HI, been a while for me. At least four or three months to my guess. I lost a 
lot of fics that may have been posted in an upgrade, and had to re-type a 
few. This, is one of them. So, I hope you enjoy.

To Hell and Back Pt. 1

Part One: The first encounter
	
	<BANG>
	
	Callie dropped the coffee cup she was holding and ran down the 
corridor she heard the gun go off. She continued to run down the everlasting 
corridor as both heels on her shoes snapped off simultaneously. She ripped 
them off and continued to run until she arrived at her door, panting heavily.
She looked in, saw a body and screamed. A furless tom-kat lying on the floor,
a slow deep red pool spreading from behind his head, the cause, a small hole 
in his forehead. The face was instantly recognisable. Namely because he was 
the only one. Matt was dead. She looked across to the killer. 
	She screamed.
	It was her.

	Callie woke, coated in sweat. She sat up and looked round. Her 
apartment. She dazedly looked over to the clock and blinked a few times to 
get it in focus. 3:50 AM. She fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes, 
thinking of nothing.


	Callie stumbled slowly into her office as the papers in her folder 
fanned onto the floor as she pushed open the door with the heel of her shoe. 
She muttered a silent expletive and bundled the papers into a large pile 
shoved under her left arm. She dumped them onto her desk and checked her 
messages. Jake had called saying her car was ready, nothing else. She 
decided to leave for Jake's now, save shoe leather. She left her office, 
hailed a cab and took it to the garage.

	"Hi Matt." She cheerfully said as she dropped the twenty into the 
waiting cabby's paw and walking towards him.
	"Hi." He replied, leaning back into her engine.
	"Jake said it was fixed, isn't it?"
	"No. He thought it was, I'm just giving it a tune up." He rubbed his 
hands on the backs of his legs. "Could you start her up whilst I look at 
the overall look?"
	"Sure." She stepped into the driver's seat and stuck in the key. She 
peered round the corner and turned the key. It rumbled to life and Matt 
leant in.
	"Could you give it some gas?" He shouted over the rumble of the 
engine. She pressed her foot down on the accelerator as Matt was pulled 
forward, into the running engine.
	"MATT!?" She screamed as she flicked off the ignition and ran out, 
pulling him out the engine. He was cradling a bleeding arm under a blood 
soaked overall, which was cut.
	"I'll be OK." He muttered as he increased the pressure.
	"No way, we're going to the hospital."
	"What? It's just a cut!" He complained.
	"A cut that's bleeding badly! Aren't you feeling a little woozy?"
	"Yeah, Kinda."
	"OK, we're going!" He was dragged out like a small, protesting child.

	"You seemed pretty freaked out when I got my arm caught in the 
engine." Matt said in the waiting room of A&E.
	"No reason, caring for friends."
	"Yeah, OK! You're totally bent over something! What is it?"
	"Nothing."
	"Tell me!"
	"OK, I had this weird dream last night-"
	"I got my arm stuck in a car engine?"
	"No, I had shot you."
	"Shot me?" 
	"Yeah." She looked away.
	"Big deal, It was a nightmare."
	"But I shot you! You!"
	"Me! Big wow!" The nurse came through and led Matt through to an exam 
room where she inspected, cleaned, and stitched up the wound.

	Callie, once again, walked into her cramped office. Once again, 
papers spilled onto the floor in an eye-pleasing fan. She picked them up, 
dumped them on her desk and wondered where her life had gone down the pan.

	She was awoken by the sound of someone knocking at the door. She took 
a brief glance at the clock and yawned.
	"Come in." She half said, half yawned.
	"Uh, Hi." Matt said as he walked in.  "I've brought your car and it's 
all tuned up."
	"Thanks. Do you have any tips for keeping it running?"
	"No offence, but buy a new one." She laughed slightly at the quip and 
slid the keys across her desk. Matt turned to leave and she stopped him.
	"How's your arm?" She asked.
	"Fine. A little sore, but fine." It had been covered with a bandage 
and a small speck of redness was near the wound. He walked out, quietly 
closing the door. He walked about two feet, before stopping to do his 
shoes. He bent down and did up his laces as best he could. He was about to 
leave when he heard a slight crash come from Callie's office. Intrigued, he 
placed his ear to the door and listened in.
	"Whu-Whu-What do you want?" Callie stammered.
	"Easy. I want to see what your insides look like!" A man hissed back.
	"FORGET YOU!" She screamed back as Matt had enough information to go 
that The Deputy Mayor's life was endangered. He looked around and picked up 
a plant pot. He rapped on the door and waited for an answer.
	"Who is it?" The man asked.
	"Pizza guy." There was a brief silence.
	"What did I order again?"
	"Pepperoni plus with extra cheese."
	"No I didn't."
	"Yeah. Room 35, pepperoni plus with cheese." Matt stood off to the 
side, with the plant pot raised above his head.
	"OK, I'll take it." He heard a small click as the door opened and a 
head popped out, staring at him.
	"Pizza's off." Matt said as he brought the porcelain vase down onto 
the head of the attacker. Bullet's howled their way out of the office as 
Matt slid to his knees, holding a weapon. He stood up and fired inwards. 
When there was no return fire. He peeped out, only to have a gun shoved in 
his nose. Some one grabbed the gun he was holding and clubbed him round the 
back of the head with it. Everything went a horrible, horrible black.

	He groggily opened his eyes, looking across the cold cement floor 
that he was lying on. A pair of black, leather boots where directly in 
front of him.
	"Get up." They said, with a strong Russian accent.
	"Bite me." He replied.
	"I said, GET UP!" One of the boots buried itself deep into his 
stomach, winding him. He stood up in pain and looked at his captors. 
She-Kats.
	"Ah, I see you are strong."
	"What?" 
	"You are strong, no?"
	"Yeah. I could escape here. Shoot a few guards..."
	"But you're a lowly grease monkey, earning you way through your 
screwy life on a salary that my boot tier could laugh at."
	"Well, at least I aint a fudged up little bitch."
	"Ha! I could offer your millions if you could tie my boot!" Matt 
looked at her. A black furred she-kat stood about the same height as him. 
She wore an overly exaggerated captains suit and cap. "You are pitiful."
	"What, not as pitiful as you?" She spat in his face.
	"I am your new leader! You will bow before me."
	"Get lost." He was thrown to the ground and knocked out, once again.

	"Have you seen Matt around Jake?" Asked Cat.
	"Uh, no." He replied, half leaning out the fridge. "He was dropping 
off Callie's car wasn't he?"
	"Yeah. He's been gone for ages."
	"Phone Callie." Cat walked over and picked up the phone. She hit 
speed-dial and waited for a reply. The phone was engaged.
	"Funny, no reply." She tried the mobile. It rung before a loud smash 
and it went dead.
	"OK, Callie's mobile just got cut off. I say something's going down."
	"Can we trace the signal of her communicator?"
	"Only if it's activated."
	"Couldn't we activate it?" She slid down the ladder and waited for 
Chance.
	"Yeah," Jake replied. "But it may not work."
	"No harm in trying."

	A group of officers sat in the mess hall as Callie's purse began to 
beep.
	"Huh? What the -" The closest one reached over, and with a scarred 
palm, opened the purse and looked at the flashing triangle. He put it onto 
the table and smashed it to bits with his paw. "I hate machines."
	
	"Was it enough?" Asked T-bone.
	"Yeah. It's above the city. They've or she's been captured in the 
sky?" The turbokat soared over the outskirts of the city.
	"We'll overlook the co-ordinates, but I think it'll be a ghost." 
T-Bone pulled Back on the stick and the turbokat turned and headed 
outwards, towards the sea.

	"You're making one huge mother of a mistake." Callie hissed as the 
guards lowered her into the chair, making sure the leather straps where 
tighter than need.
	"Oh, what makes you say that?"
	"No reason." She looked across to Matt, who lay unconscious and 
bleeding.
	"Aren't you going to give him medical treatment?"
	"No. We're researching on what his body can take. Tolerances to heat,
light, cold, pain etc. Since no one did this procedure when he arrived, 
I took the liberty in doing it for them. He's the privileged one."
	"Well shoot," Matt said from the corner. "I feel so wanted."
	"Shut up!" The she-kat hissed. "He's ready for his next procedure. 
Prep him." He was hauled to his feet and led through the large iron doors 
and across a courtyard.
	"Why am I being held if you want him?"
	"Bargaining tool if the SWAT Kats were to show their hides." She 
began to walk away.
	"Why did you resurface?" The she-kat stopped, her left eye glinting 
in the limited light. 
	"I'll tell later. I have to supervise the next test." She continued 
to walk until the doors slid shut behind her.

	Callie sat in the darkness, trying to find something to undo the 
straps with. She found a fork, but that wouldn't do much good since one, 
she couldn't reach it. And two, she wasn't a contortionist so using her 
feet to untie herself was looking bleak. She asked herself why she had the 
knack of getting herself caught in these situations. Suddenly, red warning 
lights went off around her. She began to squirm as guns began to go off 
around the cell she was in. Someone slammed into the door as she began to 
chew at the straps. The door lock flashed red as the code-card was now 
nulled. Another one swooshed through the lock reader as the door began to 
open. It came to a screeching stop as a figure walked in. He or she undid 
the straps and lifted Callie up.
	"C'mon, we're going." She looked across at her saviour. It was Matt.
	"Matt?!" 
	"The one and only." He hoisted the laser shotgun above his head and 
peered out to the running guards. He fired into the crowd ad ducked back 
into the room.
	"But you're being tested on!"
	"*Was* being tested on. We're leaving!" He dragged her into the 
corridor and fired into the waiting guards as he walked backwards, Callie 
behind him. Two of the five female guards had a volley of laser shrapnel 
embedded in their chests as they fell backwards, arms flailing. When the 
other guards attention was distracted, they made a run for the lift. Matt 
slammed his palm into the lower level button and guarded the door until it 
purred closed.
	"Did you intend to kill them?"
	"No. Why do you think I was missing? You think I can't shoot? Besides,
they'll be up in a few minutes." The lift shuddered to a halt. The door 
slid open and three laser shotguns entered the cabin.
	"You will release your weapons and return to the holding cell." The 
tallest one said. Matt dropped his gun and put his hands behind his head.
	"I'll still escape." The guard put her hands to her ear. She nodded 
to the other guards as they threw Matt and Callie out and ran into the lift.
The shotgun was kicked out as the lift door closed and the safety metal 
plate slid into place.
	"Hospitable aren't they?" Asked Callie. Matt reached for the shotgun.
	"They put us here for a reason. And knowing that bitch it wasn't for 
a good one." A quiet howl bounced off the walls and sped it's way through 
the deck.  "There's the reason." He looked for a way out. The howl came 
again. It wasn't feline or human. It was something from a Stephan King 
novel. Primeval in every way, bloodthirsty and ready to kill.
	"Couldn't we just jump out?" Asked Callie.
	"And plummet through 20 thousand feet, crash into the cold sea at 
just over a hundred miles per hour and go home for a sausage? Yeah, OK."  
he replied, looking for a way out.
	"No, there's parachutes there. See." He looked over at the two 
rucksack things dangling from the wall. 
	"I could kiss you!" He ran over and peeled them off the wall and was 
about to hand one to Callie when the sound of tearing metal filled his 
ears.
	"Matt, what was that?"
	"I don't know." Suddenly, it appeared at the other end of the 
corridor. It walked on six legs, had two arm-like things, huge stabbing 
tools they looked like. It had a huge mouth-like object, with two large 
pincers as the upper and lower jaw. The upper jaw was covered in an armour 
plated exoskeleton. It's shell was covered in a brown and green tiger 
stripe. It released another shrill scream as it bounded towards them. 
It screamed again, it's jaw opening to reveal a single eye and pinprick 
size mouth.
	"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
	"One big mother of a bug." He charged the battery and aimed straight 
for a leg. The battery released a shrill whine describing that it was ready 
and primed to kick some ass as he fired. The laser bolt sizzled through the 
air and hit the creatures right arm, causing it to rip itself clean from 
the body and splatter green ooze all over the wall. It screamed in pain, 
crying out like a child as it continued it's charge of death.
	"Shoot it!" He continued to fire and the bolts sizzled into the upper 
claw or it's head. Multiple holes formed in the shell. When a new one was 
formed, blood erupted from the hole. 
	"Put on the parachute!" He screamed as he continued to fire. Callie 
pulled on the parachute and helped Matt with his as the creature writhed in 
agony as the pair of left legs exploded off the body. It released a low 
howl of pain as it fell motionless. Matt did the buckles up on his 
parachute and walked over to the bug. He looked it over.
	"It looks like a spider."
	"But it's only got six legs."
	"Eight if you count the arms."
	"So it's an arachnid?" 
	"Yeah." He walked up to the head of it as it made a final jump of 
attack and embedded it's arm into Matt's shoulder, so far it burst through 
the other side and out again. Matt aimed for the eye and fired. The laser 
bolts sizzled the eye and sent the bug into a never ending sleep. The talon 
remained in his shoulder as he fired at the joint and he fell back, gasping
in pain.
	"Are you going to remove it?" She asked, slightly afraid at the large 
amount of blood dribbling down his back.
	"No, it's acting as a plug."
	"Well, it's not a very good one." She helped him to his feet as he 
slammed his bloody palm onto the airlock release button. It didn't open so 
he fired on the lock until it did. He looked across at her.
	"We'll land on the hospital, I can get treatment there." They looked 
out into the sky. The clouds formed a floor like covering of the sky. Matt 
grabbed her paw and they were about to jump when a jet hovered into view. 
It had red racing stripes, it was obvious to both of them it was the 
Turbokat.
	"Need a lift?" Asked Razor as the turbokat spun and the wings became 
level with the door.
	"A doctor would be nice." Matt said as he painfully walked across the 
wing and stepped into the cramped cockpit.
	"Jesus Christ!" T-Bone exclaimed as Matt threw the shotgun into the 
ship. Callie landed on his lap and Razor stood in front of them. The canopy 
whooshed over as the Turbokat began it's descent.

	In a far off galaxy, a group of starships moved across the blank 
inkyness of space as the commander of the fleet addressed ever single ship. 
Each ship, measuring over a kilometer, had a vast array of engine pods that 
spouted a blue flame into space.
	"I speak to you after the shock news of the asteroid attack that 
killed two billion people. We know who, or what, the perpetrators were. The 
remaining four billion population of Earth have traveled to Mars, Venus and 
the Moon, to live until our home is cleaned up. We don't have enough 
recruits to launch an attack on the homeworld of the arachnids, so, we're 
going to try and find a colony. A humanoid colony that will help us destroy 
this menace. A colony which will help. We are going to use the newly 
improved light drive, which the late Matthew Herapin and Catalina McNeal 
perfected. We will travel from galaxy to galaxy, trying to find life. This, 
twenty ship fleet, has all the united federations' recruits of bombers, MI 
and pilots. We are trying to find intelligent life that will help us. So, 
to us all. God Speed." The engines of the ships hummed as the star drives 
exploded into light as the ships sped off towards the closest solar system, 
the next destination of the search for allies. 

	Years after the attack on Turmoil's ship, Matt reflected on his life. 
When the physiotherapy and exams were over, he returned home and began to 
fly in the SWAT Kats again, after a six month break. Five years later, on 
the eve of Cat's 30th birthday, They all made a shock discovery, so did the 
crew of the twenty flagships that had been searching the three percent of 
the galaxy that they knew. Matt and Cat knew they would get home. They knew 
they weren't in another screwy dimension, they were in the same dimension, 
the only dimension, just another part of it. Constellations were different 
because Jake's solar system was in a different place, five hundred million 
light years from Earth infact, But Cat could swear she could see a misty
ball of gas that looked like the milky way, but Matt said that it was 
probably a cloud. She didn't want to believe that they weren't getting 
home, but they were, they were going to, no matter how long it took.

Part Two: The Bug War

New Mexico, 2003
	In the small office by the vast array of S.E.T.I satellite dishes 
that spanned for over three clicks, the monitor watched the blank screens, 
every so often grabbing at the stress relief toy and forcing down on it 
with all his might. The screen pulsed with a sound. His eyes gathered that 
and he ran the test. It concluded that it wasn't a fault. He sat up and 
pulled on his glasses. The sound pulsed again until it was a steady stream. 
He turned on the speakers and listened.
	"OK, our sensors say their indigenous life down there, we don't know 
if it's small life-forms again, so we're going to send down a party."
	"Oh crap, crap, crap, crap crap!" he grabbed the phone and banged in 
the phone number that he knew. 
	
	A tired commander picked up his ringing phone and turned on the 
bedside lamp. "If this isn't a sexy she-kat, I'm hanging up."
	"Sir," Came the reply. "Listen to this." The operator in new Mexico 
placed the phone to the speaker and turned up the volume. 
	"Remember men, we don't know if it's friendly or hostile, so go 
forth, and make some allies!"
	"Crap! I'm Telling the chief-in-staff!" The commander jumped out of 
bed and a female rolled over.
	"Come back to bed Ulysses." She protested.
	"Elaine, S.E.T.I has discovered a Am/FM signal coming from a flag 
ship in orbit of our planet, I'm going to H.Q."
	"Ha, April fools to you too."
	"I'm not joking." He pulled on his pants and ran out. She sat up in 
bed and looked out the window. A small dot passed over the moon. She tried 
to get back to sleep, but she knew something bad would happen.

	Matt walked across the courtyard, greeting people as they greeted 
him. He pushed open the glass doors and walked through the deserted foyer. 
Old posters of the millennium litter the walls as he calls on the lift. He 
taps his foot on the ground until it comes. He takes it to the twentieth 
floor and walked out. He cotinued down the corridor and into a small 
office.
	"Morning'." He said to Cat as she peered up from her business.
	"Oh, hey."
	"Well, Gee thanks!" He dumped a parcel on the desk and fell into the 
chair. 
	"Have you heard?"
	"Heard what?" He flicked a pen round his fingers.
	"That aliens are orbiting the planet."
	"Oh, some friends!" He sarcastically commented. His watch began to 
bleep at him. He pulled it up and looked into it. Jake's face filled the 
face.
	"Matt, what does U.N.S.C stand for?"
	"United Nationals Space Corps. Why?"
	"Well I was reading the idents on the ships in orbit-"
	"SO there *are* ships in orbit?"
	"Yeah. Well, all the indents say U.N.S.C then a few numbers. I've 
also isolated a signal from the ships and here it is." A badly transmitted 
signal came through.
	"We have...fzzt...that they know...gzzt...our prescene. Why expect 
a...tzzt...to come and look at us sometimes soon."
	"We'll be right over. Out." Matt pulled his cuff over the watch and 
Cat walked to the door.
	"Well, what are we waiting for?" They ran out and bounded down the 
stairs.

	A com operator sat at the monitor of the lead ship as his monitor 
began to bleep.
	"Sir." The captain walked over. She was just over 5"9, brunette, 
athletic build as she stopped by Haynes.
	"Haynes." She scratched her head.
	"We've got an incoming ship ma'am. Anti-grav class. Size of an F19 
and it seems to be altering to the atmosphere of space."
	"An F-19 is in space? Anti-grav? Hail them." Haynes opened a com 
channel and began to speak down the line.

	The Cobra ripped itself from the atmosphere of the planet and 
adjusted to space mode. The speed of heat cover sealed and oxygen was 
introduced to the cockpit. The drives kicked in and Matt pulled the Cobra 
level with the smallest ship.
	"Any idea who they are?"
	"Nope." Cat replied. They wern't in uniform. Her computer began to 
bleep. " We've got a visual message coming through." 
	"Punch it up on both monitors." The picture of a captain sitting in 
her chair with her first officers sitting round her.
	"I am Captain Whitely of the Starship Liberty. We seek help in a 
quest to destroy a almost immortal foe. We have traveled from Earth, a far 
off distant planet. Please state your names."
	"Major Matthew Herapin and Luitenent Catalina McNeal at your service.
	"What? They're dead."
	"Flick on your monitors." The captain nodded and two human faces 
blipped on screen.
	"But you died."
	"No, we traveled over the galaxy. Yours is the first human face we've 
seen in five years. Can we come on board?"
	"Yes, of course. Land in our hanger, I'll meet you there."

	The captain walked into the hanger, under armed guard. Matt jumped 
down from the cockpit, landing heavily. He dusted himself off and helped 
Cat down. They walked over together, feet in unison, as they stopped in 
front of the captain, saluting sharply.
	"Major Matthew Herapin. Well, we never thought we'd see your face 
again. We need a full report on your-"
	"Not possible, Ma'am."
	"Why?"
	"Our ship was destroyed on arrival. We salvaged the generator and 
that's it. We built the new jet from scratch."
	"Impressive. We need to verify that you're actually who you say you 
are. Please follow me to sickbay for a full medical." The party was lead 
through archways, corridors, lifts and stairs until they reached the 
sickbay. They walked in and a hologram materialized in front of them.
	"AH, captain." The hologram said. He was a man in his middle ages, 
balding slightly . "Who are these people?"
	"Search your backlogs for Major Herapin and Cat McNeal."
	"Herapin, Matthew, Major first class. Born: 12th Feb. 1972. Died, 25th
June. 1998. Major McNeal, Catalina Sophie. Born, 25th Mar. 1971. Died, 25th 
June 1998. Causes of death, fatal test error. How is this possible?" 
	"We don't know, doctor. I want you to do retinal scans, finger prints,
DNA tests, blood tests, the full works to identify them."
	"Aye, Ma'am. If you'd like to sit on this table, sir."
	"Of course." Matt jumped onto the table and lay down. He coughed 
slightly as the doctor pulled out what looked like half a pen. He waved it 
over his temples as it flashed. his vitals appeared on screen and the 
captain left. 

	"I've always hated doctors with cold hands." Matt said, walking into 
the bridge.
	"Were he was touching you I was suprised he didn't turn you on."
	"Who said he didn't?" He joked. He walked over to the captain and 
handed over a square item just over a centimeter thick.
	"This proves it. Welcome aboard, Majors. I wish to show you 
something."
	"Sure." Matt and Cat were led through to a senior officers room, and 
shown a video.

	In a galaxy just over an eighth of a light year away, KlendKlathnu, 
on the fifth planet orbiting twin suns, a tiger striped insect ran across a 
plane. It was identical to the one that stabbed Matt. It looked upwards and 
howled. From behind a mountain, a blue plasma bolt erupted from something 
as it took off through the atmosphere. As it neared the edge of the planet's
gravitational pull, it slammed into an asteroid, which the suns provided, 
which was sent sprawling into space, on a course towards the planet that 
Jake and Chance lived.

	Todd Winterborn walked across the floor of the hotel and over to the 
vid-phone. He dialed in the number of his parents. 
	"AT&T are connecting you now...please wait." The computer said as it 
ran it's program. His mother picked up.
	"Hello?"
	"Mom?"
	"Todd! How are you!"
	"Fine mom. Is dad there?"
	"Yes son." His dad appeared on screen. They both were about fifty 
five and had crows feet around their eyes.
	"How are you?" His father asked.
	"I'm fine pop." The sky became increasingly darker.
	"That's funny, it was broadcasted as a sunny day." The transmission 
was cut and it said the connection was terminated at the other end. 
	'Funny' he thought. 'Mom would never hang up on me.' he shrugged it 
off and walked across to the bed, were he fell on his back and closed his 
eyes.

	Matt and the captain skidded to a halt in front of the monitor as a 
large cloud of dust spewed into the atmosphere. 
	"CRAP!" She screamed as she walked over to a monitor. She watched the 
computer simulate the impact.
	"What's going on?" Matt asked as everyone ran round him.
	"The bugs have a nice tactic of throwing asteroids at us. It looks 
like that planet got hammered, just like Earth."
	"Earth! What happened to it?" 
	"A quarter of the population were killed."
	"Were was the first strike?"
	"India."
	"Was England affected?"
	"No." Matt sighed loudly. "That mean's my parent's lived."
	"I hate to break bad news but..."
	"What happened to them?"
	"The Herapins and McNeals were all on a trip to Asia, seeing testing 
on your, mistake. The asteroid hit and a third of Asia was vaporized, 
including Japan were the tests were being conducted. I'm sorry." The news 
hit Matt like a parade of twenty ton elephants. He fell into his chair and 
looked back. 
	"What about my sister?"
	"She survived. Infact, she's in this fleet."
	"She is?" He stood up again. He looked around the control room. 
"She's stationed on the Roger Young."
	"I want to see her."
	"That wont be possible until the-"
	"Does it look like I'm messing around? I want to see her, and I want 
to see her now." 
	"That's not possible!"
	"What part of the fleet is she in."
	"The final ship. You can-" He left the room and began to run. He slid 
down the stairs and ran over to the Cobra. He jumped in, started the 
engines and readied it for space. He began the oxygen supply and taxied 
towards the edge. A force-field erected in front of him. He spun the jet 
round and faced the controller. A missile lowered form the hull.
	"Open the door, or I turn you into Patê" The force field dissipated 
and he left, flying in a Lazy arc towards the ship at the end.

	Mel Herapin pulled out the circuit breaker from it's housing and 
through it into her tool box. She listened onto an oncoming person.
	"I'm sorry sir but she wont see you!"
	"She'll see me." She recognized the voice, but couldn't put a face 
to it.
	"Sir! Please stop or I'll arrest you."
	"Forget you." She knew that insult and rolled out the Jeffrey's tube. 
She stood up and looked towards the offender.
	"Ten-shun!" Matt ignored her. "Excuse me, but I'm a higher officer, 
so you salute me."
	"No thanks, I'm an ex-guy."
	"Oh really, what field?"
	"Testing. Remember the catastrophe just over five years ago."
	"Yeah. The Herapin disaster."
	"That Herapin was a bastard."
	"You will not speak about my brother like that!"
	"Why?" Matt turned. "Can't a guy insult himself?" Her eyes doubled in 
size and welled up in tears.
	"...Matt? Is that you?"
	"Yes." They hugged each other. A hug that was suspended for five 
years.	
	"Shoot, Matt. I'd never thought I'd see you again."
	"Same here. I know about Mum and Dad."
	"Oh, the captain told you."
	"Yeah. Cat's here."
	"She is? Hang on, how'd you get here?"
	"Flew."
	"In what?"
	"An F-19. With an anti-grav drive salvaged from the destroyed stealth 
that I crashed down on the planet below five years ago. I've been stabbed, 
turned into a different species and am a member of a secret vigilante group 
that always seems to get into trouble one way or another."	
	"You've been a busy beaver!"
	"Let's go back to the liberty."	
	"I'd like that." They walked off together, Matt learning about Mel's 
haste training. Matt telling her about his encounter with a bug.

	Matt and Mel walked across a long platform as Matt heard the howl of 
a bug. He turned and looked into the room that he was standing by. He 
didn't waste time and opened the door. He walked across the floor and 
looked behind the steel bars. A Bug! They had an arachnid in captivity.
	"What are you doing here, sir?"
	"Looking at that." He walked up to the bars. It ran at him and 
roared.
	"Oh, you're friend told me about you. Listen up, one day, I'm gonna 
lodge a huge nuke up your ass and blow your entire speices back to the 
Jurassic era." Mel put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 
	"I wanted to do that too, but we're looking for MI units to attack 
them on their planet. We've got at least three hundred in this fleet."
	"What would happen if I and a majority of that planet would sign up?"
	"You'll all be shipped back to Earth for training. After that, you'd 
be sent to the front lines, but you undergo a simple test in hand/eye 
co-ordination to see which unit you'd be assigned to. The machine told me I 
was an engineer."
	"Where do I sign up?"

	"Matt, are you sure about this?" Cat asked, rubbing her head.
	"As sure as hell. I wanna blow these guys back to which gene pool 
they came from."
	"Yeah, I wanna do it too, but the males in this city are also signing 
up, thanks to your little speech."
	"They needed to know!"
	"But you didn't have to scream it across the City! People from Tokyo, 
England, France, Africa, What's left of Australia, they're all signing up 
because of that attack!"
	"Well, you can stay, but Chance, Jake and I are all going."
	"Whoa, Chance and Jake are going too?"	
	"Yeah. They're signing now. They took there stuff as soon as the 
asteroid hit."
	"Christ, Matt. Why do you have to be difficult?"
	"I was born like it."
	"You were also born like a stubborn mule!"
	"Well, this pack horse is going to boot camp and is gonna be an MI. I 
took the test when Mel told me about it."
	"Mobil Infantry? Matt, I read reports! It's capital punishment at the 
boot camp."
	"Do I care? I'm going an that's final,  no one is stopping me."
	"Well, You better get a spare bag, I'm coming too." Matt looked up.
	"Are you sure?"
	"Yes." Matt waited five minutes before slinging his bag over his 
shoulder and boarding the Cobra. They flew to the Liberty together and 
were led into a small hanger were their jet would stay until they needed it 
again, *if* they ever needed it again.

	Matt, Cat, Jake and Chance walked up to the assignment desk and read 
their papers.
	"Well, Matt and I got P.E, ballistics and medical, MI's." Chance said.
	"Well, I'm being a pilot. Co-ordination and tactical."
	"Games a theory?" Jake said, fairly bemused. The man at the desk 
stamped all their papers.
	"Well done, son. That's intelligence."
	"Intelligence?"
	"I'll probably have to salute you next time you come here." He looked 
at Matt and Chance's papers. "Mobil infantry made me the man I am today." 
Chance noticed that the man had no legs. For the first time that day, a 
negative thought entered his head.
	"Let's make a promise." Cat said as they walked towards the 
transports for various ships. "If we ever meet again, let's always be 
friends."
	"I'm in." Jake said, putting his paw into the middle.
	"Ditto." Cat paw went in.
	"We'll probably be light years from each other, we'll probably never 
see each other again. What the hell, I'm in." They all reached the 
respective transports. Matt and Cat exchanged quick hugs and boarded the 
transports.
	"Make sure you write." Cat screamed just before the door closed. Matt 
nodded a reply through the Plexiglas.

	When Matt was locked tightly in his jump suit, he remember the 
tingling feeling in his scalp as the light drive was engaged. He remembered 
when the jump was over, the upmost glee as he saw the rings of Saturn for 
the first time in five years. When they passed the majesty of Mars, then 
the Defense laden moon, then Earth. He looked at the large tan-like scar on 
the surface of India. Someone looked over his shoulder.
	"Pretty Nasty, huh?" He looked round. "The names Sid, Sid Marie."
	"Matt Herapin."
	"Hey, you're that alien guy."
	"Quick one, aren't you? MI?"
	"Yeah. My mom's place got hit back home."
	"My parent's were also killed. My sister's stationed in this ship 
though." The PA system crackled into life.
	"Welcome to Earth. We will be splitting you into your squads. You 
will be taken directly to the boot camp and enrolled today. Local time is 
2:30 PM." An officer walked by.
	"Sir, where's the boot camp?" Asked Matt.
	"Arizona, recruit." He replied.
	"Great, heat-wave central."

	"Welcome to Arizona, Recruits. I am your drill sergeant, Commander 
Zevo." He paced up and down the lines. Everyone was in the uniformed code. 
The bootcamp was an old prison. The high walls led to the shuttle port 
which, old and new recruits left by. Each hut was a dome, and the largest 
hut the shower room. Each barrack could hold ten recruits, with combat 
armor and weapons in the corner."That there is washout alley. If you think 
you've had enough, you tell me, I sign the papers, you leave. Simple. SUCK 
IN THAT GUT RECRUIT!" He brought the baton into his gut. Someone giggled 
from behind. Zevo spun and looked at the offender.
	"Do I amuse you cadet?"
	"No, Sir."
	"The first and last words out your pie holes will be sir, is that 
clear?"
	"Sir, yes, sir." He laughed again.
	"Right, twenty times round that center circle." The man groaned and 
got hit on the backs of he legs with his baton. "Starky, pace 'em." The 
colored officer flicked open his baton and ran around with him. Zevo 
stopped by Matt.
	"You look familiar."
	"Sir, I should." Matt replied, not looking at him. "I was the 
supposedly dead test pilot that frontiered the light drive. My face was on 
nearly every front page of every newspaper in the world. Last Rank, Major 
Matthew Herapin, first class, Sir."
	"Pretty impressive cadet. I see you're a regular to the system." He 
stepped back. "Does anyone think they could take me down?" A burly guy 
behind Chance stuck his hand up.
	"I believe I could, Sir." Zevo took off his belt and adopted a 
stance. The cadet looked at him before charging, screaming. Zevo grabbed 
his arm, flipped him over and broke his arm in two over his knee. 	
	"Are you OK, cadet?"
	"Crap, yes sir. I think it's my arm."
	"MEDIC!" Zevo screamed. Two medics ran over and began to attend to 
the injured recruit. A she-kat walked up behind Zevo. She cleared her 
throat and looked at him.	
	"And who the hell are you?"
	"Feral, Felina, Sir. Late transfer." She handed him her papers. 
	"You request this squad?"
	"I heard it was the best."
	"It is the best, and what makes you think *you're* good enough for 
it?" Felina dropped her stuff and kicked him in the stomach, she quickly 
uppercutted him in the chin. He fell to the ground and tripped her with 
his left leg. He brought his right knee onto her throat and held it there 
for a minute. he stood up and looked at the men. "This is one of the most 
determined people-"
	"Kat."
	"Kats to ever grace my crew. So, I want you to look at her, and think 
that if you use her influence, you may make squad leader. Dismissed." Matt 
and Chance walked over to the gagging Felina.
	"Hey." Matt said. Felina punched him across the chin. "HEY!" he 
complained as he rubbed it thoughtfully. 
	"Don't be an asshole, Matt."
	
	Later, in the mess hall, Sid, Felina, Matt and Chance all sat round 
the dinner table. The tom-kat with the broken arm sat next to him.
	"If he comes near me again, I'll kick the guys tail!"  He said.
	"It's 'ass' here. The name's Matt, what's yours?"
	"Mike." He poured Salt over his food. "What is this krud?"
	"Boot camp food, get used to it." Felina said, unhappily eating what 
they'd given her.
	"Heard what we're doing tomorrow?" Asked Chance.
	"Yeah, extensive agility and physical training. You know that large 
assault course?"
	"Uh-huh."	
	"That."
	"What? Aw, man. I thought is was press ups, guns, bang, kick some 
ass."
	"You'll be lucky. It's extensive psychical fitness and stuff like 
that, then it's the guns."
	"Damn!" Matt shoved his food to the side of his plate and sat back.  
"What time is it?"
	"Er, half eight, why?"
	"What time do we have to be in the barracks for?"
	"Eight forty-five isn't it?" Matt stood up and picked up his tray.
	"I'm heading' off and I'm going to pack up some things. Anyone 
comin'?"
	"I'll be through in a minute." Felina said, polishing off the 
substance which partly resembled mashed potato. Matt threw the partly eaten 
food into the bin and dumped the tray and plate above it. He walked out 
into the cold night air and breathed it in.
	He was home.

	"OK! Listen up, recruits. This assault course will test your agility, 
speed, co-ordination and decision making. You have five minutes to climb 
over the nets, through the tire course, up the rigging and down the zip 
line. If you miss this, you will be penalized with a five minute time 
penalty. If you do not make the second part within two minutes, you will be 
docked fifty credits and have to do a four mile run every morning, for a 
week. Is that clear?"
	"SIR, YES SIR!" The recruits screamed in unison. The assault course 
comprised of what the commander said, just it was over half a kilometer 
long. The first five set off to the nets and made it to the top of the 
twenty foot pyramid before quickly half falling, half climbing down the 
other side and to the next stage. Matt, Chance and Felina were the ones to 
go after the first wave. They sprinted to the nets, Matt behind because 
felines could naturally sprint faster than humans. They scaled and got down 
faster, but Matt continued to plow on, through the tires and towards the 
rigging. He jumped and grabbed the netting three feet off the ground, and 
continued to climb. A seventy foot climb that when he reached the six foot 
mark, lost his footing and fell. 
	Felina looked down to Matt who dangled by a hand off the nets. She 
thought of helping him, but the officers above ordered her to continue. She 
was never one to disobey orders, and she wasn't going to start today. She 
closed her eyes, counting to five, before continuing to climb. Matt had 
grabbed another rope and was beginning to hoist himself up to the top again.
He looked at his watch. He had twenty seconds. He knew that the officers 
wouldn't let you make the rope swing which was ten meters from the top of 
the rigging if you didn't have at least fifteen seconds left. 
	Now it was fifteen seconds. He continued to climb at a furious rate, 
reaching the top with seven seconds. He stood up, and half scrambled for 
the gate towards the zip line. The officer stuck his hand out and held him.
	"No way, cadet. You've failed." Matt grabbed the officer's face and 
slammed it into the wooden frame of the door. The officer passed out and 
Matt ran for the line. He was five seconds away, but he only had four 
seconds. Three, two, one. The magnetic locks on the zip line clicked, 
expressing Matt's time was up and it began to slide down the line. Matt was 
a second away from it when it began it's journey. He reached the edge and 
dived for it as it sped away, his fingers wrapping round the cool metal as 
his legs dangled below him, like limp puppet legs. He breathed a sigh of 
relief as he sped to the bottom, readying himself for the landing. He bent 
his knees and readied to land like it was a parachute jump. He landed, let 
go and rolled before getting back up and running for the finish line, over 
the poles and through the trenches.

	"That was the *stupidest* piece of crap I've ever seen in my career 
training MI's, that has to be the dumbest, thickest, dimmest piece of 
stupidity I've *ever* seen!" The officer in charge bawled at Matt as he 
stood in the black service motifs. Black khakis and a tight, black shirt, 
topped off with a beret with the gold pin, representing he was an Mi.
	"I never was an underachiever, Sir." Matt replied, not looking at him,
not even daring to blink.
	"What possessed to do such a thing?"
	"I was brought up to do my best, even if it meant risks, Sir."
	"Well I'm glad, cadet. Because when you pass with flying colors, and 
you're shipped off to the front lines, and you bust some bugs, you'll think
'God, I was *glad* I pulled the risk.' But, if you didn't do that, when you 
were walking down washout lane, you'd be going. 'Crap, I really wished I 
took that risk.'"
	"Sir?" Asked Matt.
	"You're cleared. You passed the agility test, A+, you're going far, 
MI, dismissed." Matt walked out the officer's office, speechless.

	"What's the punishment?" Asked Felina as Matt threw his beret onto 
the bunk.
	"Man, he's *so*strict. I mean, I passed the agility test with flying 
colors, I was commented on my determination. And the really crapy thing is 
that, he didn't do a godamn thing! I mean, I knocked out a guard, but he 
said that I'm going to go far." Matt replied.
	"How far?" Someone shouted across the barracks. "Washout lane?"	
	"The only thing washin'  out will be your ass in combat!"
	"How long will you last? Five, six seconds maybe?"
	"Yeah, five or six seconds longer than you." Chance walked over with 
a towel draped over his shoulders.
	"Ya here?"
	"Here what?" Asked Matt.
	"Were doing ballistics training tomorrow, while you're ass was 
getting' kicked." 
	"Ah, we're doing the 'gauntlet'' are we?"
	"Gauntlet?"
	"Yeah, some guy was telling me about how the platoon is split into 
two, and those two teams fight each other in simulated combat. If you're 
shot with the laser weapons, you're temporally paralyzed. Capture the flag."
	"Sounds...interesting."

	"OK! Listen up! Team blue, you shoot team red. Red, visa versa. Which 
ever team captures the flag first, they win. Oh yeah, the person who stays 
alive the longest or kills the most, makes squad leader." Murmurs went up 
from the waiting teams as their packs bleeped. They all stood in full 
combat gear, guns and all, waiting for the signal to begin to kick the crap 
out of any blue or red member that they could shoot. The loudspeaker 
blurted out: BEGIN and the two groups ran to opposing corners. 

	Matt stood infront of his team and was deep in thought.
	"MATT! What the hell are you doing?!" Screamed Felina. "They're gonna 
advance and take us out!"
	"How deep do those walls go into the ground?"
	"A few centimeters, why?"
	"Dig under and look through. Shoot them as they come down there. They 
wont see us and'll run, they'll make panic attacks and might end up 
shooting each other, if they're stupid enough." The MI's dropped to their 
knees and began to pull away the sand as Matt stood up, in the full open, 
and looked round. 
	"They're coming." He said out the corner of his mouth to Felina, to 
reacted instinctively to ready her gun.
	"How do you know." 
	"The sniper is trying to target me."
	"How do you know?"
	"I can see the glare off the scope." He waved in the direction of the 
reflected light, which quickly disappeared. Matt walked into the shade, and 
told them how a pack of five would go for the flag.

	"I don't understand it, Sir." The second in command said to General 
Harris.
	"I do. You expect them to be gun toting happy, which the red team is. 
But, the team with Herapin on it, blue, is using techniques I never thought 
of. He's making covers out of the walls. He's leaving himself out in the 
open. I don't know why."
	"Sir, did you say Herapin was on the blue team?"
	"Yes, I picked him for that. He's on the underdog side with that 
Feral she-kat."
	"Well, I can't see them."
	"What?" He pulled the binoculars from the hands of his second in 
command. He scoured the field, but he couldn't see Matt. "What was he 
before the accident?"
	"He was a pilot for the European Air Force, before the planet merged 
to create the United Air Force. That was when we discovered the Bug threat, 
a mear week after Mr. Herapin disappeared. He was a test pilot for half a 
year."
	"But A fighter pilot is never taught S.W.A.T maneuvers or tactics 
like that. Is there any information on what he was on the kat planet?"
	"None, Sir."
	"Ha, crap. He's more shady than the amount of students Bill Clinton 
had in his oval office."

	Matt crawled along the narrow pipe, pushing his gun forward as the 
posse of five crawled behind him.
	"Remind me why we're going *away* from the flag?" Felina protested.
	"Well, grasshopper. If we go as far away as possible, so far away 
that the reds won't patrol, leaving us with a clear path towards the flag. 
There may be the odd red, but five to one are pretty unfair odds." He 
scrambled into the minuscule clearing and looked around. 

	"Sir! I've found Herapin."
	"Where?"
	"The other end of the course, Sir. But how I'll never know."
	"Does he know he's walked into the stronghold of the reds?"
	"Not a clue, Sir. Let's see how he handles. Activate the red alarm." 
A warning siren went off from the red side of the course.

	"What the hell is that?" Felina screamed
	"Someone tripped an alarm!" Matt replied. Swarms of Reds sprinted 
round the corner and began to fire, kicking up violently high plumes of 
sand. Matt picked off two before he and Felina ran into a small nook. He 
picked off another three as the remainders of his group were shot on target.
	"OK, Matt. We're fudged."
	"We're never fudged." He dropped to his knees and fell onto his front.
	"Matt!" Felina hissed.
	"Trust me." He grinned. "I'm shot!" He screamed as two of the 
remaining red walked over to him. "My own man shot me." He whispered as he 
remained perfectly still.
	"Shame," Felina said, as she pointed her gun at the bulkier of the 
two. "I'm still here." She quickly picked them both off. Matt stood up and 
pulled the gun of Chance.
	"Asshole!" 
	"I love you too, Bu-ddy!" He walked off as Chance screamed from his 
frozen position.
	"That was rather inspiring." Felina said, rubbing her arm. 
	"Well, I always did like to be a budding thespian when I was an old 
timer." Three laser bolts sizzled over their heads as they jumped to 
opposite sides of the alley way.
	"Move, DELTA FIVE OH!" Matt screamed. Felina nodded, then looked at 
him.
	"HOW DO YOU KNOW ENFORCER MANOUVERS?"  He grinned as they performed 
the maneuver.
	Delta-Five-Oh was a move which consisted of crossing each other, 
continually firing, until you died, or they did. When the reds dropped and 
Felina grabbed an extra gun, they continued to walk, conformably, not 
people that were in the middle of a training exercise. 
	They meandered up the ramp and Felina pulled the flag from it's 
holder. 
	"That wasn't exceptionally hard." Matt said, covering his eyes from 
the sun.
	"You never know."

	The General- looked over to his second in command.
	"Which one, Simon?"
	"Don't know, Sir. I say wait till we do the live ammo testing 
tomorrow before deciding."
	"Good Idea, Simon. And call me Mark, I'm only a superior officer." He 
stepped down from the firestep and walked out of the trench. He walked 
across the tarmac, were troops ran across his path, and new MI's began 
press-ups.

	"OK! Today we use a little item called 'live ammo.' This stuff is 
deadly, and you better look out for comrades. If you hurt, main or waste a 
fellow MI, you are ejected from the training program. The highest score on 
this is 750, you *will* do better." The training course was a variety of 
dips and highs. Every high, a drone would appear, and fire a stun laser at 
the nearest moving enemy. They would then fall, and loose points. The first 
wave of MI's set off and were followed by the second wave. Matt and Felina 
were the front runners.
	Matt fell to his chest and took out the first drone. Head shot, extra 
points. He scaled the ridge, and slid down the other side, followed by 
Felina, Shaun, Jo, Sandra, Tim and Denise. Denise was unaware of the drone 
popping up behind her, and she was shot in the back. She screamed, fell 
forward, and cursed.
	"Watch your backs!" Matt ran forward, bullets blazing over his head, 
with Felina in tow. The bullets pummeled another drone into oblivion as 
Matt rested against the closest mound. Felina stood in front of him, he 
watched behind her. 
	
	As Matt lay, his face in the dirt, an indescribable biting pain in 
his chest, his life didn't flash before his eyes. More like the last minute 
did. He remembered seeing Jo run over the hill, pulling up her helmet. He 
remember seeing the missed drone pop up from behind her, and aim for her. 
The green laser struck her in her leg, but the damage was done. Her finger 
muscles spasmed, causing her finger to grip round the trigger. Matt saw the 
sparks of the bullets leaving the chamber. He didn't think. He just acted. 
He dropped his gun and stood up, pulling Felina behind him as the bullet 
struck him square in the chest. He remembered looking down, and seeing a 
plume of blood explode from his chest. He knew it wasn't a clean exit, the 
bullet was in him. 
	His legs then felt like lead. It was more like he had just done a 
five mile run, at sprinting pace. He clasped his chest, and fell forward, 
ending face up in the dirt. He remembered trying to turn himself over, 
thinking he looked like a newborn puppy wriggling around trying to find 
it's mother. He admitted defeat and thought if he closed his eyes, maybe 
the pain would go away. He closed hi eyes, and waited. He slipped into a 
dream. He was looking round a white tunnel. A pure white tunnel. The 
pleasure was indescribable. He'd been to extremes, pain and pleasure. He 
never wanted to leave.

	"MEDIC!" Screamed Felina as she looked down onto the bleeding Matt. 
She fell to her knees and lifted up his head. "Matt, Matt, Matt wake up you 
asshole!" 

	Matt was ripped from his heaven and looked into the fuzzy features of 
Felina. 
	"Wha..."
	"You took a bullet for me."
	"I-"
	"Don't speak." He cooed. The medics scrambled over and looked at his 
chest wound. She looked across at Matt as his eyes fixed on hers. She 
thought she saw a spark of defeat in his eyes. She thought to herself as 
Chance put a reassuring paw around her shoulder.

	'Don't give up...'

To Be continued...