#### This piece contains violence directed at characters (including children), implied violence, chemical violence, graphic injuries, graphic animal death, extreme mental distress, medical procedures, implications of slavery and the trafficking of sapient species. ******* The camp was a quiet flurry of motion. Above them the moons were dark, and the plan was going into action. Kaily took a deep breath to center themself and continued directing efforts. Those participating in the raid-rescue were getting their gear ready. Those who'd be administering food and medicine were preparing food and bandages and cots. Other supplies that may be needed were being pulled out and organized, such as clothing and shoes. Guards were being left in case a counterattack, or simply bandits, came across them thinking the camp an easy mark. Kaily flowed through the activity like a fish in water. "We move out in ten minutes everyone! Make sure your gear is secured to you, and that you have your eye wear _on_ before we leave. I don't need anyone losing an eye or getting blinded by their own hoods in case one of the slaver guards kicks up a fuss. Move silently. We don't want to alert them, or any of their pack animals that are further out. Most of them are qualds and you don't want to make one ruin your night. Pick up the pace people!" Kaily announced. The activity kicked up a notch as fires were blocked to keep light from giving their camp away, as gear went through final checks, and others loosened their muscles for the trek. Tonight was the night. A few ketucari with medic training would shadow them with sledges for the worst ill and injured, and the ever present chance to bring bodies back to be returned. _I certainly hope there's no dead. Some of them don't have a people for their bodies to be returned to_, Kaily thought as they walked around. The scouting team would relay live positions of guards while the rest of them took out the guards. There was a ball of worry in the pit of their stomach, but the familiar procedures helped the rest of them relax as they did final checks and hissed at anyone who forgot key items (couldn't be too loud, anyone wandering the roads this late might hear the bellowing). Soon, it was time to head out. Now familiar faces loomed in the dark, darkened with paint. Scouts loped ahead on silent feet as they made their way to the slaver camp. A final position check was done to verify they would be there before the mission. _Too close to the ocean for my liking. If the moons had been different we might've needed to do this with too much light_. Kaily Shuddered at the thought of families being torn apart with even more violence. Their footing was more sure as the others fell into formation beside them. Everyone had painted their fur and feathers to blend in with the area and break up their outlines. Specialty paint with little odor, _after all, how good is visual camouflage if your smell gives you away._ Kaily focused, letting their head empty of everything but the mission. Take out the slavers to rescue the people. Burn the rest. That last part wasn't broadcasted to the rest of the team, some might object to the point of violence. But, they couldn't let the slavers rebuild easily, preferably not at all. A call went out, they were close to the pack animals. Everyone flowed in a large berth where the beasts were staked out. Soon, the soft glow of lamps dotted the horizon as the slaver camp came into view. everyone peeled off as positions were called out. Kaily readied a bag as they came to the first guard. a large toa in the employ of the slavers. They grinned beneath the moonless stars. ******* Kalahari's ribs ached as he kept pace with everyone, but he was cleared to be on the mission. He ground his tusks through the pain. Forge nudged his side as they pulled away from the group; Sorcha following closely behind. The first guard on their section was a kadin left to Sorcha as she was much too large for Kalahari in his state, and Forge was too light to take her down without a struggle. She silently walked beside the guard, and then was out of his view. Kalahari could hear the muffled _thump_ and rapid breathing that soon evened out. The next guard was a toa, Forge was on him in seconds. Around a tent was another guard, Akadri, stumbling on them in surprise. She went to shout but Kalahari was moving before he realized it. The hood went over cleanly and soon she was out. He quietly set her body down with one arm. He was very aware of how exposed he was. She'd been holding a lamp and it was now on the ground, illuminating his face. Forge came up beside him, and cursed. More movement from around another tent. He grabbed the lamp and moved it slowly, as Kalahari dragged the guard back behind the first tent. Glints of cages could be seen. They slunk low to the ground as they approached. Hands reached out, shaking and desperate. A fury burned in his heart seeing the people locked up. Children and cubs were separated rom the rest, crying softly. Sorcha came up beside them, making the people closest to them gasp. From her neck pouch she produced the lock picking kit. Kalahari addressed the people. "We're going to clear out the camp to make sure you all can escape. Sorcha here will get you free. Follow her as best you can, she'll take you to the medics who'll guide you back. If anyone's too weak to walk, help them," he said, and then followed Forge to finish clearing out the camp. He heard a _click_ behind them as Sorcha picked the lock free. Choking sobs of relief as people were freed. He had to resist the urge to look behind him to watch, freeing them meant nothing if they couldn't make sure they'd leave to safety. And that meant taking out the rest of the guards in the camp. Forge let out a hushed growl beside him as he saw the state the children were in. Kalahari wasn't the only one with a fire in his heart now. ******* Sorcha steeled herself as she finished picking the locks. The people who were stronger were helping those who struggled, or couldn't, walk. She directed them to hide behind the tents as she picked the rest of the cage locks. The children were the hardest. Adults stayed with her, crouching behind her body for cover, ready to carry the children with them. One man asked her how to carry one of the cubs who was badly injured, and she struggled for words. The cub looked like she'd been beaten half to death, with bones half healed at wrong angles. Without a word she pulled out one of the simple stretchers attached to her belts. It would work for a cub. Another cub clung to her tail, fear bright in his eyes. "It's alright, we're going to be safe, all of us," the man rasped, as he gently moved the injured cub to the stretcher. A woman came up to him and took the other side. Before they could lift the second club climbed up onto the stretcher, unwilling to let her go alone. Sorcha dug her claws into the ground, feeling the compacted sod shred. They would _pay_ for what they did to these people. She remembered what Kaily said about the state the people might be in, but nothing can quite prepare one for this. It was awful. Equal parts despair and rage coursed through her. Now she could understand Kaily's conviction, these things must not be allowed to continue. She finished with the rest of the locks on this side of the camp, always watching and listening for footsteps. The last set of cages held a human child and a very young cub in his lap. The cub clung to him as he crawled towards Sorcha. Once he finished crawling out of the painfully small cage he clung to her neck feathers with one hand, silent tears running down his cheeks. She chuffed softly onto both of their heads before checking the coast was clear. The boy was able to keep with a slow trot as he clung to her and the cub nestled in his arm. Sorcha addressed the group in front of her, "there's groups of ketucari with medical training with sledges to help you all get back to our main camp. It's quite the trek, so let them know if you don't think you can walk the entire way. We need to move quickly and quietly as there could still be guards." Many of the people there looked as if they could barely stand, let alone walk. She agonized over making a shorter trip to the waiting medics and sledges, and risking alerting or riling up the pack animals, or taking the safer but longer route. She looked back, and opted for the safer route. No one was in a state to run if it came down to running. She continued on, showing them to safety. ******* Forge's body was making it known how tired he was, but he couldn't stop. His toes were bleeding and burning in places where the capsaicin oil worked its way into cuts and places where fur and skin had been stripped away. Kalahari was beside him, doing his best not to wheeze with his injured ribs. Forge took a deep breath in as they approached another tent where murmuring could be heard inside. On the other side of it was Kaily, with bags ready to go. Forge moved over back behind the tent, while Kalahari took up a supporting side, waiting to grab any who tried to slip by. On Kaily's signal he growled, low. The voices stopped, and then quick hushed whispering. Shuffling. Someone grabbing a weapon, and then opening the tent flap. With barely a sound Kaily whipped a bag over the man's head, and let him fall limp in their arms. Rising panic could be heard in the tent, things like "-the guards?" and "We paid them-" slipped through the walls. Someone hushed another saying "-make a break for it!" A grin spread across his face, _they can try, but I'll be here waiting_. Their caution was proved correct when a man sliced through the tent walls with a machete to try and make a break for it. Kalahari was on him in a blink, bag over the man's head. Kaily wrestled two other people to the ground, wrestling a bag over one's head while the other hit their chest in vain. One of the guard ketucari chose that moment to appear, but all he did was growl at them before bolting. As he raced by Forge caught "-pay me enough for this crap." The leggy toa was gone before they could think about chasing after him. "Let him go, we got bigger things to worry about right now. I'll send a scout to track him however, don't you worry. He will pay," Kaily said, finally wrestling a bag over the second person's head. Forge watched the other toa's tail disappear into the night. A growl echoed in his chest as he turned back around to help Kaily and the rest finish clearing out the camp. Some tents were already on fire, from knocked over lamps he assumed. They came across a second group of their people, working on freeing more of the slavers' victims. One kadin was trying to smash open a lock with something large and metallic he couldn't quite make out. And among a cluster of cages was Sorcha, with her lock picking kit. _She got back quick,_ he thought. Seeing people reach through the bars, being handed medicine, water, and food, while they were being freed, made a deep part of his heart ache. Forge watched as Kaily shoved their way towards the Kadin trying to break open the lock. He headed towards Sorcha, Kalahari close on his heels. "How far have you gotten?" he asked. She sighed, "Not as far a I'd like. One of the medics met me about halfway, so I was able to get back faster. But there's still so many people left to free. I don't know how we can go faster without risking people, and going at our current pace we'll be caught at sun up with people still in cages. These locks are all different types, some easier than others, and that's the primary problem. The one you saw banging a rock on the lock, we both tried to pick the lock, and she broke most of her tools in it. We stopped trying with the lock pick sets so we didn't lose the fastest method of getting them out." Kalahari spoke up, "What about keys? Shouldn't the guards have keys?" She shook her head, "None that we've found so far. There's several looking, and all the guards we've taken out haven't had any. They've all been checked at least four times." "Blast it!" Forge hissed, "We need to get them out!" Kalahari turned around, "I'll ask Kaily if it's safe for the Medic sledges to come into camp." "Good idea," Forge said. ******* The kadin who was trying to break open the lock explained why she gave up on tools. And the lack of keys anywhere in the camp. A flash of fear prickled through Kaily. _This close to port, they may have sent a runner with keys to whoever was arranging their ship. Which means there could be more nearby_... "Here, lemme try that," Kaily said, reaching for the sledgehammer. _Thwack!_ _Bang!_ _Thwack!_ The lock's bolt was loosening, but wasn't loose enough yet to pull it free. They inspected the door's loop, but sighed, it really was too thick to break with what they had and the time they had left. Someone had the smart idea to hand out medicine, water, and what little food they brought with them to the people still trapped. They hit the lock a few more times, alternating with the kadin from before. The greheli user on their team was busy with the rest of the locks, they shouted back at Kaily he'd be there as soon as they freed all the children and cubs. After a few minutes of this Kalahari came up next to them, pained breathing noticeable. "Is it safe to call the medic sledges into camp?" he asked. "It should be-"n_thwack "-_wait for the scouts-" _bang_ "-to give the all clear-" _bang_ "-they should be done-" _thwack_ "-here soon," they said. Kalahari nodded, openly wheezing. The Greheli user came up to the door. People immediately became alert and sat upright, some standing in the tight space. The greheli user, who went by Daub, grumbled about how mangled they made the lock instead of waiting. Within seconds the lock lay broken on the ground. Kaily swung the mangle door open. Tear stained faces looked at them all and thanked them, some stumbling and catching themselves on the nearby ketucari as they left. It was clear it had been awhile since they were able to properly stand or walk. A plainsowl call pierced the night. _The all clear signal_. Kaily and the others helped people get up and walk. Kaily could see a woman with a broken leg gingerly holding onto Kalahari to stay balanced. The gentle rushing of sledges over grass could be heard as the medics arrived to take people back to the main camp. People were being loaded into the sledges when a crackling sound was heard echoing across the plains, followed by thundering steps. "The qualds!" shouted a medic. Off in the distance a figure could be seen running fast into the night, lit up by the sporadic flashes from the gunpowder. Panic seized people as they realized that the qualds were being driven towards them. _Shit!_ Kaily leapt ahead and called for anyone who could still fight to help them meet the herd. "Drive them around the camp if you can! If not tackle them to slow them down to force the rest to go around!" they bellowed. Medics hurried to load and secure the people to the sledges. They wouldn't have enough time to get out of the herd's stampede. Kaily ran as fast as they could to meet the herd. Beside them were blurs of other Ketucari, battle gear at the ready. With a howl Kaily threw themself at the front most quald, slamming it with their body weight. They could feel it sending them both into the ground as it stumbled. Others around Kaily did the same. The great plains beast got back up breathing hard. Kaily reared up to claw at the beast's head before it could stand fully, trying to force it back to the ground. It kicked them hard in the ribs, winding them. It took a few painfully long seconds to get their breath back. Breathing was a painful shock. Another quald came running full tilt at them, and in a second it was knocked on its side, Sorcha pinning it with her body weight. Kaily and Sorcha met each other's eyes with a glance, and in a second they were back to the fight. Out of the corner of their eye Kaily saw Forge and Kalahari work to throw one beast to the ground. It kicked and thrashed as they pinned it, narrowly missing Forge's head. Kalahari raised his claws and the beast went still. He panted, openly wheezing now. Kaily saw Forge help hold Kalahari up as they retreated from the direct fighting. _Good, he needs medical attention back at camp._ They spun around as Daub came into view, shredding the tendons of one quald, rendering it immobile and bellowing. The bellowing was cut short within a blink. Kaily threw themself at another quald charging towards Daub, giving him room to use his Greheli. A deflection field went up with a rumble they could feel in their bones. Quald were sent flying from the force them hitting the deflection field. Finally, the rest of the panicked beasts were going around the camp, instead of blindly charging through. It was over in under a minute. Kaily looked around as the last of the beasts went into the distance, many still trailing ropes and harnesses. The field around them all was a carnage of bodies. They narrowed in on the medics and rescued people; all thankfully appearing unharmed form the stampede. Part of them relaxed once it was clear they were safe to leave. _Besides that toa who set off the gunpowder barrels,_ they growled at the thought. Whoever he was, they'd need to make sure he was tracked. They checked the sky, and cursed as the horizon glowed faintly. "We need to get these people back to camp before dawn! Any salvaging will need to be done _after_ that!" Kaily commanded. Blood and thicker things filled their nose, as they turned back towards camp. ******* Kalahari was gasping for air by the time they reached camp. Forge and Sorcha held him up between them, both pulling makeshift sledges. Every breath was pain. Good Doctor came running to check on the people in the sledges, and upon noticing Kalahari gasping _immediately_ sent him to one of the medical tents. He couldn't even get the air to argue. Sorcha detached the sledge from her belts and half hauled half dragged him to the medical tent, calling him a fool, but there was affection in her voice. That confused him. More gasping. Someone spread a pleasantly numbing thing on his bad ribs. Breathing was still hard. A liquidy herb paste was dumped into his mouth and he was made to swallow. His head grew fuzzy, did someone say that? _Heh, it's already fuzzy_. He couldn't quite expand his ribcage to take a proper breath. _Why was that? Did something happen?_ He thought Kaily checked on him as medics scrambled around him, and over him, frowning. Concerned? Maybe. Then someone mercifully held something under his nose, and he passed out into a dreamless black. ******* Sorcha was shaking. Within the trek back Kalahari's condition worsened. It took her and Forge to keep him upright. His legs practically dragging as he increasingly gasped for air. Good Doctor assured her and Forge he'd make a full recovery, he just needed to _sleep_ and give his body a chance to heal. He'd exhausted himself and he was paying the price for it. Ei told them that if they really wanted to help, they could gather herbs, or haul back one of the less shredded Quald to make broth for him and the rest of those receiving treatment. They both knew better than to argue with Good Doctor by now, and knew when they were being dismissed to leave someone be. On their way out of the tent they bumped into Kaily. "How is he?" they asked. Sorcha sighed, "Good Doctor says that he overdid it, and needs to rest, and preferably immobile for 'at least a day, if not a week'. Ei also said if we wanted to help him specifically to gather herbs or bring back one of the quald." Kaily nodded their head, "sounds about right. We may need to put him on a sledge when we move camp. I think our position was compromised, but I'm waiting on a scout." "Will they get back in time?" Forge asked. "If they're not back before nightfall we're moving camp," said Kaily. "And if they report back we're safe?" Sorcha prodded. Kaily sighed, "Then we stay until we're no longer able to. Moving sooner is better in the long term, but besides Kalahari, there's too many injured and sick. Good Doctor also needs to send that cub you found Sorcha to a surgeon in the City. Her bones were left to heal wrong, and it's going to take far better equipment than we have here to fix that." Sorcha asked quietly, "Why would they do that to a cub? And all the things they did to the rest of the children?" "I know you're asking out of concern, but I don't think you're truly ready to hear why. There's very few reasons for slavers to do what they did to those children, and each is worse than the last. Ask me again when you have a clearer head," Kaily said, gently. Sorcha nodded her head and then grabbed her gear. She was grabbing herbs, as many as she could stuff in there and be back before nightfall. To do anything else would leave her alone with her thoughts for too long. Memories of the children and cubs were raw in her mind. She glanced at Forge, and his eyes were as raw as she felt. As she turned to grab her gear, she heard Kaily go into the tent to speak with the medics and Good Doctor. She couldn't bare to stay and listen. Sorcha dragged herself to her gear, and equipped the baskets as if in a trance. She loosely picked a direction and went off in a lope. The sun rising over the plains felt less like a beacon of hope and beginnings, and more like a harbinger of heat and hate. When she felt she was far enough away from camp she screamed her pain into the rising sun. ******* Forge heard Sorcha's distorted scream of pain and rage. His heart echoed it, but he couldn't choke out a response of his own. His throat was closed in fury and pain. With viciousness he threw on his gathering gear and went with the salvage teams. Kaily gave him a glance as he walked by. He didn't care if Kaily joined. He needed to burn up these feelings before they burned _him_. He ate up miles under his gait. Going far ahead of the rest, doubling as scout. He looked up into the softening sky, and already scavengers were zeroing in on the quald killing field.