The second wave arrived three hours and fifty-one minutes after the first.
Vane was at the north window when Isole said "two minutes" from somewhere behind him, and the quiet certainty in her voice made the evaluation band on his wrist redundant. He'd already learned that about her in the field — the band gave a sixty-second alert and she gave two minutes, which meant she was faster than the Academy's sensor grid by a factor of two, and that was a margin worth building around.
"Ashe," he said.
She was already coming through the door, lacing the second gauntlet.
The second wave was heavier. Not dramatically — the constructs were still iron-framed, still fundamentally soldier-shaped — but the proportions had shifted. Taller by half a head, the plating thicker across the chest, the stride carrying more weight per step. Fifteen of them this time, and they came down the north approach in a tighter formation than the first wave, more deliberate, the gaps between them smaller.
