It was a good thing I decided to do the first sweep over the area at a high altitude. Either the defenses were completely automated to shoot at anything on their radar, or they were manned and shooting at me anyway. Part of why I scouted out the area proper in the first place. Better they shoot at me so I can pick off the defenses. Better that than dead soldiers.

  I could have just flattened the complexes from range. It would be trivial to turn the structures into a crater. It wouldn't be bad inherently for PR, too. People liked seeing stuff the enemy owned get blown up. Well, people liked seeing things get blown up in general. Mythbusters showed that.

  The problem was the people inside. Yes, they were all most likely members of the ASIC. But the keyword there is most likely. The ASIC did not play pleasantly. Was the idea of hostages particularly likely? Not really. The places were isolated, and far away from anything major. But at the same time, that didn't guarantee much.

  And the ASIC totally would record me firing my arrows into buildings with hostages. Would relish in me doing so. Which, yeah, is understandable in a messed up sort of way. Which would make it all the more likely that they would do something like that. Killing your own people, accident or not, was never a good look. It wouldn't be the first time they tried.

  Of course, they kinda had the downside of people in Gamindustri just being built different. A lot of people had to fight monsters for a living, and the Guild has been a presence on the planet for a long time. Sure, the ASIC had a lot of monsters they could control, but against an elite task force? All but the strongest weren't a problem. And with backup from me?

  A lot of those monsters were far less of an issue than they had any right to be.

  But the ASIC would use underhanded tactics meant to be nothing but cruel, all because I had to be more of a slave to PR at this point than they ever did. I hated it, but it was the card I had been dealt. So just because of the chance that they might have hostages, I was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.

  Still, pinking away at their defenses was a good use of time. Doing it outside of their ability to retaliate was always fun, even if it was a bit of a shame to ruin some flack guns. Seriously, I don't even know where they had dug up the museum pieces. Given the ASIC's habits, I'd guess an actual museum Which made it an utter shame to destroy them. They deserved better than that.

  But a flak gun meant to shoot down aircraft was very much going to mess up a standard soldier, no matter how one tried to dress it up. Better to deal with it by myself than having to break out body bags later. Still, it was fairly nice that the factories were close enough together. It was saving me a fair bit of time and effort.

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  "I told she was going to be fine, Vert darling," Chika's voice came from the other end as Vert let out a sigh. Chika did say that. Hinum hadn't told her where she was going, other than a target of opportunity had come up that she was going to deal with. Hinum hadn't gone into a lot more detail about where she was going, and why, so Vert decided to follow her.

  Hinum would want her to be relaxing but at the moment? She was trying to keep her mind off her usual methods of relaxation. It was, unpleasant. Hinum had told her that things likely wouldn't be good when it came to many of her MMO's, and Hinum hadn't been wrong. At least one game had shuttered its doors, while several others had fragmented or fragmenting guilds, either as players just stopped playing due to changing circumstances, or a simple lack of interest. Very few of her virtual hobbies are intact at the moment.

  And she had tried Hinum's games. They were.

  Bluntly speaking, Vert was unsure how her sister considered any of that relaxing. Or how she managed to process any of the information on the screen. It was just a bunch of statistics, spreadsheets, and math to her. And the less she said about that Blood Soul game, the better off she would be.

  So it was following Hinum around and hope that Hinum didn't notice. As of the moment, the operation was a complete success, even if she was tempted to rush in when Vert heard the sound of guns being fired. But Hinum simply climbed out of their effective range, and started to fire back, until the guns silenced.

  "What is she even doing here?" Vert asked through the walkie, as Hinum declined in altitude, but at the same time, going away from where the guns were. Was she trying to bait them into shooting again? Checking to make sure that there weren't any surprises during the final approach?

  It was a bit surprising just how methodical Hinum was being. As if she had done this before. Or, at least, had plans for something like this. As if Hinum was doing her job by some type of operational code.

  Knowing Hinum, Vert wouldn't be surprised if Hinum made some type of guide or rulebook when it came to an assault like this. It just seemed like something her sister would do. But it also was just good sense. Clear out defenses with minimal risk to one's self or others? It was good to see that Hinum clearly was seeing this as a matter of getting people back alive. Though she was a bit surprised by her restraint.

  Hinum definitely had extremely harsh anti-ASIC sentiments, for reasons Vert completely agreed with. Hinum even stoked those sentiments. Vert saw the interview. It was hard to see that as anything but her aiming people towards a target. Something that was risky, even if Hinum seemed to handle that risk well, all factors considered.

  Though, there was one thing that stuck out in Vert's mind. Hinum had called the ASIC a cult. She knew that where Hinum was from, religion was, a far more complicated topic than it was in Gamindustri. Significantly more complicated. Was that affecting how she viewed the conflict as a whole? Hinum did try in that book to frame the conflict as one she was familiar with. What it would have been like back home.

  She was pulling from experiences she had lived. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that Hinum had lived at least part of her life in another world. Lived long enough to be considered an adult before she found her way here by strange circumstances. Of course that was going to affect how she viewed things. How she saw problems and solutions. What she had seen back then would affect how Hinum would approach a problem.

  She had seen examples of what to do and what not to do. Possibly even living with the consequences of people in power making bad choices and calls during times of crisis.

  The thought that her sister had suffered from incompetence from people far beyond Vert's reach, much less her ability to punish, filled her with a brief spike of anger.

  "Hinum said she got word about some high-value targets of opportunity that would end the ASIC's ability to make products in Leanbox for good," Chika said on the other end. "She wanted to deal with them, but is expecting some form of trap or other complication."

  Vert frowned at that. Hinum was seemingly being careful, which Vert was thankful for. But running off on her own expecting a trap? Hinum would tell her off for even considering the idea, but here she was, doing something Vert knew she wouldn't approve of if the roles were reversed. Even with Hinum using her range to her advantage, she shouldn't be out here on her own without backup. Or, at the very least, someone looking out for her.

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  "The outer defenses are disabled here, here, and here," I pointed to the locations on the map, as several soldiers nodded. Having to use local groups was not exactly an idea I liked, given the possibility of a leak, but moving a large number of troops fast enough to take advantage of the opportunity I had been given was not easy. What I had available was what I had. I was going to have to make do with the resources at hand and keep an eye out when I could accordingly.

  "From there, breaking into the facility should be a simple approach. Break down the doors, and lead with the shields. If you start to face stiff resistance or traps, don't be afraid to pull back and wait for support, or make another breach," I continued, looking out over the assembled group. Everyone I looked at was standing firm. "Do not take needless risks. Capture those who resist, free any hostages that may be present. From there, destroy any equipment that the ASIC could be using."

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  It didn't matter what they were using it for, just that it was done. Sure, it'd be gone when I took the building up in a ball of fire, but it also wouldn't hurt to have the machinery smashed up ahead of time. No kill like overkill, and all that. Best to smash it up as many different ways as possible. Make sure as little survived as possible. I really wanted to make sure the ASIC's technology was left dead and buried after this mess.

  I'd rather not see the ASIC's technology in someone else's hands in a few years down the line, using it to cause their own brand of problems. Either in terms of the monster capture disks or any form of counterfeiting. The counterfeiting at least was easy enough to deal with. I could make sure the lessons of this weren't forgotten, and I doubt any future group would have the ASIC's resources.

  No, it was the disks that would be the big issue if the ability to produce them made it out into the wild. I could blame the ASIC for a lot, but they at least tried to keep those close to their chest. Hopefully, the damn things would go the way of Greek Fire. Something that only a few knew how to make, and would fade into history, with nobody able to revive it.

  Sure, I was putting the cart before the horse on that front, but I was getting to a point where I was willing to look beyond the immediate problems and start thinking about the long term again. Making sure the Monster Capture disks went the way of the dodo was always high on my list of goals. But now it felt more important than it had before. To make sure this dark time was truly going to be dead and buried. Making it so people didn't have to fear an ASIC member releasing a monster in the city just to cause suffering.

  "Ma'am yes Ma'am!" The soldiers shouted.

  I was so going to want to get used to not hearing that. Hopefully, the ASIC would have the decency to swiftly fall over and die now. I could handle making sure that the capture disks didn't outlive their creators, but the sooner Vert was back in charge of everything, the happier I was going to be.

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  "I didn't think she was going to make it here this quickly!"

  "Green Heart has been snooping around as well. This may have been a mistake."

  "The window we have is closing rapidly. We cannot afford to waste any more time. We have to act quickly if we are to get what we came for."

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  "So, the insurrection groups have been put down?"

  "Yes, sir. But they've done considerable damage during the riots. The automated defense systems were turned on, and some of them have escaped. She knows where we are now, Sir, and she's used the turned-on automated defenses to pick them off."

  "Unfortunate. As for the manpower? She's going to want to deal with this before any other problem. If we can keep Green Sister isolated for a siege, then we might be able to launch a counter-attack against the others while they're restoring their nations."

  "Cut in half, not counting injuries or those guarding the prisoners. Counting those? Maybe a quarter. If that. We won't hold out for a siege. Not for long."

  "Is it possible to repair the automated defenses? Use any plants in the area to give you more time?"

  "Green Sister is keeping a close eye on things. Green Heart has been spotted poking around as well. I don't know if Green Sister is aware, but that is still a problem."

  Baiting in Green Sister was difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. But if Green Heart was around? The rescue of the Goddesses was making the rounds, and it had put them on the back foot. The death of Judge was already being commented on, with Leanbox being the last to confirm such a report. They'd tried to keep information about that firmly on lockdown, but it was spreading. Leanbox's final confirmation had made the news explode, as odds were that Green Sister wouldn't take the time to confirm it unless she was certain.

  But what made it truly concerning was none of the other Hearts seemed particularly active. It was an angle the ASIC was going to exploit, trying to sow doubt that the rescue attempt was real, or a success. But Green Sister threw a party, and was more than willing to show Green Sister's return in front of the cameras. He had contacts saying that at least Black Sister intended to follow suit.

  But that was too much firepower for them to contest, even if they weren't now suffering from both manpower issues and desertion. And needing to keep their hostages under control. What looked to be a safe long-term investment, putting resources in a place where Green Sister couldn't find them to be a thorn in her side as she couldn't shut down everything completely, was now looking as if it was about to go up in a puff of smoke.

  "Hold them off as long as you can."

  That was all he could do. The release of the Goddesses had put them on the back foot, for now. The Sisters had gone to work, helping the people of their nations. Sure, none of them had hit the same peaks as Green Sister working in a soup kitchen, but for the first time in several years, the ASIC was losing Shares. Years of hard work, undercut by a single day.

  Unbelievable.

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  "Breach!"

  Hitting all three places at once was the ideal. I was stuck on overwatch, as we couldn't entirely discount that the factories were connected underground. I would have loved to bring up a Ground Penetrating Radar to check, but getting one out here would take far too long.

  Which left the standard procedure. Smash in the doors and windows, overwhelm whatever defenses they had with a coordinated assault, and arrest everyone resisting.

  And it was working. For whatever damn reason, whoever was in charge of the defense was a mess. The reports coming in from mission control showed that the factories were considerably understaffed. We certainly hadn't taken them by surprise, but with hardly enough people to cover every breach point, it hardly mattered.

  But the third factory was causing unexpected problems of the good variety. Perhaps, the too-good variety. When you breach a place and find everyone knocked unconscious before you enter? I didn't want to look gift horses in the mouth, but this time, I kinda had to.

  Sure, nobody was dead, but at the same time? A factory full of people didn't pass out without reason.

  "Merchandise is missing. I repeat, merchandise is missing," came through the coms as I growled. That was not what I wanted to hear. That was the exact opposite, in fact. The Monster Capture disks were high priority for destruction. The highest priority. If those were gone. And everyone in the building was unconscious.

  Someone had beat us to the punch. Making this exactly my worst-case scenario. Those getting out into the wild would be a disaster, even on a good day. The ASIC used it to commit terrorist acts, releasing a high-level monster into the crowded city couldn't be described any other way. Anyone else having that tech, even in passing? No. There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.

  "I'll scout out to see how far they managed to get. Continue rescue and arrest operations," I ordered, before taking off. With luck, they couldn't have gotten far. Those people were unconscious, not dead, so it couldn't have been more than a few hours, at least. Maybe, I wasn't fully sure, but with the equipment they had to be carrying, they had to be going pretty slow. And while the trees made things hard to see in the air, they also weren't going anywhere quickly themselves.

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  Which didn't seem to be true. I don't know what type of vehicle they acquired, but they were making good time. I managed to find tire tracks, pretty fresh. They popped out of the mud from time to time, giving me a way to tell where they were headed. But that wasn't much of an advantage, as I had to fly slow enough to spot the tire tracks through the foliage.

  I was about to break off my pursuit, getting close to the maximum range of the coms, before the roar of an engine made its way to my ears. Well, time to make a grand entrance.

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  I crossed my arms, floating in the vehicle's path.

  "Citizens," I presumed that part. "May I ask what you are doing with all that contraband material?"