“—and that is the end of the report. Sir Yetal, what shall we do?”

“We lost a lot more of our police force than intended since a lot of them ignored the retreat command. Not that I’d really blame them though. Mukoc was a well-respected member and having the revenge target right in front of you makes it really hard to resist attacking.” Yetal sighed, got out of his chair, and told the scout, “Given how they only lost one person in our surprise attack, we are clearly outmatched. It pains me to have to do this, but the citizens of Lugomaleca must be saved, so the only course left to take is to abandon this land.”

“Abandon? Lugomaleca is our home! Where can we retreat to?! And you are just going to let those ***** just waltz in and steal our stuff?”

Yetal cracked a smile and said, “Who said anything about just letting them take our stuff? It would be dishonorable to go down without a fight.”

“I watched how our comrades got slaughtered. Wouldn’t the same thing just happen again?”

“I never said we had to have a direct confrontation. This is when we contact the Engineering Association and have them create traps for those robbers. Unfortunately, we don’t have too much time left, since I would assume that the robbers will invade at the crack of dawn. So, I have an important job for you. Go over to the Engineering Association’s headquarters and tell them to make as many traps as possible, and then consult with them on where to place the traps. Meanwhile, I will be organizing our evacuation plan.”

“Yes sir,” the scout replied and then immediately bolted away.

A loud siren echoed throughout Lugomaleca, along with the message: “Attention Lugomaleca! We are under attack! Please gather all your valuables that you can carry and follow the instructions of the nearby police officers for evacuation procedures. Please deliver any other valuables that cannot be carried into the designated boxes, where we will do our utmost to hide and guard them. Attention Lugomaleca! We are under attack...”

Lugomaleca was bustling with activity, as families ran around depositing valuables, as well as arguing over what to bring. Confused and anxious voices resounded throughout the city, as well as the occasional sobs of children and folks who didn’t want to leave home. Those who were ready to leave were escorted to the nearest allied city-state which was an uncomfortable twenty miles away. Children and the elderly had the option to ride some cramped wagons, while the rest were forced to walk or fly themselves. To prevent the robbers from catching wind of their plans, the escape had to be done in complete darkness, and any noisy children were forcibly silenced with anesthetic gases. The escape route was filled with tension.

Luckily, the citizens managed to escape successfully after three hours, when the sun was about to rise. All that was left to do was for the engineers to put the finishing touches on their various traps, as well as hiding some of the valuables that it would take a very experienced thief to even notice. For the more expensive and larger items, they were all carefully stowed away where Lugomaleca’s power room was located, since if the power orb is destroyed, Lugomaleca is done for, as all of the ventilation as well as food and water production facilities relied on it. Just in case if the robbers managed to find the well-hidden room, an old stubborn dragon volunteered to guard it with her life, saying that she lived here long enough that she ain’t leaving this place, and if she had to, she’d rather go down with the place.

Yetal hoped it won’t ever come to that, since his plan was for the robbers to be distracted or killed by traps while his police force slowly picks them off. In case that the robbers are still too strong, he hoped that they would at least be satisfied by ransacking the place of the few valuables left lying around that they will leave and never come back.