Chapter One
The sun cooked the black pavement, as it did with the plants and ground around the two-lane road that lead to the town of St. Illia, which was located in the American Midwest. The road was empty as almost no one visited the town anymore. With the creation of the freeway that bypassed the town, not even the most desperate would go to the town as it had very little to offer and was more of a ghost town now. This gave rise to a small gang that quickly took over the town and monitored every aspect of it. From the businesses to the local government, it was under their control.
Under the influence of a man known as The Rider to outsiders, the town seemed to begin to prosper. It didn't attract any tourists but it still attracted new inhabitants and began to export a lot more than it did before. This day was no different as the gang, The Modern Outlaws, sped down the two-lane road on a direct course for the freeway. The three motorcycles and two trucks of this group kicked up the loose asphalt and sand that sat on the road. The lead motorcycle was a Kenshin with a square front, square gas tank, and pointed back. The color of the back was a dark gray with red, crossed revolvers painted on the left side of the body. The driver wore Desert Camouflage pants with tan boots. Over his torso, he wore a tan, short-sleeved shirt and a black, St. Illia police vest. The Modular vest had it's pouches rearranged to allow for maximum ammunition for the driver's D4TH Blossom SMG. The weapon had a special stock/butt combo to lower the recoil and extended clips.
The SMG was attached to a specially designed "quicksnap" two point sling that let the weapon hang from the user's chest but allowed the user to snap it off and up to engage. Holstered on the driver's thigh was a KA-1 Kobra pistol with extended clips. On the right side of the motorcycle's body was a Gravedigger shotgun, holstered much like an old western cowboy might holster his rifle on his horse. To finish off the rider's look were a pair of black gloves over his hands and a black, Bluetooth compatible, helmet with a white skull decal covering the face of the helmet.
The two other motorcycle's were a dark gray Sandstorm and an identically colored Kenshin with the same decal as the first one. While the rider of the Sandstorm wore dirt biking gear, the rider of the second Kenshin wore cloths similar to The Rider, on the first Kenshin, but he, instead, had a large, red Anarchist 'A' emblazoned on the side of his helmet and he wore the DCU jacket. The two Thorogood trucks were painted the uniform dark gray with the crossed revolver decals on the hoods. The men, and women, riding in them wore the same camouflage clothing but lacked the helmets, wore the jackets, and carried rifles and heavy weapons instead of SMGs and Shotguns.
The five vehicles bumped along the road until they came to the on-ramp. Turning hard, the five vehicles came to a stop and waited right at the bottom of the on-ramp. The Rider looked at the watch on his forearm as hardstyle, a form of techno, spilled through the speakers in his helmet. The music dimmed as a voice spoke through it.
"You think our information is right boss?"
"It better be, or I'm strangling someone when we get back," came the disgruntled reply before The Rider, his real name being Tim Anderson, could reply.
"Don't get too egotistical. The only thing you strangle is your lonely cock," came the rebuke. Suddenly, the comm line was filled with laughter. It came to an end as Anderson's deep voice cut through their speakers,
"Quiet. The information should be rock solid this time. We got a large shipment of money and other goodies coming down the highway with two Peacemaker escorts. They'll be expecting us this time so be quick about getting rid of the Peacemakers. Don't harm the Titan. As soon as we can, blow the tires of the Titan and force it to a stop. Understood?"
A chorus of confirmations came over the comm. Tim smiled under his helmet before looking back at his watch. He felt his head bob to the fast, deep beats of the techno as he watched the seconds tick bye. Finally, the minute hand hit the twenty and Tim put his hands back to the handlebars.
"Let's roll out, Outlaws!" he shouted before gunning it. The bike lurched forward and up the ramp with the other vehicles right behind him. Coming onto the highway, Tim saw their target speed past with lights on and sirens sounding. The eight-lane freeway was suspended in the air and had concrete walls on either side but it was still big enough to maneuver as cars pulled over to avoid the speeding police units.
The top speed of the Peacemakers was over a hundred miles per hour but the top speed of the Titan was only seventy-five. The Outlaw Thorogoods, after receiving some modifications, could reach a top speed of eighty but were still the slowest of the group. However, this didn't stop the three motorcycles from speeding on ahead. Drawing his shotgun Tim swung his back to the left side of the trailing Peacemaker and aimed it at the driver window. He could see the driver's eyes widen as the passenger tried to get his torso out of the window to fire at the Outlaw. With a squeeze of the trigger, the shotgun bucked back as the pellets smacked into the bullet resistant windows and cracked it.
By now, the passenger was out of his window but he was quickly killed by the other Kenshin rider's SMG. Spinning the lever around his hand, Tim loaded another shell before aiming back at the window. Firing again, the already battered window shattered, allowing the pellets to tear through the driver. With a corpse at the wheel, the car lost control and veered off into the side wall. Exploding in a ball of flames, the husk flipped over the median and into oncoming traffic. Tim and the chase were far past that by now with Tim closing in on the leading police car. The passenger was already out and firing his AR-55 at the Outlaws with wild shots due to the swerving of the Peacemaker. By now, the Thorogoods had caught up and the box mag, Assault Rifle wielding men in the beds of the trucks opened up on the lead Peacemaker. Rounds flew at the car, shattering windows and lights. The passenger dived back into the car but it was too late as the rounds hit the two right wheels and sent the vehicle careening out of control.
In an epic climax, the Peacemaker swerved off to ram into three pulled over cars and than ignite into a ball of flames. Finally, all that was left was the Titan itself. In order to get that to pull over, the Outlaws had acquired some nasty weaponry. As Titan tires had the run flat system, just flattening them wouldn't do. Therefore, the gang had purchased stand alone, low yield grenade launchers to destroy the tire, rim, and part of the axle. Switching weapons, the men in the beds of the Thorogoods hefted the single-shot grenade launchers and waited for the two trucks to get into position. Holstering his shotgun, Tim and the other Kenshin driver pulled ahead while the Sandstorm lagged behind.
When in position, the grenadiers fired. The rounds hit spot on and the back of the Titan lift into the air before falling back down on nothing but it's rear bumper. With it's sudden deceleration, the Outlaw vehicles slowed as well. Soon, the Titan came to a stop, just seconds after the Outlaws did. With weapons drawn, the Outlaws hurriedly disembarked their vehicles and approached the large Titan. The large vehicle had a civilian driver but this wouldn't be the first time when there was a squad of SWAT waiting in the back for the Outlaws.
"Get out with your hands up!" shouted Tim through his helmet. Slowly, the driver put his hands up and climbed out of the vehicle.
"On the ground! Now!" Tim screamed. Again, the man complied and soon he was laying face down with the other Kenshin driver's SMG against his head. Seeing the driver taken care of, Tim grabbed the keys from the cab and went around to the back where the two trucks were already positioning themselves to efficiently load the loot. With keys in hand, Tim unlocked the back and swung the door open with the Sandstorm driver and two Thorogood gunners standing ready with their weapons. Inside seemed to be nothing but bags of money and boxes of either guns or ammo but that was until Tim lifted the tinted visor of his helmet and looked closer.
"Isn't that Shaundi?" asked the Sandstorm driver, beating Tim to the punch. Sure enough, Shaundi was handcuffed and sitting near the front of the cargo area and was sweating like a pig from the heat. With her purpler leather pants and black and purple leather top, Tim seriously doubted she was comfortable, at all.
"By god, it is!" shouted one of the Thorogood drivers as he joined the group. Tim saw that she had what looked like duck tape over her mouth to keep her quiet but still noticed her rolling her eyes. Giving a chuckle, he climbed into the back and climbed over the money sacks and boxes to get to the famous TV star. Finding an empty spot in front of her, he knelt down and looked at the ring of keys he had in his hand. Finding the one, he put it into the cuffs and turned, unlocking them. He did the same with the ankle cuffs as she removed the duck tape. Before she could speak, Tim looked back up at her face to see some blood trickling down the side of it.
"Your bleeding," he stated calmly. He had never thing such rage as what the famous star showed to him.
"You think? Maybe next time you can try to lay off the explosives and high-speed chases!" she shouted, almost sending Tim onto his ass as he reeled back. He looked at the back to see his men already loading the stuff into the trucks and turned back to the star, who was rubbing her wrists from soreness.
"So, what's a famous Saint like you doing out here?" Tim asked.
"Not sight-seeing, that's for damn sure," came the hot-headed response as she forced her way out of the Titan and into the sunlight. Once in the sun, she placed a hand over her eyes and stood off to one side, trying to adapt to it all again. Tim followed her, having turned off his techno, and stood in front of her.
"Do your friends know where you are?" he asked as he hung his thumbs from his belt loops.
"Yes. Maybe. I don't fucking know," came the response with plenty of gestures to accompany the words. Tim just nodded before he turned around to see his team finishing up with the transfer of gear. Tarps were placed over the goods and his second-in-command on this mission gave him a thumbs up before climbing into his truck.
"Well, you can head back to Saint Illia with us or stay out here. Your choice, of course," Tim said, knowing which she would choose. She rolled her eyes before stepping towards the trucks.
"Trucks' full sweetheart," Tim said, interrupting her walk. She just growled before walking around the front and hopping on the back of Tim's bike with her arms crossed. He chuckled and turned in time to see his teammate knock out the driver with the butt of his SMG. Climbing on the bike in front of Shaundi, Tim lowered his visor as he felt her arms wrap around him for safety. Yanking back the throttle, the bike bounced forward before Tim swung it around it took off back towards the on-ramp. On-coming traffic was still against the edges after seeing the chase and wreckage so it was still pretty clear.
Tim felt the TV star's arms tighten to the point of crushing him but he didn't care as he popped a small wheelie and kept going with his crew behind him, laughing all the way.
A/N: Alright, this is my first Saints Row fic. As you can tell, it doesn't take place in Stilwater or Steelport but instead in an area of my own making. It is a couple years after the events of The Third and, of course, incorporates the 'Save Girls' ending.
I hope you enjoyed Chapter One and I hope even more that you leave a review.
