The figures moved in the dark. Through the night vision optic Isaka saw the figures move through the tall grass like a wave of humanity. They stood on the roof of the academy, watching the troops approach.

“The auto-cannons look like they were taken out by artillery strikes. Something that precise would have required a trained spotter.” Dawson said over the radio into her ear.

“That must have been what shook the ground.” Isaka whispered as she watched the men advance through the tall thick grass.

“Either way they’re well past the wire. I’m getting in contact with the QRF now, have your people guard the doors, but otherwise stay out of the fighting as much as you can.” Before Isaka could agree, Dawson clicked off their channel which was immediately filled with static.

Isaka looked down the barrel of her rifle through the optic she had attached to it. Whoever these people were they wore different hodgepodge uniforms, and didn’t seem to have a standard set of gear. They look like someone rounded up a bunch of military extras from some b movies, handed them some guns, and told them to march in our direction.

“Mark, Red-wind,” Isaka said into her radio once it was dialed into her peoples channel. “We need people to cover both doors, and then another team stationed inside protecting the stairs at the top.”

“On it,” Red-wind said back a few seconds later.

“Yup, won’t be too hard.” Mark's voice was guttural, like he had been a chain smoker for most of his life before suddenly quitting and training to be the world's most successful gravel chewer. He was a leader of the neighboring town whose people were taking shelter with her and hers. He had been useful in getting everyone moving, and organized, and he knew his way around a shotgun. But Isaka didn’t know him, and didn’t trust him. At least, not yet.

“Red-wind, make sure you have at least one person that can detect when magic is being used in each group.” It was a bit of an afterthought, but an important one. In her experience magic users were typically big and flashy.

But, she had also met some people who had been remarkably subtle about such things, and that almost more than the large displays of fire power that people like Jessica could bring to bare, scared her. Illusions more than anything else scared her, how could you defend against someone or something when you weren't even sure if it was real or not?

She wanted monsters to fight. Something big to shoot. As she scanned the enemy's back line, moments before the QRF engaged the strangers advance, she found one. Then another, and another. As the rifle fire from the group of multi-storied buildings that the rangers had occupied as a defensive position erupted from the dark and slammed into the unaware and unprotected infantry, Isaka realized she had way more than she bargained for.

Isaka clicked over to Dawson's command channel he had given her only for emergencies. “Dawson, we have a problem!”

She pulled the trigger on the first target.