A/N: Welcome back everybody. My first year of college is finally over and I might just have time to write more. So, much anticipated, here is chapter 10! enjoy.
Holly didn't give Trouble or Foaly time to interject, launching directly into her plan. "We do what they want and least expect, we give them 'No. 1 '" She said, emphasizing the name with air quotes, "But it's not really him. We use their own tactic against them and send in a magical double!"
Trouble looked to Foaly, clearly wondering if it could work. Foaly was clearly deep in thought, finally, he spoke. "It could work." he said, starting to dash around the room, collecting various pieces of equipment, "Holly, get No. 1 to meet us at the ops shuttle. Let's hope he's ready, because this is gonna be big." With that, he ran out the door towards his shuttleport.
Holly ran for No. 1's office, causing his assistant to jump at her arrival, expecting more violence. The young warlock barely had time to say hello before he was yanked down the hallway after an auburn-haired blur. He could almost swear the blur was speaking to him, something along the lines of "infusing river stones" and "saving Arty!"
-Demon Camp-
Artemis was beginning to get groggy. After three more interrogation sessions (Artemis had no idea why they kept calling them that, they didn't ask questions, just poked and prodded him), he was starting to lose the ability to detach himself from his experiences. On top of that, the items hidden throughout his clothing were really beginning to hurt.
Suddenly, the door to the chamber opened. Oh good, Artemis thought, More poking. The demon buck with the horn missing walked in, and Artemis could almost swear he looked happy to see him.
"Your friend, the elf, doesn't seem to have as much strength as you gave her credit for." He said, grinning and showing off his yellowed teeth. "She has agreed to trade you for the traitor. Unfortunately, we don't like you, so we're going to kill you anyway. Don't worry, we'll make sure she's watching."
Artemis hung his head, using the last sparks of magic in his brain to clear it, I will need all my intelligence for this, pity I have so little magic left at this point.
-Ops Shuttle-
Holly was concentrating on flying. According to Foaly, interrupting No. 1 at this point could be catastrophic, so her skills were more important than ever.
The demons had picked the drop-off point, an area just outside the city that was still in ruins from the Koboi incident. Holly didn't like it, but then she shouldn't. The area had no surveillance, barely had lighting, and was a tactical nightmare, with large cover-worthy pieces of debris everywhere, promising to make any firefight a long one. Once she was close enough she ran a series of sonar sweeps, but they were rudimentary at best, providing just enough information to confirm earlier conclusions and make a basic plan of attack.
She landed on the side of the expanse closest to the city, allowing the demons to retreat into the tunnels. More tactical options for them, she thought, bitterly. She moved to the back, where Foaly and No. 1 where readying for the plan.
"We'll be putting a glamour over you," Foaly said, turning to face the elf, "No matter what, you'll look like No. 1, which is good for you because we can send you in with full recon gear."
He moved over to the equipment rack, pulling down a shimmer suit, helmet, and a belt with two holsters. He handed these to Holly, who quickly began changing, and set about to readying two neutrino 3500 pistols. These pistols were the result of idle hands and nervous energy over the last several days. The two he had were the only ones in existence, and featured faster firing rates, more power output, and the ability for both to be linked into an updated targeting computer in Holly's helmet, allowing her to double her trademark accuracy. Turning, he handed them to her, explaining as she expertly spun them and inserted them into her hip holsters.
"These are a sort of halfway mark between the 3000 and 4000 series. Same build and battery, but with enough changes to warrant a new name."
No.1 stepped forward, runes already spiraling.
"This is going to tickle," he said, as the beam of red magic shot into Holly, building a magical skin to hide her, "And try to hold still, looks these good take precision."
Where she not being transformed into a demon warlock, Holly would have smacked him for joking at a time like this. A few moments later, the spell was done, and two No.1's stood facing each other.
"Weird." they echoed, looking and sounding identical.
-Demon Camp-
Artemis was, for a few moments, confused. The demons holding him seemed to have acquired a pet, or a snack, he thought. Then he remembered Abbot's punishment. Before him in a cage was the missing guinea pig, going hysterical at the site of his enemy. Artemis was sure that if he had enough magic left to translate rodent to english, he would have learned quite a few choice words.
"I see you're all ready for No.1's arrival." Artemis said, looking at the half-horned demon.
"Yes," He answered, "And when our leader once again has the power of a warlock, Haven, no, the world will be ours."
Artemis merely rolled his eyes at this as he was unbound, stood up, and handcuffed.
-Drop Off-
Holly walked slowly, feeling the stone in her hand. No.1 had said it would be easier to put the unraveling spell in the stone, as it was less complex and they were short on time. She went over her plan in her head.
I make sure Artemis is safe, then I drop the stone and shoot everything that moves. Simple. She hoped that Foaly's new gun would be better suited to taking down this many demons.
Ahead, she could see Artemis ahead, handcuffed to a rather large demon with a horn broken off. He looked up when he saw her, then looked down again, seeming sad.
He thinks we're giving up No. 1 to save him, Holly realized. She had to give him some sign. Searching her magic, she decided to pull a trick out of No. 1's book. I am supposed to be him, after all.
"Uimhir 1 is sábháilte" she said, hoping he got it. When she spoke, Artemis stayed where as he was, but a small smile seemed to form.
"Of course its me, No. 1," He said, looking up, "What took you so long?"
The demons took the bait and assumed she was checking his identity. Everything was going fine, the buck holding Artemis unchained him and pushed him towards the LEP side of the drop point, roughly grabbing "No. 1" and put the the chain around his wrist. Holly was glad to discover that the cuff rested on the spell, and she would easily be able to get free. Not that it would have taken me long anyway. She was itching to try out Foaly's new guns.
Unfortunately, once Artemis reached the halfway point between the two groups, Holly heard a strange sound and a jet of light hit him squarely in the back.
She watched him fall, almost in slow motion. Before he even hit the ground, she had dropped her stone and slipped the cuff. The large demon barely had time to look surprised before a barely aimed flurry of fire took off his other horn and lifted him off his feet.
By the time he landed on a nearby comrade, Holly's training took hold. She was a cold machine, sinking shots into whichever demon dared leave cover. Several shot energy bolts at her using stones held in one hand, aiming with the other. These fell fastest, as she assumed one of them had taken the shot, and they all would be punished.
Before long, however, she was forced to take cover or wind up like Artemis. Several demons rushed her with swords, but the few that made it were quickly knocked down. The rest were picked of by the squad of LEPRetrieval officers swarming over the battlefield, led by Trouble Kelp, wielding a Neutrino assault rifle.
Fans of energy crisscrossed the field, taking down those unlucky enough to have their head up at the wrong time. The officers were luckier than Artemis, as their suits were made to withstand energy, most of them would be fine if a few days.
On the far side of the field, the top blew off of a Section 8 shuttle. Looking like a true creature of hell, No. 1 rose out of it surrounded by red energy. He had just been told of Artemis' fate, and upon seeing it with his own eyes, let out a cry that made both sides cringe as he sent magical blasts flying uncontrolled across the field. Before any of the LEP officers could be hurt, he collapsed to the ground. Behind him was Foaly, wielding what appeared to be an elf's finger.
Holly took advantage of the confusion this caused back her way across the field, suppressing fire leaving her dual Neutrinos at an alarming rate. Finally, she reached Artemis, dragging behind a nearby pile of debris. "Heal!" she cried, forcing all of her magic into him, "Heal, D'Arvit!"
Within seconds she had used up all her reserves. While is was effecting the tissue, it would take far more power than she had to do any good. Weeping, she pulled Artemis closer to her, lifting him to pull his body into her lap.