Luna had laid out a map of the entire compound behind her.

“Everyone, our target is an abandoned fortress that was turned into a mine site two kilometres east of here. However, there has been a recent discovery that there are more magicores down there, which is why some slavers have taken over the mines. They turned the entire compound into a fully armoured fortress. Armed watchtowers, walls fortified with cannons, and numerous sentry automatons cover the entire area.

The whole fortress has no other defenses, but what makes this situation complicated is that they are holding hostages at gunpoint in the mines, so even a sound or a whisper of trouble and they will not hesitate to use them as shields or execute civilians to deter us. Most of the civilians are very vulnerable: women, children, and the elderly. Our primary goal is to rescue all civilians without leaving anyone behind while capturing all or most of the slavers. Take note that it will be heavily publicised in the papers in most regions, so it is important that everyone makes sure to keep deaths to a minimum.”

The crowd conversed with each other, but she continued.

“The mission is to rescue all the hostages while subduing the slavers for interrogation and questioning. We want the public to know that they will be held responsible for their crimes, but we also need them to share information, especially now that we have proof they are connected to more criminals and involved in more illegal activities. This is why I asked all those who will participate to be aware that we are using non-lethal methods to bring them down.”

=0o0=

The full moon shone across the sky, casting a soft glow over the land. The walled mining fortress was nestled at the mountain's base, surrounded by dense forest and tall grasslands.

The fortress was built long ago to fight enemies who no longer exist, and it has since fallen into disrepair. Its new inhabitants discovered, however, that beneath the fortress was an abundance of magicores, a valuable resource that can power airships, war mechs and walkers, other large vehicles, and even factories.

The slavers made the fortress their home after discovering it. They constructed towers that overlooked the entire area, installed cannons on the walls, and used the old buildings as either barracks or storage for the magicores.

To mine this resource from underneath the fortress, they began abducting people from all over the country. Since this region was located at the base of the spiky spine mountain range, a border between the Badlands, Silvus, and Ablan, there were no enforcers or armies to defend the people that lived here, and they became easy targets for criminals.

With no one to stop them, the slavers believe they can rule this region without fear of consequences. Luna and her team edged closer towards the towers outside of the compound and used the tall grass to avoid being seen.

She will make sure to teach the slavers that no one is beyond punishment.

=0o0=

Luna pointed at the map behind her. “We have an assault team of forty men strong and will divide it into two teams. The Stealth team will be led by me and Max.”

She pointed to Max, who stood beside her. He gave everyone a curt nod, and some of the crowd nodded back at him as well. “The other half, the ground team, will be led by Captain Ketil.”

“First things first, and that is taking out the watch towers. There are five towers surrounding the compound, with two riflemen in each tower having an eagle eye view of the entire area. We can’t take them out one at a time, as they will notice immediately when a tower goes dark on its own. So instead, we'll have five teams of two men knock down the towers with these-”

Luna brought out a hand sized glass cylinder from the pocket of her long coat. It was filled with blue liquid, which she threw at a wall. On impact, the liquid exploded and hardened like clear crystals.

“This is a non-lethal grenade that, once detonated, will harden like cement when it comes into contact with open air. Each team will be given a bigger version of these and, using arbalest launchers, we will use these against the towers. Anyone in those towers will be frozen in place, but remember, we all get one shot each and timing is everything.”

She brought out a small square mirror. “There is a full moon tonight, so we will be using mirrors to signal one another. Once we are in position, wait for my signal before we all strike the towers. These grenades are very hard to obtain, so each team only has one shot each. Make it count.”

=0o0=

Each team saw her signal and, on her command, used their crossbows to aim at the towers and fired. The riflemen on the tower chatted and ate their meals without a care when the glass grenade exploded on top of them. They could not even scream as they were frozen in place.

Once Luna had taken out their tower, she gave another signal to check if the others had done the same. When each team signalled their success, Luna gave them the signal to advance towards the walled fortress but to remain in the shade of the trees and cover of the grass. She then signalled the rest of the stealth team that waited in the distance to join them towards the walls.

Max and the other half of the stealth team met up with them and deployed the ballista they carried. Glider launchers are mounted onto trucks, tanks, or other large vehicles, but the one they were using was a new design. It was large but somehow portable and powerful enough to launch a person wearing a sail glider. The ballista required a two-man crew to operate, which their team did with ease. Within seconds of it being deployed, Max gave Luna a signal that the launcher was ready.

Luna braced herself. Her fingers and hands shook, and she, along with the others, was launched into the air. Her long coat deployed like wings, which allowed her to glide onto the walls.

=0o0=

Luna then pointed at the walls of the compound on the map.

“Once the towers are taken out, our next target is the walls and the mounted cannons. Once we take out the towers, we only have a minute window to scale the wall, take out the guards, and disable the cannons. The walls are twenty-five feet high and even with rope launchers, we will be spotted before we even get halfway. The cannons on the walls are our biggest threat; they block our trucks from getting too close and prevent us from breaching the gates. This is where our gliders come in.

We have a modified glider launcher ready to launch our first team of ten people. Once the towers are taken out, the stealth team only has a small window to get our gliders in the air and drop the freeze canisters.

We have checked, and there are only four cannons surrounding the encampment. The stealth team will take out the cannons and then land on the wall to take out the guards. Avoid as much noise as possible, as we don’t want them to give away our position. Once the guards on the wall have been dealt with, the other half of the stealth team will climb the walls with rope launchers and meet up there.”

=0o0=

The guards did not even realise what was happening until it was too late. Now frozen in place, all they can do is watch as Luna signals to Max down below to scale the walls. Once they had all arrived, Luna then indicated to the rest of the team to move to the next part of their assault.

=0o0=

“Once on the walls, we will split into two teams. Half of the stealth team will now prioritise starting fires-” Luna got a pencil and circled some buildings on the map. “-on the buildings slavers are currently using.

The scouts have pointed out that the large buildings I have targeted are their storage for the magicores, their mess hall, and their sleeping barracks. My team’s job is to start the fires in all three buildings to act as a distraction.

Max’s team, however, will head for the gate to get it open and ready for the breach for the ground team. Sentry automatons are patrolling the areas, so be sure to watch all the noise you will be making. The information we have says that at the time of our assault, most of them will be on their dinner breaks, and it is before the changing of the guards, so there will be fewer people at the gatehouse.

When most of the guards are at the mess hall, the second half of the stealth team will subdue the guards at the gatehouse. Wait for my signal to open the gates, and once that is done, they will meet up with the rest of the stealth team over by the mines. Stay above the buildings; don’t let any of the automatons see you. Understood?”

=0o0=

Every part of Luna’s assault was going precisely as she planned. Max and his team took the unsuspecting guards with relative ease as they remained completely hidden from below. They now controlled the gatehouse and waited for the signal.

“Sir?” One of the enforcers asked Max as he looked toward the quiet camp, unaware of their presence. “What signal are we waiting for?”

Smoke came from a building in the middle of the compound, then a massive explosion right next to it rocked the entire area and shattered the silence of the night. Soon it was replaced with loud screams as the fire lighted the night sky with a hue of orange.

“That one.” Max replied with a smile. “Open the gates and move to our next position.”