Project Otherland

by GlorytotheScourge

An experiment with the power to deliver Paragon city or damn it. A ruthless corporation willing to crush anyone who stands in the way of aquiring it. Can a teenage psychic, a group of Longbow, and a scattered team of Sky Raiders prevent them?

3. Part 2

"Four?" sighed the voice of Johan Danar over the phone. "I'm afraid so." Replied Karol. "Nalia found two Crey, a Council, and a Sky Raider." "Damn." There was a moment of heavy silence, both their brains racing. "How long until the additional Longbow units get there?" "At least another week." Said Karol. "The defense system won't be complete at least until then either." Johan swore quietly. "What does Nalia think of Otherland?" He asked, changing the subject. Karol smiled to herself. "I think she approves." "Good, good." muttered Johan.

"If anything happens," said Karol slowly, "who do you think it will be? Sky Raiders, Council, Crey?" "It will be Crey." Her husband replied with absolute certainty. "They have the most to gain and the means to do it." "Do they really, dear? Would they make a move of the scale it would take to-" "Karol, honey, you're smarter than that. They would, they will, and if they aren't doing it already I'm a Hellion."

"I hope you're wrong." Said Karol, sighing. She knew he wasn't. "How are you doing?" she asked. "Not bad, not bad." Johan said. "Arm still aches, and I'm going to be on crutches if not a wheelchair, but I'll be able to join you in a few days." "I'm glad." Karol replied simply. He sighed. "Keep yourself safe, will you, honey?" "I'll do my best." Johan muttered something unintelligible and said, "I'll see you in a few days. Love you." He hung up.

Karol sighed deeply and sat down at her desk. "Suppose I'd better finish the calculations for the cylinder dimensions tonight." She pulled out a piece of paper that was already half full of figures, and was about to take a pencil to it when someone knocked on her door. "Come in." She turned. It was Sergeant Fole, one of the Longbow troopers. "Professor?" "Yes, Sergeant?" "We've got a bit of a problem." Karol wondered for a second if her husband hadn't jinxed them. Fole continued. "We just picked up a number of signals approaching the island. Didn't match any known configuration, but we suspect helicopter. They were engaged by a second set of signals that were positively identified as Sky Raider skiffs."

"What happened?" asked Karol with urgency. "The Sky Raiders were cut down to three craft, which made for the island at top speed. They'll be arriving in a few minutes." Karol got up and threw on her jacket. "Then we'd better be there to meet them."

Nalia was waiting for them outside her door. "I sensed trouble." She said, and no other explanation was needed. They walked swiftly up to the wall. Searchlights were scanning the clouds. It looked like a war movie.

Multiple heavy flak turrets stood at attention, pointing up into the warm evening. Longbow troopers pointed guns at the sky. Sergeant Fole unslung his gun and walked up to another soldier. "McKensky." "Sir!" "What's the situation." "Radar shows the three ships should be within visual range in about three minutes." Fole nodded and cocked his weapon. Karol looked up apprehensively. "Nalia?" Her daughter glanced at her. "Hm?" "Any…impressions." The psychic stared into the clouds for a moment. "The Raiders are about to break the clouds. I don't think they're coming for a fight." "Don't need a psychic to tell that." Growled Fole. "Three craft wouldn't stand a chance here." Nalia looked back up at the clouds.

"There's a storm coming." she said distantly. "Bad weather?" "No. A different kind of storm." Nalia didn't say anything more. A hum rose in the air. The Longbow cocked their weapons. Three indistinct shapes appeared, about a mile out. The searchlights angled towards them. One of them was trailing smoke. Nalia suddenly yelled, "Don't shoot!" A few Longbow looked over at her blankly. Fole raised an eyebrow. "Did I stutter?" cried Nalia. "Hold your fire, let them land!" Fole glared. "Now, wait just a-" "Please trust my daughter on this, Sergeant." The soldier sighed and turned back to the wall. "You heard the lady, don't shoot." The Sky Raider skiffs were within clear sight range now. No formation, no sign of an attack run of any sort. There was thick smoke pouring out of one of the skiffs' right engine.

Several lights flashed on the lead skiff. "They're signaling for landing clearance." Said Fole. "Give it to them." Nalia said firmly. Fole looked to Karol. "Do as she says." Fole shook his head. "Put on the lights on platform three." The Skiffs coasted over the troopers' heads, making for the platform. The leader set down expertly, and the other two landed a bit roughly (particularly the smoking skiff, which skidded a bit before its landing gear caught.).

Fole, Karol, Nalia, and a squad of Longbow proceeded into a lift and down the wall. They hurried over to the skiffs, where another squad already had their guns trained on the craft. Slowly the cockpits of two of the skiffs opened. A battered Sky Raider officer climbed out of the first, a relatively unscathed standard pilot emerging from the second. Neither had visible weapons and both had their hands up. "Kindly state your intent, purpose, assignment, and/or what the hell you're doing here." Called Fole.

The officer pointed at Nalia and said "I'm not talking to anyone but the hero." "I don't think you have a choice in the matter." growled Fole, but Nalia held up a hand. "Let me go." The Longbow sergeant positively stared. "Are you insane?" "Not last time I checked, no." said Nalia, not taking her eyes off the Raiders. "They aren't going to hurt me. And even if they wanted to, they couldn't." She turned to Fole. A flame flickered in her eyes. Fole relented. "Go ahead, with the Professor's permission." Karol nodded.

Nalia strode forward purposefully, stopping before the officer. He spoke in a hushed voice, so that no one but Nalia could hear. Fole wasn't liking it one bit. Nalia's expression slowly darkened, until at last she turned and walked back. She looked at her mother and said, "Scramble this entire damn base."

"My name," said the Raider officer as they sat around the briefing table, "Is Captain Deln of Sky Raider Special Ops flight Ford. Rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, we know all about what you're doing here." Deln was a muscular man with a grim face. His right eye had a scar running down it, all the way down to his neck. "And why," spat Warden Dershal, "Should we trust you when a Sky Raider spy was found in this very facility?" "Because that spy was working for an independent contractor, as you likely know." Replied Deln. "Most of the Sky Raiders don't know my wing exists, except for Colonel Duray and a few others."

He sighed. "The best of the best, all gunned down within a few minutes." "By who?" asked Karol. "By advanced aircraft developed from illegial Rikti technology, belonging to Crey Industries." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "They have an entire task force of fifteen heavy assault helicopters approaching this island as I speak. I think it's safe to say they know about the "Otherland Project" as well."

Nalia took charge. "How many troops?" "At least one hundred and fifty." Most of the personnel present's breath caught in their throats. The facility's current compliment of Freedom Corps troops was roughly sixty-five. "They will be jamming radio transmissions and just about any other type of communications. Teleporters will also be blocked." Captain Deln leaned over the table. "You have no choices. No way out. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. They will have this island surrounded. Your only choice is to fight and fight-" he slammed his fist on the table for emphasis- "hard."

There was another uncomfortable silence. "He's telling the truth." Said Nalia after a moment. "Are you sure?" Dershal asked. "Yes." She addressed the group. "I assume you all know about the Paragon Protectors. I mean, really know about them." Without waiting for an answer she continued, "I shut down the Revenant Hero Project. They need something to replace it. That's why Crey are here." She swung a hand around the room. "If Crey Industries gets their hands on the technology in this facility, they can create an army of flawless Paragon Protectors in what…" she looked to her mother. "Eight years. Seven if they figure out a few things we've been stuck on." Said Karol resignedly.

Nalia waited for the impact of this statement to sink in. Warden Dershal turned to Captain Deln. "How long do we have." "Maybe two hours." The Sky Raider replied. Dershal nodded. "Well, let's get to business then. He turned to a Longbow officer sitting next to him. "Lieutenant, put the base on full alert, I want everyone at their stations."

He looked to Nalia. "I take it you'll be joining us, ma'am?" "Do you ask any of your men that question, Warden?" "No." "Then don't bother asking me. By God, yes, I'll be there." She was no longer the quiet foreshadowing teenager. "Get all non-combat personnel to a secure area." said Dershal. "Dismissed." Nalia turned towards the door. "Where are you going?" asked the Warden. "I need to send a message." "According to the good Captain, whose statements you verified, all communications are blocked." Nalia looked at him and tapped the side of her head. "There are certain ways of communicating that a jammer can't stop." And with that she walked away.

"Red Alert. Red Alert. All units to their stations. First platoon, man the main gate. Second platoon, man the walls. All Chaser pilots, to your craft. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill."

Sergeant Fole barked orders. "McKensky, Celles, get that ammo secured behind the post. Sanworth, reserve your minigun, heavy weapons are to be directed at Crey power armored units." The minigunner nodded and resumed loading his gun. "Wells," called Fole to his squad's flame-trooper, "you're to report to Sergeant Quinn at the gate, the Warden wants as many flamethrowers as possible on the lower levels." "Yes, sir." Lisa Wells replied. "Come back in one piece, will you, trooper? That's an order." Fole grinned slightly. Lisa grinned back and saluted. "Yes, sir." She hurried off down the wall.

Fole gazed over the wall, squinting into the approaching sunset. He thought he could make out a dozen or so black dots on the horizon.

Nalia sat down on her dorm room bed. She settled down cross-legged and opened her mind. Otherland was a whirlwind of thoughts and activity. She shut them out, and expanded her focus. Where was Paragon City? There? Yes, there was familiarity. She searched through the city, examining the sensations she found. Something ….otherworldly? She felt some massive nexus of energy. That would be Peregrine Island, so many portals. That would make a good reference point. Now, west of that… she shifted her focus. Through the haze of distance came…conflict. Conflict and strife. That was Siren's Call. Nalia said a brief prayer for the forces of Freedom Corps there, and shifted west again. There….there it was, Steel Canyon. Now comes the difficult part.

There were hundreds and hundreds of people in Steel Canyon. It was one of the city's most populated zones. Each and every one of those people are different. individuals. (well, except for a pair of Council standing guard on a corner who happened to be clones.) Each one had a different mind, a different thought pattern. And Nalia was looking for one. From about two hundred miles away. She decided on a quick way of narrowing her search; people with mental protection or shielding. That subtracted about nineteen-twentieths of Steel Canyon's population. Now, she was looking…What day is it? It's Friday. And it's the evening… In the North…near the Icon…overlooking a small park…

Gene?

Nalia?

Gene. I need help.

Is it those commandos again?

No. Worse. Crey. They have an army. Not enough Longbow here to fight them.

What? Where the hell are you? I can barely hear you.

An island. Near the Rogue Isles border. Here are the coordinates.

Damn, what are you doing out there?

I'll tell you later. No time. Please, Gene. If we lose, Crey has an army of Protectors in a few years. Bring the Youth Corps, anyone else you can get.

Alright. You're sure on those coordinates?

Yes.

Okay. Hang tight there. I'm coming. And I'm bringing more than the Corps. Norris Oil Security is on the way.

Godspeed, Gene.

Nalia broke the mental connection, racing back to her own mind. The shock of being catapulted over miles in a second or so drove the breath from her lungs as she took control of her body again. After making sure everything was working, she took a few deep breaths and got to her feet. She pulled a case out from under her bed and opened it. Inside was contained a set of white body armor, a gray bodyglove, a belt, a pair of grey bracers, a pair of boots, a set of pauldrons, a CBX-9 cryo pistol, and, folded on top of it all, was a waist-length cape with an hourglass pattern.

A trio of Longbow Chasers soared over the wall, engines blazing. They wheeled around and rocketed back into the base. The sergeant looked out over Otherland. Longbow squads were moving into position all around. Small openings in the wall near the main gate, designed with defense in mind, were being manned. Riflemen were loading precision rounds. Flamethrowers were testing pilot lights and fiddling with tanks. Eagles were making adjustments to their jetpacks. Miniguns were feeding long belts of ammunition into the massive heavy weapons.

If Crey wanted Otherland, they were not going to get it without a fight. Three white-clad figures strode along the wall. One was Captain Deln, an assault rifle held in his hands. The second was Cmdr. Hefforth, his wingman. (Cmdr. Aylson, his other wingman was in the medical wing.) A flamethrower was clutched in his gauntlets. The third was Psykera. Freedom Corps heads turned wherever she walked. She was Nalia, the teenager with the knowing eyes no longer. Now she was a heroine, in all her glory.

Atop the gate, Warden Dershal and Karol Danar stood, making some last-minute plans. The Sky Raiders walked up and saluted. Dershal addressed Psykera. "I expect Crey to advance under the cover of Protectors putting up force fields. I want you to take them out once they appear." Psykera nodded. "Works for me." Dershal scowled at the Sky Raiders. "Both of you, on the gate, if you please. Ask for Sergeant Quinn." "Affirmative." They marched off along the wall. The Warden watched them go. "I don't think we're going to survive this, Professor. You should be ready to initiate the facility's self-destruct." Karol Danar looked out over the wall. "I think we're going to be fine, Warden." "Professor, you're not a military woman. So I'll put it very simply. We're outnumbered, outgunned, and the enemy has air support. We are, in layman's terms, completely screwed. How do you figure we're going to win this one?"

"Because we have my daughter."

"We've got them on radar!" a Freedom Corps technician called over the radio. "Fifteen Crey heavy choppers moving in! ETA twelve minutes!" "Alright, hustle, people!" yelled the Warden, and hurried towards the top of the gate. Psykera leapt into the air, lifting herself with her mind and soaring to the edge of the wall. Shouts went up, the Longbow rushed to the wall, bracing rifles against the rampart. Vast clicking sounds issued from the gate as the locking mechanisms slid into place. Psykera stood on the wall, feeling the approach of the Crey forces. There were easily a hundred and fifty, as Deln had said.

A 8-man Longbow squad took up positions near her. Their officer stepped up and looked to the heroine. "Ma'am?" She turned her head. "Hm?" "I'm Sergeant Selvin. I just wanted to say….my men and I are honored to be fighting with you." "The honor's mine, Sergeant." Replied Psykera. You just worry about shooting straight, though, you hear me?" "Yes, ma'am." Sgt. Selvin saluted and resumed loading M30 grenades into his gun.

A humming could now be heard issuing from the sky. Black dots were growing larger and larger in the coming sunset. Longbow knuckles grew white on their guns. "Turrets!" barked the Warden. "Fire on my mark!" The dots grew closer. They weren't dots any more. Fifteen massive troop transport choppers, thrusters screaming like banshees, came rocketing out of the setting sun. "Turrets! Open up!" The heavy flak turrets began booming. The Longbow hunkered down as the titanic recoil shook the walls. The air around the Crey choppers began exploding. Several of them shuddered. Smoke started issuing from one of them. But none fell.

"Keep it up!" the Warden yelled. The turrets angled as the choppers came in closer to the shore, and kept blazing. A chopper shook. Something flew off a second chopper. Its nose dipped, and then righted itself. Sgt. Selvin muttered, "They've got some good pilots in those crates…" "Wait till you see the troops they're carrying." Psykera said gravely. The choppers were starting to reach the shore, and the cover of the cliffs near the far beaches. Three, then seven, then ten, then another chopper made it past the cliffs, out of the reach of the turrets. They let off one last burst.

A column of flame and shrapnel flew up from behind the cliff. Got one… mouthed Psykera. Only a hundred and forty Crey troops to go.

Ten minutes passed. It got far, far too quiet. Every Longbow soldier in the place was thinking the same thing. After five more minutes, Dershal yelled, "Chasers! I want a sweep of those cliffs! Find out where the hell they are." Three of the aircraft flew over the wall. They hovered over the cliffs for a moment. "Sir." Called the leader on the radio. "They're here alright. They're gathering up into squads. "What's their makeup?" "I see mainly standard troopers…we've got a few snipers, plenty of Tanks…. I see a good squad or so of power armor. ….oh, -" the Chaser pilot swore foully. "Can that, pilot." Spat the Warden. "What is it?"

"Paragon Protectors, sir. I see two." "God damn it." Dershal muttered. "Should have known they'd be here. Psykera, you listening to this?" "Yes, Warden." She said. "Can you deal with those bastards?" "Let me at them one at a time, and yes." Next to her, one of Sgt. Selvin's troopers, a woman hefting a minigun, raised her weapon and said, "Let 'em come. I'd like to see one of those Protectors take a full clip from this baby." Psykera looked at her sternly. "Rest assured, they'll take soak up the whole clip, rip the gun out of your hands and beat you to death with it." The woman looked taken aback. "…they that tough?" "Yes." Psykera said with absoluteness. "They are. I think you should pray that I'll be the only one who has to deal with them."

The Chaser squad flew back into the base after a Power Tank started firing up at them. Crey started to move after that. They marched up from the beach in six platoons of roughly twenty soldiers. The troops were well-equipped, with body armor and assault weapons. Crey armed its thugs well. Marching alongside the soldiers were a number of significantly less thuggish agents. Crey Eliminators, Juggernauts, and Crisis Units lead the platoons. Special Agent Sharpshooters fell into step behind them.

Positioned throughout the troops were Voltaic and Cryo Tanks, Crey's specialty attack units. At the head of Crey's forces marched three Crey Protectors. The massive, tactical power armored soldiers were almost impossible to destroy, and the heavy-duty force field generators they carried would be shielding the corporate army's advance.

At the head of the force strode a Paragon Protector. Psykera could feel the barely restrained energy crackling under its armored skin, even from several hundred yards away. Flanking the Protector were Crey Power Tanks, Crey soldiers clad in advanced power armor. They were nearly unstoppable killing machines that could generate energy bolts capable of destroying armored battle tanks. About six hundred yards from the complex gates, the Crey army stopped.

The Paragon Protector stepped forward. Its amplified voice echoed over the island. "Defenders of Otherland." It began. Its voice was a monotone. "I very much hope that you will submit and surrender. Many fewer lives will be lost. Open your gates and allow us entry." Dershal nodded down the wall.

Cracks rang out as the riflemen fired their precision rounds. Multiple Crey soldiers dropped like stones. A Cryo Tank yelled as a hole was blown in his shoulder and liquid nitrogen started to leak out. "There's your answer," Shouted the Warden. "We surrender. Come a little closer." He raised his gun. "We can discuss things." Several Longbow grinned or chuckled. The sergeants yelled for them to reload. The Protector was silent for a moment. Then its voice boomed, "So be it." It raised a hand, as if to signal its troops. But then so did the Power Tanks. Psykera's eyes suddenly widened and she screamed, "Everyone, GET DOWN!"
Massive bolts of rippling energy shot forth from the three Crey agents' hands. They struck the gate. The entire wall shuddered. Massive chunks of concrete and metal dropped from the wall. The Paragon Protector leapt into the air and soared at the wall. "All squads, fire at will!" bellowed Warden Dershal. "Make every shot count!" And he fired. All along the wall, the forces of Freedom Corps opened fire. Riflemen unloaded their remaining precision rounds and switched to full auto. Miniguns began chattering, blanketing the enemy with armor piercing rounds and the wall with spent shell casings.

The Protector was caught between the fire of three miniguns. Only minorly injured, but unable to ignore the kinetic impact, it flipped over in the air and convulsed. The Protector stopped holding itself in the air and let itself drop out of the line of fire. The miniguns lowered too late, and the Crey monstrosity soared over the walls, bolts of energy raining down on the Longbow.

A rifleman lost an arm and they took cover behind the ramparts. Precision rounds cracked at the Protector. It hurled a focused energy bolt, which rocketed behind the ramparts and detonated violently. People screamed.. Warden Dershal scowled, took careful aim and spat a grenade from his gun. It caught the Protector dead center, and it dropped a dozen feet, stunned, before righting itself. The Warden yelled into his comm. A squadron of Chasers soared over the wall, guns blazing. The Protector turned over and over, storms of large-caliber rounds impaling it. The Chasers unleashed missiles and pulled out.

The incendiary rockets detonated, and the Protector dropped out of the sky, flaming. As the bullets began to fly, it was just a footnote on the pages of the warzone.

Sometimes footnotes contain vital things, though.

On the ground, the rest of the Longbow were unleashing hell on the Crey battalions below. The other squadron of Chasers commenced a strafing run. But before they could do any real damage the Crey Protectors deployed their force fields. The tide of Longbow munitions faltered as they realized they were having no effect.

Unfortunately, though the bullets couldn't get in, they could get out. The Eliminators were the first to respond, raising their chainguns and drenching the ramparts with lead. Longbow ducked for cover. A second later rockets arced away as Juggernauts targeted the Chasers. Two of the aircraft were blown out of the air, crashing into the force fields and exploding. Then the regular troops started shooting. Bullets whistled past Psykera's head as she raised a force field of her own to protect herself. "Excuse me, sergeant." She said, and leaped off the wall. Psykera was rather proud of her ability to fly. She was one of the fastest flyers around, and some of her friends referred to her as Mach 2. She'd never bothered to record her own flight speed, of course. But for now, as she soared over the battlefield and nothing was able to hit her, she thought it fast enough.

The heroine dove towards the Crey lines, smashing through the force field. Six Crey troopers took offense to the intrusion and turned their guns on her. A Crisis Unit wheeled around, and a pair of Cryo Tanks started moving at her. Psykera narrowed her eyes. The air seemed to tremble. One of the Cryo Tanks suddenly stopped short, and started firing bolts of ice at the soldiers. The Crisis Unit got down on one knee, and then collapsed. The squad of troopers started clutching their heads and dropping their weapons. Psykera strode past them and advanced on the nearest Crey Protector. An Eliminator aimed his gun at her. She jumped at him, her force field dealing with his bullets, and shoved a hand in his face. To the Crey soldier it was like being hit with a titanium baseball bat. He flipped onto his back with a hard crunch.

The loud crack of a sniper rifle rang out as a high-powered shot impacted on Psykera's shield. She reeled and a squad of Crey troops charged. They brought up their guns. The heroine recovered and glared daggers. The oncoming attackers froze, sudden fear filling their minds. At that point they found themselves in the air. The Sharpshooter had just finished reloading his rifle when a flying trooper caught him across the midsection. They landed in a heap. Psykera looked at the Crey soldiers held captive in her gaze and grinned. "You guys should have told me you made such good ammunition."

It takes a lot more than hurtling men to bring down a Crey Protector, though and as they impacted ribs or legs broke. Psykera shrugged and lashed out with her mind. The Crey soldier in the tactical armor was disciplined and well-trained, though, and he stepped back, raising a heavy cryocannon, and squeezed the trigger. The gun's barrel discharged a great chunk of ice. Psykera raised her hands and solidified her force field. The ice shattered against it. The Protector fired again.

Psykera jumped to the side. She attacked again, the Protector stepping back again, gritting his teeth under his helmet. Down. She pronounced in the soldier's head. Down. She repeated with more force. The Protector collapsed to one knee. He tried to raise his gun. Psykera banished the thought from his head. The soldier's will snapped. She seized the force field generator on his back with her mind and shattered it. She let him slump to the ground, drooling and broken.

Freedom Corps let out a mighty cheer as the force field collapsed. Psykera leapt out of the way and watched as a tidal wave of armor-piercing rounds broke on the exposed Crey battalion. Crey troopers started dropping, some ran for cover, which was in short supply. A Voltaic Tank collapsed as a round punctured his neck and a trio of Crey took cover behind him.

But Crey is a corporation. They are nothing if not prepared for a swift change in the situation. The officers barked orders. The remaining Protectors moved to cover as many troops as possible. Juggernauts raised their weapons and fired, forcing many Longbow squads into cover as rocket grenades hit the wall. The Crisis Units loaded special ammunition and started firing in the general direction of the complex. The bombs detonated about the wall-top, filling the air with smoke, toxic gas, and radar-foxing chaff. Radar started to call for confirmations, as large holes appeared in their imaging.

Warden? Psykera called to Dershal's mind. Hm? Yes, Psykera? replied the Warden's grim thoughts. I need a squadron of your best Eagles. Give them grenades.

Joseph brushed a tiny chip of concrete out of his hair. The room shuddered. Ten more fell down. He gulped but didn't say anything. Jessica looked at him with large, forlorn eyes. He gave her a comforting little smile. It was anything but how he felt. The repeating chatter of gunfire came from the walls, almost a constant droning. Every so often the monotony would be broken up by a distant explosion, or the room would shake, or both. Daniel was sitting near the wall, staring into space. The room was filled with Otherland's scientific and research personnel, most of whom looked extremely nervous. Two Longbow guards stood at the door. They didn't look much better than the scientists.

The room shook again. Yet more concrete dust rained from the ceiling. Joseph strode slowly over to Daniel, bent down, and touched him on the arm. Daniel looked up, his young face unreadable. "What do you think's happening up there?" Daniel was silent for a moment, and then said, "I don't think they're winning. But I don't think they're losing, either." "Good enough for me." Sighed Joseph. "Y'think we're gonna get out of this, Dan?" Daniel stared at the older boy. "I don't know."

There was another explosion. The Longbow troopers at the door suddenly tensed and gripped their weapons. Daniel's eyes grew wide. "Dan?" said Joseph. Daniel looked around, his eyes shooting from left to right. "Joseph?" He looked the older boy in the face. "That one came from inside the complex."

"Two can play at this game." Psykera murmured as the six Longbow Eagles soared in formation around her, untouched by the fire from the Crey forces below thanks to the force field being projected from her. Coming up on the second Protector! She shouted in the Eagles' minds. She felt reluctance in them at the intrusions, but it was far faster then a radio and completely secure.

The Protector was flanked by a Crisis Unit and a Juggernaut. Psykera seized the rocket and detonated it and the grenade bounced from the force field before exploding. The Protector lifted a chaingun. The Eagles snapped up their guns and fired. Precision rounds blew holes in the Protector's armor. The Eagles sergeant followed up with a blast from his under-slung grenade launcher. The Protector staggered, but lifted the chaingun again. Psykera gripped his mind and squeezed. He shivered, straining to find the willpower to pull the trigger. Other Crey units were scrambling. A full squad of heavily armed soldiers started firing, with both assault and Cryo weapons. The Eagles tore into them.

The Protector slumped, broken by the effort of resisting Psykera. She shattered the field generator and looked around to hear the cheers coming up from the Longbow on the wall. Her smile faltered as she realized it might be too late. Crey was nearing the walls. Juggernauts were starting to fire rockets into the already damaged gate. There were several Crey troopers pulling out satchel charges. That'll do for now. We have to help the gate.

The Eagles retreated after her back.

Captain Deln spared a glance at his ammo counter. 13 rounds left. He had six magazines left in his belt. An ammo crate was in the station below him. He hit the release trigger and removed the clip, putting a new one in. The Longbow trooper stepped back up onto the wall and sighted. Bullets flew past him. Robelton hit the deck as blood leaked from his shoulder. McKensky ducked as a bolt of lightning just missed his head. Deln spotted the offending Voltaic Tank. The Sky Raider popped his fresh clip out and inserted a magazine of hard-caliber slugs. He took careful aim and pulled the trigger.

The dirt near the Tank was pulverized. Deln swore and took cover as more bullets flew up at him. The wall shook. The captain looked to the side. A Longbow officer, ( he remembered her name was Vamaer) was ordering her squad to fall back from a smoking hole in the rampart. They were missing two of their number. Bullets were already pouring through the breach. Trooper Weres stopped to fire a precision round and took two bullets in the gut.

Deln dove towards the breach, aiming down at the Crey soldiers. The Juggernaut that had blown the hole was reloading. He blew off two more slugs at the bright red armor. The first shot put a hole through its arm. The second took its head off. The soldiers were stunned long enough for Deln to pump his grenade launcher at them. He turned. Feldman was dragging Weres into cover. Explosions were going off all along the wall. Deln looked at his clip. One slug left. He leaned over the wall. A bolt of lightning polarized the wall. He didn't flinch and fired the slug at the Voltaic Tank. The shot ricocheted off its armor. Damnit.

He got up. "How much longer can we hold them?" He asked Vaemer. "Not long." She panted. "Psykera did enough for a platoon, but I don't think she did it fast enough. They're already at the walls. We got a message from Sergeant Quinn's platoon a few minutes ago. They're forcing Crey back from the gate. Rappel guns, satchel charges, the whole lot. Bastards came prepared." "Damnit." "Any plan, or communication from the Warden?" "None, I-" The air shattered. An ear-splitting explosion rang out. The troops whirled. "Damnit!" spat Deln. A fireball was dying down in front of the gate. "Did they get a charge planted?" "No!" cried Celles. "Look!" The explosion had gone off in the center of the advancing Crey troops.

Psykera soared into it, the Eagles behind her. Crey soldiers fell back where she looked. Some were torn up by their own munitions as they rebounded off her force fields. Others were torn up by their comrades as she took control of their minds. The Eagles threw grenades and lead at everything in sight not wearing a Freedom Corps uniform. Longbow roared and laid into the fight with new spirit. Now we're turning this,Deln muttered. Now we're freakin' turning this.

A pair of massive spikes, at least as big around as a man's arm, impaled the reinforced steel door. The Longbow guards took a few moments to realize this, and by the time they were bringing up their guns the door had been wrenched off its hinges. A figure in yellow and blue leapt into the room, spikes all over it. Joseph looked in stunned horror as the thing cut the first guard's throat. A spike shot out from its elbow and impaled the second guard. Not a shot was fired. The thing spun and slammed the guard into the wall. The Otherland staff stared, shocked. The Paragon Protector removed some of the blood from its spines. Then it slowly turned, scrutinizing the assembled people. Spikes protracted from all over it, acidic venom dripping from them. Had the situation been anything less that life-threatening, Joseph would have commented that it looked like a pufferfish.

It didn't. It looked like his death staring him in the face. There was a light thump and Joseph realized that Jessica had just fainted. Daniel was shaking. Joseph moved to put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. The Protector's helmet twitched towards him and he froze.

Then someone cleared their throat. The yellow clad thing spun. There was a Longbow soldier standing at the end of the hallway leading to the secure room(which, Joseph realized, seemed very, very insecure at the moment.). The soldier raised her gun. She nodded her head once in challenge. The entire room held their breath. The Protector stared at the Longbow. It's a staring contest.Thought Joseph. A staring contest with our lives as the prize for winning. For an entire minute, the two stared each other down.

The Longbow fired. A projectile spat out of her gun and hit the Protector hard across the midsection. Joseph threw his hands up into front of his face, expecting a violent explosion, but instead the grenade imploded, filling the room with a low vibrations as a sonic pulse flew out from it.

The Protector shook, seemingly unharmed. It recovered and a set of spines protruded from each knuckle. It flew at the Longbow. She pulled the trigger. The heavy rifle blazed on full auto. The bullets cut through the thing's impervious skin. Something that might have been blood flew away from it. Its armored hide had been softened by the disruptor grenade. The Longbow Nullifier stepped back, and the Protector crashed into the ground in front of her, momentarily stunned by the idea of an adversary who could actually hurt it. She put a slug through its neck.

The scientists and workers, and Joseph and Daniel, all stared awestruck, unwilling to believe that one soldier could defeat a Paragon Protector. She put her left foot on its head.

The thing turned into a pincushion. Spikes protruded out from all over it. And then they launched. Awe turned to terror as the Nullifer was shredded by the flying spikes, cutting through her body armor like paper. Blood was leaking from the Protector's neck, it was covered in bullet wounds, and it was still shaking from the disruptor grenade. And yet it got to its feet. A scientist screamed. The Protector raised a hand and shot spikes from its fingers. The scientist was impaled to the wall and silenced.

Joseph stepped back. I'm going to die, he thought. This thing is going to kill me. It's going to kill all of us. If Crey loses outside, they win in here. Joseph was starting to shake. He looked at Daniel. The younger boy was edging away from the wall, afraid of being crucified to it like the scientist. He's going to die, too. And so is Jessica. And all these people. They don't deserve this. None of us do. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'M GOING TO-

(-DIE!!) – The thought rang in Psykera's head. At first she thought it was the mental screaming of the Crey trooper she was attacking. "That's absurd." She said aloud. "I'm not going to kill you." The soldier looked at her blankly for a second, then lifted his gun again, hissing, "Wish I could say the same." She knocked him out. Then the thought echoed again. The sound of the thoughts was familiar. She gasped as she realized it was Joseph. Is he panicking? She wondered. We might not be winning, but damned if we're losing… And then she felt him again. He was afraid, but his danger was imminent. Near him.

Very near him. Psykera whirled, casting her mind over the complex, filtering out the thoughts of the Longbow and the Crey assault troops. She looked into Otherland, towards the safe room. The thoughts within it were not those of safe people. She felt Joseph and Daniel, petrified. She felt Dr. Cenra, his brain seemingly shutting down under stress and fear. And she felt-

WARDEN!

Ungh! What, Psykera? That goddamned hurts!

The second Protector! It's in the safe room!

WHAT?

It's there! I'm going to stop it, keep Crey out! Help should be here soon!

Psykera took to the air, soaring into the complex towards the safe room. The door to it was burned right through, as we every one after it. Freedom Corps guards were laying in various states of dismemberment. Several were little more than pools of blood. The heroine raced down the hallway, her horror growing. Then she came upon the pulped remains of the Nullifier. Dreading what she was about to find, Psykera stepped around the corner to the safe room.

The Paragon Protector stood in the center of the room. It was a Quill Pattern, spikes protruding from every part of its body. A large one was extending from its wrist. A lab technician was impaled through the shoulder and being lifted off the ground. He was dead already, the poison in the spines would kill him even if the Protector didn't.

"Put him down." Psykera growled, both with her lips and in the thing's mind. It turned its head slightly. The spine retracted. The technician crumpled to the ground. Someone dashed forward to look at his arm. The Protector ignored her and rearranged its spines. It was now fully armored, with a quartet of spines extending from its hands at 90° intervals. They were dangerously effective weapons. From its shoulders, its hips, its back, and along its legs protruded more spines, preventing anyone from engaging it in hand-to-hand, or indeed getting close to it at all.

It lunged. Psykera gripped it telekinetically and forced it back. It did a back flip, dug its spines into the (reinforced concrete) floor, and hurled itself at her. This time she dodged back, creating a shield to deflect the tiny thorns it threw at her. She had to get out of here, there were too many people at risk.

The Protector wasn't giving her the time. It charged again, swinging its spines in deadly arcs. She stepped back again and again, finally getting into the air. She turned around and flew. The Protector leapt airborne as well and followed her. Spikes flew past her head. They soared through the bloody hallway. "Come on," she shouted to the thing, "I'm Luke and you're Vader. Dare you to shoot me down." It did. The spines ricocheted off her shields. "You're a disgrace. The Emperor ought to kick your ass."

She reached the end of the hallway and flew outside. This would be the time for Han Solo to come in and save my ass… She thought bitterly. But there was no smuggler rocketing down from the heavens to her aid as the spine-clad terror bore down on her. It swung its arms in fearsome arcs, the heroine dodging back, catching faint glimmerings of the Protector's next moves in its mind. She struck as it prepared for another attacking, probing for a chink in its rock-solid mental armor. The Protector didn't even flinch.

It jabbed with its right hand, putting enough force to cut a truck in half behind the spiked punch. Psykera solidified her shield at the point of impact. It held, but it knocked some of the wind out of her. The Protector didn't give her a second, immediately jabbing forward with the left hand and swiping the right around. Psykera stumbled, putting a spike of mental force into the Protector's head. It halted for a second, and she pressed her own advantage, seizing it and shoving it back. Adrenaline bolstered her focus and she began hurling force bolts.

The Protector leapt over the first one and ducked under the second, only to run straight into the third, which threw it onto its back. Psykera hit it with two more bolts, and before it could recover rammed a full-strength one into the Protector's upper body. It pulverized the ground under it. Psykera reached for the thing's mind again. She had the upper hand now, she was controlling the battle. Her hero license labeled her as a Controller for a reason. The Protector laid prone for a few moments, and then its spines withdrew into its body.

Only to spray forth in the dozens. The air filled with them. Psykera instinctively curled up into an airborne ball, the force field surrounding her hardening. Spines bounced off it. By the time enough of the projectiles were gone and she could lower her field, the Protector was back on its feet.

Now the wounds inflicted by the Nullifier were causing it trouble, though, and Psykera saw it favoring its left arm. As it leapt into the air towards her she summoned her power and a storm of psychic energy burst from the air around her head. Stones on the ground moved as the mentalist's will manifested in a wave of devastating power, displacing the air and shaking the ground. The Protector clapped its arms to its sides and flattened its spines, turning into a torpedo. It tried to fly through the storm, but as it emerged into the calm air again Psykera had retreated farther up and the Protector had nowhere near enough momentum left to catch her.

So it simply threw out its arms and tossed more spines at her. This time the heroine's reactions were dulled by the effort of unleashing the psychic torrent, and several pierced her shields. One stuck in her body armor. The other two went into her midsection. She screamed and dropped several feet, barely avoiding a fatal impact with the ground. Psykera reached for one of the spines and wrenched it out. And then the Protector was on her.

It brought its right arm, a quartet of thin spines sharp as daggers protruding above its fingers, whipping down. She raised a hand against it, catching the hand telekinetically, but the other one leveled at her, spikes already extending from it to fire at her. It retreated and extended spikes from almost every joint on its body, ready to launch them all in one final, fatal barrage that her weakened mind wouldn't be able to stop.

And then someone said, "Catch," and a grenade hit the Protector square in the head. It flew twenty feet and a crashed into the side of a building. The thing almost immediately got back up, but Cmdr. Hefforth was already charging, bringing up his flamethrower. A tongue of burning napalm shot forth, consuming the Protector. Hefforth didn't stick around, as soon as the Crey thing was covered in flames he stepped back. Spines flew from the flames and they missed him.

Psykera was back on her feet and ran up to the Sky Raider has he put down his flamer and unslung a Longbow Sergeant-issue assault weapon. "Where'd you get that?" "Eliminator turned him into a pile of meat wearing red and white." Hefforth replied. "He didn't need this anymore." The captain cocked the weapon and started pumping slugs into the burning Protector. It started squirming. "It's actually hurt now." Said Hefforth. "Finish it." Psykera reached into the flames with her mind.

The Protector's mind was still shielded, but it radiated pain. The pain was not connected to any emotion of failure or anger, simply the fact that the Protector's nerve endings were transmitting pain to its brain. It had no emotions, scarcely any true thoughts. The Protector didn't have a soul.

Psykera formed her power into a mental hammer, took hold of the Protector, and brought the hammer down. The thing's body convulsed. She brought it down again. A crack appeared in its mental armor. Again. Its chest hiked. Again. The armor began to cave in. She brought the hammer down again, and again, and again, and again, until the Protector was a twitching, mindless husk on the ground. Cmdr. Hefforth put a bullet in its skull.

Psykera nearly collapsed against the wall of the building. "What's the situation?" she asked Hefforth, who was reloading his weapon. "The gate fell a few minutes before I went to find you." He said. "Crey hit it with Crisis Units and a Power Tank. Quinn's the finest infantry officer I've seen in a long time, and she did her best, but we just couldn't stop them. At least two dozen men dead on our side." "What about the Warden?" "He's still up on the wall to my knowledge. It's damaged and there are still some men who can't get down." He cocked his weapon again and continued, "Quinn was falling back to the other side of the gate. She was planning on funneling them through the holes in the gate, it's still relatively intact. Until they break it down, that is."

Hefforth took off his helmet and said severely, "We can still win this. But only if we have you." Psykera got back to her feet and nodded. "I'll be fine. Let's go." Psykera took to the air and the Raider began sprinting back towards the gate, where the gunfire was starting.

"We draw the line here! No Crey sets foot inside Otherland while one single man or woman of Freedom Corps stands!" Sergeant Quinn was a hellfire officer, as good at inspiring the troops underneath her as she was at commanding them. Loud thuds and ominous creaks were coming from the other side of the rubble on the wall as the Crey troopers hacked at it. There was still sporadic gunfire as the remaining men on top of the wall resisted as best they could. Captain Deln stood beside the sergeant. He wasn't a Longbow officer, but most of the twenty or so remaining Longbow looked up to him and followed his orders.

"Here they come!" one of the radio troopers called. Crey power armor appeared in gaps and the flamers fired. The two Crey units, a Power Tank and an Eliminator, opened fire. Sgt. Quinn put a grenade in the Eliminator's chest, while the Power Tank was perforated by precision rounds. It stepped back and started blasting. A rifleman lost his upper body and a barricade was vaporized, the troopers behind it diving for cover. Deln fired five-round bursts from his gun, the armor-piercing bullets digging deep holes in the power armor. Flame-trooper Wells burned the Tank again, and the rest of the Longbow pitched in, pummeling the armored soldier with bullets. It retreated, limbs twitching as systems failed under the damage. The Eliminator was smoking on the ground.

And then things were quiet. The soldiers didn't shoulder their weapons, expecting more, but it didn't come. "What is this?" Deln was the first to voice the question. "Testing our defenses?" spoke up a soldier next to him. "With two men? Power armor or not, that's absurd. All they did was waste an Eliminator." And then the voice came, screaming in the heads of the defenders, making some of them double over in pain, the voice of Psykera yelling one word. "RUN!!"

With the heroine's will in the words they had no choice but to do so, and the gate blew violently apart, vast chunks of concrete and metal raining down. But they flew away, landing nowhere near the fleeing Longbow, as Psykera forced them away. Through the gaping holes marched Crey, and above them flew a figure with hands blazing with power. The first Paragon Protector. It was bruised and bloodied, but the horrendous damage done to it by the Chasers was almost totally regenerated. And it didn't seem much weaker. It lifted a hand, and Crey opened fire. Psykera tossed a force field over Freedom Corps and yelled, both with her mouth and her mind, "FIGHT! FIGHT! DON'T GIVE THEM ONE MORE INCH!"

Outnumbered three to one, outgunned, low on ammo, and lead by a woman blazing like an angel, Longbow fought.

Joseph threw the doors open. "Here it is, come on!" The emergency armory stood before him, cryo weapons of all kinds glinting. Behind him stood Daniel, Jessica, and the non-combatants of Otherland. Screw that. Joseph thought. If we're gonna frickin' die here, we're gonna do it making a difference. He hurried into the armory. It was stocked with cryo rifles and pistols, N2 cannons, riot shields, tasers, and Kevlar vests. "We ready to do this?" Joseph said firmly to the people behind him. "Because anyone who isn't can stay here."

Daniel stood resolutely and nodded. Dr. Cenra stepped forward, slowly but steadily. "Let's take Otherland back." Another man, a thin but brave-looking chemist, stepped next to him. "I'm Alex, and I don't want everything we've done here to be for Crey Industries' benefit. I'm in." A heavy-set man, a construction worker, said, "Name's Toby, and I helped build this place. Like hell am I going to let these corporate bastards tear it down." He stood next to Cenra and Alex.

More came forward, some bulky men like Alex, some brave scientist men and woman. One of Joseph's most promising "recruits" was an administrative assistant who was sick and tired of sitting behind a desk all day and wanted to do something worth doing. She had fire in her eyes and Joseph felt sorry for the Crey soldiers that got in her way.

Despite the fact that Joseph and Daniel were at least ten years younger than every else in the room but Jessica, everyone respected their authority and courage. Joseph passed out Cryo rifles to twenty of the twenty-six people who followed him and handed N2 cannons to the rest. They got everyone fitted with Kevlar vests (Daniel and Joseph had to go with smaller, less effective body armor because everything else was too big for them). The group spent a few minutes practicing and then hurried off. That was all they could spare.

But the team was met at the door by a lab coat-clad figure clutching a Cryo weapon of her own. "What, leaving without me?" asked Karol Danar.

They must have shot down fifteen rappel guns before they were overwhelmed. But then a Crisis Unit got his eye on their section of wall and started lobbing grenades. They couldn't get out to take shots at the rappels anymore, and Crey troopers began getting over the rampart. They killed them as they came, but then a Cryo Tank got through and it killed a soldier with a bolt of ice. Then more and more started climbing over, and they had a machine gun.

"And here I always thought I'd be murdered in my sleep!" growled Warden Dershal as fire from the enemy support weapon outside rattled against the walls of the watchtower. Three men and a woman were trapped in with him. They had two rifles, two officer-issue assault weapons and a flamethrower. The ten enemies outside had M16s, a .50, and Cryo Armor.

Simply put, they were doomed. But they'd die fighting. There was shouting and gunfire outside. It wasn't aimed at them. "What the hell?" Dershal risked a look over the windowsill. About two dozen men and women, clad in lab coats, it looked like, were firing Cyro weapons. The .50 was frozen on its stand and one enemy was on the ground, chunks of ice incapacitating his legs and left arm. "Open fire!" shouted Dershal.

Bullets flew from the watchtower and precision rounds dropped two enemies where they stood. Dershal cut another one down, and then the next volley came from their rescuers, and the remaining Crey soldiers dropped. The approaching combatants' leader was incredibly short. Dershal's jaw dropped as he saw it was Joseph, one of the Otherland Project Volunteers. "What in blue blazes are you doing!" he roared at the teenager, who was wearing body armor and holding a cryogun. "With all due respect, sir," Joseph replied, "Saving your ass." Dershal spluttered for a moment, and then growled. "Fine. Good work."

Then he saw the people following Joseph. The boy wasn't just here, he was leading them. He had charisma, courage, bravery, and from the looks of things he could shoot. As could the rest of the scientists and workmen who were following him. "Good work," said the Warden, more sincerely this time. "You shouldn't be here, but as long as you are, we need every man and woman we can get." The Warden turned and began pointing to positions on the wall. "Half of you, get covering fire inside the complex, Psykera and the rest of my men need help down there. The other half, help my marksmen hold the rappel guns at the wall. We won't give up without a fight!"

"Sounds like a plan." Joseph said, and shouted to his followers. "You heard the Warden!"

Psykera was exhausted and on the edge of collapse. The devastating weapons fire from the Crey assault troops was bad enough, but the energy blasts from the Protector had her nearly on her knees. She'd given up trying to fight back a few minutes ago, leaving that to the remaining Longbow troops. It was all she could do to keep them shielded.

The back-from-the-dead Protector was floating closer. It knew they were dead and it was savoring their demise. There was a shout and cryogun fire started raining on the Crey troops. It was coming from the compromised watch tower up on the wall. Even to Psykera's failing mind she recognized Joseph's defiance and righteous fury. He was insane, but his heart was in the right place. Good luck… she thought in his direction.

The Protector was before them now, not caring about the bullets hitting it from the front or the artificial ice storm from above. It stared her in the face. And then a feeling hit her. It was a psychic's bad feeling. Only it wasn't a bad feeling. And Psykera knew it for what it was and she grinned.

A massive combat chopper with the Norris Oil logo on it roared overhead. And behind it soared two more, and around it flew figures in all colors. A man in black robes appeared in a flash of light above the Protector, and blew it out of the air with a blast of darkness. "Am I late for the party?" The Gothic Defender said to Psykera. "Not in the slightest. The Protector recovered and came in blasting. The Defender leapt to the challenge, and at his side they came as one.

Silencer Micheal, Tina Colossus, Assembled Girl, Psykera's cousin Ashley Raincloud, Grayscale Slasher, Masked Bolt, Steinwand Jaeger. And dozens of others besides. Norris Oil Security, Gene's elite security force. Some with superpowers, some with guns, some with jetpacks, all with loyalty and focus in their eyes as they rained hell on the corporate army.

Micheal blasted forth a cone of psychic power, leaving a Crey squad trembling. He seized a Voltaic Tank's mind and put him down, then he turned on an approaching team of troopers, who turned their weapons on their allies at his word.

Tina landed with an eight hundred ton impact, sending Crey troopers flying. A Power Tank stepped up and swung at her face. She caught the energy-clad fist and crushed it. She punched the Tank in the face and kicked him into a crater.

Assembled Girl teleported into the midst of the enemy and let out a psychic howl, leading corporate troopers doubling over in pain. She speared a Juggernaut on a lance of mental force, sending him screaming into the dust.

Ashley soared over the battlefield, gusts of wind keeping her aloft. She pointed at the ground and the air turned freezing, ice spreading over the ground. While the Crey troops were disoriented she pointed again and lightning flew from her fingertips, striking the Crey soldiers down where the stood, overloading nerves and shorting out power armor systems.

Greyscale Slasher landed in front of a team of Crey, swinging his broadsword and yelling, "You all con grey to me!!" He cut Crey soldiers apart left and right, and then turned on the Eliminator leading the squad. The broadsword couldn't cut through the power armor, so Slasher turned his chaingun into bite-size bits, and then stepped back. Two precision rounds cracked out and killed the Crey soldier.

Masked Bolt hit the ground and immediately leapt into the air, assisted by his antigravity device. His strung an arrow and released it. The grenade-tipped arrow struck in the midst of the enemy, detonating in a shower of fire and shrapnel. He landed lightly and shot arrows into Crey after Crey, always one step ahead of the bullets from their M16s.

Jaeger crunched into the ground, huge stones armoring him. He laid about him with a massive stone hammer, smashing Crey into the air. No Crey round could hurt him, until a Voltaic tank hit him with a bolt of lightning. He growled and his fist hardened into a solid block of stone, which he used to punch the Tank across the battlefield.

There was no contest. With so many super-powered beings hitting them so hard the Crey force crumpled like a house of cards. Gothic Defender was sucking the life out of the Protector every time he hit it, and whenever it struck him with a punch or energy blast, he drained vitality from it to heal himself. At last he nailed it in the head with a carefully aimed blast and it fell. A Longbow trooper charged up and flamed it.

Psykera grinned as she watched, and she let the force field drop. She slumped to the ground still smiling, as Micheal rushed to her side, yelling. She couldn't hear him. He raised a hand full of healing energy. The pain lifted from her like a veil, and she was free to slip into unconsciousness, the wounds inflicted by the Protector and the tremendous strain of the battle overcoming her.

Joseph yelled in defiance as the Crisis Unit advanced on him, pulling the trigger of his cryogun again and again. Most of the shots just bounced off the power armor. Toby sprayed the enemy solider with an N2 cannon and more cryo rounds thudded into it. Then Warden Dershal gunned it down with a burst of rounds. Crey was overcoming the wall, even the arrival of his impromptu fighters not enough to turn the side. Tired of waiting, Crey were coming at them with flamethrowers. Ten people were dead, including one of Dershal's Longbow soldiers. Daniel was still alive somehow, putting shots into the fight with a cryo pistol. Right now they weren't kids, or scientists, or officers, or workers, or soldiers. Now they were people fighting to stay alive, and no one was higher or lower than anyone else.

"Look!" Someone shouted. Joseph looked. So did Dershal. So did the Crey troopers. A giant combat chopper was hovering towards them. They weren't Crey choppers. Men with heavy weapons fired from onboard them, shooting enemy troopers off the walls. A man in body armor with a shotgun leapt off the chopper, with a dozen other men, some with guns, one with claws, a few others firing energy bolts from their hands, one yelling in an ear-splitting voice and knocking Crey off their feet with the sound.

They had come. The help Nalia had promised. Joseph cheered and fired again.

As the sun set on Otherland the Paragon Youth Corps and Norris Oil Security finished the last of the Crey army.

Eighty-six Crey soldiers and forty-two Longbow died in the Battle of Otherland. Three members of Norris Oil Security perished as well.

Nalia, though injured and weak, recovered, but her health took a rapid decline a few hours later. The Otherland medical staff discovered that the toxins from the Paragon Protector's spines was still in her bloodstream, and they managed to save her.

Captain Deln and Commander Heffoth sustained injuries, but with the help of the Youth Corps' empaths made a full recovery.

Sergeant Fole fell holding the wall against Crey rappelers. Lisa Wells survived, as he had ordered her to. She remarked afterward that he should have ordered himself, too.

Karol Danar survived the battle on the wall, as did Joseph and Daniel.

Crey Industries was very, very far from the "no witnesses" goal it had expected to achieve. The company's demise was imminent.

And the Otherland Project continued, though a little behind schedule.