Tom's team would be the ones that would stay back to watch the plan from a strategic location. There were three main pillars to the plan. First, was what Tom had taken to calling Team Ninja. In this team, Jay would lead the team of rogues to attack the defenses set up by The Master. The idea was that because they would be wearing the same black garb that the rogues from Shandra's guild had been wearing to attack them, The Master would think they were together and begin to focus on them as well, putting him off balance.
Second, Kiera would have a team of snipers trying to pick off any of the larger zombies and big threats that showed their faces. This team was an insurance to give anyone needing to retreat an opening to get away.
Third was, of course, Tom's team waiting in the wings to sweep in and be back up. With this setup, along with the entire rest of the guild waiting on standby, the teams should be able to force a conflict between The Master and Shandra, making what James had lovingly referred to as a "Mexican Standoff", allowing for each group to have to focus on a two-front war instead of just Vanguard.
Brian was very pleased with the plan to give them some breathing room. It also meant they had the upper hand with the number of members. Though, The Master was still a bit of a wildcard with how many zombies he could bring to bear. That would have to be something they let play out.
Preparations had been underway for two weeks now, and they finally felt they were ready to enact the plan. Tom, Kiera, and Jay would lead their teams into positions tomorrow, and the plan would begin at dawn to try to have the sun at their backs, as The Master was the farthest east of the battle participants. The idea was to have the sun in the eyes of the enemy, but Derek did bring up a good point that zombies might not be affected in the same way as living creatures. It still was the best opportunity to gain every advantage they could, for now, so they were going to take it.
"Alright, We have everyone ready to go right?" Tom asked after they had assembled in front of the guild building.
"They are ready, Tom. I really think this is a brilliant plan. What gave you the idea?" Brian asked coming out to wish everyone good luck.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Tom replied chuckling at the memory.
"Oh, it can't be that bad can it?" Brian prodded him to give him more information.
"Remember that show The Office?" Tom asked.
"The British or the American one?" Brian asked.
"The American one. I'm American Brian," Tom said sarcastically.
"Sure. It was pretty funny, but I watched the British one first." Brian replied, wondering where Tom was going with this.
"Well, I was thinking about how we were having to defend against two enemies and then remembered that scene where Dwight, Michael Scott, and Andy were all in the conference room pointing fingerguns at each other and thought about what it would take to get the others to focus on each other at the same time," Tom explained.
"And the idea for attacking them?" Brian asked, motioning with one hand for Tom to continue.
"The Master sent a wave of zombies after us after we just essentially set foot in his domain. And Shandra is like dried kindling in a forest just waiting for a spark to fall and light her ablaze. I figured if we attacked looking like them, especially if we wore the all-black garbs, The Master would think it was them. The Master would be a fool not to have spies watching us and see the ninjas attacking us constantly." Tom continued, describing his thought process. "So if he attacks Shandra, that bitch will be itching to show them how strong she is and strike back, giving us some breathing room."
"It's fucking genius. I wish I had thought of it." Brian said shaking his head in disbelief. "So simple. So effective. Playing off of the emotions and mindsets. Bloody brilliant."
"Thank you for saying so. I really appreciate the compliment." Tom beamed at the praise.
"I just wanted to wish you all good luck. You need to head out soon if you want to catch the sun at the right time." Brian encouraged them, looking off to the east.
"Right. Is everyone ready? You all know what you are doing?" Tom asked, turning to the assembled teams. "Team Ninja, your job is the most perilous. I want you all to be on your toes and prepared to pull out if things go sideways, am I clear?"
"We got it, Tom. We aren't looking to be heroes, just to fuck up some zombies and get the hell outta dodge." Jay replied ushing Tom to move on.
"Good. Kiera, watch their backs. The goal is zero casualties on our side." Tom ordered.
"For fuck's sake, we know what we are doing. We've only gone over this a thousand times. Let's get a fucking move on to be in position beforehand." Kiera replied annoyed at the redundant explanations.
"Alright, alright. Sorry, I'm just worried. This all rests on me you know." Tom said, also feeling annoyed at being rushed.
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"It's not all on you, you fucking cod. We all have to play our parts or it won't work." Kedron interjected from behind Tom.
"Yeah, don't go hogging all the blame shitbag. We're in this together." Jay added.
"Thanks, everyone. I truly appreciate you being in this with me. Now, MOVE OUT! GET TO YOUR POSITIONS!" Tom yelled the last part to get everyone moving.
"Yeah, yeah. We're tired, not deaf ya fucking tool." A voice called from Jay's team, followed by laughter from the others.
Jay's team left the compound first after the area had been scanned for any enemies. They moved out to put some distance between themselves and the others so as not to be seen where they were coming from. It was clear Jay had been training hard with his team, as they disappeared into the shadows almost as soon as they left.
"Kiera, The Master's base of operations is east of here. Find a building that suits your needs and get your team ready to lay down cover fire if it's needed." Tom directed her as he looked back to check that his team was ready as well.
Kiera simply nodded once and moved out east with four other snipers, making sure to not follow the exact path Jay had taken.
"Are the rest of you ready to charge in should we need it?" Tom asked the others.
"You just say the word and we'll fuck some shit up," Kedron said.
Tom had reassembled his team from the Grand Canyon trip but added Zach and Isaac as sub-commanders with their teams following as well. In Jay's place, Tom had found a man who had joined from Albuquerque named Michael. He was a tall well-muscled man with a huge beard and kept his hair in a bun with the sides of his head shaved completing his Viking look. He wielded two two battle axes and looked extremely imposing.
He had approached Tom when he heard there was going to be a fight against The Master and offered to help.
"So today we get to pay that fucker back for what he did to those he enslaved?" Michael asked walking up to Tom with his axes resting over his shoulders.
"If everything goes according to plan. But in my experience, no plan holds up completely in the end. So be ready to give them hell." Tom said approving of his attitude.
"That suits me just fine. The man is a coward. He deserves to be put down." Michael replied.
"Well, yeah, I agree, but I need to be the one to kill him, so if he shows his face, try to save the killing blow for me," Tom explained.
Tom was definitely intimidated by Michael's presence. The man was a mountain of muscle and serious all the time.
I'm glad he's on our side. I would hate to run into him in a dark alley. Tom thought to himself as he looked at him.
"Shouldn't be a problem. If the bastard shows his face, we'll clear a path for you." Michael replied as he continued to stare toward the east.
Lastly, Kiera had been replaced with a cleric named Donovan. He had focused all of his growth on healing. Chris had recommended him from the beta team as he had been invaluable at keeping the team healed during fights with monsters around the city. Tom would have liked some cover-fire, but Derek had pointed out how that was already being handled by Kiera and her team.
Every other member of the guild able to fight was on standby to gather in the courtyard of the compound should things begin to go south with the fighting. They remained inside though, to try not to raise suspicion with an army of people prepared for a fight.
Tom paused for a moment, closing his eyes. He took in a deep breath of the cool morning air before opening his eyes again and steeling his resolve.
"Alright, let's move out. It's time we paid The Master back for what he's doing." Tom said.
"Yeah, float like a butterfly, stings when I pee," James said moving up to stand on his other side.
Everyone stopped and looked at James in horror and confusion.
"Oh come on. Just trying to lighten the mood. You all are way too serious." James scoffed at the looks.
"Just when I think you can't surprise us, you say something stupid like that," Tom chuckled as he shook his head at James smiling at him. "Thanks for being the light for the team."
"Hey, someone has to keep you all from being a bunch of sourpusses. Happy to do my job so well." James replied with a huge grin.
"Let's go. We need to get into position too. We will hide out in view of the gates to see if we are needed. Today we set in motion a series of events that will change this city. It's the start of our war." Tom said solemnly and began to move east.
The teams picked up the pace once they exited the compound moving at a jog toward The Master's base. They continued in the streets keeping close to the buildings to not draw too much attention. Once they had come to the final corner, they stopped and waited. If something went wrong, every member of Jay's team had a scroll of fireball that one of them was to fire off into the air. Kiera's team also watching would give an additional signal. Any gunfire from the rooftops would mean they couldn't send the signal.
Tom peered around the corner at the gates in the distance. The Master had repaired them, making it more of a problem to get in, but TJ had given him another set of C4 to place on the gate to blast through.
"So this is where that bloody fuckwit lives," Zach said, moving up to see as well.
"Yeah, it's a maze when you get in. Slapshod buildings everywhere with barbed wire to force anyone inside to walk down a certain path. We have to be ready for that when we get in there. It's not a straight shot." Tom explained.
"No worries mate. We'll move that shit out of the way when we get in. Phillip can use mage hand to move the wire, and the buildings will actually be good for some cover." Zach replied, still staring at the walls and gate.
Philip was a magic user in Zach's party who had a large repertoire of spells to use. He had been helping around the guild building with his mage hand spell to move items and help with some of the projects that needed attention. Mage hand could only lift a certain amount of weight, but the thin barbed wire shouldn't be an issue.
As they continued to watch, Tom saw Jay and his team move out of the shadows swing, grappling hooks over the wall further east, and begin climbing the walls together. They scaled it with ease and dropped over the other side. Once they entered, everything was silent as they waited to see what happened next.
The suspense could be cut with a knife until the sounds of fighting could be heard over the walls through the quiet that was now the norm in downtown Dallas. It had begun.