"VALA!" Fountain roared.

"What's happening to her?" someone shouted.

"Stay clear, ya?!" Ramses commanded. He turned. Paragas stared up at her, close to dropping to his knees in prayer most like. The fool.

Ramses growled under his breath. "Hey you! Fountain! Hey buddy, I need you, ya? Snap out of it."

Ready for a good walloping, he went to the big brute and grabbed one of his lower shoulders, as the arms were smaller as well as within reach, so he hoped it might hurt a bit less if one of those arms hit him. But the bigt brute just stood the oggling their leader as she flew around, naked as a jaybird, shooting pillars of some new energy like she was dropping nukes on the Archeus.

The Archeus were all in a kerfluffle. Vala, she blasted them good, and they ran, then they started shooting something back, something bright, like missiles, but she just swatted them away.

The Harbingers were in a kerfluffle too.

"Hey!" Ramses lifted his rifle high over his head and struck one of Fountain's. He hoped it was the eating one.

It must have been the hunting head though. It turned and struck like a snake, probably forgetting that it was wearing a skullfort. How do you reason with a man who's two thirds animal?

The head writhed, then turned and belched some weird sound at the middle head, the one Ramses needed.

Does he really need three heads? Can't he just eat, think and smell with one like everybody else?

Solomon heard him saying that once, and went on some ramble about exo species with more apendages than a human could count.

"Must be fun on a first date, huh?"

Solomon rolled his eyes to that, but Sensus smirked.

That's who I really need. I need the general.

"Hey!" He fired a round at Fountain's middle head, careful just to graze him. The big brute finaly turned, his visor glowing gold from the heat of his eyes. The other two heads turned as well.

Oh good. I made him all mad at me.

But Fountain looked around, saw the harbingers running all crazy, and he went to work rounding them up so they didn't lose the battle 'cos they panicked.

Ramses turned to paragas. "Hey you!"

Paragas was on his knees now, the idiot. His arms were up in the air like he was Catholic Jesus. Ramses raised his rifle, wanting to, but lowered it and went to the man.

"She's beautiful!" Paragas shouted.

"And you're about to be a stain on the ground if you don't shape up. We got a battle to fight. Now quit simping and get to fighting."

Paragas stood, then brushed himself off like he was a boy playing in the dirt told to come in for dinner.

"Something incredible's happened to her," Paragas said.

"Ain't you ever see a naked woman before?"

"Don't be an idiot, Ramses. Can't you feel that? That surge of power?"

"Ya, and she using it to fight, just like you should be doing."

Paragas shook his head. "We don't know what fighting is." He then threw his rifle off to the side. "Shooting our enemy with guns? We've been insulting ourselves all these generations." Then he looked up at Vala and spread his arms again. "We are luminous!"

Ramses shook his head, went to Paragus's gun, picked it up, went to Paragas, and punched it into the man's chest, holding it there til he finaly took it and rejoined the fight.

"She's falling!" someone shouted.

She was far from Ramses, so he ran, fast as he could, but she dropped like a rock and sent a cloud of rocks up around her. He ran, shooting the bad guys and pushing the good guys out of his way, and came to her body, laying in a crater, arms and legs bending all the wrong ways. She'd looked like a star with wings when she was floating in the sky, darting around, leaving a bright glow behind that she could retreat into. Now the glow was gone, and she was all flesh and blood and broken bones.

"Oh no. Vala."

Like many of the older harbingers, Ramses wore the vestiges of monastic robes clipped under his armor. He tore free the half-skirt that flowed behind his legs and covered her with it, then held her crumbled hand in his. "You poor thing."

He felt shame, because he'd gone around getting the other two guys who loved her to fight, and here he was, grieving in the middle of the battle. He wanted to leave so bad, because he knew he should, but he just couldn't.

"They were jsut admiring you," he said. "They were rubber necking in the middle of a fight. But you're hurt now, my lady. You need someone to..."

There was so much blood on the ground, and no more ball of light, just the red blood of her body. His head dropped, and he felt a tear leave his eye, just to be cleaned up when it hit his visor. Then he felt a squeeze on his hand, just a little one, and he lifted his head.

Vala's skull had smashed on the ground, but now there was just a little bit of light shining behind it, and her eyes opened.

"Vala," he fought the urge to tighten his grip.

She smiled. She smiled.

"Okay. Okay, I go. You stay right here, okay? Oh you dear, sweet, crazy bitch. You stay right here, Colonel."

He stood and turned, then charged, his rifle blazing, and lifted into the air, feeling his radiance like he never had before, and as he fired rounds from his rifle, a rifle mortal men could barely lift, let alone shoot, unless they wanted their arms to go flying off their bodies, he saw light spreading, light from a yellow star, a wave of gold, and it made him strong. He leapt into the air, hovering, floating, soaring, firing his rifle at the ifreet and the Anunnaki and the Arecheus and some new soldiers he'd never seen. Then he felt what Paragas was saying, that guns were beneath them, and he lashed his rifle to his backpack, feeling fire growing in his hands.

He saw Paragas, floating along not far. He was throwing golden swords and the Archeus.

Ramses smiled. "Ha!". He was glad Paragas was getting to throw golden swords.

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He looked down at his own hands, at the green lines shimmering in circles around his fingers, and he thrust his hands downward. The green light brightened, then rings of it formed around the enemy soldiers below him and they stopped moving, held still by his light.

"Ramses!" Paragas shouted. "Look!"

Ramses look where Paragas pointed and saw such a sight. Black Fountain had split into three. One of him ran like a beast, growling and slashing with its claws. One was skipping like a stupid child, or a drunk idiot, and it was picking up the ifreet and throwing them, and their bullets bounced off a field of light around him. Then there was the thinking head's body, and that one was using raw energy like a club, sending their enemies flying through the air.

"It's happening to everyone!" Paragas shouted.

All the Harbingers were flying and throwing radiance in the form of swords and whips and nets, or opening holes in space that the enemy got sucked into. One had made some sort of vortex that held six or more ifreet together, crushing them.

Then he cried, because he understood what happened. He felt it inside him. it was Imogen's smile, and Vala, she had been touched, and she was passing it on to the rest of them.

Ramses turned to her, and then he raged, howling and hurtling through the air like a bullet, because two big Archeus Knights were standing over her, absorbing her light.

He was close, ready to make them regret they ever crame to Briah, and then he felt his new strength go as quickly as it came, and he fell to the ground.

The sky grew dark over him, and there was a shadow spreading over his heart. he stood slowly, in pain, his radiance dim. There was a shape in the distance, huge, mountainous, scary, a single blue eye glowing in the center of its torso. Arms grew out of it like tentacles, and its legs were like the biggest damn trees Ramses had saw on any world.

"No," he thought. It wasn't him. But it was just as big, and Ramses felt an awful strength coming from the giant Archeus.

Black Fountain came in the nick of time, just one of him now, but one was plenty. He barreled past Ramses and he tackled one of the two knights accosting Vala. Ramses wanted to join that fight, but there was a bigger knight coming and he needed to lead thr troops. Paragas made it easy for him. he came a running too and he joined Fountain, and those two gave their all, so Ramses gave his, getting to the front line as quick as he could.

He felt a bit stronger agian, then saw the sky get a little brighter, and one of the Knights accosting Vala went running full tilt past him, followed real quick by Fountain and Paragas.

"Kill him!" Ramses shouted over the comms, and the harbingers turned to shoot the Archeus down, but it ran and then it jumped and then it shot a beam of black to the big one on the horizon, and when they finally shot it out of the sky Ramses felt weak again, and that big Knight turned and walked away.

They mopped up what was left of the ifreet. All the other enemy troops followed the big Archeus who knew where. Ramses wanted to chase it, felt he should, so when the troops regrouped and he'd ordered Vala's body tended to he got Fountain and Paragas together for a huddle.

"I need advice, my brothers. I am not sure what we should do. I want to kill that thing, but I gotta be honest with yoiu, I don't think we can. I know you've taken down your share and then some, big brother, but that thing, he as big as Orak himself. I mean it, fellas. I don't know what to do."

A Harbinger, a young looking woman, came bouncing their way, then stopped with a salute. "Sirs."

"What is it, soldier?"

"A member of Team One is here, sir."

Ramses felt a wave of relief, with an aftertaste of dread. "Bring him here."

It was Revol, the young Lieutenant.

"I'm glad to see you, son. Where's the rest of your team?"

"Well, that's a story sir. We uh... Man. Okay, this is gonna sound weird."

"I've come to expect weird these days."

"Yeah. Me too. Okay. Whew. So, Cat's like, sharing a telepathic... well, he insists it's different, but he and Dead Orak... that's what Forge got us all calling him... anyways, they're connected somehow, and basically they're dreaming together while they're awake? I think? So, it's hard, 'cos we know what they're gonna do, kinda, but they know what we're gonna do, kinda, so Cat ordered us to all disperse and follow our gut. So, I thought it would be great if we all worked together, and man, whatever Colonel Vala did up there was super cool, and then we were all rockin' out. She okay?"

"No. No son, she's not okay."

"I'm sorry. Well, sir, I'm at a loss. We're all in over our heads. I know what he have to do... I mean, we all do, but I know how to do it. I just don't know how to how. Know what I mean?"

"No, Lieutenant. I'm even more confused now than I was before."

The girl came back with another salute. "Sir, Captain Solomon is here, with one of the Sentinels."

"The Sentinel," said a gritty voice that tightened Ramses' jaw.

Revol turned to the two men walking past the young woman.

"Hey Sol!" he said, and gave Solomon a hearty embrace that the older man only barely returned. Then he looked at the Sentinel. "You must be Pinprick."

Needle paused his stride and gave Revol a look, somehow seeming deliciously peeved despite his robotic features, then looked to Ramses. There was something different about him. Needle always had a distinctive, dastasteful way about him, yet his swagger was gone. He seemed tired, aged. Almost humble.

Ramses gave Sol a salute. "It's good to have you with us, Captain. I don't think the General expected such a fight when he sent you away."

Solomon squinted, and in an instant memories of Sol's passionate debates flooded Ramses' mind, along with the rumors that spread like wildfire after he left Albion.

"Sensus is looking beyond the moment, as he always has. Now our sins will save us."

"Still, I'm glad you came back. I assume you found what you were looking for?"

"And more." He turned to Revol and spoke, his voice softer than Ramses ever remembered. "Reev, if only we had more time."

The Lieutenant nodded. "Yeah. But hey, we've got time for a redux. Finish what we started."

"Indeed. And uh, Pinprick here is taking care of someone."

"Sol," said Needle, "don't call me that."

Solomon turned his head and flashed Needle a grin, then turned back to Revol. "Is Netz with you by chance?"

"Yeah. She hung back though. She's still shy. Want me to go get her?"

"Can't you call her from here?"

"She'll feel better if I walk with her. I'll be right back."

And he was off.

"I don't like him," Needle blurted.

Solomon smirked. "Reev can be vexing, but he's brave, and surpassingly competant. Ramses, what happened to Vala is happening to us as a species. And to the Sentinels as well. All radiant beings are changing, and it's imperative we don't waste an instant."

"Aye. I agree. But we need a moment to catch our breath and come up with a plan before we attack."

Solomon shook his head, and Ramses felt his spine tense, as if he were one of the quorum about to receive a lashing from the old badger. But Solomon's voice was not harsh, only sincere.

"It's not enough that we beat Orak. We have to unmake him, permanently, and I don't know how we can. There are worse things than him in Ulro, and we have the chance to deprive them of a devastating weapon. Ramses, we will rue it if we fail."

"Whatever it takes, Captain. We'll see it done."

He heard the thud of Fountain's boots, then the hiss that accompanied his voice.

"We will destroy Red orak, Solomon. With you..."

But Sol was shaking his head, silencing the big brute.

"No, Black Fountain. We will not. We don't have the power to kill such a beast as he. We will have to unmake him. I know this much from my time in his realm."

For the first time since Ramses met the man, Black Fountain looked afraid. All four of his arms raised in a desperate gesture.

"Then how can we win?"

Solomon stepped close to him, and put a hand on his upper shoulder. "With faith, my brother. Ah..."

He turned his head to the east, just as a faint cyan glow shined on his cheek.

"Needle, it's time for a long awaited reunion.

The little flying creature was following Revol. Needle stepped towards them both, his back towards Ramses, and a red glow came from him. Revol's companion flew close, then her flying contraption cracked open. The light that emerged first looked like an eye, then took the shape of some old letters. The red glow from Needle seemed to dim, or move maybe, and then both lights, deep red and light blue, flew into the contraption and it sealed shut.

"Oh thank God," said Needle.