Since the clock was ticking with charges set, they needed to exit this research and development wing of the hangar before the fireworks started. Tessa heard gunfire from the other side of the hangar door meaning that Sam needed her help. She used her power to shred the door open like a tin can. It didn’t take long for H.I.V.E to notice their entrance into the main hangar.
H.I.V.E was laying siege to a vessel Tessa assumed Sam had commandeered. The ship’s shields were up, and weapons systems were returning fire. But Tessa noticed that agents were wheeling in more extensive siege weaponry. It was only a matter of time before they destroyed the aircraft with her friends aboard.
Tessa and her team wasted no time and sprang into action. She blinked forward to clusters of agents firing on their escape aircraft. She engaged in close-quarters combat, and with enhanced strength, it didn’t take much to eliminate her enemies. Tessa blinked to a cluster setting up heavy artillery while her companions focused on ground troops. Sam ceased fire from the ship upon learning Tessa was on the battlefield. He wanted to prevent the possibility of friendly fire.
Tessa eliminated the agents and then used her strength to bend the barrel of a large rail gun, rendering it inoperable. The music in her ears grew in intensity as her fighting increased and matched intensity. Tessa instructed her two team members to climb on board the ship while she constructed another massive shield. She didn’t have time to take out all the big guns pointed at them, but she could protect the ship from their attacks.
Sam initiated the takeoff sequence, and the ship began to rise from the hangar floor. Tessa used more of her power and began to lift her body off the ground. She hovered for a minute before ascending higher. Tessa levitated herself up onto the top of the ship. From there, she had the perfect vantage point. She could see the Director in her white lab coat standing with arms crossed in front of her staring out from the lab overlooking the hangar bay.
The hangar door in the ceiling was closed. Sam needed to maneuver up and out. Finn’s chatter on the comms indicated he was having difficulties accessing the hangar door. H.I.V.E was doing a good job counter hacking the technopath. They were also ready to bombard Tessa’s shield with an onslaught of rocket launchers and rail guns.
Tessa breathed deep, calming her soul. She was trying not to lose control of her power, which was growing volatile. She breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth. Basic meditation techniques cleared her mind and calmed her body. She sensed every molecule of energy around her.
H.I.V.E unleashed their payload, and so did Tessa. A mighty cry came from Tessa as she seized control of the advancing projectiles. Their ballistics halted midair glowing in the purple light of Tessa’s power. She began to shake with the weight of energy she held and refocused her energy to turn the projectiles mid-air. Instead of heading toward their ship, she now faced the danger back at those responsible for sending them.
Tessa saw fear in H.I.V.E agent eyes, as they all dove for cover. Everyone but the Director. She stood confident and in defiance of Tessa’s threat. For Tessa, it wasn’t an idle threat; she intended to release the payload back on H.I.V.E. And that was what she did. Tessa released the projectiles, and they continued forward on their new course.
While H.I.V.E was under attack and hiding, Tessa turned her attention upward. She pulled at the center seam of the hangar door pulling apart the doors and opening the sky. Their escape was lit by the rising sun as it dawned on a new day. Sam maneuvered the ship up and out of the hangar, and Tessa let the doors close behind them.
As the doors closed, there was another tremendous explosion belching debris into the main hangar and out the closing hangar door opening. The charges they planted in Project Genesis detonated, and Tessa’s side mission was also a success. The destruction of their terrible plan made Tessa’s soul smile.
She bent down, holding on to the ship’s hull. Sam wasn’t moving fast, and Tessa hung on to the vessel. Someone of regular strength would be torn from the outside of the ship, but Tessa’s strength allowed her to hold on against the wind. She watched the H.I.V.E facility shrink into the background. Her stress melted away at that moment, but a new worry was emerging. They would come for her now. Tessa had started a new war.
6
Sam landed the aircraft a safe distance from the H.I.V.E facility in the desert flats just before the old Kansas state line. Finn provided them coordinates to his location for a rendezvous. He set his base of operations up in closer proximity to get a stronger connection to the H.I.V.E network. They planned on picking him up before deciding their next move.
Finn shacked up in an abandoned little hovel in the middle of nowhere. Tessa levitated back to solid ground after they landed, and Finn sauntered out to greet her. “Hey, look at you. Floating around like a badass.”
Tessa rolled her eyes, “I’m not a badass. I’m just glad I got out with my ass intact.”
“Truth,” he pointed at her, “you are lucky.”
“I’m not sure luck has anything to do with it.”
The ship door descended to a ramp, and the Evo refugees began to flood out to thank her. Her ice and fire friends gave her a crisp high five and rough hug. The rest of her original entourage exited the aircraft to
