Squad Games [Squad Building LitRPG] [Book One Complete]

MERCS:

Greenblade | Clamor | The Harvester | The Guvnah | Vixen | Mental | Oripione | Stiff | The Baron | Bletcher | The Hoffmeister | Smoke | Randall Heavy-Hands | Lurin Veinfinder | Rilie Rumblewind

Apple Infantry: 60

Governor Li negotiated the exchange of their six captured prisoners for three of Captain Guan's soldiers. The Baron was one of the six, and he crossed over to the other side with Lurin's packages sewn into his clothing.

Lothar had instructed The Baron he wanted a night-time assault. He and his mercs waited behind their barricade for a sign that The Baron had been successful.

Time dragged, and the longer he waited, the more Lothar dwelt on the many things that might have gone wrong. It was a big ask expecting The Baron to sustain his deception when alone amongst the Kuthenians. Then there were Lurin's explosives. At one extreme, he imagined The Baron blowing himself up. At the other, they failed to work, and the plan had to be aborted.

It was a relief when Rilie's owl hoot floated down from the roof where she perched. He held up a hand, asking his more eager mercs to wait. It gave Smoke the time he needed. An expert in these conditions, the Alinko thief had skulked ahead to get close to the Kuthenians' defences.

That should be enough time for him to throw a few knives and sow confusion, Lothar decided. He lowered his hand and led his warriors across the space between the two army positions.

The darkness only added to his jitters. The twang of strings and slings—from both sides, perhaps, but it was hard to tell. Then a thud and a grunt of pain, as The Guvnah was struck for 3 damage.

Lothar reached the imperial barricade. Smoke had softened up the enemy, leaving spaces for the squad to find a way through the defences. He swung one leg over a wooden fence, only for an imperial to come at him from the darkness. Not the best position to fight from. He fended off a blow with the Shield of Resistance, nearly losing his balance.

Fortunately, Mental appeared. She carved the soldier down with one blow of her battle-axe, then pressed on without a backward glance.

Lothar scrabbled over the fence and chased after her.

The Apples streamed into the central square. At the far end, three of the ten ballistae were on fire, while imperials swarmed over the carts, trying to put out the flames. It gave them precious moments to advance, before the warning shouts.

But the enemy were still functional. Warnings were hollered, and the whirring of released bolts followed.

Bletcher saved The Harvester from one of the bolts, and the rest of the Apples were ready to react. Still, two of the dangerous missiles found a target:

Merc Hit Points Lost Action Points Lost

The Guvnah 18 3

Lurin Veinfinder 16 3

The race was now on to reach the carts before the machines could be reloaded.

ACTION ROUND

Kuthenian Imperials

Human Warrior

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Action Stats

EXP Level 2

Action Points 4

Hit Points 18

Clamor stopped and peppered one of the carts, downing all six of the ballista crew, leaving it inoperable.

Vixen targeted the next, claiming two kills and badly injuring a third.

The Harvester took two actions to reach the next cart, leaping atop it. He swung Deliverer, matching Clamor's kills. Five of the ten ballistae were now either damaged or without crew.

Smoke leapt onto the cart Vixen had targeted. Two more kills, and the remaining wounded were too occupied to fire again.

Lothar ran for the next, hopeful that the attack was working this time. Slayer helped him score six hits from seven, from which he garnered five kills. The one remaining soldier would struggle to load and fire in one turn. It meant only three ballistae remained.

Mental was next to attack a cart, already berserking from the earlier fighting. Her extra actions helped her make six hits, every single one a killing blow. Another cart was cleared.

Greenblade went for the next. She didn't miss once, leaving only two opponents alive.

Randall went for the final cart. He got two hits from his three remaining actions, scoring a couple of kills with Splitter. More help was needed, however. Oripione was treating Lurin, while The Hoffmeister was only now leading his sixty infantry into the square.

The Guvnah ran to the dwarf's aid, though his injuries meant he only had three actions. He dropped two more imperials, leaving two on the cart.

They had killed or incapacitated 35 soldiers in one round. But plenty remained, and the Apples would have to defend.

Greenblade was struck at point blank range by a ballista bolt, sending her flying off the cart. She landed on the ground with 23 points of injuries, leaving her on 4 hit points.

Fortunately, the last ballista crew missed both Randall and The Guvnah.

Arrows reined down on those in the carts but struggled to get through the well-armoured mercs:

Then they were rushed by imperial attackers:

Lothar had taken a battering from all directions. Yet he was pleased he'd come off the worst. His mercs were still standing, and surely had taken the brunt of what the imperials had to offer.

Clamor and Vixen killed another six between them.

Rilie Rumblewind had arrived from her perch and helped Greenblade to retreat. Oripione reached them and began patching up Ashlyn's injuries.

Randall finished off the two remaining soldiers in his cart. The Guvnah gave him a grateful look and sat down, not prepared to risk another blow.

The Hoffmeister jumped into the cart from which Greenblade had been sent flying. Two strikes from the Spear of Riposte were enough to kill the two soldiers inside and neutralise the last ballista.

His infantry followed him, charging into the imperials crowding around the carts. Each had two attack actions. In all, they inflicted 214 hit points. It worked out at ten dead and several more wounded.

Lothar leaned over the side of his cart to give Slayer another chance to do its job. But the remaining imperials, outnumbered and outmuscled, had suffered enough. They ran, and Lothar had no interest in giving chase.

He used his position in the cart to give his orders. "Georg, make sure the infantry secure the ballistae, as well as the exits from the square. I'll send reinforcements when I get back to base."

He looked around, double checking that he'd won the battle without loss. "Wait a minute, did anyone catch sight of The Baron?"

The most he got were tired shakes of the head.

MISSION COMPLETE

SUCCESS: Benxi's Central Square was taken

Some of your mercs improved their stats:

Randall the Heavy-Handed:

Might +1

Hit Points +1

The Baron:

Intellect +1

Vixen:

Might +1

Hit Points +2

Action Points +1

Some mercs levelled up:

Vixen is now Level 6

Apple Infantry: 119