Charges flung down the rope rig and detonated, sending shrapnel and debris flying. Gemma lifted her hands, and her shield unfurled, a wall of violet energy sweeping through the line of fighters to protect them.
The first wave of Systems soldiers spilled into Tent City, their rifles leveled. Sparks danced along the surface of Gemma’s shield as the first volley of bullets struck, sizzling into nothing. The camp’s fighters roared in defiance as the last of the evacuees vanished into the pipe.
Gemma’s shield pulsed brighter as round after round slammed into it. Each impact reverberated through her arms, her chest. She clenched her teeth, pouring more strength into the shield as it groaned under the constant barrage. Sweat slicked down her spine; her tattoos flared.
“Let’s move!” Nadine yelled, calling for their full retreat.
Then a sharp thunk echoed from just outside the shield.
A wave of static tore through Gemma like fire as a device ignited. Her shield fractured, splitting like cracked ice. Pain shrieked through every nerve, sending her to one knee with a shout.
Karma sparked once in midair, let out a pitiful chirp, and crashed to the ground in a shower of static. Imara swore, yanking her sidearm free and pivoting back from the line. Hawk staggered, clutching the side of his head before ripping out the earpiece Claude had fashioned for him.
Christian jumped in front of Gemma as her shield buckled. She forced power through her veins, pouring strength into the cracks, but whatever device they had ignited left her ability unstable. The fractures in her shield spread wider until the cracks became holes.
Through the gaps, black-armored soldiers surged forward.
“For freedom!” Nadine yelled, leaping into action, her fighters on her heels.
“Shields!” one of the Systems soldiers yelled, and their uniforms shimmered blue.
Hawk ran into the fray, swinging his blades in vicious arcs and using his towering strength to force soldiers off their feet. From next to Gemma, Imara’s shots were sharp and precise, each muzzle flare lighting her profile as she covered the opening to the pipe, and at Gemma’s three-o-clock, Christian’s rifle flicked from soldier to soldier, each of his bullets finding their mark.
Nostrils flaring, Gemma thrust her palms out. Power roared from her hands, slamming against the Systems soldiers—
Their uniforms flared blue, and the blow snapped back like a whip. Agony ricocheted up her arms, throwing her onto her back with a loud cry. Her glow sputtered violently, streaks of purple sparking from her tattoos.
“She’s down!” someone yelled.
And the full fury of the Systems’ strike team unleashed.
Christian’s rifle barked above her head. “Stay with me, Gem,” he shouted, pivoting to gun down two who tried to flank. He dropped his rifle the instant it clicked empty, knives flashing into his hands in a second.
Gemma’s vision cleared in a violet haze, her arms trembling from the rebound.
Hawk snarled, carving open a soldier’s thigh before slamming an elbow into his helmet. The soldier’s balance faltered as another came up on his blind side—Imara’s bullet caught the soldier in the neck and dropped him in a spray of blood.
“On your left, Hawk!” Imara shouted, already taking her nextshot.
A deep ache nipped at her bones, but Gemma pushed herself onto her feet, drawing her blades into her hands.
So they had a way to block her shield. Big deal.
They hadn’t yet felt her wrath.
She shoved off her feet. A soldier lunged, but she didn’t flinch. In one fluid motion, she sidestepped and slashed across the back of his knee. His shield sparked at the impact, but strength found flesh where her power could not. He dropped with a howl.
Another came from her left. Gemma spun, faster than she’d ever have been able to move in her human body. Her blades flashed in a seamless arc. The soldier’s rifle clattered uselessly to the ground before his head lolled back, blood spilling down his armor.
Christian was a shadow at her side, knives glinting in the lamps’ light as he cut down a soldier trying to flank her. “That’s my girl,” he rasped.
Gemma surged forward, blades crossing in a brutal X that caught an armored soldier at the chest. Sparks exploded as his shield faltered. She drove a boot into his stomach, forcing him back into the line of fighters. Hawk barreled through the gap she opened, his brute strength finishing off the Systems soldier.
The battle had become hand-to-hand chaos. Grunts and screams echoed through Tent City.
Gemma fought like she’d been born for this moment. Her body moved with perfect instinct, every pivot precise, every swing an extension of her breath. And unlike the battle in Zion, there was no giddy alien power feeding on her fear this time. She was in control. And she would protect those she loved.
Gemma ducked beneath a swinging rifle, her blade flashing up to carve the soldier’s throat. She twisted, blocking another’s strike aimed at Christian’s ribs. Their movements hadsynchronized, becoming a seamless dance of knives and fury, each protecting the other’s blind side without needing words.
