During the announcement many of the squad members looked baffled at the announcement. Working at USDC was their jobs, but they knew that if they needed to be, they’d be thrown out all the same. The shift from shock turned into uncomfortable understanding. “I know some of you may be uncomfortable, but I am here fighting for everyone’s lives, not just theirs,” Bradley pointed to the towers in the distance, “They could join a squad, fight for their lives, but instead they’ve tossed aside my people. Let us not forget that I’m a citizen of Detroit, same as all those who died out there. Just because I have a fancy badge doesn’t mean I work for USDC. They gave me the bare minimum equipment and personnel to work with, all while trading lives for money that may or may not ever work again. If you want to quit the squad after my harsh words then I will let you, but know that I respect all of you, and I desperately need your help for the safety of us and my people,” Bradley pleaded with the people, showing them what they wanted to see, someone vulnerable fighting for the cause, a hero, but in reality he was more pissed about the loss of prospective talent than the loss of lives.
Bradley wanted to take down the Corps more than anyone, and this was his only opportunity to do so, while garnering support at the same time. He had hoped that the Corps would fuck up enough to rally support, and he was right. Bradley now just had to wait until the end, and from there he could finish off any of those selfish bastards.
Bradley took a deep breath and wiped the tears from his eyes, “Thank you all!” His speech kept everyone there, and the announcement was enough for many of the non-service citizens to approach the camp, including the boy he saved and his sister.
Bradley went up to the boy immediately, “I apologize for the harsh way I treated you earlier. I have a proposition for you.” The boy disregarded him, “No, my sister made it clear to me how I had wronged you, I actually came here to apologize and offer myself up for service in return for keeping my sister safe.”
Bradley nodded, “What are your names, your classes, and your levels.” The sister spoke up first, “My name is Trisha Hart, I am a classless, and I am level 1.” Bradley nodded and turned towards the boy, “I am Joel Hart, I am an Assassin, and I am level 3.” Bradley smiled wide, “Joel, I want you to go over there to the short blondie and talk to him about your skills, his name is Ben and you should probably be polite. And as for you Miss Hart, I would like you to go to the medical ward to give general assistance to the healers there, and take these crystals with you as well as I’m sure they are exhausted.”
Trisha nodded, said her goodbyes to Joel and trotted off to the medical ward. Joel on the other hand was ready to be integrated into Squad 0. Joel arrived at where Ben and Devin were, “Sir of Squad 0, I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior before. I am also here to report to Ben to discuss my abilities under orders of Bradley.” Devin slapped the boy on the shoulder, “Shit happens kid, I get the situation you were in was rough,” Devin began to walk away, “Ben, I’ll get right on that.”
“So tell me your class and skills. I’ll figure out some training for you to do, and figure out exactly where you fit in.” Ben was glancing over papers as he spoke to Joel, now entirely used to his position as RPG manager, and secondary lead right behind Bradley.
“Ahh yes sir, I am a level 3 Assassin with a skill that boosts my reaction and movement speed in short bursts, a skill that deals extra damage if the enemy can’t see me, and a skill that covers my blade in poison magic for a short period of time.” Ben looked up, “I see, that explains how you easily dispatched so many enemies. A passive skill that gives a boost to damage and a skill that allows you to easily activate the necessary conditions,” Ben closed his papers, fully attentive now. “I’ll have you train with Devin, Kevin, and Betty on your physical training and combat experience. Is the movement skill a boost to your speed stat or is it a flat number?” Joel scanned the skill nervously.
“It seems it's based on my speed stat as a multiplier in short straight lines.” Ben nodded, “Then I’ll also have you do sprints before your level gets too much higher to boost your speed and stamina stats. Do your stats use mostly mana or mostly endurance?” Joel quickly responded, “I use stamina for my movement, and I use mana for the poison blade skill.”
Ben thought for a moment, and his serious tone disappeared, “Finally, someone who can be used for a killing blow. Bradley about killed himself trying to save you last time. Anyways, glad he sent you over. We will be taking a reprieve for around a week outside of ammo dumping using Bradley’s bullets to train any new members and heal those injured in the previous battle. Mana is low in general too now.” Ben tousled Joel’s hair, “For now I want you to head over to the training grounds where Devin is, and join in with the new recruits. Inform him that you are a new Squad 0 member, and inform him of the training I laid out.” Joel nodded and headed over to the field and steeled himself for the new challenge ahead of him.
Trisha walked into the tent, and noticed two girls and a man exhausted near the entrance and decided to call out, “Hello, I’m Trisha and Bradley sent me over to give you these!” Kathy looked up, “Ohh thank goodness, nice to meet you, I’m Kathy and I’m currently the main healer here.” Kathy put her hands out, ready to receive the crystals and Trisha quickly dumped them into her hands, “I’m a classless Bradley sent over to help out in any way I can. So if you need me to do anything I’ll gladly help.” Kelly looked up, the color drained from her face, “Can you help me up? I’ve burnt out my mana again.” Trisha ran over and pulled her to her feet. “Name’s Kelly, I can give stat boosts at massive cost to mana. This girl has been using me and Don as a mana battery for her very inefficient healing spells.”
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Kathy grumbled, “I’m not even a healer, just someone with the only healing spell. Since you’re a classless you can give initial first-aid since you don’t have any skills.” Trisha looked depressed, scanning her status page in disappointment. She quickly went around checking on patients still too injured to move. For the next week she worked in the ward until everyone was out and the Medic crew was finished with their tasked work.
Trisha checked her status page one last time, “I’m a priestess now? I thought I was a classless.” Kathy ran over, “Thank goodness, do you have any healing skills now?” Trisha swiped over to her skills tab, “Detoxification, Minor Heal, and Holy Barrier are my new skills.” Kathy ran up and hugged the girl, “Finally someone more suited to the job. Follow me over to Ben and we’ll have him evaluate you. You’ll either be stationed at this camp or join in on Squad 0 during important missions.” Trisha smiled, “Yea let’s go! I can help now!”
Kelly helped Don up, “I guess they were so excited they forgot about us. Let’s join in some training, since all we’ve done is boost our mana stat.” Don nodded, “I used to be in the army, and this week has somehow managed to top my time in Iraq in the most exhausting experiences I’ve ever had.” Kelly cringed a little, “That’s rough you were there, are you okay?” Don brushed her off, “I wasn’t on the front lines or anything, so no worries. Let’s just get training, Bradley will kill me if his Firebolt is a higher level than mine by the time of the next attack.” Kelly nodded, “I never expected getting so many levels for my mana regeneration buff. Now it’s more efficient than just transferring my mana.” They walked towards the training hall.
Bradley was waiting for the rest of his crew to arrive at the training grounds, going around giving help in his rest time, and training some of his spells and strength like the rest. Ben was there to check up on progress, and keep a watchful eye on Joel’s progress. Kathy ran into the walled off section, “Hey guys, we finally got a full time healer!” Trisha was being drug along by the now powerful Kathy.
Bradley and Ben ran over at the news, Ben because a healer’s skills were important to slot into the right place, and Bradley because before she was apparently a classless. “Trisha, what happened? You said you were a Classless.” Trisha looked nervous, “I didn’t lie, after helping out at the medical zone I became a priestess.” Bradley stood stunned, and thought hard all while Ben began discussing her skills, percentages, etc.
“By training a classless in a specific area, or increasing their knowledge in a field they might become what their class involves. I mean Ben is a crack shot with an airsoft gun, I’m good at repairing equipment, and quite a few of the other specialty classes seem to fit people’s personalities or body types.” Bradley thought for a moment, “Devin! Start adding combat training with a preferred melee weapon to anyone in squads 7-10 in their downtime. Also Ben, assign a few classless civilians to the medical ward to see if we can replicate Trisha’s case.”
Ben agreed, “We might be able to train and upgrade people’s classes based on their knowledge. Like if Devin learned to use a shield too he might upgrade to a different class that uses a shield and spear. Or if he learns to throw the spear he might turn into a Javelineer or something like that.” Bradley thought it over, “Discuss it with the others on what they might want to practice with. If we find any successes with class upgrades, add new training to Squads 1-6.” Ben nodded, and continued his discussion with Kathy and Trisha.
Don and Kelly arrived as well to the training field, and everyone began working in earnest for the prepared attack for tomorrow. Bullets and water were running low, and they didn’t have enough goblin meat to keep the population full anymore. By the end of the session, Squad 0 had leveled up a few of their skills, like Don’s firebolt finally outpaced Bradley’s. That was because Bradley had been struggling for an entire week on a project only he could do.
The next day arrived, and all the soldiers were prepared next to gate 10. Bradley stepped up to a podium, “Soldiers, today we venture outside of the walls to recover water, as well as clear out large swaths of the enemy's numbers. For those with little experience, make sure to stick closely to your superior’s orders. Those among Squad 7-10 will maintain a defensive perimeter around the city to watch and alert for any approaching attacks on the main city. Those in Squads 1-6 will be broken into groups, those who have ranged attacks will focus on delivering covering fire, while those with melee classes will be stationed within the gate to be prepared to clear the monsters close-by and to clear a route for Squad 0 to break through to begin the next stage of the mission. From there your job is to return inside, and recover until a flare is shot signaling our return. At that point resume previous activities.”
The squads prepared, double checking their equipment, and those with armor put it on. Bradley gathered his crew, “This will be the hardest mission we have ever faced, but we can do this. When I give the signal, I need you to cover me in a defensive circle as best as possible.” They gave a nod, it was obvious Trisha and Joel were nervous for their first mission, but both were happy to keep each other close by. “I’ll protect you so don’t worry-” “No I have a barrier so I’ll protect you.”