Chrono Trigger - Believe
Circa 3022 A.D. - Somewhere in the West
Chapter II - Day Two, Twilight Dawn
For the rest of that night, I did not stop. I could not stop. I had to get out of this god- forsaken city. A second Nuclear was going to strike, probably within the next forty-eight hours, and I had no intentions of being caught in it. The Guardia Empire's throne city, Truce extended for miles in either direction, the Nuclear's fire probably only covered about half of Truce's total area. All in all, it was a lot like kicking an anthill; only with a really big boot. It had also stirred up the ants considerably.
Going undetected was hard, and would get progressively more difficult as the sun began to make it's rise, casting a reddened hue over the battered and torn landscape. Keeping mostly to dark recesses, noises from my surroundings filled my head. Soldiers marching. The engines of various vehicles. The occasional helicopter. Looters smashing glass. Gun shots in the distance. Children crying, too young to understand why.
Forcing those out of my mind, I carried on. The subdued sun had now reached the tops of certain buildings, casting it's light through the misty haze that clung to the earth. In the twilight glow one would think it to be a dreamlike state, only with the twisted wreckage for landscape it seemed more nightmare.
Looking out from behind a rapidly lightening alley, I glanced both directions before dashing across what was once a street, into a still standing structure on the other side. Glancing down at my clothing, I figured I had better find something else to wear, the Imperial Capital was not a place where I wanted to be in UPR military fatigues.
Retreating into the back of this building, I crept into what appeared to be an office. Upon hearing a scrabbling noise, I instinctively drew my pistol.
"Over here...", the voice barely called out, "Please help me..."
Carefully edging my way around the tipped over desk, I saw a man lying on the floor. His legs had been pinned, more likely crushed, under a large chunk of fallen rubble.
"Don't worry," I consoled, "You'll be..."
"You're UPR!" he muttered. "Shhh!" "Help!" the man screamed, "Help me!!" I threw myself at him, clamping my free hand over his mouth, "Quiet! I don't want to kill you!"
He struggled free, trying to get away, "Christ! You're not even human!" he spat, "Help! In here!! The UPR!"
Drawing my gun out to arms length, I whispered, "I'm sorry..."
I held the gun to his head, and his big eyes filled with terror. The gun rang out, and the middle aged man slumped back to the floor.
I took one last look at the man, who had been helpless, pinned under a large chunk of wreckage, and ran from the room.
Trying to forget the incident, I returned to my hunt for civilian clothing. Stumbling across another room, which was fortunately vacant, I came across a slightly oversized trenchcoat. While I would have preferred more, it was at least enough to cover my uniform.
Outside, I heard the noisy brakes of what was probably an Imperial vehicle. As I hastily made for the back exit, I passed a mirror.
"My ears..." I muttered under my breath.
Glancing around for something, anything, to hide them, I snatched a rather wide brimmed hat. It would have to do. Of millions of possible genetic variations they had available to them, those damned scientists just had to make me an elf. The only elf in the world.
Though my hearing was now slightly muted, I could still hear the Imperial soldiers begin to make their way into the building out front.
Drawing in a deep breath, I made a break for the back entrance.
"There he is! Stop him!"
I threw myself out the doorway, avoiding the swarm of bullets sent after me. I was quick to get back on my feet, no doubt they were in pursuit.
As I turned and ran, I reached down and threw a switch on the modified railgun I had slung over my shoulder, "Three minutes until primary startup complete", a friendly sounding feminine voice said.
Making my way over a pile of rubble, the soldiers had just made it out of the building. I had just ducked out of their line of sight when they began looking around. I only had to stay alive for three minutes.
"Where'd he go?" one voice asked.
"Not sure, Spread out. We'll find him." another replied.
I smiled to myself. The hat and the trenchcoat seemed to be doing admirably, they thought I was a guy!
I looked down at the timer on the railgun. 0:57, it said.
Not much longer, I thought.
"I'm just gonna check in here." one said as he lucked into my hiding place.
As out eyes met, we simultaneously went for our guns.
"Guys! She's..."
The sharp report of my pistol cut him off, and I could hear the others come running.
I looked back down at the timer.
0:02
0:01
"Primary Startup complete.", the friendly voice said.
Heaving the monstrous weapon into the air and bracing it against my shoulder, I lowered it down the alley and quickly settled my feet.
Gently squeezing the trigger, the great cannon flared to life, emitting a wide, blue beam of light that cut some poor slob of a soldier in two, as well as flaying shards of stone off of nearby buildings.
Diving behind a metal container of some kind, I waited for their rebuttal. Sure enough, a volley of bullets was soon ricocheting off of the walls, the metal container, and other various objects that were strewn about in the alley.
For a second, the rain of bullets stopped, which was enough for me to get in another shot with the big gun.
I had to get out of here soon. Before their backup came.
As a soldier, I'm trained to deal with situations like this, but I don't think that anyone would actually willingly put themselves in a spot like this. I know that I sure didn't want to be here.
Sucking in a deep breath, I hefted the railgun into a more mobile, yet still functional position. I had only fired twice, so I figured I should probably be able to pull this stunt off.
I quickly rolled out from behind my cover, firing randomly in their general direction. I wasn't sure if I had hit any of them, but I had at least forced them back. The walls on either building were marred with gunshot marks. A veil of dust coated the area.
I plunged into the cloud, hoping to lose the Imperial soldiers in the process. I couldn't afford to be slowed down like this every step of the way, not if I wanted to get out of here before the next Nuclear struck.
I broke from the cloud of dust, running as far and as fast as I could. Voices rang out, confused and at a loss. Just as I fled into another husk of a building, the screech of a braking vehicle and the sound of hurried soldiers caught up to my ear.
With various people drawn to the commotion, I found it easy to escape, slipping though back alleys and continuing on my way uninterrupted. For a short while, at least.