Hey guys!
This is my first fan fic. I hope you like it.
I've updated the first chapter. I hope this improves it a little.
Heavy silence hung over the train carriage. Heads and shoulders of passengers slumped under its weight, faces partially hidden by the hoods of their Purge clothing. Easier to send innocents to their deaths when you don't know who they are. Even when the doors slid open to reveal a PSICOM soldier pointing a gun at their head no one reacted. They were used to it by now.
All the guards so far had been wearing the full PSICOM uniform. This one was no exception, even down to the oxygen mask obscuring his face. Same uniform, same arrogant walk, they might as well all be the same person. Lightning couldn't tell if it was simply for intimidation, or they really thought one of these people would try and fight them. A stupid thing for an ordinary citizen to do, but who knew what the Sanctum believed Pulse contamination did to a person's mind? Not that it mattered to Lightning. All she cared about was whether he was carrying a transmitter for the hand restraints around her wrists. Eyes shaded by her hood, she watched carefully. There! She caught sight of the tell-tale blue glow of the controller. It would be attached tightly to his belt, but she had been observing every guard that passed so far and they had all used the same type of clasp. She was pretty certain she knew how it worked and could remove it without any trouble.
"You serious?" The anxious whisper came from the man sat beside Lightning. They'd met briefly on the platform back in Bohdum. He'd seemed trustworthy enough so she'd told him a little of her plan. She was beginning to regret it.
"Be quiet!" she shot back. Now was not the time for distractions. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him turn his head towards the guard, who was now about half way between the door and them, thrusting his gun in the face of a passenger. From the looks of it this guard was pretty new. The elites didn't need to act threatening. Lucky for her. She just hoped her 'companion' didn't give her away.
"Best of luck." Lightning barely acknowledged she had heard him. She had to get this right. Stay calm. Focus. Don't get caught up in emotions. One chance. That was all she had.
Cries went up as the entire train shuddered. It felt like it had hit something, the barrier into Hanging Edge maybe. Whatever it was it had given her the perfect opportunity. The guard was nearly knocked off his feet. Lightning jumped up without a moment of hesitation. She was on the soldier before he understood what was happening. Using her momentum she flipped over his head, knocking him backwards. The clasp for the transmitter broke loose in her fingers just as she had planned. The small black rectangle landed next to her foot. This was the bit where she'd need a bit of luck. She stamped down, hard. The glass and electronics crumpled under her foot. Immediately she felt the restraints around her wrists give way. A breath she didn't know she had been holding escaped her lips. If the transmitter hadn't been set to open when it was destroyed things would have been a lot trickier.
"She did it!" Her companion's excited exclamation was matched by several voices from other passengers in the car. She ignored them. There wasn't time to celebrate just yet. Quickly she removed the robe she had been forced to wear. The door at the end of the carriage was already opening. Two more guards, drawn by the commotion, had their guns raised.
"Freeze!" Lightning threw the robe at them. Surprised and blinded, the guards' shots were wild. She used the moment of confusion to kick one in the face. As he fell she turned to the second. He stared at her, stunned. His gun was pointed at her chest but it took him a second to recover. She was faster. The gun was in her hand in an instant. She pulled it towards her. Caught totally unawares, the guard lost his balance. Using his own weight against him she brought her fist to his jaw. Unconscious, he fell by his partner.
The next carriage contained a single PSICOM soldier. A kick to the stomach and a shot through the stomach dealt with him. There couldn't be much of the train left. She just needed to find the supply carriage. Judging by the standard of guards so far that shouldn't be too hard. A click of her fingers activated her gravity manadrive. Its power enveloped her quickly. Pushing off from the floor, she shot down the corridor into the next carriage. More guards blocked her path. A double footed kick took out the first. The second fell to a gunshot. As Lightning's feet touched the ceiling she took out the third with another shot to the head. A quick scan told her that all the soldiers had been neutralised. A small wave of guilt tugged at her, but she pushed it back. She had done what was necessary.
Instead of carrying people, this carriage was full of crates. Taking a deep breath she flipped back to the floor and deactivated the manadrive. It didn't take her long to catch sight of what she was looking for. A familiar scabbard lay in one of the containers to her right. Her gunblade was still inside. She was inspecting the blade for damage when the door behind her slid open. For a half second, she tensed.
"So far so good." She recognised the voice as the man who had been sat next to her. Great. And this time he was followed by a small group of other Purge victims. "They all wanna fight."
"Good for them." They weren't her problem. She leaned out of the train door. No, her problem was out there. PSICOM ships and beasts were already weaving their way through the suspended buildings and tracks of Hanging Edge. Bullets bounced off the side of the train to fall into the waters of Lake Bresha, far below. Behind her the fugitives had begun to search the containers. Her companion let out an appreciative whistle. She glanced over to see him pull out a military grade rocket launcher.
"Give me that." He protested as she tore it from his hands. Levelling the weapon at the two nearest attack beasts, she waited for the targeting system to lock on. Just as the diamonds turned red she fired…and missed. Her second shot was wide as well. Shit! Blue energy was beginning to collect in front of the flying creatures. They were preparing to fire. Lightning braced herself. The electricity arced out, hitting the last car. It bucked and broke free of the tracks. For one terrifying instant the entire train teetered on the edge of falling into the abyss. Then with and ear rending screech the connection between the carriages snapped. The rest of the train continued unimpeded.
That was until the Manasvin Warmech showed up. They really were serious about this. Those machines were designed for war. They were using it against citizens with no training. Most had probably never held a gun before. It landed heavily on top of the train. A squeal of sparks was thrown up by the train's wheels as it struggled under the weight. It didn't stand a chance. The Warmech's leaf shaped, razor sharp tail tore the top of the carriage off as the train ground to a halt.
"Run!" Her companion cried. Lightning took off sprinting. "I meant away!" The machine needed to be taken care of. It might as well be done now. Lightning leapt lightly up the debris and onto the train roof. Besides, it was a fight she was pretty sure she could win. The Manasvin looked pretty menacing, but it wasn't designed to deal with single enemies. If she could get close enough she should be able to disable it. "Hey! Hey hey hey! Let's be rational now!" Apparently her companion hadn't taken his own advice. Maybe he was braver than she thought. "Whoa!" Lightning jumped backwards to avoid the spinning blades on the Manasvin's arm. "They're sending the big guns now. What do we do?"
"Watch and learn."
The Warmech made another attempt to slice her to pieces, thrusting its arm forward, spinning blades glancing off the metal of the train roof. Lightning danced sideways. The machine reacted faster than she anticipated. The arm swung outwards, trying to throw her over the edge. Acting on instinct, Lightning ducked and slid underneath. The metal under her hands vibrated with the thrum of the Warmech's engines. It brought down its second arm directly over her head. There wasn't time to move.
Just then a shot rang out. The Warmech jolted and the blades missed her by a hair. Lightning glanced over in surprise. Her companion was holding a pair of hand guns. They were both aimed at the machine. He must have hit one of the joints and knocked it off balance. It was a good shot, if it wasn't a fluke. Now was her chance. Gunblade in hand, she dived at the Manasvin's feet. Sword collided with claw. Metal and wiring gave way under the impact. She clenched her teeth as her shoulder jarred. The claws hissed and released their grip on the train. The whole machine wobbled before its rockets kicked in, launching it upwards. It landed with a thump on the tracks. Retracting its spinning blades, each arm clamped onto the sides of the train.
"Ha ha! Not so tough now huh?" As if answering the provocation, the Manasvin fired up the boosters on its arms. Jets of blue flame erupted from its shoulders. Heat blasted outwards, tearing at her skin. Her companion stepped back, lifting his own arms placating. "Hey! That wasn't like a challenge now, alright." It refused to be mollified. The carriage car beneath their feet began to shake. Was it trying to throw the entire train into the depths of the lake? Lightning span, dashing to reach the next carriage roof. Nimbly, she kept her balance as the carriage was lifted into the air. Sliding down the metal, she landed safely on top of the engine, which had stayed rooted to the ground. Her companion was not quite so skilled. He stumbled as the floor under him tilted sideways. He wasn't going to make it.
"Jump!" Somehow he managed to find enough grip to push himself forwards. His landing was as unceremonious as his running, but at least he was alive. "Heads up." Lightning indicated the incoming Manasvin.
"This thing…won't give up." He complained, out of breath, but he clambered to his feet and readied his guns. His first shot hit armour, the second took out one of its lights. Maybe that shot had been a fluke. As it landed, Lightning deftly leapt forward. Her swing was aimed at the joint he had weakened earlier. Her blade made contact, but she had misjudged the angle and it bounced off. A third shot flew over her head and buried itself in the machine's underside. Lightning dodged out the way of another arm swing. The sound of another gunshot. A loud whirring noise rose from somewhere deep in the machinery, follow by an explosion. It sounded like he had hit one of the rockets the Warmech needed to fly. If he had, she just needed to destroy its grip properly this time. She dodged again, waiting for the perfect moment. As the spinning blades passed her, she leapt upwards to land just behind them on the arm. She remained there for less than a second, landing back on the ground with a roll that placed her just within reach of the legs. With quick, precise slashes, she severed as much of the electronics as she could, until she felt the claws slip. Then she span around and with one swing, took out the other, already damaged leg. The effect was immediate. The machine began to slide sideways, no longer able to hold on. Stabilising rockets fired desperately, but her companion's aim had been true. The rockets that were still intact only managed to unbalance the machine more. Lightning lunged out of the way as the whole thing tilted and fell, flailing into the darkness. A few seconds later the echoes of a splash drifted upwards.
Lightning stood up and brushed herself off. Her companion fell to the floor panting.
"Oh goodness. Woo, we did it." It was obvious he still didn't really understand the situation he was in. They had dealt with one machine in the middle of what was quickly becoming full on war. PSICOM was quick to remind him of the fact as several ships flew overhead. Reinforcements headed to a fight going on somewhere else. Lightning flooded her gunblade and began to walk. "Aren't you supposed to protect civilians soldier?" She stopped. His tone was biting. "I mean, you are Sanctum aren't you? What are you doing trying to stop the Purge? Why don't you tell me that?"
"I was a soldier." The Purge had dealt firmly with that. She took a slight run up before jumping lightly off the top of the train.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
Lightning held up a hand to silence him as he made it to the ground beside her. A PSICOM soldier was patrolling nearby, accompanied by two Pantherons.
"Not wanting to get purged I get, but taking on trained soldiers, uh uh." He shook his head, his afro moving a millisecond behind the rest of his head, as they crouched behind a pile of rubble.
"Better to die than get sent to Pulse. It's hell without the brimstone." One of the Pantheron lowered its head, sniffing the ground. Soon it would catch their scent.
"Yeah well hell's not sounding too bad, 'cause this place ain't exactly paradise."
"Domesticated peace keepers. Nothing to worry about."
"Maybe not for a soldier girl but-" Lightning unsheathed her weapon and flicked the switch. It folded seamlessly into its gun form. Lining up the shots carefully, she fired three times. Each bullet took its target in the head.
The walked on in silence for a while. Battle still raged around them. Occasionally she would stop to take down targets in their way. None of them even realised they had been shot. Most of the PSICOM forces were concentrated around small pockets of fugitives. As a group of two it was easy enough to move around without much opposition. As they came up to a control panel designed to allow movement of small sections of road to where they were necessary, her companion broke the silence.
"So soldier, what's your angle?" Lightning remained quiet. He didn't need to know. He didn't want to know. "What, classified military info, hm? What's the matter? You quit didn't you? You think I'm gonna go out there and tell everybody I see-"
"The Pulse Fal'cie."
"Wha-" She turned to face him.
"My angle, I'm after the Fal'cie." The look on his face said it all: fear, confusion. Even he didn't have a reply for that. "Still happy you tagged along?"