Gear Up

 "This will take you to the train station, where my personal train will be waiting to take you to Hencia. Once there, Track down the New Light and remove them."

Spark, Riley, and the other soldiers piled into the van as the Emperor returned to the highrise. After getting settled in the truck, Riley realized that the soldiers going with him were the same guys who were with Edok and brought him to the House of the Emperor when he first landed just outside of Jimat. In an energetic tone, the leader introduced himself as Q and his squadmates; Spyder, Ike, and Grant. All of the men showed different levels of excitement about the situations they'd soon be getting into, but they all wanted the chance to take down the New Light. 

Getting through Jimat in a truck wasn't easy; even if they only needed to get to the rim of the city, people flooded the narrow streets. Most of the citizens in Jimat didn't need a vehicle, everything they needed to get would always be within walking distance with no reason to leave the city. As a result, not as many streets were built wide enough to support multi-lane traffic, and instead people would walk down the roads. Even in the middle of the work day, the vast population in Jimat crowded the streets, which caused further delays for the van.

Back inside the van, as they were nearing the train station, Q and his squad portrayed grins that grew in anticipation. When Riley asked about their excitement, he was informed that the Emperor's train housed the best military technology in the Empire; from weaponry to defense mechanisms, nothing was quite as stocked as this train. After they pulled into the lot, both Riley and Spark stared in awe, getting their first looks at this marvel of defense and transportation. The train was coated with a sleek dark metal, with a heavily elongated nose and tail for improved aerodynamics. Tinted windows lined the outside of the two-hundred-and-fifty-meter-long train. Small bolts of electricity flashed as the train hovered above the tracks. Loading into the train, they saw turrets mounted behind windows every twenty-five meters, and entire cars dedicated to housing weapons, ammunition, and other gadgets. Before sitting down, they each grabbed backpacks and loaded them with rations, water, and other survival gear to be prepared in case anything were to happen. 

Shortly thereafter, the group found seats towards the rear of the train, sitting down before the automated train peeled out, making its way to Hencia. As the train left the station, it began to speed up, eventually reaching speeds that neared four hundred kilometers per hour. Riley looked out of the train's window as they sped around the city, gaining another perspective on the lives of the people; seeing the citizens of Jimat from this angle, he was filled with strength and courage. He remembered the promise he made himself when his life changed and he became Riley, he wanted to protect his new life and the ones he loved; he knew that he was now stuck in Alduwitz but he still had the second chance he was given and he thought that these people deserve whatever efforts he could make to save even one more life.

 "Hey," Q pulled Riley in for a conversation with everyone else. "I heard about what happened last night. I mean, I wasn't a huge fan of the guy but I don't think I could've anticipated him attacking Spark here." The rest of his squad grunted in agreement as they nodded their heads. 

 "Trust me, I didn't like that guy either, but the whole thing wasn't really even that bad for me. Spark here got punched in the gut with a steel pistol at full force, just imagine waking up to that in the middle of the night." Said Riley jokingly, as he rested his hand on Spark's shoulder. After getting to know the soldiers in the van ride to the train station, he wanted to keep a good connection with the guys and would be willing to share most of what happened that night if they had any questions. 

 "Don't even get me started on that," Spark said. "Man, I got a bruise from that and it still stings. I probably would've wanted to be the one to execute him if I wasn't in complete shock." They all laughed, especially Riley. He found it funny that Spark might've wanted to kill Edok, as he shared those exact feelings since Edok killed him. 

 "But in all honesty," Grant spoke up. "He did make some fair choices with the power he had. I realize now that the decisions he made, were to make himself seem less suspicious if push comes to shove, but I have to give credit where it's due; some of his policies really helped my family." 

 "Yeah, and that's the thing," Spark chimed in. "That bastard was always just the politics guy who helped my father with those kinds of decisions, I knew he never really liked me but I had no idea it ran that deep. Because you'd think the New Light would try to sneak someone in who had at least a bit more experience, right?"  

The men agreed with Spark, and as they continued talking Riley looked out the window as Hencia came into view in the distance. Within minutes, the train slowly started to decelerate. Following the lead of the soldiers, Spark and Riley made their way to one of the weapons cars on the train with their previously loaded backpacks to choose their rifles and stock up on ammunition. The weapons car was loaded with every type of gun imaginable; automatics, bursts, long rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns, secondary weapons, and even a few explosive launchers.  Both Riley and Spark chose automatic assault rifles and pistols, even though Riley still had his previous pistol concealed on his body. Q and his squad chose a mix of different weapon types, deciding to rely on their chemistry and unique skills to overcome any challenging situation. Next, they all loaded detonators and grabbed their respective ammunition. 

once they all stepped off the train starting to make their way toward Hencia, their weapons in hand all activated emanating a purple glow along the edges, energy stirring in their magazines that coated their bullets. Hencia was deserted, most buildings had collapsed, smoke still rising with both people and soldiers dead in the streets. Riley tried to recall any information that Edok had given him that might help on the mission, and he remembered something from the night he died; The Emperor originally thought that New Light forces would be stretched thin and they'd easily be able to counter-attack, but Edok confirmed that they had not been dwindled.

 "Stay on guard, the lot of them are most likely hidden somewhere around here."

They moved across the broken city, trying to find clues to life or the New Light while staying out of open spaces. They looked through bunkers, underground malls, and other facilities, but weren't able to find anything of considerable importance; a few birds flew above and a couple of prairie dogs ran through the city, but no people. without much to show for it, they made their to the other side of Hencia. Evidently, a massive battle had taken place here, but no effort had been made to clean up or respect those who died. With nothing else to go on, the group headed toward a natural source of water Q saw, a few hundred meters off. They made their way down to the bank of the river where they would find the mouth of a cave not too far upriver. With the squad in the front, Riley and Spark trailing slightly behind, they turned a corner and entered the cave. Behind the corner appeared a man minding his own business, they all drew their guns on the man, Spyder yelling;

 "Freeze!"