The sound of the approaching war host started to spread apprehension among the ranks of the defenders. Lucas noticed the nervous shifting among the lower leveled adventurers that stood next to him.

“People, the time is nigh. Two days ago, you were marked for slaughter. Your crime – wanting to chase progress and trying to better yourself. Now, you are free men and woman and your would – be butchers return, your “crimes” still unforgivable in their eyes. I say, let them come. Let them come and die, because what else is left to do, when they come for your freedom and rights once again?” Bruce shouted loudly. There weren’t any cheers, but the nervousness was alleviated, and that was the whole point. Lucas was getting to restless to just sit and wait, so he approached the prison walls and found a way to climb it to the first suitable place to stand. He saw the troopers, their ranks reinforced by heavies, advancing step by step. He could see the careful way they approached, probing the earth every once in a while, wary of traps. Even with all of that, they were nearing the effective range and Lucas knew it was time to act. He located Ted and Maggie from his vantage point and dropped down, arriving at their location in less than thirty seconds thanks to his passive speed build – up.

“It’s time to move” he simply said, all three of them knowing what is their role in the upcoming battle. The brother and sister nodded and they scaled the wall that separated prison courtyard from the rest of the world. Landing, they were instantly on the move, looking to circle around the advancing war host. In line with what Bruce said about the way the unit did battle, in their backs they left their field medics, a healer class which played a vital part in their strategy. Due to how the class functioned, they were able to stabilize even the worst wounds. The price for that was that after a whole day had passed, those wounds will reopen and you will have to heal the right way. But during the battle itself, they helped to put out constant pressure on their opponents, since they can constantly rotate and stabilize, making it seem like there is an endless wave of soldiers. The General had cultivated that image of the undying legion, and now Lucas decided it’s time to shatter that image. There were about a dozen troopers guarding their healers, reinforced by five heavies. The stretchers were sprinkled all over the field, and a fifteen or so men and woman restlessly looked at the direction from which the sounds from the war host came, waiting for their patients. Knowing full well they had little time, Lucas gave the signal with his hand and the skirmish begins. Maggie was the first one to do some damage, downing one of the heavies with two arrows that came in quick succession. The rest of the soldiers shouted in alarm, but all they could see was Ted who was rapidly charging at the bulk of the medics. Troopers opened fire, trying to intercept and suppress the charging Ted, but as usual, they were ineffective as he was too fast for them. One of the heavies began channeling, which was Lucas cue to enter the fray. Activating “Infused piledriver” Lucas crashed into the heavy trooper, his sword hitting the arm and piercing deeply, Lucas feeling the shredding of flesh. That stopped the channeling, but the men instantly raised his hand to retaliate. A shard of ice appeared in his hand and stabbed Lucas, breaking through his armor and embedding deeply into his guts.

“You took 292 points of damage”

Grunting In pain, Lucas activated “Guiding strikes” his hand automatically finding the exposed neck of the man. The heavy trooper fell and Lucas dismissed the prompt announcing his death. He took a look around the battlefield, but it was well under control. Ted was dodging under the strikes of one of the heavies, while Maggie peppered indiscriminately, killing troopers and medic in equal measure. From the direction of the prison, loud booms and sounds of gunfire could be heard, marking that the battle there had already started and that they were running out of time. Finding the nearest medic, he activated “Infused piledriver” ramming into the poor woman, his sword completely wrecking her lungs and even managing to find her heart. He pulled his sword quickly and immediately chained “Spin strike”, circling around the trooper and striking at his back before flaring his Strength and stabbing the unfortunate soul into back of his head. Ted also managed to down one heavy trooper, while Maggie finished the last one. The mass of troopers, their numbers already halved, were starting to waver while the medics took the least casualties, losing just four of their numbers. Lucas added another casualty to them with “Stinging cut” followed by a stab to the heart. Maggie killed another trooper while Ted was in the process of clubbing another. Those three takedowns broke the straw on the camel back and all of the remaining soldiers broke into rout. The trio immediately turned back and started returning to the prison, taking only a quick detour to slaughter the first batch of the wounded that were trying to make their way to the now absent medics. When they finally arrived back at the prison, they witnessed the full destructive power of those vaunted heavy troopers. Spell after spell, skill after skill was lobbed over the thin courtyard prison, which was completely destroyed in some places. Those gaping holes were slowly filling with the troopers, who alternated between their grenades and suppressing fire, slowly but surely forcing the defenders back into the prison proper. So far, everything went just as Bruce predicted. Well aware of hard was to defend open spaces from this kind of destructive powers, he went a great length to mask their exact number. Excluding Lucas and his party, all the best fighters were already inside the prison, only the lowest level on the outside and with orders to conserve lives of them and their comrades at any way possible. In essence, this entire host was a casualty of its own carefulness, as they currently were fighting dolls that crafters made and Bruce’s training apparitions, mixed with some illusions the only Illusionist among them conjured. Lucas, Ted and Maggie found one of isolated heavies, a man that looked like he was withering everything around him. They overpowered him and jumped over. They landed to the right of the prison, and wall behind them crashed, as the withering heavy trooper managed to weaken the foundation of that part of the wall. Expecting to see the mass of troopers soon, they sped up and soon found the thickest of the defenders. There were only three truly alive defenders remaining, one of them Bruce.

“Only one dead, fortunately” Bruce responded to the questioning look he got from Lucas “I sent the rest inside. We planned to follow them as soon as the smash the main gate”. I want them to see us entering” he finished.

Lucas nodded and went on being wild card. He and his party danced from hole to hole, pushing the troopers back, even jumping over the wall one time, killing one heavy trooper and grievously wounding another. But the sheer number started pushing event them back. Step by step and they returned to the Bruce location. He was now standing alone and in that moment, gate was broken, fifty troopers charging with their frag – grenade like skill already prepared. Hundred of grenades exploded, tearing through the remaining dolls and dissolving apparitions and illusions. Lucas waved to Bruce, signaling it was time for him to go inside. In a fit of inspiration, he decided to slam into the bulk of the advancing troopers. Ted and Maggie quickly caught up to his actions and soon they massacred twenty or so troopers. Even more was wounded in one way or another. Chaining “Spin strike” and “Guiding strike” time and time again, Lucas forced the heavies to enter. They immediately unleashed destruction, but Lucas dodged and weaved and maneuvered, drawing even more attention to himself. Well – timed “Guiding strike” even brought down one of them, but once again, sheer numbers prevailed. Ted was the first one to be forced back as one of the skills hit him in the thigh, hampering his movement. The extra attention that brought Lucas put him under immense pressure and he fell back. Maggie, fighting from range came mostly unscathed as she followed the flow of the battle immensely well and retreating in unison with the two men. Arriving at the door that led to prison proper, they cast a glance at the arriving enemy. They looked emboldened by the victory they thought achieved. They sang and congratulated one another, collecting their wounded to be carried and healed. About fifth of the host was killed and wounded and when the fact there is no more medics combine with the bloodbath that awaited them inside, Lucas could see the massive rout that will permanently break the back of the soldiers stationed at Camp Hearth. From there, it would be a race against time, one that Lucas was pretty sure they would win.