Chris focused on his rats, extending his spatial senses through them as they carefully explored the next length of tunnel before the squad, checking it for traps and other signs of imp activity. Just like him, all his minions had a bubble around them he could use to find areas to open portals in, though it was about the tenth of the size. It didn't give him a lot of information, but it was great for picking out shapes and hidden spaces. They were still a good distance from the tribe, so the traps they'd encountered so far weren't the imps' best, simple pitfalls and such, but that wasn't any reason to relax. Imps didn't waste a lot of resources on their border areas, but they weren't scared to leave a little surprise for anyone who decided to get careless. Case in point… “Well that's not good…” Chris muttered. “They've got this whole tunnel rigged to collapse.”

“Can we stop it or do we need to go around?” Beth asked.

“I haven't figured out the trigger yet.” Chris muttered as he studied the mechanisms involved. “It has four traps connected to it… I think you'd need to set off all four to get it to collapse? But there's no way to disable them without setting them off.” Chris finished with a sigh. “We should go around.”

Beth nodded, marking the tunnel on her map as they made their way back to the split and began examining the next tunnel, slowly mapping a safe route to the imp tribe. They were two hours in with four more to go before they had to head back to the camp for two hours on watch. They'd have a four hour break after that, then another four hours on watch before they'd get to sleep for eight hours, waking up for another six hours of scouting, continuing the cycle from there, until the platoon reached the imps. Carter's squad was on the same cycle as they were, keeping an eye on everything they did to evaluate them and make sure they didn't fuck up. It was a bit strange that Carter's squad had them doing pretty much all the work, but it did give them a chance to prove themselves, so they didn't mind.

The squad had cleared another four tunnels when Chris paused. “We've got company. Imps. Four of them.”

Nadia turned to Beth. “Capture or kill? They could have useful abilities.”

“What's the risk for capture?” Beth asked.

“Unknown abilities, so it's hard to say… with surprise on our side, Derek can disable one for sure and Chris could take a second using Dyrdek's ability. The other two we can physically subdue fairly easily, but if they have abilities that don't require movement, it could be risky.” Nadia replied.

Beth frowned, turning to Chris. “Any indication what their abilities might be?”

“Two are unarmed, while the other two both have melee weapons.” Chris reported.

Beth scowled. “The unarmed ones are going to be a problem. We'd need to take them out first.”

“It'd be hard to get to them from an ambush.” Chris commented. “The other two are protecting them.”

Beth considered the problem for a moment. “If we can present a threat, the two melees will take the front while the unarmed fall back, leaving them open to ambush. Can we make sure we survive the initial barrage without Chris and Derek?”

Nadia cocked her head. “If we use Cabbage and Carmen together, they should be able to take anything on the lower-end of high-tier. We just have to make sure they target Cabbage and not anyone else.” She gestured for the map. “Where are they right now?”

“Next tunnel down, this one, about halfway through at the moment.” Chris pointed to the map as he explained.

“We're not fighting in a tunnel we haven't cleared yet.” Beth interjected. “Too dangerous.”

“So we need to lure them this way…” Nadia muttered. “Okay, I have a plan.”

*

The four imps paused as they entered the intersection connected to the tunnel the squad had just cleared, ears perking up as a scraping sound echoed from the other end. They shared looks and one of the melees made a hand signal, leading the group towards the noise. Scraping sounds were never a good sign in the Maze. No one wanted to risk something digging past their defenses. As they crept closer, the scraping sounds stopped and the imps froze. The second melee imp shifted forward nervously as they all prepared for an attack, the two unarmed imps hands beginning to glow, one red, one white, the entire group carefully creeping forward.

A low growl echoed through the tunnel as Cabbage charged the imps, a bolt of fire flying at him, catching on Carmen's resistance field and snuffing out. The other imp sent a spike of ice shooting towards him next, slipping through the resistance field and scraping off his carapace. The melee imps charged forward, one erecting a glowing shield in front of themselves, while the unarmed imps began to charge another attack. Suddenly Derek and Chris in his mutated form stepped from the shadows behind them, Derek charging the ice imp in a burst of electricity, slamming them into the wall of the tunnel with his shield, while Chris’s tail lashed out at the fire imp, tipped with a sickly green glow as it pierced through their gut.

The fire imp sent a weak fire blast at Chris before it collapsed, which he blocked with a barrier, alerting the melees. The two stumbled to a halt, turning around as they let out distressed cries. The barrier imp charged at Chris as the other disappeared, reappearing behind Derek and tackling him off the ice imp, its dagger digging into his armor but thankfully not penetrating it. Derek cursed, elbowing the teleporting imp in the face and sending it stumbling back, swinging his shield at it, but it disappeared before the blow could connect. It reappeared next to the ice imp, getting a hand on them only to get slammed by Jello, the slime wrapping around both of them and hardening into metal. The imp teleported, bringing both of them away, flashing down the tunnel in short hops, but with Jello latched onto them there was no way they were escaping, so it was just wasting energy. As for the barrier imp, they'd barely gotten a few steps before Beth launched herself down the tunnel, slamming them into the ground with a sickening crunch.

Chris opened a portal, picking up the fire imp and tossing them in, before waving it over to Beth for her to toss the barrier imp in as he reverted to his human form, shifting his armor slightly as he did. It was designed to accommodate his mutated form, but the forms were different enough that he still needed to make adjustments. “That could have gone better.”

“I didn't expect one of them to be a fucking teleporter.” Nadia grumbled. “They're always a bitch to plan for.” She glanced at him. “Do you have it yet?”

“I'm letting them tire themselves out for a bit.” Chris replied. “Teleporting three people can't be easy.”

Nadia grunted in agreement. “Just don't let that bastard get away.”

Chris nodded, before pausing. “Hold on.” He returned to his mutated form, opening a portal, reaching through, and ripping the bundle of imps and Jello out, slamming them into the ground. The tips of his claws glowed green as he pierced them into the imps, the portal shifting to his space as he picked them up and tossed them through, before turning human again. “The ice imp recovered and tried to freeze Jello.” He explained.

“Is she okay?” Beth asked, concerned.

“Yeah, she's fine. The imp would have needed more than a few seconds to actually hurt her.” Chris assured her.

Beth released a relieved sigh. “Good.” She turned to Nadia. “How could we have handled that better?”

Nadia frowned. “We should have put Zack with Chris and Derek. I don't think it would have changed much, but the fact that both our main damage dealers were too far to interfere is a problem. If the imp had been more focused on fighting than escaping, Derek could have been in trouble. Otherwise, I don't think there's much we could have done. Teleporters are just a bitch to deal with.”

Beth nodded. “I think we should try to maintain the melee, defender, ranged dynamic whenever possible. There's a reason the Scouts use it in all their squads.”

“True.” Nadia agreed.

“I think I need a way to use my ability through my armor.” Derek added. “I could have stunned the imp with that elbow strike so it couldn't get away.”

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“We could add metal caps to the elbows.” Chris suggested. “Or maybe a wire mesh through it all?”

“We'll deal with equipment modifications after we finish the mission.” Beth cut them off, rolling her eyes. “Right now we need to focus on what we have, not what we want.” They nodded in agreement as she looked around. “Any other thoughts?” Everyone shook their heads. “Alright, then let's get back to work. These tunnels won't clear themselves.”

*

The squad cleared another four tunnels before their shift was over, Chris opening a portal back to camp so they could switch with the next squad, handing the map over as they did. After a quick report to Captain Nefred about their encounter with the imps, they took their turn standing watch until they were relieved by the squad just waking up, settling in to relax for the next four hours. At least, most of the squad did. Chris had some imps to deal with.

Chris entered his space, where the imps were waiting, bound, gagged, and watched by Jello and T'ka. Three of them could move again, but he'd been periodically dosing the teleporting imp with Dyrdek's ability to keep them contained. He didn't know if they could teleport out of his space, but he didn't want to risk it. “Which one do I want to start with?” Chris muttered, considering the four for a moment, trying to figure out which one would give him the least resistance. The teleporter was out, judging by their energy which rivaled Jello's. Chris wasn't even sure he was capable of connecting with… him. Unlike goblins and kobolds, imps had clear sexual characteristics, so now that he had a chance to study them, Chris could see that the teleporter and barrier imps were male, while the fire and ice imps were female. Imps actually looked almost human, just shorter with large eyes that made them seem like young teenagers… except for the fact that they were red. That kind of gave it away.

“Please… no hurt.” The fire imp suddenly spoke in broken human. “Do whatever want.” She added, shifting slightly to exaggerate her helplessness and biting her lip.

Chris blinked as he was suddenly confronted with the fact that one, this imp spoke human, and two, she was flirting with him? Chris walked over to the imp as her eyes lit up expectantly, crouching down in front of her, reaching out and… flicking her in the forehead. “Don't do that.” He scolded the stunned imp. “First off, I have a girlfriend, and secondly, you look like you're thirteen.”

The imp scowled as the ice imp spoke up next. “What want? No dead. Must want something.” She asked seriously, staring at Chris intently.

“Information, mostly.” Chris shrugged. “But it never hurts to have more minions either.” He focused on her. She seemed agreeable enough, and not much stronger than T'ka judging by her energy. “Let's start with you then.” The ice imp resisted for a moment as Chris's will descended on her, much more than Chris thought she would have, but then a gleam flashed in her eye and the connection clicked into place as a shiver went through her. Chris raised an eyebrow. “Now isn't that interesting.”

The ice imp’s eyes went wide as she felt the strength, or rather the absoluteness, of the connection between them, gulping slightly. She'd recognized that even if she fought the connection, she'd inevitably lose. She'd decided it would be wiser to give in for the moment, saving her willpower to fight back later, when it might actually matter. But this- there was nothing to fight back against! She was just… his! “M-Master.” She greeted him in a horrified whisper, the fire imp glancing at her in concern. “How- how serve?” She asked, dreading the answer.

“First, language.” Chris replied, sending the human language through the connection, causing the imp to wince in pain even as then sudden understanding shocked her to the core. He hesitated for a moment before taking the imp language from her, grimacing as the influx of knowledge came with its own spike of pain. He closed his eyes, taking a moment to partition the languages, before opening them again with a sigh. [Now, let's connect the rest of you.]

*

Connecting the fire imp went a lot like it did with the ice imp. First resistance, then calculation, acceptance, horror, despair, and finally a numb obedience, both imps almost completely shutting down emotionally. As for the barrier imp, it fought the connection as hard as it could before Chris could force it though, a wave of exhaustion hitting him the moment it did. The imps weren't weak willed by any measure, and he was lucky the two females hadn't fought harder. Not that it would have stopped him if they did, it just would have taken him longer. Chris released the three connected imps, passing them off to his other minions while he retreated outside to rest with Beth and the others, taking an hour or so to recover before returning to deal with the last imp. Unfortunately, just like Chris had suspected, the teleporting imp was too strong to connect to his space. Chris could break through his resistance, but the connection itself wouldn't form, the imp’s spirit slipping through it like a bar of soap.

Chris clicked his tongue. “Damn.” He paused. “Well… I did want some more energy.” He muttered to himself as he transformed, dosing the imp one more time before picking him up and opening a portal.

“M-Master?” The ice imp called out hesitantly. She was obviously still scared but after spending some time with Chris's other minions, she felt a slight bit of hope for her situation. Enough that she was willing to interfere with what looked like the death of one of her friends.

Chris glanced at her. *Yeah?*

She flinched as Chris's voice echoed through her mind, taking a deep breath to build up her courage. “What- what are you going to do with Tibolt?”

Chris cocked his head. *Kill him? I can't form a connection with him, so I can't control him, which means he's too dangerous to keep around. I can't exactly release him either, or he'd warn your tribe about us. I don't really have another option, you know?*

The ice imp gulped. “If- If you had another option, would you spare him?”

*Sure.* Chris agreed. *Do you have another option?*

The ice imp hesitated, before nodding. “You could cripple his ability. His ability core is in his left ankle. Losing it wouldn't kill him, but his ability would be gone. He'd be no threat to you.” Losing your ability was a death sentence in the Maze, but if Tibolt was going to die anyway, this would at least give him a chance. If they were really lucky, Chris might even let him stay! But she didn't have much hope for that. Who would support someone they had no use for?

Chris blinked, then closed the portal, checking with his energy vision and seeing that the ice imp wasn't lying. The tel- Tibolt's ability core was in his left ankle. But as he stared at the ability core, another idea hit him. The problem was that Tibolt was too strong, right? So… what if he made him weaker? If he could reduce his energy to the point where it matched the ice imps… Chris focused on Tibolt's energy, giving it a slight tug. A grin split his face, sending a shudder through his minions as they watched him. His mutated form's grin was not a pleasant sight. The energy had moved! There'd been resistance, some part of Tibolt protesting the theft of his energy, but it could work! All he needed to do was break through this stubborn imp’s will… which he definitely wasn't going to be able to pull off any time soon. He was absolutely drained from everything he'd done already. Unless…

Chris returned to his human form, crouching down next to Tibolt. [Hey buddy, I know you can hear me in there.] Dyrdek's ability was a paralytic, not a sedative. It shut the body down, but the mind was still there. [I'm getting real sick of you fighting me, so how about you just stop so you can join your friends over there? Otherwise… well, you'll still join your friends, because I promised the icey one, but I'm going to take all your ability. Work with me, and yeah, it'll be weaker, but you'll still have something. Deal?] Chris gave the energy a tug, grinning as the resistance faded.

He slowly absorbed Tibolt's energy, reducing it further and further as he focused on his spirit, pushing at it until the connection clicked into place. Chris frowned. He’d taken a lot of energy, but Tibolt still had plenty left, still more than Chris even, which should still leave him as a high-tier, and Chris was almost positive he couldn't dominate high-tiers. He looked up, confused, freezing as he took in the space. “I- don't need to count tables.” He muttered. The length and width of his space had almost tripled! He thought. “Damn it.” Chris sighed, making tables across the center of the space. “Twelve, thirteen, fourteen.” Chris finished counting. “That- is pretty damn conclusive.” Absorbing energy did make his space grow! He paused, narrowing his eyes. Did it also make it stronger? He glanced at Tibolt, considering taking just a bit more energy, to see if he could get the space strong enough to strengthen his connection with Jello, before stopping himself. He'd promised he wouldn't take more than he needed to. Well, he hadn't exactly but that was the spirit of it. He patted Tibolt on the shoulder. “Welcome to the team. You want to heal now, but painfully, or later? Just think your answer at me.”

*N-now?* Tibolt sent him tentatively.

“You sure? It isn't pleasant.” Chris asked again, getting a mental nod back. “Alright then. You asked for it.” Chris shrugged, transforming his arm to his mutated form, grabbing Tibolt's head, and squeezing.

“No!” The ice imp cried, rushing towards them, only to stumble as Tibolt sat up with a gasp.

[That- was not pleasant.] Tibolt shuddered.

“I warned you.” Chris pointed out, standing up. “This isn't going to be pleasant either.” He added as he shoved the human language into his head.

“Fuck!” Tibolt cursed, clutching his head.

“Again, warned you.” Chris chuckled, turning to T'ka. “Make sure they all get settled in alright. I need to get some rest.” T'ka nodded as he opened a portal, returning to camp and slumping down next to Beth, leaning against her as he promptly fell asleep. Taking new minions was exhausting.