Something is wrong.

Vague doubts plagued Terra like an ominous premonition. The feeling started a week ago as barely a whisper, but now, at the moment of mission execution, the warnings blared in her mind like klaxon horns.

The mission was straightforward and, as usual, dangerous. A simple assassination. The opportunity was ripe and the plan solid, and tomorrow, they would go home. Yet her heart pounded and her gut prickled beyond the typical jitters of pending action.

Terra had not survived to become a Senior Blue Uprising Agent by ignoring her intuition.

"Ian, abort!" she called out into a hidden com device.

Perched on a flat rooftop under the hot afternoon sun, Terra wiped the sweat from her brow, then focused binoculars on Ian's frowning face. Reflexively tapping his hidden earpiece, he growled in reply, "Hell no, Terra. We spent all week setting this up."

Gritting teeth, she seethed. "I have field command, Ian. Something is off. Now abort!"

"We have our orders. If you don't have the guts to carry them out, then I will."

She balled a fist. Somewhere there is a poor tree whose sole purpose is to replace the oxygen that prick wastes.

Per plan, Ian positioned himself beside a gathering area outside of the New Haven Stadium, a spacious amphitheater carved into a natural red-rock basin and surrounded by chest-high cut stone walls. Normally a renowned venue for concerts or plays, today it would be used for a public announcement.

Nestled between sandstone buttes along a meandering river, the small desert community might have been a pleasant place to live or even retire, if not for the misfortune of location. But it laid near the contested border between areas controlled by the Sage Dynasty and the Blue Uprising. The mayor and city council made a serious mistake when they realigned with the Dynasty, something Terra and Ian were sent to rectify.

People of all ages strolled along the dusty street toward the facility, converging from smaller roads and alleys that ran between the flat-roofed adobe building of the city, unaware of what was about to happen. Standing along the street and stadium wall, gray uniformed Dynasty soldiers carrying rifles watched the people with suspicious eyes.

Since losing her former partner and dear friend two years ago, Terra preferred to work alone, but reluctantly agreed to take Ian along on this mission at the insistence of her supervisor. She regretted it ever since. Although a powerful Talent in his own right, his inexperience, impatience, and arrogance irritated her. More importantly, it was these characteristics that often got Blue Uprising agents killed.

Ian wore khaki cotton work clothes to blend in with the populace, a far cry from his typical flashy attire. Tall, trim, with dark wavy hair and bright eyes, handsome by most standards, he fancied himself a charming lady's man. Terra hated this characteristic the most. She swore to him that if he suggested a tryst one more time, she would ensure that he would never sire children.

Terra cursed under her breath as Ian pulled up a leg of his cargo pants, retrieving a set of long steel fighting spikes strapped to his ankle, traditional weapons of the High Talent. She made one more plea. "Ian, stop! That's an order!"

Ignoring Terra's command, he initiated a telekinetic attack. One by one, five spikes levitated before him in an orderly row, then he sent them streaking away in sequence. In turn, five Dynasty guards silently collapsed as the spikes pierced their chests with deadly precision, imbedding themselves with sharp thunks.

Next, with lifted hands, Ian released a wide pressure pulse, shattering nearby windows and toppling anything nearby not fastened down. Terra ducked as the shimmering pulse passed by her, swirling her dark hair. The force sent people tumbling to the ground. Another more focused push blew in the stadium main doors. He then lifted rocks, bricks, and other items from a nearby construction site and telekinetically flung them indiscriminately about. Panicked, people cried out and dashed through the rising dust, heads folded down into lifted arms for protection from the flying debris.

Terra allowed herself a reluctant respect for Ian's display of raw power as she watched, but his technique was sloppy and chaotic. Innocent people fell victim to his lack of control. The Blue Uprising was supposed to rescue the downtrodden general public from the evils of the Sage Dynasty, not hurt them.

Anger throbbed deep in her veins. "Ian, you arsehole. Ease up on collateral damage. We are supposed to be the good guys. Remember?" she yelled over the com.

"Shove it up your own arse, Terra, and do your job!" he hissed in reply.

Terra seethed. She had no option but to continue with the plan. Ian's intrusion into the aura when he used his telekinetic abilities would alert every Talented Dynasty Enforcer in the area. With the currency of surprise now spent, she climbed down from the roof and snuck through a narrow alleyway to the back of the town hall, a sprawling one-level white building. Utilizing psi-surgery skills that allowed her to work on a small scale, Terra visualized the door internal lock mechanism and released it, then quietly passed inside to a dark hallway. With the pending public announcement at the stadium, there would be few people inside. Making her way to the mayor's office, Terra closed the door behind her. Tiny beams of sunlight that filtered between the closed window blind slats provided dim illumination. She sat down on the brown high-back chair behind the polished wooden desk, swiveling back and forth while stroking the soft leather.

Now I wait.

The plan was relatively simple, or so she originally thought. The mayor had left his office earlier to deliver a public speech formally pledging allegiance to the Sage Dynasty. Ian attacked as a distraction. Then, following normal protocol, the security guards would rush the mayor back towards his office, finding Terra waiting for them. She planned to use her psi-surgical ability to sever the mayor's aorta internally for a quick and clean kill.

The mission objective would be achieved with the assassination of the mayor, all for the sin of leaving the Blue Uprising. No stranger to killing as an experienced Blue Uprising Agent, the life of many corrupt Dynasty officials and Enforcers ended by her hand with barely a twinge of remorse. But this mission left a sour feeling in her gut from the start.

What is it?

Security for the mayor seemed light under the circumstances, like they didn't really care for his safety. And two days prior, while stalking the mayor, she noticed him pleading with his Dynasty handlers, tears on his face. A framed picture laid face down on the desk within easy reach. Turning it over revealed a picture of the smiling mayor with his family, a wife and three small children. But she had not seen his family anywhere over the last week. Terra's breath halted as a tingle crawled down her spine.

His family. He had not willingly betrayed the Blue Uprising.

Two uniformed Dynasty guards pushed the despondent mayor into his office and slammed the door behind them. Their jaws dropped as they gazed into Terra's narrowed amber eyes. Before they could raise their rifles, she slammed the guards hard against the far wall with a mental telekinetic push. They slumped down to the floor, unconscious.

The mayor trembled as he lifted his hands up, face paled. Terra took a brief moment to observe him. The red sash designating his public office crossed his black suit. A short man, Terra looked down on him as she stood. Despite thinning brown hair, he still seemed relatively young for a small city mayor. Most telling, though, was a single tear that rolled down a cheek on an otherwise resigned face. At that moment, Terra changed the mission parameters.

I'm going to catch hell for this.

"They have your family, don't they," she stated in an even tone.

The mayor dipped his head and nodded as another tear appeared.

"Do you know where they are? We haven't much time."

Terra rushed the mayor out by the arm, telekinetically slamming down another guard that stood to block their way across the office foyer. She shuffled him outside into a dusty sedan parked behind the town hall, one she had previously positioned there. The electric motor whirred to life, and they sped off, winding with haste through back streets, but not so fast as to attract undue attention.

Speaking through her com, she said, "Ian, I took care of the mayor. Fall back."

The mayor turned toward her."Who are you?"

"Your assassin, but I made a different call. Now show me where your family is before this place crawls with Enforcers."

Resigned, he directed Terra to a large adobe house located less than a half-kilometer away. Taking action without a carefully made plan was something Terra normally avoided, but there was no time. She peeked into the aura and breathed a sigh of relief that no one in or around the house had significant Talent that might oppose her. Terra narrowed her eyes as she paced up a flower lined walkway to the front porch.

A lone guard standing beside the front door raised an eyebrow at the approaching woman and held out a hand, saying, "You can't come--"

Before he could say any more, Terra used her telekinetic abilities to hold him in place as if wrapped in chains. Shifting into the aura, she focused her power within his body, temporarily pinching off the blood flow to the brain with a precise squeeze. The guard's eyes glazed over and he collapsed into a heap.

Gathering her power, she executed a strong telekinetic push against the ornate wooden front door and blew it in as if by hurricane-force winds, catching the two guards inside completely by surprise. They crashed into the living room wall before they could close their open mouths.

A petite blonde-haired woman on a sofa jumped up with frightened, wide eyes as she gathered her three young children protectively behind her. Terra reached out with a hand. "We have to go now. Your husband is with me."

The family scrambled into the car, filling the small interior space. Tears again traced the mayor's face as he embraced his wife and children, but this time, tears of happiness. The sight warmed Terra's heart and put a smile on her face.

This is why I fight.

Once arriving at a small safe house at the city's edge, Terra spoke over her communicator again. "Ian, where are you?"

A desperate voice responded. "Terra! I need your help."

Terra left the happy family at the small house, telling them to stay put, and raced back toward the stadium. She arrived to find Ian facing two Dynasty Enforcers, each wearing the traditional long robes and silver mesh face masks designating their position and High Talent, and three armed soldiers wearing gray Dynasty uniforms. Having backed into a gritty dead-end alley lined with trash bins, Ian was essentially cornered.

Idiot! Always leave yourself a clear escape route.

Ian dove to his right, dodging two fighting spikes flung at him by the Enforcers, then threw up a shimmering shield to block darts fired by the guards. Each attack set him back a few steps, bringing himself to a stacked rock wall.

"Damn it, Terra, where are you?" he yelled through the com.

Pressing their advantage, the Enforcers sent multiple telekinetic pushes against Ian. Part of the wall behind him fractured, sending chunks of it down on him. Another push sent him back hard against the wall, knocking the air from his lungs. He collapsed down to his knees, gasping for breath.

Terra suppressed her aura to reduce the risk of detection as she sprinted down the alley behind those threatening Ian. The Enforcers each lifted a spike to deliver killing strikes, but before they launched them, another pair of spikes embedded themselves in their backs, the bloodied tips protruding from their chests. As they slumped to the ground, the three guards turned to face Terra, her eyes narrowed in resolve. A strong telekinetic push sent them sprawling across the alleyway, leaving shallow furrows in the gravel. With directed thought through the aura, she then scattered their weapons out of reach.

Ian staggered as he stood, still dazed from the attacks. Terra grabbed him by the arm, rushed him to her car, shoving him in. Grasping his ribs, he moaned as she drove back to the safe house, taking an indirect route to ensure they were not followed.

After Ian limped into the house with Terra's help, his jaw dropped and eyes widened to the mayor sitting on the couch with his family.

Ian turned toward her while pointing. "What the hell, Terra? This is not in our mission parameters."

She glared back at him. "I changed the parameters."

Ian threw his hands up and rolled his eyes as he tilted his head back. Before he could protest further, she asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

He turned his head toward her, shrugging as she approached. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Good."

Terra landed a straight punch to his face.