When in Gehenna

You've Got To Fight For Your Right

The warriors of Gehenna quickly gathered into their armies and units.  The leaders of the three nations were busy planning.  Meanwhile, Rin, Amaimon, and the other Demon Kings were setting up portals for the armies to use.  The portals had to be strategically placed to limit the number of innocent lives that would be lost.  

Finally, they were ready.  On Halloween night, the combined armies of the Seelie, Unseelie, and Demon courts used their assigned portals to enter Assaiah.  Each portal came out in an out-of-the-way spot by one of the locations that had been reported as a stronghold for the rogue Exorcists.  At the first stroke of midnight, they made their move.  Different groups were able to infiltrate their various targets before alarms were eventually raised and resistance was roused.  

The night was long and the fighting was bloody.  Both sides experienced many losses before the rising of the sun and the weakening of various members of the Unseelie Court.  However, there was also a corresponding strengthening of certain members of the Seelie Court, enhanced by Assaiah's sun. 

Rin and Amaimon were leading a team that was attacking the location where Angel was rumored to be.  Their fighting force consisted of a balanced mix of Seelie, Unseelie, and Demons.  As they approached their target building,  Rin noticed that there were three guards patrolling the back entrance.  The three were dispatched silently with poison darts.  As their lifeless bodies slumped to the ground, the group advanced.  Anyone who crossed their path was killed as swiftly and silently as possible.  They were able to make it to the main staircase without being discovered.  Once there, the group split up to search each floor.  Amaimon and Rin took the top floor with a group of pixies as backup, knowing that their position would be the hardest to fight through if and when the alarm was finally raised.  The two demons were able to reach the top floor without incident, but that was when their luck ran out.  Someone on one of the lower floors had discovered the intruders and had been able to let out a scream before they were suddenly silenced.  Another rogue exorcist who heard the scream had set off the alarm, alerting the entire compound to the existence of a major problem.  Although the exorcists were still confused and unorganized as they tried to figure out what exactly was going on, they were now awake, alert, and arming themselves.

Rin and Amaimon were quick to hide in an alcove along the hall, keeping a watchful eye out for one of the leaders to pass by.  When someone important did finally pass their location, Rin was disappointed to see that it wasn't the ex-Paladin, but still shot him in the neck with another poisoned dart.  The pixies then hid the body with an illusion.  Although it would not stand up to close scrutiny and presented a tripping hazard to passers-by, it would at least prevent those who were preoccupied or panicking from realizing that the enemy had reached the top floor of the building.  Once most of the exorcists had rushed to the lower floors, Rin and Amaimon stepped out of their hiding place.  They quickly killed any exorcists currently in the hallway, and then began checking the doors, starting on the far side of the hallway and working their way towards the stairs.  There were very few people still up there, and it became apparent that if Angel did in fact live here, his rooms were not on this floor.  As the two brothers began to head down the stairs, they ran into a small group of the enemy who was fleeing in their direction from two vampires.  Rin and Amaimon readied their swords and drove the exorcists back down the stairs, forcing them to fight on two fronts.  The small battle did not last long, with the Gehennans being the clear victors.

"Upstairs is all clear, with no sign of Angel.  How are things on this floor?"  Rin swiftly took charge of the situation.

"This floor has been cleared as well.  Unfortunately, the werewolf was killed with a sliver bullet, filled with Holy Water.  There was no sign of him on this floor either." The elder of the two vampires gave their report to Rin.

"Very good, let us proceed to the next floor then." Rin led the way down the stairs.  This time, they came across an elf, mournfully dragging the corpse of another elf to the side of a third who was alive, but seriously injured.

"Report." As Rin barked his order at the elf one of the vampires sneered before going over to help the elf with the corpse.

"We were going through the rooms when a female came out of a room at the other end of the hall, saw us, and started screaming.  Thalia silenced her as swiftly as possible, but it was too late.  Once the alarm was set off, we were swiftly overwhelmed.  Thalia's arm was broken, and she has been shot with a silver and iron bullet.  Unfortunately, I have not had the time to examine the wound or try and dig out the bullet.  Since there is no exit wound, it is imperative that we get the iron out of her body as soon as possible.  Markus was stabbed through the heart and died instantly." The elf spoke in a detached sort of voice, having been forced to distance himself from his friends' injuries and deaths in order to continue fighting and functioning.  

"Very well.  We will leave them both here for now, since this floor and the floors above us have been cleared.  We need to check the floor below us and the main floor before we return for them, as it wouldn't be safe for us or Thalia if she came with us, and it is extremely impractical to try and drag a dead body around in what may still be a war zone." As Rin finished speaking he strode of towards the staircase.  On the two lower floors, they found similar scenarios.  Although a fair number of their forces had died, only two of the exorcists had escaped.  Rin dispatched the vampires to go help the elf retrieve Markus' body and assist Thalia down the stairs.  Once everyone was out of the building, Rin set the house alight with his blue flames as a way of daring the Vatican to react before jumping through the portal with Amaimon close behind him, eager to hear how the other parties had done.