Chapter 1
Bigor and Issac ran along the sandy train track firing their pistols as they did. Their target was a small group of soldiers crowded among the top of a speeding train, returning bullets that picked the earth around them.
''Shit! It's getting away!'' Bigor groaned as his cigar slipped from his lips. Bigor was a large, tubby man with a face hidden by a heavy red beard and large leather goggles. His red chunky nose was the only distinguishable part of his face, that and the cigar that was constantly placed in his wide mouth.
''Leave it to me, my good sir.'' said Issac as he stopped running and placed his twig like hands together. Issac was far from large, his skinny body covered by a long, purple leather coat that suggested that there was not much beneath it.
What Issac lacked in weight he made up for in height, reaching just over 9ft. He had a long grey face that held an expression of calmness. His lips were black but pale in comparison to his deep, darkening eyes.
Issac got down to one knee and started murmuring. His larger counterpart stopped and turned to him. He couldn't help but gasp to get his breath back. He was not a fan of running at all, let alone sprinting after speeding turret trains. A large green light appeared between the thin fingers of Issac as he stopped whispering his chant. Both their faces were lit up by the glowing orb of energy. He started to pull and manipulate the light with absolute concentration.
''Well come on! It's getting away!'' Bigor yelled, hacking a cough as he did. Issac ignored his booming voice and continued to twist and bend the light which was getting fiercer and less containable. In a flash, he shot his hand in the air and the bright, fire like green orb burst from his hands and flew into the sky. It span in a circle and gathered momentum before speeding off into the direction of the train.
Issac started to run again, giving Bigor a look as though to say ‘shall we?’ as he passed. Bigor yelled out a bellowing laugh and started to run along his tall, weedy friend. He uncovered his large muscular left arm that was underneath a brown dusty sleeve and started hammering in commands into a device attached to a leather strap.
''She aint gonna like this!''
The train they were chasing charged along a rickety track that was buckled and old. Its appearance suggested that it couldn’t take the weight of a train again and hadn’t for years before. The train itself looked like it had fallen from the future, bringing its technology back with it. It looked more like a 100ft bullet than a steam powered train and it was forcing out a large electrical hum as it hovered above the track. Blue electrical streaks held the turret train above the tracks and reached out before it, dragging the speeding silver convoy along the ancient track.
Inside one of its carriages, a man sat at a wooden table, his eyes transfixed onto that of a young woman’s. The man’s image suggested that he was not someone who liked to be taunted. He commanded respect wherever he went and most people gave it. They were usually too scared of the result if they didn’t. The young woman’s radiating beauty wasn’t matched by his. His left cheek held a scar that stretched up to the middle of his bald scalp. His left eye held no eye lid and was bloodshot red. He held his mouth slightly ajar which exposed sharp silver shark-like teeth. The pure ugliness of the man proved to be no concern of the young woman, who sat opposite him holding a small grin and focused eyes.
‘’You have been a very disgracious little bitch, Hollock.’’ The man said through a thick and course accent that sounded like no other she had heard before. He held his hand on top of her confiscated pistol and ran his finger along the slide slowly.
‘’If you return what you have stolen from us, we may show you a little courtesy and let you live. Just tell us where it is.’’
Hollock looked outside of a glowing window that was encaged by iron bars. She watched as the sandy dunes flickered past and the sun lowered behind a mountain. If she hadn’t been held prisoner inside this speeding prison cell, she would have very much liked to have watched it set. She closed her eyes and let out a little sigh, enjoying the warmth on her porcelain face.
‘’It’s beautiful isn’t it’’. She calmly said.
‘’Beautiful it is, but at the dear cost of our lands, Ms Hollock’’ The man replied.
He was referring to the state of the planet. The once thriving planet had now stopped rotating on its axis. It had not done so for almost three hundred years. Many of the world’s best scientists and scholar’s put this down to the sun’s magnetic field being heavily reduced when Earth’s finest miners excavated it’s most valuable element, Sundarilum. Most of Earth’s resources had been used up centuries ago, causing the human race to extend their greedy grasp to the stars.
After they realized that this planet had been exhausted of all its use, they inherited Mars. What was once a small red derelict spot in the sky was now home to a better breed of people. Scientists, Doctor’s and the super rich now lived there and left the less able men on the rotting planet to scavenge and fight over the little pleasantries they could find. The entire planet held a wall that stretched around the whole of its surface and several hundred miles above and below.
One half of the globe was desert, all its countries formed into one after the waters dried up. This side was entitled Sandland. The sun burnt its imprint on this side, evaporating what was once known as the Atlantic Ocean. Thousands of miles now contained small territories owned by gangs and small towns full of people now known as Sun-herders, people who could not afford to cross the wall or take refuge on Mars. The other half of the dying world boasted a green flourishing habitat that resembled the beauty the planet once had. This now was home to the animals and plants that were rescued from the waterless planes of the desert. This half was named Noah’s Divide. Many people lived here as well, but their numbers were much less than that of the Sun-herders. These people were known as The Greens.
They had set up homes among the flourishing grounds of the Divide and among the trees that rose several hundred feet above its ground. They were people who could not afford the luxury of Mars, but were more financially lucky than the Sun-Herders. The cost to get to Noah’s Divide was more than most could afford. The great wall was controlled remotely by the newly formed Government of Mars; a council made up of politicians that grew from Earth’s own. It took several months for people to gain access into Noah’s Divide. The necessary paperwork needed travelled in circles and was usually lost in the process. Most Sun-herders were proud of their new found climate and held a grudge against the fleeing men of Noah’s divide.
Great pyramids were erected to house the large population and protect them from the scorching sun. One of these pyramids was home to the League of Nova. A large terrorist organization that launched heavy attacks upon Noah’s Divide, stealing their produce and resources to sell on the black markets of Sandland. It was quite surprising how much money a few gallons of pure water were worth over the great wall.
One of the founding members of the League of Nova was a man called Tibo Nudan. He was once a mayor of a small community of Noah’s divide. But he demanded more than his fair share of supplies and money in trade for his army’s protection. After many years he was finally overthrown by the village’s people and banished from the greenery and left to rot in the desert. His violent encounter with the village’s men left him with a heavy scar across his face, a constant reminder of the people that had given him this disfigurement.
One day he would take revenge and watch them all burn. He would sneak through the wall with his well trained army of soldiers and slit their over-privileged throats during the night. But to get through the wall they needed a transporter shard. There was only a few of these left in existence, forged from the last of the Sundalirum by the great scientists of their time. They provided a path between the two worlds but after years of use they became unstable and were finally shut down after many people became lost during the transportation cycle.
Tibo Nudan had gained a transporter shard after years of tracking one down and gaining enough money to pay for one on the black market. He kept it in a vault deep under his League’s pyramid, waiting for the time he had planned to launch his midnight attack. It was impossible to penetrate the great wall, the only access being a great door that required a shard for it to open. The door had not been opened since his abandoning twelve years ago. But after a long wait, he finally had one. But a few days after acquiring such a rare artifact, it was stolen by a gang of thieves. A gang lead by a beautiful gunslinger named Hollock.
*
A loud slam of the table caused Hollock to snap out of her daydream. She turned back to Tibo Nudan and remembered why she was there. He was still stroking her gun, which annoyed her. She had spent a long time designing and making that weapon. She better get it back.
‘’If you would like to tell me where my T-shard is I would be forever grateful,’’ he said sarcastically. Hollock went through her choices of action; tell Tibo where the shard was hidden, and lose the vast amount of money she would get by selling it on the black market? Launch herself at the ugly man and try to slit his throat and risk the outside soldier’s hearing? Wait silently for her friend’s help? All these options were fine with Hollock, but she knew she probably wouldn’t live long enough to wait for her companions.
‘’Your shard is well hidden Tibo. Don’t wanna go ‘round doing stupid things or you might lose it for good!’’ She calmly said. She was unnerved by the expression on his face this caused. He squinted the eye that was capable and gritted his teeth.
‘’This is a very fine piece of craftsmanship, Hollock,’’ he said, picking up her revolver. He checked the barrel to reveal 6 bullets still inside. He snapped it close and held it towards her. His manor suggested that she would not make it out alive, even if she told him where the shard was.
Hollock held her arms in the air and placed them behind her head, placing one leg over the over as she did. ‘’Alright! Alright! You can have it back!’’ She yawned.
She placed her hand into her pocket and rummaged around. ‘’It’s in here somewhere…’’ She put on a face of confusion as she felt around for the shard. ‘’Ah! Here it is!’’ She excitedly gleamed. She slowly pulled her hand out of her pocket to reveal nothing but her middle finger which she held in the furious man’s face.
‘’Hollock!’’ He shouted, pulling the table over as he stood up. He walked over to her and held her pistol inches away from her face. He was red with fury and sweating. It looked as though he was panicking.
‘’This is not going to be a good day for either of us you little bitch!’’ He screamed.
The sound of the train buzzing above the track began to be hidden by a large whirling noise, its deep bass filling the carriage. Tibo looked confusingly out the window but could not see anything.
‘’Oh! Pissing hell!’’ Hollock shouted, annoyed by what was to come.
Suddenly a green light filled the surrounding area and exploded against the carriage. Both its passengers were thrown around like rag dolls as the room turned and tumbled onto the sandy surface of the plane. The soldiers upon the roof were scattered along the tracks and grit of the ground and wooden splinters shot in all directions. The train screeched to a halt.
The cage Hollock was held in was now upside down. Her body covered in wooden panels and debris, she was whispering curses and profanities and she got up on her knees, dusting herself off. The man across the room was struggling to get up himself, rubbing the blood away from his exposed eye. They both looked at each other; both knowing what had hit them. Her revolver was in the middle of the two dazed people catching the light from a hole in the side wall that now acted as the carriage’s roof.
They both scrambled towards the gun and placed one hand on top of it, pulling it towards themselves and fighting over it like Sun-herders over a piece of gold. She bit down on his arm which made him scream but her face was met with a large thud of his punch. The pain of her face forced her to relax her grasp of the gun and he pulled away with his prize. He got up onto his feet and wiped away more blood that had spilled across his face from his eye.
‘’I’m gonna enjoy this you little b-‘’ Suddenly his whole body was met with another green orb that caused him to slam furiously through the wall of the carriage, his body dancing around as wooden chips and metal spikes fell on top of him. He finally dropped to the ground, unable to move.
Hollock uncovered her face and found a tubby man stood with a tall thin one right outside the newly formed doorway. The light behind them put their appearances into shadow as she focused her eyes. Both held smiles of reassurance as they saw she was alright. She could see a twinkle of one of the tubby man’s golden teeth. She knew who they were.
‘’You alright, boss?’’ Bigor chuckled, removing his cigar as he did.
Issac walked towards her and helped her up, instantly knowing she was unwounded as he quickly glanced around her body.
‘’I do apologize for my action, boss. It seemed the necessary way to stop the train,’’ he said through an almost saddened tone.
‘’What the hell were you thinking? You almost got me killed you pair of half-wits!’’ She screamed, pulling herself off of the towering pale man. Bigor laughed loudly and clapped his hands, the force pushing away dust and sand from his gloves.
‘’Is he dead?’’ She said, facing the seemingly lifeless man on the ground.
‘’Not at all’’ Issac said. ‘’He’ll just be out for a few hours. We’d better get out of here, those soldiers will be arriving soon’’.
They walked towards the bright light, Hollock not forgetting to retrieve her revolver from the hand of the corpse on the ground. An overwhelming feeling of cheer came over her; she had escaped. And she still had her life and, more importantly, one of the most valuable pieces of technology in existence still in her possession.
They climbed out of the carriage and towards the hefty man. Behind him hovered three land cruisers, metal speeders that shared the structure of a horse, their detailed skins covered in dust. Each one had their owner’s names imprinted on them. The three thieves got on their respective speeders and launched themselves into the direction of the setting sun. The sound of Bigor’s laugh filled the area as they did. Not bad for a hard day’s work.
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