Chapter One

6 Days Earlier

Underground

LEPrecon HQ

Just stay calm, the major told himself, this is your big chance, so don't ruin it. Aidan Corp was walking to his commander's office for his first operation as a major. He and his squad had been hanging out in the mess hall when he was suddenly called for a debriefing of an unknown mission. Nervously, he followed the messenger and was now here, a few minutes away from his first mission.

They reached the end of the hallway and found a door there. The messenger's arms widened and welcomed him through the door. Corp nodded, drew a deep breath, and entered the room.

It was a spherical room colored dark blue and there were screens everywhere. "Ah, major, I see you have arrived." The young elf's gaze turned left to where his commander and the technician were standing, watching a video. He nodded and joined the 2 when motioned to. "Well, before we explain anything to you, watch this video."

They moved aside and Corp walked up to the seat. On the screen, the video started and he saw a camera looking down and someone running. "Commander, this is major Stalsky. I'm in a warehouse aboveground right now." He could hear bullets – bullets, strange – zipping by combined with laser fires. "I don't know the exact location of this place but I know its somewhere in Ireland, near some plains. My squad is half down by – you're not gonna' believe this – a human." Finally, the camera turned to the wielder. At the sight, the major closed his eyes briefly. It was a young elf whose face was bleeding with wounds. His helmet was gone leaving no other communication except for his manual transmissioner.

"The man goes by the name of Sergei though we don't know if that is his real name. He is a Russian – I believe so – Mafia. Somehow, he knew about our mission on the troll and he ambushed us. D'arvit! Merval!" An explosion nearby took place and pieces of debris flew everywhere, clouding the air with soot and ash. This time, major Stalsky spoke in a quicker and louder voice, "I don't have much time to finish. We're not 100 sure what the man is up to but he knows about the fairies. The People are in danger. I think he is going to build a portal leading from above to below. He wants to expose us!"

The camera flew up with the elf's hand and it showed a man, sneering widely. In his hand was a rifle… aimed directly at the camera (or the elf). "D'arvit!" The transmission ended.

It was silent for a moment and a grim aura flew in. Corp's throat was dry and he felt lumps there. The commander finally turned to Corp and spoke as firm as he could, "I want your squad to discover what the man is, but don't get physical. As we have seen here, he's a dangerous man. Capron."

The technician, a centaur now known to be called Capron, nodded and strolled over to another screen and opened a file of a map in Ireland. "We have singled out the areas as best as we could and found some warehouses over here. Investigate the area and report back. Your squad and equipment will be ready and waiting outside."

Aidan Corp nodded and walked out, ready for his first mission as a major.

3 Days Earlier

Aboveground Ireland

Tunnel Leading To Underground

In their squad positions, Aidan and the rest of the team cautiously walked down the narrow tunnel. After 3 days with 2 casualties from the bomb at the bank, they had finally caught up with Sergei and cornered him in the tunnels leading Underground. The mission was going smoothly as planned; Sergei still didn't notice the LEPrecon squad tailing them for 3 days.

They entered a large room and saw Sergei and his men of about 8 sit down. That's odd, thought the major, I would suspect trained humans – and fairies working with him – to be more vigilant than that. Something's going on. His eyes darted around, looking for anything suspicious. They were in one of the old, abandoned transit stations. He signaled for his squad to stay positions for a moment as his eyes scanned for some vantage points.

Suddenly, instinct told him to view Sergei. He found him still there, sitting casually. Wait a minute, he thought. He counted the other men. 1..2..3..4.. His eyes widened, it was a trap!

Just as he thought, 4 men appeared from behind them and overcame them, knocking 3 of his squad members down. "Foolish little fairies," Sergei taunted, "Did you think that we did not know about you?" 2 other men down there started charging up the tunnel to them. Corp snarled and pulled out his rifle.

The other 3 of his squad were fending off the 4 men as best as they could but physically, elves and sprites against humans was barely a fair match. In a matter of seconds, 2 of the squad members had fainted unconscious. Corp cocked his rifle, took a quick aim at one of the men, and fired. The laser darted across rocks and earth and finally found its target, landing smoothly on one of the men. He was knocked back and his body rebounded off the rocks. Ouch.

The other 3 men turned to the major and ran up to him, knocking the other fairies aside. With trained accuracy, Corp began to fire blazing, powerful lasers at them while running away. 2 of the fairies were already down unconscious but his friend was beginning to come to. Aidan shot and fled as fast as his little legs could carry him but soon, he was surrounded by 3 men – 2 of which had come from Sergei's position.

Like tigers, prowling and waiting for the jump to kill, the 3 men circled Corp expertly. The major could fell sweat pouring down his face vigorously and the others could tell that he was losing it. Nevertheless, Aidan kept himself calm as best as he could under his helmet. Tscc. –Static—"Major Corp, is that you?"

Corp quickly responded his com, "Yes and my squad is in deep trouble."

The men moved in slowly and Corp raised his rifle, causing some hesitation between them. Sergei interrupted them abruptly, "Wait a second, elf, I suppose your military commander is on the com with you, am I correct?"

Through the mike, the commander could overhear the conversation, "Tell him it is, it could save your life." Aidan Corp nodded nervously and Sergei smiled triumphantly as if he had just won a battle – which in a way, he did.

"Tell me to speak with me and I'll spare your squad's life in return that you tell me something I want to know and you let me go – at least for a head start."

Aidan spoke for the first time to the hated man, "He already heard. Here's the com." He unhooked in through his helmet tossed it down to one of Sergei's henchman. Mid-way, the receiving man's eyes widened suddenly and he took out his rifle. Aidan grunted and changed his rifle aim at the man… and fired 2 shots. BANG!

Aidan's eyes widened open and he stopped moving. In fact, everyone did. Sergei's smile vanished instantly and he scowled.

Corp turned around and gasped. There stood his friend… with bullets in his chest. As his lifeless body fell down, Corp rushed over and caught his failing body before it reached the ground. Tears slowly crawled down his face and he gritted his teeth. At the same time, the man who had shot – and had been shot – fell forward to the ground with a thud and stopped moving.

Sergei's voice broke the silence, "Fools, if your friend hadn't made an attack, this would've gone well… well, a little more smoothly."

Through the mike on loud speak, everyone could hear the commander's unaware voice, "Corp, what happened? I heard some rifle shots. Corp? Are you listening?" But the young elf wasn't; he was enraged and his face began to heat up in anger. His hand curled tightly around his rifle and his face fell dark.

In a flash, before the men could even react, Aidan swirled around and sprayed rounds of laser at the killers. The lasers landed loudly on the 2 men and they were sent flying back. Through the air as they slowly died, the men burst shots randomly through the air. One of the bullets found its way at Aidan and smacked him in the left shoulder.

The major shifted hardly to the left and he could instantly feel his left arm weakening. He cursed under his breath at his foolishness – he hadn't turned on his shield. But regret could come later. For now, he had to get out of here. He moaned quietly as he limped up the tunnel with blood staining his armor and slowly dripping down. The 2 fairies guarding Sergei began to follow Aidan with ease and they readied their rifles.

"Wait!" Sergei's voice echoed through the tunnels and everyone stopped, including Aidan. Shocked at that, he turned around and faced Sergei. The dwarf and sprite hesitated for a second and when they heard no further response from their boss, they continued moving up. "Wait." This time, his voice lowered but they could all hear the ferocity and danger in it.

The 2 fairies stopped and looked at him. "Capture him," said the vicious man, "Inject a serum in him and bring him with us. Leave the bodies." The 2 fairies obeyed the orders and rushed up to Aidan.

Hearing this news, Corp's heart fainted slightly but it just urged him to escape even more. The pain finally took place. His shoulder was soaked in blood and more kept pouring out. After a few more steps, his body couldn't take it. He dropped down onto the floor and let the fairies catch up to him – there was nothing more he could do.

The last he saw, the sprite was injecting some substance into his arm with a needle… then everything blacked out.