Author's Note:
Another weekly update. Read, review, and as always enjoy! Cheers!
Police Plaza, Haven
Artemis had not been in Haven or anywhere in the Lower Elements since the start of the conflict, and now that he had returned there was no ignoring how much had changed. Society can never remain the same during times of war, and that rule applied to both humanity and the People. Everything was altered by the economic demands and shocking events of conflict, down to the last family, down to the last child. There was no escaping it.
For Artemis it was not a surprise, but as he walked through the halls of the Police Plaza he still took notice to the demeanors of those he passed. The People by majority had always been a warm, pacifistic race, but now they were hard and cold; their peaceful nature torn asunder by necessity, and their altruism shattered by reality. Faces were lined with worry; eyes were filled with combating emotions; and no matter how deep one looked it was impossible to find happiness in them. Artemis saw this in every fairy he came across—everyone was worn out and beaten by the war, and though they carried on admirably they were like husks of their former selves. This disheartened him for many reasons, but the most powerful one was his inward bitterness towards himself; for his inability to affect the outcome when it was his responsibility to do so.
I went against my greatest enemy…myself…and I was outsmarted…
With a serious expression the young man entered the main corridor, again to see more haunted faces and hear more worn voices. He too was worn out, but only emotionally. His body was well, and his mind—his real weapon—was working harder now more than ever. He had spent the last few days thinking, putting it all together, and now he had come to realize a terrible truth. They had to act, and everyone was counting on him this time. The others were waiting on him in the ops booth, except for a few of course. The number of his companions had dwindled down to handful.
Qwan…
The loss of the warlock stung like an arrow in his side, and with every day that passed he came to realize just how much more they had lost than a powerful ally. They had lost a friend, a teacher, and the last living piece of the People's distant past. With Qwan passed away an entire age—the extinguishing of his flame cast a long lost heritage and ancient understanding into shadow. All that remained were his writings and what he had taught his apprentice, Nº1. Artemis almost paused when that name came to mind, for it brought with it so much sorrow.
Nº1…
That too was another source of melancholy. The young warlock had been devastated by the loss of his mentor, so much so that he could barely do anything at all; he was traumatized to the point of catatonia. One would think that a warlock as powerful as he would be strong and disciplined in mind as well, but the fact still remained that Nº1 was so very young for a fairy; he was still a demon imp, a child by all accounts. In the end, despite all of his knowledge and skill, he was still a fragile creature, and the loss of his greatest friend and teacher had shattered his young heart like glass. No one as young as he should have to go through something like that, but he had, and there was no taking it back.
Upon his return to Haven Nº1 had been taken to the best therapy to treat his traumatic stress, but it was doing little to ameliorate his symptoms. Artemis had been there to visit him only twenty minutes ago, and it had been a painstaking fifteen minutes in the warlock's presence. It was hard trying to talk to someone who didn't know you were there, even for a veritable psychologist like Artemis. In the end Artemis had left without getting a single word out of the warlock, but he did not feel frustrated because of it. Nº1 needed time more than anything; time to piece himself back together from the inside out.
Now Artemis was doing his best to focus on the task at hand, but it was difficult when the faces of those who were no longer with him came to mind. Butler and Juliet appeared so commonly, and he feared for them despite the looming tasks. But at least with them he knew deductively that they were alive—Holly's recount of the events in the Sayan Mountains had given him a good idea as to where they were, and though it was bittersweet knowing that they were in the hands of a shady intelligence agency it was still better than the outright horrid taste of knowing that they were dead. Artemis counted it as a blessing—he could not bear to lose them.
I will not lose them, the young man affirmed internally, his eyes glinting with determination even though it was tempered by negative emotions. The Butlers would be alright, he knew they would, and when it came to his family there was a rare sense of security as well. His parents and brothers had been spirited away from the chaos in the Sayan Mountains by Mulch Diggums, and had been subsequently taken below ground for their own safety. Artemis had seen them a day ago, and it had been a joyful reunion for them—it had been joyful for Artemis as well, but his happiness had been blunted by the loss of Qwan. Nevertheless, he had savored the time he had with them, because he knew all too well just how quickly things could change—just how suddenly his life could end.
Artemis entered the command center without pause, and he saw that an officer was there to meet him. The elf looked up at him and nodded.
"The Commander is waiting for you, Fowl," he said, motioning towards the other side of the room. "Right this way."
Artemis hardly needed to be led, but he said nothing and followed. They passed the numerous monitors and grids that made up the command center, and Artemis couldn't help but notice the brutal reality they displayed. The battle that had occurred had taken more lives on both sides than all of the skirmishes combined—tens of thousands—and it had left both species at a bitter stalemate. The human forces had bolstered their deployments and sought out every gap in their defenses, and they had managed to obliterate every attempt by the LEP to sneak past their lines. The People's armies were also bolstering their ranks, this time with fresh recruits to replace the countless veterans they had lost in battle. Neither side had made any serious moves; neither seemed willing to throw the first punch in the resultant stalemate. It was a war of attrition now; a frigid state of rivalry.
The officer stepped aside when they reached the door to the ops booth. Artemis nodded and entered the room, putting aside all of his impertinent opinions and setting his mind on that which he had been putting together over the last few days. He was greeted by the tired faces of his three compatriots. Foaly was sitting at his computers, having paused in the act of typing and turned to see him. Commander Kelp was at the centaur's shoulder, and in the corner of the room was Holly Short. The latter was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her visage lined with heavy thoughts, and when Artemis entered her demeanor changed only slightly.
"How is he?" she asked.
Artemis frowned marginally, and apart from shaking his head he communicated nothing more. That was all Holly needed as an answer to her question about Nº1's condition.
"I see…" she said, sighing morosely, the look in her eyes not changing even in the slightest.
"Give him time," Trouble said, "That's what he needs more than anything right now."
Artemis nodded, but he almost immediately spoke his mind on a related note. "I am afraid that time is a luxury we do not have. I have been thinking about what happened a few days ago, and I have come to a conclusion about Orion's next move."
That got everyone's interest, and it was effective at snapping them out of their thoughts of the past and aligning them with the future.
"We haven't had any sightings of him since the battle," Foaly said contemplatively, scratching his chin. "There has been a blackout on information about him in the human communications that I managed to tap. He's all but vanished."
"Which is exactly what he must do for the time being," Artemis replied. "The destruction of his original plan has no doubt put a serious delay on his progress, but I am certain that he foresaw such a thing as a probability, and I know that he would pursue an alternative route simultaneously with his original."
Trouble raised a brow. "You mean that he…"
Artemis nodded. "Orion did something else during the battle using the magic he had gathered. Of that I am certain."
Foaly frowned. "None of my systems picked up on anything additional to what was happening, and given the current stalemate I doubt Orion did anything excessive."
"No," Artemis stated, "He is taking a more discrete approach, and what he did during the battle as a contingency likely happened in a hidden location, possibly beneath the main tower where enough magic could be gathered and still be protected from the destruction."
"And what do you think he did?" Holly asked.
Artemis was silent for a moment, his thoughts going over the matter. He spoke softly but with absolute confidence in his estimates. "Given what has happened, it is safe to say that the human governments do not see Orion as a necessary ally. His failure to grant them the power to destroy the People has ruined what little trust they had in him, and now that his usefulness is depleting they are probably seeking ways to remove him from the equation. Regardless, it is no longer viable for Orion to continue his partnership with my kind, not only because it is inhibited by their conflicting interests but also because they do not have what Orion needs. Quite conversely, the human governments' usefulness to Orion has dried up. The only thing he needs them to do is continue fighting the People while he pursues his new objective."
"Now the question is, what is Orion's plan now that he has used the governments as much as he could? It is quite simple, because there is really only one option that he could have pursued in unison with the other." Artemis paused, looking from face to face. "As you all know, the relay system that Briar Cudgeon and Orion had mutually developed was originally designed by Opal Koboi. Its purpose, therefore, was likely to act as yet another contingency for Opal in the case of her death. She died over a year ago, and Briar was left to follow her instructions. Clearly Briar intended to modify them to suit his desires—and incidentally it suited Orion's—but unlike Briar I know that Orion would not abandon its original purpose completely, not when he could gain something from it."
Holly abruptly stopped leaning against the wall, a dark look in her eyes as she met Artemis' gaze. "Are you saying that he did what Opal wanted Briar to do? You are aren't you?"
It was with a bitter taste in his mouth that Artemis nodded. "I am afraid so. When the relay system was at its peak output he more than likely conducted a separate, smaller spell ring beneath the tower. The amount of magic it would require was far less than the amount that he had gathered, and therefore he had probably completed it well before the other spell collapsed." He took a deep breath and massaged the side of his head—he had a terrible headache. "What this means is that Orion has conducted a spell to breach the barrier between this world and the next, and bring from it someone he could use to his own ends. Orion has revived Opal Koboi."
There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone digested this. It was terrible, absolutely terrible, to consider that they were up against not only Orion, but also Opal. The implications were monumental, and everyone took it differently. Foaly's face paled significantly while Trouble remained relatively reserved. Holly on the other hand was completely honest; her visage was contorted with anger and revulsion, and her eyes, so terrifying were her eyes! She looked ready to kill someone; more specifically, the maniacal pixie who had ruined so much of her life. Artemis knew just by observing her reaction that she was already thinking of sending Opal back to where she had come from. He didn't blame her.
"Artemis, are you absolutely certain about this?" Trouble asked after a moment.
The young man nodded, a frown on his face. "It is what I would do if I were Orion…"
Holly banged her fist into the wall, growling furiously. "Just what the hell does he want with her?! Bring that bitch back…It's madness!"
"But it makes sense," Artemis said carefully, eying her with sympathy. "The fact is that Orion knows everything there is to know about her, and thus he knows of her ability to make outlandish preparations for unlikely problems. In his current situation he has two options: start from scratch or use an existing and exploitable resource. What better than to use the assets of someone who had the same goal as he? Opal Koboi was defeated, but as we know she had a contingency plan for that. And if that plan entailed bringing her back to this world, then it must have also included something that would make her unstoppable. Orion is after that, whatever it is, and he will use Opal just as he used Briar Cudgeon. It is the reasonable course of action for a man like him."
Holly knew that it made sense, and it made her hate it all even more—she hated Orion almost as much as she hated Opal. Gritting her teeth, the elf did her best to calm down. It was a fruitless effort. "I'm going to the shooting range," she growled, her eyes burning with fiery emotions that needed to be sated by some sort of violence. Before anyone could respond she left the room, nearly running into the slowly-opening door out of haste. A long, awkward silence followed.
"Well…she took it better than I expected," Foaly said after a few seconds.
Trouble nodded slowly, a frown on his face. "Indeed…"
An alert sounded on Foaly's system, snapping everyone out of it. The centaur turned and checked it immediately, a serious look on his face. It only took him a few seconds to decode the information, and then he cursed under his breath.
"What is it?" Trouble asked, looking over his shoulder.
Foaly scrunched up his face in a look of incredulity. "I have no idea why, but there was just a nuclear explosion in the Nevada Desert. It originated from underneath Area 51, completely obliterating the entire facility as well as several nearby towns." He paused, shaking his head. "Who on earth…"
"It is Orion," Artemis said abruptly, his face lined with concern.
Trouble looked at the young man. "Care to tell us why he would nuke Area 51?"
"Firstly, he did not nuke the facility; he overloaded its reactor," Artemis said, "The CIA has been doing all of their top research in that facility, and Orion was working with the CIA on many occasions. I think that he was there for some reason, likely related to Opal Koboi, and the CIA tried to eliminate him. Orion would certainly see this coming, and he shows no mercy." Artemis paused, looking at the map that showed the fallout radius. "And I have a feeling that Orion was tying up loose ends..."
Trouble frowned. "And what does this tell you, Artemis?"
"That Orion is making his final move. He is seeking out Opal's contingency plan, one that has remained hidden from us this whole time."
Commander Kelp nodded solemnly, and immediately turned to Foaly. "I need as many eyes as you can get looking for them. Wherever they are I want them found!"
"Already one it," the centaur said hurriedly, typing rapidly as he coordinated his vast range of remote assets. "I have all of my remaining satellites on high alert, and I have re-purposed a few hundred drones to seek out anyone matching their physiological signatures. I have also calibrated my systems to explicitly search for Section 0 tech. If Orion is making his move I am certain that he using one of Cudgeon's ships; otherwise he would not be able to avoid human detection."
"Good," Trouble said, content with the measures being taken. "If you find anything, even the most minuscule of traces, I want it reported to High Command for immediate action."
"Roger that."
Trouble then turned to Artemis, his expression fierce but also marred by fatigue. "We are going to need you now more than ever, Fowl. Qwan has left a very void in our abilities, one that no one can fill, not even his apprentice; not even you."
Artemis nodded. He knew all too well what was at stake, as did he know the disadvantaged position they were now in. But he was who he was, and that entailed a certain degree of competency that could turn the tables in their favor. It was not at all a certainty, but he knew that as long as he did his best there was a chance, and a chance was all he needed. Locking serious expressions with Trouble he spoke resolutely. "Qwan did all in his power to save this world. You have my word that I will do the same."
Trouble nodded, and he would have spoken had Foaly not suddenly called out with acute astonishment.
"Umm, guys, you're not going to believe this but…" the centaur turned around in his chairs pointing a thumb at his screen. "I already found them."
"What!?" Trouble exclaimed. Artemis only observed.
Foaly grinned confidently, a self-indulgent twinkle in his eye. "Why so surprised? I am brilliant."
"Just tell us where those bastards are," Trouble said flatly.
Though he did not like having his moment spoiled, the centaur also knew the gravity of the situation. He only pouted a little before returning his attention to the screen. "One of my satellites has picked up some residual signatures from a Section 0 ship. The craft itself I cannot detect, but I can see where it was, and by that method I can predict where it is going." He paused, pressing a few things. "The ship was in the mesosphere a few minutes ago, going full power and straight up. I don't know why exactly, but they are leaving the planet."
"To where?" Trouble asked, crossing his arms as he observed the monitor.
"To the only place that makes sense, at least from Opal's platitudinous perspective," Artemis interjected. He pointed upwards, a knowing look in his eyes. "To the moon."
Neither Foaly nor Trouble did anything for a few seconds, and then, with an unsurprised groan, Foaly spoke flatly.
"Gods, that's exactly what that maniac would do…"
"And we can't intercept them…" Trouble growled, his brow furrowed with anger. "They've probably passed the ionosphere by now. By the time we scramble any hardware they will be long gone, and that's assuming that he can get past the humans…" He looked to Artemis, his eyes brimming with his inward turmoil. "You had better go get Holly. In her current mood I doubt she will listen to me if I ordered her to." The elf then returned his attention to Foaly and the data appearing on the screen. It was with immense gravity that he spoke next.
"Get HIGHCOM on the line. We need to mobilize everything we have." His face was scrunched up with stress and flushed with ire towards his enemy. "The real war is about to begin."
Planet Earth, Thermosphere
The endless expanse of the universe stretched out with incomprehensible magnitude, its presence an impenetrable black canvas decorated with brilliant flecks of white. Stars and planets, so far away in the depths of space, glimmered brightly in the wondrous cosmos, many of them forming the beautiful and pearly veil of the Milky Way. Countless more shined in distant galaxies, their little glimmers calling like beacons; messengers from distant places that were shrouded in mystery. Against this magnificent backdrop loomed the moon, its grey and white surface shining in the gloom as it reflected the sun's rays upon the earth below.
The planet itself was a spectacle in its own right, its surface a work of art that no one could replicate. It was dark on this side, the sun just over the curve of the surface, but the lights of human civilization lit up the dark continents like colossal fires. Clouds loomed over the land in places, and a lightning storm could be seen over an expanse of ocean, sending ripples of blue energy through the wispy giants. Further still, within the thermosphere that resided hundreds of miles above the surface, were the dreamlike trails of the Aurora Borealis. The aurora stretched over the horizon, a ghostly trail of green light that glowed brilliantly against the backdrop of space, its natural glare like neon. It moved and shimmered, the collision of solar wind and magnetospheric particles creating a natural light show that bordered on the divine. It was such a sight—such a soul wrenching sight—and it was one that few ever got to see firsthand.
The natural view and wonders of space were well and good, but for one man they were irrelevant. Orion Fowl had always been intrigued by the stars, but he never stooped so low as to gawk at them when there was business to attend to. Even as he piloted the Section 0 stealth ship through the turbulence of the solar winds, he did not bat an eye—not at the borealis, nor at the stars, and not at the moon that shined so majestically ahead of him. All of these things were just distractions, inconsequential details bearing no importance to his plans. And so he ignored them, his mind working away at his final task—his only true, indisputable goal.
As he cleared the thermosphere and emerged into the exosphere, he felt the light of the moon—and the sun that was breaking over the earth's curve—hit even harder. It was due to the fact that he was now removed from most of the influence of the earth's atmosphere, but for a moment he let it entertain his mind; the wondrous glow was nourishment for thought, even though he considered its beauty to be absurd. He thought of his final plan—his last effort to succeed—and looked back on what had happened thus far. How long a journey it had been! So much effort and harsh deeds for his own selfish gain! It was not that he felt remorse for what he had done; he was simply interested by how far he had gone for the purpose of one thing and one thing only, and though the actions therein were selfish in every way, the final deed at the end of the line—the one thing his heart wanted more than anything in the world—was not selfish at all. No one knew what it was that drove him onward, but perhaps one day he would tell Artemis. Yes, it would be the right thing to do, from one Fowl to another, to shed a final light on the purpose of all that had happened. That time of revelation would come soon; like a sailing vessel it was just over the horizon, carried on by the favorable winds of change. As the moon grew larger and larger before him, Orion could feel those winds within him. A great change was coming, and he would be its master.
The man piloted the ship in silence, and behind him sat Opal Koboi. The pixie looked cross and murderous, just as she always did, but as the moon grew huge within their field of view she grew more and more elated. Orion noted this, but did not bother to sate her sick pleasure. Stoking the ravenous flame of the lunatic's pride was not his intention. Instead he spoke coldly and with a very subtle, mocking connotation.
"Had I heard your story from anyone else in the history of time I would have called them insane and subsequently had their tongue removed; the mere notion of the plan is absolutely ridiculous, worthy of a terrible Hollywood adaptation. But I expected nothing less from an disproportionate villain like yourself; you are predictable that way, always doing that which satisfies your ego and elevates you above others in your perceived hierarchy of the universe. It is actually amusing, but I would not go as far as to say that it is stupid. Quite oppositely, your plan is very well calculated, so much so that I actually bothered to use it."
Opal Koboi eyed him frigidly, her eyes alight with vexation. "You remind me too much of Artemis. Your utterances have just added another foot to the depth of the grave that you are digging for yourself." She grinned devilishly when she caught his eye. "You're not that smart at all Fowl. You are doing exactly what I want you to do, and when you are finished I will kill you and festoon my throne with your entrails."
Orion cocked a brow, perfectly unimpressed. "Quite a colorful imagination you have. Keep it up; I hear that kids these days like to read books of that explicit persuasion."
Opal growled and uttered a few curses under her breath, but she did not bother continuing an argument with him. She knew that it was pointless doing such with a Fowl, and she seemed to be a little less crazy than she had been in the past. Perhaps she was learning the futility of her old ways, and thereby adopting new methods of doing things, such as not exploding when someone hit her with defamatory remarks. Orion welcomed that possibility, because he absolutely detested Opal's excessive character. But in the end it made no difference. She would die, just like Briar Cudgeon and all the others; it was the only certainty in the life of such a platitudinous villain.
"We will be there in fifteen minutes," he said emotionlessly.
"Good," Holly stated, crossing her arms and looking ahead towards the looming moon. It was very close now, its cratered surface defined in the solar rays. A few minutes later the ship was within a mile of its surface, and a few moments later they were on the dark side of the moon. There Orion took them lower, following the flight computer's directions absentmindedly. This eventually led them to a massive chasm, and into it they flew. The darkness was palpable within the depths of the fissure, and even with the ship's front lights on it was impossible to see anything to the sides. Orion was not at all worried by this, nor was Opal. Both of them remained silent until a beep emanated from the ships' computer.
"Here we are," Orion said placidly.
Before them was a solid wall of stone, or at least what appeared to be one. Opal stood up and walked to the front of the ship, her eyes on the barrier.
"It will only open if it detects my biological signature, otherwise no one would even know it exists. When I designed this place I made it with that snooping centaur in mind. Even he can't unearth what has been planted here. It is a perfect secret."
Orion nodded slowly, but apart from that he remained impassive.
"Well, let's get this started then," Opal said dangerously, eying the wall. She waited for a few more seconds, and then, without there being any sign of anything happening, sat down contently. At first nothing happening, but then, with a shimmering of the stone surface, a massive blast door appeared. It opened immediately, revealing a gloomy tunnel beyond that was lit by only a few sidelights. Air blasted out of the door, a clear sign that it was pressurized and had environmental controls.
Orion took the ship forward, entering the tunnel and heading towards its end. The blast door shut behind them, and another opened far ahead. Light poured in from the area beyond, and it only took a few seconds for the Section 0 ship to make it there. Beyond the narrow tunnel stretched a massive expanse, one composed of untold amounts of technology and industrial equipment. Countless mechanical processes were going constantly as far as the eye could see, and in the air flew hundreds of drones and thousands upon thousands of smaller, agile machines. Orion eyed it all with acute appreciation, noting how everything functioned so efficiently.
"None of this existed a year ago," Opal said suddenly, her heartless gaze scanning the facility with evident pride. "Before I began my operation back then I sent out a fleet of nanobots, microscopic creations of mine with only one purpose. They were programmed with all of the designs and processes they would need to build all of this, and the moon is a natural source of all of the elements they would need to construct it from a molecular level. They began then and have worked tirelessly ever since, and they have replicated themselves exponentially to increase performance. If my calculations are correct, everything that I need has been fully constructed and is waiting on my command." The pixie paused, grinning with evil intentions. "With what is stored away in this wondrous facility I will bleed the world dry and attain that which was denied from me. And with my enemies tangled up fighting the humans in that pointless war, none of them will be able to stop me."
Orion frowned ever so slightly—he hated listening to her incessant rants. Nevertheless, he had to admit that the facility was above and beyond his expectations. He was actually impressed. He ceased his observations when Opal gestured towards a hangar bay, where a row of landing lights had just started blinking. With natural ease he flew the ship into the small hangar and brought it down, landing smoothly in the designated area. He then powered down the engines and turned to Opal, who was now standing and observing him in a predatory fashion.
"So, Miss Koboi, care to give me the grand tour of this fine establishment?"
The pixie's gaze was cold and merciless. "I have other uses for you."
"Of course."
The ship's side door opened, bringing with it a rush of hot air and the booming sound of industry. Opal Koboi walked towards the exit, where she stopped abruptly. She looked over her should with a very frightening expression. "Just to let you know there is no escaping this place. You have trapped yourself in here, and you will die the moment I say you do. So please, if you would be so kind, hold the smug remarks and pray for your worthless life."
The threat bounced off of Orion like a Nerf dart, and he smiled coldly in return.
"You will regret not killing me now."
Opal didn't blink, and she held his gaze. Her eyes glinted with a dreadful evil.
"You will wish I had."
Police Plaza, Haven
The flash of weapons fire glinted in Holly's mismatched eyes, and in those eyes was the most severe of judgment; a paroxysm of dark thoughts and anguish. In her hand was her favored neutrino, its surface steaming from use and its trigger just barely touched by her dexterous finger. Before her were dozens of holographic targets, all at least fifty yards away, and not a single one lacked a simulated hole in its head. Holly breathed steadily and observed her work with a cool, professional gaze. Even with her emotions battling within her she was capable of very deadly handiwork; if anything it made her even more dangerous.
With all of the targets hit with expert accuracy, Holly spoke demandingly to the AI system that ran the range simulations.
"Load new round, one hundred yards, varying elevation."
"Desired target identity?" The system droned.
Holly glared ahead, her eyes like pits of fire. She growled spitefully. "Opal Koboi."
The targets appeared almost instantaneously, their lifelike presence shimmering out of thin air and taking on the exact resemblance of Opal. At the same time the timer overhead reset, its previous count for Holly's last fifty targets—thirty seconds—reverting back to zeros. The elf regarded the target with ill intentions, her eyes glinting with acrimony.
That bitch…Why can't she just stay dead!?
Holly had her weapon aimed and ready, and her finger—an extension of her deadly mood—itched to send its power into the distant holograms. But she waited for a long moment, steadying her hate-filled mind with a few long breaths; the last thing she wanted to do was let her emotions ruin her aim. Missing a shot on these targets, even though they were not even the real Opal, would be a gross indignity. In silence she started down the sights of her blaster, her hazel eye lining it up with the head of the middlemost target. It was very far away for a sidearm, a hundred yards, but Holly was not a normal shooter; she was in a league of her own. She took her time, all the while envisioning the end result of her trigger pull. By the gods how she wanted for the target to be real, smug expression and all!
One day I will find you, Opal, and when I do…
Holly let loose on that unfinished thought, completing it with the smooth pull of the trigger. A fine bolt of energy shot forth at lightning speed, and it lanced right into the target with merciless efficiency, hitting the simulated Opal right in between her scheming eyes. The target flashed out of existence after the kill shot, but Holly was far from finished, for by the time her first shot had met its mark she had already moved onto another. The sound of her neutrino echoed in the large room, and it was with such speed that the sound of each shot mixed with the next. Over and over, shot after shot, Holly Short did what she did best—defy odds and shatter records like the 1929 New York Stock Exchange. Each shot flashed brightly, and each flash reflected off of her cold eyes; she did not blink even once. After only ten seconds over half of the Opals had holes in their faces, and the speed of Holly's shots only increased as she got swept away by the act of smiting her hated foe many times over. A moment later all of the targets were eliminated, and the overhead timer came to a halt with a beep. Holly glanced up at the time. Twenty seconds—not bad at all. She knew that the other officers on the range were all gaping at the impossible feat she had just done so easily, but she ignored them and kept her eyes forward. After resetting the targets again—this time making them moving ones—the elf switched off the safety and began anew. However, before she could fire she heard telltale footsteps behind her—the sort that were indicatively human. Holly did not need to turn around to know who it was.
"Hello Artemis, I'm a little busy at the moment," she said flatly, her eyes downrange. She fired a few shots, striking a few moving targets in their vitals.
Artemis stood silently behind her, not bothering to speak until she was finished. When Holly had obliterated the moving targets—on their highest difficulty setting no less—he spoke seriously.
"We have found them."
Holly was in the middle of resetting the targets, and when she heard Artemis she stopped abruptly. However, she did not exclaim, nor did she appear any bit excited. She only stared forward, down the range, her thoughts mirrored in her cold eyes.
"But they are untouchable right now, aren't they? We can't stop them, even with knowledge of where they are going…"
Artemis frowned, but he kept his voice level and concise. "Indeed, they have already left this planet. Opal's contingency plan is located in a rather generic place."
Holly finished resetting the targets, and as she looked down the barrel of her blaster she spoke coldly. "Yeah, that bitch would go for something like that." She fired a shot, blowing a target's head off. Heat shimmered in the air around the barrel of her weapon as another shot was primed, and with a rush of light it lanced forth and cut its mark into the upper chest of another lifeless doppelganger. Another shot came immediately thereafter, striking the grinning visage of Opal Koboi right in the mouth. These targets faded just like the others, a metaphor for the death that was certain for any living creature unlucky enough to receive such treatment.
Artemis observed her work, not failing to notice the demeanor with which she fired. She was killing her fiery reaction to the news with every Koboi that she shot; ebbing the flow of the darkness within her by releasing it upon inanimate objects in the likeness of her most hated foe. It was perfectly logical, an effective means of stress reduction, but Artemis knew that it would never be enough to banish the demons that had been haunting Holly for months. As he watched her shoot and shoot—kill and kill—he noted with amazement the duality he saw within her. She was strong and courageous, far more than anyone he knew, and yet at the same time she was fragile. It was the combination of what life had made her, one a warrior and the other a gentle creature, and in between them was the admixture. There was a cycle between these two sides, the brittle one—her living, loving, and caring side—shattering against the rocks of reality, and her powerful and steadfast side pulling it all back together again, like a hundred shards of broken glass. Artemis could not help but wonder, as he watched his paradoxical friend, how many times she had been broken beyond any conceivable repair, and how many times she had still managed carry on. She was like a rose coated in iron, and so often it was the iron alone that kept her from wilting away. She had thorns too, and by god how sharp they were!
"Trouble is mobilizing the LEP at the moment," Artemis said abruptly, setting aside his observations and replacing them with the matter at hand. "We will need to be ready for when the time comes, and that includes doing a few seemingly impossible things."
A few more shots rang out, and then Holly powered down her neutrino. She noted her final score and, without even smiling at the fact that she had broken her own record for the fifteenth time in a row, turned to Artemis. There was a trusting look in her eyes—she never doubted Artemis.
"So what's the plan?"
Artemis looked her in the eye—a battered soul stared back. "We have little choice but to act with the utmost brutality, but we cannot do that with the human forces matching us at every turn."
Holly frowned. "That's quite obvious, but what are we going to do about it?"
It was with a determined expression that Artemis replied, and his voice was bereft of any doubts and saturated with his brilliant edge. "We must make peace with my kind."
For once there was a little doubt in Holly's eyes. "I don't see how that's possible…with all that has happened…"
"It is not impossible," Artemis replied. "I will make it happen. I have been on the sidelines far too long; I will not fail this time as well. There is no room for mistakes now."
Holly thought for a moment, and then, like raindrops on glass, her doubts slid away. "I trust you, Artemis. If you think this is doable then it is, I will not doubt it. But you won't do it alone either; I will watch your back." A reckless smile, faint but powerful, broke through the coldness that marred her expression. "We will do this together, you got that?"
It was impossible for Artemis not to smile in return. "Absolutely."
"Then let's get going," Holly stated, holstering her blaster and stepping away from the firing line. "It's time for some payback against those two, and to end this senseless war." She started towards the exit, the length of her stride quite impressive for an elf. Artemis walked alongside her, and he spoke pertinently.
"Indeed. We are running out of time; in fact, the future that Orion has planned is already here. I know his thinking, and he knows mine. He will not waste a moment, nor will Opal for that matter. They will strike hard and fast, seeking to overwhelm us before we can regroup."
Gone was Holly's torment; she was now her old, reckless self. Unfazed by Artemis' predictions, the elf never lost her confident demeanor or her fierce expression. "They can try, but in the end they will find that they were mistaken. Opal, Orion, I don't care who we're up against; they will not succeed, not while we draw breath. Besides…" Holly looked up at Artemis, grinning despite herself. "We're pretty hard to kill, you and I."
The humor wasn't lost on Artemis. He knew how many times they had faced death; he had died twice in his lifetime, and Holly defied its clutches with every conflict she took part in. It was true that, after all that had happened, they were still there; they always seemed to make it in the end. But Artemis was not a fool—he knew that there was always a first time, even for those like him and Holly. It was a certainty that one day they would not escape death, but he hoped—and did his best to believe—that it would not be for a long time. It occurred to him that many others had shared that hope and belief—Minerva, Qwan, and so many more—and yet they were gone. Life was so fragile, so easy to take, and so often was the end unexpected.
Artemis had traditionally considered himself the master of his own fate, but over the years he had come to realize that no amount of intelligence would trump everything that life threw at him. Sometimes it was out of even his control—he had experienced that firsthand for the last few weeks. And yet despite this fact of life he refused to think of not being in control of what happened next; he was determined to play the game and win no matter what. It was not that he ignored the real odds; he knew them far better than anyone. The reality was that there was no sense in believing that events would be uncontrollable, because like poison in a well it ruined his efforts. He would move forward like the Fowl he was, seeking to control things infinitely larger than himself, and if fate would have it that he could not control the outcome then it would be by factors that were not of his own making. He would either win or lose—live or perish—but he would focus only on the former. Losing was the easy part; it did not need his help. He would play to win and nothing else. Orion would no doubt do the same.
It all comes down to him and I, Artemis thought as he walked alongside Holly. No one was more like him and yet so opposite. Orion, his reflection in a darker light, was focused entirely on winning as well, and unlike Artemis there was nothing he wouldn't do in order to attain that victory. There was no room for doubt against such a frightful enemy. Artemis had to be not only himself—he would have to be the self he had been years ago. He would have to be ruthless. He would have to match Orion's ravenous fire with one of his own, and by brilliance and cunning overcome it. He had to do this, otherwise all would be lost.
And so, as Artemis walked alongside his good friend, he began to calculate, building the framework for the most powerful force that could be used against Orion—the mastermind of another Fowl.
