Priority: Charlie Compound

--HQ Building, Fort Alnus--

1700 hour

The building is busier than usual today, Ava is walking fast pace in one of the hallways leading to the war room located in the center of the HQ. She walks through the door as 2 guards salute her, the war room is a massive room just like a ship CIC. In the center is a large holographic ring that displaces any information that is being discussed.

General Nguyen is standing by the ring, 4 strangers in the GIA TAC suit and 3 other commanders from the 2nd SIF, 9th SIF and 22nd SIF platoons are with him. One of them is Commander René Laurent of the 9th SIF platoon, she remembers him from her SIF training, and they are best friends and have been through many operations together.

Ava approaches "General" she salutes then turns and nods as a greeting to the other commanders. Judging by the fact that they recall her unit with haste in the middle of a mission, Ava can tell that something big is coming up.

"It's good that you are here, we can now begin our briefing" General Nguyen returns Ava's salute then turn to Viktor and continues "This is Special Agent Viktor Volkov from the GIA, he will brief you on this mission"

"Thank you General" Viktor turns to the holographic map and continues "The GIA managed to obtain information, from a reliable source, of possible locations that we believe our missing people a being held hostages".

The holographic map zooms in on the 4 locations with their designations and the time it takes for DS-20B to get there.

"The compounds are built deep into the mountain so our scanners can only see the first few layers, this means that you will be going blind after you pass these points" The holographic map displays the visible part of each compound as Viktor continues "Each compound has a fire beacon on top of a tower you must first secure the towers and disable the beacon to avoid enemy reinforcement"

"Our range weapons using mass effect drivers and suppressors are quieter but they still make a lot of noise, the enemy will know we're there as soon as we fire the first shot I'm sure you all know this. Be as stealthy as possible but we need to move quickly as soon as the enemy detects us. We have assigned 2 GIA to each platoon in case you need our special "skill set". Do you have any questions?" Viktor turns to the commanders.

"How reliable is this source of yours?" Ava asks not fully trusting the GIA because the last "reliable" intel from the GIA was completely wrong and resulted in 1/3 of her platoon KIA.

"We have a high confidence in this intel commander" Viktor realizes Ava "I know the Suicide Mission was GIA's bad intel but you can trust us on this"

"Right" Ava still skeptical about what Viktor said.

"What should we expect?" René asks

"Our drones show that the compound's gate is guarded by 2 dozens armed legionaries but our source says each compound is guard by a cohort which is roughly 500 legionaries each, narrow corridors with our superior weaponry should cancel or reduce their number advantage. More SAT8s will also be assigned to each unit to boost firepower" Viktor replies "Charlie compound has a lot more activities than other compounds, it is the most likely location we will find our people. I will accompany the 5th SIF in the assault of this compound"

"If there are no more questions you can go back to your platoons and begin preparation, Commander Ava can I have you for a second?" General Nguyen dismisses everyone.

"According to your report, there's a young mage and an…apostle?" General Nguyen asks.

"Yes sir, they helped us defeat a dangerous native specimen. These two are very powerful General" Ava replies.

"The other refugees will be allowed to set up temporary camp outside of Fort Alnus until we can have the engineer corps to build them a proper town, but these two are dangerous we need to investigate them before they are allowed to leave or stay" General Nguyen says.

"I understand General, I will let them know" Ava replies before she salutes and leaves.

"Another thing commander, the boy Lucas. I know you want to take care of him but you will be constantly on a mission and he cannot come with you. I recommend you ask one of the refugees to take care of him or leave him to us and we will arrange him with a foster family back in the UNE" General Nguyen says.

Although the General is right, she could not shake the feeling of disappointment of not being able to take care of Lucas.

"Yes sir" Ava replies then nods with some disappointment shown on her face.

--DS-20/DS-20B pads, Fort Alnus--

Ava is briefing the mission to the 5th SIF in one of the hangers. They will be the first team to leave as their objective location takes longer to get to. She looks behind and sees Lelei, Lucas and Rory being escorted by 3 UNE marines approaching.

One of the marines salute Ava "Commander Ava, these three want to talk to you".

"Commander Ava Bennett, we demand to go on this quest with you" Rory jumps in.

Rory was traveling the northern part of Falmart spreading her religion to gain more followers for her master, Emroy. When she heard rumors of powerful people from another world who came and wipe out the most elite legions of the Sadera Empire, she immediately went to Alnus and see for herself. After witnessing the power of them killing the legendary Flame Dragon, she knew that they are a new hope for this world, a force that create peace and prosperity for Falmart. A force that can do what the Empire could not before it fell into corruption.

"Commander Ava is ok and lady, you have no authority here" Ava is a little confused by the request.

"We want to come with you on your adventures" Lelei says.

"Yes Ava, I want to come to" Lucas hugs Ava make her a little surprised.

"Lucas, you need to stay here it is too dangerous for you to come with me" Ava kneels to Lucas's eye level then looks at the other 2 "How old are you 2?"

"I'm 961 years old and Lelei is 18" Rory answers

"You what? Anyway, you cannot come with us on missions until you're vetted and approved. For now, you need to follow these gentlemen to be processed, then after that, we will put in a request for you to be civilian contractors" Ava speaks in a commanding tone.

"Fine" Rory is not happy with what Ava said but she agrees anyway. Although she can probably take out a few dozen of these people, but with this many of them it might end badly for her.

"Come on Lucas, we need to go" Lelei takes Lucas's hand and pulls him away from Ava.

Ava waves goodbye to Lucas after he gives her a big hug. Turning back to the 5th SIF, she sees they are giggling at her which makes her blush a little.

"Hey!" She shouts being a little awkward "get off your asses and get ready" then she gives out a long sigh when everyone starts laughing.

--DS-20B--

The DS-20B looks exactly like the DS-20 but less firepower with only two 3-barrel rotary guns and it has no shield dome like a normal DS-20B. Make up for the loss of firepower and deployment protection is its stealth drive and advanced EW suite which makes it almost undetectable by technology or by line-of-sight.

DS-20B has proven extremely effective through numerous missions conducted by ISO across the galaxy against the enemies of the UNE.

--Somewhere on Flamart--

The 2 DS-20B are flying silently through the night sky carrying 20 special force operators the 5th SIF and 1 GIA agent to their important mission. Ava is sitting by the side door and looking out to the dark through its holographic window. Under the moonlight, it looks so peaceful yet the commander seems to be worried.

"Thinking of your mother?" Viktor asks "I read your profile".

"Don't worry Special Agent Volkov, this won't affect my performance in combat" Ava replies.

"I don't know if this will help but I hope we'll find her there. And if we don't I will do everything in my power to find out where she is and take you to rescue her myself. You can call me Viktor" Viktor says.

"I appreciate that Viktor" Ava nods.

"We'll be with you all the way commander" Ashley cuts in the conversation over the radio.

Ava wants to go over the plan with everyone again but she knows from experience that plans are irrelevant once contact with the enemy is made. Their objective is to rescue any possible prisoners regardless of origin but the safety of UNE's citizens and their own are at the utmost priority.

The pilot informs that they have reached their destination and are descending to deployment height. As soon as the red dime light switch to green both side doors of the DS-20B open as the plane hovers at 5 meters (16.4 feet) off the ground. The SAT8s jump out first and start securing the area for the operators to jump down after.

"Alright people, you know the drill let move" Ava orders her unit to move

The 5th SIF is the most decorated special force unit in the entire UNE military under the command of Ava. The accomplishment of impossible missions against overwhelming odds inspires the troops and makes headlines as propaganda to boost population support, it is a great honor and a dream of many SIF candidates to join the platoon.

She understands that the unit has been running operations against much more advanced and more dangerous enemies before but that does mean that she can underestimate this enemy. One little mistake could possibly cost the lives of everyone.

--War spike, Terra Sphere--

The President of the United Nations of Earth (POTUS) along with many high-ranking officials are sitting at a large ring table with holographic screens in front of them as they watch the SIF platoons on their mission through MNet. It is hoped that the teams can recover all their people so the enemy loses their only bargaining card.

President Liam Brown is on his third and final presidency. He is a highly respected man and also is an ex-SIF. At the age of 393, he lost his leg in an operation against the Marikar Empire, although they were able to regenerate his leg using bio-reconstruction technology he decided to switch to a political career. As good as he was a warrior, he is an equally fierce politician which ended up him holding the office for 3 terms and 10 years each.

"General, this operation cannot go wrong. It would be bad when the media find out we fail to rescue our people from a primitive enemy" President Liam speak to the commander-in-chief next to him.

"These are the best men and women the UNE have to offer Mr. President, if our people are there they will bring them back safely" the General assures his superior.

--Charlie Compound--

Being deep inside the Empire's territory, the walls of the compound is designed to keep the slaves and prisoners from escaping rather than keeping outsiders out. Using drone vision, Ava sees there's a blind spot at the end of the wall where it meets with the mountain. She signals everyone to climb over the wall instead of jumping to reduce the noise.

The advanced technology of the TAC suit allows it to prevent any sound inside the suit to get out but special forces still use hand signals to communicate in mission with the help of TACNet. The reason behind this is to remind the operators that they are on dangerous ground and they must stay as stealthy as possible and always be on guard.

As soon as everyone is inside, Ashley runs up and squeezes Ava's shoulder signaling it's clear to proceed. Ava takes the 1st squad and head to the tower while Ashley takes the 2nd squad and clear the guardhouse. Each squad has 4 SAT8 with them.

The tower is 20 meters (65.6 feet) in height and has only 1 stairway all the way to the top. Ava signal Rob to take 5 operators and 2 SAT8 to clear the gate and a watchtower then provide overwatch while she and the rest of the squad secure the tower. Everyone uses their combat knives to stab or snap the enemy's neck to remain silent.

MNet shows that all units are proceeding as plan and the enemy has no awareness of their present yet. However, Ava finds it odds that the Delta compound of the 22nd SIF is very lightly guarded. Shaking the thought, she returns to focusing on her objective and rally the platoon at the main gate into the mountain.

Her holographic screen shows that the hallway behind this door is narrow and connects to many rooms with hostile occupants. There is no way for them to remain stealthy after they breach the door so she signals everyone to switch to their SMG for CQC and be ready to move quickly once they're inside.

David comes up and sets a doorbuster charge on the door then gives a thumb up as a signal for everyone to take cover and the explosive is charged. The doorbuster does exactly as its name says, it can bring down all kinds of doors except for the thickest or protected by shielding technology. After 3 seconds, the doorbuster explodes and shatter the wooden door into splinters.

After ordering 5 men, including David, from the 2nd squad to stay behind and make sure they have a way out, Ava taking point of the 1st squad move in from the right and Ashley with the rest of 2nd squad from the left. The SIF begins clearing room by room in an orderly fashion just like they did countless times before. There's always 2 operators and 1 SAT8 pointing weapon down the hallway and engaging any hostile that appear and 2 other operators and 1 SAT8 securing the back.

Each room is cleared by 3-4 operators depending on the size and the shape of the room. The operators line up on both side of the door and the breather shoots the door lock before the pointman advance into the room. Each operator picks a firing position and does not move until all hostile are downed, the first ones that enter must position themselves the farthest away from the entry point so the ones that enter after them won't be caught in their line of fire.

Once all hostiles in the room are down, they proceed to check under the table, bed, behind curtains, fireplaces and any place that can hide someone no matter how small. The last operator who enters the room will always shoot the downed hostiles again in the head to make sure they're really dead. Once the room is cleared, they move on to the next, slow but steady.

After a while, they reach a large room filled with chains and stone blocks that look like torture tables. Inside the room, the legionaries line up in formation getting ready to engage the SIF as they move in. Ava signal Ashley as they both throw 2 plasma grenades into the room which kill most of the legionaries and melt some nearby stone tables and chain. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, the SIFs move in and put down those who still standing.

Once the room is cleared, Ava looks around the room and she can see body parts and blood on and by the torture tables. She is boiled with anger from witnessing such barbaric practice and hopes that she can find their people here and take them to safety.

"Savages" Viktor says in a cold anger tone.

"Ash, you stay here and secure this room. 1st Squad and Viktor on me" Ava orders then continue to move on.

This room is the deepest the drone could scan and map. Therefore, going deeper is more dangerous as they're running blind. However, their TAC suit in combination with the SAT8 scanners allows them to see through the wall to a certain degree.

Ava leads the 1st squad deeper into the mountain encountering fiercer enemy resistance but it is nothing they can't handle. The way forward is mostly prison cells and stone workshops where the slaves create stone blocks and stone products to be shipped out to all corners of the Empire.

At the end of the compound is a large hall which seems to be where the legionaries stay. Looking through the wall Ava can see exactly 104 legionaries information and in front of them is a row of hostages being held at swords point. This means that throwing plasma grenades in is out of the question.

"I know you're out there, we have your people with us!" the centurion calls out a little shaking in his voice "If you use your dark magic they will die".

"Head up, they have hostages so check your fire" Ava reminds her squad of the drill.

Ava and Rob throw stun grenades into the room which incapacitate both hostages and enemies combatants. The SIFs then move in and take out hostiles near the hostages so they can secure the hostages while the SAT8s unleash their firepower at the rest of the enemy in the room.

"You are UNE? You come to rescue us?" One of the hostages starts crying.

TACNet identifies all 17 of them are citizens of the UNE, some are in really bad shape from either torture or heavy labor.

"I'm Commander Ave Bennett of the 5th SIF, 2nd ISO. We're here to get you out, can you move?" Ava asks the civilians.

"Commander Bennett, is Admiral Bennett your mother? My name is Kelly" Kelly could barely speak.

"Yes I am, do you know where she is?" hearing her mother's name suddenly gives Ava some hope.

"I do not know, she tried to protect us but as soon as they know she's a high ranking officer they separated us" Kelly coughs then continue "That was 2 weeks ago, since then I haven't seen her. They also take many of us away and we never saw any of them again. I'm sorry".

"It's alright we'll worry about that later, now let get you out of here" Ava assures Kelly then reports to HQ "This is 5th SIF lead, we found 17 UNE citizens proceeding to extraction. Over".

"Roger that 5th SIF lead, Meat Wagon is on the way to extract. Proceed to rally point Alpha. Over" HQ responds through the radio.

"Copy that HQ, proceeding to rally point Alpha. Over" Ava then turns back to the squad "Rob you and the SAT8 take point everyone else helps the civilian up and moving hurry".

"Ash, David we're heading back out, I need sitrep" Ava asks.

"It's clear over here commander" Ashly replies.

"Gate is clear commander" David reports.

The retreat from the compound happens smoothly without any problem as all the hostiles are already neutralized. Coming to the open field there are 4 cloaked DS-20B waiting for them. After making sure everyone is on board, Ava gives the signal to the pilots to take off and bring them back to Fort Alnus.

"This is 22nd SIF lead to all unit, the situation is Charlie Foxtrot. Request immediate assistance over" the commander of 22nd SIF calls over the radio while heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.

"5th SIF lead, requesting to reinforce 22nd SIF. Over" Ava is quick on the radio.

"Deny" General Nguyen cuts in "they brought barrels of what we believe contain the same explosive magic in the Battle of Alnus Hill after pushing the 22nd SIF rear guard deep into the compound using new explosive arrows. A marine company is on their way to assist them and will arrive faster than you, your top priority now is to bring our people back safely".

Ava then switches to the vision of the drone over Delta compound and sees a massive army is surrounding the entrance. She sees some imperial soldiers running out of the compound then a large purple explosion happens which takes down the part of the mountain over the compound. MNet display all members of the 22nd SIF are now KIA.

"It's a trap! This is FUBAR" David shouts into the radio.

Ava sinks down on her seat with the thought that her mother could be there but the team in Alpha and Bravo didn't find any UNE citizen. She dematerializes the front of her helmet and gives Viktor a cold look.

"I'll get to the bottom of this commander, I promise" Viktor replies.

The rest of the way back to Fort Alnus is incomplete silence as everyone tries to take in what just happened. An enemy that was thought to be insignificant just took out an entire unit of their most elite soldiers. Despite the fact that the Empire was willing to sacrifice hundreds of their soldiers to eliminate 20 men of the UNE prove that this war is not going to be simple and the enemy is more dangerous and resourceful than they appear.

----