We started slow, picking up speed and matching the command Stryker ahead of me. It was matching the State Patrol cruiser, sped up to follow the leading vehicles. The two lead Strykers took a lane each. They were noisy, but not as much as you’d expect. More like a dump truck than a tank. A low, heavy rumble that carried through the air without screaming danger.

  They weren’t in any hurry.

  The road curved through shallow hills and dips, trees crowding close on both sides in late-May turned into early June green. Nobody wanted to hit an ambush at full speed.

  We averaged about 30 to 35 miles per hour. Just under five minutes per mile. Fast enough to get there. Slow enough to see trouble coming.

  I’d layered CHARM PERSON on each of the three military drivers, Lt. Marmari, and State Patrol Lt. Debisono. I still had a few left, so I used them on Ingrid, Shadow, Bhaarrt, and Yoshi before we rolled.

  We were hoping for another PVP Battleground.

  Most of the rest of the convoy had sorted themselves into five-person parties. Falstaff’s group had one open slot if we needed to pull him and slot Blaze in once we freed her.

  About a mile out, according to my GPS, the vehicles ahead slowed…then stopped.

  [MarmariL:] [William of Brinsford] [Satellite feed in one minute. They’ll email you snapshots. We’ve got live connection. And a printer. We’ll run you back printouts so you decide best choice of approach for your people.]

  [MarmariL:] [William of Brinsford] [Town has a Ley Line running diagonal thru it. Spawn site on the other side and up a hill. We have 12 minutes to next spawn. Wait for it or have Miller County deal with it?]

  That made me pause. I wished he’d told me sooner. Or I’d remembered to look for it.

  “Of course there’s a Ley Line.”

  [William of Brinsford:] [MarmariL] [If the spawns normally head for town, the town likely deals with it. The occupiers are probably handling it now. That pulls at least five of them off position. Tell Miller County to take them after the spawn’s over. Then we go in.]

  [MarmariL:] [William of Brinsford] [Roger that. Our call on it as well. We go when they tell us they’re done. Tell people 15…20-minute wait.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [MarmariL] [Roger that.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [IRREGULARS] [Spawn site on the far side of town. Waiting for occupiers to deal with it, then Miller County takes them. We move after. Est 20 minutes. Relax, recharge, pass the word.]

  “We’re holding for a spawn on the other side of town,” I said. “We think the occupiers will handle it. We go in after the Miller side cleans them up.”

  “Will,” Falstaff said, laughing, “we’re all Irregulars here. We got the message.”

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  The van filled with quiet laughter. It broke the tension enough that I shifted into park and shut off the engine. No sense burning gas while we waited.

  We didn’t need to wait long before the first images came in.

  I shared them to Ingrid’s iPad so we could all see. The east highway through town was open. Empty. No traffic at all.

  The infrared told a different story.

  Hot spots dotted most of the buildings…people, or something generating body heat. The woods leading into town showed spaced-out signatures on both sides of the road. Watchers. People set to slip in behind anyone entering.

  Most of the heat signatures in houses and what looked like apartments were likely residents. Commercial buildings could be occupiers…or residents…or both. No way to tell from a blob.

  I sent out orders. Military and our best people first. Then a one-minute gap. Second wave for support. Three minutes after that, the rest would move to deal with the watchers.

  Any remaining Healers and their guards would follow to backstop us as needed.

  Second group would skirt the edges of town instead of rolling straight down the middle.

  Our ‘rules of engagement’ would be:

  Capture over kill.

  Shoot or cast to kill only if it was them or us.

  Let them surrender if they wanted to.

  I messaged Ralphie and told him that when we moved, to warn any relatives who weren’t part of the occupation to stay inside and surrender if they could. Pass it on to friends.

  The last-minute images came in. Same story.

  “Buckle back up,” I said. “It’s time.”

  “If Bhaarrt were here,” Ingrid said, “he’d be saying, ‘It’s Bhaarrt Smash time!’ Or something equally silly.”

  She lifted her winged helmet and settled it onto her head. She had to slouch a bit to keep the wings from poking into the roof of the van. A translucent white glow washed over her body, like frost-lit mist.

  “HOLY ARMOR,” she said. “Just got it yesterday. First time using it in combat.”

  While she spoke, I layered invisible MANA ARMOR over everyone else. One by one. Smooth, practiced.

  Finally, I cast it on myself and started the van.

  The front two Strykers and others rolled forward, slow at first, then steadily faster. We followed.

  As we passed the spots where the infrared had shown heat, I saw no one.

  But I knew they saw what was coming at them. Heard us. Felt us coming.

  The road curved left around the end of a low ridge. Trees thinned, then fell away, and Townsend appeared ahead…about half a mile distant. A quarter mile of empty ground and the first houses lining the highway separated us from.

  [MarmariL:] [William of Brinsford] [Lead vehicles don’t see anyone. IR’s messy in daylight. Lots of hot spots.]

  My skin prickled…that cold, crawling feeling like being watched through a scope and wrong end of a gun…as we rolled in at about 20 miles per hour.

  Then I saw the bright orange sawhorse barricades blocking side streets.

  That meant some of them were already behind us.

  [William of Brinsford:] [IRREGULARS] [When you stop, shields up to both sides and rear. Doesn’t matter what kind. Protect your vehicles. Expect contact behind us too.]

  We were almost to the main part of town when people stepped out from cover.

  Mostly they wore black or camo clothing. And red armbands.

  They dragged more orange sawhorse barricades into place, blocking the road and side streets.

  In the center stood a person in a Sheriff’s deputy uniform, one hand raised. He obviously wanted us to stop.

  We did.

  The front two Strykers swung wide, then angled inward toward the centerline. The third stopped and let the State Patrol cruiser pass.

  Lt. Debisono activated her light bar and drove between the lead Strykers. She angled left before stopping, keeping clear of the third vehicle. Red and blue strobes washed over the street and vehicles as she stepped out and took position behind her car’s hood.

  “What’s going on here?” she shouted.

  The man ahead of her in uniform laughed.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdTQb_IHbt8

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