NEMESIS - PART 4: FIGHTS IN THE SKY

-- Jessica Folker How will I know (who you are)

THURSDAY, 10:01 A.M.

The buildings were dwindling away beneath his jet, melting into one infinite sea of grey.

T-Bone continued his steep climb, following the course the Delta Squadron had taken at maximum thrust in the hope of cutting down their lead. He switched the radio's band to the Squadron's frequency. Felina's voice instantly rang in his ears.

"…is Delta One, I have an unknown vessel on my radar, please confirm."

"Delta Three confirms, Delta One. Radar shows one unknown vessel at twelve hundred hours."

Just one ship? Could it be Turmoil's craft, or is it her second cargo plane?

"Unidentified ship, this is Enforcer Lieutenant Felina Feral," Felina transmitted on an open channel. "Please identify."

Only static broke the silence.

T-Bone watched his radar. The twelve dots representing the Delta Squadron had materialized on its outer circle as he neared them.

"Unidentified ship, this is Enforcer Lieutenant Felina Feral. Please identify," Lieutenant Feral repeated again in a monotone voice.

He looked up. Ahead of him, T-Bone could make out the Delta Squadron as silvery dots on the far horizon. They were still above him, directly under the layer of clouds, and would break through in a minute or two.

A larger dot made its green appearance on his radar. T-Bone watched it nearing the cluster of the smaller Enforcer dots, his face still in a disturbed frown.

The dot is too small to be Turmoil's aircraft. It must be the cargo plane, but…

Suddenly, the dark bank of clouds stirred and partially dissolved as Turmoil's squadron broke through from above, spreading out and choosing their targets.

On the radar, T-Bone could watch the large dot disperse into fourteen smaller ones in a dreadful feeling of déjà vu as the enemy pilots discarded the illusion of the great plane.

Damn, Razor, this is your work! How did you do this?

Razor had somehow fooled the Enforcer radars into misjudging a whole squadron for one object, like their glovatrixes had done in the caverns when they and Felina had rescued Ann Gora from the toxic waste-mutated scorpions. And, T-Bone had almost fallen for the same trick twice!

He gritted his teeth to the point of pain. Before him, the dogfight began.

Laser fire shot out in red streaks between the two squadrons. In T-Bone's headset, an indescribable havoc of pilots' voices exploded. So did two Enforcer jets.

Grimfaced, T-Bone reached firing range. Without hesitation, he picked out an Enforcer vessel that was being attacked by two enemy jets. Delta Four, Lieutenant Taylor's jet. He concentrated on one of the two aggressors and pressed the button to fire off the lasers.

"Time to even the odds!"

His shoots didn't mark him the sureshot Razor was, but he hit the jet nevertheless. It spiraled away across the sky, for the moment out of control.

For aggressor no. 2, T-Bone launched a missile. A shudder went through the jet that made the TurboKat's rumbling on such an action feel smooth, and the missile left the bomb bay and traced down its target.

But, Turmoil's pilot recognized the threat coming toward her as the plain explosive missile it was, and since it was no heat-seeker, she simply yanked her jet out of the missile's course to the right in a curve that suspiciously looked like the beginning of…

…A Blue Manx triple roll!

"Lt. Taylor, enemy will evade in a roll to 0800!"

Such an action would bring Delta Four between Turmoil's pilot and T-Bone, making firing impossible for him, and at the same time would give her the chance to take on Delta Four and him one after the next.

Indeed, T-Bone's guess proved true, but his comrade-by-force didn't seem to have heard.

Damn communication and damn this je…

Gregory fired at the position T-Bone had given him. The enemy jet went up in one huge red flare.

"Alright!" T-Bone shouted. He used the short moment of peace to see how things were faring.

Better than he had feared, he had to admit. So far, only two Enforcer jets had been taken down, whereas T-Bone could see the white of an emergency parachute as Felina decimated the number of the enemies by a third jet. Accordingly, Turmoil's squadron was reduced to 11 machines. Just as many Enforcer jets were still in the air.

The Mega Squadron's abilities must have suffered from the lack of flying due to their imprisonment…

Delta Six ejected. Delta Twelve and Delta Nine spun down toward earth in a vertical spiral. Delta Eleven just blew up. All this happened in the very same moment.

The Enforcers were down to seven – T-Bone in his old plane, and six remaining Delta pilots.

Aw crud! So much about even odds… T-Bone grumbled.

Being now numerically superior, one of Turmoil's pilots chose T-Bone as her target, and as T-Bone rushed in in a zigzag to avoid being blasted, himself trying to get a steady missile lock on his adversary, he noticed a second enemy jet altering its course to intercept him.

Always picking out the old and weak, now that's unfair, he thought annoyed. Up here in this jet, I'm dead meat. Let's see how well you fare in a *real* challenge, ladies!

He pushed the joystick forward and corkscrewed down toward the silent city beneath him.

The two jets followed his course.

T-Bone jerked the jet to the left and right, barely managing to dodge the laser volleys from behind before he dived into one of the infinite abysses of the steel world of MegaKat City.

"This is just as good as a canyon ride!"

The world became a small slice of sky with a blur of murky silver closing in on both sides. T-Bone raced down street canyons and circumnavigated single skyscrapers at a breakneck pace that would have forced any Enforcer pilot to abort pursuit, but Turmoil's pilots stayed close on his heels, firing.

One volley hit the tip of his left wing, ripping a hole of alloy out of it, but fortunately causing no greater damage.

There was no way for him to fire back. He was in the lead, and all his weapons were only designed for forward shooting. He'd be easy prey if the artificial maze of glass, cement and metal didn't prove too much of a challenge for Turmoil's pilots.

Then, the black skyscraper of MBC appeared a good distance before him, its great antenna on the top of the roof making too weird an appearance to miss.

T-Bone got an idea.

He fired his missile at the very same moment in which one of the planes behind him fired a missile of its own – but this one aimed at him.

"TWO!"

His missile shot away and ascended, while he dropped his jet to a low fifth-story height. He sped away over crowded streets and dozens of citizens, who looked up in astonishment, grasping too late that covering their ears against the violent sonic boost would have been a more suitable reaction instead.

"ONE!" This is getting close.

The enemy's missile was gaining fast on him. The skyscraper of MegaKat Broadcasting filled the whole size of the view screen before him. T-Bone looked up by the force of habit, but its roof was at too high an angle to see. He knew what would happen anyway, and he mouthed a vociferous

"ZERO!"

For 2.63 million viewers, the entertainment program was suddenly replaced by static, right from the moment in which T-Bone's missile slammed into the feet of the great obelisk-shaped antenna post, blowing the whole structure off the roof.

T-Bone tipped his joystick to the right, shooting past the studios of MegaKat Broadcasting Company on the same side, and began a rapid climb. Then, he pushed his thrusters forward, as the former antenna came suddenly falling out of the sky, missing him narrowly.

The missile, however, wasn't programmed for such an unusual situation and collided with the metal post thirty-five meters above the ground in its blind chase of the Enforcer jet.

It exploded in an enormous blast that took away any windowpanes in its vicinity, spreading a red-orange wall of flames and metal shards between the rows of houses, an all-covering blanket of destruction.

The second plane following T-Bone was still far enough away from the epicenter of the detonation to react by shooting high and thus missing catastrophe.

For the nearer one, there was no escape.

The jet flew into the curtain of fire. It was lost from sight for a moment before it exploded in a gigantic conjunction of tremor, flash and noise that made the first bang seem meek.

When the lone surviving enemy passed the wall of smoke and fire, there was no sign of T-Bone. She looked around frantically from the right to the left, and then down on her radar. A second dot appeared suddenly… to her right!

T-Bone emerged from a gap between the blocks of houses, finishing the 'shortcut' he'd taken. As expected, Turmoil's pilot was now directly beside him, and only some ten meters above him.

He pulled the jet further to the left… And, upwards.

His left wing hit the other jet's right wing from beneath, sending the female pilot rotating to the left, until the steel cables of MegaKat City's train bridge stopped this motion abruptly.

The jet blew up in a fireball.

T-Bone fumbled hard to get his own jet back under control. A crazy stunt like this was a piece of cake for the TurboKat. The simple fact T-Bone had forgotten for the moment was that an Enforcer jet was by no means the TurboKat. Only with his best efforts, he stabilized his flight, but the joystick was trembling in his hand now, struggling with a will of its own. T-Bone had to steer hard against it to compensate.

He fumed. Though there was no visible sign T-Bone could identify out of his cockpit, the stunt had caused some serious damage to his left wing.

I won't play babysitter for the Enforcers any more. This *junk* wouldn't last five minutes in an air fight! The Enforcers have an advantage they better use: Turmoil never expected resistance. Indeed, there wouldn't have been resistance if not for the fact that I survived Razor's treason to tell the tale.

He watched his radar. A big dot started to materialize at its outmost border, the size of the ship so colossal that it could be nothing else but Turmoil's aircraft. The green shadow it cast seemed to swallow all the smaller dots of Delta Squadron and Mega Squadron jets alike, and it drew T-Bone's attention toward it as if it was a light bulb and T-Bone the moth.

Turmoil is on board of this aircraft… And, so is Razor. *JAKE*! "My place is aboard that ship!"

The only question was: how to get there? Could he get past Turmoil's Mega Squadron and past the defense systems of the giant ship in an almost wrecked jet?

He scowled. "No risk no fun. There's only one way to find out!"

He plunged the jet back into the narrow streets of MegaKat City. Deep down between these masses of steel he would be undetectable on their radars. Racing through avenue after avenue, he crossed the distance that separated him from Turmoil's ship and when he neared the enemies' position, he once more pulled the joystick back. The jet shook dangerously under the stress that now weighed on the battered wing.

The Mega Squadron was engaged with the Delta Squadron, far from his position. As T-Bone had hoped, they hadn't expected a solo act from an Enforcer pilot.

Climbing high into the sky, he knew that the communication between Turmoil's ship and her squadron must be doing somersaults due to his sudden materialization on their radar. Right away, he could discern one dot that was leaving the melee of the dogfight to whiz back to help.

T-Bone grinned. It would be a close call, but he doubted Turmoil's lieutenant would be fast enough to stop him in time.

He broke through the clouds, and there it was: Turmoil's aircraft. Certainly it would drop under the cloud layer only at the very last instant.

T-Bone matched its height and closed in.

Now, we'll see 'bout the defenses on the big ship. I think you're bluffing, Turmoil. Let's see your cards. And, if it's the last thing I do!

His warning sirens kept silent – the biggest ship was also the most defenseless one.

Gotcha! This mistake will bring you down, Turmoil!

"Time to knock at the front door."

T-Bone checked that Turmoil's pilot was still too far away to endanger him, and brought his jet onto a course for a landing approach and reduced the speed.

The airstrip blossomed up before him. Ground contact was just five or six seconds away when it happened.

Accompanied by a sickening screech, the first two thirds of the left wing broke away from T-Bone's jet.

C…R…U…D!

T-Bone lost complete control over the plane, and the joystick slapped hard against his palm as the Enforcer jet began to spiral non-stop.

The jet slammed brutally onto the airstrip and slid over the metal runway in a firework of sparks. About halfway to the hangar, the plane came to a stop, laying in a slant on its left side where the wing had been a moment before, the right wing pointing high into the air, a dazed T-Bone in the cockpit.

The pilot!

A wave of adrenaline wiped out his dizziness, and T-Bone looked up through his canopy.

With the angle at which his jet had come to a halt, he could make out Turmoil's jet approaching *directly* above him. Its pilot was getting into firing range, and T-Bone couldn't come up with a reason why she wouldn't fire straight away.

But, there was no way T-Bone could strap out of his seat belts and leave the cockpit fast enough anyway.

And, at this position, I can't even eject without…

In a swift motion, T-Bone turned his torso to the left and stretched his right arm past the pilot's seat. Aiming low into the compartment behind him, he fired a grappling hook.

The grappling hook's three clamps closed around the loop at the base of the weapons officer's seat, and T-Bone loosened his seat belts with his left hand. With his right, he pulled the cable back.

"Lady, you're outta the game!"

***

Kathleen Masterson's dutiful service in Turmoil's flight crew had lasted for almost four years now. She was a proud soldier and a pilot par excellence. Lieutenant Masterson had been one of the last pilots of the Mega Squadron to surrender to the Enforcers ten months ago, fighting on even after the heart-ripping loss of their flying base.

Thus intense was her devotion to Turmoil. It was spotless.

Not all members of Turmoil's crew had been that loyal. After the last year's disaster, first doubts about Turmoil's person had begun to spread slowly through the cells on Alkatraz Island like a treacherous, poisonous fog.

Overall, the object of the anger had been T-Bone. Those who questioned Turmoil and her leading abilities blamed her for bringing the vigilante aboard. Turmoil's plans had been destroyed because of her blind love for a stranger, a fact that had caused many of her soldiers to distance themselves from her in an instant after being captured.

Letting T-Bone live had been a mistake of Turmoil's; Lt. Masterson couldn't deny that. But, in Kathleen's eyes, everyone had the right to make a mistake, even Turmoil. Moreso, T-Bone's ploy had been very convincing. She could remember standing at attention before him – the Flight Commander, inspecting the row of her and her flying companions, and the pride she'd felt when he had acknowledged Turmoil's praise about them being the best pilots in the sky with a nod of his head.

Then, she had seen how he had made his partner walk the plank…

He had been fearsome. Ruthless. A ferocious beast, and a fine Flight Commander. No second had she doubted his act. The double-crossing had hit her as unexpectedly as it had hit Turmoil.

T-Bone had fooled them all. The tactical disaster wasn't Turmoil's flaw alone; the mistake lasted on the shoulders of every one of them.

Lieutenant Masterson's loyalty to Turmoil had never wavered, and that was the reason why she was one of the 19 escapees, while just as many others were not.

"Understood!"

But, as she affirmed the control center's radio message, aborting her current fight and heading back to eliminate the ominous Enforcer jet that had suddenly popped up out of nowhere, she realized that the solid wall of faith was getting fissures.

It had cracked up with the Enforcers' resistance.

Something was undeniably utterly wrong here. There should never have been any opposition on their way to Enforcer Headquarters. They would have blown the airstrip to pieces before those fools could react, but the Enforcers had not only expected the attack, they had even *awaited* them, *knowing* the direction from where they would come.

Kathleen could just imagine one reason for this *coincidence* - Razor!

True enough, Razor's actions differed drastically from T-Bone's acts last year. He had freed them all from Alkatraz; he had organized the surge suit to make the getaway possible. And, to leave no doubt about his loyalty, he had given away his identity… and T-Bone's. He had even taken off his costume, helmet and mask, and replaced it by the Flight Commander uniform.

On the other hand, what did they really know about him? He had visited Turmoil on Alkatraz regularly, but none of the crew had ever seen him before yesterday.

Is he really the accomplice Turmoil believes to have?

Lt. Masterson pondered on the question while she made out the small form of an Enforcer jet preparing for a landing approach in the faraway distance.

Come to think of it, Razor – or Jake Clawson or whatever his real name was – had never shown much of himself to Turmoil's crew, just to Turmoil. Yesterday after freeing them, he had shortly coordinated the escape, and had then gone through today's plans with Turmoil – alone.

And, he left at early evening, so that T-Bone would not get 'suspicious', she concluded her doubts.

Furthermore, Razor had retreated with Turmoil to her quarters for nearly two hours this morning, leaving it up to the crew to finish the last preparations for this attack.

Wrath shot through Lieutenant Masterson like a lightning bolt.

She didn't care whom Turmoil chose for her lover, nor that she enjoyed the intimate side of such a liaison and its pleasures so shortly before their attack, but it was intolerable the instant her passion endangered the mission again. Falling for the same mistake twice was folly!

She must be blind in her love to miss the set-up.

And, it was so obvious. The Enforcers could only know about Turmoil's attack because someone had told them about it. This somebody could just be T-Bone!

I knew it was a mistake to throw that SWAT Kat overboard! We only had *Razor's* word that T-Bone could under no circumstances survive the fall with a manipulated backpack! And, it was strange from the beginning that the TurboKat and T-Bone survived Razor's 'sabotage'.

But, Turmoil trusted him… She harrumphed. We should have blasted T-Bone instead of playing theater! Now, that would have been a surprise for that orange weakling!

Nonetheless, Turmoil won't heed my warnings if I can't present her some evidence. And, unfortunately, I can't…

"Command center, Enforcer jet has crashed onto the airstrip. I repeat, Enforcer jet has *crashed* onto the airstrip," she tugged her flaring anger away for a moment to state the curious scene that had just happened before her eyes.

"Eliminate the enemy pilot, Mega Two."

"Roger!"

No problem. These poor soldiers had been dead the moment they had stepped into that old-timer jet anyhow. It was unbelievable how carelessly the Enforcers wasted their precious pilots away.

Maybe they just want to get rid of them. To fly this jet they must be stupid…

Or reckless…

T-Bone!

Her index finger slipped off from the laser release button again. Taking a jet like this looked just like him. If T-Bone was really inside that ship, then here was her chance to prove Razor's treason. She had better fly a circle to take a closer look. There was no possibility for the kats within the cockpit of the wreck to escape fast enough, anyway.

The firing postponed, she closed in with her jet until the interior of the enemy cockpit became visible. And, the thing she recognized instantly was the helmet: it was blue, with a red triangle over the visor.

I knew it…

Without warning, the canopy was blasted away from the Enforcer jet. The time she needed to realize the meaning of this was the fraction of a second too long to initialize countermeasures, and her fingers never reached the button at the front of her joystick.

Lieutenant Kathleen Masterson's last thought was that she had underestimated the situation. A new mistake, but this time, a deadly one.

Then, the empty rocket-driven weapons officer's seat T-Bone had ejected from the Enforcer jet came shattering through her canopy, smashing into her with terminal velocity and bringing everlasting oblivion.

***

T-Bone rolled out of the jet and to his feet. He hastened to put a good distance between him and the plane. Two seconds later he had to throw himself down onto the airstrip to avoid being beheaded as Lt. Masterson's incoming jet lost height, swooshing low over the runway. If not for the wreckage of the old Enforcer plane, it would have made it, but the thing simply lay in the way. Colliding with a tremendous roar, its remnants were lifted up from the runway and both jets were flung from board, clasped in a firm embrace. Seconds later, they exploded.

T-Bone was already running toward the hangar unmindful. On all his previous operations, it would have been the worry for Enforcer Headquarters that determined his speed. But, today T-Bone was past concern, though he didn't realize that he was.

Memories of his SWAT Kats years haunted him consistently, reminiscences of the great deeds he had accomplished together with Razor. With their lives – their real lives – withering away in the salvage yard, their double lives had been the spice that made his life worth living.

No, that wasn't quite true. Their SWAT Kats' double lives were naught in itself. T-Bone had realized that the bitter way. Alone in the cockpit he was just a pilot, nothing more, living and out-living danger by pure chance.

Their unique partnership had made the flavor. Jake – Razor – had always been there for him. The way his hand was a part of Chance's body, connected by flesh, Jake had been another part of him, connected by mind. To be bereaved of him felt like someone had torn out a limb in an amputation without narcotics.

He gave up our exceptional friendship merely to be together with Turmoil…

We could have talked about everything, Jake. I would have listened. I would have given you my best council. I would have supported you and your decisions.

But, you didn't even *talk* to me!

A riptide of sorrow and rage rushed over T-Bone as he reached the spot where Razor had killed him - in a metaphorical sense - with his betrayal. The words Razor had spat at him that morning ricocheted in his head like bullets, intensifying the pain an inner emptiness caused.

His former friend and partner had left him and had changed sides… With a heavy heart, T-Bone accepted the fact that he was an unavoidable obstacle on his way to stop Turmoil.

You took your side, Jake, and I chose mine. Yours is the wrong one! Now, your presumed-dead partner will bring you in.

Still, these thoughts created agony, but T-Bone forced it all down.

Don't expect any special treatment, bud! he thought in pain and in anger.

T-Bone inspected the hangar. It was deserted. Even the cargo ship was gone. Only the TurboKat stood desolately in a distant corner to the left. Her nose was hooked by a steel cable to a transportation rail that ran through the complete airstrip in vertical and horizontal parallels. They must have transported her out of the way to clear the space for the jets of the Mega Squadron.

With a determined stride, T-Bone walked toward the nearest door. Punching the button next to it with all his might and breaking it to pieces in consequence, he stepped into the interior of Turmoil's ship for the second time that day.

I have to reach the bridge. They think I'm dead, that should give me the advantage of surprise I need.

He inspected his glovatrix – it was operational.

I'll have to take out Jake first with the Bola Missile and the cement machine gun. Turmoil and the rest of her little crewmembers should be a piece of cake.

A quick entry, and they won't even know what hit them!

As soon as he had thought the words, they made him frown….


 

THURSDAY, 10:09 A.M.

Turmoil sat in her chair, the marvelous crimson uniform and the unblemished boots creating an aura of power and dignity.

Indeed Turmoil awaited an answer to her command, and just a light tail slashing gave away the beginning of her anxiety.

"Lieutenant?" she ask-ordered again, with a node more firmness to her voice.

Addressed communication officer Lieutenant Pergell nevertheless wasn't prompt with her answer, double-checking the displays in front of her.

"I lost Mega Two on the radar. As it seems, the jet has slammed into the Enforcer wreckage and the thrust has thrown both ships off the runway."

"And, Lieutenant Masterson?"

Lieutenant Pergell spoke silently into her headset again and shook her head. "No answer."

Turmoil felt a twinge of sorrow pass through her. Lt. Masterson had been a loyal member of her crew, trustworthy, solid and smart. It would be hard to replace her.

"What about the Enforcer pilot?"

"It is unlikely that he survived the two crashes."

"Unlikely…" Turmoil grimaced at this. Unlikely was so vague a word.

Unlikely had been the danger of resistance as well. Yet, the dogfight out there clearly showed that there was a heck of a resistance.

In a military sense, there was no such factor as coincidence, but the single other explanation would be betrayal, and that was an impossible thing. Turmoil pressed the thought from her mind. For this operation, she had chosen only her most loyal followers. Soldiers who would fight and even die at her command without hesitation. It had to be coincidence.

But, even so, it was a hard blow to her strategy. Her plan was based on brilliant tactics, to be sure, but tactics using stealth, not combat. Turmoil simply couldn't afford a battle and the reason for that fact still made her gall after almost a year.

T-Bone, you treacherous tomkat.

When she had offered him more money than he could ever dream of, it had been a sincere proposal. Money would have come to them in abundance once the city had started paying up her air transportation fees.

But, due to T-Bone's treason, she had never seen one bill of that money, and her operation had been so expensive that it had left merely a trickle of her erstwhile immense fortune.

The plans she had worked on so meticulously had been destroyed by the SWAT Kats, as had her wealth. This puny prototype of an aircraft and the fourteen prototype jets of the Mega Squadron were all that was left to her, along with not much more than a handful of missiles for their arming. It was not nearly enough to equip this ship – it wouldn't even have been a sufficient number to stock all the jets, if not for Razor's genius.

She smiled brightly. Jake was the jewel that balanced her losses.

His stepping into her life was almost worth spending ten months in prison. To find love when it was so unexpected was priceless, and even with a battle going on that needed her full concentration, Turmoil couldn't stop her thoughts from trailing off and to the slim, orange tom.

Slim he was, yes, but strong. Sensitive, and yet tough. Jake combined many controversial traits in his personality, a curious gift that Turmoil had never encountered before in any other kat. If she had just found him before her first attack on MegaKat City…

Even now, she missed him, longed to touch him. Turmoil would have never believed such a thing after that incident with T-Bone.

The smile made way for a tart face.

T-Bone. He was the other thing that made Jake even more precious. To get back at T-Bone for his breaking of her heart, for crushing her plans, Turmoil would have given away her right arm. The first months on Alkatraz were just centered on one point – revenge.

By finding Jake, revenge had been the additional benefit that had come in tow. She had feasted on that bonus every day until this morning.

Too bad I couldn't see your face when you found out that your picklock wouldn't save your stinking tai…

"Mega One has ejected."

DAMN! Her rage didn't show on the outside. She was serenity purified. It didn't do to lose temper in front of her crew.

That was pilot number six to fail. Now, the squadron is down to eight ships.

"How many Enforcer jets are still in the air?"

"Five."

This was worse than expected.

Maybe the resistance is a fruit of treachery after all. I can trust no one but Jake, really. I will make certain of the loyalty of the rest of my crew once the Enforcers are defeated.

She pushed a communicator button on the armrest of her chair.

"Turmoil to Flight Commander."

Jake's voice came in with a metallic touch. "Flight Commander here."

"One Enforcer jet has crashed onto our runway, and was then pushed overboard by Mega Two. Nevertheless, its pilot might have survived the collision. Check out if he is aboard. If you spot him, see that he does not hinder us. But, hurry! In less than ten minutes, you should start to move the bomb."

Jake's answer was just half a second delayed. "Consider it done."

"Mega Six has shot down one Enforcer jet," Lieutenant Pergell announced.

That leaves four Enforcers! Turmoil leaned back. With Jake on her side, nothing would stop her this time.


 

THURSDAY, 10:10 A.M.

T-Bone sneaked deeper down the corridors toward the command center and not much more than some thin layers of steel under his feet separated him from a free fall into the world beneath. The clamoring of the metal could be doom for the careless. Therefore, he walked cautiously. His thoughts, however, were still focused on other points.

They won't even know what hit them! The words kept buzzing in his head. T-Bone oddly couldn't stifle them.

But, why?

Jake said something similar at Pumadyne. "I don't know what they've hit us with," or so.

He stopped a few meters behind a crossing, searching for an association.

There's the reason for your worries, Chance: It was another lie! Of course, he knew what hit us. Jake must have constructed that beam; it was specially built to affect the TurboKat! It doesn't work on the Enforcer jets. Else, they would have mounted it on this ship, and I'd have never reached the runway! You've been utterly blind, Chance!

But, there was more to it, his intuition told him. An important point still eluded him.

Under his mask, Chance's face was a horrendous scowl. Jake's betrayal ached his mind, and the fact that he couldn't focus on what seemed to be a significant detail added to the ire. T-Bone growled mutely. What had he failed to see…?

A sudden sound behind him made him turn on his heels.

What…?

A shoulder slammed into his chest, and T-Bone found himself flying backward through the corridor.

***

Jake was already on the move again when he deactivated the communicator on his glovatrix.

With the surprising arrival of the Delta Squadron, he had wanted to watch the welfare of Turmoil's plan and the struggle of the Mega Squadron from the command center, although he couldn't have changed a thing up there.

Actually, he sought the closeness to Turmoil.

But, this mysterious Enforcer pilot was more urgent a matter.

Turmoil talked about a 'he', but why does the pilot have to be male?

There was only one Enforcer Jake thought capable of getting this close to the aircraft: Lieutenant Felina Feral.

I just hope it isn't her.

Lt. Feral was the rare type of Enforcer who had thanked the SWAT Kats for their actions from time to time. In fact, she had been the only Enforcer who'd ever done this. The image of fighting Felina made him queasy somehow.

Snap out of your nostalgia, Clawson. You didn't have any problems with killing a defenseless Hard Drive, you're going to destroy Enforcer HQ, you'll turn the kats trapped inside into living burning torches, and now you're worried about facing a soldier who'll try to stop you at all costs.

You're a cold-blooded murderer, remember? he thought gloomily.

It didn't make those distressing doubts go away, though.

I want the Enforcers destroyed for what they did to me! So why can't these worries just *LEAVE ME ALONE*?!

Jake's face was a stormy sea of battling emotions as he walked further down the corridors and toward the hangar.

Deep in thoughts, he almost missed him.

He looked to the left, just in time to see a shadow vanish in the outermost parallel corridor on the way to the command center.

The Enforcer!

Jake carefully hurried after the kat. Almost at the bend, he noticed that the intruder's steps had ceased. His own steps, by contrast, seemed suddenly loud to his ears.

Crud… That's the disadvantage of the uniform: marching in boots is louder than walking barefoot!

Instinctively, he did the only thing that came to his mind. He attacked! Running around the corner, Jake tackled the Enforcer shoulder-first.

Jake went to the ground, as did his enemy. The massive thrust had flung him a good ten feet away.

Jake stood up, his vision a blur before it refocused. The Enforcer before him was…

T-Bone?!

***

T-Bone landed hard but managed to get back to his feet instantly.

The look on his adversary's face was pure shock.

Nevertheless, it took the tabby a moment to make the connection.

Oh, it's Flight Commander now, is it, Jake? The image wasn't exactly helpful for him to calm down.

"But… But, you are dead!" Jake stuttered, stumbling back and falling onto his rear.

"Oh, that's why you're all dressed in black! Are you mourning my death, *Flight Commander*?  Sorry, Jake, I have to disappoint you. Your excellent betrayal conspiracy failed! I'm not as dead as you want!"

All the same, Jake's words and surprised reaction made him hesitate for a split-second.

Yes, I should have died at Pumadyne! But, I crossed Razor's plan…

There was that feeling again… T-Bone couldn't shake off the impression that there was more to the events at Pumadyne. Something he had missed… Yet again, he couldn't get a grip on it. One thing repressed anything else:

Jake's treachery.

"You wasted our friendship away, and for what? Look, you're Turmoil's little mascot now, swaggering around in a nice black uniform, but what did you really gain?

NOTHING!

Tell me, why did you do all this? Why, for the Holy Kats' sake, *why*?"

He walked up to the form on the ground, tightening his fists.

"Maybe I'm fed up to the back teeth with playing the stupid assistant to an egocentric wanna-be-an-immortal-hero pilot!" Jake hissed.

With an unbelievable speed and agility, Jake pushed himself into a handstand and performed a roundhouse kick with his booted right foot.

The boot's sole caught T-Bone at the left side of his face, from the jaw to his uncovered ear, sending him tumbling back. His ear rang and throbbed.

The coppery taste of blood filled T-Bone's mouth. He had almost bitten off his tongue.

Jake's remark hurt more than a dozen blows, though.

***

The angry expression on T-Bone's face was bloodcurdling, and his acidic speech intensified this image. Jake's own anger heated up and centered on the kat he hated so much. The feelings he had suppressed for so long surfaced again. Everything else was forgotten. There was only one face before his inner eye:

Chance!

Jake made a back flip that brought him up from his hands and to his feet in one swift motion.

He used the break in T-Bone's defense to attack.

"I'm sick of you!"

He slashed out, claws long unsheathed on a subconscious impulse.

T-Bone stumbled back clumsily. Three parallel red lines appeared on his left upper arm.

T-Bone looked at him aghast.

Don't think I'll leave it at this, Chance!

"I'm sick of your hotshot piloting, of your heartlessness, of your secrets, of your lies!"

Slash, slash, slash, and slash.

More rips striped T-Bone's uniform. On his arms, his shoulder, and mostly on his chest. T-Bone couldn't react fast enough to his moves. Already, he was bleeding from more than a dozen wounds.

"I'm…" Jake started, striking out once more.

T-Bone grabbed his arm with strong hands that threatened to break his wrist despite the fact that he was wearing the glovatrix.

"…sick. I noticed!" T-Bone forestalled him.

T-Bone kicked Jake in the stomach. Jake gasped more at the surprise than at the pain as the air left his lungs.

Sucking the air in greedily, although it burned fiercely, he shook the wooziness away. He was sitting on the floor six feet away, though he couldn't remember falling.

***

T-Bone watched the form on the floor with cold eyes, the last embers of Chance doused with Jake's accusations.

"Yeah, you're love sick!

Jake's eyes said more than thousand words.

T-Bone snorted disparagingly, stepping forward. "Great job, pal. The shy, sensitive Jake Clawson cracked up to get into bed with a crazy megalomaniac she-kat!"

Jake tensed at T-Bone's words. He snarled.

"You miserable rat! How could you ever call yourself a friend? You don't even know what the word 'buddy' means!

I was a fool to make all the efforts with the TurboKat so you'd die valiantly at Pumadyne.

You are no shining hero, Chance, and you've never been one! Nor have you ever been a true friend!"

"YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FRIENDSHIP? DO YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT FRIENDSHIP IS, *PARTNER*?

I saved your tail at Pumadyne, Jake! The canopy locked up shortly after that beam hit us. If I hadn't ejected you straight away, you would have broken your neck on the canopy on ejecting!

AND I DID THIS BECAUSE I WANTED TO SAVE MY FRIEND!

Had I known your game, had I known you for the *turncoat* that you are, I would have *TIED* you to your seat to go down with your lies and two-facedness instead!

Tell me, Jake, how did Hard Drive react as he caught a glimpse of your real face? Was he afraid of what he saw? Did he beg for mercy at you to not kill him?

WAS IT EVEN MORE FUN FRYING HIM WHEN HE WAS BEGGING FOR HIS LIFE ON HIS KNEES?" T-Bone spat mordantly.

"YOU BASTARD!" Jake jumped to his feet quick as flash and grabbed T-Bone at his G-suit and flung him over his shoulder.

T-Bone fell onto his backside and pushed himself back into a stand.

***

The indication about Hard Drive had wounded Jake more than all the blows he'd previously received from T-Bone taken together. Jake bared his fangs.

He ran up on his opponent and threw a left hook that T-Bone deflected effortlessly. This block opened T-Bone's right side to his attack, and he rammed his right elbow into T-Bone's chest in the next moment. While T-Bone struggled for breath, Jake drove his knee up to his midriff, making the burly tom double over. Another kick to his torso sent T-Bone down the corridor.

"Hard Drive was nothing more than a slimy creep who lusted for money! He would have given away my plans about Turmoil's breakout if he saw profit in it, and I couldn't risk that. He injured many innocent kats in his robberies; for that, he finally got what he deserved!" yelled Jake with a fever in his eyes that belied the genuineness of his belief in his words.

He deserved it! He was a dangerous criminal, a menace to society! He deserved it…

I didn't want to…

T-Bone was on his knees, leaning on his right palm to steady himself. At Jake's words, his head shot up.

"TURMOIL! Your every second sentence is about her. Don't you see it? This is all Turmoil's doing; she corrupted you! SHE *USES* YOU, JAKE! But, I'll cross her plans."

Jake narrowed his eyes. "TURMOIL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" You know well enough she hasn't! "LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS, CHANCE! THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME!"

"SHE…"

"ENOUGH," Jake screamed. "Your false play ends here and now!"

With this, he stormed up at T-Bone and jumped at him with a karate kick.

***

T-Bone panted as if he'd run a marathon. Breathing was extremely difficult, and he staggered back onto his feet like an old kat.

Exhausted, he only managed to hop a step back and to the right and to duck slightly. His thoughts, though, still made somersaults.

All of a sudden, he became aware of what he had spat at Jake only moments before.

The beam hit us! But, Jake constructed that beam! Why was…?

The boot reached his face.

There was an explosion of stars, and T-Bone was thrown back brutally. His landed headfirst on the metal grates, his skull thankfully protected by the helmet that had also taken the bulk of Jake's blow.

T-Bone rolled a few times over the ground until his momentum ceased some ten meters away. He was sprawled on his stomach, face on fire, blood rushing from his nose in dark streams.

Groggily, T-Bone pushed himself onto his elbows and knees.

Why was the canopy locked? The bomb bay was likewise locked shut. Jake would have had to share my fate if I hadn't ejected him in time! But, he was mad about that. He *wanted* to stay in the jet to 'control things'!

"OH, BUT NOT *YOU*! You had to eject me, so I couldn't control the situation, and then you pulled that stupid plan out of thin air that worked despite all odds."

He never expected the canopy to lock up. He thought he'd prepared the TurboKat well enough for me to never find any working rescue plan.

And, he certainly *did* prepare her well. So, what went wrong…?

What…?

All at once, he was overly aware of the connection he had formerly missed, and more things merged with the finding he had gained. Feral's words sprang up in his mind, and Felina's, and finally - *finally* -, Jake's words and the things he had said and done since Turmoil's escape himself.

From somewhere deep within, a curious mix of feelings broke free. A sound that was neither cry nor laugh and yet at the same time both erupted from T-Bone's throat as it overpowered him.


 

THURSDAY, 10:13 A.M.

"I'm sorry, sir, we're working as fast as we can! There's no way to refuel the jets any faster."

Commander Feral gritted his teeth. The expression on his face was his surname come to life, and the sergeant stumbled a step backwards, breaking into a sweat.

It didn't create wonders, though.

Feral's two-way radio screeched. That would be the 'revived' Lt. Commander Steele, for once a real assistance instead of a pain in the neck, informing him about the evacuation process of the lower levels of Headquarters.

"The Delta Squadron is heavily under fire, sergeant. They need backup or they will be destroyed." And, Felina with them, Ulysses Feral tightened even more at the thought of his niece.

"Without the Delta Squadron, Headquarters is next in line.  So, think about that. And, work harder!"

He turned on his heel and left before the sergeant could speak up again. The ground crew was refueling the first jets of the Alpha Squadron, and communication was impossible next to their working grounds. The hubbub of soldiers and refueling gear deafened anything else.

Feral walked down the airstrip, away from the noise. The wind had stirred up and was tugging at his trenchcoat with its invisible tentacles. He put the radio to his head and pushed the broadcast button.

"Feral here! Have the lower floors been cleared, Steele?"

"Sir," a voice that did not belong to Steele but to the commanding tower officer answered him. He had an edge to his voice. "Five enemy jets have begun on a course toward Headquarters."

That alone quenched any optimism about the status of the Delta Squadron. A thousand questions shot through Feral's mind, Felina's safety being the subject superimposing them all. But, a hundred other questions were more significant than his personal interests, and there was not likely enough time left to ask every single one.

"When will they be within firing range?"

"In two minutes. At the most!"

Commander Feral closed his eyes. He hated the order he was about to give. But, he had no choice.

Time was up.

"Abandon the tower at once. I'll clear the runway and the hangar.  We evacuate!"

Dignity was discarded on his way back to the ground crew. Commander Feral ran as fast as he could, stumbling and nearly falling after stepping onto his long trench coat. When he approached the jets of the Alpha Squadron, his sprint had caught the attention of half his crew already.

"WE'RE BEING ATTACKED. GET OFF THE ROOF!" he bellowed, wildly gesticulating.

The reaction was an instantaneous stampede of soldiers. Dozens of kats threw away their tools, jumped down from wings as they tried to reach the safety promised by the staircase entrance as soon as possible.

"Sir, what about the jets and the kerosene tanks? There's enough liquid up here to blast the hangar to shreds."

Feral turned to the kat who had addressed him. Many of his Enforcers just experienced the effects of a mass panic, so this calm mind was good to remember in the future.

"All the more a reason to hurry, lieutenant. Delta Squadron is beaten. There's nothing we can do."

The lieutenant's eyes bulged, and she nodded. She turned and made a few steps toward the exit, then stopped and faced the Commander again.

"Sir…?" she just asked, but Feral knew what she had wanted to say.

"I'm coming the instant all Enforcers have left the roof, and no second before, lieutenant. Now, go! That's an order!"

He looked back to the sky before he could see the lieutenant salute reluctantly, falling in line with the masses jamming the staircase entrance.

Turmoil's Mega Squadron was so close that their jets were visible with the naked eye. The two minutes were almost gone.

Commander Feral let his gaze sweep over the hangar. All the stations were deserted, the crew members either some floors below already or on their best way to get there.

Even if they destroy the jets and the hangar, at least *we* will make it, Feral found a little comfort in this, before he realized that the Mega Squadron had gotten company. Where previously there had been five dots, Feral could now make out ten.

What…? He stared at the enemies bewildered for a moment. The answer came to him as he saw that the five smaller points were rushing in at a higher velocity than the others.

Missiles!

Feral stood transfixed to his place. Shock had him in its clutches. Only after a moment, his rationale kicked in, and he started to run.

To his surprise, the door to the roof stood closed. The assembled ground crew had passed it already, and it had closed automatically thereafter. Feral pushed against it with all his weight, forcing the door open with an excess of strength that made him almost tumble down the staircase. He jumped down the stairs two at a time, three at a time, hastened around the first bend, down the next pair of stairs, around the second bend, and then the first missile crashed into the hangar, blowing up a half-refueled Alpha Squadron jet.

The following chain reaction was tremendous. Its blast tore the door from its anchoring and slammed it at the opposite wall. A fireball rolled into the staircase with a brutish roar. Feral was flung down the next pair of stairs, and hit the wall headfirst with the right side of his head, just where T-Bone had punched him. A massive headache erupted with a fury.

A staggering, limping Commander Feral continued his descent. Above him, the last missiles hit the roof, shaking the building as if it were made of jelly. Feral lost his balance again and tumbled down the stairs, cursing upon his landing.

He got on his feet again, but though he could be glad to have outlasted the explosion, he couldn't dam his swearing. Just a look up the staircase told the sad story of the fiasco.

The fate of Enforcer Headquarters was sealed.


 

THURSDAY, 10:15 A.M.

Jake was perplexed – there was no other word for it. He had expected anything but this.

A mélange of emotions hushed over the face of the kneeling masked tabby. Rage mixed with confusion was driven out by concern and fear, accompanied by something extremely odd that Jake could only interpret as… joy… or hope…? And, this all got lost as T-Bone's body started to twitch.

T-Bone cried.

It frightened Jake. And, it worried him.

What the heck is going on? I've never seen T-Bone like this before. He never cries! He is…

Jake's anger returned with a vengeance. T-Bone lay beaten and defenseless before him, and he stood rooted to the spot just because he'd gotten a peek at T-Bone's weak side.

More likely, that's only a performance. He wants to distract me! You don't fool me, bud!

Jake resumed his step with a new determination.

***

With the haze vision of moist eyes, T-Bone saw Jake stepping into a walk. He sobered as alarm wiped away his other feelings. He was sprawled on the ground exposed while his greatest enemy ever was doing his best to kill him.

And, from how he felt, T-Bone doubted he could withstand Jake long in fight.

Something close to panic welled up in him. As he had just realized, there was more at stake than he had thought. Much, *much* more!

T-Bone tried to push himself up. In this motion, he felt the unusual weight on his chest.

The bombs I took from the other uniform, he remembered. They're still in my pocket!

A tinny voice added to the noise of Jake's footsteps.

"Turmoil to Flight Commander. We're nearing Headquarters. The bomb has to be moved now. Did you find any sign of an intruder?"

With Jake for the moment preoccupied, T-Bone dropped his plan of rising and instead hurried to reach into his pocket.

It's time to blast this maniac to his senses!

He grabbed one of the bombs along with the remote, let the latter fall into his left hand and threw the bomb at Jake with the other hand.

His thumb slammed down on the button of the detonator remote.

***

Jake didn't answer Turmoil's call. Seven meters still separated him from T-Bone when he suddenly saw T-Bone fling something at him.

On any other kat, T-Bone's surprise would have worked out, but Jake reacted with the swift reflexes he'd gained in his SWAT Kat years.

He instinctively kicked the object back at T-Bone.

The bomb blew up between the two of them. In open space, its detonation was quite considerable.

There was a loud moan of the ship's hull, and Jake felt a wave of heat rush up at him before the explosion's blast hurled him back down the corridor.

When he looked up again, a strong wind caressed his facial fur. Beginning where he had stood a moment ago, the ground and the wall to his right were gone for the next ten meters. A hole in the hull had opened that ended roughly three meters behind the position where T-Bone had lain in the end.

He was gone!

"Turmoil to Flight Commander…"

Jake stood up and investigated the gap with his glovatrix raised, expecting to see a falling T-Bone and a sliver of MegaKat City beneath him. Instead, he saw an unbroken field of dirty white. The ship was still above the cloudbanks, so near that he could almost touch the moist clouds.

T-Bone! *DAMN!*

"Flight Commander…"

Jake looked down onto the clouds, mesmerized, until Turmoil's voice awoke him from his spell.

"Jake?" Her voice was full of concern.

"I'm here!"

"What's going on down there?" Her tone of command came back.

Jake hesitated with his answer. Chance, that's what's goin' on! I have to confess this to Turmoil. But… rather not now. I wonder how he survived. I just hope she believes me it wasn't a set-up of mine!

"The intruder had me occupied for the moment. I tossed him over board."

The first kick from this ship hasn't killed him. Neither will this. Chance is alive. But, at least he won't be able to stop us from erasing Headquarters…

Oh… *Crud*, his glovatrix!

"Then what…"

"I'll prepare the bomb now," he cut Turmoil off.

Jake hurried back to the hangar, deeply troubled. She *must* believe me!


 

THURSDAY, 10:15 A.M.

"Flight Commander…

FLIGHT COMMANDER…!" Turmoil spoke into a dead mike, at a complete loss at what to make out of Jake's behavior.

There had been something in his voice… A slight pause before his words, and between his sentences. Hesitation… Why?

She leaned back in her chair, attacking the leather armrests with her claws. She retracted them, unsheathed them again – an unconscious reflex. Her chair was torn to pieces, parts of its stuffing strewn over her uniform.

Jake wouldn't lie to me about the Enforcer pilot. So, he threw him overboard. But, why did he hesitate…?

"ETA at Enforcer Headquarters in ten minutes," Lt. Pergell informed her.

Good, she thought, trying to concentrate on the operation again.

The Enforcer pilot was removed from board, their jets no menace any longer and HQ was as weak as a newborn kitten. Nothing could stop her from getting her revenge on the Enforcers.

Then… why had that knot in her gut returned?


 

THURSDAY, 10:15 A.M.

"I CAN'T SHAKE HIM OFF!"

That's two of us! Felina thought sourly, evading the enemy laser volleys with a sudden drop.

Lt. Feral was infuriated. Her main objective to prevent Turmoil's pilots from attacking Headquarters had turned into an unmanageable task when the Mega Squadron had entangled them in a dogfight between the brick-and-steel canyons of MegaKat City.

There, the outstanding flying abilities of Turmoil's pilots had shown. Two out of previously twelve high-developed Enforcer jets were the puny remnants of the Delta Squadron. The other ten ships were only junk now, blown to pieces or crashed from the sky. The Mega Squadron had them outnumbered 7:2. And, as if to tease her, the five surplus pilots had left immediately, continuing on their way to Headquarters.

Turmoil had rated her and Lt. Taylor a minor threat for which two pilots were sufficient to ban.

And, she was right!

The thought touched a wound point in her. To lose and to be mocked didn't go well with a Feral character.

But, there was no denying: The two pilots had them occupied, and Felina could only watch the other five dots vanish from the radar.

She hadn't even managed to warn Headquarters of the new danger. In the heat of combat, Felina had been too busy to switch communication bands. Only half a minute ago, she had risked a spare second for this action, and it had gained her a nasty laser scorch on her canopy.

Enforcer Headquarters transmitted no more. On its band, there was the eerie silence of static.

It was an indubitable fact: Turmoil's pilots had reached an unshielded Headquarters.

She had failed.

At present, Turmoil's five other pilots would be coming back. Felina knew she wouldn't stand a chance against the whole lot of them.

But, she swore under her breath to take as many of them with her as she could.

Felina made a sharp turn at the next crossing, and found Lieutenant Taylor flying in front of her, followed by the second jet of the Mega Squadron.

Lt. Taylor's flying impressed her. He had taken down two jets and shown superb reflexes in his maneuvers. But, after being relentlessly chased for minutes, he was on the brink of panic. He had referred to the enemy pilot as a tom. It was a bad sign. Soon, he would commit a mistake that would also be his last.

Felina's pursuer came diving around the block. Now, the four jets were flying in a line, like pearls on a necklace.

So much about shaking off my shadow!

Lt. Feral aimed at the enemy before her and fired, but Turmoil's pilot evaded her laser volleys with ease and let off a volley of her own that found its mark on the fuselage of Lt. Taylor's jet.

It started to shake badly.

"OH… NO, OH NO… NO…" Gregory's words were almost unintelligible.

As bitter as it was, Felina had to give Turmoil's pilots credit for their talent. She had thought herself to be an excellent pilot. These she-kats made her feel clumsy; her reflexes seemed wooden by comparison. It was nearly impossible to avoid being roasted from behind and to shoot down a superior enemy in front at the same time.

If I could only predict their moves…

Maybe I can!

"Lt. Taylor, eject now!" she screamed into her radio.

"BUT…"

"DON'T ASK! DO IT! *NOW*!"

This time, Greg didn't answer, and Felina saw his canopy slide back as he ejected.

She inhaled deeply to calm herself. Then, she did the only thing mad enough to surprise Turmoil's pilot.

Not a second after Lt. Taylor had left his jet with his seat, Felina fired at her teammate's pilot-less plane.

Her second salvo hit the fuel tanks, and the ship blew up like nothing.

The unexpected support really caught the pilot ahead of her unaware. Restricted by the row of houses to the right, Turmoil's lieutenant had only the option of breaking out to the left to avoid the explosion. This led her directly into Felina's line of fire.

Felina had her finger on the trigger already.

A second explosion bellowed in the streets. Lt. Feral cheered as she passed through the wall of fire.

"One down, one to go!"

Her enemy showed what she thought of her words by answering with some angry laser volleys. Felina dodged them only with the  greatest of difficulties.

Suddenly, the canyon led into a great plaza before her, with only a one-way street leading away on the other side of the square. The houses to its side stood too close together for a fighter jet with a wing span of 7 meters to fly horizontally.

Flying vertically down a small street with no chance whatsoever to evade a following enemy would be a suicide mission…

Nonetheless, Felina brought her jet into a vertical.

And, behind her, Turmoil's pilot mimicked her upright flying style to follow an easy prey into the small canyon.

The crucial point was: Felina hadn't reached the canyon yet. Despite her strange position, she grabbed between her knees and pulled the ejector loop.

Felina was flung out of her jet with her seat in the brink of a second, while her plane continued on, racing into the narrow canyon, followed by her enemy. Without its pilot, the Enforcer jet started to rotate, and finally the tip of the wings connected with the rows of houses. Resistance brought the jet to an immediate stop. Turmoil's lieutenant couldn't evade.

The hunter slammed into the hunted.

Both ships blew up.

Of all this, Felina didn't perceive a tad anymore.

Her scheme included the tiny flaw of her ejector seat having the momentum of high speed, due to her jet's fast flight. The impetus drove it straight on as well, but as she had ejected vertically, she was also transported to the side, and there, houses barred the way.

Right from the start, Felina knew things would be getting close with her crazy stunt. Now, she realized it would be *too* close.

The skyscraper to her side was growing larger and larger, its brick wall starting to swallow everything else. She would meet it!

It's up to you, T-Bone! Get th…

She collided with the protected right side of her seat's backrest, but the impact was remorseless nonetheless, her helmed head thumping against the brickwork.

A sweltering pain shot up her spine, exploded in her skull. The world turned upside-down, with the plaza suddenly *above* her and her seat falling *upwards*, and then blackness consumed her pain, her worrisome situation, and young Enforcer pilot Lieutenant Felina Feral knew no more.

***To be continued - in "Going Down"***

Inspirational music:

Jessica Folker's "How will I know (who you are)"

Nick Mancina's "Choppers" (sic!) / "Entering Airport" / "City Streets" for T-Bone's airfight