Wes listened to Major Rhys in silence. He had been a member of Rhys' group for three years now. Despite that, he felt like he was a rookie. Compared to the older members of the Moonshadow Company, maybe he was. Wes unconsciously clenched his hand on the handle of his mace and checked his wrist. He couldn't believe the quality of their gear. His aegis was prepared to be deployed at any moment...

"Private Wes. I detect that you are distracted." Sentinel's voice sounded directly in his ears.

"I'm sorry, Sentinel. I was making a last check of my gear." He explained, almost truthfully.

"We are going to be air-dropped on our destination in three minutes. If you are unfit for duty, you should say so now."

"No, Sentinel. I was thinking about the past and how I managed to get here. I'm ready to engage the enemy anytime." Wes shook his head and looked down as the lights went out and the hatch opened.

"Affirmative."

The darkness of the night was calm and serene as Queen Anne's Revenge soundlessly crossed the sky. Through his visors, Wes watched the shabby city glide past. Thanks to the enhanced vision provided by his armour, he could clearly see everything. It was slightly different from the previous city but the overall impression was the same. Poorly made houses made up the entirety of the city.

"One minute to drop!"

Wes activated the runes embedded in his weapon and armour. The communication line was unnaturally silent. The people usually joked before the mission, but not this time, and Wes knew very well why. The bugs crossed the line. When the green flashed inside his visor, he was violently ejected out of the frigate but the launch was cushioned by his armour. He expected it to be a bit more brutal, but their gruelling training did its job. In a heartbeat, he slammed into the ground, and just one look around told him that no one expected their arrival. Vestargo's slaves were sleeping in their huts and no Vespids were nearby. However, now that his team was on the ground, they swiftly moved to a runic pillar that landed just outside the village.

Finally, the first slaves started poking their heads out of their houses but it was hopeless for them to see anything in the darkness. Before the operation started, the dense Fog of Avalon spread over the area blocking any light from the moon or stars. It was a cold and lightless night for the slaves. The Mobile Infantry soldiers moved silently and, once they were in their positions, the barrier flickered to life, briefly illuminating the pitch black night. The slaves started screaming in panic but, relatively speaking, it was too late for them to do anything. The decision to strike at night was brilliant in its simplicity. The slaves, who were nearly religiously avoided fire, relied on the natural light sources. While the luminous fungi or grass weren't exactly rare, the first slaves had never seen anything like that. It was another small cruelty committed by Vestargo and his minions...

"Contact." Admiral Teach's voice called everyone's attention. "We have contacts all around you. Keep your positions at the gates as planned. We will show them hell."

The darkness flashed with the spells when the battlegroup began its precise fire. Wes wasn't particularly surprised when nearly half of the apparent enemy contacts remained unharmed.

"All teams, move out!" Major Rhys ordered and Wes moved towards the closest contact.

All according to the plan, a command team stayed guarding the gap in the barrier. His team was swiftly moving through the darkness and Wes couldn't help but smile. With the help of the Sentinel Network, their tactical display showed them the magical background of the area as well as detected living beings. Their target was just five metres in front of them, and their four teammates spread the careful formation. The bugs were going to receive a nasty surprise if they wanted to ambush them. However, his heart started beating faster when he saw a young woman hiding in the bushes.

She was of some beastkin race but Wes wasn't sure and frankly didn't care what kind. She was very terrified and was bleeding from her leg. It must have caused her severe pain since she was biting a stick as she tried to claw the rope used to tie her to the nearby tree. The rope was tied so tight that her leg above the ankle was swollen and a necrosis had begun to spread below it. The woman was exhausted and, it was apparent, she had been lying here for several days already. A few steps away, as much as the rope allowed her to move, was a pile of excrement. Wes, however, suspected that since she couldn't move for the last day or two, she was covered in her own waste. He cursed the bugs and impatiently waited for the rest of his team to ensure no bugs waited in ambush. As soon as the team was in position, he kneeled in front of her and activated an external lamp that must have briefly blinded her.

"Please, don't kill me!" She begged as she covered her eyes.

"We are here to save you." Wes kneeled near her and put his left hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be fine."

There were a few reasons for his action. The most important thing was the fact that he marked her for teleportation. Secondly, he was physically holding her, preventing her from running away, even if she had been healthy enough to do that. Lastly, thanks to the physical connection, he could hide his usage of mana which was, arguably, more visible to the enemies than his light source. Wes felt as she trembled and looked at him in shock and fear when her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light. With a single thought, he ordered his armour to open his helmet and looked at her so she could see his face instead of the cold and uniform surface of his helmet. Her trembling intensified but Wes projected calm. She wasn't in danger any more. He was a level one hundred Apothecary and wounds like hers weren't a challenge for his healing skills or the powerful potions he could brew. The stench of bile, blood, and excrement hit his face and, despite the night, it was a hot damp air.

"Who are you?" She asked in fear as she watched him effortlessly tear the rope that had imprisoned her for days.

"I'm Private Wes of the Arcadian military. You can call me Wes." He said calmly and placed his mace in the special sheath on his back. He smiled encouragingly at her. "Do you have a name?"

"N-no..." She stuttered and looked with fear at her swollen leg. "Am I going to die? It's not hurting so much now but, before you arrived, I thought the pain would never end..."

"No. I promise you that everything will be fine." He looked at her with a trained smile and, once she heard his promise, she looked at him with hope. "It's unfair that a beautiful girl like you doesn't have a name, that's why I'm going to call you Maia. Is that all right?"

"Maia?" She looked at him in shock but she smiled slowly and her eyes started shining. "Yes! I'm Maia!"

He smiled in reply and decided it was time to take her to a safer place. She was as gullible as the freed High Elves. Wes had to take a deep breath to contain his wrath and the urge to crush every single bug in the vicinity.

"Listen, Maia. I need to heal your leg. It might sting for a bit but you will be fine in a moment. I promise you. Can you promise me that you won't run away?" He asked with a smile he desperately hoped didn't look too fake considering his anger.

"I promise you, Wes." She nodded but her eyes dimmed again.

She, very slowly, extended her hand and hesitantly touched his arm. He took out a knife and cut the rope off her leg. She groaned painfully but refrained from screaming. The rope was tied so tightly that it had cut her skin and damaged the muscles. He tried to be as delicate as possible, but her whitened knuckles clenched on his forearm indicating the horrible pain she endured.

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"Full Restore." He said once he cleaned her wound with a potion. The wound immediately closed as the necrosis and swelling disappeared momentarily. "Done. You were very brave, Maia. How did you end up here?"

She let out a quiet sigh and started crying, hugging him. He took out a blanket and covered her, more because of her nakedness than any real need due to the abnormally high temperature in the forest. He slowly scooped her into his arms and headed back towards the village.

"I was chosen by one of the... Masters..." Her voice trembled in fear and she started sobbing. "But, instead of taking me to his abode, he ordered me to stay here. He tied me with a rope to the tree. Why did he do that? Isn't killing us enough for them?"

"What would you do if you could just get away from here? So far away that they would never find you?" Wes asked carefully.

"I would do that without thinking, Wes..." She whispered, her voice was full of pain and suffering. "But I can't... No one can... Wait! Take me back to that tree! If the Master finds that you took me... Iiiik!"

She screamed in shock as he dropped her. His movements were swift but precise. Before she even started screaming, Wes had his helmet put back on and his Aegis shield materialised floating over his left arm. His arm reached for his mace when three Vespids emerged from the large tree a few dozen metres away. Their ability to stay hidden and undetectable by the Arcadian magitech was annoying. But, knowing the Emperor, he would find a way to detect them sooner rather than later. Wes slammed the closest Vespid with his shield and, even though it was weightless and seemingly made of dim, blue light, it hit hard. His fingers closed around the handle of his mace and with a wide swing, he smashed the surprised Vespid. The bug cried in shock as the mace encased in blue flames caved in his abdomen, spraying his ichor around. But Wes simply kneeled, preserving the momentum of his weapon and fluently crushed the Vespid's head. The other two were cleanly cut in still convulsing halves. The soldiers of the Arcadian Empire forgot to take compassion for their enemies from home. A tragic occurrence that happened for the entirety of the Arcadian military.

"I'm so sorry, Maia!" He helped her to stand up but she was staring at the gruesome sight. "You have very nasty pests around here."

"You killed him... Wes! You killed him!" She looked at him in shock and horror as she tried to cradle her head in her hands. Her fluffy tail curled close to her body.

"Not the first one, certainly not the last." He smiled.

Wes was surprised by how their prepared responses helped him to calm her down. He partly hated himself for not being completely honest with her, but he knew she might panic and try to run away. That was something all ground teams wanted to avoid at all costs.

"What are you talking about, Wes?!" Maia trembled, but looked at him in a continued shock. "You killed one of the Masters! They... I... What is going on?"

"I promised you that everything would be all right, Maia." He turned off his Aegis and offered her his hand. "I will take you away from here, to a safe place where no one can hurt you and you will be safe. Just take my hand, Maia."

She swallowed and, again, very slowly took his hand. He smiled and, once again, scooped her into his arms. She didn't protest, instead, she clung to him and to the hope of safety he promised her. He looked at one of his teammates, who lifted two fingers and moved his hand in a quick, wide motion towards the village. Wes smiled widely as he changed his careful walk to a steady run. Despite everything, they still had two minutes. Maia looked at him as if she wanted to ask something but she was scared, bewildered, and exhausted in turns. The command team was standing guard over the village with Dauntless hanging in the air so its guns could shred anything stupid enough to try to force their way in.

"Wes?! Who are these people?" She finally asked as they entered her village. "And what are those large things in the air?"

"Miss Maia, from now on, you are under the protection of the Arcadian Empire." Wes declared as he gently put her into the waiting CB-90. "I have to go now, help a few more people, but I will leave you in the care of my friends. We will take you away from here."

She looked at him, confused, and smiled back. However, her smile quickly faded. "Will I ever see you again?"

"If you ever need my help or want to see me, Maia, just ask your teachers about Wes of the Moonshadow Company." He smiled and nodded at the Marine. "Private Janik will give you some tasty food and take you on board Dauntless."

"Thank you, Wes..." She jumped, clung to him, and hugged him as hard as she could. "Thank you for saving my life."

•••

Rhys watched the progress of the recovery teams on his internal display in silence. Nearly one hundred slaves were scattered around the city but their last moment preparations paid off. The teams were slowly bringing the slaves back to town and the Arcadians prevented panic from spreading. It looked like Vestargo kept each slave camp as a single race. Rhys couldn't guess a reason but he underlined that fact a few times in his journal and the report he was preparing. The slaves were some sort of Beastkin, most probably a squirrel of some kind, judging by their specific tail. Most of them had copper or red hair, or fur, on their tails and ears, as well as highlights in their hair. They were also shorter than most people he knew, about as tall as Rabbitkin or Bunny people... He couldn't help but ponder the heated debate among the main race of the former Bernan slaves: what should they be called, and he smirked to himself. They, most probably, would use Rabbit or Bunny interchangeably and he was going to call them Bunny people. Anyway, the newly discovered Beastkins were taller than Dwarves and Halflings. Which, no matter how he looked at it, indicated they possibly shared features with the squirrels.

"Major?"

"Yes, Wes?" He responded instantly.

"During the retrieval of Maia, we were attacked by three Vespids we dispatched with ease. After confirming they weren't Dungeon monsters, we left them with the intent to collect their corpses later. They are gone, Sir."

Rhys froze for a second. "Continue the mission. Your report is noted."

"Yes, Sir!"

It was unusual. Vespids never reclaimed the bodies of their fallen during previous encounters. With each passing minute, he received more reports about unusual Vespids' behaviour. Rhys shook his head in amused amazement as the most recent guesses of the Empresses and the Emperor nearly came to life. The bugs were testing the Arcadian forces but the full nature of those tests remained a mystery. One thing was clear by now. If the Arcadian forces tried to repeat their trick from the time Admiral Sparrow teleported away the entire High Elf village, they would fail. Contrary to the Elves, the Squirrelkins lived under and above the ground level. The sheer volume of the city was so absurdly huge that it would take the entire day for the battlegroup to gather the required amount of mana to cast the spell.

Another thing was less obvious. If they had tried to repeat the teleportation manoeuvre, they would have saved less than thirty percent of the slaves. It was something that was planned deliberately by whoever set this trap. They would also have missed everyone the bugs hid in the forest. It was a fairly elaborate plan that seemed strange considering the simplicity of Vestargo's prior actions or even his battle plans. A blue dot was calmly pulsing in the corner of his eyes indicating that the Emperor was watching over the operation. If Rhys needed his input, he needed to just ask.

"Evacuate everyone immediately, Rhys!" Edward Teach shouted on the private channel. "Something huge is coming your way. We are preparing the ships to jump."

Rhys looked at the blurred image he received from Queen Anne's Revenge and he wasn't sure what he was looking at. However, whatever was approaching, it toppled the massive trees of the Ancient Forest. Rhys hesitated because only one thing came to his mind that was able to do that.

The Titan.

"We will bring everyone home." He replied with conviction and opened the main channel. "Double up, people. Cut off any pleasantries. You have about five minutes to return under the shielded area. It looks like Vestargo has built himself a mockery of our Titan. So move your asses back here or prepare to get yourself blown up."

A round of yellow lights indicated that all forward groups heard him and, despite that, they decided to finish what they started. Everyone who was returning sped up and a few groups redeployed behind the safety of the shield to support the trailing groups attacked by Vespids. Rhys smiled proudly as he raised his glaive and unleashed a wide lightning bolt that incinerated a wave of Vespids. The remaining teams were already on the move when the earth trembled beneath their feet. A truly deafening and bloodcurdling roar pushed everyone to double their efforts. A massive tree flew with tremendous speed into the barrier and was ignited as it showered the area with blazing shrapnel. The barrier held, displaying the superiority of the Arcadian technology, protecting everyone under it.

The trees parted as the last of the Arcadians returned behind the barrier carrying terrified Beastkins. However, what emerged from the forest was a hulking mass of walking armour and huge blades. Its massive head looked uncannily similar to a giant centipede with its mandibles angrily clicking and secreting a thick, corrosive liquid that melted everything it touched. Its appendages were at least ten metres tall and resembled mantis blades. The giant monster roared with fury and raised its blades to crush the barrier when it was impacted and thrown back by the force from Dauntless' main battery.

"We can't gather enough mana to teleport until we have ten minutes of relative calm." Admiral Sparrow's voice announced calmly in their comms as thousands of contacts flashed on their radar. "Prepare to engage."

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