Aether Rush Test Story 2

The west bound train heading for Cruix was ten minutes behind schedule, the crew struggling to make up the difference any way they could. Usually they would not be concerned over such a small delay, but only moments before departure they had been boarded by government officials escorting a priority passenger. She was a fair skinned woman in her mid- thirties whose long brown hair and plain clothing would allow her to blend in practically anywhere. She had a down cast look on her face and was nursing an injured arm where some one had grabbed her forcefully, signaling that she was not there by choice. Her escorts seemed indifferent to her discomfort, and if anything treated her more like baggage than a human being.

All she could do now was ask God to show her mercy and, if nothing else, to save those who her work might harm.

In a private cabin two cars back from where the woman was being held sat the answer to her prayers. One was a lithe girl in her late teens whose golden brown hair and vibrant skin reflected her upbeat personality and child like energy. The other was a buxom raventte who was a little older than the other girl, and who seemed less enthused with the task at hand. A third member of the group spoke with the pair via hidden ear pieces while awaiting them to start their mission, though he wasn’t entirely confident in his younger colleagues.

~You two sure you know what your doin’? I’m still not on board with sending two unarmed girls against seven to eight well trained soldiers.~

“You just worry about getting us out of here once we reach the rendezvous point, alright Joshua? I and Mari can do this.”

Mari saluted in response to her friend’s words of confidence, though Eva herself wasn’t convinced the mission was worth the effort. If what they knew about the woman they had been sent to save was true, than she wasn’t sure why they were there. Than again saving someone’s life was a lot better than taking it, which in her line of work was something she came face to face with all too often.

~Alright girls, half way there. Show time.~

“YAH-TAH!”

Mari punched the air in excitement, happy about finally having something to do rather than just sitting around. Though the little ray of sunshine was kind hearted to a fault and full of life, she didn’t have the best impulse control in the world. Still, her righteous passion for beating up bad guys and protecting people was only matched by her skills in the martial arts. Combine that with her ability to convert sunlight into aether which she could then use to reinforce her body, and you had a fighter few villains would dare to face.

Eva pulled the curtains to on their cabin side window as Mari opened her suit case and pulled out the uniforms they would be wearing for the mission. Both were made from a kinetic reactive polymer that was light weight and flexible but provided excellent protection to the wearer, even against gun fire. Mari’s was a very athletic looking design; a black unitard over which she wore a light vest, short shorts, and a pair of yellow sneakers. Eva’s was more formal but still functional, consisting of a body sleeve under a short black dress, fingerless gloves, and ankle high boots.

“I’d almost swear Sakuya enjoys making clothes for us. Does she ever make these for Asta or Leona?” Eva asked as she changed into the surprisingly comfortable outfit.

“I think so, but they both always find a way to get out of wearing them. I don’t know why, I think they’re super cool! Besides I like the sparkle she gets in her eyes when she sees us in them!”

“That’s just like you Mari…”

Once both girls were changed they adorned a pair of simple domino masks that were designed more to distract away from their facial features than to actually conceal them. Eva than grabbed a very unusual object for someone to take into battle; a violin case containing the very item it was designed to carry. For most it was little more than an instrument, but for Eva it was a powerful weapon she wouldn’t use lightly. Once the two were finished preparing they opened the cabin door and headed to the back of the car where they proceeded to climb up to the roof. Attacking from above was their best bet at safely defeating their foes without any loss of life.

The luxury car was empty except for four of the agents and their prisoner, another two being posted at either entrance to the car as security. The woman was mostly silent, though she was still praying for a miracle and mumbled on occasion to that effect. Her captors seemed to tolerate this, though none present felt remorse for her. She claimed she didn’t know what her research would lead to, but they couldn’t believe she wouldn’t realize it. The Republic of LeCroi was going through a political shift in which the military was gaining control over the current government, and thanks to this woman they would have the power to cement that change in rule.

No one would dare defy the LeCroian military once they had such a weapon at their disposal.

A flash of movement from the back of the car caught the attention of the guards within, all four drawing their weapons in response. The lead agent motioned for two of his men to approach the door and check outside, he and the fourth operative covering them from their position next to the prisoner. They slid the doors open only to discover the two agents beyond had been knocked unconscious with no sign of the one’s responsible. That meant they had either slipped back into the opposing car or…

The sound of footsteps alerted the four of the danger above as they turned toward the front of the car in response, hoping to catch the attacker in the act. The moment they looked away, Mari swung in through the rear door and disabled the two guards who had opened it. The duo were no match for her martial skill, but this did leave her open to an attack from the other two agents. Before they could fire, however, the opposite door flew open and one of the agents turned to see his comrades knocked unconscious at a second girl’s feet. Eva had taken a gun from one of her defeated foes and aimed at the agent who had turned towards her.

At the same time the other fellow had opened fire on Mari, but the girl was too quick and predicted his firing pattern with extraordinary skill! She reached and grabbed the man by his wrist before landing an elbow blow to his stomach that stunned him long enough for her to jump up and pull him into an arm bar! She used her weight to slam him to the ground and then pulled until the pain caused him to release his gun. Once he had, the nimble girl disengaged the grapple to kick the man in the face, knocking him unconscious.

The last one standing turned to shoot the other in his comrade’s defense only for his gun to be shot out of his hand by Eva. Mari took advantage of this and unleashed a combo of strikes that left the agent unconscious on the ground along with his allies. Mari looked around at her handiwork and almost felt bad for her defeated foes, but Eva just sighed as she unloaded the gun she held and tossed it to the ground. The female prisoner was breathing heavily in her seat, still in shock from what had just taken place before her. From the way the two other women dressed she was certain they must have been assassins of some sort sent to kill her before her knowledge could be abused. The truth of the matter was more than she ever dared hope for.

“Professor Isabel Einsbourgh?” Eva asked as she approached the woman while Mari took apart the guns around them.

“Y-Yes, but w-who are you?”

“We’re freelancers that have been hired by Father Malcolm Normandy to rescue you.”

“Father Malcolm? Oh my God…he’s alive! And the others, did they make it out!?”

“Seems so. My colleagues assisted them in escaping to Union territory at the very least.”

Tears formed in Isabel’s eyes as she looked towards heaven in thanksgiving, never having expected to receive such wondrous news. But her joy suddenly turned into confusion as she remembered how they had found themselves in danger to begin with. It was because of her that everything had gone so sour.

“You two…you know why the government took me prisoner? You know what we were working on right?”

Eva was a bit surprised to hear these words from the professor, though she wasn’t by the regretful tone with which she spoke them. The response Eva gave her in return was blunt and direct, but not as cold as it could have been considering the situation.

“You and your colleagues were researching atomic compression when you stumbled upon something massively powerful; a method for splitting atoms.”

“Yes, and with it an answer to our nation’s energy needs, maybe even the world’s! But…I got ahead of myself. It never even dawned on me how our findings might be used as a weapon, at least not until after I had contacted our sponsors. The military became involved almost instantly, worried a member of our team might try to defect to the Union or be sympathetic to one of the anti-militarization groups. They stormed the facility and…and…”

The sorrow Isabel felt in her heart was like frostbite, cold and painful beyond words. She was on the verge of breaking down when she felt a pair of arms suddenly wrap around her and a warm feeling wash over her. She looked over to see the lighter haired of the two girls hugging her with a compassionate look on her face, Isabel never having expected such a response in exchange for her story. Mari could feel the sadness in the woman’s voice and couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her, or trying to comfort her the only way she knew how.

Eva wasn’t surprised at all by Mari’s reaction, knowing the girl was too kind for her own good. Truthfully she herself felt similarly to her friend after hearing Isabel’s explanation, but she wasn’t the sort to express it openly, at least not in the middle of a mission. She also felt bad for her earlier reluctance, having judged the woman without ever even meeting her. Eva had assumed Isabel was just a military loyalist or someone trying to gain reputation, but in fact she was just a scientist who was eager to help others. This made both girls even more determined to get their ward to safety.

“Joshua, we’ve secured the target. We’ll be ready for extraction in five.” Eva called through her ear piece only to receive a troubling response.

~Right I’ll…oh crap.~

“That’s not what I want to hear Josh. What’s going on?”

~You got three transports heading your way, fast!~

“Is it the military!?”

~No, the radar shows an older model than what they’re using nowadays, but their definitely of LeCroian make.~

“Rebels than?”

~Probably. I’ll try to contact them but…Eva they’re going to beat me there.~

“Right. Get here quick as you can! Mari we’re moving, now!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Mari grabbed Isabel by the hand and the three women speedily exited the car, entering the luggage car on their way to the front of the train. As they passed into the next car they saw the transports closing in, taking position above the train in preparation for their assault. It was likely they planned to take over the entire train while it was still in motion, locate the professor, and then hold the passengers hostage until they could escape with her. Mari looked back and thought about the seven passenger cars behind them and the innocent people whose lives might soon be put at risk. Eva was more focused on their current situation though, feeling Isabel’s safety should be their first priority.

“Eva…”

“Mari, they’ll be heavily armed and if they know about Isabel’s research-“

“But Eva, it’s not the passengers’ fault!” Mari spoke with a desperate whine in her voice, but her comrade would hear nothing of it.

“So we should put Isabel in danger!? It’s not her fault either!”

Hearing this caused Isabel to freeze in her tracks, pulling her hand away from Mari’s as she stepped away from her two protectors. She shook her head and felt more responsible than ever for her actions, realizing all the people on the train had been put in danger at least in part because of her. Eva instantly realized this and let out a sigh, grabbing the woman’s arm and pulling her forcefully to the far corner of the cabin. Mari gasped as her friend slapped the other woman back to her senses and stared her straight in the eyes as she spoke.

“You live. Period. You feel responsible for all this, than live to make it right. You’re a physicist, and this problem was caused by something you helped to discover, so discover something else that prevents it from killing people. That’s not so hard is it?”

Eva’s words rang deep down in Isabel’s soul and the woman knew they were God sent to help her break through the mire of despair she had fallen into. She said nothing and simply nodded, the other girl returning the gesture before turning to her comrade. Mari was bustling with joy after seeing the exchange and practically feeling both Isabel’s renewed hope, and Eva’s righteous fury. The raventte just let out a sigh and cracked a smile as she bumped fists with Mari, who then leapt over and quickly hugged the other girl. Mari than smiled, saluted her friend, and then dashed off back toward the passenger cars. Isabel was shocked by this and stood to try and stop her only for Eva to stand in her way.

“You do your part, and we’ll do ours. Just sit tight, and stay alive.”

“B-But your just two girls…these guys are armed terrorists. I mean sure you can fight but-“

“Isabel, do you know why I carry a violin around with me?”

“I…well, no, but what does that-“

Eva opened her case and removed a beautiful violin from within, but Isabel instantly recognized something odd about the instrument. The strings were brightly colored in various hues, and the professor instantly recognized they were made form thin strands of aetherite. It took her a moment to realize just what such an instrument would be capable of and recalled the stories of those who could use them.

“Controlling ambient aether in the atmosphere through sound resonance? Could you be a Stratavarian, for real?”

“No, but my grandfather was. Me, I’m just a girl who got a second chance she didn’t deserve. Now keep your ears open, I don’t play for just anyone.”

Eva headed out side and climbed to the roof of the luggage car, one ship behind her and two more in front. She saw several armed men wearing body armor and bearing the crest of a radical militant group standing guard beneath the transports. She took a deep breath and said a quick prayer, asking God to guide her hands in this endeavor that good might come of it. She felt strength boil up inside of her as she raised her bow to the many colored strings, the sound of the train vanishing as she pulled it across.

At the same time five of the armed soldiers entered the luxury car below, not instantly knowing what to make of the unconscious men within. A yellow flash blasted past them as they were suddenly riddled with blows, their weapons shattering into pieces as they fell to the ground. Standing behind them was Mari, yellow aether rising from her body as she released a breath and looked back at her handiwork. Her Solar Wind technique was fast enough, sure, but prolonged use would be quite taxing on her body. Still it was her best chance of taking down these guys without anyone getting hurt.

“Sorry guys…but better knocked out than dead right?!”

Mari heard the first notes of her friend’s song and could feel her spirit rising in response. Though she wished the other girl was playing under better circumstances, any time she got to hear Eva’s music was exciting. The energetic youth slapped her cheeks, knelt to the ground, said her prayers, and dashed forward in a flash of brilliant light! On the roof above was a performance like no other as the very wind seemed to dance at the sound of Eva’s magnificent playing! The three transport ships rocked back and forth, their pilots struggling to stay aloft as those meant to protect them opened fire!

Eva saw this coming and played a heavy chord along the blue and green strings of her violin, slinging the bow off of them as a barrier of ice erupted before her! The bullets did little to the barricade as Eva continued with her song, showing much emphasis to the green chord as the winds before her became even more violent. Unable to keep steady, the transports finally disengaged with the intention of swinging back around to fire upon their odd attacker. Shifting her position slightly and changing to a faster tune, the clouds above the girl and her foes became darker and filled with flashes as she played. With a long shrill note, Eva called down a bolt of lightning and directed it toward one of the vessels!

Though the bolt missed, two more similar strikes were enough to dissuade the personnel transports from trying to approach again. They weren’t equipped to deal with someone with aether based abilities, but they had something that was. Just as Eva thought the biggest threat had been removed she caught sight of something moving in fast from ahead of the train. She placed a hand over her ear to call Joshua, wondering if anything had appeared on his radar, but when she could finally make out the identity of the approaching object she knew it would be pointless.

The being that sped toward the train was not an aircraft or drone, but instead a vast predatory bird clad in various bits of technology and bearing a twenty foot wingspan from tip to tip. The monster was called a Jub Jub; an avian hunter bred for war and augmented for combating various threats. To make matters worse, the ice barrier she had set up was beginning to give under enemy fire, meaning she would soon be fighting on two fronts if she didn’t act quickly. She attempted to dissuade the approaching beast using the same methods she had earlier, attacking with gusts of wind and bolts of lightning.

The avian fiend easily adjusted to the changes in wind current and could detect the approaching bolts through static along its body. Eva was shocked by the creatures tenacity, but she wasn’t about to give up. She began playing a softer tune as a cold rain began to fall from the sky, a bitter wind accompanying it as bits of ice formed on the violinist’s shoulders. The bird seemed unaffected at first and simply picked up speed, intent to snatch it’s pray off of the train with its razor sharp talons! With only seconds to spare, Eva played a powerful note that caused a flurry of hail to rain down upon the predator, damaging its wings and leaving it with no way to control its dive!

Eva ducked as the beast slammed into her ice barricade, destroying it and rolling across the train top where it knocked down several of the rebel gunman! Those that were still standing were shocked by the turn of events and didn’t immediately see the warrior musician returning to her feet. As she prepared for combat once more Eva saw a familiar flash of light from behind her opposition before the lot of them were knocked unconscious. Mari skitted to a halt before her friend, looking up at her with a smile and salute, the other girl returning the gesture.

“I think I got ‘em all…but uh…”

“But?”

Eva instantly noticed how weary Mari looked and reached out to grab the exhausted girl as she began to collapse. She could literally feel Mari’s muscles throbbing from strain and knew she had pushed herself far too hard. While her condition wasn’t life threatening, Eva knew her friend would need time to recover and wouldn’t be able to fight anytime soon. If that wasn’t bad enough the three rebel ships had noticed the stabilizing atmosphere and were moving in to reengage. Before they could though, another ship appeared from the horizon and blasted past the other three, its model and design being a sight for Eva’s sore eyes.

“Joshua, what took you!?”

~Sorry girls, got a weird updraft that slowed me down.~

“Updraft…yeah sorry about that. Just hurry and get us out of here.”

~Sure thing, wait, where’s the professor?~

“I’ll get her once Mari’s onboard, now hurry it up!”

Joshua did just that and moved to the front of the train, opening the back hatch of the transport as he did. Eva helped Mari on board and then headed back down to get Isabel, finding the woman still hiding where the girls had left her. She seemed ecstatic to see Eva well, but was concerned that Mari had yet to return.

“Mari’s fine, but we have to go, now!”

“R-Right, I just…wait…what’s that!?”

Eva turned to see a strange distortion forming at the front of the rail car, a woman clad in black and wearing a visor across her eyes soon emerging from it. The tall bombshell sported long purple hair and carried a sheathed sword at her hip, her thin lips forming a frown as she looked toward the other two women. Eva prepared for battle, but the mystery woman raised a hand to signal that she meant no harm, speaking with a stern tone that reflected her demeanor.

“Your one of Sakuya’s people, correct?”

“What? Who are you?!”

“That’s…complicated. In truth I was sent here to kill Isabel Einsbourgh before her knowledge could fall into the wrong hands. If you’re with Guild Works than that complicates matters greatly.”

“Maybe for you, but I’m still pretty clear on where I stand.”

“Which is?”

“To protect Isabel and get her to safety.”

“…Than go.”

Eva seemed surprised by how calmly the masked woman had said those two words, but she wasn’t about to let them go to waste. She motioned for a terrified Isabel to head for the door, covering her until she was through. Eva never took her eyes off the mystery woman until she was forced to in order to climb up to the top of the train. The two women jumped aboard the Guild Works transport, and Joshua closed the hatch as soon as they had. The vessel flew from the scene at speeds that none of the rebel aircraft could match, and the military were none the wiser thanks to the jamming system Sakuya had rigged the ship with before hand.

“Oi Eva, what took you so long down there?” Joshua asked as he made sure they weren’t being pursued on the hull cameras.

“There was a woman…she appeared from out of nowhere using some kind of spatial distortion. You ever heard of anything like that?”

“Yeah, but typically you need a massive power source to pull something like that off, and it takes some serious skill to do it inside a moving object. Whoever you saw wasn’t small time.”

“Josh, she knew Sakuya’s name and knew we were with Guild Works.”
 
The usually gruff fellow gave the girl a puzzled look before running a hand across his bald head with a troubled expression crossing his face. There was only two ways someone outside the guild could have known about the operation; they had somehow intercepted their communications or someone inside had told them. Either way it meant things had indeed become a lot more complicated, but at least they had managed to rescue the professor and finished the mission without any loss of life. Well…without any loss of human life anyway.

“Poor birdie…”

“Oh don’t start Mari; it was trying to kill me.”

“I know…”

Mari snuggled up to Isabel for comfort, the still shocked professor just putting a hand around the girl without really thinking hard about it. Eva just sighed and took a seat in the co-pilot chair, still wondering about whom that woman in black was, or who she was working for. Only time would tell…

--------------

In another location far from LeCroi a distortion opened, the masked woman walking from it and into a dark room. She let out a sigh and removed her mask, revealing a pair of beautiful blue eyes that reflected her immense inner strength. The mysterious woman walked toward an open door that lead to a balcony, the light of the moon radiating down upon her as she looked out over the city she called home. She would protect this city and its people from any danger, even if she had to become a killer to do it. At least that was what she told herself, but would she really have been able to take an innocent woman’s life to accomplish her goals? Could she really be that cold blooded?

“Father, mother, is this what you were trying to warn me about? Is this the burden of a hero?”