"why"
A woman with vibrant blue hair asked the Vice-Head of ROAR.
Slowly getting out of the metabus he was in, he asked with a displeased face, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just wondering why did you give them one week. Killing them there and then would have been better. What's with the game you're trying to play?" she said, trying to calm him down.
"You dare question me, Miss Kenny?" he asked with a serious and enraged look, staring at her with anger in his eyes.
"No, this servant would never think of questioning the decision of her lord," she said pleadingly, dropping to her knees. "Please forgive me for my stupidity, Lord Gruger." On her knees, she begged.
Gruger lowered himself to her eye level, touching her face as he said, "Hope." He let the word hang in the air before continuing. "Hope - that's the illusion I gave them. I made them think, made them believe that they had a chance to survive. Some will try to escape, while some will try to obtain the credits."
Slowly touching her face with a devilish look, he whispered, "A week for them to be delusional. A week for them to believe they have a chance." His hand moved to her eye, pushing in slowly until - pop - her eye burst, the wet pop muffled by her screams
Standing up, he raised his thumb, now covered in blood. "The fools that dare to question, contradict, and go against ROAR deserve nothing but pain." He licked the blood from his thumb, cackling like a psychomaniac.
"MARRAHHHAAA—"
"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Naran's voice cut through the chaos as he shouted at the muscular, bald man currently panicking.
"What do you mean 'shut up'? We're all about to die because of you, and you're telling me to shut up?" the bald man fired back.
"Bonnds, Naran is right," Miss Cathie interjected. "Panicking and unnecessary worry will not help the situation."
Bonnds, the third leader of the Coroules Scavengers, had been away trading in another settlement when everything went down.
"I was gone for just over five days, and somehow we have an unpayable 50,000 credits debt," he said with a look of disbelief.
"We need to come up with an actual plan to go about this, not waste time panicking away our valuable time," Naran added.
"Now that Bonnds is back, we need a strategy that would be effective to get the Lansing steel, trade it, pay off our debt to ROAR, and relocate fast," Cathie said with a serious look.
"First, we need to create the team to get the Lansing. We need to plan that out fast," Ji Ung added.
The Coroules Scavengers were considered one of the best scavenger groups around, not just because of their level of skill but because of their equal distribution of quality and quantity. They divided their force into three units:
The first team, considered the main team, was responsible for tracking and exploring, led by Ji Ung. The second team, mainly for extracting and battling, was led by Micah. The third team, primarily for discovering, trading, and battling, was headed by Bonnds. This system, established by Coroules, made scavenging faster and safer.
"We go in all at once," Coroules said with a serious and determined look.
"What do you mean 'go all at once'?" Micah asked, baffled by what Coroules just said.
"It's an objective, strategic approach we will use," Coroules replied.
Everyone stood in disbelief. This wasn't the same Coroules who would advise them to gather information about their destination and potential threats. This Coroules was telling them to go in blind.
"Can you explain what you mean by going in all at once?" Ji Ung asked.
"To avoid ROAR," Coroules explained. "If we scout first, ROAR will believe we still think we can somehow escape our debt, which could lead to unwanted attacks and interference from them. And if the Wolves take us on unit by unit, it wouldn't just affect or damage the team - it may lead to the entire team being wiped out. We know where the Lansing steel is, so going in groups to prepare would just be a waste."
"So you're saying we go in all at once, making ROAR believe it's our last-ditch effort for survival, and we'll have a stronger chance of dealing with the Wolves if we face them with our full force," Naran said with a serious look.
"It's risky but helps avoid the problem of ROAR and gives us an effective way to deal with the Wolves," Cathie said.
"Sounds effective enough. Everyone, start getting things ready. We move out as soon as possible," Ji Ung declared.
As everyone slowly dispersed to prepare for the coming mission, Naran realized the plan Coroules suggested wasn't something they'd done before. He wasn't sure it would work with their style of scavenging. He ran toward Coroules, calling out, "Why, why this plan we've never gone on blind before?"
Coroules looked back, seeing it was Naran, then turned to continue adjusting his vibrant red bow. "Why aren't you getting ready, Naran? We leave soon."
"You do know how big a risk this is," Naran pressed.
"Really?" Coroules exclaimed with a look of surprise. "You finally acknowledge the risk you've put us into."
"What happened to 'no one deserves to be blamed'?" Naran said with an annoyed look.
Chuckling, Coroules said, "No one is at fault. I believe Naran did what he thought was right." His expression turned serious. "And I also fought the tax collector of ROAR, so I'm also at fault."
"Why did you even fight with one of the tax collectors?" Naran asked.
Coroules, still focusing on polishing the string of his bow, said, "That bastard deserved it. That's why I gave him the greatest beating of his life."
Standing up and walking toward Naran, Coroules continued, "I know you're worried about the plan, but I'll tell you this: From where I'm from, this is the plan we used when we had no chance of surviving. It's the last thing we do - make our enemy feel they've won, then sacrifice everything for just that possibility, that hope we might still have a chance to survive. FOOLISHNESS - that's what it is. And it's what will let us see a new beginning."
Naran stood stunned, not fully understanding Coroules' words, but he knew one thing - everyone was about to give their all, their best, for the hope and chance of survival. That meant he would have to give his best too.
"I'm going to get everyone ready," Naran told Coroules before moving swiftly to his room.
"So, are you ready yet?" Miss Cathie asked with a sad face. Slowly but surely, Ji Ung was seen putting on his armor, but he turned back to see his sad but lovely wife walking toward him.
"Are you worried?" he asked with a reassuring look. "You, the logical and calculating Cathie, worried her good-for-nothing husband was about to go on a mission that may take his life?"
Moving closer, she told him to shut up. "Who told you you're worthless? You're not worthless. You're my life, my one and only." A tear dropped from her eyes as she added, "Come back to me."
Ji Ung replied softly, "I will return to you."
"Everyone!" a voice called out. Before Cathie could reply, Ji Ung left the room to see who had spoken.
"You must return to us," Cathie whispered touching her belly as Ji Ung left.
Bonnds announced, "It's time," revealing he'd gotten nine huge transport metabuses on rent and weapons from their friends in the trade market.
"Nice work," Micah said, ready with his large sword on his back.
Ji Ung walked in wearing his armor and carrying two blades. "Good work, Bonnds."
Naran entered the conversation dressed in all black with a dagger in his hand. "We've got 117 men ready, weapons loaded."
Finally, Coroules emerged with his bow, arrows, and blue armor. "Everyone, we're about to go on a mission that will decide if we survive or not. We're going against forces whose strength we don't know. This isn't like our other battles - this is a fight for our survival, for our families, for our loved ones, for everything we cherish. We go to war not fully knowing what to expect, prepared to risk everything for that last drop of hope you aren't even sure exists. But I promise you this: survival and victory will be ours! You all will be victorious!"
Everyone boarded the metabuses, preparing to head out. As they drove, they knew this was their last chance - their final opportunity. All 117+ members of the Coroules Scavengers were driving toward their last true chance for survival. To them, failure wasn't an option - only survival was allowed.
Approaching the settlement gates, a guard asked, "Ticket?"
Naran showed the Coroules Scavengers' identification card in reply. After checking the card, the gate guard signaled the others to open the gate, letting the convoy of metabuses out of the settlement.
"Sir, they've all left through the gate," a guard reported to Vice-Head Gruger.
"MARRAHHHAAA." Gruger's laughter filled the air.
"Aren't you upset they might choose to run away, my lord?" the now one-eyed Miss Kenny asked.
"Run away from me? Where to? They can't run, and they know that. Even if they somehow choose to run, I will find them and make sure they feel nothing but pain." Gruger's face twisted into a huge, devilish smile.