Gales POV
"Hey, it's time," a voice called out faintly.
While stuck in this place, I'd become a light sleeper, and coupled with WolfHeart, the faint voice was enough to wake me. Looking towards the source of the voice, I saw that it was Max who had begun to wake his group up. Before he went to sleep, he had apparently made a small rune on the floor beside him and placed his hand over it so it would send a subtle vibration to wake him around 15 minutes before we set our plan in motion.
As we all woke up, the rabbit demihuman, apparently named Darrell, began focusing on activating his magic again to confirm where Rekka was. While he did that, I went over the plan with the group.
"Alright, once he's locked down Rekka's position, we'll leave the cells and start making our way through the tunnels. While we make our way through the tunnels, you all need to follow right behind me. We won't have much time to do this, and we'll have to be quick, or we lose our chance."
"Can't we just wait until Rekka starts to make her way down to the mines?" Questioned one of the captives.
"No."
"We only have around an hour before she starts to make preparations to leave, which is about the time that the slavers will come and get the next batch of enslaved people, aka us, resulting in our cover being blown."
"Even if we did try that, by the time we made it to the airship, she would most likely have seen us all gone from our cells and would have sent out an order for the whole prison to search for us. Not to mention that she wouldn't just leave her ship unprotected and most likely would have left a few of her close personnel guarding it and making final preparations, so to maximize our chances of success, I won't be taking us to the exit."
Upon hearing that last part, nearly the entire group became agitated with me.
"What?! You said you knew where the exit was and that you would lead us!"
"I knew we couldn't trust him."
I ignored their complaints and continued, "I'll be taking you all to our distraction."
They soon fell silent and exchanged confused looks.
"While we were resting, I kept thinking of a way to create the best possible distraction that would cause everyone to gather in one place, and from there we could trap them and have enough time to secure the airship and leave. I eventually came up with the idea of using the mining equipment they have stored away."
Everyone leaned in as I explained the distraction.
"I only passed by it a few times, but there was a storage area where they kept most of their heavy machinery and regular mining equipment. On one occasion, I saw them take out small explosive charges to blow out a tunnel their drills couldn't get through. If we can get to that storage unit, we can grab the explosives. From there, we head to one of the areas where another batch of enslaved people is and create a riot that will cause Rekka and her men to head to the riot."
I could hear small exclamations of awe from the group as they listened, and then someone asked a question.
"But how do you plan on making sure Rekka and all her men gather together?"
It was a solid question, with plenty of variables to consider that could prevent her from arriving, but before I could answer, Darrell spoke up.
"I found her. She said in half an hour she would be heading down here."
At this, I turned to the group and told them that it was time and that I would put the plan into motion when the time came, but we had to move now. At this, the group agreed in silence, and we began to move out of our cells. We gathered up as a group, and as I was preparing to move, I felt a slight tug at the rag I called a shirt. I looked back and saw Ashes grabbing my shirt, an anxious look on her face. It looked as though she had no intention of leaving my side. I let out a small sigh and told her, "Do exactly what I say and don't make a sound." She silently nodded and continued to hold on.
I quickly counted us. Altogether, 20 people, including me.
At last, I was ready, signaled for them to follow me, and we began our escape.
As quickly but as carefully as I could, I led the group through the tunnels, all while remembering the directions and taking a moment to brace my nose and smell the air to ensure there weren't any patrols that decided to change their path. It was an agonizing 10 minutes that felt like hours, with every turn filling me with anxiety as I silently hoped I had remembered the paths correctly. Thankfully, we made it to the storage area.
We approached the large metal storage unit, and once we made it, I told Sasha to open the doors. She quickly approached the thick, large metal gate holding the equipment and made a small opening just big enough for a person to walk right in. I, along with Lucas, Clover, and Max, entered and saw the various heavy machinery and mining equipment. In a crate, I caught the same scent I had on the explosives, and as we opened it, we found the explosive charges along with remote detonators.
We carefully removed the charges, gave them to various people in our group, and armed them with pickaxes. Altogether, we had over ten charges, and once we gave out the equipment, I told the group to start moving, and we made our way to where the next batch of enslaved people were currently being put to work and where the slavers were. As we made our way there, I spoke to the group silently.
"Once we get near the work area, we are going to split up into two groups. Group 1, the demolition team, will go through different tunnels and place charges around the area to collapse it once Rekka and her men are in place. Once they plant it, they will hide while the second group does their job. Group 2 will be our riot group and will enter the area and begin the riot. Use whatever you can, whether it's with magic or with weapons, but the most important thing is that we also try to get the other enslaved people to join the riot."
As I explained, they all, except for Ashes, nodded confidently, while the small dragon girl looked nervous and clearly felt the pressure. It was clear she wasn't ready for the fighting, so I told her to stay to the side and not to touch anything, to which she only nodded silently. I planned to go with the demolition group, as there was a high chance that [Self Preservation] would activate and either cause me to freeze before going in or, worse, force me to run for safety, and I needed to be close by.
I grew anxious when I realized that, to make it work, we would have to kill the slavers. I had no love for the slavers and had seen people die already, but it still weighed on me. I also had no idea if the people in our group would be prepared to take another person's life, as not everyone would be on board with it, and even a moment's hesitation would be disastrous.
"Before we start... are you all prepared to take another person's life? If anyone isn't ready, then I recommend staying out of the way."
Once I finished speaking, the group exchanged looks with one another, and then Clover spoke up, "Of course I'm ready. Back home, my father taught me how to hunt monsters; this isn't any different, just killing more monsters." As she finished speaking, the majority of the group agreed and looked resolute in the plan.
This was a harsh reminder that this wasn't my world anymore and I would have to be ready to kill another person.
I made up my mind and grabbed my explosive charge, and we split the groups. I, along with Lucas and Max, would lead the demolition group, which consisted of those with the least experience fighting, and place the explosives on the area's infrastructure. Clover, along with Sasha, would lead the riot group, which was made up of those with the most experience fighting and access to attack magic as well.
We split into our respective groups, with Ashes hiding in a corner, and got into position. Once we were all ready, I gave them a countdown.
"3...2....1... GO!"
With that, we ran towards the most dangerous moments of our lives.