Tales of the Federation Reborn 1

by Chris Hechtl

  They were barely hanging on. Razor and T-Bone had figured one to two missions a week and planned to only take on big profile targets that were too much for the enforcers to handle alone or easily. That would have allowed them plenty of time to react to threats while also keeping up with their civilian lives and the maintenance of the gear.

  Now that was all changed. They had more volunteer hands, but they were all inexperienced. Razor had to constantly double check their work to make sure nothing went wrong.

  Slowly people were leaving the city. They'd lost a handful of enforcers already; they'd just not reported for their shift the next day. A check of their apartments found a handwritten note on the open door. They'd taken their families to the supposed safety of the countryside.

  Razor couldn't really blame them.

  “I think I have an idea to help the manpower issue,” Professor Sackle said, holding up a design of a robot he'd been working on.

  “Professor, we've been through this,” Razor said patiently.

  “But this time it will be different!” the elderly scientist insisted. “You can't hold a few mistakes …”

  “Molly and Manx? The Macrobots? The microbrain repair unit? Shall I go on?”

  “Were there so many?” the elderly doctor asked peevishly. “So many failures?”

  “Yes, Doctor, though I admit Cybertron was flawed but very helpful,” Razor said, patting his mentor on his arm. “In some small ways, his sacrifice made up for some of the others. But we can't be fighting a war on two fronts. We can't afford that.”

  “Oh, very well,” the professor sighed.

  “What you can do is work out new and better targeting methods for our systems, as well as work with Doctor Greenwich and myself on a city shield generator,” the Swatcat urged.

  The professor blinked then nodded. His deflated ego started to pick up and recover. “That I can happily do.”

  “I thought you would,” the Swatcat said, patting him on the shoulder. What he didn't say was that he wouldn't mind a Cybertron or two or even a dozen of the little robots. Unfortunately, the professor had a habit of trying to build things better and different each time. He didn't like to repeat himself and yet he repeated his basic mistakes over and over without learning from them.

  Brilliant but naïve and foolish some said. But his input and aide were invaluable.

  <(>^<)>

  Over the course of a month, the Swatcats in conjunction with Planetary Security and Mega City enforcers pulled out all the stops and all their gear to fend off successive series of pirate attacks.

  When they weren't running maintenance on their bird, resting, or fighting, the Swatcats helped out with the search and rescue as well as helped the city's scientists and engineers work out what they could to keep their defenses up and running.

  Doctor Sackle still had hopes to create a city size shield from the parts they had salvaged from the salvage yard, but his estimates were for months in the future. Months they might not have.

  “Word is a ship jumped in. We received a broadcast from a Federation naval ship called Firefly.” Callie said during the morning briefing, running a hand over her head before she scratched at her ear and adjusted her glasses. “They came in but were ambushed. They got tore up.”

  “So, no help there? They ran with their tail between their legs?” the commander growled. He seemed weary. It was no surprise; they'd been on short or no sleep for weeks as they dealt with the crisis. Personnel were strained to the breaking point.

  “Apparently not. They said they are sticking it out and to keep fighting,” Callie replied.

  “Nice of them. A little help would be better,” the commander growled sarcastically.

  “One ship?” the deputy mayor asked. “What can one ship do against an entire task force?”

  “They did it before in Antigua, didn't they?”

  “Yeah, and someone told the pirates. They were waiting and ambushed them,” Callie said in disgust.

  The commander grunted.

  “Is there any hope of some relief?” the mayor asked hoarsely. He'd spent a lot of time talking to people and trying to calm them down while maintaining his authority. It hadn't been easy.

  “They said to hang on, eventually more ships will come see what is going on. If I remember right, we were supposed to get an ansible, right? So when it shows up perhaps they'll use it to call for help?” Callie said. She shrugged. “I don't know.”

  “So, we need to focus on what we can keep doing to keep this city alive and functional,” the mayor mused, rubbing his chin.

  <(>^<)>

  For six long weeks, T-Bone and Razor led a hell of a defense of their once proud city. Mega City had been a growing metropolis, one rivaling Gotham and Metropolis. The enemy wanted the industrial centers and medical research equipment at the heart of the city, so they'd limited their bombardments to surgical strikes against pockets of suspected populations or fighters.

  But fuel and munitions for their Bell Ichim 333 Osprey as well as the police enforcer craft were starting to run low. Parts and Razor's wonder weapons were also in short supply. Hope was slowly draining out of the city and with it the population as they slunk off into the wilderness. The city was turning into a virtual ghost town, and there was little that could be done about it.

  In a way, the exhausted defenders saw it as a good thing. There was less people to defend. It was also more of an incentive to destroy and use the scorched earth tactics Nohar had talked about during his broadcast to keep the enemy at bay.

  The only real hostages in the city was that equipment. But for how long? A lot of people asked that question. Only the pirates had the answer.

  Eventually, they would grow impatient and either leave or bomb them into oblivion. But until that time came they would stubbornly hang on and keep fighting.

  <(>^<)>

  Mayor Manx worked in secret to talk terms with Major Eichmann over the radio. It was a patient process to build some element of trust between the two. Major Eichmann had kept his bluster firmly in hand to get the cat to talk to him at all. He'd done a rather good job of hiding his loathing of working with the Neocat at all. He was glad the conversation was long distance.

  “We all want a happy ending here. You leave my city alone, and I will help you find what you seek. I'll even have my people give you the taxes you wish. We can haul it out to an open field and you can come and take it.”

  “And have your people shoot us? No deal,” the major snorted.

  “Then what do you want?”

  “We want the location of the water dwellers. Where are they?”

  “They aren't here!” the mayor harrumphed. “They left!” He shook his head, looking annoyed. “They like many of my people left the city to find a new place to live. I imagine they went out to sea or something.”

  “We were told they stick to the coast line. That is where the food is. The open ocean is more barren. They also need to get out of the water,” the major said carefully.

  “Huh. I didn't know. I suppose you learn something every day and from such unlikely of sources,” the cat replied, shaking his head.

  “So you have nothing for me?” the major asked, making sure his tone was that of regret and finality.

  “Not so fast,” the mayor implored, hand up. “I can tell you where they are and where their leader is, or was. I can't guarantee she is still there; they may have moved.”

  “No deal if they aren't there.”

  “I want your assurances that you will not bomb this city,” the mayor said. “Your word, and the word of your Admiral Von Berk. We are neutral in your conflict with the Federation. Officially this planet hasn't finished joining the Federation. The arrival of the ansible will signify its approval.”

  “Ansible, eh?” the major said, jotting a note on his tablet.

  “Yes. I imagine you wish to leave before the fleet dispatches a task force to come for you,” the mayor said, tucking his hand paws into the jacket lapel and then tu
gging on them. “I know the fleets in Antigua and Pyrax are building every day. We've seen the news reports. I believe the governor was considering arranging his travel through Pyrax during the scheduled conference in Antigua later this year,” the mayor said.

  The major nodded, making further notes. The fat fool was giving him precious intelligence leads for his people to look up. Now that they had a copy of some of the electronic records, they knew what to track down.

  Or at least a few things of interest. The fact that there were fleets in Antigua and Pyrax was no surprise, both were shipyards. He'd chalked up their growing size to partial propaganda, but apparently they were indeed building ships at both locations. How big the ships were and how many though were important questions.

  “You've got cruisers; they'll send battle cruisers. I mean, they sent some to Protodon already, so it's only right that they send them here!” the mayor said, jutting his chin out.

  The major froze slightly then nodded. That was important information to pass on to the admiral. It was priceless. It meant that Protodon was in enemy hands. They would need an alternate route to get back to the Empire. With Antigua sitting on the inside of the upper western loop, that was a serious problem.

  “The water dwellers?” the major asked regretfully. If the mayor was correct they were indeed running out of time. Besides, he could go and look the information up now that he knew what to look for.

  “Oh, um, your promise?”

  “I give you my word that we will not bomb or attack your city again,” the major said solemnly, even holding his hand up and placing his right hand over his heart as if he was swearing in.

  “Fine fine. Trust must start somewhere I suppose,” the mayor said, adjusting his glasses before he nodded. He consulted a tablet in his lap then nodded again. “The last known position of Mara and her people I have is a PO Box. It is in a small fishing town halfway between Landing and Metropolis. Here are the coordinates …”

  <(>^<)>

  “We have what we need?” Doctor Milgram asked eagerly.

  The intelligence officer nodded. The more he'd thought about the mission the more he'd like the idea of getting the water dwellers. It would be feather in his cap if the mission succeeded and it would definitely get the hovering doctor out of his hair for a week or more. “We do indeed, Doctor. Our sensors have confirmed it now. You'll need to go down there to confirm it in person and sort them out,” the major said, handing a tablet over to the doctor.

  The doctor nodded eagerly. “Good good.”

  “And do so quickly, Doctor,” Commander Roshou stressed. “We've had a second Federation ship jump into the star system. Another cruiser based on the readings. That means it is only a matter of time before they start to harass us or they send one of the ships to get help in Gaston.”

  “Understood,” the doctor said, mentally cataloging what he would need to bring. He'd already prepped his team and put everything on standby. Now he needed to get everything moved to the shuttles.

  “Get on it,” the commander said, getting out of his way. The doctor nodded and took off to his quarters to finish packing.

  “What did it take to get this?” the commander asked.

  “An empty promise,” the major replied, shrugging. “One the other side can't really expect us to hold. They were rather stupid to get the promise with our track record, but they did it on faith,” he said, making a mock pious expression. The commander snorted. “And even if the subject who gave us the data broadcasts that he did it as a warning, it'll only make him complicit in working with us, which will be his own undoing,” the major said, smiling thinly.

  “So, we don't need Mega City?”

  The major shrugged. “Not if this works out, the loss of additional personnel and equipment isn't worth the risk of limited or no reward in return in my estimation. Mega City is a write-off. But don't do anything hasty until we're certain. We don't need a repeat of Bericus's folly,” the major warned.

  “Understood. We'll program the shot but leave it on standby for when the marines are fully withdrawn and we're leaving. Call it a parting shot,” the commander said, smiling evilly.

  “Whatever works. I just wish I'd get a chance to see the look on his face when it comes down,” the major replied.

  Both men chuckled.

  <(>^<)>

  “The fleet is here! More ships have arrived!” Anna Gora said, grinning to the camera. “Word is the pirates are pulling out of their positions and leaving their human lackeys to cover their retreat. It is almost over folks, almost,” she said eagerly. “The long tunnel has finally sparked a light of hope.”

  “She's good. Tired but good,” Callie said, shaking her head.

  “She's trying,” Lieutenant Feral said. “We all are. We're all holding on by the skin of our teeth and claws,” she said, making a show of examining her claw tips.

  “Mine need a manicure in the worst way. When this is over, we should go get it done together,” Callie said.

  Lieutenant Feral eyed her. “You really think we'll get it to that point?”

  “I know it,” Callie said firmly, nodding. She held a hand paw out to the lieutenant. Slowly the lieutenant took it, shook it.

  “It's a date then,” Felica said.

  “Good. A girls’ night. We can talk about the boys and make them wonder what we're saying,” Callie grinned.

  Felica flicked her ears in humor and amusement as well as agreement. They chuckled as the boys came in. T-Bone stopped. “What are they laughing at?” he asked warily.

  Callie covered her mouth to giggle, turning away. Felica chuckled.

  Razor eyed them warily. “I'm afraid to find out,” he said. That made the girls exchange knowing looks and then laugh even more.

  “Uh huh. Well, if you two hyenas are done, we've got a bit of work to do. The mayor wants the city back on its feet on the snap kick. He's after the city's engineers to preposition equipment and personnel once we get the good word that the pirates have broken orbit,” Razor said.

  “Isn't that a bit premature?” Callie asked warily, levity forgotten.

  T-Bone nodded. “I think Commander Feral agrees with you. He's trying to hunt the mayor down now, but last I heard, the mayor relocated to one of his golf courses. Good luck finding out which one,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Lovely,” Callie grumbled, grabbing her purse. She took off with an annoyed flick of her tail then a quick flick against Razor's legs. He inhaled her scent in time to see her turn and shoot him a coy look before she went through the door and was gone.

  <(>^<)>

  As a last defiant and rather spiteful parting shot, the Mega City was bombarded as the Horathian ships broke orbit for deep space. Mayor Manx had long abandoned his capital tower in favor of holding office in the clubhouse of his favorite golf course on the outskirts of the city. Miss Briggs was there in attendance as they saw the bright flashes of lightning rain down.

  Police force helicopters buzzed about impotently like flies. They could do little to nothing to interdict the fire, just watch helplessly and try to direct people to find what shelter they could. Fortunately, a good chunk of the city's population had trained for such evacuation and had heeded the warning klaxons.

  Still, there weren't many places safe to hide from the KEW strikes.

  Like a few of the other politicians, Mayor Manx had made a secret deal with the Horathians to tell them what he knew in exchange for their promise to spare his city. His jewel that had supposedly sealed the deal was the location of the Neo and alien water dweller's location and numbers. His police forces had rounded up and turned over some of them during the night. He was aware that Miss Briggs and the SWAT cat vigilantes weren't happy about it. They didn't sit where he was, trying to hold things together.

  He dropped his putter as he saw the first rounds light up the night sky. “What?” There wasn't a cloud in the sky. At first he thought it had been a fire but then another flash … and another.

  He reali
zed his intention to protect his city had only delayed the inevitable. “My beautiful city!” the mayor moaned in despair, clutching at his head as the vertical lightning pummeled his capital tower into rubble. His putter fell to the ground forgotten.

  “They promised!” the mayor wailed, shaking his head, hands on each cheek as he stared at the carnage.

  “They promised what, Mayor?” Miss Briggs demanded, rounding on him from behind. She'd already had her suspicions about the mayor. “Who promised?” she demanded when he didn't answer right away. He coughed into a fist, recovering himself.

  “Nothing, nothing at all,” he drawled. Her eyes narrowed on him suspiciously, but he gave her his best innocent look. “We must do what we can,” he said. She nodded.

  <(>^<)>

  “My beautiful ci-ty!” the mayor wailed from the news helicopter as Al the pilot spun the craft to keep her level in the dissipating turbulence of the strikes.

  “This is Anna Gora, Knox News. Mister Mayor, I can tell you like many people, including myself, are deeply heartbroken by such a despicable act. Your thoughts?”

  The mayor gnashed his teeth and then started to curse as tears flowed. Unfortunately, none of it was suitable for airing.

  <(>^<)>

  Callie saw the aftermath of the strikes and closed her eyes in pain. She had gotten a ride to the center of the devastation. The city hall tower was wreckage. She looked around forlornly for a brief time before she went to her apartment. Perhaps she could pick something up or be of use there.

  As she traveled she could see people moaning or helping each other. So few, so terribly few. And the fires were out of control.

  It took her hours to get to her apartment. She was surprised it was intact. The buildings around it were raging infernos though. Fire and rescue were on the scene at one of them, but they'd long since given up trying to fight and contain the fire. All of the rescue workers seemed at the end of their ropes.