A.N: So, it took longer than intended to finish this, but it's done finally and Chapter 2 of Stray Bullets is on its way later as well since it's done too... Thank you to everyone that favorited this and followed it so far!

previously: When they got close to the outside, Noct's phone rang. It was silent for a time, then Noct spoke up, saying how he was building his arsenal. The conversation continued on the other end, then Noct agreed to something and hung up. He asked what that was about.

"Oh people to see, bases to burn. Let's go see Monica at the outpost."


When they got back to the outpost, they found Monica on the opposite side of the road going through the small town. She told them of a back way into this base the Empire were building and marked their map with the location. Then she headed off to meet them there while they went to the shop for potions and the like for everyone.

They got into the Regalia and headed to the parking spot on the road that was close to where Monica had marked for them. They made sure to lock the Regalia's doors before heading across the road and past a herd of Anak, being careful not to set them off as the things were truly majestic animals and they didn't want to have to fight them unless there was no choice. Luckily the herd was ignoring them for the most part.

They made their way to where Monica said she'd meet them to tell them the plan of attack.

"From here we will split ways. Prince Noctis will go on ahead with the Marshall, while we will create a diversion." Now, Prompto thought that sounded like a good plan, only... Separating from Noct? He didn't voice his concern; that the groups were oddly-numbered and he wanted to be with Noct! But the Marshall was strong and would surely keep Noct safe? Noct went through the small space (yeah, he was kinda glad to avoid another tight squeeze like that so soon after the Trench) and remaining for turned back to make the way to the gate.

"Alright, let's do this!" Prompto was good at causing a scene or creating a distraction. He let loose with a sonorus-esque shot that did nothing other than make noise. It worked though, and soon it was a free-for-all where you could barely focus on anything else but 'don't-die' and 'take-out-as-many-enemies-as-you-can'. It was kind of fun, really, in the way that all his yearly 'adventures' were in Hogwarts. Terrifying, but also exhilarating at the same time. The kind of excitement that he'd get into street fights back in Lucis for (not very often, mind, just when the monotony of a relatively safe life got to him).

Then the gate was opening and there was Noct and the Marshall, neither looking even all that badly injured. Prompto was sporting a few relatively small scrapes here and there, mainly on his exposed arms, where a Niff gunner managed to graze him or a soldier swiped him with a sword or dagger. He managed to dodge them enough to not be badly injured at least.

"Good to see you again Marshall." Was Ignis' first sentence surprisingly not about Noct. Though that could be because Cor 'The Immortal' was so skilled that Ignis felt secure enough in Noct's safety to not actually worry? Well, Prompto was able to pick out places where Noct's clothes could use some mild repairing charms, which he'd mastered wandless casting of years ago because of not wanting to bother his step parents with needing to buy new clothes too often because of the fights he used to get into. Anything that he couldn't sew back together got a repairo on them and looked good as new.

Before they could head back to the Regalia, or even move from where they regrouped, a voice stopped them.

"Stay right where you are, intruders. " Okay, yeah... Prompto was blaming this situation on his thrice-damned Potter Luck which seemed to follow him even when he was no longer Harry Potter. He didn't pay much attention to the guy's speech, something about Cor and how it was time to blah blah blah, yeah right... But he was certainly paying attention as a mech dropped out of the Imperial Drop ship.

"Ooh, robots! sweet!" Now, did he want to risk revealing his magic to test whether the machine would react in a blowing-up kind of way or not? Probably not a good idea, as technology here seemed to be built immune to magic because of the awareness of magic. The Empire also used 'magitek' which was an unholy mix of the two from what Prompto gathered. Prompto blissfully ignored the deadpan look his exclamation got from his friends and the pointed Look from Cor.

The fight got into full swing before anyone could comment on it though and Prompto decided to deal with the gunners on the sides for now while Cor and the guys dealt with the 'ground troops' and the mech. At times he wished he had two guns, because not only would dual-wielding be so bad-ass, but it would be a lot faster than aiming at a completely different side after shooting one enemy. Because his focus was on taking down whomever tried to shoot one of his friends.

Those ones went down fast, whenever he discovered one trooper or another aiming for his friends' backs. Once those enemies were dealt with, Prompto joined in with the others, firing 'Piercers' at any weak spots such as the joints of the machine. Every now and again one of the guys would perform a combo move with Noct and it wasn't quite seamless, but that was due to them still being fairly new to this level of real-life combat.

He could see that there was the potential to be truly great in their combinations and whatnot once they became more used to fighting together and better aware of their own skills and that of each other. After the fight, which he could tell was not the end of that Loqi guy, Cor had some more words for them, which Prompto mostly missed due to his musing on their fighting capabilities, so he only noticed when the Marshall had turned around and left with Monica following him.

Prompto shrugged and joined the guys as they got their first look at the land beyond Leide. It was very much different than the dust bowl they were leaving behind. Though it was definitely getting late, as the light from the sky was turning that beautiful shade of pinkish red that heralded the sunset. He couldn't resist taking a shot of Noct walking towards the far gate of the blockade/fortress-thing with the lighting of sunset in front of him.

The drive to the gas station/rest stop was filled with chatter about the region and the regions beyond, including mention of a Chocobo farm in Duscae, which he was SO looking forward to seeing.

When they pulled up to the gas pumps and got out, Noct's phone rang. He was curious as to who it could be, seeing as few people actually had the prince's number. His curiosity was sated when Gladio asked the question and was replied with 'Iris'. This led to Gladio grumping about how she could have called him, her brother, with Ignis saying that it wasn't Gladio's obituary all over the radio. Prompto really hated the reminder of that broadcast. He new it wasn't true, since they were WITH Noct when they heard it, but still.

To distract from those depressing thoughts, Prompto plastered on a not-entirely-faked grin as he tapped Noct's shoulder.

"Did you see that sign? Chocobo's man, Chocobo's. Can we go see 'em Noct?" He couldn't do the puppy-dog look, since he was more a cat person, but he gave his equivalent of it. He pouted (though he would forever claim it was a frown rather than a pout) when Gladio reminded them they had to make for Lestallum to meet his sister. "That's still ages away! C'mon, the Chocobo's are so close!" He was minorly obsessed over Chocobo's, they were just so cute!

"Sure, I wouldn't mind seeing them for a little bit." Noctis spoke up just when it seemed like Gladio might argue. Yes! with Noct agreeing they HAD to go! He did a mental celebratory dance while outwardly his joy couldn't be fully contained. "Yes. Gonna be awesome!" cue fist pump. However...

"It will have to wait for morning, regardless, as the nights are rather dangerous still." And Ignis was always the voice of reason. But it was true. They wouldn't make it to the Outpost before night fell, so they rented out a camper for the night, purchasing some things from the Coernix station at the same time.

-end-

A.N. Shorter than I'd really like but... I think this is as good a place to stop the chapter as any... plus that allows for Stray Bullets Chapter 2 to take place between Chapters 8 and 9 of this story... So yeah. Chapter 9 will likely be the whole Chocobo outpost section. And maybe some cuteness with the Chocobo's! And other things which I won't spoil for you! 'Til next time! Ja Ne!