Chapter 3: Train Robbery

Everyone moved through the armory set up just inside the main building gathering their weapons for their heist. The plan was simple: catch the train during refuel, sabotage the controls so the train couldn't leave, grab the clones and get out. Nickoli never used guns, since he had a blaster cannon and assault cannon built into his arms. Angel wore her assassin suit and helmet, her digistruct blade on one hip and a Jakobs revolver on the other. Zer0 had given her a purple quality Jakobs sniper rifle that she carried on her back.

Zack wore his suit and helmet, just like his sister, and his twin katanas on his back. Zer0 let him keep the twin Vladof pistols he "borrowed" during the clone siege, so he wore those on his hips. Lynn opted to use two Maliwan pistols, one incendiary and the other caustic, which she kept on her hips, and two Maliwan SMGs, one shock and the other slag, which she kept on her back. She liked to have some firepower in addition to her innate abilities over the Pandoran elements. Patrick adopted wearing body armor, similar to what the Crimson Raiders normally wore except black and without the helmet, with his baton on his hip and a Bandit shotgun with a Bandit assault rifle on his back.

Justin wore the same type of armor as Patrick, only his was green and wore the helmet. He had his Battle Borak kit on his hip along with a Dahl pistol and a Dahl assault rifle on his back. Lydia was reluctant to take from the armory since she was new to the group and the last thing she wanted to do was be in debt to her brother. After several urges, she took a Vladof assault rifle and a Vladof sniper rifle, true to her blood. While they were arming up, Nickoli and Angel shared a quick kiss for luck and a love filled stare.

Zack couldn't help but take notice and sighed with a hint of jealously since he wanted what they had. Lynn caught his stare and sigh and gave him a quick bonk on the back of the head.

"I promise you buddy, you'll find someone." Lynn assured as she gave him a pat on the shoulder. Zach smiled and nodded in agreement and returned to arming himself. Once the group was armed and ready they headed off to grab a few vehicles for the ride there, leaving Zver and the Claptraps to watch the base while they were gone.

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On the way to the refueling station, Lydia, Lynn and Patrick borrowed, with every intention of returning, a transport ship to carry the clones. Justin and Nickoli digistructed some Stingrays and gave Angel and Zach a lift. The two assassins easily snuck aboard the train since it wasn't guarded. Much easier to make robbing a train seem pointless when there doesn't seem to be anything of value on it. Angel headed to the front of the train to sabotage the controls while Zach searched for the container that held his clone brethren.

The train was long, so it took a minute before he finally found the container he was looking for. With a bit of skill, and by that I mean he shot the lock on the container, he was able to open it and find that there wasn't a group of clones in it, just a single stasis pod. He slowly approached it and wiped away some of the condensation on the glass to see that there was a woman inside of it. She kinda looked like Angel in figure, very slim but toned. She wore a black, skin tight jump suit that hugged her features, as well as her developed assets that rivaled Maya's. She had pale skin and her hair was a raven black.

Zach continued to inspect the pod, finding a name at the front of the pod near her head; Krystal. Something about the name rang a familiar bell in Zer0's head, but he wasn't able to figure it out since the sound of metal being cut with a blow torch caught his attention. He turned to see that he was correct, someone was cutting into the container using a blow torch. He grabbed the hilts of his blades as the cutting stopped, but he let them go since the quarters were too confined to use them. The cut panel was pulled away and soldiers started to move in, three inside the container with two just outside.

The three inside had assault rifles, but quickly dropped them and pulled out knives with metal knuckles on the handle. The group inside waited for a second before the three soldiers charged Zach. The first one on his left was the first to reach him, so Zach caught his wrist and kneed him in the stomach, then threw him into the middle man and they both crashed into the wall. The third soldier went for a slash, but Zach jumped back to dodge and delivered a quick jab to the soldier's face. The soldier flinched a bit, but didn't let up his swinging assault, attempting to gut Zack.

Zack continued to jump back until he hit the back of the container and the other two joined inside while the two on the floor started getting up. The soldier Zach was currently facing mad the mistake of stabbing when he should have slashed, Zach catching his arm and snapping it at the elbow before grabbing his collar and ramming his head into the container wall. Another soldier charged Zach with two blades ready, but Zach was much faster, ducking under the swings and delivering a nasty uppercut that jarred the soldier. That gave Zach time to step back and deliver a power kick to the soldier's chest, slamming him against the opposite wall of the container. The next soldier ignored the blade and went for his pistol since Zach was away from the pod and that seemed to be their objective.

Zach thought fast, grabbing a blade from the floor and throwing it with deadly accuracy, catching the soldier in the forearm and pinning it to his stomach. Zach charged and slammed his fist into the soldier's face, dropping him like a sack of rocks. The last toe were finally on their feet and charged Zach at the same time, the clone smirking beneath his helmet. The first soldier swung his blade, allowing Zach to duck under and deliver a dirty shot to his manhood. While he was incapacitated, Zach tossed him aside and caught the other soldier's arm, Zach taking it old school and head butting the soldier, smashing his nose into a fountain of blood.

Zach then yanked his arm and threw him over his shoulder and slammed him into the first soldier, taking them both out. After the scuffle, Zach rolled his shoulders and started popping his knuckles as Angel entered the container. She couldn't help but comment as she looked around at the scene.

"Show off."

"Love you too, Sis." Zach chuckled as he went back to the pod. Angel joined him and looked at the woman inside.

"Is this it?" Angel questioned since she figured they would be finding a container of clones, not a stasis pod.

"Apparently. I saw the insignias on the soldiers, Vladof."

"What does Vladof want with this woman? Why did N1ne have this woman?"

"Good questions. Maybe she can tell us once we're off this train."

Zach and Angel signaled the rest of the team, Justin and Nickoli taking up security while the others pulled the transport ship to the side. Patrick and Lydia started to remove the stasis pod via the hole Vladof made when Patrick came over the comms.

"Um, guys! We're not alone! Looks like a few Vladof ships are on the way, and they're armed to the teeth." Justin updated, not wanting to take on Vladof with a Stingray. Everyone started to move a bit faster, Lynn securing the pod in the transport ship. Unfortunately, Vladof arrived quicker than expected and started dropping soldiers while the ships started firing automatic weapons at them. Luckily, Vladof was known for their superior fire rate, not their aim, and no one was hurt during the barrage. In addition to their luck, Maliwan ships started to arrive and began firing at the Vladof ships.

They were automated defense ships, so they were a little more preoccupied with the Vladof ships that were shooting at their cargo rather than the people that were stealing it. Lydia and Patrick jumped onto the transport ship as Lynn started to pull away and Angel jumped onto the back of Nickoli's Stingray. Justin was doing a drive by pick up since he was currently a focus of the Vladof soldiers and signaled for Zach to jump as he got closer. Zach took a few steps back and took a running start, but a Vladof soldier got lucky and shot him in the calf, causing him to stumble and fall as Justin drive by. Before Zach could get up and start running, he was mobbed by three Vladof soldiers who grabbed him and knocked him out.

Angel looked back to see her brother being carried off by the soldiers and screamed for them to go back.

"We have to go back! We can't just leave him!" She argued as she readied herself to jump back onto the train to chase after the soldiers. She was about to jump when Nickoli reached back and grabbed her, preventing her from trying to save her brother. Angel thrashed and fought against Nickoli, but he held his grip on her.

"They've got him! If you go they get you too!" Nickoli argued, pulling away from the train and back to their base. Angel fought him the entire way, the group pulling the vehicles into the base and allowing the Claptraps to get to work on repairing the vehicles. Angel got off and started screaming at Nickoli.

"How could you! How could you just leave him there! He's just as much your brother as he is mine!" Angel screamed, Nickoli remaining like a statue. Angel balled her hands up by her head and screamed as she slapped Nickoli across the face. As soon as her hand was back down by her side, Nickoli wrapped her in a hug, burying her face in his shoulder. He held her there for a moment before finally letting her go and showing her an ECHO unit.

"Snagged this off of one of those soldiers. We'll find him Angel, I promise." Nickoli exclaimed, assuring his love. Angel took a deep breath and sighed in relief, a smile appearing on her helmet. The two went to Lynn, who was helping get the stasis pod off of the transport ship. "Lynn, can you use this to get a signal? Maybe to locate where Vladof is? It's probably the same place they took Zach."

"Please, I could do that in my sleep. Angel, help these guys out. Nickoli, you're with me." Lynn exclaimed as she took the ECHO from Nickoli. Angel started helping the others with the stasis pod, taking it to the main room with the holo pad that was still being repaired. Lydia and Justin started looking over the console for the pod while Angel and Patrick looked at the woman inside.

"What do you think, Patrick? Why would this woman be important to N1ne?" Angel questioned as the two tech heads started pressing buttons on the console. Patrick simply shrugged, unable to give an answer. Lydia hit one last button and the pod started to hiss, releasing gas from pod as it started to open. Everyone waited a moment as the woman took a deep breath and started coughing, her lungs not used to the air. She shifted so she was sitting on the edge of the pod when Angel asked the first question.

"Who are you?" Angel questioned as she took her helmet off. The woman coughed a few more times and started catching her breath before she finally answered.

"My name… is Krystal." She finally answered.