Hydra Heart

Chapter Five

Chapter 5: Backlash

"Oh, thank you! Thank you. You're back. I was starting to think I'd have to call for a guard or something. You shook like crazy there for a minute. I was worried." Molly exhaled with relief.

Vesta shook the dizziness out of her head. "Yeah, I am fine. Something odd just happened in my brain. But, that can wait. Why did all the lights go out?"

"When you reached in the fuse box, the power cut off. Without the electric locks, I should be able to get us out of here!"

"Get to it."

Molly could hear the sound of rioting elsewhere in the complex. Good, an opportunity to bust out. She got to work on picking her second lock of the day.

"Okay, open!" She announced.

They crept through the grey halls together, looking for an exit in the opposite direction of the loud rioting. They came across one guard, standing watch over what looked like their possessions.

Vesta held out her arm, gesturing for Molly to stop and stay behind. She slid the boomerang of Backlash out from its sheath, and leapt into action.

She flung the boomerang in with little technique, aspiring for brute force. It crashed into the guard's helmet, leaving a dent and knocking him unconscious. The two women gravitated towards their belongings, especially Vesta's overloaded jacket.

After double checking that all her guns and knives were in the correct pockets, she turned around and saw Molly checking the unconscious guard's pulse.

"Still alive? I'll take care of it." Vesta whipped out one of her seven pistols, the six-shooter with the bone handle that was loaded to the brim.

Molly shot her a look. "He's already out of commission."

Vesta hesitated, before trading her magnum for the pistol with the silencer. She chose to shoot the lock on the door instead of the guard. "Alright. Go."

"Thank you, Vesta."

Nidus had fallen into darkness. Before, they thought it was just the prison cell's power that had gone out, but the city that was normally awake all through the night had turned from dull grey to raw, pitch black.

Vesta tapped her temple and activated her Oculo. "Follow me. I can see my ride. We're gonna make it out of here." They were in a vast parking garage, shared by a few surrounding buildings. Some signage indicated where impounded vehicles were stored.

Molly wandered in the darkness, unable to see anything besides the woman in front of her. However, she could still hear perfectly.

"FREEZE." Damn it. Same voice, the beer belly guy who arrested us earlier. Vesta clenched her fist and ground her teeth. They both raised their hands.

Vesta, through the Oculo, could see that they were entirely surrounded by soldiers who had quickly moved into position. Each of them was sporting some kind of firearm, pointed right at the two women. Each one of them was also sporting bulky infrared goggles, so there was no doubt that these trained operatives could find their mark. Hell, even if they weren't trained, there was enough firepower pointed at them that it seemed impossible for Molly and Vesta to make it out without taking a couple hits.

"Now would be a great time to find out what Backlash does!" Molly could hear fear creeping into her own voice. It was unlike her to get panicky, but she knew that these operatives wouldn't make the mistake of letting them live twice.

Vesta loosened her clenched fist, and had a moment of clarity. This is more than a Kit, it is a piece of me, right?

Backlash gave her a feeling, as if it was whispering to her, finally breaking the silence. Let them earn their fate.
Vesta put her arms down, slipping her left hand into her pants pocket. Her right palm was resting over Backlash.
Molly blurted out. "Are you serious? They're gonna kill us!"
Vesta held her left arm out in front of Molly, as if that was going to protect her.
"BOYS! TAKE OUT THE TRASH!" The leader barked orders with absolute confidence.

Molly gasped and shut her eyes. The agents followed their orders. Each of them popped off as many shots as they could from the weapons they had in hand.

Two full, long seconds of gunfire raged in a circle around them. Molly opened her eyes when she observed she hadn't been poked full of holes.

When the flashing ceased, she saw that the bullets were suspended in air, like ornaments hanging from a ceiling. Each was held in place about an arm's length from where they would have hit Vesta, who was smirking.

Murmurs spread like wildfire in the ensuing second. All the soldiers had stopped firing, and had begun staring.
"Take out the trash?"

Vesta spun her finger once, which turned all the bullets around, orienting the business end towards the agents.

"I was thinking the same thing."
With a full wave of her arm, the bullets returned to their senders. Around forty shots were sent right back into the bodies of those who had fired them. The damage was instantaneous. Through the Oculo, Vesta knew exactly where each of them had been hit. Additionally, the counterattack unleashed a shockwave. It wasn't so strong that it could do any damage to Molly or any of the corpses, but it was just enough to make you feel the kind of force Vesta was putting out. Her veins were bulging out of her arms. Vesta had met Backlash.