Part 6
  By Mikazo
  This is where Half Life starts playing a large role in the story.
  
  
       After cutting through the perimeter fence, cutting the small side door to the
  Biochemical Lab was no problem for Jackson.  He replaced his torch and silently opened
  the door.  All four mercenaries were wearing their Kevlar helmets and their gas masks
  with radio mics on the side voicemitters.  
       Tauer checked his watch.  2300 hours.  Dusk had settled in quite a while ago.
       "What do you think we're gonna find here?" asked Jackson.
       "We might be able to find the tracks and find out where he went," said Razor.  "If
  we see any tracks, we can use my blacklight scanner to see them better."
       "As long as you know what you're doing," said Jackson.
       They crept through the hallways keeping their suppressed MP5's at high ready. 
  Their suppressed .45 pistols remained at their sides.  The hallway into the building was
  long and narrow with several doors at the sides.
       "Where did they say he broke in?" asked Campbell.
       "They said it was on this floor, but I don't remember where," said Tauer. 
  "Somewhere where the katalysts are kept."
       Just then, a shrill screeching noise could be heard as a head crab sailed towards
  Campbell.  It hit him in the chest, depleting a small amount of energy from his PCV.
       "Holy shit!" said Torres as he gunned down the headcrab with the MP5.  "I knew
  it.  They're spawning here too."
       "Little fuckers," said Campbell.  "What the hell are they doing here?"
       "What are they?" asked T-Bone.
       "Headcrabs," said Campbell.  "They're from Xen.  They attach onto your head and
  take over your body.  They're nasty little fuckers.  They're controlled by some force in
  Xen.  I don't know how it works.  I'm glad we brought our helmets."
       Another head crab leaped out at them, but missed.  T-Bone shot a claw missile at
  it, which pinned it to the floor and killed it.
       "Nice shot," said Jackson.
       They came across a diagram on the wall which showed a map of the building.
       "Okay... said Campbell, examining it.  "The katalysts... they spell it with a 'K?' 
  Jesus.  Well... we turn right here, and we turn left at the next hallway.  Then, we keep
  going straight towards the end of the hall and turn left into the second door leading into
  the katalyst hallway.  I'll try to remember that."  
       Another head crab creeped down the hallway.  Jackson fired at it six times and
  killed it.
       "Jesus, those things are everywhere," he said.
       "There could be worse things," said Campbell.
       They walked down the hallway and made a left.  As they walked down, they
  could hear somebody yelling.
       "No!  No!  Get back!"  
       The Swat Kats and mercenaries ran towards the sound of the noise.  A security
  guard was standing by a large window, trying to unlock the door.  Behind the door, a
  zombie scientist was creeping towards another scientist, who was trying desperately to
  escape.  
       To the surprise of the security guard, Jackson smashed a hole into the large
  window with a hooligan tool as Campbell fired at the creature.  He shot the creature
  several times in the head and killed it.
       "Who... who are you?" asked the guard nervously.  The scientist ran outside. 
  "Are you working with the Swat Kats?"
       "Whew... thanks for the help," said the scientist.
       "How long have these things been here?" asked Campbell.
       The guard, seeing as how they weren't attempting to kill him, did not try to attack
  them.  Besides, it seemed like old age was slowing him down.  "Oh, about a week.  We
  keep killing them, and they keep coming right back.  They just appear out of nowhere
  and then they attack.  That's why I'm wearing a helmet."
       "They're spawning here," said Torres.  "Just like they were doing at Black Mesa."
       "Do you know about these things?" asked the guard.
       "That's originally why we were here," said Campbell.  "We were supposed to go
  to the place these creatures were coming from and kill them.  But, we got stuck here."
       "Where are they coming from?" asked the guard.
       "Another dimension."  The guard blinked.  "Maybe you guys can help us get
  there."
       "Well... we can certainly try," said the guard.  "But, I don't know how much we
  can do."
       "Where's the katalyst room?" asked Torres.
       "Follow us," said the scientist.  "We'll show you."
       The Swat Kats and the mercenaries followed the two lab employees down the hall
  and to the end, where they made a left turn.  They walked down the hall, passing similar
  labs here and there.  They also passed a security complex.  The activity inside of it caught
  Campbell's attention.
       "Hey Torres," said Campbell, "look."  Torres looked through the thick,
  bulletproof glass to see something he hoped he'd never see again in his life.
       The civilian in the purple suit that Torres had seen at Black Mesa was inside the
  room fiddling around with the computer systems.  Torres couldn't see what he was doing,
  but the sight of that sinister looking man was just enough to push him over the edge.  He
  pursed his lips in fury behind his gas mask.
       "Give me that," said Torres, taking the hooligan tool out of Jackson's belt.  He
  proceeded to beat against the window as hard as he could with it.  "Son of a bitch!" he
  yelled as loud as he could.  The man in the purple suit paid no attention to him, and the
  bulletproof glass was extremely resilient to the poundings of the iron rod.  "You set us
  up, you lousy bastard!"
       "Who is it?" asked Razor.
       "That's our employer!" said Tauer.  "What the hell is he doing here?"
       "Can you unlock this door?" said Torres to the security guard.  "I want to have a
  word with that old bastard."
       The guard fumbled for his keys.  "Please do," he said as he searched through his
  keys.  "Every time I see him, something bad happens around here."  He found the right
  key and unlocked the door.  By the time he got the door open, however, the old man had
  disappeared around a corner.  Torres chased him and looked around the corner where the
  man went.  There was nobody there, however, except supplies.
       "God... DAMN it," said Torres, gritting his teeth and swinging his MP5 down,
  almost flinging it onto the ground.  
       The security guard followed him into the office and picked up the phone.
       "Tom?... yeah, we had a security breach," he said into the receiver.  "Hall A-2. 
  An unidentified life form was tampering with our computer systems and disappeared."
       "Copy that," said the kat on the other end.  "We'll come check it out."  
       Suddenly, all of the lights in the building went out.  In a matter of seconds, the
  emergency lights blinked on.
       "What is going on here?" said T-Bone.  Everyone in the room was cautious and
  alert, and everyone who had a weapon had it out.
       Suddenly, the large sound of intense electricity could be heard down the hall.  The
  sound was unmistakable.  It was that of a large Xen creature spawning in the room. 
       Campbell flicked on the flashlight on his MP5, and at the end of the hall, he saw a
  large alien grunt.  The creature had a thick carapace around its ape-like body and had its
  nasty trademark hive cannon at its side.  Campbell, Jackson, and Tauer wasted no time
  blasting the creature.  The hail of bullets quickly knocked the grunt down before it could
  attack.
       The security guard hit the alarm button and the air was filled with the buzzing of a
  warning klaxon as well as the swirling glow of red emergency lights.  Two security
  guards rushed down the hall just as the hallway was filled with the glow of green
  electricity and another alien grunt popped out of it.  The guards drew and fired their Mark
  II light pulse laser pistols at it.  The blasts of energy bounced off the grunt's carapace, but
  seared any flesh it hit.  The grunt fired its hive cannon at the guards, sending a swarm of
  angry, red, hornet-like insects in their direction.  The insects bit and stung the guards,
  causing them to drop their guns and fall to their knees in pain.  Razor and T-Bone both
  shot a claw missile at it from behind.  The missile extended and smashed into the back of
  the creature, pinning it to the ground.
       "Bingo!" the Swat Kats yelled in unison.
       Tauer rushed up to the security guards.  He opened his medkit and started to rub
  their wounds with sting pads.  The guards bared their teeth and grunted in pain as the
  alcohol first made contact with their wounds, and then the pain subsided.  "Alert the
  paramedics!" he yelled.  
       The security guard picked up the phone and dialed the emergency line.
       Torres walked up to the alien grunt and pulled out his knife.  He gingerly stuck
  the blade of the knife up against the grunt's hive cannon and began to slice it off.  Thick,
  yellow liquid spilled about the floor.
       "What are you doing?" asked the scientist.
       "This is a trick we learned at Black Mesa," he said, severing the arm.  He grabbed
  hold of a pair of tendons inside the arm.  He aimed it down the hall and yanked the
  tendon several times.  Six red hornets shot down the hallway, buzzing and seeking out
  targets.
       "See, you can use this as a weapon," he said.  He handed it to the scientist, who
  made a face and wrinkled his nose as he accepted it.  "Here.  You can defend yourself
  with this if you want."
       "Er... well, gee.  Thanks."
       "Don't mention it."
       Campbell went up to Torres.  "Come on.  The enforcers are on their way.  We
  gotta get the fuck outta here."
       "Where was the break in?" yelled Torres to the security guard over the buzzing of
  the klaxon.
       "I'll show you," he said.  He ran out of the office and into the hallway, with the
  mercenaries and the Swat Kats in hot pursuit.  The guard walked into a room full of
  beakers and a large drain on the floor with the cover removed.  
       "Come on," said Razor, "Dr. Viper must've escaped through here.  Let's see if we
  can find out where he's hiding."  He began to crawl down the ladder.  The sounds of
  police sirens outside cut through the buzzing of the alarm.
       "Right now, it's our only way outta here," said T-Bone.  "Come on."  He followed
  Jackson along with Razor, Tauer, and Torres.  The smell of sewage was creeping up
  through the hatchway, only detectable by the Swat Kats since the mercenaries had gas
  masks.  
       Campbell, being the last one down, gripped the lid to the large drain and slid it
  over his head just as the enforcers burst through the front door to the lab.  He climbed
  down the long ladder with the others and landed on a dank, dark, concrete platform.  The
  sound of gushing water could be heard.  The mercenaries turned on the flashlights on
  their MP5's as the Swat Kats armed themselves with their own respirators.  They turned
  on the flashlights mounted on their Glovatrixes.  Above, a large explosion could be
  heard.
       The only noise that could be heard deep in the sewers was the rushing of the
  stream full of waste.  
       "Heh... you know what's funny?" said Jackson.
       "What?" asked Torres.
       "Our sense of leadership," said Jackson.  "Somebody tells us we should do
  something, and we all just do it.  Doesn't even matter who said it."
       "I was just thinking the same thing," said Tauer.  "It's just that we're coming up
  with good ideas."
       "Maybe we're just a good team," said T-Bone.
       "That must be it," said Campbell.
       The guys walked down the long platform that ran directly along the stream of
  sewage.  They shined their flashlights around, seeing bare, concrete walls with pipes
  sticking out of them and dumping sewage into the stream.
       "Think we'll find any ninja turtles down here?" said Campbell.  The other
  mercenaries snickered.  "Maybe... Shredder?"  The mercenaries burst out laughing.
       "I don't get it," said Razor.
       "I'm making fun of an old TV show they had back on earth," said Campbell.  "It
  was about a bunch of turtles who lived in a sewer and ate pizza."  
       The idea got the Swat Kats to snicker a little bit.  They were beginning to wish
  they brought their high-powered assault rifles with them.  Nobody would hear them deep
  down in the sewers.
       Suddenly, a flashlight caught a terrible sight.  Before them was the deadliest
  creature they had ever encountered at Black Mesa.  The huge image of a voltigore
  loomed ahead of them.  It was flickering its forelegs about, groaning.  Suddenly, it turned
  and looked at them.  Tauer and Jackson nearly froze with terror.
       "Oh... oh, fuck..." said Torres.  "RUN!"  Nobody questioned his command.  They
  ran blindly down the dark sewer.  The monster took notice of the movement and gave a
  lumbering chase through the sewage.
       Torres walked backwards as the other guys rounded a corner.  He fired his MP5 at
  the large creature, unloading the 30-round magazine into it.  The creature only howled in
  fury and let loose with a huge pink bolt of electricity.
       "Jesus Christ!" yelled Torres, ducking behind the corner and reloading his
  submachine gun.  
       Campbell popped out from behind the corner and took pot shots at the creature,
  ducking back and popping out for more.  The creature was lumbering quickly in their
  direction, hardly phased by the bullets.
       Suddenly, Razor lost his footing and slipped backwards, landing in the rotten
  sewage.  "CRUD!" he yelled.
       "Razor!" yelled T-Bone.
       "Shit!" yelled Campbell.  "I mean, literally!  You okay?"  No reply.
       "Fuck," said Jackson, "I hope he makes it."
       The sound of the voltigore screeching could be heard.  Then the sewers were
  rocked by the sound of a loud, messy explosion.  The guys could see chunks of the
  voltigore's body floating downstream in their direction.
       Razor popped his head out of the muck and slowly hoisted himself up onto the
  ledge.  He was covered from head to toe in sewage.
       "Bingo!" he yelled.
       "Razor!" yelled T-Bone.  "What happened, buddy?  Are you alright?"
       "Yeah," said Razor, panting.  "The sewage was carrying me towards that creature,
  so I pulled the pin on a cluster grenade and stuffed it inside the creature's mouth, and then
  I ducked back down."  The mercenaries shined their flashlights on Razor.
       "Oh-ho... holy shit," said Campbell in awe and sympathy.  Razor was dripping
  with waste.  "That is not good.  That is just NOT fucking good.  I'm sorry man."
       Torres examined him as well, repulsed by the sight.  "Yeah.  You know what? 
  Fuck Dr. Viper.  Let's get back home.  Where the hell are we in here anyway?"
       T-Bone examined his Glovatrix.  "This GPS system can get us back.  According
  to this map, we have to go this way."  He started walking down the dark tunnel.
       "Nice job, Razor," said Jackson.  "I'd pat you on the back for it, but I'm not
  wearing my chemical gloves... no offense."
       "None taken," said Razor, flinging his arms down and splattering a few globs of
  sewage on the platform next to the waste stream.  "Crud.  Watch your step."
       "Hey Razor, T-Bone," said Tauer.  "I don't know if you had this in the enforcers,
  but we have it in the army.  I figured I should tell you this.  If you get hurt and you can't
  sustain yourself, just yell 'medic' as loud as you can, and I'll try to come help you."
       "We'll try to remember that," said T-Bone.  "Thanks."
       "Just show us where the next manhole is," said Torres, following T-Bone.  "We'll
  surface and walk from there.  I heard of a Marine Recon guy who had to take out six of
  those motherfuckers in a sewer at Black Mesa.  In the dark."
       "Holy Kats," said T-Bone.  "How did he do that?"
       "Well, he had night vision goggles and an M-249.  He could just blast the crap out
  of those critters.  We could never do that with these MP5's.  He had a lot better
  equipment.  But when those things zap you, it fucking hurts.  Two hits could kill you."
       "We've seen worse than that," said T-Bone.
       "Good," said Torres.  "You shouldn't have any problem with these things."  His
  flashlight beam spotted a head crab on the opposite platform and he quickly gunned it
  down.  "Fuckin' things."
       The six warriors trudged on through the sewers, with T-Bone in the lead.  T-Bone
  stopped and pointed the flashlight beam up.  A ladder led up to a manhole cover in the
  top.
       "Thank God," said Torres.
       "What do you think?" asked Jackson.  "Should we try it?"
       "I don't give a fuck where it goes," said Torres.  "Anything's better than this shit
  hole."
       "It could land us close to some enforcers," said T-Bone.
       "Fuck 'em," said Torres, "I could take 'em.  I actually learned shit in the Green
  Berets, you know."  He started to climb the ladder, keeping his flashlight beam on the
  top.  When he got to the top of the ladder, he listened for movement.  Footsteps could be
  heard above ground.
       "Goddamn it," said Torres.  "It's hot."
       "Well, go up anyway," said Campbell.  
       Torres hesitated, and then shoved the manhole cover up.  He shot his head up and
  made a 360 degree circle with his machine gun raised.  An ordinary street corner, lit by a
  street lamp.  Nobody was around.  He hoisted himself up, followed by the rest of the
  gang.
       Campbell took off his helmet and removed his gas mask and instantly puckered
  his lips, waving his hand around in the air.  "Whoo, Razor!  Goddamn, you smell like you
  haven't wiped in a week."  
       Razor had since dried off, but he would need a good shower or decontamination
  process to get cleaned up.
       "Don't remind me," said Razor.  "I'm not taking my mask off until I get cleaned
  up."
       "No kidding, buddy," said T-Bone.
       "Now, how do we get home from here?" asked Torres.
       "Well, let's see," said T-Bone, "we're gonna need a ride.  We're in the middle of
  the city.  42nd and Katson... hmm."  
       The sound of a loud diesel engine could be heard around the corner.  Razor
  peeked around the corner to look.
       "Hey... that's one of Dark Kat's trucks!" he said, the sight causing him to clench
  his fists.  
       Campbell looked around and saw the Dark Kat logo on the side of the large semi. 
  Behind it was a storage facility lit by a couple of street lamps.  The six guys walked up to
  it.
       "There's no one inside," said Campbell.  "Are you sure this is Dark Kat's?"
       "I'm positive," said Razor.  "That's his logo on the side.  What's that rotten psycho
  doing here?"  
       Campbell walked around to the side and saw that the back was open.  There were
  about six crates inside with a "Nuclear Hazard" symbol on them, but nobody was inside. 
  He figured whoever drove the truck was in the process of loading it with nuclear devices.
       "Well, it ain't his truck anymore," said Campbell with a grim sense of satisfaction. 
  "Help me pull this shit outta here."  He hopped in the back of the truck and pushed a few
  of the boxes out with his foot and sent them crashing and tumbling to the ground.
       "Good idea," said T-Bone, grinning.  He hopped in the back and pushed the
  remaining crates over onto the pavement.  Razor stood by watching and grinning.
       "You want to drive?" asked Campbell.  "Engine's running, and you're the only one
  who can get us out of here."  T-Bone nodded and got in the front seat.  Campbell got in
  the passenger seat while Razor and the other mercenaries got in the back.  The side doors
  slammed shut when the radio call came in.
       "Hey Campbell," said Torres into the radio.  "We got company."
       "How many?" asked Campbell.
       "'Bout five or six tangos.  The little black op guys that attacked us earlier."
       "Fuck 'em up," said Campbell.
       "HEY!" called one of them.  "That cargo is for Dark Kat!  Kill them!"
       "Yeah?  Well, THIS IS FOR THE CRAPPY LIFE I'VE HAD TO LIVE!"  he
  yelled at the top of his lungs, firing at the ninjas and laughing maniacally as T-Bone
  pulled away.  Jackson began to close the back of the truck as Torres fired as much as
  possible at them.  The truck rumbled around a corner and disappeared, leaving Dark Kat's
  henchmen stranded.
       "Crappy life?" asked Razor.
       "Not really," said Torres.  "That was just the only thing I could think of to say."
  
       The large semi-truck ambled along down the road back towards the shack.  T-
  Bone knew the area quite well and had no trouble getting back to the shack.  The
  mercenaries were in the back of the truck taking it easy and shutting their eyes.  
       As they drove down the long stretch of road through the desert, Campbell stopped
  T-Bone.
       "Wait a minute," said Campbell.  "They might think we're in cahoots with Dark
  Kat if we have this truck parked outside the shack."
       "Good thinking," said T-Bone.  "Let's leave it here and walk the rest of the way."
       "Let's trash it too," said Campbell.  "They'll think you guys blew it up with your
  jet or something."  
       T-Bone grinned and stopped the truck.  T-Bone and Campbell walked around to
  the back and opened up the hatch.
       "Get out, guys," said Campbell.  "We're only about a quarter of a click away, and
  we really should leave this truck behind."
       "Yeah, good idea," said Razor.  
       They grabbed their gear and hopped out of the back of the truck.   They closed the
  back for the sake of appearances, and as they walked in the direction of the shack,
  Campbell took out his satchel charge.  He removed the klacker and threw the C-4-packed
  burlap sack on the hitch that joined the truck to the rear cargo area.
       The gang trudged back towards the shack.  The 400-meter walk was long and
  tiresome.  Torres lit up his watch.
       "Jesus," he said.  "0300 hours."
       "It's late, huh?" said Tauer.
       They reached the shack in the dark.  The lights were on outside, having been
  activated by a timer.  Right before they walked in, however, Campbell got out his infra-
  red binoculars and looked in the direction of the truck.  After confirming that there were
  no other cars around, he withdrew the klacker.  "See you in hell, motherfucker," he said
  just before he hit the button.  
       The night was suddenly lit up as the thunderous explosion ignited the fuel tank,
  causing a miniature mushroom cloud to erupt from the instantly charred remains of the
  truck.  Pieces of glass got blasted out into the street and the tires caught fire and melted
  into foul-smelling black puddles.  The truck quickly became a blackened piece of steel,
  smoke billowing out of it like a burning Kuwaiti oil field.  Campbell exhaled slowly and
  loudly, his mouth open in awe, as T-Bone and Razor grinned in excitement.  
       "Bingo!" said Razor.
       After the guys had gone in, having gained a second wind from watching the truck
  explode, Razor immediately went to the shower.  He spent about 30 minutes in the
  shower shampooing and soaping his fur everywhere imaginable.  Getting the dried
  sewage out of his fur was fairly simple, but he was afraid the smell would linger for a
  while.  He decided to soak in the bathtub for a little while.  The rest sat in the kitchen,
  finding things to eat.
       "Goddamn it, I'm hungry," said Campbell, munching on a ham sandwich he
  made.  T-Bone had taken off his suit and tossed it down the hatch to the hangar.  
       Tauer turned on the TV.  Ann Gora was on the news again, this time at Megakat
  Biochemical Lab.
       "We're standing here at Megakat Biochemical Lab, where a brutal fight between
  the enforcers and I quote, 'odd creatures,' erupted within seconds.  According to guards
  inside, the creatures 'came out of nowhere and attacked them.'  Nobody was killed, but
  four security guards and a scientist were injured and are en route to the hospital."  She
  turned to a security guard that was standing near her.  The guard's fur was ruffled and he
  had some minor cuts on his face.  He was panting and looked very distraught.  "Tell me,
  in your own words, what happened here tonight."
       "The creatures... *pant* they just came out of thin air!" puffed the guard.  "I
  watched them just materialize, *pant* and then they started attacking us.  *Pant* I don't
  know where they came from.  They were big, *pant* and they had really thick armor
  plates on their chests.  *Pant* I've never seen anything like it."
       "How did you manage to hold them off?" asked Ann Gora.
       "The things were huge!  *pant*" said the guard, finally catching his breath.  "But,
  we had help.  The Swat Kats were there, and... those aliens they said crashed here a few
  days ago... the soldiers... they were here too, working with the Swat Kats.  And, they
  helped us kill them.  They had a medic and he gave first aid to some of the guards that
  were hit."
       Ann Gora paused for a moment.  "Fascinating.  Such is the testimony of every
  guard and scientist in the building who witnessed the fight.  Commander Feral, what do
  you have to say about this?"
       "I knew it," he said.  "Those aliens are popping up here and there, and we don't
  know where they're going to strike next.  They're a menace.  We have to find them so we
  can bring them to justice."  
       The mercenaries were beginning to get the idea that Feral was not on their side.
       "We'll bring you to justice, you jealous ass," grumbled Torres.
       "Why don't he just put up some fuckin' loudspeakers around the city like Hitler
  did and spout his bullshit that way?" said Campbell.
       "Beats the hell outta me," said Torres.  
       Jake came out of the shower and sat down.  
       Campbell looked in his direction.  "That's a LOT better, Jake," said Campbell,
  noticing that the smell had almost completely gone away.  "Mind if I use the shower?"
       "I think we all need to," said Chance.  "Go ahead."  
       Campbell walked in and hopped in the shower, bringing in another BDU to
  change into.  After picking a glob of fur off of the drain, he went quickly to preserve the
  hot water.  
       After he was done, the others went after him.  Having not been cleaned up for
  three days, the shower was a very welcome refreshment to them.  They came out in
  different clothes, leaving their BDU's and used clothes in a pile for laundry.
       Campbell slid into his mummy bag, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.  "Ohh,
  man.  I could sure go for a beer."  
       "Hey, yeah, I'm with you, man," said Tauer.
       "No shit," said Jackson.
       "Me too," said Torres.  "Let's get some tomorrow.  They gotta have it."
       The gang bedded down for the night, intent on finding Dr. Viper the next day. 
  And some beer.
  
       "What did those aliens say to you?" asked Feral to the security guard.
       "They didn't really talk," said the guard.  "They just kinda grumbled and
  growled."
       "Not those aliens, you idiot.  These aliens."  He showed them a picture of the
  mercenaries that had been taken at the scene of the crash.
       "Oh... those guys," said the guard.  "They told us those creatures were from
  another dimension and they had to get there to kill the creatures before they could hurt us
  again.  Something like that.  I don't remember."  Feral scratched his chin.
       "Hmm," said Feral.  "Well, my enforcers can handle those creatures. 
  And, now that I know the aliens are working with the Swat Kats, it'll make it
  easier for me to find them."
       "How?" asked the guard.  "You haven't found the Swat Kats yet."
       "But, I have leads," said Feral.  "I have clues and hints, and I'm still
  looking into them.  One of these days, I'll find them, and they'll get what's
  coming to them."