Sniper

Luna slammed into the grizzly bear Shadow, knocking it backwards and breaking its stance. Mira ducked under her shield, unleashing a furious thousand brine thrusts attack, the Shadow falling afterwards. 

Gunfire screamed through the sky as they got swarmed. Dozens of gigantic hornet Shadows dashed through the sky, many of them falling to the sniper attacks, only for more to appear. 

Rell slashed a wolf Shadow, before turning towards a deer Shadow, cutting it down with a flourish of his sword. Hina stood behind him, quickly cutting down several other Shadows that attacked. 

A hornet Shadow buzzed down on Hina as her back is turned, stinger at the ready. Rena saw it from her rooftop hideaway. She took the stance she had been practicing before, remembering the words of the books she had read. She shot after taking a short breath, blowing the Shadow out of the sky in a explosion of ice. 

"Nice shot, captain. You really saved me there." Hina's voice in the Light orb said. 

Rena smirked, turning her attention to Rin. She was engaging targets down on one knee, each of her shots making their marks. Several other hornets flew down on her. Rena fired, shooting down three more. She hit a fourth one, but it didn't die, instead continuing its descent on Rin. 

"No, Sis!" She readied another shot. 

Rin noticed the attack, rolling out of the way as the hornet swooped down. At near point black range, she flicked, aimed, and fired, blasting the hornet away in a shower of sparks. 

Rena breathed a sigh of relief. Rin looked to her position, grinning and shooting up a peace sign. 

"Idiot..." Rena sighed, a smile on her face. 

"Captain." A pink haired Sister approached Rena. "We're going to..."

The arrow moved faster than a bullet, piercing the Sister's head and killing her instantly. 

"Huh?" Rena let out, processing what was happening. 

Several more arrows struck Sisters, killing or wounding them. Rena panicked, rolling backwards just as an arrow dug into her previous position. She nestled up into a corner, hiding away from the direction of the fire before finally managing to yell over her Light Nin. 

"Sniper!!!!" She cried. 

"What?" Hina turned. 

Rell grabbed her hand, creating an After Image of the both of them as two arrows hit their positions. He pulled her away, leaping behind an old car and taking cover behind it. 

Luna blocked with her shield, the sheer force of the spear-like projectile booming against the metal of her shield and nearly taking her off her feet. She slammed a foot into the ground, summoning a wall of rock that covered Mira just as an arrow flew into her. Mira screamed, rolling backwards as the arrow nearly dug into her eye. 

Rin rolled into a ditch, crawling for her life and taking cover in an old sewage pipe. 

"Gross..." She muttered.

The remaining Sisters scattered, taking shelter where every they could. The sniper took out two more as they ran for cover. One of the Sisters leapt for another, only for the gigantic arrow to pierce her chest, killing her, propping her body up as it dug into the ground. 

"Dammit!" Hina cursed, lying as low as possible under the cover of the car. 

Rell panted, lying flat on his back. Apparently he could create After Images of other people. That was good to know. 

"What do we do!?" A voice asked from one of the Light orbs near Hina. 

"I don't wanna die..." another voice muttered. 

"They killed my sisters!! I'm all alone here! Help!" Another Sister cried. 

"Stay in cover!" She directed. "We can't move till we deal with this thing. Keep your heads. We'll all die if we don't stay calm!" 

"I got eyes." One of the voices said. "It's a humanoid Shadow, its atop the old banking building. It has a bow. I'm going to take a shot." 

"Wait. Don't..." Hina let out. 

The sound of a gunshot rang through the city. 

"It has a barrier. Oh no...it found me..." The Sister said. 

The shrill sound of the arrow echoed through the air, a sonic boom following it as it found its target. 

"Are you there?" Hina asked. 

There was no answer. 

"Dammit..." She cursed. "Everyone stay put! Do not engage! I repeat! Do not engage!"

"Now what?" Rell asked, turning to her. 

"We're stuck." She said. "Those projectiles are really fast, and it seems it can fire them really quick. Even if I flicker-stepped, I doubt I could close the distance without running out of stamina from all the dodging I'd have to do."

"And counter-sniping isn't an option." He grit his teeth. "Not with that barrier up, I doubt we'd be able to do substantial damage to it before it shot back." 

"Rell, do you think you could close that distance engage it?" Hina asked. 

"No." He shook his head. "That building is too far. Plus I don't have a way to reach the top floor quickly enough." 

"And that's not taking into account any other Shadows along the way..." She sighed. "Again, we're stuck." 

"Rell..." Rena's voice came over the orb. 

"Rena?" Hina asked. 

"Yes, im still alive." Rena answered. 

Rin breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing her Sister's voice. 

"Is Big Sis near you?" She asked. 

"No, i'm across from where they're hiding." Rin answered. 

"Rell, do you think you can make it to Big Sis's location?" She asked. 

"Probably. I can After Image and get there easily." He answered. 

"Okay. I have a plan." Rena said. 

Rena needed one thing for her plan to work. She forced her eyes to look towards her dead squad member, trying to ignore what was left of her head. It was out in the open, soaking in a pool of blood. A sniper rifle. 

"I need a distraction." Rena said.