We took a few days off from our sabotage runs after our base was broken into. It didn't feel right to take any more chances when we already felt so unsafe. That break was never going to last, of course. Penny, Victoria, and Jackie are all very firmly dedicated to their cause, and I… Well, I'm locked in, I guess.

I'm getting into the rhythm, at least. Guerrilla warfare, fast and brutal. I'm certainly no Victoria, but I'm at least figuring out how to hold my own.

Jackie, Victoria and I kick open the doors of the factory building, as we've done half a dozen times by now. Jackie's on my left, Victoria to my right. The positioning is very intentional, I've repeatedly proven myself the weakest link here so if something goes wrong, it's best to orient ourselves such that either of them can help me out depending who's closer. However, that wasn't necessary last time, and I'm hoping to turn that little victory into a streak.

As we enter the room, I quickly spot and make note of 6 guards. 3 on the right, 2 on the left, 1 directly in front of me. This is the other part of the reason for our positioning, we've started picking up on typical guard placement patterns. It makes sense, the factory floor is where the actual manufacturing happens. They don't want their combat demons out in the middle of it getting in the way, if they can avoid it.

I sprint forward and a second pair of eyes opens on my face, directly beneath my human ones. When I thumb the rune to give my short sword a cutting edge, a few sparks issue from the tip. It's not much, but it's a start.

I don't need to look to know Jackie and Victoria have both scattered, engaging the guards in their respective territories. They can both handle what they've got, my only concern should be the man in front of me, taking up a battle stance a few feet from a row of machines. I let out a shriek of aggression and leap at him, sword outstretched and ready to cut him down. He bats the tip away with the heavy head of his battleaxe, which of course I'm ready for. I don't expect such telegraphed hits to land, of course.

I twist my body in midair as it sails past him, narrowly avoiding his counterattack, and land on my feet, dropping into a crouch behind him. Before he has time to turn around, I extend my legs, pushing off the ground to leap up toward him and bury my sword in his back.

He's a fair bit taller and stockier than me, and the pained yell he lets out is deep and guttural. If I'm gonna move him, which I would prefer to do for the sake of controlling the encounter, it's gonna take momentum, because my raw strength is still not up to the task. I use the handhold of my sword in his back to leverage myself further up and hook my legs over his shoulders. In less than a second I've got a firm grip around his neck, and I let myself fall, whipping my body to transfer all that inertia into him and whip him across the room behind me. I hear a loud grunt as he slams headfirst into the nearest piece of machinery. His horns have pierced straight through it and allowed his entire head to become embedded in the inner workings; two birds with one stone.

Of course, my own landing on the hard concrete floor wasn't completely painless, but the sturdiness afforded by my new halo combined with some careful positioning as I fell keeps me from being incapacitated by it like I would've been before. In an instant I'm on my feet behind my target, and a second after that I've retrieved my weapon from his back and redeposited it in a spot with more vital organs.

That couldn't have gone better, honestly, Victoria's advice really was solid. I of course cannot handle the average combat demon face-to-face in my current state, but surprise isn't something that cares about size or strength all that much. It doesn't matter how much bigger you are than your opponent if they can bait out an obvious parry and turn it into positional advantage before they've processed what just happened. I have a lot left to learn, to be sure, and I'm still not exactly satisfied with my halo, but at least I'm not just dead weight here. I can contribute while I figure all that out.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

While I've been putting my training to use, Jackie and Victoria have made short work of their marks. There shouldn't be much left to do here other than take out as much of the machinery as we can get our hands on, and book it.

The other two are converging on my location when something small clatters onto the floor near one of the far walls. We all turn toward it, in time to see a red figure drop from an elevated catwalk onto the floor next to it. She lands hard enough to crack the cement floor beneath her, but doesn't seem perturbed by it at all. "About fucking time! I was beginning to think you didn't want it back!"

It takes a second before I register that this is the same combat demon who attacked our base. Her hammer is slung across her back and… the object she dropped before descending to meet us must be that doll that ran away last time. I still don't fully know the significance of that thing, and I don't feel equipped to deal with the situation myself until I do, so I quickly tap one of the additional runes Penny put on my sword, the one that calls her in from her position outside the factory. It doesn't take long before she comes running, and as soon as she's in view she lets out a gasp.

I turn toward her. "Penny, what exactly makes that doll so special? It seems to be some kind of hostage, and I don't know how worried to be about that."

Penny shakes her head, blinking back tears. "I… It's Sam."

I stare back, dumbfounded, but before I can ask for clarification, Jackie yells out from behind me. "It's what?"

Penny drops to her knees, holding her head in her hands. "I went to deliver their meds, and they… they were dead when I got there, they had overdosed on something. I don't know what, it wasn't what I had given them. It… It didn't look like an accident. And it was too late to resuscitate them, I couldn't think of any other way to save them so I… I tried to move them into a core, until I could figure out a better solution." I can't make out any of the rest of what she says as she breaks down in sobs.

Jackie stays still for a moment, staring Penny down, before turning back toward the demon. "Well, either way, I'm not letting her keep them."

The combat demon smirks, letting the head of her hammer swing down to the floor in front of the doll. "I don't think you have much choice, kid. One of us has a much better position here. Besides, if you did take it back, that'd just let us find you all over again."

Jackie, who had been starting to make his way toward her, stops and turns toward Penny. She's still on the ground, shaking her head as the tears begin to run down her face. From across the room, the doll makes a small sound, as if clearing its throat. It doesn't have a throat to clear, but the sound serves what was probably the intended effect of grabbing everyone's attention.

"This one doesn't really understand everything that's going on here. It's been around for a very short time, at least in this shape. It doesn't remember anything else, and it doesn't particularly like being here now. If its continued existence is going to cause problems for others, in addition to itself, then perhaps it shouldn't be here anymore." Penny is now openly weeping, and Jackie, seeing the writing on the wall with this speech, is sprinting toward the demon standing next to it. It turns toward her. "If you're going to destroy this one, you'd better just do it."

Penny cries out in protest, but Jackie doesn't stop running, and Victoria and I are quick to follow. The demon lets out a bellow of rage, and swings her hammer into the doll's chest. There's a bright yellow flash as its core shatters and the cosma inside disperses, and the now-inanimate vessel slams into the wall and falls onto the floor. The demon turns toward us and raises her hammer, preparing for a fight. Victoria is the first to arrive, her rocket-boosted speed more than making up for the head start Jackie had, and she ignites her sickles as she leaps toward the demon.