Luna placed her hand on where the magicore storage was on the map.

“The stealth team will divide its attention and focus on making the fires as big as possible in two buildings, especially in the magicore storage. But be sure to check if they have any slave labourers in there first before starting the fire. Once it’s clear of people, fire up the storage and get out of there as the explosion will be the signal for the ground team to begin the assault.”

An enforcer in the front row raised his hand, which Luna acknowledged with a nod.

“What about the automatons? Once the explosions go off, won’t they use lethal force on us?”

Luna then pointed to a building in the middle of the map. “This is why the stealth team also needs to set fire to the barracks first before the magicore storage. Slavers are using refitted service automatons, obsolete models that need to stay within range of command boxes in order to work.

The prisoner said the command boxes were in the barracks. So once the fire starts, we use explosives to blow up the barracks and the command boxes along with their armoury of guns. No command box, no weapons, no automatons. They are easy to pick from there.”

The guard who asked the question, along with the others who were worried, were now satisfied. Luna then continued to speak.

“Ground team, once you get into the compound, make sure to quickly secure the mess hall as the information we have says that they are also using it to hold some hostages as well. The stealth team will smoke the slavers out, and they will no doubt leave the civilians inside.

Take the slavers down and get the civilians out of the burning building as fast as you can. I am giving you full authority to use your guns if the slavers get in the way, but getting the hostages out is your top priority. The freeze grenades you have, can also be used against fires, understood?”

=0o0=

Ketil heard the massive explosion from his position and saw the bright red hue that crept into the sky. He then climbed onto his truck where his men were ready and he banged the sides twice, which signalled them to breach the compound.

The gates were unlocked, but to get the slavers' attention as much as possible, their armoured trucks fired their cannons on the gates and blew them wide open. Once inside, Ketil led his men and stormed out. Armed with their tower shields, heavy metal batons, pistols, smoke and freeze grenades, they began their assault.

As most of his forces charged and took down the slavers who were confused about what was going on, Ketil gathered half of them and headed towards the mess hall. The slavers rushed outside, and with their shields, they took them head on. Most of them barely realised what had happened when they were slammed and beaten into the ground. Ketil then rallied his men and rushed inside to save the hostages.

Luna was right, he thought, as the slavers clearly saved their own skins and left the civilians in the inflamed building. What enraged Ketil was that they were all women and children.

They ignored their own safety as he and his enforcers carried and led the civilians outside to safety. Ketil was the last to leave and made sure no one was left inside.

He had to admit that her plan covered everything.

=0o0=

Luna addressed the crowd in the warehouse with one hand on the map.

“Once the fires have started, that is the signal for the ground team to begin the breach. Mounted trucks will have full authority to use their cannons to bring down the gates, and the ground team will storm into the compound. That way, the slavers' attention will be split into three: their burning magicore storage, the ground team assault, and soon, the mines.

At the same time as the breach, the stealth team will move towards the mine site and subdue all guards on the outside. Timing here is everything. Once the breach team gets their attention, they will no doubt move towards the hostages and use them as shields. The stealth team will need to move first.

The stealth team needs to subdue the guards at the mine site, secure the hostages, and hold their position until the ground team gets there. The plan is to pin the slavers between the stealth team and the ground team.

Remember that lethal force is authorized, however, only in the most extreme cases. We need as many of them alive as possible, but using firearms in self-defense is a last resort. The more we use deadly force, the more they will use civilians as human shields. We are not sure if all the civilians will be in the mines at the same time as our assault, so try to avoid excessive force as much as possible. You are all provided with heavy rubber bullets and should use them to their full extent.”

=0o0=

Most of the enforcers believed that taking down a fully armoured fortress could not be done without any form of firepower. All of them were sceptical of the young woman who had just entered their meeting, humiliated a council bounty hunter and laid out a ridiculous plan to use nothing but liquid canisters, clubs, batons and shields to bring down an entire slaver company armed with armed automatons, guns and cannons.

Yet in less than half an hour, they successfully took out the slavers' armoury, destroyed the automaton command boxes, and now engaged the slavers in close combat for control of the mines. But the most unbelievable part was that the bounty hunter who led them seemed to have done all the work.

They could only keep up as the young woman armed only with a metal staff seemed to be able to beat down the slavers by the dozens, while even some of them were fully armed with rifles.

The entrance to the mines was a wide open courtyard, and Luna, along with her half of the stealth team, did not wait for Max to engage the enemy. Had it not been such a dangerous situation, the enforcers could have sworn that the bounty hunter seemed to be dancing, as her exquisite combat haunted them with its beauty.

The bullets from the rifles of the slavers were deflected with an audible metal ping as Luna timed her movement to match their speed. And the unfortunate slavers who she managed to get close enough to were struck in their throats, ribs, hands, or faces. Each hit came with a loud crack.

But the most impressive part was the speed at which she took them down. One moment, she was in the middle of the courtyard and fought off ten men armed with swords, clubs, and rifles that they used as spears. Then, the next moment, half of them were on the ground while half chased her as she sprinted towards the riflemen in the entrance and struck them with mortal blows, which knocked them out.

It was an incredible sight because no human, no creature they had ever seen could move with such speed, power, and precision. They are now left to wonder if the stories are true, that some bounty hunters are well and truly inhuman, and if other bounty hunters can do what she is doing.

But one thing was certain: she was a one-woman army, and any reservations the enforcers had about Luna were long gone.

=0o0=

When Max arrived at the mine entrance, they were met with dozens of slavers who were either knocked out or winced in pain on the ground. He barely had time to admire Luna’s work when she called out to rally them to her position.

“Max!” She yelled, her voice dominating and soaring above the noise. “Slavers are coming to our front!”

Max gathered his men to join hers as they now formed a line that blocked the entrance of a group of slavers that were heading their way. The stealth team were mostly armed with light weapons. The group of slavers that rushed them were armed with pistols and rifles. They knew that to fight them straight out was suicide.

But Luna was already two steps ahead.

=0o0=

Luna reached into her pocket and took out an explosive. Ketil and the crowd of enforcers knew it was another invention that only bounty hunters used.

“This is a light grenade. Once you light the fuse, you have three seconds to throw it in the enemy's direction and it will explode, shining a bright light and blinding anyone who sees it temporarily. The stealth team is armed with light armour but without anything to block the bullets coming from their weapons. Our best chance is to blind the enemy and, once they are stunned, rush them and bring them down as fast as possible.

With luck, the ground team will be right behind the slaver group that is headed for the mines. And by then, we will have caught them in a pincer move. With the stealth team in the front and the ground team in the back, we should have them cornered while avoiding any hostage situations. Then, once all the slavers have been dealt with, we secure the civilians inside the mines. Any questions?”

The crowd murmured to one another, but none dared to argue.

Most of them have heard the stories of how bounty hunters work. One bounty hunter was enough to take down a full cohort of armed soldiers. From her appearance in her long coat and large hat that blocked most of her face, she did not seem to be anything special. But their captain vouched for her, and Ketil was one of the best officers in the academy, which earned him a position as the youngest second in command of the enforcers in Ardite City.

“No ma’am!” They replied in unison.

“Everyone, get your gear and meet outside in three minutes. Move out.” Ketil addressed them, and the crowd now filed out of the warehouse.

“I have a question.” Max asked when only the three of them were left. “Did you come up with this plan?”

Luna smiled as she began to walk outside. “Me and Baldric did, that’s why I was late.”

Max crossed his arms.

“All right, Baldric did it, and I proofread it; are you happy?”

“Then I have nothing to fear. After all, it’s one of his patented best-laid plans.”

=0o0=

The battle for the mines was over, as the slavers either surrendered or were beaten into submission. Ketil and the enforcers lined up the slavers as Luna led a team down the mines. The old fortress had been destroyed beyond repair, and inside it was a massive hole that led down to where the civilians were forced into the mine.

Luna headed down first with a lantern in hand, and what she saw straight out made her chest hurt.

Children, no more than the age of ten, were the first ones she saw. They tried to block the light from the lantern as they cowered in fear. Luna could see their thin, starved bodies covered with black and blue bruises and cuts from whips.

The smell that came off them was even worse, as she could see they must have been worked to the bone. Their clothes had visible stains that the children soiled themselves and yet they were forced to wear them anyway.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Luna said softly as she coaxed the children to try and approach them. “We are here to help you. Look.”

She put the lantern down slowly and raised her hand to show them she did not hold anything. “I won’t hurt you. We won’t hurt you.”

It took a while, but one of the children, a little boy, carefully approached her while the others, still terrified, huddled together. Luna stretched her hand slowly and patiently waited for him to get close. Once he did, Luna slowly put her hand on his head and let him take the next step towards her.

The little boy realised that she was not going to hurt her and came closer. Once he was close enough, Luna embraced the child slowly, and in a matter of seconds, the little boy cried in her arms. The other children sensed safety at last. They rushed to her and cried as well.

Once Max and the others finally arrived behind her, he saw that Luna was pinned by the group of children, he gave her a nod and told his men to bring the children to safety as he made his way deeper into the mine caverns.

It seemed the cries of the children got the attention of the people deeper inside the cavities, as Max was greeted by a group of elderly workers who cried in relief when they knew they were safe.

Max could see that there were different races: humans, Orks, Glorkans, and Besitans. Every single one of them was covered with bruises, cuts, and some even seemed to have had their arms or hands dislocated. The others who could still run went back deeper into the mines and told those farther below them that they were finally free from their slavers.

Once everyone was safely escorted out of the mines, Luna and Max stayed behind to make sure no one was left behind. They checked every cavern and even marked each one to make sure they did not miss anything.

“I can see why Solomon got you to run the show.” Max said as they made their way out of the caverns. “Imagine if someone else took control of the rescue operation. No doubt the slavers would have used them as shields or collapsed the entire mine just to buy them time to escape.”

“Why do you think I accepted Solomon’s request?” Luna helped Max up as they climbed out of the mines. “This could have gone very ugly, very fast if the one leading the enforcers did not care about the civilians. Had the other bounty hunter led this, we would have seen a lot of dead bodies and buried civilians.”

“Can’t argue with results, I say.” Max said as both of them now walked to the courtyard where the enforcers placed the elderly with the most injuries on stretchers and onto the trucks. Some of the enforcers escorted women to climb on while some carried children onto the trucks.

“Thank the Maker you were in charge. I have to admit you haven’t lost your touch.” Max softly punched her in the shoulder.

=0o0=

As they made their way out of the courtyard, Ketil and a small ork boy rushed towards them.

“We have a problem.” Ketil spoke to Luna. “We asked the victims and did a head count, but this boy said two children are missing.”

Luna crouched down until her eyes met with the ork boy who hid behind Ketil's legs. “Where did you last see them?”

The boy then pointed out into the distance. “They were burying someone before we went back into the mines tonight. But they never came back.” Luna shifted her gaze to the direction the boy was pointing, then back to the child.

“We’ll find them. Nothing escapes a shadow.”