Project 13 Book One: From The Shadows

Chapter 24: Sparks Fly?

"Most of us know her as Sparks, and those that do know of her prowess in battle. The few who have worked with her on missions also know of her loyalty, kindness, and care for others. But there are very few who know the tale she is going to tell today. Just today she trusted me enough to share it, and now she has decided to share it with you. If anyone tries to harm her they will have to go through me first!" He said, raising his gun in defiance.

"And us!" responded Josh and Curry simultaneously. Boltz stepped down and indicated for me to take a place in the center of the table. My four friends took up defensive positions around the table. A ring or people stepped back to leave them a bit of a clearing. I could see Georgia in the crowd unholstering her favored weapon, a Laser gun she had built herself. In fact, she helped to pioneer some of the better laser guns and was constantly updating it to the latest tech. The crowd backed up a few feet from the central area where the table was and murmured for a few seconds before quieting at my harsh gaze.

"Thank you, and thank you Boltz for the nice introduction. As he previously said most of you know me as Sparks, the assassin who has over 1000 kills to my name, but my past has always been shrouded in mystery. I have decided that now is the time to lift that veil and reveal my true past, and thus the reason why I am here today.

"I find it will be slightly easier to understand the first part of my past, the more recent side, starting about 9 or so years ago. It began with a young dejected girl who was struggling to make a living in this harsh world. A kind man brought her into his house and saw firsthand the terrors the government had wrought on even a young child. This along with other evidence against the government's true intent led this man to start what is now known by many as The Rebellion. This man was Xu Bing, and I the young girl.

"From the very beginning I walked alongside Xu Bing as he set out on his mission to find a following, but he started in the wrong way. It was his intention to start at the top of society and work down, because he still held the elitist mentality. He failed to gather much support from any elite families and instead was forced to leave the elite. Stranded on the streets with me he saw a different side of life. I had lived on the streets for a while before he found me and was at that time still working as an assassin, slipping out when he wasn't watching to do business. This meant I was at home on the streets. In our time in the elite housing he had taught me love, care, and luxury, but now on the streets I began teaching him survival, first finding shelter, then work, and even friends. In fact one could say it was me who actually started the rebellion as it is known today because I found the first members, often much by accident, while trying to find extra work to supplement my job as an assassin.

"Now all of you are probably wondering at this point who that makes me, all of you know the name Xu Bing, but know nothing about him but his position as the Voice of The Rebellion. It might help at this point to divulge my given name. I'll explain later why it is a given name, but for now all you need to know is that I had to name myself. That is, I chose the name Lightning Storms, on several accounts, but mainly for the natural phenomenon that can cause extreme destruction, but also the most beautiful apparitions in the sky, it denotes speed, strength, and power, all qualities that I wanted to embody and by taking it as my own I felt it was the first step in making a place for myself."

At this point the crowd became rather noisy so I paused for a second then continued. "Shh.. shh... I know you are all familiar with the name by the whispers circulating the room, and yes, you are correct. I am the Lightning who is considered the leader of the rebellion. In fact, it may make more sense now how similar some of the characteristics describing Sparks and Lightning are similar. But that is not the end of my tale, although it is the reason I am here today. More on that later.