Jet Jaguar and the Kentucky Cat - Day Three - Part Three
Day 3 - Part Three
October 19th 2013
Little Watch Inn
Near Frenchburg, Kentucky
Four hours later, and the sun had gone down. Half asleep herself, Ruth pulled up outside the Little Watch. Jets lights weren’t on. She’s either out, or she’s asleep, Ruth figured, before knocking on the door.
“It’s open,” came the answer, clear as a bell.
She opened the door to see Jet standing beside the chair she usually slept on. That still seemed weird.
“Sleep well?”
Ruth couldn’t help herself but look at the still freshly made bed.
“More or less,” smiled the cyborg, feigning a yawn. “It’s not good news, is it,”
Ruth closed the door behind her, “I found Mister Nor,” she said. “He built the Cat.”
“Oh, where is he?”
“Dead.” she said, “I found him murdered in a barn behind his trailer,”
“Shit,” Jet swore under her breath.
“We’re trying to keep it quiet until tomorrow, but a murder’s not going to stay quiet for long,”
Jet took a breath, “And that just makes things worse when it comes out,”
“It means we’ve got them on murder one too, if the forensics line up. Speaking of which,” she pulled a bag full of yellow shards out, “That taster of yours still work? I think I found some of Stae’s handwavium.”
“It’s still on the table,” Jet indicated towards the device, being used as a paperweight. “You might want to wash it first though, I’ve touched it.”
“I see,” the trooper nodded,
She washed it in the bathroom sink, before getting to work with the samples.
“So Jet,” she made conversation, “What were you like, before you got modded... if you don’t mind me askin,”
“No, it’s okay.” the cyborg took a deep breath, “Well firstly, I was a man,” Ruth blinked. “As tall as I am now, with a nice beard, an engineering degree and not much else to tell,”
“Oh... ordinary then?”
“Disappointed?”
“Not really. Just curious, I guess. So you’re what, a woman now,”
“No,” Jet shook her head with a rueful smile, “And yes, I do know what it says on my ID. I just got sick of the Agent Smith’s of the world correcting me when I ticked the M box,”
“I can imagine,” Ruth just looked a little nervous. The taster gave a insane Frankenstein laugh. ”Yellow; Fair. Red; Tidal. Magenta; Heavy. Blue; Choppy. Cyan; Stormy. Green; Becalmed.” she read the display. “And that just proves it.”
“It’s the same,” Jet stated the obvious.
“There’re two fresh cans of that stuff in the barn, that I didn’t dare touch.,”
“Well that’s evidence if the courts down here will accept it. It is in Fenspace,”
“I honestly don’t know,” Ruth said, after a moment’s thought. “But the more accurate, the better.”
“You can get a better detector that’ll actually give percentages if you contact the Blue Blazers. They’d be more than happy to help out law enforcement. I only brought that one because it’s small.”
“Ah. That can wait until we have them in custody. We’re still waiting on an arrest warrant to come through, but we’ve got enough probably cause for a handwavium crime. The priority is stopping them, but once we got ‘em behind bars the investigation can get into full swing.”
“I don’t know your legal system anyway, just that it’s complicated.” She paused for a second, “And because there’s a murder involved, that’s definitely the death penalty for them,”
“Barring any plea-bargains, or one of them turning State’s witness in exchange for a lighter sentence....if they take it to a full jury trial, I can see the State prosecutor pushing for death, and getting it too.”
Jet looked sourly at her. “To be honest, I’d rather they spent the rest of their days in a two by three concrete cell with only a bed, a toilet, a sink and their own gnawing guilt for company,”
“Well, I for one would feel better with them cold in the ground,” Ruth affirmed with a grunt. “How do Fen deal with ‘em?”
“Azkhaban.” Jet answered quickly, “Or we just turn them over to mundane authorities.”
“No death penalty?”
“Depends on your faction,” the cyborg shrugged, “The Colonials like to summarily airlock catgirlers for one thing. And well...” she looked away out the window for a moment “... it’s a war.”
Jet stared at her armoured hand, flexing her fingers.
“You ever...?”
“It’s what we do,” the gynoid stated. “And yourself?”
“That isn’t blank ammunition in my pistol.” Ruth answered quickly. “Which reminds me, when we take down this base, remember that you’re a guest in this State. Don’t go actin’ like some cowboy cop,” she warned, her gaze turning deadly serious, “You’re just a civilian here so leave the shooting to us, just concentrate on taking down the Cat.”
“Right.” A moment, “And if they shoot at me?”
“Self defence,” the cop shrugged, “Just don’t start shooting at them first. It’s our State, and our job to deal with them.,”
The gynoid blew out a long sigh, “It’s a bloody political mess if I hurt any of them, even if it is self defense. Fen agent murders American Citizen in Kentucky.”
“As opposed to Fen murder and kidnap twenty-five American citizens in Kentucky, use a giant robot Cat to rob banks, and mutilate innocent people into catgirl sex slaves.”
“Good point. Either way, this is fucked up.”
“Yup,” the Trooper nodded, tidying up her samples. “Well anyway, I’m gonna go report this. You’ll get details of the operation when they’re ready. I’ll probably see you again tonight,”
“Right, right.... tonight.”
02:00 am.
High above the Earth, the Magnificent Midnight drifted serenely in orbit... much to the Blackbird's annoyance. She wanted nothing more than to scream through the stars at maximum burn, but Benjamin had work to do here. Instead, she contented herself with the though that she would soon be tearing through the atmosphere of her old home once more. A signal came, and Midnight routed it to Gina. "Ben, we got a signal from air traffic control. They've approved our run."
"Gotcha. Midnight, you know what to do, girl."
Do I ever!, thought the Blackbird to herself as she pitched downward and fired her engines.
Jet was waiting for the go code from above. She stood on the hotel roof, scanning the night sky, looking for any sign of the approaching spacecraft. Grovers had set and the moon was rising high. A ‘danish airliner plodded across the sky.
Meanwhile, Gina got on the radio. "This is Magnificent Midnight, registry code 36ATL-BB00, calling for Jet Jaguar."
"This is Jet Jaguar, I hear you loud and clear ," the cyborg responded. Jet put her helmet on, running through the previously agreed plan in her mind. This was going to be.... interesting "I'm ready when you are, over,"
"Good to hear you, Jet. We're coming in hot with that package and we're set up to meet up with you. ETA in about five minutes."
"Copy. GPS coordinates and altitude?"
"We'll be about 3,000 meters. Don't worry about the coordinates. We'll be in the general area and you won't be able to miss us."
"Copy, see you in five," Jet took off with a rush, audible over the radio
"He's on his way, Ben!" Gina called back. Jet would’ve smiled if she’d heard that... Gina was the first person in two years to get the pronouns right. Even Jet’d given up.
"Great!" Benjamin then turned to his iPod and played the song that he had cued up. Right away, the sounds of Depesche Mode's Photographic filled the cabin. "Okay girl. Just like we talked about: I need intel on the general area groundside. Go to it."
Midnight chirped happily and ports in the nose opened up, revealing several camera lenses that began to capture high-definition digital footage in enhanced light, thermal, and radar. the images were all recorded to a high-capacity USB Flash Drive.
Below, the cyborg rushed up in a high speed climb, pushing her own engines as hard as she could. It took her less than a minute to reach altitude, before she settled into a waiting cruise, taking a look around with her radar. There she was...hard to miss and coming in fast.
"This is Jet Jaguar.” she broadcast, “I'm at altitude and waiting. I can see you on my radar,"
"Okay, Ben, we're at 10,000 feet," said Gina. "You ready up there?"
"All set. Taking manual control now." Ben tapped an icon on one of the touch-sensitive display panels that replaced much of the original instrumentation and took a firm hold of the flight stick. "Okay, Jet," he murmured as he began to make a wide circle over the area. "Where are ya, buddy?"
"South of Frenchburg, Heading Southeast. towards Campton” the cyborg answered
"Gotcha!" said Ben as Gina popped the tags up on the navigational display. He changed course and began to slow from mach 3 to a leisurely 480 km/h.
Jet looked behind her at the decelerating aircraft, before offering up a prayer to whatever God was listening that they could see her. She pushed herself forward, matching speeds
"Jet, this is Midnight," came Gina's voice over the radio. "We see you on the radar. Approach from high and behind, and watch out for the jet-wash. We're opening the top-side hatch for you."
"Copy that."... Privately, she murmured to herself, "Jetwash? This is going to be fun." She pitched up gaining thirty meters or so at the expense of some speed. She hung in the air, waiting for the Midnight to pass beneath
The Midnight flew by below her, moving like a graceful black dagger given wings. As it did so, the hatch just behind the second seat opened up and a set of hand rails were extended.
"Cool," she said to herself. A Blackbird from above was an impressive sight. "Alright, here I come,"
Jet pushed forward once more, aiming for the hatch. Using the jets in her feet she held herself up and high above the aircraft's twin tails, before angling down. Getting caught up in turbulence and going through a rudder would ruin everyone’s day. Ben’d assured her that the craft’s slipstream wouldn’t be a problem, but Jet couldn’t help but recall one of her earlier flights when she’d flown up to greet Iron Maiden's Flight 666 and almost went into an engine...
It was smoother than she expected. She came down about two meters behind the rails, matching her speed exactly. A few gentle adjustments with her wings and boots brought her into a good alignment.
Swallowing spit, there was just one last push to go. Jet kicked forward, her engines flaring for a few brief moments. At the last instant, she reached forward, grabbing one rail, then the other.
At this point, Benjamin returned control to Midnight, telling her to maintain course and speed as long as possible. Gina moved out and to the back towards the cargo bay, and Benjamin in pulled himself out of his seat so he could greet Jet.
Jet retracted her wings, before using her engines to push her legs forward against the airstream, until she could stand on the rails with reasonable safety. Now it was just a matter of climbing down into the lit space below, one rung at a time.
"Hey," she said, seeing Benjamin waiting for her, breathing a long sigh of relief. "That was fun,"
"First time we tried that in the soup," said Ben with a grin, eyes sparkling with mischief as the hatch closed up behind Jet. "Benjamin Rhodes, commander of the Roughriders," he said, sticking his hand out for a shake. "Sorry it's cramped in here, but that's just how it is with a Blackbird.”
Jet looked uncomfortably around, never quite content in a spacecraft, before accepting the handshake. She was careful not to break bones. "Jet Jaguar, Geselle, Panzer Kunst Gruppe. I'm just glad I'm aboard."
"I know what you mean. Let's get you your package. Back this way, please." The interior was unremarkable - a soft layer of insulation along the walls, held in by a soft, cloth-like material, a deck made of metal grates where cables ran underneath, and the ceiling had simple fluorescent lights at regular intervals, keeping the space well-lit. It had a very finished look to it, with a small set of cabinets, microwave oven and a sink, and seats with a folding table forming a sort of eating area. Toward the back was what looking like a sleeping area with the beds folded up and out of the way. And there was the bulkhead, with a scuttle-style hatch set neatly in the middle.
"I'm not sure I'll fit through that," commented Jet... still looking uncomfortable as hell. "It's... roomier than I expected though," she offered with a smile, trying her best to be polite.
"No problem," said Gina, squeezing her tiny frame by with a cat-like ease and began spinning the hand-wheel on the hatch. She then turned and grinned as she opened the hatch. "I fit just fine." She then swung herself through the opening without any effort.
Jet didn’t say a word.
"So, you either don't know or you're too polite to say anything." Said Ben pleasantly.
"Pretty much," She let him draw his own conclusions. The gynoid made a point not to comment on other people’s biomods.
"Well, don't mention Asuka or Evangelion to her. She was pretty freaked out about it when she awakened."
Awakened? Jet's face looked like a lightbulb of realisation just popped on above her head.
"And absolutely do not touch her head. It's a personal space thing."
"I can imagine," Jet said, trying to recall Evangelion in her mind.
A moment later, a long, black plastic case appeared through the open hatch and Ben took it. Gina climbed out afterwards, closing the hatch behind her as Ben folded down one of the beds and set the case on it, opening up the snaps.
"So that's it?" questioned Jet, "I can't carry a case while I'm flying. "
"Yep, this is it. Time for a briefing." Ben opened it to reveal something that looked like a hunting rifle, butt-stalk, aiming sight, barrel and all. Except beside it, there were three objects that looked like harpoons without the line. "This is the Stunner. If it looks like a hunting rifle, that's because it is. I modified it to fire these bad boys," he says as he points at the harpoons.
"How heavy is it?" Jet asked, already trying to do the math in her mind. Could she actually carry this thing?
Benjamin picked up the rifle with ease, handing it to Jet. "Not much more than your average Weatherby."
Jet handled it... okay. It was obvious to Ben she wasn’t from a shooting background, but she had enough sense to keep her finger away from the trigger and not wave it around. She placed the long rifle against her leg. "I might be able to strap it to my hip. Center of Gravity's a real problem for me though"
"It was a last minute idea," said Ben with a shrug. "Will a sling help?"
"If it doesn't get in the way of my wings it should be grand,"
Benjamin then reached down into one of the smaller panels inside the case and pulled out a strap, which he clipped to the fittings in the stalk and the barrel, before adjusting it to its maximum length. "Try that."
Jet put it over her shoulder, carefully checking to make sure the strap wouldn't interfere with her wings. Then she tested to be sure. Her wings swung into place with a sound like a rifle bolt locking home before retracting down just as quickly
She shrugged her shoulders a little, letting the weapon find a natural place. "Feels alright,"
"Great," said Benjamin with a smile. "On to your ammo." he then took out one of the harpoon like projectiles. "This is a stunner. I'm not entirely sure of the specifics since it was a blue hair moment for me."
"The dumkopf here is a part-time mad scientist," said Gina haughtily. "I honestly don't know how I deal with him."
"It's because you're madly in love with me, milady."
Jet smiled to herself, reminded a little of Sierra. "Looks like it'll do the job alright. In truth, I wasn't looking forward to taking it on bare handed,"
Gina grumbled dark things in German and Japanese and Ben smiled. "Well, it should work. the tips are wave-enhanced titanium-steel alloy, and it scrambles just about any electronic device within ten feet. As long as you get it close to whatever passes for a spinal nerve on this thing, then that should put it down."
Jet looked at him nervously, "Ten feet. I'll have to be careful then"
"That’s why it has the scope," said Ben matter-of-factlly. "Oh, and we have one more little present for you." Gina took that as a cue, marching off and pulling a USB flash-drive from her console, then coming back and giving it to Jet. "That has recent footage of the area you've been investigating in low-light enhanced, infrared, and radar scans."
"Brilliant!” she beamed “That'll make finding their home base so much easier. We might actually be able to get them all with this," Jet placed the memory stuck in a pouch strapped tightly to her hip
Benjamin nodded. "Now, loading. Simply take a Stunner and load it, ass-end first, through the muzzle. When it hits the limit, give it a quarter-turn clockwise and that'll lock it in so you can fire it. A quarter-turn counter-clockwise unlocks it so you can unload. It has it's own propelling charge and it's caseless, meaning that there's no cartridge to eject after it fires. Just load the next one. Finally, range is up to a thousand meters. That should let you hit it from enough distance to not be noticed right away."
"It's pretty heavily wooded down there anyway." Jet said, rifling through her memories of the yard "I can get a shot from a nearby ridge."
Benjamin nodded and Gina took over. "The Stunner goes active on impact and remains active for five minutes. Be careful that you don't get too close to it while it's active - they work on people with electronics as sophisticated as my own, so it will work on you as well. There is small buffer zone where you're electronics will start to feel fuzzy before you enter the area of total effect."
Jet nodded, "Thanks for the warning," That had been exactly what she was afraid of.
"One final reminder," said Ben, this time his tone became firm. "Do not allow this to fall into Mundane hands. This technology can give them the ability to disable our ships, and there are those among them that would love to lord that over us. If you fire all three, you recover all three, no matter what state it's in."
"Right, right. That won’t be a problem."
Benjamin handed Jet the three projectiles. "I've read about you, you know, and the Roughriders could use someone like you. If you're ever looking for something with a little more stability, I'll make sure that there's a place for you with us."
"You have?" Jet seemed surprised, aside from a few videos, she’d hardly considered herself noteworthy. "Thanks. I'll think about it.” a breath. “I've got other stuff on the go right now though, but I appreciate the offer,"
"It's understandable," said Ben. "You all set to go then?"
"Just let me get these strapped on right," she fiddled with the stunners, not wanting one to go off while she was flying. Better safe than sorry.
Gina, meanwhile, pushed a big black button on a panel with diagonal yellow-and-black danger stripes. A tone sounded and the topside hatch opened, letting the roar of the slipstream in.
"Thanks for the hospitality. I'll see you around," Jet smiled, looking up and out at the sky. Now how am I going to do this without hitting anything?
Gina seemed to read her thoughts. "Just get your head out and boost straight up. Don't worry about us. We'll be in our seats, which are protected." To demonstrate, Gina went to the forward bulkhead and pushed a button, causing a door to slide into the doorway leading to her and Ben's seats.
"Right right." Jet nodded, stepping onto the ladder. She was facing towards the back of the jet as she popped her head above, into the airflow. The wind whipped at her hair before she dropped back inside, putting her helmet on
Gina pushed it again and the bulkhead door retracted. Benjamin took that as his cue and went in, climbing over Gina's console, sliding into his seat. Gina followed, closing the door once more.
"We're all set," came Ben's voice. "You're clear to go."
"Copy." Jet fired her engines full throttle, launching up into the airstream. Just to be sure. The blackbird fell away like a stone beneath her. "I'm clear," she radioed.
Once Jet was clear, the Magnificent Midnight suddenly stood on her tail and fired her engines at full-power, creating a sound not unlike one of the Apollo rockets launching.
"Wow"... Jet said to herself, watching the blackbird roar to the heavens, before banking herself over, and turning back North to Frenchburg. As she went, the Blackbird snapped off a neat roll as though to wish her good luck.
Jet hurried back, flying as fast as she dared with a rifle on her back. As she feared, it wasn’t doing any favours for her aerodynamics... but it was liveable. It rattled and clattered against her back in the breeze.
Bloody hell that was annoying.
Seeing the Trooper’s ford waiting for her, she pitched herself forward into a gentle landing, a flash of her boot engines sending gravel like shrapnel skittering against the walls and windows. She took a deep breath, feeling her turbines wind down, before opening the hotel room door.
Ruth saw the harpoons first, and blinked.
“The ATF is going to have a cat when they see that thing,”
Jet threw her a puzzled look.
“I thought guns were legal here,”
“Not harpoons enough to take out Moby Dick!”
Well, maybe with a background check, a two hundred dollar stamp for each harpoon and a stamp for the rifle the thing’d be legal.
“Well,” Jet recalled Ben’s warnings will an odd gleam in her eye. “I’ll just have to not get caught with it.”
“Fine.” the Trooper shurgged. “There’s no time to worry about it. We’ve less than an hour to get down there. Just throw it in the trunk of my cruiser.”
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