Lily soars up to the debris-crusted overhead shaft where the hangar above had collapsed and starts breaking pieces of rubble free with her energy swords and hauling the chunks away!
The team quickly fell into a sort of instinctive organization under Walker's instructions, with Lily cutting out chunks from above, Walker and Gothm's ape catching the falling pieces, and everyone else helping clear the passage of smaller pieces of rubble; freeing Lily to focus on the big chunks that were otherwise too heavy.
With only minutes to spare, it was tense, hard work...there was no chance to catch one's breath, no chitchat...just the strain of muscles and mind, the crash of rock and metal.
And then light burst down from above through the hole in the top of the installation. Lily shouted and whirled even faster, widening the aperture. Rocks fell like rain, with the dire ape leaping about to catch the pieces that Walker couldn't grab with his magic. Delilah, MARDUK, BRadley all had to rush around shoring up the edges and walls to keep the structure stable, lest its collapse complete itself.
"That's enough!" cried Lily from above, shrouded in a haze of red-violet light.
"We don't have to cut it ALL away, just enough so that the pod can get out! Everyone get in!"
Outside, the sound of motors could be heard, the squeal of brakes. Their time was up.
Lily plummeted from above as everyone else scrambled into the oblong, almost egg-like alien craft that hovered just a foot or so off the ground in front of them. She touched down and bolted inside, sealing the hatch behind her.
"If someone knows a good destination, this is a good time," she said as she brought the DRUID out to interface with the pod's controls. It had its own control interface as well of course, but under pressure she was more familiar with her own equipment. The difference could be life or death.
Holographic images appeared in the air around Lily, showing information scrolling in panels and images, alien text parading around. In front of her appeared an image of the hangar, which panned up to show the path out.
"We're going to have to avoid national airspaces," Lily went on, almost conversationally, as her eyes tracked over the readouts. The repairs the Earth scientists had made weren't the best...but they'd restored enough power for this at least.
Acceleration pressed everyone down suddenly, and on the main display everyone could see the light of the opening abruptly expand. The ship shook, and there was a crashing, scraping noise as it dinged against places where the cleared tunnel was a little too small. Not enough to truly damage it, but surely its paint was ruined...if it had paint.
Secondary displays blossomed in midair under the first, little squares showing several jeeps and humvees that had pulled up to the airbase. Men in uniforms were already piling out, pointing up, shouting. Aiming weapons.
"Gonna hafta say...nope to that..." muttered Lily, and again an invisible hand of acceleration pressed against everyone in the ship...this time pressing them back. The airbase, the Mexican soldiers...it all rushed away. The tactical display monitors reconfigured, showing a course projection that led over Mexico to the west, out over the sea.
Lily sighed and looked back with a wan smile.
"So. I...guess I have some explaining to do."