Chapter 126: Chaos on the ship, part 3/3

Chapter 126: Chaos on the ship, part 3/3

Tia's grip on her gun tightened, and her body braced for what lay beyond the heavy metal door as it creaked open. The energy from her body flowed into the rings on her hand, creating a silent hum of readiness.

'Alright, let's go.'

She could sense the elite soldiers behind her, their purple visors focused on the widening gap. The door parted, revealing the chaos within.

Flickering lights cast erratic shadows over smashed display panels that covered the walls, ceiling, and floor. The elevated podium, stretching out like a bridge over a sea of screens, was stained with blood.

Uniformed bodies and shards of glass littered the area. The acrid smell of death and the metallic tang of blood assaulted Tia's senses as she stepped in.

'There was a fight here.'

"Quickly, we need help!" The cry came from two ragged groups, both in disheveled imperial navy uniforms, standing on opposite sides of the room. Guns were drawn, pointing at each other, then shifting to Tia and her death commandos.

'This is too confusing.' Tia's mind raced. Identifying friends from foes in this tangled mess was like navigating a minefield.

She scanned the room, looking for insignia, ranks, and anything else that might give her a clue. Her experience kicked in, and she signaled the squad behind her with a subtle hand gesture, halting their steps.

'Fourteen people, eleven on one side, three on the other.' Her kinetic sense quickly swept through the entire space, counting all the heads. Even though it was logical to trust the larger group, Tia didn't want to make any rash moves without gathering more information.nove(l)bi(n.)com

The tension in the room was electric, a palpable force that seemed to freeze time itself. Tia's voice, calm but commanding, cut through the silence. "I order you to identify yourselves."

'Show me your thoughts; I need just a glimpse.'

The moment her hands made contact, a visible jolt ran through their bodies, as if an electric current had connected them.

Closing her eyes, Tia's brow furrowed in concentration. She channeled her energy into a torrent of telepathic energy, smashing against the minds of the two officers.

She could feel two barriers stopping her torrents of mental energy, like two dams stopping streams of rivers.

'It is harder than expected.' She wasn't shocked by this, knowing that her telepathy was still only at level one, with only her immense mental powers and energy supply making it possible to aggressively pry someone's thoughts with direct touch.

Gathering even more energy, she pressed, drilling against the two barriers like a drill into a concrete wall, slowly opening her path forward.

It was her first time using her telepathic powers, but she instinctively knew what to do.

'Huh?'

But then, a subtle shift in the aira prickle of danger on the edge of her sensescaused Tia to recoil instinctively and swiftly step back.

Second Officer Karkoskak, who had seemed disoriented and weakened, suddenly sprung to life with frightening vitality. His eyes, ablaze with an intense, unnatural orange glow, were fixed on Tia with a predatory focus.

"Die!"

With a tearing sound, his fist shot forward in a blur, its power so great that she could hear Karkoskak's own bones shatter and break.