“We plan on storming the ship with lethal force, with assistance from our allies here,” Francis stated flatly. “And no, HQ does not know our plan currently, as we are certain that they would shut down the idea straight away.”

“Damn straight they would!" Zoe said, getting angry. "You'd put innocent lives in danger of crossfire. We are undermanned for such an undertaking, we need to report this. Why didn't you report this?"

"I asked them not to," Jolli said to Zoe. "We didn't want any wind of this reaching the Jumino."

"How would they, my network is constantly renewing its defences." Zoe paused. "You asked Cairns and Mackay for assistance?"

"That was my call," Francis said. "I figured we could use their boats and knowledge of the local area to help."

"If the Jumino were going to catch wind of this plan, that would be how," Tyson said drolly. "Well, you've got an expert team on your side now," he added, pointing his thumb at Maddison.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" The question came from Daryl.

"You really need to read the reports," Jolli said, stepping towards the twins. "These are Tyson and Maddison, stronger Talented than our own Zoe." She flashed her trademark smile at Zoe. "Tyson is a psychic and Maddison is a seer. They've helped keep our Zoe safe." She turned her smile on the twins, who relaxed a little under her gaze.

"We also owe her our lives," Tyson added. "As for this situation, Maddison and I are all for storming them full force."

Zoe turned and glared at the twins. They knew perfectly well her preference towards not ending lives.

"We know Zoe, but for people this despicable, they don't deserve anything less." Tyson sighed and rubbed his face. “You know how we operate and our convictions. There’s not much we would go out of our way for. That said, if you don’t go, we won't either.”

Sighing, she glanced at the silent room. It seemed that they were waiting for her, which shouldn’t surprise her with both of her parents being influential and herself being integrated into a lot of what went on in the Community. To her, everyone in the room had already decided this rescue needed to happen, but the details weren't set in stone.

Squaring herself for the decision, she turned fully to face everyone. "Okay, we're doing this. Francis, you said Cairns and Mackay were going to help?" Francis nodded. "What was your plan?"

"Get Cairns to sail down, move Atlas to Mackay and strike together."

"Have we been keeping an eye on the Jumino?"

Francis and Jolli shook their heads in reply.

"Okay, let me fix that. How far from Mackay were they?"

"About thirty k."

Closing her eyes, she could still feel the part of her that was with Avi, clear as if Avi were next to her. Relaying what she needed, the pair of them took the satellite images and launched a high altitude surveillance drone, all within a matter of a few heartbeats. "The ship is still there," she said, opening her eyes again. "We wait for Beta team, who I've already sent the message to, they are about an hour and a half out." She turned to Francis. "Get Cairns to scramble what resources they can, we'll try and coordinate with them. Alert Mackay that we'll be flying in in a few hours. Everyone else, check your equipment, get Atlas loaded and ready for Beta. Do we have a layout of the ship interior?"

"We do," Daryl replied, handing over a tablet, schematics already on display. "Once we knew they were slavers, Epsilon team set about gathering as much info as we could."

"Excellent," Zoe replied, stepping out of the way as others made themselves busy. "Crew complement, weapons, etcetera?"

"Included on the tablet."

"Good. We'll have a plan by the time we get to Mackay."

~

Beta team rolled straight onto the waiting plane. As their vehicles were secured, the ramp closed up, sealing the occupants in.

Zoe, on the passenger deck, looked over the people aboard. There were a few new faces, mostly people from Brisbane and the surrounding city with a few brought in by the teams. Zoe was proud of the efforts they had put in and hoped that everyone who had put their trust in the teams were never disappointed.

Several of the flight crew moved through the plane, checking belts and doors, making sure everyone knew what to expect. Tyson sat next to Zoe with Maddison next to him, both the twins relaxed as Tyson picked up on Zoe's relaxed emotions. "And you jumped out of this plane?" Tyson confirmed the story he'd heard earlier.

"It's quite a rush," Zoe said, holding her hand out. "Check my memory of the event."

"I need to try that," Maddison said a few moments later. "I really need to try that."

"Sounds like you might be an adrenaline junkie," Zoe said as the engines started up and the plane shuddered as it started moving to the runway. Zoe lent forward to look out the window next to Maddison. "You should enjoy this then."

The surge of acceleration pushed them all back into their seats, some cries of surprise barely reaching Zoe's ears over the noise.

A few minutes later the plane leveled out. Maddison had her face plastered to the small window, watching the clouds move under the plane. Tyson however, was clutching the arm rest and Maddison's arm tightly. "I had no idea that I didn't like plane travel," he muttered, barely loud enough for Zoe to hear.

She patted his hand. "You can stay in Australia to avoid it. The next trip will be longer."

He shook his head. "I can manage. I will manage."

"Good. There's a whole world to explore and I reckon you two will have so much fun exploring it."

"You're probably right. Right now though, my stomach isn't agreeing."

Zoe casually passed him a vomit bag, explaining how to secure it if he needed it.

~

The plane landed, prompting Tyson to grip his arm rests again.

The warmer air slugged everyone as they exited the plane, making even the twins uncomfortable. Francis and Beta team warmly greeted their allies.

A message came through the network to the team leaders and Zoe, advising Cairn’s boats were four days from getting to the Jumino and assisting. While the others were looking to see if they needed to adjust their schedule, Zoe tapped into the surveillance drone footage.

“We need to move faster,” she said out loud. “The Jumino has moved to be in the water a bit. I don’t know what’s changed, but we need to move faster.”

Transmitting the data to a tablet, she showed Jolli who was near her. Jolli nodded. “Yeah, their propellers are in the water now, they’ve moved the ship somehow.” She sighed. “Do we push through tonight with our tech advantage tonight or strike at first light?”

Zoe weighed up the options, looking through their supplies register, checking everything that they had that could help. There were enough night vision goggles or parts to outfit about two thirds of the recruiting teams. Ruling out those with heightened senses, the majority of those who were combat trained were able to be used.

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“Night is probably our best bet. We have a few hours till dark, so let’s get into place and do this. We’ll secure the crew overnight and get Mackay to help with prisoner transport.”

The teams scrambled to get ready and moved into position on the northern side of the city. Before dusk settled, the convoy moved out, travelling to within a few kilometres of the beached ship.

Zoe left Locky in charge of the attack plan, as he was the most senior in regards to combat, and, even though Zoe had agreed to the plan and helped in every way to make it succeed, there was still a heavy weight sitting in her stomach.

Her drones flew up and ahead, their low humming inaudible over the noises from the night creatures as the drones expanded the sensor network in the area. The surveillance drone fed directly back into the localised systems, updating the tablets of the team leaders.

It had been decided that the teams would work as their teams, as they were all comfortable with each other already, knew how they moved and fought. The twins were with Zoe, who had been given stun weapons from her, but they had politely given them back. “We’ll try to minimize losses for you,” Tyson said. “But, when push comes to shove, if they try to kill us, we will retaliate in kind.”

She was thankful for their support, but knew she would likely just get in their way.

~

The drones and radar from the lead vehicles quickly pinpointed the border guards, allowing the swifter and stealthier of the teams to make a gap for the others to enter through. Zoe ordered Jess and the other healers, along with those hanging back from the main combat, to secure anyone not killed and provide first aid. Zoe was hesitant to leave them, but knew that those with them were more than capable of defending them.

Maddison lead the way, Tyson on her heels, relaying instructions to the other strike team members. Their swords were already slick with blood as they had mercilessly cut their way through the front lines. Now they stalked the Jumino crew on the ground, getting the others in the strike team in place using Tyson’s telepathy. As one unified team, everyone attacked, cutting through the guards and making their way to the elevator the ship had set up.

We’re going up. Tyson waved a few to come with him as Maddison stepped just inside the door, holding her swords out of the way. She nodded to Kally, who nodded back to Maddison. The younger woman had a pair of Zoe’s brass knuckles, which electricity sparked over. Kally crouched down, just behind Maddison, readying herself to sprint to where she needed to be.

The elevator shuddered as it took the first handful for attackers up to the main deck. The warm night air brushed past them as they went up, anticipation flooding through them.

We’ve been made, Tyson projected as the elevator shuddered to a stop. Take cover.

“Oi! Who the fuck is that?” A flashlight passed over their direction, catching a few of the strike team. “Intruders!”

An arrow thudded into a crate next to Kally’s head as she ducked behind another crate. Taking directions from Tyson, Kally ducked and rolled behind another crate before moving up behind a storage container. Maddison nodded to her as she walked past calmly, waving for Kally to follow. Brass knuckles sparking, Kally followed Maddison who walked calmly towards the middle rear of the ship where a structure projected up above the storage containers on board. Ducking aside, Maddison pulled Kally down as a pair of arrows whizzed through the air where they had been.

Sighing heavily, Maddison unshouldered her rifle and sheathed her sword in one fluid motion. Popping out from cover, she aimed, twitched her rifle a couple of times before firing a single shot. She moved back behind cover as another arrow whizzed past.

“Head that way, get as close to them as possible, I’ll keep them focussed on me.” Maddison waved Kally to go one way as she stepped the other way.

Kally kept an eye on Maddison as she slunk from cover to cover. Maddison barely batted an eye as she took a half step left, an arrow brushing past her side as she returned fire with her rifle.

Making her way to the closest entrance, Kally busted through, dropping a guard with a punch before grabbing him and using him as cover for a moment. Spinning the unconscious man off her shoulder, she lashed out, taking the other guard in the leg. A flash of electricity lit up the room, blinding her for less than a second. As she blinked her eyes clear, she found Maddison standing next to her.

“Nice takedown,” Maddison said as Tyson and another came in behind her. “Lets go, the Captain’s quarters are this way.”

Kally let Maddison take the lead as she ducked through a doorway and moved to the top of the stairs leading down. No one directly below, Tyson said as Maddison dropped down.

Zoe jumped a little as the elevator shuddered to a halt at the top. Daryl lead as Zoe double checked the footage from her drones. "Deck is still clear," she stated, stepping onto the ship.

"Secure the unconscious," Daryl ordered, following the images from Zoe's uploads to the nearest enemies.

"Zoe, can we get drones inside?" Kally asked over the comms.

With a quick, silent command, a handful of her camera drones made their way into the ship, spreading out and mapping as they went. As she busied herself on deck, she saw one of the drones drop suddenly, the camera catching sight of someone before Maddison stepped into view, dispatching the enemy.

Mads says that your drones are both in the way and very useful. She can't make up her mind there.

Zoe giggled a little as the drone rose up and continued along it's way.

Maddison had been frustrated at the drone in front of her, as it didn't fly as fast as she could walk, which meant it took longer to get where she needed to be. But, with the event of it triggering the attack, she figured saving the drone was useful.

Busting her way through the captain's door, she had to duck as a crossbow bolt arced through the door where her head had been. Diving forward, she rolled and came up on the other side of the dining table from the captain and his first mate. She dropped under the table as the first mate kicked it and slashed out, slicing into one of his ankles in return.

It never occurred to Maddison that she had an unfair advantage until it was taken away from her. The future shadows ceased as the captain grinned widely at her, drawing his own longer sword.

"Now now, what an interesting ability," he said, easily countering Maddison's initial flurry. "Now I see how you dodged the crossbow and the table."

"Shit,' she said, flipping backwards, making way for Kally to enter the room. "Careful, he has my Talent."

But not mine, Tyson said, just outside the doorway. Let me guide you both.

Kally quickly stunned the first mate before the pair charged at the captain.

The resulting battle was strange for everyone involved, including Tyson. Maddison felt blind, Kally felt slow, Tyson felt like he couldn't keep up and the captain was almost overwhelmed. The room was too small for another person, so Tyson kept people out of the way, but that didn't help the two women in the thrall of combat.

The breaking point was when Tyson stepped into the doorway and fired his rifle, causing the captain to duck straight into Kally's fist. The stunned captain was unable to dodge the sword of Maddison, who took his head with a swift strike.

"Oh god, that was horrendous," Maddison stated. "Kally, wave your hand please. Good, perfect, thank you." She shuddered, glad her shadows had come back to her.

"Intercom on your right Kally," Zoe said through the comms as a drone landed on top of it. "Hold the button down, tell the ship the captain and second are dead, give them a chance to surrender."

Kally did as instructed while Zoe ordered everyone to not harm those who are surrendering. A few small pockets of resistance still fought, but most of the remaining crew surrendered easily.

As Kally, Maddison and Tyson made their way to the ground, a few poor souls with them, they found their allies clearing space and cooking extra food for the captives. Zoe stood in the middle of the camp, Avi next to her, drones flying to and fro and people coming to her with updates or needing directions. The twins took the sight in and finally understood just how important to the efforts of everyone around that one woman was. She was the centre of the operations, the brain, but also its heart, providing a moral compass and a guiding star to those around.

The crew who had surrendered ended up in the cells of their previous captives, waiting for judgement from those who had defeated them. It had been suggested to Zoe that they be given over to Mackay, which made the most sense to her, more sense than dragging them to the other side of the world.

The slaves, captives no more, were given choices of where they wanted to go, but were told they had till morning to decide. As the night settled down, a security perimeter was established and extra bedding was shared around.

~

The Mackay contingent arrived not long after first light, their boats sliding up on the beach. Crates of food and clothing were brought in, helping to ease the burden on the visitors to their country.

Some of the former slaves had slunk off in the night, but the majority had stayed, swayed by the open caring from the foreigners and the support from the local populace. They were surprised when offered various options on where to go and that they had been freed with no recompense required. A few chose to strike out on their own, but many chose to go with Mackay and the Community teams. Many were hoping to eventually return home as they were from all over the world, taken from homes, fishing excursions, etcetera. The Jumino had been ruthless in acquiring slaves and the logs showed there had been buyers from all over the world.

Mackay were given scavenging rights to the ship, with the proviso that Zoe would get first crack at any tech they had. Knowing full well that they would still benefit from it, Mackay agreed easily and Zoe was happy to split the usable tech with them, making their comms network a bit bigger.

~

The Atlas shuddered as it took off from Mackay several days later with thirty odd extra people in it from last time. Mathais had been brought up from Llandilo as half of the former slaves didn’t know english and there was only so many interpreters in the Community contingent. Mathias found himself wonderfully busy and volunteered for a roll with the communications team.

Zoe relaxed for the first time in close to a month. For the next day at least, she was not required to do anything and was free to work on her tech while she planned for the future.