Hello everyone, this is Light 8496.

This is my first story ever!

I have been reading from FanFiction for many years now. So, I decided to try my hand at writing my own story.

I know that Final Fantasy 13 isn't the greatest game in the series, but I have always enjoyed it. So, please read to your hearts content.

I also know that this first chapter is a little long. But that is the price to pay for a detailed story.

One more thing that I must say cause I could possibly be sued. I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any other games in the series.

"Speech"

"Thoughts"

The world was ending.

Or that was what it felt like.

Everywhere the eye can see was nothing but chaos, destruction, and death. There were fires, screaming, yelling, crying, and gunfire, so much gunfire. PSICOM soldiers and civilians were shooting each other, bioweapons were deployed, and blood was spilled on both sides.

None of this makes sense, why is this happening?

These were the thoughts of a young man currently taking cover behind some rubble and broken stones created from the ongoing destruction. He was slim with some muscle with a light-tan skin tone after some time on a beach a day prior. He had bluish-green single-length spiky hair with Azura colored eyes. Hanging off his right shoulder was a brown messenger bag. He wore a blue sleeveless undershirt and a black open short-sleeved shirt over it. Below that he had light blue shorts on that were a little less than knee length with the symbol of the sun on the right leg. For feet he had simple white short socks with black/white running shoes. The only accessory he had was an aurora-colored silk scarf with a symbol that resembled a "T" with the bottom coming up as a sort of hook to the left tied around his left forearm.

He was currently clutching a fallen soldier's gun and having trouble using it due to the fact of never wielding one before, or any weapon of any kind. But he was desperate to learn like many others who knew that if they did not, they would die at the hands of the military. No one there were fighters, and they knew it. After all, Cocoon had known peace for centuries. There had been no battles or wars yet there was a military, but it was mainly used for keeping the peace and in case of an attack from Pulse below. Even if they survived this battle, the future was uncertain. They were supposed to go to Pulse because they were "tainted" by the vestige that resided in the sea-side city of Bodhum. To some it was artistry and to others just another piece of junk left over from the War of Transgressions centuries prior. But no one would have guessed that a Pulse Fal'Cie, a sworn enemy of Cocoon, laid dormant inside. Not long after the discovery, the Sanctum, the ruling body of Cocoon, announced the purge.

Now the people or "migrants" are in a full-out battle with the military. It was clear to the young man that that they did not plan on sending him to Pulse, but to execute them all in the Hanging Edge. He was scared and trembling. If the enemy in front of him did not kill him, then the crumbling city would. The Hanging Edge used to be a bustling metropolis before the war. But when a Pulse attack cracked the outer shell of Cocoon, the city was left abandoned, unattained, and turned into a restricted zone by the government. The city was never meant to be turned into a warzone by proof of the collapsing buildings and falling aerorails. It took him great amounts of courage just to look out from behind cover, even more courage to stand up and fire his gun.

Luckily, even though he and his allies were inexperienced in warfare, so were the enemy soldiers who they themselves have not any experience in battles or wars, but only training. As the last of the current wave of enemies died, the man and deportees moved forward to collect the guns, ammunition, and medical supplies from the fallen. There were machine guns, RPGs, potions, phoenix downs, grenades, ammo, and even a PSICOM Marauder's spear. After placing everything he needed in his bag, he picked up the spear to test its weight and feel, but he was then approached by a macho man with tan-skin and fiery hair.

"Hey, why don't you give me that?" said the red head while holding out his hand.

"I don't know, what happens if the enemy gets too close and I need something to swing?" said the young man.

"That's where I come in. You look tough enough, but the only thing that will probably get too close will be Pantherons and I know how to fight them. If one does show up, you watch my back and I'll watch yours."

After a second or two of reluctance, the young man handed over the spear. "Thanks" said the man who then proceeded to grab a piece of wire from the surrounding debris and attach the unextend spear to the hip of his pants.

Once the young man grabbed enough potions, ammunition, phoenix downs and grenades did he recognize the man before him. "Hey, I remember you. You were at that café in Bodhum during the fireworks display."

After having said that the red head also recognized the young man. "Wait a minute, you are guy that called Lebreau my girlfriend."

"Isn't she?"

"No. She is both a childhood friend and a member of NORA; like me. If anything, she acts more like a big sister for everyone."

"Well sorry about that. I really thought you two were a couple. You looked good together."

"That is ok, no hard feelings. My name is Gadot, what's yours?" asked the red head.

"Riven, Riven Neander," said the young man.

"Well Riven, I hope you're not too tired because we need any body who can fight back. Those PSICOM assholes are not going to stop until all of us are dead. They made that clear the moment they pointed their guns at us" said Gadot.

"Oh, I know that. I was there when the first people were gunned down in cold blood. You could tell by how they acted that they felt no remorse. I will fight to the end."

"I will never leave anyone behind again" thought Riven.

"Hey, love birds"

Both Riven and Gadot turned around to see a girl in a purple halter neck bikini top and white blouse shouting out to them. Upon seeing her Riven realized it was the girl running the café that he thought Gadot was flirting with.

"This fight isn't over yet and if you don't hurry you will be left behind. So, grab what you need and let's get going" said Lebreau.

After having said that, both men looked around to see it was just them and everybody else was already moving on. They were so busy talking that they did not realize everybody left without them. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Gadot and Riven raced after her.

"Forget what you said about being like a big sister. She acts more like a mother" said Riven.

"Yeah, she tends to be like that" smiled Gadot.

As they ran to confront more soldiers, the battle all around only escalated. Gunships were flying and firing on civilians and resistance fighters while airships were deploying more soldiers and destroying buildings and aerorails. But the worst of it was the carnage that followed the deployed bioweapons. Bioweapons were genetically altered wildlife taken from the wilds of Cocoon to be turned into living weapons for the military. This is done to better control and "enhance" them. Despite the creatures still retaining some of their natural behaviors and tendencies, they follow orders as well as loyal soldiers.

The bioweapons were tearing people apart. On higher and lower areorails could the screaming and roaring be heard. Final death cries and screams of agony could be both heard and seen. Any who would survive this battle would never forget all the death and pain.

Luckily for NORA and Riven, the only enemies they faced thus far were PSICOM Wardens, Enforcers, and Aerial recon. As they continued forward, they were met with more and more civilians, adults, and children alike. Some groups were alive, some were dead, and others were a mixture between. Those groups were always the worst. Children mourning the deaths of parents and vice versa, signs of despair, panic, loss, and heartbreak were always abundant. But what Riven and NORA almost always encountered were those willing to fight back out of a sense for justice, revenge, or survival. It did not feel right to Riven to let some fight out of revenge or justice, but they needed the numbers. While they killed every military squad thus far, they also suffered losses.

So those who wanted to fight continued while one or two were armed and stood behind to protect the others. While the group ran to the next fight, Riven fell behind due to exhaustion from nonstop fighting and running. While bending over and catching his breath, he could hear the man responsible for the purge, the Primarch, through a radio nearby. A message from the Sanctum's Primarch was replying over and over all throughout the Hanging Edge on radios and speakers meant to encourage soldiers and discourage civilians:

"On behalf of Cocoon's citizens, I would like to thank our brave Pulse pioneers and express our best wishes for a successful relocation. Your noble and selfless sacrifice ensures the continued safety and peace of our society. Were it not for this remarkable gesture, every resident of Cocoon, your families, your friends, and your neighbors would be exposed to the dangers of the world below. By choosing to leave Cocoon and participating in this migration- "

Just then a man stomped on the radio, breaking it, after hearing the same lies repeatedly. Riven couldn't blame him. The only thing that the Sanctum would migrate would be all their dead bodies.

The man had light blond hair, blue eyes, and a short beard. He wore black gloves, gray boots, long gray pants, a black bandanna, and a stripped blue scarf that hung from his belt. He also wore a beautiful engagement necklace in the shape of Cocoon and a large trench coat.

"'Migration'? More like 'extermination'" said an angry man with feathery blue hair with sense for fashion.

"Yuj, enough," said the blonde-haired man.

"Sorry, Snow. I didn't mean to lose my cool."

Shaking his head, Snow lift his fist, looked Yuj in the eye, and said: "These people need heroes! They need to see that we have level-heads and give them hope."

Disappointed in himself, Yuj hung his head low. Then Snow grabbed the gun that Yuj was holding and positioned it at the ready for him.

"Here. You stay calm and so will they. Alright?"

"Alright" said Yuj.

"What's our motto?" said Snow.

"The army's no match for NORA!"

"Attaboy" said Snow smiling and giving Yuj a thumbs up.

Watching the entire exchange of words between Snow and Yuj gave Riven hope and encouragement for the fight ahead. After finally catching his breath, Riven stood straight up and was about to move forward to catch up with Gadot and the others when Snow approached him.

"Hey there. You doing alright?"

"Yeah, I was just catching my breath" said Riven.

"OK. Do know how to use that?" said Snow pointing to Riven's gun.

"For the most part. I was with the group ahead of us, but I had slow down to take a breather".

"Well come with me, I am heading up there," said Snow.

Riven nodded his head and they both headed up to the resistance front.

The No Man's Land between PSICOM and NORA was littered with debris, weapons, bullets, and corpses. In this section of the city, PSICOM was losing ground against the rebels and were increasing their efforts to halt the assault. NORA knew that the military was growing desperate by their increase resistance and continued fighting. But just as Riven was before, they were also growing tired. One member was already vocalizing his exhaustion.

"Aw, this is crazy" said a young man with goggles and blond hair.

Gadot, who was firing a machine gun behind a barricade next him then said, "Then take a nap, Maqui."

"Really? Can I?" said Maqui sounding surprised and hopeful.

"Sure! And when we are all taking a dirt nap, you can save them all" said Gadot.

Falling on his back Maqui said, "Aw, that's even worse!"

Just then, Snow and Riven arrived at the seen to assist Gadot, Maqui, Lebreau, and the other resistance fighters. They then moved quickly behind barricades to avoid getting shot. Upon seeing Snow, Maqui suddenly gained his second wind and a boost in morale.

"No dirt naps today! We are all in this together" said Snow while examining the battleground. "Our enemy's the Cocoon Sanctum! Their dreaded PSICOM, no less" continued Snow.

"Ha. What's to dread? PSICOM's nothing but a whole bunch of bluster and bullying. They've got nothing on NORA" said Lebreau sounding confident.

Then Gadot stood from behind cover to fire on the enemy and said "Well, we are the heroes after all."

"Then let's prove it," shouted Snow.

"Yeah" shouted everyone together.

With that, NORA and the other resistance fighters were rallied and began pushing forward. But before Riven could join them, he was stopped by Gadot who looked a little mad. "Where were you!? We need everybody we can get if we're to survive this. I almost thought you were killed!"

"I'm sorry, but I was exhausted. I needed to catch my breath and I fell behind" apologized Riven.

"Look, were all tired. But we need to keep fighting so that everyone can get out of here. So, can you still hold your own?"

With a determined look Riven said "Yeah. Yes, I can."

"Good" said Gadot.

"Hey"

Both Riven and Gadot looked to the sound of the voice to see Lebreau. Now she looked angrier then Gadot was with a tick mark on her forehead.

"This is twice now ladies that I have to remind you that the rest of us are still fighting a battle! Now get moving!" shouted Lebreau.

"Yes ma'am" said Riven and Gadot in unison while they snapped to attention.

The three then took off to join the others.

As NORA kept pushing forward, more of PSICOM kept falling. It was as Lebreau said, PSICOM was mostly bluster and bullying. They are the branch of the military that is responsible with combating forces from Pulse. But since there has been no wars or battles for centuries, there has been virtually no need for them. But that has not stopped the lower-ranked soldiers from abusing their power and treating themselves as superior to others for being the "shield" of Cocoon from outside threats. But the current battle was revealing their true strength and it was lacking.

Snow was leading the charge as the next squad of enemies approached. They were PSICOM enforcers. They possessed no guns but had batons that could break bones. As the resistance fighters shot at them, only a few fell. Enforcers wore light amour and are nimble. As they came within arm's length, they swung their batons at the fighters. Some could block with their guns while others were too slow and received the full force of the hits.

Riven was trying to shoot one as they came closer to him but kept missing. As the enforcer drew closer, Riven kept stepping back. As he kept moving back and shooting, he lost his footing on a rock and fell. The Enforcer saw the opportunity, leapt forward, and swung his baton. Riven was too slow to defend himself so he closed his eyes and braced himself.

But the blow never came. Riven opened his eyes and he saw Gadot with his spear locked with the Enforcer.

"What did I say? I promised that I would have your back," said Gadot

Gadot then pushed the Enforcer back, twirled his spear, and then stabbed the Enforcer in the stomach. The he cried out through his helmet as Gadot pushed him off and knocked him to the ground. The Enforcer breathed his last breath and laid still. Gadot then turned and extended his hand to Riven. Riven exhaled a breath he did not know he was holding and took his hand.

When he got back on his feet, Riven with a determined look nodded at Gadot and continued the fight. This time he was more focused and surveyed the area around him. Snow was the most effective against the enforcers by dodging and sidestepping their hits and then punching them. Every time he hit an opponent, for a brief moment Riven could see what looked like static moving between the threads and fibers of his coat.

Riven eye's widened when he realized that Snow's coat was interlaced was AMP technology. AMP, or Antimatter Manipulation Principle, was the technology that the people of Cocoon used in their daily lives. But most of the technology could only be used by the government, military, public transport, and the rich. Clothing like that was hard to come by to begin with. So, Riven made a side note to ask him about it later.

When the last of the enforcers fell, there were a few fighters wounded and one dead. But there was no time for mourning for the next squad of enemies was fast approaching. The resistance quickly took behind cover and fired on the enemy. Unbeknownst to the fighters, further behind enemy lines a Marauder was commanding what was left of his company.

"Sir, squad 17 has been completely wiped out. Squad 18 is currently engaging the enemy but has lost already lost 6 men," said a nearby scout.

At this point, the Marauder was both angry and panicking. When he and his men landed on the aerorail to "neutralize" a group of rebels, he had 200 men under his command, 10 men to a squad to make 20 squads. But now there was only himself and 20 men left. The 20 left were 12 wardens, 6 enforcers, and 2 Ariel Recons. Now he no choice left but activate their trump card.

"Then we have no choice. Activate the transgates and bring in a pack of Pantherons. They will lead the final assault on the rebels," said the Marauder.

"Right away sir."

The scout ran over where a singular transgate was floating in the air and typed in the necessary codes on his gauntlet. The transgate began emitting electrical currents and spinning rapidly. When the electricity joined in the center, there was a flash of light and three streams of code shot out and materialized into Pantherons. The beasts began growling and roaring at everyone, until the Marauder walked over to the bioweapons and hit the blunt end of his spear against the ground to show his dominance. The Pantherons then ceased their growling and sat down awaiting orders from their master.

"Hm, despite being modified by the Sanctums science division, these creatures still show pack behavior. I would prefer to have more than three. Can you send for more beasts?" ask the Marauder.

"No sir. Transgates can only send a maximum of three small, two medium, or one large sized bioweapons. Then after the transfer, the gate shorts circuits and shuts down."

The Marauders face was obscured by his helmet, but if anyone could see it, he looked annoyed. "Tssk. Useless."

The Marauder then turned around and addressed his men. "Alright, we are of PSICOM, the shield of Cocoon. It is our duty to fight and eradicate the forces of Pulse. Those people might have been citizens of Cocoon in the past, but not anymore. They have been tainted by the Pulse Fal'Cie and therefore now of Pulse. If they survive, this corruption will spread until Cocoon becomes a new Hell. This corruption must be cut out, so don't hesitate, and show no mercy! Everyone into formation."

The 2 squads then ran into their positions. The Pantherons in front with the enforcers behind them, the wardens in the middle, with the 2 Ariel Recon with the Marauder bringing up the rear.

"Forward!"

The Pantherons growled and ran forward to engage the enemy with the 2 squads following behind.

Back to NORA, the last of the PSICOM squad 18 was wiped out. Everyone was exhausted after so much fighting, then Maqui then proved it.

"Ah, no more." He said while falling to his knees.

Lebreau then let out a tired sigh, agreeing with Maqui. "There are soldiers everywhere."

Riven then looked around for any enemy movement. "If we don't get a break or find some shelter from this mess soon, exhaustion will kill us first."

Gadot then looked at snow who was currently looking ahead behind debris. "Yo boss. What's the plan?"

"Charge in, guns blazing," said Snow casually.

"Hey! That's not a plan!" said Magui.

"Real heroes don't need plans," said Lebreau smiling.

Despite the fact that everyone was tried, and they were in over their heads, Riven could not help but smile at that statement. But it was short-lived. Off in the distance, Riven could see a large enemy squad moving toward them. As he scanned the approaching force, his eyes fell on the front, and he stood frozen with wide eyes.

Upon seeing the trio of Pantherons, Riven looked as if he saw a ghost. For a moment, he could not act. Everyone was still recuperating from the last attack and could not see the approaching enemy. But if he did not act soon, the enemy would gain the element of surprise and destroy them. With that thought in mind, Riven decided that his fear was the least his concerns and willed his body to move.

"Hey, everyone! Incoming!"

Now on alert, NORA and resistance could see the large force approaching. "Here they come! Get to cover!" shouted Snow.

Everyone then took up positions behind cover and started firing on the soldiers. When the enemy heard the first shots, some of them have already fallen; 4 Enforcers, 6 Wardens, and a Pantheron. The Marauder had planned to attack the resistance while they were recovering from the last fight. But instead, they were the ones to be taken by surprise.

Now both groups were behind cover and trying to kill each other with bullets and grenades. The remaining Enforcers were currently engaged in close-ranged fight with Snow, but they were being overwhelmed by his fists. It seemed the enemy had figured out that Snow was the leader, but every time a Warden tried to shoot him while he was fighting the Enforcers, Lebreau sniped them from behind cover.

Snow wasn't the only one fighting close-range. Gadot was engaged in a man vs beast battle between the 2 Pantherons. The cybernetic enhancements and the wild savage nature of the creatures made them frightening foes. But Gadot couldn't care less about any of that as he swung and stabbed at them with his spear. When they clawed, he blocked and evaded. When he attacked, they evaded. This pattern went on for a minute until Gadot so an opening and struck his spear into one of the Pantherons, fatality wounding it. As the beast cried from the pain, the other Pantheron leaped at Gadot, knocking him to the ground. As he was laying on his back, Gadot was struggling against the beast as it clawed and snaped at him. He looked around for help and his eyes fell on Riven. "Riven! Shoot this thing!"

During Gadot's fight with the Pantherons, Riven was busy trying to hit the Ariel Recon units. The rest of the resistance was busy shooting the Wardens, so he decided to aim for Recon. But every bullet fired missed them. Ariel Recon units were little more than flying Wardens. Their shots might be lousy, but the propulsion from their packs could move them quickly out of harms ways. The most Riven was able to do was shoot the leg of one of them. The soldier was hurt, but they could still move.

When he heard Gadot yell for help, he quickly turned around and aimed his gun only to freeze. The sight of the Pantheron alone was enough for him to hesitate. He aimed at the creature but could not fire his weapon. Gadot saw this and he began to panic.

"What are you doing!? Kill this thing!"

But Riven could not hear him. He could only hear the sounds in his mind; or to be more precise, his memories.

Growling and roaring.

Screaming and shouting.

Running.

Blood.

Death.

"RIVEN!"

Riven was then brought back to reality by Gadot shouting. Riven then shook his head to clear his thoughts and steeled himself. He lifted his gun up, took aim, and fired. "Ahhhh" yelled Riven. The Pantheron was riddled with bullets and collapsed on Gadot. Gadot pushed the deceased Pantheron off him. The beast didn't even so much as flinch when it hit the ground. There were too many holes in its body, and it lost too much blood.

Riven dropped his gun, bended down, put his hands on his knees, and began panting. What was a few seconds in reality felt like minutes to him. He seized up, let fear control him, and almost let Gadot get mauled to death. If he didn't yell at him, he would still be cowering from his inner demons.

Gadot pushed himself off the ground and wiped off the beast's blood. He then made his way over to Riven, grabbed his shirt, and brought him to eye-level.

"What the hell were you doing!? That thing almost tore me to pieces. What's going on with you?"

Riven looked both scared and sorry. Gadot was absolutely right. He almost died and it was his fault. "I don't know. The moment I saw that thing I just froze. I'm sorry. It just happened," he said in an apologetic tone.

Gadot was still angry but there was battle going on and they were both needed. He looked down and closed his eyes, calmed down somewhat, and looked back at Riven. "Look, pull yourself together and let's get back in this fight. Only don't freeze again."

Riven nodded and Gadot let go of him. They both picked up their weapons and got back in the fight.

By this time in the battle, NORA had suffered many injuries and few deaths. But the enemy squad had lost all their Enforcers, Pantherons, and all but two wardens. The wardens were panicking from their situation. Almost the entirety of their squad was dead, and they knew that their deaths were soon to come.

"We can't beat them! We need to get out of here," said one of the Wardens.

"But the captain won't allow it! You saw how angry he was! If we run, he will have our hides!" said the other Warden.

"Who cares what the captain wants! We need to go or- "

Just then the first Warden was shot in the head and fell lifelessly. The remaining warden fell to the ground in terror and disbelief. He was now the last Warden of the squad, of the company. At this moment, he didn't care about the enemy. So, he dropped his weapon and ran from the battle.

The Marauder and the Recon units were having a difficult time with the Resistance. With the rest of the squad gone, all the gunfire and grenades were focused on them. The Recon units were doing more evading then shooting and the Marauder could not get a good aim with the RPG he was holding with bullets flying overhead. The Warden on the other hand was running at the Marauder and before he could run past him he picked him off the ground with both hands and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Where are you going!? Pick up your damn gun and kill them!" said the Marauder.

Too scared to process what his commanding officer just said, he ignored him and pleaded. "Sir, I'm all that's left. The rest of the squad is dead. We need to retreat!" said the Warden.

"To where and who!? We have no communication or backup. We fight to the last man!"

"But if I go back up there, I will die! Please sir, don't do this to me!" pleaded the Warden.

"Useless!" yelled the Marauder.

The Marauder then threw the Warden over the side of aerorail to lake Bresha below. His screams could only be heard for a few seconds before they were lost amongst the battle. The Marauder then threw his RPG aside, grabbed his spear, and yelled angerly.

"Ugh that's it! I will just have to cut out this disease manually! You two, with me. Were going to have to kill this corruption at its heart!" said the Marauder.

The two Recon units looked at each other and then both nodded at their commanding officer.

The Marauder then started charging his manadrive by extending the chargers integrated in his suit to protection and power and started floating barely off the ground. After a sufficient charge, he receded the chargers and shot forward with his spear in hand while the Recon flew forward as well.

The resistance and NORA were not blind to the enemies' preparations. As the Marauder shot forward, the resistance fired all the ammo they could. But none of it penetrated his armor due to the AMP charge. While the resistance tried gunning down the enemy, the key members of NORA and Riven began preparing for the final assault. If the PSICOM captain was going to engage them, then things were going to get ugly. They reloaded weapons, readied grenades, and brought out RPGs.

When the Marauder arrived at their foothold, he crashed into a barricade sending some fighters back and creating chaos amongst the rest. "Drop your weapons! Do yourselves a favor and let's make this quick," he said while brandishing his weapon.

Instead of dong as he said, the resistance fired upon him and the Recon. In response, the Marauder started swinging and slashing his spear and Recon fired and evaded. It was clear to the resistance that these soldiers were skilled and better trained from their armor and weapons. But all they could do about it was keep fighting the enemy.

As the Marauder hacked and slashed at the resistance, the Recon units focused their fire on Snow, Gadot, Maqui, Yuj, Lebreau, and Riven. But even with air superiority, the most they could do was hit the barricades and rubble around them with bullets and missiles. Lebreau grew worried about the resistance facing off against the Marauder as he wounded and killed them. She looked at the Recon units and then at her own team. After a moment of thinking, she formulated a plan.

"Snow, Gadot, Yuj, Maqui, Riven. Listen up, I have an idea" she said. All the men were scattered about behind cover and fired on the Recon units when they could, but they could hear Lebreau amongst the enemy's fire. So, they turned their heads in her direction to hear.

"We need to take out these three now and I think know how. Maqui, Yuj, and Riven, you three will shoot at the flyboys. You don't have to hit them, just distract them, and provide cover fire. Gadot and Snow, while they distract them, you two make your way to the Marauder. He is picking off our people one by one. You head over there and take him out."

"And what are you going to do?" said Riven.

"With the flyboys distracted and focused on you, I will get in position and take aim. All I need is to give them both a well-placed shot and they're dead."

Snow and Gadot looked at each other and nodded, agreeing with the plan. But Yuj, Maqui, and Riven were nervous and unsure. Lebreau looked at them and saw their hesitation. "Look, we need to do something quick or there won't be anyone left to save," said Lebreau. Everyone could agree on that. So, the three nodded their heads and the plan was set in motion.

Yuj, Maqui, and Riven all took out a grenade, pulled the pins, and threw them at the flyers. They saw them coming and flew out of the way. But the explosions sound was too close and lost temporary hearing. Snow and Gadot took the moment as their chance to confront the Marauder. They left cover and ran over to the officer. Lebreau also used the distraction to move to a new position and get a better aim for the shots.

When the two Recon units regained their hearing, they unleashed their bullets and missiles on their three attackers. Dust and debris were flying all around the them. The NORA boys and Riven took risks to shoot and provided the covering fire as promised. The Aerial Recon fired bullet after bullet, missile after missile on them to the point they could assume that their ammunition seemed endless. As the Recon units continued to engage the three men, Lebreau was in position and had the head of the unit with the wound leg in her sights.

Drawing a deep breath, she took the shot. Her aim was true, and the bullet made contact with the head. With the man dead, his jetpack was no longer under control and flew throughout the air with the dead man. Its movements were unpredictable as it flew. Then it flown straight at the remaining unit. The man evaded the projectile barely and the out-of-control jetpack finally crashed into the ground, ceasing any movement.

Yuj, Maqui, and Riven watched the jetpack fly around until it flown past the other unit. With the other unit focused on his deceased comrade, the three took aim on the remaining flyer. Just moments after the jetpacks crash, the PSICOM solider turned around to see three guns pointed at him. He tried to move, but it was too late. The three opened fire. The man and the jetpack were riddled with holes. With so many gaps in the now dead man's equipment, the jetpack and the man just fell to the ground. There was no movement from the pack or the man.

"Ok, that is a horrifying sight," said Lebreau followed by the three men silently nodding their heads with scared faces. "Now, I know that we just got shot at and that those two are dead, but Gadot and Snow might still need are help with that captain."

"Right," said the boys.

Then the four ran in the direction of Snow and Gadot hoping that their enemy didn't beaten them.

Before the two aerial opponents were defeated, Snow and Gadot, with Snow in the lead, were weaving their way through the debris and destruction resulted from the battle to where the Marauder was fighting the resistance. Both men made their way with determined faces to defeat their enemy and save their people, for they knew that the resistance had little chance of defeating such a foe.

"So, what's the plan, boss?" said Gadot.

"Keep our people safe and take the enemy down," said Snow.

"Pttf, I could have guessed that."

"Hey, we can handle this. It's two against one and you have the same weapon as him. So, let's show this PSICOM lackey what were made of."

"Always so reckless and optimistic. But that's what we love about you," said Gadot smiling.

Snow returned the smile as they turned around the last debris and arrived at their destination. What they saw made both of their smiles disappear and look on with disbelief and shock. In the short amount of time since they were separated from the resistance, there was blood and corpses everywhere, some scenes were more gruesome than others. The sound of nearby gunfire and yelling snapped the two out of their daze and look in its direction.

There was the Marauder fighting and cutting down the members of the resistance with ease. Once Snow saw him in action, his blood boiled. He charged up the AMP in his coat and charged at the man. Gadot also leaped into action by extending his spear and ran forward. The Marauder was just about to stab another fighter when he heard footsteps. They were getting louder and louder until he turned around just in time for Snow's fist to connect with his face. He was thrown forward and landed hard on the ground. He stayed down for a second wondering what just hit him when he saw what Gadot with spear in hand coming at him. He moved out of the way just in time to avoid a stab from Gadot. He tried to swing his spear at him, but Gadot jumped back before it could hit him.

Now that the Marauder had recovered his bearings, he began circling Snow and Gadot as they did the same.

"Who are you?" demanded the Marauder pointing is spear at Snow.

"My name is Snow Villers, and you are going to pay for what you've done," said Snow gesturing to the carnage around them. While doing this, he was eyeing his opponent, looking for a weak spot.

"I have done nothing wrong. Our society is perfect and must be kept clean and pure from the taint of Pulse. The people of Bodium are infected with its corruption and must be purged. I am a knife, one of many, that will cut it out. This is the will of the great Fal'cie, Eden."

"The world is not as clean and pure as you may think. There is suffering, injustice, starvation, and pain in your so-called "perfect" society. If Eden is as powerful as you say it is, then why do these things happen?" said an angered Gadot.

"People like you suffer because you are unfavored. Those who have faith are chosen and prosper from the gifts of the Fal'cie, while others who suffer lack faith. The purge upon your kind is prove that you're not just faithless to the Fal'cie, but also loyal to pulse, to hell! This makes you all sinners and must be cut down," preached the Marauder.

Snow was still looking for a weak spot on their enemy when he saw sparks of electricity coming from his pauldrons. His eyes narrowed down on it and then looked at Gadot. Once they made eye contact, he gestured silently with his head to the pauldrons. He nodded his head at Snow and said to the Marauder, "the only one that's gonna be cut down is you; just like what we did to your boys!"

With that statement, the Marauder launched forward at Gadot only for him to quickly sidestep and crash into a wall. While the officer was recovering, Snow ran forward and started pummeling the man's shoulders, with his enhanced fists, where his AMP chargers were located. With every punch, his armor cracked more and more. After taking countless bullets from the resistance, his protection was giving.

The Marauder then took his spear and pushed Snow with enhanced strength and sent him backwards into rubble but he quickly got back up. The Marauder was beyond angry and started swinging and stabbing with blind rage at the two. Snow was able to avoid his wild strikes and Gadot managed to block them. He kept swinging until one of his hits on Gadot broke his spear in half. Before he could manage to stab a momentarily defenseless Gadot, Snow tackled him to the ground.

"Get off me, faithless!" screamed the Marauder.

"Gadot, now's our chance! Take him out!" yelled Snow.

Not wasting any time, Gadot grabbed the two pieces of his broken spear and thrusted them into gaps of the Marauder's pauldrons. The moment the tips pierced the manadrives, the controlled energy it was using was disrupted and began an uncontrolled electrical surge through his suit. Snow and Gadot then both got up and retreated to cover to avoid the rising danger. The Marauder's suit energy was becoming more and more destabilized until blue flames sprang from his shoulders. Moments later, the flames caused an explosion.

Debris and rubble went flying. People screamed and more destruction was added to the surrounding battle. When the flames had died and dust had settled, there was a small crater in the ground. The Marauders spear was reduced to ashes and pieces of his armor were scattered, but there was no body. The Marauder was no more. Snow and Gadot got out from behind cover and took in the aftermath. "Well, that's the end of him, no doubt about it," said Snow.

Just then Lebreau, Riven, Yuj, and Maqui ran out from a random corner. Lebreau, Riven, and Yuj all stopped in their tracks to observe the devastation, but Maqui ran past them straight to Snow with a worried and panicked expression.

"Snow, Snow, we came as fast as we could! I saw the explosion. Are you hurt? Are you injured? I have some medical supplies for-."

"Whoa, Whoa, calm down their man," said Snow with a smile. He then put his arm around Gadot and gestured to both of them. "See? Were are both fine. The explosion barely even burned us. Nothing to worry about, the battles over."

"For now," said Riven as he looked for any incoming assaults.

"Riven is right. We can't stick around here. How many did we lose?" said Lebreau.

The smile faded from Snow's face. He looked behind him to see the remains of the resistance walking to them. There was so few of them left. "Only about five of them made out alive."

Riven stopped scouting for the enemy and looked at the key members of NORA. He then spoke with concern in his voice. "That means we lost over twenty people to that monster. We can't keep going with small numbers." Riven then took out his and bag started rummaging through its contents for anything that could improve the situation. He then had an idea when he found some Phoenix downs from previous battles. "Hey, what if we use Phoenix downs on the fallen to bring them back? They can revied the dead!" Riven said full of hope.

The group looked at Riven and for a moment he felt like all their problems were solved. But their faces said otherwise. Their expressions were a mix of sadness and despair which confused Riven. "Riven, Phoenix downs heal those close to death; not the dead themselves," said Lebreau sadly. "Trust me, we tried just that years ago and it didn't work." Riven's hope disappeared, and he became sad. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up such a horrible memory. I just wanted to help."

Everyone was feeling down from the pressure of their situation when Snow finally had enough. "Hey, were the heroes here and it's moments like this that we need to prove that we can't be beaten. So, let's show them what were made of!" shouted Snow and rising a fist into the air.

Snow's enthusiasm and optimistic behavior must be contagious, because after his outburst his friends and the resistance all smiled and put up their fist as well. For a moment, their bleak reality evaporated. The only one who didn't participate was Riven who looked on with mild amazement.

"Wow, Snow's confidence and positive attitude might be somewhat misplaced. But you can definitely rely on him to lift your spirits and boost morale" thought Riven.

When everyone put their fists down, Snow continued. "Now come on. There are people in need of saving" Snow declared as he began moving forward. The whole group, including Riven, then started moving with him. They had to keep moving forward. The enemy might have been defeated, but PSICOM could just deploy another company to wipe them out. For this reason, whenever someone found an ammo clip or gun, they picked it up to see if it was still good; it is best to go prepared. But no matter how prepared they felt, Riven still had doubts.

"Why do I still have this feeling that this is not going to end the way we want it?"

After an exhausting walk, the members of NORA, the resistance, and Riven came upon a group of 50 or so civilians, the largest group they have seen so far. It consisted of men, women, and children of various age groups. None of them seem to have noticed them walking towards them, almost all of them had a downcast face and they looked as if they almost completely given in to despair. It was as Snow said, these people need heroes; heroes that will lift their despair and pull them to their feet.

Snow walked up to them and looked them over. "You all okay?" he said. That got their attention. A few of them were a bit startled by the group's arrival, but they didn't treat them like a threat. Then Maqui came through carrying way too many guns and fell to the ground, scattering them. A few of the children giggled at him. This caused Riven to smile a bit, it was nice to hear genuine laughter after experiencing so much hardship.

"Hey, carful with those. You're lucky they didn't go off" warned Snow. Maqui just laughed nervously. Then Snow turned his attention to the crowd. "Don't worry, no one's moving to Pulse today. We'll clear you a path out of here, so be ready to-" said Snow until a few men started speaking.

"Wait! Let me fight with you!"

"Yeah, you can't expect us to just sit here!"

"I want to make those bastards pay!"

"I'm tired of running"

Snow was taken aback by their desire to fight when just seconds ago it looked as if they all have given up. After taking a second to think, he looked at Gadot on his right and said, "could help." Gadot nodded in agreement.

"Please. Let us help."

"Yeah!"

Before anyone could say anything else, an explosion went off behind them. Riven turned around and realized that it was where a previous group of people were left behind. From beyond the fire and smoke, Riven could see the outline of a PSICOM Havoc Skytank; and it was heading in their direction!

Whether or not Snow saw the Skytank, it made no difference; his mind was made up. "Alright then. Volunteers front and center. We will show you the ropes."

With that said, about twenty people stepped forward and grabbed guns. There were men and women amongst the new recruits. As Riven was handing out guns and teaching others how to use them, he could the sad goodbyes of lovers and parents leaving to fight. Amongst them was a particular farewell between a mother and son. The son was a young teenager wearing the typical purge robe like many others. The mother had silver hair and wore a vanilla-colored sweaterdress with a leather waistband.

"Mom?" the son said.

The mother looked back at her son with a comforting smile and said, "Don't worry." She then walked to where the other recruits were and picked up a gun. Snow saw this out of the corner of his eye and turned around to face her directly. He looked at her with concern and doubt. "You sure about this?" he said. She only replied with, "Yeah. Moms are tough." That was all Snow needed to hear. He just smiled and she joined the others.

Gadot then got Snow's attention by giving him a spare gun. "This is the last one, boss" he said. Snow took the gun and walked to the civilians. "All right, last one. Somebody take it" he said while offering the gun. The mother's son backed away from the weapon; clearly showing he wanted nothing to do with fighting. That was when a girl with bright-red hair and green eyes moved forward and stretched out her arms. "Here!" she said. Hesitant at first, but Snow gave the gun to her.

Riven was watching the girl with curiosity; she seemed to be carefree but also caring. Snow gave her a quick tutorial on the weapon for later use and then left her with a message: "Push comes to shove, keep 'em safe." She nodded and pretended to shoot him, Snow played along and pretended to be hit. He, just like Riven, wanted a break from the battle, even if it was only a second of fun.

Snow then turned his attention to the thirty civilians to explain the plan. "All right, lay low and you'll be fine. We'll clear out the area. PSICOM has nothing us and we won't lose. Stay close and work with each other and we will all get through this. We're going home together!" Though Snow tried to lift their spirits, none of them moved from their spots. Lebreau then came from out of nowhere and really got people moving. "Come on! Everybody up!" she said in an urging tone. This time they listened and obeyed.

While the recruits were checking their guns and the civilians were getting ready to leave, Snow called in his friends for the game plan. "All right, this is what's going to happen. Lebreau, you take Yuj and Maqui with you to and protect the people. Get them out of here to safety," said Snow. "Right" said Lebreau as Yuj and Maqui nodded. "As you do that, me and Gadot are going to take our new recruits to face the enemy reinforcements" Snow continued. "Ok, just both of you come back alive. I'll kill you if you don't" warned Lebreau. Snow and Gadot both sweat dropped but nodded.

With the plan finalized, each member of NORA went to their respected groups to lead them. "Right. New recruits-on me!" said Gadot as they followed him. Riven was about to follow suit when Snow grabbed him from behind. "Riven, I want you to look after the people." Riven was shocked. He had been fighting alongside them since the beginning of the battle and now Snow was telling him to leave? "What, why? You need me. Those PSICOM dogs are heading here right now, and you want me to run? I can fight too!" shouted Riven.

Instead of replying, Snow pointed at the civilians. "I do need you. But they need you more. These people need heroes, these people need you. Be their hero, Riven," said Snow. Riven looked at them and he saw what Snow really meant. They were frightened and on edge. The more people to protect them, the greater their hope would grow. Hope for the future. Hope for life. Riven signed. "Alright, I'll go to them. But you must promise you will come back alive; you and Gadot" said Riven. Snow smiled and with a thumbs up said, "I promise."

Riven nodded as he and Snow went their separate ways. Both their groups were already ahead of them, so they had to make up lost time. Riven saw the son was staring at his mother as Snow urged her on with him. She spared one last smile to the boy before she left. Riven saw this and got the kids attention. "Hey, come on. Were going to be left behind" he said in an urging but kind voice. The boy was reluctant for a second, but he gave in and he and Riven went to join the others. Riven spared one last look behind his shoulder only to see no one. With nothing behind them, the two continued on, uncertain of what the future held for them.

Authors note:

So how was that? I put my heart and soul into this chapter and I will continue to do so until the story is finished.

It took me weeks to complete this chapter with schooling and work going on. I already have a good idea on how the entire story should progress. But, I would like to hear your thoughts. If any of you have any ideas for the story, please PM me. I'm ok with criticism, but if you have nothing nice to say, saying nothing at all.

One more thing. The "T" symbol on Riven's scarf is the Zanarkand symbol from Final Fantasy 10.

With nothing more to say, this is Light out.