SKY - A Protogen Story

Dark Ages

The train let out a loud and powerful whistle, and steam and smoke began to quickly rise out of it's thick and tall smokestack. The first of the nukes had already hit nearby, and a nuclear winter caused the sky to become a dark ashy black, and a mix of snow and ashes fell down to the ground. The could would become unbearable, and hundreds of passengers were crammed into several box carts, all connected to the immortal engine which ran on invincible rails. The woods surrounding the engine and it's carts had become an area of strife, as combatants of the Validian Republic were going head to head against a legion of Protogen. Their numbers were few and their enemies were many, yet, they fought long enough.

"Don't let any of them get to the train!" The corporal shouted behind cover as a bullet whizzed past him.
"Get that train moving! Everyone's boarded!" A combatant in the midst shouted.
"No! We're still missing a few! Don't let that train leave until everyone's boarded!"

Despite the command to halt, the engine's heavy metal wheels began to roar forward with the power of the main rod. The piston rod clicked, and every rotation the wheels made sounded like a fierce stomp. Bullet's ricocheted off the engine and it's carts, but shot dead anyone who was attempting to board. A captain nearby held his double barrel shotgun tightly in his paws as he retreated to cover, ahead of him being the powerful steam train slowly moving out of the station, and several innocent souls attempting to board the train, including his wife and daughter. He froze for a moment, not due to the cold, but the shock of bullets narrowly whizzing past them. As bullet fire slowed down, he took the window of opportunity to return to his feet and run towards the small group of souls his wife and daughter were stuck in. They were attempting to enter a cart whose door was jammed, so he did the logical thing: he gripped the door handle and pried it open with full force allowing the door to open sufficiently for one to enter. One at a time, everyone entered the train as it began to speed up, his wife and daughter being the last to board. As a bullet pierced through the cart, both of them boarded the cart, with the captain staying behind.

"You have to get on, Andrew," His wife spoke as he followed her in a gentle stride.
"I can't, G, and you know why." He held his shotgun in one paw as the train sped up. "You have to get our daughter out of here."
"We're not leaving you here, Andrew!"

A wave of bullets ricocheted off the cart, but one pierced right through the captain's leg. He continued to follow the cart, limping faster and drawing a trail of blood across the ashy snow.

"Someone has to stay and defend," He slowly placed the shotgun in the hands of his daughter, "Someone has to keep the fight going."

She was being held in the hands of her mother, and her name was Skylar. She was around 4 years old, and she was a Protogen. Everyone else in the cart were Validians. She looked curiously at her father, not even aware of the war going on right in front of her. She didn't know what war was. As she was handed the weapon, she received one last smile from her father, and she giggled in response. She saw a smile as something good, so why not laugh? Her father let out a chuckle, too, limping with the train as it sped up.

"Will we see you again?" His wife spoke as he looked up at her.
"I'm never leaving, love," He gripped the rifle strapped to his waist. "I'm never leaving."

He gripped the door handle once again, closing it as the train plowed through the ashy snow covering the tracks at full running speed.

"Go! Run like hell and don't look back!" He shouted as he closed the door, and there he watched as the train exited the station, with a thick trail of smoke following behind it.

There was already enough smoke and ashes in the sky because of the nukes, and everyone knew that another would be coming eventually. The war was just entering it's dark ages. A muffled whistle could be heard in the distance, and for the first time, the Fabryka was seen as a beacon of hope, barely visible, but it was there.