Tessa tiptoed across the top of the train crouched low, hoping no one would notice her. Her targets moved away from her toward the train engine. They never suspected someone would join them atop a moving train, so they didn’t feel the need to look behind.
She approached their rearguard. He wasn’t doing a very good job of covering their backs, and she snuck up behind him with a firm lock around his head Tessa jerked his neck. There was a quiet pop as his neck broke, and she lowered his body to the rest on the top of the train car.
The two in front of him were close enough together; so Tessa could take out both. Still kneeling next to her recent kill, Tessa drew a knife and approached the next two. She slipped her knife around a neck and pulled it across, spilling blood, killing one. That alerted the partner, and he turned his gun on Tessa. She moved to grab his wrist and remove the pistol. With the weapon hand secured, she turned her back to the assailant; now, the gun pointed forward so she could avoid being a target. She almost had him disarmed, but he held on to the weapon long enough to squeeze the trigger.
The sound of gunfire caused the last two to turn and assess the noise. They found Tessa kicking their partner from the train and two dead bodies lying atop the train car. Tessa sheathed her knife and activated her holographic shield with her suit arm controls. A holographic projection of energy jumped from one of her arm bracers, and she held her forearm in front of her mid-section as the remain two assailants pulled their firearms and fired.
The bullets struck the shield, and Tessa felt the shock of their impact. Her shield held up for the first round of firing, but it wouldn’t take the punishment forever. The enemies ran out of ammo and reloaded. Tessa heard their mags dropping to hit the metal roof of the train car. That was her signal to move.
Tessa engaged hand to hand with the assailant closest to her. The other took off, running toward the front of the train. Tessa deployed Scout to track the runner while she subdued her present target. She pulled out her retractable batons, and a vicious melee ensued.
The man tried to use brute force against her locking up both her arms, but Tessa activated the electrical charges in her batons. The sudden jolt of electricity forced him to let her go. She struck right and left in rapid succession, but he blocked both attempts. While he was preoccupied with her hands, she struck with a low spin kick to knock his legs out from under him. While on the ground, she poked him in the stomach with the baton delivering a blast of electricity, causing him to cry out, but he didn’t stop.
He knocked her baton away and jumped back to his feet. His arms were up in a defensive position now. He underestimated his opponent and soon realized how much of a threat she was, so he took a protective stance. This time he attacked first, with a quick right-left jab cross and then a wild right hook. Tessa dodged the hook, but he landed a left uppercut to her jaw.
Tessa spit blood from her split lip, but she didn’t let it distract her. It was important to never let your guard down even for a millisecond. The pain made her focus more. She didn’t want him to land another blow. She still had one more fight coming after this one.
Scout alerted her that the other assailant stopped running and entered the locomotive. The drone sent a video feed through to her goggles so she could monitor the situation. This meant Tessa needed to finish this fight and help the locomotive engineers. She re-engaged with her target, determined to end the fight. After a few back and forth blows, Tessa found a lull in the fight to finish. She used her body for momentum as she swung around for a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the man’s face. Her foot hit hard and fast, sending him slamming to the train car roof out cold.
Tessa ran full speed toward the front of the train and jumped over the space between cars, trying not to think about the ground roaring beneath her. She heard the sounds of gunfire as she approached the locomotive and refused to let the thieves overtake the train. She needed this train to make it to Los Alamos intact to follow the cargo to the arc and destroy it.
At full speed, Tessa used Scout to locate her entrance and dove feet first swinging into an open window to the rear of the locomotive. Inside she saw the target laying suppressive fire at the engineers who huddled behind a piece of machinery. The target didn’t even notice she entered, Tessa pulled her handgun, and with a quick double-tap, he collapsed to the floor with two bullets to the head.
The engineers emerged from their hiding place, ready to thank Tessa for saving them, but now she worried about being recognized. She realized maybe she should have taken the rear of the train instead of Sam. Now Tessa was the hero of this train, thus drawing unwanted attention. She tried to bow out of the celebration and return to her post, but word spread on the small train. She kept her head down as H.I.V.E scientists applauded her on her trek back to her position. She needed to find Finn. They would have to adjust their plans.
23
Tessa voiced her concerns to Finn, “I made a mistake.”
“What happened?” Finn feared her answer.
“Sam should have moved forward instead of chasing the targets to the rear. I liberated the engineers, and now they are praising me the hero. I’ve
