The half-finished map of pirate camps lay before them. Red leaned against the table, surveying everything that they knew about their potential enemy. It didn't seem possible that four people could go up against such a large group. However, Red wasn't going to give up on their chances.
"How many pirates do you suspect are occupying the island currently?" Derrin asked.
Zara responded instantly, "Based on the numbers that you gathered and I've seen, I suspect around 200. Each of these camps has around twenty pirates, and I would guess there are around ten of them scattered around. Again, this is very basic guesswork. In reality, there could be as much as double that number."
"You said there are tunnels?" Red asked, "Wouldn't there also be pirates there and maybe some still on their ship?"
"You're right about the ship. Chances are there is another group there," she hesitated a moment, "I doubt there are any in the tunnels."
"Wouldn't that be a highly defensive position?" Vizim pointed out, "Why wouldn't there be any there?"
Zara sighed, "There is no way there because they are extremely complicated. If there are pirates there, then they are likely using a direct passage from the ship to the center of the island, where one of the caves leads. The rest of it is a mess of long, complex tunnels that are pointless. They are not really worth thinking about."
That seemed like a strange thing to say as a soldier. Red scratched his head. They didn't know how many pirates occupied the ship, but it made a lot of sense to travel from that point right into the center of the camp. That would cause immense chaos amongst the pirates.
They also needed to locate the leader who was likely hiding down there as well. Ignoring the caves didn't seem like a sound strategy. For now, it didn't matter; they had far more important problems to deal with.
"Our biggest obstacle at the moment is dealing with hostages that the pirates have," Derrin stated, "Do you know where they're located?"
Vizim nodded but didn't speak.
"They're held in the central camp," Zara replied tersely, "Anything there is going to be risky because they will be able to bring as much backup as they want from the surrounding camps."
"We need a distraction," Vizim and Red grinned, causing Zara to scowl.
"What's stopping the pirates from constituting the distraction as an attack and going after the prisoners?"
"Simple," Red's smile widened, "We're the bait?"
"Bait?"
"What he is trying to say is that the pirates likely don't know we've met up with you. They view us as an independent group and hopefully won't target you because of it," Derrin nodded along with their idea.
"I still don't see how we can cause a distraction big enough to take attention off the central camp," Zara frowned.
"Here's the deal—we've got two problems. One, those people they captured. We can't lift a finger till they're free, or we're gambling with their lives. Two, those cannons they planted. Not our mess directly, but any supply ship trying to sneak in? Boom!" Red straightened, a grin tugging at his lips; he was pretty proud of his decision-making.
"There's another problem," Derrin cut in, "The pirate ship. They can use that as well. For either escape or as another weapon against us."
Zara coughed, "There's a fourth problem actually."
"What's the fourth?" Derrin asked.
"The pirates on the island."
Red couldn't help himself and laughed, "That was a good one, actually."
"I'm glad you liked it," Zara said flatly, "Now. If you have some great plan, I'm ears because as it stands we don't have many options."
"We just need a big distraction," Vizim said.
"A big bomb?" Derrin asked, and Zara narrowed her eyes.
"Could work, but we've already done that before. Honestly, we have two other potential options and targets. Their ship or their cannons. Either one of those is a prime target to cause chaos amongst them."
"You want to bomb their cannons?" Zara's face darkened.
"We need to take out the cannons anyway," Red continued, "It would be the exact type of distraction you're looking for."
"How exactly do you plan on doing that?"
"We still have that last core, right?" Vizim asked.
Red pulled the hacked-up core from his coat pocket, "Yeah. We need to do something with it before the damn thing explodes. It might blow up from a simple drop."
"That means we don't really need a detonator or countdown like the last one," Vizim muttered to himself. "Do you have supplies here? Cores, wires? You know that sort of stuff?"
"We do but…"
"Great. We can get started…"
"Both of you, slow down right now. None of us has any idea where the cannons are located, and we also don't know where exactly the prisoners are located. Blowing up stuff is nice until it doesn't do what we want."
"How does blowing up the cannons not do what we want?" Red asked
Zara groaned, "I heard the last explosion you three caused on the island all the way at the fort. It alerted all of the pirates to your presence, and guess what, they blamed it on me. They were about ready to start killing my friends until I convinced them that it wasn't possible for me to do it."
"This isn't just blowing stuff up and hoping for the best like you were doing. None of it matters if we can't get the prisoners out. If they remain after we try something, you can guarantee the pirates will either torture or kill some of them. I won't let that happen."
"We need to focus on freeing the prisoners," Red rubbed his neck, "We just need to take their eyes off them and give you a chance to get them out."
"Targeting multiple locations at once would be a potential solution. Attacking their ship and cannons would split the force evenly down the middle and prevent backup from arriving in the center of the island. That should be plenty of distraction. That being said, we need to do some scouting," Derrin looked up from the maps, "and you two need to make some bombs."
Zara sighed but didn't argue with their idea. They didn't have many other options if she wanted help. Red always liked the idea of blowing up more stuff, and this would do double the damage.
"There are still some major problems we need to figure out," Zara said, "But this is a possibility."
"Great. Red, we should go make these bombs. It's been too long since I made something," Vizim was practically giddy with excitement.
The transformation he had undergone overnight was practically a miracle. This was the Vizim he needed to efficiently complete their part of the plan. Vizim practically bounced out the door.
Red rose to follow, but Zara stopped him, "You and I need to talk."
"We do?" Red's face tightened.
"Yes. You didn't come to this island to fight pirates, now did you?"
Red paused, "No, I didn't."
"I want to look at that first," she pointed to a region around the center of the map and turned to Derrin, "Can you scout out this area today?"
Derrin nodded his assent and departed. That left the two of them alone.