SoftWare: Here we go.

Artemis: Indeed.

Chapter Seven

The Battle Begins

(Recommended music- Star Wars- Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Soundtrack- The Training of a Jedi Knight)

In preparation for the battle that was coming, we set up a lot of defensive weapons. We had three crossbows and a

catapult. We also had some traps Ruka set. When I asked her about it, she said she played a lot of Risk as a kid. We

then assumed defensive positions, bows and arrows ready. I had my bow out, too, since I wanted to catch Orion off

guard. You can imagine my surprise when this happened. Fourty of Orion's hunters had come alone, and they had their

arrows ready. With ease, they disarmed Ruka's traps. I faced her. She grinned sheepishly. "Okay, so I sucked at Risk." I

sighed, then said, "Fire!"

(Recommended music- Let's Groove in a Genesis- 16-bit version)

Our arrows flew just as theirs did. Arrows continued to fly until they ran out of arrows. We were able to finish them off,

but a few Hunters had been hit on our end. They weren't enough to kill them, but they wouldn't be fighting for a bit.

After getting them into our makeshift infirmary, we got ready for the next wave. I now knew what Orion was doing. He

was deploying his hunters in groups to reduce our defenses. I called for an Officer's Meeting. Meaning Zoe, Thalia,

Artemis, and me. I sat down. "I figured out what Orion's doing. He's sending his hunters in waves so that we have to

use more arrows. Artemis nodded thoughtfully. "A tactic that a man would use." I faced her. "Does that apply to me

too?" She shook her head. "Your mind works differently than Orion's." I faced Thalia. "How many arrows does your

group have left?" She sighed. "Maybe enough for another wave, but I doubt we'll have enough for a third wave." I faced

Zoe. "Same question." She looked me in the eye. "Perhaps enough for three more waves." I sighed. "The Soldiers could

maybe stop four more on our own." Artemis sighed. "I am the only one in my group that still has arrows. The moment

your group runs out of arrows, Shawn, we will have to fight hand-to-hand." I faced her. "What about the crossbows and

catapult?" She sighed. "It depends on how many waves Orion has." I nodded. Then I remembered something. "Wait,

what about the radar on that laptop?" Artemis perked up. "Of course!" She pulled it out. We could then see what we

were up against. "Seven waves. Orion would come last." I then remembered something else. "Can't we pull their arrows

out of the barriers?" Artemis thought that over. "That would perhaps be enough to finish the sixth wave, which leaves

the crossbows and catapult for the last wave." I nodded. "Let's do this." After we pulled the arrows out, we took cover.

The second wave had arrived. There were fourty in this wave, too. We fired on them. Arrows took them down, but we

had injuries on our end. Checking the injuries, again, none of them were fatal, but I knew that at the rate our Hunters

were getting hit, Orion had a bigger advantage. We didn't just need luck, we needed a dang fortune cookie.

A/N

SoftWare: The battle has begun.

Ruka: (Shrugs)

Artemis: Please review.

Computer: SoftWare, offline.