The Rules of Engagement

In the time preparations were being made to develop the game, Varek had gone through the process of fully explaining its main mechanics. As he'd stated earlier, one team would have ten minutes to retrieve the flag while the other team did its best to defend it.

Lethality was prohibited; however, disarming and the use of serious, even brutal force were fair game. Even if you were injured, as long as you could still fight, you weren't considered 'out.' 

The defending team would be given the location of their opponents at the start of the match and again at the five minute mark, while the offending team had to both locate their opponents and find the flag, something that made it doubly hard to just go and steal the flag without concern of the defender's strength.