Conroy Hickson sat in a tower. The tower was 30 feet tall and had no way up or down. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Jumping would get a person down quickly, and Conroy had seen people walk away from higher falls. Even if one was injured from it, if they didn't land on their head then a healer could be called for. They would make any injuries better almost instantly.

The tower was positioned to the northwest of Memphis, and Conroy was on watch duty as a sniper. He was a sniper for the US Army, or maybe the Sentinel Army since he wasn't sure the US Army still existed. He wasn't even sure if the country still existed.

However, since the invasions happened, the territory of the Sentinel Army had grown. Conroy didn't know many details, but over the last two months the humans had been tearing through the invader bases, kicking them out of Tennessee. There was some weird alien magic or technology, Conroy wasn't sure which, that allowed The General to expand Jackson's territory each time they took over new bases.

The magic technology sure made his job as a sniper easier though. Sitting in the center of the tower, a sturdy roof over his head, Conroy kept his eyes on the displays positioned around him. When he worked before the [System], he needed a spotter. Someone to measure the wind, estimate the distance and angle, who could effectively communicate it to him to make aiming adjustments. Now the rifle in front of him had a square display above it that calculated all of that and showed him exactly where the shot he fired would hit. All he needed was a strong steady hand.

Strong was necessary because this rifle had quite a kick to it. Even covered with runes and securely attached to a swivel stand in the tower, the force of the bullet chamber's explosion could take a man's arms off and knock him far back. Conroy had never needed armored gloves or a thick leather apron just to fire a gun before now.

Whatever the rifle and bullets were made out of used unearthly materials, providing more power than a tank used to possess. Bullets went further and faster than before the [System] arrived.

Oddly though, if you fired the bullet outside of the territory, it would disintegrate immediately. For that reason, the watch towers were placed about two miles inside of the border. The border was a complete circle of land with Jackson as the center. Most of Tennessee was within their territory, as well as some of Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi.

"Conroy," said the other lookout in the tower, "we've got movement. Southeast."

Swiveling his chair, Conroy investigated the distance. When he didn't see it with his eyes, he moved a floating display to the direction that his partner had indicated. What he saw was a group of ten kangaroos. Well, not real kangaroos. These were some kind of alien beast monster that had been taken from one of the invader bases and added to their forces.

What he called a kangaroo had four legs, the front two tightly at its side and the rear two splayed apart. It ran quickly, but not as fast as some of the other beasts they had tamed, like the truck-sized three-headed dogs or the saddled white snakes. On the front of each kangaroo monster was a pouch with a person on it.

He watched the group moving for a bit, angling his rifle at them just in case. About one mile out, the lead in the group saluted. Conroy saluted back, unsure if they could see him. Somehow, the group leader must have been aware, because he nodded, dropped his salute, and continued with his patrol.

That was an easy way to know if a person had come from the US Army or from the Sentinel Army. The salute. The Sentinels would hold an arm above their head as if they were holding a weapon. It was based on the leader, the General, and the logo of him that they used.

Nothing else happened for a few hours. There was plenty of food and drinks, but lookout duty was important, so Conroy never slacked on it. At the same time, it was hard to stay fully alert. They had plenty of displays that magnified the distance more clearly and further than binoculars could, so they had plenty of lead time. The most movement they got were patrols of various beasts that people rode.

"A call came in," said his partner. "Ten minutes and they'll portal in the next shift. We'll have two days off. Any plans for tomorrow?"

"I was thinking of taking Malasha to the music club, seeing what she thinks of Earth music and dancing."

"One of the bunny people? You guys serious?"

"She expressed curiosity in trying out our ways. Maybe even moving in with me for a few weeks to try our human traditions. She already had a kid since coming to Jackson, but the tribe takes care of them. Honestly, it feels a bit weird to me."

"I know what you mean, but honestly so much weirder stuff has happened that I don't blame you for going along with the flow."

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Conroy agreed. "Yeah, when I used to think of getting into a relationship, I never thought it'd be with an alien. But you can't beat that fur."

"Riiiight. The fur. Not their voracious desire to…hold on. I've got movement."

"From the southeast again?"

"No! Northwest!"

Conroy sat up and turned his seat and rifle in that direction. The display he looked through magnified so far that he could see the edge of a forest. Two figured were coming out of it. They wore gray robes and pants. Their hooded heads cautiously looked around as they crept forwards. They carried spears.

"This is tower 247. Check display 6 for contact. Two unidentified incoming. Awaiting order."

His partner called the main base to let them know. Conroy was now watching through his rifle's display, keeping the shot indicator to the left of their feet in case a warning shot was requested.

While Conroy watched, his partner relayed orders.

"They said to see if the invaders notice when they cross into our territory. A defense team is portaling to the base of the tower, just in case they take hostile actions and the base loses the ability to send reinforcements. Our shift won't end until this situation gets resolved."

Conroy nodded. It was a typical wait and see order. Few smart invaders bothered to enter their territory, and those who did were easily routed through the rifles in the towers that were placed along their expanding borders. If these invaders only amounted to two, then Conroy could drop them before they got two steps within the territory. Of course, he couldn't fire until they were within it.

As he watched, the two targets came out from the trees. They moved slowly as they crossed the open ground, frequently looking backwards to ensure an escape into the trees was possible. Eventually they reached the edge of the territory, and unlike invaders who could tell where it was, these two made no indication as they crossed into it.

"They entered. No indication of awareness," said Conroy.

"Acknowledged," responded a new voice. It was the squad leader at the base of the tower. "Race indications?"

"Hooded and clothed. No unique features," said Conroy, looking them over thoroughly. The sun was in the sky behind them and the shadows from the trees made them difficult to see clearly. "Grey robes and pants. Their feet…wait! They are bare footed, and it looks like human feet!"

"Human?" asked the squad leader in surprise. This was not the usual way that they found humans. "Continue observing. They could just be similar or shapeshifters."

The tension rose as Conroy watched the two come closer. About halfway from the territory edge and the tower, one of the figures raised an arm and pointed to the tower. The other figure looked behind them, seeming to debate whether to run back to the forest or continue their path. Neither seemed sure what to do, but Conroy would have laid odds on them retreating.

"Initiating contact," said Conroy, a little rushed.

"On what grounds?" asked his partner.

"Possible humans and they seem likely to run now that they've noticed us."

"Permission granted," said the squad leader from the communication screen he was using.

With the authorization given, Conroy used the limited Rift Menu to open a display in front of the two. They jumped at the voice, looked at the display floating in front of them, and then turned to run.

"Halt!" shouted Conroy in a rush. "This is US sergeant Conroy Hickson. Human. I have a rifle targeting you should you move. Identify yourselves and your race."

Never did Conroy think he would have to ask someone their race. There was a flinch on the two as they stopped, unsure what to do. They both had tags of "Warrior [12]", quite low to have survived this long into the invasions.

Conroy gave them a moment to respond but they remained silent. They gestured to each other wordlessly. With a sigh, and a dying hope that they might have found more human survivors, Conroy lined up a warning shot at their feet.

"You have 5 seconds to respond. 5…4...3…2…"

"I-I'm Jeff!" shouted the closer one, roughly pulling back his hood. His head did look human, with a cleanly shaved head and facial stubble. He was dirty and haggard, though his gray clothes were unmarred by dirt. "A-also h-human! We were told other humans didn't survive!"

"We find some every now and then," responded Conroy. "We're also looking for more."

"The US Army is?" asked the other man, who pulled down his hood, also revealing a shaved head.

"The Sentinel Army," answered Conroy.

"I thought you said you were with the US Army," said the first nervously.

"Yes, sorry. I was a soldier from the US Army. The Sentinel Army is made from the freedom fighters in the civilian sector. Though after all our battles I can't really consider them civilians anymore."

"If you really are humans," said the second, "how have you survived? Do you work for some of the invaders?"

"Hell no!" snapped the squad leader through the various displays, causing the two men to jump. "We'd never work with damned invaders!"

"What the squad leader means," explained Conroy, "is that we are safe from invader influence."

"Except for the bunnies," clarified Conroy's partner.

"Not helping," muttered Conroy behind him before turning back. "Anyway, our base is safe and once you pass some tests to ensure you aren't an infiltrator, we can bring you in."

"H-how many of you are there?" asked Jeff.

"We have over 250,000 humans, though most of those aren't combatants."

"S-so many," stuttered the other man. "How did you all survive?"

"It was thanks to that kid from the news. The one called the general. He was the real deal. Faced the invaders head on and built a rather large base. It's currently almost the width of Tennessee. How about you make your way to this tower. We have a squad that can run the tests and escort you to facilities where all your questions can be answered."

At Conroy's words, one of the men looked panicky and the other's face scrunched up in anger. They looked at each other. The second man dropped to his knees as tears fell from his eyes. He pounded a fist into the grass below him as his body shook with sobs.

Jeff watched him for a minute, looking like he was in pain before he spoke again in a whisper.

"We can't."

"You can't?" gasped the squad leader. "Why not?"

Jeff pulled the sleeve up from his left arm. On his wrist was a dull gray bracelet.

"These bracelets can't come off. They require us to return to their base before sundown."

"Whose base?" asked Conroy with confusion.

"The Juungii," answered Jeff, as he also began to weep.

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