That’s where the Sons of Adamcamein.
While the terrorist group espoused a nativist agenda relegated to the fringe of American society, they remained a very real threat through the deployment of like-minded metahumans they brought into the fold. Allied to the Hayes family, Alexei and his group had to deal with them more than ex-Special Forces due to their mission of breaching thebiotechlab.
The ground shaking apart beneath their feet caused Trevor to telekinetically grab everyone and hurl them to safety. Alexei rolled into his landing, hitting with his shoulder and back first to spare his head, somersaulting over until he got back on his feet, weapon still in hand. He stayed low to the ground to remain less of a target, scanning his immediate area for any bit of cover. They’d landed near the parking structure, but retreating in that direction would take him away from the mainbuilding.
Grimacing, Alexei took a circuitous route forward, the night vision option on his tactical goggles green-tinged but easy to process. It wasn’t much help when the earth heaved again, throwing him to his knees. He swore in Russian, fingers digging into the dirt as he tried to hold on. Someone on the other side had a seismic power, and it was really fuckingannoying.
“Metahuman!” Alexei snapped into his comms on the widegeneralline.
“You don’t fucking say,” Madisongrowled.
“Viper, can you pinpoint who it is and relay the information to Reaper?” Jamieasked.
“On it,” Katie replied over their encryptedcomms.
The earth threatened to shake itself into pieces underneath Alexei until it abruptly stopped. Breathing a sigh of relief, he scrambled to his feet and started runningagain.
“Target eliminated,” Kyleinformedthem.
“Best,”Alexeisaid.
“Of fucking courseIam.”
People were yelling, both over comms and in the general vicinity, mixed with the heavy report of guns going off. All of it echoed in the warm summer night, a continuous sound Alexei tuned out after the first few minutes. He stayed on course, managing to sneak up on a pair of Sons of Adam fighters taking cover behind a solar-powered recycling bin. Both were focused more on their front than their six, a rookie mistake whichcostthem.
Alexei pulled the trigger on his AKR-75, cutting a line over the back of their necks instead of aiming for their torsos. Their tactical armor didn’t cover that sliver of flesh between bulletproof vests and their hard helmets. As close as he was, with his superior targeting skills, Alexei nearly blew theirheadsoff.
They went down; Alexei keptmoving.
He could see Jamie in the distance leading the charge for the entrance with Trevor and several Strike Force soldiers at his side. Bullets ricocheted off Trevor’s telekinetic shield, causing bright sparks to flare up briefly in their wake. Alexei changed course, aiming to rejoin his captain as quickly as hecould.
The sound of a motor revving hard and fast broke through the overbearing noise of suppressive fire. A Humvee decked out with a mounted machine gun roared around the corner of the building, heading straight for where Jamie and the others were clearing the way forward with Trevor’s help. Even as Alexei hurried to rejoin his team, the Humveespedup.
“Bones! Incoming!” Alexei barked overcomms.
“We see it,” Trevorreplied.
Alexei kept one eye on a safe route to them on his HUD and the other on what was happening up ahead. Even as he watched, the mounted machine gun was telekinetically crunched to half its size, ripping the gunner apart in the process. The rest of the Humvee crashed into an invisible wall, back wheels lifting into the air as the front was reduced to half its size from the head-on collision. But one down didn’t mean the fightwasover.
Alexei was almost to Jamie’s position when the thrumming sound of a helo flying in close made him immediately scan the sky, sighting down his gun as he searched for the target. It arrived suddenly, coming in low over the main building, missiles firing on his group’s position with deadly intent. The immediate explosion of fire and smoke rolled against Trevor’s telekinetic shield, the invisible barrier holding steady, despite the effort Alexei knew it took for his teammate to keepitup.
The pilot and gunner weren’t deterred, coming back around for another strike. The strafing fire of heavy artillery rained down on them, slamming into Trevor’s telekinetic shield. Alexei saw Trevor go to one knee, arm extended over his head, a physical reaction to holding up his telekinetic shield. Alexei double-timed it to their position to help ease the strain on his teammate. Trevor wasn’t the strongest telekinetic on the MDF roster, but he was damned good at keeping them shielded against heavy fire. However, concentrating on shielding limited what other actions hecouldtake.
“Bones,” Jamie said as he clipped his assault rifle to his tactical vest to keep it out of the way. “I need theHumvee.”
Trevor raised his other arm and pushed it outward, shifting his telekinetic shield to cover the broken Humvee. The driver hadn’t survived the collision, and Jamie didn’t bother removing the body from behind the wheel. He grabbed the crumpled front bumper, working to get agoodgrip.
“Get ready to make a hole,” Jamie yelled over hisshoulder.
“Hear you loud and clear, Apollo,” Trevorgrunted.
“Inferno, getready.”
“Ready!” Alexeishoutedback.
Alexei moved to stand next to Trevor, keeping an eye on the helo spinning around their position and still targeting them. The sound of creaking metal drew his attention a few seconds later. Alexei watched as Jamie lifted the front end of the Humvee into the air before wrenching the heavy vehicle around in a half-circle. With a snarled yell, Jamie pitched it back around, using his enhanced strength to throw the Humvee into the air like a missile, right at the low-flyinghelo.
Trevor’s telekinesis shifted just enough to allow the Humvee to pass through, reforming instantly behind its passage. The helo couldn’t maneuver out of the way fast enough and took the large, atypical missile in the side. The explosion ripped through the sky like a miniature supernova, fire curling through thick blacksmoke.
