Butler gripped the controls of the spaceship firmly as the spaceship plummeted towards the Earth, still hitting speeds that would be disastrous upon landing. Artemis sat in the seat next to him, aiming the solar powered super laser that was thankfully working this time.
"Apparently, someone isn't too happy about our arrival," Butler noted, maneuvering the spaceship in ways that it wasn't supposed to move, in order to dodge the small heat seeking missile that was headed their way. If this one also hit and took out one of the other landing gears like the first had, or an even larger part of the ship.
"I see that," Artemis said, through gritted teeth, as he adjusted the settings for the super laser. It was delicate work. All of the settings needed to be calibrated to the right amount of power so that it would destroy the missile without bouncing some of the energy beams back at themselves. "More than likely, whoever is firing missiles at us is the same people who are blocking all communications."
Butler grunted, focusing on his current duty of keeping both of them alive, buying Artemis enough time to carry out his plan. It concerned Butler that Artemis was the one aiming the weapon, but Artemis was adamant that the setting of the weapons needed to be fine tuned very specifically or it could have disastrous repercussions.
"Artemis, I have no way of landing the rocket safely and the ground is approaching at a speed that is far from safe."
"I know, old friend." Artemis said. "I have a plan."
Butler nodded curtly, focusing on what he was doing. Artemis, in the other seat, steadied his breaths as he looked down at the sight of the super laser, locking in on the swerving missile. He took aim at one of the black stripes of the rocket rather than the blue shiny part, minimizing the amount of energy reflection.
"Hold the ship steady," Artemis commanded Butler, as he watched the rocket move in their direction, counting and waiting for the optimal range to hit the moving target. Butler did as he was told and Artemis fired the laser, watching the bright light move through the tinted windows towards its target.
Artemis watched as the missile was destroyed and then quickly diverted the power from the super laser back into the solar powered expandable wings.
"Aim for the lake near Fowl Manor," Artemis ordered as he switched on several buttons and then braced himself. "We are going to need to skim the lake to reduce the effects from the landing."
Butler steered the plane towards the lake as directed, aiming the solitary landing gear towards the lake, Artemis's hand hovered over a button, counting under his breath, waiting until it was used for maximum effect. Even with the wings and the lighter density of the spaceship, they were going fast enough that the water could damage the other landing gear. When they were almost on top of the water, Artemis pressed the button and a thick gel-like substance poured from strategically placed pores along the chairs. It coated along Butler's and Artemis' spines, neck, arms and legs to absorb the shock from the crash, thickening as a barrier. The plane hit the water, slowing down like Artemis expected, the spaceship skidding across the water. The gel kept the two of them in place as the ship was jostled. The ship slowed as it hit the other side of the lake, the other landing gear completely gone.
Artemis felt dazed. He could still feel some of the impact of the landing, even through the gel. Artemis assessed the damage as he peeled the now hardened gel neatly off of his clothes. The long nose of the ship took most of the damage, crumpled into one the sloping hills around Fowl Manor. The ship wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon. However, the damage hadn't quite extended to the control room or the airlock.
"We made it so far, old friend," Artemis sighed in relief. The dark-haired young man looked over at his bodyguard and companion and realized that the older man wasn't moving. Panic seized Artemis as Holly's warning came back into his mind.
"His heart will never be the same." Artemis tore at the harness strapping him in and rushed to Butler's side, as Butler twitched slightly in his chair. Butler's eyes fluttered under closed eyes when Artemis reached him and then flew open as Artemis was beginning to check his pulse.
"What's?" gasped Butler, not really aware of his surroundings, as Artemis checked his pulse rate. Butler's pulse was steady, but Artemis watched as Butler's muscles involuntarily twitched all of over his body. All at once, Artemis realized what was going on- Butler had experienced G-LOC at low altitude. Luckily, the gel had cemented their course even through Butler's unconscious state. Something out of the corner of Artemis' eye caught his attention through the reinforced glass of the spaceship's window. He could see the impressive view of Fowl Manor and a small figure appeared from one of the upper windows. A small, lithe figure sped towards them on a set of dragonfly shaped wings, auburn hair catching the light from the sunset.
"Holly…" Artemis breathed. On the one hand, Artemis was relieved to see her. Butler could still need medical attention. However, if Holly was on the surface already, then the situation was probably worse than he previously thought.
"What's… Going… On?" Butler asked him, this time actually completing the question, his labored breaths in between.
"We crashed, old friend. Stay here. I'm going to go get Holly to help," Artemis told him quietly, patting the older man gently on the shoulder.
Butler was still dazed and didn't respond, but the preliminary checks Artemis had done suggested that he was at least stable at the moment. Artemis waited a few more moments watching Holly's progress towards the shuttle, not leaving Butler's side in case his condition suddenly worsened.
When Artemis could see Holly more clearly and Butler seemed to be slightly more aware, Artemis headed for the airlock out of the spaceship to meet his best friend.
Artemis frowned at Holly as she approached him. She was wearing an LEP uniform, but lacking any sort of helmet and her hair was much longer and more wild than he had ever seen it. The wind had whipped the mass of long hair to the side, partially covering her face initially before she shook it clear, revealing her one hazel and one blue eye.
"Hey there, Arty."
Note: This is mostly canon compliant. I haven't read all of The Fowl Twins, but know most of the salient details. It is canon compliant with Luna Minor. And a shout-out to my wonderful girlfriend for letting me bounce ideas off of her, Ratchet9cooper for co-creating on this fic and creating the prequel fic with me, as well as everyone on the discord server (you know who you are) that helped build this premise. I appreciate all of your support.