I do not own any characters or ideas created by Eoin Colfer
A/N Can't think of anything to say… Enjoy the story!
Chapter 16- Infiltration
Anyone that had survived the toxic and by chance looked out of the window would think that the LEP was going into a battle of some kind. If they thought this, they were right.
The troops were each armed with the latest weapons and gadgets. (Courtesy of Foaly.) They marched down the streets of Haven, approaching their vehicles. When they were all mounted, the forty troops, three commandos, five acquaintances, and commander drove off to the factory.
Upon arriving, the firewalls were to their highest extent in the sky, the turrets were set to kill, and the shields were on to the maximum. When Artemis saw it, he thought of it like passing a lake with a boat docked a half-mile away. Piece of cake. He wore an anti-laser vest and was armed with an automatic G4-500 handgun. In his left hand however, lay the real weapon. His laptop. It was in a protected and heavy briefcase.
"Okay Mulch, you're up," said "commando" Trouble.
"Okie-dokie, boss," he said teasingly. Mulch jumped out of the armored hover truck and, unhinging his jaw, began to dig down right before the flames.
"As you all know," began Sool, " there is a metal plating at the bottom. Short, you are going to lower the explosives into Diggums' hole with Butler's help." Holly and Butler nodded.
"But we're going to need fast drivers because my plan probably wont hold up for long," Foaly said through their earpieces.
"That's what you've got us for," Lenz said, beckoning Kannel to get in the co-pilot seat. Kannel jumped on eagerly.
"Are we ready?" Juliet asked. They all looked around at each other.
"Yup," said Foaly. "All's clear."
"Then let's lock and load," Kannel said, turning toward the windscreen.
Mulch Diggums had finally gotten about three meters away from the metal plating. When he took another bite, however, he fell through a hole that had already been made. Mulch fell down hard, crashing against metal.
"Are you okay?" Foaly asked through the earpiece.
"Well, I reached the metal…" Mulch said, standing up and rubbing his head. Just then did he look around. Mulch Diggums was standing in a small cave full of trolls. "TROLLS!" he shouted in his mouthpiece. They pounced at once, smashing him back against the wall and beating him mercilessly. One of them even bit into his right arm, spreading blood. Mulch, of course was in agony. They began to carry him away, into the tunnel they had made. Suddenly, they dropped him and gunshots were heard. He looked around and saw Holly and Butler taking on the trolls. Behind them however, were ten troops and a pack full of explosives. Fighting broke out in the small tunnel. They defeated the trolls, wounded and left with eight troops. Two of them had been torn apart.
"Plant the bombs," Butler said. Holly put the pack on the floor and pressed a button.
"More trolls coming our way!" a trooper suddenly yelled.
"Then they'll have a surprise waiting for them. Let's move out!" Holly commanded. They climbed the tunnel again (with Mulch on Butler's back) and upon reaching the top heard a thunderous roar. The bomb had gone off.
"Okay, the vibration of that bomb should have caused a chain reaction sending waves of the central core energy crashing into the main system. The system should then have to go through a complete reboot, to replenish the system's thirst. Hehe! Then…" Sool cut Foaly short.
"Talk-a da normal language!" Sool said. A taken aback Foaly said,
"The system is down." The firewall disappeared completely. Lenz and Kannel gunned the motors and zoomed off, leaving a trail of dust. All of the trucks made it past before the firewall came up again. The shield was a bluish colour, meaning that it was electric. The turrets from the inside suddenly twisted down and started firing on the trucks.
"Thos things are being manually operated! Retreat!" Sool commanded. One truck got peppered with laser, but it held together. Lenz put the truck in reverse and narrowly missed a missile.
"There's no way out! The firewall's up again!" Kannel shouted. It was true. They retreated as far as they could however. Luckily for them, it was out of turret range.
"Well, now what?" Sool commanded.
"That idiot Johnson… I can't believe he wrote everything on one disc!" Foaly said.
"Donkey…" Sool said menacingly.
"Oh yeah, right. Well, the defense is pretty much all put up by a satellite system. In other words, it draws energy from somewhere else with a satellite. Unfortunately, it's inside the shield. But no worries! I can hack it and…" Sool then began to shout at Foaly.
"Shut up and hack it!" Trouble shouted. Typing could be heard.
"It's a tough one…" he said. More typing. "There. I'm done! The shield's down!" Right after this statement, the bluish haze disappeared. The trucks went in cautiously. "Don't worry. The turrets are down too," said Foaly reassuringly. At this, the trucks sped up, going as quickly as possible. They stopped right before the doors.
"Blow it down," snarled Butler.
Inside, Johnson was making some last minute preparations. He was packing. Packing all that he could. He wanted to get all the fairy technology possible so that he could make amazing experiments.
"Why'd you let them get the damn disc, Damien? How could you let it out of your hands!" Gordon shouted from behind. Johnson turned and faced him.
"I screwed up, okay? Now shut your mouth and plan an attack on them!" he retorted.
"ME!" Gordon answered loudly.
"Captain goes down with his ship, Gordon," Johnson said turning around again. Once his back was turned, Gordon attacked. He lashed out with his fist and hit Johnson over the head. Johnson fell and the men struggled. Gordon landed a few blows on Johnson's face but Johnson threw him off. Damien ran for his Medusa. Gordon came in for another blow but Johnson turned, weapon raised.
"You wouldn't," Gordon told him, scared half to death.
"I would," he responded. And with that, Damien Johnson ended the life of his long time friend.
The charges went off, and the doors took another, last, blow. The big double doors fell to the floor with a clatter, and the troops stormed in. some trolls in the entrance turned around and snarled, red light above their heads. Some were on turrets, manually operating them. Artemis ran to the side, away from the line of fire. A minute later, Butler came to him. His arm was bleeding and his eye bruised.
"Are you okay?" he asked warmly. Just then did Artemis notice that Butler really cared. He wasn't only a bodyguard. He was a friend.
"Yes Butler. Yes I am," he responded.
"Coast is clear," Juliet told them. She too was bleeding and hurt. The group proceeded through the factory. They blew down another door, just to face a room full of trolls.
"Yikes!" Lenz screamed. Everyone raised their weapons and aimed. Then the battle began.
Johnson's Medusa clattered to the floor. Gordon's lifeless form was bleeding at the forehead. What have I done! He quickly picked his weapon up again and ran from the room. He had planted an escape pod in the boiler room. It would take him to Switzerland in a simple half an hour. He had everything he needed. He had family there that would take him in no matter what. All he had to do was disappear. Disappear forever.
The commotion in the main lobby was more of a massacre than a real fight. The troopers were getting eaten, slashed, shredded to pieces- everything. Not that they weren't fighting well. They were fighting to their greatest extent, which was a lot. But fighting a battalion of trolls was just too much to ask. Yet they continued to fight. They peppered the trolls with precision. Artemis, Butler and Juliet on either side proceeded to a door on the far side. That door led to a hallway that led to the main computer. Unfortunately, it wasn't satellite operated. That's what he was there for. Foaly suddenly said,
"Umm… Sool? I managed to get rid of the weapons but I still need to do something about the firepower. The only way to get rid of it is by dumping it in the city, which would be quite dangerous." Silence.
"Do something about it, donkey," and with that, Sool stayed quiet. They finally got to the door.
"About time you got here!" Lenz said at the door. Kannel, Holly, and Sool were with him.
"Let's blow this thing down!" Holly said, beckoning at the door.
"Actually, I'm quite sure I can hot wire the…" the door was blown down before he finished. Or not… They blew down the other door at the end of the hallway and entered. The first thing that caught their eyes was a corpse.
"Gordon?" Holly said amazingly.
"The one in the uniform?" Artemis asked. Holly nodded. He had taken a bullet to the head, Butler had said.
"Johnson's on the loose. And I think he's crazy," Kannel said, stating the obvious.
"You better start with that computer, Fowl," Sool said. Artemis got to work instantly. Like all fairy computers, all he had to do was find the main terminal. With that, he plugged his in. he started with a quick code that linked the computers. He got rejected. He then began with some more complicated codes, throwing them at the computer. He finally got in. but inside the system, he found three more walls.
Juliet was shocked. Gordon's dead? But I was gonna kick his ass! But why would Johnson do that? At that time Kannel made his obvious statement and he agreed. Johnson was off his rocker. She then decided to tear her eyes away from the deceased Gordon and watch Artemis and the computer. He groaned after a lot of clicking. But then he resumed. Suddenly, her side hurt and the room turned upside down. She had been thrown off her feet, off guard, to the floor. Butler kicked the troll off of her, but more came. She jumped to her feet and blasted the trolls with her G4-700. She jumped across the room and was going to lock the door when she remembered that they had blown it down. Damn. Juliet jumped up and landed in front of a troll. It was quick to react but she was quicker. She jumped back and shot out its eyes. It howled in pain and sniffing her out, charged. She used the frog jump technique and landed behind it. The troll turned around and opened its mouth in an angry roar. Juliet used this moment to land three shots in its mouth. It angrily shut its mouth and stepped back. She then engaged battle with another one while that one got blasted by Holly.
Artemis was frustrated to the point that he was angry. The last wall was impossibly to break. And not just because it was difficult. It was literally impossible. Johnson had been smart enough to split the information into two separate computers. He couldn't continue on this one. He quickly hacked the cameras and checked what was going on. He took off his helmet to see better. Every single terminal was either destroyed or infested with trolls. All except for one. The one in the boiler room. He sent the information to that one. The information got there successfully. He closed his laptop, put it into the suitcase, and put on his helmet. Artemis then checked the room for Butler. There he was. Butler saw him and ran toward him, but three trolls suddenly attacked him. It was an impossible fight. Artemis shot one but that only got it on his tail. It slammed into him and instead of hitting the floor he kept falling and falling until he hit metal. The troll landed headfirst and broke his neck. Artemis got up, brushed himself off, and began walking down a dark hallway. He had fallen through a trapdoor and his communications were faltering. Artemis remembered from the map of the factory that there were a couple of passageways coloured unlike the others. They must have been secret passages. And the one he was in led straight to the boiler room. He walked down it. The factory had to be shut down and he would not rest until it was. Even if he had to do it himself.
A/N Bum, bum, bum! What's going to happen? Find out in the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for not writing in a while but I was busy! REVIEW!