The hangar was silent, the last vestiges of the Locusts now just particulate matter settling on the concrete. The sheer rush of leveling up was intoxicating—not just six levels, but a jump directly to Level 30, a pinnacle of power that signaled a new mastery over my abilities.
Before I could even process my massive new pool of Orgone Stat Point and Skill Point haul, Herja's voice, sharp and urgent, cut through the euphoria. "Warning: High-Energy Human Military Signatures detected. Hangar perimeter compromised. Multiple Humvees, Tanks, and Attack Helicopters converging on position. Immediate Evasion Required.
"I looked toward the gaping maw of the hangar entrance. They had seen the Orgone flares, the massive damage, and the abrupt silence. Now, the human element was here, armored and aggressive. I didn't have time for a diplomatic negotiation with their rockets and cannons. "Time to pull a Houdini, team!" I snapped, my mind racing.
I simultaneously sent out a rapid sequence of Beast Commands to Atlas and Koba: "Close the primary doors! Now!" Atlas, the colossal Hand, slammed its large thumb against one massive, rusted hangar door, and began to crawl forward on its four other digits, foot by foot wrenching it forward. Koba, using his immense strength, provided the brute force on the other side. With a grinding, deafening screech of stressed metal, the main doors began to creak shut, sealing the largest entry point.
My other Beast command was To Felicity: "Open a fast travel portal back to the Gutter Nest. "Felicity, the team's hollow queen and lead engineer, didn't hesitate. She dropped to a knee, and glyphs ignited around her, the air behind her began to shimmer, the telltale sign of a Fast Travel Portal warping reality into a shimmering tear.
"Marla, help me close these other hangar doors!" I yelled, moving toward a smaller, secondary service bay door that the military could breach instantly. The Surrender Order Just as Marla and I began to sprint toward the service door, a new, louder noise ripped through the air.
An Attack Helicopter, its rotor blades whipping the air into a frenzy, swung low over the partially closing main entrance. A distorted, amplified voice blared from its speakers, echoing menacingly off the hangar walls. "ATTENTION: UNIDENTIFIED PERSONNEL! DROP ALL WEAPONS AND COMMENCE SURRENDER PROCEDURES IMMEDIATELY! FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE!" The ultimatum was delivered. Outside, I could hear the grinding treads of the tanks and the heavy acceleration of the Humvees surrounding our position.
The portal was shimmering, but not yet stable. The service door was still wide open. "We don't surrender to gnat patrols!" I spat, my adrenaline spiking. Me and Marla reached the secondary service bay doors. Using our combined strength and Orgone focus, we slammed them shut, throwing the heavy steel locks home with a final thunk. The hangar was now fully contained. Koba and Atlas finished the agonizingly slow job on the main entrance. The massive doors ground together, plunging the interior of the hangar into near darkness, lit only by the faint light filtering through the rusted panels and the sickly green glow of Felicity's Portal. Felicity stood guard over the shimmering portal, inside the huge semi-circle portal was the green photoluminescence glow of the Gutter Nest, and the bone white anvil.
Herja's low smokey voice filled my ears, "Commander, the hostile helicopters are acquiring lock-on. Immediate action required to buy time for portal activation. "The sound of the helicopters was deafening on the metal roof. They were preparing to fire. I sent a Beast Command "Everybody through the portal we have ten seconds flat before they level this place!"
I had 10 to 15 seconds max to buy the others time. The most lethal threat wasn't the tanks; it was the precision targeting of the Attack Helicopters. However, my level 27 intelligence was perfectly suited for psychic warfare. I didn't waste power on the soldiers.
I focused my intent, a sharp, crystalline spike of 'True Fear', and slammed it through the rotors and metal shell of the choppers, targeting the most vulnerable components: the pilots' minds.
The 'True Fear' attack bypassed the cockpit armor. The pilots, already on high alert and under immense stress, where instantly hit by a paralyzing wave of Fear.
Herja: "Targeting Systems Disrupted. All four helicopters momentarily disabled. Time purchased: Portal Stability $\mathbf{100\%}$. Go!"The targeting lock-on alarms on the helicopters screeched and vanished. The choppers didn't crash, but they veered violently, their pilots momentarily paralyzed and unable to fire their missiles.
"The fast travel portal is ready!" Felicity shouted. The shimmering tear in reality stabilized, revealing the familiar, mossy darkness of the Gutter Nest. "Go! Go! Go!" I ordered. Marla, Koba, Mothman, and Atlas dove through the portal in rapid succession. I and Felicity paused just long enough to see the first Humvee slam into the rusted hangar door, the metal groaning under the impact. I stepped back, and the last thing I did was send one final wave of 'True Fear' With a final, malicious grin, I spun and picked Felicity up in my arms and jumped through the shimmering emerald tear. The Fast Travel Portal collapsed and vanished an instant later, leaving the hangar floor pristine and empty.
The moment the psychic shock subsided, and the helicopter pilots recovered from their momentary paralysis they received the go ahead to launch the first volley. The hellfire missiles hit the hangar: Tanks fired armor-piercing rounds at the main doors. Humvees unleashed heavy machine gun fire. The Attack Helicopters, recovering their targeting systems, launched a hail of unguided rockets at the roof and sides.
The dilapidated hangar—already weakened by time and the elements was instantly turned into scrap metal and debris. Steel beams screamed, walls buckled, and the entire structure blew apart in a deafening, localized explosion of metal and dust. The military had successfully obliterated the building and everything they thought was inside.
The dust settled, the military units cautiously approached the smoking ruin. The commander of the tank battalion barked orders: "Sweep the wreckage! Confirm targets destroyed! "The search commenced. They found the pulverized remains of the hangar, the charred concrete floor—and nothing else. No bodies. No massive metal hand.
No sign of the tiger-striped girl, the winged woman, or the giant bug creature. No evidence of a tunnel, a breach, or a secondary escape route. A bewildered Sergeant standing in the middle of the debris radioed back to the command center. "Commander, the structure is vaporized. We have total structural failure, sir... but... there's nothing here. No casualties, no remnants of the target entity. It's empty."
A voice, incredulous, piped in from a nearby Humvee. "Where did they go?!"An exasperated Colonel on the comms channel could only repeat the obvious, "They pulled a Houdini."
Dave, still orbiting at a distance, watched the entire sequence unfold live—the abrupt closure of the doors, the helicopter stall, and the massive retaliatory bombardment that reduced the hangar to ruin.
"Oh, my God, the military is firing! They've just leveled the entire hangar! We're seeing mass destruction! Tanks, rockets, machine guns—they are tearing that building to shreds!"
Dave paused, squinting at the screen as the smoke and dust began to clear. His voice, usually frantic, dropped to an astonished, reverent whisper. "Wait a minute... the military is moving in... they're searching the wreckage. We're patched into their chatter... they're reporting nothing. The commander, the giant hand, the team... after taking a full tank and air assault, they are gone. Completely vanished. "Dave stared straight into the camera, his fear replaced by a kind of wild-eyed professional awe. "Folks, you are watching this live. This isn't a military victory; this is a magic trick. This is a ghost cavalry! They appeared out of nowhere, cleaned up two infestations, leveled up their power, gave the United States military the finger, and then vanished into thin air the second the real guns came out! That tiger striped girl just pulled off the most spectacular vanishing trick since David Copperfield made the statue of liberty disappear.
The familiar, damp air of the Gutter Nest rushed over me as I tumbled out of the collapsing portal, Felicity clutched securely in my arms.
The green photoluminescence of the moss and the cool, bone-white surface of the Anvil were a welcome sight after the chaos of the hangar. "We are secure," I announced, placing Felicity down. Atlas stood in the shadows, its bio-steel surface already beginning to metabolize the surrounding Orgone-rich environment. My adrenaline began to recede, replaced by the deep, resonant buzz of my new power. I was Level 30. The annihilation of the Alpha Brute plus 1,200 Lunar Locusts on top of the 650 Lunar Worms and 800 Silver fleas had launched me past all previous thresholds.
"Herja Report, Let's see the damage."
Herja's smokey girlish voice chimed in, "Commander Ash: Level 30 Reached. Milestone Bonus Active. Total Resources Available: 11 AP 19 SP due to massive Overkill EXP carry-over. Immediate Allocation Recommended. "The numbers were staggering. 11 AP and 19 Skill Points meant a complete shift in my combat doctrine. It was time to formalize my status as an apex Psychic Caster and Summoner.