Gales POV
My heart was still racing even after the plan was completed and I had retreated away from the mining area along with the rest of the group. I genuinely couldn't believe we actually managed to completes this part of the plan due to all of the factors that could have gone wrong but miraculously went well.
When I had told Clover that I wanted to call Rekka she gave me a look as though I had lost my mind but I proceeded to explain my plan. Thanks to the fact that we caught the Slavers
by surprise and from what I could see were poorly equipped and prepared for this situation we might end up ending the riot due to killing all of the patrols before Rekka ever catches wind which would complicate things and even if she did learn about the riot she might not come down herself and send down trained armed guards and either capture or kill us all. So I decided on luring Rekka here with something that would require her to take of the problem herself.... myself.
For a reason that I'm not completely sure on, Rekka considers me both dangerous and very valuable otherwise she would have just gotten rid of me ages ago and would'nt go to the trouble of making an entire cell specially for me. If she saw that I was free along the other slaves there was a very high chance that she would come after me herself to capture or kill me.
Once I quickly told Clover what my intention was she understood but wondered how I would sell the story enough that Rekka wouldn't instantly figure it was trap. This was a little harder to do but I had planned on having someone in our group put on one of the masks that the slavers grunts were wearing. The grunts wore something similar to that of a gas mask that completely covered their head and would be enough to cover any one of our group and hopefully disguise enough of their voice, this wasn't something I was completely confident in but it was the best I had.
Clover however offered a different method and told me that we could use one of the slavers for the call and pointed towards the body of the first slaver who she had killed. It was my turn to give her a look, but she told me that we could just use illusion magic to disguise one of our own as the slaver and even disguise our voice as well. I was shocked. I had no idea that such a thing existed and not only that but a person in our group had some talent in illusion magic and could probably do the job.
Clover quickly traveled through the tunnel and grabbed someone from group 1, a skinny human teenage boy similar in age to Lucas that had been part of their batch as well and had finished arming his charge as well. When Clover explained the plan to the boy whose name was James he quickly showed me what he was capable of and in a glow his entire appearance looked exactly like that of Clover and spoke "is this what you were hoping for?" The resemblance wa uncanny. James was capable of looking and speaking exactly like the person whose appearance he took on with a few minor exceptions. His appearance was more similar to a hologram as if you went to touch him you wouldn't touch the body he was appearing as but rather his real body hidden under the illusion and it required his full concentration to maintain the illusion so he couldn't move around much or even attack or he would lose it.
While these were problematic it wouldn't affect my plan too much and once we gave James the rundown he agreed to help and we proceeded with our plan to lure Rekka. James took the slavers appearance and voice and called Rekka on the device which thankfully was saved on it and acted out his part perfectly and Rekka believed it really was one of her own and to seal the deal I pretended to attack James and let Rekka see me for a brief moment before breaking the device.
As we were finishing our part, group 2 and the still captive slaves finished taking care of rest of the slavers and once they finished we yelled at them to head into the tunnels and hide away from the area and we found Darrell and told him to listen for Rekka. We soon found Lucas and told him to get the remote detonator ready once the enemy is in position. Clover also asked James if he could prepare another illusion that was slightly bigger which was creating illusions of the bodies of the slaves next to the deceased slavers and one of me standing near the bodies. It was apparently to seal the story of me escaping and ensure Rekka walked into the area and, James although he would be straining himself agreed and created the illusion which left a slightly bad taste in my mouth. The fear on the fake bodies made me uncomfortable and the fake me standing over all the bodies with a horrible looking glare left me wondering what it was about me that caused them to have so much fear.
I didn't have time to ask questions as this took priority and Darrell told us that he could hear them coming and we all prepared ourselves. The plan went smoothly and we set off the trap and ran away from the cave in and once the tremor calmed down the entire group began to celebrate.
"Shut Up!" I yelled
The entire group flinched when I yelled and the other slaves who weren't originally part of our group took notice of what I was and some began to back away in fear.
"We can celebrate when we get off this place! There is zero guarantee that Rekka died in that cave in so we need to move now!" I yelled
I remember all that Lucas, Clover and Max told me about Rekka and the fact she was apparently a very powerful and dangerous in the army. From all that I've seen and heard there was a chance that Rekka survived and could make her way out. Best care scenario was that she died in there our is completely trapped in there our makes her way out after we escape and a worst case scenario is her breaking out before we get on the ship.
My group seemed to understand my concerns but the the ones that were still captive seemed hesitant to follow me but we're soon motivated by my group with the notion of freedom and we began to run through the caves. Ashes found her way back to my side and continued to hold onto my shirt as we all ran through the tunnels to the exit which thankfully wasn't damaged from the vibrations and before we neared the exit I could smell the familiar scent of sea salt and my heart beat even faster than it already was and as we made it out of the cave I was greeted with the blinding light of the sun.
For the first time in a very long time I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin and refreshing cool breeze of the wind and for a moment all I wanted to do was stay in that spot and enjoy the sensations and it seemed that the other slaves who were here longer than me felt the same as a few dropped to their knees crying as soon as they saw the sun. I quickly regained my focus and told everyone to stay on guard and look for the airship and we quickly moved towards the only building we could see.
We broke into the building and looked for any signs of where the ship could be and,for as Lucas told us the clearance card that would activate it. As we combed through the building we found ourselves in what looked to be an office that we presumed to be Rekkas office. We looked through her office and found a strange key that looked to be glowing and had engravings on it and upon seeing it Max spoke up and said" I recognize those engravings! It's the same as the ones on our shackles!" He grabbed the key and tapped it on the shackles of one of the slaves that still had theirs on and for a moment a glowing silhouette of a keyhole shined and the sound of something being unlocked sounded and that slaves shackles came off. The slave whose shackles came off began to weep for joy and Max proceeded to free the rest of the slaves.
As Max did this we still had no luck with the card and we feared that the card was on Rekka and I had no idea what we could do. I then told everyone to find the ship as there was a chance the card could be in the ship or there may be others working on the ship that might have a spare card. We tgen left the building and began to scour the small island and quickly found the docks and a bit away from that a small airstrip with a large airship.
It was my first time seeing a vehicle of this world and I was amazed to see such an amazing ship. It was the size of at least 100 feet with large metal wings similar to that of an airplane and it's thrusters didn't resemble that of a regular jet engine and looked like it used a propulsion engine similar to the ones you would see in a movie and had what looked to be guns under its wings. The entire vessel didn't resemble the sleek design of a regular air shuttle and instead sported a more bulky look almost resembling a small fortress and was in a light brown color. This ship was more than enough to get us all out of here but I hoped that the card was in the vessel already.
As we approached the ship we spotted a small group of people doing what seemed to be maintenance on the ship and moving out of the back ramp and when they spotted us they tried to run away but Clover and a few others from group 2 quickly closed in and grabbed them before they could escape.
"Where's the clearance card!" Yelled Clover as she put a knife to one of the engineers.
"I-I don't know!" Exclaimed the engineer shivering in fear
"We don't have the time to ask them. Just do what you have to do even if it means forcefully getting the information out of them." I told Clover.
I got a few looks from my group including from Ashes who let go of my shirt and backed away from me but I didn't care as we might be on the clock and walked over to the engineers. When the team of engineers saw me approach a few began to weep and then one of them, I believed to be the leader spoke up and said " We really don't know where the card is! It's possible that Rekka has it on her!"
From what I could see on her face there was a good chance that they weren't lying and the card was on Rekka which threw a wrench in our plans. As I thought about what could be done Lucas spoke up "Alright change of plans. If we can't find the keycard then I am going to try and jerryrig the console. Its going to take a bit but I might be able to start it up normally."
"Ok." I replied
We didn't have many options at this point and if Lucas felt that this was the only course of action then we would do it. As we were finalizing the plan I was about to tell the members of our group that we're holding the engineers hostage on what to do with them until the lead engineer spoke up.
"P-please let us go with you!"
I gave a small scowl at the engineer as she asked this. I didn't want to bring any of these people with me as they clearly had no problem working for someone in slave trading and probably got paid more than enough for their trouble and it seemed like the others in our group felt the same.
"Why should we let you come with us? So you can go find another employer to help move slaves around for? I said.
"I know we don't deserve to ask for help but I swear we'll help you with anything you need so long as we can leave this place! We were contracted not too long ago by Rekka to work on her ship but we had no idea what she actually worked in until we came to this place! That woman is cruel and evil and I know if we stay here we'll end up being killed or worse by her! Please, PLEASE let us leave with you all, we'll even be tied up if that makes you feel more comfortable!" Said the engineer as she continued to beg.
I stared at her and after a moment I asked Lucas what he wanted to do as he would be working on the ship and Lucas thought for a moment and said" If they agree to be tied up then fine they can come and help me with managing the ship but if they try anything then we'll get rid of them."
I agreed with what Lucas said and it seemed that the lead engineer had a look of gratitude but the other engineers still had a hesitant look on their faces as they looked at me clearly not wanting to be anywhere near me. I saw this and said" If all of you cooperate then you have nothing to worry about. However, if any of you decide to attack or do anything to hinder us then you'll have to deal with me."
Using myself as a threat seemed to work wonders as the engineers quickly nodded their heads in agreement and were quickly tied up with nearby ropes and cables that were by the supplies the engineers were using and were led into the ship by Lucas who began to work on the ship. While they started on that the rest of our group started to board the ship as well and others went to keep watch near the tunnel with Darrell being to first to volunteer to listen for any signs of Rekka with six others going along as backup. I went inside the ship to check on Lucas and admired the inside of the vessel. It was incredibly spacious and filled with various instruments that I didn't dare touch in fear that I would mess something up and appeared to be two floors with the bottom being more of a storage space and the top being where most of the central command was. Most of our group with the exception of Lucas, Clover and Max started to sit down in the storage area with a few beginning to weep in joy no doubt due to them being so close to freedom. Ashes also took a small corner in the space away from the others and hugged her knees and looked away from my direction.
I decided not to pay any mind to that and went up to the main hub. I honestly couldn't understand much of what I was looking at as I reached the top as it resembled a small command center that you would probably see in a military bases and spotted Lucas under one of the consoles moving around wires and getting advice from the lead engineer and Max nearby watching Lucas work on the console and Clover was keeping watch and ensuring that the engineers didn't try anything.
"How's everything looking?" I asked Lucas.
"It's going alright so far. I just need to attach a few more and I should be able to at least get the main power up and running."
"Once the main power is on everything save for the engines should start up on the ship including the navigation system and the defense system. We were still working the navigation system but it should mostly be in working order" said the lead engineer.
"I would need to bypass the clearance to activate the engines which might take a little longer but should be doable." Said Lucas.
Once he said this Lucas attached one more wire and in an instant all of the consoles turned on and the ships main power was fully connected. Once this was done Lucas told Max to start calibration on the consoles with the other engineers and proceeded to work on the engines. As Max started to work on the instruments with the guidance of the engineers, I paid close attention to what was being done and when Max got to a screen that displayed a image of the ship I took notice of two things. The first were the words, I looked at the words or what I thought were words and realized that I had no idea what they said, and were written in a language I had never seen before. This would put a setback in something I had planned out as I would need someone to teach me how to read this world's language if I wanted to gather any information. The second being a rather large section in the ship that was highlighted and didn't appear to resemble anything I had seen and I asked Max what it was.
"Oh that? That's the escape pod."
"Escape pod?" I asked.
"Yeah it's big enough for two people and doesn't require the should be working if everything is ok."
I listened to him and nodded my head with my gaze lingering on the screen a little too long and moved my head but not fast enough as Clover took notice of this. Clover stared at me for a moment and walked towards me and asked "Something caught your eye?"
"No I was just admiring the ship." I replied.
Clovers gaze sharpened a little and she approached me with her hand lingering near her knife and asked "What were you planning on doing with the escape pod."
At this everyone's focus was on me and my response and I could feel my heartbeat quicken and could feel myself sweating as I didn't want them to know my plan. I knew I was taking too long to answer as I could feel the tension in the air as everyone began to tense up waiting for my response with Clover putting her hand on the knife now and repeated her question.
I couldn't come up with any excuse and took a deep breath and began to speak.
"I-"
As I began to speak I dropped to my knees and began to gag as I smelled something awful and immediately saw Self Preservation activated and felt my entire body yell at me to run.
------------------------------------------------------------
A few minutes earlier
Darrell POV
I was proud.
I took my place near one of the tunnels keeping my magic active and listened for any signs of life and was prepared to let anyone know to run away.
I had been stuck in this mine for more than a year and had begun to give up all hope of escaping. Despite all this however I finally have a chance to leave and go home to my village and I actually played a huge part in our escape!
I felt pride in knowing I contributed in helping people as all my life I was never able to help in anything major and was constantly left out of hunting monsters or gathering resources due to my weak physical abilities. Even with my magic there was very little I could do out in the field and noticed the slavers too late.
That's why I volunteered first as I wanted to be more useful and make sure all our tracks were covered. As I listened my focus was at times interrupted by the chattering of the ones who came with me as they began talking about what they planned on doing once they got home.
"When I get home I plan on starting a garden!"
"When I get back I'm gonna propose to my boyfriend!"
"I'm gonna apologize to my friends and then we'll go on a trip together!"
"What about you Darrell?"
"I have to focus right now." I replied.
"Ah come on there's no way she survived that cave in. She probably got crushed by one of those rocks!"
I paused for a second and then responded to the one who asked me what I planned on doing.
"I... am going to go home and proudly announce to my village that I helped save a bunch of people with my magic and that I deserve to be an adventurer!"
Tap
"You wanna be an adventurer?" Asked the one who wanted to start a garden.
"Yeah! I think that this helped me get the confidence in myself to go and get proper training and become an adventurer and go on hundreds of adventures saving people and hunting monsters!"
Tap Tap
"I'm going to become a famous hero who people will look up to and admire and I'll feel even more proud of myself and-"
Tap Tap Tap
I froze. I focused my attention back on the tunnels and realized that clicking sound was the sound of footsteps hitting rock.
TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP
No. It was the sound of someone running through the tunnels.
"Ru-"
I couldn't finish my sentence as in a moment as a figure burst from the tunnel and grabbed my face and I was met face to face with a slighty injured and dust covered woman.
"Good ears."
As she said this her hand began to glow a sickening orange and smiled a sadistic smile and the last thing I felt was the flame and the regrets that filled my body.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Gales POV
I began to gag at the scent that filled my nose as everyone in the hub were caught off guard at my reaction and and began asking what happened.
When I took a breath I caught whiff of something familiar back in my old life. I was brought back to a memory of when I tried to cook eggs for the first time and became distracted and let the eggs become horribly burnt which caused a horrible burnt smell to travel through the apartment and was scolded by my neighbors.
This was a hundred times worse. It was a horrible burnt smell that caused my eyes to water and made me want to rip my nose off, but that wasn't the worse part as for a moment under the burnt smell... I could smell something similar to burnt meat.
I fought against smell and against the annoying system window and went down to the storage area nearly stumbling until I reached the ramp and stared forward. The other three who were with me followed and attracted the attention of the others on our group and looked in the same direction and we all froze in horror.
Calmly walking towards the ship dragging in one hand what looked to be a burnt beyond all recognition corpse and a bloodied sword in the other was Rekka.
"Hello my dears~"
She stopped and dropped the corpse in front of her and afterwards smiled and said.
"You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you~."
The plan was a failure.