Chapter 5
Brennan, Shalimar and Adam were monitoring their comlinks as well as the sensors for any activity in the area. When Emma's plea for help reached them, Brennan lifted off from the ground. The force of the Helix's engines caused dust and debris to be kicked up from the ground, making the general shape of the craft visible. Those few seconds were all that was needed. Hovering above Fasergen was another stealth craft. The government vehicle Adam requisitioned for Jesse and Emma had been tracked. Once it was apparent Mutant X was on to Fasergen, the ambush had been set. The instant the hazy form of the Helix became visible in the dust, the other plane closed in and opened fire with its Gatling guns, an option not included on Adam's plane.
The sounds of the impacts startled all three in the Double Helix and Brennan fought with the controls as a rain of bullets drove into the rear of the craft, tearing holes through its airframe and destroying its attitude controls. The Mutant X plane was not designed to withstand such a pummeling from armor piercing rounds and quickly tilted forward and began lifting erratically. An explosion rocked the craft and the port engine lost power. Fuel was dumping from damaged tanks and the remaining fuel was in danger of exploding as well. The starboard engine went out, but it hardly mattered as the Helix had already started falling to the ground. It crashed into a shallow, decorative pond at an abandoned business campus adjacent to the Fasergen complex.
Some of the emergency lights were still operational as water poured in through the holes where the hull of the plane had been ripped apart by gunfire. Fortunately, the lake was not deep enough to sink the Helix. Its nose and right wing were buried in the muddy water toward the center, while its shredded rear and port wing stuck up into the air. Shalimar popped open the emergency exit hatch in the ceiling above the left wing. She jumped out and quickly located the other stealth plane hovering nearby. The aircraft lurched toward her and she jumped out onto the top of the Helix and ran, zigzagging toward the aft. Even a Feral was unlikely to be able to dodge a Gatling gun so when the plane circled around and set down on the ground it was clear that the enemy's goal was capture, not kill. In full stride, Shalimar set her foot down at the extreme stern of the wrecked plane and leapt all the way to the shore. She preferred to stay out of the water, even though she was a strong swimmer.
Brennan and Adam followed Shalimar out of the escape hatch, Brennan being especially careful of the water filling the inside of the craft. "Sorry, Adam, but there's only one way to get us to shore without getting wet," he said.
"And that is?" Adam asked.
Brennan took two steps away from him and crouched down on the wing. "Climb aboard," he said. Adam looked disapproving, but it was the only way. He climbed on the tall mutant's back and Brennan used jets of electrical force to propel both of them into the air towards shore. Once they had cleared the murky muddy water, he used another blast of electricity to slow their descent and came down right by Shalimar.
"What took you?" she asked as they landed.
"Hey, I had to stop and pick up a passenger," Brennan defended himself.
Adam stood in the center with Shalimar on his left and Brennan on his right. They watched five men and women deplane and begin walking deliberately toward them. The Feral's eyes turned yellow. "They smell like New Mutants," she said.
With their backs to the lake, they prepared to fight. In an instant, a wiry male mutant closed the distance between them and launched himself at Adam, who somehow was able to toss the man into the air. His own momentum landed him in the water just short of the tail of the Helix. A second male who was short and broad, with no neck and incredibly thick arms and legs was charging like a rhinoceros, using hands and feet in a headlong sprint. Brennan launched a tesla coil that knocked him out, sending him sliding several feet, digging into the grass and coming to a stop just at Brennan's boots. Shalimar surged forward from their defensive line, engaging a female, who was to the rightmost side of the approaching foes. She clotheslined the woman, who went down with a thud on the ground, but then disappeared. Shalimar couldn't see her, but her eyes glowed and she concentrated, sniffing the air, looking for movement on the grass, listening for the slightest sound. There was no sign until the mutant reappeared, slightly dazed, with the other two females. It was teleportation, not stealth or invisibility.
One of the female attackers supported the woman Shalimar had struck, while the second woman stepped in front of them and stopped. Suddenly, all of the Mutant X team fell to the ground, their ears ringing in pain, clasping their hands to the sides of their heads. When the sound ebbed away, they opened their eyes to find themselves surrounded by agents. The five mutants from the plane were in a line again, facing them. The Rhino Feral and the one Shalimar had taken down still looked groggy and the one with super speed was noticeably wet. The woman who had not yet joined the fray or used her powers held up a subdermal governor gun. "All of you lay down on the ground and surrender. You are outnumbered." All three Mutant X members defied her and got slowly to their feet. "I said get down," the woman ordered.
Adam reached down, grabbed a rock from by his foot, and tossed it at the agents surrounding them. It passed right through—an illusion. Brennan instantly zapped the Sonic Elemental hard enough to ensure that she wouldn't get back up again for a while. The next moment, the wiry speedster had run behind him and kicked the back of his knee. As Brennan went down, he reached back, grabbed the man's suit and swung him over his body, driving the man into the ground. At the same time, Shalimar had charged at and taken down the Teleportation Molecular, finishing the job she started with a massive roundabout punch to the face. In the same move, she dropped headfirst toward the ground, catching herself with her hands in a cartwheel and kicked the Illusionist Psionic in the head. Landing on her feet, Shalimar fixed her sight on the other Feral who was charging toward Brennan again.
Brennan was hobbled, but able to stand steadily. He timed his forearm and struck the large mutant as he rammed his shoulder into Brennan's chest, throwing Brennan back to the bank of the pond, his blow having had no apparent effect. Shalimar had quickly closed the distance and leapt up on the other Feral's back, her arm around his throat, choking him. Adam came up and punched the mutant twice, two rights in the face, but he was swatted away. The Mutant X leader could hold his own against GSA agents, but New Mutants were in another league. Tightening her vise grip on her opponent's throat, she kicked out with her legs away from his body and came down with both of her knees on his kidneys. The Rhino Feral grabbed her arm, tore it from his neck and tossed Shalimar away from him, but as soon as she separated from him, a blue burst of electrical current shot through his body, knocking him down and out.
Wearily, Brennan, Shalimar and Adam regrouped. "I think we have more trouble," Adam said. Brennan and Shalimar followed Adam's eyes to where five Humvees were approaching across the grass. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and there were too many to fight.
