Time for a Visit...

[Holly Short]

"Probably four or five, it's hard to see them or tell them apart."

Holly hasn't eaten in days now, and she feels disoriented and weak. But still decides to face off with the filthy goblin.

"I don't feel really good, I can't let my recon officers down, Grub. I haven't eaten for a week now, do to all these rebellions to be put down."

Then Holly falls unconscience, her eyes roll back in her head she keels over, and falls to the ground.

[Grub Kelp]

Grub blinks at Holly, recoiling slightly as he is shocked to hear of this. Things must be much worse than he was originally told for a captain to be out on the field with no time to tend to her own needs.

"Maybe you should go rest a bit, Captain," he suggests kindly, "It won't do any of us any good if you collapse out here and--"

He jumps back as though he's been bitten when Holly suddenly collapses. Recon instincts taking over, he kneels beside her and checks her pulse. It seems normal, but he notes the captain is considerably pale. Grub mutters to himself about how foolish it is for an officer to go topside in such a condition. He quickly moves Holly to a safer location in the hedge, then zeroes in on Chix's channel and attempts to ask the sprite for help.

"Code 14. Fairy down," his voice comes surprisingly steady, "Captain Short is not well, Private. I need your help. The rest of the squad should be able to handle things on their own for the moment."

[Chix Verbil]

[glow=green,5,300]Chix nearly goes into a tailspin when Grub's voice comes over his intercom. The little worm is trying to speak with authority? Imagine that. The sprite almost laughs--until the corporal tells him that it's Holly who is down. He flits over to the hedges in the blink of an eye, alighting on the ground beside the captain.

"What happened here?" he asks, glancing at Grub, "Did you say something so stupid that she laughed herself into unconsciousness or what, Worm?"[/glow]

[Grub Kelp]

"That's Corporal Grub Kelp to you, Private," Grub retorts, jabbing Chix in the chest at every word with his deactivated buzz baton, "And, no, I didn't say anything stupid. She said she hasn't eaten a thing in days and she passed out due to weakness and hunger, I guess. Now enough with the smart remarks. Help me wake her up."

He pulls a canteen off his belt and uncorks the stopper, then pours a little of its contents in Holly's mouth, propping her head up with one arm. The liquid is some sort of fruit concoction meant for energy-boosting purposes in emergencies.

[Holly Short]

Holly feels in her mind as if she was about to go into a coma, without having to have eaten in days, and up really late doing paperwork and hunting down criminals. Then she saw it, a toxic dart was sticking out of her arm, a goblin saberdart to be precise. Then she was finally conscience.

"Grub, I've been shot by a toxic dart. I need an antidote, other wise I'll die.

Holly says weakly.

[Grub Kelp]

Any control Grub had--or felt he had--over the situation crumbles on the spot. He's never been confronted with circumstances like these. Not without his big brother to bark orders and tell him what to do anyway.

"You can't die on me, Captain," he regresses to whining as opposed to his authoritive tone only moments earlier, "The LEP needs you! You're the captain. You give orders all the time. Tell me what to do! I don't have any antidote!"

[Trouble Kelp]

Trouble arrives on the scene, helmet glimmering and a serious look on his face. Then he lands, and he sees Holly lying on the ground, her face pale as a ghost and he also sees the dart sticking out of her arm.

"Corpral, what happend here? Why is Captain Short on the ground, is she dead?"

[Grub Kelp]

"Oh, Trub! Thank heavens you're here!" Grub is immediately yapping at his brother like an overly excited Chihuahua, "She's not dead. She got hit with some kind of dart and she passed out, but she thought she passed out 'cause she hadn't eaten, but that wasn't the case and now I don't know what to do! What do I do, brother?"

All of this comes out in a panic-stricken rush, leaving Grub panting and out of breath by the time he's finished talking. Of course, he is still in his brother's face, staring at him expectantly with his enormous, fear-filled eyes, awaiting orders or some form of instruction.

[Trouble Kelp]

"Grub, two things. One, don't call me Trub. And two stop acting nerotic! I have the antidote, it should wake her up and she should be fully recovered from the dart. Probably Ark Sool is putting her under pressure."

Trouble has a sad look in his eye as he looks at Holly unconscience, he lifts her head up tilts her head back, and pours the antidote into her mouth.

[Grub Kelp]

"Sorry, Tr--uh...Captain," Grub whimpers, backing off and wringing his hands nervously as he glances at Holly, "Shutting up...calming down."

He merely observes quietly as his older brother takes charge of the situation and calmly administers the antidote. He's not about to say so at a time when he is expected to act like a professional, but he is extremely proud of his big brother...yet at the same time ashamed that he, Grub Kelp, will probably never measure up to Trouble.

"Ark Sool is a big poopy," he mutters, kicking at a clump of dirt sulkily, "I don't like him. He always smells funny."

He falls silent as a well-aimed fireball hits the ground only a mere foot away from the hedge they're hiding under. At that moment, he drops to the ground and covers his head with a startled yelp, but he somehow foreces himself to get a grip and he picks himself up, slamming his helmet down over his head.

"You take care of Captain Short, Trouble," he states in an unusually calm tone, "I'll take care of the...goblins."

Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, Grub flips his visor down and charges out from under the hedge, dodging fireballs all the way to the tree trunk he quickly takes cover behind just across the yard.

[Holly Short]

Holly wakes up, finding that the dart has been pulled from her arm, and she was conscious. She felt disoriented for a brief moment then struggled to her feet.

"Don't fuss, I'm fine, we need to get a more defenseable position. Move out! And thank you for saving my life, Trouble."

[Chix Verbil]

[glow=green,5,300]"What about me?" Chix pouts, "I came running when the little wimp told me you were down! Doesn't that count for anything?"

Obviously, Chix is a bit jealous that Trouble was praised by Holly and he wasn't. He is barely aware that Grub has gone out on the field alone--not that he cares much for him anyway.[/glow]

[Trouble Kelp]

"Oh! Get over it Chix, she'll thank you if you do something smart, and I don't mean smart rear remarks."

Trouble stares at Chix for a moment, knowing that there is jealousy in his heart. Because he thinks that the Captain is in love with Trouble, then Trouble unfolds his wings and flys off into battle.

[Grub Kelp]

Meanwhile, Grub is out on the field, doing his best to be a brave officer...and making a terrible mess of things. The goblins had managed to burn the tree he was hiding behind to the ground and now he is out in the open, dodging fireballs and returning fire whenever he can--which isn't very often. Even when he does return fire, he rarely hits his target.

"I'm such a lousy aim," he whines, hitting the dirt as a fireball zooms over his head, "Why didn't I just stay back in the hedge and let Trub make the first move?"

He nearly faints dead away when someone grabs him from behind and slams him face down in the dirt, twisting his arm behind his back painfully. Grub manages to squirm around enough to get his nose out of the ground so his can breathe, but that doesn't help his panic much.

"Ooh, a widdle pea-bwain LEP!" the voice obviously belongs to some hot-shot goblin "Hey boss! Wook what I caught!"

At this point, Grub would very much like to die. As if the fear of the situation isn't enough to make him wish this, the humiliation of being caught by an enemy with an IQ lower than whale dung is completely overwhelming. If he lives through this, Grub is certain his brother will kill him later.

[Foaly]

Foaly had left the booth to fetch a bite to eat and when he returns and pulls up the screens, he spits half-munched carrots all over the monitors as he puts two and two together and realizes Corporal Kelp has been captured. Punching keys frantically, he overrides any communications taking place on the open channel, contacting every Recon officer out there.

"Red alert! Red alert! We have a hostage situation, people!" he reports, unable to keep the urgency from his voice, "Corporal Grub Kelp has been captured by the goblins. Proceed with extreme caution. The life of this officer is in your hands. One false move and the goblins may very well blow his head off."

He switches to the captains' channels, zeroing in on Trouble and Holly as he emails location grid scans to their helmets, pinpointing the spot Grub is being held hostage. He decides it may be necessary to give further detailed instructions as Grub is, in fact, Trouble's brother and the captain may be inclined to react impulsively without thinking.

"This is a delicate operation, captains," he continues, "Not the type where you should charge in with weapons drawn, screaming and yelling threats. Please act carefully. One false move and we could be short one officer coming home, got it?"