Disclaimer: I do not own Wild ARMs or any of the settings in the video game series. However, original characters and ideas are my intellectual property.
Prologue: The Wildfield Murders
The rain fell hard upon the steel bulk of the Adlehyde Express, running directly from the Fatooza Shrine to the great capitol of the kingdom. Usually this prestigious locomotive carried hundreds of first class passengers in its kingdom-renowned dinner cars, but today the train only carried two passenger cars and three cargo cars behind it. This was because today, the Adlehyde express carried an important artifact with it; one that could change the ongoing problems of the kingdom's monarchy. As such, security was near doubled on the train, and packed into two small passenger cars, with elite guards in the cargo cars. Truly, not a single man woman or child could infiltrate the defenses of the railway this day.
It was a good thing, then, that Rayne had seven people backing her up.
Riding up alongside the train were eight figures on horse back, fighting desperately to keep up in the torrential downpour. However, the thick blankets of rain had given them the cover they needed to get close to the train without being detected. Rayne was at the head of the pack, dressed in a reddish-brown trench coat and wearing a worn wide-brim brown hat on her head. Her chocolate brown hair was matted to her back as her chestnut brown eyes surveyed the small ladder on the side of the train she would use to board. Behind her, the rest of her posse kept close at her trail, ready to follow her lead. Collectively, they were known as the "Knight Blazers", named after the legendary demon that scorched the land Filgaia millennia ago, leaving the world an arid desert. Each of her gang had taken on one of the aspects associated with the Blaze as their nickname: Envy, Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, Sloth. Rayne had never taken a nickname herself, though through Filgaia she was known and feared as "the Sin that walks". She had earned that frightful name through her acts of ruthless thievery and pillaging in any form she could. Of course, Rayne did not care. She did not expect the rest of Filgaia to understand what it was she and her crew really did. If they understood, they would be singing a very different tune about the Knight Blazers. But that was neither here nor there.
Rayne brought her mount close enough to the train to grab the slippery ladder, lifting herself off and onto the side of the first passenger car. Her horse, trained for this kind of activity, instantly broke off from the train and turned to head back to their hideout. A heavyset man rode up to the side, nodding, then rode ahead along the tracks. This was Gluttony, and his job was to change the track settings to make sure no matter what, this train did not reach Adlehyde. One by one, the rest of her gang filtered onto the train by the ladder. With her was Wrath and Lust, twin female red-heads that fought better hand to hand than any Rayne had known in Filgaia. Greed and Envy, a short squinty-eyed man and a tall blonde man, respectively, climbed onto the roof. They would take the train by surprise a few cars down. Sloth, a wirey young man with glasses over his eyes, kept his pace alongside of the train, ready to provide back up where needed. Last but not least was Pride, the youngest of their group. He was a bright-eyed bushy-tailed type if there ever was one. He would sneak up front and take over the engine room.
Nodding to Wrath and Lust, Rayne kicked in the door to the first passenger compartment and rushed in, much to the surprise of the seven guards in the car. Without stopping to blink, Rayne brandished her ARM, known affectionately as "Desperado", and fired off two amazingly precise shots that dug into the left shoulders of two guards, respectively. Lust and Wrath leapt to Rayne's sides and over the seats to flying kick two more guards in the face, before ducking down to avoid two sword swipes from two of the remaining guards. The third remaining rushed Rayne, stabbing at her in the confined space of the train car. Rayne expertly swerved to avoid the hit, then butted the end of her ARM into the guard's nose, causing a spray of blood and the guard to fall back unconscious. Looking to her back up, Lust and Wrath had already made short work of the two remaining. The car was secure.
"Good work, ladies." Rayne said, looking out the window to the next car, "Greed and Envy have secured the next car…it's a straight shot to the cargo. Let's do this."
The two sins nodded and followed their leader as she went from the first passenger car to the second. Inside, Greed and Envy had indeed done a number on the seven guards in this car. In fact, Rayne doubted if any of them were alive. She cursed lightly to herself. She preferred not to take lives when they could be spared, and Envy was definitely one of the types that cared very little for the lives of others. But his skills were second to none, and he got the job done. Rayne nodded to her mates and proceeded down to the first cargo car. The inside was empty. More than likely, the guards went to the car that held the true prize to guard it.
"Wrath, secure this car. Lust, you're with me."
Rayne and Lust proceeded into the second cargo car to find another mass of dead guards, seemingly town apart by bits of shrapnel that had ripped through their skin. Shotgun? Rayne thought, Why the hell is he using it here? Motioning to Lust, Rayne proceeded into the last cargo car. It was empty of people; a fact that Rayne found strange considering that in the center of the car, in a large wooden crate labeled with the symbol of Fatooza Monastary lay before Rayne's eyes. This is what she had come for. This was the answer to all her problems. Lust grinned widely, obviously thinking along the same lines as Rayne as they both approached the crate. That is, before the shot rang out. Before Rayne could react, she saw Lust's body tumble forward, a bullet having pierced her head from behind. As her body landed with a "thud", Rayne spun around, ARM aimed and rage in her eyes at whoever had just ended the life of her crewman.
What Rayne found she had not expected. Standing at the entrance to the car was none other than Envy, blonde hair covering his eyes but not the sadistic grin upon his face. Aimed at Rayne, and still smoking from its previous shot, was his own ARM. The only other ARM user in the Knight Blazer, and he had just shot one of his own with it.
"Envy, what the HELL are you doing?!" Rayne shouted, cocking back the trigger of Desperado.
"You know, Greed asked the same thing. Right before I put one between his eyes." Envy replied coolly, pumping the pump action reloader of his ARM.
"You're betraying us?! Why?! We were a team!" Rayne growled.
"We were. Now we're not. All that's left is you, me, and Gluttony. And Gluttony is on my side." He said with a grin.
Rayne gave a shout of anger, and slid her hand along the top of Desperado, activating the ARMs most deadly payload, gatling raid. The five bullets released at once thunked into Envy with unerring accuracy; Rayne was the far superior gunman here. However, she looked in horror as Envy slid back, spitting up some blood…but wasn't dead. The bullets she had unloaded were on the floor. Rubber. She looked up to Envy, who despite his blood-stained lips, was smiling. He had replaced her gatling raid round with rubber bullets. That bastard.
"Sorry, Sin. But you know what they say. Dog eat dog world." Envy whispered, before pulling the trigger on his own ARM.
A normal bullet did not emerge. No, that would have been a simple matter for Rayne to dodge. Instead, Envy had used his shotgun attachment. Instantly, shrapnel rocketed from the top barrel of his ARM, filling the room with a maelstrom of metal. Rayne, of course, had been too close. She had expected gatling raid to work. As such, she was blown clean off her feet as hundreds of tiny pieces of metal sliced into her skin, blowing her over the crate and right out the window of the train's car. Rayne hit the ground with a sickening crack, rolling along the tracks as the train sped off towards Gluttony's trap. Of course she could not see it, but littering the tracks further down the line were the bodies of Pride, Sloth and Greed. Rayne laid there in the rain, blood pouring from her wounds, her right hand clenching Desperado desperately. Her vision was fading quickly, and she was starting to feel very, very cold. Betrayed. Betrayed by the last people on Filgaia she had ever expected to betray her. Why? They worked together. The fought together. Their goals were the same! This was the last though Rayne had before 'the Sin that walked" faded into unconsciousness. Only seconds later, and she would have seen the massive wolf-like creature pad up to her. Only seconds later, and she would have seen its dark blue fur with red stripes. Its huge paws and teeth that glistened in the little moonlight there was. And its twin eyes of smoldering amber. The wolf left out a long, mournful howl and rolled Rayne onto her stomach, picking her up by her coat with his teeth. Then, the mysterious wolf started away from the tracks into parts unknown, carrying his unconscious and dying cargo, who in turn held desperately to her ARM.
Author's Notes: I originally wrote this as a character back story for a Wild ARMs role playing game I was in. However, the group I played with suggested I post it and develop an original story from it, which is what I'm doing. If it is found interesting, then I shall continue it, but otherwise it is more to satiate the curiosity of my friends and I.