If PSICOM didn't know she had a Grav-Con Unit, then they didn't know she was alive.
Had they ID'd her? But she had been searched before boarding the Purge train, and they had taken everything but the survival knife pressed tightly inside her jacket, against her skin. It hadn't been too hard to shift it around while being searched, enough to fool a harassed, hurried, and frightened PSICOM grunt.
It had been bizarre watching soldiers cower from their prisoners, ordinary civilians who had never held a gun a day in their lives. Ordinary civilians still on the train to Pulse, unless some of them jumped out the open door and into oblivion. A better fate than the hell that awaited them.
Even soldiers were scared of l'Cie.
Whatever. A warmech would come down here looking or it wouldn't. She'd deal with it when the time came.
Vibrations were coming from above her right shoulder. She queued her Grav-Con Unit.
"So how can I get me one of those things?" Sazh was saying.
"One of what?"
"That finger-snapping thing that turns you into a purple super woman. What do they call that, anyway? AMP technology, right?"
"It's a Grav-Con Unit."
"You might as well be a l'Cie with that thing. Can I try?"
Lightning considered Sazh. With his light green overcoat, dusty pants and heavy boots, he was dressed like an engineer on his day off. Middle-aged, hair curly enough to be a nest for a baby bird. He was tall, but some of it was hair. He had a tendency to mock his own misfortune. Then again, he had saved her life. She'd be on the train to Pulse right now if it weren't for Sazh.
"No," she said. "Untrained? You'd tear yourself apart."
"I don't like the sound of that. You keep your Unit, and I'll stick to these." He patted the pistols in his coat pocket. "I need holsters."
"We'll go shopping."
"Ha! You're funny. Did you know that? That you're funny?"
"No."
Something in her voice seemed to make him stop. She gripped his belt with her arm around his waist, the other attached to his wrist around her neck and heaved him up a little.
About 40 percent left in the Grav-Con. She powered it down and staggered at the sudden weight.
"You okay?" Sazh said. With him next to her, if she had a fair guess of what he was saying, he was audible enough. She ignored the question and kept walking.
The road they were on curved up toward a loading platform from where she could jump down to another that spiraled toward a path that seemed to be going toward the Vestige. These roads were built long ago, and where portions had collapsed they hadn't been replaced. Even 500 years later, the war's effects still showed.
Burning white searchlights beamed down from flying war machines. Thin green beams flashed and glittered, hunting for bioelectric signals. When they jumped down toward the center path, it would be almost impossible to hide for long.
She could fight two of them, she lied to herself. Three. She had to save Serah.
Problem was, there were a lot more than three of them.
"I don't see how we can get up from here," Sazh said.
"We'll jump."
"What? But—oh, right. Gravity don't mean much to the Guardian Corps. I see."
She snorted.
"But then we're out in the open, ain't we? Sitting ducks for the Sanctum's warmechs."
"The warmechs are stupid. Dumb like animals."
"Don't need to be smart if you weigh three tons and have laser cannons."
"Is that a saying?"
"I'm saying we're in trouble."
She released her grip on his waist and heaved him off of her. He stumbled back and fell, landing hard on his rear.
"Do you want to stop?" she demanded. She couldn't shout like she used to; all the screaming as a sergeant had worn out her throat, but it gave her delivery a husky quality that added to its strength. "Do you want to stay here and let the fal'Cie do this?"
He struggled to sit upright. "No. I've gotta rescue Dajh."
"Who's Dajh?"
"My little man. All I've got since my wife died. The fal'Cie took him and made him a l'Cie at Euride Gorge. I've got to free him of the curse."
The bells of Anima rang. For a moment the echo lingered.
"I'm trying to save my sister, Serah," Lightning said. "The fal'Cie made her a l'Cie too."
"Anima?"
She nodded.
He reached out his hand. After a moment, she took it and hauled him up.
"Thanks," he said, dusting himself off. "I don't want to live to see my kid turned into a monster anyway. We'll get to the fal'Cie or die trying."
"Yes. We will."
The crack of gunfire split the air. She whipped around, ducking for cover, but it wasn't aimed at them. Up on a high loading bridge, a battle between two armed forces had broken out.
"What's going on?" Sazh crouched by her, wincing. "These your Guardian boys come to rescue you?"
"Not likely."
Lightning narrowed her eyes and squinted. It was too far to see. Who would attack PSICOM at the Hanging Edge?
Oh.
Oh no. Not him. Not now.
Not the Idiot.
He hadn't planned on raising an army.
He hadn't planned at all. Just kicked down the door and started shooting. The army had just kind of happened. Like the engagement.
Now they were fighting through the Hanging Edge with the refugees they'd gathered from the Purge and weapons stolen from a PSICOM cache. A lot of people had died. He hadn't planned on that either.
Better than their fate on Pulse, at least.
Small comfort.
"You okay, boss?"
Snow snapped out of his trance and nodded at Gadot. "Yeah. Let's put some pep into the new recruits." He turned and surveyed the frightened group, the latest ones they had freed from a PSICOM march.
"Listen up, everybody," Snow said to the huddled Purge refugees. "I'm the hero, name's Snow. I'm here to protect you." He gestured at Gadot and the others. "These bozos are my soldiers. We've got a bone to pick with the Pulse fal'Cie. But we're not going to let the Sanctum take you all to Pulse. So who's ready to fight?"
He scanned the intersecting roads around them. The warmechs were circling, but rocket launchers had stopped their dives. Seemed like they thought the refugees were his hostages. Ship 'em to Pulse against their will, sure, but don't let them be hurt.
It was in times like these that he felt like he understood some of the anger that drove Lightning. He hadn't seen her since the Purge had come to Bodhum. Pity. Could've used a soldier like her here.
PSICOM snipers were hurrying into position. He barked an order at Gadot and the others to take cover. As for himself, he strode out, wanting to get a better view of their target.
Sniper gunfire exploded. Snow peered toward their destination, trying to see a way forward. Bullets bounced off his chest and arms. One pinged his chin and he shook his head for a moment to clear his vision.
The Vestige from Pulse was floating in the center of the Hanging Edge, surrounding by a rotating swarm of warmechs. PSICOM snipers flanked the road ahead, ready to cut down anyone who tried to cross.
The military-grade earplugs, half-machine, half-artificial organism, let in the soft ripple of confusion and amazement from the refugees in front of him while muting the harsh scream of the warmechs above into a high-pitched whine.
The machine on the back of his coat began to whirr as more bullets bounced off his body. He didn't want the AMP device to overheat, but there were kids watching who needed some inspiration. It would be a shame to waste the moment.
He spread his arms. "PSICOM!" he shouted. "Soldiers of Sanctum!" His voice boomed across the gap with the AMP device on his back. "These people have done nothing to hurt you! They are loyal citizens, not Pulse fal'Cie! The only enemies of Cocoon are those who order you to Purge the innocent! Now let me through to see the fal'Cie. I'm putting an end to this."
Blue discs glowed along the interconnected paths overhead where the PSICOM soldiers waited. Fragmented rectangles pooled out and wrapped around each other, taking on the appearance of giant monsters. Snarling, they began leaping to the levels below.
"So that's a no," Snow said. "Don't worry," he said to the refugees as two giant machine-bull behemoths slammed onto the ground in front of him.
"You're going to get us all killed!" a refugee shouted.
"Better than Pulse," Snow answered. "But I'm the hero. I'll protect everyone."
"Arm us," a silver-haired woman said urgently. "I was a Guardian reserve. We can fight."
"That's not a bad idea." Snow began to walk toward the two bulls. Each was about ten feet tall and even longer, swaying like animals and watching him with robotic eyes. Riot control. Here to stop him from escaping. As if he would backtrack now. "But the hero's going to take care of this."
He nodded at Gadot and the others, who stayed crouched behind piles of broken rubble, and faced the villains.
One stamped its feet, roared, and charged.
He caught it by the horns, grunting as it forced him back. The emblem on his trench coat whirred excitedly as it strained to manipulate the inertia in his body, compensating for overworked muscles and a lack of sheer mass. It would take a greater shock than five tons of metal slamming into him at thirty kilometers an hour to hurt him.
"Boss!" Gadot shouted.
"Shaddap," Snow said, and shoved the bull's head to the side, then crashed his hand down on the snout. The bull was sent sliding along the ground. He rushed its exposed belly, heaving, and shoved. It was enough to send it kicking over the edge of the road into the hazy green void.
He turned to the next one and saw its mouth open, a blazing white light forming.
"Oh, shi—"
Something flew past him. It struck inside the beast's open mouth and exploded. The beam released in a scattered white burst, glancing harmlessly off Snow, and the riot machine collapsed, jerking and sparking.
Snow turned, and gave the silver-haired woman a thumbs up. There was sweat on the back of his neck. "Nice job."
She smirked, shouldering a rocket launcher she had picked up from one of the PSICOM soldiers. A gunshot rang out, and her expression changed to shock as she collapsed, bleeding from a hole in her neck.
"No!" Snow shouted, rushing over, but it was already too late. Even as he cradled her and covered the open holes with his hands, the life slipped from her eyes.
"No," Snow said again, and slammed his fist on the ground, leaving a crack. "Damn it, PSICOM, she was a civilian!"
A silver-haired boy was standing up among the refugees, being pulled back by the others. "I'm going on alone," Snow said to Gadot, shaking with anger. "Lead these people to the hoverbikes when PSICOM's attention is on me. They won't attack the civilians as long as they don't pick up a gun. Just keep moving!"
Gadot looked unhappy, but nodded. "What're you going to do, boss?"
Snow set the woman down and stood, looking at the Pulse Vestige. "I'm going to end this."
"This is our chance!" Lightning said. She grabbed Sazh and snapped her fingers. The purple field crackled over her, and she hauled him in bounding leaps up the road. "That idiot's good for only one thing, drawing attention to himself."
"Whoaaa!" Sazh yelled as she pulled him along as fast as a car. "Hey! Lady! There's no seat belts on this thing!"
"This is our one chance!" Lightning answered. She smiled coldly. "This must be what people call a miracle."
Snow jumped onto a lower road, landing with enough force to crack it. Soldiers surrounded him on hoverbikes, AMP engines screaming. They leveled grenade launchers. He caught a grenade, threw it back, knocked the rider off his bike. Took the bike.
Revving the engine, he urged it on through the air toward the Pulse fal'Cie.
Bullets cut the air around him. The fire slowed as he neared the Vestige. The warmechs spiraling around it converged toward him at first, then peeled away and let him through.
"He's trapped on the Vestige," Lightning said. "Rumor has it they sealed a PSICOM team in there too when they went to investigate. It's all being sent back to Pulse, so who cares if he reaches the fal'Cie inside?"
"Think they'll be kind enough to treat us the same?" Sazh said.
"Doubt it."
"So what's the plan, soldier?"
'The Vestige is being moved toward that center platform. At the right time, we can jump."
"Yeah, but how are we going to make that jump?"
She grabbed his waist.
Sazh sighed. "I hate it when you do that."
"Ready?"
"No."
Lightning watched the Vestige float through the air. It looked slow, but that was deceptive. It was huge, and moving fast. Maybe twelve seconds.
She snapped her fingers, and started to run.
The warmechs turned.
Faster.
Green lights flashed over them.
Jump. Now.
She pushed off the edge with enough force to drive two human beings thirty feet in the air. Machine-gun fire burst, but they were moving too fast for a human gunner to track accurately. A warmech was in the way. She queued the Grav-Con Unit.
The beast-machine's tail whipped around. It slammed her on the side, making the inertial field around her spark and buzz. Better contact would have broken her arm. As it was, the field diverted most of the hit.
It did change their course though, sending them rocketing at a downward angle away from the Vestige. She queued the AMP device again, sending it out of her in a swirling purple circle like she had done to brace Sazh. It caught her, stopping their movement. For a moment they hung over the dark-green void.
"We're going to fall!" Sazh shouted.
"Shut up." She cued the remaining energy back over her, pushed out from the dying field, and shot slowly, silently toward the Vestige.
"We're not going to make it!" Sazh grabbed her.
Her fingers clutched a ledge. She threw him up and then pulled herself over and into the Vestige.
"We did it!" Sazh said like he didn't quite believe it had happened. "Let's get inside quick before they change their mind about shooting."
Lightning followed him through a door, which opened automatically, checking her Grav-Con Unit for juice. Making a disgusted noise, she stowed it, and brushed past him, leading the way up the alien wreckage from the war toward where the last god of the ancient enemy waited.