The scene in the conference centre was one of absolute chaos. The main briefings had concluded and the informal press conference had been under way when the blasts had happened. The building had seemed to rock on its very foundations and power had failed throughout the complex. Screams and muffled crying had filled the air.
The emergency power eventually kicked in and that's when the full scale of the carnage became clear. Pieces of debris were scattered everywhere and the surviving conference attendees were slowly climbing to their feet. There were many people injured and at least twenty bodies scattered around the huge room. It also quickly became clear that the exits were blocked and that rescue was going to have to come from the outside.
The survivors coped as best they could, pitching in to help free others from below the debris, patching up wounds as best they could and even simply giving a stranger a hug to help them calm down. Twenty minutes later, a sound was heard. The entire room held it's collective breath and then suddenly one of the doors was breached from the outside. From the outside, the debris blocking the exit started to be slowly shifted... it took about half an hour but, eventually, an opening was created and two figures clambered through.
Dishevelled, dusty and streaked with sweat the two men were greeted with a mini cheer. They gave a quick smile but insisted that everyone calm down. They still had to get out of the building. First step first - it was time to get out of this room and off this floor...
The smaller of the two men remained in the room and the other climbed back through the opening to the corridor outside. Then, slowly, painstakingly, the exodus began. The first man helping the survivors clamber through the opening, the second ready to steady them as they made their descent on the other side.
It took almost two hours before everybody was out... the last person out of the room was the man that had steadied the survivors, kept them calm, kept them under control. He dropped into the waiting hands of his friend and they stood there for a moment catching their breaths. The taller of the two said, "Ready, Sandoval?"
Sandoval stretched his tired arms and said, "Let's get these people out of here, Kincaid..."
The descent from the third floor of the Jonathon Doors Memorial Conference Centre would be one that lived in the minds of the survivors for a long, long time. The fire suppression system was not operating at full capacity, some of the corridors were impassible, and others smoky, more bodies were encountered on the way.
The two Protectors kept everyone calm; they worked effortlessly together, the minimum of communication required. Each seemed to know what the other was thinking. Their calm demeanour and their resolute determination buoyed the spirits of the people they had rescued. They faced each obstacle calmly, overcoming each with relative ease. That calm rubbed off on the rest of their little band - it was quite possibly the calmest bunch of people that had ever been trapped in a building that had suffered a terrorist bombing incident.
The final hurdle to be crossed was the worst. To get to the main lobby the group had to traverse down an open elevator shaft - it was the only route not blocked. It was cramped, hot and extremely nerve racking but the Protectors got them through it.
That left an apparently unobstructed path to the front door. The Protectors motioned their charges forward, bringing up the rear, making sure that everyone was accounted for.
Eventually, everyone was out of the main doors, only the Protectors were left inside. Rescue personnel and paramedics tried to hussle away the survivors but they refused to be moved until their rescuers were out and safe too.
Kincaid and Sandoval were almost to the door when another explosion rocked the building. A cry of horror filled the air and as the smoke cleared the worst was feared. The main lobby of the building looked like a war zone.
Expressions grim, rescue personnel rushed in. Twenty minutes later, news cameras recorded the sight of two battered and bleeding bodies being stretchered into waiting ambulances.
For two days, the world watched and prayed, but to no avail. Sandoval never regained consciousness. Kincaid lingered for another day. He regained consciousness once and asked to speak to Renee Palmer. His whispered conversation with her resulted in her sitting there with tears streaming down her face but she gave him her promise; satisfied, he gave a final smile and quietly said goodbye.
Eyes red and puffy, Renee Palmer exited the hospital room. Silence and solemn faces followed her departure.
The entire Taelon Synod, President Thompson, representatives from the FBI and Volunteers and a multitude of friends and civilians attended the double memorial service. Surprising many, Renee Palmer gave the eulogy. It had been Kincaid's dying request.
Dressed in a somber black suit, face pale, she stood at the podium and looked out across the packed cathedral. Television cameras were stationed to the side and the broadcast was feeding live around the world. Taking a deep breath and placing shaking hands on the podium, Renee Palmer began to speak.
"We are here today to celebrate the memory of two fallen heroes. Agent Ronald Sandoval and Major Liam Kincaid were outside the Doors complex when the terrorist bombs detonated; they were safe.
"Uncaring of their own safety, as the closest qualified personnel, they entered the complex and began the search for survivors. Through their actions they saved forty-eight men and women from the stricken building before themselves being killed by the final blast that had been set on a delayed timer to devastate the entire building.
"These men were dedicated professionals that put the safety of innocents before their own and they will be honoured for that, always.
"My friend Liam made one request of me before he died. He asked that the truth be told. I stand here now and I will honour my promise. I ask that you do not exclaim; you do not interrupt; that you listen and you believe. Every word that you are about to believe is true.
"Liam's real name was not Kincaid. He was a truly unique being in this universe. He was the only living human/Kimera hybrid. He was the first and only one of his kind. His dying wish was that he be buried beside his father.
"His request will be honoured and he will be buried today beside Ronald Sandoval; his father..."