With everyone's rushing to prepare for the upcoming battle, an hour raced by. Everyone was given orders and sent out into the field.

"Are you sure this was the best you could find?" Wrottzen asked as he Bojohn and May hiked toward the battleground.

"For the last time, yes that was the best archer equipment we could find." Bojohn replied, "And you're going to need the stat boosts they give if your plan is going to succeed."

Playing the role of an archer for the battle, Wrottzen had changed out of his usual armor into tight fitting black pants and a matching black bikini top.

"I know but these pants are just so tight. They leave nothing to the imagination, even mine. And can this even be considered a top, nothing is being covered!"

"If it's any consolation, you look amazing." May chimed in. "But I can't help but think something is missing..." Scrolling through her inventory, May pulled out a pink bow and began to tie her comrade's hair back into a ponytail. "Perfect! Now you'll be able to shoot on the run without your hair getting in the way."

In the short time available, Wrottzen had decided on a hit-and-run strategy. The raid party was split up into smaller groups and told to move individually toward the battlefield and defeat any isolated soldiers along the way.

"I see some Redcoats up ahead." May said, gesturing to a small group of 5 Redcoats. "Bojohn, do your thing."

"With pleasure." The swashbuckler charged forward and yelled "Whirlwind Slash!" The attack did a significant amount of damage to one enemy but was stopped on the rifle of a second unit.

May followed close behind with a Double Hit from her staff and yelled, "Stay on your toes Bojohn." As she finished off the soldier who caught the Swashbuckler's attack. "You're tanking for us this mission. You can't be as reckless as you usually are."

"Sorry!" He replied as he turned to block another Redcoat's attack.

As his two allies initiated the attack, Wrottzen pulled out his bow and prepared an attack of his own. "Ok. Notch the bow, pull back the string, aim and fire!" The arrow flew through the air and buried itself in the leg of one of the enemy soldiers and making him an easy target for Bojohn.

"Nice shot!" May praised.

"Thanks! I think we're starting to get the hang of this!"

In no time at all, the three fell into formation: Bojohn tanking, May healing and Wrottzen raining arrows down from afar. With the three of them working in sync, the small party of Redcoats was easily defeated.

"Not bad man." Bojohn said after the last enemy was dispatched. "You're a little lacking in the damage department though."

"Well I still do have a Guardian's stats." Wrottzen replied. "But don't worry. I have something up my sleeve to do some real damage when the battle starts."

Other than that, the trip back to the chokepoint was relatively uneventful. It wasn't long before the trio found a good vantage point and waited on the rest of the party to arrive.

Opening the telepathic link, Wrottzen addressed the troops, "Is everyone in position?"

"Yes." Came the immediately reply from most of the teams.

"We're ready, but we lost a couple of men along the way." Was the reply from the final team.

"All right! Let's get this started." The red-haired Guardian declared. "Ayumi! Lead the first strafe."

"Right!" The Assassin replied before leading a small team of fast moving Adventurers to provoke the Redcoats guarding the bridge. Once provoked the enemy soldiers were lured away from their post toward one of the many small teams waiting in the wings to finish them off in one fell swoop.

"If you can't win on their battlefield, bring them to your's." Wrottzen declared, summing up his strategy. "Team 2, start the next strafe! We don't have long before their reinforcements strike our rear."

Soon the bridge was swarming with Redcoats, who were dealing with the same dilemma Atlas had in the previous battle. With only a few soldiers able to attack at a single time as compared to the entirety of the Atlas raid party, it was hard to even get close enough to strike. However the Redcoats superior numbers soon came into play. There were enough soldiers to stall the raid party so that their reinforcements could strike from behind, just like last time.

"We're starting to get hit from the rear!" One of the many teams cried as the battle raged on.

"All teams get ready for enemy reinforcements form behind!" Wrottzen announced. "Keep up the pressure on the bridge and switch the bare minimum of personnel to cover your back."

"I hope there's more to your plan then that." Ayumi replied via the telepathic link. "A lot of teams are starting to run low on MP and its taking everything we have here to keep the Redcoats at bay from the bridge. We don't have enough DPS (Damage per Second)."

"I have the DPS covered and we'll figure out a way to get you and the other teams additional support."

"You better." Ayumi replied before signing off of the link.

"What's the play?" Bojohn asked.

"What do you want us to do?" May asked.

Originally I was going to keep the three of us together, especially since I'm not fighting as a Guardian, but it looks like I have no choice. "Bojohn scout the perimeter and keep as many Redcoats off our rear as you can!" Wrottzen said. "May, I'll need you to make rounds to all of the teams and restore MP and HP. Can you both handle that?"

"Easily." Bojohn replied quickly "But are you going to be able to handle yourself without backup? What if a Redcoat slips by and gets to you?"

"I'll deal with it." The Guardian turned Archer replied, "This is the only way we can make this operation a success. If it means playing things a little risky then so be it. Besides I have these." Wrottzen pulled out a set of arrows from his inventory. "These are laced with poison I made with my alchemy skill. It'll give us the DPS we need and, with an accurate close range shot, should be plenty to take out any roaming Redcoats."

"All right then." The Swashbuckler replied, before setting off into the woods.

May hestiated a moment and said, "If you're in trouble just call and we'll come running." Before heading out herself.

Taking aim at the chokepoint, Wrottzen began raining poison arrows down on the enemy.

"Ayumi, the next wave should be weakened so it will be easier to keep the pressure up. I have Bojohn running interference to cover our rear and May coming to heal the front lines. Think that will be enough?"

"It'll have to be." The Assassin replied curtly.

As the battle raged on, although it was clear the Atlas raid party was more powerful, the enemies numbers were simply overwhelming.

"Our endurance is shot. We need to pull back!" Hailstone said over the telepathic link.

"They just keep getting closer." May said, getting nervous. "Do you have any more tricks up your sleeve Wrottzen?"

"I wish I did." Was his reply. "Bojohn, what's your status?"

"They're starting to thin out back here. But I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the rear undefended."

Crap. What do I do? There are just too many of them. I'm running out of poison arrows and I can't even use any skills to boost my damage output since I'm primarily a Guradian.

"They've broken through!" Came a yell from the telepathic link.

"We can't escape!" Another person yelled.

"Man down. Man down!"

Commanding from afar and striking from the shadows isn't working. Wrottzen thought, finally coming to a decision. "Everyone scatter and stay alive for 30 seconds. Reinforcements are coming!"

Equipping his sword and shield, Wrottzen charged for the battlefield. "May, I'm going to need a defense buff."

"Can do. Forest's Blessing!" Was the Druid's reply as the buff took effect.

"Everyone get ready to attack." The Guardian cried as he reached the frontlines. "Anchor Howl!" The Redcoats in the immediate vicinity began rushing toward Wrottzen, still clad in the Archer equipment.

"Is you crazy?!" Hailstone cried. "At your level these Redcoats are difficult for you with equipment and you mean to fight them without it?"

"Regroup and attack now!" Came the reply. "Castle of Stone!"

"We've got ten seconds! Make it count people." Ayumi yelled while chugging a potion. "Don't hold anything back! Maria the Ripper!" Her blade cloaked in a green light, the Assassin began darting around the battlefield, dealing damage to anyone she passed by.

"Double Hit! Centripetal Force!" May cried as she and other Adventurers joined the fray as well.

It isn't going to be enough! Wrottzen thought as the tenth second neared. What can I-

"Blizzard!" Large chunks of ice and snow began flying toward the Redcoats, defeating many and blowing the rest backwards. Looking over, the caster proved to be Hailstone.

"Hey, just 'cause I want to lead doesn't mean I'm gonna sabotage your mission."

"Thanks." Wrottzen replied as Castle of Stone's effect ended. "Keep pushing forward everyone! We have them on the ropes!"

The ten second reprieve provided by Castle of Stone and the morale boost provided by Wrottzen joining the frontlines proved to be enough to turn the tide of battle. It wasn't long before the remainder of the Redcoats were defeated and the raid party was celebrating on the opposite side of the river.

"We did it!" Wrottzen yelled as he and the rest of the raid party jumped into the air with their fists raised. "Everyone did a great job out there. Despite the setbacks-"

"Umm Wrottzen?" May said softly.

"Not now May. I'm addressing the troops." The Guardian replied before continuing. "Despite the setbacks we functioned well as a unit. I'm glad-"

"It's sort of important." May interrupted again.

"I'm almost finished." Wrottzen replied, finishing his speech with, "I'm glad you trusted my command and I hope we will all continue to grow together in the upcoming battles. Thank you." Turning to May he asked, "What was so important that you had to interrupt my speech?"

"I thought you might like to know your top came off when you did the victory jump.."

With a face quickly turning red from embarrassment, Wrottzen covered his chest and turned around to see more than half of the raid party with blank expressions and nosebleeds, not having heard a single word.

AN: Hello everyone and sorry for the delay. I had wanted to get this chapter out for Christmas but literally the day after I posted chapter 12, I got blindsided by some personal problems which have tied up nearly all of my time. Hopefully you all had a wonderful New Year and enjoy this chapter regardless of the wait. I'll get the next one out as soon as I can. Happy Reading!