The hostage rescue mission was a success, but one thing still bothered me—the abnormally large minotaur. The 7.62mm rounds didn't affect its extremely tough skin, but maybe something like the .50 BMG or explosive ordinances might do a lot more.
Since fifty-seven people were arriving, we quickly prepared some food and water, all hungry and thirsty. Thankfully Ayumi suggested having the units hunt overnight, and now our storeroom was filled with meat from rabbits and wolves, and there was even a giant red bear that weighed over 1000kg. I had to build two huge walk-in freezers just to fit all the meat inside.
We all started to prepare the food since there was no fruit or vegetables; the meal consisted only of meat. Considering all the medical examinations, the medical units suggested that all the hostages were severely malnourished and dehydrated. But for now, it would have to do until we can find any edible fruits and vegetables.
I had all the medical units take blood samples from each of the hostages, mainly to see if they had any illnesses they had contracted back. Ayumi and the other units wouldn't be affected, but I would.
There was that weird case where a girl promised to sell herself to pay for her sister's examinations, which caught me off guard when medical unit 3 reported it.
When the chinooks landed, I stood with Ayumi and two of the combat units.
The units got off the chinooks, then lined up in front of me and saluted. The hostages watch our display.
"Congratulations, we have completed our first-ever mission with perfect results. For now, the medical units should return to the hospital and analyse all the blood samples. The combat units 1-10, please stay here and supervise. The rest are on patrol."
They all did as I commanded, without even thinking twice. It's one of the benefits of having loyal non-living soldiers who never tire out and need food or water.
I turned to face the group of hostages. There were mostly women and children in the group and few males. All of their faces looked starved, so I had to make my speech quick.
"Hello everyone, I know you must have had a terrible experience with those minotaurs, but don't worry, you are now safe. We have lots of food and water prepared for all of you, so please wait in line over there, and we will hand them out."
They all followed my instructions and moved to an open grassy area. The chinooks, especially the one grazed by the giant minotaur's axe, were then moved into the hanger without endangering any hostages, and maintenance could begin.
Currently, we are using the humvees to tow the chinooks into the hanger, so I would need to create some tow trucks soon. The hostages were surprised when they heard the humvee's loud engine.
We bought out the roasted meats and large water tanks and cups for them to use to drink. Surprisingly, the houses had solar panels for electricity, but long pipes led to a large water source deep underground. The latter is what Ayumi answered when I asked her about it.
Ayumi and three of the combat units began giving plates of food first to the children, then the elderly, and finally to the adults. There were problems with people cutting in, and a fight ended before it started.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
With the combat units all around, the fight subsided as soon as one stepped in. I made the combat units remember the rowdy ones since they can remember many more things than my human brain.
Out of everyone, one young group of nine people drew my attention. All of them shared similar qualities, blonde, and were extremely beautiful, even the males. Four of them were males, and five were females. One of the girls noticed my stare, so I gave a little wave, but in return, she looked at me with irritation and anger. I wonder what I did to offend her?
After feeding them all, I gave them some time to relax so that I could go off and read through the report from the medical units.
There were twenty-four males and thirty-three females. Fifteen of them were under 16 years old, six were over 50 years old, and the rest were between 17 and 49 years old.
What concerned me the most was that six of the children had no parents or relatives here. When the medical units asked, the kids started to cry. So we can assume that they have died.
For now, we needed to sort out rooms for people.
Thankfully the report also included a list of families and partners. I decided that the families would have medium houses. Whilst I will get everyone to partner up and share a room in the apartment building.
Whilst I was doing that, I disturbingly noticed that one man had slaves instead of any relatives or acquaintances.
I then found eight girls who reported the man as their master. I stood up and called out the slave master's name.
"I am looking for someone called Gilot. Please show yourself."
As soon as I said the names, a group of girls in really worn-out clothes shuddered. At first glance, their clothes looked like they had suffered similar damage to other hostages, but these rags that they called clothes were tattered, and the girls were shaking.
I assumed they were the slaves and their master should be nearby. I spotted a man who was trying to avoid eye contact with me. I moved towards him and gestured with my head to the nearest combat units to follow.
"You, what's your name?"
"Errmm, it's Allen."
"Hmmm," I quickly scanned through the list, looking for an Allen on the list. There was, but it says that he was only twelve years old; this one looked over thirty.
"Perfect, I was looking for you. Please apprehend him." I commanded with a smile as the unit moved in.
"W-wait, my name's Gilot. I'm telling the truth!" he quickly panicked and tried to correct it by telling the truth. But then he realised that he had fallen for my trap.
"Those slaves girls you have will be confiscated and will not be returned. Slavery is not permitted here, and since you did not know that, there won't be any punishment."
"Wait, no, those are my most prized merchandise! My business will fail if I don't have them. I want to speak to your leader about this now!"
"Leader?"
"Yeah, that's right, this Supreme Commander you have been talking about; I'm sure we can work something out. Now go get him."
Oh, that's right, I haven't introduced myself, so they don't know who I am. He probably thinks that I'm just low ranked officer or something. I guess I can play along for now.
"Very well," I replied and grabbed my radio," Ayumi, please prepare the meeting room; I have someone who wants to talk to the Supreme Commander privately. I will be bringing Mister Gilot and his company over."
I noticed relief on Gilot's face as we walked into the Command Centre. The automatic doors scared everyone, and I didn't even want to mention what happened in the elevator. Let's say one of the girls had an accident. Gilot was about to hit her when I told him that fighting was prohibited.
I walked into the large meeting room and saw that Ayumi was already waiting. The meeting room consisted of two sofas placed opposite each other and a table.
Ayumi was wearing clothes that made her look like a charming secretary.
Wait, where are these clothes coming from, and are those glasses? When did we have materials for glass?
Gilot sat on the sofa whilst his slaves stood behind him. I could see him grinning whilst staring at Ayumi. He was very cocky, as if he was an important customer, speaking to the manager to fire an employee.
"Don't worry about this. I won't tell your Supreme Commander of your mistakes as long as I get to have a turn with that beauty over there," he says as he points at Ayumi, who doesn't even react to his comment.
I felt a wave of sudden anger flare up within me. I sat down opposite him and finally introduced myself.
"I am the Supreme Commander; now, what did you want to do with my assistant?" I said in a cold, stern voice.