Chapter 65: The Rescue Mission

A small group of creatures watched the location they had to strike in. They were four of them as they used some kind of binocular to observe a castle in the darkness of the night. They looked at each other as they gave one last check at their battlegears together. They also checked if they made any suspicious sounds as they moved their arms and legs.

One of them asked, "This is the right location?"

"Yes. This is where he is kept. We will need to rescue him. We have no idea what the mipedians did to him," another one commented. He turned towards the other one, "Any idea what the mipedians could do to him?"

"No idea. I'm kinda worried for Peyton. I'm not here to watch over him and I'm here on this rescue mission," he crossed his arms and pouted a bit. He sighed and smiled lightly, "I have no idea what they could do to him. Peyton surely doesn't know anything about the bloodier things the mipedians did to their enemies. Not that I will complain about it. We did more sketchy stuff in the past."

Another one agreed, "We still do too."

"Focus on the task now," the fourth one declared. He observed the castle, "We know that Theb-Saar isn't here. He is with Maxxor and surely discuss something about how to get Peyton back. Mudeenu is also absent and the patrol are quite heavy. They are surely invisible too, so make sure we can see them," he put a pair of binoculars. He then only saw the heat signature of his comrades. The metalists had a strong heat signature, "Everything is working in order. What about you?"

The others finished testing their Telebracers. They couldn't afford for them to break down or there would be prisoners, "Ready."

Steel smirked, "We go in and we go out. We might need to force some of them to take a nice long nap," he chuckled as he cracked his fingers.

"Only, if necessary," the fourth one replied. He gave them a sign and the group began their mission.

They quickly approached the wall of the castle. They spotted a few guards patrolling the top of the wall with spears in their hands.

They checked the entrance; it was also guarded with four guards outside and on alert.

The four metalists knew they were expecting someone to come, but it wasn't that heavily guarded. They guessed it was the usual patrol during the night. Maybe even more since they got Peyton. Maybe it was lighter because the king was absent. They also had Telebracers, so they might except them to show up inside directly if needed. Too many maybes and they stopping thinking about it.

The leader of the squadron pointed at the wall. They took out their grappling hook and threw it when the guards passed their position and didn't look towards the direction they threw it.

Once they managed to throw it at the right spot on their first try, they quickly climbed the wall and reached the top. After this two grabbed their grappling hook and while the other two checked for the guards. Thankfully, none looked at their direction right now. The four jumped down and hid in the plants. They quickly looked at the heat signature of the mipedians and waited for them to walk pass them, before entering into the castle.

The first part was done. They had to find the dungeon where their comrade was surely kept. They had no intel in the matter. It was just guest and hope for the metalists. The four knew that the dungeon was on the back of the castle, underground and on the right side from the front door, when you entered through the front door. Which they did.

They went right and used the darkness and the shadows to slowly approached their destination. They avoided a few patrols that passed near them. They ignored the conversation between those creatures. They focused on their rescue mission.

They reached a door and wondered if it was the right place. The creatures looked at each other. They stopped Steel from opening the door.

The creature looked at his comrades who nodded negatively. Steel grumbled quietly with a face that meant 'Come on,' before he reluctantly moved his hand away.

Another creature opened the door and they found stairs that lead down. The dungeon was probably down there.

Steel frowned, but they ignored him. He knew the other metalists were convinced that he would bring bad luck if he opened the door. It was not his fault that in the past, he always opened the wrong door and they ended up in trouble and retreating from some kind of danger or trap. They all believed that he would never pick the right door in an infiltration mission. He sighed quietly and followed them, quietly closing the door behind him to avoid suspicion.

They climbed down the stairs slowly and quietly. They checked around, just in case there was a trap that led down there.

The metalist who led them reached the end of the stairs first and raised his hand when he saw a few guards that lead to a corridor. He turned towards the others and pointed at the mipedians. The others discreetly observed and counted four mipedians. With their googles, they couldn't tell if they were invisible or visible right now. All they saw was the heat signatures.

They looked at each other and wondered what they should do about the guards. They were in the way and the moment they showed up, they would be detected.

Steel grinned a bit as dark smoke came out of his mouth. He gave the others a thumbs up, dark energy coming out of it.

The others nodded and did the same. They checked on the mipedians once more, they were unaware of their presence.

The four quickly charged and sent dark ball of energy on the faces of the creatures. The blast either knocked the guards down or stunned them long enough to be restrained and silenced.

Steel and the other two looked at the metalist who commanded the mission. The creature nodded negatively. They dragged the unconscious creatures instead of killing them. They wouldn't need to come back here once they rescued their comrade anyway.

They quickly went to the door and opened it. They went inside and closed the door behind them. Just the sound of the door opening could alert them of a mipedian if they came down there. The absence of the guards might alert the castle.

They traversed the corridor quietly. Their steps caused some sounds. Even if their metal body was heavy, the managed to be quiet.

They reached the end of the corridor and opened another door. They finally reached the dungeon. They saw the large room with smaller cells filled with bars that prevented any prisoners from escaping.

They didn't see any guards around. The metalists didn't like that. It probably meant that the cells were empty. Their comrade might be further in. Knowing the mipedians, they guessed that they might be torturing their prisoner. They had no idea how long this went on, but with the current situation, the prisoner might have suffered for a long time.

They continued forward and went towards the darkest part of the dungeon. They opened the door and reached another room. They froze in place when they heard someone screaming.

The four metalists recognised one of their own. From the scream, it was obvious that he was being tortured right now. It also seemed like they found the spot where it hurt the most.

They still proceeded slowly. They didn't want to alert the enemies when they found where the other metalist was. They felt the tension under their metal as they reached the room where the scream came from.

One of them put his hand on the door and looked at the others. They were ready to get in and get him out. The three nodded as they clenched their hands for a surprise attack.

The first one burst the door open and the three others charged forward.

The two mipedians turned around, "Who's-" he stopped when he saw the metalist near his face. He was knocked out with a swift punch on his face. The other one was down as quickly as the first one.

Steel turned towards the prisoner and quickly approached him. He saw the metalist was attached on a chair and his face was opened in a few sections. Black blood came out of the wounds. The red eyes were dim. He could barely look at his savior, "Hey! Stay with us," he quickly tried to break the restrain, but they were too soldi for his own strength. He lifted him up and searched for the Telebracer for him. He installed it as quickly as he could.

The other two guarded the door. They looked outside if more guards were coming. So far, no one else came to the room.

"I'll keep my thought to myself," one of the metalists said.

None of them knew who said it, to focus on their duty.

"That's for the best," another one replied.

Steel remembered a few of those things called cliché Peyton told him. He pushed that aside after he finished installing the Telebracer, "Almost done buddy."

"I… Slipped," the comrade weakly apologised as he tried to stay awake.

The other one replied, "It's okay. You went through a lot in those few days. Don't worry about it okay."

"But-"

"No but. We'll take you out of here and… done. The Telebracer is one you," he grabbed his hand and approached the switch, "Coordinate is home. We'll take care of you," Steel let out a reassuring smile, before he pressed on it.

The prisoner was rescued and free.

Steel looked at the others, "Let's get out of here."

The others nodded.

The four teleported away and left the room empty.

It would only be a bit later that the mipedians discovered that something was wrong and the prisoner escaped.

Steel remained by the side of the poor creature they saved. They didn't have to kill anyone to save him. He wouldn't mind killing the mipedians for what they did to his friend, Alas, Peyton was friend with them. He didn't want to kill one of his friends if he could avoid it. Not only that, but it would cause much more problem in the long run if they got in a murder spree. They want to return to the Cothica. If they had a lot of blood on their hands, it might not be possible.

The healers were already threating the wounds on the face and the articulations of the other metalist. They also injected something to stop the creature from feeling pain.

The effect quickly came and the metalist didn't feel pain anymore. It was much easier to speak, "Steel?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"We're not buddies Steel," he shook his head and let out a small smile, "Why are you here anyway? You finished your mission. You should be with your actual friend."

"I'm not going to leave you alone after what you've been through," Steel replied as he nodded to himself, "I mean, your family aren't here yet," he tapped his fingers a bit after he said that.

"…" he glanced at the side as he hummed, "Thanks Steel. You really act like a buddy when you are not one anyway," he chuckled a bit.

"That's the deal with me," he chuckled.

"I rather have a better deal," he replied at Steel. He chuckled a bit, but stopped when he didn't feel comfortable to keep laughing. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Who organised my rescue?"

"Our king of course. Do not say that I might be lying, but I am not," Steel quickly replied as he crossed his arms and huffed a bit.

"You should get back to Peyton. You have a fun story to tell him. Don't take all the glory."

"I won't. I'll be back later," Steel agreed. He stood up and left the scout.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: The Aftermath

Theb-Saar returned and had to find another way to find Peyton with the clues he obtained.

After this chapter: Brain Storm.

Sarah grunted about how little she found with her guardian on Earth.