Jassim was tall, had very well packed muscle, and had an actual brain. Whenever he had been sent on special assignments, he had always delivered. Born in the army as an orphan, the man's cunning and ambition had lifted him to the highest position a commoner could hold.
He was the commander of a hundred men team. They formed part of the army under General Nakhim. He was fortunate to go on a few missions and gained favor with the general. He had been looking for a chance to curry further favor.
On this day, he had been practicing with his unit as usual, just running drills. That was when he got summoned by the general.
The orders were simple. Prepare as quickly as possible, for they were to move out at nightfall. This was where he got confused. He was to tell no one other than his soldiers where they were going. He was to keep his movements hidden and ensure no one followed him.
While all these were shocking, he was a soldier, and he had grown accustomed to such arbitrary requests. What surprised him was where they were going. Rather than head in the direction of Zithile, where the horde would be coming from, they were being sent in a different direction.
As a soldier, one knew never to question orders, especially those coming from on high. So, once he left the General's office, he quickly gathered his people and had them prepare. He did not inform them of the destination, just that they would be leaving in the cover of night.
Night fell soon enough. As expected, the unit piled out of the barracks, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It was a long trek, but they managed to get a stone's throw away from the village before the sun rose the following day.
As they were moving, someone suddenly appeared before them. Seeing the person, all the soldiers drew their weapons, expecting an ambush. To their surprise, the man began clapping.
"Good, I see you are well trained," he remarked as he drew closer to them. "I assume you are the team sent by the Queen?"
"Identify yourself," Jassim demanded.
"I am a soldier trained under the previous Queen," Jim answered as he stared at the men. "I have a special task from the Queen herself, and she informed me she would be sending a hundred men. Are you those hundred men?"
Jassim was taken aback. This man did not have any identification on him, other than a tall tale. However, the General had mentioned that this order came directly from the Queen, so the man had some credibility.
"Lower your weapons," Jassim said, and the platoon visibly relaxed.
"I assume you have already been instructed to keep this mission under wraps," he remarked, seeking to show Jassim he knew what was going on.
"Yes, that is part of the command, lord," Jassim answered, seemingly more respectful. This man received his orders directly from the Queen, so he had some clout to back him up. Calling him a lord seemed appropriate.
Jim smiled slightly upon hearing this. He wondered if he looked like a lord. "Follow me," he said as he led the way, "remember, stay as quiet and inconspicuous as possible."
Soon, Jim and his new platoon moved around the village, heading towards his mountain. By daybreak, they had already arrived at his new entrance.
Jim had designed the primary entrance to lead directly to his home, with all the creature comforts of the modern age, only underground. Naturally, he wouldn't lead this group to his main hideout, he was not that trusting.
Rather, he had built a secondary cave, with specific sections for soldiers to sleep, and more importantly, storage space. In here, he had filled it with all the supplies he could think of to outfit the entire platoon for a period of three weeks. He figured he'd have about that much to get them trained up and ready, or until the hordes descended upon the people.
Once they got to his newly built cave, the soldiers were shocked at how deep the cave was, and the crazy part was, it was man made. It had sharp corners, and even a provision for a door, almost as if someone had dug it out.
Jassim paid special attention to this, thinking that maybe this was one of the special training facilities he'd heard of. Little did he know he was half-right. This would be one of the training facilities, but he had never heard of one like this.
Once everyone has settled, Jim had them gather outside the cave, basking the morning sun. Once they were gathered, he noted how well their military discipline was. For the first group of soldiers under him, Jim was not disappointed.
"Do you know why you are gathered here?" Jim's voice carried in the forest as he stood at the helm. He could see the look of curiosity from the soldiers. "Someone dared to look down on the people of Asis, even uttering abuse and blasphemy to Mother Caar! They even went so far as to demand the Queen in marriage, the Queen!" Jim exclaimed that part more, trying to draw the ire of the people.
"Now, they stand at our gates, threatening our wives, our children, our mothers!" His voice thundered, "As men of the Asis, are we just going to take that!"
"NO!" He had not expected an answer, and the simultaneous wail of a hundred men startled him somewhat. This was his first time giving such a speech, and he had watched several tutorials on how to go about doing it, but seeing it reflect in the eyes of the Asis, he was moved as well.
"What are we going to do about it!" He demanded, his voice loud and unyielding!"
"Fight!" Came the reply. Jassim shouted the loudest, and others followed suit.
"That is why you are here," Jim finished his fight. "To learn how to fight a horde!"
"You men are the Queen's hope. Make no mistake, you carry the hope of the people, and the pride of Asis is on your back. This is why we are here, to make sure we show the enemies of Asis who we are!"
"Hoo-aah!" The soldiers shouted, getting ignited by Jim's passion.
"You have had a long trek. Get some food and then rest. When you rise, we begin the training!" Jim dismissed the group, and had they went about preparing food according to the rations Jim provided.
Once the soldiers were settled, he left them to rest, keen to handle other tasks. He had a question that was nagging him, and when he got him, he saw the answer on the screen,
Targets identified and eliminated.
Below the notification was a glowing number, showing three targets have been shot down. It also had probability stats, showing why they were eliminated.
After several years of accumulation, the skies above Cesia village and its surrounding were filled with all kinds of drones, each designed to remain out of sight. He had surveillance drones to keep watch, predator drones to track predators, and assassin drones equipped with maglev sniper rifles, capable of taking out targets from thousands of meters away.
This part of the mission was critical, and he needed to contain the information and keep it as close as possible. Therefore, he had his Main AI monitor the drones' feed and identify anyone who might be tailing his group. He had a specific instruction: anyone suspected of tailing with a probability of 60% and above was to be terminated.
Three seemed to have met the criteria, so the assassin drones shot them down from miles in the air, completely undetected. If he had time, he would have liked to question them, but now he had to prioritize. He also confirmed one thing; the Queen's house was not as airtight as he hoped.
A situation he would have to remedy as soon as got there. He then took out a special box and attached it to a carrier drone. He programmed the coordinates and set the drone to its purpose. Time to implement 'phase 2' of the plan.
...
Miles away, Lord Masila got the news from one of his retainers. After several hours of waiting, the men sent to tail the hundred-man platoon under Lord Nakhim had not returned or even sent word.
"Nakhim, what exactly are you planning?" He asked no one in particular. However, after dismissing the reporting soldier, he called one of his aides. "Quickly send a message to the emissary, things might not be as smooth as expected."