57 Ascending The Tower, part 1/2

POV Laszlo the Annihilator:

Strapped to the seat of the armored hovercar, Laszlo felt the vehicle's engine vibrations reverberate through his very core. The cityscape outside became an indistinct blur as they accelerated.

"We are closing in; thirty seconds until arrival!"

The tall concrete building was quickly getting closer and closer as the man watched through the window of the armored hovercar. The windows were shattered, and the glass fragments covered the street below like snowflakes.

'Haha, let's see if she is truly worthy of her reputation.' Laszlo thought, flashing a wolfish grin. He turned to his crew, each member fully armed, their eyes alight with a predatory hunger.

"Let's—"

His command was cut short by a blinding burst of light. The hovercar jolted violently, smoke obscuring the view through the windows.

"The left engine is destroyed!" came the urgent report.

Another flash of light, the cacophony of breaking glass, and then a rush of fresh air surged into the cabin.

"The pilot is dead!" someone shouted.

Laszlo's eyes darted to the window. The building's concrete facade was hurtling toward them at an alarming speed.

"Brace yourselves! This is going to be a rough landing!" His voice was tinged with an almost manic excitement; his eyes shimmered, and every fiber of his being thrummed in anticipation of the battle—and the potential rewards—that lay ahead.

POV Tia:

Tia sped through the eerily empty hallways, the red lights flashing around her. Her Esper senses extended ahead of her, detecting no movement. She rounded a corner and skidded to a halt.

'This floor is useless.'

The time was quickly ticking away as she counted every second that passed.

Suddenly, the floor quaked below her feet, accompanied by a deafening bang, forcing Tia to stop and stabilize her footing.

'What in the damnation?!'

A sultry female voice crackled over her intercom. "Oh no, a fly got through."

'Reinforcements. I have to pick up the pace.' Tia's eyes darted to her gun's charge bar—already restored to about 75%.

'This calls for a shortcut.'

Taking aim at the ceiling, she squeezed the trigger, releasing a luminous wallbuster shot. The resultant blast sent another jolt through the building, causing particles of dust to rain down from the ceiling. The radiant flare of the blast forced her to momentarily shield her eyes.

'The higher-ups always think they're above everyone else—quite literally. They sit in their lofty offices like self-styled gods, looking down on the minions scurrying beneath them. I need to climb higher.'

The rim of the hole still shimmered with lingering luminescence. With a burst of kinetic energy, Tia vaulted skyward, ascending effortlessly through the gap to land gracefully on the floor above.

She found herself in a dimly lit, circular room, its shadows punctuated only by the ghostly glow of myriad computer screens arrayed in a complex spiral formation. The walls, clad in obsidian-hued metal, absorbed what little light there was.

A crew of uniformed federation personnel, trembling handguns aimed her way, looked more like bewildered office workers than hardened soldiers.

'Analysts? Office workers? Administrators?' She didn't know their role, but it was evident they weren't mere guards or frontline soldiers. She found her target!

"Fire at will!" A voice reverberated throughout the chamber, and in an instant, a volley of blue plasma bolts illuminated the room like wayward stars.

With a mere thought, Tia unleashed a tempest of kinetic energy, a veritable tsunami that churned the room's contents—chairs, workstations, metallic wall panels, tables—into a swirling vortex of airborne debris.

Seizing the moment, she rocketed towards the ink-black ceiling, using the chaos as her cover, her locks streaming behind her like a fox tail. The room devolved into a frantic dance of blue plasma and flying furniture, the walls quaking from the resounding blasts. Beads of perspiration formed on her skin from the intense heat generated by the stray bolts.

Yet a triumphant grin stretched across her face as she hung from the ceiling, obscured by the flying debris; every bolt either sailed harmlessly by or was effortlessly deflected by her mental prowess.

'Those are not proper soldiers, as they have next to no combat training.'

With a flick of her wrist, Tia counterattacked, the furniture and metal plates exploding in a nova, flying in every direction like shrapnel.

Instantaneously, the storm of plasma bolts ceased, as if silenced by the spectacle.

"Incinerate," she whispered, snapping her fingers. A wave of flames erupted, sweeping through the room like a ravenous beast, leaving nothing untouched.

In the blink of an eye, it was all over, and the beep marking the completion of one of the objectives resounded in her head.

<Basic Pyrokinesis II (30%)> --> 35%

<Basic Telekinesis VI (48%)> --> 54%

'Now, only the Lieutenant Colonel and I am done here.' She was tired of the slaughter... she enjoyed the thrills of battles, but killing some office workers felt bad to her.

Tia glanced around—the room was smashed and submerged in darkness, except for the occasional embers left after the fire.

'Nothing valuable...' Tia turned to run, her heart pounding with the predatory desire to locate her prey, boosted by the time constraints.

(AN: Am I the only one who feels like this part is taking too long?)