Alexei couldn’t stop the concussive force from the blast, but the fire was all his. He raised a hand, pushing his awareness of that element outward. The massive fireball contracted into a swirling mass of heat and flame that quickly dissipated under Alexei’s control. He clenched his hand into a fist, reducing the fiery explosion to nothing but embers that smoldered amongst the charred debris from the destroyed helo andHumvee.
“Fuck,” one of the Strike Force members said, sounding impressed. “That wasawesome.”
“Keep moving,” Jamie ordered, weapon once againinhand.
The Strike Force operatives fell into position behind Jamie, letting him take point with Trevor. Alexei took the rearguard position, watching their six as they approached the nextbattle.
“You’ve got a bunch of Sons of Adam fighters holding the front,” Kyle said over the comms. “We’re taking out as many as we can, but they’re embedded likecockroaches.”
“I can walk some of them out,” Katieoffered.
She was a kilometer away at North Star International’s facility, trying to break through the resistance there with Donovan and Annabelle. Alexei wanted to ask her for an update on Sean, but held his tongue. Sean was safe so long as he remained phased. It’s why he’d been given the task to infiltrate the facility without backup. He could handle it. If things got bad, Katie would let them know. Until then, silence was a goodthing.
“It would be better if you could knock some of them out, Viper,” Jamie said. “The fewer people we kill, the better. They’re still Americancitizens.”
“Who betrayed their country, just want to point that out in case anyone forgot,”Donovansaid.
“We’ll accept their surrender if they want to give it. Tell them that,Viper.”
No one spoke for a minute or two; they occupied their time with returning fire on the enemy. Eventually, Katie came back on the line. “Negative on surrender,Apollo.”
“Take out as many as you can in the next thirty seconds and leave the resttous.”
One kilometer wasn’t a terrible reach for Katie. Alexei knew distance was less of a problem than the number of minds surrounding her. Out on the edge of a city that held a smaller population than they were used to living around, getting into the minds of her targets was easier than it couldhavebeen.
Alexei helped Trevor to his feet. “Allright?”
“I’ll live,” Trevor said, bracing his gun against his shoulder again. “Let’sdothis.”
“Ten hostiles are out of commission,” Katie finally informed them. “The rest are yours to deal with,Apollo.”
“Move out,” Jamie ordered, signaling for the others tofollow.
Alexei was more than willing to follow his captain into thefight.
16
War Was InColor
North Star International’straining facility was more along the lines of a fucking ant hill of soldiers than a proper company at the moment. Sean was supremely grateful that Jamie had vetoed the order from SOCOM brass to give him a partner for this fight. If he’d had to hold onto someone for the entire run through the facility, not to mention the hundreds of meters fall through the sky without a parachute, he’d be so fuckingannoyed.
Not needing to watch out for a partner meant Sean was practically unstoppable as he worked his way deeper into the sprawling facility. He left a lot of victims of friendly fire behind as he followed the mental map burned into his mind, Katie telepathically guiding him as she handled who knew what else on her side. Sean tried not to take away too much of Katie’s attention, but when he finally made it to the center of the facility where the communications nerve center should have been, he had no choice but to reach outtoher.
Viper, the maps are wrong,Sean said as he ran through walls, counting the rows of empty offices on this level. It didn’t make anysense.
Go below, Wraith,Katie told him, her voice echoing in his mind. He could tell she was focused on some other problem, but she spared all the attention she could for him.I’m sensing a lot more people beneath yourcurrentarea.
Sean slowed to a stop in the middle of an office that had a number of solar-powered toys lined up on the window, unmoving in the darkness.Howmany?
They’re clustered together. Maybe twenty or so, but their numbers aredwindling.
He grimaced, shaking his head. That would still be enough to man a nerve center similar to the sort the MDF ran when large missions requiredmoreeyes.
Copy that,Seansaid.
He let himself drop through the floor, phasing down to the next level, and then the next. He kept going, vision going dark every time he passed through the building’s structure. When he made it to the first floor, he kept dropping. His vision was swallowed by the black nothingness of concrete and then dirt that seemed to last forever before he fell outofit.
His vision cleared, the bright lights of an underground corridor searing his eyes. Sean settled onto the floor and took a moment to get his bearings. His momentary pause was all it took for a large bolt of familiar-looking energy to cut through his torso, crashing into the wall at the far end of the corridor with a sizzlingcrack.
