Hold Out (Quest) (Finished)

[Cheng Mao]

"Thank you for your hospitality. We have been traveling for days through these lands, and it is nice to be able to rest for just a while. " Mao said with an honest smile on his face.
The village elder, with his long beard resting on the table in the middle of the room, nodded and gestured to the empty places around the table.
"As long as you are here, my lord, we'll be safer as well. "
A red haired, younger man snorted, and said under his breath:
"Or attract trouble..."
Mao pretended not to notice.
"I've ordered some scouts to move about the area, to make sure we're not surprised. We will leave at sunrise tomorrow. "
The red haired man snorted again, and exited the house.
"Never mind him. " the elder spoke.
"Let us sit and rest. "

The men had barely settled down, when shouts from outside alarmed them. As Mao and the elder walked out the door, a horse came to a stop in front of the house. On it sat one of the scouts, breathing heavily, and tightly holding the horse to refrain from falling down. Protruding from his left leg was an arrow. Mao quickly rushed to help the man, and caught him as he finally fell down. By then other men had caught up with the rider, and were helping him as well.
"What is your name?"
"Ran, my lo.. AAH!" the soldier said as the others saw the gesture Mao gave them and quickly and cleanly removed the arrow.
"The arrow is out, now tell me Ran, what happened. "
After a few deep breaths, Ran began to speak:
"Bandits. Rebels. Carrying the yellow flag. Several hundred of them are coming from the south. They've captured two other scouts. "

Mao's eyes narrowed, and he turned away from the soldier, heading for the elder.
"What be the matter, my lord?" The elder asked.
Out of nowhere the red haired men stepped forward.
"War be the matter. Where soldiers are, soldier come. This man will be our death! "
This time, he was holding a big woodcutter's axe, and was looking at Mao in a threatening manner.
"Er Ren! Stay your blade, and stay your tongue. We have no need of accusations now. What can be done? ", the elder intervened.
Mao sighed wearily.
"I fear that if we turn and flee, they will not pursue us, but raid this village. Our only way out now is to stand and fight. Have you men that can fight? Have you weapons? "
The elder was silent for a moment, but answered:
"We have a militia, and though they are not trained soldiers, they can fight. We will bar the gates and ready our men. "
"Good. I will send my fastest riders to Nan Pi, in a call for aid. We hold out until then. The cavalry will be of no use inside the village, but we have an advantage. They do not yet know the size of our force. "
Mao turned to the soldier in command of the cavalry.
"Take the horsemen and ride west. Use scouts to keep track of their position, but remain far from them. If they breach the town gates, charge in and surprise them. Oh, and send 5 fast horsemen to Nan Pi. "
The man bowed and ran towards the camp outside the town.
"Archers, on the rooftops and towers, footmen at the gate and streets. Archers bring buckets of water to you positions for if the wooden towers or buildings are set on fire by burning arrows. "
Even though the red haired man named Er Ren still looked angry, he nodded at Mao's plans. Mao noticed this and turned to the axe wielder.
"Can you fight?"
Ren's eyebrows rose: "Heh, is this axe sharp?"
"Good. Let us see what the day brings us. "

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The band of Yellow Turban rebels stormed towards the small village outside the city of Nan Pi. Each soldier had been brainwashed by the movement causing them to desire to stamp out all who dared to speak out against their beliefs. The lust for blood was transformed into a nicer sounding 'path of justice' mission when clearly it wasn't. It was just a small section of troops from the main Yellow Turban army that dared to invade but that didn't make them any less dangerous.

The plan was to take all the surrounding villages before striking down the weakened Nan Pi city. The man who led them was a large man of heavy build with a cold look in his eye. He wielded a large blade that called out for challenge. The group had been hunting down someone on horseback from the village. This led the group straight to their target.

The Yellow Turban rebels prepared to ravage the village and destroy the peace in the name of their Lord and God. The group stayed away and circled around the out-skirts of the village before noticing some people escaping from the village, most likely to call for help. It was clear that the group had been spotted by the village but the horsemen had been found by the rebels. "Hunt them down and make sure their message never reaches its destination." The leader chuckled in a deep voice, he aimed to walk away with victory and would do anything to achieve it.

The attention now turned upon the village as the six cavalry men chased after the five horsemen who had the message. The leader made sure to keep a good distance knowing that even villages could be dangerous at time despite being filled with peasants. "Archers, go forth and shoot down anyone you happen to see on the walls and roof-tops. Also I want some of you to use fire arrows to burn the houses and walls if you can. Make use of the cover fire from the other archers."

The leader was no stranger to warfare and was going to make things difficult for the people inside. He also readied the swordsmen and cavalry to charge into the village but he held them back for now to allow the archers the chance to get to work. "This will be easy!" The man mocked in a loud voice.

~~~~~~~

Yellow Turban Unit
200 Swordsmen
100 Cavalry
100 Archers
1 Leader

[Cheng Mao]

Looking through a tiny hole in the wooden wall, which had lost a part of strength due to weather and time, Mao could see most of what happened outside the walls. As he saw the leader giving his commands, he thought: "That one is mine. "
"What are they doing now? " Er Ren asked.
"Their infantry and cavalry is going to wait it out. They think they can take out our archers without any proper cover, but they are wrong. We have the same amount of bowmen, and they can take cover behind walls and fences. The only problem is their flame arrows, as I had predicted. "
Both men were silent for a moment, but sound still came from the onrushing arrows and dying men.
"I'll order some of the villagers and soldiers to supply the archers on the towers with more water buckets, because the buckets already there'll not be enough, and to throw water over the houses to keep them from burning up. We have only one well in this village, but if enough men operate it, it should prove fast enough. "
"Very well, I will keep watch over the enemy. Come back when the commands have been given. "
The red haired man ran toward the center of the village, in order to give the commands. At that moment, one of the towers caught fire, and the archers were stumbling over each other to get out of the tower. Several other archers, especially those on the rooftops with less cover, had died by the enemies hands. The archers on the other side had lost many men as well, Mao saw.
"They are going to have to come up with a better plan than this. Sooner or later their archers will run out. "
Mao realized that still the forces were evenly matches, if he included his cavalry.
"I hope the messengers reach their destination. "
Mao quickly pulled away from the tiny hole, because an arrow had landed into the woodwork only inches above his eye, making a nasty thud-like sound.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The leader of the Yellow Turbans grinned as he turned to his swordsmen and picked ten of them that could run the fastest. "I want you guys to run up to the wall and place flaming sticks and torches at the base of the wall in various places. Use the chance whilst the archers are firing as cover." The man spoke and the swordsmen plucked dry sticks and pieces of wood from the ground before charging towards the wall at full speed to set the fires.

The archers continued to release arrow after arrow at the enemy archers whilst picking off individuals that they could see. The fire arrows continued to rain down at the houses and towers without mercy or signs of stopping. They had been trained to be ruthess and unforgiving towards their enemies.

The leader now turned to his cavalry and requested for twenty of them to head round to a different side of the village and start piercing the wooden walls with their swords and spears and also use some of the spears as flaming spears to help start more fires. The leader wasn't going to back down yet.


Troop Count for YT
Cavalry 100
Swordsmen 198
Archers 80

[Cheng Mao]

"They're just going to burn the village. " a scouting horsemen told the appointed cavalry leader.
Al those that could hear the news shifted uneasily in their saddles.
One said: "Maybe we ought to charge in right now. "
All was silent for a moment, but then another spoke: "Those were not our orders... "
"Damn those orders, they're gonna be burned alive!" a third responded.
The leader stuck his spear into the ground out of frustration.
"We will wait for another five minutes. If the yellow dogs are still using the same tactics, we will be forced to charge. "
The men nodded, five more minutes wasn't going to kill their lord.
"Maybe they'll give us a sign?"
The leader nodded, and said: "Maybe..."

"They're putting torches to the walls! " an archer yelled from his high position in a tower.
"They're trusting completely on the flames. We have to take the fight to them! " Mao shouted through the increased noise of fire and screaming.
"How?" Ren replied, also shouting.
"We need the cavalry here now! Do you have a flag here? And paint?"
The axeman nodded, and ran into a big building that looked like a storage. At that moment another salvo of flame arrows struck wood and flesh alike, and another building started burning. Luckily, the men handling the water buckets spotted the danger and quenched the fire quickly. Ren came running from the storage with a red sheet and a tin under his arms.
"This is the first paint I saw, it's black. " Ren shouted, putting down the items.
"It will do. " Mao said, as he dipped his hand into the paint and started painting the red sheet in swift but precise strokes.



"Alright, lets get this up in the air. You! Give me you halberd! "
Quickly the flag was bound to the pole-arm, the still wet paint staining the weapon and the workers.

In the meantime, the wall had started burning in several places, no matter the amount of water that had been thrown over it. Soon the whole wall would go up in flames.
Mao ran towards a not yet destroyed tower, and climbed up it. He quickly ducked and crept behind a side of the tower in order to avoid the arrows zipping above him. Two archers lay dead on the floor beside him, two more were still firing arrows. Mao raised the flag and waved it as high as he could. Several arrows struck the cloth, leaving tears in the sheet, but it's red could be seen clearly across the plains.

"What is that?" a horsemen asked out loud.
A scouting horsemen came rushing towards the group of almost 200 white riders.
"It's a flag, raised from in a tower. It has a horse painted upon it! " The scout proclaimed whilst taking heavy gasps of air from the quick ride back.
"That's a sign! We move now!" the leader shouted. "Wedge formation!"
The horsemen obeyed his orders, lining up in the deadly cavalry formation.
"Charge! "

Mao had stopped waving the flag, and had simply stuck it between two boards of wood to keep it up in the air. Not too long after he had climbed back down, a thunderous noise could be heard, pushing away the noise of the battle.
"They've come. " Mao said to himself, and he couldn't help but smile at the success of the signal.

Swordsmen tumbled over each other to keep away from the onrushing horses. They realized that their swords were too short to be able to stop the moving beasts. Several yellow turban cavalry tried to initiate a countermaneuvre, but order was lost for the small moment of oncoming white riders.

"Alright!" Mao shouted at the top of his voice. "Open the gates, all footmen rush out right now! We will be the anvil, and the cavalry will be the hammer. "
The orders were obeyed, Er Ren rushing out among the soldiers and villagers, and soon the yellow turbans were threatened from three positions: Archers up high, footmen from the gate and 200 of the finest horsemen rushing in from the plains.
Mao mounted his horse, and grasped his weapon firmly.
"Now I go for the leader. "
He turned his horse toward the gate, and moved with his footmen for battle.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The Yellow Turban leader sighed as things started to fall to pieces. He turned to the remaining swordsmen. "Charge the village and killed the peasants, make sure you get the children as well." The leader growled as what remained of the men hurried towards the village. A few cavalry men sacrificed themselves by charging their horses into the weaker portions of the burning walls to smash through to allow the swordsmen into the village.

Next the cavalry tried to counter the move of the Han horsemen but it failed causing the cavalry to scatter but the men continued to fight even if it meant sacrificing their horses and themselves to trip and crush the enemy.

The archers now took aim at the legs of the on coming Han cavalry whilst some continued to fire at the village. They didn't give up easily since they believed that dying bravely would gain them the right to enter the Heavens. The leader growled to himself before mounting his horse and storming towards the village, his large blade held at the ready. Sometimes to get the job done right you have to do it yourself. He was not afraid of death and he aimed to take a good lot of people with him to the grave.


Troops remaining
Swordsmen 147
Cavalry 43
Archers 52

[Cheng Mao]

"Fight soldiers, not innocents, you dogs! " Mao shouted, furious at the cowardly tactic the yellow turbans were using. He turned his horse and rode along the outside of the wall, wounding and killing several soldiers with his curved lance couched under his right arm. The archers in the towers and on the roofs that remained saw the soldiers that had dodged Mao emerging from the broken walls, and they quickly removed them.
Arrows shot into the ranks of both the cavalry and the halberdiers, neither of which were carrying shields. Because of the confusion however, not as many soldiers died as would have when being shot by a calm line-up of archers.
Since the archers were closer to the town walls than the yellow-clad cavalry and infantry, they were reached by the halberdiers first. When the halberdiers reached them, their bows were useless. Many lightly armored archers departed the world of the living by the hands of the halberdiers. Then came the cavalry. The wedge formation had lost most of its power in the crash with the twisting cavalry and scrambling infantry, but nevertheless over fifty horsemen retained their speed and crashed into the remaining archers, killing some, knocking down many.
In the mean time, Er Ren had run up to the surviving enemy cavalry, methodically taking down the riders by cleaving skulls and spines with his huge axe.

The cruel yellow turban leader proved a worthy opponent. By the time the cavalry reached him, he had already slain four halberdiers, and was fighting another two at a time.

Mao cried out for Ren: "Ren! Guard the walls, the leader is mine. " The red haired man rushed back to the broken walls, and cleaved another skull on his way. When he came closer, Mao saw an arrow protruding from his shoulder, but Ren seemed not to notice.
"Tag out. " The man said in a sarcastic tone.

Mao rode for the leader, now almost completely surrounded by Mao's men.
"I propose a duel, so that you can lose with honor. "
Before the leader of the yellow turbans could answer, a soldier asked Mao: "What about the others, shall we show mercy and let them surrender? "
"Let them have their second chance. The so called way of peace is a well-crafted lie, and if they see their errors, let them have the chance of redemption. This one, however will feel my blade, if he accepts my proposition. What say you?"

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The bowmen did their best against the cavalry and halberdiers but they were cut down easily with only a few who were able to flee and regroup at a safer distance. Already they started to fire arrows again at their enemies as they fought to the last man. The swordsmen ignored what cut down their friends and just continued to push into the village with intent upon killing as many innocents as possible.

Though there was a reason for all of this since this wasn't the only bandit group roaming the area that belonged to the Yellow Turbans. This group was stalling for time.

The leader cut down as many as he could before finally stopping and looking around himself. He was surrounded but he wasn't afraid, he just stood there a grinned at Cheng Mao. "A duel? Fair enough, shall we then?" The leader spoke, the tension in the air becoming more intense. This leader was strong in hand-to-hand combat and was well versed in understanding weapons so he knew where weaknesses lied. He tried to catch a glimpse of what weapon his opponent was going to use. The fact that the leader was over-confident meant something wasn't right, though it was because the leader knew that something was going to arrive very soon.


Troops Left
Archers 13
Swordsmen 101
Cavalry 0

[Cheng Mao]

"Good. "
One of the men surrounding the yellow turban leader glanced back to the village. Mao saw the movement, end nodded to the man. "Go, help the villagers. "
In the meantime, some of the cavalry were chasing down the remaining archers, and the rest had entered the village as well. Er Ren had also chased the swordsmen inside the town walls, and checked house after house with a small group of halberdiers. Archers remained on their high position, shooting down the occasional swordsman.

Cheng Mao dismounted. He had his lance, name Dusk by its allies and enemies alike, in a firm, two handed grip. Mao knew that his opponent would be a tough one. He had seen him fight the soldiers that now lay dead on the battlefield. He wielded a big blade, but not of the length of Mao's weapon. Mao kept in mind that this was both his advantage as his disadvantage.

The combatants started circling each other. Neither opponent made a move, each for his own reasons. Then Mao initiated an attack routine, intending to test his opponents abilities. The yellow turban leader blocked every attack, never leaving holes in his defense for a swift strike. When Mao's attacks stopped, it was his opponents turn to test Mao. He came in with a powerful blow with his heavy weapon, meant to knock Mao of his feet if he blocked. Mao saw the blow for what it was, and deflected the blow to the ground with the blade of his spear, quickly attempting a strike with the haft of his weapon. This attack was evaded by the leader, and they pulled apart again, circling each other, considering their newly found experience. This time, it was the yellow turban leader that initiated a follow-up of attacks, varying from low strikes and high blows, heavy attacks and swift jabs. This time Mao had to use both ends of his weapon to deflect the weapon every time. Mao wanted to retain a distance between him and his opponent in order to use the reach of his weapon, so after three more attacks he planted his foot in the chest of his opponent, pushing him backward. Mao started attacking again, this time using both the spear tip and the sideways pike-blade of his weapon. The leader's defense could be pierced multiple times, but he was agile enough to dodge the attacks. Still, no blood had been drawn. Mao initiated a straightforward stab with his weapon, which his opponent deflected. Then he ran along the polearm, gaining the advantage for a short moment. His blade cut Mao on his left forearm. Mao grunted, and swiftly used the haft of his lance to attack, and he hit his opponent squarely in his head. The stubborn leader ignored the blow, and slashed again, but now Mao had regained control of his weapon, and parried the attack with a low swipe. The yellow turban leader jumped up to dodge the attack, but Mao had hoped for this. He kicked against the side of his opponents hip whilst he was rising in the air. This distorted the leader's balance, and he landed on his back on the hard ground. Mao stepped back and growled: "Get up. "
The yellow turban leader snarled something undefinable as he rose to continue the fight.
Enraged, he attacked once, twice, thrice. Mao blocked the wild attacks, but every powerful attack numbed his arms. The rage did not last long, as dizziness overcame the leader. The fall had pushed the air out of his lungs, and in his anger his breathing had become uncontrolled. He stood still for a moment, catching his breath. Mao saw the weakness, and spun his weapon. The spear cut the yellow turban leader a shallow wound across his chest. The man stumbled and put a hand over his wound, which was already slowly oozing blood. Then he charged, shoulder first, toward Mao. Mao tried to impale the onrushing brute, but his attack was deflected, and both men fell to the ground. In the fall, the leader had punched Mao several times, hitting armor. They rolled apart and stood up simultaneously, discovering that they had both dropped their weapons. Closest to Mao was the blade, and the lance lay at the feet of the yellow turban leader. They both picked up their opponents weapons. Mao had trained with a sword before he had been trained as cavalry, so he knew how to wield the weapon. Polearms, however, were not the yellow turban leader's weapon of choice, and the imbalanced weapon was to light for his fighting style. They started fighting again, Mao attacking with the sword, and his opponent blocking with the spear. Then the leader tried to stab Mao with the spear, but he overreached, and Mao grasped his weapon behind the curved blade, disarming the yellow turban leader. With his trusted spear in his right hand, and the sword in his right, Mao walked toward the leader.
"Have you anything left to say? " He growled.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The leader sighed before catching a glimpse of a bird flying over head, a grin filled his lips and confidence gleamed from his eyes. "Kill me here, we will not stop. Already my brothers have arrived and they will destroy this village." The leader laughed as the thundering of feet and hooves echoed close by. A large group of Yellow Turban rebels appeared and far exceeded the first wave.

This second wave was led by two leaders and showed far greater potential but they seemed to be waiting. They had stopped their charge and now watched like starving wolves on the ridge. They outnumbered the Han units and the village.

The leader laughed loudly since he believed that his friends would attack but was surprised when they stopped. "What on earth are they doing?!" The leader snarled with rage, he wondered if they were waiting to see if the Han army would attack and kill him. If he was killed then they would have a reason to be provoked into attacking, maybe it was now down to Cheng Mao to make the final decision to either release the leader or kill him and risk more conflict.

First Wave
Cavalry 0
Archers 0
Swordsmen 13
Leader 1

Second Wave
Cavalry 150
Archers 150
Swordsmen 200
Spearmen 200
Leader 2

[Cheng Mao]

Mao's heart sank as he watched the newly arrived force standing on the plains.
He turned to one of the soldiers that had been watching the duel.
"Go and warn the men in the village. Make sure the village is empty and form ranks outside the walls. Bring the flag. "
He looked down on the first leader.
"Bind him. Let us go see what they want. "
"He doesn't deserve to live! " Er Ren snarled, striding closer from the village.
"But the new enemies are not yet attacking, and if it is because he is still living, let us keep it that way for a while. "

As the men formed up, Cheng Mao, Er Ren and a small group of soldiers went toward the two men leading the second yellow turban army, carrying the red-black horse-flag. When they neared the army, twenty horsemen rode toward them to escort them to the two leaders. As soon as they were at speaking distance, Mao said, pointing to the captured leader: "You are not like this enraged beast, for you are not attacking yet. I am Cheng Mao, servant of the Han and Gongsun Zan. I would suggest you take this man, and leave, before reinforcements arrive. Or would you gamble with your lives? "

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The leader growled as he was bound and taken towards the second army of the Yellow Turbans. He narrowed his eyes at Cheng Mao before turning his gaze towards the other two leaders. "Kill these mongrels! They fail to accept our ways!" The leader barked but one of the leaders raised his hand to silence the first.

The oldest of the leaders dismounted his steed and approached the men. "I suggest you both shut your traps and hold your tongues. Besides, I doubt your messengers made it since they ran into us along the way." The second leader hissed before looked at the first leader. "I suggest you return my younger brother if you wish to keep this village in one piece." The man demanded but his voice was still calm sounding despite his clear rage towards Cheng Mao.

The large army shuffled about as they awaited their leader's command. The third leader was silent and young and clearly knew his place beneath the elder leaders. He kept the lines in check and monitored the situation.

[Cheng Mao]

Mao smiled. He had expected this answer. He said, in the the most self-assured voice he could: "One: I call your bluff. And two: How do you know... " and here he faked a chuckle "... I haven't dispatched more messengers? "
He made his smile even wider, in the hope that Mao's confidence would frighten the officers. Mao turned to the older brother of the captured leader: "And thank you for that information. I think I will keep your brother just for a while. Call it insurance. "
Mao looked around, checking that his soldiers were standing behind him. Then, with resolve in his voice, he said: "I give you the offer to leave peacefully. You have to see this as a win-win situation. You get to live, to fight another day, and the village won't be destroyed further. If you choose to depart, I hope that we shall me on the battlefield another day to continue our 'rabble' without innocent people close-by. "
The oldest leader opened his mouth to say something, but Mao quickly continued in a louder voice: "As for you, soldiers of the way of peace. I hope that you will see the truth about your ... 'religion' ... soon. "
He turned back to the leader. "Shall it be a fight? For I have not shed enough murderer's blood today. If you so wish, you can die today. What say you? "

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

The oldest leader rolled his eyes and gave a deep sigh. "Great... another smart mouthed child playing with a wooden sword that he believes is made of metal. Your whines and whimpers mean nothing to me so silence yourself before you embarrass yourself any further. Give me my brother and I'll be on my way." The leader spoke in a fed up manner, he was sick and tired of children thinking they were big dogs when they are mere pups. He wasn't here to play games and he didn't have the time to mess around with Cheng Mao.

The youngest leader walked his horse towards the first leader and planned to forcefully drag him away from the Han soldiers to please the eldest leader. He knew what to do so wasn't going to hang around and waste time. "We aren't stupid so save your breath. If you ever speak lowly of our religion again then you'll regret it as a thousand curses fall upon you." The young man growled whilst trying to maintain a level head.

[Cheng Mao]

"Any religion that can only discuss with violence is no religion. That is why I am glad that I get the chance to talk to you. " Mao said whilst he stepped in front of his prisoner, spear raised.
At the same time, Er Ren stepped forward, standing in front of the prisoner as well, and whispered without any movement of the man's lips: "If it goes wrong, I take the elder leader. ", using the moment as a distraction so that only Cheng Mao would hear.
"By on your way, do you mean leave? " Mao inquired. "If so, I am glad that the yellow turbans are not completely governed by rage. "