Five minutes later, I hurtled across the green.

Explosions ripped the soil beside me, as Raptor Guards, alerted, fired. I launched a Fullersteel Javelin at one.

It rattled off the shield. Damn. The mechanical launcher was too fast.

No matter. The next thing that flew through the air was my Plasma Grenade.

The blast ripped through the Guard position, killing three of them and wounding two more. I ignored the notifications, focusing on drawing the enemy’s fire.

PLASMA BURN! 100 DAMAGE! ARMOR: 4,900/5,000!

PLASMA BURN! 100 DAMAGE! ARMOR: 4,800/5,000!

It seemed I was doing too good a job.

The first potatoes rolled across the shield boundary. A Raptor Guard noticed and turned.

Time to try something new…

I lashed out with Mindstrike.

The Raptor Guard screamed, blood pouring from his nose.

More Mindstrikes raced out, ripping through the Raptors’ brains and focusing their attention on the new threat. I caught snatches of screams in the Raptor tongue.

They were yelling about a Master.

More potatoes rolled past the shield barrier, racing past the green.

A plasma blast tore apart a potato.

: They’re catching on.

: Start it now.

The potatoes exploded into blossoms of flame.

Fire raced across the green again, but this time the Raptors were prepared.

Hundreds of Raptors dropped their weapons to reveal foam sprayers, struggling to bring it under control.

It had become a race between Agni’s flames and the Raptor firefighters. And it looked like the Raptors were winning.

: They’ll have it under control soon. In minutes.

: Tell Agni to go to Plan B.

: Done.

The flames raced away from the firefighters in a circular pattern, spiraling inward. The Raptors focused on stamping them out as quickly as possible, and it seemed they were winning.

Breaching the shield in a battlesuit is like pushing against warm taffy. It’s least resistant at a slow walk; the faster you move, the more the resistance. Which is why people can walk through but projectiles bounce off.

As I strolled through, Agni’s flames consumed the last of the Raptors in front of me.

Good timing.

I set up my targeting computer, and fired.

The Hellfire-X missile can be adapted for different ranges. At close range, it can do devastating damage to a Carnotaur. At further ranges, it can wreak havoc on unarmored - or even armored - targets.

So when the missile I launched smashed into the Shield Tower, the effect was - spectacular.

HIERARCHY SHIELD TOWER DESTROYED!

The shield flickered, and fell.

: Call it.

: The AS-70 guns are firing now. Colonel Colfax says, get out of there.

I Powerjumped backwards.

And in seconds, artillery shells landed on the green.

155 mm rounds exploded amidst the Raptors, lacerating them with shrapnel and high explosives.

The blasts shattered the orderly Raptor formations, sending the aliens screaming for cover. To little avail.

The grounds of Bushy Park were flat, open, and well and thoroughly mapped. The 19th Royal Artillery Regiment was experienced, highly motivated, and itching to kill the aliens invading their city.

: Wow. The shells are tearing the Hierarchy troops apart.

: They’re breaking. Scattering. Whatever command and control they had is gone.

: The guns are firing again. Colfax says they’re going to flatten the park.

: Isn’t it supposed to be a national heritage site?

: Colfax says we’ll build a memorial on the Raptor corpses. He’s seriously unhappy with the Raptors.

: I’m putting it mildly.

: I figured.

Driver Ninety-Four, Verschwiden and Shamrock had portaled back in the chaos. Verschwiden looked up at me. “We get them?” he asked.

“We got them.”

“Good.”

Agni was smirking at me. “You got your artillery support, Supreme Commander?”

“Please don’t call me that. We’ve still got to deal with the Greater Carnotaur.”

“You’ll come up with something. Probably in the next five minutes, because that’s how long it’ll be before it can roar again.”

Suddenly, I felt the press of a mind seeking me.

It was like Dreamspeaker, or Sarvenimazarus, only…

Older.

Stronger.

More forceful.

MINDSPEECH REQUEST RECEIVED FROM EHU-TU-VETTORAK. ACCEPT?

Curious, I assented.

The first thing I sensed was a sense of amusement. Vast, overwhelming amusement.

: WELL DONE, LITTLE BROTHER.

: Do I know you?

: WE HAVE NOT LAID EYES ON EACH OTHER. BUT I RECOGNIZE A BROTHER IN SPIRIT. THAT IRON WILL, THAT WILLINGNESS TO WAGE BATTLE. THAT FEROCITY.

: TRULY, I DID NOT EXPECT TO FIND A CHALLENGE TODAY. ANOTHER MUNDANE VISIT TO ANOTHER MISERABLE PLANET.

: YET YOU HAVE MADE THIS WORTHWHILE.

: NOW LET US MAKE IT WORTH SOME MORE.

: Are you a Guthnar scion?

: SO FOOLISH, LITTLE BROTHER. DO YOU THINK THOSE TINY CREATURES COULD MATCH ME? NO, THEY ARE NOT OF MY ILK. BUT SURELY YOU HAVE SEEN ME IN MY MAJESTY.

As the realization sunk in, my head swam.

: You’re the Greater Carnotaur.

: THAT IS ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE ME. IT IS ONLY A SMALL FRAGMENT OF THE TRUTH, LIKE ULTRAHUMAN IS ONLY A SMALL FRAGMENT OF DESCRIBING WHO YOU ARE.

WE MUST LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER.

COME CLOSER. THEN WE CAN LEARN LIKE BROTHERS.

:... How do brothers learn?

: THE ONLY TRUE WAY, LITTLE BROTHER. THROUGH THE FIRE OF BATTLE.

SO COME AND FACE ME, LITTLE BROTHER. WE SHALL LEARN TOGETHER. AND ONE OF US SHALL LEAVE STRENGTHENED FOR THE EXPERIENCE.