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

ACTION ROUND

Shit on it.

The element of surprise was gone.

The two Silent Warriors were armed and ready.

Meanwhile, Tyee, who had been asleep on the floor, opened his eyes to find enemies—not only in his camp, but in the house he had claimed. He rushed for one of the chairs, drawing his sword.

"On them!" he shouted, backing away from the combat. Then he was shouting at the top of his lungs, calling on the hundreds of soldiers camped outside.

Jaelin knew his crew had to act quickly. He charged at the nearest warrior, who blocked his first strike. Two of Jaelin's stabs successfully penetrated his enemy's hide armour, dealing 13 points of damage and leaving him badly wounded.

Olathe, who had been lying next to her brother, was the next to react. She screamed, got to her feet, and ran for his protection, ignoring her scabbarded sword on a nearby chair.

The remaining Apples' agility scores were high enough to take control of the fight.

Lurin went for the second Silent Warrior. Like Jaelin, the dwarf connected with his second strike. His pickaxe, more deadly, took 10 hit points. Another successful hit, and it was over, the dwarf scoring the first kill of the encounter.

His cousin followed the general's line of retreat, pinning him against the blazing fire. The hammer proved a good choice, giving Randall a hit on his first attempt for 6 points of damage.

Except the Sargassian didn't lose the hit points; his total remained on 23. The dwarf's subsequent wayward strike was understandable; but he struck with his last action. Another 6 damage; that failed to take off any hit points again.

Something was very wrong here. Jaelin recalled Seregin's talk of undead, unkillable opponents. But this young man wasn't dead—was he?

Adding to the confusion in the room was that the man in question looked as surprised as everyone else.

The Bludgeoner joined the fight, targeting Jaelin's opponent. He left it late, but with his final action he crushed in the man's skull with a heavy mace blow.

Jaelin hadn't noticed the woman sat asleep in the chair. She now rose and ran for the other side of the room, at the front of the house. As she approached the exit, a figure emerged from the shadows.

Mila tried to strike the woman with the hilt of her dagger, but the Sargassian grabbed her hand and they wrestled, neither getting the upper hand.

The implications of what had just happened slowly dawned on Tyee. I'm invincible. With renewed confidence, he attacked his dwarf assailant. He got in two blows with his longsword, taking the dwarf down to 4 hit points.

"We need to get out of here!" Jaelin shouted.

Unless they left now, this Sargassian was going to carve his way through them all, while the Silent Warriors outside would cut off their means of escape.

Deciding that unusual tactics were necessary, Jaelin ran and hurled himself at the Sargassian, grabbing him around the legs. Maybe the bastard couldn't be hurt, but Jaelin got some satisfaction from sending him crashing to the floor. Even if he lost a hit point in the process.

With the general floored, Jaelin got to his feet and ran for the back door. His remaining action points were enough to get him outside.

There was a bang on the wall of the house right next to him, and splinters went flying.

"Oh, it's you," came a small voice from the darkness. "I thought you were a bad guy. How's it going in there?"

Mila finally managed to shake off her opponent, shoving her to the ground. Like her son, the woman didn't lose the hit point she should have. Time to get the fuck out of here. She scarpered, joining Jaelin outside. She grabbed the Rod of Light and sent its beam up into the sky.

Emboldened by her brother's power, Olathe ran to the chair and drew her sword. With one action left, she engaged The Bludgeoner.

Larik withdrew from combat with the woman. Her free sword hit connected, taking him down to 13 hit points. He ran towards the back door.

Lurin pulled his damned fool cousin away, towards the exit to the house. But Randall didn't have the action points to reach the door. Lurin put himself between Randall and the Sargassians.

Tyee retrieved his sword and regained his feet. He fell on the closest dwarf, taking him down to 12 hit points.

Olathe joined her brother but failed to add to his score.

Larik helped Randall stagger out of the farmhouse.

Out in the open, he heard growls as Sharptooth hunted the Silent Warriors in the darkness. There was the thud of a sling bullet hitting its target. Then a kerchunk, followed by an exultant cry of "Don't test Wilson Turk!"

Lurin disengaged from the two Sargassians. The man's sword bit home for 8 damage, taking the dwarf down to 4 hit points. The woman finished the job.

Lurin's last steps saw him topple out of the farmhouse…

…into the waiting arms of Mila. With her medic kit ready, she began work on reviving the dwarf.

Jaelin shut the door, rammed the point of his spear into the ground, and prodded the butt against it. It would hold for a short while. He scanned the area around the farmhouse. Moving from light to dark had messed with his vision. He could hear his squad mates occupying the Silent Warriors for now. But he knew they could only buy them a few precious moments.

"Lurin!" Randall cried, resisting Larik's efforts to pull him away.

"Will you get out of here?" Jaelin snarled, as the Sargassian shoulder barged the door from the inside, causing it to shudder in the frame.

He'd thought Randall would argue, but the dwarf turned and left with The Bludgeoner.

Thank the gods.

Mila was helping Lurin to his feet. She'd got him back to 3 hit points. He hoped it would be enough.

She gave him a nod, then put her arm around the dwarf sapper, helping him follow his cousin into the night.

Jaelin held the door shut, as the Silent Warriors closed in on his position. He could outrun them when it came to it. A few precious action points longer would allow his squad to get that little bit farther away.

MISSION COMPLETE

FAILURE: The Sargassian army was not disrupted enough

Some of your mercs improved their stats:

Sharptooth:

Might +1

Grit +1

Hit Points +2

No mercs levelled up