Fatal Flaw and Fiorean Retribution

She feared for her life, that much was certain when those contraptions that sailed the skies roared their way into Italica and made landfall just outside the east gate. She spent every ounce of her self-control to not try and run away from this as a burnt husk was the fate that awaited her if she dared. Only when the pink haired man pulled her up to her feet did she know that this was her end, that all her struggles and battles led her to her demise. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair that just because she smelled different meant that she was going with the people who were allied with the War Maiden. She prayed to the gods that the best that could happen to her was that she was made into the Maiden's personal songbird for her entertainment. It's not the best life she would've wanted, but being her pet meant better care for her than the others. It was demeaning to be referred to as a pet for the rest of her life, but it meant that she lived and all she had to do was sing sweet melodies for a woman of legend. Not a bad deal given the last ones she was stuck with.

The young man made her stand in between four soldiers with the other woman prisoner right in front of her, taking the time to look at a puzzling sight. A blue cat floating through the air with wings, speaking to the pink haired man as they marched to those metal sky flyers. They waited for a time until another well-built man came aboard the flyer which signaled all the other soldiers to board the others. The woman in front was taken in first then she was pulled in after, taking a seat as the flyer roared to life once again and it began to rise off the ground.

She watched as they turned and soon enough the scenery began to blow past them as they began flying through the air. Never in her life would she have thought of the day that she could fly through the air like a bird or harpy, but today was it. Of course, at the end of her flight meant that she would be taken prisoner and have no real idea what would happen to her after that. Her wonder and awe dissipated into worry and nervousness once again at the future that awaited her, hoping the War Maiden would take a liking to her.

"Alright, talk. What's your name?" The question was posed to her from the terrifying pink haired young man who the prisoners from Italica claimed to have almost single handedly destroyed all their forces at the south gate. "I don't have all day, so start talking already."

"Myuute...Myuute Luna Sires." She replied, her throat feeling like it was closing in upon itself as she desperately tried to keep herself in place.

Myuute's previous awe of flying through the air with men and women from a different world wanted to emerge again, but the worst part of it all reared its ugly head to tell her that she was their prisoner. She didn't understand what had happened to get chosen for their prisoner since the pink haired young man simply took a few whiffs of her and this uncaged anger exploded from him. Two others smelled her as well and agreed with him that she had something of theirs which Myuute had no idea what that might be for the life of her. When no one was looking, she smelled herself to see what that scent was but she couldn't pick up anything for herself. It was if those three people were part Kobold, though they didn't look like it, with their superior sense of smell.

All of this mattered little since now she was at these people's mercy who had powers and abilities so beyond anything that she had ever seen. Myuute was blown away by the War Maiden for what she could do and what the man who showed up did to seal the gate, truthfully being glad that she wasn't on the opposite side of it. Myuute knew she had some sort of worth to these people and knew better than to try and barter her way out of this as she'd have a better fate underneath the War Maiden than out there in the world.

"Well Myuute, better hope you're in the cooperating mood because we'll get what we want one way or another. It's just easier if you don't keep a tight lip about it." The man told her and Myuute was no fool to not believe his words, which wasn't hard for her to know how true they were if his allies' faces could say something about it.

"Ya done scarin' the prisoner there, Pinky?"

"Hell no! She's got the information and until she says something, I won't be through with her. And the name's NATSU!" The young man was having a conversation with the well built man in their native tongue, but Myuute could only make the assumption that he got annoyed by something.

"Whatever ya say, Pinky. So what about the other one? She got somethin' on her too, right?"

"Course she does! The scent isn't nearly as strong as with bird girl, but I can make out pieces of home."

"No need to be touchy, Sport. Hugo'll get what we need soon enough."

"I'll believe it when I see it and would you stick to just one name!"

Myuute had no idea what those two talked about, but it felt like she and the other woman was topic of it and every fiber of her being said that the pink haired one was a person she shouldn't trifle with. She turned her head to look at the other woman who was taken with her and recognized her as Kapri So Unes, a mage who was with the imperial army when they attacked the Artisian Valley and escaped the bloodbath that it turned into. She spoke of the horrors she witnessed and the terrifying display of a dragon the enemy, who had taken the valley shortly after, possessed. Myuute didn't know her well enough, but what she came to know about her during their time working for the bandits was that she became an awful person after the battle. She was supposedly a composed and serious woman, but had changed drastically after the battle into a sadistic, torture prone and bigotted human since she had lost sight of what it meant to care for humanity.

Her sadism came when she got access to the prisoners they had acquired and tormented the human ones to no extent, only stopping when the boss was getting infuriated with her mistreatment of the commodity they'd ship out soon. When they were off the market for her sick games, she set her eyes on the demi-humans who were captured and that iconic disregard for that which isn't human in the Empire shone through. Myuute came to hate the woman, but had to deal with her since they were the only available magic casters at the bandits' disposal and with it came the sneers and specism. Above all else though, what many had to watch out for was that she was a survivor and would do anything to escape alive if the stories of her escape from the valley are to be believed.

Myuute had been caught by surprise when Kapri pounced on one of the soldiers in a bid to still his staff and use it against her captors, she wrestled on his back on a time until the soldier managed to toss her off his body. She got back on her feet and tried to summon her magic to defend herself, but the exhaustion was noticeable on her as she struggled to cast her spell before a beam of light struck her in the chest. Myuute turned her head to see the man with the strange hat lower his hand and shake his head disappointedly, pointing at a soldier with an order before an interesting pair of cuffs were placed on her hands and she was put back in her seat.

"Looks like Tyson doesn't like rowdy passengers, it's best you stay in your seat at all times until the ride comes to a stop." The pink haired man said as Myuute looked back at him, unsurprised with what had just occurred.

"What happened to her?" She was genuinely curious as that beam looked liked it shot right to her heart, but they were still cuffing her corpse.

"Trucker Hat hit her with a concussive magic blast to knock her out and ordered one of his boys to place her in anti-magic cuffs." That was surprising to hear for Myuute as the concept of blocking magic was ever used as a deflective spell, so those "cuffs" had to work on a similar principle. "So long as you behave, they won't put any one you since they know you're a magic user too. Don't want to be cut off from your magic, now do we?"

His words now worried to as it wasn't a deflective spell on the restraints, but a means to effectively cut a mage from their magic so long as they wore them. If they had that sort of material on hand, any and every magic wielder would be at their mercy once captured since they wouldn't have a means to defend themselves or attempt an escape. These were terrifying opponents indeed.

Myuute prayed to the gods to watch over her, trying to ask for their forgiveness in her idiotic venture of joining those marauders in the sacking of Italica. She believed in the idea that if she had helped them, they would set her free and now she sees how costly that mistake was. The green haired woman could tell that these soldiers were looking at her feathers, that were no doubt puffed because of her nerves and hoped she didn't start molting then and there because of the stress. With her prayers, she cursed her luck and held onto the hope that these people wouldn't kill her after getting what they wanted or worse.

The flight continued in silence as she could make out the various natural landmarks from her seat, but her jaw dropped at the instant she saw even more flyers zoom right past them. She held her breath as they began to pick up more speed and before long a cloth material was draped across her eyes, effectively blinding her as she could feel them slowing down. Myuute felt the flyer come to a stop and slowly lower itself before it was back on the ground, which meant she was pulled up once again and made to walk blindfolded. She could hear numerous conversations around her in tongues that were unrecognizable before she was forcefully stopped. The soldiers spoke to one another for a moment before being shoved to walk again, the unusual heat the pink haired young man would emanate still nearby as she was being led.

She heard a woman's voice this time as the sound of doors opening soon followed after and the air grew significantly cooler now, before she heard her very steps clack against the floor like she was walking on marble. Myuute was led through numerous turns, steps and what she assumed were hallways before the young man's heat stopped following her and now was at the mercy of whatever soldier was escorting her. The feathered haired woman prayed to the gods that the next thing that would happen to her wasn't the feeling of being shoved onto the floor and her garments ripped off her body. Sure, it was reasonable to have the same fear when the pink haired young man was around, but she had faith that he was too enraged for answers that he didn't want anyone to touch her until he got them. Now without a form of security to her person did she become worried as she did all she could last time not to become a sex slave to those marauders, only for it to possibly happen here.

Another door was opened before her and she was led inside what she believed to be a room until they made her sit down on a chair and the blind fold finally came off. She was met with a stark white room, illuminated by some light source on the ceiling, another chair in front of her which was a table separated between them. Behind the chair was a reflective glass, like a mirror, that gave her a chance to see how disheveled her feathers looked because of all the stress she had been going through. Myuute heard two voices speaking to each other outside the room before an armored man walked in, his helm holding the appearance of an owltarian. The difference; however, was that unlike their knowledgeable appearance and friendly demeanors, his helm reflected a form of primal terror that their species were known for during the waning hours of sunlight into darkness.

Myuute felt that terror at her core as she looked on, her instincts kicking into overdrive as he came closer to her and just stood there, menacingly. He made no effort to speak, no gesture to sit down and had no intention of releasing her from his unnerving gaze. His eyes were alit with an unholy red gleam that seemed to penetrate her soul as she dared not to look away, lest he could consume her soul. Her breath hitched as he made the minor movement to cross his arms over his chest, his staggering figure would no doubt over shadow her if she tried to stand and there was no way she'd try. Myuute could feel her legs shake in fear as she remained planted in her seat, her feathers puffing out once again in fear for what remained to be seen.

These people haven't even started the torture process yet and the green feathered woman already felt like her body was shutting down. Her breath began to hitch as he sat down, the air growing heavier around her and Myuute found it near unbearable to breath within the room. It was as if the man sucked out all the air from within the room and before her lungs felt like they would collapse, the pressure disappeared. She knew it was real, she knew that her world was fading away from her so why was it that it all seemed to snap back to normal out of nowhere?

"You're Myuute Luna Sires, correct." His voice boomed as he asked, more like stated, as he looked through a small pile of parchment before him. "You have a great importance to us, hopefully you are aware of this."

"I... I..." Myuute couldn't form a coherent sentence as her previous fear was still lingering about her person, his eyes piercing back at her when she hesitated to answer.

"I don't have time for games." His voice boomed again, having grown louder all of the sudden and her heart dropped for a second. "Answer me."

"Yes!" She squeaked through and quickly noticed a feather float to the ground next to her, knowing that the stress was far more real and causing her to react.

"You have information that we need and need it now. The more you keep your mouth shut, the longer this will last and the more feathers you're going to lose." The large man said and Myuute knew he wouldn't even need to lift a finger for her feathers to fall out one after the other at this point. "You were captured after the defense of Italica once your forces were defeated. You had surrendered after witnessing the other worldly power displayed at the end of the battle."

"Yes, I did."

"Once in custody, one of our resident dragon slayers had picked up a specific scent on you that may lead us to valuable cargo. Tell us where it is."

"A dragon slayer?" Myuute repeated as such a thing never existed since humans call massive armies dragon slayers when fighting a dragon and the dragonkin disappeared off the face of the world years ago.

"I didn't ask you to repeat me, I asked you to answer my questions." His eyes glowed ominously again and she felt herself grow two sizes smaller in her seat as he stared her down. "Why did you pay attention the irrelevant information when we need the location of the cargo."

"C-Cargo?" Myuute squeaked out again as she felt her heart beat uncontrollably fast and her breaths become shorter as the room turned back into that unbreathable space it was before.

"I'm a patient man, but there is a lot on the line and I will not have any form of scum hinder my goals. Now talk before your world is turned asunder." His figure seemed to have grown in size right before Myuute's eyes as the sound of her own blood was echoing in her ears and the world began to spin.

Her hands were shaking, she could feel them shake but Myuute was unsure whether they were shaking as violently as she was seeing them or if it was all in her head. This pressure upon her was growing ever so heavier with every passing second and she was struggling to keep her balance as the white of the room was making her nauseous. Her heart was hammering at this point as beads of sweat slid down her face and a few more feathers began to fall off her. She couldn't take it anymore; they barely started this conversation but she was already at her limit and Myuute knew that the man was nowhere near where he wanted to be in his questioning.

"Until you have given me what I want, then will you have my permission to die." Myuute didn't know what he wanted; she didn't know what cargo he was talking about that the bandits had obtained over the past couple of days. "Where is it?"

Her body couldn't take the pressure anymore, he wasn't touching her in the slightest but it felt as if the room was collapsing on top of her. It felt as if her arms were near useless now, her legs quivered with every attempt to move them and the room once again begun to spin. She tried to dig deep through her memories to find out anything she could say to save herself before she completely lost all sense of self. Would she find relief if she gave him at least something that she was knowledgeable about? It was worth a chance as it felt like hell had taken her for a ride as the illuminated white walls were driving her insane with their blankness.

She struggled with her memories as the room beared down on her and Myuute had begun to realized the true source of terror that was the room, it was where prisoners go to die.

"Where is it!?"

These soldiers never had the need to kill their captives because they'd allow them to go insane until they got what they wanted, and if they didn't then the prisoner's mind was lost to insanity. The reason he gave her permission to die was because after they got what they wanted from the captives before her, they killed themselves to escape this hell. It was horribly ingenious of them so they wouldn't get their hands dirty and deprived a soldier of an honorable death. This was what Myuute was experiencing first hand as the very world was against her and her thoughts were a horrible mess of fragments, all of which she couldn't piece together because of the maddening white walls that surrounded her.

She didn't know, she didn't know, she didn't know...

"I don't know!" Myuute cried, falling to her knees in a sobbing mess as the room had finally taken its toll on her. It felt like her very being broke before the might of the man in the owltarian helm and the white room.

"Hugo, that's enough! Release her and exit the room." Through her pain, Myuute could hear the sweet voice of a woman echo within the room against her painful sobs.

The green feathered woman hid beneath the table and wrapped her arms around her legs, trying her best to hide away from the accursed white walls as her tears streamed down her face. Myuute heard and watched as the lower body of the man grunt in dismay and walk out of the room as the faint sounds of an argument went down outside the room, but she dared not look up from her knees to see the stationary white around her. Her sobs quieted down to soft cries as she huddled herself even further beneath the table in an attempt to enclose herself in its shadow, a sad song escaping her lips for her mother far from her world. She sang in tune to her tormented soul and fractured mind in hopes that the gods may forgive and save her from this plight and bring her back to her mother.

Myuute had always believed in the myth of the great siren Synphoni who sang her heart and soul out to the gods to save the oppressed sirens underneath the rule of beastmen. She was rewarded for her efforts by the gods smiting the creatures who tormented the sirens who possessed such beautiful voices and took Synphoni into their palace to sing beautiful hymns in prosperity and peace. Myuute wanted a fraction of that for herself, she could care less for the smiting of her captors but what she truly wanted was the salvation and a return to the family she left behind. Loud banging erupted from the door and it only drove her to sing louder and stronger before the banging stopped entirely. The siren dared not stop for what may be behind the door would be the fate worse than death she had thought of earlier as the door creaked open.

Instead of seeing the dreaded metal greaves and boots of the man from before, Myuute saw a pair of leather boots encircled by a cloak that stopped at the upper calf. Judging by the shape of the legs, the siren could tell that they belonged to a woman as she turned to shut the door behind her. The woman stood by the door, unmoving as Myuute lowered her pitch and transformed her song from a powerful hymn to a lulling hum as the woman drew closer. She stood in front of her now, allowing the sweet hum to continue until she joined in as well; her pitch not as accurate as the siren but it added a sweetness that brought peace with it.

The two hummed for some time before the woman crouched to come face to face with Myuute for the first time, her white hair near leaving the siren with her heart jumping out of her chest. What stopped her panic was the clear blue eyes of hers that mimicked the serene blue of a lake that stood near her old village, a soft smile on her face to ease away the tension Myuute was under. The siren couldn't find it within herself to speak first as it was all too much for her and even she would've preferred to fight at Italica once again than be within the room another hour.

"Are you okay?" The woman asked her kindly, her demeanor welcoming as Myuute nodded her head in response. Finding peace thanks to the woman's sudden appearance, drawing the connection to the voice that called out from within the room to stop the madness earlier. "I like to apologize for what's happened to you; most prisoners brought to us always react too pridefully for us to start slow and we've decided to dive head first nowadays. It's proven to work many times before, but it seems that it was too much for you."

"What happened to you has only ever happened twice before, the ones we interrogate succumbing to the psychological torment brought unto them and end up being left as husks of their former selves. It seems that pristine white walls has some sort of affect on their psyche which contributes to their psychotic breaks that causes the similar reaction you had." Myuute had no idea what the woman was saying as it was all nearly gibberish to her, which she assumed was easily told on her face as the woman gave a small giggle. "What I'm trying to say is that the effects Hugo causes, combined with this room has a glaring flaw."

Myuute watched as the woman moved to sit in front of her, instead of trying to coax her out of her safety space with sweet words. The siren was skeptical of how genuine the woman was and refused to reveal herself any further than need be just in case the madness started again. She had been a proud siren that boasted strength to stand alongside the toughest the Empire had to offer, but now she was reduced to a weeping child because of a simple room with an unholy aura about it. The woman explained the reasons behind the room's unholy power but it made little sense to her and couldn't bring herself to trust what she didn't understand. She had shown weakness and now it would be used against her, which she couldn't fight against anyways since she had been left to cower beneath a table for safety.

The siren examined the woman carefully as they sat in companionable silence, her hand unrelenting on its grip of one of the table legs. The white haired woman was patient for the most part as she allowed Myuute to get accustomed to her presence, her aura nearly emanating off of her in calm cool waves as she hummed a personal tune to occupy the silence. It felt like hours before the siren felt capable enough to speak, seeking out the walls in a bid to seal herself up if the madness began once again.

"Who are you?" She asked towards the patient woman who stopped her tune to look at her with another kind smile at the fact that she spoke.

"My name's Alexis Shiverpeak. You're in kinder hands now that I've decided to take over the interrogation." The white haired woman replied as she offered her hand to Myuute, the siren anxiously peering between the four sides of the room before taking it. "We know that we started out rough, but you are in possession of highly sought-after information that we need access too immediately."

"The c-cargo, right?" Myuute asked as she tentatively took a seat that Alexis had offered her, the walls still remaining where they should be. "I... I don't know where it is."

"Actually, my friend who left me in charge made a small mistranslation with the words, he meant to ask you where were the captives." The siren had a momentary pause at the word captive as it meant that these people were looking for others and not personal items that belonged to them. "Our goal is to rescue them and nothing more, no one's willing to help us so we had to resort to such drastic measures to get the information."

"What will you do to me if I tell you... will you kill me?" Myuute knew about captives, that much her memories were fully aware of after spending so much time with them but she feared the unknown fate the lied after their reveal.

"Goodness no, we'd confirm your information for ourselves and if checks out, then we'd let you go free as thanks for your cooperation." Alexis replied to her and Myuute couldn't believe what she had heard, knowing that it was too good to be true.

"You're lying... I know you're lying. You want to lower my guard and get your information, then kill me after telling you everything." Myuute began to ball herself up again as she wouldn't allow herself to be betrayed by someone so warm if she could help it. "Even if not for that, then you'll kill me for trying to destroy Italica."

"Myuute, I promise you that no one is going to kill you. Your attack on Italica was solely amongst your own people with minor interference from us, the battle and its participants hold little weight to the entire operation. Tell us what you know and I can assure you that the very person who picked you out will let you leave from our very front gates." Alexis offered and the siren couldn't help believe that if she did speak on the matter, she could have her freedom back at their hands. "But you must tell us what you know for any of that to happen."

Myuute wanted to weigh her options, but she barely had a handful as it was since she could rot in their prison, be left in the room to lose her mind, surrender her life and commit suicide, or discuss the stations. She could admit that she was a coward to even attempt to kill herself, which was still the coward's way out and there was no chance in hell that she wanted to be left in the room for another second. If she got thrown into their prison, she'd most likely get assaulted from the restless soldiers they've captured over the course of their campaign so it really only left her one choice that could really let her live free.

She just prayed to the gods that this was what they wanted and that she would be set free.

"Three stations..." Myuute began and Alexis' interest was very visible as she pulled out a metallic cylinder and parchment from a small pouch on her belt. "There were three stations on the farthest outskirts of Italica that the bandits used as a hideouts and bases of operations."

"Okay, so these stations what were they like? What can you tell me about them?"

"I've only been in one, but they were all Imperial outposts that we fitted for our uses. Each one received a carriage filled with captives to sell on the slave market. It was supposed to be done after Italica had fallen, so word would get to those who stayed behind to prepare them for transport." Myuute remembered the many demi-humans and humans inside the one that came to her base, feeling a foreboding pity for all within it. "I volunteered to look after them and keep them in fit condition for the markets to avoid being a bandit sex slave, my voice could charm the rebellious men into docile creatures and the women were too afraid of the bandit men to attempt an escape."

"Dear god, it must have been hell for you to choose the lesser of two evils. I feel terribly sorry for you, Myuute." That confused the siren as she hadn't expected sympathy for the actions she chose when it came to saving her own feathers if it meant that others were gussied up to be sold off to the highest bidder. It was strange.

"I spent a long time looking after them until the initial assault of Italica was semi-successful, the leader taking me away from my duties in order to assist in the raids because of my wind magic." She couldn't lie that she felt alive out on the battlefield instead of playing caretaker, but a part of Myuute was somewhat worried about the captives once she wasn't required to look after them. "The final raid was to be a definitive victory and we'd contact the stations within three days to prepare the captives for transport to Italica and then the slave markets."

"Three days? How long before your bandit leader was supposed to report back to them of your supposed victory?"

"From what I can tell, no less than a day has passed so the remaining forces should still be idling within the stations." Myuute was startled by the sudden cheer that erupted from Alexis at the news, but didn't bother questioning it as the woman finished writing down what she wanted on the parchment.

"This is it! This is what we've been looking for, Myuute!" Alexis cheered as she pulled out a small strange orb before a blue projection sprang up and an imposing bald man stood within it. "Supreme Commander, I've gathered the information of locations where captured civilians are being held."

"Excellent work, Colonel Shiverpeak. Report to the War Table immediately with your findings, I do believe time is of the essence with what you've gathered." The bald man replied in Alexis' native tongue from what Myuute could understand before the projection faded away back into the orb.

"One last thing Myuute, where are these stations located?"

"There is one located to the northeast, to the east off to the side of the main road to Italica and the last one is to the southeast." Myuute replied before a map of Italica was presented before her, immediately pointing out where specifically they were before it was asked of her. "The captives are held underground while the majority of materials, stolen goods and forces are top side."

"This was tremendously helpful, Myuute. You do not know what this means to us. You satisfied, Natsu?" Alexis asked as she walked up to the mirror, knocking on it a few times and shortly after, the man that had chosen her stepped into the room looking rather neutral to everything. "Just as you asked, you were here for the moment she revealed their locations as promised."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Which you have to hold up your end of my promise and foresee the release of Myuute as a protected informant of the Fiorean Expeditionary Forces." The siren didn't know what all that meant, but if she was being protected by these people then it meant that she was in the clear. "Please escort her to the available barrack we set up for her."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm on it." Natsu went back to open the door and waited for the feathered woman to exit the room. "Come on, we don't got all night!"

Myuute glanced over to Alexis who gave her a reassuring smile and with cautious steps made her way out of the monstrous white room. Natsu sighed tiredly as she finally came out and held it open for Alexis to exit until she hurriedly made her way down the hallway. The siren followed behind the acclaimed dragon slayer in silence as he walked through the halls with his hands behind his head, grumbling something to himself the whole time.

"So tell me bird girl, what did you do to get old Owl Dome so pissed off?" Natsu asked her after he got bored of all the silence. "The big guy was furious when you freaked out inside the room."

"I'm a siren, not some "bird girl" or harpy." Myuute corrected as that misconception has always grated her kind to the last nerve for years. "Harpies have smaller, less developed bodies so that they can fly for your information. They are those "bird girls" you need to be calling, not me."

"A siren, huh? So, do you make that sound those things make when the authorities show up at a crime scene or are you that thing from sailors' stories where pretty girls sing a song to make 'em sink their ship?" Natsu wasn't sure which one it was since both are quite bad things to hear in his case, sort of, since if he was on a ship then he'd be happy it was about to sink.

"The latter and such stories only happen because my race is much more used to isolation than most, meaning that we had little experience when it came to different species hearing us sing." It took a moment for Myuute to realize that the dragon slayer's world had such occurrences too, though they were stories whereas her people have made numerous efforts of rescuing sinking sailors from the ocean. "And to answer your question, I don't really know. You people constructed a literal hell box and I guess I couldn't take it.

"Hell box? Pfft, no we didn't. That's just a regular interrogation room, you were forced under Owl Dome's magic and I think he went a bit overboard with it." Natsu replied as this was his first time seeing interrogations happen under Hugo Sharp and he now knows what the prisoners must experience with him. "I don't know what it really does, but I heard it makes you panic until you mentally break down. Scary stuff if your mental barriers aren't strong enough to hold out."

Myuute was at a loss for words as such magic has never been heard of to her knowledge, the power to break you opponents will is a magic with an abusable usage that could very well help an individual conquer all. Not many people concentrate on building mental fortitude and if what she suffered was any indication, then no man or woman she's ever known would be able to withstand that power. She collapsed upon herself after a few minutes with the man, who knows what would've happened if she stayed with him for an hour. She didn't want to think about it any longer and wanted to change the subject.

"So tell me, was a room already prepared for me even if I didn't reveal anything." Myuute had to ask as it was awfully convenient that they had a room for her already prepared.

"Are you kidding? If you kept your mouth shut, we would've put you in a cell and since you talked, the higher ups gave you a nice little bed that wasn't in the cell block. You're actually the first to want to help us, so enjoy it for what it's worth." Natsu replied and the siren now understood the situation; since she helped then she gets treated as an ally, if she refuses then she gets treated like the common rabble. Made sense in the grander scheme of things.

"Okay..." Myuute timidly replied as she continued to follow after the dragon slayer through the strange halls of the building she was in.

"From this map, we can see that these three positions all hold captured civilians in underground cells. Hostile forces are unknown, but with the numbers that were reported to have been attacking Italica, we can assume there is still a large number of them at each station." Jura informed as he pointed out each circled zone where a bandit station resided. "Warhawks had been dispatched to recon the areas for what threats lay in wait for us and and have return with heavy signs of infantry movement within the stations."

"With the current infantry on hand, we can go on a full-frontal assault, taking them by surprise by sheer numbers and fire power." Hugo suggested as they had more than enough forces to deploy at three different locations. "The less time they have to attack, the more of an advantage we have."

"I see what yer goin' for there Hugo, but the problem is that these cowards could be underground too. Means that they go and kill the captives if there's trouble top side." Tyson was up for the frontal charge, but there was the possibility that they'd kill the captives for one reason or the other.

"I would have suggested a stealth operation with my scouts, but if the number of captives is too high then it'll be much harder to sneak them out. That's including the fact that we take out the immediate guards in the vicinity." Alexis has done a number of missions like that before, but the targets usually only involved two to a handful of people. "We could benefit from a distraction, but it'll need to last long enough to escape the walls of the stations."

"Interesting points you've all made, but it's best to combine all three in a specific attack I've thought of orchestrating." Jura spoke up as he took a quick glance to the fourth member present at the War Table. "I've decided to task two Pelicans to each station's outer walls for escape transports, Colonel Shiverpeak's scouts will enter the facility to extract the captives while a team of Major General Tyson's Burst Platoon secures the landing zones. Field Commander Sharp's forces will storm the facility as reinforcements of the vanguard as an acting distraction for the scouts to help the captives escape onto the transports."

"If I may, Supreme Commander, my forces are acting as reinforcements so who's the initial vanguard?" Hugo had thought that his men would be leading the charge, hoping the regular Fiorean forces weren't going to be in first when they could do a much more secure job.

"That duty falls onto our Special Forces." Jura answered as he looked over towards the towering blonde man who wasn't presently overlooking the battle map. "They are well prepared for causing massive amounts of ruckus and chaos when needed."

"You can't be serious, Supreme Commander? Commander Scarlet is not even present to help establish the battle plans for this important operation." Hugo argued as she had yet to return to base while the other recon groups under her command are on their way or have already arrived.

"I understand your concern, Field Commander, but she has just finished clearing a battle against a horde of bandits that ultimately gave us this information. I decided to not include the Commander for this operation to give her time to recuperate and have decided to go with the judgement of her Vice-Commander, Laxus Dreyar." Said blonde came up to at his introduction and began to oversee the map for himself as he heard Jura's battle positions.

"Commander Scarlet chose me for her second for a specific reason and I'll show you why." Laxus said as he pointed towards the northeast bandit station first. "We'll be using the Field Commander's original idea of using a frontal assault, but instead of using soldiers, we'll heavily rely on the Special Forces. Gajeel Redfox and the Major General shall work together on the assault of the northeastern station, Minerva Orland and Rogue Cheney will attack the southeastern station while I and Natsu Dragneel will attack the central station between them."

"Once we've established a good enough distraction, the scouts and the Field Commander's troops will move on to continue the second phase of the plan. Once confirmation that the captives have been secured, the Pelicans will drop outside an established perimeter and the Major General's forces will punch a hole through a defense wall." As he continued to list off his battle strategy, he noticed the troubled looks coming from the Colonel.

"Wouldn't that just defeat the purpose of the scouts infiltrating the station during the fighting if they're seen?" Alexis asked as punching a hole through a defensive wall will garner a lot of unwanted attention from the enemy.

"The Burst Platoon will be readily established to shoot at any enemy in their sights once that wall goes down, right?" Laxus asked to the platoon's commanding officer before he gave a side long smile.

"Yer darn right, my boys and girls'll have the easiest time cuttin' them bandits down to size. It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel to them." Tyson proudly proclaimed as he carefully trained each one of them to give their utmost during live combat.

"Nothing to worry about once they get topside, all they need to do is make sure to clear any hostiles and secure the captives. The vanguard will keep all attention to themselves and clear out all forces in their path, but this is why the operation will rely heavily on the Special Forces and vanguard. The platoon teams and scouts will be limited to one squad each for each bandit station." All three commanding officers were up in arms at Laxus' decision except for Jura who allowed them to vent their qualms with the idea of only having a squad each in the operation.

"Alright, that's enough!" Jura commanded as he allowed them enough time to vent, since he could see where the blonde man was going with his strategy. "Please continue, Vice-Commander."

"Thanks, the reason why I'm limiting the number of boots on the ground is because of the available space within each Pelican. I saw how big the carriages were and how many people could be squeezed into one, so the Pelicans' main purpose is to evacuate the captives at all costs. The rest of will continue to fight until they return to pick us up, of course I doubt there'll be anymore bandits left alive by the time they come back for us." Laxus concluded, crossing his arms in satisfaction even if his face was stone cold expressionless as he looked through each person's reaction.

"You each have your concerns involving this course of action, but I have faith in both the plan and in all of you to accomplish this important mission. We will not fail here and we will not fail moving forward." Jura proclaimed to help sell Laxus' strategy and to boost the troubled morale of the commanding officers under his command.

"From this moment forward, we will be saving the first civilians since the beginning of our journey into the Special Region. Now all of you, go and commence Operation: Trident!"