Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my OC, Zac Khalifa
The thirteen days after we awoke...were the beginning of the end.
Barren wastelands and hot crisp desert flash by, occasionally swapped with lush foliage that clung to the walls of the canyon. Although it was dry, peace reigned and silence was normal. Any sound immediately shook up the entire environment as rocks crumbled and the swift fall of water changed briefly and the air vibrated. The skies overhead were a light blue but clouded with an eerie cast of mystery.
On this day, the canyon was disturbed again as a sleek, futuristic train – cylindrical in shape and rounded to allow for aerodynamic travel – bolted through, hugging the one-way track beneath it as it swerved and ducked through the canyon, cutting close edges to possibly fatal collisions and taking shortcuts under waterfalls. Each time they went under the gallons of water that fell, the inside of the cab was obliterated with sound as water pounded the roof, until a second later they were gone. Inside, startled gasps were met with the harsh voice of a patrol unit, tasked with guarding the passengers and also to prevent any sort of violence on the citizens' parts.
The passengers' trip had been long and tiring, beginning from the seaside recreational town of Bodhum and still ongoing. They expected to land somewhere on the lowerworld – it brought shivers to even think about it – in two days.
Everyone knew not to make any sudden movements or talk out of turn. PSICOM's soldiers were allowed to carry guns and even allowed to fire on civilians if necessary. The way his bright – yellow eyes alit behind a mask – regarded them as if they were underworld scum, there was no need to make things any worse than they already were. So the trip was spent in absolute silence, bar the occasional whimper from a child and the steady comfort of a mother's voice a second later.
And every time they swerved around a particularly sharp corner or water crashed onto the roof, the crowd inside sucked in their breath. Several were reduced to the point of nervous shaking, their bodies a constant twitch.
One particular passenger remained calm though.
She wore a Purge uniform just like the other passengers, even with the same device that bound her hands together to make escape more difficult. Yet unlike the others, this woman's head was low, and although only a small piece of pale pink hair could be seen, trailing out of the uniform hood, her bright blue eyes were regarding the PSICOM officer on duty very carefully. Occasionally her gaze was met from the officer, but she was smart enough to avert it long enough to avoid suspicion.
A man to her right glanced over, catching her eyes dart over to the door, as if she were planning something. He shook his head, but said nothing.
The train rattled ever close to a wall of rock. Only a small hole outlined with purple barriers that stopped any unknown machines from trespassing was evidence that the train wasn't going to collide with the rock. They came closer and closer to the first purple ring. It was dotted with codes in the Cocoon alphabet, though to any regular citizen, they meant nothing.
The middle-aged man sitting to the woman's right was Sazh Katzroy.
Sitting to his left was Lightning. That's all he had gotten out of her when they met just a few hours ago. Then, he had watched as she willingly volunteered to board the Purge train despite her status as a Guardian Corps soldier. Her shoulder pauldron signified that at least. All he knew was that she had something up her sleeve, and he wasn't about to miss it.
He just didn't know if that plan would work.
Sazh glanced up to find the officer's gun barrel pointed in his face, his eyes staring down a very lethal weapon. The the officer was only running a scan for weapons and anything metal, so he moved on quickly, making his way down the aisle and back to the front again, standing guard.
The officer was momentarily distracted with a particularly whimpering mother, so Sazh took the chance to speak, his voice hardly more than a whisper.
"You serious?"
His question was met with an impatient hiss. "Bequiet."
Sazh glanced at the officer's laser. That man could probably hit a target from four hundred yards, easy.
"Best of luck."
His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly felt the woman – Lightning – tense, but any thought was shattered a second later as the Purge train collided with the first barrier, lurching forward as a result of the enormous impact. The officer up front lost his balance and nearly fell, cries of surprise and fright erupting in the cabin.
Immediately, the woman bolted from her seat, sprinting in the middle of the aisle as the PSICOM soldier struggled to stand upright. He raised his gun to open fire, but she leapt into the hair, using her bound hands to wrap underneath his chin and twist his neck around, killing him instantly. Screams followed in her wake. Yet the woman blocked out everything, focusing on her one goal and shutting out everything else – escape.
From the soldier's hands fell a black and blue device...the remote that turned the passengers' binds on and off. In her landing she made sure to crush it, grinding the circuits inside to nothing more than sparks and dust.
"She did it!" Sazh exclaimed, his hands now free.
"What's happening?!"
"What's she doing?!"
The door to the end of the aisle that led to the next part of the train, the luggage storage, hissed open to reveal two more PSICOM soldiers. They didn't even hesitate to raise their weapons, charging in to the chaos.
"Hands up!" one shouted, "freeze!"
The men and woman screamed as bullets shot from their guns, following a fast-moving blur that had hurtled into the air once more, shedding her Purge uniform and landing in front of the soldiers, twisting and turning to avoid their fire. The fire ceased for just a moment, but it was plenty of time to allow the woman to lash out with her foot, catching the officer in green in the temple, knocking him out cold. Even the thick material of their masks didn't help against her solid-toed boot.
The soldier standing next to her stood in shock, remembering her face from the Bodhum station earlier in the morning. That woman, dressed in a Guardian Corps uniform and donning the rank of sergeant on her left shoulder, had demanded for admittance on the Purge train, disregarding the fact he knew – that they were all to be killed in the Hanging Edge anyways, their present location now. The woman had worn something of a half-red cape that was tucked under a flap beneath her shoulder. Her boots were stiff leather brown, but the bottoms were a hard silver, hence why his comrade was knocked out to his right. Her uniform was white with light brown sections highlighted by the outline of pockets. Two bronze magnets were attached to the ends in order to close the uniform up, but she kept it open, most likely for easier movement. A holster was wrapped around her waist and attached by buckles, all dark leather. Even her miniskirt was a special type of leather, as was her navy gloves. In the ceiling light, the golden casings on the back of her gloves revealed extra bullets tucked away. The color of the gloves nearly matched her bright, blue eyes that coldly regarded him as she righted herself, hardly breathing hard.
The last thing he remembered was a flash of pink, spiky hair and the back of her hand as she tore the gun away from his grip, spinning and using the momentum to pound him on the side of the head.
He collapsed in an instant.
The people behind her were swiftly casting aside their uniforms, hastily gathering together. She entered into the next room, taking a stand in the crook of the door, gun clenched firmly in her right hand. She pounded the switch open with her fist, holding her breath.
As soon as it slid open she jumped out, unloading a clip of bullets into the next room. She immediately spotted a pair of yellow eyes in the darkness of the next cabin and aimed there. He reached her before she did, though, forcing her to duck to avoid taking a bullet in the face. The woman felt hot steel whip through her hair, just missing her head.
Once more she pivoted on one leg, using the momentum of the turn to catch him full-force in the stomach. Her kick knocked him backwards a few feet, though not dead. A second green soldier ran out behind him, and the last bullets in her gun were fired in his chest.
She breathed out, the first wave of adrenaline nearly making her dizzy.
Casting the empty gun away, she swiftly armed herself with the fallen guards' weapons and continued on, heart pounding wildly.
Back in the passenger cabin, chaos was everywhere. One man had taken a bullet to the shoulder while one was dead from the soldiers' erratic fire. Children were taken into the arms of their parents, but one boy was huddled in a corner, his head tucked between his knees. In between ordering citizens around and tossing leftover guns to brave passengers, Sazh kneeled down to the boy.
He announced his presence with a hand to the shoulder. Something nudged at the top of his head. "Hey. You all right?" he asked, concerned. Where were the boy's parents?
Seeing his worried eyes, he quickly added, "Don't worry; I'm not a l'Cie."
Suddenly a small, golden chocobo chick popped out of his afro, peering over the edge of his brown hair and chirping at the boy. The latter was surprised at first, but a smile came over his face, and he stood to rejoin his parents.
Sazh sighed in relief and began to lead the second wave of rebels.
Lightning was surrounded.
Two PSICOM elites stood between her and the next cabin, while two on opposite diagonal sides and one behind her made progression impossible while remaining alive. One step forward and she would have a hundred holes in her head.
"Put your hands in the hair and the weapons down!" a soldier commanded, waving his gun for emphasis. She glanced at him, and did drop the guns. Both clattered to the floor.
"Now hands in the air!" he barked, beginning to walk slowly towards her, cautious. When she didn't comply, he grew angry."Now!"
Before he could hit her with the butt of his gun, she raised her left hand.
All the while she watched him as she snapped her index and thumb together, triggering the anti-gravity device all GC soldiers at or above the rank of sergeant had engraved in the tips of their fingers – the Grav-con Unit. It broke the bonds between gravity and the matter inside one's body in order to wield a sort of ability close to magic, but not quite. It gave the user an aversion to gravity and incredible speed. This was what Lightning triggered with a snap of her fingers.
Immediately, a wave of energy erupted over her body, growing until her body was covered in purple, metallic sparks. Her body glowed a strange, purple hue as time seemed to slow down, though in reality, it hadn't. Onlyshehad sped up.
Leaving that officer in surprise, she arched backwards, sailing over the floor with her fist guiding the way. She spun to face the officer behind her and used the force of her movement to slam him against the sliding door as a shockwave erupted from under them; bruising his ribs with a knee to the stomach. His yellow eyes faded and she ripped his gun away, twisting on the door and propelling off of it again with no more than a determined glance upwards.
By now they had opened fire, but they were too slow. Much too slow.
Lightning twisted her body so that she was flying feet-first and curled her knees to her chest, building strength in her legs. Just two feet away, she struck out, catching him in the chest. She didn't stop to analyze the damage before she unloaded all the bullets in her two guns on the soldiers diagonal to the aisle. Her body seemed to float in midair before she flipped onto the ceiling, her head upside down. One soldier remained standing.
He shook but raised his gun anyways, trying to pinpoint the laser beam to her forehead. In his sights, she was an easy target, but her trigger finger was generous.
His life ended in a second. She could at least grant him that.
She dug her gunblade out – buried in a pile of luggage, weapons, and other odds and ends just as the mechanical door behind her slid open. Sazh emerged, followed by a trio of grim-faced rebels armed with guns they had looted from the fallen bodies no doubt. She didn't cast a look at them and instead loaded her gunblade once again.
"So far so good," Sazh said, doing a headcount. There were at least twenty others who had wanted to help lead the rebellion against the Purge train. "They all want to fight."
Looking out the windows, they saw flashes of green and airships colliding, smoke billowing as bullets and lasers flew everywhere. The sky was dark and dotted with illuminating beasts, commanded by the government. Each of them recognized this place – the Hanging Edge. It had donned on them since Lightning's rebellious fight that the Purge train had never intended to even come close to the lowerworld...they were being taken to the Hanging Edge...to be killed.
Lightning hefted her gunblade, swinging the point in front of Sazh, who stepped back in surprise. She didn't travel light; that was for sure. The woman sighed in impatience – she didn't have time to order around a group of newbies to war.
"Good for them."
They had fully entered into the Hanging Edge, a complete and utter warzone.
Outside, war rocked the skies. The noise was so loud it would seem the world were ending out there. And maybe it was.
Lightning found an emergency hatch blocked off by storage units. She pushed them aside and flipped it up. Immediately a rush of air swept in, nearly knocking her off her feet. But she stepped into it anyways, resisting the amount of force that threatened to suck her outside. Keeping a hand steady on the handle she leaned out, breathing in deeply. At any moment a stray attack could find its way to her, but she never faltered and instead surveyed the world around here. She had done it. She had stopped the Purge.
Yet there was still one thing she had yet to accomplish.
The train went deeper into the Hanging Edge. No going back now. She turned and gazed upon the Hanging Edge, though unlike so long ago, she wasn't afraid anymore. Now, hanging out of a Purge train in the midst of a battlefield, she knew no fear.
There was nothing but determination in her eyes.
A spray of high-powered bullets and rocket-propelled grenades were suddenly fired at the train as reports were received of a rebellion. The plan before was to simply murder the deportees in the Hanging Edge...and that plan was still going to be enacted. Nonetheless, the train gunned on, slicing a path through the carnage. A fatal hit from a high-powered rocket, or perhaps a kamikaze PSICOM-controlled beast to crash into the engine, and Lightning's plans would come screeching to a halt. One was heading for the train right now, a dragon-type machina that fired bolts of electricity. Not only were its attacks weakening the support stilts of the tracks, but it could potentially derail another train car. One had already fallen into the abyss, but Lightning couldn't have predicted its attack then.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a missile launcher in Sazh' hands. Perfect.
"Give me that," she demanded, but before he could protest, she had taken it from his grasp and hefted it onto her shoulder, leaning against the frame for balance. She peered through the scope and closed her left eye, focusing on the monster in the crosshairs. She could see it, blue illuminating its wings. The weapon locked on, signaling a bright red hue. She held her breath and squeezed the trigger, feeling the painful kick as the missile was launched, heading for the beast. It hit its target, exploding on impact. Parts rained down on the train as they passed through.
She fired another missile, gritting her teeth when it missed its target.
That missfire cost another train car as another enemy rained down upon them, firing a slew of bolts that derailed the car, sending it careening into Lake Bresha below the Hanging Edge. Following was a much bigger threat.
The woman's eyes widened as a scorpion-like monster took up the chase, clamping down on the back of the train and sending it screeching to a halt, sparks shooting from beneath the train. The sudden halt of momentum sent Lightning stumbling back into the cabin, where she dropped the missile launcher in favor of her own gunblade. The train car was ripped off leading to the front, leaving a gaping hole where the machine's tail hung. Through it she watched as the monster brought its tail hard on the train, whipping it back and forth in an attempt to simply knock it into the abyss. The impact rocked the entire train, shoving Sazh to the floor.
When it ceased its attack, Sazh began to have doubts. "Run!" he shouted, abandoning all reason. After all, where was he going to run...out into open space? The thought of running away was ludicrous to Lightning. She righted herself and headed for a hole in the roof, jumping through with no problems.
Sazh gaped at her in disbelief before toting his own dual-wielded guns and going after her. What the hell was she doing?
"I meant away!"
Lightning's impressive display of acrobatics proved to be much harder to replicate than Sazh had originally thought. She had merely leaped upwards. Sazh, not exactly the spring chicken he used to be, had to find a foothold to climb up, hauling himself out of the serrated-edged hole with effort. Thankfully his gloves gave him protection when gripping the sharp edges. He crawled out and looked up, immediately wishing he hadn't.
The crazy lady – Lightning – was facing off against a huge scorpion-like beast that bore two revolving saws on the end of each hand. She fearlessly raised her sword against it, hefting it in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, making sure the monster knew who its opponent was.
In response the machine leaped into the air several stories high, its spotlights blinding them both before it came crashing back down on the train, shaking Sazh to the bones.
"Hey, hey, hey! Let's be rational now! No need to get ourselves killed!"
"A Manasvin Warmech," she suddenly said, remembering this PSICOM-controlled war machine from her studies in the military academy.
As long as she kept her guard up and –
Before she could finish her thoughts, the Warmech darted forward, slicing the air in front of her before she was airborne, leaping backwards and out of harm's way. Her cold eyes regarded it carefully, but she was confident she could beat it nonetheless.
Sazh, however, was hell-bent on escaping as soon as possible.
"They're sending in the big guns now..." he trailed off. No response. She had every intention of fighting the Warmech. "What do we do?"
Irritated she snapped, "Watch and learn. Just don't get in my way."
Sazh nodded, sure that wouldn't be a problem with that long blade that she had flicked out since the beginning of the fight. Friendly fire wasn't exactly an option right now.
The Warmech raised an arm to attack. Lightning's muscles tensed on instinct, dodging once again before it could tear her to ribbons. This time, its rotators were powered up with electricity, no doubt bolts upon bolts stored in the Warmech, perfect for frying any Purge deportee into a crisp. Sazh shook, visibly nervous.
"We're not actually going to...fight that thing, right?" he asked.
"What do you think?"
Sazh shook his head and gripped his own dual pistols, sleek and obsidian in color. They'd never been used before; pilots that were unfortunate enough to crash in some hostile place like the Vile Peaks were given some amount of protection with the handguns, but Sazh had never encountered an issue like that. This time, he was going to put all of that training with the pistols to work.
"I've got these...hope they're good enough," he said, and braced himself.
Lightning resumed a strong stance, her blade gripped tightly in her right hand and her arm guarding against her chest. Her blue eyes watched every movement of the Warmech, watching for any sort of unpredictability. Any sudden moves and she'd dodge out of the way.
"Right."
With a twitch of her eye she leapt into battle, sprinting straight for its head, gleamed in all of the lights of the Hanging Edge. The Warmech was startled, but mechanically switched to defense, locking its two arms together to form a barrier on top of the train. It dug the serrated chains into the chipped paint of the orange, keeping them in place.
She smirked and just as she reached the arms, vaulted over them and struck the head with her gunblade. She got off another stab, sinking it to the hilt, when sparks showered from the wound and she was forced to backflip out of harm's way. But she knew every move was being analyzed. Every second longer it took to fight the Warmech meant the machine was gathering more data on her abilities and measure of power. She knew now that she'd have to be much careful when delving in to avoid its painful reach.
She tested this theory by feigning an attack. It immediately raised its arms to cut her down, but she jumped back, bouncing lightly on the tip of her toes to retain balance.
"It's gathering data on everything we do."
"What?" he said, surprised. He had been in the middle of firing a round of bullets in its face, hoping none ricocheted.
She shook her head, annoyed.
"You mean that thing learns more about us the longer we fight?! Great!"
"It has the ability to self-destruct, too," she said, before flicking her gunblade into a gun, firing a round before transforming it back.
"...Fantastic!"
Dispatch it quickly, and the Manasvin Warmech falls easily.
That's what she was taught in the event of an encounter with a rogue monster. This time, this wasn't necessarily a rogue Warmech, but it was actually focused on killing her...fromthe orders of its creators.
One more strike and she was sure it would go down. The problem was getting to it beforeitdid.
The Warmech had different ideas.
It leapt backwards onto the last train car and dug its arms into the sides of the train, rotators slicing firmly into the thick metal. It began shaking the train, tossing the two from side to side.
Lightning lowered her weapon. "Fall back!" she commanded, before racing to the edge of the train car. From there their feet were steadier, but not for long.
Sazh waved a hand, sure they were out of harm's way. Lightning rolled her eyes at his cockiness. Cockiness could get you killed.
"Not so tough now, huh?" he taunted, but was cut short when a burst of light erupted from the crook of its arms, charging a boost.
"Hey, that wasn't like a challenge now, all right?" he said, trying to reassure the Warmech. It was pointless.
"He's tearing the entire train off the tracks!" Lightning said in surprise, before turning and running.
Sazh glanced at her, then back at the Warmech, unsure of what to do. There was no telling as to what it was going to do, and he wasn't sticking around to find out.
"Time to go!"
In one swift movement, the two train cars were ripped from their tracks and into the air, creating a near vertical roof. Sazh and Lightning fell, beginning to slide into the abyss, but she used her gunblade to right herself, balancing on it before sprinting for the edge of the car. She spotted a rail lining the edge just before the space dropped into darkness. Reaching out, her hand gripped the rail and she swung her body onto it, wedging the edge in the space between the soles of her boots and the arch of her foot. The slickness allowed her to skate down the edge, gaining time. Just before dropping off she jumped, twisting her body to face the Warmech when she landed once again.
This was all impressive and whatnot, but certainly nothing Sazh could do at the present moment.
Sazh's face was nothing but terror as she slid closer and closer to death. His boots provided no traction. "I'm coming!" he shouted.
Lightning gritted her teeth. "Just jump!"
Every fiber of his will fed into that leap of faith, his body completely under the control of gravity. His life flashes before his eyes, but fate had other plans, and he landed safely – if a bit bruised – beside Lightning, wrenching an awful crick in his back when doing so. The chocobo zoomed out, chirping for moral support.
"Heads up," Lightning warned, before the Warmech landed on the train car. All orders were focused on annihilating them, self-destruction or not.
"This thing...won't give up," Sazh panted, rubbing his shoulder in pain. He was getting too old for this.
"Cover me," she commanded, and sprinted forward again, raising her arm and guarding her face. Her movements were fluid and the Warmech was unable to reach her in time before she leapt into the air, gripping the handle with both hands and bringing the blade hard onto its outer surface.
She squeezed her eyes shut for the sparks that blinded her vision, and yanked her blade out. Using its head as a launchpad, she shot off from it, safely twisting in midair to avoid its rotators.
"Hey, look out!" Sazh shouted.
Lightning turned her head midair to find the Warmech's head opening into two panels, giving way to a burst of light. It shot forward, barely giving her enough time to raise her sword and shield herself against it. The impact knocked her to her knees, but she popped back up in no time.
But the move shed some light on the creature's inner weakness. Whenever the front of its head split open into two segments, its inside circuits were revealed alongside the opening that fired the cannon of energy. If she could anger it to open up again and distract it, then maybe...
"Shoot its head when it opens up again," she commanded, steadily moving forward.
Sazh had the easy part. She had to dodge its serrated rotators, and those things just kept getting faster and faster.
"But that cannon thing...!" he said.
"Just do it!"
Sazh breathed – rather shakily – and prepared his guns, keeping them aimed at its head. His nerves were getting to him as he bounced in place.
Agitated, the Warmech ceased trying to hit Lightning and opened up for another cannon attack. She leapt out of the way, holding her blade parallel to her face.
"Now!"
"Okay!"
He fired. The cannon's release came to a halt as the bullets ricocheted inside of its head, hitting circuits and shorting its functions. As if a robot, its movements became jerky...its body twitched, and the light in the Warmech's eyes faded. Weight and gravity collided, sending the Warmech collapsing over the side. No one ever saw it again.
Sazh looked at the space the Warmech had occupied just a second ago. They'd done it.
"Whew!" He fell to the ground tiredly, but with a slight grin on his face. "Oh, goodness...we're alive."
He watched Lightning stride to the edge of the train, her blade still firmly clasped in her hand. Her movements were quick. He could tell she was in the military, and not just because of her glowing shoulder pauldron.
"We did it – " a horde of warships flew by, their machine guns going off in rapid-fire succession as they battled an unknown enemy. Ahead of them, another part of the Purge train had stopped, but rebels had already spilled out, armed with fallen soldiers' guns and taking a stand. All around them, Cocoon civilians and the government clashed.
Just a few days ago, this never would have been thought possible.
Lightning stood and flicked her wrist, folding the blade into a gun and tucking it into the holster hanging from her waist. That's right, Sazh thought. She's a soldier...
"Aren't you supposed to protect civilians, Soldier?" he slowly got to his feet, wincing at the new ache in his knees. He could thank his not-so-graceful landing earlier for that. She stopped, tense. "I mean, you are Sanctum, aren't you? What're you doin' trying to stop the Purge? Why don't you tell me that?" His tone was suspicious.
"Iwasa soldier," she snapped, before diving off the end of the train, landing somewhere on the tracks below. Sazh could vaguely hear the click of her boots as she walked off...she was leaving him!
Disgruntled, the old man hurried to the edge. "Hey!" he called, "where do you think you're going?!"
No reply.
He sighed, feeling a nudge in his hair. The chocobo chick he owned burst out from his dark afro, chirping merrily. At least someone was having a blast, because he sure wasn't. He held out his hand; the chocobo chick flew in the air before its wings tired, and he landed on his palm, pecking at his wings to scratch an itch. Sazh smiled. At least he had this little guy.
"Chocobo, we just can't catch a break, can we?"
The bird chirped in agreement, taking flight once more.
"Yeah, that's a good question," Sazh mused to himself, and hurried after Lightning, carefully climbing over the edge. "Well...better follow her. Hopefully she knows where she's going, 'cause we don't."
The Purge train had stopped in the middle of a warzone, and Sazh was caught right in the middle of it all. He didn't yet know that five others in the exact same location were about to be brought together by fate.
Nah. His mindset was simpler than that.
"I'm getting' too old for this..."
Sazh fell to the ground, landing safely – if not a bit wobbly – on his feet. The chocobo followed suit, still fluttering around without a care in the world. Ahead, Lightning had stopped to survey a group of dead soldiers, looting their bodies for comms units and field navigation maps. Each soldier, she explained, carried a holographic map of the area via mechanical brace clamped on their wrists. On it was every Aerorail platform in the Hanging Edge, as well as locations of specific mobile bridges they could use to escape the chaos of the Purge train derailing. The longer they lagged behind, the more time PSICOM had to dispatch a special unit to scout out deportees.
"How do you know all of this stuff?" he asked as she studied the map, her eyes taking a mental picture of the screen. Their current location only provided one linear path forward, but eventually bridges dotting the map showed other possible routes to escape. Or that's what Sazh thought, anyhow.
"It's common knowledge in the military," she responded impatiently, casting an irritated glance his way. He threw up his hands and looked around, shaking his head.
Suddenly an airship flew just ten feet above their heads, swooping low to avoid fire from a nearby airship. He ducked, but Lightning wasn't fazed. "You sure we can get through here?"
"Guess we'll find out," she said, before tossing the map onto the soldier's fallen body. His eyebrows rose. Had she really memorized that entire map? She walked on, though moved hurriedly in between piles of debris and rubble on the slick surface of the platform. He could keep up with her pace, as long as it didn't last forever.
"This is a mess is what this is," he sighed.
However, he stopped talking when she suddenly tensed. She slightly bent over, her left hand raised, poised to strike. Her other hand was inching for the handle of her gunblade. He took that as a signal to get his own guns out.
"Hey, what–" he started, before she crouched behind a pile of debris. Her eyes peeked around it, then she waved him over. He did his best not to make a sound.
"Don't tell me you're going to fight these guys?" he whispered.
"I did back on the train," she pointed out.
"Yeah, but...these guys are on guard," he retorted loudly.
Immediately the two guards in front of them heard his voice, their heads snapping over to their location. They raised their guns, but Lightning had already leapt out, swiftly striking one down and roundhousing the other. Before Sazh could blink they had fallen to the ground.
She turned to him. "Don't do that again."
"I...yeah." There was no point in arguing. Besides, she had already moved on, investigating a gleaming blue portal. Electricity sizzled around it as it hovered in mid-air, slowly pulsing. On the rim was numerous buttons, all to which Sazh had no idea what they were or what they did.
"Bring that guy over here," Lightning said distractedly, pushing her hand through the portal. It simply reappeared on the inside – transparent.
He dragged an unconscious PSICOM officer and she once again yanked a device off of their wrist. "Lookin' at the map again?" Sazh asked, on the lookout for more soldiers.
"Deactivating."
"Deactivating what?" he asked. She dropped the brace beneath her feet, crushing the device to smithereens.
"Do you want monsters to come through this thing?" she asked, annoyed. "Then let me work."
"All right, all right...just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat..."
"What?"
"None of your business. Now let's go," she said. The portal had faded and clattered to the ground. She turned and jogged, heading for a large pile of debris centered around a broken airship. He followed suit.
In the middle of the platform was a heaping pile of junk, overflowing with blocks of metal and even a crashed airship. How in the world were they going to get overthat?Flames burned deep in the center and parts occasionally slid off the pile; the entire thing was a deathtrap. Lightning charged on anyways, bending her legs, then jumping onto a stable platform that jutted out of the pile. Before it could collapse under her feet she jumped over, somersaulting through the air before landing on the other side...or so Sazh assumed. She disappeared from his sight, Sazh's only guide in the Hanging Edge. She knew how to get out of here, and he wasn't leaving her side until then. He raced to the burning pile and tentatively began to climb. Once he reached the top he looked over, relieved to see she hadn't gone far.
"Hey! Wait up now!" he called, though conscious of the volume of his voice now.
She turned, surprised. Nonetheless, she waited, huddled near another pile of broken parts. He slid down the other side, lifting his arms to avoid them getting caught on shrapnel. Hurrying to her side he snapped, "Fixing to ditch me already, huh? What's the big idea?"
Instead of responding she simply huffed.
What was her problem?
"Don't go ignoring me now! You're my ticket out of here. I'm stickin' this out with you whether you like it or not," he stated, and that was that. He even crossed his arms for emphasis.
His claim was met with a sour look and she rolled her eyes, gesturing slightly ahead of them. In the middle of the platform was one PSICOM Enforcer – or so his right shoulder strips signified – and a red Pantheron. All were enemies regularly seen in Guardian Corps training for Lightning. She knew their weaknesses, and how to exploit them. What her comrades on the field failed to do, she excelled at. One aspect of the battlefield she dominated was the ability to analyze and exploit. The key to winning a battle was not which end had the more power, but which side was smart enough.
That was what she did now.
The PSICOM Enforcer wielded a semi-automatic gun, whose bullets she could block easily with her blade if they fired automatically. The Pantheron, however, was definitely more of a threat, with its razor-sharp claws and electric jaws. Nonetheless, she had beaten them into submission before and she'd do it again. Another portal behind the Enforcer would have to be deactivated, she noted. It wouldn't do for the Enforcer to call backup and another Warmech to burst through it.
"Not wanting to get Purged I get. But taking on trained soldiers?" Sazh whispered.
"Better to die than get sent to Pulse," she replied, her eyes cold. "It's hell without the brimstone."
"Yeah, well hell's not sounding too bad, 'cause this place ain't exactly paradise," he said, gazing around the Hanging Edge. All he could see were flashes of lights and explosions as a battle raged on in the skies.
Suddenly the Enforcer pressed a number of buttons on his wrist and the portal came to life, the center gleaming until two more Pantherons burst from the center, pixelating into 3D forms. At the sight of them Sazh crept closer into the safety of the rubble, peering around her shoulder. Great. Now there were three Pantherons and one guy with a semi-automatic gun.
"Right, and you're telling me we're going to fight them?"The Warmech had seemed impossible, but this?
"Domesticated peacekeepers," she replied, offering insight into her experience of the government's bestiary. "Nothing to worry about."
"Maybe not for Soldier Girl, but – hey!" he said quickly as she jumped out of their hiding place, blade poised and ready to fight.
It turned out they were just like the enemies Lightning had fought during her days as a soldier in the Guardian Corps. They fell quickly and easily, much to Sazh's surprise. He looked at his pistols with renewed interest – maybe he did have some sort of fighting ability after all.
Nah, that's crazy.
They made their way through another wave of PSICOM Enforcers, Wardens, and a particularly nasty Aerial Recon that fired powerful rockets, but all were dispatched in minutes. Every enemy that fell was a result of Lightning's final strike, aided by Sazh's cover fire. He became increasingly interested as to who exactly she was. Her shoulder pauldron signified her as a sergeant, but her skill level said otherwise. Also having experience in the military years ago as an airship pilot, Sazh knew the ranks of the Guardian Corps, and knew that officers and lieutenants matched her type of skillset. Yet her pauldron glowed bright yellow...
He caught up to her as she deactivated another portal. She didn't look his way as he peered at her shoulder, eyes narrowed.
"So you're a sergeant, huh? How'd you find yourself wrapped up in this mess anyways?" he asked, trying to play his cards right.
"I told you, I was a soldier. I'm not anymore."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"My business is my own," she said before moving on.
Sazh sighed and followed her, throwing his hands up in defeat. They could both die and he would never even know why she was there in the first place. The chocobo chirped in agreement from his afro. He sighed and continued on.
"I'll go scout things out," Sazh offered, and jogged ahead.
Lightning waved her hand impatiently and leaned against a box of cargo, crossing her arms. For a second she had a small smirk on her face, but only for a second. She was glad that she had succeeded in stopping the Purge train and halting its route, but there was still the matter of...well...her.She opened the red pack strapped to her thigh, an elegant survival knife in her hand. Absentmindedly she flicked it open and closed with her hand, staring into space.
"Zac, Serah, I'm coming." she whispered, momentarily closing her eyes.
The fact was her boyfriend...Zac...was on the pulse vestige looking for her sister...Serah...was a l'Cie, a human puppet of the Pulse fal'Cie recently uncovered in Bodhum. Just a week earlier the sleeping Pulse fal'Cie hidden inside the archaic Pulse Vestige had awakened and drawn to it was Serah, branded a l'Cie within seconds to guard its deep chambers. Lightning had been on duty that day, but she remembered every detail clearly. Earlier that morning Serah had asked her older sister to take a day off, that maybe they could take a day trip to Eden and poke around the university there for Serah. Lightning had refused, saying work was more important, especially if Serah wanted to getintothat college. Then, she had thought she was doing the right thing by trading in one thing for another – trading in time with Serah in order to help her younger sister achieve a dream she never had the chance to live. Lightning wasn't able to finish college. Her parents died at an early age, something she remembered even now as she stood in the midst of a war. So Serah had become upset and disappeared from the house, though Lightning was sure she was fine and headed off to work like any normal day.
That was the first mistake.
Days later, Serah revealed that on that day she had wandered into the Pulse Vestige, only to be branded a l'Cie, a detested being that was banned from Cocoon. Now she was trapped in the Vestige, which was being transported to the lowerworld of Gran Pulse, a hostile and violent wilderness – or so she thought. Now, she was in a race to enter the Vestige and retrieve Serah.
Legends spoke of awful fates for Pulse l'Cie...words like "crystallization," "Focus," and "monster" floated through her mind, but she didn't know what they meant or how they connected. She knew only one thing that was crystal clear – to save her sister before she was involuntarily taken to Gran Pulse.
The moment Lightning heard of the Vestige being transported and learned Serah was trapped inside, she briefly considering stealing an airship and landing on Pulse to await her arrival. However, her return trip would have been fired down anyways.
The people of Cocoon believed anyone of Pulse origin or touched by Pulsian things were scum. Before everything went to hell, so did Lightning. But this was different.
Lightning didn't care what they thought at the moment; she had a plan, and she knew where she was going. The map she had studied earlier revealed a one-way platform straight to the Vestige, if they lowered it where the map had designated. The military's plans were to transport it to the Hanging Edge and from there, to Pulse. If she survived long enough to reach Serah, than just maybe everything would be all right.
Maybe…
Her thoughts came to a shattering halt at the sound of an alarm, first screeching unbearably and then getting closer and closer. She jumped to her feet and stowed the knife away, sprinting for where Sazh had been "scouting." She immediately spotted him farther down the Trussway with his hands raised in terror. An airship, with smoke billowing out of the tail, was heading straight for the interjection between their platform and the next. The flaming airship collided with an ear-piercing boom, rocking the platforms until even Sazh fell to the ground.
A flash of light filled the area, momentarily blinding Sazh and Lightning. She stumbled through the light as unknown debris whipped past her, sparks flaring everywhere. As the dust cleared, she peered through, eyes widening. Her breath caught in her throat.
The entire next Trussway, 10-E, was split in half. Pipes and stilts fell into the darkness below as the fire died away. The airship had gone completely through, knocking out an entire quarter-mile of the bridge. On the other side, screams pierced the air as rebels fell to their death. Sazh watched as cargo and debris slammed into their bodies, knocking them further and further down the vertical Trussway until they vanished.
Lightning stared in concentration. There went that plan.
Sazh climbed to his feet, coughing hard. "There's no way we can cross here. Do we turn back?"
"There's no time," she snapped, annoyed at the relapse in concentration.
"Then what do you suggest we do? Fly?"
"Quiet!" she snapped, striding cautiously to the very edge of the platform. It was still warm beneath her feet, flames eating away at the edge.
Her mind reeled, but there was still one thing shecoulddo...She'd never tested how long the Grav-con Unit lasted, but if anytime was to try it out, now was. Nothing was stopping her from getting to the other side, reluctant companion with her or not.
She raised her left hand and for the second time that day, snapped her fingers, triggering the anti-gravity wave that pulsed over her body. Immediately her body lifted into the air and she began to float, defying gravity completely. She pushed off the platform and rose into the air.
"Hey..." he raced forward and hurtled towards her, nearly tackling her in his effort not to get left behind. He reached around her waist and tried to hang on, hoping the strange gravity device she had triggered would bring him along, too.
The sudden addition of weight brought her closer to the ground as the Unit strained. It had been especially programmed for her weight, no more. She angered, not only because he was halting her progress, but because he could potentially break the Grav-con Unit, something that couldn't be fixed now. She elbowed him in the stomach and gained leadway but he jumped up, maintaining his hold around her waist.
"Wait!No, no, don't leave me!"
She planted a hand on his face and tried to shove him off of her, to no avail. He was just too heavy! "Let go!" she commanded, about ready to punch him.
"Hell no! You're my only way outta here!" he shouted, frantic now.
Her feet touched the ground, and that was it. She turned to him in anger and raised her knee, striking him in the gut and fisting his head away from her. He fell to the ground in a heap, massaging his head and moaning aloud. Her fingers curled into a fist but she tried the Grav-con Unit again while he was down, snapping her fingers three times. Each snap emitted a weak spark, but it was out of juice.
"Tch." She looked around, desperate. There had to be another way across...
"Hey..." Sazh said, spotting something to their right through blurry vision. The side of his face stung from her strike. She hadn't hit him hard, but he was certainly mindful of personal space now. "That might get us across! Right there!" He pointed to a huge bridge being transported on an airship. It was a substitute for the broken Trussway.
She glanced quickly at it. There didn't seem to be anyone on it...which meant the transportable Trussway could be directed by anyone. She looked up at the Vestige's entrance, the panels of the rock ceiling slowly beginning to open. That meant the Vestige had yet to be dropped onto Pulse. There was still hope yet.
"Right?" Sazh said, trying to make up for the blunder earlier. His face stung like a million needles had punctured his cheek and his stomach was bruised.
"Looks that way," she said, casting an irritated look before striding off to meet the bridge halfway.
They backtracked to a set of metal stairs that led to a platform set just a few feet above the Trussway surface. From there they used a mobile platform to arrive on the bridge. As Lightning jumped off easily, she couldn't help but notice the Pulsian Vestige had lowered again. Shaking her head she set off to confront their next obstacle.
"Eh..." Sazh mumbled, peering over the edge at the bottomless pit. "I don't like heights..."
Lightning scoffed, but her eyes soon spotted trouble. Near the center of the airborne bridge and stationed around a glowing control panel was a group of PSICOM officers gathered around a particularly large officer. Thankfully they hadn't been seen yet...but that could change any second. Lightning's hand inched for the handle of her gunblade as she bent over; however, the tallest of the bunch – a PSICOM Marauder – turned at the exact moment Sazh opened his mouth. Lightning froze as Sazh's words reached her ears.
"Are you s–"
"Quiet!"she silenced, straightening once it was evident the officers had spotted the two. She ground her teeth and mentally facepalmed, wishing she could just throw Sazh over the edge now.
Sazh looked up, realizing three PSICOM officers were headed their way. His eyes grew wide as he stepped back, lifting his guns in front of him. Lightning's gun was out in a second as the Marauder stepped forward, his mechanical suit giving him an extra foot. As he slowly stalked towards him, Lightning could barely catch a glance at his eyes staring at her through the slit in his mask, his spiked collar making his demeanor all the more menacing. He brandished a spiked lance at his side with a long reach.
Her eyes narrowed. That meant hand-to-hand combat was out of the question...
"Deportees, are we?" the Marauder drawled, his voice emitting as a mechanical scratch.
Lightning glanced over to Sazh, who was visibly shaking at this point. "Can't you pull some strings or somethin'?" he whispered.
She rolled her eyes and set her jaw, lowering her gun.
I can do this.
Instead, she used her left hand to salute the Marauder, holding her arm rigid as she touched her shoulder with the side of her hand. The gesture was universal for all soldiers in the military, and she hoped it was convincing now.
"No, sir. He's a deportee, however. I've been asked to escort him to a safer location to await further instruction from my superiors. Sir." Her voice was calm, cool, and collected.
The Marauder slowed and the suspicious hunch in his shoulders vanished. Then he noticed the gently pulsing yellow pauldron. Immediately his suspicions shot up again, and he looked back at his own PSICOM Enforcers that flanked his sides. "What's a GC doing here? Only PSICOM divisions are allowed down here. Who give you the authorization?" he demanded.
For a split second Lightning panicked. Thankfully an overhead explosion distracted the group for a mere five seconds, but it was enough.
She forced a chuckled and waved a hand, gesturing all around them at the war-torn skies. "Look around us. They needed backup and I'm well-experienced, sir."
"Right..." he gestured quickly to the two Enforcers at his side. "I think I'll escort you back myself, just for precautionary measures. I'm sure your superiors will understand," the Marauder finally said, turning and leading them back to the center.
Sazh threw a look of amazement at Lightning, thanking his lucky stars that least one of them knew what they were doing. He holstered his guns, but she shook her head, casting a look at the back of the PSICOM soldiers' heads. As they walked Lightning had silently transformed her blade into a gun, gripping it firmly. She made a point of stepping hard to make the soles of her heels click louder in order to create the illusion that they were following directly behind the group. The Marauder was giving instructions as Lightning lifted her gun, aiming for the soldier flanking the Marauder's left.
She nodded to Sazh, who took aim on the other one, pushing thoughts away of the fact that thesewereindeed human beings, just like him. Just one squeeze, and it would be over...
"Now!"
They fired simultaneously, their bullets traveling faster than the speed of sound. The Enforcers didn't even know what hit them as the force of the bullets sent them forward, dead in a second. The Marauder whirled and upon seeing his fallen comrades raised his lance and rocketed for them.
"So youaredeportees! Weapons down! I'd hate for this to turn ugly!" he snarled.
Sazh scratched his head. "Uh...'turn ugly'? I'm guessing that's not good..."
"He wants to kill us without a fight," she answered, brandishing her own weapon.
"Definitelynot–"
"Watch out!"
Lightning's eyes widened and she barely had enough time to slide in between his legs before he strung her head like a shish-kabob, his speed incredible by the enhanced suit he wore.
"Sazh!" she commanded, flicking her wrist.
He fired away, doing his nervous jig that Lightning could never understand. Nonetheless she leapt into battle and beat away at the Marauder, feigning and dodging his lethal strikes. He nicked her waist with the tip, slightly tearing a thread, but the outcome of the battle turned into the rebels' favor as the Marauder slowly became overwhelmed. As he turned to raise his lance Lightning took her chance and dove forward, thrusting the point of her gunblade forward and into the soldier. The lance fell from his hands and the light in his eyes faded. She removed her blade and stood, wiping a bead of concentrated sweat from her forehead.
Dead soldiers littered the floor of the skybridge as it slowly made its way to the next Trussway. Lightning stepped over their bodies, ignoring them until she found the control panel. Sazh made his way over, blowing out a puff of hair. From within his brown hair the chocobo chick chirped happily, completely unaware that any stray bullet that made its way into Sazh's afro could have ended its life instantly.
"That was a five-star right there!" he said, relieved. He watched her work and looked back at the fallen Marauder. "How'd you think of that, anyway?"
She ignored him.
After a few awkward moments of silence he tried again. "So, Soldier...what's your angle? What're you doin' running around in the Purge?"
Her eyes didn't even look up as she continued to examine the panel.
Sazh raised a finger sarcastically. "What, is it classified military info? Hmm? What's it matter now? You quit, didn't you? Why else would you be here, unless you're on a suicide mission...You think I'm gonna go out and tell everybody your secret? The world is endin' out–"
"The Pulse fal'Cie."
Sazh froze, his mind slowly trying to make out what she really said. Did she actually...?
She looked at him, her eyes cold. Yet he could also sense determination...he just didn't knowwhyshe was there,whyshe could do so much normal soldiers couldn't,whyshe had stopped the Purge train...
"My 'angle.' I'm after the fal'Cie," she replied calmly.
"That's...crazy..." he breathed, straining through the darkness to catch a glimpse of the Vestige as it was being lowered into the Hanging Edge.
"Still happy you tagged along?" she asked sarcastically, and gripped a lever, guiding it through multiple notches until the panel gleamed orange. Immediately, the two end bridges collapsed to fold under the skybridge as boosters roared to life below.
They were moving.
She pushed past him and strode to the end of the skybridge, leaving him to this new revelation. Sazh's mind reeled. Out of all the people...after everything that had happened, he was brought with another woman with the same goal as him.
He looked down at his hands. Just a few days ago he had cradled his son in those very same arms...
"I didn't have a choice."
(AN: here is a link to the soundtrack of this story: https/open./user/126518619/playlist/4lRptURlkJTd8EJuj8akL6?context=spotify%3Auser%3A126518619%3Aplaylist%3A4lRptURlkJTd8EJuj8akL6)