Kiera had taken her four recruits to the top of a building in the middle of the city and drilled them on everything they needed to know to get the Marksman skill that let them improve their accuracy with ranged weapons. The skill could be applied to any ranged weapon be it a gun, bow and arrow, or even throwing rocks. Once they had all unlocked the skill, training it was simple. They would sit atop the building and pick off monsters they saw to gain XP.
Not wanting her team to be caught completely by surprise in a situation where they might need to defend themselves at close range, Kiera also had taken her team to see Graham to learn hand-to-hand combat techniques for killing enemies quickly with other weapons. Graham had not only been an excellent teacher in the basics but also spent time with each of them to find out what weapons they felt most comfortable with and customized training regiments for each team member.
Tina had taken to the daggers, as her lithe form fit the dexterity build needed to dodge and weave in close quarters to get in a perfect position to stab vital areas. After borrowing Jay's training dummy, because why buy her own, Tina had grown even better at the daggers.
Dale had taken to the sword and had trained directly with Graham to learn how to defend against and attack an opponent. Graham once again showed how good he was by continuously beating Dale with ease every time, yet still showing him how to improve. Taking the time to go through his forms every day, he was able to tag along on some extra scouting missions and test his skills in killing actual monsters.
Scott ended up with an axe. Graham had said his method of movement seemed more in line with a chopping motion. He took to the weapon right away and was able to use his strength to deal powerful blows.
Janice. Janice, Janice, Janice. She had been the most difficult of the team to find the right weapon for. She didn't have the dexterity that Tina did and wasn't of the same strength as Scott or Dale. She was a damn good shot though. Not only could she hit her mark every time, but she was able to lock onto it in half the time of the others. Graham asked her a few more questions that Kiera thought had nothing to do with fighting and told her he would bring her a weapon the next day.
He had showed up with a whip in his hand the next morning. The ends of the whip, however, were tipped with tiny steel blades. He showed her the basics of cracking it on a whip that wasn't sharp and she was able to master that fairly easily. What came next though was absolutely stunning to watch unfold. Graham showed her the way to move her wrist while cracking the whip to make it hit a target. He taught her about twisting it to cause the end to hit from different angles, and finally, how to move her body to change the momentum of one strike into another while targeting the thing she wanted to hit from a distance.
Placing fruits on top of some tables and chairs he brought in, Graham gave her an order in which to hit the fruits. She locked onto the first one and began cracking the whip in the order he said. The fruits burst one after another in quick succession denoted by the steady beat of the crack, crack, crack from her strikes. He had done it. He had actually found the perfect weapon for Janice to use.
With her team now performing well in close and ranged combat, Kiera took them out for some mid-ranged practice. She had them take a shotgun, handguns, and assault rifles with them. They would kill monsters with only these weapons while working to maintain distance without the backup of any melee combatants. She felt relieved that they only had one incident of needing to transition from ranged to melee weapons, and if she was being honest, she was glad that happened to allow them to practice the transition.
While her team was training near the end of the preparation time, she went out to scout the buildings around The Master's base to find the perfect position to be able to fire down at them without being seen. One building in particular met every one of her criteria. Noting its location, she went back to tell the team.
On the day of the plan's implementation, she had led her team off in a hurry to get into position as quickly as possible. When they arrived at the building Kiera swore because a group of goblins had taken up residence inside.
"Shit. Alright, looks like we have to do some pest control before we can get to the roof. Dale, you and Scott take the lead with your weapons to keep the goblins at bay while Tina, Janice, and I will follow you with mid-range weapons and keep them off your backs. Make for the stairs to the roof at all times." Kiera ordered each of them so they would know what to expect.
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They all nodded and Kiera moved so Dale and Scott could take the lead. Equipping their sword and axe, they moved out quietly to attempt to sneak up on the first set of goblins at the front doors. Kiera, Janice, and Tina followed quickly behind and when they reached the entrance, Dale and Scott attacked the goblins. The screams of dying goblins brought others to the doors that were flung open as angry goblin curses were shouted at them. The women all opened fire with handguns on the goblins pouring from the building and they all died quickly under their onslaught.
With the first floor cleared of enemies now, the team raced for the stairs to get to the next level. Finding the door near the back of the building they began their climb up the stairs as quickly as they could. When they reached the third floor a goblin happened to be coming into the stairwell and Kiera quickly fired a shot at him. This alerted the other goblins to something happening in the stairwell and they then began to come out after them.
The goblins on the second floor, which the team had run right past, also heard the commotion and began to flood into the stairwell and run toward the team. With goblins coming from in front of and behind them, Kiera, Tina, and Janice all switched to melee weapons and began to kill the goblins coming from the second floor.
Luck was with them though, and the goblins could only come at them two at a time because of the narrowness of not only the doorway but the stairs themselves as well. After having fought so many monsters recently, the team made short work of the aggressive green bastards and moved further up the building. Seven flights of stairs later they reached the roof. Keria had them barricade the door with a steel pipe they found lying on the roof. Thankfully the door opened inward and wasn't a round handle, so they could lock themselves out.
Moving to the edge of the building, there was a wall about waist height with a railing on top. They set up with their rifles on the concrete wall facing The Master's base. They sighted in and began watching for Jay and his team moving through the courtyard inside the wall.
Janice was the first to spot them as they dropped over the wall. Good, Jay hadn't moved so fast that their goblin delay kept them from being a part of the fun. They followed their progress as they stealthily moved from building to building. The first pair of zombies came into view in front of them.
"Do we kill them so they have a clear path?" Tina had asked.
"No. The gunfire would give us away. We only interfere if they start getting overwhelmed or big baddies show up." Kiera replied still looking down the scope of her gun.
Jay and his team killed the first zombies efficiently and effectively. He had been training them well. They moved on and soon came across more zombies. Those were dispatched as well. When they made it to the doors of the main building in the compound, They breached the doors and Jay shot smoke bombs inside. It looked like he yelled something and zombies began pouring out.
They fought off the first wave of zombies, but the second was right behind them. More and more joined the fight and the snipers watched on as they continued to amass. Just when Dale was about to ask if they should be helping, Kiera fired off a shot and the head of a zombie exploded next to Jay. The others needed no additional invite and began killing zombies as well around the stealth team.
One of them went down under a pile of zombies and Janice cursed at not being able to kill enough to help him.
"Just focus on saving those you can. We have to keep helping them. Don't get sloppy because you get mad." Kiera refocused them immediately after seeing the man go down.
Behind them, a banging came from the door to the roof as the goblins tried to pull it open. Scott, Dale, and Tina all stopped firing to look back at it.
"I SAID FOCUS!!!" Kiera shouted at them, not looking away from the scope, and they all returned to firing down on the base.
The door eventually gave way with a loud crash as the bar was bent inward and a large goblin burst onto the roof. Kiera turned away from firing with murder in her eyes.
"Keep firing, I've got these ugly cunts!" She ordered the team.
For their part, they only flinched at the crash and then resumed firing. Kiera equipped two assault rifles at once and began firing into the large goblin. It screamed and wailed as it was riddled with bullets from her weapons at about ten rounds per second. It soon perished from the onslaught. The goblins eager to rush in behind their giant friend were also mowed down from the attack.
"Kiera! They made it back over the wall!" Scott shouted to her.
"Good, then we make for building number two now. Move out!" Kiera ordered, and everyone stored their rifles in their inventory in favor of their original weapons.
When the goblins quit coming through the door, Kiera too stored her rifle, which she had left at the wall, and her assault rifles in favor of her handguns. Moving through the door and back down the stairs, they raced for the second building. Hoping they could make it in time to cover Tom during his part of the plan.