My vision tunneled and everything sounded muffled as I wheezed against the pressure on my throat. I knew I was done, I couldn’t get any leverage, I couldn’t think, and all my training had faded away leaving only thoughts of my family.
Visions of my Mom and Dad, my brother Evan, and my friends Christina and Amber all swirled through the fog in my head. I felt warm.
“Don’t give up Peanut. You can do it,” a vision of my dad said before swirling away only for my brother to take his place. “You’re losing to this guy? Lame. I thought you were cooler than that,” the vision of Evan snarked at me before fading away.
My mom swirled into my thoughts next. “I love you sweetheart. Remember what I told you growing up? When the world tries to break you, you break the world.” I felt a flutter in my chest at her words. It was something she had said to me when I was going through puberty and was struggling with everything. My emotions, the physical changes, my growing abilities, and the isolation.
The warmth had grown and now it was like there was a hot coal in my chest. It had turned into a dull intense radiating pain threatening to pierce the haze.
Next came Christina, “The hell are you doing? Do you think Captain Flag would just lay here and die? The Dani I know is too damn stubborn for that. Now get up!”
Suddenly the pain in my chest intensified and it felt like it was on fire. It would be just my luck that I spontaneously combusted while being choked to death.
Amber swirled in with a “C’mon Dani, don’t upset Christina. I don’t want to have to deal with that…” followed by Doctors Robinson and Rokker and then the STAR team who all offered words of encouragement with the notable exception of Brunner. With each vision, the burning pain in my chest got worse.
Finally, Captain Williams swirled into whatever place my head was at. She wore the same expression of barely contained frustration I’d seen so many times in training. “Walker! You have all the potential in the world, but potential means nothing if you can’t harness it. Time to put up or shut up, or was I wrong not to fail you during your certification?”
At her accusation, the fire in my chest surged to the point of being nearly unbearable. I felt like I was dying which was wholly ironic considering I currently was dying.
“Your will Dani, it will always be the most dangerous weapon you can employ,” Fox’s calm voice penetrated through the blinding pain that was now permeating whatever metaphysical space my consciousness was existing in. “Harden your will. Focus your resolve. Make it manifest, for defeat is not possible because…YOU…DO…NOT…WILL…IT!”
Oh God…it BURNS.
Suddenly there was a noise that might have been a bang. It was hard to tell because everything sounded so far away, but the pressure on my neck was gone. Freed from the constriction I labored to take in as much oxygen as I could as my battered senses slowly started to come back. I rolled onto my hands and knees and immediately started coughing. Tears that I didn’t realize were even there ran down my cheeks in tracks from behind my now-cracked glasses, snowflakes sticking to the wet patches before melting away.
Still coughing but now able to breathe, I opened my eyes and was confused by what I saw. My vision was still a little blurry, but it looked like I was in a shallow crater that was maybe a foot deep at best, but in a circumference around where I was. All the snow looked like it had been blown or melted away near me as well. My brain was slowly starting to fire again but it still didn’t make any sense.
I was nearly unconscious and had no leverage on the man strangling me. How…how did I end up alone in a crater? Alone…crap, the enemy. I frantically looked around, but mostly just succeeded in making myself dizzy. Taking a few deep breaths, I tried again more slowly this time but still didn’t see him anywhere. What I did know was that everything hurt, especially my head and there was a buzzing in my ears.
Slowly the buzzing resolved itself into broken words, “Ar…it..ep. S ar o you c py?” It took me a good fifteen seconds to realize it was my earpiece and that the buzz was the comm system in my suit trying to work through whatever had just happened.
Toggling the mic while hoping it worked, I responded, or at least I tried to, but only got out a croak. On my second attempt, I rasped out a reply that actually sounded like words. “LZ contested. Use caution.”
I was still on my hands and knees when the RAID came in hard, snow blowing all around the sleek white craft. Sentinel angled it so that RAID’s guns could cover the landing zone while the ramp was facing away from the buildings of the Air Station before he dropped the craft to the earth in one smooth maneuver. Before the craft had even fully settled the ramp dropped and Wolf Unit was disgorged into the snow. They had been outfitted in white combat parkas and were wearing glasses and masks similar to mine. As a testament to their professionalism, they moved as a unit, weapons up and covering all the angles as best they could in such a wide-open environment despite not having any time together as a unit.
By the time Wolf Leader and the rest of the unit had tramped through the deep snow to reach me, I’d managed to sit up on my knees, though I was still hunched over a bit holding my throat.
“Star, report,” Wolf Leader ordered as she approached and made a hand gesture at Alessa.
“Was attacked after depositing Fox and setting up the beacon. It was a Supernormal with enhanced strength, speed, and possibly something else. I was ambushed from behind and we fought but then he used some kind of ability and there was more than one of him. Next thing I knew he was choking me and I was almost done. Everything was going black…after that, I don’t know what happened.” I managed to rasp out. “There’s a strong chance they know we’re here.”
That was when I noticed Alessa had stepped up to me. “I’m going to check you over. I just need to put my hand on a bare patch of skin for a second to use my ability. I’m going to touch your cheek, ok?”
Alessa pulled the glove off her left hand and as soon as I nodded she placed her hand on my cheek. I felt a pleasant warmth radiating from her hand from where she was cupping my cheek. The contact made me realize my mask had been lost somewhere in the struggle.
Alessa closed her eyes while she used her ability and after a moment she withdrew her hand and put her glove back on. “You’ve got some bruises and some moderate trauma to your trachea but nothing life-threatening. Your body is already working to heal the damage at an accelerated rate. I don’t know how your abilities work but my Empathic Touch seemed to indicate that your abilities are…unsettled…at the moment, for lack of a better way to describe the impression I got,” the Medical Sergeant explained to me but loud enough for Captain Williams to hear.
“So is she good to go?” Captain Williams asked Alessa but was looking at me.
“Yes, as far as I can tell she should be clear to continue the mission,” answered Alessa.
“Star, is she right? Are you ok to continue?” Captain Williams asked while offering me her hand to pull me up to my feet.
I took the Captain’s hand and as I got to my feet I was happy to discover that I was fairly steady upon getting there. “I didn’t come this far to give up now. Plus, if that Supernormal is still around you’re going to need me.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. Wolf Unit move to cover,” Captain Williams said, pointing to the building closest to us. “Staying in the open even with this snow isn’t a good idea especially if Star is right and they know we’re here. Let’s hope that Fox hasn’t been discovered. All right team, let’s get moving.”
Wolf Unit did its best to move as fast as possible to the closest building to our location which happened to be one of the old barracks buildings. It put us in very close proximity to the motor pool building where I dropped Fox but as expected there were no signs of him.
Wolf Unit quickly took covering positions while Captain Wiliams checked in with Wolf Four and Six on the RAID. It was a quick conversation and it wasn't long before Wolf Leader disconnected, the conversation not being broadcast on the team channel.
“The break in the weather is almost on top of us so the advantage is going to switch to the enemy. Wolves Two and Three, I want you to clear the barracks and then work your way toward the old radar towers,” Captain Williams instructed Brunner and Alessa. “Wolf Five and I will start clearing the admin buildings and working toward the radar towers. Be careful we are going to eventually run into resistance and find where they are holed up. The RAID will continue to monitor the situation and can provide backup if possible but their primary role is to hold for Fox and to exfil the boy immediately.”
Wolf Leader adjusted her grip on her M17 and then gave me my orders, “Star you will hold here ready to assist on callout, and to watch our backs in case your Supernormal shows back up. Speaking of that particular problem, do you know what happened to them?”
“I don’t actually. I remember losing consciousness and feeling a burning sensation. Next thing I knew I was in a crater and he was gone and the RAID was landing. I don’t suppose you could tell me what happened?”
“We were on the beacon and almost to you when its signal disappeared. We had some difficulty navigating the road to the base but when saw your energy discharge Sentinel pushed it. Then the whole sky lit up right as we came into the base,” Wolf Leader explained. “That’s when we found you in a hole looking a little worse for wear.”
“Worse for wear?” snorted Brunner. “She looks like she got her shit kicked in.”
I gave him a withering glare.
“Enough,” snapped Captain Williams. “Not the time. Not the place. We can debrief whatever happened later. You all have your orders.”
With that Brunner and Alessa made their way into the barracks building we had been using as cover while Captain Williams and Laurel made their way toward the administration building.
I decided to take a quick look at the motor pool building. I was worried about the missing Supernormal and I wanted to be sure that Fox had gotten away. Deciding that stealth wasn’t a thing I pushed the door open and just walked in. The first thing I noticed was that the building was far from empty. There were a couple of SUVs parked inside as well as some snowmobiles. All of them looked to be in good shape. Notably, there were lights on inside the building by a workbench area.
I made my way over to have a quick look and discovered two dead bodies lying in dark pools of blood. I felt my gorge rise at the unexpected sight and did my best to breathe through it. Both men were dressed in tactical gear and had been sliced open by something razor-sharp. In fact, one man’s arm looked like it had been sliced off at the elbow. Clearly, Fox had made short work of them before moving on. Not seeing anything else of note or the missing Supernormal I quickly left the building and made my back into the snow while reminding myself that I was going to have to get used to sights like that.
As I pushed through the wind my head was still throbbing, but at least it had calmed down to a dull throb that I could manage. I decided to fly up to the roof of the closest barracks building so I could have a better view. Snow continued to swirl and blow about as I crouched but it definitely seemed like it was starting to lighten up. I felt like I could see a little further than I could before when looking across the base.
That’s when I noticed what looked like a figure lurking in the tree line near the administration building where Captain Williams and Laurel were. Visibility still wasn’t great and my glasses were practically useless so I decided to reach out to the RAID. “RAID I have what looks like a hostile advancing on Wolf Leader’s position. Can you confirm?” I said, using the team-wide comm channel so that Wolf Leader and Wolf Five would be aware of the potential problem.
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After a short pause, Heidi replied, “FLIR confirms humanoid at the tree line. We painted the area for only a moment but the was a concrete hit before we switched back to passive.”
“Roger, Star moving to investigate,” I replied letting everyone know I was on the move.
There was no doubt that the sky was lightening up as morning started to break over the Keweenaw Peninsula and the storm paused its assault on the area. I made sure to stay at the roof line of the buildings as I flew and made a lazy loop out and away before circling back at treetop level to where the enemy was spotted.
The spring foliage hadn’t completely come in yet so when I reached the area where I last saw my target I was hoping I could quickly spot them. I was starting to get frustrated at my inability to locate them when a figure in black broke from the tree in a blur toward the administration building.
I took off in a shot toward the hostile through air and as I was almost on top of them I confirmed that it was my foe from earlier, Yellow Stripes. Not slowing down I charged in and swept the man off his feet before spiking him down into the ground. He let out a groan as he rolled roughly through the snow.
“Star, engaging hostile,” I quickly announced into my comm before moving to approach him.
Unfortunately, Yellow Stripes was already getting up, albeit slowly. As he faced me I could see that the skin on his face was a bright pink like freshly healed skin and his bodysuit and hair looked singed as well.
“Oh, I was hoping you weren’t dead. I was going to let off some steam on the two bitches creeping around in the building before giving their heads to Morrigan, but even better, I can rip your head off,” he sneered.
I didn’t wait and exploded at him in a spray of snow closing the distance in a blink. I had already started channeling my energy ability into my right fist and let it go as I punched him in the gut with a rising punch. At the same time, I twisted and grabbed him by the back of the neck not letting him get thrown away by the force of my punch. Instead used my own strength as a counterforce to smash him back down into the ground with a sickening thud.
I rarely used my true strength but already knew from our previous encounter that pulling punches against this guy was a bad idea. He lay sprawled out face down in the snow not moving but I didn’t trust anything with him. None too gently I kicked him in the thigh and when I didn’t get a reaction I reached down to check for a pulse. I quickly found out he was still alive but seemingly unconscious and I was at a loss for what to do with him.
I stepped away from him to contact the RAID to see if they had any Supernormal restraint devices onboard when I heard two distinct POPs and when I turned around three people were lying on the ground where there was only one a second ago.
Okay, what the…and this explains a few things.
Each person looked identical with the same close-cropped brown hair except for minor physical differences. The one on the right had a bigger build that more closely matched the man I had been fighting and there was now only one yellow stripe running down the right side of his suit. The man on the left was smaller but no less muscular and built like a world-class sprinter with a yellow stripe down the left side of his suit. This was the man who had smashed the beacon into me. I had wondered where he came from and where he had gone, and now I knew.
The last man in the middle was of average build with only a single stripe down the center of his suit. This man looked worse for wear. He was covered in bruises and had a cut over his eye. It was strange because the other two didn’t look to have any injuries. Suddenly the man in the middle’s eyes snapped open and he started screaming and writhing on the ground. It was incredibly disconcerting and for a moment I was completely at a loss for what to do.
“You know, you are an extreme pain in the ass girl. It’s been a long time since someone hurt us enough to cause us to fully separate,” the man with the left stripe said, getting to his feet.
“Going…to…mess you up bitch,” Right Stripe said, getting to his feet while Center Stripe continued to moan in the snow.
“Um, right. I don’t have a clue about whatever the hell this is, but I’m going to ask nicely once. Stop calling me bitch,” I said to the men in front of me.
“My brother isn’t the most eloquent. He loses some intellect when we separate but the sentiment remains. Individually we have our own abilities but collectively we go by ‘Hammerdown’. I just thought you’d like to know who was going to put you in the dirt,” Left Stripe said menacingly.
Before Left Stripe had even finished talking he blurred into motion and threw an elbow into my face snapping my head up and back while pivoting and throwing a punch into my already sore ribs. I instinctively curled inward and brought my left elbow down to cover the injured area but before I could even get my bearings I was yanked off my feet by Right Stripe.
He attempted to use my cape to slam me to the ground but I flew with the motion and smashed into him back first. Letting go of my flight ability I planted my left foot into the snow and threw a spinning elbow that rocked Right Stripe and sent him stumbling.
Left Stripe rushed into the gap and peppered me with punches. I was able to somewhat get a guard up and ate most of them on my arms. Left Stripe was strong but not nearly as strong as Right Stripe. His power came from his speed and it became quantity over quality as he worked to wear me down.
I was fast myself though, and managed to parry a punch and turn it into a grab attempt forcing him to blur away. I didn’t get much time to reflect as Right Stripe gave himself away with a growl as he barreled into me from behind and put me into a bear hug. I needed to come up with a better plan as fighting hand to hand wasn’t working.
It had become obvious the game plan for Hammerdown was to grapple whenever possible and it probably worked most of the time with their strength and speed. I wasn’t going to let him get me locked up this time though and activated my flight and carried Right Stripe into the air with me. Without the leverage of being on the ground, it became a contest of pure strength for him to hold me while fighting gravity.
I started forcing my arms up and levering apart his grip as I took us up above the roof line not wanting to get too far away. I was stronger than this version of him and I could feel him start to slip so I went into a spin to add some extra force. With a grunt, he lost his grip and fell arms pinwheeling. Left Stripe who was unable to do anything while we were in the air rushed to where Right Stripe was going to hit the ground and just before Right Stripe hit he rushed underneath and they collided with a POP. Where there were once two men there was now one who went stumbling and crashed into the ground not able to fully defeat momentum with their little trick.
I am so sick of this guy.
And of course, he was already starting to get to his feet so I blasted him back into the snow with an energy discharge. He tanked it admirably but it was finally looking like maybe I could put him down. He was groaning on his hands and knees but I knew better than to underestimate him.
I let go of gravity dropping out of the air and smashed my fist into Hammerdown flattening him into the ground. He let out a wheeze and didn’t get up. I bent over at the waist with my hands on my thighs and let out a long breath. Then I heard a voice from behind me.
“Hahahah…good show girlie. It’s damn hard to put those two down.”
I spun around to find the third man, Center Stripe, walking toward me. The last time I paid any attention to him he had been on the ground screaming covered in cuts and bruises. The man in front of me now looked fresh as a daisy with nary an injury to be seen.
“Guess our code name was a poor choice today. You really put the hammer down on us. Hahaha…get it?” Center Stripe said with a big smile that did not reach his eyes. His eyes were dark brown to the point they almost appeared to be black, and I’d never really understood the phrase ‘Crazy Eyes’ until that moment.
“That’s far enough, stay right where you are,” I said to the man feeling very unnerved by his odd behavior. Not listening to my command the man kept approaching me with that creepy smile on his face.
“I’m serious. I will blast you if you don't stop walking,” I said again, this time pointing my hand at him. Suddenly the sound of gunfire echoed through the base from the direction of Wolves Two and Three. I instinctively looked toward my teammates and made a rookie mistake, I took my eyes off of him.
I felt him barrel into me. He wasn't strong like his brothers so he didn’t move me much but he managed to lunge inside my outstretched arm and did something completely unexpected. He bit me.
It was sudden and unexpected as he sunk his teeth into my collarbone. I reacted swiftly almost purely on instinct and grabbed him by the back of his head and spiked him into the ground next to his brothers. He landed with a wet snap and I could tell immediately that I broke his collarbone by the way he landed. He immediately started screaming and rolling around grabbing at his shoulder. I hadn’t expected him to not be durable like his brothers.
“Oh my God. Just hold still and see if I can help you…” I started to say taking a step toward him when his screams of pain started to morph into grunts of what sounded like pleasure.
The sounds stopped me dead and I backed up instinctively. I had no frame of reference for whatever this person was. I just knew I needed to deal with them. Especially as I was again hearing gunfire from across the base and the snowstorm had almost fully stopped at this point.
“Oh…oh, thank you…girlie. I haven’t been let out to play in so long. My…brothers…don’t like to let me drive, and I haven’t been able to feel pain like the pain you’ve given us today in a long time. The exquisiteness of it has been amazing. To think a pretty girlie like you would be the one to do it. We need to play some more…” he said through gasps on the ground as he lay in the fetal position by the still forms of his brothers.
The shit. I couldn’t have been more skeeved out if I tried and felt a cold chill run down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold Michigan air.
He suddenly looked at me with a big bloodstained smile and with a POP, POP he recombined with his brothers. The brute I’d originally fought was again now in front of me getting to his feet. His right arm was at a strange angle until he reached over with his left and pulled at it until it made a wet pop. He rotated the arm before exclaiming, “Not perfect yet, but better. You didn’t figure it out yet did ya girlie? My brothers are fast and strong, but I heal.”
With that, he blurred forward and tried to take my head off with a punch. I managed to get my forearms up in a block but was rocked back. He came in again with a grab trying to catch me off balance but I managed to slap his hand down and away causing him to miss and slide past me. I used that momentum and punched him in the back of the head causing him to stumble away.
I dialed up an energy blast and shot him in the back but it was only for a second before he blurred away. He was hard to track and I realized that getting into the air was still my best advantage. I jumped into the air but didn’t make it far as I felt a crushing grip latch onto my ankle before being smashed to the ground...again. We’d done this dance once before already and I’ll be damned if I was going to be caught again. Twisting I unleashed an energy discharge that caught him in the chest and flung him back.
I shot to my feet with a wince for my poor ribs but didn’t have time to dwell on it as again he came charging at me with that same creepy smile on his face. I ducked low and shot forward using my flight ability to meet him and took him by surprise when I rammed my shoulder into his knees and low-bridged him. I heard and felt something pop in his leg as I smashed my way through him to land with a thud in the snow.
The move had hurt and I had to take a second to get my wind but Hammerdown was lying in the snow holding his leg. It was bent at an awkward angle at the knee and it looked like it sucked and I truly hoped it did.
I stalked my way over to Hammerdown and shot him with an energy discharge only for him to groan, “Yesss.”
“Ugh. I think I missed your other personality,” I said before reaching down and grabbing the front of his uniform, and punching him as hard as I could in the face.
POP!
“That can be arranged, bitch,” I heard from behind me as Right Stripe suddenly appeared and kicked me off of Hammerdown.
POP!
Again I found myself at a disadvantage as Hammerdown recombined and swiftly moved to mount a forward choke by smashing a forearm down on me.
As I felt his forearm slide into my windpipe and begin choking me again something inside me snapped. I felt a white-hot fury at again being at a disadvantage. That having all these abilities, all this power meant nothing. I was being beaten by training and experience. It was a humbling lesson and one that I would remember.
I tuned out the pressure on my windpipe for a moment and did my best to ignore the maniacal gleam in Hammerdown’s eyes as I reached for the feeling I had earlier. One that I had only a vague memory of feeling once before when I manifested. I visualized that white-hot energy in my chest and willed it to build up until I felt like I couldn’t contain it anymore. I focused it…channeled it into my fists which I pushed into either side of Hammerdown’s chest.
With a scream, I unleashed the pent-up energy into Hammerdown. The discharge blinded me for a moment but the pressure on my neck was gone. When I blinked my vision back into focus Hammerdown was still on my legs but had sat back on his heels with his arms limp at his sides. He was looking down at two smoking holes in his midsection.
“That…doesn’t feel good,” he said weakly before falling over.
I scrambled to get away from him. I felt sick. Drained. My abilities were primarily concussive in nature and I’d never done anything like that before. I’d never…killed…anyone before. I couldn’t process what I’d just done and stood there looking at Hammerdown while hugging myself.
“Star, what’s your status? We show you as no longer engaged,” Overwatch said into my comm shortly afterward.
“Hostile…neutralized,” I replied numbly.