Heritage of Lost Haven - Ch1

Chapter I ~ Another Routine Larceny

Empire City, the heart of trade and commercialism for the United Federation, and arguably the world. Here, colossal skyscrapers pierced through the clouds at every turn, protruding deep into the midnight sky. Despite a backdrop of twilight, these byways still carried on them a fair share of commerce, many lives fluttering about on the busy avenues below. Needless to say, a sprawling metropolis as this allowed great fortunes to be made as well as lost... some legally... others, not so much. For our story today, the latter would prove to be the case, such activities taking place nestled atop the highest floor in one of the many corporate headquarters located inside these city limits.

Though not a light was on, the moon's radiant glow revealed two silhouettes. The first was nonchalant, laid back, carmine shoes with dull grey soles tapping against the ground as it leaned idly against the clear glass pane that separated those inside from a twenty story plummet. The latter was much more involved, seated at a large, ornate desk with various graphemic characters reflecting onto this one's glasses, which were tinted a bright  shade of orange, all reacting to the rhythmic dancing of delicate, yet skillful hands against the keys below.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap...

Such a pattern would carry on for several minutes, an occasional yawn from the unoccupied intruder being the only thing to break the monotony over the flow of time.  This would be shattered, however, by the abrupt blare of sirens, illuminating the entire facility with a terrifying red glare. The leader, now visible as an anthropomorphic hawk, down of brilliant green that shot upward from the scalp into a thick, aerodynamic variant of "hair" similar to a spiked mohawk, simply set his sights on the subordinate of the pair, showing no signs of worry, or even care, in his vivid blue eyes.

With several more frantic keypresses, this hacker, a tall and slender swallow with violet plumage covered in a slim, white tubetop and matching bell bottoms, slammed her gloved palms against the input she was just typing against. She then let out a near-silent grumble of "Shit! Why now?" before making the situation clear to her avian teammate, speaking in a somewhat high, descant voice which was currently rung with frustration. "I can't shut it off. Looks like they've even placed an override in the CEO's office here. All we can do now is finish the download and pray they don't catch us before we make good our escape," Her beak morphed to a frown as she continued to look over the data, once again relaying what she discovered. "To make matters worse, they shut down all the elevators and stairways in the building...We're trapped like rats."

Seeming almost thrilled with the gravity of his current situation, the thief, whom answered to the name "Jet" shrugged and removed his weight from the window he used as support, replying with a squawky voice that most would find simply irritating. "Heh, looks like we'll have to find another way out," With those words said, the hawk kicked at the ground where the tip of his prized green and white extreme gear, the Type J, sat, knocking the other end into his grasp. A grin of idiocy now arose on his bright orange beak and without so much as a thought, he simply threw his board backwards, shattering the glass barrier that kept them inside. "Found it."

The swallow member of the team, Wave, did nothing more then a facepalm, murmuring "That bird-brain is going to get us all killed someday...," With a sigh to these actions, she watched  her fellow fowl take a stiff dive backwards from the forcibly unbarred window, accompanying gear and glass to the cold tarmac that laid a periling distance below. She would not follow as of yet, however. The small external hard drive that assisted this information theft had yet to finish it's function, still requiring a few more seconds with owner urging her download to complete.

From heights above, the avian leader touched down cleanly from a backflip onto his board but came to a still. "And here I thought this would be boring!" he said to himself, watching flashing red and blue lights accompanied by droning sirens approach at breakneck speed from the roadways before him. Despite the dangers, he refused to budge...not due to injury or fatigue...oh no, he was fiddling with a small headset integrated into his goggles.


Jet simply needed some chase music.


This, of course, would allow the long arm of the law to make considerable ground on Jet, closing the gap to no more then two city blocks away...Just as he wanted it. Carrying the same sly grin, he pressed hard on the Type J's throttle plate, accelerating the hawk at a velocity that kept true to his name and beginning a jocular game of cat and mouse with a fleet of squad cars.

Back inside, Wave found herself facing a conundrum growing thicker and thicker each second. The download, the entire reason this mission even took place, was continuing to lag terribly and her ears could make out the auditory sensation of footsteps drawing near.With nerves finally fraying to their breaking point, the computer-savvy criminal made a spontaneous act of survival, snatching the removable flash drive from it's slot and thrusting her feet against the ground as fast as they could push.

Such judgment would turn out to have saved the swallow's life; just as she bolted for the makeshift exit, an entire assortment of hired guards tore the door from it's hinges, giving no warning other then the deafening clap of gunshots reverberating against the office's walls. Board in hand, she took a daring leap not unlike the team leader before her, retreating from the fragmenting rounds that burst at the first sign of collision, leaving the trail behind her no more than a lethal storm of shrapnel which left nothing intact.

Now at ground level, the fuschia feathered fowl mentally thanked her ancient deities for the very air she drew as she stood safely on the asphalt... still breathing, still alive. To add to that, she would find the streets bare of law enforcement, seemingly drawn away by the suicidal hawk who managed to serve as a distraction. Intentional or not, she simply wouldn't question it and accelerate her gear clear of the area, knowing not to look this gift horse of good luck in the mouth.

Further down the road, Jet was simply thriving off the risk, not even taking the fleet of officers behind him seriously. Why worry? There was no way sloths like them could ever hope to catch the likes of the fastest thing in the universe, so a little playtime was in order, at least until his song ended. Sadly, it wouldn't last as long as the thrill-seeking fowl had hoped as his adrenaline-fed bliss was disrupted by the impatient harping of his violet teammate coming through a comm device blaring inside his goggles.

"Well?... Are you going to just keep riding around in circles until the cops box you in or are you actually coming up with a plan in that thick skull of yours?"

To which he responded with a groan, "Not now, Wave! Can't you see Herman's going into his solo!?"

This would see a frustrated sigh from his partner, rolling her eyes on the other end. "This isn't the time for games, Jet! We're in a life of death situation and as much as I hate it, it's your leadership that..."

Not to anyone's surprise, the hawk cut her off here, rushing his reply to avoid another earful from the team mechanic. "ALRIGHT! Sheesh, is it that time of the month already?" He paused here, taking the time to gauge his surroundings, figuring out just what part of the city he was in. Thankfully, Wave would take the off-color remark given earlier with silence, allowing her leader to plot out his escape. "Alright, I've got it. Wave, I need you to get Storm to land in the industrial district north of here. Get on board as soon as you can and wait for me."

"And if you screw up and don't show up in time?" Questioned Wave.

A sly grin arose on Jet's face as but two words confidently conveyed his answer.

"I won't"