Fastest update for me ever! Anyways, chapter 2, from Lightning's PoV

A scream pulled Lightning from the peaceful world of dreams back to the harsh reality. Her eyes opened to a night sky, buzzing with shining stars. The sight might have made for a peaceful awakening if not for the agonized groaning not far off, and the constant throb in her head.

After adjusting to the post-sleep fuzziness, protocol set in. Memories of what had transpired were flooding back. They had been on a small airship, with a one man cockpit and seating for six units, although only five had been available for the mission. Everything had been going as planned, the small squad had launched off in their transport and set off for the short run. An hour, maybe two if they spotted some trouble, that's all it should have taken. They should have touched back down in New Bohdum before the sun had set. But they had not counted on encountering the rabid zirnitra.

The flying creatures of Pulse tended to avoid their aircrafts. It might have been the sound, or the metal build, it was unknown, but the local beasts had never shown much interest in checking out their newest airborne companion. Most of the time, they had left the area completely. They weren't the most sturdy bunch, and prefered easy prey.

This time, however, the creature had not balked at confrontation. They didn't think much of the monster as it first flew beside them. The team had figured one of the beasts had gotten curious about the new addition to the food chain. That was, until it body slammed the side of the flying machine.

Lightning had just been in the cockpit, checking on their pilot's progress as the contact was made. The connection had been violent enough to throw her to the ground, and panic set in among the others. The team that had been sent to cover the village was still as green as spring grass. They had enlisted to help after "The Fall" mainly, and their experience was based mostly around providing survivors with supplies, not battling one of Pulse's most fearsome creatures.

A second slam stopped Lightning's attempt to get back to her feet. A deafening metal cringe had rung though her ears when it had happened. The short, silent moment after seemed to stretch on for an eternity, as she realized what the sound had been. Her head snapped to one of the windows of the airship, and she saw the subtle flexes in the zirnitra's body, as it leaned back in for another slam.

The rip had been louder than she could have imagined. The violent rocking was enough of a confirmation to tell her what had happened

Their pilot was gone, along with the cockpit. Had the door been open, she might have been pulled out by the rush of air right then and there. Mercifully, the auto-lock had shut the door behind her. She could only hope Etro would be as merciful on their pilot. Time to think about that had been in short supply at that moment though, and she had to do something about the rookies on her team. She vaguely recalled shouting obscenities at them until all attention was turned on her. The falling aircraft gave a violent lurch and she grabbed the nearest hand hold and had time to bark out one command before they had crashed.

"Shut up, hold on, and brace for impact!"

That had been the last thing she could recall, before waking up to the tortured moans of what could only be her squad.

When Lightning tried to sit up, pain shot through her side, and pulled her back to the ground. She craned her neck down to see her white vest with a wide, crusted bloodstain that sat over her stitched wound. The gash looked bad, and deep to boot, even after having been stitched up. The thought that she had been unconscious through the whole ordeal unnerved her somewhat. On the bright side, other than the rip in her abdomen, she could not see or feel any other injuries, excluding the few bumps on her head.

Another groan rang in the air, and the lieutenant twisted her neck again to view where it had come from. A few meters away from her, their medic, Elijah or something she tried to recall, was bent over another teammate who was writhing on the ground in pain. A bone stuck clear out of his thigh, through skin, armor and all. A second squad member was attempting to help the medic by holding the other man down as Elijah worked to at least clean and wrap the broken bone, and do what he could to reset it in the meantime.

" M-Medic!" Lightning rasped out. The high strung healer had jumped at the sound, but recovered quickly, finishing a binding and rushing over to her.

" Thank Etro you're awake lieutenant! Are you in pain? What's wrong?"

" I'm fine, calm down." The man seemed on the verge of cardiac arrest. " Wh-What's the squad status? What are their conditions?" Talking sent ribbons of pain through Lightning's stomach, but she ground the the question anyways. This team was her responsibility, she had to know what the extent of the damage was.

" I, lieutenant it's... not good." Elijah seemed reluctant to say. " Fischer is dead, and the pilot most likely. I managed to patch up Meadows and you, but Waters is in bad shape. His femur is snapped and he's got some broken ribs." He gave her a quick once over, somewhat sceptical of his own patch job it would seem. " Are.. you feeling alright, ma'am? I could only find the one injury, even though you weren't strapped in. It's... almost unbelievable really."

" Guess I'm just lucky." Lightning gritted her teeth and pulled herself into a sitting position. Another yelp from Waters had pulled Elijah away, and gave her a second to collect herself. Rodrik Meadows looked no worse for the wear, and their medic was little more than some cuts and bruises, but Erik Waters looked every bit as bad as he sounded.

Lightning was thankful that their medic had had some experience in these matters at least. A first timer could mean the difference between life and death in these situations, especially when they were getting all squeamish over blood and bone. Elijah however, had sewn up more than his fair share of gunshot holes. This was nothing he couldn't handle.

The pink haired soldier opted to take in their surroundings, scanning for nearby threats. Beasts just looking for some easy meals. The area was blissfully clear however, but she had no doubts that would soon change. The crash might have scared off anything nearby, but it was only a matter of time before the scavengers were drawn back in by the scent of blood. She knew she had to get the survivors moving, and quickly!

" Meadows, Rennington, we have to move. The local fauna will be on us anytime, and we don't want to be out here when they get back." Biting back pain, she forced herself to her feet.

" Lieutenant, I want to get out of here just as much, all the same, Waters can't move far in this condition, and I don't see much shelter nearby!"

It was true, in his current state, the private wouldn't survive much of a trip. They could try moving towards one of the rock pillars that dotted the area, but none of them promised cover from Gran Pulse's mass of carnivorous creatures. Regardless, if they didn't get out of the immediate area, they would be no better off. She only saw one option available.

" Can you get him to the ship?"

" I... don't, I mean-"

" Can you get him to the ship or not!?" Lightning growled out.

" Yes, yes ma'am!"

" Then get moving, you can tend to him inside, we need to get out of the open before something decides it wants a little snack." She clutched her gash as she limped over to the still groaning casualty. The three remaining healthy members did their best to gently lift and carry the injured man back to the crumpled wreckage of their airship. They clambered inside amidst more groans and wails of pain, but after they were in, Lightning was able to pull closed the valve door, and they were provided some sense of relief. They might be stuck here in their own wreckage, but unless an adamantoise came stumbling in their direct line, they were safe from danger for the time being.

The injury, her blood loss, and moving the injured soldier had taken more out of Lightning than she had expected. She struggled to keep her eyes open as Meadows and Rennington put the last touches on their patch job of the unfortunate private's leg. She forced herself to stay awake long enough to see the rest of the survivors collapse from exhaustion before giving in to the ebb of darkness herself. No questions were asked, no objections raised. All of that was left unsaid for the time being, everyone to worn out to worry about the next step. They would come up with a battle plan tomorrow, for now, it was enough to try and rest and recoup.

The last thoughts that visited Lightning were of Hope and Serah, most likely worried out of their minds about where she was. She wished she had someway to contact them, and let them know she was alright, if a little beat up.

' I'm coming back, don't you worry.' She told an imaginary Hope and Serah in her mind. ' I might be a little late, but I'll be back. Just wait for me, and watch, and for Etro's sake, don't do anything stupid!'

Again, not a great chapter, but it sets Lightning's side of the story. Hopefully I can start sharpening my wit a bit here, and make it a little smoother from here on out. Thank you for reading and the fav/follows. If you have any constructive criticism, I'm always on the look out for that as well.

I'll see you all soon, hopefully as quickly as this chapter came out! For now, good night/morning!