a second," Callie says as she searches through her purse.

"I'm sure you heard of the Dojo Championships coming to town, right?"

They nod.

"Well, the mayor's office got free tickets and since the mayor's out of town, I thought you'd like this." Callie hands a ticket to each of them. "I want you to be there."

"Gee, thanks Ms. Briggs." Razor says, almost blushing. The paper he found at Pumadyne falls to the floor as he pockets the ticket.

"What's that?" Callie notices the paper.

"Razor found the paper at Pumadyne." T-Bone answers. "We're going to try and decipher it."

"Better not let Feral see it," Callie mentions.

T-Bone grabs the paper and pockets it. "We better go. I'm eager to find out what Gina got."

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"What a day!" Gina, who was in her short, black dress after being undercover, sighs as she loads her jet with specially made Spider Missiles and Tar pellets. "I have a major company blow up, and the top that of, I have a run in with that tomkat T-Bone! The stripes are cute, but the rest is boorish and arrogant."

"Sergeant!" Gina hears a voice behind her.

"I'm coming, sir!" Gina finishes loading and closes the payload door. Gina starts toward the Commander, and stops when she sees T-Bone, who had caught up with the Ferals.

"Here we go again,"  T-Bone, who was in miniature shock after seeing Gina in her dress, mutters loud enough for Callie and Razor to hear.

"Felina was telling what you found out," Feral was saying. "What is this kingpin you were talking about."

"Oh, you mean the wannabe kingpin," Gina says, reaching into her bag, feeling for her whip. She sees a paper hanging out of T-Bone's pocket. "The wannabe is Katra. who is trying to expand her father's network. Her father had a pretty big network; Commander Okto should know about that."

Feral nods. "Anything else?"

"Only that Katra is using her father's proven resources. She's probably trying get a foothold in MegaKat's city's underworld."

"How can you tell it's this criminal?" Callie asks.

Gina blinks.  She hadn't noticed the Deputy Mayor.

"She uses bombs and arson to destroy the places she hits, and she usually leaves a note, detailing her crime," Gina rattles off, noticing the
recognition between T-Bone and Razor. "Since we didn't find any evidence today, it's going to hard to prove it was her."

Razor and T-Bone slowly edge away from the group. Gina decides to  let them go.

"They know or found something," Gina thinks, dropping her whip back into her bag . "I'll find out tomorrow if they have. They'll probably rub it in my face if they do."
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Jake and Chance, after getting back from Enforcer headquarters, worked feverishly to get the backlog of cars off they had left behind. They had decided that the examining of the paper they found would have to wait for now. When the last car was finished and when Chance had the opportunity to plop on the couch, it was midnight.

"Chance! Put on Litterbin!" Jake calls from the kitchen, looking for leftover pizza and milk.

"No way!" Chance calls back. "You had it on all last week!"

"Well, at least put it on the new,." Jake says as he comes from the kitchen, two plates of pizza in paw.

Chance reluctantly changes the channel and grabs a plate of pizza from Jake at the same time. Jake shakes his head and sits down.

"Pumadyne was completely destroyed this evening by what it appears to be arson." Ana Gora's voice filled the room from the TV "There were no casualties thanks to a warning phoned in to Pumadyne. Stay tuned to Kat's Eye News for further details."

"Hey!" Chance jumped up, nearly spilling his pizza. "I almost forget about that note! Let go to hangar and get it. It's still in my G-Suit.

Jake sighs as Chance runs down to the hangar to get the note. Jake discreetly changes the channel to Litterbin.

"I was looking at it on the way up," Chance says, handing over the note over to Jake. "The words are in illegible cursive, written in red paint. Can you read it?"

"After reading your orders," Jake says, glancing at the note, "this should be a piece of cake."

Jake grabs some paper and a pencil. He starts to transcribe the note.

Get ready, MegaKat City, This was just a sample of my power.  Be prepared to face my wrath!
~Katra

Jake glances at Chance, who had just read the transcribed note. No one says nothing for awhile.

Finally, Jake breaks the silence. "To borrow a popular phrase, Chance; 'There's something rotten in MegaKat City.'"