Abe Fushida came trotting up the alley in his full Mentalist armor, followed by a squad of armored military cyborgs. He could hear vehicle engines down the alley, so reinforcements were finally coming through and none too soon.

“What’s happening?” Abe asked glancing around.

Toshiro pointed back at where the first portal had been.

“They used some sort of low-flying missile to take out the portal.”

Abe nodded. “Yeah. The backblast took out the portal maker, too. It leaves us with only one healthy portal maker now.”

“What I figured. I persuaded the engineers to put the second portal down that alley. The access problems don’t matter as it beats getting it taken out by one of the damn missiles.”

“Yeah. Good point. So where are the enemy?”

“Heaviest over there.” He pointed over beyond where the blast site was. “Just skirmishers and snipers on this side. At least so far. The first job is to get a perimeter established. I suggest pushing that way, though. Tackle them head-on.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Fushida turned to the cyborgs with him. “Right, troops. That way.”

He led them at the trot off towards where the first portal had been. He had barely disappeared around the corner before two truckloads of cyborgs came up the alley, and he directed them after Fushida. Likewise, the three tanks that came next. Two more truckloads of cyborgs were next, and he ordered them over to the side to unload. He wanted them to begin deploying against the snipers and such that were harassing them from the south. Three more tanks came through, and he directed them to the north to start pushing that way and sent three truckloads of cyborgs in their direction as well.

Another armored mentalist leading a squad of armored cyborgs came trotting up the alley. He didn’t know Jiro Asano all that well, but technically, Toshiro was his superior.

“Asano. Take your men to the north and take control up there. Watch out for large missiles.”

“How big?” Asano asked in surprise.

“They took out the first portal with one. It left a crater ten meters across.”

“Shit! Okay, we’ll keep our heads down.”

Asano led his men north. Two trucks of cyborgs followed who he sent north, and there seemed to be more explosions in that direction. Three engineer trucks with power generation gear to replace the stuff lost earlier came up the alley. He flagged down the lead truck.

“Head over there. See if you can find an empty garage or something to put that in so that it is out of sight. The locals have big damn missiles.”

“Yes, sir!” The driver replied, and they headed in the direction he had indicated.

More trucks with cyborgs. He sent one after the engineers to provide security. The next two he sent south and then two west. They were followed by a big black all-terrain vehicle which pulled up, and General Akira Koga got out along with three armored bodyguard cyborgs who spread out around them, watching everywhere.