A huge explosion in the distance caused many heads to turn, Victor among them. He looked to the direction of the sound, and a small smile came to his face. The sun had not yet risen beyond the horizon, but there was now enough light for Victor to clearly see the forest that occupy the area between the two mountains. He could not see the explosion, but he did not expect to. If everything goes well, the fighting will only happen at the Gap. That was the point of attack and Victor’s heart quickened at promised action.

“The battle had begun. It would be time for us to move out soon. You should say something.” Ghost Robber quietly said.

Victor gave the leader of the Savage Six a small nod. With close to ninety villains under his command, Victor knew he would need lieutenants to assist him and the small group from his crew would not be enough. So, he approached the Savage Six who quickly agreed. The reason he approached the Six was simple.

Victor knows who to look for if the Six screw him over.

Victor may not know the Six personally, but he knew their parent organization and both parties realized that the Righteous Sons would feel Victor’s wrath if the Six betray him. The truce may be in place, but there was no need to take chances.

After all, there is still a bounty out on him.

Victor cast his eyes over the villains who had been placed under his command and could see signs of nervousness. The worst part of fighting is the waiting. For all the planning and preparation, there will always be a period where you do nothing but wait. Victor hates this period the most, and looking at the numerous villains before him, he was not the only one.

Most were trying to mask it, but more than a few were openly fidgeting. Even some of the older looking villains were casting nervous glances to the forest in the distance. Victor knew that this was going to be the first big fight for many of them and wondered how they were going to react. You can have all the training in the world, but everything goes out the window once you come face to face with a monster that is trying to rip your guts out.

Still, the setup was better than he expected.

From what he was told, Central Command has been setting up small bases a few kilometers away from the town since the day the Invasion Gap was discovered. These bases were designed to act as holding stations for the combatants and Central Command had trucked everyone to the bases the night before the operation. The designated operation base Victor was assigned to was well-built with command buildings, mess halls, and an airfield big enough for several aircrafts.

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Even with all the facilities, Victor would be glad when they finally got the word to move.

He stepped up to stand in front of his group, and all eyes were on him. Victor was not one for rousing speeches, but he did not want to go into the fight without making sure everyone knew their roles.

“Okay, listen up. As you can hear, the Fire Detail are in combat. Their job is to clear an area near the Gap for the eggheads. And they will not be stopping till they get the area secure!

Once they are done, the Engineering Detail will fly in to set things up for the eggheads and magic-users. Those guys are the one who will be closing the Gap. There are four sites, we are the Protection Detail for one of them, and our job is to keep them safe while they do their jobs.”

Fire Detail, Engineering Detail, Protection Detail; Victor personally think Central Command’s need to divide everyone into these grouping was a little excessive but it wasn’t his place to argue about how things are done nowadays. He continued.

“This may take hours, maybe even a day or two. Almost certainly, the monsters in that valley are going to react badly to our presence. There will be fighting, we may have casualties, but we have a plan and all of you have your teams. Stick to them!”

Victor eyed the younger villains within the group. There are always some young hotblooded fools seeking to make a name for themselves, but somehow Victor believed that may not be the case today. The look in their eyes told Victor his little display the day before had put the fear of the gods into them.

Fear and respect are always the best combination to keep villains in line.

Then, the lights on his wrist communicator flashed. A quick glance told Victor that every member in his group had the same signal.

“Everyone to the planes!”

Victor’s shout was greeted by a roar as everyone ran to the waiting planes. The forward base has a small airfield and several aircrafts were sitting there. Victor do not know what they were officially called but was informed they were transport aircraft designed to carry people into combat zones.

Victor ran to his assigned transport along with his men, rushing up the ramp of the aircraft into a big cargo hold. Designed to carry people, the aircraft had seats and Victor pop down on one of them near a window. No one objected. The ramp of the aircraft was soon closed, and the aircraft begin lifting off.

Victor looked out of the window and saw the aircraft lifting off like a helicopter. The aircraft had two fixed wings, with two rotors on each of them. However, once they reach a certain altitude, the angle of the wings changed, and the rotors were now pushing the aircraft forward like a plane. Victor sat back and waited. He did not need to wait long. Less than half an hour later, an announcement came.

“Approaching destination. ETA ten minutes.”

Victor looked out of the window and saw the huge forest that covered the valley. Then, he saw the Gap.