Gordon had been cleaning and fixing guns all morning. He was bored; he wanted to be out taking a stand against the Empire, reminding them that there were people who weren't afraid to fight back. However, they had already made two strikes already against the Empire, and with very little information regarding the village and any other Imperial targets, it would be better to let things cool down. Still a small part of him enjoyed the relaxing moments between strikes; it gave him some peace of mind when the Empire failed to track them down. Despite it being another quiet day, Gordon had noticed that Thomas had been slightly jumpy all morning.
Dull of his surroundings and the stale air, Gordon left the basement. He could hear the others doing whatever could starve off boredom. In the sitting room, he could see James, Percy, Rosie, Thomas and the Twins, watching TV. Thomas and the twins were on the sofa, while James had claimed the armchair nearest the window for himself, Rosie had the other armchair with Percy sitting on the floor in front.
"Who's up for a run into the village?" boomed Gordon, wanting to make his presence known.
"I'm not running anywhere, Gordon," said Percy.
"I don't think he literally means it, Percy," said Rosie.
"Not with Gordon," said James, Gordon scowled at him.
"Gordon's always trying to show off how fast his fat arse can run," said Thomas before chuckling, until Gordon slapped the back of his head.
"Excuse me trying to alleviate the boredom," Gordon said with a growl.
"Ok, calm down Gordon," said Percy, "Although, I won't mind taking a walk through the village."
"Good, who else is coming?" asked Gordon.
"I'll come," said Thomas, getting up.
"Me too, wonder what state the Empires in down there," said James with a chuckle.
The four headed outside, beside the barn was Duck, Edward and Henry. Henry was chopping wood, while Edward and Duck gathered up slip logs, and placed new ones down.
"Hey, we're going to the village, who wants to come?" asked Percy.
"Count me," said Henry. Edward and Duck exchanged shocked looks.
"Are you guys mad?" Edward almost shouted, "We can't go into the village, not after what we've done!"
"Come on Edward," Thomas replied, "We've given the Empire a serious black eye. Hell, they didn't have much of a presence in Elsbridge to start with. Wouldn't hurt to do a bit of recon anyway."
Edward could tell they were going into the village, regardless of what he said.
"Fine, I'll come too, make sure we keep a low profile."
After saying bye to Duck, the six headed for the village.
Once they arrived at the at the Elsbridge checkpoint, they were slightly surprised by the number of soldiers on guard. There were roughly twenty soldiers stationed at the checkpoint, all carrying an assortment of weapons. Three soldiers approached the group, and demanded their passes. There were a few tense minutes as the soldiers checked their passes.
"There, now fuck off," a soldier growled as he handed Percy back his pass.
Once they were through the checkpoint, everyone exchanged glances.
"Ok, I know we've upset the Empire," said Thomas in a whisper, "but seriously, where did they pull these troops from?"
"How about we worry about that later," Edward replied, "let's keep our heads down."
The streets of Elsbridge were packed with Imperial Soldiers patrolling everywhere; trucks were driving up and down the roads, occasionally stopping to drop off soldiers. Civilians carefully traversed the streets, trying to avoid all forms of contact with the Soldiers. An handful of news team had been working in the area, interviewing civilians and soldiers.
"Where in hell did these guys come?" Henry whispered, "Wasn't so long ago, they barely had enough soldiers to swarm the station."
On another street, they saw a twelve man squad of soldiers surrounding a group of four people, three adults and a child, near a truck. They were terrified, a woman held the child close to her protectively. James silently fumed at the sight.
"Please...Let us go...We've done nothing, we're..." a man begged.
"You are rebel scum!" barked an Officer. Thomas gasped; it was the same officer who had searched Lady's home. "Your kind, have caused us a great deal of trouble, and for that you will be punished!"
"We can't let them get away with this!" James quietly growled.
"Hold it, James," said Edward, "There's nothing we can do. We haven't got weapons, and we are surrounded by Imperial troops."
"But they're gonna kill those people!" he hissed.
"James, if we get involved, we'll be killed, and so will they," Gordon quietly snapped at him.
"Load 'em up," commanded the officer, "Leave the brat here."
Two of the soldiers reached other to the woman; she screamed and clung to her child even tighter. The two men were restrained by two other soldiers each. The child wailed as he was pulled from his mother and was thrown to the ground. James' rage was now beyond critical. As the soldiers began to drag the adults away, the child slowly crawled towards the nearest soldier and grabbed his leg. The soldier kicked the crying child away.
James broke out into a sprint towards the soldier.
"James, wait!" Edward tried to stop him, but it was too late.
The soldier didn't notice James, until he was directly in front of him. James noticed the soldier's side arm on his hip. He charged into the grunt and grabbed hold of the pistol. With it in hand, he stood back and aimed at the soldiers head.
BLAM
Time slowed as the soldier fell back; everyone stared in horror at James, and raced after him. The soldiers briefly froze and stared at James. James gasped; he had exposed them to the Empire in public. The soldiers began to take aim at him, instinct took over, and James aimed at another soldier and fired three shots.
Suddenly, Gordon sprinted past and pounced at two soldiers, knocking both of them to the ground. Edward followed close behind, landing a punch in the face of another soldier. Henry picked up a rifle that had fallen and fired at the soldiers who held the adults. Percy tackled another soldier, pinning him to the ground as he tried to grab the pistol. The Officer reached for his pistol and aimed at Percy, Thomas forced his aim away and pushed him into the truck.
"You!" the Officer growled. Thomas punched him in the gut, and yanked the pistol out of his hand. He shot the officer before he could recuperate.
With all the soldiers dead, no one said a word, the adults and child had ran away. Everyone locked eyes on James and glared. Suddenly, there was a crack of gunfire and bullets whizzed past. Imperial troops were starting to pour into the street from all corners.
"Get in the truck!" roared Gordon. He and Edward got into the cab, while the others scrambled into the back. Gordon got the truck in gear and stamped down hard on the accelerator. The truck thundered down the street through Imperial troops, while others pursued them.
At the house, everyone was standing outside. They could hear the sound of gunfire roaring from the village. Everyone looked at each other in a panic.
"What the fuck is going on over there?" shouted Donald.
"Sounds like war just broke out," said Rosie, "I thought there weren't any rebels in Elsbridge."
"There aren't," Lady stated. Realisation quickly slapped everyone across the face.
"You don't think...?" Duck was cut off by more gunfire.
"We need to do something," exclaimed Douglas. "Get kitted up, we need to move!"
In Elsbridge, Gordon continued to navigate the narrow roads, looking for an easy way out of the village. Behind them, they were pursued by an assortment of trucks and light armed assault vehicles. Bullets bounced off the rear of the truck, everyone kept low as possible in the back.
Ahead was a T junction, as they approached, Gordon planned to turn right. Suddenly, an LAAV appeared from the right and was now charging to towards them, the machine gun on top firing a spray of bullets.
Gordon turned onto the pavement and scraped past, before turning hard left. The truck skidded as the tyres struggled to grip the road. The rear of the truck slid out and smashed against the wall of a building. Gordon wrestled with the wheel, trying to straighten the truck. Suddenly, Gordon and Edward felt the truck jerk forward.
"Their right on our tail, Gordon," said Edward, while looking in the wing mirror.
"I'm doing all I can Edward," Gordon stamped down on the accelerator.
They were now in the village square, trucks; LAAV's and troops were pouring in from all the other roads. Immediately, there was a roar of gunfire, Gordon and Edward ducked down as the windows shattered, and there was a popping sound. Gordon felt the trucks grip on the road; he battled for control as rims of the trucks wheels slid across. However, all of his efforts were in vain, the truck slid across the road and into a cafe.
"Everyone out!" yelled Gordon, backing against the back of the cabs.
Edward and Gordon got out and started to shoot at the Imperial Soldiers in the square as the others got out of the truck. Once clear, all six retreated into the cafe, while returning fire at the troops.
Everyone had been running the short distance between the house and the village. They had been able to slip into the village by going through the alleyways and silently, ambushing a squad and now were forming a plan while regaining their breath, and slipping into the soldiers uniforms.
"Ok, I've changed the radio frequencies," said Duck, "The Imperial's shouldn't be able to listen in."
"Lady and Emily, you two will find transport," said Donald, pointing at the two women.
"Duck, Toby and Rosie, you'll get the guys out of whatever shit they've dropped themselves in, while me and Donald provide cover fire," Douglas finished explaining the plan.
At the cafe, the Steam Team struggled to hold off the Imperial forces that continued to grow, and what little ammo they had was running low. Henry took aim at a trooper who was dashing between cover. He followed his movement, trying to get a clear shot on him. The trooper broke cover. Henry pulled the trigger.
BLAM
The trooper tumbled to the floor.
"I'm running low on ammo here," James yelled over the crack of gunfire.
"I'm almost out too," said Percy, taking cover behind an overturned table.
"James!" Gordon roared, "If we survive this, I'm gonna kill you!"
Edward fired two bullets off at the soldiers. "Can we not argue about this here?"
"Ahh, this is hell on my shoulder," Thomas growled through gritting teeth.
Suddenly, a squad of soldiers charged in front of the cafe from the side. The Steam Team dived to cover as the soldiers opened fire. The squad began to storm into the cafe, when Gordon broke cover and opened fire. James and Thomas were next to break cover, followed by Henry, then Percy and Edward. They unleashed a barrage of bullets against the soldiers. Three soldiers took cover against the onslaught, waiting out for the inevitable.
Gordon was first, he gasped in horror when he weapon made empty clicks when he pulled the trigger, he had no more ammo. James was next to run out, followed by Thomas, then Percy, Edward and finally Henry. The three soldiers broke cover and aimed at the team. Suddenly, two of the troops fell forwards; the lone trooper glanced at his fallen comrades and then glared at the six. Despite his efforts to hide it, his body rigid body screamed he was terrified.
Then there was a loud bang as three more soldiers stormed in from the back. One was brandishing a shotgun, while the other two carrying assault rifles. Immediately, they opened fire on the lone trooper in front. The Steam Team immediately dropped to the floor, and looked at the three troopers.
"Rosie!?" Percy gasped upon recognising the redhead in Imperial uniform. He then saw Toby and Duck standing in the uniforms.
"Don't ask, we need to get out of here!" commanded Duck, "Donald and Douglas are providing sniper fire outside for us.
"Guys, more troops are coming this way," said Rosie as she and Toby opened fire against the advancing Imperial troops. Duck lead everyone out the back while Rosie and Toby slowed down approaching troops. Once outside, everyone sprinted down an alleyway, away from the deafening roar of gunfire.
"Come on, Emily will be here soon," Duck then grabbed his radio, "Donald, Douglas, we've got the guys, moving to meet up with Emily.
The sound of gunfire fell silent as the team exited another alley. Suddenly, they could hear the roar of an engine, and Imperial truck appeared from a corner in front of them, before screeching to a stop inches from the group.
"Get in," Emily commanded from the driver seat.
The Steam Team and Toby clambered into the back of the truck, while Rosie and Duck took the front. Emily stamped down on the accelerator, and the truck took off down the street, just before the perusing troops arrived.
Meanwhile, Donald and Douglas had abandoned their vantage point and were now making their way to Lady. They had positioned themselves above a small shop opposite the cafe. After quick sprint, they met up with Lady, in a LAAV parked in a nearby car park.
"They got 'em!" said Douglas, almost triumphantly as he got into the passage seat, while Donald manned the turret.
"Thank goodness," said Lady, getting the LAAV in gear, and now heading to meet up with the others.
At Vicarstown, the Diesel Military base in charge of Sodor as at its highest alert status. It had been just over two hours since the sudden attack in Elsebridge had ended; leaving several Imperial troops that had been stationed there dead or wounded. Ever since the normally quiet village started to become troublesome, the empire had immediately begun investigating into the source of the rebel activity. Class 40 was in charge of the investigation, with Arry and Bert for official support.
"It's nearly been a week and this is the third attack from Elsebridge," Class 40 was reviewing their information, "they're brave, I'll give them that."
Class 40 and Bert were standing before a wall mounted board that was covered with images and documents. Beside them was Arry, tapping away on a laptop. Behind them were two rows of computers, all manned by personal, and a large table covered with paper.
"They've also been a pain in the arse to find," said Bert, "I'd say it was escaped prisoners from that camp, would explain why there has been a sudden increase in violence."
"No, these rebels have been able to remain hidden from us for almost a week, highly unlikely any prisoners would be able to gather supplies from the camp and find a hideout in such a short space of time," Class 40 could see where Bert got his deduction, but rational thought and logic said otherwise, "Any new info, Arry?"
"Nothing, would be helpful if the troops could get us some CCTV footage," Arry continued to tap away until a notification popped up, "well now, that's interesting." A smile crept across his lips.
"What is it?" Class 40 said as he and Bert approached their fellow officer.
"Seems a News crew were able to catch some footage of rebels engaging our boys." Arry played the clip. It showed an out of control imperial truck crashing into a cafe, followed by six people disembarking while firing at approaching imperial troops.
"Jackpot," hissed Bert through the teeth of his grin.
"Get analysers on that footage, and have in cross referenced all photo identities, let's find out who these Sinister Six are!" commanded Class 40.
The sun was starting to set by the time everyone had reached the safety of the house. Once the soldiers lost the rebels, it had taken almost two hours of painfully careful driving, followed by some well timed off-road driving to slip out of the village without causing alarm, all the way back. Upon arriving, everyone slowly disembarked from the vehicles. Despite the cold bitter air, hardly anyone felt it.
"That was close," said Duck. "What exactly happened?"
"James wasn't thinking," Gordon pointed an accusing finger at the guilty person.
"I'm sorry!" James held up his hands in defence, "but you saw what was happening! Those bastards deserved it!"
"You almost got us killed!" Thomas advanced towards James, only for Edward to stop him.
"ENOUGH!" roared Edward; his calm, patient personality was gone. "What's done is done. We can only learn from it."
Everyone calmed down and started to relax. Edward turned to face James...and threw fast punch into his left cheek. James tumbled to the snow covered ground.
"HEY!" Emily ran to her boyfriend's side, and glared at Edward, "What was that for?"
"I needed to let loose some build up stress." Edward lightly shook his hand before folding his arms.
"You're meant to be the calm reasonable one, Edward," James massaged his swelling cheek.
"I have bad days." Edward made his way towards the house.
The warmth of the houses interior was welcoming to the weary rebels, giving comfort to their tired bodies. Percy and Rosie were in the sitting room with Gordon and Henry, who were sleeping on the sofa and an armchair.
"How are you feeling Rosie?" Percy had noticed the redhead had not said a single word since they had returned.
"Fine... fine," Rosie said, upon breaking out of her trance. Percy could tell she was lying.
"You're not a very good liar," Rosie looked away, almost in shame.
"I was so scared," she said softly, "even after the camp, the station...I had never felt so afraid, I thought I was going to die." Tears started to build in her eyes.
"It's ok," said Percy, giving Rosie a look of compassion, "I was afraid too."
"But I was meant to save you, and Thomas, and the others..." Rosie sniffed back her tears, "How could I if I had frozen in the cafe? I would have killed us."
"Rosie," Percy gently placed his hand on her arm, "I'm not as smart as Edward, and don't know the right words to say. But I can tell, whenever I go on a mission, I'm always afraid. What keeps me going is my trust in the others, even James, because I know they've got my back, and they trust me with their lives."
Rosie gave Percy a small smile. "It's always a challenge, I remember after our very first attack, what Edward told me, 'You're not meant to enjoy these attacks, what your feeling is your humanity guiding you through your troubles, so you do not become the monster you despise.'"
"Sounds like Edward knows what he's talking about."
"He's the smartest person I've ever known," Percy replied with great admiration, "if it wasn't for him, I'm sure we wouldn't have been as successful as we have been."
The two shared a smile.
"Want to watch some TV?" asked Percy, eying the remote.
"What about those two?" Rosie pointed to the sleeping titans.
"Stop their awful snoring?" Percy replied cheekily. Rosie chuckled.
Upon turning on the screen, the cheeky smiles fell from the pairs faces and were replaced with looks of horror. Both Gordon and Henry woke up grumbling from the disturbance; however they were quickly silenced once they saw the screen.
"GUYS!" Rosie shouted.
There was a thunder of footsteps as everyone gathered in the sitting room. On the TV was the news;
"We return to our top story tonight; violence erupted in Elsebridge when rebels who had been hiding there were exposed. The resulting fire fight left many brave and noble imperial troops dead or critically wounded. For several days, ever since the destruction of the Elsbridge camp, rebel attacks have been carried out against our Empire throughout the village. During which, the perpetrators have remained unknown, until moments ago..."
Everyone gasped in horror, as the screen to show video footage of the Imperial truck they crashed:
"This was the scene of rebel violence, which left many brave soldiers dead. After crashing due to pursuit imperial forces, the Rebels crashed into the local cafe. Here, six men got out, and immediately begin shooting at imperial troops and civilian bystanders before taking cover in the cafe."
"BULLSHIT!" Gordon roared. Screen changed again, this time to six individual pictures of the Steam Team.
"They have been identified as follow; Thomas Billington, Edward Pettigrew, Henry Stanier, Gordon Gresley, James Hughes and Percy Avonside. They have been dubbed the 'Sinister Six' and are confirmed to be on the run after escaping from justice, it is advised to avoid them as they are extremely armed and dangerous, any sightings of them are to be reported immediately. The group also believed to be responsible for rebel attacks in Tidmouth..."
Percy turned off the TV. The atmosphere was very solemn in the sitting room.
"What do we do?" asked Percy.
Everybody looked at each other, hoping someone had an idea of some form plan.
"We have to leave," everyone turned to stare at Thomas, "It's obvious we can't stay here."
"You can't!" Lady looked at Thomas in horror.
"We can't stay here Lady," Edward said in his calming voice.
"Edward's right," said Gordon, the steam team stared at him in surprise, "If we stay, we'll die."
"In that case, I'm coming with you," said Toby, in a firm voice, "you guys saved me, allow me to return the favour."
"We're coming too," the Scottish twins proudly stepped forward.
"And me," said Emily. Everyone announced their intentions.
"Guys, you can't come," said Edward.
Everyone turned at him, and began bombarding him with statements and questions, demanding why Edward made his comment.
"Guys, we don't have the supplies for us all to go on the run, and the more there are of us, the easier it would be for the empire to track us down," explained Edward.
"But even you six alone wouldn't be able to manage, what would happen when your supplies ran out? You wouldn't want to start raiding from towns?" Duck said in an almost accusing voice.
Edward tried to counter the valid point, "No, but..."
"So either way Edward, you guys need us," Duck said, he wasn't being smug, or trying to make out he was smart. He wanted to expose the flaws in the Steam Teams survival plan, and help them to survive their new status.
Edward sighed and looked around in defeat. "We have three tents that would barely be able to hold three people; we don't have the room to accommodate us all, so either way we look at it, some people have to stay behind." Edward looked towards the three women.
"Oh no Edward!" Emily advanced toward him, until she was right in his face. "You're not keeping me out of this!"
"Or me!" said Lady, clenching her fists.
"If it was possible, then I would have no problem bringing you all along, I'm thankful you guys came for us in Elsbridge and proud to fight beside you. But, for obvious reasons, it would be impossible to bring you along."
There was an awkward silence, as much as everyone hated to admit it, their team would certainly be captured and sentenced to a long, suffering demise at the hands of the empire for all their actions. Leaving Elsbridge to go on the run as fugitives was currently the only way to avoid it, though that didn't mean they had to like.
The Steam Team, along with Toby, Duck and the twins left to pack. Everyone was in a bitter mood. Gordon was grumbling as he packed his rucksack with his supplies, ammo and a few weapons, much to the annoyance of Duck and the Twins.
"James is lucky we need him to pull his weight..."
Henry just threw his head back with a sigh. "Gordon, how long are you gonna keep ranting?"
"Shut it Henry, I'm pissed off as it is." Gordon continued to stuff his bag, "and I'm not going back to prison!"
Percy and Thomas were gathering food supplies for the journey, with the help of Rosie and Lady. Percy and Rosie headed to the basement with some supplies, while Thomas and Lady continued to gather more. The atmosphere was uncomfortably quiet; the recently formed couple hadn't spoken to each other since their return. Thomas looked over at Lady, only to see her back facing him. With a quiet sigh, Thomas gathered together more supplies and headed to the door...
"Don't go..." Thomas stopped when he heard a weak voice whisper, "...please."
Thomas turned to face Lady; she faced him with tearing up eyes. "Please, stay with me."
Thomas felt like he was about to cry, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Lady, pulling her in close to his chest. "I want to," he croaked, desperately holding back tears, "oh god, I want to stay with you so much, to take you with me. But I can't..."
"Please, just stay with me, I can protect you..." Lady clung tight to him, refusing to let him go.
"And risk losing you? No!" Tears were now streaming down his face. "I couldn't live with myself if you came to harm."
"And how do you think I feel?" Lady pulled back to look him in the eye, "You're the one who's wanted, I don't want to lose you and..."
Thomas silenced her by planting a kiss on her lips.
"Lady, if any harm was to come to you, I don't know what I'd do, but as long as you're safe, that would be enough to keep me going." Thomas whispered in her ear, while clinging tightly to her as he possible could.
"Ahem..."
The pair broke apart to see Edward and James standing in the doorway. "Are we interrupting something?" James teased with a silly, but almost sad, grin. Thomas scowled back.
It was nearly midnight when it was time to leave, Percy was in the bedroom, checking he had everything when Henry and Rosie entered.
"Time to go, Percy," said Henry.
"Ok, I've got everything with me," Percy closed his rucksack.
"Take care guys," said Rosie, choking back tears, "I'm gonna miss you."
"We'll be ok," Henry shook her hand and gave her a small smile, before heading downstairs.
"We'll come back Rosie," Percy pulled her into a hug, his eye's tearing up, "I promise."
"You better," the pair lightly chuckled.
Soon everyone had gathered in the sitting room, finishing off their good-byes. Outside, the wind howled as large, heavy snow fell. James had his arms wrapped tightly around Emily, tears endless streaming down both they're faces.
"We've only just got back together, and now I'm losing you again," Emily said through his tears, "It's not fair!"
"I so badly want you to stay Emily, I'd give anything to be with you for the rest of my life," James choked on his tears.
"Promise me you'll come back, promise me."
"Emily, I wouldn't want to live without you."
Emily locked her lips against James' own; there was no passion, or desire in her kiss. Just love, pure unrelenting love. James replied in turn, savouring the feeling of her on his lips.
Edward, Duck and Toby stood in the far corner, away from the good-byes of the others.
"So Edward, what's the plan?" asked Toby.
"I've spent some time pouring through maps, it's clear we can't leave the island without being caught, the only thing I can think of is to head east, towards the mountains."
"That's no easy walk Edward, about forty miles as the crow flies, and with Imperials hunting you guys..." said Duck, "...things are going to be much harder."
"I know it won't be easy, but it's all I could think of. We'll come up with something on the way."
The three all exchanged worried looks before returning to the group.
The atmosphere was depressing as the eleven left the warm of the house and into the bitter cold night, with only flickering small lights of torches to guide them through the fierce blizzard. Once any trace of the party vanished from sight, the three women returned home.
No one said a word; all they did was sit in empty silence in the sitting room, listening to the wind howl relentlessly outside. Rosie remained still, stared out into space, forgetting about everything in the room. Emily however, was restless, her right knee twitched constantly as she looked around almost anxiously. Lady sat calmly on the sofa, but her eyes darted between the two women, her hands covering her mouth.
"That's it!" Lady launched herself up, gaining the attention of the two other women.
Lady said nothing she just stormed up the stairs, with a curious Emily and Rosie following her. The pair followed Lady into her room. Lady had pulled out her hunting rifle, and looked at the pair with determination.
"If the Empire's going to hunt the guys down, then I say with the Empire a hard time doing it," Lady's voice carried a strength never heard before, "after everything they've done, it's the least we can do."
Rosie and Emily exchanged glances, before nodding in agree. It was time for them to stand against the Empire.
A/N: Sorry I'm late with this one, been very busy with life. I'm also working on another project, which should be up around June/July time. If you like this then you'll probably like it as well. Anyway, hope you like this.
