After most of us got back behind the building, I went to my appointed leaders.

  “Sir Andrew, front line first. What have you got?”

  “Fifteen police with riot shields. Plus Bhaarrt’s, Gar-Kosh’s, and mine. That makes eighteen. That gives thirty-five to forty feet of frontline shield wall depending on overlap. Less if we only use the riot shields. They’ll stop bullets better than Gar-Kosh’s and mine will. Bhaarrt’s will stop most things short of an armor piercing round or a .50 cal.”

  “We may stop those after they go through the mages’ shields. Layered defense. Mage shields, physical shields, any armor people have on…and finally the Healers, to patch anything that got through. How many would-be tanks do we have who have the CHARGE skill?” I asked.

  “Two more. Lots of warriors who have no clue how to fight. They took the default and don’t know what to do with it. Most don’t have weapons.”

  “Talk to the Chief and Sheriff about that. See if you can round up more batons and shields. They’ll go in after you. Tanks break the line and the shield wall opens it. If they attack our shield wall, tanks can hit them from the flanks. If the two with CHARGE have a clue how to fight, swap out a shield for them. If not, melee only and tell ‘em not to use it.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow, Ingrid, Blaze. Please join us. We’re working out how many people we have and how we’re gonna position people.]

  When all three women had joined us, I started with Shadow.

  “Shadow. I know you have the smallest group. How many do you have and what experience?”

  “Got three more. One went out earlier today. Other two think they know what to do. They don’t.”

  “Hmmm…two groups of two with a group on each side, or one group of four. Won’t have a clue if left or right is better until we see them. You’ve talked to them. Your call.”

  All I could see of her was her eyes and they opened wide when I said it was her call.

  Pausing to think for a moment, I continued. “We may have a specific target. Otherwise, your general targets are disrupting anyone with big guns like PokerRun mentioned…healers and casters, in that order. That can mean killing them from behind. It also means you four will be big targets…unless you can take someone out without being noticed. Unconscious is as good as dead. I wish you had SAP.”

  “Silent Samson does. He’s the one with experience.”

  “Good. If we can use it, we will. What’s your call? The four of you together, or you and I’m guessing Samson, lead the newbies on each side?”

  “You expect me to decide? You da boss man. Or what he call you? Warchief. Not me.” She told me, her head shaking no.

  “Nope. You know your people and what you can do. I don’t. I’ll work with your decision. You’re in charge of your team. I may give you a target, but after that, I trust you to do it. I trust you to get your people to do what they need to do and, most of all…I trust you to keep as many of them alive as you can. I want you alive most of all. Got that?”

  “Wha? I thought you ‘n Blaze ‘n Bhaarrt were all that mattered. Ingrid and me were just here for the ride.”

  Hunkering down a bit, I got face to face with Shadow. “No. We’re just the most visible and out front. That also makes us the biggest targets. If we survive long enough, you’ll be leading your own party. Ingrid too.”

  “You’re our stealth expert. The sneak and peek pro. This is being filmed. It may go out live. If it does, your way will become the way to be a Ninja in the Game. You may become a hero in Japan.” I added a big grin.

  That shocked her. She took a step back. “Nobody cares what I do. Nobody gonna make me into any kinda fuckin’ role model hero.”

  “We get through this; you won’t have a choice. You’ll be the woman of mystery. The ninja who appears, saves people, and vanishes. Maybe you’ll get your own manga series. What’ll you do then? Action toys. Ninja Shadow Barbie.”

  Her eyes went wide again as she jerked away from me.

  “OK…maybe not Ninja Barbie. You can license your own toy line. Write your own manga. In Japanese, if you want.”

  “Now I know you shittin’ me. Ain’t nobody gonna let me do dat.”

  “You and Bhaarrt. You’ll be the big stars. Ingrid and maybe Blaze too, because of their looks. I’m just an old man who puts up really tough shields. Maybe I got a few people to do what they would’ve done anyway.”

  “I’m not the hero. You are. Bhaarrt is. Blaze too. You’re the ones putting your lives on the line every time we go out. You’re doing it today. I’m just directing traffic.”

  I stood back up.

  “No. I don’t wanna be in charge. Nobody wants dat. I’ll just fuck it up,” she said, her voice starting to crack

  Tears were showing in the corners of her eyes.

  “You won’t. Why do you think I gave you this job?”

  “Ta keep me outta da way in case I can’t stab somebody again. Can’t kill again.”

  “Urako Sarutobi, or whatever your real name is.”

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  “Kanisha,” she said in a voice I could barely hear. “Kanisha Watson.”

  “OK. Kanisha. The real woman behind the mask. You have the smallest team and the most important task in saving Eddington. I gave you this job because I trust you. I saw you ready to slit that TV reporter’s throat if she tried to read another one of her spells. I don’t think you were pretending. You let yourself go. You acted on instinct to protect your people. Your friends.”

  Pausing, letting it sink in. “If you saw Ingrid go down and someone was about to shoot her, what would you do?”

  Her eyes went cold and hard. “He’d die.”

  “That’s right. You’d be on him before he could move, and he might be minus a head.”

  “Yeah. Can I do that?” she asked, putting her hand on her Ninjatō’s hilt.

  “From the YouTube videos I’ve seen, a forty-five-degree downward slice and pull. That’s how they do it with a katana and the bamboo bundles.” I shut up and let her think.

  “Four.”

  “Four?”

  “All of us go together. We get behind them and stay low. Give us the target and we’ll take them.” She straightened up.

  Her resolve shone clearly in her eyes and body. This wasn’t a manga-reading college girl. This was a killing machine.

  “What the hell have I just unleashed?”

  “Very good. You have your command. Tell Ingrid which side you’ll go out on and she’ll add a healer for your support. Two if she can.”

  Coming to attention, I saluted her.

  Shadow slapped her left shoulder with her right fist and shouted, “Lok’tar ogar, Warchief!” and took off running. I heard her laughter trailing behind her.

  “What the hell have I just unleashed?” I asked myself again, this time out loud.

  Turning back to the rest of our party, I asked, “Blaze. Ranged DPS and magic?”

  “We have magic all over the place. Most of its fire and ice. I have one each of a Water and Wood Mage, plus a Nature Druid. She can instantly grow plants as a shield. Two Earth Mages, so we can have stone walls and throw rocks at them.”

  “Otherwise, five people with rifles, and one civilian with a pistol. Seven Archers, two with cheap target bows and arrows. They won’t do much, but everything helps.”

  She pointed off to the side where I saw a small group casting spells into the sky. “Some of them have never used their powers. I’m having them practice. There should be enough time to bring them back to full Mana before we have to fight.”

  There were people who didn’t look like they were part of the line watching them. Mostly they were with the people casting spells, or just looking around at the rest of us slowly getting ready. Some had their phones in hand, taking pictures of people casting spells. Or just general shots. I hoped none of them were working with the other side.

  “That’s your team, good. The archers and gunners stay behind the shield wall. The two melee DPS as well. Put them on the ends. Mages behind the other ranged as much as you can. Mages do shields first, then area effect attacks.”

  Chief Brown said most of them have guns. That means they’ll shoot a lot at first. If we can stop most of it, they’ll lose morale and ammo faster than we will. Anything that keeps people from getting hurt will help. You set up who goes where, but spread people out. Mix up ranged types and keep them behind the shield wall even if you have to go two deep.”

  “Understood. If they have mages, we don’t want them hitting all of one type. We’ll be ready.”

  She gave me an odd look and a grin, then added, “Lok’tar ogar, Warchief!” Then she giggled.

  Giggling. From an FBI agent. “What is this world coming to?” I sighed and turned to Ingrid.

  “As they say…last but not least. Ingrid, who and what do you have to keep us alive?”

  “More than I expected. Including Agra and myself, fourteen. Two doctors who are Level 4. One is Doctor Chen, the Chief Emergency Room physician for the county hospital. The other is Doctor Edders. He’s a pediatrician, but he’s been helping people all day. This is his first break.”

  “The rest are nurses, ambulance crew, and hospital staff. My chief, Pamala Goddard, is here. She’s Level 3. They make me feel like I’ve been slacking. They also have two ambulances close by if needed and more ready but out of sight. Pamala said they can be here in a minute, two at the most.”

  “Your people have been doing a different job. They haven’t had people trying to kill or MIND CONTROL them…at least, not that I’ve heard of.”

  “I need a Healer, at least Level 3 if you can. Two if not,” I told her. “Dedicate them to Shadow’s squad. Add a Level 1 or 2 if you can. If they get out of range, we’ll shift our line closer. Or, better yet, give her Healers a shield man or two to get in range. When they make their move, they’ll be out of our protection.”

  “Oh, Father Stoddard too,” Ingrid added. “He was at the hospital doing rounds when the game activated. He’s a Holy Cleric Healer now. Catholic, of course. Level 2 now. Almost three.”

  “I know Father Stoddard. We did demos for his school every other year. Good man. Don’t know anyone who’s met him who doesn’t like him. Does he know people can die here today?”

  “He knows. That’s part of why he’s here. Some of his parishioners are on the other side, and at least three I know of, are on ours.”

  “Tell him I appreciate him being here. We’ll keep the casualty count to none if we can…or as low as we can. If someone isn’t dead, we’ll heal them, even if they’re on the other side.”

  “Also, whether or not it matters in the Game, ask if he’ll give us his blessing before we go into battle,” I added

  “I’ll check with him.” Then she grinned…and I dreaded what came next.

  “Lok’tar ogar, Warchief.” She took off back to her Healers.

  “Roger that,” I said to her back, getting her to laugh again. She has a good laugh.

  Now that I had a minute, maybe two, I could take care of something sitting in the back of my mind.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Hey, Chief Brown said you were on the roof with the snipers. I need your help as my contact on the roof. You’ll need targets and timing, and this is easier than police radio. No one else can listen in.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Yeah. Used it when I went out as part of a party. Never got into that texting shit. Kinda like this.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [We’ve made good use of it. I don’t know the range, but at least a couple miles. When the gangs come in, don’t let them know you’re up there. Stay out of sight. Once they concentrate on us, then come out and ready your shots.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [We talked ‘bout that. Guys up here are good shots. Pros. Shot against ‘em before. We’re in pistol range. We won’t miss.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [That’s what I figured. Chief said one of his up there didn’t have tac gear. Just in regular cop gear?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Yeah. Why?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Have him stand up with the reporter. I want them seen.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Why?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Cause if they see them, they’ll forget them. One cop with a reporter? Not a threat. He can feed you info by talking. Then, when it’s time, he ducks down and shoots. Unless someone’s really watching the roof, it’s just background noise. Like a hunting blind.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Got it. Yur FBI gal is gutsy. Saw her down there. Rather be up here when she lights ‘em up.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [So would I. But I handle the shield magic. Gotta be here.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Yeah, ya do. That reporter gal is a bitch. Cussed and argued. She’ll be live with a ten second delay when shit happens. Wanted you to know.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Thanks. I was hoping she’d manage it. We take this group down, others will think twice before trying it. Talk later. Thanks for being here.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [You betcha. bye]

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3TVkxaJ5Y8