Tessa reassessed the damages to the base, noticing that after the newest suicide bomb, another part of the terminal destroyed. H.I.V.E targeted survivors. They meant to inflict maximum damage to human and Evo life.
The sight of all the death and destruction shook Tessa to her core. How could she be so naïve? Why did she ever think she could protect these people from H.I.V.E? She was a failure.
Hate seethed up to a boiling point, and Tessa regained her composure. But she wasn’t entirely herself. Tessa was ready for redemption. Justice needed to be served, and she was the only one powerful enough to serve it. H.I.V.E needed punishment for their crimes here. The disregard for life was disgusting. Tessa couldn’t allow these monsters to live. She couldn’t even call them human anymore.
18
Tessa didn’t need to contemplate her next action. She already decided to retaliate against H.I.V.E for attacking her base. Most of the people who sought refuge were kind-hearted souls looking for a peaceful future. H.I.V.E would never stand for a truce between humans and Evos. They preferred to keep people divided and scared. The innocent deserved retribution.
Terror and fear drove people to place blind trust in H.I.V.E. People were willing to give up individual freedoms and privileges if offered protection in return. H.I.V.E betrayed the trust of the people. They wanted to use people to further their agenda and save their hides. H.I.V.E had no regard for life; human or Evo.
For so long, H.I.V.E painted a picture of Evo monsters, but Tessa learned that was never the case. Sure, there were a few bad apples, but most Evos just wanted a chance to live a full life, not locked in a cage as a science experiment; or worst-case scenario, executed. Evos just wanted to live like everyone else. It was time for someone to take a stand for all those who couldn’t stand to resist the tyranny of their oppressors.
Tessa didn’t wait for her team to regroup and formulate a planned counterstrike. She was ready to take matters into her own hands. Tessa already absorbed the core energy, and now with the surplus, she was more powerful than before. She was an Alpha with the ability to alter the course of this conflict. There was no need to risk any further loss of life. She would take care of business on her own.
She took to the sky before any of her friends managed reach her. Tessa wasn’t interested in arguing with them. This moment wasn’t the time for debate; it was time for action. She heard static in her ear as Finn’s voice cut in and out over comms. He was trying to bring essential systems back online, but his communication connection wasn’t operational yet. It was a window of opportunity she could exploit.
Tessa pulled up her music playlist on her wrist screen while she flew toward Cheyenne Mountain at full speed. She searched the titles for a good song to get her pumped for her solo assault. It needed to be something intense and angry. She found songs from a group called Rage Against the Machine, and the name seemed to resonate with her. She allowed her device to choose a random song, Killing in the Name seemed appropriate.
The loud music fit her mood as she headed toward revenge. If she were lucky, H.I.V.E wouldn’t suspect a thing. Tessa wasn’t aircraft, so she might be small enough to fly in under their radar and get close before they noticed. She didn’t take much time to plan her assault but had a few ideas. Her main goal was to take out and cripple their facility. She wanted to send a clear message to H.I.V.E; they might have numbers, but Tessa only needed herself to deal insurmountable amounts of damage. She wanted them to realize how much of a threat she posed for their operation.
It didn’t take long before Tessa saw the mountains in the distance. She deployed her scout drone to search ahead and relay images back to her goggles. All looked quiet outside the mountain, but Tessa knew what lay beneath; a labyrinth of H.I.V.E laboratories and personnel.
Tessa continued course straight for the base knowing full well they would notice her on approach. Once she got close enough, her drone picked up movement outside and the sound of alarms. They noticed she was coming, but were they prepared for the storm she was about the rain down on them?
H.I.V.E responded to the hostile approach by opening the weapon bays in the mountain's side and locking missiles. They fired only one missile at their single target. A mistake they would soon regret. Tessa stopped the missile mid-flight. She reached out with her energy powers and halted the missiles advance, then flew up to the hovering projectile and used her strength to turn the missile around to point back at its origin. She lined it up so it would hit the missile bay and destroy the other weapons ready for launch.
Tessa let go of the missile, and it screeched back toward its new target. The weapon struck the bay, and a massive explosion radiated from the side of the mountain. Fire erupted from the opening, and ash rained down on the mountainside, causing part of the mountainside to give way, triggering a cascade of rock tumbled down the mountain.
Scout notified her that three more missile bays were opening. “How many weapons per bay?” Scout sent her a count of three projectiles per bay. “Run trajectory.” Scout analyzed the direction of the missiles and the precise path they would take on route to destroy her. “Optimal point of impact.”
