"Well, Lightning, you ready to go on patrol?" I ask.
"Yep, let's go!" Lightning replies.
"Let's fly!" I exclaim as I climb onto his back, before we took off through a hole in the ceiling.
Five minutes later we were soaring over the ruins, when I say, "Let's go west today."
After a while, it started to get foggy, so foggy that I could hardly see.
"Hey, Lightning, can you see anything?" I ask.
"No. You want to land and continue on foot?"
"Um, yeah, but keep your guard up." I respond. We quickly land and as I climb off Lightning, we hear the sound of a machine struggling with something coming from around the corner of a nearby building. Right when we hear that, Lightning's eyes contract into slits and I pull out and activate my thunder-stick, which emits a low hum, signifying that it was charging, before falling silent.
Silently, we round the corner of the building and see a cat-beast trying to pry open a frost covered cylinder, which sits horizontally with a foggy window on the top. The cylinder was slightly larger than the cat-beast, and had, what appeared to be a control panel of some sort on the side closest to us.
Just then I accidently bump a large metal plate with my foot which causes a resounding clang, hearing that the cat-beast whips around and roars at us. As it starts to run at us I fire the thunder-stick towards it, the bolt of electricity flies from the tip and barely grazes the machines body, hitting the 'control panel' of the cylinder, as the machine collapses and slides to a halt in front of us, we hear a monotone voice say "Cryo-pod power restored, please state name." at this I look around for the source of the voice until my eyes land on the cylinder, the control panel now covered in lights.
"Lightning." I say dumbfounded.
"Authentication verified, access granted. Please stand back, as occupant may be confused or delirious." it says. Then the top hisses open and slides out of the way. I hear the sound of something powering up, and as the fog dissipates, I see a form start to rise, when I see the glint of metal, I get ready to fire my thunder-stick again, then I hear Lightning gasp, and I look over at him and notice that he has gone rigid, with his head held high and his wings folded neatly on his back. Then I hear the monotone voice say "exo-suit integrity at 98%, all systems functional."
Then I see something swivel and point at us, then I realize it's a gun of some kind, but before I can react, it fires. The shot misses us and strikes something behind us, then I hear something fall, and remember that the cat-beast was behind us, when I look back at it, I notice that there is a hole the size of my torso burned through the machines head. When I turn back around the form jumps from the cylinder and lands in front of us then I get my first good look at it.
It had the same general shape as the cat-beast, but slightly larger and it had a tail. Its intire body was armored. The front legs each had a different setup, the left had what appeared to be a shield, while the right had three gleaming claws. On its back are what appear to be two guns, and I realize that these must be what it used to kill the cat-beast. And on its head is what appears to be a helmet with a reflective gold visor. The armors color scheme was mostly black with red and silver details.
"Sir, lieutenant Lightning, reporting for duty, sir!" Lightning suddenly blurts out.
"At ease, soldier." The creature replies with a deep rumbling voice.
"Who or what are you?" I ask.
"I am the last of a team of genetically modified cats. I was designated C-117, Ember." He responds as his visor suddenly becomes clear, and I see his face, which is orange with white stripes, his eyes are a cold blue.
"Lieutenant, who won, the humans or the machines?" he asks.
"I am sad to report that the machines have won sir, all the humans are dead." Lightning replies grimly.
"I think you should come with us." I say.
After a short pause, he says, "Lead the way."
"Can you keep up with us when we fly?" I ask.
"Don't worry about me." He says as his visor becomes opaque again.
About 20 minutes later, we were back at the home base. After all the introductions, I show Ember his room.
"Thanks," he says, "and Thunder, who made you?"
"The Scientist." I answer perplexed.
"So he's dead then." He says after a couple seconds of silence.
"Yeah, did you know him?" I ask.
"He was my owner before I was recruited into the C.A.T. program." He says, "It's been a long day, I'm going to try to get some sleep."
"Alright, see you in the morning." I say as I leave.