Dark Fall

Chapter 57 - Weather Forecast

Walt shifted into the aura. He was only a moderately powerful Talent, not as powerful as Terra, but there were some things he could do. Focusing on the front lines of the police, he one-by-one pulled the batons from their hands. However, his entry into the aura would likely attract Enforcers, so he moved to another vantage point by a large sprawling tree.

Over the communicator came the messages, "forecast complete," followed in a few moments by "go for storm." Insertion into the palace had begun.

The ebb and flow between protesters and police continued as tensions escalated. The police lobbed swirling gas canisters to disperse the crowd, who responded with more rocks. Some police drew side arms and took aim at individuals in the crowd. Gritting his teeth, Walt used his Talent to knock away what guns he could.

Worse still, a group of palace security broke off from the line and began running back toward the palace. The insertion team may have been discovered! He grimaced and gathered his power to cast a telekinetic push, sending many of the running security men sprawling across the street. The others took cover.

Walt gasped as the spikes pierced his body. He cast a sideways glance at the two grim-faced Enforcers who launched them. Sinking to his knees, he gazed up at the sky as his life poured out.

*****

Hex joined the assault teams gathered at their assigned places as they awaited the go-ahead. A com message came from Walt, "the rain has begun," signaling that the protest diversion was underway.

The first group to enter would be Hex, Haze, and Harm, the latter a fierce woman with short chopped hair who lived up to her nickname. Their primary purpose was to find a hub that would allow Hex to take down the palace security and communication network.

Will broke the tension by chuckling. Haze turned to him, wrinkling his brow. "What?"

"Your names — Hex, Haze, and Harm. That alone should strike fear into the Dynasty."

Laughs spread across the group until Neige growled. "Cut the chatter! Get to your positions."

Several minutes later came the message from Neige, "go for the weatherman."

Hex chuckled to himself. Long ago at the university, he considered meteorology before deciding on computer programming. Haze and Harm broke the memory as they fired their silenced rifles nearly simultaneously, taking down two guards near a palace side entrance. Another precise shot took out a security camera above the door.

Rushing to the door, Hex inserted electrical leads into the lock mechanism while Haze and Harm surveyed the area with rifles shouldered. Sparks flew from the lock as Hex activated an electrical surge. He knew he could hack the door lock, but the power surge was quicker and more fun. Haze finished the process by wrenching open the door with a pry bar. Silently, they entered.

At the first bend, Harm put down a startled guard with a single shot. The three then advanced down an empty dark hallway towards a communications hub room, as shown on the palace diagrams. Haze pulled out his pry bar, but withdrew it when he found the door already unlocked. Entering first, Harm fired another single shot, dropping the shocked worker she encountered. Hex made a mental note to never mess with this woman.

Shrugging off his backpack, Hex pulled out a tablet viewer within the small dank room and plugged it into a hub slot on. Haze looked on while Harm stood watch on the door. After a flurry of keystrokes, Hex clapped his hands.

"Okay, I'm in," he said. "So far, so good, no alarms have triggered."

Hex launched previously prepared software routines and waited as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Haze leaned in and asked, "So?"

"Still running. We will know if it works in a moment."

Hex clapped his hands again and grinned. "Okay. The internal communication relays are now down. To them, it will look like a software error."

After another nervous minute, Hex pumped his fists into the air. "Yes! It worked!"

Haze's eyes shot up. "Wait. You thought it might not?"

Hex smiled with pride. "Well, I could always just fry the system, but that would alert them. Instead, I took down the cameras but froze the current image on all the monitors. And I redirected all the manual alarms on this side of the palace so it looks like they come from the other side. They really need to update their firewall."

Haze smiled back. "Awesome!" Standing upright, he announced over his com, "Forecast complete".

*****

Will grasped Terra's hand and pulled her to him, placing his lips on hers. "Mmm," she whispered in his ear once lips separated. "I love you."

"I love you too," Will replied. "Remember, we promised our little girl that we would kick Dynasty butt. We wouldn't want to disappoint her."

With body tingling from both her husband's embrace and anticipation of action, Terra glanced at Neige and nodded. He spoke into his com, "Go for storm."