Rachel was momentarily taken aback by John’s display, never having came into contact with a high magic user before. Though she was glad she wasn’t the only one going out of her way to reduce the bodycount. After all, all carving a bloody path through the known universe would accomplish is bring the hammer down on them sooner.

With both the Ascendancy soldiers and the tank preoccupied by John, she took the opportunity to take a good look around. But aside from fallen soldiers, many still alive, but out of the fight due to numerous fractures courtesy of her favorite fighting technique, there wasn’t much that could be used against the tank. [i]“Maybe next time you should do the stuff you actually were quite good at during the war, not the stuff they had you do when your abilities didn’t turn out to be to their liking.”[/i] a voice in the back of her mind nagged at her. No doubt the infiltration team was enjoying their stroll through the ship. If only they’d hurry up. Unless…

Rachel’s gaze fell upon a soldier shuffling away from the fight, missing his helmet and dragging his leg behind him. Best candidate around. She reached out and watched with slight amusement as the poor sod tried to grasp why the gravity suddenly shifted from ‘downwards’ to ‘backwards’. Upon realizing he came to rest at the young rebel’s feet, he scrambled for his sidearm, only to have it break free of his shaky hands and land in Rachel’s palm. Her hand swooped down at his unprotected face and he braced himself for another painful strike. Except it didn’t come. Instead, the young insurgent just touched his forehead, there was a brief strange feeling and that was it. Little did he know she’d just relived half his memories since he entered boot camp.

“Thanks,” she said, tapping her temple with her left index finger, triggering her mind control spell. “Now scram.” The soldier pulled himself up without a word and limped away. “Tank’s CO has got a blind spot between the turret’s fifth and eighth o’clock. Probably the best way to approach.” she called to her teammates. She used the fact that most people were paying attention to the unchained mass of white liquid instead of her and moved to a different, slightly elevated position. In addition to ‘reviewing’ the basics and learning the orders of the local Ascendancy forces, she learned from the soldier’s mind that the tank was equipped with incendiary infantry suppression charges. The soldier she ‘questioned’ seemed to believe it would prevent anyone from getting close to the tank, a view likely held by the tank crew as well. They wouldn’t like it when the anti-personnel lining would not ignite upon firing. She only wished she could influence the tank commander’s mind directly. “Think one of you can open that tin so I can get to the crew?”