"Alright, lets go over this one more time." Andrew said, looking around each member of their little group. "Kalan and Carter your highest priority is arming the prisoners and getting them to a defensible location. That means taking them out of the quarry and into the buildings nearby. If those are damaged in the fighting, the next best option is the other cluster of buildings across the river. You'll have to cross the open road to get there though, so it should only be used in an emergency." The two of them shared a look before nodding to Andrew. He handed each of them several grenades which they tucked away in pockets and belt loops.

"Good, Shelby, you and Baily will be on skirmishing duty. You'll need to try and keep your distance, but discourage the hobgoblins from rushing the quarry too easily. You'll need to keep an eye out for incoming threats, and deal with the early response. You'll have more than a couple grenades to deal with any groups that come after you, but remember we'll likely need those when the bulk of the hobgoblin guard shows up. Keep at least two in reserve to blow the bridge when the time comes" Andrew said as he handed two bags filled with grenades to each.

"Tyler, you'll be staying up here, by the Dam. Keep an eye on the sky over the river, I prepared a special grenade to act as a flare, but I haven't been able to test it yet. I don't know how bright it will be. I plan to give the signal as soon as I've crossed the river, but It will be very hard to see that from here. If it looks like most of the prisoners are out of the quarry, blow the dam, signal or no. Got it?" Andrew said. Tyler turned from his study of the barely visible camp below to nod. "Yeah I got it. Then I come down and help right?"

"Yes." Andrew handed Tyler another sack with several grenades in it, "Then you come down and help. Be careful, make sure you get a good look at the battlefield before you break from the tree line. You'll probably have to cross some contested ground to regroup with the rest. You have one of the most important, and most dangerous jobs here, but I know you can do this." Andrew said, holding eye contact with Tyler as his expression hardened and he nodded stoically.

"I will be trying to keep their attention split. I will run out ahead of the group and cross the river early. I will be throwing grenades into as many windows as I can, and generally causing havoc on as large of a scale as I can manage. Once I cross over the river I'll signal for the dam to break. Then I plan on bombing the wolf pens and circling around behind the fort. If the wolves look like they're headed for the bridge, bomb the hell out of it. We want them to be a problem for the hobgoblins, not us. I'll try and get into the fort and free the prisoners in there" Andrew said

"From there, well, we'll have to adapt a little, I think, If the battle is turning against us, I'll throw another flare and circle around to the forest again, try and take my group through to a better crossing point upriver. You should take the main group of prisoners up and into the forest to our camp. We'll grab all the supplies there and get as much distance as we can from the main camp. If it looks like we can take out the whole camp, then well, I'll hit them from behind as hard as I can, you lot focus on ranged attacks over the river. Get the whole prisoner group armed with bows or even rocks, and be as much of an annoyance to the hobgoblins as possible. Eventually some you may need to cross the river to finish off stragglers, but ideally you would lure them into crossing the river first. " Andrew said. "Are we all clear? Everyone have all their gear, everyone know their part, anyone have any questions?"

Each person checked their gear over one more time, tying and retying a bag of grenades to their belt, checking arrow amounts, readjusting armor straps. "I think we're good. Lets get this done eh?" Kalan said, filling the silence that followed their final preparations.

With that they started off down the hill and through the forest, leaving Tyler standing on the edge of the river, one hand resting on the dam. Kalan and Andrew and Carter and Shelby each took a corner of the wagon filled with scavenged weapons and bandages and guided it through the forest towards the camp. They lost sight of the camp for most of the journey down, navigating through the thick brush, up and over the roots and rocks that impeded them. When they started to see stumps and clear land through the trees ahead they slowed to a halt.

______

Shelby snuck away from the wagon to the edge of the trees, and looked out at the camp before them. Her [Perception] skill was high enough that she could easily make out the line of prisoners being herded from the interior of the fort across the bridge and towards the quarry.

We're late. We're supposed to attack them right when they finish crossing the bridge, but we just got here and they're nearly done already. We'll have to get movin--

She heard the clink, clink, clink, of Andrew's armor as he moved up beside her, taking in the same scene.

"I'm heading out and around. We'll need to hurry, See those front two buildings? The ones between us and the quarry? I'm going to throw some high delay stones in there as I pass, should go off just before you get there. You guys will need to move fast. Good luck, I'm going." Andrew said, barely turning to look at her before taking off down the tree line towards the river.

I knew that without you telling me. I made half of that damn plan.

Shelby spun around and waved for the rest to push forward to the edge of the trees. There were less hobgoblins out than she had ever seen before. There were barely six guarding the procession of easily four times as many prisoners, and she only saw a few filtering out of the buildings around the keep. It was perfect. She could easily see Andrew break out of the tree line, heading in a dead sprint down the riverbank.

"Time to go" Kalan said, his eyes tracking Andrew as well.

They grabbed the cart and headed off in a dead sprint towards the quarry. They tried to keep the buildings between them and most of the hobgoblins, hoping they would delay their discovery for even a few seconds longer.

Shelby saw several shapes fly into the open windows of the plain stone building as Andrew stopped for a moment to gather his aim.

That was a hell of a throw, no way he practiced that, bet its that stupid "adaptive weaponry skill" or whatever, basically cheating.

She didn't have time to dwell on it, Andrew was pushing his way through the shallow river now, and the hobgoblins had noticed. They were shouting, and the procession of prisoners stopped halfway into the quarry, a healthy distance from the bridge. There was chaos as the hobgoblins gave out conflicting orders that the prisoners clearly couldn't understand. They were pointing and shouting at them now, having just seen the wagon being pushed at breakneck pace through the field of stumps.

I'll have to break off soon, grab Bailey and start getting some arrows out there. Need to be careful not to hit the prisoners, certainly cant use any of these bombs yet.

Shelby broke from the wagon and pulled her bow, waving for Bailey to follow as Carter and Kalan took up the brunt of the wagon. Somehow they managed to get it rolling even faster once the two of them broke off of guiding it from the front.

____

Kalan ran as he had never run before. The longer they were out here, seen but not engaged, the more likely the plan was to fail. They had the most important part, getting those people out. Nothing else mattered nearly so much. The wagon was on clear ground now, no more stumps to slow them down. They were headed straight for the quarry and he could hear the hobgoblins shouting, the prisoners shouting, the twang of Shelby's bowstring.

It was all drowned out as soon as the first explosion went off.

Bits of stone pinged off of the wagon and Kalan's armor as the buildings in front of them cracked and burst from the force of the contained explosion. He heard the surprised screams of hobgoblins within and the soft dings of experience notifications, he tuned them all out. They were nearly there.

Kalan looked up to see that the buildings sustained far more damage than they expected. The large holes were blown through the walls where the windows once stood and the roof groaned with exertion before cracking and falling through, taking more of the walls with it as well. He could see some hobgoblins struggling to pull themselves up and out of the wreckage, but they were far past threatening in their current condition.

"It's time! Aim the wagon past the quarry! We'll free the prisoners, then push for the next cluster of buildings, The wagon can be used as cover, these buildings are done for!" Kalan shouted, trusting that Carter heard him as he pushed the wagon to an angle where it would roll around the edge of the quarry and further towards the road.

As he separated from the wagon he got a good look at the chaos in front of them.

Three hobgoblins stayed back with the line of prisoners. They were yanking and yanking at the chain, dragging them back towards the bridge, cursing and shouting and striking out with their hands at all those nearby. The others were sprinting towards them, all three headed for Shelby who was firing arrows rapidly at the approaching hobgoblins. One already moved with a limp, arm shakily holding on to its sword despite the arrow piercing it's bicep. Baily was doing her best, but many of her shots were going wide.

Kalan and carter circled around, making use of the distraction. The prisoners were the number one priority, Shelby and Baily could hold on against three long enough for them to take care of the ones trying to drag off the prisoners. A bright splash of fire lit up the sky near the river.

Andrews across then. We need to hurry up.

As Kalan and Carter circled the quarry towards the prisoners they caught sight of the scene across the bridge, multiple booms sounded out as several buildings exploded from within, and hobgoblins who were running to the bridge before pulled up short to frantically search for the source of the explosions. He thought he saw a figure go running from the blasts, heading toward the large wolf stables but he couldn't be sure, the line of prisoners he was rapidly approaching was far more important.

They shouted out to him as the pair of them sprinted forward, and surged away from the hobgoblins, pulling them almost off their feet as they yanked back against the chain. The whole line came to a stumbling crashing fall as the hobgoblins released the chain and the whole lot was pulled to the ground in a heap. Kalan slammed the first hobgoblin off his feet with his shield before it even had a chance to draw it's weapon. Carter was just behind him, and Kalan left the downed hobgoblin to him, pointing his crimson blade at the next two and releasing a volley of flaming balls in their direction.

____

This is bad! This is bad! This is bad! I'm going to die! No no no no no

Bailey backpedaled furiously, warding off blows from the hobgoblin pursing her as best she could. He bow was long dropped and she barely had time to register that Shelby was facing off against two of these horrible things. A heavy thud sounded out and the hobgoblin she faced off with coughed and stumbled forward. A sledgehammer fell to the ground behind it, and she took the opportunity to look past and see Carter drawing his sword and sprinting towards her, away from a downed hobgoblin with a crushed skull.

Holy crap Carter yes! Who else would throw a fucking sledgehammer!

She took advantage of the opportunity and slashed out wildly across the hobgoblin's lowered head. She felt the blade slide through flesh and was almost sick when warm blood spurted across her hand. The hobgoblin roared and lashed out with it's fist striking her in the cheek and knocking her to the ground. She pushed herself back with her legs as it held one hand to it's face and swung its sword out blindly with the other, inches from her body.

A blade burst through the hobgoblins throat from behind and it fell gurgling to the ground. Carter pulled his blade from it's throat and roughly sheathed it before grabbing the sledge. He gave her a short nod before charging off towards where Shelby was holder her own against two more.

She stumbled to her feet and sheathed her own sword, racing forward to retrace her steps and recover her bow.

Close combat definitely isn't for me. Just slowing everyone down. The bow is much better, much safer.

As she raised the bow and searched for targets she saw Kalan battering his way through the defenses of a singular, singed hobgoblin, another smoking corpse laying several steps behind their fight. Carter and Shelby and their two hobgoblins were too close and too engaged to safely fire arrows at.

Oh no!

There was a group of hobgoblins gathering just on the opposite side of the bridge, seeming to organize themselves into a formation. They looked nearly ready, but seemed to be waiting for something, several were looking back over their shoulders at the interior of the keep.

Baily sprinted forward around the wrecked buildings and far edge of the quarry toward the river. She dropped her bow once again and reached into her pouch of grenades with both hands, charging them as fast as she could and throwing four of the five right at the bridge. One landed short near their side of the bridge, another fell into the water, but the last two landed within a foot of each other across the center of the bridge. There was a brief pause before she heard a distant crack, but it wasn't the stones she threw, those hadn't burned through their delay yet.

Baily looked upriver and saw an ever-growing tide of water come racing through the forest, flooding the riverbank on both sides. A few hobgoblins broke formation to race toward the bridge, but it was at that moment her thrown grenades went off and shattered the wood beneath them. The bridge wasn't entirely destroyed, but it creaked and groaned, the wood in the center was charred and burnt and blasted mostly through, some few solitary planks on the sides holding on and maintaining the connection. The hobgoblins pulled up short at the damaged section, one's foot broke through the weakened and charred planks, then the water hit and the whole center of the bridge broke under it's force. Two of the hobgoblins on the bridge were picked up by the collapsing bridge and pulled down river as the others who broke formation pulled up short at the edge of the broken bridge.

She skidded to a halt, smiling.

Take that! All going to plan! Oh shit!

She turned and ran as some of the hobgoblins on the opposing bank began to shout and fire arrows at her. Kalan was already done with his opponent and was urging a struggling line of prisoners to push the cart faster as he sprinted on ahead towards the cluster of intact buildings on the opposite side of the road.

____

I did it. I did it. I helped everyone out. I saw the signal, and I set off the Dam. I should go help now. But I might die, they look like they're running away from the forest, towards those other buildings. They're running away from me. Oh man, Oh this is going to really suck isn't it?

Tyler took off, stumbling through the forest downhill, keeping a healthy distance from the rapidly flowing river beside him.

___

Carter could feel the adrenaline pumping through him. The blood pounding in his ears. Shelby was running off, following the wagon, shouting encouragement to the prisoners. He had never been very good with words. Kalan was sprinting at the next cluster of buildings, where four more hobgoblins were drawing back bows and firing into the oncoming crowd. That was where he belonged. He took off running, arms pumping as he passed the wagon, set to hit the crowd just after Kalan did. He had no armor, butt his new [Thick Skin] Skill would have to do for now. He got it wrestling with the hobgoblin last night, and he was sure it had improved since.

A line of fire traced his ribs as an arrow skated across his side, narrowly missing a direct impact with his chest. Balls of fire streaked out and the hobgoblins dropped their bows in favor of those blocky swords they carried. Some of these had round wooden shields too, and they warded off most of the fireball with them, though some stumbled slightly. Weak.

His hammer came crashing down into one of those wooden shields, splintering the wood and shattering the bone beneath. The hobgoblin cried out as it took a step back, and Carter jumped away as another stabbed out at him, piercing his skin only a little before he managed more distance.

It was a good idea to prioritize strength. Strength and vitality, the only sure things you can really rely on in a fight.

He swung wide with the sledge and connected with the outthrust blade, still wet with his blood. It was knocked from the hand of the hobgoblin as he let go of his sledge mid swing and reached out to grasp the hobgoblin's numb arm, pulling it forward into a punch to the chin, then a grab, throw, pin. It's chest was to the dirt, its face turned sideways in a grimace, one arm pulled up behind it's back, the other struggling to push off the dirt beneath. Carter pulled the hobgoblins own dagger from it's belt and rammed it into the back of it's neck, repeatedly, until it stopped moving. His head was turned away from the gore to look at the other hobgoblin, who was attempting to pull the broken shield from his shattered arm, and not get hit by the firebolts Kalan was tossing around while struggling with the other two hobgoblins. He could hear the crack of distant explosions as Andrew did whatever the hell he was doing right now.

This is going very well.

_____

Shelby was running low on arrows. The hobgoblins she killed earlier had more, but she only had enough time to grab a handful to stuff in her quiver as the line of prisoners raced along with the wagon. It was a stumbling mess, but they were moving quickly and following directions. She away from the prisoners and nearly tripped as she saw what was on the other side of the river. A whole line of hobgoblins, easily ten or fifteen was lined up there, bows drawn back and ready to fire. Behind them she could see as many more fighting off a pack of oversized wolves who were managing surprisingly well against the hobgoblins, until a hobgoblin easily twice the size of any other and coated in red and green glowing threads came charging out of the fort towards them. As soon as it came racing out of the fort the Hobgoblins started screaming and chanting to a violent wrathful rhythm. She watched just long enough to see it grab a wolf by the back leg and spin around to slam it into another before she remembered the archers.

"Get Behind the wagon or hit the dirt! Now!" She shouted, reaching into her pouch for a grenade and charging it. The line loosed and a wave of arrows washed over them. She crouched and turned her back, and felt a couple of arrows thud heavily into her back. One punctured slightly through the metal before falling out, and the indentation scraped against her skin. She stood and barely had time to register the bloody wounds the prisoners sustained before turning and throwing the grenade into the center of the line. It exploded in the air just before landing, blasting outwards and knocking most of the line on it's ass. She could see most of the bows in the center were shattered or charred, and three of the hobgoblins looked like they were out of the fight for the moment. She charged another.

This one actually killed two, it landed next to them just as they were rising from the dirt, and seemed to damage a good number more bows as well, judging by the enraged shouts and drawn swords. On the opposite side four hobgoblins managed to stand and began loosing arrows freely, all directly at her.

Shit, I only have a couple more of those, I'll need them if that line of hobs gets moving. I'll need to take some good shots soon.

The prisoners had gained some distance now, though there were several injured. She knew from experience that working in the mine for long enough would provide some substantial boosts to vitality, but they were entirely without armor and all chained together. Two of them took arrow wounds to the leg, and were desperately using those chained to either side as crutches. Those two alone pulled about half of the hands away from pushing the wagon.

She could see Kalan and Carter facing off with a pair of hobgoblins, Carter was covered in blood but she couldn't tell if it was his or not. He was certainly holding his own well enough in the fight. Baily was circling around the cluster of buildings, peeking into each one.

Good idea, checking for more waiting to ambush us. We're almost there, those buildings will buy us some breathing room to deal with these chains.

She slid to a stop just long enough to draw and release and arrow, then jumped into a roll before she could even see it land as all four hobgoblins also released arrows in her direction. The wolves were nearly all dead now, though quite a few of the hobgoblins looked to be out of the fight as well. More and more were turning away from the wolves and starting off towards the river, towards them. Shelby rolled to her feet and prepared to fire again.

______

Kalan finished off their last opponent with a flaming stab through the heart. He pulled the sizzling blade from flesh and turned, relieved to see the wagon passing by him to take shelter behind one of the buildings. Shelby was running around in the open, dodging arrows and looking a bit silly. Though, by the looks of it she managed to get three or four hits on the archers that were left. The crowd of hobgoblins wading into the river was far more problematic. As soon as they made it across this would get a whole lot bloodier. That chanting wasn't very promising either. So much for lowering moral with explosions.

"Shelby! Get over here, we've got the buildings! They're all clear and we're going to need to start on those fuckers crossing the river soon!" He shouted. Leveling his sword at one that was nearly halfway across and pushing a firebolt out through the blade. It struck true, hitting the goblin in the chest with a burst of flame. The hobgoblin was knocked off balance and pulled a short distance downstream as it flailed to regain its footing in the fast moving water. He was lining up his next shot when it hit him.

He was knocked up and off of his feet, he could feel the armor around his shoulder denting inwards painfully, his upper arm guards were blown fully off and he felt the joints in his shoulder stretch as his arm nearly joined them. Shards of stone erupted up from the impact and clattered against his helm and he skidded as he landed, tasting blood and feeling blood, and really hoping his arm still worked. He rolled back around the building as fast as he possibly could and was rewarded with the sight of a rough mass of stone slamming into the ground where he had landed moments before shattering on impact and raining little pieces all over him once again.

Kalan pulled himself to his feet. His arm was working, mostly, everything hurt, but he still had his sword. He was behind cover now, though how long that would last against whatever the fuck was throwing those stones he didn't know. Carter was going up and down the line of prisoners, speaking to each and using his sledgehammer to break the links between the chains. Several freed prisoners were already quickly sifting through the weapons in the wagon, arming themselves as best they could.

He peeked around the corner and saw a huge hobgoblin ripping up chunks of the destroyed bridge and winding up to throw again. A pair of explosions went off just behind it, and it stumbled forward for a moment before catching it's footing and righting itself. It turned and Kalan saw Andrew charging through the gates towards it, a large group of prisoners right behind him.

Thank fucking god for Andrew blowing shit up. Hopefully he knows what he's doing. That thing is no joke. Looks like he's in good condition though so it should be alright. Fucking crazy bastard.

Kalan raised a shaky arm and took aim at another one of the hobgoblins struggling to wade through the fast moving river.

Need to do my part here before I can worry about anyone else though. We have more than enough trouble this side of the river already.