When Artemis regained her consciousness, she discovered herself strapped to a table turned up to face strait ahead. The first thing she noticed were the operating tools to her right, she didn't feel any new scars and there wasn't any blood on the tools so she found comfort in the fact she hadn't been cut apart
Yet.
Nigma walked in shortly after she regained consciousness "That was quite a show you put on out there, enough to spark some resistance in your friends."
"Where are they?"
"Safe, for now. I had to put them under, they're likely waking up somewhere in the same position you're in right now." Said Edward "Ya know, it seems we were destined to be enemies. Even if your father hadn't forsaken you, we would have ended up fighting."
"What makes you say that?"
"I left out one important detail when telling the story to your friends, in case we might come to some agreement." Nigma smiled "It's no mystery what your father was training you for."
"He never tried to hide it, he was trying to make me and my sister into the perfect weapons for his little terror cell."
"So I was right, you knew exactly what you were being trained for. So even if all had gone according to plan, you'd be with the Shadows and we'd still be fighting."
"So no matter how life went down, I'd end up strangling you till you were pale."
"So hostile, and when I was about to give you another offer."
Artemis' eyes scanned her room. It was all white, as snow, and the only salvation she could see lay in a ventilation shaft big enough for her to crawl through. But she couldn't reach it strapped to this table and Nigma watching her like a hawk
"I don't wanna hear another word from you. Just kill me and get it over with."
"Don't be so eager,"
"I'd rather just die now than go through whatever mind trip you have in store for me!"
Nigma sighed, "Very well, I'm not cruel." He picked up a mini-saw from the table and aimed it toward Artemis' head "I'll make this quick
As the saw came for her head she kneed him in the stomach, loosening his grip on the saw, in that moment she lashed her head forward and grabbed the saw with her mouth and tossed it to her right hand, which she then used to break her right hand free and punch Nigma right across the face
All this happened in the span of 2 seconds
Nigma recoiled for a second, stunned by what just happened. In the time it took him to recover, Artemis freed her other hand and her feet, then stabbed Nigma in the gut with the saw and pushed him against the wall
She lunged for the vent, and with a sudden burst of strength, ripped it off the wall and smashed Nigma's face in with it, knocking him unconscious.
She then jumped into the vent and crawled out of her prison. She soon came to a sudden drop in the vent. With down her only way to go, she carefully crawled off the side and immediately pushed on both sides of the wall to slow her decent as she fell. When she finally reached the bottom, there was a grate waiting for her. She pushed against it, and then fell into a computer room.
She pushed herself to her feet and surveyed the room around her. Security screens for the cameras all over the island occupied 90% of the room's walls, none of the screens had labels designating where they were watching and the whole system seemed to require the viewer to have a perfect memory that would put Sherlock Holmes to shame.
"How does he use all this?" Artemis said to herself, and then checked out the consol in front of her. There were at least a couple thousand buttons on it, again there were no labels thanks to that flawless system. None of them even stood out from the rest, they were all the same size and color.
At random, she pushed one and the security camera in front of her changed to some sort of list of file names ranging from Report A1 through Report C76
"A user's manual would be nice…" Artemis said to herself before clicking on the file at the bottom of the list.
It read: At last I have finished the decoding! It took 12 all-nighters and at least half my supply of coffee beans but it's finished! I got to work after detaining the SEAL operatives [see Reports C66 for more information] and for the most part they've remained quiet in their cells. I have kept them separated and asleep, of course, and providing the proper life support. I shall probably awake Miss. Crock tomorrow to see what information she'd be willing to give me. Her unstable mental state would make her the easiest to reason with. But I digress; the file containing the decrypted information is on this report, simply click here to bring it up. [Unless you are somehow receiving this sooner than 4/12/2013 3:15AM CTZ in which case I'll need some more time to attach the file] There is more on the file than any of us anticipated. We've hit a gold mine of information. On this are the Shadow's base locations, high players, plans and dates, who's gunning for who, and much more. In my next report I shall tell you how my interrogation of the Miss. Crock revealed to me.
Artemis looked at her watch. It was Midnight, so this report hadn't been sent yet. She clicked on the link and tried to briefly skim over it however there was too much to digest. She scrambled through the drawers of the desk and found a hard-drive. She plugged it into the computer and downloaded the whole file, then for good measure, deleted the previously existing one.
She looked at the hard drive for a moment and understood just what she held in her hand. She stuffed it into her boot and ran to the door. Now, she had to get to the Bio-Ship and get in contact with command. Either they hadn't sent a rescue team because they didn't know what to expect, or did send a rescue team and got it slaughtered. Either way, she had to contact them and get help for her team.
It never even crossed her mind to leave them behind, she would do whatever it took to get her team off that God forsaken island if it was the last thing she did, and she didn't care that it was more than likely going to be the last thing she did
After stepping through the door she came into a corridor, the left went on a ways however to her right there was instantly a fire exit. She rushed through it and into the night air.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Zatanna? Hello, are you there?" Artemis spoke into the microphone at a frantic pace, praying for a response
"Artemis? Artemis, is that you!?" Zatanna's voice came threw sounding as relieved as Artemis' sigh
"Yea, I'm here! The others have been captured! Some madman working for The Light was holding us but I escaped! They need evac and I can't break them out alone! How soon can a rescue squad get here?"
"Hold on one second Artemis! I need to get the admiral!"
Artemis didn't have to wait long before another familiar voice came through "What's the situation, Lieutenant?"
"We were captured by someone named Nigma, he's working for The Light. I managed to escape and grabbed some vital intelligence on the League of Shadows on the way out! You need to send a rescue squad to save the others; I don't think I could siege that fortress all on my own! He's got fucking dinosaurs here!"
"Did you just say dinosaurs?" said Zatanna
"I couldn't make this up if I tried!"
"What's this information you said you secured?" said Wayne
"It's what Nigma himself called 'a gold mine of information' where the Shadows are involved."
There was a long pause on the other side for a while and Artemis got a bit worried "Hello? Is something wrong?"
"Can you fly the ship?" said a voice, this one unfamiliar
"Excuse me? Who are you?"
"Artemis, you're talking to Clark Kent, an director from the Office of Navel Intelligence." Said Zatanna
"I came to the island for a surprise inspection, only to learn that one of our SEAL operatives has 'a gold mine of information' on one of the most dangerous terror cells in the world."
"Okay, back up a second. What did you mean when you said 'can I fly the ship'?"
"I am asking if the ship is capable of flight in its current state."
"Yes, but…"
"You have new orders. Take the intelligence you have just discovered and return to the island immediately. I have other inspections to perform however I'll return next week, expecting that information."
"But what about my team? I can't just leave them!"
"You'll have to." Said Kent "That information might be what we need to finally go to actual war on the League of Shadows instead of chasing ghost and suspicions."
"But…"
"This is a direct order, soldier. Return to the island."
Time seemed to go slower after what she just heard. She was now being ordered by the people who pretty much ran the Navy to leave her team for dead, for the sake of intelligence.
"Artemis? Artemis he's gone, you can speak up now. Artemis are you still there?" Zatanna's voice rang through
"I can't follow that order." She said, her voice hinting no compromise
"Artemis." Said Wayne "I am also against leaving SEAL personnel to die, however the office needs that intelligence and we can't risk it falling back into The Light's hands."
"But sir…" said Zatanna
"You must understand, this is the fate of the United States as a whole!"
"And this is the fate of my team! My family!" She shouted into the intercom "I've fought by them, trusted them, and loved them like my own brothers! Leaving them behind is out of the question!"
"Artemis, you were given a direct order from a superior officer…"
"With all due respect, sir…" Said Artemis "Fuck you, fuck my orders, and fuck the chain of command! I'm not leaving them behind! Not for the whole damn world!"
A/N—No disrespect to anyone in ONI, I doubt situations like these happen all that often. Also, I probably exaggerated ONI's power and/or responsibility when it comes to Navel affairs, I just needed someone that everyone in the Navy answered to