Disclaimer: Artemis Fowl and related characters are not mine. They are the
works of and are copyrighted to Eoin Colfer.
Scene Three: Mercury
Several hours later.
Holly resisted the urge to roll her eyes and smack the living daylights out of one of her subordinate officers as their grumbling over the helmet frequencies subsided into silence. Focus was crucial to the mission, and this was a very crucial mission, first one in fact with her own team. She would rather not blow this golden opportunity up. The fiery elf counted from ten to try and regain her own focus on the monitors. A glance downwards at her wrist COM indicated that all monitors were clear. The criminal had yet to enter the structure.
Holly, along with her contingent of officers, was spread out in strategic locations ready with a clear shot when the thief showed up. If the thief showed up. She slightly dreaded what would happen if nothing did happen and the gnome would make good on his threats of legal action against the LEP. Admittedly her actions had been aggressive, but they were necessary. Considering that she managed to have Mr. Tater cooperate by showing her his added security plans and having his security compliment the LEP's, she should be a little proud. But still.
Despite her own bravado, she felt her confidence recede slightly. The note from Mercury had said he would have the item by the zenith of the moon. According to her moonometer, that time had already passed ten minutes ago and still no sign of anything unusual. Perhaps Foaly had missed something in the note, perhaps he was already within and they didn't know it because of a glitch in the system.
The elf broke her own order of radio silence to communicate with Foaly. "Foaly?" whispered the elf, though her helmet was soundproof to keep her the noise and breathing within.
There was a slight static before Foaly responded, "I hear you, Captain."
"Are the monitors showing all clear?" Foaly had rigged the entire security to show up in the Operations Booth as well as added his own touches. This particular Tater mansion was locked as tight as any fairy bank and then some with its highly trained team of LEP operatives waiting on guard within.
"All clear. Your wrist COM should tell you that. I see what you see in the wrist COM," responded the centaur with a slight wry tone in his voice. He was trying to avoid using sarcasm knowing Holly was in enough pressure already.
"I know," said Holly briefly before continuing, "You sure you didn't miss anything on the note?"
Foaly's patience could only go so far, "Come to think of it, Captain, I think I might have missed the date or something."
Holly's stony silence over the frequency was answer enough.
"I'm sure, Holly," drawled Foaly. "I have it right here with me and we're good. So just sit tight. Maybe he had to pee on the way here or something."
Holly refused to respond, but she inwardly agreed with Foaly. Of course he was right. It really was just nerves. Focus, Holly, focus, she told herself. Her eyes drifted back to her wrist COM to reveal the same green status as before. Out of habit, she stared long and hard at the target of the thief. It was a sizable globe of diamond shaped to resemble the moon. It hung suspended within a Plexiglas case resting atop a wired marble pillar. The vault itself was located in one of the lower levels of the mansion. Sealed tight and heavily guarded. She did not want to be Mercury. As far as she could see, it was impossible to get in without being seen. Which was the idea. Holly glanced to the side in order to check the position of her team again. She could not see them. Good. That was when Holly saw something odd.
Was it a shift in the shadows? She stared closer at the inky blackness cast by one of columns near the jewel before pressing the night vision switch on her helmet. Nothing could be seen. Out of instinct, she stared for a few more minutes. There! There was a barely perceptible shift in the screen although nothing was showing up. Nothing fairy at least. Holly, from inside her helmet, frowned. Her helmet was filtered so shields couldn't see it. She switched on infrared: still nothing. Could this be a malfunction?
"Foaly, are you certain nothing is showing up on the screens?"
"Holly, for the last time, there is nothing here," retorted the centaur, exasperated.
"Then what am I seeing?"
The elf heard a few keys being tapped and knew that Foaly was examining what her camera feed was showing. "I'm not seeing anythi.." Foaly's answer died on his lips.
"Full alert, boys," broadcasted Holly on the team frequency. "Possible target within range. Southwestern column nearest the diamond." She switched back to Foaly, "What are we seeing Foaly? Is it a malfunction?"
"Can't be," came the muttered answer. Keys were being tapped at a high rate. "I'm checking the systems myself. They're all clear from what I can see."
Holly's response was muted as that something, whatever it was, glided out of the shadows although it mostly seemed like shadows itself. It was a slow glide, a sensuous feline crawl. Holly had never seen anything like it. "Foaly, are you reading this?"
"Reading what?"
"Now is not the time for sarcasm, Foaly," hissed Holly through the frequency. "I need an ID on that thing right now!"
"Captain, I am not seeing anything," hissed Foaly right back.
"What?" asked Holly thoroughly bewildered. She switched back to the team frequency, "Target acquired. Safety off."
"Captain," came an officer, "I can't see anything."
"Me neither," came another.
"I can see it," objected a third voice. "Never seen anything like it in my whole life."
What the hell.thought Holly before issuing a command, "All right, those who can see it, lock your weapons in position." Intense hazel eyes focused as that something came closer and closer to the jewel. "Those who can't, prepare to activate the tunnel lights." She counted the seconds as the target approached the jewel.
Several things happened simultaneously. Firstly, Foaly and the computer, as one, reported, "All traps and alarms on the jewel disabled. Security compromised!" Next, the light surrounding the glass case switched off, as did all the electricity within the compound. Then Holly yelled into the mouthpiece, "Now!"
Three quarters of the team rushed in, while the rest switched on their tunnel lights. In the wild flashing and the mass of LEP officers charging in with buzz batons waving, Holly saw that the shadows that seemed to be obscuring their vision was gone replaced by a sinister looking figure.
The said figure was tall, as tall as a human, wearing a long black robe complete with a cowl. It was made of some material Holly could not discern at the moment but it rippled and moved exactly like shadow. The figure was holding the jewel. How, the elf nor the other officers could not guess for the glass case looked untouched. It swung about rapidly as the officers charged in and it seemed to laugh. Delightedly, it swung around and dodged the officers, as fluid as water, but none ever seemed to be able to touch him. The thief was as untouchable as the element he was named after. Not only that, he was toying with them.
In a strange moment, Holly found the figure strangely familiar. Then the yells of her subordinates resounded in her ears and she aimed her weapon and fired. "Fire!" she commanded. The rest of the team who remained stationary followed suit. The remaining were the sharpshooters and their weapons were not meant to kill or even to stun. Root would kill Holly if she risked her officers like that. No, these were weapons that shot trackers. Trackers were very similar to LEP locators. The clever addition to the trackers was that it was extremely small, extremely hard to discern, and was customized to cling to any surface except the LEP uniforms and solid heavy material like granite or rock. As usual, it was another of Foaly's inventions.
In the confusion, Mercury simply laughed mockingly before saying, "Is that the best you can do?" It slipped into the shadows once more and when the high beams focused there, nothing could be seen. Holly wasn't even paying attention. Instead, she glanced downwards to her COM holding her breath. There, yes! Two trackers had hit Mercury and stayed on. It was moving at an incredibly fast rate. All according to plan.
"We have a problem, Captain Short," came Foaly's voice from the frequency.
"What is it?" grunted Holly rapidly, already running for the exit to the compound in order to complete the ruse that the thief had defeated the LEP. Several officers followed her lead. She snatched up a hidden Hummingbird wing set Foaly had provided her with his latest personal updates as if she intended to fly around the compound.
"I'm losing the signals emitted by the trackers," answered the centaur's breathless voice. "Somehow, I can't figure out how, the signals are getting weaker and weaker. It's as if the power source is running out but that's impossible! Those batteries are a nuclear source they can't run out."
"What?!" shrieked Holly, really beginning to run as fast as she could. "How long until they go off entirely?"
"Five minutes tops," supplied the tech readily. "I suggest you run after him now when he's not expecting you. We have a time limit we didn't expect it seems."
"D'Arvit!" cursed the elf, streaking past the lobby. She projected the map along with the tracking signals to her helmet. According to the schematics, it was moving out of the compound itself already. Not only that, it seemed to take off in the air. "Follow the tracker!" screamed Holly over the team frequency. "No questions; just follow it! The target seems to have aerial capabilities so those with wing sets go up!"
The captain slipped on her wings and took off into the night sky. Despite the adrenaline pounding in her veins, Holly couldn't help but notice that she was flying faster than usual for the wing set. Really fast. She was soon outstripping her back up by a large length. It was not advisable to take on Mercury on her own but what choice did she have? It was either alone or lose him entirely.
"Foaly, is it just me or are these new wings really fast?" Holly asked, knowing that she could squeeze to ask the question while she pursued the tracking signal. She was rapidly ascending altitude to about 200 ft.
"Eh. yes, I added a few updates to your wings," committed Foaly.
"Only my wings?" groaned Holly.
"Only your wings," confirmed the centaur. "I haven't exactly tried them out on anyone yet... But a good thing to because it seems that the new wings are helping. You're gaining on your quarry, Captain. Approaching and fast."
"Right," grunted Holly, withdrawing her Neutrino 2000. Her visor's vision was automatically magnified in order for Holly to see better the pinpointed area the tracker was coming from. Again, the shadow Mercury seemed to be surrounded in shimmered and teased her vision. She waited until she was in better range before loosing a few blasts.
Mercury dodged just in time. Her blast singed that damned cloak he was wearing and his eerie shadow form was replaced by the figure Holly glimpsed earlier in the Tater Compound. His cloak flapped uselessly in the wind, apparently stripped of its stealth capabilities. But what interested Holly the most, however, were the wings on the thief's back. They were exactly like a sprite's wings with a few significant exceptions: they were larger and longer to accommodate the also larger size of its owner and they were pitch black with no sheen in them. They beat at an extremely fast and powerful rate, allowing its owner to go at speeds of over 80 mph.
Nonetheless, no matter how good the sprite's wings were, they were not able to best Foaly's updates. Holly began firing a volley of shots in Mercury's direction. The thief was forced to perform several aerial acrobatics to avoid dodging them and, Holly was pleased to note in the back of her mind, he was laughing no longer. It would only be a matter of time before Holly shots would hit and one shot was all she needed.
Holly was close enough to secure a good shot when the sprite turned around abruptly and stopped in mid air. Holly's eyes widened and she pulled frantically at her gears. Not good enough. The elf slammed into her target and they both spiraled downwards in a tangle of wings, legs, and arms. Holly was helplessly entangled with the sprite.
Time slowed down for Holly. She knew they were going to crash into the ground with a sickening splat within fifteen to thirty seconds if they weren't able to pull out of the dive. Her heart rate rocketed to the sky as she saw the ground start rushing up to them as they plummeted headfirst. She frantically tried to disengage herself from the sprite, but he seemed to be stunned or was set on clasping her to him. Suicide. Their heads passed the roof of the tallest buildings in downtown Haven.
Her breath caught in her throat and she simultaneously reached for her Neutrino. If he wasn't going to let go, she was going to force him. If she was able to control her dive, there was a chance she'd be able to rescue him just yet. It seemed an eternity as she fumbled with the weapon and aimed. It was a rough shot and there was a chance Holly would shoot herself. With the ground rushing up in what seemed like ten seconds, Holly squeezed the trigger.
The light was absorbed in the sprite and it shook him a little, enough to loosen his hold around her arms. Holly's hand immediately went to the throttle of her wings. But something distracted her attention. The sprite had flattened his wings, using the force of the wind to stop his fast descent and glide crazily into the open entrance of a warehouse.
"Holly, the wings!" screamed Foaly in Holly's earpiece. The elf started, realizing that her friend was screaming at her and probably had been for some time now, and immediately pulled up. The gears groaned at the abrupt reverse and for dangerous moments it seemed Holly would crash anyway despite her efforts. She barely managed a fast glide a foot from the ground but the wall of the warehouse was coming up fast and she had no way of stopping the wings in time without cutting it entirely and managing to twist her bones around. Even if she did manage a safe crash, there was no guarantee that the wings would not explode on her. The batteries to the wing set were nuclear or something. No, perhaps it was another wing set but Holly didn't remember and hardly deemed it necessary at the time. So she did what seemed like the best course of action. In the few moments of mobility remaining to the captain, she disengaged the wings and flipped to her side, curling instinctively.
Through shielded eyes, Holly saw the wings crash into the wall and explode in a small shower of fire and machinery. The wall came up fast and hit Holly squarely on her back. The breath she had been holding was expelled rudely as pain flooded her senses. Her body jolted in an alarming manner, but at least she prevented her skull from knocking into the wall. At that speed the helmet would not be that much of a cushion against the force. Her body slid to the floor and her vision swam black for a minute or two as her breath came in gasps.
There was a buzzing in her ear. Or was it Foaly? She groaned and shook her head, staying still for a few moments as her magic cascaded around her body, healing the damage she had sustained. In a minute, she felt fine enough to stand up and talk to Foaly. The centaur was reporting various vital statistics of Holly and it ended with, "It seems, Captain, that although you have crash landed from 200 ft. in the air, destroyed LEP equipment, and slammed into a solid wall at dangerous speeds (and probably left a dent), you're still fine."
"Thanks, Foaly," gasped Holly, wincing at the slight discomfort somewhere near her ribs. In one swift glance, she looked at her surroundings: somewhere near Downtown Haven was her guess due to the noise and lights, but probably in the industrial area. The building she crashed into was a solid, square warehouse. It was dark. Obviously, the workers were nowhere near. Luckily enough for her, her wings had landed in a place surrounded by solid rock so there was nothing for it to consume. In a matter of a minute, the fire smoldered sullenly out of existence.
She jogged swiftly to her discarded Neutrino 2000 and glanced at her wrist COM. The beeping was faint now, but it was most definitely stationary and was within the warehouse. "Send my coordinates to my team, Foaly," instructed Holly.
"Already ahead of you, Captain," affirmed the centaur. "They'll be there in about five minutes. You're not going on ahead are you?"
"I have to!" answered the elf. "I stunned him so there's a good chance he's lying there unconscious. Even if he isn't, I have to delay him enough for the rest of my team to get here. I can't lose him, Foaly."
Foaly didn't even bother arguing. When Holly was like that, it was either help or get out of the way. Silently, he prayed that she caught this thief. If she failed, Internal Affairs would kick her out of the force for sure. Even if she did catch this thief, Root was sure to yell. ~End of Flashback~
Holly proceeded stealthily down the right hallway. Her COM told her that she was approaching the main storage area of the warehouse. The target was in there somewhere. One look within told Holly that this was going to be extremely difficult. Crates piled several feet high lined the space. There were plenty of places to hide. At least her COM told her that the thief was still within although the signal was not strong enough to pinpoint his location exactly as it had done before.
"Tracker One is lost, Captain," said Foaly. "About a minute before we lose Tracker Two as well."
Holly hissed silently. This mission was just getting better and better. She switched her helmet feed to infrared. She had barely the time to catch a glimpse of a flash of red to her left when she was assaulted by something moving at a very fast speed. Her fast reflexes sidestepped the attack in time and her free hand lashed out to catapult the thief onto his back. In rapid movements, she brought her Neutrino into the range and fired. The thief might be a bit sizzled, but she wasn't going to feel guilty about it. In the back of her mind, Holly wondered why the thief was moving so fast after being hit by a previous Neutrino shot.
Then something happened that completely threw her off more effectively than being slammed against a wall. Her blast had stopped in midair. Stopped, it seemed, by the thief's out raised hand. But that wasn't enough in itself to surprise Holly. Given the bizarre things she'd seen, she was expecting something like this. No, what really surprised her was the face. The momentum of the thief's attack had thrown it back revealing a face.
The face was slightly larger but more defined. It was a handsome face, a disarming change on a face Holly, sadly enough, knew all too well. A face that haunted her footsteps since the day they met while she was on duty in LEP.
Scene Three: Mercury
Several hours later.
Holly resisted the urge to roll her eyes and smack the living daylights out of one of her subordinate officers as their grumbling over the helmet frequencies subsided into silence. Focus was crucial to the mission, and this was a very crucial mission, first one in fact with her own team. She would rather not blow this golden opportunity up. The fiery elf counted from ten to try and regain her own focus on the monitors. A glance downwards at her wrist COM indicated that all monitors were clear. The criminal had yet to enter the structure.
Holly, along with her contingent of officers, was spread out in strategic locations ready with a clear shot when the thief showed up. If the thief showed up. She slightly dreaded what would happen if nothing did happen and the gnome would make good on his threats of legal action against the LEP. Admittedly her actions had been aggressive, but they were necessary. Considering that she managed to have Mr. Tater cooperate by showing her his added security plans and having his security compliment the LEP's, she should be a little proud. But still.
Despite her own bravado, she felt her confidence recede slightly. The note from Mercury had said he would have the item by the zenith of the moon. According to her moonometer, that time had already passed ten minutes ago and still no sign of anything unusual. Perhaps Foaly had missed something in the note, perhaps he was already within and they didn't know it because of a glitch in the system.
The elf broke her own order of radio silence to communicate with Foaly. "Foaly?" whispered the elf, though her helmet was soundproof to keep her the noise and breathing within.
There was a slight static before Foaly responded, "I hear you, Captain."
"Are the monitors showing all clear?" Foaly had rigged the entire security to show up in the Operations Booth as well as added his own touches. This particular Tater mansion was locked as tight as any fairy bank and then some with its highly trained team of LEP operatives waiting on guard within.
"All clear. Your wrist COM should tell you that. I see what you see in the wrist COM," responded the centaur with a slight wry tone in his voice. He was trying to avoid using sarcasm knowing Holly was in enough pressure already.
"I know," said Holly briefly before continuing, "You sure you didn't miss anything on the note?"
Foaly's patience could only go so far, "Come to think of it, Captain, I think I might have missed the date or something."
Holly's stony silence over the frequency was answer enough.
"I'm sure, Holly," drawled Foaly. "I have it right here with me and we're good. So just sit tight. Maybe he had to pee on the way here or something."
Holly refused to respond, but she inwardly agreed with Foaly. Of course he was right. It really was just nerves. Focus, Holly, focus, she told herself. Her eyes drifted back to her wrist COM to reveal the same green status as before. Out of habit, she stared long and hard at the target of the thief. It was a sizable globe of diamond shaped to resemble the moon. It hung suspended within a Plexiglas case resting atop a wired marble pillar. The vault itself was located in one of the lower levels of the mansion. Sealed tight and heavily guarded. She did not want to be Mercury. As far as she could see, it was impossible to get in without being seen. Which was the idea. Holly glanced to the side in order to check the position of her team again. She could not see them. Good. That was when Holly saw something odd.
Was it a shift in the shadows? She stared closer at the inky blackness cast by one of columns near the jewel before pressing the night vision switch on her helmet. Nothing could be seen. Out of instinct, she stared for a few more minutes. There! There was a barely perceptible shift in the screen although nothing was showing up. Nothing fairy at least. Holly, from inside her helmet, frowned. Her helmet was filtered so shields couldn't see it. She switched on infrared: still nothing. Could this be a malfunction?
"Foaly, are you certain nothing is showing up on the screens?"
"Holly, for the last time, there is nothing here," retorted the centaur, exasperated.
"Then what am I seeing?"
The elf heard a few keys being tapped and knew that Foaly was examining what her camera feed was showing. "I'm not seeing anythi.." Foaly's answer died on his lips.
"Full alert, boys," broadcasted Holly on the team frequency. "Possible target within range. Southwestern column nearest the diamond." She switched back to Foaly, "What are we seeing Foaly? Is it a malfunction?"
"Can't be," came the muttered answer. Keys were being tapped at a high rate. "I'm checking the systems myself. They're all clear from what I can see."
Holly's response was muted as that something, whatever it was, glided out of the shadows although it mostly seemed like shadows itself. It was a slow glide, a sensuous feline crawl. Holly had never seen anything like it. "Foaly, are you reading this?"
"Reading what?"
"Now is not the time for sarcasm, Foaly," hissed Holly through the frequency. "I need an ID on that thing right now!"
"Captain, I am not seeing anything," hissed Foaly right back.
"What?" asked Holly thoroughly bewildered. She switched back to the team frequency, "Target acquired. Safety off."
"Captain," came an officer, "I can't see anything."
"Me neither," came another.
"I can see it," objected a third voice. "Never seen anything like it in my whole life."
What the hell.thought Holly before issuing a command, "All right, those who can see it, lock your weapons in position." Intense hazel eyes focused as that something came closer and closer to the jewel. "Those who can't, prepare to activate the tunnel lights." She counted the seconds as the target approached the jewel.
Several things happened simultaneously. Firstly, Foaly and the computer, as one, reported, "All traps and alarms on the jewel disabled. Security compromised!" Next, the light surrounding the glass case switched off, as did all the electricity within the compound. Then Holly yelled into the mouthpiece, "Now!"
Three quarters of the team rushed in, while the rest switched on their tunnel lights. In the wild flashing and the mass of LEP officers charging in with buzz batons waving, Holly saw that the shadows that seemed to be obscuring their vision was gone replaced by a sinister looking figure.
The said figure was tall, as tall as a human, wearing a long black robe complete with a cowl. It was made of some material Holly could not discern at the moment but it rippled and moved exactly like shadow. The figure was holding the jewel. How, the elf nor the other officers could not guess for the glass case looked untouched. It swung about rapidly as the officers charged in and it seemed to laugh. Delightedly, it swung around and dodged the officers, as fluid as water, but none ever seemed to be able to touch him. The thief was as untouchable as the element he was named after. Not only that, he was toying with them.
In a strange moment, Holly found the figure strangely familiar. Then the yells of her subordinates resounded in her ears and she aimed her weapon and fired. "Fire!" she commanded. The rest of the team who remained stationary followed suit. The remaining were the sharpshooters and their weapons were not meant to kill or even to stun. Root would kill Holly if she risked her officers like that. No, these were weapons that shot trackers. Trackers were very similar to LEP locators. The clever addition to the trackers was that it was extremely small, extremely hard to discern, and was customized to cling to any surface except the LEP uniforms and solid heavy material like granite or rock. As usual, it was another of Foaly's inventions.
In the confusion, Mercury simply laughed mockingly before saying, "Is that the best you can do?" It slipped into the shadows once more and when the high beams focused there, nothing could be seen. Holly wasn't even paying attention. Instead, she glanced downwards to her COM holding her breath. There, yes! Two trackers had hit Mercury and stayed on. It was moving at an incredibly fast rate. All according to plan.
"We have a problem, Captain Short," came Foaly's voice from the frequency.
"What is it?" grunted Holly rapidly, already running for the exit to the compound in order to complete the ruse that the thief had defeated the LEP. Several officers followed her lead. She snatched up a hidden Hummingbird wing set Foaly had provided her with his latest personal updates as if she intended to fly around the compound.
"I'm losing the signals emitted by the trackers," answered the centaur's breathless voice. "Somehow, I can't figure out how, the signals are getting weaker and weaker. It's as if the power source is running out but that's impossible! Those batteries are a nuclear source they can't run out."
"What?!" shrieked Holly, really beginning to run as fast as she could. "How long until they go off entirely?"
"Five minutes tops," supplied the tech readily. "I suggest you run after him now when he's not expecting you. We have a time limit we didn't expect it seems."
"D'Arvit!" cursed the elf, streaking past the lobby. She projected the map along with the tracking signals to her helmet. According to the schematics, it was moving out of the compound itself already. Not only that, it seemed to take off in the air. "Follow the tracker!" screamed Holly over the team frequency. "No questions; just follow it! The target seems to have aerial capabilities so those with wing sets go up!"
The captain slipped on her wings and took off into the night sky. Despite the adrenaline pounding in her veins, Holly couldn't help but notice that she was flying faster than usual for the wing set. Really fast. She was soon outstripping her back up by a large length. It was not advisable to take on Mercury on her own but what choice did she have? It was either alone or lose him entirely.
"Foaly, is it just me or are these new wings really fast?" Holly asked, knowing that she could squeeze to ask the question while she pursued the tracking signal. She was rapidly ascending altitude to about 200 ft.
"Eh. yes, I added a few updates to your wings," committed Foaly.
"Only my wings?" groaned Holly.
"Only your wings," confirmed the centaur. "I haven't exactly tried them out on anyone yet... But a good thing to because it seems that the new wings are helping. You're gaining on your quarry, Captain. Approaching and fast."
"Right," grunted Holly, withdrawing her Neutrino 2000. Her visor's vision was automatically magnified in order for Holly to see better the pinpointed area the tracker was coming from. Again, the shadow Mercury seemed to be surrounded in shimmered and teased her vision. She waited until she was in better range before loosing a few blasts.
Mercury dodged just in time. Her blast singed that damned cloak he was wearing and his eerie shadow form was replaced by the figure Holly glimpsed earlier in the Tater Compound. His cloak flapped uselessly in the wind, apparently stripped of its stealth capabilities. But what interested Holly the most, however, were the wings on the thief's back. They were exactly like a sprite's wings with a few significant exceptions: they were larger and longer to accommodate the also larger size of its owner and they were pitch black with no sheen in them. They beat at an extremely fast and powerful rate, allowing its owner to go at speeds of over 80 mph.
Nonetheless, no matter how good the sprite's wings were, they were not able to best Foaly's updates. Holly began firing a volley of shots in Mercury's direction. The thief was forced to perform several aerial acrobatics to avoid dodging them and, Holly was pleased to note in the back of her mind, he was laughing no longer. It would only be a matter of time before Holly shots would hit and one shot was all she needed.
Holly was close enough to secure a good shot when the sprite turned around abruptly and stopped in mid air. Holly's eyes widened and she pulled frantically at her gears. Not good enough. The elf slammed into her target and they both spiraled downwards in a tangle of wings, legs, and arms. Holly was helplessly entangled with the sprite.
Time slowed down for Holly. She knew they were going to crash into the ground with a sickening splat within fifteen to thirty seconds if they weren't able to pull out of the dive. Her heart rate rocketed to the sky as she saw the ground start rushing up to them as they plummeted headfirst. She frantically tried to disengage herself from the sprite, but he seemed to be stunned or was set on clasping her to him. Suicide. Their heads passed the roof of the tallest buildings in downtown Haven.
Her breath caught in her throat and she simultaneously reached for her Neutrino. If he wasn't going to let go, she was going to force him. If she was able to control her dive, there was a chance she'd be able to rescue him just yet. It seemed an eternity as she fumbled with the weapon and aimed. It was a rough shot and there was a chance Holly would shoot herself. With the ground rushing up in what seemed like ten seconds, Holly squeezed the trigger.
The light was absorbed in the sprite and it shook him a little, enough to loosen his hold around her arms. Holly's hand immediately went to the throttle of her wings. But something distracted her attention. The sprite had flattened his wings, using the force of the wind to stop his fast descent and glide crazily into the open entrance of a warehouse.
"Holly, the wings!" screamed Foaly in Holly's earpiece. The elf started, realizing that her friend was screaming at her and probably had been for some time now, and immediately pulled up. The gears groaned at the abrupt reverse and for dangerous moments it seemed Holly would crash anyway despite her efforts. She barely managed a fast glide a foot from the ground but the wall of the warehouse was coming up fast and she had no way of stopping the wings in time without cutting it entirely and managing to twist her bones around. Even if she did manage a safe crash, there was no guarantee that the wings would not explode on her. The batteries to the wing set were nuclear or something. No, perhaps it was another wing set but Holly didn't remember and hardly deemed it necessary at the time. So she did what seemed like the best course of action. In the few moments of mobility remaining to the captain, she disengaged the wings and flipped to her side, curling instinctively.
Through shielded eyes, Holly saw the wings crash into the wall and explode in a small shower of fire and machinery. The wall came up fast and hit Holly squarely on her back. The breath she had been holding was expelled rudely as pain flooded her senses. Her body jolted in an alarming manner, but at least she prevented her skull from knocking into the wall. At that speed the helmet would not be that much of a cushion against the force. Her body slid to the floor and her vision swam black for a minute or two as her breath came in gasps.
There was a buzzing in her ear. Or was it Foaly? She groaned and shook her head, staying still for a few moments as her magic cascaded around her body, healing the damage she had sustained. In a minute, she felt fine enough to stand up and talk to Foaly. The centaur was reporting various vital statistics of Holly and it ended with, "It seems, Captain, that although you have crash landed from 200 ft. in the air, destroyed LEP equipment, and slammed into a solid wall at dangerous speeds (and probably left a dent), you're still fine."
"Thanks, Foaly," gasped Holly, wincing at the slight discomfort somewhere near her ribs. In one swift glance, she looked at her surroundings: somewhere near Downtown Haven was her guess due to the noise and lights, but probably in the industrial area. The building she crashed into was a solid, square warehouse. It was dark. Obviously, the workers were nowhere near. Luckily enough for her, her wings had landed in a place surrounded by solid rock so there was nothing for it to consume. In a matter of a minute, the fire smoldered sullenly out of existence.
She jogged swiftly to her discarded Neutrino 2000 and glanced at her wrist COM. The beeping was faint now, but it was most definitely stationary and was within the warehouse. "Send my coordinates to my team, Foaly," instructed Holly.
"Already ahead of you, Captain," affirmed the centaur. "They'll be there in about five minutes. You're not going on ahead are you?"
"I have to!" answered the elf. "I stunned him so there's a good chance he's lying there unconscious. Even if he isn't, I have to delay him enough for the rest of my team to get here. I can't lose him, Foaly."
Foaly didn't even bother arguing. When Holly was like that, it was either help or get out of the way. Silently, he prayed that she caught this thief. If she failed, Internal Affairs would kick her out of the force for sure. Even if she did catch this thief, Root was sure to yell. ~End of Flashback~
Holly proceeded stealthily down the right hallway. Her COM told her that she was approaching the main storage area of the warehouse. The target was in there somewhere. One look within told Holly that this was going to be extremely difficult. Crates piled several feet high lined the space. There were plenty of places to hide. At least her COM told her that the thief was still within although the signal was not strong enough to pinpoint his location exactly as it had done before.
"Tracker One is lost, Captain," said Foaly. "About a minute before we lose Tracker Two as well."
Holly hissed silently. This mission was just getting better and better. She switched her helmet feed to infrared. She had barely the time to catch a glimpse of a flash of red to her left when she was assaulted by something moving at a very fast speed. Her fast reflexes sidestepped the attack in time and her free hand lashed out to catapult the thief onto his back. In rapid movements, she brought her Neutrino into the range and fired. The thief might be a bit sizzled, but she wasn't going to feel guilty about it. In the back of her mind, Holly wondered why the thief was moving so fast after being hit by a previous Neutrino shot.
Then something happened that completely threw her off more effectively than being slammed against a wall. Her blast had stopped in midair. Stopped, it seemed, by the thief's out raised hand. But that wasn't enough in itself to surprise Holly. Given the bizarre things she'd seen, she was expecting something like this. No, what really surprised her was the face. The momentum of the thief's attack had thrown it back revealing a face.
The face was slightly larger but more defined. It was a handsome face, a disarming change on a face Holly, sadly enough, knew all too well. A face that haunted her footsteps since the day they met while she was on duty in LEP.