Ryan fondly fondled his new improved bow. He couldn’t help it although the current situation was most definitely not appropriate for fondly fondling. Miguel and he were keeping a watch on the situation in the little valley below while the remainder of the group rested in the valley behind them, waiting for midnight to strike. The situation down below seemed unchanged from what they had observed a week ago, although from what he could determine there were clearly less slaves out and about than previously. He didn’t dwell on that observation and, except for messaging it to William as it might impact their tactics, hadn’t elucidated the rest of the group.
The approach they had decided on after everyone had had a chance to study the layout was a stealthy infiltration. From what he could observe, the compound wasn’t heavily guarded against approach from the mountains and the few patrols they had in town seemed focused on the possible threat of the other group in the suburbs. Their best estimate of enemy combatants amounted to around thirty people, who although still armed with firearms, had been very hesitant to actually fire same during the day. To Ryan a clear indication that they were running low on ammo too. In addition, there seemed to be a party going on down there, the loud and boisterous singing clearly audible and increasingly incoherent. The patrols however were still roving in town. The slaves, far outnumbering their captors, had been herded into two houses and locked in. Their four guards, although armed with assault rifles, were clearly unhappy that they weren’t invited to the party judging from their posture and general inattentiveness to their duties.
Once the party had simmered down somewhat Ryan sent Miguel to bring up the rest of the group for a final planning session. Although they had eleven pure combat Classers and a few that were combat capable, only 7 people had actually agreed to participate in the self-assigned mission. Even professing their outrage against the situation not everyone saw themselves capable to kill another human being. Ryan was actually surprised that so many had agreed to come, he definitely hadn’t expected so many of his compatriots to be willing to kill fellow humans, scum though they might be.
He implicitly understood Jaco’s and Celeste’s participation due to similar indignities they had suffered and the resulting willingness to kill their, or at least similar, persecutors. William was a given, his brother could be relied on to make hard choices. Mike too he could understand, the guy had a no-nonsense approach to life and seemed capable of living with harsh realities. Carmen, his girlfriend, was clearly a bit nutty, so that was not too surprising either. In any event, she would be covering their retreat and only engage when absolutely necessary, after all, they wanted to keep this fairly quiet. Alexis surprised him, but she had clearly stated that she would only be healing them, not directly confronting their unknowing enemies. Miguel was the biggest surprise to Ryan, it appeared that the acts that he had witnessed during their previous outing had ignited a silent but deep anger in the teen and an equally deep conviction that something needed to be done to curb the injustice.
They agreed that the group would split up. Ryan and Miguel would take the two sets of guards at the prisoner’s houses first, one set of two after the other as the two groups were out of line of sight. Both Ryan and Miguel were confident that they could take them out without an alarm being raised. Carmen would remain in a position of oversight with Ryan’s ex, his beloved .300WinMag. The rest would take care of the revellers once Ryan gave the all clear. Unless spotted or the alarm being raised, they’d leave the patrols alone for the time being, their presumption that they would return to the compound at some stage and could be dealt with individually a bet they were willing to make.
Ryan headed south, closely following Miguel who could definitely see better in the dark. They would circle around and approach from the back of the further prison, keeping it between themselves to avoid any chance of an incidental glance spotting them. Their chosen position of ambush was from the property next door, within a previously lush garden. They moved quietly but full of confidence and then stealthily crouched around the building, approaching their chosen spot, the thin moonlight dappling the ground through the thick branches effectively hiding their careful approach. The guards, both Level 8, were entirely unaware of their presence, barely twenty metres away but facing in the other direction. Ryan took a stance and Miguel followed him, rising to full upright, arrows knocked and drawing their bows. All in absolute silence. A momentary twinge of doubt shot through Ryan, this was premediated murder, pure and simple. He forcefully tamped down the aberrant thought: This, this was necessary! Whispering “Three, two, one, go!” he released his arrow, following its flight and observing the newly crafted bodkin arrowhead cleanly punching through the head of his target. Miguel’s target, like his, flopped down like a puppet with its strings cut. The noise of the bodies impacting the ground and the assault rifles clattering onto the ground were the loudest sound their attack had caused so far. They both had aimed for the head, an unusual target, but a headshot with the bodkin arrowhead was in Ryan’s opinion the best guarantee of a silent kill, something he had instructed Miguel on during their approach.
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With bated breath Ryan waited for a reaction from the guards stationed two houses over. They were loud of sight but he expected them to at least come investigate the noise. Ryan had redrawn his bow, standing stock still. After waiting subjective aeons for a reaction Ryan slowly released the draw, quietly sighing in relief. The draw of the new bow was a bit difficult to hold, even with his greatly increased strength, he would need to become stronger to comfortably handle his improved bow. After a short pause the two of them slowly moved to the corner of the property, arrows knocked but bows undrawn. Stepping over the corpses of the two guards they headed out towards the road, where they would have to step into the open to have a shot at the next pair, the riskiest part of their approach.
Together they stepped out and around the corner, bows drawn, before they quickly sighted and then released in unison after Ryan’s countdown. The experience notifications that pinged through Ryan’s awareness let him know they had both successfully eliminated their target. Shooting William a message that the coast was clear Ryan moved across the road, stealthily heading in the direction of the party they had spotted earlier. Before he reached the position he had picked out for the next phase of their attack an unwary opponent stumbled around the corner, fly undone, member in hand and already starting to piss, nearly hitting Ryan’s boots. Ryan drew and released before the poor sod even comprehended what he was facing. The shot was hasty, taking his opponent through the side of the throat. The arterial blood spraying across Ryan’s face let him know that the shot was deadly, but the man would start screaming any second now. Ryan grabbed his panga, stepped through the deluge and swung for the fences.
The instinctual dodge of his opponent was a moment to slow and the heavy blade crashed through his throat, the uppercut carrying on through his jaw and his face to then continue unimpeded with its upward trajectory. Ryan nearly let go of the blade but managed to control its momentum just in time. In retrospect, he had clearly but an exorbitantly excessive amount of force into the swing. Another thing he would need to train.
Wiping clear his bloodied face he sheathed the sticky panga and retrieved the bow he had carelessly dropped. The guttural from around the corner let him know that the others had arrived on the scene and were probably making short work of their opponents. It was high time that he hurried to assist. Miguel was probably already in position and taking care of fleeing targets, something he was supposed to be doing from another position enfilading the revellers. Foregoing stealth he rushed forward and just in time. A lanky fellow was ducking behind a car parked in the street, fumbling for the assault rifle he had dropped on the hood of the car. Ryan shot him in the back of the head before he so much as had a chance to hoist the gun. Surprisingly, not a single shot had yet been fired, the lowlifes must have stashed their weapons out of immediate reach. Targets were rushing around, running for their wepaons. Ryan took any shot of opportunity, mostly just going for centre mass with the broadblades he had switched to.
Mike and William had bulldozed through the centre group and left a swathe of de-limbed bodies behind, some still alive judging by their screams. Their priority had clearly been to disable as many opponents as quickly as possible, the risk of automatic fire forcing their strategy. A few wilier opponents had split up and run for their weapons, these were targets Miguel and he eliminated with extreme prejudice. The enemy was uncoordinated, confused and lacked leadership. They mopped up the rest very quickly but one opponent managed to get of a burst of automatic fire at Mike. Most of it went wide and the rest Mike took on his shield, stumbling for a second and then bowling over his opponent who was staring at him dumbly in a full frontal charge. Mike sagged down afterward and Alexis quickly approached, fussing over him.
The group congregated around Mike since that had been their last opponent and Carmen confirmed that the patrols weren’t en route to their position, apparently a burst of weapons fire and some screams at their base didn’t signify any suspicious happenings. Mike had taken two bullets to the gut, they had slipped below the raised shield. Several bruises and the firelight shining through the holes in his shield told another story. The shield hadn’t fully stopped the shots, but the bullets momentum had been spent sufficiently for Mike’s Energy Shield to halt them. To their great relief Alexis pronounced that healing Mike’s wounds shouldn’t pose a problem, she wouldn’t even need to open the gut cavity as none of the intestine had actually been damaged. Mike had been incredibly lucky.
“We have incoming.” William interrupted their relieved chatter. “Carmen spotted one of the patrols heading in our direction. From what she tells me they don’t seem to be expecting trouble but I’d like to take them out cleanly. I suggest me, Miguel and Ryan deal with them while the rest of us spring our captives. Carmen will remain in oversight.” He said and grabbed the bow slung over his back. Ryan knew William was a capable shot, even if he hadn’t chosen a Class with relevant Skills and agreed that the three of them would be the best composition to take down the three manned patrol, hopefully without attracting any further unwanted attention.