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PART 7: THE AIR RESCUERS STRIKE BACK VRRRRROOOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Baloo dived to one side as the enemy plane, a black-and grey F-16, roared past him; then, as he turned to face it, a cold shiver ran up his back as a snarling voice came over the radio:- "Remember me, Bruin? That's right, it's Don Karnage, and we've got a score to settle!" An image of Karnage's face appeared on the viewscreen in VALIANT-1 as he spoke; although only his eyes were visible above his respirator, the evil coyote's face was disfigured by three jagged scars which ran diagonally from his forehead to his left cheek. "These scars you gave me have never gone away," Karnage snarled, "and you're to blame!!!!" and so saying he pressed his triggers viciously, sending two streams of tracer bullets shrieking past Baloo's cockpit. "Karnage!" growled Baloo, his eyes narrowing, "I might have guessed that you'd have something to do with this bunch of

PART 6: THE CONFRONTATION It was not long before the news about the happenings at Westhaven reached the attention of the Air Rescuers; Baloo was in the Command Centre as Rebecca studied the radar and scanning systems on the control-panel before her. "What's the latest on the situation at Westhaven, Rebecca?" Baloo asked. "Well, Commander," answered Rebecca, "according to my instruments, the Sky Pirates are at least fifteen minutes away from the town." "Well," replied Baloo grimly, "if that's the case, then we can be there in less than ten minutes and take them by surprise; Rebecca, sound the General Alarm, and then come with me..." BWOOOT! BWOOOT! BWOOOT! BWOOOT! BWOOT! went the alarm, its tones echoing throughout the Air Carrier Freedom; in less time than it takes to write these words, just about every available pilot had assembled in the Main Control Room. "All right, everyone," announced Baloo, "this is our

PART 5: THE AIR RESCUER ROLL-CALL So it was that Air Carrier Freedom was launched, and soon proved to be immensely successful; of course Baloo Bruin was appointed its first Commander, with Rebecca as his second-in-command. Baloo's plane, 'VALIANT 1', was an SR-71 Blackbird equipped with starburst-shell launchers and heat-seeking missiles; capable of a top speed of Mach 2.8, it was one of the most agile of the team. Rebecca specialised in long-range surveillance and tracking, but she was also highly capable when it came to dog-fighting; her plane, 'BLAZING BRONCO', was a customised P-51 Mustang fitted with depth-charges for use against sea-borne targets, and heat-seeking A.P. (Armour-Piercing) bullets that could punch a hole in even the most well-armoured enemy aircraft! Travelling back in time to the Vietnam War, the Air Carrier Freedom recruited Commander 'Swish' Mouseton and his F-4 Phantom jet; now fully equipped with an impressive

PART 4: THE ATTACK ON WESTHAVEN It was about four or five months after the formation of the Sky Pirates that they came to the attention of the local authorities, and before long they became a regular feature on the world news; it seemed that hardly a day went by without news of some evil activity by these aerial troublemakers! One day, there came urgent news about the latest skulduggery by the Sky Pirates:- "Here is the six o'clock news; tonight, the citizens of the town of Westhaven are sheltering in their cellars and makeshift bunkers as the Sky Pirates unleash wave after wave of fighters and bombers upon their city. Virtually all forms of communication are down, and all public services are at a standstill; the Sky Pirates say that they want the airfield cleared of the barricades which the townsfolk have erected, but the people are standing firm...they do NOT want their town used as a Sky Pirate staging ground for the surrounding

PART 3: AN OLD ENEMY AND A NEW THREAT However, there was still one fly in the ointment...and that fly's name was Don Karnage! Having somehow survived the fiery crash many months ago, he had gathered together his own squadron; he called his new squadron 'THE SKY PIRATES' , and it had attracted renegades, cutthroats and misfits such as himself. Karnage's personal plane, 'FIRE HAWK', was a customised F-16 fighter jet, and it was equipped with a battery of unique incendiary and explosive weapons; any pilot who encountered him would have to be extremely agile...and extremely lucky! Then there was Squadron Leader Shenzai Hyena and her F-84 Thunderstreak jet fighter, which she called 'THUNDER BLAST' ; it was armed with armour-piercing machine-guns, and could fire powerful bolts of concentrated sound energy which were strong enough to shatter concrete! Next came Squadron Leader Frostbite and his Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, 'ICE MACHINE' ; it

PART 2: BALOO'S HAND IS FORCED "Roger, Control," answered Baloo, "Say, Becky, why don't you swap places with Kit Cloudkicker and be my Number Two for a while?" "Copy that, Commander," replied Rebecca Cunningham, one of the small but growing number of female pilots in the squadron, "I'll be right with---WATCH OUT!!!!" she suddenly screamed in alarm as she barrel-rolled her F-86 Sabre to the right; it was just as well that she did so, too, because next moment a grey-and-yellow F-16 roared past like a rocket!!!! "What the---??" gasped Baloo, glancing back at the other jet. "It's Don Karnage!!" yelled Rebecca, "That crazy lunatic nearly hit me!!" "A little close for you, eh, Cunningham?" chuckled Karnage's voice over the radio as he swung round and came screeching back, "How's this for close?" and he let fly a stream of tracer bullets that zipped and flashed around the F-86 as it dodged and swerved this way and that! "Karnage, this is

PART 1: HOW IT ALL BEGAN At the U.S. Air Base at Pasadena, Class Number 4257 were about to undergo a special air exercise; among the latest group of new pilots, two in particular had emerged as the best of their group. One was a fine upstanding bear called Baloo Bruin, and the other was a brash hotshot coyote pilot known as Don Karnage; many pilots believed that Karnage was the best pilot in the group...although nobody could be sure that he would look out for anyone else except himself! Now, the Class had assembled in the Main Meeting Room; the Base Commander, Major 'Shere' Khan, cleared his throat and began. "Well, all of you," he announced, "today's exercise will be one of the most exciting...and possibly one of the most dangerous! You'll be divided into two teams, a Red team and a Yellow team; you are to use live ammunition on your ground targets only, I repeat, ONLY, and use your computer simulators for dogfighting.

PART 7: THE SPIES MAKE THEIR MOVE Alana and Sophia had parked their cars out of sight behind the main building, so they hurried back to them and scrambled aboard; once they were on the move, Fender radioed Breaker and explained about the tunnel. "Good thinking, Fender," said Breaker over the radio, "an abandoned tunnel would be just the thing for the Wicko Wolves to use for their test-rig! Now, they're bound to have fortified the tunnel-mouth, but we can sneak round behind them and take them by surprise; stand by to provide back-up if we need it." "Copy that, Chief," answered Fender, "this is Mike Sierra One, Over and Out." As they drove along, the three agents kept their eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble; luckily, however, the Wicko Wolves were too busy building their test-rig to notice them. In fact, their enemies had nearly finished their project, and a long length of railway track joined onto the line running

PART 6: THE RACE AND THE SEARCH So, on the day of the car rally, that the Mammal Spy agents made their way to the town from where the rally was going to start; Alana and Fender were in a 1970s Ford Capri, and Sophia was driving the 1966 Ford Mustang. They were, of course, in touch with the Mammal Spy base by radio in case of emergencies, and Breaker and the agents who formed the battle unit (in disguise, of course) were standing by aboard a 1969 Peterbilt 352 Cabover with a box trailer. At last Sophia, Alana and Fender stood on the starting grid with their engines revving; the starter called out, "Five, Four, Three, Two, One...GO!" and dropped the flag. VARROOMMM!!!! VAROOMMM!!!! With a roar of exhaust and a screech of tyres the cars shot across the starting-line, and the race was on! As they raced along, Fender checked the map of the course; soon they had left the cheering crowds far behind, and were bumping and skidding along the

PART 5: A CHANCE SIGHTING Quickly, the Mammal Spies hurried to the Control Centre and reported their findings; Breaker examined the reports carefully, and then they all looked at a large map of the base and the surrounding area. "This area was once famous for its stone quarries," mused Sophia, pointing to an area to the north-east of the base, "of course, they're all abandoned now...the last one closed about a year ago...but an abandoned stone quarry could be just the place for the Wicko Wolves to work undetected; they'd be out of sight of anyone driving past on the main road, and nobody would be any the wiser! Somehow or other, we've got to find out exactly which quarry they're in, so that we can put the sponkers on their plans!" "That will be difficult," Breaker pointed out, "if I know know Darko and his bunch, no doubt they'll have look-outs posted around the edges of the quarry, and they'll have fortified the entrance, too; this